Recipes from The Great Australian Cookbook

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Jill Dupleix's slashed roast leg of lamb

3 tbsp roughly chopped parsley and/or mint

2 anchovies in oil, chopped

3 cloves garlic, crushed

2 tbsp salted capers, rinsed

1 tbsp coarsely grated lemon rind

80g soft fresh breadcrumbs

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling

1 leg of lamb (approximately 2kg)

cress or rocket leaves, to serve

1 lemon, quartered

1. Pre-heat the oven to 220C.

2. Combine the parsley, mint, anchovies, garlic, capers, lemon rind and breadcrumbs in a bowl. Add the olive oil and squish the mixture into a soft mushy paste with your hands.

3. Holding the leg of lamb with its meatiest side on top, cut right through the meat, almost to the bone, at 2cm intervals. Push the stuffing down between each lamb 'steak', re-shape the meat and tie with kitchen string. Place in a large roasting pan.

4. Drizzle a little extra olive oil over and bake for 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to 200C and bake for one hour more, then leave to rest for 10 minutes.

5. Remove the string and carve, parallel to the bone, to form chunky fingers of crisp skin and meat.

6. Arrange on warm plates, drizzle with the juices from the roasting pan and scatter with cress or rocket. Serve with lemon wedges.

TIP: Don't be scared to slash the lamb meat to the bone. Once stuffed with lemony breadcrumbs, you can tie it all back together again and roast it as normal.

Serves 6

Jill Dupleix's crash-hot potatoes

8 or more medium-sized potatoes, skins on

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp thyme and/or rosemary sprigs

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200C.

2. Scrub the potatoes, pat dry and coat lightly in about 1 tbsp olive oil. Scatter with sea salt, place on the oven rack and bake for 1 hour or until soft inside.

3. Raise the oven temperature to 240C. Place the potatoes on a baking tray lined with baking paper and punch each potato a few times to flatten it. Push it in at the sides to raise it in the middle, drizzle the remaining olive oil over the top, and scatter generously with sea salt, coarsely ground black pepper, thyme and rosemary.

4. Bake for 30 minutes or until ridiculously crisp, golden and scorched on the edges, and serve hot.

Serves 4

Jimmy Shu's Sri Lankan fish mouli (barramundi poached in coconut cream and lemongrass)

600g barramundi fillets, skin removed, cut into chunky cubes

2 tbsp vegetable oil

180g sliced red onion

2 sticks lemongrass, bruised

3 red bird's-eye chillies, bruised

2 sprigs curry leaves

15g sliced ginger

200g fresh tomatoes, cut into wedges

600ml coconut cream

1 tsp turmeric

100ml water (approximately)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

fresh curry leaves, to garnish

1. Season the fish with a touch of salt.

2. Heat oil and stir-fry the onion, lemongrass, chillies, curry leaves and ginger over a medium heat, until the onions are soft. Add the tomato and cook for approximately five minutes.

3. Next, add the coconut cream and turmeric, bring to the boil and lower the heat. Add up to ½ cup of water if too thick. Add salt and sugar, and check the seasoning.

4. Gently add the fish pieces and poach in the coconut broth for just six minutes. Garnish with fresh curry leaves and serve immediately with some steamed rice and a crisp white wine.

Serves 6

Adriano Zumbo's Gone Marbles cake

Marble cake batter

150g unsalted butter, at room temperature

240g caster sugar

180g egg whites, at room temperature

310g plain flour

5g baking powder

75g cornflour

120g almond meal

100g creme fraiche

150g cream (35 per cent fat)

juice and zest of 1 orange

juice and zest of 1 lemon

assorted food colourings

milk or dark chocolate to decorate

Chocolate ganache

340g dark couverture chocolate (70 per cent cocoa solids)

400g cream (35 per cent fat)

140g unsalted butter

40g glucose

1. Pre-heat oven to 160C and grease a 23cm cake tin.

2. For the marble cake: in an electric mixing bowl with beater attachment, beat butter and sugar until softened and slightly lightened. Slowly add in egg whites, then add in dry ingredients. Add in creme fraiche and cream, and mix to combine. Lastly add in juices and zests, and continue mixing for 30 seconds until well combined.

3. Divide the mixture into six bowls, 230g each, and colour each one a different colour, stirring the colour through with a spoon.

4. Add coloured cake batters to the pre-greased tin in a random mix to form a marble effect. Bake for 60–80 minutes or until the centre is cooked and stable. Remove from oven and leave to cool in the tin for 15 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

For the ganache

Place dark chocolate in a food processor and blitz to make small pieces. In a saucepan place the cream, butter and glucose and heat to 65C. Pour over the chocolate in the food processor and blitz until smooth and glossy. Pour into a container and cover with plastic wrap touching the surface of the ganache. Place in an air-conditioned cabinet or a cool space to set at room temperature.

To assemble

Use a serrated knife to trim the top off the marble cake (it will have formed a slight peak which has cracked open), to make an even-sized cake. Cut the cake horizontally through the middle and separate the halves. Using a scraper, place some of the ganache on the bottom layer – enough to give roughly an 8mm layer – and spread evenly using a palette knife or spatula. Place the top cake layer on, and cover with more ganache using the palette knife or spatula. Make the entire cake as smooth and neat as you can, covering the whole cake with ganache, then set aside.

For the decoration

For the initiated, spread some tempered chocolate, milk or dark, onto a marble top or a cold tray and leave to "just" set. Using a palette knife, gently cut through whilst pulling down to form chocolate curls. Arrange the curls to your liking on top of the cake and serve. If you don't know how to temper chocolate, you can make chocolate curls using a vegetable peeler and a block of good-quality store-bought chocolate. At a pinch, you can grate the chocolate as an alternative decoration.

Serves 8-10

Recipes extracted from The Great Australian Cookbook, published by PQ Blackwell and distributed by The Five Mile Press, $49.95, available from September 21.