Christmas coleslaw

Terry Durack

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• < 30 mins 
• Easy 
• Serves 6

If it's cold, you can serve the cabbage in this dish steaming hot, spiked with butter and red wine vinegar. But if it's sunny, I'm going for a glamorous Christmas coleslaw instead, the cabbage finely sliced and tossed with beetroot in a tangy mustard vinaigrette, bedecked with tiny pomegranate seeds like miniature Christmas baubles.

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Ingredients

Give Christmas a fresh new look with this festive twist on coleslaw.Photo: Marina Oliphant

250g red cabbage, very finely shredded
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp ground ginger
sea salt and pepper
1 tbsp white wine
300g freshly boiled or tinned beetroot, chopped
4 small radishes, finely sliced
100g wild rocket
2 tbsp pomegranate seeds

Method

Prepare ahead of time to allow for chilling.

Soak the shredded cabbage in cold water and refrigerate for 2 hours, then drain well.

In a large bowl, whisk the olive oil, vinegar, mustard, maple syrup, ginger, sea salt and pepper. Whisk in the white wine to lighten.

Add the cabbage, beetroot, radish and rocket and lightly toss. Scatter with pomegranate seeds and return to the fridge to stand for an hour or so before serving.

Roulade with spiced pumpkin, macadamia, pear and tarragon stuffing

Caroline Velik

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• < 30 mins 
• Medium 
• French

This recipe was inspired by one written by Crissy Freer. I have added my favourite Christmas stuffing and a creamy pumpkin mash, spiced with amaretti biscuits. This roulade would make a beautiful centrepiece or be equally delicious served as part of a banquet. You can make it a day ahead, then wrap in foil and gently heat in the oven before serving. A cranberry relish would be a delicious accompaniment.

• Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

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Ingredients

Photo: Marina Oliphant

• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 leek, finely chopped
• 3tbs butter
• 1/3 cup plain flour
• 300ml milk
• 4 eggs, separated
• 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
• 500g pumpkin, peeled and chopped
• 6 amaretti biscuits, crushed
• 1/4 cup thickened cream
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan
• stuffing
• 30g butter
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 1 stalk celery, diced
• 100g dried pear, chopped
• 50g macadamia nuts, roughly chopped
• 1 orange, grated rind and juice
• 1-2 tbs fresh tarragon, chopped
• 4 slices multigrain bread, made into
• breadcrumbs
• salt and pepper
•  

Method

Preheat oven to 180C. Grease and line a 39 x 26cm Swiss roll pan.

To make the roulade, heat oil in large saucepan, add leek and cook gently for a few minutes. Remove from pan and set aside, then add butter to the pan and melt. Add flour and stir well to combine. Cook 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the milk slowly and keep stirring until you have a thick sauce. Remove from heat and beat in egg yolks, one at a time.

In a separate bowl, whisk egg whites until stiff peaks form. Add half the whites to the sauce, then gently fold in the remaining egg whites and add the leeks and cheddar. Pour into the prepared pan and bake 25 minutes, or until golden and puffed.

Meanwhile, make the pumpkin filling. Place the pumpkin pieces in a microwave-safe dish, add a tablespoon of water, cover with clingfilm and cook at 100% for 10 minutes, or until cooked. Remove from microwave and mash well. Add amaretti biscuits and cream. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

To make the stuffing, melt butter in a frypan and cook onion and celery for a few minutes until softened. Add pear and macadamia nuts and stir.

Remove from heat and place in a medium bowl. Add orange juice and rind, tarragon and breadcrumbs. Mix well and season with salt and pepper.

When roulade is cooked, place a clean tea towel on the workbench and sprinkle with parmesan. Turn the roulade out onto the tea towel and peel off the baking paper.

Allow to cool for 2 minutes. Spread the spiced pumpkin over then spread the stuffing mixture on top. Use the tea towel to roll up the roulade, finishing with the seam side underneath. Remove the tea towel and place on a serving platter.

Serve with a simple garnish of watercress, blanched asparagus tips, pomegranate seeds and a drizzle of aged balsamic vinegar.

Panforte

Brigitte Hafner

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• 1-2 hours 
• Medium 
• Italian 
• Makes 1

A chewy nut- and fruit-filled Italian Christmas cake. Serve in thin slices with coffee.

• Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

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Ingredients

Brigitte Hafner's panforte.Photo: Marina Oliphant

• 600g blanched almonds
• 400g figs, roughly chopped
• 240g raisins
• 180g candied orange and lemon peel, chopped*
• 200g flour
• 2 tbsp Dutch cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp ground allspice
• 300g honey
• 250g sugar
• 300g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
• Rice paper for baking**

Method

Preheat oven to 185C. Prepare two 28cm x 18cm baking tins by greasing them then lining the bottom with rice paper.

Roast almonds in oven till golden brown. In a large bowl, mix the figs, raisins, candied fruit, flour, cocoa and spices.

In a pot over medium heat, melt the honey and sugar together until frothy. Stir to dissolve. In a microwave or over a pot of simmering water, gently melt the chocolate pieces, being careful not to overcook them.

Remove the hot roasted almonds from the oven and add to the mixed fruits and spices. Add the melted chocolate, then the honey. (It is easier to do all the mixing while ingredients are still hot.) Stir the mixture well with a wooden spoon.

Spoon the panforte mixture evenly into the two baking tins. With wet hands, press down to spread the mixture and make a smooth, flat surface. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Cool on a cake rack then cut into 3cm-wide pieces. Wrap with foil and store in an airtight container. Panforte will keep for a few weeks if stored this way.

* Instead of mixed peel, I prefer Italian candied fruit, available at continental and specialist delicatessens.
** Rice paper is available from most supermarkets.

Panforte bianco with pistachios, almonds and cherries

Karen Martini

all details

• 1-2 hours 
• Difficult 
• Italian 
• Serves Many

This version of panforte makes a perfect gift and a little goes a long way. Serve thin slices of it with coffee late on Christmas Day.

 
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Paneforte bliss: buy the best chocolate and fruit you can.Photo: Marina Oliphant

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Ingredients

100g blanched almonds

55g plain flour

10g cocoa powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

1½ tsp ground fennel

1½ tsp ground white pepper

140g Australian dried apricots, cut in quarters

120g dried cherries

100g shelled pistachio nuts, unsalted

2 tbsp amaretto or Frangelico

100g high-quality white chocolate, roughly chopped

200g honey

100g castor sugar

1 packet rice paper, to line tin (available from specialty food stores)

icing sugar, for dusting

extra cherries, pistachios, almonds and glace cherries (optional) for garnishing

Method

1. Roast almonds in a hot oven for 5 minutes. Blitz almonds in a food processor until well chopped (about 1 minute).

2. Sift flour and cocoa together into a bowl. Add the spices, dried fruit, ground almonds, pistachios, liqueur and the chopped chocolate and mix to combine evenly.

3. Preheat oven to 125C fan-forced (145C conventional).

4. In a saucepan over a low heat, bring honey and sugar to 118C (measure with a sugar thermometer, it will come to temperature quickly). Remove from the heat and pour straight over the flour, nut and fruit mix and combine quickly. The mixture will be quite stiff and hard to work, but persevere.

5. Press into a round, loose-bottomed cake tin about 20-22 centimetres, lined with rice paper and well dusted with icing sugar. Flatten the mix evenly into the tin and dust the top well with icing sugar. Decorate with extra almonds, pistachios and cherries. Bake for 25-30 minutes. It will swell slightly but won't brown; you might need to bake for longer depending on your oven.

6. Once well cooled, remove carefully from the tin and slice thinly to serve.

Note: The result really relies on the quality of the dried fruit and chocolate, so buy the best you can.