urban odds & ends

Soon as we were seated the waitress brought us the menus and told us the today's specials. As primi piatti (the starter) I ordered the signature dish of the restaurant, the Fettuccine al tartufovo - Fettuccine with cream and parmesan, topped with a fried truffle egg. I've red before that this dish is an culinary experience and even mind blowing. As second piatti I ordered pesce (fish) with eggplant mousse, shamefully I can't remember the name and the menu changed since we visited Buon Ricardo. After the waitress wrote down our orders the sommerlier arrived and - already knowing what we've ordered - suggested a nice italian white wine accompanying our first course. Since this was the first time visiting such a classy restaurant, I was surprised as the waitress unfolded a cloth napkin and laid it on my lap. I was feeling like a little princess ;). Soon after an amuse gueule our primi piatti arrived and what can I say. The Fettuccine al tartufovo... the smell.. oh my gosh... mind blowing - for real!


The waitress placed the plate in front of me and worked with a fork and a knive her way through the fried egg on top - the egg yolk slowly oozing over the pasta and while tossing  transforming it into a creamy truffel-infused sauce. Now the parmesan freshly grated on top, tossed on more time. I couldn't even resist to tell her that the pasta smells devine. Oh my, if I had known it before I would have ordered this dish as primi, secondi piatti and dessert! It was really that good.

The secondi piatti arrived, this time accompanied with an australian white wine. Australian wine is good! The fish was perfectly done and the eggplant mousse was delicious. What should I say,
since this moment I'm an eggplant lover ;) Very satisfied I  ordered as not being the biggest dessert fan a hot chocolate instead. They brought a cup of fine dark hot chocolate, which I ate with a spoon.
The second surprise was the sweet italian treats in fingerfood size, accompanying our non-dessert choice (for free!).

This visit was really a appropriate finish of our vaccation and I highly recommend a visit in Buon Ricardo if you're in Sydney. It was actually the best italian food I've ever eaten. The price range begins with 30-35 AUD for starters up to 55 AUD for the main course. We reservated one day in advance with a confirmation cal madel by Buon Ricardo on the reservated date.

Ristorante Buon Ricordo

108 Boundary St,
Paddington Sydney
(02) 9360 6729

Friday & Saturday: noon - 2.30pm
Tuesday to Saturday: 6.00 - 10.30 pm

Reservations are highly recommended

Strawberry is one of my favorite fruits... slowly the strawberry jam I made last spring is coming to an end and the craving for fresh sweet strawberries, plain with a little sugar and whipped cream or on top of cakes, is hardly to resist. While the first pints of strawberries coming to the market I hesitate... they're still really pricey and not harvested in germany yet. But a few weeks ago Stephan and me couldn't resist and we bought a pint. The same evening we ate a few sliced over the yoghurt lavender ice cream I made. But the majority went into the strawberry yoghurt ice cream the other day. I was out of heavy cream so I made at first a light version. But the next time I  used the cream againg, not because of the taste - the light version was really d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s - only the texture was a little less creamy we like.

Strawberry Yoghurt Ice Cream yields ~ 500g

250g yoghurt
250ml heavy cream
100g sugar + 2 tbsp vanilla sugar
400g strawberries, stem removed and cleaned
2 tbsp brandy

Heat cream and sugar in a pot over medium high heat until the sugar and vanilla sugar is dissolved. Allow to cool. Mix the strawberries with the cream and blend until smooth. Take a spoon of it and taste... hmmm, delicious, isn't it? Now stop tasting... ha caught ya! ;) Stir the strawberry cream and brandy into the yoghurt until well combined.

Next Step Using Ice Cream Maker

Pour in your ice cream maker and follow the instructions according to your machine. Pour in a container and store in the refrigerator until use.


Next Step Without Ice Cream Maker

Pour in a container and freeze in the refrigerator. Stirring the mixture every hour until completely frozen.

Next time I plan to use some fresh mint to flavor the sugar/cream mixture while simmering a few minutes.

After I red the announcement that my lecture dropped out yesterday, my plan to eat at our cafeteria was messed up. For this reason  I raided our pantry with the result of a can of chickpeas. With fresh parsley and a zucchini at hand, I decided to make a salad as I like chickpeas even more cold than warmed up. Combined with a nice yoghurt tahini dressing and some spice adjustments I nourished a really comforting and delicious meal.

Chickpea Zucchini Salad serves 2 as main and 4 as side dish

1 medium zucchini, cut into thin stripes
500g canned chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 small bunch parsley, chopped

Dressing

3 tbsp yoghurt
1 tbsp tahini paste
1 tsp sumac
1 tsp za'tar
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp ground coriander
salt & pepper

Heat a large pan over high heat. Add a little oil and add the zucchini stripes and toss until fully coated with oil. Roast until golden brown, it's no problem if there are black burned spots on some points. Set aside. In a large bowl, combine chickpeas with dressing and mix well. When the zucchinis have cooled a little add to the salad and stir until nicely coated with dressing. Adjust seasoning to taste.

I served mine with pita bread and greek yoghurt seasoned with salt and pepper.

If you don't have sumac and za'tar at hand, a good substitution for sumac is a little lemon juice. Za'tar is a blend of arabian thyme, sumac, sesam seeds and salat. Instead I would throw in some common thyme leaves and a little more lemon juice.

Kind of Food: Chinese / Thai
Price: Mains between 25 - 40 AUD
Points on the NOM-Scale: *** (1/2 *)

Back in january, we spent our last days of our visit in Australia in Sydney. So we celebrated the last 4 days with plenty of good food. We spent our first evening at Longrain. Located in the artsy quarter Surry Hills, Longrain is placed in a 110-year old converted warehouse featuring a bar and a dining area. We only spent the evening in the restaurant, but the cocktails first of all their stick drink with muddled fresh fruit, vodka and ice are known to be pretty decent.

German chef Martin Boetz serves southern chinese and thai inspired food in a place with a puristic and industrial interior left by the old warehouse, but not cold in atmosphere rather warming accompanied by 
thoughtful and kind waiters. It was no problem arriving there without reservation as they take only reservations for lunch and the private dining room. There are three communal wooden dinig tables with at least 20 seats each "encouraging asian-style banquet dinig". Usually I don't like being seated with people I don't know, but as part of the Longrain experience I gave it a go and I must admit that even if two ladies were seated right in front of us it was really nice. Longrain is a place known for sharing food with your group mates so that you can experience all four different tastes hot, sour, salty and sweet in different combinations.

We had Caramelised pork hock with five spices & chilli and Red curry of grass fed beef with green peppercorns & thai basil both served with steamed jasmin rice. We chose wine recommended by the waitress, which was a good choice nicely accompanying our food.

The meals were really good, I think it was actually the best asian food I've ever eaten. I liked the pork hock more than the red curry, the combination of the sweet pork with the hot and sour vinegar was a really welcoming sweet and sour combination. The meat was perfectly done inside and nice crisp outside. The curry was really delicious too, but the pork hock left a pretty stunning impression. Since some restaurants aren't able to cook rice properly the jasmin rice was cooked well with a good bite.

I definitely recommend a visit at Longrain and I hope more asian inspired restaurants like this will open in germany soon. The prices in Longrain are reasonably but not an everyday meal. I really liked the interior with the clear design and the service. If I lived in Sydney, I would visit Longrain often.
And for the Melbournians: since 2005 Longrain Melbourne is located in central CBD.

Longrain Bar & Restaurant

Sydney

85 Commonwealth St
Surry Hills NSW 2010
(02) 9280 2888

Melbourne

44 Little Bourke St
VIC 3000
(03) 9671 3151

With plenty of my homemade yoghurt in the fridge and my new ice cream maker smiling at me I combined both incidents to a completely delicious ice cream. It's the first time I made ice cream with a machine and I had never such an amazing creamy result. Whilst heating up the sugar and heavy cream mixture I remembered the lavender which I bought recently, so I threw a spoonful of it in and so the yoghurt lavender ice cream was born. The alcohol is used to enhance the creamy consistency and it gives a nice bang to the ice cream too ;) But it's up to you if you go alcohol-free since there might be children around. And a notice for using lavender: don't use too much since lavender could cause headaches in higher concentrations!

Next time I'm going to substitute orange or lemon zest for the lavender. So an orange liquer like Cointreau or lemon liquer, maybe Limoncello could work very well with it.
Ooooh I see, this will be a nice summer romance with me and the ice cream maker... or a love triangel with me the ice cream maker and our barbecue ;)

Yoghurt Lavender Ice Cream yields ~ 500g ice cream


300g yoghurt
200ml heavy cream
100g sugar
1 tbsp lavender
1 tbsp brandy

Heat heavy cream and sugar on medium high heat until the sugar is dissolved, add the lavender and let it simmer around 5 minutes occasionally stirring and allow to cool completely. You can pour the mixture through a fine mesh sieve and discard the lavender, but I'm a lazy person so I skipped this part. When cooled completely stir the cream with the yoghurt until well combined.


Next Step Using Ice Cream Maker

Pour in your ice cream maker and follow the instructions according to your machine. Pour in a container and store in the refrigerator until use.


Next Step Without Ice Cream Maker

Pour in a container and freeze in the refrigerator. Stirring the mixture every hour until completely frozen.

Since I'm enthusiastic about homemade food, especially of basic food, I was thrilled to find a recipe for homemade yoghurt in my new Moro cookbook . Meanwhile the first batch is almost gone and I'm planning to make the second one with a different style of yoghurt culture. Making your own yoghurt is very easy and satisfying. I ate my yoghurt this week plain, seasoned with cinnamon and diced apples and, with rhubarb in season, a rhubarb compote (see recipe below). Today I made a batch of yoghurt lavender ice cream with my new ice cream maker - absolutely delicious. Of course the recipe will follow as soon I screened the photos ;)


Homemade Yoghurt yields 1kg yoghurt
adapted from The Moro Cookbook

2 litres full-fat milk
300ml double cream
150g live yoghurt

Place the milk in a large pot, making sure there's still a little room upwards. Bring to boil, turn the heat to a simmer and reduce by a third. It's important to stir constantly to prevent the milk sticking to the bottom of the pan and burning. Remove the pot from heat and transfer the milk to a bowl. Stir in the cream until well combined. Allow to cool until you can hold your finger in the milk and count to ten, then add the yoghurt and stir well. If the milk is too hot the bacteria may be killed. If it is not hot enough it will take a lot longer to set. Cover with clingfilm and leave at room temperature for about 8 hours or over night, until set. The yoghurt will keep in the fridge for seven to ten days.

Rhubarb Compote 2 servings

4 stalks rhubarb, cut in 1cm long pieces
100ml water
2 tbsp sugar

Place all ingredients in a small pot over medium high heat. Let it simmer until the water is almost evaporated and the rhubarb is soft. Allow to cool completely. Put yoghurt in bowls and spoon the rhubarb compote over.

Preserved lemons are one of the most popular Moroccan condiments and they are used in many dishes like tajines, couscous or salads. They are pickled in their own juice with plenty of salt and different spices and only the peel is used.

Moroccan Preserved Lemons 750mL glass jar

6 organic lemons
coarse sea salt
a few coriander seeds
1 bay leaf
1 cinnamon stick
1 red chilli

Clean the lemons under water and dry them. Cut off the round spot where the stem sat and make two large slices in X shape stopping 1 cm from the bottom. Pack the salt into the incisions, about 1 tbsp per lemon. Put the salted lemons in a clean, large glass jar and add the spices.



Press the lemons very firmly to get the juices flowing. Cover and let stand over night. The next 2-3 days repeat pressing until the lemons are completely covered with liquid. If the lemons aren't juicy enough add a little bit extra lemon juice. After one month the preserved lemons are soft and ready to use. Rinse before using to remove excess salt. They'll keep in the fridge at least 6 months.


Recipes using preserved lemons:
Isreaeli Couscous with Butternut Squash & Preserved Lemons
Preserved Lemon & Spring Vegetable Risotto With Grilled Shrimp
Chicken Tajine With Preserved Lemons, Green Olives & Golden Raisins
Hearty Red Lentil & Preserved Lemon Soup