Pedro Ximénez Sherry & Date Puddings These simple Sherry and date puddings are inspired by part of a far more elaborate recipe by Cheong Liew in his book My Food. He adds ginger for an extra dimension, so stir 2 teaspoons of ginger juice into the batter if you like ginger’s pepperiness (made by squeezing […]
Pumpkin Scones Pumpkin scones are perhaps the most Aussie scone of all, made famous by Lady Flo Bjelke-Petersen, wife of a Queensland Premier. Use leftover roast pumpkin if you have some (you’ll need about 1 cup mashed), in which case you may need to add a splash more milk. These pretty orange pumpkin scones are […]
Chicken in Half Mourning This is my version of poulet demi-deuil, a classic French dish made by placing shaved black truffles under the skin of a chicken, resembling the veil of a woman in mourning. It seems that the appearance is only ‘half mourning’ because some of the bird’s white flesh is still seen; full […]
Pink Grapefruit & Passionfruit Ice Cream This pink grapefruit and passionfruit ice cream is a variation on a sherbet recipe I make with all sorts of different fruits. I like the tang of grapefruit with the sweetness of passionfruit – a combination I came up with to try an unusual syrup. Fassionola is a sugar […]
Potato, Smoked Eel & Fontina Tart This deliciously versatile potato & fontina tart can be vegetarian, but potatoes and smoked fish are such natural partners that I sometimes add smoked eel. Hot-smoked rainbow trout also works; either way use about 300g flesh if using seafood. If Fontina’s not available, use any mild washed rind cheese, […]
Cranachan Cranachan, a combination of oats, raspberries, whisky and honey (ideally heather honey, which is available online from Gourmet Life), is the most typical Scottish dessert. A bit like a Scottish Eton mess, these days it’s usually made with whipped cream, though traditionally Scotland’s cottage cheese, crowdie, was used, giving it a more lactic tang. […]
Raspberry Lime Sherbet I love the way good basic recipes can be rejigged to suit different occasions and ingredients. I originally made a mango and lime sorbet (more accurately called a sherbet, see FAQ below for details); then when I needed something to accompany a friend’s chocolate tart I used the base recipe to create […]
Mango, Lime & Crème Fraîche Sorbet This super easy mango crème fraîche sorbet is inspired by Katrina Kanetani’s plum sorbet in the cookbook Pier, and you could substitute plum or any other fresh fruit for the mango. The crème fraîche gives it a lovely smooth texture and rich flavour, more like ice cream than sorbet, […]
Watercress Soup I love the pepperiness of watercress but picking the leaves for a salad can be quite tedious. You’ll need about 2 bunches for this watercress soup, but the beauty is there’s no picking required, you can use almost all of it, just discard the thickest stems and any yellowing leaves and throw the […]
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 […]
