Coq au Vin Coq au vin was one of the first French dishes I ever cooked, and it seemed terribly sophisticated in the early ‘80s. Literally ‘rooster in wine’, it’s a classic braise of chicken, onion, mushrooms and lardon (cured pork belly), sometimes thickened with the chicken’s blood (but not in my case). Coq au […]
Profiteroles with Chocolate Sauce Choux pastry seems daunting until you make it and realise just how easy it is. It can be used for a whole range of sweet and savoury recipes, but classic profiteroles with chocolate sauce is my favourite. Profiteroles can be filled with whipped cream or custard, but it’s hard to beat […]
Nanaimo Bar This is my version of the delicious unbaked slice I discovered years ago on a road trip through Canada. It hails from the town of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island, but is popular throughout the country. It’s a simple biscuit base with creamy custard-flavoured filling and chocolate ganache topping – and it’s irresistible! Nanaimo […]
Hazelnut & Butterscotch Pull-aparts Hazelnut and butterscotch pull-aparts are one of the quickest and easiest sweet treats to make, yet looks fabulous and tastes delicious. That’s my kind of cooking! Best of all, you can use this technique to make any flavour pull-aparts, sweet or savoury. Replace hazelnuts with any other nut, add dried fruit […]
Walnut & Cinnamon Coffee Cake I’m not much of a baker, but this moist walnut and cinnamon coffee cake, with a scrumptious crunchy streusel topping, is foolproof and so delicious that it’s become my go-to when I need a homemade sweet treat to take to a friend’s house. Moist strudel-topped coffee cakes (streuselkuchen) originated in […]
Greek Leek & Cheese Pie (Prasopita) I’ve always loved Greek pies like spanakopita (spinach and cheese), tiropita (cheese) and hortopita (wild weeds – see video below). Then I discovered this Greek leek and cheese pie, which might just be the most delicious of all. Prasopita is popular in Greece during Lent, when devout Orthodox Christians […]
Black Pepper Butter Chicken This quick, tasty recipe is my version of a Punjabi dish, kali mirch murgh makhani (literally black pepper chicken with butter). It’s nothing like the fluoro-orange butter chicken of Indian restaurants (which I also love!), nor is it as spicy as the amount of pepper, garlic and ginger might suggest. The […]
Butterscotch Cookies I love having something homemade to serve when friends drop by for a cuppa – but sometimes I just get caught short. That’s when I whip up a batch of these butterscotch cookies in less time than it takes to dash out to the shop for a packet of biscuits! You could save […]
Lime Slice I recently had an abundance of limes, so made this delicious lime slice. You could use lemons, oranges or any other citrus, you might just want to adjust the sugar level depending on the sweetness of the juice. The dough can be soft and difficult to handle if you don’t refrigerate it first, […]
Anzac Biscuits A number of foreign friends living in Australia have said that Anzac Day feels more like our national day than Australia Day does. And the legend of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, and their battle at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915, is certainly etched deep in the Australian psyche. It’s so […]
