Gnocchi

I have always been a big fan of gnocchi. That texture yum yum yum.

Check out this post at The Age

I’ll keep you posted when I try this out.

Potato and Pea Curry

Serves 4-6

3 Tb corn or peanut oil
1/2 tsp brown mustard seeds
1/2 tsp whole cumin seeds
1/2 tsp whole, dried, hot red chillies
generous pinch of asafetida
450g boiling potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 /4 tsp ground tumeric
1 tsp sugar
285g frozen peas, defrosted
1.5 tsp salt
3 medium tomatoes, grated on the coarse side of the grater

Pour the oil into a medium, lidded pan and set over a medium-high heat.

When the oil is hot, throw in the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, chillies and asafetida.
As soon as the mustard seeds begin to pop, a matter of seconds, add the potatoes.
Stir and fry until the potatoes brown a little.

Now add the cayenne pepper, cumin, coriander, tumeric and sugar.

Stir once or twice and put in the peas. Stir a few times, then add 250ml water and 1 tsp salt.

Bring to the boil, cover, reduce the heat to low and cook gently for 15 minutes.
Stir in the grated tomatoes and remaining salt.
Simmer gently, uncovered, for a further 10 minutes.

Grublover comment
Jess, Eve and I made this the other day but 10x the recipe for a party. It was a great success and tasted delicious but it was a bit watery - I would suggest adding 1/4 cup water and see how it goes, then add more if needed. It is not a dry curry, but you don’t want it to be watery either.

One dish chicken korma and rice

Serves 4

Prep and cook time 30 mins

2 tablespoons Korma Curry paste (I used Pataks - Korma Curry Paste - Coconut and Coriander, Mild - from Woolies)
800g Chicken thigh fillets (cut into 2cm pieces)
1 cup (200g) white calrose medium grain rice
1 1/2 cups (375ml) chicken stock
100g baby spinach leaves
Heat sauce in medium saucepan. Cook for 1 minute until fragrant.
Add chicken and brown.
Add rice and stock - bring to boil.
Reduce and simmer, covered for 15-20 minutes (keep an eye on it to make sure that rice cooks before all the liquid evaporates). Remove from heat and stir well. Cover dish and stand for 5 minutes.
Add spinach and stir to combine. Add pepper to taste and serve with a slice of lemon.

Enjoy!!

Recipe contributed by Nicole Stallard.

Stir-fried Chicken with Basil

Serves 4

4 chicken breasts, cut into cubes
2 Tb vege oil
2 Tb ginger, finely chopped
2-3 chillies
1 Tb garlic, crushed
2 Tb palm sugar, grated or sliced up if hard
2 Tb fish sauce
big handful basil leaves, Thai or common, roughly shredded
coriander leaves
extra sliced chilli for garnish
steamed rice

Heat a wok to very hot and then add the oil.

Add the ginger, chllies and garlic and cook for just a few seconds - do not burn these or your dish will be ruined.

Add the chicken and stir fry that until it is just cooked and coloured. You may need to do this in two lots if you don’t have good heat as you don’t want it to stew.
Add the palm sugar and the fish sauce and cook until the whole lot looks sticky.
Stir through the basil leaves and serve garnished with the coriander leaves and extra chilli.

Serve with the steamed rice.

Recipe by Margaret Johnson.

Funny Cartoons by Minties Man

I love this guys cartoons. They always make me laugh.

Make your own choc bombs!

Makes 6
100g dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
40g copha
1 tub of good-quality vanilla ice-cream
100g Maltesers
100g Jaffas
3 x 30g Cadbury Flake bars, halved
6 waffle cones

Place the chocolate and copha in a small heatproof bowl over a saucepan half-filled with simmering water (make sure the bowl doesn’t touch the water). Use a metal spoon to stir until chocolate melts and the mixture is smooth. Set aside for 5 minutes to thicken slightly.

Meanwhile, place the Maltesers in a sealable plastic bag. Use a rolling pin to pound and crush lightly. Transfer to a serving bowl. Repeat with the Jaffas. Place the Flake in another serving bowl.

Scoop the ice-cream into the waffle cones. To serve, push a piece of Flake into the ice-cream. Dip the ice-cream into the chocolate mixture and quickly sprinkle Malteser or Jaffa over the top.

Recipe from taste.com.au

Baked White Chocolate Cheesecake

Base
250g Arnott’s Nice biscuits (or digestives)
120g butter, melted

Filling
375g cream cheese, softened
82g (1/3 cup plus 1 tsp) caster sugar
3 large eggs (min weight 59g)
185g white chocolate, melted
225g (3/4 cup plus 2 Tb) sour cream
1/4 tsp vanilla extract (1/2 tsp natural vanilla essence)

Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celcius (If you have a fan-forced oven preheat to 145 degrees Celcius).

Line the base of a 20cm or 21cm springform cake pan with baking paper. Grease or line the sides.

Finely crush biscuits in a blender/food processor. Combine crushed biscuits with melted butter and firmly press mixture into the base and sides of the prepared tin. Refrigerate while preparing filling.

Using a food processor or electric mixer, beat cream cheese with sugar. Stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl as you are mixing. When mixture is smooth, beat in eggs one at a time.

Quickly stir sour cream into melted white chocolate, stirring until smooth. Add to cream cheese mixture along with the vanilla. Beat until ingredients are combined.

Pour filling over biscuit base and bake for about one hour. Leave cheesecake at room temperature for one hour then cover and refigerate for several hours, or until cold and set.

When ready to serve cut with a hot, dry knife. Enjoy!

Grublover comment:
This white chocolate cheesecake has a creamy, smooth consistency. Because it is so rich it is nice to serve with a fruit coulis and ice cream.
To make a white chocolate and rasberry cheesecake, pour half of the filling over the base, sprinkle with 150g of rasberries, then pour the remaining filling over the rasberries and bake.

Nanaimo Bars…recipe by Hollis

Base:
1/2 cup (115g) butter
5 Tbsp (40g) cocoa
1/4 cup (60g) white sugar
1 egg
2 cups Granita/Digestive biscuit crumbs (1 package biscuits)


Filling:
2 cups icing sugar
1/2 cup (115g) butter, softened
1/4 cup milk
3 heaped Tbsp custard powder

Topping:
100-150g good quality dark chocolate
1 tbsp butter
1-2 tbsp vegetable oil (eg peanut oil)

Melt together butter, cocoa and sugar over low heat. Stir until smooth.
Break in egg and stir well.
Remove from heat and add biscuit crumbs.
Mix well, press into lightly greased pan and chill.

For filling, cream butter, then gradually add icing sugar, milk and custard powder. Spread filling on top of base and chill.

Melt chocolate with butter and oil and pour on top, carefully spread to edges and smooth. Bang the pan against the counter a few times to get a nice smooth surface. Refridgerate. Cut into squares and enjoy!

Three-Cheese Pumpkin Pie

Serves 4-6

1 Tbspn olive oil
25g unsalted butter
1 onion, thinly sliced
½ butternut pumpkin (450g) peeled, cut into 1.5cm cubes
1 Tbspn brown sugar
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
2 eggs, lightly beaten, plus 2 lightly beaten egg to brush
100ml pure (thin) cream
120g gruyere, grated
2 Tbsn grated parmesan
Fried sage leaves to serve

Pastry
2 cups (300g) plain flour
30 g cheddar grated
150g chilled unsalted butter, chopped

Pastry: place flour, cheddar and butter in a food processor with a pinch of salt. Process until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Add 1/3 cup (80ml) chilled water and process until mixture comes together to form a smooth ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the filling. Heat the oil and butter in a large frypan over low heat and cook the onion for 5 minutes or until soft. Add the pumpkin and cook, stirring occasionally, for 2-3 minutes. Add ½ cup (125ml) water and bring to a simmer. Cover, return to low heat and cook for 20 minutes or until pumpkin is soft. Stir in the sugar and balsamic vinegar, then allow to cool. Preheat oven to 200 degrees C. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Roll out pastry on a lightly floured board to a 30cm disc and place on prepared tray. Place the cooled pumpkin mixture in a large bowl. Add the eggs and cream, and season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Stir in half the gruyere, then sprinkle the remaining gruyere over the pastry, leaving a 2cm border. Fill the centre of the pastry with the pumpkin mixture, then fold over the 2cm border and roughly pleat. Brush the pastry edge with the beaten egg and sprinkle with parmesan. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden and cooked through.

Serve the pie warm, garnished with fried sage leaves.

Recipe by Genni Wilson

Balthazar…review by Matt Milner

6 The Esplanade
Perth 6000 WA
Phone: (08) 9421 1206
European and Modern Australian
Signature dish: Aged beef fillet


A favourite with the corporate-set and undoubtedly one of the most talked about fine-dining spots in Perth, I ventured to Balthazar with lofty expectations. I was not disappointed! It turned out to be one of the most memorable dining experiences I have had in a long time.

The restaurant is located at the bottom floor of the Lawson Apartments in the heart of the city. The building is a lovely example of art-deco, and this theme is continued inside the restaurant. Upon entering, you can decide to have a pre-dinner drink at the wine bar, however we skipped this and went straight to our table (very comfortable seating)

The menu is well-rounded and follows a distinctively European/Modern Australian theme.

For entrees, the 5 of us shared a tasting plate, which was memorable. It included prawns, pork sausage, and a tomato and eggplant tart -all of which were immaculately presented and tasted phenomenal.
Then came the biggest challenge of the evening: what wine to select. Balthazar has forged its reputation on it’s incredible wine list. It is extensive to say the least - and is regarded as one of the finest in Perth. After flicking through the list (it is about 50 pages long), we settled on a Sem Sav Blanc from WA, and a Pinot Noir from SA. (A word of warning: whilst the wine list is amazing, so are the prices. The cheapest bottles start at about $50 and go up to the $1000’s).

Choosing a main course was almost as challenging as the wine selection, however I settled on a simple grilled fillet of Barramundi with a balsamic sauce infused with tomato and bacon, and creamy mashed-potato. It was extremely tasty and satisfying. The fish was fresh, delicate, perfectly cooked, and flavoursome, and the sauce was perfectly balanced. The mash was delicious, had a great texture, and wasn’t too stodgy.

After a few more more glasses of wine and numerous gin&tonics, everyone felt dessert was an essential way to end the meal. I ordered the chocolate pudding infused with cherries - it was a good choice. It was rich, warm, and decadent. I almost ordered seconds, but thought about the dire consequences it would have for my already expanding waist-line (and my ever-shrinking wallet).

My dinner buddies shared my opinion on the standard of the food. A couple of them had the pork-belly, which they told me was flavoursome, generous, and overall an excellent dish.

The service is also of a high-standard. The staff are attentive and keen to share their extensive knowledge of the menu and wine-list, yet they are still unobtrusive and discrete.

After a few more (quite a few more) gin&tonics, we got the bill, which was not as scary as I had envisaged. If you take away the exorbitant cost of the wine, the food is very reasonably priced for a restaurant of this quality and calibre.

It felt strange leaving a restaurant without being able to criticise it in some way, shape, or form. But we all left feeling very satisfied and reveled in the fact that we had found a restaurant that had all the ingredients: atmosphere, location, great service, great wine, and outstanding food.

Entree: $15-$27
Mains: $23-$36
Dessert: $14

Susy's Sensational Salad

Rocket
Asparagus
Avocado
Macadamia nuts

Dressing
Macadamia nut oil
Balsamic vinegar
Wholegrain mustard
Sugar

Put rocket in salad bowl first, cook asparagus until crunchy, cool and place on top of rocket, slice avocado on top of asparagus and then scatter with macadamia nuts.

Dress with vinaigrette made with macadamia nut oil, balsamic vinegar, little bit grainy mustard, little bit sugar - all to taste.

Susy's Sensational Salad

Rocket
Asparagus
Avocado
Macadamia nuts

Dressing
Macadamia nut oil
Balsamic vinegar
Wholegrain mustard
Sugar

Put rocket in salad bowl first, cook asparagus until crunchy, cool and place on top of rocket, slice avocado on top of asparagus and then scatter with macadamia nuts.

Dress with vinaigrette made with macadamia nut oil, balsamic vinegar, little bit grainy mustard, little bit sugar - all to taste.

Sweet Potato Thai Green Curry Pastry Puffs…recipe by Jill Anderson

1 small red onion
Olive oil
1-2 tablespoons Thai Green Curry paste
1 large diced sweet potato
Coconut milk or coconut cream
6 sheets Puff pastry - each sheet cut into 9 squares

Egg wash - 1 egg, 1 tablespoon water

Yoghurt Mint Dip
Plain Greek Yoghurt
1/2 freshly squeezed lemon
black pepper
a large bunch of fresh mint leaves finely chopped

Dice a small red onion and fry in a small amount of olive oil.
Add 1 - 2 tablespoons of Thai green Curry Paste (start with 1 tablespoon and add more depending on how hot you like it)

Add a large diced sweet potato. Coat and fry gently for a few minutes to absorb flavours.

Add enough coconut milk or coconut cream to cook the potatoes until soft, then mash gently with a fork.

Add about 1 teaspoon of cooled mixture to the centre of each pastry square.
Fold into triangles, fork the edges and coat in egg wash.

Bake in fan forced oven 180 C, or normal oven 200 C until golden brown.

Serve warm with Yoghurt Mint Dip.
Plain Greek Yoghurt, 1/2 freshly squeezed lemon, black pepper and a large bunch of fresh mint leaves finely chopped.

Could also be good with a Chilli sauce, fresh lime juice and chopped fresh coriander dip!

Enjoy - and we’ll come to help you eat them!

Aubergine Gourmet Foods on South Terrace…review by Jessica Anderson

231 South Tce
South Fremantle 6162 WA
Phone: (08) 9335 2115
Chef: Paul Watters

I awoke nice and early on sunday (after a massive night out) to head out for breakfast and found myself in Fremantle at 12pm. I was starving and looking to assuage my hangover. I’m not 100% sure if it was the fact that I was willing to eat anything or that the food was fabulous but Aubergine’s in South Tce hit the spot for me that morning (ah, midday). I was lucky to jag an outdoor table and placed an order for their breakfast sandwich while my boyfriend had the eggs florentine. I love a place that does all day breakfast and despise those that stop the morning ritual at 11am.

The breakfast sandwich was huge and gave me the option to eat with my hands “sandwich style” or with a knife and fork. I chose to eat with my hands and went for it. A large square of turkish bread that was not too doughy (and therefore the perfect vessel) carried bacon, egg, spinach, cheese, roasted tomatoes and some delightfully tasty relish with onions. I think I ate the whole thing in under 10 minutes, maybe less. My boyfriend’s eggs florentine looked good but unfortunately he wasn’t willing to share that morning, even though I gave him some of my bacon. I can however tell you, that his physical improvement between arriving and leaving was such that the food must have been the perfect hangover cure as well as a damn fine meal.

I was really impressed with the coffee and the service. The two waitresses that served me were both genuinely pleasing and warm. The one with the short hair really went out of her way to make sure some other customers could fit their party on an outside table. The coffee came out quickly, hot and was not bitter to taste. My boyfriend’s flat white was not too frothy either, which is how a FLAT white should be. We also got a juice, and out of the array of ingredients to choose from, the combo of apple, pineapple, orange and ginger really hit the spot. The juice was cool and not overly packed with ice.

I really enjoyed the experience at Aubergines, however I do recommend sitting outside as it can get very noisy inside and has terrible acoustics. I did have an average meal there when I ordered fruit toast about a month ago but this new experience has put it back in my good books. It also has the great Freo vibe without the hoons driving their cars past you and it is free and easier to find a parking spot. I am really looking forward to seeing this part of Fremantle grow as the Seaview Pub and other little cafes start to open up and improve.
I give it a 7 out of 10!!

Mon-Fri 7am-4pm; Sat-Sun 7am-5pm
Mains: $3.50-$16.50
Dessert: $3.50-$4.50
Payment accepted: Cash Only

Beef Vindaloo…recipe by Eve Clarkson

½ kg meat – pork, beef or chicken
Turmeric
Vinegar
Salt
Curry Leaves
2 small red onions, sliced
2 tomatoes (roma), chopped
1 Tbsp sunflower oil
Small handful of curry leaves

Masala
1 Tbsp garlic
1 Tbsp ginger
½ tsp cumin
1 tsp black mustard seeds, heaped
½ tsp pepper (white is preferable to black)
5 cloves
1½ tsp cinnamon sticks
10 dried red chillies (15 is usual)
1 Tbsp white sultanas, heaped

1. Marinate meat in turmeric, vinegar, salt and curry leaves for 1 hr
2. Grind masala ingredients together
3. Heat sunflower oil in pot
4. Add onions, fry until light brown
5. Add masala, lower the heat and cook for 3 mins
6. Add the curry leaves
7. Cook until the water evaporates and the masala is dried out
8. Add the chopped tomatoes and cook until the water evaporates
9. Add the meat and cook until tender

Grublover comment
Eve says: Please put this recipe up on Grublove. I have just made it and it is fantastic. I did it with Pork but I think it is better than beef.

Lamb Shank Stifado…recipe by Jessica Anderson

1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1 can whole tomatoes
1 cup dry red wine
2 tsp dried rosemary
1 cinnamon stick
3 large cloves garlic
1 bay leaf
2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
6 lamb shanks
1 pound sml onions
2 pounds sml red potatoes
1 Tbs olive oil

Preheat oven to 175 C. Melt sugar in pot over moderate heat, don’t stir. When melted, stir with a wooden spoon until sugar becomes a deep caramel (5 minutes).
Carefully add the vinegar (it will bubble, so don’t burn yourself) and stir until caramel is dissolved.

Add tomatoes, wine, rosemary, cinnamon, bay leaf, salt, pepper and bring to the boil.

Add shanks, cover, take to the over.

Braise, turning shanks occassionally, until tender (~2 hours, but i sometimes leave them in for ages as the flavour just develops).

Meanwhile, cook onions in saucepan of water. Cool then peel. Quarter the potatoes, steam in water. Heat oil in skillet over moderate heat, add garlic and cook until golden. Add potatoes with salt and pepper, increase heat and stir til golden. Then add the potatoes and onions to the shanks.

Extra notes: When you take the shanks out of the oven, skim the fat off the top (this is easier if left to cool as will harden). If you make it a day ahead it will be really tasty but you would do the onions and potatoes on the day. I sometimes add 2-3 cans of tomatoes as Aussie shanks are bigger and the sauce mix doesn’t cover them fully. This recipe doubles nicely.

Sea Garden, Prevelly...review by Jessica Anderson

103 Mitchell Dr
Prevelly 6285 WA
Phone: (08) 9757 3074





It was with a mild sense of delight when I discovered that the surf was crap and the sea was windy as I therefore knew I could indulge in my boyfriend’s company all morning. We headed to Sea Garden in Prevelly for some late coffees and were so seduced by the menu that we decided to place a bigger order.

We decided to share the poached eggs with spinach and feta to accompany our flat whites and cappucinos. I am a serious lover of eating breakfast at cafes, I love the newspaper getting in the way and the fact that I don’t have to do small talk. The Sea Garden has the perfect ambiance for my favourite indulgence. We sat outside, under the peppermint trees with the sun on our backs and a view to the roaring ocean. The food came out in 10 minutes after we ordered.

Firstly, the coffee was strong and smooth. I am regarded as a coffee snob amongst most of my friends and this cafe did not disappoint me.

But to the food …. it was the most delicious breakfast i have eaten in a long time. the eggs were poached perfectly with the whites firm and the orange middle (I kid you not, the centres were bright orange) a perfect runny mess. the feta was a great salty substitute for the usual bacon, and the small amount of grated fresh beetroot took the texture of the meal to a new dimension. the chef had also roasted a small half tomato, wilted the spinach under the warm eggs, lightly buttered the ciabatta toast and wasn’t overly generous on the hollandaise, so the meal was balanced perfectly. The only criticism is that the hollandaise sauce didn’t appear to be “real”, possibly out of a jar.

My boyfriend, who frequents most of Margaret River’s eateries, regards this cafe as a bit “hit and miss” but this Saturday morning it hit it and it hit it hard! I was so impressed that I am excited about my next meal there and cant wait to try something else on the menu. I’d easily give the whole experience a 7 out of 10! (the waitress was pretty cute too).

Open daily 8am - 9pm
Entree: $7-$19
Mains: $18.50-$29
Dessert: $8.50-$14
Licensed. Wine is not available by the glass. BYO (wine only) $5 corkage per person.

Jill’s Caramelised Onion and Goats Cheese Tart

Shortcrust pastry (you can make this yourself of use the frozen stuff)
5-6 brown onions
2 Tb balsamic vinegar
thyme
1 packet goats cheese
3 eggs
small packet whipping cream

Press shortcrust pastry into tart tin and blind bake.
Fry onions in 1 Tb olive oil until they start sticking. Add balsamic vinegar and thyme and cook a little more.
Pour onions over tart base.
Crumble goats cheese over the top (ok to have big clumps).
Whisk up eggs and cream until combined and pour over the top.
Season and bake until ready (around 10-15 minutes).

Grublover comment
Jill made this for us while celebrating Jessie’s graduation in gtown. It is a really simple recipe that always works and always tastes delicious. Serve with a fresh, crisp salad of rocket and balsamic. Great for entertaining because it is equally nice cold.

Brownie Pudding Recipe…recipe contributed by Hollis

1 cup plain flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons peanut oil/salad oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
1 and 3/4 cup hot water

Sift together first 5 ingredients.
Add milk, oil and vanilla. Mix until smooth.
Stir in nuts.
Pour into a greased 8×8x2 inch baking dish.
Combine remaining ingredients. Pour over batter.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes.
Makes 6 - 8 servings.

Grublover comment
Hollis said: I made this recipe last night. It is really really easy & quick. And it’s great because if you have walnuts in the freezer, you don’t really need any other special ingredients. It’s great with vanilla icecream It ends up being a brownie on top with liquid chocolate sauce underneath. That’s why you want to serve it hot with ice-cream!

Tuxedo Strawberries?

While hunting for valentine’s day ideas I came across these little fellas.

If you ask me they are really creepy - and I began to discover whole communities dedicated to these headless groomsmen…

Osteria dei Sapori

151 Broadway
Nedlands 6009 WA
Phone: (08) 9386 4243
Open: Lunch Monday - Friday; Dinner Monday - Saturday



Do yourself a favour and visit Osteria dei Sapori.

It boasts delicious, generous serves of traditional Italian food.

Excellent service - italian waiters full of life, paying attention to every last detail. They will even clap and sing to you if it is your birthday!!

Very reasonable prices.

Last time I had:
- Antipasto plate - Osteria is famous for this
- the pasta dei giorno - Ox Tail Ragu with tagliatelle - absolutely delicious homemade pasta with the best meaty ragu
- Profiteroles
- Panna cotta with strawberry sauce

There was not a snip of food left on any plate.

Entree: $15-$19
Mains: $16-$35
Dessert: $7.50
Payment accepted: MasterCard, Visa and American Express

Licensed. Wine is available by the glass.

Peanut Butter Cup Slice…recipe by Nigella Lawson

Makes approximately 48.

for the base:
50g dark muscovado sugar
200g icing sugar
50g unsalted butter
200g smooth peanut butter

for the topping:
200g milk chocolate
100g dark chocolate
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 x 23cm square brownie tin, lined with Glad Bake

Stir all the ingredients for the base together until smooth. Wooden spoon works great.
You will find that some of the dark muscovado sugar stays in rubbly, though very small, lumps, but don’t worry about that. Press the sandy mixture into the lined brownie tin and make the surface as even as possible.

To make the topping, melt the chocolates and butter together (in a microwave for ease, for a minute or two on medium) and spread on the base. Put the tin in the fridge to set. When the chocolate has hardened, cut into small squares – because, more-ish as it undeniably is, it is also very rich.

Grublover comment
This recipe is dedicated to my good pal Kelly Gillespie who introduced me to the mouth-watering, moreish Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups. It is really simple to make and is as close as you can get to the real thing. The best thing is you don’t have to cook - great because my oven is out of action. Enjoy Kel!

Nougat a la Eve

Prep Time: 30 minutes + 4 hours refrigeration
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Serve: 1kg

500g sugar
250ml liquid glucose
175g honey (preferably blossom honey)
2 egg whites
1 tsp vanilla essence
125g unsalted butter, softened
60g almonds, unblanched and toasted
100g glace cherries (not imitation)

1. Grease a 28 x 18cm baking dish and line with baking paper. Place the sugar, glucose, honey, 60ml water and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a heavy-based saucepan and stir over low heat until dissolved. Bring to the boil and cook at a rolling boil for 8 minutes, or until the mixture forms a hard ball when tested in a small amount of water, or reaches 122C on a sugar thermometer.

Note: The correct temperature is very important, otherwise the mixture will not set properly.

2. Beat the egg whites in a bowl with electric beaters until stiff peaks form. Slowly pour a quarter of the syrup onto the egg whites in a thin stream and beat for up to 5 minutes, or until the mixture holds its shape. Place the remaining syrup over the heat and cook for 2 minutes (watch that it doesn’t burn), or until a small amount forms brittle threads when dropped in cold water, or reaches 157C on a sugar thermometer. Pour slowly onto the meringue mixture with the beaters running and beat until the mixture is very thick.

3 Add the vanilla and butter and beat for another 5 minutes. Stir in the almonds and cherries using a metal spoon. Turn the mixture into the tin and smooth the top with a palate knife. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or until firm.

Turn out onto a large chopping board and with a very sharp knife cut into 4 x 2cm pieces. Wrap each piece in cellophane and store in the refrigerator.

Source: The Essential Mediterranean Cookbook (Murdoch Books) Cookbook (Murdoch Books)
http://au.lifestyle.yahoo.com/b/better-homes-gardens/306/nougat-recipe/

The Berry Farm…review by Winsome Stavrianou

We spent two weeks in the Margaret River region of WA in November. The scenery was breathtaking, all the vines were covered with green leaves, the grass was green and the rivers were full. Pleasantly the weather was warming up. We were on the mission for a perfect lunch. We tried quite a few of the wineries and similar throughout the two weeks. The standout lunch was at the Berry Farm.

The Berry Farm is located about half an hour away from Margaret River Township. The drive takes you through lovely rural country, littered with animals and vineyards. My first impression of the Berry Farm was not fantastic. It was not well signposted, and there was construction work happening near the car park. However, as we approached the little cottage that is now the restaurant we forgot all about these little glitches. We chose to sit outside, with the cute little blue wrens and other birds.
We ordered the two pies, one each, as recommended by the owner/chef. He couldn’t chose a favourite, and between us neither could we. We ordered a beef pie with red wine sauce and a venison pie with port sauce. The pies were delicious, golden flaky pastry encrusting beautifully tender meat and sauce. The meat was real, and great big chunks of it. The pies also came with a simple salad, which was refreshing and all that was necessary. Having said that, the garlic bread we ordered complimented the pies perfectly. We could have done without the garlic bread, as we actually struggled to finish the pies after eating so much delicious garlicky bread. However our puppy, Honey, managed to help us out with that one.

Also on the menu were delicious looking scones served with jam and cream, and other lighter lunches.

Another pro of this restaurant is the friendly staff. We had puppy in tow for the duration of our trip down south. We found it difficult in some places to take us with her. Despite finding outside tables, many restaurants didn’t like her being there. In contrast the people at the Berry Farm welcomed her, and even asked where they could get one like her.

I would recommend the Berry Farm to anyone travelling to the Margaret River region as we thoroughly enjoyed it. We can’t wait to try the jams and sauces next time we get there, as after eating such a fantastic lunch we were too full to try anything more.

Winsome Stavrianou

Moist Pear Cake…recipe by Dana Kelly

In the base of 8 inch tin, 3 large pears, ripe, quarterd and cored.
Pour over 2 oz of melted butter.

4 eggs
1/4 cup fine sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup flour 1/3 cup SR flour
1 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon mixed spice
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
50 gram melted butter, cooled
1/4 cup syrup
1/2 cup milk, or less as required

Melt butter and syrup, leave to cool (add some milk)
Sift flour, bicarb, spices, pinch of salt, leave.
Combine eggs sugar, vanilla in heat proof bowl, place over saucepan gentle simmer water (make sure does water does not touch bowl).
Beat 6-7 mins elec beater, or til pale & thick, until double in bulk approx.

Remove from heat, continue to beat for 3 mins.
Use large metal spoon, gently fold into flour mix.

Then mix in butter mix gently.

Pour over pears in tin. Bake for 180C (350F) for 25-30 mins (but can take longer).

Leave to cool in tin for 15 mins before turing out onto rack.

Dana Kelly

5 tips every serious home cook must know…Gordon Ramsay

We can’t all afford foie gras, caviar and truffles, but that shouldn’t stop us thinking like a three Michelin star chef. To introduce his new book, Gordon Ramsay discloses the recipes that made his reputation – and reveals the five tips that every serious home cook should know.

1 Timing
So many people misunderstand timing. They think it’s about everything coming together at the same moment. They’ll think, the chicken will be ready at 1pm, so I’ll put the potatoes on at 20 to, the carrots at 10 to and the peas at 5 to. Then, disaster – they’re trying to carve the chicken, mash the potatoes and drain the veg all at the same time. I wouldn’t even try that with a brigade of 15 chefs. No, what a professional chef means by timing is getting everything prepared as far ahead as possible, so that two thirds of the work has already been done and you’re just bringing together the elements for the grand finale. That means having the meat ready up to half an hour before and parboiling your vegetables and refreshing them in cold water, ready to be warmed through in a pan with a splash of olive oil. It means frying your mushrooms in olive oil and reheating them in butter. And it means turning the final stages of cooking into an assembly line, which is much easier to control than starting everything from scratch and cooking it right through. Less stress, better results.

2 Seasoning
Salt and pepper are the building blocks of any kitchen. It’s the first thing I teach my new chefs – to season with confidence and, where necessary, subtlety. Too many people wait until the end to season their dishes. That way your taste buds just get clobbered with uncooked salt or pepper. Better to add it at the beginning of cooking so the raw taste can be cooked out and it has time to enhance the flavour of your ingredients. And keep tasting, all the way through cooking, to see how the flavours evolve. Finally, don’t limit yourself: salt and pepper are only the beginning of the story. We always season fish or seafood with a squeeze of lemon or lime at the end and, increasingly, we’ll use whole bunches of herbs to infuse a soup or cream sauce, or add cloves, vanilla or cinnamon to a fish stock. Be bold. Be adventurous.

3 Cooking fish
Given how popular sushi has become, I’m amazed at how squeamish people are about eating their fish anything other than nuked. Believe me, if the inside is a bright white, the outside will be dried out and woolly. No, you want the inside of your fish slightly translucent, like the inside of an oyster shell. Start with a medium-hot pan, add two parts olive oil and put in your seasoned fillet of fish, skin-side down. Don’t worry about it sticking – once it has caramelised, the fillet will release itself. Prodding and poking will just make it fall apart. Once it is 80 per cent cooked, gently turn it over, add one part butter and keep basting it. Add the butter too early and you’ll end up with a blackened pan – and burnt-tasting fish. Finally, allow the fish to relax, during which time it will continue to cook. Like vegetables, it can be held for five minutes, and then flashed in a 200C/Gas 6 oven with a little stock to warm it through.

4 Cooking meat
The secret of cooking meat is in the resting. I find it so dispiriting when I cut into a steak and watch all the juices leak out on to the plate because it hasn’t had time to relax and reabsorb all that goodness. Start with your meat at room temperature – if you take it straight from the fridge, the outside will be burnt before the centre has had time to heat up. And remember, 85 per cent of the cooking is done in the pan, the remaining 15 per cent as it rests. For a rare fillet steak, for example, give it two and a half minutes on each side and let it rest in its own juices for three. Then, just before serving, roll it in its juices again before flashing it through a hot oven. A final word about duck: of all meats, it goes cold the quickest because it is so lean, so don’t slice a breast into more than three or four slices or it will discolour and turn an unappetising brown colour.

5 Perfect custard
It’s worth perfecting your egg-custard recipe as it is the base for so many things, from ice-cream to crème patisserie. Follow these three golden rules and you won’t go wrong. First, always use fresh vanilla pods – the difference between those tiny seeds and vanilla extract is like night and day. Second, when you bring your milk and cream to the boil, take it off the heat the moment it starts to boil; even another 30 seconds will completely change the consistency. And finally, don’t add the sugar to the egg yolks until the last second and you are ready to whisk it, otherwise the sugar will dissolve into the egg and lose the strength to make the custard thicken as you need it to.

Vegetable Filo for One…recipe by Margaret McVey

Chopped Mixed vegetables - spinach, mushrooms, olives, dried tomatoes, dried capsicum (enough for 1 person)
125 g feta - cubed
5 sheets of filo (phyllo) pastry

1. Mix vegetables and feta cheese together in a bowl
2. Grease the sheets of pastry with olive oil and layer together
3. Put the vegetable and cheese mixture at the end of the pastry and roll up. You may need to oil the join. Spread some more oil on top if it is dry.
4. Bake in a moderate oven for 30 mins

I usually cook some potatoes in the oven at the same time and serve with tomato chutney.

Grublover comment
Margaret says: This is a variation on spinach and feta pie and just about any vegetable can be used -

Christmas Cake Recipe…recipe by Eve Clarkson

500g brown sugar
500g butter
2 kg mixed fruit
125g walnuts
125g SR flour
375g Plain flour
10 eggs
2 flat teaspoons mixed spice
1/2 cup sherry
1 teaspoon almond or vanilla essence
Blanched almonds and red cherries for garnish

Soak mixed fruit in sherry while rest of ingredients prepared.

Preheat the oven to 150 degrees Celcius

Cream butter and brown sugar until light in colour.
Add the eggs one at a time. Stir in the mixed fruit, sherry and essences.
Stir in the flours and spice and fold into the mixture with the walnuts.

Line cake tines , base and sides with brown paper then glad bake (this enables the cake to cook slowly and evenly). Leave extra extending above the top of the tin.

This makes 10 cakes the size of large tuna tins, or 2 smaller cakes.

Decorate with cherry and blanched almonds.

Cook small cakes for 1 hour and larger for 2 hours ­ test with skewer and remove from overn when skewer clean.

Cool in the tins. When cool pour over 1-2 tablespoons of brandy (or you could try Ouzo for a different effect)

Wrap in glad wrap to keep if made in advance to Christmas.

Aubergine à la Simon…recipe by Simon Clarkson

1 large Aubergine (or a few smaller ones)
Olive Oil; Sesame Oil for frying
3 medium ripe tomatoes
1 large clove garlic
I small eschalot (or a very small Spanish onion)
2cm finely sliced fresh ginger
1 tsp garam masala




In mortar and pestle or appliance of choice process garlic, ginger and eschalot to a paste.
Separately blend tomatoes to a pulp.
Fry garlic/ginger/eschalot paste in some olive oil until oil starts separating and add Garam Masala then add tomato pulp and cook for 3 to 5 minutes – then set aside….

Prepare aubergine by slicing into 1.5 cm slices and brush with sesame and olive oil and fry in non-stick frypan to colour slightly.

Place Aubergine slices in shallow casserole and pour over reserved marinade.

Bake in medium-hot oven for 15 minutes…

Serve with Bok Choy stir fried with chilli marinated Tofu.

Tim’s Lentil Soup…recipe by Tim Hollingsworth

2 Cans of Whole Tomatoes
1 Can Lentils (or 1/2 cup dry lentils)
1 Large Onion (peeled)
5 Cloves Garlic (peeled
1 Cup Water
Salt + Pepper
Olive Oil
Parmesan



1. Combine in a Large Pot: Tomatoes, Lentils, Whole Onion, Whole Garlic Cloves, Water.
2. Let simmer for about 45 min. When the middle of the Onion “pops” out or is very soft, the soup is ready.
3. Serve in Bowls, then… Drizzle Olive Oil and Sprinkle Parmesan Cheese on each serving.
4. Enjoy!

Grublover comment
This is the perfect meal for a night that you are tired and just want a hearty meal without doing much work! You don’t even have to chop anything. Tim learned this from an Italian chef while staying in a hostel in France. We always double the recipe and have enough for 4. We like to use a high quality olive oil and parmesan as they can really add to the soup.

Thai Chicken and Basil from Terry Durack’s ‘Yum’…Recipe provided by Fiona T Nichols

Serves 4










500g chicken thighs, cut into strips
3-4 red or green chillies
2 tablespoon flat leaf parsley
bunch of fresh basil leaves
4 tablespoon vegetable oil
3 tablespoon fish sauce (nam pla)

Slice chillies into thin slivers and finely chop parsley. Pluck basil leaves and reserve them.
Heat oil in wok, cook chicken over moderate heat for 3-4 minutes.
Add the chillies, most of the basil and the chopped parsely.
Cook, stirring as you go, for another 3-4 mins. Splash in fish sauce and stir through.
Add remaining basil and serve with plenty of jasmine rice.

Grublover comment
Thai Chicken and Basil (from Terry Durack’s ‘Yum’, in which he says that this recipe taught him that you could toss things in the wok while half-drunk and without a care in the world, and still be able to feed people without killing them)

Sylvia’s Baklava

½ kg blanched almonds
1 packet of filo (not Pampas)
250g unsalted butter, melted

Roast the almonds until light golden.
Whiz in the food processor until reasonably fine.

First you need to assemble the filo.
Use three sheets if the filo is very thin, if not use two sheets.
Lay out a sheet of filo with the long edge towards you. Brush melted butter over it liberally. Lay a second sheet over this and butter liberally (repeat with a 3rd sheet if using).

Sprinkle the half the pastry closest to you with the almonds. Roll away from you, starting along the long edge. Roll it up completely.
Lay a separate sheet of filo on the bench and butter liberally.
Place the already rolled baklava on top of this sheet, flap side down.
Roll up tightly.

Cut the roll at an angle to form approximately 4cm long diamonds.

These can now be frozen stored separately in an airtight container. Take out of the freezer and defrost in the fridge the night before cooking, or they can be cooked from frozen.

Place separately on a baking tray and baste with butter. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes at 200 degrees celsius (or maybe a little less, keep an eye on them). Lower the oven to 170 degrees and bake for a further 10 minutes until pale golden. They may not need as long as this.

Remove from the tray, place onto a serving dish or into a storage container and then pour over the cool syrup to approximately half a centimetre deep. They may require more or less syrup.

ALTERNATIVELY the baklava can be cooked in sheets (like a lasagne).
Layer two sheets of filo with butter in between, then sprinkle with the almonds.
Repeat until there are 7 to 8 sheets of filo in total. Finish with with 1 or 2 sheets of filo.
Cut into diamonds before cooking.
Baste with butter, and then cook at 200 degrees Celsius until golden.
Pour cold syrup over hot baklava.

Syrup
3 ½ cups sugar
3 cups water
½ lemon juiced

Place ingredients in a saucepan.
Cook for about 20 minutes (or to 220 degrees celsius on a sugar thermometer)
Pour cooled syrup over the hot baklavas.

Grublover comment
Sylvia is a lovely greek chef that mum met while on holiday in the mother land (kazi). She won a baklava competition on the island, beating all the Greeks and Turks. Mum made some when she got back and it is truly delicious and moreish.

Crunchy Blueberry Muffins

Makes 8 large muffins, or 16 mini muffins





1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1 cup fresh blueberries

Topping
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup butter, cubed
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C. Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.
Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.

To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

Grublover comment
These muffins are so delicious and the crumb topping just makes them all crunchy mmmmmmm. Great for breakfast.

Tigerlils II

Stupidly I returned to Tigerlils, being sucked in by a free lunch.

Again I was extremely disappointed.

No need to even comment on the food because I feel sick to the stomach thinking about it but it looked and tasted like it had been sitting around with flies laying eggs on it for hours.

I vomited straight after.

Don’t go here if you value your health at all.

Flower Drum…review by Jessica Anderson

Flower Drum Restaurant
Melbourne 17 Market Lane 3000
(03) 9662 3655




It was a rather interesting weekend when my friend decided we needed to eat somewhere fantastic. Too long had we savoured the kebab and cheap pizza, we needed something special. Flowerdrum has a reputation that all restaurants would envy and so we went to find out if it was true.

On entry we were greeted by a lovely door man who escorted us to the lift and took us to the restaurant. I must admit, the decor disappointed me and the repeated “do you have a booking?” was also frustrating, especially because the restaurant was no where near full! We did however have a booking and were taken to our table.

Any reservations I may have had after the first impressions was whisked away as our lovely waiter Barney came to look after us. We ordered the set menu, which was a modestly priced $55 for lunch (it is $150 at dinner). From that moment on, Flowerdrum became everything we hoped.

We ordered cocktails (Planter’s punch and Pimm’s punch) which were a fresh and cool alternative to wine. They also complimented the Chinese food perfectly.

Our first course was three dumplings. One was filled with a smooth crab filling, another with a bitey pork and the last, was seafood which was dipped into a soy and ginger sauce. All were sublime and had us hankering for more. The texture was perfect, the dumplings held their shape and didn’t fall apart in your chopsticks and the sizes were large, but not too big for your mouth.

The next course was a deep fried garfish. Firstly let me say ..there was not one bone. The fillets were long and perfectly fried for the crunch on the outside and the soft/flaky in the middle. This was lovely, however was the least favourite of all the courses

The third course was peking duck. The trolley was wheeled out to the table, and I almost squealed in delight. The pancakes were rolled in front of us, a large cheek of crispy skinned duck was placed with the hoi sin sauce, cucumber and spring onion. It was sublime. I savoured my first and last bite and was so relieved when the waiter asked if we were ready for our 2nd one. Same again, beautiful duck, chewy and soft texture of the pancake, all perfect.

The last course was breathtaking. Grain fed rib eye cooked medium rare in a black pepper sauce. I have never in my life had meat melt in my mouth the way this cut did. It was by far our favourite. The rib eye was cooked perfectly and the broccolini that accompanied it was firm and delicious. The cut was very generous and still rare in the middle; the restaurant could have served only this dish and would still be regarded as one of Australia’s best.

Our other waiters; Jeff, Tommy and Trainee were all as fantastic as Barney. They had pleasing, genuine smiles and they made sure out glasses of water were constantly filled (it seems like a simple gesture but was much appreciated). The timing of the meals between each course was also down to a fine art. I never felt starved, but always ready for my next meal and the waiters never made us wait too long.

We were brought coffee and some almond biscuits to finish our meal and were suitably stuffed by the end, but did not feel gluttonly full. The meal really was a great experience. I recommend it to all who are in Melbourne to try this institution on the restaurant scene.

Jessica Anderson

The Pony Club…review by Lisa Tibbits

Mt Lawley 620 Beaufort St 6050
(08) 9228 8801
www.theponyclub.com.au

I had the great pleasure of dining at The Pony Club in Mount Lawley on Saturday night. I must admit that after reading both rave and scathing reviews of the restaurant, did not have very high expectations of the place and knew that it was going to be an expensive evening. Whilst the evening definitely hurt the hip pocket, I had a great time and was definitely impressed with the food, the wine and, of course, the company!

After trying for weeks to organise a girly catch-up between 5 very busy ladies, we finally managed to lock in a 7pm start on a busy Saturday night. We arrived a little late which didn’t turn out to be a problem as there was only a hand full of diners in the candlelit room. We were seated in a corner of the restaurant near the entrance. I thought this was going to annoy me as we would have people walking past us all evening, but to be honest I didn’t even thing about it again after 5 minutes of being there. If anything, the staff would maybe have regretted seating us there as we definitely got quite loud and silly towards the end of the evening

After taking a few happy snaps and settling in, we decided to order some drinks. It took quite some time to attract the waiters attention, but eventually a bottle of the Brokenwood Semillon ‘06 (Hunter Valley) ($37) was delivered to our table. One of us decided to get into the cocktails early and ordered an ‘Emma Dilemma’ (vodka, muddled pineapple, lychee and basil) ($14.50). Both were sensational, although we were disappointed to discover that we had actually ordered the last bottle of the Brokenwood as we would have loved another bottle.

With lots of girl talk and gossip to catch up on, a glance at the extensive tapas menu revealed that we were going to have to really think about what to order and how many dishes to get between us. Thankfully we turned the menu over and discovered that we could choose from 2 ‘banquettes’ - $50 or $60 per person which showcased the best dishes on the menu. We decided to go all out and order the $60 banquet. Sorted. (I’ll quote the individual prices next the to food which we actually ate to give you an idea of prices).

While we finished off the bottle of Brokenwood, some olives with chilli garlic and lemon fennel ($6) arrived at our table, along with some salted almonds ($6). As we got stuck into the appetisers, we noticed out glasses were empty and decided to order more wine. Again, it took ages for us to attract the attention of the waiter. When we finally managed to call someone over, we ordered a round of ‘Peachy Keens’ (pompero rum, peach liqueur, muddled peach and lime) ($14.50), a few ‘How’da Like Them Apples?!’ (apple vodka and liqueur, muddled apple and cardamon pods) ($14.50), as well as a bottle of the Lenton Brae late Harvest Semillon ‘04 ($27) and ‘The Yard’ Shiraz (Frankland River) ($38.00). The Shiraz was sensational.

Our next round of food arrived and consisted of:

Haloumi, pan seared with a chilli lime pesto ($9.80)
Char Grilled asparagus spears with goats curd and porcini oil ($11.30)
Truffled honey Persian feta crostini with walnuts and torn basil ($11.20)
House cured juniper salmon served with a beetroot and orange blossom salad ($14.80) and
Char grilled king [prawn with cucumber, paw paw and pomegranate molasses ($16.20).
My favourite dish was the Persian feta, which just melted in your mouth and was absolutely divine. Each serve also catered for 5 people, so we all got an equal share of everything with none to spare.

There was probably a half hour or 40 minute wait between this course and the next round of food, but that didn’t bother us as we kept drinking and talking and thoroughly enjoying the darkened atmosphere in the restaurant. By this time the restaurant was full and all the diners around us seemed to be having as good a time as us too. When our main courses arrived there was plenty of food to go around. Unfortunately, the menu on the restaurant’s website is obviously not the current menu as I cant remember some of the dishes that we were served. However, we were served with a curry-type dish with chick peas and tomato, a beautiful lamb dish with eggplant and lentils (my favourite dish of the evening, the lamb just crumbled when transferring it from the serving bowl to your plate), a fish dish and also another dish. Every dish was amazing! Most of the main dishes are around $30 per dish if bought individually.

After that we continued drinking (I am pretty sure another few rounds of cocktails were ordered), taking photos, ducking outside occasionally to the comfortable smoking area, generally laughing and having a fun time. We never felt like we had to leave now that we had finished and we spent at least another hour at the table after the main course had been cleared. During this time we also had Churros with chocolate ganach (think doughnuts to dip in chocolate sauce) ($10.50).

At the end of the evening we split the bill evenly. At $120 each (I actually though it was going to be more to be honest!) it was an expensive, but awesome evening. It was definitely a special “once off” night… I dont think I could justify spending $60 on just food for myself again anytime soon, but we all had a brilliant time and I would definitely recommend it for a group of people looking to try something different!

Food: 7.5/10
Drinks: 8/10
Service: 6.5/10
Overall: 7.5/10

Lisa Tibbits aka Mono Lisa

Food and Sex

The world is a kitchen and everyone is a chef… some just have more imagination than others. One doesn’t have to be a prostitute to be good at sex. A chef is just someone who makes money from cooking…

Transformers Cake *Optimus Prime*

Fondant
60g vegetable shortening (copha)
2 Tb lemon juice (for a chocolate cake use 2Tb water and 1 tsp vanilla)
2 Tb water
750g icing sugar

Place shortening, lemon juice and water in a saucepan.

Heat gently, stirring until shortening has melted.

Sift 250g icing sugar into the pan. Stir continuously over low heat.

Once sugar has dissolved stop stirring. As soon as the mixture starts to boil remove it from the heat.

Gradually add enough of the remaining sugar to form a soft paste. Mix until mixture is smooth.

Dust a work surface lightly with icing sugar and knead fondant until it is no longer sticky. Add more icing sugar until fondant is firm.
Stir fondant in an airtight container so it doesn’t dry out.

Working with Fondant
It is quite difficult working with fondant the first time. Here are some tricks we picked up:
- roll the fondant on baking paper. When you have got the desired thickness place the cake on top of the fondant and then curl it up the sides. This saves you picking the fondant up as it will break if you try to do so.
- ‘Patch’ up any bits that crumble off or split with a finger dipped in water.
- If you are adding colour do it when you add the first round of icing sugar - it will be much easier.

Making Optimus Prime
Winny and I made optimus for Dan’s 26th birthday.
First we baked two square chocolate malteser cakes, and one rectangle butter cake.
We cut the malteser cakes into three and then stacked them two high, joining them with a choc malteser butter icing. We then covered them in blue fondant.

We cut the third strips into squares to make the feet and again joined them with butter icing, and covered them in blue fondant.

To make the cab we covered the butter cake in red fondant.

We decorated it using butter icing coloured in grey and black (made with black food dye) butter icing, and silver balls.

Marshmallow headlights, oreo tyres.

We made the logo out of fondant and decorated it with piped black icing.

I feel sick now from eating too much icing….

Apple Custard Streusel Slice

Makes 16 pieces







Pastry
1 and 1/4 cups (155g) plain flour
1 Tb caster sugar
80g butter, melted and cooled
1 egg yolk

Apple Custard Topping
3 green apples
20g butter
4 Tb caster sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup thick cream
1 tsp vanilla essence

Crumble Topping
1/2 cup plain flour
2 Tb dark brown sugar
1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts (or pecans)
60g butter, melted

Lightly grease an 18 x 28 cm shallow tin and line with baking paper, overhanging two opposite sides.

To make the pastry, sift the flour and sugar into a large mixing bowl. Add the melted butter, egg yolk and 2-3 Tb of water and mix until it comes together.
Roll out the dough between two sheets of baking paper to fit the base of the tin. Refrigerate for 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 190 C.
Line the pastry base with baking beads or uncooked rice or beans. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove the paper and beads, reduce oven temperature to 180C and bake for 5 minutes, or until golden (it does not have to be competely cooked or hard at this stage). Leave to cool.

To make the apple custard topping, peel, core and chop the apples and place in a saucepan with the butter, half the sugar and 2 Tb of water. Cover and cook over low heat for 15 minutes, or until soft and pulpy. Uncover and simmer for another 5 minutes, to reduce the liquid. Use a wooden spoon to break down the apples until they have a smooth texture. Leave to cool.

Whisk together the eggs, cream, remaining sugar and vanilla essence in a mixing bowl (hand whisk is fine). Spread the cooled apple mixture over the pastry and then carefully pour the cream mixture over the apple. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the custard has set.

To make the crumble topping, mix together the flour, brown sugar and walnuts in a mixing bowl. Stir in the melted butter until the mixture is crumbly (I found this was too much butter so I ended up adding more flour and sugar). Sprinkle the crumble over the custard and bake for 15 minutes. Leave to cool in the tin nbefore slicing.

Grublover comment
This slice is a real winner - absolutely delicious. It will store for up to a week if refrigerated in an airtight container.
As you can see I didn’t have an 18×28cm tin so I used a round tart tin - worked fine.

Maya Masala Indian Brasserie

49 Lake St Northbridge 6003 (08) 9328 5655
Maya Masala 2: 171 James St, Northbridge Tue-Sun 5.30pm-12am
Maya Masala coming soon to QV1 building, Hay Street
BYO

Not the best service, and not the best indian restaurant in perth but good food for a good price.

Just go there and try the lamb saagwalla (14.90). A beautiful spicy dish - lamb cooked with spinach, butter, ginger and garlic, very rich. Absolutely delicious with some naan.

We also had butter chicken (14.90).

Dosa are huge and tasty.

Great thali platters for people who just can’t decide and want to try everything.

Hollis’ Wild Rice

Serves 6

4 cups beef broth
1 medium sized onion chopped
½ cup wild rice
1 cup long grain rice
mushrooms, sauteed in butter
cashews, warmed
parsley, chopped

Make up beef broth, add chopped onion, bring to boil, add wild rice. Turn down and simmer for 40 minutes

Saute mushrooms in butter.

Turn up to high, add rice, stir. Turn heat down and simmer for 20 minutes
Remove from heat and add mushrooms and cashews, garnish with parsley.

Hollis’ Spaghetti Carbonara

450g bacon
450g spaghetti
3/4 cup freshly grated parmesan
3 Tb butter
2 eggs, lightly beaten
freshly ground black pepper

Fry the bacon until it is just crisp, drain on a paper towel, and chop into bite sized pieces.
Cook the spaghetti in a very large pot of boiling salted water until al dente, about 8-10 minutes.
Meanwhile warm a serving bowl.
Drain the spaghetti well and toss in the bowl with the bacon, cheese, butter and lots of freshly ground black pepper for a few seconds, allowing it to cool slightly.
Add the eggs and stir vigorously to coat all the strands.
Serve immediately with some more cracked black pepper.

Grublover comment
Hollis says: This recipe doesn’t have cream - so the result is a less wet carbonara. It is really easy

Lemon Semolina Syrup Cake

250g butter
1 Tb lemon rind
1 cup caster sugar
3 eggs, separated
1 cup SR flour
1 cup semolina
1 cup yoghurt


Lemon syrup
1 cup caster sugar
1/3 cup lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 180C and grease and line a 20cm baking tin.
Cream the butter, rind and sugar.
Add the egg yolks, one at a time.
Fold in the flour, semolina and yoghurt.
In a separate bowl beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold this into the cake mixture.
Spoon into the baking tin, and cook for approximately 50 minutes.
When the cake is cooled, make the lemon syrup.
To make it put the lemon juice and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the sugar is dissolved, and bring to the boil.
Once it has come to the boil, simmer for another 1-2 minutes and then take off the heat.
Pierce the cake all over with a skewer and pour the syrup over the top so it drizzles through the cake, making it really sticky and delicious and moist.

Grublover comment
This cake is really easy to make and delicious. You can try substituting the lemon for orange for something different.
Serve with thickened cream.

7 Layer Mexican Dip

3 medium ripe avocados, peeled, cored and mashed
2 Tb lemon juice
1 tub (350ml) sour cream
1 packet taco seasoning mix
2 cans refried beans
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 bunch spring onions, sliced on the diagonal
1 jar black olives, sliced
1 pack shredded cheddar
salt and pepper
1/2 red onion, chopped finely (optional)
red chilli, chopped (optional)

Mix together the avocadoes, lemon juice, salt and pepper and red onion to make a guacamole.
Mix sour cream and taco seasoning.
Layer ingredients as follows:
- bottom layer: refried beans
- second layer - guacamole
- third layer - sour cream
- fourth layer - tomatoes
- fifth layer - onions
- sixth layer - olives
- seventh layer - cheese
Top with extra sour cream, olives, salsa etc if desired.
You could also add some chopped chillies to spice it up.
Serve with corn chips.

Grublover comment
This dip is so delicious and great to take to a Mexican party or any party where you need something quick and tasty. By the end of the night the dip looks like a dirty mess the colour of refried beans but it is demolished so quickly it doesn’t matter.
It looks really cool if you serve it in a glass dish so you can see all the layers. Make sure you use a nice deep dish so it all fits!

Anghiti Indian Restaurant

Shop 1/379 Scarborough Beach Rd, Innaloo; 9446 6222
340 Walcott St, Mt Lawley; 9443 8888

Open Tuesday - Sunday
11.30am - 2pm; 5.30pm - 10pm



Entree: $9-$24
Mains: $15-$35
Dessert: $6
Licensed. BYO (wine only) $5 corkage per bottle.

Went to Anghiti tonight after a movie at Greater Union.
The service was excellent, food fantastic, and very reasonable.
The rice was delicious - flavoured with cumin seeds.
We had:
- Butter Chicken Jalandhri ($15.40) which was maybe the best butter chicken I have had
- Goan Prawn Curry ($16.30) a great curry, nice heat to it
- nan and rice

Will definitely be back.

Joy Kitchen

Open 11-2.30pm Monday to Friday; 5.30-9.30pm Monday - Saturday
17 Point Street, Fremantle
9336 6868
http://www.joykitchen.com.au/



Danny and I went to Joy Kitchen last week, and again last night and had fantastic food both times.
Joy Kitchen is a little Chinese restaurant which has been dishing up the most delicious, authentic Chinese cuisine for over ten years. It is located in a funny spot near Target in Fremantle. The menu is extensive and diverse, with a range of Chinese dishes including soups, chicken, beef, vegetarian, seafood, lamb, duck, pork, complemented with a selection of entree’s, rice and noodles.
Last night we had:
- Sizzling Black pepper garlic lamb ($15.50) - absolutely delicious, tender, will get it again
- Satay chicken ($14.50) - best I have ever had, a real peanuty satay sauce
- Black pepper fried rice ($10.50) - fried rice with black pepper and lettuce leaves in it

Last time we visited we tried:
- Shanghai chicken - half a chicken with crispy skin and a light sauce
- Japanese bean curd with chicken - this was my favourite absolute must try
- Sizzling Mongolian Beef

The food is quick, service is great, BYO, cheap.
$42.50 for the two of us - you can’t go wrong.
A must do. This grublover will be back.

Triple-Chocolate Brownies

Makes 20 irresistible chocolate brownies

185g butter
185g dark chocolate, chopped
3 eggs
1 and 1/4 cups caster sugar
2/3 cup plain flour
1/2 cup cocoa
3/4 cup roughly chopped white chocolate (about 1/2 a block)
3/4 cup roughly chopped milk chocolate (about 1/2 a block)

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C (350F).
Place the butter and dark chocolate in a saucepan over low heat and stir until just smooth. Allow to cool.
Place the eggs and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until light and creamy.
Fold through the chocolate and butter mixture.
Sift the flour and cocoa over the mixture and mix to combine. Don’t overmix because it’s nice to keep it light.
Stir in the white and milk chocolate.
Line the base of a 23cm square cake tin with baking paper.
Pour in the mixture and bake for 35-40 minutes or until set. It may take a little longer, depending on your oven.
Allow to cool, then cut into squares.

Grublover comment
These brownies are so easy to make and turn out deliciously rich and chocolatey. You must serve them with some vanilla icecream or thick cream - they are too rich to eat alone.
Use only the very best chocolate and cocoa you can get your hands on - it is worth spending that little bit extra. Trust me.
You can see from the amount of chocolate on my face that the mixture is almost as sweet as the brownies themselves.

Pasta Maker!

My pasta maker is my latest and greatest new toy.
I bought it yesterday from the Re Store for $74.95 and made the most sensational pasta last night.
It is so easy to make, and definitely worth the effort.
Good for cooks like me who like getting their hands dirty because you have to do lots of kneading, and feeding the pasta through the machine.

Dough recipe: 100g flour to 1 egg
It is recommended that you use 1 egg for every person, but I used about 5 eggs between 3 and that was enough for a nice large bowl of pasta each.
I used regular flour but today I bought some durum semolina which is a beautiful saffron coloured really fine semolina flour which I’m hoping will make a really special pasta. I’ll keep you posted.

I refridgerated my dough for about 30 minutes before I put it through the machine - this made it a nice consistency to work with.

I made a delicious red capsicum and chorizo sauce to toss the fresh pasta through. Simple and delicious.

Red capsicum and chorizo pasta

1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 large serving spoons marinated red capsicums (antipasto)
1 chorizo, sliced
ricotta
olive oil



Fry the onion and garlic in a pan until it starts to colour.
Add the chorizo and cook until it is starting to brown.
Add the capsicum and a good lug of olive oil.
When the pasta is cooked, drain and pour into the pan. Fry for a couple of minutes, pouring through a little of the cooking water, and some extra olive oil. Toss it around so all the flavours are mixed through.
Serve with some crumbled ricotta over the top and a good crack of salt and pepper.

Grublover comment
I made this delicious simple sauce yesterday when I bought my pasta maker. It is so simple and the flavours are so nice and it compliments the fresh pasta so well. An absolute winner. Check out the link for making fresh pasta.

Bar One

QV1 Retail Plaza
250 St Georges Terrace
Perth, Western Australia 6000
T: 08 9481 8400 F: 08 9481 8422
contact@bar1.com.au
Open 7am ’til late, Monday to Friday

Bar One is a funky little bar/restaurant at the base of the qv1 building. It is packed on a Friday night for after work drinks, but generally quite quiet in the day, and relaxing with its low lighting and wood facades.

I have been here for 100s of coffees and drinks (seeing it is just under my work), but never for a meal.

Today I had lunch and was very impressed.

The wine list is extensive, and features some great Aussie wines. I love the Torbreck Woodcutters Shiraz (8.50 glass), but there is plenty more to choose from.

Today we had for entree:
- Oysters: (12/18/24): Freshly shucked, cucumber & chardonnay dressing
- Carpaccio (16.50) Seared thinly sliced beef fillet, truffle oil, capers & parmesan. Absolutely to die for dish, so salty and tasty I would love to try this again.

For mains:
Pappardelle (24.50) with duck, mushroom, vermouth, porcini ragout. Absolutley rich, delicious, decadent.

Love to try:
Capellini Angel hair pasta, blue manna crab, tomato sugo and XV olive oil