Recipe – Pan-fried Brussels Sprouts

Pan-fried Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta Did you grow up disliking soggy, cabbage-smelling Brussels sprouts? I did. Then I discovered how delicious pan-fried Brussels sprouts. With a bit of charring and some cured pork fat if you like they are delicious! I like to use a spicy, chilli-flecked pancetta (or the black pepper-dusted one from Salumi […]

Recipe – Banh Mi

Bánh Mí I love the way food travels around the world, weaving aspects of one culture into another. The French brought their crisp, fluffy baguettes to Vietnam in the mid-1800s and just over a century later, the Vietnamese brought them to Australia. Now banh mi are one of our take-away mainstays. While they’re a healthy […]

Recipe – Snails in Garlic Herb Butter

Snails in Garlic Butter Escargots à la Bourguignonne. Is there anything more French than escargot? In this classic dish from Burgundy, the snails are really just a vehicle for the delicious garlic and herb butter, so ensure you have plenty of crusty bread to soak it all up. Ideally you’ll have special snail plates and […]

Recipe – Shish Kebab

Shish Kebab Grilling meat on a skewer over coals is one of the most basic forms of cooking. So kebabs, in their many forms, are popular throughout a huge area covering the Eastern Mediterranean, North Africa, the Caucasus and on to the Indian sub-continent (from whence they spread to South East Asia as satays). There’s […]

Recipe – Bucatini all’Amatriciana

Bucatini all’Amatriciana I love tomato, cheese and all things quick and easy, so I’m not sure why it took me so long to try my hand at bucatini all’Amatriciana, one of Italy’s classic pasta dishes. Perhaps it’s because guanciale (cured pork cheek) can be tricky to find – so when I discovered Salumi Australia’s guanciale […]

Recipe – Steak Sandwich

Steak Sandwich A good steak sandwich is an Aussie icon. It makes for a satisfying, and relatively healthy, fast food meal on long road trips. It can also be upscaled for a delicious casual dinner; I use Beerenberg Tomato Chutney and Brasserie Bread rustic loaf. As with its near-cousin the great Aussie hamburger, good caramelised […]

Recipe – Gnocchi Fritti with Salumi Antipasti

Gnocchi Fritti with Salumi Join my Small Group Food & Wine Tours to Emilia-Romagna, Home of Gnocchi Fritti Gnocchi fritti are crisp puffs of deep-fried dough served with salumi all over Emilia-Romagna, they’re also popular in neighbouring Lombardy where they’re called chisolini. If you (or your guests) don’t eat salumi, they’re excellent with smoked salmon […]

Recipe – Bresaola Salad

Bresaola, Watercress & Egg Salad I fell in love with bresaola when I was researching A Lombardian Cookbook in Italy with Alessandro Pavoni. A specialty of Lombardy, bresaola is salt-cured beef eye round that’s dried in the crisp Alpine air. Virtually identical to Swiss bündnerfleisch (viande des Grisons) from just across the border in the […]

Recipe – Lamb Loin Chops

Lamb Loin Chops with Garlic Oregano Marinade Lamb chops were a fixture on the menu when I was a kid and I’d forgotten how good they are until I noticed them recently at the butchers and thought I’d give them another try. They’re like tiny T-bone steaks and just delicious dressed up with this simple […]

Recipe – Axoa d’Espelette (Basque Veal Stew)

Axoa d’Espelette (Basque Veal Stew) I discovered axoa d’Espelette, a classic Basque dish, when I visited the town of Espelette in southwestern France, famous for its mild dark red chillies drying under the eaves of the whitewashed houses. I brought home jars of the ground piment d’Espelette which flavours this and so many other Basque […]

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