BetterHomesAndGardensAustraliaDecember2015_

74 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS, DECEMBER 2015 bhg.com.au

festivefeast

Passionfruit, lime

and mint Pimms

Slice 2 limes into

wedges and divide

between 6 tall tumbler

g with 2 mint leaves.

Use a muddler to gently squash limes

and mint to release juice and aromas.

Half-fill glasses with crushed ice cubes.

Add 1 Tbsp Pimms, 1 Tbsp lime juice

cordial, 2 tsp fresh passionfruit pulp,

3 thinly sliced rounds cucumber and an

extra sprig of mint to each glass. Top

with soda water and stir. Serves 6

Raspberry and peach sparklers

Put the flesh of 1

roughly chopped yellow

peach, 1 cup frozen

raspberries, 2 Tbsp

caster sugar and

½ cup water into the jug of a blender.

Process to form a smooth puree. Strain

mixture through a sieve into a medium

jug. (This should make about 1 cup.)

Stir in ¼ cup peach liqueur, then

transfer to a large serving jug or bottle.

Put 3 frozen raspberries and 1 thin

peach slice into each of 6 wine glasses.

Add 1 Tbsp puree to each glass and top

up with chilled, sparkling rose wine.

Tip You can make your sparkler extra

dazzling by threading one raspberry

onto a small skewer or toothpick.

Carefully balance the skewer onto the

rim of the glass and top with a small

twirl of fairy floss. Serves 6

Orange whisky spritzers

Fill 6 short tumbler

glasses evenly with

some crushed ice. Slice

1 orange into 6 wedges

and squeeze the juice

from each wedge into each tumbler. Add

1 Tbsp scotch whisky to each glass,

then top up with a citrus-flavoured

carbonated drink. Stir to mix, then

serve spritzers

garnished with lemon

and orange slices.

Serves 6

better wine

in good company

Pair your Christmas meal with matched wines

Rack of roast pork with

pickled pineapple chutney

Pork has an affinity with chardonnay

and, with the tropical flavours in this

recipe, we recommend a glassful of

flavour with one of the more robust

examples of the variety. Lindemans

Bin 65, Rosemount Diamond,

Jacob’s Creek, Penfolds Koonunga

Hill, Annie’s Lane, Yellow Tail or

Wynns. If you prefer to stay with a

Kiwi sauvignon blanc you’re already

probably enjoying, a glass of it will

cut nicely through the richness of the

relish. Giesen, Matua, Oyster Bay,

Brancott, Villa Maria or Stoneleigh.

Salmon with pickled red

onion and cucumber

While a young semillon is the go-to wine

for simply prepared fish, this salmon

enhanced with a zingy side is a more

robust offering, so go for a pinot gris

(the gris generally offers fuller flavours

than the grigio). Innocent Bystander,

Brancott Estate, Peter Yealands,

Printhie, Eddystone Point, T’Gallant

or Nepenthe.

Beef with paprika,

mustard and rosemary

Ah, yes. Good old Aussie beef.

Surely you must choose a hearty red

with this. Shiraz has richer, warmer,

more immediate flavours and is a real

crowd-pleaser! Cabernet or a cabernet/

merlot blend tends to be a little more

refined and elegant. Good shiraz

comes from every wine district in

Australia, but South Australia offers the

biggest choice of household names.

Yalumba, Hardys, Wynns, St Hallett,

Pepperjack, Ingoldby, Wolf Blass,

Taylors, Leasingham, Grant Burge

or d’Arenberg.

Chicken roulade with

sausage pistachio stuffing

Match a chicken dish with a lot of

oomph to a full-flavoured semillon/

sauvignon blanc blend from WA.

There are many to choose from, all

offering ripe flavours with a cleansing

finish. Houghton, Devil’s Lair, Evans

& Tate, Vasse Felix, Brookland

Valley, Ken Forrester, Capel Vale

or Xanadu. If you prefer a red, keep

it on the lighter side with a delicious

mouthful of pinot noir. De Bortoli,

Ninth Island, Devil’s Corner or

Trentham Estate.

Desserts

Rich chocolate can overpower most

wines, so with the truffles or pud and

sauce, try fortified muscat or topaque

from NE Victoria. Morris, Brown

Brothers, Campbells, Stanton &

Killeen or All Saints. The rest of the

desserts will go nicely with a luscious

botrytis, late-picked riesling or semillon.

Noble One, Lillypilly, Tempus Two,

Gramps, Bimbadgen, Heggies or

a botrytis viognier from Yalumba.

Photography Andre Martin, Corbis; styling Jane Collins, Stephanie Souvlis

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