
Classic recipes made ‘own way'
Chef and Cordon bleu cook Wendy Morgan is sharing some of the food she likes to cook at home in her new book Comfort Cooking.
The author of Who Made All the Pies? has worked in the food industry for more than 35 years, owning the successful Citron restaurant with her husband, fellow chef Rex Morgan, and deli Plentifull.
Having stepped out of the day-to-day of hospitality, Morgan, who lives in Christchurch, has had time to spend in her home kitchen once again and to enjoy cooking everyday food.
With parents who were bakers and caterers, she spent a lot of time around kitchens growing up so many of her early food memories involve her mother — especially her silky, flavoursome porridge.
"There was nothing more important to my mother than feeding people: it was her way of expressing her love for not only her family but for everyone who walked through our door."
She says her latest book is a nod to her mother who passed on those skills to herself and her siblings.
Another important influence was her first employer Felice Mannucci, owner of El Felice restaurant in Christchurch.
"I went on to learn some amazing skills from Felice, skills that have stuck with me for my whole career."
Decades in the busy hospitality trade, did not leave time for gardening, something Morgan has discovered the joy of now she has the time.
It is her garden that centres her as it is about nurturing, providing, sharing and nourishing.
"Everything tastes better straight from the garden. My garden is also my go-to place to relax, as it not only nourishes my body, but also my soul and my mental wellbeing."
Many of her recipes have been developed using a combination of seasonal vegetables from her own garden topped up with produce from the local farmers' market and supermarket.
"These days I cook a lot of classic recipes. But I cook them my own way and I have no guilt whatsoever in changing them to suit myself."
The book includes retro recipes such as crumbed mushrooms with sherry cream sauce and prawn toasts (see below) to classics such as brown butter sage sauce with gnocchi and apricot and blackberry cobbler.
Morgan also admits to being an over-caterer — "it's the way I was brought up" — so there is always food in the fridge.
"I'm also big on preparing for rainy days: the days when you don't feel well, the days when you are too busy or too tired to cook. Being able to pull a nutritious soup or stew or pie from the freezer makes me pretty happy."
There is plenty of inspiration to do the same in the book with chapters on feeding friends, comfort meals for family, as well as sides, preserves, sweets, salads, breads and snacks.
THE BOOK
This is an extract from Comfort Cooking: Enough for leftovers and lazy days in Kiwi homes, by Wendy Morgan, published by Bateman Books, RRP $45.
This is a classic ginger biscuit recipe that I've tweaked a little bit here and there over the years to suit myself. It is an oldie but a goodie.
Makes 16*
Ginger biscuits
150g butter, softened
225g brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 egg
185g plain flour
1½ tbsp ground ginger
¼ tsp baking soda
Salted caramel
175g caster sugar
cup cold water
2 tbsp honey
½ tsp vanilla essence
100ml cream
60g butter
1½ tsp flaky salt
Vanilla ice cream
Method
Preheat the oven to 180˚C fan bake.
To make the ginger biscuits, in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment cream the butter, sugar and vanilla for 5 minutes.
Add the egg and beat for another 2 minutes until light and fluffy.
Sieve the flour, ginger and baking soda and add to the bowl, mixing on a gentle speed until all combined.
Set a bowl of cold water beside you and use wet fingertips to roll the dough into walnut-size balls. Place the balls on to a baking tray lined with baking paper, leaving a good-sized gap between each ball. Wet your fingertips again and press the balls down to make them about 1cm thick.
Bake for 10 minutes until golden brown.
Transfer the biscuits to a cooling rack.
To make the salted caramel, combine the sugar and water in a heavy-based saucepan and place over a low heat. Allow it to boil without stirring until it turns a deep golden colour.
Add the honey, vanilla, cream and butter to the pan and stir to combine. Keep stirring until the caramel is smooth.
Turn off the heat and stir in the flaky salt.
To assemble, place the required number of the cooled biscuits on the bench and spoon a teaspoon of caramel on each, followed by a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Top with another biscuit and gently push down on each sandwich to ensure the ice cream spreads to the edges of the biscuits. Place the sandwiches in the freezer until ready to eat.
*If I am planning to divert some of the biscuits to the cookie tin, I press them down a little more before baking so they become nice and thin and crispy.
*Microwave the ice cream for 10 seconds to make it easier to scoop.
*Makes about 16 sandwiches with maybe a few biscuits left for the cookie tin
A word (or two) about crumbing: I like to crumb things for a few reasons. Firstly for texture; they add crunch, and crunch is an important part of the psychological response to food. Next, crumbs provide a protective coating and can keep things juicy. And finally, crumbing food can in some cases make it go further, which can make more expensive main ingredients such as lamb cutlets and fish a bit more accessible.
Serves 4
This relish goes well with pork, fish or chicken or simply with cheese and crackers. Best served at room temperature.
Curry apple relish
1 heaped tsp butter
1 apple, peeled and grated
1 onion, grated
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp curry powder
¼ cup white wine
½ cup chicken stock
¼ cup cream
1 tsp honey
Pinch salt
Method
To make the relish, in a saucepan melt the butter over a medium heat. Add the apple, onion and garlic and saute for 2 minutes. Stir in the curry powder then add the wine. Gently simmer to reduce until all the liquid is gone.
Add the stock, cream, honey and salt. Continue simmering the mixture until it thickens. Set aside until required.
Season the flour with the salt, pepper and cumin, then place in a dish or shallow bowl large enough to accommodate one cutlet at a time. Place the egg mixture in a similar-size dish. Put the panko crumbs in a third dish also large enough to fit a cutlet.
Lamb cutlets
½ cup flour
Salt and pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
2 eggs, whisked with a pinch
of salt
1 cup panko crumbs
12 lamb cutlets
½ cup olive oil
Method
Toss the cutlets, one at a time, in the seasoned flour. Transfer the cutlet to the egg and coat well before tossing in the panko crumbs, making sure to press as many crumbs on as you can.
Heat the oil in a frypan over a medium heat and cook the lamb cutlets in batches until golden on each side, about 34 minutes each side. As they are cooked, transfer them on to a paper towel to rest for a couple of minutes before serving with the relish.
I think that prawn toasts are too easily forgotten by most of us. But when they are offered my first thought is that I really must make them more often.
Makes 18
Sweet and sour chilli
dipping sauce
100ml white wine vinegar
50ml water
100g caster sugar
3 fresh chillies, finely chopped
1 Tbsp chopped fresh mint
1 Tbsp chopped fresh
coriander
1 spring onion, sliced
Toast topping
400g raw prawns, tails
removed, roughly chopped
1 clove garlic, roughly chopped
1 makrut lime leaf, finely
chopped
1 fresh chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
Small bunch coriander, roughly chopped
1cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
1 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp coconut cream
Pinch salt
½ cup sesame seeds
6 slices white sandwich bread, crusts removed
Method
To make the dipping sauce, place the vinegar, water and sugar in a saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring, until the sugar is dissolved. Add the chilli and set aside to cool. When you are ready to serve the toasts, add the chopped herbs and spring onion to the sauce.
To make the toast topping, place all of the ingredients except for one-third of the prawns into a food processor and whizz until well combined. Add the rest of the prawns and pulse a couple of times just to combine. Refrigerate the mixture until well chilled.
Heat a deep fryer or a saucepan of oil to 175˚C.
Spread the sesame seeds on to a plate.
Spread the prawn mixture evenly over each slice of bread then gently flip them upside down on to the sesame seeds to coat. Cut each slice into three portions.
Fry the prawn toasts in batches for 3 minutes, flipping over halfway. Serve nice and hot with the dipping sauce.
*This dipping sauce is great to have on hand in the fridge for spring rolls, poached prawns or even as a salad dressing. Have the base on hand and add the fresh herbs at the time of serving.
Remove all the seeds from the chillies for a mild version or leave some or all of them in, depending on how hot you like it.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


NZ Herald
4 days ago
- NZ Herald
Society Insider: Marc Ellis to open wellness studio; Trelise Cooper's $10m apartment off the market; Andy Higgs new executive director role
Villafrana and Ellis have been dating since early last year. She has two young children with her former partner, Kiwi Blake Loveridge, while Ellis has four - two with ex-wife Augustina Mon, and two with his former partner, Italian Linda Codegoni. Marc Ellis and Mibella Villafana in Europe. Mibella Villafana and Marc Ellis. Originally from California, Villafrana moved to New Zealand a decade ago. She has a health and wellbeing background. She was a high school gymnast and coach, graduated from the University of California with a bachelor's degree in psychology, and is now a yoga instructor. Ellis registered Cora Club as a business last June, and Villafana says the premium wellness studio will offer Reformer Pilates, and contrast and intravenous therapy (IV), mixed into bespoke community events and corporate executive groups. A sneak peek at Cora, the new wellness space for women in Grey Lynn. Villafrana, whose father is Mexican, says the name for the new studio comes from the Mexican word Corazón, meaning heart. It can also refer to the courage or spirit of a person. This isn't Ellis's first foray into the wellness market. In 2019, Society Insider revealed he and then-girlfriend Codegoni opened Look Lab Medispa in Westmere, specialising in luxury treatments. Society Insider revealed last November that Ellis was part of the group of rich and famous Kiwis joining forces on the $100m Auckland Surf Park in Dairy Flat. Villafrana and Ellis enjoyed time together in Mexico last year, as well as taking in the Mediterranean summer. Earlier this year, the couple spent time at Aro Ha Wellness retreat in Glenorchy. Whilst there, Ellis joined Aro Ha founder Damian Chaparro in the Aro Ha sauna to record a podcast on how wellness keeps him grounded. Mibella Villafana and Marc Ellis. Ellis discussed love, saying, 'If you're in pursuit of love or in receipt of it, you're winning.' He also talked about the importance of empathy and teaching values to his children, how rugby has evolved and the importance of mental health in sports. Wellness lovers Mibella Villafana and Marc Ellis. Ellis returned to the airwaves last year, resurrecting popular TV show Sports Café as a podcast, alongside its creator, Ric Salizzo. Former co-stars, media personality Leigh Hart and Lana Coc-Kroft, also came back, and the podcast has become a top 10-rated show. They were thrilled last month when they won Podcast of the Year at the 2025 NZ Radio & Podcast Awards at SkyCity Theatre in Auckland. Dame Trelise takes $10m penthouse off the market Dame Trelise Cooper and her husband, Jack. Photo / Norrie Montgomery Fashion icon Dame Trelise Cooper and her husband, Jack, have taken their $10m St Heliers apartment off the market. Barfoot & Thompson's Aaron Foss tells Society Insider the couple is removing it for a year, 'and will see what's happening in the market in 2026'. When Society Insider contacted the Auckland offices of Trelise Cooper Ltd, we were told Dame Trelise, 67, was at her house in France, awaiting news of her son Jasper's first child, and she would be heading to California soon. In April last year, Cooper told the Herald that she and her husband already spent five months a year in their house in France and that they planned to buy a place in San Diego, in the United States, to be close to family. Once their St Heliers apartment sells, Cooper has said, she hopes to buy a smaller place in the same area, as well as one in California. 'Our son and his wife have made a life in San Diego with incredible careers. So, I am not waiting any more for him to come home, we are going to him. While we talk most days, I miss him and being in his presence.' Dame Trelise Cooper and her husband, Jack. Photo / Norrie Montgomery While she still designs daily and is in regular meetings with her business, at the beginning of last year Cooper stepped back from the day-to-day running of Trelise Cooper Ltd. Long-time employee Kate Devlin became CEO and now runs the fashion business alongside Cooper's trusted right-hand of more than 20 years, general manager Judith Pratt. The Coopers spent a reported $10m on their Buchan-designed Devore St 275sq m three-bedroom apartment in late 2022, on the third floor of the Sonata apartments. An apartment in the Sonata building on Devore St. The Sonata apartment building. Photo / Barfoot & Thompson The property passed in at auction in May last year. A few months earlier, a garden apartment in the same complex sold for $8.2m. Foss told Society Insider that when the Coopers' apartment does go back on the market, it will be for upwards of $8m. The couple sold their modernist Orakei home for more than $2.6m in late 2024. Just weeks after moving into Devore St, they put the palatial apartment up for sale. The Coopers' home in France is in a small medieval village near Toulouse. They have owned the house for 17 years and have lovingly restored parts of it, which date back 600 years. In April, son Jasper started working for the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, where he leads data analytics, integration, and evaluation at LA County's largest provider of services for unhoused people. Andy Higgs' latest crusade for NZ Andy Higgs is crusading for New Zealand's digital sovereignty. Photo / Supplied After years of helping lay the foundations of Digital Identity New Zealand (DINZ), colourful businessman Andy Higgs has now become the organisation's executive director. Thanks to some high-profile support from more than 100 leading corporates, including Air NZ, Spark, major banks and leading tech companies, such as Xero, DINZ - a member of the NZTech Alliance - is working to enable Kiwis to have secure control over their data and online identity. The membership-funded, not-for-profit NGO is working with the private and public sectors, helping New Zealand companies lead the way in tech innovations. The aim is to enable Kiwis to have a safer digital footprint for e-commerce and ownership of their online identities. Higgs says this is increasingly important as the use of AI, automation and surveillance systems becomes more common. 'It's about how we retain agency over our data in a world of AI agents, deepfakes, and global digital ecosystems,' he tells Society Insider. 'As the world's innovation petri dish, New Zealand has a unique opportunity.' Higgs, 53, has been known as a connector throughout his 30-year career and maintains a tight circle from his King's College days. He lives with his wife, Rachel, and their three boys in a sprawling North Shore bungalow with sweeping views. In his guest house, Higgs has his own golf pro, Paul Parlane, famous for coaching A-listers including Sylvester Stallone, Pete Sampras, and David Beckham. Golf pro Paul Parlane and Andy Higgs at Piha. Higgs' first foray into dealing with local government and the media came when he and some friends, including Marc Ellis, made headlines fighting to open a café in Piha in 2009. Higgs and his associates later handed it over to be run by chef Lucas Parkinson, who turned it into Aryeh Restaurant in 2023. The Piha Café experience paved the way for Higgs to work at the Auckland Council, and to work his magic with Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development. 'I leveraged my network to create partnerships for Auckland, including Ian Ferguson's Wero Whitewater Park, Vector Lights and the Hyundai Marine Sports with Akarana,' Higgs says. Higgs is also a shareholder in Sarah and Otis Frizzell's successful business, The Lucky Taco. Higgs is now championing DINZ, working with the public and private sectors. 'The bigger picture is that digital sovereignty will help us get a more symbiotic relationship between NZ's growing tech scene and the overseas tech giants,' he says. Andy Higgs at a Tech Week event on digital infrastructure at Parliament. Higgs has previously worked with tech titan Aaron McDonald on a portfolio of Web3 companies specialising in decentralised product and service companies, including AI and blockchain tools provider Futureverse. In 2018, they approached the chief executive at NZ Tech, Graham Muller, to establish DINZ to advocate for the world's first decentralised credential identity ecosystem. Before our interview, Higgs had just spoken to the country's leading tech billionaire, Rod Drury. 'Rod's view is that digital identity will unlock the next wave of unicorn companies [high-value start-ups],' says Higgs. Higgs will talk at Anna Mowbray's Revved 2025 conference early next month at Auckland's Viaduct Events Centre. He says he admires Mowbray's announcement on LinkedIn last week that she had deleted all her Meta social media channels, calling it a 'profound safety move for future generations'. Anna Mowbray. Like Mowbray, Higgs is also a big supporter of the B416 campaign. Co-founded and chaired by entrepreneur Cecilia Robinson, the lobby group is advocating for a minimum age of 16 to access social media in New Zealand. He was pleased to see Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and high-profile Kiwis at the launch at Mantell's on Tamaki Drive in May. Sam Wallace and Andy Higgs at the B416 launch at Mantell's in May. Photo / Supplied Now, Higgs is focused on his Digital Trust Hui at Te Papa in Wellington, a conference of digital identity innovators, regulators, researchers, educators, entrepreneurs and leading executives in the commerce and tech sectors. Higgs says the Government's new Digital Identity Services Trust Framework, with rules covering online security and identity, is in step with how local corporates are innovating. He highlights Spark's investment in MATTR (TrustTech solutions) as one corporate leading the way. Judith Collins. Photo / Mark Mitchell Speaking at the conference will be the Minister of Defence Judith Collins, as well as the Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Scott Simpson, with Higgs telling Society Insider that 'security and commerce sit hand in hand'. Party people of the week Romeo & Juliet Season Auckland Theatre Company (ATC) opened its latest production on Thursday evening, William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet directed by Benjamin Kilby-Henson. Set as a fast-paced thriller in 1960s Italy, the production stars Shortland Street star Theo Dāvid as Romeo and One Lane Bridge's Phoebe McKellar as Juliet. Peter Goodfellow and Desley Simpson at the ATC premiere of Romeo & Juliet at the ASB Waterfront Theatre. Photo / Jinki Cambronero Before the show's opening, ATC's Artistic Director and CEO Jonathan Bielski and Kilby-Henson, who is ATC's Artistic Associate, hosted guests who enjoyed Villa Maria wines and pizza. The star-studded opening night was attended by a who's who of Auckland governance, theatre, culture and arts, including Auckland Council CEO Phil Wilson and Deputy Mayor Desley Simpson and her husband Rich lister, Peter Goodfellow, Shortland Street alumni Bella Kalolo-Suraj and her husband Suraj Kumar, local It girls Sophie Negus and Coco May, TVNZ's Isobel Prasad, and fashion legend Dame Denise L'Estrange-Corbet. Romeo & Juliet is on until August 9 at the ASB Waterfront Theatre. Micah Heath and Ari Peach. Photo / Jinki Cambronero Dame Denise L'Estrange-Corbet and Teresa Sokolich. Photo / Jinki Cambronero Graham Vincent and Kellie-Michelle Cheung. Photo / Robert Trathern Catriona and Eliza Ferguson. Photo / Jinki Cambronero Lachie Oliver-Kirby and Ni Dekkers-Reihana. Photo / Jinki Cambronero Richard Sikuea and Lisa Zhang. Photo / Jinki Cambronero Sophie Negus and Coco May. Photo / Robert Trathen Suraj Kumar and Bella Kalolo-Suraj. Photo / Robert Trathen Keven Souza and Theo Shakes. Photo / Jinki Cambronero Odd Socks Ahoy Odd Socks Productions – founded by the small yet mighty creative team of Yvie Harvie-Salter and Daryl Habraken - celebrated its first birthday in style aboard charter boat Wasting Light on Auckland's Viaduct Harbour on Friday. They were joined by clients and colleagues who have supported them throughout their first 12 months. Yvie Harvie-Salter and Daryl Habraken at their Odd Socks Productions' first birthday party on board the charter boat, Wasting Light. Photo / Octavio Benitez Laje The company specialises in commercial, documentary and content creation. Harvie-Salter and Habraken gave thanks, sharing with their guests lashings of bubbles, fine wine, and a collection of Waiheke Distilling Co's gins and RTDs. Yvie Harvie-Salter and Brian Thorrington. Photo / Octavio Benitez Laje Guests also dined on canapés from the onboard crew led by Jodie Vaughan, and a handcrafted Basque cheesecake from Nosh Clan catering. An eclectic group of guests and partners joined the festivities, including music promoter Ramesh Premaratna, DJs Chris EM and Rich Parker, Detective Inspector Scott Beard, author and advocate Gloria Masters, socialite Marlana Ritchie, Adam Brami, Director of Art of the Possible agency; Honorary Consul Brian Thorrington, co-founder of Fleetwood and stylist Jackie Houghton, and Tanya Walshe of Waiheke Distilling Co. Gloria Masters and Scott Beard. Photo / Octavio Benitez Laje Andrew Farrant and Chris Boyd. Photo / Octavio Benitez Laje Ramesh Premaratna, Tammy Janwattana and Chris Moody. Photo / Octavio Benitez Laje Stephen Salter and Lynette Harvie. Photo / Octavio Benitez Laje Injecting Elegance Affair LA Aire, a New Zealand cosmetic medicine consultancy and training organisation, held its Injecting Elegance evening at the Park Hyatt Auckland on Saturday evening. LA Aire provides support to registered nurses, oral health therapists, and pharmacists through NZSCM-accredited doctors and connects clinicians to exclusive, industry-leading brands. The evening brought together some of the country's top cosmetic industry leaders, clinicians, and media for a memorable night of cocktails and networking. LA Aire founders Dr Nameer Wadea and Dr Peter Aspell hosted guests who included the CEO of The Diamond Shop, Sera Lynn, former Real Housewife and beauty maven Angela Stone, ihartpr's Jade Hart, Aotearoa Aesthetics' Shalu Shankar, Inhance Cosmetic Clinic's Weilim Shin and Laser Clinic's Selina Fernandes. Sirinya Rikau, Selina Fernandes, Nameer Wadea, Weilim Shin and Bomy Lee. Photo / Norrie Montgomery Shalu Shankar, Angela Stone and Jade Hart. Photo / Norrie Montgomery Kaitlin Chapman and Casarah Cooper. Photo / Norrie Montgomery Gemma Bryenton, Sian Bennett and Amy Carlyon. Photo / Norrie Montgomery Kim Wright, Leisa McGill and Kirsty Smith. Photo / Norrie Montgomery Lin-Jing Wang and Julia Liu. Photo / Norrie Montgomery Ricardo Simich has been with the Herald since 2008 where he contributed to The Business Insider. In 2012 he took over Spy at the Herald on Sunday, which has since evolved into Society Insider. The weekly column gives a glimpse into the worlds of the rich and famous.


NZ Herald
19-07-2025
- NZ Herald
Kiwi dance icon Candy Lane on family, career and her new life in Australia
When Kiwi dancing icon Candy Lane decided to pack up her life and move across the ditch, she imagined long days spent in the sun with a drink in her hand and her partner Ricky Hancock by her side – and maybe the occasional day of work. While she stuck


Otago Daily Times
15-07-2025
- Otago Daily Times
Classic recipes made ‘own way'
Many of her Wendy Morgan's recipes have been developed using a combination of seasonal vegetables from her own garden. Photo: supplied Chef and Cordon bleu cook Wendy Morgan is sharing some of the food she likes to cook at home in her new book Comfort Cooking. The author of Who Made All the Pies? has worked in the food industry for more than 35 years, owning the successful Citron restaurant with her husband, fellow chef Rex Morgan, and deli Plentifull. Having stepped out of the day-to-day of hospitality, Morgan, who lives in Christchurch, has had time to spend in her home kitchen once again and to enjoy cooking everyday food. With parents who were bakers and caterers, she spent a lot of time around kitchens growing up so many of her early food memories involve her mother — especially her silky, flavoursome porridge. "There was nothing more important to my mother than feeding people: it was her way of expressing her love for not only her family but for everyone who walked through our door." She says her latest book is a nod to her mother who passed on those skills to herself and her siblings. Another important influence was her first employer Felice Mannucci, owner of El Felice restaurant in Christchurch. "I went on to learn some amazing skills from Felice, skills that have stuck with me for my whole career." Decades in the busy hospitality trade, did not leave time for gardening, something Morgan has discovered the joy of now she has the time. It is her garden that centres her as it is about nurturing, providing, sharing and nourishing. "Everything tastes better straight from the garden. My garden is also my go-to place to relax, as it not only nourishes my body, but also my soul and my mental wellbeing." Many of her recipes have been developed using a combination of seasonal vegetables from her own garden topped up with produce from the local farmers' market and supermarket. "These days I cook a lot of classic recipes. But I cook them my own way and I have no guilt whatsoever in changing them to suit myself." The book includes retro recipes such as crumbed mushrooms with sherry cream sauce and prawn toasts (see below) to classics such as brown butter sage sauce with gnocchi and apricot and blackberry cobbler. Morgan also admits to being an over-caterer — "it's the way I was brought up" — so there is always food in the fridge. "I'm also big on preparing for rainy days: the days when you don't feel well, the days when you are too busy or too tired to cook. Being able to pull a nutritious soup or stew or pie from the freezer makes me pretty happy." There is plenty of inspiration to do the same in the book with chapters on feeding friends, comfort meals for family, as well as sides, preserves, sweets, salads, breads and snacks. THE BOOK This is an extract from Comfort Cooking: Enough for leftovers and lazy days in Kiwi homes, by Wendy Morgan, published by Bateman Books, RRP $45. This is a classic ginger biscuit recipe that I've tweaked a little bit here and there over the years to suit myself. It is an oldie but a goodie. Makes 16* Ginger biscuits 150g butter, softened 225g brown sugar 1 tsp vanilla essence 1 egg 185g plain flour 1½ tbsp ground ginger ¼ tsp baking soda Salted caramel 175g caster sugar cup cold water 2 tbsp honey ½ tsp vanilla essence 100ml cream 60g butter 1½ tsp flaky salt Vanilla ice cream Method Preheat the oven to 180˚C fan bake. To make the ginger biscuits, in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment cream the butter, sugar and vanilla for 5 minutes. Add the egg and beat for another 2 minutes until light and fluffy. Sieve the flour, ginger and baking soda and add to the bowl, mixing on a gentle speed until all combined. Set a bowl of cold water beside you and use wet fingertips to roll the dough into walnut-size balls. Place the balls on to a baking tray lined with baking paper, leaving a good-sized gap between each ball. Wet your fingertips again and press the balls down to make them about 1cm thick. Bake for 10 minutes until golden brown. Transfer the biscuits to a cooling rack. To make the salted caramel, combine the sugar and water in a heavy-based saucepan and place over a low heat. Allow it to boil without stirring until it turns a deep golden colour. Add the honey, vanilla, cream and butter to the pan and stir to combine. Keep stirring until the caramel is smooth. Turn off the heat and stir in the flaky salt. To assemble, place the required number of the cooled biscuits on the bench and spoon a teaspoon of caramel on each, followed by a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Top with another biscuit and gently push down on each sandwich to ensure the ice cream spreads to the edges of the biscuits. Place the sandwiches in the freezer until ready to eat. *If I am planning to divert some of the biscuits to the cookie tin, I press them down a little more before baking so they become nice and thin and crispy. *Microwave the ice cream for 10 seconds to make it easier to scoop. *Makes about 16 sandwiches with maybe a few biscuits left for the cookie tin A word (or two) about crumbing: I like to crumb things for a few reasons. Firstly for texture; they add crunch, and crunch is an important part of the psychological response to food. Next, crumbs provide a protective coating and can keep things juicy. And finally, crumbing food can in some cases make it go further, which can make more expensive main ingredients such as lamb cutlets and fish a bit more accessible. Serves 4 This relish goes well with pork, fish or chicken or simply with cheese and crackers. Best served at room temperature. Curry apple relish 1 heaped tsp butter 1 apple, peeled and grated 1 onion, grated 2 cloves garlic, chopped 1 tsp curry powder ¼ cup white wine ½ cup chicken stock ¼ cup cream 1 tsp honey Pinch salt Method To make the relish, in a saucepan melt the butter over a medium heat. Add the apple, onion and garlic and saute for 2 minutes. Stir in the curry powder then add the wine. Gently simmer to reduce until all the liquid is gone. Add the stock, cream, honey and salt. Continue simmering the mixture until it thickens. Set aside until required. Season the flour with the salt, pepper and cumin, then place in a dish or shallow bowl large enough to accommodate one cutlet at a time. Place the egg mixture in a similar-size dish. Put the panko crumbs in a third dish also large enough to fit a cutlet. Lamb cutlets ½ cup flour Salt and pepper 1 tsp ground cumin 2 eggs, whisked with a pinch of salt 1 cup panko crumbs 12 lamb cutlets ½ cup olive oil Method Toss the cutlets, one at a time, in the seasoned flour. Transfer the cutlet to the egg and coat well before tossing in the panko crumbs, making sure to press as many crumbs on as you can. Heat the oil in a frypan over a medium heat and cook the lamb cutlets in batches until golden on each side, about 34 minutes each side. As they are cooked, transfer them on to a paper towel to rest for a couple of minutes before serving with the relish. I think that prawn toasts are too easily forgotten by most of us. But when they are offered my first thought is that I really must make them more often. Makes 18 Sweet and sour chilli dipping sauce 100ml white wine vinegar 50ml water 100g caster sugar 3 fresh chillies, finely chopped 1 Tbsp chopped fresh mint 1 Tbsp chopped fresh coriander 1 spring onion, sliced Toast topping 400g raw prawns, tails removed, roughly chopped 1 clove garlic, roughly chopped 1 makrut lime leaf, finely chopped 1 fresh chilli, deseeded and finely chopped Small bunch coriander, roughly chopped 1cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped 1 Tbsp soy sauce 2 Tbsp coconut cream Pinch salt ½ cup sesame seeds 6 slices white sandwich bread, crusts removed Method To make the dipping sauce, place the vinegar, water and sugar in a saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring, until the sugar is dissolved. Add the chilli and set aside to cool. When you are ready to serve the toasts, add the chopped herbs and spring onion to the sauce. To make the toast topping, place all of the ingredients except for one-third of the prawns into a food processor and whizz until well combined. Add the rest of the prawns and pulse a couple of times just to combine. Refrigerate the mixture until well chilled. Heat a deep fryer or a saucepan of oil to 175˚C. Spread the sesame seeds on to a plate. Spread the prawn mixture evenly over each slice of bread then gently flip them upside down on to the sesame seeds to coat. Cut each slice into three portions. Fry the prawn toasts in batches for 3 minutes, flipping over halfway. Serve nice and hot with the dipping sauce. *This dipping sauce is great to have on hand in the fridge for spring rolls, poached prawns or even as a salad dressing. Have the base on hand and add the fresh herbs at the time of serving. Remove all the seeds from the chillies for a mild version or leave some or all of them in, depending on how hot you like it.