The universally loved lemon tart can have many variations but the most well-known version, containing lemon curd in some sort of guise, may not necessarily be the most delicious ….

Want to really spoil Dad on Father’s Day? We have the perfect dish for you. Egg and Bacon Pie will make him happy at breakfast, brunch, lunch or all three and it’s ideal for a picnic or even breakfast in bed ….

On our recent trip to Jordan we found a cornucopia of fabulous sweet treats on just about every street corner, but alas, those dainty, nutty, syrupy delights almost exclusively contained gluten. While we may never master a gluten-free filo pastry to make all the wonderful variations of baklava that looked so inviting, we have perfected a gluten-free Barazek ….

As Caren has mentioned, she and I were lucky enough to travel throughout exotic Jordan earlier this year and of course, were on a mission to try all the fabulous local delicacies. We have already shared a couple of blogs featuring some of the myriad of mezze dishes offered with every generously proportioned meal in Jordan and I would like to share a very typical main course ….

The recipe for our Mocha Meringue Treats started its long journey in Iceland where these almond meringues, topped with a rich mocha cream and iced with chocolate, are called Sarah Bernhardt Cakes ….

Our light and not-too-sweet Hazelnut, Honey and Cocoa Nib Cakes make the perfect finale to a heavy meal. The subtle flavours marry well with most types of fruit and were particularly delicious with the poached quinces pictured. Lashings of cream mandatory of course ….

This gluten-free Chocolate Buttermilk Cake is fabulous, even if we do say so ourselves, and it’s pretty straightforward to make. The couverture chocolate and cocoa give it a rich, very chocolatey flavour and the buttermilk creates a wonderful texture ….

Our friend Stella is Sicilian and like her mother and grandmother, she can be found curing olives each year ….

Love polenta but often don’t have the patience to stand and stir for ages, the desire to be splattered with volcanic corn meal as it cooks or the energy to scrub the cooked-on residue from the bottom of the saucepan? Here’s a breakthrough method for you ….

I love a sweet and salty combination.  Bacon caramelised with honey and sprinkled over a salad; sweet, butternut pumpkin and olives or feta in a savoury tart; salted caramel ice cream; salted chocolate crème brulee - and the list goes on ….

One of the few herbs in my garden which does not make a lovely dinner for the local possums, snails and other hungry varmints is French tarragon. It’s a champion. I like to keep a pot growing as it’s not always available at the market and I’m addicted to our Tarragon Salsa ….

These decadent morsels, originally named Millionaire’s Shortbread due to their rich ingredients, are our gluten-free version of a recipe published by Andrew McConnell a few years ago. As they are not too sweet and use couverture chocolate, they are a bit more grown-up than the commercially made caramel chocolate slices found in cafés and shops everywhere ….

Beetroot chutney is very popular in our family and my sister, Sue, is particularly fond of it. With her birthday dinner coming up I decided to develop a recipe using this tasty and colourful condiment and came up with the idea for Gluten-Free Beetroot and Bocconcini Tarts to serve as an entrée ….