Tomato

A satisfying, easy dish that's also versatile: Accompany with sliced melon and some assorted pastries for brunch, or with a green salad and warm focaccia for dinner.

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are excerpted from chef Neil Perry's book Rockpool. Neil also shared some helpful cooking tips exclusively with Epicurious, which we've added at the bottom of the page. For your convenience, we've converted the measures — with as much accuracy as possible — from Australian to American. For those who have metric equipment and wish to follow Neil's recipe to the milliliter, we've included the original measures too. To read more about Neil and Australian cuisine, click here. The availability of Illabo lamb on the Australian market is due to Tony Lehmann's efforts. He is one of the few Australian producers who understands what the market wants, and delivers, in no uncertain terms, a quality product that is markedly better than the bland generic produce grown for the large corporations. It is because of suppliers like Tony that the quality and variety of fine produce we have available in Australia is maintained. This is the driving force behind fabulous multicultural cooking. This is the dish of the moment at Rockpool. The lamb is only 6 weeks old, and has a dressed body weight of about 8 kg (17 1/2 lbs). It is flavoursome, tender and has a wonderful clean taste that is unmatched. The accompanying sauce is rich, flavoursome and has no Asian ingredients, except for a little ginger, for good luck. The only necessary addition is a green salad à la Rockpool. The recipe for Tomato Jam yields 750 ml (3 cups). It is also very good with raw fish, and will keep for up to a month in the refrigerator.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Memelas are similar to chalupas and sopes. Pinching up the edges and creating tiny bumps in the centers helps keep the filling in place, which becomes important when the memelas are large.

Market Tip: Avoid packaged ground lamb, which can be extremely fatty. Instead, buy shoulder meat or lamb stew meat, which has some fat, and ask the butcher to grind it.

Active time: 15 min Start to finish: 30 min

These mushrooms and tomatoes make great side dishes and add zing to sandwiches, salads, and risottos. But we think they're best tossed with pasta and a little extra-virgin olive oil and chopped flat-leafed parsley or basil leaves.

This dish is ideal for entertaining, because you can prepare the sauce ahead and then simply toss it with the cooked pasta. Do not overcook the shrimp!

Begin this dish early in the day to allow the polenta to set.

A nice side would be polenta or mashed potatoes.

If the four-inch tortillas used at Café Iguana in Denver, Colorado, are hard to find, the standard five- to six-inch ones also work, or they can be trimmed to the smaller size.

All of these fruits have lots of water in them, so I hold off on the salt, which will only draw out more water and make the dressing soupy. Pepper and basil lend a good kick. Have a bowl of coarse salt nearby if desired.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Also try the salsa with some corn bread or scrambled eggs for a spicy treat.

Active time: 1 hr Start to finish: 1 1/2 hr

Perfect as a topper for steaks, burgers, pork chops, hot dogs and fries. For even more flavor, try brushing the tangy ketchup onto the meat during grilling. Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

This recipe, from Lord and Baroncini's cookbook, calls for simmering a small amount of tomatoes for over an hour. The result is a rich, concentrated sauce. Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 2 1/2 hr