Strawberry Cream-Best Patisserie in Sydney

This is one of my favourite parisserie in Sydney, which is located on Victoria st in Darlinghurst where many good cafes and restaurants can be found. I wish I could get a flat next to the shop and reach my hand out of the window to get nice and fresh croissant every morning. Not even that, just looking at the seductive looking pastries and cakes is as satisfying.

On my last visit there I had ‘Sour cherry strudel’ with mocha, which I almost died in delight eating it. It truly put all other cherry strudels that I had tried before to shame. It tasted very original, no cheese or cream, stuffed with so much cherry filling inside that you could taste the sourness right through, which was the reason I chose the dessert in the first place, to taste the fruit and sourness, not just gooey filling wit starch, sugar or gelatine or what not. Besides, I enjoyed the taste of cinnamon bursting in my mouth enhancing the sourness of cherries.

I nearly ordered another one to eat in the same sitting, but to save myself from embarrassment of being seen as a greedy pig, I bought it and took it home to have after dinner. The next day my palate still craved more sourness, so once I was in the mood I tried making my own light and fresh version of cherry strudel with filo pastry which I had handy. Here is Nancy’s Extra Sour Cherry Strudel.

I cut down on the amount of starch in making the cherry filling since I didn’t want the gooey texture. I just wanted the nice natural flavour; maybe, the fact that I had been watching the second series of ‘The Rome’ that week somehow caused my craving for bitterness, sourness and rawness.

If you are up for some fresh, light and healthy dessert which is quick and easy to make, this is well worth considering. It is so easy you don’t even need a recipe! Yet, the most satisfying dessert ever!

DIY Stylish Discreet Camera Bag

Finally, after long and hard research and hunting, I’ve managed to finish off sewing on the internal padded insert where my camera safely sits without being knocked about. I wish I could show you how perfect it looks with the camera in it; there’s still enough room to fit in my purse and some other stuff so I won’t need to carry an extra bag. With this bag, now I can rove around Europe feeling safe from the eyes of those who might try to ruin my long-waited holiday.

My unique camera bag with the smart and personal touch.

I could have given more thought to buying some pretty and Nancy-like fabric with lovely patterns on it. Honestly, at the beginning I wasn’t sure how the bag was going to turn out and didn’t want to see nice fabric go to waste. If I get to make another bag in the future for any reason I will definitely get some girly fabric now that I have the know-how. While sewing in all the protective padding by hand til my fingers went stiff I thought it might be worth investing in a sewing machine. Am I going to dabble in DIY business now?

If you have been looking for something different from an ordinary, rather dull looking camera bag, here is the tips to make a stylish and discreet camera bag of your own taste.

All you need is any bag of your choice (mine cost me only $10 from Paddy’s Market), a camping mat ($20 at K-Mart) to be cut up to make padding and fabric (I used a pillow case). The inside of the bag was lined with the padding all around, the bottom of the bag double layered for extra protection.

(DIY Stylish Discreet Camera Bag)

It was quite a simple and enjoyable project to what I had imagined. The hardest part was to attaching the extra divider, which could be skipped if you think it unnecessary, because for me, having a very poor spatial ability, it took a while to figure out how to place it on the bag turned inside out, otherwise I would have had to sew it from inside, which would have caused a lot of stabbing from a needle trying to make its way along with the limited vision inside the dark bag.

I’m happy to answer any questions you might have about the process of making my camera bag, so feel free to ask!

Be individual!

Be different!

Be creative!

Be the first!

Be free!

The World of Roulade

It’s funny to see the spiral fountain at Darling Harbour without kids in it. Why do kids love it so much, I wonder. Why do they take the long way around it to get to the core when they can just walk straight across to it?

In the end, it’s all about the walk and pleasure itself rather than GETTING THERE; You might see or feel something interesting or even meet someone special along the way to enrich your life, though it might take longer than others to get to where they might want or need to be. But how long it takes doesn’t really matter, does it?  We are heading in the same direction after all. No hurrying or rushing. It is so true when it comes to cooking.

I’ve been watching French shows lately to prepare myself with the knowledge of  European cooking and learned the art of rolling, which end up on  restaurant menus with the French word roulade. As I watched the chef elaborate with chicken fillets by stuffing them and then rolling them with spinach leaves and then again with pastry, I thought to myself if a dish involved that much of effort before landing on a plate I would eat very slowly appreciating every bite of it with ‘Umm’s and ‘Wow’s.

<Pepitas Pesto>

I had some extra time one weekend and, inspired by the cooking show, thought I might put my rustic cooking aside and make something more intricate and artful. Sole Roulade! To start off, I made pesto with pepitas instead of usual pine nuts, which I really liked, and I  made a cheese and tomato sandwich with it to take to work for the next few days. It makes great sauce for pasta dishes as well.

The choice for fish was ling fillet, which wasn’t the right sort that I had in mind for the recipe because it wasn’t wide enough to roll, but I didn’t see any other suitable fish that day at the market. Then after some brainstorming for the stuffing, I settled for zucchini and carrot, so I shredded them and pan fried them slightly.  Then came the rolling part and it wasn’t a complicated job for me at all; I have years of experience in rolling sushi and kimbab. The one thing that went wrong in making this was that I forgot to cook the rolled fish before rolling in filo pastry, so the juice oozed out during baking and made a bit of a mess.

<Sole Roulade>

This dish was surprisingly satisfying, bursting with flavours, and the texture of the fish was so meaty that one could mistake it for chicken. I’m not sure if i would have liked it as much, if I had used more delicate fish. The prominent flavour here was basil from the pesto and I think that rather gave away more Italian feel than French, so I might use thyme next time and see how differently it works with fish. Although the outer filo layers add crispiness and crunchiness, therefore extra character, to the dish,  you can skip it if you think it is a bit of hassle.

Pepitas Pesto

a bunch of basil
1/2 c slightly toasted pepitas
1/3 c extra virgin olive oil
1 glove garlic
1/4 c parmesan cheese, grated
salt&pepper to taste

Put seeds and basil in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped , and add the rest and process it.

Sole Roulade

3-4 fillets of white fish
filo pastry (one sheet for each fillet)
spinach leaves(optional)

For the filling

1 zucchini, shredded
1 carrot, shredded
1/2 onion, finely sliced

Pan fried all until it just turns soft and set aside to cool

For the lemon butter sauce

3 Tbs butter
juice of 1 lemon
1/4 c white wine
chives chopped

Spread the pesto over each fillet sprinkled with a bit of salt and place filling, then roll it.
Continue the same process with the remaining fillets and bake them for 5 mins at 180 ‘c.
Cover each fillet with spinach leaves before wraping it in filo pastry.
Bake it at 180′c for 12-15 mins until gold.
Serve the whole fillet as a main dish with the lemon butter sauce or serve it sliced as an entree or capanes.

Carrot Mandarin Cupcake

It’s been a long and hard few weeks for me trying to sort out personal issues. With all- rather almost- sorted, I feel more at ease and more love for things around me, though there are still things crawling inside your head, popping in and out every now and again, persistently holding the position of a constant reminder for whatever it wants me to become or do. If that means a privilege of being human, I’m willing to take it gracefully, further, enjoy it gratefully.

Nobody really mulls over decisions. I think deep down everyone makes decisions instantly, they just spend justifying them.

- quote from French Letters -

However, one thing over which we takes a lot of time to come to a decision is creating an interesting combination for a nice cake. There’s no excuse or justifying for deflated cake or mismatched frosting or the cake that tastes so bad that nobody wants to eat. I’d been trying different variations on traditional carrot cake recipes; I think carrot cake is one of the things that can never go wrong.

<Carrot Mandarin Cupcake with Citrus Cream Cheese Frosting>

Of all this latest version of my carrot cake seems to deserve a place on my signature recipes list.  Not only did a mandarin match with the colour of a carrot, but also its aroma complemented that of a carrot so beautifully eliminating the characteristics of the root vegetable, adding more of fruitiness and tropical aroma to it. The modified cream cheese frosting with distinctive citrus flavour was a perfect marriage with the cake, and the candied mandarin peels made as an attempt to confirm its unique character and not to let it be underestimated for its affinity with others alike.

I’ve been enjoying oatmeal in my backing, and oatmeal seems to give moist and lightness to baked goods. Because I know how healthy and fresh  my goodies are, nothing can stop me reaching for another, another and another. Nowadays it is so hard to be satisfied with any bought cakes, especially with the unnecessarily and sickly sweet frosting, which puts a lot of people off. The sweetness of my frosting was JUST right.

Carrot Mandarin Cupcakes
makes mini 30 cupcakes or medium 15 cupcakes / 350 degree oven

2-3 medium mandarins
2 cups finely grated carrot
3 large eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup sugar or adjust to your sweetness up to 2 cups as the original measurement
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups all purpose flour and 1 cup oatmeal or 3 cups flour
1 or 1/2 cup pecans or walnuts
1/4 cup dried currents(optional)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
pinch of allspice
pinch of ground nutmeg

1. Toast nuts in a 350 degree oven for 5 minutes.
2. Remove from the oven, let them cool, then chop coarsely.
3. Peel mandarin skin with a peeler carefully since it’s softer than lemon and hard to peel and puree in a blender or food processor. Measure out 1/2 cup of the liquidy pulp. Save the rest for frosting.
4. Peel, rinse, then grate carrots finely. Add oatmeal in buttermilk
5. In a large bowl, combine mandarin pulp, carrots, eggs, buttermilk&oatmeal, vanilla, sugar, and vegetable oil.
6. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
7. Fold flour mixture into the carrot mixture.
8. Fold in nuts.
9. Scoop out into cupcake papers.
10. Bake at 350 degree oven for ~20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Cream Cheese Frosting with Lemon and Mandarin

1 packet of Philly cream cheese
30g butter
2-3 cups sifted powdered sugar
2 tablespoons fresh squeezed mandarin juice
zest of 1 lemon

*Double the recipe for more generous frosting

1. Bring cheese and butter to room temperature by letting it sit out for 1 or 2 hours.
2. Sift powdered sugar into a bowl or onto parchment.
3. Beat butter and cheese at medium speed until creamy.
4. Add half of the sugar and the orange juice. Beat until combined.
5. Gradually add remaining sugar (more if you have to) until you get to the consistency and sweetness you like.

Candied Mandarin Peel

In a sauce pan, add peels, 1/2 cup sugar and 1/4 water and cook until peels turn translucent. Drain well and roll them on caster sugar. Allow to dry.

Beetroot Risotto

The long Easter weekend of indulgence has now ended, leaving me with a small bulge in my tummy to work off. I planned to do some girly shopping that I had been putting off for ages over the Easter holiday, but that didn’t happen unfortunately. Ever since I got into cooking, shopping for clothes doesn’t excite me enough to make me bother to go through the course of endless taking off and putting on clothes. Not a good sign, is it? I don’t even remember the last time I bought anything to put on my body rather than either to put in my mouth or stock up my kitchen. BUT, BUT, BUT!!!! I’m definitely going to clean out my wardrobe soon… maybe after trimming my body a bit so that I won’t get depressed when the clothes I try on don’t fit.

<Beetroot Risotto>

I think this gorgeous looking dish will help to take toxins out of my body and reset my diet. I love beetroot in almost everything, especially grated raw beetroot in my sandwiches, and I also love beetroot dip made with yoghurt. Still, the best way to enjoy everything it can offer, the earthiness and sweetness, is warm beetroot salad because you can eat a lot of it at one go. But risotto, not only the most versatile but also the easiest and the most satisfying of all cooking methods, seems to be  simply the best way to get all the goodness out of the healthy vegetable.

Risotto is one of the foods that are longed for by many on a cold winter night as comfort food along with pasta, stew, curry and roasted vegetables. I didn’t roast the beetroot this time, though, if I had had more time I would probably have because I like roasted flavour. I think it is the best to keep the recipe as simple as possible so that you don’t spoil the delicate flavour and elegant perfume  of the beetroot. The herb used here is parsley, but you can use rosemary, thyme or dill. You could also play around with different type of cheese, from feta cheese to goat cheese. To top it off I made cucumber rocket salad, whose peppery flavour seemed to bring out more of the creaminess and sweetness of risotto.

Seductive purple…. Nice to look at…Just eat with eyes….

I could have added wilted beetroot leaves on top, but I had already used them up for something else. It is quite recent that I started eating the leaves and I quite like the spinach-like taste, besides, I feel much better about not having to waste any parts.

To create this purple art for 2-3 people

You need:

1 bunch of beetroot, leaves and all
3 cloves of garlic
1 onion, chopped
30g butter
olive oil
1 ltr vegetable stock
200g arborio rice
1 glass of red wine
1/2 c grated parmesan
1/3 c heavy cream or sour cream(optional)
salt and pepper
squeeze of lemon juice

Cook the beetroots,  either roast or boil with skin on, and cool, then peel off the skin and cut into pieces. Set aside.

In a large pan, heat butter and a splash of olive oil. Sauté the chopped onion and garlic until it is soft. Add the rice, and toast for two mins. Tip in the red wine, and stir till it is absorbed. Add a ladle of hot stock, stir until it is completely absorbed, then add the next ladle, and continue in this fashion for about 15-20 mins, until the rice gets to the desired texture and consistency. Lower the heat and add cream and grated parmesan stir for 2 mins. Taste for seasoning.

Remove the pan from the heat, add the beetroot and herb, and gently fold in,  then put the lid on the pan and leave it to rest for 1 – 2 minutes, then squeeze some lemon juice and serve.

NB: I would add more stock and butter to make it creamier on a colder night.

Serves 2 generously.

Happy Easter!

Hello, Wheatbix!

They are such good eaters, just like me who would eat anything and almost EVERYTHING!

Of all the animals I grew up with, cats, chicks, dogs, rabbits, gold fish and turtles, rabbits were the ones I was the most attached to. I loved feeding them and watching leaves disappearing into their mouth so quickly that it always gave me giggles. They are such good eaters, just like me who would eat anything and almost EVERYTHING! No wonder why they are such good breeders, too. I learned that female bunnies can conceive a second litter of babies while still pregnant with the first. Duh! That makes me wonder whether that has something to do with a bunny being a sexual symbol. Here is extra information for those who has wondered about Easter symbols and never got around to looking them up.

So CUTE!!!

Wiki: The Western name for the festival of Easter derives from the Germanic word Eostre. The pre-Christian Saxons had a spring goddess called Eostre, whose feast was held around 21 March. Some believe that Ēostre was associated with eggs and hares, and the rebirth of the land in spring was symbolised by the egg.  The Christian celebration of the Resurrection of Christ was ideally suited to be merged with the Pagan feast of Eostre, and many of the traditions were adopted into the Christian festivities.

The Easter Bunny is a mythical character depicted as an anthropomorphic rabbit. In legend, the creature brings baskets filled with coloured eggs, candy and toys to the homes of children on the night before Easter.

The Easter Bunny as an Easter symbol seems to have its origins in Alsace and southwestern Germany, where it was first mentioned in German writings in the 1600s. The first edible Easter Bunnies were made in Germany during the early 1800s and were made of pastry and sugar.

Feel like you’ve got smarter? Then, let’s move on to a dumb foodie chat.

<Quick n Easy Hot Cross Buns>

On Good friday morning the first thing I realised was that I forgot to get hot cross buns yesterday, though I had already had some. So I thought, ‘Why not bake my own?’ Of course, I wasn’t going to go through the leavening process with yeast, so I decided to make cheaters’ hot cross bun.

You wouldn’t have been able to tell they were yeast free quick hot cross buns by the look, hadn’t I told you they were, would you?

But the texture, which was more like scones, would give away the truth, although they had the same taste as the real ones. I thought I could make them more often to have with afternoon tea, without the cross on them.

They must be enjoyed with a good dollop of butter. Love butter! We’ve got to love butter, the real food. I love xxxxxxxx after eating butter

Since it’s an Easter theme, I’ll add another goodies I made for Easter, the Easter Biscuits, which most people are not aware of. According to my research, they are a Greek tradition, and in most western countries they are known as shortbread or vanilla biscuits. I think when it comes to the Easter theme shapes and decorations carry more importance than other aspects.

These are quite basic biscuits with butter and fruit flavour, but I found them really nice and addictive. If I had known they would turn out this nice I could have double the batch. The biscuits were gone in the blink of an eye. Definitely a do-it-again.

< Happy Easter Biscuits>

I cut the amount of sugar by half and added more currents for sweetness. I, being playful, made a little effort to have a cross on each biscuit to be more suitable for the occasion. But the paper that I cut out was too thin to hold the shape before it got all soggy, and my hand was a bit shaky and sugar flew all over the place, destroying the already set crosses on the adjacent biscuits.

But still, you can make out a cross on some of the biscuits, and the rest if you look hard enough.

Easy Hot Cross Buns

Ingredients

• 2 cups self-raising flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• 50g cold butter, chopped into small cubes
• 2 tbsp caster sugar
• 1/3 cup sultanas * I used currents and a bit of citron peel
• 3/4 cup milkFor the cross
• 1/2 cup plain flour
• 1/3 cup water
• 2 tbsp apricot jam

Here’s how

1 Preheat the oven to 220C. Line an oven tray with non-stick baking paper. Sift the flour, baking powder, mixed spice and ground cinnamon into a large bowl. Rub in the butter using your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar and sultanas. Make a well in the centre. Stir in the milk using a knife and mix until the dough starts to form beads.

2 Gather the dough together with floured hands and transfer to a lightly floured benchtop. Gently press the dough out to 2cm thickness, then use a 7cm cutter or the rim of a glass to press out rounds of the dough. Gather together any off-cuts and press out again to 2cm thickness for more rounds. Place the rounds close together in neat lines on the tray.

3 Mix the flour and water in a small bowl until it forms a smooth paste. Carefully spoon the paste into a small plastic bag, then snip off the corner to form a small nozzle for a piping bag. Pipe crosses over each bun.

4 Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the buns are risen and golden on top. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly.

5 Heat the apricot jam with 2 teaspoons of water until smooth. Brush the glaze over the buns, then set aside to dry. Serve the warm buns with lashings of butter and a cup of tea.

Easter Biscuits

Makes approximately 24.

110g unsalted butter, softened
110g caster sugar * 60g for my biscuits
zest of one lemon
1 large egg, separated
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
225g plain flour
55g currants * 70g
3 tbsp milk, approximately
extra caster sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to Gas Mark 3. Grease a large baking sheet.

Cream butter, sugar and lemon zest together until pale, light and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolk.

Mix the cinnamon and flour together; sieve directly onto the creamed mixture. Fold the flour into the mixture, adding the currants half-way through. Add as much milk as is necessary to make a stiff dough. Knead lightly in the bowl until it all comes together nicely and is smooth.

Wrap in clingfilm/plastic wrap and chill for 15 minutes.

Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to 5mm thickness. Cut out rounds with a 7.5m diameter fluted cutter. Transfer to baking sheet. Leave a few centimeters between the rounds; they won’t spread much. Bake for 10 minutes. In the meantime, whisk the egg white until frothy. Remove sheet from the oven and brush the top of each biscuit with the egg white and sprinkle each with some caster sugar. Return to the oven for 5-10 minutes until golden. Cool on a wire rack.

Watercress Chickpea Soup

April already…time flies…. *sigh* To look at the bright side,  my overseas holiday is coming closer. *smile*

It has been quite dull and wet lately as the weather cools down. Getting into and out of bed to the chill certainly is the alarm bell telling us the season of colds and flue has arrived. I felt quite light-headed the other day and thought I was coming down with the flue. So,  instead of making lemon honey tea, which I usually do when I get a cold, this time I ate two whole raw lemon with half a dozen of crystallised ginger. Oh YEAH~ *I can see your forehead being knitted into a puzzled and then disgusted frown.* But I’ll tell you that what I had done was worthwhile, because I felt fine the next day and lucky my symptoms didn’t develop into a cold.

Although I had got through the first warning to my health, I thought it would be nice to revitalise my body going into cold and flue season. That is how this healthy tasty soup has made its appearance here.

<Watercress Chick pea Soup>

Initially I was going to put potatoes in to be on the safe side, but I didn’t have any potatoes at that time or at all times; I’m not a huge fan of them, then I saw a bag of cooked chickpeas in the freezer; as a way of trying not to use tinned products I started to cook a pot of dried chickpeas or beans and freeze them. It saves a lot of time and money, what’s the best is that it’s much fresher and healthier.

Before I got started, I searched the net to see if anyone had tried the combination of watercress and chick peas, and I was glad to find a recipe on a healthy food site, which had a mixture of three main ingredients: watercress, carrots, chickpeas.

I really liked the nuttiness and heartiness of the soup. I usually make soup quite thick, not too watery. I had the leftover cold straight out of the fridge for lunch the next day, and it also tasted good as cold soup, though, I’d eat it hot. It is certainly one of the nicest comfort soups that can be  enjoyed throughout the cold months.

<Watercress Chickpea Soup>

Ingredients

a bunch of watercress, washed&chopped, stalk and all
2 cups chickpeas
1 carrot, chopped
2 onions, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tsp ground cumin
1 pint vegetable stock
olive oil
salt&pepper
Heat  olive oil in a large saucepan and sauté the onion and garlic. Add the chopped carrot and cook for 5 mins.
Add the watercress and stir well until the watercress is mixed in and starting to wilt. Add the drained chick-peas, stock and cumin and simmer gently for 20 mins or until the carrot is cooked.

Blend the soup in a processor until smooth. Put it back into a pot and simmer further before serving.
Serve with thick Greek style yoghurt with mint. (I think mint complemented the soup flavour very well.)

Black Forest+Tiramisu

Finally I’ve got round to posting this grand project of birthday cake. I clearly remember a lot of ‘um’s  and the doubting looks on people’s faces when I first broke my bold attempt to combine the two of my, probably everyone’s favourite desserts. It’s a perfect dessert choice for those who can’t decide what they want to eat. *two for the price of one*

Raspberries were used instead of cherries in the black forest part, still with layers of chocolate cake, and a layer of lady fingers soaked in coffee syrup and special mascarpone mixture, which is tiramisu part,  snuck into the middle layer as you see here.

It was finished off with fresh cream frosting and fresh raspberries. Lining the sides with half of lady fingers, rather than covering it with frosting, is a good idea, since that makes it easier to keep the cake from getting messy when it gets knocked about.

This luscious cake is also a sad reminder of my old camera, which just gave up its life while I was taking these pictures, though, I am still glad that I got to score some photos before my camera suddenly went blank. What I was told about the cause of my camera’s death is that it had reached the end of its life after having been abused by the food-a-holic owner for 3 years without a day’s break.

This cake is by far the best cake I’ve ever made, and also the example of making the impossible possible. I must call this ‘The Cake Ultimatum’, but still should think of a better name that it truly deserves. Any suggestions? This will be definitely put on the top dessert menu if I ever get the chance to have my own little cafe in the future.

Although I didn’t like that photo, I felt obliged to show what it looked like inside. I couldn’t take any more shots after that one for the reason I had already mentioned before; that is basically the last work of my old camera. So it is in a way memorable to have it seen, I think. Thanks My Old Cam for getting me into the world of photography! And thank you for putting up with my abuse and obsession.  I had a wonderful time with you for many years until you had decided to have a rest. I won’t forget you.*V*

Exploring the World of Cornmeal

…. and the art of DSLR photography are basically the two things that have been occupying my mind for the last couple of weeks. Before that was smoked paprika, though I haven’t shared any recipes with it yet. I’d been baking up a storm of cookies and biscottis during the absence of a camera. Not having a camera, I should admit, had somehow taken away my enthusiasm for cooking, to be more precise, the creative and artistic cooking, because I didn’t have to worry about how the food looked, without a camera to record it. The only person who had benefited from my hibernation period was “K” since he didn’t have to sit at the table watching dinner getting cold while it being photographed.   Now that I’ve got a new camera which does more amazing tricks, there will be more nights of cold dinner in the days, months or years to come. *sorry*

Last week I cooked “Polenta” at home for the first time and I was very satisfied with how it turned out. I had initially planed to make ‘Polenta pancake with grilled fruit’ for breakfast before I was offered fruit salad by my generous flatmate. So I passed on breakfast and moved on to the option of savoury cheese and basil polenta. It was the best polenta dish I had ever tasted, and will probably be until I try one in the real land of polenta, Italy.

To accompany the fabulous polenta was grilled salt pepper prawn with watercress salad, which turned out to be a great combo all together. Bitterness of the radish and watercress is well-rounded in the sweetness of the pear and honey dressing.

<Cheese Basil Polenta with Grilled Prawns and Watercress Salad>

I think ‘K’ and I got through the amount of prawns that one would over a month. Behind the scene, we had a big plate full of grilled prawns both shelled and unshelled for the hope of getting well-needed calcium for my injured foot. We ended up overeating everything and couldn’t move afterwards. That’s one of the problems of my cooking; it’s so addictive that the moment you lay a finger on any of my food, you will have a lifetime spell cast upon your tongue and be enslaved to my cooking.

Grilled Cheese Basil Polenta, delizioso!

The polenta was fairly easy to cook as you will soon find out, yet, the taste was so comforting and satisfying. I don’t see why I shouldn’t be cooking it every night, at least once a week. It would make a healthy and exotic alternative to bread or chips, served with any main dish of meat or seafood.

<Grilled Cheese Basil Polenta>

Ingredients: serves 2

3 cups (750ml) water
1 cup (170g) instant polenta
60g butter, chopped
½ cup (40g) finely grated parmesan
sea salt and cracked black pepper
½ cup basil leaves
2 cups (200g) grated mozzarella – can be reduced by half or substitute for extra 1/2 cup of parmesan
olive oil, for brushing

Method

Place the water in a saucepan over medium heat and bring to the boil. Gradually whisk in the polenta and cook, stirring, for 2–3 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat and stir through the butter, parmesan, salt and pepper. Pour half of the polenta into a 20cm-square tin lined with non-stick baking paper and spread to smooth. Top with the basil, mozzarella and remaining polenta. Refrigerate for 45 minutes or until set. Cut into squares and brush with oil. Heat a char-grill pan or barbecue over high heat. Cook until golden and the cheese has melted.

<Watercress Salad>

Ingredients: serves 2

a bunch of watercress, sprigs picked
two red radishes, sliced
1 pear, sliced
avocado (optional)
walnuts (optional)

Dressing

1 glove of garlic (just give a couple stabs and put in the whole glove to infuse the flavour into the dressing )
2 tsp Dijon mustard
3 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbs lemon juice
1 Tbs white wine vinegar
2 tsp honey

Banana Pineapple Bread

Just a quick post today as a response to a recipe request….  of this incredibly moist and delicious bread.
This recipe is a make-over of  traditional banana bread, giving it a fruitier flavour as well as an interesting look.

I baked two loves; one to keep, the other to take to school. It quickly disappeared in the matter of second in the class. It was given ***** out of 5, so it must have been good. Being asked for a recipe would be one of the moments that make sacrificing the growing arm you get from all the whisking worthwhile.

So for this recipe I put extra teaspoon of cinnamon and even sprinkled some over the topping of banana and nuts because I’m crazy about cinnamon.

This recipe will definitely go to my to-do-again list. I’m not very keen on bananas, especially eating them by themselves. It probably has to do with the myth that they give you constipation unless eaten with milk, which I heard as a child. Of course, it’s a bull***. Bananas have many health benefits, and I know for a fact that a banana diet is a big hit among Japanese women. But for me, I’ve got to have them with cream, yogurt or any kind of dairy product, or cinnamon.

Banana Pineapple Bread

A few weeks ago I baked a chocolate banana swirl cake, which was another twist to the conventional recipe, but I’ll tell you that this is definitely the winner. Banana and pineapple go perfectly together. I’ve been having this for breakfast for the last few days, and it keeps me going right up until lunchtime without feeling peckish as I usually do. So I guess banana diet works! OR it might be because of the extra slice I end up eating not being able to resist the yummy thing and reaching for more and more.

Yield: 2 loaves

Ingredients:

3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon - *2 tsp
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
2 cups sugar – *½ cup
1 cup oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups mashed bananas (about 4 medium bananas)
1 cup crushed pineapple, well drained
*1/3 cup toasted walnuts or pecans, chopped

* is my own variation

Instructions:

1. In large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.

2. In another mixing bowl, beat together oil, sugar and the eggs, then vanilla and beat until well mixed.

3. Pour wet ingredients into bowl of dry ingredients and add banana (leave 1/2 cup, mixed with 1 tsp cinnamon for topping), and stir until moistened. Don’t overbeat.

4. Pour batter into two greased and floured loaf pans *(use smaller loaf pans — 6×3-inch, or use several mini loaf pans). Pour the leftover banana over the batter and sprinkle the nuts.

5. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 – 50 minutes or until loaves test done.

Note: * Since I didn’t have small loaf pan I used the normal 20×10 loaf pan and I made one

Cheesy Night

I’ve just finished my last book; the only benefit that I’m getting from my foot injury is to get more time to read; books or other blogs. I was sitting out on the balcony by myself, reading, in the company of a cheese board and two bottles of red wine, one Aussie red of Italian variety ‘Barbera’ from the Wine Week event and imported Italian red ‘Illuminati Riparosso’ recommended by my local bottle shop. I just wanted to compare those two (of course, I didn’t drink them all by myself) They both had a nice balance of fruit and structure with very soft tannins, which makes them perfect wine to drink with cheese, anti-pesto or pasta dishes. If I have to choose one, I’d probably go for Illuminati for its deeper finish.

from the balcony

We think we pick books we read, but that night I wondered if a book falls into our hands for a purpose. Or rather, we interpret what’s written in the book to fit our own situation as does the same film leave different impressions on different people.

One of the things in the book to which I related myself is that I am not the only weird one who continuously seeks adventures, trying different things and still keeps risking getting disappointed.

Sexual repetition depressed women, Nathan thought, whereas sexual repetition gratified men. Ditto Indian food: men found a curry they liked and ordered it every time. Women, having found one, kept risking disappointment by trying other things on the menu. …..Have the pasanda – you like the pasanda. But no, she’d do something insane. I think I’ll try the Keema Genghis. And then see? See? I don’t know why you can’t stick with what you know you like. Because it’s anti-life, she said. That was her handiest reduction, for life or anti-life ——–

Exploring and discovering different flavours is such an exciting experience, and having the same food twice, unless it’s really really good, seems a waste of time. Life is too short for that. I feel a lack of time whenever I realise how much you can do with food.

My greatest interest at the moment  is choosing the right camera. I’ve kind of graduated from a digital point and shoot camera; I pushed as far as I could with my little camera, and now I’d like to get into the DSLR world. It’s a big step in many ways,  price wise, technique wise, etc. I’m still deciding on which camera to get. The more research you do, the more confused you get; it’s a tough one especially when you are on a limited budget. I might have to go ahead with the first choice I made, but we’ll see what ends up in my hands. Hopefully, I will be snapping with a new upgraded camera next week. *excited & nervous*

As the night fell and clouds gathered, I started reaching for more cheese. God, I love cheese! Cheese, wine and music. What more would you dare to ask for?

Ah, by the way, I came across a great website on cheese, which covers almost every cheese products available in Australia. http://cheese.cookalmostanything.com I’ll be going back to it for the next few weeks, trying to get my hands on the cheese mentioned on the site. Hmm, now I feel like some creamy blue cheese on fennel bread with quince paste. Ciao.

I’ll leave some cheesy photos for you to enjoy while I munch on REALLY cheese. This is a cheese platter I had at a cafe attached to a cheese factory in Kaimai. It was a pretty generous serving compared to what you would normally get in a place in the city.

Since we were the last to order, the chef threw in some extra for us to try, which was blue cheese with manuka honey on baguette, very Kiwi, I reckon.

Among the nice assortments of dried fruit and nuts, what I particularly liked was the almonds coated with mixed spices, which freshened up the palate between cheeses .

I quite liked the French style washed rind brie, though, it had quite milder flavour than what would be expected from a washed rind range.

Summer Cake Parade

Mango Lime Cheesecake (unbaked)

I feel a chill through my bone sitting out on a balcony in the evening, as the  season of abundant mangos is giving way to the season of pears, figs , quince, mushrooms, nuts and lots of root vegetables such as parsnips, fennel and celeriac. So I decided to make something to drag out the last perfume of  summer by baking this.

You’d make a big mistake if you dismissed this recipe as just an ordinary cheesecake. There are four things that make cake far better than others.

1. Baking free, therefore, hassle free, Quick n Easy!

2. Egg free (Is it good? Cholesterol free? Just leave it at that for now)

3. Yoghurt added, therefore healthy and light

4. Healthy almond crumble base, no ordinary biscuit, therefore, low-carb

5. Can be eaten slightly frozen, taste a bit like gelato ice cream, perfect for summer days

Does the list sound convincing enough to read on?

It have never occurred to me to peel mangos with a peeler before. It was so handy-dandy.

Mango Lime Cheesecake (Unbaked)
Adapted from A Daily Obsession

250 g Philadelphia cream cheese, softened
60g sugar – increase the amount up to 120 depending how sweet tooth you have, but since it’s a healthy cake there’s no point doing that

1 1/2 cup mango puree
200 ml mango yoghurt – or heavy cream for creamier taste
100 ml heavy cream, whipped

1 cup  Arnotts Wheat Shreds
1/2 cup almond meal
50g butter, melted

1 1/2 T gelatine powder
60 ml water

juice and zest of 1 lime

Method

1.Process the biscuits into crumbs and mix with almond meal. Add butter and mix well, then press it into the base of a 22 cm/8 1/2″ round springform pan. Bake at 180′c for 10 mins. Cool it before pouring in the mouse.

*If you want the simple way out, just get some sponge cake and line it to 1 cm thick.

2.Whip cream cheese and sugar in your machine until light and fluffy.

3.Mix mango puree (keep 3 T for glaze) and yoghurt with a metal spoon until well-blended and fold into (2).

4.Mix gelatin powder and water in a small metal cup and set this over a pot of boiling water (double boil it) until the gelatine dissolves. Let it cool and mix it well into above mango mixture. Leave this mixture in the fridge while you do the next step. This will help set the mousse later.

5. Whip the cream until stiff and fold it into the mango mixture until well-blended. Finally, whisk the mango mixture and the gelatine syrup quickly into a mousse. Let it set in the fridge.

Other Ingredients:
mango slices and mint leaves for garnishing
2 t gelatine powder
2 T water
3 T (~30 ml) mango puree

6. Slice some mangoes for garnishing. Make a glaze by mixing gelatine powder with 2 T water and double-boil it until gelatine dissolves. Add the mango puree and mix well. Pour glaze (keep 1 T for the sliced mangoes) onto the top of the set cake, decorate the cake with the mango slices and spoon retained mango glaze over them. Put cake back into fridge to chill.

7. Keep cake chilled until ready to serve. That’s it!

I kept the cake in the freezer, sliced, and left each slice to thaw for 10-20 mins before eating. I couldn’t tell if I was eating ice cream or cake, a bit of both I guess. It definately cooled down my hot(?) body, hot hot? or hot, hot? The latter. *Cheeky *

Pineapple Layered Coconut Cake with Passionfruit frosting

This is  a real geeky photo.

I often take pictures in the morning before I head off to work in case I don’t have time for my food shots in the afternoon. I would do anything to get my shot with natural lighting. One Friday morning I hurriedly took a picture of the cake, which I was to take to school that day, so I couldn’t be bothered about the settings and just grabbed the toys at my arms reach and a plastic knife for a laugh. I hope George Lucas might come across this photo and offer me a fortune.

Enjoy this summery, fruity dessert with nice champaign!

Ingredients (serves

• 125g butter, softened
• 1 cup caster sugar
• 1 large lemon, rind finely grated
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 1/2 cups self-raising flour, sifted
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup desiccated coconut

· Pineapple Cream Layer

• 400g can pineapple
• 200 ml heavy cream, whipped
• 1 lemon, rind finely grated

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease a 6cm deep, 9cm x 19cm (base) loaf pan or 22 cm springform pan. Line base and sides with baking paper, allowing a 2cm overhang at both long ends.
2. Using an electric mixer, beat butter until light and fluffy. Add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until sugar is dissolved. Add lemon rind and half the egg. Beat well. Add remaining egg and beat until well combined.
3. Using a large metal spoon, gently stir flour, milk and coconut into butter mixture (do not over-mix). Spoon mixture into prepared loaf pan. Smooth surface. Bake for 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Allow cake to cool for 10 minutes in pan. Lift onto a wire rack to cool completely.
4. Make lemon icing: Sift icing sugar into a bowl. Add sour cream and lemon rind. Stir until well combined. Pour icing over cake. Allow to set. Serve.

Passionfruit Cream Cheese Frosting 

• 30g butter, softened
• 80g cream cheese, softened and cubed
• 1 1/2 cups icing sugar, sifted
• 2 passionfruits

1. Cream butter, cream cheese and icing sugar together. Don’t over beat the frosting.
2. Fold in pulp from one passion fruit. Mix well.
3. Swirl frosting on cupcakes. To decorate, squeeze some pulp on top.

Next on Butterfly …..“Black Forest+Tiramisu”, which has proved my culinary intrepidity and is considered to be by far the greatest work. Stick around for the masterpiece.

Oyster Mushroom with Fennel and Hazelnut

Oyster Mushroom with Fennel and Hazelnut

It has been a long time since my last pasta entry. I guess pasta is more of wintery comfort food along with Indian curry. There was a hilarious incident during class where when one of Korean students made a comment about pasta saying it was fatty, the passionate Italian student immediately came to the defence of the Italian national dish, throwing his hands in the air (typical Italian body language), all excited. The discussion, which went on for good 20 minutes, gave the whole class a teary laugh and made the poor Korean girl give an official apology for disgracing pasta and the population of Italy. We went back to our lesson, feeling relieved and thankful that it didn’t lead to World War Three. Instead, it gave us an opportunity to taste authentic tuna pasta cooked by the real Italian!!!! It was great and it proved to the girl that Italian can be light and tasty. *myth busted*

I wonder which side I would stand on if there were a war between the two countries. Probably… Italy for food, as I did during the classroom debate.

It reflexs the truth of misrepresented images of Italian food in many Asian countries. Their experience of Italian food makes people believe that all Italian dishes are cheesy, oily and creamy.

I often go to Paddy’s market on weekends to get different varieties of fungi, not button muchrooms, such as oyster, enoki, pine, shitake, etc. I love the flavour and texture of mushrooms, and mushrooms are so great on pizza and pasta.

So now I have oyster mushrroms and it is time to think of the flavour to compliment them. Poking in the fridge to come up with an idea, I spotted Italian cheese, pecorino, which I had had unopened for a month. Seeing the chance, I instantly decided on cheesy flavour and the things you see in the picture are what ended up as the base of my sauce.

I tried a new type of pasta, which I hadn’t used before, really thick feccucine made with semolina. You can alter this recipe to your preference by using different herbs such as sage and cilantro, and by adding a bit of tomato paste and cream to make pink sauce. Don’t be afraid of playing around with any ingredients you have on hand.

To make this lovely flavoursome pasta for 4

any pasta of your choice

for the sauce

300g oyster mushroom
3 shallots, finely sliced
3 clove garlic, minced
2 anchovy fillets, chopped
1 cup dry white wine
1 Tbs butter
3 Tbs olive oil
1/2 c pecorino cheese, grated
1/4 c parsley, chopped
fennel leaves

for the topping

1 bulb fennel, diced
1/3 cup roasted hazelnut, chopped
olive oil
salt, pepper, caynnene pepper to taste (for a zing!)

• Make the topping firstSauté the garlic, fennel and nuts in olive oil until golden brown. Remove from the pan and set aside.
• Make the sauce nowSlice  the oyster mushroom petals if they are too big. Chop any stem or core pieces from the mushroom.Sauté the shallots, anchovy and garlic in olive oil until the shallots just start to turn translucent. Remove from pan and set aside.

  Add some more olive oil to the pan and then the mushrooms. Gently stir them over medium high heat for a few minutes. Add wine, lower heat and cover. Cook for 5 minutes. Remove cover and stir gently over medium heat until the liquid is nearly gone.Stir in the reserved shallot/garlic mixture, parsley, fennel leaves, butter, cheese.

• Cook the pasta in boiling salted water. When cooked, remove a dozen or so of the larger mushroom pieces to a side plate. Then, with tongs, lift the pasta directly into the pan with the mushroom sauce, allowing a little of the pasta water to ride along. Over medium heat, lift and toss the pasta to mix with the sauce (be careful not to break up the mushroom pieces).Serve with the reserved mushroom pieces and a sprinkling of the fennel/garlic topping and, if desired, a stalk or two of chives.

Verdict: It was a nice combination of flavours, but I “whoops-a-daisyed” a bit too much caynenne pepper into the topping, and that overpowered the delicate flavours of fennel and hazelnut, but overrall, it is worth a try, I THINK. I recommend nice rocket salad to go with this.

Living in the Wild World…

Do you believe in the saying, “When it rains, it pours.”? I got my foot injured three weeks ago, which I am still suffering from, to make things worse,  something happened last week, which made me disappointed and frustrated more than any life events possibly could;  my treasured camera died! I started to  doubt why these tragedies keep occurring. It seems as if my monotonous life needed spicing up? Why with the spices I am averse to? Why not with the ones I adore? Because I wouldn’t have known their taste otherwise?

I read in a book that in a natural world the amount of good and evil was fixed, which means if a tragic event happens, then to compensate something good happens. To apply the theory, would it be fair to say that I was devastated by my broken camera, but I will soon be happy to get a better camera? Hmm…. What about this one? Because of my broken camera the guy in the camera service shop will make money and so will the  camera company I will buy my next camera from?

It have been a strange few days without the camera, not having to think about scoring shots of food that I have made and eaten. That certainly saved K from frustration of having to wait in front of food, with hunger, until some shots have been taken, every time we eat something. It has been a torture to him, I guess. Someone’s pleasure means someone else’s suffering. Here you go again!

Since I won’t be able to take photos until either I get my camera fixed or get a new one, I will be going through my old photos and trying to write about them.

This is a lunar NY card I made with photos taken at the ‘Sex and Death’ exhibition at Sydney Botanic Garden and Auckland Winter Garden. I like making my own things whenever I can, especially cards, because they are fun to make and a great way to free your imagination because there are no restrictions or rules.

Out of so many weird looking plants, I was amazed by the number of species, the one that caught my eye the most is the ailien-grandpa looking flower(on the left). Its colourful and seductive look is mesmerising and how they eat insects to survive is quite mind-blowing.

The pitcher plant, so called Saracenia on the right somewhat reminds me of myself devouring rich chocolate mousse cake. But instead of cake, what I have for you today is these two mouth-watering dishes that can make a highlight on BBQs as finger food or entrée.

Spicy Eggplant Mini Cake

This dish was created on a whim wandering in and out of the kitchen on NY’s Eve, trying to make myself useful by offering a helping hand. People were busy trying to get nibbles ready before guests started to arrive, and when I saw a couple of eggplants and a tray of surimi(crab stick) screaming out for a rescue. The idea of seafood croquette came to my head and I started for it, then I didn’t think I could manage to roll it into a countless number of balls and coat them with bread crumbs, what’s worse, fry them. Duh! So the trick of baking came to my rescue and it worked brilliantly.

BBQ Mushroom with Capsicum Salsa

This fresh and healthy looking dish is one of my favourite tapas at a Spanish restaurant, which seems to be the best starter to work up an appetite. It is a nice mixture of fresh capsicum, tomato, a bit of red onion and garlic, with the generous amount of olive oil and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar, although the restaurant version simply has capsicum.

I gave this an Asian flavour by putting chilli and coriander, and as it turned out spicier than I planned I put a dollop of mayonnaise on top to serve to smoothe out the chilli flavour, but it could be adapted to different tastes. You could leave out surimi and add minced beef with cheese topping  or even beans or chickpeas with yoghurt on top for a vegetarian option.

Chickpea, spinach, raisin pilaf

It has been either dull or rainy for over a week, which marks another record of unusual Sydney summer weather. The temperature surged up to around 40 degree just the week before, and one day  it dropped to a mid-low 20s overnight. Some say that the bushfires in Victoria is affecting the atmosphere, which leads to wet weather across and around Victoria. The effect of the bushfire is quite severe this year and has put many people in tragic situations , as the death toll reaches almost 200.

To change the subject, I talk with my students about food a lot during class and they response to that with enthusiasm equivalent to mine. The talk of cooking always seems endless and tickles my senses. Honestly, I wasn’t very keen on the cusine from Middle East or North Africa, in which various spices play a major role besides India. While many people pick Moroccan as their favourite flavour, it was only recently when I visited a spice shop called ‘Herbies’ that I got more interested in the cooking of those regions, although I had a pantry full of spices being a foodie on training.   The experience of smelling different spices was amazing and had an soul cleansing effect on me that day.

Chickpea, spinach, raisin pilaf

I came across this recipe and played around a bit and came up with my version. I hope you enjoy my version. ;-D It reminds a lot of Moroccan couscous dishes and Italian equivalent of rish dishes except for the different spices. “plov” or “polaf” is often considered to be one of the oldest preparations of rice which has Persian or Turkic roots. One of the earliest literary references to Pilau can be found in the histories of Alexander the Great when describing the hospitality of an Eastern Iranian provine( probably the birthplace of Alexander’s wife Roxana and geographically in modern Afghanistan).  It was known to have been served to Alexander the Great upon his capture of the Sogdian capital of Marakanda (modern Samarkand). Alexander’s army brought it back to Macedonia and spread it throughout Eastern Europe.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 225g (8 oz) basmati rice
• 400g cooked chickpeas
• 1/2 cup cooked English spinach, drained and chopped
• 1 onion
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
• 1 tsp ground carmadon
• 1 tsp cinnamon stick, bruised
• 2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp grated fresh root ginger
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
• 50g (2 oz) raisins
• 750ml  vegetable stock
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp salt
• 50g (2 oz) cashew nuts, toasted
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
• pepper
• fresh coriander sprigs, to garnish

Method

1. Wash the rice in a sieve under cold running water until it runs clear; set aside.
2. Dry-fry the whole spices  for about 2 minutes until they start to pop and release their aroma.
3. Peel and finely chop the onion. Heat the oil in a large saucepan, add the onion, garlic, ginger and ground spices and fry for 10 minutes until the vegetables are golden. Add the dry-fried spice mixture to the pan with the rice and stir-fry for 1 minute until all the rice grains are glossy.
4. Add the chick peas, spinach, raisins, stock, lemon juice and salt to the pan. Bring to the boil, stir once and cover with a tight-fitting lid. Simmer over a low heat for 10 minutes, then take off the heat and leave undisturbed for 5 minutes.
5. Fork through the cashew nuts and coriander. Check the seasoning and serve at once, garnished with fresh coriander sprigs.

Serving Suggestion

• Personally I enjoyed a generous dollop of plain yoghurt with this vegetarian meal.

Variations

You can replace spinach with other vegetables such as carrots, zuchini, potatoes or peas for a vegetarian meal. Or you can toss through with any cooked meat of your choice.