Light Bites

It surprises many people to discover that you can make perfectly delicious bread without yeast, using common household ingredients. Yeast is, after all, a rising agent, and most kitchens have a jar or packet of another rising agent tucked away somewhere – baking powder! The active ingredient in baking powder, sodium bicarbonate or baking soda […]

It’s November and soup season has officially started in my household. I felt like something spicy and fresh to banish the start-of-winter-blues. Today’s recipe for Pork Meatball Noodle Soup is just what the doctor ordered: juicy, garlicky meatballs and a rich broth, packed with ginger, chilli and fresh herbs. This is not based on any […]

We are bang in the middle of the Oktoberfest season, and while no Oktoberfest is being held in 2020, that doesn’t mean we can’t have our favourite Bavarian foods at home! If you’ve been following along you will have learnt how to cook the perfect Oktoberfest Roast Chicken, and today we are cooking one of […]

Our run of cool days here in Munich continues, with cool, drizzly weather keeping us mostly inside, apart from short sprints to the markets. I am definitely not complaining about the temperature, as it is the perfect excuse to start the soup-making season. And what better soup to start with than Thailand’s most famous soup […]

Yesterday, it rained properly for the first time in weeks, and today, we woke up to cool, misty weather. It wasn’t long, of course, before the sun burst through, but it was a little hint that my favourite season of all, autumn, is on the horizon. Don’t get me wrong, I love summer as much […]

Focaccia is fantastically easy to make, even if you have never made bread before and infinitely variable. Tomato and Rosemary Focaccia is a summer classic.

Light, fresh, and full of delicious vegetables, Vietnamese Prawn Spring Rolls are fun to make and the perfect light meal for a hot summer day. Mix and match fillings to suit your tastes, but don’t forget the spicy peanut dipping sauce!

Is there any brunch more tempting than Eggs Benedict? The sight of a perfectly poached egg, cloaked in buttery hollandaise sauce, perched atop a lightly toasted English muffin is enough to get most stomachs rumbling. Whether you like it with bacon or salmon, it is a classic for a reason. We are so used to […]

Hooray, it’s the weekend! As the world slowly returns to business-as-usual, the rhythms and rituals of the working week are coming back. Even though I work from home, to me the weekend mornings are still the days of a lazy lie-in, followed by a proper breakfast. There’s nothing like a big, flavoursome breakfast to mop […]

I love mushrooms. Truly, mushrooms would have to be one of my desert-island foods. Whether fancy shiitake, the prized porcino, colourful pfifferlinge or plain old button mushrooms, they are all delicious, with their earthy flavour and delicate texture. Whatever time of year it is, mushrooms will find their way into my shopping basket, ready for risotto, a salad, a quiche, […]

Wow, it’s been a crazy start to the week and it’s only Monday evening! Reading the papers each day seems to bring more alarming and alarmist stories from across the globe, however life here in Munich seems to be carrying on much as usual so far. I did notice the other day when I was […]

It’s the middle of the week, we’ve been on the road the last two days and I had a craving for some quick and easy seafood for dinner. Definitely a night for some Spicy Herby Calamari Rings. Living in Munich where the nearest ocean is around 600 kilometres away, I’ve made my peace with the […]

This Chicken Live Pâté recipe is absolutely fool-proof. Chicken livers are gently poached with flavourings before being whipped into silky, buttery, utterly moreish pâté. Topped with white wine and green peppercorn jelly, this is the perfect pâté for your next party.

I am looking out the kitchen window watching huge fluffy snowflakes drift down from the sky. Just two days ago it was so gorgeously warm and sunny that I thought maybe, just maybe we’d escaped winter and spring was on the way. It’s not that I mind winter, but as it reaches the tail end […]

Easy sweet corn fritters are so quick and simple to make and are full of delicious vegetables. Bursting with zingy, fresh flavour they’re always popular for breakfast, brunch or a light supper.

With beautifully bright colours Cranberry Cranberry Orange Cured Salmon is a wonderful dish to serve as a starter at your festive table. It’s so simple to make at home and so delicious with a creamy horseradish sauce.

As contrary as it sounds, whenever the weather gets hot, my favourite way of cooking is to use the oven. I know it seems insane when the mercury is pushing 40°C outside to turn on a ferociously hot oven, but there is a method to my madness. The way I see it is that cooking […]

We’ve landed back in beautiful Munich to the clear and crisp skies and very chilly nights of late winter. It’s not quite spring yet, but the promise of it hangs in the air, brightening the mood and sending the locals outside to soak up every last bit of available sun. I’m rather enjoying the opportunity […]

Spinach and Ricotta Quiche, an Antipodean variation of the Greek dish Spanakopita is a true cafe classic here in Australia and for very good reason. It is rich and filling, while remaining light, vegetarian friendly and suitable for lunch or a lighter dinner. A quiche like this is a great recipe to have in your […]

Is there anything more invitingly homely than than the aroma of freshly baked bread?  There is a type of magic at work in the way something so simple can set our mouths watering and trigger so many memories and emotions. The trouble is that many of us have lost our way with bread. Not only […]

I have a fabulously easy, quick and summery recipe for you today – and best of all, this recipe uses the radish greens that usually end up in the bin. A peppery, delicious, vibrantly green pesto and less waste? Fresh Radish Green Pesto is my kinda recipe.  If you are planning on making this pesto, […]

Glorious weather continues in Munich with day after day of clear blue skies and balmy summer evenings. I am beyond excited as my cookbook is being sent to the printers on the weekend, we had an amazing time at the photoshoot for the book cover and I can’t wait to let my baby go out […]

I love the thick and luscious texture of Spiced Hokkaido Pumpkin Soup. Teamed with warming spices and sprinkled with salty prosciutto and feta, this can be a meal in itself or the starter for a larger harvest feast.