Monthly Archives: February 2012

Too busy to cook? Or simply feeling lazy?

At the risk of sounding like a telemarketer, have I got the pudding for you!

This mini berry pudding only has five ingredients and takes less than 10 minutes to make. Two of the ingredients are merely bashed into pieces and there’s hardly any cooking to speak of. You could serve this up at your next dinner party and people would ooh and ahh, little knowing that you whipped it up as they were pulling into your street.

I’m talking maximum pleasure for minimum effort.

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Sometimes one bite is all it takes for you to fall in love.

I should know. I fell head over heels the first time I tasted Floating Islands or île flottante.

I first experienced the delectable French dessert while holidaying in Paris with my dad in the early 2000s. I was working in London at the time and my dad had come to visit me. We spent 10 days travelling around the UK before taking the Eurostar to Paris.

It was my second visit to the eternal city and my dad’s first so we did all the usual tourist activities: we visited the Musée du Louvre, La Tour Eiffel, Cathédrale Notre Dame de Paris, the Arc de Triomphe, the Place Vendôme and Fauchon. We shopped and we strolled happily around the streets, loving being in such a picturesque city.

But mostly, we ate.

We ate croissants, confit de canard (duck confit), soupe de fraises (strawberry soup), foie gras, plateau de fruits de mer (seafood platter), pommes frites (French fries), bouillabaisse (fish stew), macarons, mousse au chocolat, crème brûlée, coq au vin, boeuf bourguignon, cassoulet and Niçoise salad.

One day we were sitting in a bistro, having finished yet another wonderful dish when I spotted île flottante on the dessert menu.

Île flottante. Floating island?

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If you’re a new, emerging or aspiring food blogger, you’ll have lots of questions that need answers.

I know because I am an emerging food blogger myself. I started The Hungry Australian in June 2011 but didn’t start blogging more frequently until September 2011.

While I’d managed websites for previous employers, worked as an editor and freelance writer, I had no experience of blogging itself. Prior to starting my own blog I barely knew what a food blog was.

So why did I start my own food blog? A conversation with my good friend Kerina stimulated my interest and once I started reading them I was hooked. I felt like I did when I started university and discovered the university newspaper produced by the students: I wanted to be part of it.

As I began blogging I had lots of questions. How did I get people to comment on my posts? What should I write about? Do I need a decent camera? How did I make a header on my site? What are plugins and widgits? How do I get that ‘more’ symbol on my posts so people have to click through? How do I create a collage of photos?

And the big question: how did the rockstar food bloggers – i.e. David Lebovitz, Deborah from Smitten Kitchen, Jaden from Steamy Kitchen, Ree from The Pioneer Woman, Matt from Matt Bites, Elise from Simply Recipes, Heidi from 101 Cookbooks, Shauna from Gluten Free Girl, and Bakerella – get where they are?

So I started looking for articles and posts that could help me. I found so many useful articles I started compiling a list, which lived on my site for a while as ‘Resources for Food Bloggers’. I’ve now decided to turn that page into this post, along with my top tips. You can scroll to the end of this post for my 100 Useful Links for Foodbloggers list.

With only eight months of food blogging under my belt I am still finding my feet. However, I have picked up some knowledge along the way and am more than happy to share it. So, for what it’s worth, here it is.

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I never imagined that I’d be the type of person to make jam.

People that make jam have immaculately kept gardens, submit their tax return on time, never lose library books, and never turn up at their child’s school on a scheduled day off. They don’t stay up all night writing when the muse hits and then read for a further hour when they eventually go to bed. They don’t destroy the kitchen – my husband’s exact words – when making a simple meal.

People that make jam are sensible. 

I am definitely not sensible, according to my mother.

However I’ve always liked the idea of home-made jam. Making jam is an act of defiant domesticity in this age of instant-everything-have-you-got-the-latest-tech-gizmo-multi-tasking insanity.

So when we had a glut of onions and tomatoes in the house a couple of weeks ago, I decided to take the plunge.

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Last November I was lucky to attend the second Australian Food Bloggers Conference in Sydney – see my write up here. This invite-only event was a fantastic way to glean blogging tips and advice from the experts and meet food bloggers from all over Australia.

Although I was a new food blogger at the time, I remember the thrill of being in a room full of people taking photos of food, and talking about all the issues that come up when you embark on a food blogging journey.

The sense of camaraderie was wonderful and I made many friends who I’ve continued to stay in touch with. We share tips and advice,  feedback on each other’s work and provide support and encouragement. I also knew just who to call for advice when I started getting approached to sell my photographs and when sponsorship and advertising opportunities presented themselves.

Back in Adelaide, I was aware of a number of other food blogs but there was no sense of community as I had experienced in Sydney. So after chatting to a number of Adelaide food bloggers online and organising a couple of meetups I decided to set up the Adelaide Food Bloggers Group on Facebook. Here members post details of meetups, food news and food events and share tips and advice.

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Silky Chinese Chicken was inspired by a dish my dad once made when I was still living at home. I made it recently for our Chinese New Year family dinner and it was received with surprise and delight.

Well, to be perfectly frank, what my dad said was,”this is actually quite good” in tones of sheer amazement.

Being an Australian Born Chinese or ABC, my response to his lukewarm praise was, “well, thanks a lot, Dad. Glad I could make something edible for you.”

Dad laughed and explained that he had to temper his praise because I’m his daughter. To the Chinese way of thinking, it would have been unseemly to praise me too much.

So him saying, “this is actually quite good” could be translated to mean, “wow, this is sensational! You’re a rockstar!” in Western terms.

Lessons in cultural differences aside, Silky Chinese Chicken dish is delicious and very easy to make. You poach a chicken gently until it is moist and succulent. Then you simply spoon over a sauce made from oyster sauce, chicken stock, soya sauce and sugar before garnishing with sauteed onions, deep-fried shallots and fresh coriander. And that’s it. Too easy.

This is Chinese comfort food, but comfort food that could equally hold its own as part of a dinner party menu. Serve it with plain rice and fried Asian greens for a simple, everyday feast.

How does it work in your family, dear reader? Do your parents gush or are they more restrained in their compliments?

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I adore figs.

I love their colour, their flavour, and their texture. I die for their sensual shape and the way their demure green and purple exterior splits open to reveal a striking red and gold centre.

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I don’t believe in love at first sight.

Lust at first sight? Certainly.

But love at first sight? No.

How can you fall in love with someone from across the room?  You may think he or she is absolutely stunning, but you don’t really know him or her. You’re in love with a vision, not a real person.

Love at first bite, on the other hand, is a no-brainer.

We’ve all experienced the heart-stopping moment when our teeth sink into a new dish and our taste buds do the equivalent of a foot-stompin’, hip-gyrating happy dance in our mouth.

So I am extremely excited that this month’s Sweet Adventures dessert-themed bloghop, is Love at First Bite, hosted by Nic from Dining With a Stud!

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