Sesame seed beef with vinegared potato shreds
We can’t decide which of this pair of complementary recipes we love the most... we adore tender slices of juicy beef fillet, but those stir-fried, vinegary potato shreds? They get us every single time. And if you’re not familiar with this rustic Chinese approach to potato cooking…
Turkish semolina halva (irmik halvasi)
Semolina! And listen; hear us out. We know that kids of a certain era were traumatised by bland, milky semolina ‘pudding’ but it’s lucky that other cultures do way more inspiring things with it than reduce it to pallidness. Like the Turks, for example, who make this. A delicious, classic dessert, irmik halvasi…
Semolina syrup cake
Bonus recipe, people! As you can see, we really got into semolina this week. There are tons of version of this Middle Eastern/Turkish/Greek-style cake, some use coarse semolina, some a finer one or even a mixture of the two; others include some wheat flour in the mix…
Beetroot barley ‘risotto’
Here’s a dish that’s not a new idea; sometimes, you don’t need to reinvent wheels. Tried and true flavours simply work, and they work for a reason. PB and J. Pineapple and ham. Chocolate and mint. Lemon and fish. Maple syrup and bacon. They go together. That’s it. No need to overthink it. Beetroot and barley are another timeless combo…
Spicy air fryer lamb skewers
Salty, spicy, meaty and juicy – here’s the ultimate beer food. These are inspired by some of the delicious-est street food we’ve ever eaten; namely the lamb skewers you get in parts of northern and western China, where they’re cooked with plenty of cumin and chilli over smoky coals, then eaten with even more spice scattered over. Yum…
Roast orange veggies with date-pecan sprinkle
Yes, we’re on a medjool date bender. And why not; is there anyone who doesn’t adore these things? They’re so gooey and sweet, it’s hard to believe that something quite so lush is actually good for you, mountains of fructose aside. Oh and the carbs and the calories notwithstanding. Between the dates, the hints of maple syrup…
Shaved broccoli salad
We love a winter salad! And, as fundamentally lazy types, we like one that’s shaved and raw because it’s nice to have a break from the stove. The key here is in the fine shaving; did you know that the way your food is cut affects the way it eats and tastes? Well that’s our theory anyway, and it’s very true here…
Cheesecake cake - not a mistake
Is it a cake? Is it a cheesecake? It’s both! Because, why not? Lemony, rich and creamy on top, and all buttery-cakeyness in the nether regions, this is where you get to have your cake and eat your cheesecake too. Delicious. And it’s pretty straightforward to make as well…
Korean army noodles
If you’ve been itching to break out the frankfurters, Spam, processed cheese slices and generally All The Good Things, then – yay. Here’s your golden opportunity. Called budae jjigae in Korea, this unlikely dish first surfaced after the Korean War when many foods were scarce and people made do with what they could find…
Chickpea, turmeric and coconut soup
Looking for a budget-busting mid-week dinner? Then grab a packet of dried chickpeas, raid the neighbour’s lemon tree, buy a can of coconut cream and some curry leaves, then rummage in your pantry for the rest of what’s required here. If you want to add some meatiness to this already hearty soup, you could add chicken…
Brown sugar cinnamon bread
Yes, we know. Yeast. Y’all are terrified of it. No matter; we will keep rolling out the yeast-y recipes, to the tired tune of “working with yeast is not that hard.” Modern instant dried yeasts are foolproof, unless you throw boiling water over them in which case you’re totally cooked…
Osso buco with white beans, figs and cinnamon
Osso buco is a cut of veal and a traditional Lombardian meat stew; the word means ‘bone with a hole.” The osso buco we commonly see is beef and not veal, which is significantly more expensive and daintier than beef osso buco, which can be humungous…
Condensed milk and coconut laddoos
These sweets are fashioned after a popular Indian sweet called laddoo, also spelled laddu; associated with festivals and celebrations that are made from a variety of things. Including wheat flour, rice flour, besan (chickpea flour) , semolina and even puffed rice. They’re typically sweetened with jaggery, enriched with plenty of ghee…
Salmon skewers with edamame, toasted nori and furikake
Here’s the kind of yum salmon dinner everyone will love; it’s got lovely sweet-sticky glaze, lashings of Japanese rice, some avo, a salad with rich miso dressing and, the star of the piece, salmon. Little umami touches of toasted nori and the Japanese furikake seasoning add pops of savoury goodness, but…
Air fryer baked stuffed eggplants
This concept is fabulous; eggplants cut like hasselback potatoes, the slits filled with a cheesy-savoury stuffing, then baked until the eggplant flesh is tender and the tops, golden. But after various attempts at baking them in a regular oven, using different types and cuts of eggplant…
Curry leaf and peanut roast potatoes
Looking for a fresh, new spin on the humble roast spud? Try these! You can use whatever floury or all-purpose potatoes you like, they don’t have to be baby ones. Cut them into whatever size you prefer and adjust the cooking time accordingly. And look, we get it…
Classic seed cake
It’s not terribly instagrammable. It doesn’t have sexy layers, frosting swirls, or drips of syrupy gorgeousness. It’s a bit plain. It's a seed cake and in decades past it was a favourite on the afternoon tea trolley; we find it darned delicious, in that rich, plain, buttery cake kind-of-a-way…
Cumin lamb with homemade noodles
We wish we had the skill and dexterity to make the famous pulled wheat flour noodles of China's west and north – it’s mesmerising watching these being made. Cooks start by stretching their dough and folding it in a way that apparently lines up the gluten strands…
Easy epic chopped salad
L.A. spawned the OG chopped salad – the mighty Cobb. Still round today, the Cobb Salad is an artful arrangement of neatly chopped mixed lettuces, tomatoes, bacon, chicken, boiled egg, and blue cheese, set out neatly in rows, and doused in vinaigrette…
Slow cooker beef rendang
‘Proper’ rendang is a dry curry from the Minangkabau people of West Sumatra in Indonesia and it’s a touch labour-intensive to make. Once you’ve toasted coconut, ground a spice paste, then braised the beef with all of this goodness in a rich coconut gravy, you simmer until the liquid pretty much evaporates and the beef chunks fry…