Poppy Seed Bagel and Cream Cheese Egg Salad

versus

Duck Confit with Crisp Beetroot Salad

Brioche Pudding with Dried Figs

4 Hour Roast Beef Rump in Red Wine Sauce

Orange Stuffed Chicken Marylands with 5-Spiced Carrots and Beans

Boston Baked Beans - Serves 2-4
250 grams of cannellini beans
1 teaspoon of mustard powder
2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons of maple syrup
1 tin of tomatoes
150 grams of pork speck
1 onion, roughly chopped
4 cloves
1 bay leaf, torn
Salt and pepper

Heat oven to 180ºC. Soak the beans overnight. In a large saucepan, fry the onion, speck, cloves and bay leaf until the onions are transparent. Add everything else except the beans and simmer for 10 minutes to reduce the liquid a little.

Drain the beans and add. Put a lid on the saucepan and bake for three hours, stirring occasionally. Serve.

Ricotta and Zucchini Cannelloni with Brie Stuffed Zucchini Flowers

Ricotta and Zucchini Cannelloni with Brie Stuffed Zucchini Flowers - Serves 2
2 Zucchinis
250 grams of ricotta
Salt and Pepper
12 cannelloni tubes
1 tablespoon of butter
1 tablespoon of flower
1 cup of milk
1 teaspoon of nutmeg
20 grams of gorgonzola
50 grams of grated parmesan
½ cup of tomato based pasta sauce
100 grams of mozzarella
4 zucchini flowers
50 grams of brie
1 egg, beaten
½ cup of breadcrumbs
Sunflower oil for frying the zucchini flowers

Heat oven to 170ºC. Grate the zucchini and press out as much of the liquid as possible. Mix it in with the ricotta and add salt and pepper to taste. Spoon into the piping bag and fill the cannelloni. Place into an oven tray that will hold them without too much extra space. I ended up using a bread tin.

In a saucepan, melt the butter until bubbling then add the flower. Whisk for about 10 minutes so that the gluten cooks and the flour doesn’t catch on the pan and burn. Slowly add the milk in about tablespoons until a paste forms. Add the remaining milk and whisk to smooth. Add the nutmeg and cheeses and stir until melted. Spread evenly over the cannelloni. Pour over the tomato pasta sauce and then grate the mozzarella over the top. Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes until the cheese has browned. Take out and allow to cool slightly.

Heat the sunflower oil to 200ºC. Cut the brie into four cubes and stuff inside the zucchini flowers. Dip the flowers into the beaten egg and then into the breadcrumbs. Fry until golden and serve.

Stuffed Artichoke & Zucchini Flowers

Stuffed Artichoke & Zucchini Flowers - Serves 2

Artichokes:
2 globe artichokes
¼ cup of vinegar
2 cups of cold water
1 cup of bread crumbs
2 tablespoons of chopped fresh parsley
lemon zest from one lemon
2 anchovy filets
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon of olive oil

Zucchini Flowers:
4 zucchini flowers
1 tablespoon of ricotta
2 anchovy filets
Salt and pepper
1 cup of flour
¼ cup of ice water
Sunflower oil for frying

Pre-heat your oven to 160ºC. In a bowl, mix the vinegar and water and put aside.

Cut the stems of the artichokes, pull off the outer leaves until the softer inner leaves are visible and slice off the top half of the globe, just above the widest point. Dip the artichokes in the water to stop them from blackening. Open up the inner leaves of the artichoke and using a teaspoon, scoop out the fluffy choke, making sure you get all of it. Once done, put the artichoke back into the water until ready to bake.

Mash the anchovy filets and mix in the breadcrumbs, parsley, lemon zest, salt and pepper. Stuff the centre of the artichokes with the mix and press the remaining mix in between the leaves. Place on an oven try and bake for 45 min to an hour.

For the zucchini flowers, mix the anchovy and ricotta together and season with salt and pepper. Gently open the flower and stuff the cheese mix inside, being careful not to over fill it. The yellow/orange parts of the petals should be able to be twisted around the filling to close it in.

When the artichokes are ready, heat enough oil in a saucepan so that it will cover the flowers when they’re fried. Mix the flour and ice water together, dip a flower into the batter so it’s lightly covered then fry until just turning golden. Drain on paper towel and repeat with the other flowers. Serve immediately.

Roti Bread - Makes 12
250mL of warm water
1 sachet of dry yeast
2 teaspoons of sugar
3 cups of flour
3 teaspoons of baking powder
½ teaspoon of salt
1½ tablespoons of oil

Mix two tablespoons of the water with the sugar and yeast and leave to get all frothy, about 10 minutes.

Knead the rest of the ingredients together well and let rise for an hour or until doubled in size. Cut into 12 pieces and roll into rounds.

Heat a non-stick frying pan to hot then spread with a little oil and fry one of the rounds of bread. It will start to bubble, press them down with a dry, folded tea towel and flip over and fry on the other side until golden. Repeat for the remaining bread. Best served hot.

Mixed Berry Jellies and Vanilla Ice Cream - Serves 4
1 packet of flavoured jelly crystals (any berry or even port-wine)
1 packet of frozen berries, thawed (any, or a mix)
Ice Cream

Make jelly as per packet instructions. Put in fridge and chill for an hour and a half or until the mix is quite thick but not set. Stir in berries.

If the berries do sink to the bottom before it sets, or you forget the jelly in the fridge before adding them place the moulds in a sink and add hot water until it comes half way up the sides. The jelly will soften enough so you can add the berries or stir them through again.

Leave to set then serve with ice cream.

Charcoal chicken with piri piri sauce
1 whole chicken Marinade: 8 cloves garlic, crushed Pinch salt Juice of 2 lemons 1 tsp bay leaf powder 2 tsp paprika 2 shots scotch whisky (80mls) 2 tbsp very soft butter 1 whole chicken Rock salt Piri Piri Sauce: 10 – 12 birdseye chillies, chopped finely (medium size, medium heat) Pinch salt Juice of ½ lemon 100mls olive oil 2 tbsp garlic powder (not crushed garlic as the mixture will be too runny) Mix all ingredients into a thickish dipping sauce.


Mix all ingredients for marinade together. Prepare chicken – trim away excess fat. Then use a sharp knife or kitchen scissors to cut the chicken through the breastbone. Open out, turn over and flatten by pressing down with your hand along the backbone. Make a small cut under each wing to help it flatten further. Make several incisions in the flesh with a sharp knife. This will allow the flesh to absorb the marinade and allow fat to drain. Prick all over with a large fork. Brush both sides with the marinade and sprinkle with rock salt. Cover and marinate in the fridge for 30 – 45 minutes. Cook over a charcoal BBQ (or any hot grill if you don’t have a BBQ) turning frequently and basting continuously with the remaining marinade until both sides are golden brown – approximately 30 minutes. Cut the chicken into pieces with kitchen scissors and brush with Piri Piri sauce.

Fisher and Paykel 520L Fridge

Belgian Biscuits

Homemade Turkish Bread

Homemade Turkish Bread - Makes 6

Sponge:
½ cup of warm water
1 sachet of yeast
1 teaspoon of sugar or honey
1 cup of flour

Dough:
1¼ cup of warm water
1 sachet of yeast
1 teaspoon of sugar or honey
2 tablespoons of olive oil
3 cups of flour
1 cup of whole-grain flour (I used rye)
1 tablespoon of salt
Sesame seeds or nigella seeds (black onion) for garnish
1 egg, beaten for a glaze

Mix the sponge ingredients, except the flour together and set aside until foamy, about 15 minutes. Add the flour and combine well. Cover with a tea-towel or loosely with plastic wrap and set aside overnight. Don’t cover the sponge tightly because the air inside with become anoxic and the yeast will die.

The following day, mix the second lot of yeast, water and honey/sugar together until foamy then add the remaining ingredients except the sesame seeds or nigella seeds and egg then knead until the dough is smooth and very elastic. Add more flour if the dough is too wet. It should be slightly damn but silky smooth. Mine took 20+ minutes.

Pre-heat your oven to 250ºC. Once the dough is the right consistency, ball up and place in an oiled bowl covered with a tea-towel or loosely with plastic wrap for 3+ hours or until the dough has doubled in size. Punch down the dough then kneed again for another 10 minutes or so. Divide into six pieces and roll out to the desired shape, quite thinly and put on a greased baking try and put in a warm place for an hour or more until the dough has risen significantly. Brush with an egg wash and sprinkle over the sesame or nigella seeds.

Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes until the crush is golden.

Rich Italian Chocolate Cake with Crushed Hazelnuts

Rich Italian Chocolate Cake with Crushed Hazelnuts
250g hazelnuts
250g of almond meal
250g of dark chocolate, finely chopped
100mL of brandy
60mL of espresso
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons of milk
1 cup of caster sugar
5 large eggs, separated
1 tub of mascarpone

Heat the oven to 180ºC. Grease two 20cm sponge tins and dust with cocoa. Roast the hazelnuts on an oven tray for 15 minutes until the skins are blackened, wrap in a tea-towel and let them steam and cool. Rub off the skins then grind in a food processor.

Mix the first seven ingredients plus half of the sugar and the egg yolks in a large bowl until well combined. Whisk the egg whites in a separate bowl to soft peaks then slowly beat in the rest of the sugar until the egg whites are glossy. In several small batches, gently mix the egg whites into the cake mix. Divide the mix between the two sponge tins and bake in the middle shelf of the oven for 45min to an hour or until a skewer comes out clean, or with a few crumbs. Leave it to cool .

Spread the mascarpone on the top of one of the cakes then squish the second one on top, dusk with icing sugar and serve with either more mascarpone or some ice cream.

UPDATE: I gave the rest of this cake to some friends the following day and it tasted even better once the flavours had time to properly mingle with each other. So I’d recommend making the cakes, leaving them wrapped in plastic in the fridge for 24 hours and then spreading them with mascarpone and serving it with ice cream.

Spiced Lamb with Pistachio and Beetroot Salad with Orange Dressing

The lamb itself was tender and cooked to just pink with a brilliant sumac based spice rub and the orange and honey in the dressing balanced out the beetroot. A bit of cumin in the dressing tied it in with the lamb and a bit of honey did the same for the yoghurt.

Spiced Lamb Pistachio - Serves 2
2 lamb back-straps
2 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons of olive oil
½ tablespoon of coriander seeds
1½ tabelspoon of cumin seeds
1½ tabelspoon of allspice
2 tabelspoon of sumac
¼ cup of shelled pistachios, crushed

Mint Yoghurt
½ cup of yoghurt
1 tabelspoon of finely sliced mint leaves
½ tabelspoon of honey

Beetroot Salad with Orange Dressing
1 beetroot, diced
1 potato, diced
½ cup of grated carrot
½ tabelspoon of fresh ground cumin seeds
1 teaspoon of orange zest
juice of 1 orange
½ tabelspoon of honey
2 handfuls of salad leaves

Starting with the beetroot salad; steam the beetroot for about an 30-45 minutes or until it’s fairly tender but still has a bit of resistance. Add the potato and carrot and continue to steam until all is tender and the tip of a knife has no resistance left to it. Toss through the salad leaves and put aside until serving. Mix the remaining salad ingredients into a bowl for the dressing.

For the mint yoghurt, mix it all together. Put aside until serving.

Lamb. Toss the lamb, garlic and oil together and stand to marinade for two hours. Grind and mix the spices together. Once the lamb has marinaded for the set time, rub the spice mix all over the meat and fry or bbq on medium-high for 5 minutes each side. Take the lamb off the heat and wrap in foil for 8-10 minutes to rest.

Dress and plate the salad. Slice the lamb back-strap on the diagonal and plate. Sprinkle with the pistachios and drizzle around the mint yoghurt.

Roast Tomato and Saffron Risotto Soup

Roast Tomato and Risotto Soup - Serves 2
6 ripe tomatoes
1 onion
1 capsicum
2 bay leaves
6 sprigs of thyme
6 cloves of garlic
1 Tablespoon of olive oil
1 Liter of stock (I used rabbit)
2 cups of leftover risotto

Pre-heat your oven to 170ºC. Into a roasting pan, slice the tomatoes and capsicum in half and the onion in quarters. Add the herbs and spices and a dash of olive oil and toss them all together to coat. Roast in the oven for about an hour or until the tomatoes have dried and started to caramelize.

In a saucepan, heat the stock to boiling and add in the roasted vegetables (remove the bay leaves). Heat the roasting tin over the stove and when it’s started to simmer, splash in some of the stock and deglaze the pan. Scrape up all of the juicy bits and add them into the pot with the stock. Simmer for 10 minutes then whizz up with a stick mixer or a blender until it’s a little your preferred texture (I like mine thick, thin out with more stock if you want.

EIther, re-heat the risotto in a frying pan and spoon into your soup bowl and pour around the risotto, or add the risotto to the soup and mix through to re-heat before serving.

Fresh Pea and Saffron Risotto with Scallops cooked with Pancetta

Saffron and Pea Risotto with Pancetta Scallops - Serves 2
2 liters of fish stock (or vegetable)
1 teaspoon of saffron threads
½ white onion, diced
1 Tablespoon of butter
1 cup of arborio rice
½ cup of fresh peas
2 rashers of pancetta (or bacon)
10 scallops (or prawns, lobster etc)

Bring the stock and saffron threads to simmering point. Fry the onion in the butter until it’s translucent and add the rice. Fry until the rice has turned white and one ladle at a time add the stock and stir until the stock has been absorbed. Continue until ¾ of the stock has been used and the rice has begun to soften.

In a separate pan, fry the pancetta until crisp and the fat has rendered, do not discard the fat from the pan. Dice the pancetta and add that along with the peas into the risotto. Continue adding the stock until the risotto is cooked through.

In the same pan as the pancetta was fried, add the scallops and fry for one minute each side or until the surface is caramelized and the flesh has turned opaque.

Pile the risotto on a plate and scatter with the scallops, or if you’re feeling a little wanky, shape the risotto in a ring then arrange the scallops around the edge.

Chicken Paupiette of Bacon and Camembert

Chicken stuffed with Bacon and Camembert - Serves 2
2 Chicken breasts
4 Rashers of bacon
250g of Camembert, sliced
Salad leaves to serve

Slice a pocket into the thickest parts of the chicken breasts trying to make each pocket as big as possible but not to cutting through to the other side. Lightly hammer out the chicken to as thin as possible without breaking apart the chicken.

Stuff the pocket with half of the cheese and a rasher of bacon then slowly pan fry until the chicken is cooked through and browned on the outside along side the two spare rashers of bacon.

Slice the chicken in half and lay over salad leaves with the extra pieces of bacon.

Dak Busut Jim (Braised Chicken and Mushrooms) and Oyi Namul (Cucumber Salad)

Every meal is served with rice and one or more small side dishes that can be used to add variety to the taste and texture of the main course, especially the ubiquitous kimchi which is style of pickling vegetables that includes a fermentation process and usually starts with a base of cabbage. As you’d expect for a national dish, every region and every grandmother has their own recipe. If you can’t wait the several weeks it takes to make, good asian supermarkets sell fresh kimchi in the chilled foods section. If you can only find the commercial version in a jar, you might want to skip it unless someone can recommend one to me?

Unlike Japanese food that tends to take 1 teaspoon of a dozen ingredients that you’ll never use again and are only sold by the kilo, the only thing I was missing from my cupboard for tonight’s meal were bamboo shoots that you can pick fresh at good asian supermarkets or either canned and vacuum packed, all for around $1.

The braised chicken and mushroom was great with the black pepper being the surprise front runner and the chinese mushrooms giving a good mix in texture. The cucumber salad had a nice refreshing but not overpowering sourness that was needed against the strong flavours of the chicken, but with some cayenne pepper, keeping a spicy note.

Dak Busut Jim - Serves 4-6
(Braised chicken and mushrooms)

10 dried mushrooms
1 x 1kg chicken
3 Tablespoon light soy
1 Tablespoon sesame oil
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper of chili powder
½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 white onion, in 8th and layers separated
125g bamboo shoots, sliced thinly
4 spring onions, sliced, including greens
2 Tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
Cooked white rice to serve

Soak mushrooms in boiling water for 30 minutes then remove stalks, slice and return to soaking water.
Cut chicken into joints then into small bite sized pieces, including the bones, place in a bowl. Add in the soy, sesame oil, garlic, cayenne and black pepper. Mix together and marinade for 30 minutes.

In a wok, add the drained chicken (keep the marinade) and fry until brown. Add the mushrooms, the soaking liquid and the reserved chicken marinade. Simmer for 15-20 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds.


Oyi Namul - Serves 6
(Cucumber Salad)

2 large green cucumbers
3 teaspoons coarse salt
1 Cup of water
2 Tablespoons mild vinegar (eg: rice)
1 teaspoon sugar
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
1 spring onion, sliced
3 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds

Peel (if desired) and as thinly as possible, slice the cucumber and put into a bowl with the salt and water. Let stand for 15 minutes. Drain off all of the water then add all of the remaining ingredients, combine well and serve chilled.

Bacon, Avocado, Tomato and Lettuce on Sourdough @ Varga Bar

Mills Reef Winery, 143 Moffat Road, Bethlahem New Zealand

In the tasting room we met Ken, the cellar manager who ever so patiently walked my family through not only their range but the tasting process (lightest and brightest to heaviest and darkest). From what I could tell all of the prices for the wine were quite reasonable where as the souvenirs had souvenir prices.

After a few uhms and ahs we took a price list and headed for the empty restaurant. There was a choice of the outdoor terrace or inside a dining/function room. The enormous main dining room was having the air-conditioning replaced before summer. Not to worry because ir was spring after all and we chose a table on the terrace in the shade. Just like everyone else did but being outside the noise wasn't an issue and the tables were well spaced anyway. After the stop-off in the tasting room I picked my entrée and main based on their recommended wines and everyone else chose the recommended glass. I wanted to see how they stood up to good quality food and thankfully what came out of the kitchen was great. Luckily I was really only interest in their red wine because the restaurants fish order hadn't arrived to meet the demand of their predominantly fish based menu.

Going around the table my mother had their seafood trio and the Pinot Gris, a slight alteration due to the lack of fish she had a king prawn, scallops and a piece of salmon; my brother had the oysters and my aunt had the bread and dukka which surprised me. For such a simple sounding entrée the chef added a bit of flair throwing in a couple of different types of cibatta and more than just a simple dukka, there was some great avocado oil, tapenade and homemade pesto too. I had the chicken liver paté with truffles crostini and the Cab Melot, or at least that's what I ordered. Instead I got garlic crostini that worked very well and I wouldn't have had any complaints if only I hadn't ordered truffles. That and if I didn't have to wait 10 minutes and actually need to get up from by seat, walk through a construction site and find the wait staff and ask them for our wine. Even though there were a few people in the restaurant by that stage I find it hard to believe a winery restaurant forgot to bring the wine.


Seafood Trio - Prawn, Salmon and Scallop


Cibatta with Dukka, Avocado Oil, Tapenade and Pesto


Chicken Liver and Cognac Paté and Fig Jam with Garlic Crostini

Main course ran smoother, Mum had the strawberry and asparagus salad with Kaimai Brie and a glass of the Sav Blanc which was tasty and exploration in vegetarian texture more than flavour, my brother had two giant lamb shanks that were cut above the knee and were so tender the meat would have literally fallen off the bone if he'd picked it up washed down with the Cab Sav. The meat was good quality lamb but seemed a little bland on it's own and relied in the jus to carry it. Mind you I only picked at his leftovers, so the most of the meat could have been fine. My Aunts Cajun chicken Caesar salad was generous, well seasoned. I had the lamb fillet that was cooked to a perfect pink with a blue cheese and pear salad with a walderberry jus, much like my favourite duck salad. The lamb itself seemed under seasoned but balanced out with some cracked pepper and the jus. The Merlot Malbec was a perfect match.


Asparagus, Strawberry, Avocado and Kaimai Brie


Warm Lamb Fillet, Watercress and Baby Spinach Salad with Pear, Cashew, Kikorangi Blue and Walderberry Syrup


Lamb Shanks Braised with Wholegrain Mustard on Green Pea and Potato Mash

Dessert. Only mother and I had dessert, her with the mandarin and cinnamon spring rolls which looked delicious and I had the 'ode to the lemon' which was a set of three lemon desserts starting with a lemon curd in a bitter chocolate case the size of a patty-pan, a lemon cremé brûlée in an espresso cup and a scoop of lemon ice cream in a parfait glass. All of which matched brilliantly in their own way to the riesling ice wine. If only it was delivered with the course. As the waitress walked off I called out "um, and our wine?" She flicked her nose up and walked off in acknowledgement. I waited. I waited. Again I got up and asked for my wine yet again. The excuse was they were waiting for the others coffee to be made before they bought out all of the drinks. Pity my ice cream had melted and my crem brule was cold by the time it arrived.

The location, food and wine at Mills Reef are nothing to complain about but the attitude and service of the restaurant wait staff really left more a lot to be desired.


Nectarine and Honey Spring Rolls rolled in Cinnamon Sugar served with Blueberry Syrup and Vanilla Ice Cream


Burnt Lemon Curd, Lemon Crem Brule and Lemon Ice Cream

Peppermill Café, Milsons Point

At a recent contract I went out myself and failed miserably picking the Kirribilli Village Café and Restaurant. I tried their steak sandwich and it was just awful, chewy, tasteless and very overpriced. $25 off for the sandwich and a coffee. That’s when I asked. The team I was working with and I went around the corner to The Peppermill Café in Milsons Point, their coffee is a little to be desired considering it’s Campos Coffee, but it almost always seemed burnt but the service and food was always pretty good.

The first day I went I was recommended their regular special, a chicken and leek pie. Not what I expected in the presentation department but it was tasty. An individual baking dish with mashed potato on the bottom, a regular chicken and leek filling and a square of golden puff pastry balanced across the top. Almost every day since then I went to Peppermill for either lunch or breakfast, often for both. When I had breakfast, brunch, or afternoon tea, I’d pick up a smoked salmon, ricotta and avocado croissant, the combination of the soft buttery pastry and the oily smokiness of the salmon was a winner.

Smoked Salmon Croissant @ Peppermill Café, Milsons Point

They serve an all day breakfast here, and the majority of the menu was based around breakfast but almost as often as I’d see someone have a burger I saw someone else have either the pancakes or french toast, both served with either bacon and maple syrup or a mixed berry compote. Delicious stuff and well worth a try if you want a bit of extra energy before hitting either the Kirribilli or North Sydney Markets one weekend (I worked weekends too). The beef burger is nice, standard fare, but the chicken burger was the winner, chicken, bacon, avocado. Damn tasty.

It’s also licensed and they won’t pass judgement if you have a Bloody Mary on a Monday!

Chicken & Bacon Burger @ Peppermill Café, Milsons Point

The Peppermill Café
30 Glenn Street, Milsons Point (map)

Monday to Friday 7am to 6pm
Saturday and Sunday 8am - 4pm

T: (02) 9954 1444
F: (02) 9954 1444
www.thepeppermillcafe.com.au

Good Wok - 587 King Street Newtown

I haven’t spotted anything out of the ordinary or a speciality on the menu, it’s all the usual stuff you’d expect, mongolian beef, cashew chicken and all that but it was the bbq wonton noodle soup that I’ve gone back for. It definitley isn’t the best I’ve ever had but Good Wok’s version is the type of soup you go to when you’re stomach is compleltey empty and you need to fill it with carbs, hot broth, meat and vegetables.

The soup has a good chicken and vegetable stock, fresh bbq pork and some very fresh vegetables including perfectly cooked brocolli. Even I struggle to get mine tender-crisp but this was pretty much perfect not to mention generously served.

Good Wok - BBQ Pork Wonton Noodle Soup

Good Wok Chinese Food
Ph: 02 9565 2175
587 King Street
Newtown

They don’t do delivery but do take phone orders, it’s cash only too.

Smoked snapper vol au vent

Smoked Snapper Vol Au Vents - Serves 2
1 whole fresh snapper
1 tablespoon of black peppercorns
1 tablespoon of cardamom pods (crushed)
1 fresh bay leaf
1 cup sugar
1 cup of salt
1 cup of white rice
1 cup of black tea
1 sheet of short crust pastry
1 cup of stock (I used rabbit, but vegetable, chicken or fish would be ok)
1 tablespoon of corn flour
1 tablespoon of fresh cut parsley

Place the snapper, pepper, cardamom, bay leaf and half of the salt and sugar in a plastic container and cover with water. Leave for two hours (6 in the fridge). Take the fish out and let it air dry for a while or pat it dry with some paper towel.

Line a roasting tin that you have a rack and a lid with foil. Mix the rest of the salt and sugar with the rice and tea and pour evenly into the foil. Place the tin over a low heat (preferably with a simmer mat) and heat until it starts to smoke. Place the fish on the rack, the rack on the rice and the lid on the tin (get all that? Good). Leave for an hour and turn the heat off but do not remove the lid.

Once the whole lot has cooled, take the lid off and start to flake the flesh off the snapper trying to keep the bones out of the mix.

Heat your oven to 180ºC and cut two circles out of the short crust pastry and rings out of the puff pastry, the same diameter as the short crust circles. Place the two pastry stacks on a baking tray and bake for 20 minutes or until the pastry rings have risen.

Boil the stock and add the corn flour, whisking constantly until it has thickened. Add the fish and re-heat gently so to not break the fish up further. Stir through the parsley then taste for seasoning and then spoon into the vol au vent cases.

Varga Bar Espresso. Corner of Wilson St and Erskineville Road, Newtown

I went there today with a friend of mine that I have’t seen in years because we’re both too goddamn lazy to meet up but we managed today. He’s very punctual though, when he said he was running approximatley 12 minutes late, he was exactly 12 minutes late. Good work. At least it gave me extra time to get some descent location shots of the outside and plenty of time to check out the hot blond barrista and the clientelé.

The thing that surprised me here, wasn’t so much the fact that what we were served was fantastic, but it was creative. I’ve tried a lot of cafés in Newtown but this was the first time I’ve seen a honeycomb and belgian chocolate affogato (espresso with a scoop of ice cream) on a menu and the cakes we had were delicious and well presented. I had the banana cake, unfortunately a little dry in places but delicious none the less. The other cake, the chocolate and raspberry mousse cake was denser than you’d expect, more cakey than moussey, but the affogato. Smooth, sweet, delicious with goopy melted chocolate in the bottom of the glass topped with a sprinkle of violet crumble.

Honeycomb and Chocolate Affogato and Chocolate and Raspberry Mousse Cake

I’m going to have to come back and try out the food menu.

You won’t find many dumplings at The Dumpling King (194 King Street, Newtown)

Twenty minutes later the pancake (that I don't think had even met a shallot) arrived along with the pan fried flavourless northern meat buns. Chewing through those and washing them down with some weak green tea (from a bag) we sat and chatted. Pleasant and engaging conversation, thankfully, which made the next forty-five minutes waiting for our dumplings bearable.
Eventually, after physically getting up and asking the wait-staff that had ignored us since we ordered where the rest of our meal was, two steamer baskets turned up with an excuse that the Dumpling King had run out of dumplings and he had to make them fresh! Two things are wrong with that, one - the DUMPLING KING ran out of dumplings; and two - if he did have some on hand they wouldn't have been fresh! I know I'm probably arguing for two different sides here, do I want fresh dumplings or do I want quick service but that's not the point. We weren't the only table that didn't get their meals, I noticed two or three other tables having to stop the wait-staff and ask where their food was.
At the end of the night, I have to admit the dumplings were actually quite nice, but the experience was terrible with poor service and a promise of a plethora of dumplings that just don't exist. The rest of the menu looked quite uninspired and with the variety available on King Street I'm not going to be in any hurry to visit the illegitimate Dumpling King again. I'd rather go to Happy Chef.

Turkish toast with banana and strawberries, honey and mint

About to be eaten ginger

The wonderful people at Gingerbread Folk make organic, free range gingerbread people, house kits, flowers, christmas decorations and custom made gingers for special and corporate events. Keeping the environmentaly concious theme they even package their individual bloodnuts in compostable plastic!

As they’re made of all natural ingredients there aren’t any preservatives in them so don’t expect to keep these for months on end like you can with commercial ginger bread (next christmas, check the expiary date on the gingerbread in supermarkets, it can keep for years, that can’t be good). Lucky they’re tasty and beg to be gobbled.

Box Fresh Delivery

I’ve done a comparison and even if you disreguard the fact that this is restaurant quality food, you can’t get this amount of food for less than the $49 expecially if you want it delivered. Coles Online for example was $95! On top of the fruit and veg, you can also pick up a good selection of cheese, jams and even a meat tray from Hudson meat. Give them a go.

This weeks box had all sorts of fun stuff:
Vine ripened tomatoes
Broccoli
Green Beans
Potatoes
Red Onion
Brown Onion
Avocado
Ginger
Green Chilli
Garlic
Corriander
Mint
Parsley
Carrots
Field Mushrooms
Egg Plant
Sugar Snap Peas
Baby Spinach
Mixed Salad Leaves
Red Capsicum
Kiwi Fruit
Carela Pears
Fuji Apples
Oranges
Bananas
Rockmelon
Lemon

ilesum Porridge

I asked the hot guy what it was like and he said he’d not tried the porridge yet but likes the ‘sweetly toasted’ variation of muslie - slow roasted oats, almonds, saltanas and honey.

The porridge is quite nice, surprisingly light in flavour for something that’s traditionally seen as very heavy. It’s probably got something to do with the great variety of fruit mixed in with currants, granny smith apples, cavendish bananas, nectarines, mini golden raisins, saultanas and peaches. Having said that though, it was a little light on the fruit for what I was expecting. It still needed a bit of cinnamon across the top and a bit of added sugar or honey across the top.

Benadryl Chesty Forte - Berry Flavour

Oatmeal and Blueberry Cookies

As a thank-you I thought I’d make a small batch of cookies for them, but what? They had to be wholesome, they were a gift for a neighbor afterall and you can’t get any more wholesome than oatmeal cookies but of course I had to jazz it up a little. Forget the raisins. Blueberries were the go! I was going to use dried cherries but I couldn’t find them anywhere. Of course the week after I found them at David Jones. To give them a bit of extra depth you don’t usually find in oatmeal cookies I used rolled oats and rolled rye that have an earthier flavour that isn’t overpowering. If you cant find or cant be bothered, just use all oat.

Oatmeal and Blueberry Cookies - makes 24
150 grams unsalted butter, softened
⅓ cup of brown sugar
⅓ castor sugar
1 large egg
¾ cups of rolled oats
¾ cups of rolled rye
¾ cups of flour
1 teaspoon of bicarb
½ teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of vanilla
2 cups of dried blueberries (or any other dried fruit)


Preheat your oven to 200ºC. Beat together the butter and sugars until they are light and fluffy. It won’t be as pale as regular creamed butter and sugar because of the brown sugar so don’t worry about that. On a lower speed, add the egg and vanilla. Sift the flour and mix in the dry ingredients.

When well combined, but not over mixed, place dessert spoonfuls of the mix on a greased or properly lined baking tray about 4 or 5 cm apart. Learn from my mistake - if you use cookie sheets be prepared for the excess butter melting out of the cookies and going all over the place!

If you’ve got an even temp oven, bake two sheets at a time for 12 minutes. Mine isn’t so good so I did 1 sheet at a time checking after 10 min and rotating the tray.

A Burnt Sausage

Snapper with Red Pepper Sauce with Been and Pumpkin Salad

Snapper with Red Pepper Sauce with Been and Pumpkin Salad - Serves 4
2 red capsicums (peppers), sliced
½ a white onion, sliced
½ cup of white vinegar
½ cup of water
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 teaspoons of dried oregano
500 grams of green beans, topped and tailed
250 grams of pumpkin
2 fresh tomatoes, sliced and seeded
100 grams of sun-dried tomatoes, sliced
1 tomato, sliced and seeded
2 teaspoons of sesame seeds
4 snapper fillets
Salt and Pepper
Olive Oil

Put capsicum, onion, vinegar, garlic, water a couple of the sun-dried tomatoes and oregano in a saucepan and simmer on a very low heat for 15 minutes or so. When the capsicum is very soft, mix it up with a stick mixer until smooth. Keep the sauce warm until you’re ready to serve (it makes a great pizza sauce too).

Steam the pumpkin until just tender, remove and steam the beans until crisp. Mix in the remaining sun-dried tomatoes, sesame seeds and a little olive oil.

Heat a grill to a medium-low temp and season the fish with salt and pepper, drizzle with olive oil. When the grill is warm put the fish under and grill for about 15 minutes, until the fish is firm to touch but still moist.

Hot Roasted Hazelnuts with Thyme

Hot Roasted Hazelnuts with Thyme - Makes 2 Cups
2 Cups of Hazelnuts
2 Tablespoons of fresh thyme
½ Tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil

Heat the oven to 200ºC and roast the hazelnuts until brown, about 10-15 minutes. Keep checking so they don’t burn. When they’re done, cover with a tea towel and let them steam and cool. Rub the skins off and place in a frying pan. Turn up the heat and add the oil and thyme and warm through.

Splash @ 226 King Street, Newtown

Now while the decor of the restaurant is a fairly dark but modern I can’t help but feel that this is a second home to those who work here with little touches making it feel more like someone’s living room - the framed boxing memorabilia coming from the eldest son and the bright sea-life painting coming from his mother insisting “these will look lovely.” The feel of being in someone else’s house is reinforced with the clumsy but well intentioned younger sister waitress, the always looking busy but not really older sister waitress, then there’s the eldest muscle bound pony-tailed brother who sits intimidatingly behind the bar only to rush off outside or to the kitchen every time his mobile phone beeps or rings. I always got the feeling that I was imposing being there and even more so when I asked for another drink.

At least the food was good quality with more than a substantial serving, three people or two hungrier people than us could have finished it with a bit more effort, we struggled to get through half of the a pile of chips, bbq baby octopus, pickled octopus, lightly battered and fried prawns, cold cooked prawns, fresh oysters, scallop mornay, smoked salmon and the whole crab. We didn’t even touch the salad.

Hot and Cold Seafood Plater for Two @ Splash Newtown

Food, 6.5/10 - Everything was there, but it wasn’t original by any means
Service, 5/10 - I felt like I was imposing on them being there, it seemed everyone had better things to do
Value, 7/10 - For what we got, the $100 bill was fair for quality seafood in Sydney
Location, 9/10 - Heart of King Street

Bunny and Lavender Tarts Smell Like Grandma

Bunny and Lavender Tartlet - Makes 40
Filling:
1 Bunny, quartered
2 Liters of Chicken Stock
2 Carrots, sliced
1 Onion, sliced
1 Parsnip, sliced
1 Celery stick, sliced
2 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of flour
2 teaspoons of dried lavender

Pastry:
250 grams, plain flour
200 grams, butter
120 mL, Sour Cream

Place the bunny, vegetables, stock and herbs in a large saucepan and bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for 1½ hours.
In a food processor blend the flour and butter until they form a loose breadcrumb mixture and add the sour cream, just enough to combine in to a smooth dough. Remove the dough, wrap in plastic and put in the fridge to chill for at least a half hour.
When the bunny is tender, remove the meat from the bones and some of the vegetables and allow to cool. Keep the stock.
Melt the 2 tablespoons of butter for the filling in a clean saucepan, add the flour and lavender and whisk to prevent it from burning. After a few minutes, ladle in the stock slowly to form a thick creamy sauce (you will need about 2 cups of the stock). Add enough of the sauce to the bunny meat and vegetables to make a moist but not too wet or sloppy pie filling.
To make the pastry cases, pre-heat your oven to 200ºC and lightly grease a mini-muffin tin. Roll out the pastry to a very thin round and with a small glass or pastry cutter, cut rounds and slip them into the muffin cups ensuring that there is no air beneath the pastry, lightly prick it all over. Fill the tray and bake for 15 minutes until the pastry has puffed and the edges are golden. When you take them out of the oven, if the bases have risen too much press them back down with a tea-towel covered thumb or any other suitable kitchen instrument. Allow the cases to cool and remove from the muffin tray. These can be made 2 days in advance and kept in an air-tight container.
Clean out the food processor and add the rabbit and vegetables and process until a relatively smooth paste is formed. Reheat and spoon into the pastry cases just before serving. Sprinkle with extra lavender.

Little brown sea-poos with beetroot relish

Food, 6/10 - Good but the standards are slipping
Service, 8/10 - Can’t complain here
Coffee, 0/10 - There is an espresso machine, but this is a pub. Have a beer
Value, 6.5/10 - Pricey for pub food but better than the competition
Location, 9/10 - Full of good intentioned locals

Parsley Hummus

Parsley Hummus - Makes 2 cups
1 clove of garlic
½ cup of parsley leaves, packed
1 tin of chickpeas
¼ cup of sour cream
3 tablespoons of tahini (ground sesame seeds)
2 tablespoons of sesame seed oil
1½ teaspoons of lemon zest
1½ teaspoons of ground cumin
1½ teaspoons of sea salt
¼ teaspoon of cayenne pepper (I subbed tabasco)

Put everything in a food processor, blend until smooth.

Oxtail Paté

Oxtail Paté - Makes 2 cups
1kg of oxtail
1T of olive oil
1 onion, sliced
2 cloves, ground
10 juniper berries, crushed
1 bay leaf

Pre-heat your oven to 160ºC. Toss all of the ingredients together and roast for 6+ hours until a skewer pierces the meat without resistence.

Take the roasting tray out and pick over the bones, removing the large pieces of fat and placing the meat into a food processor. Discard the bones. Remove the bay leaf and add everything else to the food processor. Blend until the meat becomes fine, but not a pureé.

Pack the paté into a dish suitable for serving in and cover in plastic wrap. It can be keept for up to a week refridgerated.

Salmon Egg Benedict Roll @ La Cachette Alexandria

With the exception of the coffee (burnt and bitter, what a surprise there), I was pleasantly surprised. Stop by if you’re going past the area and peckish.

Food, 7/10 - Better than you’d expect for what looks like a workman’s lunch-bar
Service, 4/10 - The girl was training and seemed lost
Coffee, 0/10 - It was undrinkable
Value, 6.5/10 - $10.50 for a brea-roll and a coffee, but what a bread-roll
Location, 4/10 - In the middle of nowhere

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Fried Wild Rice with Crispy Duck

Fried Wild Rice with Crispy Duck - Serves 2 as a main, 4 as a side
2 eggs
2 cups of wild rice
2 cups of cooked duck, shredded
4 rashers of bacon, diced
½ cup frozen stir-fry veg (or peas, carrots, corn etc diced)
1 cinnamon stick (optional)
1 star anise (optional)

Whisk the eggs together and fry in a wok, swirling around to create a thin omelette. Turn the omelette out and dice.
Cook the rice and leave to cool.
Fry the spices, duck and bacon until the bacon is crispy, add the vegetables and fry until almost cooked and add the rice. Fry until the rice is loose and not clumping any more, add the egg and heat through. Serve.

Orange Crispy Skinned Duck

Crispy Skinned Orange Duck - Serves 2
1 whole duck, approx. 1.5kg
1 tablespoons of sichuan pepper
3 tablespoons of sea salt
¼ cup plain flour
vegetable oil for frying
1 cup of water
1 cup of white sugar
250 grams of oranges, juiced (or blood plums)
⅔ cups of fish sauce
6 whole star anise
2 cinnamon quills
⅓ cups of lime juice

Trim away the excess fat from the cavity of the duck. Grind the sichuan pepper and salt together and then rub all over the duck. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Boil some water in a wok or large saucepan and place a steamer basket over, the duck inside, cover and leave for an hour and a half. Take the now cooked duck out and leave it to cool.

Once the duck is cold enough to handle, slice it in half lengthwise, from neck to tail. Gently pry the carcass out, leaving the drumstick and wings intact. Cut each half into half again so you have a wing and a leg piece.

To make the sauce, mix the water, sugar, oranges together and bring to the boil in a saucepan, reduce the heat to a simmer and add the fish sauce, star anise, cinnamon and lime juice. Simmer while you fry the duck.

Heat the vegetable oil a wok or deep saucepan, cover the duck pieces with flour and deep fry each piece separately until the skin has gone a crisp golden colour. Drain the pieces after they’ve cooked on paper towel. When their all cooked, cut the duck down into bite-sized pieces, except for the bones.

Pile the duck on a serving platter and pour over enough sauce to coat the duck.

Eat it with your hands and have a bowl of rice on the side.

Jack (Ed Norton) and Bob (Meat Loaf) at support group in Fight Club

I was considering calling this post “My Meatloaf has Bitch Tits” but that doesn’t really portray the damn fine tasty meatloaf that I made tonight. I know it’s a bit of a tenuous link but Meat Loaf played the character Robert Paulson, the guy with bitch tits that Jack meets at his testicular cancer support group... With torn off pieces of fresh buffalo mozzarella and sun-dried tomato this meatloaf really is a notch above what you’ve probably ever considered a meatloaf could be.

The original recipe for this meatloaf comes from Mario Batali’s father (via Epicurious), which might explain Mario’s own bitch tits. The entire loaf, if made as directed weighs in at 2-3 kg! I intended to make half of this but I wasn’t paying attention when I went to buy the ingredients and bought enough to make the full recipe, luckily meatloaf can be frozen well. Sort of like Meat Loaf’s assets. I cheated a little in this recipe, David Jones had some great looking beef rissoles that had onion, carrot, parsley and a few other bits already mixed through in what looked about the right proportion so I bought that instead of just plain minced beef. For a little more vegetable matter in a meal that will be almost entirely meat I made some balsamic roast vegetables to go along side - just baby carrots, red onion, parsnip etc tossed with some olive oil and a splash of balsamic and roasted along side the meatloaf for the last half hour.

Beef and Italian Sausage Meatloaf with Sundried Tomatoes and Mozarella

Beef and Sausage Meatloaf - Serves 8 or more
1kg of lean beef mince
500g of buffalo mozzarella, torn into pieces
500g of italian sausage, cases removed
2 cups of chopped fresh basil
2 cups of fresh breadcrumbs
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup of sliced sun-dried tomatoes
5 garlic cloves
1½ tablespoons of dried oregano
2 teaspoons of salt
2 × ½ cup of tomato sauce
3 eggs
½ cup of dry red wine

Pre-heat your oven to 190ºC. Thoroughly mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl except one of the half cups of tomato sauce. Mould into a loaf shape and place in a loaf tin and even out the surface. Brush on the remaining tomato sauce. Bake in the oven for about an hour and fifteen minutes or until a meat thermometer reaches 70-75ºC at the centre of the loaf.

Mixed Grill @ The Duke, Enmore

Food, 7/10 - Better than most pubs and everything you’d expect on a classic pub menu board
Service, 8/10 - For a pub, you can’t complain - they were happy and friendly
Coffee, 10/10 - Because it was made with hopps and barley and served by the pint
Value, 7/10 - Tough one, but for the location and the generous servings it gets a couple extra points
Location, 9/10 - If you’re going to the Enmore it’s ideal

The Duke of Edinburgh
148 Enmore Road, Enmore NSW 2042
P: 02 9519 1935
F: 02 9557 1381
W: http://www.duke-hotel.com/

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Beef and Broccoli Satay

Beef and Broccoli Satay - Serves 2
500g Rump Steak, cut into strips across the grain
2 tablespoons of red curry paste
2 tablespoons of peanut butter
½ peanuts
1 tin of coconut milk (or cream thinned with water)
1 cup of broccoli foretts
1 cup of sliced red capsicum
1 lime cut into wedges
2 cups of cooked jasmine rice to serve
corriander to garnish (optional)

In a very hot wok, fry the beef in batches until it’s brown all over and set it aside.

Add the red curry paste to the wok and fry for a minute until it becomes fragrant. Keep stiring it or else it’ll burn. Add the peanut butter, peanuts and the coconut milk and simmer until the sauce has reduced by half. Add the broccoli and capsicum and simmer until tender. Mix the beef back in and simmer for a minute until the beef is hot again.

Serve over rice and with a wedge of lime on the side to help cut through the thickness of the sauce and to give it a bit of an extra tang.

Duck with Roast Fennel and Berry Sauce

Duck with Roast Fennel and Berry Sauce - Serves 2
2 duck marylands
2 sprigs of rosemary
1 tablespoon of salt
1 fennel bulb
1 zucchini
1 tablespoon of olive oil
Salt and Pepper
¼ cup of frozen berries

In a mortar and pestle grind the salt and rosemary until they’re mixed well. Coat the duck marylands well and leave to sit lightly covered with plastic wrap until it’s ready to cook.

Pre-heat the oven to 160ºC. Slice the zucchini in half and the fennel into 5mm slices. Drizzel with olive oil and season with salt and pepper and spread out on a roasting tray and roast in the oven until the fennel is soft.

After the fennel has been in the oven for about 30 minutes, add a little olive oil to a frying pan at medium heat. Add the duck skin side down and fry until golden, turn over and fry until the other side is golden. Finish the duck in the frying pan in the oven for 15 minutes.

Take the duck out of the oven and rest. While the duck is resting, add the berries to the frying pan and simmer until reduced. Strain out any pips. Put the veggies on the plate, then the duck and spoon over the berry sauce.

Bills - 359 Crown Street, Surry Hills

Bills second restaurant in Surry Hills opened 12 years ago and has been going strong ever since, full to the brim from opening till the end of brunch, easing off through the day and picking up again for dinner. It’s a great place to come despite it’s incredibly short menu, one of the shortest in Sydney with usually ony a dozen items to choose from, most of which are staples that are always there such as the sweetcorn fritters with guacamole and the chicken club sandwich, which is what I had today. Now this isn’t your typical three tier sandwich, it’s a chibata roll with roast tomato, baked chicken thigh, roquett and a light spread of dijonaise. It is delicious, but for $17.50 you’d want it to be. Don’t count on the coffee, it’s always just a little burnt.

Club Sandwich and Herbed Fries - Bills, 359 Crown Street, Surry HIlls

If you’re after better coffee and cheaper sweet corn fritters (also $17.50) try Lemon Twist a little further south on Crown Street.

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Roast Pork Loin with Dried Fruit

Roast Pork Loin with Dried Fruit - Serves 4-6
1kg pork loin
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 large shallots, chopped
¾ cup diced dried apples
½ cup dried cranberries
½ cup dried mixed berries
¼ cup dried wild figs
1½ cups low-salt chicken stock
½ cup dry white wine


Preheat oven to 220°C. Sprinkle pork with rosemary, salt, and pepper.
Place pork in the oven and roast for 20 minutes. Lower the temprature to 170ºC and continue to roast until thermometer inserted into center registers 65°C to 75°C, about another 35-45 minutes. Transfer pork to platter; let stand 10 minutes.
Add apples, figs, cranberries and berries to the pan with the wine and stock.; stir until fruit mixture is heated through, boil 1 minute, lower the heat, cover and simmer. If thicker sauce is desired, boil until reduced enough to coat spoon. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Slice pork and spoon sauce over.

Corelli's Café - 352 King Street, Newtown

Being the heart of Newtown it manages to still have that feel of Bohemia about it, which is odd because Arcangelo Corelli was Italian not Slavic; nor was he gypsy. In fact he was long dead before the French even coined the phrase. The point though, is that Corelli’s has that aire of real Newtown about it with it’s cramped tables, mismatched paintwork and staff that will get around to taking your order when they’ve stopped day-dreaming as they watch the foot traffic.

As for the food, the menu seemed skewed towards breakfast, proven by dinner there tonight with my pick of the menu being the bangers and mash (not too bad but simple as it should be). For that breakfast though John had the generously portioned eggs benedict with an obviously not store-bought hollandaise sauce. You could tell it was made with fresh egg and lemon.

Eggs Benedict @ Corelli's Newtown

To satisfy the need for sugar and fat though I couldn’t turn up the made-to-order Belgian waffles with strawberry and rhubarb compote, maple syrup and fresh cream. Good lord it hit the spot — then stomped around on it for a while. The waffles themselves were light and fluffy with just enough sugary-caramelised crispiness, balanced with the sweet and tart compote and the lusciousness of the cream. I think John’s arse clenched when he tasted some! Are you reading this John? :P

Waffles with Rhubarb and Strawberry Compote @ Corelli's Newtown

Scoozi - Big Breakfast

Roast Chicken and Winter Vegetable Fricassee

Pearl Barley and Mushroom Ham Soup

Pearl Barley and Mushroom Ham Soup
Serves 4-8 depending on how much stock you add

250g pearl barley
40g butter or 2T of olive oil
200g onion, diced
3 cloves garlic
2 sprigs rosemary
3 springs thyme
3 dried porcini mushrooms (or dried chinese mushrooms)
100g shiitake mushrooms
200g swiss brown mushrooms
2 large ham bones (optional)

Boil the barley and ham bones in 1½L of water for an hour. While that's on the go, chop everything else and fry the onion and garlic until it's translucent then add the rest. When the barley is soft take out the ham bones and chop off any left over meat. Add that and the mushrooms into the pot with the stock and bring it all back to the boil.

Season if needed and serve with some toasted sourdough.

Olivada Roast Chicken

Olivada Roast Chicken with Thyme Roast Vegetables - Serves 4-6

Olivada (can be made a day ahead)
1½ cups of kalamata olives
4 teaspoons of fresh chopped rosemary
2 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
½ teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil

Chicken
1½-2kg whole organic chicken
¼ cup of melted butter or olive oil
⅓ cup dry white wine
⅔ cup chicken stock

Vegetables
1kg of mixed roasting vegetables
2 tablespoons of olive oil
Salt and pepper
Fresh thyme

To make the olivada, pit the olives if they aren't already (press down on them with the back of a kitchen knife is easiest), toss them all in a blender and wizz until you've made a paste. Stir it halfway through if the bits are clinging to the side. If you're making this a day or two before, put in in an air-tight bowl and and keep in the fridge until ready. Let it come back to room temperature before cooking otherwise it will slow the chicken getting to a safe temperature making it dry out.

For the chicken, pre-heat your oven 200ºC. While the oven is heating rinse the chook under cool running water and dry it out with either paper towel, or a hairdryer (no, really). Once that's done place the chicken on your work surface with the neck facing you and gently slip your fingers under the skin on the breast side. Continue rummaging around the gap between the skin and flesh like you're looking for your keys under the couch until the skin is separated across the breasts, legs and most of the drumsticks. Take a small handful of the olivada and insert it in the gap made looking for your keys. Keep doing that until you've filled the gap or run out of olivada. Massage the chicken to spread the olives evenly.

If by the time your oven is up to temp and your chicken is room temperature, place it on the roasting rack in your roasting tin, brush it with the melted butter and roast until the chicken has reached a safe temp 85ºC which should take about an hour and a half. Otherwise let it warm up before roasting. Add the vegetables to the bottom of the tin about half way through.

When your chook is looking like a retiree from Miami, take it out and place the roasting rack and the vegetables on a chopping board or somewhere else to rest, cover with foil to keep them warm. Put the roasting tin on the stove across two burners on medium to low and add the wine and enough chicken stock to make 1, swirl it around and scrape off all the sticky bits on the bottom of the pan, simmer and reduce to about ⅔ of a cup.

Missed Train Croissant. Cold, unmleted cheese. Damn.

On the nights I was there the lounge was mostly quiet, perfect for a book and a gin and tonic and enjoying the open bar and evening canapés or the sweeter petit fours of an evening with a hot chocolate. Some company would have been nice too.

Sofitel Melbourne Club Lounge

Breakfast is a hybrid buffet and à la carte, having scrambled eggs, bacon fruit and cereal on the bar and a slightly changing menu of a 'big breakfast', eggs benedict etc. I'd highly recommend the ricotta hotcakes.

Pine Nut and Honey Ricotta Hotcakes @ Sofitel Club Lounge, Melbourne

Those of you who know me, and those of you that finish reading this sentence know that I love coffee. Most of you even know that I like *ahem* a drink or two. So when I hit the Atrium Bar at the Sofitel Melbourne the night I landed I started to relax, To understand the atmosphere in this bar you need to appreciate the layout of the Sofitel Melbourne. Even though the reception is based on the lower floors the hotel itself does not start until the 35th floor, perched on top of an office tower. This is where you'll find the Atrium Bar and it's skylight another 15 floors above.

Atrium Bar @ Sofitel Melbourne

I went through a couple of drinks, starting with a fig and scotch martini that was nice except I'm not the biggest fan of scotch - the figs almost made up for it. I ended up with heaven in a glass with an espresso martini. Goddamn it was good, heck, it even had crema thick and frothy enough to hold up whole beans... It wasn't like any of the other espresso martini's I've had before, this had a dash of frangelico in it I think.

I think I've found a reason to dust off my own martini glasses.

Espresso Martini - Sofitel Melbourne

Fast Tortellini Soup with Chared Sourdough

Fast Tortellini Soup with Chared Sourdough - Serves 2
500g Packet of Fresh Tortellini (I used veal)
1L Box of Ready Made Beef Consommé
1 Bunch of Broccolini
2 Slices of Sourdough
1 Garlic Clove

Put the consommé into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Meanwhile, heat a grill pan.

When the consommé is boiling, add the tortellini and return to the boil. Drizzle the grill pan with some olive oil and place the slices of sourdough on the grill pan. Leave until thick black lines are formed on the bread. Turnover and repeat for the opposite side. When you turn the bread over, rub the hot side of the bread with half of the garlic clove.

By the time this is done the pasta should be about ready. Break up the broccolini into bite sized pieces and toss in the consommé.

The other side of the bread should be ready by now so take it off, slice in half and serve two pieces per person. Divide the soup, tortellini and broccolini between each person and serve.

Optional: If you've got larger soup bowls and want to add an extra bit of style to this dish, place the slices of bread under a griller/broiler topped with cheese until it's golden and bubbly. Float in the bowl when serving.

Macro Café, King Street, Newtown

Unsurprising for the neighborhood, the post-hippie generation feminist matriarchal vegan families seem to be flocking to this place in numbers as large as the uni-students taking advantage of the free wireless internet. If you can at all avoid it while queuing to place your order (no table service), don't stand behind one of the aforementioned feminist vegan matriarchs placing her order especially if they're heavily pregnant. Instead of picking something off the menu board that meets their stringent dietary requirements they seem to instead rattle off all of their dietary restrictions and the reasons why to the poor waitress trying to find something they can eat. 10 minutes later she settled a garden salad with a hard boiled egg. Obviously she's not a real vegan. I bet she doesn't even pocket-mulch. If I wasn't afraid of loosing my seat I'd have tried to sneak into the kitchen and slip some bacon into her food.

As far as what I ate, I settled a simple ham and cheese croissant and a pot of byron chai. $4.50 for the chai I could understand, but I was a little concerned at the $9.50 for the croissant! If it wasn't for the fact that I'd already queued and there weren't many more options for breakfast in the direction my travels were taking me I'd have probably left and found something else. WIth a bit of a surprise I ended up being presented with a substantial croissant with either emmental or jarlsberg cheese, good quality ham. tomato and baby spinach. It really was a meal in itself. I did think it odd that the menu board didn't mention it. Now I understand why it cost so much.

Croissant from Macro Café

I tried to make croissants from scratch many moons ago and even though they tasted okay, they were a right pain in the arse and I vowed never to make one again. I might give it another go some time but no. Real hand made croissants can easily take a professional days to make, mine took four days and another two days to clean the kitchen! There are plenty of rumors as to the origin of croissants, including Polish bakers hearing the early morning tunneling of Turkish soldiers whom alerted the local authorities and ambushed the Turks. To honor the victory in the battle, the bakers supposedly made croissants in the shape of the crescent moon on the Turkish flag. All this in the 700's, nearly a thousand years before the earliest reference to puff pastry! They are more likely a French variation of a Viennese pastry. I'd still rather cross an armed Turkish soldier than cross the feminist vegan to ask her to hurry up and order.

Bitton Gourmet's Strawberry Vanilla Jam

Oh, and the muisic, The Tellers' More

Braised Beef Cheek from Grub & Tucker, Newtown

If you haven't had beef cheek but like lamb shanks, I'd suggest giving it a try. Like shanks, cheek is a very well used muscle group so it's hard and tough and needs long slow cooking to make it tender and even more than a shank, you get that wonderful gelatinous mouth feel that just means winter for any self respecting carnivore. This dish was served on a bed of potato purée, sliced green beans and broccoli, unfortunately the greens were a little over done and even with the flourish of fresh parsley over the top it still lacked both the freshness and the body you'd expect for a dish that's obviously meant to warm you from the inside. The beef cheek itself was excellent mind, but the jus lacked body, a handful of black peppercorns in the jus while it was simmering would have fixed it.

On the plus side, a walk down King Street on a Saturday night is really what this neighbourhood is all about. Instead of having to deal with drunks and drug addicts along Oxford Street, I found street performers and artists and a happy active crowd of onlookers enjoying the spectacle. Best of all, I met the group of artists that put together Oh Really Magazine, picked up a piece of their artwork (free with a donation!) and commissioned them to do some work for me. I love Newotwn.

Oh Really Pig

Fisher and Paykle 519L Fridge for Sale

I' like to say it was entirely due to the fact I was sick, but unfortunately, this is how I usually pack to move house, turning my kitchen draws upside down over a box, taping it up and dealing with the mess at the other end. Just watch out for the steak-knives!

Box of cutlery and utensils from my last house move

Baked Chicken Sausage and Roast Potato

Baked Chicken Sausage and Roast Potato
500g Chicken sausages
250g Baby (chat) potato, cut in half
250g Sweet potato, cut to the same size as the potato
Rosemary
Salt & pepper
Olive oil

Pre-heat your oven to 200ºC, place everything in a roasting pan, toss to coat.
Bake for 30 minutes.

Chorizo and Green Lentils

Chorizo and Lentils
1 Onion, diced
2 Chorizo, diced
4 Sticks of celery, diced
6 Sprigs of thyme
2 Cups of green lentils
1L of chicken stock
Salt and Pepper
2T of red wine vinegar (I subbed balsamic)


Fry the onion and chorizo together until the sausage is crispy on medium heat, around 8 minutes.
Add the celery, thyme, fry for another 5 minutes.
Add the lentils and stock and simmer for 25 minutes until the lentils are soft (mine took almost an hour).
Stir through the vinegar and serve. I had some toast with mine to soak up the juices.

Saying all that though, it was really quite tasty, even given my blocked nose from my cold. Perhaps the surprisingly good cheap bottle of wine helped? I picked up a bottle of Cono Sur Organic Cabernet Sauvignon direct from the Colchagua Valley in Chile. It was the smoothest Cab Sav I've had in years. Aged in French Oak it has fantastic cherry, strawberry raspberry and vanilla flavours and for $12 a bottle, how can you complain? I'm going to pick up another dozen bottles when I can.

Cono Sur Organic Cab Sav

Veal Tortellini and Meatballs

Wonton Noodle Soup - The Enternal Struggle

Sticky Hoisin Pork with Steamed Beans, Peas and Rice

Sticky Hoisin Pork with Steamed Beans, Peas and Rice
1T of Hoisin sauce
1T of Honey
1T of Soy sauce
450g Pork Loin
250g of Sugar snap peas
250g of Green beans
Rice to serve
Sesame seeds to garnish

Pre-heat your oven to 180℃
Mix the hoisin, soy and honey in a ziplock bag and place the pork loin inside and leave for 15 minutes.
Remove the pork and in a non-stick pan, fry the pork each side for 1-2 minutes. Pour the remaining marinade over the pork and turn to coat. Place the pan in the oven and bake for 15 minutes (the recipe said 15, I cooked mine for 12).
Once the pork is ready, remove and place on a chopping board and rest for 15 minutes.
Steam the beans and peas together.
Slice the pork diagonaly into disks and serve over on a bed of rice with the greens to the side. Drizzle the pan juices over the pork and sprinkle with the sesame seeds.

Whole garfish with ginger, chili and soy dressing

Deep Fried Whole Garfish with Chili, Ginger and Soy Dressing
4 Whole garfish, cleaned and gutted
Flour for dusting
Peanut oil for deep frying
1 Long red chili, sliced thinly
2 Spring onions, sliced thinly
¼C Coriander leaves
1 knob of ginger, grated finely
2T Dark soy
2T Light soy

Heat the peanut oil in a wok until the surface is shimmering
Dust the garfish in the flour and shake off the excess
Place the chili, spring onion, coriander and ginger in a heat proof bowl and pour over a spoonful of the hot oil and stir. Add the soy sauces and stir to combine.

Slip the garfish into the hot oil, two at a time and cook until the flesh is firm and white, about 3 minutes. Place the first two garfish on a plate with paper towel and cook the remaining two. Don't be tempted to cook all four at the same time because the oil will cool down too much and the flour coating won't go crispy.

Serve with the garfish draped over a mound of rice and the dressing spooned over.

Wonton Noodle Soup, Intercontinental Burswood

As for the main courses my sister-in-law and I both chose the fillet steak with prawns and wedges and my brother had the sirloin with roasted vegetables (all around $35). All of us, as with the soups were extremely impressed. The steaks were generous, all over 500g and the sirloin I’d suggest was pushing 750g and even with the ride up from the kitchen to our room they were perfectly cooked just how we’d ordered them and all butter soft.

Sirloin and Roast Vegetables, Intercontinental Burswood

The only thing I missed from the meal, not that we’d ordered it, was a bottle of water on the table; for an order this size it would have been a nice touch but I won’t fault them for not providing one. The one litre bottle of Evian in the mini-bar was $8.

The next morning I ordered the “Burswood Breakfast” from room service as the buffet breakfast wasn’t included in my rate. It was $35 and again I couldn’t find fault with it. My family had breakfast at the buffet and the report was they would have been more than happy with just what I’d received. A choice of eggs with a mountain of bacon, sausages and tomato, fruit platter, toast, several spreads a croissant and a Danish with juice and tea or coffee. Each morning I had it I could only get through half. If you’re a light eater, you could possibly split this with someone else if you ordered an extra pastry and juice. Some how, the poached eggs on my first morning were delivered perfectly cooked with soft runny yolks and the scrambled eggs on the second day were tender, rich and creamy while the bacon was a good mix of soft and crispy.

Burswood Breakfast, Intercontinental, Burswood

Next tim I head to Perth I’m going to have to stay again, hopefully with a little more forward planning I’ll be able to book a club room and check out their lounge.

Little Creatures, Fremantle

It was a beautiful sunny day so we went through a couple of false starts to try and secure an outside table, having much more success than most. The back area is large and set to have the feel of your mate’s back yard, complete with bocce pit taking up some valuable real estate. Full credit has to go to management for not trying to squeeze in an extra 100 people and ruining a great atmosphere.

Inside are two levels of seating that seem to be able to fit hundreds of people with the ground level split with a large bar at the front and the open planned kitchen at the back, including the wood fired pizza oven that probably didn’t help to cool the inside of the warmer than outside shed. It was cooler outside in the sun.

We didn’t want a huge meal, just something to tide us over until dinner so we just ordered a plate of prawn skewers (a little over cooked) and a spicy sausage pizza that left a satisfying lip tingle for 15 minutes after you’d eaten it. For a wood fired pizza, I was a little disappointed but I still went back for another slice. I am glad they showed restraint in the toppings department and didn’t overload any of the pizzas on the menu.

Prawn Skewers @ Little Creatures, Fremantle

Spicy Sausage Pizza @ Little Creatures, Fremantle

We only had the pale ale to drink here and it was as nice as ever, and one of the better pale ales around. I saw the cider on the menu when we first sat down inside but completely forgot about it by the time we’d moved seats twice to try and get outside.

It was really nice sitting outside watching the well-behaved toddlers run around, a group of friends play a round of bocce and others clamber over the small stage that’s occasionally used for live bands so I’m glad we did shuffle around to get out there. The wait-staff were friendly and mostly professional. The best evidence of this was how the waiter and subsequently management dealt with a woman we’d pointed out to them who probably chose the wrong seat and should have waited to get an outside seat too…

Dignity. She Needs It


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Maggie Beer's Passionfruit Ice Cream

The flight home was a long red-eye on the lower deck with considerably less leg room. The food was better but not by much. The cabin lights were ambient, so the picture is sort of funky. James Morrison was sitting a few rows in-front of me.

Business Class Supper on Qantas Under Ambient Light

Smoked Bunny Sausage Gratin with Organic Cannellini Beans and Wantirna Estate Amelia Cab Sav Merlot

Smoked Bunny Sausage Gratin with Organic Cannellini Beans - Serves 2
2 Smoked Bunny Sausages
1 Onion, sliced thinly (about a cup)
1 Fennel Bulb, sliced thinly (about a cup)
1 Capsicum, sliced thinly (about a cup)
400g tin Cannellini Beans
1 teaspoon of dried Oregano
1 teaspoon of dried Parsley
2 Tomatoes, diced (I used halved grape tomatoes instead)
½ cup of Chicken Stock
½ cup of Bread Crumbs
½ cup of Grated Parmesan


Fry the sausages in a little oil until cooked through

In the same pan, fry the onion and fennel until the onion is translucent. Take half of the beans and their liquid from their tin and blend to a puree; add this to the pan and stir through. Add the remaining vegetables, chicken stock and herbs and beans; cover and simmer for 5 minutes.


Slice the sausages thinly and add mix through the vegetables. Spoon the mix evenly between two bowles or ramekins and top with the breadcrumbs and cheese.

Heat a grill or broiler to medium and place each bowl under the grill and cook until the cheese has melted or the bread crumbs are golden.

Steaming Hot Prawn Curry

Prawn Curry - Serves 4
1 teaspoon of Celery Seeds
1 teaspoon of whole Allspice
1 teaspoon of Cumin Seeds
1 teaspoon of dry Curry Powder
1 Red Chilli, finely diced
2 Garlic Cloves, finely diced
1 Onion, sliced
2 Tablespoons of Tomato Paste
2 Tomatoes, diced
Assorted Vegetables (I used carrot, golden squash and broccoli)
300mL of Sour Cream
500g of Green Prawns
Basmati Rice
Lime Wedge (optional)


Dry roast the spices in a large frying pan or wok until fragrant then grind in a mortar and pestle.

In the same frying pan, add a dash of oil and fry off the chili, garlic and onion until the onion is translucent. Add the spices and fry for a few minutes until you can smell them clearly. Add the tomato paste, vegetables and sour cream and simmer until the vegetables are soft.

Add the prawns and cook until pink but still tender.

Serve over basmati rice with a lime wedge on the side.

Hazelnut and Apple Cake with Chocolate Ganache

This isn't any ordinary cake, it's more of a dacquoise which is a meringue or cream with ground nuts mixed in. Today I used Hazelnuts left over from the torte I made a few weeks ago. The tricky things with this cake is the air bubbles from the beaten eggs is what gives this cake its light and delicate structure, and probably explains why mine sunk a little in the middle and broke apart as it cooled. Chocolate to the rescue to cover those bits up though!

Apple and Hazelnut and Brown Butter Cake

1 Cup of Hazelnuts
3 Apples
250g Unsalted Butter
1 Vanilla Bean
1⅓ Cups of Icing Sugar
⅓ Cups of Flour
5 Egg Whites
3 Tablespoons of Castor Sugar
100 grams Dark Chocolate
⅓ Cup of Thickened Cream

Pre-heat the oven to 170°C

Place the hazelnuts on a baking tray and bake for 15 minutes. When done wrap them in a tea-towel and let them steam until cool. Rub them in the towel to remove all of the skins.

Line the bottom of a 10" cake tin with baking paper and butter the edges. Slice the apples thinly and layer evenly on the bottom of the cake tin.

Place the butter and seeds from the vanilla bean in a saucepan and melt together, stirring often until the butter has browned.

Grind the hazelnuts and icing sugar together until the nuts are fine, mix with the flour and set aside.

In a stand mixer, whisk together the egg whites and castor sugar until stiff-peaks are formed in the egg whites. Alternating between the nut mixture and the butter in thirds, combine with the egg whites. Pour the final mixture over the apples in the cake tin and bake in the oven for 40 minutes.

Let the cake cool completely and turn out, upside down on the platter you're going to serve it on so the apples are on top.

While the cake is cooling, over a double boiler melt the chocolate and then whisk in the cream. Pour the ganache over the cake and spread evenly. Allow to cool and set.

Update: Actually, after typing out the recipe, I think I forgot to add the flour! It still looks and tastes okay but it would add to the reason the cake was so delicate.

Café Newtown, Newtown


As for the coffee and food though, it was great. The coffee was a little off but I think that was just the blend, it was a bit too dark for my liking but I still drank it and enjoyed it. Mel had the Eggs Benedict with a side order of baked beans that was so big she struggled to finish it which is great considering most eggs benedict is just an english muffin and not much else. The big breakfast I ordered was big and it had everything you'd want, except baked beans but I didn't miss them; I only got through two thirds of mine. With the very generous serves and low costs (my big breakfast just crossed over the $15 mark) it's great value.


Eggs Benedict @ Café Newtown


Big Breakfast @ Café Newtown

Food, 9/10 - Very generous serves of well cooked food
Coffee, 6/10 - Darker roast than I'd have liked but still good
Service, 7/10 - We didn't have a problem with it but other tables struggled to get their food
Value, 8/10 - Pretty darn good for what you get
Location, 7/10 - Very convenient location across from Newtown Station

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Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall 's Tomato Ketchup

Hot Guy and the Dykes on Bikes



Marching Boys - Mardi Gras '08

For the balls, who else could I turn to except Jamie Oliver? I took his spiced doughnut recipe and to simplify things I made doughnut balls instead of the traditional shape. I was pretty happy the way they turned out, very light and puffed into almost perfect spheres when they fried. It took a little bit of time and effort but they were great. The dough was so soft and silky it was a pleasure to work with, particularly because I was worried that it'd even turn out. I don't usually have any milk in my house and I forgot to get some at the store so I took a gamble and watered down some plain yoghurt. It seemed to do the trick.

Doughnut Balls

As for the meat I stopped at Hudson Meats and picked up some moroccan lamb burgers, american bbq ribs and some honey soy chicken drummetts. I hope I didn't smoke out my neighbors too much. There were a few other people having bbq's so I don't think it really mattered.

Moroccan Lamb Burger

Then there was the tart, a very simple tomato and cheese tart using ready made puff pastry. It took all of 5 minutes prep time and 12 minutes to cook. Using two sheets of puff pastry, I used one as a base and cut thumb width strips from a second one and used those as an edge, two layers worked just about right. Once the sides were built up I grated in some mozzarella and parmesan, layered with sliced tomato and seasoned with salt, pepper and a bit of dried oregano. Popped in the oven for 12 minutes and it was done. I think it tasted better when it was cold and looked like it'd have held up well for a picnic.

Tomato and Mozarella Tart

Dominos Seven Meats Pizza

Bowl of Angena Plums

Plum and Hazelnut Torte - Serves 8 or more
700g of Plums, quartered and pitted
1 Cup of Sugar
¾ Cup of Hazelnuts
1¼ Cup of Flour
¼ teaspoon of Salt
1½ teaspoons of Baking Powder
½ teaspoon of Allspice
¾ Cups of Butter
3 large Eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla

Preheat your oven to 175°C. Butter and flour a 9" spring form cake tin.

Quarter and pit plums. Coarsely chop half of plums and in a bowl toss with 2 tablespoons sugar. In another bowl combine remaining plums with 2 tablespoons sugar. The chopped plums will go into the batter, and the quartered plums will decorate the top. On a baking sheet in middle of oven lightly toast hazelnuts until fragrant and insides are golden, 10 to 15 minutes. Put all of the nuts into a clean tea-towel and rub them together to remove the burnt loose papery skins and when cool, grind them in a food processor until fine.

In a bowl whisk together hazelnuts, flour, baking powder, salt, and allspice. In a bowl with an electric mixer beat butter and remaining ¾ cup sugar until light and fluffy, the colour will change to a very pale yellow. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition, and beat in vanilla and flour mixture until batter is just combined. Note, add the flour to the batter, and not the other way around.

Drain chopped plums in a sieve, pressing on fruit, and pat dry with paper towels. Stir plums into batter and spread evenly in pan.

Drain quartered plums in sieve, pressing on fruit, and arrange, skin sides up, over batter. Bake torte in middle of oven 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until golden brown and a tester comes out clean. Cool torte in pan on a rack 30 minutes. Remove side of pan and cool completely.

Curry Dusted Scallops with Baby Pea Puree - Serves 2
300g frozen baby peas
2 spring onions, sliced finely
Knob of butter
Squeeze of fresh lime juice
8 Sea Scallops without roe
2 teaspoons of curry powder
Salt & pepper to taste

Boil the peas in some lightly salted water until done and drain of almost all of the water. Add the spring onions, butter, salt and pepper and whiz in a blender or with a stick mixer until a rough puree is formed, taste and add lime juice enough to give the mix a slight sharp and fresh taste.

Mix the curry powder and salt together on a plate and roll all of the scallops in the mix until they're evenly coated and fry off in a hot pan with butter for 1 minute on each side.

Plate with a few spoonfuls of the pea puree on a plate, topped with the beetroot salad and finally the scallops.

Serve with a dry white wine such as the 2007 Vasse Felix Classic Dry White from the Margaret River I had. It's a very nice light white wine with a subtle passionfruit flavour.

The thing that, as always, makes it for me is the demeanor of the staff, if it's not service with a smile, it's not service. Sure, may be it had more to do with the beautiful day or the incredible shirtless scenery walking past every 3 seconds (which in all honesty is why I went to Manly instead of Newtown) than it did with me but who cares, it makes a difference. These people smiled and they genuinely seemed happy to take my order. Which brings us to the menu. Manly grill prides it self on the two things that any restaurant in this sort of location should, it's seafood and it's beef. While it was the perfect day for seafood such as their enormous $120 seafood platter which is well worth the money from what I could see around me. It would serve 2 Americans, or 4 normal people. I opted for a plain and simple cheeseburger, served with shoestring fries and homemade coleslaw.

What I got though was far from a standard cheeseburger, it was simple, just the basics, but that's what you want from a cheeseburger. The beef on this thing was fantastic. 200 day grain fed Black Angus from the Southern Highlands. No wonder it tasted good. There was a little surpise with the buns too, they were char grilled like the burger, the underside had thick and dark scorched lines which gave a much appreciated smokey flavour that, I'm guessing, came from a charcoal grill given the unique taste. As for the sides, the fries were expertly cooked, pale yet hot and crispy. No sign of McCain, and the coleslaw was very high quality if a little limp from being under a heat lamp a fraction too long (or the 30°C sunshine).

This is a good quality restaurant, in a top location, so do expect to pay for what you get, unlike some other restaurants on this strip. For my burger, two pepsi max and a bottle of perrier, the bill came to a fraction over $35.00

Food, 8/10 - I'd have liked a small salad in place of the large quantity of fries, otherwise, it was extraordinary
Service, 8.5/10 - Always a smile, always attentive and efficient
Value, 8/10 - Perhaps a touch over priced for a cheeseburger
Location, 8.5/10 - Hard to beat in Manly

I used a broken up Illy coffee pod, maldon sea salt, cinnamon, black pepper, mustard seeds, coriander seeds and dried oregano. After I ground the spices I drizzled the steak in olive oil and coated it with the spices and grilled until medium rare. I tossed together a quick garden salad with an olive oil and whole grain mustard.

On the side I had a Monteith's Summer Ale, from New Zealand, which is a quite nice summer ale that's got a lovely ginger kick to it which in turn leaves a nice warmth on the palate. The bottle suggests a wedge of lime that gives it a little bit heavier than a Corona mouthfeel and taste, but it also suggests an orange segment. Damn I wish I had an orange to try this with. All round, a great beer that's something different from the rest and well worth a try.

Sofitel Looking from Post Office Square and across Anzac Square

By no means was Michelle from the front desk the only pleasant and friendly staff member at the Sofitel. The staff in the club lounge were excellent, happy and cheerful and even remembered Miles and I when we came back over a month after our first visit. Heck, they even smiled while they cleaned up the plate of scrambled eggs Miles dropped on the floor half asleep one morning. Speaking of the scrambled eggs, the club lounge breakfasts are quite nice in their own right; they have all of the basics, but then, only the basics. Fronting up for breakfast are scrabbled eggs, mushrooms & bacon in the bain-marie and a good selection of fruit, yoghurt, and a few cereals and juices and some pastries; plus champagne on weekends. I’d liked to have seen more but I’m happy with what they provided. I guess if they did have more no one with access to the club lounge would fork out the $30 for the “interactive” breakfast at Thyme² which had everything from eggs benedict to custom made omelettes.

Club Lounge Breakfast at the Sofitel Brisbane

Evening drinks and canapés at the club lounge were much better than the breakfasts, a good selection of cold items, sushi, an antipasti platter, petit fours and some warm items ranging from samosas, spring rolls, curry puffs etc (two different hot items per night, cold items are the same). The hot food again wasn’t anything extraordinary, all from a packet, but I guess the fact that there were free wines, beers and spirits made up for it considering the prices at the Cuvee Bar downstairs. The view on dusk can't be beat too! The club lounge is a perfect way to start an evening and I would highly recommend a visit here.

Lower Level of the Club Lounge


Upper Level of the Club Lounge

As for the $6 million dollar upgrade of the hotel recently; the lobby, restaurant and bar as well as the club lounge were extensively upgraded and a quite nice with clean lines and lots of natural materials, the rooms though need some improvement. Sofitel has a concept called “myBed” which is meant to provide a night sleep that will change your life forever, apparently. I understand what they’re trying to achieve, most beds in Australia have hard and overly firm mattresses, but really what you need is a fairly soft mattress that will conform to your body and support it, the bed I have at home is like that and it’s like sleeping in a warm hug. What I got out of the beds here were sore necks and shoulders and the feeling that all of the mattresses were worn out, less like a hug and more like a school camp.

The corner suite we stayed in on the first visit seemed quite tired despite the new furnishings while the club room I stayed in the second time suffered less; though it could have used thicker walls. The couple in the room next to us seemed to enjoy their room quit a lot. They enjoyed it at 3:00am, again at 3:30, 8:30 and 9. They enjoyed it so much that the bottle of water on MY bedside table fell off.

On the whole I’m disappointed with the Sofitel Brisbane, particularly because the few times I’ve stayed in their Melbourne and Sydney counterparts I’ve never had a problem, the beds were huge and comfortable, the staff were excellent and the food was great and well priced. The Sofitel Brisbane is definitely the poor cousin to their bigger city family. When I head north again in a couple of weeks I think I’ll try the Hilton but I’m worried that like the Sofitel, it’s going to be suffering from it’s hurried Expo ’88 construction and lack of a through refurbishment since. I really am worried that the Sofitel Brisbane may still well be the best on offer. If the Hilton doesn’t prove any better Miles is going to have to start coming down here instead. I’ve got a more comfortable bed, a quieter room and better food at home.

My flight out, QF548, after boarding at least (the attendant that was relegated to Y Class was quite rude) was splendid under the Cabin Manager I flew with, Julianne. This is the second or third time I've had the privilege of flying with her and I hope I'll be able to again. Service in the business cabin was smooth, efficient and personable, as I'd mentioned before - the simple things of being called by name are the things that really make the difference between service and quality that despite it's industry reputation, factions of Qantas flight crew are actually striving to achieve.

As for the meal, my seat buddy Corey and I we were served a reasonable beef in oyster sauce with jasmine rice and a 'salad'. I say 'salad' because it only just qualified as one. In my opinion a salad needs two ingredients and this only had two different types of lettuce. The spicy asian vinaigrette from Neil Perry that went with it was wonderful, I even put some on the beef because the sauce that had was quite plain. I was actually surprised with the bread roll, it was incredibly soft. I guess Qantas realised they shouldn't arm 200+ passengers with their previous hard as a brick projectiles. The wine was quite nice too - a 2004 Penfolds Shiraz with a deep cherry note.

Roasted Corn and Edamame Salad - Serves 2 as a main, 4 as a side
2 ears fresh corn, unhusked, or 1¼ cups cooked corn kernels
½ cup shelled edamame
¼ cup chopped red onion
¼ cup small-diced red bell pepper (capsicum)
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh cilantro (coriander)
1 tablespoon light mayonnaise
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1½ teaspoons finely chopped or grated ginger
⅛ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Soak fresh corn in cold water about 30 minutes.
Heat grill on high. Grill corn in husk, 10 to 15 minutes, turning once.
Let cool. Remove husks. Cut corn from cob into a bowl; combine with remaining ingredients.
Cover and chill in refrigerator until ready to serve.

via: Epicurious - Roasted Corn and Edamame Salad

Steak Tartar - Serves 2
300g beef sirloin, chilled
1 tablespoons of capers, rinsed and drained
2 shallots, finely chopped
2 tablespoons of flat leaf parsley, chopped
1 tablespoons of olive oil
3 cornishons, diced
3 dashes of tabasco sauce
½ teaspoon of sea salt
1 teaspoon of ground black pepper
2 egg yolks
Pommes frites (french fries) on the side

Trim the meat of all fat and sinew and chop finely, don't use a processor. Put all of the ingredients except the eggs into a bowl and mix together. Shape the meat on the plate and make an indent in the middle for the egg yolk

I didn't measure anything tonight because I really couldn't be bothered but to be I think I'd need to add more cumin next time. Looking back, I think I played it safe with the cumin and added 1tsp instead of 2. It needs 2. I think a whole butterflied chicken in this marinade would be sensational, but as Nigella said, to make everything faster for her 'Express' book. As far as roasting the drumsticks go, I think I piled them too closely on the oven tray so they didn't get evenly browned, I should have turned them or out them on a rack to keep them out of the juice collecting in the tray.

Nigella meant for this to be eaten cold at a bbq, picnic or something like that and having them for lunch cold the next day was great, but hot for dinner, they were good too.

We found our table at 'Northern Bites' on Manly's South Styne beachfront by walking past a row of cafes and went to the one that smelt the nicest, I think we smelt some french toast. I wish one of us had ordered it but cést la vie. I hate to start a review so poorly, but there were so very few good things to say about our experience here, what was good had more to do with the scenery walking past to and from the surf carnival that was on that day. It took 20 minutes for someone to take our order and another 20 more minutes for my coffee to arrive which I'd finished by the time my food did and Mel's meal didn't arrive until after I'd finished eating mine. Appalling.

Of my big breakfast, everything was cold, except the baked beans (cutely serviced in an espresso cup), and some how, even though the food had been cold, the butter hadn't warmed up from being taken out of the fridge. The hash brown was from a packet and so was the bread. It's very disappointing because it still cost in the order of $17 when the cafés on the same block had similar meals with potato rosti, organic sourdough and organic lamb sausages... There really wasn't anything to say that stood out from that meal, I stopped eating half way through. Heck, they even just served slices of tomato instead of the grilled tomato everywhere else does.

Saturday morning breakfasts are meant to be a casual affair, but if it was any more casual I'd still be waiting. Again, I'm sorry to sound so negative about it, but the excuse were given about why Mel's eggs benedict being an hour was because the guy they went to Coles to *BUY* the hollandaise sauce hadn't come back yet. What cafe BUYS hollandaise sauce, and then admits it to their customers? Even though I got mine faster 15 minutes before Mel, my food was only just warm, to the point that the fat had started to congeal.

Food, 3/10 - their big breakfast had everything you'd expect, but the lowest quality possible
Service, 2/10 - only because two of the waiters were good looking, and one of them very obviously wasn't wearing underwear
Coffee, 5/10 - it arrived 20 minutes after I ordered but it was hot and good quality
Value, 1/10 - I'd only give a zero if they took my money and didn't feed me
Location, 8/10 - nothing you couldn't have gotten from anywhere else on the street

It's only saving grace was the coffee and location, but I am sure any other cafe on the beachfront in Manly could do better

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It has to be said that these are very different fighters, they have their own unique sensibilities and style and the battle will be tough but with out further a due, here’s the fight!

The Winner: Stephanie Alexander’s The Cook’s Companion

TCC is the first cookbook you should buy. It might be intimidating with out pictures, but with all honesty it will give the foundation a potential cook should have and the solid backup an experienced cook can fall back on. Maggie’s Harvest however, is as I said earlier, a different contender. It’s not trying to be the encyclopedia that The Cook’s Companion is, but at the same time, the books compliment each other very well. There is little overlap, except where required as a fundamental for more complicated recipes where someone may not have acquired TCC first. Maggie’s recipes are well written and clear so any cook with a modicum of confidence should be able to manage. Stephanie’s can be a bit more technical, but those recipes are balanced with the simple ones people can attempt first to build their confidence.

As I said, the range is small, four flavours. Vanilla and Elderflower being the most pedestrian. What makes this special is the use of real vanilla, when you open the tub your confronted with a pastel orange with millions of flecks of real vanilla that run through the entire tub. For those of you that haven't had elderflower before, it's got a slight floral/orange taste. The berries from the same bush are actually used for sambucca, but that's mixed with anise so they have a very different flavour from each other. Personally I prefer bergamot to elderflower, but that's just me. No judgement on Maggie because this is still a nice variation on vanilla. I'd go with Maggie's serving suggestion and throw a dash of liqueur or an espresso.

Next off the bat is the passionfruit. It's made with real passionfruit (16%) so there is none of that sickly artificial flavour that comes with some passionfruit ice cream. It delivers what it promises, a clean refreshing and somehow honest passionfruit flavour, although that's let down by the lack of crunch from black passionfruit pips you'd otherwise expect from a real passionfruit. Your call if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Again, as Maggie suggests, a pavlova with fresh passionfruit pulp would be ideal.

Then, you have the real adult flavours. I wouldn't suggest serving these to the kids. For those that have even a single cookbook by Maggie Beer you will know she has a few obsessions. Pheasants, verjuice and quinces. Her quince and bitter almond ice cream is great but it needs a counterpoint. To me it had an odd chemical taste to it, nothing like her quince paste. In fact, I think it's the almonds that let it down. Anyone that's had processed almond milk will know what I mean. Quince works well with fresh, roasted and honey almonds, but I'd describe it more as "Quince & Unripe Almond" if anything. Try it though, it'd work well with something to counter balance the almonds. Maggie suggests Amaretto and chocolate to compliment the quince but I'd try a glass of Muscat to contrast the almond, I really think it needs it.

Last but not least has to be the crowing glory of her range - Burnt Fig Jam with Honeycomb & Caramel. Heaven. I really don't have to say anything else here I don't think. Unless you want one of the others to match something else in a meal I'd just get this one. It's got everything going for it except pheasant and verjuice.

A list of stockists can be found at Maggie's website

After a little practice cooking with charcoal, you can turn out some excellent meals. I've made everything from simple burgers, bbq prawns, a leg of lamb and even a few pizzas (with a pizza stone sitting on the grill bars). There aren't many downsides to this gorgeous piece of equipment, but there are some to keep in mind. It comes in two sizes, of course I got the large one, but it feels a little bit of overkill when I'm only cooking for 1-2 people, sometimes even 3 seems a little much depending what's on the menu. At the same time, with a few friends over, the smaller one would have made cooking something like the leg of lamb almost impossible. I'd still recommend going for the larger one. The only other draw back has to be said. The price. The basic grill is AUD$2300, and that just includes the grill and the lid. Everything else is an expensive optional extra, expensive even in the context of already having paid $2.3k for it. Heck, the dome lid alone is nearly $400. I'm sure you can get it much cheaper in the US or Europe, closer to the manufacturer and with a larger market. With the optional accessories, and not including the matching bbq utensils, you're looking at an investment of over $3000... The utensils will add about another $400.

Since the average bbq's life span is 5 years and this one is expected to literally last a life time, the cost per year, even over just 20 years is only $150 which starts to look more realistic.



If you're looking for a bit of the Eva Solo style with out that price tag you might want to think about the table top grill. It's made with white porceline and stainless steel inserts. For the times when I'm cooking for 1-2 or just need that bbq flavour on something, I think I might just get that too! :)

Given I was making this for dinner, and that I don't own any ramekins, I made a fairly large one and it was just about the right size for a meal in itself, for a start her suggestion 1 egg per person would have been perfect. Come to think of it now, it would have been nifty in my espresso cups with some steamed asparagus.

Noodle Soup for Needy People - Serves 2
(note, this is what I made, not quite Nigella's)

175g of Soba Noodles (she used udon)
750mL of Chicken Stock (I used the stock I made from the roast chicken over the weekend)
1t Soft Brown Sugar
1 Star Anise
1t Crushed Ginger
2T Soy
75g Bean Sprouts
750g Sugar Snap Peas
75g Sliced Shiitake Mushrooms
Sliced Spring Onions to Garnish (she used coriander)

Add any other vegetables or ingredients you like, I added some carrot and some store bought fish cakes I found next to the noodles at the supermarket.

Cook the noodles to packet instructions, set aside in serving bowls. Bring the stock, sugar, anise, ginger and soy to a boil then add the remaining ingredients except the garnish. Spoon the vegetables over the noodles and top up with liquid.