Original MasterChef NZ winner Brett McGregor brings us a range of simple and healthy meals that are easy to make and chock-full of flavour.

The way we cook at home is changing. People want simple food that is full of flavour, uses a range of vegetables, meats and spices, and that is easy to make on weeknights. Asian-inspired recipes tick all these boxes.

Now we can draw on some of the best cuisines in the world and create something new, blending the exotic with the home-grown, as different herbs, spices and pastes become easier to find at our local shops.

With recipes for salads, curries, soups, stir-fries and noodle dishes, plus sweet treats, Brett gives the home-cook some super weekday meals that will keep the toughest of critics – the kids – happy. There are also some special dishes that take a little more time but will wow guests.

Brett shows that food doesn't have to be complicated to be extremely tasty!

Author Biography

Brett McGregor, author of the bestselling Taste of a Traveller and A Taste of Home, won the very first MasterChef NZ title. Previously the deputy principal of a Branston Intermediate School in Christchurch, he has now established a career in Auckland as a food writer and TV host. He has contributed a regular column to Food magazine and featured in cooking demonstrations all over New Zealand. He is involved with the Diabetes Trust and Countdown supermarket in the Keep Calm and Learn to Cook program, visiting thousands of Kiwi school kids and teaching them cooking skills. Taste of a Traveller was turned into a 10-part show for TV One and he is currently shooting season 2. He is an ambassador for Kaipara Kumara and has launched his own kumara crisps with Proper Crisps. He is an ambassador for Blue September and the Auckland Seafood Festival. A seasoned traveller : having lived in Hong Kong for three years and travelled for 10 years visiting such places as Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Morocco, North Africa, and Spain: Brett incorporates these experiences into his cooking. Since 2011, he has conducted many food tours to the tastiest places on the planet.

Sample recipe:

BUDDHA’S SLAMMING LAMB SHOULDER
Recipe excerpt from Chop Chop

1.8–2 kg lamb shoulder
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp coriander seeds, toasted and ground
2 tsp chilli powder or to taste
2 tsp ground turmeric
2 tsp garam masala
3–6 green chillies, pounded into a paste
4 cm knob of ginger, pounded into a paste
5 whole cloves
2 cinnamon sticks
1 bulb garlic, unpeeled and sliced in half
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 200ºC.

Place the lamb in a roasting tray. Make a few cuts into the fat side of the lamb with a knife and rub the oil all over the meat.

Place the coriander seeds, chilli powder, turmeric, masala, chillies and ginger in a small bowl and combine.

Add the cloves, cinnamon sticks and garlic to the roasting tray, rub the lamb all over with the spice mix and season with salt and pepper. Tightly cover the tray with tinfoil and place in the oven.

Turn the oven down to 170°C and cook for 4 hours. The smell will be amazing and the lamb will fall apart.

Remove the lamb from the oven and discard the cloves and whole cinnamon sticks. Place on a chopping board, cover with tinfoil, then a tea towel, and leave to rest for 10 minutes before pulling it apart with two forks.

TOP TIP
Add ½ cup of water to the roasting tray to create some steam during cooking.