Taste Bud Pleasures

These look fun and taste great, there’s even a possibility of sneaking in some extra veggies without the kids knowing 😉

If you’re looking for a healthy snack be sure to give these a go (they are easier to make then they look)!

Inside Out Veggie Rolls

PREP: 30 minutes

MAKES: 32

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup sushi rice
• 1/4 cup Obento mirin seasoning
• 4 asparagus spears, trimmed
• 4 nori sheets
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted
• 2 tablespoons whole-egg mayonnaise
• 1/2 small yellow capsicum, thinly sliced
• 1/2 Lebanese cucumber, cut into thin strips
• 1/2 small carrot, peeled, cut into thin strips
• 1/2 medium avocado, thinly sliced

METHOD:

1. Make sushi rice: Rinse and drain rice 3 times or until water runs clear. Place rice in sieve over a bowl. Set aside for 10 minutes to drain.
2. Place rice and 1 cup cold water in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cover. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low. Simmer, covered, for 12 minutes or until water has been absorbed. Remove from heat. Stand, covered, for 10 minutes.
3. Transfer rice to a large ceramic dish. Using a spatula, stir rice to break up lumps. Gradually add seasoning, lifting and turning rice, until rice has cooled.
4. Bring a small saucepan of water to the boil over high heat. Cook asparagus for 2 minutes or until bright green and tender. Drain. Refresh in a bowl of chilled water. Drain.
5. Place 1 nori sheet, shiny-side down, on a sushi mat. Using damp fingers, spread 1/4 rice mixture over nori. Sprinkle over 2 teaspoons sesame seeds. Cover rice with plastic wrap. Turn mat over so nori faces up. Slide plastic onto mat, nori-side up.
6. Spread 1/4 mayonnaise along centre of nori. Arrange 1/4 capsicum, cucumber, carrot, avocado and asparagus over mayonnaise. Using mat, roll up firmly to form a roll. Unroll mat, keeping plastic intact.
7. Cut roll into 8 slices. Remove and discard plastic. Repeat with remaining nori sheets, rice mixture, sesame seeds, mayonnaise, capsicum, cucumber, carrot and avocado to make 32 pieces. Serve.

TIP:

• If you have left over seasame seeds, use them to garnish rolls.

ENJOY!

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Builders Arms Hotel

A recent visit to the Builders Arms Hotel on Gertrude Street Fitzroy had us running to our keyboard to share this place with you!

Think casual and homely, yet stylish. We LOVED the vibe we got as soon as we walked in, it was warm and welcoming.

The tricky part was deciding what to order, wanting to order everything!!! Over all everything we did try was satisfying,

I would easily order it all again! Portion sizes for individual and share plates were all reasonable (didn’t leave hungry).

What we recommend to try:

• Crispy pork and school prawns
• Chickpea salad, marinated carrot, green chilli and shanklish
• Red duck curry
• Peppered Fillet steak, potato puree
• Roasted potatoes, garlic
• House chips

One of the master chefs behind the dishes at the Builders Arms Hotel is Andrew Mc Connell. He  has also managed to impress us on a visit to Golden Fields (another great place we recommend) where he also is to credit for the amazing dishes there. Other restaurants he is linked to that you may have heard of include Cumulus Inc and Cutler & Co.  Everything he touches turns to gold 😉

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What’s In?

This time we’re not referring to what’s in season for our wardrobe but instead what’s in season for our fridge!! We’ve welcomed July with open arms and now it’s time to prepare for the month ahead. When you know exactly what is in season for produce, cooking is made easier. So we’ve done our research and know  exactly what storms we can cook up this month!

Cooking In July

       Fruit:

• Avocados
• Custard apples
• Fuji apples
• Grapefruit
• Kiwifruit
• Lemons
• Limes
• Mandarins
• Nashi
• Navel oranges
• Pineapple
• Pink lady apples
• Pomegranates
• Quinces
• Red delicious apples
• Rhubarb

Vegetables:

• Beetroot
• Broccoli
• Broccolini
• Brown onions
• Brussels sprouts
• Cabbage
• Carrots
• Cauliflower
• Celeriac
• Celery
• Chinese greens
• Dutch carrots
• English spinach
• Fennel
• Gai lan (Chinese broccoli)
• Garlic
• Ginger
• Jerusalem artichokes
• Kumara or sweet potatoes
• Leeks
• Olives
• Parsnips
• Potatoes
• Pumpkin
• Silverbeet
• Spinach
• Witlof

HAPPY COOKING

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Taste Bud Pleasures

A HUGE guilty pleasure – YES

Will you regret it – NO

You are allowed a cheeky treat here and there aren’t you 😉 ?

This is just too good to resist so you might as well just enjoy it!

Caramel Dessert Muffins

INGREDIENTS:

• 100g caramel-filled chocolate block
• 2 cups plain flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup milk
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 80g butter, melted

METHOD:

1. Place chocolate in freezer for 1 hour or until frozen. Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease a non-stick, 12-hole, 1/3 cup-capacity muffin pan. Sift flour and baking powder into a large bowl. Add sugar and stir to combine. Make a well in the centre.
2. Combine milk, egg and butter in a jug and pour into well. Using a large metal spoon, stir until just combined. Chop frozen chocolate and fold into batter. Fill muffins holes with batter 3 quarters of the way.
3. Bake muffins for 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Allow muffins to cool in pan for 1 minute. Carefully transfer to plates.
4. Make caramel sauce: Meanwhile, place butter and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring for 3 minutes or until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and whisk in sour cream. Return pan to heat. Cook, stirring, for 3 minutes or until sauce is heated through (do not boil).
5. Serve warm muffins with warm sauce.

ENJOY!

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Albert St Food & Wine

We love supporting our local businesses ESPECIALLY when it comes to food 😉

Albert St Food & Wine

Albert St Food & Wine brings to the neighbourhood  talent, passion and a love for local produce. Keeping it close to home doesn’t stop at the produce for this all day eatery with the furnishings also made locally using salvaged materials.

If you love food and you love wine then we highly recommend you check it out!

For more info visit www.albertst.com.au

Albert St Food & Wine
Corner of Albert St & 382 Sydney Rd
Brunswick
Victoria 3056

ph: (03) 8354 6600

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Taste Bud Pleasures

Whilst some people squirm at the thought of mushrooms we drool with delight 🙂

At the moment we’re obsessed with baking stuffed mushrooms and this is one of our favourite ways to do so:

Baked Stuffed Mushrooms

SERVES: 4

INGREDIENTS:

• 4-6 large field mushrooms, stalks removed
• olive oil
• 3 cups (600g) ricotta
• 60g sun-dried tomatoes, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon chopped pitted kalamata olives
• 1/4 cup (20g) grated Parmesan
• 2 teaspoons chopped oregano
• 2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley, plus extra for garnish
• salt and pepper
• 1 egg, lightly beaten

METHOD:

1. Preheat oven to 200°C. Brush the mushrooms on both sides with olive oil. Place mushrooms, cavity-side up on a baking tray lined with non-stick baking paper.
2. Combine the ricotta, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, parmesan, oregano, parsley, salt and pepper and egg in a large bowl.
3. Divide the ricotta mixture between the mushroom cavities, piling the mixture roughly in the centre.
4. Bake mushrooms for 15-20 minutes or until topping is golden and mushrooms are tender. Place on serving plate and sprinkle with extra chopped parsley. Serve with a green salad or toasted bread.

ENJOY!

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Taste Bud Pleasures

We’ve been hearing about the goodness of super food quinoa for a while

now and have been dying to test it out as a side dish!

Walnut and Fetta Quinoa Salad

SERVES : 8

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/4 cups quinoa, rinsed, drained
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 stalks celery, halved, thinly sliced
• 150g Greek-style fetta, crumbled
• 1 cup roughly chopped walnuts, toasted
• 12 semi sun-dried tomatoes, drained, thickly sliced diagonally
• 1 cup roughly chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves

METHOD:

1. Place quinoa and 2 1/2 cups cold water in a medium saucepan over high heat. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to medium. Simmer, covered, for 15 minutes or until water is absorbed and quinoa is tender. Transfer to a large plate to cool.
2. Combine oil, lemon juice and garlic in a large serving bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Add quinoa and remaining ingredients. Toss gently to combine. Serve.

ENJOY!

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Taste Bud Pleasures

This is a super easy and healthy snack to have prepared for when you have guests over.

For all the nut LOVERS our there (like us) you must try this.

Roasted Almonds and Chickpeas with Cumin Salt

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 x 400g cans chickpeas, rinsed, drained
• 70ml extra virgin olive oil
• 250g natural almonds
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 tsp flaked sea salt
• 2 tbs small rosemary sprigs

METHOD:

1. Preheat oven to 250C. Pat chickpeas dry with paper towel, then place in a large roasting pan. Drizzle with 2 tbs oil and roast for 20 minutes, stirring halfway through cooking.
2.  Reduce oven to 180C. Stir almonds into pan with chickpeas, add remaining 1 1/2 tbs oil, cumin and salt, and roast for a further 10 minutes or until almonds are deep brown and chickpeas are crisp. Add rosemary and roast for a further 5 minutes or until crisp. Set aside to cool, then transfer to an airtight container until ready to serve.

NOTES:

If chickpeas or almonds aren’t your nut of choice swap them for anything you do enjoy and follow the same method 🙂

ENJOY!

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Taste Bud Pleasures

One of our guilty winter pleasures is banana bread. In saying that, you could imagine how excited we were when we came across this EASY, low fat recipe – WINNING!

Banana and walnut bread

INGREDIENTS:

• 300g (2 cups) self-raising flour
• 70g (1/3 cup, firmly packed) brown sugar
• 100g walnuts, coarsely chopped
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 2 eggs, lightly whisked
• 250ml (1 cup) milk
• 1 cup (about 2 large) mashed banana

METHOD:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Line the base and sides of a 6cm-deep, 20 x 10cm loaf pan with non-stick baking paper.
2. Sift the flour into a large bowl. Add the sugar, walnuts and bicarbonate of soda, and stir to combine.
3. Add the egg, milk and banana, and gently fold until well combined. Spoon the mixture into the lined pan. Bake in oven for 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Set aside to cool completely. Cut into slices to serve.

ENJOY!

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Brother Burger

We were told about this place by a friend and had to share (we’re still yet to try but heard it’s a must)!

Don’t be mislead, this isn’t your average burger joint! Anything but average with their 100% Wagyu beef patties and the large selection of Australian, independent craft beers on tap. You can order take away but it is said that you must dine in to get the full experience.

Side of 413 Brunswick Street
Fitzroy Victoria 3065

03 9419 0088

Their website states:

“GOOD TUNES GOOD FOOD GOOD BREW GOOD VALUE GOOD TIMES” . . . so it MUST be GOOD 😉

Photography: Kristoffer Paulsen

Check out there website below for opening hours:

www.brotherburger.com.au

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