Weekend Foodie: Festive dishes you can make ahead for easy entertaining
Festive spiced rice is a real crowd pleaser and works well as part of a buffet.
This weekend, I’m digging out one from the archives which is a crowd pleaser.
This spicy rice dish based on the Indian Biryani makes the perfect help yourself dish for a casual get together.
It works great on its own as a main course, served with naan bread and all the Indian pickles and chutneys.
But it can also be part of a buffet selection, made in advance and reheated when needed.
I also love the festive colours it brings to the table.
This particular recipe is based on veggies, but it also doubles as a great way to use up leftover turkey, adding torn pieces of the cooked meat to the vegetable base.
For pudding, it is one of my favourite desserts of all time. The Creme Brulee for me is a perfect pud, a small ramekin of super sweetness with its crackly caramel top which you crack open to get to the soft baked custard filling inside. This recipe has the addition of blueberries to give it a lovely fruit base. Again, it’s one you can prepare in advance and leave chilling until you’re ready to serve, so its handy for Christmas entertaining.
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
- 1 fat finger fresh rootginger, grated
- 1 small red chilli, seeded and finely chopped
- 1 small head cauliflower, separated into florets
- 350g baby potatoes, cooked and halved
- 1-2 tbsp mild curry paste
- 200g chopped tomatoes
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 200g basmati rice, rinsed
- Good handful baby spinach leaves
- 450mls vegetable stock
- Snipped semi dried apricots, chopped nuts and mixed seeds to decorate
- Heat oil in a pan and fry onions, garlic, ginger and chilli until soft but not browned.
- Add cauliflower florets and potatoes and stir to mix.
- Stir in curry paste to coat everything evenly.
- Cook for 2 minutes, stirring.
- Add chopped tomatoes and stir through.
- Transfer to an ovenproof dish.
- Season.
- Add rice and spinach and stir through the veggies.
- Pour over stock.
- Cover with a lid or tin foil, ensuring no gaps.
- Bake in a preheated oven, Gas 4 375F 180C until the vegetables are tender and rice is fluffy.
- Keep an eye for liquid levels.
- You may need to add more stock if the rice isn’t quite cooked.
- Serve garnished with chopped nuts, seeds and snipped apricots.
***
- 4 tbsp fresh blueberries
- 300mls cream
- Few drops vanilla essence
- 2 fresh free range egg yolks
- 2 tbsp caster sugar
- 2 tbsp soft brown sugar for topping
Divide berries between four small ramekin dishes.
Heat the cream with vanilla essence until just about to bubble.
Whisk the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl.
Whisk in the heated cream.
Pour into ramekins and set in a roasting tray. Fill with water to come halfway up the sides of the dishes.
Bake in a pre-heated oven at Gas 3 160C 325F for about 30 minutes, or until the custards are set but still a little wobbly in the centre.
Remove and cool. Chill.
When ready to serve, sprinkle tops of the brulees evenly with brown sugar.
Place under a preheated grill to brown and bubble.
Remove and cool till tops are crackly. Serve with extra berries on the side.
This flavourful spiced rice dish based on the Indian Biriyani needs a big red wine to match. They don’t come bigger than the mighty Shiraz from Australia. This weekend, I’m going for Barossa Valley Shiraz 2021 as a great festive go-with for this dish. The Barossa Valley in south Australia is well known for its wines, with optimum conditions to grow great grapes. Shiraz, or Syrah as its known in France, is one of Australia's most famous grapes. This grape produces big, bold red wines with that typical hint of black pepper spice and deep blackberry and cassis fruit. It will handle this spicy rice dish no problem. Try it also with Christmas spiced beef and some of the bolder mature cheddar cheeses of the season. This wine is part of the Deluxe range of wines at Lidl and is priced at €8.99 a bottle.
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