Yesterday at lunch...

I love a little bit of Montrachet for a leisurely weekday lunch.

Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch or Dinner in West End

I am almost a little reluctant to put this out there, for fear that Jam Jar will be overrun on the weekends like some other favourite Brissie breakfast spots. Alas, I cannot keep this gem from anyone, it would be most unfair. We've had dinner at Jam Jar twice (very yummy), and last Sunday was the second time we've had breakfast/brunch there, and all meals were exceptional! The service is always speedy and super-friendly, and I love the atmosphere of the enclosed, graffitied courtyard. Walking past it on the street front you'd never think this place was here. This is one of our new regular places to go, absolutely love it!
I recommend the Benedict, a fresh juice, and haloumi is a must, of course!
Jam Jar   138 Boundary Street, West End . Ph: 07 38443395
Super cute logo, too!

Ole!

I didn't take any photos because, let's be honest, I was too busy snarfling (this is now a word) down the food. This place has only been open a week, and it did a roaring trade tonight. We just happened to drop in on the way to the theatre. Their website's not quite up and running as yet, but their Facebook is.
This is a Spanish Tapas Bar, and the food was absolutely amazing - every single dish was beautifully put together and unbelievably flavoursome. We had whitebait & calamari, patatas bravas, the scallop and pork dish, and a black sausage and pork belly dish. I drank a delicious red Sangria and they have a small range of Spanish beers in stock. The service was super-friendly and very quick. We mentioned we were in a rush, and the food came about 5-10 minutes after ordering. We were in and out in about 45 minutes, absolutely sated. We will definitely be back to try their Paella, and I will exercise some self-control and take photos next time.
Ole is located at Shop B12 Little Stanley Street, South Bank.
This has very much whet my appetite even more for Barcelona in a few weeks!

Afternoon tea

Lunch

Dad made a slow-cooked veal roast (2 of the above) with the yummiest roast potatoes, spaetzle and 4 types of vegetable with the delicious gravy. YUM!!

Zumbo Magic

We spent last weekend in Sydney, and took the opportunity to make tracks to the patisserie(s) of Adriano Zumbo, he of Masterchef fame. After catching the ferry to Balmain and walking the 1.5km to the patisserie we were greeted with a lineup of about 40 people - a line that hardly moved at all...
Not ones to stand in line for hours, we decided to push on to his newer cafe/patisserie in Rozelle, a further 1.5km walk. No one can say we didn't earn our sweeties that day! There was still a bit of a line out the door, but we probably only waited about 15 minutes, so we were ok with that.
We chose a passion fruit tart, a pear & almond tart, and "one of each" of the available flavours (10) of macaroons. I can't say that macaroons look terribly enticing to me, but Adriano is well-known for them, and we were there, so we thought "why not".
My skepticism was entirely unfounded - the macaroons were delicious and the texture of the pastry was such that it felt like it melted on the tongue. The downside of this is that I may never be able to enjoy macaroons made by anyone else. (Sidenote: I love strawberries and hate anything 'strawberry-flavoured', but the strawberry & cream macaroon was delightful!)
The tarts were also completely out of this world. Beautiful buttery pastry with a hint of cinnamon (oh, how I love thee). The creamy texture of the passion fruit tart was offset by the slightest bit of tartness which also beautifully complemented the subtle passion fruit taste. On the other tart, again the pear taste was subtle and only slightly sweet, with the toasted almonds adding a really nice crunch to the mix.
I am so sold on this guy! :) Definitely worth the walk.

Sunday Brekkie

Work's been crazy this week, so haven't had time to post. We had our Summer shoot on Thursday, but it was so full-on that I unfortunately didn't get to take any behind-the-scenes shots. I'll post the finished images once they're in stores, around middle of August.
Anyhoo, just wanted to share a few pics of breakfast one of my school friends cooked us last Sunday. Also his impressive collection of Johnnie Walker, and Asahi and Tiger beer glasses.

The Maiden Cook-in

I used my cast iron skillet for the first time last night. It was just a fairly boring meal: steak, veg, potatoes - I thought I should keep it simple for my first try. I pre-boiled the potatoes before putting them into the skillet; seared the steaks on the stove, then put the whole thing in the oven. I over-cooked the meat a little for our personal taste (usually medium-rare, this was more medium-done), but it was nice and tender. I'm keen to use the skillet again soon!

The Pasta Master

My brother and his wife had us around for a very yummy home-made pasta dinner on Sunday night. He is really getting good at this:

Riverside lunch at Aqua Linea, Teneriffe

I haven't done one of these in a while, but I couldn't let this lunch pass without comment. I've eaten at Aqua Linea a bunch of times before and we celebrated my dad's 60th there a few years ago, but this was my favourite meal I've ever had there, I think.

For entree I had the beautiful pork belly - I would walk over broken glass for this! Ton had the pan-fried bug tails which he finished before I had a chance to try them, so be assured that they were also delicious. For the mains we shared this Aussie take on the paella with Moreton Bay bugs and soft shell crab. It was so yummy that it deserves two photos for this post. Absolutely delicious, if you eat at Aqua Linea I definitely recommend this dish!

Friday morning tea

Chantelle from Little Things came in this morning and brought along this very tasty date and walnut loaf.
The recipe is here. She's off for a few weeks to Canada and the US - Bon Voyage!

Red Lantern, Surry Hills

For my birthday dinner this year we went to The Red Lantern in Surry Hills. As luck would have it, Luke Nguyen was there that night and we were able to have a chat with him - very happy to report he's as lovely in person as on his show. The food was absolutely beautiful - taste, texture, to look at, everything. Sadly the lighting in this restaurant is less than ideal, so apologies for the graininess. We also forgot to photograph our entree, but be assured, the dishes were delightful! Photos courtesy of Ton's sister. It's not a cheap night out, but definitely worth it for a special occasion.

Tiramisu

Yummy tiramisu at Sugomi in Bulimba. Almost as good as my nan's... ;)

Easy Haloumi-Veg Gnocchi Dinner

We never seem to get home before 8pm these days, so I try to have an arsenal of dinners in my repertoire that are easy and quick after a long day at work and exercise. This super-easy vegetarian dinner takes less than half an hour to cook, and despite its lack of animal protein my other half loves it.
1. Fresh ingredients! I had 3 zucchinis and 3 nice big Swiss Brown Mushrooms, but you can substitute other vegetables that you have handy/you prefer - I know my friend Andrew can't stand mushrooms, so if I was to cook this for him, I'd substitute them for eggplant. One medium red onion - I prefer these to white or brown onions; they are sweeter and less eye-watering. And garlic is a must!
2. Bring water to the boil, add a dash of olive oil, dump store-bought gnocchi into pot. Set timer for approx. 9 minutes.
3. Roughly chop onion, into the fry pan with plenty of oil. Add a dab of honey to caramelise the onions. Cook until golden.
4. I like to chop my vegies into big chunks, so that they still have some bite in the middle and don't go mushy from cooking. Brown zucchini and mushrooms. Add either tomato paste like I did here or chop up a fresh tomato.
5. Chop haloumi into smaller bits; as this is quite salty, I prefer to use the haloumi in small bits to distribute the saltiness, and also so the bits of cheese are cooked through and soft in the middle, whilst being brown and crispy on the outside. A dash of lemon on the raw haloumi prior to cooking if you wish.
6. I use this ingredient in about 90% of my cooking. Some freshly ground nutmeg. Yum. Salt and pepper to taste, and ground paprika if you like. Roughly chopped garlic is a must. I like to add this towards the end so it doesn't cook too much and leaves quite a strong garlic taste. If you're not a garlic fiend like us you should add this in at step 3 or 4.
7. Drain gnocchi, plate up. Garnish with some fresh sweet basil leaves. Done! Eat.

Turkish in Brisbane - Caravanserai in West End

A couple of weeks ago we had a lovely meal at Caravanserai at Dornoch Terrace in West End. I have never been to Turkey, so I cannot speak to the authenticity of the food, however, I can speak as to the general tastiness of it. We were a group of 8, so we got the regular banquet for all of us - a mix of vegetarian and meat. The entrees were a mix of dips and what I guess is the Turkish equivalent of Italian antipasti - marinated artichokes, mushrooms etc. The mains included kofta (meatballs), chicken skewers, haloumi, couscous, seafood pilaf and yummy veges and salads. The meat was tender and juicy (unlike another Turkish restaurant I've been to at South Bank that shall remain nameless); seasoned to perfection, with sauces that were full of flavour and just the right amount of spiciness. Sadly I didn't take any photos of the food; I was so intent on eating ;)
I only remembered to snap a few pics towards the end of the night - love the way the (yummy, albeit a little sweet for my taste) Chai latte was presented (right image). The dessert encompassed standard Turkish fare - baklava, Turkish delight, some other things I don't remember but were very tasty. 
We were seated out the back balcony which is lovely and breezy, with a great atmosphere - a little dark for my personal liking, but also cosy.
This is the second time we've eaten here and we will definitely come back. Very handy on-street parking, too.

When in Noosa you must stop by here

Apparently the locals would like to keep this place to themselves, but I cannot, in good conscience, deny anyone the pleasure of dining here, so I must divulge. If you find yourself in or near Noosa Heads, you must take one night out to dine at HUMiD. Sadly my phone camera isn't great, but here's a little peak at our lovely dinner.

The new pasta maker

In the last few months my brother has discovered his hitherto unknown talent for making pasta from scratch. When we last baby-sat my nephew we were treated to Turkey & sun-dried tomato herb ravioli.
For Christmas dinner he stepped it up another notch and made fingerfood-sized prawn mousse ravioli with prawn bits & seeded mustard, served up on ceramic spoons. YUM! Recipe slightly adapted from the original recipe in Your Place or Mine book by George Calombaris and Gary Mehigan of Masterchef fame.