Posts

Welcome to GREEK WEEK! Every now and then, I like to do themed menus where I share all the recipes for a feast, and this week it’s all about the bright fresh flavours of the Mediterranean. Think – lemons, oregano, yogurt, lemons and plenty of garlic! Are you ready to see what I’ve got in store for you for Greek Week?? Here you go…. GREEK MENU Greek Chicken – Garlicky lemony oregano flavours infused right through the chicken from a flavour loaded Greek chicken marinade; Greek Salad – the juicy tomatoes, fresh cucumbers, that red wine vinegar dressing and the pops of feta!...

I use this Honey Mustard Dressing for salads but it’s definitely thick enough to use as a dipping sauce too. Though truth be told, my Honey Mustard Dipping sauce is made with mayonnaise and no vinegar. 🙂 But I do use this for dipping too! My friends and I always say that a great salad comes down to the dressing. It doesn’t matter how fancy pants the ingredients in the salad are....

Just give me all the marzipan! I made this battenburg for Chris’s birthday recently since I know it’s one of his favourite cakes in the whole world, even more so than the Amaretti Cookies that he LOVES too! Homemade battenberg is awesome, and this recipe makes TWO. Sounds like overkill, but the first one will be gone before you’ve even finished your cup of tea, so it really is a good idea to make two....

Use for all things Thai – and anything really. It’s just a really great rice! How to cook Jasmine Rice Jasmine rice is a lovely, subtly perfumed rice used across South East Asia. It’s strongly associated with Thai food, and used for serving with everything from Thai marinated chicken to Chilli Basil Stir Fry, Satay Skewers and the many Thai curries out there. It’s also used to make Thai fried rice and Pineapple Fried Rice which is the other recipe I’m sharing today!...

The paleo option is made with honey while the keto option is made with fewer bananas and with a sugar-free sweetener. This bread is amazing. It’s fragrant, not too sweet, the perfect breakfast or snack bread. As I was baking it, my house filled with the most amazing fragrance of sweet roasted nuts, banana, and cinnamon. Ingredients You’ll only need a few simple ingredients to make this keto banana bread....

Made with almond flour, once toasted and buttered, it’s quite close to the real thing! When you eat a low-carb or a keto diet, there’s really no need to give up bread. Sure, keto bread is not the same as yeast-leavened wheat flour bread. But it can be a very good substitute. I especially love this super easy recipe for a one-minute, low-carb keto English muffin. Made in a mug or a ramekin, quickly mixed and microwaved, then toasted, this is as close as a low carber can get to the real thing....

The very first feature I did for Super Food Ideas magazine was called “Double Duty” where I shared recipes where one base mixture was used for two purposes. So for example, I did a Garlic Lime Marinated Prawns (Shrimp) with Green Rice where one lime and garlic mixture was used to marinate the prawns and as the flavour base for a green spinach rice. Using a salad dressing as a marinade for chicken is Double Duty in its simplest form and this Lemon Chicken Salad is a terrific example where the Lemon Dressing works as a fantastic marinade to infuse chicken with flavour – quickly!...

This Roasted Broccoli is the best broccoli recipe ever 4 1/2 years ago when I first shared this broccoli recipe, I stated that this was the best damn broccoli I had ever had in my life. And that still holds true. Sure, I’ve had fancier. Great chefs can work magic on the humble broccoli and turn it into a real fancy dish. But the thing that makes this particular recipe the best broccoli recipe ever is that it’s so quick and easy and yet so good!...

It is rare to meet a bloke who doesn’t love bacon. It is like men are genetically programmed to be obsessed with bacon. And beer, for that matter. And beef. Did I just figure out the holy trinity for men? Beer, Beef and Bacon. This candy doesn’t have beef or beer in it. I did make a version with beer, but it was more effort to make, you couldn’t actually taste the beer in it and it had a much thicker candy coating which I thought made it far too sweet....

Mojito Ahh Mojito. We know you’re a hot weather drink, but we like making you all year round. In summer, we want something refreshing, and you’re the first that springs to mind. And in winter, we say we need to make use of all the mint in the flourishing mint bush. Really, making one of you doesn’t even make a dent in even a tiny mint plant. We just need any half hearted excuse to make you!...

This is a reader-favourite recipe included by popular demand in my debut cookbook “Dinner”! Quinoa Salad I’m not going to lie to you. Put me in front of a salad bar, and you won’t see me pause for a beat in front of any option containing quinoa. It’s not that I dislike quinoa as such. In fact, when cooked well (psst, toasting it certainly elevates it to loftier heights!), I’ll happily scoff it down plain, just like I do rice....

What a great Easter weekend! Nice weather, no specific plans and enough chocolate to sustain the average human for about 10 years 🙂 With the exception of the chopped strawberries on top, It was all done and in the fridge within half an hour (need to wait for an hour for the mousse to set before putting the strawberries on top). This is a great make-ahead summer dessert and one to add to the favourites list....

I’ve been wanting to share this for ages! I’m bursting at the seams with recipe ideas, and it takes considerable constraint not to post a recipe every single day. 🙂 But for this one in particular, I wanted to wait until I had a handle on shooting cooking videos before I shared it. This method of starting a dish on the stove, the finishing it in the oven is a favourite of mine....

This recipe was commissioned by the Vegetarian Society as part of #nationalvegetarianweek It’s Spring time in a bowl! Lots of lovely green veg, mixed with spaghetti, herbs and oh-so-creamy goat’s cheese. This meal is basically ready in the time it takes to cook a pan of spaghetti, so it’s a great one to get on the table quickly when the children are complaining that they’re ‘starving’. Did you know that not all cheeses are vegetarian?...

It’s a truly easy recipe - the oven does all the work! So sit back, relax, and await your fabulous meal. I’m a big fan of simply cooked fatty meats and I’m also a fan of oven-baking, the ultimate hands-off approach to cooking. Take a fatty cut of meat, season it, then bake until tender. You may then broil it briefly to brown the fat. Easy and tasty! This is the technique I use when I make oven brisket, and I use the same one when making these ribs....

These homemade herby cubed potatoes are so easy to make, and they make a perfect side to many dishes. I served this with lamb roast and vegetables. Parmentier potatoes recipe This is my take on this French potato delicacy, I love my roast potatoes but I am sure you can agree it takes time to cook to perfection. When time is of the essence, I opt for cubed potatoes instead as they cook half the time a traditional roasted spud would....

After a (very!) extended water break, the inaugural Holiday Salad Marathon has resumed! Today – making the most of juicy summer peaches (again): #19: Peach Salad II with Poppyseed Dressing Peach Salad I is my luxe peach salad which involves Prosciutto and fresh mozzarella. It’s a stunner, but it’s practically a centrepiece in itself. In fact, I’ve done single serving size portions as appetisers – it’s wonderful! This Peach Salad II is my staple Peach Salad that makes an appearance all through summer alongside “everything”....

“The sight of the peanut butter and chocolate oozing out of the cake makes me weak in the knees.” I don’t bake sweet things much. So when I do share a dessert recipe, you can be assured of two things: It’s really easy; and It is worth the effort to make. This lava cake knocks it out of the park on both counts. I used to see photos of lava cakes in gourmet magazines and just assume it was too hard....

📋 What do we need? Black Peppercorns You can also use green peppercorns for a milder flavourCream Always use double (heavy) cream rather than single or light cream to ensure a luscious sauce that won’t split.Brandy Any brandy, cognac or marsala will be fine, but if you don’t want to use alcohol, then you can leave it out or add an extra spoonful of Worcestershire sauce.Stock We used beef stock but any good strong stock will work....

It took a little bit of time to get the recipe right for my peri peri (piri piri) sauce, but I’ve got to admit, I did kind of pat myself on the back in the end. It’s so amazingly delicious. It’s also pretty darn hot! But that’s the way I like it. You can always reduce the chillies to make it less spicy. I’m going to admit something else too....