mega-comfort chicken & leek pie with paris mash

Well here we all are again then – some of us anyway! We flew back in from Tokyo yesterday morning and zombied around the house, washed mountains of clothes, picked up the dogs from the kennels and went to the supermarket – all that catch up stuff – the only abnormal thing was there were […]

creamy mushrooms with sherry, garlic & thyme on soft polenta

Hi all, the countdown continues:) It has been so lovely having Henry and Josh in Auckland – they are still both sound asleep after a great night out to dinner last night – such a treat to have Nick, Rich and Lil there too, a rare occasion to get all six of us around a […]

chicken leek, & pancetta risotto

Well here we go – counting down to multiple ‘take-offs’! Rich finished his final night playing Clyde in Bonnie and Clyde last night, and he was bloody fabulous along side a whole cast of incredible talent – I was exploding with pride – woo hoooo! (Last school play ever – sniff – end of an […]

retro night beef wellington & potato gratin

I have mentioned once before on this blog that I am a limited fan of ‘classics with a twist’ – sometimes classics are just that, and their perfection is not to be overly meddled with! (OK – yes I do agree that sometimes a little addition or change can take something you are used to […]

novice yogi’s kitchari – basmati & split peas with Indian spices, vegetables & fresh herbs

OK now don’t worry, I’m not veering off completely into total vegan territory (with apologies to any vegans who would like me to…), but as I have been yoga-ing my ass off lately I have been interested to find out more about what those glowing, lithe yoga-instructors eat – et voila! And as you can […]

pumpkin, pea & chorizo frittata with feta & red onion

Having your Mum for over for a meal is a lovely way to celebrate Mother’s Day, and this is the perfect easy but delicious little number to whip up. The frittata is surprisingly light but rich in flavour with the earthy pumpkin, sweet peas and red onion, spicy chorizo and salty feta – ideal for […]

pizza with braised lentils, hot smoked salmon & pea puree

Hi all – this bloody delicious creation was inspired by the very clever and talented people at La Cigale in Auckland who do a puff pastry tart using lentils, salmon and pea puree – and this is kind of my tribute to it in a pizza form. Seeing as Rich has been in Shanghai with […]

meatballs on brown rice with peanut sauce & Asian slaw

Just when you thought there was no other way to serve meatballs, here is my final recipe! (Actually, I could probably think of quite a few more ways, but I’m thinking we should probably leave it here…) This recipe combines the earthy meatballs with a zingy Asian slaw, spicy peanut sauce and some lovely nubbly […]

meatballs with Indian spiced eggplant & minty yoghurt

Feeling like a bit of a frantic old (grr) mad woman at the moment (nothing new) trying to get recipe testing done for Dish and Fairfax before Easter, as well as get a few over-due recipes on the blog…like this one! Number four in the meatball line-up uses the same base meatball recipe again, this […]