We’re all on a budget at Christmas time and you guys loved last year’s Christmas Lunch for under $150 menu so much, that I’ve done an all new one. Last year's menu served around 12 adults. This is a whole new menu, focusing on one statement meat dish and plenty of sides, plus a cheese plate and desserts.
This post is in collaboration with Woolworths
This year I’ve gone with a turkey. I picked a small one from Woolworths, which serves 12-14 people. I was unsure if it really would but it definitely did. To properly test this lunch and to make sure it was enough, I invited some friends over to sample everything. There were nine adults and eight kids and this was more than enough food to go around.
This menu totals $140 - this is food only and doesn’t take into account household items such as salt, pepper, and oil. The total does not include drinks or your table setting. However separately, I have included options for the table with an Australian natives theme, using the Woolworths Christmas Traditional Wreath as the centrepiece and styling it with a bunch of Australian natives from Woolworths. We made the hanging chandeliers from plants in our garden and I used the Christmas Luxe range from Woolworths for the plates, cups and napkins.
Contents
Christmas lunch for under $150
Christmas Lunch - To Start
A mini cheese board that included:
Woolworths Maggie Beer Platter Pack
Total cost= $28.50
Christmas Lunch - Main Course
Roast Turkey with Sage and Pepper Butter
Turkey Ingredients
few sprigs fresh rosemary
few sprigs fresh thyme
few sprigs fresh sage, plus extra to garnish
1 bay leaf
2 lemons, one cut in half, one juiced
1 onion, sliced
olive oil, for greasing
Sage and Pepper Butter ingredients
100g unsalted butter, softened
¼ teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
1 tablespoon sage, chopped
To serve
2 lemons
Sage
Method
Fill a roasting pan ¾ of the way with hot water and place it in the bottom of the oven. This helps keep your turkey moist and stops it drying out.
Preheat the oven to 190°C, fan 170°C. Make sure the outside of your turkey is dry - I like to use kitchen paper.
Use the herbs, onion and lemon halves inside the turkey. Tie the legs together with kitchen string (I used a small turkey that came with no legs).
To make the sage and black pepper butter, melt the butter and mix it with black pepper and chopped sage. Spread the butter mixture all over your turkey. Cover with foil and cook for 2½ hrs, basting twice.
Remove the foil, baste again, then pour over the lemon juice and continue to cook for a further 40-50 mins until the turkey is golden brown and cooked through. Cover any parts that begin to brown too quickly with foil. My top tip is to get a meat thermometer - it's the best way to make sure your turkey is cooked without drying it out. Insert it into the turkey without touching the bone. If it’s 75 degrees it’s cooked through!
Get your last 2 lemons, slice them into wedges and cook them in a griddle pan until both sides are browned.
Drain the turkey and place on a warm serving plate. Surround it with the rest of your sage and lemon pieces.
Cover your turkey with foil and leave to rest for 30 mins before serving.
Total cost= $50
Christmas Lunch - Sides
Mediterranean Vegetables with Halloumi
Ingredients
4 zucchini, cut into small chunks
1 red onion, cut into slim wedges
3 large cloves of garlic, skins left on
3 tablespoon of olive oil
300g cherry tomatoes, halved
250g Woolworths Halloumi, sliced
Method
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Chop the zucchini and onion and toss in the olive oil. Tip into a baking tray and add garlic. Cook for 15 minutes.
Add the cherry tomatoes and the halloumi and cook for another 15 minutes, or until the halloumi is golden brown. Remove from the oven, squash the garlic and stir before serving.
Total = $13.50
Potato Bake
Ingredients
8 potatoes
500 ml Woolworths thickened cream
100g butter
Method
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Slice the potatoes thinly. Place a layer of potato at the bottom of a baking tray. Add small knobs of butter onto some of the slices of potato and keep layering the potato and the butter until you run out of potatoes.
Pour the cream over the top of the potatoes - making sure you have covered them all. Cook for about 45 minutes or until potatoes are golden brown and soft when you stick them with a fork. Serve immediately.
Total = $11
Couscous Salad
Ingredients
500g Woolworths couscous
600ml boiling water
1 vegetable stock cube
20g butter
500g frozen peas
100g pistachios
⅓ pomegranate
Method
Boil 600ml water and then add stock cube and mix. Turn off water and then add couscous. Make sure it’s all covered with water and leave for five minutes.
Once the water has absorbed, use a fork to comb the butter through and separate the grains.
Cook the peas and mix them into a bowl with the couscous. Sprinkle the pistachios and pomegranate over the top and serve.
Total = $13.70
Christmas Lunch - Dessert
Mini Dessert Platter
Woolworths Clotted Cream Fudge
Woolworths Christmas Marshmallows
Woolworths Assorted Candy Canes
Total = $23
Eton Mess
Ingredients
2x packets Woolworths Petite Pavlovas
2x 600ml Woolworths Thickened Cream
2x punnets Strawberries
1x punnet Raspberries
1x punnet blueberries
300g caster sugar
Vanilla paste
4 tablespoons of icing sugar
Method
Chop one punnet of strawberries and place in a saucepan with ½ punnet of raspberries and the caster sugar. Cook until the berries are soft and the sugar is dissolved. Blend together to a puree and set aside to cool.
Take one pack of Petite Pavlovas and cut them in half. Layer them at the bottom of a glass bowl or trifle bowl.
Beat the cream, icing sugar and vanilla paste together until the cream is thick. Layer half the cream over the meringue and then drizzle some of the berry mixture over the cream.
Chop the punnet of strawberries into slices and layer half of them on top of the cream. Then chop the next packet of Petite Pavlovas and layer on top. Add the rest of the cream, the rest of the berries and drizzle more of the berry sauce until you’re happy with the amount.
Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Total = $28.80
Total cost for Christmas lunch = $140
Prices as at 16/11/19
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