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Saturday 29 December 2012

Peace Harmony @Sydney/Wynard

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Peace Harmony is a Vegetarian Thai restaurant. Not only are they a vegetarian restaurant, but they also produce foods that have no onion, garlic or MSG which is an extra bonus for certain vegetarians of different faiths. The menu is abundant with traditional Thai dishes, and the use of mock meat.

Thai Papaya Salad

Vegetarian Thai Hokkien noodles

'Duck' Curry

The dishes are vibrant with colour and all the ingredients are fresh, and full of flavour. My favourite of all the dishes we had was the duck curry, I love the taste of vegetarian duck (which is a strange thing to say). The Thai papaya salad was a bit different, where it had a sweet taste that is more similar to a Vietnamese Nuoc Mam dressing, than a spicy Thai dressing. 

Overall, it is a great Vegetarian Thai option, and to my amazement contained the flavours of traditional Thai food.

Good food, good times!

Tuesday 11 December 2012

ExpressOrganica @ Concord

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We all love a good brunch spot, but what about a place that is practically open all day everyday? ExpressOrganica is the place to be. . They are known as one of Sydney's Best Coffee Spots, and have been mentioned in SMH Everyday eats guide 2012. 

They provide an all day breakfast, lunch menu and dinner menu. The menu showcases an array of various foods, without having too many choices. The breakfast menu was my favourite, where I have never spent so long trying to decide what to eat. We decided to order some coffees and 2 breakfast/brunch choices.

Pretty Mocha

Vegetarian Stack

All the brunch favourites, avocado, poached eggs, sautéed mushrooms, baby spinach and roasted tomato and sourdough bread. I chose the dish without hollandaise sauce, because I am not the biggest fan, but either way, it was tasty. You can also add extras to the dish such as salmon, if you want some more flavours to start off your day.


Asparagus & sweet potato salad

This was part of the specials, and sounded too good to not order. It was composed of asparagus, sweet potato, mixed salad, cherry tomato, feta and walnuts. I thought the highlight of the dish would be the asparagus, where in fact it was the sweet potato. Perfectly cooked sweet potato, that helped with the salty feta and balsamic dressing.

The overall dining experience was exceptional with wonderful service, and great coffee. The store itself provides a warm vibe, with the brown and cosy décor. The bill was $44 for 2 people, which includes 2 coffees and 2 mains.

Good food, good times!

Friday 7 December 2012

Universal @ Darlinghurst

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My friend chose the dinner location, and I wanted it to be surprise, so while walking to dinner from the train station, to my delightful surprise their choice was Universal. Universal is the infamous Sydney based restaurant owned by renowned chef Christine Manfield. Christine Manfield has made several appearances on MasterChef Australia, and in the 2012 series her famous Gaytime Goes Nuts dessert was in the finale. Another great part was that Christine Manfield can be seen walking around the restaurant.

The menu provides flavours and spices from around the world including India, Africa, South East Asia and the Mediterranean. The warm red, orange and yellow décor allows for a comfortable dining experience (but strange colours when taking photos of food). A great thing about Universal is that they provide a vegetarian and non vegetarian menu, catering to everyone.



Opening the menu and seeing the same quote that is on my blog. It was destiny to eat at Universal!

Green asparagus tempura, with lotus roots, edamame and wasabi avocado

A subtle balance  of flavours from Japan. There wasn't too much of the tempura batter, which was good as it resulted in a crisp texture. The lotus roots were addictive, but when aren't lotus roots addictive? The wasabi avocado sauce was placed between the layers and complemented the dish perfectly.

Air dried quail and pork sausage, with brown rice, avocado and mango salad

This dish reminded me of a Laos or Thai pork sausage. The salad was refreshing and combined with a warm salad dressing. It was a great starter, with well executed Asian flavours.

Toasted walnut crumble with haloumi cheese, coriander yoghurt relish, and salad

The haloumi cheese with the crumble was creamy with a slight crunch. However, this was a bit strange for me. There was an overpowering taste of dill, which was hard to overcome.


Soy braised organic pork, squid, garlic mushrooms, black pepper broth, gremolata 

The pork was succulent and soft, and reminded me of some of my favourite Vietnamese pork dishes. The broth was light, and with the mushrooms and squid, was unbelievably tasty. All of the components greatly accompanied each other.

Deconstructed Apple Pie: Apple crumble with apple, vanilla sorbet, filo crisp and sliced apple

A lovely apple taste, with the taste of cinnamon. The vanilla sorbet was combined with a layer of an apple sorbet. It was my favourite part. The freshly sliced apple changed the concept of having an apple pie that was all composed of cooked apple.

Gaytime goes nuts: Honeycomb ice cream, caramel parfait, chocolate crunch, salted hazelnut caramel

The infamous Gaytime goes nuts. This was absolutely beautiful, in both looks and taste. Everything had a wonderful taste, where in each spoonful a new taste was detected. There were crunchy bits encased in one of the layers of ice cream. The caramelised peanuts that rested underneath the chocolate mousse was delicious. This dish was finished with ease, and a great way to end such a delicious meal.

Overall, Universal is a great dining experience. The staff is lovely and outgoing, and are willing to do anything to cater for your needs. Example, we needed a taxi to pick us up at 730, and they arranged it all for us. I would definitely dine at Universal again. The entire experience was roughly $70 each, which didn't include drinks.

Good food, good times!


Monday 26 November 2012

Sydney Food Bloggers Christmas Picnic 2012

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Photo from Simon (http://theheartoffood.com/)


It was that time of year again when infamous bloggers Grab Your Fork and Chocolatesuze organised one of the biggest Sydney Food Bloggers Picnic. The picnic is literally composed of food bloogers from the Sydney region, who all bring a dish or a drink and have the chance to meet fellow bloggers. It was great to meet new bloggers, and put faces to already known blogs. 

A highlight would have to be the EVIL Secret Santa, allowing the opportunity to steal someone else's gift. As soon as you steal, you are in for a ride. The Secret Santa definitely allowed us to put faces to bloggers and to see who the evil ones are!


The array of food


This time, I was supposed to make gelatin free marshmallows, but that was a fail result of goo, so as a last resort I had to quickly make some chocolate cheesecake brownie.

Jasmie Tea Creme Brulee tarts: http://www.excusemewaiter.com/

Assorted sandwiches

Red Velvet mini-cakes, and dates wrapped in prosciutto http://www.ragingcravings.com/


Thai chicken in crispy wonton: http://www.thestickyandsweet.com/

Lovely themed cake for the #sydfbxmas2012: http://oh-ayana.livejournal.com/

A cute pig cake from hello happy, purchased by: http://www.jenishungry.blogspot.com.au/


One of the picnics, Vietnamese rice paper rolls: http://www.angielivestoeat.blogspot.com.au/

Awesome pop up bar appears again!! http://www.simonfoodfavourites.blogspot.com.au/
  
The cutest of all the desserts,oreo turkeys! http://www.gucciandgyoza.blogspot.com.au/

Dessert plate, including spiced cookies http://loveswah.com/ and rhubarb meringue tarts by http://www.muppyat.blogspot.com.au/

The pool of gifts!

Trying to steal a gift, and Simon (http://theheartoffood.com/) hoping someone steals his cup

After I tried to steal a gummy bear jelly mould, I decided to pick a new gift which was a macaron timer (which in the end also got stolen from me, and in the end, I ended up with a pizza stone =D)

Chocolate suze won the jelly bear mould, before it was taken from her, and she got another gift she wanted.

Good food, good times!

Thursday 15 November 2012

Mango-Raspberry Rekorderlig Cupcake Launch @ Sparkle Cupcakery, Surry Hills

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 Two of my favourite things have now been combined, Rekorderlig Cider and cupcakes. Rekorderlig has teamed up with  Sparkle Cupcakery  to introduce a limited edition Mango-Raspberry Cupcake. The cupcake uses fresh summer ingredients of raspberries and mango for a tastey sweet treat. The inspiration for the Mango-Raspberry cupcake was to create the perfect summer cupcake. 

I was one of the lucky few who were invited by Rekordelig Cider to attend there cupcake launch party hosted on 13th November 2012 at ther Surry Hills store. According to Rekorderlig-Cider Australia the cupcakes were a sell out on opening day (14th). The cupcakes will be available between 14th- 30th November 2012. The stores providing the cupcakes are in Surry Hills, Martin Place and David Jones Sparkle Cupcakery Stores.


Complementary Mango-Raspberry Rekorderlig Cider

 Sparkle Cupcakery display cabinets
  
Mini versions of the cupcakes

Sparkle Cupcakery Menu

Now, to the wonderfully tasting cupcakes! There is a perfect balance between the buttercream frosting and the cupcake itself. The bits of raspberry infused throughout the cupcake provide the taste of summer. I found the mango flavour hard to detect, but a friend of mine was able to detect it straight away. I personally have tried to make Apple Rekorderlig cupcakes, but they didn't turn out quite right. I hope they provide the secret recipe to the delightful Mango-Raspberry Rekorderlig Cupcake.

This was my first time trying Sparkle Cupcakes, and I will definitely be coming back to try other cupcakes that are on their menu. A thank you goes out to Rekorderlig Cider for the invitation.

Good food, good times!

Sunday 4 November 2012

BEWARE! Halloween Cupcakes

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I know this post is a few days late, and Halloween is over, but for anyone who needs some ideas for next year, details are now here to read and see! =D. Halloween is slowly becoming a popular celebration in Australia (mainly due to American TV show influences), but it is definitely a fun new way to creatively bake. Last year my sister hosted a Halloween Party, but this year with no party, I still wanted to experiment with some Halloween themed cupcakes.

The Halloween cupcakes were inspired by one of my new favourite YouTube channels; MyCupcakeaddiction. The best thing about this channel is that it is Australian based, so all the products she uses in her tutorials are generally available at a local Woolworths or Coles. She posted up a few Halloween themed desserts, but I chose the cupcakes.

Jack-o-Lantern cupcakes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSx1cRQLI74&feature=BFa&list=PLQ27MnDUZPYbtxS67cKLcnk7BeTtLD2NK

Ghost Cupcakes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5vP4bP1IT4&feature=BFa&list=PLQ27MnDUZPYbtxS67cKLcnk7BeTtLD2NK

Buttercream Recipe:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_xqvYCfrpU


The tutorials were simple and straight forward. I did slightly alter what she did by using black fondant for the pumpkins facial features instead of black liquorice. Furthermore, I used a WHITE writing fudge tube instead of chocolate to stick on the ghostly eyes (aka mini m&ms). To colour the buttercream I used orange, and a bit of red colour paste to get a lovely pumpkin/blood orange colour.

For the cupcake recipe, I used my NEW go to Vanilla Cupcake Recipe. The recipe makes 24 large cupcakes, so you have to tweak it a little. I made 36 standard cupcakes which was  1.25 of the recipe. If you make one batch of the batter, you get roughly 30 standard cupcakes.

Vanilla Cupcake Recipe
Guided by (http://magdelinelum.com/i-like-to-bake/)

Ingredients
4 eggs
200g softened butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups of self raising flour (sifted)
1 1/2 cups of caster sugar (2 cups MAX)
250ml full cream milk

Method:
1. Preheat over to 180 degrees Celsius.
2. Using an electric mixer (or hand held mixer) cream the butter and sugar together until dissolved.
3. Add the eggs in one at a time, ensuring each egg is fully combined before adding in the next.
4. Add the flour and milk alternately and gently fold into the batter using a spatula.
5. Divide the mixture between the cupcake liners (filling each about half - 2/3 of the way)
6. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.





Sorry, bad quality iPod touch

Underneath the ghost sheets

OoOoOo Ghostsssss

Jack-o-lanterns

I received a lot of positive feedback from the cupcakes, and to all those who tried them I am glad you enjoyed them. 

Good food, good times!