Posts tagged ‘australia’
Madhur Jaffrey’s Anglo-Indian sausage patties
Around lunchtime at work on Wednesday, my mate Al and I were talking about food (not an uncommon occurrence) for we were both hungry, and Mr L had found the most recent edition of Gourmet Traveller in our mailbox that morning, which was open on my desk. The January edition of Gourmet Traveller boasts two attention grabbing articles about burgers: one about making them and the other about eating them. We were both drooling over pics of the fantastic wagyu burgers from Neil Perry’s Rockpool Bar and Grill, while I was trying to explain to Al how worth their $22 they were. Talk of burgers led him to recall a book that he’d received for Christmas (and was quite excited about) with recipes from Madhur Jaffrey. He said the book contained loads of excellent, easy curry recipes and one other recipe had caught his eye: Madhur Jaffrey’s Anglo-Indian sausage patties. Within seconds, he’d found the recipe on the Telegraph UK’s website, and I hatched a plan to make them for dinner the next night.
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. 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 4. Make all the patties in this way. Remove with a slotted spatula and serve whichever way takes your fancy!
Gluten free, Friday night pork tacos
The other night in Woolworths, I was kind of loitering in the Asian food aisle, trying to absorb some dinner inspiration when I happened across Select brand’s “Authentic Mexican Corn Tortillas.” Ding! (Lightbulb moment.) I decreed (to myself and the bag of tortillas – we were the only two who cared) that Mr L and I would have soft shell tacos at some point this week! 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!
Volunteering to assist with Queensland flood recovery
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.
Continue Reading January 19, 2011 at 8:20 am Leave a comment
Mango-orange-lime-coconut popsicles, endorsed by Morris
I’m ultra pleased to have an icy, sweet treat for you tonight – mmmm, mmmm, mmmm, mmmm, popsicles! They’re so good that Morris, our trusty messenger horse, put his hoof up to endorse them. So thanks to you Morris – here we go with the recipe for mango-orange-lime-coconut popsicles – they are a flavour sensation!
Cheeky North Sydney lunch @ Viet’s Pho
I’m so thrilled to be working in North Sydney again – not just because of the food – but also because I’m close to loads of friends and family, so can have a cheeky lunch here and there when there’s time to escape the office. Last Monday, I had the pleasure of catching up with BF for a quick lunch before heading off to Brissie for a few days. After some wandering around Tower Square, we happened upon Viet’s Pho. It was an easy choice since there were lots of seats available (and seldom elsewhere), but this easy choice became a great one as Viet’s Pho was almost better than Pho that Mr L and I had in Vietnam!
Back in action! Dreaming of Greece and a long, lazy brunch at Xenos..
Bet you thought I’d fallen off the face of the Earth! Never fear – here I am again with tail between legs… Why such a quiet period? Well, frankly, it’s been a hard day’s night and I’ve been working like a dog. Oh yeah – like a big dog – a Great Dane perhaps. In any event, I’m back now and look forward to some more regularity in my life. What’s more – Mr L and I are heading overseas in less than two weeks, so I’ll be able to share some magical food experiences with you. Bring that on really. In the mean time though, dreaming of Greece, I thought I’d tell you about a great Sunday brunch we had recently with BF, Commando and TB at Xenos Cafe Restaurant in Crows Nest.
The big dog here is a representation of how hard I've been working.. (pic from http://www.breederretriever.com)
A long, lazy brunch at Xenos
You know how people talk about long lazy brunches? On this particular Sunday, that’s exactly what we had. We met up at 10 am and had such a good time eating, chatting, laughing and playing with TB (BF and Commando’s gorgeous tiny wee man), that the time seemed to zoom by. Before we knew it, the hands on the clock were pointing at 12:30 pm! Time really does fly when you’re having fun.
Corn fritters of a different kind
I’m a sucker for a corn fritter. Like my love for pork, I am somewhat renowned for this affiliation and of course Mr L knew what I was having as soon as he looked at the menu. BF had the same idea and after a small amount of deliberating over Xenos’ extensive breakie menu, we ordered the corn fritters. They were served with bacon, avocado and a tomato relish. Unexpectedly, they also arrived with two poached eggs and a cheeky piece of roast tomato on the side. A decent breakfast by any account!
The corn fritters were deep fried – a take on the corn fritter we’d not previously encountered. With the relish and the bacon and avocado, they’re pretty good, but I’d probably prefer them less fried. Everything else was delicious though – particularly the poached eggs and tangy relish.
Corn fritters
The Cure
Mr L made his way through a number of glasses of red the night before, so when he found a menu item named “The Cure”, he wasn’t going to argue. The Cure was comprised of bacon, steak, eggs (any way), a hash brown, five chipolatas (yes, five!) and a token piece of tomato. The only thing that could have improved this breakfast was for it to be delivered by Robert Smith of the meal’s name sake band. I’m not sure whether it’s due to rehydration, or the breakfast itself, but Mr L certainly has more of a spring in his step after breakie. It’s quite possible that in this case, The Cure was better than prevention!
Mr L's Cure!
Tomatoey eggs
I didn’t note down the name of the breakie that Commando chose from the specials menu, but it was a special Greek breakfast, made up of poached eggs in a rich tomato sauce with loads of dippy toast. When we’re in Kefalonia, Santorini or Mykonos in the next month or so, I’ll see if I can determine what Commando’s breakie was called and will let you know! 
Commando's tomatoey eggs
The tomatoey eggs went down a treat, and BF and Commando shared a cheeky fruit plate for a breakie vitamin boost.
Fruit platter with honeyed yoghurt
Good hosts
The people at Xenos were happy to accommodate us during our long, lazy lunch stay. They brought us loads of drinks, lots of water and the cafe was warm on an otherwise cold day. I’ve gotta say – in Crows Nest, Xenos is one of my faves and there’s little doubt that we’ll be back.
The low down
I’ve just been reading that Xenos Cafe Restaurant is now celebrating it’s 40th year of service. It is located in a sunny spot at 7 Burlington Street, Crows Nest and trades over the following hours:
Breakfast: 7 days from 7:00 am
Lunch: 7 days from 12:00 pm
Dinner: 5 Days from 6 pm
Closed for Dinner Sunday and Monday nights
To contact Xenos:
Phone: (02) 9439 1748
Fax: (02) 9436 2477
Or visit the Xenos website at http://www.xenosrestaurant.com.au
What to expect from me…
It’s fair to say that the busy times at work are set to continue until Mr L and I embark on our holiday in two weeks, but I’d like to think I can blog at least a few times a week from now on. Thanks for your patience during my unexpected hiatus!
Moving on, I think it’s unlikely I’ll be blogging daily - a few times a week is probably more realistic and if I can manage more frequency, that’ll be a bonus! 
What I’d love from you…
Soon we’re heading to London, several parts of Greece, Paris, Iceland and a few cities in the USA. Do you have ideas about terrific little eateries, or fancy, flash restaurants that we should visit? I’d love to hear them! To provide a suggestion, add a comment using the form at the bottom of any of these posts.
Cheers!
Bet you thought I’d fallen off the face of the Earth! Never fear – here I am again with tail between legs… Why such a quiet period? Well, frankly, it’s been a hard day’s night and I’ve been working like a dog. Oh yeah – like a big dog – a Great Dane perhaps. In any event, I’m back now and look forward to some more regularity in my life. What’s more – Mr L and I are heading overseas in less than two weeks, so I’ll be able to share some magical food experiences with you. Bring that on really. In the mean time though, dreaming of Greece, I thought I’d tell you about a great Sunday brunch we had recently with BF, Commando and TB at Xenos Cafe Restaurant in Crows Nest.
A long, lazy brunch
You know how people talk about long lazy brunches? On this particular Sunday, the brunch lived up to its name. We met up at 10 am and had such a good time eating, chatting and playing with TB – BF and Commando’s tiny wee man, that the time seemed to zoom by. Before we knew it, the hands on the clock were pointing at 12:30 pm! I guess time really does fly when you’re having fun.
Corn fritters of a different kind
I’m a sucker for a corn fritter. Like my love for pork, I am somewhat renowned for this affiliation and of course Mr L knew what it was to be for me when he looked at the menu. BF had the same idea and we ordered said corn fritters: served with bacon, avocado and a tomato relish. Unexpectedly, they also arrived with two poached eggs and a cheeky piece of roast tomato on the side. A decent breakfast by any account!
The corn fritters arrived looking deep fried – a take on the corn fritter we’d not previously encountered. With the relish and the bacon and avocado, they’re pretty good, but I’d probably prefer them less fried.
The Cure
Mr L made his way through a number of glasses of red the night before, so when he saw a breakfast option named “The Cure”, he made the apt decision to receive help in that form. The Cure was comprised of bacon, steak, eggs (any way), a hash brown, five chipolatas (yes, five!) and a token piece of tomato. The only thing that would have improved this breakfast would have been delivery by Robert Smith of the meal’s name sake band. I’m not sure whether it’s due to rehydration, or the breakfast, but Mr L certainly has more of a spring in his step after breakie – so it’s quite possible that The Cure worked!
Tomatoey eggs
I didn’t note down the name of the breakie that Commando chose from the specials menu, but it was a special Greek breakfast meal, made up of poached eggs in a tomato sauce with loads of dippy toast.
The tomatoey eggs went down a treat, and BF and Commando had a cheeky fruit plate to wash it all down with.
Good hosts
The people at Xenos were happy to accommodate us during our long, lazy lunch stay. They brought us loads of drinks, lots of water and the cafe was warm on an otherwise cold day. I’ve gotta say – in Crows Nest, Xenos is one of my faves and there’s little doubt that we’ll be back.
The low down
I’ve just been reading that the unpretentious Xenos Cafe Restaurant is now celebrating it’s 40th year of service. It is located in a sunny spot at 7 Burlington Street, Crows Nest and trades over the following hours:
Breakfast: 7 days from 7:00 am
Lunch: 7 days from 12:00 pm
Dinner: 5 Days from 6 pm
Closed for Dinner Sunday and Monday nights
To contact Xenos:
Phone: (02) 9439 1748
Fax: (02) 9436 2477
Or visit the Xenos website at www.xenosrestaurant.com.au
What to expect from me…
It’s fair to say that the busy times at work are set to continue until Mr L and I embark on our holiday in two weeks, but I’d like to think I can blog at least a few times a week from now on. Thanks for your patience during my unexpected hiatus!
What I’d love from you
Soon we’re heading to London, several parts of Greece, Paris, Iceland and a few cities in the USA. Do you have ideas about terrific little eateries, or fancy, flash restaurants that we should visit? I’d love to hear them! To provide a suggestion, add a comment using the form at the bottom of any of these posts.
Cheers!
A good day – brunch @ Fundamental and a visit to Adriano Zumbo patisserie
Well it’s been a good eating day today for Mr L and me. It started with brunch @ Fundamental in Balmain with PC and Tines. An after brunch stroll to Adriano Zumbo’s patisserie uncovered further spoils that kept us going through the day. Dog spotting, bird watching and lots of giggling occurred before we headed home to retire to the couch for a relaxing finish. Now with Masterchef on the tv, all in all it’s been a fundamentally good day!
The fabled dinner – PC’s feast @ LL Wine and Dine
So I’m feeling guilty. This is the promised post and it’s taken me a long time to publish it. Up front – sorry about the delay. You don’t need to hear my excuses – so we’ll move on to remembering last Saturday night’s dinner for PC’s birthday at LL Wine and Dine. A feast of epic proportions in a cosy, wee, space in Potts Point with 14 of PC’s most treasured friends. The rumoured orgasmic tofu meant that care factor was high. Cameras poised, drinking boots strapped, we entered the little restaurant down a previously overlooked laneway.
Shiny disco balls (and request for an extension)
Well it’s been a trying 36 hours. I’ve travelled from Sydney to Adelaide and now to Brisbane and have just got in tonight. My computer died, my mobile died and I couldn’t find a charger at Adelaide airport. So I’d promised to write the bumper review of Saturday night’s PC birthday dinner, but I’ve been out of computer juice, and now have run out of fruit loop juice, so am sheepishly requesting an extension. I promise to write the review tomorrow – have cancelled plans and will write, then snooze! In the mean time….
Lunch at Nicks, and a promise to tell you about LL Wine and Dine bar
I’ve just flown into Adelaide, and this post was mostly constructed without internet access on that flight, so it’s a quick one on a working lunch last week with my boss @ Nick’s Seafood Restaurant, Cockle Bay. Tomorrow night, I have even longer in airports and on planes, so will write the post about the weekend’s shenanigans ootnaboot for PC’s birthday including a quite fabulous, if not somewhat squeezy dinner @ LL Wine and Dine Bar, Potts Point – stay tuned!
Random observations (Melbourne part 3)
A quick one – in honour of the pussycat’s (PC’s) birthday yesterday – more random observations from our recent Melbourne trip. Fluffy deer, Kindness House, cow parties (if you don’t mind!), a flock of egg separators and the best hand made pita bread. All this and we still hadn’t made it out of Fitzroy!
The talked up lunch @ Satang Thai, Haymarket + more pics from Mr L
Lunch @ Satang Thai in Haymarket with my mate Johy. Crispy pork belly with glossy Chinese greens and a tasty chicken and veggies in peanut sauce. Also, as promised, a few of the very clever Mr L’s pics from yesterday’s sunrise mission @ Freshie and a couple of Berrima shots.
Sunday sunrise @ Freshie and a trip to The Little Hand Stirred Jam shop, Berrima
The alarm went off at 5:39 this morning – between then and now, we’ve been back over to Freshie for a beautiful sunrise and photography mission, before heading down to stock up on chutney, jam, honey, mustards, and more at The Little Hand Stirred Jam Shop in Berrima. We’re exhausted, but excited – Mr L is excited because he’s got some fresh photos to review, and I’m excited because I finally made it to The Little Hand Stirred Jam Shop – after all these years of their products coming to me!
Breakfast @ The Kitchen Door, Freshwater
“Quite possibly the best breakfast I’ve ever had out” said Mr L of The Kitchen Door @ Freshwater beach today. Big call friends, big call. Though I must tell you – we’ll be going back – and not just to capture the kind of beachside photography posted in tonight’s blog. Let me know what you think of my clever husband’s shots!
Random observations (Melbourne part 2)
This is a very quick and mostly pictorial post for Mr L and I have just returned from having nood-holes with Unkie T and Mrs P, and it’s rather late. Briefly though, I’ve been waiting to share some thoughts with you relating to wonderful, random Melbourne. Unfortunately, we weren’t there long enough for my liking, but while on walkabout with Mr L and the gals, the little red Canon got a good go at some random shots and observations. This post remembers homage to my fellow Melbourne travellers, and to my Favourite B + B combo – one of whom also favours the random pictorial observation!
Brunch @ Django Django in Fitzroy (Melbourne part 1)
Mr L and I were lucky to get an invitation to spend the weekend before last with a number of our terrific friends in Melbourne. Of course, we were excited to be in Melbourne with the gang, and exhausted after a huge few weeks, so we did the natural thing on Friday night and drank lots and lots and lots! On Saturday morning, of course we woke up starving. Fortunately for us all, FG had a cunning plan to get us to Fitzroy on the tram. Therein started a day of laughter and general hillarity – complete with chats with a random new Magpie-supporting friend (rumoured to be starring on Hey Hey it’s Saturday in one or two weeks), a lot of walking, shopping and eating.
Almonds from Aldi – alright!
A quick post tonight – mostly made of pictures – I just wanted to tell you about a little spoil I picked up yesterday at Aldi, North Sydney. Of course, you might already be aware of these little gems, but if not, I’d thoroughly recommend picking some up for your lunch box. Aldi’s “Oh so natural” almonds come in a pack of six x 30 g boxes, and make such a tremendous, healthy treat for you and yours. (And no, I’m not on commission!)
Official working dinner @ the Summit
Wow – it’s been a whirlwind week. I’ve been notably quiet. And feeling very slack about it really. I’ve got loads to catch you up on (ricotta pancakes, dinner @ Gambaro’s in Brisbane, this last weekend in Melbourne with loads of good eating, drinking, laughing and shopping moments and more with great company, and lunch with BF today at The Cove), but for the momentI think it’s important you hear about the room with a view from where we had dinner last Saturday night. Well – it was a big room – it was the Summit Restaurant, on the 47th floor of Australia Square (Sydney) with Nanna G, Pa, Mr L et moi. And the occasion was an official business dinner.
