It’s your turn to host Christmas. Or maybe you volunteered in a weak moment when your high-flying vegan brother with the rooftop pool decided he’d had enough of barbecuing the prawns he couldn’t eat. Either way, you’ve landed in it.
Fear not. You have a few weeks to nail this. Together we will discover our own brand of Advent calendar: no hidden chocolates but a gem of a different kind behind each of the 20-plus doors leading to Christmas Day.
In the three weeks before Christmas I will provide a plan, a recipe and a tip to get you and your sense of humour through to Boxing Day intact.
As the saying goes, time spent in reconnaissance is seldom wasted. Part one this week – four weeks before the big day – is for planning, visualising and, who knows, maybe even dreaming of a bright Christmas.
Part two, next week, is for selecting the final menu (including setting, style and service) using that well-worn formula N + C + S + T + B = M. That is, the number of guests (N) + your level of culinary competence (C) + your ability to handle stress (S) + your available preparation time (T) + your budget (B) will largely determine your menu choices (M).
Part three will include main-course options for the five major food allergies and dietary requirements, and part four will hose you down in the final days. Now let’s make some lists, and check them twice.
The plan: do reconnaissance
Day one. Start with the guest list. The numbers will help you decide the menu, location, style and service of the meal in week two.
Day two. Send a call out to all guests requesting dietary requirements and allergies. The minimum standard required for a successful Christmas dinner is the same headcount before and after the meal. This campaign is not about wow factor, it’s about survival in the kitchen and at the dining table.
Day three. Do an inventory: cutlery, crockery, glassware, table linen, seating, table space, baking trays and dishes and, critically, oven space. You can have all the bakeware in the world but, without the oven space to fit it, you have nothing. Consider barbecue, microwave and salad options. Fridge space will also be at a premium. Ask a reliable early-bird guest to provide a tub full of ice for drinks as their contribution to the festivities: this will maximise the available refrigerator real estate and save you precious time on Christmas morning.
Day four. Start thinking about the location. Indoor or outdoor? Check the long-range weather forecast and have a plan A and a plan B. If outdoors, do you have shade? Folding chairs? Wine coolers?
Day five. Clean the dishwasher. Removing the filter and washing it in warm soapy water does wonders. It can also lift the lid on the last 12 months’ leftovers so be warned. Clean the barbecue and make sure it has plenty of gas. Get out the pressure hose if those pavers need attention. If any equipment needs a service, now’s the time.
Day six. Think about creating a festive atmosphere. Dust off last year’s Christmas baubles. Imagine what the table could look like. Consider ways of presenting food that is fun and festive but also simple.
Some food presentation options to consider:
Be inventive with red and green ingredients. Drizzle some grassy olive oil over slices of vine-ripened tomatoes, scatter with baby bocconcini, freshly torn basil and a smattering of fresh ground pepper. It’s not only festive but also very appropriate for the Australian summer.
Add a splash of crème de pêche to a cheap and cheerful bubbly for a peach-flavoured, sun-kissed southern hemisphere Christmas apéritif.
Dig out your favourite platter and build it high with summer berries. I’m hands-off when it comes to the preparation of berries. The look we want is unfussy and unfiddled-with, but sometimes “careless” placement has to be carefully placed. Minimal handling is key. Pat strawberries with paper towel if you absolutely must but leave the hulls on, pile them next to the blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, cherries and – for a bit of extra yuletide flavour – fresh redcurrants topped with a sprig of holly. (Japanese holly fern is a widely available alternative and is non-toxic to humans and animals.)
Day seven. Let’s cook, and prepare what else to cook, for starters.
Twice-baked goat’s cheese soufflé – make this week
Toasted walnuts – make the day before
Salad of greens, apple and walnuts – make on the day
In another lifetime, I taught classes for less-than-confident cooks, with titles like “Easy but elegant entertaining” and “Stress-free Christmas entertaining’.
This week’s soufflé recipe – adapted from one in Delia Smith’s Summer Cooking – featured in both.
The recipe: twice-baked goat’s cheese soufflé
No matter how badly you treat these soufflés, they will forgive you. They rise and fall, are turned out of their ramekins, may be frozen before the “second bake” and are reheated upside down. They may be served as an individually plated-up entrée (not recommended for large gatherings or anyone with limited crockery or dishwasher space) or on a large serving platter with an accompanying salad of greens, apple and walnut.
Now’s the time for a dry run or, if successful, an early menu item done, dusted and waiting patiently in your freezer. The secret is to freeze the once-baked little mounds, then defrost and bake again on the day.
You’ll need eight 9cm ramekins or soufflé dishes (mismatched is fine) for this recipe, plus a baking dish that’s large and deep enough to hold all eight ramekins and one centimetre of water for the initial cooking phase.
Serves 8
450ml milk
50g butter
50g self-raising flour
4 eggs, separated (don’t stress if some of the yolk has crept into the whites)
1 tbsp snipped chives
A pinch of nutmeg
200g firm goat’s cheese, finely grated (use tasty cheese if preferred)
120g freshly grated parmesan (for the reheating stage)
Preheat your oven to 200C/180C fan. In a saucepan, gently heat the milk until it begins to simmer.
In another saucepan, melt the butter over a low heat, then stir in the flour and cook gently for one minute, stirring constantly.
Slowly add the hot milk to the flour mixture, stirring well. When incorporated, let the sauce barely bubble and thicken, then leave on the lowest possible heat for two minutes. (A heat diffuser will help reduce the possibility of burning the bottom of the sauce.)
Transfer the sauce to a large mixing bowl. Using a hand whisk, mix in the egg yolks then the chives. Add the nutmeg, then fold in the grated goat’s cheese.
In a separate bowl, using an electric handheld mixer or stand mixer, whip the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Taking a heaped tablespoon at a time, fold the whites into the cheese-and-yolk mixture.
Divide the mixture between eight well-buttered 9cm ramekins, then place the ramekins in a deep baking tray. Carefully pour a generous centimetre of boiling water into the dish and bake in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden and set.
Carefully remove the ramekins from the baking dish and allow to cool. Using a thin spatula, run around the inside edge of each ramekin then tap it out upside down on a baking paper-lined baking dish. It should plop out cleanly but don’t stress if it’s a bit messy. Just tidy it up a bit and move on to the next one. Seal the baking dish tightly with clingfilm to avoid that fridge-y taint. Freeze until required.
Note: You can complete the second baking without freezing the souffles, or alternatively freeze them in their ramekins for ease of storage, but freezing in the baking tray is the lowest stress option.
Come Christmas morning, take the baking tray out of the freezer two hours before baking.
For the second baking, preheat the oven to 200/180C fan and sprinkle the soufflés generously with parmesan. (This adds flavour and also hides any imperfections.) Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, then serve immediately with the salad of greens, apple and walnut.
Make the day before: toasted nuts
Something subtle but sensational happens to raw nuts when you toast them. Take walnuts, for example. When toasted in a 170C oven for five to 12 minutes, their crunch is doubled and their flavour is squared. The same goes for raw peanuts, almonds and hazelnuts (in their skins or nude) and, of course, pine nuts. Different times and temperatures apply. Don’t add oil or salt. Under-toast rather than over toast. You can always let them cool a little, taste them and return them to the oven for a little longer. Err on the side of caution. The line between optimal and overcooked is fine but unmistakable on the taste buds. Cool and store in a sealed glass container and use within a few days.
Make on the day: salad of greens, apple and walnut – recipe
Serves 8 as a side
4 handfuls of rocket or mixed salad greens
½ cup roughly chopped walnuts, raw or toasted
2 crisp apples, cored and skin on, cut into batons
For the dressing
6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp honey
In a large salad bowl, combine the rocket or salad greens, walnuts and apples.
To make the dressing, combine all the dressing ingredients.
To serve, drizzle the dressing over the salad or – if you’re feeling adventurous – artistically around the edge of your soufflé platter. (When it comes to dressing, less is more; you don’t have to use it all. There are few things worse than soggy salad greens.)
