Over the last few months I have ventured to Canberra, our nations great capital, on quite a few occasions for work. I must admit that my naive impression of Canberra pre work trip was that it would be somewhat of a culinary desert (…us Melbournites tend to be rather spoiled in this area). But how wrong I was. I have eaten some amazing meals in some quite funky little venues. And one dish that I can’t go without is the bibimbap at Sizzle Bento.

By the way, check out the culture section of the Sizzle Bento website for some interesting reads. For instance, an excerpt on the art of noodle eating “…lead the noodles with your chopsticks step by step into your mouth, while sucking them in with a controlled slurping sound. Try to copy the slurping sound of people around you.” Hehe. Love it.

Sizzle Bento is by no means a fine dining establishment. It is a franchised operation that caters to the mallrats of Canberran shopping centres. What is cool about the Garema store (notwithstanding the kitschy faux waterfall in the entry) is the brash rudeass mamasan who asks for your order before you’ve even looked at the menu. Not that being brash is necessarily a bad thing. She has got the place running on rails and offers a lively atmosphere to the joint.

Anyway, back to my lunch. Bibimbap literally translates as “mixed rice”. There are various forms due to regional differences, but I am most familiar with the one that comes in a hot stone bowl, or dolsot (which I will explain the use of later).

First up is the rice, plain and of the white variety. On top of that is meat, usually beef (as it was in this instance), although chicken or tofu can be substituted. Next a saute of vegetables - carrots, zucchini, onion and mushrooms. After that, a portion of piquant pickled beansprout kimchi. Lastly, a crisp shred of iceberg lettuce and julienned cucumber. The crowning glory? Of course it would be the fried googgy egg, sunny side up. When burst it oozes down into the rice and coats the grains in eggy goodness. The other wonderful ingredient is the special seasoned red pepper paste. It is sweet, thick, smoky, hot and ooooh so good. And it must be used in abundance.

Now to the dolsot, or hot stone bowl (remember that from earlier on?). Well what makes this dish truly shine is well before filling up the dolsot with rice and all the other goodies, it is heated to a ridiculously hot temperature and coated in light sesame oil. The cooked rice is dumped in and it pops, cracks and sizzles as the rice sticks to the sides. So when you get to the bottom of the dolsot you have this crunchy rice crust (think of socarrat in paella), which my friends, is the whole point of this wonderful dish.

I totally forgot it was the opening of Fifteen Melbourne - but as I was walking down Collins Street after work I was first attracted by a blast of bright neon pink lighting, and then the shout “We love you Jamie!!”

Of course! I was near Momo’s, which is now the new home of the Jamie Oliver/Tobie Puttock Fifteen show. So over the road I crossed, fumbling in my bag for my camera. And there he was. Jamie! Oooh. Oooooh…he looks so cute in his suit! And before the camera was out of my bag, he was gone - ten deep in a throng of media and shiny new apprentice chefs

So, it is all rather exciting. I managed to nab a lunch booking mid-October (I only had to wait 40 minutes on the reservation line). So I’m quite excited to see what they come up with. And of course, it will be blogged. So stay tuned.

Cantuccini (or cantucci / biscotti) are a twice-baked Italian biscuit that are crunchily delicious and the perfect accompaniment to a deep dark shot of espresso (sans sugar). You could of course dunk them into tea - but it is hardly the same thing. Vin Santo is also a good alcoholic dipping option - but more so if you make the almond version of cantuccini (just substitute the pistachio/chocolate below with approximately 300g almonds, and leave out the vanilla).

Cantuccini di Cioccolato e Pistacchio
300g caster sugar
3 whole eggs
3 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
500g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
200g shelled pistachios
200g dark chocolate buttons

Preheat oven to 190 degrees Celsius.

Beat the eggs and caster sugar in a mixer until thick and creamy, approx 2 minutes.

Add the flour, salt, baking powder, nuts and chocolate and mix with a wooden spoon until just combined and a soft dough has formed. Place onto an extremely well floured surface and roll into thickish sausages, as long as your baking tray and approx 5cm wide. Place the sausage on a baking paper lined tray and flatten to about 2cm high. Leave lots of room for spreading - perhaps allowing only two sausages per tray.

Bake for fifteen minutes. Remove from the oven and cut each biscuit into 1.5cm wide strips. Lay them back flat on the tray, and return to the oven for another 10-12 minutes. The purpose is to dry them out, yet not overcook them. Check their bottoms to ensure they’re not getting too golden.

Allow to cool to room temperature before storing in an airtight container.

Makes approx 3 to 4 dozen, depending on how thick you cut them.

I am all about the balance in life. I steadfastly uphold the virtues of equality, fairness and justice for all. So how could I blog those wonderful jam doughnuts from the Queen Vic, and not do likewise with their equally famous cousins on the other side of the market, the Churros, or Spanish style donuts.

So, there ya go. Do I play fair or what?

And these extruded moreish icing sugared little babies come from this:

Anyway, I do have a confession. I ate these churros for breakfast this morning along with a steaming cup of hot chocolate ;-). Life doesn’t get any better than that, eh?

May I suggest all fried sweet and savoury dough aficionados visit the Guide To Ethnic Fried Doughs Around The World website. Uh huh. There is such a site and it’s scary.

I’ve been tagged by Haalo over at Cook (Almost) Anything at Least Once and Ange from Vicious Ange to attempt the Five Things To Eat Before You Die meme. My apologies for the tardiness of my reply - but this is a bloody hard list to compile!! Obviously this is by no means exhaustive. And it pains me greatly to have left out so many other wonderful foods! So…here are things that have been a surprise and or delight on my food radar.

1. Black Sapote is a species of persimmon that is one of the most bizarre and unusual fruits you will ever eat. The fruit is browny black (when ripe) and looks somewhat similar to a tomato. On delving into it’s interior you would wonder at the brown pulpy mass found within. Is it rotten? Has it gone off? But then you smell. Hmm. That is somewhat bizarre. And then you taste. What the? It is chocolate pudding!

2. Smoked Meat (aka. pastrami) on Rye from Schwartz’s Charcuterie Hebraique (Montreal, Canada). Schwartz’s provided me with a real life soup nazi experience. In my case, it was a Smoked Meat Guy. By the time I made it to the front of the line (which numbered around 50 or so - no shit!), I followed suit from previous customers and held up one finger and said “one to go please”. Smoked Meat Guy smiled and handed over a brown paper bag.

What a work of art. Two round slices of thick light rye bread, smothered with mustard and then topped with about 8cm of sliced smoked meat. There is the option to have it thin, medium or fat cut. The purists always go for the fat (heh). And the smoked meat…oh my god…is still hot from the smoker, and the mustard and bread warms up, the meat falls apart in your mouth in a spicy smokey peppery bliss. Oh my bejeesus.

3. White Alba Truffles, shaved onto Vue de Monde Risotto Aux Truffes (Melbourne, Australia). Just imagine a divinely creamy puddle of truffle infused risotto in a bowl. It arrives at your table. Hmm, looks nice. But before you tuck in the waiter comes along and shaves delicate slivers of white alba truffle on top - right there in front of your eyes. You can’t help but lean over the plate as the shavings fall onto the warm rice, inhaling the delicate perfume as the aromas are released. And the taste; a mouthgasm of monumental proportions.

4. Solly’s Cinnamon Bun - Sollys, (Vancouver, Canada). Another taste sensation care of those crazy canucks! I’ve mentioned Sollys before, so I will just reiterate how freakin amazing these ooey gooey cinnamon buns are. I still dream about them.

5. Artisan Cheeses. Where does one begin (…or end for that matter?!). An artisan cheese must be one of the pinnacles of artisan food production. It takes time, dedication, patience, skill, art, innovation, imagination and persistence to produce something amazing. And thanks be to all those little cows/goats/sheep/lactating mammals that help to provide this bounty. Blessed are the cheesemakers

Phew…that’s it from me, despite the fact there is so much more!

I now wish to tag :

Josh from The Day Of The Expanding Man
Gillian from redumbrella
Belinda from Caper Berry Gravy
Anna from All My Interests
Emzeegee from emzeegee and the hungry three

So guys…you know the drill. Only do it if you have the inclination

And on that rather poetic note I suggest you swing by the We Do Chew Our Food Quest For The Perfect Sausage Roll to see what all the fuss is about.

A recent school fundraising trivia night necessitated the creation of something rather yummy to keep the punters satisfied. Of course one needs all those omega 3’s and 6’s to keep the brain synapses lubricated and firing, hence the choice of smoked salmon. Well, that is the excuse I am sticking to anyway!

Smoked Salmon & Goats Cheese Tartlets
Pastry
360g plain flour
A pinch of salt
250g super-cold butter
0.5 cup super-cold water

Filling
6 happy free-range eggs
150g cream (double cream if your cholesterol can hack it)
6-8 slices of smoked salmon
200g chevre
Dill
Salt and cracked black pepper

Place flour and salt into a bowl and grate the butter into the flour. Rub them together lightly - more so to break up the butter chunks and disperse them evenly throughout the flour (you are not going for breadcrumbs here). Pour the cold water into the mix and bring together. Don’t work it too much - just clump it into one big ball and cover it with cling film. Allow to rest in the fridge for an hour or so.

Remove pastry from the fridge and roll out to 4mm thickness (approximately of course) on a lightly floured surface. Spray or coat foil tins or a muffin tray with olive oil. Cut out rounds to fit in said foil tins or muffin tray and press firmly into shape.

Place half a teaspoon of goats cheese into each tartlet shell, followed by a hand torn strip of smoked salmon. Then add a couple more knobs of chevre on top.

Crack eggs into a bowl and add cream and seasoning. Spoon mixture into tartlets, filling to almost the top. Garnish with a sprig of dill, and place in a 190 degree celsius oven for approximately 25 minutes. The best way to check if they are cooked is to lift one out of its container to check its bum. If it is nice and golden - they’re done. If it still looks a little uncooked, whack them in for a few more minutes.

This recipe makes about 36 tartlets. The pastry is basic, buttery and short (you can’t really go wrong here lest you mix it too long). The filling may appear simple, but the taste depends entirely on the quality of the individual ingredients. Go the top shelf stuff.

The Krispy Kreme bandwagon hullabaloo has hit Melbourne big time, with a second store scheduled to open later this month. My question is, why would one want to eat a mass produced highly processed product when one can eat something like this:

From this:

The Doughnut Van is a veritable institution at the Queen Victoria Market, cooking hand rolled, jam filled, sugar crusted yeasty little beauties for over 50 years. I can remember venturing down to the Vic with my parents at a very early age, our visit not complete without stopping by for one of their ‘nuts. You’d be so eager to scarf it in a few big bites, but ever wary of the piping hot jam within. Most of the time you would declare “Bugger it” and suffer the scald. It was, and is, worth it.