Mothers Day Desserts

Posted on May 12, 2013 by Natasha J Stewart

9 people have just unloaded out of my tiny apartment. I was the host of mothers day dinner tonight– providing the space and in charge of desserts. My two nans turned up as well so we had a full house as we crowded around the makeshift dining table on the communal first floor. My middle sister was cooking the food. She turned up with a slow cooker, a few pans, meat and vegetables. For the past couple of days I’ve been planning the desserts.

I actually started designing the main dessert a few weeks ago. I was working on an incredibly interesting, but also frustrating, essay on Vietnamese national identity and the celebratory banh chung. So while looking for many ways to procrastinate I designed a dessert. I bought half sphere silicon moulds a while ago, and I’ve been looking for an excuse to use them ever since.

This was the original design. A chocolate shell filled with chocolate mousse, chocolate ganache, and a honey comb and choc biscuit base. I would have loved to have topped it with gold leaf as well, but I didn’t get a chance to buy any. Instead I changed a few things. I made a hollow teardrop shaped chocolate pipe in the centre of the shell (teardrops were easier than cylinders). This was surrounded with mousse and then ganache. I filled the pipe with a raspberry coulis that after a bit too much reduction resembled more of a raspberry jam. Then I decorated with a few chocolate shavings, bits of homemade honey comb, and a few raspberries. The end result:

You can’t see the raspberry centre because I only filled 5 of them and we had two unexpected guests turn up.

It wasn’t quite as I’d pictured it, but I was happy with the results. Initially I’d planned to have some kind of anglais or chocolate sauce to pour over the top, but in the end I ran out of time and ingredients. Thankfully it didn’t let the dessert down.

Of course it wouldn’t be a family gathering without my nieces so I whipped up something for them too… quite literally. My go to dessert is an eton mess. Chantilly cream, strawberries, and meringue. The only tricky/time consuming part is making the meringue. Apart from that you just need to chuck everything together at the last moment. That way the meringue stays crunchy throughout the cream and strawberries.

I’ll try and add some recipes up a little bit later, but for now I’ll just leave you with the pictures. I’m off to China on Tuesday for two weeks, so I won’t be in the kitchen again for a while. Perhaps I’ll get some inspiration while I’m away.

How did you celebrate mothers’ day? Was there anything sweet on the table?

Top 5 January Food Bites

Posted on February 1, 2013 by Natasha J Stewart

One month of 2013 has already done and dusted. It’s been quiet, in all respects. I haven’t been at TAFE, I’m not back at uni yet, and I haven’t even been working as much as I should. Instead I’ve enjoyed time with my nieces, some lazy days by the pool, and a few too many television episodes. But things have still been churning, and so I’ve got a list of 5 of my favourite things to happen this January.

1. Summer Fridays are Back

These are the markets that got me started on this whole crazy baking journey. The place where I found out people would actually pay me money to buy cupcakes. I went to the first market on a whim, and I only went back because people asked me to. Now I’m half the way towards becoming a pastry chef, I’ve catered for weddings and birthday parties, and I’ve been featured about 4 times in magazines and newspapers. It’s a pretty sweet feeling.

caramel cupcakes, the cupcake table, adelaide cupcakes

My caramel cupcakes. Vanilla cake with gooey caramel centre and crunchy caramel popcorn.

If you want to come down, I’m there every Friday until the end of March. You’ll find us on Ebenezer Place, just behind Rundle Street. Keep your eyes peeled for the Cupcake Table.

2. Food Blogging Friends

We had another food blogger meet up in January, a lovely picnic at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens. I of course brought along some cupcakes, and while it was small it was a great reminder of how much I love catching up with other local food bloggers. Hopefully we’ll get a few more people at the next one.

Yes, 11 Cupcakes for 4 bloggers.

In other food blogging news I also found out that someone I went to school with has an LA based food blog with his girlfriend. It’s called Boy Meets Girl Meets Food a food blog “created as a way for us to connect with each other, as well as anyone who loves food, while we were in a long-distance relationship.” Then there’s Tyson from Tempting Tyson who has just been announced as the new sous chef of the White House Hahndorf. Chris Wilson, one of my chefs from TAFE, is the head chef; now I have no excuse to not go check out their new set up.

3. Cancer Free!

It’s not really food related, but it’s been one of my favourite parts of January. Late December I had to go in for a check-up after having a few symptoms, and ended up having a polyp removed. I’ve always known that my family has a strong history of bowel cancer, thanks to the lovely MSH2 gene mutation. I had the test done when I was 16 and found out I carried the gene, but this was the first time it really hit home for me.

Usually I wouldn’t have started testing till I was 25, but luckily I did, because my doctor said if the polyp had been left for another 6 months it would have most likely developed into cancer.

For now it’s a bullet dodged, but a reminder that you’re never too young to get cancer. My cousin and a friend participated in the Undies Run for Bowel Cancer, an event that focusses on the importance of talking to your doctor.

4. Moving Music

I helped out at Moving Music with Yelp, who were handing out free water on the day. If you haven’t heard of Moving Music you should really check it out. It was a great afternoon/night walking through the city, seeing plenty of bands I’ve never heard of because I’m so out of the loop, and seeing some spaces around Adelaide in a new light.

the happy motel, moving music, arabic food, falafel, bbq chicken

Chicken & Felafel from the Happy Motel

Of course there was also food, once again thanks to the Happy Motel. Thankfully there were only two choices available which made things pretty easy, I’d get both. Everyone else went for the chicken, but while the chicken was delicious, the falafel created a major case of food envy from everyone else. They were the best falafels I have ever had, crunchy on the outside, but soft on the inside, and full of flavour. They both came served with yoghurt and sweet pomegranate, and a cucumber and feta salad that had slices of chili hidden amongst it.

5. RecipeYum & Howtoi
Last but not least are the two new sites, spin-offs from Weekend Notes where I currently write and edit. RecipeYum is (if you couldn’t guess) a recipe site. Writers share their recipes with their own pictures, and get paid based on how many views they get. There are bonuses like competitions, and awards. It’s got very humble beginnings, but I’m hoping over time it might attract a few food bloggers, because I’d love to see the quality of recipes and photos soar. I’m going to be the chief editor of the site, which is exciting for me, and I’m looking forward to seeing where it goes.

Poppy with our tissue paper pom poms.

Howtoi is a similar concept, but instead of recipes it’s got ‘How To’ guides. I’ve been having lots of fun crafting with my nieces to ger some articles ready for the site. So far my favourite are the tissue paper pom poms.

That’s my slow and steady January. What sort of a start has your year got off to?

Eat: Onyx Dessert Lounge

Posted on January 30, 2013 by Natasha J Stewart

One of Adelaide’s most highly anticipated dessert bars, Onyx Dessert Lounge opened in November of last year, but I took my time to visit. To be honest, I didn’t want it to be good. Before I even arrived Onyx left a bad taste in my mouth.

cocktail, onyx dessert lounge

I love all things dessert. I love making them, eating them, looking at them. Everything. But I struggled to get too excited about a place that clearly thought it was so far above the rest. We’ve got a budding network of dessert bars in Adelaide, each has it’s faults, but most also have their own unique charms. The desserts aren’t always groundbreaking, and they’re often more cosy than chic, but they’ve carved out a market that really doesn’t exist interstate. No doubt the already established dessert scene is the reason Onyx is calling Adelaide home in the first place.

Their About Me page feels conceited and condescending, as if we should feel truly blessed that Onyx has come to save us from the shabby dessert places that used to satisfy out sweet cravings.

Putting all that aside, I was still looking forward to dessert at Onyx. I don’t believe in judging something until I’ve tried it, and no PR-ridden website was going to keep me away from desserts and cocktails.

We’d only just been able to get in. We’d plan on arriving without a booking, we were planning an early trip anyway, but mid way through the day they announced they were all booked up. After a quick phone call they said we’d have a table, but funnily when we got there it was completely empty.

The colours are bright, and a little gaudy, but after we settled in I actually warmed to the surroundings. It’s definitely different. The large chairs were comfortable, and a lot better than some of the stools you encounter at late night spots. Yes. The menus are on tablets. We were given one, and it was slow and unresponsive. We were pretty indecisive, so flicking back and forth was not an easy task. Some restaurants integrate tablets well, but Onyx falls a little short.

We ordered 3 savoury dishes, to be followed by three desserts. The SA king prawns and scallops were served in mini cones, with roe popping as you take your first bite. They were beautiful and fun, maybe a little too trendy, but I loved them. We also got the smoked cylinders with edible sand, lovely fresh fish with a strong umami flavour, and sweetness thanks to the seeweed. The smoke billowed inside the glass dome, before being released once placed on the table. A nice bit of food theatre to go along with the evening.

smoked cylinders
The chicken was lightly seasoned, getting it’s kick from the wasabi. Not as enchanting as the other dishes, but we didn’t want to get too swept away.

We managed two cocktails each throughout the night. Despite a poor first choice with the misleading Ice Cream Treacle (Gosling’s black seal rum, white chocolate syrup, vanilla vodka, whisky barrel aged bitters, grated nutmeg, orange twist), I made the top pick with the Balsamic Strawberry Fizz (mint, balsamic glaze, vanilla vodka, strawberry liqueur, strawberries, soda). It was like grabbing a fistful of of the freshest strawberries and plopping them straight into your mouth, just with the added freshness of of mint and soda water. It was pulpy and rich, and I’d happily sip it instead of a mojito next time I’m relaxing poolside.

Vic insisted on the sticky date pudding. It’s a comfort food, and something that many will pick off a menu with glee, but I just always find it so boring. This was the best sticky date pudding I’ve ever eaten. The vanilla ice cream was hidden inside, and it was moist, gooey, and rich. There are times when it pays to listen to your older sister.

We also got the deconstructed pavlova. I’ve had some great deconstructed dishes in the past, this just didn’t hit the mark. It was pleasant enough, but nothing about it really captured the idea of the pavlova. Sometimes deconstructing a dish allows you to have fun with flavours and textures that otherwise wouldn’t work, but I kind of just wished I had a regular pavlova. We polished the plate clean, it just left me wanting.

Finally the bombe alaska, my go-to dessert. I’m always interesting in seeing how it’s presented. Whether the meringue is already toasted, with a ring of alcohol lit around, or whether it’s set alight in front of you. I’m always guiltily a fan of the latter option, I love the charred meringue after it’s gotten that little bit too burt. This was lit before us, but the flame was a bit tamer than some others I’ve seen. Once again a bit of theatre bringing an added spark to the meal.

I’d struggle to really fault the food at Onyx, and the service was also fantastic, but there’s no denying that the big empty room felt a little bit hollow. I’m definitely going back, and I’ll probably keep going back time and time again; the food was skillful, creative, and fun. I just think that they need to realise that their food can carry itself, without the constant need to inform us all of it’s greatness. Drop the PR-speak and give us some real personality.

Onyx isn’t for everyone, it’s more expensive than your average dessert bar, and the chic setting and tablet menus will be all too much for some. What do you think? Is Onyx worth it, or are you struggling to find the love it so clearly thinks it deserves?

Neon Lobster @ Alpha Box & Dice Winery

Posted on January 22, 2013 by Natasha J Stewart

I’m considering changing the name of this blog to Times I’ve Eaten Food Cooked by the Happy Motel, after all, it seems to have become a pretty consistant theme amongst blog posts.

This was my first time down at Alpha Box & Dice’s McLaren Vale cellar door, for a post Christmas feed courtesy of the Happy Motel and their Neon Lobster Taqueria. They were set up over over three days on the 28th, 29th, and 30th of December. Initially I’d planned on heading down twice, once with my sister and once with Celeste and Christina, but after an emotionally draining Christmas and granddad’s funeral on the Friday, the two lunch dates were merged.

Celeste picked us up from Moana, and an unfortunately fluey toddler meant Christina wasn’t joining us. I’ll never get tired of the drive down to McLaren Vale, and then the drive home. The rolling hills covered in rows of lush green vines, with the sea and sand just visible in the distance. It’s things like this you only grow to appreciate once you get a bit older, the Fleurieu Peninsula has a hold on me that I just didn’t get as a kid.

We settled on a litre of sangria; not as strong as my dad usually makes, but more palatable for my tastes. We joined the line-up in front of the taqueria, and once the menu finally became legible we started to make our choices.

The beef taco was nice, but it felt a little overshadowed by the fish taco. Fish, mango, lime, coriander, cabbage; I think I just listed three of my favourite foodstuffs. Fruit with savoury food? Another favourite. It’s not really surprising that the fish taco came out on top, it was sweet and fresh, and considering the weather was co-operating with a beautiful summer’s day, perfect.

We finished with a bottle of Alpha Box and Dice Tarrot, first tasted at our Happy Motel Adelaide Magazine Dinner. It was a nice disconnect from the week prior, and an ideal summer’s day. Sadly we got up for thirds just as the kitchen announced there was no more.

If you’re yet to eat food from the Happy Motel, or if you’re back for seconds, the Happy Motel will be part of Barrio again in 2013 as part of the Adelaide Festival.

Coming up soon: That Time I Handed Out Free Water at a Music Festival, and Then Ate Food From the Happy Motel.

Christmas Cooking: An Eton Mess Recipe

Posted on December 28, 2012 by Natasha J Stewart

I’d intended to pop this recipe in the December Sweet Adventures Blog Hop. As soon as Christina announced the theme ‘Sweets for Santa‘ I knew that this red and white dessert would be perfect. But then life goes ahead and happens, and things don’t always go to plan. Thankfully, the Eton mess is really easy to make, and while I didn’t get a blog post up in time it still made it onto our Christmas table.

In the early hours of this year’s Christmas Eve my granddad passed away. He’d been sick for a while, and after many Christmases that might have been granddad’s last one, this was the first one we were going to have without him. My aunt made a toast for him at dessert, his favourite meal, and I think every time I make this Eton mess I’m going to have a little smile thinking of granddad.

There are three things you need for a basic Eton Mess:

Chantilly cream
Strawberries
Meringue

You can start getting fancy with other fruits and other flavourings, but sticking to these three means you’ll have a beautiful and popular dessert.

The meringues are the first things you’ll need to make. They’re a basic mix of sugar and egg whites. I used about 120g of egg whites to 240g of sugar. Beat the egg whites until soft peaks begin to form, and then start adding the sugar. I use caster sugar but you can use plain white sugar. Keep beating them till you have stiff peaks.

Then pipe the meringue into disk shapes on a lined tray. It doesn’t really matter if they touch, because you’ll be breaking them all apart in the end.

The oven should be preheated to about 120ºC, but once you put them in drop it to 90. They’ll take about an hour and a half to bake. If they don’t seem to have dried out enough leave them in the oven overnight (that’s what I did). Make sure it’s switched off!

The meringue can be made in advance, just make sure that it’s not too humid or they will lose their crunch.

On the day you’re planning on serving your Eton mess get set on the rest of the components. Wash and dice your strawberries, leaving some whole to decorate the top. I used around 4 regular sized punnets.

Then start whipping your cream, I used 1.2L of regular thickened cream, but it really depends on the size of your bowl. Once it starts to get thicker add in sifted icing sugar and vanilla bean paste. Add both to your taste.

In a large bowl mix the cream with most of the chopped strawberries and with the crunched up meringue. Save some of the strawberries to layer in the centre, and save some meringue to sprinkle on top. Spoon the mix into your serving bowl, and once it’s about halfway full cover it with a layer of chopped strawberries and some crushed meringue. Then spoon the rest of the mix into the bowl. Sprinkle the top with the remaining crushed meringue, and cut the tops of your remaining strawberries, placing them on top with their points in the air.

Now it’s time to enjoy.

Losing someone at Christmas makes it all the more special when you get to share it with those that are still around. Everyone hugged each other a little bit tighter this year, and while we all had our moments when we were wiping tears from our eyes, it was also a great time to be with family.

We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas lunch at my sisters house, Christmas morning with my four nieces is always my favourite part. They’ve recently all chosen new names for themselves to appear on the blog because I always seem to forget which pseudonym I refer to them by. Somehow my funny little nieces all went with flowers, the eldest is Poppy, then there’s Primrose (Prim for short), next is Daphney (nicknamed Daffodil), and finally Buttercup.

Buttercup insisted in helping me with the Eton mess, she mostly just played around with the meringues I wasn’t using, but she did help press in all the strawberries. At the funeral today she was so well behaved, only being a little cheeky while she sat on my dad’s lap. At one point it got a bit too much for her, and she just started crying because she couldn’t stand to see all the people she loved so sad, even if she didn’t really understand what was going on.

On Christmas Eve we all opened out secret admirer Peter Alexander pyjamas, except for Daffodil and Buttercup who had gorgeous pyjamas from Eternal Creations. I was lucky enough to get some great books for Christmas including How Baking Works, The Fundamental Techniques of Classic Pastry Arts, The Advanced Professional Pastry Chef, and Mad About Macarons. I also got the Heston’s Feast box set.

For us Christmas is about food, keeping old traditions and starting new ones (like watching Love Actually and opening our Christmas Eve pyjamas), but mostly it’s about family. This year did a great job at reminding me just how much I love mine.

What was Christmas like for your family this year? Did you have any special Christmas desserts?

Eat: The Brasserie

Posted on December 13, 2012 by Natasha J Stewart

Back onto birthday dinners, and this time I was at the Brasserie with my best friend. We don’t get to catch up as much as we’d like these days. She’s busy, I’m busy. So grabbing dinner with her & her boyfriend was a good way to celebrate my birthday. We’d been to the Brasserie together before, but it was while they were doing renovations, so this time we were down in the proper restaurant.

I met them in the bar, and we decided to start with a cocktail. I chose a lychee cocktail, Roxy went more tropical with passionfruit and pineapple, and Rowan’s kiwi fruit cocktail was set alight. We hadn’t quite finished when we decided to walk over to our table.

We actually all ordered the same thing, a surefire way to eliminate food envy. Usually I try and con people into ordering separate dishes, and I’ll often sacrifice my first choice if someone else wants to have it. Tonight wasn’t about writing a review, or sampling an entire menu (or so we thought), it was simply about enjoying good food with some of my favourite people at one of my favourite restaurants.

We started with the pork belly buns. I’ll admit that I was a little sad to see the Brasserie menus change, they no longer had the details about where the various foods were sourced from. There was still a lot of local produce, so their practices haven’t changed, but I used to enjoy sitting back and dissecting the menu. But, back to the pork belly buns. One of the things I am excited about is that the new menu seems to be having a little bit more fun. It takes on a few ‘trends’ and does them so well.

The pork belly buns were actually quite light, and there was a great freshness that came from the cucumber and the herbs. I would have loved a little more pork belly inside, but hey, is there ever a time that I don’t want more pork belly? At the end of the dish we were craving more, I joked to the waiter that we could order 10 more, but we didn’t want to spoil the rest of the dinner.

Next up were the ribs.

Sticky and sweet, the meat was falling off the bones. I was expecting good things with this dish, considering the delicious ribs I’d eaten the week before at Eat Drink Blog. The style was different, but the meat itself was just as good. We got some green veggies on the side, and the ribs also game with thick wedge like chips. We couldn’t even finish our chips, even though they were crunchy and delicious. The ribs and the pork bun were more than enough, and I was glad I hadn’t ordered a second bun.

Before we could take a look at the dessert menus our waiter came over and told us that the kitchen had a special dessert for my birthday. It’s times like this that I’m thankful I have a second dessert stomach.

We had a sample of every dessert on the menu, all to share between the three of us.

To be honest, we were a little scared. It was epic, and being dessert freaks we knew there was no way we were leaving a speck of dessert on that plate. There was lemon curd and meringue with native Australian berries, delicious caramel filled profiteroles, a hazelnut ice cream sandwich, honey bombe alaska, some kind of cherry ripe dessert, and a creme brulee.

My favourite would be a tie between the bombe alaska (they’re always a favourite of mine), and the filled profiteroles.

We managed to finish the platter, and felt like we would roll out of the door. I remember being amazed by the desserts when we were there for my 21st, but this topped it.

I’m hoping to head back to the Brasserie soon to try some more of their buns. They also do a kim chi and a pulled pork bun, and I’m all for food trends when they’re tasty. It’s a bit disappointing that the kim chi bun isn’t available at lunch, I’d love to be able to go in and order a trio of the buns during the day, I’d feel a little weird going into the restaurant at night just to order three starters by myself.

The Brasserie remains one of my favourite places in Adelaide, but it’s not somewhere I get to very often. Thanks to the Entertainment Card I get there about once a year, and I haven’t been disappointed yet.

Eat: Shiki at the Intercontinental

Posted on December 8, 2012 by Natasha J Stewart

I like birthdays. Well my birthday in particular. It’s the perfect excuse to convince my dad that we need to go out somewhere nice to eat. I spend my actual birthday having dinner at the Adelaide Hilton as part of our food blogging conference, Eat Drink Blog 3, but I had 4 more birthday dinners lined up. I’m always looking for any excuse to catch up with friends/family over food, and this seemed like the perfect excuse.

The first dinner was at Shiki, the Japanese teppanyaki restaurant at the Intercontinental. I first learned about Shiki back in year 10, when I went on a tour of the Hyatt, now the Intercontinental. We were there for a French trip, and were learning about the benefits of learning a second language if you want to get into the hospitality industry. At the time it fuelled a passion to one day own my own hotel. I might not have the same dreams anymore, but I’ve still always been interested in trying out Shiki for myself.

Unfortunately Shiki isn’t the sort of place we can take the entire family, not only because we were doing the $140 degustation, but because there’s not much chance you’ll get any of my nieces eating teppanyaki unless they fry up some chicken nuggets on the iron griddle. So there was just 5 of us: mum, dad, one of my sisters, myself, and the Smiling Foodie. It seemed fitting he come along considering we’re birthday buddies. (We made up for the lack of the rest of the family with a fun picnic at their local park).

First we were given some light soba noodles, which were followed by the sashimi: kingfish, salmon, and tuna. Lucky for me Sam is not a fan of sashimi, so I lucked out and got to enjoy double. They were so fresh, I could have easily had myself another plate.

sashimi

As is usually the case with teppanyaki (unless you’ve got a very large group), you share your bench with other diners. We had a small group who’d obviously been enjoying the wine selection, who were having a great time, and an older English couple who had only just arrived in Adelaide on business. I always enjoy the chance to meet new people, and I find food is the perfect social lubricant.

One of my favourite dishes of the night was the soft-shell mud crab. It’s got the flavour of crab without all the mess, and it’s got that great mix of soft meat and still lightly crunchy shell.

softshellcrab

I always enjoy watching my food being cooked, and it gives you another level of connection with the cooking process. There weren’t any wild antics, we didn’t have food thrown into our mouths, but the flames are always entertaining. In general I found the service to be quite reserved. It was interesting to see what I assumed to be typical Japanese dining etiquette, all the women were served first with dad (the oldest male) receiving his meals last.

At the end of the meal we were lead away to have our dessert, green tea panna cotta with red bean. I’m not sure if the move was supposed to be for our benefit or theirs, whether they were freeing up our spot at the main table or just giving us the opportunity to relax over dessert somewhere a little more secluded. I enjoyed the panna cotta, as I generally do, it was a refreshing end and the matcha flavour wasn’t too bitter.

dessert

Overall I really enjoyed Shiki, but I could personally justify the price. $140 a head + alcohol isn’t a cheap night out, and I definitely won’t be doing the degustation again unless someone else is paying.

P.s. If this doesn’t seem like much food for $140, I haven’t actually covered every dish! You can read all the menus online.

Fork on the Road Adelaide Food Truck Festival

Posted on November 18, 2012 by Natasha J Stewart

I went to Pearl’s Diner this afternoon and had the final burger in their Art Burger series. I’ve been collecting them since the Be Friendly Burger was announced; I had hoped to eat all 6 of them, but it’s hard when you’re not in the city during the week. In general I’m struggling to keep up with the growing number of food trucks around Adelaide, especially because they tend to stick to mid-week lunch times. Even when I do get a day in the city I keep getting tempted back by old favourites, rather than trying the new kids in town.

So I’m looking forward to the upcoming Fork on the Road Food Tuck Festival, which will bring together people like Burger Theory, La Cantina Co, Veggie Velo, Raw Thirst, plus a whole load I’m yet to try.

I first heard about the festival about a month ago, when I was approached about selling cupcakes as part of the festival. Unfortunately I didn’t have the time, and I felt my lack of food-vehicle might make me a little out of place. So instead I’m going along as an eater.

You can read more about Fork on the Road over on Weekend Notes. It’s a new festival, so it’s hard to know what it will be like, but there’s already such a great vibe in the squares when 3 or 4 trucks trade together so I’m excited.

Perhaps next year I’ll get me some wheels, and I can join in the fun too.

Eat Drink Blog 3: Experiencing South Australia

Posted on November 12, 2012 by Natasha J Stewart

When we first started discussing Eat Drink Blog 3 there was one thing I really wanted from the conference, the opportunity to show of South Australia. I’ve travelled and I’ve lived overseas, I also love interstate cities, but Adelaide and it’s surrounds have such a huge place in my heart. Eat Drink Blog 3 would be my first Eat Drink Blog conference, so I didn’t really know what had been at the other conferences and what we were getting into. I just know that I wanted South Australia to be more than just the conference’s location. After the first meeting it was clear I wasn’t the only one, and so the two day conference started to form around the idea of a day dedicated to exploring some of the best food and wine available in South Australia.

On November 3rd it became a reality.

We held a little group meeting while bloggers started appearing at the doors outside the Market Kitchen in the Adelaide Central Market. Once the doors were opened they swarmed in. On the registrations desk we were meeting everyone, getting waivers signed, and handing out lanyards, programs, and information on the winery tours bloggers would be heading out on afterwards. People mingled and met for the first time, but then it was time to head out on our central market tour. Unfortunately was a bit busy to get out my camera, so I missed out on getting any market snaps apart from a few dodgy instagrams. We went to O’Connell Meat and had a tour through the store, we heard about cheese at Leo’s Gourmet Cheese Shop, tasted some non-alcoholic bubbles at Gourmet to Go, got yoghurt from the Yoghurt Shop, and were introduced to black garlic at the Mushroom Man Mushroom Shop. We only had until 12, when the winery busses would be leaving.

I’m a McLaren Vale girl, but earlier this year I fell in love with the Barossa. I had a lot of misconceptions about the Barossa. It’s filled with only big name wineries. It’s just a tourist trap. It’s too far away from the city. It’s nothing special; overrated. Then I went their for my first Breakfast Rave and started discovering the Barossa for myself. So while the McLaren Vale group headed off to D’Arenberg, I was pretty excited to do a bit more exploring of the Barossa.

The Bus stopped off at Bibu Barossa, and we split into two; the other group then headed off to Taste Eden Valley. At Bibu a large table was laid out for us with wine glasses and our own personal platters of smallgoods from Barossa Fine Foods.

We tasted a number of wines from Diggers Bluff and Soul Growers, and were talked through the smallgoods and how each went best with the various wines. My favourite wine from the day was the Diggers Bluff GSM, I hoped to pick a bottle up, but we were running on a tight schedule and so I ran out of time. I know everyone really enjoyed the tasting at Bibu, so I felt like a bit of a downer when I had to keep reminding everyone that we had to wrap things up soon.

Here’s our group shot with The Hungry Excavator, The Saucy Redhead, Drunk.com, Chew Town, Beyond Jelly, Finger, Fork & Knife, Belly Rumbles, Melissa Loh, The Littlest Anchovy, and Foodie Cravings.

From Bibu we went to Hentley Farm. This was probably one of the things I was most excited about. Lachlan Colwill is a chef I’ve heard a lot about, but I’d never had a chance to eat of his food before. Now executive chef at Hentley Farm, Lachlan was previously at the helm of The Manse; sadly a restaurant I never got a chance to try prior to it’s closing.

Unfortunately I don’t remember too much about the wines, I’m sure it’s not because they’re unmemorable, but I was operating on not much sleep and the food was drawing most of my attention.

The food was interesting without being over the top. We weren’t using pipettes to launch streams of roast beef reduction into our mouths, but there was a certain creativity with them.

It’s hard to pick a favourite, but I did really enjoy the crispy rice cracker with mushroom floss and snapper; not a particularly pretty dish, but one that melted in your mouth releasing the flavour of the mushroom and snapper. We also got some beautiful delicate chocolate lollypops that didn’t particularly enjoy being outside in the heat. There were a few that sadly fell from their sticks after the first bite.

Then we were back on the bus, where a few of the bloggers had a bit of a sleep during the long drive.

At the Hilton most people had a bit of time before getting off to the dinner, but as a committee we regrouped and ran over a few aspects of the night. Things were a little tense as the clouds started to get darker and it started lighting spitting. The entire dinner was outside, it was a gorgeous set up with fairy lights and the open sky. Rain was not to be part of the equation.

Thankfully it subsided, and while all our candles still blew out, we had a clear night.

While the bloggers poured in we were all treated to these ‘snow cones’. I can’t remember exactly what was in them, but it was ice and a sweet syrup with red bean (?). I thought maybe they were similar to the shaved ice desserts you get in Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines but apparently these were very different. They were light and refreshing, and everyone I saw seemed to enjoy them. They were definitely something different.

These were also followed by some delicious sliders. Yes, yes. Sliders are super trendy at the moment, I know everyone’s serving them. But you know what, I don’t care. I’m all for shamelessly supporting a trend if people are doing it well, and these definitely fit in that category. They’re almost like the sandwiches you make with roast left overs, grab a dinner roll, some meat, and add some mayo. Mmmmmm. Like that… but better.

We took our seats and started chatting to everyone on the table. I was next to Geoff Kwitko, SEO expert extraordinaire and one of our speakers at the conference, so I got to meet him for the first time and also chat to a few of the bloggers I’d met earlier in the day. Geoff was a real hit on the table (as he’d later prove to be at the conference) as he answered everyone’s pressing SEO questions with a whole load of enthusiasm.

The corn was very popular, and I love the way the husks had been tied back. It made it very easy to pass them round the table (which happened often considering everyone wanted seconds). Dennis also very kindly posted a recipe for the corn on his blog (yes he’s a blogger too, make sure you go check him out). We had plenty more to eat, in fact the food just kept coming. My absolute favourite dish of the night would have to be the ribs. The meat was so tender and fell right off the bone. I made sure I grabbed seconds when the plate came around again. I didn’t get any good pictures, because I think that by this stage most of us were concentrating on the food rather than getting any pictures (that’s an impressive feat when food bloggers are around).

One of the highlights of the night for me was actually meeting Dennis Leslie, the executive chef of the Brasserie at the Hilton. The Brasserie is one of my favourite restaurants in Adelaide, and I’ve always enjoyed Dennis’ menus. He’s always seemed like such a friendly guy, and finally getting a chance to meet him proved this was true. I love that he shared the corn recipe saying “nothing is a secret“, something that you definitely wouldn’t hear from all chefs. He definitely doesn’t fit the stereotypical profile of an angry and egotistical chef.

A close second was a little ‘birthday moment‘ I had with the rest of the Eat Drink Blog committee members. Yep. It was my 23rd birthday, but I’d been a little bit too conference focussed to pay it too much attention. But we stepped away from the dinner for a little while, and they sang me happy birthday and gave me a little tart. Then I left a little earlier than I would have liked, so that I could get back home to make sure all of the cupcakes were ready for afternoon tea the next day.

I would have loved to have stayed a little longer, and perhaps continued on well into the night as I know a few other bloggers did. I guess that will be what next year is for, when I’m not on the organising committee.

It was such a fun day, and I know I got to see a bit more of South Australia than usual; I’m glad all the interstate bloggers did too.

Photo: http://simonfoodfavourites.blogspot.com.au/

Baking for Bloggers: Eat.Drink.Blog 2012

Posted on November 8, 2012 by Natasha J Stewart

It’s safe to say in the lead up to Eat.Drink.Blog all of us had our task lists to tick off. I had to get a few things for the morning tea, make sure I had my business cards ready, and read through a few blogs to make sure I was up to speed on all our delegates. I’d already planned to take Friday off TAFE to make sure I had enough time to prepare and to make sure I could find an outfit for Saturday night’s dinner.
Then the phone call came.

Our afternoon tea supplier had to pull out at the last minute; for a completely legitimate reason, but still one that left us in a bit of a tight spot. With only one full day before the conference started we needed to find someone new, and thankfully that was where I could step in. So after an early TAFE finish on Thursday afternoon I packed up my trolly, had quick stop offs at the General Trader and Ecotel, and made my way down to Moana to start baking.

Thursday night & Friday are honestly just a blur of baking. I was doing 5 different cupcakes (which included a new addition of gluten free orange cupcakes), plus cake-pops and chocolate mousses. It’s not just about the cakes and the icing, but there’s all of the extra bits that seem to take so much time. Things like the candied carrot curls for the carrot cupcakes, the mini towers of caramel popcorn, homemade peanut butter cups, and chocolate moustaches. I also decided to experiment with some candied rose to go on top of the chocolate mousse; even if I’m not sure how strong the flavour of this ‘dust’ was in the end.

On top of this I had extra stuff to plan and print, like business cards for The Cupcake Table as well as for my blog, and little place cards for the cupcakes. Thankfully I had the graphics already, and just had to make a quick stop off at Officeworks to get them printed (Fruit Salad and Mixed Veg has a great post about getting last minute business cards printed).

None of it would have been possible without the help of Miss C, my fabulous niece (I’m not a mummy blogger, so I tend to forget the pseudonyms I have for my nieces. Miss C, Miss 12, Miss soon to be 13?). Working with her in the kitchen reminds me of this quote from Mario Batali:

My opinion is that yelling is the result of the dismay you feel when you realize you have not done your own job.

Miss C puts up with a lot when she joins me in the kitchen. I don’t really yell, but I get stressed, and I’m not good at dictating work to others. I like to do all the work myself, because when something goes wrong I’d rather blame myself than think it was all the fault of someone else. But she puts in a lot of hours, and a lot of hard work to help me out. Whether it’s baking the cakes for my cake pops, or just doing the dishes.

When I get frustrated with her, I have to keep reminding myself (and her) that it’s my fault something is running behind or not turning out, not hers. I should be the one teaching her. But she was amazing, and half the time I just love having her company, not only because she’s fun but because it’s easy to go crazy when you’re alone in a kitchen with sugar seeping into your pores and a clock that just keeps getting later and later.

But it happened. We finished. And amongst all the baking we also managed to pack the 90 goodie bags that the delegates took home, and cut up a bucketload of fruit for Sunday’s morning tea. Miss C stayed behind to clean up the kitchen, and I made my way along to the conference.

Then the longest day in existence happened.

I’ll write a detailed post about other aspects of the conference later, but for now I’d just like to focus on the cupcakes. Afternoon tea wasn’t until 2:45; I was tired and sore, and just really eager to get them out and prove that all this exhaustion was worth it. Finally 2pm rolled around and I started to set up. The chocolate mousses were delivered by my dad, because they wouldn’t have fared well sitting around unrefrigerated all day. Most of the cupcakes have to be ‘assembled’ just before their served, as toppings can go soggy or bleed. So piece by piece I placed my candied carrot curls, pressed on my popcorn towers, and sprinkled rose dust on the chocolate mousse.

Even before I could finish setting up bloggers were coming up and asking me about the cupcakes, what they were, who made them. I was buzzing with excitement, but trying not to show it too much.

Dennis Leslie (who I’ve raved about before, and who cooked our dinner on Saturday night) mentioned being a little daunted about cooking for food bloggers; I was feeling the same. I knew everyone was lovely because I’d already spent a day and a half getting to know them all, but I was just so scared of everything falling flat on it’s face.

I was especially nervous about having Adelaide blogger Rachel from The Little Cookbook try them. We met for the first time recently at one of the local Adelaide food blogger meet-ups. We had a great chat about cupcakes, avoiding fondant (or plastic icing as I feel I should be calling it, lest I get a rap on the hand from a TAFE chef), and having food that looks like food. So I was a little nervous that my cupcakes weren’t going to stand up to my ideals.

Watching food bloggers descend on food is an entertaining sight. Everyone piles around, with cameras and phones in hand, snapping away. It’s great being around other bloggers, because no one cares and everyone just has fun. There are no scornful looks, people just snap away until everyone’s had their photographic fill.

It was all a little bit overwhelming, and I’m pretty lucky I didn’t break down in tears. I was tired. exhausted. Achingly sore. And every one was so goddam lovely. I’ve never had so much time to talk to people when I’ve been supplying cupcakes. At the markets it’s always busy, and there are people to serve, but here I got a chance to chat to people about cupcakes, how to make cake pops, and just generally about my business.

For me the joy of baking doesn’t come from the baking itself (while it’s something that seems to calm most people I’m often quite highly strung in the kitchen), for me it’s when I get to see other’s enjoying the things I’ve made.

FUCK YEAH.

Playing House

Baking, Living, and Playing

Category Archives: Food