If you ask James Viles what his favourite Christmas food is, the answer will probably surprise you.
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It’s egg nog ice cream.
“It’s all things Christmas in the form of ice-cream. What more could one want,” the Highlands chef said.
“I love catching up with family, it’s the most important part of Christmas for me.”
For this year’s festive season, James has teamed up with ALDI to create some scrumptious Christmas meals.
The recipes are created from the products in store and James said it was easy to create a festive feast with the products in store.
“Like ALDI, I am passionate about quality, fresh produce and delivering the best experience to my customers. I have been really impressed with the meat, seafood and fresh produce that ALDI has to offer.”
James said the Christmas range at ALDI included plenty of Australian grown and made products, which was an important part of his decision.
“I am also extremely passionate about supporting both local farmers and growers, which is why I was completely aligned with partnering with ALDI,”
James has created several recipes using season products including Australian smoked half leg ham, Australian tiger prawns cooked over coals, hot smoked salmon rillettes and a slow cooked salt and vinegar four bird roast.
These recipes will be available on ALDI’s website (https://www.aldi.com.au/en/groceries/recipes/christmas-recipes/) from Monday, December 11.
The half leg ham recipe will be featured on the site from Tuesday, December 19.
Of these meals, James said the triple smoked leg ham was a delicious, restaurant quality meal that was sure to be a crowd pleaser.
“When choosing which recipes to make, I wanted to be able to demonstrate how anyone can use ALDI ingredients to create something that would really impress their guests at Christmas.”
With most people looking forward to catching up with friends and family over the holiday period, James said there are two things that are essential for a good Christmas meal- some good oysters, bread and butter.
And for those looking to create a traditional Aussie meal to feed the masses, James has some advice.
“I think the ham should be a great quality ham. Prawns are great natural with some fresh bread and butter. The ham is best sliced natural and served with some pickles.”
But no matter what sort of meal you’re preparing for Christmas, James said to ensure top quality cuisine, you need to use “great quality and fresh” ingredients.