james test

Even though we hit the jackpot last time with De Orchid , Cindy and I thought we should try out Spicy Junction (which was closed for renovations at our last attempt). The menu promised a range of vego curries for the same kind of prices that most of the local Indian shops offer. I decided to sample three (enough to ensure that we'd both get lunch the next day): the vegetable vindaloo, the navratan korma and the malai kofta. They were all... orange. I was surprised by the orangeness of it all, and Cindy was surprised by the kick in the vindaloo (which was supposed to be mild). The vindaloo and the korma were both full of the kind of small vegie cubes that instantly remind me of McCains frozen vegetables, even if they've been freshy chopped. The tiny chunks also tend to remove any scope for differentiation, so that each mouthful is just orange 'vegetable'. I much prefer chunks of plainly identifiable potato or cauliflower. The kofta fared a little better - creamy a...

I recently and hesitantly volunteered to be the seminar coordinator in my research lab. It needn't be a particularly difficult or time-consuming job, but it may challenge my initiative later on when the supply of guest speakers that my seniors have been supportively pushing my way finally peters out. Then it'll be time for me to begin nagging my co-workers to speak! With this in mind, I decided to butter them up early with two kinds of buttery biscuits at our first gathering. On the right are buckwheat butter cookies with cocoa nibs , originally posted and raved about by Molly of Orangette . They are buttery indeed, and the buckwheat flour adds an interesting texture. However I found that the earthy flavour of the cocoa nibs got a bit lost, and I wasn't won over by their sandiness (though Clotilde no doubt would be). On the left are peanut butter cookies from Smell & Taste Are My Memory . I found my dough to be too gooey to create the pretty cross-hatches on Lao...

Here's another vegan-friendly convenience food, this one an impulse purchase from Allergy Block . Tofutti are the makers of the excellent Better than Cream Cheese , so I had high hopes for their soy icecream sandwiches. These have probably travelled a long way to get to my mouth, so I was a little disappointed yet not at all surprised to see quite some freezer burn going on. The mint choc-chip icecream was of the quality I'd expect to find in an average commercial icecream like a Choc Wedge : not really creamy but with a nice soft texture. The mint flavour was pleasantly subtle and happily there was no gaudy green food colouring to be seen. I was initially a bit disappointed by the sandwiching chocolate biscuits but soon found them to be quite addictive. The individually-wrapped portions are quite small so there's opportunity for self-restraint. However, I'm finding that I can't help going to the freezer daily for another one...

Between the East Brunswick Club 's promise of vegan parmas and Sarah's recommendation of Fry's fake schnitzels, I developed a hankering for some crumbed fake meat. When we dropped by Piedemonte's after breakfast, it was actually Tivall brand vegetarian schnitzels that I spotted in the freezer. These go straight from the freezer to the oven and are ready in about 15 minutes. I was pleasantly surprised by the crumbing - not flaking off everywhere, nor too oily, and crisp - hooray! The 'meat' is pretty good too, though I think I'd be a little unsatisfied by these if I just squeezed over some lemon juice and dug in - the parma treatment was most worthwhile. All it took was a spread of tomato paste, a sprinkle of grated cheese, and a couple of minutes under the grill. The crumbing was still crisp! On the side are carrots, parsnips and asparagus from CERES , roasted in olive oil, salt and pepper. The little fronds on the end of the asparagus blackened a...

We decided to give Matt a break from the super-urban vibe of Tokyo with a bike ride through some of Melbourne's inner-city greenery. Of course it wouldn't be a trip worth taking if there wasn't a fine breakfast at the end of it - luckily CERES markets (with the recently rediscovered cafe ) connect nicely with the Merri Creek Trail . We've covered the pleasant atmosphere in our last post - kids and dogs once again ruled the roost, and things were a little busier this week, with the sun shining through a bit more strongly. Nevertheless, we found ourselves an outside table and settled in to peruse the menu. I was tempted to go back for a second shot at the baked eggs, but the late start had left me starving enough to tackle the big vego breakfast: "eggs how you like them, served with oven-roasted mushrooms, spinach, marinated tofu, beetroot chilli relish and organic sourdough toast brushed with herb-infused olive oil." It was a fairly tasty brekkie - particu...

After some food and chatter, Matt revealed the gifts he'd been carrying around for us over the past few days. There was an enormous graphic novel for Michael and pretty decorated origami paper for me. Then, to my surprise, there was more! One by one, Matt revealed shiny package after shiny package - samples of all kinds of junk food. He explained that he wanted to show us something from his everyday life that was different, and I knew what he meant. When I spent a semester studying in upstate New York I loved slowly browsing the supermarket on my own, marvelling at the bright and unfamiliar convenience foods. (There were nine brands of breakfast cereal that included marshmallows! Nine!) This gift was perfect, especially given the high ratio of chocolate to other stuff. I won't go through them all in detail now - they'll get a post each as we gradually eat them, and I think they deserve a tag of their own!

Cindy and I must have watched at least one episode of Nigella's slightly creepy cooking show, because we chased down her chili con carne recipe for future reference. The visit of my brother on a quick detour from his life in Japan was a good enough excuse to have a crack at it ourselves. Obviously we had to make some changes: the recipe seemed designed to feed about thirty people, so we cut things right down; out went the ground beef and in came some TVP; and we decided to change the plan from the cornbread topping, to our trusty cornbread muffins . I think the main reasons we got a bit excited by Nigella's chili were the preponderance of spices and the addition of cocoa to the mix. We were expecting something a bit more exciting than our previous efforts, with a more complex set of flavours. Unfortunately, the cocoa was barely discernible and the combo of spices really didn't add much to our simpler Moosewood recipe . It wasn't bad by any means, but it didn't...