The culinary legend behind Christchurch’s White Tie Catering, Tina Duncan draws on a lifetime’s experience of cooking for a crowd with her cookbook Plated. Here, she shares one of her favourite brunch recipes, Savoury Croissant Bake & Chilli Jam.

Not only delicious, it’s also got that secret ingredient loved by every cook – it can be prepared the day before.

Serves: 8 | Prep time: 20mins | Cook time: 45mins

Ingredients

• 8 croissants
• Dijon mustard
• 8 slices of good quality ham
• 250g Gouda or Gruyère cheese, sliced or grated
• 4 eggs
• 300ml full-cream milk
• 250ml cream
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp pepper
• ½ cup grated parmesan
• small bunch chives, finely chopped

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Grease a gratin dish large enough to fit the croissants in a single layer. Slice the croissants open and spread one side with mustard and fill with ham and cheese. Pack into the gratin dish.
2. In a bowl, beat together the eggs, milk, cream and seasoning. Pour over the croissants and rest for 15 minutes before baking for approximately 30–40 minutes or until the egg has set.
3. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with parmesan and chives.
4. Serve with tomato chilli jam.

Tomato Chilli Jam

Ingredients

• 2.5kg tomatoes roughly chopped (I often use the equivalent in chopped tinned tomatoes)
• 2 large onions, finely chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 50g fresh ginger, grated
• 2–3 red chillies
• 800g raw sugar
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 500ml malt or cider vinegar
• juice of 2 lemons
• 1 tblsp salt

Method

1. Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan. Bring to the boil and simmer until desired thickness is reached. Bottle in sterilised jars and seal. Store in a dark place and refrigerate once opened. Will keep for several months.

Tips

• Fill croissants the night before. Make the egg custard the night before and refrigerate.
• Ideally, make the chilli jam well in advance to give the flavours time to develop.

tinalovestocook.com