Christmas Recipes

Christmas is a time of sharing. It can also be an incredibly stressful time, especially for those left with the responsibility of organising everything! We’ve compiled some delicious Christmas starter recipes, that will make you the star of the day!

Champagne Sangria

Put 1/2 nip of Bacardi in a well chilled champagne glass. Fill glasses with equal amounts of chilled pink lady apple juice and Champagne.

Watermelon and Raspberry Cooler

Place 4 cupfuls of watermelon flesh in a blender with 150g frozen raspberries and 1/3 cup vodka. Blend until smooth. Top up with lemonade.

Christmas Shortbread Cookies

Place butter, sugar, and vanilla in bowl and beat with an electric mixer until light and creamy. Add sifted flours and beat until mixture starts to form a ball. Wrap mixture in gladwrap and refrigerate for 15 minutes. Roll mixture to 5mm thickness and use a Christmas cutter to cut out shapes. Bake in a 160 degree oven until light brown. Melt chocolate in a bowl in the microwave for 2 minutes, in 30 second increments, stirring each time. Pour melted chocolate in a ziplock bag and snip a little off one corner. Drizzle over cookies.

Prawn Arancini

Heat butter and olive oil in a saucepan. Add garlic and leek and cook until leek has softened. Add rice and wine to saucepan, stir until liquid is reduced. Stir in stock and simmer for 15 min until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender. Stir in prawns, lemon rind and parsley and cook for a further 2 min. Remove from heat and stir in parmesan. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate for 15 minutes. Place flour, egg and breadcrumbs into separate bowls. Roll the cooled risotto into 12 balls. Toss each ball into flour, shake off excess. Coat in egg then roll into the breadcrumbs. Heat oil in a deep saucepan and deep fry for 3-4 minutes each. Serve with aioli on the side. This recipe is also good with either flaked salmon or trout in place of the prawns.

Italian Cobloaf

Cut the top third from the cob loaf. Scoop out the bread inside (in one piece if possible), leaving a 2cm thick wall. Cut top and base of cobloaf into smaller portions. Place all pieces of cobloaf on a baking tray. Spray base of cobloaf, along with the other smaller portions with olive oil and cook in 160 degree oven for 10 min or until crisp. Cook salami and garlic in a saucepan for 3 minutes. Add olives, sundried tomatoes, tomato paste, cream cheese and grated cheese and stir until melted. Add cream cheese mixture to the base of cob loaf.