Naan bread

Soft, chewy naan bread is the perfect accompaniment to any curry – try serving these up alongside the Lamb Korma I posted earlier in the week, or with Emma’s Chicken Cashew Curry. I’ve had good results both frying these off in a heavy-based pan on the stove top and by baking in a very hot [...]

Courgette soup

During the working week Paul is a very skilled (and handy to know) technician in our Dunedin office.  Each week he commutes from the Deep South, where he spends his weekends cooking his way through culinary mags and tending to his vast vegetable garden.  When asked to share a recipe with the Our Kitchen team, [...]

Gruyere and black pepper bread

I started making this bread as “baguette de tradition Français” – although by adapting the recipe I removed some of the details that make a baguette a baguette. I made the bread-making process a little simpler and although I have given specific resting times in the method, you don’t have to follow these exactly – you can always leave it to rest longer if you are busy with something else.

Stuffed vine leaves

These tasty little morsels are great finger food for a party or as part of a mezze platter to graze on over a lazy afternoon or evening. For a dairy-free option serve with a fresh tomato sauce instead of yoghurt.

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Greek salad

Although I have never made the trip to the Mediterranean to visit Greece I decided to use this land as the inspiration for this post. Melbourne has the largest Greek population outside of Greece and it was in Lonsdale St where I began my appreciation for Greek cuisine.

Blue cheese soufflé

This month we are cooking dishes from places that could be a home away from home.  In many cultures, food is a way of making guests feel welcome; I just know that in a place where food is so intrinsically linked with national identity I will fit right in.  Although I have never been to [...]

Tapioca, caramel and mango pudding

My time in Thailand, although brief changed how I cook and how I eat. Since going there about a year ago I have fully embraced the cuisine which is now a staple of my diet. I vividly remember eating foods for the first time – dragon fruit, steamed broth from a side cart, whole soft shell crab. And first time food experiences – having to hang my drink on a door handle

Fennel risotto

If I was to be honest I would say that my heart is in Asia, so picking Italy as my spiritual home is not an obvious choice, though nor is it completely left field.  My experience of Italy is limited.  In fact I have only been there once, over 10 years ago now, when I [...]

Nectarine coconut pound cake

The original cookbook tells of pound cakes relying on a thorough creaming or beating of the butter and sugar in order to get them to rise. When I read this I had instant appreciation for my electric beater. Due to the lack of raising agent, this cake’s consistency is dense and ballsy though the coconut [...]

Brunch eggs

Looking around for inspiration for our Easter recipes we noticed that for many, Easter is a time layered deeply in tradition and festivity and for others, it can be very relaxing. Easter weekend for me is at home or at the family beach and rather than an elaborate dinner, it is a casual brunch.

Carob truffles

These truffles are completely chocolate free, using the much underrated and underused carob. When I started my quest for an interesting carob recipe, my boyfriend screwed his face up in disgust. After a childhood of carob treats due to an eccentric mother who had a passion for looking after her

Savoury muffins

These muffins are from our Fisher & Paykel Cookbook. They are studded with pinenuts and olives and flavoured with fresh herbs, and when you bite into them gooey mozzarella cheese oozes from their centre.

Versatile Quiche

Here is another one of Karen’s delicious recipes – this time for a simple quiche. Her suggestion: Double this recipe, bake it in a rectangular tin (approx 20cm x 25cm), serve half for dinner and freeze the rest in one-person-sized portions to pick up as you run out the door in the morning.

Peach and mint infused vinegar

My gran has a peach tree in her backyard, and every summer we would end up with boxes of ripe peaches landing on our kitchen bench just begging to be eaten. Personally, I am a huge fan of stone fruit. Peaches, nectarines, apricots, cherries, these flavours really epitomise summer to me.

Mint pesto

This pesto can be used for a multitude of things. As a dip, tossed through roasted vegetables, on a sandwich, or drizzled over eggplant ravioli, the recipe for which I will post in the next couple of days. The fresh, zesty mint provides the perfect contrast to the rich and creamy flavours of the ravioli.

Eggplant Ravioli

Admittedly, making ravioli requires time, and a considerable amount of it at that. Don’t let this put you off. The process is not only rewarding, but meditative as well. Working the pasta through each of the settings on your pasta machine until it is silky smooth allows plenty of time for reflection and soul-searching,

Onion tart with goats’ cheese and thyme

As promised, here is Karen’s recipe for onion and goats’ cheese tarts made with her Balsamic onion marmalade:
“Ready-made pastry and stored balsamic onion marmalade make these impressive tarts very quick and easy. Spoon the onion mixture into baked pastry cases and melt tangy goats’ cheese on top.”

Balsamic onion marmalade

This is another of our former colleague Karen’s fail-safe recipes. Later in the week we will be posting her delicious onion and goats’ cheese tart recipe made with this marmalade, but in the meantime this makes a great pantry staple.

Leeks vinaigrette & roasted potatoes with herb oil

Christmas is officially a week away and I am a little nervous.
End-of-year catch-ups and a few work functions have occupied my weeknights. Last year I was preserving tomato chutney, making molasses and caramel chocolates and sewing handmade

Tomato and rocket tarts

As a designer I am sensitive to aesthetics, to the way in which the objects and things around me look and feel.  Whether I am designing a product or serving dinner to my flatmates, the way things look are important to me.  Without consciously thinking about it, these tomato tarts became little canvases.  Their colours [...]

Rocket pesto

Pesto is very versatile both in its uses and in the ingredients with which it is made.  The inspiration for this rocket pesto came when I was pondering what I could use to provide a splash of colour and a burst of flavour to my little tomato tarts.  And the combination of the [...]

Chargrilled pepper, eggplant and basil salad

I have come to the conclusion of late that spring is really one big tease. One day it is beautiful and I find myself enjoying a cup of tea in the sun, my winter-white skin exposed in short sleeves; the next the sky has closed in and I’m searching for my favourite scarf and woolly [...]

Blue cheese, red wine, hazelnut and pear salad

n NZ, we are lucky to have a vast selection of fresh foods on our doorstep; seafood, dairy, beef, lamb, pork, poultry, farmed and wild meats, tomatoes, kiwifruit, avocados and berries are just a selection of our local faire.

Broad bean and rocket salad

As this month’s theme is spring and local produce I thought I would make the most of what I have in my garden, and that of my neighbours too.  We have a very long drive way over which hang the branches of a pretty apple tree, and next to that just out of reach, a [...]

Asparagus, broccolini and barley salad

I have to confess that I am only a recent convert to the virtues of asparagus. Too many bad experiences with limp, over-cooked soggy stems had left me thinking it was one thing I was never going to get involved with. But my vegetarian friend makes this incredible salad, only very lightly steaming the asparagus [...]

Pickled onions

My grandparents were a great team when it came to preserves. Granddad was a skilled and very prolific gardener and Nana could turn anything that wasn’t used fresh into wonderful jams, pickles, chutneys and sauces. This is their recipe for pickled onions, which were made and stored for a couple of months to be brought [...]

Fried tofu in ginger, soy and butter sauce

Easy to make, and very easy to eat – even managed to convert the boyfriend (favourite meal steak) to this delicious protein. The secret is to bleed the excess moisture out of your tofu prior to frying so you get a nice crispy shell.