I do love a good Italian cabbage salad - more refined than a coleslaw and more punchy than your diet-friendly green salad; when laid on top of a thin bed of San Daniele prosciutto and mixed with reggiano, it definitely gives an instant wow factor (and cholesterol) to the start of your meal.

I prefer to use savoy cabbage, as it is more flavourful and with a firmer, crunchy texture perfect for fine cuts. I must admit, as much as I would like to improve my knife work, using a mandolin to shread cabbage makes it so much more consistent and quicker to prepare.

Half Savoy cabbage
90% EVO 10% lemon olive oil
black pepper to season
40ml balsamic glaze
300g reggiano parmesean
10 slices prosciutto San Daniele

Combine all ingredients except prosciutto in a mixing bowl, toss evenly. Lay prosciutto on a serving dish and cover with cabbage salad. Serve immediately.

Boquerones are Spanish styled marinated white anchovy fillets which are a lot less pungent than regular anchovy with a citrus, vinegared taste. Serve on a fresh red endive leaf, with half a grape tomato, baby basil, and a paper thin slice of garlic and drizzled with extra virgin olive oil. Season with sea salt and black pepper.

Fresh prociutto san daniele with figs – my absolute favorite

I recently got foxtel (cable tv), and even with 200 extra channels, I am still only totalling about 2 hours of TV a week, and that’s me forcing myself to watch tv… because I’m paying for it! I do however, really like the background music in the digital TV guide channel. I know, I’m insane.

Here is a simple, filling soup you can prepare in under 45 minutes. Hey, if I can cook this while I’m tripping out on extremely strong painkillers (and doubled the dosage for added excitement) you can do this with your eyes closed! This is for you, Deb

All you need is:
2 leeks (only use the light green and white parts, discard the green leaves)
5 washed potatos
1 brown onion
2 slices of prosciutto / parma ham, bacon or pancetta, diced
1 litre of chicken broth
half a cup of cooking cream

Using a mandolin, slice leeks and potatos thinly, and finely dice the brown onion.

In the soup pot, add two tablespoons of butter and cook the onions and leeks until it’s softened and lightly browned. Add diced prosciutto or bacon – you may add more olive oil as well. The prosciutto really gives it extra flavour and smokiness, but if you are vegetarian you can easily leave this out.

Add the sliced potato in the pot and stir for another three minutes

Add chicken broth, just enough to cover the potatos. If the soup becomes too thick you can always add more broth later.

Simmer on medium heat for 15 – 20 minutes. The thinner you sliced your potatoes, the quicker it takes for them to cook. When the potatos become soft, you can start squishing them into smaller pieces with your wooden spoon.

Using a hand blender, blend soup on low heat until smooth. I would normally prefer it slightly lumpy to give it more texture, but I can’t chew!

You can see that the soup has become a lot thicker than before. You can stir in extra broth if you wish, and simmer for another ten minutes on low heat, stirring occasionally.

Add half a cup of cooking cream and slowly stir in before serving

and voila, a quick and easy soup – not to mention all the ingredients cost under ten dollars. Hello financial crisis!

The bar has an affordable sharing platters (all under $30 each) such as Mezze (hommus, fetta, olives, tzatziki etc), Sashimi, Charcuterie (terrine, rillettes, pate), Cured Meats (prosciutto, salami, bresaola) and Grilled meats (eye fillet, chipolatas, lamb chops, bacon). Not your usual bar food options, which is so refreshing to have something substantial after a few evening beverages, and not enough time for a dinner out.

You can say that it caters for all. Whether you’re looking for French sturgeon caviar ($230 for 50g) with a bottle of vintage champagne; a ice cold Kirin off the tap ($5) with a bowl of fries and a grill plate; a cheese selection with a bottle of wine; or desserts with a girlfriend and a cocktail in hand. The lounge is partially outdoors, proving to be the next favorite spot for smokers under the strict new smoking laws. Half of the tables are smoker friendly – that reason alone, if I was still a smoker, would make me a regular!

Look for the arrival of a new French elderflower liqueur with the first bottle delivered September 15 to Steel Bar and Grill - St-Germain elderflower liqueur is crafted from handpicked elderflowers and is a welcome introduction to the Australian bar scene, as it is the world’s only elderflower liqueur, served in an amazing Vanilla and Elderflower Martini.

(weekday lunch – quick bar food menu: Grilled Salmon, celery and apple salad, sauce gribiche; Angus Hamburger, bacon, gruyere, coleslaw, chips)

Open Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and Drinks til midnight. (Bar menu served all day)
Find me serving you three nights a week – in a very modest uniform. No more revealing Japanese mini silk dresses… the more you wear, the less they tip. Sad but true.

CIRA (The Council Of Italian Restaurants In Australia) was started by 12 Italian-Australian restaurateurs for cultural and educational purposes, to promote the values of Italian food in Australia. Fortunately for us, CIRA has a cooking school with the best Italian chefs offering courses to the general public and specialized courses for students and the industry.

Massimo (ex Buon Ricordo, and about to open Uccello at Ivy) gave a very personal cooking course at the kitchen of Casa Barilla, next to a long communal dining table. The format was perfect – we learn one course, we sit down and enjoy it with wine, and then we move onto the next. One of the founding members Armando Percuoco (Buon Ricordo) was also there to offer his advice on truly authentic Italian cooking.

Fettuccine with prosciutto, pomodorini and pecorino

There is a common misconception that pasta can be cooked as soon as the water starts to boil. The water has to be violently boiling – and you can heavily salt it, not just a pinch, but enough so you can actually taste the salt in the water. Drain the pasta about a minute or two less than the packet instructions (if you taste it, it’s still slightly raw in the middle) because when you pour it back into the pan with sauce, it will keep cooking. Save a cup of the pasta water (as it is “starchier” than normal water) for the sauce later if it becomes too dry. But in Rome, the sauce can never be watery, it has to stick to the pasta and be as dry as possible.

Scottadito d’abbacchio alla Romana (Scottadito means ‘by the finger’; d’abbacchio is young lamb – lamb chops you can eat with your fingers)

True Italian cooking only requires you to slightly crush garlic bulbs with your palms. Brown them in olive oil until they’re almost burnt (dark brown) and remove them from the oil. There is no need to chop it up as the flavour in the oil is enough. Garlic that is cooked through also makes the food taste less heavy, compared to say, French food. The same goes for the Rosemary – put the entire sprig in the pan, cook, and then remove. Keep the pan at high heat at all times so the lamb doesn’t end up broiled.

When the lamb chops are ready, the remaining fat can be made into a beautiful creamy sauce (without the help of cream or butter) by reducing with some anchovies, wine and vinegar.

La Ricotta

Ricotta cheese – made into a pattie, dusted with flour, covered in egg wash and deep fried in Strutto/sugna (pure pig’s fat) until golden brown. Dusted with cinnamon and sugar, cholesterol never tasted so good. Served warm.

This is truly sinful - but it tastes somewhat light.

If anyone is interested in the recipes I can scan them (with my notes included) for you to download.

Good service should be rewarded – I must admit, I was acting like a spoilt princess when I found out that the ‘outdoor table for 9′ that I booked ended up set by the entrance to the restaurant. The server saw the disappointment in my face and with his own initiative, ended up re-setting the outdoor area for us. I am a true believer that the service before the meal is crucial to the customer experience and it really depends on that first impression. You could have mind-blowing food, but if someone isn’t happy to begin with, they most probably will not enjoy the rest of the meal. This was probably something that was recognised right away and corrected. I wish more mid-ranged restaurants in Sydney would do this!

The food was beautiful, and we were amongst heaters on a crisp, cool Saturday afternoon in the courtyard of a Victorian terrace house with sandstone walls. Both the chef and the waiter were attentive to our needs (even though it was a quiet day, there were only two other tables in the restaurant that day), the food was delicate and the flavours were rich – just the way the French like it. I had no qualms with my 33% tip, well deserved – albeit a little painful for the wallet. I guess I felt bad for being difficult.

The wine list had my new favorite white for the moment - Vouvray (Chenin Blanc) from the Loire Valley alongside other French wines. Divine.

Escargots a la Bourguignonne $14
Snails with garlic butter and puff pastry

Souffle d’ecrevisses au gruyere $22
Twice baked Moreton bay bug & gruyere souffle

Salade au chevre chaud $15
Spinach salad with pears and warm goat’s cheese

Duck Rilette (special of the day)

Soupe du jour $14
Celeriac and Salsify soup with parsley toast

Saint-Jacques et crevettes a l’ail $35
Grilled scallops wrapped in prosciutto & garlic prawns (I thought of PetiteTokyo when I ordered this!)

Faux Fillet $29
Angus sirloin with bearnaise sauce & fries

Supreme de canard et son choux farci au porto $35
Pan-fried duck breast & stuffed cabbage with a port sauce

Plat Du Jour
Veal shank and lamb pie

Puree de pommes de terre $8

Creme brulee $14
Vanilla creme brulee

Profiteroles au chocolat $15
Chocolate profiteroles with vanilla ice cream

Tarte tatin $15
Apple tatin with ice cream

Delicioux!

DOM PERIGNON WEEK 2008

EXPERIENCE MAGNIFICENCE

Dom Perignon Plenitude Experience

We are inviting you to experience the romance,

passion and luxury of the champagne that knows no compromise.

Accompanied by Dom Perignon’s Greg Williams, explore the three extraordinary expressions of Dom Perignon.

Dom Perignon Blanc, Dom Perignon Rose and Dom Perignon Œnothèque.

Enjoy these exceptional wines with expertly crafted delicacies which allow Dom Perignon

to express its seamless and sensual qualities.

This unique experience is available for 8 guests only

We did a series of three vintages:

Vintage 2000 – matched with Salmon Sashimi
Rosé Vintage 1998 – matched with acorn fed prosciutto
Œnothèque 1993 – matched with oysters in ginger and ponzu

The Œnothèque was beautifully complex, it is a volumptuous wine with a lingering creamy fullness. What makes it so special? Normal champagne vintages are only released after 7 years of aging. Though on top of that, a small portion of each vintage is kept on the lees even longer to continue the evolution and magnify its natural qualities. When a vintage is released for the second time, it merits the Œnothèque label. It indicates that a Dom Perignon vintage has reached either its second peak in maturity, with optimized intensity (15 to 20 years after harvest), or its third peak, with optimized complexity (after 30 years on the lees).

I’m officially Champagne’d out.

It was a crisp, sunny Saturday afternoon. You could sit by the window alcove with the weekend papers and watch the world go by without a worry in the world, and every once in a while our dreamy-eyed waiter David will stop by for a friendly chat.

The tarts were exceptional – the menu done by Greg Burge (ex Aqua Dining and Rockpool catering), the layers of pastry so light and buttery, incredibly flaky when you bite into it, accompanied by sweet flavours such as caramelized onions and fig. The pizza was mediocre, it would’ve been better if it were prepared fresh upon ordering. The salad I loved, with my biased opinion because fig and prosciutto are one of my favorite combinations of flavours. The polenta muffin was very special, and a god-send to anyone with a wheat allergy – the texture was crumbly but the favours were sharp and the saltiness of bacon perfectly well balanced.

Tart of caramelized onions, fig and walnut

Prosciutto, fig and walnut raddichio salad

Gorgonzola pizza with olives

Polenta muffin with bacon & cheese

And on the house from our favorite waiter: Pear, honey and hazelnut mousse cake – just delectible, David.

How Saturdays should be – now if only I could pair this with a glass of Louis Roderer rosé…

I booked a 2 bedroom apartment for my friends at Tonic Hotel which is in Lovedale. It is ultra modern, the fridge is fully stocked with goodies (most of them complementry, such as bacon and eggs, fruit juices, cereals, milk, fruit salads etc), there is a fireplace, a large outdoor entertaining area, BBQ, two GIANT bathrooms with showers and Aesop products. Even the latest chillout music CD’s are provided by the strereo.

We began our day having lunch at Esca Restaurant @ Bimbagen. There were “wine tasting plates” on offer where you have an assiette of three dishes that are matched with 3 small glasses of wine. The view from the restaurant overlooking the vineyards is also amazing.

[left] Sumac spiced prawns with a watermelon, marinated fetta and mint salad
Caramelised onion, olive and duetto tart
Poached asparagus with a smoked salmon terrine and soft boiled egg

Matched with three Bimbadgen Estate White Wines  

[right] Wood spit-roasted duck with sauteed Ya pears
Wood char-grilled cumin lamb fillets
Wood char-grilled beef with parmesan polenta

Matched with three Bimbadgen Estate Red Wines 

 

This is followed by a visit to one of my favorite places – Piggs Peake Winery

Girls love the “I Swine”, which is a cute name they use for their popular Icewine – where my guyfriends bought multiple bottles, as “chicks totally dig it”, they say. You only need to take one look at the happiness on our faces.

Another favorite is the Scarborough, which are famous for their Chardonnays. I’m not a big fan of the Chardy, but if there is one winery that does it right, it is Scarborough. Very highly regarded by a lot of chefs I know, and they provide a very comprehensive tasting with free cheese!

Dinner was at Mojo’s Restaurant, where they only use the freshest local ingredients, and the menu changes seasonally. The atmosphere is casual and cosy.

 

On the way back to the hotel we caught a baby frog… it’s sooo cute! (No, I didn’t eat it)