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It’s hot. It’s humid. The sun is out in full force, the sky is a pristine, postcard perfect blue. Christmas jingles are playing in the background. Glasses are instantly frosted with condensation the moment chilled wine is poured in. And it’s mandatory to use stubby holders* for beers – not just for practical reasons, but because it’s oh-so-Aussie. Our Christmas’ are the polar opposite of the traditional White Christmas. It’s smack bang in the middle of summer....

This is a cookbook exclusive recipe! This recipe is exclusive to my debut cookbook Dinner which includes a how-to video for every recipe. Just scan the QR code! Just to explain…. I know, it’s confusing! You’re so used to getting recipes on my website – there’s over 1,200 of them, after all. And here you are looking at a tasty recipe video and I haven’t provided the recipe. 🙀 I’m not just doing this to torture you, I promise....

The idea behind this recipe is that the gorgeous mushroom juice drips into the rice as it bakes – the best broth base ever! Incredible, super easy mushroom recipe! I think the two most common recipe questions I get are: Can this be made with chicken breast? (Hands down, the most asked 😂) Can this be made in the oven? (Followed closely by the 3rd most asked question: Can this be made in a slow cooker?...

BONUS: this all happens in one pan, it’s 100% perfect for make ahead and freezing, and makes its own barbecue sauce (and it might be the best you ever have in your life!). Slow cooked BBQ Beef Ribs Beef ribs are the king of all beef cuts for slow cooking (pretty sure I said that in my Beef Short Ribs in Red Wine Sauce too). They are juicier than brisket and chuck (there’s always a few lean-ish patches, that’s just the way that cut is)....

This is a cookbook exclusive recipe! This recipe is exclusive to my debut cookbook Dinner which includes a how-to video for every recipe. Just scan the QR code! Just to explain…. I know, it’s confusing! You’re so used to getting recipes on my website – there’s over 1,200 of them, after all. And here you are looking at a tasty recipe video and I haven’t provided the recipe. 🙀 I’m not just doing this to torture you, I promise....

Pssst. And did you know that the calories in potato wedges is less than half that of fries?? CRUNCHY Baked Potato Wedges! Potato wedges are almost as popular as fries in Australia. When you go to a pub, there will inevitably be wedges on the bistro menu right alongside fries. And there’s almost as many varieties of frozen potato wedges as there are fries. Different flavours, different crunch levels, normal potato and sweet potato, extra spicy – the list goes on and on....

Make this with button mushrooms or large mushrooms! A great quick side dish that pairs with everything from steaks to Roast Chicken, or make a meal out of it as I do! Garlic Butter Roasted Mushrooms Mushrooms are one of my all time favourite vegetables. I love the savoury flavour, how versatile they are, and how they’re kind of meaty. From Mushroom Rice to Mushrooms on Toast, in pies, pasta, and this amazing creamy Mushroom Sauce, I am pretty sure it is the most used vegetable on my website!...

And … welcome to THAI WEEK! Welcome to THAI WEEK Every now and then, I like to do a recipe theme week. This week it’s THAI week, with three classic recipes to make your very own Thai feast at home: Green Papaya Salad (Thai) This is a salad that’s about as far as you can get from Western salads. No mayo! No oil in the dressing! It’s a zingy and spicy cold salad made with green papaya, a fruit which might be unfamiliar to most Westerners....

Serve it plain, straight out of the pot, or take it over the top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream! Creamy Rice Pudding I am pretty sure this is the ultimate emergency cosy winter dessert. It takes all of 5 minutes to prep. It’s completely effortless – just pour everything into a baking dish, then pop it in the oven. It’s extremely low risk – all sorts of outcome variables are easy to rectify and adjust....

Lentil and Roasted Eggplant Salad I feel like this eggplant salad is unleashing my Ottolenghi within. Except (dare I say it!) this calls for a heck of a lot less ingredients, they are all “normal” things and you won’t just make this once and be exhausted, you will make it over and over again. (Also, you’re getting this recipe for free – his cookbooks are rather expensive!!) So what makes this lentil salad so good?...

These juicy lamb meatballs are loaded with Middle Eastern flavours. Caramelised on the outside, juicy and flavour loaded on the inside! Juicy Lamb Meatballs with Moroccan flavours! Monday Meatball Mania is here! On the last Monday of every month, Jo from Jo Cooks and I each share a meatball recipe, because we both believe that ball shaped food rocks (fabulously high ratio of golden brown surface to juicy meat inside) and there should be more of it in this world....

Next time, try Mini Pavs. They’re adorable! Pavlova There is no greater summer dessert than the great Aussie Pav! Pavlova is one of those desserts that is notoriously easy yet notoriously difficult. I think many people are scared to make it. Others have lamented that you should just accept that it will come out of the oven quite cracked. Though I’m going to be sharing my tips for a perfect near-flawless pav (including a few you may have never heard of before!...

A fresh salad like this goes so well with almost anything, from crispy Pan Fried Fish to Schnitzel, Steak to Baked Chicken Breasts. But it’s so good, I can even have it as a light meal with some warm buttered bread rolls on the side! Quite often after going to a restaurant I enjoyed I will look for a recipe to make the dishes at home. This Pea, Cabbage, Parmesan and Mint Salad is from a restaurant called Mr Wolf in Melbourne, Australia, owned by Karen Martini, a talented Australian chef....

Fat free, full of flavour, and utterly addictive, this is a restaurant style salsa that’s the perfect consistency for scooping up with corn chips. Or go super healthy and serve it with crudités! Salsa recipe – restaurant style You’ve seen the jars sold alongside corn chips at the grocery store. You’ve devoured inordinate amounts of it at your favourite Mexican restaurant. And now it’s time to make it at home....

Sesame Crusted Salmon I’m sticking this recipe in my 15 Minute Meals collection even though technically it takes 20 minutes to make, and in my Asian recipes collection even though technically it isn’t an authentic Asian recipe. Because in my head, it’s worthy of being in both those collections – the salmon itself takes less than 15 minutes to cook and this bowl has all sorts of Asian-ness in it with the soba, Asian greens, the Asian dressing and that sesame crusted salmon (don’t ask me why but I think of sesame as an Asiany ingredient even though I know it’s used widely in all sorts of cuisines all around the world 🤗)....

When it comes to store bought sauces, there’s a line I never cross. Store bought tomato sauce and ketchup is acceptable. Store bought chilli sauce and complicated ones like Worcestershire sauce are also acceptable to buy rather than make. But pasta sauce is a no-go. No way, no day. The thing is, there are so many pastas you can make in 15 minutes from scratch that I just can’t comprehend why anyone would buy a bottle of pasta sauce....

This is a cookbook exclusive recipe! This recipe is exclusive to my debut cookbook Dinner which includes a how-to video for every recipe. Just scan the QR code! Just to explain…. I know, it’s confusing! You’re so used to getting recipes on my website – there’s over 1,200 of them, after all. And here you are looking at a tasty recipe video and I haven’t provided the recipe. 🙀 I’m not just doing this to torture you, I promise....

Wonton wrappers are my shortcut party food tip. They are the perfect size to mould into muffin tins to bake into cups, then you can fill them with whatever sweet or savoury filling takes your fancy. No cutting rounds out of pastry! You can get wonton wrappers in supermarkets nowadays – in the refrigerated section, usually near fresh pastas. To make cups, you just need to pop them into a muffin tin and bake for 10 to 15 minutes until crispy....

No trip to Tokyo is complete without a visit to Akihabara “Electric Town”, known for its thousands of electronics stores selling every kind of gadget, device, appliance or machine part you could possibly imagine! Today the the area has also become equally famous as the home of all things anime and manga, while a market for gaming hobbies is also on the rise. Even if you’re not here to buy anything, Akihabara is absolutely worth checking out just to witness how deep Japan’s obsession with all things electronic and pop culture runs!...

Vegetable Stir Fry I make this approximately once a week, and it completely baffles me how I’ve been running this recipe website for 5 years (!!) without sharing it. A Vegetable Stir Fry is: my end-of-week Fridge Forage meal; how I (happily) consume a ton of vegetables in one sitting; something I make with a mix of vegetables – or just one (like snow peas or Asian mushrooms). I serve it over rice or noodles....