The Brandon, Carlton – Dad’s Birthday celebrations

My Mum & Dad had thought about it for ages & just couldn’t agree on anywhere to go for his birthday dinner. I have been wanting to try out The Brandon Hotel dining Room for ages & after seeing a write up in my local weekly magazine talking it up & mentioning it was the 3AW pub restaurant of the year I knew I could talk them into it, they love 3AW! I also knew that when they saw the menu they would be complaining that it was all too fancy, by the time I got them there it was too late & they were stuck with it & I managed to explain the choices in plain English with them & stopped them from moving into the public bar for a parma & chips.

I settled on the duck special of the day which was a crispy skinned duck leg confit on potato parsley with a fennel, rocket & artichoke salad & some roasted beetroot. I also convinced my mum to have this, she hasn’t been impressed with duck in the past so I told her to trust me, if it’s cooked well it’s delicious. Myself I tried very hard not to order the duck as I always end up with duck but I love it so much I just couldn’t resist, it was delicious too & my mum loved it as well. As you would expect the meat was falling off the bone & it had a lovely rich flavour, the salad was nice & fresh & perfect alongside the powerful duck flavours & the gnocchi great to mop it all up with. My dad had the steak with polenta which was very nice but he was a bit disappointed in the size, being much more used to huge servings, it was really perfect though as it didn’t spoil his appetite for the cake afterwards! Rob, my brother had the pot roasted chicken with pea puree which he declared absolutely excellent too. Lastly Michael had the chermoula lamb rump which he says was cooked very well (nice & pink inside) & overall was very impressed.

A great pub dining room with a lovely atmosphere, the tables are well spaced, lovely art work on the walls, a warm fireplace, very attentive & knowledgeable staff, all in all a very inviting place which I will be back to one day for more.

The Brandon Hotel
237 Station Street
Carlton
9347 232

Chocolate-Coffee Volcano

For my Dads birthday I decided to make him this impressive sounding Chocolate-Coffee Volcano from Nigella Lawson’s Domestic Goddess – my first recipe from the book. The thing I liked about this recipe was that I could make the cake & prepare the cream & have it sitting & waiting just to throw together at the last minute. Also I used Kahlua instead of Tia Maria as that’s what I had in the bar! The cake was very moist & very chocolatey due to all of the cocoa, great tasting cake. The addition of the walnuts, crème, & caramelised sugar brought it up another level & made it that bit more special. As for the ‘look’, well I think I missed the volcano effect a bit as when I put the crème in the middle straight from the fridge there was no running over the edges like molten lava so mine was just a volcano on the brink! I think this is a great combination of flavours & everyone who had a piece loved it.

Chocolate-Coffee Volcano

Cake
300g Caster sugar
140g plain flour, sifted
80g cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
¼ teaspoon salt
4 large eggs, separated, plus 2 more egg whites (from the yolks you need for the café cream)
125ml vegetable oil
125ml water
1 teaspoon vamilla extract
25cm bundt tin, oiled

Café Cream
225ml double cream
6 large egg yolks
3 tablespoons light muscovado sugar
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder

Topping
4 tablespoons Tia Maria or rum (or Kahlua)
125g chopped walnuts
4 tablespoons Demerara sugar
Chef’s kitchen blowtorch

If making to serve right away then make the custard first so it has a good chance to cool before use. Warm the cream gently in a saucepan. Mix the egg yolks, sugar & espresso powder together in a bowl & pour the warm cream over this mixture, whisking to combine/ Pour the mixture back into the now rinsed out pan & cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until it thickens. Pour into a bowl & leave to cool.

Now for the cake. Preheat oven to 180c. In a large bowl mix together 200g of the caster sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, bicarb & salt. In a measuring jug, whisk together the yolks, oil, water & vanilla. Pour over the dry ingredients gradually, beating to combine.

In another bowl, whisk the 6 egg whites until they are foamy & forming soft peaks. Add the remaining caster sugar, a spoonful at a time, still whisking until the whies are thick & shiny & hold their shape. Briskly beat a large dollop of whites into the cake mixture to lighten it, then a third at a time, fold in the remaining whites.

Pour the mixture into the oiled tin & bake for 40 minutes, the cake should then be springy & coming away from the sides. Let the cake cool in its tin on a rack for 25 minutes before turning out.

Sprinkle the Kahlua onto the cake 1 teaspoon at a time, letting the liqueur soak in after each spoon full.

When ready to serve, place the cake on a plate with a lip & fill the centre with walnuts. Pour in the cold custard letting it overflow a bit onto the shoulders & over the sides. Sprinkle the Demerara sugar, a little at a time, so that it doesn’t soak in, on top of the cake, & use a blowtorch to caramelise the top.

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.

Weekend Herb Blogging - Fennel, Chilli & Rosemary roast pork

I thought I would cook up a Sunday roast using some fresh rosemary from my herb shelf & finally participate in weekend herb blogging # 38 which Virginie from Absolutely Green is recapping this week. I absolutely love rosemary, it is one of my favourite herbs & it's so easy to grow that I have it handy all year round. I love it with roasts - lamb, pork & it gives the roast veggies an extra lift in flavour too, in pasta sauces, with fish, all in all a very versatile & flavoursome herb.

This recipe comes from a recent food magazine, I can’t remember which one as I rip them out for later use, sorry. I also served this with some roast potato, pumpkin & parsnip. Well the pork was scrumptious, I love fennel & the flavour of the fennel salt was really strong but not overpowering, so good that I would make the salt again & even just use as a rub on pork chops, really good.

Fennel, Chilli & Rosemary Roast Pork

1kg pork rack (8 cutlets)
Olive oil for rubbing
Sea salt for rubbing
3 teaspoons fennel seeds
3 dried chillies
3 teaspoons sea salt, extra
2 tablespoons rosemary leaves
3 brown pears, halved

Preheat the oven to 220c. Pat the pork rack dry with absorbent towels. Use the point of a small, sharp knife to score the skin into thin strips & rub with oil & salt. Place the fennel, chillies, salt & rosemary in a small frying pan over medium heat. Cook for 1 - 2 minutes or until aromatic. Place in the bowl of a small food processor & process until combined. Rub the fennel salt over the pork rack & cut into four double cutlets. Place the cutlets on a wire rack in a metal baking dish & roast for 25 minutes. Reduce the heat to 200c. Add the pears to the bottom of the baking dish & cook for a further 10-12 minutes or until the pork skin is crispy and cooked to your liking and the pears are tender. Serves 4.

Chocolate Brazil Soft Baked Biscuits

These bickies are from Green & Black’s Chocolate Recipes, love the chocolate now I have the book, hope the recipes are all as luscious as the chocolate itself. I found the dough was a bit difficult. After 1 tablespoon of milk it was still a little dry so added a bit more, then it was a bit too sticky so threw in some extra flour. It then seemed the right consistency though it was still quite difficult to roll. Anyhow cut the cookies & got to the baking, the first batch seemed a bit overdone after 20 minutes so cut down the time to about 16-17 minutes for the second tray which seemed more like it. In the end they tasted pretty good but I found them to be a little dry, I prefer my cookies on the moist & chewy side. They are for the boys at work so will have to wait & see what the verdict is from them!

Chocolate Brazil Soft Baked Biscuits

75g unsalted butter
60g caster sugar
1 large egg, beaten
175g wholemeal self-raising flour
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1-2 tablespoons milk
75g dark chocolate, minimum 60% cocoa solids, roughly chopped
75g milk chocolate, pref 34% cocoa solids, roughly chopped
50g brazil nuts, chopped
pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 180c. Grease a baking sheet with melted butter

Cream together the butter and sugar in a bowl until light & fluffy. Beat in the egg. Sift the flour once, returning the bran to the sifted flour, then fold it into the mixture. The bran gives a distinctive texture & flavour to the biscuits. Beat well, adding the vanilla extract and sufficient milk to make a pliable dough. Mix it with your hands, adding the milk in stages until the dough is fairly soft, but not sticky. Add the chopped chocolate, nuts & salt and distribute evenly through the dough. Roll out on to a lightly floured surface to a thickness of about 5mm. Stamp into rounds & place biscuits, spaced well apart, on the greased baking sheet.

Bake in the centre of the oven for about 20 minutes. Watch carefully so they don’t overcook. Remove from the oven and leave to cool on the baking tray for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 20

Small Block, East Brunswick - Brekky

Sunday morning breakfast at Small Block in Brunswick. Once again we felt like a morning walk & what better way to do it than with a brekky stop in the middle. I’ve been here many times before & never disappointed. The place is always packed & usually a wait on the stairs is the way to go before scoring a table. Today we were lucky & there was a table available outside & the sun was shining so it was actually nice, even for a winters day. The only problem today was that a few customers were letting their dogs run riot off their leashes & they all seemed to want to jump on me or slap me with their tails, not the cafes fault but really wish dog owners would keep their pets under control especially if they are bugging the other customers.

Today I had the baked eggs with tomato, chorizo & saffron ragout, this was served with some toast & was delicious, have never tried this dish before, the eggs on top were delicious & even though baked still nice & gooey. Underneath was a lovely mix of tomatoes, chorizo, onions, saffron & olives, great combination. Michael had the scrambled eggs with pesto & fetta, I’ve had this before & it’s a great full of flavour egg scramble. To drink as well as coffees I had a Phoenix Organic apple & pear juice from New Zealand, these are great juices so try one if you ever come across them. Anyway all in all I love Small block & have never had a bad feed here, I think its all excellent quality & the choices are a bit different from the usual which gets another thumbs up for the place too. Friendly staff & quick service complete the picture.

Small Block
130 Lygon Street
Brunswick East
9381 2244

The Rose Hotel, Go Pies!

Saturday night we thought it was time for some real footy, Aussie rules that is! With all of the focus on the World cup at the moment it seems to be the forgotten game. Don’t get me wrong, I too have been getting up early to watch the games & spending my days at work bleary eyed, but The Pies were up & a night at the pub was called for. So Michael, Myself & Jimbo headed down to The Rose in Fitzroy for a good old fashioned Aussie pub meal. I went right down memory lane & had a chicken kiev, something that was on every pub menu in my youth & an old favourite. For those of you who are not familiar with the kiev, it is a breast of chicken stuffed with loads of garlic butter which oozes out all over the place when cut into, all crumbed & deep fried, yum, how bad is that? This was served with chips & salad & for $11 I would have to say pretty darn good value. What can I say, it was very good, hard to stuff up but you would be amazed what some over or undercooking or bad oil can do to this beast of a dish. The boys had chicken parma & steak which when asked for comments, the parma was ok but had better & the steak for $14 was what you would expect, not bad but a bit of gristle included. Anyway I was satisfied & the pies won too! Great pub for a quick simple meal & a game of footy.

The Rose Hotel
406 Napier Street
Fitzroy
9417 3626

Mushroom Soup

This recipe is by Gordon Ramsay as it appeared in last months Delicious magazine. It is supposed to be made with Madeira which I didn’t have handy so substituted sherry as suggested as well as a couple of other little tweaks. I like the fact that as well as the mushies it contains lots of other veggies so nice & healthy. It turned out to be quite thick & tasty, another great winter warmer even though its not very pretty to look at.

Wild Mushroom Soup

1 litre chicken stock
½ cup medium dry sherry
50g unsalted butter
3 leeks (white part only), finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
2 celery stalks, thinly sliced
1 carrot, peeled & chopped
1 tspn crushed coriander seeds
Leaves of 4 thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf
500g mixed wild mushrooms, roughly chopped
100ml crème fraiche
Truffle oil, to drizzle

Combine the stock & sherry in a saucepan and boil until mixture is reduced by one quarter or until you have 800ml. Set aside until needed.

Melt the butter in a heavy-based saucepan over low heat. Cook the leek, onion, celery & carrot for 6-8 minutes until the onion is translucent & vegetables are soft. Add the reduced stock, coriander, thyme & bay leaf & simmer for 10 minutes. Add mushrooms & cook for 3-4 minutes until just soft.

Remove the pan from the heat, discard the bay leaf, then puree with a hand held blender. Top with crème fraiche & drizzle with truffle oil to serve.

Grilled Steaks with Wild rocket and Rosemary potatoes

Tonight was a no brainer from Bill Granger’s Bills Food. Normally I wouldn’t post something this simple but as it was form one of my books I though I better add it to my recipe/cook book lists. The recipe calls for sirloin steaks, I just grabbed my usual eye fillets as I find you can’t go wrong with these. As you can probably see the steak was beautiful, moist & tender, the potatoes beaut & crispy & the rocket & lemon mix a perfect offset.

Grilled Steaks with Wild rocket and Rosemary potatoes

4 Steaks, about 2.5cm thick
2 tablespoons olive oil
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
Rocket, rinsed
60ml lemon juice
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Remove steaks from the fridge & bring to room temperature. Brush with olive oil & season with salt & pepper. Heat a large frying pan over high heat for 2 minutes. Sear the steaks for 2 minutes on each side, by which time they will be done rare, if you don’t do rare then obviously cook a bit longer.

Remove form the pan & allow to rest for 5 minutes in a warm place. Place the rocket, lemon juice, olive oil & a little salt in a bowl & toss to combine. Divide among serving plates. Slice the steaks into thick slices & place on top of the rocket with the potatoes. Pour over any escaped juices over the meat from the steaks too!

Rosemary potatoes

1 kg potatoes, cut into 2cm dice
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 200c. Place the potatoes, olive oil & rosemary in a bowl and toss. Place in a single layer on a baking tray & bake for 1 hour, or until crispy. Don’t stir for the first 40 minutes, then gently loosen with a metal spatula. Season with salt & pepper when ready to serve.

Confessions in Groups of Five

Pamela at Posie’s Place tagged me for this meme and with a spare few moments to kill have managed to fill it all out so you now all have some weird & useless facts about my life

5 items in the freezer

1. Frozen espresso cubes for making mad cocktails as suggested by Matt at Abstract Gourmet

2. Plastic Beer stein/mug picked up at Oktoberfest many years ago that has liquid surrounding it that freezes to keep your drinks cold on hot summer days – never actually remember to pull it out & use it though

3. Wine cooler that works in similar manner to above, has cute pictures of Italian waiters running around it & yes this one does get used a lot in summer

4. Lots of frozen soup to take to work for lunch on cold Winters days, I try & make at least one huge batch a week & freeze the leftovers in portions

5. Lots of ice, seems that the freezer wants defrosting every other week – freezer doesn’t get what freezer wants all that often though!

5 items in my closet

1. A Mermaid costume from a fancy dress ‘M’ party a couple of years back, I cant bear to part with it as so many hours of effort went into making it & it was always my dream to find an excuse to dress up as a mermaid

2. Two fancy hats in boxes from race days that I will never wear again

3. A hell of a lot of shoes, big weakness

4. Not many Michael clothes (have hogged the majority of space!)

5. A whole section stuffed full of cute little ‘going out handbags’, another weakness

5 items in my car

1. Picnic blanket & chairs for spontaneous picnicking – has not happened yet though!

2. CD’s of course

3. Melways – who hasn’t got one sitting in the car?

4. Dirt from shipping home plants from Bunning’s that always manage to tip over

5. Not much else, don’t drive very often so haven’t managed to accumulate much crap

5 items in my purse

1. Too many credit cards – not that they do much good as more times than not they are up to the limit!

2. Money – Although disappointingly never as much as I would like to see in there

3. Action photo of Michael & I dancing up a storm at our engagement party

4. Drivers License

5. Medicare Card

Feel free to take part if you want to share the intimate details of your life

Taxi

Sunday night my lovely husband took me out for dinner to Taxi for our 6 year anniversary (dating 6 yrs not married – yes I know I am milking as many dates as possible for fancy dinners & special treatment), I have been dying to go here for ages so yes it was my choice & not his. When we arrived at the entrance, which if you don’t know is also the Transport bar entrance, I had my handbag searched, guess they were not taking any chances on the crowds expected to arrive to watch the Oz v Brazil game later that night which we did not hang around for & luckily as a sad loss for us. Also they checked our reservation so that when we arrived upstairs they were waiting for us which was a nice touch. I have to say the service we received all night was very special & impressive, not often one comes away from a restaurant being able to say that I find. The ambience was lovely & romantic, soft lighting, funky music, nice & warm – nothing worse than a cold restaurant where you have to keep your jacket on to stay warm! I was seated on one of those long couches they have with Michael seated opposite, this was great in that I love the old couch seat, very comfy & I had the added bonus of being able to look out & see all of the city lights.

On to the food, to start with we were brought some bread rolls, which they also kept offering us all night – another nice touch not having to beg for extra bread. Then after we had placed our orders – which took a very, very long time as so much delicious sounding food to choose from, we were brought an appetiser – a shot of Carrot, ginger & 7 spices soup – was fantastic & wish I had the recipe, would make a great winter warmer soup. Next I had the Salad of Masterstock pork belly & quail with apple puree, again very nice & the apple puree the pork was placed on made a great accompaniment. For the main I had one of the specials of the day, Half a duck steamed & roasted, rubbed with schezuan spices, served on from what I can remember a salad that contained shredded pumpkin, mint & pink grapefruit amongst other things. I am a big sucker for duck & if its on a menu will order it 9 times out of 10 so have very hight standards, it very tasty & cooked to perfection, not to dry, not to pink & lovely crispy spiced skin. After this I was pretty much full but of course there was no way I was leaving without sampling some dessert from the menu, this turned out to be a very wise decision as my choice was to die for & the best course yet. I had the Cuban Dark chocolate & macadamia mille feuille, absolutely luscious & I nearly had to pick up the plate & lick it clean. Not a cheap night but great if you want something a bit special, wish I could go every week!

Taxi
Level 1, Transport Hotel
Federation Square, Melbourne
Ph: 9654 8808
http://www.transporthotel.com.au/

Pappardelle with Dried Porcini and Thyme, Tomato and Mascarpone Sauce

Saturday night Michael was kind enough to take over the cooking duties for a change & cooked up this lovely simple pasta for our dinner. The recipe comes from Jamie Oliver’s The Naked Chef, a book as you can see has been used greatly in my kitchen. Very nice & simple pasta esp as we didn’t bother making the pasta from scratch as suggested – no energy to go that far this weekend, and managed to use up the porcini I have had sitting in my pantry for a while now.

Pappardelle with Dried Porcini and Thyme, Tomato and Mascarpone Sauce

55g Dried Porcini
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 good handful of thyme, picked
¾ tomato sauce recipe (see below)
2 tablespoons mascarpone
salt & freshly ground black pepper
455g Pappardelle
fresh parmesan cheese, grated

Place the dried mushrooms in a small bowl & add about 285ml boiling water. Make sure all the mushrooms are submerged, and leave them for 10-15 minutes.

Put the olive oil & garlic in a thick-bottomed, semi hot pan & allow to cook without colouring. Pick out the soaked porcini (reserving the liquid), shake off any excess moisture & ass to the pan with the thyme. Stir & fry. As the garlic begins to colour, gently pour in some of the reserved liquid, don’t use the dregs as they may contain dirt, just gently pur in ¾ & discard the rest. Allow the mushrooms to cook down gently to nearly nothing & then ad the tomato sauce. Add the mascarpone & taste for seasoning. Meanwhile cook the Pappardelle until al dente. Add to the sauce & toss. Serve with grated parmesan

Basic Tomato Sauce
1 large clove of garlic, finely chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small dried red chilli, crumbled
2 teaspoons dried oregano
3 x 400g tins of Italian plum tomatoes
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 handful of basil or marjoram (or both), roughly chopped
salt & freshly ground black pepper
2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

In a thick-bottomed pan gently fry the garlic with the olive oil, then add the chilli, oregano & tomatoes. Mix gently, but do not break up the tomatoes as this will release the pips, which will make the sauce slightly bitter – by leaving the tomatoes whole & letting the mixture cook slowly you’ll get a nice sweet sauce. Bring to the boil & simmer gently for 1 hour. Add the vinegar, then stir & chop up the tomatoes in the sauce. Now add the vinegar, then stir & chop the tomatoes in the sauce. Now add your fresh herbs, season well to taste, and add 2-3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.

A Minor Place & A Sensational Brekky

After a big Friday night out on the town yesterday morning (afternoon!) I went for a walk down the streets for a big brekky at A Minor Place, have been dying to try this out for a while now. This tiny café is on Albion street not near much of anything so very easy to miss if you don’t know about it. I had an iced coffee to start with which was really lovely, then moved on to the Minor Breakfast. This consisted of toasted organic sour dough topped with grilled ham, perfectly done poached eggs, grilled tomato, spinach & Henry’s beans. I don’t know who Henry is but I would kill for the recipe for his beans, I could not tell at all what was in them – I know very bad for someone who loves to cook so much, but I would go back here for the beans alone. Everything else was also very yummy & the café had a very cosy, friendly feel inside. Feel I may be back again soon. One of my top breakfast places for now.

A Minor Place
103 Albion Street
Brunswick
9384 3131

Automatic

Thursday night I caught a movie after work at Crown so grabbed a quick bite beforehand at the ever reliable Automatic. The place is a bit of a fave of mine, the food is good, not too expensive & always quick, the place is nice & funky too.

Rach had the pumpkin, goats cheese & pine nut pizza which as you can see looks sensational. I had the chicken tikka with Rotti & mango Chutney. The flavour of the tikka was lovely & rich though it was a touch on the oily side as was the rotti. The mango chutney was great & packed quite a punch.

Rach felt like a bit of dessert next & made the mistake of telling them she was eating for 2, can you see the size of the pie, when it arrived people on tables near & far gasped in shock, one even coming over to comment, needless to say not even half was eaten & I helped out a bit too. It was a really good apple pie with lots of ginger which gave it a nice zing.

Automatic
Crown Casino
9690 8500

Zuppa di Zucca (Pumpkin Soup)

Another soup from the River Café cook book. All of this crazy cold weather we have been having has given me cravings for good hearty winter soups. This was a slight variation on the normal pumpkin soup I make & the little extras really helped to lift the flavour, it was very thick, the chilli gave it a nice zing & the handful of parmesan I threw in at the end gave it a nice creamy texture too. Also I used a 'Barbara' pumpkin which I picked up from Ceres, it was the shape of a butternut with the dark green striped skin similar to a jap & nice & orange on the inside. Another great soup from this book

Zuppa di Zucca (Pumpkin Soup)

1.5kg pumpkin, peeled, seeded & diced into 5cm cubes
150g new potatoes, peeled & cubed as above
3 tablespoons olive oil
50g butter
2 small red onions, peeled & finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled & cut into slivers
4 large sprigs fresh marjoram
1-2 dried chillies
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
1 litre Chicken stock

Heat the oil & butter in a large heavy based saucepan & gently fry the onion until soft. Stir in the garlic & marjoram, pumpkin & potato, & continue to cook for a minute. Season with the chilli, salt & pepper. Add enough stock to just cover the pumpkin, simmer until the pumpkin is tender, about 20-25 minutes. Add more stock if necessary. Puree with a hand held blender & adjust seasoning to taste.

French Toast ala Ange

This morning for a lazy Queens Birthday morning I whipped up some french toast the way my family has always made it, with cheese on top! Seriously after eating it this way all my life I cant imagine having it sweet or with bacon & maple syrup, that just seems wrong to me.

The way I make it is to dip some bread in milk, then dip in beaten eggs, then pop it into a hot oiled frypan & fry on both sides until crisp & golden. Then serve with grated tasty cheese on top, try it someday, yum!

Breakfast at Mario's

Yesterday I caught up with a friend for a fabulous brekky at Mario's after a big night out tearing up the dance floor. I have been meaning to try out the famous breakfast here forever & really cant believe it has taken me this long. The place was crammed full of people as you would expect & luckily after only about a ten minute wait I managed to nab a table.

I had the specialof the day which was white bread with melted cheese on top, herbed scrambles eggs, spicy chorizo sausages, chutney & rocket. Can you tell just by looking at it how sensational it was, absolutely scrumptious & will be back for more soon!

Marios Cafe
303 Brunswick Street
Fitzroy
ph: 9417 3343

Zuppa di Zucchine (Zucchini Soup)

Tonight for dinner we are sampling the first of the recipes from my new River Café cookbook (Blue) that I snapped up on ebay for a great price. I was way too busy too cook, had to do a session on the bike & pack my bags for upcoming weekend away so Michael kindly did the cooking after miraculously coming home from work early. Now zucchini soup is very basic so it is interesting to see how this version turned out. The smells coming from the kitchen whilst cooking were truly beautiful though I suspect it was mostly the aroma of slowly cooking garlic. The flavour though lived up the the smell, this would have to be the best zucchini soup I've tasted, well done Michael & River Cafe - garlic, zhucchini, cream, herbs & cheese, fantastic combination & all helped to lift this soup out of the boring category I'd always put it into before!

Zuppa di Zucchine (Zucchini Soup)

1kg Medium zucchini, trimmed
25ml olive oil
1 garlic cloves, peeled & chopped
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
500ml Chicken stock or water
140ml double cream
1 small bunch basil, chopped
1 small bunch flat leaf parsley, chopped
120g parmesan, freshly grated

Cut the zucchini lengthwise into quarters, then into 2.5cm pieces. Heat the oil in a heavy based saucepan & cook the garlic & zucchini slowly for about 25 minutes until the zucchini are brown & very soft. Add salt, pepper & stock, simmer for another few minutes. Puree with a food processor then add the cream, basil, parmesan & parsley.

Easy Sticky-Toffee Pudding - Dinner Party prt 3

I’ve made this once before a few years back & from what I remember it was wonderfully rich & pretty simple to make so I thought it would be perfect for dessert at tonight’s dinner party. The recipe comes from Nigella Bites. As always I was buying everything at the last minute & the local shopping centre does not stock any dark muscovado sugar so I just used dark brown sugar which works fine for me. Also the recipe calls for full-fat milk, I used light start which is what I normally have in the fridge. As for the dates, I don’t know what ‘rolled’ dates are & just used a packed of pitted dates from the dried fruit isle of the supermarket. Served with some vanilla ice-cream it was the perfect end to dinner.

Easy Sticky-Toffee Pudding

For the cake
100g Muscovado sugar (or dark brown)
175g self-raising flour
125ml full fat milk
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
50g, unsalted butter, melted
200g chopped, rolled dates

For the sauce
200g dark muscovado sugar (or dark brown)
approx. 25g unsalted butter in little blobs
500ml boiling water

Preheat the oven to 190c and butter a 1 ½ litre capacity pudding dish.

Combine the sugar & flour in a large bowl. Pour the milk into a measuring jug, beat in the egg, vanilla & melted butter and then pour this mixture over the flour, stirring with a wooden spoon to combine. Fold in the dates & scrape into the pudding dish.

Sprinkle over the rest of the sugar & dot with butter. Pour over the boiling water & transfer to the oven. Cook for 45 minutes, when cooked the top of the pudding should be springy & spongy, it might need an extra 5-10 minutes. Serve with ice cream, or cream as you wish – I choose vanilla ice cream.

Pappardelle with amazing slow-cooked meat - Dinner Party prt 2

This recipe comes from Jamie’s Kitchen. It calls for beef, venison, wild boar or even pigeon. I chose to use lamb shoulder as for some reason I really wanted a lamb pasta. I also made double as I was cooking for 8 adults & 3 children & the recipe serves 4. I was a bit worried when I started thinking it would turn into big lumps of hard chewy lamb but the end result was sensational. Theh lamb flaked apart as promised & combined wiht the sauce was a lovely rich, thick wintery sauce that went perfectly with the pasta. I served with a mixed lettuce & parmsesan & a capri salad. Everyone seemed to be very happy with their dinner & all plates were emptied!

Pappardelle with amazing slow-cooked meat

800g braising meat, seasoned & cut into large 5cm chunks
extra virgin olive oil
1 handful of fresh rosemary & thyme, leaves picked & finely chopped
1 small red onion, peeled & finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic, peeled & finely chopped
1 carrot, peeled & finely chopped
1 celery stalk, finely chopped
2 wineglasses of chianti
2 x 400g tins plum tomatoes
2 tablespoons pearl barley
salt & freshly ground black pepper
400g fresh or dried Pappardelle
100g butter
2 handfuls of grated parmesan cheese

In a hot casserole dish (suitable for stove top) fry your meat in a little olive oil until golden brown then add herbs, onion, garlic, carrot & celery. Turn the heat down & continue to fry for 5 minutes or until vegetables have softened. Add your red wine & continue to simmer until the liquid has almost cooked away.

Add the tomatoes, the barley & enough water to cover the meat by 1cm. Make a cartouche of greaseproof paper. Wet it under the tap, rub with a little olive oil & place it over the pan. Put a lid on the pan as well to retain as much moisture during cooking as possible. Cook n a really low heat for 2-3 hours, its ready when the meat flakes apart. Season to taste & allow to cool slightly. Now pull the meat apart & keep over a low heat.

Cook your Pappardelle in boiling salted water & drain, reserving some of the liquid. Remove the meat from the heat & stir in the butter & parmesan & a little of the cooking water. Toss together with the pasta & serve with some freshly grated parmesan.

Foccacia - Dinner Party part 1

Tonight I had a bit of a dinner party for a few friends. To start with I made some foccacia's. I made this up sort of mixing up 2 of Jamie’s focaccia recipes, 1 from Jamie’s Kitchen & the other from The Naked Chef. I did half/half with the toppings, half tomato & half basil & Olive Oil. Personally I thought the basil topping was far superior, the mix of garlic, basil, olive oil & murray river pink salt was sensational though there were others who thought the tomato was just as good. Anyway all in all it was much appreciated & enjoyed & I would definetley make it again. Everyone asked if it was acually home made which is a good sign to me. Very yummy & the whole 2 foccacias went with not a crumb to spare. Very stisfying making bread from scratch!

Foccacia

Basic Bread Recipe

3 x 7g sachets of dried yeast
30g sugar
625ml tepid water
1kg strong bread flour
30g salt
extra flour for dusting

Toppings
Cherry tomatoes
Olive oil
Flour
Fresh basil
Garlic
Lemon
Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

Stage 1. Dissolve the yeast & sugar in half the tepid water.
Stage 2. On a large clean surface, make a pile of the flour, semolina & salt. With one hand make a well in the centre .
Stage 3. Pour the dissolved yeast & sugar mixture into the centre & with your fingers make circular movements, from the centre working outwards, slowly bringing in the dry ingredients until all yeast mixture is soaked up. Then pur the other half of the tepid water into the centre & gradually incorporate all the flour to make a moist dough. If needed add a little extra water.
Stage 4. Knead for 5 minutes & if any sticks to your hands just rub together with a little extra flour.
Stage 5. Flour both hands now & lightly flour the top of the dough. Make into a roundish shape & place on a baking tray. Score the dough with a knife.
Stage 6. Leave the dough covered in glad wrap to prove in a warm, moist, draught free place, it needs to double in size, about 40 minutes. Preheat the oven to 220c.

While proving get the tomatoes ready. Prick with a knife & drop into boiling water for about 30 seconds. Drain & cool under cold water, remove the skins. Place in a bowl with some olive oil & put aside.

For second toping, finely chop 1 clove of garlic & a good bunch of basil. Add roughy 3 times as much oil as you have of the basil mixture, a squeeze of lemon juice & salt & pepper.

Take the proved dough & bash the air out, then place on a floured surface & roll to about 2.5cm thick. Transfer to a floured baking tray & push the dough to the edges to fill the tray.

Pour the olive oil over & sprinkle with the basil mixture. On the other half sprinkle the tomatoes & fresh basil. Push your fingers to the bottom of the tray across the whole dough. Leave to prove until doubled in size again the sprinkle tomato half with salt & pepper. Place into preheated oven & cook for around 20 minutes until crisp & golden on top & soft in the middle. Drizzle with a bit more olive oil & scatter with seas salt when taken out of the oven.

Stir-Fried Hokkien Noodles with Sweet Pork Fillets

Tonight for dinner I got to try out my brand new Kylie Kwong Simple Chinese Cooking book that I have been dying for after all of the rave reviews. I must say this dish sounded very simple yet the flavours were amazing. The pork was oh so tender & sweet without being overpowering & the addition of the Sichuan salt & pepper at the end really added that final touch to make it stand out. Can’t wait to try them all out!

Stir-Fried Hokkien Noodles with Sweet Pork Fillets

400g pork fillets, cut into 5mm slices
½ large red pepper
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 small white onion, cut in half & then into thick wedges
4 spring onions, trimmed & cut into 10cm lengths
12 ginger slices
3 cloves garlic, finely sliced
1 x 450g packet fresh Hokkien noodles
2 tablespoons shao hsing wine or dry sherry
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
½ teaspoon sesame oil
pinch Sichuan pepper & salt (see separate recipe)

Marinade
1 tablespoon shao hsing wine or dry sherry
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon malt vinegar
1 tablespoon white sugar
2 teaspoons light soy sauce
½ teaspoon sesame oil

Combine Port & marinade ingredients in a bowl, cover, and leave to marinate in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Remove seeds from pepper, cut into fine slices & set aside

Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a hot wok, add pork & stir fry for 1 minute then remove & set aside

Add remaining oil to wok with pepper, onion, spring onions, ginger & garlic & stir fry for 1 minute or until onion is slightly browned. Add noodles & pork & stir fry for 30 seconds. Finally add wine soy sauce, oyster sauce & sesame oil & stir fry for a further 1 ½ minutes or until pork cooked through & noodles hot.

Serve in bowls with a pinch of the Sichuan salt & pepper

Sichuan Salt & Pepper

1 tablespoon Sichuan peppercorns
3 tablespoons sea salt

Dry roast peppercorns & salt in a heavy based pan. When pepper begins to pop & become aromatic, take off heat. Allow to cool, then grind to a powder inmortar & pestle. Store in an airtight container.

Steamed Prawn Wontons with Red Chilli and Spring Onion

Tonight for dinner for something different I made some prawn wontons from Jamie Oliver’s Jamie’s Kitchen. The mixture was really quick & easy to prepare unlike making the wontons which as everyone knows is fiddly & time consuming. Lucky my mum had given me one of those cheap pastry makers that you get from $2 shops or Asian grocery stores where you basically just lay your pastry down, drop in the filling then clamp it shut to seal together. A hell of a lot easier then folding & pressing by hand I must say. We tried these with sweet chilli & soy sauce but honestly the filling was so tasty you really did not want to add too much or the lovely aromatic flavour of the filling was lost.

Steamed Prawn Wontons with Red Chilli and Spring Onion

2cm piece fresh ginger, peeled
2 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 small handful of fresh coriander
2 fresh red chillies, deseeded
5 spring onions
300g raw prawns, shelled
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
pre-rolled wonton wrappers (approx 30)

Finely chop the ginger, garlic, chillies, coriander & spring onions & place in a food processor with the prawns, pulse until combined. Add the soy & sesame oil & pulse again. Fill the wontons with a small teaspoon of filling, brush the edges to seal.

Put the wontons in a steamer basket on baking paper & steam for approx 7 minutes. Serve with sweet chilli or soy sauce.

Spiced Apple & Prune Muffins

For brekky today I whipped up these surprisingly tasty & healthy muffins. I have never made any type of cakey thing with prunes before so was surprised at how sweet they tasted in these little gems. The recipe was a reader’s that I snipped out of a mag a while back

Spiced Apple & Prune Muffins

¾ cup wholemeal self raising flour
¾ cup plain flour
1 teaspoon ground allspice
½ cup firmly packed brown sugar
½ cup chopped pitted prunes
140g tub apple puree
120g butter, melted
1 egg, beaten

Preheat oven to 180c. Spray a 12 x ¾ cup muffin pan with cooking spray.

Sift flours & allspice together in a bowl. Stir in the sugar & prunes. Make a well in the centre.

Combine remaining ingredients in a jug. Gradually fold into the dry ingredients, until just combined.

Spoon into the prepared pan & bake for 15-20 minutes until cooked when tested with a skewer. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Pork Cutlets with Ginger Sweet Potato Mash

Tonight I was feeling very lazy as I have most of the week & not really up to much of a cook so I whipped up this simple dish from Marie Claire’s Food Fast, I wouldn’t even call it a recipe it was so simple. Was very tasty, especially the sweet potato mash, normally I don’t add anything so the extras gave it an extra special flavour.

Pork Cutlets with ginger sweet potato mash

4 pork cutlets
sesame seeds
oil
400g sweet potato, peeled & chopped
2 tablespoons shredded ginger
30g butter
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons coriander leaves

To make the mash, place the sweet potato & ginger in a small saucepan of water & cook until soft, about 5-7 minutes, drain. Mash with the butter, honey & coriander until smooth. Meantime steam up some greens, I did green beans. While these are cooking, press the sesame seeds into the cutlets & fry in an oiled pan for 2-3 minutes each side until golden brown.

Tarte Tatin

I have seen so many recipes for Tarte Tartins lately that I just knew I had to try one soon. Finally I had my excuse today when Elise came over for lunch. I followed the recipe in Allan Campion & Michele Curtis’ 2006 Seasonal Produce Diary which has not let me down with a recipe yet. The recipe was fairly simple, the only difficulty factor is in tipping it upside down without leaving too much mess & hopefully getting it on the plate straight. With a bit of help from Michael I managed to succeed reasonably well. As you can see in the picture it is not the prettiest of dishes though I swear all the magazine pics look 100% better than mine! The flavour was luscious, very sweet, almost like stewed apples, served with some vanilla ice cream created the perfect balance, really good & you can kid yourself its almost healthy due to the fruit factor. Oh & by the way I used up my entire crop of granny smiths for the season for this recipe & still had to buy 2 apples from the market, yes that’s right, my tree only produced 2 apples for the whole year, hope to have better luck next year. You need a 22cm deep sided cast iron pan for this or alternately you can cook up the apples in a fry pan then transfer to a pie dish before covering with pastry. I used my paella dish which is oven proof, glad to find another use for it.

Tarte Tatin

75g butter
150g caster sugar
4 granny smith apples, cored & cut into 8ths
1 piece of puff pastry, approx 25 x 25cm
egg wash (1 egg yolk with 1 tablespoon milk)

Cream or ice cream to serve

Preheat oven to 190c. Heat pan over medium-high heat, add butter & sugar & cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring constantly. Cook until sugar & butter are a golden caramel colour. Note do not lick the spoon during this process or you will have a burnt tongue like I now do. Next, carefully add the apples taking care not to splash, cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring to coat the apples with caramel. The apples will begin to release their juice & stop the caramel from over cooking.

Set the pan aside & cool a little. Place pastry over the apples & tuck down the sides to completely cover apples & trim off any excess. Brush pastry with egg wash & place in oven. Cook for 20-25 minutes or until pastry is risen, golden brown & cooked.

To serve, place a large plate over pan or pie dish. Then, using oven gloves, tip plate over & remove, leaving apples on top & pastry on the bottom. Serve immediately with cream or ice cream

Sizzled Haloumi with sundried tomatoes & home made pesto

Today my good friend Elise came over for lunch. She is studying Bowen therapy at the moment so the deal was she got to practice & ‘do my husband’ while I cooked up some yummy lunch for us all. Michael was very relaxed after the therapy & I’m looking forward to my turn next though I don’t know if we can leave the lunch to Michael, better prepare something in advance I think! For dessert I was finally making a tarte tatin (see next post) so I wanted lunch to be nice & light so I threw together this salad inspired by a recipe in a mag some time back, cant remember which one. I used some fantastic King Island Haloumi that I picked up from the Vic market & served it with a wonderful St Andrews seed & sprout wood fired oven loaf which I bought from the baker himself over at Ceres this morning. I also made my own pesto for the recipe following Jamie Oliver’s advice in Jamie’s Dinners & served the whole lot on a bed of rocket. It was all great though the rocket & olives probably weren’t necessary, I ate most of my cheese on torn chunks of bread with the pesto sauce, god I love Haloumi. The leftover pesto will make a very quick meal tonight too stirred through some pasta, might even leave that one to the hubby.

Sizzled Haloumi with sundried tomatoes & home made pesto

12 vine ripened cherry tomatoes
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus ½ tablespoon to coat tomatoes
Leaves form 4 thyme sprigs
4 sundried tomatoes, finely sliced
250g haloumi, rinsed, cut into slices
Handful of kalamata olives
Basil leaves to serve

Pesto Sauce
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon pesto
1 tablespoon baby capers, rinsed

Heat the oven to 180c. Coat the cherry tomatoes with 1 teaspoon olive oil, scatter with thyme leaves & sea salt & black pepper to taste, then bake for 15 minutes or so until soft but still retaining their shape.

To make the pesto sauce, mix the oil, capers & pesto together in a bowl.

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a non stick grill pan over high heat. When very hot, sizzle the cheese slices until browned on each side.

Arrange ingredients over rocket on a plate & serve drizzled with pesto sauce.

Pesto

½ a clove of garlic
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
3 good handfuls of basil, leaves picked & chopped
a handful of pine nuts, very lightly toasted
a good handful of freshly grated parmesan cheese
extra virgin olive oil
a squeeze of lemon juice

Pond the garlic with a pinch of salt & the basil leaves in a pestle & mortar, or pulse in a food processor (I used the processor). Add the pine nuts & pound again. Turn into a bowl & add half the parmesan. Stir gently and add sone olive oil – you need just enough to bind the sauce & get it too an oozy consistency. Season to taste, then add most of the remaining cheese, pour in more oil & taste again, keep adding until you are happy with the taste & consistency. Add the lemon juice at the end to give it a bit of a twang, this last step is optional – I go for it as love the extra zesty flavour it gives.

Tomato & Red Lentil Soup

With the colder than normal for May bloody freezing conditions outside, tonight for dinner I cooked up one of my favourite Winter staples, tomato & red lentil soup, dead easy, warming & very delicious

Tomato & Red Lentil Soup

1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, diced
1 clove of garlic
2 tins crushed tomatoes
4 cups vegetable stock
1/2 cup red lentils

Gently fry onion, garlic & carrot in a heavy bottomed soup pan until softened. Add tomatoes, stock & lentils, cook for approx 1 hour until all ingredients softened. Season to taste & serve with some crusty bread

Chocolate Espresso Cake

Last night I finally made my birthday cake to take in to work. I made this delectable Chocolate Espresso cake from a recent delicious magazine. It is very rich, being flourless & has 200g of very good dark chocolate, I used 85% cocoa solids. Last time I made it I served it with cream which is really unnecessary, if anything I would serve with some berries. YUM!

Chocolate espresso cake

200g good quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), chopped
1 tablespoon strong prepared espresso coffee
1 tablespoon rum or brandy
2/3 cup (150g) caster sugar
150g unsalted butter
¾ cup (90g) almond or hazelnut meal
5 eggs, separated
Icing sugar, for dusting

Preheat oven to 180c. Grease & flour a 24cm round or square cake pan.

Place the chocolate, coffee, rum or brandy, sugar & butter in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water until butter & chocolate have melted. Remove from heat & stir it all together.

Add almond or hazelnut meal (I have always used almond), & mix well. Using electric beaters, beat in the egg yolks, one at a time. Beat the egg whites in a separate bowl until soft peaks form. Stir in a couple of spoonfuls into the chocolate mixture, before gently folding in the rest.

Pour into pan & bake for 40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Cool in pan before turning out & dust with icing sugar to serve.

Chicken Curry

Tonight’s dinner was a chicken curry by Ben O’Donoghue inspired by all of the Indian restaurants in London’s East End. The recipe appeared in a recent delicious magazine. Its quite easy to make & produces a lovely light curry, a little spicy – I omitted the seeds to you could really heat it up by leaving them all in. I love all types of curry & am constantly trying new recipes, this is a goodie

Chicken Curry

5 long red chillies, seeds removed (or leave in for a hotter curry)
2 tablespoons sunflower oil
8 garlic cloves, crushed
2-3 lemons, juiced
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
1.5kg free range chicken, cur into 8 pieces, skin removed (I actually used thigh fillets)
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 onions, roughly chopped
2 teaspoons coriander seeds, crushed
12 dried curry leaves
1 tablespoon chopped coriander, plus extra to garnish
½ Lebanese cucumber
100g plain yoghurt
steamed rice, to serve

Puree the chillies in a food processor, add a little oil if necessary. Place the chillies in a bowl with the garlic, lemon juice, turmeric & chicken, stir it all up & cover & leave to marinate while doing the next stage.

In a large deep frypan that has a lid, fry cumin seeds in oil over medium heat for 1 minute until fragrant. Add onion, fry for 5 minutes or until soft, then stir in coriander seeds for a further minute. Add 2 teaspoons of cracked black pepper & curry leaves with the chicken & all of the marinade, turning evenly to coat. Cover, reduce heat to low & cook for 30-40 minutes, turning occasionally until chicken is cooked through.

Combine the coriander, cucumber & yoghurt in a bowl. Serve curry on steamed rice with yghut mixture & garnish with extra coriander.

L'Osteria & Happy Birthday to me!

After a week of birthday celebrations, last night was my night. I decided to take everyone to my favourite local Italian restaurant, L’Osteria in North Fitzroy. I love this place & their stuffed olives are the best, you may have noticed that I have a thing for stuffed olives & when I went to Ladro a couple of weeks back to find they had taken them off the menu I was devastated, luckily this place still had them so I promptly ordered a few servings for all to share. They are green olives stuffed with veal pork & parmigiano then crumbed & fried, sensational! Next we had some miniature vegetarian arancini which were lovely. For my main I had pappardelle alla ragu di salsiccia di finocchio, which translated is beautiful hand made pasta with a ragu of fennel sausages, tomato & radicchio, fantastic combination, the fennel flavour really came through quite strongly & I love the aniseed taste so very good for me. We didn’t have dessert tonight as my mum had bought a cake to have back at home.

Most of the pastas are homemade here & the menu changes seasonally so I never get bored with the choice. They also do pizza which I have not yet tried though I hear it is also pretty good. Highly recommended place to go, everyone was very impressed & I will be back there soon to try some more of the Autumn menu before it changes.

L’Osteria
616 Nicholson Street
North Fitzroy
Ph (03) 9489 6302

Movida

Last night I caught up with Megan & Rach for dinner at Movida, which is a fantastic little tapas bar tucked away in a laneway in the city. They do dinner in 2 sittings, either 6 or 8.30, so if you do the 6 you have to get out fast & if you do the later session you can settle in & relax. As we were all going straight from work we did the 6.00 session as last time I went for the later one we were all very drunk by the time we got there, not very good at restraining myself from the bubbly whilst waiting! The menu is divided between tapas (small dishes) & racions (slightly bigger dishes) that are designed to share. You can also have a banquet. I love eating this way as it means you get to try so much more of whats on offer. Last night was no exception with 3 hungry girls not afraid to eat! The huge selection we tried last night was as follows:

Bread with Olive oil
Ensalada Valencia – Valencian Salad, endive, orange, palm hearts, & Manzanillo olives
Croqueta - Fried croquette flavoured with chicken & garlic chives
Tortilla de Patatas – confit potato & onion omelette
Setas Asado Con Jerez – Oven roasted portabello Mushrooms finished with sherry vinegar
Gambas A La sidra – whole prawns cooked in terracotta with Asturian cider
Chicken Speical – cant remember the exact flavours, was braised with an almond meal breading
Costilla Con Sobrasada - Roasted lamb cutlet encased in a Catalan pork & paprika pate
Vierna, Jamon Y Espuma – Half shell scallop oven baked with jamon & potato foam

Churros – Rich hot drinking chocolate & Spanish doughnuts & Ganache Caliente Con Turron, Hot chocolate ganache pudding with vanilla bean ice cream & nougat

Everything was absolutely yummy as you can see form the photos, the salad which the waiter suggested was really good & a bit different, the croquettes absolutely melted in your mouth, the mushrooms didn’t look much but were very tasty, the chicken special was delicious, in fact it was all lip smacking good. I had also heard that the churros for dessert were to die for so of course I had to try them along with the ganache which we shared between the 3 of us, of my God, as Rach put it, you could come here for dessert alone. The dipping chocolate was so thick & rich & good, it was a shame we ran out of dippin doughnuts & had to leave some & the ganache was exceptionally good too.

All in all it was really, really good & lots more to try in future visits, the menu changes regulary too so always something new to try. Very highly recommended, just remember it is very popular so book at least a week in advance

Movida
1 Hosier Lane, Melbourne
Ph: (03) 9663 3038
www.movida.com.au
Open 7 days 12pm to Late

Chickpea & Leek Soup

After last nights extravaganza I needed something small & simple for dinner tonight especially seeing as how I’m out for dinner again tomorrow night! So I cooked up one of my favourite soups from Jamie Oliver’s The Naked Chef, you have to try this, it is really very good.

Chickpea & Leek Soup

340g chickpeas, soaked over night (or a tin as I use)
1 medium potato, peeled & quartered
5 medium leeks
1 tablespoon olive oil
knob of butter
2 cloves of garlic, finely sliced
salt & freshly ground black pepper
850ml chicken or vegetable stock
Parmesan cheese, grated
Extra virgin olive oil

Rinse the chickpeas, cover with water, add the potato & cook for about an hour until all tender.

Meanwhile, remove the outer skins of the leeks, wash carefully, discard green bits & slice finely. Warm a thick bottomed pan, add the oil & butter, leeks & a generous pinch of salt & sweat gently until tender & sweet, this will take about half an hour if you are patient.

Add the drained chickpeas & potato & cook for a minute. Add the stock & simmer for 15 minutes.

Next whiz it all up with a bamix, add some parmesan to taste, season with salt & pepper & enjoy!

Jims Greek Tavern – Michaels Birthday

To celebrate Michaels birthday (and his sister Julie born on the same day), we had a great meal at Jims Tavern in Collingwood with the whole family. This place has been here for what seems forever to me, though is actually about 28 years. I have been here many times in the past & when you need something not too fancy – Michael has a very fussy & plain eating brother & dad, it’s just perfect. It’s nice to go somewhere where there are no menus & you can just leave the decisions in the waiter’s hands after indicating your preference for meat, seafood, etc, nice to be able to just enjoy the night & know that a feast will soon be served up. Jim’s is byo & you will not be given a wine glass & instead are left to use the simple water glasses provided, I do not have a problem with this as I’m not hear for a fancy restaurant just good simple food. The décor also is simple taverna style, tables covered with paper tablecloths & very simple crockery/cutlery, the atmosphere makes up for it though, always packed, bustling and noisy with conversation of the diners around you enjoying them selves. Last night was no exception, to start with we had the fairly conventional platters of dips, olives & veggies, saganaki & bbq octopus with baskets overflowing full of warm soft bread to eat it all up with. The dips were very good, the fried cheese with a squeeze of lemon was superb, I could eat slabs of this all by myself I love it so much & the octopus had that lovely charcoal flavour that I love. Next we had some huge grilled prawns, calamari, grilled blue-eye fillets, succulent lamb chops & some shaved lamb with onions & of course Greek salad on the side. The meal was thoroughly enjoyed by all, even the fussy ones! After all of this food we were stuffed silly though so retired back to my place to squeeze in some birthday cake. I would definitely recommend this place to all.

Jims Greek Tavern
32 Johnston St
Collingwood, VIC 3066
Daily 6:00pm-12:00am
Tel: (03) 9419-3827
American Express, Bankcard, Cash, Cheque, Diners Club, EFTPOS, Mastercard, VISA

Chocolate & cherry brownies

It’s Michaels birthday tomorrow & Cherry ripes are his fave chocolate so when I saw this recipe on Niki at Esurientes blog I knew I just had to make them for Michael. Niki used morello cherries which apparently could have caused them not too cook properly in the required time so I used dried cherries, looking back I would have used more than 100g to give a more intense cherry hit. Mine were really yummy but very, very moist in the centre – not liquid though. I like them this way & having never made brownies before I’m not sure just what texture they should be in the end. Will have to wait & see what the boy thinks.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MICHAEL!

Chocolate & Cherry Brownies

From Green and Black’s Chocolate Recipes: Unwrapped - From the Cacao Pod to Muffins, Mousses and Moles
300 g unsalted butter
300 g dark chocolate (minimum 60%, broken into pieces)
5 large eggs
400 g granulated sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
200g plain flour
1 teaspoon salt
100 g of dried cherries

Grease a roasting or baking tray.In a bowl (placed on top of a pot of boiling water) melt the butter and chocolate together until thick and creamyMeanwhile beat together sugar, eggs and vanilla extract until thick and creamy. The mixture should easily coat the back of a spoon.Once the butter-chocolate mixture has melted, remove from stove and beat into the egg mixtureSift the flour and salt together, and add to the wet ingredients. Mix until mixture is well combined.Drain morello cherries and fold into the brownie mixture.Pour mixture into the tray and bake for 20 - 30 minutes at 180COnce finished baking, allow to cool and cut into pieces.

Lamb Patties with hummus & pitta

After all of the tagines, stews & roasts I’ve eaten & cooked up lately I felt like a bit of a change & decided on something lighter for dinner tonight. Keeping to my weekend Nigella theme I cooked up the Lamb patties from Forever Summer. Quite simple to prepare & a nice casual dinner. The patties were very nice especially when combined with the sauce & salad ingredients though when making again I would add dome salt & pepper to the mix just for a bit of extra flavour, I am a bit of a salt addict though. Also as you can see I made my patties a bit bigger so only got 17 patties from the mix. Half of this is heaps to fill 2 large pitta’s and serve 2 people. Michael was happy too as he is a big souvlaki man so was nearly able to believe he was eating junk food which he loves!

Lamb Patties with hummus & pitta

For the patties
50g bulgar wheat
500g lean lamb mince
4 teaspoons dried mint
4 teaspoons dried oregano
1 clove garlic
zest of 1 lemon
olive oil for frying

For the pittas
Pitta breads
Lettuce, shredded
Fresh mint, chopped
1 red onion, halved & sliced into very thin half moons
hummus
Greek yoghurt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
tomatoes
lemon

Soak the bulgar wheat by covering with boiling water & leaving for 15 minutes in a small bowl.

Drain the bulgar thoroughly, pressing the water out in a sieve & put it in a bowl with the minced lamb. Add the dried mint & oregano, mince in the garlic & the lemon zest. Stir everything thoroughly & form into small walnut sized patties, then flatten slightly & arrange them on glad wrap on a plate or baking tray & let them stand for 20 minutes in the fridge to firm up. You can leave in the fridge for up to 6 hours before frying. The mix makes about 34 patties which makes about 8 bulging sandwiches.

Fry the patties in a little olive oil until cooked through, and a beautiful golden brown on both sides. These are little, so it shouldn’t take too long: about 4 minutes a side. The important thing is not to crowd the pan as you cook.

To make up your sandwiches, roughly proceed as follows. Toast or otherwise warm each pitta bread and cut a strip off one long side to open it, then stuff it with a salad of shredded lettuce, chopped mint and half-moons of red onion rings. Dollop into each gaping pitta (and you can do this before or after the salad stage actually) a couple of tablespoons of hummus mixed with 1 tablespoon Greek yoghurt and a pinch of ground cumin. Cram with four or five lamb patties, then squeeze in half a tomato roughly chopped and give a good spritz of lemon juice.

Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake

Yesterday my good friend Rach had a bit of a bbq for her birthday so of course I had to make her a cake. I chose the first of Nigella’s cakes from the Chocolate Hall of Fame in Feast. As you can see from the pic I didn’t have two matching tins (I never read the instructions first!) so I went for a tiered effect. I think it looked pretty good myself & all of the kids loved it, we had to hide in a cupboard to pretect it from them until time to serve. It was really good & as I always find with Nigella’s cakes there was more than enough icing to go between all of the layers nice & thickly, very simple yet delicious cake. Also the ‘throw it all in the food processor’ method was great, esp as I was running late after a big night the night before. HAPPY BIRTHDAY RACH!

Old Fashioned Chocolate cake

Cake
200g plain flour
200g caster sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon bicarb soda
40g cocoa
175g soft unsalted butter
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons real vanilla extract
150ml sour cream

Icing
75g unsalted butter
175g dark chocolate, broken up
300g icing sugar
1 tablespoon golden syrup
125ml sour cream
1 teaspoon real vanilla extract

Take everything out of the fridge & bring to room temperature. Preheat oven to 180c & line & butter 2 20cm sandwich tins with removable bases.

Put all the cake ingredients in a food processor & process until you have a smooth thick batter. Divide the mixture between the tins & bake for abt 25-35 minutes until cooked when tested with a cake tester.

Remove the cakes in their tins to a wire rack & let cool for 10 minutes before turning out of their tins.

To make the icing, melt the butter & chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. While this mix is cooling a little, sieve the icing sugar. Add the golden syrup to the chocolate mixture, followed by the sour cream & vanilla & when combined whisk in the icing sugar. When done of too thick then add a little boiling water.

Cur four strips of baking paper & place around the edge of your plate & place the first layer over these (these can be ripped away when done leaving you with a clean plate). Spoon about 1/3 of the mixture over the top & spread with a knife or spatula bring down over the sides as you go, put on the next layer & repeat until all covered with chocolate goodness.

Cajun Blackened Tuna

Tonight for dinner we had some tuna in a Cajun spice mix & served it with some mashed sweet potato & bok choy. I was a bit busy & Michael was home early for a change so he managed to put it all together with minimal instructions from me, very simple. I mainly wanted to post this as Matt over at Abstract Gourmet in Perth was looking for some Cajun spice blends to make up & this one is very good & the optional cayenne pepper really spices its up. So here goes

Cajun Blackened Tuna

Spice Mixture:

1 tablespoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
4 tuna steaks

Combine all spice ingredients in a bowl. Rub butter into tuna & press steaks into spice mixture. Grill on both side in a hot pan to your liking

Spezzatino with cheesy Polenta

Tonight for dinner I cooked up a lovely humble beef stew in keeping with my current theme of Winter slow cooking. It was an Italian dish inspired by Stefano de Pieri from Allan Campion & Michele Curtis’ Food With Friends’. I served it with some cheesy Polenta from the same book, the polenta was delicious, well worth the effort & a nice change for me from my usual mash potato or couscous. After 3 hours of cooking the meat was nice & tender & the liquid had turned into a delicious flavour filled thick goodness, very simple yet oh so good. The polenta was a great match for it & it was another great cold nights dinner, can you see the heart warming steam coming off it?

Spezzatino

Olive oil for cooking
2 carrots, diced
2 onions, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
1.5kg blade steak, diced
2 garlic cloves, peeled
250ml (1 cup) red wine
4 potatoes, peeled & diced
1 x 400g can chopped tomatoes
250ml (1 cup) tomato sugo
1 bay leaf
salt & freshly ground black pepper
250-375ml (1-1 ½ cups) beef stock

Serves 6

Heat a large heavy based saucepan over medium heat. Add a generous splash of olive oil and carrots, onions & celery & cook for 5-6 minutes until soft but not coloured. Remove, add more oil if necessary & cook beef in batches. Cook until well sealed (browned), return vegetables to the saucepan along with all other ingredients & enough of the stock to cover the meat.

Bring to a gentle simmer & cook for 2 ½-3 hours over a low heat, partially covered until meat is tender. Check seasoning.

Cheesy Polenta

750ml (3 cups) water
750ml (3 cups) chicken or vegetable stock
270g (1 ½ cups) polenta
90g parmigiano, grated or shaved
salt

Serves 6

Bring water & stock to the boil in a heavy based saucepan. Sprinkle polenta over & whisk in to prevent lumps forming. Reduce to a low simmer & cook fro 20 minutes, stirring often until the mixture thickens. Take care, as the polenta can splutter & burn. Add more stock or water if it becomes too thick to stir. Remove from heat & stir through parmigiano, season to taste & serve.

Weekend Cat blogging

Well I thought it was about time I participated in Weekend Cat Blogging that Clare at Eat Stuff puts together each weekend. This is a pic of the lovely Mojo who was having a bit of a sleep after a huge day, you know, just the usual, eating, sleeping, more eating, more sleeping, attacking my new painintg...typical day in the life of my baby