Posting live from regional Queensland in the midst of mango harvesting at the Groves’ Tropical orchard!!! Long time readers may remember that I visited this very same farm in early 2016. This City Gal turned Northern Beaches Gal Wanna-Be-Country-Gal swept into Yeppoon, armed with cameras and all manner of gadgets, ready to get stuck into the farm life. Turned up dressed completely inappropriately (who wears a sparkly clean WHITE TOP to a farm?...

All made in one pot – from scratch, in 20 minutes. Fist pump! Vegetable Pasta There’s a time for making vegetable pasta the proper way – roasting veggies until beautifully caramelised, making a pasta sauce, cooking the pasta, then bringing it all together at the end. It’ll take close to an hour, and it’s totally fabulous. This one pot vegetarian pasta is for all those other times. A complete meal that covers all bases:...

Find the recipe on page 100 of Dinner. I’m not just doing this to torture you, I promise. This page exists to display the how-to video for this recipe which I exclusively created for my debut cookbook, Dinner. Every recipe in the cookbook has a tutorial video. To watch it, you simply scan the QR code with your phone or tablet and it will take you straight to the recipe video like the one shown above!...

It means an egg from cartons labelled as “large eggs” that have been left out on the counter to take the fridge-chill out of it. The total egg carton weight should be 600 – 600g / 24 oz for a dozen eggs, and each egg is ~50-55g / 2 oz each. IMPORTANT: Don’t get too hung up on egg sizes, weighing every egg before you use them! The key takeaway from this post is to ensure you don’t use gigantic king-size eggs, or ostrich eggs(!...

Creamy Tuscan Chicken Soup Let me just say upfront – I call this Tuscan but there’s nothing authentically Tuscan about it (as far as I know). To me, it has Tuscan vibes, so I gave it a cute name with the hopes to pique your interest. Just in case my photos and writing doesn’t do the job well enough to convince you that you really need to try this creamy chicken soup!...

Of the many things Germans have perfected, pork roast is right up there. And key to this meaty art is of course amazing crackling, something most recipes fall short on with Pork Knuckle … but we cracked the code! German Pork Knuckle (Schweinshaxe) Pork Knuckle – sometimes called Pig Knuckle – is as Bavarian as Oktoberfest, lederhosen and BMW. Called Schweinshaxen, these mighty hunks of roasted pork hock are a fixture of pubs and beer halls in Munich and this part of Germany, as well as nearby Austria....

Super easy to make, very forgiving, no stand mixer or beater. Just one bowl and a wooden spoon! Chocolate Fudge Cake I may be disowned as an Australian for saying this, but I’m not the hugest fan of classic Chocolate Mud Cake. I find it too dense and doughy, and it gets stuck to the roof of my mouth. It’s very……erm…..mud-like. Duh. Creative writing isn’t my forte, is it?? Hey – I’m a food blogger....

EASIEST homemade Gnocchi recipe Pillowy soft gnocchi is a thing of beauty. And while nowadays, we can get great store bought gnocchi, there is something so satisfying about making it at home. So what if I told you that you can make homemade gnocchi from scratch in 30 minutes? Start to finish, including cooking. With no special equipment required and very little mess! This method I’m sharing today is a ricotta gnocchi....

To say this thing is magnificent would be the understatement of the year. Words fail me. It’s that good! Flan Pâtissier – French Custard Tart Flan Pâtissier is a French custard tart that is made with a pastry crust filled with vanilla custard and baked. Also known as Parisian Flan, you’ll find it in every suburban bakery all across France. It blows my mind to know that this pastry is so commonplace for the French that to them it’s considered no big deal as far as pastries go....

It’s the chicken version of this Sausage Bake with Gravy, a long time reader favourite. Minutes to prep, zero maintenance to cook. 100% delish! Gravy Baked chicken recipe – make its own gravy! This is another one* of those super speedy recipes that came about at the end of a long cook day when I had to use up ingredients before the expiry date but had zero energy to expend....

Great Roasted Carrots I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – the simplest way to add instant flavour to any vegetable is to roast it. The oven completely transforms bland vegetables, intensifying the natural flavour, caramelising sugar you didn’t even know was in it, and giving it colour by browning the outsides. And we all know colour = flavour! And carrots are a wonderful example of roasting magic in action....

This is a mash up of two of my favourite brunch dishes – hash brown and quiche! “This tastes like a cross between a hash brown, quiche and potato dauphinoise gratin. Match made in heaven.” It took me 5 attempts until I was happy with this so I’ve been fanning out my attempts to friends and family. I think my sister described it best. She said it’s like a “cross between a quiche, hash brown and potato dauphinoise gratin”....

Southern Baked Beans Southern Baked Beans are like the bolder, brasher big sister of our Aussie baked beans. Whereas our beans are known as a breakfast staple, with its translucent, shiny tomato sauce, the Southern version is a a side dish that’s packed with big, bold southern flavours. The sauce is glossy, it’s sweet, it’s savoury, and even though it’s “just” a side dish, no one could overlook it on a table laden with food!...

In this explosive interview that took place in his very own home, he spills the beans on what it’s really like to live the Life of Dozer! . . Dozer, it’s been a tumultuous year. What’s your take on COVID and how it’s affected your life in 2020? COVID? What is that, a new snack? I don’t recall getting any. Errr, no. It’s that world-devastating-virus, the reason your mum has been at home with you 99% of this year....

The secret is browned butter – called Beurre noisette in French. Learn how to pronounce it so you can loftily tell your family and friends “we’re having French tonight!” (But don’t tell them how simple it is?) Restaurant-style Lemon Butter Sauce for Fish! Great quality fish is not cheap. But worthy of investment because: it’s good for you; a beautiful piece of fish requires very little done to it to make a meal that you’d pay serious $ for at a fancy seafood restaurant; and they’re quick to cook....

A homemade pizza bread There’s a popular bakery chain here in Australia called Bakers’ Delight which sells a myriad of baked goods, ranging from sweet cinnamon buns to savoury bread rolls that are a convenient “lunch on the run”. I’ve always wanted to recreate the fan favourite pizza breads. And noticing that the RRP has crept up to $4.90 (inflation!) was just the kick I needed to get moving on it....

Vegetarian Pasta Salad Who would’ve thought those random veggies you’ve got left in the bottom of your fridge could be transformed into something as incredible as this Vegetarian Pasta Salad?? Forget limp, bland veggies sitting sadly amongst tasteless, soggy pasta. THIS cold pasta salad is the polar opposite of that. It’s vibrant, it’s flavour loaded, it’s JUICY, and will make even green-haters scoff down a weeks’ worth of veggies in one sitting!...

The rice absorbs the chicken juices as it cooks, adding loads of flavour. It’s like cooking the rice with a homemade stock! Chicken and rice recipe This chicken and rice recipe has been a reader favourite for so long, I thought it was about time I updated it with a much improved video and photos! Readers tell me they love it because: it’s a one pan dinner – the raw rice and chicken are cooked together at the same time; completely hands off – unlike cooking rice on the stove which requires more attention, you just put the pan in the oven, set the timer and walk away; quick to prepare – active prep time is under 10 minutes; and it’s very, very delicious!...

And the next free eCookbook is….. drumroll please….. ASIAN TAKEOUT AT HOME!!! I’m trying to ramp up the excitement, but it won by quite a margin and everyone could see the results of the poll at anytime. So rather than a drumroll, a more appropriate sound effect was probably pfffffffff ( <– The sound of a deflating balloon, totally obvious, no? 😉) It will largely be a collation of recipes already on my site, but I’ll add some extras that I haven’t published....

We can never have too many beef mince recipes! Rissoles are a classic we’ll love forever, along with Spaghetti Bolognese, Tacos, Meatloaf, Beef Hamburgers and cosy Cottage Pie. Rissoles I know many Aussies grew up with rissoles as a weekly meal, but that doesn’t include my family. My first experience with rissoles was when I moved out of home at the tender age of 18 and shared a flat with a real true-blue Aussie lass....