HAVE A CRACKLING CHRISTMAS DINNER

With these van-friendly recipes

WORDS AND IMAGES MARTY LEDWICH

If you’re spending Christmas in the caravan, get some pork on your fork

If you’re spending Christmas in your caravan and you want to put on a decent feed for you and your family, it’s probably going to take a fairly high degree of planning. After all, you’ll want to make sure you have all the necessary herbs and spices, sauces and marinades, all the meat and veggies, not to mention all the cooking utensils and pots and pans. 

Seriously, it’s probably easier to give up on the fancy meals and stick to good old chops and sausages on the barbecue. 

Well, we want to change that for you this Christmas with three amazing meals that you can cook up in your caravan or camper with next to no preparation at all, and you’ll be helping out Aussie pork farmers in the process.

The meat used for these meals is vacuum packed and will keep in the fridge for weeks. Check the best-before date on the packaging. 

For these meals, we’ve used the Weber Baby Q, but they should work equally well in a Ziggy or other similar roasting grill barbie.

LIFESTYLE Christmas Meal Ideas

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GERMAN-STYLE PORK KNUCKLE

This popular Bavarian meal is traditionally served during Octoberfest, and there are many family recipes out there. It is usually slow-cooked over many hours, something that we just don’t have time for in our caravans. Fortunately, an Australian company, Three Aussie Farmers, has done all the hard work for you. All you need to do is finish it off in the barbecue.

CHINESE BARBECUE BUTTERFLY PORK 

One of my favourite meals at a Chinese restaurant is spiced pork. It’s always so juicy and tasty, but if I try to make it at home, it never comes out quite the same. Again, our Aussie producers have come to the rescue with a variety of pre-marinated pork butterflies that are easy to cook – and they taste sensational. This version is available from Coles. It’s a plum and ginger marinade, perfect for grilling. 

The pork knuckle is already partially cooked and pickled. Simply preheat your barbecue at full heat with the trivet and baking tray in place. 

Take the pork knuckle out of its packaging and sit it on the trivet. 

Sprinkle some salt on the rind and close the lid. 

Cook at full heat for at least 20 minutes to get the rind to crackle then turn the heat down to ¾ for the remaining 40 minutes. 

Remove from the oven and allow to rest for at least five minutes. 

The meat is carved off the bone and traditionally served with sauerkraut but if you want a really fresh alternative, thinly slice some carrot, cabbage and radishes into a small bowl and mix. Make a dressing out of apple cider vinegar and your favourite mustard and pour over the salad mix. Stir to ensure all the veggies have been covered and allow to set in the fridge for 10 minutes. Stir again before serving.

Preheat your barbecue on high heat for at least 10 minutes to get the grill piping hot. 

Take the pork butterfly out of the packaging keeping as much of the marinade on the meat as possible. 

Place on the grill and close the lid, reducing the heat to ¾ setting. 

Cook for approximately six minutes before turning over. 

Cook for a further six minutes and remove the meat from the grill and allow to rest for at least five minutes. 

Slice the meat into 5mm thick pieces and serve.

I like to serve this with stir-fried vegetables. You can choose any veggies you like but try onion, capsicum, asparagus and mushrooms. 

Preheat your frypan with a tablespoon of olive oil. 

Stir fry the veggies quickly for no more than five minutes. You don’t want to overcook them, but keep them crunchy. 

Splash the veggies with a small amount of soy or tamari sauce, stir the veggies in the sauce for 30 seconds and remove from the heat. 

Serve immediately.

for the outback
real caravans

MAPLE BAKED HAM

A good friend of ours is Canadian and every Christmas we eagerly look forward to her unique Christmas speciality; Baked Ham. In Australia, we prefer to eat our ham cold off the bone and the thought of cooking it probably never enters our minds but, trust me, when you try this, you may never look at ham the same way again. Zip into Woollies and pick up one of their home-brand double-smoked boneless leg ham packs made with 100 percent Aussie pork. 

Preheat your barbecue for at least 10 minutes on high heat with the baking tray and trivet in place. 

Remove the ham from the packaging and place the ham on the trivet flat side down and cook at full heat for at least 20 minutes.

Mix a glaze out of ¼ cup of apple cider vinegar and ¼ cup of maple syrup. 

Brush a liberal amount of the glaze over the ham, reduce the heat to ¾ setting and allow the glaze to set. 

Repeat brushing the glaze over the cooking ham every 20 minutes. Total cooking time is around one hour. 

Allow the cooked ham to rest for about five minutes before carving and serving. 

Serve with a mixed salad but include some sliced apple and dress the salad in the same apple cider vinegar and maple syrup glaze. Absolutely delicious.

The great thing about all three of these meals is, whatever you don’t eat on Christmas Day, can be served cold on Boxing Day and they will taste just as good, if not better. The meat packs used for these meals are available all year round so you don’t have to wait for Christmas to enjoy them again.


We wish all our readers a very merry Christmas and an even merrier New Year.

If you’re spending Christmas in your caravan and you want to put on a decent feed for you and your family, it’s probably going to take a fairly high degree of planning. After all, you’ll want to make sure you have all the necessary herbs and spices, sauces and marinades, all the meat and veggies, not to mention all the cooking utensils and pots and pans. 

Seriously, it’s probably easier to give up on the fancy meals and stick to good old chops and sausages on the barbecue. 

Well, we want to change that for you this Christmas with three amazing meals that you can cook up in your caravan or camper with next to no preparation at all, and you’ll be helping out Aussie pork farmers in the process.

The meat used for these meals is vacuum packed and will keep in the fridge for weeks. Check the best-before date on the packaging. 

For these meals, we’ve used the Weber Baby Q, but they should work equally well in a Ziggy or other similar roasting grill barbie.

If you’re spending Christmas in the caravan, get some pork on your fork

LIFESTYLE Christmas Meal Ideas

HAVE A CRACKLING CHRISTMAS DINNER

With these van-friendly recipes

WORDS AND IMAGES MARTY LEDWICH

ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

GERMAN-STYLE PORK KNUCKLE

This popular Bavarian meal is traditionally served during Octoberfest, and there are many family recipes out there. It is usually slow-cooked over many hours, something that we just don’t have time for in our caravans. Fortunately, an Australian company, Three Aussie Farmers, has done all the hard work for you. All you need to do is finish it off in the barbecue.

CHINESE BARBECUE BUTTERFLY PORK 

One of my favourite meals at a Chinese restaurant is spiced pork. It’s always so juicy and tasty, but if I try to make it at home, it never comes out quite the same. Again, our Aussie producers have come to the rescue with a variety of pre-marinated pork butterflies that are easy to cook – and they taste sensational. This version is available from Coles. It’s a plum and ginger marinade, perfect for grilling. 

The pork knuckle is already partially cooked and pickled. Simply preheat your barbecue at full heat with the trivet and baking tray in place. 

Take the pork knuckle out of its packaging and sit it on the trivet. 

Sprinkle some salt on the rind and close the lid. 

Cook at full heat for at least 20 minutes to get the rind to crackle then turn the heat down to ¾ for the remaining 40 minutes. 

Remove from the oven and allow to rest for at least five minutes. 

The meat is carved off the bone and traditionally served with sauerkraut but if you want a really fresh alternative, thinly slice some carrot, cabbage and radishes into a small bowl and mix. Make a dressing out of apple cider vinegar and your favourite mustard and pour over the salad mix. Stir to ensure all the veggies have been covered and allow to set in the fridge for 10 minutes. Stir again before serving.

Preheat your barbecue on high heat for at least 10 minutes to get the grill piping hot. 

Take the pork butterfly out of the packaging keeping as much of the marinade on the meat as possible. 

Place on the grill and close the lid, reducing the heat to ¾ setting. 

Cook for approximately six minutes before turning over. 

Cook for a further six minutes and remove the meat from the grill and allow to rest for at least five minutes. 

Slice the meat into 5mm thick pieces and serve.

I like to serve this with stir-fried vegetables. You can choose any veggies you like but try onion, capsicum, asparagus and mushrooms. 

Preheat your frypan with a tablespoon of olive oil. 

Stir fry the veggies quickly for no more than five minutes. You don’t want to overcook them, but keep them crunchy. 

Splash the veggies with a small amount of soy or tamari sauce, stir the veggies in the sauce for 30 seconds and remove from the heat. 

Serve immediately.

for the outback
real caravans
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MAPLE BAKED HAM

A good friend of ours is Canadian and every Christmas we eagerly look forward to her unique Christmas speciality; Baked Ham. In Australia, we prefer to eat our ham cold off the bone and the thought of cooking it probably never enters our minds but, trust me, when you try this, you may never look at ham the same way again. Zip into Woollies and pick up one of their home-brand double-smoked boneless leg ham packs made with 100 percent Aussie pork. 

Preheat your barbecue for at least 10 minutes on high heat with the baking tray and trivet in place. 

Remove the ham from the packaging and place the ham on the trivet flat side down and cook at full heat for at least 20 minutes.

Mix a glaze out of ¼ cup of apple cider vinegar and ¼ cup of maple syrup. 

Brush a liberal amount of the glaze over the ham, reduce the heat to ¾ setting and allow the glaze to set. 

Repeat brushing the glaze over the cooking ham every 20 minutes. Total cooking time is around one hour. 

Allow the cooked ham to rest for about five minutes before carving and serving. 

Serve with a mixed salad but include some sliced apple and dress the salad in the same apple cider vinegar and maple syrup glaze. Absolutely delicious.

The great thing about all three of these meals is, whatever you don’t eat on Christmas Day, can be served cold on Boxing Day and they will taste just as good, if not better. The meat packs used for these meals are available all year round so you don’t have to wait for Christmas to enjoy them again.


We wish all our readers a very merry Christmas and an even merrier New Year.

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