Mains – Cooking Blog – Find the best recipes, cooking and food tips at Our Kitchen.

Fried sweet potato noodles

May 17, 2021 No Comments

Here is my take on the traditional Korean noodle dish Japchae. It’s a beautifully light noodle dish with a wonderful sweet and salty flavour. The noodles are made from sweet potato starch which is a great alternative to the usually wheat or rice based noodle. The semi-transparent appearance and slightly chewy texture off the noodle make a great base for a multitude of toppings. Everything in the dish should be cooked separately before combining, it takes a bit of preparation but persevere it’s well worth it in the end.

Pasta puttanesca

May 21, 2019 1 Comment

There was once a time when I could spend a whole afternoon in the kitchen. Uninterrupted. Undistracted. These days I’m lucky if my culinary forays last more than forty-five minutes. My pots are often found upturned on the kitchen floor and my wooden spoons now have a double life; used sometimes to stir the evening meal and at other times as drumsticks, held in our sons tiny hands as they tap away a happy rhythm.

Pulled Pork with BBQ sauce & slaw

May 5, 2018 2 Comments

This recipe was a collective labour of love. Very appropriate given that the people cooking it, that very morning were just newly engaged! This groom-to-be proposed to his Aussie belle, then leap from bed in search of a good solid shoulder of pork like the good hunter-gatherer that he is. Next thing we know he’s rapping on our door at 8.30am armed with pork, spices, a BBQ, some wood chips and a very fresh fiancé! Naturally congratulations ensued and subsequently the BBQ

Cranberry and apple cider pork belly

December 18, 2017 4 Comments

I have been waiting in anticipation for sometime for another opportunity to try out my Pork Belly recipe, so what more perfect a place than a mid-winter dinner party!

The key to this relatively simple dish is

Beef Meatball Pasta Bake

July 15, 2017 4 Comments

Dani our awesome intern from the food design institute in Dunedin spent a couple of weeks in our Auckland office cooking up a storm. Now at she’s gone back down South we are really missing the flood of delicious treats!

Beer Braised Ribs with Radish & Broad Bean Salad

November 9, 2016 1 Comment

These delicious and saucy ribs will make your mouth water, we combined beautifully soft broiled beef ribs with a fresh palate cleansing broad bean and radish salad that evokes feelings of summer and time with family or friends around the table with plates of lovingly prepared food.

Zucchini Noodles

May 17, 2016 No Comments

If you’re a big zucchini fan like me, then you’ll have been enjoying the abundance of them around at the moment. I’ve been heading down to my local farmers market to pick up beautiful fresh ones of varying shapes, sizes and colour. Zucchinis are amazingly versatile and can be added to a wide ranges of meals – but in this recipe In this recipe, zucchinis are the star of the show.

Easy Smoked BBQ Brisket

February 10, 2016 No Comments

This recipe came from a recent obsession with Southern US barbecue. I’ve written before about the pseudo meat-monks that will religiously tend a fire from dawn till dusk. This recipe recreates that flavour with a style of worship that is much more hands off. An overnight spice rub and a two hour smoke creates a beautiful exterior and it is finished in the oven, low and slow, for much easier temperature control.

Deep Dish Pizza

September 7, 2015 No Comments

The group of desks I sit at can sometimes get heated. When you have a Frenchman, a Northlander, a Chicagoan, a Chinese Kiwi, a Hamiltonian and a Westie all within arguing distance there can be some pretty steep opinion gradients. But we found one thing we can agree on. Paul mentioned his native city Chicago’s signature food, deep dish pizza, and after initially asking if he was sure it wasn’t deep fried, we did some googling and our eyes glazed over.

Smoked Steak

April 30, 2015 No Comments

What? Smoked Steak? You don’t smoke steak! You SEAR steak! Before you assemble the angry mob, hear me out. Because this could be the best steak you have ever had.

Roasted pesto chicken and harvest grape salad

March 9, 2015 No Comments

Just around the corner from my place on the Otago peninsula is a lovely little awning tied to a tree which shelters two large chilly bins and a cardboard box. Every day the owner of the property behind lovingly fills the bins with a variety of her beautiful organic produce and homemade preserves and leaves an honesty box for payment.

Courgette, ricotta and nutmeg pizza

January 12, 2015 No Comments

A light, summery pizza, perfect fresh from the oven or off the grill. Use this dough recipe for the ultimate pizza crust. Definitely worth the effort of making your own! Shave ribbons of courgette, toss with olive oil and pile high for maximum deliciousness.

Cedar plank salmon on the grill

January 1, 2015 3 Comments

Firstly – Happy New Year! From myself and the team here at ‘Our Kitchen’. Hope the celebrations went well and your head is not too sore today. If you are feeling good and the sun is shining at your place then it’s time to get that grill out and share this great recipe with friends.