spoon

Review: Olivo's Italian Restaurant!!

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Posted on Sunday, 9 October 2011 | By: Four Little Foodlings

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So on a cold, wet and rainy Saturday night; I was in the mood for an Italian feast so with our kitchen still in renovations I decided to drag my family out to a local favourite restaurant- Olivos an Italian woodfired pizza and pasta place located in Castle Hill. The service was great with the friendly waiter seating us immediately in a corner booth. The seating is spread our quite well and so everyone had their own space even though the restaurant was quite packed.

For entrees we ordered the Moroccan chicken and our customary tomato bruschetta. I had never had the chicken before and it was definitely a pleasant surprise, a very tender and juicy dish, with a lovely complementary salad on the side and a small portion of spiced yogurt sauce. The bruschetta was however a little bit too much on the crusty side and the tomato was slightly dry and lacked flavor; however it was still a decent starter and is usually of a higher standard.  


After walking in and seeing the wood fired pizza made fresh right behind the counter we were very keen for a pizza. So for the mains we ordered the Chef special pizza of the day which was an interesting mix of smoked salmon, prawns, bacon, sour cream and wait for it… avocado? Now I thought this was quite a strange combination, but I’m always up to trying something different and I was not let down, with the different flavors definitely stimulating my taste buds, it turned out to be a bit of a party in my mouth :p. Also for the mains we shared a chili prawn and snow pea linguine, and a chicken and pumpkin risotto. The linguine was quite nice, cooked to al dente, however the chili flavor was slightly too mild for my liking and the dish was kind of drenched in olive oil. The chicken and pumpkin risotto was a pleasant dish, however it was too bland to be anything more than pleasant, something you would eat on the couch while watching greys anatomy. Other traditional pasta such as Spaghetti Bolognese and Fettuccine Carbonara were also available. Prices for mains were also quite reasonable ranging from about $20-$30 for a good portion size of pizza or pasta. 



Ok so my sister and I are major dessert fans and especially saved that last bit of space in our stomachs for a sweet treat at the end. I swear my sister must have tasted the chocolate cake in every restaurant we have ever been to so it was the Mississippi mud cake for her and I always love my gelato so I just had a scope of hazelnut gelato. The deserts aren’t particularly special at Olivos but they are defiantly satisfying treat , the mud cake was surprisingly light and fluffy and I think my sister was hoping for something more rich, however she did completely devour it. As for the gelato, the hazelnut flavor was to my liking and it was rich and smooth so I was very satisfied.

 

All in all I felt we made the best of a rainy night, and I would definitely recommend Olivos for anyone with a love for Italian food, especially woodfired pizza.
For more information on location and opening hours check out their website http://www.olivorestaurant.com.au

Buon Appetito!!
Foodling 2

Restaurant Review: The Tea Cosy

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Posted on Saturday, 8 October 2011 | By: Four Little Foodlings

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What could be better than spending a beautiful weekend at The Rocks enjoying a delicious high tea with friends and family?


One of my favourite high tea places of all time is situated right in the heart of The Rocks just next to The Rocks Weekend Market which is pleasantly enjoyable to walk through and immerse yourself in all the wonderful exotic stores.

When walking past the row of shops parallel to the weekend markets, you will see an inconspicuous shop house The Irish Design Shop with a sign saying "Freshly Baked Scones", if you love scones, this is the perfect place for you to go to and have a delectable afternoon tea.

When you walk into the shophouse, you would immediately feel like you're walking into a homely and warm little cafe with little teapots lined up by the sides of the staircase. The front of the shophouse is a small Irish store that sells traditional Irish gifts, tea sets and celtic jewellery.

The Tea Cosy is all the way at the back of the shophouse where it is beautifully decorated with a very traditional Irish feel and lovely little accessories.


I absolutely love their decor! It makes me feel like I'm in a totally different place altogether! Don't you think?



The thing about The Tea Cosy is that it only sells scones and that's that! So it makes it so much easier to decide what to eat! They have a fairly wide choice of tea to choose from to pair it with the scones.

The great thing about The Tea Cosy is that they change the scones selection every month so you will never get bored with the selection! The last time I visited The Tea Cosy, the scones were Apple Strudel, Plain, Cheese and Onion, Date and Apricot.

The scones for the month of October are plain, spinach and feta, currants and white chocolate berry!

This is the tasting basket for 2, it has 4 scones, 2 jam selections. The tea comes seperately
I absolutely adore their scones! Their scones are piping hot and huge, it is very moist on the inside while slightly crumbly on the outside. The best thing about their scones is that it is baked fresh in the morning and afternoon so you won't have to worry about eating old and overnight scones! I love their teapots too! All of the teapots come with their own little tea cosy and every one is hand knitted and all different and its so cute!

The tasting basket for 2 which we ordered comes with 2 selections of jam, if I remembered it correctly, we ordered raspberry jam and triple berry jam which is my favourite jam from the teahouse! The clotted cream is really smooth, light and fluffy and we could not stop spreading generous portions of cream on our scones! I heard from the waitress there that they make their own jam and cream which makes the scones even more delectable.

You could also order a scone set instead of a tasting basket! The scones set comes with 2 scones, a jam and a clotted cream along with tea of your choice for only $9.50!

The outdoor area is really small but really pretty and simple, looking out of the window from the cafe makes my mood perk up immediately. It is really different from all the other cafes I have been to and I feel that you should defintely visit this place at least once!

My family absolutely loves their scones and on one occassion I wanted to take their scones away and the scones were priced at $1.50 per scone which is really much more affordable than I expected!

Delicious and fresh scones at such affordable prices and with such a homely and comfortable ambience, what more can you ask for?

FYI: The Tea Cosy is only open on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays while The Irish Design Shop is open on all days.
The shop has vibrant posters all around, they are absolutely gorgeous!

The Tea Cosy

Address:
33 George Street,
The Rocks, Sydney,
Australia 2000

Opening Hours:
Fri:10:00 am-4:00 pm
Sat - Sun:10:00 am-5:00 pm        

Telephone: 02 92473233

Website: http://www.irishdesign.com.au/g/4145/the-tea-cosy---tea-room.html

Or you could visit their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Tea-Cosy/178079518915595


Hope you guys have a great weekend!

Bain taitneamh as do bhéil!

Foodling 3

Orange Chiffon Cake

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Posted on Friday, 7 October 2011 | By: Four Little Foodlings

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I love baking, and in fact baking is not as difficult as you think it is! One of my favourite recipes of late is this orange chiffon cake which is really light, fluffy and delicious and most importantly, really really easy to make as well!


This recipe is a hit among our family! Everyone loves it and have it really often!
If you love eating cakes, the citrus fragrance of oranges and have a sweet tooth this is the absolute perfect recipe for you!

Let's just jump right to it then!

Orange Chiffon Cake
Ingredients:
5 egg whites (at room temperature)
½ tsp cream of tartar
75g caster sugar
5 egg yolks
7 tbs coconut milk
5 tbs vegetable oil
75g caster sugar
5 tbs orange juice
1 tbs orange zest
150 g self raising flour, sifted
400ml full cream
2 tbs icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla paste or extract
150g hazelnuts


Procedures:
1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees fan forced mode or 180 degrees regular mode

2. In a mixing bowl, seperate the egg whites from the yolks.
I always loved my little egg seperator, it really comes in handy if you aren't a pro at cracking eggs right down the middle, saves tonnes of time as well! You can easily get them in Target or Big W or here!

3. Beat egg white and cream of tartar with an electric mixer till soft peaks.  Add sugar one tablespoon at a time & beat thoroughly after each addition till you achieve stiff peaks.  Set aside.



4. In a separate bowl whisk egg yolks with caster sugar till fluffy.  


5. Add coconut milk, vegetable oil, orange juice, zest and self raising flour and whisk until combined.  
Health Tip: If you feel coconut milk is too rich, you could substitute it for milk, the cake would be lighter and not as rich

6. Gently fold the egg whites into the flour mixture in 3 batches.  


7. Pour into a 25 cm baba cake tin.  Bake at 160 degrees or 25 min fan forced or till skewer come out clean
Heh, apologies for the messy cake tin, I was rushing (:

8. Place hazelnuts in a shallow baking tray and roast until the skins flake off easily when rubbed.
Cooking Tip: If you do not have hazelnuts at home, you could substitute it for any other nuts you have at home!


9. Chop the hazelnuts to your desired texture.

10. For the filling, whip the cream, sugar and vanilla till stiff but do not overbeat as cream will split.  Cover and refrigerate until needed.

11. Once cake has cooled, remove it from the tin and with a serrated knife, slice the cake into 3 equal layers.
Sorry for the lack of photos, I was way to excited assembling the cake and forgot to snap a few photos ):

12. Spread a layer of the cream on each layer and sprinkle with the chopped hazelnuts. Stack the cake layers above each other and cover the entire cake with the remaining cream.
Mum didn't like too much hazelnuts in the cake so I added them sparingly, you can always add as much as you want!

And voilà there you go! Your cake is ready to serve and enjoy it with your family over a nice cup of tea!

Hope you guys enjoyed today's post!

Happy baking!
Foodling 3

Chirashi - zushi - "scattered sushi"

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Posted on Wednesday, 5 October 2011 | By: Four Little Foodlings

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Sushi has been a favourite of mine since I have been very young.  I have eaten in many Japanese restaurants and sushi bars in Australia and overseas. I am a real sushi lover sometimes having it up to four times a week!

Even though I often order nori-maki (seaweed rolls) and nigiri sushi (commonly known as 'ships') when eating out at a Japenese restaurant, one of my favourite dishes is 'Chirashi-zushi' translated to 'scattered sushi'.
My Home-Made Chirashi Sushi

Even though the name implies a 'sense of randomness' these dishes can be considered as works of art.
Each restaurant produces their own art piece and I will always order a Chirashi-zushi if it is on the menu  and compare these edible masterpieces.
I am no sushi master but I did try to create my own Chirashi-zushi 'masterpiece' at home the other night for the family.

Buying the ingredients
  • Purchase a variety of sashimi grade fish and seafood at your local fish markets. I purchased salmon, tuna and kingfish sashimi, seaweed and and a jar of salmon roe at the Sydney Fish Markets in Glebe. (If you havent been to Sydney Fish Markets it really is worth the visit!) 
Preparing the Rice
  • Cook sushi rice as per instructions on the packet. Once cooked, place in a non-metalic bowl and sprinkle over Japanese powdered vinegar onto the rice, fanning and turning until rice reaches room temperature. Cover until ready for use



Preparing Seafood
  • Using a very sharp knife, cut fish into even sized strips and place on a board ready for assembly.




Preparing Omelet

  • Mix three eggs with some salt, sugar and mirin. Beat eggs well. Cook omelet in a non-stick pan. Fold the egg as it sets. Once cool slice into thin strips.(The Japanese use a special rectangular pan for this).





One more ingredient

  • Heat a sheet of Nori over a gentle flame, this will make the nori nice and crisp! Cut into thin strips. At this stage all your ingredients for your Chirashi-zushi should be ready for assembling.



Creating my 'masterpiece'
  • The trick to Chirashi-zushi is to have a balance between fish and rice. There should be a good combination of flavours, textures and colour. I placed the vinegared rice in the bottom of each bowl and topped it with a combination of the fish, seaweed, egg and finally topping with the luscious looking salmon roe and crispy nori.



Serve with Japanese soy sauce, pickled ginger and wasabi.
 And we can't forget Sencha 'Japanese green tea'.

Hope you enjoy
Foodling 4!

MY GRANDMOTHER'S GREEK SPINACH AND CHEESE PIE (SPANAKOPITA)

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Posted on Tuesday, 4 October 2011 | By: Four Little Foodlings

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Most of my family live overseas, scattered across different islands and areas of Greece. My grandmother is a very inspirational and wonderful woman. I don’t get to see her much except through the occasional Skype dates that we try to set up. Last year, however I was able to go to Greece to visit her and spend some time with my distant relatives.


This was an experience in itself, not only because of the beautiful scenery and ancient landmarks that are there, but the moments that I shared with my family. For example my grandparents would sit around late in the afternoon telling me stories of their youth as we sat looking into the afternoon sun over the beaches of Greece; but one of the most memorable parts of my trip was having my grandmother teach me the traditional ways of making spanakopita (spinach and cheese pie). 

She showed and taught me all the basics from what to put into the variety of types of pitas that exist e.g. meat, cheese and macaroni etc and how to make and roll out the filo pastry. Trying to roll the filo pastry out together was one of the moments that I will never forget, as it is something I will always remember as “something that my grandmother taught me to do”. I remember her teaching me, so patiently saying (in Greek of course), “start in the middle, and roll and push it out ways…harder…harder…be a little firmer with it…its ok…it wont stick together…”
(the video below is my grandmother demonstrating how to role filo pastry)

Although rolling the filo, making the filling and layering it all up, is quite a long process, the end product is well worth the wait. Every time I make it and eat, it always reminds me of my grandmother and the experiences I had in Greece.

Although I would love to give you all her spanakopita recipe, I honestly cant. As we made it together, I would ask her what to put in it, “how much of this and how much of that” her answers literally were “just put some salt, pepper, feta….” As you can tell not very informative…no exact measurements or quantities…typical Greek style!!! J

So, instead, I have provided you with an alternate and easier recipe, (that doesn’t involve you making filo pastry J) that tastes almost as good as my grandmothers (except the flavours of her love behind her cooking)...


INGREDIENTS
3 bunches of fresh spinach

1 onion (chopped finely)

6-8 spring onions (chopped)

150g feta cheese

35g freshly grated parmesan
 
1 tablespoon fresh dill (chopped)

1 generous pinch of nutmeg

1/2 cup fresh parsley (chopped)

12 sheets of filo pastry (thawed)

3-4 tablespoon unsalted butter (melted) + some olive oil



METHOD

1. Trim the stems of spinach and clean them well in cold water. Drain. Roughly chop them and place in a steamer.

2. Steam for 5-8 min or until the leaves are wilted

3. Drain. Squeeze out the excess water from the spinach.

4. Take a skillet and heat 1 tsp of olive oil and sauté the onion until tender.

5. Add the spring onion and cook for another 2-3 min.

6. Remove from heat and then add spinach, herbs, cheeses and nutmeg. Season with salt and pepper if required.

7. Preheat oven to 180C. Place the 3 sheets of filo at a time. Mix the butter and 2 tbsp olive oil in a small bowl. Brush each sheet with the butter mixture and lay on top of another.

8. Cut into equal thirds lengthwise.

9. Spoon a little filling on an angle at the end of each strip.

10. Fold the pastry over to enclose the filling to form a triangle.

11. Brush the top lightly with the butter mixture.

12. Place triangles on a baking tray to bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown

The recipe makes approximately 20 smaller individual spanakopitas you can either bake straight away or freeze for a later day. These are perfect for a light lunch with a fresh Greek salad, as a small afternoon snack, or as an entrée to go with your dinner.

I hope you enjoy making and eating these and taste the Greek culture behind our food.

Kali Orexi,
Foodling 1.

Did Somebody Say Breakfast?

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Posted on Sunday, 2 October 2011 | By: Four Little Foodlings

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As long as I can remember breakfast has always been my favourite meal of the day, because when I wake up I’m always so eager to eat, and I always feel good about pigging out in the morning because I figure you have the whole day to burn it off ;p. So in this post I’ll share a couple of my favourite breakfast recipes, that are super easy and super quick to prepare, because who wants to slave away in the kitchen first thing in the morning. The only problem with these two recipes is that whenever I make them I end up covered in flour first thing in the morning, but if you’re a neater cook you may not have this problem.
Sorry I don’t have any pictures on this entry as our kitchen is currently being renovated so breakfast at the moment is just cereal, but I hope you will enjoy these recipes and try them out on my behalf
So here they are
1.  Easiest scone recipe ever
- My friends always request these after a sleepover, and their super easy to make but tastes great.
Ingredients
1 cup lemonade
1 cup thick cream
3 cups self-raising flour
A pinch of salt
2 tbsp. milk optional


1.   Firstly preheat the oven to 220˚C and line a tray with baking paper.
2.   Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl. Add the cream and lemonade and mix to form a soft dough
3.   Place on the kitchen bench and knead lightly until combined. Press the dough with your hands or roll out using a rolling pin to about 2 cm thicknesses. Use a round cutter (about 6cm) to cut out scones.
4.   Place on a baking tray and if you like brush the tops with some milk.
5.   Serve warm with your favourite jam and whipped cream.
Makes 8 scones

I recommend Harris farm’s strawberry jam with the real strawberry pieces. And just use a hand mixer to whip some of the leftover thick cream. It just melts in your mouth

2.       When pancakes had babies: the good old piklet
-          These are great will a bit of honey on a Saturday morning before sport
     Ingredients
     1 cup self-raising flour
     1tbs caster sugar
     ¾ cups milk
     1 egg
     a couple drops of vanilla essence( optional)

1.    To make the batter whisk the milk and egg together then add the vanilla. Add the dry sifted ingredients(flour and sugar) and mix until combined without any lumps
2.   Heat up a medium nonstick frying pan and grease with oil or butter. Scoop tablespoons of the batter to make small rounds on the saucepan. I usually fit 3 on at once but size doesn’t really matter you can make them as big or small as you want. When the surface of the piklet is completely cover by small bubbles flip the piklet and cook the other side for around the same amount of time. Repeat for remaining batter.

Makes about 25 piklets


Okay so these two recipes also work for afternoon tea, but if you make them for breakfast you can enjoy the leftoevers in the afternoon:)


Happy cooking!
Foodling 2

Minced Pork & Potato Pie

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Posted on Saturday, 1 October 2011 | By: Four Little Foodlings

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The way my family and I eat is pretty interesting, we eat according to craves. Yes thats right, cravings. It's just like when all of a sudden you have a sudden craving for pie, you can't seem to stop thinking about them, so why not just make it!

Just last week, I was having a sudden urge to have pie so I went to the all famous MasterChef website and pulled out what seemed to be the easiest and most doable pie recipe there which is their Beef and Potato Pie and I really really enjoyed it!

So I was savouring it with mum the other day and she said she had a similar recipe but she prefers her's way more (obviously!) and true enough, I really like her Pork Mince & Potato Pie more! Maybe because it has mum's magical touch! And it's really quick and easy!
Let's get to it then!

The ingredients listed here make a delicious pie good for 4 people

Minced Pork & Potato Pie
Ingredients:
4 Medium Sized Golden Delight Potatos (or whichever potatoes you prefer or are available)
1 Carrot - Diced
1 French Shallot Onion
250-300g Pork Mince
2 Cloves of Garlic 
2 Tablespoons of Oil
3-5 Mushrooms
1 Tablespoon Cornflour
3-4 Tablespoons of Butter 
1/4-1/2 Cup of Milk
3 Hard-boiled Eggs
2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
3/4 Cup Grated Cheese

Procedure:
1. Skin the potatos and dice one of the potatoes into small cubes, boil in water until soft. Drain and set aside.


2. Cut the other 3 potatoes up and boil seperately until soft. Drain and set aside.

3. Marinate the minced pork with soy sauce along with 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of sugar with a dash of pepper
Cooking Tip: When marinating meat, the sugar quantity should always be double the quantity of salt! 

4. Chop the garlic and shallots into fine pieces and heat the oil in a saucepan
Health Tip: You can substitute your daily oil with olive oil for a healthier pie!
 
5. Once the oil is heated, stir fry the shallots until golden brown and add the minced garlic.

6. When slightly browned, put in the minced pork and stir fry the pork till evenly cooked. Add carrots, chopped mushrooms and diced potatos. Add a little bit of water if minced pork filling is dry. 


7. Add salt, sugar and pepper according to your taste.

8. In a small bowl, add the cornflour to 3 tablespoons of room-temperature water. Mix well.


9. Add the cornflour mixture to the filling at small intervals until the sauce starts to thicken. Set filling aside.

10. Preheat oven to 180 Degrees fan forced mode


11. In a seperate saucepan, mash the remaining 3 potatos evenly and add in the butter. Mix well and add milk at slow intervals till you feel that the mash potato is creamy enough.  Add salt, sugar and pepper according to your taste.

12. In a casserole, spread a thin layer mash potato on the bottom and scoop the minced pork filling onto the mash potato base.


13. Slice the 3 eggs and put them on top of the filling and cover it up with the remaining mash potato.


14. Spread the grated cheese on top of the pie and bake it in the oven for 10 minutes, turning the oven to grill mode for 5 minutes after that.


15. Take out from the oven, serve and enjoy!


 
I know there may be quite a number of steps but it's really fast and easy to prepare! Mum and I were making this pie this morning and I couldn't wait to blog about it! It takes less than an hour to make, so I really hope you guys could try it out one day!

Feel free to comment if you have any queries!


Have a great weekend everyone!

Foodling 3

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