thecattylife... for all things cattylicious... » Foodie

recipe | pork & macadamia nut stuffed mushrooms

catty — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:35:46 +0000

We have been to a – ‘scuse my French – butt load of BBQs lately. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. I mean we moved all the way back to Australia just for BBQs right? Well, that plus the sunshine plus the beach. But since the weather hasn’t always been playing ball this season, the only guaranteed summer activity has pretty much been BBQs.

Which is all good and well until you run out of ideas for what to bring.

I’ve made so many fandangle salads this summer that I should totally buy shares in avocados and beetroot. I’ve done fruits on skewers and dates on skewers (really, wrapped in bacon – have you tried it? It’s amazing). Big salads, small salads, big cakes, small cakes. It was time to do something a little different and so last weekend I blasted out a new and completely made up recipe with my good friend, the humble mushroom.

Humble as my friend – the mushroom – may be, what I love most about these guys is not that they come in a huge variety of choices (I love them all), but they are also so versatile whether you want to spruce them up for a fancy dish or just chop ‘em and throw ‘em in a salad. I decided to pimp mine up with pork and macadamia nuts. Topped with bacon for good measure

Aside from the prep work, which is pretty mundane (I mean, “dice finely” is something I can live without. Forever.) this recipe is quite easy and I love the amazing smell of pork and onions and garlic and bacon permeating my living room. And then I added parmesan and my apartment smelled funky, but hey, the mushrooms tasted good!

You don’t necessarily have to follow my recipe. Add whatever you want to the innards, like more herbs and spices, and make your own summer mushroom creation!

By the way, the Australian Mushroom Growers Association are running a big “summer mushroom” campaign at the moment. Check out this site for some great mushroom recipe ideas!

Pork and macadamia nut stuffed mushrooms
8-10 large cup mushrooms 250 grams lean pork mince 1/4 onion, diced finely 1-2 cloves garlic, diced finely a few sprigs of chives, chopped 1/2 cup macadamia nuts, chopped finely 1 teaspoon sweet or smoked paprika salt and pepper, to taste olive oil for pan frying 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, finely grated 2 strips bacon, chopped finely olive oil for bacon (don’t need much – or use none at all) extra chives, chopped – for topping (yes there is a lot of “dicing finely” in the prep work)
De-stem and peel mushrooms. Set mushrooms aside and dice the stems into fine pieces. Set aside also. In a fry pan, heat up some olive oil. Add onion and garlic and fry for a couple of minutes until they soften and brown. Add mushroom stems and continue frying for a couple of minutes until fragrant. Add pork and fry until almost cooked (about 5-6 minutes). Sprinkle with paprika and salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the chives and macadamia nuts, remove from heat and pour mince mixture into a large bowl to cool. When the mixture is almost cool (not so hot that you can’t touch it), sprinkle parmesan cheese and stir through until well mixed. Pre-heat oven to 180°C/355°F. Lay aluminium foil or a baking sheet on a baking tray and coat with some spray oil or a teaspoon of oil. For each mushroom, take a spoonful of mixture and pack it tightly into the base, finishing with a little mound. Place on tray. When all mushrooms are ready, bake in oven for about 15-20mins, until tops are crispy and mushrooms are soft. While baking, heat a tiny bit more oil (or none at all as bacon has its own oil) and fry the bacon bits until crispy. Remove to a paper towel to drain. Once mushrooms are cooked, remove from oven. Sprinkle with bacon and chives to serve.
Makes 8-10

Jazz City Diner: the burgers aren’t pretty but they taste good!

catty — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 05:06:29 +0000

Have you ever seen a square patty? Is it to maximise logistics efficiency, like how they make square watermelons? Well, I for one hadn’t ever seen a square patty, not until I had a burger at Jazz City Diner last Friday night.

And honestly, I don’t care if they make their patties in an eight petalled flower mould, because those patties were effring delicious

The first thing I love about Jazz City Diner is that it’s hidden away from the hustle bustle end of Crown street, tucked into a hole in the wall so tiny you’d miss it if not for their little neon sign. The second is the big black guy who I assume runs the show and the fact that he looks like he could churn out a mean New Orleans gumbo (yes it’s on the menu). Third is that they serve their food in baskets. I LOVE places that serve in baskets!

(because I’m classy!)

Anyway, they have a fairly extensive burger menu, but Panu and I had the cheeseburger because that’s our benchmark on this mission we’re on to find the best burger in town. Jazz City Diner serves theirs with sweet potato chips…

… or for $3 more you can have onion rings. I’d stick with the chips.

The burgers were fabulous. Not pretty, but damn tasty – a juicy not-too-thick patty, the perfect amount of salad to complement, not overwhelm the burger, and the ketchup, mayo, pickle relish combo to round it all up. Oh, and a nice soft bun which I love.

For dessert we shared a slice of pecan pie which came with butter pecan ice cream. I know, right? Oozy gooey YUM.

Oh and there’s a fourth thing I love about Jazz City Diner! They serve A&W root beer floats! At a magnanimous $8, I have to add, but my obsession with A&W root beer floats knows no monetary boundary.

Overall, total awesome delicious dinner. Next burger should be at The Local Taphouse this Friday night.

Jazz City Diner
238 Crown Street
Darlinghurst, NSW, 2010
(02) 9332 2903
website

Petaling St Hawker: my home away from home

catty — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 05:43:25 +0000

I’ve actually been meaning to post about Petaling St Hawker for a long time. Well, “long” is relative considering they’ve only been open about five weeks. But I’m so excited about this place that I wanted to share it will y’all – just as soon as I had a bigger collection of dishes to talk about.

But that was never going to happen. Because I only ever eat three dishes at hawker places.

Although there’s been a recent boost of interest in Malaysian food, I still think it’s hard to find a really good Malaysian place. Sure, Mamak does a great roti, but they don’t serve the whole spectrum of classic Malaysian dishes like chicken rice, char kuay teow, har mee and the holy grail of Malaysian noodle soups, assam laksa. And believe me, I look hard for these.

So imagine my utter glee when Petaling St Hawker finally opens a branch in Sydney (they have multiple branches in Melbourne) and I can now not only get my favourite Malaysian dishes on tap, they’re good. And cheap! (We do like a bit of cheap).

I’ve been a few times now and honestly, I had all the intention of trying more dishes so I can show you but alas, I’ve only had my three staples:

The assam laksa -

Har mee (although my friend went on one occasion and said the soup wasn’t strong enough) -

Char kuay teow -

and Panu tried one of their specials, short rice noodles in clay pot -

God, it is just like being at home! Big love!

Petaling St Hawker
760 George St
Haymarket, NSW 2000
(02) 9281 6508
website

bite sized: Four in Hand burger… not a winner.

catty — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 06:01:21 +0000

There exists a burger which I don’t like. For real. This burger from the bar menu at Four in Hand might look amazingly succulent and juicy, but their pattie was packed full of herbs which I didn’t like at all. Herbs and bits like… capers?! In my world, capers only go with smoked salmon.

So alas, the search for the best burger in Sydney continues. Current winner: Glass Brasserie.

Four in Hand
105 Sutherland St,
Paddington, NSW, 2021
(02) 9326 2254
website

recipe | peanut butter ice cream

catty — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 04:23:26 +0000

Peanut butter. There are few things in life that peanut butter can’t fix, and when it comes as an ice cream, it is pretty much the most indestructible form of cheer-me-up goodness on this planet.

And I have been needing some cheering up lately, but that’s for another post.

For this post, I am going to once again say… seriously, if you don’t have an ice cream maker, what the hell are you living for? Having my little green machine has made making ice cream a breeze. And I’m not sure if it’s a good thing or a bad thing, but it’s not even about the making of the ice cream any more, it’s about how damn quickly I can eat it all so I can make my next batch

Which, incidentally, is going to be lychee sorbet. YUM.

Peanut butter ice cream (using an ice cream maker)
1 cup whole milk 2 cups thickened cream (with my matcha ice cream recipe, I experimented with 2 cups milk vs 1 cup cream. It wasn’t creamy enough so now I tried 2 cups cream vs 1 cup milk. It was too thick. So next time I’m going to try 1.5 cups of each) 1 cup chunky peanut butter 1/2 cup castor sugar (add more or less to taste) Extra crushed peanuts (not necessary if you used crunchy peanut butter)
Pre-freeze your ice cream maker bowl for at least 24 hours. In a bowl, combine milk, sugar and peanut butter and beat with an electric mixer until properly combined and sugar is dissolved. Stir in the cream. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight. When you’re ready to churn the ice cream, place the frozen bowl on the ice cream machine, turn on. Slowly pour in the cream mixture and let churn. If adding more crushed peanuts, slowly add them now. Let churn for about 15-20 minutes. Remove to a freezer container and freeze. Let sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes before serving.
Makes 1.5L

eating healthy at Healthy Chef Café, Avalon

catty — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:40:33 +0000

It’s kind of funny when people think all I eat is burgers and ice cream. That’s only like… 80% true. Because believe it or not, I can also eat healthy. Sometimes. I thought it was particularly funny when Maria and I were organising to catch up and she suggested checking out a cafe in Avalon, a “healthy” cafe, and suffixed her email with – don’t worry, they also make burgers.

Is that what I’ve become?

So because “they make burgers” (an obviously crucial requirement) we ended up at Healthy Chef Café last Saturday, all the way in Avalon, in the blistering storm and utterly un-beach-like weather.

Now, before you really get the wrong idea of me, I have to clarify that I don’t dislike unhealthy food. In fact, I don’t discriminate whatsoever. I discriminate on what tastes good and what tastes like crap, so if something healthy tastes good, I like it! If something unhealthy tastes bad (like, I totally had a bad tasting burger the other day – urgh) I don’t like it.

Easy.

(Yes, I said bad tasting burger. They exist.)

Turns out, Healthy Chef Café makes good tasting healthy food. They use 100 % clean ingredients that have no artificial colours, flavours, preservatives or additives, and everyone’s dietary requirements are met, with a menu full of meals which are gluten free, wheat free, low carb, high protein, sugar free, vegan and raw.

If you already read Maria’s blog, you’ll know that she’s quit sugar and dairy and currently enjoying a vegan diet. Granted, I’d never be able to do that in a million years, but Maria is about as healthy (and tall and blonde and tanned and gorgeous) as they come so she’s doing something right.

She ordered the quinoa and tabouleh salad (sans pomegranate dressing) -

And believe it or not, it wasn’t I who ordered the burger. Maria’s fiancée, Michael, had the cajun chicken burger with caramelised onion, organic egg, tomato, lettuce, cheese and tomato relish -

And Panu had the organic egg white omelette with mushrooms, tomato, a little cheddar and bacon. It was epically huge and fluffy, but apparently not completely filling.

I managed to find a healthy brunch that sounds rather unhealthy – nachos! – specifically bean and sweet-corn nachos with organic veggie corn chips [top].

They also serve awesome drinks, with a huge smoothie selection, and have available healthy alternatives like rice milk. And big fresh coconuts

Granted it’s a long long drive from Sydney (just under an hour with good traffic conditions), Avalon seems like a stunning location and I’d definitely go to Healthy Chef Café again. But rumour has it they’re opening a branch in Surry Hills! Woohoo!

Healthy Chef Café
17 Avalon Parade
Avalon Beach, NSW, 2017
(02) 9973 3233
website