Monthly Archives: November 2011

JACS @ Applecross

Posted in Breakfast/Brunch, Coffee & Desserts, Food by

It’s been a while since I’ve last been to the Applecross breakfast scene. There’s just too many food places to check out in so little time. And like they say – too many choices too confusing. I was pressed for time this Sunday morning having woken up late and I originally planned on whipping up a cheese and tomato sandwich at home. But that did not appeal much to me anymore as soon as I saw the loaf of bread (I casually work in a bread bakery so go figure). So I ventured out somewhere closer to home and dragged Auntie C with me onto Ardross St.

JACS has been a family favourite of ours since the first time we went there. Good food, friendly service and very nice atmosphere. It was a very fine day with a cool breeze so we sat at the alfresco area. It’s always a good idea to head there early as the place fills up very quickly by 9:30am or so.

I would usually stick with the big breakfast and a skinny latte but this day I had something different and I was very happy with my choice – a toasted truffle brioche with mushroom ragout, poached eggs and spring onions.

I thought it was looked small when I first saw it but halfway through I felt very full already because the brioche was filling. I definitely underestimated the power of that brioche. The mushrooms were button mushrooms and enoki. The ragout had a strong vinegar taste at first but it mellowed out after a few bites so thought it worked well with the brioche. The eggs were poached too soft and runny for my liking. Overall, it was a good breakfast with my usual coffee. Would definitely order that again just to break away from the usual bacon and hashbrowns.

Auntie C had the salsa poached eggs made with 3 poached eggs, ham, tomato and avocado salsa, rocket and 2 sourdough toast. A very refreshing breakfast I must say. The salsa was just divine and the saltiness of the ham gave the whole dish that flavour.

We left with very happy tummies. And oh, our next mission is to dine for lunch.

My rating: 8/10

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www.jacsapplecross.com.au

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Little Miss Cupcake @ Kalamunda

Posted in Coffee & Desserts, Food by

Cupcakes! Who doesn’t like cupcakes? Honestly, I’ve moved on to loving cupcakes instead of just liking them; so much so that I found it very frustrating to find a decent cupcake here in Perth because I can’t find any! My philosophy with cupcakes is that it should first tantalise the eyes and then entice the tongue. After all, cupcakes are supposed to be fancy. Fancy little treats. Fancy but not over-the-top fancy. Mind you, I don’t like sinking my teeth in neon coloured icings.

I have been searching and searching for cupcake places in Perth and it just so happens that I stumbled onto one that has a shopfront that I can access. Some cupcake makers I found are either home-based, delivery only or markets only or shops that are too far away. Little Miss Cupcake came up on my Google search and, since it had good review and was not too far from my office, I decided to give it a shot. I hopped onto my car during my lunch break and drove up to Perth Hills, Kalamunda Village, to be exact. I walked along the village’s main strip searching for this cupcake shop and I was overjoyed when I stepped into the shop. It was not only a cupcake shop but also a baker’s heaven. Plastered in pink, Little Miss Cupcake also sells bakingware, cookbooks, utensils, aprons and other fancy kitchen stuff. It was like I stepped into marshmallow land.

Okay, let’s dive into the cupcakes…

Sticky date cupcake. The cupcake was very moist (and a little sticky) and you can definitely taste the date. But you can also definitely taste the sodium bicarbonate. There are only a few places where they can mask the taste of baking soda in sticky date pudding/cupcakes and Little Miss Cupcake is definitely not one of them. I’ll let it go though because the butterscotchy icing was divine. It was a very good surprise to start my day.

Apple custard cupcake.  I was a little hesitant to get this flavour at first because I found apples rather strange to be put in cupcakes. But I was curious so I bought it anyways. And it turned out to be a wonderful surprise. The flavours worked really well – chunky apples for texture and custard for moisture. This one here is Auntie C and Auntie J‘s top pick.

Cookies and cream cupcake. Judging from the first look I knew the cupcake was going to be dry. And I was right. The outer perimeter of the cupcake was on the drier and crumblier side but it’s quite moist in the middle. My theory is that the towering size of the cupcake needed a longer baking time leaving the edges more well done than the middle bit. It was quite a dense cupcake too filled with chocolate chips and Oreo bits. You definitely get that Oreo taste and that icing magically turns it into an enjoyable little (and filling) treat.

Carrot and walnut cupcake. I was very pleased to find out that this carrot cupcake is not all too greasy like the ones you get in most places. Definitely very moist and not overpowered by cinnamon. The only deal breaker? Sultanas. Not to worry; it wasn’t loaded with sultanas. I am just biased against sultanas because the only time I would eat a rehydrated and baked dried grape is never. Well I could always pick out those little dried grapes and munch on the cream cheese frosting instead.

Choc overload cupcake. Is anyone else getting a sugar high just by looking at that cupcake. I think it’s really called Chocolate Mud Cake but I just call it choc overload because it is overloaded with chocolates. Moist chocolate cupcake with chocolate frosting and malteasers and snickers. I’d very much love to say yum because I love chocolates. But there is a line that I draw and this cupcake has just got way too much chocolates.

Vanilla butterfly cupcake.  I saved the best for last. Who would’ve thought that this simple cupcake is the one I loved best? Light and moist cupcake with mock cream in the middle all the way to the top and top crust cut off then stuck back into the cream for that butterfly effect. It is simple yet it hits all the right craving spots.

There are other flavours such as raspberry and coconut, chocolate butterfly, sprinkle with sprinkles…but I restrained myself in getting only 6 big ones and a mini one for the road. Be warned that these are very pricey cupcakes. A bigger cupcake costs somewhere between  $4.25 to $5.50 and a mini one costs $2.00 (and they are literally one bite). Also be warned that if you intend to buy a lot of these little cakes bring cash. There is no eftpos facility in the shop which I found very inconvenient since they are charging top prices for the cupcakes. I had to ask the staff to ring up the prices on the till before bagging them just to ensure I had enough money to pay for them.

Little Miss Cupcake is one that I consider to be one of the better cupcake makers in Perth. Definitely better than Magnolia Bakery in New York (if you must know I was very disappointed with Magnolia). The only thing holding them back is the price. Their cupcakes are expensive little treats so, personally, they are to be consumed sparingly.

My rating: 7/10
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www.littlemisscupcake.net.au

Recipe: Stewed tomatoes with ham and egg

Posted in Food, Recipes by

I have, admittedly, been eating a lot of tomatoes lately. Once in a while I get this craving for some acidic taste such as tomatoes hence I stock up on fresh tomatoes, as well as canned ones for those lazy days.

A few months back I bought these 2 mini tagines that I have yet to use. They are so tiny there’s hardly anything you can fit in them but I bought them regardless because they were so cute. It must have been a dream but I woke up one Sunday with this idea to make breakfast with the tagines. I was tossing back and forth in bed the night before thinking of what to use the tagines for and i think this led to me dreaming about the tagines.

I woke up all pumped up and fresh from my dream ready to make breakfast. I searched the whole house for those little ceramic cookware to no avail. Someone in the house has a habit of packing things up and then when you actually need it no one remembers where they have packed those things. Sigh. Everyone else was still sleeping so I was hesitant to wake them up for the sake of my little tagines.

But fear not. Due to my need of having the kind of breakfast I want (otherwise it’s going to be a very long and hard day) I rummaged the house and found a very tiny saucepan. It was bigger than the tagine I originally planned to use but it was better than nothing. And since it was bigger I had a fuller breakfast than I originally intended either. It made me so full and sleepy I swear I could’ve went back to bed.

Anyway, the breakfast I dreamt about consisted of tomatoes, ham and egg. I intended to stew the tomatoes with ham and then topped with egg. I was going for a rustic and chunky kind of breakfast and I was pretty happy with the results. You can, of course, eat this with Italian bread or sourdough or plain toast but I went on a bagel craze phase so I ate it with a bagel (and straight out of the pan might I add).

Ingredients

1/2 can Annalisa brand whole tomatoes
1 slice of ham, either left whole (fairly thick about 1/2-inch) or sliced into bite-size pieces
1/4 cup red wine
sprinkle of thyme (dried or fresh)
1/2 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 egg

Method

1. In a small saucepan sautee the ham in a little oil until browned. Then add in canned tomatoes, red wine and thyme. Let it simmer on low heat for about 1 minute.

2. At this point adjust for seasoning with salt and pepper before adding the egg.

3. Once you’re happy with the taste, add in the egg by gently cracking it in the middle of the pan. Cover the saucepan and let the egg cook until the yolk is to your desired doneness.

4. Serve and enjoy.

Recipe: Cherry tomatoes and bocconcini salad

Posted in Food, Recipes by

A few days ago, Auntie J’s friend gave us a big box full of cherry tomatoes (the bigger variety). Day after day we’ve been stewing them, dumping them in omelettes, eating them raw and however else one can eat cherry tomatoes.

I was walking by the dairy section of a supermarket and a lightbulb flashed above my head! I haven’t had bocconcini in a very long time. Why not add this to the cherry tomatoes and turn them into a refreshing salad? So that is exactly what I did. I am hardly a cheese connoisseur but bocconcini I like. It has a very mild cheese taste, not as smelly as other cheeses and, let’s face it, the spongy texture and the bite-size pieces add to the fun of eating them.

Ingredients

15-20 pieces cherry tomatoes, either left whole or cut into halves depending on their size
1 tub bocconcini (about 15 pieces in the tub)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
sprinkle of garlic salt
freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. In a salad bowl, dump in the tomatoes and bocconcini.

2. Add in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic salt and black pepper.

3. Toss the mixture until evenly coated.

4. Serve and enjoy.

Lemon Espresso @ Redcliffe

Posted in Breakfast/Brunch, Coffee & Desserts, Food by

Finally a good enough cafe close to my office. While I do enjoy my usual drive up to Swan Valley with blasting music for some afternoon coffee and sweets I really do not mind having a cafe so closeby because it is so convenient that I can afford to go, drink/eat, and make it back in under 30 minutes.

Lemon Espresso has various spots in Perth – Cottesloe and Claremont at the top of my head. I haven’t been to either of those cafes because I I work in woop woop and by the time I get back to civilisation shops are already closed. So I am very happy to know that there’s actually a decent spot for coffee near the airport. One day while cruising along with my boss she showed me this cafe and told me how much she enjoyed sitting outside eating lunch during summer. After my 2-month long hiatus on coffee I’ve decided to give in to temptation and had a cuppa. Not only a cuppa but also a small belgian chocolate fudge brownie. Let’s face it, coffee is better with sweets and sweets are better with coffee. It cost me $5.80 for both and minimal fuel usage.

Lemon Espresso uses Five Senses coffee and this is one brand I like. It sits on top of my list for better coffee together with Fiori and Cimbalino. But of course other factors determine just how good a cup of coffee is. The barista at Lemon Espresso is good. Silky smooth latte that was of the perfect temperature. The standard latte is served in a smaller glass so the first sip was a bit strong. But after a bite of the brownie I have fallen in love with coffee all over again. The brownie is not as rich as the ones I usually get at Margaret River Chocolate Company (that usually gives me a sore throat coz it’s too rich) but is also enjoyable. Size is substantial for those trying to go on a diet like me but have relapsed. It’s big enough to be enjoyed with the smaller cup of coffee yet small enough so you don’t feel all too guilty for eating sweets when you should’ve been going to the gym.

Hot food is quite limited seeing as this cafe caters for busy business people. They have the usual grab and go sandwiches and paninis, sausage rolls and pies and homemade muffins. I had their chicken, avocado, sundried tomato and swiss cheese panini for breakfast the other day. Cost me $9.80 for a seemingly small panini but turned out to be very filling. I only ate half of it and took the rest home for my breakfast the next day. The turkish bread they use is insanely tasty!

Having this cafe in the airport area seemed strange at first because you would expect cafes in this area to either be nonexistent or mediocre. But Lemon Espresso brings a new breath of fresh air to the airport precinct so come along and hang out here if you’re headed over east and had time to spare. The cafe is open from 7am to 3pm though so if you are travelling domestically within those times this is something to consider.

It’s just at the entrance to the new hkew Alpha building so you get that cool airconditioning when seated inside after strolling under the blazing sun. Sitting outside is cool too because you are overlooking a water feature. An added bonus is that this location is not overly busy. You can have your own quiet time with the paper and magazine just like what I love to do to get a break from starring at the computer or you can talk about business without having that feeling that other patrons are prying on you because the cafe is spacious enough.

Recipe: Duck a l’orange

Posted in Food, French, Recipes by

Following on from my adventures with the humble duck, after much deliberation, I have decided to turn the duck breast that I butchered from the duck frame into a classic duck a l’orange dish. I was thinking of making something with a mustard based sauce but I had no mustard left in the fridge. What a shocker. I did have oranges though because it’s that time of the year when oranges are insanely sweet so I’ve stocked up on them.

In case you’re wondering about the time lapse of 10 days between this post and the previous post where I attempted to make duck confit with mushrooms and potatoes, it did not take me 10 days to finally cook the duck breast. It would’ve been off by then and I would’ve just threw it out. But no. I do not waste duck meat. Duck is like my holy grail and I would never waste something that special.

Enough of that and onto the recipe – which was quite easy to make actually. The only thing missing from this dish is the duck skin. I had a skinless breast because I used the skin to gather the duck fat for my duck confit. You can easily use any oil to panfry the duck breast but I couldn’t bring myself to throw out the duck fat until I’ve used up all its potential so I used the duck fat for frying too.

Duck a l'orange

Ingredients

1 tablespoon caster sugar
1 tablespoon water
1 orange, juiced
2 teaspoons vinegar (I used apple cider); could be more depending on the sweetness of the orange
1/4 cup duck or chicken stock
1 duck breast
salt and pepper
oil for pan frying

Method

1. Heat oil in a pan. Season the duck breast with salt and pepper. If the breast has the skin on fry it skin side down first to render the fat on medium heat; otherwise, whichever side goes first doesn’t matter. Cook the breast until just cooked inside or with a hint of pink (whichever you desire). About 5 minutes each side for a well done breast. Set it aside and let it rest.

2. In a small sauce pan, prepare the simple syrup but melting the sugar and water and letting it boil until the syrup is amber in colour. Then add in orange juice, vinegar and stock and let the sauce boil until reduced to half the quantity. At this point, taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning. It should be as sweet as it is sour so add more vinegar/sugar if you need to. If you find the sauce a little too thick thin it out with a few tablespoons of water. Switch off the heat.

3. Slice the rested duck breast into 1-cm slices and arrange them on a plate. Spoon the sauce over the breast.

4. Serve and enjoy.

My labour of love for duck

Posted in Food, French by

My love for anything duck is beyond words. It wasn’t until today though that I have actually attempted to cook with it. I had the impression that duck is hard to cook so I leave it to the pros to tingle my senses.

Last week I went to a cooking class at Cook Learn Love led by former Bistro Felix head chef, Helen Pratt. The class was for French bistro and I was excited to learn how to cook duck. We went through the step by step of making duck confit with potato gratin for the mains and that photo on the left is the finished product. I have used that as a basis for my first attempt with duck confit. The potatoes – well I didn’t have enough time to make the gratin so I made something much simpler to go with the duck. So here’s my journey with the duck that took 2 days to make and 5 minutes to consume…

Friday arvo. I frantically left the office to make it in time before the butcher closes. I got there with 15 minutes to spare. I asked if they had duck and all they had was frozen duck so I had to buy it regardless since I don’t know anywhere else that sells non frozen duck. And because I have a big family I also bought 2 extra frozen duck legs. The duck and duck parts sat on my kitchen counter for the rest of the night.

Saturday morning. The duck was already defrosted although some parts still had icicles. We’ve been having hot and humid weather lately so I don’t know why it wasn’t already completely defrosted when I got up early that morning. So before work I carved out the 2 legs of the whole duck plus the breast essentially leaving just the frame of the duck that was going to be the stock base. I have never butchered a duck before but I think I did pretty well. I then cured the duck legs with salt and fresh thyme and stuck them back in the fridge. Then I went to work and did not come back until about 5:30pm.

Saturday night. My oven’s busted so I had to go to my friend’s house to borrow her oven for roasting my duck frame. I left the skin and all on the frame because I needed the duck fat for the confit and I was reluctant to buy the fat separately. About 20 minutes later I showed up at my friend’s doorstep with a headless duck sitting in a pan. We had a great dinner while the bones were roasting and the fat was dripping. The roasting went well…until I almost  set her house on fire. The neck was sticking out a bit and the oven was small so it was burning quite quickly. Thick smoke came out of the oven when I opened it to check on the duck but luckily the fire alarm didn’t go off. I saw that enough fat was rendered so I tipped it out onto a bowl and continued roasting the bones until they were golden. That took a good 2.5 hours and then I wrapped the poor duck and took it home.

Sunday morning. I woke up early to start making the stock that was to be reduced to become the sauce. One stalk of celery, half an onion, 1 carrot and the roasted duck frame into a pot of cold water. I let it boil and then switched the fire to low for a bare simmer. Two hours into the simmering, the stock started reducing and the house was filled with duck aroma. I left for church and enlisted Auntie C to keep an eye on it.

Sunday arvo. After church and lunch and other what nots I came back home to find my stock half reduced. It was looking good. I started preparing the duck confit by setting up the slow cooker, dumping in the duck fat and putting in the cured duck legs that have been washed off of the salt and patted dry. While that was cooking I went about doing some housework.

Just a little after 5pm I started reducing the stock to make it super concentrated. Then I prepared the other ingredients that I had in mind to go with the dish. In some ways I have combined what I learned in the class and what I have eaten at Cafe de la Presse in San Francisco into my version of duck confit.

Starting with the potatoes:

2 potatoes, sliced very thinly in round shapes
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 /2 teaspoon fresh thyme
enough duck fat to sauté the potatoes

I scooped out some of the duck fat that was in the slow cooker with the duck legs and heated it in a pan. Sauté the potatoes. Add in the garlic salt and thyme. Set aside.

Then with the mushrooms:

1 cup sliced brown mushrooms
pinch of salt
oil or more duck fat if you so desire

Heat oil in a pan and sauté the mushrooms with salt for about 1 minute. Just do not overcook them so they retain their shape. Set aside.

By the time I have finished preparing the potatoes and the mushrooms, the stock has reached a very concentrated level so I switched off the fire and started preparing the ingredients for the sauce:

2 cloves garlic
1/2 onion sliced
1/2 thumb ginger, sliced
1 orange, juiced
1 tablespoon vinegar (I used apple cider because that was what I had at home)
1 teaspoon sugar
the reduced stock
oil

Heat about 1 tablespoon of oil in a saucepan. Add in garlic, onions and ginger until the onions are caramelised. Then add in the orange juice, vinegar and sugar. One thing I learned at the cooking class was that the sauce needs to be as sour as it is sweet. So I tasted the sauce at this point and was happy with the sweet and sourness. Let it boil for about 1 minute and pour in the reduced stock. Continue boiling until the sauce has reduced further and looks thicker than it was before. The reduced stock was already very salty so I did not need to add any seasoning. Set aside.

At this point, the duck legs were already at their stage of readiness. That means the meat was already falling off the bone with the slightest touch. I took them out of the slow cooker and onto a plate ready for some frying goodness. I took about 2 ladlefull of duck fat from the slow cooker and heated it in a frying pan. Once the fat is hot fry the duck legs skin side down until they are golden and crisp. Do not fry the meat. One the the legs just fell apart so some of the meat was fried and it was not good. It turned dry and hard. So with 3 good legs and 1 “photoshopped” leg ready I started plating up.

Potatoes on the bottom.

Mushrooms in the middle.

Duck legs on top.

Drizzle with the sauce.

Some fancy artwork with the sauce.

A sprig of thyme here and there.

Et voila! Heaven on a plate.

Just another day in Perth with The Queen

Posted in Adventures, Perth by

I know this post should’ve been made 1 week ago but I have to be honest with you – life got crazy with work, expiring coupons/voucher that I had to use, social life. Phew. It’s just one of those weeks where life caught up with me.

Another thing I was busy about was chasing Her Majesty, The Queen. No biggie. This was just another day in Perth where we get to see Her Majesty, The Queen and HRH Prince Philip. Except it was a very big deal. A very big deal to me because I willingly waste my time chasing celebrities/famous people that I like if I know they are going to be in the same city as me. For other people as crazy as I am and the city of Perth, the 29th of October 2011 is one to remember. After all, how often do you get to see the Queen in person and hear her speech live? Not that often right? So pardon me for getting way too excited. And also because Perth never gets to be chosen for anything.

No I won’t go through the arguments of why monarchy should be kept or abolished like some people do because, quite frankly, I have mixed emotions about this. But seeing the Queen brought back so many happy memories from my Uni days. You see, I used to do a course called European Studies back in the olden days. We were taught about European history, European governance of selected countries including the UK, European economics, international laws and things like that. At some point in time during the course, my thesis partner and I became obssessed with UK politics because there is so much history (and let’s face it, I’m a sucker for history) and it was so interesting that almost all our research work were based on this topic. People at home think I’m crazy for wanting to go see the Queen who wouldn’t even have a fraction of a clue as to who I am but only my thesis partner would understand my joy of seeing Her Majesty in person. Really.

You may be wondering by now why The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh decided to set foot in our city. Well there is something called CHOGM (the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting) and the venue for such a meeting this year was Perth. I know nothing about what went on in that meeting and it really does not interest me. All I know is that one of the issues they talked about was abolishing the law that only males can inherit the throne.

For the rest of us non politically inclined people, the fun started on 29 October 2011 at 9am. If you were an early bird it could’ve started at 6am. Perth hosted the Big Aussie BBQ in a park overlooking the river to welcome the Queen and Prince Philip to our city. Auntie C and a little cousin went with me because they, too, are a tad crazy. By the time we got to Downtown Perth it was already quite busy. Sausages are sizzling and people were already lining up along the railings to catch a glimpse of royalty. It was a fine day I might add. A fine day to start with that turned out to be a very hot day. We stood in the burning sun for 2.5 hours squashed amongst everyone else and for a minute there I swear the railings were going to topple over and I was going to be crushed.

So finally after the VERY long wait the Swan Bells started chiming indicating Her Majesty’s arrival. It all went by so quickly. As in in a blink of an eye. Security cars went ahead of her and then there she was. The Queen riding down along the streets of Perth waving at us. With a big camera on one hand, I waved back with the other oblivious to the fact the she doesn’t really care who I am. For a moment there I was awestuck. And starstruck. In front of me was a lady who has been the head of state for decades, obviously aged with history written all over the lines on her face. And I caught a glimpse of her for a mere second. The photo below is the sole photo I have of her because, like I’ve said before, it all went in a flash and Prince Philip was blocking her face.

Then she took to the stage and gave her only public address to the people of Perth. With the crowd and the very open air I could hardly hear what she was saying but it all ended with a roaring crowd.

And that was it. She headed back to the UK that very same day. This could well be her last visit to our city and all I could be was happy. Happy to have been part of history.

A little update

Posted in Perth by

Hi all, I trust that you’re having a fantastic Friday (or Thursday if you’re on the other side of the world).

I just want to thank you for being patient with me while I was trying on new themes, colours and layout for this blog. I wanted it to have a clean yet fun look but I was not truly happy with the old themes I’ve used. Finally, after months of frustration, I have decided to fork out some moolah and purchase a theme that provides what I am looking for. I am in no way savvy about those web design stuff so I had to rely on what’s out there.

I’m really happy with the new look of my blog and I hope you are too.

Have a fantastic day ahead!