Ingredient Spices

Happy Halloween

This Halloween we have an extra special treat, a guest blogger from the local culinary arts school.  Our guest, Liz, used many techniques including balloons and dry ice to create an amazing desert that can only be described as an…

Chickpea flour pancakes

Of all of the joys of cooking, one of the dearest to my heart is the act of sharing recipes and cooking techniques.  I get great pleasure from people cooking for me as I learn from them new ways of…

Dhal

Dhal is one of those magical dishes.  The simple coming together of the humble lentil paired with a perfectly balanced combination of spices (best toasted and freshly ground), cooked long and slow and served steaming hot.  What I love about…

Peas with coconut

There is nothing more satisfying than spending an afternoon in the kitchen over a hot stove, lost in a culinary haze, only to rejoin the rest of the world several hours later to the sound of the happy chatter of…

Kofta Curry

We regularly have events based around food here at the office. Cooking demonstrations are one of the most popular events. Everyone gets involved, has fun and of course there is plenty of yummy food to share at the end of…

Banana raita

For as long as I can remember Mum has always served Indian meals with raita, a side dish with its origins in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, made primarily from yoghurt with the addition of herbs and/or spices and fruit or…

Spiced Vegie Burger

What is up with vegetarian bacon?  I just can’t get my head around the idea.  Fakin bacon just isn’t that cool.  Vegie burgers on the other hand are the real deal, and the possibilities are endless. 

Cola Syrup

Less sweet and more spiced than commercial cola, there is real depth to the flavour of this syrup – it makes the perfect base for a mocktail. Pour over crushed ice, add a couple of very finely sliced rounds of…

Pork and watercress terrine with poached apples

Terrine is one of those dishes which must not be thought about too much before consuming.  If one was to explain it to an unknowing, unsuspecting diner then I suspect mouths may become instantly clamped.  Flaked meat suspended in cold…

Wilted Kale with nutmeg and butter

What I love about this side is its simplicity, and the fact the final dish truly is worth more than the sum of its parts. It is a welcome, silky addition to the side of a plate piled high with…

Chinese tea eggs

At 6am in the morning in the month of May here at the bottom of the world it is pitch black.  And cold.  Our houses aren’t built for winter and as I lay in bed contemplating the day before me,…

Fried Easter porridge

I must thank my boyfriend for this recipe which I have a sneaking suspicion was one of many he had up his sleeve, at the ready, to woo me with in the early days of our courtship.  This is not…

Tom yam soup

I think it fair to say that food, alcohol and various states of inertia are the excesses which typically define the festive season.  And what’s more, to resist this trinity of evils it requires ineffable levels of self-control not conceivably…