Hosting a dinner party and not sure what to make? You’re in luck. MasterChef finalist Stacie Stewart has been busy in the kitchen and has whipped up 5 easy recipes to impress your dinner party guests – from roast chicken feasts to vegan delights, she’s got you covered. As a self-confessed cookaholic, Stacie will be hosting a live cook off at Big Feastival as part of NEFF’s search to find the nation’s Next Cookaholic. Now, let’s get cooking:

For a Roast: Spatchcock Chicken Provincial with Boulangère Potatoes

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Spatchcocking your chicken and cooking it in the NEFF oven (CircoRoast 220C for first 15 minutes 190C for remaining time of 1 hour) ensures tender juicy meat and crispy skin and also allows for the potatoes to be cooked alongside the bird for a beautifully flavourful one pot family supper.

Ingredients (serves 4)

  • 1.5k free range organic whole chicken
  • 1 tsp olive oil for the bird
  • 1tsp herbs de provence
  • 2 peppers, quartered and de seeded
  • 2 red onions, halved, cut into wedges
  • 2 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 125ml (1/2 cup) white wine
  • 1 small punnet of cherry tomatoes on the vine
  • 200ml passata (tomato pasta sauce)
  • 100ml Chicken stock
  • 8 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 4 waxy potatoes sliced to 1/2cm thick
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

To spatchcock the chicken, put the chicken breast-side down on a cutting board with the neck end closest to you. Using kitchen scissors, trim any excess skin and fat from the opening of the neck cavity. Remove the backbone by cutting along each side of it from the neck to the tail (or tail to neck, it doesn’t matter). You’re cutting through ribs, so you may need to put some muscle into it. Press the chicken flat and you’re ready to begin.

Drizzle the chicken with the 1tsp olive oil and season with salt, pepper and the herbs de provence.

Arrange the sliced potatoes in the bottom of a medium/large in universal pan in a few layers, seasoning each layer as you go.

Pour the stock and the wine over the potatoes and top with the thyme sprigs.

Toss the peppers, onions, garlic, and cherry tomatoes in the passata and arrange over the potatoes, their juices as they cook with further flavor the potatoes.

Finally adorn the roasting dish with the spatchcocked chicken bone upside down

CircoRoast at 220c for 15 minutes then stir vegetables and turn chicken over and CircoRoast at 190C for a further hour

Serve with a green leafy salad and crusty bread for dipping. 

For a Spicy Dinner: Beef Rendang

Beef

A lengthy list of store cupboard ingredients, but surprisingly easy to prepare, a slow cook delight which utilizes bottom heat cooking in NEFF oven beautifully

Ingredients

  • 2 large banana shallots finely chopped
  • 3tbsp thai red curry paste
  • 1kg brisket of beef cut into four pieces
  • 1tbsp cold pressed rapeseed oil
  • 4 cardamom pods lightly crushed to release pods
  • 2 kafir lime leaves
  • 2 star anise
  • 2 cinnamon sticks snapped in half
  • 1 lemongrass stalk, bashed to release flavour
  • 1tbsp ground cumin
  • 1tbsp. ground coriander
  • 1 x 400ml can of coconut milk
  • 200mls beef stock
  • 1tsp salt and freshly ground black pepper

To finish:

1 tbsp fish sauce, palm sugar and tamarind

To serve:

jasmine rice steamed in the steam feature of the NEFF (b47fs34nob)

finely chopped coriander and lime wedges

Method

Coat the meat in the curry paste and leave to marinate for a few hours or overnight is even better.

Heat the oil in a casserole over a medium heat. Add the cardamom, star anise, cinnamon, shallot, lemongrass, lime leaves, ground cumin and ground coriander and stir the spices into the oil until fragrant. Be careful not to burn the spices, keep them moving.

Add the marinated beef and quickly seal on all sides being careful not to burn the spices.

Add the coconut and beef stock and bring the mixture to the boil. Reduce the heat until the mixture is simmering, add a lid and transfer to the NEFF oven and cook at 120°C for 2-4 hours, the longer you leave the Rendang the better but it will be ready after 3 hours. Remove the lid 30-40 minutes before the end to allow the sauce to thicken, it will thicken further once the meat is shredded through the sauce.

Shred the brisket with two forks in the sauce once the cooking time has elapsed.

Stir in the finishing ingredients, being careful to balance the sweet/sour/salty/hot flavourings, you may not need all of the finishing products, do it to your taste.

Serve with the steamed rice which you can steam while the curry is resting. Remove the cinnamon sticks, lemongrass, lime leaves and star anise before serving.

For a Comfort Dinner: Luxury Fish Pie with Black Pudding Crumble

Fish-Pie

Impress your guests with this twist on a classic, adding rich black pudding to a crumble topping.

Ingredients serves 4

  • 750g firm white fish, including a few scallops
  • 250g smoked haddock
  • 400ml milk
  • a bay leaf
  • 6 black peppercorns
  • a little nutmeg
  • 1 small onion quartered
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 leek, cleaned and finely sliced
  • 1tsp butter
  • 1tsp oil
  • 75g butter
  • 40g flour
  • A large handful of flat leaf parsley finely chopped
  • Salt and pepper

For the crumble topping:

  • 40g butter
  • 80g plain flour
  • 100g black pudding
  • 75g jumbo oats
  • 50g finely grated parmesan
  • Salt and pepper

Method

Steam the smoked fish in the NEFF  steam oven, to do this add the onion, milk, bay, peppercorns and nutmeg to the dish then lay in the fish.

Meanwhile sweat the leek down in a little butter and oil for 10 minutes until soft.

Once the steaming time is up remove the fish carefully as it will begin to flake.

Sieve the milk, retaining the flavourful liquid and discarding the bay, onion and peppercorns.

Place the saucepan to the heat and add the butter, once melted beat in the flour and cook for a minute to “cook out” the flour.

Begin to add the flavoured milk a little at a time, stirring constantly over a low/medium heat to keep the mixture smooth, once all the milk is added you should have a loose smooth béchamel for your fish pie.

Remove from the heat and stir in the parsley, cooked leeks and a good grind of salt and black pepper.

In your chosen pie dish arrange the poached smoked fish and your raw white fish fillets and scallops

Pour over your luxurious béchamel.

For the crumble, break up the black pudding into small pieces, a mini chopper can be used if you like. Sauté the black pudding on a high heat in a little oil until crispy. Allow to cool.

Simply rub the butter into the flour until dispersed, add the oats, half the parmesan and sautéd black pudding with a little salt and pepper.

Pile your crumble topping loosely onto your fish pie, don’t pack it down or it wont be crispy. Top with the other half of the parmesan.

Bake in the NEFF oven on CircoTherm 180°C for 25-30 minutes

Serve with steamed vegetables and crisp white wine.

For a Healthy Dinner: Quinoa Salad with Toasted Nuts and Sumac + Gluten-Free Sweetcorn Fritters and Avocado Salsa

Fritters

This colourful quinoa salad is packed with flavour and makes an excellent light supper or picnic dish, showcasing the warming feature of the NEFF oven and the ultimate low heat of the NEFF induction for perfectly cooked quinoa every time

Ingredients (serves 2)

For the quinoa

  • 100g raw quinoa, cooked per pack instructions, cook in veg stock for extra flavour
  • 1tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 1tsp pink salt and a grind of black pepper
  • A small vine of cherry tomatoes, quartered
  • ½ cucumber, deseeded and finely chopped
  • 1 pepper, seeded and finely chopped
  • 2 sticks of celery, sliced and chopped
  • 1 small bunch of parsley, mint and coriander or any combination very finely chopped
  • 1 small bunch of baby kale very finely chopped
  • 100g flaked almonds lightly toasted
  • Seeds bashed from 1 pomegranate
  • 1tsp sumac

For the fritters

  • 250g tinned corn
  • 4 spring onions
  • 1 egg
  • Small bunch of coriander
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • 1 chilli, deseeded if you prefer
  • Pinch of salt and a grind of black pepper
  • 70g gluten free flour
  • ½ tsp baking powder
  • 3 tbsps oil for frying

For the avocado salsa

  • 1 large ripe avocado, stone removed and diced
  • 1 large tomato from the vine, seeded and diced
  • A small bunch of coriander finely chopped
  • Juice of 2 limes
  • 2 spring onions
  • Pinch of salt and a grind of black pepper

Method

For the salad simply whisk together the salt, lemon and oil and dress the cooked cooled quinoa.

Toss the seasoned quinoa with the rest of the ingredients and sprinkle over the zesty sumac before serving. This can be made well in advance and is better rested so the flavours can mingle.

Place ¾ of the corn, the spring onion, egg, garlic, chilli, coriander, salt and pepper in a blender and whiz until smooth, stir in the flour and baking powder and the remaining corn.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a fry pan over a medium high heat.

When the oil is hot, drop 2 heaped tablespoons of mixture per fritter into the pan, the mix should make 4 large fritters for 2 person supper or 8 small fritters for 4 persons as starter.

Cook in batches for 2 minutes each side, or until golden. Keep hot in warming drawer or keep war m function of oven.

For the avocado salsa simply combine all ingredients.

To make this vegan simply replace the egg with an extra 25g of flour or use an egg replacer.

For Dessert: Flourless Chocolate Torte with Pistachio Cream

Torte-2

This is a special occasion show stopping cake that’s lighter than you might think, the added steam and CircoTherm settings of the  new NEFF ovens ensure an incredible dense moist cake, well risen with little sinkage which is common for a flourless torte.

For the cake

  • 250g dark chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa solids)
  • 125g unsalted grass fed butter
  • 6 large eggs you’ll need 2 whole and the other 4 separated.
  • 150g unrefined caster sugar

For the cream topping

  • 250ml double cream
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1tbsp heaped of pistachio paste or flavouring
  • 100g pistachios toasted and finely chopped

Method

Preheat the oven to 160°C CircoTherm with added moisture and line a 9 inch loose bottom cake tin, bottom and sides.

Melt the chocolate and butter together in a saucepan using the Neff induction hob lowest setting which will ingeniously make sure the chocolate doesn’t burn. Add the vanilla and salt.

Beat the 2 whole eggs and 4 egg yolks with half the sugar.

In another bowl, whisk the 4 egg whites until foamy, then gradually add the rest of the sugar until the whites are holding their shape but not too stiff.

Add one spoon of the stiff egg white to the chocolate mix and stir in to get the mix started, then fold in the rest of the egg whites carefully.

Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 35-40 minutes or until the cake is risen and cracked and the centre is no longer wobbly.  Turn the oven off, open the slide and hide door and allow the cake to cool in the oven, the middle will sink a little but this slow cooling will ensure this is minimal.

Carefully remove the cake from tin and peel off the paper.

Whip the cream until it’s soft and then add the vanilla and pistachio paste.

Top the cake with the whipped cream, spreading gently towards the edge of the cake.  Top with the chopped pistachios and if it’s a really special occasion some edible gold leaf too.

Cookaholic tip: if you cannot find pistachio paste grind 55g of pistachios to a paste blend with 30g of mascarpone and icing sugar to taste and use this instead.

For more information on NEFF’s Cookaholics search visit www.nextcookaholic.co.uk