A meal of “plain”, “simple” fish and vegetables is like a breath of fresh [sea] air! We’re lucky to be able to access and eat a wide variety of different cuisines. Our palates get used to the exotic and spicy….
food
Vanilla Cake with Sassy Vanilla Syrup
Why sassy? Because in a world where everything is “flavour innovation”, and “consumer-driven brand line extension”, and “multisensory taste narratives”, it’s a bit radical to market a single flavour hero. Vanilla on vanilla? Come on. But the simplicity of this…
Déjà Vu Slow-Cook Beef Ragu
Why déjà vu? Because somewhere in your memory lurks a delicious home cooked stew you’ve never forgotten, or an idealised image of what one would be like, and when you smell this slow-cook ragu cooking, you get a strange sense…
Back to the Future Tuna Mornay
Bell bottoms, beads, The Beatles, back to the future tuna mornay! Actually, creamy tuna mornay (tuna casserole in the US) dates back even further than the sixties. A version was around before WWII, but it came into its own afterwards,…
What Happens in Vegas Tomato (Napoli) Sauce
YEARS ago, I saw TV domestic goddess Nigella Lawson say to use sugar in all tomato dishes to balance out the acidity. It’s definitely NOT traditional to use sugar in a tomato Napoli sauce. But as far as I’m concerned,…
Frozen Raspberry Nougat Parfait with an Ice-Cream Hack
This has saved Christmas a few times, especially the hack. The parfait recipe below calls for ricotta, sugar and cream, but, I have in my time … replaced all of those … with … softened quality vanilla ice cream. There,…
Four Rule Grilled Open Melts
Bread and cheese? Yes, please! Here, I’ve used smoked ham, tomato and mozzarella, but if you can put it on a pizza, you can put it on a melt. Also a great way to use up some leftovers. I have…
Super Easy Smoked Salmon Pasta with Sour Cream
This is kind of a prosecco dish, in that it’s both sparkling white and also a cheeky rosé. Easy smoked salmon pasta with sour cream is also the simplest impress-your-friends-with-your-nonchalance-in-the-kitchen recipe I can think of. Plus, pasta. If you can/want…
Smell and Taste of Things Waiting for Their Moment
So, as I’m writing out these recipes, or sorting through photos on my phone, I’m getting all these memories bubbling up, sometimes childhood ones, a little bit like Monsieur Proust. This has to be one of the best paragraphs about…
Lazy Dessert – Puff Pastry Lemon Curd Tartlets
These are a huge step up from Bridget Jones’s dessert of marmalade, while hinting at the lemon pie you could make if only you *languid sigh* had the time. All while using only two ingredients. Simple, quick and adaptable? Yes,…
Weeknight Chicken Stir-Fry For When You Can’t Be Bothered
Ugh, you only have one carrot, a capsicum and some lonely looking snow peas in the crisper. Here is your stir fry. I always have soy sauce and oyster sauce on hand, as well as some kind of noodle, and…
25 Minute Simple Berry Muesli Muffins
I can’t think of the word “muffin” any more without thinking of that scene from Shrek when the Gingerbread Man asks Lord Farquaad if he knows the Muffin Man. The one from Drury Lane. Apparently, a few hundred years ago,…
