It had been such a long time since the last meet up, but worth the wait! Jamie did us proud, as did Tracey, with musical cracker entertainment to put us in the Christmas mood.

Starters

Karen – Prawn and avocado salad

Tim tested a lot of the different iterations of Karen’s starter! The avocado was blitzed with yogurt, which made it very light, but quite sharp which was surprising.

Sue – Halloumi salad with broad beans

This included mustard, tomato and capers. It was really light and tasty, with honey in the dressing that lent a lovely sweetness. We agreed it could be a great Christmas starter. Sorry I didn’t get a photo, Sue!

Mains

Justine – Chicken and chorizo bake

This was from Superfood Family Classic, on whose cover Jamie looks very young! Justine chose it because it was colourful, and added extra sweet potatoes. It was spicy and tasty with the cayenne pepper and chilli extras.

Tracey – Cod and peppers

This was from Jamie’s brand new book – Mediterranean five ingredients. It used cod, peppers, leek, orange juice and oregano. Easy, quick and tasty.

Sides

Julie – stuffing

Julie chose this as a carb based side to complement the salad. It used tinned peaches as the fruity aspect. The recipe suggested minced pork shoulder, but instead Julie used sausage meat.

Jane – orange fennel and almond salad

This was light, tasty and very easy, except for shaving the fennel which was a fiddle. Possibly worth it though, as it meant the salad didn’t have big chunks of fennel in it.

Puddings

Janet – lemon cheesecake from One

Given the cheesecake was covered in raspberries, its title was surprising. It had a biscoff base that was baked in advance, then cream cheese, lemon juice, sugar, vanilla with raspberry puree swirled through. Then icing sugar on top, grilled as if a creme brûlée. It was less dense than a normal baked cheesecake.

Debrah – pineapple with mint sugar

This was from 15 minute Jamie. The pineapple was finely cut with blueberries and pomegranate. The mint sugar was made with a pestle and mortar and looked like pesto. It worked beautifully to add as a bit of zing with some extra lime juice.