Chocolate Chunks Mint Ice Cream

My love affair with mints, more specifically mint chocolate, started probably the way it did for most people; with my first taste of After Eights. How could anyone resist the thin slices of such intense mint filling coated dark luxurious chocolate?

So when i found peppermint essence in my local supermarket, i knew instantly i had to make peppermint chocolate chip ice cream with it.


I did a couple things different with this recipe. Firstly, i used a proper saucepan to make the custard, just to find out if the custards i made previously didn't thicken as i had hoped they would because i had used a glass pot. With the saucepan, the custard really did thicken nicely and pretty quickly as well, so it was probably the relatively poor heat conduction and distribution that hindered the thickening of the custard all the other times before. The other thing that i did differently with this one as well was i took Alton Brown's advice and let the custard rest in the fridge for about 6 hours.


The texture of the ice cream was noticeably smoother than the others i had made before which i was really pleased about. It smelt so fantastic after churning that i have to sheepishly admit i licked the spatula clean after transferring the ice cream into its container when no one was looking ;)


I really adored this one. It had such a refreshing burst of mint flavour and bits of dark chocolate chunks packed in each spoonful. It had a pretty smooth texture but wasn't too rich, which i really liked.

The next time i make this, i'm thinking of swirling in melted chocolate or peppermint patties instead. Just thinking about it makes me feel like churning up another batch.

There really is nothing better than home made freshly churned ice cream :)

Peppermint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream


Ingredients
1 cup milk
2 cups thickened cream
5 egg yolks
1/2 cup caster sugar

2 tsp peppermint essence
1/3 cup chocolate chips

1. Combine milk and cream in a saucepan, bring it to a simmer over low heat.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk egg yolks for about a minute before adding in sugar. Whisk together well till light and creamy.
3. Gradually whisk hot milk mixture into yolk mixture till well combined.
4. Return mixture to a saucepan and cook, stirring constantly over low heat till mixture thickens.
5. Cool mixture down to room temperature before placing in fridge for at least 6 hours.
6. When ready to churn, stir in essence and use ice cream maker as directed, adding chocolate chips through the pouring hole while churning. Makes 1 litre
   

A Weekend of Feasting Part II

Let's play a little guessing game, shall we?

Whose very wise philosophy is "The cornerstone of good cooking is to source the finest produce."?

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If you guessed Neil Perry, you're spot on and probably know where i'm going with this.

Yup, we headed to Rockpool for more feasting last weekend.


It was easily one of the best restaurants i've ever been to. The ambiance was classy and very inviting. I love the open kitchen concept as well as the display of the ingredients and cookware lining the long walkway.

The service was impeccable, the staff were warm but polite. They had a way of being really discrete yet attentive.


And the food, my goodness, the food was just incredible. In keeping with Neil's philosophy, the dishes were made with the freshest ingredients. He really drives home the point that simplicity doesn't mean boring. In fact, in his case, simplicity means using as few ingredients as possible to draw out flavours from the main ingredients, and he does it so damned well.


This was the Sashimi of Yellow Fin Tuna, Ocean Trout and Hiramasa Kingfish with Organic Soy Sauce. It had just a touch of ginger that really matched the natural richness of the sashimi so well. Eating each delicate piece was like swallowing a piece of silk that just effortlessly glides down your throat. Mmm.


This was the Chopped Cos Salad. The dressing was a little tangy in a really nice way and i really liked the bits of avocado and croutons in this. But you know, salad's just salad.


I just love squid ink noodles the way my entire family does. I fell in love with it the first time i had it many years ago, in all its glorious messiness. So now i can't not order it every time i see it on the menu which isn't very often. So of course i had to have the squid ink noodles for my starter. This really was a little disappointing. I found it a little too salty for my liking. But to be fair, i had really high expectations to begin with. And they were pretty generous with the amount of squid in it. Plus they get more brownie points for not telling us to use the serviettes provided instead of the napkins when tucking into the dish, the way the staff at Zanotti's did. I must add though, Zanotti makes the best ever squid ink pasta.


Lastly, for mains, we had the Wagyu Beef. This was just incredible. Although it had little marbling as it was a fillet cut, it literally melted in our mouths. Topped with a little English mustard, it was just perfect. This was definitely one of the best wagyu beef i've had.

The lunch we had was just perfect, leaving us satisfied yet not too full the way lunches that usually emphasize on quantity and not quality usually do.

When i feel like i've a little cash to burn or when my parents are next back in town, i'll definitely be back there to give the rest of the menu a shot.

Next on my list to try- Tetsuya's in Sydney, without a doubt :)

***
Rockpool
Crown Complex
Southbank
Victoria 3006
Tel Number: 03 8648 1900

A Weekend of Feasting Part I

For many days now, my mum has been bugging me to make sticky date pudding after having been to a cafe in a nursery just outside the city that apparently serves the best version of the dessert ever. This, coming from my mum who doesn't usually eat sticky date pudding but finished one all by herself while her friends looked on. It had to be pretty damned good.

So to appease her, i tried my hand at making sticky date pudding from a recipe i had on hand and have been meaning to try out forever. It was good, but still not what she was after. "It's all just dates", she said. So i tried again, using another recipe involving steaming it this time. It realy was quite good but once again, it just wasn't like THE sticky date pudding she was craving.


Two failed attempts and still being bugged relentlessly to make it, we just had to make our way down to see what all the hype about this dessert was about for ourselves.


We were all bowed over from the first mouthful. It was dense, sticky with just a hint of lemon zest, topped with mango sauce which cut through the sweetness of the cake perfectly. Silence fell over as we greedily dug in. Within minutes, 3 slices of the sticky date pudding were polished off amongst the five of us and conversation resumed. Until the rest of lunch arrived of course..


This was the chicken BLT. It was pretty good, as sandwiches go but the chicken strips were a little on the dry side.


We had the chicken strips medallions as well. The chicken strips were pretty dry as well but this dish was saved by the flavours lent by the mushrooms and spinach.


We just had to order the beef fillet strips as well, having seeing it arrive at a table nearby. The beef was tender but had little flavour. Once again, the spinach saves the dish.


Last but not least, the pumpkin soup. This was by far the best dish. Served with chunks of fresh fluffy bread, the soup was thick and wholesome.

Overall, the dishes were pretty disappointing. But the sticky date pudding itself is definitely worth heading back for. I'm so glad we made the trip down.

Now the experiment to try recreate that sticky date pudding starts.. :)

***
Poyntons of Essendon
Corner of the Boulevard and Vida Street
Essendon Victoria 3040
Tel: 03 9337 7013

Dandenong Market.

There's just something alluring about markets that gets me tired of going to them. There's nothing i love more than wandering through the aisles, leisurely browsing and taking in the sights. It could be the excitement stemming from prospects of unexpectedly finding a 'treasure' or just the atmosphere every market shares; people animatedly sharing details of their finds with friends, sellers trying to entice buyers into buying a couple of things off them, little ones sitting in their prams being pushed along as they keenly observe their surroundings. Whatever it is, it's undeniable that markets, in all their humble and unassuming settings, have a charm of their own.


At first glance, the Dandenong market seemed like any other market. It had fish mongers, butchers, fruit stalls, stalls selling cheese and various assortment of nuts, hot food vendors, the usual run of the mill stuff.


But after wandering around for a bit, we realized that it was a little different from the usual markets we go to. There were stalls and stalls selling everything possible from billiard sets to shoes and watches. It really was a feast for our eyes. They even had a stall selling second hand books which really brought me back to my childhood. Growing up, i used to frequent this hawker centre that had a little second hand book store tucked away in a little dark corner and spent hours and hours there browsing through everything they had to offer before gingerly making my selection for the month. Of course i couldn't walk past it without taking a quick glance, especially when GT kept asking if i didn't want to have a look. Thank goodness i did. I found the latest Mary Higgins Clark book going for practically nothing at ten bucks :)

Somehow, when i'm at the markets, my brain seems to think it's a green light for getting anything i fancied, even if i had previously only thought about getting it for a split second. So when i chanced upon a baking store, like hell i could leave without buying anything.

So in i went, and out i came with a funnel, to ease pouring my custard mixture into my beloved ice cream maker and a cute little juicer. If money wasn't an issue, i would have gotten a whole set of mini baking pans and candy and oven thermometer as well. Good thing i still had my common sense with me when i walked in :)

The fruits there were marginally cheaper then Victoria Market, which makes sense i guess due to the lower rent. I got a huge bag of limes for $3.50 and a bunch of bananas going at $1.99/kg.

So that about sums it all up i guess. It's about 45 minutes drive from the city but parking's only 20 cents per hour [yup you heard me right, twenty cents]. It's a good place to go if you don't have anything planned on the morning of a weekend and want somewhere a little different to explore.

***
Dandenong Market

Corner of Clow and Cleelands Streetaccessible via Princes Highway or Monash Freeway [exit Stud Road]

Refreshingly Light Soba..

As you have probably gathered, i haven't been in the kitchen much at all these couple of days. I've been more than happy to take the backseat for a while and let my mum do the cooking, now that my dad has left, and focus on trying to hit the books, key word there being trying :)

My dad's more of a meat person. As in a serious meat person. It's not unusual for us to have three meat dishes with just rice when he does the cooking. Vegetables, in his words, are "second class". After all that meat devouring we did over the week he was here, our bodies were all feeling sluggish. At least mine was. So i thought what better way to kickstart our 'end of dad's visits, back to regular healthier meals' than a refreshingly light dinner.


This was deeply satisfying, flavourful and incredibly healthy. I think it was the dashi stock made all the difference. Who knew that two simple ingredients could produce stock with such incredible flavour.


I loved this, as did my mum. After her first spoonful, she proclaimed that she could eat this every day and proceeded to have a second helping, which is a real rarity for my mum.

This definitely goes into my 'Favourites' folder.

Soba with Prawns and Tofu [adapted from delicious April 2007 issue]

Ingredients
250g green prawns, peeled and deveined, leaving tails intact
2 tbsp dried wakame seaweed
1 tbsp cornflour
A bunch of enoki mushrooms, trimmed
1 pared strip lemon rind, cut into really thin strips
Soba noodles, cooked
1 block of tofu, cubed
Spring onions, to serve

2 pieces dried kombu seaweed
15g dried bonito flakes
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1/2 tsp salt

1. Soak wakame in a bowl of boiling water for 20 minutes. Drain and set aside.
2. To make soup stock, place 1 litre of water and kombu in a saucepan. Turn heat off when liquid starts to simmer. Let stand for 5 minutes then remove kombu. Add flakes into soup and bring to boil. Remove saucepan from heat and let stand for 1 minute before sieving.
   Heat soup over low fire, adding salt and dark soy sauce. Keep warm over stove.
3. Bring a small saucepan of lightly salted water to boil. Sprinkle a bit of salt over prawns and lightly dredge with cornflour. Drop into boiling water and cook for 1 minute.
4. Place soba, prawns, tofu and wakame in each bowl. Top up with soup and garnish with spring onions, lemon rind and enoki. Serves 4
   

J Cafe.

If i just won an all expense paid trip to anywhere in the world, Japan will hands down be my choice of destination. There's just something about their culture that's so intriguing, of course it doesn't hurt that their food's so yummy. The Japanese really take such great pride in what they do. Everything from gift packaging right down to sushi rolls is meticulously arranged and presented. Which is perfect for marketing suckers like me.

Japanese cafes are a dime a dozen in Melbourne. It's kinda like Starbucks; like them or not, they are everywhere and they're here to stay. By and large, they tend to have pretty decent fresh and filling handrolls to grab when you're on the go. Lucky for us, J Cafe was no exception.

We, okay rather i, had some difficulty finding the place. I stay just down the road from it, but for the life of me, i couldn't place where it was mentally.


When we finally got there, i could see how i could have missed it all the times i've walked past it. The place was tiny, its exterior bare, with just a little J sign indicating it was the right place. It has barely ten tables, half of which were taken up by Japanese when we arrived, much to our delight. You know what they say; the best way to tell if the food's good is to see if the people who are familiar with the type of cuisine frequent the place. From the looks of it, we were in for a scrumptious meal.

Unfortunately for us, that meal didn't come without a long wait. We must have waited at least thirty minutes before our food arrived. But when it came, it really didn't disappoint. The generous portions of food arrived pipping hot and smelt so good.


I had the prawn and avocado sushi burger ($15.50), with chicken as my choice of side dish. In addition to that, there was a little skewer of three pretty tasty meatballs as well as a bowl of soba noodles.


The chicken pieces were deep fried to perfection; crispy on the outside and juicy inside. But as with all things deep fried, it was really oily, i could feel my arteries clogging up as i was eating them. I really liked the burger. They certainly didn't sting on the ingredients which were really fresh. With a generous squeeze of Japanese mayo and a hearty amount of avocado and prawns, it was like eating a never ending hand roll.

I'll definitely go back but for takeaway this time. Shorter waiting time and more varieties of sushi burgers available, don't ask me why. Definitely takeaway next time.

***
J Cafe
167 Exhibition Street
Melbourne 3000 Vic

A Celebration Of Sorts.

I'm not one to make a big deal about celebrating birthdays. For my loved ones, sure, i'll be more than happy to make them feel like the gems they are. But for myself, non of that glitzy lavish dinner for me please. Just the company of my loved ones enjoying a good simple meal will more than suffice.

So this year, we decided to have a good home cooked meal at home, courtesy of my dad of course. Both my parents are really good cooks but between the two of them, it's my dad who takes over all the cooking when he's in town. Regardless of what he whips up, it always has us stuffing ourselves silly while moaning about how full we are.


It was a no brainer really deciding what to request for. My dad makes superb chicken rice, to say the least. Succulent, tender chicken. Flavourful rice cooked in homemade chicken stock. Kick ass chili with just the right of heat. It's easily the best i've ever eaten.

I asked that i make my own birthday cake as well, after chancing upon an chocolate orange cake in a magazine i was flipping through. Of course i later found out that night that my family humoured me by allowing me to believe we were keeping things simple this year and i was indeed making my cake. They threw me a surprise dinner with a couple of close friends, complete with a store brought cake, not that i'm complaining :)


I really enjoyed making this cake. Despite the long list of ingredients it called for, this cake was so much fun to make. The chopping of oranges, cooking them, the variety of flour, grounded nuts and grains, it sure made for quite a interesting experience in the kitchen.

Having used polenta in biscuits and pizza dough before and not liking the texture of it in either, i was a little apprehensive about using it in this cake but decided just to go ahead with it seeing how i had almost a whole bagful of it on hand. The gritty texture was still slightly noticeably in the cake but it was a nice change from the smooth creamy cakes we usually have for birthdays.


I must admit that i'm quite a purist; i prefer my chocolate rich, pure and dark. But i've been crazy about the combination of chocolate and orange after tasting Green and Black's Maya Gold. It's just out of this world, i would eat it every day if i could.


I really liked this cake. It wasn't too sweet or chocolately the way most cakes with chocolate usually turn out. The chocolate and orange flavours really complemented each other nicely with neither being too overpowering. If you can resist not tucking in to it right out of the oven, wait a couple of hours or better yet till the next day. The flavours will develop and come together so wonderfully your tastebuds will thank you.

Chocolate Orange Cake [taken from Women's Weekly April 2007 issue]


Ingredients
1 cup caster sugar
1 1/2 cup water
2 small oranges, sliced
1/4 cup water, extra
125g butter, softened
1 tbsp finely grated orange rind
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3 eggs
1/2 cup plain flour
1/2 cup self-raising flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup almond meal
1/2 polenta
1/3 cup sour cream
1/4 cup orange juice
1/2 cup dark chocolate, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Grease a 20cm round cake pan and line the base and side with 2 layers of baking paper.
2. Combine caster sugar and water in a large frying pan. Stir over medium heat till sugar dissolves. Bring to boil then simmer, not stirring and uncovered for about 5 minutes till syrup thickens slightly. Add orange slices and simmer gently, uncovered, for about 7 minutes till rind is tender. Turn slices halfway through cooking time.
3. Turn heat off and remove orange slices with tongs. Transfer slices to cover base of prepared pan, allowing them to overlap slightly. Reserve syrup.
4. Add extra water to reserved syrup in pan. Bring to boil then simmer, uncovered and without stirring, for about 5 minutes till syrup is a light honey colour. Pour two-third over orange slices in pan and reserve the remainder.
5. Beat butter, rind and brown sugar in a large bowl with electric mixer till light and fluffy. Add eggs in, combining well after each addition.
6. Stir in sifted flours, soda and cocoa. Add almond meal, polenta, sour cream, juice and chocolate. Carefully spread mixture over oranges in prepared pan.
7. Bake for about 60 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. Stand for 15 minutes before turning out on serving plate. Spoon reserved syrup over oranges.
   

A Photo of Photos.

I am so pleased with myself. After weeks of trying to create a photo collage, i finally did it. Of course i had such great help from Teddy. He's so clear and concise with instructions even a computer idiot like me managed it :)

From top down, left to right: Mini Mudcakes, Chocolate Sandwich Cookies, Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies, Breaded Flake Fillet with Asparagus, Beef Noodles, Lemon Meringue Pie Cupcakes, Satay Beehoon, Mango, Avocado and Prawn Salad.

Celebrating All Things Chocolate Part II

When it comes to shows about food, Good Eats is definitely top-notch. It essentially is about the science behind why we do what we do in the kitchen but Alton Brown does such a fantastic job in injecting humour and lightheartedness into it that you really don't realise you actually are learning something. As icing on the cake, there are always a couple of recipes in each episode, seemingly easy enough and impressive.

Each episode has me glued to the screen from the second the clip plays right till the credits start to roll but i've admittedly never really paid much attention to the episode on ice cream, not wanting to fuel my innate desire for an ice cream maker only to never see that dream materialised. Of course, that has all changed :)

So i watched that episode again last night, paying really close attention this time and here are some facts and tips i picked up

• there are 2 main school of thoughts on ice cream- New York ice cream which requires cooking and cooling of custard and Philadaphia ice cream which essentially is a frozen mixture of cream, sugar and flavouring.
• at least 90% of ice cream recipes in cookbooks today are the New York style
  
• fruit preserve can be used in place of sugar, cup for cup. replacing half of the sugar with preserve will actually result in smoother ice cream due to pectin
  
• the mixture should always be cold before you put it into the ice cream maker. this will give the ice cream a fine grain as cold liquids supports baby ice crystals better than warm liquids
• always add a little salt to mixture; this helps draws out the flavour
• allow mixture to age in the fridge for at least 6 hours; this improves its texture

Gotta love Good Eats.

So we were wandering through the supermarket aisles the other day when we ended up, as we always do, at the chocolate section. We stood there hemming and hawing over which brand to get, the post Easter chocolate sale sure didn't help, when my mum suggested we get the little gold balls of Roche to try make Roche ice cream.

Fredo's on Lygon Street

Like hell we weren't excited at the thought of making Roche ice cream in our very own living room. For years now, we've frequented an ice cream store on Lygon store called Il Fredo Gelato or something, swooning over their. among many other, Roche, Nutella and Mint Chocolate flavours. If you ever come to Melbourne, you have to make a trip down to their store. It's just after the interaction of Lygon and Queensberry street if you're heading down from the city. While you're there, have a lamb souvlaki at Lambs right on the corner and duck salad at Ying Thai, just a couple doors down from Fredos :)

So anyway back to my ice cream making story, GT and i decided to use a basic gelato recipe that came in the instruction manual of the ice cream maker and play around with the amount of Roche. So we crushed up a couple of Roches and threw in a couple squares of Cadbury milk chocolate macadamia my dad was snacking on for good measure. I swear we must have stood hovering around the stove for about thirty minutes waiting for the custard to thicken but it just wasn't to be. Things weren't looking too promising but dejection aside, we decided to just let it cool in the fridge in hopes that some magic might happen there.

Fast forward an hour and the countless trips made to the fridge to check its progress, it was still same ol' same ol'. Nothing looked any different. The mixture, for all the aroma it emanated so heavenly that we could almost taste the rich, luscious and divine flavour. was still relatively thin.

Now at this point, there were only two options; either we consumed, or more like drank it in this case, or we pushed ahead. If it were just up to me, throwing it out would be a viable option but GT, bless his peace loving, non food wasting soul, would not hear of it. And given that drinking it didn't seem like too attractive an option, in the ice cream maker it went.

So we stood around for a good 15 minutes, eyes transfixed on the churning mixture, eagerly to pick up any signs that the mixture was thickening. With every minute passed, our hopes were diminishing. But with the ice cream mixture already made and churning, what did we have to lose by keeping the churning going. So off we went to tend to other things.


The next time i came back to check on it, i was in for a wonderful surprise. The mixture had thickened and was beginning to take on the consistency of ice cream. The ice cream maker had done its magic. At this point, i was in awe of this wonderful machine, grinning from ear and ear, going around the house telling anyone who was in sight that there was indeed gonna be dessert tonight.

It churned for about 40 minutes, quite a bit longer than my last ice cream attempt. But it was so worth the wait. The texture of the ice cream was light, smooth with just a hint of creaminess. The flavour of the Roche came through beautifully with chunks of Roche incorporated into the ice cream.

There really is so much i could say about it but i guess the fact that the whole tub, all one litre of it, was gobbled up in the span of two nights does speak in testimony to how good this was doesn't it?

Roche Ice Cream


Ingredients
1/2 cup light cream
2 cups milk
5 egg yolks
1/2 caster sugar
14 Roches
6 squares of Cadbury milk chocolate

1. Combine cream, milk, 7 crushed Roches and squares of milk chocolate in a large saucepan. Heat over low heat till it starts to simmer and chocolate has melted.
   
2. In a medium bowl, whisk sugar and yolks together till light and creamy. Gradually whisk hot milk mixture, making sure to combine well.
3. Return mixture to saucepan, stirring constantly over low heat till mixture thickens. Let cool and refrigerate for at least 6 hours.
4. Churn in ice cream maker for about 40 minutes, adding crushed chunks of remaining Roche towards the end.
   

Celebrating All Things Chocolate Part I

With all that chocolate, hot cross buns, not to mention the week we get off school, what is there not to love about Easter really? Of course there is plenty of religious significance behind the Holy Week that Christians and Catholics observe but we'll leave that as that.

Today marks the end of my abstinence towards chocolate. Hurray! As promised, i finally made the macadamia and chocolate chip brownies.


I'm not really a nuts in cookies or brownies kind of person but these were . They were dense and really chocolatey with the macadamia cutting through the richness. Much like fudge, these melted in your mouth beautifully, leaving you with bits of macadamia and chocolate chunks.

My dad had two slices of these with his coffee this morning, each time proclaiming they were really good.

Now all we need to do is make some vanilla ice cream to go with these :)

Macadamia and Chocolate Chip Brownies [adapted from delicious' March 2007 issue]


Ingredients
250g unsalted butter
280g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
1 cup caster sugar [original recipe calls for 1 3/4 cup but this was sweet enough]
1 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
4 eggs
1 cup plain flour
100g roasted macadamia, roughly chopped

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Lightly grease a 23cm square tin and line with foil. Lightly grease foil and set aside.
   
2. Place butter and 180g dark chocolate in a large bowl, microwaving on medium for 20 seconds each time till melted and smooth. Let cool for about 5 minutes.
3. Whisk in sugar and vanilla. mixing well. Add eggs in one at a time, making sure to combine well each time.
4. Stir in flour till just combined. Gently fold nuts and remaining chocolate chunks in.
5. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 40-45 minutes. When ready, a skewer inserted into the middle will come out moist crumbs clinging on to it. Cool completely in pan and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Remove from pan, gently peel foil off and slice into bars with a hot, dry knife. Makes 20 slices
   

Roast Beef.

So i finally made that roast beef last weekend. This was a really easy recipe, just marinate the beef, trim the mushrooms and put it all in the oven to do its thing.

While the beef was juicy and moist, the marinade was a little on the sour side though i had reduced the amount of lemon juice that was called for by a bit., especially on the mushrooms.

I had the leftovers for dinner the next day. And my goodness, it just blew me away. The flavours had all mellowed and really came together beautifully. I went to bed with dreams of roast beef sandwich for lunch the following day only to find out my sister and her boyfriend had finished it in the middle of the night. Oh well, more reason to make this again :)

Mustard and Lemon Roast Beef [taken from Super Food Idea's August 2006 issue]


Ingredients
1 kg scotch fillet
2 tbsp dijon mustard
1/4 cup olive oil
1 lemon, rind finely grated, juiced
300g cup mushrooms, trimmed

1. Preheat oven to 200C. Combine mustard, olive oil, lemon rind, 1/4 cup lemon juice and freshly ground black pepper in a small bowl. Whisk to combine well.
2. Place beef in a lightly greased roasting pan. Pour marinade over beef, making sure to coat all sides well. Place in centre of oven and roast for 20 minutes.
3. Remove beef from oven and baste with pan juices. Reduce oven to 180C and roast for another 24 minutes. Remove from oven and baste again.
4. Arrange mushrooms around beef and turn to coast in pan juices. Return to oven and roast for a further 20 minutes. for medium beef. Cover and let rest for 15 minutes. Serves 4
   

Churn, Baby, Churn.

Christmas came early for me this year. Well actually, it was more along the lines of my birthday present came a little early. After a whole weekend of cajoling, begging GT and promising i'll use it, i finally got my ice cream maker :)

You should have seen me, i was practically prancing my way into Myer on Saturday morning. And i had a huge silly grin plastered on my face the whole two blocks we had to walk home. Of course, it didn't hurt that the arduous task of lugging all 11.25 kg of it back was taken out of my hands and i literally didn't have to lift a finger :) Most people walked us by with a quizzical look at the huge and obviously pretty heavy box which soon turned into a smile when they realized what sat inside.


I spent the better part of the afternoon admiring my new baby, running my fingers across its smooth sleek exterior, tenderly washing the removable parts that came with it, before my conscience started getting to me. GT had generously financed a large part of the ice cream maker and almost broke his back carrying it home. Surely i had to find a way to thank him right, and what better way to do so than trying it out, killing two birds in one stone :)

Deciding the flavour was a no-brainer but it was after i had gathered everything i needed that it started to get challenging. Firstly, i increased the fire by just a teeny weeny bit i swear, in hopes of quickening the thickening [i'm such a rhymer :)] of the custard. Patience is really not one of my virtues. No prizes for guessing what happened next.

Yup, the custard curdled and i had to start over. This time, i made sure the fire was the smallest it could go and the custard did thicken. But i was little nervous that it might start to boil any moment so i turned the fire off before the custard reached its ideal consistency i think. After putting that in the fridge, i started on the strawberry puree. This was easy peasy but it took forever to reduce the quantity to one cup, i have no idea why. But that was finally accomplished and put in the fridge as well.


A couple hours later, everything looked promising and into the ice cream maker they went. The whole twenty five minutes it was churning, we were having dinner and i was happily walking up to it every two minutes peering in, freely giving running commentaries to anyone who would listen.


I liked this. It was thick, creamy and bursting full of strawberries. We've finished half of it. The other half's waiting for my parents; my dad loves the strawberry flavour though now he has moved onto green tea and macadamia nut.

I can't wait to start experimenting :)

Strawberry Ice Cream [makes about 1 litre]


1 cup milk
1 cup thickened cream
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup caster sugar

500g strawberry, hulled
1/2 cup caster sugar

1. Combine milk and cream in a saucepan. Bring mixture to simmering point over low heat.
2. Whisk egg yolks and sugar together for 3-4 minutes, till light and creamy. Gradually whisk in hot milk mixture till well combined.
3. Return to saucepan, stirring constantly over low heat with a wooden spoon. Cook till mixture thickens and coats the back of the spoon. Do not allow mixture to boil.
4. Transfer mixture to a bowl, allow to cool and refrigerate for a few hours.
5. Meanwhile, process strawberries in a food processor till smooth. Press mixture through a fine sieve, discarding seeds.
6. Place strawberru puree and sugar in a saucepan, stirring over low heat till sugar dissolves. Increase heat and boil till mixture has reduced to 1 cup, stirring constantly. Transfer to a bowl and chill for a few hours.
   
7. Once custard is cold, stir through strawberry mixture and chill till ready to churn.
   

Prawn Vietnamese Hand Rolls.

Just the other day, a friend and i were starving in class. On our way to get lunch in between classes, she was raving about these Vietnamese handrolls she usually get from the university's food court of some sort. So naturally, i got myself a little tray of those and we happily made our way to class with me dreaming of sinking my teeth into them.

Of course, in typically me fashion, i fell up the stairs before that dream materialized. I know, who on earth falls going up the stairs. I'm just as prone to falling down the stairs in case you're wondering which of course had to happen on GT and my first real date. I still haven't heard the end of that. Grr. So yeah i've got a nasty bruise to show for it. Thank goodness the food was fine, which was our primary concern :)

They were SO good! Doused in sweet chili sweet, i devoured all four of them even before the class was half up, totally ignoring everything that was going on of course. In fact, they were so good, i'm still dreaming about them 2 days later.

Now one of the first things you must know about me, other than i'm pretty much the residential klutz, is i'm really a person of extremes. Once i fancy a particular type of food, i have to have it all the time till i get over the phrase, then of course, i'll rarely touch it again. Same goes with songs, shoes, bags and accessories. Guys? Lucky for GT, not so much :)

So it was either i brave the horrendous lunch crowd at the university every day till i get over this Vietnamese hand roll craze or make them myself. Naturally, i picked the latter.


These were so easy to make and pretty healthy as well. I love the sourish burst of flavour that tantalizes your tastebuds the second you bite into this. Generously doused in sweet chili, the flavours make a hell of a combination. I eat this in the most unglamorous way ever; with the sauce dripping everything and fillings threatening to fall out any moment. If you ask me, it's always the food you have to eat with your fingers that's really worth eating :)

Vietnamese Hand Rolls


Ingredients
60g rice stick noodles
1 medium carrot, coarsely grated
1/2 chinese cabbage, shredded
1/4 cup lime or lemon juice
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp fish sauce
6 chinese mushrooms, soaked and thinly sliced
20 medium prawns, halved horizontally, deveined and cooked
12 round rice paper sheets
Sweet chili sauce, to serve

1. Place noodles in a bowl. Cover with boiling water and stand till tender. Drain. Add cabbage and carrot to bowl Combine lime juice, sugar and fish sauce in a small bowl. Add sauce to noodles. Toss well.
2. Place a damp tea towel on a chopping board. Soak a rice paper sheet in a bowl of warm water till just softened. Remove from water and transfer to chopping board. Place a little of each filling in the center of the sheet. Fold the two sides of the rice paper sheet over the filling, then roll up to enclose filling. Repeat with the rest of the rice paper sheets and fillings. Serve with sweet chili sauce. Serves 3
   

Pad Thai.

I love thai food. The spices they use, the combination of fish sauce and lemon juice, green curry. Whatever it is, something about their cuisine has got me going back for it time and time again.

The one Thai place i frequent here's always pretty packed and i've eaten there so many times, i'm frankly a little sick of all they've to offer and way too lazy to make my way there. So what's a girl got to do when she wants a little thai food but is too lazy to walk out and get take away? Attempt to whip it up in her kitchen of course :)

This was pretty good, with the lime juice, tamarind and fish sauce lending good flavour. It was relatively quick, easy to prepare and tasty.

I used egg whites instead of whole eggs coz i had so many egg whites just lying around in the fridge. It gave the dish a different feel somehow, felt like it was a little healthier. I really liked the crushed peanuts included.

I'll definitely be making this again, adding a little more tamarind, as well as a dash of dark soy sauce for colour the next time.

Chicken and Prawn Pad Thai [adapted from Super Food Idea's March 2007 issue]


Ingredients
Rice stick noodles
1 small lime, juiced [lemon works fine as well]
2 1/2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp tamarind puree
Vegetable Oil
1 chicken breast fillet, trimmed and thinly sliced
250g green prawns, peeled and deveined
5 garlic cloves, crushed [original recipe called for 2]
2 tbsp chopped garlic chives
1/3 cup beansprouts, trimmed
1/3 cup roasted peanuts, chopped
1/4 tsp ground white pepper
6 eggs

1. Place noodles in a bowl. Cover with warm water and stand for 5 minutes till soft. Drain and set aside. Combine 2 tbsp lime juice, 2 tbsp fish sauce, sugar and tamarind in a small bowl. Set aside.
   
2. Heat wok over high heat. Add oil and swirl to coat. Add chicken, stir fry till light golden. Add prawn and stir fry till pink. Transfer prawns and chicken to a plate.
3. Add garlic and lime juice mixture to wok. Cook for 3 minutes till reduced and syrupy.
4. Return chicken and prawns to wok. Add noodles, chives and beansprouts. Stir well, making sure noodles are coated in sauce. Add peanuts and toss to combine. Transfer to a bowl and cover to keep warm. Wipe wok clean with paper towel.
5. Whisk remaining 2 tsp fish sauce and pepper with eggs. Heat oil in wok. Pour half of egg mixture and swirl to form a thin omelette. Cook till almost set. Transfer to plate. Repeat with remaining egg. Spoon noodles mixture onto 1 half of each omelette. Fold omelette to enclose. Serves 2
   

Gingersnaps.

I'm really not too fan of ginger but there's something about gingersnaps and gingerbread i can't resist.

For some rhyme or reason, i had a huge craving for some gingersnaps. And as things always go, there was none to be found in our snack cabinet. Pfft.



So i set out to resolve that problem today on the way back from church and braved the usual evening crowd at the supermarket.


I honestly love these. Crisp with just a hint of ginger. Mmm. They're fantastic rock hard, if you want something to munch on. But i usually have them softened a little, dunked into milk. They become easily one of the best midday snacks to have then.

I have to go put these away now. Or the whole pack will be polished off before i realize it :)