The Flower Drum

I’ve abandoned my blog for over a week now and there’s a good reason, I promise. N1 and N2 were back for a visit, as was another friend Slowie. Consequently I’ve been eating and drinking my way around Melbourne. Sometimes it’s hard to write about food when you’re too busy consuming it. What’s worse is the high life started on Wednesday, didn’t stop till Sunday and I had to keep turning up to work. Obviously I had the weekend off but yesterday was particularly painful and my morning run today wasn’t much better.

Still, these are the times you have to take hold and run with. They all say good food and wine is best enjoyed with great company and you can’t fully appreciate that if you’re stressing about going to work the next day, spending money or getting things done. So this was precisely my attitude when N2 suggested the Flower Drum for dinner last Wednesday night. Of late I’ve been hit by the money swallower…you know the mysterious force that keeps dragging the notes out of your wallet and you’re not sure where they’re going? Therefore, upon mention of Flower Drum after a cocktail at the Sofitel’s Atrium, my first thought was “eek…not this month, please…I really don’t think I can afford it”. Fortunately I decided I wouldn’t be a party pooper and I kept my thoughts to myself. Sometimes my inner-scrooge stops me from enjoying things and needs to be squashed.

Booked out on a Wednesday night, we had to wait a mere 30 minutes for a table which was fine. A phonecall drew us back and we were ushered into the lift. There’s a certain old world charm about the room and service, dating right back to the 1980s. I can imagine new and old money wheeling and dealing over their Cantonese; big business sealed with Peking Duck.

It took a little while for menus to be brought to our table and when they were we were bamboozled. What to order? So we let the waiter choose. You will see very few photos here. I tried, I really did but the waiters are so attentive it’s hard to get a minute to yourself. I don’t like drawing attention to taking photographs. Partly because I don’t want to disclose that I may be critiquing the meal in any written way and secondly I just don’t like to. Being as discreet as possible tends to make those at my table more comfortable. N1 and N2 definitely had a good chuckle the first time I did it, but they are used to me now. At one point the waiter saw me snap the Peking Duck and offered to take a picture of us all. I agreed and the 3 of us smiled awkwardly, explaining our food photographs under the pretence that a friend was meant to be there, couldn’t make it in the end and was very upset.

As I said, the service was very attentive. At some points I nearly felt I had been transported back to Colonial times. There was a style about the service that emphasized we were the diners, they were the staff and all are not quite equal. Don’t get me wrong, if I’m paying big bucks for a meal I want service that crawls, but never do I want to feel like we would be anything other than equals outside the restaurant.

Our food selection was nearly all thanks to our waiter. We started with Salt and Pepper Squid and King George Whiting on a bed of fried enoki mushrooms. The batter was light as a feather. You know when you’re eating fried food and your body knows it’s fried food but it tastes too good to be anything but good for you. The waiter kindly showed us how to dip our morsels into the lemon juice and then salt, warning us that the chilli sauce was very, very hot. We must have really looked like we didn’t know what was going on, as he rushed back with some raw enoki mushrooms just to fully explain what we were eating. It was very sweet (of him, that is not the mushroom).

Next came Peking Duck. We ordered our duck off the specials entrée rather than the regular menu. Our pancakes were prepared at the trolleys a little way away from our table and then delivered one by one. This whole process involved about 3 staff which was quite impressive. As you can see from the picture these are no frills and all about the food. The meat seemed a little dry to me. Some might interpret that as wonderfully lean however I would have like mine to be dripping with a little more fat. If you’re going to eat duck you may as well have it laced with the delicious fat. It was still the best Peking Duck I’ve ever had!

Mains arrived at our table all together: steamed vegetables, sweet and sour pork and what I think was Sichuan beef. As the waiter was describing the dish it sounded like he was saying Citron. However he was referring to a province in China so I’m thinking Sichuan? It was a beautiful cut of beef, quite rare and extremely tender. Chilli and blackbean sauce masked a lot of the beef flavour however this was all about texture.

Sweet and Sour Pork was my selection. I’m not sure why but I often crave the taste of sweet and sour. When I satisfy the craving I’m usually disappointed by fatty chunks of pork in deep-fried batter. Luckily this wasn’t so at Flower Drum. Unluckily Sweet and Sour Pork will never be the same again.

We polished off 2 lovely bottles of red something or other from Coldstream. That might seem particularly ignorant of me, however N2 took care of wine ordering and I was happy to sit back and let decisions be made for me as waiters dutifully topped up my glass. From what I’ve read, the winelist at Flower Drum is notable, so I’ll have to go back again, just to check it out.

I really did feel I was having a once in a lifetime dining experience. I do confess I’m not sure whether that was because of the restaurant or because of the reputation that preceded it. Either way I’m so grateful N2 suggested it, because I’m not sure that I would have got there otherwise. My evening ended at the same time as 3 other quite drunken gentlemen. Obviously regulars they pointed at a table which had held a large 21st party and said “that’s the biggest table I’ve ever seen at ‘the drum’, phft, they can’t afford it!” And whilst I was disgusted at such blatant show of snobbery, we were acutely aware that our wallets were a lot lighter. My advice? Go there if you can, throw all caution to the wind and pretend your Donald Trump cracking it big in the real estate game (that’s before he went bankrupt and re-built his empire).

A new book, an egg yolk and an empty jar

N from Tamworth visited Melbourne two weeks ago and in her wake she left S-bo and I a copy of bills open kitchen. S-bo decided that for the moment it should live at my place and already I've been looking at the recipes with anticipation. Especially the sweetcorn cakes which were a treat whenever I visited MB in Woollahra. N from Tamworth felt she was leaving S-bo and I a little taste of Sydney so we didn't get too homesick down here.

Leftover from the dumplings the other day was a lone egg yolk floating under some water in the fridge. I often end up with egg yolks and can never work out what to cook with them. Mayonnaise? Custard? My favourite is lemon curd but I don't usually have a jar that I can sterilise and keep it in. Until today! I had a look at a few different lemon curd recipes and opted for bills because it was "the new book" and because it used the least egg yolks. Flatmate brings eggs back from her parents farm and I feel guilty using them all up in my cooking frenzies.

Previous attempts at making lemon curd have yielded mixed results but they have taught me the whole double saucepan thing is not necessary. Still, I made bill's lemon curd by the book, finding it quite labour intensive as a result. All that whisking really does tax my short attention span and next time I'll probably go back to direct stovetop. Nevertheless I found the making of the curd quite therapeutic. I had some music on and the weather outside was sunny but very cold. What a better way to spend such an afternoon than in the kitchen.

I haven't tried much of the curd yet. A little lick of the spoon makes me think it tastes like lemon curd, surprise surprise. I will hold onto it for now, perhaps crack open the bottle one sunny morning and spread it on brioche. It's hard to wait really.

Bills Lemon curd
3 eggs
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup caster sugar
50 g butter cut into small pieces

Place the yolks, zest, juice and sugar in a heatproof bowl and whisk together until smooth.
Place the bowl over simmering water, making sure the bottom doesnt touch the water. Stir for 8-10 minutes or until thickened slightly.
Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter, one piece at a time.
Cool

I believe lemon curd will last quite some time in a sterilised jar. I have it in the fridge too, just incase. Otherwise any container will do but you should use it within the week.

Banana Cake

I have a low fat recipe for banana cake...this is not it! Until recently I haven't been a big eater of banana cake. I started to make the low fat recipe because it was on hand, not because it was low fat. The cake is actually quite good. It uses wholemeal flavour and as a result has a great texture and is a little nutty. I'm not sure why I decided to bake, but I did and thought this time I might have a crack at the real deal. That gamble definitely payed off.

In my quest to bake all of my recipes I don't often step outside my standard collection of chefs and cooks. This is no exception, with the cake coming from Stephanie Alexander's Cooks Companion. I'm no expert on banana cake recipes but I think this one is pretty damn good. It's quite easy and straightforward to make, creating very little washing up along the way. The recipe suggested a brown sugar and walnut topping, to be added before baking. But I was keen to have a nice thick icing. The low fat cake has a very poor excuse for icing, it's main drawback actually. It's a watery mix of icing sugar, lemon juice and water. Where's the butter you may ask? Well that wouldn't be low fat would it. To make up for previous deprivation I aimed for a thick, rich cream cheese frosting from Women's Weekly Cupcakes. I'm always on the search for a great cream cheese icing. This one was pretty good. Nice and thick on the cake. I think next time I will increase the cream cheese just a tad.

So am I wholeheartedly converted to banana cake? Absolutely. I will revert back to the low fat cake on occasion. I enjoy providing kilojoule-conscious friends with clear conscience cake. I might swap the pathetic slop of icing for the creamy, cheesy delight however.

The full fat ensemble goes something like this:

Simple Banana Cake (Ali-K's version)
125 g softened unsalted butter
1.5 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 ripe bananas, mashed (this is the perfect banana balance for me and can depend on the size of the bananas. If you prefer a more consistent result aim for 1 cup mashed banana)
A few drops (or small slosh) of vanilla essence

250 g plain flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup buttermilk or 1/2 cup milk mixed with with 1 teaspoon lemon juice.

In true Ali-K style I realise as I type this that I left some ingredients out. You could add 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon and 1/8 ground allspice however the cake probably wont miss it, considering I didn't realise until now. Flatmate laughs and thinks I should make a guessing game of the things I leave out of recipes. At least it wasnt the bicarb this time!

Butter and flour a 22 cm square cake tine, then line base with baking paper. Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
Cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in eggs, banana and vanilla. Sift dry ingredients and add to the mixture, alternating with buttermilk.
Spoon into tin and bake for 1 hour or until a fine skewer inserted come out clean.
Cool cake in its tine on a wire rack for a few minutes before turning out. Cool completey before cutting or storing.

Cream Cheese Frosting
30 g butter
80 g cream cheese
1 1/2 cups icing sugar

Beat butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in sugar.

Chicken and mint dumplings

Sometime last year I made chicken and mint dumplings and I remembered them being kind of ok. But do you think I could find the recipe this year, when I had some chicken mince in the freezer, waiting to be used? The closest I could come was pork wonton from Flatmate's "the BIG book of wok". This was accompanied by a delicious looking broth so I thought my mind was made up. I was going to make the pork wontons with chicken instead and serve with asian pea broth.

That was until I re-found my chicken and mint dumpling recipe. I then discovered that I liked the look of the asian pea broth more than the original broth. So we have now arrived at Chicken and mint dumplings in asian pea broth. Simple.

On the day I invited S'bo round to dine on this meal with me, he came down with a cold. What's a better cold remedy than a warm, gingery broth? Exactly, not much. It became a joint effort and I quite enjoyed cooking together. I'm not always great at sharing my kitchen with others. I'm also not great at folding up wonton wrappers, probably made harder by the fact that I had square instead of round. I ended up halving the wrapper diagonally and they turned out ok, if not a little funny looking..

The broth was very flavoursome and paired pretty well with the dumplings. I should add that the dumplings really did look like little brains. Inside the chicken was well cooked although I think I should've used extra mint/coriander for more flavour. The dumplings were surprisingly filling but you know what they say, "feed a cold...." I think S-bo felt a little better as a result.

Chicken and Mint Dumplings:
I'm not sure where this recipe came from, it's one I've had floating around for a fair few years now.

150 g chicken mince
1 red chilli, seeds removed and flesh finely chopped
1 tbsp min, chopped finely
1 tbsp coriander, chopped finely
8 round wonton wrappers

In a bowl, combine the chicken mince, chilli, mint and coriander and season with salt and pepper. Lay the wonton wrappers on a flat surface and palce a tablespoon of the mixture onto the centre of each wrapper. Brush the edges with a little water and fold in half, sealing edges completely.

Bring your chosen broth to the boil then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook the dumplings for 3-4 minutes.

Asian Pea Broth
I will try and recount the recipe I used, however it is a combination of that given with the dumplings and that from "the BIG book of wok"

Oil
1 large leek
2 cloves garlic
3 cm piece fresh ginger, finely chopped
4 tbsp Chinese rice wine
750 mL chicken stock
1.5 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 stick lemongrass, white part only, sliced thinly into rounds
150 g frozen peas

Heat the oil in a pan and stirfry the leeks for 2 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger and stirfry for a further 2 minutes. Pour in the wine and continue cooking until most of it has evaporated.
Add the stock and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and add soy sauce, peas and dumplings. Simmer for 3-4 minutes.

Garnish with coriander.

Pumpkin Pie

I've never had pumpkin pie. Until recently I didn't think many people in Australia had. Turns out there are a few people around, which is great because I needed someone to confirm that yes, the strange concoction I made is actually what it's supposed to be like. A colleague put it as "It's spicy not sweet, the way gingerbread is spicy but not sweet." And with ground cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg, I guess you can't expect much different.

I'm not particularly good at making pastry. I used the shortcrust recipe in Cook's Companion however I used a food processor instead of benchtop. I just don't have the space in my kitchen. First time round (I made the pie twice 'cause I had so much pumpkin mixture) the pastry wasn't particularly good. Second time I invested in some actual baking weights (instead of rice) and was much more successful.

I think it's best to eat the pie warm, and as fresh as possible. You really can't taste the pumpkin, it's all about the spices. However the longer you leave it, the stranger the filling texture becomes. Guinea pigs praised the pie. I, as always am a little more critical of my cooking. Anyways, it's worth giving a go, at least once.

Pumpkin Pie (from Cooks Companion)

1 kg pumpkin (jap or gramma), peeled

Zest and juice of 2 lemons
1 knob butter
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 egg yolk
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 tsp ground cloves
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup currants

Steam pumpkin then mash.

Line an 18 cm pie plate or loose bottomed flan tin with pastry and bake blind at 200 degrees for 20 min. Remove and increase oven tempeture to 220 degrees.

Mix pumpkin with remaining ingredients, then pour into prepared pastry case and smooth top. Bake for 10 min, then reduce heat to 180 and bake for a further 10-15 min.

Note: The recipe says 18 cm tin. I have a much larger tin so I made 1 1/2 times the pumpkin mixture. This isn't really necessary as I had more than one extra pie's worth of filling leftover.

HHDD #13: Sorbet

This month’s edition of Hay Hay it’s Donna Day got me very excited. Sorbet! Laura from EAT DRINK LIVE was inspired by the approach of summer in the north and put out the call for sorbet. My recipe isn’t quite sorbet, but neither is it conventional ice cream either. Sadly for those who can’t have dairy, this ice cream isn’t for you. But if you’re someone who can eat dairy and loves licking the bowl after cooking biscuits then read on….

In my quest to cook up all my recipe clippings, I’ve had my eye on this one for a while. Banana, Brown Sugar and Sour Cream Ice-cream. The reason I kept it out in the first place is because it doesn’t require a churner and I don’t have one. So whilst it might not quite fit the bill of sorbet, I jumped at the chance to make it. As it’s winter down south my firm belief is that any dessert should be at least a little fattening.


The recipe involves whizzing the ingredients in a food processor. Why do I mention licking the bowl? Because this particular recipe is divine and so is the resultant mixing bowl! The strong taste I normally associate with bananas is softened by the creaminess, whilst the brown sugar makes the final product taste just a little like banana cookie dough.

There’s no repeat mixing required, just whiz it all up and place in the freezer. It works best if you give it a little time to soften, however an important note is it doesn’t freeze rock hard. The recipe makes about 2 litres so there’s plenty to go around and my friends have been very receptive. For just a little class, add a sprinkling of nutmeg…

The Recipe:

500g ripe banana's
4 eggs, separated
2 tsp lemon juice
100g dark brown sugar
300g sour cream
100g (about 4 tbsp) glucose syrup (aka corn syrup)
pinch salt

Peel the bananas and whiz in a food processor with the egg yolks, lemon juice and brown sugar until smooth. Mix in the sour cream and pulse until silky.

Whisk the egg whites with the glucose syrup and salt until soft peaks form. Gently fold 1/4 egg whites into the banana mixture until nearly combined, then fold this lightened mixture into the remaining egg whites until you get an even consistency. Put into an ice-cream container and freeze for at least 3-4 hours.

Don't forget to lick the bowl.

Fettuccine with Zucchini, Lemon, Ricotta and Almonds

During its construction, this dish looked boring. I wanted something quick, easy and inexpensive yet delicious, that I could share with flatmate. I thought this little gem fitted the bill however halfway through I wasn’t so sure. There was no colour in my frying pan to lift the soggy looking zucchini and nothing screaming “eat me”.

Have I sold it to you yet? Well don’t fear, this meal was amazingly quite delicious. The subtle flavours of zucchini, lemon, ricotta and almonds combined so well that flatmate couldn’t stop assuring me it had turned out ok. I can have quite a low cooking-esteem at times and a bland looking dish when I’ve promised to cook can really get to me. I used dried fettuccine and can only imagine how sensational this would be with fresh. Italian dishes can often be so bold and rich that it’s easy to forget the effectiveness of simplicity. Just look at the best pizzas around.

I will add a humorous note and say that my quest for inexpensive nearly came undone when I took the zucchinis to the check out. They truly were mammoth, with no littlies in sight. The recipe says four medium so I thought 2 large would do the trick. When I went to leave the checkout chick informed me that “those zucchinis will be about $12, do you still want them?”. I decided it probably wasn’t necessary for two of us so I just took one. I can’t remember what the price per kilo was and whether they were particularly expensive or just so damn big.

Fettuccine with zucchini, lemon, ricotta and almonds

4 tbsp unsalted butter
4 tbsp flaked almonds
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 medium zucchini, quartered lengthwise and cut into 1 cm pieces
2 cloves garlic, finely sliced
1 cup chicken stock
Juice of 1 lemon
Zest of 1 lemon
400g dried fettuccine (500g fresh)
125g fresh ricotta
Sea salt
Black pepper
2 tbsp flatleaf parsley, chopped.

Heat half the butter and fry almonds until golden brown. Strain to remove excess butter and reserve.
In a pan gently cook the rest of the butter, oil, zucchini, garlic, stock and lemon juice and half of the zest, covered until zucchini is quite soft (recipe says about 20 minutes but it didn’t take very long at all). Put aside. Cook fettuccine and drain. Return zucchini to simmering point, add ricotta in chunks, then pasta, then season. Tip into a warmed bowl and mix through, adding parsley and remaining lemon zest, then scatter with almonds.

Meat & 3 Veg

Well I haven't posted for a few days now. I've just had a manic, crazy weekend with barely any time to eat, let alone write about it. Whilst living in Victoria and enjoying the Swans win AFL (not that that has happened lately) I am a rugby girl at heart. To all those unaware, I might take this opportunity to highlight that Rugby Union (aka rugby) is quite different to rugby league (aka league) and the two should not be confused.

With that out of the way, here's how my weekend panned out and what I ate along the way. I've already mentioned Sarti on Thursday night, which was divine. Friday night included a trip to Bluestone Bar on Flinders lane for drinks and pizza to celebrate AO'B's birthday...mighty good pizza however a slightly surly barman. Mental note to all, if you don't know a wine that's on your wine list that's not the customer's fault!

A late trip to the airport on Friday night saw N (from Tamworth) join us for a coffee at Albert Park Deli on Saturday morning. Saturday afternoon was a shopping trip and Risotto in one of the little cafes in Block Arcade followed by the rugby! Pre match drinks were at the Imperial, during match drinks were at the ridiculously slow bar in MCG Ponsford Stand and post match drinks back at the Imperial. We wrapped up the night with a streetside hotdog (classy) and a trip to Albert Park's 24 hour fruit shop! That's right, a 24 hour fruit shop.

Feeling guilty for eating such rubbish the night before, N (from Tamworth), S-bo and I trekked off to South Melbourne Markets and bought ourselves a Sunday feast of dips, bread, cheese, olives and lamb cutlets. What a way to finish off the weekend.

So you're asking, where's the meat and 3 veg? I have no respectable pictures of the weekend so I thought I'd post a picture otherwise destined for back-post: Chicken Baked on Sweet Potato Rosti.

The sweet potato is cut thinly and tossed with parmesan, garlic, pepper and oil. Sadly mine didn't crisp up after baking for 20 minutes at 220 degrees, but the flavour was great. The chicken is another example of the virtues of good quality ingredients and a simple recipe. I bouth the breasts skin on from the market, rubbed the skin with salt and pepper, cooked in a pan for 5 minutes and then in the oven till cooked through.

Dessert was also simple: Chocolate Sausage Rolls. Not quite, but they looked like it. Take a thawed sheet of puff pastry, cut into 4 portions and sprinkle each portion with 1/4 cup chopped chocolate, 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 2 tbsp roasted hazelnuts. Instant dessert! Well not quite, you do need to cook in a 200 degree oven till puffed and golden.

Even better, you can eat them hot or cold. So evening time was chocolate roll with icecream, and morning tea the next morning was chocolate roll snack!

Enjoy....................

Sarti

Last night I slipped inside the little door near Gin Palace, on Russell Place. You know the one with the funny little beehive sign (pictured) out the front and nothing else? An out of towner like myself would have no reason to realise that this is the home of Sarti. But it is!

A friend is in town this week and we had planned to go out for dinner. This weekend is set to be an expensive one for myself, with the Bledisloe Cup in town, multiple friends visiting to watch/work and the associated eating, drinking and socialising that comes with such excitement. With this in mind I chose Sarti because it had good reviews, a chefs hat and a price range which included options below $30.


Reviews seemed to say that Sarti had perfected all the extras: service, ambience, decor etc, but that their food was only just reaching it's peak. So I was expecting good food and excellent service. After our experience, if I was to describe the service in one word it would be "strange". Our actual table service was good, just the right amount of attention and always a full wine glass. The strange part came from more general dealings. When I booked the person on the other end of the phone was very vague, almost to the point of unwelcoming. Upon arrival we realise there's a large function, taking 2/3 of the floor space and consequently our little table for 3 was tucked way in a corner, almost in a walkway. Interesting. This was after we were taken to the bar, presumably for them to get our table ready, only to be taken to the table before we'd had a chance to sip our water. I feel we should have been warned about the function, particularly as it meant we were sat in the corner of a walkway, in front of the kitchen, behind the bar and near no other tables.


Luckily we were in good spirits and not ready to let this bug us. Because it really was nothing more than a tad strange and why let that ruin a good meal. The up side to being off to a side is you can carry on like the old friend catching up that we were and no one really notices.



The menu has a good selection of starters, salads, pastas, mains and sides. We were all starving so we munched up the provided bread and went straight for mains. I ordered pasta with braised duck leg, marinated artichokes and a sage sauce. I would like to say up front this is one of the nicest pasta sauces I've ever had. There was such complexity of flavours and yet the dish wasn't so rich that I was full. A tangy tomato-ness worked well with the tender duck. Amazing. Unfortunately the complexity of my dish made it hard for me to get much out of the other two meals, but the diners assure me they were amazing. S-bo ordered funghi and ricotta ravioli whilst BD had broadbean risotto, which was very subtle. A funny little quirk was S-bo and I ordered main sizes and BD had an entree size. Whilst the bill says all was in order we all feel they may have got the other two size mixed up. BD's risotto was huge whilst S-bo's ravioli particularly scarce. Unfortunately the photos didnt come out so well due to the lighting, which is why I took a happy snap of the logo.

Risotto

I was the only one in our trio to order dessert, I just couldn't get away from the double chocolate tart with clotted cream. The dessert menu seemed very imaginative and enticing, so I was a little disappointed when my tart arrived. It took a long, long time for them to slice me off a bit and bring it to the table. It arrived a rectangle slab of chocolate on shortcrust pastry with a blob of cream next door. The first few bites revealed a creamy, smooth, rich chocolately filling, unfortunately this wasnt quite enough to sustain my interest throughout the dish. I finished (with the help of the others) a little bored with the dessert, merely eating it all because it was chocolate and I love chocolate.



I've highlighted a few negatives from the evening, but Iwould go back. Why? Because my pasta was excellent and S-bo +BD were equally as impressed. Overall Sarti was laid back, relaxing and reasonably priced.



6 Russell Place

Melbourne

03 9639 7822

Irish Stew

Slow cooked meat would have to be one of my favourite foods. I love how the meat just falls off the bone and dissolves in your mouth. I fail a little at actually cooking stews, casseroles and roasts as I'm rarely at home long enough. I get home a little too late on a weekday. As for weekends I'm usually cramming far too much into the two days to cook anything which takes more than 1 hour to prepare and cook. Often this cramming includes some kind of baking so perhaps I could cook sweets after the stew is underway. Still, there I go again, more cramming. I'd like to think the idea of a long, slow stew is about slowing down in general. Staying inside, cozy and relaxed. I think I will make an effort to make slow-cooked meals more often. Wind things back a little, take my time and watch the pot boil.


Having said that, this Irish stew is one thing that can be prepared and forgotten. My inspiration came for a Good Weekend clipping but I consulted various different recipes to get the feel of things. The clipping's ingredients were lamb, potatoes, onions, water and salt/pepper. Surely you need more than that to make a meal delicious? Apparently not, I included a few additions, as outlined below, but it was still pretty simple and tasted delicious. The potatoes really soaked up the flavour and were a particular highlight. All recipes I consulted suggested the potatoes should be peeled. I wasn't so keen on this, partly because I thought it added a rustic touch, but also because I couldn't really be bothered. Were the Irish bothered back in the day? On one hand I think waste not, want not. But on the other hand, I guess illness and disease were killers and potatoes probably weren't as well washed in the clean water that we have today.

Many recipes also stated mutton over lamb. I didn't even try to get it. I probably should have. The flatmate often brings back legs of mutton from her parents farm and they are delicious. The bigger flavour of mutton is definitely under-appreciated, hidden by mutton being a "cheaper" meat and often poorly cooked. It takes me right back to student days and institutionalized food. I did try to get neck chops as suggested but the butcher claimed forequarter would be just as good.

The recipe (serves 5):

1 kg mutton or lamb neck chops (this quantity of chops was a little short for 5 people, you could increase it without changing anything else in the recipe)
1.2 kg potatoes (this is heaps for 5 people), peeled.
2 medium onions, peeled and sliced
Salt and pepper
1 cup stock (beef, veal or lamb)
about 3 cups of water
thyme
parsely
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees

Trim the chops of all fat, including the skin. Slice the potatoes about 5mm thick and lay half evenly over the base of a large casserole dish/pot. Sprinkly with half the onion and then lay the chops over the top to form another layer. Season well with salt and pepper, add 1-2 stalks of parsely and thyme each, sprinkle with remaining onion, top with potato and season again. Add the stock and enough water to almost cover the contents. Cover and put the pot in the oven.
After 15 minutes turn the heat down to 150 degrees and continue cooking for about 1 3/4 hours.
Check half way through that there is still enough broth left to cook the potatoes and meat. You can remove the lid for the last 15 minutes to crisp up the top layer of potatoes.

I cooked the stew and had S-bo's flatmates round to help me eat it. There was ample potato but a little less meat. Don't forget to reserve the liquid from the cooking. If you let it cool and skim fat off the top it makes a delicious stock. I can't wait to make soup with it!

Beef Rice Noodles with Snowpeas

I'm still on my quest to get through all my recipe clippings, and I have a way to go yet! I'm falling behind in my posts a little, so stay tuned for Chicken Baked on Sweet Potato Rosti as well as Irish Stew. In the meantime have a go at beef rice noodles with snowpeas when you want a quick and healthy dinner. On a side note, I've always thought stirfries were pretty healthy (minus coconut milk), however just recently my mother's doctor said no. He claimed the food soaked up the oil. I would like to publicly disagree. Surely if the pan is hot enough you don't need much oil and secondly, olive and vegetable oils are unsaturated. Am I right? Hmm, this is the doctor who said walking 9 holes of golf wasn't enough exercise. Anyway, back to the food.

I preferred this meal to the Honey and Sesame Stir-fried Beef I cooked a little while ago. The marinade had a little more depth and using rice noodles meant all flavours mixed in well and the meal was quick to prepare. I definitely under-utilise rice noodles, dump them in some hot water for a bit, throw them in the pan and away you go. Much quicker than waiting for rice to cook.

So here's the recipe, from an edition of Good Living in about 2004. I think a little bit of ginger might give it a great lift too.

Beef rice noodles with snowpeas

Marinade:

2 tsp cornflour

1 tbsp rice wine
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil

300g rib eye or sirloin, finely sliced
500g fresh rice noodles
Vegetable oil
2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
100g snow peas, sliced lengthwise
200g bean sprouts, rinsed
1 tbsp rice wine or dry sherry
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sugar
2 spring onions, finely chopped

Combine marinade ingredients and leave beef to marinate for 30 minutes.

Pour hot water ove rthe noodles, gently working them apart with chopstickes. Drain, rinse under cold water, shake dry and rub in a little oil.

Heat a wok (I use a frying pan, even if I had a wok I don't imagine it'd go so well on my electric stove) then add 2 tbsp oil. Add garlic and snowpease, toss well over high heat for 1 min. Add the beef in marinade and toss well until coloured, then tip onto a warm plate.

Add a little extra oil to the pan, and toss the drained noodles and bean sprouts over high heat for 2 mins. Return the beef and snowpeas to the pan, then add the rice wine, soy, oyster sauce and sugar, tossing well. Add a dash of water if dry. Scatter with spring onions and serve.

Serves 4

Cafe Gusto, Queenscliff

This is yet another back-post. I seem to be forever taking photos and not getting around to posting. The photos stack up and before you know it it’s 2 weeks since I had this meal. On the Queen’s Birthday Long Weekend (happy birthday Liz) S-bo and I took a drive down to Queenscliff. It wasn’t a conscious decision, but I’m sure it was very appropriate to visit Her Majesty’s cliff on Her Majesty’s birthday holiday.

It was what I am beginning to see as a typical Victorian day: windy and rainy. S-bo and I were in search of a warm cozy place to have a nice meal and a good glass of wine, we found it at Café Gusto. A strange building, this place seems like it would really come into it’s own during summer. The inside dining area is quite small, long and skinny but out the back is a huge area, perfect for a party, with pavers and a nice garden, including a herb garden! Since it wasn’t summer, the inside did us quite well. The open fire kept us warm and cozy as we watched the chefs prepare meals in the open kitchen. Ordering provided no contest, the menu isn’t limited, with quite a good selection of sandwiches, salads and a curry or two, but neither S-bo nor I could go past bangers and mash on such a rainy day. Thick pork sausages, field mushrooms, caramelized onions and tomato relish on sourdough. Heaven in a sausage skin. The meal didn’t disappoint, I can only assume the tomato relish was homemade because it was just so good, definitely the highlight on the plate.

The service was pretty standard for café, our order was taken and meals arrived in a timely manner which is notable considering how busy they were, some cafes can fall apart at the seams as soon as all their tables fill. What’s more the staff were friendly and bubbly.

S-bo and I washed our meal down with a nice glass of pinot. Being two weeks ago I can’t remember what pinot, but it was a nice way to spend a holiday lunch. The wine list is charmingly written on a blackboard and it looks like it’s edited frequently, indicating to me that Café Gusto pays attention to what wines it’s serving and rotates on a regular basis. Unfortunately, despite a large range of bottles, wine by the glass was a little harder to come by. The red options included a shiraz, a merlot and the pinot. Considering this was the only fault I could find (not that I go looking for faults) I’d give Café Gusto a thumbs up!

Flourless Orange Cake II

Well, I had another crack! Luckily there were still some oranges leftover from Bulk to make this cake a second time round. Regular readers will remember my oven woes and associated unsuccessful attempt a short time ago. The recipe can be found by following the link, but it basically entails boiling up the oranges for 2 hours and then processing, skin and all with some eggs. It's quite an easy recipe to make, but my oven is poor at the best of times and has a particular dislike for anything flourless. Perhaps it's watching it's weight and knows the evils of almond meal!

To speed cooking time and thus decrease over-browning I cooked the same quantity of batter in 2 tins, making for a much shallow cake. The resulting "fingers" looked perfect for a sophisticated afternoon tea with cucumber sandwiches. Instead S-bo, flatmate and I ate them with ice-cream. The cake was very moist, I'm not sure if it's how it should be or whether the oven imprinted it's mark afterall. It made for a beautiful dessert but after a few days the pieces I took as snacks to work were getting a little soggy, rather than moist. It did brown a little on the sides, but nothing drastic. The citrus taste is very strong, I guess because of the peel. Overall I think this cake has a lot of possibilities, but I'll leave it for now, at least until I have a better oven. I'll stick with an orange buttercake recipe I have, which tends to turn out pretty well.

Jam Drops

There’s no doubt about it, some food is just comfort food. Not in the clichéd sense of the term…warm fatty foods that you can enjoy beside a fire, but in the sense that some food brings back great memories. My good friend, N1 who I have mentioned previously, used to make jam drops all the time (and probably still does, do you?). Returning to boarding school after holidays was accompanied by an ice-cream container of the biscuits. Onto uni days and visiting N1 in Brisbane usually involved jam drops and a cup of tea at some point. She used to keep them in the freezer so the jam would be nice and sticky.

Not only do they bring great memories for me, they’re also no-fuss to make and fairly foolproof (hmm, read on…) When a morning tea at work called for us all to bring a plate I settled on jam drops. Unfortunately I got a little distracted while they were in the oven so the end result was burnt on the bottom. I could blame the oven however it’s probably the reason they were burnt only on the bottom and not all over. The morning the biscuits were required saw me scraping off the burnt bottoms the way people scrape toast, a funny sight I’m sure.

Anyway, here they are. I’m not really sure where I got this recipe. It’s not N1’s recipe and it’s not an old family recipe either. I picked it up somewhere about 2 years ago and it’s been scribbled on the back of an envelope ever since. I’m sure it’s one of a hundred different versions.

Jam Drops

80 g butter
1/3 cup caster sugar
2 tbsp milk
½ tsp vanilla essence
1 cup SR flour
1/3 cup custard powder
Jam of your choice

Preheat oven to 180°C. Line 2 baking trays with paper. Beat butter and sugar until light and creamy. Beat in milk and vanilla. Add sifted flour and custard powder and mix to form dough.
Roll 2 teaspoons into a ball and put on trays, pressing down in the middle with your finger. Fill with a drop of jam.
Bake for 15 minutes and cool on a tray.

Radicchio Risotto

This is a back-blog. A dish that I have made in the recent past and not had time to post about. You might remember the duck dinner and the radicchio that I forgot to serve. Katie, over at Other People’s Food just happened to post a Liquorice and Radicchio Risotto she’d made around the same time, so I declared that I would make the same dish. Unfortunately, as Katie found, ground liquorice root was a little hard to come by. I was told by a lady at the markets that she hasn’t seen ground liquorice root for months. Katie couldn’t find it either and made do with liquorice extract. A national shortage maybe? So instead of using Katie’s recipe I made a basic lemon risotto and incorporated the radicchio as directed by Cook’s Companion.

I made a few mistake when cooking this risotto, namely forgetting to put the star ingredient in with the onion, before the rice. I didn’t realise until well after the first couple of ladles of stock. Nevermind, I briefly cooked the radicchio in a little oil and added it half way. The risotto still took on a brilliant pink colour. I’m not really sure that the radicchio lent much flavour as it still tasted like a plain lemon risotto to me. That’s not to say it wasn’t delicious, and I was the envy of my workmates when I took leftovers for lunch the next day. I was cooking for myself this particular evening and I had just enough rose, also leftover from the duck dinner, to have a glass with my meal.

So, here’s to leftovers, in many different forms.

Radicchio Risotto

1.5 l chicken stock
200 ml white wine
120 g unsalted butter
1 red onion, minced (although I used a brown onion, chopped and this worked out fine)
250 g finely sliced radicchio
2 cups arborio rice
salf & pepper
90 g grated parmesan
¼ cup chopped parsley
grated zest + juice of 1 lemon

Heat stock and wine, (I often use the microwave instead of dirtying another saucepan). In a heavy-based pan melt half the butter over gentle heat, sauté onion until softened and translucent then stir in radicchio. Add rice, raise heat to moderate and stir to ensure grains are coated with the butter. Add 1 cup of hot stock, simmer and stir constantly. Once liquid is absorbed continue adding, simmering and stirring, 1 cup at a time. After 15-20 minutes rice should be perfectly cooked. Remove from heat, season and add cheese, remaining butter, parsley and lemon juice/zest. Cover for 2 minutes then serve at once.

Serves 6

Mr Wolf, St Kilda

Karen Martini's creation if I'm right, this is what my friends SD & Newie would call “fancy pizza”. And coincidentally we all toddled off to Mr Wolf’s for SD & Newie’s farewell party. It was a sad and exciting occasion. Sad as two friends of mine are about to go overseas indefinitely and exciting because it spells new challenges for them AND means S-bo and I got to go to Mr Wolf. We went here the very first weekend I moved to Melbourne and loved it. But it’s not an everyday experience…they don’t call it “fancy pizza” for nothing.

I think I may have ordered the same pizza we had last time we went too…Pancetta (below). I can’t find it on the website’s menu but it had pancetta (obviously), mozzarella, basil I think, olives and chilli. Our first time to Mr Wolf I found the chilli a bit much so this time I asked them to tone it down a little. Unfortunately I then ended up with too little chilli. My mistake really. It’s not that I don’t like (moderately) spicy food; I’m just big on chilli overpowering other flavours. I should just build my tolerance.


S-bo had a special, Porcetta (top) (possibly dubious spelling here). The pizza consisted of pork, artichoke and lemon among other things. He was keen to try something different but wasn’t so sold on this. It was a little unconventional I guess, I think I liked it more than him.

There was a very different vibe on a Saturday night compared to the Sunday that we visited. Obviously, being busy, it wasn’t as relaxed. I remember the service first time round as being exceptional whilst this time it was simply adequate. The waitress was friendly and efficient, but did need chasing when drinks were empty. To be fair we were a difficult booking: large and early, arriving in dribs and drabs. The evening was far more about friends catching up and I’m sure service would have been its usual top notch if our objective was more about the food. I really don’t want to nit-pick the restaurant because the evening was great, but it does beg the question should service be of the same standard regardless of what night of the week you attend a restaurant?

Similarly the pizza wasn’t quite as good as I remembered, but then I did bland-down my pizza and on our first visit I was entirely in awe of all things Melbourne, having lived here for all of 1 ½ days. Don’t get me wrong, it’s exceptional pizza, fancy even, I just had particularly high standards on this occasion.

Mr Wolf does BYO on Tuesday nights, so I’m keen to head along and pair a bottle of Sangiovese that I’ve been hoarding for a while with a delectable pizza. They also have takeaway and home delivery.

Note: On second thoughts I may have had Calabrese on my first visit.... should return to compare and contrast me-thinks.

Mr Wolf
9-15 Inkerman St
St Kilda (03) 9534 0255

Flourless Orange Cake…aka Disaster Cake!

My workmate brought oranges back from his farm…perfect for making an orange cake. I have a great recipe for buttery orange cake, but this time decided I needed a new challenge. It seemed straight forward enough, but never underestimate the power of Ali’s baking disasters!

I’m not so keen on my oven. My mother has fought a bad oven for years until getting a new kitchen recently, so what did I do? Moved into a flat with a bad oven! No fan-forced for me. The element is on the bottom and the oven is about 20 degrees too hot I think. The first ever cake I made in this oven was a whisky, chocolate and raisin cake…expensive ingredients that all went in the bin when the outside was charcoal-burnt and the inside as uncooked as….. Anyway, it was uncooked!

The problem seems to be worse in cakes with low flour content. Usually I set the oven 20 degrees cooler than suggested and turn the cake regularly and it seems to work ok, just. Like the whisky, raisin and chocolate cake, the flourless orange cake browned very quickly on the surface and remained uncooked inside. I think I will try the cake again in a shallower tin…cook it quickly before it has a chance to brown. It really didn’t help that I left out the baking powder and madly tried to stir it in, with help from my flatmate, after the cake had been in the oven for 15 minutes.

Here’s the recipe, from Cooks Companion:
Interesting is the boiling of the oranges, filling my apartment with a beautiful, fresh citrus smell.


Claudia Roden’s Middle Eastern Orange Cake

2 large oranges
6 eggs, beaten
250 g ground almonds
250 g sugar
1 tsp baking powder

Boil oranges, barely covered with water, in a covered saucepan for 2 hours. Allow to cool, cut open, remove pips and chop roughly (including the rind).

Preheat oven to 190 degrees and butter/flour a 24 cm springform tin. Blend oranges and eggs thoroughly in a food processor. Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl then add the orange mixtures and whisk to combine. Pour batter into prepared tin and bake for 45 - 60 minutes. Cool in tin before gently turning out.

HHDD #12....Don't Forget to Vote!

Don't forget, you have 2 day's left to vote for your favourite Caesar Salad. Katie at Other People's Food has put together a great round-up. Pop along and check out all the scrumptious takes on Caesar Salad. Clearly there's more than one way to toss a salad!

Honey and Sesame Stir-fried Beef

Over the last two and a half years I’ve collected hundreds of recipe clippings. A recipe organizer from Kikki.K, given to me by AO’b and MB, has inspired me to work my way through the clippings, keeping what I like and discarding those that I will never cook again.

I’ve already cooked a few things that haven’t appeared on this blog, including lemon and orange delicious pudding and mushroom and white wine risotto. This post features a recipe I made last week, honey and sesame stir-fried beef. It’s a Christine Mansfield recipe published in the Good Weekend 20th Anniversary Issue, 2004. Uh huh, I have uncooked recipes from 2004.

I used a little too much chilli when making this, which masked the honey a bit. It’s an easy recipe to whip up and I served it with rice and steamed greens. The marinade is quick, meaning you can prepare it and forget it, perfect for starting before the gym and cooking and eating when you return, as I did.

Leftover beef, which formed my dinner the following night was delicious! The flavour enhanced, honey stronger and chilli weaker.

This week’s menu includes Chicken on Sweet Potato Rosti (Marie Claire) and Beef, rice noodles and snow peas. I’m also hoping to try Katie’s (Other People’s Food) Licorice and Radicchio Risotto, with the leftover raddichio from the duck dinner. Unfortunately I can’t find powdered licorice root. Katie used licorice drops, does anyone know of anything else that can be substituted in?

Back to the Honey and Sesame Stir-fried Beef:
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp light honey
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
3 red birdseye chillies
2 tbsp vegetable oil
500 g beef tenderloin fillet, thinly sliced
2 tsp white sesame seeds, lightly toasted
1 bunch chives cut into 5 cm lengths

Combine the first 7 ingredients with half the oil. Add beef slices, mix well and marinate for an hour.

Heat a large wok with half the remaining oil, add half the beef and marinade and toss over high heat so the beef sears and cooks quickly (chopsticks will help keep the beef strips separate). Repeat with the remaining oil, beef and marinade.

Sprinkle the sesame seeds and chives over the beef. The recipe suggests serving with rice, noodles or watercress salad.

Duck for Dinner Part II: Dessert

These little plum and almond cakes formed the dessert for the last week’s duck dinner. They were from the same article by Bill Granger in Good Living. Plums are out of season at the moment yet I had hoped to still source some. When I couldn’t I opted for strawberries, which worked amazingly well. The little cakes are very light, the almond meal gives a texture similar to friands yet without the heaviness you sometimes get. The batter is quite runny which can be disconcerting to start with. The great thing about this recipe is it can all be done by hand. Two bowls, a fork and a spoon make life a lot easier than pulling out the mix-master whilst trying to cook the rest of a meal...you might remember from Part I how disorganised I was so this was a Godsend.

Here’s what to do:

1 cup almond meal
1 ½ cups icing sugar, sifted
½ cup plain flour
150 g unsalted butter, melted
6 egg whites, beaten lightly with a fork
2 plums, halved, stone removed, sliced
1/3 cup flaked almonds
½ cup thick yoghurt
½ cup crème fraiche

Preheat oven to 180C. Grease ½ cup capacity muffin tin.
Combine dry ingredients together and add melted butters and beaten egg whites, stir until just combined.
Spoon the mixture into about 9 muffin holes and top with a few plum slices and the flaked almonds.
Bake for 20 minutes until golden and cooked through.
Combine yoghurt and crème fraiche and serve a dollop on warm cakes.