Make your family Christmas one to remember with a three course menu - a creative spin on the classic kiwi Christmas.

Michael Meredith's Christmas Feast

This elderflower and pomegranate champagne cocktail is perfectly summery and festive. 

Gin and champagne spritzer 

This canapé makes a perfectly light and elegant mouthful, marrying a creamy and tangy prawn tartare with sweet caramelised onion shells.

You can make the prawn tartare in the morning, and then caramelise the onions and fill them with tartare before serving. If you're using frozen prawns, defrost them in the fridge overnight before cooking. 

This recipe makes one canapé per serving.

Caramelised onion shells with prawn tartare

These moreish canapés combine sweet kumara with salty feta and earthy herbs, plus a crunchy topping of roast pumpkin seeds.

They can be made up to a week in advance by keeping the filled pastry rolls in the freezer until you're ready to bake. Alternatively, prepare the kumara mixture one day in advance and keep it in the fridge until you're ready to prepare the pastries.

This recipe makes about 4 canapés per serving.

Kumara and feta pastries

This rich and delicate baked side salmon acts as the base for a lemony yoghurt dressing and tender seasonal greens. 

Prepare just in time for serving so the salmon is just warm. If you're roasting the porc scotch as well, add the salmon to the oven when the porc scotch has 20 minutes left in the oven so they're ready at the same time.

Baked salmon with asparagus, peas, cucumber and yoghurt dressing

Like a Christmas ham, but a little more special - this beautifully tender, spiced porc scotch strikes the perfect balance between festive familiarity and creativity.

You'll need to roll the pork in the spices the day before and leave it in the fridge overnight. On the day, all you need to do is sear the outside and roast.

A pork scotch fillet weighing 1 ½ kg takes 90 minutes to cook. If your scotch fillet is a different size, the cooking time will vary, so keep an eye on your meat thermometer.

Slow roasted spiced porc scotch

This fresh, summery potato salad balances the sweetness and acidity from oranges, the bite from the fennel and mustard, and the natural creaminess of baby potatoes. 

Best prepared just in time for serving, so the potatoes are still just warm and the ingredients are bright and fresh.

Warm potato, orange and fennel salad

Fresh, sweet, salty, bitter - this colourful salad draws on an array of summery flavours, and is as stunning to look at as it is to eat.

Fresh peaches also work well in place of nectarines, the jamon can be substituted for prosciutto, and if you can't find verjuice, wine vinegar works. You can also add rocket leaves if you have some on hand.

This salad comes together very quickly and is best prepared just in time for serving, but you can whisk together the dressing a few hours in advance.

Heirloom tomato, nectarine, jamon, witloof and bocconcini salad

This bright, sweet, acidic summer salsa is perfect to serve alongside the spiced porc scotch, but it's also beautiful with other types of meat and seafood.

The individual ingredients can be cooked and diced 1 day in advance and kept separately in the fridge. Bring the ingredients to room temperature and combine with the dressing 30 minutes before serving, to let the flavours meld together.

Pineapple, charred corn and macadamia salsa

Truffles are the perfect way to complete a festive meal, alongside tea or coffee. These are spiked with brandy and rolled in freeze dried raspberry, but you can make them without alcohol, or use cointreau or whisky instead.

The cocoa truffles last well in the fridge for 3 days, while the raspberry truffles are best soon after coating - the dried raspberries absorb moisture and soften. Roll the ganache in advance but leave uncoated until almost ready to serve.

Makes two truffles per serving.

Brandy-spiked raspberry chocolate truffles

Without a plate of meringue, whipped cream, and fresh berries, would it really be Christmas?  This meringue roulade recipe puts a fresh spin on the classic Kiwi pavlova, elevating the dessert with a raspberry coulis and a touch of white chocolate. 

You can make the plain meringue and the raspberry coulis 1 - 2 days in advance, and then garnish and roll the meringue an hour before serving. If preparing in advance, keep the meringue in an airtight container and the coulis in the fridge.

Michael Meredith

Michael Meredith

Michael Meredith

Michael Meredith

Michael Meredith

Michael Meredith

Michael Meredith

Michael Meredith

Michael Meredith

Michael Meredith

© Michael Meredith's Christmas Feast