Ski trip dinner at Smiggins Hotel, Perisher Valley

This is the third year I've gone skiing at Perisher, and I think I'm finally getting the hang of angling my body 'just so'. Of course, compared with the real ski veterans out there, I still look like an awkward klutz on the slopes. But at least I'm not barrelling down the mountain at an out-of-control 2000 miles/hr anymore (ahem, dad).

I thought I looked a lot more pro than this; haha, inflated ego much?

We were blessed with beautiful weather this year for the entire duration of our trip. Brilliant blue skies, penetrating sunshine (yes, I have the tell-tale 'ski mask' sunburn pattern), and good visibility all around.

Like last year, we stayed at Smiggins Hotel. Literally situated right next to the slopes, Smiggins Hotel is the excellent in terms of convenience and comfort. They also have very nice food!

This crumbed calamari was the entree of the three-course dinner we enjoyed at the Hotel's restaurant on one night. The menu changes each day, and there are two options available for each course. For my main, I ordered the beef fillet, which was perfectly cooked to rare (I like my meat bloody!), and came with a tomato and onion relish, some sort of jus, and beans and potatoes.

The other option for the main was salmon with jasmine rice. I tried some from my fellow diner's plate, and the salmon was absolutely melt-in-your-mouth.

For dessert, there was a choice of the cheese plate or cassata ice cream with biscuit and chocolate sauce. It's a no-brainer which one I went for! xD The ice cream was the consistency of a semifreddo (come to think of it, maybe that's what it said instead on the menu), and was studded throughout with glace fruits. A nice way to finish off the meal!

Here are a few more photos from my trip:

With my sister on the chairlift:

The snow on the slopes at the start of the day, having just been 'combed' and not yet marred with ski tracks (though obviously with footprints!):

Coming down a (relatively gentle) hill:

Being juvenile:

My snow angel/eagle!

Having successfully navigated one of the harder T-bar slopes at Mt. Perisher:

Random Round-up! Part 3

Here's another one of those "closet clean out" posts; just a little something to entertain everyone until I come up with a proper post :D

1) High tea at Tea Parlour, Redfern.

An awesome-looking spread, yes? And not your usual "High Tea" fare either. We visited this quaint little hole-in-the-wall 'parlour' for a friend's 21st. All the goodies you see above are baked by the owner herself, onsite; a feat I am most impressed by. The scones featured in the middle are THE BEST that I've ever tasted. Yes, even better than The Tea Room's down at the QVB! I love this sort of baking: unapologetically unpretentious, and clearly made with real butter xD Everything I had on the day (and I tried everything!) was so good that I couldn't help but eat, eat, eat the whole time I was there. The pecan pie! The cheesecake! The apple crumble tart! *salivates*

2) Durian ice cream from Breadtop.

I know my recommending ice cream from a chain bakery may raise some eyebrows, but this was actually really, really nice! The durian flavour was unmistakable, and did not taste at all artificial. The texture was smooth, but with that "chewiness" which I associate with added thickeners in ice cream. Maybe not everyone's cup of tea, but I quite liked it.

3) Various small cakes and slices from George's Hot Bread Shop, Hurstville.

Situated right near the ticket barriers at Hurstville Railway Station, this little bread shop appears unassuming from a distance, and I for one often passed it by with nary a second look. Had I ventured closer though, I would have discovered much sooner its amazing display of cakes and slices. We're talking real old-school, Australian baking; they even have chocolate crackles! On this occasion, I purchased one of their  sizeable Anzac biscuits (only 90 cents!), which was delicious and one of the best I've tasted, and the three cakes shown above: Black Forest cake (left), vanilla custard slice (right) and baked cheesecake (bottom). All three were bona fide fresh and scrumptious. My favourite was the vanilla slice: cold, sweet eggy custard, contrasted with the crisp, multi-layered pastry which shattered when I sliced into it. Mmm. And you know what? It's all so affordable. Where else can you get a ginormous slice of cake in the $3 range these days?

3) The 'Multi' at Noggi, Strathfield.

To celebrate a recent piece of happy news, I took my siblings out for frozen yoghurt at Noggi. And since we were all fro-yo aficionados and possess iron dispositions impervious to the wintry climate, I went ahead and ordered a 'Multi', the second largest size on offer. I don't think there were quite enough of us to tackle the 'Groupi' xD We got all four flavours (original, pomegranate, biscotti and green tea) and five toppings (gummi bears, Tim Tam, mochi, fresh strawberries, and Crunchie chocolate bar).

4) 'Fine apple tart' and the panna cotta lamington from Flour and Stone Bakery, Woolloomooloo.

After hearing rave reviews all around about these two items from Flour and Stone Bakery, I went and purchased said items the first opportunity I got, and could barely stop myself from tucking into them on the train trip home. The apple tart was visually stunning, but was a bit too tart for my liking, and perhaps would have tasted better warmed up. The panna cotta lamington was an indisputable winner. Incredibly moist, yet not soggy from being drenched in panna cotta mixture - a true wonder. This was one HUGE lamington, yet I managed to finish half of it in one go, and would have eaten the other half as well if I hadn't been sharing with my sister :D

5) The 'I need to unwind with sugar after a long, long week' fridge clean out.

I credit myself on being able to assemble a sugar feast on the slightest whim. It's most likely to do with the fact that my fridge is always stocked with leftover bits of cake, dessert liquers, and embarrasingly, heavy cream. Or in this case, 'lite' heavy cream. No, I'm not at all fat-phobic, it was simply because the lite version was on discount, lol. This concoction of cream, milk and Baileys, along with a slice of homemade caramel cake and the last of my precious Nigella Lawson brownies, sent me into a pleasant, dreamless slumber, and I awoke the next morning cheerful, well-rested, and 10kg heavier. Ahem.

Here's Part 1 and Part 2 of my 'Random Round-up!' series.


Tea Parlour
569 Elizabeth Street
Redfern, NSW 2016

Breadtop, Hurstville

Shop 2, 227-231 Forest Road
Hurstville, NSW 2220

George's Hot Bread Shop

Hurstville Railway Station (Hurstville Central shopping centre)

Noggi

2/2 Albert Road
Strathfield, NSW 2135

Flour and Stone Bakery

53 Riley Street
Woolloomooloo, NSW 2011

Sour Cream Lemon Pound Cake

All the bakers out there - have you ever made something that looked fine and smelt fine, but disappointed in the taste department? I had one such experience with a caramel cake. The darn thing looked perfect, all nicely risen and golden on top, and had that titillating and irresistible smell of caramelised sugar and butter. It held such promise...I took a bite, and disappointment set in as the cake was so depressingly bland. It tasted nothing of caramel. Indeed, it didn't even taste sweet, an impossible situation given how much sugar (and vanilla sugar at that!) I had invested in the thing. And even though I knew from that first bite that it was a total flop, I kept going back for more, hoping that the taste would improve on standing. All those wasted calories...which could have been spent on this Sour Cream Lemon Pound Cake instead.

I had a good feeling about this cake as soon as it came out of the oven. The intoxicating scent of lemons  permeated the whole kitchen, and even though it was the dead of winter and near midnight, I felt like I was swathed in a comforting blanket of warmth and sunlight...*ahem*, yeah creative writing and figurative expression have never been my forte; why don't I simply let the pictures do the talking?

I have made many-a-pound cakes before, and I've had consistently better results with a combination of cream cheese and butter, instead of a "pure butter" pound cake. Problem is, cream cheese is so expensive. And it seems such a waste to use it in anything except a cheesecake, where it can truly shine. And this is where sour cream comes in, because it produces a result indistinguishable from that made with cream cheese - for less than half the price! A quick search on the interweb found a pound cake recipe involving sour cream, courtesy of Cooking with Tanya and Epicurious.

The recipe makes a lot of batter, which is why you should use the 16-cup tube pan that both recipes recommend. I went with a loaf pan, and had about 2 cups of batter left over. One cup I put into a smaller pan and baked for 45 minutes, and the other I microwaved for 3 minutes. The microwaved version was...interesting. Good to eat straight away, but became very dry almost immediately afterwards.

The baked version, on the other hand, is very moist, and will probably stay moist and improve in flavour over the next few days. Simply wrap it with a few layers of cling wrap, and leave it at room temperature for 1 or 2 days before eating. The fragrance from the lemon juice and peel is very pronounced, and goes perfectly with the tang from the sour cream. Serve as is or toasted, with a tall glass of cold milk on the side.

Sour Cream Lemon Pound Cake
Recipe adapted from Epicurious and Cooking with Tanya

Makes 1 10-inch cake (in a bundt pan or chiffon/angel cake pan)

Ingredients
3 cups cake flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
250g unsalted butter, softened
3 cups white granulated sugar
6 eggs, room temperature
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
Finely grated peel from one large lemon
300ml sour cream

Method
1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius (325 degrees Fahrenheit).

2. In a bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Grease and dust the pan with flour.

3. In a separate bowl, beat the butter with an electric beater until creamy. Gradually add the sugar, and continue to beat for 2 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time. Beat until incorporated.

4. Stir in the lemon juice and grated peel.

5. Fold in the dry ingredients from step 2.

6. Mix in the sour cream.

7. Transfer the batter into the greased and floured pan. Alternatively, you could simply line the pan with foil.

8. Bake for 1 hour and 45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted near the center comes out clean. You may have to cover the top of the cake with a piece of foil an hour into baking to stop the top from burning. Remove from oven, and allow to cool in pan for 15 minutes before turning onto a cooling rack. Let it cool completely before serving. I recommend wrapping it in cling wrap (once it's completely cool!) and letting it stand at room temperature for 1 or 2 days before eating it, to allow the flavours to develop.

Bak kwa (aka. "rou gan" or pork jerky!)

I whipped up a batch of bak kwa last night, using Karen's recipe over at Citrus and Candy. Chances are you've already frequented her site, which is filled with beautiful, drool-inducing food pornography photography, but if you haven't I highly recommend you do so soon! Her recipe and tutorial for bak kwa, or (South)East Asian-style pork jerky (I'm trying really hard to be politically correct) is straightforward and easy to follow, but nonetheless produces an authentic bak kwa that really took my mind back to the street food of Hong Kong.

When I say "a batch", I really mean 2kg of pork mince's worth.To be fair, my local butcher was doing a special of "2kg for $12". All the Asians out there know what I'm talking about. A bargain's a bargain, even if it means you end up with more (perishable!) food than you know what to do with. When I emptied the mince out into a bowl, I experienced genuine fear at the sheer amount of PORK in front of me.

Once everything was done grilling, though,  I realised 2kg was just the right amount to prepare. First of all, when you have a large family like mine, even a mountain of food pretty much disappears in a short while, provided it tastes good. Secondly, even though the method for making bak kwa is simple, and doesn't require a lot of technique, the whole process from marinating the meat overnight to drying it out at low temperature to grilling it in high heat is time-consuming. So go for broke, and cook (and eat) as much of it as you can in one go!

I've made bak kwa once before using quite lean mince. I prefer the result from the fattier mince I used this time round. The bak kwa was definitely juicier, and the combination of caramelised sugar and fat is always a winner. I would recommend eating it hot though, since the fat congeals into an unsightly mess once it gets cold. But eaten right out of the oven (or off the grill)...oh fatty pork, why must something as delicious as you be so bad for my cardiovasculature?

Bak kwa (Asian-style pork jerky)
Recipe from Citrus and Candy; refer to Karen's site for a wonderfully detailed tutorial

Margaret Fulton's Apple Crumble Muffins

Guess who is now officially on holidays! That's right, yesterday was the last day of uni for this semester. You'd think I'd be out there partying like an animal and getting inebriated, but the embarrassing truth is that my idea of the perfect end-of-semester celebration is watching random Youtube videos in my "slob" clothes while mindlessly chowing down on Lindt Excellence 85% dark chocolate. And reading cookbooks! I am currently making my way through one of Margaret Fulton's, and indeed, this was where I got the recipe for these awesome Apple Crumble Muffins from.

The recipe looked so promising that I simply could not wait till the holidays started to try it out. Which was how I ended up lugging more than a dozen muffins to share amongst my colleagues in the middle of the week. From the way they rapidly disappeared, I'm confident to pronounce these a success. The sour cream (which the recipe calls for in lieu of milk) and the ample amount of apple chunks in the batter made these muffins extremely moist. The crumble on top was crunchy like a cookie, and deliciously buttery.

There are so many recipes in Margaret Fulton Baking that I want to try over these holidays, including the sour cream chocolate cake, and the Bienenstich (German bee sting) cake. I went on a cookbook shopping binge a few weeks ago, and came home with an impressive array of texts:

Whee, fun times ahead!

The apple crumble muffins are extremely easy to make; no need to get out the electric beaters or mixers. In fact, you don't even need to leave the butter out to soften in advance. The beauty of making muffins is that you can pretty much dump all the ingredients in one bowl (although some texts recommend mixing the dry ones together first, the wet ones in another bowl, and then combining the two). The butter can be melted in the microwave, and then stirred in. The most time-consuming part was chopping the apple into chunks, but even that didn't take very long. The crumble requires that you work fast in order not to melt the butter with your hot little hands while you rub it into the dry ingredients (ala. making a shortcrust pastry dough).

The muffins before baking, with the crumble mixture sprinkled on top.

The muffins can be eaten hot, straight out of the oven (or with a few minutes to cool out of consideration for your tongue), with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side. Unsurprisingly, it tastes like an apple crumble xD However, I would recommend you to allow them to cool, and then store them in an airtight container at room temperature for a day in order to allow the flavours to develop. And then if you want to have it hot, just zap it in the microwave for 20 seconds. Instant pudding!

The muffins, fresh out of the oven.

Apple Crumble Muffins

Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients

For the muffin batter:

1 1/4 cups (185g) plain flour

1/2 cup (110g) white granulated sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

1 cup sour cream

60g butter, melted

2 large Granny Smith apples, roughly chopped to 1cm chunks

For the crumble topping:

3 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons plain flour

2 tablespoons cold butter, diced

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Method

1. Preheat oven to 190 degrees Celsius (375 degrees Fahrenheit). Line muffin tin with grease-proof cupcake liners.

2. Into a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon, allspice and salt.

3. In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, sour cream,  and melted butter until blended. Stir in the apple chunks.

4. Pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and fold until combined, but do not over-mix. Fill the lined muffin tin.

5. To make the topping, put all the ingredients into a bowl and rub in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle the crumble mixture over the muffin batter, dividing the crumble mixture evenly between the 12 muffins.

6. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until browned. Cool on wire racks, or eat it warm with ice cream!

Whipped cream black tea @ Meet Fresh

Who knew something so simple could be so good? As I made my way towards Central Station in the semi-darkness of dusk, I felt compelled to duck into Meet Fresh on the corner of Dixon Street for a little something to warm myself up. Most of the items are available as hot or cold options, but in my haste I didn't check if what I'd ordered was available hot. I left the store clutching an icy cup of sweetened black tea, topped with a thick layer of foamy whipped cream:

Oh well. At least it tasted good. Very, very good. Swish the cup around gently to mix the whipped cream with the tea, but do leave some unblended so that, once you're done with the liquid, you can eat the tea-tinged cream with a spoon. Two desserts in one!

(For my previous post on Meet Fresh, click here)


Meet Fresh

13 Goulburn Street Haymarket 2000
(Corner of Goulburn Street & Dixon Street in China Town)

Crumbed lambs' brains with herb sauce

I should probably issue a warning right now that this post contains GRAPHIC IMAGES of...BRAINS.

Lambs' brains, that is. As opposed to, say, human brains. [Insert your fave Hannibal Lector joke here]. Although, human brains would probably be easier to come by. I remember a time when my grandmother would habitually boil up some lambs' brains with star anise and Sichuan pepper every few weeks, and serve that for dinner. My favourite way of eating the brains was to smush it up on a piece of toasted white bread, put a slice of processed/plastic cheese on top, and microwave it until the whole thing was one, gooey mess. Gosh, I was a disgusting kid.

These days, lambs' brains are much harder to come by. When I spotted some frozen ones at Bush's Meats at the Miranda Westfield, I immediately bought a box for $10 without any idea of what I would do with them. And so they stayed in the freezer for the next few months; out of sight, but constantly on my mind (pun intended! xD)

As Fate would have it, a recipe requiring lambs' brains appeared in a recent issue of the Australian Gourmet Traveller magazine. The photo of the dish looked really good, and the name sounded quite delectable: "Crumbed lambs' brains with piquant herb sauce". I assembled the ingredients, and made it for dinner that night.

The onion, celery and carrot is for boiling the brains in, while the parsley, dill and mint is for the herb sauce. You really only need around a tablespoon each of the dill and mint, and around 2/3 cup of the parsley. I don't use fresh herbs much in cooking, relying on the dried stuff as it keeps much better, but I really should incorporate more fresh ingredients into my meals because you simply get so much more flavour out of it! For the sauce, you basically melt some butter, chuck in the herbs, capers and mustard, and it's done within a minute.

Making the 'piquant' herb sauce.

The brains have to be soaked in iced water for an hour to draw out some of the blood, and then boiled alongside the onion, carrot and celery for 5 minutes, until just cooked.

Boiling the lambs' brains.

The just-cooked brains are then chilled in the fridge for an hour, before they're coated with flour, egg, and breadcrumbs:

Onto the frying! As always, I got a grandparent to help with this stage because working with hot oil still freaks the shit out of me. I'm sure I've already shared with you the story of how a flying bit of oil got me on the right cheek, and I ended up with cellulitis. If I haven't...well, I just did, so take heed and do be careful when you fry stuff!

I guess crumbing and frying in oil makes anything taste good, but the gorgeously oozy texture of the brains made eating this a sensory delight. A sprinkle of salt, and they can be eaten just as they are, but I reckon it's well worth the effort to make the herb sauce.

Crumbed lambs' brains with herb sauce

Adapted from Australian Gourmet Traveller

Ingredients

6 lambs' brains, brainstem removed and lobes carefully separated

1 each of carrot, celery stalk and onion, diced

2 dried bay leaves

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 tsp black peppercorns

Vegetable oil for pan-frying

Plain flour, for dusting

2 eggs, lightly beaten

150g bread crumbs

Coarse salt for seasoning

For the herb sauce:

50g butter

40g of baby capers, rinsed if preserved in salt or vinegar

2/3 cup of finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

1 tbsp each finely chopped mint and dill

1 tbsp 'provence herb mustard' (Dijon mustard is fine)

Method

1. Soak brains in a bowl of iced water for an hour. Drain, and set aside.

2. Bring 1 litre of water to the boil with the carrot, celery, onion, bay leaves, vinegar and peppercorns. Add brains, and simmer gently over low heat until just cooked through (4-5 minutes). Remove brains with a slotted spoon onto a plate and refrigerate to cool (around 1 hour).

3. Heat around 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a fry-pan. To test whether the oil is hot enough, drop in some bread crumbs. If it starts sizzling, you're good to go. Coat brains first with flour, then egg, then bread crumbs. Pan-fry in batches, turning occasionally, until golden and crisp. Drain on absorbent paper, then season to taste with coarse salt.

4. To make the sauce: Heat butter in the fry-pan over high heat until foaming. Add the capers, parsley, mint, dill and mustard. Stir to combine, then take off heat and spoon over the brains, or serve separately for dipping.