My husband is a pancake man, but I’m definitely a french toast kind of girl. It would undoubtedly feature in my ‘last meal on earth’ list if I had to make one. I love cooking french toast for my two little boys too, although my 3yo tends to take after dad more in this respect and would much prefer that I make pancakes. I’m a shocking cook in the mornings however, trying to get breakfast done, heating up a milk bottle for Z (the 1yo), getting both E & Z dressed, getting myself dressed, that I regularly burn things (or come really close) if they are cooking in the pot or pan.

I have discovered a good way for making french toast that avoids this problem by cooking them in a jaffle maker (aka sandwich press). One egg and a splash of milk into a bowl with a flat bottom, soak the sourdough bread for a few minutes while I dress the boys. Pop the bread onto the jaffle maker and turn it on, then I can walk away for a few moments to get other things done without it burning. I flip it with a fork as I walk past to the kettle and a few minutes later, breakfast is served. I love adding spices to my french toast so that my boys get to enjoy different flavours. It’s often cinnamon or nutmeg but even something more unusual like cinnamon and ginger powder goes down a treat.

Even better, the cleaning consists simply of wiping it down with a sponge – that’s it.

My idea of a perfect breakfast – miso soup with silken tofu, fried tofu, carrots, shimeji mushrooms, wakame, one beautifully-cooked still-runny poached egg and a riceball on the side. Ahhh, bliss on a Saturday morning…

The pancake (yes, just a single one as he was rushing to a meeting) was served with some strawberries that we had picked up from a farmer was filling up at a Seymour service station at the same time and honey from the Milawa Mustard store.

PS- try not to acciddentally shake in too much bicarb soda or the batter will be bitter!

A. says that cafes which cannot cook eggs shouldn’t be serving breakfast. I suspect that Jamie would agree wholeheartedly.

Cafe Andiamo
36 Degraves St
Melbourne 3000 VIC
Phone: (03) 9650 8060

LIVESTRONG Day, an event initiated by the Lance Armstrong Foundation, provides an opportunity for us to raise awareness about cancer issues in our local communities and on a national level.

There are many LIVESTRONG Day events open to the general public, however Barbara organised a food blogging event called A Taste of Yellow that requires participants to make a dish containing something yellow.

I had plans to bake something, cook something for this event but getting home late last night after watching the amazing Cirque du Soleil’s Varekai show, we wanted something comforting and easy. What better way to end the night than with a toasted cheese sandwich.

Very simply, place some slices of lovely pale, creamy French Comt̩ Рa cheese made from the unpastuerised milk of Montb̩liard cows Рbetween 2 slices of dark rye bread and toast until melted.

Having a breakfast of toufa with the locals

Going for a walk later on that day down Nan Jing Lu, we stumbled across an extremely busy little alley that had the most heavenly smell of food cooking. A detour was in order here and we came across some unusual and delicious foods.

We managed th snag the last of this batch of fried beef dumplings (not sure about name). Really delicious and the line of people waiting to get their hands on one was justified.

Steamboat-style meals are also available. Great if you want to pick and choose.

We saw these siao long bao stalls everywhere and the great thing you could always see a small huddle of workers, with disposable face masks on, moulding these. The dumplings then went straight into the frying pan. How much fresher can you get? Sold in portions of four, the trick to eating these was to make a small bite into the skin and allowing the very hot steam to escape then slurping some of the juice out before eating the meaty part. HUGE queues everywhere for these! I think the Shanghainese must literally live on these dumplings. (Warning: Don’t get the ones on the streets immediately outside the ‘Old Town’ area though as you pay tourist prices for inferior food).

Lots of smoke coming from these portable barbeques:

…more soon…

Adventures in Shanghai – Part 2
Adventures in Shanghai – Part 3
Images of Shanghai

The french toast was made with a multigrain bread, which gave it an unusual crunch, and served with real maple syrup. We also had bacon on the side to off-set the sweetness of the maple syrup.

The prices are really reasonable here and they do a fantastic cofffee.

Mario’s Cafe: 303 Brunswick St, Fitzroy 3065

I never understood how this coconut-filled bun came to be christened with such a name, nor has it often made it onto my tray as the room was usually taken up by pork-floss and pineapple buns. As it was however, I happened to Sydney taking in some pearls of wisdom from some of today’s great social and business thinkers. What better time to continue Helen’s good work by extending the challenge to Melbourne’s bakeries?

As the Montague Bleue cocktail bun won this challenge, it was only appropriate to put it up against what Melbourne has to offer. I purchased the bun from Montague Bleue on Thursday evening, taking it with me on the flight home. The next morning, I went in search through Chinatown and managed to snag one cocktail bun from Maxim and one from the Dragon Boat Restaurant’s takeaway window. Surprisingly, Bread Top didn’t offer these but that’s okay.

So here we have it, from the left to right, cocktail buns from Dragon Boat Restaurant (Melb), Montague Bleue (Syd) and Maxim (Melb):

Immediately apparent is the more oval shape of the Montague Bleue offering, looking like a podgy kid next to the other two slimmer buns. All three are glazed and sprinkled with sesame seeds but the Maxim bun also has a swirly pattern instead of the usual two parallel lines.

Dissecting the buns horizontally reveals that Dragon Boat has the most generous filling which is tinged with the faintest hue of orange. The Maxim filling is a shade darker than Montague Bleue’s but, more importantly, closer inspection of the filling as shown in the photos below reveals that the textures are quite different. Whilst the fililng in the Dragon Boat and Montague Bleue buns are smooth, the higher level of dessicated coconut in Maxim’s gives it a coarser texture.

Now, what about the taste? The Dragon Boat bun was only worth one bite due to the stodgy filling and density of both bun and filling. I had a feeling that this would come off the worst when I initially bought it because the baked goods here don’t seem to be as popular. In fact, I wonder how fresh their breads and pastries would be given the low turnover. However, fairness demanded that it be tried.

Despite having been baked the day before, the Montague Bleue bun was as Helen reported – soft and spongy with a saltiness to the filling that reminded me of century egg puffs. Buttery and delicious.

Unlike its Dragon Boat neighbour, the Maxim bun was also soft but the filling was what differentiated it from the others. Less sugar and more coconut, it also had a more definite flavour of sesame seeds even though distribution was even across all three buns.

So, who takes it? Whose cuisine reigns supreme?

Although I wish it had the salt-edge of the Montague Bleue version, overall i enjoyed the Maxim bun the most because of the higher coconut content. The next step is to take the challenge to Boxhill’s best!

PS: Having just taken another bite out of the MB & Maxim buns, I have to say that it’s a tough pick. I like the saltiness of the MB version but I think I could eat more of the Maxim as it’s less rich and, as i’ve already said above, more coconutty.

I’m not one to insist upon plating food with overly fussy attention to detail every single time but would you agree that these are not the most appealing of breakfast dishes? Certainly, the taste left something to be desired too. The poached eggs didn’t come with the soft runny centre which I adore and the porridge tasted like it had been made with cream. Maybe we will try Cafe Siena next time…