New Year's Eve Bogan Style Party in Coogee (31 Dec 2012)

Happy Bogan New Year!

As 2012 came to a close it was time to wear my best mullet and transform myself into a bogan for a New Year's Eve party in Coogee. The trusty One Dip Wonder Mexican Salsa was a hit combined with a huge 1 kg bag of Mission corn chips from Costco for carbing it up. To keep the drinks flowing freely my smart thinking brother bought two 5 litre Willow cooler jugs. One was filled with Hendrick's Gin & Tonic and the other with Frangelico, Lime & Soda — too easy. The 9 pm Coogee Beach fireworks were visible from the terrace while the midnight fireworks at Bondi Beach could be just seen far in the distance. An ankle deep pool was a recipe for frivolity spurred on by alcohol in the true bogan spirit of having a blast to the tunes of Cold Chisel and Gangnam Style. A pop up bar made from crates just that afternoon was bloody brilliant and might possibly become a bar feature at the residence. Late night hungry cravings were satisfied with a good old Aussie sausage sizzle. All in all a very fun night of drinking, eating and more drinking while my parents babysat Isabelle — God bless them.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Catching up with friends for a fun time

CONS: Too much alcohol will give you a bad hangover the next day

MUST TRY: Checking out Costco for monster bargains

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One Dip Wonder Mexican Salsa — easy crowd pleaser

Vol-au-vents

Cabanossi, crackers and cheese — BOGAN GOLD!

High tea bogan sandwiches

Pimms & lemonade — pretty fancy schmancy

A 5 litre jug of Frangelico, Lime & Soda ready to go

Pop up crate bar made from dumpster trash — GOLD!

Gotta play a bit of Cold Chisel — Barnesy!

Coogee Beach 9 pm fireworks in the distance

Good old Aussie sausage sizzle

Elephant doorstop wishes everyone a Happy New Year

Anyone missing some high heels? Must have popped into the pool.

Mullet with tiny black hat — not my best look.

Don't blame it on the moonlight

Happy New Year everyone!

Simple & tasty recipe: Mexican 'One Dip Wonder' Vegetarian Salsa (2 Dec 2012)

A dip that's sure to please

I was inspired to make this dish when I tried it at a friend's birthday/housewarming party which was hugely popular. The flavours work really well together, it's very easy to make and quite cheap. I think it works best served in a very shallow dish or use a pizza container which I used making it easy to store in a fridge and transport to another venue. The key to successful is making sure all the ingredients are evenly distributed across the area of the dish so when you dip a corn chip through the mix it will pick up a bit of all the different ingredients. Spreading a thin layer of each ingredients is how this is best achieved. It probably doesn't matter which order you spread the ingredients but I found starting with the thicker ingredients on the bottom seemed to be the best way. Being a vegetarian dish makes it a crowd pleaser for everyone and I'm sure even the meat lovers will appreciate the tasty flavours in this dip.

Recipe (4-6 people)

1st layer: Refried beans (1 can, 435g)

2nd layer: Sour cream (1 pot, 300g)

3rd layer: Salsa dip (1 jar, 300g) – Hot version works well

4th layer: Guacamole (1 pack, 200g) – or make yourself

5th layer: Deseeded and finely chopped tomatoes (4)

6th layer: Sliced Kalamata Olives (1 jar, 200g)

7th layer: Shredded tasty cheese (about 100-200g, couple of handfuls)

8th layer: Thinly sliced spring onions (5 stems)

9th layer: Couple of handfuls of finely chopped coriander

Serve with your favourite corn chips. Round shaped seems to work the best for dipping. The container I used was 27 x 27 x 3 cm which worked perfectly for above quantities.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Tasty, Quick and easy to make, Can be prepared a few hours in advance and stored in the fridge, Cheap to make, People can serve themselves, Vegetarian friendly

CONS: You'll run out if you don't make enough because it'll be very popular. I've met some people that don't like coriander

MUST TRY: Adding chopped up jalapeño for an extra heat kick

VERDICT: It's very quick and easy to make when made with mostly pre-prepared ingredients. The combination of flavours works really well together and the olives are especially good.

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Eveleigh Farmers' Market: Kylie Kwong Cooking Demo, Eumundi, Achacha, Yalla, Blini Bar (20 Feb 2010)

Saturday Weekly Market 8 am - 1 pm
243 Wilson Street, Darlington NSW 2015
http://www.eveleighmarket.com.au

Organic and sustainable produce

I'm not a morning person at the best of times but this weekend I was curious to see Kylie Kwong cook up several dishes to celebrate Chinese New Year. The start of the event was introduced by two Chinese Dragons parading through the large undercover market with the beat of loud drumming. Kylie explained to the crowd that she'd sourced all the fresh produce from the stallholders and some of them were invited to come up and have a chat about their stall. I'm glad He Needs Food posted copies of the recipes because I forgot to take them. I've been to her Billy Kwong restaurant on Crown Street twice a few years ago. It has mixed reviews on Eatability and unfortunately doesn't take bookings so it can be a long wait depending on how early you arrive. I remember the seating was quite crowded and small which made it somewhat uncomfortable after a while, especially for my elderly parents. It's not cheap either but I guess she's sourcing quality sustainable and organic ingredients which can come at a premium price and the restaurant is located in the fashionable eating strip of Surry Hills. The signature dish of Crispy Skin Duck with Plum Sauce demonstrated today looked delicious.

After the cooking demonstration Kylie kindly made the time to have a photo with me — thank you! I then ventured on through the markets to find some much needed breakfast. Starting with the Eumundi Confused Eggs Smokey Bacon with sauteed onions and famous creole sauce which satisfied me out quickly — a very tasty and hearty breakfast indeed. I then came across the Achacha stall which grows and sells this exotic fruit in Queensland which originates from South America. I remember first reading about it through A Table For Two and Grab Your Fork, which went to a launch at Baroque Bistro. I think my dad would enjoy these because they are quite similar to mangosteen — also a lot easier to peel than lychee. Next stop was delicious and generous samplings of Yalla dips, salsas and yoghurts. Oh wow, these taste great and their hummus is one of the nicest I've tried — I'd love to visit their factory one day. My enjoyable foodie tour ends at Blini Bar which makes excellent savoury and sweet crepes with ingredients sourced from the market stallholders. I hope they start working in festivals because their Spinach, Mushrooms, Sweet Onion and Cheese Crepe is so much better than the ubiquitous Turkish Gozleme. The premium full cream milk used seems to make the crepes so soft, tasty and creamy.

If you're passionate about food, sustainability and organic produce then these markets are for you. It's a great day out and the stall owners are only too happy to talk about their produce and products and provide samples to try where possible — Yalla in particular were very generous. There's some real bargains to be found and I was surprised how reasonably priced some things were.

Other visits to Eveleigh Farmers' Market:

• 21 Aug 2010 - Kylie Kwong Steamed savoury pancakes with organic vegetables and organic egg, Jonima Flowers, Block 11 Organics, The Fungi Li-Sun, Bell River Estate Mulled Wine, Naturally Falafel, HealthyFeast, Yalla, Pepe's Ducks, AJ & LA Sorbello Fresh Produce tomatoes, Alto Olives oil and olives

• 20 Feb 2010 - Kylie Kwong Cooking Demo, Eumundi, Yalla, Achacha, Blini Bar crepes

• 7 March 2009 - Food samples galore

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Fair amount of free street parking, Good range of organic produce, Plenty of quality food stalls, Reasonable prices to be found

CONS: Can be hard to find a park close by, Very popular

MUST TRY: Yalla dips and salsas, Blini Bar's Spinach, mushrooms, sweet onion and cheese crepe

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Cooking demonstration from 10 am til 10.45 am

Ingredients on standby

Chinese dragons entertainment

Kylie and crowd

Tossing the hot & sour cucumbers dish

Cooking and plating crispy skin duck with plum sauce

Crispy skin duck with plum sauce

Stir-fried mushrooms with tamari & ginger

Stir-fry of zucchini, golden squash & boc choy

Hot & sour cucumbers

Green salad with chinese dressing

Eumundi

Confused Eggs Smokey Bacon with sauteed onions and famous creole sauce $6

Achacha

Yalla

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Blini Bar

Spinach, Mushrooms, Sweet Onion and Cheese Crepe $7

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Lemon and sugar crepe $5

Stallholder ingredients used

Blini Bar menu

The Market





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