Given that this blog was meant to cover my time in Canada, and I am now very far from Canada, I've created a new blog that is proudly food-centric. Please visit me there...
HOLD THE BEEF!
Monday, April 27, 2009
Bookclub April 2009
Last week I enjoyed my first bookclub meeting since returning to Australia. In typical style, it was more about the food and less about the book, which was just as well really given that I actually read the book quite a few years ago and never quite got around to brushing up on prior to the meeting. The book was "Coraline" by Neil Gaiman, which has been recently made into a film and whilst it has been released in the US we will be waiting some time for it to grace our shores. I can pretty much recommend any of Gaiman's works, and have been lending Neverwhere around to my fellow bookclubbers. I think I own more of his books but given that most of my belongings have now been in storage for nine months I am having difficulty recalling what exactly is awaiting me in that shipping container. Let's hope the gestation period isn't much longer (possible news on this front, but I don't want to count my chickens before they have a coop).
I took the bookclub meeting as an opportunity to try out some recipes that had caught my attention recently, and ended up making three dips with accompanying dippy-type things.
First up was a particularly interesting recipe for savoury biscotti, specifically an Almond and Black Pepper Biscotti recipe that I came across in my Canadian baking cookbook. I was a little scared about this working, as the dough was such a thick consistency, but I guess this makes sense given how dense biscotti is and how thick it needed to be to hold its goodies across the entire height of the 'log'. The results were impressive to look at and delicious to eat.
Its savoury nature, as opposed to the traditional sweet biscotti flavour, was a nice surprise (well, it would have been if I hadn't been blathering on about it before serving it) and it paired quite nicely with the baked brie and sundried tomato dip that I served it with. This was simply a mixture of chopped brie, sundried tomatoes, garlic and fresh thyme baked until bubbly and delicious smelling. You can stick Glade up your arse (don't actually do this), just bake some of this in your oven if you need to mask any suspicious odours.
Next up was another recipe from my Canadian cookbook, Onion and walnut "biscuits". Biscuits in the North American sense of the word, not the Aussie/English sense. They are more like savoury scones. These were particularly delicious when fresh out of the oven, and although I reheated them prior to serving them at the meeting they weren't quite so scrumptious as when they were super super fresh. Still pretty damn good though, and a nice accompaniment to the Muhammara I served them with. The Muhammara is essentially a spicy roasted pepper and walnut dip, and actually was my impetus to roasting capsicum FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER. I know, I know, I am not sure either how I managed to get this far in my cooking life without having done this before. It's so much fun! And so easy! I will definitely be roasting more capsicum in the future. All this use of North American recipes however is making my brain say "pepper" before it remembers to say "capsicum". Before I know it I'll be using aluminum foil and growing cilantro. Anyway, here is the Muhammara with Caramelised Onion, Walnut and Rosemary "Biscuits"..
Last up was this Artichoke Olive Dip recipe that I came across a couple of weeks ago and wanted to eat off the monitor. It has a really lovely chunky consistency and worked well with the Parmesan Crusted Baked Zucchini Sticks I served them with.
I was really happy with the zucchini sticks, and used the same crust combination on some chicken that I had marinated in a spiced yoghurt the following night for dinner. I like using Panko instead of breadcrumbs, it sounds much fancier. Took a bit of finding in the supermarket for it though, but I would assume that an Asian supermarket like Kong's would be able to sort you out pretty easily.
All six of the new recipes I tried out for the bookclub worked well and I plan to make them all again. The biscotti was really a stand out, and seemed to be the most popular of the dishes. It was also great to see how easy a good biscotti is to make, and I plan to bust out some different variations on the base biscotti mixture now that I know what I'm doing. I don't want to be a biscotti one hit wonder.
Next book we're reading: Revolutionary Road. Next bookclub recipes: ???
I took the bookclub meeting as an opportunity to try out some recipes that had caught my attention recently, and ended up making three dips with accompanying dippy-type things.
First up was a particularly interesting recipe for savoury biscotti, specifically an Almond and Black Pepper Biscotti recipe that I came across in my Canadian baking cookbook. I was a little scared about this working, as the dough was such a thick consistency, but I guess this makes sense given how dense biscotti is and how thick it needed to be to hold its goodies across the entire height of the 'log'. The results were impressive to look at and delicious to eat.
Its savoury nature, as opposed to the traditional sweet biscotti flavour, was a nice surprise (well, it would have been if I hadn't been blathering on about it before serving it) and it paired quite nicely with the baked brie and sundried tomato dip that I served it with. This was simply a mixture of chopped brie, sundried tomatoes, garlic and fresh thyme baked until bubbly and delicious smelling. You can stick Glade up your arse (don't actually do this), just bake some of this in your oven if you need to mask any suspicious odours.
Next up was another recipe from my Canadian cookbook, Onion and walnut "biscuits". Biscuits in the North American sense of the word, not the Aussie/English sense. They are more like savoury scones. These were particularly delicious when fresh out of the oven, and although I reheated them prior to serving them at the meeting they weren't quite so scrumptious as when they were super super fresh. Still pretty damn good though, and a nice accompaniment to the Muhammara I served them with. The Muhammara is essentially a spicy roasted pepper and walnut dip, and actually was my impetus to roasting capsicum FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER. I know, I know, I am not sure either how I managed to get this far in my cooking life without having done this before. It's so much fun! And so easy! I will definitely be roasting more capsicum in the future. All this use of North American recipes however is making my brain say "pepper" before it remembers to say "capsicum". Before I know it I'll be using aluminum foil and growing cilantro. Anyway, here is the Muhammara with Caramelised Onion, Walnut and Rosemary "Biscuits"..
Last up was this Artichoke Olive Dip recipe that I came across a couple of weeks ago and wanted to eat off the monitor. It has a really lovely chunky consistency and worked well with the Parmesan Crusted Baked Zucchini Sticks I served them with.
I was really happy with the zucchini sticks, and used the same crust combination on some chicken that I had marinated in a spiced yoghurt the following night for dinner. I like using Panko instead of breadcrumbs, it sounds much fancier. Took a bit of finding in the supermarket for it though, but I would assume that an Asian supermarket like Kong's would be able to sort you out pretty easily.
All six of the new recipes I tried out for the bookclub worked well and I plan to make them all again. The biscotti was really a stand out, and seemed to be the most popular of the dishes. It was also great to see how easy a good biscotti is to make, and I plan to bust out some different variations on the base biscotti mixture now that I know what I'm doing. I don't want to be a biscotti one hit wonder.
Next book we're reading: Revolutionary Road. Next bookclub recipes: ???
Friday, April 24, 2009
Ti Amo, ti odio
My patience for menus that blatantly lie is wearing thin. Tiamo, I'm looking in your direction. My first, and until recently only, experience eating at Tiamo Cafe was many years ago when I lived in Nedlands and had a very forgettable lunch with a (unforgettable) friend there. I had no intentions of returning until I recently read in the Vogue Forums that someone had had a fabulous breakfast there, and so I thought I'd give them a second chance.
I arrived at Tiamo incredibly hungry following a session at the gym, as is my modus operandi, and sat at one of the outside tables in the beautiful morning sunshine. I should have known to cut and run after asking for a "traditional long mac" and being asked if I would like it topped up with milk. I was feeling in a generous mood however, and was happy that at least they had asked if I like it topped up rather than just assuming I do. I am curious as to what she thought I meant by traditional however. Anyway, after perusing the not terribly inspiring menu I decided on Eggs Benedict ("Free Range Eggs on toasted English muffins with freshly sliced honey leg ham") with the addition of grilled tomatoes. The waiter became a little confused when I checked if the dish was served with hollandaise (which I don't like to eat) but returned a little while later to confirm that it does (so I asked for none).
I didn't have to wait too long for my food, which is unsurprising as it doesn't take very long to grill one measly tomato, poach a couple of eggs and stick them on a cold muffin topped with one single slice of packet sandwich ham. I declined the waiter's offer of some "grilled black pepper" with my meal and dug in with a decided lack of gusto. It tasted like you would imagine, although at least the eggs were softly poached.
The highlight was being asked by the girl at the counter how my meal was, telling her the truth (politely) and being met with "Oooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh dear. That's $18.50". Up until then I was at least happy with the service, especially given the amusing offer of grilled pepper, but this even stole this happiness from me.
Ti odio, TiAmo. You suck.
I arrived at Tiamo incredibly hungry following a session at the gym, as is my modus operandi, and sat at one of the outside tables in the beautiful morning sunshine. I should have known to cut and run after asking for a "traditional long mac" and being asked if I would like it topped up with milk. I was feeling in a generous mood however, and was happy that at least they had asked if I like it topped up rather than just assuming I do. I am curious as to what she thought I meant by traditional however. Anyway, after perusing the not terribly inspiring menu I decided on Eggs Benedict ("Free Range Eggs on toasted English muffins with freshly sliced honey leg ham") with the addition of grilled tomatoes. The waiter became a little confused when I checked if the dish was served with hollandaise (which I don't like to eat) but returned a little while later to confirm that it does (so I asked for none).
I didn't have to wait too long for my food, which is unsurprising as it doesn't take very long to grill one measly tomato, poach a couple of eggs and stick them on a cold muffin topped with one single slice of packet sandwich ham. I declined the waiter's offer of some "grilled black pepper" with my meal and dug in with a decided lack of gusto. It tasted like you would imagine, although at least the eggs were softly poached.
The highlight was being asked by the girl at the counter how my meal was, telling her the truth (politely) and being met with "Oooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh dear. That's $18.50". Up until then I was at least happy with the service, especially given the amusing offer of grilled pepper, but this even stole this happiness from me.
Ti odio, TiAmo. You suck.
Friday, April 10, 2009
More cooking, more eating
My breakfast journey continued last weekend, in the traditional post-pump manner, at Van's Sidewalk Cafe in Cottesloe. I was a little apprehensive given the disappointment of Six Clicks West, and the fact that we were dining in prime bunch period on a Sunday but I am happy to report that a table was free when we arrived (only just!) and the menu was interesting! Hurrah!
I am getting quite picky with my breakfast menu critique, since I am perusing one at least twice a week at the moment, and words cannot describe my bitter disappointment at seeing the most interesting item on a breakfast menu is that there is the option of wholegrain bread with your full breakfast. Our joy at finding some interesting options on the breakfast menu at Van's was further enhanced when we discovered the "Morning" dishes on the menu (that is, all the breakfast style dishes) were actually available to choose from at any time of the day. This was a particularly salient point given that we were eating breakfast at 12:30pm.
I opted for the "breakfast bruschetta" and the only disappointment was that the waitress pronounced is "brooshetta" which normally annoys my inner food snob quite a lot but in this case she said it in such a friendly way I was able to overlook it. I have eaten all too many things between this breakfast and today (especially today) but I will try to recall my dish... I believe it was toasted sourdough (nice and thick, with no butter, yay), with a generous serving of spinach, shredded leg ham and creamy feta on top, with a poached egg and some crispy prosciutto. It was so wonderful to have some real, good quality ham after being served pre-sliced straight-from-the-packet ham in so many other places. The serving did not look huge when it came out, but turned out to be just the perfect size for my post-workout hunger. The long black was also good but not fantastic.
Sadly I cannot recall the dish of my dining partner but he was also very pleased with his meal. It was also quite a nice vibe in there. Lots of attractive, happy people out enjoying each other's company on a beautiful sunny Perth Sunday (and despite this, I didn't pick up on any of the snobbery you can feel in some of the hipster-laden parts of town). Of course, this may have been due to the endorphins I had been working up but I'm willing to attribute it to the location.
This is been quite a week of cooking for me, what with the 37 cupcakes of the last post and a morning tea I organised for Tuesday. I managed to whip up a batch of orange poppyseed cupcakes, Nutella lava cookies, and my newly favourite cake - a coffee lamington cake. I have photos of these on my camera but my computer's card reader seems to be on holiday so I shall add them to the post when I find the cable.
Today was also a big day of cooking, and an even bigger day of eating. It is a strongly held tradition in my family to eat one's weight in food, preferably seafood, on Good Friday. Unfortunately my sister shirked her responsibilities somewhat given that she is recovering from a nasty stomach bug/poisoning/grossness incident, but I reached deep and covered her shortfall. We enjoyed a range of tasty salads, fresh bread, oven roasted coral trout filled with a rice/olive/pistachio/currant/caper/etcetc stuffing, cray tails and prawns, smoked albacore, and a salmon and scallop ceviche. I made the ceviche, and was so pleased that it turned out well with all the flavours in happy harmony. All of the food was superb, as per usual, and of course everyone ate too much.
Not so much however that dessert was out of the question, which was just as well as I made a Hot Cross Bun and Butter Pudding. In fact, I made two. One using chocolate hot cross buns, and one using normal hot cross buns. They were served with blueberries, sliced peaches and pineapple and seemed to go down a treat. I think I shall be making these again, though I guess if I want to make it between now and next easter I should buy some hot cross buns and freeze them. Well, I can always make my own hot cross buns but it seems a bit of a waste of time to make the buns and then turn them into a pudding. Better to take up precious freezer space in the anticipation of pudding, I say.
Funnily enough, as I was preparing the pudding this morning we had Kerri-Anne on the tv and she had a cooking guest on who was making... hot cross bun and butter puddings. Mum and I agreed that my recipe was better, if only because it included brandy. I also cooked mine using a bain marie method whilst they said this was too difficult. Pah!
I am getting quite picky with my breakfast menu critique, since I am perusing one at least twice a week at the moment, and words cannot describe my bitter disappointment at seeing the most interesting item on a breakfast menu is that there is the option of wholegrain bread with your full breakfast. Our joy at finding some interesting options on the breakfast menu at Van's was further enhanced when we discovered the "Morning" dishes on the menu (that is, all the breakfast style dishes) were actually available to choose from at any time of the day. This was a particularly salient point given that we were eating breakfast at 12:30pm.
I opted for the "breakfast bruschetta" and the only disappointment was that the waitress pronounced is "brooshetta" which normally annoys my inner food snob quite a lot but in this case she said it in such a friendly way I was able to overlook it. I have eaten all too many things between this breakfast and today (especially today) but I will try to recall my dish... I believe it was toasted sourdough (nice and thick, with no butter, yay), with a generous serving of spinach, shredded leg ham and creamy feta on top, with a poached egg and some crispy prosciutto. It was so wonderful to have some real, good quality ham after being served pre-sliced straight-from-the-packet ham in so many other places. The serving did not look huge when it came out, but turned out to be just the perfect size for my post-workout hunger. The long black was also good but not fantastic.
Sadly I cannot recall the dish of my dining partner but he was also very pleased with his meal. It was also quite a nice vibe in there. Lots of attractive, happy people out enjoying each other's company on a beautiful sunny Perth Sunday (and despite this, I didn't pick up on any of the snobbery you can feel in some of the hipster-laden parts of town). Of course, this may have been due to the endorphins I had been working up but I'm willing to attribute it to the location.
This is been quite a week of cooking for me, what with the 37 cupcakes of the last post and a morning tea I organised for Tuesday. I managed to whip up a batch of orange poppyseed cupcakes, Nutella lava cookies, and my newly favourite cake - a coffee lamington cake. I have photos of these on my camera but my computer's card reader seems to be on holiday so I shall add them to the post when I find the cable.
Today was also a big day of cooking, and an even bigger day of eating. It is a strongly held tradition in my family to eat one's weight in food, preferably seafood, on Good Friday. Unfortunately my sister shirked her responsibilities somewhat given that she is recovering from a nasty stomach bug/poisoning/grossness incident, but I reached deep and covered her shortfall. We enjoyed a range of tasty salads, fresh bread, oven roasted coral trout filled with a rice/olive/pistachio/currant/caper/etcetc stuffing, cray tails and prawns, smoked albacore, and a salmon and scallop ceviche. I made the ceviche, and was so pleased that it turned out well with all the flavours in happy harmony. All of the food was superb, as per usual, and of course everyone ate too much.
Not so much however that dessert was out of the question, which was just as well as I made a Hot Cross Bun and Butter Pudding. In fact, I made two. One using chocolate hot cross buns, and one using normal hot cross buns. They were served with blueberries, sliced peaches and pineapple and seemed to go down a treat. I think I shall be making these again, though I guess if I want to make it between now and next easter I should buy some hot cross buns and freeze them. Well, I can always make my own hot cross buns but it seems a bit of a waste of time to make the buns and then turn them into a pudding. Better to take up precious freezer space in the anticipation of pudding, I say.
Funnily enough, as I was preparing the pudding this morning we had Kerri-Anne on the tv and she had a cooking guest on who was making... hot cross bun and butter puddings. Mum and I agreed that my recipe was better, if only because it included brandy. I also cooked mine using a bain marie method whilst they said this was too difficult. Pah!
Thursday, April 2, 2009
My sleep for a cupcake (or 37)
I think that perhaps I have some sort of baking related obsessive disorder. I just can't stop myself when I see the opportunity to feed people with baked goods, even if it means baking from 11pm (after getting home from work) until 1am (when the last batch of cupcakes is finally freed from the hot tins), knowing full well I will be dragging my sorry arse out of bed at 5:20 the next day for some gym goodness.
I suspect this obsession stems from a need for positive reinforcement from others, as there is nothing quite like having people tell you that something you have cooked is truly delicious. Granted, I may be taking the easy option on the road to compliments by dosing people with sugar and fat, but I will take it how I can get it.
My journey through the breakfasts of Perth continued this morning, at Six Clicks West in Nedlands. Sadly it was nothing to spend too many characters on. With quite a dull menu to choose from, I opted for poached eggs on wholemeal toast, with grilled tomatoes and smoked salmon on the side. The salmon was forgotten until the waitress saw the look of dismay on my face, and the toast was very toasted. Luckily however the knives were reasonably sharp so this wasn't too big a problem (I only managed to shunt my toast off my plate by the force of my cutting once). I do not think that this breakfast warrants a return visit, which is unfortunate as the cafe is quite close to uni.
Apparently Six Clicks West is owned by the same guy who owns Van's Sidewalk Café in Cottesloe and Aubergine in South Fremantle, which is interesting as Van's was next on my list to try. I shall see if the superhard toast and forgotten salmon is a recurring theme...
I suspect this obsession stems from a need for positive reinforcement from others, as there is nothing quite like having people tell you that something you have cooked is truly delicious. Granted, I may be taking the easy option on the road to compliments by dosing people with sugar and fat, but I will take it how I can get it.
My journey through the breakfasts of Perth continued this morning, at Six Clicks West in Nedlands. Sadly it was nothing to spend too many characters on. With quite a dull menu to choose from, I opted for poached eggs on wholemeal toast, with grilled tomatoes and smoked salmon on the side. The salmon was forgotten until the waitress saw the look of dismay on my face, and the toast was very toasted. Luckily however the knives were reasonably sharp so this wasn't too big a problem (I only managed to shunt my toast off my plate by the force of my cutting once). I do not think that this breakfast warrants a return visit, which is unfortunate as the cafe is quite close to uni.
Apparently Six Clicks West is owned by the same guy who owns Van's Sidewalk Café in Cottesloe and Aubergine in South Fremantle, which is interesting as Van's was next on my list to try. I shall see if the superhard toast and forgotten salmon is a recurring theme...
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