Home Cooking: Meringue nests (30 Dec 2008)

Meringues have always been a mystery to me and thought best to buy them in a supermarket but today I learnt how to make little meringue nests which I will use as mini desserts at my birthday. I'll eventually top with mascarpone cheese mixed with icing sugar and vanilla essence to make it sweet along with fresh berries and passionfruit.

Notice the meringue mixture I somehow managed to get on my face. I don't have a piping bag or electric mixing bowl so I'm very grateful to my friend Shona helping me out today to show me how it's all done. I'm a novice in the kitchen but find it very enjoyable and rewarding learning simple recipes and the basic techniques of home cooking.

Meringue mixture formed into little nests

Meringue nests after baking

Stephanie Alexander Recipe: Sue's meringues

2 egg whites

120 g castor sugar

1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla

Preheat oven to 150ºC and line a baking tray with baking paper. Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form, then add sugar, a little at a time, still beating. Beat in vanilla. Place small spoonfuls of meringue on a baking tray and bake for 45 mins. Turn oven off, leave door slightly ajar and allow meringues to cool completely in oven. Store in an airtight container lined with greaseproof paper.

Family Christmas Day Lunch (25 Dec 2008)

This year for Christmas our hope was to not buy too much food as we always seem to do. We managed to do alot better than previous years but still came out full to the brim with leftovers stalking us for dinner. Mum and dad prepared and cooked their homemade prawn cutlets which are always a hit along with plenty of salad.

Other Family Christmas lunches:

• 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008

Moroccan spiced green olives

Feta stuffed olives

Pont L'Eveque washed rind cheese with crackers

Sydney Rock Oyster with Yarra Valley salmon caviar and a squeeze of lemon before serving

Oven baked Harvey Bay scallop with salt, pepper and chilli powder

Oven baked Hervey Bay scallop topped with garlic, white wine, tomato and baby basil leaves

Deep-fried crumbed prawn cutlets

Deep-fried crumbed prawn cutlets

Pavlova with fresh blueberry, mango, strawberry, kiwifruit, passionfruit and whipped cream

Pre-Christmas Sydney Fish Markets shopping at midnight - 23 Dec 2008

Visited: 11.30 pm 23 Dec – 12.15 am 24 Dec 2008

Pyrmont Bridge Road, Pyrmont, Sydney
http://www.sydneyfishmarket.com.au

Midnight Seafood Shopping

If you want the best choice of seafood for Christmas then you can't really go past Sydney Fish Markets. Best to take advantage of their 24 hour pre-Christmas shopping in the middle of the night. Midnight is still very busy but the alternative during the daytime would be massive chaos of crowds and no parking. Here's a few things I've picked up for the family Christmas lunch this year.

Other visits to the Sydney Fish Market:

• 23 Dec 2011 – Pre-Christmas Shopping

• 23 Dec 2010 – Pre-Christmas Shopping, Oysters, Mussels

• 23 Dec 2009 – Pre-Christmas Shopping

• 26 April 2009 – Whitebait, Mussels, Oysters, Prawns, Calamari

• 23 Dec 2008 – Pre-Christmas Shopping

XL Green King Prawns $29.99/kg for homemade prawn cutlets

Large Sydney Rock Oysters $16.90/dozen. Unfortunately my preferred Coffin Bay and St Helens weren't readily available.

Yarra Valley Salmon Roe $23.99/100g to top oysters with squeeze of lemon

Hervey Bay Scallops $19.99/dozen to be topped with garlic, white wine, tomato and basil recipe from Good Living

Pont L'Eveque French cheese $89.90/kg (bought $13 piece), it's French and expensive so that means it's good, right?

Fetta Stuffed Gourmet Olives $42.90/kg

Moroccan Spiced Green Olives $29.90/kg

Pasticceria Tamborrino, Five Dock (20 Dec 2008)

75 Great North Road, Five Dock NSW 2046

http://www.pasticceriatamborrino.com.au

A tempting display of quality Italian desserts to satisfy your sugary tastebuds can be found here. I thought the cannola were very good, try the Ricotta Cannoli for possibly the best in Sydney. I'd definitely come back to try more calories.

Fruit tart

Vanilla and chocolate cannola

Apple crumble

Pistachio and chocolate profiterole (Sorry I didn't take note of the actual name of it)

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Home Cooking: Homemade Potato Salad (14 Dec 2008)

No sure what the best potatoes are to use but I just used the white washed ones. For a more filling variation I also like to add chopped hard boiled egg and crispy bacon pieces.

Potato salad with egg mayonnaise, shallots and wholegrain mustard, Chef Leong :-)

Blue Eye Dragon Taiwanese Restaurant, Pyrmont (10 Dec 2008)

Shop 2, 42 Harris Street, Pyrmont NSW 2009
http://www.blueeyedragon.com.au

With the $50/pp (Mix) banquet you get to choose any 6 entrées and 4 mains including steamed rice which seemed to be a good way the dishes could be evenly divided up. The dumplings were tasty and quite large and the salt and pepper soft shell crab was another one of my favourites on the night.

Prawn Dumplings with Water Chestnuts, Shallots & Chinese Celery $12

Salt & Pepper Soft Shell Crab $14

Prawns with Dry Chilli & Shallot in Gongbao Sauce (spicy) $30

Beef and vegetables in Taiwanese BBQ Sauce $20

Dining room


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Adriano Zumbo Pâtissier, Balmain (11 Dec 2008)

296 Darling Street, Balmain NSW 2041
http://adrianozumbo.com

DISASTER STRIKES!!!

So I spot a beautifully presented Charlotte Full cake in the display for my afternoon tea. But only had a chance to open the box about 2 hours after and not realising it was going to melt and collapse AHHHH! I needed a warning note!

Charlotte Full (accidently deconstructed) - Olive oil mousse with rhubarb ripple, passionfruit créme, biscuit macaron, fresh berries (Gluten free) $7.50

Victoria's secret - Kaffir lime & coconut pastry, fresh pineapple & mango tossed in caramel (Gluten free) $6.20

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Home Cooking: Raspberry and mango pavlova nest (7 Dec 2008)

To use up some of the left over mascarpone from the canapés yesterday I mixed the mascarpone with some vanilla essence and icing sugar and topped with fruit in a pavlova nest to make a simple dessert.

Pavlova nest with fresh raspberry and mango infused with Grand Marnier, topped with passionfruit on a bed of vanilla mascarpone, Chef Leong :-)

Home Cooking: Olive, tomato and basil pasta (7 Dec 2008)

With some left over olive, feta and cashew puree and cherry tomatoes from the canapés I made yesterday was easily adapted for a quick pasta lunch dish along with some little fresh basil leafs.

Olive, tomato and basil pasta, Chef Leong :-)

Home Cooking: Peach and currant crumble (6 Dec 2008)

A simple dessert created for a friends dinner party of 7 using her oversupply of fresh peaches. The crumble made from roughly equal parts of brown sugar, flour, butter and oats and a sprinkling of cinnamon on top. The peaches drizzled with some honey before baking.

Peach and currant crumble, Chef Leong :-)

Home Cooking: Olive, tomato and mascarpone canapé (6 Dec 2008)

This is a canapé I prepared for my friends dinner party for 7. I marinated the sliced tomatoes overnight in olive oil, thyme and garlic then grilled for a few minutes before topping the olive base. I was inpsired by this Becassé Canapé although I couldn't work out how they fried the basil because it just burnt and lost colour when I tried so I used a fresh baby basil leaf instead.

Bécasse inspired canapé: Black olive with feta and cashew puree; with garlic, thyme infused cherry tomato, topped with mascarpone and baby basil leaf, Chef Leong :-)

Simon Food Sculpture, Sydney (25 Nov 2008 to 1 Feb 2009)

Unclassified: Creative work by State Library staff

State Library of NSW, Macquarie Street, Sydney

On display: 15 November 2008 to 1 February 2009

The Art of Food

My passion is food and I love photography, so I’ve combined them. I think food can be a work of art which plays with colour, shape and light; and involves all five senses.

I’ve recycled a discarded umbrella to create a mobile frame from which I’ve hung 100 photographs of meals I’ve shared with friends and family. All my photos are taken as the dish is served, with whatever light is available.

Visit the State Library of NSW to watch it rotate in motion, and tantalize your appetite!

Many of the photos are my food favourites including:

• Bourke Street Bakery - Rhubarb Tart (Surry Hills)

• Busshari's - Kingfish Carpaccio (Potts Point)

• Muoi’s Feast - My Way Oysters (Byron Bay)

• La Renaissance - Mixed berry tart (The Rocks)
• Taste - Classic Vietnamese pork baguette (Surry Hills)
• Mamak - Roti canai (Haymarket)
• Shanghai night - Pork dumpling (Ashfield)
• Thanh Binh - Green papaya salad (Newtown)
• Jasmin - Falafel (Punchbowl)

Central Baking Depot, Sydney (5 Dec 2008)

37-39 Erskine Street, Sydney NSW 2000

Ever since I first tried the Sour Cheery Danish I've been a fan — so moist and delicious.

Other cakes tried from Central Baking Depot:

• Sour cherry danish (5 December 2008)

• Roasted plum tart (17 April 2009)

• Pear, almond and chocolate tart (28 April 2009)

• Apple and blackcurrant tart; Pear, almond and chocolate tart (26 June 2009)

Sour Cherry Danish $3.50
SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

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