Christmas Seafood in the Tropics and a Seafood Sauce Recipe

This year Christmas was in warm tropical Cairns in Far North Queensland, so a departure from the traditional style Christmas lunch was inevitable. Fresh seafood which is so plentiful and locally caught was the obvious choice. 

Christmas fruit cakes

7.      

These rich fruit cakes will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 months. They are also suitable to freeze. I like to decorate cakes with ribbons if preparing for gifts.

Basil Pesto with Semi Sundried Tomatoes

With the festive season upon us, Christmas drinks accompanied by fine cheeses and other accompaniments will be more popular than ever. A tasty and healthy pesto adds variety to the standard cheese platter and is so easy and economical to make, especially if you grow your own herbs.  

Lemon Crispies

This Lemon Crispy biscuit slice is a family favourite. When our children were still living at home,
we would always love travelling to visit my Mum in Rockhampton, knowing that there would be home baked cakes, biscuits and slices waiting for us on arrival. She was a great sweets cook. 

Easy Baked Chicken Casserole

Chicken casserole lends itself to easy, healthy, weeknight meals, created in one dish. This one is baked in an open dish, and can then be placed in a casserole dish to serve and be kept warm. I am realising more and more however, how important it is to buy good quality organic, free range chicken fillet, as the chicken is definitely more tender and tasty after being cooked.

Low Fat Coconut Butter Chicken from scratch

How delicious is this curry? It's so easy to make your own curry paste, without needing to resort to a bottled paste, and so much more packed with flavour.

Healthy Macaroni Cheese

Macaroni Cheese is a favourite dish of most people, and the ultimate form of comfort food. Unfortunately, eating too much of the traditional recipe which includes bacon and cream isn't really a healthy option.

The following recipe substitutes ham for bacon and light evaporated milk for cream, and is still tasty. You won't really notice any difference.

This is also very easy to cook when you are travelling.

Serves 6.

200g lean good quality ham (replacing 8 rashers bacon)
1 onion, diced
450g macaroni
1/2 cup reduced fat cheese, grated (replacing parmesan cheese)
300ml light evaporated milk (replacing cream)
Black pepper
Spray oil (instead of 2 tbsp. oil)
1 teaspoon dijon mustard (optional)

Method:

1. Chop the ham into chunks.  Fry ham in pan over medium heat with the onion until crispy, remove and then drain on a paper towel.
2. Boil a large pot of water and cook the macaroni for 9-10 minutes or until al dente. Drain the macaroni in a colander and return to the pot to keep warm adding a small amount of the drained liquid to keep the pasta moist.
3. Mix the cheese and evaporated milk in a bowl, add the mustard, then add the ham and onion. Pour over the pasta in the pot and toss gently with tongs.
4. Return the pan to a very low heat and cook approximately for 2 minutes, or until sightly thickened. Season with black pepper.

If you are feeling a little indulgent, add a small serve of grated parmesan over the dish for extra flavour, not that the dish needs it.