Through his years behind in restaurant kitchens, magazine columns, lecturing at AUT and judging on MasterChef, Ray McVinnie has taught many New Zealanders a thing or two about cooking.
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Refreshing watermelon and orange iced tea
This fruity iced-tea is the perfect summer refresher
Pork chops with apples and sauerkraut
Sauerkraut works well with the richness of the chop and the sweetness of the apple
Freiburg market sauerkraut and pasta
Any short pasta works for this unassuming, delicious dish
Warm apple and almond cake with mascarpone
Years ago I bought a small tourist office-issue cookbook at the village near our ...
Get the idea: Shared platters
Rub a butterflied leg of lamb with extra virgin olive oil, ground cinnamon, crushed ...
No frills: sour cream strawberry tart
This baked tart shell can be made several days in advance and stored in an airtight ...
Sour cream strawberry tart
The baked shell for this tart can be made several days in advance and stored in an ...
Platters to share
When entertaining I generally serve large platters that only need minimal accompaniments
Baked salmon with zucchini, tomato and red onion vinaigrette
This shared platter to serve for friends makes entertaining easy
Lemon-scented chicken with grapes and greens
This shared platter for friends is good with boiled, buttered new potatoes
Lamb and couscous
This butterflied lamb is served on couscous with caponata (a Sicilian eggplant dish)
Get the Idea: Meals using leftover roast chicken
Italian food writer Marcella Hazan once wrote that “a recipe is the congealed ...
No frills roast chicken
This produces a juicy roast chicken with fragrant stuffing and enough pan juices to ...
Hot chicken, green bean and Israeli couscous salad
This recipe forms part of the October 15 meal planner created in partnership ...
Poached salmon fillet with sauce verte and rocket and potatoes
This recipe forms part of the October 15 meal planner created in partnership ...
Pasta with mushroom ragu
This recipe forms part of the October 15 meal planner created in partnership with New ...
Get the idea: Kids cooking dinner
I have watched the two young daughters of our friends in Italy grow up from tots and ...
Catalan-style pasta with prawns and fish
This takes a while but the flavour from the prawn stock is worth it, not to mention ...
Taiwanese stir-fried chicken
Soy sauce paste is a thicker, sweeter version of soy sauce that uses sugar, more wheat ...
Golden fried prawns
Creamy rich, cooked salted duck egg yolks are available from Asian grocers
Dinner for two
I enjoy cooking and this means that I make an effort even when there are only two of ...
Taiwainese classics made easy for the Kiwi kitchen
Back when I was a professional chef working in restaurants, I did a two-week stint as ...
No-frills sausage rolls
I based these easy sausage rolls on a recipe from Alexa Johnston's excellent book ...
The best no-frills sausage rolls: Step-by-step
These traditional, no-frills sausage rolls are based on a recipe from Alexa Johnston's ...
Sausages with warm lentil salad
The lentils, carrots and potatoes can be cooked in advance and reheated in the ...
Get the idea: Relaxed dinners for Dad
For most of us, every special occasion has an association with food
French-style long cooked beef and carrot stew
The beef is so tender in this stew that you can eat it with a spoon
Baked salmon on warm green vegetable salad with rice
Salmon fillet is baked in the oven, served on a salad of steamed green beans, sweet ...
Casual winter dinner for eight
We’ve just moved house (loving it in Titirangi!) and even though I still ...
Stuffed chicken thighs with kumara and spinach
Some of the stuffing will seep out, helping create something like a bread sauce
Spanish rice pudding
As this pudding is cooked on the stove top, it requires attention because it needs to ...
Steamed golden syrup, walnut and raisin pudding with homemade custard
This is my adaptation of a 1968 Edmonds Cookbook recipe for a steamed pudding
Sabato: From garage to table
Starting out from their garage in 1993, Jacqui and Phil Dixon have developed Sabato ...
No-stir pancetta and pea risotto
The Ferron brand of rice (the two main varieties are carnaroli and vialone nano) comes ...
Get the idea: Pureed soups
In classical cookery, soups are classified by the way they are thickened
Ray McVinnie's Matariki favourites
Matariki is coming up and I am still very eager to see it as an official opportunity ...
Banana and coconut bread and butter pudding with hokey pokey icecream
It goes without saying that hokey pokey icecream is a Kiwi favourite and excellent for ...
Lamb and silverbeet pie with cucumber yoghurt
Lamb and silverbeet are quintessential Kiwi foods to me
Get the idea: The always useful, versatile lemon
Lemons are an essential ingredient in our house and we are lucky to have four lemon ...
Brutti ma buoni (Ugly but nice cakes)
These are based on the traditional Italian biscuit and are spiced hazelnut meringues ...
Chocolate walnut figs
These are the best things! Not too sweet, and with the surprise of the walnut stuffing
Homemade gifts for Mum
It’s payback time, so make something nice for your mum! Much better than just ...
Pumpkin seed beer crackers
These delicious crunchy, nutty crackers are so easy to make, and will last a week in ...
Great dessert ideas for a Mother's Day dinner
I know that some say using Wikipedia can result in you becoming ...
Get the idea: substantial salads
Thinly sliced iceberg lettuce carefully layered with sliced cucumber, tomato and ...
Spicy chicken with tomatoes and green beans
I particularly like the flavour and texture combination of beans, chilli and tomatoes, ...
Ray McVinnie's autumn casseroles
I like the well-developed flavour of casseroles (the name of the type of dish and the ...
Tofu braised with greens
This has little resemblance to any traditional Chinese dish, I just like the flavours ...
Pork meatballs with vegetables and cannellini beans
This freezes and reheats well but add some water as the beans thicken the sauce
Get the idea: Ray and Jenny's autumn garden
We are a good combo when it comes to food — Jenny knows how to grow it and I ...
Dilmah Earl Grey tea loaf with creamy brie
The scented flavour of Dilmah Earl Grey is great with the spices, dried fruit and ...
Moroccan-style fish and potatoes
I love the combination of fish and potatoes and the addition of a Moroccan ...
Pasta with eggplant and broccoli
Browning the eggplant without oil is something I learnt from my friend Daniela in ...
Roasted five spice pork belly rice bowl
Juicy pork slices are a faster and cheaper way of enjoying belly pork
Get the idea: Late summer barbecues
Do we ever stop barbecuing? Well maybe in the depths of winter, but this time of year ...
Singapore New Year raw fish salad
This is my Kiwi version of the Singaporean Chinese New Year salad