First up, farm stay breakfast

I’ve just gotta tell you quickly about the excellent supplies that they made available to us as part of our accommodation at Barossa Shiraz Estate. Sadly, I didn’t get a photo of all the loot in the fridge before we got into it, but can tell you there was no risk were going hungry at breakfast time – as we were provided with about 30 eggs, four or five heavy packets of bacon, loads of farm grown tomatoes, two beautiful loaves of bread; various cereals, milk, butter and spreads – as well as coffee, tea, orange and apple juice and more. Whoah! So naturally, we had a big cook up on the barbie and fuelled up for the day.

About one tenth of the breakie provisions we were given! (BYO mushies and local sausages.)

Beautiful roses growing next to our breakfast table at Barossa Shiraz Estate

Lookout! We’re off to Mengler’s Hill

During our winery tour the previous afternoon, John Baldwin had told us about a lookout which was a short drive away and allowed lovely views across the valley. We didn’t have time to visit during our tour with John, but resolved we’d head to the lookout at Mengler Hill on our own time. Fortunately for me, that meant getting to take the the RAV4 for a spin! So we all piled in, programmed the GPS and started our adventure for the day.

Mengler’s Hill is on the road between Angaston and Tanunda and provides a lovely, panoramic view of the wineries and farms in the Barossa Valley region. It also features huge sculptures which were created for the 2008 Barossa International Sculpture Symposium. Pics of some of the sculptures are shown below.

While the view was lovely, I found the sculpture park was a bit strange – in fact, I’m glad I was there with other people, it would have seemed eerie otherwise, I think… I guess if you like a good sculpture, this might be more your sort of thing?

Strange article… Pa walks through a turn-style to get to the sculpture park.
I’m not sure about why a turn-style was required in the middle of nowhere…

Sculptures viewed from Mengler’s Hill lookout

Sculptures viewed from Mengler’s Hill lookout

There were some interesting trees in the sculpture park which afforded Mr L with a photographic opportunity or two.

And other wildlife provided an photographic opportunity or two for me!

Mr L becoming one with a sculpture

I’m sure you can imagine that all the walking around the sculpture park made hungry and thirsty work, so we decided we’d best visit some wineries and head towards Charles Melton’s for lunch.

Lazy lunch at Charles Melton’s winery

I was excited about going for lunch at Charles Melton’s and returning to Krondorf Road in general – as the last time Mr L and I were in the Barossa, we stopped into the various wineries along the road and really loved our time there. Sadly, on that day we didn’t have time to stay for lunch, we’d planned better this time though and a long lunch we would have – after all, it was Nanna G’s birthday the day before and we hadn’t finished celebrating it yet!

We pulled into the driveway, parked under a big tree and none other than Charlie himself was walking in at the same time. There was a notable absence of hounds and we learnt that Axel and Major, the dalmatians we met on our last visit (see below) were having a day off that day and were at home.

So since we had no hound patting duties, we gratefully declined the wine tasting (we were hungry) and pulled up a pew on Charlie’s deck and prepared to eat and drink! First thing was first, to get the birthday girl (and supporting party) a glass of something delicious.

Nanna G with a well deserved glass of the Father in Law Shiraz

Awwww – Pa and Nanna G <3<3

Lunch at Charles Melton’s winery is simple, but effective. The boys and I both had a pie – I had the Pewsey Vale beef pie and Pa and Mr L both had the Hutton Vale Lamb Pie. They were all delicious. Nanna G chose the roast pumpkin and vegetable tart, which I sadly did not get a photo of (we were all so hungry that I took a few quick snaps and then tucked in) though I can tell you that it went down a treat.

Pewsey Vale Beef Pie served with Maggie Beer’s Cabernet sauce, local salad greens dressed
with Maggie Beer’s Vino Cotto and locally produced red capsicum

The inside of my pie (mmmmmmmmmm!) with Pa’s pie in the background

So after a longish lunch, we did succumb to wine tasting around the magnificent table at Charles Melton’s cellar door. I’m afraid our credit card has only just recovered. (Sob!)

Pa, looking at home at Charlie’s big table

Moving on – Lyndoch Bakery and running in the vines

We moved onto Rockford (just down Krondorf Road) where we continued to taste and spend before heading back into Lyndoch to get supplies for dinner. One notable stop was at the Lyndoch Bakery where we discovered a number of delicious baked items. We picked up some bread and noted their impressive pie selection.

No caption required!

The extensive pie selection

We headed back to our accommodation and spent the rest of the afternoon running through the vineyard singing “run, rabbit, run”, laughing a lot and admiring our surroundings. All in all, this was a pretty terrific day.

The little blue figure in the background is Mr L, running down between the wines

Trip highlights – a few words and lots of pictures!

Lunch at the Lord Lyndoch
Lunch on Australia Day is the first proper meal of our trip, and a great opportunity to celebrate Nanna G’s birthday. The Lord Lyndoch is a good spot to stop into for lunch. Between the four of us, we had two schnitzels (or schnitties as the locals call them); fish and chips, and veggie skewers. Of course, since we were on holidays, it was also important to wet the whistle with a cool Coopers or glass of local red – handy for washing down the considerably sized meals.

Cheers! The birthday girl with her Schiller Shiraz – a good little drop!

Sting and the South Australian sunset
We continue celebrating Nanna G’s birthday by attending one of Sting’s Symphonicity tour concerts at Barossa Arts and Convention Centre. Singing along with Sting (who is looking so extraordinarily good and singing exceptionally well for his almost 60 years btw) as he croons the night away on Australia Day, supported by the Melbourne Philharmonic Orchestra and a band of his usual musicians. Backing vocals are by Adelaide girl, Jo Lawry, who spills chills down our spines with her amazing voice. All this, set against the spectacular South Australian sunset – pinks, reds, oranges – with good food and wine from local producers. So, so good!

To get an understanding of what I’m saying about Sting and Jo Lawry, watch this clip on Youtube which was filmed at one of the Berlin concerts last year.

Sting, belting out a tune

Part of the crowd and some of the sunset

Jo Lawry – www.jolawry.com

Touring Barossa wineries in a 1962 Daimler – what a way to travel!
Thanks to Nanna G who scoured the interwebs and found details of this tour, then booked us in with the magnificent John Baldwin (of Barossa Daimler Tours) and the promise of half a day in his mint conditioned 1962 Daimler.

Mr L, me, Nanna G and Pa, next to “Mum”, one of glorious old John’s Daimlers

Those who know me well, know of my love for old Jaguars and Daimlers. You can imagine my delight when John arrives out front of our cottage on Thursday afternoon in the beautiful old, black Daimler you see below. The car, known as “Mum” because it was responsible at one point for carrying the Queen Mother, was originally owned by the Governor of South Australia and is one of a very small line of Daimlers made in 1962 (about 60 I think). John owns two of them that he uses for tours – the other is called Margaret, because it was used to tour Princess Margaret in the sixties – and with his great Daimler knowledge and ability to hand fabricate and fit parts, he is just the right person to treat these magical old girls with the respect they deserve.

Mr L and John sit up front as we leave the cottage for our tour

Furthermore, his twirly moustache, cheeky humour, exceptional knowledge of food and wine both locally and afar, makes an afternoon riding with John an indulgent delight! He knows the people at all the wineries we visit and have intimate tasting sessions at the smaller wineries and also visit some of the larger ones. We get to meet wine makers and their families. One of my favourite meetings is at our first stop, where we meet Willoughby, the 10 week old puppy of Charles and Jennie Cimicky at Charles Cimicky Wines.

Jennie and Willoughby Cimicky at Charles Cimicky Wines

Above: Willoughby (so, so cute!), taken by Mr L

We move onto Grant Burge, then Turkey Flat vineyards and on the way, find lots of interesting flora: an actual cork tree (I’ve never seen one in Australia before), quinces, persimmons and of course, loads of grapes!

John Baldwin points out quinces outside Turkey Flats cellar door

We stop into Yalumba for a quick tasting before heading onto Maggie Beer’s farm shop for what we think will be afternoon tea. It’s a beautiful old winery and reminds Mr L and me of Domaine Chandon in Nappa Valley, California.

Inside, we meet an unlikely friend – a little bear that’s been taxidermied and now has the sole job of holding a tray in his paws. He’s also petitioning to raise funds to aid victims of the Queensland floods. So I lay down my coins (we contributed a rather more princely sum online a couple of weeks back) and then took the opportunity to have a selfie with mr bear. I know it’s immature, but it makes me laugh every time I look at it, so here it is for your amusement too:

Not sure who looks happier – me or the bear?

We exit Yalumba and move onto Maggie Beer’s farm shop, but not before a golden opportunity arises… I snap this shot of Mr L, heady from a few solid hours of wine tasting, standing under the sign which reads “Le Piste”. (I thought it was funny even if it doesn’t actually translate the way it sounds!)

Mr L and the sign reading Le Piste

We head to Maggie’s farm shop and it’s at this point that we have a breathtaking, spontaneous meeting with none other than Maggie Beer herself. I know I’ve already written about it – so I won’t reproduce that post, but you can read about that exciting encounter here. What I will do is reproduce the photo – cos I’m a bit of a skite about this particular encounter and, well I’m a bit proud too!

The wonderful Maggie Beer (right) and me at Maggie’s Farm Shop

Before I end this section, I really must recommend John Baldwin’s Barossa Daimler tours to you wholeheartedly. Not only does John have an extraordinarily well rounded knowledge of his local wine country, he is well travelled and knows a lot about a whole lot of stuff. At John’s suggestion, we rotated the front seated passenger each time we stopped and he had interesting conversation to entertain each of us with, regardless of our personalities, interests and tastes.

The other thing, of course, is that travelling around in John’s air conditioned Daimler is just such a splendid way to get around. I liked this testimonial that I read in Barossa Daimler Tours’ marketing material before we booked the trip as I rather fancy myself in the same scenario:

“When I die, if I have been good, I hope to find myself in the back of John’s Daimler on an eternal tour of the glorious wineries of the Barossa.” Susan Attwood, – The Sunday Telegraph.  UK

If you plan on visiting the Barossa at some point in the future, I’d absolutely suggest you look John Baldwin up – for a tour of local wineries, or of the marvellous old architecture in the region via www.barossadaimlertours.com.au.

More spectacular sunsets and quiet time at Barossa Shiraz Estate
We stayed amongst the vines at Barossa Shiraz Estate, Lyndoch in the Willows cottage. Whilst we would usually choose to stay somewhere a bit more modern (and with fewer doilies) the cottage was extremely well appointed and we did not want for anything. We were so well looked after with breakfast provisions that we only made it through half of what we’d been given. The bathrooms were stocked with loads of shampoo, conditioner, towels and the like. We were also given complementary wine and port, and fresh chocolate muffins to keep us going.

A few entertaining areas existed, so we spread our dinners around to the cottage’s various locations and on this particular night, sat outside while the sun set, eating delicious local produce and drinking superb Barossa wines that we’d collected on our travels with John. All in all, life was pretty darned good!

View of the vines in the foreground, looking to the hills of Eden Valley in the background

Another of those spectacular South Australian sunsets – magical!

Maggie Beer and me, at her farm shop in the Barossa Valley, South Australia

“Well, where were you to meet Maggie and how did it come about?” I hear you ask… Long story short, we were touring around the Barossa today in a 1962, 8 seater Daimler with the exceptionally knowledgable (and very entertaining) John Baldwin this afternoon, having a (hopefully not, but possibly so) once in a lifetime experience.

The four of us with John's beautiful 1962 Daimler

Of course, it comes to light as we’re on our way to Maggie’s farm shop (the last stop of the day after hours of wine tasting) that John knows pretty well everyone in the community. He gives us a terrific overview of the history that saw Maggie and her husband Col get to the successful position they’re in today. The secret? Well, hard work kids, combined with raw talent and clever minds. Maggie is the uber-talented cook and Col brings fierce business accumen. In fact, John refers to them both as “machines” – a term of wonder and endearment.

"The more everyone learns about food, the more pleasureable eating will be." Maggie Beer

We establish that John knows Maggie and John pretty well. John’s passengers (us) are kind of star-struck by proxy. We don’t really have any hope that we’ll get to meet Maggie, but I’m thinking to myself that I’ll ask John how I could find a way to meet her.

Plaques along the wall in Maggie's Farm Shop

You see the last time we were here (in November 2010), I was so full of hope that we’d meet Maggie, only to find out that we’d missed her by a couple of hours. We were told she was usually there in the mornings on Saturdays, and I had it in mind that there was no way she’d be there today. We discussed with John that since she was awarded with Senior Australian of the year in 2010, she’s been travelling a lot and were really just looking forward to having a coffee and checking out the farm shop.

Maggie and Col Beer

So we arrived at the Farm Shop and were told that sadly, we’d missed the coffees – they’d had to close the machine down. We didn’t really know why, but resolved we’d go back into Lyndoch for a coffee instead once we were done at the shop. As Nanna G and Pa were cruising around the shop, I ducked into the loo. As I was exiting, Maggie was entering! She flashes me her dazzling smile and says hello and I kind of stammer and grin. (My brain is shouting OH MY GOODNESS GRACIOUS ME – THAT’S MAGGIE!”)

So I start hyperventillating and run out to find Mr L. I tell him I’ve just seen Maggie and he raises his figurative eyebrow (can’t raise his actual eyebrow) and questions me about whether it’s Maggie herself or her body double, who ran the verjuice class the last time we were at the shop. NO! I say. It’s absolutely Maggie!

Maggie's farm shop kitchen - where The Cook and the Chef was filmed

I dash through the doors to the shop and find Nanna G and Pa. I tell them I’ve just seen Maggie. Nanna G’s eyes light up! “Where?” she asks. I tell her she’s gone into the toilet. I declare I’m going to find John to ask him if he could possibly introduce us! (Please introduce us, please introduce us, please introduce us… Shhhh… brain!)

I find John. Explain the situation. We laugh about the concept of ambushing her as she comes out of the toilet, but agree that’s probably not the done thing (though I think he can tell I will ambush if need be!) and the three of us exit through the front door to give her some space.

The fantastic John Baldwin of Barossa Daimler Tours, next to a quince tree

We very casually re-enter the two sets of doors to the shop, picking up Nanna G and Pa on the way. In the interim, Nanna G has also said hello to Maggie and we’re both looking a bit like bright eyed, excitable school girls!

John casually walks over and says hello to Maggie, they exchange friend-like pleasantries (cos they’re friends n stuff) and he then turns to our direction so that he can introduce Nanna G, Pa, Mr L and me.

Maggie and I shake hands and I tell her what a tremendous pleasure it is to meet her. I’m kind of star-struck for real now and stumble over my words a bit, but she’s just so charming and down to earth and very warm, so despite my blundering I don’t feel like too much of a twit! 

It sounds as though she’s had a tough afternoon with a blown pipe taking down the server at the shop and causing all sorts of other issues. The air conditioning is off (I hadn’t noticed – I was clearly too excited!) and all sorts of other things were going wrong, but she was incredibly gracious and very happy to give us a few minutes of her time and stop for a photo. What a woman!

So Maggie – thank you for absolutely topping off a day that was already magical! I’m not sure that I’ll sleep tonight, but it was such a delight to meet you! :):):):)  And thank you too John – what a brilliant day.

I know - I've repeated the photo, but I'm excited - Maggie Beer and me!

Making patties early Thursday morning

On Wednesday night, I went to the shops and procured all the materials I needed to make the patties. The recipe calls for them to be refrigerated overnight or for at least a couple of hours, so I decided I’d make them the next morning and went to bed, dreaming of pork and wagyu.

Next morning, I bounced out of bed into the kitchen and made the patty mix. It only took about 10-15 minutes all up, and I separated a bit of the mix and wrapped it separately to take to work for Al (who’d not yet had the chance to make them himself) so that he could cook and try the patties at home that night. I then got myself ready for work, feeling unusually prepared – all that was left for me to do was the shaping and cooking of the patties and to make a raita and other Indian-style accompaniments after work that night.

Al’s single patty – cling wrapped and ready for delivery

An unfortunate turn of events, resulting in a somewhat random dinner

A short time after, I left the house carrying a chiller bag (containing the patty and ice bricks), my handbag, keys and a one litre glass bottle, filled with chilled water. Somehow, at the top of our stairs, I lost my footing and stacked my way down ten concrete stairs to the bottom, breaking the glass bottle on the way and giving myself a dreadful shock. Stunned and in slow motion, I picked myself up from the bottom of the stairs and took in the damage: my left arm was bleeding all over the place; egg sized bruises were quickly rising on various parts of my body and broken glass and water was strewn all down the stairs. It was quite a sight to behold.

At that point, our very lovely neighbour poked his head out of his door as he’d heard the commotion. He caught sight of me, the blood, the broken glass and the strewn luggage and told me to go and clean myself up and that he would sort out the rest. I did as I was told, picked up the rest of my belongings and went back inside, still shocked, suddenly very tired and now with a thumping headache! (Thank you Rob, I’m so grateful.)

I knew that all was not right with me at this point. I cleaned and bandaged myself as best I could, got changed and then got in the car and went to work, perfectly intact patty in-hand! I saw Mr L on the way who gave me lots of hugs and made me feel better, but told me to get my computer and work from home – very good advice, for later in the day wearing my body got to be even more uncomfortable as the swelling rose and I got more tired.

I dropped Al’s patty off, picked up my laptop and went home. Of course, I hadn’t had the time to get the other bits and pieces for dinner, but figured I could make do with what we had, so we ended up with a very healthy, but slightly random dinner, with one of our favourite dinner companions, PC, who we’d booked in earlier that week.

Anyway, wrapping up, if you make these patties (and I’d recommend you do), you might like to serve them with something like this:

- Rice
- Raita (cucumber, natural yoghurt and mint)
- Carrot and sultana salad
- Papadums and
- Mango chutney

We had ours with salad and papadums, which was about the best I could muster, avoiding walking and driving in my bleary-eyed, sore muscled state. I think the patty-salad combo worked okay – nobody complained, so it can’t have been too bad! Madhur Jaffrey also suggests serving them in pita pockets with eggs for breakfast, or adding them into curries – both entirely doable ideas that I will be putting in the memory bank meals down the track.

Everyone enjoyed Madhur Jaffrey’s Anglo-Indian sausage patties, including Al, who’d texted me that night, asking how I was and confirming he’d cooked and consumed his patty with delight. If you like coriander and enjoy Indian spices, then consider this recipe for a quick and easy dinner. As no breadcrumbs are required, these patties are gluten free and since my patties were made of lean pork mince, they’re a healthy burger experience, so they get the double thumbs up from me!

By the way, I’m still a bit bruised, but am otherwise fine now – will pay more attention when descending the stairs in future!

Madhur Jaffrey’s Anglo-Indian sausage patties (from Melissa Whitworth’s article, published in Telegraph.co.uk on 2 September 2010)

Note: make these the night before you plan to cook them

Ingredients

450g minced pork, preferably a bit fatty (I used lean pork mince and it worked well)
3 tbsp shallots or red onions, peeled and finely chopped
100g fresh coriander, chopped
½-¾ tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp garam masala, preferably home-made but shop-bought will do
2 tsp olive or rapeseed oil

1. 1. Put the pork in a bowl. Add the shallots, coriander, cayenne pepper, garam masala, a teaspoon of salt and lots of black pepper. Mix thoroughly, making sure to pick up and integrate all the shallots and coriander. Shape into a loaf, wrap in cling film and refrigerate, ideally overnight, but for one to two hours if you are rushed.

1. 2. Divide into eight equal pieces and roll into balls. Flatten with the palm of your hand to make eight smooth patties about 7.5cm in diameter.

1. 3. Put the oil in a non-stick frying-pan and set over a medium-high heat. Put in the patties, as many as will fit easily, and brown on both sides, turning frequently. This will take four to five minutes. Make sure that they are cooked through.

1. 4. Make all the patties in this way. Remove with a slotted spatula and serve whichever way takes your fancy!

Delicioso pork tacos

So tonight, Mr L had just returned from work drinks at the pub and was pretty hungry.  Rarely does he feel like tacos, but tonight, he said they were just what he felt like and even commented that the tacos represented “good pub food”.  I thought that was a pretty good endorsement from a man who’d worked up an appetite, lifting schooies at the pub.  It seemed the time was right, this was to be taco night!  Mmmm… delicioso!

Select brand's Authentic Mexican Corn Tortillas

Pork tacos

I had a quick look in Woolies to see whether there was any gluten free taco seasoning, but couldn’t find any.  I’ve since remembered there’s an Old El Paso sachet that you can buy.  I ended up buying another Woolworths brand taco mix and used that tonight, so my dinner wasn’t completely GF, but I’ve since found many recipes for GF mixes.  Next time, I’ll either take the lazy option and buy the Old El Paso one or make this mix from The Gluten Free Monkey’s blog site.

Anyhoo.. here’s how tonight’s tacos went.

Ingredients

1 packet of taco vessels (choose your poison!)
500 g of stir fry pork (or pork fillet, cut into 2×3 cm strips)
1 x 35 gm packet of taco seasoning (or 35 grams of hand made taco seasoning)
Sour cream (I used lite sour cream)
Taco sauce
Lettuce, a handful of leaves picked and washed
1 x tomato, diced
1 x avocado, sliced
1 x shallot, chopped
1 x cucumber
1 x tablespoon olive oil

Makes eight tacos

Don't be fooled, we didn't stop at one!

Method

Whack the taco seasoning into a plastic bag and then add the pork strips.  Shake the pork around in the seasoning and make sure it’s really well coated.  Mean time, heat the olive oil in a frying pan on the stove on medium-high.

Add the pork and cook it through.  It should only take about five minutes.

About a minute before the pork is ready, put your tortillas on a piece of paper towel, on the plate of the microwave.  Heat on high for 30 seconds.

Remove the tortillas and distribute one per diner.  Add sour cream, avocado, lettuce, tomato, shallot and cucumber to the tortilla.

Add as much pork to your tortilla as you need!  Then whack the salsa on top.  Magnifico!  (Morris says te quero mucho, soft gf tacos! )

BTW – I know that tacos often involve a whole lotta cheese – if you fancy it, whack it on top.  We didn’t really feel these tacos needed cheese though – they were pretty good (and fairly low in fat) as they were.

Mmmmm...magnifico!

I received another update from Brisbane Lord Mayor, Campbell Newman overnight which provides some terrific info on how to go about volunteering for those wishing to assist with clean up efforts after the Queensland floods.  I’ve pasted Campbell’s message below for your info – it also emphasises the importance of being safe around fire hazards – of which there are many, with all the compromised electrical circuits around the place.

Happy birthday RH1

Just before we get to Campbell’s message, a quick note to wish one of my favourite Queenslanders, Rowdy Horse 1 a very happy birthday.  May the year that follows be filled with loads of good things: love, laughter and well, good food!  xxx

Message from Campbell Newman, Lord Mayor of Brisbane

As flood-affected residents return to their homes and the clean-up continues, I would like to draw attention to the issue of fire hazards and safety.

Last night the Queensland Royal Fire Service (QRFS) reported 16 fires, with 6 of these being small electrical fires. For those homes that have been affected by floodwaters or for those properties that have been hosed down during the clean-up, please contact a licensed electrician to do a safety check of wiring and switchboards before turning on the power. All electrical equipment that may have come into contact with floodwaters should also be checked by an electrician before using. If in doubt – don’t use!

Household items that typically prove to be a problem include pool pumps, air-conditioning units and ovens. Also make sure that gas and electricity are turned off while you clean-up.

For those still keen to assist in the city clean-up, Council is calling on residents and businesses to form volunteer groups of 10 to 20 people and to register their interest with Council’ s Contact Centre on 3403 8888. For those small businesses in need of assistance with clean-up activities, please also contact Council and we will instruct a group of volunteers to come out to you.

For information on the flood clean-up and advice for residents returning to their property, Council will be distributing community newsletters out to flood-affected areas on a regular basis over the coming week. These newsletters can also be viewed on the Brisbane City Council website, click here.

Campbell Newman
LORD MAYOR

Flood Recovery Update

Public Transport
As a way to assist the flood recovery, all public transport will remain free of charge until midnight Friday, 12th of January.

The Bicentennial Bikeway, which runs below Coronation Drive, will remain closed to cyclists until it can be thoroughly inspected at normal tide.

Waste Collection
More than 67,000 tonnes of rubbish has been collected and dumped since the clean-up commenced. The 172 industrial bins located throughout flood-affected areas will continue to collect perishable items for as long as needed.

With our biggest priority to remove the rotting rubbish and debris from footpaths, Council continues to work towards its target of ensuring that by 5pm this Sunday, 23rd of January, our waste trucks will have passed through all flood-affected streets at least once.

Council’ s free tipping stations remain open from 6am to 9pm each day for residents who wish to transport their own waste.

Here are our dumping locations:

• 1402 Nudgee Road, Nudgee
• 360 Sherbrook Road, Willawong
• 101 Upper Kedron Road, Ferny Grove
• Tilley Road, Chandler (opposite the Sleeman Sports Complex)

Please avoid handling materials you suspect contains asbestos. Anyone who is unsure should leave the materials alone and contact council immediately on 3403 8888 to arrange safe removal. Do not put these materials into any bin or with items for kerbside collection. If possible, keep the materials wet and covered in plastic.

Electricity
Energex restored power to a further 4,000 homes overnight. 11,000 properties are still without power but it’s expected the majority will have power restored by Friday, where it is possible to do so.

Stormwater Drains
Council has been working hard to clear gully pits (the square drains with grates) of silt and debris in flood-affected areas. With storms predicted for today and tomorrow, residents are to report any blocked or flooded gully pits to Council on 3403 8888.

Health Issues
Council and Queensland Health continue to offer free vaccinations for all flood-affected residents and volunteers during the clean-up operation. Tomorrow, Wednesday the 19th of January, staff will be at the following locations:

• Indooroopilly Catholic Church, Ward Street, Indooroopilly, 8.30 to 10am
• Jamboree Heights State School, Beanland Street, Jamboree Heights, 11.30am to 1pm
• St Aidan’s Anglican Girls School, 11 Ruthven Street, Corinda, 2.30 to 4pm

Free vaccinations are also located at Council’s various Children’s Immunisation Clinics, click here for the complete timetable.

Recovery Centres
Recovery Centres have been set up across the city as a one-stop-shop for flood affected residents. Services available at these Centres include the processing of Centrelink and State Government payments, insurance advice, onsite banking and counselling services. So we have had over 3,000 people visit the various centres.

The Centres are open from 8:30am and 5pm and are located at:

• QEII Sports Complex, Kessels Road, Mt Gravatt
• RNA Showgrounds Gregory Terrace, Bowen Hills
• Indooroopilly Catholic Church Hall, Corner of Ward Street and Central Avenue, Indooroopilly
• Yeronga State School, 122 Park Road, Yeronga
• St Aidan’s Anglican Girls’ School, Ruthven Street, Corinda
• St Mary’ s Anglican Church (next to St Vincent’s Hospital), 455 Main Street, Kangaroo Point
• Jamboree Heights State School, 35 Beanland Street, Jamboree Heights

Police
Queensland Police have brought in around 100 extra staff from New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria to assist with ‘Operation Safeguard’. The operation sees an increase in high-visible police patrolling flood-affected areas, particularly at night.

Water
Council is giving a $100 rebate to cover the cost of water used by flood victims, which equates to about 50,000 litres of free water per flood-affected household. Please call Council’s Contact Centre on 3403 8888 for more information.

Contacts and information sources

Energex: 13 19 62
State Emergency Services (SES): 13 25 00
Translink: 13 12 30
Flood information hotline: 1300 993 191
For life-threatening emergencies: 000

Phone Council on 3403 8888 to report issues outside your property boundary such as flooding, downed trees, potholes, stormwater drain blockages or debris blocking roadways.

Due to high demand, Brisbane City Council is currently displaying a low bandwidth version of their website. www.brisbane.qld.gov.au

Thanks to Morris for endorsing these sweet treats!

Ingredients

1 lime
1 orange
2 small mangoes or one large mango
200 ml of coconut milk
1.5 tablespoons caster sugar (granulated sugar)

Makes four popsicles

Mmmmmm... fruity goodness

Method

Get your popsicle moulds ready.  If you don’t have popsicle moulds, you could use little plastic cups and paddlepop sticks.  If using the latter, set your cups out on the bench, ready to be filled later.

Zest about 1 teaspoon of rind from the lime and 1 teaspoon of rind from the orange and put both straight into your food processor bowl.  Squeeze the juice from 1/2 the lime and 1/2 the orange into the food processor over the top.

Skin your mangoes, then chop as much of the flesh off them as you can.   Whack that into the bowl of your food processor with the other ingredients.  Whiz away till you’ve got puree.

Add 200 ml of coconut milk into the food processor and whiz to combine all the ingredients.

Then add in one tablespoon of the sugar and whiz again to ensure everything is mixed very well.

Popsicle mixture

Taste the mixture.  If it’s not sweet enough, add more of the sugar to sweeten it to your liking.  Once you’re satisfied with the flavour, pour the mixture into your popsicle moulds and leave about 1 cm of space free at the top – as your popsicles will expand when they freeze.  If you’re using plastic cups, fill the cups and then stand a paddle pop stick up in each cup.

Whack them in the freezer and try your very best to forget about them for at least four hours, but overnight is better.

If you’re anything like me, wake up in the morning and bounce straight out of bed, over to the fridge to check on them…  Mr L had to stop me from breaking into them at 7:30 this morning!

To extract your popsicles, run them under warm water for a couple of seconds, then ease them out of the mould.

Eat em while they’re cold!  These citrusy numbers are lovely and refreshing on a hot summer day.

Enjoy!

Popsicle magic!

Introducing the lemon, lime and bitters slurpee

Um really – a lemon, lime and bitters slurpee?  Well it sure challenges the traditional raspberry and coke varietals and I’d suggest it even trumps the blue lemonade version that leaves one with brain freeze and a blue tongue.  And I guess if you think about it, lemon, lime and bitters is a fairly refreshing drink, so perhaps it makes sense in slurpee format?

I went in search of some info on the 7 Eleven website and had to giggle when reading the answer to the question: so how do you make a lemon or lime bitter?  Here’s what the site says:

“Well we have many different methods. We sometimes tell them that they have to work over the Christmas break. Other times we eat their lunch in the fridge. And then if we want to make them really, really bitter we date their sister. The result is a deliciously cold, decidedly tart citrus Slurpee. Even though it’s bitter, one sip and you’ll feel very refreshed.”

Anyhoo, I’m going to see if I can track one down and give it a whirl.  Will report back on this topic – but it won’t be tomorrow – that’s reserved for the TOPS popsicles post.

Ciao for now!

So you know how I said I’d start weaving posts from our 2010 O/S travels in with new posts? Well – since I’m waiting for a super delish mango-lime ice cream to freeze, I’ve decided to publish the blog that should have gone up on 28 July last year, when Mr L and I travelled from London to Athens for a mind blowing night, sitting behind the Temple of Zeus (OMG!) and looking up to the Parthenon from our balcony (really!); eating amazing Greek food and catching up with wonderful old friends. So here we go…

28 July 2010

Here comes another first – we’re off to Athens today and although I’m terribly sad to be leaving London, I’m really excited about visiting Greece. It’s a fairly early start and we’re at Heathrow by 10 am, preparing to board our Olympic Air flight. Mr L is in a chipper mood because he knows how good the hotel is that we’re staying in. Word on the street is that it has a view of the Parthenon, and I’m pretty excited anticipating my first glimpse of ancient Greek architecture and ruins – after building a real love for Ancient Greece through years studying ancient history.

Olympic Air

I had the impression that Olympic Air was going to be shabby, but was pleasantly surprised when we boarded the flight. The plane was in pretty good shape and we had quite an excellent meal – see below.

Note the tiramisu and the brightly coloured coleslaw

The meal on Olympic Air – the meat was either lamb and beef kebabs or kofta – super tasty

The flight from London to Athens seemed to take no time at all and we arrived in Athens at about 4pm. Mr L had arranged a transfer for us using Viator, and a friendly, lovely older chap called Hippocrates picked us up to deliver us to the Royal Olympic Hotel. We were thrilled to have Hippocrates as our driver – he was only too happy to share his knowledge with us and made us feel really welcome. This was a far cry from the hideous reception we’d been given in London by the transfer driver – who not only didn’t have any interest in talking to us – he yelled at Mr L for no real reason and carried on in an atrocious manner. Thank you Hippocrates for restoring our faith in transfer drivers!

The Royal Olympic hotel

Athens is hot at this time of year and we were so happy to be inside the air conditioned hotel. We checked in and headed up to the 6th floor where our room was. The 6th floor is just below the Rooftop Bar and restaurant (which is on the 7th floor) and we were excited, knowing that we’d have a good view. “Good view” is a bit of an understatement really. Have a look at the pics below.

Out the window – Temple of Zeus in the foreground and a church up on the hill in the background

Huge bathroom with local marble

Thumbs up!

Our balcony with view to Temple of Zeus; Acropolis and Parthenon

The Parthenon – how amazing!

Me snoozing – captured by Mr L – what a place for a snooze!

Temple of Zeus

Parthenon again – wow!

View of the mountains to the right of our balcony

Enjoying the view with some old friends

We chilled out on the balcony for a while, taking in the view while waiting to hear back from our friends Bradsy and Kristi who were also in Athens and would be travelling on with us to Kefalonia, Santorini and Mykonos. We got in touch with them and agreed we’d drink a glass of wine together on the balcony at our hotel before we moved on to Plaka for dinner.

At night, the lights came on over the Temple of Zeus and the Parthenon and we sat there gleefully, soaking up the splendour, laughing with old friends over a good glass of wine.

Above, the parthenon and below, the Temple of Zeus at night with lit up church in the background

Dinner with Bradsy and Kristo in Plaka

Fortunately for all, Kristo is a self appointed “mapologist” – meaning she’s good at navigating her way around – often with the aid of a map, but even without one. Bradsy and Kristo had both been in Plaka earlier that day, so Kristo led the way as we went in search of somewhere to eat dinner. We wound our way around the pretty streets in Plaka, noticing lots of pussycats along the way and ended up at a restaurant called Alotenhe – at least that’s what the name looked like when written in Greek! I’m coming to understand the expression “It’s all Greek to me!” – it’s nothing at all like English or other Latin-based languages. Anyway – I’ve included the name on the front of the menu below so that you can visit if you want to when next in Athens.

The menu

We ordered a plate of hot Hors d’oeuvres to start which consisted of stuffed vine leaves (dolmades); pie; a zucchini ball; a cheese ball and sausage. We also ordered stuffed mushrooms. We also received the customary bread, along with olives and tzatsiki and the beers we’d ordered and got into the business of enjoying holidays together.

Stuffed mushrooms – sensational

Plate of hot hors d’oeuvres

Dinner with the kids in Plaka, Athens – beers proudly displayed!

The main meals were also delicious and we enjoyed the night catching up and laughing lots. A few other pics from the mains are below.

My pork with super juicy zucchini, carrot and rice

Kristo’s swordfish souvlaki

Mr L’s rabbit

Dessert crepe

After dinner at the rooftop bar

Mr L and I were pretty keen to check out one of the best rooftop bars in the world and since it was on top of our hotel, we figured we had no excuse. After we finished dinner we parted ways with Bradsy and Kristo and headed straight up to the bar at the Royal Olympic for a magical nightcap. It was difficult getting pictures to show the full brilliance of the place as I didn’t want to use the flash and my camera doesn’t take the best night shots, but the couple below should give you an idea of what it looked like.

The bar with loads of full bottles lined up along it

You can just see the Parthenon peeking up on the top left of the shot

(Blurry) image of the temple of Zeus and the little church up on the hill

Mr L and me looking stoked to be there – with the temple of Zeus in the background

What a view!

I gotta tell you, if you appreciate ancient Greek history and want a special experience, spend the money and book into a suite at the Royal Olympic hotel in Athens. If you stay a few nights, make sure you have dinner up on the rooftop. It is a truly spectacular place to be. The one thing I will say that I didn’t like was the bed, it was too hard for my liking, but by the time we fell into bed we were too tired to care. If you prefer a softer bed, you might want to check about what’s available in the hotel, or look elsewhere.

The low down

For information on the Royal Olympic Hotel, visit their website at http://www.royalolympic.com/.

The Athens Guide has some terrific information on Plaka if you’re interested in reading more about it.

Tonight’s post is custom made for those of you who are stuck inside at home, with essentials in the cupboard and are bored. It’s a cheeky little sweet loaf, made using what you’ve got. If you don’t have what I’ve used, you can substitute with what you have on hand. For example, if you don’t have dried cranberries, you could use sultanas or another dried fruit. Or you could omit the dried fruit altogether and whack in some chopped up bits of apple or other fruit you need to get rid of. Instead of using walnuts, you could use almonds or any other nut you prefer. My loaf contains cranberries, sultanas and walnuts with some pantry staples. As I type this first part of this post, it’s rising and smells amazing!

Cupboard contents loaf

This is the kind of loaf you could have with friends / family warmed, slathered with buttery spread (a la banana bread) for a sweet, light breakie – or you could serve it as the perfect tummy filler for community members involved with clean up efforts around the country. It’s simple to make and takes little time to prepare.

Ingredients that I used

Dry stuff
1.5 cups gluten free flour or plain flour
3 teaspoons baking powder (I used the gluten free version)

Note that if you don’t have the above, you could substitute with 1.5 cups of self raising flour

1 cup dried fruit (I used a combo of cranberries and sultanas)
2/3 cup nuts, roughly chopped (I used walnuts)
2/3 cup brown sugar (I only had dark brown sugar, so used that)

Wet stuff
2 eggs if using normal flour, 3 eggs if using gluten free flour
1/3 cup milk
1/3 cup olive oil

Method

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees C.

The easiest way to describe the first part of this recipe is to say, combine everything under the “Dry stuff” heading into one bowl and mix well. The long form directions are below.

Long form directions for dry stuff
If you’re using flour and baking powder, sift them into a mixing bowl together. If using self raising flour, sift in to the mixing bowl.

Add in the brown sugar.

Add the dried fruit.

And the chopped nuts.

Mix together all the dry stuff with a spoon or by hand, maxing sure it’s all really well mixed.

Instructions for the wet stuff

The next bit is to combine all the wet stuff in a separate bowl, then whisk it together.

Below is the whisked product.

Combining the wet stuff and the dry stuff

Slowly add the wet stuff to the bowl that the dry stuff is in.

Mix it together well.

(Excuse my bad nail polish!)

When mixed, add it to a loaf pan that you have greased. I used olive oil spray to grease my pan, but you could use butter if that’s easier.

Add your mixture into the loaf pan and whack it in the oven.

Set the timer for 40 mins.

Sit on your couch and smell the delicious aromas wafting through the house.

At 40 mins, insert a skewer and see if it comes out clean. If so, it’s ready. For me, it took 45 mins.

When ready, take it out of the oven.

Let it rest for 5 mins in the loaf tin, then remove it and place it on a wire rack.

You’re meant to then let it rest for a while, but I was (am) impatient (and hungry) so I got stuck in.

And I whacked some olive oil spread on top, which provided a lovely salty contrast to sweet cranberries and sultanas, and worked wonderfully well with the roasted walnuts.

So this is my dinner, okay? (And maybe I’ll have another bit in a sec – it smells SO GOOD!)

Enjoy!

Here’s hoping that you and your families and friends are safe.  For those of us who are so lucky to live away from areas affected by this horrendous flooding, get ready to support your Queensland cousins – they’re going to need a lot of support while they rebuild their lives.

Below is another update from Brisbane’s Lord Mayor, Campbell Newman.  Hopefully it’s of use to you or someone you know.

BTW – I know this is a food blog.. will return to talking about food shortly.

An important message from Campbell – January 13

Make no mistake, Brisbane is experiencing its greatest natural crisis in over a hundred years. Unlike the flood in 1974, the existence of the Wivenhoe Dam has helped absorb the vast majority of the floodwaters. If not for Wivenhoe we would have faced flooding the likes of which we cannot comprehend.

As I write this the flood is peaking at around 4.2 meters. At 4am this morning, the peak measured 4.46 metres. Although it was less than the 1974 flood, almost 12,000 residential properties and 2,500 commercial properties were flooded. The damage bill is enormous and tomorrow Brisbane will begin the massive clean-up operation and we need your support.

The Brisbane suburbs worst impacted by the flooding include: Brisbane City, St Lucia, West End, Rocklea, Graceville, Chelmer, Oxley, Fairfield, Toowong, South Brisbane, New Farm, Yeronga, Milton, Sherwood, Jindalee, Tennyson, Auchenflower, Sinnamon Park, Archerfield, Windsor, Taringa, Westlake, Fig Tree Pocket, Indooroopilly, Newstead, Sumner, Bulimba, Corinda, Coopers Plains, Albion, Norman Park, Paddington, Kenmore, East Brisbane, Coorparoo, Bellbowrie, Yeerongpilly, Riverhills, Woolloongabba, Seventeen Mile Rocks, Hawthorne, Darra, Moorooka, Bowen Hills, Pinkenba, Middle Park, Balmoral, Kangaroo Point, Mount Ommaney, Hamilton, Acacia Ridge, Highgate Hill, Willawong, Anstead, Jamboree Heights, Fortitude Valley, Salisbury, Hemmant, Greenslopes, Wacol, Chapel Hill, Herston, Brookfield, Pinjarra Hills, Karana Downs, Durack and Pullenvale.

Today I announced a detailed plan to tackle the massive clean-up operation. Brisbane will be divided into five areas with the initial priority on opening major roads and cleaning up debris left by retreating floodwaters. That way we can ensure safe access to your property.

There is still a considerable amount of water coming down the Brisbane River so beware. The first properties that flooded are likely to be the last properties from which flood waters will recede.

My message to people who abandoned their homes is not to be in any hurry to return to them. We first need to open transport routes to enable access. Also be careful with electricity. You should have a qualified electrician to clear your home of danger before you seek to use electrical equipment.

We desperately need anyone who owns a bobcat, dump truck, front-end loader, water tanker or other heavy equipment to give us a hand with the clean-up. Please don’t bother to offer if you are seeking payment. We are after genuine volunteers who want to help and we will promptly respond to advise you where you should take your equipment.

For those that can offer their services please email lordmayor@brisbane.qld.gov.au or contact Council on 07 3403 8888.

Other volunteers should email their services or phone Volunteering Queensland on 07 3002 7600. You can also register online at www.volunteeringqld.org.au

My advice is you should first help those closest to where you live; neighbours, family, friends and people in the same suburb. If you are in a suburb that has not been affected by floodwaters, or you have no one to help, please contact us and we will tell you where to report to for assistance.

Buses
A limited number of bus services will be available tomorrow running about every 30 minutes in and out of the city. Do not use these services if you are not coming into the CBD for work or to help with the clean-up. These services are being put on to ensure key staff essential for services and flood response have travel options, with all other residents encouraged not to travel into the CBD.

Ferry services will not be operating until further notice due to debris in the river.

For further information on public transport and affected services, please visit the TransLink website at www.translink.com.au or phone 13 12 30.

Waste services
Waste services will resume for a minority of the city tomorrow, with other parts of the city to follow next week. The delays are due to the impact of floodwaters on depots and homes. If you have had your rubbish collections missed, your collection will resume as usual next week. Council’s waste transfer stations will be open to the public for free tipping until 9pm.

Water
We have been advised by Queensland Urban Utilities that water in the greater Brisbane area is perfectly safe to drink. However sewage treatment plants are now discharging directly into our creeks and rivers, so people should stay out of floodwaters due to potential health risks. I repeat, do not let your children play in floodwater. It is unhealthy and contaminated with chemicals and sewerage. Please do not go through floodwaters to get to your property. It is better to let the water recede and then make the journey.

Electricity
Power cuts have meant that many traffic lights are out. Some of Council’s traffic cameras are also not functioning so traffic warnings will be limited. Please be careful on the roads as water may appear in areas you do not suspect.

Sandbags
So far Brisbane City Council has given out over 300,000 sandbags. We have another 65,000 bags available if they are required at our various depots.

Campbell Newman

LORD MAYOR

Contacts and information sources

Energex: 13 19 62

State Emergency Services (SES): 13 25 00
Translink: 13 12 30
Flood information hotline: 1300 993 191
For life-threatening emergencies: 000

Phone Council on 3403 8888 to report issues outside your property boundary such as flooding, downed trees, potholes, stormwater drain blockages or debris blocking roadways.

Due to high demand, Brisbane City Council is currently displaying a low bandwidth version of their website. www.brisbane.qld.gov.au

I’m not suggesting we’re by any means the worst off.  There are so, so, so many individuals, families, pets, businesses and the like which have been severely affected.  Indeed, I found out today that a few of my colleagues have lost their homes.  Other friends are waiting to get back to their homes to see how they fared.  The most important thing as far as I’m concerned is that they are all safe.

Pics of near I work in Brisbane

Below – my office building:

A colleague took the pic above from her car at 9 am today.  The building that you can see is my office building.  See the sign in the foreground of the building?  By 3 pm today, the water was up above that sign and closer to the level above that.

Below, Douglas Street, Milton:

The above is from Twitter.  It’s of Douglas Street in Milton, which is a couple of streets from our office.

Below, Milton Road, looking up to the XXXX factory:

My colleagues and I were speechless when, sitting in our Sydney office, we looked at the photo above.  There are also reports that the McDonald’s on Milton Road is completely under water.

Below, the cycleway along the Brisbane River:

I walk along the cycleway / walkway between the city and the Toowong area when I stay in Brissy.  It’s a beautiful walk and I’ve thought many times about how terrific it is that Brisbane City Council have gone to such lengths to maintain it so well.  Recently, they’ve been conducting upgrades along the river – I’m not sure whether they finished prior to the flooding, but if not, they would have been pretty close.  Click here to see a comparison of how the cycleway usually looks, versus how it looks now.

Below, the Go-Between and City from Milton Flyover:

The Go Between Bridge has only recently been completed and it opened in 2010.

Below, Suncorp stadium from this morning:

You’ve probably seen images similar to the above, Suncorp Stadium is virtually under water.

More information – just in from Lord Mayor Campbell Newman

While typing this post, I received an email from Brisbane’s Lord Mayor Campbell Newman – I’ve decided to paste the whole thing into this post in case the information helps you, or a loved one.  See below.  And in the mean time, Queenslanders and people in other flood prone states, be safe and careful and look after one another.

———–

Finding information on the floods

If you want to view information on the floods in Queensland, there are a few excellent sources of information available.

1. The Queensland Police media service is available.  Their website is here: www.police.qld.gov.au 
   You may find that their web page is choked with a huge amount of traffic.  If so, you could view their Twitter page to get their short messages.  You can find that here: http://twitter.com/QPSmedia and their Twitter name is QPSmedia.  They have a Facebook page too: http://www.facebook.com/QueenslandPolice.
2. Tags #qldfloods, #bnefloods and #thebigwet are trending on Twitter.  People are posting loads and loads of resources to help you find information about street closures, affected suburbs, evacuations, press conferences, links to videos, photos and more.  I’ve hyperlinked the pages in behind the tags listed above. 
3. The ABC’s Queensland news page is being updated constantly – you can see that here: http://www.abc.net.au/news/qld/.
4. The Brisbane Times and The Courier Mail are also good sources of info.
5. Councillor Adrian Schrinner (Councillor for Chandler Ward) has been issuing useful updates on his website.  If you visit the home page and look at the news links at the bottom, you’ll find information regarding road closures / flood warnings, etc.
6. The Bureau of Meterology is providing general weather updates here for Brisbane.  Links to weather warnings for the rest of Queensland can be viewed here: http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/index.shtml.  Information regarding tides in Brisbane is available via this link.
7. Brisbane City Council has launched a site which outlines flood maps.  If you can’t access that site due to congestion, visit this one – but note that it may not be as current as the Council site. 
   Thanks to Megsy C for sending through this link.

What can you do to help?

Donate cash to the Premier’s Disaster Relief Appeal

The main thing that Queensland is going to need is cash – to recover from the floods which Premier Anna Bligh says will be worse than the catastrophic deluge that the state suffered in 1974.  A few different donation options are available.  All the information relating to how to do that is listed in the following Sydney Morning Herald article link: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/weather/donate-to-queenslands-flood-victims-20110107-19hyx.html.

Note that the website is currently not loading (I’d imagine due to congestion), but information on which account to transfer to is outilned in that SMH article. 

Consider whether you can house if you’re in an area which is unaffected

If you’re able to help by providing a flood victim with shelter, or fostering pets for the moment, your contribution would no doubt be welcome.   There are Facebook pages that have been set up where people can offer their resources.  Have a look through these if you’re willing and able to assist or if you need assistance, you’re likely to find someone willing to help you here:

Queensland floods assistance – check the discussions page as well as the wall

Queensland floods temporary accommodation assist

If you know of other information / assistance services that can help people in need, let me know and I’ll update this post.

Thinking of you, Queenslanders

We might argue about the State of Origin, but rest assured Queenslanders, your friends in New South Wales (and no doubt the rest of Australia / the globe) are thinking of you.  Stay off the roads, try to keep calm and keep safe.

So on Friday night, I had two options:

1. I could buck the trend and start the cooking series for 2011; or
2. Mr L and I could continue our restaurant crawl along Military Road at Neutral Bay.

We chose option two and hopped in the car unsure about where our evening would take us. We parked up on Military Road out the front of the beloved French restaurant, Mrs Top. We had discussed the rules of this dinner – we would not return to anywhere we’d previously visited, and sadly, Mrs Top fell into that category, so we walked past it and checked our other options.

After some discussion, we decided we’d try Sushi Samurai which was across the road from where we stood. We’d tried to get in there one past evening on a visit with PC. When we were unable to get a table we ended up at Je Ge Mu & Shimbashi and had a wonderful time, but this night, we had a feeling that we’d get in, so we did the mad dash across Military Road and to our great pleasure, were welcomed inside to the large interior at Sushi Samurai.

Sushi Samurai

Irashaimase!

Well I gotta say, I had no idea that the inside of the restaurant would be as big as it is and was probably looking a little curious when the staff sang out “Irashaimase!”, welcoming us to the restaurant. The place was packed – both inside where we sat, and outside in the little courtyard that looks onto Military Road. Despite that, we received menus quickly and had our drinks order taken.

The bar at Sushi Samurai

Mr L suggests that since this dinner was my idea (though he wasn’t complaining!), it’s my responsibility to order dinner. So armed with the normal menu and the specials menu, I get onto the task at hand.

The specials menu

So I’m just going to put it out there… I got carried away, okay? I was thinking that the dishes I was ordering were going to mostly be small plates – um… WRONG!  We didn’t get to finish everything, but we did have an amazing dinner (which we could have shared with two other friends!) Mental note… ask more questions before confidently ordering a huge amount of food next time! Anyhoo, here’s what I ordered:

Chilli and garlic edamame

Oh my word. These little soya beans were so garlicky and so chilli-i that they packed a mega flavour punch. They were on the specials menu and not your average edamame – I’d definitely go back in for these next time!

Chilli and garlic edamame

Lotus Root Chips

Somebody say chips? Well, actually – I ordered these not because they were chips, but because I’d never tried lotus root chips before and was curious to see what they were like. Again – I’d so recommend these – they tasted a little bit like sweet potato, but were coated in chicken salt, which brought a whole different flavour dimension. Hard to describe, just try them if you go!

Lotus root chips with decorative radish!

OMG Agedashi eggplant

This agedashi eggplant (with mochi) was one of our very very very favourite dishes on the night. You can see in the pic below, it’s sitting in a pool of delicious broth and the eggplant and mochi (Japanese rice cake) is accompanied by flavoursome, bright green shallots. So you spoon some of the agedashi eggplant into a little bowl; eat the eggplant and drink the soupy broth with a laksa spoon. Usually agedashi is made with tofu in place of the eggplant which I like, but this version – it was So SO GOOD!

Agedashi eggplant in its serving bowl

My serving of the eggplant dish – I could have eaten a whole big bowl of it!

So what you’ve just read was the description of our starter dishes. We had no real idea about the onslaught that was about to come. Deep breath….

Karaage chicken

This was like an oh-so-good-but-oh-so-bad Japanese version of the Colonel’s special herbs and spices chicken. It was fried. Deep fried. And it came straight out of the fryer to our table. It was very hot (temperature wise) when it arrived and so we had to make a couple of attempts to eat this dish. It came with a little blob of kewpie mayo, a wedge of lemon and some token side salad to cool your mouth down.

Karaage chicken

Spicy soft shell crab

Next up – spicy soft shell crab served samurai style. Another fried item (hmmm…) – fried, but delicious. It was coated in a light batter and (yes, deep) fried. This is a dish that Pa and FIL would love – and I’m thinking we might need to revisit said Sushi Samurai so that they can both try it.

The spicy soft shell crab

Grilled king fish with miso “taste”

This dish was also from the specials menu – it was thin slivers of king fish that had been lightly grilled and then basted in a thick miso sauce. I liked this one, but Mr L wasn’t much of a fan. This was one of the very few dishes that I chose which was not fried – oops!

King fish with miso taste (one fillet missing – oops!)

The piece de resistance: pork belly, Peking duck style

This dish was absolutely unnecessary at this point in proceedings, but my-oh-my it was incredible! This is on the Sushi Samurai regular menu. It is pork belly, Peking duck style. Loving pork belly and loving Peking duck, during the ordering phase, I felt it would be rude not taking the opportunity to try the fusion of the two.

What appeared was a long dish with pancakes and long, green shallots at one end; with slow-roasted pork belly, floating in amazing, porky broth down the other end. I’m afraid the photography does it no justice at all. We got carried away and wanted to get stuck into it, so the photography came a distant second to the experience of eating the dish (well, much of the dish anyway – we couldn’t finish it all as we’d had so much to eat!)

The pork belly with pancakes and shallots

We dug in and oh boy, what a combo!

Pork belly, shallots, carrot and hot mustard (like English mustard) on Peking duck pancakes

Mr L looking overjoyed to have a pork belly pancake in his mit!

So you can see what I was saying right? A lot, lot, LOT of food! By this stage, we’re both so over-stuffed that we can only imagine staggering back across Military Road to the car, rolling home and then flaking on the couch to watch How I Met Your Mother re-runs!

We signal for the bill and find that all that food + two big Sapporos and one tiny one amounted to a grand total of $97! And really, next time, we’ll take two friends and share all that food – so I reckon that was pretty cheap considering the excellent quality of the food and the terrific, prompt and friendly service we received. While paying the bill, we find out that Mr L’s sister, and our BIL had also had (takeaway) dinner from this restaurant on that night and that the takeaway is also a highly rated option – and one that I think we’ll be looking into!

Me and my tiny Sapporo – just enough to wet the whistle!

The low down

Sushi Samurai is located at 5/197 Military Road, Neutral Bay NSW 2089 (on the corner of Military and Rangers roads. It offers both indoor and outdoor dining, but I think you’d need to book on a weekend if you wanted a table outside. Tel: +61 2 9953 4059.

It is open seven days. For lunch: 12 – 3pm and dinner: 5:30 – 10:00 pm.

The same people own a number of other restaurants around the traps and you can find all the info about them at the website for “The Excellent Group”.

Your recommendations

Have you had a great Japanese experience of late? I’m particularly looking for ideas relating to sushi trains that are good for a quick and tasty lunchtime stop. I’d love to hear any suggestions – please add them into the Comments box at the bottom of this page. Arigatou!

Well hello to all and happy new year to y’all from Mr L and me! We hope that the end of 2010 brought you and yours all the things you’d hoped for.

Happy New Year to you!

For me, well, the end of 2010 brought me all sorts of good things. There was one big gaping hole in my life though which would have been perfectly filled had I been able to publish many more blog posts.

So the story goes that I’d promised you that I’d upload all the posts from our o/s trips (in the mid-latter parts of the year) and well, work heated up again and I didn’t get to writing all those posts. I’ve been concerned about that (read: feeling incredibly slack) and was whinging to Mr L about it last night when he offered up a simple suggestion – why not just weave the best bits of the trip through my posts over the next little while and in the mean time, get back to blogging about things that are happening now?

Of course! A clever plan from a brilliant (and dashingly handsome husband) and one which I am absolutely going to follow.

Three little points

SO…. I wanted to firstly say hello to you and ask you to forgive me for being shy and well, tardy. From herein, I will start communicating regularly again.

Secondly, I wanted to give you a little pictorial taste of things to come through those o/s review posts. (See below)

Thirdly, I’m sending a shout out to all those well travelled peeps who may have made it to Adelaide; the Barossa Valley and Adelaide Hills during their travels – Mr L and I are taking Nanna G and Pa on a wee trip towards the end of January and will be visiting all those places. We’d be so grateful of any suggestions you may have for restaurants / wineries / cafes and the like that we should visit on our adventures. So if you do have any ideas, please add them into the comments section at the bottom of this page!

Pictorial teasery – looking back on 2010

I know Pa, teasery isn’t speaking good, but you get the gist… Below is a little collection of images that give you an idea of posts to come in 2011, looking back on 2010. Rest assured though, My Favourite Fruits will also be looking ahead and I personally am excited about the prospect of bringing you lots of restaurant reviews; recipes and product reviews during the year to come.

Let the pictorial teasery commence!

Above: it’s a piece of cake! (From Mickey and Liv’s wedding in Kefalonia, Greece)

Also in Kefalonia, great big platters of sharing food – good times!

On Mykonos, Greece, a man makes fresh pasta in the street

Fresh food and friends in Santorini

Bonjour French macarons in Paris!

And OMG an amazing degustation dinner @ L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon in St Germain, Paris

A spectacular time in cold and kooky Iceland (yes, Iceland!)

All the good things in New York: hot dawgs; excess; jazz and Donald Trump!

Clam chowder, ribs and revelling in time with favourite friends in San Francisco

10th birthday celebrations at Sushi Roku with fave friends in Los Angeles + rubbing shoulders with the rich and famous!

A lazy lunch @ IndoChine in Singapore with FIL and MIL

Um halou-mi! Dinner @ Steel Bar + Grill (Sydney)

A summary of the verjuice master class @ Maggie Beer’s farm in Barossa Valley
Got any ideas?

Bring on lots of eating, cooking, reviewing and writing in 2011!

Do you have any ideas about places, products or recipes for My Favourite Fruits to review? If so, please, please, please let us know using the Comments box below! And don’t forget to add your thoughts on the Barossa, Adelaide and Adelaide Hills!

Thanks to you!

Ciao for now

My unexpectedly brilliant garlic prawn pasta

We got back from our amazing holiday last week.  After five weeks on the road, eating and drinking and enjoying loads of general merriment, I decided we’d best have a home made meal or two. 

On Monday, I went up to Woolworths with no real vision and came home with a basket of random goodies.  Amongst the pack were De Costi garlic prawns, celery, carrot, cherry tomatoes, capsicum and garlic.  I also had salmon pieces and lamb cutlets (the cutlets for Mr L’s birthday cutlet extravaganza) and various other items.  By the time Thursday came around, I had used the salmon and the cutlets and was left staring at the prawns. 

De Costi garlic prawns, courtesy of www.decosti.com.au

I had an issue.  Mr L (aka birthday boy) wasn’t so keen on the concept of the prawns.  He didn’t think they were going to fill him up and their use for that night’s dinner was looking dubious.  I thought he was going to play the birthday card and convince me to let him order delivery.  Fortunately, I managed to push him out of the kitchen and with the silence that ensued, put my mind to what I could achieve with these prawns.

I looked in the cupboard and found a number of extra useful ingredients: an Aldi tomato pasta sauce that I’d previously bought and some gluten free penne.  Note that these discoveries were both with some glee – I really hadn’t thought about what was in the pantry for about five weeks. 

Lightbulb moment!

Ding!  Lightbulb moment.  I would make a garlic prawn pasta.  It would be delicious.  And no one would want to be around us for days owing to garlic intake – a useful tactic during the first week back at work after a long, fabulous holiday!

Ghaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarlic

Ingredients

2 sticks of celery, chopped into 5 mm wide pieces
1 medium carrot, chopped into match sticks (julienne)
1/4 small red capsicum, chopped into something like match sticks
1/2 punnet cherry tomatoes, left whole
1 clove of garlic, crushed or finely chopped
500 g basil and garlic pasta sauce (I used Aldi’s JUST ORGANIC Organic pasta sauce)
250 g x penne pasta shells (I used San Remo gluten free penne)
400 g x De Costi garlic prawns (though you could use any kind of garlic prawns)
1 x tablespoon of olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Optional: kalamata olives (I didn’t have these, but think they’d add extra dimension to the dish) and herbs

Red capsicum

Method

Fill a large saucepan with water and place on stove in order to prepare the pasta.  Prepare to manufacturers instructions (about 8-10 mins for the San Remo gf penne.)

While the pasta is boiling, heat a medium sized frying pan on another element – heat the olive oil over fairly high heat (about 2/3).  Once hot, add the garlic and stir briefly before adding carrot, celery and capsicum.  Sautee in oil for approx 3-4 mins or until slightly soft.  Shake, then add the tomato sauce.  Turn heat down to about 1/3 of stove heat and stir every now and then to ensure the sauce doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan.

Celery - so good for you!

On a separate element, heat another frying pan over fairly high heat (about 2/3) and add prawns with a bit of olive oil.  Cook until the prawns lose their translucence.  How long you need to cook them for will vary depending on your stove, but watch them carefully as (as Mr L said on the night) – “an overcooked prawn is no fun!”

By this time, your pasta should be ready to remove from the stove.  Remove it, drain the hot water.  Turn that element or hot plate down to very low.  Rinse the pasta under cold water and drain again.  Then put the pasta back in the saucepan and put that back on the element now on low.

Your prawns should be ready.  Put the prawns in with the tomato and vegetable sauce in the first pan.  Stir to combine all ingredients.  Then put all ingredients in the big saucepan with the pasta and stir to ensure thorough combination.

Cherry tomatoes

Serve it up!

You’re good to go!  With preparation time, all up it should have only taken about 20 mins to prepare.  Now that’s better than take away isn’t it?

Sadly, I don’t have a picture of this dish as I truely didn’t expect it to be as good as it was!  If you choose to make it, please take a shot and send it to me.  Hopefully it will surprise you with its simple brilliance too!  Beware though – Mr L had some more the next day and then came to say hello to me – the garlic was pretty strong - no vampires at our place!

Serves 4

No vampires here!

Portobello Road, Notting Hill, via Oxford Circus

Stretch, yawn, smile – another beautiful day in London. We decide to hook up with PC who is also here – along with her cuz’s – A & S, and A’s girlfriend D – as well as Riss and Chello, who have been living in London for years. After a proper english breakfast, we head off to Notting Hill, via a quick stop at Oxford Circus, where Mr L’s found a Mac shop. I’m not complaining – shops mean shopping, so we hop on the tube and head to Oxford Circus. Mr L’s so excited to be on the tube, and we agree just how efficient the British public transport system is. Everywhere we turn, we see buses, trains, the underground, etc and it seems pretty inexpensive to get around.

Sadly, apart from Mac accessories, our shopping time eventuates in no spoils as we’ve got to zip if we’re going to meet the other kids in time. I figure there will be time later. Mr L hopes there’s not!

Ahhhh Topshop – if only we had time…

Mr L at one with the Mac shop

Even Quicksilver is fancy!

When we arrived at Portobello Road, PC and the others were running late, so while I stopped in at a few little shops, Mr L stopped in at the Sun in Splendour – a(nother) cute little pub at the top end of the road. Turns out that was fortunate, because PC was out with Riss and Chello for a big one the night before and was in need of a cheeky burger from their “Burger Boutique” to tie her over. So we headed out the back and found the perfect table to sit at for lunch.

The menu from the Sun in Splendour, Notting Hill

PC’s cousin S mentioned that she was well and truly in love with the nut roast. This was not an experience I’d been privy to previously, so I decided to check it out. PC ordered a beef burger, Mr L went in for the lamb burger. S ordered a goats cheese salad with roasted red peppers, toasted nuts and seeds and added chicken to it. The kids all enjoyed their meals – and the burger (complete with bloody mary ketchup) seemed to assist PC with her recovery.

Mr L’s lamb burger, seasoned with Moroccan spices, with chips and tzatziki

S’s salad with chicken included

PC’s handmade British beef burger, with mature cheddar and bacon, served with chips and bloody mary ketchup

The nut roast

I’ll be listening to S again. The nut roast, simple as it was, was one of the best kinds of roast I’ve ever had! It came with all sorts of sides, including a Yorkshire Pudding, gravy and lots of veggies, which I was in dire need of after the long flight from Sydney. The nut roast was quite a thing to behold – it’s made up of nuts mixed with something that resembled stuffing in consistency, but was not as heavy. The other veggies were extremely good too and everyone ummed and ahhhed as they tried the nut roast.

I will definitely be making a nut roast when I get back to Australia as I really loved the one I had in Notting Hill. I’ve included a recipe below that I found through Googling – it’s a vegan version and you could probably use gluten free breadcrumbs, flour and stock if that’s your preference. Recipe below sourced from this link: http://www.veg-world.com/recipes/nutroast.htm and was originally one of Rose Elliot’s recipes.

Classic Nut Roast recipe

• Oil for frying
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 – 6 medium mushrooms, sliced
• 1 tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 1¼ cups (10 fl oz, 300 ml) vegetable stock (or water)
• 1½ cups (6 oz, 175 g) finely chopped nuts
• 3 cups (6 oz, 175 g) breadcrumbs
• 1 tbsp. soy sauce
• ½ tsp. dried herbs
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Flour for coating
• Oil for roasting

Oven: Pre-heat to 375F, 190C.
Stew the onion in the oil for about five minutes or until soft. Add the garlic and mushrooms. Cook for a few more minutes.
Sprinkle the flour on top. Stir well. Add the stock or water, stirring all the time. Bring the mixture to the boil, and simmer slowly for two or three minutes. Stir in the nuts, breadcrumbs, soy sauce, herbs and seasoning.
Turn the mixture on to a floured board, and form a loaf shape with your hands. Coat evenly with flour on all sides.
Heat the oil in a roasting tin. Place the loaf in the tin. Bake for 30 – 40 minutes, basting occasionally.

The inside of the nut roast

Beers @ probably the best pub in all of London!

I don’t recall what it was called, but after a stroll down thriving Portobello Road, we stopped at (another!) pub to meet Riss and Chello. By this stage, the sun was really beating down, so it was good to seek refuge inside the pub that referred to itself as “Probably the best pub in all of London”! I gotta say, Mr L and I spent a lot of time laughing at the caution that the Brits exercise with regards to their claims. At another pub close to where we were staying, there was a sign out front that said “probably the best fish and chips in all of London”! Probably? We found later that when we arrived in Greece, the Greeks had no trouble pointing out that their thing was the best. “The best moussaka”; “The best view” and simply “The best” were all signs that we saw on our travels! Putting the probably in front (we felt) was a bit of insurance – protection against false advertising perhaps?

Anyway – I don’t need to bore you with the detail of what we did for the rest of the day, but it was great to catch up with all the kids. A couple of pics below.

Mr L and me (couples dressing somehow!) at Sun in Splendour with my nut roast

Riss and Chello – at “probably the best pub in London”!

PC and Sarah at the Sun in Splendour

We’re in London now and despite the jet lag, are extremely excited to be here! After checking into the hotel, we decide to have a shower and go exploring. The Rubens at the Palace hotel is situated directly across the road from Buckingham Palace on Buckingham Palace Road. It’s right around the corner from Victoria station, located within the city of Westminster. A very central location.

Farewell to the old guard

We step out the front door of the hotel to find bright, hot sunlight beating down. So very unlike the grey, drizzly weather that London is famous for. We have a map, but don’t really have any other clue about where we’re going. I’d been to London years before, but never stayed in this area, so this is all as new for me as it is for Mr L, who’s never visited. We head to the right, in the general direction of Buckingham Palace and are absolutely struck by the crowds of people that are flocking in the same direction as us. We’re not sure if this is normal or if something’s on, so we follow the population and end up right in front of the palace. Soon enough we see the Royal Guard marching out of the gates at Buckingham Palace – we’ve arrived right in the middle of the changing of the guard. What we’re seeing is the old guard leaving the palace as they’ve been relieved by their replacement soldiers – the new guard.

Changing of the guard – the old guard marches out of Buckingham Palace

Out goes the guard, followed by mounted police on beautiful horses

Those bear skin hats have got to be hot on a day like today!

Looking around, the other tourists are just as mesmerised as we are. There is a certain elegance that accompanies this old ceremony. Mr L tells me that the soldiers you see in the pictures above are in fact serving soldiers who, when not stationed on the Royal Guard, are stationed in Iraq, Afghanistan or elsewhere that the British Royal Army is serving. We remark how different that must be – switching between a life steeped in tradition, routine and ceremony to one ruled by adrenaline, fear and unpredictability.

St James Park

After the old guard has marched away, we follow part of the crowd and find ourselves in St James Park. It is green and lush and beautiful and we’re lured to the lake that is located in the middle of the park. We find beautiful geese, ducks and other birds. While we’re photographing some of the cute, brown geese, a tiny squirrel comes dashing out of nowhere and surprises us!

I think this guy is a goose! He was very cute. This is his front on shot.


Same guy – profile shot.

Squirrel! Crazy nut (eater) came dashing out of nowhere!

The next day when talking to PC’s cousin Sarah, we find out that these squirrels are the naughty ones – they’re not native to London and are responsible for scaring off many of the native ones. We didn’t see any of those, so I don’t have a pic for you – sorry! We wander through the rest of the park, past all sorts of beautifully well kept areas. In one, we find three enormous pelicans sitting atop a rock within a very japanese looking setting.

We emerge on the other side of the park, over near Winston Churchill’s War Rooms and near a great big square. On a tour later in the week, we find out that this square is where official guard ceremonies are held and that it is part of one of the palaces. Again, we fall into step behind other tourists and walk through a great big archway, where we find another guard. There are hundreds of tourists flocking to him to have their photo taken. He pays them little attention and continues to stand proud. He is not wearing the bear skin hat, but has a gold coloured, metal helmet on his head.

We walk through the cool archway to the blazing sun on the other side and I feel like a dork standing there in my opaque stockings and velvet jacket! (It felt cold when we walked into the hotel!) We find ourselves around the other side of the palace and find two other guards on horses (horse guards) again, surrounded by hundreds of crazy tourists, all vying to get a picture with them. Generally they’re pretty patient, but every now and then when a tourist oversteps the mark, one shouts “STAND CLEAR OF THE GUARD!” and the tourists are scared into keeping more of a respectful distance.

Lunch on the Thames at the Tattershall Castle

The Tattershall Castle, on the Thames

We walk further on and find ourselves staring up at Big Ben, the London (Millennium) Eye, and over to Westminster Abbey. I’m thrilled because last time I was in London, I really didn’t have time to have a good look at any of these world renowned landmarks. We take a few snaps before agreeing we’re both pretty famished. There’s a boat just to our left and we walk towards it to discover it’s in fact a pub. We decide we could use a pint with lunch, so after a quick, ceremonial selfie (below), we stop in at the Tattershall Castle (above), which is opposite the London Eye on the Thames.

Mr L and me in front of the Millennium Eye, on the River Thames

First thing’s first – we bought a couple of beers. Mr L then decided that since we were in London, it would be rude not to have fish and chips (and mushy peas) with his beer. I chose a burger and both meals were delivered reasonably promptly. When the fish and chips arrived, we wondered about the purpose for the two half slices of bread sat atop the fish. Are they there so that one can make a chip butty? Perhaps Pa might know, since he was born in London.

Mr L’s fish and chips with mushy peas, bread and tartare sauce

My burger was ok, but not great. The beef was juicy and the cheese tasty enough, but it wasn’t like the big fat burger that I’m used to receiving in Aussie pubs. That said, it did the trick and owing to a lack of items such as beetroot, egg and pineapple, I didn’t end up with burger oozed down my arm! Perhaps I ought to try to stick to these sorts of burgers more often – I may cause my husband less public humiliation!

I was interested by the wee salad of pickle, lettuce, tomato and onion to the side of the burger. I wasn’t sure if it was intended as side salad, garnish or burger contents, but I whacked it on the burger and that worked pretty well.

My burger, chips and side salad, come burger contents!

Am I on drugs, or is Australia just very expensive for food and booze?

We’ve been pleasantly surprised by how cheap the food has been in London. From my last visit, I recall it being really expensive. Certainly the exchange rate has improved since my last trip, but in conjunction with that, I wonder if Australia’s become very expensive? Certainly friends and family that have lived in the USA or UK have returned home and remarked how expensive things are. Why is that? Can someone enlighten me? Perhaps the quality of our food is vastly improved on the produce in the UK?

That famous clock and tower

When in London…

After lunch we wandered around Westminster some more and enjoyed spotting extra landmarks. It sure was hot in London on that first day and after we’d had enough of walking in the heat, we headed back to the hotel in order to cool down. We’d been up for about 36 hours (except for the few we’d slept on the plane), so were getting pretty tired. Somehow, on the way into the hotel, we caught a glimpse of the cool, dark bar and got enticed in.

When in London, having a Pimms cocktail seemed to be the right choice, so I took one for the team and ordered. Mr L (I’m sure you’re surprised), felt like a crisp, clean glass of white wine, so we and our drinks sat in the very beautiful, very British bar at the Rubens sipping our drinks.

My Pimms cocktail – refreshing!

The bar at Rubens at the Palace

A second wind and a third and a fourth…

It seems the cocktail / wine combo worked to help us work up a couple of extra winds, and we trotted around the corner to a cute little pub called The Phoenix. Once we got ourselves a seat, we were happy to sit in (and shoot) the breeze outside the pub and sip a cheeky wine or two. Though the Phoenix was on a little street (Palace Street) in the back of Westminster, the people watching was good and provided just enough action to tire us out, before we retired for a good, long kip, in preparation for another big day in London!

A most esteemed and exciting day – we’re off to Heston Blumenthal’s pub in Bray for lunch. To get there, we need to get a tube from London Victoria to Paddington and then catch the train. We’ve got some time to kill, so we decide to go and have a look at Harrods and Harvey Nics in the morning. The thing I love the most (I’m sure you’re surprised) is the food hall in Harrods. I’ve included some pics below – it’s amazing. Kind of like the David Jones food hall in Sydney on steroids. Phenomenal. When we come back to London, I will be stopping into Harrods for a spot of whatever I feel like at lunch time. If I feel like dumplings, I’ll have those. Or maybe I’ll feel like Jamon de Bayon. Or fancy pies. Or terrine. Or caviar. Or something fabulous from the Fromagerie perhaps (BF?) In any event, I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to find something that takes my fancy in this food hall – it’s just a shame that on this occasion, Mr L and I have bigger fish to fry, so we’re conservative with our buying.

See some pics below and then read on to see and hear all about our lunch at the brilliant Hinds Head hotel in Bray.

Mmmmm… chocolates

Food hall

Dim sum anyone?

Beef wellington or lobster for lunch?

Hams and cold meat galore!

Double thumbs up says Mr L, who is pictured here in pie heaven!

Mmmm.. cheese…

The iberico ham house (if you don’t mind!)

Fromagerie (BF – we need to visit!)

Tonnes of terrine

On our way out of Harrods, we noticed the Lauduree at Harrods shop. PC tells me she’s got the same pic as the one below from the Lauduree shop in Paris. Since we’re heading there shortly, I may just seek out a twin photo (and perhaps a macaron!)

Mmmm.. macaron towers – Adriano Zumbo would be proud!

Lunch @ Heston Blumenthal’s Hinds Head pub in Bray

My ears are back and my tail is wagging – we’re off for lunch to Heston Blumenthal’s pub in the Berkshire village of Bray, a beautiful little place near Maidenhead Station. Mr L is excited because on our way through to Maidenhead station we passed Slough, which is where the English series of The Office (with Ricky Gervais) is set. Once we’re off the train, we walk through the town of Maidenhead and make our way to a pub (the sun is over the yard arm) for a cheeky pint while we wait for 2:00 to come around. We spend some time laughing at the locals who are all seated at separate tables, but talk loudly enough that they (and we and everyone else) can hear every word they’re saying – chatter about the horse racing, talk of an upcoming wedding and disagreements over the bus timetable seem to be the topics of the day!

Soon enough the time ticks round and we walk back to Maidenhead station to find a taxi to take us to the Hinds Head. Three doors down from the Hinds Head we spot the Fat Duck – the molecular gastronomy restaurant that has caused a stir in the little village and across the world. Sadly, we couldn’t get into the Fat Duck, but Jacque suggested we visit the Hinds Head instead and as we were able to get a seat, well, here we are! The Hinds Head focuses on traditional, seasonal British food – and we’re itching to get a look at some, so we head through the door to the 15th century building.

Champers – yes please!

We figured it was the right thing to do to start with a glass of champagne, and were promptly delivered a glass of the Deutz Brut Classic which Mr L declared was better than the Dom Peringnon Reserve that we’d had during our Easter visit to Quay.

Us looking stoked with our Deutz Brut Classic champagne

The menu

The menu

The very lovely waitress talks us through the options we have with respect to the menu. We could go for a two course or three course set menu, or order from the a la carte menu. We ask her what her favourite dishes are and she talks fondly of the crab toast, the mussels and the oxtail and kidney pudding. We decide to choose our own courses from the a la carte menu.

Mr L orders

Brixham mussels cooked with white wine, parsley and garlic (8.95 GBP for the entree size) and
Oxtail and kidney pudding (16.95 GBP) as main

and I order

South Coast crab on toast (9.50 GBP) as entree and (you’d better sit down in case you collapse in shock)
Pork belly with spinach and butternut squash (17.50 GBP)

Delicious bread

We nibble on some of the delicious bread and butter and look around at the other diners within the busy little dining area.

The dining area within the Hinds Head

After a short wait, our entrees arrive.

South Coast crab toast

My crab toast was really quite spectacular. A piece of white sourdough was toasted to perfection, slathered in salty butter and then topped with a mixture of mashed crab and herbs. The herbs made it really fresh and the textures all combined to create a simple, but interesting dish.

Mr L’s mussels

I was surprised that Mr L chose the mussels as although he likes them, he doesn’t usually find they rock his world. Well – I’m glad he did order them because these mussels were the best either of us had ever had. In the bottom of the large mussel vessel all the juices congregated and when Mr L made it to the bottom (and he did make it to the bottom!), he was then able to dip his bread into the juicy goodness. I’ve included a pic below so you can see how good the juice was!

Mussel juice – oh so good!

I’ve never seen this man looking this happy about a bowl of mussels before!

The wine

We knew we were doing it all in the wrong order, but we ordered a bottle of wine after our entrees. Since we’d be heading to France soon, we thought we’d stick with the French theme and ordered a bottle of the Petit Chablis Domaine Brocard from Auxerrois (31.00 GBP per bottle). It was refreshing and crisp.

Brocard Petite Chablis

The main event

You know me. I love pork belly. So if Heston Blumenthal’s kitchen was happy to prepare it, I was happy to try it!

Pork belly with spinach and butternut squash

Cut away to the spinach below

I really enjoyed the pork. When it arrived, I wondered where the spinach was – then I cut away and found it hiding below. The little seedy thing you can see sticking out of the butternut mash was a kind of cracker – I’m not sure whether it was carraway or similar. It had an interesting texture, though I didn’t like the flavour very much. I’m pretty sure the waitress said that the pork belly had been slow cooked in a water bath for hours. The crackling was only crispy around the edges – like it had been charred with an oxy torch, but I suspect that’s what was intended for it.

Mr L’s oxtail and kidney pudding

Inside the pudding

The waitress had warned us that this was one rich pudding – as you can imagine the oxtail and kidney combination would be. I’m pretty sure this was a suet pudding too – which added extra dimension and richness to the pudding. The dark gravy that the pudding is sitting in was equally rich – we were glad to have requested some refreshing green beans to break up the flavour as suggested by the waitress. Mr L loved his pudding and when we were both finished our mains, we sat for a while and contemplated whether we really needed dessert!

The green beans saved Mr L from richness overload

The dessert menu

We agreed to take a look at the dessert menu and while we had it open, a couple of glasses of dessert wine stood out, so we felt we’d better at least share a dessert to go with them! We went with the Banana Eaton Mess, which wasn’t as simple as it sounds. Lime zest was shaved onto the top and toffee brittle was scattered across it complementing the banana, meringue and cream perfectly.

Banana Eaton Mess

The Hinds Head

I ventured upstairs to stop in at the loo and took some shots of the place on my way – as well as a customary shot from the bathroom mirror. Shots below!

One of the two fireplaces – brilliant for a cold day in London

View from the area where we dined through to the bar

Board commemorating the Vicar of Bray from the 1500’s

Devils on horseback – pretty good for bar food!

Since the Hinds Head’s building is so old, the doorways and ceiling are very low!

Outside the Hinds Head in the little village of Bray

Bathroom mirror shot!

Food critic’s review on the wall in the ladies’ loo

Coffee and the bill

I was feeling a touch sleepy after all the good food and wine, so requested a coffee and the bill. We agreed that all in all it was a tremendous meal. It wasn’t the best pork belly I’ve ever had, but on balance, the whole meal was well worth the travel out to little Bray. We particularly loved our entrees and the approaches to the pudding, the crab toast and mussels. And you can be sure that the next time I make eaton mess, it will include banana and have lime zest on top!

Including an optional service charge, the whole meal came to 150.36 GBP – which we thought was a bit extravagant for normal pub food, but pretty good considering the quality of the meals that we had. We would be happy to return at those prices.

Le bill

A nod to The Fat Duck

Of course you know we went and took photos of The Fat Duck. Seems we weren’t the only ones with that idea as we heard another table commenting to the waitress “There doesn’t seem to be much to it!” to which the waitress replied “That’s what chef wants you to think. All the magic happens once you’re inside.” I’m sure that’s true and Mr L and I aim to return to see for ourselves!

Heston Blumenthal – Grand Chef’s The Fat Duck

Les Grandes Tables Du Monde

The degustation menu

Utensils – one with a webbed food – hang from the roof

The Fat Duck

The low down

The Hinds Head is located at High Street, Bray in Berkshire, SL6 2AB. Contact details are below:

Phone:        01628 626151
Fax:                01628 623394

Web:        www.hindsheadbray.com

To get there, catch the train from Paddington to Maidenhead Station and then hop in a cab for a five minute drive (about 7 GBP.) We went on a Tuesday, so it wasn’t all that busy, but it’s a good idea to book online if you want to secure a table. Apparently they do take walk ins, but tables are on a first come, first served basis for those without bookings.