These Chicken and Mushroom Vol-au-Vents combine crisp puff pastry with a creamy filling of chicken, mushrooms, white wine, crème fraîche and fresh tarragon. They look impressive on the plate but are surprisingly easy to make using ready-made puff pastry. When I was in primary school, I went to a sleepover at a friend’s house and…
Venetian Sweet and Sour Sardines (Sarde in Saor)
We ate Sarde in Saor standing at a little bacaro in Venice, spritz in hand, picking up silky sweet-and-sour sardines with tiny forks while people spilled into the laneway around us. It was one of those perfect travel food moments where something simple becomes unforgettable. If you’ve never had it before, Sarde in Saor is…
Spanish Garlic Chicken (Pollo al Ajillo)
Some dishes instantly take you back to a place. For me, this one brings back a tapas stop in Malaga — cold drinks on the table, warm evening air, and one of those gloriously garlicky dishes that arrives with absolutely no pretence and disappears almost immediately. The version I had was closer to tapas-style chicken…
Nonna’s Italian Cabbage Salad
I almost talked myself out of putting this recipe on the blog. After all, it’s shredded cabbage dressed with olive oil, white vinegar and salt. Hardly groundbreaking. But then I remembered how often this bowl appeared on our family table — and how often it was one of the first things to disappear. That’s the…
Monte Carlo Biscuits (Homemade Aussie Classic)
A couple of weeks ago, I was walking past a café in Newtown and spotted a tray of Monte Carlo biscuits in the window. They looked familiar — but better. Slightly thicker, more generous, with a proper layer of filling that made them feel a bit more special than the supermarket version. They immediately took…
Spanish Seafood Rice (Arroz con Marisco)
This Spanish seafood rice looks like paella, but it’s actually much simpler to cook. It’s a looser, home-style dish made with prawns, clams and mussels — no special pan, no strict rules, just something that works. This is the kind of seafood rice you’ll find cooked at home in Spain. It’s built around what looks…
Lebanese Lamb and Okra Stew (Bamieh)
Lebanese lamb and okra stew, known as bamieh, is built on a small number of ingredients cooked slowly until everything comes together properly. The lamb becomes tender, the tomato thickens into a sauce, and the okra absorbs all of that flavour. There are variations from household to household, but the structure stays the same. Lamb,…
Chicken and Corn Soup (Using Leftover Roast Chicken)
A roast chicken in this house is never just one meal. There’s always something left, and while a quick salad or sandwich is fine, this is what I actually want to make when the weather cools down. Something warm, simple and properly satisfying. This chicken and corn soup uses leftover roast chicken and builds flavour…
Marinated Octopus with Celery, Capers & Olives
I had a version of this marinated octopus salad at a small bar in Surry Hills that I haven’t stopped thinking about. It arrived almost instantly, which made perfect sense once I tasted it — everything had clearly been prepared ahead and allowed to sit. The octopus was tender, the celery just softened, and it…
Classic Aussie Beef Rissoles
Golden, juicy Aussie beef rissoles with plenty of gravy — it’s the kind of dinner that never really goes out of style. A couple of weeks ago I went out for dinner with some friends at a new restaurant — the kind of place where you’d expect small plates and wine, not rissoles. And yet,…