Caper Berry Gravy

Merry Christmas!

2006-12-25T10:57:00.000+11:00

Sorry I haven't posted for a while... family wedding, Christmas... and the year is almost over!

Merry Christmas to everyone out there. I hope you have a lovely festive and "feast"-ive season!

Belinda xoxo

Random thoughts 2

2006-12-11T20:01:00.000+11:00

You know that every now and then I just find odd things that I have to post about. What do you think this is?
Maybe it's the weather making me spot quite random things. About a month ago, snow was forecasted in the hills and I had my winter coat out... then this weekend we had temperatures of 37 and 41 celcius! Sadly fires are sweeping across our state and we're praying for rain and for those who have lost their homes to have hope that things will be OK again.

This sudden change in weather isn't helping our farmers. It's quite a sad state of affairs as due to the drought, I'm finding a lot of baby sized fruit. In this photo, the largest fruit is just an ordinary apple; the accompanying nectarines and cherries are absolutely tiny in comparison!
On a happier note for Melbournians: the Karachi tram is back! I was waiting for the tram and being tired after a long day at the office, I seriously thought I was dreaming when all this Bollywood music came towards me and happy smiling tram "conductors" (what do you call them when they no longer have to sell tickets and this tram is free anyway?) beckoned me to board.

Allen's brought out "Happy Feet" penguin lollies. They may claim to put in natural colouring and flavours (cola is a natural flavour?) but I found nothing natural about eating a penguin. Look at that detail... I had to flip the penguin over and close my eyes!

And did you guess what was in the opening photo? These are "Corn Chos", chocolate covered corn snacks! I walked past the Korean supermarket and decided to go exploring in there. They were, um, interesting. I thought they might be like chocolate covered Pringles but they were a bit chewy and the chocolate looked like it was just smeared on as an afterthought. I hope that doesn't say "MSG added" in Korean! :-)

A Menu for Hope

2006-12-11T19:47:00.000+11:00

I hope you'll consider participating in A Menu for Hope. Congratulations to Pim for holding this fantastic campaign and Helen at Grab Your Fork for hosting the Asia Pacific region. Please go to those sites to see what this is all about.

Maybe like me you didn't have time to source a raffle item but we can all take part and make a donation, it's for a wonderful cause and some amazing people have sourced fabulous prizes. Hmm... cookbooks I could add to my collection, dinner at Felix in Hong Kong overlooking the harbour, a market tour in Florence, chocolate tasting kits...

Random thoughts

2006-05-08T12:05:00.000+10:00

Well I've done a bit of baking and cooking and will get around to blogging results. Today is just a collection of things on a food theme.

I got a really nice surprise when I opened my carton of eggs the other day... they had happy faces on them! I am one of those people who check that every egg is intact before purchase and as the faces all happened to be hidden, I didn't discover them until I got home. Probably a good thing as I let out a little squeak of shock when I picked up an egg and it smiled at me, and then squealed with delight when I realised that Sunny Queen Farms had stamped faces on all the eggs - better to do that in the privacy of your own home!

The M&M's publicists have obviously got their green marketing right as I've seen ads everywhere and I thought it was simply the addition of green coloured M&M's to the packs. But I was buying a packet of fundraising chocolates when I saw these mint M&M's! I also then saw big packets of these new green goodies at the shops. I don't know if they're some temporary novelty thing but they're good... a bit like having a mint Aero bar in M&M form?! I just can't have too many at the one time as it's a really sweet hit!

I felt the need to eat something healty and found Sumo Salad. This is the Smoked Salmon & Goat's Cheese salad - "Fillets of glorious Tasmanian salmon, double-smoked, tossed with fresh mixed leaves, and weaved through with the flavours of BBQ potatoes, fresh cucumber, red onion and goat’s cheese. Dressed in an inspired combination of lemon and dill mayonnaise... " Very fancy for a food court salad!

The goat's cheese was really fresh and tasty, the potato slices were unnecessary (undercooked, a bit like cardboard) but the question dear readers is, is it polite to request that your salad maker doesn't mush up your salmon (and everything else in the bowl) whilst breaking it into pieces? I held back so stood there watching him pummel my salmon with a pair of closed tongs, with an expression that could only suggest that he was wondering why a piece of fish was so hard to tear apart. Or maybe the action was in the set of instructions he was following on how to put together a salad.

Museums, museums, museums!

2006-12-01T19:20:00.000+11:00

Art lovers who have roamed the Paris museums will have marveled at the array of options available. Although our Centre Pompidou expedition failed, there were so many alternatives it didn't matter - and so many that we wished we had several more weeks in Paris! I really recommend getting a Paris Museum Pass if you will be making multiple visits, free entry to other sites such as the Arch de Triomphe or the Notre Dame towers are also included but the biggest advantage is avoiding queues as most places have a dedicated queue for pass holders. Note though that due to security checks, some places don't have dedicated queues but the signs are pretty clear. Impressionists
Musée d'Orsay is a must for anyone who likes Impressionist/Post-Impressionist paintings however there is an immense wealth of works from 1848 to 1914 representing the period starting with the Second Republic through the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist eras of art, ending before the start of Wold War I. The museum has just turned 20 - Bon anniversaire! Opened after the transformation of the Orsay train station, the building itself is also a lovely space to walk around.We went straight to the top level where the Impressionist/Post-Impressionist works are and this was where we concentrated our time. It was such a treat to see the works of artists such as Renoir and Monet, and witness Degas' devotion to ballet (and ladies bathing!) but what really stood out for me were Seurat's "The Circus" and van Gogh's "The Church in Auvers-sur-Oise, View from the Chevet".

Make sure you head to Café des Hauteurs for the spectacular view from the balcony and this view through the clock. It was a bit smoggy but in the right weather, you can apparently see Montmatre spectacularly.For more Monet, Marmotton is just on the edge of Paris.

Louvre
Well you can't go to Paris without setting aside time for the Louvre. Lots and lots of time if possible, we went on a Wednesday when it stays open later and spent 7 hours walking around. (We still missed 1 floor and 1 wing, and did selected viewings of the rooms we did get to!) Everything from Egyptian antiquities to sculptures to a wonderful collection of French (naturally!) paintings is there.
The "Mona Lisa" is tiny when you do get to it! We were lucky in that there wasn't a crowd 3 deep around probably the most visited work there but most people are there to see that and the others of the big trio, the "Venus de Milo" and "Winged Victory of Samothrace". Again picking my favourites, I was mesmerised by Canova's sculpture of "Cupid and Psyche" and the Etruscan "Sarcophagus of the Spouses". The latter was very moving and although rather morbid, the couple in a loving embrace expresses so much joy and love, you can't not be moved.

There are plenty of café's where you can fuel yourself for more walking and we felt very sophisticated during our champagne break, enjoying the view of the nearby Tuileries Garden and the exterior of the museum. (And if you must, the Da Vinci audio guide is available for hire - the inverted pyramid is in the shopping centre part of the building that you enter from the métro exit.)

Le Royal
There are so many eateries open late it's great. Le Royal is close to the Louvre and has a very typical bistro menu. I had foie gras that was creamy and very yummy, but the sausages I had were like hot dog franks - I'm not recommending them!
Make sure you ask what the tart of the day is, this apricot one was delicious!

Musée d'Orsay
1, rue de la Légion d'Honneur
7e
(Métro: Solférino)
(RER: Musée d'Orsay)
*Closed Mondays, open late Thursdays

Musée Marmottan Monet
2, rue Boilly
16e
(Métro: Muette)

Louvre
7e
(Métro: Palais-Royal-Musée du Louvre station)
*Closed Tuesdays, open late Wednesdays and Fridays

*Current information only: always check opening times!

Le Royal
Near cnr of rue de L'Echelle and ave St Honoré
4e

Parisian food

2006-11-24T20:08:00.000+11:00

So what makes up a Paris food experience? Checked tablecloths, rude waiters, red wine and "pommes frites" with everything? We only had the rude waiter and tablecloth once but when I looked back at my food photos, I realised that I had a nice collection of classic French bistro dishes like boeuf borgignon and escargots. Almost everything came with chips and a basket of bread, good thing we were walking so much! Join me on my tour...
Mussels
We'd taken a 7am flight from London to Paris. (If you ever do that, remember that you have to allow time for check-in and nothing runs that early in London! Good thing we decided to stay at a hotel near Heathrow airport the night before so that we could just hop in a cab and go to the airport.) Having showered and checked out our selection of TV channels, my friend arrived to take us out for the day. We strolled to the Arc de Triomphe and were walking down Champs-Élysées looking at the queue outside Louis Vuitton (it's an "art gallery" on Sundays) and admiring the car showrooms that sold lifestyles, when we felt lunch was due. We decided to be tourists and eat on the avenue.

Here's my moules et frites from the Café George V. They were fiddly to eat but quite tasty and we had a lovely time sitting in the sun catching up and watching the world go by. I was too hungry to think about photographing the others' lunches, a very filling salad and boeuf borgignon. We had a very refreshing white wine which I scribbled down as "Ceserre" so highly recommend that. It is expensive on the avenue but glamour quotient is up! I didn't take down the exact address but if you're walking from the Arc de Triomphe, it's on the left hand side. Oh and don't expect too much of the service, the waiter came back 3 times to ask what we'd ordered!

Plat de jour
This is the cheapest way to eat out. Choosing the set menu ensures a speedy meal and is so much cheaper. After we found out Chez Stella was closed, we walked further down rue Thérèse to the corner with rue St Anne and spotted this cafe "B/S". We must have been in an area with many Japanese expats as I spotted numerous Japanese restaurants from teppenyaki specialists to noodle bars and the friendly French café owner suddenly started speaking very fluent Japanese to a family. The meal was only 8 euro and I had my very French Orangina. (Did anyone who did French at school ever learn to order Orangina as well?) I had really yummy lamb with so-so zucchini and T had a great roast chicken.

Macarons
Having said that I was to go macaron tasting, can you believe I only went to one place? Oh the delicate almond powder/sugar/egg white pastries and the soft creamy filling... hmm. I walked past Gosselin and got some of their violet and chocolate macarons. The violet was incredibly musky and really quite pleasant - although Niki describes the violet flavour as grandmothers and lavender! - and the chocolate was delicious. The macarons there are 4.70 euro for 100g. I was walking past La Grande Epicerie at the department store Bon Marché and it was too bad I didn't have enough time to shop because it is an incredible store of gourmet treats. The macarons there came in the brightest colours and I just wanted to taste the mint and berry flavours! Go there if you want to pack a picnic!

The Classics
Dinner in the Latin Quarter is exciting because it's such a vibrant area, forget that it depends on a tourist trade and just enjoy the great variety of cuisines. This is the university area and as with all student areas, there's something very bohemian about the place. We found this bistro right by the Church of Saint Séverin (we didn't get there in time to go in but I really wanted to check out the palm tree pillars). I didn't write down the name of the bistro but they had a wonderfully Paris menu.

I handled my escargots well and there was no slippage!
The boeuf borgignon was melt in your mouth tasty and T said it was better than the previous one he'd had at George V.
And there's always room for dessert especially these scrumptious profiteroles filled with ice-cream!
As you can see the tablecloth was checked, we did drink red wine and the waiter was fantastically rude by doing things like tease us about how long we took to read the menu and asking if we were going to photograph our meals before I pulled my camera out!

Café George V
avenue des Champs-Elysées
8e

Café B/S
Corner rue Thérèse and rue St Anne
1e

Gosselin
Corner rue de Bellechasse and blvd Saint Germain
7e

La Grande Epicerie
38 rue de Sèvres
7e

Église Saint Séverin

1 rue des prêtres Saint Séverin
5e

Byron Bay

2005-12-10T15:00:00.000+11:00

OK, so I didn't start in Melbourne but this gazpacho looked amazing and I had a great photo of it! I recently went to Byron Bay which is on the East Coast of Australia in New South Wales. Over here we have "schoolies week" in November which is when the school leavers spend their year's savings on a holiday (usually at a beach location) to celebrate the end of an era.

Anyway when we discovered that we were going to Byron Bay during schoolies week, we prepared to be mobbed by 17/18 year olds! On this day the weather was perfect but as the town was absolutely packed, by lunch time I needed somewhere peaceful to get away from the crowds. "The Balcony" looked inviting and we strolled on upstairs.

Overlooking one of the busiest roundabouts in Byron Bay, the bar and restaurant are at the top of a red carpet lined staircase. The decor was very "Byron" with a stone buddha, candles and flowers, as well as local artwork. Walking in, I was pleasantly surprised to discover a welcoming verandah with timber floors, comfortable lounges and high ceilings.

The lunch menu is mainly tapas and this is where I had the above gazpacho with sand crab. Light and refreshing, the basil added just enough flavour to this perfect sunny day item. I'm not sure if it's a Byron Bay thing but fries always seem to be served with aioli, and the excellent serving at Balcony did not disappoint.

The Balcony Bar & Restaurant
Upstairs, corner of Jonson & Lawson Streets

More Byron Bay

2005-12-12T12:00:00.000+11:00

Cape Byron is the most easterly point of the Australian mainland and the lighthouse is apparently Australia's most powerful. This was taken from Tallow Beach and the green "blob" in the back is Cape Byron! There are plenty of fantastic beaches and unfortunately this was taken just as the day was becoming overcast however I can confirm that when it is hot and sunny, the clear water and stretches of sandy beaches are very welcoming. There is plenty to do from surfing, hangliding and dolphin watching to going inland for yoga and golf. You can choose to stay near the beach or the rainforest.

Budget Accomodation
Belongil Beachouse
- Clean and comfortable, backpacking to private cottages
- Relaxed atmosphere and right by Belongil Beach, 10 minutes walk to the Main Beach in town
- Yoga school is a short walk away
- Onsite cafe serves delicious breakfasts but be prepared to wait, the atmosphere is relaxed
- Must do: Visit the Relax Haven at Belongil Beachouse for a massage and even a float session. The masseuses work magic on sore muscles!

Splurge!
The Byron at Byron
- Wow! You find yourself in a completely different world in this "environmentally sensitive" resort, just check out the website
- Lie back in a lounge chair by the pool as you relax by the edge of the rainforest, soak in your deep, freestanding tub with Sanctum products or lie back and enjoy movies on your plasma TV
- Whilst you're splurging, dinner at "Wild at Byron" is a must. The menu is seasonal; my dinner began with oysters with a sherry and lemon peel vinaigrette and finished with a Sirloin with Cafe de Paris butter. Sadly I couldn't fit in dessert especially when all the tropical sounding items were so enticing. If I go back there I'll have to make room for the degustation menu; the baked salmon with burnt blood orange sauce caught my eye and although there'll be another item in future, I know the alternative won't disappoint.

On the way
We travelled from Coolangatta and on the way back, stopped by Tropical Fruit World. I get excited by the fact that people have bothered to create "giant" objects and the purpose of stopping here was to see the Giant Avocado at the front! You can also admire the wide array of tropical fruit for sale and a park admission ticket even gives you access to things such as the plantation safari and jungle riverboat cruise. Next time...

The Lure of Supermarkets

2006-01-22T17:52:00.000+11:00

My friend, Niki was looking for Chocopies in Melbourne. Knowing that Lotte is a Korean brand, I knew that I'd seen them in a Korean supermarket that I'd discovered. I'd also seen Chocopies, and variations of the treat, in Asian supermarkets so told Niki that I'd check next time I walked past one. (Plenty in the city.)

I went into Green Mart which stocks only Korean products and yes, Chocopies were definitely there! There are also some really good ice-creams in Green Mart; the Japanese and Koreans seem to like ice-creams that come in a biscuit/waffle case and I love that they come in interesting shapes like a shell, a fish or even a sweet potato!

Not knowing any Korean, it's fun guessing what's in the various packets. On this day, I also bought some "Alive" candy - ummm not sure why it's alive that's what was on the shelf label and there is not a word of English on the packet! (There are 3 flavours: banana, peach and strawberry and are basically chewy sweets with a gooey inside. Definitely nothing moving.)

I remember being in Tokyo and being absolutely fascinated by the supermarkets because there was all this new stuff to look at and taste. So, check this place out!

Green Mart
Shop 2/ 222 LaTrobe St, Melbourne

When it's 42C in Melbourne...

2006-01-23T17:50:00.000+11:00

... except it said 45C on the car outside temperature guage! Well, it's been a weekend of icecream eating because what else is there to do when the mercury's rising?

Trampoline - gelato with flavour, made on site, hip.
I've been to the ones in Fitzroy and Hawthorn but they are slowly venturing further, with one opening soon in the city on Swanston St. There really is so much flavour!!
Especially recommend: Bloody Orange, Chocolate Crackle, and The Mint.

Gelo Bar - popular, icon. 74 Lygon St, East Brunswick.
Apparently there was a 10 minute wait as the queue extended to the back of the shop yesterday. Today wasn't as bad but we still queued past the tempting cake and biscuit display... if only we don't fill up on ice-cream each time!
Old favourites: Ciccolato, Nocciola
New, please keep it on the menu: Grape

High Country

2006-08-25T20:03:00.000+10:00

We recently sang in Wangaratta which is just under 3 hours' drive from Melbourne so we made a weekend of it. Driving up the Hume Highway is straight forward but a boring trip, especially for the driver - fortunately I wasn't driving!

On the way, we decided to just pick a town for lunch and settled on Seymour because it's relatively big... there must be a lot of choice! We didn't even make it to the town as we spotted this vineyard just off the highway.

Yes, we all did wonder if Seymour is famous for its wines but this is the start of the winery trail to Goulburn Valley! The above picture is of the Somerset Crossing Vineyard.

I don't know why but the crisp country air makes me want to eat bread and steak... so it was their "steak stack" for lunch. This was accompanied by a glass of rosé (I've previously posted my thoughts on rosé) that I selected only because of the name, "Lacrime rosé". Perhaps a play on lacrimosa but does that mean too much of it will make you cry?

To be honest the wine was a little too much like Ribena, but the steak stack was perfect. The steak is sliced in half so that you don't end up chewing chunks of meat and the bread (very generous as you can see) was buttery with garlic and herb. Served with good bacon and caramelised onion, you're set for the rest of the journey!

T had a steak with nice thick chips and I know Niki had something a bit healthier that the waitress did have to confirm twice. (Niki, was it a filo pastry with chicken and cheese?)

We didn't have time for wine tasting but all in all, a nice surprise off the Hume highway and a good stop for a meal in a lovely setting.

Somerset Crossing Place
1 Emily Street,
Seymour,
VIC 3660

Gapsted and Milawa

2006-09-03T15:00:00.000+10:00

Of course no visit to the region is complete without visiting wineries and the Milawa Cheese Factory! As we'd had a lazy morning and lunch in Beechworth, we didn't have all that much time for tastings before starting the 3 hour drive home. Armed with the regional map - very handy, get one from the vistor information centre - we selected a few places and headed off.

Gapsted Wines
Driving from Beechworth to Gapsted, we reached Gapsted Wines. Unfortunately we were full from lunch; Gapsted offered a very tempting package of platters matched to wines for tasting. We loved their tasting notes and food recommendations for each wine. Not "meat dishes" or "seafood" but "seared venison fillets with roasted capsicum, on grilled polenta with a spicy cherry relish" or "spring asparagus with shaved parmesan and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a squeeze of lemon". All the more reason we should have tried their platters?

The wines are excellent and as tempting as it was to stock up, we only walked away with a few bottles of their 2005 Tobacco Road Sauvignon Blanc Semillon. Very reasonably priced at under $15, the passionfruit aromas are wonderfully intense and we could imagine lazy summer evenings with a chilled glass or two of this very crisp white. One of the wine makers is Michael Cope-Williams and remembering the surname, a quick search indicates that he is connected to Cope-Willams in Romsey. Must bookmark for a visit when we're next heading torwards Mount Macedon.

Milawa Cheese Company
About 20 minutes' drive away is Milawa and the Milawa Cheese Company. Turn onto Snow Road and continue until you see the signs indicating Milawa Cheese and Brown Brothers. I love this story from their website:
"Both schoolteachers by trade, David and Anne Brown established Milawa Cheese Company with Richard Thomas in 1988. Richard sold his share of the company to them in 1990. The Milawa site was chosen because it had good water, was between Sydney and Melbourne and close to Brown Brothers Winery. David and Anne cemented their cheese and good food obsession whilst backpacking around Europe in the eighties. Known to give up a hotel room for "a good feed", David and Anne spent many a night in their tent pitched in a field or churchyard in France and England, warmed by the regional food and wine in their bellies."

With an "obsession" like that, the cheese has to be good... and it is! This wonderfully patient and smiling staff member was at the tasting counter serving crowd after crowd of visitors. (There is a tasting counter with a big sign saying "Tastings", don't be like the lady that shoved her way through the sales queue demanding to try from the wedges for sale only to be told that yes, she really had to line up at the other counter.)
We sat outside and had a little picnic with a selection including the Gold (stinky and makes your mouth quiver in such a good way), the Aged Blue (yes we like our cheese strong) and a 2 year old cheddar, and fresh apples without the wax you get on those supermarket apples. We also one of the goat's milk cheese range, I think it was the goat camembert that Niki bought. The only thing that I would have loved more was a table in the sun as it was a beautiful day, but in the afternoon the eating area is in full shade so there wasn't much we could do. Still, we weren't complaining!
We also took home some goat cheese curd and marinated goat's cheese. The former can be spread on anything and I even experimented and put some into some zucchini fritters I made, and the latter was delicious in a pasta with spinach, capsicum and peas. In Melbourne, Milawa Cheese has opened up their Australian Cheese Shop which is fantastic for avoiding the 2.5 hours to drive for this cheese!

Brown Brothers
Brown Brothers is not far and you'll be glad you came here. I'm always amazed at the huge range of wines they produce and there are plenty of cellar door only purchases to be made. I'll highlight the fruity and fizzy Moscato as there's always someone in the family who likes very sweet wines with meals, and the choice may be this lighter dessert wines. It's probably very wrong and I'm sure someone will turn their nose at the concept of having something so sweet with mains, but I joined in and it sure beats a soft drink at a barbecue! :-)

The Orange Muscat and Flora has to be tried. Smooth honey flavours, orange aromas... hmm, where's our bottle gone to? Damn, we polished it off quickly!

Safe Driving
The cellar doors at most wineries seem to close at 5pm which is a good time to start the journey back to Melbourne.I've singled out the white wines here but the reds are definitely just as drinkable. If we had more time, we would have gone further to Rutherglen (amazing Durifs and fortifieds!) where I spent a weekend about 4 years ago. If you plan to tour this region, make sure you give yourself plenty of time to cover everything, it's well worth it! I was fortunate that we had a designated driver but always remember to take it easy and drink sensibly.

Gapsted Wines
Great Alpine Road,
Gapsted,
Victoria

Milawa Cheese Company
Factory Road,
Milawa,
Victoria 3678

The Australian Cheese Shop
655 Nicholson St,
North Carlton

Brown Brothers
Bobinawarrah Road,
Milawa

Wangaratta and Beechworth

2006-08-27T15:47:00.000+10:00

Wangaratta
By the time we arrived in Wangaratta, there wasn't much time to look around the town but I'd love to return when the Jazz Festival is on.

Pizza and Pasta
We had dinner here, nice touch with the stamp they put on the paper "table cloths". I had a delicious trout fettucine and there were also wood-fired pizzas on offer. Although it looked like they literally slapped on the topping as a slab. (I think it was just the way it came out after baking!)

The service was great, no orders were mixed up or lost for our big group. I'd go again!Café Martini
Bull’s Head Hotel,
87 Murphy St,
Wangaratta

Beechworth
Is about 30 minutes' drive East of Wangaratta. In the main street are shops full of pretty homeware and we even found an African shop with sculptures and jewellery.There's plenty of Ned Kelly history around and explains the souvenirs you'll see!

Budget Accommodation
The Old Priory is set up for school camps so most rooms had bunk beds. Even if you had a double bed, there was a bunk bed in the corner! It's very basic accommodation and it was a bit eery walking down long corridors, discovering a sudden cluster of rooms tucked away behind a door or finding a massive room with 20 bunk beds however there was a lovely sitting room with a fireplace and the interior consists of warm, wooden panels and expansive ceilings.

You get a simple breakfast of cereal, juice and toast. Good value when a double only cost $80!
Beechworth Bakery
Or you can have your breakfast here! The infamous Beechworth Bakery that has spawned sister bakeries in other country towns and brought the owner Tom O'Toole fame as an author and motivational speaker. I actually went to a lunch that Tom spoke at and that man has energy; he also has a real understanding of customer satisfaction and just works on good old common sense. As he said, baking isn't anything new it's how you serve your customers that makes the difference.

Having said that, a controversial topic is how Beechworth Bakery doesn't have a numbering system for their queue so when the shop is packed - as it apparently often is - you hope the counter staff remember who got there first! (There's even a framed explanation of why they don't have a numbering system due to the number of complaints/requests!)

As we had to do tastings for you we had lunch and dessert! I had a pie - as one should in a country bakery - and Niki didn't chastise me for having tomato sauce! :-) The pastry was lovely and flaky, the filling tasted like real meat... no complaints.

The desserts in the photo (from the left): a bee sting, a Bundy ball and a blueberry snickerdoodle. (I think it was a snickerdoodle... but isn't that a "cookie". A funny name anyway!). The bee sting custard was cold so that'd been in the fridge; I'm not a fan of custard cream, strange but I'd rather have had a bowl of runny Bird's custard! Still the pastry was OK. The Bundy ball had actual rum in it, the first time I could see why it's a "rum ball"! (Reminded me of a friend at uni who only drank Bundy and coke.) And finally, the snickerdoodle was a nice way to polish off the meal. There was a layer of sweeter custard underneath the glazed berries and the pastry was a good solid shell that didn't crumble under one bite.
This isn't meant badly but Beechworth Bakery isn't producing specialty products to tempt and stand out. If you want good, standard products this is a place to go.

The Beechworth Bakery
27 Camp Street
Beechworth
Victoria 3747

Happy Australia Day! Celebrate big...

2006-01-27T14:03:00.000+11:00

In a previous post I mentioned the big icons in Australia. Here are some I recently visited!

This is the Giant Avocado; it's found in Tweed Heads in New South Wales, outside of Tropical Fruit World and directions are here.

Apparently this used to be "Avocadoland"!

This is Larry the Lobster who is about 18 metres tall. He can be found in Kingston S.E. in South Australia, along the Princes Highway.

Unfortunately the restaurant was closed when we were there so we couldn't try the apparently delicious seafood there.

This is the Giant Koala; it can be found along the Western Highway (between Melbourne and Adelaide) at Dadswell's Bridge.

It's 14 metres high and made out of cold cast steel.

Maybe it's like in "War of the Worlds" when the aliens sent their machines to hide in the earth and one day, these big icons will come alive. (Or it could be another one of these close to 40C days playing with my imagination!)

Party food

2006-03-01T18:33:00.000+11:00

Well we had some visitors and of course there was a supper for 70 that I roped 18 people into preparing for! So in between work, guest pick ups, other commitments... we all had to have a big think about what was quick and easy to make/bring.

My inspiration, scary to say, came from a Safeway (supermarket) catalogue - someone left it on his desk at work and I flicked through it whilst waiting for him, not a hobby read! Anyway remembering a recipe that I'd noted for its simplicity, I attempted to reproduce the chicken scrolls or "chicken thingies" as they were known when I lost ability to think during the mad round of planning.

I don't have exact quantities because you can make this when you're rushed and just want to grab stuff off the shelves! Try and do it in the morning so that you can let the spinach defrost - compared to being able to just pour hot water over the corn. You can argue that it's all going in the oven anyway but I wasn't going to tempt making the pastry soggy to begin with.

Chicken Thingies
1 Pack of puff pastry (6 sheets)
1 Kg of chicken mince
1 Small packet of frozen spinach
1 Small packet of frozen corn
Parmesan (shaved)
Parsley (optional*)

1. Defrost the spinach and corn!
2. Preheat oven to 220C
3. Mix the chicken with parsley if using
4. Take 1 sheet of puff pastry, spread some chicken along one edge
- as if you're making a sausage roll
5. Layer the corn, spinach then parmesan over the chicken
6. Now roll the pastry over the layers and make a tight roll
7. Cut up into smaller slices, bake until pastry has puffed up and is golden

Parsley (optional*) - I have to confess that I cheated because I forgot the parsley and figured there would be enough green from the spinach and enough flavour from the cheese!

I considered seasoning the chicken but the parmesan had quite a strong taste... and noone complained that it was bland! But you can see how easy it is to vary this scroll idea and try flavouring the chicken and substituting the type of cheese.

Added 2nd Mar 2006: I forgot to mention that if you use an egg glaze, the scrolls will come out golden - I didn't! Also the above quantity of chicken is supposed to be used in all 6 sheets of pastry so multiply that by say 7-8 slices per "roll" and you're getting quite a bit of finger food. You will have leftover corn because there's a lot in each packet!

Cheat's cookies

2006-03-10T14:01:00.000+11:00

I really wanted to bake heart shaped cookies on Valentine's Day but because I finished work late, I didn't really have the energy to start from scratch. And you know, sometimes you start the thought of baking and you just have to go through with it... it's therapeutic!

So... I bought ready made dough. Shock, horror! I couldn't reveal the secret then and there so I said I'd blog it. I've been in the supermarket and gone, "How lazy could you be... " I still can't believe I was that lazy! :) But the product has been around for a while so people do buy it. And who can forget that scene from Clueless when Cher throws the whole roll of dough in the oven?

The result? I didn't mind the cookies too much. I bought 2 types: one was the Sara Lee double chocolate one, and I was really quite impressed with that, and the other was an M&M one (I can't remember the brand right now) and unfortunately, I found that any M&Ms on the base of the cookies got a bit burnt. The Sara Lee cookies were gooey like the store bought ones and the M&M ones went crisp very quickly - so monitor the baking time!

As for the heart shapes, I tried doing by hand and pushing through a heart-shaped cutter but this isn't the type of cookie dough that can be shaped. Would I do it again? I think so!

Cheat's cookies
1. Select and buy cookie "roll" (usually in refridgerator aisle)
2. Bake

J Cafe

2006-03-12T03:00:00.000+11:00

I discovered this cute Japanese cafe on Exhibition St and went back to try their "Sushi Burger". Apparently it's a "concept" only available at J's - which incidentally has a mouthful of a restaurant name! The burger in the picture is the Kani Croquet burger which is a creamy crab croquet, lettuce and mayonaise based sauce, sandwiched between 2 "buns" made of rice with a sheet of seaweed wrapped around the whole structure. It even came in a polystyrene burger box.

It doesn't matter that you can pick up a piece or roll of sushi, it was weird picking up this rice block - but it tasted really good! There was a nice balance between the croquet's crunchy outer shell and the fluffy, creamy filling, the sauce was tasty and the rice didn't fall apart! I'm keen to go back to try the other varieties and there were some interesting sounding changing burger specials - although octopus was on offer the other day and all I could think of was tendrils poking out of a burger!

I've tried their lunch bento boxes and this place puts a lot of care into ensuring even the little accompanying dish isn't the usual carelessly tossed piece of lettuce sprinkled with beansprouts. The staff are friendly and although not cheap compared to a city deli sandwich, this place is worth going to.

Question that comes to mind: according to Wikipedia, "a cafe is a type of restaurant" and "cafes usually serve coffee and snacks", whereas "a restaurant is a place where prepared food is sold to the public". So what's a cafe restaurant?

Japanese Cafe Restaurant J
167 Exhibition Street
Melbourne

SHF 17 #: Strawberry Spritz Yoghurt Muffins

2006-03-14T04:00:00.000+11:00

Niki told me about the Sugar High Friday challenge with a theme of dairy so I thought I'd give it a go. One of my favourite cookbooks for baking is Carol Durst's "I Knew You Were Coming So I Baked a Cake" and I remembered that she had dairy suggestions.

The yoghurt muffins are really easy and this recipe is great for when you have bananas that are sitting around almost rotting away.

Yoghurt Muffins as per Carol Durst's recipe
1 cup flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 lb butter
1 egg
1 banana
1/2 cup yoghurt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1) Preheat oven to 180C, grease muffin tin
1) Put flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a bowl
2) Melt the butter in a glass bowl in the microwave and add to the dry mixture
3) Add egg, banana, yoghurt and vanilla extract
4) Mix until just incorporated
5) Spoon batter into muffin tins and bake 20-25 mins

This will make 12 muffins

Notes:
1) I used low fat yoghurt by accident - I picked by flavour only so make sure you use full fat yoghurt.
2) You can vary the yoghurt flavour, I used Strawberry Spritz! This quantity is just under 1 small tub.

3) I doubled the batter and tried full size and mini muffins. Unfortunately the batter didn't rise as much as I expected so the bigger muffins are quite flat. (See photo below "Gee son, you're getting taller than me everyday.") You need to almost fill the tin up as the minimal handling of the batter means that you're not going to get a chance to get much air into the mixture.

Tagged with: SHF and Sugar High Friday

Food for the tired

2006-03-24T15:41:00.000+11:00

On 23rd Mar, I said:
What I would love right now is Welsh Rarebit. But I'm exhausted from days of running from work to other activities (namely a CD recording) and I'm too tired to cook so I'm just going to think about it.

13th Apr:
This is not just cheese on toast, this is cheese blended with milk and butter (more often with beer, the Somerset version uses cider) seasoned with mustard and spread on toast. The mixture is then grilled until it bubbles... comfort food. There are many theories about the origin of the dish's name eg the rather unflattering description of a Welshman's inability to catch a rabbit and so cheese and beer would do!

Nigella Lawson's "Somerset Rarebit"
2 English muffins (wholemeal)
150g Strong cheddar
2 tsps Soft unsalted butter
10g Flour
1/2 tsp English mustard
1 tbl Milk
3 tbl Cider

1) Toast the muffins, pre-heat your grill and grate the cheese
2) Melt the butter in a saucepan, then add flour to make a roux
3) Take the saucepan off the heat then whisk in the mustard, milk and cider
4) Placing the saucepan back on the heat, stir until you have a thick white sauce
- Nigella notes ".. don't expect to have much of it. This is a paste more than anything.."
5) Add the grated cheese and stir until it melts
6) Divide the sauce and spread over each muffin to cover
7) Place muffins under the grill, until they "blister on top and brown in spots"

Builders Arms Hotel

2006-04-13T18:42:00.000+10:00

I added back my Somerset Rarebit post with recipe.

But I bring you the Builders Arms Hotel...
The outside is deceiving; you think you're just going into a pub that has live music nights, but out the back is a sleek room of black and white wallpaper, red banquettes, a mirrored wall and funky flower lights as per the picture. (The same light fittings as Lounge Downstairs - the old Viz - on Swanston St!) This is a vibrant place to meet friends for a well-priced meal out. The dishes that dominate seem to me to be fusion Moroccan; not pub "parma and a pint" cuisine but you're not here for complicated flavours and new offerings either.

The above picture is of the chorizo salad. I didn't actually have it so I can't tell you how it tasted but I was told "fantastic so take a photo"! I did have the herb crusted veal which was just right - ie not soggy in the sauce - and it came with the most amazing pumpkin mash as an accompaniment. It's only pumpkin you say, but it was oh so sweet and creamy. From memory, the wine selection featured a few French entries but it was mostly Australian and a good selection. You won't break the bank for a great night out!

Builders Arms Hotel
211 Gertrude St
Fitzroy
(03) 9419 0818

Bluefire

2006-07-23T02:30:00.000+10:00

We'd noticed lots of restaurants opening in Melbourne Central and thought we'd go for dinner and a movie. Conveniently located next to the Hoyts cinema was Bluefire (part of the Rivers group that also runs the restaurant cruise on the Yarra amongst many other things it seems) and seeing a good sized crowd, we thought we'd venture in. The restaurant is massive because it is split into 2 sections, the Churrascaria and the more casual pizza and tapas area.

The tapas menu was inviting so we decided to try the casual dining. Unfortunately most of the seafood items (those that did sound delicious) were no longer available but as per the photo, we tried the Moroccan meatballs, the crumb fried haloumi wrapped with prosciutto and the marinated octopus (no longer paired with mussel). The capsicum sauce for the meatballs was definitely required as the meat was a little dry and the haloumi was disappointingly chewy (it squeaked against my molars!) and far too salty to be paired with the prosciutto. But the marinated octopus was tangy and tender and that saved the platter.

Considering one origin of tapas is that a slice of bread would be put on top of drinks (tapa = lid in Spanish) to stop the flies from falling in and a snack later added on top of the bread, we weren't going to fill up on "snacks" and also had some pizza. We picked the Pork & Pancetta which had smoked pork and pancetta, with an onion compote, artichoke hearts, capsicum, parmigiano and mozzarella - all "glazed with BlueFire’s herb oil and a hint of spice". Yum! Not too greasy and they put real meat on the pizza. Other combinations were also enticing, Brazilian Fiesta (chicken and jalapeno salsa), Latino Chorizo... will be back!

But what I was disappointed in not being able to try was the dessert selection - I was too full, dessert stomach must have been used up! Check out this photo... no, behind the cute little cakes... that is flowing hot chocolate!! "Hot chocolate" is the "chocolate and coffee bar" offering cakes and home made ice-cream and liquer, all with a shot of hot chocolate.

What movie did we watch? Superman Returns we really enjoyed it and in fact tried to take some younger relatives (aged seven and eleven) last week. Maybe it's a generation thing, I remember growing up and watching Christopher Reeve's movies so I was looking forward to this version, but the seven year old was like "Superman? Nah, I want Click." Hmm, superman is a classic now? Ladies, Brandan Routh is easy on the eye and men, you have Kate Bosworth... although I really want to take the girl to Bluefire and feed her!!

Bluefire
Level 3, Melbourne Central
La Trobe St side

Jackie's Kitchen

2006-07-27T23:06:00.000+10:00

When Mellie talked about Jackie's Kitchen, I should have remembered the name.

I've now been there twice for dinner and had completely mixed experiences. The first time the service was really good and the food was ok. (You're not there for gourmet dining.) The last time... well when you're going to make a table of people shuffle around to create a gap for serving through, use it! We almost had food poured down us as the waiter shoved between two of us - in the "non-serving gap". This was weird: I thought I left my scarf at the restaurant and rang up, I was asked if I was sure I didn't leave a hat; oh that's why my scarf never wrapped around my neck?!

It's supposed to be really good for yum cha so maybe I'll test that out one day. There's a wall of Jackie Chan merchandise, I wonder how many T-shirts and jackets are sold as I know I'm not about to pay $300 for a puffy jacket! The thing is Jackie Chan apparently doesn't even have much to do with the restaurant, I think he grants naming rights and gets appearance fees in return.

I always look for the positive, there was plenty of parking at Shoppingtown!

Ay Oriental Tea House

2006-08-09T19:31:00.000+10:00

I love the mango pudding that you get at yum cha - I think you can get instant mango pudding but I'm yet to try. Ay Oriental Tea House is what I would brand "posh yum cha" - not quite the loud food on a trolley experience in Chinatown or in Box Hill, and not so cheap that you roll out of the restaurant having only spent $15 a head.

Having opened a series of Ay tea shops and the Prahran restaurant David's, the owner opened Ay Oriental Tea House combining tea shop and restaurant in this "Shanghainese tea house". The tea list - for both purchase and consumption - is of course long and varied with recommendations for steamed and fried foods. The decor is "ye Shanghai" - think East meets West, art deco, red pillars, Shanghai in its hey day - and if you need dim sum at night, this is the place to go.

This photo was just at the start and how much food you get is dependent on how good the service is. Unfortunately this can vary depending on the number of diners and the number of staff on. You might be happy to order a la carte and I believe this was the original intention, but trays of food are brought out and I like seeing what the kitchen decides to send out - although inevitably, the one thing that you really wanted will be brought out at the end when you can't eat any more!

You'll get the usual choices but the food is good and there is a much smaller chance of getting a soggy dumpling or octopus swimming in oil (as you may in a restaurant churning out food for the masses). The Shanghainese fare like the dumplings were magnificent. Note that you do purchase tea by the cup (a big earthen mug); given "yum cha" means to drink tea you'd expect to get a refill, one mug just didn't do the trick.

Ay Oriental Tea House
455 Chapel Street,
South Yarra

Lord of the Fries

2006-03-31T17:00:00.000+11:00

No, it's not a typo... Lord of the Fries (website isn't developed!) is a specialty "fries" shop that sells burgers too. You'll find fries covered in "international sauces" - aussie, mexican, poutine... Of interest was the Poutine; not only is this French-Canadian delicacy a whole discussion topic in itself, there was a friendly lady in line telling all within earshot about the wonders of poutine as she is from Quebec.

I just felt like sauce so "aussie" it was but now I know where to find my poutine!

Lord of the Fries
Cnr of Elizabeth and Flinders Sts,
Melbourne

W11: Karachi 2 Melbourne

2006-04-02T12:30:00.000+10:00

I've seen this tram go past so many times and finally caught it! I thought that with Festival Melbourne 2006 over, I'd missed my chance but it's still here. Who knows how much longer it'll be around so try and catch it if you're in Melbourne.

Tramtactic have the story behind this W11 tram.

I couldn't help but sit back and grin in awe at the beading and colourful decoration, if only the dancing conductors were there! Still, the flashing lights and Pakistani pop made it an awesome experience.

Tagged with: Tramtactic