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Peking pancakes with spicy pressed bean curd (the 5 spice one), hoi sin, cucumber, green onions (i.e. peking duck style) - yummy yum yum. Or san choi bao with the same or regular firm tofu and shitakes instead of the meat. I am a meat eater but was vegetarian for ages and reckon these are pretty fine substitutes.

Try onion pakoras with plenty of whole spices, plus chopped bird's eye chillies, chopped fresh mint and coriander. Sprinkle with plenty of sea salt and serve hot. Serve with sweet chilli dipping sauce. Oh my oh my!

Just make a stock and you could use it in all sorts of recipes - risotto for example could be delicious.

Many recipes here for 'dead horse' (i.e. rhyming slang for tomato sauce which is what we call ketchup in Australia) use apples in the mix too, which gives it that smooth texture and a depth of sweetness that is so much better than the deadly sugary taste of commercial stuff. It is a tradition here for grandmas to make it in summer and when I make it we have a line out of our kitchen for bottles. Look up Australian recipes for "tomato sauce" and you will get many variations. Yum yum.

Hilariously I will eat BBQ sauce pizza, but only when combined with chicken and pineapple - the triple urgggghhhh whammy!!!!! No other time and only when massively hung over or still very drunk.

I think if you asked an Australian what Millionaire's Slice was I reckon you'd get a blank look. We generally call it Caramel Slice, but I have a friend who calls in "fat in a tray" for the way it looks in the pan before the chocolate goes on.

We also have "snot blocks" a.k.a. vanilla slice.

My Scottish mum called bread and butter pudding they were served at school "fly cemetery".

I digress...

An old friend used to make garlic fudge! I normally hate fudge but garlic fudge is pretty special. Try it - you probably won't hurl, though the thought if it is confronting. When I first tried it I thought it would taste like fudge that had been sitting uncovered in the fridge but no!!!

Here's a recipe (I haven't tried it but it seems right!)

http://www.indorecipe.com/index.php?option=com_garyscookbook&Itemid=100003&func=detail&id=3541

Eyes watering...nose clear...cough, cough, splutter...mmmm. It's New Year's Eve and 40 degrees Celsius here in Melbourne, Australia. Just made my first mint julep ever and will not be having another tonight! I have to stay conscious until at least midnight - full on, people! A (tasty, evil, magnificent) rite of passage, I suppose. Now back to the dry & dry for now.

We call 'em 'snake beans' in Australia. Fried Szechuan style with pork is my favourite...they need some fat to help them on their way. Usually spicy, fatty, salty and slightly sweet sauces = delicious.

My fave of the moment is a kind of relish/salad with a carrot/daikon/beetroot combo (any combination).

Using a julienner (???) make matchsticks of your vegies and throw them in a bowl (don't stir yet if you're using beetroot or you'll lose the colour of the other vegies too much).
Pour over a generous mix of rice vinegar, honey or sugar, a little salt - as sweet/sugary/vinegary as you like). Stir it through and leave it for a few hours. Served alongside grilled something (red meat, chicken, fish, tofu!).

I also have been known to sprinkle sesame seeds or a dash of fish sauce, or chop and mix through pickled ginger.

Seville orange marmalade. Oh oh very good.

Oh god I want some clam pie (teeheehee!) but such things are almost impossible to get at a restaurant in Australia. Maybe if I made it myself with some fresh buffalo mozzarella...

Put them on a grill with some olive oil and sea salt for a few minutes. The charred bits are sweet and delicious. Serve with anything!

Brown rice and dahl. Brown rice with peas and curry powder. Chilli beans with brown rice. Tinned chickpeas, tinned tomatoes and...you guessed it...brown rice. Dessert - brown rice boiled with milk and sugar and lemons stolen from the tree down the road.

There was a lot of fresh food too - we'd head to the food markets and pick up the fallen fruit and vegies. And the bagel shop would toss their old stock - they'd make sure it didn't touch anything dirty the cops certainly knocked that on the head. There was always free food somewhere!

I was incredibly healthy in those days - money means I eat more meat and cheese etc with larger portions.