Pancake Tuesday!

Yesterday was Pancake Tuesday (Shrove Tuesday). Shrove Tuesday or as I know it better as Pancake Day, is the day before Ash Wednesday (first day of Lent) whereby the traditional fasting begins. It became known as Pancake Day because people had to use up ingredients they're not allowed to eat during fasting - eggs, sugar, milk, flour are amongst them. As a result lots of batter and pancakes were made and overtime, it became tradition to eat Pancakes on Shrove Tuesday! I'm not religious or anything but we decided it was a perfect excuse to have pancakes.....any excuse is good excuse! 

Basic batter

I wasn't quite sure what sort of pancakes we were going to have so I decided to start with a basic batter. I doubled the quantities here in order to make more different types but my Basic Pancake Recipe makes 8 pancakes.

BASIC PANCAKE BATTER

Ingredients:

2 cups self raising flour

1 tbsp caster sugar

2 cups milk

60mL oil

2 eggs beaten

pinch of salt

Method: Mix it all up until smooth!

So, I started off thinking I wanted something savoury - ahh cheese and chives! I took out 2 ladles of batter and mixed in 2 tbsp of parmesan cheese and half a cup of chopped chives from my garden. It had a cheesy flavour but I wanted more cheese! I ended up having mine with cream cheese and some bacon.

Cheese and chives pancake

So, what next? I tried to made a pancake pizza. I briefly saute halved cherry tomatoes in the pan and set aside. I poured the batter into the pan as per usual but didn't let it quite cook halfway. After about 15 seconds I quickly flipped it (by the way we had a lot of fun trying to flip pancakes without spatulas!). I arranged some sliced Gruyere cheese, cherry tomatoes and shredded bacon pieces on the pancake and waited for the bottom to brown and the cheese to melt. It was divine!

We had some roast chicken so out comes the good old Chicken Mayo topping with oregano.

By this stage we were very satisfied but ready for dessert! First I made a few classic pancakes and it was up to everyone what toppings they wanted. 

Blueberry and maple syrup pancake roll-ups

Classic pancakes with rum and raisin ice cream and brandy cream topped with maple syrup

Next I had the idea of making chocolate pancakes!!! I conveniently had half a bar of cooking chocolate in my pantry and decided to melt it down. I melted 100g of cooking chocolate and added it to 3 ladles of pancake batter. The chocolate ones were so delicious I wish I made more.

Chocolate batter

Chocolate pancake with bananas and Flake

Along the way we also tried to make blueberry pancakes which succeeded in flavour but not in appearance so it didn't make it to the blog. We had good fun making all sorts of pancakes in the kitchen. Hopefully your Pancake Tuesday was just as fun!

Blackberry Cheesecake Recipe

As promised earlier, this is the recipe post for the divine Blackberry Cheesecake In A Glass I made on Valentine's day. It's easy to make and tastes absolutely fantastic. My serves ended up bigger because of the glass that I had. I later realized I probably could've used a port glass instead of a tumbler glass.

Ingredients (Serves 4):

150g blackberries

1 tbsp caster sugar

1 lemon, juiced and zest grated

6 gingernut biscuits crushed

knob of butter

2 tbsp icing sugar

250g tub mascarpone

Method:

1. Toss the blackberries, caster sugar and 1 tbsp lemon juice into a pan and heat for 3 minutes. Set aside to cool.
2. Crush the gingernut biscuits and mix with the knob of butter. Spoon evenly into each glass.
3. Whip the mascarpone with icing sugar, lemon zest and remaining lemon juice and divide mixture evenly into each glass.
4. Top with blackberries and syrup.

Here's the original recipe from BBC Good Food. Try it out, it's quick and yummy! Enjoy!

Tabasco Butter

For the Valentine's day meal I made some Tabasco Butter to go with the veal rib cutlet. I love Tabasco sauce so I thought this would be a great spiced up version instead of Cafe de Paris butter. I got this from Ross Dobson's Grillhouse cookbook and made slight changes.

Ingredients:

125g unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

1/2 tsp Tabasco sauce

1 small glove garlic crushed

1 1/2 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley

Method:

Combine all the ingredients with a pinch of sea salt then lay a sheet of cling film and spoon the mixture down the centre and roll up to make a log. Chill in the fridge.

From my garden

Late last year we revamped our front garden and decided to turn it into an organized vege and herb patch so my little dog wouldn't chew up my parsley, tomatoes or mint anymore (he didn't take fancy to the chillis - wonder why). It's gone really well and I'm so proud of my mini patch I thought I'd share some pics!

Eggplant

Eggplant

One of my five chilli plants

Cherry tomatoes and chillis from my garden

Greek basil

 

Thai basil

First ever giveaway - Pancakes and Waffles Cookbook by Lou Seibert Pappas

Hello fellow foodies. I have some exciting news for you! I am having my first ever giveaway! That's right, it's a competition and you have the chance to win.......

Pancakes and Waffles Cookbook by Lou Seibert Pappas!

This book will be your bible for pancakes, waffles and crepes with 40 recipes of delicious batters, fillings and toppings. This book isn't just about breakfast - I could eat them anytime of the day! Your family will love you for it. Some of the recipes include Potato-Chive Pancakes, Multigrain Waffles, Chocolate Hazelnut Waffles, Ricotta Souffle Pancakes and Banana Pecan Pancakes. My stomach is now grumbling.....

So what do you need to do to win this? It's easy. All you have to do is subscribe to Foodie Ling blog and 'Like' my Facebook Page. Winner will be drawn by random.org. 

Good luck everyone!

The official stuff:

1. This giveaway is open to all Australian residents.
2. To participate you need to subscribe to my blog AND 'Like' my Facebook page.
3. The giveaway ends on 16th March 2012 at 12:00AM AEST.
4. Winner will be announced on 17th March 2012 via Facebook and on my blog.
5. Entry is limited to one per person.
6.  If you are under 18, please obtain parental consent before participating.
7. Prize value is $24.95 and not redeemable for cash. 

Valentine's Day Dinner

Hello fellow foodies. My sincere apologies for the late blogging as it's been a busy period (plus catching up with My Kitchen Rules episodes - how good are the SA boys? Go SA!). As per the sneak preview of my Valentine's Day menu, the dinner happened on Monday night and it was a success! I had decorated the house as a surprise and dressed up because I thought just because we're not going out doesn't mean I should look scruffy!

While my smelly partner was in the shower straight home from work, I started on the appetizers. I made two types of Crostinis - Basil and prosciutto & Sauteed Mushrooms with Swiss Cheese. Both incredibly simple. I bought freshly baked rustic baguette and cut them into slices. I then brush some garlic infused olive oil on it (or you can brush olive oil on and rub a clove of garlic) and put it in the oven until toasted. The mushrooms were sauteed in some butter, oregano, cracked pepper and garlic. When the crostinis were toasted I roughly chopped up some basil and teared the prosciutto and place it on half of the toasted bread. I then arranged the mushrooms on the rest of the crostinis and topped it with sliced Swiss cheese and put it back in the oven for a minute just to melt the cheese. It was divine!

Brown Brother's Crouchen Riesling with Peach Slices and Appetizers

For entree I had Grilled scallops on pea puree topped with grated Gruyere cheese. In hindsight I wish I had presented it better but it was a delicious dish nonetheless. I cooked the peas and  mixed through some butter and mint leaves and pureed it in the mixer. Scallops were grilled just a minute on each side but this may vary depending on size of scallops.

Scallops on pea puree and grated Gruyere cheese

I had prepared the crispy rosemary and sea salt potatoes beforehand and a quick mediterranean style toss salad with marinated feta, sundried tomatoes and olive. I also made tabasco butter to go with the veal rib cutlet (recipe post coming up)!

One big silly thing I forgot to write on my menu is the grilled Australian green prawns served with the veal rib cutlet. Veal rib cutlets were seared for a minute on each side and put in the oven at 170 degrees Celcius for 10 minutes or meat temperature of 55-60 degrees Celcius for medium rare. The meat was beautiful, flavoursome and tender. Served with the tabasco butter, it was just perfect!

At this point I was starting to feel a little bit down that the night was coming to an end, which is a bit silly considering the dessert was one of my highlights! I made a Blackberry Cheesecake in a glass with an adaptation of a recipe from BBC Food. It was divine. The syruped strawberries on brandy cream was just a side touch because my partner loves cream. I whipped 150mL cream with 4 capfuls of brandy. Recipe to come soon!

Now for the cleaning up! Happy Valentine's Day my dear. Next year we would be married!

Valentine's Day

Chocolate coated strawberies

I hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day be it with your friends, family or partner! Valentine's dinner write-up coming soon!

Valentine's Day

Hi everyone! Tomorrow is Valentine's Day and unfortunately I will be working late. We're not big on Valentine's Day but I thought it'd be nice to do something for it so I surprised my fiance with a special Valentine's Day Dinner from Ling's Kitchen!! Here's a sneak peak of our Valentine's dinner tonight!

Pandan Chiffon Cake

So, the other night I was watching My Kitchen Rules and our SA pair Leigh and Jen made custard pandan chiffon cake. Pandan chiffon cake is a light and soft textured cake which is a popular dessert or anytime snack in Malaysia so of course watching the show had me craving chiffon cake. It can be made in other flavours such as lemon, orange, coffee or even rosewater if you like. All you have to do is change the juice that you use. My all time favourite however is pandan. Pandan leaves or screwpine leaves just have this beautiful incomparable fragrance to me. Anyway after watching my recorded episode at 10.30pm at night I decided I conveniently had pandan leaves in the freezer and thus it was a sign. I must satisfy my craving! Unfortunately I did not have a chiffon cake pan (the one with a hole in the middle) so I was prepared for the middle to be undercooked and subsequently cut out or I will end up burning the sides. 

Ingredients

The recipe I used is tweaked slightly from one of my favourite reads Nyonya Food by Rasa Malaysia.

Ingredients:

8 medium eggs (separate yolk and white)

55g sugar for egg yolk mix

4 tbsp pandan leaves juice (Blend 6 pandan/screwpine leaves with 100mL water)

1/3 cup olive oil

150g self raising flour

150g sugar for egg white mix

pinch of salt

Method:

1. Preheat oven at 175 degrees Celcius
2. Beat egg yolk and 50g sugar lightly until sugar dissolves. Stir in pandan juice and oil
3. Fold self raising flour into mixture and set aside.
4. Beat egg whites until frothy. Slowly add in 150g sugar and pinch of salt while beating at high speed with mixer.
5. Beat until the egg white mixture is stiff and shining but not dry.
6. Using a spatula, gently fold egg yolk mixture into the egg white mixture.
7. Pour into an ungreased 25cm tube pan and bake for 40-45 minutes.
8. Once cake is cooked, remove cake from oven immediately and invert pan onto wire rack. Let it cool before removing cake from pan.

The cake turned out well despite the undercooked centre as I expected. I was happy that my cravings were satisfied. Try this recipe some time, it's quick and easy. Definitely a delicious snack on its own or served with ice cream. 

Mother's Crepe @ Grote Street

I first discovered Mother's Crepe in Rundle Mall where they have a little store. Little did I know there was a bigger, better one on Grote Street! Situated near the Chinatown end it's very well positioned for maximum traffic. Mother's Crepe is an international franchise opened in Japan, Korea, Canada, USA and more. Currently it's open in NSW and Adelaide in Australia. These crepes are  very popular in Asian countries and I've been so out of touch as I haven't been back for a while so I'm very glad to see this here. The one on Grote Street shares a shop lot with the famous ChaTime. How convienient.

Ice cream counter

There is quite a good variety on the menu ranging from sweet and savoury crepes to smoothies. We went for the Berryberry Cheesecake - Blueberry sauce, strawberries, cheesecake and whipped cream. Appetizing, delicious and satisfying! At $6.00 it was even more satisfying.

Berryberry cheesecake $6.00

I decided to try the Green Tea Shiratama Azuki Soft Ice Cream Crepe - Azuki, Shiratama, Green Tea Powder, Green Tea Ice cream. 

Green Tea Shiratama Azuki Ice Cream Crepe $6.80

The crepes here are well priced ranging from as little as $4.00 to $7.50. The variety is amazing. I have yet to try a savoury crepe but even just the sweet menu takes a while to work through!  Their claim is that their crepes are better because they use free range eggs, vegetable oil based whipped cream (50% less fat) and oat bran crepe mix. Thank you for opening in Adelaide. 

Mother's Crepe

69 Grote Street

Adelaide 5000

Nanyang Cafe @ Renaissance Arcade Adelaide

Once again I couldn't help my craving for some home food and ended up at Nanyang Cafe in Renaissance Arcade Rundle Mall. It's a nice little hidden gem. They only open for lunch except for Friday where they close at 8pm. This place serves up some pretty authentic Malaysian hawker style food, predominantly Chinese/Penang Hawker style food (street food). I had a hankering for "kan lao" wanton noodles (dry mixed with soy based sauce) so I ordered Combination BBQ (BBQ pork and crispy roast pork) with dry mixed egg noodles. It even came with the pickled green chilli! It was delicious and I was very impressed. For those of you who are wondering, dry wanton noodles in Malaysia look like this minus that much meat and plus maybe 3 small wantons.

Carl went for the 'pick and mix' rice with two dishes - Beef rendang and sambal chicken. It was quite tasty and very satisfying. I know it doesn't look great in the photo but there's no other way to have it than to spoon a ladle of gravy all over the rice.

I'm glad we finally got to try this place. I think it's better than Penang Hawker and will definitely be coming back here if I get a chance to be in the city on a weekday. Can't wait to try their Char kuey teow as recommended by a few people I know. It's a fast and cheap eat, they have the drinks to match as well with all the teh ais, teh tarik, milo ais, cham (milk coffee + tea), limau ais etc.

Nanyang Cafe

Renaissance Arcade

Rundle Mall

Adelaide 5000

Verve Bar & Kitchen @ Marion

After Shenanigans and Solbar closed down, a new bar and restaurant has sprouted in it's place. Verve Bar & Kitchen is located on the second floor of Westfield Marion shopping centre on the outside past Spargo's. In other words where Shenanigans and Solbar used to be. The interior hasn't changed much from Solbar and they've retained the upstairs part and have a more elegant look downstairs with a fireplace. The menu is modern Australian and pretty similar to the previous two.

Lucky for the man they still have his much liked Steak and Guiness Pie - steak braised in Guiness gravy served in a pastry shell served with creamy mashed potatoes, beans and topped with puff pastry. The filling was overflowing, it was a decent sized serve, pastry was crispy, filling was tasty and I loved the mash potatoes!

Steak and Guiness Pie $20.00

I went for Chicken Parmigiana. It was okay. It wasn't bad but the schnitzel tasted like the frozen ones you can get from supermarkets. Probably won't go for it again next time. I am fussy about my schnitzels. Life's too short to eat bad schnitzels....and bad food in general really.

Chicken Parmigiana $19.50

As usual we spotted onion rings so.....it somehow ended up on our table. Yummy crunch!

They have karaoke nights on Tuesdays with 2 for 1 schnitzels and Quiz nights on Mondays with the purchase of a meal. Staff are friendly and service is good.


View revisit review here.

Verve Bar & Kitchen

Westfield Marion Shop 2052C

297 Diagonal Road

Oaklands Park 5046 SA

08 8296 4517

Montezuma's @ Glenelg

Good morning everyone! I am rather glossy eyed as I write this blog after watching the longest Australian Open match last night. For a long time I've given up on Montezuma's after a couple of bad experiences at other locations. One day my partner came home with a $100 voucher for Montezuma's so we decided to try this one down at Glenelg on Partridge Street. It was beautiful weather and the sun was shining onto the front of the restaurant. It actually kind of made us feel like we were on a Mexican coast with the bright coloured decor and pinatas! 

Carafe of red sangria

I must give a special mention to the hostess who was fantastic and gave wonderful service and recommendations. We started the night with a Half Serve of Nachos and Queso Fundido along with a serve of sour cream and guacamole. Quese Fundido was recommended by the hostess and is a blend of melted cheeses, fresh ripe tomatoes, onions and peppers served with corn chips. A good recommendation. Very cheesy and yummy! A half serve of nachos is $9.95 which only comes with corn chips served on a bed of beans topped with cheese and their ranchero sauce. Guacamole comes at $4.95 a bowl and sour cream $2.95. Quite frankly I wasn't too impressed with the fact that to make it a proper dish of nachos u need to spend an extra $8 and that's not even with any meat. 

Queso fundido $9.95

Nachos with guacamole and sour cream

We love our chilli so we ordered a Hot ranchero sauce @ $2.50. Moving on to mains, we both decided to go for combinations to try more things. La Jolla - Chorizo enchilada, beef enchilada, sour cream with refried beans and rice. It was rather tasty. The rice wasn't under-cooked like the one at Hawthorn and the fillings were tasty. 

Leftover cheese dip, sour cream, guacamole and HOT ranchero sauce

La Jolla $21.95

La Jolla with the chorizo sausage meat filling

Combination Special (Chicken) comprised of Chilli Con Carne, Chicken Taco, Chicken and Sour Cream Enchilada with Rice. It was all tasty and the dish was extremely filling. In fact both dishes weren't short on servings and with cheese, rice and beans it certainly fills you up. Chicken was tender, and the chilli con carne had good flavour to it. I would have personally liked it spicy but it was good nonetheless. 

Combination special - chicken $19.95

Mr. Appetite just couldn't let go the chance of trying their Mexican Date Cake. I could only manage one teaspoonful but that was enough to enjoy this moist and delicious cake. It was served with ice cream and a whole lotta cream!

Mexican Date Cake $5.95

Overall we had a fun enjoyable experience. The food was better than the previous two places I went to and the service was significantly better. Prices are good and servings are decent. It's a great family place as well with the fun decor and diverse menu choices.

Montezuma's

2 Partridge Street

Glenelg 5045 SA

08 8350 0111