A lunch with Zumbo

My Mum recently informed me of the long table lunch - a three course meal - being held being held at Bannisters restaurant in Mollymook that was to be hosted by none other than my patissier idol, Adriano Zumbo. It was a launch party for his new book and you can imagine my excitement when I got her message. However, it was proceeded with the disappointing comment "Shame we'll both be at work...". Speak for yourself Mumma!! I'm not missing this for anything! Luckily for me, we were both able to arrange the day off. Also luckily for me is the fact that my family hail from Ulladulla, just around the corner from the restaurant. So off to Bannisters we went!

It was a magical day weather-wise and, for those of you who've been to Bannisters, you'll know that this just makes the view that much more spectacular. We were running a little late and most tables were already full by the time we got there, but there was one table with reserved signs all along it, save for two seats at the end. Sitting down to enjoy the wine included in the lunch, AZ arrived and I have to say, I was just a little star struck and started taking a few pap-style photos.

He made his way through the entrance, being introduced to the managers, chefs and waitstaff and straight towards our table. The reserved signs began to make sense - AZ was sitting ON OUR TABLE!!!

He was more than happy to talk to the people at our table and share his stories of Macarons and Masterchef (one couple had a daughter who had been in the first series of Junior Masterchef, so you can imagine the stories they had to share) while we were served entree - Lobster, foie gras, avocado and beans. I wasn't aware of this when we paid for the lunch, but Adriano wasn't actually in the kitchen, it was prepared by Bannister's chefs. This wasn't so bad though, as we got to see that he too takes photos of his food haha! I had never eaten foie gras before, but it was delicious! I can totally see what everyone raves about. Really salty, buttery soft and paired perfectly with the mild tasting lobster.

Mains came next which was Barramundi with clams (actually pippis), peas, asparagus and parsley. Again, this was delicious. The fish was cooked to perfection (though as a 'seafood speciality' restaurant, should I have expected any less?) and the clams (again, which I had never had before) were very tasty.

Then it was time for a Q & A with Zumbo. As you can imagine, the majority of the questions centred around how to get the perfect macaron, along with the many failed attempts that people have had trying to construct these sweet treats. In case you were wondering, or you have had a failed attempt, "it's all about the egg whites". He was asked about his path into the patisserie world and happily obliged with a story of growing up in a supermarket in Coonamble and finding his passion for baked goods in the form of packet cake mix. One lady made a silly comment that he had "sold out" by releasing his product to  He was really charming and funny and different to what I had expected - seeing him on Masterchef had made me think he was quite shy or stand-offish, but this was far from accurate. He also dished out some great advice on following your passion and living your food dreams which I thought was great.

The dessert was served after this - Creme brulee with fresh berries - followed by tea and coffee and, of course, the famous macarons.

He also did a book signing and had photographs with everyone which was really good. He really was a down-to-earth, friendly guy who hasn't let success go to his head.

While meeting the big Z was the best part of the day, the food was impeccable. If you haven't had the chance to get to Bannisters to enjoy the Rick Stein seafood experience, do yourself a favour and get down there ASAP!

Also if you haven't had a chance to get to one of Adriano Zumbo's 5 stores in Sydney (Balmain, Rozelle, Manly, Star City and Bronte/Waverley), WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?? Go and get your sugar fix!

Enjoy!

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The perfect afternoon tea accompaniment

It has been a while since my last blog post. Lots of things have been happening in the world of the curious culinarian. Unfortunately, not many of them have had to do with me whipping up interesting creations in the kitchen (I have suffered through steak/chicken and salad since we returned from Sri Lanka all those weeks ago). So, needless to say, I have been itching to find the time to test out some recipes and my first is outlined here.

Flicking through a lifestyle magazine the other day, I came across their "classic cakes" section, which included a sponge cake. I have ALWAYS wanted to try and make a sponge. It's something that looks so dainty and sweet, but seems to have an air of difficulty surrounding it... Or maybe that's just the air within it. A sponge, obviously, gets its name from its light, airy, dare I say "spongy", texture and a Victoria Sponge, as the one below will be, is two layers of the airy cake, separated by a layer of raspberry jam and whipped cream.

For all the hype surrounding the humble sponge, I have to say it really wasn't difficult. I don't know how the Country Women's Association would have rated my creation, but my colleagues sure gave me sufficient praise. Anyway, here is the recipe I used with pressure points to follow.

Victoria Sponge Cake (serves 12)

5 eggs
3/4 cup caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup plain flour
1/2 cup self raising flour
1/4 cup cornflour
1 tbsp boiling water
300 mL thickened cream, whipped
1/3 jar jam (I used a mix of strawberry and blackberry, but any jam would do)

1. Preheat oven to 160 C fan-forced and grease and line two 20 cm cake pans (I used springform pans as they are easy removal).
2. Using an electric mixer, beat eggs (ferociously) with sugar and vanilla for 10 minutes, until thick and creamy and sugar is dissolved (see pictures).

All in together and WHIP IT GOOD!

Using a whisk, gently fold the flour through your egg mix.

3. Sift flours together three times to aerate the flour and therefore your final cake. Using a whisk or cake spatula, fold flour into egg mixture. Fold in boiling water. Divide between prepared pans and bake for 25 minutes or until springy in the centre. Cool tins on a wire rack lined with baking paper, then remove from pans and cool on paper completely.

Springform pans make for easy removal

Your cakes should be golden and risen, but flat on top

4. Place one sponge on your serving plate, right side up. Top with jam, then cream (make sure you don't push your cream all the way to the edges to allow for squashing). Top with remaining sponge and sprinkle with icing sugar to serve.  

The finished product

Before I go any further, I must confess that this isn't what the sponge looked like when I arrived at work, ready to serve it to my colleagues. Those people who know me, know that sometimes there isn't much forward thinking that goes on in my head, and this happened to be one of those occasions. I didn't clingwrap the cake, for fear of ruining the icing sugar topping and squishing the layers together, so just had it placed on the floor of my car while driving to work. Going around the first corner, I realised this was a stupid mistake. The jam and cream had a lovely old time slipping and sliding all over the place, but I managed to drive just slowly enough that it remained in one piece. Until I got to work, that is... The steep driveway, combined with a sharp turn into the carpark sent my sponge flying!! The top came off, jam and cream went all over the plate and icing sugar dusted my car floor... Nice work! Lucky I am queen of damage control!!

Now, I know I said I got adequate praise for this cake (actually a few ladies told me they NEVER make sponge cake because they find it so difficult and they were shocked that it was my first attempt). However, aside from the little spillage, I don't personally think it was the best sponge I've ever had and I know I could probably improve.

So, where would I change my approach next sponge-making occasion? Firstly, I think it could have been a bit more spongy. Whether that means adding a little baking powder, or using 1 cup self raising flour instead of the half cup plain flour, or adding the flour to the egg mixture bit-by-bit so that it isn't over mixed? I'll find out and let you know.

In the meantime, have a go at this easy sponge - I promise it will be a crowd pleaser and the perfect accompaniment to a cup of English breakfast tea! (The Queen would be quite impressed).

Enjoy!

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Livin' la vida Lanka

The promise of two weeks of the best curries and the fact that you are encouraged to delve into dishes with nothing but your right hand was more than enough to attract this curious culinarian to the land of the lion (not that are even any lions still around).

The Fiance and I were Sri Lanka-bound and couldn't have been more excited to experience the sights, and tastes, of a country that very few tourists have been lucky enough to venture to. (I can't say that our holiday-eve engagement didn't have just a little to do with our excitement also though).

Prior to our travels, we researched the food fare we would be likely to experience (thanks Food Safari!) and found that rice and curry is pretty much the meal for breakfast, lunch and dinner. But this isn't just some chicken sitting in a semi-spiced liquid with a ball of rice. This is deliciously creamy curry, rich in spices and chicken, beef or fish and served with an array of accompaniments such as dhal, spiced pumpkin or potato, jackfruit, coconut sambol and kale, as well as crispy pappadoms or parathas (something like an indian roti bread).

Chicken curry, vegetable curry, kale and coconut salad, spicy bean curry and dhal

Fresh fish curry (straight from the lake at Tissa), chilli, cucumber salad, dhal, spiced potato and pumpkin curry.

Chicken curry, spiced jackfruit, eggplant, coconut sambol and dhal.

Fresh fish (from the stick fisherman at Mirissa), cripsy fried pappadoms, potato curry, coconut sambol, bean curry, rice and salad

Chicken curry, chillis, dhal, pumpkin curry and kale and coconut salad.

These curries are spectacularly flavoursome, and the fact that you eat them with your hands just enhances the flavours even further. However, the best part about a good rice and curry is that the whole dish costs about 150 Rs ($1.10). At hotels or guest houses, you'll find slightly more expensive varieties, but they still only cost about 650 Rs ($5). Although this is seen as the staple, there are many other dishes that excited our senses, as you will see below.

As you drive through the townships set up all over Sri Lanka, you find thousands of roadside stalls selling the freshest and widest variety of fruit and vegetables I have seen in a developing country. Everything from beans to avocados to eggplants to bananas and watermelons to pumpkins and potatoes. One other thing you can buy is king coconuts. These cost around 40 Rs ($0.20) and are cut up fresh in front of you. Once you have finished off the juice, the coconut is halved, a coconut spoon is cut for you and you can scoop out the juicy flesh. As well as three coconuts, I also bought 2 kilos of bananas at this stall and the whole thing cost me less than $2!!

King coconuts being sold on the side of the road.

Another dish that is very popular in Sri Lanka is Kottu Roti, a street food composed of shredded pieces of roti bread mixed with vegetables, egg, spices and your choice of meat. As you walk past these street vendors, you can hear the tell-tale sounds of the metal spatula hitting the hot plate and mixing your meal, and you know you're in for a good feed.

Kottu chicken

Breakfast curries, although similar in flavour to the dinner varieties, tend to be a little different in terms of side dishes. Breakfast consists of string hoppers and/or egg hoppers - both of which are made with rice flour and steamed (string hoppers) or fried in a small wok (egg hoppers) - as well as a vegetable curry and sambol. This is a great way to kick start the day, but much more filling than the standard eggs or museli that I usually go for.

Sri Lankan breakfast - string hoppers, egg hoppers, curry and coconut sambol.

Another great thing about Sri Lanka is the coast, and the abundance of fresh (and cheap) seafood that can be found at any of the coastal towns. Our beach-side stop off was Mirissa (South), and offered us a variety of choice for restaurants. However we settled on the one that we saw bringing in a fresh catch straight from the ocean. Coconut prawns, lemon butterfish and two grilled lobster were our choices and couldn't have been more delicious! This meal cost us about 6000 Rs ($45), including a tip and cocktails... Bargain!

Lemon Butterfish

Grilled lobster

Lastly, if you're heading to Sri Lanka (and I don't know why you wouldn't be jumping online to buy a ticket after seeing all this delicious food), I would recommend checking out the Galle Face Hotel for the sunset, cocktails and the seafood buffet - at 1890 Rs ($15) per person, you really can't go wrong!

Fresh grilled crab topping a plate of pineapple glazed pork, devilled fish and much more.

Sri Lankan food has left me with such a craving for a good curry and super fresh seafood... I could be going back for round two very soon!

Enjoy!

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Revivng a childhood favourite... With a bachelorette twist.

I don't know about you, but memories of my childhood more often than not revolve around food. Among the endless food memories I have, some of the best include coming home from school in summer and grabbing a Zooper Dooper from the freezer (raspberry or cola were always my first choice), or in winter with mum cooking up pikelets with butter and jam. But one of my favourites is opening my lunch box and getting a waft of honey before seeing the characteristic white and pink icing that I loved so much. I am, of course, talking about Honey Jumbles.

I don't like to play favourites with my Arnott's biscuits - how could you possibly pick between a Monte Carlo, a Kingston, a Spricy Fruit Roll, an Iced VoVo? But if I had to choose, I would go for Honey Jumbles almost every time. I had a conversation with the BF about this the other day and was almost speechless when he told me that when his Grandma would buy Arnott's Assorted Creams, he would always go for the Orange Slice. "Nobody likes orange slice!!" I replied. He then proceeded to tell me that it was a strategic move to get more biscuits while his cousins were fighting over the delta creams. Clever boy.

Anyway, Honey Jumbles have always been a massive hit whenever I have made them (they are pretty much just like ginger bread, without the need to use a rolling pin). So, being my best friend Amy's bachelorette party this weekend (termed 'bachelorette' at her request), I decided to pull out my faithful homemade honey jumble recipe and get creative with my shaping... If you know what I'm getting at.

In an effort not to scare off any of my readers, I did make some 'normal' shaped biscuits as well, and that's what I've photographed.

Honey Jumbles (makes about 20)
60g butter, chopped
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon mixed spice
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 teaspoons milk

1 eggwhite
1 1/2 cups pure icing sugar, sifted
2 teaspoons lemon juice
Pink food colouring

1. Combine butter, honey and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring, for 3 minutes or until butter has melted. Bring to the boil. Remove from heat. Set aside for 10 minutes.
2. Sift flour, bicarbonate of soda, ginger, mixed spice and cloves over butter mixture. Add milk. Stir to combine. Cover. Set aside for 1 hour or until mixture has cooled and thickened.
3. Preheat oven to 160°C fan-forced. Line 2 large baking trays with baking paper. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead lightly. Divide dough into quarters. Roll 1 portion into a 25cm-long log shape. Cut into 5cm-long pieces. Place on prepared trays, leaving room for spreading. Using a wooden spoon, flatten each piece of dough until 5mm-thick. Repeat with remaining dough portions. Bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until light golden. Stand on tray for 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
4. Make icing Using: a whisk, beat eggwhite in a bowl until foaming. Gradually beat in icing sugar until combined. Stir in lemon juice. Spoon half the mixture into another bowl. Tint pink with food colouring. Spread half of the biscuits with pink icing. Spread remaining biscuits with white icing. Set aside for 30 minutes or until set. Serve.

These are perfect with a cup of tea, but I have to say I'm probably more likely to be having a glass of champagne in my hand and taking lots of hilarious photos while eating the specially shaped ones on the weekend.

Enjoy! 

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Serious cake damage-control

I promised my year 12 class at the start of the year that they could request their favourite cake for their birthdays and I would bake it for them. I know, I know. Stupid, right? It was a heat-of-the-moment, snap decision, but at least it has resulted in me being able to test out some interesting cakes (see Black Forest cake) that I would have never considered baking before.

So I have finally come to baking my final cake and, of course, another cake I've never made before - Carrot cake. I know from previous eating experiences that Carrot cake can be a bit hit-and-miss. Too dry, too moist, too much carrot, not enough carrot, too "healthy" tasting, the list goes on. So the troll was on to find the perfect cake. I thought I had found one. Now, I don't like to brag, and I'm not trying to say that I'm Australia's next Masterchef - I definitely make my share of not quite there meals - but I don't get it horribly wrong all that often. But alas, my tired state at 9.30pm last night left my cake lacking. A lot. Hence, "serious cake damage-control".

Firstly, I bought light cream cheese. Don't ask me why I bothered with this, considering the amount of sugar and oil, but trust me, I've learnt my lesson. Thin, runny cream cheese icing is not that pleasant. It's also not that easy to work with, as you'll soon read.

I try not to skewer my cakes when baking, I more just go for the bounce-back feel and then take the cake out. This leads me to problem number two. I mustn't have been paying too much attention when I took one of the cakes out of the oven. I left them to cool on a wire rack over night, only to wake up this morning and find that one cake had sunken a little, and was a little too 'moist' (read: undercooked) in the middle. First stage of damage control - try to cook that bit! I turned on the grill first, but then reconsidered that when I realised it would crisp up the top of the cake as well. Time to try the oven. Luckily, this worked and the 'moist' bit cooked itself nicely.

Problem number three came in the form of trying to ice a still warm cake. I was short on time this morning before school (yes, I know, time management...) so didn't really have time to ice a completely cool cake after damage control number two. This, combined with the far too runny icing made for the worst iced cake I have ever seen!! Before I made it too much worse, I chucked in the fridge for damage control number three, just before serving. I re-iced and decorated with walnuts to hide the flaws. And voila...

Damage Control Carrot Cake (serves 10-12)
2 cups self raising flour
1 cup brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp mixed spice (or ground nutmeg)
4 eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups finely grated carrot (about 2 large carrots)
1 cup (125g) crumbled walnuts

1 pack cream cheese (NOT LIGHT!!), softened
1/2 cup salted butter, softened (I didn't add this mine, but would definitely do it next time.

Up to 4 cups icing sugar
Extra walnut halves to decorate

1. Preheat oven to 180C and grease and line 2 20cm pans. 

2. Whisk together flour, cinnamon and mixed spice in a small bowl. In a large bowl mix eggs, oil, vanilla and brown sugar using an electric mixer. Slowly stir in dry ingredients and mix until well blended. Stir in carrots and walnuts. 

3. Divide mixture evenly into prepared cake pans. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean (or cake springs back). Cool for 5 minutes in tins and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. 

4. Using a hand mixer, beat together cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Add icing sugar, half a cup at a time, until light, fluffy and thick. Spread on bottom layer of cake. Top with second cake and ice completely. Top with walnut halves to decorate. 

So, was my hard work and damage control rewarded with a resounding "WOW" from the year 12's? Well, no actually. The girl whose birthday it was actually truanted my class so she never even got to taste it!!! My faculty was pretty chuffed about it though...

Enjoy!

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Italiano, Jamie-style.

With a birthday looming and wonderful friends with excellent taste in food, the girls took me off for a feast at Jamie's Italian Sydney.

Unfortunately, this is one of those "no booking" restaurants and due to the restaurant's central location and the horrible weather, when we got there at 6pm, there was a line out the door about 20 people deep. Not a good start. Thankfully, it was pretty fast moving and we were at the front counter in no time and requesting a table of 5. We were asked if we were all there yet, and due to the weather, my friend Kasey was stuck on the bridge and running a little late. Because of this, we weren't given the table, but asked to wait in the almost non-existent bar area until we were all present. During this time, I kept an eye on the door, noticing that smaller tables were given a waiting time of about 1.5 hrs, a definite downside of the "no book" system. I started to get worried that we might be given the same wait time if all the large tables were taken before we were all present. Luckily Kasey arrived just in time (and just as our first drink was being finished) and we got a table straight away. From the entryway, the restaurant looks tiny, but it actually is quite big, with an upstairs area and plenty of tables.

As I do with most restaurants I'm keen to eat at, I had been perusing the menu all week, trying to decide what I would order. The menu is quite extensive with antipasti, pasta and mains to choose from and this made the decision very difficult. I knew I had to have pasta for at least one meal, considering they make it fresh daily, so chose a Scappato mussel linguine with garlic, chilli & parsley. The other girls decided on antipasti - chilli squid, mushroom fritti, arancini and ricotta stuffed mini chilli peppers - and some polenta chips to share.

Polenta chips (top); Arancini balls

Chilli squid; Stuffed mini chilli; Fried mushrooms; Mussel linguine

During our wait for the entrees (which really wasn't that long considering how packed the restaurant was) we got some house made breads with oil and vinegar to tide us over. This is on the house but it isn't just offered, you have to ask for it. Entrees arrived and were presented "Jamie-style", not too fancy but just nice, displaying the best of the produce and easily edible. I have to say, I was a bit disappointed with the size of my mussels (not so much with my muscles, ha!). While there was a few of them, they were really tiny, and if I'd ordered that pasta for main, I wouldn't be too happy. Having said that, they were plump and flavoursome and the sauce is pretty standard to compliment the mild seafood flavour. The pasta was another story. Now, I know Italian's like their pasta 'al dente', but this just seemed more or less undercooked. It was really hard to even tell that it was fresh pasta...

Mains didn't follow too far behind (a plus!) and my Lamb osso bucco looked and smelled delightful - and it was! My only complaint with this was that, because it was lamb, it was quite small and I was still pretty hungry when I'd finished off the plate. Of the other girl's meals - pumpkin panzerotti and black angel spaghetti - the comments were fairly positive. I did get a chance to try the squid ink pasta (my first time) and absolutely loved it!! It was salty and fishy, but somehow sweet as well, probably from the scallops it was served with.

Pumpkin panzerotti; Lamb osso bucco; Black angel pasta

Time for dessert, and the girls sneakily ordered me an Italian ice-cream bombe with a candle and some chocolate letters, spelling out "Happy Birthday". Too cute! This was yummy, but I'd already scoped out my dessert of choice, so had to go back for seconds!! The Italian bakewell tart was zesty (orange) and moist, but not like the bakewell tarts I've had before - there was no jammy bottom, but there was some stewed fruit mixed through to give it the added sweet hit. Tasting the other girl's dessert, the clear winner was definitely the "ultimate brownie" - served warm, with fresh raspberries throughout and vanilla ice-cream. Perfect!

Happy birthday to me! Italian ice-cream bombe.

Sugar hit!! Creamy pannacotta; Italian bakewell tart; Ultimate brownie.

Overall, we had a really great night. Aside from the shaky start, the staff were attentive, the atmosphere was warming and the food was tasty. The only thing that was really missing was a guest appearance from the man himself... Jamie joining us at the table for a little chit chat would have topped the night off. In the hopes of this eventually happening,  I'll be going back with the BF in the near future and recommend you do the same!

Enjoy!

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A forest of chocolate and cherry.

I have become known as a bit of a 'caker' around school. Earlier this year, I foolishly asked my year 12 class (which is thankfully very small) for a list of their favourite cakes so that I could make them something special for their birthdays (Note: I was a bit too ambitious and I don't think I'll be doing this again!!). I've had everything from chocolate mud to pavlova to cheesecake. But when I looked down the list and saw "Black Forest", I cringed. I've never eaten a Black Forest, so I don't really know what they're supposed to taste like (or even what was in it!). And not really being a big chocolate fan, it didn't seem all that appealing. To add to my apprehension about making this cake, almost every recipe I read used "chocolate cake mix" as the base ingredient... Something I'm not a big fan of unless absolutely necessary. Finally, I found a recipe where you make everything from scratch and get something that does a good job of resembling the chocolate and cherry assemblage of a Black Forest.

I didn't actually intend to blog about this because I didn't really think it was going to be that exciting. But when I realised that this is the easiest chocolate cake, and the final product actually looks pretty spectacular, I thought I should share.

Blackforest cake (serves 10-12)
185 mL milk
125 g butter
275 g dark brown sugar
50 g good-quality cocoa powder
150 g self raising flour
50 g plain flour
1 tsp bicarb soda
1 can morello cherries, drained, liquid reserved
1/2 cup caster sugar
300 mL thickened cream, whipped
Grated chocolate, for decoration

1. Grease and line your tin/s (either 1 x 22-23cm or 2 x 20cm pans - springforms work best). Preheat oven to 160C (fan-forced).
2. In the microwave, melt together your butter and milk (about 2 minutes). Pour into a large mixing bowl.
3. Add the brown sugar and cocoa powder and mix with a whisk until dissolved.
4. Add the flours and bicarb soda and mix with the whisk until combined.
5. Pour mixture into prepared tin/s. Bake in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Cool in tin on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then turn out to cool completely.
6.To make cherry sugar syrup: Dissolve caster sugar in 1/2 cup water over low heat. Add the liquid from the cherry can and increase to medium heat. Gently boil for 20 minutes, or until liquid has reduced by half and thickened slightly.
7. To assemble: Slice each cake in half (or one cake into 3). Place one base on a cake plate and top with cherry syrup, whipped cream and some halved cherries. Top with next layer and repeat with remaining layers. On the top layer, top with remaining cherry syrup (carefully as it doesn't seep into the top layers easily), remaining cream and whole cherries. Grate chocolate over top layer.

Due to this being for a school affair, I had to emit the kirsch (cherry liquor) but that's why I made the cherry syrup. If you're in need of a little booze hit, just substitute this in your recipe for the syrup.

This was a big hit with the class, both in terms of presentation and taste. So next time you're in need of the wow factor, chuck this super easy cake in the oven and wow away!

Enjoy!

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A winter warmer

I am more than happy to stand corrected as a write this blog post. Beef and Guinness Pie always seemed to taste like there was so much work involved in making it. Its not just a beef pie, there's all these different homely flavours that just make it taste so yummy. So with a bit of time on my hands and the ugly winter weather Sydney is putting on at the moment, I decided to put in the effort required and give Beef and Guinness Pie a try. I was pleasantly surprised. Not only does this pie take almost zero effort to make (ie. you pretty much put it everything a pot and leave it on the stove top for a few hours), but all those beautiful 'flavours' are pretty much just what comes out of stewing beef in some Guinness (ie. no extensive ingredients list required). In fact, this pie is so easy that next time I make it, I'm even going to make my own pastry!!

Beef and Guinness Pies (makes 4 individual pies)
1/4 cup plain flour
800g beef chuck steak, cut into 3cm pieces
2 tbs olive oil
4 large brown onions, cut into thick wedges
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
440ml Guinness draught beer
1 1/2 cups beef stock
2 dried bay leaves
8 fresh thyme sprigs
1 sheet (25cm) ready-rolled frozen puff pastry
1 egg, lightly whisked
Mashed sweet potato and something green, to serve

1. Place the flour in a large bowl and season well with salt and pepper. Add the beef and gently toss to lightly coat with the flour mixture. Heat half the oil in a large flameproof casserole dish over high heat. Add one-quarter of the beef and cook, turning occasionally, for 5 minutes or until brown all over. Transfer to a heatproof bowl. Continue in 3 more batches.
2. Heat the remaining oil in the pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until onion is lightly golden. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute or until aromatic. Add the beef, Guinness, beef stock, bay leaves and thyme and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to very low and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, for 2 hours or until beef is tender and sauce thickens slightly. Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper. Set aside for 30 minutes to cool slightly.
   
   
3. Preheat oven to 200°C. Spoon beef mixture evenly among four 1 1/2-cup ovenproof dishes. Cut the pastry into quarters and lightly brush with egg. Place a piece of pastry over each dish and use a small, sharp knife to cut a small slit in the top of each pie to help release steam. Place on an oven tray and bake for 15 minutes or until pastry is puffed and golden. Remove from oven and serve immediately with mashed potatoes and peas or beans.
   
   
   
   
   

Whenever my boyfriend has a Guinness, he comments that it is his "steak and veg" drink. Luckily, this pie doesn't make you feel like you've had steak and veg AND a pie, but it definitely warms the belly - a perfect winter dinner.

For next time:
- I will actually slow cook the meat so it's really gelatinous and falling apart. 6 hours on low heat should do it a lot of justice in the slow cooker.
- For a really nice crispy pie, I'm going to attempt Maggie Beer's Sour Cream Pastry - place 200g chilled, unsalted, chopped butter and 250g plain flour and a pinch of salt in the bowl of a food processor, then blend until the mixture resembles large breadcrumbs. Gradually add 1/2 cup sour cream, mixing until the pastry just comes together. Shape into a disc, then wrap in plastic wrap then chill for at least 20 minutes. Roll out the pastry, cut to size and place in a greased pie dish. Top with beef mix and more pastry, wetting the edges with water before crimping to seal.

Enjoy!

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Melbourne - Foodie heaven

Heading to Melbourne for the weekend is one of the ultimate getaways for a foodie. The only problem? There's not enough meals in one weekend to fit all the food in the city into my belly!

I feel pretty jealous of the people that live in and around Melbourne city because they have access to the freshest, and most extensive range of organic produce I have ever seen in one place. The Queen Victoria Markets Organics section boasts fresh fruit and vegetables, organic snacks, jams and relishes, super fresh eggs (the chickens are even sold at the stall), all for incredibly cheap prices.

 

Then there's the dairy hall - every type of cheese you can imagine, beautiful displays of antipasto (the marscapone figs were to DIE for!), fresh bread and endless cakes on display.

The best part of all of this, and the main reason for my jealousy - they're open 5 days a week!! I hope the Melbournians realise how lucky they are...

The next best thing about Melbourne for a foodie is the laneway cafes. These can be tricky to find (or find again as we found out trying to go back one of the cafes we'd seen for a coffee). Take a walk down Flinders lane and the laneways the line this street make you feel like you've entered a European country.

Although many of the cafes are just that, cafes, many are attempting to bring a unique edge to their selections, like "the soup place" is doing.

The last thing that makes Melbourne "foodie heaven" is the vast and varied dining experiences you can have all over the city.

For lunch, Cruzao Arepa Bar is a great choice. They serve Venezuelan-style food, specialising in Arepas - gluten free, cornflour pockets cooked on a hot grill and stuffed with a range of fillings. Really tasty and not overly filling.

For dinner, nose-to-tail eating is definitely a different choice. Josie Bones dishes up a delightfully tasty range of cuts from the whole beast, pairing that with a range of local and international beers (check out my beast feast).

Like I said, one weekend is no where near enough time to eat the immense range of dining experiences to be had in Melbourne... But there's plenty left to explore on the next visit!

Enjoy!

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Pig ears and big beers (review)

I'm always one for wanting to try something new and different so when Ryan told me about a restaurant in Melbourne that dabbles in 'nose-to-tail' eating and matches that with an incredibly expansive beer selection, which they also use in their cooking wherever possible, I knew we had to try it out.

Being a Saturday night, we were a bit apprehensive about getting a table without a booking. Luckily though, this wasn't a problem and we were seated at the bar (in front of the beer taps!) and served by Chris, who also happens to be one of the co-owners - perfect! Presented with a beer menu about 50 pages long, Chris asked us what we would like to drink.. uhhh? Of the 250+ beers to choose from, I decided on a tapped wheat beer to start off the night (which was on the first page of the beer menu) with some pork crackling to nibble on while we perused the menu.

The menu is intended for grazing - a series of small 'share' plates so you get to sample a lot of different textures and flavours. I would have loved to try everything on the menu, but Chris recommended 4 to 6 dishes between the two of us, so we selected two to start - Grilled hop-smoked ox tongue with piccalilli and Braised rabbit with chorizo and creme fraiche.

The ox tongue was incredibly tender and had the most intense smoky flavour which was perfectly matched by the pickled flavour of the piccalilli. I've had ox tongue before at a barbecue restaurant in Japan and I thought that was tasty, but this definitely over shone my previous experiences.
 
This was my first taste of rabbit and I have to say, I was pretty impressed. The meat was moist and flavoursome (and really not the flavour that I had expected!) and the chorizo was tender and smoky and added a great flavour to the dish.

Ready for round two, we ordered one of the specials of the evening - Pork shoulder. The meat was, again, deliciously tender and moist and the sauce provided a beautiful flavour, dotted with little bursts of saltiness from the capers in it.

By this stage I was ready for another beer and looked a bit more closely at the selection. I found a page of "fruity ales" and was taken by the raspberry ale. Chris asked me if I liked sweet things, which, of course, I do, but he made the suggestion that the raspberry is excessively sweet and that the framboise Belgian style might be a better choice. I was thinking it was going to be a hint of a raspberry flavour, but still taste like beer. Unfortunately, this wasn't the case. Even the framboise, the less sweet version, was incredibly sweet and tasted more like a raspberry cider than a beer. Bad choice on my part. Luckily, this was the only one of the night.


Although it probably wasn't really necessary, we decided to mix up our next meal and order something vegetable based. There was a small selection of these dishes on offer, but what they did have all looked really tasty - quinoa with roasted cauliflower, sheeps milk labneh and mint; pumpkin and smoked cheddar gratin with chestnut crumble; and beetroot carpaccio with grilled haloumi, smoked almonds and pickled beetroot stems, to name a few. Chris suggested the beetroot, as it would go well with the dishes we had already ordered, and when it arrived, we couldn't have been happier with the choice. The plate was beautifully presented and tasted just as good as it looked - the fresh beetroot was super thinly sliced, the haloumi had just the right amount of saltiness and the crunchy smoky almonds provided great texture. Thanks for the suggestion Chris!

By this stage with all the beer and food we were pretty stuffed, but had just enough room for one more round. We consulted the dessert menu - each choice with some hint of beer in it - but decided for one last hit of meat. Possibly what some would consider an 'adventurous' choice, what better to finish the meal than pigs trotters stuffed with black pudding and served with braised lentils and crispy pigs ears. This couldn't have been tastier!!

Perfect balance of pork and apple-infused, house-made black pudding (so it didn't taste like undercooked blood, like some other bad black puddings I've had). The pigs ears were chewy and gelatinous and really tasty!

The verdict? An absolutely incredible meal. It was evident that each dish had so much thought put into the flavours and the presentation and shows that the team at Josie Bones really know their food. Chris was a wonderful host to us, open to answering all our curious questions. He is also incredibly knowledgeable about his beers and easily matches personal tastes to the beers they have on offer.

The decor and layout of the restaurant is rustic but well considered, with hints of quirkiness in every corner.

So, if you're in Collingwood (North-east Melbourne city), I highly recommend heading to 98 Smith Street and treating yourself to a whole beast eating experience. And why not chuck in a few beers while you're at it!

Enjoy!

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