It dawned on me the other week that I haven’t shared a fun recipe in quite a while. “Fun” being things like bite size French Toast Bites (have you tried them?? They’re fabulous – and fast!), Mini Potato Gratin Stacks, Mini Pizzas made in Garlic Bread Cups. That sort of thing. Tasty, fun food. And these Cheeseburger Party Meatballs are the first thing that popped into my mind when I found a packet of beef mince in the fridge....

Chicken Pasta recipe – loaded! This is the pasta you make when you’ve had a bad day and you need a pick me up. This is the pasta you make when you’ve had a great day, and want to finish on a high note. This is the pasta you make when you need a quick dinner that everyone will devour. And this is the pasta that you make just because there are few things in this world that can rival the feeling of complete and utter satisfaction as you slurp down a big bowl of creamy chicken pasta!...

This is totally the sort of thing I make for company during the cooler months because it’s one of those meals that’s a crowd pleaser, can be prepped in advance then popped in the oven and left without checking on it. Low risk cooking that tastes fabulous – I like! Creamy Chicken in White Wine Sauce If I have a dinner party anytime during June – August (winter here in Sydney), chances are that I’ll make something like this Creamy Chicken in White Wine Sauce....

General Tso’s Chicken This is a popular Chinese-American dish that appears in suburban Chinese restaurants here in Australia under various other guises. Peking-Style Chicken or sometimes something mysteriously titled House Special Crispy Chicken. I can never resist a House Special! It is said to originate from the Hunan province of China and is named after a well-respected Chinese military leader, General Tso. While the accuracy of either of these statements is questionable – and in fact, rumour has it that it was brought into the US by Taiwanese Chefs (!...

For chicken wings, use the Honey Soy Wings recipe. For drumsticks and bone-in thighs, use the Honey Soy Baked Chicken recipe. Honey Soy Chicken – marinade and sauce This is a Honey Soy chicken marinade I’ve been using for most of my adult life which is direct copycat of the store bought bottled marinades. Except unlike store bought where a quick inspection of the label reveals it contains a mere 0....

It cooks faster, has crispy golden buttery skin, and your turkey is going to be so amazing it’s going to be remembered for years to come!!! What you need to know 10 years ago, dry brining was still relatively unknown but these days it’s a pretty broadly known fact that dry brining yields superior results to wet brining as well as being far more practical. Because I want to arm you with everything you need to make the ultimate perfect roast turkey, this is a fairly long post, covering off on (hopefully!...

Great crepes are all about getting the batter right. I find that the best and easiest way to make a perfect batter is using a blender. No lumps, no tearing when you flip, with just 10 seconds of whizzing! It’s a breeze to make crepes if you get the batter right. Too thin, and the crepes tear easily when you flip them. Too thick, then the batter is difficult to swirl around to coat the pan to make thin crepes....

One Pot Chicken Alfredo Pasta This is not meant to be an authentic Italian pasta. It’s a quick mid-week meal that you can get on the table in just over 15 minutes and is stellar for effort vs output. I don’t want to offend pasta-purists (or the entire nation of Italy for that matter!), and to be honest, I never thought I would ever share a (long-strand) one-pot-pasta recipe. I’ve previously declared on multiple occasions that I’m not a fan....

You’ll love how the syrup is made using peach juices, rather than just a plain sugar syrup. Peach flavour to the max! Peach Cobbler Fruit cobbler is a traditional American dessert that pushes everybody’s comfort food-lovin’ buttons. Peach cobbler especially is a solid favourite, particularly in the Deep South. There’s two main types of peach clobbers – those with a batter topping, and the ones with the American biscuit / Aussie scone type toppings....

Stuffed Mushrooms! Mushrooms and I are very good friends. I roast them, I make gravy with them, creamy sauces and mushroom rice. I use them for Ramen Noodles, in creamy pastas and spicy Soups, fill Pies, toss through pasta and stir them through risotto. And now I’m going to show you how to stuff them. With PIZZA toppings. It’s a total mind spin – looks and tastes like pizza, but it’s healthier and low carb!...

I love Poppyseed Salad Dressing! It is so much more than just a dressing with poppyseed added to it. The poppyseed add a nuttiness and aroma, taking an otherwise ordinary dressing to new heights. I’ve pretty much consistently had a bottle of Poppyseed Salad Dressing in my fridge for the last 3 weeks from when I started to plan to share my Strawberry Salad. I ended up choosing to use Strawberry Balsamic Dressing with that salad, but I was really tossing up between that and this Poppyseed Salad Dressing!...

It’s not every day that you get to meet a legend in the Australian cooking industry. Well, for me, it’s never. I live an ordinary life without sparkle and glamour. So when I was asked if I would be interested in checking out Valli Little’s new cookbook and not only that, if I would like to meet her….well! Let me tell you, it was like Christmas came early!! I have to admit, I was a bit nervous....

“These cookies are made with just butter, sugar and flour. The holy trinity of baking!” These insanely addictive morsels are based on a South American treat called Alfajores which are shortbread cookies spread with Dulce De Leche (caramel) and sandwiched together. The shortbread used in Alfajores is not difficult but …..well, honestly? When I started to prepare to make the biscuits, I simply couldn’t muster the energy to do the full blown “real deal” shortbread for the Alfajores which required pulling out my Kitchen Aid, 20 minutes prep rather than 10 minutes, and 6 more ingredients....

The first time I tried pasta made this way was at a family dinner when my brother made it. I have never scoffed down a pasta so fast, and I’m pretty sure I went back for thirds. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but it was so good. So, so good. After dinner, he finally revealed that the sauce he used was made using the prawn heads and shells....

This is a reader-favourite recipe included by popular demand in my debut cookbook “Dinner”! Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni This is one of my go-to freezer meals I make to give to friends, and a great one to make for dinners to cater for both carnivores and vegetarians. I make it often throughout most of the year, except perhaps at the very height of summer. Yes, I love cannelloni that much!...

Strawberry Crumble As regular readers know, I have the self control of a child when I spy bargains of my favourite fruit & veg. So every now and then, I go on a bender of whatever it is that I’ve overloaded on. A few weeks ago it was broccoli (evidence -> all my Broccoli Recipes) and cabbage (hence the Chinese Chicken Salad and Everyday Cabbage Salad I recently posted). Last week, it was corn (nothing made it here)....

Don’t skip the toppings. They seal the deal. 🙂 Taco Soup Even if you’ve never had Taco Soup before, if you enjoy Chili and Tacos, I guarantee that you will absolutely LOVE this. Basically, it’s everything you know and love about beef tacos, toppings and all, except it’s in soup form. It’s kind of like Chili – thick and hearty with a fragrant broth that’s quite heavily flavoured with spices....

Such as with Ceviche and Poke Bowls, this can be made with any sashimi-grade sparkling fresh fish suitable for raw consumption. Tuna Tartare I wish I could pass out samples of this through my computer screen so you can taste it. I really hope that you try this at least once in your lifetime because I promise, it is something really special. The combination of finely chopped raw tuna, sweet juicy lychees, creamy avocado and the zing from lime is magical....

This is a reader-favourite recipe included by popular demand in my debut cookbook “Dinner”! What’s so amazing about a 12 hour lamb, anyway? There are many devoted fans of this super 3-Hour Slow Roasted Lamb Shoulder, stuffed with garlic and rosemary. And there will always be a place in my life for a 3-hour lamb, something speedy you can pop in the oven on a lazy Sunday afternoon for supper that night....

“That was the most amazing salad I’ve ever had! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!” <– Text message from she who received a container of this. 🙂 If you’re new to wild rice – once you’ve wild riced it, you never go back. Though the irony in all this wild rice talk is that it isn’t actually a rice. It’s a grain. I’m guessing the rice-powers-that-be decided to call this Wild Rice because it looks like rice and it’s…err…....