• Meat

Parsley and coriander lamb chops recipe

We love lamb chops. The high fat content in the lamb takes on the flavours of the zesty lamb marinade paste beautifully, heightened again when the chops are charred on the barbecue. If you're looking for a quick meal, this one takes 15 minutes to prepare, and it works for a few mouths or many – just increase the number of chops and add a green salad.

• < 30 mins
• Darren Robertson and Mark LaBrooy

• Meat

Beef rendang recipe

This is a great curry, especially at this time of year, when there is plenty of fresh turmeric around. It is also an awesome way of using secondary cuts of meat, slowly cooked for maximum flavour. We often use a mix of cuts when making large amounts. Beef cheeks can work very well.

• 2 hrs +
• Darren Robertson and Mark LaBrooy

• Bread

Barbecued garlic naan recipe

This garlic naan bread doesn't just taste good, it's useful to mop up anything left on the plate.

• 30 mins - 1 hr
• Darren Robertson and Mark LaBrooy

• Savoury pies & tarts

Fennel and squash puff pastry galettes with pangrattato recipe

As much as we love making most things from scratch, this recipe calls for a good quality, store bought puff pastry. The pastries lend themselves to most vegies, so if you don't have squash then you can top with asparagus, pumpkin, sweet potato, zucchini or even more fennel. Pangrattato, otherwise known as the poor man's parmesan, is a terrific way to put your stale bread to use. It will provide a flavour hit and a welcome crunch.

• 30 mins - 1 hr
• Darren Robertson and Mark LaBrooy

• Pasta dish

Chorizo and vongole with squid ink pasta and prawn oil

This dish requires a few steps but is definitely worth the effort. Making shellfish oil captures the full flavour of the prawns and makes use of something that would generally be thrown away. Make the oil first, before the vongole, using every bit of the prawn shells including heads, legs and tails. The only bit to throw away is the black vein down the back of the prawns. Squid ink pasta can be bought from most good delis or health food shops.

• 30 mins - 1 hr
• Darren Robertson and Mark LaBrooy

• Salad

Rocket, pear and parmesan salad

• < 30 mins
• Darren Robertson and Mark LaBrooy

• Salad

Bitter leaves, lemon and capers

• < 30 mins
• Darren Robertson and Mark LaBrooy

• Savoury pies & tarts

Three Blue Ducks' slow-cooked lamb shoulder shepherd's pie

For our version of shepherd's pie, we slow-cook a lamb shoulder, shred it then bake it with potato mash on top. It's dead easy but does need a small amount of planning to cook the lamb overnight. We served it here with roasted carrots but beans, broccoli, brussels sprouts or cauliflower are good too. Ask your butcher for a lamb shoulder with the bone in as it will have more flavour than the boneless version, and the natural gelatin from the bones thickens the sauce.

• 2 hrs +
• Darren Robertson and Mark LaBrooy

• Salad

Shaved squash, zucchini, pea and mint salad

We like to freshen things up with a salad. This mint and pea salad goes perfectly with slow-cooked lamb shoulder.

• < 30 mins
• Darren Robertson and Mark LaBrooy

• Peas

Mixed grain dhal recipe

Dhal is simple to make and tastes even better the day after, so it makes a convenient, healthy, quick-reheat dinner for busy schedules. This version also contains a good variety of gluten-free grains, and the spice factor is medium so it's pretty approachable. We like to make the spice blend in bulk as it can be used in lots of dishes. You can use vegetable or chicken stock.

• 30 mins - 1 hr
• Darren Robertson and Mark LaBrooy