I love Food : Lensography of the Kitchen

Classic Roasts 

Five Classic Lamb Roasts

Classic Roasts : Lamb with Rosemary

I can think of nothing better than sitting down to a dish of sweet roast lamb, crisp on the outside, tender and juicy on the inside. Roasting is a dry heat cooking method, with no liquid added to the meat as you cook it, so it's a perfect way, surel...

Classic Roasts : Lamb Loin

Loin of Lamb makes one of the finest and sweetest lamb roasts. It's the most tender part of the lamb, and chops cut from the loin are the lamb equivalent of porterhouse steaks. Versatile loin requires little cooking time and can be prepared quickly a...

Classic Roasts : Lamb Forequarter

The lamb forequarter, poor cousin to the lamb leg and loin, is a wonderful versatile cut, and you can use the neck, shoulder, gigot, shank or make mince. Usually I ask my butcher to bone the forequarter, and press it down as flat as possible. Then I...

Classic Roasts : Greek Style Lamb

Greek food is a wonderful mix of oriental and European dishes, cooked using different methods with fresh ingredients, easy to make and delightful. My Australian hometown is the second largest Greek-speaking city in the world and Greek food has been...

Classic Roasts : Minted Rack of Lamb

Lamb rack is a particulary flavoursome cut and, when combined with fresh herbs and a simple salad, is the perfect meal for two people . Lamb is one of my favourite foods of all, but when it's presented with the mint glaze it looks really classy on a...

Corned Beef Heaven

How I love corned beef! It was a rare treat when I was a child for we grew up on lamb. Our diet was lamb, mutton and more lamb, broken only by fish on Fridays and poultry at Christmas. Corned beef was a dish for Summer, for lunch on the beach or pic...

For your Sweet Tooth 

Everyone has at least one sweet tooth

How to Make Strawberry Jam

Straight from your own kitchen, home-made jam has a gorgeous fruity flavour, a clear bright colour and it's full of plain old fashioned goodness- goodness that goes beyond the taste. You've made the jam and you know exactly what's in it. It's your ja...

I love Honey!

Ancient peoples used honey for medicines, intoxicants, metallurgy and magic. There's still magic in this sweet elixir made, wonderfully, by Nature from nectar. A daily dose of honey will promote general well-being, give you an instant energy hit and...

Who said kids won't eat liver? 

They even like it!

Creative ways to Cook Liver

Rule One : Never tell them it's liver! My kids ate liver for years without ever knowing it. I'd seen too many children baulk at liver, I don't know why that is, it's just one of the mysteries of childhood. Over the years I developed numerous ways o...

Classic Casseroles 

Lamb, Pork and Beef Favourites

Classic Casseroles : Navarin of Lamb

Navarin (Navarin d'Agneau) is the French term for a rich mutton or lamb stew which has been cooked with root vegetables, usually including small onions and potatoes. A casserole is a perfect way to cook the whole meal in one dish in the oven, only s...

Pork and Red Cabbage Classic Casserole

Whether it's grilled chops, roast legs or braised ribs, pork has been popular since Ancient Roman times. You can't go wrong with a nice piece of pork. But why overlook the pork neck? It's a sweet, flavoursome cut and still, in the climat...

Classic Casseroles : Steak and Kidney with Dumplings

Some days just call out for steak and kidney. Steak and kidney is an English dish with a filling of diced beef steak and kidneys in a thick sauce. Usually found in a one-crust pie, it's easy, filling and delicious when made in a casserole. You...

Classic Stir Frys 

Fast, Furious and Full of Goodness

Classic Stir Fry : Tofu and Vegetables

Are you trying to eat healthier foods,and learn healthier ways to cook? Stir Frying is fast, healthy and delicious. It's really easy to throw a stir fry together - the name says it all, stir - and fry. To cook stir fry, you must, like the boy scouts...

Classic Stir Fry : Beef and Bok Choy

We're all trying to eat healthier foods,and learning healthier ways to cook. Stir Frying is fast, healthy and delicious. To cook stir fry, you must, like the boy scouts, be prepared! Prepare everything you need before you start. Because stir frying...

Historical Food 

Recipes from the Ancient Romans

Ancient Roman Recipes

When we think of the food of Ancient Rome, it's usually images of huge banquets which come to mind. But there was a lot more to Roman food than exotic dishes served by slaves at orgies. Lavish feasts there were, but also perfectly ordinary meals,...

Edible Flowers 

Recipes & Concoctions for Health and Beauty

The Beauty and Benefits of Calendula

Do you have a calendula plant in your garden? The bright cheerful calendula is native to Mediterranean countries but is now grown as an ornamental plant throughout the world. It's cultivated in the kitchen garden for the flowers, which are dried for...

The Beauty and Benefits of Sunflowers

You can't mistake a sunflower. It's impossible to mistake a sunflower. It's a distinctive, golden-flowering plant, Helianthus annuus, full of seeds which contain a yellow, sweet oil. Apart from the golden beauty, sunflowers are incredibly useful. T...

The Beauty and Benefits of Violets

Don't go looking for roses and walk, unseeing, past the violets. It's hard to imagine how anyone can resist a posy of sweet violets, viola ordorata, so appealingly delicate with their velvety purple petals and clean, sweet perfume. Apart from their...

Fruits of the Harvest 

Refreshing Recipes with Fruits

I love Quince!

The quince has fallen out of favour in modern times and there are quite a number of people who wouldn't recognise a quince if it were served up to them. Once it was prized throughout Western Asia and the seeds were carried, tenderly, to Europe and ac...

Three exotic fruits you must try before you die

We all know fruit is good for us. People have been telling us that for years. Apparently we should have at least five or six pieces of fruit to maintain good health, ensure our bodies are fit and keep our brains working well. I get nowhere near that...

Delicious Dairy 

Delightful Cheese and Yogurt

Home Made Yogurt Maker

Lots of people make excellent yogurt in small quantities at home without a yoghurt maker. I make it myself when I have the time but I also have a machine that makes it for me. These days I prefer to whip up a delicious desert while I'm laying t...

I Love Cheese!

There's something quite indulgent about the delicious labours of the ancient craft of cheese-making - the sheer enjoyment from a simple wedge of crumbly red cheddar or a sharp shaving of tart parmesan. Cheese tastes best in its country of origin and...

I love Yoghurt!

You would be hard pressed to find any other food with such an illustrious history and popularity, while at the same time being so healthy and nutritious. It's almost like a secret, an Elixir of Life that's known to only the very rich. But yo...

I love Olives!

Homer called olive oil liquid gold and, at the time that he was busy composing a tale on the Trojan War, the olive trees were so sacred that anyone who cut a tree down was condemned to death or exile. It's not a crime anymore, but it would be crimin...

Dinner Downunder 

The New Taste of Australia

Great Australian Food

Once we lived on English food - it was all we knew. Meat, lots of meat, roast lamb, roast beef, lamb chops, grilled steak, marinated mutton and beef, lamb, lamb and more lamb. We had sausages and bacon for breakfast, lamb cutlets for lunch and at din...

Asian 

Or more correctly, Asian-Australian

Laksa : Taste of Malaysia

It's delicious, it's addictive, it's rich, slightly sweet and strongly spiced. It's laksa! Even the name is delightful. It rolls off your tongue and tempts your tastebuds. Try it. So what exactly is laksa? It's a coconutty broth with lemongrass and...

Rendang : Taste of Indonesia

Do you rendang? It makes a startling change from the old Irish stew that hangs around in my childhood memories. I don't know if the alleged Irish stew was ever eaten in Ireland, they probably get stuck into rendang themselves in the Emerald Isle. Re...

Spicy Chicken : Taste of Indonesia

Indonesian food is one of the most vibrant and colourful cuisines in the world, full of intense flavour and varied textures. It's as diverse as the Indonesian culture, with culinary influences from Chinese, European, Middle Eastern, and Indian source...

Fresh Ways of Serving Vegetables 

Recipes, both Old and New

I love Butternuts!

Pumpkins and squash are simply the most versatile and delicious vegetables around. Traditionally associated with winter, they are now available at any time of the year. Already fairly sweet, butternuts get even sweeter when cooked and commonly have...

I love Rhubarb!

Are you guilty of having a rhubarb plant, untended, unloved and uneaten in the bottom of your garden? Have you seen bunches of rhubarb for sale and wondered what to do with them? Lots of people associate rhubarb with pies. More on the pies later, bu...

Ratatouille Recipe

If you asked me what was for dinner and I answered 'vegetarian stew' would it sound as impressive as Ratatouille? Does 'French Vegetable Pot' sound better? French cooking conjures up images of white-coated chefs and blue-ribboned haute cuisine, but...

The Basics of Slow Cooking 

Safe Practice with Slow Cookers

Basics of Slow Cooking : Safety in the Kitchen

Slow cookers are enjoying a return of popularity .. for very good reasons. A long cooking time lets you start dinner before leaving for work and overnight cooking cuts the cost of the meal by using off-peak economy rated power. And don't forget, you...

Familiar Fungus 

The Magic of Mushrooms

I love Mushrooms!

Seneca, first century Roman philosopher hated mushrooms. Emperor Claudius was poisoned by them. The Normans praised their aphrodisiac qualities and the ancient Egyptians decreed them to be food for royalty alone. These days truffles, porcini, morels...