The Belly Rules Blog

Rhubarb, rhubarb, rhubarb...

2012-02-13T09:14:00.000+11:00

I snatched up a few cheap bunches of lovely organic rhubarb at a local market recently; since then I have been experimenting with all manner of combos and recipes. On visiting a friend at their work - in - progress farm they too gave me some fresh rhubarb from their garden, after I took round a peach and rhubarb pie I'd made that morning.

My father in law delivered another few trays of the mega peaches from the family Batlow orchard. So I got inspired to make another pie.

Strawberry peach and rhubarb pie with vanilla spiked cream.

Ingredients:

(Pastry)
250g plain flour
125g unsalted butter
2 tbs caster sugar (optional)
1tbs chilled water
1 egg

(Filling)
Big bunch of rhubarb (approx 10 stalks)
Punnet strawberries
2 large peaches
2 vanilla pods, scraped clean
3 tbs brown sugar (optional)

(Cream)

200g thickened cream
seed scrapings from 2 vanilla pods
1 tbs brown sugar (optional)

Method:

In a food processor, blend flour with a pinch of salt (and sugar if you like a sweeter pastry) then process chopped butter until it resembles breadcrumbs. Whisk egg and water together, then add to flour mixture and process until it starts coming together. Turn out on a flat surface and knead together, form into a rough disc, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least a few hours. Divide into two portions, roll out one portion to cover the bottom of a greased pie dish.

Wash, trim and chop rhubarb into 2cm portions, fry in large non stick pan with a knob of butter until it just starts to soften. Add chopped peaches and strawberries, vanilla pods and sugar, cook until all fruits are soft. Be careful to not let the fruit catch on the bottom of the pan! Taste and add sugar if needed. I like to let the flavours of the fruit speak for itself, so less sugar is always better in my opinion.

Pour fruit mixture into pastry case. Roll out other portion of pastry and cover pie, trimming excess pastry from the edges. Press edges to enclose the pie and chill in fridge for 30 minutes. Brush with a little egg whisked with milk.

Place onto a baking tray and into a preheated 180C oven; bake for approx 45 minutes or until browned on top. Whip cream with sugar and vanilla; serve with the pie.

Back in the game ... sort of

2012-01-15T13:07:00.001+11:00

No, this isn't promotion or endorsement of a cake mix product.

It's been a long time between drinks, folks. On 23 November, a little cherub joined the fold and turned our lives upside down.

Needless to say, my life for the past 8 weeks has involved many sleepless nights, dirty nappies, tears (mine and hers) and uncertainty. It's also been a time of wonder, learning, growth and the most intense emotions I think I'll ever experience in this lifetime.

It was a bumpy start for our little monster. She was born 11 days overdue, after an incredibly long and tiring labour: robust and strong, with a clean bill of health. But within a week her temperature soared and suddenly we were back in hospital for an unknown infection. I watched with horror as she endured various invasive tests and procedures - including a spinal tap - not knowing the cause or what the outcome would be. As it turned out, she had developed mastitis - an extremely rare condition in newborn babies and "just one of those things". She was treated with several courses of antibiotics and ended up with some minor surgery to eliminate the abcess that had formed on her tiny chest, and then finally was home with us at three weeks of age.

We've had our ups and downs since then: colic and overtiredness, Christmas and family, countless visitors all wanting a cuddle and nights when I have cried at her crib, not knowing what to do next. We've also recently experienced the firsts: her head turning eagerly toward our talking, legs kicking happily in the bath, bright and aware blue eyes focusing on our faces, and the most amazing smiles and baby chatter in her new little voice; the beginnings of her communications with us.

I haven't kept up to my usual culinary standards. It's been all grilled sausages and salad, or re-heated meals from the freezer from generous friends - all wolfed down quickly in between her feeding and sleeping. But today, today - I baked. And I felt, almost, human again.

Thanks Mum, for subtly placing the cake mix in my pantry the last time you visited.

Win one of five double passes: Taste of Melbourne 2011!

2011-09-09T13:34:00.006+10:00

Taste of Melbourne returns to the iconic Royal Exhibition Building this September 15-18th 2011, bringing together the city’s finest restaurants and an exceptional line up of premium food and drink producers for an unforgettable gourmet experience all under one roof.

Create your dream degustation from a mouth-watering menu of dishes prepared by Melbourne’s most exciting chefs. Enhance your appreciation of coffee, cheese, fine wine and cocktails with expert-led tastings and tutorials. Sip, sample and savour the gastronomic delights of the Taste Producers Market.

Taste of Melbourne is an affordable and accessible way to sample some of Melbourne's top restaurants and food providores - and having a double pass which provides you and a friend with free entry into the event makes it even easier!

To win one, all you need to do is write me a comment below. Winners will be chosen randomly. Oh, and PLEASE make sure you leave me some way of contacting you i.e. an email address or phone number!

Competition closes Sunday 11 September at 7pm. Be in it to win it!

Salted chocolate caramel slice

2011-07-17T13:33:00.000+10:00

I've been meaning to experiment with an old fashioned caramel slice recipe, here's my twist on the Aussie classic.

Base:

- 220g plain flour
- 165g chopped butter
- 80g caster sugar

Caramel filling:

- 1 tin condensed milk
- 120g butter
- 2 tbs golden syrup

Topping:

- 200g dark chocolate
- 100g milk chocolatee

Pre heat oven to 190C and line the base of a slice pan with baking paper (no grease). Put the base ingredients into a food processor and pulse until it resembles breadcrumbs, press firmly into the bottom of the pan and bake for about 15 minutes. Cool.

Put the caramel filling ingredients into a pan and melt, bring to a low simmer for a few minutes. Be careful as you don't want it to burn - it can catch easily on the bottom of the pan. Pour over the base. Cool and refrigerate for an hour or two.

Melt chocolates together. I just break it up and put it in a bowl in the microwave on low heat for 5 minutes. Check it every minute and stir so it doesn't burn. Pour over the caramel and spread with a spatula. At this point I sprinkled over some pink Murray River sea salt.

Cool and refrigerate for 30 mins, then cut with a hot knife. The salt really brings out the flavour of both the caramel and the chocolate. I think salt is something our grandmothers secretly knew added to the flavour of sweet food, hence the use of salted butter and adding a pinch of salt to most old fashioned baking recipes.

Garlicky "green" soup

2011-07-17T13:03:00.000+10:00

Husband T is feeling under the weather, suffering the effects of a terrible 'man flu'. To be fair, he has actually been pretty sick - something he really struggles with being such an outdoorsy person. A fair test of the severity of any illness affecting T, is whether he can bring himself to potter around the garden. Four days and counting, he was still curled up on the couch on Saturday morning.

This was a rare weekend when I had no plans, so I determined to make him a very healing winter soup. He's not such a fan of the watery varieties though, which rules out my favourite Chinese chicken soup recipe. But he does love broccoli. And garlic. Both of which happen to be in season.

Garlicky green soup (man flu remedy):

Two heads of roughly chopped broccoli
Half a bulb of garlic (about 6 cloves) - peeled and chopped
Two celery stalks
One chopped brown onion
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
2 cups water
150ml cream (or milk)
1 tbs olive oil
20g butter

In a big pot, melt butter and add olive oil, onions, garlic and celery. Saute until softened, then add broccoli, stock and water.

Make sure there is just enough liquid to cover the broccoli - if not, add a little more. Simmer until broccoli is cooked through, then cool slightly. Use a stick blender to blend until smooth, then add cream or milk. Season with white pepper - it shouldn't need salt as the garlic should give it enough flavour.

And the winner is ...

2011-06-26T19:21:00.000+10:00

The results are in. Thanks to all who posted comments on your favourite baking experiences, and for your ongoing interest in my modest little blog.

I'm pleased to say that the lucky winner of "the baker" cookbook giveaway is: Emma. Congratulations Emma! I will be in touch to arrange postage of your spanking new, hardcover bakers book.

Thanks again for your support. :-)

Cookbook Giveaway "the baker"

2011-06-22T19:17:00.000+10:00

It was the shortest day in Melbourne yesterday. The start of winter solstice. I've been blogging for the last year and a half. I'm having a baby. I took the day off work today. The fridge is stocked full of delicious fresh food.

Whatever the reason. Let's celebrate.

To thank those of you that take the time to read my blog and post comments, I'd like to reward you with a cookbook giveaway. Just because.

I bought myself a copy of "the baker" by Leanne Kitchen. It's a wonderful cookbook full of simple recipes plus some lessons thrown in on baking techniques, history of ingredients, and beautiful pictures of good old fashioned food. It's so lovely, I just had to buy two.

So readers, if you'd like a copy, just tell me what your favourite thing to bake is. Be sure to leave your email address or another way for me to contact you!

** Open to Australian residents only. One entry per person. Entries close 5pm AEST Sunday 26th June 2011.

Lunch at Fenix

2011-06-13T17:10:00.002+10:00

Yesterday I enjoyed a long anticipated lunch at Fenix with sis J. We had the 10 course luncheon, which turned out to be incredibly popular with the restaurant filling up fast.

It's a bit of a surprise - as in, you're not sure what you'll get because they use "the best produce of the day". It's also a "sharing menu"; several plates are placed on the middle of the table to share.

Always good to start off with some sparkling mineral water. Cleans the palate! I may have also had a cheeky sip or two of sauv blanc, but I promise J drank most of my glass. It just felt nice to order it.

The first three courses were light, great for picking at and building an appetite. This first one appeared to be a cured salmon with some radishes and seaweed. In my current preggo-state, I couldn't eat this one, but J assures me it was scrumptious.

This, I could eat. Baba ghanoush with tomato/chickpeas and toasted flat bread. Smoky eggplant was a nice contrast to the zingy tomato. There was also some type of oil sprinkled over, if I had to guess, I'd say smoked capsicum.

Again, something I couldn't touch - but again, J assured me it was delicious. An assortment of cured meats and baby pickles.

Next up, three of "the first main course". Gorgeous roated chicken atop sauteed baby brussels sprouts.

A bowl of the most divine assorted green olives...

And one of the best (albeit very simple looking) tomato & basil spaghettini I'd ever tasted. A definite lemon flavour in amongst the tomato and basil goodness.

Next up, the "second of the mains": swordfish with a goats cheese, watermelon and caramelised onion salad.

Damn. I'm not a roast pork lover. However, this looked so divine I did have a taste, and it was quite nice! Roasted pork, crackling, atop creamy polenta (I think with ricotta or some sort of cheese melted through). Plus a lovely creamy gravy on the side.

Next up, desserts. The first one was a vanilla bean panna-cotta (absolutely perfect in texture and flavour), alongside two chocolate quenelles, fresh raspberries (where did they get those!??), and a caramel and biscuit base.

And finally, cinnamon 'donuts' with apples roasted in a caramel sauce.

What a revelation. The food was incredibly simple, but at the same time very well considered. Everything was fresh and delicious. At $59 a head, extremely good value for an experience at one of Melbourne's best.

Food Processor Cake

2011-06-13T16:43:00.000+10:00

Don't get me wrong, I love using my Kitchen Aid mixer, but sometimes I just want to whip up a quick cake with minimal effort.

That's where my food processor cake base mix comes in handy.

Basically, you can put anything into this and make it into what ever kind of cake you like. Berries, fruits, nuts, chocolate chips - anything!

Ingredients:

125g unsalted softened butter

¾ cup caster sugar

2 eggs

1½ cups self-raising flour

½ cup milk

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Method:

Put all ingredients (except any fruit or flavourings) in food processor and mix until combined.

Take out the blade and stir through any flavourings. I used a cup of frozen raspberries, but you could also try orange zest + chopped dark chocolate, blueberries + slivered almonds, sliced apple + walnuts. Use your imagination - just remember to add a little more milk if you're using drier ingredients like cocoa or a lot of nuts.

Smooth into a lined cake or loaf tin. I sprinkled over a few more raspberries because I just love them so much. Bake in a 180c oven for 35 minutes (or until golden and risen).

Falling out of love with Donna

2011-06-05T18:54:00.001+10:00

For all her brilliant food styling and too-easy recipes, there's a big part of me that can't stand Donna Hay. There, I said it. It's not her personally; but the ridiculous and blatant commercialisation of all things "Donna" is cringe-inducing.

Beneath the facade, I'm starting to see some serious flaws to Donna's picture-perfect lifestyle-empire. First there's the magazine. It's very, very pretty, but packed with advertising and an unnecessary quantity of food porn. Then there's the books. Equally as pretty as the magazines and with some lovely simple recipes and seriously clever domestic catering ideas, but also a shameless promotion of her many (over-priced) kitchen products. And of course, the new TV show, "Fast, Fresh, Simple". Which is generally true to it's name, with plenty of nods to busy home cooks by providing family-friendly recipes, utilising simple and cheap pantry fare, and lots of shortcuts to make the whole experience a lot quicker and painless.

This is all fantastic and something I'm a huge advocate for. But, there is also some pretty terrible self-promotion by Donna, including numerous camera shots of her beautiful multi million dollar Sydney apartment, complete with harbour views. This is palatable; but then she suddenly breezes in, looking out the window, then, flicking her long glossy hair, she smugly looks back into the camera, says - "doesn't this AH-MAAAYZING view just MAKE you WANT to cook ALL DAY?" - before pulling out a Donna Hay pan, Donna Hay mixing spoon, Donna Hay chopping board, Donna Hay shower curtain, Donna Hay dildo, Donna Hay cat scratching post, Donna Hay ... well okay. You take my point.

I think I could almost overlook all of these things, except the sticking point for me is that you have to BUY everything Donna offers. In Donna-land, nothing is for free: the show is even on pay-TV. Maybe I'm just old-fashioned, but for someone with so much damn cash you'd think that at least she could throw the recipes from her show on the website every once in a while. A-la "The Cook and the Chef". Maggie and Simon's somewhat experimental but very honet and heart-felt recipes are still up on the good old ABC site for all to see and use. Free. And Maggie has a little empire of her own up in the Barossa, but she never pushed her products or rubbed our noses in the fact that she lives in the lap of luxury while the rest of us mere mortals toil away in cramped, inadequate kitchens with non stainless steel appliances and mismatched crockery from the '80's.

Now, honesty time. I'm airing my frustrations because, upon watching Donna's latest show (yes, I'm still a begrudging fan), she made what looked to be a a pretty easy and clever oven baked pumpkin risotto. But I didn't write down all the ingredients or the method, assuming I could visit her website and refresh my memory. No dice, it turns out that ALL the recipes featuring on her show are just a demonstration of the recipes that are in the latest mag.

Well, this time I'm taking a stand. Donna, given the opportunity, I would happily acknowledge your good work by referencing it in my blog post, but unfortunately I'll have to resort to posting up my own dodgy, sub-standard work instead. Who likes a good pumpkin and sage risotto? One that's baked in the oven and doesn't require standing and stirring for half an hour? See below for this week's FREE recipe from, that's right, yours truly.

Pumpkin and Sage "no stir" Risotto:

Ingredients

One butternut pumpkin, skin removed and chopped into big cubes
2 cups arborio rice
6 cups chicken stock
8 cloves finely sliced garlic
1 diced onion
pepper to taste
1/2 cup white wine (leave this out if you don't have any)
1/2 cup grated parmesan
handful of fresh sage leaves
50 grams salted butter
splash of olive oil

Method

Grab a big casserole dish with a heavy lid (I got mine at Harris Scarf for about $40 bucks), and throw in the pumpkin, rice, stock, garlic, onion, pepper and wine. Shake it around a bit to combine, then put the lid on and place in a pre-heated 200 degree oven for 40 minutes.

Take it out and take off the lid. Add the parmesan and give it a gentle stir so the creamy starch comes out of the rice, it's also ok if some of the pumpkin breaks up as it adds to the lovely colour of the dish. It will look a little watery at this point but trust me, it shouldn't need any more cooking. Put the lid back on and set aside, then put a frypan on medium heat on the stove top. Add butter, olive oil and sage leaves, and fry the leaves, shaking the pan while the leaves cook. Do this for about 5 minutes or until they start to curl slightly (or just as the butter starts to brown). Pour the butter/oil and sage over the risotto.

Serve with a little extra parmesan.

Chocolate feijoa cake

2011-05-29T20:53:00.000+10:00

I had about 8 remaining feijoas after my friand experiment, so did I went where any self respecting foodie with a curiousity about obscure ingredients goes: Google.

I went out on a limb and tried "chocolate+feijoa"and found a blog with a section dedicated to feijoas. The chocolate feijoa cake took my fancy. I didn't quite have the required 1.5 cups of chopped feijoas, but substituted with about half a cup of milk to give it some more moisture.

It sunk a little in the middle, but who cares? The top was lovely and crunchy, and the centre seems very moist. I can't comment on the flavour yet; I'll let you know after I slice it up tomorrow at work.

Ham hock soup

2011-05-29T16:35:00.000+10:00

This was my first weekend in something like two months, where I didn't have any plans. It was an exhausting week on many levels and I was looking forward having some kitchen 'time out', to potter about reading recipe books & foodie blogs, baking, blogging, and generally resting.

I got up early Saturday to do some much needed grocery shopping. It's actually my favourite time to shop - the supermarkets are usually devoid of people at that time and often the shelves are freshly stocked ready for the weekend. It's nice to take time, casually strolling aisle to aisle, dreaming up the weekend's menu.

It's perfect soup weather. Having a big pot of soup cooking on the stove-top always reminds me of Mum - who is a massive fan of soup and forever dreaming up new recipes to use up the many vegetables in her garden. I can't remember the last time I visited and there wasn't fresh soup at the ready. So I'm sure at some point I've seen her use a great big ham hock to flavour the broth.

Ham hock soup is very easy, and uber-practical because you can use up bits and pieces in your cupboard and fridge. Get out your biggest pot, put the hock in and put just enough water in to cover the meat. Then, add some finely diced onion, a bay leaf, and a cup of (rinsed) green lentils - or any other type of pulse you happen to have in the pantry. "Soup mix" is good for obvious reasons. The rest is up to you: I like to throw in a couple of chopped potatoes and carrots - but celery, peas, beans, turnip and parsnip also works well. You also might like to put in some extra flavour - like a stock cube or two, or a teaspoon of vegemite.

Put the lid on and bring to a gentle simmer, cook for two hours or until the meat just starts coming away from the hock. Take off the heat and remove the hock, then strip away the meat with a couple of forks, or some kitchen scissors. Discard any fat or skin. Put meat back in to the soup and stir well.

Adjust the seasoning of the broth to taste, I just use a little salt and pepper. If you cool and put it in the fridge, the flavours develop overnight and it becomes even more flavourful. Remember, once it's cooled the fat will rise to the top, so you can skim it off for a healthier version.

Feijoa heaven

2011-05-29T10:32:00.002+10:00

A very sweet colleague and fellow foodie P, recently left generous bag of freshly picked feijoas on my desk. She had recently been introduced to a friend's "feijoa crumble" and hasn't stopped raving about it.

I'd never eaten a feijoa. When I opened the bag and emptied them into a bowl, immediately an incredibly pungent and delicious smell arose - not fundamentally dissimilar to quince.

Ok so they don't look appealing. Almost like an unripened fig. Cutting them open, they don't look terribly appetising either.

Not to be disheartened, I pondered for a while on what to do with them. I thought about P's crumble fixation, and entertained the idea of doing an apple/feijoa combo crumble. But I need to do some baking to take into work tomorrow to celebrate some birthdays, and a crumble isn't really convenient for that purpose. I decided on adapting my tried and tested friand recipe. I sliced about 6 feijoas in half and scraped out the insides with a teaspoon, then mashing roughly in a bowl with the back of a fork. I also decided to keep the raspberries and lemons in the recipe, adding some sliced almond to the top just before putting them in the oven.

Sen-SATIONAL. I've said it before, I'll say it again: I wish I could somehow record smell in this blog. The aroma that wafted out of my oven when I took them out, was completely out-of-this-world-good. I couldn't resist biting into a warm one - let me promise you, it was very, very good. The feijoa made the friands super moist and the flavour was a bit like passionfruit in nature. The raspberries and lemon were definitely worthwhile too - sweet feijoa against tartness works really well.

A quick Autumn lunch

2011-05-28T14:46:00.000+10:00

Recently a friend made me a lovley entree of roasted mushrooms atop sourdough bread, topped off with with lovely garlic and goats cheese.

My husband loves mushrooms, and because he's working hard both in the garden and painting the house (without any of my help), today I whipped him up a quick lunch. I tried to replicate the dish we'd eaten, but somehow it wasn't quite as good.

I toasted some thick slices of sourdough under the griller, then topped some big mushrooms with Meredith goat's fetta, drizzling the garlicky/tarragon oil over the top. This went into a hot oven for 15 minutes.

Simple!

A cheeky lunch at Cumulus Inc ...

2011-05-28T14:34:00.000+10:00

I'd wanted to pop in to Cumulus Inc since reading their wonderful review in the Age Good Food Guide. Also I'd pressed my nose up to the glass many times; the unassuming, casual interior, bare floors and a kitchen that you can observe from your table all get a big tick in my book.

How fortuitous then, to be attending a work function yesterday nearby. How even more fortuitous for my friend and colleague G to have a coughing fit in the middle of someone else's presentation, causing her to hastily leave the venue and find a quiet spot to grab some water, check email, and wait for me to emerge from Spring Street.

Neither of us had eaten; and being Friday after a difficult and exhausting week at work, we decided to treat ourselves to a light, late lunch.

I was initially dismayed to see that over half the options on the menu were immediately out for me; smoked fish featured highly, along with a whole section dedicated solely to cured assorted meats, another for oysters. Damn - I almost cracked, it all looked so delicious. But instead we asked our very friendly and accommodating waiter for help. We decided to share three entrees, and nibble on some of their amazing sourdough breads.

While we waited, we talked 'shop' and went over the weeks events over a lemon soda and soda, lime and bitters. Both delicious.

We started with slow cooked octopus with aioli and "dehydrated olive". It came out thinly sliced and sitting on some wonderful olive oil and balsamic. The presentation was incredible. There was also a tiny thin slice of green chilli and shred of basil atop each one, and the flavour combo, almost indescribable. Clean-tasting, a bit like sushi, the chilli giving off just a little heat but definitely not overpowering. How pretty!

Next, was some of the most delicious, out of this world, soft shell mud crab I have ever eaten. I always order this if it's on the menu, but I think my palate has now been well and truly spoiled. It came with a golden coloured sauce - if I had to guess, I'd say some sort of roasted capsicum aioli. It was truly amazing, the crab had a lovely crispy crunch, but inside it was juicy and soft. I think there was some sort of salt and pepper seasoning on the outside. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!

Lastly - on the waiter's assurance that we'd love it - we had the smoked corn and mussel chowder. Happy to accommodate our "sharing" preference, the kitchen split it between two glasses. It was sweet/salty, the mussels were thinly sliced so they weren't overpowering, and it looked like there was maybe a tiny bit of truffle oil sprinkled over the top.

My i-Phone pictures don't exactly do the experience justice, but it was truly lovely. And at less than $25 each including drinks (okay they were soft drinks but still), it was an absolute steal as far as fine dining goes.

The slow-cooked whole lamb shoulder begged me to come back for dinner sometime soon.

Bun ... in the oven

2011-05-15T09:58:00.000+10:00

It's about time I started blogging again. Since starting this little project, this is the longest break I'd taken from both cooking and writing about it. And it's been killing me; not just being unable to spend the time and energy it takes to sit down and write, but also feeling so physically unwell that I couldn't even open a recipe book, let alone step foot in a kitchen. But I cannot, will not, complain because ...

I'm finally pregnant.

Our infertility (and subsequent IVF) journey - thankfully - turned out to be relatively short-lived. And I feel so very - unbelievably - blessed and fortunate. I made 14 weeks (end to the first trimester) yesterday.

Anyone who has suffered from infertility and subjected themselves to assisted reproductive therapies will tell you: it's a bloody difficult ride. For me, the emotional roller-coaster (sorry, that's a cliche but there's no other way to describe it) by far surpassed any physical discomfort I felt from the many procedures, incisions, tests, needles, medications, hormones, poking and prodding that formed part of my existence over the last few years. And let's not forget the expense - thousands of dollars only to be told there was 'no reason' - then several thousand more for each 'treatment'. The "unknowns" were the hardest part: will we ever have a child? What's wrong with me? Will our marriage survive? Will I? And then of course the parade of couples all making their happy announcements in the midst of our own suffering. How strange to feel so happy for someone else, but so sad for myself, simultaneously.

But there's another difficult part of infertility that only those who've experienced it can relate to: the "advice" and "well-wishes" from no doubt well meaning friends, family and (some) alternative health care practitioners. What NOT to say to someone you know who is having difficulty conceiving:

- "just relax and it will happen" (this is like a kick in the stomach for the fertility-challenged, who often already blame themselves for the problem. One in 6 couples will have trouble conceiving, and of those over 90% will have an actual, physical reason for it. Of the remaining 10%, it is thought there could also be a medical reason that simply can't be diagnosed with current medical tests available. THERE IS NO RELIABLE RESEARCH WHICH SUPPORT THE STRESS = INFERTILITY URBAN MYTH). So no, going on holiday, getting a massage, or "forgetting" about trying to get pregnant won't work.
- "you should try standing on your head after sex" (aside from feeling even more desperate and ridiculous than you already do, it's also bad for your back. As above: totally unsubstantiated)
- "we had the opposite problem to you - we got pregnant straight away!" Ouch.
- "you should sit on the Receiptionist's chair - all the girls who use it, fell pregnant!" Are you fucking retarded?
- "you should try bowen therapy/acupuncture/reflexology/chinese herbs/yoga/meditation/reiki." Ok, so the jury's out on most of these things except for acupuncture, which has been shown to slightly improve one's chances of conception. I myself actually went to a wonderful reflexologist who didn't actually help with getting pregnant per se, but because she saw lots of infertile women who were going through IVF, was a great sounding board for my experiences and had some good practical advice on how to get through the process relatively unscathed. I am a huge fan of complementary therapies and if nothing else, it's lovely to just relax and have a bit of time out. But this stuff is expensive, dude. Along with my hospital excess, medication, health insurance, reflex treatments, chiropractor, fertility specialist, a dozen blood tests and about 10 ultrasounds (none bulk-billed), I think in one month I shelled out over $10,000 just on health care. So to hear about yet another "miracle cure" at that point just made me want to scream. Then cry. For a good few days.

I don't want this post to be all about pain and suffering; I do want to celebrate my good fortune. But during my time in fertility-pergatory I developed some amazing connections with women all over the world - bloggers, mostly - who were going through the exact same thing. So it's natural that I immediately think of them and wish the same happiness and relief that I feel right now - whether that means they eventually realise their motherhood dream, or simply end their journey and find peace. As the Dresden Dolls wrote "I consider them my sisters..."

Chooks

2011-03-20T18:27:00.000+11:00

As promised, here's some photos of our new chooks - 10 of them of varying colours and breeds - that have had full run of our big back garden for the last few weeks. They now peck and strut about (bullying the cats) as if they own the place. It's lovely to sit and watch them as they cluck about, digging, pecking, and stealing tidbits from the vegie patch.

"Kids" love cupcakes

2011-03-20T16:45:00.001+11:00

My niece and nephew - who normally live in Sweden - regularly ask me if they can bake with me; and regretfully I haven't done nearly as much as I would have hoped during their stay in Australia.

One day I baked cupcakes with niece M, on the promise that after dinner (and after a few wines), the adults would all have a go at decorating them. We then held a competition to see if they kids could guess who decorated which cake.

It ended up becoming an exercise in keeping the adults entertained; by the time the children got around to the guessing game, they just wanted to eat them ... as did we.

Pea and mint frittata

2011-03-20T16:36:00.000+11:00

I'm back after a two month absence - nope, I haven't been anywhere exotic. Life just got a little busier than usual. We still have our Swedish guests so we have a full house; and having two young kids living here means there's ALWAYS food on the go.

In the next entry I will post about our new additions to the family: ten chooks of different variety, free ranging it in our back garden.

But for now, I wanted to share with you a super simple recipe for pea and mint frittata - which I adapted into little individual frittatas for a picnic we went to in the Dandenongs yesterday. I just love how the peas hold their shape and look as though they've been neatly stacked together.

First, turn your oven to 190C and grease a 12 hole muffin pan. Beat together 6 large eggs, add one cup of cooked peas, a big handful of chopped fresh mint, and some chopped chives. Season with salt and pepper, then 3/4 fill each of the muffin holes. Bake in the oven until they have risen (they will initially look like little souffles) and are golden brown on top. Take out and cool.

Comfort Food + Chocolate Raspberry Mousse

2011-01-22T08:23:00.002+11:00

Friend and colleague L recently emerged from major surgery, now to be faced with weeks of bed rest and boredom. I can offer little more than some comfort food, which hopefully helps to alleviate the pain a tiny bit.

Some good "healing" foods for L (my opinion only!):

Chorizo and chickpea stew: includes cinnamon, and I also included fresh ginger and garlic for their healing properties. Chickpeas for protein and all-round goodness, chorizo because L loves it.
Steamed white rice: seems to be a cure-all in asian cultures, is reasonably easy to digest and what isn't comforting about a steaming bowl of rice?
Roast apricot chicken: made with my mother in law's homemade apricot jam, from apricots grown on the family orchard by my father in law. I roasted chicken thighs (bone in) in a casserole dish - spread with a jar of apricot jam, and a cup of chicken stock, salt and pepper for about an hour (first 40mins foil on, remaining 20mins foil off).
Lup cheong sausages: aside from the fact that L loves them; they are handy to have in the cupboard, have a long shelf life, and can be chopped and added to almost anything (or eaten shamelessly on their own).
Chicken and pistachio korma, made from scratch: for Christmas, L gave me a book of recipes from last year's Australian Materchef contestant, Poh. In it, there's a very simple recipe for chicken korma - I challenge anyone to get it wrong! The only change I made was to up the spice levels. Chilli also has healing properties, does it not? Also contains lots of ginger and garlic.
The grand finale: Chocolate Raspberry Mousse, my own recipe, whipped out at random for moments when true comfort is needed (or when I need to use up some leftover cream). Use the "three bowl" method: Bowl 1: beat 450ml cream until thick. Bowl 2: beat three eggs and 1/4 cup caster sugar for a few minutes until thick and very pale. Bowl 3: place a heatproof bowl over a small pan of simmering water and melt 300g of chocolate (I prefer dark but you can use any sort). Once the chocolate has cooled (transfer chocolate to a cool bowl to speed up the process), stir into the egg mix until completely combined. Spoon in about 2/3 of the whipped cream, and use a big metal spoon to fold in gently. Once combined, refrigerate for about two hours or until set; spoon over the remaining cream and sprinkle over raspberries (or any other fruit or berry). Warning: comforting in small doses only!

Quick pantry dinner: Lup Cheong Fried Rice

2011-01-17T20:15:00.000+11:00

Whenever I cook rice, I always make at least double the amount I need. This is so I can knock together some fried rice the next day.

It's so simple - the main ingredient is day-old cooked rice. You can use white or brown but I think white works best. Brown long-grain could work equally as well though.

All you need to worry about is getting a flavour base going. Once that's done, just throw in the rice!

I hadn't been shopping in a while, but here's what I managed to scrounge together:

- half a red onion
- two small carrots
- handful of green beans from the garden
- red chilli
- soy sauce
- thumb-sized piece of ginger
- pack of lup cheong (chinese cured) sausages
- brown sugar

Finely dice onion, chilli and ginger, throw into a hot wok with about a tablespoon of vegetable oil. Stir fry for a minute until softened and fragrant. Add lup cheong - this is quite a fatty sausage and will impart some more juices and flavour into the pan, stir fry one minute. You could instead use some chorizo, chicken or prawns, or for a vegetarian option, add firm tofu. Add carrot (you could also use frozen peas, tinned corn, capsicum, etc) and stir fry for another minute or two until cooked. Add cooked rice (about 2-3 cups worth), a splash or two of soy sauce, sugar and season with a few shakes of white pepper. Stir fry until combined.

I like to spoon over some chilli oil for a little extra kick.

Chinese Broccoli (Gai Larn)

2011-01-16T20:52:00.000+11:00

I've been loving Gai Larn - otherwise known as Chinese Broccoli - ever since my good friend T (who grew up in China) introduced me to it with a simple oyster sauce drizzled over, at Spicy Fish restaurant in Melbourne's CBD. The dark green vegetable has thick stems from which big dark leaves sprout; sometimes it comes with small yellow/white buds as well. You can basically eat the whole thing; just trim the ends, wash thoroughly, then chop and put a few slits in the thicker stems so it cooks evenly.

Gai larn is super-charged with beta-carotene and also contains folate. Plus, it tastes incredible. It's my favourite asian vegetable - much more robust and crunchy than say, Bok Choy. It's "meaty" enough to stand up on its own, served simply as is, or with steamed rice and a salty sauce such as oyster or chilli - or you can throw it into a stir fry in the last few minutes of cooking.

I love it boiled for a few minutes, then refreshed under some cold water and served over rice. Here's a great sauce that will complement it nicely:

Sauce for Gai Larn:

- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1/4 cup oyster sauce
- 2 tbs light soy sauce
- 1 tsp chilli oil (check Asian grocers)
- 1 tsp brown sugar

Mix all ingredients together in a small pan over medium heat, until sugar dissolves and sauce heats. Pour over freshly cooked gai larn (stir fried or boiled for 3 minutes) and rice. Add extra chilli oil to taste.

The Perfect Steak: it's not rocket science

2011-01-16T15:14:00.000+11:00

There was a time in my life when I was irrationally frightened of cooking steak. Not being a huge red meat eater, I'd had limited opportunities to practice; and to be honest I wasn't that interested seeing as the rare (get it?) times I eat it, is usually when someone else cooks it for me. I'm one of those occasional meat eaters who should probably go vegetarian and recognises all of the benefits to the body, the animal and the environment; but is a bit too lazy to make the transition. (Before you silently judge me, I do go for free-range and local produce so I'm not a complete monster).

My conundrum is that I live with a total carnivore now. I'm talking an outdoorsy, meat-n-three-veg, protein-obsessed, Aussie Bloke. So in order to maintain a happy union, we've both had to compromise, expand our respective repertoires and be more flexible with our eating habits. For example, chickpea curry and spicy rice translates into chicken curry with chickpeas and boiled rice with chilli on the side. Salad becomes thai beef salad. Dhal is laced with chorizo or at least accompanies some grilled sausages. And meat + veg becomes ... meat + veg.

I'm sorry but for all my vegetable-worship I'm not a fan of meat substitute products. So when the occasion calls for a steak and I'm in the mood, I throw caution to the wind and give it a go. But of course, I'm not one for tradition and have banned "bland" from my kitchen, so here's my version of meat and veg:

Garlic Butter Steak and Smashed Sweet Potato (serves 2):

- two thick-cut eye fillet or scotch fillet steaks
- one clove garlic (crushed)
- 50g salted butter (softened but not melted)
- one large sweet potato
- handful of green beans
- fresh herbs from the garden, chopped (whatever you've got - I used sage)
- olive oil, salt and pepper
- 2 tsp sour cream
- 1/2 cup verjuice, or white wine (or something else acidic, i.e. lemon juice)

Press half the chopped herbs over both sides of the steaks, leave in fridge until ready to cook.

Put the crushed garlic and half the herbs into a small bowl and combine with a fork. Roll into a log on some cling wrap, wrap it up tight and place in the freezer.

Peel and chop the sweet potato into 2cm chunks, spread out on a baking tray and toss in olive oil. Season with salt & pepper. Bake in a 190C oven for 35-40 minutes, or until soft and browned.

Take the steaks and pat them dry with paper towels. This is important - if you don't dry the steak it won't brown properly. Then, rub all over lightly with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and place into a hot pan. Cook first side for 6 minutes, then reduce the heat slightly and do the other side for about 4 minutes. This will give you a "medium" done steak. Once cooked, take out of the pan and cover with foil, rest for about 3-5 minutes.

While the pan is still hot, throw in the green beans and deglaze with the verjuice/wine/lemon juice to lift all of the lovely steak flavour off the pan. Shake the pan to move the beans, until the veg is cooked slightly - then add any juices that have come out of the resting steaks. Once all liquid has evaporated, take the pan off the heat.

Meanwhile put the sweet potatoes into a bowl, and mash roughly with a fork - don't completely pulverise them as you want some of the black/brown colours to remain as well as some texture. Take the garlic & herb butter out of the freezer and slice some off, add to the potato and stir through.

To plate up, put some sweet potato on the plate and top with sour cream, then add steak & beans, then top with a slice of the garlic herb butter. Serve with some token salad.

2 minute dinner: avocado & tomato "salsa"

2011-01-03T19:24:00.000+11:00

Warm days and long weekends puts me in holiday-mode and inspires me to get into fresh and easy food - the faster, the better!

This could well be my shortest post; tonight's tomato & avocado "salsa" on toast. You could use any combo of ingredients, but here's my version:

- two slices sourdough or wholegrain toast

- half ripe avocado, sliced

- one tomato, sliced

- two spring onions, sliced

- salt and freshly ground pepper

- extra virgin olive oil (the best you can afford)

layer all ingredients on toast, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt/pepper.

Asian Roast Duck (made with a kick-arse Masterstock)

2010-12-28T17:19:00.010+11:00

I will say upfront that I "borrowed" (and modified, slightly) Red Spice Road's wonderful recipe for roast duck (page 117, "The Red Spice Road Cookbook - an experience in Cooking South-East Asian Food", by John McLeay). Therefore, I feel justified in blogging about it and sharing the recipe with my readers. Also, I've previously raved about RSR's amazing menu and bar so, free advertising can't be a bad thing.

To prepare any self respecting asian duck dish you'll first need a good masterstock, to simmer the duck in. The key to a getting it right is achieving the right balance of flavours: sweet/salty, a touch of acid, rich, and with complex undertones - citrus? caramel? aniseed? It's not exactly rocket science but remember that once it's simmered down from the original mixture you'll end up with something earthier and more intense.

Once your masterstock is simmered and flavoured to perfection (and strained), bring it to the boil in a big pot and place a whole duck inside; simmer for 15 minutes. You might need to "weight" it to ensure the whole bird remains immersed - I used a large pot and put the steamer basket over the top, then shut the heavy glass lid and it worked fine. If using smaller portions of duck (or chicken), simmer for only 5 minutes or so. Place on a rack in a baking dish and bake in a 200C oven for 50 minutes. Alternatively, RSR's suggestion is to cut large chunks of carrot and place in the bottom of the baking dish, the benefit being that you get lovely roasted sweet carrot as a side dish at the end.

Masterstock (a variation on Red Spice Road's recipe):

- 3 litres of water

- 500ml white wine

- 100ml rice wine vinegar (this and the white wine was my substitute for "shao xhing" wine)

- 100ml light soy sauce

- 100ml Ketjap Manis (sweet soy)

- 250g dark brown (muscovado) sugar

- 5 cloves roughly chopped garlic

- 2 cinnamon sticks

- 3 cloves

- 6 star anise

- 4 cardamom pods

- 1 tsp Sichuan peppercorns

- 1tsp cumin seeds

- 1 tsp coriander seeds

- 1 tsp fennel seeds

- peel from one large fresh orange

Put all ingredients into a large pot and bring to the boil; reduce heat and simmer for half an hour. Taste, adjust seasoning if needed (salt/pepper/sugar). Cool, then strain. Can be frozen for later use, and re-used again and again, as long as it's strained after each use.

This duck is wonderful served with plain rice - I made coconut rice which soaked up the juices nicely. Accompany with some chilli oil for heaven on a plate.

Mystery Bay

2010-12-27T18:09:00.000+11:00

Having spent the last several Christmasses with my side of the family, this year it was my husband's family's turn. And what a celebration! We headed up the coast with T's parents, aunty and uncle, a cousin as well as sister, brother in law, niece and nephew - all of us congregating at a farm stay near the beach, with amazing views all around. T and I were even lucky enough to score our own lovely cabin - look what I woke up to Christmas morning:

Christmas Day turned out to be a low key but fresh and delicious occasion, made all the more special by spending quality time with my in laws, going on walks, fishing, sailing, barbecuing, or just hanging about chatting. The entire stay was very relaxing with lots of great activities available nearby, most of the focus being on the beach and lakes - all within walking distance from our accommodation - and the weather was also quite kind to us. I even managed to book in an amazing (and very reasonably priced) massage from the lovely J, one of the managers of the property. It was wonderful observing T's family interactions too: they all live quite some distance from each other, either interstate or overseas; but they are a close family nonetheless.

Before I set off for Mystery Bay, my mum gave me two of her homemade puddings as a Christmas contribution. They were devoured by us all, along with my father in law's home made custard, mum in law's many cakes and slices, and a bottle of ice-magic. My sister in law (who lives in Sweden and is generally very healthy and a sensible eater) is totally obsessed with the stuff; whenever she visits Australia she indulges her sweet tooth as it cannot be bought in Europe. Note the excessive amount of chocolate and token slice of pudding accompanying the huge bowl of vanilla ice cream. Impressive!

Not buying into "Christmas Craziness"

2010-12-18T19:46:00.002+11:00

I promised myself I wouldn't go on a sanctimonious rant on my food blog about rampant Christmas commercialism and consumerism. About how it turns normally good and level-headed folk into shopping centre car park road-rage enthusiasts. Normally "green-minded" people suddenly and inexplicably become plasticky present wielders, bearing gifts containing palm oil and non-free trade cocoa. I myself can't claim higher moral ground; I too have been sucked in by the bright lights of Chaddy and the Myer Christmas windows, swiping my credit card again and again like some rich heiress to the point where the magnetic strip practically disintegrates. Christmas these days seems to be on steroids - or, well, crack.

I ... promised ... myself ... I ... Oh to hell with it, it's my blog.

In case you hadn't figured by now, Christmas also tends to put me in a grumpy state of mind. But before you accuse me of being a grinch there are some fairly understandable (I think) reasons for this, one of the main ones being that it serves as a painful reminder of my inability to have children, and the several years worth of countless (and fruitless) tests and procedures to find out why. December can be such a confronting month; excited parents throw Christmas parties where young kids congregate and mothers compare notes about where to find the most child-friendly restaurants. Dozens of little smiling faces line up excitedly in streets and shopping centres to see "Santa". Nowhere is sacred - Facebook and Twitter: "I just spent way too much on my children's presents!" and "wow I can't believe this time next Christmas I'll have a 6 month old!" and "I'm thinking about giving my kids away as gifts this year, I've had enough of them!" My way of coping is to just generally get on with things and pretend it's not Christmas at all.

In the lead up to this year's festive season, I decided to give the following gifts to myself (and those around me):

To not buy into Christmas Craziness
To treat myself to things I wouldn't normally
To enjoy my challenging and busy career (and to stop apologising for it)
To spend time with people who make me feel good
To forget about making babies for a while and appreciate the home and family (and cats) I already have
To take good care of my mind and body
To give home made goods as gifts

On the last point, today I made up numerous little goodie boxes containing a variety of baked sweets using Chinese take-away containers (purchased for two bucks per four boxes from my local "cheapy" shop). All up I think each gift works out to about $1.50 each - but the contents are hand-made by yours truly and each one is personalised with a little note inside to the recipient. I'm feeling better already. :-)

Dinners with Fish

2010-11-29T20:48:00.001+11:00

I've been fairly time-poor over the last couple of weeks. Hell, let's even say the last couple of years. Between my full(+) time career and my husband's new business, selling a house, being involved in several weddings, babies born of friends and family, too many funerals and throw into the mix a few unexpected personal crises as well - it's been an intense time to say the least. I started blogging almost a year ago, to get some balance back in my life; something just for me, combining my indulgences in good food, literature and self reflection.

So being a busy gal, I'm constantly on the look out for simple dishes that I can throw together on a moment's notice with little preparation involved (and photograph and blog about). I love good fresh flavours and it just feels so damn good to eat well. Certain cuisines tend to lend themselves to easy and healthy eating, such as your Mediterranean staples - such as pastas with three-ingredient sauces; or lightly cooked, in season vegetables. There's also a lot to be said for seafood - especially because it's summer, and it's so easy and quick to cook. Usually the only hurdle is actually sourcing good quality and fresh seafood - once you've found it, you're about 90% of the way there.

I'm a fan of salad too - again, for it's simplicity and healthiness - and it matches wonderfully with seafood and fish.

A couple of examples you might feel inclined to try:

Green baby spinach and rocket salad with toasted pine nuts, shaved parmesan, marinated zucchini and aged balsamic, served with dukkah-crusted bbq'd rainbow trout.

Pan fried swordfish in garlic butter, topped with ruby red grapefruit and mint salsa, served with stir fried asparagus and lime.

Ruby Red Grapefruit and Mint Salsa topping for fish:

One ruby red grapefruit, peeled and segmented
lime juice
olive oil
mint, torn roughly
half a red onion, finely sliced
garlic clove, crushed
fish sauce

Put grapefruit segments in a bowl (keep juice), add juice of one lime. The trick now is to add the remaining ingredients and taste along the way, adjusting flavours as you go. Add about 2 tbs olive oil, 2 tbs mint, onion, garlic, and then shake in a very small amount of fish sauce and taste. Season with salt and pepper, if you think it needs a little extra zing, add some vinegar or more citrus juice - lemon, lime or more grapefruit works well. Leave it for about half an hour before coating the fish, the flavours tend to develop better.

Going to the "chapel" ...

2010-11-28T20:03:00.000+11:00

On Friday I was honoured to be part of my little sister's marriage to a wonderful man, someone she's lived with for many years and who has already become very much a part of our family. The whole shebang was very unique in some ways; but also with a large number of guests and quite traditional in others. Overall though it was a great reflection of the kind of people my sister J and her new husband T are: fun and sociable, with great taste and a sense of child-like appreciation for the good things in life. Lots of great music, food and dancing - which I suspect is really the true reason weddings were invented in the first place.

As usually happens, the heart-felt speeches and declarations of devotion and love got me reflecting on my own marriage, and the contrast in how my husband and I chose to tie the knot compared with so many of our friends and family. Ours was a small ceremony (an overstatement) held in a small courthouse in a country where we did not speak the language, with less than half a dozen family members in attendance. There was no white dress, no cake, no reception, or honeymoon; and the photos were taken by my new brother in law (and beautifully & simply done). Fresh and lovely flowers were hastily bought as an afterthought on the way to the ceremony; and afterwards we stepped into a dimly lit, warm pub and shared a chilled Scandinavian beer, before enjoying a lovely dinner for four at a tiny restaurant nearby. In a sense, the whole thing was unplanned and, some might (and did) argue, unfair to our parents and loved ones back home who would have no doubt loved to witness our "official" union as husband and wife.

But - romance and selfish needs aside - there were other considerations. Before T, I had already been engaged. Twice. And not overly keen on repeating the dramas, logistical difficulties and financial pain (not to mention politics) involved in organising a wedding. We had both been involved in other people's weddings over the years, all too aware of the stress involved and wanting to keep things low key. We'd dated for a year and had discussed our feelings for one another, knowing we shared the same important values and wanting to share our lives - but at the same time we knew we wanted to do something honest and true to ourselves. Meaningful. Quiet. No-fuss and non-conventional. We concluded that a marriage is far more important than a wedding. We're very practical; but it doesn't make us monsters.

I'm by no means anti-wedding or a marriage naysayer (I believe in the power of love .. yeah!); but I am cynical about the wedding industry. Which I'm sure anyone who's got half a brain - married or not - would agree with. Even my well educated and normally very sensible and level-headed sister, on the eve of her wedding last week exclaimed (over a very strong cocktail on Chapel St) "I swore I wouldn't, but I've turned into a bride-zilla. This is fucking BULLshit!" Plus, marriage itself can still be deemed a status of sorts and tends to draw out all sorts of judgements from the very people who often have no business casting it. I drew the conclusion a long time ago that marriage - while I still believe is a fundamentally good and wholesome place to be in any romantic relationship - doesn't always equate to a healthy and lasting union, and that some absolute gold medal partnerships are actually (gasp) "living in sin" or some other equally insulting reference to not having their relationship recognised in the legal or financial sense.

All that said, I'm glad my Dad got to walk at least one of his daughters down the aisle. The look on his face and his glorious speech made me glad my sister had a "proper" wedding with all the trimmings; not to mention the wonderful opportunity to catch up with loads of relatives and friends in one fun filled evening. It nearly made all of the cost, organisation, drama and tears worthwhile. But most importantly, it was about two people declaring their love and devotion to one another, deciding to continue sharing their lives and loved ones by maintaining their creative, fun and whole selves. I look forward to being part of it.

"Japanese" panko chicken salad

2010-11-18T22:23:00.000+11:00

It's thanks to Masterchef Australia season two - and namely, one of its finalists Alvin - that I am now familiar with the wonders of a very special version of bread crumbs. I remember well his double crusted fish and chips, made all the more crispy by using Japanese panko flakes.

So I went and bought some. And then they sat in the pantry for a while until I stumbled across them this week. I was inspired by watching Nigella recently. She explained that her creative inspiration often comes from random ingredients or objects from different countries. She then tries to do something easy with everyday "English" ingredients but reminiscent of the traditions of that culture.

I had the idea of a crispy chicken panko salad because it's nice to have a crunch contrasting with salad - sort of like croutons. I chose a soft buttery lettuce and coated it lightly with some lime juice and good quality olive oil, salt and a little white pepper.

Put enough oil in a deep frying pan to shallow fry the chicken, and heat. In the meantime, get three bowls: one with plain flour (seasoned with salt and pepper, and whatever else you feel like - dried herbs, chilli flakes - up to you!), one with two lightly whisked eggs, and one with half a pack of panko.

I use chicken tenders because they cook quickly and crisp up nicely, but you could use larger chicken pieces if you like. First toss them in the flour, then shake off the excess and dip in egg. Then transfer to the panko and coat well, gently pressing the flakes into the chicken. Once the oil starts to shimmer in the pan, fry the chicken in batches until golden brown (turn to fry each side) and drain on paper towel.

Arrange them on top of the lettuce so they retain their crunch. It's always nice to have some sort of dressing - keeping to the Japanese theme, I put small dishes of "kewpie" mayonnaise, mixed with a little wasabi paste on the side.

When life hands you lemons...

2010-11-14T19:59:00.000+11:00

The last time I visited my mother in law she gave me bags and bags of lemons from her trees. I use lemons frequently but even for me it was a lot!

Today I baked up a batch of friands, using one of the lemons and also a small amount of lonely looking raspberries that were sitting in my freezer. I just have to share this recipe with you as it's super simple, and friands kick butt over muffins any day. And the great thing about this recipe is that you don't have to fiddle around with half a dozen egg whites either.

Raspberry and lemon friands (makes 12)

Ingredients:

- Juice and finely grated rind of one lemon

- 100g unsalted butter, melted & cooled

- 1/3 cup plain flour

- 180g icing sugar

- 3 eggs, lightly whisked with a fork

- 100g almond meal

- frozen raspberries, approx 36

Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees, and line a 12 hole muffin pan with patty cases.

Sift icing sugar and flour into a large bowl, mix in almond meal. Add lemon juice, rind, melted butter, and eggs - stir until combined.

Spoon mixture into cases (they should be about half full), then top each one with a few frozen raspberries. Put into oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until risen and slightly golden on top.

Best eaten warm with a big strong cup of tea.

That's one big chocolate bar

2010-11-12T07:04:00.000+11:00

Happy birthday to my wonderful husband T - who turns 34 today.

T is a massive chocolate lover so it was fitting that I gave him a massive chocolate present...

Summer and Salad

2010-11-09T08:39:00.001+11:00

I had hoped that over the last couple of weeks - given I've been on leave - I would have had plenty of opportunities to hang about at home perusing lovely new cookbooks relaxing, baking and blogging; but it was not to be. As is often the case, the moment I have some time off from work, the rest of my life quickly melts in until all the days are full; family from country Vic and interstate who haven't been seen for months, bridesmaid duties (three times in the last three years, I think this is my life's quota!), and taking the first tentative steps towards IVF that I'd hoped I'd never need to, along with several medical appointments. Then, in true fashion, on my second last day of leave, I came down with a cold.

I used to always look forward to summer; not just the warmer weather but also the extended daylight hours. Last minute trips to the beach or lake, enjoying a wine and conversation with a friend on a weeknight, BBQs and picnics. I've decided that this year, I'm going to look forward to summer with the same enthusiasm I did before working in fire and emergency management. Bring it on; and I'm sure I could use the Vitamin D.

Last weekend bought with it a magnificent day of sunshine, coinciding with my sister's hen's day, held at a huge beachside holiday house with a bunch of excited girlfriends. It was BYO booze and salad; and the girls enthusiastically bought their favourites to comprise a magnificent buffet of summer food. It got me thinking about my own salad favourites, and last night hubby T and I created an interesting combo of bbq'd chicken and haloumi, baby spinach, beetroot greens, mint and a creamy japanese mayo & garlic dressing.

One of the reasons I love salads so much is that there are no rules about what goes into them. The possibilities are endless! Think about the creation of a salad as putting artwork onto a canvas. I often like to start with a base of salad greens which could include rocket, any variety of lettuce or other green things - use your imagination. Then, put in some colour - such as roasted sweet potato, or bbq/grill some capsicum, chicken/lamb/beef, red onion, whatever takes your fancy. Next, think about putting in some "zing" to lift the salad and complement the main flavour. For example, if you've used grilled lamb, crumble over some feta. Haloumi and fresh mint leaves go fantastically well together, as do toasted pine nuts with pumpkin or sweet potato. And finally, dress it. Balsamic glaze (available in most supermarkets) is an easy way to marry sweet and salty flavours. Or use a base of mayonnaise (I love the japanese "kewpie" mayo, again, available in most supermarkets), mixed with crushed garlic, lemon juice, pepper and a little olive oil. Just remember: you need some acidity to "lift" the salad from bland to special - a good dressing can also tie flavours together and turn your humble salad from a side dish to the star of the show. Also consider combining different textures - think chunky crunchy sourdough croutons, toasted nuts, seeds, or creamy or crumbly cheese. Go crazy!

All things ginger

2010-10-17T19:29:00.000+11:00

My weekend begun at 7am Saturday; I baked a Sour Cream and Ginger cake from the Kylie Kwong recipe book, for my brother in law who recently lost his mother after a long illness.

It's a simple, unassuming looking cake. Golden and rustic-looking, sunken in the middle.

But cutting into it reveals the delicious and unusual little secret - an inside layer of sour cream. I'm never sure what the ethics of reproducing other people's recipes in my blog are - particularly when I can't find it published anywhere online. So let's just say this: before baking, the cake batter itself is quite thick. You make an indent in the top of the batter after you've spread it into the cake pan, and pour in some light sour cream, which then bakes through the whole cake, making it moist and slightly savoury on the inside - a little like having a cheesecake centre. On the top, raw sugar is sprinkled so that it forms a sweet crust above the sour cream. It's a nice combo of sweet + ginger + savoury + tart flavours, as well as several different textures; cakey + soft + a gentle crunch on top.

Sunday I took a friend to Gingerboy for her birthday, for the Sunday Hawker lunch. A whopping FOURTEEN courses consisting mostly of different types of dumplings, along with some obligatory chinese broccoli and sticky rice. Some favourites: spicy fried calamari, chicken satay dumplings, oxtail potsticker dumplings, salt and pepper tofu, and the apple & cinnamon dumpling at the end. Oh, and the Cherry Gimlet cocktails were a lovely tangy accompaniment to the flavours on the degustation menu.

Where are the photos of the actual food? Sorry, it simply wasn't on the agenda today, I was too busy enjoying the flavours to worry about the visuals.

Buttery almond coconut cake (gluten free)

2010-10-03T18:38:00.001+11:00

A fellow food blogger posted this recipe from a book I have in my collection - Belinda Jeffrey's "Mix and Bake". It's a favourite among friends who've had the pleasure of indulging in the buttery, almost fudge-like cake.

Rather than reproduce the recipe here, I'll let someone else deal with potential copyright issues (I'm never quite sure what the protocols are) and instead refer you to http://ieatthereforeiam.blogspot.com/2008/08/buttery-almond-and-coconut-cake.html

Soft chocolate and apricot biscuits

2010-09-26T16:39:00.000+10:00

I love the food blog world. Thousands of people, from all over the world, all baking and blogging in delicious harmony.

On a rare day of "nothing", after having dusted (yes! dusted!) our many bookshelves, I spent an hour or two trawling the many interesting food blogs I've accumulated in my favourites list over the last 9 or so months. I came across a simple recipe for soft chocolate cinnamon and apricot biscuits and decided to give it a go.

The recipe can be found here, in the "I Bake For You :-)" blog. I had to improvise a little (no SR flour = added extra baking powder; ganache = used 80g dark choc melted with a splash of cream in the microwave), but they still turned out very well. You could add extra apricots for a more rustic texture, or slightly more sugar or milk chocolate instead of dark for a sweeter biscuit.

These ones were light and fluffy, 'cakey', and not too sweet.

Funeral Food

2010-09-25T11:05:00.006+10:00

My poor old Nanna Z lost her battle against old age and a raft of illnesses this week, and was farewelled at a small and simple country funeral yesterday. Being a flower freak, she would have loved the floral arrangements adorning every spare surface. As for the food ... while I can imagine her salivating over the range of delicious rustic looking home made cakes and slices; she would certainly have had some "constructive feedback" for the well intentioned caterers.

She was very creative but an absolute perfectionist as well; resulting in her producing some pretty spectacular craft work over the years, including watercolour paintings, flower arrangements, and a visually stunning garden. But the thing Nanna Z was best admired for was her was her baking.

A perfectionist to a fault, she would have made a fantastic pastry-chef. Things that I still struggle with after years of practice - spongecake, eclairs, scones, blinis - she would whip up one handed in a matter of seconds, without ever referring to a recipe. Once I asked her "how do you make your scones rise so high?" She responded, without batting an eye, "don't bugger around with them too much". Another oddly fond - if somewhat confusing - memory, was when she grabbed some exposed skin where my jumper had crept up over my jeans, accused me of putting on too much weight, at the same time serving me up a huge plate of jam drops to have with my tea.

She was your quintessential ex-C.W.A. queen, a no-nonsense, frugal, post-war, straight-talking, teetotaling, grey-haired pocket rocket. Always confrontational, never boring, at times highly entertaining (even if it was occasionally at her expense). She would bring me to tears of frustration and anger many times - I once went through a period of not speaking to her for almost a year, after a particularly fraught Christmas lunch. She could be abrupt and rude, controlling, and downright mean. But that was Nanna. My mother's mother. She taught me how to bake, and bake well.

The Perfect Hollandaise

2010-09-25T10:12:00.000+10:00

It's no coincidence that the word "hollandaise" bears a remarkable aural resemblance to "holidays". And don't we all tend to associate a good hollandaise accompaniment to a lazy long late breakfast of perhaps eggs and some perfect pairings: smoked salmon, baby spinach, grilled tomatoes, avocado, good sourdough, or anything else which takes your fancy at that time of day.

I think I need holidays, I mean, hollandaise. Here's my almost foolproof version:

Simmer some water in a small saucepan, and put a heatproof bowl over the top (I use a small ceramic pudding dish). Add 4 room temperature egg yolks and add 2 dessert spoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice, whisk with a fork until combined. Dice up an entire stick (250g) of unsalted (also room temp) butter, and add in one piece at a time to the yolks. Keep whisking, adding a few pieces of butter at a time, until melted and the sauce is thick. If it starts getting too thick just remove from the heat immediately and add in a small splash of hot water if necessary (keep the kettle boiled in case you need this contingency). Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Let cool slightly to thicken more, then spoon over your favourite breakfast. Try not to eat it by the spoonful - remember how much butter went into it!

Taste Melbourne wrap-up

2010-08-29T17:53:00.000+10:00

I've just arrived home from a day out in Carlton, exhausted and full to bursting, but satisfied and happy. The wonderful people at Hothouse Media & Events were kind enough to not only provide three double passes for me to give away to some lucky readers for Friday's long lunch; but also gave me a double pass for me to enjoy. At $30 a pop on the door - and considering you need to purchase all food and classes (excluding free tastings) in addition - it's pricy, so I really appreciated not having to pay the entry fee.

Okay, so let's be honest about the negatives: it's a heavily commercialised event where you essentially have to pay to have a bunch of companies market their stuff to you at every turn. It's packed with people, in-your-face and noisy. Events like this tend to turn us into animals; the chocolate stands in particular attracted hoardes of jostling piglets, hogging spaces in front of the free samples, grabbing multiple handfuls as soon as the plates of 70% cocoa were replenished. I'd like to say I wasn't one of them but I'd be lying.

That aside, I still think the festival is well worth a visit. Especially if - like me - you're a passionate foodie with a list a mile long of fabulous restaurants you want to visit, but the budget won't allow it more than once every couple of months. Where else can you sample some of Melbourne's best signature dishes from our top restaurants, for around ten bucks a plate, all on the same day? The highlight for me was the King Island Dairy and James Squire's cheese and beer tasting session. $12 bucks got us generous chunks of several different cheeses, matches with various accompanyments and different kinds of beer, plus a comprehensive commentary from two very bubbly hosts.

Other highlights included dishes from Embrasse (crispy pork belly with purple potato, hazelnuts and chocolate parfait & meringue in the shape of a mushroom on a 'forest floor' of chocolate 'soil'), The European (duck tortelloni with truffle oil), The Palace (wagyu burger), and Stokehouse (bombe - strawberry sorbet, white chocolate parfait and toasted meringue). The exhibitor stalls were ok (some better than others) and the marketing people at Smeg would be pleased to know their new range of bright, pretty, retro fridges took my breath away - although for a 270 litre at over $3200, I think I can get something that holds more food.

A simple vanilla Creme Brulee

2010-08-10T10:43:00.000+10:00

I'm going through a stage of searching for good old fashioned and simple comfort food recipes. The classic winter staples - student pasta, slow cooked casseroles, apple pie.

It happens to be a perfect time for me to reflect on this because I've succumbed to one of those nasty colds every other person seems to be walking around with at the moment. And while I'm hardly in the mood to get up from the couch - let alone cook - I did feel motivated on the weekend to try making one of my all time favourite desserts: creme brulee.

Creme brulee is one of those things I tend to order at any given opportunity simply because I'd never made it myself and because it seemed like a difficult thing to do. There are literally dozens of variations on making the custard, on flavouring, and on how to achieve the perfect "crack" texture on top, further adding to my creme-brulee-reluctance.

After some experimentation, I managed to work out a super simple way of making the perfect, classic, vanilla creme brulee.

Basic vanilla creme brulee.

Pre-heat oven to 120c. Put 600ml cream and a split vanilla pod (or 1/2 tsp vanilla essence) into a saucepan and heat to scalding point - take it off the heat just before it boils. In a bowl, beat together (with electric hand mixer) 6 egg yolks and 1/2 cup caster sugar until pale and creamy. Pour over the hot cream mixture (take out the pod first) and keep beating for a minute. With a large metal spoon, skim off the froth from the top of the mixture and discard, then pour mix into four small/medium size ramekins. Put the ramekins into a deep sided baking dish, and pour in boiling water until it comes halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Place into oven for 40 minutes until just set - a slight wobble in the middle of the custards is good. Cool before chilling them in the fridge for a few hours. When ready to serve, evenly sprinkle 1/2 tsp caster sugar over each custard. Place under a hot grill, or use a domestic blowtorch to heat the tops until browned. It should "crack" with the back of a teaspoon when you hit it, and the custard underneath should be semi-set.

Taste of Melbourne 2010 - Long lunch tickets giveaway

2010-08-09T19:26:00.000+10:00

Calling all foodies - it's so ridiculously easy to WIN a FREE DOUBLE PASS to Friday's long lunch at this year's Taste of Melbourne festival, you'd be mad not to enter!

The festival runs over four days, providing a golden opportunity to catch up with chefs, see live cooking demonstrations, and enjoy gourmet produce. The best thing about the festival is the "choose your own adventure" style of eating. You purchase your ticket depending on a preferred session time (lunch or dinner), and use the festival currency, - known as 'crowns' - to peruse and buy whatever takes your fancy from some of Melbourne's best restaurants.

Some of this year's fabulous food establishments include big names like Longrain, maze, Stokehouse, and Embrasse, plus many others sure to tempt the tastebuds. In addition, there's a produce market with dozens of stalls, and speciality areas where you can check out demonstrations, wine tasting, Yarra Valley farmer's market and cocktail making. This has surely got to be foodie heaven.

The festival runs over four days from August 26-29. Tickets for standard entry come with a free Gourmet Traveller magazine and cost $27.50 if pre-purchased online. However, I'm running a little competition for blog readers to win one of THREE, free double passes. All you have to do is write me a quick comment below on your favourite restaurant or producer featuring in this year's festival along with your email address, (and join my blog, if you aren't already a faithful member) by midday this Friday 13th August.

The three winners will be drawn randomly and will be notified via email. Good luck!

A weekend of family and baking

2010-07-29T11:46:00.001+10:00

I had one of those weekends where I just couldn't stop baking. Maybe it's because I'd been away from home all week and needed to re-connect with my kitchen. Or perhaps it's because we had people coming to stay and I just love looking after houseguests.

Pear and cinnamon cake - courtesy of a Weight Watchers recipe. Trust me - it tasted every bit as delicious as it looks!

My sister has a cupcake fetish and I just love making them too - seeing as she was one of the guests staying over I figured it was a nice excuse to bake some. My latest creation: mocha "bunny" cakes. I used a cheap packet mix (buttercake) and added espresso, also adding coffee to the buttercream. The ears are simply marshmallows cut in half. The flavours worked really well; the cake wasn't sweet at all - almost bitter with the espresso - the buttercream is super sweet but also balanced out by the coffee. Sis took most of them home; my brother and his girlfriend (who also stayed) took the remaining two.

The morning after the night before. With two guests left (my brother and his girlfriend), I thought it was a perfect occasion to cook up some fluffy pancakes from my "Cookery the Australian Way" book - still my favourite, and first ever, cookbook.

I had some smoked salmon in the fridge (not unusual!) and felt like someting savoury, so topped my pancake with salmon, light sour cream, dill and lots of cracked pepper. So simple but delicious.

My brother's girlfriend, A, made the suggestion to have chocolate pancakes. I happened to have some dark chocolate in the cupboard - which was roughly chopped and mixed into some of the batter - the chocolate melted as the pancakes cooked and oozed out when they were cut into. I didn't try any myself but everyone assured me they were tasty. How could you go wrong with melted chocolate, really?

Billy Kwong

2010-07-25T22:57:00.000+10:00

I had wanted to dine at Kylie Kwong's restaurant in Surry Hills ever since I chanced across an episode of her Simply Magic series some years ago. I was blown away by her passion and love of Chinese food and culture, and shortly afterwards I ate my first Shanghai dumpling - beginning a love affair of my own with Chinese cooking. And I've since had the pleasure to meet several friends who have lived in China, all of them only too happy to educate my palate.

The guiding philosophy behind Billy Kwong restaurant is: "to leave as small and light an environmental footprint as possible, to give back to the community whenever and wherever we can, and to think globally and act locally". Ahhh - be still my beating heart.

Under the red moody glow of a huge Chinese silk lantern in the small dining area, we ordered Sung Choi Bao, Kylie's signature Crispy Skin duck, fried rice, steamed Chinese greens - and the night's special, yabbies with thinly sliced vegetables and a chilli sauce.

The Sung Choi Bao was earthy and delicious, and served with a magnificent chilli sambal - which I put aside to have with the main course - it was also fantastic drizzled over the rice. The yabbies came served in half shells, the meat pulled out first by our forks, until we got more confident and lost our manners - poking indexes in and pulling the meat free, shoving it in our mouths and licking the juice from our fingers. But the highlight for me was the duck. The portions were very generous - it may have been almost the whole bird - the skin not only crispy but also disintegrated and gave way upon biting into it, and the meat so succulent and juicy it was hard not to race back to the plate for more. The sauce it was swimming in was perfect - robust and sweet, with orange segments and cinnamon quills scattered about. And the fragrance, incredible.

Billy Kwong's does not accept bookings so we were left to chance getting a table - as it turned out we had to share a large table with another couple, who were enjoying a vegetarian degustation. I did feel a little sorry for them, sharing with us ravenous duck-loving Melburnians- who made a disgraceful mess of our side of the table, adding to the general ambiance with our meat aromas, slurping and vocalising our delight at each mouthful. We felt so comfortable there and were surrounded by many fellow food lovers who also didn't bother too much about table manners. It was very refreshing - not only in terms of the food, but also the overall atmosphere - it felt good to be eating there on so many levels.

The evening was topped off by a simple dessert of poached pears with an almond praline and yogurt sauce. It cleaned the palate well and was a perfect full stop behind succinct sentences of spice, sweet, crunch, salt, sour and succulence. I couldn't resist purchasing a signed copy of Kylie's book "It Tastes Better" - my husband joked that maybe their signature duck dish recipe would be in there and we shared a laugh. Until I opened the book to discover that, yes - the duck dish was indeed included in the book. Generous as her servings, Kylie Kwong is also willing to share recipes which some other high profile chefs would - justifiably - rather keep to themselves.

Bavarian Bier, B and B's, and Blasts from the past

2010-07-24T13:51:00.000+10:00

This week hubby T and I took a trip to Sydney, "just because". Both of us had flagged things we wanted to do well in advance. He had spent many happy childhood summers on the sunny northern beaches with his family at his grandmother's home and wanted to take a trip down memory lane - we also caught up with his father one evening, who was in town on business. I on the other hand wanted to - you guessed it - go restauranting.

I used to work in a job that required me to travel frequently to Sydney for up to a week at a time, and got to be very familiar - thanks to an enthusiastic foodie colleague - with some of the good food in and around the CBD. This being my first trip there in over a year (and the first trip that wasn't work-related for 10 years or more), I was keen to do the tourist thing and actually relax and enjoy the sights. No taxis. No rushing between offices or hotels. No stress.

We flew in around dinnertime on Monday evening, with the option to head up to my husband's family flat on the north shore, but instead decided to grab some cheap accommodation in town, dump our luggage, and enjoy a meal at Lowenbrau in The Rocks. I have a thing for saurkraut and sausage - and strangely, lederhosen - so this really hit the spot. Similarly, T is a pork belly lover and I refuse to cook it as it stinks out the house, so he got his fix too. All mopped up with warm pretzels and washed down with crisp bavarian beer by the 1/2 litre, we also enjoyed a naughty dessert of beer battered fried apple fritters dusted with cinnamon and sugar, which was so mouthwateringly good.

As luck would have it, I stumbled across the Australian Heritage Hotel in the Rocks while surfing the net earlier. $69 per night "B and B", queen sized beds and clean and comfortable rooms (shared bathrooms). I was dubious, but curious, and I'm so glad we gave it a go because it was fantastic. The pub downstairs closed around 11pm so we weren't bothered by noise, no lining up to use one of the bathrooms/loos, there was even a shared living room area with games, tv and ... a tray with a carafe of port. The next morning a nice lady buzzed around the living room as we munched on toast, cereal, juice and tea - making sure we had everything we needed and even offering to hold our luggage for the day. Considering hotel accommodation in The Rocks generally starts at $250+ (for a basic room) - this was incredible value.

The next day we made our way via ferry and bus to T's family flat, where we again left our luggage and went exploring. Lunch at the "Collaroy pie shop" - chicken avocado and brie pie! - before a walk around the beaches and then a bus trip up to "Summer Bay" (Palm Beach). Beautiful beaches and scenery but we deemed it would be better to go back in the summertime, when the place really comes alive. We enjoyed dinner back at Manly at the Bavarian Bier restaurant near the ferry terminal - again, T ordered pork belly, and I, sausage and saurkraut - pricier than Lowenbrau but the food was a step up. Although the atmosphere at Lowenbrau is what makes it fun - where else can you be serenaded by a trio of brass instrument playing, german singing, lederhosen wearing gents as you enjoy your 'wurst (except maybe the Cuckoo)?

Speaking of which, I'll be at the Cuckoo this Saturday, enjoying a quirky Christmas in July with my sister, brother, and assorted friends and partners. Three bavarian restaurants in less than a week (not including a breakfast on the run at the Vic Market last week) - I think I'll need to detox this week to give my liver - not to mention my lower intestine - a break.

Catering Experiment #1: Dinner Party Degustation

2010-07-19T13:42:00.001+10:00

As an experiment, my friend J and I agreed to cater a dinner party for 14 guests, as a favour to J's local church. The dinner party was actioned off and a small budget set for the purchase of ingredients.

The challenge: to provide a relaxed, restaurant-like atmosphere to the guests, serving quality home made food using local, fresh and in-season ingredients.

We spent weeks fine-tuning our seating plan and menu, then finalised the list of ingredients and spent the afternoon before the party at the Queen Vic Market sourcing the best quality fruit, veg, meat and seafood. This also allowed us to save money and choose the best looking produce.

Setting the table was the fun part. J had the brilliant idea of making a flower setting for the centrepiece - I'm not a big flower person so couldn't really see the vision, but I'm glad I trusted her judgement as it turned out amazingly well. I think J even surprised herself!

We then set the "placemats" (embossed paper squares), napkins (tied with vine-leaf ribbon), candles (tealights in espresso glasses) and cutlery, and voila!

Light some candles, add a couple of floor lamps, and the atmosphere is set...

The guests started arriving, and promptly tucked into french brie, drizzled with truffle infused honey (donated from my pantry) and roasted walnuts.

This was followed up by smoked marinated trout, and smoked salmon on toasts and mini frittatas, with dill and cream.

These were demolished quickly - J and I may have scoffed a few before sending them out of the kitchen. The final canape we served was fried prawn wontons with a sweet and sour dipping sauce. The prawns were simply marinaded in a little soy and sesame oil, before wrapping the wonton and deep frying. Easy!

The guests were then seated, and we served up fresh bread using our respective breadmakers (multigrain and plain white), and a pear and parsnip soup. I don't have a picture of the soup, but the bowls all came back clean so I think that's a good sign. One of the guests asked for the recipe, which is simple: Combine 2 peeled/chopped and roasted pears with 3 peeled & chopped parsnips in a pot, along with 1.5 litres chicken stock. Cook, then add 1/4 cup sherry and 1 cup cream, puree in a food processor until smooth. For the diet conscious, substitute the cream with light sour cream or skim milk.

Main course was free form curried chicken and mushroom pies.

And for the finale - dessert was a choice of sticky date pudding with salted toffee sauce, or chocolate tart with raspberry coulis:

From the clean plates, outrageous conversation and laughter, and reluctance of the guests to leave (we were still cleaning up at midnight), the night was a huge success.

Sweeeeeeeeeet!

2010-07-10T16:16:00.001+10:00

The dilemma I find myself in when expecting city friends for a weekend brunch, is whether to bake something lovely, or take a stroll through our picturesque town to one of the excellent cafes.

It's usually brunch, as most of our friends now arrive with young children and a hundred assorted baby bags full of nappies, snacks, toys, wipes, blankets and spare items of clothing. The mother part of the equations come with man-sized (breastfeeding) appetites, and both parents are usually hungry for some adult conversation and a chance to sit back and let someone else take care of them for little while, as they enjoy the serenity of our home in the hills.

Considering the weather (windy, damp and very very cold) I decided to make up a last minute brunch from the limited contents of my fridge, pantry and garden. The staples I had to work with were: raspberries (fridge), lots of lemons given by a neighbour (pantry), and leeks (garden). Creamy potato and leek soup with some crusty bread, followed by light and fluffy lemon cupcakes topped with lemon buttercream and raspberries was served to our appreciative guests. We sent them home with a takeaway container with some of the leftover cupcakes, to be enjoyed on the trek back to Fitzroy.

Lemon cupcakes with buttercream and raspberries:

Ingredients (cake):

2 & 1/2 cups SR flour
1 cup caster sugar
finely grated rind and juice from one or two lemons (depends on "lemony" you want them!)
1 & 1/2 cups buttermilk (or regular milk with some lemon juice mixed in)
1/3 cup of rice bran oil
1 egg

Method:

Prehead oven to 180C (I heated my fan-forced oven to 160 and it worked fine), line a 12 cup muffin pan with papers or grease lightly. Mix together dry ingredients including rind, then separately whisk together the wet ingredients. Add wet to dry, stir until it just comes together (too much mixing will result in rock hard cakes - you have been warned!) Spoon into pan and bake for 20-25 mins until cooked.

Cool cakes on a wire rack, then make the buttercream. I don't have a specific recipe for this; the best way is to beat up some room temperature unsalted butter (about 200 grams) using a mixmaster (any excuse to use my new Kitchenaid), add some lemon juice or whatever else you want to flavour it with - you could use jam, crushed berries, or other fruit juices - about two tablespoons worth of lemon juice will give it a nice tangy flavour. Once it pales, gradually add in the icing sugar - it could be anywhere between one to three cups, depending on the flavour and consistency you need. I like to keep it quite firm (more icing sugar) so it retains its shape when being piped on to the cupcakes.

Sweet!

Hommus and pitta on a Saturday night

2010-07-03T21:30:00.000+10:00

In today's Good Weekend mag (page 28) there was a recipe for pitta, so I started putting together the dough to prove and thought about what might be good to accompany it. I had a little bit of tahini and a can of chickpeas in the pantry, so the obvious answer to that would be hommus.

Paired perfectly with a cranberry cocktail ...

... and my hunky, frypan-wielding husband.

We ate the finished product straight out of the pan, dipped in the creamy hommus.

Easy hommus:

In the bowl of a food processor, put some chopped chilli, two cloves of garlic, 2 tbsp water, 2 tbsp tahini, 3 tbsp olive oil - and pulse until well blended. Add a drained tin of chickpeas and a few big pinches of fresh chopped parsley and blend again until smooth and creamy. Add juice of one lemon and salt to taste. Serve with pitta bread.

Mad Raven Pizza Deluxe ... gourmet pizza comes to Kallista!

2010-06-30T21:07:00.000+10:00

Following on from my previous post and a fellow blogger's rave reviews of "the raven" - I also simply must gush about the new food sensation that's descended on our fair town of Kallista.

A hallmark of a good restaurant and accommodating chef is the vegetarian menu. Mad Raven flapped in last Friday and so far has drawn many locals out of their cosy fireplace-warmed homes to treat their tastebuds to a refreshing menu of gourmet pizza. The "Carnivore" menu features toppings like "Sweet Pork", "Lamb Boreka" and "Moroccan Prawn Chermoula". But the Vego menu is where the fun really begins. "Margarita loves Mr. Garlic", "Smoked Tofu Parmigiana" and "Pumpkin Perfection" are but a few of the tantalising options.

Hubby and I skipped across Monbulk Road to the Kallista Cellars to grab a bottle of cleanskin Merlot, and bounded back, eagerly waiting outside the front door of the restaurant to the quizzical looks of the waiter and chef, who were still just opening the doors (it was 5.30 and we were very hungry!) - but they were nice enough to allow us inside to get out of the frosty Dandenongs night air. The restaurant itself is quite small: two booths accommodating four people each inside, and some outside booths for warmer nights - or those too late to snag an indoor seat. The decor is homely and comforting with interesting nick nacks possibly from the quirky antique store next door, with cool jazzy tunes playing in the background. Our young waiter was eager to assist, very knowledgeable of the menu and, it must be said, a sweetheart.

We chose to share an entree of "Teriyaki Saganaki Prawns" which came out in a hot saganaki dish - the most delicious concoction of grilled prawns, resting on juicy, salty nori sheets and swimming in a ginger, spring onion and sweet teriyaki sauce, topped off with fresh coriander leaves. The combo of salty, sweet and the fresh zing from the coriander was truly wonderful and devoured before I could even think of taking a photo. For the main, Mr T went with the "Goa Chicken" pizza, with spicy chicken red onion and yogurt dressing with a healthy topping of fresh coriander. I went with the "Hot Pesto" - my idea of pizza heaven including all of my favourite toppings: pesto, mozzarella, goat's cheese, loads of fresh sliced chilli, sambal, red onions and ... anchovies.

After smacking our lips and devouring our pizzas, against our better judgement we shared a dessert: "lemon curd mousse tart" which was every bit as delicious as it sounds. It came topped with a generous pile of persian fairy floss and some double cream on the side.

A new restaurant pops up in the main street of our sleepy little town and as if that's not exciting enough - it turns out to be one of the loveliest I've ever had the pleasure of eating in. And I've eaten in some lovely restaurants, so that's really saying someting.

Cheers, K_Bom

My favourite naughty foods

2010-06-27T19:45:00.001+10:00

Pizza and chocolate. Not together obviously, although I suppose you could do a nice chocolatey pizza like the one at Max Brenner's ... mmm ... where was I??

Oh. Yes. My two favourite foods that are well and truly in the "naughty" category would have to be pizza and chocolate. Unfortunately I don't have the metabolism of a hummingbird so I do try to be a good girl and keep them both to a minimum.

Many, many years ago I worked evening shifts in a small but very busy country pizza restaurant. I would work for five or six hours in the kitchen and go home absolutely reeking of tomato paste, melted cheese and ham; the smell would embed itself in my hair, clothes and skin - and I went off pizza for quite some time. Nothing against the place as it was extremely popular and the pizza was excellent (I happily ate there before I got the job). Something about how mechanics' cars are always overdue for a service. Or someting like that. Anyway, I got over my pizza aversion soon enough and have since become a coinnosseur of sorts. Barbara, local Vintage Cookbooks shop owner, recently blogged about a new gourmet pizza restaurant that's opened up in my little town in the hills - pardon my excitement but this is HUGE news, because there was only one dinner restaurant in the town before that, and becuase I just LOVE pizza's which are a bit 'out there'. I'll keep you posted as I'm sure I'll be eating there soon.

The best negotiation between eating the usual dripping-with-fat-pizza-shop-pizza and the weight watchers cardboard version, has got to be making your own from scratch. You can use healthy toppings and low fat mozzarella cheese which pretty much tastes the same as regular. Tonight I gave my new Kitchenaid mixer a workout and used the dough-hook to create a lovely pizza dough, and made pizzas for my husband and I using our favourite toppings: white anchovy+vegetable for me, and peking duck+vegetable for him. I've put him on a mission so that we don't suffer soggy bases in future: a terracotta tile for the oven.

The next thing I baked today was a downright disgustingly gooey chocolate and raspberry brownie, using the recipe from a Donna Hay book ("Instant Entertaining"). Having the raspberries is an amazingly clever addition as the acidity and tartness cuts through the rich chocolate beautifully.

My excuse is that I'm booked in with a friend's church to help cater a gourmet three course meal to 14 dinner party guests - all in the name of some good old fashioned fundraising. So at the moment I'm testing out various sweet and savoury things to ensure we get it right on the night. And so I don't completely gorge myself on all of the finished products, I'm taking them into work to tempt the tastebuds of my colleagues instead.

You know the drill; let me know if you would like a recipe or two... and if you like my blog, please subscribe!

Cheers, K_Bom x

Mushroom, Potato & Leek soup

2010-06-27T12:59:00.001+10:00

One of the items on the basic shopping list I gave to my husband this morning was "olive oil - decent". Normally I have plenty of assorted bottles of the stuff in the pantry - given as gifts or sourced at various foodie markets or the odd vineyard. But as I planned to spend today in both the kitchen and my pj's, taking a leisurely trip down into the Yarra Valley wasn't on the cards. When he asked what would constitute "decent" from the local supermarket, I showed him the dregs of the last bottle of Cobram Estate (purple lable) and expected he'd simply buy another.

He came back with three bottles of CE - one of each flavour - and with a proud flourish, lined them up on the kitchen counter. We conduct a taste test using some Phillippa's organic sourdough to soak up the liquid gold.

We need to use up the sourdough today; what better way than to soak it up with a lovely warming winter veggie soup? Vegetarian food comes to mind not because I'm a staunch non meat eater (although I think I could be without too many dramas) but because I have really been craving veggies lately. I also have several vegetarian/vegan friends (and readers). I decided to use some of the beautiful leeks from our garden to put together a lovely potato and leek soup with big chunks of swiss brown mushrooms to 'beef' it up. It turned out really well - silky smooth with a nice tang courtesy of a bit of lemon juice.

Ingredients:

- 500g peeled/chopped potatoes (anything suitable for mashing)
- two leeks, cleaned and white part sliced
- olive oil
- 250g swiss brown mushrooms, chopped into quarters (don't peel!)
- 3 cups vegetable stock
- 2/3 cup cream with juice from half a lemon mixed in (or light sour cream or low fat milk for the diet-conscious!)

Method:

In a large saucepan, heat some olive oil and saute the leeks until soft. Add the potatoes and stock, bring to the boil then cover with a lid and simmer for about 20 mins until potatoes are cooked; remove from heat. In the meantime, saute the mushrooms in another pan with some olive oil until just softened, set aside. Put the potato mixture into a food processor and blend, or use a stick blender until smooth. Add the cream/sour cream/milk mixture and stir well over a low heat. At this point add your seasonings - personally I only needed to add a little white pepper but no salt, as the lemon juice seems to give it just enough flavour. Serve in bowls with a drizzle of your favourite olive oil (I used CE extra virgin "fresh & fruity" blend) with a generous pile of mushies on top.

Windsor High Tea & Chocolate Degustation

2010-06-20T19:50:00.000+10:00

You must excuse this post for being a bit rambling and incoherent as I've spent the better part of this weekend consuming, and being consumed by, chocolate.

The weekend kicked off with a visit to the Windsor - a belated birthday present from bestie V - high tea seated amongst a gaggle of rather well dressed and heavily made up screeching women, all stuffing their faces on devonshire tea, french champagne, finger sandwiches, mini quiche/pies, made-to-order crepes and a mountain of assorted sweets.

I entered the beautiful restaurant at 111 Spring feeling just a tad under-dressed in my "good" jeans, new black cowl-neck knit and my face naked of makeup; finding myself juxtaposed against a room full of designer gear, stillettos, bling-y handbags and gargantuan earrings. I soon forgot myself however, setting eyes on the dessert buffet and beginning to drool quite embarrassingly. Sage advice from friend/colleague D was delivered beforehand: "don't eat before; don't eat after" - I was immediately grateful for having followed the first part of the instruction.

What blew me away the most was the dessert buffet. So busy was I elbowing away the stilletto-wearers to get first pick of the mille fuille tower and virgin slices of the many cakes, I did not take a photos of the buffet in its entirety; rather just my plate with a modest assortment of my favourites: creme brulee, pistachio almond cake(tte), some sort of mousse pudding, and my AB-solute favourite - lemon meringue tart. I will quietly admit that I went back more than twice, as did V (although she had the excuse of eating for two). I would also like to say that I went home, all full and happy without eating any dinner - but that would be a big fat lie. Later on my husband and I went out to dinner, where I ate both an entree and main course (Italian, no less). I am truly ashamed.

This morning I awoke with chocolate on the brain - you'd think that Saturday's experience would have put me off sugar and cocoa for a while but noooooo, I got out my winter Donna Hay mag and some of my beloved dessert-y cookbooks settling on not one, but TWO things to bake. First up was Donna's chocolate layer cake with chocolate cream cheese frosting (I justified it by promising myself I'd take it to work for D's birthday) and secondly, a mascarpone chocolate tart. The tart was something I just HAD to do, as I needed to practice the recipe for an up-coming dinner party (honest!)

Okay, so the cake doesn't quite look as good as one of Donna's creations. But doesn't it look just delish in all its ugly glory?

The tart looks much nicer. I served up a slice to my non-calorie-counting husband along with a quenelle of Maggie Beer icecream. I took a forkful from his plate and it was ... incredible.

*undoes my jeans* ... time to watch Masterchef. :-)

PS: if you'd like recipes to either of the two chocolatey creations, just leave a comment.

Win tickets to the Melbourne Good Food & Wine Show!

2010-05-31T12:20:00.000+10:00

It's that time of year again when Melbourne gears up for what it does best - the Good food & Wine show is in town this weekend 4-6 June at the Convention & Exhibition Centre (Jeff's shed). This year promises to be an event to remember, with celebrity demo's, book signings & tastings, Cheese & Chocolate masterclasses, wine sessions at the Riedel Decanter Bar and the Gourmet Garden Cooking School where you can try your hand at tasty recipes.

WIN!

I am giving away TWO DOUBLE PASSES to this year's show. All you have to do is:

1. Be subscribed to this blog

2. Write a comment below explaining what you'd like to see at the show, and your email address.

This competition must end by MIDDAY TUESDAY 1st JUNE so we can get the passes sent out to you in time for the show this weekend, so get your entry in NOW and good luck!

http://www.goodfoodshow.com.au/

The two week birthday celebration with a boeuf bourginon finale

2010-05-30T20:18:00.002+10:00

<---- Chocolate Guinness cupcakes with marshmallow "head" (Nigella recipe)

Where to begin? Almost two weeks ago I turned 33; since then it's been a series of highs and lows. High: a long anticipated night with my husband in Arthur's Seat at an amazing B&B with views over Melbourne. Low: aforementioned husband coming down with food-poisoning an hour after arrival at the B&B, which lasted five days. High: friends, food and cocktails around an outdoor fire with perfect weather on a Saturday evening. Low: learning about some dodgy U.S. food practices via the movie "Food Inc.", leading to general household paranoia about the food we buy, source, eat (but on further reflection, this is probably a good thing).

Rather than post up two weeks worth of recipes, here are some highlights and pictures, let me know if you'd like any recipes and I'll post it up:

Sitting around the fire while our neighbour Greg tries to coax one of the local, very fat, possums down from a nearby tree with a banana (he was later successful, at a cost of one inadvertently gnawed finger).

A lovely Sunday evening spent with hubby and our friend K; citrus glazed poached chicken resting on a bed of steamed beans and butter-roasted fennel.

One lazy Sunday morning, I threw together a damper loaf using ginger beer - very crumbly and crunchy outside crust; lovely and soft inside.

Today started with some fresh organic leeks pulled from the garden...

...and ended with a lovely, rich, boeuf bourginon (recipe below).

I made this lovely garlic and rosemary studded foccacia to mop up the bourginon gravy, which complimented the garlic and rosemary flavours in the stew.

Boeuf bourginon using mum's relish:

1 kg diced steak (you can use a cheaper cut - the cooking time will ensure it becomes soft)

two smashed garlic gloves

three leeks, washed and sliced (white only)

four medium carrots, chopped into big chunks

7 chat potatoes, halved (unpeeled)

handful of large sized button mushrooms, quartered

olive oil

one cup red wine

a jar of random relish or chutney from your pantry - I used one of my mum's many contributions, a sweet plum relish (you could buy one from the supermarket or local farmer's market if you don't have any)

2 cups beef stock

salt and pepper

plain flour

3 tsp cornflour mixed with water to make it a paste

two stalks rosemary

Method:

Coat the beef in flour seasoned with salt and pepper, brown it in a heavy bottomed casserole dish with a splash of olive oil and set aside. Saute leeks, then add beef and all other ingredients back into the pan. Put the lid on and place it into a 160C oven for 1 & 1/2 hours. Take it out and give it a stir, add the mushrooms and the cornflour mix, then put back in the oven for a further 20 mins.

Vietnamese cold noodle salad with chilli & mint dresing

2010-05-11T18:53:00.000+10:00

Using last night's leftovers, I made a cold Vietnamese salad. I arranged the rice noodles, bean shoots, torn mint leaves (from our garden) and chopped chicken on a plate, then made a tasty dressing. Start with 1/4 cup sweet chilli, then 'layer' those typical Vietnamese ingredients until you have the right flavour. As a general guide, add to the sweet chilli sauce: 2 tsp sugar, 1 spring each chopped mint and coriander, 1 tbs light soy sauce, 2 tsp fish sauce, 1/2 tsp sesame oil, 1 small chopped red (de-seeded) chilli, juice from 2 limes or lemons. Chopped peanuts would have made this dish, but in lieu of those I sprinkled over some sesame seeds which tasted fine.

Home made prawn and chicken rice paper rolls

2010-05-10T20:09:00.001+10:00

On those days when I'm in a hurry and happen to run past an asian takeaway, I'll scoff down some rice paper rolls as a healthy and delicious option. For the first time tonight, my husband and I made our own - and they were just like the ones you buy in the shop (although perhaps not quite as pretty).

Rather than tell you how to make them and what ingredients to use, the best thing is for you to just buy some rice paper wrappers and wing it yourself. Look in the asian food section of your local supermarket - usually the pack will have some suggestions and folding instructions on the back. Good luck!

Sparkling Citrus Cake

2010-05-09T21:45:00.000+10:00

For the last 10 or so months, I've managed an extremely stressful, political, and high profile project at my workplace. Stressful in that it involves real lives - communities who depend on and look to my organisation to provide information at crucial times. Political in that it's a government organisation and it's an election year. High profile in that our work regularly appears in the media; discussed and dissected over talkback radio, critiqued every day and covered in the evening's news. I've lost count of the number of times I've been bailed up at a party, subjected to general ignorance, misguided opinions or "why don't you just ...?" I won't bore you with the details but it involved long days, back to back meetings, repeated trips between multiple workplaces, and the goalposts changing day by day, hour by hour.

Working in such an environment under such testing conditions can expose the very best and worst in human behaviour. And so while I've experienced some fairly shoddy treatment from members of the public and even colleagues; I have also had the honour to work with some pretty amazing people too. People who put ego and personal agendas aside, who geniunely care about the communities they serve, dedicated to making a difference and helping to keep others safe - often at great personal expense, sacrificing time with loved ones, putting on hold plans for holidays or families, or taking care of their own backyards. One person in particular - T, who worked closely with me on the project - showed amazing dedication and worked absolutely above and beyond the call of duty.

Now on the eve of wrapping up the project, we may not be working in such close confines anymore, but the friendship lives on. Our shared passion for good food will surely endure as well. Today as I experimented in my kitchen with some sparkling wine, I created a birthday cake for T my fellow Taurean: the "Sparkling Citrus" - bubbly, zesty, sweet but with substance.

Ingredients

1 cup plain flour, sifted
5 large eggs, separated
80g caster sugar
1/4 cup olive oil
150ml sparkling sweet wine (I used Omni citrus)
Grated zest of two navel oranges; plus juice of 1
1 tsp baking powder

Method

Prehead oven to 180C, grease a round springform cake pan and dust with flour. Whisk egg yolks and sugar with electric beaters until pale and creamy, then stir in oil, wine, zest and juice with a spoon, then add flour and baking powder and combine.

Beat egg whites until stiff, fold into mixture then pour the lot into prepared pan. Bake 25 mins, then turn oven down to 150C and bake another 20 mins. Turn off oven and open door slightly, cool cake in the oven. It will sink down in the middle but it's meant to - the texture will be fluffy and airy inside but with a nice brown crust on the outside.

Tarta De Santiago

2010-05-05T19:33:00.000+10:00

I promised I would post up the recipe for the delicious "almond lemon cake" I made as part of the "spanish birthday feast", so, here it is!

Ingredients:

2 2/3 cups ground almonds
3/4 cup Flour
1 1/4 cup Sugar
4 Eggs
8 Tbsp butter at room temperature
1/2 tsp baking Powder
1/2 cup Water
zest of 1 Lemon
icing sugar to decorate
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Method:

Preheat oven to 180c, grease and line the bottom of a round springform cake pan.

Beat eggs and sugar until pale and creamy, add butter, sifted flour, baking powder and water, and beat again until well combined. Stir almond meal into batter, gently fold in, together with lemon zest and cinnamon. Bake in oven for approx 50 mins until risen and lightly browned on top.

To decorate it the traditional way, a paper cross is put on the top of the cake and icing sugar is sprinkled over, then the paper is removed to reveal the cross pattern. This cake is made in honour of "Saint James" the patron saint of Spain.

To really make the cake "zing" - serve it with a lemon sauce. You could use heated lemon butter, or do as I do and combine a mix of one part lemon juice, one part water, two parts sugar; heat in pan until sugar dissolves, then simmer for a few mins to reduce. Pour over the cake, or serve to be tipped over each individual slice.

Spanish Birthday Feast

2010-05-02T16:36:00.003+10:00

I'm lucky enough to have such amazing friends, family, and friends who are like family. On Friday I hosted a shared birthday dinner celebration for three mates plus one husband and a small child. Us girls have known each other since going to school together in a small country town; all very different in personality, looks and tastes. We sat on the fringes of high school's usual mix of bitchy popular types, the geeks, dorks, athletes, artits, outcasts, suck-ups and so on. We were initially drawn together because we didn't fit in anywhere else. Then we realised we had branded our own "crowd" - smart but not top of the class, shy but not reclusive, straight but also prone to the occasional sneaky drink and pash. We left school and followed different paths (although three all became nurses); we all chose different areas to live - one close to where she grew up, another close to the city, one in the hills, another near the ocean, and one interstate (who sadly was not able to make Friday's dinner). To have all of us in the same room together more than once a year is impossible. But, as with many things in life, when we do manage to catch up as a group, it's done over good food, wine, and conversation.

I decided to make it a Spanish theme for the evening, and wrote up a "simple" tapas menu, which I printed out and used as disposable placemats. This was obviously taken towards the end of the evening, which explains the stains!

When you read over the list of tapas, it seems very simple and easy to prepare. But there were two complicating factors: I made most of it from scratch (right down to things like pastry, marinades, and fillings), and it was a Friday night, so it was a workday for me. I was lucky enough to be able to work from home for most of it, which enabled me to get in a horrendously early trip to the city to visit Vic Market and Casa Iberica in Fitzroy (I left at 6.30 and was home by 8.45am - not bad considering it takes around a 45min drive each way from my place). I was able to do a little preparing in between emails, phone calls and my usual workday tasks, but by and large I didn't start seriously preparing until about 6pm. So, little surprise that I found myself frantically rushing around the house late Friday afternoon with an hour to spare before guests were due to arrive: cooking, vacuuming, tidying, setting the table, doing my hair/makeup, getting changed, feeding the cat, throwing logs on the fire, making up beds in spare rooms, child-proofing the house, lighting candles and wiping down surfaces. To top things off, D arrived over half an hour early but I took advantage of this and put her on Sangria duty. The whole thing miraculously came together at the absolute last minute and I was able to sit down and enjoy the food and company without being chained to the kitchen all night.

I did realise one thing - I take my husband's party assistance skills for granted. He was away interstate that night and I had grossly under-estimated how long and tiring the process of preparing the house + food + looking after five guests would be without him. That said, the night was a huge success, the food was amazing (if I do say so myself!), and most importantly of all, the looks on people's faces as they ate, talked and laughed around my kitchen table was enough to make me want to do it all over again.

A nice bonus was that I was able to whip up a quick 'n' tasty pasta dish the next night, using leftover tapas ingredients and my friend E's home made pesto, which she kindly left in my fridge. A few wine fairies also kindly left an assortment of my favourite wines and champagnes in the laundry drinks fridge, which I only discovered after everyone had left the next day.

Here's a nice Sangria recipe, which was practically inhaled by the girls and went very well with all that salty food:

In a punch bowl, combine two bottles of red wine (cleanskin shiraz or similar will do), a litre of lemonade and about two cups of orange juice. Add chopped fruits - I just used a can of mixed fruit in juice - slices of lemon/orange would be good too.

Free-form fig pie

2010-04-26T23:11:00.000+10:00

Adapted from a Donna Hay recipe and lovingly baked for tonight's dinner party with the gorgeous K - a fellow fig lover - this pie is dead easy, delicious, and the fruit makes it seem semi-healthy.

Free-form fig pie

In a food processor, put two cups of plain flour and 185g cold chopped butter. Process until it resembles fine breadcrumbs, then with the motor still running, slowly add approx 2 tbs iced water until the mixture just comes together as a dough. Take the shortcrust pastry out of the processor, knead briefly until it forms a ball, then wrap in cling wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 mins.

In the meantime, combine 3/4 cup almond meal, 1/4 cup caster sugar, and enough melted butter to form a spreadable paste. Roll out dough in a circle, to 3mm thickness. Spread paste around middle, leaving approx one inch around the outside. Arrange four finely sliced figs over the paste, then fold in the dough around the outside to hold the contents in. Sprinkle with raw sugar.

Bake in a 180deg oven for approx 20-30mins until lightly browned around the edges. Serve as is, or with cream/icecream. Some suggestions for future pies around tonight's dinner table included peaches, apples, raspberries, nectarines, or strawberries!

Old Man Jordie

2010-04-25T21:58:00.001+10:00

This entry was supposed to be about Anzac Day and the classic foodie tribute to our fallen heroes, the Anzac biscuit. But at dawn this morning, my husband and I awoke to our old puss, Jordie, in extremely poor shape. Sick, lethargic, eyes downcast, not even a hint of a purr and a total lack of appetite signalled that there was something horribly wrong. We cancelled our roadtrip plans and instead took him to the vet. The news was grim: Jordie's system was shutting down, fast, and with no obvious signs of the cause (apart from a moderate heart murmer), there were limited options. We made the most difficult decision a pet owner must inevitably face - to end his suffering and put him to sleep.

Jordie was a 12 year old, fluffy, cuddly, "big boned" domestic cat. I adopted him five years ago from a couple who were moving to a place where they could not keep pets - a favour to friends of a friend. He took no time at all to settle himself in to my home; the first night, he self-righteously pushed his way under the doona and curled up against the small of my back, taking advantage of my warmth. Since then, his aggressively affectionate nature has appealed to house guests (mooching figure eights around their feet), small children (amiably going all "rag-doll" like when small arms would struggle to lift his 8.5 kilogram frame), and even supposed cat-haters (my father, who begrudgingly would scratch his chin after Jordie muscled his way onto his lap).

I know he was "just a cat". I've owned pets who've lived and died; stroking fur as the vet injects the green dream, a small soft body going limp in my arms. Or back on the farm, where countless pets met an untimely end - too many times to count, all in my childhood years. But he was still my furry friend; my "snuglepuss", my old man Jordie. Always there when I walked in the door, with his slightly arthritic limp and gutteral hungry miaow. Yesterday afternoon I had a long nap, and he curled up in the crook of my arm for two whole hours - he must have been so hot under the sheets - reluctantly, gently, creeping out of bed as I slowly awoke. I will miss lovingly cursing him, as I pick white hair out of my clothes.

Quinoa Anzac Biscuits

Ingredients

2 tbs golden syrup
2 tbs water
150g butter
1 1/2 cups quinoa flakes (or rolled oats)
1 cup SR flour
1 cup dessicated coconut
3/4 cup brown sugar (firmly packed)

Method

Heat oven to 180deg; line two baking trays with non stick paper. Melt butter in a small pan with golden syrup and water. Sift flour into a large bowl; add quinoa flakes, coconut and sugar, and stir. Add golden syrup and butter mix, add to dry ingredients and stir until it all comes together in a dough. Roll into golf ball sized balls, place on tray and press down slightly with the back of a fork. Cook in oven for 12 minutes, let cool on tray before removing gently.

"Lest we forget"

Sticky Date Pud with Salted Toffee Sauce

2010-04-24T20:55:00.002+10:00

When asked what their favourite comfort food is, people will give a variety of answers. Chocolate features high up on the most common responses, as do roast dinners. Inmates on death row, similarly, have wishlists which span from the mundane (a big mac and fries) to magnificent (foie gras). Personally, nothing says "curl up under a warm doona and forget about the world outside" quite like a good pud.

Ingredients (serves 4):

100g pitted and roughly chopped dried dates
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp bi carb soda
50g unsalted butter
80g caster sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup SR flour (sifted)

Sauce:

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup cream
50g salted butter
1 tsp sea salt flakes

Method:

Preheat oven to 180deg, lightly grease 4 ramekins.

Combine dates and water in saucepan, bring to boil and remove from heat, add bi carb and let cool to room temp. Beat butter and sugar with electric beaters in small bowl until creamy, slowly add egg and vanilla while beating. Transfer mixture to a large bowl and fold in flour and dates plus water mix until just combined (don't over do it!). Spoon mix into ramekins, place ramekins on a baking tray and bake for approx 30 mins until golden brown and cooked through.

For the sauce, put sugar, cream, butter and salt into a pan and bring to boil. Simmer for a few mins, stirring, until butter and cream dissolve and combine. Reduce heat, simmer for another minute. Pour hot sauce over inidividual puds and serve immediately - either on its own (classic) or with some cream and seasonal fruits (posh).

The results are in - Chocolate Lover's Competition

2010-04-22T18:18:00.000+10:00

Thanks to all the entrants who took the time to join the Good Food = Happy Life blog, and submitted their favourite chocolate experiences.

The winner is... "Anonymous" (osands@optusnet) - congratulations Olly, your story was a wonderful account of how chocolate can so easily say "I love you".

Keep coming back, you never know when the next competition will be!

Chocolate Lovers Competition!

2010-04-14T17:48:00.002+10:00

Listen up foodies; I have some exciting news for chocoholics. Suzie over at Melbourne's Chocoholic Tours has very generously donated TWO FREE TICKETS for one of her famous Chocolate Tours, and I'm giving YOU the chance to win them! The prize is worth $70 and is a gift voucher, which means you can take the tour whenever you like (vouchers are valid for six months).

Competition Details

To win, all you need to do is:

Join the Good Food = Happy Life blog (click on "follow" at the top of the page); THEN
Write a comment under this article, about your "All Time Best Chocolate Experience" (in 100 words or less) - it can be anything at all, just as long as it involves chocolate in some form! Please remember to include your email address.

Entries must be submitted before midnight, (AEST) Wednesday 21st April 2010; the winning entry will be judged by blog author of Good Food = Happy Life and will be announced the following Friday. Extra points will be given for creativity. The winner will be contacted by email. Sorry, this competition is open to Victorian (Australia) residents only.

Oysters and Mussels from Queen Vic

2010-04-13T17:56:00.002+10:00

I've posted before that my husband is not a fan of certain foodstuffs; whereas I'm more your "I'll eat anything" kinda girl. So when I find myself home alone or in restaurants, I indulge. Saturday morning - slightly the worse for wear after a big night out - I found myself unusually close to the city and in need of a vitamin kick. Omega 3's, here I come!

Mussels in White Wine

If you're a mussel lover like me, this will serve one - however if you're a normal person, this will provide two quite generous serves.

Scrub and de-beard 1 kilo of fresh mussels, set aside. In a medium heated pan, saute four chopped spring onions and two crushed garlic cloves until transparent and fragrant. Add half a cup of dry white wine ( I used a Sword's Pinot Gris ) and half a cup of fish stock, simmer until slightly reduced. Add the mussels, put on the lid and cook for approx 10 mins or until the mussels open. Take the mussels out of the pan as they open (discard the ones that stay closed), set aside, covered with foil to keep warm. Strain the stock into a bowl using a fine sieve (I used a regular colander lined with a clean chux); tip it back into the pan and simmer for five minutes. Turn heat down and whisk in 2 tbs cream and 1 tbs butter, until thickened slightly. Pour over the mussels, serve immediately with some crusty bread and a green salad.

Oysters with sesame dressing

Take a dozen freshly opened oysters ( I used coffin bay ) and prop up on a plate (use rock salt if they won't stand up on their own). Combine two finely chopped spring onions, 1 tsp sesame oil, 1 tbs rice wine vinegar and 1 tbs light soy sauce - whisk together with a fork then spoon over the oysters. Serve immediately.

Beery Scones

2010-04-13T16:53:00.001+10:00

Another recipe using beer; resulting in the most beautifully light fluffy scones I've had in a long time. I served them up straight out of the oven - to my husband as he was about to leave on a long-ish solo car trip - topped with my mum's blackberry jelly and thick cream.

Ingredients

3 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup beer (I choose a Cascade Blonde)
1 cup cream
pinch salt

Method

Stir ingredients together and knead on a floured board until it just forms a dough. Form into a large rectangular shape and cut into desired shapes. Bake in 200C oven for about 10-15 mins or until risen and golden.

Cupcake Obsession

2010-04-09T11:18:00.007+10:00

Little sister J is a bit of a health nut. She jogs every single day, does gym classes, swims, and has been known to compete in the occasional triathlon. She eats reasonably well too - she loves her vegies, cooks low fat dinners, and snacks on nuts.

However she does have a weakness. She is absolutely obsessed with cupcakes. I'm not exaggerating. The last time she visited Hobart's wonderful "Cutie Cups" shop, she excitedly purchased half a dozen beautifully crafted morsels of cupcakey deliciousness, devouring one and packing the rest for the return trip. Only she forgot and left them in the hotel room. When I met her for breakfast immediately after landing back in Melbourne, she had tears in her eyes as she told me her tragic tale of cupcake forgetfulness. And then promptly turned to her fiance T and blamed him for distracting her.

My belated birthday present to J this year: a trip to Old Kingdom for a spot of Peking Duck (her second favourite food), and some chocky home made cupcakes with a generous dollop of icing.

Chocolate cupcakes with vanilla marshmallow frosting

Preheat oven to 200C and line 12 cupcake tins with patty papers. Beat together 175g softened unsalted butter with 175g caster sugar until pale and creamy, then gradually beat in two beaten eggs. Stir in 175g self raising flour, 2 heaped tbs cocoa and approx 1 cup milk (sorry I forgot to measure the milk). Fold together until combined - it should make quite a thick cake batter. Spoon into tin - you'll need to flatten slightly with the back of a spoon. I also tapped the tin on the bench a few times to more evenly distribute the batter. Bake in the oven for about 15 mins or until cooked through.

For the frosting, put half a pack of vanilla/raspberry marshmallows in a small pan on low heat, together with one tablespoon of milk - heat gently until melted. In another bowl, beat together two egg whites until soft peaks form, then beat in two heaped tablespoons of caster sugar until stiff peaks form. Cool the melted marshmallow a bit before folding into the egg white mixture. Let it sit for approx 10 mins before icing the cupcakes. My trick is to fill a zip lock bag with the frosting then cut off a small corner, and pipe it over the tip of the cakes.

Best friends and baking

2010-04-07T16:24:00.007+10:00

In theory, my bestie V and I should make better enemies than mates. She loves Harry Potter; I prefer obscure arthouse movies with subtitles. V is outgoing and happily chats to strangers; whereas I'm more on the I(ntroverted) side of things. She is a naturally beautiful, latte-skinned Indian goddess who never wears make-up, not even on her wedding day (bitch!); I regularly spend a small fortune on beauty treatments and pampering for my pale, sensitive, scandanavian skin (the last time I turned up to work without foundation, I received concerned looks from colleagues who said "are you okay? You look ... unwell").

We're very different, V and I, in many ways. But we do agree on the important stuff. We hate shopping for the sake of it. We believe strongly in friendhsip, family and community. We share a passion for all things involving cheese. And, we love cooking.

Enjoying my first of two weeks leave and with V on school holidays, we agreed to spend a day together, cooking up hearty, healthy food with some of this season's early fresh produce.

White bean soup with tapenade and olive beer bread

Soup: 400 grams cannellini beans soaked overnight, then simmered in a pot for an hour with 2 litres vege stock, sauteed onion and celery, bay leaves, dried oregano then pureed and seasoned with lemon rind, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil once cooked.

bread: 1 1/4 cups each plain and SR flour mixed with 2 cups mixed pitted olives, 2 tbs olive oil, few chipped spring onions, 250ml beer (I went with a lovely James Squire pilsener), 1 tbs sugar - knead for a few mins and press into a pan, let it rise for 10 mins then bake in a 180C oven for 25 mins.

olive tapenade: Mix a few handfuls of mixed pitted & chopped olives with a chopped red chilli, splash of olive oil, 1/4 cup of fresh chopped oregano leaves, and the rind and juice of one lemon. Serve with cannellini bean soup and olive bread.

Autumn vegetable stew with herb dumplings

A selection of large chopped autumn vegetables simmered in just enough vegie stock to cover, along with a few bay leaves, ground ginger, cinnamon stick, garlic, and a teaspoon of flour to thicken. Dumplings were made using flour, grated cold butter, and enough water to bring together to a dough. Knead and roll into balls before dropping into simmering stew, simmer for approx 20 minutes or until all vegetables and dumplings are cooked through.

Olive marinaded roast chicken and mashed potato

Two small sized organic chickens were placed side by side in a roasting dish, after being marinaded in a mix of finely chopped kalamata olives, anchovies, lemon juice and rind, olive oil, fresh and dried oregano (pulse marinade ingredients in food processor to bring together and rub over chicken). Roasted in a 200C oven for 1 1/4 hours (turn once to redistribute juices and keep moist) - cover in foil for first 50 minutes of cooking. Potatoes were boiled and mashed roughly with some butter and milk, seasoned with a little pepper.

Easter brunch with home made hot cross buns

2010-04-03T16:07:00.004+11:00

For someone quite keen on baking (and perhaps that's an understatement), I had never made my own hot cross buns. No, that's not my atheism showing; I simply hadn't thought to make my own when there is a plethora of bakery and supermarket buns of offer each year that are generally decent quality, acceptable fare - especially once toasted and slathered in butter.

But this morning, with some friends coming over for brunch and little in the cupboard after I was again caught off guard by Good Friday's unnecessary trading laws* - I decided to bite the proverbial and give it a go. The only problem: the closest thing I had to sultanas was cranberries.

Like all good enterprising Generation Y cooks would do, I googled "cranberry hot cross bun recipe" and found this little gem (http://www.shesaid.com.au/article.aspx?n=56955306):

Ingredients

1& ¼ cups (310ml) Milk
3/4 cup (165g)Caster sugar
2 x 7g sachets Dried yeast
4 1/3 cups (650g)Plain flour (plus extra for flouring your hands and surfaces)
1 tsp Cinnamon, ground
1/2 tsp Nutmeg, ground
1/4 tsp Ginger, ground
1/4 tsp Cardamom, ground
1 cup (190g) Cranberries, dried
1 Egg, lightly beaten
100g Unsalted butter, melted, cooled
¼ tsp Salt

To make the buns

Gently stir the milk and 1/3 cup of sugar in a saucepan over low heat till it is lukewarm, then turn off heat. Stir in yeast, then stand on stovetop for 10 minutes or until mixture is foamy.

Sift 4 cups of flour, spices and 1/4 tsp salt together into a bowl. Stir in cranberries, add the yeast mixture, egg and butter and stir until the mixture forms a dough.

Flour a clean kitchen surface or chopping board (the surface is usually easier) and knead for 5 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Place in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Stand in a warm place (not an oven!) for 1 hour or until doubled in size. NB - If you have a bread maker, follow the instructions for proofing to save time at this stage.

Divide dough into 16 pieces and shape into balls and place in a greased 23cm square cake tin. Cover with plastic wrap then stand in a warm place (not an oven) for 30 minutes or until it has risen level with the rim of the tin.

Preheat oven to 200°C while you make the icing. Stir remaining flour, 1/3 cup sugar and 1/4 cup water together until smooth. Spoon into a piping bag then pipe crosses over buns.

Bake for 10 minutes at 200°C then reduce oven to 180°C and bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden and risen. Turn on to a wire rack to cool. Stir remaining 1/3 cup sugar and 2 tbsp water in a saucepan over low-medium heat until sugar dissolves then bring to the boil. Brush hot syrup over top of buns. Serve.

The verdict? Scoffs and smiles all round. Happy Easter, enjoy the long weekend!

* THAT'S my atheism showing.

Good Thursday Duck & Good Friday Pizza

2010-04-02T19:37:00.007+11:00

Day one of two weeks' leave, and I spent it with a hangover. Probably not the best start, but the morning after the night before was worth it. Since moving high up into the heart of the Dandenong Ranges, my husband and I have taken to trekking into Melbourne's CBD and spending the night in a hotel once every couple of months after enjoying a night on the town.

A friend of ours is currently doing a stand up show for the Melbourne comedy festival, so we went along to enjoy his sick, twisted, and VERY funny antics. (Those who are interested: www.russellmcgilton.com.au) Already close to Chinatown, we grabbed a "quick" bite to eat at Da Hu Peking Duck; half a duck and about 7 pancakes each was $25 in total, and a hearty enough feed that our loose plans to grab dumplings after the show had to be shelved. After hooking up with a friend and laughing ourselves silly, we headed back up Chinatown way and enjoyed some champers and skillfully crafted cocktails, first at Chi Bar, and then over to Manchuria. Rather expensive, but worth it just for the skill and showmanship of the bartenders.

Tonight I decided some good home made pizza was in order. Not being particularly religious but up for the 'challenge' of sticking to a meat free agenda, I opted for a simple combo of fresh and home grown cherry tomatoes (from our lovely neighbour, J), anchovies (Meditteranean wholesalers), fresh basil from my garden, and shredded mozzarella (home brand!). For the sauce, I used an equal mix of tomato paste and my mum's beautiful tomato and onion chutney. It's always an interesting conundrum, what to top your pizza with. Personally, I think the fewer ingredients the better. While it's always tempting to just pile on all the favourites, if you're using fresh and flavoursome toppings and the right combo, the flavours will shine through and you'll end up with a lovely fresh and relatively healthy pizza.

Here's a very easy pizza base recipe to get you started:

In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 cups plain flour, pinch of salt, teaspoon dried yeast, 1 teaspoon sugar, 2 tablespoons olive oil and 3/4 cup warm water until it forms a dough. Tip out onto a clean surface with some extra flour, and knead for a few mins until it comes together. Put it into an oiled bowl and cover with cling wrap, put it in a warm place for about an hour until it doubles in size.

Knock the dough back by 'punching' it in the middle, then knead again briefly on a floured surface before rolling it out into pizzettes, or alternatively press it into a big pan. Remember, it will rise, so roll it super thin for a crispy base.

Top with your favourite pizza toppings, and cook in a hot oven (240 deg C) for approx 10 mins.

Quickie smoked salmon pate

2010-03-27T15:15:00.004+11:00

My siblings and I are all addicted to smoked salmon; devouring it any chance we get. It could be because we are from a long lineage of seafood devotees and it reminds us all of holidays and good times. It could also be attributed to our Scandanavian heritage (including a great grandfather who was a Whaler by trade*). Those Norwegians, you gotta hand it to 'em. The majority of the year is spent trying to keep warm and stay alive - and it's not exactly the friendliest climate for fresh produce. But they make the most of what they've got, and they do have quite a lot of salmon virtually on their doorstep, year round.

Smoked salmon is one of those wonderfully flexible ingredients which can be stored in the fridge/freezer for a few weeks in an unopened pack and whipped out for a multitude of occasions. Breakfast? Salmon eggs benedict. Lunch? Classic white bagel with smoked salmon, cream cheese and capers. Dinner? I've been known to eat it straight from the pack with a fork, with a sprinkle of lemon splashed over and washed down with a New Zealand Sauv Blanc. Absolute heaven!

Today I found myself in a frustrating fishy conundrum: 200 grams of beautiful Norwegian dill-smoked salmon + a dinner gathering and far too many options for producing something to take for "nibbles". The solution? A quick and very simple smoked salmon "pate", the recipe found on the taste.com.au website (where I go for easy and last minute recipes when I'm all outta ideas). I modified their recipe only slightly by adding dill and extra sage.

Ingredients:

200g smoked salmon
120g creme fraiche (or mascarpone)
100g room temp unsalted butter
8 fresh sage leaves
dried dill

Method:

Process the salmon in a food processor until finely chopped, add creme fraiche and process briefly until it just comes together. Add 3/4 of the butter and process, again until it just comes together smoothly. In a pan on high heat, melt the butter until it goes that lovely nut brown colour, throw in the sage leaves and immediately remove from heat. Season the salmon mix with dill and pepper (it shouldn't need salt), then spoon into a serving dish. Arrange the sage on top and pour over the remaining sage butter. Refrigerate until ready to be served.

* Hey, it was a long time ago. Back when whales were in greater supply and Greenpeace didn't exist.

It's all Greek to me...

2010-03-26T17:59:00.009+11:00

I loooooove Greece and everything it beholds, so much so that I have visited there, twice (and will go again). The people. The culture. The history. The Islands. The language.

The food.

I have several Greek-Australian friends and colleagues; many of them speak of the hardships in trying to fit in to the Aussie culture, particularly throughout their school years. I feel a great affinity with them in that I also struggled to fit in - not being much of a fan of the "great Aussie traditions" of glorified footy heroes and such, preferring instead to bury my head in books and experiment in the kitchen with forbidden fruits such as chilli. I also love that to the Greeks, food is an integral part of living a happy life - each meal is an occasion in itself, celebrated with gusto. Families and friends gather together and passionately engage in robust discussions while tucking into fresh, wholesome foods, taken from huge communal platters in the centre of the table. I have been lucky enough to partake in such occasions, both in Australia and in Greece; and even more fortunate to spend time with the women: mothers, daughters & Yia Yias - learning a precious few of their kitchen secrets.

In recognition of this year's Greek National Day (25th March) and to pay homage to my Grecian peeps (who so kindly introduced me to some of the most wonderful culinary experiences of my life), today I enjoyed re-creating some simple and tasty home cooked Greek food. The key: to use the freshest, (preferably) in season ingredients, and to keep things very basic. Olive oil. Fabulous feta. Juicy Kalamata olives. Meat & Veg.

Marinated lamb cutlets on kalamata couscous

I grabbed a big tray of lamb cutlets and marinated it in about half a cup of olive oil, dried dill, oregano and some fresh ground pepper for about six hours. Lamb was cooked (without the marinade) in the pan (about 3 mins per side for medium) and then rested for a few minutes covered in foil prior to serving time.

Equal amounts of couscous + boiling water, and some red onion, chopped carrot/zucchini pan fried and tossed through the couscous along with a handful of chopped kalamata olives. The cooked lamb was arranged over the couscous, dodoni feta crumbled over and drizzled with olive oil, sprinkled with extra dill.

Melomakarona with orange spiked honey syrup

My twist on the classic walnut honey biscuit:

Heat oven to 180C and line trays with baking paper. Beat together one cup of olive oil, half cup white sugar, half a cup of orange juice and a teaspoon of orange zest for about ten mins until it thickens. Add one egg yolk and one tablespoon of ouzo (or any other white spirit) and beat another few minutes. Sift over three cups of SR flour, half teaspoon ground cinnamon and fold gently until combined (it should make a loose dough mixture). From here you can roll individual balls into oval shapes, but I found it easier to make uniform sizes and shapes by rolling out the mixture into logs, flattening slightly and then slicing off pieces, flattening out a little more on the tray. Cook in batches for 25 mins, let them cool on the tray.

Make a syrup out of half a cup of honey, half a cup of boiling water, one cup of white sugar, zest of one orange, and a cinnamon stick - simmer for about five minutes. Remove the cinnamon and arrange the biscuits on a large tray with sides, then pour over the syrup. Sprinkle with about 120g finely chopped walnuts and leave for as long as you can (the longer the better - the honey soaks up and the cookies become marvellously chewy and sticky). Enjoy with strong coffee - espresso is okay, but Greek coffee (metrios) is best.

Kali Orexi!

Making dumplings with my Dumpling

2010-03-24T19:27:00.004+11:00

Okay. So the title is a bit corny; but those of you who know me, understand I'm not often given to random acts of cheesy-ness (figuratively speaking). But tonight I arrived home from another day at the office to a slightly down in the dumps husband in need of a wifely chat, a cuddle, and some comfort food.

For some reason, we best communicate in the kitchen, usually while cooking. It struck me tonight that we hadn't cooked together in quite some time - between my working hours and his small business, it's a rarity to both be in the house before 7pm - so our marriage was probably long overdue for some maintenance. We set up a small production line of gow gee & won ton skins, and a mix of minced chicken & prawn, coriander, garlic, ginger, soy, sesame oil and spring onions (all pulsed in a food processor). We stood together side by side - Tim on gow gee duty, folding them "half moon" style, and me on won ton duty, folding them into "nurses caps" (no photos this time, but look up you tube for good dumpling folding instructions). And as we stood there, (folding, chatting, folding, chatting) a pleasant sort of calm descended with the simple, gentle repetitiveness of the activity.

The nurses caps were simmered in a basic chicken stock + soy and chilli sauce; while the half moons were fried in the pan in canola oil. Both were served with love, along with Tim's home made "dumpling sauce" consisting of a bunch of chopped fresh coriander, minced ginger, sesame oil, soy sauce, a chopped chilli from the garden and half a cup of dark asian vinegar.

Adelaide, the Hills and Barossa Valley

2010-03-21T21:11:00.007+11:00

I'd been to Adelaide several times, all for work, but never spent any time exploring. Last week I was booked to fly over with a colleague/friend for a workshop - seeing as we're both massive foodies it was simply too good an opportunity to pass up to fly home a little later to explore some of South Australia's culinary delights.

We went to Glenelg two nights in a row; the first was spent at one of the many Italian restaurants down near the pier (semi-mediocre) but made up for it by gorging on a bottle of Shaw & Smith Sav Blanc and Copenhagen icecream. The second was spent at the "Promenade" restaurant, where we enjoyed an incredible amount and quality of fresh seafood by way of one of the most outstanding seafood platters I've ever ordered. $49 bucks got a huge platter for two; which included multiples of oysters, prawns, mussels, flake, octopus, smoked and sashimi salmon - along with fries and salad. This was heartily chased with a bottle of Orlando bubbly (and later a few cocktails at the bar next door).

The day after the workshop finished, we grabbed a hire car and made off to the hills. Stopping at Hahndorf, we had the most amazing coffee at a place called "Kaffeehaus" for gingerbread lattes. There was also a hearty breakfast of wurst, saurkraut, and german potato salad which neither of us could finish (recommend sharing one between two!) before finding a little chocolate haven: "Chocolate no. 5" - most lattes (and some chockies) were consumed before hopping back into the car for a leisurely drive north through the Barossa Valley.

I had marked on the map at the beginning of the day that above all else, I wanted to go to my "mecca" - Maggie Beer's farm and providore/restaurant. After some wrong turns and backtracking (the sat nav didn't know of Pheasant Farm Road), we finally found it. Built on the edge of a dam filled with turtles and ducks, is Maggie's beautiful restaurant where cooking demonstrations and tastings abound, and fresh produce and fine local beverages are promoted and ingested by happy smiling customers. Half baked plans of doubling back to Penfolds and Wolf Blass were promptly ditched as we kicked back on the verandah to enjoy a delicious 'picnic basket' of mushroom pate, fresh bread rolls, home made labneh and quince dukkah, wine, and of course, Maggie's famous "adults only" icecream (burnt fig and butterscotch). The whole exercise cost us almost 2.5 hours and thus by the time we left, only had time for one winery before closing time. We decided to support one of the little guys rather than one of the larger operations (which you can just buy at the local bottle-o anyway), and drove down a dirt road to find Whistler Wines. We were served generous (and FREE - you should NEVER have to pay for wine tastings) glasses of their delicious vino and both walked out with some incredible semillon-sav-blanc.

A short trip restricted by flight times home to Melbourne; but good in that it provided an overview of what Adelaide and surrounds has to offer. It whetted my appetite for a return adventure - for pleasure, not business, next time.

The Dumpling Queen

2010-03-15T18:50:00.007+11:00

For all my pontificating about dumplings, I had never actually attempted making them - instead choosing to cook them up from pre-frozen or via dining in restaurants.

Well, tonight I put my dumpling making phobia to bed; and it's much easier than I thought!

Ingredients:

500g chicken mince
ginger & garlic (i didn't have fresh so used the stuff in jars)
light soy sauce
sesame oil
fresh coriander (again, no fresh stuff on hand so used the tube variety)
brown vinegar
Wonton wrappers (20)
fresh chillies
chopped spring onions (3)

Method:
Put the chicken in a large bowl, and stir in approx 2 dessert spoons of soy sauce, 2 teaspoons each of minced garlic & ginger, sesame oil, brown vinegar, spring onions and coriander paste (if using fresh, use the whole bunch - you can never have too much coriander.)
Put some cold water into a cup and keep it close by. Take each wonton wrapper and put a heaped teaspoon-ful of chicken into the centre, then dip your finger into the water and moisten the edges (as shown). Bring together each corner, pinch together at the top of the dumpling and then fasten the sides together so that the wrapper sits snugly around the mixture.
Line a steamer with some baking paper and steam the dumplings for about 5-6 minutes. Serve with light soy sauce & fresh chopped chillies.
Trust me: uber-easy and tasty - worth it!

Banquets, Beer & Birthdays

2010-03-14T20:10:00.006+11:00

I'm still rather sick with this headcold so shall keep this entry reasonably short; I've had a lot of time this weekend to think about family and how important it is - no matter how much they may give you the "scheise" from time to time.

My family isn't particularly big - although we are spread across Australia (and the world) - and since my Granny passed away (aka Events Coordinator) we don't often get together. So when my sister's birthday rolled around this year and our cousin K said she was free for dinner, it looked like three family members in the same restaurant on the same evening was going to be as good as it gets. Well, in the space of a few days, we managed to rustle up over ten guests to Fu Long Seafood Restaurant in Box Hill, all family members and all ready for some serious asian food & Tsing Tao.

In typical "my family" fashion, we couldn't agree on a banquet (there were about eight different options) so instead each put in our orderes and divvied up the dishes. My husband, sister and brother in law shared in some delicious Peking Duck + spring rolls for a more than substantial entree. Plates of seafood/prawn combo's, Mongolian beef, salt/pepper tofu, beef & blackbean, honey chicken and other delights promptly followed and did not disappoint.

But the best thing about the night? The company. I met K's "new" baby M which I hadn't met since he was born last September - who placidly and patiently allowed himself to be passed from person to person around the entire table without a word of protest. We marvelled at the resemblence between my aunty M, Dad and our Papa. And we chatted and laughed familiarly - like no time had passed at all since our last get together - until all other customers had left and the waiters started setting up for the next days' lunch.

Drowning, Delegation & Dumplings

2010-03-11T20:09:00.001+11:00

Have you ever been struck down with an ailment or injury that stops you in your tracks? If you lead a busy life and value your independence, suddenly being physically prevented from doing all the things you take for granted can come as a nasty shock.

My friend and colleague T recently endured a series of unfortunate events which culminated in a painful injury. As we worked together from her kitchen table yesterday afternoon (she can't walk, let alone drive anywhere), we half jokingly started speculating on what the universe might be trying to tell her by throwing so many challenges her way. Almost getting swept away by floodwaters whilst driving home from a funeral: sink or swim. House flooding on the eve of hosting a fabulous party: breathe and let go. Tearing a calf muscle and being unable to walk, drive, shop or date: delegate, delegate, delegate.

You see, T is one of those people who is always going out of her way, doing stuff for others altruistically and often at the expense of her own time, resources, health, finances or sanity. She rarely complains, is always concerned for other people's wellbeing, putting her own needs aside for the sake of the comfort of friends, family, and sometimes complete strangers. So when she unexpectedly found herself unable to run around for everyone, she was left no option but to ask for a little something in return - which she admits she has found excessively uncomfortable and awkward.

Yesterday I happily repaid some of T's past good deeds by taking round some dumplings and tofu (from Spicy Fish in Chinatown) for our working lunch, which then turned into dinner and girls-only discussions of travel, men, and general gossip whilst eating reheated leftovers.

Towards the end of my visit, T deliberated over asking various friends and neighbours for favours such as shopping, taxi-ing and doing her washing. I gently but sternly reminded her just how much she does for others and recommended she take this opportunity to let others care for her for a change. I'm willing to bet my house on the fact that once asked, the people around her will happily go out of their way to help T get back on her feet*.

I awoke this morning with a dreadful head cold and was myself forced to call in sick, delegate duties and meetings, and divert calls. My first proper sick day in almost a year; I didn't even check my emails (well, okay, I did peek once in the afternoon but I didn't respond to any). I realised I then had to swallow the most difficult medicine of all: my own advice.

*those who don't, have no business calling themselves friends.

Friendship - Gently Poached

2010-03-09T13:35:00.000+11:00

Last night we were paid a visit from yet another long lost friend that we had not seen or heard from in over three years. An ex-housemate of my husband (who incidentally also won our inaugural, unofficial, "housemate of the decade" award), she recently emerged from a relationship with a man who tried to isolate her from her friends and family. She cooked and cleaned up after him and his two children, happily did school and sports runs, worked hard at making their house a happy home - all while running her own full time business - yet he did little but bully, criticise and sulk. The final straw for our beautiful friend was a suspected affair on the eve of her wedding; she packed up her clothes and walked away with practically nothing.

This blog is dedicated to her strength and courage. Love and loss. And new beginnings.

We served:

Cheese platter with goat's brie, quince paste, sourdough, olive oil/balsamic, grapes, and rosemary crackers (pictured)

Gently poached/steamed salmon in a mix of ginger, spring onions, soy, sesame oil, garlic and brown sugar (one dessert spoon of each + extra soy), served over a bed of creamy mashed potatoes (8 steamed peeled potatoes, mashed with 2 tbs butter and whipped with enough cream for a soft consistency) + steamed asparagus (raw sliced spring onions sprinkled over at the end), sprinkled with lemon juice

White peach and macadamia crumble - Tim's family's orchard peaches chopped and layered in a baking dish, sprinkled with a mix of (2 tbs each): plain flour, chopped butter, brown sugar, quinoa flakes/oats, chopped macadamias, shredded coconut - then baked in the oven til golden brown.

Cupcakes and Broken Hearts

2010-03-07T09:16:00.001+11:00

We've all been there. Sitting helplessly, hopelessly still. Numb. Staring into space, wondering how it could all go so wrong. Your spirit crushed, insides churning, heart heavy. How does one ever laugh or even smile again, after that feeling of ... nothingness? It might be guilt, or mourning a loss, or wishing for something that may never be. A broken heart - whatever its cause - can paralyse the soul. Even a distant memory of the pain can take you by surprise, the body remembers the trauma and transports you right back to that moment when everthing ... stops.

Baking is wonderful therapy.

For those times when making things from scratch is too much to bear, I make do with the following recipe:

Ingredients:

supermarket cake mix
one egg
3/4 cup milk
choc bits
melted butter
soft icing sugar
vanilla essence

Method:

Using an electric mixer, beat together cake mix, egg and milk until light in colour and smooth in consistency. Stir through choc bits. Line 12 muffin pans with large cupcake papers, spoon in batter and bake at 160 degrees (fan forced) oven for about 25 minutes.
Beat together icing sugar, vanilla essence, and enough melted butter to form a thick icing that holds its shape. When cupcakes have cooled, pipe the icing over in a spiral pattern.

Bruce's Surf and Turf with stir fried greens

2010-03-01T18:46:00.000+11:00

Until recently requested to produce a "good surf and turf recipe", I had almost forgotten: I. am. the. master. of. surf. and. turf.

(serves 2)

Ingredients:

two x one inch thick eye fillet steaks (get a butcher to cut them up for you)

garlic

chopped fresh herbs (i chose coriander)

12 raw prawns with tails intact

butter & olive oil

6 thin slices prosciutto

bunch of asparagus (or other green vegies)

good quality mayonnaise

one lime

Method:

Before doing anything, thoroughly pat dry the steaks with absorbent paper towel and rub with olive oil. Wrap prosciutto slices around steaks and pin into place with tooth picks (as shown), season with salt and pepper, and brown for a few minutes on each side in pan on a high heat. Put steaks on a tray and into an oven warmed to 16o degrees celsius - set the timer to 10 minutes for medium-rare (or 15 mins medium, 20 mins well done).

Put a knob of butter in the same pan with a splash of olive oil, add some finely choped garlic and the prawns, stir fry on high heat until just opaque - at the last minute, throw in some fresh herbs. Set prawns + garlic butter aside in a warm place, then add the chopped asparagus to the pan and stir fry until just cooked (nobody likes overcooked asparagus - keep it crunchy!)

Serve the asparagus separately (as shown) with a dollop of whole egg mayo and sprinkled with lime juice. Plate up the steaks and place the prawns + garlic butter over the top, squeeze some more lime juice over the prawns to give it a nice fresh flavour.

A weekend in the city - DJ sis, Manchuria & the Press Club

2010-03-01T15:10:00.000+11:00

I'm often in the city for work, but business hours in Melbourne seem much different to the more exciting and colourful 'after hours' times. After the sweat stained white shirts, loosened ties and wobble legged heels eventually stumble onto their late Friday trains, the weekend begins in earnest. Grimy grey lane ways ignite into bright, graffiti candy-coloured walls. Beggars give way to buskers. Children magically appear and laughter can be heard. Restaurants do more trade; the streets actually smell better - roasting chestnuts, spices, coffee.

My weekend began on Saturday morning with a few hours at the office, before checking into a Collins Street apartment and taking a wander up Swanston Street. I solo-lunched briefly at "Vietnamese Grill Bar" - steamed prawn rice roll & viet pandan rolls - which was a good standard without being standout; but what I really want to tell you about is my next stop: the Cupcake Bakery in Melb Central. For those who love a good sugar fix, and who are, like me, addicted to butter cream icing - it's the place to go for cupcake heaven. I grabbed a few to go and slowly devoured them over the course of the weekend. http://www.thecupcakebakery.com.au/ I can now highly recommend the "red velvet", "vanilla strawberry" and "choc vanilla". At $3.50 a pop it's WAY cheaper to cook your own, but they were just. so. damn. cute. Would make a great birthday gift for the young or young at heart.

Saturday evening my husband returned from his week long trek in the aussie outback, arriving at the swanky apartment in dusty clothes and in desperate need of a beer and a shower (in that order). My friend T - someone who spent almost her entire childhood growing up in asian countries - accompanied us to Chinatown for a visit to "Spicy Fish" for a spot of soft-shelled salt and pepper prawns, crispy skin whole duck, prawn dumplings, citrus & garlic cucumber, greens and rice. All agreed the food was authentic, tasty and most importantly, spicy. A nice bonus was that the wait staff were extremely kind and more than happy to accommodate our ever growing order list, topping up our wine glasses every thirty seconds. The place was packed to the rafters, noisy and brimming with excitement.

On the way to my little sister J's very first DJ gig in Richmond, we detoured via Manchuria in Waratah Pl (off Lt Bourke) to sample some of the most amazingly flavoursome cocktails I've ever had the pleasure of imbibing - second only to Der Raum. The cocktail "bible" is impressive enough - but they also have an extensive collection of whiskeys and beers from around the world. Our helpful waiter was also only too happy to hear our "favourite flavours" before suggesting the perfect tailor-made cocktail. From our 'private' corner booth we spied orange segments being scorched before dropping into icy shakers, orchids in martini glasses, smooth bar magicians working their magic, and interesting people mooching on large lounges. So seductive were the flavours and scene, that we almost lost track of time, subsequently arriving at J's gig two thirds of the way through. Sorry sis - I love you and I loved your gig (you're so talented!); but I love food more.

After almost a full day of recovering from Saturday's cocktail/boogie night, Tim and I presented at The Press Club for a long anticipated date with the freshly renovated restaurant. After following George Colombaris' fast rising star via Masterchef and marvelling at his food snobbery and hysterically non insightful "sayings" ("food is family - family is life - life is everything" - well, DUH); a despicable part of me actually wanted to be able to declare smugly to my friends : "Colombaris? He ain't all that". Eight meals on the "Symbosio" menu later - and I had to eat my words before even uttering them. Each meal was described in a single word. For example "taramosalata" = freshly shucked oysters + house made tarama + "olive oil couscous" - a freeze dried olive oil concoction personally sprinkled at the table from a smoking silver bowl. "Lamb" = backstrap cooked to perfection on a saffron "mash" + blackened roast garlic. The climax of the symposium menu was the finale, "Aphrodite" = berries and rose petals freeze dried and sprinkled over a glorious panna cotta, from which oozed a magnificent cherry sauce. This was preceded by a spritz of rosewater 'perfume' from a pretty bottle, to add to the rosy berry experience.

One of the best things about The Press Club though, was the "Chef's Table"; a granite counter at the front of the restaurant, where both single diners and small groups have an opportunity to converse with the chefs, make special requests, and perve at the bright young staff as they work their kitchen magic. As someone who used to travel a lot on business, I've had plenty of awkward solo dining experiences at restaurants designed for couples - so this concept scored points with me.

The coffee ('metrio') was the perfect accompanyment at the end of the gastronomic journey, making me whimsical and taking me right back to the Greek Islands in late summer 2007.

Melbourne on a cool Sunday evening; tourists begrudgingly returning to their suburban lives, once-lively bars now closing, the city transforms itself once more.

Duck and sweet nostalgia

2010-02-26T06:33:00.000+11:00

Between the ages of 20 and 26 I had an on/off relationship with V, a chivalrous young man from Coburg of Greek descent. Part of the attraction was our shared passion for good, fresh food. He introduced me to travel - my first overseas trip was to Greece - and the many wonderful food experiences to be had by venturing to other countries and cultures.

Seven years since our last meeting, we caught up last night over a meal in Melbourne's Chinatown to reminisce about old times and do what we always did best together: eat.

The evening was split into two venues; City BBQ (Lt Bourke) & Mekong (Swanston). City BBQ's crispy skin bbq duck was ordered for me (sans menu) by V - who has lately become a connoisseur of asian cuisine. It arrived sliced into manageable pieces, arranged over a huge plate of steaming fried rice with a slightly "charred" flavour (the non greasy kind). Both were extremely tasty and also a good leveller - you have to basically pick up a piece of duck with chopsticks and somehow tear it, along with the delicious sweet and salty skin, off the bone - at the same time attempting to maintain a semi-dignified conversation with your dining companion. I abandoned all the good table manners I'd been taught and got into it with a combination of fingers, chopsticks and spoon. The texture and sweet/salty flavours of the crispy skin as you bite down, then giving way to melt in the mouth duckfat and tasty meat was beyond any peking duck experience I could remember.

Then I was led to Mekong on Swanston - which has the dodgy claim posted in their window "Clinton ate two bowls (of Pho) - how many can you eat?" - for something called "three colour drink" (pictured, along with "four colour drink"). A complete mystery to me, V explained it's a vietnamese sweet staple, consisting of things like green jelly, red kidney & mung(?) beans, coconut, topped with shaved ice and served with spoon and straw. The idea is that you stir the flavours together a little and sip/eat. I was trying to get my head around eating red kidney beans as a sweet, when I realised I had enjoyed yum cha dishes before with sweet bean paste. The texture and flavours were interesting and I am lover of all things coconut so it ticked all the boxes there, but it was a "once in a while" thing rather than something I'm dying to go back for. I was assured though, that their lemon/lime 'sorbet' is a winner - and various restaurant reviews rave about the pho, so I will venture back soon.

I awoke refreshed this morning realising two very important things:

It's good to forgive and let go of the past
Beans make me fart

Prawn and Mango salad

2010-02-24T18:07:00.001+11:00

Thrown together today in about three minutes, with almost zero mental function left after a challenging day at work:

Thai prawn and mango salad

Ingredients: mango, cooked prawns, snow peas, garlic, chilli, ginger, coriander, sesame oil, fish sauce, lime, lemon.

Method: peel & devein prawns, toss together with snow peas. Slice mango and arrange over the top. In a mortar and pestle, grind together garlic, ginger, coriander and add sesame oil, fish sauce, and fresh lemon and lime juice together, tasting as you go to get the right flavour. Chop chilli and add to mix. Drizzle over the salad.

The verdict: Not bad, I think next time I'll marinade the prawns in half of the mixture and grill them first.

Ginger Girls

2010-02-23T17:42:00.001+11:00

Today I finally lunched at Gingerboy with a friend after our weekly habit of frequenting the same cheap-ass dumpling place in Little Bourke. As much as we love Dumpling King, the dark neon lure of Gingerboy finally drew us down grungy old Crossley St for an unforgettable dining experience. First impressions: dark and clean, black and red, clear perspex seating, bamboo and string lined walls, fairy lights reflected in huge mirrors, immaculate and efficient staff.

Not exactly a cheap lunch at just under $50 each (and we drank tap water only!), but to us, a small price to pay for asian food heaven. We had:

prawn and ginger dumplings with peanut/sesame/chilli dipping sauce
roasted kingfish wrapped in banana leaf
asian chicken, coriander, and coconut salad
salt and pepper cuttlefish
chilli jam, wok tossed asian greens, jasmine rice

I could ramble on and on about the amazing flavours of chilli, salt, fish, coriander, lime, coconut and ginger which permeated from our bowls, wafting around the restaurant and out the front door. But all you really need to know is that you should pay Gingerboy a visit. Soon. If you love asian food, you won't regret it. http://www.gingerboy.com.au/

Welcome to my Kitchen!

2010-02-22T16:17:00.000+11:00

Perhaps it's not the healthiest thing; but my life tends to revolve around food. What to eat, when, how, where - the why is not necessarily important (even if not particularly hungry I can still be coaxed into eating, especially if it involves a new experience, and I just can't say no to something spicy). A good meal - shared among friends, family, or even strangers - can inspire conversation, passion, laughter, affection.

Amazing food doesn't have to be gourmet or expensive. Sometimes the most enjoyable food experiences I've had involved two to three basic ingredients and five minutes' preparation. My only 'rule' in making every day a great "foodie" day is variety. Oh, and NO fast food chains or pre-packaged junk. I have been known to occasionally indulge in both of these things, especially when arriving home from a long day at the office, mentally exhausted and starving. But when you can just as easily grab a decent tom yum soup from the local noodle franchise - piping hot, spicy and tangy with lemon and herbs - for the same price as a happy meal, should there really be any dilemma?

Thinking back over the years since moving to Melbourne (I hailed from a small Victorian country town when I was 18, bought up on meat 'n' three veg my whole life), I realise I've since been fortunate enough to have some wonderfully diverse and amazing food experiences. I now actively seek out ways to enjoy different foods daily and excitedly discuss them with other foodie friends - and wondered if anyone else would be interested to read about them?

So. My undertaking is to log food experiences - dining in or out - with fellow amateur foodies and share the journey (good or bad). So, thanks for reading, and please feel free to comment or provide suggestions along the way.

A grown up taste of childhood...

2010-02-22T12:53:00.000+11:00

When I was a little girl, I would often stay at my grandparents' house and in the morning my grandpa Ted - an ex orchardist - would slice fresh, home grown tomatoes over hot buttered toast, sprinkle it with a little salt and pepper, and we'd eat this for breakfast with strong white tea.

Some years later, long after Grandpa Ted passed away, I met Tim - also an ex-orchardist - who wooed me with fresh stonefruit from his family's orchard, New Zealand wine, and outings to some of Melbourne's finest restaurants. It was only after we married that I realised Tim hated tomatoes ... and anchovies. Two matches made in heaven, but something we could simply never enjoy together as husband and wife.

This week I hit the jackpot. My mother in law sent down some home grown tomatoes and leeks; at the same time Tim departed for a week long camping excursion.

Ingredients:
2-3 home grown tomatoes
1 leek
crushed garlic
2-3 tinned anchovies

Instructions:
Splash a little good quality olive oil into a pan and throw in thinly sliced leek, crushed garlic and anchovies. Fry off for a minute, stirring, then add finely chopped tomatoes. Shake pan and simmer for about a minute until mixture thickens slightly and tomatoes cook.

Serve:
On a thick slice of toasted sourdough, sprinkled with a little olive oil, seasalt and freshly ground pepper.