Thanks to all of those of you that entered the Herbies Spice Kit competition. We asked a question:
Q: “What is the difference between a herb and a spice?”
To which the correct answer is:
A: A herb is the leaf and a spice is any other part (buds, bark, roots, berries, seeds).
Our lucky winners are:
Ursula S. of South Yarra, Victoria who wins the Aphrodisiac Spice Kit (below)
and
Dianne M. of Collaroy, NSW who wins the Comfort Foods Spice Kit (below)
Congratulations to our winners and happy cooking!
Love,
NQN
xxx
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October 11th, 2008
by Not Quite Nigella
I won’t often get up before 9am on a weekend except in exceptional circumstances. My friend M is one of them. She has two spirited sons that won’t wait for a brunch and so I found myself setting the alarm for the ungodly hour of 7.30am one Saturday morning. I had all of the best intentions, to walk to Awaba Cafe. However I was confronted by two things: a bitterly cold 11 degree weather and what I refer to without any affection, the “Hill of Death”: i.e. Awaba Street.
If you’ve ever tried walking all the way up Awaba Street from Balmoral Beach you’ll know what I mean. And if you haven’t and have simply driven up and down it, I have no doubt that you’re having a chuckle at me because it doesn’t seem very steep-but don’t laugh until you’ve walked it. They even have an annual run called “The Balmoral Burn” which is simply running up Awaba Street. I’ve walked it myself, once and once only and that was enough for me. I knew it would be hard so I ditched the heels and wore ballet flats and even then I found myself going slowly and rather gingerly down the hill. I passed puffing, red faced and sweaty people all looking like they’d trade in their first born for a taxi ride up the hill. When I was nearing the bottom, there was a man, red and sweaty shirt off pushing a baby stroller up a hill. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that it got worse.
I reach my destination and M and her kids are there waiting already. Awaba Cafe is a sleek all white building with open windows to make the most of the spectacular beach view. It hasn’t aged a bit since I last came here years ago. It’s about three quarters full, mostly full of families and young couples. The kids are of the well behaved variety and there’s no tantrums to be had here today.
Cappucino $3.30
Although the staff are busy and bustling, the coffees take a while to arrive (mine isn’t quite hot enough) and the boys are getting very hungry. Thankfully the food arrives after about 25 minutes.
Scrambled eggs with smoked salmon, chives & toast $16.50
My eggs are a generous serve, although mysteriously cold but given how long it took to arrive I am reluctant to send it back. I wonder how long they had been sitting on the countertop. The salmon rose is also generous but with a few too many grey bits tucked in under the bottom.
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October 11th, 2008
by Not Quite Nigella
I adore Saffron, there’s something just so luxurious and heady about using this spice, the delicate little scarlet tendrils emitting a lovely honeyed distinct flavour. As soon as I saw this recipe in Dan Lepard’s “The Handmade Loaf”, a gorgeous book that will inspire any wannabe baker, I knew I had to make it. Or at least my version of it. He is a baker so he gives complex instructions on how to do it right from the very beginning but some are time consuming. So I’ve kept the essence of the loaf while tinkering with the method.
His recipe specifies 100g of currants, I used sultanas but found that 100g was way too much for the size of the loaf and that after mixing and rising, most of the sultanas were on the outside and therefore burned in the oven. Some were easy to pick off and perhaps it’s the difference in method. Nevertheless I was annoyed, mostly at myself, when I took it out of the oven to see all of the sultanas burnt on the top and the loaf resembling a dark bronze rather than a light gold pictured.
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October 10th, 2008
by Not Quite Nigella
The Burlington, Matthew Kemp and Lela Radojkovic’s One Hatted North side restaurant is one that we are grateful for. Growing up in the East I took if for granted that there were lots of good restaurants around but when I moved North I found it was a little harder to find these gems. Prices are more reasonable here than the already reasonable-for-the-standard-of-food at Restaurant Balzac and this Saturday night my husband are scheduled for a romantic dinner, just the two of us, and of course the omnipresent camera.
Looks rather spooky upstairs no?
From the outside, it doesn’t look like anything much, quite plain with unadorned windows but the interior is warm, reminiscent of Balzac with a little less fancy in the front room, with a middle room and large back room for a large private table with a huge chandelier atop. My husband swears that it used to be one of those Haunted or Host a Murder party venues and indeed, looking at the top floor from the outside it looks a bit spooky. We’re given our menus but I already know what I want having scoured the website already on several separate occasions (yes I am obsessed). I order two entree sizes meals while my husband orders an entree and a main. We’ve asked about the Eton Mess, his famed dessert but it’s not on the menu tonight. Like Balzac, the service is friendly and informal except for our main waitress who lacks the warmth of the rest of the staff and is instead cooly polite.
The bread arrives, 2 slices of a rye sourdough loaf with butter, at a little too soft a temperature. The bread is very good however with a good crust on the outside.
Terrine of smoked ham hock and pork cheek, ear beignets and remoulade $12 (small size)
We’re not waiting long before our entrees arrive, mine is the Terrine of smoked ham hock and pork cheek, ear beignets and remoulade. I’ve ordered the entree size which is 1 slice of the terrine. On the website there are 4 slices pictured so I expected 2 slices with 4 slices being the main size. It’s wonderfully good, reportedly taking two days to make, the brawn consisting of soft meat melding together with the carrots, celery and herbs and bound together and suspended in gelatine.
The thin crunchy toast slivers are indeed very crunchy and the little pig’s ear beignets are crispily good. And remoulade is one of my favourite accompaniments and it goes oh so perfectly with the rest of this dish.
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October 9th, 2008
by Not Quite Nigella
I don’t know if sometimes I should be committed to an institution or not. I admit that there’s a part of me that looks at something difficult and rubs my hands with glee thinking “Hmm I’d like to try that”. And that’s the part of me that probably should be institutionalised. I’m studying for my Ps and my husband keeps telling me that it’s not that hard, that millions of people already have theirs and that that should prove that it is indeed something easily within reach to an able bodied person. However a perverse part of me knows that if only 5 people in the world had a Driver’s License, then I’d be more interested in joining that club than one where millions of people belong. It’s utter foolishness for the most part as if I try, I probably wouldn’t get in but it’s the want in me that desires it.
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October 8th, 2008
by Not Quite Nigella
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