Christmas spread

 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

 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

 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

 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

 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

 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

 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.