For a mouth-watering main meal why not try this sumptuous Christmas ham with all the trimmings? It will most certainly be enjoyed by all.

The wonderful thing about this dish is that it’s so super easy to prepare and looks stunning when you serve it on a wide white platter dish accompanied by seasonal apple cider vinegar roasted vegetables.

Decorate with a Christmassy tartan ribbon bound around fresh rosemary for a visually elegant feast.

Gluten Free Glazed Christmas Ham with Rosemary

Serves 8

What you’ll need:

• 1 large leg of ham on the bone
• 6 cloves garlic unpeeled
• 1 packet whole cloves
• Filtered water for baking
• 1 TBS peppercorns
• Sea Salt to taste
• Rosemary for decoration

Glaze

• 1 tsp stevia powder or to taste
• ½ cup Apple Cider Vinegar
• ½ tsp Ground Cinnamon
• 6 TBS sugar-free seeded mustard
• 4 tablespoons ripe fresh apricots or peaches smashed (optional)

Method:

• Preheat Oven to 160 Celsius
• Remove the skin from the leg of ham place your finger between the rind and the fat, and move back and forth while gently removing the skin with your other hand
• Score the ham in a criss-cross diamond pattern with a knife just cutting into the fat 2cm apart
• Place the cloves into the diamond points in the ham and sprinkle with peppercorns, and sea salt
• Now it’s time to make the glaze, place apricots, mustard, ACV, cinnamon and stevia into a small saucepan and whisk over a high heat, bringing it to the boil. Cook for 5 minutes to reduce the glaze. The consistency should be like syrup.  Remove from heat
• Place the ham on a roasting dish grate with 1 inch of water beneath it in the pan and spoon the glaze over the top of the ham
• Place in the oven and bake for 2 ½ hours basting every half an hour
• After 1 ½ hours place whole unpeeled garlic into baking dish
• Remove when golden brown let sit and cool then decorate with fresh rosemary

Merry Christmas!

Japanese Daikon Paper Rolls

I'm turning up I'm turning down I'm turning in I'm turning out... I  love these Japanese Vegetarian Daikon Rolls. I really think so.

This is the ultimate Japanese dish for rookies with no conveyor belt, high chair or colour coded plate in sight.

If you're bored with inside-out-rolls or  criss-cross mayo filled bento boxes with hot-to-make-you-trot wasabi and wheat-ladened soy sauce, why not bring the outside in with this alternative gate to plate, raw vegetable kick-starter.

It's a wonderful get-real party starter and all round healthy alternative to traditional deep fried spring roll temptations that follow you round endlessly on a platter  at a social gathering or event begging for attention.

When you're dealing with fresh herbs and vegetables you can't go wrong...

The Party Guests

• 1 large daikon radish
• 1 lemon juiced
• 2 long spring onions sliced lengthways
• Warm water for soaking daikon papers
• 1 cucumber, peeled and julienned
• 1 knob ginger, peeled and julienned
• 1 long yellow capsicum
• 1 long red capsicum
• 1 TBS wheat free tamari (optional)
• 3 TBS apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 tsp sesame oil
• 1/2 cup snow pea shoots
• 1 cup bean sprouts
• ½ cup fresh coriander leaves
• 1/3 cup fresh mint leaves
• 1 lime juiced

How to Get the Party Started...

Hard at Work

Peel daikon. Using a mandolin or peeler, slice thinly into 5cm x 7cm rolls.

I Could Have Done With a Bigger Peeler or a Mandolin

Soak daikon paper rolls in a bowl of lemon juice and warm water for 20 mins.

How Do you Say Julienne in Japanese?

In the meantime place julienned cucumber, capsicum, spring onion, ginger, snow pea shoots, ACV, sesame oil, coriander, mint, and lime in a bowl to marinade for 10 mins.

I've got it! ジュリエンヌ

Remove daikon rolls from water and pat dry on paper towel.

Minty Freshness

Take one roll and place a small amount of filling at the bottom of the roll.

It's Just How I Roll

Roll up with your hands to firmly enclose filling.

Crunchy Goodness

It's raining today, not heavily but the kind of rain where cascading droplets trickle slowly down the unshuttered window panes and collect in tiny pools along the weather beaten sills. It's hard to imagine yesterday afternoon was spent lollygagging at the beach, sweltering under a stripy umbrella until the clouds turned black, and the wind came from around the corner, threatening to turn our umbrella inside out, pick it up and parachute it away.

Has Anyone Seen My Umbrella?

We spent the best part of the morning wandering around an authentic farmer's market, located in an inner city renovated railway workshop.

Eveleigh Farmer's Market Produce

It was bustling with locals chatting to food artisans and farmers, herding around the profusion of springtime offerings proudly on display.

The market stalls looked so alive. Photogenic fruits and vegetables, gleaming, their vibrant colours catching the dappled morning sunlight.

Heaven Sent Tomatoes

The best tasting healthy food, quality grass fed meat from local farms, organic and free range eggs, herbs and spices filled the air as we crunched, munched,  nibbled and taste-tested our way through the myriad of merchants.  It's such a fun way to shop, from the people who grow your food and share with you it's history. And by the time we reached the end our basket was firmly ladened with spring season treasures.

I Need a Bigger Basket

On Sundays I like to make my own full flavoured stock, with some of the left over vegies I have in the fridge and a whole chicken. I let it simmer on the back burner while everything else is happening.  Once you've made your own stock you'll never go back to the store bought packaged ones again. And you'll be able to sniff out an additive filled stock cube from ten paces.  Real stock tastes so much richer and enhances everything. And it's so easy to make...

Basic Chicken Stock

The Players
1 whole chicken
2 litres of filtered water
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 large onion chopped
3 celery sticks chopped
2 cloves garlic
1 bunch parsley
1 bunch rosemary
1 bunch thyme
2 bay leaves
Sea salt and pepper to taste

The How To
Place chicken in a large stainless steel pot with water, lemon juice and all vegetables and herbs
Bring to a boil, and remove foam that rises to the top
Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 6 hours
Remove whole chicken with a slotted spoon
Remove chicken meat from the carcass and reserve
Strain the stock into a large bowl and refrigerate until fat rises to the top and congeals
Skim off fat and place stock in a jar or covered container in your refrigerator

I love experimenting with vegetables and cauliflower is one of my favourites due to it's anti inflammatory properties.  It has such a mellow flavour (some might call it bland) but the trick is to spice it up when time is right and get those florets tap-dancing in your mouth.  Cumin, cinnamon and coriander go well with cauliflower and it's fabulous in Indian cuisine.

This creamless "Creamy Cauliflower and Turnip Soup" hits the spot for a chilled out night in and although earthy and mild in flavour still manages to be melt-in-the-mouth sweet and creamy.  With a couple of  half cauliflower heads in the fridge which had honestly seen better days and some turnips on the turn I turned around this heart-warming healthy soup in no time at all. It's rich and satisfying and beats commercially made soup any day.

Creamy Cauliflower & Turnip Soup

The Players

• 2 TBS olive oil
• 1 head cauliflower
• 2 small round turnips, chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves crushed
• 3 sticks celery chopped
• 1 TBS fresh ginger, crushed and sliced into 2 or 3 chunks
• 2 TBS nutritional yeast flakes
• Handful of continental parsley
• 1 1/2 tsp ocean sea salt
• 1/4 tsp cracked pepper
• 3 cups home made or no additive chicken stock or filtered water

The How To

1. Warm oil in a large pan and add onions, celery and garlic

Saute Away

2. Sauté over medium heat and stir until well coated with the oil then add cauliflower and turnip and cook for 10 mins

Flourishing Florets

3. Add ginger, ocean sea salt and pepper, yeast flakes, parsley and stir well.
4. Add chicken stock and bring to boil stirring a couple of times
6. Reduce heat and cover, cooking for 20 minutes
8. Transfer to blender, or use a hand-held blender, and puree. Return to the pan if it needs warming up

Serious Comfort Food

Spring is Here

Warmer days have finally arrived, and fields of beautiful flowers are in bloom.  Although they look delightful and picture perfect, for anyone with seasonal allergies, flowers at spring time could also smell oops spell trouble.  Sneeze time is not pretty and hayfever is a common complaint of many as the calendar rolls around. The first signs of a seasonal allergy are usually a runny nose, red eyes, congestion, sneezing, bronchial irritation and itchy skin. This allergic reaction is generally an inflammatory response, so it’s important to consume a diet which is low in inflammatory foods and that means cutting down on sugar-filled and processed foods, pesticide-laden fruits and vegetables, caffeine, unhealthy fats and alcohol.

The most important foods to strengthen the mucus membranes of the respiratory system are dark-leafy greens, carrots and squashes.  Seasonal vegetables which are cleansing, and detoxifying include onions, peas, leafy greens, radishes and asparagus.  Pungent foods such as garlic and ginger help to open nasal passages and clear the head.   It is also best to avoid wheat, dairy, chocolate and sugar as these foods are mucous forming and promote inflammation in the body.

Want to Get on Top of Allergies? Follow these three tips;

1.     Avoid the potential allergen
2.     Use nutrient rich whole foods to build the immune system
3.     Ease the symptoms by using food as medicine

A great way to avoid a killer pollen attack is to keep your home free of pesky dust-bunnies, try hanging washing inside to dry so it does not collect pollens, and if it gets really bad you could think about installing an air filter.  Having a sea salt and magnesium bath (1/3 cup of each) is another good way to relieve symptoms and reduce congestion and promote drainage of histamine, if you’re in the office splash water on your face.  You’ll feel instant relief.  Doubling your filtered water intake helps reduce mucous and hydrates tissues too.

If spring allergies have gotten you down and you want to relieve them naturally, the following remedies are nothing to be sneezed at and will give your immune system a boost and help ease allergy symptoms.

Turmeric and Ginger are anti-inflammatory and improve respiratory capacity. Ginger tea anyone?

Clear Mineral Rich Soups help thin mucus and clear nasal passages and strengthen immunity.

Vitamin C is a powerful detoxifier for the body; lowering blood histamine levels, and strengthening adrenal glands. For a Vitamin C boost try spring greens, kale, capsicum, broccoli, citrus fruits, and cabbage.

Zinc and Magnesium rich foods will benefit the immune system greatly as well as mitigate the acidity which accompanies an allergic reaction. Spinach, sunflower seeds and artichokes are good sources of magnesium and zinc rich foods include oysters, and crab.

Salmon will help to reduce inflammation in your nasal passages as it’s a fantastic anti-inflammatory due it’s omega-3 fatty acids.  Remember that omega-6 fatty acids promote inflammation so it’s best to stay clear of sunflower oil, corn oil, supermarket salad dressings and mayonnaise.

For a taste of the Mediterranean there's nothing more special than succulent Slow Cooked Greek Lamb, all sweet and tender and melt in the mouth. To serve place the whole leg in the centre of the table, flake it off with a fork and decorate with continental parsley and lemon wedges.

The Players:

1 leg of lamb, bone in
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 lemons juiced
1TBS dried oregano
3 TBS extra-virgin olive oil
2 TBS parsley
Sea Salt and Ground pepper to taste
Water for basting

The How To:

Pre-heat oven to 160 Celcius
Place olive oil, garlic, herbs, lemon, sea salt and pepper over the lamb.
Place lamb on a rack inside a baking dish and place 3 cups water into the pan so the water comes up to about 2cm high
Cook for 5 hours, basting every hour with the pan juices.
Remove from the oven and let it rest for 15 mins before serving.
Finish with a squeeze of lemon juice, drizzle some extra-virgin olive oil over the top and sprinkle with sea salt and pepper and serve with fresh parsley
Serves 4