Well! A big thank you to those who came to the cooking classes Friday and Saturday night, full house both nights, lots of laughs, great food and company - taught creole prawns as an entree. Mains were seafood paela and salmon steaks with mango salsa and to finish baileys brulee - great fun and people of all ages and sexes which was great - the boys proved exceptional and the girls killed it with the desserts!

This week some simple recipes for home that will come in handy.

Caramelised onion - great for sandwiches/rolls or for the BBQ - very tasty.

1/2kg brown onion sliced into quarters.

Cook onions until they have that beautiful shiny light brown colour then add 1 cup of balsamic vinegar and stir through, then add 1/2 cup brown sugar and stir that through. Salt and pepper to taste.

Leave this on small heat on stove for about 3/4 of an hour to an hour.

Remember you make it as sweet as you like, add more sugar if you want it a bit sweeter - these are a popular staple of the Aussie BBQ and the blokes just love it.

Fresh rolls, steak or sausages and you have the perfect filler for a Sunday arvo watching the football with a couple of coldies - Man Heaven.

The other great BBQ thing or for sides to a chicken or steak dish is chilli jam and I love this.

1kg red capsicums - chopped squares

700g roma tomatoes roughly chopped

400g red chilies chopped - less if you don't want it too hot.

250ml white wine vinegar

880g sugar - use the fine stuff.

Place capsicum, tomatoes and chilies in processor.

Blend until finely chopped.

Throw into a saucepan and add vinegar. Bring to the boil. Reduce and simmer for another five minutes.

Remove from the heat.

Add sugar and stir through until sugar dissolves.

Return to the heat and boil until jam reaches the required consistency.

This is a beautiful accompaniment to leg ham or roast beef or as 2 say the BBQ steak or sausages benefits from this little beauty specially on a fresh bread roll - yummo!

Mango mayonnaise is another simple side that works well with BBQ's and seafood.

1 cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon curry powder

125g mango cheeks

1 teaspoon turmeric

1/2 jar fruit chutney

1 cup shallots

Blend all these ingredients in a blender.

Pour into a bowl, put in fridge to chill and viola!

Magic!

Bon Appetite Darlings

Tommy xx