The holiday season is just about upon us, (14 more sleeps until the big man slides down the chimney, not that I’m counting…) So we thought we would compile our list of our favourite Christmas dishes for your taste buds. Perhaps you want to try something new on the Christmas table this year? Or maybe you want an easy-to-make dish that you can get the kids involved in. Either way, we have something for you. Read on, and try not to drool on your keyboard.
Gingerbread Christmas Baubles

A delicious and very cute way to decorate your Christmas tree, Gail from our office stole this recipe from a blog, but loves to recreate it every year.
125g butter, at room temperature
100g (1/2 cup, firmly packed) brown sugar
125ml (1/2 cup) golden syrup
1 egg, separated plus 1 extra egg white
3 to 3 1/2 cups plain flour
1 tbs ground ginger
1 tsp mixed spice
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
Plain flour, to dust
300g (2 cups) pure icing sugar, sifted
Food colouring as desired
Method
1. Line 2 or 3 baking trays with baking paper
2. Use an electric beater to beat the butter and sugar in a bowl until pale and creamy. Add the golden syrup and egg yolk and beat until combined. Stir in the flour, ginger, mixed spice and bicarbonate of soda. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Press dough into a disc. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to rest.
3. Meanwhile, place egg whites in a clean, dry bowl. Use an electric beater to beat until soft peaks form. Gradually add icing sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Divide icing into separate bowls depending on the desired number of icing colours you want including one white just in case. Set aside.
4. Preheat oven to 180°C. Place the dough between 2 sheets of baking paper and roll out until about 4mm thick. Use cutters to cut out shapes. Place on trays about 3cm apart. Repeat with any excess dough.
5. Bake in oven for 10 minutes or until brown. Remove from oven. Transfer to a rack to cool and poke holes in top to loop string through. I used the pointy end of a Japanese chopstick (thinner at the bottom than Chinese chopsticks).
6. Place prepared icings in small plastic bags (or use bought icing pens). Cut a small hole in a corner of each bag. Pipe icing over bauble to decorate.
P.S. These will become soft if the weather is humid which may cause them to fall from the tree. I know this from first hand experience as yesterday was hum
Seriously Yum Chicken Curry and Rice Dish

Thanks to Liz’s Dad Jim, we’ve been give this delicious and ‘seriously yum’ chicken curry and rice dish. Thanks Jim!
2 onions
2 cloves garlic
3 tbls vegetable oil
6 chicken thighs
Copious amounts of Clive of India curry powder (apparently you can never have enough!)
½ – ¾ cup of basmati rice
Chilli flakes or finely diced fresh chilli (to taste)
Enough chicken stock to cover the entire dish (1-2 litres, just make sure you cover all the rice and chicken when they’re in the casserole dish)
Method
1. Finely slice two onions and two garlic cloves and gently fry them in a small amount of vegetable oil until the onions are soft and translucent.
2. Purchase six chicken thighs. You could if you so desire cut up some chicken breasts and use these in addition to the chicken thighs.
3. Place the chicken thighs in a plastic bag with copious amounts of Clive of India curry powder. You cannot have enough curry powder. Make sure all the chicken thighs are fully coated and covered with the curry powder.
4. Place the chicken thighs (sliced chicken breast) in the frypan and gently brown on both sides. When browned remove these from the frypan.
5. Sprinkle frypan with a little bit more curry powder and oil. Add half to three quarters of a cup full of basmati rice to the frypan and gently simmer for a short period. This is to soak up all the curry powder flavour from the pan.
6. Add some chilli flakes or finely slice a chilli to give the dish a little bit more bite.
7. Return the chicken thighs, onions, chilli and garlic to the pan and mix well.
8. Place all ingredients in a casserole dish.
9. Generously cover all ingredients with chicken stock and place the casserole dish in your oven at 180°C.
10. Allow the dish to bake for approximately 30 min or until all the chicken stock has been fully absorbed by the rice. If the dish becomes a little bit dried out add some more chicken stock.
Christmas Biryani

Our intern Rory is from a Sri Lankan household, so his family likes to bring together their culture with more traditional Christmas dishes, such as baked ham and Christmas pudding. Yum! (And I digress, the above picture is not the actual dish. However we wish we did have it in the office right now!)
Ingredients (serves 4)
300g (1 1/2 cups) long-grain rice
40ml (2 tbs) olive oil
1 onion, finely sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tsp grated fresh ginger
4 chicken breasts, cut into 2cm dice
1/2 tsp ground chilli
1 tsp ground cumin
2 cinnamon sticks
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground coriander
6 fresh curry leaves (optional)*
150ml thick plain yoghurt
1 tsp white sugar
3 tbs sultanas
3 tbs slivered almonds, toasted
1/3 cup roughly chopped coriander leaves
Method
1. Cook the rice in salted water for 8 minutes, then drain and set aside.
2. Heat the oil in a large frypan over medium heat, add the onion and cook for 1-2 minutes or until softened. Add the garlic, ginger and chicken, and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes. Add the spices, curry leaves, yoghurt, sugar and sultanas, stir for 1 minute, then reduce heat to very low.
3. Place the rice on top of the sauce. Cover the top of the pan with a folded tea towel, then place the lid on top of the tea towel. Cook for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to sit for 10 minutes. Remove lid, add nuts and half the coriander and stir well to combine.
Garnish with the remaining coriander, and offer chutney and sliced tomatoes and onions with the dish.
What are your favourite Christmas dishes? Do you stay traditional, or do you incorporate new flavours and different cultures into your Christmas dinner? Join the discussion over on our Facebook page!
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