Of course, Christmas Eve wouldn’t be complete without a scrumptious feast. In the evening, an apéritif, usually champagne, and cheese spread with crackers, dried fruits, mixed nuts and dips are served as appetisers. While for the main course, Kienle-Gonzalez whips up a combination of healthy and comforting dishes.

“A healthy gourmet salad with grilled prawns, glazed walnuts, cranberries, pancetta and goat cheese is one of my staples. My mum makes the most decadent prime rib. Sometimes, we order truffle rice cochinillo as that is Chris’ favourite,” she elaborates. Her husband selects the wines and lately, they have been enjoying selections from South Africa.

“While I usually savour home-cooked meals for the holidays, when I find myself pressed for time, my go-to for delicious catered dishes is L’Entrecôte. My uncle, chef Martin Kaspar, always cooks up heart yet refined meals that my whole family can enjoy,” says Kienle-Gonzalez.

Here is a recipe from L’Entrecôte that you can try at home:

Deep-Sea Scallops in Pillow

Puff pastry filled with young spinach and deep-sea scallops on a lemongrass cream sauce, tomato-basil compote

Feeds 4 persons

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 pack puff pastry sheets
• 4 pcs deep-sea scallops (large size or 8 pieces small size)
• 400 grams fresh spinach, young leaves
• 100 grams shallots, chopped
• 2 pcs garlic cloves, chopped
• 100 ml white wine
• 1 string lemongrass, chopped 1 pc bay leaf
• 8 pcs black peppercorn
• 100 ml cream
• 1⁄2 bundle garlic chives, chopped 1 pcs tomato
• 1 bundle basil leaves, chopped Olive oil
• Salt and pepper, to taste 60 grams butter
• 10 ml lemon oil

Instructions

Pastetli or Puff Pastry Pillow
Place two puff pastry sheets on top of each other and cut “pillows” out of it. Bake in the oven at 200 C for about 20 minutes. Leave outside and when cold, cut lengthwise in half.

Spinach
Sautee 60 grams shallots and garlic in butter till transparent, add freshly washed spinach leaves and deglaze with 30 ml white wine. Sautee until all the wine is evaporated, season to taste with salt and pepper. Take out and set aside to cool.

Scallops & Sauce
Heat lemon oil with butter (ratio 2 to 1), season the scallops with salt and pepper and pan-fry until it’s nicely brown on each side. Take the scallops out and keep them in a warm place. Add in the pan butter, shallots, bay leaves, black peppercorn and lemongrass and sauté quickly (no colouration).

Deglaze with white wine and a little chicken stock, simmer for 3–4 minutes, add cream and reduce by half. Strain the sauce, place in a blender, add chive garlic and blend until smooth. Add small cubes of cold butter and blend, season to taste and strain the sauce again. Keep warm.

Tomato – Basil Compote
Peel the tomato, remove seeds and cut in small dice. Olive oil in a pan, add shallots and sauté until transparent. Add tomato, salt and pepper and a little wine and simmer until the tomato is soft (about 10 minutes). Slice basil in julienne strips, add to the tomato, season to taste and keep warm.

See next: 6 Suggested Seafood & Wine Pairings