A dessert style bruschetta

It was a lazy Friday night and I was watching the “Living Room”…yes I know what you are thinking! But moments before I could reach for the remote, the charming (and at times slightly crazy) Miguel Maestre began interviewing Deb, who had recently been eliminated from this seasons Masterchef. 

She had provided a fantastic recipe, which she described as a sweet breakfast bruschetta. Given how sweet this dish is I think it would be a preferable option for a mid -afternoon snack. You know the moments, where you have had a Sunday brunch, but it turns 3 o’clock and you have that craving for something sweet to tie you over till dinner.  It would also make the perfect afternoon tea if you have some friends coming over and want to whip up something quick!

This recipe serves 4 people and has been slightly adapted from the original recipe:

Ingredients

Sourdough- you only need about one slice per person (and try get this fresh from your local bakery rather than buying it from a supermarket)

Apple mixture:

• 3 granny smith apples, cored and sliced into wedges

• Zest of one lemon

• Juice of one lemon

• 50g butter

• 12 fresh dates, pitted and cut into half

• 2 tablespoons honey

Walnut syrup

• 100g golden walnuts

• 100g butter

• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

• ¼ cup fresh lemon juice

• 50g honey

• 50g maple syrup

Orange ricotta

• 250g fresh ricotta (buy this from the deli section)

• Zest of one orange

• 2 tablespoons orange juice

Method

 You can do this recipe in five quick sections:

(1)    Apple mixture  

Place apple wedges into a saucepan with the butter, zest and juice of the lemon.  Stir continuously and ensure the apple wedges are coated thoroughly in the mixture. Continue to cook the mixture until the apples soften and at this stage add the honey and dates.  Remove from the heat.

(2)  Walnut syrup

Dry toast the walnuts in the oven on 180 degrees for approximately 8 – 10 minutes.  You should be able to smell the aroma of the walnuts at this time, but be careful not to overcook them.

In a small saucepan place the honey, maple syrup, butter, lemon juice and cinnamon and bring to the boil.  Once the mixture begins to caramelise and become syrupy add the walnuts. Turn off the heat.

(3)  Orange ricotta

Add the zest and the orange juice to the ricotta and stir through thoroughly. 

(4)  Bread

Diagonally cut the sour dough bread and heat on a grill.

(5)  Assembly

The final step is assembly, which is definitely the most fun! Here I’ve placed the apple and date mixture on the bread, topped with lashings of walnut syrup and then cornelled the ricotta and orange mixture.  

Enjoy!

Eveleigh Markets

On what was a spectacularly sunny Sydney morning, my fiancé  and I decided to have a look at Eveleigh Markets (‘Eveleigh’).  What inspired us to go this? Perhaps it was the fact that on our recent trip to Montreal we had visited Jean Talon markets with some of our friends. It was brimming with the freshest produce Montreal had to offer. Tasting their fresh fruits and vegetables, their home made pastries and their delectable cheeses made me hungry to visit the markets in our own local area.

 

So waking up bright and early (at least for a Saturday morning) we headed out toward Redfern.  Perhaps by chance it was the same morning that Kylie Kwong was promoting the release of her new book “Simple Chinese Cooking Class”. She was extremely personable and warm as we conversed and she then provided me with a signed copy of her new book. 

 

We then gathered around her stall to watch her cooking demonstration of what were really, two simple dishes. She began with a vegetable san chow boy (an assortment of Chinese vegetables wrapped in a crisp ice berg lettuce) and followed suit with stir fried lamb fillets with caramelised rice noodles.  

As her cooking class demonstration ended and the crowd dwindled, we spotted Audra (from this season’s Masterchef).  I couldn’t help but take a quick snap!

 

But aside from all these ‘celebrity’ spotting’s (at least in the food world), the markets itself is a true treasure.  These are not the type of markets you would come to do your weekly grocery shopping, but what you will find, is local and unusual produce.  You have Mr Fungi who sells an assortment of fresh mushrooms from porcini to wood ears and everything in between.  You can also find items like truffle oil, micro-herbs and edible flowers.

Offcourse they also have a small selection of fresh fruit and vegetables and you can be assured they are organic and pesticide free. We picked up a bag of mandarins grown from a nearby by orchid. They were incredibly sweet, in a way that I have never found from the mandarins we have bought at our local supermarket.

 

And no trip to the market would be fulfilled without tasting some food! There are only a few stalls selling breakfast and/or lunch.  But you will find an interesting range from the high end boutiques such as Bird, Cow, Fish (a one hatted restaurant which recently closed their restaurant in Surry Hills) to smaller local producers.  We couldn’t go past the smell of the chorizo sausage being cooked on the hot grills, teemed with caramelised onions and a spicy dressing.

So if you are looking for a way to enjoy the local produce in your area and find some interesting items to add to your pantry then don’t miss a trip to Eveleigh!

Universal Restaurant

Last night my fiancé surprised me by taking me to dinner at Universal Restaurant. The restaurant had been on our radar for some time, so it was a lovely little surprise going to dinner there. For those that are Masterchef fans, you would be aware that Christine Mansfield ('Mansfield'), owner of Universal, has been a notable and frequented guest on the show.

Universal is nestled in a corner, away from the lights and crassness of Oxford Street. Its canary yellow and bright orange interior contrast against the dimly lit lights, to create a warm and inviting atmosphere. To add to the restaurant's quaintness, customers have been provided with blankets should they get cold.

Mansfield has a strong opinion in the type of food and drinks she wants served in her restaurant. As I perused the cocktail menu to choose the perfect drink to accompany our mains I lingered over the Mojito. That was until I read what Mansfield had written underneath it. "You know what it is. Choose something different." We burst out in laughter, okay so maybe I wouldn't choose the Mojito after all. I settled for a Cosmopolitan instead. The tanginess and sweetness of the drink, accompanied the spiciness of the dishes quite well.

I didn’t quite know what to expect in terms of the cuisine.  As I have Christine Mansfield cook book “Tasting India” at home I thought perhaps there would be some Indian dishes in the midst.  On the contrary her dishes were heavily Chinese influenced. 

The interesting part of Mansfield’s menu is her ability to add a number of different textures and create bold and vibrant flavours.  A particular favourite of mine was the five spiced sichuan duck. It was succulent and paired beautifully with the sautéed scallops.  The dish was laced with sichuan peppercorns leaving a subtle heat and that all familiar tingling in your mouth. 

I found her dishes tended to have similar flavours however, so although we were trying four separate mains the flavours in the dishes began to blend together.   Her dishes could also at times (if I dare say) be minimal in terms of the serving size.  We ordered a chilli squid in xo sauce.  Whilst I could not find any fault with the xo sauce, the dish itself had an abundance of green chinese vegetables with only lashings of squid.  Perhaps if the proportions of this dish were reversed it would have been more satisfying.

We decided to end the night with a shared dessert and I could not go past the “gay time”. I know what you are all thinking, quite a fitting name given we were in the centre of Darlinghurst, but I assure you the name was based on a deconstructed version of the ice cream! When it got bought to the table you could not help but exclaim “ohh", nor could you help but marvel at the “crack” as the spoon broke through the tempered chocolate to reach the caramel ice cream held inside. It was certainly a great way to end the meal.