Roast pork shoulder The centrepiece of my most recent PORKTOBERFEST lunch was a resplendent roast pork shoulder, all juicy and tender with a crisp layer of crackling on top. Normally when I cook roast pork, I simply point you in the direction of the recipe I used - but in this instance I made the recipe up myself,...
Hey hey everybody! Just a quick one today: I wanted to let you all know I'm off to Canberra for the weekend, as part of the Human Brochure campaign that Australian Capital Tourism have put together to promote the nation's capital! Basically, they created a big competition to bring 500 humans to Canberra for an all-expenses-paid weekend. (Half now, half...
A new featured dish: my favourite noodles ever! Beef on Fried Noodles (ngow yok chow minh), $8.50, Hills BBQ Hills BBQ in Box Hill is famous for its roast meats, but if you can tear yourself away from the glorious sight of the shiny lacquered ducks, the crispy roast pork, and the glossy chickens hanging in the window, may I...
I know that if you read my blog a lot, you might somehow get the impression that I'm constantly in the kitchen, whipping up tasty treats and elaborate dinner parties on the weekend, and virtuously making and bringing my lunches to work during the week. And you know what, that can be the case... sometimes. But we all get into...
View from The Olsen Hotel |
We started with drinks in the Penthouse Suite, before moving downstairs to the restaurant for dinner.
Champagne in the penthouse suite |
The private dining room in Spoonbill had been beautifully decorated in brightly coloured flowers. Of course, I'm totally stealing the idea for my next dinner party - so pretty!
Pretty flowers |
Springtime table |
Dorky of me, I know, but I was super-thrilled that my dress not only fit in with the Springtime theme, but also quite literally matched the table settings!
My lap, my place setting |
My place setting |
Bread |
TEMPURA SOFT SHELL CRAB - Wombok, Thai basil, yuzu mayonnaise |
SEARED DUCK BREAST - Soft polenta, forest mushrooms, asparagus |
CARAMELISED ONION AND ROAST TOMATO TARTLET - Soft herb salad |
SALT AND PEPPER CALAMARI - Fennel, blood orange, pine nut salad with citrus dressing |
LAMB CUTLETS - White bean skordalia, baby winter vegetables |
ROAST BEETROOT CARPACCIO - Feta, rocket, lemon and thyme dressing |
PEPPER CRUSTED VENISON - Whipped feta puree, broad beans, roast beetroot jus |
Mmm... rare |
The non-red meat alternative for this course was a light and refreshing chicken salad. Perfect for the style-conscious crowd around Chapel Street, perhaps?
MARINATED CHICKEN SALAD - Tofu, wombok, Asian greens, pickled carrots |
And you'd think that was enough (more than enough!) food for the evening, but then our waiter announced: "And here are the mains". Oof!
|
OSSO BUCO - soft polenta |
GRILLED SALMON - crushed potatoes, microherbs |
ASPARAGUS - Crisp jamon, soft boiled egg, fresh herbs GRILLED PEAR AND ROCKET - Walnut, blue cheese BROCCOLI - Smoked almonds, sea salt |
DESSERT TASTING PLATTER Front row: rhubarb and apple crumble, apple jelly with calvados panna cotta, chocolate brownie squares Ice-creams: burnt honey ice-cream & apple sorbet |
Across the table the most popular item seemed to be the dense chocolate marquise...
Chocolate marquise |
Apple mille feuille |
Hot lemon fritters with cinnamon sugar |
The aftermath |
Silken Tofu with Century Egg This was the lovely tofu dish I made for our Chinese lunch party. It is so very good, and incredibly simple to make. As I previously mentioned, it is literally just a block of cold silken tofu, topped with shallots, some different seasonings (soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, black vinegar), a chopped up...
So now we come to the final post from our Sydney 2012 trip: Dinner at Tetsuya's! Tetsuya's 529 Kent Street Sydney NSW 2000 Ph: (02) 9267-2900 Website We have a tradition with our friend An, where we shout each other dinner for our birthdays each year. (Last year he took us to Vue De Monde, and we took...