Christmas Feast 2022

Scrub the new potatoes in cold water. They don’t need to be peeled.

Once cleaned, place in a large pot filled with cold water and a good pinch of salt. Set aside ready to cook soon.

Shell the peas.

Scrub the baby carrots and trim all but 2 cm of the green tops.

If you’re not cooking today, store everything in the fridge until you’re ready.

Remove the top and bottom from the pineapple, then peel using a sharp knife. Cut the pineapple into quarters lengthways, cut out the core and eat or discard the core. Cut each quarter in half lengthwise, then dice into large bite-sized pieces.

Peel the red onion and cut it into chunks, about the same size as the pineapple but only 3 onion ‘layers’ thick.

Dice the tempeh into chunks similar in size to the pineapple.

If you’re going to BBQ the skewers, soak the skewers in cold water for an hour before skewering.

Skewer the pineapple and tempeh with red onion in between.

Place in the fridge until ready to cook.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius.

Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil.

Remove the top from the snowpeas.

Remove the parsley leaves from the stalk and finely chop, and set aside.

Cook the shelled peas and snowpeas in boiling water for 20 seconds. Strain and cool under cold water.

Cut the avocado in half, remove the stone, scoop out the flesh and finely dice.

Finely dice the peach and place in a bowl with the avocado.

Squeeze over the juice of one lemon.

Remove the coriander leaves from the stalk and place them with the micro herbs. Finely chop the stalk and add to the salsa. Season with a pinch of salt.

Place the new potatoes on the stove and bring to a gentle simmer, cook for about 25 minutes, until you can pierce with a knife. Strain, toss with mint butter and keep warm.

Place the baby carrots in a roasting dish and toss with orange maple glaze. Roast for 20 minutes until golden.

Brush the tempeh with the glaze and place in the oven. Cook for 25 minutes, brushing every 5 minutes with more glaze.

Cut the fennel in half. Shave/thinly slice. Place in a bowl with chopped parsley, lemon juice, a pinch of salt and a good splash of olive oil.

Pull the cos lettuce apart into individual leaves, wash and dry. Place in a bowl with half the ranch dressing, cooked peas (pod and snowpeas), crushed hazelnuts, and a pinch of salt. Gently toss, taste, and add more salt or dressing as needed.

Pick the dill leaves and remove anything too stalky.

In a large fry pan on medium heat with a good splash of oil, cook the chick*n in batches until crispy.

Heat the tacos in a dry hot frypan for about 10 seconds on each side. Add a splash of water to help soften.

Time to serve

Serve the new potatoes with horseradish aioli on the side.

Pile up the skewers and rip over the mint.

Place the baby carrots on a serving platter, then top with fennel salad.

Serve the cos salad topped with picked dill.

You can either build the tacos or let people build their own. Chick*n topped with salsa, drizzled with hot sauce and finished with micro greens and coriander.

For dessert

Warm the brownie by placing it whole in your now ‘off’, but still warm oven. Alternatively, you can portion the brownie and warm it in the microwave.

Pitt the cherries (or not!).

Serve brownie broken in a martini glass or in a bowl, topped with custard and cherries.