Baking: Choc-Chip Biscuits

In what turned out to be a long weekend full of "firsts" I discovered this little gem of a recipe. They may not look like all that much, but these little bikkies disappeared so quickly I was quite flattered! Of three dozen baked, none were left... so yes, I'm happy with this recipe! It can also be frozen at the "chill" step for at least a month. I omitted nuts, mainly through laziness, but I can see how they would make a nice addition.

Chocolate Chip Biscuits
(from Stephanie Alexander's "The Cook's Companion", pg 312)

125g plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp bicarb soda
120g roasted nuts (walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts, almonds), chopped
170g bittersweet chocolate, chopped (I used 70% dark belgium chocolate, and would recommend chopping it up fairly well)
110g softened unsalted butter
1/3 cup caster sugar
1/3 cup raw or brown sugar
1 egg

Sift flour, salt and bicarb soda into a large bowl. Add nuts and chocolate. In an electric mixer, cream butter, castor sugar and brown sugar until pale and fluffy. Add egg, then fold in chocolate mixture. Form into 2 logs about 4cm in diameter and wrap tightly in plastic film. Chill for 1 hour before baking.

Preheat oven to 175C and line a baking tray with baking paper. Unwrap logs and cut into 1.5cm thick slices. Place on baking tray, allowing room for spreading (LOTS of room for spreading), and bake 12 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

The recipe lists a handy hint for freezing the mixture - slip each log inside a cardboard tube from a roll of kitchen paper to prevent the log freezing with 1 side flattened. Thaw at room temperature for 30 minutes before slicing.

This mix really does spread. I think the next time I make it I'll make the logs a bit smaller in diameter, which will in turn give me more biscuits. And I think keeping a log's-worth of mix in the freezer is a damn fine idea!

Eating Out: Ocha

156 Pakington Street, Kew
Ph: 03 9853 6002

Despite there being quite a few blog posts waiting patiently in the wings for their turn to be completed and posted, I absolutely HAVE to bring Ocha to the front of the list.

Back in November I threw a post up about a book I'd read by Ruth Reichl called Garlic and Sapphires, in which she described some incredibly good sashimi she had eaten. I mentioned that reading that paragraph had born a desire in me to give this a try. After speaking with the Tummy Rumblers on the best way to do this they suggested Ocha would be the best place for me to break my sashimi cherry.

Mel made a booking back in January - and last night was the night. I'll link to her post when it's up, as I know Mel will write about it all so much better than me (and I can't quite remember everything that we had) plus there may be pictures. But here's what I remember:

We shared a sushi and sashimi combo to get the meal started. The first plate came out - succulent pink pieces of tuna and salmon, plus delicate white fish pieces, that I can't remember what they were. Then the same fish on small blocks of rice, plus tuna rolls and grilled eel sushi. After getting some instructions on how to tackle this I took a piece of tuna in my chopsticks, smeared a few dots of wasabi and dunked it in my soy sauce, took a deep breath, and popped it in my mouth. I don't really know what I expected, but I know I was NOT expecting anything this divine. The tuna was firm and soft all at once, without any real "fishy" taste (like you get from that horrid tinned stuff), and the bite was over much too soon. "Hmm, this is interesting" I say to myself. Next up I repeat the process with the white-fleshed fish (Mel, Danny, what the HECK was that again?!). Oh my... would you believe this was even better?! Definitely my favourite of the three. Last of the "pieces of fish on their own" was salmon, which you may remember I tackled for the first time last year. This salmon left anything I tried then for dead!

Next up was the sashimi draped elegantly over little blocks of rice. After receiving some instruction from Danny (dip them fish-side down in the soy so the rice doesn't fall apart) I gamely kept on chewing. THIS is sashimi? Why on earth have I avoided it for so long?! A tuna roll went the same way, followed by grilled eel... oh bliss.

The next dish came out - a fan of incredibly thinly sliced, incredibly rare beef arranged in a fan around a plate with a small salad in the middle, a dollop of marinated daikon (is that what it was Mel?), soy sauce and a squirt of lemon juice. When it comes to red meat I'm a medium-well-done kinda gal, but this... wow... who would have thought of combining soy and lemon juice? Absolute bliss.

For my main I reverted to something a little more tame - at the time of ordering I had not yet tried the sashimi, so thought I should order something safe, just in case things didn't work out. The mirin chicken was just divine - served on a bed of salad leaves with halved cherry tomatoes and shredded red cabbage, a light dressing with a drizzle of something akin to kecap manis (?), and I'm sure I tasted a hint of wasabi in there somewhere too. Just lovely. Danny ordered Patagonian something... delicious white fish that fell apart as soon as you looked at it, while Mel ordered the green tea soba with sliced chicken... had a taste of that too, it was beautiful.

The guys said that my first taste of sashimi should be the best sashimi I can possibly get. I'd have to say that Ocha fit that bill perfectly. It's been a long time since I enjoyed a meal out so much.

When Mel and Danny post their review I'll be sure to provide the link. I hope the pictures they took turn out ok - Ocha is lit quite dimly lit. Also $5 corkage per person seems a bit steep. But hey, it's all part of the experience, right? I can't wait for my next visit.

I'm an Aunty!!

Well, kind of.

At 1.45am this morning an old friend (I think we've been friends 17 years or so) gave birth to an 8 pound 14 ounces (for the more modern among you, I think that's about 4kg) girl, Emily Grace. Mum and bub doing well now, although Mum had a slight turn after the delivery (wouldn't you?!?!).

I have no idea when I'll get to visit the new family member - Casino is a long way from Melbourne! Can't wait for pictures... I'm hoping my mum will come good and send me something in the next day or so.

Gimme some champers!!

ROADTRIP!!! Wagga for a Holiday

Imagine opening your eyes to this in the morning, with the sounds of magpies and assorted other birdies singing you into the waking world. Welcome to my days in Wagga, approximately 4.5 hours drive north of my front door.

I was lucky enough to be able to stay with a friend while I was there - the guy she is sharing the house of was really nice in giving me a roof, also taking care of my food, and endless cups of tea (and rather too much red wine). It was just fantastic. When I left yesterday I was actually a little sad to be heading back to the real world :-( The time away really was exactly what I needed: a few days of peace, laziness, and no work. I even slept well!! (for those who don't know, I don't sleep very well, particularly in new places, so this was a TRULY amazing thing). All up I think I only did about 1,100km the whole trip, so that was nice and easy too.

*sigh* But tomorrow is work again at 7am :-( Then off to Canberra next week. Life goes on, eh? :-)

Banana Jam

I have these pleasant memories of mum in her kitchen when I was younger, simmering up all kinds of sweety-goodness - grape jam, tomato and passionfruit jam, plum jam, gooseberry jam... I'd often sniff my way into the kitchen, only to get a deft swat with the wooden spoon and told to stay out. Fair enough - hot, sugary liquid burns like hell, and I'm a klutz.

But until recently I'd never tried this myself. My first attempt, nectarine butter, worked well enough, with plenty of room for improvement. Then Mel directed me to this recipe a couple of weeks ago, and I knew I had to try it.

I'd never heard of banana jam before. But it seemed like fate when, last weekend at work, one of the vege stalls was selling banana's for a mere $1 per kilo. It was a sign, I tell you! What else could I do but buy up big?

I used Matt's recipe (can't be bothered typing it up), and it worked well for me. Fair warning is given about licking the spoon, which I fixed by waiting for anything on the spoon to cool slightly before running my finger over it. However I think my idea of "low heat" must be different to other people's - the recipe says the mix takes about 30 minutes to get thick, where mine took a fraction over an hour. I also reduced the amount of cinnamon slightly, and only added a little over a cup of sugar. In any case the results are well worth the effort, I say. Teamed with peanut butter in a toasted sandwich, this is just DIVINE. I still have about a kilo of bananas and some limes, so as soon as I get a few more jars I'll be brewing up another batch!

Oh yes, quantities: this recipe gave me one full small pasta-sauce jar (about 375g, I think?) and about half of another the same size.