Summer Entertaining Inspiration

Christmas time is all about gathering with friends and family – with food often been the centre of it all. As we busily prepare for our Christmas Day celebrations, we looked to Nour Executive Chef Paul Farag for some inspiration as to what to prepare this Christmas. Nour – based in Surry Hills Sydney, is built on a dream of presenting classic Lebanese flavours in a fresh, exciting way. We were SO excited to talk with Paul and learn more about his Christmas plans – as well as generously providing the recipes for his Christmas cocktail & 2 of his Summer dishes.

About Paul

After a successful stint running Josh Niland’s Fish Butchery, chef Paul Farag moved to Surry Hills to head up the kitchen at Nour, as Executive Chef in September 2020.

The move has allowed Paul to cook food close to his heart, combining his Egyptian heritage with classical technique he acquired from past roles at Sydney’s Monopole, Four in Hand and Gordon Ramsay’s fine diner in London, Pétrus.

So Paul, how will you be spending Christmas?

This Christmas I’ll be driving to my partners family home in Batemans Bay. It’s usually a relaxed week of drinking and eating by the pool or local beach. I plan on visiting some local oyster farmer friends and sit in oyster sheds drinking the wine they produce.

What’s on the menu?

This year sees me bringing some middle eastern flair to Christmas; i’ll be doing a spiked Egyptian iced tea cocktail for the everyone – think a big jug of pimms, only hibiscus and rose vibes! Food wise, i’m always big on seafood & keeping it simple by cooking it on the bbq or in the pizza oven.

Spiked Egyptian Iced Tea Cocktail

Ingredients:

1l boiling water

100 g Egyptian iced tea dried

60g honey

1 bunch mint

1 punnet strawberry

gin of choice to taste – at least 200ml

Method:

Simply brew the water, tea and honey like tea. Put in the fridge to cool and add the mint, strawberry & gin.

Grilled king prawns with ras el hanout butter

Ingredients:

1 kg green king prawns

400 g butter soft

ras el hanout spice 70 g

1 preserved lemon seeded

2 bunches flat leaf parsley

5 cloves garlic minced

2 tbsp salt

4 lemons juiced

1 bunch fresh coriander

2 large heads fennel

Method

Split prawns and de-vein, or ask your fishmonger to do (much easier).

In a bowl mix the softened butter with spices, salt and both lemon making sure to leave one lemon for when it comes off the grill.

Lightly oil the prawns and rub in with your hands, then shell side down add the prawns to the grill slowly adding the butter onto the flesh to baste and get a bit of flare up, no beer on this one fellas, I’m sorry.

Once the prawns are cooked, throw them back into a clean bowl with chopped herbs and add remaining butter tossing them to mix through.

simply, mix with your hands making sure to get some of that juice in the bottom with some bread!

These also make a great sandwich the next day with the prawn meat bound with a bit of mayo or even toum.

Day after salad 

This is something I whip up usually the day after Christmas lunch. Adding protein is optional but I always over cater and add leftover trout or ham.

I have a little veggie patch that I can raid that has broad bean leaves, broccoli and radishes but you can use most greens that you have available.

Ingredients:

2 heads broccolini with leaves if possible

300 g snow peas

2 nectarines cut into wedges

300g fresh curd or stracciatella

200g watercress

130g pine nut toasted

tbsp English mustard

120 ml olive oil

pinch of salt

sprinkle of aleppo pepper on top

Method:

Heat the BBQ or grill and char the broccolini. Remove the fibrous stem from the snow peas and also char-grill. Cut up some nectarine into wedges, you can substitute with apricot, peach or any stone fruit.

Make up the quick dressing by mixing the mustard and olive oil with a pinch of salt.

Toss everything together and place over the fresh curd.

If adding leftover meat this can be shredded and added to the mixed salad.

Sydney local or impending visitor?

If you’re in Sydney, be sure to visit Nour based in Surry Hills. For more information and reservations, visit their website.

Rest & Reset this Christmas

Sitting down with Author, Ronnie Scott

‘Tis the time of the year where we would traditionally see hoards of family members gathering, tiresome shopping trips, month long catch ups and endless festivities. Instead, in a year like no other we are focusing on the important things & looking towards our homes as our sanctuaries, and how they continue to play such an important role in this celebratory time of the year.

As we look to our Living Rooms and how we can turn it into a place of sharing, creation and gathering this Christmas time, we thought we would take a moment to consider how we can use this space to rest and reset. There is no better way to do so than by sinking into a good book – something that transports you from your present and into a different universe. SO, we sat down with Melbourne local, Ronnie Scott to talk briefly about his 2020 experience along with his newly launched first novel – The Adversary.

Ronnie is an author, editor and academic who lectures in the Writing & Publishing discipline at RMIT University.

How do you like to hang out in your downtime?

Well, I also live in Melbourne, where we just came out of a second, epic, three-month lockdown. It was totally different to lockdown #1 and felt kind of dark – and this is coming from someone who’s in a decent living situation, can work from home, spends lots of time alone anyway, etc. But it was just endless. So I put lots of energy into hanging out at home and making sure it was the best experience possible – I bought nice alcohol, records and a bath pillow and spent most of my winter afternoons using those three things simultaneously. If we ever have to do lockdown again, I can’t recommend this highly enough. If we ever have WINTER again, I still think this is a good way to spend your time.

How are you celebrating Christmas at home this year?

I have mates who’ve been stuck interstate and are just getting back to Melbourne this week, so we’re going to spend Christmas day in the big house they’re housesitting, cooking and probably dancing, and, if it’s anything like we’ve done in previous years, watching a movie and having late afternoon drinks with people who have just had lunch with their families. It’ll be bliss.

What types of books are you reading?

At the start of lockdown, I was super ambitious and thought this would finally be the year I read DEMONS by Dostoevsky. Absolutely not. I read lots of short stories and poems and essays and things I could focus on closely and totally for short stretches of time – again, while drinking cocktails, with the bath pillow, with a record on. So, picture me doing that, but also reading Little Eyes by Samanta Schweblin and Throat by Ellen van Neerven, my two top picks for 2020 – both books are smart and eloquent and weird in their own ways and I loved them deeply.

The Adversary

Thank you for that. But do tell us, what is your book, The Adversary about? Inspire people to read it this December as they spend the warmer months lounging around at home. 

So, the funniest thing about The Adversary in the context of the above is that it’s about a guy who spends the whole book alone in his room, pining for his best friend, Dan, who lives on the other side of the bedroom wall. I don’t know what he would do in lockdown, but in real life, he is dragged out of his bedroom by Dan and some other friends, and he spends the summer meeting guys and going to the pool. I think it would be a good fantasy read for someone this summer – it’s queer and quick, so you should check it out and see what you think!

Need some music to accompany your read? Ronnie has prepared a playlist to accompany his debut novel – check it out, here.

Pick yourself up a copy & get settled into the perfect Summer Read > find out more.

How to: Craft your own Christmas Cocktails

Expert recipes from Made in The Shade Owner, Michael Madrusan 

There is something so unique about drinking a cocktail. It’s a celebration, the marking of a moment. The same goes for selecting a Christmas cocktail to cheers to the festive season with loved ones. Marking the start of Christmas lunch with a Champagne cheers or ringing in the new year with a Gin Fizz, Michael Madrusan is someone who knows the importance of curating a drink to celebrate new moments and savour special memories. 

As one-half of the Melbourne-born hospitality group, Made in the Shade, which he runs in partnership with his wife Zara, Madrusan delights in blurring the boundaries between good drinking, great stories and world class hospitality. Expertly tending bars for over 20 years in Australia, London and New York, Michael and Zara are responsible for some of Melbourne’s most essential bars, including Fitzroy institution, The Everleigh. 

For those of us unable to slide up to the bar this festive season, fear not. Here, Madrusan shares two of his favourite Christmas cocktail recipes that can be easily made at home. 

COCKTAIL 1 – Alameda Swizzle

The Alameda Swizzle spikes zingy lime juice and fresh mint with tequila and bitters. It’s such a fun summer party drink. Lime juice and mint are delightful ingredients for festive summer cocktails, while Tequila is a sure fire way to liven up your Christmas party. 

Ingredients:

45ml Arquitecto Blanco Tequila 

30ml fresh lime juice 

22.5ml Sugar Syrup

8-10 Mint leaves 

3 dashes Angostura Bitters

3 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters

Add all of the ingredients, except bitters, to a shaker and press your mint gently. Transfer to a tall highball glass and add crushed ice. Give a little swizzle with a spoon and add the bitters. Top up with more crushed ice and garnish with a large mint sprig. 

COCKTAIL 2 – French 75

Champagne cocktails are a great place to start when hosting a festive do, they immediately lift the mood. The French 75 is no exception. Gin goes down well with most people, and it’s super refreshing. 

Ingredients:

30 ml Gin

15ml fresh lemon juice 

15ml sugar syrup 

45ml Champagne 

Add all of the ingredients except Champagne to a shaker with ice and shake briefly. Strain into a chilled coupe of flute glass and top with Champagne. Garnish with a lemon twist and discard. 

Brosa at Home

Delivery to Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Brisbane and beyond

Celebrate this festive season with sophisticated style, with the ultimate entertainers set up by Brosa. Explore Brosa’s collection of showstopping bar cabinets and bar stools for a Santa-approved interior update that will take holiday entertaining to the next level. Be inspired by Brosa’s stylish Memphis Bar Cabinet, its functional design makes entertaining easy. Brosa offers Australia wide shipping and virtual consults. Visit our website for more info.

Located in Melbourne and interested in checking out The Everleigh or another Made in the Shade venue? Visit their website, for more info.