Cookies & Cream Fudge Brownies

The baking bug has hit me again, and I'm always looking for new recipes to try out when this happens. I recently discovered a new inspiration on lifestyle food, Lorraine Pascale on her show "Baking Made Easy". Oh Nigella I'm still a big fan of you and my feelings for you has not change. This is such a easy dump in a bowl, mix and bake in oven and I'm one for easy recipes with no rocket science involve.

Laziness got the better of me and I copied and paste the recipe from the website.

Ingredients

• 165g/5½oz butter, plus extra for greasing
• 200g/7oz dark chocolate, grated or finely chopped
• 3 free-range eggs
• 2 free-range egg yolks
• 1 vanilla pod, seeds only (or alternatively 2 tsp vanilla extract)
• 165g/5½ oz soft light brown sugar
• 2 tbsp plain flour
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• pinch salt
• 154g/5½oz pack chocolate biscuits, such as Oreos, broken into quarters
• icing sugar, for dusting

  Preparation method

  1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Grease a 20cm/8in square baking tin with butter, then line with baking paper with the paper overlapping the sides a little.
  2. Melt the butter in a pan over a medium heat. When the butter has melted, remove the pan from the heat and add the grated (or chopped) chocolate. Leave to stand for a few minutes, or until the chocolate melts, and then stir together. Alternatively, you can put the chocolate and butter in a bowl and melt in the microwave in 25-second blasts, stirring well each time.
  3. Whisk the eggs, egg yolks and vanilla together in a large bowl until the eggs begin to get light and fluffy. Add the sugar in two additions, whisking between each. Pour it around the side of the egg mix so as not to knock out the air that has been whisked in. Keep whisking until the mixture becomes stiffer. Once the egg mixture is ready, pour the chocolate into it - again around the sides so as not to knock the air out.
  4. Add the flour, cocoa powder, salt and a third of the biscuits and stir until fully combined, then pour the mixture into the prepared tin. Scatter the remaining biscuits over the top, pressing them in slightly. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 25–30 minutes. The middle should be very so slightly gooey. Leave the brownies to cool in the tin - the top will sink and crack a little.
  5. Pull the brownies out using the overlapping paper and cut into squares. Dust with icing sugar.

This brownie was such a hit that it went in minutes as soon as I took it out of the oven, it was really fudgy in texture and has crunch to it from the cookies. You can have it on it's own or with ice cream, and both ways are equally good.

City Grill Room - Melbourne CBD

The husband had a craving for good ol' steak with sauce so I did a little search on google, and up came quite a number of results. I look thru each one and decided on City Grill room as advertised on their website they were the "Steak Specialist" so how could I give that a miss.

When we got to the place which is on Lt Lonsdale st, there was a post that states the name of the restaurant so we proceeded to enter and a waitress came quickly bearing menus. I told her I make reservations and she  gave me a big smile and proceeded to direct me to city grill room whose entrance was on a side alleyway. Pretty embarrassing on my part as I should have read that it was a korean cafe printed on the door. From her reaction I'm presuming there were a few first timers that got it wrong too.

So we found the entrance and was promptly greeted by the wait staff, who was pleasant. Found my name on the reservation list and proceeded to show us our table.

We started with entree which was the Grilled Beef Sausage (Boerewors) with chilli sauce on the side, a little plain and nothing fancy about it. I got this as my dear daughter (DD) is a fussy eater and that was the only thing on the menu that seem to entice her, so sausage it was although I could not justify paying $15 for a piece of sausage, yeah you read it right it was one lone piece. In the excitement and shocked I forgot to take a picture of it.


For mains I decided on the lamb ribs with creamy garlic sauce and sides of chips, if my personal trainer was reading this he would not be a very happy at this point, hey we should live on the edge sometimes don't you think? The ribs was really tender and the meat was falling off the bone although I personally felt it did not need the sauce as the marinate was sufficient. So I use the sauce as a dip for my chips, which was just yummy. Also it was not as oily as lamb ribs usually are, although it could have done with a bigger slab.

Tender Poll Dorset Lamb Ribs

Creamy Garlic Sauce & Chips

Since the whole point of going to city grill was for the steak, hubby had the 300gm porterhouse with mushroom sauce and salad on the side. As you can see he could not wait to sink his teeth into it, even before I can get a picture of it. He gave it the thumbs up, meat was tender and cook according to his request.

300gm Porterhouse

Would I make a return visit? I highly doubt so as the price does not justify the portions.




Location:

City Grill Room

535 Little Lonsdale Street
Melbourne, Victoria

Banana Chocolate Chip Streusel Muffins

Since I work full time the only time I have to cook or bake is usually during the weekend, where the Nigella inside of me rear it's cooking head. I enjoy doing it to me it's a hobby, time where I de-stress although some might not agree with me. I get my inspirations from cooking shows, magazine, cook books and even from family or friends who have tried recipes that looks really good.

Initially I wanted to make a banana bread which was posted on my cousin's facebook page but after clicking on the link I discovered there were other delicious easy recipes and decided to try this one instead. I got this recipe from Rachel's Ray website really easy one bowl dump all ingredients in, mix and bake.

It taste really good, I could not wait to try it as soon as I took it out of the oven, the whiff of banana emitting from the oven has such a comforting feel to it. I will definitely be trying other recipes from her website, look out for them. In the meantime I'm going to enjoy another muffin.

French Food Art - Lygon St

Personally I'm not a fan of french food as the thought of eating escargots makes me squimish and their menu a little too fancy for my liking. The only reason why I ended up at this restaurant was I had one of those vouchers from a deals website. It was a three course meal for 2 adults.

The Decor

The Menu

We started with entree, I had the Five Spice Calamari which was serve with rocket. The calamari was done beautifully although the rocket could have been served with a little dressing as it was dry. Hubby had the Tiger prawns, Château de Quinçay, garlic, flat leaf parsley and he completely wipe the dish clean so I knew he truly enjoyed it.

Entree - Tiger Prawns

Entree - Five Spice Calamari

For mains I chose the Riviera bouquet linguini, Château de Quinçay, garlic & wasabi cream, it was a little letdown as I did not get any hint of wasabi and the it was way too creamy. Hubby's Rump steak (200g) au poivre, potato stacks, pink peppercorn sauce which he truly enjoyed as the steak was cooked just as he liked it medium rare.

Main - Rump Steak

Main - Linguini

I decided on both the dessert selection, and chose the White Chocolate Mousse although I was not a fan of white chocolate but the dessert was pretty limited and it was a toss up between the mousse or the creme brulee. The mousse was light and airy and the Sticky Date Pudding was moist and not too sweet.

Dessert - Sticky Date Pudding

Dessert - White Chocolate Mousse

Overall the service was good but will I make a return visit to this place again? Maybe not in a hurry.

They do not have a wide selection on the menu menu here.

Address:

122 Lygon Street
Carlton, VIC 3053

Ayam Masak Merah

This is one of my favourite dish and whenever I'm back in Singapore visiting mum this is one dish I always get her to make. I'm being biased here but I think my mum makes the best ayam masak mearh (literally translated it means chicken coked in red due to the colour of the chilli). I got the recipe of her and decided to try it, my friends who tried it gave it a thumbs up although I must say it lacks my mother's touch. Here's the recipe if you want to give it a go.

Chilli Paste:
10 dried chilli soak in water
1 tomato chopped
1 onion chopped

1kg chicken pieces
2 tbsp Tumeric powder
Salt and sugar to taste

Method:

• In a blender blend all the ingredients for the chilli paste.
• Marinate chicken with tumeric and a little salt.
• Heat wok with oil and fry the chicken in batches till brown dun have to be fully cooked as the chicken will be cooked further with the spice paste later on.
• Once all the chicken has been fried, remove the excess oil from the wok and leave about 4tbsp to fry the spice paste.
• Fry spice paste till fragrant, then add chicken and cook over slow fire until chicken is done.
• Season with salt and sugar to taste.
• Serve with rice.

Begedil - Meat Patties

The best thing about Begedil or patties, are you can use whatever meat or seafood you want. In this instance I use mince lamb, although I've tried it with other variations like prawn or salmon which I will share in another post.

This is a popular dish to serve at dinner parties as an entree or finger food. I always get tasked to make this whenever I'm invited to functions that requires you to bring a dish. A very simple but delish recipe to make that is love by both the adults and kids.

Ingredients:
250gm mince lamb or beef
3 large potatoes chopped and boil
2 stalks spring onions white part only chopped
2 tbsp fried shallots
1 egg yolk
1 egg beaten for dipping
salt and pepper to taste

Method:

• In a bowl mash the boiled potatoes, add the mince meat, the spring onions, fried shallots and egg yolk. Season with salt and pepper.
• Shape into balls and flatten to form a patty 
• Heat wok with oil, dip the patty in the egg and fry till golden brown.

Sayur Lodeh

Last weekend I had some friends over for dinner and I decided to have a malay theme night. Although I now live in Melbourne, most of what I cook are influenced from where I came from. I was born and bred in Singapore and we are famous for our multi cultural choices in food. And this dish is one of them.

I'm not one for complicated and requires lots of effort in a recipe but it's 2013 and I wanted to stretch my culinary prowess a step further hence getting my hands into tedious recipes.

Except for making the spice paste this is a rather straightforward recipe.

Spice Paste:

2 tablespoon chili paste
2 teaspoon shrimp paste (belacan)
2 mediums onions
4 garlic cloves
2 stalks lemongrass
17 small dried shrimp, soaked in hot water to soften
1 inch fresh ginger
1 teaspoon corriander powder
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon cumin
1 tablespoon chili powder
4 tablepsoon oil

Vegetables:
1/2 head cabbage
2 carrots
1/2 turnip
250gm firm tofu
150gm green beans
1 and half cup coconut milk
2 cups water

Method:

1. Place all the spice ingredients in a blender except for the oil and blend.
2. Combine coconut milk and water to form a thin liquid. Cut all the vegetables.
3. Heat oil and fry blended spice paste till fragrant careful not to burn it.
4. Add coconut and water mixture and bring to a gentle boil.
5. Add all the vegetables and cook. Season with salt to taste.
6. Serve with lontong (rice cakes) or rice.

Oreo Truffles

This is the easiest recipe to make, all it requires are 3 ingredients.

Ingredients:
One packet oreo
1/2 cup cream cheese
150gm dark chocolate buttons (feel free to use white or milk)

Method:
Crushed the oreo till fine crumbs in a food processor. Pour out into a bowl and add the cream cheese and mix well. Form into round balls and put in fridge for about 30 mins.

In the meantime, place the chocolate buttons in a bowl and melt over a pot of boiling water making sure that the bottom of the bowl does not come into contact with the water.

Dip the round balls into the melted chocolate and put it back into the fridge for the chocolate to set.

Sardine Spiral Curry Puffs

So I started the New year with making this delish curry puffs, as I had a huge craving for it and it's not something readily available in Melbourne. They have asian restaurants and cafes that serve curry puffs but not this particular spiral ones which I find taste a lot better in my opinion.

I must say this are not the easiest thing to make and there are so many steps to it. When I was looking for recipes many times I was put off by the many complicated steps that were required. Needless to say after reading the first few lines i was put off trying to attempt it. So i make it my resolution this year to jump into the deep end and attempt it.

It was really finicky to fill and roll the pastry and then shape it. The look of the curry puffs do not do justice to it's taste though, so when I was enjoying this little morsels of goodness I look pass it's disfigurement. In saying all the above I've since learn from the mistakes that I make from another blogger and will be attempting this recipe again in the near future.

Recipe:
Water Dough 
300gm plain flour
1/2 cup lukewarm water
pinch of salt
one beaten egg
1tbsp oil

Method:
Mix everything in a bowl to form a dough.

Oil Dough
150gm plain flour
100gm shortening

Method
Mix everything in a bowl to form a dough.

Filling
Can of sardines
1 onion chopped
1 tomato chopped
chilli paste
salt and pepper to taste

Method:
Heat wok with oil, fry the onion and tomato till soften. Then add the chilli paste and fry till the chilli is fragrant. Add the sardine, season with salt and pepper to taste.

It's a little hard to explain the method to make the dough therefore I've added the link to a youtube video on how to Dough method

My very first blog

So after much persuasion from family and friends I decided that one of my goals for 2013 will be to start a blog. Most of what I'll be blogging about relates to food and more food. Journalling my journey thru restaurants and home cooked meals.

In the days, weeks and months to come I'll be putting in recipes that I've tried previously and new ones that I'm brave enough to try. As well as mentions of restaurants, cafes, etc that I have frequented and tried out. Till the next post take care and keep warm.