Phew, well ahoy thar my earties! A quick trip over the seas to New Zealand and it was M A G I C A L. Doing some brief research before I went over, I stumbled on Moiras fabulous blog An Auckland Vegan and was super happy to eat at A LOT of the places listed on there. NOMS. I did all my other favourite things while travelling, lots of bush walks, swimming in the sea, op shops and EATING (and theatre). So without further ado...
out.
book club - emmas house
emma made the MOST AMAZING VEGAN CHILLI AND CORN BREAD IVE EVER EATEN. Which was great because I hated the book so much it pretty much balanced me out. We read "The World Beneath" by Cate Kennedy. Sick to death of hearing middle class white Australians whinge. the end. body electric @ NGV Afterdark.
body electric are sex on legs. spandex. 80s tunes. jazz hands, body rolls, spirit finger, vasaline smiles. yep. I know I had you at spandex. I love my friends, so MANY of them are in Body Electric! NGV after dark was PACKED as well, apparently its like that ALL the time. swoon fase Melbs. Love yer guts.
Wil Eno is my equal first favourite play wright (equal with Mark Ravenhill) and by some sheer stupid luck my friend loved the actor who was playing Thom Pain (Oliver Driver) and booked us tickets without my knowing. I saw the companion play to this earlier in the year (Lady Gray) and was COMPLETELY blown away. This was equally as good. Oliver Driver is stunning and it was difficult for me being in first row not to storm the stage and lick his face. Auckland, completely UTTERLY impressive. A great review which encapsulates why I love Wil Eno so much
whitanga/coromandel/cathedral cove/auckland - north island NZ
To appease the masses while I get my New Zealand MMR together here is some cupcake porn. Confession, I hate cupcakes. Too fiddly, too much icing to cake ratio, too cutesy wootsey, nothing beats cutting into a huge, fist-in-the-face cake. There will be ZERO cupcake recipes in my cookbook therefore on the rare occasions I do cook them I will share them with you here!
In preparation for the trial wedding cake (due mid October - I'm going to make a mini one for their engagement party) I decided to test out a few ganache/cake/coconut cream options/robustness on my work mates. I was please with the results.
Things I learned - coconut milky water is great for ganache, whipped and refrigerated coconut cream does not melt at room temp or even go soft!! It was still like butter (woo hoo for travelling! I'm trying to figure out how I get this wedding cake up to Olinda in the middle of summer).
ingredients
1 x packet of deliciously free gluten free chocolate cake mix
1 x can of coconut cream, refrigerated
1 x jar of morello cherries
1 x packet of Lindt 70%
method
1. Prepare the chocolate cake mix to the instructions. I found it made 10 cupcakes.
2. In the meantime scoop the coconut cream off that raises to the top of the milky water. Beat with an electric mixer for 5 minutes, until it thickens up then refrigerate (at least two hours).
3. Wait for cupcakes to be completely cooled then cut into the cupcake on the top and scoop out some cake to make room for the ganache and cream.
4. In the microwave or over a double boiler melt 3/4 of the bar of chocolate. Then stir in enough left over coconut milk to thin it out (it will go really thick initially). Drizzle chocolate into the hollowed out cupcakes, place a scoop of coconut cream on top and garnish with a cherry and chocolate shavings.
notes: You *should* make a morello cherry jam to put in with the ganache but I didnt have time! Please see my previous effort for instruction.
Sweet, salty, crunchy, slurpy. Mysterious, mute Japanese lady of Horse Bazaar I think I love you. Shuffling over, coy Mona Lisa smile on her face, she delicately plops 2 steaming plates of perfectly cooked vegetables and noodles in front of you, bows, then shuffles away. Tofu, sesame seeds, currents, walnuts, teriaki sauce, al dente noodles and crunchy vegetables - I'm licking my lips in remembrance and planning on going there tonight. $8 or under for most meals, the staff are friendly and unpretentious. With decent tunes and a comfy interior, Horse Bazaar you really are super fun. They do food from lunch till midnight most days.
Excuse the terrible photo, its pretty much pitch dark in there. deets: 397 Little Lonsdale Street, Melbourne web: http://horsebazaar.com.au $$: donburi/noodles plates $8
A salvaged disaster. I was going for this asian smoky eggplant salad but I really disliked the dressing and remembered I dont really like eggplant! (beyond babaganoush and nasu dengaku).
But what was left was delicious. Shredded cucumber (look at me! eating cucumber!), carrot, avocado, cashews, toasted pine nuts, spanish onion, mint, dressed lightly with olive oil and balsamic. I was super pissed at the failed recipe but became happier and happier as I munched into this salad. You forget how delicious and amazing fresh, raw, organic vegies can really be.
Well I didn’t really do much last week, I've been running around like a mad woman getting things together for my trip to New Zealand on Thursday (haircut, pedicure, meditation, washing all my bed sheets, cleaning the house head to foot, cooking the rest of the food in my fridge and freezing it, friends birthday parties etc etc). Theres been lots of dinners at friends houses which has been amazing. I love seeing what other people do with food, especially vegan food! I was also feeling very strange all week, lots of hot flushes. I thought I had a fever as I was feeling dizzy, nauseous and 'off with the pixies' but I went to the doctor and they told me they couldn’t find anything wrong me. Seriously you could have fried an egg on my face/neck. Then I began thinking I was ovulating last week… particularly Thursday/Friday.. .does anyone know if that could have the same effect? I swear I felt like I was going through menopause!
I saw an osteopath for the first time on Friday and it was compeletely amazing. I'm really messed up! I have a tilted pelvis (both forward and to the left) and my neck is also tilted to the left with really full on muscle tightness in my neck and shoulder. He cracked me up and down and practically pulled my legs out of their sockets but I feel so amazing now. I look forward to working through all my body wonkiness with him!
I had the nasi goreng again. The service is becoming shit there. I've noticed the last couple of times I've waited to get my correct change.. If I don’t leave a skerrick of a tip it says a lot to me. The nasi goreng was delicious but there was hardly any sweet soy sauce on the tofu/tempeh skewers, we had to ask for me. That’s two times I've sent my food back there (and its been the last two visits). The next door bar section is finally open.. It really shits me that they work on reservations. Stay tuned. The Alderman
Such a gorgeous bar. I love hanging out there. Satay Bar
Had a serious hankering for some satay on Friday and got some take away. Seriously. Swoon.
11pm on a Friday night, I've been drinking a lot of red wine. Horse Bazaar came through like a CHAMPION. Firstly, I'm relatively convinced that these dumplings are hand made, as is the dipping sauce. The freshness and the texture of the dumplings were superb. The filling was good but the dipping sauce was what let it down. A bit too much vinegar and ginger for me (totally over powering). Judging by the quality of the other dishes there I'm willing to think this was just a slip! Or that they like their dipping sauce SUPER vinegary (in which case I'll happily order several other dishes on the menu). Top stuff and the best option for last night boozy snacking in my mind! Sorry for the poor photo.
Henrys beans is the kind of dish you dream about. You visit them in your mind like you do your old lovers, running a tongue over your teeth, sucking at your lip, glazed over hormonal sigh. To say they are delicious doesn't come close to the depth of flavour these suckers have. Couple with amazing toast, super friendly staff, fantastic coffee and you have (well for me anyway) the perfect breakfast. A Minor Place is CRAZY BUSY on the weekends, best to get there early or skive off work and go there for breakky ;). Deets: 103 Albion St, Brunswick web: http://www.aminorplace.com.au
Henrys white beans with garlic and rosemary, served with rocket, dukkah and toast $15
Ingredients (makes 2 huge servings)
1/2 cup of roasted pumpkin (cut small)
1 brown onion, diced small
1 cup of arborio rice, rinsed
4-6 cups of warm stock*
2 tbsp toasted pine nuts
Sea salt and cracked pepper to taste
method
1. Roast your small pieces of pumpkin on high while you cook the risotto rice.
2. In a deep pan, sweat the onions with a drizzle of olive oil until they start to turn colour. Add the rice and stir for a few minutes. Then cup by cup add the stock. Stir and stir and stir until the cup of stock is absorbed and then onto the next cup of stock. Stop adding stock when the rice is cooked and tender. Usually about half an hour.
3. Toast the pine nuts in a pan then add them and the pumpkin to the rice and combine. Season to taste (love LOTS of fresh pepper on risotto) and Bobs your uncle! Poverty food at its best!
notes: I used my WONDERFUL AMAZING new rice cooker and the rice came out perfectly. In a rice cooker you cook it like brown rice, so add 1 cup of rice to 2 cups of stock and leave to cook. Cook the onion on the stove and add to the rice with the pumpkin and pine nuts when its ready. The rice gets a bit of a crust at the bottom so be careful when you're combining it at the end not to get that in the risotto. There's a little bit of waste using the rice cooker with this method, but its SO EASY it should be a crime (and less salt as you use half the amount of stock). I got my rice cooker for $25 at kmart with a steamer plate attachment. Its become my most used kitchen item!
Hi! There's been LOTS of cooking in the easy as vegan pie kitchen. I have to let you in on a secret, I've decided to take the plunge and do a cookbook. A huge decision but one that came easily. First, in reviewing all the goals I had set for this year I realised I was already almost done (go ME!) so when I was thinking about what I wanted to do next year the (food) goals of:
1. Getting a digital SLR and updating all photos on the blog
2. Making the blog more 'professional' update the design and get a proper URL
3. Make a vegan wedding cake (I now have TWO weddings I'm baking for FULL ON!)
4. Design a vegan cooking course for somewhere like the CAE
and .. well... 5 came along when I asked myself the question "Well, what is your dream". A cookbook has always been a dream but I really had to question why did I think that it was only a 'dream' and not a possibility?
SO. I've been furiously working on old recipes (about half of whats featured here), a dream list of things I want to try and pulling inspiration from everywhere. I have a brand new red plain Moleskine just for recipes and its starting to fill up. so where does this leave the blog I hear you ask? Recipe posting is going to go down, but never fear, I have excruciating standards so the recipes that make it onto the blog are still going to be amazing, I will just be farming the SUPER amazing for the cook book. I also intend on doing more cooking tutorials and discussing vegan living more. Never fear, content will still be flowing.
In my break I set up a recipe testers website and re-wrote/edited/fixed/tested recipes I want to make the final cut. So suffice to say I've been busy BUT its like I've put the kibosh on now because the amount of disasters I've had over the past 3 weeks has been heart breaking. Throwing out food is pretty much the worst thing in the world to me. But anyway I am dusting myself off, recognising that I'm experimenting with ingredients and methods of cooking I've never done before and slowly chewing through the challenge. End game, I would like a deal by the end of the next year. So, having said all that here are the handful of recipes I've cooked off the blog over the past 3 weeks:
If you are interested in helping me please drop me a line! I've never done anything like this before! I'm pretty enthused though and think I can offer something that's not widely covered in the Australian cookbook market.
Well! Hello!!!!! What a refreshing two weeks off from social networking! I read 4 books, hung out with my friends SO much and became SUCH a better employee! (also did a lot of school work). Lesson learned? No FB or Twitter at work. In fact I've lost interest in FB pretty much all together I spend about 10 minutes on there everyday and thats it. So this MMR is going to be a big one so strap yourself in! (oh and I MISSED YOU GUYS HARD!)
eats.drinks.
Horse Bazaar
Horse Bazaar is becoming my favourite place to hang out in the city. The kitchen is open late, the hunched, silent Japanese lady who delivers your steaming plates captivating in her mystery! Then the food! $8 dounburis and noodle plates (also a much larger menu of snacks), always filled with surprising ingrediants (walnuts or sunflower seeds, sweet potato, currents, broccoli, zucchini). I love what this lady does with food, also the recycled interior and the FACT that its chilled out and half full on a Friday night is a MAJOR win. Stay tuned for individual reviews as I've been there a couple of times over the past few weeks.
Movida Next Door
No photos. The menu at the moment is eXTREMELY limited for vegans, you can only get the patatas bravas with no mayo and the asparagus side dish. Solution? Two plates of patatas bravas, bread and aspargus and we ROLLED out of there.. Onto the Burton Club.
Tom Phat
I had my old friend the tofu scramble. Clare and I usually get there before 930am on a Saturday and its consistently excellent as you have seen from most of my reviews. I've had a lot of friends tell me they hate it there, they usually go after 1030am AND NOW I KNOW WHY. The service was TERRIBLE, the waiting times EXTREME (average 10 minutes for a drink and 35 minutes for food). By the time our food came to our table my scramble tofu arrived luke warm and I had to send it back. I don’t really know what to say about all this! My food, once it came back hot, was delicious as usual but yeah I'm going to stick to getting there before 930am!
Wabi Sabi
Again I didn’t take any photos, been really trying to live this offline jaunt. Wabi Sabi is a pretty traditional Japanese restaurant, the space is lovely and so is the staff. The food is delicious, fresh and expertly put together. However its extremely expensive. For $100 between to the two of us I would prefer to go to Gingerboy (our bill last time at Gingerboy was $90). I'm not sure there is anywhere on Smith st that I like to eat at anymore besides Trippy Taco and Las Vegan. I havent been to Grumpy Greens admittedly. Perhaps I'll go there next.
A Minor Place
Oh Henrys Beans, you are dreamy. Post coming later.
out.
Joss Whedon
Ok I admit it. I shed a few tears of disbelief and awe when the man himself took the stage. He could have sat there doing bonsai all night and I would have been tearfull captivated, however the academic woman they had interviewing him was a serious MISS by Writers Festival. I understand the importance of having a woman interview him, but what could we realistically expect from an academic? SHE WAS SO BORING. Thankfully and in an ironic turn of fate the audience questions were excellent and gave us what we came for. I'm a relative Joss nut so I knew most of the things he talked about bar a few which was ALL worth it for me. Hearing 5K people scream like it was the Beatles when he came out on stage was also one of my most satisfying moments of 2010. Thank you MWF for an inspired choice in guests!
Japanese Bathouse - Collingwood
If you're not familiar with the Japanese Bathhouse GET FAMILIAR. I've been going there since I first moved to Melbourne 7 years ago and its just an oasis away from the world. Communal baths for up to 6 men and 6 women, stick around for a shiatsu after your booking and feel like they screwed your head on a completely new body. Not cheap at about $115 for a bath and shiatsu but completely worth it.
Tim Burton Club
The Burton exhibition is open late on Thursday nights (till 10) so they have Burton club! Where all manner of amazing acts come together to perform. The foyer of ACMI is transformed into a black and white and red and white striped wonderland with zombie hula hoopers and amazing acts. We got there late (last drinks is usually about 945) so I'm hoping I can get it together enough to go a few more times before the exhibition closes. Buddhist Meditation Centre
In part of my 'getting my life together' drive I've started proper meditation classes (I've meditated at home for the past 4 years). The centre is lovely, filled with beautiful friendly people. If you've ever had the curiosity or inclination I suggest you go along for a drop in class. $10 on Thursday evenings and Saturday mornings. If you go along to Saturday morning and see me say hi!
The City at Red Stitch
I don’t really get what this was about. This was the play I least enjoyed at Red Stitch. Clare and I went along to see whether we wanted to get another subscription (we had one a few years back) this wasn’t a great way to be reintroduced. I think I'll stick to winning tickets and going along.
Tickets were won through Fringe Dwellers. West Side Story
This is the third time I've seen West Side Story staged. Essentially Romeo and Juliet with all singing ballet dancing street gangs. Its pretty amazing. The set was fantastic, Tonys voice was incredible but Maria was a huge let down. Very miscast, her operatic singing made her delivery completely non comprehensible. The song Somewhere usually makes me bawl like a little baby with this I was just sitting there irritated at how the song was being completely butchered. Also what was with the little contemporary sequence during Somewhere as well? This production was all over the shop but I still enjoyed it. I got $65 seats through halftix, I would have been pissed if I had paid the $150 full price.
Films
The Killer Inside Me 1/5 MOST BORING MOVIE EVER
The Human Centipede Crazy German scientist kidnaps young people, joins them mouth to anus and trains his human centipede to do tricks? Hilarious, amazing, gross - everything you want out of a horror film. 3/5.
Alice in Wonderland Tim.. Tim Tim Tim…. I really didn’t like the story, it *looked* stunning but its essentially Tim Burtons Lord of the Rings. Yawn. 2.5/5.
Cairo Time Patricia Clarkson is stunning. A great non conventional romance film. I really enjoyed this. 3/5.
The Ghost Writer For a msytery/thriller this wasn’t particularly mysterious or thrilling but it kept me interested and engaged through the whole thing. Sometimes it just nice to watch a film that is made WELL and tells its story coherantly (and has a coherant story) if not a hokey ending. 3/5.
Beeswax A typical 'mumblecore' film. Not much happens, some people go to work, they come home, they eat a meal, they have sex with their ex boyfriend, they visit their mums. Something happens at the end. If this was an exercise test you would still be getting your shoes on. A genre that would appeal to only a certain kind of person, I did however really like this film. 3/5.
Friends! I had to break my silence to let you know about a retreat that is coming up. Although I have not been there after reading Ostiis website and seeing what they do I had to let you know about it! Unfortunately I cant make it to this one (but I'm so happy that a place like this is so near to me!) but perhaps you might want to. The point of this blog is to promote veg*an living and what a great way to get cooking than a weekend retreat! Cooking with wholefoods - A vegan cooking and yoga retreat with Alexis and Ostii Anyone interested in going to the Vegan banquet sometime?
