Here is my recipe for Australia Day – good Aussie lamb. I cook it in the oven, but a barbecue would be fine of course. This recipe blends Greek flavours with Australian produce and is a quiet salute to the marvellous merging of cultures and cuisines which we have in this country, and for which I am so grateful.

LAMB RACK ROAST

1kg cocktail (or small new) potatoes

2 8-rib frenched* racks of lamb (around 450g each)

sprigs of fresh rosemary and oregano

olive oil

1 lemon

salt and pepper

garlic cloves

Parboil potatoes. Drain and place in a baking dish. Season with salt and pepper. Place the racks of lamb on top, interlocking. Sprinkle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Squeeze lemons over the meat and potatoes and scatter with rosemary leaves and oregano sprigs. Tuck the lemon halves in amongst the potatoes as well as a few cloves of garlic.

Bake in a preheated 190C oven (170C fan-forced) for around 50 minutes or until done to your liking. Let rest for 20 minutes. Serve with vegetables or a salad. Serves 4-6.

*the meat and fat from the bones has been trimmed off, as well as excess fat from the ribs

For a bit of fun here is a recipe sent to me by a dear friend and reader of this newsletter who once lived in the outback of Australia. By way of an immense change she now lives in Minnesota, USA, where the winter temps get down to -30F (yes, my freezer operates at -10C!).

Around new year she emailed me this recipe adding ‘Tonight was "game night" so the girls and I made ice cream out of snow! I just dare you to put that recipe in one of your books, blogs, or newsletters.’ Dare taken!

It’s appropriate. After all how much more ‘regional’ can you get than snow?