The April 2025 issue marks an exciting moment in our history — Julie Goodwin has officially rejoined The Australian Women’s Weekly team six years after hanging up her apron. She’s back to share her family favourite recipes, starting with a delicious one-pan Spanish chicken dish!
Julie was a regular columnist at The Weekly for close to 10 years after her historic MasterChef Australia win back in 2009. She left us in 2019, but today she’s back to bring her Family Favourites recipes to readers across the country.
“Being part of The Weekly was something I always treasured,” Julie says of why the time was right to rejoin the team.
“Just a few years ago when I had to break everything down to its basics I had to let go of the radio, my cooking school, all sorts of stuff. And I had to rebuild my life brick by brick. I had to make decisions about what is meaningful? What gives me a sense of purpose? What brings me joy? And I only put those things back into the jar – the stuff that I want my life to look like.
“Every single opportunity that comes up – whether it’s a tiny thing that I do one time on one day or a big thing that’s going to be ongoing – I’ve got to weigh it up. Sometimes the decision takes a lot of processing. But this decision was a no-brainer.
“I know it’s going to bring me joy. I know it’s going to give me purpose. It just feels like coming home. It’s really full circle for me. It’s one of the things that I want in my life again and I’m thrilled.”
Each month Julie will share a Family Favourites recipe. It could be a special meal cooked by her Nan during her childhood. Or a meal she cooked for her three boys when they were growing up. Or, it could be a new creation she’s now passing down to her granddaughter, Delilah.
“Food is one of those threads that is woven into all of our memories,” she says. “I love that about cooking and what I want to bring to the column is that real sense of family and coming home.”
Julie still remembers with wonder helping her Nan make pikelets and how it helped foster her fascination with the kitchen.
“Stirring the batter, standing up on a little chair to watch the bubbles come up and then once they pop you flip them over,” she smiles. “That was my first real feel of the magic because there’s science in it. If you watch for the signs, you know what to do.”
Today Delilah has become Julie’s little helper in the kitchen, with her own set of safety knives to chop up tomatoes or lettuce for the family meal. The three-year-old has also graduated to cooking herself scrambled eggs every morning under the watchful supervision of her dad, Tom.
“When we were making it for her, she wasn’t the least bit interested,” Julie says of why she encourages all parents to get their kids involved in the creation of their meals.
“But once she was allowed to stir the eggs and tip them in and push it around with a spoon? Then she sits down and is happy to eat it because she made it.
“Get the kids involved in the choosing of a recipe, the shopping or the growing. Pick something out of the garden. And definitely get them involved in the cooking. Once they’ve invested in it, they’re far more likely to taste it and definitely far more likely to eat it.”
Delilah is a regular at the dinner table, along with her children and their respective partners. Joe and Paddy are still living at home while Tom lives five minutes down the road.
“It’s a revolving door our place, I love it,” Julie laughs. “It’s very rarely just me and (husband) Mick. But I love it when it is. Oh my God, I can’t even imagine how rich I’m going to be when I’m not feeding these giants!
“But do you know, I can’t imagine when it’s just he and I at home. Our house is built for a lot of people. Yesterday we had 50 people and I catered for them quite easily. So it’s going to be weird when it’s just the two of us at the same table.”
Julie’s first dish in the series is a delightful Spanish Chicken one-pan dish. Get the recipe here.
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