RAGOUT OF WILD MUSHROOMS AND TRUFFLE

Quite excited to see fresh chanterelles, black trumpet and porcini mushrooms today. Seemed only right to treat them with respect - a simple ragout based on rich chicken stock with truffle and other goodies.

RAGOUT OF WILD MUSHROOMS AND TRUFFLE

BARBECUED LEG OF CHICKEN WITH SAUTEED ZUCCHINI

There's something inadequate with food descriptions like 'herb-marinated' - so I left this out of the description ... on the other hand, omitting the herb marinade leaves it sounding like an unadorned chunk of chook, when your eyes clearly tell you there's something on the skin. So, for the record, the chicken bathed in a mix of olive oil, garlic, parsley, oregano, chilli and lemon juice ... or 'herb-marinated' for short.

BARBECUED LEG OF CHICKEN WITH SAUTEED ZUCCHINI

ROASTED VEGETABLES, SALSA VERDE AND ROAST GARLIC AIOLI

It might be my Libra characteristics, but I do like balance. One excess needs to be countered with an equal but opposite excess. So to right the dietary imbalance caused by the slab of cow last week, here's a meat-free feast. More of the deep, deep, deep orange pumpkin from our neighbours' farm, some little purple carrots from the markets, Bintje potato, zucchini with a baby spinach-based salsa verde and a dollop of roast garlic aïoli. To be honest, I didn't miss the meat at all. Well, hardly.

ROASTED VEGETABLES, SALSA VERDE AND ROAST GARLIC AIOLI

BREAST OF CHICKEN WITH ROASTED PUMPKIN AND BABY SPINACH

We have what you might call a glut of pumpkin. Our darling neighbours keep giving us pumpkins from their farm. As fast as we eat them, we're about three pumpkins behind right now. Anybody want some excellent Tweed pumpkin? You can see from this photo that it has really deep colour - and flavour to match. Excellent roasted, in soups, salads, pies, as a facial, hat, bowling ball, blunt instrument (you can eat the evidence) ... whatever you want it to be.

BREAST OF CHICKEN WITH ROASTED PUMPKIN AND BABY SPINACH

YELLOWFIN TUNA WITH PURPLE CONGO POTATOES AND BROCCOLINI

Basic family fare - but I have to say this was the best broccolini I have tasted. Sweet, nutty and somehow just right.

YELLOWFIN TUNA WITH PURPLE CONGO POTATOES AND BROCCOLINI

JEWFISH WITH ROASTED PUMPKIN & SUGARLOAF CABBAGE SALAD

Soft sweet pumpkin, crunchy full-on cabbage (a great recipe from Stephanie Alexander) and simply sautéed jewfish = a happy Gregory

JEWFISH WITH ROASTED PUMPKIN & SUGARLOAF CABBAGE SALAD

BISTECCA FIORENTINA, DUTCH CREAM MASH AND BABY CAVOLO NERO

To call Sydney's Victor Churchill a butcher shop is to call Leonardo da Vinci an illustrator. This shop is a meat temple unlike any store in the world.  From the moment I pushed on its sausage link door handle I knew I was going to have trouble deciding what to buy and cook. In the end I bought this 1kg T-bone of dry-aged meaty magnificence. Next stop was Fratelli Fresh for some Dutch cream potatoes, spring onions and baby leaves of cavolo nero. Classic meat and 3 veg - but elevated by the quality of the ingredients into gastronomic heaven.

BISTECCA FIORENTINA, DUTCH CREAM MASH AND BABY CAVOLO NERO

CURRY OF SWEET POTATO AND ONION

Not quite Indian, not quite Pakistani - kind of in the middle of the conflict zone really. I'll tell you what I did and then you can decide what cuisine it belongs to. Onions were sautéed in corn oil with dried chillies until deep brown, then removed and set aside. Then cumin seeds were also sautéed briefly and removed. Slices of sweet potato were added to the pan, along with turmeric and cayenne. The pan was covered and the sweet potato cooked for about 10 minutes. I then added grated tomatoes and salt and cooked another 5 minutes. Finally, the onion and cumin seeds were stirred through and heated. Borderline Indian? Borderline Pakistani?

CURRY OF SWEET POTATO AND ONION

GRILLED TAMARIND-GLAZED MACKEREL WITH THAI BABY SPINACH SALAD

There's something inadequate and lazy about 'Thai salad', but how else to describe this mix of baby spinach, lemongrass, ginger, fried eschallot, roasted peanuts, pork crackling and dressing of lime juice, sugar and fish sauce. The fish was marinated in a reduction of tamarind purée, garlic and sugar before grilling. Mackerel isn't part of the pescatorial royalty. Nor is it aquatic trash. It's one of those species that people just seem to ignore. Shame, because it's a great fish - especially when given a robust Asian treatment.

GRILLED TAMARIND-GLAZED MACKEREL WITH THAI BABY SPINACH SALAD

RED-THROATED EMPEROR WITH BABY CAVOLO NERO AND MASH

The world needs more places like Sydney's Fratelli Fresh. You can eat proper Italian food at Cafe Sopra then go downstairs and buy great vegetables, cheese and bread to take home. This time around, I bought these leaves of baby cavolo nero, which I sweated very gently in olive oil with a little garlic. The red on the red-throated emperor isn't on what I'd call the throat, but higher up near the gills - but, hey, I understand that red-neck doesn't sound very imperial. Come to think of it, that would be better suited to a more common fish. Red-neck mullet, anyone?) My favourite panko crumbs, fluffy mash, squeeze of lemon juice and flakes of sea salt ... and that's a pretty tasty simple dish.

RED-THROATED EMPEROR WITH BABY CAVOLO NERO AND MASH

BARRAMUNDI WITH BLACK SESAME AND MISO

Interesting things happen when you coat barramundi in black sesame seeds. Not as interesting as Angelina Jolie turning up at the front door. Not as interesting as the sun rising in the west for a change. But what happens is that whilst the sesame seeds develop that deep nutty flavour that comes with cooking, the fish more or less steams inside its crust. You end up with an incredibly soft white flesh in a black crust with the unique salty sweet tang of the miso sauce.

BARRAMUNDI WITH BLACK SESAME AND MISO

BLUE EYE WITH CASTELLUCCIO LENTILS

A simply grilled fillet of blue eye trevalla on wonderful Castelluccio lentils (which are similar in size to Puy lentils, just a little paler but equally rich). Castelluccio is near Norcia, home to some of Italy's best makers of wild boar products (prosciutto, sausages etc) and also truffles and porcini. If you're lucky you could visit the region when both truffles and porcini are in season. What you'll be served are pasta with porcini sauce, pasta with truffle sauce, pasta with truffle and porcini sauce, wild boar sausages, wild boar and truffle sausages, pecorino with truffle, chocolate biscuits with truffle, truffle without the chocolate biscuits, grilled porcini, grilled porcini with wild boar prosciutto ... you get the picture. You might also be lucky to visit when the high plateau of Norcia is covered in wild flowers and a grey wolf crosses the road in front of you - as happened the last time I visited. Back to the dish - two steamed green veg to keep the vitamin police happy.

BLUE EYE WITH CASTELLUCCIO LENTILS