Middle fish- new thai temptation near Melbourne University

Middle Fish 

7am-5pm on Monday to Friday

10am-4pm on Saturday and Sunday

122-128 Berkeley Street, North Melbourne

Just before the Christmas break serenity later and I headed over to Seven Seeds for a caffeine fix and noticed rumblings next door. Peeking in we saw a large warehouse set up with hip furnishings and a very enthusiastic couple welcoming us to dine in. Unfortunately, it was too early for food but we promised to return. 

Now that work's started up for the new year and I'm back in the hood, I took the opportunity to check out Middle Fish (lots of other folk have already given it the thumbs up but at least we can add to the recommendations).  Unfortunately we were only in a grazing mood this instance but found a few  light and tasty treats.

vegetable spring rolls

 Hot and sour apple, shrimp and strawberry salad

Banana Roti with condensed milk

We also tried the Green Curry and Tom Yum soup with rice on a different occasion, both delicious and very tasty. The only drawback is because it's a new, hip place-the lunch rush leaves you waiting awhile for your food, so best ot check it out before noon or after two.

Sydney seafood school- BBQ seafood lesson

 For Magic G's birthday last year I got a seafood BBQ voucher from the Sydney Seafood School, held at the Sydney Fish Markets. We used it over the weekend and discovered some tricks to making some simple and other more fiddly seafood meals. Altogether the cooking lesson runs for half the day- there's a 2 hour cooking demonstration with a Q and A session but by the time you get around to cooking yourself, the smells are almost enough to make you want to ditch and grab some fish n' chips from the stalls outside!  

We made five different dishes, exploring step by step different methods of preparation. For the prawns we were shown how best to remove the stomach/nerve track and peel them for maximum absorption of  tangy chilli marinade. They served to temper our appetite while we spent the next ninety minutes preparing the rest of our meal. We were shown how to de-bone and butterfly garfish, peel and clean squid, dry and salt salmon to make it crispy and perhaps the most frustrating part of the lesson de-beard mussels. The results are shown below. Overall it was enjoyable and practical for anyone wanting to learn how to properly BBQ seafood and the best part was eating the results at the end of the session. 

 

 butterfly BBQ garfish and rocket salad

 BBQ salmon steaks with creamy lime and garlic mayonnaise

garlic butter mussels

Tiramisu

If you look through the archives of this blog, you'll find a more summery take on the traditional tiramisu. This version is taken from Italian Food Safari but there are many more .... and a lot of those are more straightforward than this one!! I found the timing can get a bit tricky, especially when it comes to making the meringue, so have a think about the logistics before embarking on this step. I also tried this using my handheld mixer, and must admit that I really did think that my flimsy whisk attachment was going to break at one point. So if you have anything like a stand mixer (I wanted a KitchenAid before, but now I really want one!) then by all means use it!! That said, this did turn out really well.

3 egg yolks
60g castor sugar
500g mascarpone (but Philadelphia cream cheese works fine)
70ml Kahlua
1 packet savoiardi biscuits
80g dark chocolate, ground
hot espresso coffee

For meringue
100ml cold water
250g castor sugar
125ml egg whites

Whisk egg yolks and castor sugar on high speed, until fluffy and pale in colour. Add the mascarpone/cream cheese and whisk until mixture thickens. Once it has thickened, add Kahlua and keep mixing until just combined. Do not overmix. Set aside.

Add water to a clean saucepan. Slowly add castor sugar such that all grains get wet and there aren't any on the walls of the saucepan. On a medium heat, bring to soft ball stage. What this means is that if you take a spoonful of the sugar mixture and drop it into a cup of cold water, the sugar mixture should form a small ball.

Whisk egg whites until fluffy and forming peaks. At this stage, start adding the hot sugar mix. When all sugar added, keep whisking until cooled.

Fold the meringue into the mascarpone/cream cheese mix.

Briefly dip the biscuits in hot coffee (don't want them soggy). Line a baking tray with the biscuits alongside each other.

Add a layer of the mascarpone/cream cheese mix, then sprinkle generously with ground chocolate. Cover this with biscuits and repeat the layering of the cheese and chocolate.

Keep in fridge at least 2 hours before serving.

when in Seoul...

enjoy a good ole Korean BBQ

Ottolenghi- Pear and Cranberry upside down cake

Sunday afternoons can seem lonely sometimes, so it's good to forget yourself with food. Awhile back came across this recipe from one of Ottolenghi's online recipe offerings (we're big fans here of the simple and easy recipes- thanks to jfox for the introducing us!)

The recipe can be found here on the Ottolenghi website along with a much more foodperve worthy photo of the cake. My only note would be to ditch the caramel step and just sprinkle same amount of sugar on the bottom of cake tin and then add small knobs of butter before adding the fruit. Also if you feel the mixture is too wet add a bit more almond meal, if you think it's too dry add a few teaspoons of the poaching syrup.

Fanouropita- Greek vegan spiced raisin cake

This cake is made around the 28th August to celebrate the patron saint of revelation and finding clarity- St Fanouros. Although it's called a pie, it's clearly a cake and a super delicious and easy one to make, you'll want to make it often and have some lying around to enjoy with tea or coffee.

What you need
- 4 cups of plain flour
- 1 ½ cups of sugar
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons of cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon of mixed spice
- 1 cup of golden raisins (or currants, dried cranberries soaked in hot water and drained well)
- 1 cup roughly chopped walnuts
- 1 cup of light olive oil
- 1 ½ cups orange juice
- ½ cup brandy
- fine zest of 2 oranges
- 2 tsp sesame seeds

What to do:
1. Preheat oven to 180C
2. Line a 23cm square cake tin
3. Dry ingredients: Mix flour, baking powder, and spices in a bowl
4. Wet ingredients: In another bowl combine orange juice, oil, brandy with sugar and orange zest and whisk until sugar is dissolved
5. Dust fruit with flour so as not to stick to the bottom.
6. Pour wet ingredients into flour mixture. Add raisins and walnuts, mix well – will be a wet mixture.
7. Pour into cake tin and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
8. Bake at 180C for 45min to 1 hour (test to make sure inserter comes out clean).

Mister Carsisi, Kyneton

Pistachio baklava, Turkish delight semifredo sandwich (oohh yeah believe it baby!) served with talumba (syrup saturated churros) to dunk in molten turkish delight from Mister Carsisi, Kyneton

Stroopwaffles- Dutch for delicious!?

What's a stroopwaffle?

I didn't know until I had one of these yummy treats thanks to a generous friend at work. They taste distinctly like waffles but with a surprising thin layer of cinnamon syrup between the waffle - it's a wonder how they manage to cut the already thin waffle to spread the fragrant syrup! To be enjoyed with your coffee at morning tea I'm told, and, by popping a stroopwaffle over your coffee cup for a minute, the heat warms up the syrup and makes it perfect! 

Turns out one of the guys at work has decided to get into the business of making and selling Dutch sweets with his wife online because of a lack of local, authentic and fresh options. Check out their online store at Deliciously Dutch  

Hot Cross (stud) Muffins

This is a quick and easy alternative to making hot cross buns (other than picking some up from the supermarket/bakery). They have the same yummy taste and light texture but you don't have to wait around for the dough rise. But be warned, because they're lighter - you'll find one isn't enough!

 
Hot Cross Muffins (or Mel's hot-stud muffins!)
makes 12 (recipe adapted from Delicious April 2010)

Ingredients
2 cups dried cranberries (or a mix with currants, sultanas)
2 1/2 cups of self raising flour
1/2 tsp bi-carb soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2/3 cup sunflower oil
2 eggs
2/3 cup caster sugar * (requires 200g but reduced it because it was too sweet)
1 cup buttermilk (easy to make buttermilk = use regular milk and add 1-2 tbs of white vinegar!)
Glaze
2 tbs sugar
1/4 cup water 
Icing
1/4 cup icing sugar * (asks for 80g icing sugar. I think half & half of sugar/cornflour is just right)
1/4 cup cornflour *
1-2tsp lemon juice

Method
1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius.
2. Soak dried fruit in boiling water for 10 min and then drain.
3. Sift dry ingredients in a bowl.
4. Mix oil, buttermilk, eggs and sugar in another bowl.
5. Combine dry and wet ingredients and stir to combine together with fruit.
6. Prepare muffin cases by cutting ~15cm squares of non-stick baking paper and place into muffin tray.
7. Spoon mixture and then bake for 20 min at 190 degrees celsius until just golden.
8. While muffins are cooking, prepare glaze by combining sugar and water and waiting for it to dissolve.
9. Brush glaze over muffins and and pop back into oven for 5 more minutes. Take out and cool on wire rack.
10. Prepare icing mixture by mixing sugar and cornflour, then squeezing lemon juice. Make sure muffins are cool before piping icing, otherwise the icing will dribble everywhere!

If you are impatient or have difficulty exercising temperance like me - skip the icing and while still warm spread muffins with some butter and enjoy with a hot cup of tea!

Agave's Mexican wave

Agave Restaurante Mexicano

406 Crown Street
Surry Hills NSW 2010
(02) 9326 9072 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              (02) 9326 9072      

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Okay, we were attracted to Agave by the $10 deal on margharitas (stick with the classic and don't worry with the pre-made slushies!), but were keen to try out some of the other interesting options on the dinner menu. We wanted to try the pulpo al ajillo (octopus with guajillo chilli, garlic and rice) but they sadly they didn't have it. Instead we tried the queso fundido chorizo - a rich, fondue of cheese and sausage- very tasty and a little overpowering but good with the shredded lamb and vegetable salad. We also selected the pork as it came with nopales cactus which I was curious to try and appreciate the effort needed to remove the spines!

    

 

Queso fundido chorizo with salsa

 

Salpicon de borrego

Puerco En Salsa Verde

Turns out I'm not as keen on the cactus after all. It had a texture similar to okra (mmm...slimy), but the taste  was okay. The chillies and tomatillo sauce/soup complimented the tender and flavoursome pork neck. By the time we finished, we had no room for dessert (damn that cheese!) Still, it was nice to have a different take on Mexican food given the variety of options around Sydney.