PACKED WITH IRRESISTIBLE RECIPES for mouthwatering lunches and dinners, indulgent baking and wickedly good desserts, Chelsea Winter’s fourth cookbook is sure to become your new go-to for any occasion. There’s even a section on Chelsea’s festive favourites for Christmas! The 90-plus recipes are easy to follow, use ingredients on hand in your fridge or pantry, and will certainly earn you rave reviews from your family and friends.
SMOKY STEAK WRAPS WITH AVO SMASH
Serves: 6
Prep time: 25 minutes plus 2 hours marinating time
Cook time: 10 minutes
This is a super simple, tasty meal which is great done on the BBQ — a lovely way to spruce up a few steaks. Marinate the steak ahead of time and dinner is on the table in 20 minutes. The recipe can be multiplied if you’re feeding a crowd — it’s nice and easy to let everyone serve themselves from the table, too.
- 1kg sirloin steaks
- rice bran or grapeseed oil for frying
Marinade
- 2 tbsp rice bran or grapeseed oil
- 2 tbsp chipotle sauce (optional, but delicious)
- 1½ tbsp smoked paprika
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp malt vinegar
- 2 tsp dried oregano & 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 tsp ground black pepper pinch chilli flakes
Avo smash
- 2 ripe avocados
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- zest and juice of 1 lime
- ¼ cup fresh coriander, finely chopped
- salt and freshly cracked black pepper
To serve:
- 6 wraps
- extra chipotle sauce or Tabasco sauce
- salady stuff (such as lettuce, tomato, red onion, jalapenos)
- sour cream
- lime wedges
To make the marinade, add the ingredients to a bowl and stir to combine. Place the steaks on a plate, or in a ziplock bag, add the marinade and turn to coat evenly. Cover and allow to sit in the fridge for at least 2 hours or overnight.
To make the avo smash, add the ingredients to a bowl and smush together with a fork. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate until needed.
Bring the marinated steaks out of the fridge 30–60 minutes before cooking. Heat a frying pan or BBQ hotplate to a high heat. When very hot, add a splash of oil and the steaks. Fry for a minute or so each side (or longer if you like), until crispy and browned on the outside and medium-rare on the inside.
Set aside on a clean chopping board and cover loosely with foil. Leave to rest for 5–10 minutes.
To serve, trim the fat off the steak, then slice across the grain. Plonk everything on the table and let everyone help themselves to build their delicious wraps. These are very good with lots of extra chipotle sauce.
CHELSEA’S FAMOUS KUMARA & BACON SALAD
Serves: 6
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Seriously — you need to make this. Okay, technically it’s not actually famous at the time I write this — but I know it will be! It’s a salad like no other, a guaranteed hit whether you’re serving it up at home or taking it to a picnic, BBQ or pot-luck dinner. The textures and flavours are sensational. This is equally good served warm or chilled.
- 1kg purple kumara
- rice bran or grapeseed oil for frying
- 250g bacon, rind removed, chopped
- ¾ cup chopped walnuts
- ½ red onion, finely sliced
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- ¼ cup sour cream (or extra mayo)
- ¼ cup chopped parsley, plus extra to serve
- ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan
- ¾ cup peas, cooked
- ¼ tsp ground white pepper
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
- ½ tsp salt
- squeeze of lemon to serve
Peel the kumara and chop it into 4cm pieces. Add to a large saucepan of salted water over a medium heat, bring to a simmer and cook for about 10–15 minutes until tender. Drain and allow to cool to warm.
While the kumara is cooking, add some oil and the bacon to a frying pan over a medium heat. Fry for about 15 minutes until the bacon is crispy. Drain on paper towels.
Add the warm kumara, bacon, walnuts, onion, mayonnaise, sour cream (or extra mayo), parsley, Parmesan, peas, peppers and salt to a large bowl. Squeeze in the lemon juice and toss gently to combine. Serve garnished with extra parsley — either straight away, or refrigerate until needed.
Recipes extracted from Scrumptious by Chelsea Winter, published by Random House NZ, RRP: $50.00. Photography by Tam West.
