Christmas Day Lunch – Seafood Feast 2010
Christmas is a time for getting together with family, sharing gifts, reflecting on the year that was, and of course, indulging in large amounts of food and drink! A traditional Christmas Day lunch in my family usually consists of a great big roast cooked up, often lamb or pork, with plenty of sides of salads overflowing on the table. However this year, Christmas day is a very hot, sticky and humid 38C here in Perth, so something a little different was needed.
Christmas Lunch Ideas
Basically once I heard the weather reports coming out in the previous week, I just knew it was going to be way too hot for a roast Christmas Day lunch. Out of all the Christmas lunch ideas I had, it really came down to a seafood feast for Christmas Day lunch.
The Christmas Day Lunch Seafood Feast
The reason I chose to have seafood is simply that it’s quick and easy to cook, as well as being a classic type of food to eat in Australia on any hot day, and seafood makes a great gourmet feast to indulge in. I got myself some Pink Snapper, a good thick fillet, and fresh from the seafood market early in the day. I also picked up some tiger prawns, all of the seafood is local produce for the freshest possible quality.
Christmas Lunch Preparations Begin…
Cooking Christmas Day lunch
I start by marinading the prawns in some crushed garlic, chilli, basil, and a little olive oil and lemon juice. This is probably the hardest part of the day, which shows you why this is one of my favourite easy food recipes. Cooking the seafood is as easy as heating up a frypan to a medium-high heat, add a touch of oil, before adding the fillet of Pink Snapper.
Just before adding the Snapper to the pan I seasoned it with some herbs and spices that I had lying around in my kitchen, like lemon pepper, just to add some nice flavour. Sear the fish for 3-5 minutes on each side, and because it was quite a thick piece of seafood I actually decided to finish it off in the oven to make sure it was cooked through properly. To do this I just added a little bit of water, almost poaching it in liquid, to keep the Pink Snapper nice and tender, moist and juicy (there’s nothing worse than dried out overcooked seafood).
Bringing The Christmas Day Lunch Seafood Feast Together
Christmas Day Lunch - Seafood Feast
About 5 minutes in the oven was all the Pink Snapper needed to finish cooking. I add the prawns to the pan just for the last 2 minutes, as that’s all they need to be cooked. I decided to serve up my Christmas Day Lunch seafood feast with a simple side of mashed potato and seasonal vegetables, a squeeze of lemon juice over the top, and in 15 minutes I had a fantastic seafood feast on the table to enjoy for my Christmas Day lunch! (And of course I had a nice cold beer to wash it down).
So if you’re looking for Christmas Day lunch ideas, this is about as easy as it gets, and then you get to spend more time with your family and friends and relaxing over the holiday period instead of slaving away in a hot kitchen. Of course if you’re in a part of the world where the climate is not quite so warm, then spending a few hours in the kitchen preparing a roast for Christmas lunch or dinner could be a good thing 
Merry Christmas 2010!
I wish you and your loved ones a Merry Christmas and a safe and happy New Year, and remember, this is the perfect time of year to indulge in some great food, so feel free to browse around the site for plenty more easy food recipes! Until next time, I’m off to the beach, to cool down… 
Mick Reade
