Sweetcorn Fritters with Roast Tomato & Bacon

I have been rather busy the last few weeks & haven’t had a chance to cook up a big brekky for Michael & I for a while so I got out my trusty Bill Granger books who I always turn to when wanting a new idea for breakfast. This recipe comes from Bills Sydney Food. Let me tell you these fritters were sensational, easy to make, they held together beautifully & the flavour was a lovely sweet, soft sensation. I made heaps & the leftovers were just as good cold or heated up in the microwave. I’d say this breakfast was the best I have had in a long time & could stand up to a few of my favourite cafes & a lot cheaper too!

Sweetcorn Fritters with Roast Tomato & Bacon

1 cup plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon sugar
2 eggs
½ cup milk
2 cups fresh corn kernels, cut from the cob
½ cup diced red capsicum
½ cup sliced spring onions
¼ cup chopped coriander & parsley (combined)
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 ripe roma tomatoes, sliced in half lengthways
extra virgin olive oil
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

To serve
Rocket
Grilled Bacon

Firstly get your tomatoes roasting. Preheat the oven to 180c. Place tomatoes cut side up on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt & pepper & roast in the oven for 40 minutes.

Sift flour, baking powder, slat & paprika into a large bowl, stir in sugar & make a well in the center. In a separate bowl, combine eggs & milk. Gradually add the egg mix to the dry ingredients & whisk until you have a smooth lump-free batter.

Add vegetables & herbs & mix to combine. Heat oil in a non-stick frying pan over medium heat, then drop in 2 tablespoons of batter per fritter & cook 4 fritters at a time. Cook for 2 minutes or until golden underneath, flip & cook the other side until also golden. Serve with tomatoes, rocket & bacon.

Barbecued Sweet Corn with Lime, Chilli & Parmesan Butter

To go with some leftovers I cooked up some corn cobs with a really tasty butter that I found in Ben O’Donoghue & Curtis Stone’s Surfing the Menu. I halved the quantities for 2 & still have heaps of butter leftover which I think will go nicely with some baked spuds. It was delicious & went fantastically with the grilled corn cobs which were tender & juicy yet not overdone at all cooked in this manner.

Barbecued Sweet Corn with Lime, Chilli & Parmesan Butter

4 whole corn cobs, in their husks
100g unsalted butter, softened
100g Parmesan cheese, grated
finely grated zest of 2 large limes
1-2 birds eye chillies, seeded & finely chopped
salt & freshly ground black pepper
1 lime, quartered

Place the corn cobs on a preheated hot grill and cook until golden brown, about 15 minutes, turning often. Peel off the husks when cool enough to handle.
While the corn is cooking, combine the butter, cheese, zest & chilli & beat until smooth. Season with salt & pepper. Smear each cob with the butter & serve with a wedge of lime

Gingerboy, Melbourne

Saturday night I finally made it to Gingerboy with my very nice $150.00 voucher kindly arranged by Ed at Tomato that I managed to win in this years Menu for hope. With less then 2 weeks until D Day this was probably my last opportunity for a nice meal out for quite some time. Firstly the décor is fantastic, black bamboo lines the walls & ceilings with little fairly lights scattered through them so its all very magical, dark polished tables & very different clear plastic chairs for those sitting opposite the ‘couch wall’. The background music was funky & not too loud to be a nuisance & the place was packed & had a great vibe about it.

With all that money to spend Michael & I decided that we better try a bit of everything. The menu is divided between snacks & street food, and main courses, all designed to share. From the snack section we had the Steamed half shell scallops with green chilli sambal, these were delicious & definitely my favourite starter, the sambal serving quite a kick yet the flavour was still subtle enough to go perfectly with the scallop. Next we had the Son in Law eggs with Chilli Jam & Asian herbs that I have heard so many good things about. They certainly looked impressive yet as I am not allowed runny egg yolk at the moment & had to have them more on the well done side I don’t think I quite got the right flavour hit this way, oh well next time I will try them properly. Next up was Pork nam prik ong with shredded lettuce and herbs, this was minced pork in a sauce which was a bit on the sweet side for me though still good. Salt & Pepper Chicken spare ribs with a green chilli & soy dipping sauce came next, really very good, the rib is such a tender & meaty part of the chicken that most people don’t know about, Michael was especially pleased with this dish as for him it was a fancy & of course much superior version of the dreaded KFC. Lastly was the Prawn dumplings with chilli sauce, sticky soy & lime, these were delicate little parcels full of goodness, another one of the favourites for us.

Now my only complaint about this first part is that they all came out on top of each other & despite our waiters assurances that they were all quite small & would not be too much we were getting quite full at this stage & we still had a main to follow! Luckily they gave us a bit of a break before bringing out the Mussaman Duck leg curry with kipfler potatoes & shallots, we also had a serve of corn cakes which the waiter insisted on. Let me tell you this dish was fantastic & the corn cakes although sounding strange were great & you have to try some if you ever make it here.

And of course lastly we had to have some dessert, I did have high hopes for the sharing platter but of course there was no way this could even be considered so we shared the Steamed pandan dumplings with spiced pears & pure cream, loved these as well & they were the perfect end to a great meal.

All in all despite some mixed reviews of this place we had a great night, the staff were very friendly, attentive & helpful, food was very good, our glasses were always full & all in all service was very efficient, (even a bit too much to start with). Would be keen to go again & try out some more of the menu & some of the wicked sounding cocktails that sadly were off my list last night!

Gingerboy
27-29 Crossley Street, Melbourne VIC 3000
Ph: +613 9662 4200
Fax: +613 9662 4250
Email: eat@gingerboy.com.au
www.gingerboy.com.au

Festive Food Fair - Gingerbread Muffins

Anna at Morsels & Musings in Sydney has decided to host a Festive Food Fair event. I think this is a great idea & hopefully the event will provide inspiration for everyone during the holiday season & leading up to all of those glorious Christmas feasts. I have chosen a simple muffin recipe from Nigella Lawson’s Feast under the Christmas section of course. I managed to whip these up in the time it to me steam some rice for dinner – they are that simple. I made a couple of changes due to lack of the correct ingredients - all light muscovado sugar & no dark and all golden syrup failing the discovery of any black treacle down the shops. They were still absolutely lovely & I don’t think these compromised the flavour at all but who knows, maybe they would make them even better. These would be great for xmas brekky or just to have on hand if people are popping over at this time of year. Light & fluffy & ginger & spice just conjure up festive images don’t they?

Gingerbread Muffins

250g plain flour
½ teaspoon bicarb of soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
1 egg
50g dark muscovado sugar
50g light muscovado sugar
150ml full-fat milk
¼ teaspoon balsamic vinegar
6 tablespoons vegetable or corn oil
4 tablespoons golden syrup
4 tablespoons black treacle.

Preheat oven to 200c. Line a 12 hole muffin tin with muffin papers.

Combine the flour, bicarb, baking powder & spices in a large bowl. Whisk the egg in a large measuring jug then add the sugars, breaking up any large lumps. Add the milk and vinegar then measure in the oil with a tablespoon. Use the same oily spoon to add the syrup & treacle so they don’t stick to it. Whisk the mixture to combine and add to the flour mix. Stir until mixed but still fairly lumpy. Spoon into muffin papers & bake for about 20 minutes until the tops are dry.

Cajun snapper on corn & sun dried tomato risotto

For the main course I made this delicious snapper from A Slice of Port Douglas, starfish restaurant & bar. I’ve made this heaps of times before & it’s really delicious & I love the Mexican take on the risotto. Snapper too would have to be one of my favourite fish & the Cajun spices are not messing with it too much. I used coriander in my sauce as I can never find chervil and it works fine.

Cajun Blackened Snapper fillet on corn and sun dried tomato risotto drizzled with a chervil vin blanc sauce

750g snapper fillets
2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning
1 tablespoon oil

Corn & sun dried risotto

2 corn cobs, kernels removed
4-5 cups fish stock
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
2 cups Arborio rice
¼ cup sun dried tomatoes
1 teaspoon tumeric powder

Chervil vin blanc sauce

1 tablespoon butter
1 spring onion, finely chopped
½ cup white wine
½ cup fish stock
2/3 cup cream
drop worchester sauce
1 tablespoon chervil

Cut down the corns with a sharp knife to remove the kernels. Dry fry over medium heat shaking the pan regularly until kernels turn golden brown. Place stock in a large saucepan & bring to the boil, reduce heat & keep at a simmer. Heat oil and butter in a large heavy based saucepan. Add rice and stir for 1-2 minutes or until transparent. Add 1 cup of stock to the pan & stir continuously over medium heat until the liquid is absorbed. Continue adding stock, 1 cup at a time, stirring constantly for 20 minutes. Add kernels, tomatoes & tumeric & mix well to combine. Cook for a further 5 minutes or until rice is cooked.

To make the sauce, heat butter in a saucepan. Add spring onion & sauté for 1 minute. Add wine, stock & cream & simmer until sauce is cream but not thick. Season with salt, pepper & Worchester sauce. Remove from heat & add chervil & mix well to combine. Keep warm.

Coat the snapper fillets with the Cajun seasoning. Pour oil into a very hot pan , place fillets in & cook for 2 minutes one side then turn over, reduce heat & cook for approx 2 minutes n the other side until cooked.

Serve Fish on top of risotto with sauce drizzled over.

Note – Chervil can be substituted with Chinese parsley or fresh coriander in the sauce.

SOS

Yesterday for lunch I was lucky enough to be taken to SOS by some clients. Unfortunately for you I didn’t have my camera with me, thought that would be going too far on a business lunch! For those of you who haven’t heard of SOS it’s the new restaurant run by Paul Mathis, whose previous endeavours include Transport, Upper+Lower House and Soulmama. The menu features seafood that has been sustaibably produced & ethically harvested & seasonal produce, that’s right, no meat in sight. Don’t’ worry the wine isn’t all organic & quite a nice list to choose from.

The location might put you off but don’t let it, it’s on level 3 at Melbourne Central amongst the cinemas & other pretty average looking eating establishments, the whole floor has a bit of a fancy food court feel to it if you ask me. However SOS is neatly hidden away from all of this, in fact we walked right past the entrance & had to go back & search it out. It is a concealed door in a wall of dark brown panelling which when you stand in the right place magically opens & lets you into the oasis within. You then walk down a long dark, lowly lit hallway before you are led into the restaurant itself. The interior was quite funky & modern with some nice music streaming through the speakers. We chose to sit out on the balcony as it was a lovely sunny Melbourne Winters day & the balcony was heated & well protected from the wind. Its always great when the weather starts to cheer up & you can finally do the el fresco dining thing again, makes me believe that Summer might actually return one of these days after all.

The service was very attentive throughout with our waiter being very helpful & the sommelier even paying us a visit A great choice of bread was offered first, wholegrain, sourdough & corn bread from what I remember, I had the wholegrain which was superb, very fresh & we were regularly asked if we wanted more, that’s always a good sign for me, hate stingy bread givers! Next we had a complimentary taster of salmon tartare. After this we hopped straight to the main course, being 3 girls we thought we would forego entrees in favour of leaving room for dessert. I went with the special of the day which was Paradise Prawns (from new Caledonia) with homemade wholemeal tagliatelle & broccoli, think the sauce was some sort of foam concoction, frankly I can never remember the lengthy descriptions the waiters give you, regardless the dish tasted fantastic, the prawns were very good, pretty big & lots of them too, the pasta was oh so fresh & perfectly cooked, the wholemeal lending a lovely flavour too & of course nothing beats home made for flavour & texture. A nice size serve but luckily still some room for dessert which was absolutely luscious, I had the Zucotto Servito con sorbetto al cioccolato e salsa al vin Santo - Traditional Italian style zucotto served with chocolate sorbet & vin santo sauce. In English this is a trifley type dish though of course as you would expect here it was perfectly presented & exquisite, I’m still dreaming about it & wishing for more today.

All in all I really loved this place, there were heaps of dishes on the menu I would love to try & I do like the concept of where it is all coming from too. Will be back for more soon

SOS
Level 3, Melbourne Central
La Trobe street, Melbourne

9654 0808

Coyote Cafe, North Fitzroy

Last night Michael & I thought we would try out the new Mexican place, The Coyote Cafe that opened a few months ago on Nicholson Street in North Fitzroy. The place serves Traditional & New Wave Mexican food, it all looks very interesting though last night we stuck to the basics thinking we would be more adventurous next time. We shared a small plate of Nachos to start with, they were really good, layered pinto beans on the bottom, corn chips, lots of warm melted cheese, jalapenos & pepper sauce, all served with guacamole, salsa & sour cream on the side. I was impressed that with all the cheese the corn chips managed to stay crispy throughout which gets a big star from me. Also the serve was so big for a small that between the 2 of us we were nearly full after the starter! Next we shared the fajitas, this was a mix of char grilled beef, chicken & chorizo with onion, capsicum & Mexican rice, served with warm tortillas, salsa, sour cream, guacamole, lettuce & cheese so you can build your own tasty parcels. As we were sharing, they were kind enough to give us an extra serve of tortillas at no additional cost & we didn’t even ask for them, again it was all pretty tasty although the rice was a little overdone after sitting on the char grill plate for so long & more than enough to share. Add in a couple of coronas & the whole meal set us back under $50.00 so very kind on the hip pocket too. All in all nothing fancy, but nice for a casual meal out any time. They also do take-away & I believe on some weeknights they have margarita specials & the like too.

Coyote Café
414 Nicholson Street
North Fitzroy
9489 0077

Weekend Breakfast blogging

Nandita at Saffron trail has started a fortnightly event called weekend breakfast blogging

I thought I would remind you all of a wonderful Christmas breakfast I made last year that I truly reccomend you all try, here it is again


Sweetcorn & Ricotta hotcakes with smoked salmon & basil dressing

To use up some more of my smoked salmon I cooked up a treat for Michael & I on Christmas morning, we were not expecting the whole family over until dinner time so wanted something nice to start the day.After doing the Allan Campion cooking class at Vic Market & him making it look so easy I thought I would try this recipe out for myself. Again it was really easy & have heaps of leftover hotcakes to have for brekky over the next few days. Think the corn & smoked salmon teamed with the basil is a great combination too.The recipe is from 2006 Seasonal Prodcue Diary, here it is

Sweetcorn and ricotta hotcakes with smoked salmon and basil dressing

1 cup basil leaves
1 garlic clove, peeled & sliced
120-160 ml (1/2 - 2/3 cup) olive oil
salt & freshly ground pepper
2 medium eggs
250g ricotta
60 ml (1/4 cup) milk
125g (1/2 cup) natural yoghurt
150g (1 cup) self raising flour
1/2 tspn baking powder
1/2 tspn salt
2 corn cobs
olive oil for cooking
rocket to serve
12 slices smoked salmon

Place basil & garlic in food processor & blend until chopped. Slowly add the olive oil until the basil is pureed & forms a thickish sauce. Season with salt & pepper & set aside.Beat eggs & ricotta. Add milk and yoghurt & beat until smooth. Sift flour with baking powder and salt & add to ricotta base, stir until combined.Remove husks and silky tassells from corn. Run a sharp knife down each cob to remove the kernels. Stir kernels through pancake mixture.Heat a heavy based pan over medium heat. Add a splash of oil to hot pan, then a few ladlefuls of ricotta mixture. Mixture should spread to abt 6 cm wide. Cook until bubbles form on top & base is golden brown. Turn over & cook for a further 2-3 minutes. Keep warm until all hotcakes are cooked.Place one hotcake on each plate, add a handful of rocket, place another cake on top. Add more rocket & arrange 2 slices of salmon on top. Repeat with remaining hotcakes. Drizzle basil oil around hotcakes & serve immediatleyPS - As you can see from the photo I didnt do the fancy arrangement just for the 2 of us!

Sweet Chicken & Corn Soup

This weeks soup is a classic Chinese recipe from Kylie Kwong’s Simple Chinese Cooking. I remember as a child going down to the local Chinese shop with the family I would always have this or short (wonton) soup to start with. Interesting to make it myself. I must confess as it was a work night I used ready made liquid stock as the batch I made ages ago has sadly run out by now & couldn’t be bothered making Kylie’s as suggested. The soup was really nice though I would say just a touch on the salty side so would reduce the salt or soy next time. Much nicer & of course very fresh tasting as opposed to the local Chinese.

Sweet Chicken & Corn Soup

4 cobs sweet corn
1 small white onion
1 garlic clove
5cm knob ginger
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup shao hsing wine or dry sherry
7 cups Light Chinese Chicken Stock
200g chicken breast, cur widthways into 1cm strips
2 teaspoons light soy sauce
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon finely sliced spring onion

Remove kernels from corn cobs by running a sharp knife down the sides of each cob. Peel & finely dice onion & garlic. Peel ginger and cut into thin slices and then into fine strips.

Heat oil in a medium sized heavy based pot & sauté onion, ginger & garlic for 1 minute. Add wine or sherry and simmer for further minute or until liquid has reduced to half. Stir in the corn & stock & bring to the boil. Reduce the heat & simmer for 30 minutes. Skim off any impurities (if using real stock!)

Stir through chicken & soy sauce & simmer for a further minute. Lower heat & slowly pour beaten egg into soup in a thin stream, stirring constantly with a fork. Remove soup from the stove as soon as you see the egg forming ‘ribbons’

Serve in bowls & garnish with spring onions.

Vegetable Meme

Tankeduptaco tagged me for this vegetable meme, so here goes

Do you like vegetables?

Love vegetables & in my early 20’s I even had a couple of vegetarian years until I had an unbelievable craving for steak & never looked back after giving in, now I take my veggies alongside my meat though I do usually cook at least one vegetarian meal a week

Do you have a favourite vegetable?

This is a very difficult question as I love pretty much all veggies. I would have to say that strictly speaking the humble potato, probably the most boring though very versatile of veggies is my fave. As mentioned due to my peasant Polish/Lithuanian roots a lot of my favourite foods growing up were potato based, 2 of my all time favourites being potato pierogi served with sour cream (made by my Polish gran) & ‘meatballs’ (this was a dish my Lithuanian Nan used to cook up & I have no idea of the traditional name & have never seen or heard of it anywhere else & sadly don’t have the recipe, basically the filling was some sort of mince & was covered in a very fine potato mash mixture then boiled & served with a sauce of bacon cooked in cream- how bad can you get in the fat stakes?), would love to hear from any Lithuanians out there if they have eaten this or similar & if they have the recipe

Is there any vegetable that you think (or know) most people don't like, but you find great?

Fennel

Why?

I don’t necessarily think most people don’t like it just a lot of people, think it may be the strong aniseed flavour that scares some people away. I on the other hand love it & have used it for many dishes including a lovely roast pork & a really simple bouillabaisse that I whip up often in winter, promise to make again soon & post

Is there any vegetable that you think (or know) most people find great, but you don't love that much.

Radish

What experiences did you have with it?

I used to have to make millions of them into little flowers for garnish in a pub bistro I worked in when I was still in my teens which was very, very boring. I haven’t had a bad experience with them, I just don’t get it, to me they are tasteless so what’s the point?What kind of vegetables are unusual to you?Daikon & Rhubarb, they seem to be everywhere yet I have never laid my hands on them, though I have eaten rhubarb out. Plan to try them out in my kitchen one of these days. Also Okra, have never cooked with or eaten this mysterious vegetable, in fact I don’t even know what it looks like, may have to try tankeduptaco’s recipe!

Name a couple of vegetables that you cook and eat.

Tomatoes – so versatile, one favourite way is cherry tomatoes (or any small tomatoes, grape, mini roma, etc), roasted in the oven with olive oil, garlic & basil & then thrown in salads. Or a simple Salad caprese with home grown tomatoes & basil is always a winner too.

Roasted veg, potatoes, pumpkin, sweet potato, parsnip, garlic, onions, carrots, etc all with some Rosemary thrown in – yum,

Any veggies in soups, ie a combo of squash, mushies, capsicum, onion, carrots, stock & some cous cous thrown in to thicken up or simple pumpkin soup – great winter warmers

Which vegetables do you want to know more about and bring into your kitchen?

Globe Artichokes & Rhubarb, 2 ingredients that for some reason I am not sure of the prep so always shy away from, plan to change that soonSome thoughts about vegetables.What can I say about veggies, well I think vegetables are fantastic either very simply cooked, ie bbq corn on the cob or dressed up to impress. The fact that they are good for you too is excellent as you can eat as much as you like unless of course cooked with loads of butter, cheese, etc in which case still eat loads & ignore the guilty feelings served up alongside, life is too short!

Name a great cookbook.

I don’t have any purely veggie cookbooks apart from a very old Women’s Weekly vegetarian book from my meat free days in my 20’s. Does have a few good recipes though including a great red lentil soup that I make many huge batches of every winter

Lastly I will tag The Apprentice Patissier, Sarah & Niki, again only if they have the time or inclination to share their thoughts

Mart 130 - Brekky

This morning I managed to have a delicious brekky at Mart 130 in Middle Park with Ed & Jamie, fellow Melbourne food bloggers. Luckily the rain held out for us as most of the seating is outside & there is not really much in the way of undercover seating. If you didn’t know it was there it would be easy to miss, I thought I knew what I was looking for & it still took me a while to find. Mart 130 is at 107a Canterbury Road in the old station house at the Middle Park light rail stop, so from the road you have to go under the line to the other side of the tracks. Most of the seating is out the back so if no one is dining out the front it bears no resemblance to a café. Tricky!

As Jamie raved on about the corn fritters how could I order anything else, had to see for myself if they were a winner or not. As promised they were really good & came served with bacon, relish & sour cream, a very generous serving too as you can see by the photo. The whole menu looked pretty interesting so would be keen to go back & try out a few more dishes too. All in all well worth the effort & would definitely go back for more.

Was also nice to meet up with a couple of fellow bloggers, lots of blog talk as you can imagine & my head is now overflowing with of a lot of new info, will have to try & remember it all & try to put some of it to good use in fancying up Vicous Ange. That is, if I can figure it all out, my it skills could do with a lot of improvement!

Sweetcorn & Ricotta hotcakes with smoked salmon & basil dressing

To use up some more of my smoked salmon I cooked up a treat for Michael & I on Christmas morning, we were not expecting the whole family over until dinner time so wanted something nice to start the day.

After doing the Allan Campion cooking class at Vic Market & him making it look so easy I thought I would try this recipe out for myself. Again it was really easy & have heaps of leftover hotcakes to have for brekky over the next few days. Think the corn & smoked salmon teamed with the basil is a great combination too.

The recipe is from 2006 Seasonal Prodcue Diary, here it is

Sweetcorn and ricotta hotcakes with smoked salmon and basil dressing

1 cup basil leaves
1 garlic clove, peeled & sliced
120-160 ml (1/2 - 2/3 cup) olive oil
salt & freshly ground pepper
2 medium eggs
250g ricotta
60 ml (1/4 cup) milk
125g (1/2 cup) natural yoghurt
150g (1 cup) self raising flour
1/2 tspn baking powder
1/2 tspn salt
2 corn cobs
olive oil for cooking
rocket to serve
12 slices smoked salmon

Place basil & garlic in food processor & blend until chopped. Slowly add the olive oil until the basil is pureed & forms a thickish sauce. Season with salt & pepper & set aside.

Beat eggs & ricotta. Add milk and yoghurt & beat until smooth. Sift flour with baking powder and salt & add to ricotta base, stir until combined.

Remove husks and silky tassells from corn. Run a sharp knife down each cob to remove the kernels. Stir kernels through pancake mixture.

Heat a heavy based pan over medium heat. Add a splash of oil to hot pan, then a few ladlefuls of ricotta mixture. Mixture should spread to abt 6 cm wide. Cook until bubbles form on top & base is golden brown. Turn over & cook for a further 2-3 minutes. Keep warm until all hotcakes are cooked.

Place one hotcake on each plate, add a handful of rocket, place another cake on top. Add more rocket & arrange 2 slices of salmon on top. Repeat with remaining hotcakes. Drizzle basil oil around hotcakes & serve immediatley

PS - As you can see from the photo I didnt do the fancy arrangement just for the 2 of us!

Thursday 11th Nov - Queen Vic Market Cooking class with Allan Campion

Last night I went along to the Queen Vic Market for 1 of their cooking classes, I have been to a couple before & they are always good fun. For those of you who havent been the term 'class' is a bit misleading I find as it is more of a demonstration.

The classes run year long on various nights/weekends & each class is different & is brought to you by a different chef & their specialities. Basically up to approx 15 people sit around a table watching the chef do his thing while drinking wine & firing away questions to gain the answers to all of those things a cook book just doesn’t tell you!
You then get to eat the magnificent results & take home the recipes to attempt yourself if you are game

Last nights class was 'The seasonal produce Diary' by Allan Campion now an annual 'bible'
In case you're not familiar with Allan Campion, he & his wife produce a 'seasonal produce diary' each year which as the name suggests lists Seasonal ingredients for each month of the year as well as recipes incorporating the same .
It is a fabulous little diary & also food & wine events in Oz are marked in the calender so you cant forget to go, a list of places to buy great produce as well as details on markets etc is also included. Apparently it sells out very quickly so grab one now before they run out

Last night he cooked up for us some fabulous recipes all from the diary, Sweet corn & ricotta hotcakes with rocket, smoked salmon & a basil & lemon dressing - is your mouth watering yet? & yes they did taste as good as they sound.
Next was a leg of lamb stuffed with preserved lemons, zaatar & herbs served with an almond pilaf - so easy & so delicious
And to top it all off a nectarine & limoncello meringue slice - need I say more?
Truly wonderful food & we should all try & follow his lead & only cook with the best seasonal ingredients to achieve maximum flavour in all we cook

Allan is fabulous & after the delicious celebration of foood he created for us last night just about everyone bought the Diary as well as various other cookbooks he has released, they all look sensational & very 'do able' (not sure it that is really a word).

Anyway check out the book & check out the classes, great fun

Weekend away on the Mornington Peninsula Prt 2

Saturday 29th October 2005 - Lunch at Montalto Winery

Lunch was spent at Montalto & was fabulous. The views from the restaurant are gorgeous & its lovely to take a walk around the grounds, esp the herb & vege garden. If you're ever down this way & are looking for a great spot for lunch this place is not too be missed


To start with I had a celeriac raviolo on an asparagus salad with some corn fritters on the side, beautiful combination of flavours though some of the boys suggested the serving size was a bit small. I was happy as more room for the rest, always a shame if you are full after the entrée!




For the main I had flathead on wasabi mash , again a delicious choice







Dessert was the luscious soft centred chocolate pudding with
Bourbon Vanilla bean ice cream, with some cumquats on the side
- this was fabulous piece of work!





This finished us of & it was back to the house for a quiet night in

All in all a great weekend had by m always happy to revisit