While there's nothing better than sharing the Christmas table with family and friends, the prospect of catering for a crowd can be daunting, even for competent cooks. Lyndey Milan takes the stress out of entertaining with effortless solutions to those festive culinary dilemmas when Lyndey's Cracking Christmas encores this month, exclusive to LifeStyle FOOD.

Lyndey's Cracking Christmas is the ultimate guide to a low-stress, high-impress Christmas. Over two half hour episodes, Lyndey will take both her favourite classic and more modern contemporary recipes and reveal the secrets and shortcuts to whipping up some last minute Christmas magic.

"Christmas is a hectic time with high stress for the cook. You have to devise the menu, shop, prepare everything and bake. This series will give you some options that will impress your guests, keep the hoards jolly and your stress level low!", Milan said.

In episode one, A Classic Christmas, Lyndey guides us through a quick, do-ahead recipe for a scrumptious smoked trout mousse and cucumber salad. She prepares a glistening turkey with a mouth-watering Italian sausage stuffing and takes the guesswork out of cooking times for both the turkey and accompanying vegetables. A simple glazed ham paired with mustard fruits and cranberry relish will ensure your guests line up for more. She creates a last-minute steamed sago pudding and bakes some exquisite little Christmas cakes with an eggnog buttercream icing.  And if you're still craving more treats, there are two gorgeous treats for the dedicated sweet-tooth: white chocolate rocky road and dark chocolate truffles.

In episode two, A Contemporary Christmas, Lyndey offers a simple and stylish take on Christmas catering. This feast begins with three crowd-pleasing canapés: smoked duck with Christmas spiced pickled cherries; almond gazpacho with seared scallops; and smashed broad bean, mint and feta on tortilla triangles. She prepares a spectacular BBQ seafood platter with chipotle mayonnaise and chimichurri sauce on the side. A stunning baked salmon fillet gets a makeover with salsa verde and there's an impressive standing rib of beef with spiced salted crust. To top it all of, a superb raspberry ripple nougat parfait and white chocolate and mascarpone mousse with sparkling shiraz syrup, for dessert.

Lyndey's Cracking Christmas Episode 1 Classic will air at 9pm on 16 December, 9am and 5pm on 17 December and 9pm on 21 December and Episode 2 Contemporary will air at 9pm on 23 December, 9am on 24 December and 9pm on 28 December.  The series is produced by Flame Distribution, exclusive to LifeStyle FOOD.