james test

The short week it took for Michael and I to finish the tray of bubble slice is embarrassing... particularly when you consider that we were away without access to it for three of those days! Determined that my next round of baking would be less cheeky, I picked out a recipe for whole wheat banana bread from Nicole of Pinch My Salt . At first glance it looked very much like my mum's recipe for banana cake , though closer inspection reveals differing quantities of sugar and rising agents. I'm always keen to incorporate wholemeal flour into my snack baking, but have been concerned about simple substitution leading to dry, leaden results. So with Nicole's recipe already specifying wholemeal flour I was ready to go! This banana bread does have that wholesome, filling quality but it's not at all leaden. While it's not exactly fluffy, it does retain that cakey consistency I was hoping for. Yes it's a bit plain and unexciting to photograph - I might stretch to t...

The use of fruit in salads is a bit controversial. Yes, I know that tomatoes and cucumbers are fruits, strictly speaking, but I'm thinking more about oranges , nectarines or apples . I've been quite a skeptic myself but I'm gradually coming around. I've long reconciled myself to salads of bitter green leaves, pear and cheese; this sandwich wouldn't be the same without apple; and grapes give a new dimension to a haloumi salad . Even so, adding strawberries to a green leaf salad seemed a step up - don't those red heart-shaped fruits belong with chocolate or cream? I took a chance on Molly's spinach strawberry salad anyway, and I'm glad I did. This unlikely pair get along surprisingly well, and the almonds add another deliciously confusing element - I felt as if a mouthful of strawberry and almond should be followed by sweet pastry! The accompanying pomegranate viniagrette is rather nice too. I made a couple of changes to suit my tastes, complete...

Michael and I took advantage of the long weekend to make our first visit to the Mornington Peninsula, nabbing an overpriced room in Sorrento. There were walks and swims and ferry trips but we're all here for the food, right? Without anything more than a kettle in our room we were eating every meal out. Here are some highlights. (Update 31/12/2014: Sunny Side Up is now closed) Breakfast number 1 was at Sunny Side Up . This cafe was just our style - casual and beachy with smiling, friendly waitresses. Michael gobbled down a plate of rustic beans with parmesan cheese, basil and poached eggs ($15), while I kicked off the weekend with Bircher muesli (~$10). It was a great Bircher, with finely diced fresh apple and orange to lighten up the oats and strawberries and almonds sprinkled liberally on top. It became quickly apparent that the Continental Hotel had a meal for every occasion, should we want it. We first visited for a lunch of bread, dips and salad and also returned for ou...

After my baking disaster on Wednesday night, I called for my Mum. But it wasn't quite the desperate and childish plea you might think - I just wanted the no-bake slice recipe that I so enjoyed as a kid. I figured it'd salve my sore ego, fill the snacking void left by the muffins, and use up some of the rice bubbles I recently bought . What I've made here only bears a passing resemblance to my Mum's version, which itself bore only a passing resemblance to the original recipe that she emailed to me. It began as some kind of muesli bar slice, with toasted muesli and seeds. I think the toasted muesli may have been phased out of Mum's, and I don't ever remember encountering seeds. For my texture-intolerant brother, there was the bare-basics version: just rice bubbles bound together with the molten butter/peanut butter/honey/sugar mixture. I liked dried apricots in mine, and for an occasional after-dinner treat, it would be spread with a top layer of dark cooki...

If you're a regular reader of this blog, this picture has probably already triggered a line of thought: "Huh, Cindy's never-ending quest for the perfect afternoon snack! More muffins... probably with wholemeal flour looking at the colour of them. I wonder what the dots are?" Those dots are $12 worth of organic dried blueberries, and they're encased in the world's worst tasting muffins. Ever. I shan't name and shame the recipe, because the shame's all mine. I just took a couple of peeks at the internet-sourced recipe over Michael's shoulder while he busied himself with Pro Evolution Soccer , sifting the 2 tablespoons of baking soda I thought belonged into the batter. Only it was meant to be 2 teaspoons . Surprisingly the muffins didn't overflow like volcanos into the oven, retaining their usual shape and colour. They smelled like my vegan muffins . But they tasted like... cement, putty, bricks? Something better suited to home renovation...

SBS has kicked off another run of weekly Bollywood films, giving us all the reason we need to indulge in weekly Indian dinners. The 9:30 start and typical length of Bollywood offerings meant that we decided to tape the movie on Sunday night and watch it on Monday evening. This week's musical marathon was Parineeta , a faintly ridiculous (yet seriously-toned) romance, which lacked the humourous sparring that is the key to our Bollywood enjoyment. Still, it gave us an excuse to sample this dal , which lives up to to Susan's raving. Dal is tricky - it's almost always adequate: something liquidy and a bit spicy, perfect for soaking up rice or dipping bread into, but there are a lot of dal reicpes which really don't offer much more. This one does: the cauliflower adds texture to the mushy lentils, and the panch phoran (which we were introduced to by Dominique at Mondo Organics , but have strangely not blogged about) gave it a bit of a zest. This recipe is a great reminde...

As Michael hinted in his last post , the Caribbean-themed wraps we enjoyed for dinner were chosen to match this Caribbean rice dessert. The dessert is January's featured recipe in our World In Your Kitchen 2008 calendar . I must admit that I'm not a big fan of rice desserts ( this one excepted) and the Caribbean treatment didn't do much to sway me. I liked the sweet buttered nuts and coconut, but there just wasn't enough of them! The mixture was fairly dry and bland, but perked up with a few cherries on top. (Not only are they in season, but a bit of internet research revealed them to be appropriate to the theme.) Here are three ways that I might alter the recipe for future use: 1. Halve the amount of rice. This'll up the flavour with a greater density of sweet, buttery fruit and nuts. 2. Fresh fruit on the side. I already sorted this out the first time around, and I think it's essential. 3. Use the rice as a savoury side. Retaining the original ...

For reasons that will soon become apparent (i.e. after the next post), we went looking for a Caribbean themed meal on Sunday night. Preferably something straightforward. Luckily, Moosewood came through with the goods. These wraps are remarkably easy to put together and have at least a hint of the Caribbean about them. The biggest problem involves the need for collard greens - we tried Piedemontes , but were forced to settle for chicory, which was probably a bit of a stretch. Anyway, that aside, the whole process took about twenty minutes and served up a filling, healthy and thematically appropriate meal. Like a lot of Moosewood recipes, it was probably a little on the bland side for my tastes - but a sprinkling of jalapenos was all it took to resolve that problem. Ingredients 1 cup diced onion 1 garlic clove, minced 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme 1/2 teaspoon allspice 1/2 teaspoon salt 4 cups of greens (chicory in our case, collard greens in the original recipe) 1.5 cups cooked black b...

Stop the press! A where's the beef breakfast post in which I have a sweet breakfast and Cindy goes savoury! I've just spent 10 minutes skimming over forty-odd breakfast posts from the last 18 months or so and, amazingly, this is the first non-savoury breakfast I've eaten out since we moved to Melbourne. What came over me? Who knows - a lack of standout savoury vego options on the Filter menu, an enthusiasm for poached pear, a burst of unpredictability? Who can say? Regardless, I wound up eating pancakes, while Cindy chowed down on mushrooms on toast. Strange days indeed. Filter's right in the middle of Brunswick Street, but was surprisingly empty when we turned up at 9ish on a Saturday morning. Things filled up as the morning went on and bleary-eyed trendsters made their way out of their houses for their morning caffeine and eggs, but we had a prime table and attentive service. As my rambling above indicated, I went for pancakes: ricotta pancakes with poached...

In 2008, Michael and I are stepping into the unfamiliar world of high culture with a subscription to the Melbourne Theatre Company . Thus, on seven Fridays in the next ten months, we'll be hunting for delicious dinners around the CBD that we can gobble down before the curtains rise at 8pm. I'm clumsily dubbing this series of posts Friday Featre Food. We've got a few ideas for future meals but we're also keen for your recommendations - casual or classy, just be sure it's tasty and timely. First up, an old favourite with a new flavour: Lord of the Fries . They have a second outlet now at Shop 5 Flinders St Station, facing Federation Square. We picked up the $13.40 deal - an original regular-sized burger, a spicy regular-sized burger and a cone of chips. The night's sauce of choice? The Indian chutney/yoghurt mix. It was pleasant enough, but the Belgian mayonnaise holds a special place in my heart (or is that arteries?). We relaxed on the grassy south bank...

Old habits die hard, as evidenced by my afternoon snacking in the previous week: a packet of corn chips here, some peanut butter bliss balls there, an ice-cream somewhere in the middle, with a scattering of jelly lollies on top from a generous colleague. Time for some premeditated baking. The recipe of choice is a no-added-sugar slice with many incarnations, but the key ingredients are all fruit, nuts and seeds. It all started with Cassie from Veggie Meal Plans , but I was hooked when Kathryn of Limes & Lycopene added tahini to the mix. Then Johanna chimed in with a rave review of her own and it was obvious I had to give these a shot. I find that tahini can be a bit of a love/hate ingredient - it tends towards sticky messy bitterness on its own, but it can lend a fabulous rich nuttiness when used judiciously. In my slice the tahini was borderline - in a couple of mouthfuls it was too pronounced, while in most others it was a very pleasing undertone. Obviously I need to st...

After spending two weeks in regional Victoria with her sisters, my Mum had one last free night in Melbourne before flying back home to Brisbane. It was about time we introduced her to Brunetti, right? Two of her sisters, Lynne and Carol, also joined us. They are an indecisive bunch when gathered together and the variety available at Brunetti was the catalyst for a good 20 minutes of umm-ing and aah-ing. But everyone got their coffee, cake and seat in good time. I picked a cake that I haven't seen displayed before. The Domino ($5.90) is a sizable slice of chocolate cake, layered with strawberry cream and kirsch, then iced with chocolate. It far exceeded my expectations - I was anticipating a dense brick of a cake with impenetrably hard icing, but instead encountered a yielding ganache and almost sponge-light cake that retained plenty of flavour. The cream and kirsch were sparing, adding only a smidge of extra richness. It's fortunate that I arranged to share it with Mich...

Michael's dips were a fine contribution to the picnic rug, and I couldn't resist making a few contributions of my own. After Michael's excellent cosmo-in-the-thermos work on the previous weekend , I ad-libbed my own cocktail to share: a bottle of limoncello and bottle of lemonade garnished with mint and sliced ginger. Simple, refreshing, and deceptively alcoholic. Johanna inspired me to make some savoury muffins, and her recipe came from Rose Elliot via a post on 101 Cookbooks . (What a pedigree!) With cottage cheese, eggs and almond meal, they're incredibly moist, almost as much quiche as they are muffin. I flavoured mine with parmesan cheese, sundried tomatoes and caramelised onions. They are perfect picnic food, and I think I'll be making this recipe again and again, perhaps experimenting with different flavourings. Once the films were underway, it was time to bring out dessert - peanut butter cannonballs from Yeah, That "Vegan" Shit . When I ...

Between Cindy's network of expat-Brisbanites and my stash of $10 tickets, we rounded up quite a gang for a Sunday evening at the Moonlight Cinema in the botanic gardens. The evening's entertainment consisted of a selection of shorts from the Melbourne International Film Festival, but of course the real focus of the evening was the pre-film picnic. After some success with my previous dip-focussed picnic food , I decided to repeat the performance. This time I flicked through our cookbooks rather than Cindy's bookmarks, and came across a couple of relatively easy and tasty-looking choices. First up was the amazingly straightforward garlic, herb and bean pate from our CookSmart Vegetarian flip book. This takes all of five minutes to make and is really pretty tasty. I might go a bit lighter on the garlic next time, as it really was a bit overpowering. Given how simple the first dip was, I decided to be a little more ambitious with the second. This beetroot hummus recipe c...

Cindy and I are still hunting around Melbourne for a standout Indian restaurant - we liked Bala da Dhaba , but it's too far away for regular visits, while local options like Fitz Curry Cafe and Kake di Hatti have been satisfactory without blowing our minds. On Saturday night, after a bit of internet research, we decided to give Nirankar a go. Nirankar is on a quiet stretch of Queen Street in the CBD, and there was no danger of us being turned away despite being bookingless at 7ish on a Saturday night. The menu had abut the usual number of vegetarian options, but there were a few non-standard choices, like Khatta Meetha Bangain (eggplant and capsicum with tangy herbs). There was also a variety of kulfi on the menu, so we decided to skip the appetiser section and save room for dessert. We ordered our usual mix: two curries, one bread and one serve of rice. The garlic naan was slightly crispy and slathered in buttery garlic, just the way I like it. Four our curries, we opted for...

Mike and Jo-Lyn differ in many matters of taste. Jo knows all the cool hang-outs and likes things a bit artsy. Mike, however, doesn't hesitate to claim "wanker!" at the first whiff of pretension. So there could hardly be a higher recommendation for breakfast at Fandango than that they both love it. And now we love it too. We contributed to the very brown decor by kicking off with a coffee each - iced for me, and a habitual flat white for Michael. I'm no connoisseur but mine was pretty good; Michael deemed his 'exceptional'. I took a chance on the pancakes ($8), served in a stack of three with banana, strawberries, homemade honeyed cream cheese and maple syrup. Our waiter even left a bottle of real maple syrup on the table in case I wanted a top up. I didn't, this was perfectly sweet as it was. It looked gorgeous, it had a reasonable serve of fruit, and the cream cheese was lovely (even though I'm not usually a fan of honey). At $12 it would be...

I gobbled up the remaining sundried tomato hummus with veges and crackers, but the very nutty agresto was a little more difficult to shift. The most successful use of it has been on these savoury pastry squares - topped with tomato for me, and with olives and cheese for Michael. They only need 15 minutes in the oven and a handful of spinach leaves on the side for a quick and tasty weeknight dinner or weekend lunch. Subsequent squares have also featured caramelised onion (leftover from an upcoming recipe): it's incredibly good but doesn't fit the same quick-and-easy bill.

Although Michael lunched at Bimbo Deluxe in his first week of living in Melbourne, it's taken me 17 months to get my mouth around one of Bimbo's famous $4 pizzas. There have been a few opportunities, but the crush of hipsters at peak times has put me off. And Bimbo Deluxe is relentlessly and grungily hip: a dimly lit bar with big old couches and retro fittings, such as vinyl records decorating the wall. The kids with nonsensical hats and haircuts and the just -too-loud music reminded me that while still in my 20s, I'm old and cranky. Apparently the roof-garden upstairs is brighter and breezier, but it's super-popular and there are rarely spare seats. At 7:00 on a weeknight, the entry level seating is pleasant and roomy enough anyway. Dinner is all about pizza: of the 19 types on the menu, an impressive 11 are vegetarian. (Check out the menu for yourself at their website , if you can navigate around the trendy pictures.) The prices are always good (none of the piz...

Cindy and I had vague plans to cook something on Monday evening, but for some reason she picked up a crazy vegie hot-dog craving while she was at work and we decided to make a return visit to Bowl of Soul so she could get her fix. Unfortunately, they seem to have taken a summer holiday, and we were met with a firmly closed door. We opted for second best: a quick walk over to Albert Park and vegie burgers from Andrew's hamburgers . Alas, they too were enjoying a well-earned January break. With our hunger levels increasing and our Cheap Eats guide at home, we had a quick wander around Albert Park hoping to stumble onto something appealing. And that's when we found Kamel. There were no hot dogs on their menu, but a wide array of vaguely Middle-Eastern tapas plates, at least half of which were meat-free. Score! We had a quick consultation with our waitress, and decided that three of the plates would be about right for two fairly hungry people. After much agonising (it'...

Naturally I was in charge of dessert for our picnic , and I took my inspiration from the Age newspaper that was delivered to our flat that very morning. Inside the vacuous Sunday Life magazine was Karen Martini's free-form apple and peach tart. I was keen on enjoying some stone fruits and the weather was mercifully cool enough to crank up the oven in the early afternoon. But I didn't want the temptation of a pie in our fridge all week so I decided to halve the recipe. This decision caused a minor problem that I didn't anticipate but enjoyed modelling mathematically later. The problem is that volume (the quantity of pastry dough) and area (the size of the rolled-out pastry circle) change at different rates. A half-quantity of pastry, if rolled out to the same thickness as the original, doesn't have half the diameter of the original, it has 70% the diameter of the original. Therefore you don't necessarily want to halve the quantity of fruit. As it happens I bo...

After a few ridiculously hot days, Sunday was a mild and pleasant Melbourne summer's day (an aside: I still can't get my head around Melbourne summer - when the temperature can drop 10 degrees in 10 minutes, nothing makes sense anymore) and Cindy and I were inspired to put together some sort of picnic and head off to enjoy the late evening sunshine. We decided to keep things reasonably healthy (at least pre-dessert): a couple of dips and lots of fresh vegies. I took on dip responsibilities and raided Cindy's bookmarks to find sun-dried tomato hummus and agresto . The hummus was ridiculously easy to make and was the star of the show - the tahini was noticeable without being overpowering, the few unblended bits of sun-dried tomato provided a bit of texture and the lemon juice gave things a little acidic tang. The agresto was a little more problematic - there were too many ingredients to fit into our mortar and pestle and I gave up after a little while and reverted to the fo...

Having done Camy a couple of times , we were due to take Jen and Buttons ' advice and visit Shanghai Noodle House next door. It's somewhat smaller and as a result the service does feel more personable. Lining the walls are coloured pieces of paper listing many of the dishes available, in English and Chinese. Promises of eel and pork liver might put a vego off, but there's actually a dedicated vegetarian section in the pink laminated menu with 36 items to choose from. I find it difficult to place my first order at a restaurant like this - the prices are low and it's difficult to imagine being satisfied with just a $5 plate per person. Besides, there's too many appetising names to choose between! Michael left the decisions up to me and I tried not to dilly-dally. First cab off the rank were the spicy vegetable stir fried rice cakes ($8). I suppose we were expecting three or four fritter-like things consisting mostly of rice - instead we were surprised by this...

Friday found Cindy craving a fix of Chinese-style fake meats, so we met up after work at White Lotus in West Melbourne. White Lotus leads the way following our preliminary explorations of the fake-meat scene in Melbourne, and has the added advantage of being on our side of town. We continued our exploration of their menu: curry 'chicken'($13.50) for me, sweet and sour 'pork' ($13.50) for Cindy and some steamed vegies (pictured above, $12) for the pair of us to pick at. The chicken was great - tender and melty the way good curried chicken should be. The curry was fine, with a good amount of spice and some nice fresh vegies, but I couldn't help imagining how great it would be to find an Indian restaurant that made fake meat curries with pseudo-chicken this good. I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed a good chicken korma. Luckily for me I resisted tasting Cindy's sweet and sour pork until she was eating the leftovers for lunch the next day. Otherwise I could...

Zucchini #3 was devoted to a recipe from Ms Chocolate & Zucchini herself, Clotilde Dusoulier. She miraculously managed to develop a savoury recipe featuring the title ingredients of her blog - pasta with zucchini slices and a sprinkling of unsweetened cocoa nibs. This isn't all that's unusual about the dish. Clotilde also introduced me to the absorption method of cooking pasta. Similar to risotto, the pasta is thinly coated with olive oil in the pan before absorbing water or stock until done. Rather than gradually adding the stock and stirring continuously, most of the stock goes in at once and the pasta needs only an occasional, relaxed stir. The use of stock brings extra flavour to the pasta and I liked adding the veges in to cook with it, making it a one-pot meal. But the real flavour revelation is the cocoa garnish! It adds a depth and darkness to an otherwise mildly flavoured dish, playing the role I'd usually hand to mushrooms. As much as I love parmesan,...

Zucchini #2 was transformed into Ceviz 's lemon zucchini in olive oil , a good side for spanakopita (which included most of the eggs received with the zucchinis). It's a bugger using the oven in this weather but the large batches do well at room temperature, stretched over a few days.