As the weather started to cool down, your stoves were heating up with spicy curries, hearty breakfast dishes and comforting bowls of pasta. You balanced things out nicely with some greens but dessert wasn’t entirely forgotten. Counting down from 30, here are your 2017 autumn favourites.
Chocolate cake with fudge icing
Chocolate cake with fudge icing
If you love chocolate, this cake is for you – it’s rich, dense and fudgy. We love to serve it with a glass of Pedro Ximénez as a seriously luxe dessert, but it’s also lovely for morning tea, lightened up with a dollop of whipped cream or crème fraîche and seasonal fruit.
The Henry Austin’s braised beef shin with grain salad and yoghurt sauce
The Henry Austin’s braised beef shin with grain salad and yoghurt sauce
The Henry Austin’s hearty braised beef shin is slow cooked until the meat is so tender it’s almost falling off the bone. Accompanied by their mixed grain salad and a herby yoghurt sauce, it’s a perfectly balanced and comforting meal.
Roast radish and potato salad
Roast radish and potato salad
Best served warm, this potato salad gets a boost from the flavourful lemon-butter dressing.
Turmeric chicken with cucumber salad
Turmeric chicken with cucumber salad
For maximum flavour cook this quick turmeric-spiced chicken on the barbecue – coal or wood will give the best result.
All-day noodles with fried egg and furikake
All-day noodles with fried egg and furikake
Why call this “all-day noodles”? Because we could eat these savoury strands for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and quite possibly for a snack at any other time. They’re quick and satisfying, which pretty much ticks all the boxes for us.
Chickpeas with steamed eggplant and almonds
Chickpeas with steamed eggplant and almonds
Steaming eggplant gives it a lovely silky texture and makes a lighter alternative to frying. The dressing can be made with a curry paste for extra spiciness.
Berber omelette
Berber omelette
This recipe is inspired by a Berber dish GT’s managing editor, Pat Nourse, had on tour in the Moroccan Sahara. It’s especially lovely cooked in a tagine, in which case the heat on the stovetop should only ever be gentle (a diffuser mat is handy for this) and the cooking times will be slightly longer. It’s delicious for brunch, lunch or dinner, and best served warm from the oven.
Coconut-macadamia-lime tart with mango
Coconut-macadamia-lime tart with mango
This is the ultimate do-ahead, no-guilt sweet treat, full of tropical flavours and perfect for summer. We’ve opted for mango, but papaya, banana, passionfruit or pineapple would also make great partners.
David Chang’s kimchi
David Chang’s kimchi
Traditionally, this Korean condiment is meant for storage not for immediate consumption however in this recipe, created by the Momofuku chef, speed is at the forefront. Don’t let that fool you into thinking this compromises achieving the best, most flavoursome kimchi possible though.
Ali nazik kebap
Ali nazik kebap
Just meat on a stick? Hardly. With a few pointers from Turkish chef Somer Sivrioglu, of Sydney’s Efendy restaurant, the humble kebab becomes so much more.
Carrot and almond hummus
Carrot and almond hummus
We love this speedy carrot and almond hummus as a dip, but it’s also excellent served with grilled chicken skewers and a herb salad for a more substantial meal.
Luca’s gnocchetti Sardi with pork and fennel sausage ragù, anchovy and mint
Luca’s gnocchetti Sardi with pork and fennel sausage ragù, anchovy and mint
Pork and fennel sausage finds a new life in Isaac McHale”s ragù, served here with dumpling-shaped gnocchetti Sardi. Anchovies add a small burst of umami.
O Tama Carey’s fried eggs with seeni sambol, coconut and turmeric
O Tama Carey’s fried eggs with seeni sambol, coconut and turmeric
O Tama Carey’s lattice-like fried eggs drowned in a creamy curry sauce are perfect for a hearty breakfast but work just as well at any time of day. Serve them topped with seeni sambol, a Sri Lankan sweet-spiced caramelised onion relish.
Curtis Stone’s yoghurt panna cotta with strawberries and rosewater
Curtis Stone’s yoghurt panna cotta with strawberries and rosewater
“Draining yoghurt turns it into labne, and its creamy thickness makes for the best panna cotta in this easy-as dessert – a beautiful match for rose-scented strawberries,” says Stone.
Ultra-green bowls
Ultra-green bowls
This mega-bowl of raw greens is the satisfying antidote to any summertime overindulgence. The Japanese-style cabbage-ginger pickle is quick to prepare and adds a kraut-like flavour to the dish without having to ferment the mixture for days on end. The dressing is a versatile little number, too – we love it as a dipping sauce for sashimi, which would also make a great addition to this dish.
Ruby’s Diner’s breakfast salad
Ruby’s Diner’s breakfast salad
Start your day on a refreshing note with the nourishment of Ruby’s Diner breakfast salad with poached eggs, avocado, kale, broccoli and other healthy herbs.
Leek, chorizo, cauliflower and chicken bake
Leek, chorizo, cauliflower and chicken bake
Punchy chorizo steals the show in this bake of cauliflower, chicken and leek, with hints of oregano adding some autumn flavours to this quick and tasty dinner.
Drink-your-greens smoothie
Drink-your-greens smoothie
Getting your five serves of fruit and vegetables a day just got a whole lot easier. Unlike a juice, this smoothie keeps all the fibre intact, and with less fruit than vegetables, it keeps sugar levels to a minimum.
Passionfruit and coconut slice
Passionfruit and coconut slice
This gluten-free coconut slice has a macadamia and cashew crust, matched with passionfruit for a tasty and crunchy tropical dessert.
Turmeric and coconut grilled prawns with mint and cucumber salad
Turmeric and coconut grilled prawns with mint and cucumber salad
The simple spiced coconut sauce adds a lot of flavour to barbecued prawns (or fish or chicken, for that matter). Vietnamese mint gives a beautiful lift, but this dish works just as well with other mints.
Labne and pistachio cheesecake
Labne and pistachio cheesecake
The luscious silky texture of this tangy cheesecake makes it irresistible – the fact it’s free of gluten and refined sugar is a bonus. We’ve topped ours with cherries, but berries would also work well.
Spelt, cashew and broccoli bowl with yoghurt dressing
Spelt, cashew and broccoli bowl with yoghurt dressing
This nicely textured spelt, cashew and broccoli salad transports well, making it ideal for picnics or to take to barbecues. The broccoli can be kept raw and shaved on a mandolin, too.
Blue Nile’s Ethiopian eggplant dip
Blue Nile’s Ethiopian eggplant dip
Served with mountain bread, the smoky eggplant flavour of Blue Nile’s Ethiopian eggplant dip is the perfect way to start your evening.
Cacao hazelnut and raspberry cake
Cacao hazelnut and raspberry cake
What’s not to love about the classic combo of dark chocolate and hazelnuts? In this dairy-free, gluten-free cake, the chocolatey goodness comes in the form of raw cacao, while rich rapadura sugar adds depth of flavour and a handful or two of raspberries cuts through the richness.
Caramelised pumpkin, corn and lentil bowl
Caramelised pumpkin, corn and lentil bowl
Brightly coloured pumpkin, corn and lentils makes for a lunch dish that tastes as good as it looks.
Chocolate-peanut butter popcorn bars
Chocolate-peanut butter popcorn bars
Popcorn, peanut butter and bitter chocolate combine in this no-bake, salty-sweet treat that’s greater than the sum of its parts. It will keep for up to a week in the fridge, but odds are that it won’t last that long.
The Unicorn Hotel’s chicken schnitzel and gravy
The Unicorn Hotel’s chicken schnitzel and gravy
A chicken schnitzel is hard to go past; The Unicorn Hotel’s extra-crisp panko breadcrumb version is impossible to resist. Serve it on mashed potato with parsley, lemon wedges and their flavour-packed gravy.
Salted maple-almond balls
Salted maple-almond balls
Some people might call these bliss or energy balls – we call them can’t-stop-at-one delicious. These little bites of goodness, with a good whack of salt cutting through the sweetness, make the perfect lunchbox snack or after-dinner treat.
Chiang Mai chicken curry
Chiang Mai chicken curry
This northern Thai-style Chiang Mai curry is flavoured with ginger as well as turmeric. It’s slightly sour and deliciously light.
Roasted cauliflower salad with yoghurt dressing and almonds
Roasted cauliflower salad with yoghurt dressing and almonds
Make this hearty salad as a vegetarian main, or a reliable side. You’ll impress your guests with the deep and nutty flavour of the roasted cauliflower.