As autumn brings cooler weather, some here in New Zealand tilt their head to the sky listening, and watching for feathers in flight.

Summer is an all year round season in Samoa and so every Saturday night is BBQ night at my parents’ house. On evenings that are hot and humid and no one’s in the mood for eating 2 inch thick T-bone steaks with the works, my dad conjures up his chicken satay kebabs as a lighter option [...]

Weeknight cooking for my partner and I is frequently motivated by convenience. Not microwavable, TV dinner convenience, but simple dishes using quality ingredients that pack plenty of flavour. I like dishes I can create using things commonly found in my pantry, plus a few fresh veggies and herbs from the garden.

My friend Rachel lovingly made this recipe for me a couple of years back and in my mind it has firmly etched itself as one of my most memorable dinners.

This time last year saw me with the mother of all colds. I was miserable, snotty and high on paracetamol. Enter my heroic boyfriend with a pot of steaming broth – he scored some brownie points that day, that’s for sure.

The crisp raw vegies and fresh flavours of mint and coriander in this recipe make for a refreshing and healthy lunch or snack. They are dairy and gluten-free*, and can easily be made vegetarian by omitting the fish sauce from the dipping sauce (you may want to adjust the seasoning to account for the lack [...]

In the summer months I am all about light food, tending to steer away clear from soups because they leave me feeling ‘stodgy’. Not all soups are like that, though. For example chicken consommé—which I will always remember as it was the first soup we were taught when I was training as a chef—makes a [...]

Whenever I cook sauces and soups I always kick myself that I don’t have fresh stock. The closest thing from the local supermarket is Gregg’s ‘real stock’, which I’m sorry I don’t think quite compares.

I made Liz’s chicken recipe on a cold, bleak day and took it into the office for lunch.  A perfect balance of sweet and sour; the chicken, olives, prunes, wine and sugar create a warming dish without being heavy or too comforting.  After devouring my generous serve I couldn’t help but dive my spoon into [...]

I first made these cheesy morsels for a morning tea (slightly unorthodox I know), as the savoury option and they were gobbled up as fast as I could flip them out of the pan!  Ever since they have been one of those crowd-pleasing favourites that always result in many warm compliments to the chef (aww [...]

This post deserves a special introduction. It is our first guest blog post. Its author, Sarah Woollett, played an important role in the realisation of this project, contributing advice, tasty recipes and unwavering encouragement. Sarah is an incredibly competent and knowledgable cook and here in the studio we were lucky

This recipe is an adaptation of one originating from an ex head chef, Gary Sweetman. I can’t actually remember the original because I have changed it each time to suit the occasion. This recipe is fantastic for catering a party because it can be prepared in advance and the ingredients are in one component so there is no complicated assembly.