MIX IT UP THIS CHRISTMAS, WITH A FESTIVE BRUNCH

Top chef Jackie Cameron offers fabulous recipes in our webinar series

FRANK CHEMALY

Stumped about what to do this Christmas? Top chef Jackie Cameron, of the Jackie Cameron School of Food and Wine, has a few suggestions on creating a fabulous Christmas brunch.

Impress your household with your culinary skills in a menu that includes a trio of starters. There’s onion and parsley fish cake baubles, with a rocket, apple, fennel, cucumber and lime salad with green mayonnaise, or a beetroot, apple and fresh cheese salad with garlic chips and roasted walnuts. Here you even make your own ricotta. Then there’s a Christmas pork pie with apple purée, and julienne fresh apples and mustard seeds.

Mains features a roast beef soufflé omelette filled with soy fried mushrooms, mornay and cranberry sauce, prune compôte and Izaqheqhe (curd).

For dessert, look forward to a New Age Baked Alaska with berry gel, dried black pepper meringue and seasonal fresh berries. Make your own chocolate brownies and chocolate semi-fredo with an Italian meringue for the Alaska. Chef Jackie will show you how to whip it up effortlessly in the webinar.

The Soup

Creamy pumpkin coconut soup

Ingredients:

1 small very finely chopped shallot 2 cups pumpkin purée 1 clove crushed garlic 2 tablespoon Maple Syrup ½ can coconut milk 1 cup vegetable broth (add more if too thick) ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon ¼ teaspoon allspice Dash of cayenne pepper or hot Hungarian Paprika Salt pepper to taste Method: In a medium saucepan, over medium heat, sauté the diced shallot and garlic until soft and golden brown. Add the pumpkin purée; vegetable broth; maple syrup; coconut milk; cinnamon; allspice; hot Hungarian paprika or cayenne (optional). Salt and pepper to taste. Stir all ingredients together and cook for 15 minutes on medium heat.

The Salad

Christmas morning requires something special yet speedy. Go seasonal with an avocado salad.

Citrus salad with avocado (Serves: 4)

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice 1 ½ teaspoons finely chopped shallot 1 teaspoon honey ¼ teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 3 medium oranges, preferably a mix of varieties such as cara cara, blood, and navel The flesh of 1 ripe avocado, thinly sliced ¼ cup fresh coriander leaves, for garnish

Method:

Whisk together the oil, lemon juice, shallot, honey, salt, and pepper in a liquid measuring cup to form an emulsified dressing. Slice off the top and bottom of orange, standing it on one cut end. Make a series of downward cuts as you work around the fruit, to remove the peel and all white pith. Repeat with the remaining oranges, then slice them crosswise into thin rounds. Discard any pits. Arrange the orange slices on individual plates. Fan out or arrange the avocado on top. Drizzle each portion with the dressing and scatter coriander leaves over the salads, and serve.

Roast up a whole turkey. A whole turkey is great for a few people and will give you generous portions.

Turkey on the Weber

Ingredients:

1 free-range turkey 2 litres brine 2 onions 4 cloves garlic 150g streaky bacon (or pancetta) 50g butter 100g chicken livers 500g pork sausage meat 1⁄4 loaf white bread 3 eggs 10g fresh sage Salt and pepper Olive oil

Method:

Cut off the turkey’s legs and thighs, remove the skin and bones. Cut the meat into chunks and feed through a mincer. Cut out the spine using poultry shears, leaving the breast on the bone. Remove the wings (freeze the wings and backbone to use for stock in the future). Put the breast into the brine and leave in the fridge overnight. Finely chop the onions and garlic and dice the bacon or pancetta. Gently fry them in butter in a saucepan. When the onions are translucent, remove and allow to cool. Roughly chop the chicken livers and combine them with the sausage meat and minced turkey. Blitz the bread, crusts removed, into fresh bread crumbs in a food processor, then add these and the eggs to the meat. Add the cooled onion mixture and chopped sage to the meat mixture and season to taste. Shape the mixture into a roll, cover with tin foil and leave in the fridge overnight. On the day. Remove the turkey breast from the brine and pat dry with kitchen paper, brush with a little olive oil, and season. Put the breast skin-side up, together with the roll of stuffing, on a Weber over indirect coals. Close the lid, leaving the top and bottom vents open, and cook for approximately 90 minutes (use a meat thermometer – it’s done when the internal temperature is about 80°C). When the breast and stuffing are cooked, they need to rest for about 30 minutes. To keep them warm, wrap the breast in foil and put both in an empty cooler box and close the lid. Once the bird is well-rested, bring it to the table and carve.

Top chef Jackie Cameron offers fabulous recipes in our webinar series

● Midlands born and raised, Cameron was head chef at Hartford House from 2002 until 2014, after a stint at the Mount Grace. She graduated from the Christina Martin School of Food and Wine in 2001 and has won numerous awards including Eat Out’s national Top 10 status four times. She has also appeared on MasterChef SA, Top Billing, and with Justin Bonello in The Ultimate Braai Master.

Cameron’s culinary career has taken her across the world where she has represented South Africa at exhibitions. She has published two books – Jackie Cameron Cooks at Home and Baking with Jackie Cameron. Today, she is passing on her knowledge and experience to the next generation of chefs at her school in Hilton.