The Gourmet Pantry | Foodie's Blog

Which Cracker Goes With Which Cheese

A cracker-by-cheese guide from the people who pack them: which of the six styles suits brie, blue, aged cheddar and washed rind, how many you need per person, a

What to Do With Ottolenghi Preserved Lemon Marinade

What preserved lemon actually tastes like, how much of the 260g jar to use on chicken, fish, cauliflower and grains, and how it differs from whole preserved lem

Ottolenghi Yuzu, Ginger and Miso Marinade: What to Put It On

Sweet, salty and citrus sharp, and the citrus jar in the Ottolenghi marinade range. Nine things to brush it on, how long to leave it on salmon, prawns and chick

Macadamias Do More Than Sit in a Bowl

Macadamias do more than sit in a bowl. Nine ways to cook with them, a nut-for-nut swap table, how to toast them without burning them, and which Nutworks flavour

Mango Chutney Is Not Just for Curry Night

Cheddar, ham, sausage rolls, coronation chicken, glazes and curries: where a jar of mango chutney earns its place, how much to use each time, how long an open j

The Gourmet Father's Day Gift Guide

Skip the tie and socks. A gourmet Father's Day gift guide covering BBQ spice tubes, wine and gourmet hampers, kitchen gadgets and Jen's biscuits, for wh

Nine Ways to Use Pomegranate Molasses Once the Bottle Is Open

Sour first, sweet second, and dear enough to use by the teaspoon. Nine ways to work through one 250ml bottle of pomegranate molasses, each with a dose, plus wha

Best Australian Biscuits and Biscuit Tins

What to Do With a Jar of Chilli Jam

Cheese, cold prawns, toasties, eggs, mayonnaise and a late glaze: nine things to do with a jar of chilli jam, ranked from the sweet jar to the hot one, plus how

How to Caramelise Onions Properly, and the Shortcut for a Tuesday

Caramelising onions takes 40 minutes and no sugar. The method step by step, what onions to buy, how to freeze them, and the 130g jar that stands in on a weeknig

Mint Jelly or Mint Sauce: Which One You Actually Want

Mint jelly sets in a jar and sits beside the lamb. Mint sauce pours over it. The difference between the two, which of our jars suits a carved roast or a barbecu

Vegan Nduja: What Ve-du-ya Is and Six Ways to Spread It

Belazu Ve-du-ya does the job Calabrian nduja does on a grazing board, without the pork. What vegan nduja tastes like, six ways to use a 170g jar, and how to ser

How to Use Tahini When You Are Not Making Hummus

Stir the oil back in first, then use the jar three ways: thinned into a sauce, spooned straight over hot food, or stirred through sweet things. Plus what to do

What Tapenade Is, and Eight Things to Do With a Jar

Tapenade is a coarse Provençal paste of olives, capers and olive oil. What separates it from olive paste, which style to buy, what to serve alongside it, and ei

Three Ottolenghi Spice Tins, and What to Put Them On

Aleppo, citrus and spice, and sweet and smokey: the only three dry seasonings in an Ottolenghi range that otherwise comes in jars. What each tin tastes like, an

Three Christmas Menus: Traditional, Cold and Low Effort

Three Christmas menus, each written as a shopping list and an order of work rather than a stack of recipes: the traditional hot lunch, the cold summer table, an

What to Put in a Christmas Hamper (and What Never Survives the Trip)

Sort a Christmas hamper by how the food behaves, not by price. What keeps, what crushes, what melts and what leaks, from the bench where we pack them in Geelong

Non-Alcoholic Christmas Drinks, When Half the Room Is Not Drinking

The person not drinking gets a real drink, not lemonade in a wine glass. One syrup, one instant tea, one unbreakable pitcher, the measures the packs actually gi

Hosting Christmas on a Budget: Where the Money Actually Goes

The pantry half of a Christmas table for eight, costed three ways from our own range at about $35, $62 or $97, with the whole difference sitting in the crackers

Christmas Finger Food: Nibbles, Canapes and Party Food

Christmas finger food has one rule nobody writes down: it has to be eaten with one hand, because the other one is holding a drink. Eight things that pass, the n

Christmas Food Ideas for People Who Are Not Cooking

Buy the table instead of cooking it. Five parts, real products and prices, how to make bought food look like a table you meant, and when to order so it is all i

How Long Christmas Food Can Sit Out in an Australian Summer

Australia's 2 hour and 4 hour rule applied to a Christmas table: what is on the clock, what never is, and how to keep a board cold outside.

Plum Pudding and Christmas Pudding Are the Same Thing

Plum pudding and Christmas pudding are the same steamed dried fruit pudding under two names, and there are no plums in either. Where the name came from, how a s

Christmas Eve Dinner When Nobody Wants to Cook

One pan, half an hour, and nothing that competes with tomorrow. Four Christmas Eve dinners built on jars and kits, and what to have in the cupboard by mid-Decem

Dairy Free at Christmas: The Sweet End Is the Hard Part

Butter, cream and milk chocolate account for nearly everything at the sweet end of Christmas. What to serve instead when someone is dairy free, why a vegan labe

What to Serve With Christmas Ham: Mustards, Relishes and Sides

A sharp mustard, cranberry sauce and one relish or chutney is the whole answer beside a glazed ham. Which jars do which job, how many you need, how to set them

Twelve Things to Do With Leftover Christmas Ham

Keep it on the bone, wrapped in a damp cloth, and carve as you go. Twelve genuinely good things to do with leftover Christmas ham, from the Boxing Day sandwich

Truffle Chips on a Grazing Board, and What to Serve Beside Them

Truffle chips are a drinks-table food, not a board food. Where Hunter's black truffle canisters belong, what to put beside them, how honest the truffle clai

The Ploughman's Lunch, Rebuilt for an Australian Christmas

The one English Christmas plate that needs no oven: what goes on a ploughman's, how much per person, and the honest difference between the $7.95 relish and

Christmas Cheese Board: How Much to Buy and What Goes With It

Allow 120g of cheese a person when the board is the meal and 60g when lunch follows. Here is the quantity table for 6 to 20 guests, the four cheeses that cover

Building a Christmas Grazing Table That Survives the Heat

How much food per person, what to buy in October, and what only goes down in the last ten minutes. A Christmas grazing table for 20 or 40 people, built to hold

New Year's Eve Grazing Without Cooking Another Christmas

By 31 December the fridge is finished and the cupboard is not. Five bowls from the sealed half of your December order, nothing cooked, 250g a head, half out at

How to Glaze a Christmas Ham Without Losing Your Nerve

Something sweet to caramelise, something sharp to cut it, and thin coats rather than one thick one. The full method for glazing a Christmas ham, the timings and

Christmas in July: A Menu That Suits Actual Winter

Christmas in July is the one date on the Australian calendar where the northern hemisphere menu makes sense. A four course winter dinner: a make ahead soup, thr

Christmas Breakfast Ideas You Can Set Out in Ten Minutes

Toast, two or three jams and a marmalade, cold fruit, yoghurt and a pot of tea. The Christmas morning table you set out rather than cook, what to do the night b

What to Do With Cranberry Sauce, After the Turkey Is Gone

Nine things to do with an open jar of cranberry sauce, from cheese boards and cold meat sandwiches to pan sauces, glazes and dessert, plus how long it keeps and