Recipe - Risotto with mushroom magic (vs magic mushrooms – eek!)

BROTH

Ingredients 

• 400g button mushrooms, very thinly sliced
• 100g dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in 1 cup warm water to soften
• 2 eschalots, thinly sliced
• 1 head garlic, sliced in half horizontally
• 5 thyme sprigs
• 1 fresh bay leaf
• 250ml dry white wine
• 100ml Madeira or port
• 1000ml chicken stock

Method 

1. Throw all the above into the slow cooker. Remove anywhere from 4 – 8 hours later. Although … you can’t stuff this up so if it goes for longer it’s no big deal.
2. Ta-Da …. You now have the broth.

RISOTTO

Ingredients 

• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tbsp. butter
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1 1/4 cups Arborio rice
• 2 cups peeled chestnuts (best way to peel is by boiling – turn to YouTube if you need more guidance)
• 2 1/2 cups stock (if you fall short use boiling water)
• 100g shaved parmesan

Method 

1. Heat the oil and butter in a heavy based pan over low heat and fry the onion and garlic for a few minutes until soft.
2.  Add the rice and peeled chestnuts.
3. Stir thoroughly making sure the rice is well coated with the oil and butter. Continue cooking for three minutes.
4. Heat the stock until it is just simmering. Add to the rice mixture a cup at a time, allowing each addition to be absorbed by the rice. Continue until all the stock is used. The rice should be cooked and creamy.
5. Add the shaved parmesan to the risotto.

Recipe - Brandy Pudding With Brandy Butterscotch Sauce

This is a Masterchef recipe … it is PERFECT for a dinner party and has instantly gone onto my top 10 :)

Ingredients 

• 2 eggs
• 480 grams /2 cups sugar
• 190 grams/ 1 ¼ cups plain flour
• ½ cup milk
• 1 tablespoon vinegar
• 165 ml brandy
• 225 g butter, plus 35 grams / 2 tablespoons melted butter
• 1 teaspoon bicarb soda
• 250 ml/ 1 cup cream, plus more whipped for serving
• Strawberries, for serving
• Spun sugar, for optional garnish
• Select all

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Grease a 20cm cake tin.
2. Place the eggs and 1 cup sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until pale. Add the flour and mix to combine. Combine the milk, vinegar, 40 ml brandy and melted butter in a small bowl and then add to the egg mixture and beat to combine. Add bi-carb soda, mix well and pour mixture into prepared tin.
3. Place cake in the oven to bake for about 40 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, to make the sauce, place butter, remaining cup sugar, cream and remaining 125ml brandy in a saucepan and set over medium heat. Bring to a gentle simmer, stirring until well combined. Remove from heat.
5. Remove cake from oven. Prick all over with a skewer and pour half the sauce evenly over. Allow to sit until sauce has soaked in, about 5 minutes.
6. To serve, slice pudding and place on plate. Serve with strawberries, whipped cream, remaining sauce and garnish with spun sugar if desired.

Source

Recipe – Chickpea and Asparagus Salad

Today’s experiment in fact worked out J

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp. oil 800g chickpeas rinsed, drained, dried
• ½ tsp. chilli flakes.
• 2 ½ tsp. garam masala. 
• 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2cm-piece ginger, peeled, 2 bunches asparagus
• 1/2 cup coriander leaves, chopped
• 1/4 cup yoghurt
• Juice of half a small lemon and season

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 190°C/170°C fan forced.
2. Place chickpeas on a lined baking tray. Sprinkle with chilli flakes.
3. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon garam masala.
4. Season and toss to combine. Roast for 35 minutes or until dry and slightly crisp.
5. Meanwhile boil the asparagus until just cooked then immediately rinse in cold water to stop the cooking process, drain and dry
6. Meanwhile, combine garlic, ginger, turmeric, yoghurt, coriander leaves and 1 ½ tsp. garam masala in a bowl. Season
7. When the chickpeas are finished roasting add them and asparagus to a bowl and leave to cool.
8. Stir through a tablespoon of the yoghurt dressing, add lemon and season
9. Place the rest of the dressing in a small bowl for those that would like extra, either with this salad or also use as a dipping sauce for meat

Recipe – Silvia Colloca’s Buttermilk, Olive Oil and Chocolate Chips Tea Cake

INGREDIENTS (serves 8)

·       280 gr (2-1/2 cups) of self-raising flour, sifted

·       150 gr (3/4 cup) of caster sugar

·       finely grated rind of one orange

·       150 gr (3/4 cup) of dark chocolate chips

·       pinch of salt

·       200 ml (3/4 cups) of buttermilk

·       80 ml (1/3 cup) of olive oil

·       1 egg, beaten with a fork

·       1 teaspoon of vanilla paste or extract or the seeds from 1/2 vanilla pod

HOW TO

1.  Preheat your over to 180 C (395 F).
2.  Line a cake tin with baking paper.
3. Put flour, sugar, salt , 2/3 of the chocolate chips and the orange zest in a large mixing bowl.
4. Pour the buttermilk and the oil into a jug. Add the egg and vanilla and mix with a whisk for a few seconds.
5. Pour the wet ingredients into the large mixing bowl, mix with a wooden spoon just so the batter come together, but don’ try to make it smooth. If the batter feel a little dry, add a couple of extra tablespoons of buttermilk. If too wet, add 1-2 tablespoons of flour. As all flours vary slightly, it is always a good idea to adapt quantities according to the ingredients you are working with. Lumpy, sticky batter=soft moist cake!
6. Pour the cake mix into the prepared tin, scatter the remaining chocolate chips on top and bake for 35-40 minutes or until the top is slightly golden and, if pierced with a wooden skewer, it comes out clean.

Review - The Rustic Pearl - Surry Hills

Great honest Turkish food with a pleasing price tag! I'll let the pictures do the talking for this review...

For lunch we ordered from the lunch menu (no ... not being Captain Obvious ... they have an all day Breakfast menu).

To start we had the Chilled Apple Tea - delicious!!!

The mains were ordered included Watermelon and Scallop Salad, Spinach and Ricotta Gozleme, Chicken Salad and a Lamb dish.

Dessert was also fantastic. We had the Banana and Nutella gozleme, Semolina cake, Flourless Chocolate cake

Overall a great cafe! It certainly went above and beyond typical cafe food. The one hour wait wasn't ideal but when the bill came and it was less than $40 a head ... we got over that pretty quickly as (for cafe food) it was excellent.

Review - Guillaume - Eastern Suburbs

My partner took me to Guillaume as he knows I love a great degustation. We had our degustation with matching mixed wines. What an outstanding experience!

The menu

“These are a few of my favourite things” would have to be the theme song. The following ingredients (across various dishes) jumped out to me as I perused the menu: Scampi, Truffle, Marron, and Patagonian Toothfish (anyone who’s followed my updates knows I’ve been ogling and coveting this lately).

Across the 8 courses, the Marron was my favourite followed by the Toothfish.

Nothing to complain about at all across any of the dishes – just three things I thought odd. The first being a sandwich as the amuse bouche. The second being the risotto was served with a side of mashed potato. The third was our booking was for 6pm and we were told to be out by 7.45pm. Really? 8 courses in  1hr 3/4??? We put time limits on couples spending $600???

Wine

Selecting the mixed option (versus the sommelier choice) did not sell us short. All wines complimented the dishes superbly.

Modifications

They couldn’t be more accommodating, it went as far as “I tell you what I feel like for dessert … “et voila my wish became reality. Love, love, love.

Staff

The staff are world class. They were flawless in terms of service and always available. Also, their passion for food came through every time a course was introduced. We found them conversational, down to earth and genuine – but I’m sure if other diners wanted to roll their “r’s” they could easily keep up.

Décor

Old school minimalist. Minimal décor, minimal noise, minimal colour. 

Nice Touch

They are currently gifting brioche and jam for your breakfast.

Pictures

Sorry – none of the food, just the menu ... which I later discovered is online anyway! Every time I pondered a snap I heard my mother's and late grandmother's voices in my head insisting I act more elite. As this was not the first time I’ve received this request, I put my phone back down on the table and it’s many layers of white tablecloths.

Top 3

My Sydney degustation top 3 are now (in no particular order) Café Pacifico, Pendelino and Guillaume.

Recipe - Watermelon and Tomato Salad

4 great ingredients. 1 awesome flavour. Serve as a side dish with nearly everything! Cherry tomatoes (halved) + watermelon (diced) + feta + fresh mint.

Recipe - Marinated Grilled Prawns

Recipe by Diane Kochilas http://www.dianekochilas.com/recipe-of-the-day-ouzo-marinated-grilled-shrimp/

Ingredients

·       1 large tomato, peeled and seeded

·       1 cup extra virgin Greek olive oil

·       4 tbsp. fresh basil leaves, minced

·       2 garlic cloves, minced

·       Grated zest of 1 lemon

·       2 tbsp. ouzo (I substituted with Sambuca)

·       2 tbsp. red wine vinegar

·       Pinch of cayenne (or more to taste)

·       2 lbs. raw medium shrimp, deveined and shelled

·       Pita bread, sliced and grilled, for serving

Diane’s Instructions

·       Coarsely chop the tomato and puree in a food processor. Alternatively, grate the unpeeled tomato along the coarse side of an upright hand grater, to get the same affect. Combine the tomato with the olive oil, basil, garlic, lemon zest, ouzo, and vinegar. Mix in the cayenne, to taste.

·       Toss the shrimp in the marinade and let stand, covered and refrigerated, for one hour.

·       Preheat the grill or barbecue.

·       Divide the shrimp evenly among six or eight skewers. If using wooden skewers, soak them first in water to prevent them from burning.

·       Grill the shrimp for 3-5 minutes, turning to cook on both sides. When the shrimp are bright pink, remove and serve.

My tweak

·       I love getting totally hands on when it comes to my prawn eating – as my prawns were small I left the shells on then cooked them in a baking tray on the bbq

Recipe - Silvia Colloca's Apricot and olive oil cake (torta all’olio e albicocche)

LOVED this delicious Apricot and olive oil cake (torta all’olio e albicocche) - a recipe by the beautiful Silvia Colloca. I used nectarines due to season therefore also switched the rind over to orange - it was just delicious!!!

For full recipe – even terrific video go to http://www.sbs.com.au/food/recipes/apricot-and-olive-oil-cake-torta-all-olio-e-albicocche?cid=23255

Ingredients

·       170 g caster sugar

·       230 ml milk

·       finely grated zest of 1 lemon

·       1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped

·       100 ml extra virgin olive oil

·       3 tsp mistrà or sambuca (optional; see Note)

·       2 eggs, lightly beaten

·       1⅓ cups (200 g) self-raising flour  

·       ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

·       7–8 apricots, cut in half

·       flaked almonds, for sprinkling

·       fresh ricotta and honey, to serve (optional)

Instructions

·       Preheat your oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced). Grease and flour a 21 cm square or 27 cm x 21 cm rectangular cake tin (or line it with baking paper).

·       Place the sugar, milk and lemon zest in a medium saucepan over low heat and cook for 3–4 minutes, stirring regularly, until the sugar has dissolved. Do not let the milk come to the boil. Turn off the heat and stir in the vanilla seeds, olive oil and liqueur (if using), then let the mixture cool for 5–10 minutes.

·       Add the beaten egg, flour and bicarbonate of soda and whisk to form a smooth batter. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and arrange the apricot halves on top any way you like. Sprinkle with the flaked almonds and bake for 30–35 minutes or until pale golden and a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Cool in the tin for a few minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool at room temperature for 1 hour before cutting. Serve just as it is or with honey-drizzled ricotta.

Note

·       For an alcohol-free version, replace the liqueur with milk.

·       If using very small apricots, layer quarters on top of each other so that they won't completely sink into the batter as it cooks.

This recipe is from Made in Italy with Silvia Colloca on SBS ONE.

Recipe - Sausages with Beans

I saw this recipe on Jamie Oliver's 30 min meals. I wouldn't do this for a dinner party as its not dazzling but it was great for an all-in-the-one-pan mid-week cosy meal.

Ingredients

·       Very small Spanish onion, chopped

·       2 leeks, chopped

·       400g cannellini beans (drained but not rinsed)

·       400g butter beans (drained but not rinsed)

·       400g diced canned tomatoes

·       6 sausages (I used chicken and beef)

·       2 cups bread crumbs
·       3 tbsp grated Parmesan

·       Olive oil

·       2 cloves garlic, crushed

·       1 tsp thyme

·       1 tsp marjoram

Method:

1.       Preheat oven to 180 degree

2.       n a large oven proof fry pan,  brown the sausages on either side then set aside

3.       The following should be done in 5 mins

·       In the same fry pan Sautéed the onion and leek until soft

·       Add beans

·       Add tomatoes

·       Add salt and pepper

·       Add 1 cup veg stock

·       Add 1 tsp thyme

·       Add 1 tsp marjoram

·       Season with sea salt

4.       Meanwhile, Combine the bread crumbs, 4 tbsp olive oil and garlic

5.       Pour half the bread crumbs mix over the bean dish

6.       Push the sausages in

7.       Cover with remaining bread crumbs and Parmesan

8.       Bake for 30 mins

9.       Serve with rice

Recipe - Super Speedy and Easy Meat-free pasta (my own creation … don’t count the anchovies)

Serves 4 

Ingredients

·       Olive oil

·       4 tbsp. panko bread crumbs

·       4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped

·       6 anchovies, peeled and finely chopped

·       4 tbsp. pine nuts

·       basil leaves

·       juice of 1

·       Lemon

·       Pepper

·       4 tbsp. finely grated Parmesan

·       Pasta (enough for 4 i.e 250g)

Method:

1.       Dry roast the pine nuts & bread crumbs – set aside

2.       4 garlic cloves, peeled

3.       Add enough olive oil to sauté the anchovies and garlic until just browned – take off heat

4.       Cook the pasta and transfer to a serving bowl

5.       Stir through just a little olive oil (so pasta doesn’t stick), the lemon juice, pine nuts, breadcrumbs, parmesan & basil leaves (leave aside some to sprinkle on top to make it look pretty)

6.       Season with pepper to taste

7.       Sprinkle remaining basil leaves on top

Recipe - Chicken, bacon and spinach spaghetti bolognaise

I found this recipe on http://www.taste.com.au and didn’t really take it too seriously … IT WAS DELICIOUS!!! You may spot extra spinach (you caught me … I had surplus … also it was silverbeet). Also, I used pancetta vs. bacon.

Ingredients

·       1 tablespoon olive oil

·       1 brown onion, finely chopped

·       2 garlic cloves, crushed

·       1 celery stick, finely chopped

·       1 carrot, peeled, finely chopped

·       125g shortcut bacon rashers, finely chopped

·       600g chicken mince

·       750ml Italian tomato pasta sauce

·       1/2 cup Campbell's Real Stock Chicken

·       75g baby spinach leaves

·       400g dried spaghetti pasta

·       grated parmesan cheese, to serve

Method

1.       Heat oil in a large, non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, celery and carrot. Cook, stirring, for 3 minutes or until carrot is tender.

2.       Add bacon and chicken. Cook, stirring with a wooden spoon to break up mince, for 5 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Add pasta sauce and stock. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cook, covered, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes or until sauce has thickened slightly. Season with salt and pepper. Add spinach. Cook for 1 minute or until the spinach is just wilted.

3.       Meanwhile, cook pasta in a saucepan of salted, boiling water following packet directions until tender. Drain. Divide between bowls. Top with bolognaise. Serve with parmesan.

Recipe Source: http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/18081/chicken+bacon+and+spinach+spaghetti+bolognaise

Recipe - Brownie in a Mug

Wasn’t sure if I believed AGFG when I saw a brownie in a mug? But … I tried and I’d do it again! Not for a dinner party out to impress but if I needed a sweet (and quick treat) for comfort, this does hit the spot!

Serves 1

INGREDIENTS

·       1/4 cup flour

·       1/4 cup sugar

·       2 tbsp. cocoa (natural, unsweetened)

·       Pinch of salt

·       Tiny pinch of cinnamon

·       1/4 cup water

·       2 tbsp. canola oil or vegetable oil (I actually used coconut oil)

·       1 to 2 drops vanilla extract

·       1 small scoop of ice cream or 1 - 2 tsps. heavy whipping cream to serve.

METHOD

·       Stir flour, sugar, cocoa, salt and cinnamon in a microwave safe mug. Use a fork to break up any clumps.

·       Add oil, water, vanilla and stir until the mixture is smooth and there are no lumps.

·       Place mug in microwave and heat on high until it is cooked through. This could take between 1 - 2 minutes depending on the wattage of your microwave.

·       HINT - start with 60 second and increase until done.

·       When cooked, the brownie should be moist not dry.

·       Let cool and serve with ice cream or whipping cream.

Recipe Source: http://www.agfg.com.au/guide/recipes/recipe/brownie-in-a-mug

Review - Macchina (Supabarn Sans Sousi)

Recently had breakfast at Macchina Espresso. Would I go back ... yes ... have they got a way to go until the settle into operating rhythm ... yes. Differences will be seen once the host starts prioritising bring you the water that you've asked for 3 times vs trying to be Mr Popular and Mr DJ (on that note pleeeease turn it down). Food is ok. Menu a bit of a mash up. Not sure why we're toasting scones ...

Review - Moon Park - Redfern

This the first time I’ve actually had Korean outside of Korea. Being lucky enough to have eaten numerous times in Seoul and surrounding areas I was particularly curious to see if it truly was the taste of Korea. It was indeed.

I try to not critique a dish if I couldn’t replicate it myself as I don’t think it’s reasonable to judge something when you don’t know what you’re talking about. So, this review won’t make any suggestions around the dishes. In saying that, knowing Korean food or not, I'd challenge anyone to say that the food isn't delicious!!!

Starting with the service, it … was … flawless. Friendly, obliging, professional … nothing was a drama at all. We were pondering the banquet but as there were a few allergies we went against it. But, had we went with it, we were told we could sub anything to accommodate the allergies.

On the menu, there were three dishes that had been altered due to a shortage of ingredients – I have a love hate relationship with this type of situation. Love that it reinforces a high turnover of ingredients which can assume the ingredients are always fresh. Hate that you get your hopes up about something that you can’t then entirely have.

We went al la carte. Across 5 people we had: cucumber kimchi, ddokbeokki, potato pancake, zucchini and prawn pancake, the quail dish … that was no longer the quail dish, mubap, charred eggplant, bbq rangers, fried chicken, green beans. Dessert was the Patbingsu and moon pie.

Everything was ah-mazing!!! 

The one thing I can tell you about the food – if you’re like me and only know true Korean food and have sculled many a jug of water trying to put out the fire, you won’t have that issue here. Even the kimchi isn’t as spicy as what you’d expect – but at no expense to the flavour.

There is one part I’m a little confused about. We ordered off the menu. You can see we had a feast. Absolutely pleasantly stuffed after and that came to $45pp including at least one pot of tea per person. So, with the banquet being $65 … I’m not sure as to what the exact benefit is in term of cost or volume of food?

Last – service finished as fabulous as it started. No issue making payment across 3 credits and cash.