Night Noodle Markets 2014

Life has been crazyy! So October (aka Good Food Month) started and it barely registered on my radar until I started hearing and reading stuff about the Night Noodle Markets. Somehow I managed to get my act together and make it out to the first night of the markets, which looked a little something like this around 6pm.

Night Noodle Markets opening night

It was crazy-town and after a quick scout of all the stalls it seemed like there were barely any without queues. I did notice that there are more food stalls than last year which is always a good sign. There are also more seating areas and bars scattered around Hyde Park - but don't let that trick you into thinking that it's easy to find a seat!

Bar area

After our recon mission, I'd picked out a handful of stalls that I was keen on getting food from. Hoy Pinoy drew me in with the billowing smoke and smell of grilled meat.

Basting the meat

This Melbourne-based Filipino BBQ food stall had huge skewers of chicken and pork belly cooking away on several grills, all the while being basted with sauce.

Skewers at Hoy Pinoy

Flavours of Malaysia 2014 at The Grace Hotel

I've never been to Malaysia before but judging from Malaysians' passionate relationship with food, I think I'd fit right in. Malaysia's love of food was clearly evident at the launch of the Flavours of Malaysia buffet at The Grace Hotel, where there was an incredible spread of Malaysian food created by three Malaysian chefs who were specially flown in for the event.

Here's a taste of what was on offer:

Cold salads

DIY Rojak and Pasembor salads

The cold section held a number of salads, including a DIY Rojak (mixed fruit salad with a prawn paste sauce) and Pasembor (mixed vegetable salad with peanut sauce). There were also a few salads that I'd never seen before, like a glass noodle salad with coconut and prawn, and a tripe salad.

Beef and chicken satay skewers

Just Desserts, March into Merivale

Having just dessert for dinner sounds like one of the greatest things ever so I was super excited to go to "Just Desserts" - a March into Merivale event where a handful of Merivale restaurants showcase some of their finest desserts for the sweet-tooths in Sydney. Entry ($45) also includes 6 tokens, which you can redeem for desserts and/or drinks within the event.

Mini fried ice cream, butterscotch

I'd sussed out what some of the offerings were prior to the event so when we arrived, we made a beeline straight for the mini fried ice creams at the Mr Wong stand. The fried ice cream was super popular (no surprise there!) so there was a short wait while batches upon batches of ice cream were fried to order. We eventually made our way out of the throng with our prize in hand, and dug in past the crispy batter to reveal a vanilla ice cream centre. I found some parts of the fried ice cream a little too cakey from the coating, but I think I could just about drink that amazing butterscotch sauce!

Hot banana, nutella and salted caramel spring roll, freeze dried raspberry powder

Another popular item was the hot banana, nutella and salted caramel spring roll from Ms G's. Again, this was fried to order in batches but it meant we got a freshly fried spring roll scattered with the red raspberry powder. This was a surprise favourite of mine as it wasn't too sweet and the banana, nutella and salted caramel flavours worked really well together.

White peach, black figs, yellow box honey, orange caramel sauce

Good Food Month Night Noodle Markets 2013

October has come around again which means that Good Food Month is back and in full swing! I've visited the Night Noodle Markets in previous years but they have definitely upped the ante this year with more stalls, more seating and more colourful lanterns!

Expanded seating areas at the Night Noodle Markets; Lanterns

In terms of the food, there's a range of dumplings, noodles, dim sims and other Asian goodies to suit everyone's tastes, with offerings from Chinese, Japanese, Malaysian, Thai and Vietnamese restaurants.

Huge woks of fried rice and noodles at the Span Thai stall

Roti twirling action at Mamak

Game of Thrones Feast at Gastro Park, Kings Cross

It took one episode of Game of Thrones for me to get hooked on the show. And it seemed like I wasn't the only one, because when FeFiFoFum asked if anyone of us wanted to join her at the Game of Thrones Feast at Gastro Park there was a resounding 'yes!' from the group! At $100pp for a 5 course dinner, it wasn't the cheapest of meals. But it was clear that the staff at Gastro Park had put a lot of thought and creativity into it, with each dish being themed to Season 2 of Game of Thrones.

Dragon - Goats cheese and gruyere fritters

The first was simply named "Dragon" and was meant to resemble dragon claws. These jet black fritters were not the prettiest of things, and without the menu in front of us I was expecting to bite into black pudding. I was surprised to find that the fritters were filled with cheese and were absolutely delicious! They were scattered among a head of kale, which had been deep fried and dotted with a creamy sauce. Breaking off the crispy leaves from the stem made for a fun, hands-on dish to get everyone started.

Bones - Roast veal bone marrow, air baguette

Peter Gilmore's Festive Season Menu @ Quay

Christmas madness has officially begun! My Christmas tree is up, I've started my Christmas baking (more about that in another post) and I wish I could say that I've finished my Christmas shopping but I've only just begun that...

At least I've pretty much got the Christmas meal sorted since I got some great ideas from a recent masterclass I attended, where Peter Gilmore (of Quay Restaurant fame) shared his Christmas menu. We sat on the upper level of Quay, which is reserved for functions with a spectacular backdrop of Sydney Harbour and its landmarks, and also has an Electrolux kitchen installed at one end.

We sat around the kitchen and watched as Peter Gilmore cooked and plated up his three-course Christmas menu. The dishes were simple to prepare and most of the work can be done ahead of time to minimise the chances of you running around like a headless chicken after the guests have arrived!

Steamed freshwater marron with herb butter, young leaf and flower salad

Sushi & Sashimi Masterclass @ Ocean Room, Sydney

It's a gorgeous Saturday afternoon in Sydney and I'm headed to Ocean Room, which is perfectly positioned to enjoy the view of sunny blue skies, the sparkling harbour and some of Sydney's most famous landmarks.

Inside, the view is equally as stunning with Ocean Room's dining area housing a ceiling of thousands upon thousands of bamboo cylinders, forming a chandelier of sorts above diners.

Fresh fish display, including some prized bluefin tuna (left); Executive Chef Raita Noda (right)

I've dined here before, but today, Ocean Room's Executive Chef Raita Noda treats us to a sushi and sashimi masterclass to learn about their philosophy, the preparation of sushi and sashimi and where they source their seafood from.

Cooling and mixing vinegar into the rice

American Diner Degustation at Mad Cow (March into Merivale)

Yes boys and girls, it's that time of year again! March into Merivale kicked off a couple of weeks ago, offering a variety of food and booze events (including the $33 meal deals) in the ever-expanding Merivale empire. With so many to choose from, it was hard to decide and these events were selling out like hotcakes! I was lucky enough to snag a spot at the American Diner Degustation with some other awesome peeps and we eagerly awaited a meal full of American diner classics in a room decked our with US flags and ketchup and mustard squeeze bottles.

Corn and cheese quesadillas

We start things off in southern USA with the Amuse Bouche of corn and cheese quesadillas. It's not just corn and cheese in there though - there's also some red peppers and guacamole - and with only one piece each it's gone before we know it. Bring on the next course!

Mad Cow chopped salad with Spencer Gulf prawns

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

Omakase Dinner, March into Merivale 2011

A birthday celebration isn't complete without a drink - Chandon NV (complimentary drink on arrival)

It was Sir D's birthday 2 weeks ago, and to celebrate I decided to take him to one of the special dinners hosted by Merivale as part of the annual March into Merivale event. It was hard to decide which event to go to since so many of them sounded good but in the end I decided on the Omakase Dinner coordinated by the three Japanese chefs at Merivale - Nobuyuki Ura (sushi e), Akira Urata (Uccello) and Atsushi Saito (Sushi Choo).

Sakizuke - Tuna ravioli with nori seaweed sauce

The concept of omakase comes from Japan and leaves the chef to decide and select the dishes for your consumption rather than ordering from the a la carte menu. For someone who likes to check out the menu before visiting a restaurant, it involves a certain level of trust on the diner's part that the chef will be able to surprise and excite your palate. Tuna ravioli didn't sound particularly exciting but when it arrived on the table I was impressed by the use of thin slices of tuna sashimi as the casing for the ravioli and all the individual components of the dish which married well with each other. A creative and interesting start to the meal.

Zensai - Traditional tasting plate with grilled pacific oyster with cream miso sauce, persimmon and konnyaku with tofu paste and salmon roe, red miso lamb cutlets, ebi isoge age with green tea salt, miso cod

Taste of Sydney 2011

Yes, it's time for Taste of Sydney again! I was lucky enough to win a double pass to Taste of Sydney this year - woohoo for competitions! This is the place to be to sample dishes from Sydney's finest restaurants, try some food and drink from the exhibitors and also do a bit of celebrity-chef spotting. It's always good to go with a bunch of people so you can share dishes and be hand models for each other hehe.

Assiette: Crispy pork belly, cashew nut caramel, watermelon and mint - 12 Crowns

The setup is much the same as last year with the restaurants around the perimeter of the outdoor venue and the exhibitors scattered around the edges and in the centre.

Bilson's and Number One Wine Bar: Chicken liver parfait with brioche and mesclun salad - 8 Crowns

Christmas Tree Meringues and the Sydney Food Bloggers Christmas Picnic

Photo credit: Simon from the heart of food

Oh yes, it's that time of year again - when shopping centres play carols that get stuck in your head for the rest of the day, and reindeer horns and red noses start appearing on cars around Sydney. It's Christmas, which means it's also time for the 2nd annual Sydney Food Bloggers Christmas Picnic!

As usual there were copious amounts of food present which were arranged on the makeshift dining table. As much as I wish I had the stomach space to try everything, I never quite get around to it all but everyone's contributions looked delicious!

Clockwise from top left: Ribs by Billy from A Table for Two; Macaron tower by Cleony from I Eat Sweet; Chocolate Christmas tree by Lisa from Lisa Perkovic; Orange, pistachio and cardamom cupcakes by Angie from Angie Lives to Eat (and Cook)!

There were more sweets than savouries as expected and even though I keep telling myself to make a savoury item for the next food blogger meet-up, I ended up making a sweet item... oops! Luckily there were savoury contributions from other people but you had to be quick otherwise you missed out (case in point: Billy's ribs - gone in 60 seconds!)

Clockwise from top left: Mini pecan pies by Rhonda from The Dainty Baker; Mini Christmas puddings by Vivian from vxdollface; Cheese bread by Tammi from Insatiable Munchies; Strawberry Santas by Ayana from Absolutely Ayana

I ended up making meringues to bring to the picnic. Midway through beating the egg whites I realised that I could Christmas-ify them up by colouring them green and putting little stars on top. And voila - Christmas Tree Meringues!

These were really easy to make, and also relatively quick although they do need to be in the oven for a while. Even though it's only egg whites and sugar beaten together, they do become strangely addictive and I may or may not have munched on a few on the way to the picnic...

A big thank you to Helen from Grab Your Fork and Suze from chocolatesuze for organising the picnic, I had an awesome day! Looking forward to the next one already :)

Cookie Monster Cupcakes and the Sydney Food Bloggers Spring Picnic!

Cake made by Anna from Diary of a Ladybird

As I'm sure you have all read about already, the awesome Billy from A Table for Two and Karen from Citrus and Candy organised a picnic for the Sydney Food Blogger community a few weeks ago. There was a great turn-out, with lots of new faces as well as familiar ones, and of course there were mountains of tasty food which spanned across at least 3 picnic rugs!

We were all encouraged to bring a plate to share, and to put some effort into it as well since there were some great prizes up for grabs, including restaurant vouchers and a brand spanking new KitchenAid which was won by Anita from No Red Meat. Congrats Anita!

It was the weekend before my thesis was due so I decided to whip up something easy like cupcakes. Since Nuffnang was sponsoring the picnic one of the categories included a prize for the best blue dish. Whilst trawling the internet for some cupcake decorating ideas I came across this Cookie Monster cupcake which I thought was an awesome idea and I set out to replicate it.

It seems great minds think alike, since there were two other offerings of Cookie Monster cupcakes at the picnic (one of which was made by Sook from Nommy Nom Nom). Even though we all had the same basic idea, all the cupcakes were slightly different. I decorated mine with dessicated coconut which had been dyed blue to give it a 'furry' effect and piped dark chocolate for the eyes instead of using choc chips.

My favourite part of the cupcake though is the cookie that is shoved in Cookie Monster's mouth! If you're going to make these it's probably best to insert the cookie on the day you're going to serve them to avoid the cookies going stale as mine did. I was getting worried at the amount of blue food colouring that was going into the whole product so I skimped a bit on colouring the coconut (you can see some white flecks where the coconut didn't manage to be dyed blue), but feel free to go crazy on the blue food colouring if you want a really vivid, intense blue colour.