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Sydney Food Bloggers Picnic Nov 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Eugene Liu) — Sat, 24 Nov 2012 08:37:00 +0000

Food oh glorious food ... I've never seen such variety of macarons, cakes, cookies, brownies, and other yummy nibbles at a picnic! What sort of insanity is this? Hahaha, the sort brought about by ChocSuze and Helen. Thanks for the invite!

Held in centennial park, the picnic is a 5 minute bike ride away and so on this sunny Saturday I ran out of the house with camera, hat and my beloved bicycle to get some exercise, eat some amazing food and make new friends!

Got there late, but thank god it was a food bloggers' picnic! Everyone was too busy taking pictures before eating! I thought only I was affected by this terrible affliction.

....mmm... fried goodness...I should've eaten more..think I'm hungry again.

What a pretty sight. Macarons glistening in the sun...the green pistachio macarons were seriously tasty. For real! Who brought these?!

Photos done. Everyone grab that food...no need for forks! (get it? hehe)

Red velvet cookies...and refreshing minty drink? I didn't get the chance to try this ... damn.

Spiced cookie with salted caramel filling. This was good but messy to eat!

Hahaha, love this piggy. But it totally disappeared in a flash!

Gingerbread men. Classic. Good.

Oreo Cookie Turkeys! Ingenious!

We were all gathered around the food. But centennial park is such a nice setting, I need to go there more often.

Amazing little packages of beef salad, with onion and mint. After eating all the sweets, this was my favourite!

Foodisourreligion ... It sure is! Thanks for this =)

Ahh, with tummies all full, the secret santa present giving started. Everyone has a number and the rule is that you can steal from any person with a present before you just once.

Which pressie to choose?

Zumbo's macaron recipe book...my precciouss....Simon obviously wants it! (thanks for the gin and tonic btw)

hahaha - everyone was all smiles before the fighting over this talking cookie jar began.

What is Suze doing? Who knows? But well done to her, and nice shoes too. Can't wait for the next picnic!

Porterhouse Steak, Garlic Mash, Tomato Salsa and Cognac Gravy

noreply@blogger.com (Eugene Liu) — Sun, 28 Oct 2012 08:41:00 +0000

These individually packed Cape Grim 300g porterhouse steaks from Tasmania are the bomb diggity. They don't look that big when you're hungry but oh man these will definitely satisfy in a big way.

The only way to cook any steak properly is really just to season well with salt and pepper and add a spring of rosemary or a some thyme. Leave the meat to come up to room temperature, making sure to keep it dry before placing into a searing hot griddle pan. Do I have to say it again? Get that pan hot!

If the pan you use isn't thick or is quite small, you will only be able to cook one steak at a time. Don't get impatient and try two else you will just end up with a steamed steak ...bleah. So if your pan is hot enough, you will be able to get a golden crust on the steak as shown below.

Oh, and don't forget to render the fat strip at the side of the steak first! This will melt the fat away so you don't have to cut through and chew on a thick layer of fat / gristle. After the steaks are cooked rare or medium rare, place them to the side to rest. Deglaze the pan with cognac, melt some butter in and sprinkle some flour to thicken up. That's your cognac gravy. Add to this any meat juices which come out of your steaks while they rest.

A fresh cherry tomato and parsley salad to go on top of the steak will lift it right up and give the dish some texture and contrast. I also added raw mushrooms, finely diced onions, minced garlic, lots of salt and pepper and a good dash of Tabasco hot sauce.

Oh, the garlic mash! Roast your potatoes, mince the garlic, mash it all up with lots of butter and salt. Make a well in the middle of each serving and ladle lots of the beefy cognac gravy in!

Layer and serve. Then stuff your face and crawl to the couch to go comatose.

Friday night at Santa Ana, St Kilda Melbourne

noreply@blogger.com (Eugene Liu) — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 05:37:00 +0000

This Tapas restaurant is located in St Kilda's, in Melbourne. And for me, is the best restaurant in the Acland Street lineup. After a stroll down this famous street and taking in our choices (Malaysian - definitely wouldn't be good, Australian - overpriced for the same old boring dishes, etc), Santa Ana was the only place which spoke to me.

The dinner crowd had yet to come in and the menu looked exciting. Dimly lit, with a warm atmosphere, a live singer started setting up her mic.

Ceviche de Pescado, which is raw white fish served with red onions, lime, coriander, chilli and a sweet potato crisp over ice. $14. It was a very tasty dish and I loved the fish but it was perhaps a touch too tart after a few mouthfuls. Still, I wasn't complaining as I finished it all up.

Ensalada del Amazonas. Yet another interesting dish! Heart of palm (what is that anyway?), avocado, tomatoes, mozzarella cheese in a coconut vinegar and orange dressing. $12. This turned out to be absolutely amazing. The coconut vinegar dressing was something new to me and it is delicious! So was the heart of palm, which is so tender and soft to bite into.

Tequitos Gauchos. $12. These were mini tortillas piled high with rocket, grilled steak, caramelized onions and guacamole served with chimichurri sauce. YUM!

Morcilla with a red chimichurri sauce. $14. Whole grilled black pudding. These were quite nice but not the best I've had.

Santa Ana gave me a unique and exciting food experience for a very reasonable price. Everything was of a high standard and absolutely delish. It's certainly miles ahead of the bog standard Australian /Thai/Malaysian restaurant which is usually also a rip off.

Masterchef Live - Royal Hall of Industries - Sydney

noreply@blogger.com (Eugene Liu) — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 04:32:00 +0000

The Masterchef Live event, held over the course of 3 days featured cooking classes, food stalls and live demonstrations by the various Australian Masterchef celebrities. Being a fan of the Masterchef series and an admitted foodie, I bought tickets and signed up for a bread making class. Unfortunately I left the camera at home so please excuse some of the mobile phone pictures.

Getting there early to catch the 9.30am gluten free Laucke bread making class, I was excited about learning some new techniques and to improve on my bread making. What I wasn't expecting however, especially after paying for a place in the class, was a blatant promotion about a new Easy Bake product.

Wasn't this meant to be a class? That's what I thought I had signed up for. All we did was dunk a pack of pre mixed flour along with a pre measured cup of water into a bowl and stir.

Well, I was still in a good mood anyway and decided to skip the rest of the class to go hunt for yummy food. The bread was to be baked for us and we would be able to collect it at a later point in time.

Returning later, we collected two loaves of the new Easy Bake Laucke product. I've honestly never seen such ugly bread in my entire life. They looked whiter than my friend's soggy feet. Simply Awful. And you know what? It gets worse when you taste it.

But enough of that, lets move onto the more interesting things at the event!

The colourful display at the Croquembouche stall attracted an ever growing line of people. I wanted to eat it all!

This shot was taken at the coconut stall. Makes for a great ad don't you think? The baby belonged to a customer who was drinking her coconut...I think she's got a future in sales! $5 a coconut...they were quite nice though, with soft flesh and a very tasty juice.

Walnut and chocolate waffles. They look way better than they taste.

Blush Sapore tomatoes on the vine. Yummy. $5 for two packs. Very glad I bought em.

Lots of giant colourful meringues in jars. Just a pretty picture.

Can anyone guess what Ben was making? Surprise surprise....Mexican! The poor Masterchef contestants spent the entire day running up and down. I know it might offend some people, but I have to say they must've gotten a lot of practice in bullshitting that day. All show and no content. Sorry but that's what I thought.

Lucky for us, the stalls were WAY more interesting. Here's a stall full of Salami! Yum!

This man is giving out samples of Spanish imported cheese and Jamon. My favourite stall so far! I bought a pack of Jamon from them for $11, and a huge pack of Morcilla (blood sausage) for $10. They're known for their Spanish smallgoods and are called Rodriguez Bros. When I next go to Yagoona, I'll definitely be stopping by.

Skipping forwards to the next day, I've eaten the Jamon Serrano and had a whole grilled Morcilla for myself. I've become an even bigger fan. So tasty I'm thinking of finding an apartment near their shop!

Stopped for a well needed drink at the Rekorderlig bar. It's amazing how their cider is so crisp! My favourite was the pear! $8 for a massive bottle.

Another big WOW for me were these diamond clams from Cloudy Bay in New Zealand. They really are exceptional. They come in a pack, pre-blanched and ready to eat. They are huge! Each clam holds so much tasty juicy meat! I've already finished the entire pack and now I want more. $10 for a pack of the clams, a pack of Barilla spaghetti and a some butter.

This Tassie beef was a great deal. I got 4 porterhouse steaks for $30. They'll be going on the bbq tonight. The last couple of great buys were a pickled chilli and a Banditos Jalapeno sauce from Fehlberg's find foods. They've got a promo running now. $36 for 6 products, including postage!

Italian Eggs in Tomato Sauce / Uova al Pomodoro

noreply@blogger.com (Eugene Liu) — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 02:54:00 +0000

A favourite way to have eggs in Italy is in a tomato sauce/base. Anything can be put in with the eggs, in this case I've used Italian Chipolatas. I've previously used bite sized chunks of chicken, which works just as well. Served with hashbrowns and basil, this made for a delicious high protein breakfast/brunch for two.

Into a medium hot pan with olive oil, lightly fry;

6 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon of mixed herbs / use fresh rosemary and thyme if you have them
a good dash of pepper
1 tablespoon of dried chilli flakes
4 anchovies

When brown, add in the chipolata sausages or chicken / meat of your choice. I would like to do this with grilled sardines! When the sausages are slightly browned, add in 1 can of tinned tomatoes. Break up the tomatoes and stew until cooked. The sauce should reduce and become thicker like a pasta sauce.

Add a pinch of salt if needed. Depending on your tomatoes, if the sauce is slightly too sour or tangy, you may add a couple of tablespoons of milk or a tablespoon of yoghurt to clam the flavour down.

Break into the pan 4 eggs and continue to cook until eggs are half cooked. Sprinkle with cheese and finish off by placing the pan under a grill. Make sure your eggs do not over cook. Sprinkle with cut up basil and serve with artisan bread or crunchy hashbrowns. Oh don't forget your glass of wine!

Squid Ink Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes & Vongole

noreply@blogger.com (Eugene Liu) — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 04:38:00 +0000

Squid ink pasta has been on my to do list for years. I never got around to it as I just couldn't find the squid ink in my area. The local seafood shop only sells cleaned squid and when I asked for squid ink, the guy looked at me funny! The Italian deli just didn't stock it. But yesterday, a friend of mine got a few packets and so it was time to spring into action!

Ok, I'm sure that if I had hunted around more for squid ink I would've found it. Also apparently what we know as squid ink (at least the packaged type) is really cuttlefish ink. Aka Seppie in Italian, it is more tasty than actual squid ink, or so I hear. But anyway, to make sure we fully enjoyed the Seppie, I made both the pasta and the sauce with the ink.

The homemade pasta was done in the usual manner. This was a 4 egg, plain flour pasta. Two sachets of squid ink were used. The ink was added at the end, after the dough had already been formed. Although this gave good results, the dough had to be kneaded more than usual so as to blend the colour in fully. The next time I make this, I would add the ink into the eggs first and only mix in the flour after.

Once rested, the fettuccine was rolled and cut. Aren't they beautiful? The black colour adds such a rich look to the pasta.

While the pasta was resting, slice the cherry tomatoes into halves and stir in:

a good amount of salt (keep tasting until you get the level you want)
lots of pepper
a few dashes of good olive oil
a few dashes of tabasco or verjuice if you don't want it spicy
a dash of mixed herbs

Leave the tomatoes to sit. Next, I made the squid and vongole sauce:

1 large finely chopped onion
6 chopped cloves of garlic
2 chopped red chillies
wedge of butter
2 cups chicken stock
2 squid tubes, scored and cut
1 kg vongole
couple of sprigs of thyme
1 packet of squid ink

Sweat the onion, garlic, thyme and chilli with the butter in a pot on medium heat. Add olive oil if needed. When the onions become soft and transparent turn the heat up and add both chicken stock and ink to the pot. Bring to a simmer. Add the squid into the sauce and cook for a couple of minutes. Drain out only the squid from the sauce and set aside. If cooked for too long they will become tough!

Now add the vongole into the sauce and cover the lid. They will cook in a few minutes. Keep an eye on them. Once the vongole shells have opened, remove the shells from the pot and reduce the sauce to an appropriate amount.

Finally the pasta can be cooked in boiling water as per the norm. Make sure it is al dente. Drain the fettuccine, then place into the sauce and combine well. Add the vongole, squid and tomatoes into the pot as well.

Mix well and serve immediately.

Tamarillo & Tomato Salad over pasta & Stilton Blue

noreply@blogger.com (Eugene Liu) — Sun, 26 Aug 2012 14:03:00 +0000

I first saw the tamarillo (whose name was chosen to promote the fruit) aka tree tomato on tv, where it was described as fruity tomato. My interest was immediately piqued, as it always is when I see foods I haven't tried. So when these fruit started appearing in the local supermarket I had to give em a go.

Turns out, the description on the tele was an accurate one. The fruit is slightly tangy and sour like a tomato, but it has an incredible uplifting fragrance which has been described by others as similar to the kiwi fruit. The skin of the fruit is thick, much more so than the skin of a tomato, and is almost tough to chew. On the inside, the tamarillo's rich orange flesh surrounds the most intensely dark red seeds. Darker even, I would say, than the seeds of the pomegranate.

What better way to try out this fruit than to pair it with what seems to be its natural sibling, the tomato, in a classic tomato salad and served with pasta?

Into a bowl, toss together;

1 tamarillo chopped into cubes
3 tomatoes chopped similarly
3 cloves of garlic, minced finely
plenty of salt to taste
a generous amount of black pepper
olive oil
splash of verjuice
chopped basil

Let the salad sit for about ten minutes and its juices will start to seep out, making a seriously tasty soupy sauce.

Serve with pasta of your choice (penne preferably...although I didn't have any on this occasion), rocket, and lots of crumbled blue cheese.

Stir Fried Black Bean Clams

noreply@blogger.com (Eugene Liu) — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 15:24:00 +0000

Simple, fast, easy and so very very tasty. This classic Hong Kong style seafood dish can be cooked with clams, pipis, any other type of shellfish or even steamed fish.

Heat up a pan and gently heat then fry some;

sesame oil
chopped garlic
thinly sliced ginger
white pepper; and
black beans

until fragrant, then turn the heat up and add in the shellfish. Add in a good slug of rice wine. Stir well and place the cover on the pan. The shells will open up when cooked. They should all open around the same time. Any shells which remain closed should be discarded.

Serve with spring onions, sliced red chillies and a good portion of white fluffy rice.

Ricotta Tortellini with Seared Scallops and Salsa

noreply@blogger.com (Eugene Liu) — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 14:27:00 +0000

This dish puts together a scallop starter and a pasta main into one mind blowing dinner. Trust me, it's good. The creamy, almost meaty tortellini are lifted by tender, juicy scallops and topped with a piquant tomato salsa.

Make a few homemade pasta sheets and use a cookie cutter to cut out rounds of pasta. Chop up your mushrooms and mix into the ricotta cheese with some salt and pepper. Place about a teaspoon of the cheese mix onto a round of pasta and fold in half.

Make sure to wet the edges of the pasta so that the two sides stick together. If you don't stick them together fully, water will leak into the tortellini when boiling and the filling will become diluted and watery. Also make sure to squeeze all the air out of each tortellini when sealing, else air bubbles will be formed and will expand when cooked, distorting the tortellini.

To form each tortellini shape, place your little finger on the bottom of each semi circle and wrap the opposing ends around your finger. Stick together with water. Make sure your finger is at the bottom of each tortellini, and not the side as the shape will come out differently. When the tortellini are all formed, cook them quickly in violently boiling water.

Tortellini:

pasta sheets, cut into rounds
ricotta cheese
chopped mushrooms
salt
pepper

While the pasta is cooking, prepare the salsa by finely chopping up the following;

1 tomato
a stalk of coriander leaves
1 clove of garlic
1 fresh red chilli
1 small shallot (the equivalent amount of red onion can be used if you don't have shallots)

And to this, add;

olive oil
salt
pepper
tabasco sauce or other hot sauce

Remembering to check that the tortellini is cooking well, it is time to move on to the scallops. To sear them, heat up a pan and melt a good amount of salted butter in it. Bring it up to a high heat, almost smoking. Place the scallops into the pan and let each side sear till golden brown. You want to get enough colour on each side, but not so much that the scallop becomes overcooked and tough.

The scallops can be plated up with the salsa placed on top of each scallop. Keeping the butter hot, place about a tablespoon of extra salsa into the butter and fry. You have the option of adding a spring of rosemary and also melting in some anchovies. To this flavoured butter, add the cooked tortellini and mix well until well coated.

Serve with some grated parmesan and rocket.

Bourke Street Bakery in Marrickville

noreply@blogger.com (Eugene Liu) — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 06:46:00 +0000

I had been wanting to visit Bourke Street Bakery for a long time, ever since I saw a post about it on some blog while I was overseas. Their baked breads and pastries just looked soo enticing! I could almost smell the bakery through my screen, and so when I came back to Sydney I arranged to meet a few friends at their Marrickville store.

On arrival, the place was full of fashionable hipsters...luckily they mostly stayed inside and left the alfresco to us. It was a really bright sunny day, and even though the air was chilly, the sun soon heated us up.

As soon as everyone had arrived, we started ordering...the coffee was good while we were waiting. As the place was a bakery, we focused on their sweet pastries, pies and rolls, preferring to leave for another time their breads, quiches, sandwiches and pizza.

The beef pie was mediocre, somehow managing to look a lot more tasty than it actually was. Perhaps it was the hunger, the lighting or the hype that had us expecting great things. But most likely, it was that the filling lacked flavour.

This is their yeasted chorizo and thyme roll. It's just a messy bready dough stick really. It was also dry.

Perhaps the sweet pastries would fare better. I ordered a passionfruit and meringue tart, and a lemon curd tart. At $5.50 and $4.50 a piece (very small tarts indeed), they are pricey. But I gave them the benefit of the doubt...

Both tarts turned out to be quite tasty. Sweet, tangy smooth fillings in short crust shells. The pastry was quite hard however and I couldn't break the tarts apart with utensils. I just had to stick em in my mouth and bite!

The bakery was very well outfitted for children. There were toys everywhere to keep them occupied! It's too bad the experience for the adults didn't live up to the hype. I have to say that the cafe and surroundings were very pleasant and we did have a nice time. However the main point of going, the food, turned out to be lacklustre.

Ichiban Boshi at Bondi - Fresh Ramen Everyday

noreply@blogger.com (Eugene Liu) — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 17:04:00 +0000

Ichiban Boshi is my favourite place to eat at in Bondi Junction. In fact, I travel there just to eat their super tasty ramen...I'm not interested in any of the other food in the area. Ichiban Boshi make their own ramen fresh in the shop and cook it just right!

Their menu consists of mostly ramen, although there are also rice as well as udon dishes. They also have side dishes such as the deep fried gyoza dumplings which are a must try!

The above is an udon set which comes with a small pork katsu-don. The clear broth is clean tasting.

This is the miso ramen which comes with corn, bean sprouts, bamboo shoots and spring onions as well as roast pork. Delish to warm up with if seated outside.

And now for my favourite, the Tantan Tsukemen which is a cold al dente ramen served alongside a warm, spicy and tangy dipping sauce made of minced pork, boiled egg, tomatoes and choy sum. Amazing! I also usually get an extra order of chashu roast pork to go with the noodles as I just loove the chashu here.

Another definite winner is the Aburi Chashu-men. The star of that dish is the thick slices of melt in your moth roasted pork. I don't know how they cook it, but it keeps me coming back for more!

Ramen dishes cost anywhere from 9.90 to 12.90.

Singapore's BBQ Sambal Chilli Stingray (skate)

noreply@blogger.com (Eugene Liu) — Sat, 21 Jul 2012 08:01:00 +0000

Stingray is a very popular eating fish in Southeast Asia. However in Australia, it is known as Skate and does not seem to be eaten very often. This makes it a cheap fish to buy, and can be found at $3/kg from most seafood shops.

Perhaps its popularity in Asia is due to the way the dish is cooked. Roasted on banana leaf over a smoky BBQ, smothered with Sambal Chilli and served with thinly sliced shallots and wedges of lime. It really can't get any better.

This dish is an easy one to do. Heat up the BBQ, charcoal always gives a better flavour but I guess if you only have a gas BBQ then it'll have to do.

Marinate the stingray in Sambal Chilli. Be generous, you want the whole thing to be red! Wrap in some baking paper and then foil. You can use banana leaf as wrapping if you want to cook it authentically. Chuck it on the hot coals and leave it to cook.

Depending on the thickness of the fish and the temperature of the coals, it can take anywhere up to 40 mins to cook. Just make sure to check once in a while as you don't want to overcook it. Also, as there is more meat on the one side of the stingray, it will have to spend more time on one side vs the other. Just check it and flip it as needed.

Lots of thinly sliced shallots and fat lime wedgesgo on top. Serve on a banana leaf. Eat with plenty of fluffy white rice and Kang Kong.

Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 55 min
Yield: 4 servings

Baileys Chocolate Fudge

noreply@blogger.com (Eugene Liu) — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 14:35:00 +0000

This fudge combines good quality chocolate and Baileys into nuggets of chewy sticky goodness. Rich and sumptuous, this recipe makes enough for both you and your friends.

Ingredients:

Butter: 100g
Condensed milk: 1 can, 395g
Brown sugar: 255g
Glucose: 2 tablespoons
70% chocolate: 150g
Baileys: 1/4 cup

Heat gently till sugar melts, then turn up the fire and keep stirring till golden and caramel in colour. The mixture will thicken and stop sticking to the side of the pot. Next add in the chocolate and Baileys at the same time and stir until incorporated. If the Baileys is added after the chocolate the mixture will seize up.

Prep time: 15 min, Cook time: 15 min

Double Roasters in Marrickville

noreply@blogger.com (Eugene Liu) — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 13:39:00 +0000

Double Roasters in Marrickville specializes in blending and roasting coffee in small batches. However, on top of their coffee they also serve food, and having passed by a few times it always looks full. The cafe is located in an old warehouse around the corner from Bourke Street Cafe and seems to be popular with the hipsters.

Seating is available by the roadside in front of the cafe. The tables are adorned with fresh flowers, and rainbow coloured benches brighten up the shop frontage. Once seated, service was fast and very friendly! We were checked on by various waiters and we were very well attended to. Exceptional!

The roast pork sandwich is a popular item and normally comes with an apple relish. They had run out that day though, and instead the sandwich came with apple slices. The sandwich was delicious! The pork was juicy, well salted and cut to the right thickness. The sandwich cost $9.50 and although seemed a little small at first, turned out to be just the right size.

The iced long black came in a tall glass stuffed with orange slices. Visually it's a very attractive drink. There was also a ginger flavour running through the beverage which I found fine but others may not like it as much.

I left the cafe satisfied and yet wanting to try more the next time round. I'll be back!

Chocolate Truffles - Marmalade, Pecan, Baileys and Malibu

noreply@blogger.com (Eugene Liu) — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 05:18:00 +0000

I find that every once or twice a year I get a serious chocolate craving and when this happens, the only thing that can satisfy me are chocolate truffles. This year I wanted more than just a butter chocolate truffle, and so went about making marmalade, pecan, Baileys and Malibu flavoured truffles

A chocolate truffle is in essence just a rolled up ball of chocolate ganache. It is a bite sized portion of smooth chocolate cream with a coating of some sort so as to make handling it easier.

For the ganache:

32g salted butter
160ml pouring cream
43g glucose
200g of 70% chocolate, grated

Bring the butter, glucose and pouring cream to the boil and pour onto the chocolate. Stir until all chocolate is melted and incorporated. The chocolate might look all lumpy like below, but keep stirring and it will come together.

For the individual flavours, add 30ml (1/8 cup) of each flavouring to a quarter portion of the chocolate ganache. If you add too much liquid, the ganache won't set and you will not be able to roll it up into balls. If on the other hand, too many nuts are added, the ganache will lose its beautifully smooth consistency.

Place the ganache overnight in the fridge. You will find that for the alcoholic flavours, some of the alcohol will evaporate overnight and the flavour will develop.

The next day, you should be able to use a melon baller, or teaspoons to scrape out the ganache into ball shapes. Try not to make them too large. Roll each ball in a coating of your choice. Or if you want a more advanced challenge, temper some chocolate to coat the balls in.

For the coating:

tempered chocolate
dessicated coconut
cocoa powder
ground nuts

Be creative! Try out different flavourings and coatings! Also make sure to use high quality chocolate, as lower quality chocolate will result in truffles you will not want to eat.

Stuffed, Roasted Baby Peppers with a Warm Fennel Salad

noreply@blogger.com (Eugene Liu) — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 03:47:00 +0000

While playing with the idea of going vegetarian for a month, just to experiment on what kind of dietary and culinary challenges that would be uncovered, I decided to start off with a vegetarian dinner. Looking into the fridge to see what I could pull together, I came up with peppers, ricotta cheese, fennel and apples.

By cutting the tops off the baby peppers and emptying them of their seeds, I was able to stuff my ricotta cheese mixture into the peppers. To the ricotta cheese was added a couple pinches of salt, pepper, and some dried herbs. Remember to taste. You can also add other cheeses, ground nuts, or even honey into the mix.

Place the tops of the peppers back on, drizzle with olive oil and place under a grill for about 7 minutes, or until just starting to char. Sprinkle more salt on the peppers if needed.

Slicing up the fennel thickly, slightly char them in a dry pan on high heat. Place in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Add some of the fennel fronds in, along with sliced apple and thinly sliced red onion. Sprinkle more salt, pepper and some balsamic vinegar in and stir well.

Serve with sliced bread.

By thehomefoodcook Published: July 3, 2012

Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 7 min
Yield: 2 servings

Stuffed, Roasted Baby Peppers with a Warm Fennel Salad

Ingredients:

Baby peppers: 6
Ricotta Cheese: 1 cup
Sliced fennel: 1 cup
Sliced apple: 3/4 apple
Red onion: 1/2
Salt: a pinch
Black pepper: a pinch
Olive oil: 1 tablespoon
Balsamic vinegar: 1 tablespoon

The Perfect Quiche Lorraine

noreply@blogger.com (perpetual student) — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 18:23:00 +0000

Who doesn't love a light, fluffy slice of quiche? All that bacon, egg and cheesy goodness over a crunchy pastry. Perfect for an afternoon snack.

There are two elements to this dish, the crust, and the filling. The crust is a short crust pastry and should be rich and savoury, providing the essential crunchiness. The filling should be light, fluffy and full of bacon flavour without being too heavy on the palate.

For the crust:

125g butter
250g of flour
pinch of salt
1 egg
2 tsp cold water if needed

In a chopper attachment, blend together the butter, flour and salt until a fine breadcrumb texture is reached. Add the egg and or water and blend so that a dough forms. The dough should not be sticky and can be easily pushed together. All the loose flour will be absorbed, but no dough stuck to the sides.

Roll out and line the pie tin with the pastry. Weigh down with rice (I usually never bother with this) and bake at 230 degrees for about 10 minutes.

For the filling:

a knob of butter
300ml cream (possible to substitute with milk)
3 eggs + 2 egg yolks
100g bacon (I just used a handful, chopped up)
1 onion (on the small side)
a handful of chopped leek (use as much or as little as you'd like)
2 cloves garlic, grated
1 handful of gruyere cheese (any other cheese can be used too)
pinch of salt and pepper

How finely you chop your vegetables will affect the taste of your quiche. If you want a more chunky, wholesome quiche, chop them roughly.

Crisp up the bacon. Add the butter and saute the vegetables until translucent. Blend the eggs, cream, cheese, salt and pepper so that everything is nicely incorporated (I find that using the blender also results in a much lighter quiche). Mix the vegetables in and place into the crust.

Bake at 180 degrees for half an hour, until set.

Marea's Red Wine Braised Bone Marrow & Octopus Fusilli

noreply@blogger.com (Eugene Liu) — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 08:07:00 +0000

Marea is a fine dining Italian restaurant in Central Park South, New York, where one dish especially has made a bit of a name for itself. The bone marrow and octopus fusilli.

This $32 pasta dish is an Italian styled homage to the American tradition of surf and turf comprising of handmade durum fusilli in a luscious tomato based sauce with red wine braised octopus and bone marrow cubes.

This recipe has been adapted from the serious eats and altacucina articles of the same dish.

Into a cast iron pot melt a knob of butter with some olive oil and on medium heat, saute until translucent:

1 sliced large onion;
1 shredded carrot;
1 diced stalk of celery;
4 thinly sliced garlic cloves;
a few chopped stalks of basil;
a couple of bay leaves;
a few sprigs of thyme: and
1 sprig of rosemary.

Add in the cleaned baby octopus (I used about 300g, halved). Continue to saute for a few minutes before adding in a glass of red wine and a tin of diced tomatoes. Turn the heat down and simmer for an hour. Add salt and pepper as needed.

In the meantime, remove the bone marrow from their bones. I bought 2kg of beef bones from the butcher which gave just enough marrow for this dish. Season with salt and pepper and flash fry the marrow in a very hot pan and set aside. The marrow will be added into the sauce later.

The fusilli can also be made while the sauce is cooking. The dough consists of just water and course semolina. Instructions can be found on my pasta making page. Once the dough is formed, press through the pasta machine as usual but only flattening it to the number 2 setting. Hand cut into strips and twirl, then add flour and set aside.

Prepare the Mollica, which is made of breadcrumbs, chopped chilli, garlic and parsley toasted in some olive oil until crunchy.

When the sauce has had about an hour to thicken up on the stove and the octopus become tender, throw in the bone marrow. Simultaneously, place the fusilli in boiling water until almost cooked and quickly add to the sauce to finish cooking.

Add the mollica as well as sliced or whole basil leaves before serving.

Brined and Braised Apple Pork Belly

noreply@blogger.com (Eugene Liu) — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 03:38:00 +0000

This French inspired dish uses the ingredients and style typical of the Alsace region which borders Germany. Large generous servings and the use of pork and sauerkraut are characteristic. The pork belly is braised until soft and tender, and melts in your mouth.

Prepare the pork in a brine solution to impart flavour into the meat. Leave in the brine overnight if possible. A few hours will also suffice if you do not have enough time.

Brine:

1/2 kg pork
water to just cover the pork
2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 bay leaf
star anise
4 small chillies
1 tsp mustard
thyme
rosemary
black pepper
couple of splashes of cognac / gewurtztraminer if you have any is more typical of the region
splash of apple juice / cider
2 tsp balsamic vinegar

After brining (do not throw away the brining liquid), slice up 1 stalk of celery, 1 apple and 1 onion. Leeks and or carrots may also be added in according to your taste. To a hot cast iron pot add some oil and fry the vegetables until translucent. Turn the heat up and making space for the pork, sear it on all sides. Give the skin side more time.

Once sufficiently seared, turn the heat down and add half the brining liquid. Make sure you add in the herbs from the brining liquid. Let it simmer for at least an hour, adding more liquid if you need to. Reduce until the consistency of a thick sauce.

Here the pork was served with a baked potato and some pasta aglio e olio, but traditionally would be served with sauerkraut.

Singapore's Economical Bee Hoon

noreply@blogger.com (Eugene Liu) — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 04:07:00 +0000

Bee Hoon is a rice noodle and when prepared this way, is typically a breakfast meal eaten in Singapore. It is in essence a tasty rice noodle base served with a large variety of fried food such as eggs, spam, sausages...

Rice Noodles:

Rice noodles, soaked in tap water for about 5 minutes
half a handful of dried prawns, crushed
5 cloves of garlic
a couple of large pinches of white pepper
soya sauce
fish sauce
dark soya sauce
spring onions
crispy fried shallots

Lightly fry the garlic and dried prawns in oil till they get some colour. After the rice noodles have become soft, add into the pan and mix well. You may add more water in throughout the cooking process if the noodles are still too hard. Add more oil to give the noodles a shine.

Add pepper, soya sauce, fish sauce and dark soya sauce until the noodles become light brown in colour and take on enough taste. Stir well and cover the pan until the noodles have reached the right fluffiness. Sprinkle spring onions and crispy fired shallots generously.

Serve with sambal belachan, a fried egg, fried sausage, fish finger, fish cake and any other manner of fried food you can think of.

Caramel Popcorn and Pecan Choc Chip Cookies

noreply@blogger.com (Eugene Liu) — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 16:20:00 +0000

These cookies are wonderfully chewy while the caramel popcorn and pecans in the filling provide plenty of crunch.

For the Popcorn:

1/2 cup popcorn
1/2 cup sugar
pinch of salt
teaspoon of vanilla essence
couple of slices of butter

Pop the corn and leave to cool. Pour the sugar into a hot pan and add the salt and vanilla flavouring. Melt the sugar and when it turns a golden brown agitate the pan so the colour spreads throughout. Add the butter to the sugar and mix it in. Switch off the heat and stir in the popcorn, making sure to coat well. Once cooled, the popcorn will be very crunchy.

For the cookie base:

50g of almonds
50g of oats
handful of chopped pecans
200g chocolate
1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup castor sugar
1 egg
70g milk
1 cup flour
a pinch of salt
1.5 tsp baking soda

Blend the almonds and oats into a fine powder. Blend half the caramel popcorn and mix into the powder. Add in the pecans and chocolate.

Cream the butter, with both brown sugar and castor sugar. Add in the egg, milk and mix well. When incorporated, slowly stir in the flour, salt and baking soda. A slightly sticky dough will be formed.

To the dough, add the pre-blended almonds, oats, pecans, chocolate and popcorn. Slightly crush the other half of the popcorn and mix it in as well. Let it rest.

The dough may be stored in the fridge and used whenever you would like freshly baked cookies. To bake them, just place teaspoon sized portions onto a greased baking tray and pop into the oven at 150 C for about 12 minutes.

When the cookies have cooled, you may serve them with milk.

Rustic Homemade Pizza

noreply@blogger.com (Eugene Liu) — Sun, 03 Jun 2012 15:52:00 +0000

Thin and crispy, a rich tomato sauce and lots of garlic. Those are my three golden rules for a drool worthy pizza. Tonight I kept the ingredients simple and made one margherita and one silverbeet and cheese pizza.

For the pizza base, I used semolina, a pinch of salt, a teaspoon of sugar, a drizzle of olive oil and a couple teaspoons of yeast. And mixed it all together with some hot water (hot to the touch, not boiling) to form a non sticky dough. While the dough rested, I heated up the oven on maximum temperature and started preparing the toppings for the first pizza. (I rest the dough for about 15 minutes before rolling it out into a thin crust.)

Although a classic margherita is a tomato base, mozzarella and basil, I didn't have mozzarella and so I had to make an extra tasty tomato base.

Margherita topping:

handful of garlic cloves
4 anchovies
1 fresh chopped tomato
v8 juice and/or tomato paste
green tomato chutney
pinch of salt

Crush the garlic and the anchovies together and spread evenly on the crust with some olive oil. Place into the oven to half bake. Place the tomato, v8 juice/tomato paste, salt and green tomato chutney into a pan and cook until well incorporated and somewhat reduced into a sauce.

Spread the sauce onto the crust and continue baking until the crust is golden brown. Sprinkle basil leaves all over and serve.

Silverbeet and cheese:

3 - 4 large silverbeet leaves (spinach can be used too)
1 small brown onion
couple of handfuls of soft cheese such as feta
pinch of salt
pinch of pepper
tomato paste

Spread tomato paste onto semolina base and half bake. Finely chop all the vegetables and quickly fry in a pan with salt and pepper until just starting to wilt.Shred the cheese and mix into the vegetables. Layer the vegetables on top of the base and continue to bake till done. Sprinkle some olive oil and top and eat.

Crispy Crunchy Vegetable Tempura with Cold Soba

noreply@blogger.com (Eugene Liu) — Sun, 20 May 2012 04:25:00 +0000

The secret to a crunchy and light tempura batter is to use fizzy soda water, baking soda and ice in the batter. Add a pinch of salt to the flour and mix, making sure there are no lumps. You want a batter which is quite runny, but not too watery such that it doesn't hold together. Also add the baking soda in at the very end, right before you deep fry.

Any variety of vegetables can be used, even leafy ones. Here, I just grabbed whatever was in the fridge. Thinly slice it all up, dip into the batter and then fry straight away.

In the meantime, boil some water and add the Soba noodles in for about 2 - 3 minutes. Remove and run under cold water. Place on a bed of ice to keep them cold. In a dipping bowl, add some tsuyu sauce, half a beaten raw egg, some wasabi, chopped spring onions and serve with the noodles.

Sunday Dim Sum at Hung Cheung Marrickville

noreply@blogger.com (perpetual student) — Tue, 15 May 2012 02:59:00 +0000

Dim Sum on Sundays has always been one of my family traditions ever since we lived in Hong Kong and it was one of the rare activities which I would eagerly get out of bed for! Now that I live in Sydney, going for Dim Sum remains one of my favourite activities.

There is a pretty decent Dim Sum restaurant in nearby Maroubra, but this time round I decided to try out Hung Cheung in Marrickville as I've heard good things about the place.

Siu Mai - Pork and shrimp dumplings

On stepping into the restaurant, I was immersed into a crowded and bustling atmosphere which had been hidden from view by a humble exterior. It was like I had been immediately transported back into Hong Kong and I could tell that this was going to be good.

Har Gow - Shrimp dumplings

As the place is packed, the wait staff walk around with trays, rather than wheeling around the usual carts. But this way, they come around easily to every table and they make their rounds pretty often.

Pai Guat - Black bean pork ribs

The usual is ordered first, Siu Mai, Har Gow, Pai Guat...all were up to standard and delicious although the ribs could've used more black beans in it.

Fried Cheung Fan - Rice noodle roll

The fried rice rolls and chicken feet were my favourite here. The rice rolls come with a sweet peanut dipping sauce that's just perfect (I don't usually like the dipping sauce in other places) and the chicken feet are juicy and tender...most excellent!

Fong Zhao - Phoenix claws

Gao Choi Gao - Chive dumplings

The chive dumplings were also to my liking as the filling is mostly chives (I don't like it when too many prawns and other things are added). The Char Siew Sou and Char Siew Bau were pretty good too, but didn't blow me away.

Char Siew Sou

Char Siew Bau

Mong Guo Bou Din - Mango Pudding

The mango pudding was rather pleasant, but I've had better. In Hong Kong, they leave chunks of mango in the pudding, which would have put this pudding right up there...but sadly this was missing. The mango pancakes were the only dish which was a disappointment as the cream used inside was that horrible stuff from the can and there was just too much of it. Also, I'm used to the cream being mango flavoured.

Mango Pancakes

Polo Pau - Pineapple bun

The pineapple bun on the other hand actually made me remark out loud that it had brought me back to Hong Kong ...all on my very first bite! The bun has a sweet crispy crumbly topping and is filled with a custard full of pineapple chunks. Wow, to say the least, I was impressed!

Daan Taat - Egg tarts

The egg tarts were pretty good too, but the Dou Fu Fa was the one that got the whole table oohing and ahhing. It was soft, silky and there was plenty of the ginger syrup to go with every mouthful!

Dou Fu Fa - Silky tofu with ginger syrup

This has become my new dim sum place...it's a longer drive for me, but totally worth it. We had six fully stuffed adults and a kid there, and it cost us about $125. It looks like I'm going there again this Sunday!

Camping by the River at Turon Gates

noreply@blogger.com (Eugene Liu) — Tue, 01 May 2012 11:22:00 +0000

Turon Gates is a 2.5 hr drive from Sydney and is a country retreat where you can experience the great Australian outdoors. Encompassing over 6,000 acres and with a river flowing through it, I was immediately attracted to the place. And once I had read all the glowing online reviews, the decision had been made for me.

I had initially planned on leaving on Friday morning and staying for 2 nights till Sunday afternoon but it was raining on Friday. Unfortunate as that was, Saturday morning was bright and sunny, and so we set off to spend a night camping in the outback!

Driving there was not difficult, but if you search for "turon gates" on google maps, the destination given is wrong, and will lead you to an intersection which is slightly too early. So, follow the instructions on their website and drive through the little village of Capertee and 2 km past that, there is a small sign on the left of the highway. Turn immediately. The road is unpaved but wide enough, and my front wheel drive Saab 900 handled it with no problems.

That dirt road continues for another 6km, leading you through other properties and over a scenic point to take in all the countryside around you. It is beautiful.

Just a little further on, and there will be a gate with directions on it. A steep slope down takes you over the river via a bridge, and the manager's house is located 2km in from that point.

Meeting the very welcoming manager, we were given a sticker for our car and told that we could set up camp anywhere from the field next to the house to the back gate.

There were 2 fields nearby, and although they had toilets and showers it was quite crowded. There were tents side to side packing up the entire fields, and this was not the camping experience I wanted. So, driving past those 2 fields, I was able to spot a nice little quiet area on the grass by the river. After parking the car, we set up camp and started a fire. Oh yes, Turon Gates allows you to have wood fires on their property and there's plenty of wood around. There are also many stone piles where previous fires have been lit, and those are appropriate sites to have a fire at.

After the tent and the fire were up, it was time for some exploring. There are hiking trails through the property, horse riding and canoeing to be done. There's also fishing and there were quite a few groups of dirt bikers around.

However, we decided to follow the river downstream to search for a few good fishing spots and to do some photography. It was rather late as we had arrived there at about 3.30pm after spending most of the day chestnut picking.

With the sun setting at about 6, this time of year (April), we weren't feeling up to further vigorous activities for that day. The walk down the river revealed that most of the river was lying a little low and no fish seemed to be hanging around, however the surroundings were just so gorgeous it didn't matter. I took some of my best photographs on the trip by that river.

With the setting sun, we headed back to the camp site and got ready for dinner. The fire had settled down and was burning at a good temperature. Being too famished, I didn't try to take any pictures of dinner. The firelight was not good enough illumination anyway. However I can tell you that the steaming hot mug of Chai by the fire was certainly the best beverage I've had in some time.

Relaxing on the fallen tree branch, serving as a bench, I was able to experiment a little with my new camera and took some shots of the stars overhead. I haven't seen that many stars in the sky since I was in Nepal years ago, and they were just as breathtaking as I remembered.

I was up bright and early the next morning, at 6am! The birds were chirping and the river bubbling. Prodding the embers of the fire a little I was able to get it to come to life again and adding a little more wood on, I started breakfast!

I had brought my home baked bread, cherry tomatoes from my balcony garden as well as eggs, gourmet sausages from Coles, and a can of Heinz baked beans (which I just chucked into the side of the fire).

After breakfast, and a little more lazing around, we had to leave...all too early for my liking as we had talked about extending the trip another day, but I had an appointment with my dentist I couldn't miss the following day. We did get to get a few good shots of the chickens and geese kept on the property on our way out though! All in all, a great trip. Too quick, but I will definitely be back.