Recent adventures in gluttony, or fooding photos

Firstly an improved and much more attractive Earl Grey Chiffon Cake! A co-production with Chengy which we were both very happy with. Between us, we made 3 chiffon cakes in a week and this one was the best. Then it was off to Melbourne.



The Press Club, Melbourne. Despite the celeb-spotting thrill we had in sighting in George Calombaris, who seemed very charming and friendly when taking time out to sign some cookbooks for kids, overall this was a disappointing experience. The fish dish pictured was nice but there were also some truly 'meh' courses.



Verge on the other hand was fabulous. We only went for tea and dessert but every dish looked spectacular and the two I tasted were great. This is berries and chamomile, sorrel, and lemon curd on a brioche - amazing and delicious.



Serving classic, elegant and simple Japanese food, Tempura Hajime was a really lovely experience in every way. My favourite Melbourne dining experience.



The dishes at Jacques Reymond were all skillfully prepared and plated, and every dish was challenging and thoughtful. But it was a mixed experience - some of these dishes just didn't work. Here's a sandwich of spanner crab, mirin and fresh wasabi jelly, lacquered Petuna ocean trout, black bean and sweetcorn dressing. It looked great and it had great elements, but it didn't come together as a whole.



Finally we return to Sydney with the Lunar New Year Markets at Belmore Park. Food was a bit hit and miss but who cares when you get giant bunnies made out of recycled bottles and cooking demonstrations from Hong Kong celebrity chefs!

The Memoirs of Barry Lyndon by William Thackeray (2011 TBR Challenge #2)

After downing his first man in a duel at the age of fifteen, young Barry flees Ireland to become a soldier in the Seven Years' War. In later years he'll become a gambler, a fortune hunter, and finally, to his great satisfaction, a lord. A thoroughly unreliable narrator, Barry claims nobility and honour and love in one breath, and in the next will describe his cheats, deceptions, and base villainy.

Also known as The Luck of Barry Lyndon, this is a book I've been putting it off for four or five years. As usual it was nothing like as scary as I'd feared. Told in the first-person and in a style I'm informed is picaresque, this is a blackly funny and razor-sharp satire that leaves no one unscathed, whether rich or poor, Irish or English or Prussian, man or woman.

Barry himself is one of the greatest rogues and scoundrels ever set to the page. His story reminded me of both Fielding's Tom Jones and Thackeray's own Vanity Fair in its scope, cynicism and humour. Often, Thackeray just made me laugh. Here's his depiction of two lovers' banter, from early in the book:

"No, Norelia," said the Captain (for it was the fashion of those times for lovers to call themselves by the most romantic names out of novels), "except for you and four others, I vow before all the gods, my heart has never felt the soft flame!"
"Ah! You men, you men, Eugenio!" said she ... "your passion is not equal to ours. We are like – like some plant I've read of – we bear but one flower and then we die!"

In the same vein here's young Barry:

"Mark this: come what will of it, I swear I'll fight the man who pretends to the hand of Nora Brady. I'll follow him, if it's into the church, and meet him there. I'll have his blood, or he shall have mine; and this riband shall be found dyed in it. Yet and if I'll kill him, I'll pin it on his breast, and then she may go and take back her token." This I said because I was very much excited at the time, and because I had not read novels and romantic plays for nothing.

But it's not all fun and games. There's some powerful commentary too on the grim reality of war, and at times Thackeray's depiction of a corrupt world seems unrelentingly cynical - Barry's own opportunism and selfishness is matched only by the greed and dishonour of those around him. However, as the book progresses his deeds grow blacker and blacker, his delusions of grandeur and blindness to his own flaws ever greater, and at last he tips over the edge from anti-hero to villain.

Despite the darkness of the later stages of the book and some minor quibbles (some totally unnecessary footnoting from Thackeray), this is a great journey with a great character. Just one more quote, one that made me LOL:

"But listen: you are an Englishman?"
"That I am," said the fellow, with an air of the utmost superiority. "Your honour could tell that by my haccent."
I knew he was and therefore might offer him a bribe.

My 12 books for the 2011 TBR Challenge

Earl Grey Chiffon Cake and Smoked Salmon Frittata

Having previously made Orange Chiffon Cake and Pandan Chiffon Cake, I turned my sights to Earl Grey Chiffon Cake, as inspired by the chiffon cakes at Azuma Patisserie.

Azuma's chiffon cakes are perfection - soooooo high and light and perfectly formed! My attempt was a little misshapen, not nearly as tall, and stuck to the sides of the tin. /o\ Nevermind. Everyone ate up their slices. The Serendipity icecream on the side probably helped though!

This is a slightly different recipe to the one I used previously, and it resulted in a much higher cake.


Earl Grey Chiffon Cake

3 tbsp high quality loose leaf Earl Gray tea. Tea bags will not work since the tea leaves have to be large and not ground up.

Dry ingredients:
256g self-raising flour
285g granulated/caster sugar (on 2nd attempt I reduced this to 180g and it was fine)
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp table salt

Wet ingredients:
5 large egg yolks
1 cup freshly brewed and cooled earl gray tea (on 2nd attempt I added 2 cups and it was better!)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla essence

Egg whites:
8 large egg whites
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
57g granulated sugar

At least 2 hours before making the batter, brew the tea using 3 Tbsp tea leaves and 1.5-2 cups boiling water.

Let the tea sit for at least 15 minutes (up to 2 hours for darker color) before straining out the leaves. Reserve the tea and the leaves separately.

Separate 8 eggs (you need 5 yolks and 8 whites).

Preheat the oven to 165C (325 F).

Sift together the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, salt) into a large bowl.

In another bowl, beat the wet ingredients (yolks, tea, oil, vanilla) until smooth.

Gently stir the wet ingredients into dry ingredients along with 3 tablespoons of of very well drained tea leaves. Stir until the flour streaks disappear and most of the flour lumps are gone.

Whisk the egg whites and cream of tartar on low speed; a beater or stand mixer is best. When frothy, increase the speed to medium-high and beat until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar and beat to stiff peaks.

Gently fold egg whites into the egg yolk mixture, a third or quarter at a time.

Pour into an angel cake tin or tube tin, and bake for about 60 minutes.

Cool upside-down for 90 minutes. If the cake's come up over the edge of the tin, prop the tin on the neck of a wine bottle or similar so the cake isn't crushed.

When cool, remove from the tin, still upside-down, and serve.

From Beyond Salmon.


Mine wasn't too pretty, as I said - oh well! Here's some massacred remains. You can see some unevenness in the colouring, which means I should probably have folded it a little more carefully:



Usually I'm quite good at separating eggs but this time I was rubbish at it. I must've cracked three yolks in the course of making the chiffon cake! To use up all the leftover eggs, I decided to make a frittata for dinner. The original recipe doesn't include potatoes so feel free to omit them.


Smoked Salmon, Caper and Dill Frittata

5-6 eggs
1/2 cup cream
1 tsp finely grated lemon rind
200g potatoes, sliced thinly (I used desiree potatoes)
100g red onion, sliced thinly
1/2 cup chopped fresh dill
2 tbsp drained baby capers, rinsed
200g sliced smoked salmon


Pre-heat oven to 175 C. Oil a 20cm square cake tin, casserole dish or similar, and line with baking paper.

Pan-fry potatoes in olive oil until just cooked; drain on kitchen paper.

Whisk eggs, cream and rind in medium bowl.

Combine onion, dill and capers in small bowl.

Spread a third of the onion mixture in the pan, top with half the salmon, then half the potatoes. Pour half of the egg mixture on top.

Then layer again with a third of the onions, the remaining salmon and potatoes, then the remaining onions. Pour the remaining egg mixture on top.

Bake uncovered for 30-50 minutes (mine took about 50 minutes, perhaps the moisture in the pototoes?) or until frittata is set. Stand five minutes before cutting.

Frittata can be served hot or cold. I served this for dinner hot, with a side of green salad, and saved the rest for later.

Adapted from Women's Weekly: The New Classics

Another Bullshit Night in Suck City by Nick Flynn (2011 TBR Challenge #1)

Your scheduled cooking posts will return shortly. In the meantime here's book post #1 for the 2011 To Be Read Challenge:

Another Bullshit Night in Suck City is Nick Flynn's memoir of his early life and his relationship with his absent, alcoholic father.

The book moves back and forth between Nick’s story - including his gangster-dating mother, traumatised war vet stepfather, and longtime girlfriend Emily - and a fictionalised reconstruction of his father Jonathan's life, based on interviews and letters.

Father and son have very different trajectories to their lives yet share joint fixations on writing, alcoholism, and petty crime. The two narratives will parallel, contrast, and finally overlap when Nick is twenty-seven and working in a homeless shelter, and his father shows up needing a place to stay.

"Sometimes I'd see my father, walking past my building on his way to another nowhere. I could have given him a key, offered him a piece of my floor. A futon. A bed. But I never did. If I let him inside I would become him, the line between us would blur, my own slow-motion car wreck would speed up."

Looking at this purely at a factual, narrative level this story could have gone down so many tired old paths (son tries to reconnect with estranged father, young man finds himself through writing, etc) but usually resists that tidiness, that faux moral-making that I find really repugnant in most memoirs.

Despite the downer material and a sometimes painful depiction of a screwed-up family, it's a powerful, page-turning read that feels emotionally honest. The writing is lyrical, sometimes too self-consciously so, but mostly fits well with the book's blend of memoir, fact, and reimagining. It's also a compelling, unromanticised, uncondescending look at homeless people and what it means to be homeless.


My 12 To Be Read books
2011 To Be Read Challenge

The 2011 TBR Challenge

I know this is a cooking blog, but I have to post this somewhere so here will have to do. I'm a chronic buyer, borrower and general acquirer of books and while I can get through a lot of books, often very quickly, there is always a huge stack of unread books that seems to constantly grow, and grow, and...

Which is why I'm signing up to this 2011 TBR Pile Challenge:




The goal of this challenge is "to finally read 12 books from your "to be read" pile, within 12 months."

Each of these 12 books must have been on your bookshelf or "To Be Read" list for at least one full year. This means the book cannot have a publication date of 1/1/2010 or later (any book published in the year 2009 or earlier qualifies, as long as it has been on your TBR pile). Two alternates are allowed, just in case one or two of the books end up in the "can't get through" pile.

My 12 books
* indicates I borrowed the book and therefore it's way, way overdue...

1. The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits - Emma Donoghue [20/02/2011]
2. Can You Forgive Her? - Anthony Trollope [19/02/2011]
3. Little Dorrit - Charles Dickens [13/11/2011]
4. The Memoirs of Barry Lyndon - William Thackeray [17/01/2011]
5. Further Tales of the City - Armistead Maupin [21/04/2011]
6. Another Bullshit Night in Suck City - Nick Flynn* [15/01/2011]
7. Good As Gold - Joseph Heller [6/03/2011]
8. The Dragon Keeper - Robin Hobb* [5/12/2011]
9. The Forgotten Garden - Kate Morton [30/01/2011]
10. Tree of Smoke - Denis Johnson
11. With Nails - Richard E. Grant* [6/07/2011]
12. Suttree - Cormac McCarthy

Alternates
1. The King's Peace - Jo Walton
2. Once A Hero - Michael R. Stackpole

I've just cracked Another Bullshit Night In Suck City (finally! sorry Judith...) and so far, so good. The rest of the list may not be so easy. I've been avoiding some of these for a reason, ha.

For more on book challenges, see Be A Better Reader in 2011 (Salon).

Happy New Year, and Sung Choi Bow

Oh hey. Um, it's been a while?

I'm suffering from blogger's guilt. My excuse is that I've barely been home to cook. Over Christmas and New Year's, I made dinner at home a grand total of once! But all good things come to an end and I'm slowly starting to cook again. Next week I have some grand baking plans...

This weekend was also the latest of several 'high teas' that some of my friends periodically host - each of us makes a plate or two of little dainties, we gather at one person's house, and eat until we can eat no more! Here's some highlights:


High tea spread (still incomplete at this stage!)


Pandan pancakes with coconut filling


Salmon and horseradish bites


Tia Maria tiramisu


And of course a selection of tea!

My own contribution was relatively humble but, I think, well received - a variation on the old sung choi bow (literally lettuce buns) which I love eating in Chinese restaurants. This recipe is not quite traditional - at least, I think my mum would have something to say about it - but it was pretty tasty!


Sung Choi Bow

400g chicken mince
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 teaspoons ginger, chopped
Oil for frying
1 tablespoon cooking rice wine (e.g. shaoxing)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
Splash of sesame oil
2 fresh shitake mushrooms, chopped (I used dried mushrooms, and a few more than 2!)
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 small carrot, peeled and julienned
1 small Lebanese cucumber, julienned
1 spring onion, sliced on the diagonal
2 handfuls bean sprouts
Handful or two of coriander
Zest of one lime
Squeeze of lime juice
6-10 iceberg lettuce cups
Hoisin sauce to serve (optional)


Wash and separate the lettuce cups, trimming to size if necessary. Cover and refrigerate until needed. You need to keep the lettuce really crisp.

Heat a little oil (peanut, rice bran or sunflower) in a wok or large saucepan. Quickly stir fry the garlic and ginger for a minute or so, being careful not to overcook the garlic.

Add the chicken breasts and stir, then add the mushrooms, adding a little more oil if it gets too dry, and continue to cook for a couple of minutes until coloured.

Add the rice wine, soy sauce, oyster sauce and sesame oil.

Tip the chicken mixture into a bowl and allow to cool to room temperature.

Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the chicken, then the carrot, cucumber, spring onions, bean sprouts, coriander and lime zest. Squeeze a lime over the top, taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary.

Divide the filling between the lettuce leaves and serve, garnishing with a little lime zest and coriander leaves. I like mine with a little bit of Hoisin sauce too, for a little more sweetness and flavour.

Adapted from The Cook and the Chef


Sung Choi Bow filling (lettuce leaf cups not pictured)