Festive season entertaining got you frazzled? We’ve got you covered.

A few extra festive recipes from some of Tassie’s top foodies to get you hungry this Christmas.

As we emerge from the cold we’re certainly ready for more get togethers. However, while we can all be grateful for Mother Nature hitting the ‘Defrost’ button, we may not have the same spring in our step coming out of our caves this year. Lockdown in late summer through autumn, followed by winter’s frosty hiatus, may have left our social skills rather scant.

Making the most of abundant seasonal produce has never been more timely (excuse the pun).

“This is something I’ll often make at home with dried Orrechiette, which you can easily find in most supermarkets. It’s a really quick and easy recipe to do. I learnt it when I spent some time in Sicily. If I’m not in too much of a rush, I’ll make fresh Orrechiette too.”

While summer’s colourful crops may be well behind us, we can still hold on to the last harvest of berries, red greenhouse cherry tomatoes and yellow sweet corn before winter takes her pound of fresh. Though the seasonal palate through May and June is decidedly green and gold on both the plate and ground.

Tough and true Tasmanians stand strong in the face of winter, as do harvest veggies still growing in the garden. Brassicas and bulbs boldly anchor their stalks while underground tubers and root vegetables tightly take hold for the chilly months ahead. Whether one vigilantly braces or vigorously embraces single digit forecasts, the astringent crisp air tends to make us move a little faster homewards to hibernate. Quick shops, slow food and hot meals call for batch cooking.

“The hasselback potato is an oldie but goodie, you can’t beat some crispy potatoes on these cold winter days. These are best served with lots of butter and salt. You can find some really interesting varieties like pink fur apple potatoes at the markets, the more colourful the better. It takes a bit of patience to get them all cut but it’s definitely worth it. I love to eat these as a snack with a glass of wine or as a side dish with some roasted fish.”

“In this simple dish, the flavours of Middle Europe sparkle with the smoked eel, dill, caraway and Russian salad. The salad, once a mainstay of menus decades past, is something not often seen today but I think it deserves another moment in the sun. I’d serve the dish with some chilled Tasmanian Vodka for a really authentic taste.”

Crossing over spring’s peak towards summer, the leprechaun-green shoots of new growth herald a rainbow of new colours for the plate. Pears depart while pops of red and blue appear in November’s fruit basket with the season’s first ripened blueberries, raspberries and strawberries.

“This is a really nice early summer dish using buffalo mozzarella, it’s the most delicious thing! I remember when I was a first year apprentice in my first few weeks of working in a little restaurant in Melbourne after I had just moved there. My head chef gave me a little slice of buffalo mozzarella to taste when the cheese van had come around to the back door of the kitchen. It was one of those moments where the world stood still. So simple yet so delicious. That’s when I knew that I was going to be stuck in the kitchen forever.”

The Aussie summer comes with two big advantages. While we take an opportunity to relax and enjoy time with friends and family, the kitchen garden peaks in full swing. The abundance of growth and colour nods to a positive start to the new year. Resolutions to address expanding waistlines acquired over the festive season are buoyed by an array of choice to inspire creative salads, with bulging garden beds and pops of fruiting colour beckoning one to get moving outdoors and start picking summer’s harvest.

I love simple, balanced cooking. Good ingredients prepared well never fail to impress and delight. I also – like any self-respecting human being – love fried food. Putting together this dish on a Sunday night with a movie and some of my partner April’s ice cream for dessert is the simplest of joys.

Ever wondered what Italians do for tomatoes in winter? Family traditions are still in common practice across this truss-loving nation to make homemade passata (uncooked tomato purée, strained and bottled), estratto (rich tomato paste), whole peeled tomatoes (canned in jars with lemon and salt), as well as Giardiniera (pickled vegetables in oil or vinegar and herbs) at Summer’s end.

Pretzels are a firm favourite in my house. They are quick and fun to make, and you don’t really need to follow a prescriptive recipe so you can add any toppings and flavours you like.

If you’re feeling the pull towards hibernation – wellness practitioners say it’s time to slow down. Resist overloading your schedule, embrace the longer nights with adequate sleep and above all else – don’t push yourself. ‘Winter in Tassie is not the time to be feeling like a hamster on a wheel,’ Goulds naturopath Belinda Robson says.

If there’s one thing we can all agree food should be right now, is that it’s got to be hot! Steaming porridge, simmering soups, roasts and ragus are all the rage, if not a vital requirement to keep us thermally stable.

The tuna in the picture is how we plate it in the Dining Room at The Shoreline Hotel. Of course, like always in cooking, you are free to present in any way you see fit!

Unless you’ve gone to the trouble of fattening up a fowl yourself, you may be gobble-smacked to know procuring a Tasmanian turkey is off the menu, literally.

March is a magical month when it comes to food. While technically Autumn, it really should be a special season unto itself and more aptly named “Late Summer”.