Joan Bishop

I love the delicious silkiness of risotto, but sometimes lack the patience required for the constant stirring.

With its bold, vibrant, jewel-like colour and sweet earthy flavour, beetroot is the star ingredient in this elegant soup.

I was asked recently what ingredient I could not live without. I had no hesitation in answering ''lemons''. Their intense, clean fresh flavour adds zing to so many dishes.

These are not much trouble to make and they are a real treat.

The slightly bitter richness of dark chocolate is emphasised when paired with chilli. It is a combination that I am very enthusiastic about.

If you feel that Christmas dinner must be absolutely traditional and you love the reassuring familiarity of roast turkey and all the trimmings, you will probably not serve this on Christmas Day, but do try it some other time. Moist, tender, utterly delicious and ridiculously easy, it has become a family favourite.

Old-fashioned fruitcakes are forever popular and a good one is moist and very flavourful. I've given this delectably moist cake an enormous flavour buzz with the inclusion of ingredients not always associated with fruitcakes; Guinness, blackcurrant jam, aniseed, cocoa and nutmeg.

White cannellini beans make a deliciously robust dip or spread.

Roasting is one of the most delicious forms of cooking, and slow roasting takes a lot of the stress out of preparing a meal for company because the timing is not crucial and the end result is succulently tender and flavourful.

Moist, intensely flavoured chocolate cakes are a favourite of Joan Bishop's and she is particularly fond of this one. .

This is an absolute favourite recipe of mine. These Italian-style fruit and nut biscotti are delectable.

This marvellously simple yet luxurious terrine, highly seasoned with herbs, spices and pistachios is best made a few days before you wish to serve it to allow the flavours to mature and develop.

A truly delicious mixture of textures and flavours, this is comfort food at its best.

A few weeks ago I had a phone call from Julie Woods, "That Blind Woman", asking if I would be a guest on her "Cooking without Looking" show on Otago Access Radio.

Winter is the time for filling, warming, comforting dishes and this oven-cooked casserole gently bubbling away at a leisurely pace, producing intensely concentrated flavours, is such a dish.

Big, hearty, filling winter dishes sometimes need a lighter, crisp accompaniment.

Delectably moist, lightly spiced, liberally studded with dried fruits, easy to make and a good keeper - this well describes a fruit tea loaf. It is made using tea and eaten with a cup of tea.

In the South, food-lovers eagerly await the arrival of the first Jersey benne potatoes.

These small, delicious morsels of tender chicken are coated with a spicy red paste, tossed in sesame seeds and breadcrumbs and then baked briefly in a hot oven. The red paste adds superb flavour and helps, along with the sesame breadcrumbs, to keep the chicken moist as it cooks.