Christmas M & B style - a recap

So it's been a while huh? Quite a long while to be (non) specific! Thanks for still checking in and reading and cooking though. Hope you all had a lovely Christmas and are enjoying some time off with friends and family. We had our usual family lunch and present exchange on Christmas day. It's mayhem now with all the kids being ages 1 to 11, but of course, where kids and Christmas are paired, it is absolute gorgeously fun mayhem.

To get back on track before the new year, we thought we would have kind of a Christmas recap. For this post I'll share some pictures from our family Christmas lunch. No recipes, just food. Glorious food (that said, if you must have some recipes, please ask and we will see what we can do!). M will also be posting some Christmas treat recipes she prepared over the last few weeks.

Our family are chronic over-caterer's as you will see, a total first-world problem I realise, but it's kind of all part and parcel of celebrating Christmas for us. It's a a time when we are all reflecting on being thankful for what we have and for our loved ones and celebrating the year with them. So with that in mind, I present Christmas Day, Maude and Betty-style!

 

Maude made a delicious chunky guacamole, despite her distaste for avocado and tomato. It was served with corn tortillas that had been shallow fried and dusted with smoked paprika. 

 

Maude also made a delicious and refreshing watermelon fruit punch.

 

There was the usual potato salad, but this time with a spicy hommus twist!

 

Right on-trend, quinoa made the cut for the menu this year. This was a white quinoa and roast vegetable and feta salad with a lemon and mint dressing.

 

Turkey and stuffing. Need I say more?

 

A garden salad with prosciutto, eggs and parmesan. We're a bit of a Caeser salad loving group.

 

A gingerbread house was also constructed by Maude and her cherubs (apologies for the blurry pic!)

 

A chocolate and ginger ice-cream tart made the dessert menu.

 

Donna Hay's trifle cake also made the menu

 

Of course, is any good old Aussie family Christmas day complete without an actual trifle?

 

And last but not least, that gingerbread house again. Poor gingerbread man!

 

Season's Greetings! B x

Risoni Salad

Risoni salads rate highly on our menus. They are so versatile. There is no need to wait for a special occasion to produce this risoni salad, although I am sure it would be a welcome addition on any table at any time.

This particular version of the salad was actually sampled by Mother and Father of M and B at a reunion of their friends. They are a group of life long friends who gather at different venues at least annually and enjoy good food and wine. They consider all their reunions as special so I guess you could say that this was one of those events and the salad was obviously considered as "up there" as it is now a fixture on the menu for all their annual get togethers. It has also become a favourite with all the families since that revealing reunion many years ago. They might be our "grey nomads" but I can assure you that there is a great repertoire of culinary skills and recipes which I intend to share with you in the future.

I have already shared this recipe with some close friends and it has become a favourite with them. It goes well as a side dish with any meal and is quick and easy but above all, tasty.

I make this salad so often that I no longer refer to the recipe. Imagine my horror when I went to share this with you and had no real recipe to follow for the exact ingredient measurements. My good friend, Mrs K came to the rescue with the details!!! She had the original "over the phone jottings" which were dispatched to me immediately. Luckily I can interpret chicken scratch..........see below.

The flavours are spectacular. Although the spices coat each individual risoni grain, there is no overpowering  flavour. It's become a favourite of ours and hopefully will be one of yours as well. Thanks also to the "grey nomads". Keep swapping those recipes!!

You will need:
1 teaspoon ground cumin seeds
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon ground paprika ( I used sweet paprika)
1 cup of currants
1 red capsicum
1 70g packet of pine nuts toasted ( I could do with more pine nuts as when I toast them I can't help but taste a few along the way!)
1 cup of uncooked risoni
1 bunch of coriander
5 tablespoons of olive oil

 Add cup of risoni pasta to some boiling water and cook per instructions on the packet. Drain and run some cold water through the cooked risoni and set aside.

Place the pine nuts on a lined baking tray and heat your oven to 180 degrees and roast until lightly browned. (Be careful at this point and don't get distracted as they burn very quickly!!)

Wash and dice the capsicum finely, remember to remove the seeds.

In a fry pan heat the oil on medium heat and add spices and heat until fragrant, add currants and stir until the currants start to puff up into little balls (about a minute or two) remove from heat.

Add capsicum, pine nuts, spice/currants/oil to the risoni and mix so that all the grains of risoni are coated with the spices and oil. Add 1/2 cup coriander leaves and mix to combine.

I Love this salad!! M x