cover image Chefs Host Christmas Too: A Cook’s Guide to Blitzing the Holiday Season

Chefs Host Christmas Too: A Cook’s Guide to Blitzing the Holiday Season

Darren Purchese. Hardie Grant, $19.99 (192p) ISBN 978-1-74379-478-4

Purchese (Chefs Eat Breakfast Too), a guest judge on MasterChef Australia, provides an enticing collection of recipes that will put even the most apprehensive Christmas hosts at ease. His vibrant personality adds humor and motivation: for example, he introduces his salad of cucumber, zucchini, fennel, and goat’s curd as “something healthy and refreshing to help balance all that naughtiness.” Purchese includes helpful tips in such recipes as mulled wine (he suggests swapping the wine for apple juice for a nonalcoholic version), Beef Wellington (which, he advises, can be prepped a day ahead), and Christmas trifle (he prefers cherries but encourages using whatever fruits readers prefer). Recipes for fun edible gifts include hedgehog, “a classic Aussie chocolate-based biscuit slice” with nuts and dried cranberries; strawberry and mint white chocolate rubble (a version of chocolate bark); and gingerbread cookies. Purchese concludes with creative ideas for Christmas leftovers, such as transforming slices of Christmas pudding into French toast and using leftover cheese to create a cheese board pasta bake. This is a great guide for anxious hosts looking for guidance and inspiration in making a memorable holiday feast. (Sept.)