A Day of French Indulgence

What do you do when you have a day off work and your son is in daycare? You take yourself to see a French film of course. And then you follow it up with an indulgent lunch at a favourite restaurant.

So off I went to the cinema to take in Haute Cuisine. The film tells the story of Daniele Delpeuch a cook who worked for French PM Mitterand at the Palais del Elysee. I mean how am I not going to love a film set in Paris about magnificent food?

So after sitting in a cinema for a couple of hours watching the protagonist prepare dish after dish brimming with full flavoured, hearty and generous French food it's safe to say I was feeling a little peckish.

So, given this was a (self declared) day of indulgence I took myself to lunch. At one of my favourite restaurants: Bistro Moncur.  BM serves classic simple French food including my all time favourite dish, the cheese souffle. It's a seriously great meal. So incredibly tasty and delicious. And to cut through all that cheesy richness I ordered a crisp green salad.

And in order to provide myself with some entertainment whilst dining alone on my souffle and salad, I read a magazine and savored a travel story on one of my favourite places, Naples. No not Paris, should have been about Paris but Naples provided just as much, if not more inspiration.

I highly recommend booking yourself in for a day of sheer indulgence. Completely reinvigorating.

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?

Cavalo Nero that's who!

I was looking for some super veg to accompany my chicken snags for dinner tonight and I've been wanting to cook with this leafy green for ages but just haven't gotten round to it, til now.

I bought loose leaves yesterday at my greengrocer of choice, Fratelli Fresh, Waterloo, and following some advice from a Sicilian cooking blog, tossed it into a pan with some finely sliced garlic and shallots, olive oil, salt and pepper. Wow, what a great veg! Really delish and supposedly incredibly good for you. I also threw in some divine sweet carrots and then blanched some super fresh asparagus serving it with shaving of parmegiano reggiano, olive oil and pepper. YUM.

Summertime and The Eating's Easy

Well Summer has well and truly hit Sydney town. With temps hovering in the mid to late 20s last week and set to soar into the 30s this week, my mind has turned to fresh and healthy eating. But do not fear food lovers, never at the cost of flavour. Lately I've been cooking things like spicy chicken larb in lettuce cups, salad nicoise with fresh tuna and salmon with asian greens.

When things get a bit hectic and I don't feel like slaving away over a hot stove (or missing out on whatever scintillating exposay is taking pklace on ACA), I'm also a big fan of the mid week fish and chip dinner. By this I mean, picking up some grilled fish from the chipper and then making a salad. Sometimes when I feel like that little bit of grease, (you know, Summer is full of drinks here and cocktails there, the occasional dab of grease is a must), I'll order a small serve of chips with no salt. I know, silly, it just makes me feel better about it when I have them without salt.

And then there's always the "girly dinner". Sometimes when TL is out and about mid-week I take the opportunity to revert to the single-girl style of dining I used to live on pre marriage. I'm talking ryvitas with ricotta and tomato, or avo, basil and tomato on toast... or just a boiled egg... or if I've had a large lunch that day, I'll savour just a few pieces of cookies and cream chocolate... with a glass of wine. You know, that sort of thoroughly soul nourishing fare that simply cannot be put forward as a dinner option to a husband. Does anyone else do these? Am I alone here?

Happy eating kids.

Market Finds in Hobart town

Locally grown produce.

Well I've just returned from 5 lovely days in Tasmania visiting my gorgeous Dad, his wife Jane and their delightful Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Max. It was a great opportunity for us to spend some time together again and for Dad to see his grandson Orson.

We had a jam-packed itinerary with very little time spent lying around and reading. It was back to back sight-seeing - you see I am very intrigued with Tassie and I want to get to know her better.

Salamanca Markets, Hobart.

On day 1 it was all about Salamanca Markets. Held every Saturday in the centre of Hobart, these markets have become a real favourite of mine. Of course it has the usual boring stalls that seem to pop up at all markets selling dull looking wooden clocks and photos of the ocean and countless crafty ones as well. But on top of that it does boast some much cooler ones in my opinion like former SMH food critic Matt Evan's Tassie Rare Foods produce stall.

Mat Evans selling home-reared pork products.

This time I was keen to pick up some great seeds (I know, life in the fast lane) for our garden and the community garden. I found a fabulous stall selling all manner of appealing seeds. Heirloom tomatoes, Italian Parsley (the really broad leafed one), capsicums, Borlotti beans and more. Then I also managed to find a magnificent Horseradish plant which I am incredibly excited about planting. But seeds and plants aside, a friend had told me how great the vintage clothing stalls were, the place where he managed to find some original American war time cargo pants. So I wanted to rummage through the clothes stalls too. Well, I was a very, very happy camper.

Me in my Bavarian walking hat.

I found two very exciting items. A Bavarian walking hat complete with original Tyrolean badges including one from Val D'Isere. I LOVE this hat. It's slightly too small but it's felt so I hope to find some clever soul who can stretch it for me.

My rabbit jacket. (Looks better on)

And the other fabulous item I found was an amazing rabbit fur jacket. It's completely unlined but absolutely fantastic. Just so chic. It's that great hip length that works so well with skinny jeans and heels but also short enough to work well atop a fun print dress this Spring. Its the most magnificent shades of creamy caramel. LOVE it.

A Food Tour of Singapore

So I've just returned from a trip to Singapore with my friend Pippa visiting our other friend Prue where we have done many fun and exciting things however nothing more, than my favourite pastime, eating.

Myself and Pippa sampling Singapore Chili Crab, Chinatown.

Restaurants, bars, hawker markets, home cooked treats, street stalls... the lot. Highlights  have included a warm and delicious meal with friends at Italian restaurant, "No Menu", pre dinner crab rolls and tempura prawns at "Kinky" a youthful and beautifully positioned bar which doesn't take itself too seriously, the mouthwateringly good soupy dumplings at "Din Tai Fung", chili crab at a market in Chinatown and delicious roti prata at "Mr Prata". And then there was the wonderfully light and fragrant salmon and roasted salad served to Pippa on I arrival from Prue's generous and kind helper Bernie.

Then there was the outstandingly good ramen and gyoza courtesy of unfussy and small cafe "Miharu Sapporo" at the Gallery Hotel at Robertson Quay which beat previous record holder on my book of "Best Ramen" sampled in January in Grand Hirafu, Japan.

Pork Ramen in miso broth.

Gyoza.
And then there was the toasted ham and Gouda sandwich at the Hollandse Club... And I also discovered that favorite ice creamery of mine "Cold Rock" at the glam new Marina Bay Sands. Always worth a drop in. My tip? The Aussie Vanilla ice cream with smashed Oreos, Maltesers and Mars Bar.

Japan - a photo essay

We saw some beautiful things in Japan. Here are some I wanted to share with you.
This is a homemade Sake menu made by a gorgeous Canadian girl called Johanna who together with her very cool Japanese DJ husband, owned the best bar in Hirafu. The Fridge Door Bar.

The Fridge Door Bar

More scenes from the Fridge Door Bar (great Italian wine by the glass).

I'm obsessed with sake bottles.

and lanterns.

and just look at this divine waitress. She works in Mina Mina, a fantasticly funky traditional Japanese restaurant  in Hirafu.

Check out Prudie's fabulous Moncler ski jacket. What a waist!

My gorgeous husband taking in the view from a gondola at Annupuri.

This was the beautiful owner of Myojinkan the onsen resort we stayed at in Matsumoto.

Mount Fuji from the train.

Mumma and bubba asleep on the train.

I ♥ Gyoza

So we recently enjoyed a trip to the crazy, delicious and wonderfully happy place that is Japan. I was so pleasantly surprised with this place. Don't get me wrong, I had heard only great things, but for some reason, it had never been top of my list. Well, it is now. No doubt I will rave on about this trip for months, so here's the first installment which is about the food of Japan. Just a little taster of what will become a bit of a degustation menu.

The Food
Really good. Everywhere we travelled, cities, villages, ski slopes, train stations, the lot. At every place we felt our tummies grumble, we were able to find really good quality food. Here in the western world we are all finally getting our heads around the idea that the less we play with food, the better it is for us and for our environment. Well in Japan, and many other countries I'm sure, they got the gist of this a long time ago. We ate some sublime sushi and sashimi, incredible ramens, noodle soups, gyozas, tempura, terriyakis, tofus and so much more. It sounds strange but of all the very memorable food experiences I had in Japan, one of my most special was being served an exquisite yet tiny bowl of locally grown organic white rice. I can't tell you much more about it than it was just so creamy and wonderful, and it was only a little side dish to be eaten with a main event, that I can no longer remember, but this rice just felt so wonderfully nourishing and clean and good.

There was this one time though... when I felt a bit shall I say, queasy about what was put in front of me. Before we left for Japan I read in my research to "eat first and ask questions later" if I wanted to truly enjoy the Japanese culinary experience. Well, I did just that on almost every occasion, except one. When presented with an 8 course degustation menu at an incredible onsen resort in the little mountain town of Matsumoto, I queried one course asking the waitress what it was. She spoke very little English so went away to get a translation tool (like a Nintendo DS) and typed in the Japanese, then held up the screen to show me what it was in English. The screen read: Testes.

FYI yes, we both tried the testes and no neither of us finished the testes. Lets just say it was an experience.

 

Pork Ramen

 

Sashimi

 

Crab ramen

 

and the testes... Cod testes.

turning Japanese

Well, day 2 in this city and I LOVE it. Tokyo officially rocks. So far we've checked out the view from the Mori tower in Roppongi Hills, seen a great art exhibition, lunched at a cool hole in the wall bar in Shinjuku, shopped Omotesando, been fleeced (kobe beef) at a teppanyaki restaurant, sampled some great wines, and cruised the Imperial Palace gardens.

Today being Christmas day, we went for lunch at the New York Bar and Grill (of Lost in Translation fame) at the Park Hyatt. Very good food and so reasonable. Yum good pork lunch, although no crackling. Boo. Senastional desserts on offer.

Now it's chill out time in our room at the Mandarin Oriental... Fluffy-robing it up... Life is sweet. Tomorrow its Ginza then we catch a plane to Sapporo to commence our Japan ski odyssey.

Open it up!

The Organised Mother

I've heard many a parent bang on about how organised they became after having a child. I have to say I think I thought it was all a bit of a martyr statement until recently. But, I am soon to return to the workforce and thus I am now one of those annoying people who thinks that they are now sooo much more organised than they used to be.

You see this newfound sense of order has manifested itself in many ways but probably the most obvious is in our freezer. And I'm not alone. Allow me to introduce you to Trudie's freezer drawer...

Isn't amazing? Just looking at this makes me feel satisfied. Not only is this the height of organised heaven, but tasty meals in Trudie's freezer for little Iggy include: beef casserole, poached salmon and peas, lentils and vegie, raspberries and pear and blueberry and apple compote! How fabulous is that?

As I type I have a tasty little chicken, asparagus and sweetcorn number on the hob and yesterday I stashed a few pots of spag bol for him. It's odd but cooking and freezing does give one a real sense of contentment... ahhh.

The Burgers Are Better... at home.

Ok, firstly I promise that this isn't becoming a food blog. Not that it would be a bad thing, it's just that there are so many other things to talk about. Being winter and all, there are just too many yummy, filling, tasty dinners to create hence the increase in culinary posts on here of late.

Anyway, the burgers. Being a burger lover, it seems odd that I've never made my own but I changed all that last weekend. I've experimented with my own version of the chicken burger (Oporto style) but never the grand daddy of burgers, the beef burger.

If you haven't tried it, DO IT. SO EASY.

I consulted my good friend Nigella on this one and she suggested buying the best beef mince you can, shaping about 125g of it into a patty and then seasoning with salt and pepper, rubbing down with olive oil and then frying 2-3mins on each side in a hot pan. The rest is a cinch.

I think no beef burger is complete without gherkins, fried egg (with runny yolk that explodes down the sides of the burger when you bite in), bacon and melted gruyere.

Girls on Film

So it just happened to be my birthday this week (35 big ones) and even though I didn't arrange a dinner or party, I felt it necessary to get a couple of the birds together for an impromptu night at the pub. The venue was the Lord Dudley in Woollahra and the tonic? Prosecco... and a couple of shots of course. It's tradition.

We then moved onto the Sheaf for a Jagerbomb (cause we needed that) and by 11.30 I was so tired it was time for bed. Just don't have the same stamina as I used to!

Wonderful night ladies. Thanks a million!

A Veal Winner

...how's that for a cheesy headline...
Anyway, the other night, in my current state of wanting rich, warm comfort food I cooked up a little gem from an old Women's Weekly cookbook - Veal and Eggplant Parmigiana. Soooo good people. I was going to babble on about how fattening this dish must be but you know what? WHO CARES. It tastes amazing and it warms the soul. Its basically a layered dish consisting of a thick tomato sauce, veal, eggplant with yummy molten mozzarella and parmesan on top.

Let me know if you want the recipe.

Chicken Pie - Domestic Goddess I

Well, it's official. I'm a homemaker. Not only did I darn two pairs of socks on the weekend (seriously, do people even darn anymore?), but last night I baked a pie for dinner. A hearty chicken pie recipe courtesy of my good friend Nigella. Perfect winter fare. Yummo.

It was really easy, largely because I purchased a BBQ chook and used frozen pastry. Easy peasy.

Here's the recipe. And for those who asked for the Ribollita recipe, stay tuned...

Nigella's Easy Chicken Pie
60g Butter
50g Plain Flour
1 chicken stock cube
625 full fat milk
150g frozen peas (I did 1/2 peas, 1/2 corn)
375g cooked chicken
Frozen pastry sheets
1 egg

Melt butter in saucepan over low heat. Whisk in flour and crumbled stock cube. Off the heat add the milk a little at a time, whisking to a smooth paste. When all the milk is incorporated, put back on heat, turn up to medium to high but don't let it boil and stir or whisk constantly for a few minutes to get rid of starch in the flour and make a really thick sauce. Don't stop stirring! Pour the thick white sauce into bowl.

Slip metal baking tray into oven and pre heat to 200C. Put peas in sieve and pour full freshly boiled kettle over peas. Shake off excess water. Get pastry out to defrost. Shred the chicken and mix the peas/corn in with chicken and white sauce.

Line bottom of pie dish with pastry, spoon filling into dish and cover with pastry lids. Baste with egg wash. Put dish on heated baking sheet already in oven and cook til golden brown on top.
Enjoy with fresh green salad and vinaigrette.

"I Just Changed A Nappy on the Floor of Zigolini's".

There are few better ways to kick off a day than with a big belly laugh and my friend Leash gave me that yesterday morning when I caught up with her for brunch. Leash gave me a kiss and muttered the line above with fantastic deadpan delivery.

So it turns out that it's true what all those sage people with children say about kids soiling their nappies at the most inopportune times. Little Sammy managed to do some work right then and there in the chi chi Woollahra cafe prompting Leash to have to change her on the floor in front of other patrons and as luck (or not as the case may be) Orsie and I were running late as he too decided to produce a little something for me just as we were leaving the house. Good times.

Ah anyway, Sammy is a sight to behold with the most fantastic hair I've ever seen on a baby and these gorgeously smiling big blue eyes. She recently had to have a haircut because her hair was starting to look as though it was shaping itself into a comb-over.

So we enjoyed a fabulously civilised meal (for me it was the omelette and Leash had the scrambled eggs) and a great old chat.  We covered it all off... our babies, husbands, lack of sleep, food, Isabel Marant jackets and shopping. It was nice.

We then wandered over to the very fabulous Victor Churchill butcher to continue the conversation (ovens, steaks, whether our husbands cook dinner when we're out, schnitzels). Next stop was Seed. This is always dangerous territory for me and my credit card and today was no different. You see the four letters S.A.L.E were in the window so as a result Orsie has some new winter wardrobe additions. All very necessary of course. There was less chatting here as we were split up - Leash shopped the right hand side of the store where the girls clothes are positioned, and I the right. Then it was a cheeky squiz in Lesley McKays book shop, an old fave which always inspires me to pick up a book. (FYI, Pip they'd sold out of the Dukan Diet too). Topics covered here included kids books, kids birthday cards and reading to babies. And our final stop was the newsagent. There were a few new home magazines that I needed to pick up as I am currently deeply entrenched in kitchen renovation planning. It was outside the newsagent that our final items were tabled - prams, maternity leave, working from home and the (apparently) very difficult phase when one has to transition from full time motherhood to full time work.

I think I can safely say that we managed to solve at least some of the problems in our little world... there's no rush of course, we've got plenty more time to sort it out.

Thanks Leash. It was fun.