For many of us the real magic of Christmas is in the gathering of friends and family around good food; be it for dinner, drinks or festive nibbles, sharing delicious food is one of the joys of the season. No matter how much we might enjoy a foodie get-together, however, hosting one might seem stressful. But here’s a secret: it doesn’t have to be.
“People often try to do too much,” says SuperValu ambassador Gareth Mullins, who suggests starting with something you love and getting it right, rather than trying to please everybody else.
Salmon is knowledge
Mullins suggests we make the most of the exceptional produce on our doorstep: living on an island gives us access to incredible seafood, so why not embrace it with a standout smoked salmon platter featuring Ireland’s oldest seafood company – Dunn’s of Dublin?
“Focus on high-quality ingredients and do more with less of them,” says Mullins. “If you’re doing a seafood platter, then do one thing really well. Opt for a few different types of smoked salmon – the SuperValu Signature Tastes Irish Applewood Smoked Salmon (available from November 26th), for example – and then maybe add a SuperValu Signature Tastes Dingle Gin Infused Smoked Salmon.
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“I would then add a prawn cocktail and either a lobster or, if you’re a family who like oysters, then opt for a few oysters alongside the salmon. Prepare it the day before, have it all laid out on one shelf in your fridge and serve with brown bread. That’s it.”
Cheese please
When shopping for and serving cheese, Mullins recommends choosing perhaps just four cheeses, of varying strengths, and elevating the experience with dried nuts, crackers, chutneys and biscuits alongside a bowl of frozen grapes to enhance the flavour and texture of each cheese.
“Plate cheese clockwise,” he suggests, “starting with the mildest at one o’clock and finishing with the strongest at 11 o’clock. When serving, explain the plating and encourage guests to start with the mildest and work their way around to the strongest.”
SuperValu’s commitment to championing Irish producers shines through its festive cheese range, removing all the guesswork from creating a perfect board. Highlights include the SuperValu Signature Tastes Allenwood Smoked Cheese, an award-winning cheese smoked by Knockanore Farmhouse Cheese.
Made in the tiny townland of Ballyneety in Knockanore, Co Waterford, SuperValu Signature Tastes Allenwood Smoked Cheese is made by the Lonergans on their family farm. Eamonn and Patricia Lonergan and their family keep a herd of 180 pedigree Friesian cows, with every drop of milk from the herd going into the Smoked Allenwood Cheese.
“As a family, we’ve been smoking cheese since the early 1990s,” explains Eamonn, “and so what you taste today in our SuperValu Signature Tastes cheese is the result of two generations of experience. The Allenwood Smoked Cheese is special because it balances the creamy texture of a high-quality Irish cheddar with natural oakwood to create an authentic and unique flavour.
“As an artisan farmhouse producer, our partnership with SuperValu enables us to showcase our skill and bring our product to more consumers – and let our experience shine.”
This approach to doing less to showcase more is made significantly easier with the return of the SuperValu three-for-€10 Mix and Match offers on seafood, cheeses, party food, desserts, dinner sides, breakfast range and seasonal essentials across the store.
Graceful gifting
In addition to making your own gatherings stress-free, SuperValu has also done the hard work on selecting standout hostess gifts – ensuring nobody turns up empty handed.
New for this year, the SuperValu Signature Tastes Applewood Smoked Salmon Gifting Box from Dunn’s brings the expertise of Ireland’s oldest seafood company to your gifting, while the SuperValu Signature Tastes Cheese Selection Packs (available from December 30th) both come with notes from Gareth Mullins on how best to plate and serve – including tips such as removing cheeses from the fridge 30 minutes before serving so they can reach room temperature.
“The trick to the perfect vol-au-vent is to make sure you have cooked the cases for long enough; otherwise they’ll be soggy. It’s easier to undercook ready-made pastry than it is to overcook it”
— Gareth’s top tip
Atlantic prawns, smoked salmon and leeks vol-au-vent
Ingredients
- 1 packet Jus Rol king size vol-au-vent
- SuperValu Signature Tastes Atlantic prawns, peeled and deveined
- 12 slices SuperValu Signature Tastes smoked salmon (6 for sauce, 6 for garnish)
- 1 packet dill
- 1 lemon
- 2 leeks, washed and diced
- 40g SuperValu flour
- 40g SuperValu butter
- 400ml SuperValu milk, brought to a simmer
- 100ml SuperValu cream
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 100g SuperValu frozen garden peas
- 1 packet dill
- 1 lemon
- 6 slices SuperValu Signature Tastes smoked salmon, chopped into strips
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees (180 degrees fan).
- Place vol-au-vents on a baking tray, brush with a little egg yolk, and bake for 15 minutes until risen, crisp, and golden.
To make the sauce:
- Place a pot over medium heat and melt the butter.
- Sauté the diced leeks for three to four minutes until soft.
- Add the flour and cook for one minute to form a roux.
- Gradually add the warmed milk, stirring constantly to avoid lumps.
- Add the cream and season with salt and pepper.
- Simmer gently for five minutes.
- Just before serving, stir in the prawns, chopped smoked salmon, and peas. Simmer for two minutes, until heated through.
- Finish with a squeeze of lemon juice and chopped dill.
To plate:
- Place the cooked vol-au-vents in the centre of six plates.
- Insert a slice of smoked salmon into each vol-au-vent, allowing it to hang slightly over the edge.
- Spoon the hot prawn, leek, and salmon sauce into each vol-au-vent.
- Garnish with a sprig of dill and serve immediately.
