In today's Bite magazine: Silly season

Scallops with anchovy butter. Photo / Bite magazine

Find all your favourite bits from today's Bite magazine online. Follow the hyperlinks in Jo Elwin's editor's letter and lose yourself in bite.co.nz.

This is a very busy time for professional cooks, so to give our very talented team time to focus on their respective silly seasons, this week's is our last issue of Bite magazine for the year. The team also need a wee holiday, so we are taking some of January off too and will be back with you on January 19 with an issue packed full of fresh food ideas to help you put good food on the table every day for another year.

To sign off the year Geoff Scott makes ham the show-stopping centre piece with a sticky ginger beer glaze and spicy, nutty crust. Served with mustard oranges and chilli lime pineapple, this is not your typical ham experience and we recommend you try it.

Kyle Street's boxing day benedict. Photo / Bite magazine

For that leftover ham Kyle Street makes a boxing day benedict with a horseradish hollandaise that will make a cracking lazy day meal.

Warren Elwin has made a sweet and sour red cabbage, a mustard sauce and some goat's cheese truffles that will help liven up the cold cuts and his turkey rillettes allow you add a touch of turkey to Christmas feasts.

On the sweet side, Aaron Brunet continues to encourage our healthy habits with his Christmas mince pie recipe that eases up on the butter, flour and sugar.

Christmas mince pies. Photo / Bite magazine

Keen to make the most of New Zealand's finest scallops, asparagus and new potatoes, I found this recipe for scallops with anchovy butter lurking in the bite.co.nz archives that I have rejuvenated ready to serve at a New Year's Eve dinner.

For all those barbecues you'll be attending over the coming months, Peter Gordon helps with barbecue sweets and for the nights when you feel like takeaways, make yourself some fried rice and crumbed chicken - the kid's will be in to this one too.

Geoff Scott's Christmas ham. Photo / Bite magazine

We have not forgotten that this is a very busy time of year for home cooks too, so each week, until we are back on 19 January, we will continue to bring you recipes for just what you need right now on bite.co.nz - see you there!

Wishing you all a very merry foodie Christmas.