Turn the festive season into a feast with stone fruit.
Spiced Roast Chicken with Roast Peaches and Yoghurt Dressing
A fruity take on roast chicken by Caro Gardner for Juicy Delicious
You’ll need: 2-3 garlic cloves, crushed, 1/3 cup (80ml) raisins, finely chopped, 2 Tbsp (15ml) mild curry powder, 1 tsp (5ml) turmeric, ¼ cup (60ml) peach chutney, 1/3 cup olive oil, salt and milled pepper, juice and grated zest of 1 lemon, 1 lemon cut in wedges, 1 whole chicken, 2 medium red onions, sliced in wedges, 4-6 peaches, sliced, 4-6 baby fennel, washed and halved
For the dressing: 1/2 cup yoghurt, 3 Tbsp (45ml) mayonnaise, 20g coriander, 20g basil, 50g walnuts, toasted, salt and milled pepper, juice of ½ lemon or limes
To make: Preheat the oven to 200C. Mix garlic, raisins, curry powder, turmeric, cumin, chutney, olive oil, seasoning and lemon. Rub seasoned oil all over the chicken. Fill cavity with lemon wedges. Season and place on a baking tray.
Add onion wedges and roast for 45 minutes before adding peaches and fennel, add an extra drizzle of seasoned oil and roast for an extra 30 minutes or until cooked through.
Blend dressing ingredients together.
Serve roast chicken with roast peach and fennel drizzled with herby yoghurt dressing.
Cook twist: Serve leftover chicken shredded and tossed through butter lettuce, cucumber ribbons, roast peaches and fennel and drizzled with dressing.
Festive Peach, Plum & White Chocolate Trifle
By Caro Gardner for Juicy Delicious
You’ll need: Poached peaches, 8 peaches, ripe but firm, extra for serving, 1 btl sparkling apple or grape juice, 1 cup (250ml) castor sugar
For the white chocolate mousse: 300ml double cream, 8 cardamom pods, lightly bruised, 600g white chocolate, finely chopped
For the vanilla cake (or you can use 2 store-bought Madeira cakes): 225g soft unsalted butter, extra for tins, 225g castor sugar plus 2 tsp, 1/2 Tbsp vanilla extract
200 grams plain flour, 25g cornflour, 3 tsp baking powder, Pinch of salt, 4 large eggs
For serving: 1-2 peaches, sliced, 1-2 plums, sliced, gold glitter and whipped cream.
To Make:
For the peaches: Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Drop in the peaches and simmer for a couple of minutes then drain and cool until you can handle them.
Peel skins, cut in half and discard the stones and chop. Heat liquid gently until the sugar dissolves and liquid has reduced by half. Set aside.
For the white chocolate ganache: Place finely chopped white chocolate in a heat-proof glass ball. Simmer cream and cardamom together until steaming. Pour over chocolate and set aside to melt, stir to form a chocolate sauce and set aside.
For the vanilla sponge: Heat the oven to 180°C. Grease 2 x 20cm tins with a small amount of butter and line the bases with baking parchment. Cream butter and sugar add vanilla extract and beat that in. Mix flour, cornflour, baking powder and salt together.
Beat one egg into creamed butter and sugar, followed by one tablespoon of the flour mixture and once both are absorbed, continue in this manner until all 4 eggs are used. Scrape down, gently, beat in the remaining flour.
When everything is combined and smooth, start beating in the milk, 1 Tbsp at a time (no more than 3) until your batter drops easily off the beaters, paddle or wooden spoon when lifted up out of the bowl.
Divide batter evenly between the two prepared tins, and smooth the tops. Place side by side in the oven and bake for 20–25 minutes, or until golden tops and cooked through. Set aside to cool.
To assemble: Trace trifle dish over the sponge and cut out 2 sponge discs. Pour syrup on the base of the dish and top with a sponge disc, drizzle with extra syrup.
Pour a layer of white chocolate ganache and place in fridge to set. Spoon poached peaches over the set white chocolate and top with a second layer of sponge. Drizzle extra syrup over the sponge, add a final layer of chocolate ganache.
Serve topped with whipped cream, sliced peaches and plums and scatter with glitter.
Pickled Plum and Zucchini Carpaccio
A lovely light and fruity starter or side by Mokgadi Itsweng for Juicy Delicious. Serves 4 – 6
You’ll need: 180ml white wine vinegar, 125g castor sugar, 3 sprigs rosemary, 3 sprigs thyme, 3 bay leaves, 2 garlic cloves, sliced, 1 Tbsp grated ginger, ¼ tsp salt, ¼ tsp peppercorns, 3 plums sliced into wedges, 1 red onion thinly sliced, 3 plums thinly sliced, using a peeler or a mandolin slicer, 4 medium sized Zucchini, thinly sliced into circles, using peeler or mandolin slicer, 20g wild rocket leaves, 20g sunflower seeds, lightly toasted
Sunflower seed dressing: 100g raw sunflower seeds, juice and zest of 1 lemon; 1Tbsp chopped mint, 1Tbsp chopped basil, 1 Tbsp chopped parsley, 2 garlic cloves, 60ml water, 20ml olive oil, 1Tbsp honey, 1tsp salt
To make: In a saucepan, bring to the boil the vinegar, sugar, rosemary, thyme, and bay leaves. Cook for 5 minutes, remove from heat, and allow to cool slightly.
In a separate bowl, place the garlic, ginger, plum wedges and red onion, and mix them together before pouring the hot pickling vinegar mixture over the plums and onions. Mix well, cover, and leave to marinade for 2 hours.
While the plums marinate, make the dressing by blending all the ingredients for the dressing until smooth and creamy. Cover and set aside.
To plate, neatly arrange the zucchini and the thinly sliced plums on a platter, then top with rocket leaves. Scoop the plums and onions from the pickling solution and place in top of the rocket leaves. Serve dressed in sunflower seed dressing.
Whole Smoked Cauliflower Roast with Plum sauce
Fruity, smokey cauli … yum. By Mokgadi Itsweng for Juicy Delicious
You’ll need: 1 Whole med-large cauliflower, 1 litre water, 1 tsp salt, 100g smoking wood chips
Plum Sauce: 500g red plums, halved, pitted, and roughly chopped, 100g brown sugar, 200ml rice vinegar, juice of 1 lemon, 100ml water, 1 tsp five spice powder, 1 Tbsp fresh grated ginger, 1 onion chopped, 1 tsp cayenne, 40ml soya sauce
To make: Bring a salted litre of water to a boil, then add the whole cauliflower. Boil for 20 minutes, then drain and set aside.
Smoke the cauliflower by placing a hot charcoal disk into a small foil container, then adding the wood chips. When the chips start smoking, place the foil container with the wood chips inside the bottom rack of the oven. Place the cauliflower on the rack, directly above the smoking chips. Close the oven and allow to smoke for 10-15minutes.
While the cauliflower smokes, make the sauce by placing all the sauce ingredients in a saucepan. Simmer at medium heat for 25minutes. Blend all the ingredients to a smooth sauce.
Pre heat the oven to 200°C. Place the cauliflower on an oven baking tray, then baste with half the sauce. Bake for 15minutes, then baste with sauce and bake for a further 10 minutes, until the cauliflower is nicely browned.
Serve sliced into steaks with extra plum sauce and fresh herbs on top.
Pull-apart Cheesy Stone Fruit and Charcuterie Bread
By Caro Gardner for Juicy Delicious
You’ll need: 2-3 (200g) large potatoes peeled and chopped, 1 cup (250ml) milk, 110g butter, melted plus extra for brushing, 240g cake flour, 345g bread flour, 1 tsp salt, 4½ tsp instant yeast, 1 Tbsp rosemary, chopped, 3 Tbsp sugar, 2 large eggs, whisked, 1 large egg yolk, olive oil, 200g mozzarella in blocks, 2 plums, stones removed and sliced, 2 peaches, stones removed and sliced, 2 nectarines, stones removed and sliced, 2 tsp (10ml) chopped rosemary, extra for garnish, 3-4 Tbsp (45ml) chopped preserved melon or ginger, Salt and milled pepper, 4-6 slices of Parma ham
To make: Place potato in simmering water until cooked through and set aside. Whisk milk, butter, and mash in a bowl to combine. Add flour, salt, yeast, rosemary, and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer with the dough hook attached and mix to combine.
With the mixer running at low speed, add the milk mixture, then add the eggs.
Knead at a medium speed for 5–8 minutes, or until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and is smooth and glossy. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and prove in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
Lightly oil your hands and work surface and tip out the dough. Gently knock down.
Weigh out 60g portions of dough and roll each portion into a neat ball. Tuck in a block of mozzarella cheese.
Grease a 28 cm cast-iron pan or similar sized baking dish. Place the camembert round in the center of the dish and arrange dough balls around the camembert.
Arrange sliced stone fruit in between the roll creases and scatter with remaining grated mozzarella. Brush with melted butter and preserved ginger, scatter with rosemary and milled pepper and salt. Prove uncovered for 15 minutes.
Bake at 180°C for 20–30 minutes, or until golden and cooked through. Roll Parma ham roses and place on top of the bread to serve.
Cook Twist: Add a spoonful of sundried tomato pesto and sliced olives with the mozzarella before rolling the dough balls. Add dollops of pesto with stone fruit before baking.
