Since time immemorial, man has been barbecuing his meat over the flames and coals of a fire, with varying degrees of culinary and aesthetic success. Today’s avid outdoor cook gets to choose from wood, charcoal and gas fuel, all of which essentially provide a heat source under a grill.

I will never forget a day joining other family members for lunch at the home of my wonderful Aunt Clare and Uncle John. Clare was a rather reluctant cook in many ways, yet she routinely sought to create a convivial and generous table. ‘Who said food had anything to do with lunch anyway?’ John would often demand, partly to quell her culinary aspirations and partly, possibly, for the sake of a quiet life. ‘Give me cheese and bread and wine any day.’ I loved this philosophy and enjoyed many such meals with them.

Gravlax with Crème Fraiche and Horseradish on Rye bread

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Insalata Caprese

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Turkey Breast

If you haven’t already done so I strongly urge you to get yourself to a cinema screening the fabulous new hit movie ‘Julie and Julia’, starring the ever fabulous Meryl Streep and Amy Adams. The Streep part of the film provides an hilarious and enjoyable account of Julia Child’s life in 1950s Paris, her determination with Le Cordon Bleu and finally the success of Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

I was fascinated to read recently a Westinghouse survey reporting that, despite Australia’s penchant for watching other people cook all those tricky things on the television, meat-and-three-veg is what most families continue to eat every night of the week. The ho-hum grilled, roasted and barbequed meats, the reliable filler, potato, and a predictable selection of mundane vegetables seem to be what most of us rely upon for sustenance.

Ragu is a traditional Italian pasta sauce with origins in Bologna and Naples. In Bologna, they combine ground meat with a battuto of finely chopped celery, onions, carrots and celery, cooked in lard or butter and add wine and tomatoes, seasonings and ten thousand other variations.

Countless households have their own version of this perennial family favorite. A rather pedestrian suggestion I know, since the recent revelations made in the grand finale of Master Chef showing what home cooks are really capable of.

Knowing how to make a chicken stock is one of the most fundamental elements of cooking. Chicken stock is one of those things that you need in order to make many things, from risotto to soup. Don’t waste a drop. Store small containers of left over stock (100 – 300ml) in the freezer for the makings to resurrect a casserole, a gravy or a jus or the ability to extend a soup at the tip of your fingers.

Chicken soup of course is the perfect restorative for the ill, the malingering and those just after some simple home comfort on a cold winter’s day.

Inspired by Marcella Hazen’s Ossobuco in Bianco

Osso bucco is such a delicious thing to eat, such an impressive and relatively simple dish to serve for a luncheon or dinner party, that everyone should become confident in adding this meal to their repertoire of ridiculously simple and uncomplicated dishes. A slow braise of veal shanks in butter and white wine, served with a gremolata of parsley, lemon zest and garlic, it is one of the few Italian dishes not eaten on its own but traditionally accompanied by a Risotto Milanese, a delicate, plain risotto, colored and flavored with saffron.

The Good King Henry, one of the most popular rulers of France is attributed as saying "Si Dieu me prête vie, je ferai qu’il n’y aura point de laboureur en mon royaume qui n’ait les moyens d’avoir le dimanche une poule dans son pot!" "God willing, every working man in my kingdom will have a chicken in the pot every Sunday, at the least!"

Easter is pending, the days are getting shorter and cooler and the time is now positively perfect for enjoying a roast leg of lamb with friends and family on an idle afternoon or evening.

Southern, (more commonly known as Texas) barbecue was created by the poorer European migrants to the U.S.A.

Despite popular belief to the contrary, tomatoes are not indigenous to Italy. They arrived in Italy from Spain, via Mexico, probably sometime in the sixteenth century, as small berries on bushes, a botanical curiosity. Their relationship to the night shade vegetables, capsicum, potatoes and eggplants may have contributed to the delay in their culinary development.

If you  have a crate of over ripe tomatoes taking up space, I suggest the following Fresh Tomato Sauce. It is dead easy to make and you can freeze it and bring it out for a delicious pasta sauce, a pizza topping or something to add to a curry or casserole in a few months time: positively indispensable.

Yum! Perfect for taking to work for lunch.

Just cook the chicken the night before and then mix in the salady stuff the next day.

Sangria must be the easiest cocktail in the world. I have been working hard all holidays refining the details for you, tirelessly mixing, tasting, sampling and experimenting on your behalf; consulting with eager participants most evenings. Curiously, no hard and fast rules apply after all for this refreshing Spanish wine punch, perfect for hot summer days and nights.

Offer to prepare a gravlax for this Christmas. It will knock their socks off!

Gravlax is a delicious Scandinavian specialty that has evolved into the simplest of impressive dishes for the home cook. Everyone enjoys the fresh, unfamiliar flavor which makes it perfect for light summer meals and easy festive entertaining. Traditionally gravlax is eaten with a cold mustard and dill sauce either as an appetizer served on thinly sliced rye or as a meal served with boiled potatoes.

The optimism associated with the recently arrived milder weather of spring, complete with a glorious selection of herbs and young vegetables begs for the production of restoratives such as a Soupe au Pistou.

A picnic is one of those occasions that is so weather dependent that if the day dawns brilliant and the mood takes the party, there is an imperative to be able to head off without delay.

Discussions of Fernet Branca loom around the blurred associations of it being a bitter Italian herbal liquor consumed as either a digestive or as an aperitif and more recently as part of a cocktail. Essentially though it falls into the category of Amari – the Italian word for Bitters.

Curly Kale

Hangover cures R us

A very easy, and VERY yummy sort-of-Malaysian-style curry

Carla Meurs and Ann Marie Monda produce organic Chevre at Sutton Grange Organic Farm where they tend an organically certified goatherd and produce cheese that’s certified Level A with the National Association for Sustainable Agriculture Australia (NASAA).

Oat Cuisine