Dude Food Deg at Lotus, Potts Point

I can’t believe the month of October is almost over. I have been looking forward to going to Dan Hong’s ‘Dude Food Deg’ since I saw it on the Crave event. It was supposed to be a one-off event, five course degustation of junk food ($70 pp, extra $50pp for matching drinks), but it was sold out so quickly that they decided to add two more, which was also sold out! I have always enjoyed Dan’s inspiration so knew I was in for a treat.

We started with the cheeseburger ‘spring roll’ and empanada ‘doner kebab’. Oh my goodness, the spring roll really tasted like a McDonalds cheeseburger, including the pickle, mustard, tomato without the bun but the pastry. It was absolutely delicious and could have definitely eaten a dozen on my own.

Like the spring roll, the empanada did taste like a doner kebab. I remember many drinking nights ending with a doner kebab, but it wasn’t quite the same, it was missing some sort of sauce, chili and barbecue. It was good but my favourite would have to be the spring roll.

Next, Indomie with fried quail egg, deep fried essays and ‘pulled buffalo wing’ sauce. I grew up on Indomie, it’s a dish I know quite well and love. Definitely one of my favourite, it had lots of flavour, the buffalo wing sauce really gave it a nice kick, and the fried eschallots really gave it that extra crunch and flavour. (I did ask my fried egg to be cooked longer, other diners had their yolk oozy)

I really enjoyed the pepperoni pizza with napoletana consomme. It was definitely different. I love wontons, usually filled with pork mince and vegetables, but these ‘wontons’ were filled with cheesy pepperoni pizza. The consomme was very similar to the tomato base of a pizza, it was so delicate and tasty.

Tasting of hotdogs – corndog, chicago style hotdog, foie gras and truffle hotdog. Definitely a fun idea.

The corndog was lightly battered, it was simple but yet tasty. It had the right amount of batter to sausage, and topped with mustard and tomato sauce, it was delicious.

The chicago style hotdog of Frankfurt style sausage, tomato, pickle and mustard was simple and possibly my favourite out of the three. Could have easily polished another two or three.

The foie gras and truffle hotdog was probably the craziest, A generous chunk of foie gras and drizzled with truffle oil. I opt for no foie gras, I know, call me crazy but I just didn’t want it. There were mixed reactions, some loved it and some thought it was crazily sweet!

And if you thought the above was crazy, dessert was donut ice-cream with candied bacon, banana fritter, pretzel praline, peanut butter and raspberry jam. Three words – OH MY GOD! Candied bacon! A guy from another restaurant, who happened to be sitting near me was in awe about this candied bacon. He couldn’t believe it was on the plate, I did offer him some but he politely declined!

The banana fritter was wrapped in kunefe, it was incredibly light and possibly my favourite. The donut ice cream, rich and delightful and eaten with the candied bacon, pretzel praline and peanut butter was just calorific but excellent. I thought my heart stopped for a mini heart attack! I have to admit though, I couldn’t finish the dessert, I was full and it was a tad rich but fantastic!

It was definitely a fun event! I can’t remember the last time I ate so much junk food in one sitting! Dan said that this was ‘probably my last dude food deg forever’. NOOOOOOO!!!!! I was looking forward to more dude food deg in the future! Service at Lotus was fantastic as always! I have enjoyed dining at Lotus, and no doubt will be back for their awesome cheeseburger!

Lotus

22 Challis Avenue

Potts Point 2011

Ph: +61 2 9326 9000

Artisan baking with seeds and grains at Brasserie Bread, Banksmeadow

Bread – I LOVE bread but have never attempted to make it at home. The thought of working with yeast just frightens me. So when I received an email from Sarah Han of Brasserie Bread asking if I would like to attend the Artisan Baking with Seeds and Grains Workshop, I couldn’t help but say yes!

The Artisan baking with seeds and grains workshop is a three hour hands-on class where participants learn how to make bread – seeded loaf, shape baguettes and dinner rolls. It also includes a tour of the Brasserie Bread’s operational bakery and ends with a tasting of the various types of organic breads with complimentary wine and cheese – YUM!

Now as the name suggests Artisan Bread: it is bread that is crafted rather than mass produced. An artisan baker is ‘a craftsperson who is trained to the highest ability to mix, ferment, shape and bake a hand crafted loaf of bread’.  Matthew Brock, Brasserie Bread Training Manager taught us how to make these wonderful bread. Step by step, we started with the Multigrain Struan, described as bringing together a soaker, biga, and a selection of grains.

The recipe on how to make this tasty bread: It’s quite tedious, there are about three steps. Starting with Biga, which is a type of pre-ferment used in Italian baking. It adds complexity to the bread’s flavour and is often used in breads which need a light, open texture with holes. Made by mixing 112g of bread flour mix (40% kialla organic stone-ground wholemeal flour, 40% Manildra bakers meal and 20% organic unbleached plain flour) with 1g of fresh yeast and approximately 85g of water at 21 degrees.

Mix all the ingredients together and form a dough ‘ball’. Knead for 2 minutes, then let it rest for 5 minutes then knead again for another 1 minute, then covered and refrigerate for 8 – 12 hours.

The soaker is made from 30g of bread flour mix, 85 grains consisting of soaked sunflower seeds, linseeds, boiled grains and rolled oats, 2g of river salt and 85g of milk. The other ingredients include 7g of fresh yeast (which can be purchased from your local baker), salt and agave nectar in extra virgin olive oil to impact flavour and fat.

The final dough can be made by chopping the biga into 6 small pieces and lightly dusted with flour. Combine all the ingredients together and mix for 5 minutes. The dough will become very sticky (and gooey – my least favourite part), and it is important not to add flour, and important to work the dough by hand. Rest the dough for 5 minutes, then knead again for 1 minute to strengthen the gluten before it is placed in a bowl, covered and left for 45 minutes.

Another tedious process, which I am not very good at! Once the dough is ready, ‘shape’ it into a round-ish looking ‘ball’, roll in rolled oats and dust with wholemeal flour and prove at room temperature for 45 – 60 minutes. Matthew makes it look so easy! Clearly I had trouble and my bread looked a little ‘rustic’ – to put it nicely. Using a sharp blade, slash the dough, and place into oven (preferably onto a pre-heated stone base) and start bake at 220C, inject steam for 2 – 3 seconds, and reduce heat to 18C and finish baking for 40 – 50 minutes for at least 1 hour.

The SECOND part of the workshop involves making multigrain bread rolls, baguette a l’ancienne and pain d’epi. Unfortunately I didn’t take step by step photos as my hands were a tad dirty, but it was definitely fun! My baguettes were again ‘rustic’ looking but surprisingly it turned out ok and was quite tasty!

Whilst the bread were baking, we were taken on a tour of a bakery whilst it is in full operation.

The bread…. it smelt so divine, I was so tempted to grab them and eat it on the spot.

After all our hard work of baking, we were treated with some degustation of different types of Brasserie Bread with a selection of cheese, pepe saya butter and taramasalata.

So many bread, I was in heaven! Will definitely come back to pick up a loaf or two.

Before leaving, I did buy some pastries – croissants, snail and my favourite the fruit pastry – seriously sinful, but seriously good!

I have yet to dine at the cafe, but will not hesitate to go back!

Thanks again Sarah and Brasserie Bread for the experience. We got the recipe to make the bread, and no doubt I will try and make it soon. The family definitely enjoyed it – who doesn’t love bread right?

Full course details can be found on Brasserie Bread website.

Braisserie Bread

1737 Botany Rd

Banksmeadow 2019

Ph: 1300 966 845

Dining story, personal chef and cooking class services

I love the name because it is true, every dining has a story whether it is dining with friends, family, co-workers, it has a story. Whether you enjoy the food, the wine, the company, the reason behind the dining, there is a story.

I had the pleasure of meeting the chef and owner of Dining Story, Sachiko Marchand. Dining story is not only a personal chef service, but also a cooking lesson service at the comfort of your own home.

Sachiko found her passion for cooking from the age of three. She has worked all over the world, from Tokyo, to France, to Morocco and Sydney where she worked at both Le Pelican and No1, Tony Bilsons Restaurant. She has been to more than twenty countries to learn about food cultures and with all the experiences she has gained, she has formed Dining Story – where she would create and customise parities and dinners for customers tailored to their needs and conditions.

Tonight was a special cooking class. The menu can be found here and everything looked wonderful. I couldn’t decide what I wanted to learn so asked ‘The Mother’ and he liked the look of ‘French cooking class B advanced’ which is Quiche with spinach and bacon, ocean trout medium rare confit with warm salad with sage and lemon butter and millefeuille with cream patisseiere.

Sachiko arrived at our tiny apartment and demonstrated how to cook in my little kitchen. Not only does she demonstrate but she also encourages you to participate. I even managed to cut my thumb with her uber sharp knife which I fell in love with!

I won’t go into the details of step by step recipe and cooking as I would like to replicate it myself in the next coming weeks. However, a recipe will be given to you and Sachiko will go through step by step on how to make each dish. A couple of techniques and short cuts that she has picked up along the way which is helpful for an amateur chef like me.

We started with the quiche with spinach and bacon. She even taught me how to make my own pastry! Easier than you think so stay tuned as I will attempt to make this next week!

The pastry was flaky, thick and wonderful. The filling I loved, it was so delicious that it was hard to stop at just one slice.

I love confit ocean trout, anything confit and ocean trout really.

The ocean trout was incredible, it just melted in your mouth. It was delightful and doesn’t that look extremely professional? Let’s see if I can replicate this!

Dessert, millefeuille with cream patisserie was also easier to make than I thought.

Fluffy, crunchy pastry with creamy delicious custard was just epic! It tasted just as good as bought in a patisserie store.

Imagine serving up these dishes at your next dinner party? Dinner will never ever be the same again! Ooooh the HIGH expectations!

Home cooking classes goes for 2 hours, three dishes for 2 to 3 people at $120 per person. The more people the cheaper the cooking class. As for corporate events, Sachiko provides sushi demonstration and tasting, or sushi team building and or corporate lunches up to eight people. More details can be found on the website.

I can see this as a fun event for hens or birthday parties or event anniversary. Or even if you want to improve your culinary skills (like me!), then Sachiko is the person for you. She is incredibly talented, and friendly! Would not hesitate to call her for an event or another cooking class. Thanks again Sachiko, it was so lovely to meet you and hear about your experience. It is always overwhelming and inspiring to meet someone who are passionate about their job. Sachiko is truly passionate about cooking, it has somewhat inspired me to find what my ‘passion’ is – whatever that  maybe!

Dining Story

Sachiko Marchand

info@diningstory.com.au

Ph: +61 421 937 672

Truffle degustation, Cibo e Vino, Castle Hill

Truffle – ‘the fruiting body of an underground mushroom’. There are many different types of truffles, white, black, Chinese, summer or burgundy and many more. I love truffles and when my dear friend IW and owner of Cibo e Vino said they were doing a tribute to truffle evening I couldn’t resist. How can I say no to a night of truffles? The team at Cibo had sourced their stash of ‘black gold’ Perigord truffles from Majimup, Western Australia.

A not so local, Cibo e Vino serves Modern Italian restaurant in the heart of Castle Hill. It certainly has been a while since my last visit, last year I attended their spring menu and that was superb.

Two truffle-mania, C and DC attended the feast with me. Started with mushroom cappuccino with truffles with brioche and house-made truffle butter – YUM! Delicious and creamy mushroom with a rather generous serving of truffle.

I love brioche, it was toasted and rich and smothered with truffle butter – oh my – sinful but yet delish!

Next, the slow cooked egg with black truffles.

The slow egg cooked egg which sat on a mountain of salt, and again topped with truffle. Eggs and truffle – perfect combo!

I was a little hesitant about the tartare of NZ scampi with smoked mullet roe and mixed salad with truffle dressing. I am not usually a huge fan of raw scampi but I was pleasantly surprised and this turned out to be the highlight of the evening, for myself and the diners.

The scampi was magnificently fresh and I love the smoked mullet roe (more of it would have been good though!) and the mixed salad with truffle dressing a wonderful complement.

No hesitation there – gone! I could have easily eaten another serving… or two! Thanks to the Chef, Shiman Wu for giving me some to take home!

Linguine with confit of pork neck and shaved truffles. Generous serving of tender, juicy pork which has been ‘shredded’ and topped with shaved truffles. It was oh so truffle-y and oh so delicious!

I was getting really full by this stage, didn’t finish the all the linguine but as IW said ‘you ate all the important stuff’ – yes the pork and the truffle!

Palate cleanser – watermelon and blood orange granita. Refreshing, however, I couldn’t taste any of the blood orange.

Last of the savoury, poached beef fillet with foie gras, truffles and truffle mash. Extremely pink and tender, I noticed both C and DC savoured the best bit of foie gras, I on the other hand ate it first! The truffle mash – OMG – melt in your mouth fantastic!

Dessert, rice pudding with truffles which sat on a bed of biscuits crumbs. I am still undecided about this dessert. C loved it, he said it ‘tastes like ice cream the more you eat it’. DC said it was too truffle-y, and I have to somewhat agree with him.

Don’t get me wrong, it was deliciously creamy, and truffle-y and different in a good way, but I don’t know if I would order it if seen on the menu. The crumbs I loved and complemented the rice pudding well.

Overall, it was a wonderful evening with friends, who share the same passion for truffles as much as I do. The degustation costs $110 pp for six courses and $160pp if you wanted matching wines.

Below, a couple of photos that are on their menu. Uncle took the photos a while back and no doubt his pictures looks absolutely fantastic! I (and two other hungry girls!) had the pleasure of tasting it.

The crab cake with a  salad of onions and baby herbs ($18) – one of the nicest crab cakes I have had.

The market fish with fennel and pomegranate salad and herbed breadcrumbs ($31).

Parpadelle with wild mushroom ragu ($26), a favourite of ours, different types of mushroom, el dante parpadelle – YUM!

I never really had a ‘good’ brussel sprouts until I had it at Cibo. Now I won’t hesitate to make it at home or order it at the restaurant. Brussel sprouts with bacon ($7). If you like squid ink linguine, then Cibo has one of the nicest squid ink linguine with prawns, calamari and scallops ($29).

Their shoe string fries with herbs, parmesan and chili ($7) is my favourite.

Unfortunately they have taken the beef short rib off the menu and replaced it with beef cheeks, but this was ONE UNBELIEVABLE red wine braised Riverina beef short ribs with mash and gremolata ($31). So GOOD!

Mash potatoes ($7) – creamy and oh so delicious.

Cibo would definitely be a ‘local’ for me if I didn’t live so far away. However, still manage to go a few times a year as the food is tremendous! Sorry DC – I know I got us lost a couple of times. If you haven’t been, definitely a must! Excellent Modern Italian cuisine, both IW and Chef really do put effort and soul into it! Service super friendly and definitely worth the trek!

GA’s ratings: 8 / 10

Cibo e Vino

301 Old Northern Road

Castle Hill 2154

Ph: +61 2 8002 0912

[TOYS] Collective #7: Old dogs, new tricks, Porteno

I really enjoyed the [TOYS] event earlier this year in March that I was determined to go to the next one. So when I found out they were holding another event I couldn’t say no. It was at Porteno – one of my favourite restaurant, and the theme was ‘Old Dogs, New Tricks’, chef partnerships between [TOYS] and their mentors. Huge ‘cast’ of chef, I had high expectations – love majority of the chef and well, it did not disappoint. At $220 per person, for six courses, it was expensive as hell but worth every penny! Loads of food and flowing alcohol, as each course was matched with wine and thank goodness I didn’t drive!

The event started at 6pm, I ‘dragged’ the gym enthusiast, S with me and at 6 on the dot we were there. I knew both M and Y were also attending. We started with a cocktail by Luke Ashton: New Sensation which is Laird’s applejack apple brandy, aperol, bespoke mandarin syrup and pimento dram. It was STRONG – kind of burn sensation and not great if you are thirsty – it’s one of those drinks that you drink slowly – sip by sip (well for me anyway!).

Canapes by Morgan McGlone (ex Flinders Inn, it is his last TOYS event as he is moving to New York! So cut I didn’t get to try his restaurant!) and his inspiration Mark Holmes, ferran prawn dumplings which was tortellini with prawns inside. It was tasty and I could have easily eaten half a dozen on my own.

The chilled beetroot shot I enjoyed, served cold and in a shot glass – it was smooth and went down too easily and too quickly!

Unfortunately, I didn’t try the boo-kaki and not even sure what that is! I love the layout of Gardel’s Bar which can be found above Porteno restaurant, we chatted, drank, ate canapes and after about an hour, we moved downstairs where the feast was to start!

As soon as S and I sat down, the flow of alcohol started, and well I couldn’t exactly say no (even though I am doing dry July, tonight was an exception!)

Started with trumpeter fish by Hamish Ingram (Bar H, Surry Hills) and Damian Pignolet. Such a simple and refreshing dish, the sashimi was fresh and the celery, radicchio and chervil a wonderful complement. It was the perfect start.

Red Herring, pickled stalks, mackerel, smoked pine curd by Darren Robertson (ex Tetsuyas) and Dave Pegrum (also ex Tetsuyas, then moved to Forbes and Burton and now head Chef at the Bronte Road Bistro). This was another light dish, served at room temperature, the mackerel was deliciously sour, a little slimy for some and the dollops of goats cheese gave it that extra flavour. Y didn’t enjoy this as much as M, S and I. There were mix reviews amongst the diners, but it was a definite winner for me.

Ham, cheese and eggs by Mitch Orr (Duke, Darlinghurst) and Giovanni Pilu (Pilu at Freshwater) was probably my least favourite. I can see what Mitch was trying to do – shaped like an ‘egg’, the white layer is actually pecorino and it was strong, salty and extremely cheesy! TOO strong for my liking, I loved the ham stock, full of flavour and I have to admit, it did complement the cheese, but it was just a little too much for me. It was a love or hate dish and Y certainly enjoyed it more than the rest of us.

The truth by Thomas Lim (Duke) and Jeremy Strode (Bistrode, ex Bentley), Pig’s trotter stuffed with veal sweetbreads, chicken mousse, shiitake and ginger, garlic chive, pickled onions, beer mustard was divine! Both M and I were a little ‘nervous’ as his last dish at TOYS event wasn’t a favourite of ours but we were both pleasantly surprised.

The trotter was SO tender it just melted in my mouth. The beer mustard excellent and pickled onions a wonderful complement and I really couldn’t get enough of it. Could have definitely eaten another serving!

Tastes like Chicken by Joel Humphries and Nick Wong (Bodega, Surry Hills) and Ben Milgate, Elvis Abrahanowicz (Porteno, Surry Hills), New Zealand milk-fed lamb, smoked eggplant, flatbread cooked in its own ash was TO DIE FOR!

You all know how much I don’t like lamb, but this was moist and deliciously tender and as M said ‘true to it’s name – tasted like chicken!’. I couldn’t help but have a couple of pieces and could have happily eaten more!

The sides – where do I start? The eggplant puree – magnificent, but it is the flatbread that’s like icing on the cake. It was just SUPERB! Seriously superb and should definitely be on the Porteno menu! M managed to sneak in an extra piece of bread from Joel! Believe it or not, for both M and I, this was a standout dish and this is coming from two girls who does not love lamb, and would avoid it like plague!

Morgs has my flavours by Adriano Zumbo (Zumbo Patisserie) and Dean Gibson – chocolate, orange, and some form of German Cake. Three words – OH MY GOD! EPIC!

The German cake is very similar to that of an Indonesian version of kue lapis and one of my favourite! So thin and soft and oh so frigging delicious. Inside, ice cream and chocolate and oh so good! The chocolate paddle pop like is actually vanilla ice cream topped with chocolate and orange peanut brittle – oh dear god, I am certain I had a foodgasm! I didn’t know which one to eat first, the cake? the ice cream? the cake? It was phenomenal and one of the BEST dessert Zumbo has done!

To end, cocktail by Simon McGoram: ‘Till the Bitter End’ – espresso liqueur and my goodness, so strong that I could only have a sip and that was it. Each course was complemented by a wine – to be honest, I can’t remember the flavours of each, by the third glass of red wine, everything tasted wonderful!

Both M and I have similar taste and for both of us, the most outstanding dish of the evening definitely the Porteno’s lamb – I had great expectations from the Porteno boys and they truly did not disappoint! It trumped over the pig’s trotter and I LOVE PORK! Second was definitely the pig’s trotter followed by the mackerel for me, and silver trumpet for M. The dessert is really on a class of its own. If I wasn’t so full, I would have definitely gone in the kitchen and asked Zumbo for another!

Glad to have met the chefs, and chatted. Give me the trotter for entree, lamb for main and German cake for dessert anytime of the week and I will be ONE SERIOUSLY HAPPY GIRL!

Definitely the BEST TOYS event thus far! It will be hard to top the next event, it was ‘fan-bloody-tastic’. Very impressed with the food, service, alcohol, EVERYTHING was just magnifique and waddled to the car exhausted but extremely satisfied!

Again thanks to the chef and Mel for organising everything.

GA’s ratings: 8.5 / 10

[TOYS] Collective

Porteno

358 Cleveland Street

Surry Hills 2010