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.
Nagi, Your bless going in and bless going out. Congratulations to you and your great team.
Congratulations and well done. Loving all the photos of the food and all your delicious recipes. Looking forward to many more delicious food. Kisses and hugs to darling Dozer. xxxooo
Nagi, you and Dozer and JB deserve all the accolades that come your way. I’m so happy to have found your recipes and rekindled a love of cooking again. I’ve been at it over 50 years and was really ‘over’ it until I discovered you. Merry Christmas!
CONGRATULATIONS!!! 🥳🥳🥳
Congratulations Nagi, JB and Dozer. The turkey looks amazing. Love all your recipes they’re easy to follow with instructions step by step and look forward to the 2024,
Gorgeous picture cover!
Merry Christmas to you and your whole team!
May I add CONGRATULATIONS also.
Love your blog,and the great recipes.
Got to say your handsome furry friend pushes buttons for us.
He’s beautiful.
We had a golden princess for many years, and Dozers life seems to be running very much a duplicate copy as that of our beloved pooch.
Give him a big hug and cuddle from us down here, and Chelsea up there!!
Merry Christmas from Northern California! You all look great in your shoot. And the recipes will be delish!
Congratulations Nagi !
Merry Christmas 🎅
Thank you for sharing this. My husband thinks I’m the best cook in the world thanks to your amazing recipes! I always love seeing Dozer. He’s such a beautiful, sweet boy.
Congratulations to all involved. Have a wonderful Christmas.
xxSandy
Love everything about this post. Thanks for taking us on the journey. What a ride! Congratulations to you and all your team for giving us such an uplifting year when so much in the world has been anything but. Special hugs to Dozer.
I’m loving all the recipes and stories of Dozer. I am an avid fan from Cape Town across the pond and so glad I found your recipe site. Wishing you and your team a fabulous festive season and I look forward to more great recipes in 2024. Thank you.
Loved looking forward to your recipes. Made many throughout the year. It is great to have someone give you the inspiration to cook these delicious recipes. (Been married 60 years)
I bought the pan and a jar of Mrs C. I’m still kicking myself I didn’t go the HUGE jar of Mrs C. Loved your Xmas list. I’m one of those waiting for your recommendation on a Wok. Hubby is desperate for a ‘real’ one for a gas stove top. Thank you, thank you. Hi Dozer xxx
Fantastic end to a brilliant year love the bts note to self to buy. It’s annoying how can’t freely download recipes without a subscription. Get limited access annoying as buy both weekend the age for mags & recipes like to download recipes I love for future access
I only found out about you earlier this year, Nagi. And I’m 100% hooked. I love your food and look forward to every recipe and, of course, the photos of Dozer! Thanks for what you do. You make it so simple to produce beautiful food.
Merry Christmas to you, Dozer and all your team. I look forward to all the yummy things coming in 2024.
We call you St Nagi in our family with recipe competitions using your recipes between daughters and mother in Brisbane & Auckland. As for Dozer, we have always had one in our family. Merry Xmas to you all and look forward to more cooking ideas from you and the team in 2024.
Congratulations! What a way to close out the year.
That trifle is on my Santa list!
I love your recipes Nagi. All the recipes I tried from your site have been great hits with everyone I know. I also love all animals big and small and your love for Dozer really touch my heart.
Gorgeous photos….looks like you had a fun shoot!
I had recently noted your yummy ham recipe for our big day. Look forward to more Nagi treats on the table.
Happy Christmas to you, Dozer and all your fun team x