One of Simon's cookbooks has gone to #1 in Australia for the past fortnight.

It's called The Weekly Grocery Shop and you can buy it here.

The idea kind of inspired Yumi to make croutons (again). This time using an innovation borne of necessity. But they're REALLY GOOD!

Pre-heat your oven to 150C and find the biggest trays you have.

Take one stale sourdough baguette and slice into the thinnest possible rounds.

Lay out the pieces of bread like large coins over the baking trays.

Use a microplane to grate a smoked tasty cheese over the bread slices.

Drizzle lightly with olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and sesame seeds (optional).

Bake for 15-20 mins or until smelling toasty and feeling very crunchy.

Store in an airtight container until needed - should last 2 weeks.

Serve in Caesar Salad, Rocket and Pear Salad or on any soups.

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Simon's amazingly healthful and generous Chicken Soup *IS* pretty winning. He tries to massage my competitive gland by telling me Kate Brown (from my book publisher) prefers HIS soup recipe to mine... HOWEVER IT'S UNTESTED and THEY'RE VERY DIFFERENT!

Warm 1tbs oil in a big pot.

Add 4 finely sliced garlic cloves.

Add a thumb of finely grated ginger and 2 tsp ground turmeric. Cook til smelling fancy.

Add in 500g chicken thighs and

3/4 cup of brown rice

1 bay leaf and

8 cups of water or chicken stock. Bring to a simmer.

Cook for 20 mins.

Add in 2 neatly diced zucchini and cook for the last 10 mins.

(30 mins cooktime in total.)

TO SERVE:

Shred the chicken and return it to the pot.

Check the seasoning and add salt and pepper accordingly.

Serve with a squeeze of lemon and a handful of washed coriander, some chili oil (optional!).

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Why DO people cook sweets with vegetables?

Are they trying to use up a glut?

Trick the people they care about into eating more veg?

OR - does it genuinely work as a flavour add-in?

Today we dive into BUNDT cakes, how they go wrong, and we get specific with a Lemon and Zucchini Bundt Cake that is surprisingly easy, lasts well and uses up your dirty gourds!

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Yumi is drawn to a book called The Regional Italian Cookbook but hits some speed humps in trying to make the perfect Potato Cake.

Can you pronounce Spressa delle Giudicarie?

In this episode you can hear Yumi make multiple attempts to say the name of the cheese, which we were unable to find (email us if you know where to get it! foodfixemail@gmail.com )

Grease with butter a 23cm cake tin and drizzle with olive oil.

Pre-heat the oven.

Run 1kg of peeled potatoes through a grater.

Mix with 1 egg, beaten with 200ml water.

Fold through 120g plain flour (or less).

season with salt and pepper

Mix well then put into greased tin.

Top with curls of butter (I used about 100g).

Top with handfuls of grated Fontina cheese or Spressa delle Guidicarie cheese.

Bake on 180C for 35 mins.

Serve hot!

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Simon is full of inspiration and new information about PEPPER.

So he's got a lovely recipe for a WHITE PEPPER CHICKEN CONGEE.

Rinse a cup of Jasmine rice.

Add it to a pot with 7 cups of chicken stock, 1 chicken breast and 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, finely chopped.

Simmer gently for 45 minutes until the rice breaks down.

Remove the chicken breast from the pot and shred it to go back into the congee. Season well with salt and LOTS (talkin' a whole tablespoon here) of our hero ingredient - ground white pepper.

Top with a sprinkle of chopped spring onion, a drizzle of sesame oil and maybe even another sprinkle of ground white pepper! Serve!

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'Cacio e Pepe' is having a moment - but Simon has a fantastic spin on the idea that makes it a great dish for ONE (*side eye Yumi*) and cuts the amount of carbs.

Use one jar of fancy white beans, drain and cook up in a half cup or so of stock with a big knob of butter. Warm it up and then add a generous fistful of Pecorino cheese and a MASSIVE grind of freshly ground black pepper. (Be like Simon - or don't! - and get the best, most interesting black peppercorns you can find.)

Stir and add more cheese, more pepper, and wait until it tastes "restaurant fancy".

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What is a Tarka? Simon explains and there's a really good picture of what it looks like on top of a daal here.

CASHEW SPICE TARKA

1/4 cashews

1 tbs ginger

2 sprigs curry leaves

1/4 tsp nigella seeds

1/2 tsp chilli flakes

Meera Sodha's

1 tsp cumin seed

1 tsp mustard seed

1 long green chilli

curry leaves, all fried in smoking hot oil

QUICK NO-FRY BASIC RED LENTIL DAAL

1 small Spanish onion, thinly sliced

1 small fennel bulb, thinly sliced

1 tbs grated ginger

1 tsp grated garlic

1/2 tsp turmeric

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1 cinnamon quill

300g red lentils

600ml water

ADD EVERYTHING TO A POT, PRESSURE COOKER or SLOW COOKER and cook for about 40 mins. Add salt and pepper. Then top with a Tarka of your choice!

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I won't name the restaurant because it's gorgeous and fantastic and deserves every success!

JATZ CRACKERS CHICKEN

Marinate chicken tenders or thigh fillets cut into strips in Greek yoghurt with a pinch of salt.

Blitz the Jatz Crackers to form a crumb.

Coat the chicken in the crumbs.

Air fry for 15 mins.

To cook in the oven? Lightly spray with oil and bake on a tray (spread out) for 10-15mins, 200C.

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