I used to be addicted to the Mediterranean pasta they sold at Sydney Uni in the students food court. A little Chinese container full of pasta, loaded up with olives and feta really used to do it for me between tutes (if I ever stayed around for the afternoon classes that is). I then went […]
Tag: family meals
homemade chicken schnitzel burgers | the perfect friday night tv dinner
My sister Case recently ate her way through Austria on a grand schnitzel tour. Well, that’s how she refers to her uni exchange trip anyway. She sent me pics of many a gorgeously thin Wiener schnitzel the size of a large dinner plate. So jel! I recall doing the same thing when Cork Daddy and […]
caramelised salmon
Back in the uni days my sister Elle used to buy a container of satay sauce from the Thai place down the road from Sydney Uni for just $2. She would eat it for days with some boiled rice. The perfect uni student meal which allowed all of her spare pennies to be put behind […]
cheat’s chicken rice paper roll bowls
Do you absolutely love rice paper rolls but don’t have the time or energy to make them for dinner during the week? Then this is the dish for you. By all means, add the ingredients in to the rice paper and roll them up properly, but for a speedy and fuss free meal that tastes […]
beef nachos | another way with mince
Nachos are brilliant to dish up when friends come round for a few drinks on the weekend. How many times have you sat around a cheese board staring down the usual suspects – a wheel of Camembert, some stuffed olives, a bit of French onion dip, broken up with a box of Jatz dumped in […]
zucchini slice | a must have recipe
If there’s one thing I’ve learnt since compiling my recipe collection, it is to never assume that someone knows how to cook something. We all get used to making things we know so well and can do with our eyes closed. But that doesn’t mean that someone else is the same. Hands up out there […]
beef stroganoff | the perfect midweek meal
The height of sophistication during the 70’s, beef Stroganoff was often seen cutting round the dinner party circuit, or so I’m told. Mum’s always said that she cooked so much apricot chicken and beef Stroganoff back in the day, that her and dad OD’ed on it. Beef Stroganoff is a Russian dish consisting of sautéed […]
quiche lorraine
Real men don’t eat quiche. That’s not true. Cork Daddy absolutely devours this quiche and I’ve never met anyone that doesn’t love these mini quiches. It was really hard choosing a heading for this recipe as I could of used any number of fitting descriptions such as: Fabulous party food, Toddler meals, Light lunches, Freezer […]
hokkien noodles w chicken + broccoli + carrots | healthy kids dinner | my girls’ favourite ‘chicken noodles’
I’ve had numerous requests asking what my two little girls, Charlotte and Annabelle (aged 4 and 2) love to eat for dinner. I often discuss food with friends of mine to see what they’re cooking up for their kids. In our household, food is a much loved topic as well. My 4 year old Charlotte […]
baked fish w a crispy breadcrumb topping | good friday meal | friends for dinner
For centuries, people have been keeping with tradition and eating fish on Good Friday. The Sydney Fish Markets sell more seafood on this day than any other day of the year! One of these years I’m going to go and experience it for myself. Apparently the fish markets on Good Friday doesn’t make for a […]
spaghetti w tuna + chilli + garlic
This is THE quickest, easiest and tastiest pasta dish going round. The recipe was given to me by my brother Pete and his wife Amy. If you know me – or Pete, you know that we like tuna. Pete reckons he has eaten a tin of tuna for his lunch everyday for the past 15 […]
succulent lamb chops | oven baked w brown sugar + tomato + spices
There’s absolutely nothing fancy about these lamb chops. They’re not much to look at, but oh my gosh do they taste good. This dish was around long before food photography was even a thing! For as long as I can remember, Mum has made these chops and Corks has many a happy memory eating this […]
vermicelli noodles w salmon + coconut broth
Thaigga Thai is our family’s favourite restaurant in Wagga. The girls love it because of the giant mural of a tiger on the wall. I’m sure the other diners love listening to their constant “roaring” from the moment we walk in, to the moment we walk out, too. All they need to do now is […]
lamb cutlets w sumac + sweet potato cous cous
So you’re staying with friends for the Easter long weekend. Obviously you turn up with some booze, but what is a nice “thanks for having me” gift that you can haul in the car that won’t melt in the boot? Why not a lovely little jar of spice? Mim put me on to ‘the Spice […]
curried beef pie | the ‘pheobe’ pie
The best thing you can do for someone who has just welcomed a new baby in to the family is cook something for them. I remember the way I’ve felt over the years when friends have dropped some home cooking off to my door in times of need (or just in times of lack of […]
cajun chicken burger
Now be warned, this recipe has Iceberg in it (Cork Daddy’s favourite). The old Iceberg gets a bit of a bad wrap of late. Its the daggy older sister who has been around forever; before the days of the younger and more fashionable kale, rocket and cos. The shredded fresh lettuce with the fieriness of […]
perfect mashed potato
A veggie dish so good, the Wiggles made a song about it. I made mashed potato this afternoon ready for dinner and Miss Charlotte pipes up; “Thanks for making mashed potato Mummy!” with the same excitement as if I had just offered her a rainbow ice-cream covered in sprinkles with a chocolate egg on top! “Can […]
traditional meatloaf
Every time I hear the word ‘meatloaf’ I think of Will Ferrell in Wedding Crashers; “Mom! The Meatloaf!” Will and I have something in common. Both our mums make a wicked meatloaf. Meatloaf sandwiches are THE best food on the planet; (I fear I say this a lot!) Mum used to make them with toasted […]
pumpkin + silverbeet + ricotta lasagna
Lasagna on the menu tonight but there’s no mince in the trolley. Three words. Meat free Monday. So it’s pumpkin, silverbeet and ricotta instead. A match made in heaven. Please do not underestimate this lasagna due to the absence of meat. This dish has more flavour in one bite than a whole plate of my […]
kale w pine nuts
KALE. You either love it, or hate it. A popular food movement over the past few years, I’ve actually seen t-shirts that sport “I Heart Kale” on them. I posed the question around the dinner table on Friday night; “have you cooked with kale before?” The answers were definitely skewed more towards NO. “I don’t […]
