eatshowandtell

Daring Cooks, Risotto

minh — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 13:00:53 +0000

The 2010 March Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Eleanor of MelbournefoodGeek and Jess of Jessthebaker. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make risotto. The various components of their challenge recipe are based on input from the Australian Masterchef cookbook and the cookbook Moorish by Greg Malouf.

I’ll be honest I don’t really get the appeal of Risotto, it’s one of the items on a menu that I never order (squishies on the other hand zeroes in on Risotto like there’s no tomorrow). So upon hearing that Risotto was this month’s challenge I wasn’t overly enthusiastic about it all and spent a good few days racking my brain to try find a way to challenge myself. Linda and Howie’s latest posts about Japan have gotten me back into a Japanese mood and I decided to incorporate this into this month’s challenge.

I present, Dashi Risotto with Assorted Asian Mushrooms topped with Seared Scallop and Inoki.

The Risotto itself

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Restaurant Balzac, Randwick

squishies — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:00:20 +0000

“Can you close your eyes?” F implored as he started to drive off to the mystery restaurant he booked for our anniversary. Last time I closed my eyes while on our way to a mystery restaurant, I got car sick. I sighed and told him I was going to go to sleep then if that’s how things were going to be.

In continuing the surprise, I kept my eyes on the pavement and didn’t look up even as we entered the restaurant. F told me later that he was silently urging me to look up when we were greeted, as the maitre d’ anxiously flicked his eyes between us, his face betraying the thought that we were fighting and I was in trouble. Hah. Telepathy fail.

When we were seated, F asked if I knew where I was and triumphantly I said, “Of course! We’re at Balzac!” I was rather pleased and smug with my powers of deduction, only to be slightly deflated when he scoffed, “It took you long enough to work it out.” Bah.

Wagyu Bresaola

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Megalong Tea Rooms, Blue Mountains

Howard — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:19:00 +0000

It’s good to get out of the house now and then. My day job requires me to sit in front of a monitor for 8 to 10 hours a day, sometimes even more. When I get home, I’ll have dinner, usually in front of the tv and then I’ll ‘relax’ in front of my laptop reading blogs and catching up on the latest news. For me, gone are the days of actually watching the news on TV, or reading a magazine to find out what the latest gadgets are because by the time it hits the magazines it is yesterdays news.

I needed a weekend out of the house, and not just on the soccer field. After a few days of emails, we decided to go for a bushwalk in the Blue Mountains. It was 29 degrees and hot in Sydney, but 20 degrees and raining in the Blue Mountains. Factor in humidity, wet surfaces and leeches, some of us wished we had stayed back at home.

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Fat Noodle Launch, Star City, Pyrmont

minh — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 07:15:15 +0000

There’s something which is so decadently appealing about casinos, it’s been a while since I’ve set foot in Star City Casino (appropriately not since my 7 Sins lunch at Sean’s Kitchen). Stepping inside the main doors we’re greeted by beautiful women in Chinese dresses, all set to the accompanying jangle of the slot machines. I think we’re in the right place for the launch of Fat Noodle.

Luke Nguyen is the consulting chef behind Fat Noodle, he is of course the chef behind the ever popular Red Lantern restaurant in Surry Hills as well as the series, Luke Nguyen’s Vietnam which recently aired on SBS. I’ll admit that I’ve kept an eye on this chef, a first generation Vietnamese Australian I’m proud to see a follow Vietnamese person go well and bought the Red Lantern cookbook last year wanting to get a little more in touch with the type of food I ate growing up.

Chefs confirming orders at the Open Kitchen

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Bilson’s Restaurant, Sydney

squishies — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 22:11:34 +0000

As you may recall in my previous post, F was super bored and picked out 3 restaurants to visit so as to make full use of my Entertainment Card. This was the second restaurant on his list.

We were given what seemed to be A3-sized menus (they were huge!) and spent some time trying to decide which set to order. There was the Fine Gueule 3-course set for $120 where you get to select each course from quite a few dishes, or there was the Fin Bec 7-course degustation set for $135… or the Fine Bouche 10-course degustation set for $165. We thought the Fin Bec degustation would be enough to showcase what Bilson’s have to offer (and would be more financially sensible), but we couldn’t resist the extra dishes in the Fine Bouche degustation. Well, to be honest, I think the fact scallops featured in the set kind of cinched it for us. We’re so terrible.

Amuse Bouche - Blue Swimmer Crab, Grape, Verjus Jelly, Almond Cream

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Post tags: beef, Dessert, poultry, Seafood