pear, walnut & rocket salad with classic salad dressing

So I finally made my first, actually two savoury recipes from 'In the Kitchen'. Thanks to Jo who invited a couple of the girls over for dinner on Sunday night, we were all requested to bring along a dish and a dessert. My dessert were the the flourless chocolate muffins I made in my last post. After careful deliberation (taking into account what the other girls were making, guessing what they were making, time constraints and ingredients I had at home), for my 'dish', I ended up going with the pear, walnut & rocket salad from 'In the Kitchen' with the classic salad dressing.

The dressing took just a matter of minutes to whip up - a simple combo of dijon mustard, red wine vinegar, extra virgin olive oil as well as cracked salt + pepper to taste. Personally, I loved it and I had Jo's mum ask me for the recipe.

To make one bowl of salad (which ended up decently serving 7), combine rocket (in my case, I used Italian mix), parmesan, toasted walnuts and sliced pear. I was worried that the dressing would make the salad soggy and brought it over to Jo's place separately to add just before serving. Turns out you didn't really need to - with the extra ingredients I made the salad again to bring to lunch today and I added the dressing straight away. By lunchtime, the salad was still fine.

The finished salad.

As strange as it sounds, the toasted walnuts in this salad are addictive. I never thought I was a big fan of walnuts but I end up munching on them whilst they were toasting in the oven and even before they went into the salad. I daresay, strange things are happening and I'm getting old - things I never used to like I'm starting to like! Bitter gourd and walnuts are just the start!

flourless chocolate muffins

Last week, I went a little crazy and started marking with post-its all the recipes I wanted to cook from 'In The Kitchen'. Well the plan is to cook my way through the book but then there's ones which I want to cook first and these were the ones I was putting post-it notes against. By the time I was done, I ended up with a book with post-it notes coming out of all sides and I sort of thought to myself, I haven't really achieved a whole lot.

As crazy as it seems though, there is a method to the madness. I go through the book, pick out the recipes which really interest me and the next time I'm at the supermarket or fruit market, I'm on the alert for ingredients that are on special and then cook the respective recipe with that ingredient. It worked out this weekend when I found chocolate blocks on special and decided to cook the flourless chocolate muffins.

Melting the butter and chocolate.

Whipping the egg whites to firm peaks.

To the chocolate mixture, add egg yolks, almond meal plus caster sugar. Fold in the whipped egg white.

Into the muffin liners.

Bake for about 30-35 minutes and you get these nicely puffed up muffins with the cracked tops.

It actually came as a bit of surprise to me that these muffins rose so much. Every other flourless cake/baked product I've seen baked by others or baked commercially seems to collapse in on itself. I actually brought these over for dinner at a friend's and even my friend A was querying me whether it was actually flourless and whether I'd put any raising agents in it. The answer is no and if anything, it would be the fact that I folded in the egg whites slowly and didn't collapse any of the air bubbles so when baked, they looked just like normal muffins (but of course with the cracked tops).

So this brings it to Recipe #5 and so far, so good!

hong kong cafe @ carlingford village

Saturday night, I joined Mum & Dad for dinner at Hong Kong Cafe in Carlingford Village. It's been awhile since I've been here unlike my parents who routinely head over to Carlingford Village each weekend to pick up groceries and Chinese magazines and who visit Hong Kong Cafe much more than I do. If you ask them, they'll give you a good word or two about this place, they reckon it's probably one of the few Chinese places that have opened up and have actually maintained the quality of their food over time. We discussed it at dinner also but the latest topic of discussion amongst my parents is that most of our local Chinese joints are becoming quite bad - from bad hygiene, poor quality food to chefs that don't really know how to cook but yet call themselves cooks. It's one of those topics which we could discuss at length! Anyway, moving on...

For me, the one thing I love about Hong Kong Cafe is their HK Style Milk Teas. It's strong yet slightly sweet as it should be. I like my milk tea cold and this place serves it with the right amount of ice. Anyway, whilst waiting for food, I was browsing through my free copy of Good Food Magazine which I picked up at the Good Food Show.

Stir Fried Beef Noodles. Truly a classic done just right.

This was an XO sauce chicken noodle which had a decent amount of fresh chilli tossed through. My parents weren't a big fan of the chilli and started picking them out but I loved it!

Pork with Crispy Noodles. This is my dad's favourite and he orders it without fail whenever he feels like noodles. The crispy noodles are great (adds texture to the dish) but I'm not the biggest fan of the pork bits that come with it - they just taste like bleached pieces of meat (I swear, it tastes like this wherever you order it!)

Over time, I've grown to love this dish. It's fish with black bean, bitter gourd, bamboo sheets and mushrooms. Hate to say the obvious but I used to find the bitter gourd 'bitter' but over time, you get accustomed to the taste and you actually come to crave it.

The four dishes was a bit much for the three of us and we ended up taking away a box of noodles for home.

Anyway, for those interested, Hong Kong Cafe serve up breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner. I'm always tempted to go for afternoon tea because they have Nissin 2 minute noodle specials (I know it's silly, I could cook a pack at home but you've got to admit, it does taste a bit better when it gets cooked by someone else!) 

Overall, it's worth visiting and you'll get a decent feed for under $15.

good food & wine show 2009

The Sydney Good Food & Wine Show is an event that Mum & I look forward to each year and without fail, we made our way over there today for the second day of the show (end's tomorrow so get there whilst it's still on!). 

It was quite noticeable that there were a few less exhibitors at this year's show. No Lindt, No Lilydale Chicken, gone were a lot of the bigger brands but more of the smaller brands and locally produced vendors. Not necessarily a bad thing and yay to Cookie Couture (with their range of pretty decorated cookies - unfortunately they only had some sample cookies on sale), they yummylicious Yael's - Cakes of Distinction (shame that they weren't selling cakes at the show but just offering samples), Bretzels from Melbourne (I had the Cinnamon and Vanilla) and so the list goes on.

It was great that the show took up another hall this year and everything was a bit more spread out; still crowded but with the extra space, we all got a bit more breathing space. It also meant that Mum, M & I managed to get ourselves a seat at the Lindeman's Early Harvest Restaurant. The queue to get the 'dining currency' i.e. $8 vouchers was a little annoying but my theory is that it's a decoy to slow people down from getting into the restaurant too quickly, meaning that by the time you get your vouchers and get your meal, you should be able to get yourself a table because others have left. Anyway, between the three of us, we decided on 2 mains and 2 desserts and without us knowing, we ended choosing one item from each of the 4 celebrity chefs. 

Gordon Ramsay's Glazed Salmon with Spinach & Radish Salad. I didn't get the matching wine with this one but swapped it with a bottle of Perrier Mineral Water.

Toby Puttock's Veal Osso Bucco. Would've been better if this was served a bit warmer.

Alistair McLeod's Chocolate Cream Brulee, Irish Whiskey soaked strawberries, almond biscotti. Not a traditional creme brulee with the sugar topping to crack and tasted more like a pannacotta.

Matt Moran's Strawberry Tart with Champagne Sabyon. This one got us into a conversation with randoms that were sitting next to us. They thought our one had more raspberries than theirs - we had to explain to them that our one 'looked like ' it had more raspberries because we'd quartered the tart and all the raspberries and sauce started running all over the plate.

The loot!

Speaking of random, mum bought a broom at the show (the handle which you see in the above pic). Again, we somehow started a conversation with a random and bought the broom with them (it was $30 for 2) and well, mum thinks it's the best thing in the world because it sweeps all types of floors from tiles to carpet!

Let me say, tops to Weight Watchers - I think they were probably the best stalls at the show. They were generously handing out ice cream sundaes (which tasted great!), their showbag was value for money and the staff were so friendly and helpful. As you can see, the Weight Watchers showbag was one of the many bags Mum & I picked up! Although my favourite would have to be the 'Ritter Sport' Bag (see top right in the above pic - basically a bag made out of Ritter Sport wrappers).

Coming home, I'm all aches and pains. You see, all the items you see above were hand carried by Mum and myself (we couldn't be bothered with bringing the trolley we had at home because it takes so much space). So all up, we probably spent a good 5 hours at the show walking, minus the half hour we were in the Celebrity Theatre watching the Masterchef's; Gary Mehigan and George Calombaris. Buggered!

pier @ new south head rd., rose bay

For A's birthday this year (aka my bestie), her hubby organised a surprise dinner for four of us at Pier in Rose Bay. The booking was made about a month in advance and A had no idea till the night that J&I were coming. It was only when she was seated at a table of 4 with her hubby that it occurred to her that there were two more people coming. Apparently, her first guess was that it would be me so to the hubby, you did a good job and we managed to keep it a surprise!

I've known Pier by name for awhile now and so I literally jumped at the invitation for dinner when it came my way. First thing I did was to go to the website to check out the menu which probably hasn't been updated in awhile - there wasn't any info on the degustations and I actually thought they didn't have one (which seemed a little odd). I was pleasantly surprised to find 2 degustations on offer when I got there on the night.

We ended up going for the 8 course degustation for $179pp.

Apologies for the following photos. I don't have the best of cameras and have yet learn how to use one properly! J requested a photo of his gin and tonic glass. See how the glass is shaped?

Sourdough to start with - served with butter and salt flakes. J went crazy on the salt flakes and very shortly afterwards was whispering into my ear whether or not we could ask for more bread. FYI: They come back with more bread after Course 5.

Course 1: Cone of King Salmon Tartare. You pick it up and eat it like an icecream. At first I thought I'd be left with an empty cone but just like an icecream, as you bite into it, you'll find that the filling falls down into the cone so you'll have a nice spread of salmon tartare throughout! The little black balls you see are capers.

Course 2: Carpaccio of Kingfish. We debated this one at the table - definitely have the kingfish pieces with the vinaigrette (otherwise it doesn't have much flavour).

Course 3: Tian of Spanner Crab. I didn't get a photo of the pea jus when it came to the table. It was actually in a small glass jar and the waitress poured it onto the dish at the table.

Course 4: Pan Roasted Scallops. I was told that the scallops were Pier's signature dish and A's hubby had been talking about it from the start of the meal. It certainly didn't disappoint!

Course 5: Crispy Skinned Murray Cod. As strange as it'll sound, my favourite item on the night was the bitter orange mash that was on this plate. If only they could serve up a little more on the plate!

There was a bit of a break between Course 5 and 6, during which A's hubby started telling us about the goat's curd in the next course. At some point, J asks the question 'So what's the shape of it' to which my response was 'We're not talking about goat's turd'! I'm so glad he didn't speak any louder or ask one of the waiters/waitresses.

Course 6: Capparis Goat's Curd. Eaten with the brioche and poached pears, it's actually quite nice - admittedly, goat's curd is a bit of an acquired taste as it has a strong, distinctive flavour which A's hubby wasn't a particular fan of. 

Turns out A isn't a big fan of goat's curd either and she hardly touched hers. The hubby helps cleans the plate nonetheless and does it in one gulpful.

Course 7: Beet Sponge. I was fascinated by this when it came to the table - it's so soft and spongy and tastes great with the chocolate sauce. Would love to find out how they make this - it tastes and looks almost like the soft bit in a crusty bread roll. 

Course 8: Caramel Rum Braised Banana. My favourite course would have to be this one. It's a work of art how the dessert comes to the table and the mix of flavours is perfect. I loved the coconut sorbet, the rum sponge, the tamarind jelly and the crumbling of almond brittle - there wouldn't be a thing that I'd change.

The four of us.

You probably can't tell in the above photo but where we were seated looks out onto the water. I was saying to A how it would've been good to come during the day because you'd have a fantastic view to look out onto. At night, all you can see is the lights from buildings and houses.

Personally I thought the 8 course degustation hit the spot. I enjoyed every course, the food was immaculately presented (I was probably the slowest eater at the table because I wanted to keep everything intact) and at the end of the meal, I wasn't feeling uncomfortably full which is what I've found with other degustations I've had in the past. Admittedly, you need to love seafood to enjoy the degustation and for me, it was just perfect! Service was just as perfect and immaculate over the 3 hour period that we were there - I couldn't have asked for more.

Ample parking is available on the street (well at night time anyway). If you're heading here for the first time (from the city), keep your eyes out as you get onto New South Head Road - you'll be looking for a stand alone building that juts out into the water. You won't actually see the Pier Restaurant sign until you've driven past and look back. Obviously if you're coming from the other direction, you shouldn't have any problems. 

Hope you had a great birthday A!

peanut butter muffins

Slowly but steadily I'm cooking my way through 'In the Kitchen' and now up to Recipe Number 4. I'd probably get through this book much faster if I cooked more but unknown to most, my dad actually has reign over the kitchen. The one time I cooked something for dinner, dad refused to eat it and since then, the only times I've cooked for the family is when dad's been on trip. Mum and my brother have no issues with my cooking, just that dad is a bit old fashioned and prefers to eat things he cooks and thinks my cooking is a bit too new-age and modern for his liking. Ah well, the day he changes his mind, I'll probably find it rather strange so it's better off that it stays the way it is.

Anyway, the fourth recipe I cooked up on a Sunday night was 'Peanut Butter Muffins'. As you can probably gather, I'm working my way through the back section of the book. At some point, I'll get to the savouries but I really do enjoy my sweets. Anyway, it was just convenient that I had half a jar of Crunchy Peanut Butter at home as well as the rest of the ingredients I needed so these muffins were whipped up in a matter of minutes.

Creaming crunchy peanut butter, butter and sugar. The great thing about this recipe is that it smells so good from start to finish (that's if you like peanut butter).

Once all the ingredients get mixed in, it looks a bit lumpy and unappetising but trust me, it was smelling great and only just got better.

After emptying the batter into 12 muffin cases, I thought the muffins were looking a little lonely and ended up putting some chocolate buttons on half the tray. In hindsight, I should've added a few more - the combo of chocolate and peanut butter was fantastic!

The muffins swelled up in the oven and here they are baked after 15 minutes.

I have to give a thumbs up to C&Cs muffin recipes. Out of the two that I've tried so far, the muffins come out so moist and mouthwateringly delicious. 

For breakfast this morning, I nuked one in the oven for about 15 seconds and it was good to go. The texture of the muffin was still moist although eating it this morning, the peanut butter in it seemed to make the muffin stick to the roof of my mouth a bit more (but isn't that what peanut butter is meant to do?) Anyway, it's a great recipe but I do think it could do with a some choc chips tossed throughout. I know it probably makes for a fattier muffin but it just seemed that the muffin was lacking a bit of texture. It was rich in peanut butter flavour but just needed that extra bite.

Anyway, I've still got bits and pieces from the last few lots of baking - I'm thinking I should probably start halving some of the recipes so I don't have so much left over. Unfortunately, there's only so much I can eat before things need to get tossed out!

ajisen ramen @ liverpool st., world square

I'm almost a month late getting the 2009/2010 Entertainment Book but thanks to A, I got my hands on one this week. And being the eager beaver that I am (and considering I've already lost most of a month), I thought to myself, why not make a start to using it straightaway. It probably took me a good hour or so to pour through this year's selection of restaurants/cafes that are offering specials and discounts and come Thursday night, I was still pouring over it till the last minute, figuring out which place to go. Yes, I'm a bit of a dag and brought the book with me to work (it weighs a tonne) but better to have the entire book with me than not to have it all!

There's a good few additions to this year's Sydney Entertainment Book and the restaurant that I ended up picking for Thursday night was one of the newbies - Ajisen Ramen on Liverpool St., World Square. There's been an Ajisen Ramen in Haymarket for some time but for some reason or other, I never got round to going there and it seems like they've opened up another one quite recently at World Square? Anyway, World Square was probably halfway for J&I to get to from work so it was the most sensible choice (for those interested, the 25% discount is available at both branches).

After dissecting the menu J&I decide it was cheapest to get the 'Couples Set' for $50 (with the voucher, the meal ended up being $37.50). The set included 2 ramens, 2 entrees, 2 drinks and 2 desserts; the awesome thing is that they don't restrict you to certain items on the menu. Here's the Spicy soft shell crab. It's not a huge serving but with all the other food in the set, it's definitely more than enough.

Takoyaki. 

Whilst eating our entrees, I think J was silently praying that his ramen wouldn't come in a heart-shaped bowl (as pictured on the menu). I was laughing so hard when the waitress walked our way and the distinctive heart shaped bowls were in sight. J went visibly pink in the face and with me cackling like a crazy women, the girls at the next table couldn't quite help laughing along. I remember when one of my guy friends were telling me about how embarrassed he was also when he went with another male friend to an Ajisen Ramen overseas - and again, it was the distinctive heart-shaped bowl. Anyway, J gets the 'Volcano Ramen' and I have the 'Tontoro Ramen'. Here's also my Moca Jelly Frappe (hard to describe this one - it's almost like a sweet iced coffee with jelly pieces in it).

Melon Calpico Soda.

Our desserts - What resembles an Ice Kachang with Lychee jelly, Vanilla ice cream with green tea mochi.

Whilst the entrees were great, the ramen was very average. J's 'Volcano Ramen' had quite a big scooping of chilli oil in it and the soup in mine lacked flavour. For a total of $37.50 though, it was an extremely decent meal and both J&I were walking out of the restaurant with a full belly. 

There's plenty else on the menu for those that aren't keen on Ramen. The restaurant isn't all that big to cater for big groups so better for small groups up to 4. It's mostly indoor seating although there's two tables outside for those keen on braving the cold. There's one of those buzzers at the table so service is as you like it. Once you're ready, press the button and you'll have a waitress swing your way.

I'll probably come back to check out the rest of their menu but otherwise, need to get cracking with the rest of this year's Entertainment Book!