This is the sort of dish that posh modern Asian restaurants charge a small fortune for. And it’s on the table in 15 minutes! If you haven’t tried an Asian steak before, you’re missing out! Here in Australia, Asian steaks are often a signature dish at modern Asian restaurants. A small piece of high quality, juicy, super tasty Aussie beef steak served with a sauce loaded with umami*, Asian style steak sauces have become all the rage in the culinary world – with good reason....

Beef Barbacoa Hailing from Mexico and the Caribbean, Beef Barbacoa is a dish of meat that’s traditionally slow-cooked – often in pits – with seasonings or a light broth until very tender. As with many well-known ethnic dishes, Barbacoa made its way across borders into the Western world, where it has evolved into a dish of soft, shreddable meat that’s much more boldly flavoured. Made famous by the Tex-Mex chain Chipotle in the US, Western-style Beef Barbacoa has got a fair kick of spiciness from chipotles, a subtle smokiness, hint of spices (the cloves really sets it apart from other pulled Mexican beef), and uniquely, a good amount of tang from vinegar....

After Vanilla Cupcakes? Here they are! Chocolate Cupakes Using the term “BEST” is not something I do lightly. I do feel a bit uncomfortable saying that these are the BEST Easy Chocolate Cupcakes. But in the cupcake world, I truly do believe these to be the best that can be for a simple no-standmixer, no creaming butter recipe. I was back and forth about which cupcake recipe to share. I was tempted to go for a “100% perfect” version which requires a stand mixer / electric beater to cream butter....

For a hit of protein, add some prawns/shrimp or shredded chicken. And we can pretend that finishing with a sprinkle of bacon is optional…. Potato and Broccoli Soup This is a thick and creamy soup with potato and broccoli that you’d swear has a bucket of cream in it, but it doesn’t have a single drop. It’s hearty, comforting, tastes rich and indulgent but is in fact relatively healthy with just 405 calories for a VERY big bowl!...

Serve it over vermicelli noodles with Vietnamese Nuoc Cham Sauce and your fresh vegetables of choice. Bun Cha – traditional Vietnamese street food! Any self respecting foodie visiting a new country will be armed with a list of “Must Try Foods!!“. And for visitors of Vietnam, Bun Cha should be right up there, alongside Pho, fresh rice paper rolls, and Banh Mi, to name a few favourites. It was certainly one of the first foods I hunted down when I visited Vietnam....

BONUS: Churros are great for making ahead, making it a great party dessert. Churros recipe Up until several years ago, this churros obsessed food blogger thought Churros was native to Mexico. Thus on her first (but certianly not last) trip to Mexico, she was expecting to be in churro heaven. Churros, churros, churros everywhere. But no. I barely saw churro at all. Duh. Churro isn’t native to Mexico. It’s Spanish!...

This is based on a recipe by Bobby Flay, one of my grilling idols. His shows started airing in Australia a few years ago and I was hooked. Though I have to say…gosh, this could get me in trouble…Does anyone else think he really should consider wearing sunglasses? Because he always seems to be squinting!! 😉 I think he is incredibly talented at bringing together unique flavours with familiar ingredients....

Wondering how to stop fish sticking to the pan? It’s easy: use a heavy based skillet (doesn’t need to be non stick), heat the pan before adding oil, and most importantly – do not move move the fish until it naturally releases from the pan! Crispy Pan Fried Fish I think that cooking fish on the stove is the BEST way to cook fish, especially when you invest in really good fish fillets – or you’ve caught your own!...

More chicken stew options: Slow Cooked Chicken Stew, Coq au Vin and Chicken Fricasée (creamy French Chicken Stew, reader favourite!). Chicken Stew – faster! I feel like the word “stew” conjures up visions of slow cooked goodness that’s been simmering on the stove all day. And our patience is always rewarded with the deep flavours you can only achieve through slow cooking. Beef Stew, Guinness Stew, slow cooked Chicken Stew and Pot Roasts....

Naturally this is a perfect substitute for vegetarians and vegans whenever a meat stock is called for. But really, it’s delicious in its own right and suited to all sorts of applications by anybody! Homemade Vegetable Stock As with all stocks, homemade Vegetable Stock is far superior to store bought, with the added benefit that it’s much easier to make than seafood and meat stocks which often call for manhandling of considerable amounts of bones (I’m thinking of you beef stock!...

Loaded with terrific flavours and colour, this Corn Dip is made with corn, peppers, garlic, onion, jalapeño, green onions, cream cheese, sour cream and mayonnaise. And my little secret for the best Hot Corn Dip you’ll ever have is to sauté the corn until golden – it makes the flavour extra amazing!! HOT CORN DIP – IN HOT DEMAND! This hot corn dip may well be the highest and best use of corn....

It is meaty enough to have on its own as a main, accompanied with a light salad, like my Middle Eastern Chickpea Salad (suggest excluding the chickpeas though) or Pasta alla Norma. Middle Eastern Roasted Eggplant The roasted eggplant is shown here with a dollop of yoghurt, but I’ve also provided a Tahini Drizzle (vegan) which I also love to use. This is a must try recipe!! This is a recipe adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi’s Jerusalem cookbook (the Chermoula Aubergine with Bulgar & Yoghurt recipe)....

There are very few pancakes in this world where I won’t say “drown with copious amounts of maple syrup, butter and cream for optimal experience”. This is one of them. When pillowy soft, fluffy pancakes are stuffed with warm, oozy Nutella, you simply don’t need anything else. I added some strawberries for a pop of colour and freshness. I probably could have added cream. But they are 1000% optional. Look at this stack of irresistible-ness (is that a real word?...

Last month I went on a mini break with friends and we hired a gorgeous swanky house right on the beach at Sapphire Beach (Coffs Harbour) on the New South Wales North Coast. And my darling friends, they insisted that I mustn’t do much cooking, that I must relax. Well! Isn’t it lucky that I did get a bit organised with a shopping list and meal plan. Because in the entire 4 nights / 5 days we were there, we only went out for ONE MEAL....

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....

Add your favourite toppings, and healthy dose of cheese then pop it in the oven! No yeast? No worries! Make this Magic No Yeast Pizza Dough. Pizza Sauce recipe To be completely honest, you can get away with just using plain tomato paste with a pinch of salt and pepper as a pizza sauce. Once you pile on cheese and other toppings, it’s still completely scoffable. However, it really is worth taking a bit of time to make a great pizza sauce!...

Quiche Toast Cups I love quiche, but I don’t usually have ready made pastry in stock, and it is even rarer that I attempt to make pastry. So this is my way of making mini quiches – using toast cups made with sandwich bread. I didn’t do a very good job of pressing the bread into the muffin tin, as you can see from the squiggly shape of my toast cups....

Pound Cake Pound Cake can spark spirited debates in the baking world. Some are adamant we should stay true to the traditional method that uses no baking powder in order to give it lift, resulting in quite a dense, heavy cake by modern tastes. Others insist on “improving” Pound Cakes by making the crumb much lighter and fluffier, giving rise to something (hah!) that barely resembles what a Pound Cake should be like....

Try it. It will surprise you! Welcome to Day 12 of the inaugural Holiday Salad Marathon, where I’m sharing 30 salads in a row through to Christmas Eve – just for something different to the usual sugar-loaded baking countdowns!! Today, something FRENCH(ish): Tomato Salad with Olive Tapenade This is a great tomato salad reminiscent of the south of France with the use of black olive tapenade. You can throw this together in minutes if you’ve already got a pre-bought jar of olive tapenade lying around in your fridge, else it’s worth making the tapenade yourself from scratch if you’re just looking to make a tomato salad that’s a little different!...

Jus is more savoury and complex in flavour than say a typical gravy. If you have homemade beef stock or chicken stock on hand, this is a deceptively easy sauce that will elevate any dish to fine dining levels! What exactly is jus? If the word “jus” conjures images of Masterchef and fine dining restaurants, you’re right on the money! Jus is a French culinary term for what you can think of as the posh cousin of gravy....