How much do we love cooking on a barbecue? Taking your cooking outdoors is a great warm weather option: for ease of cleaning, to not having your house smell of that amazing marinade you made. Here Jen gives us her top tips on how to BBQ like a king. Preparing your bbq First of all, make sure your bbq is clean (see tips below) before you start. Once clean, heat the plate or bars and then put some oil on a rag or paper towel and generously rub the plate/bars with oil. If you have too much oil directly on the meat, it causes the oil to run into the fire, often causing the flame to flare up which ..read more

This is a super fast marinade that is always a winner on the barbecue. If you don’t have any fresh herbs, you can substitute dried spices instead. If you are cooking for a crowd, you can’t beat this mango chicken recipe for ease.  MANGO CHICKEN Prep: 5 mins Cook: 20 mins Serves: 4 Ingredients 600g / 1¼lb of chicken thigh fillets ¾ cup of mango chutney 6 sprigs of fresh coriander / cilantro, finely chopped 6 sprigs of flat leaf parsley, finely chopped ¼ tsp of turmeric ground 1 tsp of cumin ground ½ lemon, juiced Method Trim the excess fat from the chicken thighs. In a bowl mix the chut ..read more

This simple and tasty soup is courtesy of a Nepalese friend of Jen’s. With only seven main ingredients and very little prep, Arun’s lentil soup can be on the table in an hour once you have soaked the lentils. Perfect for either a mid-winter lunch or dinner. And as a bonus, it is a vegan recipe. ARUN’S LENTIL SOUP Prep: 5 mins Cook: 1 hour + soaking time Serves: 4 Ingredients 1 cup of red lentils, soaked 20ml / 1 tbsp of olive oil 1 onion, finely diced 1 clove of garlic, grated 1 tbsp of cumin seeds 2 tomatoes, roughly chopped 20 fresh curry leaves 1 litre / 4 cups of water salt, pepper a ..read more

This is a fabulous meal no matter what time of the year, as it works equally well in warm and cool weather. Whether your preference is for skin on or off, or to eat it dry or with the broth: the options are endless. A great Fast and Fresh meal to add to your meal plan. POACHED GINGER CHICKEN Prep: 15 mins Cook: 45 mins Serves: 4 Ingredients 2 spring onions, roots removed 2cm / 1″ piece of fresh ginger, sliced 1 clove of garlic, peeled 2 tablespoons / 20ml of light soy sauce 2 tablespoons / 20ml of shaoxing (Chinese cooking wine) 4 chicken marylands 1 tablespoon of butter 2 spring onions, chop ..read more

This is a super fast marinade that is always a winner on the barbecue. If you don’t have any fresh herbs, you can substitute dried spices instead. If you are cooking for a crowd, you can’t beat this mango chicken recipe for ease.  MANGO CHICKEN Prep: 5 mins Cook: 20 mins Serves: 4 Ingredients 600g / 1¼lb of chicken thigh fillets ¾ cup of mango chutney 6 sprigs of fresh coriander / cilantro, finely chopped 6 sprigs of flat leaf parsley, finely chopped ¼ tsp of turmeric ground 1 tsp of cumin ground ½ lemon, juiced Method Trim the excess fat from the chicken thighs. In a bowl mix the chut ..read more

Cooking rice can be quite daunting if you don’t have a rice cooker at home. Steamed white rice tastes a lot better than boiled rice, so the few extra minutes are worth the time. Here’s the PlanBuyCook guide to perfect steamed rice. The key to perfect steamed rice is to have a pot with a tight-fitting lid to keep the steam in. If your pot lid doesn’t seal well, you can always use aluminium foil over the top of the pot before adding the lid to trap in the steam. With a few easy steps and the correct ratios, rice cooking is a real breeze and doesn’t require another gadget in your kitchen. In ..read more

This chick pea curry is a great example of a pantry meal, where most of the ingredients are stored in the pantry. Use frozen spinach if you don’t have any fresh. CHICK PEA CURRY Prep: 5 mins Cook: 60 mins Serves: 4 Ingredients 1 tbsp of vegetable oil 1 brown onion, finely diced 2 tsp of fresh ginger, grated 2 cloves of garlic, crushed or grated ¼ tsp of turmeric 2 tsp of cumin ground 2 tsp of coriander ground ¼ tsp of chilli ground 400g / 14oz of tinned/canned diced tomatoes 300ml /1½ cups of water 1.2 kg / 42oz of chick peas (tinned), drained & rinsed 1 tsp of garam masala 2 cups of baby ..read more

We are constantly bombarded with ads for the latest and greatest in kitchen utensils and yet still no closer to knowing what we really need. Rather than getting caught up in the hype, here Jen outlines her most used kitchen utensils that allow her to chop, grate, spin and cook most family meals. Good quality vegetable peeler. Sharp paring knife. Handheld julienne matchstick slicer (we use a 1.5mm fine slicer). Handheld strip slicer. Great for slicing vegetables for salads. Heatproof spatula (silicone ones are great as they are flexible). Wok spatula. Fine hand-held grater. Wooden spoons. Meas ..read more

Some great coverage in today’s Good Food section of The Age. It features an overview of the 4+2+1=dinner done approach to simplify your cooking, plus five great fuss:free recipes from The Plan Buy Cook Book. Follow this link to the article ..read more

You don’t need to break the bank with expensive meat for this classic beef stroganoff. In the supermarket beef shin is also labelled gravy beef, and it is a reasonably cheap cut of meat. It is perfect for this slow cooked dish and well priced. BEEF STROGANOFF Prep: 10 mins Cook: 2.5 hours Serves: 4 Ingredients 1 tbsp / 20ml of olive oil 3 brown onions, finely sliced 2 tsp of sweet paprika ground 2 tsp / 10ml of red wine vinegar 1 kg / 2 lb of beef shin (gravy beef), diced 200ml / ¾ cup of water olive oil, extra 2 cups of button mushrooms, quartered ½ cup of light sour cream 1 t ..read more