Beyond The Plate

Our foodie blog for cooking tips & tricks

5 Vegan Sweet Treats

These sweet vegan recipes are super delicious, and ideal for a vegan celebration. They are packed full of flavour and even non-vegans will be craving for a bite.

Vegan

Wine & Cheese Matching

Wine and cheese matching often comes down to personal taste and preference. These are our general guidelines for what wines to pair with what cheese so you can be the star of your next dinner party.

There is no hard and fast rule and as the taste of wine varies between brands & vineyards. The same goes for cheese, no one brand or variant tastes the same.

Homemade Gifts

Share the love & save money this Christmas by making home made gifts. Making a loved one a gift can be so much more meaningful. It can allow you to get creative and while it often takes more effort the end result is much more satisfying.

How to Cook the Perfect Steak

People will tell you there's a bit of an art to cooking the perfect steak. But we think it's pretty simple - just follow these important steps below, for the perfect steak no matter the occasion or the dish.

How To Cook Scallops

It doesn't take years of culinary training to cook sea scallops correctly, it just takes a little thermal know-how and a good pan.

Once done right, this dish instantly adds a touch of class to your next family gathering.

Seafood

How to Clean a Barbecue

Follow these easy steps to have your BBQ looking sharp this Summer!

Ham Storage, Carving Instructions & Glazes

New Zealanders love their ham, especially in the summer - great for picnics, as ham steaks on the barbecue or when making an egg & ham pie. Below you will find some handy tips on how to store and carve them correctly.

Pork Dinner

How to Brine a Turkey

Turkey is often regarded as dry and unappealing. There is a simple way around this. Brine. A solution of water, salt, bay leaves and peppercorns is the perfect way to transform either a whole turkey or as in this case just the Turkey fillet. It adds flavor and moisture and the results are worth the minimal effort needed. It’s also amazing with all cuts of chicken.

Turkey

Fresh Choice Merivale flyer Nov 14 181695 1

How to Cure Salmon

Salmon gravlax is super easy and adds a touch of class to your nibbles or added to a salad or just sliced and eaten as is!

Seafood

12 Tips to get ahead for Christmas Dinner

Let’s face it we’d rather be enjoying a glass of wine & the Christmas Day festivities, than boiling Brussels sprouts and opening the oven more often than the kids say ‘is dinner ready’. So we’ve compiled a Christmas dinner cheat sheet to help you get ahead!

Dinner

Find your local supermarket