La Scala - 3rd time 'round

Linguine with clams, garlic, chilli and olive oil.

Seafood stew.

Asparagus with olive oil.

Poached pear with currants.

Lemon tart

While I was overseas in November I was pretty surprised to receive an email from Darren Simpson from La Scala at the Light Brigade Hotel. As promised, they treat you to a birthday main meal and dessert for your birthday.

On my return I went with a friend - a treat for her as she is normally at home with husband and daughter. Unfortunately my friend had an allergic reaction to her meal - that was a big disappointment as we rarely dine out together.....although she assured me she still had a good time! Very kind.

Having been 3 times now I'm not sure there is a need to return - unless they contact me for my birthday again in 2011! There are many other restaurants to try - La Scala is a good staple if you want something straight forward, low-key but not too casual and good service.

La Scala

Corner of Jersey Road & Melrose Lane

(above the Light Brigade Hotel)

02 9357 0815

http://www.lascalaonjersey.com.au/page/restaurant.html

High Tea @ NSW Art Gallery

Some thoughtful friends wanted to treat me to high tea at the NSW Art Gallery for my birthday.

We didn't realise the high tea menu changes in line with a major exhibition (or perhaps this is adhoc) - The First Emperor : China's entombed warriors. Some were initially a bit jaded that 4 asian women were having 'yum cha' but we were pleasantly surprised and enjoyed it - we agreed it was light and tasty ensuring we didn't walk away feeling sickly or guilty!

EMPERORS HIGH TEA

SAVOURIES:

peking duck pancake

fried tofu, black vinegar, shallots

steamed dumplings and har gow

hot and sour, crab soup

SWEETS:

egg custard tart

banana and white chocolate crepe

mango pudding

green tea biscuit

http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/exhibitions/first-emperor/

Uccello Birthday Treat - Part 2

Interior of Uccello

Pappardelle with rabbit ragout, porcini mushrooms, asparagus and crispy sage.

Traditional Tiramisu with ‘ Amedei’ chocolate.

Uccello Birthday Treat - Part 1

Spice crusted loin of Lamb, warm salad of cannellini beans, sweet pepper, lemon and parsley.

Ravioli of ricotta, zucchini flowers, anchovy and parmesan.

Pumpkin risotto, seared scallops, truffle butter.

Pan fried prawns, cracked wheat panzanella salad.

(Special entree) Bresaola with rocket, figs and I think it was goats cheese or marscapone (?).

A close friend took a J & I to Merivale's Uccello in The Ivy for our birthdays.

The decor is very 'fresh' and summery and the restaurant overlooks the Ivy pool.

Downside is that it became very noisy with the pool and bar growing increasingly busy.

The crowd being a Wednesday night was quite eclectic - so the anticipated snobbery was not present. Service was laid back and friendly - they were all wearing jeans and black Converse.

I enjoyed the food which had clean flavours and well presented, meaning I would return but need to consider the pricing - it's not 'economical' by any means but all things considered I wouldn't rule out returning.

Uccello

Level 4, 320 George Street

Sydney NSW 2000

+61 2 9240 3000

http://www.merivale.com/#/ivy/uccello

Purple Goodness

Purple rubber lace up shoes by Melissa....a gift for a friend.

Cherries for Christmas

The past 2 Christmas's I've made this Burnt Butter Cherry Almond Torte by Karen Martini....

I don't add the almond essence and it seems to go down well - often inducing a 2nd serve.

This Christmas I paid $50/kg for cherries - call me crazy but I was worried about the standard of cherries at the supermarket.

Ingredients

180 g salted butter

1 vanilla bean

5 egg whites

pinch salt

340 g pure icing sugar, sifted

110g plain flour

100g ground almonds

1 x 5ml teaspoon almond essence (optional)

40g flaked almonds

300g cherries, pitted and halved

Creme fraiche to serve.

Preheat oven to 180°C (or 160°C fan-forced). Grease a 24cm x 5cm fluted tart tin with a loose base (I don't have a flan tin so use a spring loaded cake tin).

Cut the vanilla bean lengthwise, scrape the beans out and place in a small saucepan. Finely slice the vanilla bean and also add to the small saucepan. Melt butter in the saucepan and cook over a medium heat for 4 -5 mins until the mixture turns dark and smells nutty.

Pour into a bowl and cool to room temperature. Remove some of the vanilla slivers and reserve for garnish.

Whisk egg whites with a pinch of salt until soft peaks form. Add half icing sugar and combine, then fold in the remaining sugar, flour and ground almonds.

Stir through the burnt vanilla butter and almond essence. Pour mixture into the tin and place cherries on top, scatter with almond flakes, reserve a few cherries for garnish if you wish.

Bake for 1 hour, or until the tart is puffed and just set. Remove from oven and cool to room temperature.

Sydney Buses Festivity

Every year in Sydney, Sydney Buses run a competition for the best decorated bus in line with Christmas.

It's rare I end up catching a bus that is decorated so it was kinda cool to ride on this one.

Candy cane striped bars, white frosted emblems on the windows, Christmas stockings, tinsel bordering each window, flashing lights embedded in greenery hanging from the roof, laminated Christmas pictures stuck on any available other surface....full-on!

The only disappointment was that there was no sign of Jesus.

Yellow Bistro Visit

Strawberry & marscapone tart

Peach & frangipane tart

Pho @ An

My cousin took me to An Restaurant in Bankstown to try the pho....The menu was in what I assume was vietnamese and wishing I knew that there were other pho options to try!

They served the bean sprouts and mint as we were ordering....the pho took less than 2 minutes to come out. It was pretty standard, but I feel the beef was not 'raw' enough and the bowl of pho was not piping hot.

The ice coffee was not too bad.

An Restaurant

27 Greenfield Parade

Bankstown NSW 2200

http://sydney.citysearch.com.au/E/V/SYDNE/0020/34/15/1.html