Noosa Food Festival

Last month we visited one of our favourite places, to do one of our favourite things - Noosa (which is sentimental to us because it's where we got married) to go to the Noosa International Food Festival. What a great weekend. We often go up to Brisbane for Mothers Day and I'm always envious when I see the ads for the Food festival the following weekend, so this time, we decided to move Mothers Day and take my Mother in Law for a weekend away. We started off the weekend on Thursday evening with a fun, light hearted, food themed concert. The QLD Virtuosi orchestra, along with special guests were a great source of entertainment, and this was almost the highlight of the weekend. It certainly kicked the festival off to a great start.

On Friday morning we breakfasted at our wedding reception spot, Berardo's on the Beach. It was a great experience as usual with amazing service, delicious food and what a view! It is a fave of ours, but also, being in one of the most stunning locations, a fave of some of the weekend guests to Noosa, the Chefs. Not only did we spot Neil Perry walking into the restaurant and sitting down at a table when we were outside chatting on the boardwalk admiring the beach, but we even featured in his Instagram snap of the occasion! (See us in the foreground with Noosa beach and National Park in the background!)

Saturday was our day to hit the festival and the rain that had sprinkled on Friday afternoon cleared up, leaving the only memory of it as the squelchy mud beneath our feet! We spent a lot of time glued to the main stage with chef after chef showing off their beautiful dishes. David Thompson from Nahm restaurant, which we were lucky enough to visit on our trip last year to Thailand, prepared a spicy stir fry, and Guy Grossi and Jacques Reymond also demonstrated some fascinating techniques.

Another highlight of the festival was High Tea by the River. In a sun drenched marquee with views of the Eric Pernoud (a local patissier) and Adriano Zumbo. What a delicious spread! We had different flavoured eclairs from Pernoud, ranging from traditional flavours to some distinct and unexpected ones; Cheesy bites from Ian Curley and then Zumbo's macarons and a pineapple and popping candy verrine that popped and tingled in our mouths. We certainly enjoyed everything that we were served and the Chefs were very gracious coming round to visit the guests at the table. I think Zumbo probably had his photo taken with every guest that attended!
river, we were treated to some great sweets and savouries from Ian Curley,

All in all, Noosa gave us another fabulous weekend and we left with more memories of a great festival and town!

Jamie's Ministry of Food - LIVE

 A while ago now we managed to score tickets to see my hero Jamie Oliver.  Really the saga begins when the email came through on a Thursday announcing that tickets would go on sale at 9am Monday. Imagine my anticipation and excitement along with nerves - would I be quick enough, would I remember (lol how could I forget), would I forget my credit card at home, would it work!

Finally Monday morning came and I grabbed two tickets no problem. Unlike some concerts and shows we only had to wait a week and the following Sunday we were lining up outside the venue at the Carriageworks in Sydney to be let into the pretty intimate venue.

Jamie was using the opportunity for an audience of food lovers, media and corporates to announce the winners of the Ministry of Food Pop up competition and raise awareness of the work ministry of food do. It is an admirable charity that we got a sense of on his series Jamie's Food Revolution in the US. He now has branches opening up in Australia too including the pop up which was announced to be in SA.

Although it really was a promo show he still did a lot of cooking. I was amazed that he was standing there live in front of us. It really seemed like he was just being projected from a TV screen. He is so comfortable in front of the audience and his great sense of humour as well as care and respect for the ingredients is so obvious. We were lucky to see him cook with some of our other Aussie chef "friends" Toby Puttock, Ben O'Donoghue and Anna Gare - all long time friends if Jamie as well as supporters of his charity.

Whilst I didn't get my picture with him or a book signed, it doesn't seem like Jamie was here doing a tour for the fans or the glory. It was really about the charity and gaining the recognition for it and the sponsors Woolworths and Good Guys. Great cause and it was such a coup to see Jamie kind of up close and personal after watching so many of his shows and cooked so many of his recipes.

Wham Bam Thank you Nahm!

Nahm..... the 32nd best restaurant in the world and we were THERE! And it was fabulous - a great culmination of a week of fabulous Thai feasting. Nahm's menu was inspired by David Thompson's studies into old Thai cookbooks. He also produced a cookbook called "Thai Street Food" and we definitely tasted some refined versions of the tasty street vendor fare. How could you choose from a 6 page menu, so we went for the set menu - a selection of canapes for entree, followed by one of each of the soup, salad, stir fry, curry and relish, and then dessert. Our eyes were a bit bigger than our stomachs, but it was delicious. 

Canapes

Our Menu

The canapes arrived at the table to kick the meal off. They were fresh little bites. The smoked fish, peanut and tapioca dumpling reminded us of a dish we'd not been so fond of earlier in the week - this was obviously the right way to cook tapioca! The salted threadfin perch with ginger, chilli and green mango on betel leaves was a flavour combo to be enjoyed in one bite. 

This was so spicy it nearly blew our mouths away, and had us giggling for a while, whilst sipping on our Thai cocktails and beer. We cooled down our mouths with some watermelon and mango dipped in toasted coconut before tackling the prawn and coconut wafers with pickled ginger.

Main

For main, we had the one of all the different sections of the menu:

Salad - Salad of fresh water crayfish with pork and Asian pennywort

Soup - Clear soup of roast duck with Thai basil and young coconut

Relish - Minced prawn and pork simmered in coconut cream with young chillies, red shallots and coriander with fresh vegetables and deep fried cured carp

Curry - Aromatic curry of wagyu beef and sweet potatoes with cucumber relish

Stir Fry - Scallops stir-fried with spring onions and chilli

The wagyu beef curry was definitely the highlight. Melt in your mouth slow cooked falling apart meat infused with delicious spice flavours. The scallops was a close second. Perfectly cooked and tasty!

Dessert

We really didn't need dessert! Sooooo full! But this is what we had 

Lychee in scented syrup with Thai Cup cakes

Sweet Thai wafers with poached persimmons and golden duck egg noodles.

The sweet Thai wafers were definitely an adaption of the street food that we had tried earlier in the week. These wafers though were crispy and creamy and juicy! 

The lychee was cool on our tongues and refreshing. The cup cakes were also a reminder of the markets throughout the week with the surprising (but not as surprising this time) salty, savoury spring onion mixture in the middle of the sweet batter.

32 in the world..... Amazing (but we rekon some Sydney restaurants are better!)

Gerard's Bistro, Brisbane: "Can I eat this everyday?"

Oysters with Pomegranate

When we were up in Brisbane the other day, we booked early enough to get a table at Gerard's Bistro. I had been scouring the internet, twittersphere and blogs for restaurant ideas and I'd come across a few posts about Gerard's which it turns out is the "Best New Restaurant 2013." The menu looked a bit out of the ordinary with the Middle Eastern twist on the dishes, which caught my eye, and the realistic prices also made me think that we were on to a winner!

Slow Roasted Wagyu Brisket

Winner it was! I loved the passion that all of the staff brought to their descriptions of the food, and the casual but classy atmosphere. We were watching a group next to us tucking in to what turned out to be one of the house specialties  the slow roasted Wagyu Brisket, and we couldn't get past it, so after a couple of oysters each and a charcuterie plate, we were brought our board with the melt in the mouth, tender beef and interesting veggie sides.

Spiced Date Cream

One comment from the table was "Can I eat this every day?" Yes....It was that good!

After polishing off that lip licking deliciousness, we got a dessert for the table to share - the spiced date
cream. It looked stunning and finished off a gorgeous meal perfectly whilst still allowing us to remember the piece de resistance, the gorgeous Brisket. We'll be back again the first opportunity we can get!

Fab Crab

Before...

I am not normally a big crab eater. I love the taste, so am happy to use crab meat in recipes and munch on a soft shell crab sushi roll or crab cakes but for a full crab in it's shell I really have to be in the mood for the fuss. Recently when in the US, the Boiling Crab Restaurant came highly recommended, and a bunch of us from work decided to make the trip. The first highlight of the evening was when were picked up from our hotel, not in a Maxi-taxi that we'd ordered, but instead a stretch limo! Oh, the irony! Of all places to be arriving in a limo.....From the sublime to the ridiculous!

Crab in the bag!

After bibbing up with full frontal heavy duty bibs, the food started to arrive. At a restaurant called Boiling Crab, you have to of course have crab. We tried King Crab Claws and Dungeness Crab, as well as Shrimps (commonly known by us Aussies as King Prawns), Corn and Cajun Fries. Rather than plates, they arrive in large plastic bags full of delicious sauce drenched seafood. You dig into the plastic bag and just chuck the shells on the table. Sounds messy? It was!!! I am not shy of getting into a mess in the kitchen, or at the dining table, but this has to be the messiest meal I've ever enjoyed. And enjoy we did!

...After

My colleague, also a foodie, who regularly frequents this restaurant, had a sixth sense of how much to order so the piles of seafood that arrived at the table which seemed like we'd never get through ended up being the perfect quantity! We feasted until we were crabbed and prawned out, cracking open the shells and sucking the juicy flesh from claws! Fabulous crab in a fun place where I didn't mind the fuss!

Gie her a Haggis

I don't know if you know this about me, but I'm originally from Scotland. Us Scots are a proud bunch and love to party, so what better occasion than a Burns Supper, the celebration of Scotland's national poet, Robert Burns, to get back to my Scottish heritage with some festivities and food.

The real purpose of Burns Night for Scots overseas is the opportunity to eat haggis, the infamous dish traditionally encased in the stomach of a sheep. In the olden days, haggis was a poor mans' dish. The innards, typically lungs, of the animals were bulked out by oatmeal and heavy spiced to disguise the grim flavours of the off cuts and innards of the animals. Nowadays, especially in Scotland, where there were limitations on using some parts of the animal due to mad cow disease, we are much more choosy of what we stuff into our haggis and it wouldn't be any different to what you would find in a sausage. The casing too, is now similar to a sausage casing rather than being the stomach of the sheep. The spices and shape though still remain, to take us back to our roots.

Talking of roots, haggis is traditionally served with specific root vegetables, neeps and tatties - translated that is mashed turnips (or swede actually) and mashed potatoes. Typically, as whisky lovers, it's also served with a whisky sauce or just a splash of whisky poured over the meat to add some moisture and flavour.

One of the most important traditions of a Burns Supper is having the haggis piped into the room by a kilted bagpiper and the address to the haggis, originally written by Robert Burns, being recited. At our Burns Supper we were true to tradition. The sounds of the bagpipes resonating around Glebe would have been heard all up and down Glebe Point Road, probably confusing the locals dining in other restaurants! We were too busy enjoying the dramatic spearing of the haggis during the reciting of the Ode to a Haggis, and the shots of whisky to toast it (any excuse!).

"Auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware; 

That jaups in luggies:

But, if ye wish her gratefu prayer,

Gie her a Haggis"

(extract from Robert Burns, Ode to a Haggis)

MasterChef Professional: Being a Winner!

Me and my Mate Marco

I won!!!!!! I don't normally win things but, apart from the lottery, there was nothing better I could think of that would be better than winning a Pre-screening of MasterChef Professionals, which started last Sunday. So off we went to Fox Studios to see the kick off of what promises to be "the most challenging food competition yet." Of course, I've been looking forward to Marco and Matt putting the pros through some gruelling challenges, so it was pretty exciting. What I had failed to remember in the excitement of winning something, was that Marco and Matt were also going to be there answering questions. With only another 20 or so people there there was plenty of opportunity to hear from Matt and Marco on Australian food culture, MasterChef behind the scenes, favourite moments from the series, George and Gary ability to let go and Marco's reputation for making Gordon Ramsay cry. What a great afternoon and an amazing opportunity to meet an amazing food great (oh, and Matt Preston!)

Food: Transforming America's Table

Food: Transforming America's Table

Food: Transforming America's Table in the Smithsonian museum of American History had been open only for a month or so - just in time for our visit to Washington DC. It was a real highlight of the trip to become acquainted with some of America's celebrity chefs from the early days, and to see some of our favourites from top chef cooking with Julia Childs' early in their careers!

Julia's kitchen was replicated looking like she'd just walked out of it a few minutes earlier and her infamous recognisable chortle resounded around the place as if she was doing a demo right there!

Julia Child's Kitchen

Another fascinating exhibit case had appliances from the ages. It was the fondue set that caught my eye having just had an experience at a fondue restaurant on the West Coast. A crepe pan, pasta roller and Dutch oven  were displayed here again, perhaps to highlight the European influences to food culture in the US.

After about an hour in the food gallery, I dragged myself away and I decided I really should see the star spangled banner as a more traditional take on American history before immersing myself in the other sights of Washington DC and enjoying some of the modern food culture at the city's restaurants shaping the new food history!

Food Resolution

The end of the year is a good time to reflect on the year past and gear up for next year.

2012 was my year to master fish. I wouldn't say I am quite a master but I do have coral trout, scallops, bugs, salmon, snapper and whiting under my belt. I am no longer fearful of the fishys.

This year I received my amazing Kenwood mixer. We experimented with sausages and now have a few sizzlers up our sleeves for summer BBQs. I tried some great desserts in the Sweet Adventures Blog Hop, attended my first pop up restaurant hosted by Kylie, Audra and Mindy of Masterchef fame, learnt and feasted during an amazing trip to Adelaide for Eat Drink Blog 2012 and discovered some new favourite recipes from my wonderful collection of magazines and books on our new food bookshelf! We are now set up for great success in 2013.

Armed with the Kenwood and some great new cool books from Jamie Oliver, Andy Allen and Gordon Ramsay we are heading well equipped into 2013. What will 2013 bring? MasterChef Pros is just around the corner to keep me occupied! Health kick, at least in Jan, more fresh produce to cook with and in winter I am going to augment my soup repertoire with M(i)sch(i)ef soup kitchen with an attempt to post some recipes! So, with that, let's crack open the champers, clink your glasses! Happy New Year and here's to 2013!

Eat Drink Blog 2012: My Top 5 Highlights

Last week was the wonderful Eat Drink Blog 2012 Conference in Adelaide organised by a fabulous South Australia based group of bloggers. The bringing together of like minds for a weekend has certainly been one of  the highlights of my blogging career, as it reinspired and energised me to lift my blogging game. Of course, I could walk through the days one by one, but since we'd all be asleep by the time the plane touched down in Adelaide, I thought I'd pick the top 5 learnings to share.

1. Sydney pulled the market short straw
I don't quite know how I've made it to Adelaide on a few occasions but never been to the Adelaide Central Market. It's a bit like Central Station in Sydney, that is, not quite in the centre, but now that I know about it, it will be the centre of my next visits to Adelaide. What happened to Sydney in all of this? We ended up with Paddy's Market, selling cheap souvenirs, while Adelaide has this great hub filled with hundreds of vendors collected under the same roof selling their speciality products at what seemed like reasonable prices, creating a real community feel whilst supporting the farmers and growers.

2. Don't gush
Diane Jacobs, an expert in food writing who has written the food writers/bloggers bible, Will Write for Food, (which I can't wait to get my hands on) was the keynote speaker. As well as many other nuggets, her key advice was: don't gush... It's boring. I guess I knew that already, but do have a tendency to rave about things I love, and it would be very easy for me to gush about the Eat Drink Blog Conference, but I'll keep that in check. When I receive the book I have on order right now, I'll be putting my new found food writing knowledge to the test!

3. Write the recipe ingredients in the order they'll be used
One of the themes running through a variety of presentations was that keeping it simple for readers is the key. Readers and, more importantly, our recipe triers, don't want things to be too complicated, or they'll just go elsewhere. I hadn't really actually thought that people would really be trying my recipes, but in case they are, I'd better make them clear. One of the simplest ways to do that is to list out the recipe ingredients in the order they appear in the recipe. I can put that one into practice straight away!



4. Email subscribers are like gold

Email subscribers are the loyal friends who have requested blog posts straight to their inbox. Instead of having to go seeking through the facebook feed, competing with their friends wedding pics, the next fun event, they have opted to be sent the posts each week to distract them from work, and therefore I might actually get a look in! I had never thought about it like that till Jules from the Stone Soup's presentation. By thinking about what I am wanting my readers to do when they get to my blog, I can hopefully make it a little simpler for readers to engage when they arrive!

5. There really is too much of a good thing

Who says you can't get enough of a good thing? I love food and tasting everything I can! The Eat Drink Blog Conference 2012, however, actually pushed me to the limit! There were so many tasty offerings provided for us to feast upon by the generous sponsors: Breakfast from Red Door Bakery, Lunch from the market producers who came in on their day off to feed us at Adelaide Central Market, Coffee from Breville, A Mexican feast from the Hilton, Chocolate fountains from Providore, cheese from Barossa Cheese Company, cakes from the Cupcake Table to mention a few that I can remember! I think it's clear that I'll not make the grade as a competitive eater, but I had a great time trying!

Thanks again to Lambs Ears and Honey; The Hungry Australian; Eating Adelaide; Travelling in MaryJanes; She Cooks, She Gardens; The Natural Foodie; Playing House for organising a memorable, insightful but also fun weekend! And the South Australian Tourist Board for showcasing their beautiful state!

MasterChef Live

I am the biggest MasterChef stalker groupie fan as you know, so I was so excited to attend MasterChef Live yesterday. It is the best of it's kind with so many cooking demonstrations, in between the exhibitors, we were hopping from stage to stage watching MasterChef contestants past and present sharing tips and tricks they have learnt and learning from the real life Sydney chefs.

I have several new little techniques that I'll try in our kitchen now - deep frying enoki mushrooms seems all the rage with the Season 4 contestants. We love mushrooms, and this little technique to add some crunch to a plate sounds like it will be great for summer entertaining!

Darren Robertson's sherbet is something I'll definitely test out at home. After a meal last year at Ritual where a cardamom sherbet lined the plate, it's been something I'd love to put my own spin on, and now I know how to make it!

Prompted by a fabulous meal at Ms Gs on Friday night, chicken was on my hubbies mind, and a causal conversation with Audra Morris sparked a few ideas for him to try for a fried chicken coating to rival Audra, Mindy and Kylies "3 Pepper Chicken" from their pop up, or Dan Hong's "Naked Chicken" that we loved the other night!

Duck from the Three Blue Ducks

Of course, it wasn't just picking up on techniques for the kitchen. We came home with lots of heavily discounted booty (including pre-sale of MasterChef 2012 winner, Andy's new book "The Next Element" and our bellys full of some amazing food - the highlight for me being the Three Blue Ducks slow roasted duck with Asian greens which fell off the bone and melted in your mouth - a perfect dish for eating with a plastic fork (and I hate eating with plastic cutlery at the best of times!) whilst sheltering from the light drizzle!

Waterside Inn

Croc at Sunset

Wow! This time last year we were off to Darwin! Our trip to the Northern Territory gave me a different food perspective, not an eating experience, but an interesting insight into some Bush tucker tricks employed by the native indigenous Australians. On our river cruises along crocodile infested water, it was surprising to hear about the variety of foods that were available in the river and on the banks, in addition to the crocs themselves.

Melaleuca Paperbark Trees

After catching the barramundi that are prolific in the Kakadu waters, the Melaleuca, paper bark was used to wrap the fish and give it distinctive flavours. One of the most interesting aspects was that different trees would give off different flavours - thus the indigenous people could have their choice of "seasonings."

Pandanus Tree

There were a few other anecdotes that sparked my interest: Pandanus, another edible waterside offering, provided fruit and leaves to wrap and scent food, as well as weave into baskets. The plentiful lotus flowers and lily pads around the river systems were popular, as seeds and roots could both be eaten.

Lotus

Finally (or rather the last thing that sticks in my brain!), an alternative fishing method was to grind up the mangrove leaves into a poison to float in the water. The stunned fish floated to the surface and the indigenous people could collect them much easier!

As I reflect now a year on, from the comfort of my living room, with my fridge and spice rack a few metres away, and a supermarket across the road, it's fascinating to transport myself to another world where food stuffs come from the earth and ingenious methods are employed to enhance basic meals.

Mountain Range

Grilled Chicken Skewers

This weekend we went camping out in the Watagan Mountain Range, to try out a few new purchases of ours. The first was our new Jeep "Nancy," a fun 4WD soft top, which we were keen to try on a quick weekend away to see how much she holds. The second was our new camping stove (or range!) which we'd purchased at the camping show earlier this year but hadn't used it yet. Our previous camping cooking appliance was a fabulous "Fire and Ice" BBQ/Esky combo which served us so well for many years. Last year in Darwin whilst camping though, we experienced the convenience and compactness of the gas camping stoves and decided to upgrade. We got ourselves a fabulous Colemans 3 Burner range.

Veg, potatoes and patties (for the kids)

We are known for our gourmet camping menus and this one was no different. We started off with some honey soy chicken skewers. Normally on the BBQ it would take about 20 mins to warm up and then about 30 mins to cook chicken but these were cooked through in about 15 mins. Our main was sirloin steaks with veg stir fry and potatoes. Again the stove did a great job. We had the grill plate over half for the steaks and used a fry pan for the stir fry on one of the other burners. What a great dinner to christen the stove for many more excursions to come!

Barnacle Bills

Scallops Deling

On a recent trip to Cairns even though short we of course had to pay a visit to his favourite restaurant Barnacle Bills. When he was living and working there it was a real institution and he knew and hung out with the some of the family of the family owned and run establishment. It is a classic seafood restaurant on the esplanade with a fabulous menu and generous portions. We started off with a share plate of scallops and pork belly. Yum! What a delicious combination.

Seafood Curry

For some reason I had been craving curry for dinner and unusually for me I chose a seafood curry from the extensive picks of seafood options. I typically don't go for dishes where the seafood flavour has been masked by a strong sauce but this one was perfect. There was just enough heat but the sauce really complimented the perfectly cooked fish and seafood. After filling up on entree and main full of the flavour of the sea there was no way I could fit in dessert, but a great evening and can't wait for our next trip to TNQ so we can pay another visit!

Top of the Pop(up)s

On Monday night we had a very unique experience at Bar H, a little stylish contemporary bar in Surry Hills. Tonight wasn't a normal night there but one when the kitchen was taken over by Mindy, Audra and Kylie - our favourite MasterChef girls! I was ecstatic to get a booking after feeling like I had left it a bit late for the "first in best dressed" booking policy so Audra's confirmation made my day! And how glad I was - such a fun evening and great food. It is a strange thing meeting the MasterChef girls. We know them so well like friends we have shared every evening for the last few months with so it didn't feel surprising when we walked in and there was Audra greeting everyone while Mindy and Kylie smiled and cooked in the open plan kitchen.

The service was fantastic and drinks were here in no time for my hubbie and I to toast to the meal to come. The little bowl of caramelised nuts and tiny crispy fish reminded me of snacks in the Philippines and Japan so I couldn't stop going back for another nibble! The girls greeted everyone and announced a family style menu. First up was a 3 pepper chicken served in a bag for everyone to dig in. The pepper hit was great and what succulent pieces of meat. We polished off our bag in no time and soon it was an amazing slow cooked beef short ribs in an Asian sauce with some Gai lan stir fried with garlic and chilli - some of our favourite flavour combinations. No sooner had we polished off the beef, but a Mapo Tofu (Grandmothers tofu) was presented. It looked fabulous, but I was worried I was going to have to eat this one alone, as Cam isn't a big tofu fan. I gave him a bit to try and he was hooked! The spiciness with the Chinese sausage and pork mince complemented the tofu perfectly and we finished our plate.

With our mouths still with that slight chilli burn, we were presented with an individual dessert with a number of components. There was a lychee granita - so sherbetty and with such great lychee flavour that it cleansed the palate beautifully before the black sesame ice cream and the coconut tapioca with fried won ton slivers to give a crispy texture. All the flavours worked so well as a great end to a fabulous meal - or so we thought!

Just before we got kicked out so they could prepare for the next sitting finally came a Szechuan Salt Chocolate Truffle and a home made fortune cookie! Now it truly was the end, and the girls calmly saw everyone off before I'm sure they rushed back to the stove to prepare for the next round!

It really was a night to remember, the food, the wonderful hostesses and the fun!

High Steaks

Best Steak in the World?

This is supposed to be the best steak in the world. Actually whoever made that claim must have travelled far and wide. I have never been to New York but I have heard that they do some passable steaks there. Our Chilean friends reckon they do a pretty mean steak in their homeland too. We have first hand experience of Steak Florentine - a monster Italian t-bone and it would be hard to top that. My hubbie's steak, however, is the hardest to beat if you ask me! We've been on camping trips in the middle of nowhere and had some of the tenderest, juiciest steaks cooked on our camp BBQ. So good is he at steak cooking that I had to write it into our vows that he promise to cook it for me just the way I like it for all our lives!

Balcony BBQ Steak

I am always confident he will cook it perfectly rare to my taste and he times them impeccably so they all arrive at the table together no matter how you like it cooked.

The steak with the lofty promises was great - perfectly cooked and with some great char patterns but nothing can beat a good steak coming off the BBQ on our balcony with some homemade sides of veg for a weeknight treat.

On another exciting note, I got a mention in Pocket Change "Best of the Web" last week! It was such a privilege to be included in their collection of some awesome looking blogs!

Fresh from Freshwater

We were fortunate the other day to have an fantastic meal at Pilu at Freshwater. Although it was evening and being a big group, in the interior of the restaurant, we still got to take advantage of the view of the waves by night arriving on a blustery Autumn evening! We had the Sardinian tasting menu with matching wines, Pilu's specialty degustation. The highlight course for me was the opener, Smokey Kingfish, pomegranate and red vein sorrel, but all were a delicious progression of Italian cuisine. Such a delicious meal that all our party were raving about!

Instead of talking through it course by course I thought the pictures would speak for themselves!

Sarap in Parap

I was looking at my photos from last year's Darwin trip and was inspired again! The markets in Darwin were one of the highlights of a trip to NT, and we weren't even there for the famous Thursday/Sunday night Mindl beach markets. We headed to the Saturday morning Parap market on recommendation of Marion from Masterchef's and our great foodie's friends, to find the Green Papaya salad and Laksa. The markets are an ecclectic mix of Australian, indigenous Australian and Asian, all surrounding one block of a suburb on the outskirts of Darwin.

We had been advised to look for the woman with the big wooden pestle and mortar bashing the green papaya salad together. I guess we found her, and if we didn't (there seemed to be several large pestle and mortars on various stalls) it was certainly a salad worth the hunt. I regret not picking up one of the green papaya shavers (an implement I'm sure I could substitute with one of my mandolin slicer attachments, but it's just not the same!) as the salad was so expertly and quickly thrown together, with the shards of fruit, bashed up chilli, fish sauce and peanuts (I'm sure there's other secret ingredients). When I placed the order, I was asked how many chillis. I think we got two in our "medium" salad - I didn't want to be too blown away! It's a shame I wasn't in Darwin long enough to figure out how many I do - chillis that is - I think I could have gone hotter, but good to start off safe.

The market was bustling and surprisingly, despite the heat, the queue for the laksa was a few people deep. Not only was this the busiest, so the people were crammed in waiting for their turn to order and pick up their pots of spicy soup, but it was situated right in the heart of the market with the heat from the stalls and the day making us a little hot and bothered.

When ours finally arrived we escaped to a cool table under a tree to cool down, but the sweat didn't stop pouring off the brow with the heat of the laksa broth and the kick of the papaya salad. This, however, was sweat of contentment!

PS. Sarap means Delicious in Tagalog (the language my family in the Philippines speaks) I couldn't help thinking "how appropriate" the whole time I was in Parap markets!

Fire it up!

We are very prepared campers. We bring everything including the kitchen sink - well a folding one that is! This time we had a packed car full on an Easter weekend excursion to Mudgee. BBQ, stove, fry pan.... All the essentials for a weekend with some fantastic camping and cooking under the stars. With only 1 meal  to go and too much gear for us all to fit in the car on the way home, we sent some back with our fellow camper who was leaving early. We really did miss Jace after he left on Easter Sunday morning as we'd packed our portable gas BBQ in the boot of his car leaving us only with a little gas stove to prepare our final breakfast. Little did we know that the gas canister was about to run out leaving us stranded, not cooking with gas!


Luckily our smouldering fire from last night was still radiating heat so we went back to basics. Our coffee pot bubbled away in the embers and we cooked pancakes, bacon and eggs holding the frypan steadily over the burning logs dodging the flames as they flared up! Good to know we can go back to basic survival to make sure we don't miss out in our coffee in the morning!

Bicol Express

Bicol Express

One of the specialities of the southern Luzon province, Bicol, where we spend a few days on our recent Philippine Trip, is the spicy food. JB from J.B.Jose recommended we try the Bicol Express, which was exactly to our taste buds. It featured on the menu of most of the restaurants we frequented but one of the highlight meals of the trip was on our last day in the area at Kozina Tyche where we ordered Bicol Express along with several other stand out dishes!

Pork Sisig

Along with the speciality spicy pork and chilli, Bicol Express, which wasn't a disappointment, we ordered Sizzling Pork Sisig, a rich combination of minced pork, calamansi juice, served with a soft egg; Chicharon, crispy pork crackling; Crab Relleno, a stuffed crab dish, and Pinaputok na Cream Dory Fish, a beautiful looking dish of fish wrapped in banana leaves, which 

Pinaputok na Cream Dory Fish

The dishes were presented beautifully, looked and tasted delicious, reinforcing that Bicol was a great place for sampling typical local cuisine.