Extremes of anything, big or small interest me and my sister had been plying me with stories of having the legendary King Crab for years. When she last had it, about 5 years ago, it was $500 and it fed 8 people with plenty left over. If you pass by a fish tank in one of the larger Chinese restaurants, the King Crab are the gigantic 3-40cms long beasts, the flesh less delicate and sweet than mud crabs but if you get a full one, much better to feed a gluttonous tribe. Crab are a funny thing though, sometimes they are empty with little flesh in them whereas sometimes they’re full of flesh and this varies apparently according to the moon. Its a cycle that we’ve yet to decipher so we usually go with lobster which is always reliably full.

Its a family celebration for my sister that brings us to the Golden Unicorn in Maroubra. They’re also having a special on King Crab and for $250, you can get a King Crab cooked however you’d like (we opted for crab cooked in XO chili sauce) and a double lot of e-fun noodles. If the crab is full, then there’s no need to order any other dishes.

We go to the tank and pick out the crab that we want and there are two to choose from on that night. They put him on our table and he looks miserable. I almost have second thoughts as he looks terribly sad but the waiter whisks him away. After our complimentary house soup (clear pork and vegetable broth), our plate of crab arrives at our place but we are disappointed. The crab appears to be empty that night and what should feed 8 feeds only 4. Later there is much kvetching over how and when we should have had the crab, my parents believing that this time would have been better than that time but no definite conclusion is reached and its easy to say it all in hindsight. Perhaps the crab was trying to convey a message to us with his sad countenance “Don’t eat me, I’m not ready!”

Golden Unicorn Chinese Restaurant

Level 2, 193 Maroubra Rd
Maroubra NSW 2035
Phone (02) 9344 9278
Open seven days for lunch, Mon to Fri 11am - 3pm Sat to Sun 10am - 3pm, and dinner, 5pm-11pm
Payment accepted: MasterCard, Visa, Diners Club, American Express and EFTPOS
Alcohol BYO
Seats Seats 200
Wheelchair access

It was a miserable rainy spring day in Sydney and I couldn’t think of anything better to do than make a Louisiana Bread and Butter pudding. Its the kind of thing that provides some aromatherapy whilst cooking and with all of the windows and doors shut to keep the howling wind and rain out, the only choice.

I originally found a recipe for this without the banana in a Keith Floyd book on American Cooking called “American Pie” but the book has since disappeared from shelves. I loved it and found some variations on the internet for it and so I adapted them from what I could remember from Floyd’s recipe to make this final recipe. It is an understatement to say that the smell of baking cinammon, nutmeg and bread is heavenly. I think I enjoyed the smell of it baking almost as much as the eating!

Louisiana Bread and Butter Pudding with banana

Makes 12 servings.
INGREDIENTS:

• 7 slices stale bread buttered on both sides and cut in diagonal halves
• 4 cups whole milk
• 3 eggs
• 1-1/3 cups sugar
• 2 Tablespoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup Cointreau
• 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 Tablespoon freshly ground nutmeg
• 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 50g unsalted butter, cut into cubes
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 1 banana

For the Bourbon Sauce:

• 250g unsalted butter
• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 1 egg, beaten well
• 1/2 cup bourbon

PREPARATION:

1. Place the buttered bread in a buttered 33×24 baking dish in the pattern shown and carefully pour the milk over it. Allow to soak for 1 hour (or less if bread is not stale).

2. Put the raisins in a smaller bowl and pour the Cointreau over them. Allow to soak for at least one hour.

Preheat the oven to 160C.

3. Whisk together the eggs, sugar and vanilla and then stir in coconut.

4. Drain the raisins and add them to the soaked bread. Add the slices of banana between the bread layers. Pour the egg/sugar/coconut mixture onto the bread carefully.

5. Sprinkle with the cinnamon, nutmeg, and the dark brown sugar. Dot with the butter cubes.

6. Cover with foil and place in preheated oven and bake about 45 minutes. Then remove foil and allow to brown for another 30 minutes or until golden and crispy. Allow to cool at least 30 minutes before cutting.

For the sauce:

1. Melt the butter over low heat. When it is hot, but not colored, add the confectioners’ sugar and whisk constantly until thick.

2. When it is very thick and hot, remove it from the heat and whisk in the beaten egg until emulsified, about 2 mintues.

3. Whisk in the bourbon and serve warm.

To serve:

Cut the pudding into 12 slices and serve with the warm Bourbon sauce for adults, maple syrup for children. Any leftover bread pudding may be reheated in the microwave. Add some cream or ice cream, this is sinfully good with both.

P.S. I prefer my B&B pudding to have that crispy buttery sweet crust on it so that’s why I prefer to lay the bread out like this on a large dish rather than a deeper dish with lots of layers of bread. You still do get the soft gooeyness of the banana laden pudding this way but you also get the crust. If you prefer more soft gooeyness you can put it in a deeper dish where there will be less surface area.

I had been given some double passes to see Home Song Stories by the kind people at Dendy films and it seems only fitting that we partake of some suburban Chinese Australian cuisine to help get us in the mood. My husband and I (and his family) love Dendy films as they’re not the usual cliched Hollywood blockbuster, plus they serve the best choc tops with real waffle cones, good quality chocolate and flavours like Cherry Ripe and Boysenberry. Once you’ve had one you’ll be hooked!

At about $11.20 per person, Chong Hing must be one of the best value restaurants in Sydney. If you look at their regular menu the prices are similar to any suburban Chinese restaurant. However a glance at their walls shows their set menus for 2, 4, 5, 6 and 8 people. What is also surprising is that there are a few seafood dishes offered in this set menu. Tonight we have 4 omnivores and 1 herbivore so we opt for the Menu A for 4 plus a vegetarian dish (warning for vegetarians, there aren’t many vegetarian dishes on the menu).

Menu 4A comprises of Deep fried king prawns in creamy sauce, Pork strips with stir fried mixed vegetables, Chicken with celery and honey and pepper pork ribs

Shortly after we order, the tea and house soup (clear vegetable and pork broth) arrives. Then with the rice arrives the first dish, pork strips with mixed vegetables-fabulously tender strips of tasty pork with shiitake mushrooms, boy choy and other veges perfectly cooked-definitely one of my favourites, especially the pork strips. They’re generous with the skiitake mushrooms, one of the costlier vegetables.

The prawns with creamy sauce arrives, the creamy sauce being a tangy Praise type mayo which was a little too heavy handed for my liking (I never liked Praise mayo) but I managed to secure some relatively sauceless pieces. They are beautifully crisp, large prawns generously garnished with perfectly steamed broccoli with a light saute sauce. I was surprised to see that there were so many prawns and that they had taken care with the garnish.

The honey pepper pork ribs arrives, in a past visit I wasn’t as fond of these as I’d hoped, they weren’t terrible by any means, perfectly edible and tasty in fact, just not quite the harmonious mix of honey and black pepper that I’ve had in the past. However tonight, they are my favourite dish.

The vegetarian chow mein ($7.50) arrives and it is a huge plate piled high with fried chow mein noodles and a variety of mixed vegetables. Our resident vegetarian wonders how on earth she can finish it, indeed she can only polish off 1/3 of it and the rest is packed away for her son just like a Mother Hen!

The last dish to arrive is the chicken with celery. All I can think is what a boring name for something so tasty. Underneath sat a bed of deep fried chicken morsels and on top sat a mound of the tenderest sauteed chicken and veges. Chicken done two ways?

Menu 4A was a good mix of steamed and fried dishes. There was plenty leftover, actually about a whole plate’s worth. I neglected to mention that serving sizes are very generous and I think 3 dishes with soup and rice are sufficient or if you have 5 people, you would probably be happy with the set menu for 4. The damage was a princely sum of $44.80 for us four omnivores and $7.50 for the vegetarian chow mein!

And as for the movie? It was great, like a Chinese suburban version of Romulus My Father but more interesting in my opinion. But if anyone could tell me who the family were in the last scene that were getting out of the car with Tony and his sister that would be great. We had discussed this but no-one could hazard a guess as to who they were.

Chong Hing Chinese Restaurant
Open 7 days
325 Anzac Pde
Kingsford NSW 2033
Phone (02) 9663 1761

Dendy Newtown
261-263 King St Newtown
Bookings phone: 02 9550 5699

For some reason I always feel that my fridge is not complete without a tub of sour cream in it. Problem is, I don’t cook things with sour cream very often except for cakes and the occasional lot of nachos and since I am a fridge nazi that doesn’t let anything go off, I find myself scrambling to make a batch of something, usually cake-like, that requires sour cream. I always try and bake with it as I know it produces a moist cake and today I had some bananas that looked like they needed eating.

It turns out these bananas actually didn’t need eating once I opened them up. Has anyone noticed that since the “banana crisis” in Australia subsided, bananas that look black on the outside turn out to be nowhere near super ripe as they look? They must be storing them differently or doing something different.

I found this recipe from the Taste site and it comes highly recommended. It was very nice but I think I’d change the icing to a cream cheese icing. Banana cake and cream cheese work so well together but I am biased as cream cheese icing is my favourite icing. I also added some cinammon which I also think goes so well with bananas. As I had just bought some new cookie cutter to use as fondant cutters for cupcakes, I made these as cupcakes instead of a large cake. I baked the larger cupcakes (in the swirl papers at the very bottom of the page) for 20 minutes and the smaller ones (in the white pleated cups) for 15 minutes.

The tops were made using my new cutters from Davis & Waddell bought in Myer where they have a ring of 12 shapes for $9 as they had a 30% off deal (usually $12.95 RRP). They’re pretty good value as I have seen cutters for a lot more per cutter.

Sour cream banana cake

Ingredients (serves 8 )

• 125g butter, softened
• 3/4 cup caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 1 cup mashed banana (you will need 2 large, very ripe bananas)
• 2 1/4 cups self-raising flour
• 1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 2 teaspoons of cinammon

• Icing

• 180g white chocolate, chopped
• 1/4 cup sour cream

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease base and sides of a 7cm deep, 19cm square cake pan and line with baking paper.
2. Using an electric mixer, beat butter, sugar and vanilla until pale and creamy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each. Using a metal spoon, gently fold in sour cream and bananas. Sift flour and bicarbonate of soda over batter and gently fold through.
3. Spoon batter into cake pan. Smooth surface. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Stand for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.
4. Make icing Place chocolate and sour cream in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Heat, stirring constantly with a metal spoon, for 3 minutes or until smooth. Remove from heat. Stand for 10 minutes or until slightly thickened. Pour icing over cake, allowing it to drizzle down sides. Serve warm.

Notes & tips

Sour cream banana cake (without the icing) can be made a day in advance. Store at room temperature in an airtight container. To warm, place un-iced cake on a microwave-safe plate lined with baking paper. Heat, uncovered, on MEDIUM-LOWDEFROST (30%) for 4 to 6 minutes or until warm to the touch. Ice while warm.

Source

Super Food Ideas - May 2005 , Page 86

Recipe by Dixie Elliott

I was incredibly fearful that these would be hideous and not work as the “pastry” appeared to be a gooey mess that would be completely unworkable. Little did I know, that is what it is like! I followed Nigella Lawson’s recipe from How to be a Domestic Goddess for Processor Danish Pastry (which she assures us, is how Danish pastry is made in Denmark nowadays). She did mention the words “gooey mess” but I thought that after being refrigerated overnight that it would “toughen” up as her next instructions are to roll it. I tried rolling it with a rolling pin where chaos ensued and the sticky gooey dough completely stuck to the rolling pin. Luckily, the high butter content meant that I could just spread and shape it with my hands and I made some Chocolate ones (using Nutella) and some Custard ones as I didn’t have the almonds or ricotta cheese in her recipes. I’ll try those next, and this ended up being one of the biggest baking successes notwithstanding how badly I thought that I’d thought they’d turn out! They are freakishly light and melt in the mouth, much more so than the croissant-y ones that you tend to find a bakeries. My husband thought that I had somehow stumbled upon the Krispy Kreme secret of sweet melt in the mouthness. I’m just glad they didn’t turn out as badly as I thought they would lol

Oh and I ran out of icing sugar after my mega cupcake making incident so I didn’t get to put the lovely white stripes over them-sorry!

Food Processor Danish Pastry from How To Be a Domestic Goddess

(makes 2 lots of pastry with 6-8 pastries in each lot. You can freeze 1 lot or keep it in the fridge for up to 4 days)

• 60ml warm water
• 125ml milk, at room temperature
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 250g white bread flour
• 7g (1 sachet) dried yeast
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 25g caster sugar
• 250g unsalted butter, cold, cut into chunks

Pour the water and milk into a measuring jug and add the egg, beating with a fork to mix. Put aside. Put flour, yeast, salt and sugar in a food processor and give a quick whizz, just to mix. Add the cold slices of butter and process briefly so that the butter is cut up a little, though you still want visible chunks of at least 1cm. Empty the contents of the food processor into a large bowl and quickly add the contents of the jug. Fold the ingredients together, but don’t overdo it; expect to have a gooey mess with some butter lumps pebbled through it (she’s absolutely serious, this is a gooey mess!) Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, put in the fridge and leave overnight or a few days.

To turn it into pastry, take it out of the fridge, let it get to room temperature and roll it out to a 50×50cm square (I couldn’t roll mine at all). Fold the dough square into thirds, like a business letter, turning it afterwards so that the closed fold is on your left, like the spine of a book. Roll out again to a 50cm square, repeating the steps above 3 times. Cut in half, wrap both pieces and store in the fridge for 30 minutes before using, or the freezer to store.

Add fillings like vanilla custard, nutella, chocolate or fruit

From How To Be A Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson