I was honoured to be asked to contribute to the House & Leisure Christmas gift guide. I have been looking at the gift guides since I was a teen at Uni, in awe. It always seemed such a ‘grown up’ thing to be asked your personal recommendation. You’ll find items across price points here.

Showcasing an utterly beautiful golden enoki mushroom. Together with chicken, red chilli and pak choi I made a stir fry and added fresh papaya slices at the end – the smooth, cooling fruit added a fresh honey-sweetness that complimented the chilli. The dish is lightening quick to make but the combination of textures and flavours makes it feel a lot more complex. This stir fry is crunchy, spicy, nutty (from the enoki) and sweet.

He broke his arm, but now he’s back. Welcome back Carles Puyol – a decadent Devil’s Food cake with Peppermint Marshmallow Topping to ease you into things.

This traditional Indian biscuit is the one that is featured during Diwali and other celebrations. It is similar to a butter biscuit, but the semolina gives it a characteristic nutty crunch. It’s preferable that you use ghee (clarified butter) but you may use butter if you can’t find any. Cardamom fills the kitchen and infuses this biscuit with a gorgeous musky scent.

Bottles, Bubbles and Big Hearts – my wonderful evening hosting one of the Spier Secret Dinners, at de Morgenzon Estate.

Here’s a small feature on me in the new Conde Nast House & Garden Gourmet Magazine about my love for juicing fruit and eg. It was shot in my home the day before I left on a three month stint to Europe in April this year, the image is by Mark Cameron.

Reflections on home economics and how to make cheese puffs from choux pastry.

Lamb neck is a tough and relatively inexpensive cut of meat, but is delicious when slow cooked in a stew or made as a filling for a pie. In this recipe, I slow roasted the necks with cardamom and saffron until tender and slightly sticky and served on soft polenta with a date and almond chutney.

You could win a ticket to the weekend conference of food inspiration from Saturday 27 October to Sunday 28 October 2012 at Spier Wine Estate worth R1500!
Also up for grabs two tickets to the market on Saturday, worth R70 each.

A grilled mackerel salad with broccoli couscous – a revolutionary way to eat lots of broccoli for non-broccoli lovers. Parents, pay attention…..