Annabel Langbein - The Free Range Cook

In the depths of winter Annabel heads high into the stunning snow-capped Southern Alps to try her hand at dog sledding and cook up a warming Chicken Noodle Soup to share with her skiing companions. Back at her cabin by the lake in Wanaka, she gives the French classic coq au vin her own clever twist by topping it with a peppered rosemary crumb and serving it with pesto-infused mashed potato. Her Pineapple Upside-Down Puddings and sticky caramel sauce are the perfect finish to a cosy winter dinner by the fire.

Annabel pulls on her gumboots to visit a high-country sheep station, where the farmer has mustered his flock for their annual mid-winter shearing. While the shearing crew works up an appetite in the shearing shed, Annabel makes them a hearty lunch of Piadini Steak Sandwiches with Beetroot and Horseradish Relish. Returning to her Wanaka cabin, she cooks up a Tender Lamb and Chickpea Tagine, then caps off her Middle-Eastern menu with a show-stopping recipe for sizzling Toffeed Oranges.

Nothing sings spring like strawberries, so Annabel is keen to get her hands on the first berries of the new season. She ventures north to a Hawkes Bay strawberry farm bearing a gift of Buttery Shortbread to share with the farmer.

On the hunt for a special ingredient for a festive roast dinner, Annabel meets a couple who have managed to grow the French delicacy truffles on their South Island farm. As a specially trained sniffer dog hunts out these gourmet treats, Annabel cooks classic Croque Monsieur toasted sandwiches for a picnic lunch – adding her own secret ingredient. That evening she invites her truffling neighbours to her lakeside cabin for a traditional Roast Turkey with Apricot Stuffing and all the trimmings. For dessert, what else but Annabel’s take on a Kiwi favourite – Brown Sugar Pavolvas?

Annabel heads north to sunny Hawkes Bay to meet a farmer who specialises in tender, grass-fed wagyu beef. After stopping at a local organic asparagus farm along the way, she has all the ingredients she needs for a special spring celebration meal. She barbecues the beef over vine clippings on the banks of the scenic Tukituki River, then shows how to cook perfect asparagus. Finishing this special meal are simple but spectacular individual Rhubarb Tarts.

Always up for an adventure, Annabel treks north to a buffalo farm to meet a couple making sublime buffalo yoghurt and cheeses. She arrives armed with an intensely rich Black Velvet Cake, the perfect companion to creamy buffalo yoghurt and blackberries foraged from the farm. Returning to her cabin she pairs some buffalo mozzarella with sweet, ripe figs from her tree. It’s the perfect starter for a lakeside meal of Seared Chilli Lemon Tuna, nicoise salad and slow-baked summer stonefruit.

Annabel loves to forage, and spring is the perfect time of year to gather tender watercress. She is in her element visiting a sustainable farm, where she also collects fresh eggs to use in a hearty and healthy meal she whips up on the back of her flat-bed truck for the hungry farm workers. As well as Chermoula Stuffed Eggs and a peppery watercress salad, Annabel’s menu features Turkish Lentil Kofte, a creamy fish and scallop risotto, and the easiest-ever Strawberry Friands.

Spring has sprung in Annabel's Wanaka garden and she’s already picking the first crisp snow peas of the season to use in a zingy Thai Carrot Salad. She heads off in her trusty yellow truck to meet an artisan chocolate maker, then invites her new friend back for an Asian-inspired dinner of caramelised pork belly with ginger miso greens and sticky rice. And what could be better for dessert than silky chocolate and orange pots made using artisan chocolate and oranges from Annabel’s courtyard garden?

Annabel is up early, roasting a chicken to take on a fishing expedition. She’s in her element as she helps the local fishermen bait their kontiki raft and then prepares roast chicken rolls for lunch. The catch safely ashore, Annabel shows how easy it is to fillet fresh fish, then transform it into a dinner of Beachside Ceviche followed by Fragrant Fish Curry. As the sun sets, she and her new friends enjoy the fruits of their labours with a picnic on the sand.

Back in spring, Annabel planted a traditional Mexican three-sisters garden of corn, beans and zucchini, and now it’s time to harvest her fresh produce and transform it into a delicious Tex-Mex style meal. She combines the corn, beans and zucchini in a salad with the fashionable gluten-free grain quinoa and whizzes her homegrown tomatoes and chillies into a fat-free salsa. A smoked chipotle pepper dressing transforms a classic Caesar salad into something special and fresh-picked organic blueberries star in a stunning mille-feuille dessert.

Annabel celebrates autumn’s bountiful natural harvests with a foraging expedition to a neighbour’s prolific walnut tree. In return she invites him and his family for dinner and treats them to an Indian-inspired meal featuring her homemade Paratha Bread, spicy kasundi and slow-roasted lamb shoulder with a crunchy Walnut Salad – followed by a simple but spectacular Caramel and Pistachio Ice Cream.

It’s autumn and Annabel is making the most of her seasonal harvests, cooking up a big batch of a versatile tomato passata to use as the base for winter recipes. She takes a jar with her when she ventures out to visit a local winemaker who is becoming as famous for his prosciutto as his pinot noir, and cooks up a meal of Chicken Prosciutto Parcels and Savoury Polenta on the back of her trusty yellow truck. Plus, for dessert, a deliciously rich date lumberjack cake, finished with a crunchy coconut topping.

Annabel enjoys a bike ride and a riverside picnic with a Wanaka breadmaker who delivers organic artisanal breads to her customers on an electric cargo bicycle. She takes home a loaf of sourdough to make crunchy bruschetta to toss into a Panzanella Salad with sun-ripened tomatoes from her garden. It’s the perfect starter for an autumnal meal of Slow-Cooked Beef Ragu and Pasta with Roast Pumpkin, followed by her no-fail recipe for Spiced Orange Crème Caramels.