foodblog-isys100: 2011

01:02 |

Hi guys!

We made a video that goes with our lamington post ;).

It shows just how simple and easy they are to make!

Hope you all enjoy!

-Michael, Andrea, Ally :)

22:57 | Labels: food, recipes Quiches

Quiches may seem fancy and difficult to make, but they are really quite simple and easy! They are also affordable to make and almost everyone loves a good quiche. Quiches originated in France and can be a good way to impress your friends if it's home-made! Personally, I enjoy making quiches as you can add ingredients as you please and it's a very easy recipe to modify :)

Serves 6

Ingredients
Pastry
1 cup plain flour
1 egg yolk
pinch salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
90 g butter

Filling
4 rashers bacon
3 eggs
1 cup cream
3/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoom salt
pinch nutmeg
pinch sugar
pinch cayenne
90 g processed cheddar cheese
90 g gruyere or swiss cheese

Method
Pastry
1. Sift flour and salt into bowl.
2. Rub in butter until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
3. Mix to a firm dough with lightly beaten egg-yolk and lemon juice; add one or two teaspoons water, if necessary.
4. Turn pastry on to light-floured surface, knead lightly.
5. Roll out to line base and sides of 23 cm flan tin.
6. Refrigerate 1 hour.

Filling
7. Dice bacon, saute until cooked and crisp; drain well.
8. Combine beaten eggs, cream, milk, salt, nutmeg, sugar and cayenne.
9. Finely grate cheeses.
10. Carefully spoon over custard filling.

11. Bake in moderately hot oven 10 minutes.
12. Reduce heat to moderately slow, bake further 25-30minutes, or until custard is set.

Tips and recommendations: I know pastry can be a difficult thing to make sometimes and often time consuming, so if you don't have the time or aren't confident enough in the kitchen an alternative to making your own pastry is to buy it from the supermarket. I personally like to use puff pastry as I like the flavour and texture from it! Another small recommendation for this recipe would be to blind bake your pastry first.
How to blind bake: Pre-heat your over to 220 degrees celsius, line your pastry with baking paper and pour rice in the middle to stop the pastry from rising, leave in the oven for approximately 8 minutes.
Then remove the baking paper and rice and place in the oven for another 5 minutes, it should be a light golden brown!
The purpose of blind baking is to start the cooking of the pastry as generally it takes longer than the filling!

One final tip, when cooking the bacon you don't need to worry about greasing the fry pan or anything! Bacon has enough of it's own lard to cook with, without it sticking to the pan.

*A moderate oven is about 180 degrees celsius.

Here is a video to help you! It also has a healthier alternative on how to cook the bacon :)

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Wagaya

03:40 | Labels: food, recipes Japanese, Restaurants

Restaurant Overview:

Wagaya is one of the most famous Japanese cuisine restaurants in Sydney located at Haymaket. Wagaya is quite unique as each table is armed with a touch screen menu mounted on the wall. Customers simply press the items wanted on the touch screen tv and the food will be delivered as soon as it is cooked, therefore it is perfect for those who wants to grab a quick meal. The restaurant is filled with dining tables, a sushi bar setting in the middle and 3 private rooms in the corner.

Wagaya offers a wide range of Food and Beverages like Sushi, soup, fried rice, seafood, meat, desert, alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. Some people believe that the menu is quite expensive as the proportion is quite small for most dishes. The place can get very busy, so I would recommend that reservations be made beforehand. Their phone number is (02) 9212 6068.

Personal Opinion:

I really like the atmosphere at Wagaya, especially when I get to sit in the booth, however, it could get a little noisy. The foods are really delicious there; I personally like the noodle soup, fried rice and chicken skewers. I’m not a fan of sushi so I never tried it but from what I’ve heard they have really nice sushi. I would give Wagaya a 4/5. I would recommend everyone to check out this restaurant, they are open till late so it is perfect for those who wants to grab a quick late night meal.

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POTATO SALAD

05:39 | Labels: food, recipes Cuisine, savoury

Potato salad is a standard to go with a BBQ. With its fresh taste it goes great with a piece of meat on a hot summer’s day. There are countless variations of the potato salad this one I have learnt from my mother and has its origins from Lativa (a country next to Russia). It incorporates different ingredients to what would be considered the “traditional” Australian potatoes salad which I think ads to its flavour. Again it is simple and easy to make only boiling the potatoes take some preparation but the rest is just tossed together at the last minute. It also can last a few days so can be made in preparation for an event or also makes great leftovers. The apple adds sweetness to the salad contrasting the mayo and sour cream. The quantities are up to you depending on how much flavour you want or how many people you are cooking for. I love this recipe I hope you can give these different flavours a go J

What you will need:

6 large potatoes
1 onion
1 apple
2 eggs
Mayonnaise
Sour cream
Dill pickles

How to make:

First boil water and separate into two pots. Add the potatoes to one pot and boil them until they are soft this could take up to an hour. There is no need to remove the skin of the potatoes and remember to keep adding more boiling water as it evaporates otherwise your potatoes will burn! To check if the potatoes are cooked puncture them with a knife and if they slide straight off the knife they are ready. If you get impatient you can put the potatoes into a bowl with water and put them in the microwave for five minutes at a time until they are cooked through. In the other saucepan of boiling water add the eggs and cook until hard boiled. The rest is simple. Make sure you wait until the potatoes are cooled so you are able to handle and cut them into small cubes. Finely chop up your onion and apple and add them to the potatoes. Then add the sour cream and mayo half half to just cover the mixture. Then chop up the boiled eggs add those as well as the dill pickles if you like and also add some of the juice from the jar (this will thin out the salad as well as keeping the apples from going brown. If you don’t like dill pickles simply add a splash of white vinegar. This will have the same effect. Mix and eat.

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Criniti

03:58 | Labels: food, recipes Italian, Restaurants, Traditional

Restaurant Overview:

Criniti’s is Sydney’s award winning Southern Italian cuisine restaurants located in Parramatta and Darling Harbour, with 3 new locations opening in 2012 including Castle Hill, Woolloomooloo and Manly. It was first established in 2003 at Parramatta by an inspired husband and wife team. Criniti’s is famous for its Woodfire Pizza. However, it also offers a wide range of foods and Beverages including Steaks, Seafood, Pasta, Cocktails, Champagne and Deserts.

Criniti’s allows customers to “order online” and pick up their meals at their chosen restaurant location approximately 45 minutes after the order is confirmed. This allow customers to know exactly when their meals would be ready without the need to wait for their tables during busy hours at the restaurants.

http://www.crinitis.com.au/

Personal Opinion:

To me Criniti’s is the most authentic and traditional Italian restaurant in Sydney. Even though Italian cuisine isn’t my favourite cuisine I still love their woodfire pizza and dessert. My personal favourite is the Pizza BBQ Pollo with chicken, mushrooms, onions, mozzarella cheese and origano. I would give Criniti’s a 3.5/5. I would definitely recommend everyone to check out this restaurant even though you’re not a fan of Italian cuisine. With more locations opening there is no excuse!

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RICOTTA TART

02:25 | Labels: food, recipes savory

This recipe I have found extremely useful and use it all the time. This recipe is easy to remember and exact measurements are not crucial so it is one you don’t constantly need the recipe out in front of you. I use it as a staple dish for me and as one of the few savoury meals I am confident I won’t mess up it is often requested when people are coming over. It is simple and delicious and can be done quickly and without a great deal of preparation which is always a plus. This savoury tart can be used as a entrée, something to nibble on of a complete meal with a salad. It is also vegetarian which is makes it a great alternative to the main meat dishes. Although there are only a few simple ingredients it is filling but light at the same time.

What you will need:

200g ricotta cheese
2 eggs
Handful of Basil
Puff pastry
Salt and pepp
er
4 big Tomatoes
Olive oil

How to make:
Make sure the first thing you do is get out the puff pastry from the freezer so it is easier to work with! Pre-heat the oven to 180 and halve the tomatoes put them in a baking tray and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle the salt and pepper generously on top (dried herbs also add to the flavour if you have them). Put the tomatoes in the oven to cook for about half an hour or until the tomatoes are soft and cooked through. While you are waiting for the tomatoes to cook this gives you plenty of time to prepare the rest if the tart. Roll out the puff pastry to the size of the tray you are going to use and fold over the edges to make a nice crust for your tart. Put the pastry onto non-stick paper BEFORE you add the mixture on top otherwise things can get messy. Finely chop the basil and add that to the ricotta cheese and eggs and mix adding salt and pepper to taste. Spread the mixture onto the pasty evenly making sure you leave the edges of the pastry free because the pastry can puff up quite a bit. Then get your cooked tomatoes and add them to the top of your tart and place it all back in the oven and cook for about another half hour. When checking if it is cooked it should be lightly browned on top and the pastry should be nice and crispy but make sure you check the bottom of your pastry because raw pastry isn’t tasty! Hope you enjoy

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Sydney Chat Thai Cuisine

19:35 | Labels: food, recipes Cuisine, Restaurants, Thai

Restaurant overview
Chat Thai is a traditional Thai Restaurant Cuisine that opened its doors in 1989 by Amy Chanta. The name “Chat Thai” it self means “Thai Nation”, or in English it means “to have conversation in a familiar and informal manner” stated in Chat Thai’s official website http://www.chatthai.com.au/manly/aboutus.html
Chat Thai’s four restaurants outlet serve its customer with great fresh and authentic food in and elegant and simplest environment. What made Chat Thai unique and famous is that the food at Chat Thai are value for money, mean that you can have a full stomach of dinner or lunch at Chai Thai with the cost of $15 to $20 while the foods are traditionally and uniquely made by Thai Chefs.
Chat Thai provides it customers with strictest safety standards way of cooking their foods with fully audited by FoodCheck. (If you don’t know what FoodCheck is, here is the link to FoodCheck website http://foodcheck.com.au/ )
The four restaurants are located at Haymarket, Rankwick, Manly and Westfield Sydney.
For more info regarding the location or menu please visit http://www.chatthai.com.au/index.html.

Personal opinion:
Chat Thai… YUM!!!!.
Well Chat Thai to me is properly one of the best traditional cuisines in Sydney where they serve self made traditional foods such as Vegetable Spring roll, Papaya Salad (my favourite). The one most famous desert at Chat Thai would be the “Sticky rice Custard” at the price of $4.50 will fulfil your stomach right after your main course.
I would give it a 4/5 for this restaurant. Also I would recommend everyone to check them out when you visit places nearby Sydney. Again for the location and menu please visit http://www.chatthai.com.au/index.html.

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TIRAMISU

06:32 | Labels: food, recipes chocolate, desert

Tiramisu is a classic Italian desert. There are countless variations of this desert, this is one I have come across which is delicious. It combines the richness and sweetness of cream, mascarpone cheese and with the bitter hit of coffee. Alcohol such as Kailua or rum can also be added to add another element to this desert combining all of the indulgent things in life: cream, chocolate, coffee and alcohol. It is served cold and goes well after any meal however because of its origin it is perfect to finish off a classic Italian meal. This tiramisu is satisfying but not too rich so can be indulged. This recipe is from a girl from Florence in Italy and was a favourite continually being requested with other attempting to recreate this desert. It is simple to make however a few simple mistakes are easy to make which can diminish from the finished product. This recipe is also very quick to prepare however it does need to set in the fridge overnight.

What you will need:

Cocoa powder
4 eggs
250g mascarpone cheese
packet sponge finger biscuits
200ml thickened cream
Coffee
Pinch of salt

How to make:

First you will need to separate the eggs into two different bowls you can choose which you would like to work with first. You will need to combine the mascarpone cheese, egg yolks and thickened cream in one bowl. In the other bowl add a pinch of salt to the egg whites this will help them rise. Beat the egg whites until they form soft white peaks make sure not to over work the egg whites otherwise the cream mixture will not set (this has happened to me but it still tastes as good anyway!). Then gently fold in the cream mixture to the egg whites. Brew the coffee make sure it is very strong this can be done with instant, plunger or espresso coffee whichever you prefer this is the point where you could add the alcohol if you wish. Wait until the coffee has cooled then dip in the biscuits one at the time and layer them across the bottom of the container you are making the tiramisu in. Then pour a portion of the cream mixture across the biscuits and continue this layering process until you run out of cream mixture or biscuits. Finish off with a layer of the cream and sprinkle as much cocoa powder as you want! Then put it in the fridge and let it set for at least a few hours if you can wait that long J

Variation:

If you’re not a fan of coffee we experimented with replacing the coffee and alcohol with green tea. Again the green tea powder and mix with water again this has to be strong to get the full flavour. Simply soak the biscuits in the green tea mixture. And follow the rest of the recipe. It has a different quality still delicious but I personally still prefer the original with all the indulgences.

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LAMINGTONS

19:27 |

Lamingtons are a classic ‘aussie’ favourite! I don’t know anyone who doesn’t love these tasty cakes. They are a great nostalgic memory for many Australian childhoods! You can buy lamingtons from almost any supermarket but I think they are extra delicious when you make them yourself. They are simple and easy to make, you don’t need to be an expert in the kitchen to create these scrumptious cakes.

Makes: 24 lamingtons

Ingredients

Cake

3 eggs

1/2 cup castor sugar

3/4 cup self raising flour

1/4 cup cornflour

1 teaspoon butter

3 tablespoons hot water

Chocolate Icing

500g icing sugar

1/3 cup cocoa

2 teaspoons butter

1/2 cup milk

375 g coconut

Method

Cake

1. Beat eggs until light, gradually add sugar, continue beating until mixture is thick and sugar completely dissolved (approximately 10 minutes)

2. Sift dry ingredients several times

3. Melt butter in hot water

4. Sift the dry ingredients several times

5. Melt butter in hot water

6. Sift the dry ingredients over egg mixture, fold in, then gently fold in hot water and butter.

7. Pour into well greased 28 cm by 18 cm lamington tin.

8. Bake in moderate oven approximately 30 minutes

9. Cool

Chocolate Icing

10. Sift icing sugar and cocoa into top half of double saucepan.

11. Add softened butter and milk, stir to mix thoroughly; stir constantly over hot water until icing is of good coating consistency.

12. Cut cake into 24 pieces

13. Hold each piece of cake on a fork.

14. Dip each cake in icing, then toss in coconut.

15. Allow to stand on wire rack until icing sets.

Tips: I have very few tips for this simple recipe, except a small modification, I find it is better to bake the cake 24 hours prior to dipping in chocolate as they are not as soft and therefore as easy to break when dipping in the chocolate icing!

You can of course modify the chocolate icing by using cooking chocolate or adding more or less icing sugar depending on your tastes!

Here's a funny video on how you can make lamingtons, check it out!

ENJOY!

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Hurricane's Grill Restaurants and Bar

03:08 | Labels: food, recipes Bar, Restaurants

Good day boys and girls, Today we have something different to share with everyone. Usually we talk about food and recipes, but today we will be talking and sharing about our experience in restaurants outlet which is the famous Hurricane's Grill Restaurants and Bar in Sydney!!!

Restaurants Overview:
A 16 year old Restaurants and Bar "Hurricane's Girll" offer their customers a choices of three different restaurants location in Sydney "Bondi Beach, Darling Harbour and Top Ryde. Hurricane's Grills satisfy it customers by offering a verity range of food & Beverage includes Steaks, Rips, Chickens, Cocktails, Wine, Coffee and Deserts.

Hurricane's Grill was designed to fit large groups of 20-25 people per table as well as birthday party and other occasions such as New Years celebration.

Hurricane's Grill also offers "Hurricane's Express Take Away" shop next to its Bondi restaurant. The aim of this is to allow customers to take Hurricane's meals home and enjoy it at different location and no need to wait to be seated (normally customers have to wait 30mins to 60mins to be seated at hurricane's due to the busy-ness of the restaurants.)

Source: http://hurricanesgrill.com/

Personal Opinion (michael): Well.. this restaurant is really nice. the food, the place, and their drink and desert are all perfectly and professionally made with unique style. I've been there a few times in the past. I always go for the famous Pork Rip with Chips or mash potato. I will give it a 4.5/5. So I recommend everyone to check out this restaurant. more details about their menus or location can be found at http://hurricanesgrill.com/

Hurricane's famous Pork Rip. =D

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SWEDISH MEATBALLS

03:14 | Labels: food, recipes meatballs, savory

I found out about this Swedish meatball recipe from a Swedish girl met while I was on exchange in England. We all shared recipes from our home country and this was her addition. This is a standard meal for her at home in Sweden. With the cold climate this recipe is perfect. It also suited us throughout the English winter. It is a very simple and quick recipe full of flavour it goes best with mashed potatoes and gravy to create a full winter meal. As the steps are so simple anyone can make it! My Swedish friend didn’t give very exact measurements or instruction as she learnt the recipe from experience and trial and error. The ingredients can also be added to or substituted if need be. With these measurements we were able to make a meal for 3 or 4 with possibly a few meatballs left over depending on everyone's appetite. These Swedish meatballs are very different from Italian meatballs in flavor. These meatballs are full of spices which means they don't necessarily need to be accompanied by sauce and they are delicious on their own or even as a snack.

What you will need:
·         200g pork mince
·         200g beef mince
·         1 apple
·         1 onion
·         1 egg yolk
·         Salt
·         Pepper
·         All spice (or salt pepper and paprika)
·         Splash of cream
·         Bread crumbs

How to cook and a few tips:

You will need to finely chop the apple and onion and simply combine all of the ingredients. It will depend on the consistency as to how much cream and bread crumbs you will use, the mixture needs to remain pretty solid to create a good meat ball. In order to get the flavour right you need to continue tasting the mixture to get the right amount of salt, pepper and all spice. You can put as much or as little spices as you want depending on your flavour preference. You then simply need to oil a pan and roll the mixture into small meatballs. Put them in the hot pan and toss until cooked. To check if the meatballs are ready you need to poke the meatballs, they are ready when they are bouncy put firm in the middle. Enjoy!

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CHICKEN RISOTTO

21:18 |

Serves:4-6 people depending on your appetite!

Chicken Risotto is a family favourite! It's a great comfort food and is best had on those cold rainy days when you want something easy, quick and warm and to eat! Much like today, the weather is miserable here in Sydney! It's pouring down rain and my backyard is practically flooding!

Risotto originates from Italy and there are many different ingredients you can include with Risotto. The stock or broth used can be meat-based (in this recipe we are using chicken stock) or you can used a vegetable stock or a fish broth. It just depends on what else you are having in your Risotto dish! In this case we will be using chicken stock as it is a Chicken Risotto.

Risotto can be easy dish! It just takes a little practice to get the Arborio rice to right consistency and texture, but once you can do it, it's easy as!

Arborio rice

Ingredients
30 g butter
1 medium onion
375 g long-grain rice (or Arborio rice)
5 or 6 cups chicken stock
400g chicken
1 tablespoon melted butter, extra
1 table spoon grated parmesan cheese

Method
1. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees celsius
2. Place chicken in a baking dish, wrapped in baking paper with a knob of butter, cook for 30minutes or until cooked.
3. Melt butter in large saucepan, saute finely-chopped onion until it starts to turn golden.
4. Add rice, mix well.
5. Gradually add boiling stock, about 1 cup at a time; wait until liquid has been absorbed before adding next cup. Stir at each addition.
6. Cover pan and cook for remainder of cooking time. The rice should cook about 20 minutes from time first cup of stock is added.
Rice should be very tender, liquid absorbed and mixture creamy at the end of this time.
7. Add cooked chicken to risotto when cooked.
8. Add melted butter and parmesan cheese, mix in carefully with fork. Serve topped, if desired with extra parmesan cheese.

Tips and recommendations: I only have a few modifications for recipe, which I have found works better for the overall taste of the dish. Firstly, I suggest using a 'salt-reduced' chicken stock, as this dish can be quality salty (due to the stock). You can always add your own seasoning depending on your personal tastes. In my family I have found that everyone prefers a different amount of parmesan, there's always too much or not enough, my solution: just let them mix their cheese, but while their food is still hot so it melts!

Enjoy!

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CHOCOLATE CARAMEL SLICE!

19:25 | Labels: food, recipes caramel, chocolate, slice

Who doesn't love a good chocolate caramel slice?!
It may not be the healthiest option for a snack, but it sure is delicious!

It is thought that the humble chocolate caramel slice originated in Scotland due to the typical shortbread base that usually accompanies it. Although the caramel filling could certainly have some origins in France !

This recipe may seem tricky or a little beyond your expertise if you're not too confident in the kitchen, however i've broken the recipe down into separate, easy to follow steps! I've also provided my own tips and recommendations when making this scrumptious slice from my own past experience of what works best.

General advice: when cooking, whether you're following a recipe or not, I always recommend getting out all the ingredients and utensils you'll need first! Why? Too many times have I missed putting in the small but pivotal ingredient, like a pinch of salt! Also, if you have the right measuring equipment out you wont be rushing and rummaging to find the 1/3 cup you desperately need! One small but final piece of advice, clean as you go! If you put away ingredients as you use them, you can be sure that you haven't missed anything and your bench top wont be so cluttered towards the end :).

Ingredients
1/2 cup, firmly packed brown sugar
2/3 cup desiccated coconut
2/3 cup self-raising flour
85g butter, meltedCaramel Filling
30g butter
2 tablespoons golden syrup
1 can (395g) sweetened condensed milkTopping
150g milk or dark chocolate, melted
Time: Approx. 35 minutes (depending on experience in the kitchen)Serves: Approx. 12 people, depending how hungry you all are!Method
Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees
2. Grease a 20cm square cake pan and line the base and sides of the pan with baking paper.
Base
3. Stir brown sugar, coconut, and flour together in a large bowl until well combined.
4. Add butter and mix until well combined.
5. Firmly press mixture into prepared pan using the back of a spoon.
6. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned and slightly risen.
7. Set base aside to cool for about 10-20 minutes (while making caramel). Leave oven on.
Caramel Filling
8. Place butter and golden syrup in a medium, heavy-based saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
9. When butter has melted, add condensed milk.
10. Stir constantly over medium heat for about 9-12 minutes, until caramel thickens.
11. Gently spread caramel evenly over base.
12. Return to oven for a further 10-12 minutes (a 1/2cm border of lightly browned caramel should form around the edges of the slice)
13. Allow slice to cool to room temperature.
Topping
14. Melt the chocolate in a small saucepan over very low heat, stirring frequently.
15. Spread melted chocolate over caramel.
16. Refrigerate slice until chocolate is just set, about 20-30 minutes.
17. Remove slice from pan and cut into pieces.
Et voila!

Tips and recommendations: You can use any type of chocolate for this recipe, however always use cooking chocolate, as it is made for melting!
I also recommend using a high percentage cocoa dark chocolate, personally I find this produces a better flavour but it depends on your own tastes, just experiment until you find the flavour you desire.
I suggest using a chocolate block (as seen below) rather than buds, through experience I've found that they melt better to the desired consistency.

Also, for those without experience in melting chocolate you should also have a saucepan with water in it on the stove and then a bowl with the chocolate resting over the top, let the steam do the melting and don't allow the bowl to touch the water as it will ruin the melting of the chocolate! If you melt chocolate on it's own on a stove top it will be too hot and the chocolate will burn.LASTLY, I recommend allowing the slice to set outside of the fridge, for some reason this seems to work better for me as a final result! (It will take longer though)

Hope you all enjoy! :)

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First ISYS100 food blog by Michael, Andrea & Ally

00:44 |

FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!

Welcome to our food blog :)

We will present recipes, small critiques and pictures of our food.

Deserts, main meals and snack food from all around the world.

a guide to good eating.... not necessarily healthy ;)

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