An Australian Christmas just isn’t complete without a terrific seafood dish. Here are two more recipes we think will be a hit with your Christmas guests this year.

Grilled seafood platter

(Photo by Brett Stevens & Ian Wallace, Recipe by Valli Little)

Prep: 30     Cook: 10     Ingredients: 19     Difficulty: Easy     Servings: 6

•  1 cup extra virgin olive oil
•  2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
•  2 tablespoons chopped basil
•  Zest and juice of 2 lemons
•  4 blue swimmer crabs, halved, claws cracked
•  4 lobster tails or small whole lobsters, halved, cleaned
•  24 scampi, peeled (tails intact), deveined
•  32 green prawns, peeled (tails intact), deveined
•  350g clams (vongole)
•  12 scallops in the half shell
•  2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

Avocado cream

•  2 ripe avocados, peeled, stoned, roughly chopped
•  1/2 cup thickened cream
•  1 garlic clove, chopped
•  Juice of 1 lime

Seafood sauce

•  200ml whole-egg mayonnaise
•  1 small lime, zest grated, juiced
•  1 tablespoon sweet chilli sauce
•  1 tablespoon tomato sauce

Method

Step 1

Combine the oil, garlic, basil, lemon juice and zest in a bowl, then season. Brush the marinade over the seafood.

Step 2

Heat a barbecue hotplate to medium-high. Cook the crab and lobster for 2 minutes, then add the scampi and cook for a further 2 minutes. Add the prawns and clams, and cook for 3-4 minutes, then add the scallops. When the clams open and the prawns and scallops are opaque, transfer all seafood to a platter. Serve with parsley, avocado and seafood sauces.

Step 3

To make the avocado cream: Pulse ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Step 4

To make the seafood sauce: Whisk the ingredients together. Season with salt and pepper.

Note: This seafood platter is not for the dainty. Make sure you have finger bowls spread over the table and plenty of napkins. Invest in a seafood cracker (it can double as a nut cracker) so you can get to every sweet and juicy morsel.

http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/25526/grilled+seafood+platter)

Moreton bay bug & avocado salad

(Photo by Ben Dearnley, Recipe by David Prior)

Prep: 15min     Cook: 10 min     Ingredients: 9      Difficulty: Easy     Servings: 6

• 12 green Moreton Bay bug tails (see note), peeled
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 baby cos, outer leaves discarded
• 3 avocados, halved
• 1 bunch watercress, sprigs picked

Dressing

• 1 garlic clove
• 1/4 cup (60ml) lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon wholegrain mustard
• 1/4 cup (60ml) extra virgin olive oil

Method

Step 1

Preheat a barbecue or chargrill pan to medium-high heat. Brush bugs with oil and season with salt. Cook, turning once, for 6-8 minutes until just cooked through and golden on the outside. Rest, loosely covered with foil, while you make dressing.

Step 2

For the dressing, pound garlic with a pinch of salt in a mortar and pestle until a paste. Add lemon juice and mustard, then slowly add oil, stirring, until combined. Season with pepper.

Step 3

Halve the bugs lengthways, then toss in a large bowl with the dressing. Add the lettuce and toss to combine. Spoon in the avocado flesh, add watercress and toss gently with your hands. Divide salad among 6 plates and serve.

Note: Moreton Bay bugs are from fishmongers. I used Wurtz avocados from near Gympie.

http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/28732/moreton+bay+bug+avocado+salad)

We hope we’ve given you some inspiration for the table and we wish you all a Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year!