la lasagne

pumpkin and four cheese lasgne

if i were cinderella, i would have asked for the pumpkin to be turned into this lasagne rather than a sparkling coach. then i wouldn't have had to go to a stupid ball in stupid glass stilettoes and meet the man of my dreams (because we all know that never happens). then me and this pumpkin lasagne could live happily ever after.

fish n chips bro

grilled vine wrapped sardines with pistachio & orange blossom dressing; roast potatoes

this is one of my many versions of fish n chips. these fresh sardines have been cleaned and rinsed, then stuffed with finely chopped pistachios and breadcrumbs mixed with orange blossom water. you can get orange blossom water from most middle eastern grocery stores.

the sardines are then seasoned and wrapped in vine leaves and then grilled on a hot plate. they will not take long to cook.

we are family

these guys tell me they're not related.

pfff, whatever. i've heard that one before.

and anyway, they were bickering like sisters over how the blood orange thought it was so much better than the navel orange. so i had to do something drastic...



mixed citrus juice

made with in-stink'd

taro cake

my flat mate gaggs and splutters at the smell of taro. fair call, as the smell is acquired. but if there was a god of all food, me thinks taro would be IT. taro is one of the most versatile vegetables around. it is a root vegetable considered a staple in many asian, pacific, and african countries. in heavy rain, the large thick leaves can be used as an umbrella and a beautiful one at that. its other uses include treating insect bites, malaria, yellow fever, dengue fever, tropical ulcers and inflammation. food wise (sorry that was a bit gross considering this is a food blog), you will find it in curries, casseroles, stews, dumplings and bubble tea. taro can be fried into chips, steamed, braised, mashed, and commonly baked in earth ovens all over the pacific.

pictured is a vegan version of this malay-chinese classic. essentially taro cut into cubes, seasoned and mixed into a batter of plain flour, tapioca flour and water. pour all this mixture into a large steam-proof shallow dish, leaving at least 1.5cm from the top for the topping. the topping consists of chopped shitake mushrooms, salted turnip, green beans, salted cabbage, preserved mustard leaves and dehydrated tofu (hydrated) marinated in hoi-sin sauce, soy sauce, shaoxing wine, and sesame oil. heat some peanut oil in a wok and when the oil starts to shimmer, toss all the topping ingredients in and stir fry and season. layer the topping onto the taro. cover and steam for 40 minutes.

garnish with finely chopped spring onions.

a little bit of tacos iiii thiiiiinnk....

make your own tacos

Vegan Tacos

grated soy cheese
avacado, cubed and seasoned with salt, pepper, lime juice, smoked paprika
black beans seasoned with a pinch of cumin & lime juice
tomato salsa
soy cream cheese
shredded lettuce, cabbage, cucumber
burritos

Place ingedients in seperate bowls to custom make your tacos.


Tomato Salsa

2 large ripe tomatoes
1 spring onion
1/2 spanish onion
1/4 cup chopped coriander
1 jalepeno chilli chopped
juice from 1 lime
salt & pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and let stand for 30 minutes before serving.

bean me up, scotty!

homebaked beans

i am by no means vegan (or vego for that matter), but as a lover of food and a respectable being of the human race and our very crazy planet, i am an advocate for the occasional vegan dish, hence my month of vegan treats!! we should try and incorporate a vegan meal in our weekly diet if we really cared about the future of our existence. we all know that the meat industry causes huge fresh water depletion. we all know that a vegan diet helps reduce our carbon footprint. we all know that meat consumers are promoting the over-breeding of animals (anyone for hormones?). we all know that the animals we eat had a shit life. we all know that animals providing so called "organic meat" probably had a shit life also. we all know that going vegan pays respect to the ocean's ecosystems and rainforest ecosystems. we all know that cooking vegan dishes are a good challenge to create. am i assuming all this knowledge?


Homebaked Beans
Serves 4

3 x 400g tin beans (I like to use 2 x canellini beans, 1 x four bean mix)
200g tin tomatoes or 1 punnet cherry tomatoes when in season
8 french shallots, peeled and halved
1 small clove of garlic finely grated
6 sprigs of thyme
2 bayleaves
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 tspn smoked paprika
1/2 tspn cumin
1 tspn tomato paste
1 tblspn barbeque sauce
5 pinches of salt
4 pinches of sugar
3 pinches of black pepper

5 tblspn olive oil

Preheat oven to 220 degC.

1. Rinse beans and place in an ovenproof dish.

2. Add remaining ingredients and mix well.

3. Cover the dish with foil and place in the oven for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and continue cooking for another 30 minutes. Seaon to taste.

best packet noodles ever!!

kimchi ramen by nongshim

so i guess packet noodles isn't the most creative way to kick off my vegan series. i have let you down and i am sorry, but let me tell you this. i have tried and tested almost every brand of packet noodles in the minh phat supermarket on nicholson st, richmond - an asian grocery cave - to single out the best brand of packet noodles that passes the vegan gate. that's 47 packets i went through!!

the kimchi ramen noodles by nongshim have the perfect curves, are thin and slender, yet will hold it's shape when cooked which means they don't break up too easily into rice sized bits. the texture is comparable to hand thrown noodles which is quite firm and chewy. the packet of red flavouring certainly packs a punch of chilli and pepper, complemented by the perfect amount of salt. it was like they had collected all the tears from masterchef and added it to the mix, drop by drop until they were bang on the money.

now i've done all the hard work for you, memorise this packet for when you're next contemplating which out of the 47 packet noodles is the one to go for. vegan or not vegan - this is it.

now i'm off to redeem myself.

the lobby series 6

lobster pizza

Ok ok, so who doesn't love a bit of burnt cheese from time to time?

So that wraps it up for my lobster series. See you next week for the beginning of a whole month packed with vegan specials! Now I'm getting really creative.....

the lobby series 5

lobster, apple & pomegranate salad. kewpie mayo.

the lobby series 4

lobster gnocchi with napoli sauce

the lobby series 3

stir fried satay lobster with glass noodles

the lobby series 2

lobster, creamy polenta, asparagus soup

the lobby series 1

lobster baked in chardonnay. recipe by tobie puttock.

"you can have this lobster i caught, princess. i'll be bringing some over every week!"
"whoa thanks dad!!"

gout here we come.
the lobby series. dedicated to my dad.

going on a mushroom hunt

wild mushroom pasta

in europe, there are mushroom police checking mushroom hunter's baskets and advising them on which mushrooms are and aren't safe to eat. now there's a cute job if I've ever heard of one.

who gives a stuff?

field mushrooms stuffed with avocado and goats cheese

in the mid 1970's, most of the mushrooms available in australia came in a can. today, we eat 95% of our mushrooms fresh. 88% of people love mushrooms in a stir-fry. 83% of people love mushrooms in a salad. mushrooms are the second most valuable fresh vegetable crop grown in australia after potatoes. the ancient egyptians believed mushrooms grew by magic, because of the way they could appear overnight.

p.s. i'm going mushroom hunting this weekend.

frapan

frapanese is what i'd be if i was french & japanese. i'd be a cosy singlet dreamt up by tsumori chisato & petit bateau; or one of tetsuya's mindblowing creations; or in leafy suburban willoughby, a la facon de shimizu. the duck left me speechless. i'm a chozzie anyway so what does that matter?

sweet opera

hot chips


poached egg, crispy pancetta and brussel sprouts.

on a recent visit to sydney, i decided to try my luck for a table at cafe sopra so i could dig into the best hot chips ever (if anyone knows of a place that can challenge this, please share)....and the other dish certainly got me back into brussel sprouts again.

chuck it in

i once went out with this guy who use to put all sorts of leftovers in a roll. i found it so disgusting and i'm pretty sure that's why we broke up. 2 years later i decided to try it. here we have a range of leftover items thrown into a roll including baked coral trout, chickpeas, gai lan, dried chilli and aioli. i know my his leftovers weren't as good as mine.

back to school

my friend has stopped taking me to cooking schools. i think it's because i embarrassed her when i told the head chef at the mangrove mountain ashram his curry needed more salt. it's probably the best cooking school i've been to but really, it did need more salt.


ratatouille lamb with roast capsicum at academy sofitel

high tea, sweeteeeeee....

you can't go to vietnam without a stopover in hong kong. and you can't go to hong kong without sampling the renowned high tea at the peninsula hotel.

vietnum-num

i think i could have went head to head with homer simpson in an eating competition in vietnam. as you can see, not many dishes made it on the camera. i was too quick to eat.

and yes, restaurant bobby chinn is good.


vietnamese spring rolls


cumquat tea with fresh fruit


salt, chilli & lime dipping sauce


steamed pipies with chilli


my friend sarita, and i have an addiction to rice paper rolls. we once spent a whole sunday stuffing them with crayfish, rice noodles, lettuce, shallots, & cucumber....and eating them. if only we could have had them straight off these mats.....


cumquat honey.
you could actually taste the cumquat in the honey!!

simple, quick, damn tasty

apples in fresh orange juice, vanilla yoghurt, cinnamon & almonds

sunday lunch

have you had one of those sunday lunches that suddenly blurs into dinner? no? well make sure you come over one (sun)day.


chickpeas & spinach

this has to be one of my favourite dishes to eat. dried chickpeas is the preferred choice because it tends to have better flavour and texture, however if the dried variety isn't available to you or you're feeling lazy, then the tin option is fine.

Chickpeas & Spinach

Adapted from the book, Movida.

Serves 6

800gms dried chickpeas

1 small piece of konbu (optional)

2 tblspn grapeseed oil

1 large bunch english spinach, leaves trimmed and stalks removed

1 clove garlic, finely sliced

2 tspns lemon juice

1/4 tspn smoked paprika

salt & pepper

2 tblspn olive oil (optional)

Soak chickpeas overnight. Drain the water and place the chickpeas in a large pot. Cover the chickpeas with water and add the konbu. The konbu has tenderising properties for pulses. Bring the water to a boil and then simmer until the chickpeas are tender. Reserve 1/4 cup of the chickpea water and drain the remaining.

In a heavy based saucepan over moderate heat, heat the grapeseed oil and add the chickpeas. Cook for 30 secs and then turn the heat up to high. Add the spinach and give it a quick stir, then almost immediately, add the reserved chickpea water. Let most of the water evaporate before adding the lemon juice and paprika.

Season to taste and drizzle with olive oil before serving.

oxtail braised in port, tomato and carrots



calamari, with broadbeans and tomatoes

beat the beet

our silverbeet plant just keeps on giving....to the point where i don't give a silverbeet, if i don't have silverbeet ever again.

ever.

so here's my last tribute to silverbeet.


ricotta, mushroom & silverbeet omlette

90th

it's not everyday you go to a 90th birthday. this one was special for me as it was my grandfather's. aunties, uncles and friends arrived bringing food that had been cooked with an abundance of love, thought and pride. as expected, the tables were spilling over with dishes that no restaurant could ever match. lucky it's not everyday you go to a 90th.


taro chips


salt & pepper prawns


pork dumplings