Monday, December 17, 2007

Share your Christmas day with us

For Jeremy and me, enjoying a meal is intrinsically linked to time spent with friends and family.

At Christmas, it all comes together in abundance. With the restaurant closed for the public holidays and a short break on the horizon, we can relax and catch up with the people we love.

My family always hosts Christmas Eve dinner and the numbers vary over the years, sometimes swelling to more than 30 people, when chairs, plates and cutlery are BYO. It seems the whole house is rearranged to accommodate the six-metre dining table but we all thrive on the activity and anticipation of one of the year's most special nights.

The kitchen is a hub of activity, perfectly orchestrated by mum, with jobs divvied out to anyone in a 10-metre radius. More than once I've rushed home from work to find a few mud crabs sitting nervously in the laundry sink waiting for me to prepare them as an entree or there's a turkey, duck and two chickens to be boned and stuffed. Our table was always filled with a mixture of family, friends and neighbours. The numbers may have shrunk a little these days and I'm not expecting any mud crabs in the sink this year but each dinner is as memorable as the last and this year, our son Hunter is just old enough to know Santa is coming.

See all Cuisine's Christmas recipes here

Posted by Monika Jansch at 11:00 AM | Comments 0

A mere Trifle, where anything goes...share your recipes.

Every family seems to have its own idea of the perfect trifle, and there is much to consider.

Sponge cake or sponge finger biscuits? Soaked in fruit juice or sweet wine? Macaroons or no macaroons? Jam or jelly - or neither?

Then there is the custard. With a tiny bit of cornflour or none? Custard poured onto the bottom layer while hot, or custard cooled completely and poured onto set jelly? A topping of whipped cream or syllabub?

Anything goes. It pays not to take the high moral ground - discuss, taste and muse over all the permutations.

A universal point is that all trifles are best approached with a long-handled spoon so that one can plunge through to the bottom rather than eat one layer at a time.

I have my idea of the perfect trifle. I like jam but not jelly. Occasionally fruit, but often none. The recipe in The Cook's Companion contains peaches.

I like crushed macaroons, soaked sponge and a good sherry - lifted with a sho of brandy or dry marsala.

Strawberries have little pectin, which is why strawberry jam is usually pretty runny, but the flavour is superb. Runny strawberry jam is absolutely perfect for trifle making.

Share of of your favourite trifle combinations or see some of our trifle recipes on cuisine.com.au

Posted by Monika Jansch at 10:55 AM | Comments 0