Category Archives: French

food stuff relating to French flavours

The Loose Box @ Mundaring

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WA’s most decorated chef Alain Fabregues has announced his retirement and the sale of his iconic Mundaring restaurant, The Loose Box, after 34 years.*

The Loose Box is one of those restaurants that I have always planned on trying but kept pushing back because of its location far away in Mundaring. Upon reading the headline that Alain Fabregues is retiring my friend and I wasted no time picking up the phone and made a booking. Most weekends have already been booked out and last service will be sometime at the end of July. So we settled to have the 8 course degustation on a weeknight instead.

The Loose Box is like a cozy cottage nestled amongst the trees and it also feels sort of country. The night kicked off with a bread roll and olive oil; the bread was so good I wanted to ask for another one but my friend reminded me to save my tummy for the 8 dishes that were about to come.

One thing I liked about the whole dining experience was that you can mix and match dishes from the non-vegetarian and vegetarian menu and the “options” for the day. My friend and I are not really veggie people so most of what we chose were from the non vegetarian menu plus some options.

Course 1: Coconut and prawn broth. Coconut broth served with freshly shelled prawn, kaffir lime leaf and Balmain and Rozelle spice.

Loose Box: coconut & prawn soup

The broth is frothy and light, definitely not too heavy on the coconut cream. It also has a sweet undertone. The prawn at the bottom was saturated with the broth and it was a good addition to the broth.

Course 2: Tian de Fruits de Mer. Smoked trout, prawn and salmon gravlax tian folded in a dill mayonnaise, served with a lemon and fennel salad and saffron aspic.

Loose Box: seafood tian

It’s like a fresh seafood salad with light mayo dressing. Good contrast between the soft texture of the seafood and the crunchiness of the fennel. I did find the dill quite overpowering though.

Course 3: Le Saumon & St Jacques Aux Aromates “Jean Delaveyne”. Fresh Atlantic salmon and local scallop poached in champagne served with a light butter sauce infused with fresh herbs.

Loose Box: salmon and scallop

Can’t complain about the scallop but salmon was a bit overcooked for my liking. The sauce is more soupy than actual sauce and although it is butter-based it wasn’t greasy.

Course 4: Escargot a la Bordelaise en Pate de Brick sur Ratatouille Provençal. Snail fritter served golden on a warm ratatouille stack with a tomato and chilli sauce.

Loose Box: escargot

A break from the usual escargot en persillade dish that I have. The fritter was served pipping hot with a generous amount of snail. Eaten alone there really isn’t much taste to the fritter but with the ratatouille and the tomato sauce it becomes more interesting; they give a new dimension to the taste of snail.

OR

Course 4: Pork hock option

Loose Box: pork hock

To me this dish is more Asian than French. The taste reminds me of the soup/broth we usually make at home. It looks like a sausage but inside is chopped up pork hock that is full of flavour. The sauce can easily be one of the tastiest “soup” I have had.

Course 5: Daube de Boeuf Aux Chataignes. Scotch fillet slow cooked in red wine with carrot, onion, herbs and mushrooms served with a lid of puff pastry and garnished with chestnuts and red wine shallots.

Loose Box: scotch fillet puff pastry

A simple way to describe this is that it is like a beef bourguignon pie. Beef is tender and sauce is strong on the wine and the pastry is very flaky. It was a good sized main for a degustation.

OR

Course 5: Lamb rack option

Loose Box: lamb rackI’m really beginning to enjoy lamb now and this herb crusted one here was cooked to perfection. So pink and so tender and packed with flavour.

Course 6: Fruit Sorbet. Seasonal fruit churned as a sorbet.

Loose Box: fruit sorbet

Our seasonal fruit was apricot. The sorbet is very smooth; leaning more towards ice cream texture than sorbet. One thing I really liked was that the apricot taste was not too strong since I am not the biggest fan of apricots.

Course 7: Le Cygne Majestueux en Voyage sur son Lac de Framboises. The majestic swan, made from homemade vanilla bean ice cream and fine tuille biscuit served on a “lake” of raspberry coulis.

Loose Box: majestic swan

This is the star of the night. I loved the ice cream. I loved the cream. I loved the coulis. It was smooth and crisp; sweet and tangy. First spoon of the very fragrant vanilla ice cream and I was already hooked.

OR

Course 7: Honeycomb bavarois option

This one is a show stopper too. It was very pleasant to the eye and the taste buds. Personally, I never thought I’d enjoy desserts made with honey this much. The honey in the bavarois was just enough – not too strong and not too little that you don’t get to taste it.

Course 8: Petits fours

Loose Box: petits fours

We had the option of either having these petits fours taken home or eaten at the restaurant. Since we were already quite full we took them home instead. Brought mine to work the next day and they were still fresh. The selection were:

Grand Marnier profiterole – very strong on the alcohol but very delicious and not too sweet;

Lemon macaron – shells were really smooth but brittle. The lemon curd filling was very tangy and counteracts the sweetness of the shells.

Lemon meringue – this is the first time I’m actually saying this but there was not enough sugar in the lemon filling. Some bites I had tasted like plain lemon juice curd; it was too lemony.

***

Overall a good 3 to 3.5 hour dining experience for me and my friend. The staff were lovely, though they could do with more professionalism, and helpful from the minute we called to make a booking (with lots of changes in between) to the minute we left.

What I also really liked was that all the dishes were light and fresh. They weren’t much of heavy sauces and heavy ingredients but rather simple ingredients taken to the next level. I did not feel sickeningly full (as I normally would after so many dishes) and had dessert not come I would have probably kept on going with the savouries.

If you ask me, $160 (without wine) is asking for too much; but if you are willing to fork out the money then it is not a bad idea to give this restaurant a try before it closes its doors.

The Loose Box on Urbanspoon

*quote source: http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/wa/16213563/loose-box-owners-call-it-quits/
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Melbourne edition: Madame Sousou

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Three days in Melbourne and I have been spoilt for too many food choices. So much so Madame Sousou interiorthat I can’t even decide where to begin.

But with that said I guess I’ll start with the last meal Lily and I had before leaving this wonderful city. Brunswick Street in Fitzroy has become one of my favourite places in Melbourne because it is lined with cafes, restaurants, bars, and specialty shops. Forgetting to make reservations for one of the restaurants we planned on visiting meant that Lily and I walked blindly into Madame Sousou, which turned out to be a very pleasant unplanned part of the trip.

The restaurant wasn’t too busy when we walked in without a booking but thankfully they had a spare table for us because it quickly got busy not long after we were seated.

For entrees – glorious beef!

Steak tartare with potato crisps and traditional Accoutrements for me, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I have never actually eaten full on raw meat before this because the thought of that just doesn’t sit well with me. But then I thought why not give it a go? So I did and I have no regrets. What I liked was the beef tasted absolutely fresh; no meat stench and the capers and onions work wonderfully with the meat. Given the texture of the meat I crushed the potato crisps and mixed them all up with the meat and you get a nice crunch with every bite.

Madame Sousou: steak tartare

And Carpaccio de beouf with horseradish aioli and micro watercress for Lily. Eye fillet was sliced super thinly and well seasoned and the flavour of the aioli was just divine.

Madame Sousou: beef carpaccio

For mains – carbs for her, more meat for me!

I had the special of the day, lamb en croute with something that consists of sundried tomatoes, capsicum, olives, and garlic -the waitress used a term to describe this but I can’t remember what it is exactly at the top of my head (could be a la florentine) – because this sounded the most interesting.

Madame Sousou: lamb en croute

The meat was too well done for my liking and the pastry was a tad soggy. But what made the dish worked was the accompaniment of sundried tomatoes, capsicum, olives, and garlic. If you don’t prefer the strong taste of lamb (like me) but would like to  order lamb for a change then I think this dish is good for that purpose.

Lils got the gratin de gnocchi with blue cheese, spinach, and walnuts because she’s biased towards gnocchis. We both loved the creaminess of the dish and those walnuts added that little oomph.

Madame Sousou: gnocchi

Even though we were both as full as one can be, there is always room for dessert.

Mine is the classic creme brûlée with a twist; it had prunes inside. Taste-wise the brulee was lovely. Rich and smooth custard with a slightly bitter/burnt tasting sugar coating which is how I like my creme brulees. Serving-wise this was very generous!

Madame Sousou: creme brûlée

On the other side of the table is a panna cotta with chilled rhubarb mint soup and thyme poached rhubarb. The panna cotta itself was delicious but, as refreshing as the soup was, this is not something I would polish off. Lily seemed to have enjoyed it though despite her aversion to any food containing mint. The best way to put it is that this dessert was interesting.

Madame Sousou: panna cotta

Overall a fantastic meal to end our trip. What made the experience more enjoyable was we dropped by Madame Sousou unplanned and it turned out to be better than we expected. Only thing I want to add is that they need more staff during busy periods.

Madame Sousou on Urbanspoon

www.madamesousou.com.au

Sydney edition: L’Etoile Restaurant & Bar

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Mum’s birthday fell on one of the days we were in Sydney so I planned to take her out to somewhere a little bit more special. First choice was Guillaume at Bennelong at the Opera House but they were already fully booked on the days we wanted. So next choice was L’Etoile Restaurant and Bar in Paddington. Mum doesn’t really care where we eat but if it were up to me we’d eat French food all day long. L’Etoile was just a coincidence though; reasonable prices and located in one of my favourite suburbs in Sydney.

After a morning of arriving in Sydney and shopping in the Paddington district, we headed off to mum’s birthday lunch. It was surprisingly quiet inside the restaurant on a Saturday. I thought we were just early but there were only 2 other occupied tables the whole time we were there. I won’t be complaining on this though because the waitress gave us an almost full attention. Mum’s incessant requests for hot water with lemon was accommodated with a smiling face and after about the 3rd time of topping up her water the waitress just automatically checked on us to see if we needed more lemon slices.

We got an entree to share among 3 people – Boudin de St Jacques, Bisque de Crustace (Silky Sausage of Scallops with Crustacean Bisque). What I loved were the flavours of the individual elements on the plate. The scallops were tender and came in big chunks; the sausage was made with egg, sort of like a savoury custard, that was silky smooth; and the bisque had a strong crustacean taste.

For mains, mum and mum’s friend both opted for something lighter since we had breakfast not too long ago. Both got different fish mains. One had a Truite de Mer Confite, Beurre Blanc a L’Oseille, Puree de Petit Pois et Coupeaux de Fenouil (Ocean Trout Confit, Sorrel Butter Sauce, Peas Puree and Shaved Fennel). Fish was fresh and fennel added a nice texture to the dish.

The other had a Kingfish Roti, Mousseline de Panais, Poelee de Champignons, Chataigne et Noisette (Pan-roasted Kingfish, Parsnips Puree, Seasonal Mushrooms sauteed with Crushed Chestnuts and Hazelnuts). Mum says the kingfish is cooked just right – fish was just flaking and moist.

And me, well, I had something a little bit heavier – Cote de Veau de Lait Poelee, Gratin Dauphinois (Pan-roasted Milk-fed Veal Cutlet, Potatoes Gratin, Thyme Jus). Whilst I did not find anything too special with this dish, I did like the fact that thyme was obviously present in the dish. It added that extra kick to an otherwise simple dish.

The highlight of the lunch, for me, was the Creme Brûlée a la Vanille et Tuile d’Amande (Classic Vanilla Creme Brûlée with Almond Tuile). The serving was big for it was good for sharing. The custard was very smooth and the sugar on top was perfectly torched. The slightest hint of bitterness from the burnt sugar complemented the sweetness of the custard really, really well. If I wasn’t that full I probably would have devoured the whole thing myself. It was the perfect way to finish the meal.

L'étoile Restaurant & Bar on Urbanspoon

www.letoilerestaurant.com.au

Sydney edition: Adriano Zumbo Patissier

Posted in Coffee & Desserts, Food, French by

Ah well, I made a little sidetrip to Sydney last week and it was glorious. Tiring, but it was a good break. Now I’m back to reality and back to blogging about food I had in Sydney, which will comprise the next few posts. The list is by all means not exhaustive of all the places I’ve dined at – just a few ones that I really enjoyed.

One of the “must” on my list to do/try/buy whilst there was Adriano Zumbo Patissier. It was mainly about the Zumbarons since everyone talks about it and I got intrigued. What could be so good with his macarons, I thought to myself. With a few people requesting that I bring home some Zumbarons, I made sure that my schedule would all plan out perfectly. That was one of the last things I bought since macaron/pastry shelf life outside the fridge is really short.

Zumbo has 3 branches from what I can recall. Off mum and I went to the Star City Casino branch since it was the most accessible one from our hotel. This branch here also has the dessert train, which I didn’t get to try.

I had a clear idea of what I wanted to buy: a box of 10 macarons please, I told the lady at the counter. One of each of the flavours. In addition to those I also asked the lady which cakes would be ok for travelling. Citron tart, passionfruit tart, and carrot cake. OK, might as well buy those too since I was already there.

I’m happy to report that all but one of the sweets I bought from this pastry house survived the plane ride.

Whoa. There term Zumbarons is a trademark?! Anyway, the flavours range from simple to different and they were interesting to sample. I had to slice each macaron into quarters so we can all have a taste of all the flavours. Let me see if I can recall what flavours were made on that day (from left to right, top box first):

  • Pancake and maple syrup – has a slight hint of maple syrup
  • Peach iced tea – first thought when I tried this: it really does taste like peach iced tea!
  • Banana – banana flavour too sweet and too artificial
  • Chocolate – normal but very thick layer of ganache
  • Salted butter popcorn – my 2nd favourite from the box of 10. Tastes like the popcorns you get at the cinema with a buttery filling. They should sell these in movie theatres!
  • Blackened vanilla – a bit strange; reminds me of charcoal. You do get vanilla but with an after-taste.
  • Custard crunch – nothing special
  • Malted milkshake – this is yum! It had a certain fragrance to it. The colour alone was enough to intrigue me – it’s the blue/green metallic one.
  • Annunziata – normal chocolate flavour with cinnamon sugar on the top shell
  • Salted caramel – this was good too but I’ve had better

For $2.50 each I think these Zumbarons are good for the price. They are bigger than what you’d normally get in Perth for the same price plus the filling is a thick layer of yummy goodness. With that said, the filling may be a little too thick though. The proportion of macaron shell to filling is a little off such that you don’t get to taste much of the shell, which is a shame because the shells were good too. They had the slightest crunch on the outside and borderline chewy/soft on the inside.

Carrot cake and citron tart above. The citron tart is sublime – tangy, not too sweet, and very smooth. It has a thin layer of gelatin at the top for that gloss but it also give it that “bite” when you eat something so smooth.

The carrot cake, on the other hand, is not your typical carrot cake. It has the cinnamony carrot cake taste with a biscuit base and middle layer of mousse. Nuts and sultanas give it a good texture.

Passionfruit tart. The one above is what it’s supposed to look like and the one below is what happened to the one I brought home after a 5-hour flight. I talked to a friend who has lived in Sydney and apparently this had also happened to her so this passionfruit tart is prone to sliding of the crust. Regardless of what it looked like it still tasted divine. Almost similar to the citron tart but with a passionfruit taste, of course.

Adriano Zumbo Pâtissier on Urbanspoon

Quiche Lorraine

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I am happy to report that my first attempt at making a proper quiche was a success. I have been devouring quiches for years now like there’s tomorrow and me attempting to make one from scratch was long overdue. Watching an episode of Masterchef Australia sparked my flame of quiche making. This one here is a Quiche Lorraine. I had Lily and D over for a French-themed dinner and Lily made it clear to me that she loooooves quiche Lorraine.

Menu for the night:

  • Entree – Mushroom soup
  • Main – Quiche Lorraine (recipe follows)
  • Dessert – Tarte au citron from La Galette de France in Subi sponsored by Lily
  • Drinks – Rekorderlig and Sangria sponsored by D (not really French but any alcohol would do)

Ingredients

Shortcut pastry
240 grams plain flour
125 grams butter, chilled and cut into cubes
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
2-4 tablespoons (or more) cold water

Filling
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 leek (white part and some green), roughly chopped
200 grams bacon, cut into small cubes
3/4 cup grated Gruyere cheese

Custard
3 eggs
2 egg yolks
300 ml cream

Makes 1 large quiche or 4-5 mini quiches

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
2. Lightly grease a large loose-bottom tart tin.

Make the pastry shells
3. In a food processor, add in flour, salt, and chilled butter and blend/pulse until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Add in egg and process until the mixture forms a ball. Add 1 tablespoon of cold water at a time if the mixture is not forming into a ball. Dump the dough onto a floured bench and need for about 1-2 minutes until it becomes a smooth dough. Shape the dough into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap and let it rest for 15 minutes in the fridge.

2. After the dough has rested, take it out of the fridge and work on a floured bench. Flatten the dough with your palms. Then using a rolling pin roll the dough until it is about 2-3mm thick. Ensure that it is bigger than your tin. Gently lift the dough and place it into your tart tin while gradually pressing the dough onto the tin. Ensure that you lightly press the dough to the shape of the tin including the bottom round edge.

3. To get that perfect fluted pattern (if using a fluted tin), instead of trimming the excess dough with a knife, I use a rolling pin to roll over the tin itself then peel off the excess dough. Dough will slightly shrink during baking so lightly press the dough on the side of the tin upwards – about 3-5mm higher than the tin. Then prick the base and sides of the dough with a fork.

4. Top the dough with a sheet of baking paper with loose sides that will be easy to lift out after baking. Fill the baking paper with uncooked rice or baking beads to serve as weights for the pastry shell.

5. Pop the pastry into the oven and bake for about 15 minutes. Then remove the baking paper and rice or baking beads and return the pastry into the oven and bake for a further 10-15 minutes until golden in colour.

*Pastry shell/s can be made in advance. I made mine 1 day prior to making the actual quiche. Let it cool completely and store in an airtight container or wrap with a plastic wrap.

Cook the filling
6. In a medium sized pan, melt the butter and cook the onions and leeks until onions are translucent and leeks are soft. Transfer the mixture onto a plate and set aside. In the same pan, cook the bacon until some of the fat has rendered and it starts browning. Add back the onion mixture and mix well to combine. Set aside.

Make the custard
7. In a medium bowl, whisk together egg, egg yolks, and cream until well combined.

Assemble the quiche
8. Spread the bacon, onion, and leek mixutre on the base of the cooked pastry shell. Pour in the egg mixture. Egg will shrink slightly after it’s baked so fill the whole pastry with the egg mixture up to the top of the shell but ensure that it doesn’t overflow. Then top with a generous amount of Gruyere cheese.

9. Carefully place the tin in the oven and bake at 200 degrees Celcius for 17 minutes. Drop the temperature to 160 degrees Celsius and continue baking for about 15-18 minutes until the custard is set. You can test this by inserting a toothpick into the centre of the quiche and if it comes out clean the quiche is set.

*Note that if making the mini quiche, baking time would be about 2-3 minutes less.

10. Take the quiche out of the tin and transfer to a serving plate.

11. Serve and enjoy.

Cream of mushroom soup

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Reminiscing the cream of mushroom soup I had in Toronto’s Biff’s Bistro, I made my own version last night. I’m trying to watch my calorie intake these days so my version is not as creamy as I would have loved it to be. Instead of using heavy cream I added a few dollops of creme fraiche instead to make it rich.

The recipe below gives about 4 bowls of heart-warming soup.

Ingredients

1/4 cup olive oil, or 1/2 stick butter
1/2 onion, cubed
5 cups coarsely chopped mushrooms of different varieties (I used a mixture of button and Swiss brown cap mushrooms)
1 litre (4 cups) stock (chicken or vegetable)
1 cup heavy cream, or 3-4 tablespoons creme fraiche
salt and pepper to taste
parsley (to garnish)

Method

1. In a medium sized stock pot, melt butter and saute onions until soft. Add in mushrooms and saute until soft (about 5-7 minutes).

2. Add in stock and bring to a boil. Once boiling, lower heat to medium. Continue boiling for 10-15 minutes.

3. When mushrooms are completely soft, turn off the heat. Using a handheld blender blitz the soup until mushrooms are finely blended. Alternatively, you can use a blender and pour soup back in the pot after blending. Bring the soup back to a simmer and add the heavy cream or creme fraiche. Mix well until cream is evenly mixed into the soup. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Serve in bowls and garnish with a few leaves of parsley if desired.

Donna Hay almond macaron with chocolate filling

Posted in Food, French, Recipes by

I am happy to report that my exams are over and done with (1 down, 4 to go). Whether I pass or not is another story. What better way to celebrate than with some macarons! Let’s be honest. I was supposed to go back to the office after the exams but who in their right minds would do that? So I called in and informed them I won’t be going in. I went home instead to make some macarons from almost scratch using Donna Hay’s premix. This is the last of the Donna Hay premixes I bought.

I love macarons. I’ve heard here and there that it is time consuming to make so I haven’t bothered myself to attempt making them since time isn’t really a luxury for me. Now that I had the whole afternoon off it was time to open the box. I guess using the premix did save me some time. The whole process took me 1.5 hours. With enough time left to make a batch of cupcakes as well and watch Dark Shadows.

The premix box, again, provides you with everything you need. You just need to add some water and 2 tablespoons of cream for the chocolate filling.

Instructions are fairly simple.

First, add warm water to the egg white mix and beat until it is glossy and forms soft peaks, about 5 minutes says the box.

Then add the almond meal provided and fold it into the egg white mixture. After that you are ready to spoon the mixture onto baking trays. The box says to use a dessert spoon and form the mixture into circles by doing a circular motion. In not entirely sure that would give you round macarons. So I used a piping bag instead. More washing to be done but more evenly shaped macaron shells. After piping, air the mixture for about 10 minutes.

While the mixture is airing to dry make the chocolate filling by using a double boiler. The chocolate chunks are provided in the box as well and all you need to add are 2 tablespoons of single cream. I had no single cream on hand so I used a few tablespoons of butter instead just to make it rich. Once melted remove the chocolate from the heat and let it cool until ready to be used.

Now it’s time to pop the shells in the oven preheated to 160 degrees Celsius and bake for 10 minutes.

Cool the shells on the tray before removing them. Once cooled spoon about 2 teaspoons of the chocolate filling on one macaron shell and top it with a similar sized shell.

The box says it yields about 24 macaron shells or 12 sandwiched macarons. I ended up with about 20 sandwiched macarons! And because of that I ran out of the chocolate filling and had to melt more chocolate using what I had stocked up in the pantry.

I found the egg white mixture a bit too runny for the macarons. It spread really fast on the tray and resulted in flatter macaron shells. A bit too flat for what I liked. The shells were also too chewy. Taste-wise, though, this premix is pretty good. It had strong almond meal taste and the chocolate filling complements it well.

Not a bad premix for a first time macaron maker.

Choux Cafe @ Swanbourne

Posted in Coffee & Desserts, Food, French by

That little French cafe and boulangerie along Shenton Road is pretty well-known amongst macaron and French pastry lovers and it is not popular for no reason. The cakes and macarons on display in the fridge are colourful enough to entice you.

On a fine and chilly Sunday morning, L and I went Choux Cafe for a breakfast. Not your typical Perth breakfast scene as this is obviously a French kind of cafe. No eggs on toast, no big breakfasts, no pancakes nor muesli. What you have on hand to choose from are French goodies like baguettes and brioche from their boulangerie and croissants and pain au chocolat from their viennoiserie. If you want you can also have lunch items for breakfast like quiches, pies, and sandwiches.

It wasn’t a hard choice for me. Of course I’d eat the croissant. The hard part was choosing if I wanted plain, savoury, or sweet. In the end I settled for a croissant with smoked salmon, capers and avocado.

Amazing amazing croissant. Flaky and buttery. It has that perfectly baked croissant crust when you bite into it (or, in my case, when I slice it). The smoked salmon works perfectly with the croissant too. I was hesistant at first but the whole meal was nothing short of delicious – perfect croissant, just enough salmon, capers not overpowering, and avocados to complement everything.

L was debating with the various quiches available but, in the end, had the classic quiche lorraine.

The pastry was good, the egg mixture was divine, but a little too much bacon for me. Since this was L’s food, allow me to quote what she said: “I LOOVVEEED the bacon”!

And as if the savouries were not enough, we had to have dessert for breakfast too. We shared a piece of reine margot and 2 macarons.

Reine margot is a pistachio layered cake with mango and pineapple cream. It is refereshing, to say the least. Cake was spongy and the cream filling is very tropical.

The macarons. Well these babies by Emmanuel Mollois are famous for all the right reasons. I thought I have tried the best macaron there is in Perth until I had the ones from Choux Cafe. The shells are light, chewy, and taste fresh. Now the fun part comes from choosing which flavour to have. L wanted the blackcurrant with cream cheese filling and I wanted the strawberry jelly and basil one. Blackcurrant and cream cheese was heaven for L but it was so-so for me. I’m not enitrely sure that cream cheese was the best filling for this. Nonetheless you would still have that sweet and tangy sensation in your mouth. I, on the other hand, loved that basil macaron. It looked like Christmas in a macaron. The basil taste was very prominent and I loved it! It was mellowed out by the strawberry jelly and I think that both flavours worked very well together.

While there I couldn’t resist their bread so I brought home a la complet – a wholemeal baguette. Crusty on the outside and soft on the inside. It is nothing like the “baguettes” you get from Bakers Delight. So I have been toasting the baguette and spreading liberal amounts of butter for breakfast. Fresh bread really can’t be kept for long so I used the remaining half (I could only eat so much bread by myself!) to make bread and butter pudding. You know what? That baguette worked just perfectly with the crust and all.

Don’t forget to try the beef bourguignon pie too when you go there for lunch. Flaky pastry with a very rich and flavourful beef filling.

There is nothing very spectacular with the venue itself, space in theindoor dining area is quite tight actually. They also have an alfresco dining area at the back past the kitchen. What I do like about the venue is that it is quietly nestled in the middle of a suburban area. It is very easy to look out the window and drift into a daydream, specially on a rainy day, while sipping a cup of mocha made with rich chocolate and munching on a macaron. My only problem, really, is the older lady who just happens to serve me every time I’m there. She’s not the warm and friendly kind and does not have the French charm, in my opinion. Could do much better with a smile.

My rating: 8/10
Choux Cafe on Urbanspoon

www.chouxcafe.com.au

Bouchon Bistro @ Wembley

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I am a big fan of French cuisine. Duck, pastries, frog legs…everything. I will eat anything cooked the French way. So when I saw a voucher for Bouchon Bistro offering $40 for $100 worth of food I jumped at the chance of securing myself a voucher.

Last weekend, L and I finally made it to Wembley along the always busy Cambridge Street in search for this bistro. They open at 6:30pm so when we arrived at 6:28pm the “closed” sign was still displayed on the window. The door was unlocked so we went in anyway and the waitress gladly showed us to our table.

It wasn’t really hard to choose what to order. I confirmed with the waitress that we could have anything on the menu so long as they all come up to $100 worth and we would just pay for the extras.

To start, we were given bread and butter. I cannot even begin to sing my praises for a properly made baguette. The bread was crusty on the outside and soft on the inside and the combination of the crunchiness and the softness was perfect, it was tasty, it was warm, and altogether a great bread experience spread with the butter. If I had that kind of bread for breakfast everyday I think every day would be a great day.

Then we were given a free appetiser of oxtail with garlic parmesan and onion cheese. Don’t fret, it wasn’t the tail in a whole piece. It was chopped up, made into a patty and served nicely. The oxtail had a nice crunch to it from what I’m assuming are the cartilages from the tail. A bit strange to the bite but the taste was not too bad.

After the appetiser we had another round of bread and butter because the waitress asked if we wanted more. As it turns out there’s an extra $4.50 charge for another 4 slices of bread.
L and I shared an entree of braised beef ribs in spices and coconut, pine nut, pear and radishes. Very very tasty beef ribs. Like the oxtail the ribs were removed from the bone and shaped so it was easier and less messy to eat. The pear and radishes provided a contrasting palette to the spices used in the beef.
Mains came not too long after we chatted with the waitress. I was aware of some reviews saying that service here is terrible, that customers are not treated with priority and other things like that but I guess we were lucky to have made a reservation for 6:30pm because the restaurant was not full and so they weren’t stressing out just yet. We talked about France with the waitress and she gave us a few tips here and there while I practiced my French with her.
I had panfried duck breast, confit leg and chestnut, coffee crumble and amaranth. The duck breast could have been less rubbery. I asked for a well done breast but it was not as well done as I had hoped for. The confit leg was not the usual confit you’d find in other places; rather this was, again, without the bone and shaped into a cube and not quite as fatty as confits usually are since they are cooked in duck fat. Taste-wise it was so-so. I was a little hesitant with the coffee crumble and amaranth on the side. I tasted it by itself and thought it was weird to have coffee with duck. But spoon a little crumble on top of the duck breast and actually tastes quite nice. The crumble complements the sauce well.
L had the assiette of pork, which was basically pork cooked in different ways. There was the braised pork belly, pork knuckle and pork with quince (to the best of my memory). They were all very tasty with enough spices and sweetness that goes well with pork. I’ve got to say that the pork belly was the best out of plate. Well give L anything pork and she won’t complain.
We were surprisingly quite full even though the servings were small. It was probably from all the bread we ate. But we decided to have dessert anyway. We shared a chocolate mousse with crumble meringue and berries and yoghurt foam with strawberry jelly. It was interesting to say the least. I would rather have the mousse dark and a little less sweet. The yoghurt foam was surprisingly good with the mousse. Sweet plus sour. L ended up having to eat most of it because it was too sweet for my liking.
Overall a good dining experience. I agree with those who say that this place is overpriced. Average entree price is $20 and mains are $40. Desserts are around the $15-$20 mark. It is overpriced because, although food was not too bad, there was nothing really very spectacular about it. I’d probably come back again if they offer deals. An elderly couple beside our table seemed to be regulars here though. They rate the dishes 10 out of 10.
My rating: 6/10

Bouchon Bistro on Urbanspoon

www.bouchonbistro.com.au

Crepe Cherie @ Claremont

Posted in Food, French by

Welcome to Paris in Perth. For weeks Auntie C has been bugging me to find a creperie in Perth and I finally managed to find one this fine Saturday morning. A trip to Claremont has found us indulging in this French delicacy and it sure made my day off from work absolutely worth it.

Located amongst the many shops at Bayview Centre, Crepe Cherie is tucked away at one of the corners of the centre, towards the rear away from the busy Stirling Hwy, but is far from forgotten. The ambiance and the setting looks very French and I love how the alfresco area has enough wind and light whilst hidden away from the sun without noisy cars zooming past.

We arrived early in the morning around 8am and the creperie was still quiet. Just another couple was there and I really enjoyed the quiet morning with my cuppa and magazine. Crepe Cherie serves both savoury and sweet crepes, some pastries like eclairs and almond croissants and macaroons. The menu is simple so it was a breeze choosing what to feed my growling tummy. I went over to the counter and was instantly greeted by a friendly bonjour. C’était un vraiment bon jour!

We had both a savoury and sweet crepe that are to be shared, of course. For the savoury one we had the Crepe Julien that had champignons, spinach, potato mash and tomato and onion jam. The crepe was not something I expected at all. It was too thin for my liking and missing the chewiness that I prefer. If there’s one thing good with thinner crepes it’s that it feels lighter in the stomach. The filling, although with potatoes, was not too heavy (also given that Auntie C and I shared one) and very tasty; served pipping hot. The  tomato and onion jam was sweet and tangy that sent my taste buds jumping for joy. It’s either Auntie C had the half where all the mushrooms were or they simply just forgot to put enough mushrooms. I had but one piece of mushroom.

After the savoury it’s off to polish the sweet crepe. We had the Crepe Celine with strawberries, jam, icing sugar dusting with a side of whipped cream. Now this is the chewier crepe that I preferred. Different types of crepes for different kinds of filling and this sweet one here reminded me all over again why I love crepes. Folded into a triangle with sliced strawberries and jam inside, this crepe tasted amazing. The jam may be a bit too sweet for me but I enjoyed every single bite regardless.

The crepes were, again, lighter than the usual ones I have so it doesn’t leave you too full. I washed it down with Crepe Cherie’s own blend of coffee that went really well with the sweet crepe. Very robust and acidic on the first sip but this was just perfect to mellow out the sweetness of the crepe.

Needless to say we have found a little gem in Claremont and we’ll surely be coming back for more French madness. French cafe music in the background makes it très parisien too.

My rating: 7.5/10
Crepe Cherie on Urbanspoon

www.crepecherie.com.au

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.

My San Francisco & Napa Valley eats

Posted in Chinese/Asian, Coffee & Desserts, Food, French, Japanese, Thai by

*Dojima Ann | Dojima on Urbanspoon
Downtown

A nice and cozy Japanese restaurant just a little off Powell Street. K and I came here on our first night in SFO just to get something quick and hot since it was surprisingly cold. Dojima Ann was located near our hotel so we dropped by early enough to be seated before the rush started. I had an udon with chicken, egg and tempura (the name which I have already forgot) and it was delicious! The soup is miso based which was quite unusual because most of the Japanese restaurants I’ve had in Perth serve noodles in a dashi stock. So this one here was not as sweet which is just the way I like it. I would have preferred them to serve the tempura in a separate plate though – it was way too soggy when it was served. Service was quick and friendly though.

*Lori’s Diner | www.lorisdiner.com | Lori's Diner on Urbanspoon
Downtown (and other locations)

A very retro 50′s diner that has an all-American menu. Serving size comes in huge portions enough to be shared. It says in the menu that the French Toast is famous so that is what I ordered with an Oreo milkshake. The french toasts were good in a sense that they were thick and fluffy. Other than that though they were quite tasteless. Adding syrup does not help either because their syrup is also tasteless and not a tad sweet. K had Buttermilk Pancakes. She liked the first few bites but after that they were dry enough to make you want to stop eating. I really wanted to try the breakfasts with eggs like omelette but they make the omelettes with 3 eggs but I don’t think I need that much eggs. The ambiance is good and all that, with 50′s memorabilia and red and white diner tables and seats, and service was very friendly but I once is enough to give me that diner experience. They have a store at the international airport too, just in case you need to get a diner fix before departing the US of A.

*Pier Restaurant | www.piermarket.com | Pier Market Seafood on Urbanspoon
Fisherman’s Wharf

One of the many restaurants in the Pier 39 area offering fresh seafood and the famous clam chowder. K and I decided to dine here because it looked clean enough and it was in the heart of  the Pier 39 shops. Obviously, we had to have the clam chowder sourdough bowl. It was very good – creamy and tasty. The sourdough bowl that it comes in is from Boudin Bakery, a pioneer sourdough maker in the city. We polished off the bread as well. Yum. I wanted to have a bread bowl for myself but we decided that we wanted to try other food too so we shared a bowl and had a seafood grill. The grill had 4 prawn skewers, 1 swordfish and 1 salmon. I only enjoyed the prawn skewers; the rest were just plain grilled seafood. We tasted nothing exceptionally fresh about them.

*Chipotle | www.chipotle.com
Downtown

Quick and fresh burritos and tacos in Downtown and that’s all they serve. I had the beef burrito that looked small until they wrap it up; very very filling specially when you have it at 10pm. I especially loved the cilantro rice!

*Oriental Pearl | www.orientalpearlsf.com | Oriental Pearl on Urbanspoon
Chinatown

How this restaurant made it to the Michelin restaurant guide list and Rachael Ray’s recommendation is beyond me. Walking along Chinatown looking for a place to eat, we dropped by Oriental Pearl based only on those 2 recommendations displayed proudly inside the restaurant. It’s a bit dodgily located on the second floor of some building and first instincts told us to get out this place but, no, we walked in anyway and asked for a table for 2. It was rather empty when we first got there but quickly filled up as dinnertime came around. For starters, we had a dim sum sample consisting of pork, beef and prawn dumplings. Mediocre at best and the prawn dumpling wrappers were disgusting. Tasted like they were made with rancid flour. Then we had tofu soup with minced meat and seaweed. This was the only dish I enjoyed/liked for the night but there was only about 3 blobs of minced meat in the soup. A bit of a rip off. After much debate K and I ended up ordering a veggie yee mien. This was certainly one of the worst noodle dishes I have ever had – in SFO or elsewhere in the world. Noodles were tough and spongy as though they were not cooked through and the sauce was mainly soy sauce. You know what? The noodles I make at home are way better than this. No kidding. If there’s one thing good about Oriental Pearl was that the service was definitely friendly! The waiters can speak and understand English properly so there shouldn’t be any problems.

*Cafe de la Presse | www.cafedelapresse.com | Cafe de la Presse on Urbanspoon
Nob Hill

I’ve had one of the best meals of my life here at Cafe de la Presse in Nob Hill just outside the Chinatown gate. A little exaggeration? Probably so, but enough justification. K and I have been eyeing this restaurant since 2 days before we actually ate here because it looked tres chic. One very late night we managed to finally make it here and left with no regrets. Is it weird that I’ve never ever had french onion soup until I ordered it here? That was my appetiser. It wasn’t as sweet as I imagined it to be so that was a big relief. Well that was why I have never had french onion soup before – I don’t like sweet tasting soup (like dashi based ones). Chunky onions with a slice of baguette topped with cheese made my insides all warm in the cold foggy weather. The size it came in was perfect too. It left room for an entree (or mains as we call it in Perth) without me being too full. I had the confit du ganard maison – duck confit with mushrooms and potatoes. O-M-G. Crispy duck skin with duck meat that falls off the bone sitting on top of mushrooms that were sitting on top of sliced potatoes drenched in duck fat. ‘Nuff said. I polished everything – skin, fat and all – and I am as happy as can be.

K, on the other hand, opted for a lighter and less filling choice. She had tomato soup with basil to start off then followed by a shrimp cocktail. The tomato soup was tangy and tasty, not overpowered by cream so it was not too heavy. The shrimp cocktail, she said, was very refreshing. Fresh and crisp prawns with cherry tomatoes and a few leaves of lettuce – it sounds just as light as she wants her food to be.

*Bangkok Noodles | www.bangkoknoodles.com | Bangkok Noodles on Urbanspoon
Downtown

Bangkok Noodles was a surprisingly good find in Downtown. After a long day of shopping we walked to the restaurant closest to us and found great Thai food. There is a non stop waiting line to this place. K had the pad thai and I had a tom yum soup with noodles. How Thai are we? Both dishes were excellent and great value for money.

*Honey Honey Cafe and Creperie | www.honeyhoneycafeandcreperie.com | Honey Honey Crepe House on Urbanspoon
Nob Hill

K has been bugging me to go to a cafe to have a proper breakfast where she can sip coffee and read the paper. After much research we stumbled upon Honey Honey which had awesome reviews. This place turned out to be just around the corner from our hotel so we went there first thing in the morning. Wow, the line was super long and the place is full. There were literally no empty seats. So while in the line we were starring at the chalkboard that lists all the food they serve – omelettes, crepes, sandwiches, salad, pasta, soup - and it was impossible to choose just one. We finally got to the till and ordered a Miami Heat crepe and eggs florentine. All that hype just led to disappointment. The crepe was not very crepe-like but the filling (chicken, cheese, avocado, scallions, hot sauce) was not too bad. The eggs florentine were horrible which disappointing because it was a breakfast special. Tasteless hollandaise sauce and soggy english muffin underneath. I would say it’s not worth coming back for a second try.

*Bistro Jeanty | www.bistrojeanty.com | Bistro Jeanty on Urbanspoon
Napa Valley

A 2009 Michelin star awardee restaurant in Napa Valley that blew me away with its Sole Meuniere. A sole that melts in your mouth with mashed potatoes, butter, lemon and capers. This was a simple dish with complementary ingredients used at their finest. I’m just not entirely sure what to do with the star shaped lemon pieces that were on top of my fish. Were they to be eaten too? I was such a FOB so I ate one anyway just to try it and it were sour as. Duh! So I resolved to just leave them alone on my plate to make it look pretty. K had the beouf bourguignon that looked small but is actually very filling even just halfway through the dish. I had to help her finish it. It was a traditional French beef stew with the beef very tender but that also holds its shape.

This is a French bistro serving familiar homey French food like the ones we had plus coq au vin, salad nicoise and filet au poivre. Unfortunately the waiters were not French men but they were very friendly. One even had a little chat with us. We told our waitress we were in a hurry (because our tour bus leaves at a certain time) and she made sure that the kitchen prepared our dishes first which, in fact, was what happened because our food was served within 10 minutes.

And oh, eat that complimentary baguette. It is very very good. Ask for more if you need to.

*Bouchon Bakery | www.bouchonbakery.com | Bouchon Bakery on Urbanspoon
Napa Valley

A block down from Bistro Jeanty is Bouchon Bakery, also a Michelin star awardee apparently. K just had to try the stuff from this bakery so we rushed out of Bistro Jeanty and fast walked down the street. There is a nonstop line that forms outside the bakery – a sign that it is good, which is why people line up for it for up to 40 minutes, but which I find deceiving because the bakery is not spacious enough inside to begin with. You start from left to right gazing upon croissants and tarts and macarons while placing your order and the entrance to the bakery is where you start gazing so, obviously, only 2-4 people can go in and be served at one time. To add to that, people take forever to decide what to get which I understand because there is so much to choose from but is almost annoying when you are time pressured and the sun is burning your skin.

Onto the products…K and I had raspberry, pistachio, espresso and mocha macaroons and a blueberry and lemon tart. Hmmm, were they worth the wait? Honestly speaking I’m undecided on this one. They stuff we got were not bad but they were not the best. We waited in line for so long only to find out that they have a store in New York, too, which we are headed to in a few weeks.