Ooh, Look...

Bacon and potato patty fritters

2012-01-24T06:00:00.003+11:00

I often wonder how cafés decide on their menus – do they copy what other popular cafés serve, or maybe they focus on what their chef’s specialties are? Problem is, when the chef departs, does the new chef have to keep making the same things? Not sure why I’m wondering about something like this, it’s not like I'll be opening a café or anything.

It does lead me to ponder: why do I usually order fritters if they are on a café menu? There is a local café here (All About Romanas) that serves some amazing corn fritters with a sweet tomato salsa. Mmm, mmm! The corn fritters at bill’s in Surry Hills are also pretty great. Give me a good fritter and I’m happy.

Looking back through some of these blog posts, it’s clear I’ve become a bit of a fritter freak. Well, they are pretty easy to make, and fritters (or patties, if you prefer), do have that hearty homemade vibe about them. They’re also ideal for lunch the next day, if there are any leftovers. Here’s a recipe for bacon and potato fritters/patties because I couldn’t find a corn fritter one.

Maybe I should rename this blog "Ooh, Look... Fritters!". Because fritters are becoming the love of my life.

~ Fritter Gal, out.

Bacon and potato fritters
Serves 4

Ingredients
100g bacon, chopped
500g (1 lb) desiree potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 tblsp wholegrain mustard
1/3 cup fresh breadcrumbs
2 tblsp chopped chives
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tblsp plain flour
Rice bran oil or sunflower oil, to shallow-fry

Method
1. Place a frypan over medium-high heat. Add the bacon and cook, stirring, until golden but not too crisp. Drain on paper towel.
2. Cook the potatoes by placing the potatoes in a saucepan of cold water with a little salt added. Bring to the boil and cook until tender, about 12-15 minutes. Drain and cool.
3. Transfer the potato to a bowl and roughly mash. Add the mustard, breadcrumbs, chives and beaten egg. Season with salt and pepper. Mix well to combine. Fold in the bacon pieces.
4. Use damp hands to shape the potato mixture into patties about 2cm (1½“”) thick. Dust lightly with flour.
5. Heat about 1cm (½“)of the oil in a large frypan over medium heat. Cook the patties for about 3-4 minutes on each side, or until golden. Drain on paper towel. Serve with salad and lemon wedges to squeeze over.

recipe adapted from delicious (dec 2011/jan 2012)

Simple: peel the potatoes, mash the potatoes (add mustard and egg), form the potatoes into patties, shallow-fry the patties

Serve the fritters/patties with some greenery and lemon. And maybe a little mayonnaise.

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Here's the latest Tabitha vs Henry installment.

*Cue Jaws music*

Henry's sneaky approach resulted him being hissed at by Tabitha.

Only a pane of laminated glass prevented an all-out cat fight from developing.

A nice, better butter rice

2012-01-18T13:00:00.000+11:00

I've been noticing recently how many people/bloggers are making up their own recipes. I think this is incredibly clever, since I'm the type of home cook who has to follow a recipe to the letter - for a several times at least - before I even think of tweaking it slightly. Most substitutions I make are if I don't have an ingredient on hand or when leaving it out won't really make a difference.

Most of the recipes I post here are photogenic if nothing else. And most of them have been tried more than once before appearing. There's no reasoning behind this, except that the first attempt is usually too pathetic to write about or even photograph!

But here's an exception - this Butter Rice turned out perfectly the first time. It's similar to this easy Kedgeree recipe in that you cook the rice in some stock and let it stand for a bit before eating. This makes the rice more tender because it 'cooks' a bit longer off the heat. I'm hoping this winning dish will be the start of a wonderful run of luck in the kitchen for me *fingers crossed*

Butter rice

Serves 4 as a side dish

Ingredients

20g butter

1 tsp crushed garlic

1 tsp crushed ginger

1 cup jasmine rice, rinsed

2 dried bay leaves

2 cups chicken stock

¼ cup frozen peas

2 tblsp fried shallots

Method

1. Melt the butter in a heavy-based saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and ginger and cook, stirring, for 1 minute or until fragrant.

2. Add rice, bay leaves and chicken stock. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes until the liquid is absorbed.
3. Gently stir through the peas and remove from the heat. Cover and set aside for 10 minutes.
4. Remove bay leaves and serve the rice in bowls, sprinkled with fried shallots.

Recipe adapted from Super Food Ideas

Ingredients, including rice, bay leaves, lots of butter, chicken stock, garlic, ginger and fried shallots/onions.

This rice turned out surprisingly fluffy considering it's made in a saucepan rather than a rice cooker.
It's also incredibly tasty (that's all the butter in it), and would make a good side dish in a banquet.

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And for the cat that has everything - except a decent food bowl because her owner broke her previous one last year and hasn't been able to find a nice one until now:

It's also a consolation prize for having to put up with evil Henry.

This adorable bowl is from Ruche, where you can pick up vintage-y dresses and handbags as well as pet accessories. Sweet!

Chicken chorizo salad

2012-01-13T07:00:00.001+11:00

I was reading The Guardian's review (here) of Bill Granger's new London restaurant, and there was some snarky feedback about the fact that Bill is not really a 'chef', but rather, a savvy cafe operator and arranger of food (in that case, I'd like to hear their comments on Donna Hay...) But is there anything wrong with simple, fresh food served in pleasant surroundings? No, nothing wrong at all.

And here's another non-chef - Nigella Lawson. The lack of cheffing skills certainly hasn't hurt her reputation, either. Regardless of the number of fancy cookbooks I own (heaps), it's always the ones that are not too complex that I end up cooking from, and Nigella's are at the top of the pile (together with DH and BG). The throwing-together of ingredients for this chicken and chorizo salad was inspired by something on the Nigella Kitchen tv show. I substituted croutons for the original potato to make it even easier. It's tasty and quick and I love it.

Chicken and Chorizo Salad

Serves 2

Ingredients

4 small chicken thigh fillets, trimmed of fat

1 chorizo sausage, sliced

1 small red onion, cut into chunks

½ red or yellow capsicum, deseeded, cut into chunks

2 potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks OR a handful or two of bread croutons

1 tblsp olive oil

½ tsp dried oregano

½ cos (romaine) lettuce, trimmed, leaves separated

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200C/400F.

2. Place the chicken, chorizo, onion, capsicum and potatoes, if using, into a baking tray that is large enough to hold everything in a single layer. Pour over the olive oil, then sprinkle with the dried oregano. Cook in the oven for 25-30 minutes, until the chicken is cooked and the potatoes are soft.

3. If you are using croutons instead of potatoes, put the croutons into the baking tray for the last 10 minutes of the cooking time.

4. To serve: Divide the cos lettuce leaves between 2 plates, then top with the baked chicken, chorizo and vegetables.

Put the chicken thigh fillets in a roasting pan with the chorizo, onion and capsicum, and roast.

Add the croutons towards the end of the cooking time.

Serve on cos lettuce leaves with the oil from the baking tray drizzled over.

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Another in a series: What Cat is That?*

(or, What is wrong with this picture?**)

* It's evil Henry

** What's wrong is that Tabitha can't go into the backyard when Henry's around because she'll hiss at him and then he tries to scratch her

Vietnamese chicken pork liver pâté and a bad cat

2012-01-10T07:00:00.001+11:00

A couple of weeks ago, the Sydney Morning Herald had available some free downloads of extracts from recent cookbooks. I had good intentions of downloading them all, but in the end only managed to get a couple. One of them was the Hanoi chapter from Luke Nguyen’s Indochine book.

Indochine is more than a cookbook; it’s more of a memoir and travel journal of life in Vietnam, intermixed with life stories of the French influence on Vietnamese cuisine. I’ve only read this Hanoi section and it’s very entertaining.

This recipe for chicken and pork liver pâté is also interesting, and I wanted to try it to compare to my benchmark go-to version of chicken liver pâté. This one uses pork liver and pork mince as well, and it gives the pâté a very liver-y flavour, so you’d have to like liver to like it, I think. I prefer the chicken liver-only version, but this one would probably be better in a bánh mi with some pickled carrot, pork belly and (evil) coriander.

Chicken and Pork Liver Pâté

Serves 6

Ingredients

200g (7oz) pork livers

200g (7oz) chicken livers

100g (3 ½ oz) butter, softened

100g (3 ½ oz) minced pork

2 French shallots, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 tblsp brandy, Cognac or Grand Marnier

4 tblsp pouring cream

1 tsp sugar

2 tsp salt

½ tsp white pepper

Method

1. Clean the livers of fat and sinew. Cut the livers to be the same size, about half the size of a chicken liver. Wash under cold, running water, then dry well with paper towels.

2. Melt 2 teaspoons of butter in a large frypan over medium heat. Add the livers and fry for 2-3 minutes, until brown on the outside but still pink on the inside. Remove from the pan to a plate.

3. Add 1 tablespoon of butter and the pork mince to the pan and cook through, about 2 minutes (do not brown the meat). Remove pork from the pan and place with the livers.

4. Wipe the pan clean, then add 2 teaspoons of butter and fry the shallots and garlic for 5 minutes, until the onion is lightly caramelised. Increase the heat and return the lives and pork to the pan. Pour in the brandy/Cognac and ignite the alcohol, or allow the alcohol to bubble away for 1-2 minutes.

5. Place the liver mixture, together with the remaining butter and cream, into a food processor and process until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon into clean ramekins and refrigerate until set, about 2 hours. Serve at room temperature with fresh baguettes.

recipe adapted from Indochine: Hanoi by Luke Nguyen

Ingredients, including chopped shallots, butter and chicken and pork livers and a splash of Grand Marnier.

The resultant pâté resembles cat food, which is why Tabitha cat perked up when she saw it.

And that's a wooden piggy chopping board that I got for my birthday.

Take the pâté out of the fridge about 30 minutes before eating, to soften it up a bit.

It's pretty good with some crusty bread.

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I'll finish off with a picture of a bad cat. That's Henry, a neighbouring Burmese. Henry has been flocking around for the past few weeks, stalking Tabitha by eating her cat grass and catnip, lying in her favourite spots (on the warm pavers and on the wall), scratching up the back doormat (there were clumps of coir all over the yard and the mat had to be binned). Oh, and he murdered my goldfish (Spot) by scooping him out of the pond and leaving him on the ground in the sun. Evil Henry. You'll get what's coming to you, buddy.

PS: The glass on the doors has been cleaned since this picture was taken.

All the better to see Henry with...

Resolute zucchini and pomegranate

2012-01-02T07:00:00.003+11:00

Here we are in a new year!

I'm not usually one for resolutions, but I believe the old chestnut, "Eat healthier" is traditionally trotted out, so that will be my resolution this year. Oh, and "Buy less stuff" should be added to the list as well, because I purchase so many unnecessary things, it's affecting my well-being (no room to move in the house and guilty conscience about the carbon footprint) - so fewer magazines, scrapbooking supplies and online dresses and handbags for me this year.

To help things along, here's a relatively healthy dish. You are supposed to shallow-fry the zucchini, but in the interests of good-for-you-ness, it's probably okay to reduce the oil.

PS: Does anyone have experience with salicylate sensitivity? I'm doing a bit of self-diagnosis and salicylates are next on my list of things that might be affecting me.

Fried zucchini with balsamic dressing

serves 4

Ingredients

3-4 tblsp olive oil (for shallow frying)

4 medium zucchini, quartered

1/2 pomegranate, seeds removed

Balsamic dressing

1 tblsp balsamic vinegar

juice of 1/2 lemon

2 tblsp honey

1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes

Method

1. Heat the oil in a non-stick frypan over medium heat. Add the zucchini and fry for 2-3 minutes on each side until golden brown. When cooked, remove from pan and place on paper towels to drain.

2. For the dressing: In a small bowl, whisk the dressing ingredients until combined.

3. To serve: Arrange the zucchini on a plate, season with salt and pepper and pour over some of the dressing. Sprinkle with pomegranate seeds before serving.

recipe adapted from delicious (Nov 2011)

Ingredients, including festive pomegranate and year-round zucchini.

To easily remove the seeds from the pomegranate, use the 'whack a pom' method.

The dressing just needs to be whisked together.

Serve the pomegranate seeds on the fried zucchini for a bright-tasting combination

PPS: Check out my Sydney fireworks photos on my Craft blog, here

Season's Greetings and happy New Year

2011-12-25T00:00:00.001+11:00

Thank you for joining us at Ooh, Look...

on a food, restaurant and eating journey this year.

Have a wonderful holiday season and see you in 2012.

Tabitha cat does a little Mexican hat dance to celebrate.

mini lemon meringue pies a la Tea Salon

2011-12-21T07:00:00.001+11:00

Has anyone ever asked you, "Do you prefer sweet or savoury?". Well, no one has ever asked me, but it's a hypothetical question I occasionally think about. After much deliberation, I think I prefer savoury/salty because it's so much easier to over-indulge in the sweet stuff, and I have zero will-power. Which is why I try not to make too many desserts here at Ooh, Look... except for now!

As if we will not be getting enough sugar at Christmas (bring it on!), I thought I'd try this delightful, quick dessert from the equally delightful Stonesoup blog. While it took me a bit longer than the suggested 15 minutes to make these little lemon meringue pies, they were more than worth it for the amazing, tangy lemon 'cream' under a fluffy pillow of soft, lightly toasted meringue.

Oh, and to finish off, here's another question: Have you ever seen a bloke having high tea at a Tea Salon? I'm thinking of a particular place (the Victoria Room Tea Salon at Westfield Sydney) that is 'artfully framed by a curved picket fence and cheery blooms, [a] whimsical English-inspired tea salon', according to its website. Every time I pass by, it's full of ladies enjoying dainty sandwiches and scones and cups of tea. I've yet to spot any blokes there. But if they serve cuties like these, then I'm sure there would be a long queue of guys waiting to sink their fangs into a mini lemon meringue pie.

Lemon meringue pies

makes 8

Ingredients

100g (3 1/2oz) shortbread biscuits (about 6 Arnott's Scotch Fingers)

3 eggs, separated

1 can (400g/14oz) sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup lemon juice

zest of 1 lemon, finely grated

55g (2oz) caster sugar

Method

1. Preheat oven to 170C/340F. Line 8 holes of a muffin tray with paper cases.

2. Finely crush the biscuits in a food processor or with a rolling pin. Press the crumbs into the base of the muffin cases.

3. Combine the egg yolks, condensed milk, lemon juice and zest in a bowl and mix well.

4. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Then gradually sprinkle in the caster sugar and continue to beat for a few more minutes until the sugar is dissolved.

5. Pour the lemon filling on top of the crumb bases

6. Spoon the eggwhites on top of the lemon filling.

7. Bake for 10 minutes or until the meringue is golden. Cool before serving.

Store in an airtight container (not in the refrigerator) for up to 2 days.

recipe adapted from thestonesoup.com

Some of the ingredients, including lemons, condensed milk, eggs and Scotch Finger biscuits.

Smash up the bikkies and press into muffin cases. To make the crumbs stick together more, you could mix in a couple of tablespoons of melted butter before pressing into the cases.

Amazingly, condensed milk plus egg yolks plus lemon produces a delicious lemon curd.

Whip up the eggwhites and dollop onto the lemon filling.

Golden brown from the oven.

My oven is super-hot, so to stop them browning too quickly, I turned the oven off after 5 minutes and left the pies in the oven for the remaining 5 mins, to firm up the filling.

Very pretty pies, worthy of a tea salon

If you like, serve with fresh raspberries to counteract the sweetness

A perfectly cute dessert

Heirloom tomatoes are worth inheriting

2011-12-13T12:00:00.000+11:00

While dodging the almost unbearable Christmas shopping crowds on Saturday, I popped into the Westfield Sydney food court for some sustenance in the form of parmesan truffle fries from Charlie and Co - with extra cheese, pleese!

Then strolling over to the Quarter 21 shop afterwards, I noticed they were having a 'farm gate' event with trestles set up and produce from suppliers for sale. It was a bit unsettling, given that it's held inside a glossy shopping centre rather than, er, at a farm gate, but the quality of the fruits, vegetables, cheese, jams and oils on display were of the highest quality.

I picked up a punnet of baby heirloom tomatoes from the stall, and some lamb shanks from inside the Q21 shop.

Beautiful, jewel-like baby tomatoes

A salad of heirloom tomatoes, simply dressed with olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper.

The yellow tomatoes were the sweetest, although they were all juicy and luscious.

The lamb shanks are anointed with olive oil and thyme, and come vacuum-wrapped in plastic, and were the most fragrant things ever! I don't know how they can get so much flavour with just oil and thyme. Anyway, the shanks were roasted for 45 minutes and served with the tomato salad and some rocket leaves. Delicious.

tofu mushroom soba noodles for the optimistic

2011-12-06T07:00:00.000+11:00

Look out, the end of the year is racing up to slap us in the face, yelling “Hey, what have you been doing all year? 2011 is almost over, and what have you got to show for it, eh?”.

Well, not wanting 2011 to get the better of me, I’ve been trying – somewhat unsuccessfully – to fit more into each day, and that includes eating a decent breakfast, feeling more inspired about work, working smarter not longer, not skipping lunch, going to the gym, leaving work at a reasonable hour, preparing simpler, healthy meals, not watching too much television, reading more, and going to bed earlier.

Two out of ten ain’t bad, is it???

This is an example of the ‘simpler healthy meals’ ethic. So simple that even a hungry, time-poor, gym-avoiding, avid reading blogger can enjoy it. And she does.

Soba noodles with mushrooms and tofu

serves 2

Ingredients

4 medium dried shiitake mushrooms

180g dried soba noodles

2 tblsp oyster sauce

1 tblsp light soy sauce

100g silken soft tofu

1 small long red chilli, sliced

½ tsp sesame oil

2 green onions, sliced

Method

1. Soak the mushrooms in a bowl of hot water for 20 minutes, then drain and slice.

2. Bring a pot of water to the boil and add soba noodles. Cook for 4 minutes, then drain the noodles, rinse with cold water and drain again. Set aside.

3. While the noodles are boiling, heat a wok or frying pan over medium-high heat. Mix together the oyster sauce and soy sauce and add to the wok. Gently add the tofu, mushrooms and chilli and simmer for 2 minutes. Add the sesame oil and heat for another 1 minute.

4. Place the soba noodles in serving bowls then top with the tofu and mushrooms in the sauce. Top with sliced green onions to serve.

Ingredients, including reconstituted shiitake mushrooms, silken tofu, chilli, green onions and soba noodles

The longer you simmer the tofu in the sauce, the tastier it should become.

Then just spoon it into a bowl and dig in.

This is an excellent dish for devouring while reflecting on the productive day you've had and looking forward to the next one.

Ham Egg Quiche with homemade shortcrust pastry

2011-11-29T07:00:00.002+11:00

I am quite excited.

I have a FOOD PROCESSOR!!!

Sorry, couldn't keep it in for much longer. The food processor just bought is a not-too-big model that comes with heaps of attachments like a liquidiser, juicer, several blades, a grinder mill, citrus squeezer, a little whisk thing, and more. I actually wanted the next model down, which has fewer attachments, but the store had none left. Fortunately, this one was on sale and there's a cashback offer as well, so looks like an early Christmas present for myself.

I've been trying to use it now as much as possible, though to tell the truth, I've forgotton where I've stored all the bits and pieces, like the juicer. I've been using the normal cutting blade most of all. I'm quite happy about the processor, as it's a nice change from the tiny bowl attached to a stick mixer that I used to use.

One of the easier things to make using a food processor is shortcrust pastry, as all you do is put the ingredients in the bowl and turn the knob. I found this pastry recipe in the cookbook that came with the processor and adjusted it using tips I found online. Then it got turned into the most delicious ham and egg quiche (processor not required). I know Thanksgiving is just passed, but I am thankful for my food processor and its ability to make pastry and my life a little easier.

Ham and Egg Quiche

serves 6

Ingredients

200g sliced leg ham, chopped

2 tablespoons finely-chopped fresh chives

1/2 cup pure cream
1/4 cup grated mozzarella or tasty cheddar cheese
6 eggs
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Shortcrust pastry
makes enough to line a 23cm (9") tin

265g (1 3/4 cups) plain flour
125g chilled butter, chopped
1 egg yolk, lightly whisked
2-3 tblsp iced water

Method
1. For the pastry: Place the flour and butter in the bowl of a food processor and process until the the mixture turns pale yellow and crumbly, like fine breadcrumbs. Add the egg yolk and water and process until the dough just starts to stick together. Add a little more water if it is too dry. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead lightly until smooth. Shape into a disc, cover in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to rest.
2. For the quiche: Preheat oven to 180°C. Lightly grease a 23cm (base) loose-based fluted flan pan. Roll pastry out on a flat surface to form a 26cm square. Line base and side of pan with pastry. Trim excess pastry. Place pan on a baking tray. Line pastry case with baking paper. Fill with ceramic pie weights or uncooked rice. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove rice or weights and paper. Bake for 7 minutes or until base is light golden. Allow to cool for 5 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, combine ham, chives, cream, mozzarella and 3 eggs in a small bowl. Season with pepper. Spoon mixture into pastry case. Crack remaining eggs over ham mixture, keeping yolks whole. Sprinkle with parmesan. Bake for 20 minutes or until eggs are set. Serve.

recipe adapted from taste.com.au

Making pastry with your new food processor: Ingredients are chilled cubed butter, egg yolk, flour and chilled water; the processed mix resembles fine breadcrumbs, then you add the egg and water and it forms a dough; roll out the dough (I really need a bigger rolling pin); line the baking dish with the nicely rolled dough.

Ingredients for the quiche: eggs, chives, ham, parmesan and tasty cheese;

the eggy hammy cream mixture is poured into the pre-baked pie crust that was made in your new food processor

Delightfully golden quiche. And the pastry is light and crispy.

Finally, let me just say that I have tasted the Nancy, Sue, Charlie and Lorraine quiches from Adriano Zumbo Patissier, and this humble ham and egg quiche BEATS THEM ALL.

Happiness is...Mango Lychee Sorbet

2011-11-21T07:00:00.003+11:00

One of my favourite desserts is the sorbet trio at Blue Ginger restaurant in Balmain (Sydney). The trio usually includes a lychee sorbet, and it is sublime – sweet yet subtle with the unmistakable fragrance of luscious lychees. I even bought the Blue Ginger cookbook to see if I could make it using their recipe, but unfortunately, it requires an ice cream maker which I don’t have.

So what to do? Well, in my case, I just pined over the lychee-sorbet-that-was-not-to be for a couple of years. Until last week. And all because I had 2 eggwhites left over.

After making some spaghetti carbonara that needed 2 egg yolks, the remaining eggwhites languished in the fridge for a couple of days while I mulled over what use them for. I’m NOT a macaron maker, so macs were out of the question. Eggwhite omelette? Too boring. Then I did what I should have done first off – type ‘2 eggwhites’ into the search at taste.com.au. It came up with this fantastic Lychee and Mango Sorbet that is every bit as good as the one at Blue Ginger (and with the bonus of mango). I pine no longer.

Mango and Lychee Sorbet

Serves 6

Ingredients

3/4 cup caster sugar

565g can lychees in syrup, drained

425g can mango slices in light syrup, drained

2 eggwhites, lightly whisked

Method

1. Combine sugar and 1 1/4 cups water in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until sugar is dissolved. Simmer, without stirring, for 10 minutes or until mixture thickens slightly. Remove from heat and cool completely.

2. Place lychees and mango in a processor or blender. Process until smooth. Press through a sieve into a bowl. Discard pulp. Add sugar mixture to fruit mixture. Stir to combine. Pour into a 3cm-deep, 20cm x 30cm (base) lamington pan. Cover and freeze for 1 to 2 hours or until almost firm.

3. Transfer mixture to a food processor. Add eggwhites. Process until smooth but not melted. Pour mixture into a 6cm-deep, 11.5cm x 21.5cm (base) loaf pan. Cover and freeze for 3 hours or until firm. Serve.

recipe adapted from taste.com.au

Ingredients: Canned mango and lychees (great if they're not in season); lightly whisked egg whites (warning: this dessert contains uncooked eggs); process the lychee and mango then push through a sieve; frozen delicious sorbet is the result

This sorbet is wonderfully smooth as long as you combine the eggwhites well with the mango/lychee slush.

These raspberries are so brightly coloured. All the better to contrast with the mango/lychee!

A frosty sweet treat that's worthy of a restaurant.

easy chewy BIG choc chip cookies

2011-11-15T07:00:00.005+11:00

Do you ever get those times when you're craving a biscuit or something sweet?

To heck with the bikkies, what I want is a whacking BIG COOKIE!

I felt this way just the other day. It was a slow Saturday afternoon and I'd just returned from a walk to check out Rozelle markets, where I'd scoffed a hot dog with mustard and tomato sauce ($3). But it was a small hot dog (which was part of its appeal) and I needed something to tide me over till dinner time, which was still hours away.

A simple recpe was called for, not too many ingredients and using items already in the pantry. Chocolate chip cookies are the answer (to life and everything!). In this instance, the cookies were made large, so they were soft on the inside and a bit crispy on the outside.

And because they're biggish, it's easy not to get carried away and eat to many. Well, that's the idea, anyway. I managed to put away 3 of these babies before I realised what had happened. And that's the beauty of a simple, big choc chip cookie.

Chocolate Chip Cookies
makes approx. 25

Ingredients
2 cups plain flour
½ tsp salt
½ tsp.baking soda
170g (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
½ cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups dark chocolate chips

Method
1. Preheat oven to 160C/325F. Line baking sheet/s with baking paper.
2. Use a mixer to cream together the butter and sugars until thoroughly combined.
3. Add the eggs and vanilla to the butter mixture, mixing well.
3. Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda and add to the butter and eggs. Stir until just combined, then add the chocolate chips and gently fold them through the batter.
4. Roll 2 tablespoons of the batter into balls and place onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving room for the cookies to spread. Flatten the balls slightly if you prefer a crisper cookie. Bake in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Ingredients, including flour, white and brown sugar, vanilla, eggs and chocolate chips

Various stages of preparation: before creaming the butter and eggs; post-creaming; after adding the eggs.

The taller the scoop of cookie dough, the higher and therefore chewier the cookies will be.

Even a reflective photo screen is no barrier to Tabitha cat when there's cookies around.

As always, I ended up with a veritable mountain of cookies.

I stored what was left of the choc chip ~~goodies~~ cookies in a cake tin I got for my birthday (from Peter's of Kensington) - it's cat safe.

A motto for our times: Keep calm and bake on (or eat on, in my case).

Jamie's electro pea and broad bean fritters

2011-11-11T07:00:00.003+11:00

I tell you what, I'm loving this digital reader caper!

Since we last spoke (ie. since I last blogged), I've gone crazeee! downloading books and magazines to read on the e-tablet.

I started by getting copies of books that I already have in hardcopy, that are great reads but a bit bulky, eg. Bill Bryson's Down Under, numerous Jilly Coopers. These are perfect on an e-reader.

Then there are the 'nostalgia' books, the ones I remember reading when younger and that still hold an allure, eg. Georgette Heyer, Mary Stewart, still thinking about getting the Trixie Belden series.

And the new books that I've held off buying till now because I didn't want more dead trees clogging up the house, eg. The Churchills by Mary Lovell (excellent gossipy biography) and the Agatha Raisin books (about a crime-solving, retired PR lady; just starting my first one and am really enjoying it).

Last, but definitely not least, there are the COOKBOOKS! Well, actually, I'm still hesitating over a lot of books, so I've only downloaded the free ones. Some are better than others when it comes to electronic reading. The Neil Perry Rockpool Bar and Grill book is a fine example of digital form, with embedded videos on how to prepare certain dishes. Others books, I found, look like they've just been scanned in and are nothing special. This may be due to them being free, but it will make me think twice about getting the e-version of them.

Ooh, and I mustn't forget the MAGAZINES! I've bought Super Food Ideas (only 99cents!), Gourmet Traveller, Martha Stewart Living, BBC Good Food, Donna Hay, MasterChef... and many more. My fave is Donna Hay because it has great recipes (naturally), the first issue is free, and it takes advantage of the digital format by having animations that make the food look extra beautiful.

This recipe is from the Jamie Oliver Recipes app - you get 10 recipes for free, then you can buy packs of additional 10. It's a bonus that the recipes have nice how-to pictures and you can even email a list of the ingredients to yourself.

Pea and Broad Bean Fritters

serves 2

Ingredients

85g frozen peas

85g frozen broad beans

1 egg

60ml milk

1 tsp baking powder

80g plain flour

salt and pepper

35g pecorino or parmesan cheese, grated

100g baby cherry or roma tomatoes

20g black olives

1 tblsp thyme leaves

50g mixed salad leaves

Method

1. Put the frozen peas and broad beans into a heatproof bowl and pour over boiling water. Wait 30 seconds, then drain in a sieve. Peel (double-pod) the broad beans. Set aside.

2. For the batter: In a mixing bowl, whisk the egg, milk, baking powder, flour, salt and pepper until well combined.

3. Combine the drained peas and beans, together with the pecorino, into the batter. Mix well.

4. Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large non-stick frypan over medium heat. Cook fritters in batches by adding 2 tablespoons of the batter to the frypan. Don't let the fritters touch each other. Cook fritters for about 2 minutes on each side, or until golden. Transfer to a plate when cooked.

5. For tomato salad: Roughly chop the tomatoes and combine with the olives and thyme.

6. To serve, place some salad leaves on a plate and top with the fritters and tomato salad.

Preparing the fritters, with ipad instructor and Tabitha cat observer.

Chop some tomatoes and olives and thyme for accompaniment to the fritters.

For a rustic look, serve on a clean wooden board.

Very colourful and easy to make.

Digitally enhanced Spiced Chicken Salad

2011-11-01T07:00:00.006+11:00

Good news, my friendly reader(s)! Bel from Ooh, Look has finally joined the digital age and got an ipad ™.

The reason for this extravagance is to help cut down on the amount of magazines and cookbooks that I buy by downloading them instead.

So far, this has work reasonably well because I think twice about getting the latest issues, but then I realise that some of my favourite magazines aren’t available yet in digital form. Dang and blast! Get with the times, man! (This means you: delicious/House and Garden/Real Living. By the way, have you seen the new Donna Hay digital magazine? It’s magically brilliant)

So rather than using the ipad purely as an Angry Birds game console, I’ve started making online recipes directly from the source (or rather, website). This is an example of something I found on the Sydney Morning Herald’s site. I added my usual preferred dressing and dinner’s ready. Easy to read, easy to make and easy to eat.

Spiced Chicken Salad
Serves 2

Ingredients
2-3 chicken thigh fillets, chopped into bite-size pieces
1 tsp Chinese five spice powder
Olive oil spray
2 handfuls of mixed salad leaves
1 ripe mango, peeled and cut into chunks

Dressing:
2 tblsp fish sauce
1 tblsp rice wine vinegar
Pinch of dried chilli flakes
Pinch of caster sugar
1 tblsp water

Method
1. Place the chicken and five spice powder in a bowl and spray with a little olive oil. Mix until combined.
2. Heat a frypan over high heat and add the chicken and cook until browned all over and cooked through.
3. For the dressing: Whisk the dressing ingredients together in a small bowl.
4. To serve, place the salad leaves on a plate with the mango and cooked chicken. Drizzle over the dressing.

recipe inspired by smh.com.au/lifestyle

Ingredients, including salad leaves, fish sauce, chilli flakes, mango and chicken

Tabitha cat is fascinated by the ipad screen, which is why I downloaded a cat toy app for her.

Chicken pieces are mixed with Chinese five spice powder.

The dressing is super versatile. It's great on brussels sprouts, too.

A deliciously fresh-tasting salad.

You could substitute roasted sweet potato or pumpkin for the mango.

Old Skool No-bake Apricot Ginger slice

2011-10-27T07:00:00.001+11:00

This is such an 'old-school' slice. It's perfect!

Here's another recipe from New Zealand's Annabel Langbein, though this time from her new 'Free Range in the City' cookbook. I actually bought her previous book, The Free-Range Cook, after making this panna cotta, and the new one is also a great read if this teaser is anything to go by.

Although it's billed as a cookbook based on eating well, for city dwellers (as opposed to country lifers), this recipe for Apricot and Ginger Slice would be right at home at a school fete, country fair or farmhouse kitchen. It's also no-bake, so it's quick to make and all it needs is a quick chill in the refrigerator and it's ready to gobble up.

Note: My "Hey you, you're not allowed to buy any more cookbooks unless it is an absolute emergency" rule is in great danger of being broken after tasting this recipe. The new cookbook is released here next week, I think, so another couple more days before we see how strong my resolve is. Hint: I'm a usually a weakling!

Ginger and Apricot Slice

makes about 20 squares

Ingredients

100g unsalted butter

3/4 cup (185ml) sweetened condensed milk

1 cup (150g) dried apricots, finely chopped

1/2 cup (100g) crystallised ginger, finely chopped, plus extra for topping

1 cup (90g) desiccated coconut

1 tsp ground ginger

2 tblsp lemon juice

375 plain biscuits, crushed to fine crumbs

2 tblsp pistachios, shelled and chopped

Icing:

50g unsalted butter

1 tsp lemon juice

3 cups icing sugar, sifted

Method

1. Line a 30cm x 24cm Swiss roll pan or baking pan with baking paper.

2. Heat butter and condensed milk in a saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring until the butter melts. Remove from heat.

3. In a separate bowl, mix together the apricots, crystallised ginger, coconut, ground ginger and lemon juice. Then add crushed biscuits and stir to combine.

4. Add butter and condensed milk mixture and stir well to combine.

5. Press into the prepared pan and refrigerate for 1 hour or until set.

6. For the icing: Melt the butter and mix with the lemon juice, icing sugar and 2 tablespoons of boiling water, until smooth. Spread icing over the chilled base and sprinkle with extra chopped cryst. allised ginger and pistachios.

7. Leave to set, then cut into squares. Store in an airtight container in a cool place.

recipe adapted from delicious magazine

Ingredients, including condensed milk, chopped crystallised ginger, crushed biscuits (I used Nice biscuits), coconut and dried apricots

It's so easy - just mix everything together and press into the pan.

The icing is also easy to make, and it tastes slightly tangy.

Cut the slice in squares to serve

You could also wrap squares in plastic wrap to sell at the school fete.

Or wrap in foil to take to work for little lunch.

Chat Thai Westfield - a hot spot

2011-10-24T17:00:00.001+11:00

Nice menus. Saves me having to type the post title!

The Westfield Level 6 restaurant precinct above the food court is turning out to be a fantastic place. Lots of excellent quality restaurants and still some construction going on. Having recently visited Xanthi and Mood for Love (pics to come), this post is about the well-known Chat Thai.

This was my first time at Chat Thai, I think. I may have visited the takeaway branch in the Galeries Victoria, can't remember. We got here early for lunch (12pm), so didn't have to wait for a table. Judging by the crowds normally outside Chat Thai, a wait is usually inevitable, though it looks like the turnover is quite fast inside the restaurant.

Inside Chat Thai Westfield - dark, modern decor, waitstaff in signature yellow t-shirts

To drink, Thai tea with sweetened condensed milk ($4.50), Corona beer ($8).

The chicken larb ($12.50) was surprisingly super spicy, the hottest out of all the dishes we had.

Roast duck with noodles ($15) - lots of moist, delicious duck pieces

Fish cakes ($10) - a very good version, not too oily, topped with fried basil leaves

Fried chicken wings ($12) - Bangkok wings are like spicy buffalo wings, comes with a chilli dipping sauce

It gets busy at Chat Thai, but the service is quick and efficient.

Icy coconut dessert ($6.50) - we thought they delivered the wrong dessert at first, seeing only some coconut on a mound of ice. But if you dig into the bowl, green squiggly worms, taro and other goodies appear. The ice melts on the tongue, leaving the scent of coconut milk. So refreshing, Yum!

Our other dessert, thin 'crepes' filled with uncooked meringue and dried shrimp ($8). Pretty as a picture and lovely to eat. Thankfully, you can barely taste the shrimp and the shell is a crisp delight, like a wafer. The meringue is melt-in-the-mouth.

Overall, I like this Chat Thai. A bonus is that if you can't get in and don't want to wait, there are other good restaurants nearby that you can substitute.

Chat Thai Westfield is on Level 6, Westfield Sydney, Pitt St Mall, Sydney

website: chatthai.com.au

ph: 02 9221 0600

Mushroom soup with a side of snails

2011-10-21T07:00:00.015+11:00

Apparently, there’s a popular TV series called Game of Thrones, and it’s based on a series of fantasy books. Admittedly, not being a fan of the genre, I don’t know much about them. Probably why I’m not into video games like World of Warcraft and the like, either.

BUT I do like to trawl the interweb, and there is a website (Inn at the Crossroads) that interprets recipes from meals in the Game of Thrones books, and some of them are real doozies. The descriptions of the food in the books really draw you in, as they are sort of medieval and evocative, and cleverly, Inn at the Crossroads also gives a modern interpretation of the dishes as well.

This recipe for ‘Cream of mushroom and escargot soup’ sounded interesting so I thought I’d try it – that, and the fact that there were 2 cans of escargot in the cupboard that I wanted to get rid of. In the end, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to post about this recipe, though. It all came down to a can of funky snails. On opening the can, it smelt like a herd of flatulent cats had let off a joint stink bomb, and well, you get the picture. As a result, after cooking the soup with a peg on my nose, the snails were served on the side of the soup. Maybe try this recipe with decent snails next time.

Creamy Mushroom Soup with Snails

Serves 6

Ingredients

3 cups chopped mushrooms, such as button or chestnut, swiss brown, shiitake

1 eschalot, chopped

4 cups chicken stock

4 tblsp butter

¼ cup flour

1 cup milk

1 cup light cream

Snails on the side:

125g (4 ½ oz) can of snails, drained

1 tblsp butter

2 cloves garlic, crushed

½ bunch chives, chopped

Method

1. For the soup: Combine mushrooms, eschalot and chicken stock in a saucepan and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and use a blender or stick blender to liquefy the mixture.

2. For the sauce: In a separate pan, melt the butter over medium heat, then stir in the flour. Add milk and cream stirring constantly until smooth, Add salt and pepper to taste.

3. Pour the mushroom and stock mixture into the sauce and stir until combined.

4. For the snails: Sauté the snails, garlic and chives with the butter over medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Serve with the soup.

Recipe adapted from innatthecrossroads.com

Rustic ingredients: large field mushrooms, swiss brown mushrooms, eschalots and chives

Dodgy ingredient: Canned snails (escargot). These ones are product of Indonesia, probably NOT a nation famous for their snail exports.

The garlicky, buttery sauce was delicious. Shame about the manky snails.

PS: The original recipe says to chop up the snails and add to the soup.

The soup, on the other hand, was sublime. Creamy but not too rich, and fresh-tasting at the same time.

There was plenty of soup for leftovers - the same can't be said of the snails.

Mr Garbage Bin enjoyed them, however.

Messy Meal specialist

2011-10-16T18:00:00.001+11:00

Or, Confessions of an Unorganised Cook.

I'm great at creating a mess, I'm just really hopeless at cleaning up. And it just so happens that I love to cook from recipes that involve just a couple of ingredients but LOTS of implements - like chopping boards, knives, stirring spoons, whisks, bowls lots of bowls, small saucepan, medium frypan, large stockpot. The list goes on.

There's a promotion on at the moment (sponsored by Finish dishwashing tablets) called 'We Love Messy Meals', where you can upload a photo or video or your messiest meal and get the chance to win $25000 and star in a tv commercial. Chance of stardom, who could turn that down?

Well, come into my kitchen any night of the week and you'll have a winner, which is why I've entered. You can enter your own mess, here, but hurry, entries close October 22, 2011.

I do have a dishwasher, but Tabitha cat often does a quicker job.

Not as clean, though.

This post was kindly sponsored by Finish Quantum and Momentum

Funky blue cheese panna cotta for dessert

2011-10-14T07:00:00.002+11:00

Major excitement. A bit of 'squee!' action.

All because of 3-4 little words:
Blue. Cheese. Panna.cotta.

(is panna cotta 2 words or only 1?)

Yes, there was a spot of OMG! going on when I saw this recipe on the taste.com.au website. It contains my recently discovered love of panna cotta and my "I'm not quite sure but I could grow to love you" feelings for smelly blue cheese.

So, this is a strange combination of savoury cheese and the traditional dessert ingredients of cream, vanilla and sugar. The result is ... unusual. I still can't decide if I really like it or not, as it's quite a rich dish, even in the small dariole mould sizes that I used. The blue cheese can be quite burny on the tongue, and you definitely get that effect with this panna cotta, although the vanilla teamed with sugar takes a bit of the edge off.

Please give this a go anyway, and decide for yourself. I will probably make it again, just to be sure.

Blue cheese panna cotta

serves 4

Ingredients

olive oil, to grease

250ml (1 cup) milk
250ml (1 cup) thin cream
1/4 cup caster sugar
1/2 vanilla bean, split
40g blue-vein cheese, finely chopped
1 tbs boiling water
1 1/2 tsp powdered gelatine
1/2 crisp green apple, or ripe pear, to serve

Method
1. Brush 4 125ml (1/2 cup) capacity metal or plastic dariole moulds with oil to lightly grease. Place on a tray.
2.Combine milk, cream, sugar and vanilla bean in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes or until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat.
3. Add blue cheese and stir until cheese melts. Strain mixture through a fine sieve into a large heatproof glass bowl.
4. Place water in a small heatproof bowl. Sprinkle with gelatine and whisk with a fork to remove any lumps. Set aside for 3 minutes or until gelatine dissolves and mixture is clear.
5. Gradually whisk the gelatine into the cream mixture until well combined. Ladle mixture equally among prepared moulds. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 6 hours to set.
6.Dip moulds, 1 at a time, into hot water for 1-2 seconds, then turn onto serving plates. Serve with fruit slices.

recipe adapted from taste.com.au

Ingredients, including cream, milk, blue cheese and vanilla bean.

The milk, cream, vanilla and sugar are first heated, then the cheese is added and stirred into the hot liquid. It is then sieved to remove the lumps and grey veiny bits.

Add gelatine and pour into moulds. (yes, I only have 2 proper dariole moulds!)

After the panna cottas are set (about 6 hours), unmould onto a plate.

The funky cheese aroma is very mild (until you eat it)

Nice specks of vanilla on the base/top of the panna cotta.

Oh stuff it, this looks too good. I'm gonna make it again this weekend!

Coopers and Pie at the London, Balmain

2011-10-09T00:00:00.005+11:00

October is a great food month in Sydney because it's time for the Crave Sydney International Food Festival. There's no shortage of food events, and one of the more accessible ones is the Coopers Pie'n Pale challenge. Imagine 26 pubs vying for the title of 'pub with the Best Pie', where you can get a specially created pie plus a glass of Coopers Pale Ale for $20.

I was invited to check out a pie*, and I chose to try the one at the London Hotel in Balmain. There are a couple of pubs from Balmain in the challenge, and I wanted to support the locals (though, because there's a pub on almost every corner in Balmain, I'd be surprised if there were any fewer contestants). This pie excursion also gave the chance to test out some other dishes from the London's restaurant.

The London still has its original sandstone walls and internal woodwork, currently decked out in rugby World Cup finery.

The restaurant is away from the hubbub of the pub, and it has a steak focus, judging from the bovine artworks on the walls. Chef Steve is the creator of the contest pie.

While waiting for our lunch, chef Steve presented us with bruschetta. Fabulous warm bread topped with spicy tomato, onion and basil. Great for whetting the appetite.

The London's entry in the Coopers Pie'n Pale contest is a Ham Hock Pie. It's a rich pot of delicious pieces of smoky ham and leek, topped with creamy potato mash sprinkled with ham hock floss. The pastry is a lovely short pâte brisée. A great pie that goes really well with the wheaty Coopers Pale Ale (and a Wallabies win!).

We also ordered a main of lamb rump with sourdough gnocchi ($29). Tender pieces of meat with an unusual but excellent 'gnocchi' that are like little flavoursome patties.

You can see the other competitors in the Pie'n Pale promo here. There are some interesting pies that have been created and the London Hotel's is a fine example. There's also an app you can download that tells you where the nearest pub is for that fix of pie and ale. Most of them are concentrated around the inner city.

*Many thanks to the London Hotel and Frank PR for the pie and ale.

The London Hotel is at 234 Darling Street, Balmain, NSW

ph: 02 9555-1377

website: http://thelondonhotel.com.au

Satay chicken not quite radioactive

2011-10-06T08:00:00.003+11:00

I really admire those bloggers who regularly post interesting stuff that makes you miss them when they go AWOL for a while. This is particularly because, occasionally, little streams of apathy blow invisibly across my keyboard, and to even think of something to write about becomes a headache of massive proportions.

So that's when you write about how hard it is to find something to write about. Rather than bore you with the details, how about we jump straight into a recipe? Sounds good.

This is a rather easy and delicious satay chicken that's perfect warm as it is cold. And because I like things colourful, the fluoro yellow hue is just the thing for brightening a dull day.

Birthday update. Thanks for all the good wishes for my birthday a few days ago. Some of the food-related gifts I got: dinner at Claude's, lunch at Chat Thai, lunch at Aria ('Let's do Lunch'), the new Bill Granger Asian cookbook, wooden pig-shaped chopping board , 'Keep calm' cake tin (I actually bought some of these for myself, but I'm worth it!). No food processor or ice cream maker, but I am super happy regardless (another year older notwithstanding).

Chicken Satay

serves 4

Ingredients

1 tsp grated ginger

2 cloves garlic, crushed

zest and juice of 1 lime

1 tblsp peanut butter

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp ground cumin

100ml coconut cream

1/2 tsp salt

2 spring (green) onions, chopped

6 chicken thigh fillets

steamed rice, to serve

Method

1. For the marinate: Put the ginger, garlic, lime juice and zest, peanut butter, turmeric, cumin, coconut cream and salt into a food processor and mix until smooth. Add the spring onion to the mixture.

2. Put the chicken into a large bowl and pour over the marinade. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

3. Heat oven to 190C/375F. Line a large baking tray with foil and lightly spray with oil. Drain the chicken pieces and spread over the trays. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. The coating should be slightly charred; cover with foil if it is darkening too much.

4. Serve chicken warm, with rice.

Ingredients, including spices and peanut butter, coconut cream, green onions and lime.

Easy marinade: just whizz the ingredients together then add to the chicken pieces.

The slightly burned, crispy bits are particularly good.

Claude's Woollahra - and (almost) another year older

2011-10-02T01:00:00.002+10:00

Claude's at Woollahra used to be an 'occasion' restaurant, where the atmosphere was rarified, the ladies dressed up to dine there, and the food was exquisite. Well, times change, and so has Claude's.

For my birthday dinner this year, I chose Claude's because I'd always wanted to go there, and the new menu, with its slight Asian twists sounded interesting. So we donned our best smartish-casual outfits and rocked up to the very discreet, blink-and-you'll-miss-it doorway on Oxford St for our Saturday night delight.

The dark walls, starched white tablecloths and subtle lighting in the downstairs dining room are the perfect environment for dinner a deux, though there was a table of 3 when we were there. The waitstaff are professional and make you feel welcome. On Saturday night, there is an 8-course degustation dinner available ($135 per person, plus matching wines for $85 extra), so we had that (without wine). You are offered sparkling or filtered tap water to drink.

This is what we had:

Amuse bouche: seaweed rolls and crispy things (like prawn chips, but better)

To drink, a Tiger beer

First course: Chicken liver, taro and turmeric with tapioca, on crispbread - beautiful mousse-like chicken liver and pickled vegetables

Bread with homemade butter - this was so good, the rolls were studded with salt crystals and the butter was creamy and perfect.

Sour and fragrant broth - had spiced chicken pieces on spinach, with the tangy broth poured over at the table.

Rock oyster, trumpeter, black fungus relish - the Batemans Bay oysters were served off the shell, on slices of marinated trumpeter (fish). Warning: relish contains evil coriander!

Wrasse and giant octopus - the wrasse was coated in polenta(?) crumbs and beautifully cooked, so moist and flavoursome. Octopus was thinly sliced and very tender.

Broad bean and soy curds with mushroom ketchup - be warned, the 'ketchup' packs a punch with lots of hot spice. Otherwise, this was a refreshing vegetable dish (with wafer-thin beet and mushroom) before the meat main

Blackened beef, pineapple, green garlic - the beef is 'blackened' using squid ink and is served with a super-tender slice of rare-grilled beef. Smooth garlic puree (with garlic cloves) is balanced by sweet caramelly pineapple.

Dessert time!

Pear, coconut, tapioca - pear/honey ice cream with shredded coconut

Golden rhubarb - beautiful spongey cake with jam with tuile-like covering and creme anglais.

Birthday cake kindly provided by Claude's - amazing flourless chocolate cake. When cut, it crumbles like a normal cake, but it tastes like chocolate melting on your tongue. How incredible!

Madeleines - dipped in honey syrup

English breakfast tea in silver teapot

It was a lovely meal we had, last night at Claude's. It gave us a chance to dress up a bit and try an institution that has successfully moved with the times (without resorting to foams and molecules and stuff). I'll definitely be back, though hopefully before the next birthday.

Also, Claude's has recently introduced an 'experimental dining concept' on Tuesday nights, cleverly called The Mighty Bouche. New dishes and ideas are going to be showcased, and I'm hoping that chef Chui Lee Luk will lead diners in a rousing rendition of the Bouncy Bouncy song. Sounds like a date!

Claude's is at 10 Oxford Street, Woollahra, NSW

ph: +61 2 9331 2325

website: claudes.com.au

A Raspberry Shortcake by any other name

2011-09-30T08:00:00.004+10:00

I do love a good biscuit.

It's also kind of disgusting but true that, sometimes for breakfast, I have two Delta Cream biscuits with my cup of English breakfast. It shows great restraint that I only have two...

The biscuit thing is only on weekdays at work, though, and only if the work biscuit jar has been stocked with 'nice' bikkies, like Delta Creams and Shortbread Creams. On the weekend, it's a piece of toast (with various spreads such as Vegemite or jam) and a soft-boiled egg. Nothing better than a nice hot cuppa while nibbling on some toast and reading the weekend papers. Tabitha cat has recently gotten into the act, stealing my chair and eyeing the toast...

Back to the biscuits - another of my favourites are Raspberry Shortcakes. Having one (or two) of these with a cup of T2 China Jasmine is an after-dinner ritual that I won't be giving up any time soon. I recently spied a recipe for 'Anglesey Cakes' that are just like Raspberry Shortcakes, and this British take on the bikkies is a winner (recipe is from the versatile and useful Baked and Delicious mag). I added a bit more salt than the recipe stated, and this gave a pleasing not-quite-sweet, not-quite-salty flavour that goes well with the sweet raspberry jam.

Raspberry Shortcakes | Anglesey Cakes

makes about 20 filled biscuits

Ingredients

225g (8oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature

125g (4oz) caster sugar

350g (12oz) self-raising flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup raspberry jam

2 tblsp icing sugar

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Beat the butter and sugar together until creamy and light in colour. Beat in the flour and salt and mix to combine.

2. Bring the dough together to firm a ball. If the dough is very soft, wrap it in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before continuing. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll out to a thickness og 6mm (1/4inch). Use a 5cm (2inch) cookie cutter to cut out 40 circles. Re-roll any dough offcuts if necessary. Use a smaller cutter, or the end of a piping nozzle, to cut a small circle out of half the circles.

3. Arrange the biscuits on baking trays lined with baking paper, allow some room for the dough to spread. Bake for about 10 minutes until risen and golden. Cool on a wire rack.

4. Before serving, spread raspberry jam on one half of a biscuit and sandwich it together with another biscuit (with a hole). Sprinkle with icing sugar.

recipe adapted from Baked and Delicious

Ingredients, including caster sugar, butter, self-raising flour (I used gluten-free flour) and raspberry jam

This is quite a soft dough (and it was a warmish day), so I found it easiest to roll out only small portions of the dough at a time before cutting.

Lovely unbaked hearts, all in a row

Sandwich the halves together with raspberry jam, or try apricot jam instead.

A dusting of icing sugar completes this tasty biscuit.

That's an Arnott's Raspberry Shortcake ('raspberry flavoured fun') on the left.

Both are good, but homemade is usually better!

Fish cakes, pickled cucumber, birthday wishes

2011-09-27T08:00:00.002+10:00

Do you have lots of kitchen appliances and gadgets? A tool for every occasion?

My birthday is coming up, and, as usual, I was thinking of asking the birthday fairy for an electric mixer (eg. white KitchenAid). This thought has gone through my mind for, oh, the past 4 years or so. But the feeling soon passes - until Christmas. But then Santa doesn't hear my plea and I forget about it till the next year.

This time, as a backup plan, I'm also thinking about an ice cream maker (Cuisinart 1.5litre) and/or a food processor. The latter is a recent thing because my current processor is just a stick blender with a small bowl attachment, and after making these fish cakes, the lid has developed a hairline crack and some water has leaked into it and now it makes a sloshing sound when you shake it.

But then I think of my small, neat, open kitchen with limited bench and cupboard space and push the thought out of my mind. The birthday fairy is safe from having to leave appliances under my pillow for another year.

Fish Cakes with Pickled Cucumber

serves 2

Ingredients

400g firm, white-fleshed fish fillets

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 red chilli, seeded, finely chopped

2 spring (green) onions, finely chopped

1 Lebanese cucumber, halved lengthways

Juice of 1 small lime

1 tbs fish sauce

1 tbs brown sugar

2 tbs vegetable oil

Steamed rice and lime wedges, to serve

Method

1. Process fish in a food processor until a coarse paste forms. Transfer to a large bowl. Add garlic, half the chopped chilli and spring onion, then season to taste with salt and pepper. Shape heaped tablespoonfuls of mixture into 'cakes'.

2. Using a teaspoon, remove seeds from cucumbers. Discard seeds then slice cucumbers thinly on the diagonal. Place cucumbers, remaining chilli, lime juice, fish sauce and sugar in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

3. Meanwhile, heat oil in a non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Cook fish cakes, in batches, for 2 minutes each side or until golden and cooked through. Drain on paper towels. Serve with pickled cucumber, steamed rice and lime wedges.

recipe adapted from taste.com.au

Ingredients, including white fish (I used basa fillets), spring onion, fish sauce, cucumber, chilli, lime juice and brown sugar

Scrape the seeds from the cucumber to make the sweetly refreshing pickle.

The fishcakes are fairly sticky, so use a spoon (rather than your hands) to scoop them into the pan. Let them brown on one side first, then flip them and flatten with a spatula to cook the other side.

Serve the fishcakes with the drained cucumbers and some rice.

Yum, these fishcakes have a firm texture and excellent flavour, only slightly spicy from the chilli.

Some ice cream would finish off the meal nicely. If only I had an ice cream maker....

Apricot apple fruit loaf and a Cat's Decision

2011-09-21T08:00:00.005+10:00

It must be the gradual change in the weather, but with the coming of Spring, I’ve been buzzing around like a busy bee. Flitting from task to task, home to work then back again, daydreaming of holidays on deserted islands. Multi-tasking to the max!

As a result, there hasn’t been much time to prepare photo-worthy meals for this blog (apologies). I mean, shoving a couple of frozen fish fillets and a tray of beer-battered potato fries into the oven after a day at the office doesn’t really make for riveting browsing, does it? Or does it????

Don’t worry, though. There is an hour free on weekends that allows for baking of sweet treats, so be prepared for a couple of recipes (max. two) featuring biscuits and bread.

And here’s the bread recipe, cos I like to keep my promises. It's a loaf that's full of fruit and yet gluten-free, thanks to the gluten-free flour that I received from the nice people at Vitarium. Speaking of which, I have to mention the Great Vitarium Bake Off (details here) - lots of recipes and great prizes for cooking with their product, and it's all gluten-free.

Apricot and Apple Fruit Loaf

serves 10

Ingredients

1 cup dried apricots, halved

1 cup dried apple slices, roughly chopped

½ cup dried cranberries (Craisins)

½ cup caster sugar

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 cups gluten-free self-raising flour

1 ¾ cups milk

½ cup flaked almonds

butter, to serve

Method

1. Combine apricots, apple, cranberries, sugar, cinnamon and flour in a bowl. Add 1 ½ cups milk. Stir to combine. Cover. Refrigerate overnight.

2. Preheat oven to 190°C/170°C fan-forced. Grease a 6cm-deep, 10cm x 20cm (base) loaf pan. Stand apricot mixture at room temperature for 10 minutes. Stir in remaining milk. Add half the almonds. Stir until just combined.

3. Spoon mixture into prepared pan. Sprinkle with remaining almonds. Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Stand in pan for 5 minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool. Serve toasted with butter.

recipe adapted from taste.com.au

Delicious dried fruits: apple, apricots and cranberries

These are soaked overnight with flour and milk, so you should start this recipe the day before.

The gluten-free SF flour has a very fine texture and produces a light-textured loaf with a crisp crust.

Look at how luscious that fruit is.

All the bread needs is a light toasting and lots of butter.

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A Cat's Decision:

Tabitha cat thinks: "Should I try the loaf on the left or the warm buttered slice on the right?"

"Left".

"Or right?"

Tabitha: "The cats of Australia have made their choice.

Buttered fruit loaf, here I come...".

Bel (in the background): "Eeek! I'd better stop taking photos and move my toast...!"

-----

Don't forget that you could win a Subscription to Baked and Delicious magazine which includes 60 issues of Baked and Delicious (with silicone bakeware) and 4 exclusive (subscriber only) gifts, the total worth being $1,105.00.

Click here to enter!!!

Hurry, entries close 26th September 2011!

Apple Almond Teacake for lo-cal tea

2011-09-13T13:00:00.002+10:00

Love a good teacake for afternoon tea?
Yes, please!

Teacakes are ideal for whipping up in a hurry because there's no fancy skills required, just a desire for some warm-from-the-oven sweetness to have with a cup of tea. Also, teacakes are meant to be eaten straight away, so they can be made smaller so they cook more quickly, too.

This delcious cake was made at the last minute, using ingredients lying around the kitchen. The apple and almond on top add some texture to the moist cake, and instead of sugar, I used a natural sweetener, Natvia. I must say that I like using this sweetener when baking cakes - it doesn't taste artificial (because it's not), it seems sweeter than sugar (so you can use less), and best of all, it has 95% fewer calories than sugar (and that's v. good for this little dumpling). I also added some to my cuppa tea, so it was (almost) a low-cal afternoon tea. Which is why I had, um, 'more than one' slice of cake. It all balances out. Doesn't it?

Apple and Almond Teacake

Serves 8

Ingredients

125g butter

½ cup Natvia or sugar

2 eggs

1 cup plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/3 cup buttermilk (or normal milk)

1 small apple, grated

¼ cup flaked almonds

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Grease and line a 20cm round springform pan; grease the paper as well.

2. Cream butter and Natvia/sugar in a bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then beat until combined.

3. Stir in half the sifted flour and baking powder with half the buttermilk, then add the remaining flour and milk. Stir well to combine.

4. Pour batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle with grated apple and almonds. Bake in preheated oven for 40-45 minutes. Stand for 5 minutes before removing from the pan. Serve warm.

Ingredients, including, flour, buttermilk, apple, eggs, butter and almonds.

Thanks to Flujo for the sample of Natvia (more info here)

Sprinkling apple and almonds on the cake before baking

A lovely, moist teacake

One slice or two?
Er, don't mind if I do!

Xanthi rocks the shops

2011-09-10T23:00:00.003+10:00

So. Saturday = shopping + eating out.

This is the equation I've been following lately, and it's a winner.

Working from first principles, this Saturday started with a visit to Westfield Bondi Junction to look for a cat bowl. This was brought about because I accidentally broke Tabitha cat's previous bowl. I hadn't visited WBJ for a while, and was disappointed to find that one of its two pet stores had since closed. Fortunately found a reasonable-looking cat bowl at the backup pet store. Tabitha is pleased.

Fast forward to the 'eating out', please? OK. Trained it back to Westfield Sydney for a late lunch at Xanthi. Not having had the delight of eating at its previous incarnation (Perama at Petersham), and having salivatingly read about other bloggers' visits there, this was something I was looking forward to.

Xanthi is open all day (from 8am) and it's the perfect place for a civilised coffee, snack or full meal after the exhaustion of looking for pet supplies. We arrived just after 3pm, and there was plenty of room, so we chose a table at one of the booths - seats are covered in colourful woven coverings.

Onto the food - we chose several Ouzomezedakia (small shared plates, like tapas), and a well-known main.

Light Greek beer - Craft Red Pale Ale ($10) - wonderfully light accompaniment to the food.

Tarama dip ($7) - best tarama ever. Normally, I don't like it, but this runs several rings around the supermarket stuff. Light and tangy, comes with seed-encrusted crunchy toast.

Vine dolmathes ($9) - served warm, filled with vegetable rice. Gorgeous.

Herbed skordalia croquettes ($7.50) - scented with mint and dill, with a tasty mayo dressing. These have to be some of the lightest croquettes around.

Fried school prawns ($9) - these tasted sweet due to the honey (and fish sauce!) in the dressing. You have to be careful when chewing these because you eat the prawns whole, and there can be some sharp bits from the head and shells. It's not hard to polish off a bowl of these, though, especially with a beer on the side.

Pork belly baklava ($18) - this is an interpretation of the famous dish from Perama. The hand-rolled filo pastry would be fantastic on its own, but here it's rolled around shredded pork belly and dates and pistachios. The pork was a little dry but helped by the mastic sauce; also, my bit of pork crackling was too chewy (though the other piece was okay).

To finish, coffee ($3 each).

Dessert was Garden of Aphrodite ($15) - sheep's milk pudding beautifully decorated with sugared rose petals, yellow beetroot, mandarin, dark chocolate, ouzo meringue (just like pop rocks!) with raspberry and beetroot puree. So pretty. The pudding tasted pretty amazing, too, very creamy.

The remnants of a great lunch.

Chef prepares our pork belly baklava in the open kitchen.

Ouzo trolley.

When the curtains are drawn back, the restaurant is open to the levels downstairs.

Entrance to Xanthi. There are windows into the kitchen area, so you can see what's going on. There's also a coffee servery outside, with Greek coffee preparation paraphernalia.

Chef David Tsirekas takes a breather before the evening rush.

Greek restaurants in Sydney are a rarity, so I'm ecstatic that Xanthi has opened in a central place (to us, at least) for everyone to enjoy. I love the idea of small sharing plates as well as having the option of a 3-course meal. Xanthi has the new Chat Thai and Spiedo as next-door neighbours, as well as early tenant, Sky Phoenix, so level 6 of Westfield is shaping up to be a cut above the admittedly decent foodcourt on level 5.

Oh, and JB HiFi is also on this level, so when you roll out of the resto after your fabulous meal, you can drop into JB and caress the flat-screen TVs, PCs and cameras. That's what I did!

Xanthi is on Level 6, Westfield Sydney, Pitt St, Sydney

ph: 9232 8535

website: http://xanthi.com.au/

Haloumi Pea Fritters and cheese reminiscences

2011-09-06T09:00:00.001+10:00

Are you a cheese fiend? Love a bit of Gruyere, Cheddar, Brie or mild Blue?

Join the club, me too!

It wasn't always like this because cheese wasn't prevalent in our household when I was growing up. Except for those sticks of processed soft cheese or the foil-wrapped wedges of (processed) soft cheese.
Then, when I was a teenager, our sophisticated (to me) neighbours invited us over for a dinner party and they served this cheese that had layers of walnuts embedded in it. Oh, the style and elegance of a little wheel of walnut cheese on a platter. They had other cheeses as well, but I only remember the walnut one. It was the start of my love of cheese, and I would bug my mother to buy walnut cheese at every opportunity, until I got sick of it. Do they still make walnut-layered cheese? I must keep an eye out for it, for old time's sake.

Here is a recipe using another favourite cheese, the squeaky, salty, versatile haloumi.

Haloumi and Pea Fritters
Serves 4

Ingredients
½ cup plain flour
½ tsp baking powder
1 egg
¼ cup buttermilk
¼ cup chopped dill
1 tblsp finely grated lemon rind
2 cups fresh or frozen peas
1 cup (120g) grated haloumi
Salt and pepper
1 tblsp olive oil
2 Lebanese cucumbers, thinly sliced with a vegetable peeler
Smoked chicken or smoked trout, to serve
Tzatziki and lemon wedges, to serve

Method
1. Place the flour, baking powder, egg, buttermilk, dill, lemon rind, peas, haloumi, and salt and pepper to taste, in a bowl and stir well until combined.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Cook 2 tablespoonfuls of the batter at a time, in batches, for 2-3 minutes each side or until golden and cooked through.
3. Place the fritters on a plate and top with the cucumber and smoked chicken/trout. Serve with tzatziki and lemon to squeeze over.

Recipe adapted from donna hay magazine.

Ingredients, including buttermilk, baking powder, egg, haloumi, frozen peas, lemon and cucumber.

Smoked chicken was my choice to accompany these fritters, but you could also use smoked trout or hot-smoked salmon.

The fritters are quite delicate, so be careful when putting them in the frypan. Push any wayward bits back into the fritter while they are cooking and they should stick.

Serve the golden brown fritters with a cooling tzatziki and strips of cucumber.

Didn't Monty Python have a cheese chart? Must look it up to see if walnut cheese is on it.

Lemon delicious IS delicious

2011-09-01T15:00:00.003+10:00

Have you ever ordered a dish at a restaurant and not expected too much of it, but then you taste it and the fireworks go off on your tastebuds?

This happened to me when I tried the Lemon Delicious at Felix bistro last year (drool over the dish here). I’d always imagined lemon delicious to be a rather old-fashioned granny dish, but it’s not; it’s deceptively light and tangy and zingy and, yes, maybe just a bit reminiscent of another era.

I was pretty happy, then, to find a recipe that produced that same ka-boom! effect as the dessert at Felix. I’ve reduced the sugar in this version to highlight the sharp lemony goodness and the result is a dessert that’s not too sweet and will have you coming back for more (if there's any left).

Lemon delicious pudding

makes 4 serves

Ingredients

40g butter

½ cup caster sugar

Grated rind of 1 lemon, plus 70ml lemon juice

2 eggs, separated

40g plain flour

¾ cup milk

Icing sugar, to dust

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C (160C fan-forced). Grease 4x1 ½ cup soufflé dishes or ramekins OR one 6-cup capacity baking dish.

2. Place butter, sugar and lemon rind in a food processor and mix until pale and creamy. Add lemon juice, egg yolks, flour and then the milk one at a time, processing well after addition of each ingredient, until a smooth batter forms.

3. Using electric beaters, beat eggwhites until soft peaks form. Lightly fold in the lemon batter.

4. Pour mixture into prepared dishes and place in a large baking pan. Pour enough hot water into the baking pan to come halfway up the sides of the dishes. Bake for 25-30 minutes (or for 35-40 minutes if using a large dish), until top is lightly browned and set, with a creamy lemon curd underneath. Remove dishes from the pan. Dust with icing sugar to serve.

recipe adapted from BBC Australian Good Food

Ingredients: Flour, milk, eggs, sugar, lemon, butter

Place the prepared batter into small ramekins then place in a water bath before baking. The puddings do not rise very much, so there is no need to grease the ramekins all the way to the top like I did.

Golden goodness... but just wait until you dig in...

Light, fluffy sponge cake with warm lemon curd at the bottom

A dessert that lives up to its name, this really IS delicious

Baked and Delicious Olive Herb Parmesan Bread plus GIVEAWAY

2011-08-29T09:00:00.006+10:00

Hold onto your seats, this is not just a fantastic recipe for tasty bread, but you could get something for nothing. But wait, you just have to wait...

I was sent a copy of a new magazine, Baked and Delicious, to review. You may have seen it advertised or at the newsagency - you can subscibe to it and each issue comes with a piece of silicone bakeware to use with the recipes in the magazine. My copy came with a loaf tin, so naturally I had to make a loaf.

I've never baked a savoury loaf before, but the flavours in this one sounded so good - olives, peppers, parmesan. Visions of a fragrant loaf cooling on the window sill while bluebirds of happiness fluttered around. I am there, baby!

Like most of the recipes in the magazine, this one is simple to make and the instructions are very easy to understand, with step-by-step photos. The results speak for themselves, as this bread/loaf was also very easy to eat, especially when it was still fresh and warm. The small bit that was left was wrapped in foil and I finished it off the next day after heating it in the toaster oven and slathering it in butter (so much butter!). A cool magazine, a successful recipe, a scrumptious loaf. Couldn't ask for anything more....

...Except a GIVEAWAY! Salivate over the photos below, then enter the contest...

Olive, Herb and Parmesan Bread
serves 8

Ingredients
75g (3oz) stuffed olives, sliced
75g (3oz) pimentos (bottled red peppers), sliced
1 tsp dried thyme
2 tblsp chives, finely chopped
125g (4oz) parmesan, grated
350g (12oz) plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp each salt and black pepper
1/2 tsp dry mustard or curry powder
2 eggs, lightly beaten
300ml (1/2 pint) buttermilk
2 tblsp olive oil
sea salt flakes

Method
1. Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Grease and line a 900g (2lb) loaf pan with baking paper (you don't need to do this if using a silicon pan).
2. Place the olives, pimentos, thyme, chives and parmesan into a large mixing bowl.
3. Sift the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt, pepper and mustard/curry powder into the bowl with the olives.
4. Whisk the eggs in a separate bowl with the buttermilk and olive oil.
5. Mix the olives and pimentos into the flour mixture. Make a well in the centre and pour in the buttermilk mixture and stir until you get a thick, sticky batter.
6. Use a spatula to scrape the mixture into the prepared loaf pan.
7. Smooth the top of the loaf and decorate with extra slices of pimento. Scatter with flakes of sea salt. Bake the loaf in the preheated oven for 40-45 minutes or until the top is risen and golden, and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
8. Cool the loaf in the pan for at elast 10 minutes and then turn out onto a rack to finish cooling. Slice and serve.

recipe adapted from Baked and Delicious

Ingredients, including buttermilk, bicarb soda, baking powder, flour, eggs, parmesan cheese, pimentos, olives and chives. Lurking cat is optional.

Part of the preparation - a messy workbench means you know what you are doing.

I used the silicone loaf pan that came with Baked and Delicious magazine. It's brilliant, the cooked loaf popped straight out, no problems.

How good does this loaf look? I used curry powder, hence the attractive yellow hue of the loaf. Actually, this bread reminds me of the chorizo and olive loaf from Adriano Zumbo, except this one is lighter, doesn't have chorizo and is better!
Wait, there's more...

Served still-warm from the oven, with just a bit of butter. Really delicious.

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Thanks to The Defectors and Baked and Delicious, you could win a Subscription to Baked and Delicious which includes 60 issues of Baked and Delicious and 4 exclusive (subscriber only) gifts, the total worth being $1,105.00.

To be in the running to win this amazing prize, just leave a comment on this post that contains the words 'baked and delicious'. So that you can be contacted when you win, please make sure you leave an email address (or send your entry and details to me at oohlookbel2000 at gmail dot com). Entries close on 26th September 2011.

If you can't wait to win, you can subscribe to Baked and Delicious - click here. Check out the free gifts with subscription!

***This contest is now CLOSED***

Congratulations to Heather, winner of the Baked and Delicious subscription

Conditions of Contest

1. Entry to the Baked and Delicious contest is by comment on this or subsequently labelled posts. Alternatively, email Ooh, Look to be entered. Entries must contain the words 'baked and delicious'. Winner will be selected randomly. Enter as many times as you like.

2. Competition closes end of day, 26th September 2011.

3. Prize can only be sent to subscribers with an Australian address.

Easy Paella

2011-08-26T09:00:00.002+10:00

Being a bit of a fan of rice dishes (plain boiled rice excepted), I will give any risotto, fried rice, paella or pilaf a go. And if it’s quick and easy to make, then it moves to the top of the list with a gold star for “well done, you are so the teacher’s pet”.

This wonderful recipe is from the equally wonderful taste.com.au website. Just type in an ingredient or recipe name and it comes up with a range of recipes from magazines such as delicious, Super Food Ideas (lots of ‘bakes’) and Good Taste. As you know, I am on a self-imposed mag-buying ban (with a couple of, ahem, exceptions), so getting my recipe fix online is brilliant. And it gets better – there is no seafood in this paella, so for those with a suspected shellfish allergy, there is one less thing to worry about. So put down that hard-copy of the latest food mag and that pack of antihistamines and get cooking.

Easy Paella

serves 4

Ingredients

4 chicken thigh fillets, chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
Grated zest of 1 lemon
1/2 tsp harissa
1 tsp smoked paprika (pimenton)
1/4 cup (60ml) olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 cup Calasparra or arborio rice
1/2 cup (125ml) dry white wine
pinch of saffron threads, soaked in 1/4 cup water
2 cups (500ml) gluten-free chicken stock
1/2 cup (60g) frozen peas
80g roasted capsicum (from a jar), drained, chopped
1/2 cup black olives, pitted
2 tblsp chopped flat-leaf parsley or chives
Lemon to serve

Method
1. Combine chicken, garlic, lemon zest, harissa, paprika and oil in a bowl. Place in fridge to marinate for 15 minutes. Heat a non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until golden. Remove chicken and set aside.
2. Add a little oil to pan, if necessary, then add onion and cook, stirring, over medium heat for 2-3 minutes until softened. Add rice, then stir for 1 minute to coat rice in onion mixture.
3. Add the wine and allow to bubble for 2-3 minutes, then add saffron (with liquid) and stock, and bring to the boil. Return chicken to the pan, season, then simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until rice is almost cooked and most of the stock is absorbed. Stir in peas, capsicum and olives. Cook for a further 2 minutes until rice is tender and all the stock is absorbed. Stir through parsley or chives, then serve with lemon wedges.
recipe adapted from taste.com.au

Ingredients, including harissa, lemon, onion, garlic, rice, olives, saffron, capsicum, frozen peas.

The chicken (not shown) is marinated in garlic, harissa and paprika which makes it delicious.

The saffron adds quite a nice hue to the rice, as well as a subtle flavour.

And the kitchen smells mouth-wateringly good while the rice is cooking.

This is a new favourite - looks good, so easy to prepare and tastes divine.

Oh my darling - Little Darling Diner, Balmain

2011-08-20T23:00:00.005+10:00

There has been a spate of new restaurant openings in Balmain lately, and not before time, as the current places were getting a bit boring (for camera-wielding foodbloggers, at least!). The Sucre chocolate cafe is settling in nicely, and Vice Wine Bar has opened across the road to cater for the classy ~~winos~~ wine connoisseurs. Further down towards Gladstone Park, an offshoot of the popular Surry Hills stalwart, Spice I Am, has started trading.

An exciting newcomer has also popped up next door to Efendy restaurant - or, if you prefer the Balmain thing of asking 'what pub is it near?', it's opposite the Cat and Fiddle. Little Darling Diner is a cute French-inspired cafe/restaurant on the site of that old seafood takeaway place.

And what a change from that old seafood takeaway place. The place has been completely made over with a mix of girly turquoise spindly chairs and manly dark polished wood. Is there a more lovely combination of colours than blue and brown? I don't think so.

Ooh, such gorgeous surroundings, perfect for afternoon tea or a glass of Champagne ($10 after 10am).

We arrived on the cusp of breakfast and lunch and decided on the breakfast menu. The brekky menu has the usual eggs, bacon and porridge as well as crepes and omelettes.

The most fragrant EBT (Theodora brand) $3.30, was served in a mod glass teapot and delicate china cup.

This was a more masculine corner. There are lots of photogenic spots like this.

Back to the food: wonderful smoky bacon in the bacon and eggs ($12.50); a fantastically cheesey baked eggs florentine ($14.50). Both were served with a very good sourdough toast. Servings were smallish, but enough for us.

After we finished, co-owner Nour kindly showed us around. This is the back area of the restaurant. This place is like the Tardis: there is a sitting area with window bar area, an additional downstairs dining room PLUS a sunny outdoor courtyard with umbrellas. Trés chic.

There were quite a few groups of ladies enjoying the sunshine when we were there.

Melinda works the kitchen while Nour is front of house. Together with some efficient and friendly waitstaff, they are a great team.

Summary: Little Darling Diner is a darling place! I adored the decor, the food was tasty and it just has a nice vibe (sorry, that sounds a bit lame, but it has good ambience). LDD is also open for dinner, with dishes like lamb's brains, snails and cassoulet (French or what?). It's a charming addition (finally) to the area. Highly recommended if you're in the Balmain/Rozelle hood.

Little Darling Diner is at 485a Darling Street, Balmain, NSW

ph: 02 9810 5255

website: littledarlingdiner.com.au

Mac cheese to the Max

2011-08-17T09:00:00.004+10:00

Most people love macaroni cheese. I certainly do, though I think it's more to do with the childhood memory of sitting down in pajamas and fluffy dressing gown in front of the TV, with a boiling hot bowl of 'mac and cheese' and a spoon. Then burning your tongue and going 'Argh, Ah burrt ma tug!'.

I've never made mac and cheese before this, probably because it takes a surprising amount of effort for such a simple dish. But then I discovered the happiness of Sunday night in front of the telly, and when it comes down to it, boiling up the pasta and a bit of stirring of milk and flour isn't really that difficult. As long as I can keep an eye out on the TV while making it, so as not to miss out on Downton Abbey or any other juicy Sunday night bonnet drama.

Macaroni Cheese

serves 2

Ingredients

125g macaroni

20g butter

1 tblsp plain flour

1 3/4 cups milk

1 tsp crushed garlic

1/2 tsp Dijon mustard

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

1/3 cup grated parmesan

1/4 cup dried breadcrumbs

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200C. Cook macaroni in a saucepan of boiling, salted water until al dente, then drain.

2. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until the mixture comes away from the side of the pan. Gradually add milk, whisking constantly, until smooth. Add garlic and simmer for 4-5 minutes, until the sauce thickens.

3. Add the mustard, cheddar cheese and half the parmesan. Stir until the cheese melts and the mixture is smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add macaroni and stir to combine.

4. Spoon macaroni cheese into two 2 1/2 capacity ovenproof dishes and top with remaining parmesan and breadcrumbs. Bake for 15 minutes, until bubbling. Serve carefully - it's hot!

recipe adapted from BBC Australian Good Food

Some ingredients: Penne (or macaroni), grated cheddar cheese, Dijon mustard, milk, butter, garlic.

It's a two-stage process: cook the pasta, and make the white cheese sauce, then mix together.

Sprinkle with parmesan and breadcrumbs before baking.

Tongue-burningly hot - macaroni cheese is a really warming little meal.

Love the crunchy bits of cheese on top.

Fat Buddha yum cha - classy

2011-08-13T21:37:00.001+10:00

Here's something a little different. It's a Cantonese restaurant that's not an eating 'palace'. It's in the CBD. The decor is contemporary. The food is really good.

Am I showing my age when I ask, "Do you remember the Chinese restaurant that used to be in the Queen Victoria Building?". It was called Silk Road, or something, and it was a pretty high-class, fine dining type of place. It must have been in the 1990s and it was the place to go. But that was then, and this is now.

Fat Buddha opened last week on level 2 of the QVB. It has a gorgeous modern decor with golden barrel lights suspended from the ceiling, heavy marble tables (with white tablecloths) and dark-toned wood panelling. It also has these beautiful arched windows to let in daylight (#win for foodbloggers).

This is what we had for yum cha lunch today.

Like I said, the food is particularly good, with a 'homemade' flavour that is a refreshing change from the MSG-laden dishes of other yum cha restaurants. The spring rolls were delicious, plumply filled with pork and scented with ginger.

These seafood rolls were sitting in a delicate broth and were chock-full of finely chopped prawn and scallop meat.

The sui mai dumplings were tender and piping hot.

Yum cha staples of egg tarts and mango pancake ticked all the right boxes.

We arrived before 12pm on Saturday and there was plenty of room, though the place is not large and filled up quickly. There was a reasonable variety of dishes, although not as many as some of those enormous Chinatown places. I loved that there was not prawn in everything, and the flavour of the food was a lot 'gentler' and less salty than at other places. Prices are high, as expected in the CBD, and the bill for this meal came to about $70. Chinese tea is $2.50 per person.

The service was lovely, and the trolley ladies were polite and not pushy at all. The city needs more restaurants like this (nice decor, nice food), and I'm really glad there's now a decent city alternative for weekend yum cha. Hope they stay good for a while yet.

Fat Buddha is on level 2 of the Queen Victoria Building, George St, Sydney.

ph: 02 9264 9558

website: http://www.fatbuddha.com.au/

Rice porridge for the sick soul

2011-08-09T09:00:00.003+10:00

It's been a trying time in the Ooh, Look... household in the past week, with the taint of winter illness befalling 66.67% of the household.

Firstly, the other half got a severe dose of 'man flu'. Symptoms included wooziness, runny nose, aches and pains and a reluctance to do any housework. Several trips to the pharmacy (by me) for antibiotics and cold and flu tablets had no effect, and I had to cancel an anticipated visit to a fancy restaurant as a result. Not happy, Jan.

Then, a couple of days later, I caught a really bad cold that turned into a chesty cough. Urgh! Unfortunately, this happened on Friday, so I had to spend the weekend on the couch, going through several boxes of aloe vera tissues. My symptoms included wooziness, nausea, runny nose, aches and pains and an unexplained urge to do all the housework (believe me, the place is a mess).

So, not much cooking was done this week. But I did manage to make this cure for all winter ills, rice porridge, aka congee or jook. It's warming and delicious and economical and it makes me feel all motherly. I'm sort of on the mend now, and I do declare, it's all due this wondrous soup.

Rice porridge

serves 4

Ingredients

1/2 cup long grain rice

8 cups water (or 2 cups chicken/vegetable stock plus 6 cups water)

Method

1. Place the rice in a sieve and rinse under running water until the water becomes clear.

2. Put the rice in a large saucepan and add the water (or water plus stock).

3. Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce the heat. Place the saucepan lid slightly ajar on the pan and simmer for 1 to 2 hours, or until the rice grains have broken down and become soft and soupy. Taste and season with salt, if desired.

4. Serve the porridge hot.

This cooked rice porridge can be cooled then stored in a covered container in the refrigerator for 2 days.

I kind of 'cheated' (I was sick, after all) and added a tub of chicken stock jelly to the water.

Yes, it's that Continental chicken stock pot stuff that is promoted by Marco Pierre White. It gives the rice porridge a good flavour, and it means you don't need to add extra salt.

For the patient/s, I also added some sliced ham, chives and fried onions.

Yum, I could eat this even if I wasn't ill.

Tabitha cat managed to avoid this round of illness, thank goodness.

I made sure to stock up on oranges and mandarins as an extra precaution (for us, not the cat).

Simple chocolate mousse dedicated to Spink-Bottle

2011-08-04T09:00:00.002+10:00

My dear mother recently asked me, “When are you going to clean out the books in your bedroom?”. Not in those exact words, though, and in a more, shall we say, irritated/cheesed-off tone of voice. You see, I’d been using my old room at mum’s house as a store room for the work outfits I no longer wear (nor fit into) and old textbooks, uni notes, records, craft projects, magazines, books… it’s a bit of a firetrap in there, truth be told.

So, like a dutiful daughter, and with just a hint of exasperation, I went through everything and dumped all the paper into the recycling bin. However, I did save my prized copies of PG Wodehouse and I spent a delicious couple of hours reliving life with Jeeves, Bertie, Gussie Fink-Nottle (aka ‘Spink-Bottle’, heehee) and the chappies at the Drones.

Oh, and what did I do with my old work suits (with biggish shoulder pads, in delectable bright pink, pastel blue, appropriate black)? I left them in the wardrobe, of course. Because fashion cycles dictate that they will be back in style in mid-2012, and I’m gonna be rockin’ the runway when they do.

During the cleanout, I found a newspaper cutting with this easy chocolate mousse idea. I made it and it made me smile as much as Spink-Bottle.

Simple Chocolate Mousse

Serves 4

Ingredients

100g dark chocolate, broken into pieces

300ml thickened cream

Method

1. Melt the chocolate over a double boiler, or in the microwave. For microwave method, place the broken chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl, then heat on medium-low setting for 30 seconds at a time, stirring between heatings. It should be almost melted after 90 seconds, so just stir it until the chocolate completely melts. Set melted chocolate aside to cool slightly.

2. While the chocolate is cooling, whip the cream until soft peaks form.

3. Fold in the melted chocolate and stir until it’s combined and there are no white streaks in the mixture.

4. Spoon the mousse into 4 small bowls and refrigerate for 1 hour before serving.

Ingredients: Just some cream and chocolate

Whip the cream and fold in the melted chocolate

Spoon into glasses or dessert bowls and refrigerate

You can decorate the mousses if you like.

Fresh fruit would be good, but I didn't have any, so honeycomb had to do.

Self-saucing Beef

2011-07-28T09:00:00.001+10:00

Just a quick recipe today. Or really, it's more of a 'treatment' of steak that can be applied to other meats, like chicken.

This method involves a quick marinating of beef strips in some soy sauce, oil and cornflour, then cooking it in a hot pan so that the juice from the meat melds with the marinade to produce its own sauce. This a popular way of preparing beef in Cantonese restaurants, and I've recently had a delicious version where they added wasabi paste at the end of the cooking to give the dish a Japanese twist.

Some restaurants also add some bicarbonate of soda to the marinating meat, to make it more tender, but I didn't do this because the steak that I used was such good quality (I could tell this by how easily it sliced when raw, and Tabitha cat kept scratching at my leg for bits of it - ouch!).

Saucy Beef

serves 2

Ingredients

1 piece of rump steak, approx 400g, sliced or cubed

2 tblsp soy sauce

1 tblsp rice bran oil (or other neutral-tasting oil, not olive oil)

1 tblsp cornflour

1 tsp grated garlic

1 tsp grated ginger

1 tblsp oil, for frying

a few stems green onions or garlic chives, chopped

Method

1. Marinate the meat: Put the steak in a bowl and add the soy sauce, oil and cornflour. Mix so that the meat is well-coated, then cover and leave for 15 minutes.

2. Heat the oil in a frypan over high heat, then add the garlic and ginger and stir for 30 seconds.

3. Add the meat to the pan, separating the pieces while it cooks. Stir for a minute, then add the green onions. Quickly toss together until the meat is no longer red, but do not overcook.

4. Serve hot with steamed rice or plain noodles

These greens aren't garlic chives, but I can't think of their name. What are they called??? They come in long lengths, like snake beans, and they have a garlicky oniony taste.

The sliced steak is marinated in the soon-to-be-sauce.

For an accompaniment, I steamed some bought plain buns ('mantou') that had a slightly sweet flavour that goes really well with the beef and can mop up the sauce

Once cooked, the cornflour and soy create a velvety sauce that coats the beef

Mmm... saucy!

Open wide, here comes the chopstick aeroplane...

Not-a-bake with ricotta eggplant beef

2011-07-22T21:00:00.007+10:00

*Some small talk, since we haven’t seen each other for a while*

“So what about this weather, eh?”

What’s it like where you are? If you say, “Oh, it’s beautiful, so fine and clear”, then I’ll clock you one. Because it’s been absolutely miserable here in Sydney for the past week – drenching rain nearly every hour of every day. Rain coming in sheets, sideways, puddles the size of potholes, potholes the size of ponds….

On a brighter note, the rainy weather does not concern me any more because I have a new washer/dryer!!!! So excited that I don’t have to check the weather forecast to find out if it’s going to be fine and mild tomorrow so I can do the washing. Nor do I have to get up at 6.30am to put the laundry in the machine so that it finishes washing by 8am so I can hang it on the line before I go to work. No more looking out the window and groaning at the sight of a stray dark cloud approaching from the west. Now, I can put the washing in, set the dial to ‘wash and dry’ and listen out (4:13 hours later) for the musical tone that tells me it’s all done. Life’s good ™

If only the nightly dinner preparations were as easy. But where would the fun be in that? Here’s a great recipe for a rainy night.

* I've titled this 'not a bake' because 'bake' sounds a bit naff (even though that's what Donna Hay calls this)

Baked Ricotta Beef and Eggplant

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 tblsp olive oil

1 brown onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, crushed

500g beef mince

1 cup tomato puree (or 4 small tomatoes, crushed)

2 tblsp Worcestershire sauce

½ tsp dried oregano

Salt and pepper

500g low-fat ricotta cheese

1 cup grated mozzarella or cheddar cheese

2 eggs, lightly beaten

6 slices chargrilled marinated eggplant

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200C/400F. Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan over high heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook for 5 minutes or until softened.

2. Add the mince and cook, breaking up any lumps with a wooden spoon, for 5 minutes or until browned.

3. Add the tomato puree, Worcestershire sauce, oregano, salt and pepper and cook for 10 minutes.

4. Place the ricotta, mozzarella, egg, salt and pepper into a bowl and mix to combine.

5. Place 3 slices of eggplant in the base of a 5-cup capacity baking dish and top with half the mince mixture. Layer with the remaining eggplant and mince. Top with the ricotta mixture and cook for 25-30 minutes or until golden.

recipe adapted from Donna Hay (winter 2011)

Vegetable ingredients (and eggs)

Other ingredients, including cheeses, mince and eggplant

Layer the eggplant and cooked mince mixture in a baking dish

The ricotta on top puffs up beautifully and it tastes quite light as long as you don't think about all that cheese (or use low-fat cheese, like I did)

This smallish slice is for display purposes - I actually ate about a third of the entire creation.

And it was worth every bite.

Onion tart with some sort of pastry

2011-07-14T09:00:00.002+10:00

Here is another recipe from my current favourite (non-electronic) cookbook, Small Adventures in Cooking. Plus, this recipe for onion and anchovy tart is even easier to make if you use store-bought pastry, like I did. More on the pastry later...

All you need to do is slice up some onions (no fiddly dicing required - slicing is so much easier, don't you think?); a few small tears were shed, I must admit. Then cook down the onions till they are soft. Roll out the pastry and blind bake, fill the tart and you're on your way to enjoying a sensationally scrumptious meal.

Onion and Anchovy Tart

serves 8

Ingredients

300g shortcrust pastry

50g butter

6 onions, peeled and finely sliced

salt and pepper

2 eggs

100ml cream

100g grated Gruyere or Cheddar cheese

approx 12 anchovy fillets in oil, drained

Method

1. For the pastry: Preheat oven to 180C. Line a 25cm tart tin with the pastry. Prick all over with a fork, then line with a piece of baking paper and fill with cooking weights or uncooked rice or beans to weigh it down. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, then remove the paper and weights and return to the oven for 5 minutes.

2. For the onions: In a large frypan, melt the butter over low heat and add the onions. Season with salt and pepper, cover and cook for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

3. Allow the onions to cool a bit. Beat together the cream and eggs and stir into the onions together with the cheese. Season with salt and pepper and pour into the baked tart shell. Lay the anchovies over the top. Cook the tart in the oven for 30-40 minutes, until the filling is set. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

recipe from Small Adventures in Cooking by James Ramsden

Ingredients: Lots of onions, lots of butter, eggs, anchovies and cheese.

And cream. And pastry, but more on that later...

I'm not the only one who's crying - Tabitha cat is affected by the onion fumes, too!

Slow cooking of the onions makes them soft and luscious.

The pastry (more on that later...) is blind-baked before being filled with the onions.

The anchovies provide a sharp saltiness to the tart.

Deliciously rich. Serve warm or cold.

And what about this pastry? The packet says shortcrust, but surely that's puff pastry in there!

The puff pastry didn't affect the flavour of the tart, but shortcrust might have been preferable.

Another recipe from Small Adventures in Cooking is here.

Like I Give a Toss: Quinoa Tofu Brussels Sprouts

2011-07-11T09:00:00.003+10:00

I'm reminiscing about the days - not long ago - when I used to buy virtually every magazine that came out. While my mag-buying habits have not completely disappeared, I can now see small sections of the surface of my dining table because it's not covered with magazines, "Ooh, look, I forgot that the table has a glass top...*embarrassed giggle*".

Anyway, there's a food magazine (no names, but can you guess which one?) that just loves 'bakes'. Creamy pasta bake. Chilli beef and bean bake (?!). Oh my gosh I've lost the Chihuahua bake. Put some macaroni in a dish with some cream and stick it in the oven and call it a 'bake'. I think I stopped getting this mag because I couldn't take another bake.

However, there is a reason why bakes are popular. They are easy to make, hard to stuff up, and they taste good. Here's a recipe for - not a bake! - but a 'toss'. It's where lots of delicious ingredients are tossed together with an equally scrummy dressing. It's easy, hard to get wrong and tastes incredible. Yes, I like to give a toss!

You can make this dish with any vegetable or protein you have on hand, although it's good to use quinoa as a base as it's healthy as well. This one also as an Asian flavour, with teriyaki tofu and fish sauce and rice wine vinegar.

Quinoa Toss with Brussels Sprouts and Tofu

serves 2

Ingredients

1/2 cup quinoa

1 cup water

16 brussels sprouts, bases trimmed, and halved

1 tblsp olive oil

a handful of snow peas (about 10), sliced

1 chargrilled capsicum (red pepper), sliced (store-bought is okay)

100g marinated tofu (or cooked meat such as chicken, or haloumi/fetta), diced

Dressing:

2 tblsp fish sauce

1 tblsp rice wine vinegar

1 tblsp water

pinch of dried chilli flakes

caster sugar, to taste

Method

1. For the quinoa: Rinse the quinoa in a sieve under running water to remove any husks. Put the water in a small pan and bring to the boil. Add a pinch of salt and the quinoa. Cover and simmer for about 10 minutes, or until the water is absorbed. Remove from the heat and fluff the quinoa up with a fork.

2. For the brussels sprouts: Preheat oven to 200C/400F. Heat the olive oil in an ovenproof skillet or pan over medium-high heat, then add the brussels sprouts. Cook for about 3 minutes, or until they brown slightly. Transfer the pan to the oven and cook for another 10 minutes.

3. For the dressing: Combine the dressing ingredients in a bowl. Add sugar to taste, stirring until it dissolves.

4. If desired, heat the tofu and briefly blanch the snow peas (or ping in the microwave for 50 seconds).

5. When the brussels sprouts are done, remove from the oven and toss through the some of the dressing.

6. To serve: In serving bowls, combine the quinoa, tofu, capsicum, snow peas and brussels sprouts. Drizzle over any remaining dressing.

Ingredients. I use honey soy or teriyaki-flavoured marinated tofu.

This is a fantastic way to cook brussels sprouts. If the sprouts are small and tender, then they are less likely to be bitter. Here, I used my Microstoven baking dish to cook the sprouts on the gas flame before finishing them off in the oven.

Then just toss it all in a bowl, and eat.