Annabel Langbein: The Free Range Cook - Episode Guide

Annabel prepares her all-time favourite Bacon and Egg Pie for a cherry-picking adventure with young friends George and Evie. It's the perfect thing for a portable lunch or dinner.

Every Sunday in summer Annabel visits the farmers' market in Old Cromwell Town. Today she's buying lamb racks for dinner to serve with Salsa Verde - a velvety fresh herb sauce.

Annabel braves a nearby beekeeper's hives to collect pure organic honey for a dessert of Honey Vanilla Panna Cotta, to follow Crispy Pork Belly served with Roasted Pepper Pesto.

Having collected fresh eggs from a local poultry breeder, Annabel heads home to whip up homemade mayonaise and sweet Coconut Pavlovas to follow a Thai-style Beef Salad.

Annabel and a group of friends head to spectacular Dusky Sound for a weekend fishing trip and crayfish is on the menu.

Garlic is one of Annabel's indispensible ingredients and in this episode she visits a neighbour's farm to harvest the new season's crop.

Annabel heads across the lake in her little jet boat to source green grapes for a batch of verjuice. She packs a picnic including homemade Sesame and Oregano Lavosh to share among the vines.

Annabel travels to Oamaru to source the perfect cheese for her Caramelised Onion and Feta Tart. Along the way she stops to cook up some cheesy treats in the spectacular limestone landscape.

After a spot of fishing on the lake, Annabel shows how to home-smoke salmon for a deliciously easy starter platter or lunch.

Annabel travels to historic Arrowtown to source beer from a local boutique brewery for her Vegetable Pakoras and to accompany a South East Asian inspired dinner menu.

Annabel heads to her local A&P show to guest judge entries in the homemade preserves competition. After the fun of the fair, she heads back to her cabin to whip up a batch of her own Harvest Tomato Sauce.

Annabel heads to the West Coast to learn the art of catching whitebait. She takes her fishing companions a gift of her Ultimate Chocolate Cake in return for a bucket of "white gold".

Annabel visits a nearby high country sheep farm where the annual muster is in full swing. She's gifted a prime cut of lamb, which she returns to her cabin to barbecue to follow a starter of Pear, Walnut and Haloumi Salad.

Annabel cooks a Middle Eastern-inspired al fresco lunch for the grape pickers at Mt Maude vineyard in Central Otago. On the menu are homemade Turkish Bread, a spicy steak salad and her famous Orange Lightning Cake.

Annabel helicopters deep into the Southern Alps high country to cook a hearty lunch for the deer musterers. Returning to her lakeside Wanaka cabin, she cooks a simple but indulgent dinner of Venison Tataki, Confit Duck and a sublime Flourless Chocolate Cake.

Annabel cooks up a seafood celebration feast on the back of her truck, including the most spectacular Beachside Paella and flambéed peaches from her Wanaka orchard.

Annabel visits actor Sam Neill's Two Paddocks vineyard in Central Otago to harvest saffron and pick heritage pears, then invites him and his team to her cabin to try her take on classic Italian osso bucco and saffron risotto. Her Pear and Prune Custard Cream dessert has everyone swooning.

Annabel tries her hand at flyfishing on the lake near her Wanaka cabin, then shows how to cook the most succulent trout enrobed in salt. As her neighbours arrive for a barbecue she whips up Help-Yourself Hamburgers and blueberry crepes over the outdoor fire.

On a mission to source fresh local produce, Annabel gathers culinary lavender and merino lamb to make a roast dinner with a difference. Also on the menu are deep-fried zucchini flowers and a divine tarte tatin.

In sunny Nelson, Annabel harvests mushrooms to use in a quick and easy Teriyaki Fish and Mushroom Bake. She also shares her recipe for a super-simple Lemon and Ginger Ice Cream served with crunchy Ginger Biscotti.

Annabel picks heritage apples, then returns to her cabin to cook a Mexican-style feast of succulent slow-cooked pork with all the trimmings, followed by the easiest, most refreshing apple and raspberry sorbets ever.

Annabel visits her neighbour's hazelnut orchard for the autumn harvest, cooking up a Rib-Sticking Pea and Ham Soup and a Spiced Apple Cake for lunch. On the menu that night are artichokes fresh from the garden, Chicken and Leek Gratin, and Individual Pear and Hazelnut Tarts.

Always up for an adventure, Annabel wades in boots and all to net flounder on a Nelson beach. Her haul is the starting point for a Mediterranean-themed meal featuring a generous platter of tapas, the simplest baked fish and a delicious Vanilla Citrus Terrine.

Annabel and her daughter Rose head off to a local Wanaka orchard to pick apricots. The abundant harvest forms the basis of that evening's meal, both as a savoury chilli dipping sauce for crunchy spring rolls, and as a delicious dessert.

Annabel milks goats at her neighbours' farm and makes haloumi to grill on skewers with prawns and zucchini. Also on the menu are flash-roasted salmon fillets with home-made pesto, and decadent Molten Chocolate Pots.

Annabel jetboats across Lake Wanaka to pick luscious raspberries, then returns to her cabin to cook a glorious dinner of barbecued chicken and vegetables from her garden. Her Silky Lemon Tart is a show-stopping finish to the ultimate summer meal.

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.