Category — Tips and hints

Braising is a cooking technique in which the main ingredient is first seared and then simmered in liquid on a low heat in a covered pot. Braising is an excellent way to cook less expensive cuts of meat such as blade, chuck and skirt. The connective tissue, fat and sinew that hold the muscles of the meat together are broken down in the braising process, rendering the meat tender and releasing gelatinous juices to create a rich and full bodied gravy. Even the toughest cuts of meat will become tender when braised.

Beef Bourgignon is a braised dish

A set of kitchen scales are a must in any kitchen where recipes are followed. Electronic scales provide a much greater degree of accuracy than traditional-style scales.

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My food blog, which has just celebrated its second birthday, was created to inspire its readers to entertain at home, so they can experience the joy associated with having guests. In the past 2 years, entertaining made easy has provided its readers with a myriad of recipes, tips and hints, ideas and articles – all designed to take the stress and guesswork out of entertaining. Reflecting on the past 24 months, I felt it was time to take a step back and talk about the basic elements of entertaining - the keys to making your occasion as enjoyable for you as it is for your guests.

Friends enjoying themselves at a Fondue Party

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Although silicone has been around since the 1940’s, it is a fairly recent addition to the domestic kitchen. Traditionally, metals such as tin and aluminium were the materials of choice for bakeware, but home cooks are now discovering the benefits of silicone.

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Pasta comes in a huge variety of shapes and sizes, ranging from tagliatelle and tortellini to penne and pappardelle. Matching pasta with a compatible sauce is instinctive for someone that has grown up eating pasta as a staple, but for the rest of us some guidelines are necessary to attain the best complement of flavour and texture.

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When following a recipe, a cup refers specifically to 250ml, not a coffee cup pulled out of the cupboard, and a tablespoon is 20ml, not a serving spoon! Although cooking is essentially an art, when following a recipe it pays to have a degree of accuracy, especially for beginner cooks and in particular when baking. [Read more →]

Until last weekend I had zero experience in making a child’s themed birthday cake (probably because I don’t have children). I hear from my friends that do have kids just how highly competitive childrens’ birthday parties can be. It seems that all the parents are trying to out-do the other parents, particularly when it comes to the cake. 

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This is a new monthly column to Entertaining Made Easy, which I decided to add after receiving numerous questions from my cooking class students and blog readers about how best to equip their kitchen, what kitchenware to buy, where is the best place to buy it, how much should you pay and which gadgets to avoid. 

Each month I will feature a kitchen tool that I consider is a useful addition to the kitchen. This month’s featured kitchen tool is the digital thermometer.

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Figs are believed to have originated in the Middle East and are now grown in many parts of the world including Australia. The season in Australia is a relatively short one – late summer to mid-Autumn – so enjoy them fresh while you can.

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Grapes arrived in Australia with the First Fleet in 1788 and now Australia is one of the most successful grape growing countries in the world for both eating and winemaking.  There are over 50 varieties of grapes, the more popular eating types being Thompson Seedless and Menindee Seedless (green varieties) and Red Globe and Red Flame (red varieties).

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