Betty's Bites

HIATUS

2012-01-25T12:10:00.000+11:00

I'll be back sometime soon (hopefully)

Take care everyone xoxo

Pandan coconut crepes, iphone games and a Holiday Greeting

2011-12-23T10:12:00.007+11:00

I've recently got an iphone and got very addicted to these three games

- smurfs village

- bakery story

- restaurant story

Haha, i'm sure you guys have all heard of at least the last game, but these games are sooo addictive (much more addictive then papertoss, fruit ninja, and angry birds, IMO).

Restaurant story

mac & cheese, omlettes, french toast, garden salad, bacon & eggs

Bakery Story

choc chip cookies, tea, coffee, brownies, macarons, chocolate cake, carrot cake, cinnamon rolls

i love playing smurfs!

You:

- build mushroom houses (the more you build the more smurfs you get to work for you)

- plant crops of fruit and vegetables

- complete requests from Papa smurf

- play games for money and XP

There's alot more but its such a rewarding game i reckon, so cute as well.

I've been practising making crepes lately, i find it really therapeutic the repetitiveness of it all, and they are delicious with almost anything (spreads and jams) but on this occasion ive made a pandan custard. To save time i bought these from Cabramatta for $2 a pop!

all you need to do is add boiling water & stir.

I've used a recipe from taste.com.au, repalced the milk with coconut milk, and the plain flour with wholewheat flour.

Ingredients

1 cup plain flour (or wholewheat flour)

2 cups milk (or coconut milk)

3 eggs

olive oil cooking spray

Method

Sift flour into a bowl. Whisk milk and eggs together in a jug. Add milk mixture to flour. Whisk until well combined.

Spray a medium, non-stick frying pan with oil. Heat over medium heat.

Pour 2 1/2 tablespoons batter into pan. Swirl to cover base. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes or until light golden. Turn over and cook for 1 minute.

Transfer to a plate. Cover to keep warm. Repeat with remaining batter.

Assemble

spoon custard into a long line, sprinkle with dessicated coconut, roll up like you would a spring roll. Serve!

Lastly, i would like to wish every one of my readers a very Merry Christmas, and a fantastic New year! I hope you all get lots of pressies, eat lots of yummy food, and a great holiday break (if you do get one).

I return to work on the 3rd January :( But i have a few things planned for my one and a bit break

-tennis

-baking

-cooking

-brunching, lunching and dinnering

- yoga

- gym

- coastal walk

- ice skating

- family get togethers

Can't wait! Cya everyone :D

Jonahs Restaurant - A special Lunch treat for Bigbear

2011-12-12T08:56:00.002+11:00

Hi Everyone just a photo post today of a lovely lunch i had with BigBear a few months ago to celebrate his birthday! It's not very often that we go out for a fancy meal which means that whenever we do (special occasions) we both feel very spoilt!

Lunch was amazing! Because we came from Ettalong on the ferry, they offered pick up at the wharf and drop off after lunch as well, that was sweet - on the ride up i realised if we had tried to walk i wouldnt of made it up the very steep hill in my high heels :s It felt like we were going up and up and up a never ending steep winding road. But wow the view from our table was breathtaking (we didnt get a window seat but the view was just as nice)

Scallops with a Spanish onion and red wine compote, compressed grilled pineapple

with cardamom and pistachio vinaigrette $30

Half dozen Sydney rock served with lemon and raspberry vinegar mignonette $28

Hand cut sebago chips with rosemary and thyme salt. $12

Black-Angus Beef Scotch fillet, Rangers Valley

Polenta cake, broad beans and red wine jus $48

Kingfish and Crystal Bay prawns, S.A and Queensland

In a ginger and kaffir lime vegetable nage with baby spring vegetables. $48

Pre-dessert

passionfruit pannacotta

All about chocolate $16

Apple tart "like a Tatin" with Granny Smith and Calvados sorbet $18

Petite fours

My favourites were the scallops, the chocolate dessert, and the hand cut chips! Altogether the bill was high, and close by there was a table of 8 people so we were wondering how much their bill was ... four figured for sure !

After lunch we were invited out to the patio where there were blankets for us to sit and enjoy the view (it was a windy day so i took up the blanket offer) and then we were driven down back to the wharf to catch our ferry back to Ettalong.

Lunch was so nice, and i hope you enjoyed it Hun!

3 months correction YEARS! Blogiversary

2011-11-23T12:57:00.006+11:00

How could i almost miss out on my Bettysbites blogiversary...!

It's been THREE years since my first ever post and although i don't update as much as i used to (or even want to) i still love doing it - just lately life has been getting the better of me - the days are getting shorter and time is not as available as it once used to be.

My spare time is juggled between family, staying fit & healthy (includes gym time, sports comps, planning meals), Bigbear, friends, and sometimes when i feel like it is all too much for me, i try to remember to be thankful for the life that i have, and the people that are a part of it.

My blog always cheers me up though, and also browsing food blogs has become part of my daily rituals, food makes me happy and to see it make other people happy makes me happy too :D

A big thank you to my readers i dont know exactly how many there are of you but i do truly appreciate the time you spend reading my foodblog!

I'll leave you with some pictures of the things i've been up to lately - nothing too exciting but i couldnt sign off my post with zero pictures..!

bringing out my inner kid - making waterballoons on a hot day

baking (with Natalie!) for friends birthdays: red velvet and cream cheese babycakes

check out her awesome fashion blog lucyandtherunaways i am a dedicated reader :):)

more baking for friends: cheese cake brownies

helping my cousin bake a 4 color layered cake for her best friends birthday

a simple yet beautiful quinoa salad

I quickly whipped this up this morning, with ingredients that were already in the fridge and pantry. I'm lucky in a sense that my parents very much always have fresh produce in the fridge so we are never without healthy ingredients. The cherry tomatoes are from our garden, which are ever so sweet once you try them you won't want to buy it from the supermarket again!

Quinoa is my preferred carb intake at the moment, and has been for the past few months. It's healthy, good for you, very filling with a low GI number, and its SO easy to make. Its similar to cous cous, but i dont think it is a grain, it is a superfood seed, gluten free and is busting with nutrients.

How to cook quinoa:

- measure out a 1:2 quinoa: water ratio (e.g 1 cup quinoa with 2 cupcs water)

- bring to the boil in a saucepan over high heat until boiling

- simmerfor 10-15 minutes (or until water has evaporated)

- be careful not to let it scorch on the bottom, keep a watch on it after 7 minutes as you want to take it off the heat as soon as there's no more liquid

- let it cool in the saucepan until completely cool.

- then, dress with veggies, protein (chicken/fish), and make a delicious dressing like the one i have given below :)

2 tbs rice vinegar

1 tbs soy sauce

2 tsp sugar

dash of sesame oil

mix together until sugar has dissolved.

Its a very easy but delicious dressing for any quinoa salad no matter what you put in it. I always add a can of lentils to my quinoa salads (or chickpeas), and i chuck in every possible vegetable that i have to make it super filling.

I hope you give this recipe a go, or even better- give QUINOA a go! Its so delicious and you know its so good for you.

Wetherill Park Tafe - The Restaurant

2011-11-16T12:00:00.004+11:00

My friend Dabinh told me about this restaurant, which is located at the TAFE that she works at. After about 2 months we finally got seated for lunch (after a few cancellations and postponing).

The Restaurant is run with the students of the Tourism block, a chance for them to experience first hand how it feels to work in the industry - i think this is a great idea!

I know a friend of a friend (as cliche as that sounds i am not making this up lolz) that has dined at the restaurant every fortnight on a Friday night for the last EIGHT years. WOW i know. Their dinners and lunch days vary, each month there are only specific days that they take bookings, i'll leave some details at the end of the post on how you can find this out.

bread roll with butter

Dabinh said usually the rol is warm but today it seems that we got our one cold. And cold was the butter as well, too cold to spread with :(

love the flower decoration!

entree: pumpkin basil and feta cheese tart

My friend is a vegetarian, so they made up a separate dish for her. A simple kind of tart, no dressing on the pumpkin and feta it seemed, and the pastry slightly cracked and dry, the olive oil and balsamic vinegar would've been better in the tart rather then decorated on the plate.

entree: bucatini with garlic prawns

The size of my entree was medium sized, i had 3 large prawns, and was fascinated at the type of pasta it came with - bucatini (thick spaghetti-like pasta with a hole running through the center). The sauce could've been thicker as i found it a bit plain, but the pasta was cooked al dente.

main: olive and sundried tomato pasta

This pasta dish wasnt as dry, but as a vegetarian main, i think some more ingredients could've been added. Dabinh enjoyed it though, and the serving was massive!

main: salmon with satay coconut sauce and citrus mash

My main was the last to come out, i liked the arrangement and the coconut satay sauce - i wish i had more! It was delicious i loved the flavors and my salmon was cooked well. The citrus mash paired well with the salty sweet sauce, i really enjoyed it :)

dessert: little mango served with fresh cream

We decided to share dessert since the entree and mains were quite big, the pool of caramel/toffee sauce was sticky and sweet, underneath the layers of mango was a semolina based cake i think. A really simple dessert which we both enjoyed.

All entrees mains and desserts were $6 each (a bargain totally!), and i was very full from lunch, when i got back to my desk i was in food coma sleepy mode hehehe. I'd love to come back for dinner one night, at $25 it won't affect the wallet much!

The Restaurant offers dinner, which is 3 courses for $25.

Contact the restaurant for enquiries and available dates through

Elizabeth McDermott: Elizabeth.Mcdermott5@det.nsw.edu.au

Phone: 02 9829 9740

Almond chickpea cookies with chia seeds and dark choc buttons

2011-11-07T11:22:00.003+11:00

My girlfriend Stella is going on a hectic trip around Asia, leaving today so when we met up on the weekend i just had to make her some going away treats to enjoy for her last weekend in Sydney.

She can't eat anything gluten so lately i have been saving lots of gluten free baking recipes in Evernote (i strongly recommend using Evernote its just a neat little program that lets you save pages or sections on the internet for viewing later on). This is one of the recipes i had in mind for her, these are gluten free and vegan (except i didnt use vegan chocolate)

I recently switched to almond butter instead of peanut butter but i didn't take a liking to it .. so I'm back to KRAFT's crunchy PB :) So i had exactly half a cup of almond chia seed spread enough for this recipe!

These are incredibly simple to make. In comparison to other flours, chickpea flour has a higher protein count, and also i just found out that when you mix equal parts with water - it becomes an egg replacer in vegan cooking!

I love the sprinkle of almond meal and sea salt on top before baking, this really gives it another dimension of yummy. But ofcourse you can keep them plain and simple and omit the chocolate chips as well.

Recipe from familyfreshcooking.com

Almond Chickpea Cookies

Makes about 14 cookies

NOTES:

If you do not have garbanzo flour you could also try using oat flour or corn flour. Here is how to make roasted or unroasted chickpea flour at home.

I used smooth natural salted almond butter. Crunchy would be tasty too. Be sure to stir in all the oil that has risen to the top of the jar so you can easily combine the nut butter into the batter.

Add some chocolate chips for a slightly more indulgent cookie.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup Garbanzo (Chickpea) Flour

1 cup Brown Rice Flour (i used rice flour)

1 teaspoon Baking Soda

3/4 teaspoon fine Sea Salt

1/2 cup Almond Butter (i used almond chia seed butter)

1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

4 full droppers Plain Stevia Drops or an equivalent of 4 teaspoons sugar

3/4 cup light unsweetened Coconut Milk

OPTIONAL GARNISH

1/4 cup Almond Flour

a few pinches of fine Sea Salt

a sprinkle of Sucanat or Stevia Powder

METHOD

Preheat oven to 350˚F with the rack in the middle.

Prepare cookie sheet with Silpat or parchment paper.

In a medium bowl mix together dry ingredients.

In another bowl mix together wet ingredients.

Combine wet and dry ingredients to form a batter.

Taste the batter and add more sweetener if desired.

Make cookie shapes with about 1 1/2 tablespoons of batter per cookie.

Flatten with your hands and press almond meal into the tops.

Sprinkle on some salt.

Bake cookies for about 10-12 minutes or until the bottoms are golden brown.

Let the cookies cool for a few minutes and then transfer to cooling racks.

Enjoy!

Stella i hope you have an awesome trip around Asia, lots of eating sight seeing and back packing around, see you when you get back xx

And also, you might have heard of a new frozen yogurt joint in Strathfield (maybe not new, but it was new to me!) it's called MOOCHI and its a small shop with limited tables but always has a line but its totally worth the wait!

On the night that i went they had yogurt flavours plain, green tea, pomegranate, and ?, but we were told they change the flavours around and have also had mango at one point (yum!)

They have mini, small, medium and large sizes i think, the large one is pretty big i noticed a few people got them in take away. There are lots of different topping options (all 50 cents each topping) they had lots of fruits, marshmallows, chocolate chips, biscuits, cereal toppings, very very exciting but for indecisive people like me it can be a bit of a head ache haha.

(left cup) berry and pomegranate yogurt with strawberries

Shop 1, 7-9 Churchill Ave Strathfield NSW 2135 info@iheartmoochi.com.au

(front cup) green tea yogurt with strawberries and lychee

Armchair Collective (Monavale)

2011-10-24T08:30:00.000+11:00

My bestfriend friend took me to a local cafe in her area called "Armchair Collective" for brunch a few months ago - i absolutely loved it! Inside the cafe there are lots of things on display for purchase like kitchen accessories, homewares, flowers, everything interior. They also had an assortment of cakes, breads & muffins to choose from take away or eat-in (with a coffee would be perfect!)

It was about 11am on a saturday morning and the shop was bustling with families, couples, a few people looked like they had just finished a jog or came from the gym, a very positive vibe in the air everyone was chirpy with smiles on their faces, a really great atmosphere for catching up.

I really loved all the flowers that were around, its such a smart way to brighten up the cafe/shop, and to have them available for purchase too, we had this white lily(?) on our table which was sooo pretty.

It took about 15 minutes before we got a table, after a lot of eye hawking people to finish their meals, standing close by looking at things so we didn't look suspicious of stealing their table as soon as they stood up to leave (haha, it felt a bit wierd doing this but it was the only way to get a table!)

soy mocha

A really lovely mocha which i wish was served in a bigger cup! hehe.

pot of chai tea $4.50

This was served in a very stylish set up: on a wooden board with a funny tea pot (that yielded 3-4 cups of tea) with two mini dishes of honey and cinnamon. I didn't try any but Ann is a huge lover of chai and she gave this a thumbs up.

spicy scrambled eggs on soy linseed toast w spinach avocado + roasted tomatoes $16

My eggs were scrambled nicely but i saw no hint of spice at all! The spinach was bland (some kind of dressing would be nice) and my avocado half had the little hard head of pip still attached on it (i find this annoying, do you?). Also, my toast was plain i would've liked some butter but at that point i was just too hungry and just dug in.

the collective baked breakfast of eggs, spinach, beans + sausages $18

Ann's meal was quite substantial and at this price i think its reasonable, she couldn't finish the beans or the sausages though, a very big serving indeed.

I'd love to go back one day and try the "brioche french toast w berries, mascarpone + maple syrup $16" as that sounds delicious! And i'd like to have a look at the pots and teapots again, i just love exploring homeware shops i can't wait to have my own home i'll decorate it so nicely!

On a completely different topic (still food though) here are a few different bento boxes i found online- they are sooo adorable!

Healthy toasted coconut muesli

2011-10-16T15:36:00.004+11:00

Has it been almost a month? I apologise for disappearing, life has just been a bit crazy, although i won't go into detail.. i will try harder to post more often :)

Inspired by Maria's sugar-free coconut granola, i went out to buy some coconut flakes and made my own version.

What i love about Maria's food blog is not only her photo's (which are always gorgeous) but all her recipes are healthy and good for you, i know she is a bit of a health nut so i have courage in trying her recipes and sharing with my friends who are also health conscious.

What i found about this recipe was that with my oven, it required about 4 times of turning before it got to the colour that i wanted, so you could even turn it once every 15 minutes and you would be safe, it won't burn!

I made 2 batches, one for my lovely couple friend Ann & Chris, (Chris i know likes granola/toasted muesli) and Stella, my girlfriend who cannot eat gluten and so i omitted the quickoats, and so i hope they all like this!

Healthy toasted coconut muesli

1 cup quick oats

125grams coconut flakes

50grams almonds (unroasted)

30grams chia seeds

30grams pepitas

30grams sunflower seeds

35grams coconut oil

1 teaspoon cinnamon

(serve with any type of milk that you like)

1. pre-heat oven to 140 C (lower to 120 C if you have a fan forced oven)

2. mix everything together and spread onto a baking tray lined with paper

3. bake and watch it at either 10 or 15 mins and turn batch over with a spatula, and put back into the oven, keep doing this until you get the colour that you want.

* * *

I was a bit bored, so i calculated the kilojoule count and ended up with:

including quick oats 1870kj/100gram serving

without quickoats 1570kj/100gram serving

So even though it is quite high, and a bit higher when you add milk, you will know that your mix has no preservatives, extra sugars, or anything nasty as you have made it all yourself :)

Vegetarian Meatballs - & my trip to the Healthy Chef cafe in Avalon

2011-09-13T10:38:00.005+10:00

One of my favourite websites (which has been, ever since i stumbled across it) is the stone soup

www.thestonesoup.com

I love how simple her meals are, with minimal ingredients and effort required, and that they are healthy, fresh, and delicious, and that you can cook for one or two, or even in big batches to freeze.

This recipe really appealed to me because it's a 'mock' version of meatballs, and id love to be able to feed these to my friends and have them be surprised at how nice it is, even if it contains no meat! It impressed two of my friends, Stella (this is also great for people who are gluten intolerant since it uses almond meal) and also my friend Da binh, who has been a vegetarian all her life. Big bear said it was okay, just missing that 'meaty' taste, he said it 'wasnt too bad'. So for meat eaters, this might not be for you, but definitely if you are trying to eat healthy, i definitely reccomend giving this recipe a go, its so quick and easy - and cooked really well in my convection oven (25 minutes) as i like the balls to be crisp on top :)

before i put it in the oven

lentil balls with tomato sauce recipe

(recipe from here)

takes 5 mins prep + 20 mins cooking

serves 2

i doubled this recipe, and made 9 large balls, froze a few and kept a few for lunch at work

1 can lentils (400g/14oz), drained

75g (3oz) almond meal

1 egg

1 jar tomato passata (tomato puree) (700g/24oz)

parmesan cheese, to serve

1. Preheat oven to 200C (400F).

2. Roughly mash lentils in a large bowl with a fork, then add almond meal and the egg. Mix and season.

3. Place tomato passata in the base of a large oven proof dish. Using a soup spoon, form the lentil mixture into small balls. Placing them in the sauce as you go.

4. Drizzle very generously with extra virgin olive oil and bake for about 20 minutes or until balls are firm and the sauce has reduced a little.

I also sprinkled in some chilli flakes & dried basil to give it a bit more flavour.

after it came out of the oven

As well as trying out healthy cooking at home, i always try to order the healthy options when i go out to eat (sometimes im naughty though! but it's healthy to cheat once in a while, it keeps you fromc raving the bad stuff all the time, allows you to stay sane)

A little while back, Stella, my good friend, drove us out to Avalon beaches for yoga, a beach run, and then lunch at 'the healthy chef cafe'.

Yoga - was fun! Since then i've bought my own yoga mat, aiming do give my body a good stretch out atleast once a week.

Beach run - is so much harder then normal running! it was a great work out for the legs, and in the short distance, it felt like a really long run with the after burn i got later in the day

You can check out the healthy chef website here, and also check out the cafe menu here.

They cater for vegans, vegetarians, meat eaters, people intolerant to gluten and dairy, there's is something for everyone but the main focus is on healthy eating which is great!

& here is a list i found on the site too- enjoy!

Teresa’s 10 steps to eating well:

1 Eat plenty of seasonal vegetables and fresh fruit and choose organic wherever possible.

2 Foods should be served as close to its natural state as possible, without processing, additives, preservatives, artificial colors or flavors.

3 Use healthy cooking methods like steaming, baking, grilling, sauté or stir-frying and eliminate deep fried foods

4 Cook with lots of fresh herbs and spices not only for taste but for their health and medicinal properties this will also allow you to use less salt.

5 Include nuts, seeds and super foods daily as they provide you with an abundance of minerals, vitamins, fiber and essential fats for optimum health and well being.

6 Eat healthy cold pressed oils such as extra virgin olive oil, macadamia nut, avocado oil, sesame and sunflower oil and other virgin nut and seed oils in moderation. Avoid trans fats and hydrogenated oils.

7 Keep to a low allergy, low GI diet this includes reducing wheat and excessive coffee consumption.

8 Stop counting calories, Instead just adopt a sensible approach to wellness with healthy food as your focus.

9 Try to keep red meat to a minimum and replace with healthier protein sources like fish, seafood, eggs, organic chicken, turkey, beans + pulses, nuts, seeds.

10 Drink plenty of water and avoid soft drinks, alcohol and excess sugar.

bright green cups used to get your own water from the counter

Gluten free lemon polenta cupcake

chocolate milkshake

dandelion tea

iced soy chai

My iced soy chai was so refreshing, and not to sweet (they used just a hint of honey).

toasted gluten free banana bread

I'm not sure if it was the fact that they toasted it on a grill, or that it had specks of coconut flakes in it, but this was the best piece of banana cake ive ever had! i really miss making banana bread, and eating them, as they are still soo expensive (AUD$10 per kilo).

Poached Salmon with zucchini linguini and green goddess avocado

I wanted a zero carb meal and this was perfect - zucchini linguini is such a smart idea, (tossed with parsley, mint and lemon salsa verde) and the salmon was poached in apple juice - id love to recreate this meal at home.

organic poached egg w/ baked beans bacon spinach + hint of salsa verde

Bacon and organic egg panini with caramalized onion and tomato relish

(i think this was ordered on a wholewheat bun instead of panini)

Everyone at our table enjoyed the food, and we all felt really' healthy' eating is, especially after the yoga & beach run. This is an example of the perfect day out for me, some physical activity outdoors, on the beach, near the water, followed by a delicious and healthy meal, this has become one of my favourite cafes, i'll definitely come back again.

R.I.P

William Tran

8.3.1991 - 3.9.2011

I am glad to have met you

Although our acquaintance wasn't long

You have taught me that life can be short

that even tomorrow i could be gone

this is why i believe

you should live life to the day

and make the most of what you have

don't dwell on the things that you dont

Foveaux Bar & Restaurant

2011-08-28T23:23:00.001+10:00

A little while back i had purchased a voucher off Living Social website. I am signed up to so many of them it's not funny! I get spammed everyday, but i am always on the look out for good deals :)

For this particular deal, which i thought was a real bargain ($89 for a 3-Course Meal for Two and a Bottle of Wine Valued at $193), i had sent it around to my friends as i was sure they'd be keen as well. Turns out that 3 of my friends had bought the same deal, so i got mine for free! I was stoked! So this was definitely worth it for me hehe.

However, i have bought vouchers that have been disappointing as well, and also have heard stories from friends. One couple i know, bought a voucher online for a "8 course meal for two" somewhere (i won't mention), and it turned out to be 8 courses BETWEEN two people, not 8 courses each (which is how it usually should be when you're dining out!)

Another disappointment for me, was buying a voucher for a seafood platter in Glebe, and rocking up to find that they had changed owners, new management, so the voucher was no longer valid! *sigh*. That was $19, which i got refunded back so that was good.

And a last one, was a special deal of high tea for 2 at $35. It was a small cafe with only about 5 or 6 tables (obviously bookings are required if you only have that many tables!!), we only got 8 pieces of sandwiches, a truffle, a macaron, two strawberries, two small nut clusters, and a small chocolate dipping sauce which had this awful skin set on top of it, totally gross.

Anyway, i'm so wary of every deal i read now, you never know if they could be ripping you off or not :(

Anyway, enough about that. Bigbear and i used our Foveaux voucher on a Thursday night (it wasnt available on weekends, and most Friday nights were booked).

I really liked the food, although the portions were small, after dessert, we were still hungry! The food was really nicely presented, and the potato puree- was so indulgent! I can't imagine how much butter was whipped into it hehe.

Amuse Bouche of curry, lentils and warm yoghurt soup.

Buffalo ricotta cannoli, cucumber, tomato, olive and provencal herbs

Roasted quail, smoked eel croquettes, caper, beetroot and leaves

Roast king salmon, zucchini puree, cuttle fish, green olive jelly, coriander and popped skin

Braised wagyu shin, smoked sirloin, pearl barley and potato puree

Potato puree $8 (extra)

Chocolate mousse, orange sponge, orange curd ice cream, chocolate soil and brazil nut

Ginger sponge, carrot marmalade, cream cheese ice cream and walnut powder

Has anybody else had any horror stories for these cheap voucher deals? I think at the start when they first started coming out, they were really good value for money, but now it seems every single small company is in on it, and only want to use it to gain customers, and the price you are paying, isnt much of a deal breaker afterall..

65-67 foveaux street surry hills

tel 9211 0664

fax 9211 0669

info@foveaux.com.au

Inception cookies & a shout-out to Lucy&theRunaways

2011-08-16T11:49:00.005+10:00

A couple of weekends ago Bigbear & I got together with Nat& Hughie for a baking session! I had found this recipe for oreo stuffed cookies and thought it would be fun to make one weekend :)

Natalie has an awesome fashion blog (go and check it out HERE) i am a regular reader and i just absolutely love her fashion sense its totally unique & out there, she makes the outfits look good (not the other way around! hehe).

We skype most days at work but it'll be her last week on skype this week (as she has resigned from her job) but im sure we will keep in contact still :)

Before we started baking we had to buy some ingredients from the shops so after our trip to woolies we had some brunch! Fries with sweet chilli and sourcream, yum :) I think we both equally love hot chips!

So now to the inception cookies! i thought inception cookies was a very clever name for these, (i loved the movie it was a total mindf*ck). These were heaps fun to make, & tasted delicious! Really sweet though, so you could probably reduce the sugar amounts to half of brown and half of white, as the chocolate chips in the cookie dough are already sweet enough.

I really want to try this recipe with the oreo mini's next time- i think they'd look so adorable!

Also because i hadn't used Hughie's oven before, i had to play around with the settings abit so the first two batches came out with abit of uncooked cookie dough (which still tastes delicious) but the last two batches came out just about right i just had to lower the temp abit as his oven was super powerful.

Recipe from Beckybakes.net

2 sticks (1 cup) softened butter

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon pure vanilla

3 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

10 oz bag chocolate chips

1 pkg. Oreo cookies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugars together with a mixer until well combined. Beat in eggs and vanilla.

In a separate bowl mix the flour, salt and baking soda.

Slowly add to wet ingredients along with chocolate chips until just combined.

Using a cookie scoop take one scoop of cookie dough and place on top of an Oreo Cookie.

Take another scoop of dough and place on bottom of Oreo cookie.

Seal edges together by pressing and cupping in hand until Oreo cookie is enclosed with dough.

Place onto a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet and bake cookies 9-13 minutes or until golden brown.

Let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

Makes about 2 dozen VERY LARGE cookies.

This is the original post on these cookies (with more detailed step by step photo's) is here.

http://picky-palate.com/2011/01/06/oreo-stuffed-chocolate-chip-cookies/

Happy Baking!

A weekend @ Bannisters, Mollymook

2011-08-08T10:06:00.004+10:00

Last weekend i celebrated my 26th birthday at Bannisters, Mollymook. It was a beautiful weekend, 3 fun filled days spent with my man :)

Mollymook is located about 3 hrs south of Sydney, it was a really nice drive down, it felt really good to drive away from the hustle and bustle of Sydney, into a more calming and relaxing coast area.

We stayed 2 nights at Bannisters, our view from the balcony was just breath taking! Bigbear chose a secondfloor room for the view, rather then a first floor room with a hot tub. I loved being able to look out at the ocean, at anytime of the day, it was just so serene.

Our two nights stay included two breakfasts, which included one dish from the hot menu, and also unlimited food from the breakfast buffets which had toast, cornflakes, muesli, yogurt topped with passionfruit, juices, crossiants, coffee, tea & fruits.

from the hot menu - ricotta pancakes with cream and berries

from the hot menu - big breakfast

scrambled eggs on buttered sourdough toast, bacon, mushrooms & grilled tomatoes

from the buffet

toast with butter & vegemite (yum!)

crossiants

cornflakes with milk

fruit with yogurt

from the hot menu- eggs benedict

from the hot menu

big breakfast

poached eggs on toast, grilled tomatoes, bacon, mushrooms, sausages and blood sausages

me reading the paper :) provided for free in the restaurant!

While we were eating these two birds came to keep us company! One of the staff said that we could hand feed them bread so we did just that- aren't they pretty!

Both mornings we stuffed ourselves silly at breakfast (its the meal of the day where you can eat like a king!). I have to say, that the toast was my favorite. It was sour dough toast, which i love, and i just went crazy on the butter and vegemite! & also, the croissants were the best ive ever had im sure they were made on site, they had an apricot jam glaze on top, we kept going back for more :)

On our second night we had dinner at the Pool Bar, a small and intimate area downstairs by the pool with very romantic mood lighting, and you can enjoy live music by Roddy Reason on the 1st / 3rd / 5th Fridays of the month and alternate Sundays. There's also a snooker room a few metres down, where we went for a game while we finished our cocktails!

top left

french martini

vodka, Chambord, pineapple juice

top right

absolute vodka lemonade

below

toffee apple

butterscotch schnapps, strawberry liqueur, apple juice and a dash of grenadine

We didn't want to stuff ourselves at dinner cos we still had junkfood back in the room to have with our movie so we ordered fries with Truffled Pecarino Cheese, and a chilli prawn pizza – prawns, chilli, ricotta, cherry tomato & pesto.

The fries were really crisp & the addition of the cheese really made them pop with flavour! & the pizza, which was abit on the small side, had a nicely crisped base, and had generous servings of each ingredient which was great :) We were thinking about getting a second pizza after we saw how small it was hehe.

The sticky date pudding with butterscotch sauce and a dollop of cream, really hit the sweet spot for me, again the serving size a bit smaller then expected but we still enjoyed it :) Our bill altogether including drinks was about $95, the cocktails were $15 each and Bigbear had 3 drinks, so the majority of the bill was drinks really!

On our first night there, Friday night, Bigbear booked us in for the specials dinner, 5 courses for $70. This is really cheap! $14 per course, its a nice way to enjoy dinner at Rick Stein's restaurant without hurting our wallets. The restaurant was busy, and most people were having the same as us.

bread, butter and olives

The bread is the same bread they have at breakfast - a really nice moist and dense sourdough, i much prefer it toasted! But with butter and olives, i was still left wanting more. I wanted to ask for a second piece, but thought of all the food we had coming our way and decided against it hehe.

Seared swordfish with Guacamole and Lemongrass Dressing

Steamed Hervey Bay Scallops in the Shell

with Ginger, Soy, Sesame oil and Spring Onions

Fish and Shellfish Soup with Rouille and Parmesan

Fillet of snapper with vanilla butter vinaigrette

(this alone would've been $53 if we were dining from the normal menu)

side of veggies

snow peas, roast potatoes, carrots grated and cooked.

Everything was delicious, all the seafood was cooked perfectly, one negative was that we both found bones in our snapper :o But we kept eating, and just told the waiter when he came to collect our plates. He came back soon after and apologized, saying that the chef does his best to get out all the bones but on this occasion he had missed some.

The potatoes in the side veggie bowl, was SO crunchy! Love it when potatoes are baked to a crazy crisp :) & the piece of parmesan bread crouton in the soup, made the soup even more good, without it id say the soup wasn't spectacular.

Dessert took a little while, and when it came out we realised why! We asked if we could have two different desserts instead of both of us having the same one, and our waiter came back and said it was fine (yay!)

Amaretto creme brulee

pear rhubarb and walnut crumble with double cream

Both desserts were yummy. The creme brulee was so smooth, and the top layer shattered beautifully! And the amaretto cookie, the flavour was totally addictive! The crumble came out quite hot, that dollop of double cream just soothed the heat in our mouth, really delicious :)

Apart from staying in the hotel, we did get outside for other activities which included:

A walk around ulladulla

Lunch and snacks at a few places (they will be covered in another post!)

Coastal and inland nature walks

Beach walks

And also on the road trip there and back we stopped at Kiama & Berry (home of the donut van!)

We absolutely LOVED our long weekend at Mollymook, i can't wait to go back! This place holds a special place n our hearts, thank you honeybear for organising the whole weekend, love you my boo xoxo

Rick Stein at Bannisters
191 Mitchell Parade,
Mollymook NSW 2539
Phone: + 61 2 4455 3044

http://www.bannisters.com.au

Diggies

2011-08-02T07:50:00.001+10:00

This year I've made 2 trips to Wollongong, and on both occasions i have come to this cafe! It was suggested to me from one of my work's customers, and i'm really glad i asked him! Its a cute little cafe sitting right on the beach, with a great view of the water and sand out front, a really nice accompaniment to your meal if you are able to get a window seat (which i did, both times!)

On my first visit i had corn fritters with avocado salsa, with a side of two hashbrowns and 1 egg fried sunny side up (no picture, as it came when i almost finished my food! But, i had ordered it a few minutes after i got my food, i was starving and thought an extra egg might be nice hehe.

I was expecting, well, fritters, not a corn pancake, but it was nice anyway, it lacked a bit of protein, i wish my egg came out abit faster :( But the hashbrowns were nice and crisp, not drenched in oil as some hashbrowns are, just right they were. & my mocha warmed me right up, this was back in April May, and it was a wet day, so it was nice to sip on this while i waited on my meal :)

You can see the lighthouse from the cafe, its a nice 10 minute walk up a hill, where you get a nice view of the ocean, and also some canons on display from a long time ago (you might find some kids straddling them for fun!)

On my 2nd visit it was with Bigbear, we decided to randomly road trip, for lunch, a nice walk, a visit to the Nan tien temple, and then back home - its really nice to get out of Sydney even if its for a little while.

seared ocean trout fillet $22

with sweet potato chips and herbed hollondaise

I wish i had abit more of the herbed hollondaise sauce, & the sweet potato chips were really tasty, it was nice to have them instead of say thich cut potato chips, or roasted potatoes.

steak sandwich $18

on sourdough with caramelized onion, tomato chutney,

garlic aoli and fries

Ian enjoyed his sandwich ( i ordered for him when he went to the bathroom), i tried abit of the bread and it was really nice and crisp! I think they might have pan fried it in some oil before bringing it out.

We both enjoyed our meals, our iced hot chocolate was a nice sweet treat, but the blueberry crumble we got for dessert- really hit the spot! We were pretty full, and decided against getting a second piece (it would've taken us into a foodcoma for the drive back home hehe)

I will come back here the next time i go to Wollongong, i'm sure of it! Hopefully it will be a little warmer as well, so i can go for a swim as well :)

open 7 days from 7:00am

1 cliff road. north beach. wollongong.nsw. australia. 2500

contact@diggies.com.au

http://www.facebook.com/diggies

telephone: 02 42 262688

Chocolate almond and pear muffins

2011-07-25T07:52:00.000+10:00

I am a regular reader of thestonesoup.com, i love how she provides healthy, quick and low fuss recipes, and this is one that i followed from her blog and these muffins turned out delicious! I added canned pears into them but you could also use canned cherries, peaches, whatever you like really :D

I love how she shows us how to use baking paper as muffins cases (so simple, and you can save some money, and also for when you have run out of paper casings!)

original recipe can be found here.

makes 6

200g butter

200g dark chocolate

200g sugar

4 eggs

200g almond meal

1. Preheat oven to 180c, Grease and line 6 holes of a muffin tray with squares of baking paper

2. melt butterin medium saucepan. Remove from heat and add chocolate smashed into chunks. STand for a few minutes.

3. stir until the chocolate is melted, popping back onto the heat for a few seconds if your chocolate isnt melting easily (i find tha tthe smaller you chop up your chocolate, the easier this step is)

4. add sugar and eggs and stir, then add almond meal and stir to mix.

5. spoon into prepared muffin holes

6. bake for 20-25 minutes or until the muffins are cracked on the top and feel firm, but the middle is still squidgy like a good brownie. Cool in the tin (i found mine took more like 30-35 minutes, so check it at 20 minutes and then every 5 minutes)

My favourite eats at the moment

2011-07-17T12:35:00.005+10:00

You might have noticed that i am not blogging about restaurants as much as i used to, i like to bake and try out recipes that i find out on the internet, and its much more fun when you are in the kitchen as well!

So i've decided to do a little post on the places i've been going to this year, that stand out for me and i am always coming back to :)

Bar Italia

169/171 Norton St

Leichhardt nsw 2040

ph:02 9560 9981

berry yogurt, pistachio

$3.50 per cup

The icecream here - is so delicious! Big bear has taken me here twice in one week, and we have tried toblerone, bounty, berry yogurt, pannacotta, and pistachio flavours, at $3.50 for a cup (or a scoop on cone) i found this a bargain price for the amount that you get!! My favourite by far is the pistachio flavour followed closely by the bounty. The pistachio icecream has so much soft chunks of pistachio, and the same deal goes for the bounty - REAL chunks of fresh coconut its really yum :)

Fanman Catering

57/3 Canberra St

St Johns Park nsw 2640

cheesey chips $5.50 (medium sized)

Grilled fish with creamy prawn sauce

with chips & salad $12

This take-away shop opened some time late last year - i used to come here before that and had seen it go through 2 owner changes.

The first time around, they used to have these awesome fat potato chips they would cook to order, lots of chicken salt, and wrap it up in a large piece of white paper. I found it so much fun to just rip into that paper parcel and savour each and every single chip in it!

The second time around i came for the same thing ^_^ they made yummy shoe string fries and were so generous with the chicken salt it was awesome! Although they wer served in cardboard take away boxes, it was still delicious and i'd always stop here for a feed on my bike riding days :)

& now, oh boy :) YUM! Its my fave local cheap eat joint AND they also make awesome hot chips! (as pictures above) they do standard hot chips but they also do cheesey hot chips which is just ridiculously good. There is bacon sprinkled on top but Bigbear will eat all that for me :) And you will find melted stringy cheese even through the middle of it all, its so damn good!

They have a bistro style menu with so many items ranging from grilled or fried fish, steaks, pork and beef ribs, lamb chops, to pasta, tacos, smoked salmon salads, there is so much to choose from and the most you'll pay is $16! It's a totally very major cheap eat, i totally recommend dropping past if you are ever out this way. Big bear and I have gotten a few of our friends hooked already, the word is spreading ;)

Fat Panda

233C Canley Vale Rd

Canley Heights nsw 2166

eel and cream cheese handrolls

Ever since a friend told me about these eel and cream cheese hand rolls, i cannot leave without having atleast one (sometimes two!) The combination of the rich creamcheese and the smooth eel is mind blowing, you have to try it - i promise you won't be disappointed :)

Other then that, this is my favourite Japanese restaurant out west, they also have a sushi train running if you just want a quick bite :D

Ben & Jerry's

27 S Steyne

Manly NSW 2095

Another favourite icecream place of mine i have been to a few times this year already is Ben & Jerry's! They have really creamy icecream, some interesting flavours, lots of options for cones, and they also do shakes, coffee, brownies etc, it's a really great one stop dessert shop! The line can get quite long at times, but i'm tellin ya, it's worth the wait :)

My favourites so far would have to be the chocolate fudge brownie (with generous brownie chunks in it) & peanut butter cookie dough yummo!

Liana's

306 Church St

(corner Phillip st)

Parramatta nsw 2150

If i crave pasta, i come here :) Their serving sizes are generous, the sauces are very creamy and seasoned nicely, and they have a lot of options to choose from, pasta, pizza, desserts and sides and they also do steak and risotto etc but i have yet to explore the other options yet!

DO NOT go across the road to Criniti's, even though there is always a line out the front of Criniti's, the food is NOT that great (i had a pizza and pasta last weekend and was very disappointed) and i found that they are quite expensive as well..

I hope you have enjoyed reading about my favourite places to eat! If you like, leave a comment telling me about YOUR favourite places, and who knows i might go and check them out in the future :)

Betty's Bites 200th Post!

2011-07-14T13:26:00.002+10:00

I only noticed the other day, that my next post will be #200 - WOW! I've come a long way :)

I wanted to bake something extravagant for this! Something that stands out, something I've never made before, but i also wanted to keep it simple, as that's how i like my life to be, a simple life.

The most important things in my life (in no particular order) are:

family

Bigbear

friends

staying healthy

daily exercise

delicious food

my blogs

having 'me' time

having fun everyday!

I would like to say my life is balanced, i try my best to keep things balanced in every aspect of my life, but life doesn't always go to plan. Some times at the end of a working week i feel so tired and run down, i just want to relax all weekend- but i usually have something on, something to do, people to see, things to do, it does get abit overwhelming at times.. but that is life, you take what life throws at you, and you do whatever you can with it, and you move forward :)

I love all of my readers followers & commentators of this blog, i'm so glad that you guys come to read my posts, it means a lot to me, i love getting comments so keep them coming!

This was a breakfast i made for Big bear & Ann over a weekend not long ago. I love cooking & baking for my family & friends (the other night i baked some delicious cheesecake brownies for my friends i was going to play tennis with, so evil haha well we all burnt off the cheesecake calories im sure!)

Grilled mushrooms with pesto and crumbled fetta on top

- place a small piece of butter in the centre of the mushroom and grill for 15-20 mins until cooked and juicy (spill out any extra melted butter if you like)

- top with a spoon of pesto, sprinkle fetta on top

Watermelon salad

- chop up watermelon (as much as you like)

- chop up tomato, cucumber, avocado, kiwi (and any other vegie/fruit you want)

- add some corn (frozen or tin)

- squeeze half a lemon, sprinkle of salt, and stir through to mix everything up

- top with sprinkle of almonds

Serve with an egg (or two) however you like your egg done :D

Sorenzo Restaurant

2011-06-27T07:27:00.003+10:00

I LOVE Japanese food, it's on top of my list of restaurants to eat at. Whether its cheap sushi train, or an expensive degustation, i am usually left very satisfied and happy :) I love that you can have healthy options to choose from, i love that it can be simple yet elegant, and i love that it is based around seafood (something i enjoy eating!)

I first came across this blogpost from Lorraine, and noted it in my diary, as its rare to find any really nice and outstanding japanese restaurants out west (most are all in the city from what i know). The only japanese place i dine at out west is Fat Panda in Canley Heights.

Apparently this place is a hidden gem! But during our meal, i was texting everyone haha :) I really enjoyed my lunch here at Sorenzo, the service is top notch, the food is amazing, and value wise - i found it quite cheap considering how much food we got, and the quality as well.

We had the Aki Kaiseke for $79 per person.

The restaurant was about one fifth occupied while we were eating, i'd like to see how busy it gets at dinner time?

creme brulee tea

This tea was so nice! Very vanillery, i had to ask for milk and sugar to enhance the flavours abit (i also don't like to drink tea straight unless its green tea, it's so much nicer with milk & sweetened!)

fresh oyster & sashimi

When this piece of art came out, me & Bigbear were very impressed! There was smoke coming out of the thing! Everything was just so freshand delicious i remember there was the usual sashimi pieces (salmon, kingfish & tuna) as well as oysters, cuttle fish and scallops.

i am texting pictures to my friends of each course :)

salmon tataki with wafu dressing

tuna tataki with wafu dressing

i had the salmon and Ian had the tuna, both presented beautifully, and wafu dressing was delicious! a quick google search tells me that it is a vinaigrette dressing based on soy sauce, it was really refreshing and tasty.

sweet & sour seafood soup

This soup tasted like a tom yum soup, but more flavorful the lemongrass was the star of the dish, along with the seafood (fish, mussel & prawn).

prawn with wasabi aoli

The prawn was cleverly presented, and i really liked the small piece of deep fried enoki(enogi?) mushroom.

mero miso yaki

(Grilled Mero (Tooth Fish) marinated in Japanese miso. Served with miso vinaigrette)

We were getting almost full when our mains arrived! I had the fish (also called 'tooth' fish i think), which was served on a bed of mixed vegetables which were well cooked and seasoned really well, the natural flavors of the vegetables still shined through when eating - i like that it wasnt heavily seasoned or covered in some kind of sauce.

This was the first time i had eaten this type of fish, i found it very sweet tasting, and the texture was unlikeany other fish i've had before too, the waitress told us that this was the most popular item on the menu!

wagyu steak

Ian said the steak was cooked really well, one of the best steaks he's had apparently :D

assorted sushi

We were completely stuffed at this point, but managed to finish off the plate of sushi they placed in front of us. Later on i realized that we didn't get our 'miso soup' but, it was fine because we were so so full, probably wouldn't of been able to finish the soup anyway!

omakase

chefs fine selection of desserts

The waitress told us that normally dessert is just icecream, but the chef had made us a plate with assorted desserts for us, this was really generous of them and the plate was too long to even take a photo of!

pannacotta with berries and cake crumble

lime sorbet w/ nut praline

green tea mousse, mixed fruits

chocolate brownie squares

chocolate cake pieces, creme brulee

The dessert platter was really outstanding, and made our whole meal really memorable! Ian really enjoyed the lunch, and since then I've told all my friends about this place, in hope to spread the word for the restaurant, because it truly is a well hidden gem!

I'll leave you with some photo's of a mushroom patch we saw outside the restaurant, how psychedelic!!

Sorenzo Restaurant

1A Bay drive, Meadow Bank

lunch: 11am-3.30pm

dinner: 5.30pm-9.30pm

closed mondays

ph: 9807 8303

info@sorenzo.com.au

I Ate my way through- Cabramatta tours

2011-06-20T05:05:00.003+10:00

Last yr in July, Jennifer approached me about running Cabramatta tours for the Sydney International Food Festival in October, and i thought this was a great opportunity to show people around my 'hood' hehe :)

I've grown up visiting Cabra every weekend with my parents ever since i was able to walk. WE would have lunch, walk around and buy our groceries! It was the only area out west that had asian shops and an asian community.

When you walk around, it feels like you are in 'asia town' as you are surrounded by asian people of many backgrounds ( mainly vietnamese, chinese, thailand, laos, cambodia) but you can also see that people of other backgrounds are in Cabra as well!

You are surrounded by bargains! So many different types of shops and restaurants including cheap fabric stores, mobile phone stores, clothing stores, and you also have bargain shops, cake chops, video/cd/dvd stores, really i'm sure if you needed something - you can find it in Cabra :)

Now don't even get me started on the food! There are so many options to choose from! You can choose from Vietnamese, chinese, malaysian, korean, japanese, thai, laos, cambodian.. and there are also some more westernised restaurants if you dont feel like asian (but for real, why else would you come here for!)

You are also surrounded by sooo many grocery shops, fruit and veg shops, there is such a huge turn over for these shops as well as the meat and seafood shops that you are surely to get the best produce and at the cheapest prices as well.

I have had a blast doing these tours with Jen, we are both so passionate about food and to be able to share our knowledge and interests with people is just so much fun!

We do run them monthly now, so you can check those details out here: http://www.iatemywaythrough.com/tours.html#cab

I've come across a few people who have done the tour and then written about it on their blogs so you can have a read there if you are interested :)

http://vintagemacaroon.wordpress.com/2011/06/05/a-vietnamese-food-tour-of-cabramatta/

http://theadventuresofmisspiggy.blogspot.com/2011/06/i-ate-my-way-through-cabramatta-food.html

http://ooh-look.blogspot.com/2010/10/eating-our-way-through-cabramatta-with.html

Tan Viet Noodle house

3/100 John Street Cabramatta NSW 2166

(02) 9727 6853

Open Daily 9am-7pm

Tanviet noodle house had moved from a smaller restaurant a couple of years ago to the current location, seating capability now is about 90 people but this restaurant is ALWAYS busy! At lunch times there is a line that goes out all the way to the road and then along the sidewalk haha :D

SOme popular dishes are include hainan chicken, combination noodle soups, goat curry, and a few dessert drinks to choose from including 3 coloured sweet drink, sam bo luong ( a herbal type dessert) and ofcourse the ever so popular vietnamese coffee which you can have either iced or hot :)

Spicy beef with bread roll $9.50

This is a typical vietnamese dish, which is often made at home in a big pot to last a few days for dinner! It is simply a beef stew with carrots, and those herbs on top is basil leaves. This dish can be eaten with either rice of bread, but it hink the best way is with bread, using your hands to mop up all the great sauce :)

tomato rice with crispy skin chicken $11

THIS - is what everyone comes here for - the crispy chicken skin chicken, which you can order with either tomato rice of egg noodles, both comes with a bowl of the soup, which is essentially the stock that was used to cook the chicken in, which is so incredibly clear with no impurities, garnished with sliced shallots, you really can't help but keep sipping on it!

Everyone who's come on the tour has absolutely LOVEd the chicken. It is twice cooked hence you get the soft moist chicken flesh and the delicious crispy skin on the outside. Before i turned vego this was one of my favourite dishes to have in Cabra :)

Bau Truong

42 John Street, Cabramatta, Sydney

Tel: +61 (02) 9727 4492

Open 7 days, 10am-11pm

Bau Truong is another popular restaurant in Cabramatta, with a huge double fold out menu filled with so many vietnamese dishes, i can see why they are doing so well (they also have a branch in neighbouring suburn Canley Heights!)

Prawn and jellyfish salad

beef with green mango salad

pork & taro spring rolls

mixed fresh rolls (including grilled pork, grilled prawn paste, shredded pork)

In all the restaurants in Cabra, you will get complimentary tea! Usually its jasmine but some places offer other tea's as well. This is great! I know a few places in the city that charge you a tea surcharge (so gay!)

Vietnamese pancake (banh xeo)

fresh fruits for after lunch

There is so much more food on offer, there's also many take out places, dessert shops, you dont even have to sit in a restaurant and eat you can talk and eat there is just food everywhere its a great culinary experience coming to Cabramatta and even though i've been coming for 20 or so yrs i still don't get tired of going, i love Cabra!

Double chocolate yo-yo's

2011-06-14T09:46:00.002+10:00

Hi Everyone! I hope you all had a super duper awesome long weekend (if you're not in Oz, we had our queens birthday long weekend so we got Monday off from work woohoo!)

On Saturday, after i did an hr bootcamp, and a cardiobox class at the gym, i came home to cook brunch for my boyfriend, and then had the whole afternoon to myself. I was stumped at what to do.. It had been a really long time since i had no plans on a saturday! So i went through my CRAVE cookbook and noticed i had bookmarked this recipe, so i gave it a go! Little did i know, i'd be finished 3 hours later..!

Some tips!

1) the mixture, is quite dry and stuff, after you mix the wet with the dry. So using your hands (after you use the spatula) try and pat together everything,. I tried to roll it together like dough- there was too much- so i gave up.

2) before you roll the teaspoon full balls - give it a bit of a massage first, get it all together, because if you just start rolling it first - the mixture will crumble when you try to flatten it with a fork

as you can see above, there are two different textures of balls. on the left, a more smooth ball (these ones i massaged with my palm and fingers) and on the right are the less smooth rolls (these are the ones i tried to roll first before massaging)

tray # 1

you can see they cracked! i assumed the mixture was too dry, so i ended up adding a couple table spoons of milk into the mixture, but it didnt change anything.

tray # 2

slightly better looking!

tray #3

perfecto!

The chocolate buttercream was just amazing! the use of real dark chocolate in both the biscuit mixture and the buttercream, just made it taste so nice! I was in a creative mood so i ended up wrapping them in clear cellophane with some fancy ribbon work :O)

Everyone who tried them liked these biscuits, im so glad, as alot of time and effort went into them!

Double chocolate yo-yo's

makes 36 double biscuits

250g unsalted butter, room temp

1/2 cup cnfectioners sugar, sifted

125g dar chocolate, melted and cooled to tepid

3 cups plain flour

1/2 cup cornflour (or cornstarch)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

choclate butter icing

90g unsalted butter, room temperature

125g (1 cup) pure icing sugar, sifted

35g dark chocolate, melted and cooled to tepid

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

preheat the oven to 170C. Line baking tray with baking paper

using an electric mixer, cream butter and icing sugar until pale and fluffy, then add cooled tepid melted chcolate.

sift flour and custard powder or cornflour and add to the creamed mixture. work the mixture using a rubber spatula to form a stiff dough, adding vanilla extract halfway through

rol teaspoons of mixture into balls and place on prepared tray, use back of fork dipped in flour to flattern each ball.

bake 20-25 minutes, depending on the size of the biscuits. to ceck if they are cooked, use a spatula to lift a biscuit off the tray, and if its evenly coloured undeneath with no uncooked dough visible in the centre, then it is cooked. allow biscuits to cool on tray for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

chocolate butter icing

using electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until pale and fliffy, add icing sugar gradually. add cooled melted chocolate and vanilla extract and beat thoroughly until combined.

join the biscuits together in pairs with the chocolate butter cream, allow to set, store in airtight container.

Viennese brownies

2011-06-03T20:39:00.000+10:00

These brownies were whipped up for a friend's birthday, and they were enjoyed by him and his workmates! I kept one for myself and B.B, they are just right - not too dense, a bit of fudgey, deliciously dark, and the cream cheese really lightened it altogether!

Brownie

60g dark chocolate

1/2 cup margarine

2 eggs

1 cup sugar (i used half cup, still nice and sweet)

3/4 cup plain flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

sliced almonds

Filling

250g cream cheese at room temperature ( i used homebrand, worked out fine)

1/3 cup sugar

1 egg

1/4 tsp almond essence (optional, i left it out)

preheat oven to 180C

for the filling, combine and mix together all ingredients.

for the brownie batter, melt chocolate and margarine together (in a microwave on low level is fine). Cool.

Beat eggs, add sugar and chocolate mixture.

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt, add to chocolate mixture and mix well.

pour half the chocolate batter into a greased and lined 20 cm square pan, spread with cream cheese mixture.

top with remaining batter, sprinkle with almonds.

Bake for about 40-45 minutes. Cool in tin.

Green tea and cream cheese white chocolate blondies

2011-05-30T00:43:00.000+10:00

Blondies, a white chocolate version of brownies! I only came to know this very recently hehe. It was my dear friend Natalie's birthday not long ago, so i surprised her with a batch of these babies early in the morning, so that she had something to share with her workmates that day.

I kept a piece for myself and one for B.B, the texture was dense, not cakey, but still fudge-like, the green tea and cream cheese paired well with each other, i quite liked it :D

I found the recipe from here, it's really easy to follow, if you have patience (un-like me) you could be abit more light handed when it comes to swirling the two mixtures together so that it looks abit prettier when you cut into it.

Green Tea Cream Cheese Swirl White Chocolate Brownie

Brownie base

8 Tbsp butter (1 stick), cut into 1-in pieces

5 oz. white chocolate, chopped

2 eggs

5 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp vanilla

3/4 C flour

Cheesecake swirl

8 oz bar of cream cheese, room temp

1 egg

3 Tbsp sugar

2 tsp green tea/matcha powder

About 2 tsp of water, hot but not boiling

Preheat the oven to 325ºF.

Mix the green tea powder with a bit of hot water to form a paste. Mix the cream cheese, egg, and green tea paste until smooth. Taste a bit and see if it's strong enough.

Melt the butter with the white chocolate. Mix in the sugar, eggs, vanilla, and flour (and baking powder if you want to experiment with it). Whisk until smooth but do not over mix.

Line a 8 x 8 square baking dish with a sheet of foil (with overhang for easy lifting) or grease and flour it. Pour in half of the white chocolate batter. Then drop half of the cream cheese mixture on top in spoonfuls. Top the batter with the rest of the white chocolate brownie batter, then finally add the remaining half of the cream cheese mixture on top. Use a knife and swirl the brownie and cream cheese together to create a marbled pattern.

Bake the brownies at 325ºF for 40 - 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs. The center should be almost set. You don't want the toothpick to come out clean because that would mean the brownies have overbaked. Cool in the pan for 5 then lift the brownies out and cool to room temperature. They're best served cold so chill them in the fridge for about 3 hours.

Kuih Bakar

2011-05-23T00:09:00.000+10:00

I had made this a long time ago but it seems i havent posted up the recipe yet!

This tasted so nice, not too sweet, loved the texture. I remember when i made it, i forgot to stir the flour though and by the time i realised i had already sprinkled sesame seeds on top and put it in the oven (doh'?) so i had to take it out, add the flour, mix it, then re-sprinkle sesame seeds.. LOL what a clutz.

Recipe down below after all the photo's :O)

Kuih Bakar Recipe
(Adapted from My Kitchen Snippets)

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups of sugar
2 cups of flour
1 cup of pandan juice (6 pandan leaves + 1 cup of water - blended and sieved)
2 1/4 cups of coconut milk
4 large eggs
2 tbsp of melted butter
1 tsp of pandan paste
1 tbsp of sesame seeds (optional)

Method

Pre-heat oven to 325 degree F and greased a 8" x 8" square baking pan.

Mix all the above ingredients except sesame seeds until well combined.

Pour mixture into baking pan and sprinkle with some sesame seeds and bake until golden brown or skewer comes out clean when tested. It should take an hour.

Cool it down before cutting.

Lord St. Pizzeria

2011-05-15T19:11:00.000+10:00

hi Stella's bum!

medium supreme $12

3 sizes available

medium, large, family

family size half n half (extra $1 for half n half) $21

spicy chicken, four seasons (minus cabanossi, extra olives)

Awesome pizza. Look at that cheesey shot! Need i say more? =P

Shop 112B Lord St

Cabramatta West NSW 2166

Ph: (02) 9610-4005

Limited tables for eat in (only about 4 tables inside, able to seat four people per table)

Menu can be found here :)

French-toad-in-a-hole

2011-05-09T23:01:00.002+10:00

I saw THIS recipe and knew i had to try it out. It was really fun to make, and tasted delicious!!

Ingredients

• 4 thickly sliced bread

• 5 eggs

• ½ cup milk

• 1 tbs Parmesan cheese, finely grated

• A knob of butter

• A stalk of fresh parsley, minced for garnishing

• Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Cut a hole in all bread slices. I used a cookie cutter for a perfect round hole but it's really not necessary!

2. In a wide shallow dish, whisk in 1 egg with milk, Parmesan cheese and few cranks of black pepper

3. Soak each slice of bread in the egg mixture until well coated on all sides

4. Set a non-stick pan on medium heat with a knob of butter

5. Once the butter is foamy, lay each piece in the pan for 1 minute

6. Break an egg into each of the bread and let it sit until the bottom of the bread is slightly browned. Take a little peek by lifting the corner of the bread without spilling the egg in the hole

7. Once the eggs are a little firm, flip it over to brown the other side

8. Depends on how you prefer the egg: runny egg, 1-2 minutes while an almost hard yolk takes a good 3+ minutes

As you can see, i made use of the bread rounds as well, they mopped up the rest of the egg mixture and had some time on the fry pan aswell :P

And it wasn't complete without lashings of barbeque sauce !

Enjoy xoxo

Taro in coconut cream - and an introduction to my new health & fitness blog!

2011-05-01T17:30:00.005+10:00

I'd like to introduce you to a new blog that my friend Stella and i have started together. The idea was sparked after attending the fitness expo a couple of weeks ago, where we both realised we need to really take care of our body and health, both of us keen gym and exercise goers, the other part that we needed to look at was our diet and lifestyle!

So together we've started this blog, in hope to share our information and stories about health, life, a bit of love, all positive aspects of anything we can share with the world.

If you have a moment, come and check it out :O)

http://fit-in-the-city.blogspot.com

A recent post is about the health benefits of switching to coconut sugar. And the following is a recipe that uses coconut sugar, so so good, i'm totally addicted to it right now!

Stella introduced me to this delicious dessert of boiled taro in coconut milk with a sprinkle of coconut sugar. It is nutritional, very filling, and good for you in so many ways! I also have this for breakfast as well as it keeps me full for ages!

All you need to do is peel and cube a piece of taro (depending how much you want to have, and how many people you are serving

Boil until cooked all the way through and looks mushy

Drain, and pour over coconut cream (or coconut milk, whatever your preference is)

Sprinkle with coconut sugar!

In my previous post I've talked about how coconut sugar is good for you, well now i will tell you why taro and coconut cream are good for you too :O)

Coconut cream is not as bad as people think it is. Yes it's got a high fat content but it is a good high saturated fat that benefits your health and weightloss very easily by converting to energy as soon as your body absorbs it, just like carbs. In other words, it doesn't transform into bad cholesterol which clogs up your arteries and triggers heart problems and stroke. Most importantly, it doesn't cause weight gain as easily as what most people think.

But of course, everything in moderation! If you have too much coconut cream, yes it'll turn into a negative benefit (if that makes sense) So it's alright to consume in moderation in order to reap its health benefits without getting its disadvantages.

& Taro, is a meal in itself! These babies keep you full for so long, so in that sense is good for weightloss. But again, IN MODERATION! The scales can go the other way if you're not careful about that.

Taro has many nutrients such as fiber, potassium, iron, calcium, vitamin A, vitamin b, vitamin B2, and vitamin C.

Heart 1st cereal

2011-04-27T07:08:00.000+10:00

I hope everyone had a great easter, loved my 5 day weekend!!!!! What did everyone get up to? I managed to hit the gym twice, watched a few episodes of Californication, read about 40 pages of Angels & Demons, watched Fast and furious 5, and ate SO MUCH FOOD! I had pretty much a food related event everyday.

Friday - yumcha

Saturday - house dinner

Sunday - picnic with friends, dinner at my uncles

Monday - lunch at my uncles, bbq with friends

Tuesday - lunch at my workmate's place, and sushi train for dinner

I feel totally bloated today :( Monday - Friday i can eat so damn well, and i squeeze in 2 hrs of exercise each day, but then come the weekend/holidays, i eat so badly..

So this morning I've taken out my box of health 1st cereal to have with banana and skim milk. I was sent this from Laura of Mark communications back in February, and since then I've finished it and bought another box to start on.

This cereal is sweetened not with sugar but with honey, golden syrup, cranberries, cinnamon and has three types of nuts almonds hazels and pecans, & 3 types of seeds flax, sunflower and buckwheat. What makes this cereal so good for you though, is the combination of wholegrain barley with wholegrain oat flakes, which leaves you feeling fuller, for longer, making it very low GI.

You can get more information on Superfoods other products here.

So this week i am very much detoxing! Lots of fruits, vegies, brown rice, lots of green tea, and two hours exercising everyday, eating so much junk on the long weekend has left me bloated and my body is really feeling the effects of eating bad foods.

steamed matcha cupcakes

2011-04-17T21:58:00.003+10:00

Meet Momo, my cousins' pet Cat. So adorable! He's so friendly and affectionate :) Totally opposite to my cat Honey. She's such a little snob! LOok at her below lying beside a knife :s

I had stumbled upon this recipe, and thought steamed cupcakes would be something different i could try. They are really healthy compared to the standard butter sugar flour cupcake recipes, and not that satisfying but i still enjoyed snacking on these.

I made these at my cousin Joanne's house, the recipe below is dead simple, you could also use silicone cupcake holders, just lightly spray them with oil before use.

Ingredients (makes ±6):
125g cake flour (i used plain flour)
90g castor sugar
1 tbsp matcha
125ml water
*1 tsp baking powder
*15ml cold water

Methods:

Preheat steamer.
Sift together flour and matcha, then mix well with sugar in a mixing bowl.
Gradually add in water and whisk until sugar is dissolved.
Once the steamer is preheated, dissolve baking powder with 15ml water in a small cup.
Stir baking powder solution into batter and mix well.
Transfer batter into small bowls or moulds lined with paper cases.
Steam on high for 20 minutes. DO NOT open the steamer during steaming process, to prevent water mark on the surfaces.

Deep fried prawns in golden egg yolk batter

2011-04-10T17:33:00.000+10:00

One of my friend's one day randomly messages me "deepfried prawns in salted egg yolk batter". At first i could not think how this would be nice, it was the first time i'd ever heard of anything like it "salted egg yolk batter" but i listened to his advice and ordered it for the first time at Supermeal in the city.

And..

WOW WOW WOW how good is this ?!?!? I demolished more then half and finished off like 3 bowls of rice.

Ever since then I've been ordering it wherever its available, i can't stop thinking about it really, it's just so good. I haven't even tried the crab r lobster in the same batter, just the prawns, i think it's the best cos you don't have to pick it out from any shells etc.

Supermeal Chinese Restaurant

39 Goulburn Street, Haymarket

Ironchef chinese seafood restaurant

84 Broomfield Street, Cabramatta

SUperdish Chinese Restaurant

19/1 HUghes Street, Cabramatta

Dragonbowl Seafood restaurant

11 Canley Vale Road, Canley Vale

My favourite by far is the first one i tried at Supermeal. The prawns werent soggy from the oil, they were crisp, and tasted very salted-egg-yolky, a sign that compared to all the other restaurants, they did not SKIMP on the main important ingredient!!

Second place is Dragonbowl, followed by Superdish, and lastly Ironchef.

WHo else has tried this before? Or am i the last one to know about it?? haha..

Vue de monde

2011-04-03T18:25:00.000+10:00

Hearing about Melbourne's Vue De monde, i really really wanted to experience this dining adventure myself, and what an adventure it was. Our degustation lunch lasted 4 hrs, and we were left completely satisfied and really glad that we were able to visit Vue while we were in Melbourne.

From where we were seated (furtheset away opposite the kitchen) we could sort of see what the chef's were preparing as there is a mirror right above thier workstation. Being so far away though we couldnt see too well.. but i think it's a really nice way for customers to see what goes on while we are waiting for our food.

I wish i had blogged about this when i still had everything fresh in my mind.. but here is the eye candy, and a few words to read. Enjoy!

Potato chips served with sourcream - this was so addictive!

Amuse bouche

smoked eel, apple, white chocolate

buttermilk, apple, fennel, flowers

blue fin tuna

whiting, summer vegetables

The bread was still warm when they gave it to us, i tried my best not to fill up on the bread and butter so i think i only had 3 pieces.

marron on a hot river stone, spanner crab sandwich, brown butter emulsion

fried duck egg, toasted breads, asparagus, truffle

peas & goats cheese

palate cleanser ofcucumber sorbet, elderflower granite, frozen lime

beetroot salad

radish and dill

kangaroo, cabbage, macadamia, blackberry

harpuka, vine leaves, pork fat, oyster cream

blackmore wagyu beef cheek, radish, dill, caper, anchovy sauce

frozen lolly, popping candy, housemade lemonade

This was a really fun dessert to picc at and eat, felt like a kid again eating pop rocks~

pavlova

What a pretty site! Not a huge fan of pavlova, i enjoyed the rehydrated strawberries and pineapple pieces.

gaytime souffle

This was my favourite dessert! Despite being so full, our stomachs automatically made room for the few last dishes of our extravagant meal.

pineapple jubes

lamington

The insides was actually chocolate mousse! So delicate to pick up and eat, i wish there were a few more pieces to enjoy hehe.

passionfruit licorice, strawberry sauce & sherbert

(ciggie butts!)

mint marshmallows

The service here was spot on, all our waiters were polite, explained in great detail about every dish they served us, and really made the whole experience so enjoyable.

I would definitely come back here again, probably not every single time i go to Melbourne (poor wallet as this 4 hour lunch cost us $250!)

I hope you all enjoyed my post of photo's and sorry for not writing much but it's been a little while since i was there!

La Tratt

2011-03-27T23:59:00.004+11:00

Inside Fairfield RSL

14 Anzac Avenue
Fairfield NSW 2165
(02) 9727 5000

Open Wed-Sat 6pm-9:30pm

Fairfield RSL has apparently been super re-vamped over the years, to become one of few stylish RSL clubs, a sports club that is swanky and fancy that doesn't require a long trip out of the area. I have been inside to dine at "Pho" and wasn't very impressed, actually none of our party of 8 liked any of the food.. Pho is best eaten in Cabra at one of the various restaurants that offer pho on their menu.

However, La Tratt really impressed me. The service, the food, and the ambience all exceeded my expectations, and great value for money as well. The prices mentioned below are ala carte, on both the nights i was there it was $49 for bread olives and olive oil dip, entree, main, & dessert. Really cheap in my opinion!

So to start, we were given olive bread, normal bread with olive oil to dip, and a small bowl of olives & garlic. I always try not to eat too much bread but i love my carbs! haha :)

The first time i came here i had the $49 deal, and started off with the tart as my entree. The puff pastry was hot, crispy and soaked with a really tasty sauce from the mushrooms and eschallots. It was nice to have the rocket on top and the fetta on the side, made the dish look very appealing.

Wild mushroom and eschallot tart with rocket and persian feta

$15.90

Fried zucchini flowers with white polenta, tomato, capers and salsa verde

$18.90

Polenta cake (not on the menu but it comes with the

Cape Grim Black Angus fillet with confit garlic puree, fried polenta cake, wild mushrooms

and veal demi glaze $34.90)

$2.00

My dining companion had been warning me about this 'polenta cake' and had had these every single time she's come to La tratt (i think on this occasion it was her 3rd of 4th visit!)

As i mentioned above, the polenta cake only comes with the angus main, but if you ask nicely they can serve it alone for you. At first i thought "really? that good?"

But after a third bite i was hooked, there's something about the buttery and creamy insides that melt in your mouth paired with the crisp and crunchy outer shell. Definitely addictive!

The 2nd visit however, had left us with two slightly browner polenta cakes, i much prefer the lighter colour but they both still tasted pretty darn good.

Twisted pasta with slipper lobster, chilli, tomato and cream

$17.90/$27.00

On my second visit i decided to dine ala carte, so i can cover a bit more of the menu rather then have the same dishes again I i had already covered the vegetarian and pesketarian options on the specials menu)

The sauce in this dish i really enjoyed, but it was slightly over salted, but had decent pieces of lobster throughout. Not overly chilli, i would've prefered the sauce to be a bit thicker so that it coated the pasta better.

Lemon marinated spatchcock with sweet corn puree, char-grilled witlof, pine nuts

and sweet wine sauce

$29.90

Northern territory wild barrimundi fillet with spring bay mussels, herb risotto and saffron sauce

$29.90

My friend and i both had this seafood dish for our mains, which was delicious! However, we both fell sick that same night right after we got home. Neither of us get sick often, so i rang up the next day to inform them. My message was left, and a few days later the restaurant manager rang me to ask about it.

He was at first a bit defensive, saying that no one else had fallen sick that night and they were really busy as well (how many people actually come forward to admit that they got sick?)

I stood my ground and disagreed, saying that it was definitely something we ate no matter how nice it tasted, we somehow both fell sick and most of our dinner came back up again.

He said he would like us to come back again, and offered us a dining voucher worth $100. This was really generous of him, despite getting sick, and even if i had no voucher, i was still keen to come back and try other things on the menu.

yummy steamed greens

onto dessert ..!

White chocolate pannacotta with poached blueberries, passionfruit jelly, meringue

and mint syrup

$14.90

Chocolate fondant with apple compote, mascarpone cream and hazelnuts

$14.90

I really wish i had taken a shot of the fondant insides, really gooey and chocolatey i enjoyed eating this immensely, and ate it really slowly so that the experience would last longer :P

Lemon and mascarpone tart with vanilla cream, citrus and blood orange candy

$13.50

The tart was nice and tangy, a really great way to finish a meal, & i really liked the crunchy toffee coating.

On my first visit we were offered tea or coffee or biscuits, but on the 2nd visit we weren't. A little bit inconsistent!

All in all, i very much enjoyed both my dining experiences here at La tratt. I recommend coming here, it's really unexpected that a sports club would have something so fancy on the inside, you really do forget that you're in a RSL.

Also don't forget, the special 3 course price is valid Wednesdays and Thursday nights only.

They were featured in Sydney goodweekender as well check it out here :O)

& also featured in SMH here.

Chef's Gallery

2011-03-21T08:34:00.000+11:00

Shop 12, Ground Floor Regent Place,

501 George Street, Sydney

Tel: 02 9267 8877

Open 7 days 11am-3pm and 5pm- late

Chef's Gallery, opened in Sydney in August/Sept 2010, and i read a few reviews and heard positive comments about the place, but never remembered to come by whenever i was in the city (and i am rarely in the city).

For my dearest friend Annie's birthday in Mid January of this year she organized a little group of us for lunch at Chef's Gallery, and i was quite impressed!

prawn and pork wontons with handmade noodles

in a Shanghainese style spicy sauce $12.90

This dish was a hit as we ordered two of them! The sauce with these noodles is really addictive, being not too salty & just being so nice that even without the wontons it still would've been yummy!

lightly pan fried prawn dumplings 6 pieces $11.90

These were also good enough for a second round, panfried and glistening golden i think i had more then my fair share of these, and i really enjoyed the long shaped style instead of the traditional round dumplings, more crunch :)

Sliced pork belly with salted fish, dried chilli & dark soya sauce

served with steamed shallot pancakes $21.90

There was a bit of pork left over, the girls said it was too salty, so they struggled to finish it off, i didn't try the pancakes but i imagine it might be nicer with white rice?

prawn and pork wonton in a spicy red soup $9.90

The spice in this soup hit most of us pretty hard - but still yummy and addictive, leaving a hot sensation on our tongues for a lil while after sipping on it.

prawn dumplings steamed in a fine clear pastry 4 pieces $5.90

Unfortunately i found these dumplings not worth the price we paid.

chef's own golden snowflake chicken - lightly crumbed chicken fillet,

very crispy, tender and moist served with noodles in a pumkin soup $13.90

I personally really enjoyed the pumpkin soup noodles, and teamed them with the pan fried prawn dumplings, i finished off most the soup in the end :) The chicken i heard was crispier then it actually looked!

Steamed sesame ‘piggy face’ bun, as sumptuous to the eyes as it is
to the taste buds - a must-try for adults and children (2 pc) $5.90

We were completely stuffed (all this between 5 gals) so we take awayed the piggy buns for dessert later on at Karaoke. They are soo adorable!! I was really looking forward to trying these as i had seen pictures of them floating around the internets, but because they weren't freshly out of the steamer anymore they were a bit rubbery? but the sesame filling was nice - not overly sweet. Must try them on the spot the next time i go :)

I really enjoyed lunch at Chef's Gallery, i'd love to go back and have my favourites again, and possibly try some of the other noodle dishes and desserts!

Chocolate dipped madelines

2011-03-15T20:49:00.000+11:00

Sorry everyone for the unannounced hiatus/disappearance off the blogosphere. I've been a little busy bee! I hope to at least punch out a post every week from now on - even though i haven't been blogging i have certainly been eating out still :p

A few thing's that i've been up to are..

Oztag - our team 'TAG TEAM" made it to the grand finals but lost by just TWO points!

& also training for the Oztag Nationals comp in Shell harbour next mth

Mountain biking - training for Capital punishment which is a 50KM mountain bike race in Canberra this weekend where i'll be conquering bike tracks around Mount Stromlo, Kowen forest, Madjura Pines & Black mountain (exciting!)

Guitar hero-ing - i love it!

Tennis

Exploring local eats

I ate my way through Cabramtta tours (more info here)

Here is something I baked a while ago but never got around to blogging it.. & i've only used my madeleine pan once since then!

Chocolate Madeleines Recipe

(Adapted from Donna Hay Chocolate)

Makes 12

Ingredients

2 eggs

1/3 cup (75g / 2 1/2 oz) caster (superfine) sugar

1/3 cup (50 g / 1 3/4 oz) plain (all-purpose) flour

1 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp cocoa powder

60 g (2 oz) butter, melted

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C (350F).
Place the eggs and sugar in a bowl and whisk to combine.
Sift the flour, baking powder and cocoa over the egg mixture and fold through with the melted butter.
Spoon the mixture into greased large Madeleine tins until two-thirds full.

5. Bake for 10 minutes or until the Madeleine's are set.

I dipped mine in chocolate to keep them moist as madeleines dry out quickly and are meant to be eaten on the same day that they are made!

Also i refrigerated the batter for two nights, as I read it helps to create that 'hump'.

Happy baking!

Cooks Hill Hotel

2010-12-01T12:32:00.000+11:00

Cooks Hill are well-known out west for their $10 steak nights (Sunday to Thursdays) and also for $10 you can get beer battered fish, chicken fillet, lamb chops, pork chops, spaghetti or Kransky specials. All of these are served with chips, salad, and a complimentary drink :O)

On a sunday lunch i was craving for fish & chips but didn't want to travel far so i ended up here with a mate.

For $10 you can't complain. The chips were great, the salad awesome with their special 'cooks hill' dressing, and the fish hot straight from the fryer.

It was a full house while we were there, but i have driven past this place many a times and seen a decent line up outside the place.

2/485 Cabramatta Rd,

Cabramatta West NSW 2166

Ph: (02) 8786 0622

manager@cookshillhotel.com.au

Harvest Box Review- & a FREEBIE!

2010-11-25T14:56:00.000+11:00

I'm sure anyone that work's in an office - will always get peckish mid afternoon, just before heading home for the day (well, i know i do!)

When i ignore this hunger i usually end up binge eating when i get home before dinner, which is so much worser then just having a little snack at work to keep hunger pangs at bay. But reaching for a coke, or chocolate, or biscuit - can be detrimental to your waistline :s

When i found out about HarvestBox through Jennifer, i knew it was what i needed for my health conscious self.

Harvest Box will deliver a package to you once, twice or three times a week (however often you want it) and there is also a rating system so that you can get your favourites (and avoid the one's you didn't like as much).

I have mine delivered once a week, and so far i love it! No longer am i starved till i get home, or craving junkfood at work, these little packages are yummy and nutritious and keep me satisfied :)

By the beach (my favourite so far!!)

brazil, coconut chip, macadamia, mango

Mont blanc

blueberry fusion, white chocolate, crown sultana

Latin swing

brazil, roast almond, macadamia

Everest & Beyond

date, goji berry, crown sultana

Now for the freebie :O)

If you head to www.harvestbox.com.au and punch in the code 551K8UKVA, you will get your first box FREE and 2nd box at half price.

Enjoy!

Fat Panda

2010-11-16T17:12:00.004+11:00

So i haven't been eating out much lately because a) i'm trying to lose weight & b) i'm trying to save some money. Eating out is so stressful on the wallet sometimes, and bad for the waistline I've put on 5kg since the beginning of the year and 2 mths ago I've seriously started dieting & exercising to lose it.

So staying local means sticking to what i know, and like, which is Japanese at Fat Panda.

In the last couple of mths i've come back a handful of times and never fail to order these three items from the menu.

salmon sashimi

Takoyaki

Eel & cream cheese handrolls

From the menu i have also tried, vegetarian gyoza, agedashi tofu, deep fried soft shell crab, and various plates off the sushi train.

The sushi train is nothing special, only picked off the train from hunger while waiting for our food to come. The gyoza's are yummy crispy morsels, which at the visit i had my camera with me, they had sadly run out :(

I like coming here to get my japanese fix, when i'm too lazy to trek out to the city for dinner :D

Fat Panda

233c Canley Valey Rd

Canley Heights, 2166

(02) 9755 4888

Note: - no Efptos - only cash payments.

Sunrise, cakes, breakfast & a garden photo-shoot

2010-11-16T11:43:00.023+11:00

Something i love to do but a) dont do it often enough & b) it's a little too early for a weekend to wake up - is to catch the sunrise at the beach - particularly Bondi Beach :O)

& After lazing in the morning sunshine, grabbing a coffee and walking along the wet sand with the water crashing over our feet - we headed to Cafe ish for breakfast ^_^ But it wasnt open until 9am (i swear i saw somewhere it had mentioned opening at 8am) so we went for a drive around & stopped by Bourke Street Bakery.

Praline Scroll

nicely presented it wasn't a favorite of mine but James said it was soft, not to sweet, and didn't stick to your teeth like other scrolls do.

Pear & almond tart

i chose this as i didnt want anything overly sweet (like the creme brulee tart that i also saw on display) & im glad i did - this tart wasn't too much sweet at all- i really liked it :)

Lemon curd tart

this we were told to eat very soon as the curd would melt? after James took a bite he said it had a first hit of fishyness taste - i found it too sour and tangy for me - so i only picked at the tart instead =P

Nonos

a big adorable cuddly dog we met while sitting outside on the tables!

It was already past 9 when we were done with our bakery treats so we headed over to Cafe Ish, where there were already a few customers seated already. It's not a huge place, but the space didn't seem too cramped either. I already knew what i wanted to try - which was the Soft shell crab omelette. & i was keen to try the okinomiyaki, so James ordered that and we shared both.

Linger Iced Tea $5.50

this homemade drink was light & refreshing with flavors of lemon peel lemon myrtle and melon balm, and apparently ginger but it wasn't too noticeable for me?

Okinomiyaki $18

w jap pumpkin, organic fetta, spinach, davidson plum sauce, wasabi mayo & sea weed flakes

this was the first restaurant cooked okinomiyaki I've ever had. I've had a friend make it once, and also tried one from Mosman markets. I found this one a bit too plain for my liking, but i do like the plum sauce mixed with mayo that was a nice combination.

Crab omelette $23

Crispy crab, avocado, shallot, garlic, chilli, soy, ginger dressing & lime

this was my favorite out of the two, so many flavors, the crab was nice and crisp, except for the pieces in the omelette, but i think i prefer my soft shell crab fried alone and eaten with dipping sauce like at some jap/thai restaurants.

I would like to come back and try the Croque Nippon toasted sandwich w red bean jam, mochi, banana and molten lindt chocolate on the side $10.50 and the Emperor Don toasted brioche, lemon myrtle ricotta, sake scented rosella and raspberries with passionfruit $14.50, the latter was recommended by our waitress but i was really craving something savory.

After breakfast we moved onto Eden gardens for some photo-shooting! (i had gone two weeks ago on a rainy day you can find those photo's here)

ENJOY !

Thanks to James my eating and shooting buddy i had a great day out :O)

Bourke Street Bakery

633 Bourke St

Surry Hills NSW 2010

(02) 9699 1011

Cafe Ish

82 Campbell St

Surry Hills New South Wales 2010

(02)9281 1688

Eden Gardens

301/307 Lane Cove Road

North Ryde 2113

(02) 9491 9900

Sushi-Bowl

2010-11-11T08:54:00.003+11:00

My cousin Joanne recently bought me some packet bonito flakes to try out - a mixture of sesame seeds, seaweed, bonito flakes & seasoning, it's a delightful crunchy addition to any plain old boring bowl of rice.

Actually it might not be bonito, i can't read Korean? If anybody can translate it for me that'd be great :O)

step 1 : rice

step 2 : sprinkling of packet mixture

step 3 : add chopped cucumber (or avocado) (or both)

step 4 : tuna

step 5 : cut up sushi paper & kewpie mayonnaise

step 6 : enjoy!

Another idea is to mix the bonito flakes through a small bowl of rice, and shape into onigiri like below ^_^

photo courtesy Joanne @ http://mojojo-jo.tumblr.com/

Betty's Bites

HIATUS

Pandan coconut crepes, iphone games and a Holiday Greeting

Jonahs Restaurant - A special Lunch treat for Bigbear

3 months *correction* YEARS! Blogiversary

Wetherill Park Tafe - The Restaurant

Almond chickpea cookies with chia seeds and dark choc buttons

Armchair Collective (Monavale)

Healthy toasted coconut muesli

Vegetarian Meatballs - & my trip to the Healthy Chef cafe in Avalon

Foveaux Bar & Restaurant

Inception cookies & a shout-out to Lucy&theRunaways

A weekend @ Bannisters, Mollymook

Diggies

Chocolate almond and pear muffins

My favourite eats at the moment

Betty's Bites 200th Post!

Sorenzo Restaurant

I Ate my way through- Cabramatta tours

Double chocolate yo-yo's

Viennese brownies

Green tea and cream cheese white chocolate blondies

Kuih Bakar

Lord St. Pizzeria

French-toad-in-a-hole

Taro in coconut cream - and an introduction to my new health & fitness blog!

Heart 1st cereal

steamed matcha cupcakes

Deep fried prawns in golden egg yolk batter

Vue de monde

La Tratt

Chef's Gallery

Chocolate dipped madelines

Cooks Hill Hotel

Harvest Box Review- & a FREEBIE!

Fat Panda

Sunrise, cakes, breakfast & a garden photo-shoot

Sushi-Bowl

3 months correction YEARS! Blogiversary