Festive fare – Menu inspiration. 

It certainly is beginning to look a lot like Christmas, especially here on Off Beet! These recipes are just some of my favourite menu items that I love to make for special occasions. Because at the end of the day, you should only be making food you love eating. My motto is to keep it simple in the kitchen, no frills kind of cooking. 

I shot and recreated the recipes a few months ago already in preparation for my Food&Home Magazine feature, which was for the ‘Blogger of the Month feature. Just another week or two till you can get the copy off of shelves. I had a lot of fun shooting the recipes and the excitement was something I really couldn’t contain. I don’t own any sort of Christmas decor, so I had to borrow some festive decor from family. I am still buzzing from the feature and feel that this is only the start of a budding career. 
The recipe for the Pork Belly, is from one of my favourite cookbooks, Nopi By Yotam Ottolenghi. Recipe for the Garlic and rosemary Duck Fat roasted potatoes is one I have developed. I love this recipe so much, that it would probably be my last meal on Earth. The recipe for the meringue covered tropical Bundt cake was adapted from Nigella Lawson’s Thyme and Lemon Bundt cake recipes rom the cookbook Simply Nigella, both of which is unfortunately not available online but can both be found in the books. The beetroot cured Salmon, fennel and gooseberry salad is a great option for an entrée. 

For the beetroot cure, in a food processor or NutriBullet blitz two baby beet roots or one beetroot with a little water to make the mixture watery, place the salmon slices(I had 50g of salmon)  in the beetroot mixture with a pinch of salt and a pinch of sugar, leave in the fridge to cure and soak up the beautiful beet colour. Assemble salad and place salmon on top of all ingredients, to add a creamy texture I added Ricotta to the salad. 

For me, Christmas won’t be the same, without crispy crackling pork belly and duck fat roast potatoes. 
What are your signature dishes for Christmas?