It’s a little over a week until Christmas and you’ve got final numbers, done the stocktake, delegated where possible and polished the gravel. Now is the time for some fine tuning.
We’re getting close to the pointy end of the Christmas tree. This week is the time for final decisions: dining room or garden party? Royal Worcester or disposable plates? Plated up or serve yourself? It’s also the week for finalising the all-important final menu.
Day 15: Check the long range weather forecast
You may need to reassess any outdoor celebrations if the weather is looking dodgy. If using the barbecue, check the grill is clean and the gas bottle is full. How far away is it from the kitchen or dining area? If the barbecue is mobile, it might be wise to move it closer to the action. Beware of hosting a rooftop terrace barbecue: it sounds like a great idea but carrying things up and down stairs all day is hard physical labour.
Day 16: Road test new recipes
I have written about the folly of launching new acts on opening night. That’s what the dress rehearsal is for. And this is where your nearest and dearest make themselves useful. If the practice meal is less than successful, they might consider themselves canaries down the mine. But in the case of week 1’s twice-baked goat’s cheese soufflés, the consumption of soufflés four nights in a row was deemed no hardship by my own canary.
Day 17: Decide on the meal service
Individual plating up is strictly one for the dietary-requirement-free (of whom there are exactly none in my social circle). If you are lucky enough to qualify, make sure you mobilise your army of volunteer helpers. The path from kitchen to dining area will be well-worn by day’s end, as will your patience when picky eaters leave the unloved elements of your culinary efforts to one side.
Help-yourself is my preferred option as the guest gets to choose what and how much they put on their plate. There are a number of help-yourself styles to choose from and each has its positives and negatives.
Placing serve-yourself dishes in the centre of the dinner table has the advantage of proximity to diners, but may create more problems, as polite guests serve everyone around them before helping themselves, while hungry guests circle like vultures, swooping on their prey when they see a dish they fancy.
And if the guest list is long, you’d better have a dining table the size of a billiard table to accommodate all those place settings and all those platters. Or possibly a giant lazy Susan. My family had both. (Please note: A lazy Susan with protruding implements should never be spun on a table laden with glassware nor should it be used to transport open wine bottles from one side of the table to the other.)
For large numbers, buffet-style service away from the dining table is my preference. I recommend the kitchen bench over a sideboard to limit the food miles and step count. As a host, it also forces you to clean your kitchen bench as you go and allows you to take your time putting out the room temperature food, and serve the hot items at the last minute. If the kitchen bench is close to the dining table, it will encourage guests to go back for seconds. Under no circumstances should you offer to top up anyone’s plate. It sets an undesirable precedent.
Day 18: Consider the seating arrangements
Whether it’s a gathering of the usual suspects every year, a movable feast, or a bit of both, where you seat guests can be important. Do you want fireworks or festive goodwill?
It’s long been a tradition in my family to stake your claim at the table by placing your half-full pre-dinner tipple next to that of your favourite relative. This random approach can result in oil-and-water pairings for inexperienced or slow-off-the-mark guests, and disconsolate outliers at the fringes. In my experience, placenames can do wonders.
Day 19: Finalise the menu
Our minimum standard of success (the same headcount before and after the meal) requires us not to inadvertently poison anyone. With that in mind, the following is a list of five options for your Christmas mains that cover the broad gamut of allergies and dietary requirements:
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Lactose-, gluten-, egg-, soy- or nut-free: Last week’s Swedish crispbread recipe can be paired with a range of dips, cheeses and crudités, depending on how many of the hyphenated descriptors your guests have ticked. Appealing presentation is key when choices are limited.
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Vegan: Whole roasted cauliflower (pictured above). It slices well, can be prepared ahead of time and doubles as a side dish for the non-vegans. Everyone will want what the vegans are having.
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Vegetarian: Roasted vegetable couscous salad with spiced dressing. Start with a layer of fluffy couscous, top with whatever vegetables you’ve roasted and some handfuls of mixed salad leaves for crunch and finish with some crumbled goat’s cheese. (I recommend Meredith marinated cheese. Whatever you choose, make sure it is made using non-animal rennet, and save that marinating oil to make your Swedish crispbread.) Make a spiced dressing: combine 110ml extra virgin olive oil, a teaspoon of cayenne pepper, two tablespoons of ground cumin, two heaped tablespoons of tomato puree and the juice of two limes, then drizzle over the salad.
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Pescatarian: Hot- or cold-smoked trout platter. The beauty of hot-smoked trout is that it can be served cold or at room temperature, and sliced thinly or flaked into pieces, then served with a range of delicious accompaniments: blanched asparagus, Lebanese cucumbers (thinly sliced), avocado (thinly sliced and gently pressed to fan out), just-set boiled eggs, cherry tomatoes, basil sprigs, lots of lemon wedges, plus mayonnaise, creme fraiche and dill (all of the last three combine into a delicious creamy dressing). Throw in some of that Swedish crispbread and you have one of my all-time favourite meals.
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Omnivore or carnivore: Thai-style beef salad, which takes its cues from Thailand’s yum neua. (See recipe below.) Serve on a platter, or with the ingredients in separate bowls allow the vegans, vegetarians, peanut non-consumers and coriander-haters to choose their own versions.
Day 20: Let’s cook
Let’s get ahead on some components of the beef salad.
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The lime-herb dressing: make this week if you want to freeze it. (I’ve done this before and it’s perfectly fine.) Or, make it two days ahead and store in the fridge.
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Toast the peanuts up to a week before.
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Thai-style beef salad – complete and assemble on the day.
Thai-style beef salad with sugar snap peas and lime-herb dressing – recipe
(Pictured above)
In the days leading up to my son’s wedding, I fed 22 guests at a sit down dinner in my small living room. This was a celebration and a meet-the-in-laws rolled into one. The stakes were high and this salad delivered. Of all the personal messages of thanks I received, the one of which I am most proud was written by the brother of the bride-to-be (unbeknownst to me a lifelong loather of salad). It read: “I like salad!!!”
Serves 8
700-800g beef fillet
1-2 tbsp olive oil
200g sugar snap peas or snow peas (2 large handfuls), trimmed
400g salad mix (4 large handfuls), ideally with baby cos lettuce and baby tatsoi
1 large red or yellow capsicum, thinly sliced into long strips
1 large carrot, thinly sliced into long strips
4 French shallots (also known as red shallots or eschallots), thinly sliced
4 red chillies, julienned
1⅓ cup dry-roasted peanuts (you can buy them dry roasted or toast them yourself ahead of time)
250g red or yellow cherry tomatoes
For the dressing
1 cup chopped coriander leaves, plus extra for garnish
3 garlic cloves, chopped
3 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp fish sauce
60g palm sugar, roughly chopped (you can substitute with brown or white sugar)
Preheat the oven to 220C/200C fan. Trim the silvery membrane from the beef fillet by carefully inserting a sharp knife underneath the membrane, gently lifting the knife to encouraging the membrane to peel away. This reduces shrinkage and the likelhood of tough meat. Don’t stress over this – just do what you can.
In an ovenproof skillet or pan – large enough to hold the beef fillet – add the olive oil, and heat over medium-high heat until the oil starts to shimmer. Carefully sear the beef on one side for no more than 20 seconds, then turn over the beef to sear the other side.
Place the skillet in the oven and roast for about 20 minutes or until 63C on a meat thermometer (for medium-rare). (Remember the meat will continue to cook after it’s removed from the oven.) Wrap in foil and leave to rest for at least 20 minutes and up to an hour.
While the beef is resting, bring a large pot of water to the boil. Add the sugar snap peas (or snow peas, if using) and simmer for 20 seconds. Drain in a colander or spin dry in a salad spinner.
To make the dressing, in a food processor, combine the coriander, garlic, soy sauce, lime juice, fish sauce and sugar until smooth.
Slice the beef across the grain. (I prefer thick slices.) On a large platter, arrange a bed of salad mix, followed by the capsicum and carrots. Arrange the slices of beef on top, then garnish with shallots, chillies, peanuts, tomatoes, sugar snap peas and coriander. Just before serving, pour over the dressing.