In these episodes of She Shopped TV, founder, Lucy Cornes, and She Shopped Foodie, Dinah, from Stirring the Pot, shop at the Adelaide Central Market for all the fresh, local, produce they need to prepare a delicious festive lunch. They then return to Lucy’s place to prepare all the food and style it and show you how you can do it too. Words by Lucy Cornes

Where else would we go, but the Adelaide Central Market, to buy all the fresh produce needed for a delicious and simple festive lunch. Of course I had to take She Shopped foodie, Dinah, with me on our shopping expedition. Together we are in our element, wandering the aisles of the Adelaide Central Market, immersing ourselves in the culture and investing in all the delectable new-season produce.

Armed with our list, we went on a mission to shop for all the ingredients we needed to prepare the super simple menu Dinah had created  (to feed  8-12). All the recipes are easy enough for you to re-create at home.

No festive lunch is complete without a couple of kilos of fresh Australian prawns, caught in the Spencer Gulf. We grabbed ours from Michelle at Samtass. We also paid LuLu from Smelly Cheese a visit for produce for our cheese board. A cheese board should taste incredible and look amazing. Watch the video for Lulu’s tips on selecting cheeses.

Everyone loves a Christmas ham and we got ours from O’Connell Meat. Tony offered us an excellent tip; when buying your Chrissy ham, it’s important to buy it on the bone. It means it is Australian pork, because you can’t import ham on the bone. We also grabbed 2kgs of Frenched lamb cutlets (see recipe below).

Lastly we grabbed all the veg we needed for our salads and dropped into Lucia’s Fine Foods for some condiments. With our trolley overflowing, we whipped up to the car park and headed for home, ready to prepare and style our haul. Find Dinah’s recipes and my table styling tips below, so that you can replicate the menu at home!

Video number two shows the results of our food preparation and styling efforts.

CRUNCHY CABBAGE & CRANBERRY SALAD

1/2 Savoy cabbage shredded finely

1/2 red cabbage shredded finely

2C cranberries

3 oranges rindless and segmented

1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives

1C mint leaves

Olive oil + sea salt to dress

Toss together and set aside

POTATO SALAD

2kg potatoes – boiled till soft then drain and set aside to cool then cube

2 X tubs creams fraiche

Juice and rind of 2 lemons

1 bunch roughly chopped of each – chives, dill, mint, chervil

Sea salt to season

I like to combine all of the ingredients together when potatoes are still slightly warm. It allows for all of the ingredients to meld beautifully together.

FRENCHED LAMB CUTLETS WITH SALSA VERDE

Preheat BBQ. Lightly coat lamb cutlets in olive oil and sea salt. Place into piping hot BBQ (a webber is ideal). These should only take 4 mins either side then a quick BBQ on the side to render the fat. Place in a dish and lightly cover with foil and allow to rest for min 15mins.

Serve with salsa verde, squeeze over juice of a lemon and season.

SALSA VERDE

1 bunch of each – mint, chives, flat leaf parsley

6 anchovy fillets

Rind and juice of 1 lemon

1/2C olive oil

Sea salt

Blitz in food processor until well combined. Check seasoning then store in air tight jar in fridge.

SEAFOOD SAUCE

1C whole egg mayo

1/2C tomato sauce – I love using beerenberg

Good splash of Tabasco

Juice of 1 lemon

Sea salt to season

Mix in well till there are no lumps. Set aside in fridge.

STYLING TIPS

As a mum of three boys it’s really important for me to keep things simple at Christmas time, but it doesn’t mean you need to forgo style!

My top 5 tips for a simply stylish Christmas table are..

1. I always roll out brown paper on the table. It looks wonderfully rustic. It’s the perfect neutral platform for just about any theme and doubles as colouring paper for the kids after lunch. No washing linen table cloths on Boxing Day either!
2. Use candles. Candle light adds magic and warmth. Select candles of various heights and place them on your table grouped or scattered.
3. Look to nature. For this table I picked some jasmine vine from the garden and threaded it though the food and candles. So simple, so affordable and big on impact.
4. Think about your food display. I think using all white is boring. Add pops of colour with bold patterned serving bowls and texture with different materials like wood boards.
5. Let your food do the talking. Food is so important at Christmas time. Be loving and thoughtful when it comes to styling the nosh before it gets demolished!

Adelaide Central Market Christmas Trading Hours 2015

^ unless sold out prior