Light Bites

Geez. I forgot I had a blog for a few moments there!

Good news! I’m leaving school at the end of the semester and getting my life back!

The course content was a bit misleading, not to mention, useless at this point in my career. The actual reason I enrolled was out of desperation to remain legal in Australia with a minimal price tag…but it’s just wrong and pointless.

The semester ends mind-June and once again, I will be a free, blog-writing woman.

On Tapas: Movida Bar de Tapas y Vino

It’s taken me an absurdly long time to write about my much-anticipated outing at Movida, but the truth is…it was so authentic that my anticipation overshadowed the actual experience.

Let me explain…I went to uni in Spain and spent 3 years living there. I came to know my vegetarian options quite well, which were actually quite limited. I lived in the university halls, share-house and with a host family in both Madrid and Sevilla. I went to Valencia to eat paella at the very place Hemingway once did, only I had to get mine next door because we made it to the beach-side restaurant a few minutes to late. I’m not claiming to know everything about Spanish food, but I know vegetarian tapas!

As soon as I was handed the menu I opened it up hoping my eyes would be star struck by terms such as “foam” or “sorbet” or any other word associated with molecular gastronomy. But, there was nothing. To kick start my Spanish experience, I chose with the sidra, Spanish cider to quench my curiosity. Sidra is a carbonated beverage one could easily purchase for 2 euros a bottle in Spain a few years ago. At $7 a glass, which came with a smart glass to drink from at my own leisure, it was decidedly much tastier than any of the stuff I guzzled during my uni days in Spain. As a sipped on my bubbly, the server placed a complimentary bowl of sourdough bread in front of us, which was quickly devoured with lashings of fruity extra virgin olive oil.

I’ll keep this short and sweet: I found the vegetarian options rather boring for the following reason.

I ordered queso manchego ($3, not suited to sharing) because it reminds me of the bocadillos, baguette sandwiches, I snacked on in between classes. The miniature wedge of cheese was followed the croqueta ($3, share-able if everyone takes one bite) and then patatas a lo pobre, which is a mixture of potatoes slow-cooked with olive oil, strips of red capsicum and brown onions. I ate patatas a lo porbre several times a week when I lived with my host mum in Sevilla and I also make it from time to time when I want something filling and reminiscent of my time in Spain. The vegetarian options were not exciting because I eaten so much of these dishes in the past seven years!

This is by far the most authentic Spanish restaurant I’ve eaten at outside of Spain; prices were acceptable, the menu options were acceptable, the atmosphere was acceptable. It was all really Spanish, in my opinion.

Other vegetarian options include:
Asadillo ($10), Marinated roast capsicum and tomato salad, in Moorish spices; Espinacas con garbanzos ($9), sauteed spinich with chickpeas & spices, and Ensalada valenciana ($8), Valencian salad, endive, orange, palm hearts and manzanillo olives.

The entire meal cost me about $15, which was fantastic for my pocket, but I was rather disappointed that my all-time favourite Spanish dish (tortilla española), which is traditionally vegetarian, was laced with cod.

Overall, it was pleasant. If I were a meat-eater, perhaps it would have been out of this world. Either way, reservation as essential.

Movida Bar de Tapas y Vino
1 Hosier Lane, Melbourne

Full On

I have photos upon photos on my memory card just waiting to be download from my adventure to the last Wednesday night market of the summer and my much-awaited visit to the Spanish tapas place Movida. Getting back into school mode has proved more challenging that I had originally imagined. Any foreign national in this country knows that any dealings with DIMIA are never straight forward. I was only just finally enrolled in my course (4 weeks after the start date), which allowed me to apply for my visa renewal (1 week before its expiry).

In addition to all the school hubbub in my life, in the past 2 weeks 2 individuals have been let go from the kitchen staff team, consequently leading up the week when the head chef and pastry chef were to go on holiday for a week. So, life is full on the moment. No time for my partner, not time for fun cooking, no time for real food, no time for me!

A New Addition to the Family: Enter Kitchenaid Mixer

When I graduated from trade school and became a qualified cook last November, I bought myself a treat I’d had my eyes on for some time: a bright red Kitchenaid mixer. Most cooks know the value of these precious bits of a machinery and how big of a dent they can leave in your bank account. I decided to cut corners and have one sent to a US address and pick it up while I was travelling through the country over the holidays. I went online, placed the piece of machinery in my shopping cart and purchased it. Once we actually met in person, we found out she was too heavy to take as carry on baggage, so we took a trip to the post. I posted my little mixer and away it went to Australia arriving not more than 2 weeks later. Weeks and weeks past, as my little mixer sat in its original packaging, just wishing someone would whip up some pavalovas or make a gorgeous bread dough.

It didn’t occur to me that purchasing a voltage converter to support 325 watts of power here in Australia would set me back nearly $200! The purchase, plus shipping, plus the converter that arrived today via FEDEX still cost me half of what these little gems go for at David Jones, but not quite as cheap as I’d hoped.

Mission accomplished: I know have 500 watts of power to feed my little mixer and I’ve cleared off a space on my bench top just for her.

Foodie Destination: Daylesford, Victoria

We, along with another couple, decided on sort of a whim that we’d take a day trip to Daylesford in country Victoria to escape the bustle of the city. The weather turned out to be perfect for strolling through the countryside and taking in loads of fresh air. The drive out there was unremarkable, the landscape was dotted with lots of nothing and pre-fabricated housing. I fell asleep and when I awoke, Daylesford was there waiting for me.

Daylesford is a quaint little town with a main drag, Vincent street, adorned with food shops, cafes, boutiques, restaurants, local watering holes and it was a shame that I couldn’t spend the entire day eating! Our first stop was Sweet Decadence at Locantro, a chic European-style chocolate shop serving coffees, hot chocolates made from their own chocolates, pastries and mouthwatering scones with local jam and double cream. We ordered a round of lattes for $3 each ($3.50 for soy), two serves of their special mineral water scones for $7.50 each and chocolates ($1.50-$2) to share — chili, fig, champagne truffle and mocca flavours. The scones themselves were worth the 1.5 hour drive out there. They possessed every characteristic one could ever wish for in a scone: once you break off a morsel and reveal their insides, your eyes are met with layers upon swirly layers of the lightest dough ever. With lashings of cream and blackberry jam, one simply can’t go wrong!

We topped off the scones with chocolates and headed off to explore Vincent street, which took about 15 minutes to walk up and down both sides. We stood around for a few minutes wondering what to do next being that it wasn’t quite time for lunch. We declined the option of visiting one of the local galleries because it required shelling out cash when we had no intentions of purchasing anything. Next stop? Lavandula, a Swiss Italian lavender farm that looked so French you’d forget that your were only in country Victoria and not gallivanting across Provence with the love of your life.

The grounds of this farm were gorgeous. The sun decided to make an appearance for the visit and cast a fantastic bright light on everything making for loads of photo opportunities. We saw lamas, a fat dog, donkeys and a pony name Pasquale who apparently liked to be brushed. The best feature of the farm were the organic gardens brimming with produce used at La Trattoria, the farm’s eatery. Still full from the scones and lattes, I did my part to support their food operation and bought 1 kilo of organic apples for $2.50, which will probably go into an apple tea cake later this week. I snacked on two of the apples and offered a few to our friends. It was amazing how concentrated the flavour was in such a tiny apple in comparison to any apple I’ve bought at the supermarket. No grainy texture, just pure flavour.

After about an hour of walking the grounds it was finally time to leave the farm in search of a proper meal and popped back into town and into Harest Cafe on Albert street. The menu was 95% organic and the back of the cafe was fitted with a health food shop chock full of bulk food items, organic this or that. The options were mostly vegetarian, which was fantastic, but don’t expect any surprises or endless options. We settled a large carrot juice ($5.50), a tofu burger ($9.95) and a TLT, a tempeh, lettuce and tomato open-faced sandwich ($11.95). The tempeh was the most delicious tempeh I’ve ever placed in my mouth: moist, beautifully caramelised and full of sweet-savoury flavours. The sourdough bread that accompanied the burger and the sandwich was clearly of artisan quality and made with love, but did nothing more for me than give me a choking sensation and encourage me guzzle down our carrot juice more quickly than planned. My TLT needed a moist buffer in between the toppings and the bread, so I left the browning lettuce and the dry bread behind and focused on savouring every last bit fo the tempeh.

The tofu burger special came neslted in between two thick slices of sourdough, heavily coated in butter with no visible caramelisation in sight. The burger itself looked gorgeous with the bits of vegetables mixed in with the tofu, but after taking a single bite, I was met with an overly moist texture and the unmistakable taste of bland tofu. I really wanted to like that tofu burger as I’m one of tofu’s biggest fans! We washed down our meals with another round of lattes. My soy latte was made with Bonsoy and, I must say, it’s the best soy latte I’ve had to date. I savoured every drop and looked forward getting back in the car for another snooze.

I’d go back to Daylesford any day, although I might skip Harvest Cafe and try my luck at some of the other posh eateries in town. Food is definitely putting this little country town on the map!

Get your Movida on

One of the benefits of being a student (again) is the predictable weekly timetable — you have work on certain days of the week and you have school on certain days of the week. I’ve just accepted a full offer to study Advanced Diploma in Hospitality Management, for which I have already enrolled, which commences this coming Wednesday. It’s been a really hectic month trying to get into this course at the last minute as the course started on February 4th and I applied two weeks prior to that date out of desperation to keep my resident status in this country a legal one.

The downside of having a career in the hospitality industry is having to work when everyone else is having fun, and, working on a rotating roster. Being back in school is changing all that and I’m making a run for it and joining my friends for an early dinner at Movida this coming Thursday at 6pm.

Movida has been dubbed the best tapas restaurant in the entire country. Having had a 3-year on-again-off-again affair with Spain, this place has been at the top of my “to do” list for ages.

Stay tuned for drool-worthy photos.

Melbourne Eats: The Panama Dining Room

In a previous life, I worked at certain restaurant whose owner also happened to be that of The Panama Dining Room. For this reason, mainly, I’ve been trying to drag myself over there to investigate the new space. After having read numerous reviews about the place, inclusive of the one listed in The 2008 Good Food Guide (The Age), I finally popped in for a bite to eat with my partner last week to celebrate our Valentine’s Day (one day prior due to conflicting work schedules).

Once you make the trek up a few flights of stairs, the doorway opens up into this very chic warehouse space that you feel like you’re somewhere in New York. I lived in Panama for 4 (glorious) years and find the name to be quite suitable for the space, despite the fact that you won’t find any South American dishes on the menu. Front of house staff welcomed us to the place immediately, and while they were supposedly booked solid for the night (Valentine’s Day eve), they offered a rather nice seat at the long communal tables fitted with chairs that were high enough to make you feel a bit like royalty. We chose the seats at the end of table and started pouring over the wine menu and later the food menu. We settled on a $20-something bottle of Spanish tempranillo, which was decent, but decidedly not as tasty as other tempranillos we’ve sampled.

After a glass of wine, we settled on Chilled Yogurt and Cucumber Soup with cinnamon pastries ($12, vegetarian) and the Crumbed Pork Cutlet with a juniper berry dressed salad ($26, definitely not vegetarian). I’ve never had a yoghurt soup, but besides feeling like I was downing a bowl of tzatziki dressing, the sprinkling of paprika and bits of toasted, crushed pistachios made the soup taste well-rounded. It was sweet, smoky, tart and somewhat refreshing. The phyllo pastries were pleasant, especially when dipped into the soup. While I can’t comment much on the pork cutlet, I will say it was a safe dish, as you can’t really go wrong with fried pork. The side salad was peculiar with its juniper berry dressing; it tasted more like someone was drinking on the job and had a “happy accident”. I felt that the dressing needed something savoury to counteract the tartness of the juniper berries…such as pork jus or even miso. We both enjoyed our food, but weren’t blown away by it.

There is one vegetarian option for both entrees and mains. I decided against the vegetarian main because it was a pasta dish (ravioli) and in my book, vegetarian pasta dishes as main show a lack of imagination on the kitchen side — even if it’s made on the premises. The sides included two vegetarian salads, one of which was a quinoa salad; that’s a grain you don’t see much on menus these days. We opted not to get dessert only because the majority of them were chocolate-based and I don’t do chocolate, not even on Valentine’s Day.

1 bottle of wine, 1 entree and 1 main came to a grand total of $65. The food was OK, the wine menu was fairly vast, but the space was absolutely amazing. We both agreed we’d go back again, but sit at the bar and order from the bar menu, which features a lot of creative tapas, many of which are vego friendly.

Vegetarian friendliness: Average
Atmosphere: Exceptional
Value for money: Average, entrees average $12, main average $26
Staff behaviour: Very good

The Panama Dining Room
Level 3, 231 Smith Street Fitzroy

Chickpeas Under the Influence

Earlier this week I came home from work one night to discover that my partner had motivated himself to cook, which made me sort of happy, as there wasn’t anything prepared to eat in the house. I’d fallen behind on my trips to the market at that point. However, he immediately informed that he’d failed miserably. The end result took ages to achieve and consequently made him feel sick after taking a few bites of it. He vowed never to cook anything for himself that required more than heating something up or popping open a takeaway lid. Something made me love him even more than I already do. In the end, I’m back to cooking up weekly storms to keep the fridge stocked with tasty eats for him to choose from through out the week. Even though I spend all day cooking at work, spending a portion of one of my precious days off cooking some more, doesn’t bother me. At work I’m just an apprentice not permitted to have opinions due to my lack of professional experience, but on the home front, I’ve been a cook for years.
Feeling really motivated after a glass of a Four Sisters Semillon blend and determined to materialise a combination of recipes I had in my head, I created this fantastic dish I’d be happy to order in my favourite cafe around the corner: A lightly pan-fried chickpea cake topped with a fiery tomato-chili jam, a cooling dollop of labne and a delicate little crown of sprouts.

I bought Super Natural Foods by Heidi Swanson while I was in California and finally sat down to pour over the gorgeous photos inside. I settled on her Sprouted Chickpea Burger recipe as it it was reminiscent of the bun-less burger one of my Japanese friends told me are ever so popular in Japan — a burger that uses two patties of your choice, instead of bread, and the fillings of your choice in between. I must say that the recipe produced delicious results indeed. The finely chopped onions mixed throughout the patties give the dish a great crunch without overwhelming your mouth with a raw punch-in-the-face taste.
Without further delay, I present the recipe that turned my kitchen upside down. Note: make your labne the night before.

Chickpea Burgers adapted from Super Natural Foods (Heidi Swanson)

Makes 4 patties

1 can of organic chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 free-range egg
2 tbs coarsely chopped parsley
1/2 of one medium-sized onion, finely chopped
approximately 5 tbs bread crumbs, depending on how moist your prefer your mix to be
a dash of sumac
salt and pepper, to taste

• Combine the chickpeas and eggs in a bowl and blitz them using a hand blender or a food processor until you’ve got a very thick and chunky hummus. Stir in the sumac, parsley and onion to combine. Add your breadcrumbs to achieve the thickness desired. You want the mix to be able to be shaped into patties without sticking to you hands. After adding the breadcrumbs, let the mixture sit for a bit to absorb the crumbs. If your mix ends up being too dry, add more egg or water, conversely, add more crumbs if you find it too dry. Once you have the mixture to your liking, season it with salt and pepper.
• Shape into 4 patties and place in the fridge to firm up.
• Heat a few tablespoons of pure olive oil in a fry pan over medium heat and gently pan fry the patties until each side is nicely caramelised and the patties are firm, about 6-7 minutes on each side. Enjoy these while they’re hot.
• To make the tomato jam;
  • 1 tin of diced tomatoes
  • 1/2 of one medium sized onion, finely chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
  • 2 tbs pure olive oil
  • 1/4 tsp chili flakes
  • 1/2 tsp ground coriander
  • 1/2 tsp ground cumin
    • Heat your oil over medium heat and cook the onions and garlic without colouring them (i.e. caramelising or burning) until the onions are transparent and the garlic is soft.
    • Add the remaining ingredients, stir and cook over a very low heat until the mixture has reduced to a consistency of a nice jam you’d spread on your toast. Season to taste with salt and pepper and finish with 1 tsp of extra virgin olive oil.
• For the labne, which is essentially yoghurt that has had most of it’s moisture drained out;
  • I used organic no-fat plain yoghurt, but any plain yoghurt works well here
  • Take a sieve and line it with muslin or a clean tea towel. Place the lined sieve over a bowl and pour the yoghurt into sieve. The juices will then drain through the cloth or muslin into the bowl and leave behind a lovely, thick yoghurt with spreading and shaping abilities that can be flavoured with any savoury or sweet addition your heart desires.
  • Allow to drain over night. The labne will keep for up to two weeks if you use a clean spoon every time you take some.

From Oven to Table: Organic Rye Loaf

I recently moved house and am now the proud owner of a kitchen that is actually equipped with an oven large enough to fit food that will feed the mouths of more than 2 people. I can bake 2 (yes, 2) or more loaves of bread at one time, several trays of biscuits rather than half of one and can even roast several trays of vegetables in a matter of minutes. I’ve started baking bread again and am loving it.

After a recent visit to San Fransisco over the holidays, I now feel compelled (and somewhat obligated) to buy everything I can at the market rather than make the convenient trip to the supermarket and buy food that has several hundred “food miles” attached to it’s price tag. I’ve been buying my flours in bulk at Victoria Market for over a year now. The stall has an excellent selection of flours and grains, which are either bio-dynamic or organic. They are less expensive what you’d get at the supermarket because you’re not paying for packaging, marketing, etc. They were out of bakers flour and wholemeal flour, so I picked those up at Coles out of desperation and settled on an organic rye flour and organic white flour from the market stall.

I tend to bake my breads using 100% whole grains, however, because rye, spelt and buckwheat flours have even less gluten than plain wholemeal flour, I’ve been doing a 50/50 blend. Half white, half rye (or spelt or buckwheat). The results have been none other than absolutely pleasing. I usually bake 1kg loaves, either in 2 small loaves or one massive one…and we have no problem polishing it off before the week’s end.

The flours in this recipe can be switched up to suit your desires, however, I wouldn’t recommend using 100% rye, buckwheat or spelt if you are expecting to get a light bread with rise. Even wholemeal is on the heavy side, but it has a very comforting, dense, yet soft, luscious crumb. 100% wholemeal works fine here as well.

Organic Rye Loaf (make a 1kg loaf)
250 g organic plain, white flour
250 g organic rye flour
2 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp instant yeast (or 16 g fresh yeast)
1 tbs olive oil
warm water, approximately 300 ml; dependant on the freshness of the flour and air moisture

• Combine all of your ingredients, except for the water in a large mixing bowl. Using a wooden spoon, give everything a stir to create a uniform mix. Make a well in the centre of the flours and pour 1/3 of the water, plus the olive oil. Stir to combine.

• Continue to add water until the flour has come together to form a stodgy mixture, but not too sticky. Sprinkle flour on your bench-top and turn out the dough. Begin to knead the dough until it’s dry enough so that it holds its shape when twisted, but not so moist that it sticks to your palms like cheap white bread on the roof of your mouth.
• Wholegrain doughs will require about 10 minutes or so of kneading to create a nice, pliable dough.
• Once you’ve got a flexible dough, you’ll want to form it into a ball. Grab a clean bowl, grease it with olive oil and place your dough inside. Cover the bowl loosely with cling wrap or a moist tea towel and leave to prove (rise) for about an hour.
• Preheat your oven to 250ºC. When your dough has expanded to about double it’s size, press down on it to remove all of the air pockets that have formed by the gas produced by the yeast. Form the dough into a football-shaped oval and place in your oiled loaf tin to prove until the dough rises over the top of the tin.
• Bake for 15 minutes and then lower temperature to 200º C. Bake for an additional 5-7 minutes or until the loaf sounds “hollow” when flicked with your fingers.
• Allow to cool slightly on a cooling rack before scarfing it down.
• I usually enjoy freshly baked bread with lashings a really nice cold-press extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkling of sea salt.

A New Year: Eggplant, White Bean and Puy Lentil Curry

I’ve finished cookery school, moved house, took a 6-week holiday and have since obtained a proper kitchen job working with proper chefs. The arrival of 2008 and the resolutions (which are made every year and every year are only nearly accomplished) I’ve made are the signal of a new start. I’m diving in head first in the Melbourne food scene and eating my drinking my way to the deepest, darkest corners of the city.

Today marks the beginning of the future of a new direction for my food writing. A future with lashings of food writing, drizzlings of good eats and generous dabbles in kitchen adventures. After not having posted anything fresh here for months, it was time I did some cleaning up. There will be a greater focus on vegetarian food that not only comes out of my head or a magazine and into my kitchen, but also a focus on the multitude of restaurants and cafes in Melbourne and what they have to offer to those who say, “No thank you” to meat.

Consider this the new Chronicles of a Dirty Flamingo in the Kitchen and I’m sending us off into the new year with a fabulous curry recipe by Sydney-based Skye Gyngell.

Eggplant, White Bean and Puy Lentil Curry adapted from Delicious magazine (FEB 0

2 tbs olive oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 tsp ground coriander
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 dried curry leaves
1 dried kafir leaf
Juice of 1 lime
1 tbs brown sugar
1 tbs soy sauce
1 medium sized eggplant, cut into bitesized cubs
400g canned chopped tomatoes
30 ml coconut milk, plus 300 ml water
400g can cannelini beans, rinsed and drained
100 g cooked puy lentils, optional

• Heat your oil in a large, deep frypan over medium heat, add onions and ground coriander, then cook while stiring periodically until onions soften; about 3-5 minutes
• Throw in your garlic, curry and lime leaves, lime juice, sugar and soy sauce. Stir to combine and add the eggplant, cooking it for about 8 minutes.
• Add chopped tomatoes and coconut milk. Stir. Reduce to low and cook until eggplant is soft and the mixture has thickend. About 15 minutes.
• Add the beans and puy lentils and cook for an additional 5 minutes or until warmed through.
• Serve hot over the rice of your choice (basmati or jasmine is lovely) and top with yoghurt or creme fraiche, if you prefer.