Confession: I love KFC. I have it maybe three times a year. I don’t crave it regularly (thankfully) but I’d say every few months, I have the urge to splurge. And my bottom hates me for it. I do the drive through because I’m too ashamed to risk being seen inside KFC. And though I savour every bite while I’m consuming it, I always regret it afterwards. Always. It’s heavy and excessively greasy and I don’t feel great....
Korean Beef Bulgogi When I think about food trends in recent years, one of the cuisines that comes to mind straight away is Korean food. Legends like David Chang (of the world renowned Momofuku restaurants) and Roy Choi (LA Korean fusion food truck extraordinaire) have brought Korean food into the limelight. Whereas once you had to hunt to find great Korean restaurants in Sydney, now they are really common in the city and there are growing pockets throughout the suburbs with an increasing number of great Korean restaurants....
This is a reader favourite recipe included by popular demand in my debut cookbook “Dinner”. My best Vanilla Cake recipe is….. Plush, moist, fluffy crumb without being freakishly unnaturally so (as some store bought can be). No more dense cakes!Keeps near perfectly for 4 whole days. 100% fresh on Day 1, still 96% perfect on Day 4. That’s unheard of!Lovely vanilla and butter flavour without a greasy mouthfeel;Even, elegant crumb – no large tunnels or irregular, crumbly holes;Bakes perfectly flat – no levelling required!...
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....
I don’t know about you but my freezer is valuable real estate. So when I opened it the other day to realise that my bag of bread crusts were taking up an inordinate amount of space, I decided I needed to do something about it. More croutons? More breadcrumbs? I needed neither. Besides, the bag of bread crusts was substantial (from an “English afternoon tea” and several attempts to create these Mini Quiche Toast Cups) and neither of those two options would use up more than a few cups....
This is an excellent salad option for a starter, or as a stylish side salad! Pear Salad with Blue Cheese This is a salad that’s all about classic and natural pairings, things we always see on cheeseboards. That’s because they just work so well together, yet you may not have thought about combining them in a salad. Combos like: ✓ Fruit and blue cheese ✓ Fruit and honey ✓ Fruit and nuts ✓ Cheese, honey and nuts (have I covered all combos there?...
For me, it’s not about wanting the most expensive, trendy or what matches my kitchen decor. It’s foremost about what will last, what’s practical, what has multiple uses and of course what lets me cook/chop/stir faster (mostly because I’m always in a rush – every spare second counts!!) So you will find almost nothing “cool” on this list, not even anything cute and pretty! That might disappoint some of you looking for gift ideas....
This version is a variation on traditional Italian Salsa Verde, made with basil, parsley and mint, giving a lovely balance where no one herb dominates. Sharing this as an extra recipe today – as the sauce for Lamb Racks! Salsa Verde recipe Salsa Verde literally means “green sauce”. Different versions are found around Europe (Latin America also has its own kind of salsa verde). This herby, savoury sauce bound with olive oil is used as a fresh and tangy condiment most often served with meats or seafood....
“OMG! That Lentil Salad!”, my friend exclaimed as we stood shivering in the cold, fully covered head to toe in waterproof gear, throwing toys into the water for our dogs. Prancing out of the way of the spray of ice cold water when they shook right next to us (where else would they do it?), yelling at them if they dared to leap up and touch us. I realise it’s completely ironic to be talking about a lentil salad when I’m describing a freezing cold winter day at the dog beach, but I think that’s a testament as to how good this salad is – that my friend got so excited about it even though we’re in the height of winter and it should be all about soups and stews....
This is the low carb version of Chickpea Potato Curry that I’ve previously shared which is a long time reader favourite. Vegetable Curry Curries have a reputation for being difficult to make, unless you have a helping hand from a jar of curry paste. So the nice thing about this one is that it’s “real” curry recipe that’s made using spices that are available at my local grocery store. The sauce for this curry is the same as used in the Chickpea Potato Curry (Channa Aloo Curry) my It’s a Caribbean curry from Trinidad, but it tastes very similar to Indian curries....
3 minutes active effort, no knead, no stand mixer, highly flexible and forgiving, this homemade bread can be on your table in less than 3 hours OR prepare the dough up to 3 days in advance for a handy “grab and bake” option. This is life changing! Phenomenal EASY yeast bread recipe This is an extraordinary white bread recipe with outstanding results. While it’s easy and forgiving, making it suitable for beginners, experienced bakers will recognise and appreciate the Artisan bread characteristics – large holes in the crumb like your favourite sourdough bread with that signature chewiness, and a thick, crispy crust....
Directions to veganise this included My cooking revolves around what’s in season and what’s on special. On this occasion, you guessed it, my local supermarket obviously had an overstock of zucchini because they were on special at $2.40/kg (2 lb) (normally they’re $6 to $8/kg). So I bought 2 kg (that’s 4 pounds!). I couldn’t help myself – zucchini’s are so versatile, I was sure I would use them up in a week....
The warm sweetness from the golden syrup combined with the wholesome goodness of oats and coconut is a flavour that is unique to this crunchy Australian biscuit! Anzac Biscuits Australia’s favourite biscuit! We love them for their buttery caramel flavour, how crunchy they are, that it’s a forgiving recipe and the history – this is a biscuit that Aussies make to commemorate ANZAC Day. “ANZAC” stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps....
Ayam Goreng (Malaysian Fried Chicken) Human beings love fried chicken. It explains why so many cultures have some version of this wickedly delicious food, and every country thinks their version is king. But why play favourites? I think there is room in this world (and my belly) for all great fried chickens to happily coexist. For one, my mother would put my head on a stick if I didn’t make mention of Karaage (Japanese fried chicken)....
Char Siu Pork – Chinese BBQ Pork No trip to Chinatown is complete without taking home a container of Chinese BBQ pork. And I am yet to manage the drive all the way home without sneaking in a little taste test (or two…or three). The darn traffic lights! If they were GREEN all the way home, then I wouldn’t have a chance to do that! OK, that’s a blatant lie. Where there’s a will, there’s a way, and we both know I would be hooning over the Harbour Bridge, holding the steering wheel with one hand and rummaging around in the plastic carry bag with the other, blindly trying to feel my way to the barbecue pork container....
I received one of those “no brainer” questions a few weeks ago. It went like this: “Nagi, would you be interested in attending a small lunch to sample and learn about Riccadonna sparkling wines? Massimo Mele will be cooking up an Italian feast!” It took me about 2 seconds to hit Reply and send “YES!” straight away. Oh, then I went back to check the date and make sure I was actually free – but really, I would have made it fit into my diary....
YES this is easy! Of course it is easy – every recipe on my blog is easy. I promise you this is worth trying. The smell when the pancake hits the pan, the shallots sizzling…..I’m lost for words to describe how good it is. It is a great make ahead dish – you can keep the ready-to-cook pancakes in the fridge or the freezer – and you can cook them in their frozen state, it just takes a 3 minutes instead of 2 minutes on the stove....
Coconut Rice Truly fluffy coconut rice eluded me for years. I felt like I tried every variation possible, but when I lifted the lid, I’d stare at dismay at a layer of coconut fat scum on the surface of the rice which ended up coating all the grains when I fluffed the rice. Finally, I feel like I’ve cracked the secret code. And every since then, I’ve never looked back....
Chinese Honey Sesame Chicken isn’t huge in Australia. In fact, I rarely see it on Chinese restaurant menus. My first experience was at a hotel buffet (don’t judge me!) in New York. Then in Vegas. (Ok, judge me!) To this day, I remain perplexed why Honey Sesame Chicken hasn’t made it to our shores. Along with Kung Pao Chicken, which still isn’t huge here though I have seen it on the odd menu in Chinatown....
This is a reader-favourite recipe included by popular demand in my debut cookbook “Dinner”! Eggplant Parmigiana If Moussaka is Greece’s answer to Italian Lasagna, then Eggplant Parmigiana is Italy’s comeback. And what a comeback it is!!! A southern Italian classic, this is one of those incredible vegetarian dishes that’s so good, even card-carrying carnivores won’t pause for a moment to wonder, “Where’s the meat??” This is comfort food for everyone....
