Snappy menu

Brunch, Sydney-style, with recipes from an Irish food stylist, cook and photographer

Katie Quinn Davies grew up in Ireland but left Dublin in 2006, heading to Melbourne and later Sydney with her Australian husband, Mick.

A former model and graphic designer, she switched careers four years ago, becoming a food stylist and photographer. “I got up early each morning for a year, bought ingredients the night before, and practiced styling food items which I had read were difficult to master – burgers, sandwiches, lasagne, ice-cream. I gave them all a shot – and failed a lot – but persevered and each time I got better and better.”

Photographic agency Getty Images took 50 of her early photographs, and she has since worked for titles including Delicious, Martha Stewart Living, Food + Wine and Conde Nast Brides.

Her blog, What Katie Ate – voted best for food photography by the US magazine Saveur – has a worldwide following, and she has just published her first cookbook, a handsome chunky volume that she spent a year writing recipes for, as well as styling and shooting the images herself.

Now that we’re all making our own burgers, here’s Katie’s spiced up version, plus a tomato and pepper soup with goat’s cheese croutons, a gentrified Aussie pie, and raspberry friands you can whip up in no time.

Marie-Claire Digby

COLM’S SOUP

14 large vine-ripened tomatoes, halved lengthways

olive oil, for drizzling

2 large garlic cloves, very thinly sliced

sea salt and black pepper

4 red peppers

1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes

1 long red chilli, finely chopped

1/2 tsp good-quality smoked paprika

1 large handful basil, roughly chopped, plus a little extra to garnish

thyme leaves, to garnish

Goat’s cheese croutons

1 crusty French-style baguette, thickly sliced

450g good-quality soft goat’s cheese

Preheat the oven to 120 degrees/gas 1.

Place the tomato halves, cut-side up, on a baking tray. Drizzle each half with a little olive oil, top with a slice of garlic and season with salt and pepper. Roast for two hours or until the tomatoes are soft and caramelised.

Meanwhile, using tongs, hold the whole peppers over a naked gas flame on your hob, rotating them occasionally and taking care not to burn yourself, until the skins are charred all over. (You can achieve a similar result by charring the peppers on a barbecue or chargrill pan or in a hot oven.)

Place the peppers in a large bowl, cover with cling film and set aside until cool enough to handle, then remove the charred skin. Cut away the core and white inner membrane and discard the seeds, then cut the flesh into large pieces and place in a large heavy-based saucepan, along with the roast tomatoes.

Add the tinned tomatoes, chilli, paprika and roughly chopped basil to the pan and season with salt and pepper.