Blue Mountain –A foodie must!

A visit to Blue Mountains is a must! Its stunning scenery and close proximity to Sydney makes it the ideal getaway. My fiancé and I celebrated our five year anniversary this weekend. It was such a wonderful break from the hustle and bustle of Sydney life where we could take a moment to relax together.  But you all know me and a break wouldn’t be complete, without some amazing food to tuck into!

The Blue Mountains did not disappoint, nestled amongst all the amazing scenery are a number of restaurants and cafes taking the local area by storm! I’ve reviewed two of my favourite places; I hope they will inspire you to check out the area and help support our local commerce.

The first place is a little café called Leura Garage café.  Its name comes from the fact that the café operates from a renovated garage.  This adds to its quirkiness and charm. Littering the walls is a colourful array of fresh germaniums.

 

The menu is quite varied and one of the best things about the café is that it is open all day. So whether you pop in at ten am or four, there is always something delectable on the menu.  We couldn’t go past the pizza. Every table we turned too seemed to have ordered a pizza-they certainly looked moreish!

We settled on an ocean trout, fetta, caramelised onions and fresh rocket pizza. One pizza was more than ample for two people. The crust was absolutely heavenly; it had the perfect amount of crunch and perfect dough to ingredients ratio!

 

You can end your perfect lunch with a short stroll down the road to Josophan’s Fine Chocolates. They have such an interesting selection of chocolate; my favourite was the dark chocolate with saffron and honey-divine!

 

For our anniversary dinner we thought we would try some special- we found that in the hatted Restaurant Como.  This restaurant is nestled in a town called Blaxland.  It’s an intimate restaurant, so if you are interested make sure you book in advance!

The menu changes with the season and they are not scared to try an interesting combination of flavours. I’ve included a copy of the degustation menu available now.

 

The most memorable dish for me was definitely course three. I have never been privy to such an interesting juxtaposition of sweet and savoury in one dish.  The seared scallops were paired beautifully with marshmallows, a pastry sliver and a coconut maracon. The green apple jelly added a sour note against the pork cheek. The sweet elements added a wonderful texture to the dish.

 

 

For your sweet side, they have you covered with a blood orange granita paired with yoghurt and meringues which cleanses your palette beautifully for the dark chocolate dessert to follow.

I’ve included a copy of the other courses in the degustation menu to show you the quality of the food you can expect.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

You will leave this restaurant feeling full and extremely content! If you are in the area I would definitely give this one a go!

Big breakfast, gourmet style!

Okay so it’s only mid-week and I am already longing for the weekend! But nothing is more fun than a nice long sleep in, followed by a big brekkie (am I right?) So don’t get caught out this weekend, I’ve got the perfect solution for you. Boys, this could be the perfect dish to make for your loved one (hint, hint!)

Ingredients:

·         2 potatoes, diced

·         ½ cup mushrooms, diced

·         1 chorizo sausage, diced

·          1 small onion, diced

·         1 vine ripe tomato, diced

·         1 birdseye chilli, diced (optional)

·         3 eggs

·         Rosemary or Thyme to garnish

Method:

Heat a small fry pan. Add 1 tablespoon oil and the potatoes and cook ensuring the oil coats the potatoes. Cover and cook for about 3 minutes until the potatoes are firm but tender. Increase the heat, continue to fry the potato until golden and then and sprinkle some salt and pepper. Remove from heat and set aside.

Coat the same fry pan with oil. Add the mushrooms and cook till all the water is evaporated and the mushrooms slightly brown. Sprinkle some salt when just about done. Remove from heat and set aside.

In the same frypan add the sausages and cook until lightly browned. Add the birds eye chilli at this point, if you included it, the onions and tomatoes.  

Return all the other cooked ingredients to the pan, sprinkle some thyme and toss to combine. Drizzle about 1 tablespoon of oil on them; spread them around so they cover the base of the pan completely in a single layer. Crack the eggs onto the mixture. Cover and cook on the stove top till the egg whites are just set but the yolks are still runny.

 

Decorations, decorations

So last weekend my friend and I went to a cup cake decorating class. Cup cake decorating class you say? Well, it was all about learning how to decorate and make your next batch of cupcakes stand out! So get rid of that boring white frosting and try something different, whether it is for your friend’s birthday party or your next big function.

This blog entry is not designed to show you how to make all your icings but instead to show you just how easy it is to get that desired effect you’ve always wanted.

Firstly you need to start with your cup cake. We had a batch of six to practice on.

The second step is to cut the top of your cup cake. Why do this you ask? Well quite simply when you cut the top of your cupcake to create a flat layer this makes putting on your fondant much easier!  It doesn’t need to be completely flat but you should reduce the size of the dome shape.

The next step is to brush the cupcake with syrup. To make the syrup you can heat 500g jam with 1.5litres of water and 1 teaspoon of alcohol (for example Cointreau).

You then need to brush the top of the cup cake with a generous helping of chocolate ganache.  We used white chocolate ganache. To make this boil 300ml cream over the stove. Chop 900g white chocolate and pour the cream over the chocolate. Let it sit for 2-3 minutes. Then whisk until smooth.  You could also make a dark chocolate ganache by substituting the 900g white chocolate with 600g dark chocolate.

The next step is to roll out the fondant. You can buy the fondants from most cake shops.  The fondant should be the thickness of a 20cm coin and can be rolled out by using a little corn flour so it does not stick to the table.  When you cut the shape of the fondant ensure it is slightly larger than the cupcake itself so it can fold down on the sides. Also when placing the fondant on the cupcake ensure it is the rolled down side that goes on first.  This allows the presentation side to be on top. 

Using a plastic sheet (a small square works well) glide over all sides of the fondant.  This ensures it is smooth and attached to the cupcake perfectly.  It will help to even out any imperfections you may have.  This plastic sheet can be bought in any stationery shop.

The final step is to add any further decorations.  We simply made some stencils from the fondant and brushed this in a mixture of gold powder and water. You can also pipe any additional decorations you may want, to create additional texture.

 

Sri Lankan style milk toffee

Hi guys!

Sorry I know it’s been a while since my last post, but things have been hectic! I thought I'd return with a bang showing you some easy and tasty recipes! I hope I can tempt you to get back in that kitchen and get cooking (and boys that includes you too!)

I thought I would start with milk toffee. I made this recently as part of International Day at work. It was a major hit and everyone that had a taste fell in love with it! The best part of this recipe is it that you get to lick the saucepan and spoon afterwards (one of my fondest memories growing up was my brother and I fighting over who got in first!)

Ingredients

· 2 cans of 395 ml Condensed Milk

· 200 g sugar

· Vanilla essence (teaspoon)

· 25g cashew (roughly chopped)

· 2 tablespoons of water

Method

Find a flat tray, wrap it in aluminium foil and grease it well. Leave aside.

Add the sugar to a large saucepan and turn on a low heat. Add 2 tablespoons of water and stir. Add the condensed milk. Stir for about 15-20 minutes and then add the cashew and the vanilla essence.

You will then need to continue to stir until the mixture thickens (this may take a while but I guarantee you its worth the effort). Bubbles will start forming and the mixture turns from a pale to a rich deep caramel.

The point you want to take the mixture of the stove is completely up to you. The longer you keep it the harder (and more toffee like it becomes), so bear this in mind.

Once the mixture is to your desired consistency, take it off the stove and pour it onto the tray we set aside earlier.

Spread and flatten the mixture using a spatula or the back of a spoon.

Leave the mixture to harden and cool and then cut into small diamond pieces! Tuck in, this one will go fast!