Super-simple is the order of the day for the extended whanau.
Ahhh, Christmas. Our favourite time of the year. For us, Christmas has always been about family, food and losing the ball off the swingball before lunch. Some years, we have our extended whanau "up the top", the house our grandparents built, and the spread is epic. Children are scattered around the backyard playing with their new toys, the kitchen is full of adults prepping sides for whatever is on the barbecue and teenagers are setting the tables. It is controlled chaos and we love it.
Other years we enjoy a smaller Christmas with our parents, sister, three aunties, uncles and three cousins. This means we can have a super-cruisy day and go at our own pace.
We still have Penni, Guy and Aunty Wai, Adam and Tamatea for their mid-morning visit but when it's time to eat, it's just a smaller contingent of hungry Birds.
We try to keep the menu super-simple with our quintessential Kiwi Christmas favourites. Christmas is the day where we don't want to be spending all our time in the kitchen so we are sharing our favourite recipes that enable you to still enjoy a festive lunch and spend as much time with the ones you love.
Whatever you are doing and whoever you are with, we want to wish you a Merry Christmas. We hope your day is stress-free, full of smiles, laughter and satisfied tummies.
Butterfly barbecue chicken
When we have our bigger Christmas gatherings our mum will roast four large chickens which can take a while. This year, we plan to butterfly a large bird, marinate it the night before and chuck it on the Webber (you can use a normal barbecue or course). This way all the prep is done the night before and the chicken will be done in less than an hour.
1 To butterfly the chicken, place it breast-side down on a chopping board, feel where the back bone runs down the chicken, then cut down either side of the bone all the way and remove. Turn over and flatten the chicken by pressing down firmly.
2 Mix together the marinade ingredients and rub all over both sides of the chicken. Leave to marinate in the fridge overnight.
3 Heat the oven to 190C. Remove the chicken from the fridge and allow to come to room temperature. Season well with salt and pepper.
4 Heat a barbecue on high. Once the barbecue is hot, add the chicken, skin side down. Sear the outside for 10 minutes on each side. Turn and brown the underside of the chicken. Remove from the barbecue and cook in the oven for 25 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the juices run clear. Serve with some extra wedges of lemon.
Our family Christmas spread always features seafood. The difficult thing is agreeing on what - some want the side of salmon, others want mussels and pipi. Garlic prawns are always a favourite with our youngest cousin Enoka and calamari is Aunty Nicky's pick, so this year we decided that we would create these seafood skewers. This way there is a bit of something to please everyone. They are super-simple to make and you can use whatever seafood your family prefers.
Serves 6
24 mussels, shelled 2 salmon fillets, cut in to 3cm cubes 12 scallops 2 calamari tubes, sliced 2cm thick ¼ cup olive oil 3 garlic cloves, minced ¼ cup parsley, chopped Juice of ½ lemon Skewers, soaked in water if wooden
1 Place the seafood in a large bowl and add the olive oil, garlic, parsley and lemon juice. Mix and set aside for 30 minutes.
2 Skewer the different seafood on to the skewers, creating any combination or mix of seafood you like on each. Season well with salt and pepper.
3 Heat a grill pan or barbecue to high. Lightly oil the pan or barbecue before cooking the skewers. These will cook very quickly - about 1 minute each side or until the seafood is just cooked through. Finish with another squeeze of lemon to serve.
Dessert is our dad's favourite so we must have something that satiates his sweet tooth and still be light and fruity enough to please our aunties. Our dad will love the pastry and creaminess of this tart and the gorgeous, juicy berries will keep our aunties happy. You can bake the pie shell the night before (or buy one pre-made) and have the mascarpone mix all ready to go so that on the day it is just a matter of assembly. It looks really grand sitting in the middle of the table.
½ cup cream ½ cup icing sugar 3 tsp vanilla extract 400g mascarpone 1 large sweet tart shell (approx 28cm) 10 strawberries, quartered 1 punnet raspberries 1 punnet blueberries 2 Tbsp strawberry jam
1 Whip the cream with the icing sugar and vanilla until medium peaks form.
2 Whip the mascarpone until smooth then gently fold through the whipped cream.
3 Spread the mascarpone mix in to the tart shell evenly. Layer the berries on top.
4 Mix the strawberry jam with 2 Tbsp hot water to make a loose syrup. Using a pastry brush, brush the syrup over the fruit to create a glaze. Serve.
