Karen Martini's deluxe Christmas recipes

Boeuf en croute with horseradish cream and pickled mushrooms

The buttery brioche and the earthy porcini duxelles make this a super deluxe version of an already pretty deluxe dish, beef Wellington. The horseradish cream and pickled mushrooms are nice foils to the richness. It works well with a little blanched asparagus alongside. This is a perfect Christmas centrepiece for when you want to step away from tradition but still impress.

1.5-1.7kg single piece of eye fillet (head end) trimmed

1/2 batch brioche dough (see recipe), chilled and ready to use (if it's been overnight in the fridge, you might need to give it half an hour at room temperature before using)

olive oil

salt flakes

freshly ground black pepper

1 egg, beaten

PORCINI MUSHROOM DUXELLES

20g dried porcini

80g butter

4 eschalots, finely diced

3 cloves garlic, finely diced

700g large field mushrooms (choose ones with dark gills), finely diced

4 sprigs thyme, picked

100ml dry sherry or white wine

2 tbsp double cream

PICKLED MUSHROOMS

400g tiny mushrooms - champignons, baby king browns etc

100ml white wine vinegar

3 tsp salt flakes

extra virgin olive oil

dash of sherry vinegar

2 sprigs thyme, picked

HORSERADISH CREAM

250g quality creme fraiche

15cm root of fresh horseradish, finely grated (at specialist vegie shops)

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

1. For the duxelles, rehydrate the porcini in 200ml of boiling water. Strain after 20 minutes, reserving the liquid, and chop finely.

2. In a medium pot, add the butter, eschalots and garlic and sweat, without colouring, until softened. Add the porcini, field mushrooms and thyme, season with salt and pepper and cook over medium heat for 15 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the porcini liquid and sherry and reduce until dry. Add the cream and reduce until you have a thick dark paste (it's important that it is quite dry at this point). Chill to stiffen.

3. For the pickled mushrooms, in a small pot bring 300ml of water, the white wine vinegar and salt to a simmer, add the mushrooms and simmer for three minutes.

4. Drain the mushrooms well and toss in a little extra virgin oil, a dash of sherry vinegar and some thyme leaves. Check and adjust the seasoning and set aside at room temperature.

5. For the horseradish cream, combine all ingredients and chill.

6. Preheat the oven to 200C fan-forced or 220C conventional.

7. Season the eye fillet, rub with oil and seal in a pan over medium to high heat. Rotate the fillet to seal well on all sides (including ends); this will take about eight minutes - do this evenly as it is critical to the end result.

8. Place the fillet on a tray and roast for 20 minutes (this will end up being rare to medium rare; if you want it cooked more, do it now as it won't cook much once wrapped in the brioche). Rest the meat on a rack (so the juices can run off) until it reaches room temperature.

9. Smear the chilled duxelles evenly over the fillet, wrap firmly in plastic wrap and chill for 15-20 minutes (don't leave in the fridge longer than this or the meat won't come back to room temperature).

10. Roll the brioche out gently to a rectangle large enough to accommodate the fillet. Unwrap the meat and place on top of the dough. Wrap the dough around the meat, folding the ends in to form a tight parcel - take care to seal the joints properly. Transfer the rolled beef on to a lined baking tray with the seam underneath. Brush well with beaten egg and allow to prove for 20 minutes at room temperature (nowhere too hot). Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

11. Let the beef sit for a couple of minutes before slicing thickly and serving with the pickled mushrooms, horseradish cream and some cooked asparagus.

Serves 8

Drink: A good claret! Or how about a medium-bodied cabernet, maybe something from the Yarra Valley.

Brioche

Brioche is a bit of a labour of love to make but worth it. It's perfect for Christmas as you can use it in sweet and savoury ways.

25g fresh yeast

100ml milk

10 eggs (55g) at room temperature

900g plain flour

20g salt

45g castor sugar

525g unsalted butter, softened

1. Place the yeast and milk in a bowl and whisk to combine. Add nine of the eggs (keep one aside to glaze) and whisk until combined.

2. Sift the flour and salt into the bowl of a stand mixer with the dough hook attached. Pour in the egg and milk mixture and mix on medium speed until you have a consistent dough, about eight to 10 minutes - you might need to scrape the dough down the hook every now and then.

3. Meanwhile, hand whisk the sugar into the butter until the butter is pale and creamy.

4. When the dough is a smooth mass on the end of the hook, start to add the creamed butter two tablespoons at a time while mixing. Keep adding the butter in batches until it is well incorporated. Continue to mix for another five minutes or until the dough is shiny and elastic. Place the dough in a large greased bowl, cover with cling wrap and allow to prove for two hours or until doubled in size - about 24C is ideal, too cold and it will take a long time to prove, too hot and the butter will melt out of the dough.

5. Remove the dough from the bowl and fold it back over itself three times, place back in the greased bowl, cover and allow to prove for three hours in the fridge (overnight works too, but you will need to take it out of the fridge five or 10 minutes before rolling if you're making the boeuf en croute; any longer and it will become too soft to wrap).

6. Tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface - it should now be firm but malleable. Cut into four even pieces (if making the boeuf en croute you will need half the dough). Punch down to about 2cm thick and shape into rectangles about 30cm x 15cm. Fold the edges in by a centimetre or two, then roll the dough up along the long edge, pressing the seam together. Place the brioche cylinders into greased 25cm loaf tins, seam side down, gently pressing down to make sure there are no air pockets. Egg wash the top of the dough, cover with a tea towel and set aside to prove for about an hour. The loaves should double in size - again this will depend on the temperature of your kitchen, but don't try to rush it.

7. Preheat the oven to 220C fan-forced (a fan oven is best here but if you only have conventional, heat it to 240C and watch carefully). Brush the loaves again with egg wash and bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 190C fan-forced (about 200C conventional) and bake for a further 20-25 minutes (the heat at the start helps the brioche to rise properly and develops a good crust, but watch it closely as this may be too hot in some ovens). Remove the loaves from the oven and leave to stand in the tins for about five minutes before unmoulding and cooling on a rack.

Makes 4 loaves

Toffee brioche with creme fraiche and cherry, vanilla balsamic compote

This makes for a delicious dessert, or if you're feeling indulgent, a decadent brunch.

100ml balsamic vinegar

100g dried cherries

300g fresh cherries, pitted

200g castor sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 knifepoint of bitter almond essence (from Essential Ingredient)

4 thick slices brioche

250g creme fraiche

1. In a small pot, bring the balsamic to the simmer, add the dried cherries and set aside for 10 minutes.

2. Add the fresh cherries, 100 grams of the sugar and the vanilla to a medium pot over high heat. Cook for three minutes, shaking the pan frequently to caramelise evenly. Add the dried cherries in balsamic and bring to the simmer, add the almond essence, stir and cook for a further two minutes. Lift out the cherries with a slotted spoon and reduce the syrup for another minute. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes then pour the syrup back over the cherries.

3. In a dry frying pan over high heat add the remaining 100 grams of castor sugar. When the sugar starts to caramelise (going slightly golden, this will happen quite quickly), put the brioche into the caramel, two slices at a time, and flip to toast and coat both sides. Remove from the pan, set aside and repeat. This is a pretty quick process as the caramel is very hot. If the sugar gets too dark after the first batch, wash out pan and start again.

4. Smear each slice of brioche with creme fraiche, top with cherries and syrup, serve.

Serves 4

Drink: Pedro Ximenez sherry.