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Monthly Archives: February, 2008

Bourke Street Bakery, Surry Hills

Posted in Eating, Sydney - CBD and inner city

Prior to my visit, I was told three things about Bourke Street Bakery: 1. The queues are long but move quickly 2. The shop is tiny and 3. They make fantastic baked goods worshiped by many.

I can confirm all three. It was 1.50pm on a Saturday afternoon, where we, pre-picnic and perilously peckish fronted up the store. We needed something delicious and tasty to take to Centennial Park to eat before enjoying a tandem bike ride. And like everyone said, the line was long but moved quickly. I was queueing for less than 5 minutes when I reached the crowded front of the counter. With 4 people taking orders behind a fairly small space, its organised chaos.

As I’ve been waiting in the line I’ve already had a chance to decide what I want. I choose my selection of two sausage rolls, two types of rolls and two tarts (the strawberry and vanilla brulee tart is fresh from the oven, the huge tray brought out while I am waiting). Alas the ginger creme brulee with pistachio is not available. Sometimes life is just not fair! Its a cry for the spoilt I know and don’t think I don’t know how ludicrous that sounds but I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t disappointed. There’s also quiches, sandwiches, pies, cookies and breads available.

Lamb, harissa and almond sausage roll $4

The short trip to Centennial Park is fraught with danger with the enticing aroma of the warm sausage rolls emanating from their brown paper houses. We unpack and unfurl our trusty picnic blanket quickly and slide our goodies out. With our wooden knife which we keep handy in the car we cut open the sausage rolls to reveal the filling. I try the Lamb, Harissa and almond sausage roll first ($4). Its flakey and gorgeous, delicious with harissa and the almond providing a lovely blunt crunch and the tiny currants sweetness. Why oh why did I take the smaller half?

Pork and fennel sausage roll $4

I try the slightly smaller and squat Pork and feel sausage roll next ($4), the one that they’re known for. Its good, very strong in fennel and my husband is enamoured of this baby. I confess I need to be in the mood for fennel and I am not today so I am greatly relieved that he swaps me his half of the lamb sausage roll for my half of the pork and fennel. See, they don’t sell you on that great part of marriage do they? They don’t have vows like “Do you promise that if your wife wants your piece of pastry, you will give it to her?”

We try the chorizo and thyme roll ($3). Its a twisted, knotted roll thick punctured with cubes of chorizo and shards of thyme. Its very tasty with the chorizo and thyme flavour strong but feels a touch dry on its own. I keep thinking that it would be wonderful with a soup, giving the soup a boost with its intense flavour.

Panini $1

We pick at the panini but at this stage, we’re feeling a little full. its soft inside with a smooth, slightly crunchy outer. It deserves a proper meal though and not to be preceded by the flavoursome sausage rolls or chorizo. I had it the next day for my lunch, toasted and filled and it was crunchily gorgeous.

Strawberry vanilla brulee tart $4.40

Now time for the tarts, who have miraculously survived the trip perfectly intact. We cut them in half to see what’s inside and the Strawberry and vanilla brulee gives that necessary crack of toffee. Its like I have OCD of toffee. I need to have the crunch. The pastry at Bourke St Bakery is apparently baked dark and a look and bite onto it and you can definitely see the darker, more caramelised, more flakey crust. Its so good you want to stamp your feet in emphasis.

Raspberry and chocolate mousse tart $4.40

The chocolate mousse and raspberry tart is next. The top scattered with what looks like Milo when its cut into half and the tangily sweet baked raspberries in the centre provide a gorgeous juxtaposition to the creamy, chocolately mousse. I confess I licked the mousse with my tongue in one swift motion and ate the tart shell still with some mousse still on it afterwards.

Mmmm yes, foot stampingly good.

Bourke Street Bakery

633 Bourke Street Surry Hills (Corner Devonshire Street)
Tel: +61 (02) 9699-1011.
Open Tue-Fri 7am-6pm, Sat-Sun 8am-5pm
Also located at 130 Broadway, tel: 92813113

18 comments | February 20, 2008 - 4:00 pm | Not Quite Nigella

Paula Deen - Grandmother Paul’s Sour Cream Pound Cake w Sour Cream icing

Posted in Cooking and Recipes, Sweet things

Now given the amount of butter, sour cream and sugar in this recipe, I can’t promise you a long time here on earth but I can promise you a good time. I first saw this on Oprah and having loved Sara Lee’s sultana pound cake ever since I first sunk my fork into the slightly thawed exterior, I felt the need to try and make one for myself (who ever ate the Sara Lee Pound cakes fully thawed? Its much better straight from the freezer!) . Luckily Oprah’s site had a recipe for this so very dense, eggy, buttery cake.

In an attempt to cut down the amount of butter ingested, and because there are only two of us here, I made this a loaf cake and halved the recipe. Just like a Sara Lee cake really although this ones comes with an optional icing which I can only give you a warning with and suggest that you have your cardiologist on speed dial!

However what I’ve done possibly reverses the health benefits of halving the cake size. I’ve opted to use sour cream icing from Nigella Lawson’s How to be a Domestic Goddess. This is one of my favourite icings in the world, lusciously cool, smooth and with the merest hint of sourness, its quite simply ambrosial and gives this what some would call, plain but very moist cake an edge. When I make this next, and I’m sure it will be soon, I think I’ll add some vanilla bean and overnight soaked sultanas for plumpness.

Paula Deen - Grandmother Paul’s Sour Cream Pound Cake

Food Network cook Paula Deen shares her recipe for Grandmother Paul’s Sour Cream Pound Cake—a treat her grandma used to make! Top with cream cheese frosting to make it extra sweet.

CAKE INGREDIENTS

1/2 pound (two sticks or 250grams) butter
3 cups sugar
1 cup sour cream
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda (I accidentally left this out which may explain why it didn’t rise much at all)
6 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
Fluted tube pan

1. Preheat oven to 160C/325F degrees.

2. Cream butter and sugar together; add sour cream. Sift flour and baking soda together. Add to creamed mixture, alternately with eggs, one at a time, beating after each. Add vanilla.

3. Pour into a greased and floured tube pan and bake for 1 hour 20 minutes (55 or so minutes if you’re halving the recipe for a loaf cake).

FROSTING INGREDIENTS (Sour cream icing recipe follows below)

1 stick butter (125grams)
1 brick cream cheese (I can only suppose this means 125grams of cream cheese, not an actual brick sized slab of cream cheese…)
1 box confectioner’s sugar
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Mix all ingredients together. Wait for the pound cake to cool, and then top it with a thick layer of frosting.

http://www.oprah.com/foodhome/food/recipes/200702/food_200702_poundcake.jhtml

Sour Cream icing

This quantity frosts one large cake as in Paula’s recipe. For a loaf cake, halve the quantity.

160g white chocolate
75g unsalted butter
125ml sour cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp golden syrup (I omit this as I love the ever so slight tang of sour cream but if you like it caramel sweet, add this)
300g icing sugar, sieved (plus more if needed)
1/2 tsp hot water

1. To make the icing, melt the chocolate and butter in the microwave, or in a bowl over hot water. Let it cool a little, then stir in the vanilla, sour cream, and syrup if using.

2. Add the sugar and a little hot water blending till smooth (add more sugar or water as needed to get the consistency right). You may or may not need to add the water.

Adapted from Nigella Lawson’s How to be a Domestic Goddess

7 comments | February 19, 2008 - 4:00 pm | Not Quite Nigella

Menya Ramen at Haymarket Chinatown

Posted in Cheap Thrills, Eating, Sydney - CBD and inner city

I can’t seem to get enough of ramen nowadays. I didn’t eat it all that much when I lived in Tokyo but now that I am so many miles away, I think I somehow get the urge to recreate some of the memories from my time there and ramen seems to do the trick. Luckily my husband is also a ramen lover. I had read about Menya ramen and it was a recommendation from a NQN reader KLL.

The Prince Centre is a haven to choose from and not for the terminally undecided. We walk in and are greeted by the traditional “Irrashimase!” which always manages to both startle my husband and make him smile. Having pre researched what I wanted to order, we place our order for Tori Katsu ramen $9.90 (Tonkotsu noodle soup topped with deep fried chicken cutlet, boiled bean sprout, vegetarian fungus and sesame), the Chilly Hot teriyaki Beef ramen $9.90 (Tonkotsu noodle soup topped with teriyaki thinly sliced beef mixed with vegetables, served with boiled bean sprout, sesame and chili) and get my two stamps and am on my way, albeit quite far away, to qualify for the free “Monthly Dish” when I order 20 noodle or rice items (after 10 items you can get a free soft drink).

All of their ramen soup stock is Tonkotsu (based on pork bone) which I adore, its thicker, gelatinous consistency providing much needed comfort and sustenance. Just out of curiosity, we try the Buta Mayo Gohan $3.50 (Chopped roasted pork, mayonnaise, dried seaweed, shallot, sesame served on top of a small bowl of rice). The decor is nicer than most ramen places, its modern black and white with curiously, an entire wall full of what looks like twisted up coat hangers although they’re not quite the safety hazard they look as they are springy when touched-a Picasso style mattress inner spring. Prices range from $6.50 for the “plainest” ramen with BBQ pork slices to $9.90 for ramen with much more substantial toppings like the Katsu which we’ve ordered. There’s also soba, udon and bento boxes.

While waiting, we check out the heavily staffed and busy kitchen. There are enormous vats of the Tonkotsu stock about 1 metre tall being stirred with a huge stick. We don’t have to wait long for our meals, it seems to high amount of cooks means that one need not wait very long to eat. Our Buta Mayo Gohan arrives first, a fairly decent sized bowl of rice topped with finely chopped dried seaweed, shallot and sesame on which tender, flavoursome chopped pork sits artistically splayed with mayonnaise. Its filling and delicious for $3.50 the best value meal you can get. Forget McDonalds or any other fast food, this is the way to dine for $3.50.

The ramen arrives next, the Chilly Hot Teriyaki Beef ramen is mine and I dig in with my spoon (which breaks halfway, not my fault Your Honour! I didn’t heap on too much ramen I promise!). The teriyaki beef slices are wonderfully soft and sweet and this imparts a sweetness into the rich pork stock. The chili is a perfect counter to the sweetness and saltiness of the teriyaki and I eagerly help myself to more than my alloted half of the bowl.

My husband’s Tori Katsu ramen looks good although soon after the pieces are swimming in the ramen, losing the crunch. I fish out two pieces from on top to try and its good although as its chicken, its missing that flavour that you get from Pork Katsu. Not to matter, I squirt on a sqiggly line of hot chilli sauce which gives it a boost and I’m happily enjoying them. I try some of my husband’s soup but after the chili, sweet and salt fest of mine, it appears a litlte bland by comparison. He loves his though as he is finding mine too sweet and I love mine so for once, our bowl swap only lasts a minute. As for the million dollar question, how do the actual noodles stack up against Ryo’s Noodles? Well of course, Ryo’s wins again for the ramen itself but Menya’s Tonkotsu broth is definitely my style.

I’m beat, with the pork mayo rice and my sizable bowl of ramen I can only finish 1/2 of it. My husband valiantly tries to finish it but the hot weather, lack of decent air conditioning and finishing his own dish means that he can’t quite make it either. We leave our communal table and good timing it is as there is a crowd gathered at the window deciding what to order and inside the door. We go for a walk to walk off some of the ramen and come across a man cutting out peoples profiles for $2 a piece just near Emporer’s Garden and doing a rather great job at it too. He has a line snaking down the mall. He’s rather popular too you see.

Menya Ramen

Tel / Fax : +61 (02) 9212-1020
Shop TG8, 8 Quay Street Haymarket NSW 2000
(Entrance from Thomas St., next to Burlington Centre)
Open Mon-Fri Lunch:11:30am - 3:00pm, Dinner:5:00pm - 9:30pm
Sat & Sun Lunch:11:30am - 4:00pm, Dinner:5:00pm - 9:30pm
Menu here: http://www.yakiniku.com.au/images/menu_pdf/menya_menu.pdf

7 comments | February 18, 2008 - 4:00 pm | Not Quite Nigella

Pizza Party!

Posted in Cooking and Recipes, Dinner recipes

Paul’s Bocconcini, tomato and garlic pizza

I need to go to Kitchenaid’s Anonymous. I am addicted to it. Anything that makes me life easier and I mean the stuff that really makes it easier I am a fan of. I used to have to ask my husband to knead pizza dough as I am pathetically weak armed and he would dutifully roll up his sleeves and knead away but I like the freedom of making dough without the help of another human. To do this I use Kitchenaid’s dough hook feature. Its like having a driver’s license as opposed to asking for a lift from someone. An irony as I don’t have my driver’s license yet. I plan on being the 80 year old weaving down the road with an L plate strapped to her back license plate.

Anneli’s Gourmet Vegetarian pizza

So for a Pizza party, I hardly need to do any work. I am just making up the bases for the pizzas and our contribution is a pepperoni BBQ pizza (using the BBQ sauce I had made previously) and a pumpkin and satay pizza. We’ve said to our guests that they can bring any topping they like and we’ll put it on the bases and as our guests are vegetarian, Anneli has chosen to bring gourmet vegetarian toppings: fetta, grilled zucchini, grilled capsicum and cherry tomatoes and A&D bring sun dried tomatoes, marinated artichokes and TVP for a mexican “beef” mince pizza slathered with sour cream and Jalapeños. Paul has brought some Bocconcini, fresh tomato and zucchini and the Assman has brought fruit and juice-the fruit to have as a fondue and the juice, well to drink of course…

Butterscotch and mocha fondue with fresh strawberries, banana and marshmallows

And of course since its our party, there’s no party without dessert and cocktails. I’ve still got some Butterscotch and Chocolate sauce from the Ice Cream Cake so we’re having a Butterscotch and Chocolate fondue with strawberries, banana and marshmallows and to drink, a cocktail I’ve called Celestial Navigation (Christmas pudding vodka and lemonade).

Pizza toppings

You’ll find a great Pizza recipe here which will make 2 large pizzas. Double the recipe if you are having a pizza party and roll the dough ready for your guests to top their pizzas. We placed them on a large sheet of baking paper to make them easier to slide onto the oven trays. And speaking of oven trays, the way to produce the nicest crispiest crust is with a pizza stone but if you don’t have one, place your oven tray in the oven while it is pre-heating and just before you’re ready to cook it, slide your pizza onto the very hot oven tray. I find transportation via a large sheet of baking paper easiest to do that where I just lift the whole sheet of baking paper onto the hot tray and slide it in the oven.

Also have plenty of chopped fresh garlic (2 cloves of garlic per pizza) and onion (1/2 onion per pizza), tomato pizza sauce and grated cheese at the ready. Spread the base with pizza sauce and scatter the garlic and onion slices over. All that you have to do now is assemble whatever you’d like for your toppings! After the toppings we scattered cheese on top and baked the pizzas in a 200C oven for 15-20 minutes.

A&D’s Artichoke, Bocconcini and sun dried tomato pizza

Pepperoni Pizza

150grams pepperoni
Use BBQ sauce instead of tomato sauce

1. Top pizza with BBQ sauce garlic, onion and pepperoni and cheese

2. Bake in 220c oven for 15-20 minutes

Pepperoni pizza

Mexican “Beef” pizza (Vegetarian)

For Mexican “beef”

Oil for frying
1/2 spanish onion diced
2 cloves garlic chopped
1 1/2 cups Water
2 cups of dried TVP
2 teaspoons of Vegetable stock powder
1x Sachet taco seasoning
1/2 cup Tomato paste

For rest of the pizza

Sweet chili sauce to drizzle
Guacamole (optional)
Sour cream
2 x sliced Jalapeño chilis

1. In a small saucepan fry diced onion in oil until soft, then add TVP and water and let TVP rehydrate. Add stock powder and taco seasoning to taste (you may not need the whole packet) and ensure that water is absorbed and TVP is cooked (not too hard, it should be of a mince like texture, if it is still hard keep adding water gradually until correct texture is reached). I’ve found that it takes between 5-10 minutes to fully hydrate depending on the TVP. Set aside

2. Top pizza with tomato pizza sauce garlic, onion, Mexican beef and Jalapeño chilis (our store was out!)

3. Bake for 20 mins and when done remove from oven and top with sour cream and avocado and drizzle with sweet chili sauce.

Mexican “beef” pizza

Pumpkin satay pizza

1 cup roasted pumpkin chunks (cooked not raw)
1/4 cup satay sauce

1. Top pizza with tomato sauce garlic, onion, pumpkin and cheese.

2. Bake in 220c oven for 20 mins and when done drizzle satay sauce over.

Pumpkin satay pizza

Anneli’s Gourmet vegetarian pizza

Grilled zucchini
Grilled capsicum
Cherry tomatoes, halved
Feta cheese crumbled
Fresh basil, oregano and parsley

1. Top pizza with tomato sauce garlic, onion and above toppings.

2. Bake in 210c oven for 15-20 mins

Anneli’s pizza pre oven

A&D’s Gourmet vegetarian pizza #2

Marinated artichokes
Sun dried tomatoes
Bocconcini cheese, halved
Fresh basil and oregano

1. Top pizza with tomato sauce garlic, onion, cheese and above toppings.

2. Bake in 220c oven for 20 mins

A&D’s pizza pre oven

Paul’s Bocconcini, tomato and garlic vegetarian pizza #3

Bocconcini cheese, halved
Fresh tomato
Fresh basil and oregano
Extra garlic

1. Top pizza with tomato sauce garlic, onion, cheese and above toppings.

2. Bake in 220c oven for 20 mins.

Paul’s Bocconcini, tomato and garlic pizza

Celestial Navigation cocktail

1 part Christmas pudding vodka
4 parts Lemonade, cold as ice

1. Pour ice cold lemonade into glasses, add Christmas pudding vodka

2. Relax, you’ll feel as though you’ve reached heaven

Chocolate and butterscotch Fondue with strawberries, banana and marshmallows

Chocolate and Butterscotch sauce recipes here (scroll down to IceCream Cake recipe)
Strawberries washed
Bananas sliced diagonally
Marshmallows
Forks or skewers

1. You don’t really need a fondue pot for these to keep them warm. Just heat sauces til liquid and pour into cups and let everyone help themselves. It helps it you have plates to catch the drips!

10 comments | February 17, 2008 - 4:00 pm | Not Quite Nigella

Chocolateria San Churro at Glebe, for Valentines Day

Posted in Eating, Sydney - CBD and inner city, Sydney - West

After our Hooters exploit, Queen Viv, Miss America and my husband and I needed to go somewhere a little more on the beaten track to debrief on our experience out in the Wild West. We needed somewhere quieter that did not involve fried chicken. Walking past San Churro a week or so ago, I was immediately drawn to the gorgeous shiny black facade and windows-if I had a shop it would look like this.

I spied their Valentines Day special in their window: For $25 you get your choice of any two drinks (non alcoholic), a tapas plate and 4 boxed truffles. Considering the tapas plate is $15.90 and drinks are around the $4-$5 mark, its not bad value, you’re basically getting the boxed truffles for free and there’s probably more than we need for the four of us so tonight we order this with a traditional spanish hot chocolate and a Mango shake. We could also choose the type of chocolate for dipping (I chose milk from a choice of milk, dark or white) and the truffles (Pasion and Dulce de Leche Caramel).

Its understandably busy tonight as its Valentines Day and where else should you go but a Chocolateria? Still, as promised, the Churros are cooked to order, as all deep fried food needs to be. It seems not only is Valentines day the day for chocolate, but for us this year, its the day for deep fried.

Tapas plate, part of Valentines Day package, usually $15.90

Our long rectangular tapas plate arrives within 5 minutes of ordering, with three long twisted churros randomly dusted with icing sugar, ice cream, chocolate sauce, dense chocolate brownie, chocolate dipped pretzels, truffles, marshmallows and box of truffles. Breaking off the crunchy, corrugated churro, it reminds me of chinese fried bread but with less greasy residue on the fingers. I sink my teeth in with a satisfying crunch. Its spongey but not wet spongey and its delicious, albeit very, very light in the cinammon, perfect when lightly dipped in the chocolate and then in the ice cream. Despite how full we are, we make fast work of the churros.

The chocolate pretzels are crisply salty and chocolately which only enhances the taste. I’m not certain what flavour the ice cream is but its perhaps a coffee flavoured one. Its good if not particularly memorable amongst all of these goodies. The brownies are gloriously moist and rich, a very decadent small wedge of chocolate.

We try the truffles and start with the Pasion with yellow stripes on top. Its made of milk chocolate and passionfruit and is heaven, with the pure, tangy passionfruit flavour soaring above the chocolate. I want to buy a box of them and its has many heads at our table nodding. The Dulce de Leche is next, its very, very sweet as its caramel and it reminds me of a Jersey caramel. Also good but we much preferred the Pasion. And yes we did quarter them, to do otherwise would be unfair!

The spanish hot chocolate arrives, in the signature San Churro curved cup. Its dark like mud and dipping a spoon into the almost solid top layer, it feels like thick melted chocolate. A sip into it and I can’t say that the taste was my favourite. It tasted more like cocoa powder than the kind of hot chocolate I enjoy. If that sounds ridiculous, I understand as I know a lot of Hot Chocolates are made with cocoa. However I like hot chocolate Max Brenner style just with melted chocolate in milk. This tastes like its made more from cocoa powder which still retains its powdery texture. My husband though, enthusiastically digs in to it and finishes it in no time.

The mango shake is a little tardy to the table but its an impressive sight. A very tall, chilled glass topped with whipped cream, it tastes like REAL fresh mango with a white chocolate milkshake. Its very creamy, perhaps a bit too creamy given the amount of rich food we’ve consumed over the past 4 hours and its a meal in itself.

We take the boxed truffles home, as no-one can fit in another morsel of food. Opening them up, they’re adorable chocolate truffles with red hearts on top. They’re a little too sweet with an almost gritty sugary taste inside, if we have a magic tablecloth that could transform these, they’d certainly be the Pasion truffle.