The Commonsense Cook

Colin Fassnidge knows good food. As a celebrated chef and popular television personality, he has built his reputation on delicious food and his distinctive, no-nonsense advice for home cooks.

When it comes to cooking at home, Colin believes it comes down to commonsense. Master the basics - a simple omelette, a great sauce that goes with everything, the perfect roast - and you have the foundations for countless meals. Embrace cheaper cuts of meat, minimise waste, keep a good stock of pantry staples and, whatever you do, don't throw out those delicious parmesan rinds!

Leftovers can be a thing of beauty: roast a show-stopping whole cauliflower and turn the leftovers into a miso-based soup; a beef cheek pie filling doubles as a delicious pasta sauce; choose your own ice-cream adventure with the perfect base for many flavours.

This is real family food made easy.

Recipes include: Simple Sweetcorn and Bacon Fritters; Greens and Ricotta Turnovers; Roast Potatoes with Rosemary Vinegar; Super-crispy Tempura-style Fish with Mushy Peas; Salt-crusted Chicken; Milk-poached Pork Neck with Soft, Cheesy Polenta; Shepherd's Pie with Crushed Kipfler Crust; Irish Stew in Oz; Rhubarb Jam Doughnuts; Chocolate-Orange Mousse with Homemade Honeycomb.

About the Author

Born in Dublin, Colin Fassnidge has been a fixture of Australia's dining scene since he arrived in Sydney in 1999. As executive chef at Four in Hand, 4Fourteen and Banksia, Colin has built a reputation for delicious and innovative nose-to-tail eating. His national profile has expanded over the years thanks to a regular column in Delicious magazine and his popular role as a judge on television blockbuster My Kitchen Rules.