The Chronicles of a Dirty Flamingo in the Kitchen

Winding Down...

2007-09-20T13:47:00.000+10:00

Geez. I haven't written in this thing since the dead of winter! My food blog will continue to hybernate until I've finished with my studies and have done my time at my place of employment.

Winter-Spring update:

I've got 8 weeks left of cookery school, then I'm out! I'm doing work experience right now at the Langham Hotel in Southbank.
I've also got about 8 more weeks of working at the vegetarian restaurant. Thank goodness!
In 10 weeks I jet off to Hawaii for a week, San Franscico for a week, St. Louis for a few days, Miami for a few days and will spend Christmas with the inlaws on the East Coast (of America, that is).
My timetable is filled 7 days a week again, so I don't really spend as much time coming up with novel recipes, photographing the finished result and them blogging about them as I used to earlier in the year.
I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of November.

Zest,
The dirtiest flamingo of them all...

Cleaning out the Fridge: Eggs, Pasta and Soup

2007-07-18T19:32:00.000+10:00

Today was one of those days where I was debating going out into the rain to pick up some ingredients at the supermarket or see what I could whip up with just what I had in my kitchen. I chose the latter. Carrots and macaroni left over from the cookery club meeting turned into Huevos a la Flamenca (Spanish baked eggs) with fresh goats' cheese over macaroni and Carrot, Onion, Potato and Sage soup -- both a success if I might say so myself.

I recently rediscovered some smoked paprika in my cupboard, so I thought that would give the baked dish a nice hint of smokiness to replace the chorizo that traditionally goes into it. It was also a perfect excuse to use some of my stark white bakeware I never seem to get around to using.
Huevos a la Flamenca with fresh goats' cheese over macaroni --serves 2--
200 g cooked macaroni shaped pasta (about 100g to 130 g uncooked)
200 g passata, Italian cooking tomato sauce
1 tsp olive oil
1/8 tsp of smoked paprika
1/4 tsp powdered cumin
1/4 tsp powdered coriander
2 eggs, Free Range
20 g soft goats' cheese
salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 220º C. Combine spices with passata then stir in pasta until thoroughly combined. Spoon pasta into two oven proof mini casseroles and make a well in the centre of each. Crack 1 egg into each well. Divide the goat's cheese into two portions, then break into smaller pieces and arrange around the egg yolk. Season, cover with baking paper followed by foil and place into your hot oven. Bake until the yolks are set, about 20-25 minutes. To serve use a knife to make a criss-cross on the yolk, crack some pepper over the top and enjoy!

My View: Bistro Vue

2007-07-06T23:14:00.000+10:00

I thought that when I moved back to Melbourne I'd get to see my friends more often than I do, so we've set up a monthly meet up where one of us chooses a restaurant and we do the catch up thing. This month's choice: Shannon Bennet's Bistro Vue

We accidentally walked in the wrong way and consequently had to be lead through Vue du Monde to get to the cheaper, more affordable sister Bisro Vue. The inside of this little French -inspired treasure is exactly what I imagine a little countryside town bistro to look like. Antique wooden furniture and chairs to match, mismatched crockery, floral designs galore. The atmosphere was an experience in itself, all very perfectly planned. The toilets are reminiscent of what you'd find in a trendy, shabby chic Paris night spot.

I'll go ahead and say straight off that Bistro Vue is not very vegetarian-friendly (let alone vegan) and the only vegetarian entree available was lacking in the imagination department despite how tasty it is. You can never really go wrong with vegetables neatly tucked away in a crisp, flaky parcel of puff pastry, but really, how many restaurants do I have to go to and eat puff pastry with vegetables while my non-vego friends are chowing down amazing sounding things like braised, stuffed trotters or Dory "a la meuniere"? Call it what you like guys and gals, pithivier, gallette, tarte, parcel, stack, etc -- it's still essentially puff pastry with vegetables. I ordered the Provençal pithivier with tomato jus ($18), and it was tasty. One of the girls ordered a side of curried spinach and I'll be honest, I'm not sure I've ever had spinach that tasted so good (let's hope it wasn't made with chicken or beef stock). The pomme frites are cooked in goose fat, which is interesting, but from the one chip I sampled it didn't taste any different.

The sweet finale to the meal was definitely the highlight to the meal. We settled on the pear tarte tatin with creme anglais ($24 for 2 persons, it huge and could definitely be split with 5 or 6 persons) and the pistachio souffle with pistachio ice cream and chocolate sauce ($12). The July issue of the Australian Gourmet Traveller is dealing with all things French this month and the recipe for the tarte tatin is in it. Again, puff pastry. You can't go wrong with it, especially if you add butter, sugar and slow cooked fruit. Every bite of the tart tatin was rich with vanilla bean and clove flavours and worth every calorie in every bite. The souffle was also lovely, but the presentation far exceeded the actual taste satisfaction factor. The ice cream tasted like pistachios (yum), the souffle tasted like eggs, sugar and pistachios (interesting and delicate) and the chocolate sauce, well, it was chocolate sauce.

I'd go back just to have another bite of that tart tatin and a pot of tea served to me by the very attentive and knowledgeable staff. They make the tatin to order, so it's great to enjoy tea or coffee while you wait.

Even though the vegetarian entree was surprisingly good with each (and every) bite, the name of the dish was the only imaginative thing about it.

Bistro Vue
Normanby Chambers
430 Little Collins St (Entry via New Chancery Lane)

The Savoury Addition: Jamaican-style Lentils and Rice

2007-06-27T18:59:00.000+10:00

I'm always dubious when I see things like "Mexican stew", "Cajun chicken", mostly because I always imagine people using their pair of kitchen scissors to snip the corner off of a spice packet, empty it into whatever they're cooking consequently allowing their taste buds to instantly be transported to the streets of New Orleans or the Mexican countryside. One of the specials at my restaurant this week is Jamaican stew, I haven't tasted it, but I have seen it. It looks a whole lot like a Thai curry -- light, creamy and delicious. That 2 second visual experience inspired tomorrow's lunch, Jamaican-style Lentils & Rice. I say Jamaican-style because I really couldn't be bothered with facing the drab weather outside today.

Jamaican-style Lentils & Rice - adapted from here - serves 4

200g dried lentils
15o g brown rice
2 cloves of garlic, bruised (mashed)
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp crushed chili flakes
1/2 tsp dried thyme
2 g fresh ginger
6 tsp powdered coconut milk
salt and pepper, to taste
1 litre + water

**Combine lentils, water, rice, garlic and ginger in a pot and bring to a boil. Lower to a simmer and cook for 45-60 minutes or until rice is tender and lentils have lost their bite. In final minutes of cooking remove garlic and ginger and add remaining spices. Season to taste and serve with fresh chopped parsley.

Vegan Sweets: Cooking with or without?

2007-06-27T15:22:00.000+10:00

I went to bed last night determined to cook up a storm today. I regularly have Wednesdays off from work now so I like to use these free days to test whatever recipes have been floating around in my head for the past few days. I had some guava puree that was just screaming to have something done with it, Stephanie Alexander featured some sweet rhubarb recipes in this week's Epicure and I've had a few limes lingering around the depths of my fruit bowl, so I went ahead and tried to base today's cooking around those items. Alas, it has been raining all day, so I've been confined to using items I had on hand: limes and guava puree. I already knew I'd be satisfying my sweet tooth today so I also whipped up Espinacas con Garbanzos (spiced spinach and chickpeas), a typical dish from southern Spain, to counteract the massive amounts of sugar about to enter my body. I somehow ended up baking two vegan pastries: Citrus Tea Cake and Guava-Cinnamon Scrolls. Both taste nearly as good as heaven would taste if it were built from sugar, I reckon.

the fermentation batter

Rolling out the dough

Spreading the guava

Making the "sausage"

Resting scrolls

The finished product

Guava and Cinnamon Scrolls -- makes 8 scrolls

fermentation batter --
6 g active dry yeast
125 ml water at 38º C (it should feel slightly warmer than your body)
50 g plain white flour or bakers flour
10 g sugar
**Dissolve the yeast in the water, then add the sugar until dissolved. Sieve the flour over the mixture, cover and allow to ferment for 25-30 minutes until frothy and collapsed.

the scroll dough--
100 g plain white flour or bakers flour
100 g plain wholemeal flour (substitute white flour if preferred)
2 g salt
30 g Nuttelex or other vegan margarine
20 g sugar
the filling--
40 g raw sugar
30 g Nuttelex or other vegan margarine, melted
ground cinnamon
160 g guava puree (optional)
**Combine all dry ingredients and sieve into a bowl. Rub the butter into the mixture until it resembles grains of sand. Make a well in the centre and pour the fermentation batter in it. Using a spatula, carefully fold the dry ingredients into the fermentation batter until thoroughly mixed. Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Allow to rise in a warm, draught free place covered with plastic wrap or a moist tea towel for 40 minutes. Knock the dough back to its original size after 40 minutes, then allow to rise for an additional 20. Preheat oven to 210º C.
** Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll out into a rectangle until dough is 1cm in thickness. Brush melted butter on surface, sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Using a circular motion, use the back of a spoon to spread the guava paste over the entire surface. Roll the rectangle into a sausage from the shortest side and press the edge closed. Cut the roll into 5 cm slices with a serrated knife or a sharp knife and place onto a baking tray lined with non-stick baking paper leaving 1-2 cm between each slice. Set aside to rest for 15 minutes then back for 10-15 minutes until the surface in light golden brown. Allow to cool slightly before dusting with pure icing sugar.
**In place of pure icing sugar, mix 1/2 cup of pure icing sugar with 1 tbs of soy milk and drizzle over the scrolls. The scrolls are equally as tasty without the guava filling, just sprinkle slightly more sugar over the dough.

Off To Mecca We Went

2007-06-25T21:42:00.000+10:00

Our 3 day hiatus from responsibility proved successful. Will and I took a mini holiday, rented a car and went (and ate and drank) where ever our hearts desired. We shopped 'til we dropped at Chadstone, boozed our way through the Mornington Peninsula, dined at the Docklands and nearly bought half of Dan Murphy's. I really feel rested enough to make it through to my next holiday from school in September, but not quite rested enough to download photos and such.

I was set of having Middle Eastern food for some reason so we headed off to Mecca Bah at Melbourne's up and coming boardwalk area, New Quay at Docklands. It'd been ages since I'd been down to the area to eat, but the yum cha places I ate at seems to have since closed...

Mecca Bah kind of lacks the individual character and personality that the majority of Melbourne restaurants seem to have, but the interior is sleek, trendy and popular with diners of all ages. You have a great view from anywhere you choose to sit, the waitstaff is attentive, the kitchen seems to run efficiently and the menu is comfortably 'arabesque'. The menu as a whole isn't that vegetarian friendly, but the silverbeet rolls (which were unavailable) and fatoush are well worth trying. For entrees we settled on the dips and Turkish bread, which included hummus, tatziki and babaganoush. Nothing spectacular, but the the smokiness and creaminess of the babaganoush was enough to keep me spreading lashings of it the Turkish bread until my main came. For vegetarians, there were only two options: tagine or Turkish pizza. I don't think the tagine at Mecca Bah could have topped what I had in Morocco, so I opted for the roast pumpkin, feta, chili and pomegranate jam pizza.

I still have visions of pomegranate dancing around in my head; the pizza was that good. It was shaped like a miniature gondola topped with a bit of rocket splashed with balsamic vinegar. The size of it just about sparked a conversation on the ever increasing portion sizes in contemporary eating establishments until I discovered that the base is nearly paper-thin. Every topping was just the right bite-size and eat mouthful was just as good as the last. The slight tartness of the pomegranate jam blew me away with the way it went so well with the saltiness of the feta and the sweetness of the roasted pumpkin. At $15 for the dish, I'd go back again just to have another bite of vegetarian deliciousness.

Thumbs for a fantastic vegetarian option that doesn't include mushrooms, risotto or a stack of vegetables.

Mecca Bah
55a Newquay Promenade
Docklands, Melbourne (next to Livebait)

Eating in the Underground

2007-06-21T11:24:00.000+10:00

Over at Chocolate & Zucchini I read an interesting entry on underground dinning and the thought stayed with me throughout the night and it still pestering me as I write this. I did some research on the topic and apparently we have our own underground kitchen right in our very own backyard -- Zingara Cucina.

According to an article that was published in the Herald Sun last month, Zingara Cucina is the most difficult restaurant to get into. Supposedly it's in Melbourne and the only way to actually get in is by refferal. How cool is that?!

One Pot Wonder: Jambalaya

2007-06-15T20:29:00.000+10:00

I just happened to pick up the July issue of Super Food Ideas today and found a recipe for Jambalaya. I've cooked Jambalaya only once in my life as a home cook and remember it being a rather satisfying dish. As soon as I flipped thought the magazine, I forgot about the Jambalaya and instead focused on what sort of sweets I should bake. I fiddle about the kitchen a bit and then found myself gathering ingredients for a Jambalaya inspired dish based on Spanish rice and Mexican rice. Jambalaya is typically cooked with different types of shellfish and meats, much like a paella, so I added some red beans as a protein substitute. The result was essentially a rather tasty Creole-style Jambalaya. A hearty dish like this one perfectly suits a day like today: cold, foggy and perfectly bleak.

Jambalaya -- adapted from Super Food Ideas, July Issue
100 g brown rice
200 g canned red beans, rinsed and drained
45 g onion, finely diced
1 garlic, minced
120 g red capsicum, cut into 4 cm strips
2 tsp tomato puree
1 tsp olive oil
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 sweet paprika
1 Massel Chicken-style stock cube
500 ml water

1. Saute the onion and garlic over low heat in the olive oil until lightly browned. Add the rice and saute for 3-4 minutes. Add water, capsicum, beans, tomato puree and spices along with the stock cube and bring to a boil. Lower to a simmer and cook over low heat for 40 minutes.
2. Check water levels after 20 minutes and adjust accordingly. Stir infrequently. When the rice is cooked, adjust seasonings. The end result should be like a "dry" soup.
3. Garnish with parsley chiffonade and eat away!

Digging up my roots: Cuban pastelitos de guayaba

2007-06-14T16:15:00.000+10:00

Lately I've been feeling a bit like something in between homesickness and nostalgic. I don't really have a home -- a place I can go to year after year to visit family and feel a sense of belonging even after years of absences -- nor is is nostalgia because I definitely didn't even want to be there when I did live there. I'm speaking mostly about Miami (in America, of course). I only lived there for 2 years of my 25, but each time I go back I find that I miss it a bit more each time I visit. I spent most summers there. As a child Miami meant pastelitos de guayaba, coconut ice cream, sweet biscuits with rainbow sprinkles that tasted a bit much like chemical raising agents, Cuban bread...Miami meant food, sweets and going to our favourite park.

On my last visit in Miami I indulged in many of my childhood favourites, including scarfing down nearly an entire box of pasta de guayaba (guava paste, pictured above) that has a layer of crema de leche as well. Yesterday I suddenly began craving pastelitos de guayaba or guava puff pastries and was determined to have some! Unfortunately I ate them before they could be chased down by the paparazzi to be photographed, but I do have the recipe left behind. Once I took a bite I was instantly transported back to those uncomfortable visits to my aunt's house where she always greeted us with a box of pastries from the bakery. So. Yum.

Pastelitos de Guayaba

1 can of pink guava fruit
1 tsp lemon juice
100 g Castor sugar
100 ml water
5-6 sheets of puff pastry, defrosted
1 egg, for egg washing

Preheat your oven to 190º C. Open your can of guava fruit and remove the seeds and pulp. Save half of the liquid. Using a food processor or immersion hand blender, blend the fruit shells with the lemon juice and half of the can syrup until you've got a smooth paste. Place the paste into a saucepan and simmer for 15-20 minutes over low heat or until the paste has reduced a bit. Allow to cool slightly. Divide each sheet of puff pastry into 3 long strips. Smear a strip of guava paste down the center of one strip leaving space along all edges, moisten the 4 edges and place another strip over the first strip. Lightly press the edges and smooth them out making sure not to squeeze any of the paste out. Repeat the process until you've used up all of your puff pastry strips.

Place your strips on a lightly oiled tray, brush with some beaten egg and bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown. While the pastries are baking, combing the sugar and water and bring to a boil, then simmer for 5 minuets to create a simple sugar syrup.

When your pastries are golden brown, brush their surfaces with the simple sugar syrup and bake for an additional 5-6 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack and cool slightly. Slice each strip into 4 squares and enjoy! As a side note the pastries would definitely benefit from using a commercially prepared guava paste or by reducing your canned guava paste down to a thicker consistency to intensify the flavour.

It's needless to say that during my next trip to Miami I'll be buying everyone Cuban cooking product I can get my hands on, as this time around my suitcases were already too full with my life's belongings.

Soups for Winter: Asian Vegetable and Noodle Broth

2007-06-14T13:08:00.000+10:00

The arrival of winter means soups, pies and other warm, hearty foods, well, provided you don't live in the tropics. To fill up before heading off to work with grease laden food at my favourite place of employment I whipped up this clean tasting Asian-style broth -- hopefully it'll keep me from scarfing down chips at the end of my shift!

Asian Vegetable & Noodle Broth -- serves 1

500 ml water
2 cm chunk of fresh ginger
the juice of 1/4 of a lime
2-3 springs of fresh coriander, picked, no stems
120 g bok choy, chiffonade (thinly sliced)
60 g of firm tofu, 1 cm cubes
4 g of Asian rice seasoning (Furikake -- for rice balls, inari, etc-- a mixture of shredded seaweed, sesame seeds, etc.)
22 g rice stick noodles
10 ml light soy sauce
2 ml kecap manis (sweet soy sauce)
1 spring onion, cut into 3 portions

Bring the water to a boil along with the ginger root, rice noodles, rice seasoning, soy sauce and kecap manis. Turn down to a simmer and add the tofu, bok choy. Simmer until the noodles are soft and bok choy is tender. Before serving remove spring onion and ginger root. Garnish with fresh coriander and add a squeeze of lime. After finishing the broth you'll find crunchy toasted sesame seeds and shredded nori at the bottom of your bowl for added texture and interest.

108 calories/3.3 g fat/9.1 g protein/98mg calcium

A Proper Vegetarian Brekkie: A Lesson in Vegetarian Nutrition

2007-06-13T11:02:00.000+10:00

"If beef is your idea of "real food for real people", you'd better live real close to a real good hospital."

Today is my day off, so I woke up early (9am) and cooked up a storm for breakfast for Will and myself. In school at the moment, we're studying seafood and preparing food according to special diets and cultural requirements and it's had really got me asking myself this question, "How healthy am I?". As a personal exercise, I'm keeping track of every single thing I put into my body. I've recently been worried about not eating enough protein, but yesterday I consumed 57 grams, when the minimum I need is 40 grams, which includes 13 grams of vanilla flavoured protein I add to my Weetbix in the morning. Unfortunately I didn't consume nearly as much fibre as I needed, but something surprising was the amount of fibre present in Jols Sugar-Free Pastilles (Forrest Berry flavour). It has 9.5 grams!

You can't get fibre from animal products, so today I vowed to get more serves of fruits and vegetables to see if I can make the 30 gram fibre mark without exceeding my calorie allowance of 1300 calories.

The Menu:
1 grilled Roma tomato with fresh coriander, parsley and fresh pepper
1 small potato, sliced and grilled with rosemary, sea salt, pepper and olive oil
steam wilted spinach with sea salt and pepper (no oil)
pan-grilled capsicum (no oil)
1 egg, pan "fried" with non-stick cooking spray
1 slice of wholemeal toast with vegan margarine
1 soy chai latte

Our "Big Vego Brekkie" provided us with 464 calories, 22 grams of protein, 9 grams of fibre
and 20 grams of fat. A bit high for fat due to the 1 egg and the olive oil and vegan margarine, but double the calories I usually consume for breakfast.

My average breakfast of tea, weetbix, soy milk and vanilla-flavoured protein is just 227 calories, 2 grams of fat, 19.5 grams of protein and 4 grams of fibre.

It's needless to say that I probably won't be hungry until well into the afternoon. It always makes me laugh when I see the results of studies that say that eating lots of fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grains is the way to keep your weight in control and lead a long, healthy life. All you have to do is is have a few vegetables, fruits and proteins (legumes, tofu, tempeh, eggs) at each meal, which keeps your energy levels up with proteins and carbs and you insides squeaky clean with the fibre.

Lesson of the day: eat your fruits and vegetables!

Brunch At Caffe Cortilé

2007-06-11T22:30:00.000+10:00

I'd been looking forward to the Queen's Birthday, practically as if it were my very own. The last Monday I had off from school was Easter Monday and I agreed to go into work that day. This time I declined and started the day off with a lovely brunch in the city with Will, our couple friends and another couple that we have recently added to our list of "people we can do social things with". I had planned on checking out Pushka, but being that it was a proper holiday and all, this little mystery will be kept a mystery until further notices because it was closed. Instead, we headed over to my backup -- Caffe Cortilé-- which turned out to be one of the couple's favourite brunch spots.

Caffe Cortilé is snuggled between other cafes on Place Place in the Block Arcade off Little Collins. The place was packed when we walked in, but surprisingly enough when we told the waitress that we were a party of six she led us to the back where there just happened to be an open table for six. As soon as we sat down we were given two carafes of water to sip on while we browsed the menu. Everyone seemed to have ordered more or less the same thing: 3 soy chai lattes for the vegetarians and 3 lattes for the non-vegos and 4 vegetarian breakfasts, 1 eggs Benedict and eggs Florentine sans the hollandaise.

The soy chai latte came with a rather nice layer of foam. It didn't taste like powder, but I couldn't be sure they didn't take the syrup route like Gloria Jeans and Starbucks. It was one tasty chai, though. The vegetarian meal was different that the Melbourne standard, which usually tends to have mushrooms, a poached egg, spinach, avocado and a potato cooked in one form or another. Cortilé's vego breakfast came nicely presented and showed some imagination on the kitchen's behalf. Half of an avocado stuffed with feta and lashings of a sweet tomato relish came on bed of "seared" spinach (read: practically raw) perched on mixed seed toast.

Since I work in a kitchen myself and hate it when people make changes to dishes on the menu to suit their own tastes, I hesitated to ask them to hold the mushrooms and replace it with spinach. But I did and they complied with my request. I think mushrooms are an overused vegetable in vegetarian dishes and I don't like them, so I just HAD to ask them to replace them.

Personally, I think the vegetarian dish could have used an egg or beans or cheese to add some protein the dish. It was quite fatty, although tasty, with cheese stuffed avocado. Either way, the saltiness of the fetta cheese, the sweetness of the relish and the buttery fruity blandness of the avocado went quite well together.

The atmosphere is conducive to having good conversations, they have a great selection of sweets and the inside is chic and trendy. My biggest complaint? The service was really, really slow. But, apparently the food always takes a long time to arrive according to our couple friend who goes there for brunch often. I probably won't be going back on a regular basis simply because they don't have Eggs Florentine on the menu, they serve their spinach raw instead of sauteed and the only vegetable in the vegetarian breakfast is mushrooms -- I nearly hate mushrooms. I do give them extra points for the creative vegetarian option though.

Caffé Cortilé
30 Block Place
Melbourne (CBD), Victoria

The European: No Trash in Sight

2007-06-01T23:22:00.000+10:00

I could have easily been cosily seated in any tapas bar or restaurant in Madrid on a winter night, but I wasn't. In fact, I didn't even have to leave Melbourne to experience a bit of Europe. I'm not talking Gross Florentino or Vue du Monde -- I'm talking about the European.

Tucked away on Spring street just around the corner from Bourke street you'll find a neat little euro-style bistro called the European. The interior is designed like most domestic kitchens you'll find in most apartments across Spain: long and narrow. As soon as we were all seated and chose a glass of wine -- I decided on a red blend from France -- our crisp linen serviettes were snapped open and laid on our laps in the most fashionably un-intrusive manner one could imagine. Being a European bistro and all I wasn't expecting much to be vegetarian, which there wasn't, but I decided upon the only thing I could short of a salad. I happily ordered the "rotolo of beetroot, pine nuts and goat's cheese". At last, a main without mushrooms! While we waited for our order, four serves of fresh sourdough bread and aioli were delivered to our table to share while we chatted. We ordered a serve of pomme frittes to share, which were perfectly tiny julienne strips of potato. They weren't french fries or chips, they were proper pomme frittes.

When my rotolo came, it was immediate eye candy, even in the dimly lit dinning room. It was a roulade of sorts with a thin, almost strudel-like pastry crust wrapped around rolled layers of goats' cheese, toasted pine nuts, beetroot puree, its leaves blanched to perfection and --guess what-- tiny morsels of an unidentifiable type of mushroom. It was garnished with a lovely herb butter sauce and delicate sprouts. I enjoyed every bit of it and ate the the mushrooms because a)they didn't taste half bad drenched in butter and b)I wasn't paying for my meal with my pocket money.

We finished off the meal with two desserts to share, which were a proper Tiramasu with coffee scented macaroons and a chocolate tart with a serve of curiously orange-flavoured ice cream. A piece of heaven in every bit, really.

One fourth of an entree of pommes frittes to share, a vegetarian main, a glass of wine and half of a dessert came to a total of $40. Not bad considering the service was impeccable, the vegetarian main showed some imagination on the chef's part and the wine list was impressively long and full of wines from every corner of Europe. Not bad, at all on a student budget. I'll be anxiously awaiting my next chance to eat beetroot.

161 Spring St
Melbourne 3000 VIC

Phone: (03) 9654 0811

Back to Blogging...

2007-05-30T00:52:00.000+10:00

I've officially neglected my little food blog! I'm here tonight to say that I'm back...I'm back to blogging.

I still work at the vegetarian restaurant, although one could say I've moved up the "ranks"
I'm starting a cookery club at my college, which I'm ecstatic about
I've acquire numerous new cookbooks on vegetarian cookery, in hopes that one of them will hold the secret to success
I've had 3 Wednesdays off from work in a row and I am coming to the stark realisation that having days off is a luxury I can't permit myself to have unless the day off falls on a public holiday that also happens to fall on a school day. I have the Queen's Birthday off from school, and no, I will not be asking for an extra shift at work.
The short lived Dirty Tuesdays are ceasing to exist. I simply don't have the energy to create exciting food for the rest of the week after coming home from 6-7 hours of cooking at school.
We're going to Hawaii in November. Woohoo!

Tomorrow's mission...a trip to the up and coming foodie precinct -- Sydney Road.

Weeknight Dinner: Good Vegetarian

2007-04-18T19:59:00.000+10:00

Roast Fennel and Orange Salad with a citrus vinaigrette
(it tastes way better than it looks)

Zucchini batons with a polenta-herb crumb served with a saffron aïoli dipping sauce

Everyone knows that anything, well, almost anything fried is delicious so it's without saying that dinner was absolutely fabulous tonight. I don't think Will and I have actually sat down and had dinner together since January or February so on my unexpected day off I organised 5-course meal: Zucchini Batons with Saffron-Aïoli (adapted from a dish a chef once made for me because I was vegetarian), Roast Fennel and Orange Salad with a Citrus Vinaigrette (adapted Vegie Food), Pumpkin and Mint Ravioli (a disaster due to temperamental store bought pasta dough), a cheese plate with Maggie Beer's quince paste, a Pont L'Eveque and fresh Asiago with savoury biscuits and sliced baguette, and finally a white chocolate pudding cake -- which is waiting to be baked as I type. To wash everything down neatly, we opened a bottle of Peter Lehman Semillon.

The zucchini batons and the salad were by far the best parts of the meal, but the salad from Vegie Food was outstanding. The faint hint of aniseed from the fennel and the refreshing burst of citrus from the chilled orange segments was a surprisingly tasty combination:

Roasted Fennel and Orange Salad (serves 2)

4 baby fennel bulbs
2.5 tablespoons olive oil
1 orange
1/2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon of roughly chopped mint, no stems
1/2 tablespoons of roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley

1. Trim the fronds (the frilly green leaves) from the top of the fennel and set aside. Remove the stalks and cut a slice off the base of each fennel by 5 mm. Slice each bulb in half lengthwise, then slice each half into three. Arrange on a baking tray, drizzle with 3 tablespoons of the olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper. Use your hands to evenly coat them with oil and seasoning. Grill the fennel until caramelised, turning twice during cooking. Allow to cool and toss through the mint and parsley.

2. Segment the orange over a bowl to catch any juices. Squeeze any juice remaining in the "membranes" into the bowl as well. Whisk 2 tablespoons of oil together with the orange and lemon juice until more or less emulsified. Season with a bit of salt to taste.

3. To assemble the salad on each plate, place the fennel in the center of each plate to form a small mound. Arrange the orange segments over the mound. Spoon the dressing around the edges of the plate and drizzle a bit over the salad. Use a few of the reserved fronds to garnish.

1 Day: So many possibilities

2007-04-17T12:46:00.000+10:00

My day off tomorrow is actually a blessing in disguise. Is is going to be the first time that I actually get to prepare and enjoy a sit-down dinner at home with Will since, well, for months! It's funny how I look forward to and even dream about having a day off from everything where I can just do nothing, but when the day actually comes I want to take advantage of it and do EVERYTHING!

To Do List:

Go to Vic Market and do weekly shopping. Try a new cheese.
Return cookbooks to city library and get more!
Read the current issue of Vegetarian Times from cover to cover.
Cook a gourmet style dinner with a rediculous amount of courses. Roasted capsicum sorbet anyone?
Visit cookery supply shop on Elizabeth street. They might as well know me by name there.
Visit Books for Cooks on Gertrude street.
Open a bottle of Semillon. Maybe it's good.

Dirty Tuesday: Asian Super Stores

2007-04-05T13:02:00.000+10:00

A new urban-sleek-chic Asian supermarket opened up in Melbourne Central, which is great it you happened to be at Coles and need tofu puffs. However, if you happen to be shopping at Safeway in the QV and need tofu puffs, look no further than Laguna on the second level. It's not sleek and doesn't smell like flowers, but it's rather comprehensive as far as my limited knowledge of Asian products go. I can't read the labels on half of the things in there but I managed to find: tamarind puree (for marinating my tempeh), agar agar (for vodka jelly shots), square rice noodles for kuay tieow-inspired (pronounced: koy-tiao) stir fries and a very authentic tasting pad thai sauce with very bad translations on the label.

I've recently become a fan of tempeh after fashioning a tempeh wrap at work for dinner. The key to making tempeh palatable is marinating it, like tofu, which is what I did for this week's stir fry: Pad Thai-style Kuay Tieow with tamarind-soy tempeh (square rice noodles, vegetables flavoured with pad thai sauce and sauteed tempeh marinated in soy sauce and tamarind puree).

Also on this week's menu...

Honey-Roasted Eggplant and Leek Salad with orzo, sun dried tomatoes and parsley
Channa Dahl with Brown Rice and plenty of fresh coriander
Macaroni Gratinate with a Roasted Red Capsicum Sauce, spinach and Feta

A Tribute to All Things Moorish, etc.

2007-04-04T13:00:00.000+10:00

I fell in love with the unique taste of olive oil in Spain, but only at the every end of my 3 years in Spain. I remember my father always had it drizzled over his salad with a bit of white vinegar. I tasted it once, in secret of course, and I wanted nothing to do with it. One of the first few days in my off-campus (university-owned) apartment, I was set up in the kitchen, ravenously hungry from who knows what and about to cook myself some potato product that looked charmingly round ("Oh look, globe-shaped potato product, let's eat this for lunch", I said to myself in the supermarket). Upon extracting the potato balls from the oil and letting them sit on a pile of kitchen towels, I popped on into my mouth and just as quickly spit it out. I had mistakenly purchased olive oil instead of standard vegetable oil and found the new flavour quite unpleasant on my poor undeveloped palate.

It was my first year away from home and my first year cooking food for myself as new vegetarian. I'll be honest, I lived on cheese sandwiches, tortilla (española) sandwiches, chips, candy and pasta for the first two years in Spain. That sounds absolutely horrendous to me know, but back then I never dreamt of buying a cookbook or eating tapas in the bars. Every time I browsed over the selection of tapas in the bars I could never decipher one greasy pool of food from the one sitting right next to it, plus, most of it didn't look vegetarian, which is why I lived mostly on potatoes. It wasn't until I left Spain at the end of two years and spent a year and a half in America, that I learnt about Spanish cooking and began to cook with olive oil and never looked back.

I've been back to Spain twice since then and it was during my time living in the southern tip of Spain, Seville to be exact, that I began to appreciate the vegetarian-unfriendliness of Spain and how to work around it to get what I wanted. I went out for tapas, drank sangria by the litre, dowsed myself with tinto de verano when it was hot -- I was like everyone else, for once. There was no longer a need to stuff my face with hot chips.

Some weeks ago I borrowed a book titled Shaha: A Chef's Journey through Lebanon and Syria along with Moro Cookbook. The cuisines of the Muslim- Mediterranean all share so much in common. For some reason, I like to throw Italy in there as well -- there is a focus on simply cooked food and good ingredients.

On a previous Dirty Tuesday I posted photos of Manoushi Bread, which is a Syrian/Lebanese bread similar Italian pizza, but with chewier tendencies and an all-together different vibe. It's typically not loaded up with toppings and sent to the oven to cook until crisp. These fantastic little rounds of bread cook up in about 3 minutes and taste best just out of the oven, although they can be reheated under the grill for a minute or two.

Manoushi Bread (makes 12 rounds) adapted from Saha: A Chef's Journey Through Lebanon and Syria

355 g plain white flour
1 tsp instant yeast
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp sugar
175 ml - 200 ml warm water

1. Sift the flour, yeast and salt into a bowl. Dissolve the sugar in the water.
2. Slowly add the water while using one hand to mix. The dough should be on the stickier side, but you should be able to form a ball and knead it until smooth. This should take between 5 and 10 minutes.
3. Roll the dough into a ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover and leave to rise for 2 hours. While the dough is rising, prepare the toppings for your bread. Less is more in this case as the bread itself imparts it's own delicious flavours.
4. Divide dough into 12 pieces and form into balls on a lightly floured surface. Preheat oven to highest temperature if you're using a baking stone or 230-40º C if using a baking tray and set balls aside until ready to use. Roll out the balls into rounds and top. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Try caramelised onions and feta or minced sun dried tomatoes and Granda Padana cheese (or a proper Parmesan if you're not that strict with your vegetarian diet)
5. Bake for 3 minutes, cool only slightly and enjoy.

Tofu International: In the Mood for Tofu

2007-04-02T12:18:00.000+10:00

Will and I finally made it out to Macro Wholefoods in Richmond. It was nice, but definitely not like the Wholefoods I came to love in America. It's the only type of supermarket I actually like being the size of small town. I found most products to be unaffordably expensive; I think I'll just stick to the Vic Market -- it's closer. While we were in Richmond, we stopped by Tofu International, which was a place I considered seeking employment during my stint of unemployment back in January. I'd never actually been to Bridge Road in Richmond, so seeing this little shop was actually quite comforting.

This food establishment is a bit on the cozy side and offers food options that are all vegetarian. The range of food wasn't extensive nor was it particularly mind-blowing. It was exactly what I expected from a food shop named Tofu International. It's a neat little place to get some healthy vegetarian fare while shopping in the area and people watch whilst doing so. There are 3 options: small, regular and large plates. The small portion is a typical tapa-sized bowl and the medium is perfect for a hungry stomach or to satisfy two "I'm not really hungry, but I could eat" stomachs. The medium plate was $13.00 and with each size plate one can choose any of the dishes available behind the counter. We settled on a Chinese tofu dish, an apricot-flavoured cous cous salad, saffron roasted potatoes and a broccoli and mushroom option. The tofu dish was by far the best served with a light ginger-soy consomme, although, one can never really go wrong with roasted potatoes, especially if they are to be enjoyed with lashings of a mysteriously flavoured tofu dip. There are also various souvlaki options available.

At $13.00 a plate I probably wouldn't make this place a "favourite", but it's definitely worth giving this little relaxed environment a shot when you're ravenously hungry after outlet shopping.

Tofu International
78 Bridge Rd
Richmond 3121 VIC

The Wonders of Simplicity

2007-04-02T12:15:00.000+10:00

It's been a lazy morning. This is my first Monday off since November and it feels so luxurious to be able to wake up late and not really have much to do during the day. Will requested French Toast for breakfast; I was going to make eggs Florentine. I thought about making pancakes, but later decided on the French Toast as it didn't require going to the supermarket to get the eggs and lemon required for the eggs Florentine. Once again, tofu has surprised me with it's versatility. This is simply the best recipe for French Toast...and it's vegan:

Monday French Toast

1 pkg of silken firm tofu
15 ml vanilla extract
pinch of nutmeg
pinch of cinnamon
1/2 pinch of salt
1 tsp olive oil, or any other oil you have on hand
100-150 ml of vanilla soy milk
6 slices wholemeal bread (I used soy and linseed for texture

1. Toast your bread. Set aside.
2. Blend all of the ingredients in a blender and transfer to a bowl.
3. Heat an oiled fry pan over medium heat and dip your toast into the batter ensuring that both sides are covered.
4. Place in the fry pan and cook each side for 1-2 minutes until golden brown.
5. Keep warm in an 180ºC oven until ready to eat. Enjoy with icing sugar and/or honey.

An Addictoion of Sorts

2007-03-31T17:37:00.000+10:00

My current read is a brilliant book by the name of Great Australian Chefs by Mietta O'Donnell and Tony Knox. Perhaps it's a bit lame, but I figure I'm going to become a chef in this country I might as well figure out how the great chefs came to be. I originally hired the book from the library because I recognised some of the names from participating in the Master Class at the Langham Hotel last week. The book features a biography of sorts, a bit out how they got to where they are at the moment and a few of their feature recipes. The recipes are just fascinating; they're a peak into the mysterious world of fine dinning. The authors have a bias towards Victoria, Melbourne specifically, so there are many Victorian chefs featured in the book -- many of whom I caught a sneak peak at the Langham Hotel but was too embarrassed to actually go up and speak to them. Sometimes my North American accent embarrasses me...stupid, I know.

On the days when I have class, if I have enough time, I sneak off to Cuisine World on Elizabeth Street to see what new gadgets I can add to tiny kitchen. It's becoming a bit of an addiction, really! I might as well know the shop workers by name and vice versa. Every time I complete a new unit, a strange contraption that my eyes had previously settled on without any particular message being produced in my brain instantaneously takes on a whole new meaning. And almost as instantly, a little voice inside me says, "I NEED that!". Valley Girl and Sports Girl used to be my favourite shop at Melbourne Central, but now that clothes shopping is out of the question, General Traders and House have become my favourite places in the world -- where else can you buy something useful for yourself for under $6? A silicon whisk? An icing sugar shaker? A ravioli press? I needed it all.

I have three days off this week where I have nothing school-related to do. My mission for tomorrow is to go check out Macro Wholefoods in Richmond and make home-made pasta. Tune in next time, same place, same time for for juicy loops on cookery and modern-day addictions.

Things This Sweet Should Be Against the Law

2007-03-30T20:26:00.000+10:00

Cakes this large should really be against the law. I'm not really sure what it was that possessed me to double the recipe and almost send myself into cardiac arrest due cake overload. The slices from this little monster are what you'd expect at that cafe around the corner that sells generous slices of your favourite butter cake to go with that generous cup of coffee -- totalling nearly $10. Oh but wait, you get to read the paper while you enjoy you dose of sugar and caffeine for the day all while following your vegan diet.

Yes dear readers, this cake is vegan. It's a vegan vanilla pound cake with a lime glaze to be exact -- courtesy of the April issue of Vegetarian Times.

Upon close inspection we can observe the golden crust that forms a ring around the entire loaf, that golden crust is what I used to save for last when I was a child (that dark spot in the centre is just my big head casting a shadow). I was so excited when it was cool enough to eat that I served myself a very generous cafe-style slice (which was followed by a much thinner waist-line conscious slice). Mistake. This cake is to be enjoyed slowly, perhaps with a bit of green tea or other herbal tea. It's sweet, it's moist and it's just darn good.

Vegan Vanilla Pound Cake with Lime Glaze -- adapted from Vegetarian Times
(all ingredients are measured using a scale; half this recipe for a smaller cake)
280 g silken firm tofu
200 ml vanilla soy milk
165 ml canola oil
250 g raw sugar
20 ml vanilla extract
450 g plain flour
10 g baking soda
12 g baking powder

1. Preheat oven to 180º C. Combine tofu, soy milk, oil, vanilla extract and sugar; beat or blend until smooth.
2. Combine remaining ingredients in a separate bowl and mix thoroughly. Fold the tofu mix into the flour mix.
3. Pour into a greased loaf pan and bake at 180º C for 30 minutes, then cover with grease-proof paper and bake for an additional 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
4. To make the glaze combine the juice of 1 lime with enough icing sugar to create a white paste with enough consistency to coat the back of a spoon rather thickly. It should also be able to run off the spoon more or less freely.
5. Allow the cake to cool for 5 minutes then remove from pan and allow to cool for a further 5 minutes on a cooling rack before drizzling the glaze. Allow the cake to cool completely before serving to allow the glaze to fully set.

Dirty Tuesdays: Fresh Herbs

2007-03-27T11:49:00.000+10:00

Ever since I started doing the dinner service at work I've come to know which dishes I like plating up, which ones I don't and what sort of qualities things need to have in order to make service easier. My favourite dish to make is the house salad because the end result is a very impressive, vertical looking salad. I don't make the salads, but some of them look unappealing. I will wait until I've been there for more time before making suggestions.

In light of this little discovery, I've been experimenting with salads each week for Hey-Hey Tuesdays.

This week's little gems in a rosemary roasted-potato salad with roasted onions, lentils, parsley and brown rice (left) and (right). The latter dish was really meant to have a sort of sauce with it, but I really had about zero energy left by the time I got to finishing the less-than- spectacular sweet potato gnocchi.

Yesterday I had my assessment for stocks, soups and sauces and while everything I made was acceptable, none of it was exceptional. Not to make up excuses or anything, but how about having enough equipment for everyone to use!

Boy, am I glad the vegan challenge is over! I really didn't have nearly as much time as I would have liked! It was more of a chore than a fun project.

Behind the Scenes: A Vegetarian on a Mission

2007-03-22T20:15:00.000+11:00

And just like that, my experience working with world-renowned chefs was over. With 4 full days under my belt working in someone else's kitchen --Anthony Ross' kitchen to be exact (executive chef of the Southbank Langham Hotel)-- using skills I've learnt both in school and at my current job I feel like I new person on a mission. This hotel kitchen (kitchen-s, actually) is larger than any other kitchen I've set foot in; it can really only work efficiently by working under the brigade system. Most of the chefs were approachable and will answer my questions, while others instill a sense of fear in my bones just by mere eye contact. However, being the little cook-in-training from the hospitality college with no name that I am, I couldn't muster up the courage to actually go an speak to any of the celebrities, if you will.

I have more positive than negative things to say about my experience during these past four days. I had rather high expectations, perhaps delusional illusions of grandeur to be exact, about what preparing fore this master class even would entail. A few of my college mates weren't as lucky as they was an spent more time than I care to mention in the cold larder kitchen where, apparently much magic happens, but all I witness was magic pertaining to sandwich preparation. I could have cared less if the sandwiches were going to be served to the Queen of England, really. I didn't agree to only half a paycheck this week to make sandwiches.

I noticed that at the end of the my 4 days that the students from other more well-known training institutions (Holmesglen Institute of TAFE and Fifteen, to be exact) were preferred over myself and my classmate to do the more exciting preparations. While I did learn how to properly peel an onion and how to pick herbs, I really don't see why the trainees from Jaime Oliver's Fifteen restaurant or the students from Holmesglen were any more capable at blanching spinach or sweating onions and celery for the soup base of a ribolita soup. In general, the trainees from Fifteen, Jaime Oliver's restaurant, were delegated the best tasks while preparing for London's River Café event. They got to saute the potatoes, they got to carve the meat for the final plate up...even though they had quickly gained a reputation for "unreliable".

The most positive thing I gained from my time at the Langham is a clearer idea of where I want to see myself next year after I finish my course. I making the cross over and will be actively searching for employment in fine dinning early next year. I had originally planned on working exclusively vegetarian establishments, but being that Melbourne is unfortunately devoid of a wide choice of them, I'd actually be doing a disservice to myself and vegetarian foodies across Australia. Watching the Fifteen trainees dash about the kitchen with their well-developed knowledge of Italian food made me feel a bit juvenile for not only working in a vegetarian restaurant (trendy or not) but for also thinking that I was learning going to learn something about cuisine in general at my current place of employment. I'm actually learning heaps at my current job, but nothing in the way of...erm...fine dinning.

I go the library every few weeks and take home every vegetarian cookery book I can find, including a few non-vegetarian ones. After 1 day at the Langham I went to the library, paid my over-due fees and grabbed every book I could find on prominent Australian chefs and food writers -- I've vowed to learn more about the Australian food scene. I'm hungry and thirsty for knowledge or all sorts and my mission won't only stop at the books, but will continue in my classes by being more assertive (do I really care if anyone in my class thinks I'm bossy?) and will be carried on at my place of employment by asking for more responsibility.

In the end, I was chosen to participate in the master class for a reason -- because someone believes I have potential. Before I start getting too sentimental and have to reach for a martini, I'll end on this note.

The New Gossip: The Melbourne Food and Wine Festival

2007-03-21T20:35:00.000+11:00

When I found out that the Food & Wine Festival was coming to Melbourne I got really excited, I almost felt a chill shake its way down my spine. I then had a look around the website and concluded, "Yeah. Right. Like I can afford to drop $150 on a meal, just for myself". That was weeks ago. Then this happened.

I was at my college last week on my way back from the kitchen getting my usual cup of tea in the morning and I noticed a new set of papers along the wall. I picked up one up and it happened to be a notice inviting 12 students from the college to participate for 4 days in the master class being held at the Langham Hotel for the Food and Wine Festival. When I read it I somehow felt that I deserved to be one of those 12 students; these sorts of demanding feelings never really happen to me. I clutched the notice in one hand and my cup of green tea in another and took the stairs (two at a time) to go drag some information out of my chef-instructor. "Do you know anything about this?" I practically demanded. One thing led to another and yesterday I found out that I was one of 12 students out of the entire college chosen to participate in the event.

Today was my first day and, boy, was it exhilarating. I will spend the next 4 days helping prepare for the master class, which will showcase the hottest chefs from all over the world. who will be giving lectures and demonstrations on their own cuisine. I was having a chat to the chef and apparently the chef from Spain speaks zero English and I was told that I'd be paired with this chef to help prepare for the master class. Andoni Luis Aduriz is one of the hottest Spanish chefs in Europe, closely following Ferran Adriá in his molecular gastronomy footsteps. Adriá is basically one of my chef idols. Both of their creations are like edible works of abstract art on plates. Art + Edible + Food = the best idea ever

These guys inspire me to push vegetarian cookery to it's limits, although I find I have little time to actually pursue such inspirations these days. With each passing day I spend frying away entrees at my restaurant, I become increasingly vocal about what I think vegetarian food should be and taste like.

Pie Central: Mediterranean Vegetable Pies

2007-03-19T11:16:00.000+11:00

As promised, after an endless search for the scrap of paper on which I'd written this recipe, I am posting a recipe I developed to use my newly acquired pastry making skills.

Mediterranean Vegetable Pies --makes 4 mini pies--
340g eggplant, cut into thin 1/4 slices
1/2 small onion, finely minced
1 clove garlic, finely minced
60 g semi-dried tomatoes, finely minced (preferable from the deli and not preserved in oil)
100g ricotta cheese
80g frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed of all it's liquids
6g fresh parsley, finely chopped
2 tbs vegetable stock
thawed ready-rolled pie dough or use your own recipe (a basic short crust recipe is 200g plain flour, 100g butter or margarine and 50ml water)

1. Sweat the onions and garlic in 1 tbs of olive oil over medium low heat, do not allow any colouring. Add the eggplant, toss and cook until the eggplant is very soft and the flesh has acquired a brown colour. While the eggplant cooks, prepare the rest of the vegetables as indicated.
2. In a bowl, combine the eggplant with remaining ingredients and use your hands to thoroughly combine everything by compacting them.
3. Line your pie tins with pastry, fill them, close them and bake them at 190ºC for 15-20 minutes or until the crust is golden.

Dirty Tuesdays: Fresh Herbs

2007-03-13T12:41:00.000+11:00

Vegetable & Tofu Tart with a wholemeal crust

Individual Mediterranean Vegetable Pie

Manoushi Bread with Assorted Toppings

Work is picking up and so I've gotten behind with my vegan challenge and making frequent posts. Since yesterday was a public holiday -- no work, no school (yay!) -- I had so many hours to plan what I'd cook to post for Oh-Say Tuesday.

This Week's Menu: (*vegan):
Minced Soy Meat Tacos; as per Will's request
Individual Mediterranean Vegetable Pies (the ricotta could easily be substituted for crumbled tofu; tried it, loved it)
Manoushi Breads with assorted toppings (Syrian/Lebanese style pizza)*
Roast Pumpkin and Kipfler Potato Orzo Salad with Mint*
Carrot, Broccoli, Zucchini and Tofu Tart with a wholemeal crust*

Unfortunately working 38 hours a week plus school leaves me with little time to post recipes. However, if anyone who happens across this little blog is interested in the recipe I'll happily share.

Dirty Tuesdays: A Taste of Saffron

2007-03-12T09:55:00.000+11:00

Mondays have officially become the days where I cook meals for the rest of the week; it's kind of like my chance at being a personal chef. We'll call Tuesdays, Dirty Tuesdays as it's a rather blah day of the week, my work weeks begins and I will be posting Monday's creations. This weeks menu was mainly devised from a stack of cookbooks I've hired from the library: Carrot & Saffron Soup, Sancocho Canario, Leek & Broccoli Tart and a Bulgarian Filo Coil. I also made some pesto to use in a fifth dish but I was really quite tired of cooking by that point. I'm currently learning about stocks, soups and sauces in school and took it upon myself to make my first batch of vegetable stock to use for cooking rather than using convenience stocks in the form of powder or cubes.

I took a trip to King & Godfords - a fine foods shop in the Lygon street district - and treated myself to a few products a good cook shouldn't be without: proper sea salt from the salt beds of Italy, smoked paprika and saffron threads; both from Spain. I almost splurged on some luxurious macadamia nut oil, but decided against it. Below you'll find photos of my two contributions to my vegan challenge: Sancocho Canario & Bulgarian Filo Coil

Sancocho Canario adapted from The Food of Spain & Portugal by Elizabeth Luard
(a sweet potato and chickpea stew from the Canary Islands)
1.5 cans of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
3 cloves garlic, bruised (smashed with the side of a knife)
1/2 teaspoon saffron threads, lightly toasted in a dry pan without burning
1 kilo of tomatoes, scalded, skinned and chopped
1 medium sized sweet potato (250-350 g), peeled and cut into even sized chunks
1 thick slice of pumpkin, peeled and cut into even sized chunks
1 can of unsalted corn kernels, drained and rinsed
fresh coriander or mint leaves, to garnish

Bring the chickpeas to a boil with 2.25 litres of cold water and add the bruised garlic along with the chopped tomatoes. Allow the pot to come up to a boil again before adding the vegetable in the order given while allowing the pot to come back up to a boil between each addition. Bring the stew down to a simmer and allow the liquid to reduce down to the same level as the vegetables. Season with salt and pepper. Finish each serve with fresh coriander or mint leaves, or serve over rice if desired.

Bulgarian Filo Coil adapted from The Cranks Bible by Nadine Abensur (my vegetarian celebrity cook hero)
..recipe coming soon...

On War Wounds

2007-02-28T12:57:00.000+11:00

I haven't cut myself not even once since I started my cookery course or started working in kitchens. Yesterday I encountered a double war wound experience. Usually when I arrive at the restaurant I change into my uniform, wash my hands thoroughly (because I day dream only for a bit) then check in with both the pizza station and the first larder section to see what tasks they have for me that day. Two of my tasks included slicing buns for the burgers and stocking up on sauces for the pizza station. While slicing the buns in half I accidentally (because no one ever purposely does such things) slice right into my hand with a serrated knife. I call it a bread knife, but I also use it to slice tomatoes, and my hands apparently. I initially ignored the laceration because bread knives are the least dangerous of them all, or so I thought. I continued to slice away until I noticed that bread knives were dangerous after all. I sneaked away to the back sink to rinse off my hand, but the blood just kept on coming. The chef walked by and saw me holding my hand in paper towels and made a strange face at me. "It's just from the bread knife!". He lead me over the first aid box and awarded me with a neon blue bad-aid to cover my second war wound of the day. While I was putting on the band-aid I told him about my first war wound.

Before slicing bread I was in the cool room, happily slopping and pouring sauces into appropriate sized containers for the pizza station. Many of the sauces come in giant 20 liter buckets which require the force of a medium-sized dinosaur to pop the lids back on. My technique for closing such lids is to use my knee to lightly pounce on the lid to snap it shut. My technique failed on me that time. As I lightly pounced with my knee to close an unsuspecting bucket of guacamole the lid folded in half, fell inside of the bucket and took my knee with it. A few moments later I found my leg inside the bucket of guacamole with an excruciating pain radiating from my shin. It hurt so much I wasn't sure whether I should faint or start crying in front of all the sauces. I lifted up my checkered pant leg and noticed a measly little red mark, it didn't look as bad as it hurt. Some moments later I was still wincing in pain and a colleague walked in and asked me how I was. I said the usual "good and you", but my wincing said otherwise. I told him I had just fallen into a bucket of guacamole. His face said, "What the hell does that mean and how does one do that?!"

The chef's face said the same thing when he awarded me my little neon blue band-aid. Mid-shift I lifted up my pant leg to show another colleague my guacamole bucket wound and it had swollen into a rather unpleasant mound of pain. Shortly before the end of my shift I proceeded to give it a good whacking with a part of the grille I was cleaning. I thought I would faint and knock my head into the grille and get a concussion. But I didn't.

This morning it was still sore, swollen and a bit more purple than yesterday. I'm still waiting for the nice green bruisey bits to make an appearance.

War wounds, yum.

Pears in the Spotlight

2007-02-27T11:01:00.000+11:00

Despite a few disapproving nibbles from Will pre-dinner party, the menu came out wonderfully. The handmade gnocchi (which really don't compare to those solid chewy nuggets available at Coles or Safeway), the kofta balls...but most of all the baked pear with pine nut streusel, which I'm most proud of because it was an invention of my own, vegan and utterly tasty.

For the sake of the vegan challenge I'll only post the recipes for the vegan items, sans photos due to a camera that is nowhere to be found. I must admit that my first week of the challenge didn't go well as I mustered up only 1 vegan meal and 1 vegan dessert. In addition to that, I've just planned and cooked meals for the rest of the week only to realise at the very last minute that the only vegan meals for this week are hardly anything exciting: Thai stir fry and lentil-stuffed eggplant. I simply just forgot! I've been vegetarian for so long that cooking with or without dairy and eggs is not a decision I make with any effort. I simply just cook without meat and without too much abuse of dairy and eggs.

Without anymore delay due to rambling, here are the recipes for the kofta balls and the baked pears:

Vegetable & Tofu Kofta Balls adapted from The Soy Alternative
250 g firm tofu, crumbled in the blender
40 ml olive oil
185 g pumpkin, grated
100 g zucchini, grated
1 medium onion, finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
4 small shallots, finely chopped
7 g fresh parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon curry powder
150g wholemeal flower
2 tsp salt
vegetable oil, for deep frying

1. Cook the pumpkin, zucchini, onion and garlic over medium heat for about 10 minutes or until soft. Set aside to cool.
2. In a bowl combine the tofu, shallots, parsley, curry powder, 75 g of the flour and the salt. Mix well. Roll about a tablespoon of the mixture into a ball using your hands then coat in flour. Repeat until all the mixture has been used.
3. Fill a saucepan one third full of oil and heat until a cube of bread browns in 15 seconds. Cook the kofta balls in small batches until golden brown. Drain only for a moment on paper towels then transfer to a cooking rack to eat right away or to a tray placed in the oven at 100ºC.

Baked Pear with Pine Nut Streusel
2 Bosch Pears
1/2 of a lemon
1/3 cup pine nuts, roughly chopped
1/3 cup Nuttelex, or other vegan margarine
1/3 cup Castor sugar, plus 1 tsp
2/3 cup of wholemeal flour

1. Preheat oven to 200ºC. Leaving the stems attached, peel the pears, slice them in half and remove the seeds to create a small hollow to be used for filling with the strudel. Once peeled, lay on a greased loaf pan, squeeze the lemon juice over them and sprinkle with 1 tsp of the sugar.
2. To make the streusel combine the remaining ingredients to create a mixture resembling bread crumbs.
3. Divide the strudel into 4 equal portions and spoon into the hollows in each pear.
4. Bake uncovered for 15 minutes until the strudel has browned. Then cover with foil and bake for an additional 10 minutes or until a toothpick is easily inserted diagonally through the pear. This can be prepared ahead of time and simply reheated until the grill before serving.

4 Courses: The Final Menu

2007-02-25T11:29:00.000+11:00

I did a bit of reading at Waitrose Food Illustrated on entertaining and read an interesting article, which is more or less summarised below:

Rule 1: Don't plan too ambitious a menu.
Rule 2: Have one dish or some nibbles ready for guests as soon as they arrive.
Rule 3: Plan dishes that complement each other, not only in terms of taste, colour and flavour, but also cooking technique.
Rule 4: Keep puddings simple - unless you are passionate about complicated confections.

Taking these rules into consideration, I've decided to make my menu a bit simpler and focus on a 4-course menu rather than the more traditional 3-course menu. I like my entrees!

Entree (aka nibbles): Tofu & Vegetable Koftas* with a yogurt dipping sauce
Salad: Feta & Lemon Field Salad with parsley and chive dressed cannellini beans
Main: Baked Ricotta & Spinach Gnocchi in a basic tomato sauce
Dessert: Baked Pears with a pine nut-steusel*
[*denotes dish is vegan]

The Joy of Dinner Parties

2007-02-24T10:18:00.000+11:00

We went out to brunch at The Fitz in Fitzroy this past Thursday with some friends of ours. I ordered the Egg Florentine for the first time ever in my fabulous years of life. I was expecting the egg white to be bland and the egg yolk to explode all over my plate waiting for me to mop it up with a bit of bread. But there was no explosion of yellow, no white blandness. It was a good experience overall: A+ for spinach and eggs.

This Sunday we're having some friends over for dinner and it will be my vegan challenge. I've decided on the following menu (photos will soon follow, of course):

(*Denotes a vegan dish)
Entrees
Tofu and Vegetable Kofta Bals served with a spicy tomato sauce* (edit: tried the recipe, loved it)
Roast Pumpkin Crostini with Kalamata Tapenade*(edit: tastes good, but non enough "wow" factor)
Main
Canellini Salad with a Lemon and Fetta Dressing (edit: the dressing is very summery, yum)
Spinach Gnocchi with Confit of Tomato (edit: tried the recipe, not so good. Bake it in a seasoned tomato sauce topped with a bit of cheese. Yum!)
Dessert*
Pear Crumble

The Vegan Challenge: 30 Days of Environmental Compassion

2007-02-21T12:34:00.000+11:00

Tomorrow will be the beginning of, yet another, vegan challenge. I always fail, but this time the mission is a bit different. It's not to see whether I can do it, it's to challenge my opinion that vegan food just doesn't look that good. I've learnt a thing for two about food presentation, sauces and cooking since I started my cookery course, so I challenge myself.

The main aims of this challenge are:

1. To bake at least 2 vegan desserts that don't contain chocolate, are moist, spongy and impressive.
2. To make at least 2 pasta dishes with a creamy-based sauce.
3. To create at least 2 dishes per week that look good, taste good and make one feel good.
4. To use ingredients that are readily available; that is, no trips to far away natural food stores to find exotic ingredients like Siberian pine nut oil or magic truffle paste.
5. To learn more about egg and dairy (cheese, namely) substitutes and be content with their results.

Why things are never what they seem...

2007-02-19T20:43:00.000+11:00

I like the idea of working at a vegetarian restaurant, but I guess somewhere along the years I've become a vego-nazi -- I demand nothing less than quality and creativity when it comes to vegetarian food. Vegetable stack? Boring! Veggie risotto? Next! Veggie Burger? You can't be serious!

I'm now beginning to understand how non-vegetarians have come to the conclusion that vegetarian food is simply to labour intensive. Since I work most nights I've taken to preparing a week's worth of food for my partner (and myself) to enjoy as needed so we don't have to resort to the nasty take-aways. This weeks menu: gazpacho, roasted eggplant & zucchini lasagna, vegetable tofu bake & a selection of two sauces for pasta; roasted eggplant-tomato and basil-zucchini. I like to take care of my partner is regards to food and feel guilty when he has to cook for himself. In other words, one has to know what to do with a vegetable to make inspirational food.

On another note, I just got the March issue of Vegetarian Times magazine in the post. The last issue I received was from November; I'm still wondering what happened to January and February. This is the magazine that inspires me to cook creatively, healthy and well. An international subscription is only $40 US ($52 AU).

Well worth it.

Honourable Mention of the Week

2007-02-17T08:17:00.000+11:00

Ever since I told the husband of the husband-wife owner team of the cafe that next Saturday would be my last day, he's been obviously annoyed with me. That didn't bother me because not even that was going to convince me to stay. What was bothering me was the fact that he was getting on my case about every single little mistake I made. For every million things I did correctly, he found the smallest little incorrect thing and had a hissy fit over it. A (very annoying regular) orders a savoury pastry and I bring it over to his table with a fork and serviette. A few moments later the owner rushes over to me and says, "How is the customer going to eat his pastry?!" With the fork I gave him, of course. Then he comes over and yells at me for not giving another customer a serviette. Then for mistakenly undercharging a customer .50 cents because they haven't taken the time to update the prices on the register. THEN for giving a customer a glass of ice water when I've seen HIM do it before. People complain about their cheap food, come behind the counter to make their own coffee and one guy even scolded me not remembering exactly how he likes his $2.80 cup of instant coffee. Yeah, so last night was my last night, thank goodness, and not next Saturday. What a hell hole.

I found this blog a few days on one of my silly Google searches, "How long does it take to become a chef?" -- One Toque Over the Line.

I cannot wait to have a day off. ((((sigh))))

The Need to Celebrate

2007-02-16T18:04:00.000+11:00

I am officially hired at the vegetarian restaurant (whose name I will refrain from mentioning in the event that I should have to say something nasty about a co-worker or feel the need to divulge information about food handling practices...just kidding!). I was kind of worried because in the true fashion of hospitality industry employers I was asked to "come in for a few more days to see how I go". When I mentioned that I did not want to quit my seedy cafe job until I knew I had another job to go to, the response was that the job was mine. I really can't see myself working at this cafe any longer, but my new boss thinks I'm a great person for giving them a week's notice to "help them out while they're struggling to find staff". That's a good thing, I guess.

I haven't had the chance to do much inspirational cooking lately as things have mostly been revolving around sleep, work and school. I did try a spiced tofu steak recipe a few days ago, which came out rather well for tofu steaks. I'll post some photos later on.

Next Sunday we will be having some friends over for dinner to celebrate our friend Julia's return to Melbourne from the Philippines and to celebrate what will hopefully be the beginning of my long road towards becoming a vegetarian chef. What's the best part about having friends over for dinner? Planning the menu!

2 Reviews in 1: Soul Food & Shakahari

2007-02-14T12:36:00.000+11:00

In the past week or so Will and I have visited two vegetarian establishments to explore their culinary offerings. Unfortunately no photos were taken.

Soul Food Cafe

273 Smith St
Fitzroy 3065 VIC

Phone: (03) 9419 2949

This little hipster cafe is located in a rather grungy area of Fitzroy as we passed many suspicious characters hanging outside the local Tab on the way their. It somehow transported me back to my days in Madrid. The inside of the cafe had a homey, comfortable feel to it and once inside we weren't sure whether to seat ourselves or wait to be seated. Once we sat down, we also weren't sure whether we'd be waited on or if we ordered at the register; it was the latter because there weren't any menus for us to browse. We quickly scanned the cold display of foods available, which was a bit scarce due to it being the end of the night for them (around 8:30 pm), and decided upon a roasted eggplant pizza and a curious little dish called Haystack, both averaging about $12 a serve. The pizza was self explanatory, lacking in the vegetable department, heavy on the cheese, but graced with a lovely thin wholemeal crust that much a 'crunch' with each bite. The Haystack was an interesting little serve of a tasty, yet dry legume-nut filling wrapped with puff pastry topped with a sweet sultana sauce with cumin undertones. Without the sauce it would have been difficult to swallow. The food was satisfying overall, but not a place I'd go to for dinner before a night out on the town. The ambiance was so mellow I became sleepy, but the chai for two we ordered picked me right up.

Shakahari Vegetarian Restaurant
201 Faraday St
Carlton 3053 VIC

We'd walked by this little wonder heaps of times and only just now took the time to visit the establishment. I was familiar with the interior as I'd gone in on a previous occasion to drop off my CV. The inside of the restaurant is reminiscent of a Thai teak wood house with its dark wooden furniture and green foliage. The menu was small but obviously showed their dedication to using seasonal produce. The beverage menu was a decent size and included a selection of Rieslings, so I was sold on that alone. We settled on the Satay sticks of tempeh and tofu and the Croquettes, both mains priced at $17 each. When the dishes arrived at the table we were rather pleased with the presentation: stark white plates, eye-popping colours and neatly arranged edibles. Presentation is something that vegetarian restaurants are usually not noted for, but Shakahari earned extra points in that regard. The clientele here is not as young and hip as Vegie Bar, but more aligned with Soul Mama in St. Kilda. Overall, it was a great experience; it's as close as one can get in Melbourne to vegetarian fine dinning.

Flamingo Goes Vego

2007-02-07T23:50:00.000+11:00

Whenever I start a new job I'm always terrified that I won't be able to do the job. My trial today at the vegetarian restaurant was easier than I thought it was going to be. I was expecting a loud, rude, messy kitchen which I would undoubtedly fail miserably at performing well. I was expecting the worse, in other words. I tried my best to hide in the back and busy myself with food prep duties, but eventually the chef asked me to go out to the front kitchen and help out in the larder section. I dragged my feet all the way there, but once I got the hang of things I really enjoyed it and actually impressed myself. I did make some mistakes, but no yelling was directed in my direction.

At the end of my trial I was told that I would be paid for my work (paid trials exist in Australia???) and was invited to come back to spend another dinner service with the chef in addition to more days next week. It sounds like I've got the job but, based on prior experiences, I haven't got the job until they've said specifically that I've got the job. If the vacancy at the restaurant would have opened up just a week earlier it would have made my life easier!

The dishwasher and I chatted quite often as he's Mexican and mentioned he hardly ever gets to speak Spanish and neither do I. He had a lot of good information about the work environment and how things work there. According to him, if you are invited in for a trial and are asked to come back then you've got the job.

So if that's true...then I've just landed my dream job.

The Power of Luck & Chance

2007-02-06T16:55:00.000+11:00

My body was begging for today to come as I've been operating on very little sleep since last Thursday. I got home from work last night at 2:30am and was in bed by 3:00am, after, of course, I devoured every last bit of my tomato and cheese toastie they forced me to make at work. I slept until 12:00pm and feel fantastically rested once more. An hour or two after having the usual breakfast fare of equal parts weet-bix, fibre sticks and strawberry granola with soy milk I noticed missed call on my mobile from a private number. It had to be the same private number that had been calling me all last week. When the phone rang again I ran to pick it up and it was none other than the executive chef of a well-known vegetarian restaurant I've only dreamt of working in. Tomorrow afternoon is my time to shine and I better be darn shiny because I NEED to get hired!

Shortly after the phone call and a quick "happy dance" my mobile rings again and the incoming call was from a private number. I answered hesitantly and the voice at other end introduced themselves as the executive chef at Crowne Casino! They are finally passing my CV on to human resources to get in contact with me.

How's this for and ego stroke?! Just a few days ago I was dragging my feet around, scrounging for long lost change in pockets and crevices of furniture with my ego draped around my ankles. No sooner than I am hired at the North Melbourne cafe the calls start coming in from other places I'd sent my CV off to over a month ago.

Working at a popular vegetarian restaurant, or any vegetarian restaurant for that matter, would definitely be a dream!

Sweet Temptations: Smacks & Sugar

2007-02-05T19:35:00.000+11:00

Going clockwise starting at 12 o' clock: Coffee Scrolls x 4, Eclairs & Paris-Brests

My eating habits have turned to complete crap since I started my pastry making unit at the college. Today we made classic puff pastry (to be used next Monday for a few product of which I'm not sure of), coffee scrolls, and choux pastries -- eclairs, profiteroles (puffs) and Paris-Brests. The last three products are simply variations of each other as far as shape is concerned as they are all topped or filled with a custard filling. I particularly liked making the coffee scrolls because they were simply the best to eat! I had to redo my choux pastry dough after the lunch break because I removed them from the oven too soon and they collapsed. That put me way behind everyone else as I was the last one to finish. Nevertheless we got out an hour early.

And last but not least, did I happen to mention that I officially hate school? It's become like a sort of a chore. Its the absolute worst when something you once took great interest in suddenly becomes a chore, like sex in some relationships, for example. If it were up to me I'd be threatening to fail those brats left and right and when they failed to perform, I'd just fail them. I actually yelled at a few people today, but it didn't make me feel better. Clean up duties ate up a half hour of our lunch break because some people (ahem, theIndianbratsinclass) can't wash their own dishes and crockery after using them and follow one of the golden rules of cookery: clean as you go. Instead of things being a competition to see who can make things better, it's who can make things faster. And of course, everything looks like crap.

You can't force someone to love you and you can't force anyone to love cookery.

The End Has Finally Come...

2007-02-04T09:56:00.000+11:00

I have a job again and when I came home yesterday from school I was delighted to find that our kitchen is, once again, stocked with extra goodies like eggs, crispbread, peanuts and no more cheap soy milk that tastes like rubbish.

Only complaint: I feel a bit over extended at the momment as my training has been ending at 2am and school starts bright and early at 9am the next day. Sundays are usually my days off from everything, but I not only have a split shift at my new job but I also have a stupid shift to do for my staffing agency that I reluctantly agreed to because I'd been out of work for so long.

Not so happy about that; I have kitchen practicals tomorrow and I'll most likely get out of work at 2am...

Bottom line: I'm working again!

The Best: Sugo di Pomodoro a Fuoco Lento

2007-01-31T20:25:00.000+11:00

We've been operating on a tight kitchen these days and having bought a kilo of tomatoes yesterday I decided it was time to try and make some homemade tomato sauce. I consulted The Silver Spoon and The River Cafe Cookbook and came up with an adaptation as I wanted to use fresh tomatoes, not the canned sort. The result: a very tasty and rich, thick sauce incomparable to anything store-bought. Putting in a food processor for a bit of a whiz would produce a wonderful uniformly thick sauc

Sugo di Pomodoro a Fuoco Lento (Slow-Cooked Tomato Sauce); makes 2 entree-sized serves

5o0g fresh tomatoes
2 small cloves of garlic, cut into thin slivers
75g onion, thinly sliced
2 tsp olive oil
1 spring parsley
salt & pepper
150g dried penne, cooked

1. Cut an "x" shape at the base of each tomato. Blanch in boiling water for a few seconds, then peel, seed, remove core and dice.
2. In a fry pan heat oil and fry onions over low heat until very soft. About 5 minutes before end of cooking add garlic and parsley spring. When onions have reached maximum softness remove and discard parsley.
3. Add tomatoes to pan and use a wooden spoon to break them up. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Simmer on low heat until the sauce has darkened and no liquid remains.
5. Place a metal sieve over a clean bowl. Transfer the sauce and press with the back of a wooden spoon to break up the mixture as much as possible. A small amount of liquid will be pressed through.
6. Using a spatula transfer both the liquid and the mixture to a clean pot. Stir in cooked penne
7. Serve with finely grated dry cheese of choice. ( I used Pepato) and season again, if needed.

And the Search Continues...

2007-01-30T15:40:00.000+11:00

Warning: this is a really boring post practically unrelated to food

I woke up extra early this morning to get first "dibs" at the employment ads in the Epicure section the age this morning. I successfully spoke to 6 prospective employer: 2 will call me back the manager becomes available, 1 wants nothing to do with my inexperience and 3 asked me in for an interview today and/or tomorrow. I've been asked to come in a trial session tomorrow morning from 9am-10am, at 4pm and on Thursday from 11am.

The first place is this cafe near Spencer Street station whose clientele consists mostly of employees that work in the monster high rise building next door. I had a look at the people who work there and the kind of environment the place had. A few girls had piercings, there was some unnaturally coloured hair and the customers seemed to be enjoying their lunch break. The work didn't seem like it was going to be terribly difficult either. The only thing that got me a bit scared was that the hiring manager said that I have "to be quick with numbers". I can't really do anything apart from simple addition without a calculator. "Quick" and "numbers" or "math" are not words I tend to you in the same sentence. This one might be a toughie.

The second place, which would be my first choice, is a grimy, seedy cafe in North Melbourne whose clientele consists mostly of taxi drivers as the cafe is located at a taxi depot that share the same. The hours are flexible, the pay is "flexible" and the Greek women who interviewed me liked my name because it was exactly like a Greek name . The job requires coffee skills, of which I have none so it all depends on how long it takes me to make a proper coffee on my first day. I really don't want to have to go in for more than 1 unpaid trial period.

Just a few moments ago I received a call-back from a phone interview that I had earlier this morning for a pizza cook position. I suppose I was one of the first people to call today because after the interview I was told that there would be an ad in the paper tomorrow as well and that I'd be called if I was successful for an in-person interview. Well, I'm guessing that not many people called today or I was "successful" because I'm going in tomorrow for a face-to-face interview. Yippee!

My staffing agency called me to offer me two very undesirable shifts: one that would require 2 hours of total travel time, which I would not be getting paid for, and only 3 hours of work; the second one is at the Telstradome selling disgusting overpriced food for 3-4 hours during a football game. I declined the former shift.

If I'm not working by Monday, I will have to give my dear mother a call and tell her things are so "rosy" here in Oz. (sigh)

And finally, dinner. Basic tomato bruschetta with fetta & Pumpkin Gratin. Roated pumpkin + homemade bechamel sauce = a really good gratin

Why I Won't Be Having Dinner Tonight...

2007-01-29T18:47:00.000+11:00

I just put on a pot of black beans and there's something about the aroma of the sazón (finely chopped onions, garlic, green capsicum and oregano sauteed in olive oil) simmering in a pot of black beans that reminds me of when I used to live at home. It somehow feels like I'm going back to my Cuban roots. I had a fleeting memory dash through my head just a few moments ago: My father always kept a little Cuban flag discreetly tucked away on a bookshelf we acquired a garage sale some years ago. When my grandmother moved out and my stepmother moved in my father could not do without his black beans and rice as pinto beans/red/kidney beans are the preferred legume in Mexico. My grandfather's wife eventually had to show my stepmother how to properly prepare a good pot of black beans. So many times after coming home from school a waft of black beans would greet me at the door. That was two memories, actually.

Today could have easily been the best day I've had so far at cookery school. Most of the work was individually based and I got so much joy out of watching the Indians herd themselves around the kitchen doing one wrong thing after another. I knew that would happen as that is only a direct result of not paying attention during the demos. Ha. Ha. HA.

I'm skipping dinner tonight (the beans are for tomorrow) due to the fact that I have three different types of desserts gracing my refrigerator: Linzer Torte, Apple & Peach Strudel and a classic Chocolate Tart. I'm not a big fan of chocolate, but this chocolate confection is rather tasty.

The Classic Chocolate Tart

The Linzer Torte

Apple & Peach Strudel

Baking really isn't that difficult. Since baking is more like a science, being creative usually ends in disaster if it's blind creativity and not the kind based on baking facts. I've failed so many times with baking when I decided to not follow the recipe for the sake of creativity. There was my mango coconut bread, oh, and then there were my biscuits that turned out like scones. Just horrendous. Magic, like the one(s) picutred above, can only come from following exact recipes.

The Wish List: New Things, New Places

2007-01-28T12:53:00.000+11:00

Since I've had heaps of free time since my 1-month stint working at the breakfast-centred food establishment in the city and the absence of income flowing into my bank account, I've began to create a list of places I'd like to do when my current circumstances reverse themselves.

I've been reading heaps about food, trying to learn more about wine and get the lowdown on new places in the food scene around Melbourne. So far, two places stand out:

Borscht, Vodka & Tears
Apparently this Polish-style drinking establishment on Chapel street has over 100 different types of vodka to sample from. Being the vodka enthusiast that I am, this place is a match made in heaven, as they say. After almost 2 years in this city, how could I have not heard of a place like this that stays open until 3am? One review says to " [e]xpect candles, soft gypsy music and plenty of punchy booze". A definite must-try in the upcoming months!

Mi Corazón
This Mexican eatery just recently opened on the Brunswick-end of Lygon street, so there isn't much information on the Internet. Melbourne simply doesn't have enough Mexican restaurants where one can enjoy authentic-tasty food at affordable prices. I think that it's for the same reason that the large population of Asians in Australia reflects the large number of Asian eateries. I've passed by a place called Blue Corn, I believe, in St. Kilda I think it was and I just laughed when I had a look at the prices. Mexican food is good, but in all honesty it's not known for being a fine dinning cuisine. I will have to make a mental note to visit the Mexican places in Fitzroy to make a final judgement. I lived in Mexico for 2 years as a child and my step-mother is also Mexican, so I'm rather unforgiving when it comes to giving my opinion on Mexican restaurants. Sorry Taco Bill, you simply don't make the cut.

Imaginary Menu of the Day

2007-01-27T18:14:00.000+11:00

I lose all of my willpower when sweets and sugary confections are involved. I actually considered switching over to the patisserie program today after observing how proud our chef instructor was of her cakes and learning about how female-friendly the field is. However, I fast-forwarded to 6-10 years from now and simply couldn't see myself as an overweight pastry chef/owner of a pastry shop. Nothing can possibly come out of being surrounded by such temptations. At least as a commercial cook or chef I won't be tempted to nibble on the food here an there because it will most likely not be vegetarian friendly. Plus, the idea of having my own vegetarian restaurant where I can share with the general public how swanky and fun good vegetarian food can be is what keeps my head above water. Trust me, I've felt like letting myself sink many times in the past 2 and a half months. I'm not going to cookery school to become an executive chef in a 3 hat restaurant or to become a world-famous chef at that. One of Melbourne's (or whatever city I happen to be living in at the time) most well-known vegetarian chefs, perhaps, but I really just want to share my passion for vegetarian cuisine with the rest of the world and have a good time while doing it.

If I could be a professional party-thrower, get paid for it and serve only vegetarian food, that would be my dream job. I gave some serious thought to being a personal chef or a caterer, but in the end, the thought of being forced to offer meat-based dishes to be a successful business doesn't appeal to me at all.

I've been thinking a lot about Spain lately and my 3 glorious years there as an intern and uni student. I long to spend one of those fantastic boiling hot summers there doing something productive during the days and spending the nights sampling tapas and drinking tinto de verano or vodka con naranja in some plaza or hole-in-the-wall drinking establishment. In Spain, most restaurants offer a menú del día, which is a set menu that comes with an entree, a choice between 2 main plates, a dessert and a glass of wine. My vegetarian menú del día would be:

Entree: Pan seared cherry tomato & rocket pesto Crostini
Mains: Skewered Char-grilled Eggplant Rolls of herbed ricotta w/parsley-scented jasmine rice
OR Roast Pumpkin and Orzo Salad with a Paprika-Cream Dressing w/Mountain Bread
Dessert: Honey Roasted Figs with chilled vanilla bean cream
White: a glass of red or white house wine

Who knows if this menu would actually go well together, but it sounds good!

Australia Day & Pizza Love

2007-01-26T21:18:00.000+11:00

I've spent most of the day playing around with the template on my blog. I don't consider myself to be very savvy when it comes to HTML, but I can go into the code and switch a few things around. I changed things around so much that I couldn't repair the damage and had to choose an entire new template. My first Australia Day was rather uneventful, I'm afraid. The highlight of the day was making a silver beet pizza, which was rather delicious, and listening to the Triple J Top 100 countdown. Will has gone off to work and hopefully will return with some good news about a job for me as well. Breaking into the hospitality industry is proving to be quite difficult. I've already experienced considerable damage to my ego and motivation levels, so I feel very confident that things can't get much worse.

Will commented on my pizza making skills: "Each time you make pizza it looks more and more like a proper pizza!" My pizzas haven't been horrible, as they always get eaten, but I have had the tendency to get carried away and make very thick crusts. Wholemeal + thick crust = extreme thirst and swallowing malfunctions. Making pizza is one of my favourite things to make as I have complete control over both the quality and quantity of toppings I want on it. Restaurants usually skimp on the vegetables and pile on the cheese; forget about even have the option for wholemeal crust. I usually pile on the roasted vegetables and skimp on the cheese by using a strong cheese with heaps of flavour. I've been making pizzas for a bit over a year now and I'll agree that my dough handling has improved heaps since using a recipe in The Joy of Cooking: Vegetables and the Basic Methods of Cookery last term.

There is a place in Hawthorn that makes vegetarian and vegan pizzas called Plush Pizza, when am no longer unemployed I'll have to make a trip out there!

The Perfect Dinner: Chips & Biscuits

2007-01-25T20:42:00.000+11:00

Jam Fingerprint Biscuits -- scoring high on the cute factor

We had a late start this morning and didn't get around to breakfast until almost mid-day. The most productive thing I did was collect a parcel at the post, which was my last Christmas gift to myself: Vegetarian Supercook by Rose Elliot

I spent way too much time "oohing", "aahing" and squeaking with delight at Cute Overload; a website that exists for no other reason that to display cute objects, mostly animals. I decided to make some really small biscuits that I could call cute and gobble up. I modified this recipe and used wholemeal flour instead. They were so good we ate them almost immediately after the jam had cooled enough to not scorch the roofs of our mouths. It's a rather simple recipe that produces one yummy treat. Dinner for today consisted of these jam biscuits and oven roasted paprika potato wedges -- we ate the wedges before I could take their photograph. Rather yum as well.

Jam Fingerprints (makes 12 very small biscuits)

55 g Flora or butter
35 g raw sugar
1 egg yolk
75 g wholemeal flour
24 g jam, any flavour of choice

1. Preheat your oven to 190ºC. Cream the butter, egg yolk and sugar in a bowl until smooth. Slowly add the flour while mixing until everything is combined. The dough should be slightly sticky and smooth. Divide the dough into 12 portions, roll into balls and place on an oiled baking tray. Use your index finger to form a small indentation in the centre of each ball. Fill each indentation with 2 g of jam in your flavour of choice and bake for 10-12 minutes. Transfer to a baking rack too cool and enjoy!

Banana-Orange Piñon Bread

2007-01-24T14:45:00.000+11:00

I needed to entertain myself this morning by channeling my anger and frustration over work (or lack thereof) into something positive. So, I challenged to hijack a recipe and turn it into something I could make using ingredients I had on hand. Using the Cranberry-Orange bread recipe from What do I know?, I created a delicious Banana-Orange Piñon Bread finished with a very light drizzle of honey. The result: a perfectly sweet, moist bread where all three flavours are winners -- nutty undertones, a burst of citrus and the natural sweetness of the banana. At about 100 calories per slice and 100% wholemeal, one can't go wrong with this sweet bread.

Banana-Orange Piñon Bread (makes 10 tea time slices)
150 g plain wholemeal flour
65 g raw sugar
3 g baking powder
2 g baking soda
1 g salt
15 g pine nuts, roughly chopped by hand
3 g orange zest
60 ml of freshly squeezed orange juice
85 g banana, mashed
22 g Flora Light brand table spread, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract (imitation is OK)
40 ml soy milk
honey, for drizzling

1. Preheat your oven to 180º C. In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients. In a smaller bowl, add the orange zest and table spread and put in the microwave until melted. Stir the mixture and add the mashed banana, soy milk and vanilla until thoroughly blended.
2. Add the banana-orange mixture to the dry ingredients and stir with a flexible spatula so the bits of banana can be mashed into the mixture until smooth. The batter should be fairly thick.
3. Pour the batter in a greased loaf pan using the spatula to ensure that the batter is covering the entire bottom of the pan.
4. Bake in a preheated oven for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the centre of the bread.
5. Allow to cool slightly on a cooling rack and then lightly drizzle with honey vertically, horizontally and diagonally.

Sage & Pepato Bread

2007-01-24T11:34:00.000+11:00

I've made what might be my best wholemeal loaf yet! It was what my photography professor called "happy accidents" -- accidents that happen unplanned, but turn out being really good things in the end. I was following an adapted recipe from The Bread Book, making sure to put half of everything and substitute the white flour for wholemeal flour, and I accidentally put in more water than necessary. I had actually added 50 ml more of water than I needed, which resulted in a very sticky dough, which required that I add more flour during the kneading process. I also added a bit more quick-action yeast than the recipe required because apparently the low gluten count of wholemeal flour and the dryness of the flour requires a bit of tweaking.

Up until now I have only adding enough flour to produce a rather dry dough that only softened slightly after 10 minutes of kneading -- perfect for focaccia and pizza crusts, but not for other breads. I decided this time to leave it a bit more moist and pliable. After having kneaded it for about 5 minutes, just enough time to reduced the stickiness, I let it prove for and hour, knocked it down again and finally put it to rest in a square baking pan for 30 minutes. Using one of the technique in the book, I sliced the dough into pie slices so that the bread would be easy to pull apart after baking.

The result: Very fluffy, wholesome portions of wholemeal bread. No toughness or dryness included.

Sage & Pepato* Bread
200g wholemeal flour
20g Pepato cheese, finely grated
1 tsp ground dried sage
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp fast-action dried yeast
1 tbs olive oil
2 tsp honey
150 ml water
extra Pepato for dusting

1. Put the flour into a large bowl. Stir in the cheese, sage, salt and yeast. Add the oil and honey, then gradually mix in enough water to make a smooth soft dough, it should be moist as well.
2. Knead well on a floured surface for about 5 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. This can be check by pulling off a small portion and stretching it to check for "stretchy strings".
Return to its bowl, drizzle a bit of olive oil on the sides of the bowl and roll the dough around the bowl so it is covered in olive oil. Cover with plastic wrap and leave to prove for 1 hours or until it has doubled in size.
3. Knock the dough down to its original size and knead for a couple minutes. Place the dough in an oiled square baking pan and roll it out so that it fills out the pan. It's not essential that the dough fills the corners. With a knife slice the dough in half, then into quarters with the final result ending in 8 slices. Sprinkle with salt and cheese, then leave the dough to prove again for 30 minutes.
4. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 220 C for 14-16 minutes until golden and the bread sounds hollow when it's surface is flicked.
5. Place the bread on a cooling rack and allow to cool slightly before breaking apart.
*Parmesan cheese can be used here, but Pepato is a slightly more moist cheese that doesn't contain rennet of animal origin.

Swiss Pastry Chefs and Bee stings

2007-01-22T15:23:00.000+11:00

Today was my first day back at school after a month off for the Christmas holidays. It was a nice slap in the face, actually. We have seemingly amazing Swiss pastry chef as our instructor for the next 5 weeks while we do our patisserie practicals. The slap in the face came when I was expecting to feel rejuvenated as soon as I stepped on the school property, but as I was about to step out of the lift I saw a few of the Indian guys in my class and it call came rushing back: the incessant talking in foreign languages while the instructor is speaking, the talking on mobiles in class, my barely containable desire to swear at everyone and thrash about the kitchen in a fit of rage.

On the plus side, I had the pleasure of tasting Bienenstich (Bee sting) cake for the first time -- the yummiest Swiss dessert ever to come into contact with my taste buds. I had at least 3 portions. I'm not a big fan of nuts in my desserts, but the almond brittle on top of the cake was complete bliss. We had a demo today, so we only watched the instructor make things: Bienenstich, Quiche Lorraine and Gugelhopf. Like I said, the Bee sting cake was the best.

Writing a letter to my mother and watching a few recaps of America's Top Chef series has reminded me why I chose this career path to begin with. It's funny how easily one can forget one's dreams when...life gets in the way.

Rainy Days Full of Doubt

2007-01-20T17:18:00.000+11:00

I just asked myself a question that I haven't asked since I jumped in head first to this whole commercial cookery dream: Am I doing the right thing? Have I made the right choice?

I'm in the process of getting things done for my planned transfer to Victoria University in July and just thinking about being a proper uni student, being in a classroom with students who have a passion for what they're learning (I'm talking about postgraduate students here...) and being enlightened by a professor who has years and years of expertise in a field that most of the world probably doesn't care about. I miss being in uni for those concrete reasons. I'm not going to lie, breaking into the commercial cookery field is tougher than I had imagined because of my student visa constraints. It's been high highs and low lows during these past few months, rather depressing at times even, but I just keep thinking about how much better things will be after I'm done with school (gulp) and out in the real world. Since 2000, I've been a perpetual student not spending more than 6 months out of school at a time. There is just something comforting about being in school, I feel useful and full of purpose when I'm learning about the latest theories in linguistics; not so much when I'm learning how to operate a commercial dishwasher or the "proper" way to remove the entrails from calamari.

I still want to get a PhD in linguistics, but can I really have a career in academia and have a career in the hospitality industry?

I had a big dinner planned for tonight, but with the rain and all of the gloom outside, I can't bring myself to go out into the rain --- without an umbrella.

The importance of following directions: Mini Banana Muffins

2007-01-19T14:00:00.000+11:00

Mini Wholemeal-Banana Muffins

For some reason or another I've been in the mood to make things, so I made some wholemeal banana muffins just a while ago after finding a recipe at Pinch My Salt. I modified it a bit, as usual, because I don't like adding nuts to anything that I eat or bake, I don't cook or bake with proper butter (I use Flora or Nuttelex) and I always feel the need to be a bit creative. I, of course, put aside my creative juices when working in someone else's kitchen with someone else's recipes.

Regardless of not following an exact recipe, they came out well. Moist, full of banana flavour and just the right amount of density considering they are 100% wholemeal. I reduced the amount of sugar, added a bit more banana so I wouldn't have to throw any of it away and added a bit more vanilla for taste. They are fabulous to enjoy with a cup of chai or green tea, or any tea, really.

100% Wholemeal Mini Banana Muffins
50g Flora light
50g raw sugar
1 egg
140g mashed banana, about 1 medium-sized banana
1 tsp vanilla extract
120g wholemeal flour
1 tsp bicarb soda (baking soda)
1/4 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 200C.
2. Mix all wet ingredients and sugar together, except for the banana. When a creamy mixture has been formed add the banana and mix in.
3. Add dry ingredients and mix well.
4. Divide the batter between 12 muffin baking cups and bake for about 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre of the muffins comes out clean. I have a convection oven, so it might take slightly longer in a conventional oven.

Approx. nutritional value per serve: 83 calories, 3 g fat, 2 g protein, 185mg sodium, 20 mg cholesterol, 1 g fibre; courtesy of Calorie-Count.

I'm a real advocate of using whole grains versus refined flours. Most recipes suggest using a 50/50 measurement of whole grain to white flours to avoid a very dense end product, but I've haven't had too many issues just yet. I made my pizza crusts with wholemeal flour, even a chai cake. Foods made with whole grain flours need extra ingredients for moisture control. When I make pizza dough I have to knead it a bit more to achieve the same results as I would with white flour. Plus, whole grains keep you fuller for longer and if you can eat cakes and sweets while getting at least some sort of nutritional advantages, then why not?

The Creative Juices Have Flown

2007-01-18T19:21:00.000+11:00

Kalamata Olive & Rosemary Focaccia

Focaccia drizzled with a bit of extra-virgin olive oil and rock salt

Roasted Eggplant & Capsicum Rocket Salad

Savoury Tomato & Basil Clafoutis

I came home from my first day of work today wanting to make some delicious bicotti after having loaded heaps and heaps of trays of biscotti bread waiting to be toasted and turned into the end product. After looking through a few recipes in The Silver Spoon I became unmotivated due to the fact that I had nothing in my kitchen to make an impromptu batch of these Italian biscuits. I decided on a focaccia instead and thought it worthwhile to put one of my newest books to use -- The Bread Book: the definitive guide to making bread by hand or machine. In the tradition of my inability to follow recipes exactly in any of my books for one reason or another, I used a basic focaccia recipe and added kalamata olives.

Vital Vegetables, which is a compilation of vegetable-based recipes from from the BBC Good Food Magazine was quite useful in helping me put together dinner for today and the roasted vegetable salad is a definite winner. Everything on the menu was rather tasty, really, but the winning ingredient in the roasted vegetables was 1 tsp of honey mixed with 2 tsp of extra-virgin olive oil, fresh ground pepper and salt. It added an extra little umph to the usual caramelisation on the vegetables.

I'd have to say that the best thing about my new job is being able to get home at 12:30 in the afternoon and have the rest of the afternoon to plan a proper dinner, also, no work on the weekends. I quit my other job and it feel absolutely terrific.

Dear Employer, The purpose of this letter...

2007-01-17T15:44:00.000+11:00

Just as I was leaving my apartment this afternoon to walk around the CBD handing out my CV to any restaurant that would accept it, I received a phone call from an unknown number. When I answered my mobile it was an prospective employer responding to an application I put in just 2 hours prior. Both Will and I headed straight over there as he was also going to go about the city handing his CV out to look for a second just to compensate for my shortcomings in the financial department. The company I interviewed with answered a mystery that I'd been carrying around in my head since my initial arrival in Melbourne almost 2 years ago. I'd always wondered how these little hole-in-the-wall cafes in the lane ways produced and sold such lovely looking products when there was no proper kitchen in sight. My prospective new employer is the answer to kitchen-less cafes. They are their kitchen.

I was invited to come in for a trial day tomorrow morning to see if it was what I wanted. To be quite honest, at this point I just looking for a job in the hospitality industry. Long gone are the days where I can be choosy. My previous interview showed me that the good restaurants are not going to work around my timetable, neither are the cafes. This job is similar to my current, or should I say, previous job, in the way that I will have a similar job title with similar duties except the food is of much higher quality and the name of the company hints that.

I have to hand in a type letter of resignation, which I will do when I get hired tomorrow at my new job. Higher pay rate, great hours and great location. The best thing is that I know I can do the job.

I'm off to try out some recipes from The Silver Spoon cookbook, Italy's answer to Margaret Fulton's Encyclopedia of Food and Cookery or America's The Joy of Cooking.

The Heat in the Kitchen: That's Hot

2007-01-16T11:14:00.000+11:00

I'm almost halfway through Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential and it's rather good. My main complaint with reading is that I get bored rather easily. Reading about what goes on in the male-dominated industry that is commercial cookery is a bit appalling but all too expected seeing that we're dealing with men here. I perhaps now can understand where the chef I interviewed with last week was coming from when he said, "You just don't look tough enough...". No, I probably can't compete with the beasts described in the book or the few female line cooks mentioned. I'm just not one to have a potty mouth or slap people's asses. I can raise my voice if I really wanted to and boss a few people around, but chopping parsley or removing the guts from calamari that smell like death hardly requires any of that.

Turns out I didn't get the job. Guess why. Anyone? I never saw it coming, really. It was because of my availability. There seems to be reoccurring theme here. The only employer that was able to see beyond my availability and work around my timetable is the same one that now has no shifts to offer me. Now I'm back to square one. Crappy schedule. Unemployable. Etc.

Tomorrow I'm off to hand out my CV like belated Christmas gifts. It'll be fun as I quite enjoy the warm fuzzy feeling I get after giving something, anything, to another person.

Recipe of the Week: Brown Lentil Salad with Baked Ricotta

2007-01-15T17:18:00.000+11:00

Brown Lentil Salad with Baked Ricotta

Roasted Butternut Squash and Pinto Bean Enchiladas

Babaghanoush, Basil and Tomato Pizza on a Wholemeal crust

Will and I went to the library so that I could pick up a copy of Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain. I've been meaning to read it for some time now. I also found a copy of The Accidental Vegetarian and one of Rose Elliot's earlier books, Vegetarian Kitchen. The Accidental Vegetarian caught my eye after I read a short interview by the owner of Greens Vegetarian restaurant in Manchester, England. He bought an established vegetarian eatery without being vegetarian or knowing anything about it. Very interesting story; it can be found here. Rose Elliot has quickly become one of my favourite cookbook authors after I got her vegetarian entertaining book for Christmas.

Out of all the things I cooked last week, I enjoyed the Brown Lentil Salad with Baked Ricotta the most. It was one of those summer days when the sky was clear and it wasn't terribly windy on our balcony. We had lunch out there and had a fresh tomato salad to go along with the lentil dish. I adapted the recipe from the vegetarian book of the Health for Life series cookbooks by Jody Vassallo.

Brown Lentil Salad with Baked Ricotta (serves 2)
200 g brown canned lentils, drained and rinsed
100 g fresh ricotta cheese, preferably from the supermarket deli and not prepackaged
1 spring onion, diced
1 small tomato (100 g), seeded, cored and diced
1 gram of lemon zest
3 kalamata olives, finely chopped
the juice of 1 medium-sized lemon
1/4 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp garlic salt

1. Place the ricotta in a bowl and season to taste with salt and pepper and mix. Divide the ricotta into two equal sized portions and make two flattened mounds on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Spray with cooking spray and grill in oven until the tops have become golden.

2. Meanwhile, combine lentils, spring onion, tomato, kalamata olives, lemon juice, cumin, garlic salt in a bowl and mix ingredient thoroughly. Divide the mixture between two medium-sized ramekins or other oven-proof dish.

3. Top with the baked rounds of ricotta. Garnish with lemon zest and serve with a tomato salad or a slices of a crusty loaf.

The wonderful world of confit

2007-01-14T19:42:00.000+11:00

I had some friends over for tapas last night and we had so much fun that everyone stayed the night. The next morning we had a buffet style breakfast and headed over to Williamstown for the rest of the day.

The menu was very simple, yet tasty. I served soy empanadas, garlic and tomato confit with a grilled loaf and patatas a lo pobre (poor man's potatos), which is a saute of thinly sliced potatoes, capsicum, onions and garlic. I've never made confit before and wasn't even aware of its existence until my cookery instructor introduced the term in reference to duck. On television I once saw a chef prepare some sort of scallops with a tomato confit, so I decided to give the idea a try. I found a recipe for tomato and garlic confit and it came out wonderfully. The end result was a very rich paste perfect for spreading over grilled slices of a loaf.

I modified the recipe a bit to make the quantity I wanted:

Tomato & Garlic Confit
1 can of diced tomatoes
5 cloves of garlic, peeled
1/4 cup of extra-virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat a saucepan over low heat and add garlic cloves. When the exterior of the cloves have browned add the tomatoes and olive oil. Stir until combined.

2. Reduce the tomato mixture down to a paste and the oil has separated from the tomato mixture, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Mash the garlic cloves into the paste. Transfer the paste to a bowl. Place a metal colander over the saucepan and pour the paste in it. With a wooden spoon press the paste through the colander making sure to mash any remaining bits. When no more liquid can be pressed through, transfer the remaining mixture into the saucepan, stir and season to taste with salt and pepper.

3. Transfer the confit to a serving dish and enjoy with grilled slices of your preferred loaf.

Eye-ball juice and knife skills

2007-01-12T16:09:00.000+11:00

I returned about a half ago from the so-called restaurant that was going to decide my so-called fate. It went well, in my opinion. To be quite honest, today was not difficult. I gutted calamari and almost vomited, diced lemons, segmented a few oranges, chopped a huge mound of parsley and sliced pan forte (a ridiculously chewy chocolaty Italian confection).

Funny thing is, the kitchen staff thought I had just been hired, but when I sat down to have a chat to the chef/owner he didn't seemed convinced that I belonged in a kitchen. His lame reason was, "You don't look tough enough". What the hell is that meant to mean? Like I said -- lame reason. His main complaint was that he showed me how to slice the pan forte, and after my arm tired and the chocolate began to soften, I had to use another method of slicing. Both methods produced the same results -- but I guess that wasn't the point. I have to learn "by example, he says.

In my words, the worst that could happen to me was that I could chop one of my fingers off and, in his words, the worst thing that could happen to him was that he could get frustrated with me. Neither sounds so bad.

Right before I left, I had to gut some calamari. It was quite disgusting, but I tried my best to not let it show on my face. One part of the process involved squeezing it's neck in order to slice it and, just once, I squeezed it just a bit too hard and an eyeball burst, or something burst, and a dark liquid squirted all over my apron. I nearly vomited at the sight of the bulging eye ball and the extremely fishy smell wasn't particularly helpful.

I guess my fate will now be decided on Monday, after he has a chat to the kitchen staff to see what they think. I think I have the staff on my side, magically enough.

The Price of an Education

2007-01-11T20:00:00.000+11:00

I received an email this morning that turned my world upside down. It motivated me to get through my Salada duties at work as quickly as I could, so that I could tend to the issue announced in the email. Will and I have basically come to the conclusion that I'm going to transfer schools because of it. Come mid-2007 I will most likely be a new student at Victoria University in Sunbury. They just happen to have a TAFE division at the university that has a partnership with the Federal Student Aid Scheme in America, which suddenly makes cookery school more affordable. Apparently it was formally known as the Sunbury Lunatic Asylum. It rather looks like an asylum, but it's perched atop a hill. It sounds lovely -- I'm going to going to a proper school again!

Now if only I could find a solution to this pesky job problem. I worked 22 hours last week and when I opened my check it was quite sad. My check will be even smaller this week seeing that I will only have worked for 4.45 hours. New job, please!

Undulating waves of excitement and mystery

2007-01-10T20:30:00.000+11:00

Today was a rather rough day. I had to wake up at 6am this morning to get to work for 8am. My temp assignment was out in the suburbs -- Oakleigh to be exact. I miscaculated the amount of time it would take to get to the other end of the CBD by tram and missed my train, which caused me to miss my bus, which caused me to arrive late to work. It's also in a different zone, so I had to purchase an entirely different pass on the bus as well. The work itself was mostly washing dishes, although I did make sandwiches and wraps in the morning. Either way I had to accept the assignment being that my current employer has cut 2 of my shifts this week.

I've been thinking non-stop about this Friday and how important of a day it's going to be! I'm actually quite glad I have the bit of experience I do working at my current job during the busy holiday period because I've witnessed first hand how people turn into monsters when things get stressful. I don't know whether this is true for all situations, but what I tell myself is that when I get yelled at, they aren't yelling at me as a person, but at my actions. I'm prepared to get yelled at a lot this Friday. I'm expecting it to be quite tough, but I feel that having this sort of expectation will benefit me in the end. Things are usually more difficult that we could have ever imagined or nowhere near as bad as we had imagined. My first day on the job things were definitely more difficult than I had imagined; that was because it was my first proper time in a commercial kitchen.

I'm meant to go out to an Italian restaurant with a few friends this Friday. It will be a night where I drink to celebrate my victory or to drown my temporary sorrows. Either way, it will be a drink well enjoyed...

The Big Break

2007-01-09T13:56:00.000+11:00

First off, I'd like to annouce the newest addition to my collection: Veggie Chic. It a fabulous cookbook all about glamourous vegetarian entertaining. It makes me want to plan an intimate dinner party ASAP.

My current job is going downhill and I can't bear the thought of having to share my precious time with them while doing manual labour that no one is going to appreciate because, after all, who appreciates the fluffiness of their cream as they're scoffing down a stack of 6 pancakes in one sitting? Management called me yesterday to inform me that the restaurant is simply not busy enough and that shifts are being eliminated for the time being. I've only one shift this week, which is depressing. Luckily, a few hours prior, my staffing agency called to book me in for an assignment with the same company I worked with some weeks ago.

In addition to that, today a chef/owner from one of Melbourne's award-winning seafood restaurants beckoned me in for an interview. I wore my lucky interview shirt: grey pin-stripe trousers, mint-green button down shirt, black pointy-toed kitten heels shoes and my black thin framed hipster glasses that make me look professional. When I met him in person I was quite taken aback my his laid back appearance; all I can remember now is shorts and combat boots. This was the toughest interview I've ever been to as I was quite literally fighting for a opportunity to be given the break that all aspiring chefs seek: to be trained under a top chef. I had to be a bit rude, a bit determined, but not entirely too desperate. He painted a picture of hard work, dirtiness, rudeness and challenges, but he also said that in a restaurant like his I would learn a lot. "That what I want", I replied.

The chef was initially not interested in hiring me because of my current student visa conditions, which currently state that no student will be permitted to work more than 20 hours when school is in session. I flat out asked if he would be willing to pay cash-in-hand for for any hours I worked over 20. I even offered to work for free; anything to be able to have the opportunity to work with the best.

I must have seemed a bit convincing as he has asked me "to come as I was and bring my chef's uniform" this Friday morning to give the work a go for 4 hours. I'd be washing and chopping lettuce, perhaps prepping some calamari, or something of that nature. After the trial he would decide whether it was worth to trouble to hire a mature-age university educated foreign national over a young, eager Australian apprentice.

This could be the break that all aspiring chefs seek: to work under the best (and be able to put in on your CV, of course).

Given the Current State of Affairs

2007-01-08T15:23:00.000+11:00

Just this Saturday we had our first party of the year and while everyone enjoyed the food I was way out of practise as I spent 90% of the time in the kitchen even though I had pre-prepared almost everything. Perhaps I went a bit ambitious with the menu:

For starters
Babaghanoush crostini topped with a sprig of parsley
Pico de Gallo with tortilla chips

Small Bites
Pumpkin & Sage mini Fritattas
Caramelised onion and Camembert Tarts
Fresh Boccacini, basil and char-grilled red capsicum rolls

Dessert
3 Milks cakes topped with a passion fruit cream

Everything looked lovely and my exposure to finer foods has definitely improved my presentation skills, however I could have really used a catering assistant to do the final preparations and offer the foods to my guests. When we move into our new apartment I'll have someone come to help with my dinner parties, perhaps a fellow cookery student from school.

Given the current state of affairs with my work I am actively looking for new work. My day to day duties have left me uninspired and disenchanted with chain/franchise restaurants -- organic food or not. I've been giving a lot of thought to becoming a personal chef again. Catering has become a hot topic in my life these days, hence my incessant desire to through small dinner and cocktail parties. My idea is that I can work part-time in a commercial kitchen to continue to get that experience I need to have my own restaurant some day and devote the rest of the hours of my week to my personal chef business. Having been vegetarian for 7 years now, with the last 3 years having a particular interest in making vegetarian food taste good and be healthy, I'm going to focus on offering vegetarian and vegan food only.

I think that there just might be a big enough market for part-time work as a vegetarian personal chef given the current situation in this country with weight and health issues. Next year when I am able to work unlimited hours I can really focus on what I want to do with my career. I can't wait.

An Assortment of Meals from Christmas Eve, Etc.

2007-01-04T22:24:00.000+11:00

Mozzarella & Tomato Pizza on 100% Wholemeal Crust

Purple Basil Bruschetta

Ricotta, Basil and Spinach Eggplant Rolls

Parsley Risotto Stuffed Baby Capsicums

Vegetarian Lasagna: Not for the Faint of Heart

2007-01-03T22:52:00.001+11:00

The vegetarian lasagna I make is more vegetable and less tomato and cheese. I guess one could say it's comparable to a vegetable terrine. Each layer of lasanga is moist and packed with the goodness of grilled vegetables, but not a sopping mess of cheese and tomato sauce. I present the best recipe for vegetarian lasanga: big on taste, low in calories. Caution, this dish is labour intensive. I got out of work early and felt like spending more time in the kitchen.

Pan Griddled Vegetable Lasagna
Preparation time: 1.5 hours
Cooking time: 30 -45 minutes at 220 C

1/2 bag of prewashed baby spinach, about 75 g; lightly steamed in microwave
1 small jar of chargrilled red capsicums (preserved in oil), drained and rinsed with water
600 grams of zucchini
1 pkg of firm tofu, crumbled
650 g of tomato puree
500 g eggplant, peeled and thinly sliced
1 tsp oregano
5 tbs soy milk
1 tsp garlic salt
50 g Vegetarian Edam cheese, grated
4 sheets of ready-to-bake pasta sheets
salt and pepper, for seasoning
non-stick cooking spray

1. Begin by slicing the ends and tops off of the eggplant and peeling the skins off. Once peeled, slice the eggplant into thin slices. In a colander, place a layer of eggplant and sprinkle with salt. Continue to layer the eggplant sprinkling with salt each time until all of the eggplant is used. Set aside and place over a bowl or in the sink to drain for 15-20 minutes.

2. Empty the chargrilled red capsicum into a colander and rinse under cool water until all of the oils have washed away. Set aside.

3. Remove the ends from the zucchini and with a potato peeler, make ribbons of zucchini as thick as the peeler will permit. Discard the first ribbon and the last ribbon, which will be mostly peel. Place ribbons in a bowl and lightly season with salt and pepper.

4. Coat a fry pan with non-stick cooking spray and heat over medium heat. When heated arrange a layer of zucchini ribbons in the pan and flip over when edges begin to brown slightly. When all the ribbons have been pan roasted, set aside.

5. Place the colander of eggplant under running water to remove salt and shake to remove excess water. With an absorbant tea towel or paper towels blot the excess water from each slice by placing a slice in between paper towels or in a tea towel folded over. Repeat the same cooking steps for the eggplant that were followed for the zucchini ribbons and set asside.

6. Crumble the tofu with your fingers into a food processor or blender, then add the oregano, garlic salt and soy milk. Process until a thick paste resembling ricotta cheese has formed.

7. Once all the ingredients have been prepared, the assembling can take place! Lightly coat a rectangular baking dish about 17 cm x 26 cm with cooking spray and cover the bottom with a thin layer of tomato puree. Place a lasange sheet in the centre and spread a layer of tofu around the sheet as best as possible. Next, create a layer of zucchini by arranging the ribbons all in the same direction. Season with salt and pepper and arrange a layer of steamed spinach making sure that the ribbons are completely covered. Arrange a layer of eggplant, season with salt and pepper, and place a lasanga sheet in the centre of that layer. Cover with tomato puree and repeat layering process until only 1 lasanga sheet remains.

8. Place last lasanga sheet in dish and use the last of the tomato puree to completely cover the lasanga sheet as much of the puree with be absorbed during the cooking process. Sprinkle the grated cheese over the top, cover with foil and place into a 220 C oven for 30 - 45 minutes until bubbly.

9. Allow the lasanga to sit and cool for 10 minutes after baking to make the slicing process easier. Enjoy.

I've recently starting writing down the amounts of ingredients I use while I cook, just in case I want to eat it again and have it taste the same...or share it with others. Once I make this recipe again I'll know it's fit for the archives.

Reconnecting with the World

2007-01-02T18:02:00.000+11:00

We used our monthly allotment of internet megabytes some days ago and have been cut off; we're connect again. Christmas was good, New Years was great. I had to work at 7am on New Years day, so those cranberry vodkas weren't the brightest idea -- but oh so tasty.

I've been working at my job for about 2 weeks now, is it bad to say that I wish I could quit? The really low pay is really starting to take it's toll on the bank accounts and the more I work there the "skankier" I think the restaurant is. It's run mostly by women and most of them are on power trips especially the head cook -- can't stand her.

I'm realising now that the training I've recieved was not as thorough as I had thought. Today was my first day doing the food prep by myself and while I finished in good time, I spent a lot of time cleaning things that apparently I didn't clean up yesterday. See, yesterday I showed up an hour late and finished my work in about 3 hours and went home. There are a series of things that must be done before going home, but the reason I did none of those things was because it had been a mere 3 or 4 hours since it had last been cleaned and the back kitchen chock full with people doing things. I hate cleaning up after other people when they don't appreciate it, but it's a big part of my job here.

Did I mention I can't stand the head cook? I don't care for making it to the end of my training because a) I have no interest in cooking stinky breakfast every day and b) I don't want to be near the cook when she's cooking.

Thing is, the hospitality industry is the slowest right after the holidays because everyone's gone to the coast or elsewhere for their summer holidays. If the pay wasn't so low, I stick it out.

Complain, complain, complain.

It's a White Christmas after all, right?

2006-12-28T03:44:00.000+11:00

Christmas here in Melbourne for us was a bit uneventful as we did not spend it with family this year -- just each other. We had made plans for having lunch in St. Kilda after opening presents and talking to the family, but the weather, once again, surprised us. It rained, it hailed, it snowed, the wind blew like it was it's full-time job. So we stayed inside and fiddled around with our gifts.

I got two new cookbooks, a palm pilot, fabulous stationary and iTunes credits amongst other things. On Christmas Eve, Will and I had one of our fabulous wine and dine nights in the comforts of our own kitchen and after numerous stiff drink decided that we should open just one gift, just one.

I'd have to say that 'New Vegetarian Entertaining' by Jane Noraika the iTunes credits and my Palm Pilot were the winners. For some years now I've been keeping something I like to call my "idea book" where I keep track of mental notes, recipes, finances and thoughts I don't want to forget. The magic of having a Palm Pilot (very basic one) is that I don't have to deal with finding a new booklet and transferring the most important ideas once the old one is full. Entertaining my friends over good vegetarian food and drinks is one of my great hobbies, so I'm thrilled to have the new cookbook addition.

Dinner parties galore, just the way I like it.

Happy Holidays!!!!!

Time for Life Recap

2006-12-25T17:45:00.000+11:00

Work is still work, but it's getting better. After 2 days of washing dishes I was "promoted" to Salada, which is the preparation of the food items that the cooks will need throughout the day -- crepe mix, salads, dressings, butter, cream, etc. It's great to be getting all of this kitchen experience and witnessing the "heat" in the kitchen with my own eyes. The more time I spend there the more I tell myself that I don't want to work there any more than I have to. I simply can't imagine having to cook the same things day after day -- bacon, eggs, pancakes and salads...all drenched in butter.

These are my humble beginnings. I'm a big fan of Mediterranean cuisine, specifically Italian, and would love find work in that sort of restaurant after I finish my course. I'm debating whether to stay on this job through the duration of my course or to look for other employment at the 6 months mark. Hmmm.

Dishwashing: One of life's worst chores

2006-12-19T18:51:00.000+11:00

Today was my first day of work and I spent 7 hours washing dishes. Boy, is it tough work! I think the most difficult thing was having people "tell me what to do". There's a difference between telling people what to do and giving instructions. It's crazy how people get a power trip over telling others how to wash dishes.

The morning started out with the restaurant not having any water, so I had to sit around for awhile and wait. Once I was taken to the kitchen I was shown to the dishwasher and was immediately told to get to work. There was a particular stock pot which had hell burnt into the bottom of it and the head cook made such a fuss about needing, and so I scrubbed, and chistled and chistled. By the time I was just finished I got yelled at for taking too much time and was advised to organise the cooking spoons by type.

For a few moments I couldn't imagine myself being a cook or a chef and ordering people about or making them feel incompetent. But then I remembered that not all cooks of chefs do this. They should really have some sort of stress assessment; some sort of test that would tell potential employers whether they can really "stand the heat" in the kitchen. Ah, only in a perfect world.

It'll get better and then I'll be promoted from dish duty.

New Things: Pumpkins and Kitties

2006-12-14T17:51:00.000+11:00

It all started out as a trip to the pet store to check out the bunnies and nude mice (mice without fur, that is) and it ended with the purchase of a kitten! We are now the proud new owners of a kitten named Preston. He's so cute, I hope he doesn't grow up to be a little monster.

Last night was one of those nights where we stayed in, cooked appetizers and chatted over stiff drinks. We had mini pumpkin and sage frittatas and focaccia-style sandwiches on skewers. They were both rather tasty, if I might say so myself. A few days ago we had a lovely early summer evening dinner of curried zucchini soup and a cannelinni, olive, feta and rocket salad. Pumpkin and sage go surprisingly well together, perhaps I can get a soup out of that combination.

Someday I'll get a digital SLR camera and take great photos that my little point-n-shoot camera just can't do. Someday...

Cookery Schools: What?

2006-12-13T13:34:00.000+11:00

I read a rather interesting research paper online last night where the thesis question was, "Has the Role of the Cookery Educator Been Devalued Over Time?". I arrived at this particular paper by a series of searches for information regarding my recent employment and what exactly I would be missing out by not taking the traditional apprenticeship route that Australians do.

The paper shed light on some really interesting questions I'd love to discuss with my instructors, but I get the feeling they're too busy with administrative duties and teaching too many classes. I've been wondering how and whey they stepped out of the kitchen and into the classroom.

One of the most interesting things from the paper was the idea that many cookery instructors apparently feel that students who are completing the Certificate III in Hospitality (commercial cookery) are doing so with inferior cooking skill compared to the past because their time has to be directed to other tasks. They feel that they don't have enough autonomy to teach their classes in a way that ensures the best outcomes for the students.

It's a bit difficult for me to understand whether they were referring to apprentices or students who under took the certificate program full-time. Apparently in Australia the TAFEs seeing a more diverse student body in these courses and most of them don't aspire to create culinary master pieces in 3 hat restaurants. However, since the chef-instructors teaching these course specialise in making fine foods, that is what they are teaching in these courses. That's fine by me..not interested in how to properly make 'fish and chips' or focaccia sandwiches.

This article has also encouraged me to give some thought to some of the units I have to complete for my course:

Promote products and services to customers
Coach others in job skills
Communicate on the phone
Deal with conflict situations

I see no purpose in including these subjects in the course if one's intention is to be working IN the kitchen AWAY from customers.

Officially Employed!

2006-12-12T15:44:00.000+11:00

I had my interview this morning and it went surprisingly well, especially since I thought that for a few moments I would not get hired due to my horrible availability. I have class on Fridays and Saturdays, the busiest days in the hospitality industry. My interviewer had a chat to the manager and the response was, "We're willing to work around your schedule as long as you understand that while you are on it class on Fridays and Saturdays, you must be made available to come into work". In other words, if I can prove to them that I'm worth the "extra work" of having then bend their own rules, then they'll keep me on.

The pay is excruciatingly low, but I think I did good by me for excepting it. There is a lot of room for promotion and each time I get promoted, which will be a maximum of 3 times at an increase of .50 cents per hour -- it's what I was looking for. I think I'd prefer steady work schedule at a lower rate than an unpredictable work schedule at a higher rate. At the rate that I'm going it will take ages for me to get the experience I need by working for a staffing agency for zero to a few times a week, and my new employer is willing to give me all the experience I need.

I start on Tuesday. Woohoo for me! This Saturday at my lovely friend Samantha's Christmas posada I not only get to celebrate the completion of my first term of cookery school, but I also get to celebrate the beginnings of my career in cookery; in addition to having a great time with friend's of course.

I made a really decadent-tasting cauliflower puree for dinner tonight, it's better and healthier than mashed potatoes. Not my photo, but it looks exactly like what I made. Very simple recipe: very steamed cauliflower, extra light sour cream, garlic salt and olive oil, plus a bit of chopped parsley for colour. So light, so fluffy. So yum.

Fields of Butter

2006-12-11T20:56:00.000+11:00

I have my first cooking assessment today; it's where I got to show what I'm really made of I guess. My worst dish was the lemon chicken stir fry, mostly because I don't eat chicken and couldn't tell it was too "dry". I cooked it at the end of the day when my seemingly endless patience was starting to wear thin. I can deal with stress, but it becomes difficult to do so when you work with people who do unintelligent things - repeatedly.

The last time we had class was Saturday, and my Monday it seems as if most people have forgotten what the instructor said, "Everyone make sure to bring your work plans, as you will not be allowed to enter the kitchen without it". What do I see upon entering the kitchen? Blank work plans and people copying furiously from others! The whole purpose of a work plan is so that you know in which order your dishes are meant to be cooked. Seriously, some people though we were making carrot soup. My patience wore thin when someone at my table stole my chicken, used all my soy sauce without replacing it and took over my workspace. I have a lot of patience, but these kids just test me! No one failed today, but I'm sure it's because the unprepared students were able to literally copy the prepared ones just by looking at them.

In general, things went well. I brought home scones, vegetarian fried rice and crêpes with poached pears. Good for the refrigerator, not so much for the waistline. We use a lot of butter to cook and it's really my first time incorporating butter into my cooking routine. I'm really more of a fan of Mediterranean style cooking that focuses on olive oil. I won't be replacing my olive oils for butter any time soon!

Ode to Melbourne

2006-12-09T23:07:00.000+11:00

When I first arrived in Melbourne, after a 6 month absence, I realised how trendy this city is! Most people get dressed with a mission; the girls dress like something straight out of CLEO magazine. I noticed this for the reasons I will mention in the following sentences. Preparing for Peace Corps back in May required getting rid of anything we would not be wearing in El Salvador as volunteers, as well as things we knew we wouldn't want at the end of 2 years. My wardrobe was reduced to something quite basic. Being that we left El Salvador after 2 months and returned to the developing world, my wardrobe was no longer appropriate nor adequate for an office job in a country like America nor for a night out on the town. Bit by bit I've been acquiring things and I found myself dressing up as I would as if I were living in the city. When I put on my normal going out clothes to attend a dinner party in the suburbs I felt a bit overdressed. When I put on my normal going out clothes here I feel under dressed, as if I put in practically zero effort in getting dressed! My going out clothes from America are what I wear to school, so getting dressed to go out here in Melbourne always leaves me wishing I had a bit more money to pick up a few things in the shops.

I feel almost as if I've come here for the first time again. I'm noticing things that I didn't notice when I arrived back in February of last year. There are so many restaurants, so many things to do, so many places to shop and the city is so safe!

Some days I can hardly believe I was ever in El Salvador. I'm still coming to terms with the fact that we're staying here -- for good. (Well as permanently as things can be for a young person...).

I love this city!

On Getting Used to this New Life

2006-12-08T18:41:00.000+11:00

It's Friday evening and even though I could probably go out for a few drinks with some friends, I simply don't have the energy! I'm still recuperating from yesterday's day of work. My assignment at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre proved to be quite tiring! The experience was one for the books but the assignment itself was very unorganised. Once I was actually inside I didn't know who to report to, what I was meant to be doing or how anything worked! After a bit, it became very evident that the newbies, such as myself, were delegated to do bottom rung tasks such as wheel chef's trolleys around and, collect and scrape food bits off of dishes. My agency had told me I was doing plate-up service, which is actually quite wonderful because you get to actually put the food on the plate and make it look presentable. What I was doing was more of a kitchen hand/catering assistant job. The best part of the night was getting a free dinner from the leftovers: grilled tofu served on a bed of curried red lentils and a sweet vinaigrette reduction. So yum.

School was sooooo boring today. I really do feel like I'm in high school or middle school on Fridays (theory days). However, my studying paid off because I got a 97.5% on my latest assessment. Why do the Indian students think it's appropriate or even acceptable to speak Hindi (or what have you) all throughout class? I really do think that because we're in an English-speaking educational institution, English should really be the main language spoken in class. It's got nothing to do with the fact that I can't understand them, it's just annoying because they speak all during class, especially when the instructor is trying to explain the in the most simple of terms the concepts that will appear on the assessment that they will most likely fail, once again. I'm not worried about myself, I'm just annoyed with the sticky slow speed I'm forced to learn this stuff at.

I'm really hoping this job lead works out! It's be the perfect job to have for 4-6 months or until I can learn enough to get a position at a proper restaurant. I get the feeling that until I'm actually done with my course and officially a "qualified cook" by industry standards I won't be doing too much else in the kitchen besides kitchen hand tasks. I'll just have to take this thing day by day, it's the only way to do it.

This coming week is my last week of school until late January, so I can work for as many hours as my little heart desires. Must. Earn. Money.

Tales of a Semi-Employed Cookery Student

2006-12-06T18:42:00.000+11:00

I had my first assignment with my staffing agency yesterday and I must say that it was great. It's exactly the work I'm looking for. I spent most of the time washing dishes, but I did get to do some food prep, such as making sandwiches and wraps. It's called kitchen hand work. Last night around 9:45 pm my staffing agency called me in for another assignment as a catering assistant doing "plate up" for a function at the Melbourne Convention Centre. I'm guessing that since my first assignment went well, I'm no longer a risk for them to send me out on assignments. Money is finally coming into my bank account!

While I was eating breakfast, just a few moments ago, the head office of a particular food establishment called me to ask if I was still interested in working for them as a cook. I was secretly hoping that it'd be my staffing agency calling to say my position had been cancelled, but it was even better. They are going to train me to be a cook (if they hire me)! This is just the opportunity I was looking for to get some work experience in the kitchen. It's by no means a top restaurant or anything, but when you're starting from the bottom, whatever work I can get that is going to help me climb the ladder of hospitality work will have to suffice.

Last night Will and I went out for dinner at Veggie Bar in Fitzroy to celebrate our six years of fabulousness together. Unfortunately I don't have rave reviews about my dinner, or the food there in general for that matter. Everything else about the restaurant is great, except for the food, which is just OK. I've been there a few times and have never been blown away by the flavours. Last night I ordered one of the specials: Cran-Brie Pizza. It was a great idea executed rather poorly. It was more or less a thin pizza crust slathered in a sweet cranberry jam topped with slices of brie and tofu. It tasted great, but I felt like I was eating a dessert or a breakfast, not dinner. The cranberry was too sweet and was over-slathered.

In general, they just don't add enough salt to their food. I don't even know if they even add salt. Salt in moderation is good for you and it's rather necesarry in cooking to bring out the natural flavours of the food. I found that the vegetarian restaurant I worked at also had a salt phobia with their cooking techniques. Salt is good for food; use it!

Who wants overcooked chicken?

2006-12-04T22:52:00.000+11:00

Will and I had planned on getting dinner at our favourite take away place in the city -- The Spicy Noodle Cafe. They have heaps of Thai-style stir fries and noodle dishes; my favourite is the Ginger & Vegetable Stir Fry over steamed rice. However, I spent 7 hours or so surrounded by chicken and dishes made with chicken and Asian food was the last thing on my mind. The practicals went OK, but because my class is rather large and we have to share appliances everything takes so much longer than it should. By lunch time we had only managed to cook and chill rice and make scones, which was from 9am to 12:30pm. This is completely ridiculous. I could have made most of the menu before lunch time had I been able to work at my own pace. My scones came out a bit over cooked, but yum nonetheless. My chicken stir fry came out over cooked because, let's face it, I'm a vegetarian and don't really know how to cook meat that well! I don't use that as an excuse, of course.

Learning to julienne vegetables properly is quite the task! And restraining myself from rendering some of the kids in my class unconscious with a fry pan because they don't pay attention and slow down the class is even harder! "What's a leek?" "Am I putting the Cos Lettuce in the soup? " "How come I can't chop carrots until I get it right?". Aaarg! Someday these kiddies will learn how to get around the kitchen.

I'm finding that people are coming to me with questions on how to do thing properly and I'm torn between wanting to help them and telling them to go read their darned recipes and pay attention during the demos instead of talking like I did! These kids literally yap yap yap throughout most of the demos and then slow everyone down with their questions during practicals. I wonder what it must be like to attend a proper cookery school where everyone actually wants to be there...

This has actually turned into quite the negative post. Let's end on a positive note, shall we? Just a few moments ago I cleaned out Citrus and Sofia's home (our lovely little pet mice) and it's so nice to have them back. They were staying at a friend's house while we are away and apparently they ate quite well over there! They're rather plump! Gotta love the little girls.

How Not to Season a Wok

2006-12-03T21:19:00.000+11:00

I love it when I buy things that come with supposed instructions on proper usage and things never turn out as expected. I finally bought a rice cooker to do my rice cooking for me as our crockery set is a bit basic. I remember when I lived at home my stepmother always used a rice cooker to make rice and it always came out perfect--except for the times she made me make rice. All throughout uni I made rice in a pot because that's the way I could. I made it just the way my mother made it, white with a large dollop of butter and a bit of salt. When I became serious about my vegetarian diet I switched to brown rice and I can never get the rice to be as soft as white rice, that was, until I bought my rice cooker.

The first time I made rice in it, I followed the directions in the booklet, which said that as a general rule brown rice is cooked with a ratio of 1 cup of brown rice to 1.5 cups of water. I knew in the back of my head that that was wrong, but went along with it and sure enough made some really crappy rice. Attempt number two, using a proper ratio of 1 cup of rice to 2 cups and a scant more made a great rice. Softer and more luscious than any brown rice I've ever had.

I decided to practice making my lemon "chicken" stir fry for dinner tonight and it was absolutely fantastic. I had to season my wok first, which took about 45 minutes. Seasoning a wok is basically heating oil on it at high temperatures and burning it into the surface various times to produce a black carbon on it. I was sure I'd ruined my wok as I saw it turn from a shiny silver to coffee black. No where in the instructions did it say my wok would turn black. I was doubtful of the directions that came with the wok, so I googled "how to season a wok" and got a more complete set of directions. Apparently an unseasoned wok will make your food stick. It was such a breeze cooking with a seasoned wok!

When I took my cooking classes in Thailand I remember thinking that the woks in the kitchen could use a good washing with all of that "black stuff" stuck on them...

The stir fry was fabulous AND vegetarian. Lemon and soy sauce, so yum.

Chez Moi, it's what's for dinner

2006-12-02T21:24:00.000+11:00

I had my second demo today. The menu for my practicals on Monday will include: Stir Fried Lemon Chicken, Fried Rice, Scones with Chantilly Cream, Potage Crécy (a lovely carrot puree) and a Ceasar Salad - a very non-vegetarian friendly menu. I really don't understand what Chef Simon Rimmer said vegetarian food being labour intensive. If you want labour intensive try breaking down a chicken, deboning it and chopping into the bits you need! The chicken we'll be using for Monday's practicals is whole, not conveniently prepackaged. Even though it gross me out heaps to watch the instructor "break down" the chicken, including pulling out the next from the chicken's chest cavity, I took down some rather serious notes. My new friend Sazia always invites me share her tuna sandwhich with her; my response is always I'm vegetarian; hers is always "Well then what do you eat?" I can see how it might be difficult to come up with a vegetarian dish when you usually centre your dishes around meat. If you take away the meat then you usually have some rather uninspiring sides to nibble at.

I feel so energized after demo days, I feel like going home and cooking -- which is exactly what I did despite being rather tired from going to bed at 3am and hungover from imbibing numerous tangerine voda spritzers. I'm now hidding in my apartment instead of attending a birthday party I said I would go to. I simply can't be bothered to get dressed and pretend like I feel like socializing with people I don't know. After school I went to a few shops and picked of some tapas plates, individual pot pie ramkins and a brand new wok. I used the shopping as encouragement to walk the 30-40 minutes it takes to walk if I dont' take public transport. I wanted to practice the stir frying techniques from the demo, but I couldn't be bothered with going through all of the trouble to properly season the new wok. The photo above is an attempt to practice proper presentation and portion control. Voilá, a sesame-soy zucchinni and tofu stir fry on a bed of sprouts.

The neat thing about school is getting to take home leftovers, which is also a negative because the patisserie students ALWAYS have extra cakes that they put out in the break room. Constant supply of cake means extra calories, which means extra kilos. Each student has to make their own cake, whatever doesn't get eaten has to go in the bid sadly enough. I must remember to bring containers for my food on Monday. Everything is unedible except for the scones, which looked and tasted a whole heck of a lot like what North Americans call biscuits. I've never had an American-style scone, but they definitely don't look like what I had today!

I say tomayto, you say tomahto. Well, I actually say tomahtos now...if I hear a work repeated enough it sticks. Just like the words ginormous or fantabulous.

So Highschool

2006-12-01T17:23:00.000+11:00

Honestly, I feel like I'm in some sort of high school twilight zone. My theory class for my hospitality class just like being in school again, except everyone else is still trapped inside their own immature bodies and brains but I've grown up. We had our first assessment today, which in my opinion is the most important one because it deals with food safety and hygiene in the workplace. There can be very serious consequences if these certain strict guidelines aren't followed. I wouldn't want to be working with any of these kids in any kitchen lest I want to die of some sort of severe bout of food poisoning.

We had Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to study for this exam and complete our homework, which was about 10 or 15 short-answer questions. Most people didn't complete the homework or study and they had sooooo many excuses for themselves it was too funny. Because the level of comprehension of English is quite low for most people we spent from 9:00am to 12:30pm going over the homework questions. Who needs this much time to answer simple questions? I asked a few questions but the reply was, "Those are great questions, but you don't need to know those details for the test...". I think my instructor gets frustrated, a lot.

Before handing out the test she gave specific instructions: 1. Do not turn over the exam until I say so. 2. No talking or it will be considered cheating 3. If you have a question, do not ask out loud, but come ask me. 4. No cell phones

As soon as she hands out the test people have turned it over, they start talking, they ask questions out load and guy even answered his cell phone in class. Come on! All during the test the Indian kids at the back of the classroom were whispering and sharing answers. One kid actually the nerve to ask for an answer during the exam. I didn't want to be the first person to hand in my exam, but I was. It was much easier than for what I had studied for. I didn't get a perfect score because I couldn't remember the spellings of certain strains of bacteria, but I know I did well.

I studied from 11:00am to 5:00pm for that test, true uni student style. I had all week to study but between having class and getting settled in the apartment, I had my hands full. I've learnt to stop offering reasons for why I've not done something, unless they involved natural disasters, bodily harm or death then they always sound like excuses. After having done a masters course my standards for what education should be are just so much higher.

The Common Demoninator: Knives and Martinis

2006-11-30T15:56:00.000+11:00

After doing a bit of homework yesterday on Following Workplace Hygiene Procedures I hopped on a tram into the city and headed straight to Target to pick up a pair of black pants for my food prep job at the convention centre (which was cancelled earlier today, by the way). I vaguely remembered that our kitchen was in dire need of a cocktail shaker and put that on my mental list of things to pick up. Once at Target, I picked up a pair of black pants in the Women's section, because apparently Juniors don't need to wear black pants, which is why, I'm guessing, that I didn't find any in that particular section.

Once I reach the home ware section I forget all about the martini shaker when I spy the selection of knives. Most kitchen knives are crap because they are stamped out of one large sheet of metal and/or steel. However I came across a set of knives built for the budget home chef (that's me) and they were forged, yes, I said forged. Forged means that somehow or another they manage to press various sheets of steel together at very high temperatures to make a super metal and then shape it into any given shape, which is knives in this case. I was originally just going to pick up a utility knife for cutting vegetables and a chefs knife for chopping and dicing, but the 6 piece forged knife set (shown above) sold me and I picked it up.

I forgot all about the shaker and decided we've have Pad Thai for dinner. Will managed to whip me up a chocolate martini sans shaker. A satisfactory day overall.

I have my first assessment tomorrow on workplace hygiene and since my position at the convention centre was cancelled I have more time to study where the salmonella bacteria can be found and what exactly the food standards code is.

Off to the books! Perhaps I'll make it to the gym and give our body fat scale a whirl...

A Day in the Kitchen, and Then Some

2006-11-29T20:41:00.000+11:00

This is what we cooked during our practicals, listed from left to right: Crêpes with a pear compote, roasted root vegetables, basic bread rolls and a green bean, potato and tomatos concasse salad.

Culinary school is everything I imagined. Being in the kitchen and actually getting the chance to make the recipes we were shown in our demo was great. What wasn't so great was that I felt like everyone else was holding me back, which is not such a great thing in itself. I know how difficult it is to learn a new language and be in a new country where you don't quite understand what is being said around you, however, if you're going to even attempt to go to school in a foreign country try and learn the language first! The instructor spent so much un-needed time re-explaining things that he explained and re-explained during our demo, it really annoyed me towards the end--especially how the people who understand the least are the first to rush to the scale to measure out ingredients they have no idea what to do with.

Many of the students from India and male, cookery is not something they deal with on a daily basis due to the fact they many (not all) of them come from "well to do" families with households full of servants. Notice the use of the word servants rather than housekeepers. They have servants, so the very idea that they are attempting to gain permanent residency through cookery is infuriating and uproariously funny at the same time.

So much for having heated discussions over French cheeses and Greek olive oils! Tomorrow is my first day working in a commerical kitchen for a function at the Melbourne Convention Centre. I somehow signed up to work for a temp agency for the hospitality industry and I have to start at the very bottom -- plating dishes in a kitchen.

When the Dust Settles...

2006-11-27T20:10:00.000+11:00

enjoying some chips and drinks on our first night in our new apartment

It's been almost two weeks since our arrival, or should I say return, and things are moving along quite nicely. We were able to move into our apartment a week earlier than planned and we started work a week earlier than planned. Moving abroad with nothing but two suitcases has proved to be more expensive than planned. Somehow we got the crazy idea that we'd be able to afford not only to purchase the essentials such as bedsheets, cutlery and cookware, but also couches, beds and DVD players. Having to move into a furnished accomodation actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

Our new neighborhood is great, however, the only negative is that if you don't feel like walking 20-30 minutes you really have to take a tram into the city. There is this great little fine foods and wine shop 2 blocks away that is reminiscent of the Barefoot Contessa. We also live two block from the supermarket and Lygon street, which is more or less Little Italy.

School is great! It's everyting I imagined, plus a bit more. My honest opinion is that many of the students in my class of 21 are not there because they have share my great love for the culinary arts, but because it's simply one of the "easier" ways to get the much coveted PR or permanent residency. I had a chat to my instructor about this and other things (mainly about my chances of getting work and other cookery schools) and his response was to just concentrate on myself, what I want to get out of the course and what it really comes down to is not where to you go to school, but where you work...

The Executive Summary: 7 days

2006-11-25T08:56:00.000+11:00

I don’t know why Australia is shortened to Oz, but whatever the reason, we’ve been in Melbourne for a week now. The flight over was more or less uneventful besides the fact that, once again, someone has eaten a vegetarian meal that did not belong to him or her. On the flight from Los Angeles to New Zealand we were hungrily waiting for the food trolleys to arrive at our row and when they finally did come they asked me which of the meat options I preferred. I replied with a question regarding the whereabouts of my “Asian vegetarian meal”. They had given it to someone else. The thing about special meals on flights is that they don’t have extras, so if someone who is not entitled to one actually accepts it, the person who actually ordered it has to eat the “normal” options. Luckily for me, they gave me a meal that they were offering in first class: oven baked goats’ cheese on a bed of spiced lentils. Yum.

Apartment Hunting…Not so happy

We decided to leave apartment hunting until the next day when we were fresh and full of energy. Due to the nature of crossing many time zones, we were naturally feeling a big jet lagged and went to bed early and woke up extremely early. The next morning we set out bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, obviously unaware of the trials a tribulations involved in apartment hunting in Melbourne, and headed over the to riverside Southbank—one of Melbourne’s swankiest inner city suburbs. Once we reached the real estate agent’s office, sat down and told them what we were looking for their reply did not reflect the availability of apartments listed at their website just a few days prior. We saw two apartments, both gorgeous, one with quirks, one perfect. We kept the perfect one in mind and decided that it was only logical that we should see other apartments before agreeing on anything. Unfortunately the rest of the day was disappointing. Everyone else in the city seemed to be looking for the same thing we were and according to the first real estate agent we visited, the fact that we “were not working” and had “insufficient funds” (AUS$4K is hardly insufficient funds for young 20-somethings!) in our bank accounts was counting against us. Swank inner-city living is unfortunately out of our reach and we have once again resorted to living in student accommodation.

Sunday was much the same as Saturday, no luck finding an available apartment. It wasn’t until we had visited the umpteenth student accommodation building in an unlikely location that we struck gold. Our new home for the next year will be located at College Square—a brand new student accommodation apartment building on the upper end of the same street we lived on just 5 ½ months ago. It’s a one bedroom apartment with an equipped hostess kitchen (also known as a kitchen that faces the dinning area and is equipped with a bar-like structure), study area with shelving and desks, a view of the city, a balcony, large mirrored floor to ceiling wardrobes, a generously sized bedroom and bathroom. The building also has a gym and a pool. Very nice.

Back to Basics: City Living

2006-11-13T05:41:00.000+11:00

I can't emphasize enough how great it is to live in the city versus living in the suburbs. You have the whole city at your fingertips. We've been looking at apartments online to see what selection of places we might be able to look when we start apartment hunting next week. Some of the top criteria on my list are: an open plan kitchen/living area, a balcony and windows with a view. The more photos I look at the more I want to live in Southbank. It's swanky, chic and right next to the Yarra River. The views from the apartments are fantastic and the apartments themselves are just breathtaking. Who wouldn't want to enjoy a glass of wine or two while taking in this view from your balcony?

There's something about dinner parties, warm weather and balconies that go well together. The only downside to living in Southbank is that technically it's an inner city suburb--not quite inner city, not quite a suburb. The area used to be an industrial park, but as a part of an urban renewal plan heaps of highrise apartment building, restaurants and shops have sprung up in the area. Our previous aparment was in the perfect area of the city, right on Swanston street -- what I consider to be the city's main street. That aparment has so many downsides to it the main one being that both of our windows faced a wall and hardly any sunlight came in. The location was perfect: right next to Melbourne Central shopping centre, across the street from the QV shopping centre, public transport dropped you off right in front of the building, etc, etc.

I think I'm sold on Southbank on the swankyness alone!

An Australian Lemon-Mascarpone Ordeal

2006-11-11T05:34:00.000+11:00

Tomorrow night we're going to an engagement/housewarming/farewell party at Brent and Tracy's new house. They've asked me to bring a non-chocolate dessert and that I will! I've devised a delicious recipe: Lemon-Mascarpone Chai Cake. It'll look something like the cake featured below and it'll probably taste something like it too--except it'll have a bit of exotic chai undertones throughout it.

Baking is not my strong point so I'm actually quite curious as to this lovely married couple-to-be asked me to bring a dessert. Especially after my previous baking fiasco where I exchanged white all-purpose flour for white self-rising flour to make cookies. I don't have to mention that the "cookies" came out more like "scones" or dry biscuits. Not my best attempt at baking, I must say.

Congratulations to Brent and Tracy on their recent engagement and the purchase of their very own house and congratulations to us, for finally figuring out what we're going to do with our little lives. In 4 days we depart for the adventure of a lifetime: a life in Australia

Cuba's Gift to the World: Mojitos (aside from Salsa Music)

2006-11-05T10:43:00.000+11:00

It's Saturday evening, the weekend before my last week of work as a receptionist and I'm drinking the best mojito on the planet--made by me of course. I think that food and music are two key elements of culture and while I like Cuban food and music and I'm of Cuban descent a) I'm vegetarian and cannot eat most Cuban food and b) I didn't grow up listening to Salsa music much so I'm not very good at dancing to it. When you really think about it there's not much that's characterisitically Cuban about me besides the way I look, and perhaps my love for mojitos. I'll share my favourite recipe:

My Cuban Mojito
the juice of one large lime
4 ounces of Bacardi
7 sachets of Splenda sugar substitute
soda water/club soda
6 mint leaves, plus 2 for garnsih
crushed ice

1. Combine the lime juice, sugar and mint leaves in a bowl or measuring cup and mash until the mint fragrant become noticeable. Do not discard the lime rinds.
2. Place a strainer over the glass you intend to have your drink in -I like the tall, slender bar glasses-and strain the lime juice mixture into your glass
3. Add the bacardi and stir
4. Slice one half of the juice lime into strips and add to glass
5. Add 1/2 to 1 cup of crushed ice and fill to brim with soda water
6. Stir and enjoy. A proper mojito in this manner should yield about 8 ounces.

I've never actually been to Cuba, but I did go to a Cuban restaurant/bar/disco when I lived in Madrid in which many Cubans worked. I assume the mojito I had there was an authentic recipe and since I'm not a big fan of the taste of Bacardi, I gave the drink a thumbs down. For my 24th birthday party, which I hosted and cooked for and will never do so again, I served mojitos and everyone loved them. I had some friends over for dinner some week ago and followed a more "traditional" recipe and the results were disappointing. My partner is not a big fan of sweets but he gave a "thumbs up" to this recipe, as did the 15+ guests at my birthday party, most of whom are not big drinkers.

I say the new mojito should be packed with citrus, strong and sweet. In order to mask the unpleasant taste of Bacardi (or vodka or gin) you need a lot of citrus power. The sugar balances it all out and using Splenda is easy on the teeth and la linea or your figure.

Labels and Starch

2006-10-31T14:41:00.000+11:00

I created a new blog with wordpress that I decided would be my food blog, however, I decided that I'm not that into food yet to devote an entire blog to it. I've changed the title of this one heaps of times, but I think this one describes what's going on in my life. I'm really into cooking food, I like to travel, I enjoy being strange and sometimes I have one of those "I wish I could be there" moments when I read blogs of current PC volunteers in El Salvador. I really feel like I've wasted the past 3 months on feeling bored, on thinking about the coulda-shouldas and on feeling a tiny bit guilty for having no real intention to use my brand new masters degree I just dropped several "g's" on.

I probably won't get to experience "living poor" in a developing country for 2 years, but I still have many good travel plans ahead of me: India, Japan, Peru. I also have a long life of living abroad ahead of me, which is what I ultimately wanted. I ultimately had to choose whether I wanted 2 years abroad or a possible lifetime. Sometimes having to make adult decisions sucks. Sometimes I'd rather be in El Salvador than wasting my life away either not working or as a receptionist at a dead-end job. Life is too short to spend it doing something you really don't want to be doing!

So, regardless of how many supporters I have, I'm taking control of my life and doing with it what I was meant to - create. I won't be creating traditional art like I thought I always would, but I will be creating a type of art.

Edible art.

-the dirty flamingo
16 days until the move to Australia

This quiz knows me better than I know myself

2006-10-20T10:56:00.000+10:00

You scored as health-conscious vegetarian. You are a health-conscious vegetarian! This means that either your motivation for going veg was/is for health reasons, or if not, you have simply become much more health-conscious after being veg. You are always questioning what you eat on the basis of its healthfullness and naturalness. You might be a "pesco-vegetarian" (fish eating), if you believe that fish flesh is healthy (it's not!). Either way, vegetarianism is a part of your quest for health! More on www.goveg.com

health-conscious vegetarian

50%

welfarist vegetarian

45%

vegan vixen

33%

militant vegan

33%

quiet vegetarian

28%

new veggie

11%

lazy vegetarian

What type of vegetarian are you?
created with QuizFarm.com

I think this quiz hit things right on the nail. Perhaps this is why I always fail at being vegan. I care about the animals and the environment just fine, but eating organic when I can afford to and reducing my intake of dairy products gives me more satisfaction in all areas over denying myself a small, yet delicious, morsel of gorgonzola and honey crostini as a vegan.

Mango-Coconut Bread

2006-10-20T03:05:00.000+10:00

1 1/4 cup of organic white self-rising flour
1 cup of Splenda brand sugar for baking
2 eggs
1 cup mango puree (I used Doles frozen mango chunks, defrosted them and mashed them)
2 tsp essence of coconut
1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Blend wet ingredients until smooth.
3. Add flour and stir until completely blended.
4. Grease loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray and pour in batter.
5. Bake in middle rack for 50 minutes then place on cooling rack until cool.

The mango and cocount flavours melt together rather well. For being a horrible baker this came out tasty and practically guilt-free!

Behold the Wonders of Outlet Shopping

2006-10-16T10:41:00.000+10:00

The days of $19.99 pt sets that claim to be non-stick but fail after making your second zucchini and asiago cheese omlette are behind me. I'm now the proud new owner of a quality pot set by Cuisinart.

One of my weekend activities included taking a trip to the outlets - Wrentham Village Outlets that is. I feel that you have to be willing to spend a fair amount of money to actually take advantage of such bargains offered at shops like Saks 5th Ave or BCBG Max Azaria. However, proper bargains are out there. Bargains such at the pot set featured to the left, which retails for the hefty amount of $325. I snagged this great little 7-piece pot set for only $69.99, plus a generous 20% discount applied upon checkout at the register.

The grand total was $58. Not a bad deal. At all.

A Personal Renaissance

2006-10-11T10:23:00.000+10:00

As of today, there are 36 days left until we depart for the sunny land down under. Our tickets our purchased, our temporary housing is almost arranged and I'm still unemployed! I returned from Florida on Saturday feeling energized about our starting our new life, but at the same time feeling a failure for not having not a single one of my plans work out since, oh say, the end of July.

Upon returning from El Salvador I thought I had found a great job that would keep me employed until our return to Austrlaia, only it turned out to be too good to be true. Now that I switched to a temp agency that always seems to be "briming with opportunities" because they've "been really busy lately", but when it comes down to finding ME work it's a completely different story. I'm basically unemployed and have put a severe dent in our saving plan.

Mid-September I signed up for a personal chef certification course that I was quite excited about, as I had planned on starting my own personal chef business upon arriving in Australia. That was cancelled, which left me quite crushed. A satellite office of my temp agency found me no work down in Florida either. No work, no class.

On the brighter side of things, I spent a fabulous week with my mother in Florida, enjoyed the warm weather and I'm MOVING TO AUSTRALIA! Oh, and I won $20 on a scratch ticket.

From Dream World to Real World

2006-10-02T12:39:00.000+10:00

Every single day that I've woken up from a night of slumber the first thought that forms in my head is, "I wish we could leave for Australia tomorrow...". It's been 2 months since I left El Salvador and have come to terms with the envy and failure and slight embarassment I felt for a good month afterwards. Up until a week ago I still had three more months of waiting to do.

About 2 week ago I was more or less convinced (although I didn't need much convincing given the circumstances) to enroll in a personal chef certification coruse in Miami that would begin on September 30. I enrolled in the course, bought my plane ticket, call my mother and told her I'd be spending 3 months with her and went through with the whole thing. As I write this entry I'm lounging in my brother's studio in Miami, a day after the personal chef course was meant to start. I woke up bright and early yesterday morning and made the trek down to Kendall - about an hour or so including waiting for public transport to arrive. It's a total of 3 hours from where my mother lives and 4 hours by plane from where Will is living. Once on campus grounds, I realise that I haven't got the classroom number. Upon calling the admin office to figure out where I'm meant to be taking this life changing course, I'm informed that the class has been canceled.

It would have been really swell if I'd have been informed BEFORE I flew down here. I'm still feeling a bit agro over that, as now I really don't have much reason to be in Florida before Christmas.

On the brighter side, I applied to culinary school in Melbourne (Australia) last week and I was accepted. So Will and I will be on a jet plane headed for the sunny land down under on November 15th.

Yes, your eyes read that correctly: NOVEMBER 15th, 6.5 weeks from now.

South for the Winter

2006-09-18T01:51:00.000+10:00

The thing I dislike the most about the northeast is the weather. Sure, autum is nice with the colourful leaf changes and all, but that basically means thaty everything is getting ready to die in preparation for the winter. As Bill Bryson mentioned in his book, I'm a Stranger Here Myself, in New England it's either winter, winter's just past or winter's coming. Utterly depressing.

So, I'm going down to Miami to live with my mother until the holidays while I participate in the Culinary Business Academy Personal Chef training program. I get to avoid winter, I get to spend some quality time with my family and I'm getting a head start on my dream career. The course normally costs $2,500 if you do the course at one of their main campuses, but they are a fraction of the price if you do them at one of their affiliate campuses - two of which are in southern Florida.

When did I come up with this idea? Yesterday. When did I decided to actually do it? Today. I called my mother yesterday and ran the idea by her and talked it over with Will. Today we decided it was the best choice and I registered for the class this morning.

Sometimes the best decisions are those made with haste.

Switch, Witch, Moan, Groan and Similarities

2006-09-07T03:38:00.000+10:00

Portland, Maine, looks pretty much like this. It looks a lot like Providence, Rhode Island - except its 3 hour from here.

The title just about sums up how I feel at the momment. My temp agency hasn't found me anything for this week yet - its Wednesday - and it's getting depressing. I would, however, prefer to be not-at-work rather than at my previous receptionist job at Marketing Gimmicks Gone Wild.

We went to Portland, Maine last weekend, it was nice-looking city. I wasn't impressed or anything, but it was nice to get away from the mundane wake up, work, eat, sleep routine for a long weekend - Labour Day weekend. We went to the Portland Museum of Art, which has an ok selection of art. I'm really into more contemporary types that have nothing to do with landscape or portraits of strangers. I like to be challenged by the artist and have to think about what they're trying to say, rather than looking at a sailboat on a placid body of water at sunset or a portrait of someone's neighbour and not having to think much at all. Out with realism and in with symbolism! I like abstract art, Cubism, Dadaism and Surrealism - none of that there. I did however find a nice gem in the gift shop - Frida Kahlo stickers.

On the way to Portland, right after crossing in to New Hampshire, we stopped at this place called New Hampshire State Liquor and Wine Outlet - it's basically a huge shop where they sell discounted liquor because the prices haven't got any sales tax included. The best item there was triple sec for $4, a very large bottle of triple sec might I add, which is the key ingredient to making a cosmopolitan martini taste fabulous - an ingredient that isn't easy on the pockets in Australia.

I wonder how many I can fit in my luggage?

So what you mean is, America runs on crap, erm, Dunkin?

2006-08-31T23:10:00.000+10:00

Am I the only person who thinks there's something wrong with the new Dunkin Donuts advertisements? Sure, Dunkin Donuts is well known for there coffee-based beverages, but they also donuts, pastries and other super sugary confections that can cause one to gain weight just by mere eye contact. Could America's obesity problem be partly due to the apparent fact that "America Runs on Dunkin"?

I'm sorry, no wait a minute, I'm not sorry, but do anyone really need to have a coffee and a pastry for breakfast? Some people say they can't stomach breakfast in the morning so they either skip it (because they somehow believe that they'll eat less during the day) or have something like like a cup of caffeine and a 20 grams of sugar draped over a sugary confeccion, such as a muffin or a danish. This leads to another discussion on what people are really eating for breakfast.

In my opinion if you stuff your face at an early lunch because you skipped breakfast and then at dinner because you had an early lunch, then no, you are going to be hungry in the morning. You might not even be able to think about eating or drinking anything besides coffee and perhaps a piece of toast. Research shows that breakfast is, in fact, the most important meal of the day because it gives you energy for the rest of the day. If you want to pig out, pig out at breakfast when you have all day to burn it off.

If America runs on Dunkin, then no wonder...

What's So Great About Melbourne Anyway?

2006-08-30T23:35:00.000+10:00

Because of the big change that will happening in 4 months, I've been doing heaps of research online as far as realtors, the costs of furnishing an apartment, details on the migration process, wholesale shopping clubs - all in Melbourne of course. I've joined two Yahoo! groups for Americans in Australia and Melbourne. On one of them I found a post that describes what makes Melbourne such a great place to live, plus I added a few of my own:

The people are generally smarter and friendlier than Americans
There is more global awareness in Australia than in America
The variety of restaurants is fantastic: Italian, Greek, Indonesian, Japanese, Indian, Thai, Vietnamese, Colombian and heaps of vegetarian restaurants. Any type of Asian food you can imagine, you can find it.
Public transport is superb - online, efficient, clean and tourist friendly
The cafe and sidewalk cafe culture is huge, take Degraves Street as an example
Although winter is nothing to brag about, the fact that it doesn't get cold enough for snow
It has a "beach" just a tram ride away from the city centre, it's actually a bay, but it's got sand, it's clean and it's in a great beachside suburb called St. Kilda - home to the St. Kilda Festival each February
Safety! You can walk around the city at all hours and not have to fret for your safety
Melbourne Central Shopping Centre, the biggest inner-city shopping centre with at least 4 floors of shopping and food. The Metlink actually has as major stop in it's basement.

Of course there are downsides, like expensive books, DVDs and CDs and Australia is far from everything, meaning you will pay around at least 1K to get anywhere besides New Zealand. I'm sure there are more, but the positives by far outweight the negatives.

So basically what I'm trying to say here is that I think Melbourne is a better place to live compared to any other place I've lived so far (that includes Madrid and that definitely includes Boston).

After all, it's not Edenistic utopia we're talking about here...

Another Exciting Week To Come

2006-08-27T23:16:00.000+10:00

Well, I quit my job and have begun another one. I'm hoping that that will be the last time I ever quit a job! Next week I start full time as a receptionist, where I was advised to bring a book or something to do because apparently the phone doesn't ring to often. Neat! Next Friday is NOT going to come fast enough.

Yesterday we went over to another couple's house to hang out and have dinner. I cooked a fabulous dinner, which tasted so great I even surprised myself. I'll have to add that this was the one time where I cooked what one would call and "indulgent" Saturday dinner - as vegetarian as it was I didn't skimp in the fat department.

The starter consisted Baba Ganoush (roasted eggplant dip) with toasted pita bread and gorgonzola and honey bruschetta (courtesty of the hostess), the main dish was a gorgonzola and pear vinnegrette salad with a olive, sundried tomato and ricotta cheese tart and dessert was as single baked fig drizzled with cinnamon, honey and butter served with a dollop of whipped cream.

Yesterday I found out that to become a qualified chef in Australia, there are two routes one can take: the traditional apprenticeship route of 4 years or the institutional education route of 1-2 years. Being that I will be around 26-27 (1-2 years from now) when I can actually focus on all of my time on studying to become a chef, only having to spend 18-24 months studying versus 48 is the best news I've heard all week!

I'm trying to find as many things to be excited about to get me through these next four months of walking through slush. It's going to be difficult and I'm going to complain a whole lot, especially when winter comes because a) I don't do winter, I grew up in the tropics and b) I've never really had a winter wardrobe, I still don't. However, finding the power to think positive is not a lost cause. I think if I can find 1-2 really big things to be excited about each month, waking up in the morning to do mind-numbing work won't see so bad.

Things to look forward to in September: my 25th birthday, sending birthday cards to my parents, looking for the perfect birthday present to give myself (another way to spend the money I waste my brain away earning) and the possibility of applying for our visa for Australia.

I'd say that September is looking pretty good.

This isn't love, it's an obsession

2006-08-26T06:30:00.000+10:00

My new obsession: buying cookbooks like it's my job because we're finally settling down

Boring Yet Exciting Details on Migrating to Australia

2006-08-23T22:56:00.000+10:00

The visa we will apply for: Skilled Independant Overseas Student Visa (subclass 880)

The number of points required to have your application considered: 120

The number of tentative points we will have at the time of application: 130-135

The Occupation in Demand applicable to our application: Accounting

Number of months to process the application from within Australia: 3-6

Cost: $1,990 per family unit (However, there are other costs associated with your application, such as your skills assessment, English language testing, medical examination, police clearance, the certification of your documents and postage / courier costs)

Other useful information:

If your application for permanent residency is accepted for review, then a Bridging A visa (subclass 010) is granted after the current student visa expires and is valid until permanent residency is granted or denied.
Students who complete a degree in Australia with a duration of at least 2 years in an occupation or trade in demand in Australia are exempt from the recent work experience requirement (which is usually 2-4 years).
After having been a permanent resident for 2 years, one may apply for citizenship and gain access to the same rights Australians, like health insurance, social security and "free" higher education
Onshore students, nurses and skilled onshore New Zelanders get highest priority processing

For more information go to Live in Australia