News & Blog by Ed Halmagyi
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If your kids are anything like mine, then dinnertime can be a real challenge. As parents we’re flat out trying to provide our little ones with a balanced and nutritious meal, and yet all too often they won’t have a bar of it. I have come to realise that there are two missing elements in so much of what we offer to kids: texture and fun. Kids love the crunchy, sloppy, chewy and foamy feel of dinner...
Throughout the day, family members live quite separate lives – some go off to school, others to work. It’s only at the day’s end that we all get to come back together. Dinner is our time to be a family. So turn the TV off, set the table with the good plates, and share the stories of your day. To make the most of it, you’ll need a quick, user-friendly meal that’s going to appeal to everyone (even...
A big part of my motivation to become a chef happened during those formative school years – believe me, there’s only so many cheese sandwiches a boy can endure! Whether it’s the kids’ school lunch boxes, Mum and Dad’s work lunch, or even a backpack treat for a weekend hike, you can do so much more. Salads, sushi, sandwiches and snacks – the list goes on and on. Just make sure that you have the right...
Like most people, I tend to eat the same breakfast almost every day – either muesli, fruit and yoghurt, or a boiled egg roll. It’s not that I’m particularly obsessive; we humans are simply at our least adventurous first thing in the morning. But on the rare occasion when I emerge from my early-morning shell and try something new, that’s when breakfast really livens up. So take a deep breath, turn...
This article is part of a series. Read the previous article here > So you want to become a chef? Well here’s my ten top tips for mastering the kitchen. Tip #1 Knife skills are essential. A chef’s knife is the most important implement you’ll use, so learn to hold it correctly. Thumb and forefinger go either side of the blade, right at the hilt, then wrap your remaining...
This article is part of a series. Read the previous article here > So much has changed since the years when I first began to cook. More than twenty summers have passed, twenty winters, and at least twenty unique culinary fashions. From the endless ceramic of nouvelle cuisine to the slap-‘em-down rusticity of French peasant grub, we have seen an extraordinary range of styles presented....
This article is part of a series. Read the previous article here > After a month of tea-totalling (I was doing the Dry July fundraiser for oncology wards around Australia) I headed to Pokolbin north of Sydney to host the Hunter Valley Gardens Chocolate Festival. That’s right, an entire debauched weekend of shiraz and cocoa. Could there be anything better? So it got me thinking...
This article is part of a series. Read the previous article here > No matter which cookbook you open, or magazine you read, you’ll find one recurrent phrase time and time again. ‘Season with salt and pepper’. Like so many statements and observations that surround us, we respond instinctively to this instruction by dousing our food in salt flakes and milled peppercorns....
As a media device it transfixed Australians around the idea that food was the story. Add some colourful identities and a raft of conflict and the whole thing just hummed. For a TV chef like myself this is good news – when folks want to watch culinary stories it shores up my work future! But there’s a flipside you know. And I’m not talking about the flogging it gave Better...
Ed Halmagyi is a trained chef who started his career in top restaurants in Canada and Australia, working his way up the ranks to head chef. Now he is the popular cooking presenter on Better Homes and Gardens TV. He also hosts his own show, Fast Ed's Fast Food, on Channel 7 each afternoon and makes guest appearances on The Outdoor Room with Jamie Durie. He is the co-host of the Better Homes and Gardens...
