One of the most popular events in the summer is the garden barbecue. A barbecue is often the perfect opportunity for relaxing and socialising with friends while sampling tasty food. Admittedly, simply throwing sausages and burgers onto a barbecue to be flame grilled can get a little old, so we thought about putting a twist on the contemporary barbecue, with Indian cuisine being the source of our inspiration.

The recipe we looked at was traditionally used chicken legs, tandoori style. If you have the money, not to mention the space, a tandoor style oven can be excellent for an authentic experience, although a regular barbecue appliance will do the same job.

We chose chicken legs as they are generally the best value when shopping, however this would also work with a whole chicken, removed from the bone “Nando’s” style.

What You Need

• 8 chicken legs
• Half a small red onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 thumb of ginger
• Handful of fresh coriander
• 100ml Organic Greek yogurt
• Spoonful of toasted and ground cumin
• Spoonful of ground coriander
• Spoonful of ground black pepper
• Spoonful of honey
• Spoonful of vinegar

How to Do It

As always when looking to boost flavour, slash the chicken without completely cutting through it, this will allow all of the flavours to penetrate deeper and will reduce the cooking time; vital when you have many mouths to feed!

Set your barbecue to medium heat and leave alone for a moment. You then need to grind the onion, garlic, ginger, and fresh coriander before mixing well with the yogurt. Transfer the whole mixture to a bowl large enough to take all of the chicken. Add the rest of the ingredients before finally adding the chicken. Rub the mixture into the chicken with your hands before leaving to marinade further. It is best to leave the chicken for at least half an hour to get the optimum taste experience upon cooking.

Place the chicken onto the hottest part of the grill until it is browned well on both sides. There may be a little trial and error involved here; you do not want to be turning it continuously, once should do, so work out how long each side takes to brown and stick to it.

Once each side of the chicken is looking golden and beautiful, move them to the cooler portion of the barbecue to cook gently for around 15 – 20 minutes, turning every three or four minutes. Obviously check before serving to ensure they are cooked through, however remember that chicken legs do retain a reddish colour even when they have been cooked thoroughly.

I really believe a good marinade goes a long way in transforming a dish. I love experimenting with marinades,  as long as you taste the marinade before you use it you can rarely go wrong !

I honestly think that most people have basic items in their pantry to make up a mix of good flavours.

Here’s a recipe for a spicy tomato marinade…

As with any dish you marinade I’d advise marinading at least a few hours before hand to get the best results.

This quantity would be enough for at least 10 chicken drumsticks

• 2 1/2 tsp of ground cumin and coriander (2 parts coriander, 1 part cumin)
• 2 tsp garam masala
• 2 tsp fresh masala - mix of fresh chilli, garlic and ginger
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp cooking salt
• 2 tbsp tomato puree/paste
• 1 1/2 tbsp canola/sunflower oil

I use this marinade to make a oven baked chicken dish with potatoes and on bbq’d drumsticks.

oven chicken with spicy tomato marinade

There are no restrictions on how you could use this marinade. You could marinade cubed chicken breast or lamb and make skewers with vegetables in between the meat. Try it and I hope you enjoy it.

Pin Your Dream Kitchen to Win!

Have you ever dreamt of having a free $500 to spend on the Le Domaine store? If you did, what would you buy?

That’s the question we’re asking for our Pin Your Dream Kitchen to Win competition! $500 goes a long way at Le Domaine, so we want you to explore your imagination and create a Pinterest board with everything you’d buy with your $500.

Here’s the catch: If your board gets the most amount of Likes, you get to have everything you pinned! That’s right, we’re giving you your dream kitchen, and all you need to do is pick your prize.

For more information about signing up for a Pinterest account, creating your Pinboard and winning the competition, please check out the rules and our handy guides below.

What would you buy with $500 at Le Domaine?

Rules & Entry

So we can count your votes, you’ll need to give us a link to your Pinboard. You can do this at any time, but it’s best to tell us when you have finished pinning your products. Please email your Pinboard URL to PinToWin@ledomaine.com.au
We will check your eligibility when you tell us, but so you know, here are all the rules for the competition.

Rules

• All products must be pinned from Le Domaine: Products from around the internet, and other stores, cannot be accepted.
• Your total cannot exceed $500: Based on pricing at the time of entry, using our selling price (not RRP). Your amount may be less than $500.
• State the colour and size of your products: If applicable, the size and colour may influence the total amount, so please make a mention of it in the description
• Voting is by Facebook Likes: We will be counting the amount of Likes your board has received at 3pm on July 9th.
• Entry: Unless you tell us about your board, it cannot be considered as part of the competition
• Cheating: You may like your own board, but obvious abuses will be disqualified
• Sold out or discontinued products: Le Domaine will offer reasonable alternatives of a similar value if the nominated prizes are not in stock.
• Voting cut-off: Likes will be counted on the 9th of July, at 3pm sharp. Any extra votes will not be considered after this date.
• In the event of a draw: An extra 24 hours will be provided to gather more votes
• The winner will be announced on Wednesday the 11th of July, via email and on Facebook
• Any questions? Please email us at PinToWin@ledomaine.com.au

If you already know how to use Pinterest, you can get started right away. Create a new board on Pinterest, go to our website and browse for products, and use the inbuilt Pin It button on every product page. Just let us know when you’re done, by emailing PinToWin@ledomaine.com.au, and start getting your friends and family to vote!

What’s a Pinterest? How-to Guides

If you’ve never used Pinterest before, that’s fine! We have created some handy guides for you, covering how to create a Pinterest account, how to Pin products from our website onto your board, and how to gather votes to win!

How to Sign Up for Pinterest

Get a Pinterest account by requesting an invite

Pinterest is currently invite only, but simply requesting an invite will usually get you a quick response.

Go to www.pinterest.com/landing and enter your email address. You will receive an email shortly after; simply follow the instructions to begin.

If you have not received a quick response from Pinterest, please let us know. We can send you an invite, please just email PinToWin@ledomaine.com.au and ask!

After you have your account set up, then you’ll need to create your first Pinboard. For this competition, you should make a Pinboard called “My Dream Kitchen”, “Le Domaine Competition” or similar.

How to create a Pinboard

To create a new Pinboard, click Add+ in the top right hand corner, and click “Create a Board”. Here you can give it a name and select a category (we recommend Products, but you can use whichever you like).

Then, it’s simply a matter of filling your board up with the products for your dream kitchen!

The easiest way to add products to your board is using the Pin It button, located on every product page on the Le Domaine website. When you press this button, a pop-up will ask you which Pinboard you would like to add the product to. Make sure you select the right board!

To add products to your Pinboard, use the Pin It button on every product page

You can add a short description in this pop-up, such as the product’s name, and – if applicable – the desired colour and size. If you add the price, it will be automatically superimposed onto the product image.

Click Pin It, and this box will come up

How to Win

To win, your board needs to attract the most amount of Facebook Likes. In the picture, you can see the position of the Like button on your Pinboard. Get all your friends and family to click this, which registers as votes for your board.

People vote for your Pinboard by clicking Like here

Anybody can Like your page, they don’t have to have a Pinterest account, but they do need to be signed into Facebook. You can easily see how you’re going, with the Like counter showing how many people have voted for your Pinboard.

This page has received 3 votes

Some tips: The more appealing your list of products is, the more people will Like it! Do some marketing – tell everybody about your board, post it to forums and bulletin boards, tell everybody on Twitter – the more people who see your board, the better your chances of winning.

Happy Pinning!

If you have any issues setting up an account, or adding products to your Pinboard, please let me know in the comments below.

Because your frying pan is the most heavily used piece of cookware in your kitchen, small things like how heavy it feels, how it looks with your other cookware, and how easy it is to cook with make a big difference to your everyday experience in the kitchen. When you’re choosing a frying pan to buy, it’s important to know what certain features and materials mean for your final experience, and that’s what I’ll attempt to demystify here.

Frypan Names

Firstly, frypans go by a few different names. Besides frypan, fry pan and frying pan, you might also see skillet or French skillet. Attached to these names you might see ‘open’ or ‘covered’ – which just means if it comes with a lid or not – so you end up with “open French skillet“. While you will see differences in size and shape between brands, these names all mean the same thing; a standard flat pan with medium high sides, for frying in.

An Anolon "Open French Skillet", which is a perfectly normal frypan

Venturing out of the standard frying pan shape, you have modified frypan designs for different purposes or cooking styles. Some dishes, like crêpes and pancakes, are hard to serve over high sides, so a frypan with very low, almost non-existent, sides is called a crêpe pan. Other dishes, like curries, need even higher sides than a normal frypan, and a frypan with high, straight sides is called a sauté pan. To replicate BBQ-style grilling for steaks, fish and vegetables, some frypans have raised ribs on the base, and they’re called grill pans, skillet grills or griddles. None of these would really replace a frypan in your kitchen, but they make great supplements to your general purpose frying pan, either in addition or instead of a second or third fry pan.

A crepe pan is a modified frypan, with very low sides for sliding out crepes and pancakes

Non Stick Frying Pans

Few developments have changed cooking in the way that non-stick coatings have. While non-stick saucepans, stockpots and other cookware pieces are great, non-stick frypans are where you see the most benefits. You can use much less oil, food stirs and flips easily, and you don’t end up with burnt and destroyed food from simple miscalculations.

One of the most common questions about non-stick is, how do they get something that doesn’t stick, to stick to a pan? It was a difficult question for the original developers, too. The first to work out the process was the founder of Tefal in France, although PTFE was developed by DuPont many years earlier in the US. Simply, by ‘pitting’ the interior metal with lots of holes, there is more traction and surface area for the non-stick to grip onto. The other way is to layer non-stick surfaces of different ‘stickiness’, so the most sticky goes on the underlying metal, and progressively less sticky layers build up until the top, non-stick layer.

Non-stick pans make cooking so easy, and cleaning up is a cinch!

Of course, these days there are alternatives to the standard PTFE-based non-stick material. Often marketed as ‘green’ or ‘environmentally friendly’, PTFE-free non-stick is usually a ceramic or mineral based formulation, and can offer many benefits over traditional non-stick. Each one is different, but overall they tend to be better at conducting heat to food, more resistant to abrasion and peeling, and perform better at high temperatures.

Stainless Steel Pans

While non-stick fry pans are great, there are situations when cooking on stainless steel will yield better results. Think steaks, chicken, mushrooms – anything where you want really good browning. This browning is called the Maillard Reaction, and is a very complicated chemical reaction which breaks down the outside layers of proteins into other compounds, and is responsible for crispy brown colouring. All cooking, as long as it is hot enough, will produce Maillard browning, but stainless steel frypans produce a different type to non-stick – just as grilling does with its distinctive stripes of severe browning. This is probably because at the surface, stainless steel can get a lot hotter than non-stick, and it sears the surface of food directly.

Stainless steel pans are a little more difficult to use, but can yield fantastic results

There are ways to use stainless steel frying pans without destroying your food. Some tips include adding oil to a hot pan, and letting it get properly hot (just below smoking point) before adding food, and ensuring that food is spaced correctly in the pan helps. Food will stick and unstick through the cooking process, so if your food isn’t budging, turn down the heat and serve (or turn) once the food lets go. Of course, oil (and quite a bit of it) is necessary, but if you serve food individually rather than pouring food with the oil, you can leave much of it in the pan, and drain your food with kitchen paper to reduce the overall oil content before serving.

If you enjoy cooking with stainless steel, you can get away with having only stainless steel pans, but for most people a combination of stainless steel and non-stick pans is ideal, so you can choose the right pan for the job.

Other Fry Pans

Of course, it’s not all about non-stick vs stainless steel frypans, there are other types too! I recently wrote about cast iron cookware, which has an enamel cooking surface, sometimes considered a halfway point between the two. You can also find aluminium cookware, where you cook on aluminium instead of stainless steel, however this reacts with acidic foods like asparagus, tomatoes and wine, giving food a weird metallic flavour. For most cooking, however, either stainless steel or some kind of non-stick are the easiest way.

Materials

We use “stainless steel” as a shortcut for not-non-stick (you can see why!), but of course non-stick fry pans can be made of any material, including stainless steel. The underlying material of your cookware affects how light your frypan is in your hand, and how well it conducts heat.

Stainless steel by itself is heavy and conducts heat poorly. For this reason, you rarely see stainless steel used as a cookware material by itself, except in cheap and poor quality cookware – not something we’d sell at Le Domaine! Stainless steel frypans are usually made with bonded combinations of aluminium and/or copper, either just in the base or all the way through the sides (called clad or 3-ply cookware). 3-ply cookware is typically quite a bit more expensive than cookware with bonded bases, but they provide better heat performance.

Hard anodised is a type of aluminium, with a thick protective ‘crust’, and almost always non-stick surfaces. The biggest advantage of hard anodised frypans is that they are very strong, while still being lightweight and conducting heat well. Unlike stainless steel which can bump and dent, ‘hard’ anodised aluminium takes a lot more to bend out of shape. On its own, hard anodised aluminium will not work with induction cooktops, however many new brands are now made with a stainless steel base plate so they will work on induction. This base plate can add to the weight of a hard anodised frypan, so if you know you’re going to be sticking with gas, you might as well try and find a pan without it.

Aluminium is very much like hard anodised, except that it isn’t as strong. Aluminium by itself is more of a hobby cooking material, because of how it reacts with food and the care and maintenance it requires. Consumer friendly aluminium frypans are protected with a hard enamel exterior, so they won’t dent and bend, and a non-stick interior which is easy to cook on. The same note about induction compatibility applies here; look for a steel baseplate if you need induction, otherwise look for a frypan without one.

Aluminium frypans provide excellent performance, and with non-stick and enamel exteriors make for easy cooking

Enamelled Cast Iron frypans provide a very different cooking experience to stainless steel and aluminium. Cast iron takes a long time to heat up, but once it gets hot it can get very, very hot! Warming them up with boiling water before use will help, and once they’re hot use them for searing steaks, cooking fish and even roasting in the oven. You probably wouldn’t use a cast iron frypan every day, but if you’re after a different cooking experience it can be extremely rewarding.

Cast iron frypans provide a unique cooking experience

Choosing the Best Fry Pan!

I hope this guide has given you some help in choosing your ideal frying pan. Start looking to see what’s available, which features appeal to you, and what fits with your budget, and it might just be the case that it all comes down to one!

If you’re still not sure about certain terms, or need help choosing between one design and another, please ask me in the comments below and I’ll help you out.

Free delivery on boxed cats! | Image credit: Flickr user mava

Over the past 18 months, Le Domaine has grown substantially. Our product range (the amount of different products), and our volume (how many of each product we sell) has increased so much, that we have outgrown our warehouse. This means that it’s time to move!

Unfortunately, moving this many products is a significant challenge, and means that deliveries are going to be delayed until we set up at our shiny new warehouse. How long exactly this is going to take, we can’t say, but our tentative estimate is one week until we are back up and running.

Firstly, please accept our sincere apologies for this disruption. If you have ordered a product that will be delayed, and cannot accept a delay, please get in touch with us to obtain a full refund. All orders from and including Saturday the 12th of May are subject to this disruption.

Secondly, to make up for this delay, we will be offering FREE SHIPPING ON ALL ORDERS, across the board. All orders, whether they are for $1 or $10,000, will receive free shipping until we are back on track with our deliveries.

Image credit: Flickr user toolstop

Our shop at Drummoyne (in Sydney) will continue to operate as normal, any and all products currently in stock at the shop are available for purchase and pick up. Unfortunately, all of our warehouse stock is tied up, so we are unable to ship additional products to the store for pick up – at least until we are back on track with normal deliveries. Please contact us if you wish to make a purchase from our shop, or if you’re local – come and say hi!

Image credit: Flickr user PinkMoose

With our storewide free shipping offer, now is a great time to order something small from Le Domaine. So long as you don’t mind waiting, you can order a little something for $20, $10 or even $5, and no matter where you live in Australia delivery is free to your door. Where normally $10 shipping would make the purchase pointless, now you can buy a little citrus reamer, grater or pastry brush, and only pay the cost of the item. To see our selection of cute little cheapies, visit our Relocation Special page.

Update 04/06/2012

Very happy to report that the move has been finalised, and orders have begun to be dispatched this morning. We’re going to be working overtime to work through the backlog, but even recent orders will be on their way soon!
Again, thank you everybody for your patience and understanding during the move. We unreservedly apologise for the delays and disruptions, it took far longer than we could ever have anticipated. It should all be worth it, we’re definitely looking forward to delivering much better stock availability, product range and service with our shiny new warehouse!

How do Pressure Cookers Work?

Pressure cookers are made up of two parts: the cooking vessel, which doesn’t look much different to a standard cooking pot, and the lid, which is usually full of all kinds of dials, levers, locks and handles. As you’d expect by looking at it, the lid of a pressure cooker is where the magic is. The lid of a pressure cooker creates a very tight seal, trapping steam in the vessel beneath while pressure builds and builds inside the cooker. The lid incorporates some safety features, such as pressure release valves to regulate pressure to a safe amount, as well as features to set the desired pressure for cooking, and depressurising and unlocking the cooker when it’s time to open and serve.

It’s no surprise that pressure has a lot to do with why pressure cooking is different to standard cooking, but what does this mean? A pressurised environment is created in a pressure cooker by adding water, which boils and creates steam. As the steam builds up, pressure increases, and both the water and evaporated steam increase in temperature – up to around 120°C. In normal circumstances water won’t increase in temperature above 100°C. However, it’s not just the elevated water temperature that causes faster and more intense cooking, it’s also the way wet steam is forced into food under pressure, breaking down fibres much more quickly than boiling water can by itself.

Are Pressure Cookers Safe?

Due to the high pressures involved in pressure cooking, explosion is a risk if the pressure is not regulated effectively. Normally, pressure is regulated through the main pressure regulator, but in cases where this is not functional, or is blocked with food, pressure can build up to intolerable levels. Luckily, all modern pressure cookers are required by law to have multiple redundant pressure release valves. This means that even if the main pressure regulator breaks, and even if one (or two) of the safety valves break at the same time, there will still be other release valves to depressurise the cooker safely.
Certain foods aren’t suitable for pressure cooking, because of the way they expand and froth up, potentially blocking the pressure regulator. This includes dumplings, oatmeal, cranberries and macaroni – although they can be added to a final recipe and cooked with the lid off safely. Again, even if these foods were to block the pressure regulator, there are usually at least three other safety valves to prevent problems.

What are the benefits of using a pressure cooker?

Pressure cookers replicate the effects of long, slow simmering, but in roughly one third of the time. By using superheated water and pressurised steam, connective tissue in meat is broken down, hard unsoaked beans become tender and fully cooked, and even large amounts of meat like whole chickens cook all the way through – all usually within half an hour to 45 minutes.

Speediness isn’t the only advantage, however! Pressure cooking requires far less water than normal boiling, so flavours and nutrients that leach into water are better preserved within the food. Further, because food is cooked together in a sealed environment, aromas and flavours from herbs, vegetables, stock and meat juices all infuse together, instead of evaporating into the air while you cook. This results in fully flavoured, more nutritious food, that is ready to be eaten sooner!

What is an electric pressure cooker?

The NewWave 5 in 1 Multicooker is an electric pressure cooker

While most pressure cookers are stovetop, which means they use the heat from your gas, electric or induction cooker, you can buy pressure cookers that work like an electrical appliance, using their own source of heat.

An electric pressure cooker will usually have a wider range of features and options, and may even sport an LCD display, with integrated timer, temperature and pressure settings. Some electric pressure cookers even work as slow cookers, rice cookers and soup makers as well – simply by adjusting their heat and pressure allowances – which is great if a particular recipe would work better slow cooked over 5 hours rather than speedily pressure cooked in 45 minutes.

What are some good pressure cooker recipes?

Pressure cooking is a different type of cooking, and that means that you will need to learn some different cooking techniques and use different recipes. For this reason, most pressure cookers come with a basic recipe book, containing essential dishes you can build on later.

There are a wide variety of foods you can make in a pressure cooker. From roast chicken pressure cooker recipes, cooking a whole chicken in under 45 minutes, to vegetarian recipes, with dried beans and no soaking required, a good pressure cooker recipe will take best advantage of the unique cooking properties of a pressure cooker.

The essential steps of pressure cooking is to brown, sauté and stir your starting ingredients, just on the base of the open pressure cooker like you would with any other pot. You then add vegetables, spices and some water to your browning meat, pop the lid on and select the required pressure setting. Some recipes make use of the steamer basket included in many pressure cookers, which keeps food off the base of the pressure cooker so it is only cooked by the pressurised steam, and not the water in the base of the pot.

Recommended Pressure Cooker Recipes

Pressure Cooker Whole Chicken

Pressure Cooker Beef Stew

Zucchini and Chickpea Curry

Pressure Cooker Reviews

Le Domaine sells pressure cookers from three brands, Tefal, Baccarat and Fagor, as well as electric pressure cookers from NewWave. Here I will explain a little about the features of each brand, to help you make a decision about which pressure cooker is for you.

Common Features

Before I talk about what features each pressure cooker brand sports, I should cover the features they all share.
Bonded bases: All pressure cookers stocked by Le Domaine feature bonded stainless steel and aluminium bases. Aluminium provides improved heat conduction compared to stainless steel alone, and prevents uneven hot and cold spots.
Induction compatibility: All these brands are suitable with induction cooktops.
Safety features: As mentioned before, all pressure cookers must have basic safety features. Pressure cookers must have locks which prevent opening before depressurising, and multiple redundant safety pressure release valves.
Included steaming basket: Many pressure cooker recipes call for the use of a steaming basket. Be assured that all our pressure cookers come with these as standard.

Fagor Pressure Cookers

Fagor pressure cookers are stylish, understated and very heavy duty

Fagor is a very well known name in the commercial kitchen world. The favoured choice of restaurant chefs and professionals, Fagor pressure cookers are made in Spain, and are fuss free, heavy duty and very reliable. With dual pressure settings, you can use recipes that call for intense pressure cooking or slower and less intense pressure. Choose a Fagor pressure cooker if you are experienced with pressure cookers – if you’re brand new, consider a brand with an easy release lid.

Browse Fagor Pressure Cookers

Tefal Pressure Cookers

Tefal Control Plus pressure cookers have easy to release lids, with a detachable timer!

Tefal pressure cookers are unique for their very easy to use, one-touch opening mechanism, which is great for both first time users and experienced owners. With folding handles, dual pressure settings, and high quality French-made construction, Tefal pressure cookers are considered some of the best in the consumer market. For really easy to use operation, the Tefal Acticook range of pressure cookers also sport a removable timer. This timer starts counting down once pressure inside the vessel has reached the desired amount, and is able to be removed from the lid and carried around with you.

Browse Tefal Pressure Cookers

NewWave Pressure Cookers

NewWave Multicookers function as pressure cookers, as well as a range of other appliances

Browse NewWave Kitchen Appliances

Campbell's Soup Cans by Andy Warhol | Image credit: Flickr user dnak

In modern life we tend to ignore the seasons passing, especially with our food. Modern agriculture (and Australia’s stable climate) mean that seasonal variations – once so important for what would be made for dinner every night – now don’t impact our food choices much at all. The abundance of summer fruit disappears from our shelves, but besides that most of what we eat is available all year round.

Of course, all of this is mostly for the good. I’m certainly not advocating a return to agrarian seasonal dependence and annual winter scurvy, but there’s something nice about being connected with the seasonal variations happening around us. Learn about what’s in season, brush up on your classic winter recipes, and embrace winter for everything it has!

What’s in Season?

Unless you’re a gardener, you might not know what is in season over winter, so let me give you a bit of a guide.

Fruit

Imperial Mandarins – While you might be able to find some hard-skinned, bitter mandarins throughout the year, winter is when the supermarket starts overflowing with sweet, juicy and delicious Imperial mandarins. Have them for breakfast, take them to work, add them to salads, eat them on the bus – just eat as many as you can before they go away again!

Imperial mandarins are one of winter's great pleasures | Image credit: Flickr user Tanaka Juuyoh

Pears – Pears are available from late summer, but it’s not until late autumn and winter when you can find the juicy and delicious Beurre Bosc & Packham pears. Don’t eat these on the bus, but they are amazing in salads.
Navel Oranges – Seedless, slightly but delightfully bitter and easy to peel, a bowl of sliced up navel oranges is a treat in the mostly fruitless winter.

Vegetables

Leafy Greens – Where a lot of people get scared with green leafy vegetables if that they need to be cooked, with recipes and other ingredients – these aren’t salad greens for throwing together. However, try your luck with a silverbeet pie, spinach quiche and kale soup and you’ll honestly be wishing next summer away. A great alternative to the usual potato-heavy winter slog.

Tough and dark green raw, kale is deliciously tender and meaty in soups | Image credit: Flickr user B*2

Parsnip – You’ll either love it or hate it. Once only put up with as one of the few vegetables that grow in winter, it has an odd sweet-spicy flavour that adds something extra to mashed potatoes and roasted veges. Cook like you would a carrot, but flavour match with rich flavours of meat and seafood.

Similar to a carrot, parsnips have a strong sweet-spicy flavour | Image credit: Flickr user little blue hen

Swede – Don’t mistake it for a turnip (although your supermarket might), swedes are round and look very similar, except for their white-and-yellow colouring instead of the turnip’s white-and-purple. Nicely sweet and inoffensive, they boil and roast just like potatoes to add some extra flavour, and last forever in your fridge.
Celeriac – A very odd root vegetable, celeriac can be used like cabbage in soups, stews and coleslaw, or like potato in mashes, roasts and bakes. With a flavour somewhere between parsley and celery, celeriac goes well with all those creamy delicious winter comfort foods.

A fairly ugly looking vegetable, celeriac cleans up nicely and has a subtle flavour, somewhere between parsley and celery | Image credit: Flickr user cliff1066(tm)

Broccoli, cauliflower & Brussels sprouts – The so called ‘cruciferous vegetables’, these sulphurous veges are very good for you, and don’t taste so bad once you’re used to them! Containing a whole host of vitamins, nutrients and cancer fighting compounds, smother with butter and plenty of seasoning if you need to, but try and get them on your plate while they’re fresh and delicious!

Love them or hate them, Brussels Sprouts keep on getting the tick from health experts! | Image credit: Flickr User pin add

Other

Hass Avocado – The most common avocado, Hass begins with winter and is available until the end of spring. An important part of Japanese dishes, and divine paired with chicken, bacon or both, now’s the time to start adding avocado to almost everything while they’re at their best.
Macadamia Nuts – Nuts usually store pretty well, but stale macadamias are a real misery. Buy them fresh in late autumn and early winter and enjoy their fresh, oily crunchiness in salads, in your muesli or freshly cracked and munched by the handful.

Fresh macadamia nuts are hard to crack, but make a rewarding treat | Image credit: Flickr user tatters:)

What’s on the Menu?

When you think of winter-specific meals, you think of rich, comforting foods that defrost your fingers and warm your cockles. Unfortunately for us, comforting usually means heavy, fatty and, at least, loaded with salt. Something about meat, potatoes, cheesy bakes and salty soups fill that hole in your stomach created by rain and cold winds. Here is a brief overview of what makes up a good winter meal plan, and some tips to keep it healthy.

Soups

A very delicious Japanese dumpling soup called Suiton, flavoured by kombu | Image credit: Flickr user Rubyran

The winter equivalent of a salad. Where salads are fresh and cooling in summer, soups warm you up quickly and make you feel really at home. Just like salads, soups vary from a light side dish or entree, to a full main with plenty of meat and vegetables. Enormous amounts of salt (or mostly-salt stock cubes) are usually used to make a soup taste “hearty”, but there are other ways to give a soup weight. Try using an instant Japanese dashi stock, dried kombu seaweed or shiitake mushrooms; these work by giving a salt-like flavour called unami, which activates the glutamate flavour receptors on your tongue. Ingredients like canned tomatoes, celery and even anchovies can also provide big flavour without needing to overdose on salt.

Recommended Recipes
No-salt-added Vegetable or Chicken Soup
Kale and Roasted Vegetable Soup
Mushroom & Kombu Dashi Soup

Stews

A tagine tastes best when it's cooked in a tagine!

The name ‘stew’ covers a wide range of dishes, including bouillabaisse, cassoulet, tagines, goulash, ragout, chilli con carne, ratatouille, compote, etc., etc., etc. They’re an easy combination of meat and vegetables, normally served with bread, rice or cous cous. Stews are excellent for making a big batch of, then storing in the freezer to eat over the week. They’re also a great way to incorporate more veges into your diet, although meat and potatoes is an easy route. Fish stew is an unappealing name, but call it a bouillabaisse (pronounced buyebais) and you’ll love the classic seafood and tomato flavour combination.

Recommended Recipes
Beef and Pear Tagine
Bouillabaisse Recipe
Chilli con Carne with Chocolate

Casseroles

Casseroles make fantastic cold weather food. Full of big flavours, a chicken of beef casserole served with fluffy mashed potato is the perfect dish to come home to after a cold day out. Cheap and usually fairly easy to put together, from slow cooker casseroles, baked casseroles, stovetop casseroles and super quick pressure cooker casseroles, poor quality cuts of meat are made tender and delicious, and most of the cooking time is simply combining and letting simmer. Baked casseroles, especially gratins and creamy bakes, are usually very high in fat and simple carbohydrates. Instead, look for simple, stew-like beef and potato casserole recipes, or try a tasty tomato-based Mediterranean chicken casserole.

Recommended Recipes
Mediterranean Chicken Casserole
Beef Casserole
Hearty Chicken Casserole

Pot Roasts

Zinfandel Pot Roast with Glazed Carrots & Fresh Sage | Image (and recipe) credit: Flickr user whitneyinchicago

Great for a cold, winter Sunday, a pot roast is time consuming but very rewarding dish. A classic braised beef and vegetable dish, pot roasts are all about long cooking times and flavour. Best with inexpensive cuts of beef like bolar or brisket, and classic winter veges like celery, potatoes and onion, pot roasts work best in a nice cast iron French oven or special Pot Roast dish. The pot roast is one of those very flexible base dishes, so get a good standard recipe and swap in whatever looks good and is on hand.

Recommended Recipes
Basic Beef Pot Roast
Zinfandel Pot Roast with Glazed Carrots & Fresh Sage

Le Creuset Kitchen Sessions with Joseph Lenn – Roasted Chicken

Buy Essteele, win Gucci!

For lovers of great Italian style, Essteele has a head-turner of a competition for you!
When you buy any Essteele cookware, between the 11th of May to the 1st of July 2012 (inclusive), you can go into the draw to win one of three fantastic Gucci prizes!

• First prize is a Gucci handbag, valued at $1050
• Second prize is a Gucci wallet, valued at $440
• Third prize is a bottle of Gucci perfume, valued at $164

An entry form will be included in your parcel when you order Essteele cookware from Le Domaine. This contains the terms and conditions for the competition, it is recommended you enter online at the Essteele website, no later than the 9th of July.

When you are asked for store details, please enter store “Le Domaine” and staff name “Jarrod Booth”. Without a store or staff name your entry may be invalid. If you do win, you’ll be required to present your tax invoice, which is emailed to you. Don’t delete it!

1st Prize - Gucci Handbag worth $1050

2nd Price - Gucci Wallet worth $440

3rd Prize - Gucci Perfume worth $164

About Essteele

Just like Gucci, Essteele cookware is designed and manufactured in Italy, and epitomises Italian style in cookware. Beautifully styled in 18/10 stainless steel, with accents of copper and black silicone, Essteele cookware adds a touch of elegance to your kitchen – and is very enjoyable to use! Choose Essteele Australis for a versatile range of saucepans and frypans, and Essteele Bellissimo for beautifully shaped casserole pots.

Please note: Competition held by Meyer Cookware Australia Pty Ltd. All entries must be received by the 9th of July 2012. NSW Permit No. LTPS/12/01911, ACT Permit No. ACT TP 12/00967. Full terms and conditions available on competition pamphlet, included in your order, or at www.essteele.com.au

I know it’s more than a little cheesy when design companies talk about changing the world through design, so I’m not going to say that Joseph Joseph are going to change the world. They might change your world though, if even just a little!

A big spread of Joseph Joseph products

Joseph Joseph are a UK-based group, who make really nice little tools for the kitchen. In vibrant colours and unique designs, a little Joseph Joseph something can really brighten up a kitchen. Ranging from the mundane to the exotic, kitchen tools from Joseph Joseph generally just look better, work better and make life in the kitchen better.

The Joseph Joseph Nest Set with mixing bowls, colander, sieve and measuring cups

The first thing about Joseph Joseph is that they don’t design everything they sell. This might sound odd at first, because their entire product line has a distinct, and certainly very coherent look and feel. Joseph Joseph work by commissioning designers and design agencies to create different products – the Unitool is designed by Derek Roberts, for instance, while the Pie kitchen timer is a creation of DesignWright. This allows for a good scope of variation within the Joseph Joseph design ethos, so you can choose between Morph’s Elevate utensils or Studio 17′s Nest utensils, and either way still have really trendy utensils!

Joseph Joseph Index - Food safety colours made fun!

The most popular, and widely recognised, product is the Joseph Joseph Index chopping board system. An entirely new approach to keeping, storing and using chopping boards, Joseph Joseph achieved the impossible with this product – making people use food safety colours! Those awful warped plastic chopping boards in school weren’t ever going to convince people, but by ‘filing’ your chopping boards by use – raw meat, cooked meat, seafood and vegetables – you can’t help but love being food safety smart! There are a few variations in colours and sizes, and one set even includes matching knives to go with the boards, but it’s the underlying concept of Joseph Joseph Index that seems to have captured our imagination.

Also a favourite, the Joseph Joseph Nest mixing bowl sets are great for anybody who loves baking. A visually stunning design, the different colours of the nested bowls create a rainbow of concentric circles. Keeping lots of different products, be they measuring cups, mixing bowls, juicers, colanders or sieves, all in together, Nest sets work against the awful clutter of kitchen cupboards.

Behind all Joseph Joseph kitchenware there is a certain feeling, that a product doesn’t only have the singular purpose of doing what it does, but also solves a wider problem of how you work in the kitchen. Sometimes it’s as simple as presenting well, like the Joseph Joseph Flo Oil & Vinegar Set, which can be kept close to hand instead of hiding away and never being used. Other times, a product is completely different to everything else on the market, like the Joseph Joseph Rocker Garlic Crusher, which provides a decent alternative for people who can’t or don’t want to use the normal garlic crusher design. Even the Joseph Joseph Scoop Colander, which is simply a modified serving spoon, addresses the real problem of pouring potfulls of hot water into the sink through a colander. You can then use the hot water for something else, without having to boil from cold again, or wait to tip it out after it has cooled down and is safer to handle. With Joseph Joseph, you don’t just get nice looking, comfortable to hold gadgets, tools and utensils, you get a better way of doing things in the kitchen. And maybe that does change the world!

Buying a new cookware set usually goes along with major life events; moving out of home, getting married, renovating or buying a new home. Choosing the right cookware set is hardly the most important decision you have to make in these times of your life, but it is something worth putting thought into to make life easier in the long term. These are the pots and pans you’re going to be spending a lot of time with, and so if they perform well and last the distance, your everyday cooking will benefit greatly.

À la carte or table d’hote?

The first choice when buying new cookware is whether to buy individual pieces from a range of different brands and materials, or to buy everything as one unified cookware set. Both approaches have their benefits and their own drawbacks, which I’ll explain briefly.

Mix and Match Approach

• Flexibility across cookware types: You might want mostly stainless steel pots and pans, but a non-stick stockpot for making stew.
• Specialty products: A Jamie Oliver fry pan and Le Creuset French Oven make a great pair, but you won’t find them together in a cookware set!
• Brands without cookware sets: GreenPan, Le Creuset and other big brands don’t have cookware sets, but it doesn’t mean that you wouldn’t want a kitchen full of their cookware

Buying a Cookware Set

• Consistency: When all your cookware pieces are made of the same material, you’ll better understand how they work with heat and how they cook
• Coherent look and feel: Matching cookware looks great, and all the pieces will have the same cleaning and maintenance needs
• Cost savings: The same cookware pieces in a cookware set will cost more if they’re bought separately, so if you are buying the exact contents of a cookware set, go with the set!

The 6 Piece Anolon Advanced Cookware Set is a popular choice

Types of Cookware Sets

All cookware sets are slightly different, not just in the design or materials used, but also in the number of pieces and the types of cookware included.
It may sound obvious, but it’s important to check exactly what is included in a cookware set. If there’s a piece that you’re not going to use, you may be better off buying the pieces individually, or choosing a more suitable cookware set from another brand.

Overall, there are three major types of cookware sets. Complete cookware sets, which aim to cover most of your pots and pans, Starter cookware sets, which include only the basics, and Saucepan sets, which contain just saucepans and pots.

Tefal Ingenio Cookware Sets can go anywhere!

Starter Cookware Sets

Starter cookware sets are ideal for a few different situations. If you already have cookware, but certain pots and pans are burning out, a small cookware set with a few essentials is a great way to inject new life into your cooking. They’re also great as – surprise! – a starter set, a beginning place to build onto with individual pieces, either all in the one purchase or over time as you work out what you need.

Featured Starter Cookware Sets

• Circulon Steel Elite 3 Piece Cookware Set – Contains Saucepan, Fry pan and Wok. What more could you need?
• Tefal Ingenio 4 Piece Cookware Set – A compact nesting cookset for narrow places. Includes a shallow dish and deep dish, with interchangeable handle and glass lid.
• All-Clad Stainless Steel Starter Set – The largest fry pan and saucepan from the range, so you can have a little All-Clad luxury and use them all the time!

Complete Cookware Sets

An easy way to get everything at once, complete cookware sets are the best option for filling empty cupboards, or just replacing everything and starting over. Depending on how and what you cook, even complete cookware sets might not have everything you need, but if they cover the majority of your needs then you’re already ahead in cost savings. The ‘skeleton’ of a complete cookware set is two frying pans, two saucepans and a big pot, but most sets offer a slight deviation from this formula, replacing one of the fry pans with a chef’s pan for instance, or adding an extra sauté pan.
If you do need to add extra cookware to a complete cookware set, buy it at the same time and, if possible, from the same brand. That way the extra pieces still work and perform the same as the rest of the set.

Featured Complete Cookware Sets

• Anolon Advanced 6 Piece Cookware Set – An all time favourite, with all the basics plus a nice large sauté pan, all in a cost effective package.
• Jamie Oliver Anodised 6 Piece Cookware Set - With the unique pot roast and wokpan, the Jamie Oliver cookware set gives you those specialty pieces you normally have to buy separately.
• Circulon Infinite 5 Piece Cookware Set – A striking cookware set in non-stick black and chunky stainless steel highlights, with Circulon’s unique non-stick.
• Essteele Bellissimo 5 Piece Cookware Set – Three stunning Italian stainless steel pots, with non-stick frypan and stylish roaster.

The 5 Piece Jamie Oliver Stainless Steel Pots and Pans set is a classic complete cookware set

Saucepan Sets

Most cookware sets contain two saucepans, but ideally a well stocked kitchen should have three; in small, medium and large. A saucepan set is a great way to get all three at once, in a consistent style and more affordable package. Use a saucepan set to start building your cookware collection, using a pick and mix approach for your other cookware, or to replace the most heavily used ‘core’ of your kitchen and keep your other existing pots and pans.

Featured Saucepan Sets

• Le Creuset 3-Ply Stainless Steel Saucepan Set – Utterly luxurious 3-Ply stainless steel, and helper handles on even the smallest saucepan! Larger than normal pots provide a little extra room, across all sizes.
• Jamie Oliver Stainless Steel Copper Saucepan Set – Three beautiful Jamie Oliver saucepans, with the excellent heat performance of copper inlaid in their bases.
• Raco Contemporary 3 Piece Cookware Set – An affordable trio of stainless steel saucepans, with handy glass lids so you can see how food is cooking without releasing heat and steam.
• Baccarat Capri Stainless Steel 3 Piece Saucepan Set - Very stylish stainless steel pots, with flat glass lids, internal measurements and an elegant two-toned exterior.

Small, medium and large; the Baccarat set contains three beautiful stainless steel saucepans

Other Considerations

If cookware isn't induction compatible, it simply won't heat up on induction stoves!

Of course, when you’re choosing a cookware set, the same considerations arise when buying any cookware. Do you like to have all your cookware non-stick? Or do you like to mix stainless steel saucepans with non-stick fry pans? Do you want the lightweight strength of hard anodised? Or is the beauty of stainless steel pots and pans more appealing?

Induction compatibility is one of the big questions – even if you have gas or electric hobs now, you might renovate or move sometime in the future and find yourself with an induction stove. Thankfully, most brands now have induction compatible cookware sets. However if you’re sure you’re always going to have gas, it might not be worth the extra weight of induction metal base plates, so you can look for a lightweight non-induction compatible cookware set.

Another consideration is dishwasher cleaning. Of course, all cookware is better out of the dishwasher, but some hard anodised cookware especially may be damaged beyond repair by them. Even if you don’t intend on using your dishwasher all the time, if there are going to be times when you do, ensure the cookware is listed as ‘dishwasher safe’.

In the end, once you narrow down and think about your preferences, one cookware set will come out above all others. And if you are caught deciding between two, just go with whatever looks better for you – after all, you’ll be spending a lot of time with them!

So you don’t have to decide between doing something nice or getting something nice for your Mum this Mother’s Day, Tefal are offering a 2 for 1 Pamper Pass on all Tefal purchases over $50.

The 2 for 1 Pamper Pass entitles the holder to a free treatment at a beauty salon, when another treatment is purchased at the same time. Treatments include message, facial, manicure, pedicure, waxing and other indulgent treats. The 2 for 1 pass means you can take your Mum for free and just pay for yourself, or give the Pamper Pass to your Mum, and she can have one of two treatments on the same day for free! The best part is, the 2 for 1 Pamper Pass is valid for unlimited use for 6 months, so your Mum can be pampered well past Mother’s Day just like she deserves.

How it Works

1. Spend over $50 on Tefal products (in one transaction) between 1st April 2012 and 31st May 2012
2. Complete the entry form, available to download from the Tefal website (PDF)
3. Enter your Pamper Pass number here to find participating beauty salons
4. Book your indulgent treatment with the salon, and take your special Pamper Pass along with you on the day!

Full terms and conditions are available on the Tefal website. To start browsing for indulgent Tefal products, all eligible products are sorted by range below.

Tefal Cookware, Pressure Cookers & Electrical Appliances

Jamie Oliver by Tefal
Including Jamie Oliver Hard Anodised Induction and Jamie Oliver Stainless Steel with Copper, Tefal’s Jamie Oliver cookware range is a very well loved brand. Please note that Jamie Oliver Kitchenware is not made by Tefal and hence is not included in this promotion.

Tefal Intensives
Perfect with non-stick cookware, utensils in the Tefal Intensives range will not scratch or damage delicate surfaces. Featuring the unique Thermo-Ring, Intensives utensils can rest on the hot rim of cookware without melting!

Tefal Electrical

From their first invention of the non-stick frypan in 1956, Tefal has pioneered innovation in home cooking. Tefal electrical appliances feature clever and unique features that make life easier, but the first thing you’ll notice is that they’re very well designed. From stylish toasters to compact purpose specific appliances, Tefal appliances are a joy to use and keep around.

Tefal Pressure Cookers
With advanced safety features and super easy to unlock lids, Tefal Clipso are some of the easiest pressure cookers to own and use. Ideal for creating delicious cold weather meals in no time at all, pressure cooking uses high pressure steam to cook food. The result is wonderfully tender meat, gorgeous infused flavours and all the results of slow cooking, all created in far less time than standard stovetop pots.

Tefal Ingenio
With a clever, stackable design, Tefal Ingenio pots and pans are perfect for camping, caravans and small cupboards. Featuring interchangeable handles and lids and space saving form factors, you can enjoy good quality cookware no matter where you are.

Tefal Masterchef
Good quality, affordable cookware with stainless steel style, Tefal Masterchef will inspire a passion for home cooking. Featuring Tefal advanced non-stick surfaces, and Thermospot so you know just when the pan is hot enough to start cooking, you don’t need to be a Masterchef contestant to cook good food at home with Tefal.

Tefal Specifics Frypans
Affordable, cast aluminium cookware that is lightweight and versatile enough for everyday use. Tefal Specifics is protected by a durable enamel exterior to resist bumps and dints, and coated with Tefal’s own Expert Pro non-stick interior. Expert Pro is durable against metal utensils, and makes food release for serving and washing up effortless.

How to Enter

First, you need to buy something for Mother’s Day! Although cookware makes a great Mother’s Day gift, you can buy anything from across our store to be eligible. You can start by browsing our Mother’s Day Gift Guide.

Second, you need to tell us about it! Email your order number to love@ledomaine.com.au. You can find your order number in your confirmation email, and on your My Account page.

Third, to make it a contest, we need an entry from you. In your email to us, tell us a bit about your Mum and your Mother’s Day gift. You can tell us what you’re celebrating about Mother’s Day this year, the reason behind your gift choice, or something interesting about your Mum. There’s no word limit, so feel free to be as brief or in depth as you like!

Judging: The winner will be decided on the quality of the entry, not by random selection. The most interesting entry, the most inspiring story or the most fascinating insight will win the prize. The last entry will be accepted Friday the 11th of May, and the winner announced on Mother’s Day 13th May 2012.

Rules

1. Entries are accepted via email to love@ledomaine.com.au
2. Your email must include your Order Number and a short written entry
3. Entries accepted between Friday 20th April and Friday 11th May, inclusive
4. The order associated with your entry must have been made between the 10th of April and the 11th of May inclusive, and must be in the entrant’s name
5. Your entry may be anything Mother’s Day related; why you bought a particular product for Mother’s Day, a story about your mother, or a Mother’s Day experience
6. Judging will be done by the Le Domaine team. Judging is based on the creativity of the entry and how interesting the story is, not the details of your order. Judges decision is final
7. Prize is 1x Anolon Advanced Clad 5 Piece Cookware Set, valued at $599.95. Delivery address will be confirmed with the winner. Postage and all other associated costs are covered by Le Domaine
8. Any questions? Ask us at love@ledomaine.com.au

The Prize

Up for grabs is one very nice Anolon Advanced Clad 5 Piece Cookware Set, valued at $599.95. With unbeatable clad performance and stainless steel good looks, Anolon Advanced Clad is the kind of cookware that works well and looks good in any kitchen. Induction compatible and safe to use in the dishwasher, there aren’t any special requirements to keep in mind, and the 3-ply construction of stainless steel and aluminium delivers top class heat performance that everybody will appreciate.

Containing two saucepans, two non-stick frypans and a nice big stockpot, the Anolon Advanced Clad Cookware Set is comprehensive enough to replace all the most important cookware pieces in a kitchen. However, because it includes only the essential pieces, there’s no unnecessary clutter, and leaves plenty of room for additional specialty pieces.

Cookware Set Contains

• 16cm/1.9L Saucepan with Lid
• 18cm/2.8L Saucepan with Lid
• 24cm/5.7L Stockpot with Lid
• 20cm Non-stick Open French Skillet
• 24cm Non-stick Open French Skillet

Returns

If you bought cookware for your Mum this Mother’s Day, we know that a whole new cookware set might make your thoughtful gift a little redundant! Luckily for that, Le Domaine believes that you should “keep what you love”, and we pay for all returns for all reasons. It doesn’t matter if your brother bought the same thing for Mum, if you made a mistake when you chose it, or if you won a certain Mother’s Day contest, so long as the product hasn’t been used you’re free to return it and obtain a full refund. Return postage is on us, and the cash goes straight back to your credit card or PayPal account – no store credit. You can organise your return on the My Account page, you don’t even need to call!