Make your dishes look pretty!

Garnishing is easy if you have fresh garden herbs…scattered over the top of salads or a fresh bunch tied with twine tucked in beside the meat.

•           Grow microherbs and flowers a couple of weeks beforehand. Have a pair of scissors handy over the weekend and use them to garnish everything from snack trays to desserts. Grow other herbs in pots outside the kitchen.

•           Have a bowl of citrus fruit on the bench – you can never have enough wedges of lemon/lime for garnishing.

•           A dehydrator can be purchased very cheaply – dehydrate tomato, mushrooms, parsnip, sweet potato or whatever you like for savoury dishes, and lemon, lime, pineapple, apple, dragon fruit for sweet dishes… Anything that needs using up, give it a new life and make a stunning addition to the next meal.

•           If you have a veggie curler…curling one beetroot gives a lot for garnishing and looks great on top of any vegetable dish, or even the meat tray for a pop of colour: – Beetroot Curls.

•           The green end of spring onions/scallions can be sliced very thinly with a sharp knife and placed in a jug of water in the fridge to curl: – Spring Onion Curls for Decoration.

•           Never underestimate the power of Everything Bagel Seasoning – a sprinkle of that finishes off many different dishes.

Colour Coding & Tablescapes

•           Plan out all your serving dishes beforehand – make sure you have got varying heights rather than all flat plates or try grouping all your little dishes together in themes and colourways, plus the wax papers, if you use these.

•           Linen or other material offcuts under or on serving plates helps to add interest, or use some of the many tea towels you get given, under hot dishes or to add colour. 

•           It sounds simple but try using all one colour servingware – e.g., all white to make a fresh and colourful meal pop, all black for a moody autumn/winter feel, reds for Mexican/Asian/Indian etc.

•           Paper placemats are another great thing to add colour/style to your table. When you have a few left and not enough for a whole table – cut them up and find a new use for them in your place settings or on your snack tray to add colour and interest.

•           To decide how to set your table, start with a coloured, patterned napkin and/or placemat and match your dishes in with the colour scheme.  

•           Buy fruits and veg that match the theme of the food…for Mexican, use chillies, capsicums or artichokes on the break tray and re-purpose to use beside the meat (these can be used after your meal in a frittata etc., never throw them out!).

•           I recommend foraging something for the table centrepiece – I love olive tree branches for this, but in winter months we’ve been using apple tree branches. Cherry blossoms look really nice in a vase too, but any greenery is fine.

•           If you are not sitting at the table, roll cutlery up in serviettes and lay them on a tray – this always adds a nice ‘prepared’ feel to the table. Pop some wine and glasses at the end of the table too, and a jug of water with lemons/limes and mint leaves in it – this adds another dimension.

•           You could scroll through our “sit up table settings” and basically just adapt the ideas of different centrepieces/colours etc to suit your own table setting. Inspiration  (click on the table settings tab).

Meat Platters

•           Try using a larger platter and having negative space and/or popping a relish or two on the same tray, or even salt and pepper in little pinch pots.

•           Mixed salad leaves/rocket/watercress are an ideal ‘bed’ to serve your meat on – a very simple way to brighten a dish.

•           Pomegranate is a most fabulous colour! Use halved or quartered pomegranates to garnish a snack tray, then re-purpose to place on a platter of lamb. When the meal is over, remove the seeds, rinse and freeze in small bags for use in salads.

•           Kale leaves are great for serving with meat for a pop of green and always put a couple of condiments beside – relishes, sauces etc. If the dish is big enough, I like to serve the potatoes on same dish as meat, sometimes Yorkshires and mushroom sauce. Have one of these dishes at each end of table so it doesn’t have to be passed right round the whole table. The remainder of the kale leaves can be broken up and baked with olive oil and Tuscan seasoning for kale chips and used on top of a vegetable dish for extra color and crunch for your next break!

•           Sprigs of rosemary, straight out the garden if you have a rosemary bush, are a very simple but lovely way of livening up a snack tray and also go great with a lamb dinner.

Bread Boards

•            When serving bread, buy a nice-looking jar of honey and serve along with butter for a bit more interest and style, then just pop the lid back on and use again next time.

•           Use a board with sides and a cloth, tea towel or piece of linen as the base, a mix of breads, e.g., baguette, focaccia, sourdough – some sliced and some torn. I find this a good way to include gluten-free bread in there too, with a little sign showing it is gluten free.

Vegetables

•           Cook your vegetables with a glaze to add more caramelisation and flavour.

•           Piling cooked veggies on top of purées: – Curried Parsnip Cauliflower Mash or Sweet Potato Mash or on top of Whipped Feta or ricotta is delicious and looks great.

Carrot Purée & Baby Carrots

•           Crumble soft cheeses on top – such as feta or Boursin (or a similar garlic/herb cheese), or top with fresh parmesan petals or sliced brie.

•           Pangritata (breadcrumb topping) is nice for adding texture and there are lots of variations: – Kale Fennel Slaw with Toasted Pangritata

•           Crispy fried sage leaves – shallow fry fresh sage leaves in olive oil, drain on paper and sprinkle with salt flakes, this can be done the day before, if required.  

•           Parsnip, sweet potato or carrot fries add a lovely colour and texture: – Beef Cauliflower Steak Dinner

•           This topping goes with most vegetable dishes: –

Parsnip with Bacon Maple Crumb

•           Other ideas for toppings: –

–            Panko crumbs

–            Grated cheese

–            Coriander/cilantro

–            Parsley

–            Potato crisps

–            Crispy fried onions

–            Spring onions/scallions

Potatoes

•           Sprinkle sea salt or rock salt all over the potatoes with rosemary sprigs – this is a simple, cheap and fresh look, I sometimes add lemon wedges too.

•           Black salt looks very effective.

Decorating Desserts

•           Apple crisps: – Apple Crisps

•           Toffee sauce – there’s a nice one on this recipe: – Crunchy Topped Date Cake with Toffee Caramel Sauce

•           Almond crumb: – Almond Crumb Topping

•           Vanilla ice cream: – Vanilla Ice Cream

•           Coulis: – Berry Lime Coulis

•           Mascarpone cream: – Flourless Chocolate Crunch Cake

•           Toffee shards: – The Perfect Toffee

•           Chocolate bark or shapes: – Chocolate Bubbles, Feathers & Lace Balls

•           Cinnamon sugar

•           Raspberry Cognac Glaze: – Lemon & Honey Almond Madeleines with Raspberry Cognac Glaze

•           Berries or fruit, fresh or dehydrated.

Breakfast Platters

·       I love this kind of idea for breakfast; do piles of bagels or croissants and then ham, cheese,  tomato, etc. around the board: – Spring Lunch Bagel Board

·       How about a waffle platter? They look amazing and can be easy to put together with sweet and savoury condiments, scrambled eggs and bacon: –  Savoury Waffles. These waffles work very well with a gluten-free flour, I like to add chorizo and spinach into the batter – they are delicious.

·       I recommend you tuck your Savoury Muffins in amongst all these goodies: – Lamb Cutlet Breakfast Platter

·       Serve this 3 Cheese Breakfast Spinach Frittata with slices of toasted sourdough or ciabatta on the side, vine tomatoes, avocado,  cooked bacon and rocket leaves on top or to the side, hollandaise sauce and relish. For sweet you could serve warmed Banana Bread, vanilla bean yoghurt, maple syrup and roasted halved peaches with crumble on top. GF Toasted Raspberry Cheesecake Banana Loaf

·       Pancake Breakfast Feast

Snack Trays

·       I always try to make sure I have a good selection of colours, for example: red grapes, green cucumber, red or yellow capsicum/pepper, so it’s not all browns. Then using cured meats or salami to fill in gaps as well as fresh herbs such as thyme and rosemary, makes all the difference.

Snacking Board

·       Here is a link to a video showing how to assemble a snack tray, which is super helpful: –  Assembling a Snack Tray

·       How about an Antipasto Platter with cooked meats, olives, a burrata covered with pesto, and caramelised nuts? Or otherwise, take inspiration from some of these recipes:

o   Garlic, Herb & Parmesan Wedges everyone raves when I’ve done these

o   Marinated White Cheddar Cheese

o   Honeyed Brie Brulée

o   Sticky Hasselback Kransky with Mustard Mayo

o   Last Minute Cheesy Maple Chips with Ranch Dip

o   Salmon & Prosciutto Blinis with Apple Pickled Celery

o   Cream Cheese Filled Celery Stick Appetiser

·       Some other easy ideas to fill up a snack tray: long red peppers stuffed with cream cheese, wraps, crostini, whole apples or pears cut into slices, or Philadelphia cheese turned onto a dish and topped with sweet chilli sauce.

·       If you look under “Inspiration” you will see there’s a special tab for “Snack Trays” and endless serving ideas, you’ll be sure to find one to suit your occasion!

Helpful Links

Plating & Presentation Collection

Drips, Dust, Dollops & Drizzles