Green

A slight diversion from knitting this weekend - I indulged my fascination with Japanese sweets and tried the Green Tea Ice powder (from the Jap Grocery store Maruyu on Clarence Street).

This version came with English directions which were surprisingly easy to follow, despite some amusing phrases such as 'Whip to a thick.'

Basically you add milk and an egg yolk to the powder and 'whip to a thick'. Like so.

The only thing I struggled with was fitting it in our freezer.

A few hours later, wahla.

A bit more crumbly compared to normal ice cream, but tastes REALLY GOOD!

Next up, the Vermont Curry (with a touch of apple and honey). Will keep you posted.


Back to knitting.

Yum Cha Fun

Went to Regal for yum cha on the weekend. One of my favourite Chinese desserts (aside from dun dan and sweet tofu) is the black sesame roll.

I have no idea how it's made or what ingredients are in it (except for mashed up black sesame) - probably better that I don't know.

I love playing with my food. Here's me unrolling the black sesame roll and rerolling it around a chopstick. Very silly I know.

Video of Jerms eating his can be found here.

Rockin' Cupcakes

I have been salivating over a Rocky Road Cupcake recipe that was in a Donna Hay magazine a couple of months back (I think it was issue 27... Anyone?). Then we saw this in a cafe in Glebe on the weekend...

I was going to get one after we'd had lunch but then we'd spent all our money on parking and at the markets and had literally no cash left! Worst thing was, I forgot to even take down the name of the cafe. All I know is that it's on Glebe Point Road, opposite the school. Ideas, anyone?

They also had this...

(It says 'Malteaser "Lindt Chocolates" Cake' on the sign.)

Haigh's Chocolates

I'm still on a mission to find the best chocolate shop in Sydney. (See my earlier rant here.)

Queen B and I went to Haigh's in The Strand Arcade one lunch this week and it was somewhat disappointing.

Mind you, the chocolates looked very nice, but the prices were heart stopping. (Although it looked like lots of people could afford them. The shop was packed.)

Things that tempted me included...
70% cocoa dark chocolate block ($7.50 for 100g)
Dark chocolate marshmallow bars and ginger bars ($7.40 for a pack of 4, 176g in total)
Super sized frogs ($16 for a 375g frog)
Dark chocolate rocky road ($6.90 for 200g or $16.35 for 500g)

We walked out with just a dark chocolate peppermint frog ($0.90) for me and a milk chocoate cappucino bar ($1.80) for Queen B. The frog was good but the bar was way too sweet.

They did give us free choc coated berry balls. But the insides were like yoghurt coated synthetic fruit. I much prefer the chocolate coated raspberries I had here.

Dun Dan (Steamed Egg)

I did it. I made Dun Dan (Chinese steamed egg custard) last night. And it was good. It's probably my favourite dessert in the whole wide world.

The recipe below is courtesy of Jayne's mum. Well I didn't really ask her permission but I'm sure she doesn't mind advertising her culinary prowess to the world.

So here goes... "Auntie Rita's Steamed Egg Custard" (abridged - cos' I'm just doing this from memory).

Ingredients (for 1 serving* - double/triple/hundruple as desired):
50ml hot water (a bit more if you like your custard really soft)
1 tbs sugar (I would add a lot more but am probably putting myself at srisk of diabetes)
1 egg

*I actually doubled the ingredients for my 1 serving but I have these Texan ramekins

Method:
1. Dissolve sugar in hot water. Cool to room temp.
2. Get steamer going.
3. Mix egg and sugar water really well.
4. Pour into bowl/ramekin. Steam in steamer for 6 mins or until set (took about 10 mins for my double portion. I tested it by whacking the side of the ramekin with a chopstick to see if it's still wobbly.)
5. Eat while it's hot hot hot!

Here's what it looked like before it went into the steamer...

Steaming...


Wahlah.


(Notice that the surface is not very even. It's probably because I didn't mix the egg well enough - below the surface it's beautiful though.)

Sydney's Best Chocolate Shops?

On the cover of this week's Good Living guide in the SMH was the headline "Sydney Best Chocolate Shops". My excitement was quickly dashed when I turned to the section and the following shops were reviewed...

Lindt Chocolate Cafe in Martin Place
Max Brenner
Fink Chocolate Cafe in Lane Cove

Now I have nothing against these chocolate shops. In fact, I'm quite fond of the first 2 myself (haven't been to Fink so can't say). But do they really deserve the title 'the best'?

What about Just William in Paddington? Or Bon Bon in the QVB? Or even the ol' Neuhaus stand in the Qantas domestic terminal?

Too Much of a Good Thing

A couple weeks ago we hunted out Max Brenner at St. Ives for one last hoorah before GK left for her 'I need to find myself' trip to the UK.

Between me, J and GK we ordered the chocolate souffle, chocolate dome (choc-coated choc mousse with creme brulee centre... I know, feels bad just typing this) and a hot chocolate each.

While I am a great fan of chocolate (dark only thanks) - this type of indulgence is probably not recommended if, say, you want to stay alive.

More than 1 of us suffered heart pulpitations during the course of consumption and I believe someone went home and got sick...

And in the end I actually enjoyed the strawberries dipped in molten chocolate more than the actual desserts.

Cupcakes on Pitt

I've heard a lot about this joint but have never ventured to visit it until today.

I got the Jaffa orange and despite its gorgeous appearance I was seriously let down.

The icing was too soft and buttery and the crushed Jaffas were impossible to eat with the actual cupcake (I picked them off one by one and ate them).

Biggest disappointment however was the cake itself. I like a good dense cupcake but this one was dry and stale. And I'm not alone.

For those who still game enough to try, the address is:
Shop 2, 323-327 Pitt St, Sydney
$3.50 for one
$5 for cupcake & coffee

Go here to see a few more pics.

Seafood Paella

Dinner last night. Bigger than Ben Hur.

Raspberries

Yesterday on the way to Freycinet/Swansea we stopped at the Christmas Hills Raspberry Farm Cafe for lunch.

Nearly everything here has raspberries in it. Aside from the usual sweet options, they also have raspberry dipping oil, salad dressing and 'Lust Dust' (basically a raspberry sprinkle). You can even get a raspberry latte (ugh) or raspberry syrup with hot water (double ugh!)

I managed a whole meal without raspberries, but couldn't go past the (complimentary) dark chocolate coated raspberries - I only had 3 (check out recipe on website) and the raspberry icecream. Delicious!

The Dirt on Nundle

Most enjoyable time was had by all on our long weekend trip to Nundle.

On our way up the New England Hwy we discovered the Pages River Cafe in Murrurundi. Beautiful quaint cottage with massive brightly coloured flags out the front. Dining in 3 rooms - we ate in the one with the fireplace. Delicious homecooked meals such as Greek lamb meatballs on rice (Jerm's choice) and burgandy beef pie with salad (mine).



Dessert was a Belgian chocolate souffle. To die for.


Of course we had to go there again on our way back - homemade trout pate (me) and chicken and leek pie (Jerms). Sat in the enormous back garden in the lovely sun. Bliss.

Here's a pic of the interior...


The Jenkins St Guesthouse, Nundle, was country comfort at its best. Friendly host and excellent service.

Our room had its own fireplace - much to Jerm's delight (many hours were happily whiled away trying to light the fire).


Food at the Cha Cha Cha restaurant also highly recommended (in fact the only place in town to eat aside from the ubiquitous pub). The place is run by the same people who own the Guesthouse and service again magnificent.

Prawn with chilli pasta (entree) was the highlight for me.

A warning though... servings are ENORMOUS.

Here's the complimentary breakfast...

Sweet & Sour Spare Ribs

Amazingly easy and so tasty. Sorry no pic as too desperately hungry after I made it.

Prep time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 1 hr

Ingredients:
2 lengths of 'spare ribs' (my mum insists that's what they are - basically short ribs with lots of fat on them) - cut between each bone. Should end up with around 30 pieces
2 pc ginger
2 lengths of shallots (the white bit)

Sauce ingredients:
1 tbs Chinese cooking wine
2 tbs Chinese dark vingear
3 tbs sugar
4-5 tbs soy sauce (or 3 tbs light soy + 2 tbs dark soy)

Instructions:
1. Blanch rib pieces in boiling water for about 30 secs. This is standard Chinese way to get rid of dirty stuff on meat
2. Heat oil in corning ware, fry giner and shallots until you can smell them (30 secs)
3. Throw in ribs, toss and lightly brown (30 secs)
4. Throw in sauce ingredients, mix and turn to v. low heat
5. Cover and simmer for 1 hr. Turn every 20 mins. Add hot water if drying out - the sauce should half cover the meat

Serve with rice and steamed vegies.

My mum should publish a cookbook. Way better than Kylie Kwong.