5 Minute Food Fix

Apparently we’re in our Freezer Girl Era now – – and yes, I know I’m a boy. But this trend? I’m fully on board. It’s about filling your freezer with little things that make weeknight cooking feel like you actually have your life together. This isn’t bulk meal prep. This is freezer magic – a stash of flavour bombs and shortcuts that save you mid-week. Here’s what’s in my current rotation:  Flavour...

It feels like Spring and Summer are around the corner, and Yumi is excited about a pasta salad that can be served warm and has a super-cute, mouth-pleasing texture that may well intern it into the FOREVER FILES. Based on this recipe , Yumi has halved the quantities to suit her ("Mercifully Divorced") lifestyle and improved it by cooking the corn and adding chopped smoked almonds at the end. Quick...

Apologies in advance! Your hosts completely lose it and start laughing like hyenas over the Netflix doco 'Poop Cruise' - which is not for the faint-hearted! Listen along though - it's good for you to laugh! Otherwise skip through to the 3 minute mark for chat on making: STEW - HORRIBLE WORD. BRILLIANT THING TO EAT A meaty, miso-boosted winter stew that’s big on flavour, low on fuss – TERRIBLE name...

To make the Toum , blitz 6 garlic cloves 2 egg whites 2 tablespoons lemon juice in a food processor. While it’s running, slowly drizzle in 1½ cups of vegetable oil until it thickens into a fluffy white cloud. Season with salt. It’s bold, punchy, and keeps for a few days in the fridge. Chicken Pita Mix 3 tablespoons lemon juice, 2 tablespoons tomato paste, 1 tablespoon ground coriander and 3 tables...

Yumi's son is the main budding chef in the brood, and he's obsessed with this book by Reece Hignell. It means Yumi and Manbaby have tried MANY recipes from the book, including this one for a giant Devil's Food Chocolate Cake. CAKE BOI'S DEVIL'S FOOD CAKE - aka Chocolate Lover's Heaven! Pre-heat the oven to 160C fan-forced. Grease and line 2 20cm cake tins. Sift 480g flour, 700g caster sugar, 170g...

Sometimes a dinner is SO BAD that it just has to go straight to compost. Sorry, inner-tightass, but it's true. Simon shares a recent take-away food experience that would get a less-busy man writing angry Yelp reviews!! LOL. Yumi shocks Simon by revealing just how much of a tough-nut she can be when it comes to fish and chips (his reaction is worth the price of admission)... And Simon has a good ha...

It's with some amazement that your hosts reflect on the fact that they're both currently working in offices. LIKE, HOW DID THAT HAPPEN? Yumi struggles with boredom in meetings, and has directed a lot of that restless energy into concocting the PERFECT OFFICE LUNCH. This code also applies to school/uni lunches if you have a common room. LANGUAGE WARNING: It's not technically "swearing" but at some...

Yumi has come up with a way to use up 2 really, really nasty bananas - in a way the kids won't even notice. 2 NASTY BANANAS -> CHOC CHIP MUFFINS 2 nasty, dead-looking bananas 180g 55g melted butter 1 egg 1tsp vanilla 100g greek yoghurt 150g wholemeal (or regular) self-raising flour 70g dark chocolate chips Pre-heat the oven to 180C Prepare a 6-hole muffin tray Mash well your bananas. Sometimes...

Is it offensive to say you've "upgraded" an absolute classic? In this case, it's not Simon making the claim - it's from an online recipe... But enough users are in the comments RAVING about the so-called upgrade that Simon had to give it a go. The big difference? Marinating the fetta in broken pieces (not cut cubes) in oil made from frying lemon slices. Blistering the red peppers/capsicum. And usi...

Your hosts explain the hows and whys of a perfect CHEESE BOARD - and I think you're gonna learn something today. It really is within reach to make a cheese board classy AND effortless - by stripping it back. ALSO - why is it so hard to spot one's own kids in a crowd? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Your favourite cooking nerds get EXCITED over an internet recipe that has the Comments Section going off. You know how they say "you should never read the comments"? Not in this case! The recipe is here . The modifications are: Cut the chicken into smaller pieces than suggested, then marinate them in 2tbs Garam Masala, 1tbs finely minced ginger and 1tbs fish sauce. To up the coconutty flavour, fry...

On this Final Instalment of Simon Davis's shameful Air-Fryer Diaries , you'll discover what's still sitting in the hallway of Simon's house , in its boxed, unloved and unopened. Yumi shares how she's been doing the audiobook recordings for a couple of her books... ALSO - how to make the greatest, easiest dessert ever: AFFOGATO?! It's so good it's almost uncanny. RECIPE: Ball up your best vanilla i...

Simon is sheepishly confessing to two cooking FAILURES - and one win. What on earth are they? And what delicious food can we possibly eat to get us through the grimmest months of winter? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Both your hosts Yumi and Simon have so far resisted the allure/hype of the AIR FRYER. Neither has one - til now! But why have they resisted? And what could make them cave? ____________________________________ The link to Simon's son's beloved Sausage Rolls on RecipeTinEats is here . The book that Yumi's son took camping despite the lack of oven and general cooking equipment is Reece Hignell's CAKE...

Finely slice your onion, pre-heat your fry pan then add 3 tbs good olive oil. Gently sautee your onions for ...wait. TWENTY MINUTES?? Listen here for WHY - ...and some hacks if you simply can't spare the time. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode, Yumi floats her theory about why 40th birthdays are often a big, fat non-event. Then we go all-in on Yumi's son's newest favourite cake. (Since recording this episode, she's made it twice more: both little ones LOVE IT in their school lunches.) It's a Nagi recipe from Recipe Tin Eats and you can find it here. And if it's your 40th birthday soon? GO EASY ON YOURSELF. There'll be mo...

2025 might be the year that we begin to RE-appreciate the offcuts that used to populate the supermarket meat section back in our parents' day... Liver, anyone? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sometimes a terrific NAME can get you racing to the kitchen to attack a recipe. Who doesn't love 'Crunchy Fish', for instance? And what about Pesce all’Acqua Pazza, or better known as 'Fish in Crazy Water'?? Find the recipe here - - or just gently fry up 1/4 cup olive oil with 2tsp salt, 700g chopped tomatoes and YOUR FAVE aromatics - eg., dried chillies, 1/2 tsp fennel seeds, 2 cloves of thinly s...

Your hosts go ALL IN for that great winter vegetable, FENNEL , which has the annoying habit of refusing to go off while taking up space in your fridge! Curse you, Everlasting Vegetable! Yumi also recounts a breakthrough moment of understanding that oils and salads need to be co-ordinated, much like tops and bottoms do when putting together an outfit. FENNEL AND SNOW PEA SALAD: 500g prepped snow pe...

Inspired by the chef Michael Moore who wrote a great book full of delicious and healthy recipes called BLOOD SUGAR - and also inspired by the need to bunker down under MANY layers of doona and thermals and eat hot, filling food, Yumi revisits an old recipe for baked meatballs that really is beautiful and very achievable. Try it here: Preheat the oven to 180C Decant 2/3 of a bottle of passata into...

On your favourite food podcast, Yumi Stynes explains how food, in this case persimmons, connects her to her mother's culture. Persimmons are, like asparagus, TRULY seasonal. Which is why we have to enjoy them in winter! Dried persimmons are becoming A THING in Australia - and you can find the salad recipe here . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Yumi has some personal news to share with Simon which she predicts will BORE HIM TO TEARS. She also has an amazing Creamy White Beans recipe to share with everyone - TOTALLY NOT BORING! It's a New York Times Cooking recipe - and you'll probably have everything you need to make it - just grab or make sure you have Fresh Cream Tomato Paste Half a jar of sundried tomatoes Hosted on Acast. See acast.c...

Your hosts have a LOT of thoughts when it comes to ordering food at a restaurant. What are the common mistakes? How can you absolutely nail it? On what topics should you consult with your waiter? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is there anything more inspiring for a keen cook than being asked to make something for a party at short notice? Yumi is BACK and feeling good in her kitchen and was delighted to have a couple of cracks at making this cake by Nigella Lawson . *After recording, she made it again for the party - here's what she said about the changes: "Instead of Olive Oil, I used coconut oil! (I know the whole name...

We NEVER get tired of finding new ways to make potatoes exciting and delicious. REAL QUICK: To make Yumi's ALL KILLER, NO FILLER POTATO CRISP Pre-heat the oven to 200C. Have some finely chopped rosemary needles ready to go and have 1/4 cup of olive oil in a small pot, not heated yet. Slice 4-5 decent-sized spuds into 2mm discs. Dump the lot into a big pot of salted, boiling water. Once the water r...