To me, a lightly aired classic sponge with cream is my ideal sweet indulgence here and there. Imagine a lovely moist and airy sponge that is like marshmallows on your tongue coupled with a light fluffy Chantilly cream that will give those taste buds just that right amount of sweet.

Whilst baking can be all about measurements, precision and that odd bit of science, baking for the most part can also feel like a wonderfully creative process. The most rewarding aspect is seeing your sugary creation come to form and then instantly disappear behind satisfied devouring smiles.

Though my repertoire of cakes is pretty limited (it’s something I guess I need to work on), I can always produce a no-fail to please” Swiss Roll. My recipe here incorporates some very basic ingredients that relies on a simple technique of aeration to give the sponge a very light feel. It’s no secret that this is a foolproof way to produce a light sponge without any need for raising agents.

As I have created both a vanilla and chocolate sponge recipe, you can use a bit of your creative license to create a marble/stripe effect for either roll. In this recipe, I have simply added a chocolate stripe to the vanilla roll for that bit of contrasting look and taste.

Grab that pot of tea to enjoy and ….

Try my Vanilla Marble and Chocolate Swiss Roll recipe.

Although you can easily pick up a serving of Chinese Roast Pork from some Speciality Chinese Restaurants, there is nothing that can compare to roasting up a rack of your own.

Its no secret that a wonderful Roast Pork all starts off with a perfect cut of belly pork from the butcher; one that has a lovely even skin with a uniformly layered piece of meat and with a rack of bones on the underside. Selecting a piece of pork with the bones I believe, helps to seal in the juices of the meat when cooking. If you are one of those who also likes to chew and wrap their mouths around the meat surrounding the bones ,then this is an added bonus for you!

What defines this Roast Pork is simply the added pinch of Five Spice that gives it a subtle Asian tone. Serve it together with mouthfuls of Hoisin Sauce to add a richly exotic smothering flavour. This Pork is best accompanied with hot bowls of steaming rice and a plate of wok tossed Asian Greens.

Try my Chinese Roast Pork recipe.

In many ways that was how I had known of meatballs for most of my childhood years … and picturing those bite sized morsels wrapped in a layer of that comforting sauce was what I frequently craved.

When I started to cook and to take charge of a household myself, I was looking for ways to make easy (and inexpensive) meals that were more of an Asian influence… something that could typically be served with a bowl of steamed rice. In fact, most nights, rice graced our tables and our only requirement was that we had a meat dish and a vegetable dish to accompany it.

When I first made my version of meatballs, my family couldn’t get enough of these… the more they ate the more they ate!! What could be simpler than just grabbing a lot of Pork Mince, seasoning with a few herbs and spices and frying them to a golden perfection?

The secret to these is simply in the ingredients , especially incorporating some freshly chopped garlic and coriander in the mix which really enhances the taste. When frying, you will find that some of these bits will come away from the meat mixture but grab them up from the oil and add them back in as a garnish when serving. Eat with rice, salad or even as a finger food. Delicious!

Try my Asian Pork Meatballs recipe.

With it, my winter woolies and scarves are making their feature as I seek the warmth and comfort in the thickness of layers. The kitchen is a hubris of activity that alights the house with as much warmth as a fireplace, filling the air with the promise and aromas of something good to eat.

A hot and wintry soup is a feast in a bowl; a nourishing food that embraces you from the cold and warms the insides of your soul. It also feels tonic, even sometimes medicinal as it reaches that part of you to nourish within.

Here in today’s blog post I share my love of Sweet Potato soup as a winter comforter….

The wonderful golden orange glow of Sweet Potatoes has inspired me to utilise these gems in a hearty and creamy (without the fat!) soup. As it is, Sweet Potatoes are a health wonder, high in Beta-Carotene and a host of other vitamins and goodness. Just the pure colour of this soup makes you feel like uplifted and enriched by the pure comfort this soup promises.

As a contrast to the natural sweetness of the potatoes in the soup, I have added some miso buttered corn for that wonderful depth of saltiness that miso is so renowned for. Top with some freshly chopped spinach leaves and seaweed and you’ve got a fulfilling meal in one bowl!

Try my Sweet Potato Soup with Miso Corn recipe.

Thai Basil is a wonderfully aromatic herb and fragrantly uplifting. Tossed in with any stir fry dish or curries and your taste buds are elevated to a different flavour level.

Melbourne has its wonderful share of Thai Eateries that range from the elegantly fancy to the bustling corner take-away. Long ago, to get that taste of Thai you really had to frequent these places to get your fix of Thai cuisine. Now our markets are abundantly stocked with so many great Asian herbs and ingredients, that emulating dishes and Thai flavours is an easy and achievable feat at home.

Another interesting ingredient are snake beans. Longer than normal beans, these snake beans are characterised by its longer length (hence the name) and by its purple tipped stems. With a slightly ‘pocked’ surface, they might feel taut and tough to the touch but when cooked over high heat, transforms to something sweet with a biting crinkly texture.

Wonderfully comforting, easily satisfying, a bowl of noodles with Thai flavours is an ‘easy- to- do’ meal with simple preparation and execution.

Try my Thai Basil Pork Noodles with Eggplant recipe.

Fried Rice in Western/Chinese cuisines is served more as an accompaniment rather than a main meal. It often is teamed together with a variety of meat or vegetables dishes. In other cuisines, versions of Fried Rice may be served as a meal in itself such as Nasi Goreng which is an Indonesian/Malaysian rendition full of meat or seafood, spices and flavour. It can also be characteristically served with a Fried Egg and garnished with herbs and salad which transforms it to an extravagant one dish meal.

Its seems which ever the cuisine, the palate, the occasion or the taste, Fried Rice is highly versatile an adaptive. At home, this dish can be whipped up with any amount of leftover rice, meat and vegetables. It can represent a very simple deconstructed side or a main sophisticated central dish.

Here in this recipe I have decided to give Fried Rice a new take, offering Brown Rice in place of the White grain and layering it with lots of Greens for a modern day healthy spin. Brown Rice as we know it, is very nutritious. Its nutty and grainy taste makes for a wholesomely good feed!

If you are a lover of Asian Greens ,then stir frying and tossing them around in a hot wok is a great accompaniment to the rice. I eat a wide variety of vegetables and I always yearn for a plate of leafy greens tossed around in garlic, soy sauce and oyster sauce. A plate of stir fried greens is so intrinsically fundamental to Chinese cooking that it is often always served with any meal at any time.

There are four types of Greens I have used in this recipe: Chinese Choy Sum, Green Beans, Cabbage and Edamame Beans. This combination offers a really nice balance of both crunch, goodness, taste and texture. Layer the vegies all on top of the rice but once ready to eat, give it a really good mix so that each mouthfuls of rice are interspersed with the crunch of the greens. A nutritious and nourishing feel good meal all in the one bowl!

Try my Modern Day Fried Rice with four Greens recipe.

Southern Fried Chicken that originates from America is one such take of this chicken. We know it from its distinctive mouth-watering golden crust and its juicy tear away meat.

If you have done the Fried Chicken circuit, you will know that it abounds in many cuisines. All have their slight variations from the cut of chicken used, batter that is crunchy or crispy to the diversity of seasonings used. From Schnitzel to Karaage (bite sized Japanese style) and more recently Korean Fried Chicken, we know that every region has a place on its table for these golden deep fried jewels of meat.

Fried Chicken it seems, has almost become ‘trendy’ and ‘gourmet’ as it dresses itself beyond a sometimes ‘fast food’ tag to a more ‘homey’ comfort food level. It’s a great for parties and even for warm family gatherings. Layer it with lots of sides and it’s wonderful for any meal and occasional spread.

For this recipe, Asian Slaw replaces the traditional Coleslaw as a side. It is a simple Slaw that incorporates Kew Pie Mayo and topped with black sesame seeds. It is wonderfully creamy and simply divine! As for the chicken, deep frying it part way and then giving it oven time helps to give the meat a juicy and tender tasting bite. The secret to great tasting chicken is in the seasonings and with a little bit of spices here and there, you’re on the way to emulating the best of the Fried Chicken masters out there.

Try my Fried Chicken with Asian Slaw and Grilled Corn recipe.

Here is this dish…

In this Creamy Curry Chicken and Potatoes dish, I add a slightly modern twist by merging two styles into one…Asian ingredients with a more western approach to cooking.

There are many variations to Curry and most of us may associate the word with a spicy hot dish. But curry does not necessarily have to be spicy or even a laborious meal to prepare in the kitchen. With a few spices here and there I have created a simple saucy and tasty one pan dish that will leave you lapping for more, sauce especially!

The star ingredient to this dish is the aromatic curry leaf that looks like a slimmer version of a bay leaf. The curry leaf itself is not hot nor spicy but when added, imparts a slightly ‘nutty’ and ‘woody’ flavour that gives an overall roundness to the taste of this curry.

Serve the dish as one central meal and top it off with lots of fresh coriander. Serve with hot bowls of steamed rice and balance this out with some steamed greens such as French beans.

Try my Modern Day Chicken Curry and Potatoes recipe.

The weather has remained consistently cool and the yearning for more heavier, wholesome and nourishing food has made its way into my weekly menu. Soups, casseroles and the more comforting, robust meals are starting to make their feature.

And as such… I was in the mood for Dhal.

Dhal is one such comforting dish that is produced from cooking up any type of dried pulse (lentils, peas and beans) into a form of light stew or thick soup. Dhal is a staple in the Sub-Continent regions and some South East Asian countries and can be served with flatbreads such as Naan or Roti. Dhal is nourishingly healthy and great for those vegetarian diets but even for those who are not vegetarian, will find Dhal a satisfyingly warming and fulfilling food.

In this recipe, I have teamed a side portion of Dhal with a feasty portion of Asian Grilled Chicken with some roasted Pumpkin and Capsicum. The chicken is marinated with some Asian flavours, grilled quickly on a frypan and then tossed together with the roasted vegies in a ceramic tray that will then be transposed to the dinner table as a one tray dish. The flavours, colours and aromas of this dish are simplistically stunning.

Try my Asian Grilled Chicken with Roast Vegies and Dhal recipe.

In true Melburnian fashion, the weather suddenly dropped to a greyish cool after weeks of warm weather. It was pretty much beautiful one day and awful the next…. Brooding skies with a wet and windy cloak covered the city in an instant that left me yearning for something comforting and soupy.

An all-time favourite of mine is Sweet Corn Soup, perhaps because I am a fan of corn but more so because I grew up with this as a soupy staple in my household. With a nice chicken base, this soup feels hearty without feeling heavy whilst the egg swirls gives it a real wholesome taste.

Chicken and Sweet Corn soup is a Chinese soup classic and is well featured on many Chinese Restaurant Menus. Whilst some of them are tasty, nothing beats a home cooked pot of soup with a set of your own fresh ingredients!

For a bit of variation I have served my version with Kale leaves for that dose of green and garnished it with lots of spring onions and thin strips of egg. The soup can serve as a quick comforting meal or even as a classic starter to a dinner party.

Try my Chicken and Sweet Corn Soup with Kale and Egg recipe.