In cook, Allyson Gofton has brought together delicious and easy recipes to be enjoyed with family and friends. We all love having people round to share a meal, but sometimes the pressure to feed and entertain can make the experience a bit daunting. Following Allyson's philosophy of accessible and tasty recipes, you can prepare sumptuous feasts for loved ones without spending hours at the stove and ruining the budget.

Chapters include:

* barbecues
* portable meals
* brunch
* afternoon tea
* mid-winter warmers
* celebrations
* large gatherings: how to cater for crowds
* fast & furious

Sample Recipe : Potato & Cream Pie (pictured)

serves 8
preparation time 30 minutes
cooking time 40 minutes

750 grams all-purpose potatoes, peeled
1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
2-3 teaspoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon each chopped fresh parsley and chives or spring onion
400-gram packet frozen puff pastry, defrosted
25 grams butter
1/2 cup cream
1/2 cup crème fraîche, sour cream or extra cream
1 egg
orange & onion marmalade (see page 38)

This pie, prepared from the simplest ingredients, has an enormous amount of flavour and is best accompanied with a good onion-based chutney, relish or savoury marmalade.
Set the baking tray in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 220 °C. Lightly grease the base and sides of a 23-cm loose-bottom flan tin or line with baking paper.

Slice the potatoes very thinly. Cook in a saucepan of boiling water for 2 minutes. Drain well and set aside to cool. Mix the onion, garlic parsley and chives or spring onion together.
On a lightly floured bench, roll out half the pastry until quite thin, about 2-mm thickness, and use to line the base and sides of the prepared tin.

Place a layer of cooled potato slices on top of the pastry, sprinkle with a little of the onion mixture.
Season with salt and ground black pepper. Repeat these layers, finishing with a layer of potatoes. Dot the potato with the butter.
Mix the cream and crème fraîche or sour cream together and pour half over the potatoes. Spread out evenly.

Roll out the remaining pastry so just large enough to cover the pie. Roll the pastry over the potatoes and press the edges together to seal. Trim the pastry edges as required. Make a small hole or largish cross in the centre of the pastry top to allow the steam to escape and for adding remaining egg and cream mixture later.
Beat the egg into the remaining cream and use a little of this to glaze the top of the pie.
Place in the preheated oven and immediately lower the temperature to 200 °C. Cook for 30 minutes.

Remove the pie from the oven and carefully pour the remaining egg and cream mixture into the pie through the hole in the centre of the pie.
Return the pie to the oven and cook a further 10-15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. Serve hot, warm or cold with the orange & onion marmalade (see page 38) and a crisp salad.

About the Author

Allyson Gofton has been cooking for New Zealanders for over 20 years. During her varied career she has worked at the NZ Woman's Weekly's Test Kitchens, assisted Graham Kerr both here and abroad, and became the Principal of Epicurean Workshop and Chief Executive Officer of the New Zealand Nutrition Foundation. She was also Food Editor for Next magazine for many years and is now Editor of Real. Allyson has authored 18 cookbooks.