Monthly Archives: December 2011

Happy New Year!

As 2012 dawns I’m feeling optimistic. Onwards and upwards will be my mantra this year.

However, I am a realist: I understand that we don’t get the highs without the lows. Moreover, the highs and lows are more frequent if you’re someone like me who thrives on challenges and new adventures.

So at the dawn of 2012, when opportunities and possibilities abound, I’m reminded of the poem, The Road Not Taken, by American poet Robert Frost:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

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After paying homage to the Vietnamese pork roll in my last post about Mini Vietnamese Pork Buns, it’s now time to honour the simple and delicious Vietnamese Chicken Salad (Goi Ga).

Vietnamese salads always taste so amazing, and they’re so healthy and low-fat, too. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if you burn more calories eating this dish than are actually in the dish. This is even more so if you cut the cabbage too big like I did as your jaw will get a real good work out. (Hot tip: grate the cabbage with a vegetable peeler).

This Vietnamese Chicken Salad would serve two as a light lunch or four as a side dish. If I was making this for dinner I would add steamed rice and one extra dish for two people (add one extra dish per additional guest). Ideally, I’d sweet-talk Mr Hungry Australian into cooking Vietnamese Beef in Betel Leaves (Bo Nuong La Lot) and Vietnamese Spring Rolls (Cha Gio), two dishes he learned to cook with with Meera Freeman (author of The Flavours of Vietnam) many moons ago in Melbourne.

This post, my last post for 2011, has been written for the final Delicious Vietnam, a monthly event celebrating Vietnamese food created by A Food Lover’s Journey and Ravenous Couple. Thanks Anh – I’m glad I made the last one!

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I adore Vietnamese food.

The combination of Asian ingredients and cooking styles with French influences and fresh herbs makes it one of my all-time favourite cuisines. Some of my ultimate Vietnamese dishes are phở (a simple but stunning beef noodle soup dish), sugar cane prawns (minced prawn wrapped around sugar cane and grilled, served as make your own cold rolls), salad (resplendent with fresh mint and dressed with fish sauce, lime, sugar and chilli), and the pork roll. (Read about my experience with what may be Adelaide’s best pork roll here.)

When my adorable niece turned one 18 months ago, my brother and sister in law celebrated with a big party. As part of a stunning buffet spread, they served make your own Vietnamese pork rolls and they were hugely popular.

So when we recently hosted a pre-Christmas gathering I decided to serve Vietnamese pork rolls. However, I opted for a mini version, as the full-size roll is usually enough for a meal.

Instead of the usual crusty rolls, I decided to use soft buns from the Asian grocer. Asian bread rolls are quite unlike Western bread rolls, being soft and slightly sweet and much less messy to eat.

These Mini Vietnamese Pork Rolls are super easy to prepare, but should be made up just before guests arrive (or on the spot) for best results. At our get-together, Mr Hungry Australian, my brother and my mother took turns making them up on the spot, to the delight of happy guests.

I advise you to make more than you think you’ll need, because people are very likely to come back for seconds. And maybe thirds.

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I’ve been meaning to make chocolate bark ever since I saw Chocome’s deluxe version at the Adelaide Good Food & Wine Show back in October.

Then Amy from Amy’s Town made some lovely ‘Chose Your Own Adventure’ chocolate bark for our recent Festive Favourites Blog Hop. Her version looked so lovely and her recipe seemed so straightforward that I was out of excuses.

What is chocolate bark? Well, it’s a slab of chocolate to which an assortment of toppings has been added. You can make chocolate bark with toppings like dried fruit, nuts, seeds, gold or silver leaf, crushed freeze dried raspberries or strawberries, and candy sprinkles.

Chocolate bark is easy to make, and even easier to eat. It’s perfect to take to a friend’s house to share, as I did last night, or to give as a gift, as I did on Christmas Day to multiple friends and family.

I’ve specified a combination of dried fruit and salted nuts and seeds below – the crunchy seeds and nuts add an interesting textural feature while their saltiness works marvellously with the sweet chocolate and dried fruit.

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My brother likes buying things.

Like most males, he doesn’t buy a lot of things but when he does shop, he buys big-ticket items. A windsurfer. A vintage electric keyboard or guitar. A top-of-the-range bicycle. A wood-fire pizza oven.

When he and his then flatmates went in for a $1200 wood-fire pizza oven six years ago my parents and I shook our heads. How often would they use it? It was one of those indulgent purchases you make when you are on a good salary and unburdened with the expense of kids or a mortgage.

But then he invited us over for a pizza party and we saw the light.

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We always have a big lunch on Christmas Day with around two dozen family and friends. It’s always a joyful day, with incredible food (everybody brings a dish), plenty of merry-making and lots of kids running around.

This year I’m down for a salad and a dessert. I already know that other guests are bringing a pavlova and a hazelnut cake so have decided to do something a bit different.

So my dessert for the Festive Favourites Blog Hop – Honey Almond Fruits – has three parts: Toffee Almonds, Honey Ice Cream and Fruit Salad.

I’ve chosen this combination for a number of reasons:

• Toffee Almonds is my mother’s recipe – she’s made them every year since I can remember and I love the smell of toffee cooking.
• Golden North Honey Ice Cream was my favourite ice cream growing up and it always reminds me of long, hot Australian summers. My kids love ice cream, so they will really enjoy this part of the dessert.
• Fruit is always lovely at the end of a big meal, being both light and refreshening.
• The Toffee Almonds and Ice Cream can be made the day before and the biscuits are bought. The fruit can be washed in the morning and just cut up on the spot, making this a very easy, low-stress dessert.

I love watching people cook.

People always do things differently to me, in ways I had never considered. So I always learn about something new – a new ingredient, a new technique, a new cooking style – and it sends me straight back to my kitchen feeling inspired and energised.

So I was delighted to take part in the Thai Seafood Banquet class at Sticky Rice Cooking School a couple of weekends ago.

Sticky Rice Cooking School is run by Claire Fuller, who decided there was a place for a cooking school that offered more than a celebrity chef demonstration without the formality of a professional cooking course. Her school offers people a chance to really get their hands dirty, to learn about the culture as well as the food, to leave knowing where to buy the ingredients used (and which brands are recommended) and exactly how to cook the featured dishes at home.

Chefs at the school include David Thompson (ex Darley Street Thai, author), Katrina Ryan (ex Rockpool), Kurma Dasa (Australia’s vegetarian guru, author), Kelly Lord (Spirit House), Genevieve Harris (ex Nediz), Ali Seedsman (ex Magill Estate and Universal Wine Bar), Jordon Theodoros (Aquacaf), Brian Smith and Allie Reynolds.

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Eating healthier is something I’m always keen on. I don’t mean eating less fat because I don’t believe in diets – dieting is like having no sex or no money. When I’m on a diet the only thing I think about all day long is food and what I can’t eat, which is an awful and unhappy state to be in.

Instead of dieting, I aim to eat healthier. This means less processed food, preservatives, additives, white flour and white sugar, and greater variety and exploration of unfamiliar foods.

It’s not about being a food cop and locking away all the lollies and sweet biscuits my kids love. Rather, it’s about eating a wider variety of healthier foods, and minimising the excursions into the lolly jar.

It’s also about eating less meat both for health reasons and minimising our environmental footprint. Mr Hungry Australian has been on a health kick lately, exercising every day, shedding nine kilograms and developing muscles in places I didn’t know you could even have muscles. He’s been nagging me for a while about eating less meat, and while I agreed in principle, putting it into practise has proved trickier.

So I was delighted to be sent a copy of Heidi Swanson’s Super Natural Every Day to review by Hardie Grant.

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There is an easy way and a hard way to do anything.

According to my mother, I always pick the hard way. It’s just one of my charming personality traits.

The other day I spent what felt like six hours making a batch of 100 cake balls for a pre-Christmas get-together. I might be exaggerating about how long it took but it seemed an awfully long time. I felt like one of those explorers who journey to the South Pole with hope and determination burning in their hearts, committed to reaching their goal no matter what the personal cost.

Now I didn’t lose any fingers or toes in the making of these cake balls but relations did become increasingly tense between Mr Hungry Australian and I.

Every now and then he would stroll through the kitchen and say, “you’re STILL making those cake balls?

“Go away!” I’d shriek.

Talking over the cake ball debacle the next day with my school friend Megan, she couldn’t understand why it took me so long.

“But I made some the other day and they only took me half an hour,” she said, blankly.

“Half an hour?” I spluttered. “But how?”

“I bought a pre-made cake, mixed it with a tub of pre-made icing, dipped the balls in chocolate and that was it,” she said serenely, little knowing how close she was to physical danger.

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I’m a big fan of acclaimed Australian/Sri-Lankan cookbook author, Charmaine Solomon.

The woman can really cook. And she can write, too, having trained as a journalist many moons ago. To date, she’s published over 30 books.

I’ve cooked a number of dishes from Charmaine’s books over the years and her recipes are always authentic, unfussy and delicious. People lucky enough to be fed the results inevitably ooh and ahh.

It’s not surprising really, because very single recipe I’ve ever tried works. I haven’t found a dud yet and I certainly can’t say that about every cookbook I own.

I was introduced to Charmaine’s cookbooks when I was a teenage by my mum, who had her 1980 Curry Cookbook. It was one of the first cookbooks I ever read for pure pleasure, especially enjoying the comments on individual recipes by Charmaine and Rueben, her husband and co-author.

Much later, I put Charmaine’s The Complete Asian Cookbook on my wedding registry and was delighted to receive it as a wedding present from my ex colleagues at Chunky Move. It was one of those cookbooks I instinctively felt I would refer to time and time again.

I was not wrong. The Complete Asian Cookbook is one of the important Australian cookbooks, right up there with Stephanie Alexander’s The Cook’s Companion, and Margaret Fulton’s eponymous cookbook which I also often refer to.

It’s not just important from an Australian cookery point of view either – The Complete Asian Cookbook has sold well over one million copies since its first release in 1976 and is the most authoritative Asian cookbook available today.

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We have this amazing smallgoods producer in South Australia called Standom, who make all kinds of smoked and preserved meat products.

How good are they? Well, put it this way: my Bavarian-born, Hamburg-dwelling mother in law thought Standom’s products were better than what she could find in Germany.

So the other day when Mr Hungry Australian came home from Standom with some delicious bauernschinken (similar to prosciutto, but smoked and mildly seasoned) I decided it would be perfect for a pre-dinner appetizer.

This really couldn’t be simpler. You simply steam the asparagus for  a few minutes (I like them slightly underdone so they remain firm), then let them cool, wrap them in Bauernschinken, grate over Parmesan and black pepper, and spritz with lemon.

And that’s it.

How tasty is this dish? Well, let’s just say that I shot these photographs in our lounge room and then went off to do something in the kitchen for a few minutes. When I returned, our five year old had eaten half the plate.

“They’re just so yummy, mummy,” she rhapsodised.

Her grandmother would be proud.

INGREDIENTS

1 bunch asparagus, trimmed of woody ends (bend gently until the stalk snaps and then tidy up with a knife)
Appropriate number of slices of bauernschinken or prosciutto
Fresh Parmesan
Black pepper
1/4 fresh lemon

METHOD

Steam asparagus for approximately 4-6 minutes until just cooked. Let cool.

Wrap in bauernschinken and place on a serving plate.

Grate over Parmesan and black pepper and spritz with lemon.

Do not leave anywhere near small children.

‘Tis the season to be jolly, tra la la la la, la la la la.

Regular readers will know that we had a rather spectacular Great Australian Pavlova Blog Hop last month, featuring 36 amazing pavlovas made by food bloggers from all over the world. Click here to see my deconstructed pavlova entry and all the other amazing pavlovas.

Well, I’m thrilled to let you know that Sweet Adventures (aka myself, Delicieux, Dining With a Stud, The Capers of the Kitchen Crusader and 84th & 3rd ) have decided to run a monthly blog hop event focusing on different themed desserts each month.

This month, being the festive season, we have decided to throw the doors open to any kind of festive dessert.

That’s right – you can make a gingerbread house, Christmas tree cookies, yuletide log, festive Bombe Alaska, steamed pudding, Christmas trifle, egg nog or whatever you like really. The only criteria is that it has to be some kind of festive, celebratory dessert.

So what are you waiting for? Crack out the recipe books and your favourite food sites and start thinking about what to bake.

And we look forward to seeing your amazing creation, along with all the others, on Monday December 19th – Australian Eastern Standard Time [AEST]. 

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I’m secretly day-dreaming about moving my family to the Barossa Valley, Australia’s most famous wine region.

If we were living in the Barossa Valley we would enjoy single lane traffic, tree-lined streets, fresh air, and peace and quiet. There’d be room to move. Room to breathe. We could have chooks. A huge vegetable patch. We could live off the fat of our land.

And we’d have award winning wineries, restaurants and B&Bs as our neighbours. We could do the food and wine trail on foot, okay, maybe bikes.

I think we’d be happy there.

One couple I could ask for advice on the move would be Andrew and Marcia Frost, who run Collingrove Homestead in Angaston, along with Marcia’s brother, Zac Riemersma, who is Chef there.

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Designed to showcase the skill of the Chef and the kitchen, the degustation menu is as much about showmanship and spectacle as it is about the creativity of the Chef and the quality of the food. It’s a chance for the Chef to take a few risks, knowing his diners want to be inspired and will (usually) go happily out onto the edge with him; part of the fun of a degustation is eating food you wouldn’t normally eat, and of being challenged in your perception of how certain dishes should look, feel and taste.

Each course of a degustation menu is designed to fit with harmony into an overall experience centred around a particular theme, whether it be produce, region, cuisine or wine. At it’s simplest, a degustation is a chance, for a brief moment in our busy lives, to really focus on the food and wine.

I thought about this last Thursday night when I attended Bistro Dom’s Wild Degustation dinner, which saw Duncan Welgemoed from Bistro Dom teaming up with Quang Nguyen from Devour Dessert Bar and Sam Hughes, Anton Von Klopper, James Erskine and Tom Shobbrook from Natural Selection Theory.

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