Host Peter Everett is joined by Australia's top chefs in the release of the first editions of the TV series Ready Steady Cook on DVD! The hugely successful Network Ten TV series will be released in both Autumn and Winter DVD editions this May 2007, which feature great tips on buying and cooking selected seasonal ingredients in just 20 minutes!

For the first time, the most popular episodes will be captured on DVD, so you can play and replay your favourite recipes at your convenience. The days of scrambling to find a pen and paper to catch a recipe are gone, now you can have great recipes and great advice at hand, any time you need them.

Showcasing over 24 popular recipe ideas for Autumn and Winter, along with ingredient lists and step by step cooking instructions, Ready Steady Cook on DVD is a convenient and entertaining kitchen companion sure to make meal times more exciting. The best part is all recipes use every day ingredients that take just twenty minutes to prepare - so these are easy, practical, meal solutions for real people with busy lives!

The DVD also features special, behind the scenes, never seen before chef commentary with special tips from leading chefs including Alastair McLeod, Damian Heads, Dominique Rizzo, George Calombaris, Janelle Bloom, Manu Feildel and Matt Golinski. With expert advice like this, even the most basic of cooks will be surprised by their ability to produce delicious, healthy meals.

Available from May 2nd 2007, Ready Steady Cook Autumn and Winter editions are sure to warm you up inside for the cooler months. The second instalment in the Ready Steady Cook DVD series, the Spring and Summer editions, will launch later this year.

Classification: G
Duration: 120 minutes approx
Genre: Cooking
Price: $34.95

Available exclusively at Coles and Target

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READY STEADY COOK CHEFS

ALASTAIR MCLEOD

Alastair McLeod is Executive Chef at Bretts Wharf in Brisbane - which is a big job, the business incorporates a la carte seafood restaurant, on-site function facilities and off-site catering. He's a dinky-di Australian (his mother was born here) and, despite the Irish accent, he knows more about Australian produce than most and is passionate about the fresh produce that we have available to us in Australia, and especially in the South East Queensland region.

Previous to his arrival in Australia nearly 9 years ago, he was chef at a number of Michelin listed restaurants in Europe. These included Roscoffs in Ireland (his old boss there Paul Rankin is one of the regular chefs in the British version of Ready Steady Cook), and also Da Giovanni restaurant in Torino in Italy, which is one of the few family owned restaurants with a Michelin listing. Alastair also worked at one of Scotland's finest restaurants, The Ubiquitous Chip (at the time Glasgow's highest Michelin rating restaurant) and La Fregate - 17/20 Gault Milau in France.

Alastair's first job in Australia was at Brisbane's Baguette Restaurant, and during his time there, the restaurant won a number of prestigious food awards, including the American Express Hall of Fame Award.

Six years ago he took up the position of Executive Chef at Bretts Wharf, and since then has won many awards including Restaurant and Catering Associations' Best Event Caterer and Best Venue Caterer as well as Best Seafood Restaurant (Seafood Services Australia).

The catering side of the business sees Alastair cooking at some of Australia's most impressive caterered events including a 3000 guest formal sit down dinner ball in a hangar for Virgin Blue, the Mercedes Benz Fashion Festival, David Jones launches and AAMI Stradbroke Cup.

BRETTS WHARF
449 Kingsford Smith Dr Hamilton QLD
07 3868 1717
www.brettswharf.com.au

DAMIAN HEADS

Brisbane born Damian started his career in the kitchens at the Brisbane Hilton. He stayed just long enough to complete his apprenticeship - the day after Damian finished his apprenticeship he was on a plane to Europe, with his knives packed in his backpack.

In between bouts of travelling Damian worked at Bank, one of London's hippest restaurants, under Christian Delteil, moving to the famed Marriot County Hall opposite the British Parliament, for its opening. Whilst there, Damian competed in the prestigious classic cooking competition, the Academie Culinaire de France, and was one of just two finalists from the whole of the south-east of England. In January 2000, he was back in Sydney, as Sauce Chef at the Bennelong Restaurant at the Sydney Opera House.

In mid 2001 he moved to Milsons as Chef de Partie, and the next year he was awarded the Josephine Pignolet Award for Best Young Chef.

In 2003 he opened the very popular Garfish, before embarking on a six month study trip (as part of his prize for the Josephine Pignolet Award) through Europe and the United Kingdom, visiting a wide variety of restaurants and meeting with some of the world's best chefs.

On returning to Australia early 2005 Damian took the role of Head Chef at Fuel Bistro, Surry Hills, Sydney.

One year on Damian has joined forces with synonymous architect Michael McCann (architect best known for Flying Fish, Mu Shu, Whitewater, and many more) in his latest project Pony, situated in The Rocks on the doorstep of Sydney Harbour. Pony a restaurant which no doubt will be as unique as it's name.

PONY LOUNGE & DINING
The Rocks Centre
Shop 14-15 Argyle St The Rocks NSW
02 9252 7797
www.ponydining.com.au

DOMINIQUE RIZZO

Dominique Rizzo has 13 years experience as a chef, and has a passion for good food and quality ingredients.

"I can remember being about three and making my mum cups of coffee by using the hot water tap in the bath because I couldn't reach the one in the kitchen", she says. "I love everything about food - the flavours, the tastes, the textures, and how to put it together, the passion of creating dishes and the rawness of it".

She is a partner in Mondo Organics and a food consultant for both the restaurant and catering arm of the business. She stylises and designs all Mondo's menus, with the assistance of her team of dedicated enthusiastic and like minded chefs.

Her passion for creative food is fuelled by her Sicilian heritage and a deep desire to develop innovative cuisine using quality safe, clean, fresh organic produce.

MONDO ORGANICS
166 Hardgrave Road West End QLD
07 3844 1132
www.mondo-organics.com.au

GEORGE CALOMBARIS

George Calombaris has one simple philosophy when it comes to cuisine; "With each dish that I create, my goal is to achieve for my customer a dining experience designed to do everything, except go unnoticed"

It is this sort of belief that has distinguished Calombaris from his peers, and at the tender age of 28 his own unique and determined personal style has seen Calombaris rewarded many internationally respected culinary competitions.

In 2003 Calombaris was selected to represent Australia at the Bocuse d'Or International culinary Grand Prix in Lyon, achieving a best ever result for an Australian representative.

In the same year George was the master mind behind the successful restaurant Reserve, where his own personal style was on show. His food was an often-surprising hybrid of classical haute cuisine and the experimental ideas of European food surrealists. Quoted as "very out there", George's molecular gastronomy has seen him become a much spoken about chef in the international cooking circuit. As a result, George was voted one of the top 40 chefs of influence in the world by the Global Food and Wine Magazine in 2004.

Whilst at Reserve Calombaris was awarded Young Chef of the Year 2004 by The Age Good Food Guide Awards, and Reserve won Best New Restaurant 2004 as well as winning two chefs hats.

George has packed a lot into a short career, including his own restaurant The Press Club which opened in Melbourne 2006.

Taking advantage of his Greek heritage, The Press Club Restaurant and Bar represents Modern Greek Cuisine George style!

The Press Club
72 Flinders Street Melbourne VIC
03 9677 9677
www.thepressclub.com.au

JANELLE BLOOM

Janelle Bloom is the Food Editor of Super Food Ideas, Australia's highest selling food magazine. Her role includes co-ordinating and managing the food pages, as well as writing and styling many of the recipes.

Her approach to food is very evident in the pages of the magazine and in her appearances on Ready Steady Cook. She wants to spread the word that cooking is fun and easy - although this is not always the case, she says, when you have just 20 minutes to cook a feast from a bag of secret ingredients!Janelle sees her role as an educator, teaching the public about new ingredients and showing them simple and quick ways of putting great food on the table for every meal.

Janelle is considered Australia's leading microwave cook, working at Sharp for over 6 years where she was responsible for the development of technology, as well as writing cookbooks and organising cooking schools Australia wide.

To date Janelle has written two cookbooks - on cooking and the microwave, the other on one of her favourite topics, chocolate!

She is also the national spokesperson for the Australian Mushroom Growers, a job that she loves, working with growers and farmers to promote Australian fresh produce.

Ready Steady Cook for Janelle is challenging and chaotic, but the most fun she's ever had in a kitchen!

www.superfoodideas.com.au

MANU FEILDEL

It seems that Manu Feildel was destined to become a great chef from the moment he was born - his great grandfather was a pastry chef, his grandfather and father were chefs, his uncle is a charcutier, his cousin is a chef in the United States and his mother is a great cook. But as a child he saw his future on the stage, rather than in the kitchen and at 13 years old, he joined an amateur circus school.By the time he turned 15, Manu decided that the road to becoming a professional clown was a very long one, so he started as apprenticeship in his father's restaurant. After a year, he progressed to a fine dining restaurant where he finished his apprenticeship, before the travel bug bit and he packed his knives and headed for London.

His first job at The Cafe Royal, was hard to say the least, as Manu didn't speak any English. But his perseverance paid off, and after working at restaurants such as Les Associes and Café des Amis du Vin, he took up a position as Chef de Partie at the seafood restaurant, Livebait (nominated best seafood in the UK in '98) and that's when he really began to understand and love the career he had chosen.

The travel bug bit again, and Manu flew to Melbourne, where he worked at Toofeys for 6 months, before he got itchy feet again and headed to Sydney. After six months with Hugo's at Sydney's famous Bondi Beach, he opened the kitchen at the new Hugo's Lounge in Kings Cross. Manu ran the kitchen for about 18 months before he moved to Restaurant VII with its exciting fusion of French and Japanese cuisine.

It was then Tony Bilson approached Manu to open his new venture Bilson's and it seems his career has turned full circle, as he returns to his roots cooking contemporary French cuisine.Congratulations to Manu for being awarded his 3rd chefs hat for Bilson's at the 2007 Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide Awards.

Bilson's Restaurant
Radisson Plaza Hotel
27 O'Connell Street
Sydney NSW 02 8214 0496
www.bilsons.com.au

MATT GOLINSKI

Matt Golinski is a man of few words, and those he does use are fairly understated. If you ask him where he has worked he'll tell you that he hasn't worked "with the Roux Brothers, Marco Pierre White, Jamie Oliver or Gordon Ramsay."

He describes his interests as "fishing, playing music and surfing, but mostly cooking". Matt figured that was all anybody would be interested in - but we knew that you would want to know a little more - Born on the Sunshine Coast, Matt began life as an apprentice in Brisbane, working at Squirrels Restaurant, West End and Chevaliers Restaurant. With his apprenticeship completed, he packed his fishing rod and his favourite books and headed around Australia. Apart from a month's cooking on Hamilton Island most of his time was spent fishing, reading and exploring. Matt describes that year as the best year of his life (apart from this year on Ready Steady Cook of course!)

Twelve months on the road didn't cure his wanderlust and in 1997 Matt and his wife Rachel, travelled through Thailand, Turkey, Europe and England, working in a variety of large and small establishments.

By 1999 the Sunshine Coast was calling them back, and Matt took up the position of Executive Chef at Ricky Ricardo's in Noosa. Here he cooked Mediterranean-inspired food in one of the most beautiful locations in Australia.

Matt also has a swag of local and international awards to his name, including when he beat the Italians at their own game and earned a bronze medal from Bologna's Internazionale della Cucina Bolognese for cooking fresh pasta.

Still based on the Sunshine Coast today Matt is currently focusing on his own tapas range The Rolling Dolmade

www.therollingdolmade.com.au