If you are going to toss a sausage on the barbie, there is a perfect way to do it, says Adam Liaw.
Then follow up with a novel take on the beloved lamington.
Australia Day is a funny old holiday.
We all love it, but we have almost no common traditions around the day itself. 
Compare it to Christmas, when we've all got plans for lunch. Or Melbourne Cup Day, when we know we're going to need a hat and access to a telly at around 3pm, wherever we might be.
On Australia Day, some of us take off to the beach, or inland to the rivers. Others might brave the heat and go camping. Some might even gather in and around a backyard pool with the radio blaring the Triple J Hottest 100.
Just about the only thing that all of us can take as given on Australia Day is that wherever we end up, there's going to be a barbecue happening. With that in mind, I want to give the good old barbecued snag a bit of a makeover.
The reality is that sausages are not all that easy to cook. Too much sizzle and they're raw in the middle and burnt on the outside. Too little and the skin gets tough and wrinkled. If you've experienced either problem in the past, here's a foolproof solution.
The Ultimate Barbecued Sausage
Serves 6
The sauce surrounding the sausages keeps them moist while they cook through on a foil tray. Then finish them directly on the grill for that true barbecue taste.
&#183; 12 thick pork or beef sausages (about 1kg)
&#183; 12 rolls or 12 slices of bread, to serve
&#183; rocket leaves, to serve
Cook-in barbecue sauce
&#183; 3 cups roughly chopped tomato
&#183; 2 large brown onions, finely chopped
&#183; 2 cups tomato sauce (ketchup)
&#183; Â¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
&#183; Â¼ cup apple cider vinegar
&#183; 1/2 cup brown sugar
&#183; 2 tbsp Dijon mustard
&#183; 1/2 tsp chilli powder (optional)
For the barbecue sauce, mix all the ingredients together and spread over the base of a disposable foil roasting tray (or a double layer of aluminium foil crumpled at the edges to form a lip). Press the sausages into the sauce and cover the tray loosely with foil.
Place the tray directly on a hot barbecue and allow to cook for 20 minutes, turning the sausages after 10 minutes. Transfer the sausages from the tray directly onto the barbecue (keep the tray on the grill to reduce the sauce slightly) and grill for about 5 minutes, turning often until nicely browned and slightly charred.
Return the sausages to the tray while you lightly grill the rolls or bread slices. Serve the sausages in the bread with the barbecue sauce and some fresh rocket leaves.
Lamington blondies
makes 9
Everyone loves a lamington, but that doesn't mean you can't tweak the formula a little.
&#183; 250g unsalted butter
&#183; 1 cup soft brown sugar
&#183; 1/2 cup caster sugar
&#183; 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
&#183; 2 eggs
&#183; 2 cups plain flour
&#183; 1 tsp baking powder
&#183; 1/2 tsp flake salt
Ganache
&#183; 125ml pouring cream
&#183; 50g unsalted butter
&#183; 100g dark chocolate, chopped
&#183; 1/2 cup desiccated (shredded) coconut, to serve
Heat oven to 180Â°C. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat for about 3 minutes until it turns a light brown. Remove from the heat and mix in the sugars until completely dissolved. Transfer the sugar and butter mixture to a large bowl and stir in the vanilla extract, then the eggs one at a time until well combined. Fold through the flour, baking powder and salt until the mixture is smooth.
Line a 20cm square baking tray, spread the blondie batter into the tray and smooth the top. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes until lightly browned on top but still moist in the centre. Cool the blondies in pan (for 4 hours or overnight preferably; they will sink slightly in the centre), then remove from pan, trim the edges and cut into 9 squares.
For the ganache, bring the cream and butter to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat. Remove from the heat and stir in the chopped chocolate until smooth. Dip the top of each blondie into the ganache and sprinkle with the coconut. Allow to cool before serving.
Adam's tip
If you're feeding a crowd, make up multiple trays of sausages in advance so that they're ready to throw onto the barbecue when guests arrive.