You really won’t believe me until you try it – but there has never been a simpler recipe to cook for a crowd when entertaining. This Chicken Marbella comes from ‘The Ignatian Table cookbook’ – a fabulous book that’s filled with so many good and hearty, tried and tested recipes. My sister in law, Lou […]
My sister Elles has always had a way with words. You could say that she’s a real wordsmith; I know, I know – sarcasm is the lowest form of wit. Now all the Thomas girls are pretty good at talking; Cork Daddy will attest that it’s often hard to get a word in when we’re […]
One of the things I love most about our annual family holiday to Mollymook is the fresh seafood at our fingertips. The days are spent at the beach with most evenings being happily spent in the kitchen. We feast on prawns and oysters down at Ulladulla wharf, eat lots of fresh fish (my favourite being […]
“Bula!” – that friendly greeting and the copious amounts of fresh fish are what I remember most about our honeymoon to Fiji. Oh that and beating Cork Daddy at tennis (he might tell you a different story). Everywhere we went I ordered fresh local fish which was always served with some sort of fresh salsa using […]
Are you good at keeping a secret? It turns out the members of the Thomas family aren’t. Dad bought a pizza oven for Burralong, (I think we have Elles Belles to thank for planting the seed) which was a ‘surprise’. “Don’t tell anyone” he says. Sworn to secrecy. Let me just say the news spread like […]
Meat pies, fish pies, apple pies and cherry pies. Chicken pies, mince pies, Gosh! there are even party pies. Pies with peas or pies with mash, pies with mushy peas and chips. There are pies with sauce, and pies without, pies that are big and pies that are small. Some have pecans, others have pork […]
I’m really excited about this one. As in – I could hardly get a snap of the soup because I was already busily hoeing in to it. Gosh it’s good. I need to thank Nadia Lim for the recipe inspo. I googled ‘pumpkin and haloumi’ as these were the ingredients I had laying round in the fridge […]
Of course you’re allowed to disagree with me, but I don’t think there is anything daggy about tinned salmon. I love it. Not used as much as it should, you don’t see many recipes cutting round using this tinned fish anymore. I’ve grown up eating salmon rissoles a lot and enjoy making this delicious salmon pate. […]
Can I just throw it out there – crumbed lamb cutlets are the best food on the planet. And if cutlets are number one, this lamb schnitzel comes in a very close second. Lamb schnitzel came around thanks to Mim – who makes THE best schnitzel. Walking past her local butcher shop recently, she happened […]
One word for you. Flavour. When Jamie Oliver wrote his ‘5 Ingredient’ cookbook, in my heart I know why he wrote it. Not to ditch the Ottolenghi’s of the world, instead to say that food doesn’t need to be complicated and time consuming to be ‘oh so right’. Cork Daddy’s at rugby training and I HAD […]
Weeks ago I made dhal for a meat free Monday night dinner and whilst doing a million other things, simply forgot about it, leaving it on the stove to burn. To a crisp. Talk about ruining a dish. We ate spag bol instead. And I’ve been wanting to make it again ever since. I was […]
Chatting to my good friend Lizard recently, she told me she’d made a chicken Laksa for dinner. This gave me the inspiration to reach for that jar of Laksa paste whilst browsing the gourmet food aisle at Knights Meats last week. This prawn Laksa is the quickest and easiest soup you can make and although I […]
Try saying ‘pumpkin, pea and pine nut pasta’ really fast three times. That may be difficult, but making this tasty little pasta dish isn’t. The perfect meat free Monday meal, it’s made even easier if you can roast the pumpkin on Sunday night and have it in the fridge ready to throw in. Made with simple […]
Mum used to make tacos a lot when we were kids. We used to love loading up our own tacos with mince, tasty cheese, shredded iceberg lettuce, grated carrot and chopped tomatoes which all sat colourfully, lined up in their individual bowls. I went through a stage of making these all the time back in […]
The very first time I went to Cork Daddy’s family farm in Boorowa all those years ago, I did something that’ll never be forgotten. Sitting in ‘Joe’s’ paddock, having a barbie and a few beers – my father in law was cooking some sausages on a grill plate over the fire. As he went to […]
State of Origin tonight. One half of me wants to be at Rom’s watching it on the giant outdoor screen; the other half is stoked with my decision to stay at home with a bowl of this delicious slow cooked curry. This is one of my go-to meals for days when I want something quick […]
Growing up, Mum and Dad used to host these elaborate black tie dinner parties. The open fire raging, the silverware all laid out to be polished and the smell of roast lamb wafting from the kitchen, there was a real sense of occasion in the air. I’d watch in awe as Mum put on her […]
This pasta dish was inspired by my very first casual job which feels like it was donkey’s years ago – at Cafe Tropez. Soph and I worked there for a couple of years as teenagers and my favourite dish on the menu (apart from the hot chips with aioli and chicken risotto) was their tomatoey/creamy […]
Growing up, my Aunty Jen (AKA hippy aunty) made the best spag bol. I remember she used to always have that grated parmesan cheese in a plastic shaker, container thingy. The one with a green label and yellow lid from memory? Oh how I used to love that stuff. Mum mustn’t of bought it because […]
If you’ve ever been to England, chances are, you’ve enjoyed a shepherd’s pie in a nice warm pub. Or if you’re like me – enjoyed one too many shepherd’s pies in too many pubs. Talk about the Heathrow injection. When I lived in England on my gap year, it was served at the school for both […]
