Robert Armstrong’s commitment to his land and olive groves, in the foothills of the Great Dividing Range (near Crookwell, NSW) has led to ALTO Olives becoming Australia’s most awarded extra virgin olive oil. His agrodolce (bitter-sweet) vinegars are the best Australian vinegars I’ve found too.
Pesto Tagliatelle Like pesto?You’ll love my online Italian cooking class featuring the food of the Italian Riviera! How often do you buy a bunch of basil, use a dozen leaves or so in a sauce or salad then wonder what to do with the rest? The answer’s easy: make pesto, the famous bright green basil […]
Mustard-crusted Roast Lamb What’s more Australian than roast lamb? Mum’s Sunday roast is one of my favourite childhood memories. It was a large leg of lamb surrounded by a heap of roast root vegies, with boiled peas, beans, cauliflower and broccoli on the side. It seemed to take all afternoon to prepare and was ample […]
Vegetarian Antipasto For many years I worked right up to 24 December, but still looked forward to a relaxed Christmas Day with family and friends around our table. Remember it doesn’t have to be complicated to be delicious or impressive. Inspired by travels around the Mediterranean, I like to keep things super simple with platters […]
Spaghetti Aglio, Olio e Peperoncino Like this recipe?You’ll love my online Italian cooking class featuring the food of southern Italy! The simplest recipes are often the favourites, the ones with the most views on this website are croque monsieur (a.k.a. toasted ham & cheese sandwich) and affogato (ice cream ‘drowned’ in coffee and liqueur), hardly […]
Lamb Cutlets with Romesco Sauce Romesco is a Spanish sauce from the region of Catalonia, where a variation called salvitxada is served as a dip for calçots, local spring onions traditionally charred over open fires; thick green onions or baby leeks make a good alternative. Since we’re talking Spain, Sherry is the perfect accompaniment, especially […]
Ratatouille Like this recipe? You’ll love my online French cooking class featuring the Food of Provence! This versatile Provençal dish is delicious hot or cold, as a standalone vegetarian meal, or an accompaniment to grilled meat, poultry or seafood. There aren’t any hard and fast rules, it’s a quick, one-pot combination of eggplant, capsicum, onion, […]
Harissa-rubbed Quail For a long time, i thought quail would be too fiddly to cook – but when I finally tackled it I was surprised at how simple it is. Brining is a great way to add flavour to meat and poultry, it’s the original ‘marinade’, a word that derives from the Latin ‘mare’, meaning […]
Beef Tagliata with Salsa Verde In Italy, steak is usually sliced into strips – bistecca tagliata (tagliata meaning ‘cut’) – which looks much more appealing than a big slab of meat on the plate. It’s often served with a salad of rocket and shaved parmesan but any salad works well (as does the delicious pan-fried […]
Stuffed Artichokes Like this recipe? You’ll love my online French cooking class featuring the Food of Provence! I love artichokes, one of the first spring vegetables to appear in greengrocers. I love them finely shaved raw in a salad, deep-fried Roman-style (carciofi alla Giudia), and preserved on an antipasto plate. But most of all I […]
Eggplant Parmigiana Eat Eggplant Parmigiana with me in Parma on a Small Group Food & Wine Tour While the name suggests a clear connection with the northern Italian city of Parma – and eggplant Parmigiana appears on almost every restaurant menu there – southern Italy also claims this delicious dish. It’s traditional to Naples and […]
