Whenever we have a good length of time in a foreign country, we hire a rental car and just go where the moment takes us. We're notoriously lax at planning in advance so, using local maps, a Tom-Tom or our phones, we often head out without bookings or a plan and just trust in following our noses (or...

I make my own cheese, which produces a lot of whey. But rather than tip it out, there is so much that can be done with this “by-product”. When you make cheese, enzymes added to the milk causing it to separate into solids and liquid. The solids, or curds, are strained and become the cheese. The rem...

Are you looking for something a little different, but traditional that you can do with eggs for Easter with the kids I have been cooking Sephardic eggs (sometimes known as Brown Eggs), since finding this recipe in the mid 1980’s, and being fascinated by the colour and flavour of the eggs. The...

I started feeding my Border-Collie/Labrador cross  home-made food a year ago. The lab in her wins out too often and she gets too fat on commercial food. I wanted food that wasn’t full of fillers and additives, or suspect ingredients. She is not allergic to any foods that I know of, but I wanted to...

I have a recipe asking for Black Cardamom. Is that the same as Green? Can I use them interchangeably? In a word; NO! Most recipes calling for cardamom mean the fragrant green cardamom. Black cardamom is much stronger and smokier. Although they are related, they have completely different appearan...

A shorter version of the following appeared in The Press and the Dominion Post on October 22nd. The name Za’atar is used to describe both the blend of spices and also its key ingredient; Middle Eastern wild thyme. The wild thyme is usually sourced from places like Jordan and Syria, but it is not...

A shorter version of this article was published in The Christchurch press and the Wellington Dominion Post on October 15th. Nori is incredibly healthy. It contains vitamin A and C which help to keep our skin and immune system healthy and it is high in fibre. It has 10 times more calcium and iron b...

  A shorter version of this article appeared in The Press and The Dominion Post on October 1st What is the best way to cook Salmon and how do I know when it is done, so it doesn’t dry out? Salmon can be expensive and it is easy to overcook, so you want to get it right. A French chef once told...

I am not keen on mixing fruit with savoury. No chicken stuffed with apricots, or couscous full of sultanas. It just doesn't work for me. So when my good friend Vicki in Bangalow, Northern New South Wales, prepared this dish for us on arrival at her home, I was not filled with anticipation. I love ma...

Arabica Venison Canapés with Young Garlic Mayonnaise In our organic veggie box delivery last week we got some young garlic. I hadn’t cooked with this before so we experimented. The  cloves of the garlic head have not yet formed in young garlic, so it looks like a more bulbous or fleshy spring on...

Now that whitebait are in season, why not try something a bit different (and lighter) than the usual whitebait fritters. The flavour of the whitebait is enhanced by cumin and Toum. They don't overpower the delicate flavour.  200g whitebait 100g plain flour 1½ tablespoons of cumin...

Moroccan tomato salad This fresh tomato salad is obviously best if you use vine-ripened tomatoes, not watery flavourless supermarket tomatoes. Never keep your tomatoes in the fridge; they lose their flavour. Ingredients   ½ red onion, sliced 1 clove garlic, sliced 4 tablespoons extra vir...