Make a delicious pie base and crust with this parmesan cheese spiked short crust pastry recipe. You can leave the cheese out if you prefer, and even replace it with sugar for a sweet dish.

Hot-smoked trout is exactly what it sounds like, trout that has been cured in a hot smoker, a method that is used to preserve fish, meat, cheese and nuts while bestowing a distinctive flavour of wood-smoke.

This is the easiest way to make rice without a rice cooker. And, it's one of the basic recipes all households should know!

Garam masala added at the last moment is a great way to make sure your curry is fragrant and beautifully spiced. This red lentil, mushroom and spinach curry makes a fabulous vegetarian dinner served with steamed rice and naan bread.

The combination of crisp, salty pancetta and tendy, flaky fish fillets creates a delicious seafood dish the whole family will love. Drizzle with a dash of your homemade caper herb butter for a real flavour hit.

Rich and smooth kumara and coriander soup is a great way to warm up at lunchtime. The freshness of the herb balances the natural sweetness of kumara.

Totally falling under the category of comfort food, this gnocchi with creamy sauce is a rib-sticker.

This Thai fish parcels recipe makes sure all the flavour cooks into the fish. If you can't buy kaffir lime leaves, substitute the young leaves from any other citrus tree. Serve the fish parcels with lime cheeks or a salad made from fresh pomelo or grapefruit segments.

Discover that simple can still be flavoursome with this zesty egg and lemon soup, a great recipe for traditional Greek avgolemono.

Shredded makrut lime leaves and fresh lime juice add a real zing to this chicken, chilli and kaffir lime stir-fry.

This is a super easy and scrummy dessert, plus you can whip up a batch of pear galettes on a whim. Best served with a dollop of top notch double or clotted cream.

Deliciously fragrant and spicy, this Thai-style red curry paste is the perfect base for many savoury Asian dishes.

A tantalising Thai chicken stir-fry with crunchy beans, sprouts and loads of green onions. It's fast, tasty and packed with good things, the perfect mid-week dinner.

Orange and poppy seeds is a classic combination for friands, you can liven it up by using mandarin instead.

Sweet, golden and crunchy, these beautiful coffee snaps are brilliant enjoyed with a hot cuppa for afternoon or morning tea.

Enjoy a bite of heaven with these light and fluffy homemade coffee friands. They are gorgeous enjoyed with your mid-morning or afternoon coffee as a relaxing treat with friends.

A classic snack, enjoy these pickled eggs on their own, as part of a picnic spread, or atop a sandwich with some sliced meat and vegetables.

This herbaceous and light Thai chicken and lychee salad is a study in contrasts, of both flavour and texture; tender and crisp, sweet and spicy, it's got it all.

These delicious Chinese-style chicken stir-fry cups are perfect for sharing on platters.

Make your own tomato chutney to go with bread and cheese platters. Truly, the greatest cheese sandwich you'll ever eat is one slathered in homemade chutney.

A quick version of the popular starter in many Indian restaurants, we use ready-made tikka paste.

Try these sautéed mushrooms on toast instead of your usual full English this weekend. Not only are mushrooms full of B vitamins, selenium and iron, they bust out the free radicals, too. Plus, they taste great.

Home-made potato wedges are so easy, and so yummy, that there's really no point in buying the frozen kind. If you want to up the ante, serve them tossed in sea salt, lemon zest, pepper and a little lemon juice.

Deep-fried crisps make the perfect party snack.

Queso anejo and poblano chillies bring an authentic Mexican flavour to this gourmet guacamole. If you can't lay your hands on any queso anejo, you can use parmesan and other similar cheeses in its place.

The classic French combination of tender veal cutlets and creamy, fragrant anchovy garlic butter is perfect for a special dinner with friends.

These mini choc chip friands can be made a day ahead if you're baking to entertain, and go down a treat with a cup of good coffee. They also freeze well, just don't ice them beforehand.

You'll want to use the ripest tomatoes you can find to help give this fresh and yummy tuna, chilli and tomato spaghetti a real boost in the flavour department.

You can use any firm white fish fillet, such as ling or blue-eye, for this tasty fish with thai-style dressing.

Crisp and flaky French pastries, palmiers are so-named because they are folded and shaped to resemble the leafy arc formed by palm tree branches. Honey, pistachio and rosewater add a touch of the Middle East to these quintessentially French pastries.

There's nothing better than the smell of freshly baked bread, except for the taste. Bring the restaurant to your home with freshly baked dinner rolls.

Splash out for a summer party or celebration and serve up these delicious barbecued lobster tails with chilli butter.

Mixed mushrooms add flavour, texture and complexity to this spicy beef and noodle stir-fry, as well as a welcome boost of important nutrients. Winning all round.

Smooth, sweet and glossy, here is a recipe for royal icing that you can use on your cakes, cupcakes and desserts.

This is a cold, fruity and deliciously moreish party punch that, funnily enough, packs a bit of a punch. We used a traminer riesling for this recipe, but you can use any medium-dry white.

A kind of variation on sang choy bow, these little parcels of spicy chicken salad in witlof leaves make a great starter or platter of finger food for a party.

Rare roast beef makes a wonderful salad, especially paired with peppery rocket and red onions. A mustard and buttermilk dressing adds a delightful piquant finish to this salad.

This fresh and fragrant Thai chilli lime chicken salad is crisp, fresh and full of flavour.

Za'atar is a Middle-Eastern blend of roasted dried spices; you can make your own as shown below or you can purchase it ready-made from Middle-Eastern food stores. It adds fabulous spice to this kebabs and hummus recipe.

If you fancy trying something a bit out of the ordinary, this Tahitian fish salad is simple to make and absolutely bursting with flavour. It makes a colourful and delicious lunch.

The perfect hot and spicy chicken for the barbecue, peri peri chicken is tender, juicy and bursting with flavour. Once you've tried chicken the Portuguese way, you'll never go back.

Put the kettle on and enjoy a sweet, golden passionfruit butter biscuit with your cup of coffee as a relaxing morning tea.

Steaming this Thai-style chicken draws the flavour of the seasoning right into the flesh of the fillet. If the silver beet leaves are small, use two per chicken breast. If kaffir lime leaves are unavailable, use 2 teaspoons of finely grated lime rind.

There are few more satisfying dessert experiences than plunging your spoon into a chocolate fondant cake and watching the molten centre run out.

One of the most popular Japanese grilled meat dishes, teriyaki is so easy to prepare at home. Here, we accompany it with fresh baby corn, broccoli and trimmed sugar snap peas. Serve with a bowl of steamed rice.

An Asian twist on chicken burgers, with sweet pickled cucumber and spicy wasabi mayonnaise. Great for mid-week dinner or weekend lunch.

If there's a single dish that sums up childhood for many of us, it's spaghetti and meatballs. It's so ingrained in our culture there are even songs written about this dish. Reconnect with an earlier you, sit down with a big bowl of spaghetti and meatballs.

Enjoy this sweet, tangy and deeply citrusy blood orange jelly straight out of the pot as a light summer dessert.

A zesty and fragrant Thai chicken dish with steamed bok choy from Australian Women's Weekly. A great mid-week dinner option that also makes a tasty weekend lunch.

Big pasta shells are perfect for soaking up the delicious, mustardy balsamic vinaigrette on this Greek lamb, feta and eggplant pasta.

These spicy little nuggets on sticks are great for handing around at a party. Fried chorizo with garlic is a classic tapas dish.

When the occasion calls for a light, tasty dinner you can't go past a plate of salmon steaks with a crisp fennel and apple salad. If you need something slightly more substantial, serve with good bread or a baked potato.

A combination chow mein with chicken, pork, prawn and fried noodles from Australian Women's Weekly.

A fresh, colourful grilled vegetable salad with haloumi cheese; perfect for summer lunches.

A quick and easy stir-fry that gets a lift from the addition of teriyaki sauce.

This curry is a good introduction to the taste of Thailand; not too hot and full of flavour.

A light, egg-white frittata bursting with tasty vegetables, basil and parmesan cheese. Using freshly shelled green peas will give this dish an edge.

Puy lentils are from the region of the same name in France. Very small and particularly fast cooking, they have a delicate, almost nut-like flavour that lets the marinated lamb backstrap stand out as the star of the show.

Bean thread noodles, also known as wun sen, glass or cellophane noodles, are made from mung beans. These delicate, fine noodles must be softened in boiling water before use.

Bursting with flavour, this fragrant Asian chicken dish is beautiful served with boy choy and mushrooms to create a tasty mid-week dinner.

Warm your body and soul with this beautiful chicken and vegetable soup - perfect for family dinners on those cooler evenings.

Make your own finger-lickingly good satay sauce and serve with chicken, beef or seafood skewers. Fabulous served as finger food or with steamed rice and vegetables as a light meal.

Creamy, mild and warming, this Chinese-style chicken and corn soup is a great pick-me-up dish for a cold day.

Quick, tasty and filling, this cauliflower chilli spaghetti is perfect for a mid-week family dinner.

When you really fancy a curry this spicy pork vindaloo will tick all the right boxes. Creamy cucumber raita will help soothe the bite of this chilli packed classic curry.

Sweet, rich and fudgey, these chocolate and macadamia squares are beautiful enjoyed with a mug of coffee for an indulgent afternoon tea or dessert.

Delicious Thai chicken with a peanut crust and a light cucumber and herb salad. This makes an excellent light dinner on a hot day, or a main for lunch with friends.

This method for boiling eggs will centre the yolk and is used for recipes which require presentation such as salads.

An exotic spice-rub makes this beef fillet extra tender and mouthwateringly delicious. Served on a bed of chickpea and preserved lemon salad, the whole meal is just a taste sensation.

Delicious Asian-style dumplings, gow gees, that are perfect for sharing with friends and family.

The sea and land meet in harmony with this fresh and zesty barbecued seafood and green mango salad. Serve on a balmy summer's evening when dining al fresco.

The perfect summer supper - mild tandoori chicken with a refreshing mint raita.

This is a super way to serve asparagus as finger food. It also makes a lovely starter, especially with some ripe figs on the side. If you want to take it up a notch, you can put a small slice of fontina cheese under the prosciutto, and quickly pan fry to melt the cheese before serving.

These traditional Parisian delicacies are named after a palm tree because, when baked, they resemble palm fronds. Palmiers were probably invented as a way to make use of puff pastry scraps; quick and easy, they're great for afternoon tea.

Gyoza are Japanese dumplings, usually pork but sometimes vegetable, that are steamed and then fried, before being dunked in sauce, in this case our delicious soy vinegar sauce.

Tender, marinated cubes of beef on a skewer with crunchy peanut sauce, beef satay sticks are an ever popular party dish.

The thing about rock cakes is that they should look like little rocks, not taste or bite like one. Our simple rock cake recipe makes for little golden nuggets with a scone-like interior studded with sultanas.

For a taste of China, make your own sang choy bow, a traditional lettuce-wrapped stir-fry. You can serve it as a starter to share, or as a light meal on its own.

You can dip just about any fruit that takes your fancy into chocolate fondue, bananas would be a good addition, as would marshmallows.

Perfect served on salad leaves as a light lunch, if there are any left over you can pop these lentil patties in a wrap, drizzle with the yoghurt mint sauce and pack in a lunchbox.

Sweeter than green but more robust in flavour that yellow or orange, red capsicum makes a wonderful soup. The simplicity of this red capsicum soup recipe lets the main ingredient shine.

Capsicum, carrot and peanuts add crunch and snap to these tasty herbed chicken rice paper rolls with a ginger soy dipping sauce.

Borlotti beans are also known as cannellini beans, but they're actually a paler, plumper variety of the humble kidney bean. This tomato and borlotti bean soup makes a nourishing lunch or dinner.

Simple, quick and savoury, this zucchini cream soup makes a great lunch or starter. The smoothest consistency for this soup can be achieved by using a blender, stab mixer or mouli.

There's nothing like a bowl of proper, hearty soup on a cold day and this tomato and chorizo soup has all the warming power you're looking for.

Spicy, fragrant and wonderfully creamy, this beautiful red duck and lychee curry is perfect for a warming family dinner on a cooler evening.

Crispy, spicy-sweet and delicious noodle stir fry with beef and bok choy from Australian Women's Weekly.

Pilaf is a dish that is common to many parts of the world, even if cooked under a different name. It's basically rice cooked in broth or stock, then seasoned, spice and added to. Basmati is the best variety of rice for this Indian chicken pilaf.

There's something seductive about the melting cheese in this Veal Cordon Bleu that makes it timeless and one of our all-time favourites.

Redfish, usually sold skinned as fillets, is ideal for these fish cakes because of its delicate flavour. You can, however, use practically any mild-flavoured, skinless fish fillet.

Rocket, garlic and chilli add lots of peppery heat to this quick but flavoursome spaghetti dish, while pine nuts and parmesan bring the whole dish together.

This surprisingly simple, inexpensive recipe has subtle seductive flavours which are far more memorable than the list of ingredients might suggest. You can use fresh lasagne sheets cut into wide ribbons if you don't have any pappardelle.

Just five ingredients make this salami and rocket pizza, making it perfect when you need dinner in a hurry. If you like your pizza spicy, use a salami with chilli in it for extra bite.

This simple swordfish with Thai dressing should be cooked on a barbecue or griddle pan just before serving to help keep the fish at it's tender, juicy best.

Fluffy and light as air, this egg white omelette is stuffed with mushrooms, bacon, herbs and cheese.

Quick, tasty and packed full of goodness, this fragrant Asian seafood stir-fry is perfect for a weeknight lunch or dinner. You can use whatever combination of seafood you prefer, or even buy a ready mixed selection.

Light, fresh and tasty, these beautiful ocean trout sashimi rolls are the perfect finger food to pass around at your next party.

This fragrant Malay chicken curry is spice, but the coconut cream takes the edge off the bite. If you can't source kaffir lime leaves, use 2 tablespoons of grated lime zest instead.

Spicy pickled onions, packed with chillies, cloves and ginger, make the perfect accompaniment to a classic ploughman's lunch.

You can use feta or any soft, crumbly cheese instead of the goat cheese, and toasted pecan halves make a nice change from walnuts. This roasted capsicum pasta salad makes a great lunch-box meal too.