A penny wise person's thoughts

sushi rolls

2012-01-31T11:41:00.000+08:00

sushi rolls are the new sandwiches. they're a popular choice for lunch as they're tasty, healthy-ish, easily available and portable. And they're eaten cold so no need to microwave anything! I love the fresh taste of vinegared rice and attempted to make my own sushi rolls. sashimi grade salmon isn't easy to come by [I dont know if I'd eat the salmon from coles or woolies raw] so I've used canned chicken [the mayo and smoked flavoured ones work very well] and avocado with shredded carrot and salad leaves as the filling. They work very well! cooked prawn, smoked salmon and canned tuna would work too. It's quite easy finding sushi rice, sushi vinegar and nori [seaweed] at coles or woolies so there's no reason not to try making these!

Chinese new year and other things

2012-01-24T20:15:00.000+08:00

For those who didn't know, last Monday was the first day of the chinese new year. We got together with some other chinese background-ed folks to have a hotpot meal, above which consists of various types of meat, tofu, vegetables and noodles cooked in a broth at the table and eaten as they cook. I love those processed meatballs, octopus balls and fishballs. [which you can only get at asian grocery shops] of course we always end up preparing too much food. we had just 7 people but bought enough food for double that!

This isn't food related but I just thought Socks looked so crisp and smart next to the laptop one day.

at the office barbie - lots of saturated fat and cholesterol i'm afraid!

Some pan fried squid and flathead fillets that were dredged in a seasoned flour- yummy!

oh and Happy Australia day!

frozen meal reviews

2012-01-09T21:31:00.002+08:00

One night, we made the error of not booking a table at the restaurant we meant to go to and found that it was full [a friday night] and every other place we tried to ring up was full too! We really didn't feel like cooking so did the next best thing [apart from going to Macca's] we bought frozen ready meals from the supermarket!

Who'd have known you could have ready meals from all around the world right from the freezer section?

this one from lean cuisine $4.50 on special was quite a good serving size, which was surprising for something that only has 300cals. the meat was tender and the pasta was cooked just right with a nice springy texture. The sauce was tasty enough but it did indeed taste low fat. [whether that's a good thing or not is up to you to decide!] what i mean is that it didn't taste rich. a good filling meal nonetheless.

Gav had this Indian curry one which was $5.60, it looked like a small serving at first but after tipping it unto a plate it was a good sized portion. Apparently it was developed by some award winning chef from the UK who won some briyani award.

It smelled so good and was very tasty. As good as a freshly made curry from an Indian takeaway. the whole kitchen smelled like a curry restaurant when it was being microwaved.

There were good sized chunks of meat and generous lashings of curry sauce. Gav said he would buy this again. It's a good convenience meal but because it has no veggies in it, you'd need a side salad or some other vegetable to balance it off.

Christmas spread

2011-12-26T17:18:00.000+08:00

Here's the obligatory Christmas post - I really enjoyed this Christmas meal prepared by our friends, above with roast turkey, baked ham, roast beef and roast peri-peri chicken. I never realized how good roast turkey could be till now! [all my life i've only ever had overcooked, tough and dry turkey...] Hmmm..wouldn't mind having this all year round!

another friend made this delicious roast pork with the best ever salty, lip-smacking crunchy crackling I've ever had... so sinful but so yummy!

a berry cloud cake - made with just 2 egg whites and some sugar and berries and a biscuit case. it really tasted like a cloud - mostly air but sweet!

Socks wanted to join in the gift giving festivities as well and brought us... a mouse! [eek!] he's never done this before. we put a bell on him so he wouldn't hunt but it didnt stop him from procuring this boxing day gift for us. wonder how to stop him doing this!

koreana in Launceston

2011-12-19T17:37:00.001+08:00

We found this gem of a place at 84 Elizabeth St in Launceston city - a reasonably priced Korean restaurant! i've always loved korean food. i love the little free refillable side dishes. at this place, we got 3 side dishes - above, the mandatory kimchi, simmered green beans in a sticky sauce, and fried fishcake.

this is the "fire chicken" $14 which was the best thing we ordered. succulent chicken thigh pieces coated in a spicy chilli sauce stir fried with cabbage and onion. perfect with the steamed rice! and a very good serving size too.

above, the kimchi hotpot $13 which was bubbling hot so the picture doesnt show what's in it - kimchi of course, [which is fermented spicy cabbage for the uninitiated] green onions, pork slices and tofu. comfort food especially in cold weather. this comes with rice too.

and we ordered the pork mandu [dumplings] $7 which are a tasty mixture of minced pork and chopped cabbage encased in a thin pastry and deep fried, served with a soy vinegar dipping sauce.

service was impeccable - the smiley server rushed to replace a spoon the minute he heard it dropping [hubby accidentally knocked it over with his elbow..]

opening hours: 12-9pm daily except sundays.

i cant wait to come back and try the other dishes like the tofu hotpot, bulgogi and bibimbap.

Ashmore on Bridge St

2011-12-18T12:38:00.000+08:00

We decided to do a quick tour of Richmond and had lunch here. The interior was really nice and modern looking, yet cozy. Although it was past 2pm, lunch was still available. Above, the battered ling with chunky chips which was awesome - the tartare sauce being the best thing there.

I had the steak burger with onion marmalade, roast capsicum, salad and horseradish cream which was really tasty, on a fragrant toasted bun. Loved the seasoned chunky chips too! This was the best thing we enjoyed about Richmond unfortunately, as our B&B stay [hatcher's manor nearby ] was quite a fiasco with the reception losing our booking, a room that smelled like poo, a phone ringing loudly waking us up several times, staff not knowing that we had prepaid and trying to make us checkout early the next day despite us arranging to checkout late, and not giving us what we paid for in the package until we reminded them of it. sigh.... an experience i'd like to forget!

matcha men

2011-12-07T19:59:00.000+08:00

It's nearly Christmas! I got the baking bug and made these green tea cut out cookies.

Those that browned too much didn't look as green but still tasted okay. I won't post a recipe as I merely did a google search for green tea cookies and used the easiest one I found. They tasted like...sugar cookies flavoured with green tea powder. Reminiscent of a green tea flavoured mooncake skin. Sort of doughy.

banana prawns

2011-12-06T19:15:00.000+08:00

these were nice sized ones we got at Coles for $14 a kilo.

we cooked it with this sambal tumis sauce from Carrefour [which i cannot recommend unfortunately, it was too sweet, and not sour/savoury enough!] but luckily the prawn's own wonderful prawny juicy flavour made up for it.

summer

2011-12-05T15:17:00.000+08:00

what do you with strawberries that're just too sour to eat on its own? I couldn't think of anything more creative so your suggestions would be welcome. All I could do was blend it up with some milk, sugar and yoghurt to make a smoothie but it wasn't very satisfying. the sugar granules didn't dissolve properly so it crunched in my teeth.

Stir fried asparagus with dried prawns, chilli, garlic and belacan.

Ayam pongteh - a nyonya stew made with bean paste, soy sauce, garlic, chicken and potatoes.

Namaskar in Kingston -Channel Court shopping strip

2011-12-03T15:22:00.000+08:00

This Indian place is so so good! We came here twice and really enjoyed it each time. Eating in is better than taking away because freshly cooked naan hot from the tandoor is always better. Below, the lamb briyani $11 which was really delicious with generous bits of lamb. Each grain of rice was perfectly fluffy and coated with a tasty spicy tomatoey seasoning and each piece of meat was so tender and flavourful. The yoghurt raita that came with it was the perfect tangy accompaniment.

below, the 2 curries and rice $10, the orange one's the goat masala, and the yellow one's the vegetable kurma which was potato, cauliflower, carrot and green beans in a creamy sauce. A very generous serve, and both curries were very tasty.

I'd come here again to try the other menu items.

hello hello....

2011-11-28T07:02:00.000+08:00

Our friend's garden was bursting with wonderful fruit and veg last week and we were lucky enough to be given some of these freshly cut asparagus spears. They were peeking out of the soil, looking so luscious!
Now i know the usual way to cook them is to poach, boil or microwave them, but we like stir frying them with sambal belacan [a malaysian spice paste with fermented dried shrimp....]

below, a pasta bake from the back of an ardmona tin of tomatoes. It was something like a lasagne but with eggs in it. basically it just involves mixing up some cooked pasta, tomato sauce, vegetables, cheese, eggs and meat and baking it till the cheese melts.

it's kangkung season again! Here in Hobart, our only source of fresh kangkung is from the Hmongs at either Salamanca market or Moonah island markets [on weekends] so out comes the sambal belacan for a kangkung stir fry.... this recipe is closest to what we do at home, using a food processor instead of a pestle and mortar.

dont try this at home if you dont have a range hood though...coz the smell permeates everything it comes into contact with!

Kangkung can also be used in a Philipine spicy sour soup called "Sinigang" or in Malaysia prawn noodles. Or you could just use them in any sort of stir fry.

tassie....in spring

2011-11-10T14:30:00.000+08:00

this is just an everyday scene for us Hobartians.... whether walking by, driving to work, or walking out of my office, the river derwent is never far!

at the Royal Botanical Gardens - my favourite part is always the veggie patch! Here, some rainbow beet!

at bellerive beach while waiting for our next inspection appointment - we'd been looking around for homes, and it's tiring! fortunately there was a shop nearby selling valhalla ice cream...

a new japanese restaurant's just opened in North Hobart - Midori. So far i've heard good things about it though i havent actually tried it. these photos were from the hubby's lunch with his workmates. tht big fat grilled eel looks so yummy!

above, some bonito flavoured fried chicken nuggets with salad, pickles and rice.

of course u cant go wrong with sushi!

hubby was so adamant that this sign in Kingston is grammatically wrong because it's meant to be "reduced" rather than reduce but i wonder if the English language has evolved so that verbs or adjectives can now be used as nouns. you know, like "party" and "stress" to name a few. alright i cant think of that many now but i reckon some of you could. just watch some saturday morning tv. so if an earlier sign says to "Reduce speed", then a later one would say "end of reduce speed" and it makes perfect sense to me!

vietnamese in melborne

2011-11-07T13:46:00.000+08:00

i love vietnamese food. it's sort of like chinese, but with more herbs and raw veggies that give it a refreshing character. And I just love how cheap it is in Melbourne - this big bowl of pho [beef noodles in broth] at a noodle place in Preston was just $8.50! they usually come with a big heap of raw bean sprouts but I like them cooked, so I requested for that when ordering. Also, there's a huge bunch of fresh fragrant herbs as a garnish.I know one of them is thai basil but the others I can't name.The broth's made from meat, cinnamon, star anise and some other stuff, with a squeeze of lemon juice for tang.

the rice paper rolls are delicious too but if u're going to have both in one meal, it's best to share the noodles as you wont have enough stomach space. it's very filling!

random eats - havent been organized enough to post regularly

2011-10-14T13:31:00.000+08:00

socks loves the sunshine. here he is, basking in its glory.

Above, niku jaga which we had at Sakura, a japanese restaurant in subang jaya. very flavourful. it's just a simple dish really, beef, carrot and potatoes stewed with a broth. but so yummy!

a whole soft shell crab, deep fried and stuffed into a sushi roll. the crab looks a bit like a tarantula in the pic! but it was delicious.

home made "orchien" which is a malaysian oyster ommelette.

homemade burgers! [pan frying burgers at home is not advisable if u're not keen on spending half an hour cleaning the floors, walls, surfaces and stove afterwards]

this isnt part of the "food" commentary but this poor thing was mauled by Socks and half of its leg got eaten too. The cat probably thought it was a tasty treat!

malaysia

2011-08-22T10:37:00.000+08:00

Im in Malaysia at the moment visiting family. This is a land of cheap and tasty good although not always hygienic. People don't follow safety rules here [which anyone can deduce from the way people drive] so eating street food is at your own risk! I've always had food poisoning every time I've come here after a long stint in Australia. but so far....so good....
Above is a south indian rice flour pancake with slices of onion and tomato, eaten with 2 curry sauces and a hot sambal. Yummy, freshly crisp and for just RM2 [about 70cents!]

There're stray cats everywhere, and they hang around the tables hoping for scraps. This poor little kitty here was looking longingly at me, and compared to Socks at home, it's so so skinny! and had an infected eye too. Aussie cats don't know how lucky they are to be in the lucky country....Socks certainly doesn't always appreciate his Coles smartbuy cat food but if only he knew about these poor starving cats in Malaysia...

compare this poor skinny fella to...

this well fed rounded one in our bed!

Anyway, I attended a birthday party and the cake was an English trifle, complete with blue icing...

and blue jelly!

and blueberry pie!

here's me enjoying an iced macha [green tea] with whipped cream on top. Talk about east meeting west! it's a great combination. Who;d have thought?

it's 2 weeks to Father's day

2011-08-19T17:44:00.001+08:00

pictures of gav's dad holding him as a baby

how proud he looks of his new baby son!

posing with an unsmiling baby can be fun...

gav remembers all those 7 years together as some of the best in his life.

sadly, he passed away at age 37 in a car accident. Though I've never met him, I'm inspired by his life and how deeply he loved his family and sought that close relationship with his kids.

I know it's about 2 weeks early but I reckon all the shops would be starting their commercialist campaigns by now so....let me wish you an early Happy Father's day everyone! Spending money on gifts and meals out are nice, but relationships need time and communication as well... 2 things which may cost us more than the dollars we spend on gifts.

baking bug

2011-07-30T15:47:00.000+08:00

When I'm in the mood for a bit of baking, I wouldn't mind spending 2-3 hours on something, but it doesn't happen often. Often when I've a "deadline" like having to bring something for a party/morning tea/friend's dinner that's when I don't feel like baking coz cleaning up is such a chore in this tiny tiny kitchen.
Anyway, above, are pineapple tarts which are a traditional malaysian biscuit, eaten at festive occasions like chinese new year. Who knows its actual origins...it could be that the english jam tarts inspired the early malaysians to make their own sort of "jam" using pineapples coz they were cheap and readily available [unlike traditional jam fruits like strawberries, or any sort of berry, really]

They're really yummy, and one of my favourites in the chinese new year cookie tray. If the pastry's made well, the contrast between the crumbly buttery rich pastry and the tangy fibrous cinnamon scented fruity filling is hard to beat. One thing that's hard to get right is the right ratio between pastry and filling. too much of either one and you'd get a disappointing mouthful.

I used a combination of 2 recipes from 2 of my malaysian cookery books, one by Amy Beh and another by Agnes Chang. Basically the pastry's just a rich shortcrust party [like you'd make for a piecrust] and the jam's just jam made with pineapples. It involves whizzing some pineapple pieces in a food processor till it's pulp, then cooking it slowly with sugar and a cinnamon stick till it dries up and turns golden. Some recipes state to use icing sugar instead of regular sugar for the pastry but I think it makes the pastry too soft and falling apart-ish and without enough "bite". Also, I used a food processor to make the dough and added a tiny bit of iced water to bind it up, which worked very well - it had the best "shortness" ever. Also, since I had no moulds, I just pressed balls of dough into a roundish shape and put the jam in the middle to bake - sort of like thumbprint cookies! worked well. However, since this whole project took me close to 3 hours to do - I would recommend making a large amount at a time.
Now...on to our regular meals....

Above, one of our korean beef and tofu stews, with kimchi and spinach as side dishes.

korean "dakdoritang" which is a chicken, potato and carrot spicy stew. it's not as spicy as it looks though. with radish kimchi and spinach again as side dishes.

masterchef mania

2011-07-16T08:40:00.000+08:00

I've lately been hooked on Masterchef [an Aussie reality cooking contest] and hope Billy wins. It's an entertaining program to watch even if you don't cook coz it's full of drama, competition, triumph, devastation, disaster and is a bit of a cultural journey as well with the contestants going around the world cooking up food from all over.I doubt i'd actually try any of the recipes from it though! I'm not out to be a chef. Just want to cook up yummy food for everyday life. Everyone has their favourite contestant and like a sporting event, it's just fun supporting your contestant by watching passively and hoping for the best!

We had a nice dinner at flathead last night in South Hobart.

Below, the grilled trout with roast vegetables that was cooked to perfection. The fish was crispy on the outside and so juicy and tender on the inside and went so well with the vegetables and had a caramelized exterior with so much flavour! I didn't really like beetroot before but after having it in this dish I think I'll like it from now on.

Gav had the "Lot" which had deep fried everything with tartare sauce and a salad which he said was very tasty.

It's a small place so booking in advance is recommended.

cat blogging

2011-07-08T19:08:00.000+08:00

Us cat owners find our cats amusing to watch no matter what boring thing they may be doing. I find that they look so elegant and graceful just sitting/lying/standing. Somehow, every pose seems like a great photo opportunity! So, here he is enjoying a bit of sun on a cold windy afternoon.

here he is looking out of a ledge of our wardrobe.

and.... sitting comfortable on a human bed.

one of our dinners last week. miso soup, spinach namul, grilled pork ribs in a korean marinade and rice.

the refreshments after a CWA meeting, that victoria sponge in the foreground was absolutely yummy.

a day out in Moonah

2011-07-01T21:52:00.001+08:00

Today was my first time ever having a meal at a "hotel". I still don't quite know what classifies something as a hotel. it appears that it may not have rooms to stay in at all and is more of a bar/pub where you can drink, play pool, gamble [keno] and bet on horses. I dont really know what keno is. anyway, so, we walked in to Cooleys Hotel in Moonah and didn't know that the restaurant was separate from the bar. so I waltzed up to the barkeeper and asked "can I have your lunch menu?" and he told me to go to the restaurant which was behind some doors. Hahhaa..I felt quite silly but it being my 1st time eating at such a place, how was I to know? The restaurant was very nice, felt like any other restaurant really. Our server was very warm, cheery and attentive. However, the seafood boullabaise I ordered [above] was quite ..... bad. The soup had a weird, bitter aftertaste that I just couldn't eat. After a few mouthfuls, I gave up and decided to only eat the pieces of seafood in it. what a waste of perfectly good oysters, mussels, salmon, scallops and fish! unfortunately the best part of my meal was the toasted bread. I know if it's just me, perhaps I'm not used to those spices used, or was it coz something was past its best? I'll never know.

Gav's porterhouse steak [above] however, was good. The bacon and mushroom sauce was really tasty and the meat done just right [with some blood leaking out of it!] I often go for a seafood option whenever possible and he goes for meat. and I'm the one who needs more dietary iron! Of course steamed veggies and chips always go down well with a hunk of meat.

We got this meal at half price because of the entertainment book voucher, else we never would have thought of eating here. Later at the Island markets, we had this caramel souffle slice $5, below, at the churros cafe. It was absolutely delicious, with its layers of what tasted like sponge cake, whipped cream, caramel sauce and crunchy toasted almonds. Too many calories for one person but for two it's not too bad... :P

winter

2011-06-26T20:36:00.000+08:00

socks loves getting comfortable right next to the heater.

or using us as human warm cushions.

this was a yummy steak with caramelized onions and brussel sprouts with a verjuice reduction sauce at Blue Skies restaurant on the docks. very yummy...but...i donno if it's worth the $33 price tag! that much could buy nearly a week's worth of groceries for one person.

fish head meehoon

2011-06-19T15:15:00.000+08:00

I got this at the sandy bay korean mart today, for $1.70 [approx what you'd pay for a single serving of Bulla ice cream from Coles] it's a korean [or japanese?] ice cream dumpling, which consists of a mochi skin [chewy, sweet and flavoured with powdered green tea] and filled with vanilla ice cream and walnut pieces. delicious! if that description wasn't enticing enough, here's the ad on youtube. anyway it's just interesting for a change if you've always had mainstream ice cream.

After church today we made this seafood meehoon [rice noodle] soup which is a Chinese Malaysian lunchtime meal consisting of thin rice vermicelli in a creamy sourish broth with salted vegetables and deep fried fish head pieces. it's nice having a hot soupy meal on a cold winter's day. it's one of my favourite Malaysian meals. Traditionally it's made with deep fried crispy fish head, which is full of bones which I don't like. So, we've made ours with marinara mix [bite sized pieces of white fish, salmon, mussels, prawns and calamari rings] instead.
Below, the pickled mustard greens which go into the broth. I love using a cleaver to cut everything, instead of having multiple sized knives around.

Tomato wedges and spring onions add flavour to the broth as well.

Chinese cabbage which I got at Salamanca fruit market for just $3!

Boil it all up with chicken stock, ginger and sesame oil. Add the seafood pieces near the end of cooking since there's nothing worse than overcooked mussels!

Soak the rice vermicelli in water before adding it to the broth.

Add some evaporated milk [or cream] just before eating and there you have it!

This is probably not a very good recipe to follow, so if you want proper instructions, go here.

food...homemade and otherwise

2011-06-09T21:41:00.000+08:00

it's been awhile! but i've not been that inspired to blog. nowadays with so many more interesting blogs out there, i feel like i dont have anythong worthwhile to contribute to this sea of blog posts.

anyway, above is a caramel cup i had at a cafe in campbelltown. we stopped by here on our way to Launceston. It was nice - i think, a shortcrust base, with some top n fill caramel in the centre? and white chocolate on top.

this was the blandest pasty i've ever had in my life! this is what makes people make derogatory comments about English food. it doesnt have to be this bad...surely....

This burger that the hubby had wasn't too bad though. you can't go wrong with bacon.

a blue cheese and ham pizza i made using an instant pizza base recipe from Jamie Oliver where you put self raising flour, oil, water and salt in a food processor and roll it out! no yeast or kneading involved. then it's cooked on a stove, then under the grill.

a pecan slice from baker's dozen [ a Launceston bakery chain]

some views of my daily life

2011-05-27T17:35:00.000+08:00

Clifton beach - from my colleage's backyard. it's stunning! and just 30 mins from the city. This ocean beach is a lot rougher than the water at river beaches. and the tourists don't know about it.

cremorne beach in the afternoon

not a soul in sight! how beautiful.

in the horizon is the tasman peninsula.

back in suburbia, this was taken from our bedroom window

may musings

2011-05-22T07:11:00.001+08:00

I haven't been able to think of anything interesting to blog about, and now i think that I'd enjoy reading about other's everyday lives because it's so real, so true, so unpretentious. We've enough media/reading material out there describing a fantasy world where everyone looks perfect, with makeup on the moment they wake up.
I think what's "real" is harder to find and when found, looks amateurish to most people perhaps?

anyway, forgive my lack of profressional photography equipment. this is all i could come up with yesterday with my cheap samsung camera. we had a walk down Fossil Cove at Blackman's bay and were rewarded with beautiful layered rocks amidst crashing waves.

the crashing waves only started later though....

if you wanted to see better photos of Fossil Cove, look here

Isnt tasmainia beautiful?

the view from our balcony

2011-05-14T09:16:00.000+08:00

it's freezing today, but not as cold as it is on the mountain as can be seen!

a library list

2011-05-10T17:35:00.000+08:00

A patient I visited today said I had such a gorgeous "Chinese" look, and that she just loves Chinese people. I've had that said to me a few times before and it's intriguing how people perceive me here. In Melbourne there were asians everywhere but here I seldom remember that I'm often the only asian person a lot of people meet in their daily lives. It only occurs to me when someone points it out in that manner, and I suppose they might think i'm rather, "exotic"? Hehe. I love learning about other cultures, because it's infinitely interesting. Life would be boring if there were only one culture to enjoy. In our kitchen we've got worchestershire sauce, mirin, gochujang, curry powder, Shaio Hsing wine, pol sambol, vegemite and 2 types of pesto.

Anyway, I thought a list of things one borrows from the library may indicate what they're interested in, so here's mine at the moment:

16 May 2011	Nigella feasts. Disc 1 [videorecording].
16 May 2011	Warship [videorecording] : a history of war at sea.
16 May 2011	Ancient Egypt [videorecording]
16 May 2011	A guide to tasting Tasmania /
16 May 2011	Know your cat : understand how your cat thinks and behaves /
16 May 2011	Discover Tasmania : your guide to a complete Tasmania experience
16 May 2011	RAN. Disc 1, episodes 1-3 [videorecording] : remote area nurse.
17 May 2011	Who framed Roger Rabbit? [videorecording]	DVD
18 May 2011	How to instantly connect with anyone : /
24 May 2011	Middle Eastern cookery /
24 May 2011	Puddings
24 May 2011	Made from scratch : discovering the pleasures of a handmade life /
24 May 2011	The thrifty cookbook : 476 ways to eat well with leftovers /
25 May 2011	Small space style /
25 May 2011	Kosher cooking : delicious recipes for the Jewish home /

mussels

2011-05-01T18:31:00.000+08:00

We've been trying a few different brands of dry cat food for Socks. So far he's had Whiskas chicken liver flavour, Woolies home brand seafood basket, Friskies prawn, crab and tuna and Coles smart buy chicken and beef flavour. He seemed to like them all except the Woolies homebrand one, which made him throw up once and gave him bad breath anyway.

We were lucky enough to have mussels for dinner tonight, at $7 a kilo we couldn't resist buying some. These are just simply flavoured with some chopped garlic, spring onion, fresh chilli and salt. After frying those aromatic bits in oil, add the mussels and a bit of water and cook with the lid on for 4-5 minutes so they "steam" themselves open. This with rice and stir fried greens make a complete meal.

cataract gorge

2011-05-01T09:59:00.000+08:00

We were up in Launceston last week for a short visit over the Easter break, beautiful scenery. The weather was perfect as well, with blue skies and not a drop of rain. However I wouldn't recommend ever going to any touristy area on a public holiday, there'll be too many people crowding into small spaces and noise all around! Which is fine if u're visiting some market in a city but I think that quiet is the best way to enjoy natural beauty.

garden update - beautiful day in Hobart

2011-04-27T14:01:00.000+08:00

It's a beautiful week in Hobart, sunshine the past 2 days! Our basil plant is looking happy. It has tiny white specks on it that looked like desicated coconut. I sprayed most of them off with a burst of water but there're still a few pesky bits left. wonder if it's some kind of bug?

I initially feared that the cherry tomatoes wouldn't ripen but they are ripening now. what a beautiful sight! I was overjoyed when I saw these beauties.

This one's growing out of a pot on my balcony.

Some of our "bounty". Funny how they seem so much more beautiful and taste so much sweeter when they're home grown! I'm so proud of them.

new career

2011-04-18T19:58:00.000+08:00

I haven't been writing here much because i've just started my new job as a community nurse. It's been tiring having to learn so much new stuff everyday but rewarding as well. Everyday I go visit patients in their homes to change their wound dressings. Wounds aren't pretty to look at, but most of the patients are lovely to talk to, and today one of them even gave me a bag of gorgeous ripe cherry tomatoes from her garden! And told me to use my green tomatoes in green tomato pickle. I just might do that....

Above is a picture from a recent trip to the Tasmanian East Coast.

plant and pet problems

2011-03-28T08:06:00.000+08:00

Socks has an annoying habit of meowing at 3am and patting us with his paw, walking all over us or scratching at the door. Last night he even managed to push the door open and made such a ruckus that we were woken up several times during the night. He's been doing this every night we've let him stay in.
Because of this we've had to put him out because we need our sleep and can't entertain him at 3am.
What should we do? We've tried tiring him out during the day by ensuring he doesn't get much sleep. but who has the time to spend 10 hours everyday entertaining him when we're both working people? How on earth do cat owners sleep at night? Any tips?

Our big tomatoes aren't doing too badly and we've harvested quite a few this season.

However, our cherry tomatoes aren't faring so well and a lot have rotted before even maturing, like these ones.

Our chilli plant has a weird disease that i don't know what to do about.

little black spotty bits appear under the leaves.

another immature rotted tomato. what a pity!

also, they're not quite ripening. is it bad that I've got them in the ground with grass all over?

it's my first time growing tomatoes so I've no expertise on this.

However I wonder if i'd grown them too close together? or did they need pruning? what was I supposed to prune out?

more unripe tomatoes. it would be such a pity if they never ripen!

on the bright side, the walnut tree has been dropping heaps of walnuts which I've been happily collecting. Hulling and shelling them are hard work though!

Jiaozi and abalone

2011-03-07T02:58:00.000+08:00

When we had heaps of carrots and celery leftover and i didn't want minestrone soup, i decided to make Jiaozi instead. These chinese dumplings are traditionally filled with pork and chives, but really you can use any sort of vegetable as it'll be chopped up into tiny pieces anyway so you wouldn't be able to tell what's in it. I used 200g of pork to make 25 dumplings.This is a great way to stretch meat if you're on a budget!

The wrappers were quite easy to make, surprisingly, but time consuming. Basically it's just bread flour and water that's kneaded and left to sit for awhile before being cut into pieces then rolled out into circles. They're really tasty pan fried or boiled, and dipped in a vinegary soy sauce. However, since they're labour intensive, these are best left to those Saturday afternoons where you're not in a hurry and want something fun to do with friends.

above is an abalone our friend caught. I'd never had abalone in my life and wasn't sure how to cook it. I didn't even know what parts were edible ! anyway, after some internet and youtube research, we managed to sort of clean it and cut away the black bits.

Gav stir fried it with chili and garlic, and we had it with rice and stir fried asparagus. It was kinda tough....dont know if it's meant to be? maybe we should've pounded it with a mallet to tenderize it. Ohwell, so that was my first abalone ever!

and, our "baby". He's turning 1 this month!

blackberry crumble

2011-03-01T09:40:00.000+08:00

When I saw a punnet of blackberries for $4 a the Moonah Island markets last week, I had to get one! I did try picking them off a big bush nearby a few days ago but I got pricked every time I tried to get one, and they weren't very sweet. Anyway, I made this scrumptious blackberry crumble with them. I sprinkled some sugar and lemon juice over the washed berries in an ovenproof dish, then topped it with a mixture of butter, flour, sugar, cinnamon and oats, then baked it till browned. [I'm not putting the quantities here coz I sort of winged it, but anyone can search online for proper recipes]

It's great with a bit of cream on top!

Nostimini seasoning rub

2011-02-28T12:36:00.000+08:00

the package of spice rub and raw chicken wings

I got this package of Nostimini spice rub at Harry's Greek outlet on centre road in Clayton. I was told that it was "beautiful" with any kind of meat, and that I didn't have to do anything but sprinkle it on, then barbecue the meat! No chopping onions, no marinading overnight. With chicken, you don't even have to add oil because the chicken skin is full of fat that drips all over the meat anyway.

So, here I've used chicken wings that we got for $3 a kilo. and yes, it was indeed, "beautiful" and absolutely scrumptious. Although it was "barbecued" in our little electric toaster oven at home, the whole kitchen smelled like we were at a barbie, and the flavour was really really good. I can't figure out what's in it, perhaps oregano? and 100 other things. Anyway, I hope we'll be able to find somewhere in Hobart that supplies this coz it's so so good.

We had it with belacan stir fried kangkung [our home grown ones!] and rice. If you were Greek, you'd probably have it with salad and bread. Either way, it was completely delicious.

microwave strawberry jam

2011-02-21T09:09:00.000+08:00

I'm back in Hobart!! and so glad to be as well. melbourne was so hot and humid! but, it's freezing here now. humans are so hard to please. I'd like the temperature to be between 20-24C, no more no less. but, it looks like it's already autumn now.

anyway, it's so good to be home. the hubby bought 600g of strawberries at salamanca on saturday and we couldn't eat them all and some were turning moudly [yuck] so i quickly did a search for jam. I used one from the taste.com.au site, where you microwave the strawberry pulp with sugar and lemon juice. it tastes great, but the mess from the overflow was so hard to clean! I wouldn't recommend using a microwave. i think doing it on the stovetop in a big heavy pot would be better.

here's the hubby and feline, having a nap together. how cozy they look....

potatoes!!

2011-02-01T20:57:00.000+08:00

I finally decided to dig out the potatoes, after waiting since October last year. The foliage had begun to die off, and it's been about 4 weeks since the flowers died.

It was like digging for buried treasure!

Some were big, some small...but I was excited to see them all

There's that magical feeling..after watering it for months, watching it grow..but never seeing the actual potatoes under the soil, but having faith that they're there..and then finally, one day, digging them up and seeing what you had faith in to see! I'll be using a few in a curry tomorrow.yum!

it's raining, it's pouring....

2011-02-01T11:13:00.000+08:00

I've been away from home for almost 2 months now, while completing my nursing placements in Melbourne. But, it's good too be home just for a few days to rest and recuperate. The work at the hospitals aren't necessarily difficult,but staying up all night on night shifts have a way of wrecking your digestion, cognition and mood!

Above, our first tomato from our first tomato plant. As you can see it was far from perfect, quite disappointing to find a beautiful tomato...then see a huge hole on its side! sigh...

This is Socks, our neighbour's cat but it treats our home as its own, meowing to come in every evening and sometimes in the arvo. Also, it uses us as warm blooded furniture.

It's not very often that we can get him to pose for a picture!

Tiger airways has got to be the worst airline ever....

2011-01-18T13:03:00.000+08:00

once, gav was scheduled to come visit me but his flight was cancelled, and he was only informed the night before, just 10 hours before the flight! so he ended up having to book another flight, paying $220 for it. so, although we were refunded the $40 for the original flight, we ended up paying more than 5 times more for another flight. This wasn't the first time we were disappointed by tiger. The first time we took it, the flight was delayed 7 times, with us ending up waiting in the departure hall for more than 4 hours. Still, i was so stupid to think that it was just a one off event, and booked them again for a flight to melbourne for my exam, and got charged an unexpected $25 extra for checking in at the counter, when there was no mention at all on the website that i was meant to check in online. So, i've only ever had ONE flight with tiger where everything happened as expected. I felt very cheated, so i'll never take them again no matter how cheap the tickets are because more likely than not, something bad will happen. I'd heard a lot of bad things about them before but was too foolish to heed the warnings, being eager to save a few dollars but ended up having to spend so much more! sigh

it's a miracle!!!

2011-01-17T08:04:00.000+08:00

only last early December, our kangkong stalks looked like this.

and now, it looks like this! yay. Looks like I made the right call of flooding it with water instead of using the usual pots with drainage. This is because they like being flooded.

a Chinese parable

2011-01-10T16:01:00.000+08:00

I was having a chat with a friend over some wanton noodles in Box Hill recently when we came to the subject of how to treat "friends" who hurt or betray us. He told me this analogy which he said was "although funny, has a very deep meaning". I sat back to listen.

"If a dog bit you, would you be angry with it?" Uh..yes of course i would!

"But, would you bite the dog back, in revenge?"

hahhahaa....of course not, was my answer. But he says there are some people who're angry, vengeful and foolish enough to bite back. So that's the whole point of the story. If someone's done you some wrong, and they're character deficient, it's all very well to be upset about it, but don't stoop down to their level and behave in a similar fashion. You'd only be acting like an animal then. Being of a higher "quality" of character, one ought to take the high ground.

Hmm..............but what exactly does that mean in practical terms, I don't know. I suppose I'd avoid that dog at all costs.

garden...parched

2011-01-08T07:55:00.000+08:00

while we were away in malaysia for 2 weeks our garden was not doing too well as it hadn't rained at all it appears. our tomato plant above managed to put out a few fruit but none aer ripe yet. and the ground looks so dry!Anyway i do hope no harm was done and that soon we'll have nice juicy ones. These look rather unique with their 2 shades of green. i hope that's what it's meant to be and not because of the lack of water!

These below are cherry tomato plants. Is this pot gonna be big enough for all 3 of em?

above, some potatoes Gav dug up. These were the ones from the plant with purple flowers. Perhaps if it had rained more they'd be bigger.

I think it's safe to say that this lemongrass is deceased. Rest in peace.

Potato plants on the left, and a tiny tomato plant on the right. They say you're not meant to plant tomatoes with potatoes. anyone know why?

The washed potatoes, about to get cooked and eaten! I'm happy with them as there's always something special about eating what you've grown, even if they're tiny.

musings near Christmastime...

2010-12-13T11:32:00.000+08:00

Is it too late to plant out my tomato seedlings? i don't know. but i just did yesterday. It still feels like winter here in Tassie, last night's temperatures at 8C. Wish I had a hothouse!

Socks here was getting cozy on the carpet, out of the night cold.
Another year's nearly gone by already!
i rmbr last christmas, how we were eating Christmas lunch with a bunch of aunties [middle aged women, in my culture everyone who's 20 yrs older than you must be called "auntie"] and one of them asked what Gav did. I said "he's a factory worker" which was true at the time! I was utterly and completely surprised when one of the aunties gave me a telling off, saying i shouldn't "put down" my husband like that. but gav laughed when he heard, coz he says it IS true, and even a manager at a factory is a factory worker. thr's no shame in doing honest work, he doesnt look down on factory workers or watever workers. Aren't we all workers if we work? haha. Even the prime minister is a public servant, and we should all strive to be servants of all if we want to be great in God's kingdom.

my first ever tomato!

2010-12-11T13:59:00.000+08:00

after the flowers, come the fruit! I'm really pleased to see this tiny little tomato, after putting so many emotional energy into this plant since Oct 12th when I bought it as a seedling in Carrick for $2. I don't even know what type of tomato this is, but after seeing it grow for 2 months now im so glad to finally see a fruit. it's tiny and green no doubt but still! not sure if the leaves are meant to be curled up like that though...

kangkung or otherwise known as water convulvulus and more pictures from the balcony garden

2010-12-08T13:31:00.000+08:00

These are very good for making pressed flowers as they're nice and flat, and the more you cut them off the plant, the more buds will grow!

Above, kangkung stalks, also known as water convulvulus, water spinach or kangkong. They're one of my favourite vegetables, most Malaysians would known this one quite well. It's widely eaten in Sri Lanka and the Philipines as well I think. I just love dark leafy greens [like spinach, rocket, silverbeet, choy sum] and this one is especially good stir fried. But, because it's not widely eaten here it was hard to find, and when we finally found it at an asian shop, it set us back $7 for a bunch! [you could buy a kilo of a pork leg and have change leftover!] A bit of research on the internet showed that it grows like a weed, and is indeed a weed in some places in the US, so I thought it couldn't be too hard to grow. So we saved some stalks from our $7 bunch and instead of eating them, we put them in potting mix and flooded them with water.

In just a day of soaking in water, tiny roots appeared at the nodes, and now, after 2 1/2 weeks, they've grown some leaves! i do hope they'll grow enough for us to harvest after a month or so!
They weren't too expensive in Melbourne, I rmbr seeing them sold at Preston Market for $2.50 a bunch. But still, there's that thrill of growing something and seeing something appear out of nothing. It's like a miracle!

More of the pansy shots. I just couldn't help myself. :) hehe

scallops

2010-12-08T08:46:00.000+08:00

I just can't help admiring my pansies every morning.

Gav brought home some Tasmanian scallops that he got for $25 a kilo. I'd never cooked them before so this was our first scallop dish ever. Fried in butter with garlic and lemon juice.

served over pasta with parmesan cheese. yummy and simple but no fibre at all in this meal.

it's the 1st day of summer!

2010-12-01T13:07:00.000+08:00

pansies in a row...

I think these are raspberry plants, the previous tenant planted them

I don't want to pay $2.50 for a lemongrass stalk so I'm attempting to grow it. don't know if it'll like cold tassie weather though...

my tomato plant has grown quite a bit since we bought it nearly 2 months ago now but still no fruit!

this is turning into a gardening blog! perhaps i should change its title...

2010-11-29T18:55:00.002+08:00

as always, everything i eat at jeff and Han's place is yummy. this is one of their regular weeknight meals, rice with various curries, and pickled vegetables.

and here's a pansy i yanked out of the ground! they were growing wild among the rocks and weeds in the carpark so I thought I'd take one to pot up, so here it is. It survived the move quite well, it's been more than a day and it still looks fresh.

this poppy was also growing wild among the weeds and grass in the carpark. how bright and lovely it is!

new obsession - gardening

2010-11-27T14:26:00.005+08:00

Having recently moved into a new apartment with a sunny balcony, i've finally decided to indulge my gardening interest. Ive never grown anything before except some cress in cotton wool in a plastic tupperware on a window sill and perhaps some mould in the fridge but i was keen to try going for my own coriander, spring onions, chillis and tomatoes. Above, some succulents that the next door neighbour kindly gave us.
It's been raining so much these last few days, with one or two where temperatures soared to 30C. So, some plants have taken the opportunity to shoot up! including some of mine. Above, some tomato shoots that popped up after 2 weeks of waiting!
These are the spring onion shoots. I wonder if I'm meant to thin them out. but it's such a shame to waste them when they'd so courageously pushed through the soil.
This is a coconut scented geranium that i got at a garage sale for $4. it really does smell like coconut! Apparently the scented leaves can be used to flavour cakes.

I'm very proud of this fried rice noodle [char kueh teow] dish Gav and I made, I made the rice noodles from rice flour and water, in the microwave no less! And he stir fried them in a very hot wok with garlic, fish sauce, dark soy sauce, egg, chilli sauce and chinese greens. It was really yummy.
This meal above was made after I borrowed a Sri Lankan cookbook from the library and got inspired. We don't have coasters hence the cardboard "mats". Yellow rice, beef curry, potato curry, spinach and dhal [lentil] curry and pol sambol [coconut sambol]. There's nothing green in this meal at all but the lentils are full of fibre so i hope that makes up for it.....
Above is a more typical meal for us, plain white rice, a dish of stir fried asian greens and a meat dish, involving soy sauce. In this case, pork mince and potato slices cooked with dark soy sauce, garlic, star anise and cinnamon.
And this was a feast for us, clockwise from left - white rice, stir fried asparagus, chive and canned clam omelette, salted mustard green and pork soup, stir fried pork fillet with bean paste [tauchu] and chilli . Where I come from, asparagus is a very expensive vegetable, as it's imported and only available seasonally. But just last week they were $1 a bunch at Woolworths so we took the opportunity to cook them with belacan shrimp paste and chilli.

Also, in Malaysia we eat with a fork and spoon, not a knife and fork which I find quite fiddly to eat with!

various restaurant food and eating at home

2010-11-09T09:37:00.003+08:00

this picture above was taken at a chinese restaurant somewhere in Melbourne, i don't rmbr the name of it. but the food was excellent. everyone, including non-Chinese, loves sweet sour pork.

this is one of my favourite vegetables, "kangkung" or in english, water convolvulus. what a convoluted name! It's especially tasty cooked with belacan [fermented shrimp paste] If only I could grow it here in Tassie...

Above, a curry laksa from a stall at Victoria market. yummy. I actually like laksa better here than in Malaysia, where it tends to get too oily. Also, the laksa here has more meat in it than the meagre portions served in malaysia.
a simple, tasty quick lunch at Eugenia's place. Soup made with knorr chicken stock powder with tofu, egg and frozen dumplings quickly boiled up, and stir fried vegetables with rice. What more could you want?

"western" dinner

2010-11-05T19:51:00.002+08:00

Grilled chicken sausages, microwaved [frozen] green beans, mash, grilled chicken nuggets and gherkins. Those chicken sausages were yummy! especially the curry flavoured ones. who knows which parts of the chicken actually go into these though!

smoked salmon pasta

2010-10-29T14:27:00.002+08:00

now that we live in the salmon capital of Australia, we've been eating a bit of salmon. Tasmanian salmon is sold under the brand name "Tassal" and we got a kilo of smoked salmon for $25! which is cheaper than if you bought it at a supermarket in small portions [they're ussualy between $40-$60 a kilo]

This simple smoked salmon pasta was made just by mixing cooked pasta with sliced smoked salmon, a few spoonfuls of cream, a dash of salt and pepper, a squeeze of lime juice, a few rinsed capers and some dried italian herbs. Finished off with some shredded parmesan. Yum!

dinner

2010-10-28T10:21:00.004+08:00

Grilled fish with turmeric and salt, stir fried choy sum with garlic and oyster sauce, sambal belacan [chillis blended with shrimp paste, lime juice and salt] herbal chicken soup made with chicken carcass, goji berries, red dates and dried chinese herbs, and rice.

random food adventures

2010-10-24T16:57:00.004+08:00

I love trying new foods, it's my way of discovering the world.

Melbourne's a great place for cheap Indian food - this onion uttapam, above, with its 3 sauces to go with it, was only $7.50 with free cold water. It's a savoury fermented rice pancake with bits of onion, chilli and coriander, plus some other spices cooked into it, served with a mild lentil curry, a tangy raita and a creamy coconut chutney. Really yummy! at Jaipur Curry Club in Clayton. [right next to the train station]
Above, some Indian "fudge". I don't know their names, but most are made from crushed nuts or semolina, sweetened and flavoured with spices and or rosewater. The green one was made from milk curds I think. This whole boxful was $6.80 from Sarawan indian grocer.
These are chinese sweets, above, called "mooncakes" but they're not a cake at all, but rather a rich paste of pulverised lotus seeds or red beans, sweetened and shaped into pretty shapes. These ones have a thin, baked crust but some other types have a pastel coloured doughy "skin". Some have a salted egg yolk in the centre. [how did salted egg yolks ever pair up with sweets? I don't know] I don't quite care for them, as they're too sweet for my liking but they're only eaten once a year anyway, for the autumn festival so I suppose a little indulgence isn't too bad.
And these were from a Chinese autumn festival party I went to. The yellow noodles are ramen noodles fried with spicy laksa paste [very very yummy] with scrambled egg, shredded carrot, cucumber and shrimp, and below, stir fried rice noodles [bought at Springvale] with XO sauce [a hong kong style savoury sauce bought in jars], garlic chives, bean sprouts and dried shrimp. The rice noodles were really silky and had the right texture, smooth but not falling apart, and the delicate flavours of the shrimp, chives and sauce made it just right.
below, are photos from a western style party i went to. honey joys [I just love these, sweet and crispy are a good combination] and what looks like slices of bread with hundreds and thousands sprinkled on top. and gummy sweets.

and below, sausage rolls and iced biscuits.

and healthy veggie sandwiches!

springtime pottering about

2010-10-20T20:20:00.002+08:00

the view from out window - that's a really huge tree! wonder what tree it is.
my tiny tomato seedling. i hope it'll survive the cold.
the moussaka in the oven. I bought an eggplant at salamanca market last Saturday for $3.50! that's a really expensive eggplant. so I decided to make this Greek dish with it. I used a recipe from taste.com.au, so I don't know how authentic it is. Basically, it's a lasagne made with eggplant instead of pasta sheets. Everything else is the same - the tomato sauce, white sauce, cheese topping and mince.
I did a search for "authentic" greek moussaka and found that there were several important things I missed out - cinnamon, allspice, feta cheese and egg yolks, instead of a whole egg. And it should've been lamb mince, not beef mince. oh well :)

It tasted pretty good. If I made it again, I wouldn't fry the eggplant slices, but I'd simmer them in a bit of water till they cooked. I don't like how they absorb all the oil like sponges. I don't think it would affect the taste too much if the eggplant were simmered in water rather than fried in oil because the whole lot gets drenched in sauce before going into the oven anyway.

flowers....

2010-10-15T13:15:00.003+08:00

This was meant to be a food blog before, but I'm allowed to change my mind aren't I? These flowers were from around the gardens at Graham Court Apartments, where we're staying at the moment. Gorgeous place! Above, some daffodil like tiny ones just outside our window. If anyone knows the names of these, please comment below!
This one above is probably some sort of daisy.
These were really tiny ones that grew in clusters.
These look like hibiscuses but I think they're not. These ones below are like stars!

Chez Maria's in Oakleigh

2010-10-13T06:47:00.002+08:00

This cozy little cafe in Oakleigh has a great selection of yummy but fattening things to go with fresh salads. Great service as well. Above, the stuffed eggplant was yummy, as anything with cheese on top always is. Next to it is a flaky pie with cheese and spinach filling.

I wasn't familiar enough with how these meals work so I didn't think to get any salads, I just pointed at whatever I wanted through the glass case.
The roasted potatoes, above had a tangy, tomato-ey flavour. The stuffed tomato had meat and cheese inside. I think everything must've been drizzled with olive oil because I felt so full after just eating a few mouthfuls.
I don't know what this was, but it was supposed to be a dessert. Something like a deep fried piece of pastry. I didn't like it that much but perhaps i just wasn't used to it.

All this with 2 coffees came up to $30.

char siu [chinese barbecued pork]

2010-09-19T16:14:00.002+08:00

we were so lucky to have had this at Art's place. This chinese barbecued pork is marinated with a sweetish dark sauce, then grilled/barbecued till the top caramelizes, giving a great almost burnt flavour.
here it is, being sliced! the slices are usually eaten with rice, drizzled with more sauce mixed with honey. In Malaysian hawker stalls, it's often dry and coloured a sickly red colour, and not very juicy at all, but this one was so tender, juicy and flavourful, and without red colouring! So, I have to say, Art's char siu is better than anything i've ever had in Malaysia!

When I asked for a recipe, all he said was to marinade the pork with bottled char siu sauce, then grill it. But, I suppose if you wanted to make it from scratch, here's a recipe from a Malaysian site. Please omit the red colouring. Your body does not need any colourings.

The slices can also be put on top of noodle soup, as a garnish and as the meal's "meat" component, since all meals must have carbs, veg and meat. [In the malaysian world] Or, you could put them in a sandwich. Or eat them with mantou [chinese buns] and spring onions.

Cambodian noodle soup

2010-09-14T22:12:00.002+08:00

This was just $5.50 at Thu Thu shop which is a food and drink kiosk at the centre of springvale plaza. It's right under the sun roof, a circular booth that has coffee and ice blended drinks on one side, and hot congee and noodle soup on the other. You can pick what type of noodle soup you want just by pointing at the pictures. We picked this Cambodian one, which tastes just like the vietnamese one but the noodles are much chewier. It was a generous serving, with slices of meat, pork paste, fish paste, crab stick and spring onions. The broth was very flavourful, especially after the lemon juice was added. Our order was put together in a few minutes, so it's great for a quick lunch!

my fridge

2010-09-14T21:56:00.002+08:00

I don't have a proper fridge at the moment - this is what i've got. a little mini fridge. Jam, butter, yakult, kimchi and a tupperware of pasta with tomato and eggplant sauce on top.

maple syrup, chinese fermented tofu, ginger paste, soda, a jar of pol sambol, and on the bottom row, oyster sauce and tom yam paste.

world food at church

2010-09-12T20:34:00.002+08:00

Today some people at church brought food from their country to share with everyone. Some even dressed up in their traditional garb. It was interesting to see some new things that I've never seen before, such as the south african rusk, above left. tasted like "roti kok", which is a crunchy hard, dried out bread. the green and white slices on the right are malaysian "kuih talam". The yellow slice, below is a Philipine corn custard slice.
and these colourful things on the bottom are korean glutinous rice cakes.

Polish Bakery - Rye Crust

2010-09-08T08:40:00.002+08:00

After reading about this place in the Herald Sun, I wanted to come and try everything! However, I only made off with a few items. Half the store was a little cafe where you could sit down with a coffee and cake, and the other side was the bread section. Will be back again for the Polish cheesecake! Stepping into the store, I could hear everyone speaking [presumably] Polish and none of the cakes/desserts were labelled in English. The breads were, so I chose an egg and raisin bread [which the rosy cheeked lady behind the counter described as being similar to the French brioche] and a sourdough bun. I asked if she could tell me what everything was, so she did, in a very friendly manner. Above is the mini "babka" which is a marble cake.

Below, a Polish danish which is a nice rich bread with a sweetened poppyseed filling. It smelled of almonds.
and below, the sourdough bun with some slices of Polish ham. [I think!] We stopped by Uncle's Smallgoods [just across the road on Thomas St] for some Polish processed meat but nothing was labelled in English either, so we just pointed to what the other customers were having and tried it out. This ham was yummy, and not as salty as the regular ham we're used to.
Below, the egg and raisin bread - which was delicious toasted and spread with jam. I didn't know how to eat it, so i had to do a google search on how to eat brioche. [Well, it isn't really brioche since it's Polish isn't it, but I didn't know the Polish name for it] It has a really thick and rich texture. It didn't need any butter because it already has heaps of butter in it apparently.

At both places, all the customers and staff spoke Polish and we felt a little bit out of place because there were no English translations on their menu or labels on the items, but when we spoke to the staff and asked them what to do, they were friendly and accommodating. So, it's just a matter of speaking to them to ask what to get. I would like to go again and try the other things.

Rye Crust bakery

101 Foster St, Dandenong VIC 3175

Pamir's at Dandenong

2010-09-06T13:38:00.002+08:00

I went to Dandenong last Saturday for a little "adventure", with the intention of having Afghan food for lunch, and getting some Polish bakery and deli items. All this because of an article in the Herald Sun about how interesting Dandenong is for food lovers. We didn't have any particular place in mind, and just thought we should stroll around until we found something interesting, and this was the first place we came across. Pamir's Kebab House, had just opened at 12noon so we were the first customers there.

Just standing outside reading the newspaper articles about it at the window made me want to go in. We were soon informed by the owner that this was a famous restaurant, having been featured on tv on a few occasions and even Matt Preston had eaten there and loved it. Hmmmm not bad considering we were merely wandering around with no destination in mind.

We ordered the set menu which was $26 per person. Above, the famous kebabs which were excellent. Chicken, lamb backstrap and lamb kofta barbecued to perfection. Very juicy, very tasty. Below, the meatball in tomato sauce. It looked like the normal italian style sauce but it was much spicier.
Below, the "dumplings" which reminded me of chinese dumplings, strangely enough! Like a huge ravioli. but spicy! It was filled with spicy minced meat and covered in a tomato-ey, creamy sauce. Yummy.
The bread for dipping - it was somewhat like naan but thicker and denser.
the condiments: chilli sauce [slightly sweetish], yoghurt and salad.
The set also came with rice studded with pomegranate seeds but the photo was so blurry so it's not in here. It was interesting trying something new, and walking alone the streets you can find many afghan clothing and grocery stores as well, so this is probably the cheapest [and perhaps, safest?] way to go on a "tour" of Kabul without actually going there.

I thought that Dandenong was a dangerous place but being there on a Saturday morning was quite alright, no druggies in sight but rather lots of families with their kids going out for a saturday shop at the market or a meal together.

typical at home dinner

2010-09-03T07:47:00.002+08:00

This may be boring but I thought perhaps some non Chinese might find it interesting. A typical meal at home for us on a week night is this - plain rice, with stir fried vegetables[usually bok choy or choy sum, but it can be any green leafy vegetable. And some sort of protein - here, a steamed whole fish with fried garlic, onion and salty preserved bean paste on top as a seasoning[tau cheo]. it usually comes in a jar. Very simple but the hubby likes it :)

visiting "Vietnam" in springvale

2010-08-28T20:16:00.004+08:00

Instead of going for a holiday to vietnam, it's cheaper and more convenient to just go to springvale. You can experience all the same sights, sounds and tastes of vietnam. everyone walking by would be speaking vietnamese, all the shop signs are in vietnamese, and all manner of vietnamese food is available, and quite affordably too. Parking is a bit of a problem on weekends though. We started off with this sandwich, below.

the famous "banh mi" which is a french baguette filled with slices of processed meat, pate, soy sauce, butter, carrot, spring onion, chilli and coriander. tasty.
and below, the famous pho which is rice noodles in a meat broth with fresh bean sprouts put on top just before serving. it's really nice to have these steamy hot soup noodles on a cold day.

with lots of coriander on top

here's the interior of the restaurant. we knew it was gonna be good coz it was full of people.
the front of the shop.
the menu.

You have to decide what to order by reading this menu in front because once you're in, there's nothing in English. Anyway, there're heaps of Vietnamese noodle shops in Springvale, so as a rule of thumb, pick one that's relatively full of people, coz that means it's good, and secondly, the less "done up" the exterior, the better the food. We've found that when it comes to asian food, the appearance of the restaurant and the taste of the food have an inverse relationship.

kotaraya's hokkien me

2010-08-28T10:14:00.002+08:00

I would highly recommend this dish at Kotaraya - it's only available at lunchtime, and for $8.90 you get a really big serving with chicken and some shrimp. Really tasty and satisfying. It doesn't look as dark as the hokkien mee you'd get in Malaysia but the flavour's all there. The only things missing for us were the hot chilli "sambal" on the side and the crispy bits of pork crackling.

Briyani at Anshumann Da Dhaba [Clayton Rd]

2010-08-25T09:10:00.002+08:00

This time we were here to try the briyani! it's a meal of spicy flavoured rice, some sort of hearty spicy meat and pickles. Above, the lamb Saag which is sort of a stewed lamb in a creamy mashed spinach sauce. Really tender and tasty.
And above, the briyani rice with bits of meat peeking under. It doesn't look like a large serving but it was very very filling because basmati rice has more fibre and is hence more filling, and also there're quite a bit of meat in there.
the various pickles above. Clockwise from left: acahar, pickled onion, yoghurt, and some indistinct chilli sauce which wasn't as hot as it looks.
I ordered the makki di roti because i was curious about what it was. Well it was just a roti made with ground corn instead of wheat flour. It was a bit heavier than usual and quite a bright yellow. It went well with the lamb saag.

rasa chinta on Waiora Rd, Heidelberg Heights

2010-08-25T08:27:00.002+08:00

We meant to go to jade kingdom for supposedly famous hokkien mee on Sunday but found that it was closed, but was pleasantly surprised that rasa chinta was open. gav had the roast duck rice, above. It was really really good! the skin was nice and crispy, and meat was tender. The only thing missing was the sauce that usually comes with it when we have it in malaysia...
I had this ham chim peng $1.50 each [chinese dooughnut?] which is a deep fried bun with a sweet mashed red bean paste filling and sesame seeds on top. forgive the bad photo, it was taken with my sony ericsson. It was really yummy, especially after crisping up in a toaster oven for a minute or two.
and I had the pineapple thai fried rice, above, which was excellent too. It had just the right amount of "almost burnt-ness" and great flavours with lots of bits of chicken, shrimp, egg and bean sprouts. Although fried rice is easy to make at home, it's not easy making a really good one like this! One would need a proper wok, with a really big flame. This definitely cannot be done on a hot plate!

I'd definitely come here again to try the other menu items.

kuih bingka, also known as Chiu Chu Kuih or in English, "cassava cake"

2010-08-03T19:47:00.005+08:00

I got inspired to make kueh [or "kuih" in malay : the malaysian word for a certain class of snacks, most often starchy and steamed, but can also include baked goods and sweet pancakes, generally sweet rather than savoury, but there're some exceptions] all of a sudden. I never liked them as a child, and most of my adulthood, preferring western desserts over Asian ones. In fact, I hated most of them, including mooncake, red bean soup, tang yuan.

However, perhaps I've been away from it so long that I somehow missed it. I don't know. perhaps it's just a case of not knowing what you've got till it's gone. This is a starchy sweet baked snack made from grated tapioca that I had a few times as a child, it's often bought from the local pasar malam [market] and I remember my dad calling it "mok shi koh" [sounds like mopiko! haha] which I guess was its Cantonese name but till this day I don't know. It's not particularly a Cantonese food. It's more of a Malaysian/Malay thing. I remember how he tried to get me to eat it and I didn't want to coz I didn't like it at the time. But now, after seeing it being sold at $2.50 for 4 pieces, I thought I might try my hand at it.

It was really easy to make since I bought the tapioca frozen and peeled from Hong Kong grocery on Clayton Road, and used canned coconut milk.
You can either do this the hard way, by buying fresh tapioca then peeling and grating it yourself, and buying a coconut and opening it, scraping its flesh and squeezing its milk out, or the easy way which I will show you here. This is my adaptation of it from looking at several recipes from books and the internet.

First, thaw 1kg of the frozen tapioca/cassava by soaking it in some water, then cut it up into smallish pieces and put in a blender so it gets blended to mush. Not very pretty looking, but it's supposed to be like that. By now it would be a white messy pulp. Add 350mls of coconut milk, an egg, 1 1/2 cup sugar, a tsp of pandan essence and 40g melted butter and mix well. Pour into a greased baking tin and bake till golden brown on top, around 1 hour but that depends on how big your pan is.

When done, let cool completely before cutting into slices. As in, COMPLETELY [i tried cutting it a bit too early and it stuck to the bottom of the pan] In winter, you could leave it outside to cool down. I couldn't do that coz there were possums in my area.

I was too excited to cut and taste it before it was done and I was glad that it tasted exactly as I had remembered, fragrant, with a subtle coconut milk flavour and a hint of ... something sweet smelling. It had the right bouncy yet sticky texture, and just the right amount of sweetness. Unlike most western sweets, its flavours were very subtle. Funny, though I hadn't had it in at least...15 years, its taste was not forgotten.

pork dumplings, also known as "siu mai"

2010-07-27T09:29:00.002+08:00

I got inspired to make this, funnily enough, by a westernized recipe from the Herald Sun, it said to use beef mince and pork fat, but I reverted to my Chinese-ness and just used pork mince. It's so easy to do, just put some seasoned mince pork into the wanton skins, and steam for 10 minutes! Preparing the pork is easy - season it, then add some cornflour and an egg to make it bind and set. For a traditional tasting one, I used sesame oil, soy sauce, spring onions, dark soy sauce, and tiny bit of sugar. You could add chopped chilli, coriander, shaoxing wine and ginger too.

The wanton skins stick when wet, so wet the edges that you want to stick. Serve with chilli sauce.

Desserts

2010-07-21T10:54:00.002+08:00

This is the array of sweet treats in a Greek cafe, also in Preston.
There were a few Greek things like baklava and that crescent shaped sugar coated cookie.
Above, the ricotta and chocolate cannoli which we both loved. It was creamy, crunchy and had just the right amount of sweetness that Gav likes. [not very much!]
Here, the kataifi which I ordered only because of its Greek name and I wanted to try something new, and Greek. It looked like it was made with lotsa sugary soaked "meehoon"[rice noodles] but of course it wasn't. I didn't like it however, it was wayyy too sweet for me. Perhaps this wasn't an authentic one? Perhaps it was mass produced. I'll never know coz I don't have any Greek friends.

Balkan Burek!

2010-07-21T10:37:00.003+08:00

We chanced upon this Macedonian Burek shop on High St in Preston and were really impressed with the burek. Each slice is $5.50, and you can get a whole one for $22, which I think could feed 4-5 people. Frozen ones are $16, and we saw lots of customers buying them by the takeaway boxfuls.

A burek is a pie with buttery flaky pastry encasing a tasty filling such as meat, spinach or ricotta cheese. We ordered the meat burek, below, and it was served hot and fresh from the oven. It smelled really really good! [as all things fattening do] It reminded me of the Malaysian mamak "murtabak" which is a roti filled with meat, but this one had a lighter and crisper pastry, with less filling. We both loved it and I wished we could try all the types of fillings! Perhaps next time.

taiwanese steamboat

2010-07-07T10:20:00.002+08:00

when we boil raw foods at the table and eat them with a dipping sauce, it's called a "steamboat". I don't know why. perhaps coz the morsels of food look like boats floating on the soup and it releases a lot of steam as it boils? anyway, it's a great winter warming meal! here we had some fishballs, pork balls, tofu, chinese cabbage, and thinly sliced pork and beef.
the dipping sauce which is made out of a raw egg yolk, chilli and garlic paste and some other brown Taiwanese BBQ sauce.
the whole thing boils at the table on an electric hot plate.
here's the meat! although it looks like a lot of fat, each slice is very thin and this whole platter is shared with 7 people so I don't think it's as unhealthy as it looks.

Pin Tohng Thai in Potts Point

2010-07-06T09:35:00.003+08:00

This is the first time we've had Thai food in Australia. It was our final night in Sydney and we were walking around Kings Cross/ Potts Point wondering what to have for dinner. Pizza, Japanese, Indian and Oporto were available but it was so cold, we wanted something hot and spicy. Never having had proper authentic Malaysian food here, I didn't expect this Thai one to be anywhere near the standard I was used to but we were pleasantly surprised. Everything we ordered tasted just as good as if it were in Malaysia. Or Thailand for that matter [they're next to each other] This little half shop had some Bhuddist statues around and the girl at the counter spoke Thai so I reckon it's definitely authentic.
The tomyam soup was sooo good, really flavourful, spicy and tasted like its real ingredients, and had pieces of lemongrass in it. and it was full of chicken and mushrooms as you can see on top. the serving sizes were SO BIG! we weren't expecting it to be so huge. Each person's serving was enough for 2, really.
Below, the pad prick [fresh chilli] stir fried beef, which was excellent. The seasonings were perfect, the vegtables cooked just right, not overcooked or undercooked so they retained some "bite" and the slices of beef were perfectly tender and as i said, there was such a HUGE serving.
Below, the panang curry which had a rich flavourful sauce that was perfect with the steamed rice, and generous amounts of chicken and vegetables in it as well, with fragrant thai basil strewn over the top. We kinda "forced" ourselves to finish it coz we didn't want to waste any but really, it was enough to serve 3-4 people, so i ended up eating too much and feeling really bloated afterwards......
I highly recommend this place and only wish there were such a Thai place here in Clayton!

Pin Thong Thai

Shop 2
117B Macleay St
Potts Point 2011 NSW
Phone: (02) 8356 9033

going Japanese

2010-07-04T13:42:00.005+08:00

I'm quite pleased with myself - i made this Japanese lunch for hubby! Onigiri and inari sushi. Actually, these were so easy to make, a 4 yr old could've done it. The onigiri were bonito flake and soy sauce filled rice balls shaped into a triangle, then stuck with a seaweed strip. The inari was the easiest - you can buy the tofu skins in packets from asian grocers, these were around $3 for a pack of 8 skins. Just stuff them with sushi vinegar-ed rice. The tray was saved from a sushi takeaway meal [something as pretty as that should be reused!]
Then I decided to show off my pretty sakura ceramic plate that I got in Malaysia.
here they are again! Gav said they tasted okay.

shanghai home cooking

2010-06-24T11:23:00.004+08:00

It was a pleasure visiting the home of one of my Shanghainese friends, and being served a typical day's homemade meal. Above, the regular wheat noodles that's one of their staples, along with man tou and rice.
He made this laksa soup with tofu and rice noodles for me! I loved it - in fact it was better than malaysian laksa coz it wasn't as oily and fatty! but still with a nice coconut milk fragrance along with the spicy shrimp and chilli flavours.
I don't eat organ meats but here's some sliced liver that his toddler girls were munching as snacks.
and, the most delicious braised beef I've ever had! It was simmered for 2 hours in dark soy sauce, chinese wine, ginger, star anise, cinnamon, sugar and dried orange peel till it was so tender and flavourful. Just a few slices were enough to satisfy because of its intense flavour.
here it is being sliced up!the meat just almost fell apart but with the right texture. The thick, sticky syrupy glaze is from the sugar.
Here're some greens he pulled up from the garden just before stir frying with garlic and oyster sauce. Lovely! So, all these are eaten with rice, or noodles in clear chicken broth.

curry puffs the easy way

2010-06-22T13:09:00.004+08:00

These aren't the traditional deep fried ones as I can't bear to deep fry anything [can't bear the thought of using so much oil! and then letting it go to waste!] So, these are made with puff pastry. They don't taste the same as those deep fried ones but just as rich and yummy.First off, I made the filling by dicing potatoes [who'd have thought, this was the hardest part! took me ages to cut potatoes into tiny cubes!] and frying them with onions, chilli powder, curry powder, curry leaves and minced chicken. Malays like putting a bit of sugar into the filling as well, but I left it out.

Then came the ready made puff pastry! [I believe in shortcuts..sometimes..] I just cut them into squares, put some filling on top, then pressed the sides together to make a triangle.
Like these! Then, into the oven at 220C for 15-19 minutes, watching to make sure they don't burn!
and they're done. They're best fresh from the oven, or reheated in a toaster because nobody likes a non-crispy bite of puff pastry.
They're usually eaten for a snack at teatime, but I suppose they could make a lunch with some salad on the side. Or made really tiny for an appetizer.

The recipe can be found here.

ordinary at home stuff

2010-06-16T07:50:00.002+08:00

This is part of my kitchen counter. We have very little space so whatever we have, gets put anywhere we can. There was no more space in the fridge for the eggplant so here it is, balancing itself like humpty dumpy....
Our first "attempt" at chicken kurma. It was okay...but not as good as I hoped it would be.

Cantonese cooking - the real deal

2010-06-16T06:57:00.002+08:00

This is the food from my so called "heritage" that I never learnt to do,only because eating out was so cheap in Malaysia. Now that I'm here, and missing the food so much... I need to learn it from the experts. This is nothing like the 30 minute recipes we often find in magazines or newspapers, these skills take years to master. This lady in the video looks like my mum from the 80's! Hehe...

I discovered this lady from one of her cookbooks from the 80's that I found at a Salvo's shop in Clayton [I just love shopping at op shops..you never know what you might find!]

souvlaki at Orexi

2010-06-13T12:57:00.003+08:00

Orexi cafe in Oakleigh has the best souvlaki ever! It's a corner lot near the intersection to Centro. We had the lamb souvlaki, below.
There was a good meat to veg to pita bread ratio, so that was good, and it came together very well with the yoghurt sauce. The meat was really well seasoned and juicy and it was really good right off the heat with tiny crunchy bits on the edges. It's a nice cozy place to have a Saturday morning coffee and brunch. There're lotsa other Greek things around here like Greek grocery stores selling olives, fetta and dried oregano by the bunch and Greek music stores, so it's fun to come wandering around.

3/18 Eaton St
Oakleigh VIC 3166
(03) 9569 1151

Anshumann Da Dhaba on Clayton Road Part 3

2010-06-13T06:38:00.002+08:00

Guess what.....this Saturday morning...we decided to come here again! 3 saturdays in a row. You just can't beat a spicy rich and filling Indian brunch on a lazy saturday where you can take your time to eat it...well, almost. I had nearly finished when a whole troupe of customers started pouring in and standing around and pressuring me to finish so I couldn't finish my meal. Especially coz there were a couple standing right behind and beside me, the wife who was heavily pregnant so I felt really uncomfortable sitting there....so I just left whatever was on my plate.

Anyway....above, Gav had the chicken tikka masala which he says is the UK's national dish. It was really rich and tasty, with a smokey earthy lavour not unlikely tandoori chicken.

I had the channa bhatura [above] which is chickpea curry with deep fried bread, it comes with the usual yoghurt sauce and some pieces of raw onion. It was my first time having this and I got to know abt it from sanjay's youtube video [check out his site] It was really yummy fresh out of the oil coz it was hot and crisp and the creamy chickpeas were good too...and it was very filling. perhaps because of the oil...or that it's completely carb! anyway as I said, I couldn't finish it because at around 2pm a hoard of people started coming in and crowding around our table making me feel uncomfortable! I wouldn't order it again unless I had someone to share it with...it's too much for one person! Also I'd recommend arriving before 12 and leaving before 2pm, that way you can lazily take your time.

leche flan

2010-06-12T00:16:00.003+08:00

I had the good fortune to have casually mentioned to my Philly friend that i loved leche flan which is a Phillipine version of creme caramel, but much richer and thicker, made with condensed milk! and it so happened that his wife had made some that day and had one extra! I happily accepted. It was absolutely the most decadent dessert I've ever had. Here it is flipped out of its pan with its caramel all around it. I didn't flip it perfectly but it still tasted absolutely perfect.
and here it is before I flipped it out! It's made with heaps of egg yolks so it has a golden yellow colour. each spoonful was so creamy and sweet and fragrant with vanilla.

I found a recipe on the internet here if anyone's interested. You'd probably need to find another recipe for meringues too for all the egg whites ! Or just do as I do and fry them with some onion, chilli, anchovies and whatever chopped up veggies you have leftover as an omelette.

To counteract all that cholesterol, have some oatmeal and fish oil tablets afterwards.

Anshumann Da Dhaba again

2010-06-05T15:26:00.002+08:00

Last week's meal was so good, we decided to come here again today. It was a cold and wet afternoon so it was nice having something hot and spicy.Here's the thali set again ($7.90) with the rice, naan, yoghurt, onion pickle and curry of choice. Above, is the lamb saag which was really nice, with tender lamb pieces in its thick, rich creamy spinach sauce. The sauce was really so good on its own, the tasty lamb pieces were just an accessory to it!
The naan breads were hot off the oven and crisp on the outside. They were perfect with all the sauces that were offered, the yoghurty ones, the minty one, the red one [i don't know all their names] and the lamb sauce. In fact, we had to order another naan later on coz it was so good.
Above is the amritsari fish ($10.90), which are deboned fish pieces deep fried with a chickpea flour coating. Anything deep fried is yummy, but having it this style was really a treat, the yoghurt and spices just made it so flavourful, and with a crispy coating too. I think it's really worth it to try this here coz making it at home would be too complicated for most, well, for me anyway.

Anshuman Da Dhaba on Clayton Rd

2010-05-29T16:37:00.002+08:00

I got to know about this place from Sunil's rave reviews so we had a lazy Sat brunch here on a cold afternoon, and it didn't disappoint. The moment we walked in, we knew we were in the right place for authentic Indian food - all the customers were Indian and some were lining up outside. It had only 7 small tables and often when we walked past, it was full.
We both ordered the Thali set which was $7.90 each, not bad for a meal this size. Basmati rice, naan smeared with fragrant ghee, some pickled yellow onion, yoghurt sauce [or was it raita?] and a curry of choice. I had the lamb masala and gav had the goat curry. Mine was really tasty, just loved the thick fragrant oniony sauce with the rice and naan, everything was so flavourful and the green minty sauce that came with the papadums in the beginning worked well with the naan as well.
This is the one with the goat curry which was a tiny bit too salty but otherwise tasty. the naan was really good, hot and crusty with a soft pull.
we'd definitely want to come again and try the other items like amritsari fish, paneer masala and saag lamb.

290 Clayton Rd
Clayton VIC 3168
(03) 9543 1068

jiao ji [pork dumplings]

2010-05-10T20:42:00.002+08:00

I bought some ready made dumpling wrappers from Hong Kong supermarket on Clayton road and filled them with pork mince mixed with soy sauce, shiao hsing wine, chopped ginger, sesame oil and chopped garlic. and an equal amount of shredded chinese cabbage.
then we boiled them in a pork bone soup with some salted preserved vegtables and onions.
and added the choy sum at the end just for a minute. it was so good on a cold night!

happy mother's day!

2010-05-09T17:01:00.002+08:00

Every mother and daughter at church got a pretty swirled cupcake today. That is, every female person! How sweet. It's so nice to look at but I don't eat those silver balls coz silver is not a colour I attribute to food.

Aloo Paratha

2010-05-09T16:58:00.001+08:00

We bought 2kg of potatoes last week and couldn't finish them up so I looked through my potato cookbooks and found this recipe for aloo paratha (potato filled flat Indian breads). I should've known better than to use a western cookbook for an Indian recipe, but it looked easy enough! It wasn't. The dough needed kneading and standing and just wouldn't come together until I added more water and more oil. We managed to roll it out somehow but it didn't reach the correct diameter [what's wrong? not enough kneading?] As you can see above, gav ended up doing most of the work!
I mashed up the potatoes and mixed them with the fried garlic, onion and spices to make up the filling. The filling is pressed between 2 rounds of dough and sealed to make sort of a sealed disc.
then, we pan fried them individually in our new nonstick Tefal pan.
I used spray oil to keep them from sticking.
The later ones turned out better than the earlier ones. We ate them with dhal makhani curry and they were yummy! not bad for a first try...

burgers

2010-05-09T16:53:00.002+08:00

i thought i could try and make fast food at home but it didn't turn out as nicely as the mass produced ones.
the patties turned out burnt on the outside and so much fat came out of the mince i felt like i was eating pure cholesterol.

Tao's in Bulleen

2010-05-08T19:09:00.002+08:00

We were lucky enough to have been invited here for dinner by Gav's boss. This posh place is just on the main road in Bulleen and we've passed by it a few times before. I thought it was a chinese place but it's actually a Japanese fusion place where you pay a flat rate and choose from a list of items for each course. there were 7 courses! the service was good and everything was yummy. Above is a lemon lime and bitters mocktail.
the first course, a wedge of juicy tomato with a dressing, a perfectly fried tempura prawn, and a ...i forgot what that white thing is on the right.
oysters on the half shell with a spicy relish on top
a sashimi platter arranged beautifully
a herbal seafood broth in a kettle
grilled fish with edamame and a creamy wasabi sauce
pistachio semifreddo with green tea swish. or swipe. or slash...what do u call it?

sweet bits along the great ocean road

2010-05-08T18:50:00.002+08:00

we stopped at this place along the way to port campbell. don't remember where it was. Apollo bay?
A touristy shop had homemade fudge, nougat and turkish delight for the sweet toothed. here above are some turkish delight pieces in non traditional flavours such as vanilla, chocolate, orange blossom and mastic.
above, mint. i was told it was reminiscent of toothpaste.
and the traditional pistachio and rosewater flavour.

cooking chicken in our little clayton studio

2010-04-06T14:32:00.000+08:00

Clayton is such a diverse suburb because of the uni in it. I'm always interested in other cultures, especially their food. For easter last weekend, we visited an Orthodox church just to see what it was like. Anyway, there're several indian groceries in Clayton [I counted 4 so far...but there might be more] and indian restaurants. We bought this spice mix [above] because of this smiling celeb chef. We cook chicken most often because it's the cheapest meat available.

This is the resulting curry dish that was really yummy and so easy to do. All we had to add was water, coconut milk and chicken. A curry in a hurry! Although we probably added too much water...

This above, is "curry" mash with tomato + chickpea chicken. I got a packet of Keen's curry powder as a sample so decided to dump it into some mash I was making. It turned a bright yellow and tasted pretty good with lotsa milk and some butter added.

And chicken again! this time, a roast with thyme and chorizo with roast potatoes.

veggies on the plant!

2010-03-28T12:47:00.000+08:00

These were taken at the melbourne garden and flower show ystd at the Carlton Gardens. We had a great time there, tasting free cheese and wine and looking at all the beautiful displays. I'm especially excited whenever I see fruit or veg that are still on the plant/tree/ground because seeing it in its natural state is a whole different dimension [did i spell that right?] to seeing them wrapped in clingwrap or tied with rubber bands, or canned, on the supermarket shelves. These chillis above look quite hot! I never knew how chillis grew in plants. Now I do.

Cabbages! I didn't know that the outer leaves were so huge! they look like giant flowers. The hubby says if cabbages could decide on what to study in uni, it would probably be astrology as they spend their whole lives staring into the sky....

a sweet looking pea pod! imagine all the work it took for the plant to produce that one pod...and we can eat it in half a mouthful.

and a huge white cauliflower! seeing how they grow makes me appreciate them more and less likely to waste any by throwing them away. Just think about how much energy it took for that piece of cauliflower to reach your table...it had to grow in the garden for... [weeks?] then it had to survive pests/bad weather, then a farmer had to cut the weeds away and harvest it, and it had to be wrapped/washed/packaged..and then it had to travel to your local supermarket where it had to be loaded and arranged on the shelves. Our food does come a long way! So it would really be a sin to waste any.

my fav blogs to read

2010-03-28T12:38:00.000+08:00

here're some foody sites i love to visit
1. http://www.amateurgourmet.com/ - based in NY
2. http://annesfood.blogspot.com/ -based in Stockholm
3. http://kokonuggetyum2.blogspot.com/ - somewhere in rural Japan

disappointing shanghai dumpling joint

2010-03-28T12:05:00.004+08:00

I'd heard quite a bit about this restaurant in Tattersalls lane in Chinatown, so decided to try it ystd. We knew that with asian food, the worse the exterior looks, the better the food, so we weren't put off by this dingy looking facade. However, there were several things that ruined this experience for us. Firstly, the music was DEAFENINGly loud! it's impossible to have a conversation with the person you're with in here. Which was why i wanted to sit next to hubby instead of opposite him. However...., after sitting down, the waitress [rudely] told me to move and sit opposite my hubby instead of beside him like i ALWAYS like to sit. She didn't even try to explain why. She didn't even say please! When I asked her why, she just mumbled something rudely and walked off. Felt like she was talking to a dog instead of paying guests.

Later, I tried to ask her if we could sit somewhere else instead, so that we could sit beside each other instead of opposite. But she rudely and curtly said "after order no change place"
this completely ticked me off but we had already ordered , so we couldn't walk out. I mean, how hard is it to let us change places? not like there're 1000 tables in there!

the fried dumplings were really cheap, at $6.80 for 12 but the dough was slightly undercooked., they were tasty except that i noticed the meat being slightly pinkish. [2 hours later, hubby had terrible food poisoning, with stomach pains, diarrhea and nausea, probably because of bad hygiene or bacteria in the uncooked meat, as he hadn't eaten anything else after this. ]

The pork mince noodles however, were very good, just the right amount of meat sauce and crunchy but cooked vegetables. just the way I like it. When I asked a waiter if we could have another plate so we could share it, he mumbled smtg like "go take it yourself' and pointed to a stack of tiny bowls in a corner [those tiny ones meant for soy sauce]. I was really surprised at how bad the service was! so my poor hubby had to eat from a tiny bowl to share these noodles with me. we could've eaten from the same bowl except that we were forced to sit opposite each other at the same table, instead of beside, so it was impossible to stretch our necks across to the centre of the table to share it.

When we went to pay, I asked the girl behind the counter about the $12 all you can eat promotion that i saw on a card, and she said "it for big group only ". so I asked, how big is a big group? she paused for really long before saying "uh....three."

perhaps she was just bad in english, but I sensed that she really really really really wasn't in the mood for answering my questions and just wanted me out the door. So far, none of the servers were had the slightest inkling of how to treat your patron politely. They all behaved as if they really hated the customers and couldn't wait to shoo them out the door.

So, the bottom line is.. I'd never come here again. at these prices, I suppose most people could forgive the abysmal service. But, make sure you have your GP on speed dial for the food poisoning afterwards.

Mordialloc food fest

2010-03-13T16:01:00.003+08:00

This was the first stall we saw the moment we walked in. These above are the potato tortillas which are somewhat of a spanish potato ommelette.
We got some seafood paella and sat on the grass coz all the seats were taken.
It was yummy with fresh firm shrimp and a few oysters and strips of squid in it.
Gav enjoying his red hill beer.
It looks beautiful but felt like a really hot day!

Raju's on the Princes Highway

2010-03-13T15:46:00.004+08:00

We ordered the "banquet" dinner set, which was half price before 8pm on Mondays to Thursdays so it came out to be $45 for the 2 of us. First up was the papadums with 3 sauces. One would've been a yoghurty one, the green one's probably mint and the dark one I've no idea but it was sweetish.

then the tandoori, kefta and samosas.

Yum.

We had 3 curries with saffron rice and naan.

Beef vindaloo which I believe is from the east of India? it was really hot but gav likes it that way.
butter chicken, my all time favourite. this had a nice thick and tomato-ey sauce that was perfect with the rice and naan.
and mushroom paneer masala. this one was slightly bland.

garlic naan which was excellent

basmati rice

This place is right next to a mexican restaurant on the princess highway. I think this set was too much for 2 people though, coz we couldn't finish it despite stuffing ourselves completely, in fact I reckon this set for 2 would've been enough for 3 small eaters.

convenience food

2010-02-21T16:30:00.002+08:00

Avocado and promite on bread. simple but rich and tasty... [I like promite better than vegemite now..I'm a convert!] Promite has a certain..savoury mushroomy taste. somewhat like what would be considered "umami" by some food experts. of course I certainly am not.
Another new thing I tried was this vanilla flavoured coffee from Gloria Jeans'. It was so soo fragrant and calming. I'd definitely want it again.
Above are the deep fried shrimp with wasabi mayo from Salamanca Inn. They were really delicious as most things deep fried are.
Leslie made us some yummy chicken schnitzel. Everything in this meal below was cooked up at a moment's notice, with no fresh ingredients at all! The chicken and vegetables were from the freezer, and rice is of course a staple. So, this is the perfect thing to have when you're out of fresh vegetables and are too lazy to go to the store. The veggies tasted just the same as if they were fresh, so I wouldn't have known they were frozen at all.

Chinese new year at Vermont

2010-02-14T17:58:00.001+08:00

I didn't think we'd be celebrating chinese new year at all this year, but we were invited to a friend's gathering in Vermont, so we went. This was the only chance we'd get to have authentic malaysian food cooked by malaysian aunties / uncles [far better than any restaurant] !

this was the first thing we saw, the Fried whole snapper.

these are all the CNY goodies like pineapple tarts, fish crackers, love letters [kuih kapit] and peanuts.

Yee sang - just before we mixed it around. It's sort of a chinese salad, with shredded veggies and sesame cracker strips and a thick dressing, with slivers of raw fish [here we had smoked salmon] mixed in.

These were probably store bought.

Everyone mixes it up with chopsticks until it becomes well incorporated and then we eat it! We also had lobak, mee siam, otak otak, jiao zhi [dumplings] and tau yu te [soy sauce pork] but I was too busy eating to take any photos.

So, despite being in a foreign land, these people managed to maintain some chinese traditions.

wedding cake in Hobart

2010-02-13T12:05:00.004+08:00

last Friday Gavin and I spent the afternoon at Ben's place in Mt Nelson baking his wedding cake(s). His mum said we were very brave to do it in a small cramped kitchen we'd never been in before, but perhaps we were brave bcoz we didn't know any better! We used a simple butter cake recipe with sour cream and melted cooking chocolate added at the end, that gave it a really moist crumb. We used 14 eggs and half a kilo of butter to make all 3 tiers!

The sugar paste icing was bought from Coles, they come in boxes....it's really easy to use. Just roll it out and put it on! It has a texture like playdough. the sugar flowers were also bought, so really, baking this cake didn't take much skill. It didn't look professional of course...but if you looked at it from a distance you wouldn't be able to tell!

By the way, these red flowers were from his neighbour's garden. How sweet and generous of her!

fresh garden peas

2010-02-11T19:00:00.004+08:00

I'd never eaten these fresh before until Glenn showed us how. they tasted sweetish and fresh, with a nice bite. Popping the pods open were the most fun part. I was really amused to see him sitting in front of the tv with a bag of pea pods on his lap popping them open and eating the juicy round peas inside as if they were a bag of chips! I'd always thought that peas needed to be cooked! I'd only ever used them cooked in fried rice, curries or soups. We learn new things every day.