Penguin says Feed Me in 2011!

Last post for the year guys! Here's a round up of some of my favourite posts of 2011:

Bells at Killcare, Killcare

We kicked off the year with a little trip to Bells at Killcare, with spacious rooms featuring a spa bath and a fireplace. A visit to the restaurant also didn't go astray, with Stefano Manfredi heading up the kitchen there using fresh ingredients straight from the vegetable garden at Bells.

Ribena Marshmallows

My first foray into marshmallow-making was inspired by the awesome marshmallows from Sweetness the Patisserie. A spur of the moment decision to make these led me rummaging through my cupboards in an attempt to find something to flavour these marshmallows - and the result was Ribena! Later on I also made some lemon sherbet marshmallows which were delightfully tangy and fizzy.

Peanut Butter Dog Biscuits

This was a little bit of a random baking adventure but lots of fun because it was for my favourite furry friend, Max. Max definitely loved the peanut butter biscuits that I made and I hope that it was a nice birthday present for him!

Christmas Macarons

I had planned on doing lots of Christmas baking this year, but somehow the time just flew by and before I knew it, Christmas was only a week away and I still had to do all my Christmas shopping and baking!

Luckily, I recently received some McLean's Run Open Range eggs from the lovely people at One Green Bean which inspired me to get cracking with my Christmas baking. I wanted to use make something that would put these fresh, quality eggs to good use and eggnog was the first thing that sprung to mind. I'm not a big fan of drinks that use egg though (alcoholic or otherwise) so instead I decided to capture the flavour of eggnog in something else that uses eggs as the main ingredient - macarons.

In the end, I made both eggnog flavoured and candy cane macarons. It's been a while since I've made macarons and it took me a few attempts to get it right, so it was a good thing I had a dozen eggs to work with! It also didn't help that I was working with a new oven as well which doesn't seem to want to be my friend yet.

I love the brightly coloured candy cane macarons which are filled with peppermint buttercream and rolled in crushed candy canes. But I think the eggnog macarons are a little more exciting flavour-wise with the warm, spicy cinnamon and nutmeg and a hit of alcohol thanks to some rum that I added into the buttercream. They go down well with a glass of chilled eggnog as well.

And now it's only 2 more days til Christmas! I hope each and every one of you out there has a fantastic Christmas filled with lots of awesome presents and delicious food!

Ribs and Burgers, Neutral Bay

Ribs and Burgers. A simple name for a restaurant that describes exactly what they do best - ribs and burgers. It hasn't been open for long but already people are flocking there so that it is packed out on a Saturday night.

We're greeted by a large blackboard displaying the menu at the front of the restaurant, while warm wooden tones, hanging cast iron pots and pans and dangling lights made from jam jars decorate the dining space. Order your meal at the counter before taking a numbered metal bucket and finding a seat, where your meal will be brought out to you.

Pork ribs - $28

Pendolino, Sydney

Hidden away in a corner of the top level of the Strand Arcade is Pendolino. Its dark, moody and relaxed atmosphere is a far cry from the bright lights and hustle and bustle of the city, and is the perfect place to hide out and feast on some delicious Italian food.

Burrata pugliese con pomodori di vareita primaria - $26

When I spot burrata on the menu I'm sold. It's a pretty dish, with the Puglian Burrata as the centre of attention, surrounded by an heirloom tomato salad with basil, red onion and parsley. The tomatoes help to cut through the rich and creamy burrata and the addition of breadcrumbs also adds a crunchy texture to the dish.

Spaghetti chitarra con pesce d'acquadolce - $26/$39

El Karim, Roseville

It's a bid sad to admit but when we go out for dinner for an occasion, we tend to head out towards the city and overlook all the hidden gems studded around our local area. It was time for a change so this time we kept it local and headed to El Karim in Roseville for a birthday celebration.

Lebanese bread

Lebanese food is not something that any of us are particularly familiar with, so we're grateful for the explanation of what all dishes are on the menu. Each dish is very reasonably priced with nothing over $17, and a couple of set banquet menus for groups. We receive a plate of complimentary pickles to start us off which whet the appetite for the other dishes to come.

Trio of dips: Baba Ghanouj, Labni b'zaatar, Hommos b'awarma - $14

To sample a range of things, we begin with a trio of dips which allows us to select any three of the dips offered. The hommos b'awarma is the clear favourite, with nubbins of lamb mince, onions and pine nuts on top of a creamy hommos. The baba ghanouj is mildly smoky and the labni b'zaatar is a herby, nutty dip which for some reason reminds me of salted peanuts. The dips are served with an absolute mountain of Lebanese bread, which is enough for all the dip and more.

Fattoush - $12

I love the fresh Fattoush salad which has crisp lettuce, tomato and capsicum, and is dusted with sumac. Add a squeeze of lemon juice and some toasted shards of Lebanese bread and you have a salad that is light and refreshing with extra crunch.

Jawaneh - $12

Kids at SWiTCH Cookies

Penguin says Feed Me has delved into the world of corporate cookies! I had the privilege of making some cookies to mark the launch of a new business, Kids at SWiTCH. These were given out at the information day and though I wasn't able to attend myself, I heard that the cookies were a hit which is good to know.

It was fun making cookies in the shape of a corporate logo. I used my tried and true basic sugar cookie recipe which was easy enough but I was surprised at how hard it was to find a cookie cutter in the shape of a light bulb (that wasn't a Christmas light)! Cake Decorating Central saved the day though where I found a Christmas ornament cookie cutter which conveniently looked like a light bulb when turned upside down heh.

These cookies put my piping skills to the test and there were quite a few shaky starts, broken lines of icing and lopsided light bulbs (oops) but I think I got into the rhythm of things after a few retarded-looking light bulbs and started churning out cookies like a machine. Baking and icing cookies is surprisingly therapeutic after a long day at work :)

Anyway, if you're interested in finding out more about Kids at SWiTCH, head on over to the website to see what they're all about. And if you're ever in need of some custom made cookies for your next event, drop me a line by clicking on the 'Contact' link at the top of the page.

Jamie's Italian, Sydney

No prizes for guessing where we are tonight! After a 45-minute wait in the queue, plus another 90-minute wait after placing our names on the waitlist at the counter, we are finally led to our table at Jamie's Italian. We also happen to spot some familiar faces during the wait (oh hai!). Big thanks to FFichiban for letting us share his table =D love you long time!

Freshly made pasta

While our table is being readied for us, we watch as one of the chefs stand behind a glass divider making fresh pasta - ricotta-filled ravioli in this case - as a tantalising taste of what is to come. Each raviolo is carefully placed in a wooden box before being dusted with flour and set aside.

Cocktails being made at the bar

We are taken past the bar area, where bellinis and other cocktails are being made by cheerful bar staff, and settle down into our table. There's a little touch of Jamie everywhere, from the message on the back of the menu, to the branded tea towels that are used as napkins in the restaurants, to the British accents of the waitstaff. We are handed some large A3 sized menus, with the menu divided up into nibbles, antipasti, pasta, mains, sides and desserts. Wanting to try as much as possible, we have a hard time trying to decide what to get, and somehow end up with 6 pastas and risottos to share between the four of us. Bring on the carbs!

Crispy squid - $12

Hyde Park Barracks Cafe, Sydney

As much as I love the Crave Sydney International Food Festival month, uni work tends to always get in the way of me going to all the events I want to. Last year it was my thesis, and this year I was inundated with assignments because the lecturers thought it would be fun for us to have them all due in the same week. I was glad to have the final week of Crave to go to the events that I wanted to and Sir D and I decide to head out to a nice brunch at Hyde Park Barracks Cafe one weekend.

Home-made granola, natural yoghurt and poached fruit

Brunch is a three-course affair here, priced at $25pp and served with English Breakfast tea or filtered coffee. We start with some granola with yoghurt, berry compote and poached pear. The granola is crunchy and I love finding big chunks of granola stuck together. It's a little dry and could have done with a bit more yoghurt but it's a good start to the meal and the poached pear provides a nice sweetness to the dish.

Eggs three ways

La Bodeguita del Medio, Sydney

Uni is officially almost over for the year which means more time for blogging! So last week after handing in my last major assignment for the semester, Sir D and I went to celebrate and check out La Bodeguita del Medio (LBDM) - a Cuban restaurant and bar right opposite the Queen Victoria Building. The name itself is a bit of a mouthful to say so we just refer to it as "that Cuban place" and since there's not too many of them around, we know exactly where we're talking about.

Mojito - $14 (left) and Daiquiri - $14 (right)

You can't go to a Cuban restaurant and bar without having some rum - which is exactly what we did to kick off the night. The cocktails here are seriously good. I don't normally drink Mojitos, but I will make an exception for the ones at LBDM because they're not too sweet or too sour, and are the perfect balance of lime, sugar and mint.

Pan con Lechón - $18

Strawberry and Champagne Cake

Apologies for being MIA lately! Unfortunately life (or more specifically, Uni) has got in the way of blogging again and although I've got a backlog of photos and tasty eats waiting to be shared with you all I just haven't had the time to post them up.

This post is a bit special though, and it's for my sister Charm who just turned 18 a few days ago but had a bit of a sad, uneventful birthday because it was smack bang in the middle of HSC study time. Not to mention that she has also been sick for the past 2 weeks and I couldn't even take her shopping to buy a present for her.

So, cake it is! I do love baking cakes for people's birthdays but I always struggle with coming up with ideas for what cake to bake. I figured something with strawberries since they're in season and wonderfully sweet at the moment, plus something a little boozy since she is now of legal drinking age! Then I remembered Steph's gorgeous Pink Champagne and Strawberry Cake and knew I had to do something similar for Charm's birthday.

The strawberries feature in the cake itself, which has chunks of strawberries scattered throughout the batter, while the champagne (ok so I'm a bit poor to afford real champagne, so technically it's sparkling wine) features in the buttercream icing. The flavour of the champagne is quite light and just slightly tart so that it offsets the sweetness of the cake, but my family, being Asian and all with an instilled fear of icing and cream in cakes (or is it just my family?), was still scraping the thicker layer of icing off from the top. This was probably due to my crappy uneven icing skills - it's not as smooth as I would have liked but hey at least the layering of the cakes worked out well and it wasn't collapsing!

Anyways, happy 18th birthday Charm and good luck with the HSC! We will go shopping, throw a proper birthday party and watch Vampire Diaries (maybe) once it's all over!

Malaysia Kitchen BBQ Madness

Malaysia Kitchen BBQ Madness just after opening

October is one of my favourite months. Not only because it seems to be full of birthdays, and is only 2 months away from Christmas, but because every year in October the Crave Sydney International Food Festival (SIFF) is on and it's a month of eating, eating and more eating. This year, SIFF kicked off with a series of BBQ madness events, where themed BBQ events were held all around Sydney to celebrate the barbecue grill. I was up early on Saturday morning to go to the Malaysia Kitchen BBQ Madness event, held in Church St Mall, Parramatta.

The Love Goddess - Wanitha Tanasingam

The event began at 9am and was an early start for me on a Saturday morning, but Malaysia Kitchen's ambassador, Wanitha Tanasingam (aka the "Love Goddess"), was there to wake everyone up with her enthusiasm and sheer passion for Malaysian food. Apart from expounding the wonders of sambal belacan, she also demonstrated two dishes with the help of Sara from Belly Rumbles and Lorraine Wearne, the Lord Mayor of Parramatta.

Wanitha and her two helpers: Sara and Lorraine

Wanitha cooked up some sotong bakar, a marinated and barbecued squid, and ayam panggang, a spicy grilled chicken. Some samples of the squid were passed around and this was the perfect thing to wake up my stomach, with the sweet, tender squid being barbecued to a nice char on the outside, and a spicy flavour coming through from the marinade.

Sotong Bakar on the grill

Next up in the demonstration kitchen was the ever delightful Florence Tan, who travelled from Malaysia to attend this event. I've seen her on Poh's Kitchen before and she is just as a lively and bubbly in real life as she is on TV.

Florence Tan beginning her cooking demonstration

Xanthi, Sydney

Xanthi interior (left); Makedonikos Tsipouro (right)

It's Greek hospitality at its best. Xanthi is one of the latest additions to Level 6 on Westfield Sydney, serving Greek food from 8am til late in an elegant setting with beautiful tiled, mosaic-ed walls, billowing curtains and drapes, and colourful lamps hanging from the ceiling. The restaurant boasts a rotating spit, freshly made filo and an ouzo trolley with quite possibly the largest selection of ouzo available in Sydney.

Pickled octopus

Tonight we're here to feast on a sumptuous Greek banquet to celebrate the birthday of three special ladies. We've barely sat down for five minutes before David Tsirekas, head chef and owner of Xanthi (and previously of the Petersham favourite, Perama), offers us bottles of Tsipouro, a Greek pomace brandy. "It's to get your appetites going", we're told, and we're instructed to eat it along with the pickled octopus. At around 45% alcohol, we quickly dilute it with the ice and water that's provided which makes the liquid turn cloudy (my inner nerd compelled me to Google it and it's called the Ouzo Effect!). The tsipouro is heady with aniseed flavour and, not being an aniseed fan, I think Demos was right on the money when he described it as being like "lighter fluid". The pickled octopus on the other hand serves well to awaken the tastebuds with the lemony, vinegary flavour. But I have to remember to pace myself because we've ordered the $55 banquet menu (and let David decide what to send out) and there is still plenty of food to come.

Greek salad

Hurricanes Grill, Top Ryde

It's all about the meat.

It's a little embarrassing to admit, but this is the first time I've ever been to Hurricanes. I'd heard some great things about their ribs so I thought it was high time for me to finally check it out for myself and see what all the hype is about. With an army of meat-loving friends (no vegetarians here!), we set out to sample some of the meaty offerings of Hurricanes and to see whether the Top Ryde restaurant matched up to the quality of the Bondi and Darling Harbour locations. Lucky for us, JC had booked ahead for a table on a Saturday night and when we arrive at 7.30pm, the bar is packed with waiting customers and a queue is streaming out of the restaurant into the courtyard.

Garlic roll - $4.50

The service is a bit hit and miss and it takes us quite a long time to get our order taken down. On the recommendation of some of the more seasoned Hurricanes diners, we start with some garlic bread which is served in its entirety on a wooden serving board. Incisions are made into the bread and garlic and herb butter is slathered on the surfaces. And oh my is there a lot of butter - which is what makes it so delicious! The bread crust is super crunchy, sending shards of bread all over the surface of the table when the bread is ripped apart and the bread innards? Well they just taste like melty garlic butter =D

Rib eye steak 350g - $33