thanksgiving / halloween all-American (kind of) pumpkin cheesecake

(L’il re-post from aaaaaages ago…) Way down here in New Zealand Halloween is only just becoming a bit more of a thing, still not huge, but these days kids do dress up and go door-knocking around the neigbourhood ‘trick-or-teating’ and teenagers have a few themed dress-up parties. Back in the dark ages when I was […]

gingerbread pudding with salted caramel sauce & ginger fruit compote

Bloody hell this is good – moist gingery, cakey pudding topped with hot salted caramel sauce and with a luscious ginger fruit compote and generous scoop of mascarpone on the side (although if you can’t always be faffed with the compote, it won’t be the end of the world). I originally put this recipe together […]

mushroom, chicken & camembert frittata with caramelised onions

As I sit here (post yoga glow on) it is hosing down outside my window, with thunderstorms on the way – ah yessss, Auckland in the spring-time! So, basically great timing for this simple comfort-food frittata recipe. If by some miracle the weather clears, it also makes a great picnic lunch, but assuming it stays […]

prune & port chocolate cake with port-poached prunes

Hello from my snuggy bed, cup of tea in hand. What a gorgeous morning – I can’t wait to head out into the freezing air for my walk shortly (alternating walking and yoga at the moment), but first I wanted to share this recipe I put together for Fairfax – prune and port chocolate cake […]

Portuguese-style custard tarts

I have always wanted to make my own Portuguese tarts and was actually excited when Kapiti approached me to see if I would be interested in creating a recipe to match with their single farm, organic milk – here was my chance. I faffed around with the recipe for ages having done a fair amount […]

cauliflower, cheese & leek, gnocchi gratin

Happy Saturday morning – it looks like it’s going to be another beautiful (freezing) day in Auckland – good timing for a warming, comfort food dish like this one, that I just made for Dish magazine…basically a combination of rich cauliflower with gruyere cheese, creamy leeks and soft, pillowy gnocchi, topped in crunchy breadcrumbs, it […]

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, […]

black doris plum clafoutis & plum & apple crumble

Oh my God what an absolutely gorgeous (albeit bloody freezing) morning in Auckland. It is hard not to feel good on a day like today…but that may also have something to do with the fact that I’m still on a high after seeing Henry and Will in Melbourne last weekend. It was so fkng fantastic […]

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 […]

rhubarb & raspberry clafoutis

L’il re-post from last year for Bastille day celebrations (la Fete Nationale), I know in the northern hemisphere it is the middle of summer – but for my southern mates I thought a warm pud might be appropriate! I’m aiming to shoot an easy, cheesy pasta recipe in the next few days – so check […]

rhubarb cheesecake custard crumble tart

This is outrageous – it is 8:27am and I am still in bed! As I scroll through my Facebook feed looking at everyone’s tropical/American/European adventures, I am ‘on holiday’ at home – complete with spa treatments (I have a bath and epsom salts), gourmet food (hello kitchen) fabulous nightlife (Netflix), culture (pile of books) and […]