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

Put to Rest

I've recently been away to the USA and Canada....

While I was in San Francisco, one of my favourite tops died....It is rare that I wear something to 'death' unless it's a pair of my favourite shoes.

This top was by Custo Barcelona and had served me well in hot summers - it was my not too casual, not too dressy, not too skinny/fat top.....a reliable staple that wasn't too plain and not too fancy.

I do feel that maybe I was outgrowing it style-wise - since I couldn't put it away myself maybe it was best that it retired itself, even though I suspect it was from having it laundered in New York....the rip......No matter, at least it 'died' well in a New York laundromat - one of the cities of fashion!

Quinoa2

I bought a t-bone steak on the weekend - this is the smallest one Chatswood butchers had! Half for dinner and half chopped up in a quinoa salad variation for the next few lunches.

Cooking for one is not always easy. So you can see the vegies from dinner also ended up in the salad. I ate the salad for lunch warm with a dollop of tzatziki on top - good combo!

Exploring quinoa

A friend of mine had mentioned on Facebook that she was cooking with quinoa.

And so, I've been wanting to try it and finally got around to it this afternoon.

Wikipedia describes quinoa as:

Quinoa has a light, fluffy texture when cooked, and its mild, slightly nutty flavor makes it an alternative to white rice or couscous.

The above is a quinoa salad recipe I found on-line, however, I added lemon and some ham for interest. It has loads of garlic, spinach and light feta crumbled throughout as per the recipe.

Hmm, the garlic and lemon is all I can taste. I tried a small spoonful when it was not dressed - it tasted grainy....I will have to try a bigger spoonful for nuttiness next time! I think I do like it compared to couscous as it has a lightness about it.

A First

I've not really had an interest in wine up until recently.

My whole family collect wine, they have tried their hardest to educate me but met with not much success.

I'm not sure what switch was flicked but I've started trying white wine here and there.

Of course, I seem to favour the more qualitative (ie more $) white wines, especially sparkling wine!

And so, one weekend I found myself buying my first bottle of wine....it didn't occur to me that buying sparkling wine would mean I have to drink it all before it goes flat! I suspect after trying a few glasses, that there is a reason the prosecco I have been tasting dining out was so good - quite pricey per glass!

Cooking of Late

It has been a while between posts, but here are some things I've been cooking up.

Top down:

Chicken, mushroom & snake bean stir fry

Snake bean & mushroom omelette

Roast vegetable soup (pre & post cooked)

Green leaf salad with lettuce, rocket, cucumber, mini roma tomatoes, beetroot, french breakfast radish & lean beef chipolata sausages

Burnt Orange

My friend CP has been raving about her new favourite cafe - Burnt Orange.

And so, I finally made it with a friend of mine. We rocked up at 11am but had not booked. It was PACKED. Thankfully there was a spare table although we had 1 hour to eat before the lunch sitting.

I had Eggs Benedict - poached egg on toasted brioche and béarnaise sauce with Tasmanian smoked salmon. CC had Buttermilk pancakes with strawberries & ricotta.

I was really tempted by the pancakes but was trying to be good and was in a more savoury mood.

The savoury scones caught my eye also - next time! There will be a next time!

Based on my benedictine breakfast it was hard to make a call on the food but I didn't have anything to complain about.

The cafe is in a old golf house (a federation style mansion) from the 1930s at George's Head. The huge balcony looks over Sydney Harbour round to the Heads and Manly.

You definitely need to book!

Burnt Orange

1108/1109 Middle Head Road Mosman NSW 2088

02 9969 1020

http://www.burntorange.com.au

Wild Barra

Baked wild barramundi (in a foil bag) & curried fried rice

In Loving Memory

These flowers were a gift for my close friend - in memory of his Mum's passing 2 years ago, 14th March.

The vases are pretty cool huh?

I'm only just beginning to understand the deep hurt and loss death can bring.

It only emphasises the assurance and comfort of the eternal hope I have in the Lord.

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade - kept in heaven for you,who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.'

1 Peter 3-5

Latest Green Eats

Wasabi flavoured Kit Kat from a work friend's trip to Japan. I'm not sure that I'm a fan - it did have a distinct taste of wasabi and I couldn't correlate the taste with chocolate!

Broccolini, potato & garlic soup. I whizzed this up tonight for dinner as I felt like something tasty but not too heavy. Sometimes the simplest things are the best!

Baked salmon marinates in soy, sesame oil, lemon juice & honey. Served with broccolini & fresh corn. I went through a long phase of baking salmon, turned off it & tried to revisit it. I over-cooked this fillet so that didn't help....I think I prefer salmon and tuna sashimi style now!

Rack of lamb cutlets, potato and brocollini. This rack is alot larger than the baby ones I normally buy. I had originally intended on cooking the racks for Mother's Day but I fell sick. So I froze them - wondering whether the lamb was a little chewy due to the freeze factor or whether it's just because of the size, or maybe I didn't rest it long enough?!

It's just been good to finally get back into cooking after a few months of eating I don't know what!

Fuel Fruit Loaf

Loving this fruit loaf....I buy it from my local deli at almost $7 a loaf, but you can buy various baked goods at the Fuel Bakery itself for discounted prices later at night while they are baking.

I love that one slice satisfies me (although I could happily eat another) with the real chunks of apricot, fig, date, macadamias etc. It's not light and it's not dense, it's just right!

Fuel Bakery

Larkin Street Camperdown

(Mon - Fri from noon, Sun from 4pm)

Ginseng Chicken Soup - Final Product

1. Bring to the boil the chicken and condiments from the soup packet mix.

2. I added 3 carrots and a sliced knob of ginger. You can add any vegetables you like....

3. Simmer for 2-3 hours. I also added some cabbage at the end and white pepper for a slight kick.

I thought the soup was lacking something so asked Dad to taste test it.

Dad suggested I add some light soy sauce and/or sesame oil. I've added that to the soup I've had since then and it certainly makes a difference.

Ginseng Chicken Soup - Ingredients

1 x Macrotaste soup mix: includes panax ginseng, dioscorea opposita thunb, lycium barbarum l., nelumbo nucifera gaertn, euryal ferox salisb, astragalus membranaceus fisch, dimocarpus longans lour.

1 x whole chicken : boiled for 3 minutes to remove any inpurities and also to remove the skin. I was not very successful at removing the skin from the wings!