A Few of My Favourite Things !

Looking for a child-friendly place for brunch, a friend recommended the Auction Rooms as a great place that had room for a pram. So, we wandered up to Victoria Market, purchasing some groceries on the way, then made our way to Errol St in North Melbourne. Not quite knowing where Errol Street was, we asked directions from three blokes chatting in from of a pub. Two of them, who appeared to have already well on their way to being sozzled, informed us to keep walking in that direction but that Errol Street was 2km away. Fortunately, their estimations were quite a way out and we were there within 15 min., stumbling upon it right after passing Fandango.

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…

I was browsing through the children’s books at Kay Craddock Antiquarian Bookshop on the weekend when I came across this in the pop-up books section.

Upon enquiry about the suitability of this, I was told “Well, we don’t have a pornographic pop-up book section”. Hmmmmm…..

Lau’s Family kitchen is quickly becoming a firm favourite with our family. We were celebrating a belated birthday (dad’s) and my brother meeting his nephew for the first time so we made a lunch reservation so that Baby EJ could come along. The service at Lau’s is highly attentive and although I didn’t have a problem with this last time, it was a little suffocating this time. There were so few tables that our waitress (fairly new I think) only had our table to look after. On the whole though, it’s better to have this problem than not being able to attract any of the waitstaff.

The dishes were served in individual portions, again not my preference as I like being able to choose how much of each dish I have. To me, having a chinese meal is about sharing from the dishes in the middle of the table and being given predetermined portions takes away from the idea of sharing. Also, there is a practical aspect that not everyone eats the same amount of food…which is also why I rarely go for degustation menus. Well, apart from those two issues, Lau’s was well-worth the visit. This is what we had:

Oyster with black bean sauce - very tasty & we saw them shucking the oysters at the start of the lunchtime service

Steamed barramundi - just AMAZING. Completely delicate flavours and the most tender morsels of fish I have ever had. We have not gone wrong with their steamed fish yet.

Cantonese beef - tender, tasty flamed-grilled flavour

Mixed vegetables - not oily and filled with fresh vegies that were still slightly crunchy. My favourite cloud ear fungus

Scallops - my least favourite as I found them to be just a tad overcooked. Very subtle flavour

Go at lunch if you to converse with your friends or go at dinner if you’re with boring company. You can smile and nod politely, pretending you’re able to hear everything being said =)

Lau’s Family Kitchen
4 Acland Street
St Kilda
(03) 8598 9880

We checked out the renovated Westfield Shopping Centre in Doncaster on the weekend & purchased some fruit & veg from the new shop next to Coles. While browsing the aisles, we came across a fruit that resembled a large green mangosteen. Unable to identify the fruit from their price signs, A. asked one of the stockers what kind of fruit this was & the reply was “It’s a custard apple”.

A: “I don’t think this is a custard apple”
Reply: “Yes, it is”
A: “No, it’s not”
Reply: “Yes, it is”
A (slightly exasperated): “No mate, I know what a custard apple looks like”
Reply: “Where did you get it from? Over there? Okay, it’s not a custard apple”

An older lady then approached the same guy and pointed to another fruit asking what that was & the reply she received was that it was a custard apple. A. was still standing there so he said “That’s not a custard apple either”

Reply: “Yes it is”
A: “No it’s not”
Reply: “Yes it is”
A: “No it’s not, that’s a dragonfruit. THAT (pointing to the real thing) is a custard apple”
Reply: “Are you sure?”

Update: The fruit turned from green to black over several days. Very much resembled a persimmon on the inside but a very dark purple in colour. The flesh remained crunchy and didn’t turn soft.

Seeing as Neil has so eloquently described the bloggers dinner at Jamon Sushi, I thought that I would simply add some photos of the food we had that night. The only other thing that I will say is that A. loves the passion that Charles demonstrates and that I wish I had been able to stay for the soba course.

Wow, I was at Prahran Market on the weekend and heard some fantastic news from the owner of my favourite chocolate store - Monsieur Truffe.

Thibaullt’s stall in the centre of the fruit & veg section is oft-visited and much-lauded by bloggers. The great news for all Monsieur Truffe fans (and for those who have yet to try his truffles - what are you waiting for?) is that a Monsieur Truffe store will be opening on Smith Street in Collingwood. He has started advertising for staff on his blog and the opening is expected to take place sometime in August. The store will stock all the current favourites but will also double as a cafe that serves pastries and host chocolate & wine tasting evenings.

Another chocolate store also opened five weeks ago on Toorak Road near the corner of Chapel St - Ganache Chocolate. It’s reminiscent of Koko Black in its decor and has similar chocolate blocks studded with various fruit & nuts. We didn’t try any chocolates but did pick up a pan au chocolat to go. Their pastries are made by the chef from Le Petit Gateau on Lt Collins St and this version has a raspberry puree smear under the chocolate. Pretty good.

Update: According to Ed’s “Ed lines” in the Herald Sun (29 April 2008), Arno Backes is the man behind Ganache Chocolates - no wonder the similarity to Koko Black then given that he was the second master chocolatier there…

Disappointed to miss out on yet another blogger meet-up , I ensured that our weekend included a food-related adventure by dragging A away from a Saturday sleep-in to the Docklands Farmers Market at the Waterfront City Piazza, Docklands.

Apparently the opening, held last week, was pretty disastrous due to the windy weather but even the pleasant morning we had on Saturday didn’t attract a larger crowd. The market was so well attended that there could have been tumbleweed rolling across the concourse!

I have not seen most of these stalls at the other markets around Melbourne before. We discovered one that sold the most delicious lamingtons - traditional and a passionfruit.

We also picked up some ingredients for dinner. A. cooked the King Island steak to perfection while I made a salad of rocket, white peaches, prosciutto and Berrys Creek Oak Blue cheese.

We also picked up bread from two different stalls - Amici and Matisse - and an amazingly moist and tasty carrot cake.

Well, this market doesn’t appear to have reached the radars of Dockland residents yet but hopefully it soon will. It’s great to have a farmers market in the city area although, in my opinion, locating it in Southbank would guarantee more success.

Thanks for all your well wishes! EJ, A & I are all doing well (despite the lack of sleep) and are settling into this new phase in our lives.

I haven’t had much of a chance to cook or bake - for obvious reasons - but my darling mother has been keeping us fed with some delicious and nutritious meals. Food that I haven’t had since getting married and moving out! I wish I had taken photos to show you but there hasn’t even been time to do that!

We moved just prior to EJ’s birth so I thought I would share a snapshot of life outside our apartment

On our way home from Bright a couple of weekends ago, we stopped at Seymour to fill up. As we were finishing up at the service station, a ute laden with fresh farm produce pulled up next to us. How could we resist the temptation of purchasing the just-picked fruit that was on its way to the market?

We bought peaches, nectarines, plums, grapes…then A. spotted the green & black figs in a corner. The farmer told him that the figs would be a little more expensive than the stone fruit - $6.00/kg. What with places around Melbourne CBD sell figs at $20-25/kg, this is a bargain!

My search for a fresh fig recipe led me to a Brigitte Hafner recipe which I would love to submit for the The Mini Pie Revolution, however having misplaced the cable for downloading photos from my camera I am late, late, late for this event.

I’ll share the photos and recipe with you anyway. The pies, baked in mini tart pans, look and taste great especially with a dollop of King Island cream (or the vanilla bean yoghurt for those watching their waist) or good vanilla icecream.

Pastry:

100g unsalted butter
100g caster sugar
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
70g almond meal
200g plain flour
pinch of salt

1. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then add the egg and yolk. Mix well.
2. Incorporate almond meal, flour and salt to form a dough. Gently knead to form a smooth ball but be careful not to overwork the dough.
3. Divide into 4 portions, wrap and refrigerate for 30 min
4. Roll out each portoin of dough to 5mm thickness and line the bottom of the tart tin. Prick the base and freeze for 30 min
5. Blind bake for 12-15 min at 180C, then cool

Filling:

1.5 cups cream
zest of 1/4 orange
1 bay leaf
1 egg

1. Bring the first 3 ingredientsto a boil then simmer for 5min until reduced by 1/2
2. Remove from heat and add 2 tbs brown sugar. Allow to cool.
3. Whisk in 1 large egg.

Tart:

1. Line the pastry base with fresh figs.
2. Pour over cream mixture
3. Bake for 25 min at 175C
4. Cool and serve!