food

It's a timely coincidence that whilst I'm currently in Adelaide for Tasting Australia, this week's Freebie Friday comes from Beerenberg, located in Hahndorf in the Adelaide Hills of South Australia. If you're keen for updates on what I'm up to in Adelaide, simply follow @grabyourfork on Twitter.THE PRIZE:One Beerenberg prize hamper worth $50, containing:1 x Apricot jam1 x Strawberry jam1 x

My first review for Time Out Sydney. The following piece in Tuong Lai has been published in the May 2010 issue as part of my new monthly column. My focus? To uncover hidden gems in the 'burbs. Writing to a word limit was challenging, and even then, about 15% of my submission hit the editing room floor. I've duplicated the review as it appears in Time Out Sydney but added all the photos I

Hello, I'm a food blogger and I now have a monthly review column in Time Out Sydney. I know. I know. It's crazy, huh? Each month I'll be writing a review piece about an untapped culinary Sydney gem. The idea is to focus on out-of-the-way places, providing a brief snapshot of places serving interesting food in the suburbs of Sydney. My first review appears in the May issue which is out today

One of the quickest and most typical desserts in Estonia is curd cheese pudding - a mix of whipped cream and some curd cheese - that's usually served with some fruit or berries. Here's a twist on that recipe that uses more widely available cottage cheese. Instead of sugar, I've used undiluted elderflower cordial to sweeten the mousse, and give the dessert a lovely floral fragrance. The cottage cheese leaves tiny lumps in the dessert that I loved, but you may want to "warn" your guests (or press the cottage cheese through a sieve first). Looking for more elderflower recipe ideas? Here are some: Elderflower, coconut and lemon curd cake Elderflower curd Strawberries with elderflower zabaglione Quick elderflower mousse ( Kiire leedrikreem ) Inspiration: Swedish Arla site Serves 4 200-250 ml whipping cream 1 tsp of sugar 250 g plain cottage cheese 50 ml (3-4 Tbsp) elderflower cordial Whisk the cream and sugar until soft peaks form. Add the elderflower cordial and con...

Lemon curd is something I make quite regularly. K. LOVES the stuff, and is happy to dash to the grocery store to pick up some lemon at any time, and I'm rather fond of that tangy and lemony spread as well. Last night I made yet another batch and gave a spoonful to our 15-month-old daughter. She would have happily licked some more :) I love how versatile it is. You can eat it straight out of the jar, au naturel . Spread it over a slice of toasted brioche . You can drizzle it over some home-made vanilla ice cream, or, even better, fold it into the ice cream mixture before churning it into a delicious l emon curd ice cream . A simple raspberry meringue roulade/Raspberry Pavlova roll gets lifted to a totally different level when the filling includes some lemon curd. And, of course, it can play a star role in a festive cake . Obviously, I'm not the first blogger to share their lemon curd recipe - Meeta , David , Lydia , and countless others have done it before me. But each one of...

You don't usually expect a lab coat with your coffee order, but at the Sensory Lab in Melbourne, the making of coffee is a strictly scientific affair.Originally we'd had best intentions to visit famed coffee shop St Ali, but on the morning of our day last in Melbourne, we just missed the tram, the next one wasn't due for 25 minutes and time was ticking down to our departure flight back to

I threw two birthday parties this year - one to my university friends, one to my extended family (parents, aunties, soon-to-be-90-granny). That obviously meant two different birthday cakes :P Coffee cake (my traditional birthday cake, recipe here ): Here's a close-up of the cake slice: Raspberry meringue cake with cocoa nibs (recipe is still work-in-process, but the cake was absolutely delicious!)

This isn't the cake I'm serving today ( this one is ;)) It was one of the cakes at our Easter Brunch a few weeks ago, and it was tasty and it's festive and pretty, so I'm sharing the recipe anyway (after all, I do deserve a cake today!) It's a coconut sponge, layered with lemon curd and topped with whipped cream spiked with elderflower extract. Perfect for spring with its light yellow colours. Hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did! Elderflower, coconut and lemon curd cake ( Kookose-sidrunitort leedrikreemiga ) Adapted from the Swedish BAKA magazine 1/2010 Serves 10 to 12 Coconut sponge: 4 large eggs 250 g sugar (300 ml) 150 ml water 80 g plain flour (150 ml) 80 g potato starch (150 ml) 100 g flaked unsweetened coconut 2 tsp vanilla sugar 2 tsp baking powder Separate egg whites and yolks. Whisk egg yolks with sugar until thick and pale and frothy. Add water and continue whisking for a few more minutes. Combine flour, coconut flakes, vanilla, baking powder and p...

Our little family spent a week in Davos , Switzerland at the end of March. I wish I could show you gorgeous photos of the impressive slopes, hillside restaurants and skiing chalets. The truth is, that K. spent a week enjoying the slopes, whereas I and our little daughter spent most of the time trying to recover from the rather annoying cold that had hit us out of the blue :( At least by the time we were back in Zürich we were recovered enough to have enough energy to check out the Ladurée shop and Café Péclard in town, so it wasn't all wasted on us. During our vacation we had breakfast at three different hotels in Switzerland, and true to their local traditions, they all served Bircher-müsli ;) If you haven't heard of Bircher-müesli before, then it's cold cereal or "fresh müsli" that was first served to its patients by a Swiss physician Maximilian Bircher-Benner over a century ago. Since then müsli has become popular all over the world, although the origina...

Tracey and Ashley Hughes with their fatherSome people know, from a very early age, exactly what they want to do in life.Ashley Hughes was one of them. At age 15, he left school determined to become a chef, commencing an apprenticeship with Greg Doyle and Steve Hodges from Pier and completing it at Bennelong restaurant with Janni Kyritsis and Gay Bilson.In 1996 Ashley left Sydney to work overseas,

First I complain that I don't post nearly as many breakfast recipes as I should and then I post two in a row !!! Again, this is one of several Alanna's oatmeal recipes , and this particular one has been praised by Kalyn as well. I did adapt the recipe for using the stovetop-method. Although we do have a microwave in our kitchen, we don't use it for cooking, just reheating food occasionally. Somehow the stovetop method seems more wholesome to me, plus it only takes few minutes longer. If you are in a real rush in the mornings then refer to Alanna's original post for microwave instructions. What about the breakfast cereal compromises mentioned in the post title? Well, K. likes his breakfast porridge/oatmeal with milk, I'm happy with half-and-half (that's half milk, half water, not half milk, half cream, mind you). So depending on who's making the oatmeal for breakfast, one of us always gets the less preferred version. That's relationships to you, eh :) T...

Canapé – Sorbello Heirloom tomato tartsJustin North has a particular affection for game. His restaurant, Bécasse, is French for woodcock, a small gamebird mostly found in the Northern Hemisphere.It goes some way to explaining Justin's noticeable excitement at today's Producers' Lunch Forum - one that will feature spanner crab, mushrooms and game. As we learn more about the people behind each

The food paparazzi.It's serendipitous that just as I'm writing this post about food photography, the LA Times publishes an article about the rise in diners taking photographs of their meals in restaurants.Everyone, it seems, is taking pre-dinner snapshots. The article says:Taking a cue from Twitter and Facebook cultures, serious foodies and casual consumers alike are using digital technology to

The eighties are back in fashion and winemakers are hoping that chardonnay will be too. This is the message we receive at a recent chardonnay tasting dinner with Heemskerk winemaker Anna Pooley at the Park Hyatt Sydney.The chardonnays of 2010, we are reassured, are not like the ones from twenty-five years ago. Shoulder pads may be back, explains event co-host and lifestyle columnist Melissa Hoyer

It's raining meatballs!Alas, those fantastic scenes from food movie Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs are unlikely to eventuate, but winning this magic umbrella is the next best thing...Thanks to Raje from Hausmann Communications, I have five magic umbrellas to give away for this Freebie Friday. Why are they magic? When the white patches on the umbrella get wet, they reveal pictures of hamburgers

I don't post nearly as many breakfast recipes as I should. You see, although Nora is eating solids now and is a very happy eater, then there's still only two proper eaters in our house. Despite of that we bake lots of cakes and quiches and tarts and pies (all for the good of the users of my Estonian site ). On most days, we have something for dinner and then eat the rest of the cake or tart for breakfast the following morning, so I rarely make special breakfast dishes (Sunday morning pancakes is an exception, of course). I know I should eat oatmeal or other hot cereal for breakfast much more often, but a slice of yesterday's cake is a lazy, but quick alternative. However, I may have just stumbled upon a hot cereal recipe that I might bother to make even if there's some cake in the house. My dear blog friend Alanna has posted several healthy oatmeal recipes (one of which - Alanna's famous oatmeal with peanut butter - she served me when I visited her in St Louis in...

Don't you love a menu that's the size of a newspaper?Its unwieldy size is presumably the reason why Shez and I only receive one menu to peruse between us. If we had one each we wouldn't see each other over the top of it.After a day of shopping, a lunch of dumplings is the perfect antidote for sore feet. It takes some time to find the entrance to Chatswood outlet of New Shanghai on Victoria

Is baking bread one of life's greatest pleasures?I used to have a fear of bread - dealing with yeast seems fraught with failure - but like most things, the only thing holding you back from success is simply your own hesitancy.Making bread in your own home is a rewarding experience, and I love that the simple combination of flour, water and yeast can turn into a beautifully baked loaf of bread,

Another Georgian recipe on Nami-Nami. When I gave couple of Georgian cookery classes back in March, I had chosen 15 carefully selected recipes for the class. Little did I know that this humble and simple mushroom dish would prove to be such a great favourite with the participants. The mushrooms are slowly cooked in cream, alongside with some spices you wouldn't usually associate with mushroom dishes - cloves, bay leaves, cinnamon. Just before serving, some finely chopped fresh herbs are added, which lift the whole dish nicely (a bit like gremolata on osso buco , you know :)) Serve as a side dish or on a buffet spread. For best results, choose large mushrooms or use whole button mushrooms. Creamy mushrooms with spices and herbs ( Vürtsidega hautatud šampinjonid ) serves 4 500 g mushrooms 1 Tbsp butter 0.5 tsp salt freshly ground black pepper 200 ml whipping cream/double cream 6 whole black peppercorns 3 cloves 2 bay leaves small cinnamon stick large handful of fresh dill, finely c...

Tonkatsu is not just crumbed pork - it's a religious experience.With a national cuisine celebrated for its low-fat sashimi, sushi and reviving miso soup, I love that when it comes to deep-fried food, the Japanese really know how to party. Whether it's light and aerated puffs of tempura, or the crunchy satisfaction of a panko crumb coating, there's always a deep appreciation of the elegance that a

Although the best tasting cucumbers will be available in July/August, then the cucumbers on sale at the moment aren't really so bad. So when I was looking for dishes to serve at our Easter Brunch table , this vivid green salad in Ottolenghi's book immediately caught my eye. The Ottoleghi guys recommend you make this with small cucumbers (sometimes called 'Lebanese cucumbers' in British recipes), but those won't be available until mid-summer. Until then, nice thin long ones will work as well. I loved the colour, the piquancy of the dressing and the crunchiness of the poppy seeds. Again - suitable for gluten-free and lactose-free and vegan and vegetarian diets. Cucumber and poppy seed salad ( Krõmpsuv kurgisalat krõmpsuvate mooniseemnetega ) Recipe from Ottolenghi: The Cookbook (slightly adapted) Serves 6 to 8 as part of a buffet 500 g fresh cucumber (about 2-3 long green cucumbers, choose slim ones with small seeds) 1 mild red chilli pepper, deseeded and thinly slice...

Salted chocolate mousse and salted caramel macaronsImages from The Salt Book, Arbon PublishingSalt in desserts seem like a new and brilliant idea until you realise that people have actually been doing it for ages. In Thailand, fruits like pineapple and green mango are eaten with chilli and salt, and Vietnamese desserts often incorporate a pinch of salt in the coconut milk. In Brittany, they've

"What do you think we'll see at the Easter Show today?" asked one Mum of her kids on the train to the Easter Show."Um... dogs? And sheep? And um... pigeons!" came the contemplative but excited response.But no mention of ducks, and yet these three ducks stole the show for everyone. They wobbled past Suze and I along the road - we thought they were toys or puppets at first, their long necks swaying

I'm on a quinoa mood these days. First I gave you colourful quinoa salad with crayfish and avocado , then a vegan quinoa salad with coriander/cilantro and lime . Both have been served with a success on several occasions at our house, and I have it on good authority that my brother-in-law served the crayfish version to a grateful audience on his recent birthday party as well. Having been so successful with the first two quinoa salads, it was only natural that I decided to serve some kind of quinoa salad at the Easter Sunday brunch . It's was universally enjoyed by our over dozen guests and thus provided another great opportunity to introduce this rather unknown "grain" here in Estonia. The recipe is very slightly adapted from a book by a New York based holistic health and nutrition councelor Marika Blossfeldt (you can read more about her practice here ), who also runs an international center for the performing, visual and healing arts here in Estonia). As it happens...

The Sydney Royal Easter Show brings out the kid in everyone. As Suze and I watch the Robosaurus stir into action in the main arena, however, it's the first time I've seen an entire stadium turn into awestruck seven-year-old boys.The Robosaurus is a 27-tonne fire-breathing robot that likes to munch on cars. Standing 12m tall, or the equivalent of a five-storey building, the Robosaurus has moving

Hope you all had a lovely Easter weekend, wherever and however you celebrated it! We hosted our traditional Easter Sunday Brunch yesterday, with 11 adults, 6 children and 3 toddlers around the table. Last year I tried to follow a green/yellow colour scheme . This year I simply chose dishes that made me think of spring :) Here are the dishes from yesterday: We started with Mimosas again: Baby spinach with hot-smoked salmon, quail eggs, green beans and asparagus spears: Quinoa salad with beets, fennel and basil Savoury cheesecake with chives and goat's cheese: Ottolenghi's cucumber salad with chilli and poppy seeds Bean salad with lemon and parsley: Estonian national fish, Baltic herring, with cherry tomatoes and herbs (recipe from an Estonian foodblogger Mari-Liis ): Home-made Estonian cheese with curd cheese, eggs and caraway seeds, served with dark rye bread: Choux puffs with ricotta, mint and green pea filling (recipe from the latest issue of the French Regal magazine; the ...

What food do you crave when you're feeling ill?More often than not, it's a dish that harks back to your childhood. Something simple and comforting with clean flavours that arent overly complex.After two days of non-stop gluttony in Melbourne, Billy and I were already starting to feel a little green around the gills. A post-dinner snack of caramel-filled churros followed by Lord of the Fries hot