Vegetables
- Nicola & Gerry's Tomato Chilli Jam
I had a plan to make tomato chutney as Christmas gifts when a funny thing happened. On returning Gerry’s great-uncle’s confectionery recipe book I inadvertently stumbled into an annual tomato chilli jam cook-off. One of Gerry’s friends...
- Crackle & Crunch
Christmas Day is not Christmas Day without a full roast pork lunch – at least that is the case in our family. After a decidedly Australian starter of fresh cooked prawns with squeezed lemon and icy-cold beer, an early afternoon pork roast has been th...
- Zucchini Flowers
I’ve wanted to make stuffed zucchini flowers since the first time I tasted them at an Italian restaurant in Leichhardt many, many years ago. They used to be so hard to come by at the shops and then every time they were around I wasn’t sure what els...
- Making Holubsti
You might recall my visit to the local Ukranian Church hall I made a couple of months ago to learn how to make highly addictive varenyky. Well, I went back again, this time to get my head around holubsti; seasoned minced beef and pork wrapped in a ciga...
- Intimidating Artichokes
Aaah the artichoke. An intriguing vegetable that often gets overlooked mostly out of timidity. Well, in my case anyway. The layers of intimidation began many, many years ago when I was confused about exactly what an artichoke was. Determining that art...
- Varenyky
About five years ago I researched my family history to determine if there was any truth to the family rumor that there was Chinese heritage on my father’s side. It turns out that my great-great-grandmother was illegitimate and the father’s name was...
- Bistro Dalby: Chef Justin Rose
So, I’ve managed a second special lunch out in as many weeks, this time with my mother-in-law. Any feelings of guilt went out the window when I reminded myself that I haven’t had a meal that doesn’t involve ordering a kid’s chicken nuggets and ...
- Alka & The Carrot Fritters
Before we moved to Newcastle, we were juggling full-time work, daycare and traffic jams in Sydney. During that busy time, we were (and still are) so grateful for our family day-carer, Alka. Alka was born in India and together with her husband, Raj, imm...
- Margan Estate: Chef Josh Davidson
In a quest to explore areas of the Hunter Valley besides Pokolbin, my Mum and I headed off on a road trip last week to Broke, population 540. Word on the street was Margan Estate have marvelous wines and an exceptional restaurant that benefits from a o...
- Stinging Nettles Sting
I should know. Despite being told I should wear gloves to handle nettles, I thought removing a stem or two while wilting them down in a pan couldn’t do too much damage. Oh, how wrong I was. A brush with those little hairs caused my index finger to th...
- The Passed-On Recipe
This is the table that sits behind my desk. It was once clean and clear, but like most flat surfaces in our house, it has since become a refuge for ‘good things’. In this case it’s the cookbooks that I refer to most. There’s one tome in the pil...
- In Season: Cauliflower
The ill-will towards some vegetables like squash or brussels sprouts is hardly defensible when, with a basic pairing, they shine with flavour. Case in point, cauliflower and cheese. I’ve let one of the cauliflowers in the garden go, harvesting it ...
- Sharing: Mal's Pork Belly
Personal experience has me convinced that an open-minded enjoyment of food is influenced primarily by the company you keep. This could not be more apparent than with my husband, Dean, who, in his heyday was a meat-and-three-veg kind of guy. After tr...
