Posts by tammi

The Christmas 2011 Recap

Food For Thought January 5, 2012 4 Comments

I have committed food blogger FAIL. Usually, when there are occasions like Christmas that have lots and lots of delicious food, I am extremely snap-happy. This year though, I was *ahem* distracted by babies, and so you have seen the only food shot that I managed to get.

So much for being a food blogger first haha.

Anyway, back to the Christmas recap.

As usual, there are presents spilling out from under the tree. While looking at it, I did briefly have a thought that in the Christmas fairytales, that’s probably how Christmas trees come about. They are borne, fully decorated, out of a sea of presents.

Of course, Christmas isn’t Christmas without a bit of DIY, which Sean decided to sit out and let his mother handle, haha.

Too many cooks may spoil the broth, but you can’t have too many spectators, it seems.

And….

Here’s what I got distracted from the food by:

We got Sean’s nephew a tuxedo bib to match Sean’s tux tee! :D:D

I know it’s cheesy, but I love the whole matchy matchy thing with babies.

HOW CUTE IS HE???????

And although I was quite fixated on taking photos of the cute baby, I did participate in other Christmas activities too.

Boulé, or Pentaque, or Bocce or whatever you like to call it, is very much like lawn bowling to me.

Basically what you do is throw this little wooden ball thing, and then try to bowl your metal ones as close to it as you can. You can do all sorts of things like knock your team mates’ balls closer, or knock the opposing team members’ balls away. That sort of thing. It was my first time playing, and I found it really close to ten-pin bowling. It seems that the lower you can go, the better the movement because there’s no bouncing off the grass getting in your way.

Anyway, that was the very quick Christmas recap of 2011! I had a very relaxing Christmas, which was great since I’ve had a stressful year.

How about you? How was your holidays?

Flavoured Salts

Recipe December 20, 2011 2 Comments

What do you do when beautiful ruby red plump juicy truss tomatoes are in season and on sale? Inspired by both Chow.com’s bloody mary salt recipe and that tomatoes are in season, I decided to try making Bloody Mary Salt.

This salt is great for finishing a steak, rimming the glass of your favourite cocktail, or on your eggs in the morning! Or a medley of other ideas that your hunger can come up with.

You’ll need:

For the dried tomatoes (the original recipe just calls for sun-dried tomatoes that are not packed in oil)
3 ripe truss tomatoes
Olive Oil
Sea Salt

Other ingredients:
Tobasco Sauce
Worchestershire Sauce
Sea Salt Flakes

First the tomatoes. Feel free to use bought dried tomatoes and skip this step – I just felt that it was such a waste of such marvelous produce!

Pre-heat your oven to 180C.

Slosh a few glugs of olive oil (don’t over do it, trust me) over tomato halves in a roasting tray.

Liberally sprinkle sea salt over the tomatoes. Don’t worry about over-salting – this is the basis for a flavoured salt, so having the tomatoes on the salty side to start off with is not going to matter much.

Roast the tomatoes till they are nice and juicy, with a slightly charred edge. Take the tomatoes out of the oven and leave to cool.

Now for the tricky part. If you have a dehydrator (like I do – it was a moment of weakness!), use it. Otherwise, set your fan forced oven on the lowest heat setting, and arrange the tomato halves on a cake rake that’s placed over a roasting tray. Leave the tomatoes till they are dried out – they should still be slightly pliable, but dry to the touch. If you used too much oil when roasting the tomatoes, then they’ll be slightly oily to the touch as well.

***If you’re using store bought dried tomatoes, start reading here***

With your fan-forced oven still on the lowest heat setting, drizzle some Tobasco sauce and Worchestershire sauce on the dried tomatoes. Leave in the oven to dry out completely. The original recipe called for the tomatoes to be first cut into strips, but I quite like the pooling of the sauce in some parts of the tomatoes, giving a stronger flavour.

Either way, the tomatoes do have to end up in strips.

Then place the tomato strips in a food processor or spice grinder with some sea salt – don’t plonk the whole packet in! – and start pulsing. The initial salt will help stop the tomato from sticking together. Then just add salt till you’re happy with it. I kinda wished that I’d added a little less salt so you get more of the tomato, but at the end of the day, it’s a finishing salt, so how wrong can you go? =)

Also, salt recipe not complicated enough for you? YOU WANT MORE???!!!!

*evil laugh*

Excuse the bad picture.

Some time ago, I had this idea in my head that I wanted to make a clear bloody mary. I was experimenting with gazpacho recipes, and realised that fresh tomato juice is actually…clear.

So.

I pureed the extra truss tomatoes, a couple of sticks of celery, part of a clove of garlic, and strained the lot in a clean piece of muslin.

Then, just rim a shot glass with the bloody mary salt by going round the edge with a wedge of lemon, then dipping it in the salt.

Add a touch of vodka into the shotglass, and then top up with the tomato/vegetable juice.

Et voila!!!! A clear interpretation of a bloody mary. =)

I hope you’ve enjoyed my interpretation of this recipe, and if you’ve read this far, I thank you muchly!!

I’ll try to squeeze in another post before Christmas, but if I don’t, Happy Holidays everyone!!!

LOVE

Food For Thought November 30, 2011

CAKE. | events + design: Fresh Beats + DiY Record Cakestands:

I LOVE this cupcake stand!!!!!!!! Besides food, I have a thing for really creative things to do with food, and this is da shiznit!!

Also, I think it’s fate that I come across this just as I’m watching a Queen Documentary.

tee hee!

IKEA, Tempe

Review November 27, 2011 3 Comments

Image by yassan-yukky

I have a confession to make: I am a big IKEA fan. I once was in a discussion with an Art History teacher about the scariness of being able to walk out with an entire environment, but I still love it. I like the funky colours and the nifty ideas and the showrooms. LOVE the showrooms. And if that makes me a slave to pop culture and convenience, then so be it.

Part of the convenience that is associated with IKEA is that you can get practically anything there, including food! I’ve already done a post on their cheap breakfasts, and since Sean and I decided to make a day trip out of visiting the brand-spanking-new IKEA Tempe store, we sat down and ate a proper meal while we were there.

I decided to try the Shrimp with Wheatcorn Pilaf while I was there. Sure, the shrimp was not near the usual Sydney standards (I must say that Sydney does prawns surprisingly well), and it had been left in that bain marie for a touch too long, but it was actually really enjoyable. I guess part of it was that it was relatively cheap (the whole meal cost us under $25) and it was a quick and easy stop in the middle of our big IKEA trek.

Having the Swedish meatballs was a really easy choice for Sean. He always gets it and it’s always consistently enjoyable and again, relatively cheap. The creamy gravy is always nicely set off by the lingonberry sauce, which, by the way, is superb on a smoked salmon sandwich.

And because we had worked up an appetite walking around this furniture superstore, we decided to order some sides. The mashed potatoes come with the meatballs, and Sean and I decided on Veggie Pasta and Chips and Gravy. The Veggie Pasta was surprisingly creamy and well seasoned, and the chips and mash, were, well chips and mash. Nothing particularly special, but they both really hit the spot in terms of mid-shopping food.

It’s food that I like to term pseudo-gourmet – it can be gourmet if executed differently, but at least it’s interesting and really enjoyable for a really affordable price ($25 for the lot). Isn’t that like its furniture though? Affordable, reliable and consistent, that’s IKEA (for me) in a nutshell.

I wouldn’t go out of my way to eat there, but if I’m in the shopping in or in the vicinity of an IKEA, it’ll definitely be on my list.

Oh, and for those of you wondering about the Tempe part of this IKEA post – sure it’s large, but that’s kind of what IKEA always has been. It may be larger than the Rhodes store, but I really don’t feel like there’s that much of a difference in terms of the feel of the store. As an avid IKEA fan, I still don’t think there are enough differences to make me want to travel all the way out to the Tempe store unless I’m maybe visiting someone in the area.

We ate at:

IKEA Tempe
634-726 Princes Highway
Tempe NSW 2044
(02) 8020 6641

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Surprises

Review November 22, 2011 3 Comments

It seems to be a week for pizzas. We had a very lovely drop-off at work today, from the café down the street. Teru Café and Pizza is a relatively new addition to the food wonders in Glebe, and I’ve heard that pizzas and coffee have been the owner’s life leading up to this café. I’ve also heard that there’s someone from Rome involved in the café, which ups the chances of authenticity if you are after that sort of thing.

I’ve never been to Rome, so I can’t comment on authenticity. But really. Who cares when it’s so yummy!

We had the two-face of pizzas arrive today – one side covered in moist, smoky roast veggies, and the other topped with slices of salami and mushroom.

The roasted veggies were sweet and caramelized with a hint of char. A tomato paste covered base was generously smothered with zucchini, sweet red peppers and Spanish onion. The crust had a nice crunch, but was not overly tough. A great support to the medley of ingredients that lovingly cling to it.

The seemingly simple meat half of the pizza had slivers of salami and mushroom, which created light bursts of flavour with the tomato base and melted cheese. Contrary to the stereotype of a typical salami/meat-lovers pizza, this pizza did not leave me feeling heavy and sleepy. I strongly believe that the tomato paste has sun-dried tomatoes in it. There is a strong hit of rich tomato flavour, and I can taste the sunshine in it. The near paper-thin slices of meat created a cloud of tangy spicy flavour in my mouth, and together with the sun in the tomato paste, this pizza tastes like a beautiful day in Sydney.

In all, the pieces of pizza transported me to a sun-drenched farm, with sweet vegetables and a philosophy toward food that is far away from the overly carnivorous tendencies of many pizza joints that saturate the market at the moment. Definitely somewhere to try with your nearest and dearest, for what is a better side to good food than great company?

Food from:
Teru Cafe and Pizza
02 9566 4949
33 Glebe Point Road
Glebe, NSW 2037

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Snapshot

Food For Thought November 19, 2011 2 Comments

I just thought that I’d share what I’m having for dinner – homemade pizza piled high with salami, kransky, ham, onion, garlic, cheese, cheese, capsicum and olives.

Yum.

The Bellevue Hotel, Paddington

Review November 13, 2011 5 Comments

The lovely people from the Trish Nichol Agency and The Bellevue Hotel invited myself and a couple of other bloggers for a tasting session after the big revamp of the upstairs bar. It’s really nice in a gentlemen’s club sort of way. Luxurious leather armchairs, dark wood shutters, and lots of old world charm. The whole setting made me feel like dressing up in a 20’s flapper dress and wear my hair in a short dutch bob – not that it’s flattering on me, but you get the idea. I immediately got the impression that it would be great for a murder-mystery party. It is really unfortunate that the pictures I took of the interior really didn’t do the venue any justice, but the photos on their website gives a great idea of the feel of it.

What I did get photos of though, is the food – what kind of food blogger fail would it be if I didn’t?

We had the Meat Short Board, $35, the Mixed Short Board, $35 and the Mixed Long Board, $45, for maximum variety.

The Meat Short Board had Little Pig Sliders, Veal, Pork and Sage Meatballs, and Lamb Cutlets with Salsa Agresto.

There seems to be quite a lot of debate online as to what a “slider” actually is, but from what I can gather it’s firstly a burger. Many say that it’s a mini-burger, and some disagree, but I haven’t seen a slider that wasn’t some form of burger-type food, so let’s go with that.

The meatballs and lamb completed the line up, with the meatballs carrying a light spice and the lamb nicely pink on the inside.

The Mixed Short Board had Patata’s Bravas, Salt Cod Brandade with Anchovies, Capers & Toasted Sourdough and more Little Pig Sliders.

The Salt Cod Brandade with Anchovies was my favourite of the lot – this is my first time eating a Brandade – it being basically an emulsion of fish and oil – but I’m pretty sure that as a lover of fish, it’s something that I’d be quite happy to try more of in future. And for those who are afraid of anchovies, rest assured that this is not the fishy, overly-oily cheap tinned versions that you find in inconspicuous corners of bad supermarkets. Yes, the dish is still relatively fish-y, but nothing as bad as the rep that anchovy seems to have.

And finally, the Mixed Long Board had Stuffed Mushrooms, Veal, Pork & Sage Meatballs, Garlic Prawns & Tomato Hot Pot and Salt & Pepper Squid with Fennel Aioli

The Salt and Pepper squid was the favourite at the table, and was nicely cooked, with a nice crunch on the batter without the squid being overcooked.

Now, if you’re familiar with the blog you’d be wondering why I’m not going into detail about each dish and how it made me feel. The thing is, the food was…okay. Besides the squid and the brandade, everything else felt slightly under-seasoned. Now I’m a big lover of salt, so take from that what you will, but besides the seasoning, I felt that the food was just a touch..empty. It felt to me like whoever made those platters had a broken heart. Maybe he/she was having a bad day? The sliders – which we heard so much about – seemed to lack a wink in its eye, and the garlic prawns seemed to lack…the garlic. It was nice enough, but not something that would make me walk away planning the next trip.

What would make me want to plan the next trip back, though, was the ever-helpful Ian-the-bartender. I must admit that it might be a slightly biased experience since we dined as guests, but he seemed to be like a genuinely nice guy. He even proffered a great food idea – smoked salmon and baked beans. On a side tangent, it really works! And now you know where that idea came from.

But back to the topic at hand. The conclusion that we had come to at the end of the day was that – in all fairness – we food bloggers are quite a picky lot. We spend so much time dreaming about fabulous food that have been augmented by fabulous memories, that anything short of that does disappoint us slightly. To a regular pub-going public though, it’s got great execution and is great food to pick at with a beer (I’m paraphrasing from Sara since I don’t really drink). Most of our respective partners would be quite happily munching away and polishing off the platters, so maybe it’s just us.

Either way, it’s good to-share food, and the venue’s great for a cozy party. Has anyone else been? What did you think?

We ate at:
The Bellevue Hotel
159 Hargrave St Map
Paddington, NSW 2021
(02)9363 2293

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Tambourine of Insatiable Munchies and the other bloggers mentioned in this post dined as guests of The Bellevue Hotel and the Trish Nichols Agency.

Hog’s Breath, Forster

Review November 9, 2011

Over the weekend, Sean and I went to Forster for a short break. We met up with Toni, his sister, and we decided to do Hog’s Breath for dinner.

After being bombarded by promises of “slow cooked steak” and tasty ribs by ads that run in Sydney, I was quite excited to try out this chain that I haven’t really had an opportunity to try in Sydney.

Toni’s partner, Birch, ordered the Hickory Smoked Prime Rib Steak, $30.95.

With it’s inky dark treacle-y brown Hickory Smoked BBQ Sauce, this was the dish that looked fantastic in person, but was extremely difficult to photograph. I’m told that this is Birch’s usual, and if he keeps coming back for it, I’m assuming that it must be of a certain standard. I can’t vouch for the steak since I haven’t tried it, but I can definitely vouch for the sauce…but more about that later.

Both Sean and Toni ordered the Byron Bay Chilli Prime Rib Steak, $31.95.

Sean ordered his steak medium-rare, which ended up like this:

Now I know that I like my steak on the rare side of medium-rare – and that might affect my judgement – but I’m pretty sure that that’s closer to just being medium. Sure, the steak was still juicy and pink, but it was a touch overdone for our liking.

The Byron Bay chilli sauce, though, now THAT was the discovery of the night.

It’s spicy for some, but what really struck me as a chilli lover is the complexity of the flavour! It had great depth, and gave much more flavour that presented itself in the aftertaste of the chilli hit. This is a chilli that made me want to find out about the Byron Bay Chilli Company and possibly get bottles of the different flavours that they have. And as a collector of condiments – the members of which include Sean’s dad and their neighbour – I think that is definitely a credit to the company. The chilli sauce, to me anyway, outshone the steak.

And since everyone else had the steak, I ordered the Smoked BBQ Ribs, $33.95.

The ribs definitely lived up to its tender reputation, but once again, the meat was outshone by the sauce. The Hickory Smoked BBQ Sauce was a little bit sweet, a little bit smoky, and very addictive. While Sean and I both enjoyed the ribs immensely, I think what we liked the most was dipping those curly fries into the remainder of the sauce on the plate. In fact, the BBQ sauce mixed in with the chilli, was A-MAZING. I actually think that I’d be quite happy ordering the two sauces and a serving of curly fries.

In all, it was a really good experience. The food was more than decent, it’s got a great atmosphere, and good service. It is a touch pricey, but it’s one of those “let’s bring the family out for dinner” places. Definitely worth a try.

We ate at:

Hog’s Breath
2 Little Street Forster Nsw 2428
Forster NSW
(02) 6554 5100

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Genghis Khan, Sydney

Review October 17, 2011 7 Comments

I recently got into online coupons, and I was really excited to make a booking for this deal that I got off Scoopon – $16 for an all you can eat Mongolian feast!

I have heard the restaurant name before as there is also a Genghis Khan restaurant in Singapore. It has more of a Japanese mix – because it seems that Singaporeans love Sashimi in an all you can eat. And I can vouch for that. I don’t think that the Genghis Khan that we went to in King St Wharf has any link to the one in Singapore, but it’s an eating experience nonetheless.

The process is simple.

First, you select your meat – lamb, beef, pork or chicken – and then you select your vegetables and sauce. Then, you line your bowl up to get fried up on a gargantuan flat hot plate. Apparently, this has evolved from the Mongolian warriors shaving off frozen meat and frying them with twigs on their round metal shields.

The result was really yummy and fresh, and the variety of what you can choose from keeps it from being boring. Quite simply, it’s great stir-fry.

It was a little bit hard to photograph, though…

It all kind of looks the same, but there are subtle differences in flavour with the different sauces that are available. The meat was tender and juicy, and the vegetables still crispy.

There was one small down side though.

The meat, on occasion, was slightly undercooked. Which, is not necessarily a bad thing – I really dislike overcooked meat. However, it does get a little bit awkward when that happens on a pork or chicken dish. Something to look out for, but I think the flavour of beef and lamb works better anyway, and so that didn’t really affect the meal for me.

In all, it was a fantastic meal for the coupon. Sean and I walked away with our bellies full, all the while knowing that we didn’t stuff our face full of something that we’ll regret for the rest of the week. It was a light sort of full, and it still felt great the day after.

Still, I’m not sure if I would pay full-price ($26.80 for dinner) for it. Don’t get me wrong, there was nothing wrong with the place – the staff were attentive and the food tasted great – but would it really be worth the near $30/pp (I’m rounding up for drinks) price tag?

I’m not so sure.

We ate at:

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Leftover Pizza!

what i ate October 10, 2011 2 Comments

Not that the pizza was leftover…rather it was pizza made out of left overs.

One weekend I really felt like olives and roasted red peppers. I thought, “Hmm, why not make a sandwich with all those toppings? Ooh I could make them like little pizzas. But wouldn’t they be too small. I could make pizza dough and make real pizzas instead!”

So I made pizza dough. My train of thought always gets me in trouble.

It was quite a bit of effort, but on behalf of everyone who ate it – Sean and myself – it was really worth it effort. And there’s something about kneading dough that makes me happy.

I simply used this pizza dough recipe from Taste, and covered the pizza with tomato paste and with whatever leftovers I had in the fridge! I had:

Roasted red peppers – I bought red capsicum in bulk and chucked them all in a 200C fan-forced oven till they were all blackened. I then covered the tray with foil and let it cool. After it cooled, I just peeled off the skin and took out the stem with seeds. Then, I just put them into a sterilised jar and keep them in the fridge!
Thinly sliced onions
Finely chopped garlic
Chopped Bacon
Haloumi
Misc Cheese – I had some tasty cheese, a little block of parmesan and a teeny tiny bit of mozerella left over.
Olives

The recipe for the pizza dough yielded two medium cookie trays worth of pizzas, which means as much experimenting as you want!!

Just remember to oil the bottom of the trays before you stretch the dough onto them.

Yum.