Stone & Wood x Pip Sumbak: The Ultimate Summer Christmas BBQ
This Summer holiday season, Stone & Wood is teaming up with Pinterest and outdoor chef Pip Sumbak (@pipsplate) to create the ultimate Aussie Christmas BBQ experience. With a menu that celebrates the best of summer and pairs perfectly with our refreshing Pacific Ale, your guests are sure to be running back for seconds and leaving with a smile on their dial.
Known for her unique approach to cooking over hot coals, Pip’s carefully curated summer menu highlights the vibrant, bold flavours of Australian produce. There’s something for everyone! But before we get into the menu, let’s set the scene a little.
Setting the Scene (and Table)
Whether your Christmas celebration is more of a friendsmas, a family get together or somewhere in the middle, there are some key things to get right during the set up.
We recommend sourcing one long table, allowing you to keep everyone united during mealtimes and together keeping the good times rolling on. If you don’t have one big enough, put multiple next to one another – a tablecloth will cover that up for the most part anyway. Add a touch of class by assigning seating and adding placards noting who goes where!
Save yourself from the worst of the lunchtime sun by aiming to kick off in the early afternoon, giving you plenty of time to catch up and prepare snacks before finalising the BBQ dinner. This will leave plenty of time to unwind with your mates over a cold beer, as the early evening rolls around.
Friends and family gathered around, enjoying delicious food straight off the BBQ, and raising a cold Pacific Ale to toast the season. This is what an Aussie Christmas is all about—bringing people together to share good food, great beer, and make some fun memories.
Create the Atmosphere
Make your BBQ unforgettable by creating a warm, welcoming, and fun-filled atmosphere:
- Music: Curate a playlist filled with summer tunes and Aussie classics. Put on our Pacific Ale Spotify playlist, or start from scratch with some songs that feel right.
- Games & Activities: Backyard cricket, bocce and other outdoor games like finska always add to the fun.
- Lighting: As the sun sets, get your fairy lights, lanterns, or candles out and lit to add a moody touch to the warm afternoon.
Encourage your guests to connect, share a laugh, and swap stories while embracing the summer vibes. A great BBQ is all about coming together and celebrating good times!
Bonus Tips:
Design your dress code to embrace the season with Hawaiian shirts, bold summer prints, and playful colours. Bright, cheerful outfits not only add to the festive vibe but also set the tone for a day of laughter, good vibes, and unforgettable memories.
Pinterest’s week-long festive trend celebration, running from December 2 to 8, offers plenty of inspiration to make your BBQ extra special. From unique table settings to fun gifting ideas, take a cue from the platform to add creative touches that are sure to wow your guests.
The Menu: Where Good Food Meets Good Beer
In Australia, Christmas isn’t just about tradition—it’s about embracing the warmth of summer, spending time with good mates, and savouring fresh, seasonal flavours.
Pip has designed a feast fit for the festive season, featuring dishes that embody the distinct feel of an Aussie Christmas. When we think of Christmas, we’re reminded of fragrant fresh fruit, barbecued meat, hot sun and refreshing drinks – all enjoyed around friends and family. Our menu incorporates it all to pair perfectly with an ice cold Pacific Ale:
- BBQ Lamb Tomahawk with a sweet and sour salsa
- BBQ Curry Leaf Prawns
- Summer Ceviche
- Tomato Salad with crispy chili oil & pickled onion
Find the full recipes at the end!
And Finally, Enjoy the Ultimate Christmas BBQ
Once the food is served, the beers are flowing, and the table is full of good conversations and laughs, sit back and enjoy the magic you’ve created. From Pip Sumbak’s incredible dishes to the refreshing taste of Pacific Ale, this is a Christmas BBQ that’s bound to result in quality connections with good friends and some great summer memories.
With delicious food, refreshing beers, and Pinterest-inspired ideas, you’ll have all the tools to host the ultimate festive gathering.
Cheers to sunny days, great mates, and your most delicious Christmas spread yet!
Our Aussie BBQ Recipes in Full:
BBQ Lamb Tomahawk with Sweet n Sour salsa
Ingredients:
- 8 Lamb Tomahawks (ask your butcher for lamb cutlets untrimmed)
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 tbsp good quality dried oregano
- 2 tbsp Olive oil
- 1 tbsp salt flakes
For Sweet & Sour Salsa:
- 1 cup Green Olives Sliced
- 1 cup toasted pinenuts
- ½ Cup white wine vinegar
- 1 tsp Dijon Mustard
- 1 large tbsp Honey
- ½ cup capers
- 1tbsp lemon juice & zest of 1 lemon
- 1tsp fish sauce
- 1 handful of mint leaves
- 1 handful parsley
Method:
Lamb Chops:
- Marinate Chops a few hours in advance.
- Heat your BBQ and grill on high heat for about 3 minutes each side for medium-rare, or until cooked to your liking. Rest for about 2 minutes and arrange on a platter ready for the salsa.
Sweet & Sour Salsa:
- Gently heat the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat.
- Remove from heat and add the honey, fish sauce, mustard, lemon juice, vinegar. Stir well to combine. Add olives, nuts & Capers.
- When ready to serve, toss through herbs and layer over the chops.
BBQ Curry leaf Prawns
Ingredients:
- 10 Large Raw Australian Prawns
- 1 tbsp good quality yellow curry paste (we use Maesri brand)
- 1 tsp tamarind pulp
- 250g salted butter
- 1 tbsp palm sugar
- Fried crispy curry leaves*
- Lime juice to serve
Method:
Curry Butter:
- Heat butter in a medium saucepan over gentle heat. Add palm sugar and stir to melt. Add curry paste, increase heat and let it bubble until it begins to caramelise.
- Remove from heat and add tamarind.
Prawns:
- Skewer your prawns or butterfly them. Heat BBQ to highest heat.
- Season prawns with salt, pepper and a brush of curry butter. Grill until cooked to your liking. Warm your curry butter in preparation to serve. Arrange on a platter and pour over curry butter. Scatter with curry leaf and a squeeze of lime.
*Pick curry leaves fresh and shallow fry in oil until crisp and dark green. Season with salt. Only takes a second!
Summer Ceviche
Ingredients:
- 400g Kingfish or other sashimi grade varieties
- 1 red onion diced
- 1 kensington Pride Mango diced
- 1 bunch of coriander. Stems diced. Leaves for garnish.
- 2 limes squeezed
- Thumb size knob of ginger
- 1 green chilli chopped
- 1 lebanese cucumber, seeds removed, diced
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp crispy chilli oil
- Salt & pepper to taste
- 1 pack good quality tortilla chips or tostadas
Method:
- Slice the fish into cubes. Refrigerate while you prepare your ingredients.
- Finely dice onion, coriander stems & green chilli. Set aside.
- Peel and Micro plane ginger. Pick it up in your hands and squeeze the juice into a bowl. Discard pulp. Squeeze lime juice and add oils to the same bowl with salt and pepper.
- Chop cucumber and mango into chunks. Set aside. Keep ingredients in the fridge. Ceviche is best served nice and cold.
- When ready to serve, toss the fish in the lime, ginger, and oil mix. Toss through diced ingredients and then gently fold in mango and cucumber. Taste and season.
- Remember to toss the fish last minute as the lime will begin to cook the fish.
- Serve your ceviche with coriander leaves for garnish, extra olive oil drizzled over and tortilla chips for dunking.
Tomato Salad with crispy chilli oil & pickled onion
Ingredients:
- 5 of the best tomatoes you can find (we used local in season ox hearts)
- 2 crispy lebanese cucumbers
- 1 tbsp best quality crispy chilli oil
- Salt & Pepper
- Zest of 1 lemon
- For Pickled Onion:
- 1 white onion finely sliced into rounds or mandoline
- 1 cup rice wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- ½ cup sugar
Method:
- For the onion. Prepare ahead of time. Heat vinegar in a saucepan and add sugar to melt. Take off heat and stir in fish sauce. Pack onion into a jar and pour over liquid. Refrigerate until cold.
- Slice tomatoes and cucumber into chunks and season with salt flakes & a glug of olive oil.
- Pile into bowls, drizzle over crispy chilli oil and garnish with pickled onion & fresh basil.
