Wednesday Girls Dinner - Alyssa

Entree Roasted Beetroot Soup with Creme Fraiche and fresh mint
Main Spicy Couscous Salad with Haloumi
Dessert Chocolate Semi-freddo with Berries

Roasted Beetroot Soup with Creme Fraiche and fresh mint

Ingredients

Extra virgin olive oil
1 carrot, chopped into chunks
3 to 4 small or 2 large baby beetroots cut into quarters
1 desiree potato, peeled, chopped1 granny smith apple, quartered
40g unsalted butter
1 onion, quartered1 bay leaf
1L (4 cups) chicken or vegetable stock
Creme fraiche (or sour cream), finely snipped mint to serve

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Spread carrot, beetroot, potato and apple on a large roasting pan. Drizzle with olive oil and cook for around 45 minutes.

Heat the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes or until slightly softened. Add the slightly cooled roasted vegetables, bay leaf, stock and 1 cup (250ml) water. Increase the heat to medium-high, bring soup to the boil, then cook for a further 5 minutes or until the vegetables are very tender.

Allow the mixture to cool slightly, then discard the bay leaf. Using a stick blender, blend soup until smooth (or puree in batches in a blender).

Season soup to taste, add a little extra water if it's too thick, and warm through over low heat if necessary.

To serve, divide soup among bowls and top each with a dollop of creme fraiche or sour cream. Scatter with fresh snipped mint, then drizzle with oil.

Spicy Couscous Salad with Haloumi

Ingredients

2 cups Real Vegetable Stock

1 small onion
250g pearl couscous
250g haloumi cheese
1 teaspoon olive oil
420g can chickpeas, drained, rinsed
5 green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup mint leaves, roughly chopped
2 long red chillies, deseeded, thinly sliced

Dressing
1 large lemon, rind finely grated, juiced
2 teaspoons paprika
1/4 cup olive oil
Quarter lemon to serve

Method

Saute chopped onion in olive oil until golden. Add pearl couscous and stir until golden. Add salt, pepper, chopped parsley and other spices to taste. Add 2 cups boiling water or stock. Cover pot and simmer for 8-10 minutes.

Cut haloumi into 3 lengthways. Heat oil in a small frying pan over medium heat. Add haloumi and cook for 1 to 2 minutes each side or until golden. Transfer to a plate. Toss couscous, chickpeas, green onion, mint and chilli until combined.

Make dressing: Whisk lemon rind, 1/4 cup lemon juice, paprika and oil in a jug until well combined.

Pour dressing over salad. Season with salt and pepper. Stir to combine. Top with haloumi and Serve with a fresh piece of lemon.

Chocolate Semi-freddo with Berries

Ingredients (serves 8)

6 eggs, separated
2/3 cup caster sugar
1 cup thickened cream
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/4 cup warm water
fresh berries, to serve

Method

Using a hand mixer, beat egg yolks and sugar in a large bowl until pale and creamy. Wash and dry beaters. Beat eggwhites until soft peaks form. Fold eggwhites into egg yolk mixture until just combined.

Using beaters, whip cream until soft peaks form. Combine cocoa and warm water in a small bowl. Stir into cream.

Carefully fold chocolate cream into egg mixture until just combined. Spoon into a 4-cup capacity airtight container.

Cover and freeze for 3 hours or until firm. Serve with fresh or frozen berries.

Wednesday Girls Dinner - Miss Foodie

Was a wonderful night with the girls; Karolina is in Sweden so we had an even four at the table. Quite an achievement for me this week!! Megsie darling isn't a pork fan, but my Asian pork dish had her sucking the cutlet bone dry, brilliant I say :) It's always a wonderful feeling when you can see your friends enjoying the dish you made them.

Now I love and I mean love Gyoza. This was the second time I've made this and the recipe is so delicious, I don't think I've had better if I do say so myself ;)  The white chocolate mousse we had for dessert is such an easy recipe and super-duper scrumptious. Be sure to give these recipe's a try; and if you do, make sure you tell me how it goes!

Entree Pork Gyoza
Main Asian Pork with Wilted Asian greens
Dessert White Chocolate Mousse with Fresh Strawberries

Pork Gyoza

Ingredients

250g pork mince
1 cup finely shredded wombok (Chinese Cabbage)
1/4 cup finely chopped chives
2 garlic cloves, crushed or grated
1 tbs tamari (If you can't find (like me) use kecup manis)
1 tsp sesame oil
1/4 tsp ground white pepper
40 gyoza or gow gee wrappers (found in woolies in the latina fresh pasta area)
2 tsp peanut oil
1/2 cup (125ml) water

Dipping sauce
1 tbs tamari 1 tbs rice vinegar
1 tbs water
1 tsp caster sugar
1/2 tsp sesame oil

Method

Combine the pork, wombok, chives, garlic, tamari, sesame oil and pepper in a medium bowl.

Place a gyoza wrapper on a clean work surface. Spoon a heaped teaspoonful of pork mixture onto the centre of the wrapper. Brush the edge with a little water. Fold in half and use your fingertips to seal the edges. Place on a plate. Continue with remaining gyoza wrappers and pork mixture.

To make the dipping sauce, combine the tamari, rice vinegar, water, sugar and sesame oil in a small bowl or jar. Stir/shake until sugar dissolves.

Heat the peanut oil in a large frying pan over high heat until just smoking. Remove from heat. Arrange the dumplings over the base of the frying pan. Return to the heat and cook for 2 minutes or until the base of the gyoza is golden. Sprinkle the water evenly over the gyozas. Cook, covered, for 3-4 minutes or until gyozas are cooked through and the water evaporates. Remove from heat and set aside for 2 minutes.

Place on a serving platter. Serve immediately with the dipping sauce.

Asian Pork with Wilted Asian greens

Ingredients (serves 8)

1 tbs brow n sugar
80ml (1/3 cup) tamari
6 whole star anise
1 tbs finely grated fresh ginger
1 tbs rice vinegar
1/2 tsp sesame oil
8 (about 1.6kg) pork loin cutlets, excess fat trimmed
60ml (1/4 cup) water
1/2 tsp sesame seeds
1 bunch gai choy, ends trimmed (bok choy, pak choy etc is fine)
1 bunch choy sum, ends trimmed (bok choy, pak choi etc is fine)
1/2 small Chinese cabbage, coarsely chopped
1 bunch green shallots, ends trimmed, thinly sliced diagonally

Method

Combine sugar, 60ml (1/4 cup) of the tamari, star anise, ginger, vinegar and oil in a glass bowl. Add the pork and turn to coat. Cover and place in fridge for 3 hours to develop the flavours.

Preheat oven to 220°C. Remove pork from marinade and place in a roasting pan. Reserve marinade. Bake in oven for 20 minutes or until pork is brown and cooked through. Transfer to a plate. Cover with foil and set aside for 5 minutes to rest.

Meanwhile, combine reserved marinade and water in the roasting pan and bring to the boil over high heat. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until sauce thickens. Add the remaining tamari and stir until well combined. Remove from heat.

Heat a wok over medium heat. Add the sesame seeds and cook, stirring, for 1 minute or until toasted. Transfer to a plate. Add the gai choy, choy sum, cabbage and green shallot to the wok and stir-fry for 2 minutes or until just wilted.

Divide the Asian greens among serving plates and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Top with pork and serve drizzled with sauce.

White Chocolate Mousse with Fresh Strawberries

Ingredients (serves 4)

150g good-quality white chocolate, broken into squares
4 egg whites
1/4 cup caster sugar
160ml (2/3 cup) thickened cream
1 x 120g punnet strawberries

Method

Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan half-filled with simmering water (make sure the bowl doesn't touch the water). Use a metal spoon to stir for 3-4 minutes or until the chocolate melts. Remove from heat.


Use an electric beater to beat the egg whites in a medium, clean, dry bowl until firm peaks form. Add half the sugar and beat until the sugar dissolves. Add the remaining sugar and beat until glossy. Add the cream and beat until the mixture thickens. Add the white chocolate and use a metal spoon to fold until just combined.

Reserve 16 strawberries. Divide half the remaining strawberries among 4 serving glasses. Top with half the white chocolate mousse. Repeat with the remaining strawberries and white chocolate mousse. Top with the reserved strawberries. Place in the fridge until set.

ENJOY!!!

Love Miss Foodie :)

Wednesday Girls Dinner - Karolina

We visited Karolina at her new house in Manly. She has recently purchased the new Bill Granger’s Holiday cookbook and so her yummy dinner was inspired by Bills tasty recipes.

Entrée Eggplant salad with chilli and mint

Main Braised Lamb Shanks

Dessert Apple griddle scones with blackberries

Eggplant salad with chilli and mint 

Ingredients - serves 4-6

3 large eggplants

2 tbls extra virgin olive oil

2 tbls red wine vinegar

1 long red chilli, seeded, finely chopped

3 tbls shredded fresh mint leaves

3 tbls shredded fresh flat leaf parsley

Sea salt and black pepper 

 

Method

Cut each eggplant into thinck slices. Preheat a bbq or chargrill pan to high and cook the eggplant for -3 minutes on each side or until lightly charred and cooked through. Transfer to a heatproof bowl, cover with plastic wrap and set aside for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk together the olive oil and red wine vinegar in a small bowl. Add the chilli, mint and parsley, season with salt and pepper and stir together.

Tear the eggplant into rough strips with your fingers and place in a serving bowl. Add the dressing and gently toss together.

Braised Lamb Shanks

Ingredients - Serves 4

4 Lamb shanks

Plain (all purpose) flour, season with salt and pepper, to toss

2 tbls olive oil

1 large onion, cut into thin wedges

3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 large long red chille, seeded and finely chopped

2 tsp five spice powder

400g tin chopped tomatoes

3 tbls light soy sauce

2 tsp brown sugar

To serve

Steamed leafy greens

Steamed rice or mashed potato

Lime wedges

Place lamb shanks, flour, salt & pepper into a bag and toss to coat shanks.

In a heavy based casserole dish or electric fry pan gently saute onion and garlic until opaque add the next 5 ingredients followed by the coated lamb shanks. Turn the heat to low and cook for approximitely 2 hours or until the meat deliciously falls off the bone.

Serve with steamed leafy greens, steamed rice or mash potato and a lime wedge.

Apple griddle scones with blackberries

Ingredients - makes 2 large or 8 small

2-3 punnets blackberries90g caster sugar

2 small Bramley apples, peeled, cored and diced

110g wholemeal flour

110g self-raising flour

1 tsp mixed spice

110g butter, softened plus extra for frying

1 egg beaten

1 tbls buttermilk

Clotted cream or crème fraiche, to serve

Bistrot Bistro

I know I know it’s been a while…. Weddings, baby showers, Easter; you know how it gets.

Wednesday night Party Mouth Foodie and some very close friends took a trip to a modern Australian French bistro in Woolloongabba - Bistrot Bistro. I wrote about the renovated Woolloongabba precinct back in February; 'Woolloongabba's where it's at" I mentioned a few restaurants and pubs in the area but oddly bypassed this little gem. Set in the historic Good Year Tyre and Rubber building; Bistrot Bistro still has some of it's original interiors. Timber floors, window frames, and if you look closely enough you can even see the original brick archways. I loved the seating arrangements; if you have 2-4 people dining you can snap up one of their cute pin-striped booths. They also have a long leather seat with cute little tables running along front; just like in France. They certainly have done a superb job of renovating this abandoned building; and with Edith Piaf singing in the background, the room oozes French la de da.

P.S Check out their cellar room function area...impressive let me tell you.

Foooooood time!!! Their menu is indeed inviting and the service absolute. Our waiter was very helpful with suggestions and very patient; you should see me I'm hopeless! I can never decide what to order.

I could describe in detail my every mouthful, but we all know a picture speaks louder than words.

For entree we ended up ordering the same thing.... could you resist soft figs with fromage (similar to quark) and watercress? We couldn't. We ate it too quickly to take a picture :)

Changing the subject for a second. I love it that when I go out for dinner with my close friends, I get the opportunity to have a tiny taste of everyone's meals; yeah it's called sharing and if you don't do it you should start right now!

OK what we ate.....

Grilled Pork and white bean salad
The white beans were cooked in a broth of pork bones and stock, so yummy!

Braised Lamb, red grapes and crumbed sweet bread
The dish is compared to pork belly but a little less fattening. The warm grapes were very complementarity of the lamb. If you're hungry though this isn't going to hit the spot, but you can opt for one of their yummy side dishes to solve that problem.

Ragout of clams with sauce rouille & fresh sourdough
Bistrot Bistro had run out of mussels that day sadly, but they offered to do the same meal but replacing the mussels for clams; it was most enjoyable. The fresh sourdough was perfect to soak up all the creamy rouille deliciousness.

Desert o'clock....

Creme Caramel
The caramel in this was so sweet and tasty, even toffee like. If I remember correctly I nearly licked the bowl.

Blueberry Frangipane Tart with Buerre Noisette ice cream
The spoon was dug into this before we got to take the photo lol so it did look perfect on arrival to our table. The Buerre Noisette (hazelnut butter) ice cream was so nice beautiful and the blueberry franipane tart was light and fruity.

Chocolate marquise topped with creme fraiche
I didn't personally taste this because it looked far too rich for me but the moans around the table when people were tasting it certainly tells me it was decadently sweet.

Would I dine at Bistrot Bistro again? Yes.
Was Bistrot Bistro the best food I have ever tasted? No.
Is the food really really yummy? Yes.
Is the decor warm, cosy and inviting and perfect for a romantic dinner or catch up with friends? Most definitely!

I'll let you make up your own mind; but I certainly know that this modern Australian French bistro hasn't let the reputation of the Woolloongabba precinct down one bit.

Wednesday Girls Dinner - Miss Foodie

Entrée Garlic Tiger Prawns with Peanut Satay Dipping Sauce & Natural Tasmanian Oysters with Asian Vinaigrette
Main Asian Turkey Balls with Rice Noodles, Snow Peas and Radishes
Desert White Chocolate, Mango & Passionfruit Trifle

Tiger Prawns with Peanut Satay Dipping Sauce

 

Ingredients

Fresh Tiger Prawns (tip: if a prawns feelers are long and intact you know they're fresh; once they're frozen they break off you see).

Peanut Satay Sauce. Recipe hmmm yeah well I could make it but honestly it's so easy to head to your local Thai Takeaway and order a small container, its like $4.

Method

Cook your prawns in a hot wok with garlic and a fresh squeeze of lime at the end. Lay out and serve with dipping sauce. Easy!!

Natural Tasmanian Oysters with Asian Vinaigrette

Ingredients

2 tbs light soy sauce
2 tbs rice wine vinegar
1 tsp sesame oil
24 Pacific oysters, in the half shell
2 green shallots, ends trimmed, thinly sliced

Method

Shake all ingredients together in an old glass jar or whisk in a small bowl. Spoon over fresh oysters. Another easy one :)

Asian Turkey Balls with Rice Noodles, Snow Peas and Radishes

Recipe on it's way...

Northshore Riverside Cafe - Hamilton

I was a bit hesitant on telling you about Riverside Cafe because no one really knows about this Hamilton gem yet. I discovered this superb bistro through a close friend of mine. I work in Hamilton and I didn't even know what lay beyond the Hamilton industrial area. Most of us are familiar with the Portside restaurant precinct in Hamilton, but have you delved down Macarthur Ave? Well I recommend that you do.

Every mouthful I have experienced at Riverside Cafe has been sensational. Now you're going to hate me because I guarantee you're going to be hungry once you check out the meals I've had.

Interior of Riverside Cafe

Outside view from the balcony seats

Balcony seat

Beef Ragu Gnocchi with watercress
(this was a special and sadly isn't a regular on the menu)

This one is on the menu and is my absolute favourite!!
Coconut Crusted Tiger Prawns, Mango and Macadamia Salad with a Star Anise Chutney

Roasted Tomato, Capsicum and Walnut Tart with reduced balsamic glaze and micro herbs

Scallop Caesar Salad

DESERT TIME!!

The in house made sweets are always different upon every visit.

Sticky Banana and Caramel Pudding

Lemon Delicious Tart

Do you still love me? You're hungry now aren't you ha ha..... Well you know what to do then. Cruise down to Riverside Cafe soon. They are open from 9am to 4pm everyday and serve breakfast from 8:30am to 11:30am Saturday and Sunday only. If you want to check out the regular menu click here, mind you the specials are always very hard to go past.

When you venture to this neck of the woods not only can you enjoy some fine bistro cuisine, you also have the option to bring a picnic or BBQ lunch along with you. The surrounding grounds include beautiful green lawns which are wonderfully maintained along with BBQ areas.

The below pictures are care of Northshore Hamilton. They're taken when they first built up the area; there are a lot more trees and plants now-a-days.

Wednesday Girls Dinner - Megsie

Entrée Cured Meat with Gorgonzola Figs
Main Home made Mushroom Pizza + Pumpkin Pizza with Salads
Dessert Italian style Chocolate Custard Tart

Recipes are coming and you definitely want to have these. The Gorgonzola Figs were out of this world!!! From memory I think Megsie simply put a piece of Gorgonzola cheece into a fresh fig and wrapped a piece of prosciutto around it.  She put that in the oven until the fig was crispy. Meanwhile melt the remaining Gorgonzola cheese in a pot set at low heat. To serve drizzle melted Gorgonzola over the cooked fig.  My mouth is watering as I type this! Such simple ingredients but such a knock out taste!