Cheese Soufflé

cheese souffle

A classic recipe for Cheese Soufflé with step-by-step photos. Instructions for large and individual soufflés. Making soufflé is easier than you think! Cheese Soufflé Recipe My husband’s great-aunt, whom we call Marraine, is a spritely 93 years old who still loves to cook and bake for the family. At the top of her list is a Cheese Soufflé which, to most ordinary people, is a rather frightening and panic-inducing dinner suggestion. Yet, this

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Pie Maker Meat Pies

Makes these delicious meat pies using a pie maker! Perfect for parties and entertaining. Easy pie maker recipe with step-by-step photos. Pie Maker I have jumped on the pie maker bandwagon. I never intended to. Our kitchen is 9 square metres in size with minimal storage, and I already felt that owning two (yes, two!) waffle machines was a bit excessive. But this unusual period of isolation to avoid a certain virus has

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Classic Meat Pies

Classic Meat Pies with a chunky beef and Guinness filling. A delicious meat pie recipe with step-by-step photos. Meat Pies For many Australians, a meat pie at lunch with a good squirt of tomato sauce (ketchup) is almost a daily ritual. You can find meat pies at nearly all Australian cafés and bakeries, corner shops and supermarkets, but making your own at home from scratch can be very satisfying.

Easy Cornbread

A quick and easy Cornbread recipe which you can make in 30 minutes! This cornbread is perfect as a side dish or even served as a sweet snack. What is Cornbread? As an Australian, I didn’t know what cornbread was until one of my trips to the US. In fact, my first taste of cornbread was at a breakfast one day during our honeymoon in Nantucket. That cornbread muffin, served warm with a

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BBQ Pulled Pork

Delicious BBQ Pulled Pork which is perfect for entertaining! Pulled pork recipe for oven, pressure cooker and Instant Pot. BBQ Pulled Pork We have a good friend who, every summer, invites everyone over for a pulled pork feast. The pork is attentively prepared over several days and served with a homemade spicy barbecue sauce with all the fixins, including homemade tortilla bread. His pulled pork is so delicious that, until recently, I never

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Kimchi Fried Rice

A quick and tasty Kimchi Fried Rice. Perfect for weeknight dinners, and it takes only 20 minutes to make! Kimchi Fried Rice As an Asian, I always have leftover cooked rice in the fridge. As my children often come home for lunch during the school day, I find that having leftover rice to hand means that I can quickly whip up something warm for lunch with a myriad of other leftover and/or pantry

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Black Pepper Chicken

Hot and spicy Black Pepper Chicken! Make this Chinese restaurant classic in less than 30 minutes! Black Pepper Chicken If you like your food hot and spicy, you will love this Black Pepper Chicken. This classic Chinese restaurant dish hits all of the right notes with fresh flavours and, as a bonus, you can make it in less than 30 minutes!

Teriyaki Chicken Meatballs

Sticky and savoury Teriyaki Chicken Meatballs which will become a family favourite! Recipe with step-by-step photos. Teriyaki Chicken I’m a big fan of Japanese cuisine and, after some years of relentless persuasion and bribery, I recently succeeded in convincing my children to eat sushi. With raw fish. And now we have an expensive food addiction, but at least it’s healthy, right?

Vietnamese Shaking Beef (Bo Luc Lac)

Quick and tasty Vietnamese Shaking Beef (Bo Luc Lac) which you can make in less than 30 minutes! Vietnamese Shaking Beef I have very fond memories of this dish as a child. Vietnamese Shaking Beef is traditionally served with steamed rice but, unfortunately for my mother, rice was something I refused to eat as a kid (difficult situation in an Asian family!). So whilst everyone would sit down to this dish at the

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Vietnamese Lemongrass Chicken with Vermicelli Noodle Salad

vietnamese lemongrass chicken noodle bowl

A healthy and delicious Vietnamese Lemongrass Chicken with Vermicelli Noodle Salad (Bun Ga Nuong), full of fresh and bold flavours. The chicken is marinated in a classic Vietnamese marinade and served grilled over a bed of vermicelli noodles, salad, fresh herbs and a traditional Vietnamese dipping sauce (nuoc cham). Vietnamese Lemongrass Chicken If I could only eat one dish throughout the summer, it would have to be my mother’s Vietnamese Lemongrass Chicken with Vermicelli Noodle

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Beef Wellington with Green Peppercorn Sauce

How to make the perfect Beef Wellington. Beef filet mignon coated in mustard and wrapped in a mushroom duxelles, prosciutto and puff pastry. Served with a delicious Green Peppercorn Sauce. Beef Wellington If you are looking for a show-stopping recipe which will wow your family and friends at your next dinner party, look no further than this Beef Wellington with Green Peppercorn Sauce.

Roast Lamb Racks with Lemon and Garlic

A quick and easy marinade for Roast Lamb Racks with Lemon and Garlic which takes just a few minutes, perfect for busy weeknights and entertaining. The lamb is first cooked on the stove and finished off in the oven for perfectly cooked and tender meat. Roast Rack of Lamb As an Australian, lamb features a lot on our menu at home and I particularly love cooking with lamb racks. You don’t have to

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Vietnamese Chicken Pho (Pho Ga)

An easy Chicken Pho recipe (Pho Ga) with step-by-step photos, just like my mother’s recipe. Make an authentic and delicious Vietnamese Chicken Pho in less than 30 minutes with your Instant Pot or pressure cooker! Instructions for stovetop, Instant Pot and pressure cooker. Pho Noodle Soup A fragrant and soul-soothing Beef Pho Noodle Soup is often what I crave when only a steaming bowl of noodle soup will do. But when time is

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Yakisoba (Japanese Stir-Fried Noodles)

A delicious recipe for Yakisoba, or Japanese Stir-Fried Noodles, using pork belly, cabbage and carrots. Make this tasty dish in 30 minutes, perfect for busy weeknights! Recipe with step-by-step photos. Japanese Noodles During my early years as a young professional, my girlfriends and I often met for dinner after work at a cheap and cheerful Japanese restaurant, and this was when I was introduced to Yakisoba. Up until that point, my knowledge of

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Sticky Pork Bao Buns

Delicious Sticky Pork Bao Buns with Quick Pickled Carrots and Quick Pickled Cucumbers. Perfect as a snack or a tasty meal. Recipe with step-by-step photos. Steamed Buns If you have been following me on my Instagram Stories, you may have noticed that I like to make homemade steamed buns for dinner … quite often!

Zurich-Style Veal with Creamy Mushroom Sauce and Smashed Potatoes

Zurich-Style Veal with Creamy Mushroom Sauce (or Züricher Geschnetzeltes), served with crispy and golden Smashed Potatoes. A classic dish from Zurich which is easy to make at home. Züricher Geschnetzeltes Züricher Geschnetzeltes (or Zürcher Geschnetzeltes) is a popular dish in Switzerland, particularly in and around the Zurich region. Pronouncing the name of the dish in German is a bit of a mouthful, even more so in Swiss German, the latter being Züri Gschnätzlets.

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Potato Pie with Smoked Salmon and Dill

A stunning Potato Pie with Smoked Salmon and Dill. Recipe with step-by-step photos. Potato Pie with Smoked Salmon and Dill Smoked salmon is, admittedly, not an everyday ingredient, but I do love to keep some in the fridge for a quick lunch with some lightly buttered white toast, thinly sliced onions, a scattering of salty capers and a good squeeze of lemon.

Creamy Tarragon Chicken

Make this classic Creamy Tarragon Chicken recipe in 30 minutes for a delicious weeknight meal! Recipe with step-by-step photos. Tarragon Chicken When it comes to cooking traditional French food, most people think of a complex concoction of ingredients in a Le Creuset pot which has been simmering away on the stove for hours and hours à la Julia Childs.

Ham and Cheese Hand Pies

Tasty Ham and Cheese Hand Pies which are a great way of using leftovers. These hand pies are filled with ham, béchamel sauce and vegetables, but you can use any leftover meats and vegetables you like. Cooking with Leftovers My mother is someone who can effortlessly create a delicious three-course meal from a simple fridge raid, with an uncanny ability to never let anything go to waste. Sadly, I did not inherit this

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Swiss Macaroni and Cheese with Applesauce (Älplermagronen)

A creamy Swiss Macaroni and Cheese with Applesauce (or Älplermagronen mit Apfelmus). This is a classic alpine dish from Switzerland and is simply the best macaroni and cheese recipe you will ever try! Swiss Macaroni and Cheese Every winter, my family and I try to make the most of the ski season by spending most of our weekends skiing. And every winter, we always spend a few weeks in the Swiss alps for

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Spinach Lasagna

A simple and delicious Spinach Lasagna using a homemade béchamel sauce and marinara sauce. This vegetarian lasagna will be a hit even with the meatlovers! Spinach Lasagna I love a good lasagna and it’s a satisfying dish to make when you have time to potter about in the kitchen. With spring having finally arrived in Zurich and warmer weather slowly creeping into the forecast, I wanted to make a baked pasta dish, but

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Cream of Tomato Soup with Roasted Chickpeas

A quick and easy Cream of Tomato Soup with Roasted Chickpeas – the perfect meal using pantry ingredients. Homemade Tomato Soup As a busy mother of two, I always try to make sure that my fridge and pantry are well-stocked with regular favourites so that I can make certain recipes at a moment’s notice. A homemade tomato soup is one such recipe.

Cottage Pie

This Cottage Pie recipe has a rich meaty beef sauce as the base, topped with creamy mashed potatoes and baked until deliciously golden. An easy Cottage Pie recipe – make a double batch of the sauce to serve with pasta! Difference between Cottage Pie and Shepherd’s Pie One of my winter favourites is this traditional Cottage Pie which I have, confusingly, wrongly called a Shepherd’s Pie for most of my life. It appears that

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Chinese Hot and Sour Soup

This Hot and Sour Soup is a Chinese restaurant classic which takes only 30 minutes! Chinese New Year As a child, my mother went to great lengths each year to prepare a Chinese New Year feast which could feed our entire neighbourhood. The menu always featured a sticky rice cake filled with mung beans and pork, a Chinese Turnip Cake, endless platters of spring rolls (egg rolls), roast pork with gorgeously seasoned crackling – all served with fresh

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Slow Cooked Lamb Shanks with Red Wine Sauce

slow cooked lamb shanks red wine

Slow Cooked Lamb Shanks with Red Wine Sauce, served with a fresh gremolata. The lamb shanks are deliciously tender and the rich, full-flavoured sauce is perfect for serving with mashed potatoes, polenta or pasta. Slow Cooked Lamb Shanks It’s no secret that I love slow-cooking. With two young children to entertain, I find it easiest to do the sort of cooking that requires a leave-it-and-forget-it approach. But I hardly need the children as an

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Easy Sweet and Sour Chicken

easy sweet sour chicken

Get dinner on the table in 30 minutes with this Easy Sweet and Sour Chicken. A fresh and healthy version with less calories, but tastes amazing with a homemade sweet and sour sauce. No need for Chinese takeaway anymore! Sweet and Sour Chicken Recently, my son’s kindergarten teacher asked me if I cooked sweet and sour chicken at home. At first blush, I thought she was asking me (you know, the only Asian mother

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Bun Cha – Vietnamese Meatballs with Vietnamese Noodle Salad

A tasty recipe for Bun Cha – grilled Vietnamese meatballs served with a Vietnamese noodle salad with fresh herbs and citrus dipping sauce (nuoc cham). A healthy and delicious dish, perfect for lunch or dinner. Bun Cha My latest contribution to Discovery, the in-flight magazine for Cathay Pacific, is currently out now on all Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon flights. This month’s foodie feature is the classic Vietnamese dish called Bun Cha, consisting

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Chinese Barbecue Pork (Char Siu Pork)

A delicious and simple recipe with step-by-step photos for Chinese Barbecue Pork (Char Siu Pork) which you can make at home with everyday pantry ingredients in just 10 minutes! Char Siu Pork One thing I miss about living in Australia is being able to visit the local Chinatown, whether it be for a traditional Dim Sum breakfast, a browse through the colourful aisles of the Vietnamese grocer, or a visit to the Chinese bakery for their

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Spaghetti Bolognese

A traditional Spaghetti Bolognese recipe which is rich, meaty and full of flavour. This traditional bolognese sauce requires slow cooking to develop the rich and meaty flavours, and uses fresh and good quality ingredients for an authentic taste.  Spaghetti Bolognese Recipe Growing up, my mother never really cooked Italian food. I think our closest encounter with Italian cuisine was Pizza Hut, and I loved it! When she did attempt any Italian food, it

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Pad See Ew (Thai Stir-Fried Noodles)

Quick and easy Pad See Ew (Thai Stir-Fried Noodles) using fresh rice noodles or dried noodles, beef and vegetables. Have dinner on the table in less than 30 minutes! Asian Noodles There are a few popular Asian grocery stores in Zurich which cater to the very small Asian population living here. But they are so popular that they often sell out of their fresh produce on the same day that they receive their

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Coconut Chicken Noodle Stir Fry

Serve dinner in less than 30 minutes with this incredibly tasty and easy Coconut Chicken Noodle Stir Fry using basic Asian ingredients which you can find at your local supermarket. Coconut Chicken Noodle Stir Fry This is one of my go-to recipes for when I need to get dinner on the table quickly. Any by quick, we’re talking less than 30 minutes!

Steak with Peppercorn Sauce (Steak au Poivre)

A delicious Steak with Peppercorn Sauce (Steak au Poivre) which can be made in 30 minutes! Use beef fillet or filet mignon for a delicious treat with this easy and creamy peppercorn sauce. Steak with Peppercorn Sauce (Steak au Poivre) A nice piece of steak is hard to turn down, especially when it is served with a creamy peppercorn sauce. Served simply with some steamed greens or even just a green salad, Steak

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Grilled Thai Chicken

This Grilled Thai Chicken is bursting with flavour with lots of lemongrass, coriander (cilantro), ginger and chillies in the marinade. You can roast, grill or barbecue the chicken for crispy and golden skin. Great to make on a weeknight or for entertaining. I love marinated and grilled chicken and am always on the lookout for new recipes, though I think my mum makes the best version which I have tried endlessly to recreate

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How to Cook Artichokes

How to cook artichokes – instructions for boiling, Instant Pot, pressure cooker, grilling and frying. Don’t be intimidated by artichokes any longer! Plus recipes for a delicious aioli and vinaigrette to go alongside. I adore artichokes. As a child, my mother would boil a whole artichoke for my dinner on those nights when she was preoccupied with other things or, more likely, fed up with cooking and needed to give me a no-fuss

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Jamie Oliver’s Get Ahead Gravy

jamie oliver get ahead gravy

Jamie Oliver’s Get Ahead Gravy is the perfect accompaniment to any roast. Make it ahead of time for maximum flavour with minimum stress! Christmas Gravy When it comes to roast dinners, I think the gravy can make or break the meal. And as someone who needs lashings and lashings of hot gravy with her roast potatoes, I take no chances in this department and always try to make my gravy ahead of time.

How to Make Raclette

how to make raclette

How to make and serve raclette, a traditional Swiss dish, at home with a raclette grill. Tips on what kind of cheese to use, and what to serve with raclette. Raclette The word raclette is both the name of a type of Swiss cheese and the name of the dish itself. As soon as the nights start to become a bit chilly, the Swiss can be seen tucking into a bubbling pot of

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Fried Lambs’ Brains

fried lambs brains

Follow this easy and straight-forward recipe for golden and crispy Fried Lambs’ Brains. When the folks at Cathay Pacific asked me to cook, style and photograph fried lambs’ brains for an upcoming edition of Discovery, their in-flight magazine, I was somewhat nervous. And that was before they disclosed that the accompanying article would be written by Umberto Bombana, the head chef at 8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo Bombana, the only Italian restaurant outside

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Roman-Style Fried Artichokes with Herb Mayonnaise

roman style fried artichokes

A traditional dish from Rome are these delicious deep-fried artichokes, cooked Jewish-style. My favourite, and usual, way of cooking and eating artichokes is boiled and served with a spiky vinaigrette or garlic mayonnaise, the recipe which you can find here in one of my earlier posts.

Honey, Soy & Sriracha Cocktail Sausages

honey soy sriracha cocktail sausages

Deliciously sweet, sticky and spicy cocktail sausages. Perfect for entertaining! As an expat living in Switzerland, it is hard to ignore comments about the cost of living here and how everything is extraordinarily expensive. Indeed, when you compare the cost of some products sold in neighbouring countries, the same product can sometimes be triple the cost in Switzerland.

Vietnamese Meat Pies “Pâté Chaud”

vietnamese meat pies pate chaud pate so

These Vietnamese Meat Pies (also called Bánh Patê Sô) are based on the French Pâté Chaud. They have a delicious pork filling seasoned with fresh Asian herbs and spices, and wrapped in golden puff pastry. Perfect for snacks or a light meal. Meat Pies Growing up in Australia, I ate my fair share of meat pies, especially as the daughter of a baker. Pepper steak pies were my favourite, with a layer of mushy peas under

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Thai Green Curry with Chicken

thai green chicken curry

Make this easy Thai green curry paste and turn it into a delicious Thai Green Curry with Chicken or make it vegetarian with your favourite vegetables and tofu. The choices are endless! There comes a time during the week when I find myself with lots of bits of vegetables in the fridge, none which can be used on their own to make any meaningful meal, but it would be a shame and a

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Chinese Tea Eggs

chinese tea eggs

An easy & delicious recipe for Chinese Tea Eggs, perfect for a simple dinner or as part of a Chinese New Year meal. Chinese Tea Eggs Following on from my previous post where I shared my recipe for Chinese Turnip Cake, it seemed only fitting to also include my recipe for Chinese Tea Eggs. If you are planning a Chinese New Year lunch or dinner, or any Chinese-inspired feast, these Chinese Tea Eggs

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Celeriac and Chestnut Soup

celeriac chestnut soup

A simple and delicious Celeriac and Chestnut Soup. Christmas is often a time for indulgence, whether it be treating yourself or loved ones to a special gift (or three), or enjoying the festivities with an abundance of good food and maybe too much champagne. After feasting on Duck Confit Parmentier and multiple serves of our favourite Chestnut Cream Pavlova for Christmas lunch, my husband asked for a simple vegetable soup for dinner later

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Lyonnaise Sausage Roll

A  Lyonnaise Sausage Roll has a delicious pork sausage encased in a brioche loaf. One of the advantages of reading cookbooks like novels (I’m sure you have heard of many foodies using this phrase) is having a repository of recipes stored in the memory for those many moments when I find myself holding an ingredient and wondering how I can cook it.

Caramelized Beetroot Tarte Tatin

This Caramlized Beetroot Tarte Tatin is a delicious way of serving beetroots. Most Australians will have some memory of soggy lunchtime sandwiches. When I think of the sandwiches of my childhood, they were most often sliced multigrain bread filled with lettuce, grated carrots, tinned beetroot and a slice of plastic cheese. The beetroot always left a red stain on the bread, on my hands, on my school uniforms. And they almost always made the sandwiches soggy,

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Steamed Tofu with Soy, Chillies & Sichuan Pepper

A spicy and delicious Steamed Tofu with Soy, Chillies & Sichuan Pepper You don’t have to be a vegetarian to love tofu. In fact, I think I like it more than meat … Salt & Pepper Tofu is one of my favourite dishes ever, especially when it is fresh and piping hot. At other times, you will often find me adding tofu to most Asian soups and stir-fries. Recently, I started experimenting with recipes

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Sticky Chicken Pho

This Sticky Chicken Pho is a delicious twist on a Vietnamese classic. As a Vietnamese, I could eat a bowl of pho at breakfast, lunch and dinner. There is something so nourishing about about a steaming bowl of slippery noodles, fragrant with fresh herbs and laced with spicy chillies for that much needed kick.

Sticky Chinese Pork Ribs

Delicious Sticky Chinese Pork Ribs which are marinated overnight for maximum flavour. Sticky Pork Ribs I wish I could be more comfortable eating ribs in public but, the reality is, I enjoy eating them more in the comfort and privacy of my home; somewhere where I can gnaw at the bone like a messy cavewoman and lick my fingers with glee. I think it is definitely a dish best eaten in the company

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Scotch Eggs with Herb Mayonnaise

These soft-centred Scotch Eggs with Herb Mayonnaise are perfect for picnics and light meals. If there is one thing that is getting me through the middle-of-the night feeds with the baby at the moment, it’s TV. It happens to be the only time that I get to watch TV, uninterrupted, and something which is not Peppa Pig.