Something a little special for you today – preview of the Good Food Australia special Christmas Edition coming out tomorrow featuring exclusive new Christmas recipes!
On the cover of Good Food with JB!
8 years ago when I started this website, never in a million years did I imagine I’d be writing a post like this. I mean, I started my career as an auditor of all things. PricewaterhouseCoopers alumni, right here!
And here I am today, a little embarrassed, a little proud, and very disbelieving that RecipeTin’s Chef JB and I are on the cover of Australia’s Good Food for a special Christmas Edition which will be published tomorrow (Tuesday 5th December 2023)!
The Good Food Christmas Edition
For those of you not in Australia, Good Food is the all-things-restaurants-and-food arm of the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age newspapers (Melbourne), considered to be Australia’s most respected food publication. I describe it as the Australian equivalent of New York Times Cooking.
The Good Food is a lift out in the paper each Tuesday and is also online. I contribute a recipe each week for a series called “SOS” (which, as the name implies, are quick recipes for midweek madness!) and once a month I do a cover story which involves a set of recipes.
And this month, it’s a big Christmas special!! A menu of classic Christmas recipes including a never-before-seen game changing turkey breast recipe created especially for Good Food by JB. My signature glazed ham, classic trifle and a sparkling new Christmas Roast Pumpkin Salad.
Here’s a little preview of the spread!
That turkey recipe is really special. The secret is a brine that not only locks in juices (turkey is notoriously lean) but also infuses the flesh with beautiful Christmassy flavours from edge to edge.
Then it’s roasted with a Christmas glaze that’s perfumed with holiday spices, so it comes out golden and sticky, and just everything you dream your Christmas turkey to be. The smell when it’s roasting is the smell of Christmas!
Behind the Scenes at the Shoot
And here we are on the shoot day. While I do all the photos for my website, the photos of our recipes for Good Food are done by a team of professionals in a food photography studio.
And… a familiar face!! You know I take Dozer everywhere with me….so is it any surprise I snuck him into a Christmas cover shoot? Of course not! 😂
He was an excellent supervisor for the day, ensuring the floor was impeccable at all times. Not a food scrap to be seen.
And though Dozer was not specifically part of the brief, there were were many, many photos taken of him (at my insistence) with a secret hope that there’d be a giant full-page photo of him in the paper……..
….but sadly, it seems a golden fur ball isn’t really on point for a food publication so his photo wasn’t quite full page. Rather, a smaller inset. But he’s still in it!!!
In hindsight now, it was quite wishful thinking that this photo would make the front page of a food publication…😂
I’m so glad I was wearing a white dress that day. Made for sliding around on concrete floors…..
Meet the shoot team!
I want to officially introduce you to the incredible team who’s been shooting our recipes all year for Good Food! Here they are:
We have:
Rob Palmer – One of Australia’s best food photographers, an award winning one actually! Rob also did the important photos (like the cover and Dozer) for my cookbook.
Emma Knowles (right) – Food stylist and recipe developer! I’ve been fan-girling Emma’s work for as long as I can remember, including her days when she was a major presence at Gourmet Traveller. In awe of her work. Makes food look effortlessly beautiful!
Theressa Klein (left) – Photo Chef. Impeccably organised, swans through the cook of enormous table spreads without breaking into a sweat and knows all the tricks of the trade to make food look amazing, naturally.
We love working with this team. I call them the A-Team, because they’re the best of the best at what they do, with the bonus that they’re an absolute hoot to work with!
Big shout-out to JB
And this post wouldn’t be complete without a big, public, splashy thank you to JB. Not only for his fabulous new turkey recipe (really, that brine is everything!), but his commitment and hard work all throughout this year for the contributions we made to Good Food.
In 2023, we produced over 50 recipes especially for Good Food. The schedule is big and complicated, with numerous stakeholders and tight turnaround times (print is hectic!). He’s been the driving force behind all our work with Good Food, managing our work with the editorial and shoot teams, and with everything else going on in our business, I know I could not have done it without him. He’s a gun with the knife, a machine in the kitchen and now he’s a cover-model Chef! It feels like a fitting way to close out our final issue of Good Food for 2023. 🙂
Where to get the Good Food special Christmas Edition
The Good Food Christmas Edition is a lift out that will be in the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspapers tomorrow, Tuesday 5th December 2023. The recipes are also online here on the Good Food website. Though…I love seeing the spread in print!!
If you’re planning a turkey breast this Christmas, I really hope you have a look at the recipe. It really is special. Turkey breast has never been so succulent!
And with that, we are officially kicking off a series of holiday recipes leading up to Christmas. I hope you love them as much as we do! – Nagi x
Life of Dozer
We had an adorable Christmas onesy for him. Sadly, it was little small for him. 😔 So we had to settle for a boring Santa Hat.
I’m an accountant who also LOVES cooking and food, and I COMPLETELY understand swapping audits for cooking! You made a wonderful choice and we all get to benefit from it!! Thank you, God bless, and a very Merry Christmas!!!
Ha ha – I can’t say I miss auditing!! 🙂 Thank you Chris, Merry Christmas to you too! N x
Just love your recipe book Dinner. we have purchased 5 copies. My kids love your recipes too. Merry Xmas to you and your family.
FIVE??!!! 🥰 Thank you Wayne!! I hope everybody loves them. Merry Christmas to you too! N xx
Thanks to you for reminding me of the joys of Good Food and SMH. I left Oz 6 1/2 years ago and have missed it. Thanks to you, I’ve now subscribed to get the emails. Merry Christmas from Canada 🇨🇦.
So happy for you all,have been following for quite some time, you deserve whatever ackulades that are given!
Looking forward to seeing what else you, and Dozer, accomplish!
Congrats! A great honor and well deserve. So happy for both of you.
Love your recipes and your sweet Dozer. Thank you for everything you do for us!
Merry Christmas to you and all of you at RTE.
Absolutely NO recipe would persuade me to do turkey and cranberry sauce.
Cranberry sauce is jam. Jam does NOT go with meat.
Turkey is too expensive for Christmas.
😂 there is NO mention here of cranberry sauce. Cranberry sauce is NOT jam. It’s delicious with turkey. Turkey IS expensive but it’s worth it. You’re missing out! Merry Christmas.
Found pumpkin salad online afterall – well that wasn’t hard LOL
What is that salad plate in the forefront – looks like a soft feta, maybe squash – where can we get the recipe – I live in Canada and do not get Good Food. Help. I have your recipe book though!
so much fun!
I absolutely love your posts, your recipes and precious Dozer. You are my go to chef for recipes.
Merry Christmas to Nagi, family, beautiful Dozer, and all at Recipetineats.
Hello Nagi, Beautiful photo’s of you, and your beautiful Dozer, have a wonderful Christmas, and to all at Recipetineats.
Every time I see the recent photos of you and Dozer, it makes me teary-eyed. Remembering me sweet Ginger who passed 6 years ago. I’ve had dogs before and since that I love, but she was that extra special one. Enjoy these last years with Dozer. What a treasure.
Dear Pat, your comment touched my heart. I have had 2 Goldens over the years and they were so loving and at times goofy and so very special. Every time I see Dozer, I think of Sandy (male) and Sandy (female).
I love everything about your blogs. Being an animal lover I just love Dozer and seeing your love for him is wonderful.
You are such a happy, positive person that it makes me happier to see your pics. (I lost my husband 7 months ago and need someone like you to lift my spirits.) A very happy Christmas to you and Dozer and all your team.
Ali
I now have a Recipetineats own folder! I began collecting your recipes until it got out of hand! Now the folder has over 80 printed recipes in it. Having seen this blog probably means a bigger folder!
Merry Christmas to you and you helpmates and here’s to more recipes in 2024.🥂
Nagi dearHeart – this is my first comment since forever! Altho’ methinks I was one of the very, very first followers you had your posts suddenly stopped soon after ‘Dinner’ was published – I genuinely thought you were too busy to keep on with the blog! Awfully glad tyou were ‘still on’ Instagram I have been itelowing you there. Something made me Google your site 10 mins ago . . . probably the biggest shock of the year !!!!!! Have re-subscribed and cannot wait to have time to read all I have missed !!!!!!!! Absolute tons of love and congratulations on this !!! Cannot believe any of this!
I love reading your column Nagi – thank you for sharing and being so generous with your recipes and ideas. Happy Christmas to you, your family and darling Dozer.
Woohoo! This is absolutely fantastic. I love your shoutouts to JB and the shoot team; they are so deserving!
Congrats Nagi & JB! Well deserved recognition 🎉
Next year you could have a Celebrity page where Dozer would be front & centre 😆
Happy Christmas to you all!!
You are an inspiration to a cook who needs inspiring! Keep up the good work and have a Happy Christmas and WOOF to Dozer
To cook good food, not all people know that to cook good food, the mind should also be clean and I have seen your post and the recipe you have made is very beautiful, I have full hope that when I try this recipe I will be very happy if you make it, I will definitely try it.