Recipes by Occasion

The 1980's may not have had a lot going for them, but that was when Australian restaurants decided that grilled baby octopus was ever so sheik. They went out of fashion as quickly as they came in...

The secret to this very simple dish is top quality ingredients. It only works with ripe flavourful tomatoes and a quality virgin olive oil.

You can buy some very good quality prepared dukkah blends, but you will always get something that little bit better when you prepare it fresh.

Of course you can cook this in the kitchen, but it can also simmer away on your wok burner if you feel like cooking and eating al fresco.

Char grilling lamb cutlets is not the fare of old fashioned Cantonese takeaways, but the rules have changed- now there are no rules. This is a sort of Modern Asian, east meets western sort of...

Really slow cooked dry rubbed lamb is delicious with baked vegetables, but lighter and just as yummy with a salad. You could go more middle eastern with harissa, labna (drained yoghurt, but sounds...

You can throw anything really fresh and green and crisp into this and dress it with most quality oils and vinegars.

Caponata is a lovely sweet and sour Italian vegetable salad that works as a dish in its own right as part of an antipasto spread. Here is a version with the vegetables cut into chunkier pieces...

What needs to be said? It's Sunday morning, you don't feel too crash-hot and you need to get some meat into your system. Put on the sunnies, fire up the barbie and treat yourself to an Aussie...

Cook the perfect steak and then jazz is up with some home-made herb butter. First find a fabulous piece of meat. Wagyu, organic, grass or grain fed. Just good meat. As for cuts, I like sirloin...