With Christmas upon us, it’s time to start planning the festive Christmas table.  For me, Christmas eating is all about enjoying the season’s best, so I love to include all of the wonderful stone fruits and also some of the more traditional Christmas fare onto my family table.

We usually start with a Christmas morning breakfast. My mother’s oyster omelettes have been a favourite for years, and accompanied with some of the Lindeman’s Early Harvest sparkling it’s a beautiful and light way to start the day’s activities. Taking freshly shucked oysters, we mix up a couple of eggs with a few drops of sesame oil, a little soy sauce and some sesame seeds and then place the oysters into the egg mixture and then fry them individually in a hot pan with a little oil. They only take a couple of seconds on each side and are delicious.

My other favourite is little potato pancakes, garnished with smoked salmon and a caper, red onion and sour cream dressing. Usually there is a delicious tropical fruit salad and some speciality jams that have been made the week before that we serve with toasted Italian pannetone.

Lunch and dinner for our family is one large meal, with a wonderful array of exotic dishes. For me, Christmas is about enjoying all the produce and ingredients that we don’t usually eat during the year, and having a bit of a splurge. I love lots of different salads for lunch – try love combining roasted Chinese duck with figs, wild rice and a honey mustard dressing, and large cooked tiger prawns can be dressed with a delicious light mayonnaise dressing and combined with white beans, Spanish onion, spinach and lots of fresh lemon zest. I also always have a zesty Asian and shredded green papaya salad scattered with fresh crab meat, loads of Asian mint, basil and a chili palm sugar dressing. Quite often I will also cook up some glass noodles and toss these through, finishing the salad with crispy shallots for crunch. Finally, grilled peaches with prosciutto and gorgonzola with a marsala dressing are delicious and so easy to throw together, especially if you have the barbeque going.

For the past couple of years I have loved doing a stuffed turkey breast filled with a delicious cranberry, apple and sage stuffing, and find that the breast is so much easier to cook and slice compared to the whole bird.  A glazed baked ham is divine and is always a winner, as left overs are available for those who continue partying and are a great way to use some of your specialty jams, chutneys and mustards. In between the main meals I love to have homemade snacks such as fresh herb, garlic and Parmesan twists, my own spiced roasted nuts, a Spanish manchego cheese and smoked paprika shortbreads served with a delicious beetroot and horseradish relish. Herb biscuits are delicious smothered with a soft brie and my favourite fresh pear and ginger chutney.

For desserts the deliciousness continues with a selection of seeded stone fruits and cherries placed into a baking dish and doused with Lindeman’s Sweet Seasons Dulciana, a sprinkling of brown sugar, a couple of cinnamon sticks and roasted in a moderate own until bubbling and caramelized. I love to cool these down and then serve them with fresh dollop cream. My other favourite desserts are a take on the jam roll, but with a light and crackling meringue filled with whipped ricotta and macerated berries, and a light Italian polenta fresh fruit cake.

I always have a couple of main desserts and then a selection of smaller bits that are great with coffee. I have grown to love my all natural fruit mince tarts filled with warm Christmas spices, grated apples and rum soaked fruits, my grandmother’s rum balls made from weetbix, condensed milk with lashings of dark cocoa, and the Italian panforte, a chocolate nougat filled with nuts and glace fruits.

As I enjoy cooking for Christmas I am not usually drinking but I love using the Lindeman’s Early Harvest Sparkling Rose and the Sweet Seasons Zibbibo to make some delicious lighter style punches, laced with cherries, edible flowers and infused sugar syrups, lots of ice and freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice. These are delicious as a drink on arrival or for all day enjoyment.

Christmas to me is about enjoying family, friends and also allowing ourselves to be a little more luxurious on the food front, with a few simple recipes and tips you too can create a magical Christmas table with little fuss and loads of enjoyment.

You can find more of Dominique’s delicious recipes here.

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