old-school tomato soup with cheese, olive, onion & rosemary toasties

‘Here comes the rain again, falling on my head like a memory…’ and yes Annie is quite right, apparently the weather is about turn to mega-rainy-crap all throughout the country from today. (Actually I have gotten to know Annie very well over the last fifteen months – she has kindly sung while I’ve been shooting, […]

Kylie Kwong’s sung choi bao of vegetables

Some days I really love my job – case in point, the end of last week when I was invited to attend a Furi knife event hosted by the super-talented and down-to-earth Kylie Kwong. I have always been a massive fan of hers, especially since I saw her a few years ago, cooking at a […]

mushrooms in pastry (en croute)

Gooood morning, good morning, good morning (said in my head just like Stephen Fry). Right well apparently the weather is about to turn to crap all around the country again, so I thought a wee bit of mushroomy, cheesy pastry was in order. This is such a simple recipe that I put together for my […]

zucchini & pea fritters with feta yoghurt whip

Goooood morning – and I hope that if you are in New Zealand, you are hunkered down somewhere safe and dry as we await the arrival of the ‘biggest storm in 50 years’. Bloody hell – not good timing with people travelling around the country to visit loved ones for Easter…so today’s recipe is my […]

roast root vegetable salad with feta & semi-dried tomatoes & walnut, parsley & basil pesto

Holy moly did it rain last night (in Auckland) or what??? Happily I am still tucked up in bed with my cup of tea and heading to a slightly later yoga session today – that would be for day 36 in a row – wooooo – almost at my 40 day target! Actually I love […]

mini spinach pies with rosemary, lemon, pine nuts & feta

Good morning from the comfy old blogging ground of my bed, complete with second cup of tea. Today’s recipe is one I put together for Dish magazine, perfect for summer drinks parties, picnics, lunch – whatever really – they are gorgeous little pastry parcels filled with iron-rich spinach, salty feta, nubbly pine nuts and sweet […]

shakshuka with homemade cumin labneh

Morning all – for once, not from bed with my mug of tea (been there done that), it is 7:22am and I am tapping away at my keyboard in my office instead. Generally speaking I am not a fan of people who always arrive late, flapping about, gasping for air and talking about how busy […]

spring asparagus, pea & zucchini tart with light herb mayo

Morning all. God what a weird few weeks, first Trump elected President in the states and then earthquakes here in New Zealand. I don’t remember us having such regular ‘shaky isles’ in the past, and feel so sorry for anyone having to live with both the fear during the quakes, and the crappy aftermath of […]

black bean, corn & chickpea fritters with lime tomato salsa, avocado, coriander & fried egg

Just in time for the weekend – these fritters would make a great breakfast-lunch-or-dinner option for a lazy weekend stuck indoors while it hoses down with rain outside! I made up the recipe as the lovely Will has been occasionally cooking recipes from the blog for my very lucky Henry. The thing is Henry is […]

loaded four cheese pizzas with chilli, rocket & lemon

Fridaaaaay! Yay – and finally a beautiful blue-sky day in Auckland – fantastic! Today’s recipe is for a crispy thin-based pizza loaded with cheesy goodness then finished off with a little chilli kick, fresh peppery rocket and some fresh zingy lemon. It is a great vegetarian option, but for other suggestions you can also checkout […]

super-green pizzas with zucchini, mozzarella, broccoli, watercress, rocket & avocado

I am sitting here in a wee satisfied glow having just finished a shoot for the Wine Friend company (such a good idea, they deliver wine that suits your taste so that you get introduced to new wines via their recommendations, without buying duds), and not only do I love the shots (hurrah!), but I […]

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 […]