Souvlaki For The Soul Details

Fancy Some Banana pancakes?
2007-09-22 08:42:34
Banana pancakes drizzled with maple syrupI had the pleasure of staying overnight at a friends place yesterday. Facing the world after a double espresso, I contemplated making some pancakes for my kind hosts thanking them for their generous hospitality. While they were still catching 40 winks, I tinkered around the kitchen finding the ingredients needed for a semi luxurious breakfast. I hadn't cooked pancakes in years and I really wanted to try out a recent recipe scoured from the internet. Past pancake recipes had yielded me rubber discs void of any texture. This time, armed with experience, I made sure no to overbeat the mixture to oblivion. A few bananas lying around provided me the topping I needed along with the organic maple syrup found in the pantry. My hosts were good shoppers so i had everything I needed at hand. Follow this recipe for a fool proof rubber free result.Fluffy and deliciousPANCAKE RECIPE1 & 1/4 cups of self raising flour3/4 cup of milkpinch of salt1 tsp o ...
Banana Pancakes

Using Leftovers Wisely
2007-09-20 22:05:48
Food bloggers are a unique bunch. Apart from writing about their passion for food, they have to actually cook something and then photograph the results to make it look edible. Sure you can type away on a keyboard as long as you like but generally with food blogging some kind of evidence, usually through pictures is required. We also tend to be ignored in a lot of blogging circles. Not anymore. A very passionate food blogger, The Leftover Queen or Jenn as she is really known has come up with a way to get food bloggers noticed. She came up with the Foodie Blogroll. The Foodie Blogroll allows everyone with a food blog to join a very long list of food bloggers and place a bit of code on your blog's sidebar. Instant Blogroll and links! It's a great idea and I think you should check it out.Talk about using leftovers wisely! She has a cool website with forums, where foodies can exchange ideas and talk about culinary delights. Head on over there and give it a shot.Pete ...
Leftovers

Biteclub with Buffalo Parmesan
2007-09-19 11:55:33
Glamorous Biteclub settingI landed in Sydney and quickly made my way to the next Biteclub hosted by Mark, Maria and Sal. These guys always put on a fantastic spread. Just have a look here and you'll see what I mean. As I walked into their cool digs, Mark was already being the perfect host and had everyone's wine glass filled. Sal was busy making the last adjustments to the menu and Maria was finishing up with the table decorations. What a team!A familiar, pungent aroma had saturated the dining and kitchen areas. Mmmm. What was it? Maria explained that she had purchased some Parmesan cheese that day and it would be featured in a few of the dishes. Folks this isn't your regular store bought parmesan. This was a Parmesan cheese made from Buffalo milk, similar to the Buffalo mozzarella. I had never heard of it before so was curious to see its appearance in some of the food. Maria had stylishly put together a tasting platter for all, as a bit of a starter. They had grissini, L ...
Buffalo

Quick Visit...Narita, Tokyo
2007-09-18 00:59:30
Smiling faces everywhereAll this travelling has left me no time to post. I'm behind about 6 entries but I'll get there. I recently had 12 hours transisting in Narita which is Tokyo's airport hub. Not much time to venture into Tokyo itself (I was so bloody tired!) but enough time to take a few snaps and indulge in some food of course!! These lovely ladies posed for me as I wandered the narrow streets of Narita. (It's an interesting place, sort of a "waiting room" for travellers who are waiting for connections on to other destinations). Anyway, these lovely, friendly ladies had just been to the temple and were returning home and through broken Japanese and English we worked out which way I should head to grab a meal. Narrow, winding streetsI navigated the streets snapping away like a madman! Here are some shots.The Golden Arches are everywhere!Vending machines. These sell everything...Cute little housesI came across this restaurant and it was open.Hello!...Anyone home?I was promp ...
Tokyo

Food Fest...Singapore
2007-09-06 12:05:17
Continuing on from yesterday, I wanted to make this post about the food in Singapore. While there are numerous establishments serving everything from local to "mod" interpretations (you know those places...everything has some kind of "foam" in the dish) I'm going to let you in on where I eat when I'm staying in Singapore.Singapore truly has a huge selection of eateries. Too many. (Not that that's a bad thing of course...we love food choices here...trust me!). There are Italian restaurants, American steak houses, Japanese sushi houses and even a themed restaurant serving food in a hospital environment, complete with wheelchairs as seats!!! (cue creepy music...). Walk down to Serangoon Rd and you find yourself transported to India. Otherwise known as "little India" to the locals. The smell of cardamon and turmeric permeate the atmosphere. Chicken Biryani and vindaloos compete for space with Indian sweets made from chick pea flour. Its mind blowing and paradoxically numbing at the ...
Food Singapore

Singapore...Another perspective
2007-09-05 09:19:19
Singapore SkylineA lot has been said about Singapore over the years. While many view it as a "stopover" on their way to Europe there is a whole lot more to this city/state than meets the eye. I have been a regular visitor here on and off for 15 years, namely for work. Initially I hated the place. I found there were too many rules for my rebellious nature. There were fines for everything. Trust me, I was petrified the first time I visited. Especially about the "no chewing gum" law! Anyway, as time passed and I visited again and again, I saw the city and culture from a different perspective. I'm going to offer you my perspective on the place, namely through pictures ( I love my new Nikon DSLR!!!). Of course we will not forget the food!!!! This place definetly has it going on in the food stakes. With a huge Indian, Malaysian and Chinese mix the food is diverse and different. Of course you will find the usual suspects of American fast food chains and coffee houses here. (The ...
Singapore

Biteclub OR "You'll never eat lunch in this town again!"
2007-08-25 04:07:31
Just to let everyone know, the following entry was written by our Founding Father and Biteclub president/organiser Jason. As usual, my travel commitments had me circling the globe and I wasn't there to enjoy this event. Enjoy Jason's take on a fun filled, gourmet fest...From the people who brought you Bite Club, we bring you Bite Club Lunch!The inaugural daytime edition of our food and friends fest kicked off on Sunday, August 19. Could a weekend lunch, possibly be as successful as the traditional Tuesday night affair? After five seasons, changing time slots is always a risk. However, despite appalling weather conditions - and at least one member getting the shits, literally - it turned out to be a fun afternoon.The day began with a clap of thunder and bolt of inspiration. Due to the torrential rain, Vanessa and I abandoned our plan to seat everyone in the spacious courtyard at Spring Street. Instead, we decided to slap two tables together and squeeze everyone inside. As they s ...
Lunch Town

Penne pasta with meatballs and peas
2007-08-15 10:41:34
Huge plate of pasta!I love pasta in any shape or form. I'll never forget slurping on my first strands of spaghetti as a child. Of course my taste buds have certainly developed and the types of pasta have changed. But sometimes you just like going back to your roots. This recipe is a hybrid taken form a number of sources over the years. There's good ol' penne, which is always in my pantry and there's chicken meatballs. I had a few chicken thigh fillets lying around and whizzed them up in a food processor with some "panko" Japanese breadcrumbs, an egg, some fresh basil and oregano, salt, pepper, grated parmesan and chilli. I shaped the mixture into little balls and baked them in a 180 dec C oven for about 40 mins. Once they were cooked I added them to a pot that had some "passata" and olive oil simmering away. I added a little chicken stock (acout 3/4 cup) and let it cook for about 45 mins. At the very end I added some frozen peas I had in the fridge. My final step was to boi ...
Pasta Penne

Feel Like a Friand?
2007-08-10 12:05:34
Lemon FriandThese little beauties will excite and delight you. They may not help pay off your mortgage any faster, but you can certainly dream about it as you enjoy one with your tea or coffee. Well, try stopping at just one. Go on I dare ya! They are so moreish and delicious you'll find yourself saying "I'll start that diet tomorrow". For anyone who has never ordered these in a cafe or tried them before, they are basically a cake. A rich, moist miniature cake packed with calorific goodness. I read somewhere that they were of French origin but I personally cannot remember seeing them when I was in Paris. The recipe I used came from this month's Delicious magazine. It was in the kids section. Why should they have all the fun?More lemon Friands...LEMON FRIAND RECIPE190g Unsalted butter60g plain flour200g of icing sugar125g of almond meal5 egg whitesgrated zest of 1 lemon1. Melt the butter.2. Sift the flour, icing sugar and almond meal in a bowl. Grate the lemon zest and add it ...

Yum Cha
2007-08-09 14:14:02
You know you want it...Mmmmm...fresh steamed dumplings ready to be devoured! Nothing beats Yum cha for that traditional Cantonese dining experience. There is so much going on! The fast paced action of the dining room floor. Trolleys being pushed to and fro. Everyone trying to decide on what to order. Bamboo baskets exchanged. Its a hectic environment but I find every bit of it enjoyable. And like most places in the world with a Chinatown, we here in Sydney are spoilt for choice. So off we went to Zilver in Chinatown ready for a midday treat of Yum Cha. It was just after 12 and the place was pumping. There was one table left and we snatched it before you could say "fried rice". So join me on this photo journey of Chinese delights. I hope your mouth waters...Traditional steamed pork dim sumSalt and Pepper WhitebaitSteamed prawn dumplingsGood ol' spring rollsGolden fried prawn dumplingsPeking DuckStir fried beansWashed down with jasmine tea Only one dumpling leftAs you can se ...

Home Made Pies
2007-08-03 00:38:56
Freshly made pies with tomato sauceIt was my turn recently to host Biteclub. Nothing excites me more than preparing a winter feast for 12! I made fresh pies! There were two types on offer. A chicken, leek and vegetable pie made with a silky smooth cream sauce and a robust red wine, beef and mushroom one. I served them with pea mash and some good quality store bought tomato sauce. I'll break up my recipes for my Biteclub over a few posts.Pies with pea mashAs you may recall, I recently purchased a pie maker and I have been playing around with mixed results. I should be known as the official pie maker of Sydney! Anyway here are two different types I made the other night. The recipes have been adapted from Stephanie Alexander's "The Cooks Companion". I, of course played around with the recipes and changed bits and pieces here and there.CHICKEN LEEK AND VEGETABLE PIES500 g of Chicken thigh fillets chopped up in small amounts300 g of Italian Pancetta3 large leeks2 carrots ...

Home Made Pies
2007-08-03 00:38:56
Freshly made pies with tomato sauceIt was my turn recently to host Biteclub. Nothing excites me more than preparing a winter feast for 12! I made fresh pies! There were two types on offer. A chicken, leek and vegetable pie made with a silky smooth cream sauce and a robust red wine, beef and mushroom one. I served them with pea mash and some good quality store bought tomato sauce. I'll break up my recipes for my Biteclub over a few posts.Pies with pea mashAs you may recall from here, I recently purchased a pie maker and I have been playing around with mixed results. I should be known as the official pie maker of Sydney! Anyway here are two different types I made the other night. The recipes have been adapted from Stephanie Alexander's "The Cooks Companion". I, of course played around with the recipes and changed bits and pieces here and there.CHICKEN LEEK AND VEGETABLE PIES500 g of Chicken thigh fillets chopped up in small amounts300 g of Italian Pancetta3 large le ...

New RSS Feed
2007-07-27 01:29:10
Just a short note to explain to everyone that my feed has a new address with Feedburner. I just only discovered the other day that my feeds were out of sync!!! I was posting entries only to discover that my feed was still stuck at the 30th of May. (I forgot to put in one line of code... aahh the pleasures of being a geek!).Click here to subscribe to this new feed. Or just click on to the bright blue button on your left in the sidebar or use the RSS feed icon located there. Thats to all of my 7 fans out here!!! Lol! It all counts and I appreciate it.Posting some new entries in the next few days.Pete ...
Feed Rss

Custard Tarts
2007-07-17 08:15:00
I just came across a new cooking and kitchen toy. Ok, maybe not a toy really but a great time saving invention. A pie maker!!! Its made by Sunbeam and it certainly delivers on its promise. I had a test run at making some really cute Australian style meat pies and they were delicious. I'm planning on doing a few gourmet ones by making my own pastry but I'll follow that up on another post. The pie maker comes with a recipe booklet for a whole lot of other creations. But one caught my eye particularly. It was the custard tart. Custard tarts were a staple of school recess when I was growing up. Hundreds of kids would line up at the canteen ordering these sweet morsels. It was a ritual along with Vanilla Slices, Coffee Scrolls and Cream buns. When I made these I was hoping to recreate that perfect tasting memory. Mine were good but they did need a little tweaking.I used ready made shortcrust pastry. The pie maker comes with cutters to make the base and tops of the pies. I use ...

Party Food
2007-07-15 01:35:14
I recently had the pleasure of catering for a friend's baby shower. A very glamorous baby shower at that, mind you. Forty-five people showed up and I was asked to come up with a "stylish" canape and cocktail menu. I love doing this sort of thing. Out of my tiny kitchen I managed to construct 10 courses of yumminess!!! It was a lot of work and it made me realise how intricate this sort of food preparation can be. I only have four pictures because as usual my camera ran out of charge during the event. Plus I was so busy organising the execution of the food that I had no time. Thank you Maria for allowing me to express my creativity. Here are some of the samples. The picture you see here are cucumber cups filled with a Thai Beef salad. I basically cut up Lebanese cucumbers in a few portions and hollowed them out with a nifty new tool similar to a melon baller. I then filled them with a mixture of beef strips that had been stir fried with oyster sauce, garlic, pepper, eschallot ...
Food Party

Biteclub In Bondi
2007-07-11 09:05:29
Biteclub is back!!! This time hosted by Arthur and Ryan. With a very different weather situation than last time, the guys set the scene for more wonderful, warming, winter fare. Being the sticky beak that I am, I arrived about one and a half hours too early hoping to catch them in a state of chaos. Nothing of the sort. They were cool, calm and collected. All courses were planned, ready to be executed in a second. Discussions ensued with Arthur and Ryan over the planning and execution of such a huge epicurean event. As the rest of the guests arrived I set off on a photo clicking frenzy. The guys had dips and olives laid out on their dining table with grissini and mini ciabatta breads. The perfect starters to get the appetite whet, ready for the feast that lay ahead. The first course arrives and is met with oohs and aahs at the table. Good ol' fashion minestrone is plated up with shaved parmesan and broken spaghetti pieces. Cooked to perfection it is both tasty and nourishing ...
Bondi

Magic Muffins
2007-07-03 03:31:25
Nothing screams like "warm straight out of the oven" like a batch of fresh muffins. Mmmm...Perfect for these blusterry winter days here in Sydney. These little cakes are the perfect soother and I personally love making them. Muffins were probably one of my first recipe attempts in the kitchen. Often with mixed results. I tend to have a fool proof recipe I use nowadays, varying it according to ingredients available, mood etc...These are the questions I ask myself when I'm perusing a new recipe. Self raising flour or plain flour with a little baking powder? Butter or olive oil? Yogurt or milk? Berries or chocolate??!!! Brown sugar, super fine sugar or honey?The latest batch I made was a cross combination of just a little healthy with just a little batch of devilish goodness. The main principles to follow when making these is not to overbeat the mixture. Otherwise its good bye moisture and hello rubber. Also, many ovens follow their own schedule by baking items as they see fit. ...
Magic Muffins

Emmas On Liberty
2007-06-26 12:59:10
In a very quiet neigbourhood, in the Sydney suburb of Enmore you will find some of the best Lebanese food on the planet. A true "temple of tabouli". This little restaurant packs them in and there are a lot of people that want to eat here. In fact, you get to choose which sitting you want when you book. (I would not risk just showing up!). Its either 6.30 or 8.30 pm. A big long communal table sits right in the centre of the restaurant with a few smaller tables surrounding it. The decorations are tasteful with a very nice colour scheme. I love Middle Eastern food. It is a region very close to Greece and there are many similarities with both the cuisines. I tend to find though, that a lot of Lebanese food here in Sydney has a certain bland "sameness" about it. Emmas definetly changes all that. I was begging for more after each bite and morsel. It was fresh and it felt like I was eating at someone's house as opposed to a restaurant. I cannot rave about it enough. There we ...
Liberty

Five Courses Later...
2007-06-15 05:25:17
This is the sight that greeted me at the very last Bitecub. A beautifully set up table eagerly awaiting the arrival of its hungry horde. And what a magnificent setting. Paul and our newly elected member Albert set the scene for a very competitive evening. Not that there's anything wrong with that!!! This was a Biteclub many were not about to forget easily.I always arrive early when the hosts are busy organising all the last minute food preparation. It gives me a chance to snoop on the night's menu and take photos. Being the official blogger has its privleges! Paul and Albert had organised for everyone to eat outside on the very extended balcony. With the first signs of the "official" winter starting in Sydney everyone made sure to rug up. But the guys were organised and had upped the ante by providing woollen blnkets for the ladies. Perfect hosts indeed. We began the evening with drinks and a sexy selection of mouth watering morsels. Otherwise known as little cocktail bite ...
Courses

Cafe Zuni
2007-05-29 12:49:04
Welcome back to me I say. I've been absent for a while as I had lots going on. I am back though with a whole lot of new information. First port of call in my travels is San Francisco. An absolutely amazing place and truly the culinary capital of America. In terms of food it has a lot to offer. I mean, for example, when you think of sourdough you think San Francisco. It's the best tasting bread and no one does it better. Apart from food, San Francisco has a great cultural scene and a lot of political and social history attatched to it. When I was there recently I heard someone say "San Francisco is the birth place of counter culture". I'll be posting a number of entries in the future about this place and its many gourmet eating establishments.The one place on my to do list was Cafe Zuni. A restaurant with its own history and its very famous roast chicken signature dish. I had heard so much about this dish. I did not want to miss out. My colleague Louise had smartly made a ...
Cafe

Simply Italian
2007-05-17 12:17:26
I'm often asked about Biteclub by colleagues and other friends. Mostly people like to know the mechanics of it. Well yes, when you're cooking for 13 people it can be hectic. There's a menu to consider, emails to go out for last minute cancellations, seating arrangements etc...For me its about getting together with a group of friends, sharing a meal and a glass of wine and catching up on the latest. We all lead busy lives, so taking out time to catch up is great. This whole phenomenon known as Biteclub will soon be taking off in a different way. Yours truly, is working on a hard cover coffee table recipe book, based on our dinner parties and our favourite recipes. The photo you see here is one I plan on using in the new book. (Its supposed to be a little blurry. I had it set on a high shutter speed for the light. It's a little artistic). Now let's get to the important part. The food! Mark, Maria and Sal were the latest in the group to hold their Biteclub. I especially love ...

TT #3
2007-05-17 01:15:47
This Thursday Thirteen is about early food memories and experiences and how these helped me continue with my interest in food. Again, some of it is quite light hearted, so enjoy and tell me what you think. Thirteen childhood food memories  1. I'll never forget the first time I ate Greek Chicken Soup. It provided such calming relief and to this day always conjures up memories of my childhood home. I still cook it once a week in the winter time.2. I had my first "meat pie" (a classic Australian take away food) in Grade 1. Being of Greek descent I had no idea what it was. To this day, I still love em but prefer to make my own version as the commercial ones have lost their appeal and flavour.3. Making home made tomato sauce (thats marinara sauce to our US counterparts). Boxes of tomatoes were used to make bottles of this beautiful concoction. It truly was a family affair. While I don't make it anymore, I still use home made sauce that I get from relatives to this day.4. Dip ...

The Perfect Kitchen
2007-05-16 13:52:51
A busy commercial or household kitchen definetly requires the perfect equipment to operate successfully. Whether you're feeding 3 or 300 you not only want that food to look good, you want it presented on something stylish and sturdy. It's really important for me I guess, to have the right utensils when I'm cooking. As you can imagine, having a busy food blog requires trying different recipes and new things all the time. I need to have confidence that the pots and pans I'm using are going to do the job correctly. God knows, I've worked in many restaurants in the past where the owners took no pride in the equipment they used. The $$$ they spent were unbelievable!!! If only they had made the correct investment in the first place, they could have saved themselves a lot of trouble and money.And speaking of investments. Have you had a good look in your own kitchen lately? Maybe it's time you invested in some great new dinnerware. I like the feel of strong, white dinner plates when I' ...
Kitchen

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