kopi – Page 23

Jalan Alor

July 13, 2012 Posted in China Town, Food Reviews, Malaysian, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a comment

Jalan Alor is small Malaysian restaurant in Melbourne’s China Town. It’s part of the renovated walkway that once held Village Cinemas, if you can remember that far back! At times you might be hard pressed to find seating as this restaurant seats is extremely low. If you do get a chance to eat here, it is worth it.

Their Curry with King Prawns tastes just as good as it looks. With the tomato and eggplant giving it a nice flavour, along with the pleasant curry taste. It is a surprisingly good dish to order.

I found the Char Kway Teoh on this occasion to be slightly overcooked. It had a slight burnt taste to some of the noodles but it didn’t spoil the whole dish so I set the few strands of noodles aside. Other than that, it was quite tasty. It had the crispy lard that not many places cook with so that sets it apart from other Malaysian restaurants. I asked for spicy but it was not spicy at all so not sure what happened there. Overall, it was nice but there are some let downs as I mentioned before.

Their Char Hor Fun was quite nice. There are some varying styles of this dish, some don’t cook the kway teoh in the wok as much (or at all) but I prefer it when they do. Jalan Alor does this and it’s great. It has that nice “wok flavour” as some puts it. The egg base sauce is also tasty. It is definitely hard to do a bad egg sauce though.

Iced Red Bean Drink with Coconut Milk is also another winner. It’s not too sweet, nice and chilly on a warm day. The red beans add the sweetness to the drink, and the coconut milk add that creaminess. I’d order it again!

Impressions

The food at Jalan Alor is quite good, along with their drinks. However, I found their service to be slightly lacking. The waitress’s didn’t know what fresh chillies are. For a Malaysian restaurant, I feel that’s severely disappointing. When we asked for a plate to put the rice on for the Curry with King Prawns dish (the bowl was too small!), she didn’t know what we were talking about and had to ask another one of the staff. The other staff asked if we would like a small plate and it seemed like it was a lot of effort for them to bring one out.

Other than that, I’d go back again. I have been there a couple of times, but this was my most recent experience.

Jalan Alor

7/206 Bourke St
Melbourne VIC 3000

Van Mai

July 6, 2012 Posted in Food Reviews, Restaurant Reviews, VietnameseLeave a comment

Van Mai is another popular Vietnamese eatery along the bustling Victoria Street, Richmond. In my attempt to seek out and try many of the Vietnamese Restaurants in Richmond, Van Mai on Urbanspoon seemed like a very popular place to try. They have a wide selection of dishes to choose from but of course, I had to choose my favourite Vietnamese dish (or as close to).

I love Crispy Chicken with Tomato Rice at Walrus (Springvale) and so my adventure to try out a dish that matches or even possibly tops that dish begins. Van Mai doesn’t have Crispy Chicken withTomato Rice but they do have Diced Pepper Beef with Tomato Rice dish.

I absolutely loved the flavour of this dish. The beef was packed full of flavour, it was slightly sweet, nicely marinated and had a pleasant pepper taste that didn’t overwhelm the natural beef flavour. One little con was that it was a tad too salty but eaten with the fresh lettuce, tomato and cucumber it balanced things out.

I pretty much only order Crispy Chicken with Tomato Rice because of the Tomato Rice. At Walrus it’s a vibrant red colour with stir fried with egg, at Van Mai it’s slightly darker and oilier. However, the taste is almost identical. Again, my only complaint is that it’s a tad too oily and I was wiping my mouth with a napkin constantly.

Other than the oiliness, the food they serve is delicious. Would definitely come back to try their other dishes.

Van Mai

372 Victoria St
Richmond VIC 3121

Hotteok/Hoddeok (Pre-mix)

June 29, 2012 Posted in Cooking, Korean, RecipesLeave a comment

If you have ever been in a Korean Grocery store, you might have come across a Hotteok pre-mix pack (Beksul is the one I find). Basically Hotteok is a sweet Korean Pancake, I think there are varieties of these pancakes with different fillings. The one that comes in the pack is a brown sugar filling with chopped nuts and cinnamon. I absolutely adore these and have attempted to make it myself. Either way, it’s pretty simple to make, but the Pre-Mix has a much nicer dough, and I’m unsure of what they put into it that gives it that golden colour.

This is the other Hotteok Pre-Mix I’ve seen. The Beksul one (~~Not Pictured~~ Pictured!) is in red packaging and tastes much better, and less salty. As the instructions are all in Korean, I had to go search for a translation. Luckily I found My Korean Kitchen.

Ingredients

1 Pre-Mix Pack (Contains: Flour, Filling and Yeast)

250 ml Water

Oil (Preferably the spray kind)

Plain Flour

Optional: Extra chopped nuts to add to the Filling mixture

Method (From My Korean Kitchen)

1. Sieve the premix flour, then add the dry yeast (silver packet) and water, knead it with a wooden spatula

2. Cover the bowl with wrap, and ferment it for 2 hours at room temperature (20-25 ?) The volume of the dough needs to increase by 2 times. I’ve sometimes left it for the whole day just to get the maximum “rise”.

2/ If you like, you can chop some more nuts, we use walnuts but really any nuts will suffice, to the filling.

3. When the dough is ready, get a couple of spoonfuls of plain flour and place it on a plate. Give the mixture a gentle mix and form 10-20 pieces depending on the size you want. Place each piece into the plain flour so it becomes easier to handle.

4. Widen the dough with your hands and flatten. Place a spoonful of filling into the middle of the flat dough. Seal the dough and shape is like below. Repeat it for the rest of the dough.

5. Pre heat the frying pan for 20 seconds and add some oil.

6. Put a couple of the pancakes onto the pan and turn them over when the bottom part is cooked. (Cook them on medium to low heat)

Recommendation from the packet : It is best if you consume all the fermented dough (dough without the filling mix) when you make it. However if you can’t finish it all, keep it in the fridge (if you are going to consume it within 24 hours), otherwise keep it in the freezer, and defrost it well before you use it.

Impressions

What I love above this Pre-Mix is how easy it is to make and so tasty to boot. Eating this warm, will the sugary filling slightly liquid and nutty is just…perfect. It’s delicious on a nice cold winters day, and it’s definitely hard to stop eating it.

The dough is slightly soft, but has a nice crisp texture on the outside, with a sweet and nutty texture in the inside, with a hint of cinnamon. I’ve actually tried this with home-made red bean paste as well, and tastes just as good. So simple to make (Apart from the sticky dough), I can’t see a reason not to give it a try!

Lone Pine Bistro (Phillip Island RSL)

June 22, 2012 Posted in Australian, Cowes, Food Reviews, Phillip Island, Restaurant Reviews1 Comment

We often go to Phillip Island to bring our guests to the Penguin Parade, but since we’ve seen the penguins so often, it isn’t worth it to buy a ticket for ourselves. So instead, we take a little detour to the main town centre (Cowes) of Phillip Island. One of the few restaurants/things to do at night is the Lone Pine Bistro, and the Phillip Island RSL that are connected.

I was quite surprised that they close early, I think it was 8:30 but the RSL/Pokies still remains open. Luckily we got in time and was one of the last few orders before the kitchen closed.

I ordered the Lamb Burger with Chips and Salad. I was a tad bloated because I ate some Korean Corn Chips (Delicious) an hour or so before, but after tasting this. I couldn’t resist.

I loved the burger, it had a slice of beetroot, well seasoned lamb mince patty, salad and cheese. It was a traditional combination but nicely cooked. The bread was crispy but soft on the inside, and overall the burger just hit the spot. Usually you’d find the burger to be dry, but this one was perfectly cooked.

The salad had a nice tanginess that helped with the fattiness of the chips. The chips required tomato sauce to go down, it was a tad too dry with the potato having that chalky texture. On the positive side, it was nice and crunchy.

I was pleasantly surprised with RSL/Bistro food after eating this, usually “pub” food can be overcooked and quite pedestrian. Although this doesn’t stray too far from the norm, what it does, it does well.

Their Roast Beef and Vegetables dish wasn’t as fantastic as their Burger. Most places cannot serve perfectly cooked carved beef or turkey. I think it’s because they cook the entire beef/turkey/pork and just leave it to “keep warm”. So eventually the meat just loses all it’s juices and overcooks. This is what happened here.

The meat is quite tough, and the gravy tries its best to assist with the dryness, but ultimately cannot overcome the fact that the meat is severely overcooked. On the plus side, potatoes are always good, and the vegetables served are pleasant enough to eat.

I’d be disappointed if I was served this, and it’s a stark difference to how well cooked the Lamb Burger was. I can see why it was disappointing, and it would definitely be difficult to cook the meat perfectly all things considered. Probably would be better if they served a steak but alas this isn’t what they offered.

Impressions

Lone Pine Bistro serves traditional Australian food, they also have a wide range of desserts and cakes. So if you’re travelling to see the Penguins, a stop here for some tucker isn’t a bad idea at all.

Lone Pine Bistro – Phillip Island RSL
Phillip Island
Phillip Island RSL 225-243 Thompson Ave
Cowes VIC 3922

Mocha Chiffon Cake (Gourmeted Goldilocks Recipe)

June 15, 2012 Posted in Baking, Cooking, Recipes2 Comments

I was searching high and low for a nice looking Mocha Cake to bake for my mother. I came across Gourmeted’s Goldilocks Mocha Cake Recipe which looked fantastic. I’ve tried this a few times following the exact method however on both occasions my cake sank like a rock. One my third attempt I thought, why not use the tried and tested Chiffon Cake way. Here is my slightly adapted Gourmeted recipe below. A big thanks to Gourmeted because it’s a fantastic recipe.

Mocha Cake ala Goldilocks (Gourmeted)
Ingredients

For the Cake:
6 large egg yolks, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon coffee/espresso granules [Nescafe instant coffee recommended]
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon water
½ cup canola oil
1 cup cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder

6 egg whites, at room temperature
1 teaspoon cream of tartar

For the Mocha Buttercream
1 cup sugar
4 large egg whites, at room temperature
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, soft, at room temperature
1 teaspoon coffee/espresso granules
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
5 teaspoons water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 teaspoons amaretto (Or Kahlua)
Tools & Equipment

Stand mixer (preferred) but a hand mixer will be sufficient
1 Chiffon cake baking tin

Preparation

1. For the Cake: Preheat oven to 375°F (~160 C)

2. Whisk together egg yolks and sugar in a large bowl (or bowl of a stand mixer) over low, then medium speed, until creamy and light yellow in color.

3. Dissolve espresso or coffee granules and cocoa powder in water and vanilla in a small bowl, getting rid of lumps while stirring. Pour into the egg-sugar mixture, along with canola oil, and beat until well combined.

4. Remove large bowl from stand mixer (if using one) and sift cake flour and baking powder over it. Stir with a wooden spoon until well blended, scraping the sides of the bowl once.

5. Whisk egg whites and cream of tartar into stiff peaks in a medium bowl, and fold into the mocha batter, a dollop or two first to liquefy the thick batter, and then in thirds.

6. Place the batter in the pan. Bake on two racks for 30 to 40 minutes. The cake is done when the tops become golden brown and the cake tester comes out clean when inserted in the middle.

7. Once ready, take out of the oven and cool upside down on a mug. If you want to make the icing, the cake must be left to cool completely.

8. For the Buttercream: Whisk sugar and egg whites for 3 to 5 minutes in a medium heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water (water should not touch the bottom of the bowl), until meringue is hot to the touch. The sugar granules will be dissolved and you will be left with a fluffy marshmallow cream-like froth.

9. Remove bowl from heat and beat for 5 minutes with a hand mixer set to medium speed, or pour into a bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment to mix.

10. Add half of the butter and beat with a hand mixer (or paddle attachment for stand mixer) until smooth before adding the next half to combine. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula and give it a quick stir. Beat again on medium-high for another 6 to 10 minutes to thicken.

11. Dissolve cocoa and espresso/coffee granules in water, vanilla extract, and amaretto in a small bowl. Pour into the buttercream and beat for 2 minutes, scraping the sides at least once.

12. Spoon about ½ cup of frosting on top and spread it evenly with a flat metal spatula.Spread a thick layer of frosting over the side, working from the bottom up to the top. Frost the top by placing a mound of icing and spreading it to the side. You can decorate the cake with the remaining frosting as you wish.

As you can see I didn’t do the icing this time around. I have done it previously and it is indeed delicious. I used Kahlua instead of Amaretto but I believe Amaretto gives it a nice almond flavour to it.

Impressions

This Mocha cake… I’m just going to call it a Mocha Chiffon Cake is beautifully soft. I put it only for roughly 30/35 minutes, just done and it is as moist as ever. If you’re a fan of Chiffon Cakes, and want a slight coffee hit. This is for you! I think if you try the Gourmeted way, you may still find success, it’s just that I used a hand mixer on my previous two attempts. My planetary stand mixer works wonders with egg whites and is excellent in producing stiff peaks so that could be the reason why I found success on my third attempt.

This is slightly smaller than my Orange and Pandan Chiffon Cakes, as it only uses 6 eggs, but it’s still quite nice as you can see. It’s just a tad shorter. I might try a Black Sesame Chiffon Cake sometime because I seriously can’t get enough of Black Sesame.

Cinta Raya

June 8, 2012 Posted in Chinese, Food Reviews, Malaysian, Restaurant Reviews, ScoresbyLeave a comment

Cinta Raya is a newly opened (a year or so) Asian Restaurant that primarily serves Chinese/Malaysian cuisine. I believe it started off with more Asian-wide varieties of food, however they went through a change and now it serves mainly Chinese and Malaysian dishes. I too questioned why they had Vietnamese food on their menu, but now they they narrowed their focus, the food has turned out for the better. They are located in Scorseby, not too far away from Knox Shopping Centre and close by to a Woolworths and a few Asian Grocers. So if you’re exhausted from all your grocery shopping, you can take a short walk to Cinta Raya to serve a wide selection of Chinese/Malaysian dishes.

I ordered their Curry Laksa, and it was quite nice, slightly milder but rich enough. I found you could taste the spices through the soup so not too mild, but it’s not packed full of flavour. They include eggplant which adds a different taste to the base but also texturally it’s pleasant. I’m not sure if they still serve it with broccoli and carrots, but I thought it was an odd choice of vegetables to add. Definitely not your standard Curry Laksa ingredients, but nonetheless it was nice with all the tofu and chicken. Overall, it was nice, nothing standout and no disasters which is good. Portion size is also quite good, nothing to complain about.

Their Seafood Hor Fun was quite good too, I think mainly with Hor Fun noodles they need to have a bit of that “Wok Flavour”, slightly charred and fried before adding in the egg sauce. This does just that, and it has all the usual ingredients you would fine in a Hor Fun. Well, apart from the broccoli and cauliflower. I haven’t been there too recently, so this might have changed. Overall, the egg sauce was quite good, definitely one of the better cooked dishes around town.

At Cinta Raya, they also have a selection of main dishes you can order from. We ordered the sweet and sour crab dish. I found these again to have a good balance of flavours, not overly sweet and nicely cooked. The meat wasn’t overcooked at all, so I would order this again if I had the chance.

We ordered the deep fried chicken pieces. I’m surprised it wasn’t drenched it oil, they managed to lightly (as light as you can imagine from deep frying that is) fry it with a nice thin crisp batter surrounding it. I think it’s pretty much your standard Chinese dish, and well, you can’t really go wrong with deep frying.

I love this Balachan Chinese Spinach dish. They sauce is so good, it packs a good heat to it but not overly spicy. You get a nice tangy, sweet and sour flavour to the sauce with the spice that adds another element to the dish. I’m a big fan of this, and it’s just vegetables!

We ordered their soy sauce duck dish with mushrooms and vegetables. I found the sauce to be a tad too salty for my liking, it was also not that great that the duck was a bit too tough and chewy. Duck should never be overcooked, it needs to be moist and tender. A slightly disappointing dish to be honest.

They used to serve complimentary Red Bean soup when they newly opened, however it appears they have stopped providing this, I’m not sure why. I found it to be slightly too sweet, and it masks the red bean flavour a bit. However, it was pleasant to be served this, it was like eating home cooked food.

Cinta Raya doesn’t stray too far from the normal Malaysian/Chinese cuisine, but what it does do, is cook delicious food for everyone to enjoy. It’s a popular restaurant, be warned, it is a small place. It can only fit under 10 tables, so either get it quick or you just might have to wait. Both their lunch and main meals are great, with a few low notes, but overall, I’d give Cinta Raya an overwhelmingly positive review.

Cinta Raya

1381 Ferntree Gully Rd
Scoresby VIC 3179

Marquee Restaurant

June 1, 2012 Posted in Desserts, European, Food Reviews, French, Restaurant Reviews, Toorak1 Comment

If it wasn’t for those “Deals” websites, I probably would never dine at Marquee Restaurant. Well, I wouldn’t say never but not in the foreseeable future perhaps. I think I’ve heard of Marquee before, but I seldom ever go to Toorak so it was never on my list of “must do’s”

However I took up one of those deals where you could order a certain value of food for a discounted price. Marquee offers around four different courses, from Tastings, Entrees, Mains and Desserts. Primarily Marquee Restaurant serves European food, with a large mix of French dishes.

We first ordered from the Tastings menu with their Roasted Scallops with garlic and truffle butter wrapped in puff pastry. I love scallops, and pastry so this was always going to go down well with me. The scallop was perfectly cook, not tough or chewy at all. It simply melted alway in your mouth, as best as a scallop could do anyway. The garlic and butter add the nice flavour to the dish and with the crunchy and thin pastry on top it works nicely together.

These little burgers from the Tastings menu are Petit Wagyu Burgers with quail egg, baby beetroot, lettuce and tomato relish. This tiny things were so cute, just look at them! Almost too lovely to eat, almost. I loved these little burgers, they were absolutely delicious, with the ooze from the egg yolk making the burger moist and the wagyu wasn’t try either. I loved it.

We ordered an entree too, this was the Hand-made crab and salmon raviolo, tomato consommé and baby basil cress. This was a bit disappointing to be honest, the crab and salmon filling in the raviolo was kinda bland and almost tasteless. Even the tomato consomme didn’t help with the flavour. Overall, I couldn’t find many redeeming qualities in this dish at all.

One of the mains we ordered was the Baby snapper fillet with smoked prawn bisque and grilled prawns. The snapper was nicely cooked, and the spinach had nice tangy flavour. The sauce was quite good, a tad on the salty side though. The seafood was supposed to be the highlight or the centrepiece of the dish, however, the prawns were somehow bland and lacked prawn flavour. Overall, it has some good points but would I order this again? Probably not.

I’ve always heard good things about Duck and Orange together. So I was so excited to order the Honey glazed duck breast on confit duck leg with chive mash and orange and balsamic jus. This was so good. The duck was amazing, so delicate and soft, just perfectly cooked and just melts away. The orange peel was slightly candied, and added a really nice different taste to the duck. I loved the balsamic jus too, I don’t think I’ve actually ever had jus before but my golly was it strong and tasty. Slightly salty, sweet and all things good. As you may know, I love potatoes, so the mash will always end up on a positive note. Overall, I loved this dish. The duck and the jus made this dish.

I wanted a lighter dish to end my night at Marquee, so we ordered the Eton mess with strawberries, chantilly cream, smashed meringue, ice cream, strawberry coulis and mint. I quite liked this, the meringue was nice and crunchy but light, and with the strawberry coulis (it’s just a jam) it was tasted quite fresh and summery. The slightly sour strawberries worked well with the sweetness of the coulis and sweet meringue, and the cream added a nice richness but not overpowering. Overall, it was good, but not a “must order” dessert.

Impressions

Marquee Restaurant offers a nice selection of dishes, with plentiful that are tasty and satisfying. Would actually make me want to go there full price now that I’ve tasted their food. If you go to Marquee Restaurant, the duck is a must. I fine the prices to be on average slightly pricey, but I think that’s just the norm with these kind of restaurants. Marquee would now be on my list of places to dine on special occasions so I’m definitely glad to have dined here.

Marquee Restaurant (Menu)
445 Toorak Road
Toorak VIC 3142

Tuesday – Saturday 5pm – late

T: +61 3 9827 7938

PappaRich (Chadstone)

May 25, 2012 Posted in Chadstone, Food Reviews, Malaysian, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a comment

PappaRich fever has hit Australia. ~~It seems like it’s the sister franchise to PappaRoti~~ (Update: I’ve been informed they are completely separate entities). With its first franchise opening up in QV where Old Town Kopitiam Mamak was, earlier this year. They have quickly opened up two more stores, one in Doncaster and the latest one in Chadstone Shopping Centre (Outside but close to Aldi) with probably more to come. If you haven’t guessed already, they serve Malaysian food and quite a good variety of food at that.

We ordered Nasi Briyani with Eggplant, Curry Prawns and Fried Chicken and Pappadam. I don’t think very many places serve Nasi Briyani, so it was a pleasant surprise to see it on the menu. The Briyani was fantastic, it had a very strong but not overpowering flavour, nicely cooked with all the spices. I’m not a big fan of sultanas in Briyani though, but it is a staple for most.

The Curry Prawns aren’t overly spicy, it’s mostly sweet actually and these prawns are the bite sized kind. I prefer the King Prawns but these little prawns suffice. The eggplant adds a nice spicy flavour to it to. Overall, it’s definitely a good meal, with a wide variety of flavours that all work well together. A must for Briyani lovers.

Their Curry Laksa is very different to the popular Laksa’s around. It tastes very home-made and it also lacks that huge punch of coconut milk/cream. Which is a good thing in my book! Sometimes I prefer a milder, less rich Laksa and this hits the sweet spot. There are a couple of Laksa varieties of the menu, Chicken, Vegetarian, and Seafood. I chose the Chicken version and it is served with chicken (of course), fried bean curd, bean curd, eggplant and a hint of mint. It also only has Hokkien Mee (no Bee Hoon as some Laksa’s have) so it really depends on your preferences. There is a lot to like with PappaRich’s Laksa as mentioned above, the curry soup is delicious as it retains a nice curry flavour but also adds a kick of spice. Overall, I’m pretty happy with this dish it is a definite change of pace.

You can’t go to a Malaysian restaurant and not see Nasi Lemak, here we ordered the Nasi Lemak with Curry Chicken and Sambal. I’ve got to say that Sambal is superb. It’s sweet, and my golly does it have a huge hit of heat. I’m in love, best Sambal I’ve had in a while. The Curry Chicken is slightly sweet, but it’s nice. I’d order this dish just for the Sambal to be honest.

Their Drinks menu is quite large too, here we ordered the Soya Bean with Grass Jelly. I liked this because it has a strong soya flavour but also it isn’t too sweet so for those that would like a nice refreshing drink but not overly sweet. Here it is!

PappaRich’s Teh Tarik is pretty good too, has a nice tea flavour but not overwhelming. Same with the sweetness, although I still prefer Chilli Padi Mamak‘s Teh Tarik. It’s also a tad smaller then what you’d get elsewhere, so there is a bit of a trade off.

Impressions

PappaRich has definitely made an impression on me. It’s menu is full of things to try, from their Roti’s and snacks, to Noodles and Rice dishes and a great selection of desserts and drinks. Although their ABC Ice Kacang is definitely the most expensively priced item I’ve seen, priced at roughly $7 I didn’t even try it. I’m a bit wary of the portion size but also if it leads to disappointment as I think it would.

I do have to warn you for first timers that you order by writing down your selection on the pads found on the side and once you’re down you wave down one of the staff to take your paper. They then give you your receipt which you pay at the end of your meal at the receipt counter. I don’t think some of the staff do tell you that so best be warned before sitting there for minutes waiting for service.

Other than that, the service was surprisingly good. We had to wait roughly 10 minutes to get seats as PappaRich still is affected by the “new/curious” diners (like me) but once we ordered, food came within another 5/10 minutes. Pretty good actually for a full house.

Overall, I would dine again just to try their other items and it means there is actually some good Malaysian food in Chadstone, apart from Chadstone Shopping Centre’s Chilli Mama (Located in the Food Court) and Nudle (Near Nandos/Cinemas). It actually makes me want to go to Chadstone more often!

PappaRich Chadstone
Shop F029
Chadstone Shopping Centre
Chadstone VIC 3148

Red Hill Brewery

May 18, 2012 Posted in Australian, Food Reviews, Red Hill, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a comment

One of the main tourist attractions in the Mornington Peninsula is the Red Hill Estate for all wine lovers. For beer lovers, there is the Red Hill Brewery. Their brewery and dining area has this nice rustic wooden aesthetic to it but it feels very Australian and modern. While the Brewery’s beer gets people through the doors, their sharing plates are wonderful in its own right.

We ordered one of those beer sampling tray, as seen below. From the far back I believe Wheat Beer, Scotch Ale, Belgian Blonde and Golden Ale. Being a fan of the lighter beers, I much preferred the golden coloured beers as it didn’t feel as heavy and strong. I don’t drink beer all that often so I really can’t comment on the complexities of flavours of each beer, but I’d definitely go back for the Belgian Blonde. Reminds me of Stella Artois, which is a good thing!

We also ordered three sharing platters which range from $10-12 dollars as this was basically our morning ~~tea~~ beer, and to accompany our lovely beers.

The first dish we ordered is the Beetroot & Orange Cured Salmon. My golly was it something else. The citrus flavour of the orange works really well with the slight saltiness of the salmon and the sweetness of the beetroot makes this whole combination oddly beautiful. The Main Ridge dairy goats curd mousse and pea shoot salad, really add to the complexity of the dish. I’m actually a fan, even though I was quite apprehensive at first.

The other two dishes we ordered is the Stoemp Cakes. These crispy fried pieces contain mashed potato served with vegies. I’m a big fan of anything potato so these cakes were superb. The batter is very light and thin so it doesn’t feel overly rich and fattening. The homemade mayonnaise adds a nice creaminess to the overall dish. So I was pretty happy with this dish, but I’d be happy with potato regardless so maybe it’s not the best advice to go off.

On the right of the picture, in the red bowl, is the Lamb Koftas. Again, Red Hill Brewery have served up another winner. These lamb balls aremarinated with some very pleasant spices, and for those that are put off by the Lamb taste, it still has retains some of this but the roast tomato sauce along with the spices mostly mask this flavour. Even though I loved the Stoemp Cakes, these Lamb Koftas were my absolute favourite. Perfectly cooked, and just a pleasure to eat.

Red Hill Brewery is definitely a must visit for Beer lovers, but also wins my heart for its delicious food. I couldn’t afford to come here as often as I would like, but that’s okay. When travelling to (or even through the) Mornington Peninsula, you can’t go wrong with stopping here.

Red Hill Brewery (Menu)
88 Shoreham Rd
Red Hill South
Victoria 3937

Ph 03 59892959
Fax 03 59892270

Winter Opening Hours
Thursday – Sunday 11am – 6pm (7pm during daylight savings)
plus all Public holidays and Mondays during school holidays

NB: Bookings are required for lunch

Orange Chiffon Cake

May 11, 2012 Posted in Baking, Cooking, RecipesLeave a comment

After baking my first Pandan Chiffon Cake, we decided to try baking the Orange Chiffon Cake. Usually Pandan and Orange and they two popular versions in Melbourne. I’m really not sure of many other versions, I’ve seen someone do a Black Sesame one but haven’t had a chance to try that yet.

The difference between the Pandan and Orange Chiffon Cake recipes is the Orange version tastes much lighter because of the use of coconut milk in the Pandan recipe which makes it slightly more dense. Without further adieu here is my mother’s recipe which works a treat!

Orange Chiffon Cake
Ingredients

8 egg whites
100 g sugar
1/2 tsp cream of tartar

8 egg yolks
60 g sugar

180 g self-raising flour (or 160 g plain flour and 20g cornflour)

1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 tsp baking powder

120ml vegetable oil/corn oil
80ml orange juice

1 tsp orange extract

Method
1. Preheat oven to 160/170 degrees Celsius.
2. Sieve the flour, salt and baking powder into a medium sized bowl.
3. Add the vegetable oil, orange juice, orange extract, egg yolks and sugar into the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
4. Whip the egg whites and once it starts to bubble add the cream of tartar.
5. Keep whipping until the mixture is nearing soft peaks, then slowly add the sugar with the electric mixer is still running and until hard peaks form.

6. Add 1/3 of the meringue into the wet mixture until the thick mixture softens. Then slowly add in the rest of the meringue until just combined. Do not overmix!
7. Pour into the cake pan (one made for upside down cakes – it has a hole in the middle)
8. Place in the oven for 30/40 minutes. If the top of your cake gets brown too quickly, lower the oven temperature to around 150. To see if it’s done, you can use a skewer and poke it through the middle. If it comes out clean, it’s done.

9. Remove from the oven when done, and flip it upside. If the cake as risen higher than the cake pan’s height, use a mug and rest the middle cylinder on top.

10. Allow the cake to cool until room temperature.

Here’s how it looks inside!

I find that you’ll always have a slight depression and density at the bottom because of the meringue cooling. You’ll be hard pressed to find a Chiffon cake that doesn’t sink a bit so don’t worry if yours does. It’s fine!

Impressions

I find the Orange Chiffon Cake to be extremely light, but full of orange flavour. The orange juice really adds the much needed freshness and flavour. It really will depend on the oranges and how ripe they are but a little bit of orange extract is good just in case the orange juice doesn’t do its job.

Using a stand mixer really makes a difference to a hand mixer. I find the hand mixer either overbeats the meringue, or doesn’t evenly beat the egg whites. Maybe it’s just my poor hand mixing but with a stand mixer and especially a planetary mixer, you get hard peaks extremely quickly and without much fuss. The key in making a good Chiffon Cake is obtain hard peaks and carefully mix it in with the batter but just enough. Once you’ve tried it a couple of times, you’ll know how hard/gentle to mix and after that it really does become easy to make.

If you love light, fluffy cakes and you don’t want a buttery aftertaste, Chiffon Cakes are excellent for your cake fix.

ohdenny

Author: kopi

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