The cooking, eating and travel blog of a hungry blogger from Sydney, Australia featuring original recipes, interviews and articles on all things food @ Not Quite Nigella

Monthly Archives: September, 2009

Japaz, Neutral Bay

Posted in Eating,Japanese,Restaurants by cuisine,Spanish,Sydney - North

My stomach was growling and I was sure everyone could hear me. I looked around but everyone else pretended to be doing other things. I had specifically saved my stomach for tonight. No matter how much I was tempted, I had to keep focused and my eye on the prize. The prize being a dinner as a guest of Japaz along with some of my fellow bloggers thanks to the fantastic Yas from Hungry Digital Elf.

Pacific Oysters with Wakame dressing

I dive right into the dishes – there’s no time to waste with my stomach urging me to go for gold. I love my oysters and these plump, creamy Pacifics are perfectly paired with a wakame dressing.

Razor Clams with preserved Lemon Dressing

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23 comments | September 5th, 2009 - 6:00 am | Not Quite Nigella

Masterchef Mania: Interview with Justine Schofield of Masterchef and more…

Posted in Celebrity Chefs

justine LG kitchen 4

Justine Schofield from Masterchef

After we thought that the Masterchef mania had died down, the new participants were announced last night for the new season of Celebrity Masterchef. But we all know the real stars were the original Masterchef contestants so when I was invited to the shiny LG kitchen at Customs House Forecourt to interview Justine Schofield I was excited to learn more about this Jimmy Choo shoe lover turned Masterchef. And read on for even more Masterchef after the interview!

Before the interview, Justine demonstrated two dishes, one with a breakfast theme as it was 10am which was a baked tomato stuffed with speck and vegetables and seared scallops with a remoulade. Justine’s tips were have a great oven (hehe the new LG Multifunction oven hint hint) and Ready, Steady Cook’s Alistair McLeod hosted with his characteristic witty banter and many from the audience were lucky enough to try her dishes. I tried the stuffed tomatoes which were fantastic (since when is anything with speck bad?). After that I sat down with Justine to talk French, food and the other Masterchef contestants…

justine LG kitchen 2

B.M. (Before Masterchef)

What can you tell me about pre Masterchef Justine?

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49 comments | September 4th, 2009 - 6:00 am | Not Quite Nigella

BBQ King, Chinatown

Posted in Chinese,Eating,Restaurants by cuisine,Sydney - CBD and inner city

“Please don’t give me a mullet, please please!” I pray silently to myself one afternoon sitting at the hairdressers. The reason apart from justifyingly fearing that particular haircut? I was speaking on a panel of the We Blog The World Event held by Klick Communications where my lovely friend The Second Wife works. I would be speaking alongside Ben Groundwater “The Backpacker” blogger from the Sydney Morning Herald and Tim Burrowes from Thumbrella. And the last thing I wanted was to have the haircut from hell.

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Renee Creer, Trina (aka Foraging Otaku), me and Ben

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Some pics from We Blog the World taken by Klick Communications. I didn’t take any photos as I was too busy being nervous…

At 6.20pm at the Sir Stamford we answered some questions from our fantastic moderator Kim who runs Klick and then fielded questions from the audience. And by 8pm we were done and dusted and retired to the bar. By 10:30pm we realised we were all starving and so a collective gaggle of us jumped into 3 taxis and high tailed it to BBQ King – stat! Yes we were starving and it suddenly hit us that we had to have food and have it now. Dining with me were Trina, The Second Wife, Naomi, Tess, Ben, Alice and Glen.

A food lovers version of an art gallery?

We’re shown to a large table on the ground floor set among a gallery of photos all celebrating BBQ meat and meaty goodness. There are some curious BBQ King Fashion photos with some models with China doll haircuts posing in the restaurant. But these are a mere distraction for us as we peruse the menu determined to try the best they have to offer. I have strange memories of BBQ king from many years ago when we were asked to share a large, round table with strangers and a Peking Duck that was expensive but not very exciting so I was a bit apprehensive but hunger got the better of me. And keen photographers take note, BBQ King has deceptively difficult lighting. It’s incredibly yellow and hard to photograph in so please excuse the photos.

Yes that’s a ceiling full of Ducks!

Complimentary watercreess and pork soup

To whet our appetites, they give us a big bowl of watercress and pork broth. It seems to be self service here and I have to apologise to my fellow diners for doing such a terrible job of ladling this up. It’s delicious and warming and certainly whets the appetite.

Spring rolls $12 ($6 for 4)

The Spring Rolls, an item I am usually hugely disappointed in are really tasty here with a great mix of flavours and they’re not too dry with a good amount of filling in them.

Braised Chicken Fillets in Scechuan sauce $19.80

This resembles sweet and sour chicken with the pieces of capsicum. It’s spicy and sweet but not particularly exciting.

Steamed Chinese broccoli with Oyster sauce $12.80

These are nicely steamed with a nice texture to them and simply flavoured with Oyster sauce.

“Suckling Pig” and Roast Duck $42.80

37 comments | September 3rd, 2009 - 6:00 am | Not Quite Nigella

Mochi Cakes With Coconut Jam

Posted in Cooking and Recipes,Easy peasy,Other Sweet Things

Everyone has a dish that they bring a lot to a gathering or party. My mum’s is these quick Mochi cakes, a sweet, sticky and chewy cake that many people eat in Japan and Asia. In Japan, they eat these on New Year’s Eve and the stickiness and chewiness indicates a long life. Ironically many elderly choke on these every year and a death count of unfortunate mochi chokers is published in the papers a few days after. If I were an elderly person with false teeth I’d want to ensure a long life ahead and avoid these should any well meaning relatives offer them to me.

I’ve eaten many, many mochi over the years as I love the chewiness and stretchiness of them and the little surprise inside of filling. My favourite fillings are sweetned lotus paste or red bean but when I was grocery shopping, I picked up one of my favourite spreads ever: Coconut Kaya Jam. If you’ve never tried Coconut Kaya Jam I urge you to. It’s glorious and even for people that don’t love coconut it’s not overwhelmingly coconutty. It’s like a rich curd or butter and yes I have eaten it by the spoonful it’s that good.

The easiest way to remember this recipe is with the 1, 2, 3 rule. 1 cup of sugar, 2 cups of water and 3 cups of glutinous rice flour is all that it takes to make them plus whatever centre you want. Filling them is the hardest part but even then it’s not impossible. Practice really does make perfect and it doesn’t really matter all that much if it doesn’t seal perfectly as long as it mostly holds together-just put the seal at the bottom and it won’t show. Just remember that water prevents it from sticking but you need a certain amount of stickiness to seal them then it becomes easier. Coconut Kaya Jam is also harder to work with than a more solid filling like sweetened lotus paste but the way around this is to freeze the kaya until it becomes firmer – it won’t freeze hard but it will freeze to a more solid consistency which is infinitely easier to work with.

Are they worth the effort? Absolutely so and I adore the sweet burst of coconut curd in the centre and the mouth stretching, jaw workout chewiness of the mochi.

So tell me Dear Reader, what dish do you always bring to a party? A favourite dip? A much requested dessert? Or do you bring a bottle of Champagne or wine and be done with it?

cheese cherry strudel wallpaper

And yes that’s right, we’ve made it to another Hump Day! Today is Wallpaper Wednesday which means a new wallpaper: a Cheese, Cherry & Coconut Strudel.

77 comments | September 2nd, 2009 - 6:00 am | Not Quite Nigella

Lynwood Cafe, Collector

Posted in Aust wide Eating & Travel,Canberra and Surrounds

“Collector is not famous for Collectors” or so the advertisement goes. What it is famous for however is Lynwood cafe. On our drive to Canberra, Lynwood Cafe was suggested to us by my friend Teena as not only was it famous for its home made preserves and jams but it was a must visit as we were cold and hungry as our Plan A for lunch didn’t quite work out as planned…

We know it’s coming up in the drive as there is a sudden a cluster of cars amongst the landscape and a lot of activity. The building is a converted 1830′s bakery where outside sits a pile of firewood and a “ride blackboard ” where people list where they’re going and when so people can hitch a ride along. Inside there are rough cast white walls, country style green and white checked tablecloths and settings which include well worn bone handled knives. Despite the undoubted country charm of it, there’s a certain style that would appeal to the well to do Sydney sider and that’s not lost on the clientele – everyone looks as if they’d be at home in a Double Bay Cafe although they’re friendly and chatty (and the BMWs and Audi’s in the carpark are a dead giveaway).