Easy Tiger

Two months in and it has hit me. I hate Winter! It happens every year. At first I think 'oh the beautiful roasts and toasty fires, it will be so cosy' and then all of the sudden I have had enough. The cold weather, the flu, the potato, pasta and more potato...

Last night my neighbours Kate and Ausma and I decided to escape our babies and escape Winter, if only for a few hours. Our little holiday in our own city took us to Easy Tiger. Easy Tiger is a modern Asian diner on my favourite street for eating, Smith Street in Collingwood.

Other reviews I have read mention a lack of seating and as we hadn't made a reservation, I was concerned we wouldn't get a table, alas when we arrived it looked full but then the friendly guy at the door led us through the restaurant and into the toasty warm oasis that is the courtyard. The courtyard immediately transports you to Thailand with the bamboo, bonzai and a woodfire.

Now that I was on holiday, chilled sake in hand, it was meal time. Did someone say Son in Law Eggs? Everything on the menu sounds so delicious you really have no other choice than to share in order to taste as many dishes as you can.

We started with the delicious Son in Law eggs followed by mains of sweet pork, mandarin and cashew salad with lemongrass, coriander and mint, red curry of roasted duck with mangosteen and baby corn, steamed snapper in lemongrass & ginger broth with snake beans & roasted eschallots. The pork salad was my favourite with beautifully balanced flavours of sweet pork and sour dressing it was a perfect accompaniment to the curry which was a lot heavier with richer flavours. The steamed snapper was divine.

Easy Tiger isn't cheap, but it isn't overly priced just don't go expecting the same prices as your local Thai restaurant. The quality of the food and the service is spot on. The street food ranges from $4 to $15 and mains range from $25 to $35 dollars. We drank Payten Vignerons Pinot Noir at $48 with our mains. This was the cheapest red wine on the menu and worked very well with the food that we ordered so don't be afraid to order the cheapest wine on this occasion.

So, if you are a fan of Gingerboy and Longrain, you will soon become a fan of Easy Tiger. The only thing I would change would be to offer a few cheaper wines on the menu.

I will be back at Easy Tiger soon, it is too good to stay away. Next time I will take Nick because I think he could probably do with a little holiday too.

Danish Hot Dog and Chunky Monkey Milkshake.

Ola,

Foodfables' horribly talented brother here with a slightly American inspired update. Our little sister has just spent five days in New York before heading to Berlin to visit some old friends which has made me incredibly jealous. Now, I have never been to America - I am desperate to visit - but like many, their culture has impregnated itself upon my psyche.

As a kid I used to love watching films like Back to the Future, The Little Rascals and The Sandlot Kids and for some reason watching these films always reminds me of Hot Dogs and Milkshakes. So what happened when I decided to watch Porkys with a giant hangover on Saturday morning? Hot Dogs and Milkshakes.

Because I have never been to the U.S. I decided that I ought not attempt a traditional American Hot Dog through fear of offending an American reader - especially considering the many regional variations they seem to have.

I have spent time in Denmark though - and when it comes to Hot Dogs, the Danes have got it down to a fine art. After a few months in the beautiful town of Viborg when I was in my late teens, I had conquered heavy drinking, precision fluid movement (hydraulics) and Hot Dogs. Many, many Hot Dogs.

In town was the one and only Pølsevogn (Sausage Wagon) and memories of walking the beautiful cobbled streets while nursing a hangover brought on by a rabid determination to out drink every Dane in Viborg towards the waiting embrace of those Dogs will be with me forever.

On Saturday, I made my own.

Danish Hot Dogs can almost be made using only store bought but that's no fun.

First up is pickled Cucumber.

4 Thinly sliced Lebanese Cucumbers

500ml Apple Cider Vinegar

1/2 Cup Raw Sugar

A Dozen whole Black Peppercorns

2 Bay Leaves

1 1/2 tsp Salt

Put everything but the Cucumber in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Simmer for a further 5 minutes. While this is happening place the sliced Cucumber into a very, very clean jar. Take the mixture off the heat and pour into the jar. Throw the lid on, give it a shake and put it in the fridge. Best bet is to leave it in the fridge for an hour or so before you use it.

Next is the all important crispy fried Shallots. The Danes use Onions, I like shallots.

12 Shallots, halved and sliced

Plenty of Olive or Canola Oil

2 tbsp Maple Syrup

Dash of Vanilla essence

Put Shallots in a shallow pan and make sure they are well spread out, fill the pan with enough oil to just cover the shallots. Place the pan on medium heat and add Maple Syrup and Vanilla essence. Stir slowly. It should take around fifteen minutes to heat the oil enough to begin browning your shallots (I like to take my time rather than just deep frying the lot.) Once the begin to brown be careful not to let them burn. Scoop your shallots out and place on a paper towel to crisp up nicely.

Finally, its time for the Hot Dogs. Now, I am not going to give you an amount for these ingredients. I don't know how many you want. You have just made enough fried Shallots and Pickles for a lot.



Viennese Sausage

Dinner Rolls - nice little ones - you want the sausage to extend quite a way beyond each side of the rolls

Pickles

Crispy Onions

Condiments:

Remoulade - Bearnaise or Tartar are great too

Tomato Chutney

Mustard - French is best

Anything else that you like. I also used hot Ajvar.

Slowly fry up the sausage in a lightly oiled pan. Heat the dinner rolls in the oven until golden brown. Place your sausage in a bun and serve with condiments, pickles and Shallots.

Last but not least. Chunky Monkey Milkshake!

3 Scoops of Ice Cream

1/2 Banana chopped

1 tbsp Chocolate Sauce - or Melted chocolate if you can be bothered.

1 tbsp Grated Chocolate

1 Shot Espresso

1/3 Cup Milk

Combine and Blend.

Pop some whipped cream on top if you feel like a delicious heart attack.


See you next week. xoxot

Jamaican Goat Tajine

Ola.

Foodfables' incredibly rugged but still sweetly sensitive brother here again with what I will try - and almost certainly fail - to make my regular Monday night post for the foodfable blog.

I spent most of last weekend in the kitchen in a futile attempt to mark my territory and reassert myself as the alpha male in the house. This chest beating exercise was brought by my parents moving into my house for two weeks while their renovations stride the last legs of their six month marathon.

Now, besides the negatives that this arrangement brought on - including a rather uncomfortable encounter involving a member of the opposite sex - there were some real pluses having them here. The most obvious being a much needed boost to my kitchen stocks.

Tonight I would like to share my Jamaican Jerk Tajine with Goat. Yes, strange I know but trust me. Lets start with the marinade.

1 Chopped Onion

1/2 Spring Onion

2 Chopped Chillies - if you are anything like me and love a bit of heat.

3 tbsp Soy Sauce

1 tbsp Olive Oil

1 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar

2 tsp Thyme

2 tsp Raw Sugar

1 tsp Allspice - important

1 tsp Salt

1 tsp Pepper

1/2 tsp Nutmeg

1/2 tsp Cinnamon

1/2 tsp Crushed Cloves

Dash of Hot Sauce - I like lemon pepper hot sauce

Now the hard part. Blend, add to 1 kilogram of cubed Goat and leave to marinate overnight in the fridge.

Now onto the Tajine. It really isn't important to get this absolutely perfect in terms of quantities just use what you like. But here is a bit of a guide.

1 Banana sliced thinly lengthwise

1 Cup Kidney Beans

1/2 Pineapple Chopped roughly

1/2 Coconut sliced thinly

1 tsp Tamarind

1 tsp sliced Ginger

Toss the lot into the Tajine along with your very lovely smelling marinated Goat and put it in the oven at 140 - 150 degrees for four hours.

Serve with a little Guacamole and a slice of Lemon.

I am sorry I don't have a photo but next time I make one I will put it on. Next week perhaps I will go out for some dinner and let you know how it goes.

Guest Recipe - Rabbit Stew by Tom

Ola.

I am foodfables' prettier, less talented brother and I have been asked to share with you one of my latest exploits in the kitchen.

It has been so cold of late that I have resorted to beating skyrocketing gas prices by using my oven as a heater. I decided that I ought put something in it at the same time and what better than my new cast iron crock pot filled with delicious Rabbit Stew.

Now this was my first attempt at Rabbit Stew - or even stew in general - so what I would like to do is give you the recipe for what I did on a wing and a prayer and a couple of ideas for what I would do next time.

Ingredients:

1 Farmed Rabbit, jointed (your butcher can do this for you if you flutter your eyelashes in just the right way)

2 Onions, quartered

I would use 6 shallots next time

2 Carrots, chopped

1 Turnip, chopped

2-3 Sticks of Celery, chopped

40 Grams Butter

Water

1 Decent splash of Oil

Half a bottle of Red (Shiraz)

3 Cloves of Garlic

1/4 Cup of Flour

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

1/2 Teaspoon ground Cloves

1/4 Cup of chopped Parsley

6 Button Mushrooms, sliced


Pre-heat your oven to 180

Season your flour with Salt, Pepper and Cloves and lightly coat the Rabbit, I use farmed rabbits because they are bigger and less gamey than wild rabbit.

Put the butter and oil into a nice big frying pan at a decent heat. Add the jointed Rabbit and quickly brown off and place into your crock pot.

Put your Carrots, Turnip, Garlic and Celery into the same pan and cook until onions have began to soften. Add this to the crock pot and give it a bit of a stir.

De-glaze the pan with Red Wine and pour into the crock pot. I used water to cover the rest of the veggies and just cover the rabbit. If I was you, I would use half chicken stock and half water or for a really rich stew, use only stock.

Place the crock pot in the oven for the next hour and a half with the lid on. Remove the lid, add button mushrooms and parsley give it a nice stir and let it spend the next half an hour with the lid off to help it reduce.

Serve on a bed of mash (No, I will not write a recipe for mashed potato) and garnish with some parsley.

If you have more time cook at 160 for three or four hours in total for rabbit that is almost falling off the bone.

Next up if you are lucky is my Saturday Jamaican Jerk Tajine from a very hearty weekend that started with a failed Osso Bucco and ended with a Sunday Slow-roasted Eye Fillet.

Perfect Drop - Daylesford

Country Victoria is really giving us City Slickers a run for our money and a Perfect Drop in Daylesford is probably the best example of this that I have recently come across.

The three of us have just returned from another fantastic eating fuelled weekend in Daylesford this time joined by Chloe, Tony and Tigi's best little buddy, Max.

The hosts at A Perfect Drop are down to earth, warm and welcoming and make us feel very much at home considering we are wielding two prams containing a couple of very bubbly babies.  We are given our own little dining room in the restaurant with a roaring fire and lots of space ensuring we don't spend our whole lunch worrying about disrupting other diners meals.  Our host brings us some toys for the babes and more importantly the wine list and menus for us adults (Hmm adult! Is that what I am now?

The dishes can be shared or not...and what I was most impressed with was that I actually walked away feeling as though this meal was worth the money because of the passion and effort put into each dish and also because the prices are reasonable and the portions are generous.

The crew at Perfect Drop pride themselves on sourcing and showcasing local produce and they have definitely achieved this as you will see in my pictures below. 

 Beef brisket with hamine egg

 White anchovies and boiled quail egg on toast, micro herbs 

Potato salad with dried beef and poached egg

Slow roasted suckling pig

Baharat spiced crumbed venison and venison sausages, Dutch cream and celeriac mash, local chestnuts and shallot

 Chocolate brownie with halva ice-cream and persian fairy floss

Creme Brulee

Well it is obvious that this place is a winner so all I can say to wrap up todays post is that I know there are a lot of good restaurants and cafes to choose from in Daylesford but please, for your taste buds sake dont miss Perfect Drop!

Eat Drink Man Woman

Since Tigi has been born it has been hard for Nick and I to find time to enjoy each others company without distraction (not that we would wish for it to be any other way!), therefore I have recently introduced, Sexy Night. Sexy Night occurs once a week and starts with a couples workout with our personal trainer, Margie at Vibes fitness and is followed by a nice dinner somewhere on Brunswick Street, Fitzroy.  Usually we reward ourselves with a pasta at Mario's but tonight I thought we would try Eat Drink Man Woman.

I am so excited to be living in Collingwood at the moment because I only need to step out the door and I discover a new restaurant opening at least once a month around here.

It is getting late so just a quick review but I wanted to do it whilst it was fresh in my mind.

The place looks amazing, so stylish, I love the blue tiles and the long marble bar that stretches the length of the restaurant and is so wide it acts as both a benchtop for the chefs to cook and a bar for patrons to eat whilst they watch their next cours cook in front of them.  

We ate beautiful, tender, char-grilled octopus with potato and green olives to start followed by a delicious serve on beef ribs with a luscious, thick barbecue sauce and a half a  juicy char-grilled chicken with smoked pimento, and preserved lemon served with a shared side of Vietnamese coleslaw.  Everything was delicious and highly recommended.

The service was perfect and the wine list is uncomplicated and well thought out.  Prices are very reasonable, For dinner you are looking at around $15 for an entrée around $23 for a main an $5 for a side.  I would recommend getting one side each as I didn't want to share the Vietnamese coleslaw.

The breakfast menu and bar snacks also look really appetising but I haven't tried them yet.

Eating at Eat Drink Man Woman made me very proud to be a Melbournian!

Address: 413 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy

Phone: (03) 9419 0088

Fully Licensed

Bookings: Yes

Apple Tea Cake. Like Your Grandma Used To Make!

I have been trying to get this recipe right for a while now and this is as close as I have come.  There is nothing like a slice of Apple Tea Cake with a cup of tea on a cold Winters Day.  

I used to make this with my Nan when I was a kid and I think we sprinkled raw sugar on top with cinnamon and nutmeg  but I have changed it up a little because I think the recipe calls for a little extra moisture, which is why I have added the sugar syrup.  

The cake I have made in the picture doesn't have enough apple on top this is because I only had one apple left in my fruit bowl.

I think this is a really good recipe for kids and I hope that Tigi helps me make the next one, instead of just banging the wooden spoon on the benchtop.

INGREDIENTS

110g butter
1/3 cup castor sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 large egg
1¼ cups self raising flour
1/3 cup milk
2 peeled apples, thinly sliced
melted butter
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon icing sugar

2 dessert spoons of orange juice

1 tablespoon of boiling water

METHOD

Preheat oven to 180°C.

I use my Kitchen Aid (you can use beaters or a hand whisk, if you are strong) to cream the butter and sugar then once smooth add the egg and vanilla essence, and beat until combined.

Double sift the flour and add to mixture with milk. Beat until combined.

Grease and line a round 20cm tin with baking paper.

Arrange thinly sliced pieces of apple on top of the poured cake mixture, brush with melted butter and sprinkle with half the cinnamon.

Place in the middle shelf of the oven at 180°C. Bake for around 30-35 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Combine 1 tablespoon of icing sugar with 2 dessert spoons of of warmed orange juice and 1 dessert spoons of hot water.  Skewer little holes in the cake and pour sugar syrup over the top.  Allow the cake to stand for 10minutes before serving sprinkled with a dash more sugar and cinnamon.