Co Do Vietnamese Restaurant, Richmond

Recently, Tim and I went to dinner at one of his favourite haunts - Co Do Vietnamese restaurant in Victoria Street, Richmond, Victoria. For the uninitiated, if you love Vietnamese food, then Victoria Street will be your idea of heaven - it is virtually wall to wall Vietnamese restaurants, and the hard part is choosing which one to try.

Tim discovered Co Do in the Qantas Australian Way magazine, and first went there with his friend Steve. They've been going back ever since.

On the night in question, I let Tim do the ordering (as he's the expert on this one), and we had his favourite dishes from the Co Do menu.

The first dish, pictured at the top of this post, is spicy quail. As the name of the dish suggests, it is quail in a spicy (but not too spicy!) sauce. It comes with crisp but nondescript vegetables, which I assume are there solely to help you to soak up the remaining sauce and to cleanse the palate. Tim and I shared this dish for entree, as there are 4 pieces of quail. This is a fabulous dish that is literally finger licking good, but if you are a messy eater, beware the splashes of sauce on your clothes - or hey, just wear old clothes, and no-one will care.




The next dish is broken rice - perched atop a bed of steamed rice are a fried egg, a slice of sausage meat, a slice of pork and noodles, with a few crispy veges on the side. (Which again I can only assume are meant to be palate cleansers, as they really don't add to the dish.) If you order this, be sure to crack the egg yolk over the rice so as to taste the gooey rich goodness. There was a lot of sauce-less rice, so to give it a kick, I squirted mine with barbecue sauce. I am pretty sure this is not a traditional Vietnamese thing to do, but it tasted good, and Tim liked this tip.

The meals at Co Do are filling, delicious, and don't cost a bomb. It is BYO, so you can take whatever alcohol takes your fancy. The green tea is served in a thermos, which I think is a great idea, because there is nothing worse than bitter, cold green tea. As a bonus, if you are a karaoke fan and speak Vietnamese, the restaurant plays Vietnamese karaoke in the background. The service is efficient and friendly, the space is roomier than many Vietnamese restaurants on the same strip, and it is the kind of place that you can bring children with no problems (and there were quite a few with their families on the night). Overall, Co Do gets a thumbs up from me.

Co Do
196 Victoria St
Richmond 3121 VIC
Ph: (03) 9421 2418

TWD - Peanut butter criss-crosses

Aren't peanut butter sandwiches comforting? Whether you like smooth or crunchy, or prefer your PB with jelly, there's nothing like a peanut butter sandwich to both comfort and nourish.

However, it was not until I was a grown-up baker that I discovered peanut butter biscuits. Any PB biscuits are seriously good - for reference, check out Duckie's ode to peanut butter and peanut butter cookies.

Accordingly, I was pretty happy with this week's choice of Dorie recipe - peanut butter criss-crosses, selected by Jasmine of Jasmine Cuisine.

All the other reviews I read of these cookies is that they are crisp - hmmm, don't know what happened there, but after baking for the required time, my biscuits were cooked but soft. Perhaps it is because I strayed a little on ingredients due to the limitations of my pantry cupboard - I remembered to buy the peanut butter and peanuts (honey roasted, of course!), but forgot to buy white sugar and butter. As a result, I used all brown sugar and Nuttelex in my biscuits.

No matter - why fret about what ain't broken? These biscuits were seriously good - which is a relief, because the recipe makes a lot of them (38 in my case, 40 for Dorie). I don't think they'll ever usurp the nourishing goodness of a PB sandwich, but these are good, nevertheless.

You will be able to check out the recipe on Jasmine's site when it is Tuesday, her time. You will also be able to look longingly at many other versions of these biscuits by visiting the TWD blogroll.

A foodie trip through Sydney

Last weekend, I went to Sydney. I had to be there for work on Monday and Tuesday, so I took the opportunity to catch up with friends and check out some of the wonderful food that Sydney has to offer.

First stop was Cupcakes on Pitt. You can buy all kinds of cupcakes here with unusual flavours, and all dressed up very prettily and presented in sweet little cupcake window boxes. Even better, the cupcakes are only $2.50 each. I chose strawberries & cream and Black Forest flavours:



I found the frosting on the strawberry cucpake way too buttery for my liking, but the cake itself was a beautiful pink strawberry flavoured cake, which got the thumbs up. The Black Forest is topped with ganache and whipped cream - devine! The cake itself was a little dry, but the topping made up for it.

I had a lovely florentine at a French cafe in Mossman called Le Breton Patisserie with my friend Karen, her hubby Michael and adorable baby Hugo, but unfortunately, I have no photos of it. However, it tasted delish, and was thin and crunchy, just the way I like my florentines.

Next morning, I continued my foodie journie for brekkie at the Bona Fides Cafe. This venue faces the harbour at Cockle Bay Wharf, and I stumbled on it by accident just by wandering towards Darling Harbour. My breakfast choice was these beautiful French pancakes served with maple syrup:



They were more like crepes and surprisingly filling. Big thanks to the helpful and friendly staff - my breakfast was served in record time, and they gave just that little bit extra to make you feel welcome.

On Sunday morning, I caught up with my friend Alison, who very good naturedly waited with me in line for half an hour or more to enter the hallowed hole in the wall of Adriano Zumbo's Patisserie at Balmain. Here is the queue - it doesn't look that long, but the shop is tiny inside (literally a hole in the wall), and people tend to agonise over their selections and oooh and aaah at the creations inside, so it takes a while:


Here is a glimpse of the shop window, filled with quiches, palmiers, apple turnovers and other assorted pastries:

Once inside, the first treats on offer are pizzas and quiches:

Alison loved the rustic look of the pastry.

Next came some lovely rainbow hued custard tarts:

followed by some full-size cakes - from left to right are the Honey Combover (honey swiss roll plus honeycomb) and the I'll Get Back to You Barry (chocolate mousse and chocolate heaven):

It is all very Willy-Wonka-esque - all the cakes are surprising both inside and out, and have very imaginative names. It makes you feel just like Charlie Bucket with his golden ticket, and is well worth the wait if you are crazy about cake - and there were a lot of people who were, because they spent big bucks in here.

Moving on to the small cakes, which are an affordable $8.50 each, we have Shabilicious (caramel cheesecake on steroids), Lola (a coconut and caramelised puff pastry creation) and Roses are Red Mandies are Orange (like a huge macaron):

Next we have Wheely Wemon, a citrus and meringue concoction:

Cloudy Thyme and Got No Grains (which we ended up purchasing):

and Charlies Homemade Ginger Fear (ginger beer gel, ginger pudding and chocolate ginger foam eggs) and What a Great Pear of ... (pear and almond confection with choux pastry on top):

You can read more about the flavours here.


This is another gratuitous shot of Adriano Zumbo's creations:

And of course, you can buy macarons - many Australians were first introduced to macarons on Masterchef by Adriano Zumbo's macaron tower:

On the day, there were eight flavours available (can't exactly remember what they were), and I bought all 8 for my friend Tim. Unfortunately, they are a little the worse for wear after their journey to Melbourne, but it's the thought that counts, right?

Apart from the macarons, I bought a spinach, goats cheese and blueberry quiche (because I really wanted to know what blueberries would taste like in a savoury dish! and the answer is "delicious"):

a pear and macadamia sticky bun, of which I don't have a photo but was delicious, and the Got No Grains:

I wanted this because it was so unusual - oatmeal creme, toasted spelt mousse, maple gel, and sesame nougatine perched atop a chocolate coated muesli bar. Alison and I shared this (courtesy of my handy Advil packet improvised knife), and it was extremely sweet - primarily because of the maple gel. My favourite part was the muesli bar on the bottom.


Alison purchased the Cloudy Thyme, which we also shared (and cut using the cardboard base from the Got No Grains):

This ethereal creation is, according to Adriano Zumbo's website: Liquorice pate brisee, olive oil creme citron, butterscotch caramel, oven roasted apples, mint meringue ball & thyme italian meringue. We couldn't put our finger on the spice in the meringue at the time (I wrongly guessed cardamom), but it really made this cake - it was absolutely superb, very unusual and the pick of our purchases.

Having finally fulfilled my long held ambition to visit Adriano Zumbos (and loved it - thanks Alison!!), I went to high tea with my friend Camilla in the afternoon at the Swisstotel. Camilla kindly bought my tea and a glass of bubbly as an early birthday present - what a sweetie.

This is my first plate - jelly and marshmallow cone, mandarin jelly, salmon wrap and ham and mustard sandwich:

Here is a glimpse of just some of the many treats available at the Swisstotel high tea:

After taking a breather (being very full and high on sugar after eating all day), my next plate was a marshmallow and fruit chocolate fondue kebab and a mini creme caramel:

For dinner that night (yep, I have unlimited capacity, it seems), I ventured to Din Tai Fung in World Square:

My friend Karen recommended this as a place for great dumplings (and I understand that it is famed world-wide for its dumplings, being an international chain). Unfortunately, for one person, a serve of six dumplings (even without my sugar binge!) is not do-able, so I ordered another dish.

Because I was dining alone, I was able to go straight in to dine at one the communal tables (there was a wait of about 10 minutes for parties of two or more).

In the middle of each round table is a large lazy susan, which had this cute condiments basket:

I ordered the pork and vegetable wonton noodle dish, with a spicy sauce:

I was informed that the sauce was mild - hmm, maybe for Asian tastes, but I was glad that it was not any hotter, as it made my nose run as it was. However, it tasted delicious, and I polished it off without any problems.

My last foodie find was a work day lunch at the new cafe in the bottom of the building where my work's Sydney office is located. The cafe is called The Moody Chef, but don't let this put you off - the food is superb and the staff are very friendly. They have only been in their current location for three and a half months, and I hope they stick around for my future visits to Sydney, because the food is soooooooooo good. For the bargain price of $10.90, I bought this enormous serve of eggplant and lamb lasagne, with couscous and beetroot and orange salads:

Next time (I hope there is one!), I will get just the salads - they are fantastic!!! Believe me, I am not a salad girl ordinarily, so for me to say that these salads were worthy of a meal on their own is saying something.

I hope you enjoyed coming on my trip through the Sydney food scene as much as I did!

TWD - Expresso Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

Just like a shot of expresso with a teaspoon of sugar, this post will be short and sweet.

This week's Tuesday with Dorie is hosted by Donna of Life's Too Short Not to Eat Dessert First. She chose Dorie's Expresso Chocolate Shortbread Cookies.

These cookies are easy to make and taste good; however, I am not a particular fan of shortbread, so they won't be appearing on my rotation list again any day soon.

Thanks to our host, Donna, who will have the recipe. To check out some more of these cookies, visit the

TWD blogroll.

Daring Bakers - Baked Alaska

When I was at Uni, I used to love Northern Exposure - you know, the show about Dr Joel Fleischman, who much to his dismay, had to practice in Cicely, Alaska as a condition of his medical school scholarship. My friend Jen was so hooked on it that she refused to take phone calls while it was on (she was a med student, after all). I thought Fleischman was kinda cute, and that Maggie was mad not to just fall head over heels for him. I was so caught up with Fleischman that I didn't take much notice of the delightful John Corbett, who these days is much more my cup of tea (check him out in Sex and the City or The United States of Tara and you'll see why). I never did understand Ed, or why Marilyn had such a babyish voice - those are mysteries that will remain unsolved.


The Alaskan theme segues nicely into this month's Daring Bakers challenge:


The August 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Elissa of 17 and Baking. For the first time, The Daring Bakers partnered with Sugar High Fridays for a co-event and Elissa was the gracious hostess of both. Using the theme of beurre noisette, or browned butter, Elissa chose to challenge Daring Bakers to make a pound cake to be used in either a Baked Alaska or in Ice Cream Petit Fours. The sources for Elissa’s challenge were Gourmet magazine and David Lebovitz’s “The Perfect Scoop”.


I made the Baked Alaska - primarily because I am still rather time poor and I could make one huge Baked Alaska rather than numerous cute but fiddly petit fours. Besides, I've always wanted to make a Baked Alaska - it intrigues me how icecream can go into the oven and survive without melting into oblivion. The trick is to freeze it until it is very hard.


The browned butter pound cake smelled amazing and tasted good on its own the first day, but it was little hard and tasteless in the Baked Alaska, and didn't taste like much the next day. I also feel that I should have halved the cake for use as a base for the Baked Alaska, because you have to admit, it looks a little out of proportion here:




I made David Lebovitz's vanilla icecream as per Elissa's instructions - simply because I love it. Like I said last month, this is the best icecream I've ever tasted (even better than Baskin Robbins Toffee Praline, which is pretty damn fine).


I then piped meringue all over the hardened icecream/cake combination until it looked like a jester's hat, and baked it in the oven - and voila, we have a Baked Alaska that did not, to my relief, end up as a puddle on the floor of my oven.


Here is a peek inside:



Delicious, yeah? Unfortunately, that cake did not do it for me - but with all that yummy icecream and meringue, who cares?


Thanks to Elissa for hosting us this month. You can check out a veritable parade of Baked Alaskas and petit fours by visting The Daring Kitchen.

William Angliss Shop and Cook Tour - Queen Victoria Market

On Saturday, I went on a Shop and Cook Tour to Queen Victoria Market in Melbourne with William Angliss Institute of TAFE. The tour was led by Lucinda Macdougall, a chef of over 35 years experience. There were 9 people in our group, including two guys - which is very rare for cooking classes in my experience. Our cooking experience ranged from Lucinda, an experienced chef, to one of the guys, who said he had no cooking experience and wanted to learn.

At the market, we didn't buy much that we were going to cook that day, as William Angliss had already bought all the ingredients. The market aspect of the tour was really just to get some tips from Lucinda about what to look for and what to buy (eg buy fresh, buy seasonal). For morning tea, we all had a coffee and bought our own snack (in my case, cherry cheese streudel - yum!).

Back at William Angliss, we cooked up a storm, learning new techniques from Lucinda. The group was divided into two for the purposes of cooking the various dishes on our menu - the squid group and the beef group. I chose the squid group, as I had never cleaned or cooked a squid, and Lucinda showed us how to do it. After cooking for a couple of hours, we got to enjoy the fruits of our labour with a glass or two of wine.

The dishes were:



Grilled spiced squid

Roasted fillet of beef (served with skordalia, a very garlicy mashed potato) on a bed of braised French lentils with gremolata

A delicious mayonnaise - meant for a celeriac remoulade, but there was no celeriac to buy on the day - which tasted devine with the beef and slathered on fresh bread

Shaved fennel with blood orange salad - I can proudly say that my experience with segmenting oranges when making the orange tian for Daring Bakers came into good use here, surprising Lucinda

Beetroot with goats curd and walnuts (we also cooked up the beetroot greens, not shown). A tip for young players - wear gloves when peeling beetroots, or else have plenty of lemon juice at home to get the stain out of your hands! I got lots of curious looks on the train home because of my purple hands.

And the finale - cardamom and saffron marscapone with a blood orange and honey syrup ...

served with shaved apples.

It was all delicious, but my favourites were the beef (which was cooked with anchovies and garlic for extra flavour), the beetroot salad and the dessert.

Straight after the tour finished, I had to run to the polling booth to vote in our federal election (as it is compulsory to vote in Australia).

It was a fun day. I learned some new techniques, and I am now eager to buy my own squid to practice on, and to try garfish, a bright silver, pointy-nosed fish we saw at the market.

Thanks to Lucinda for imparting her wisdom to us, and for designing and helping us to prepare such a delicious menu!

TWD - Crunchy and custardy peach tart

On this morning's weather report, the weather reporter was presenting live from Seaworld in San Diego. It was 1.30pm on Monday afternoon there, the sun was shining brightly, and everyone was dressed in their casual summer clothes. In that instant, I really, really wanted to trade places with the weather reporter, or in fact anyone who was there, because it looked like my idea of heaven. Sadly, I turned off the TV, hauled on my bulky winter coat and hat, and trudged out the door to the train on my way to work.

Peaches are summer incarnate - sunny, bright and sweet. This week's Tuesday with Dorie challenge, hosted by Rachel of Sweet Tarte, brought a little summer into my wintery Melbourne kitchen by virtue of Dorie's Crunchy and Custardy Peach Tart. Because peaches are wise enough to hibernate for the winter, there were no fresh peaches to be had, but I could still make this tart using canned peaches that I drained and patted dry. (Refrain - Peaches come from a can, They were put there by a man ...)

Other than the tinned peaches, I made this recipe as written - and it was devine! Dorie's superb sweet tart dough encases sliced peaches, which are then swathed in a delicate, creamy custard, and topped with a contrasting, crunchy almond streusel topping. OMG. This one I had to take to work to ensure that I could continue to fit all of my clothes, because frankly, left alone with this tart, it would be gone in a flash. If you think it looks good - you are soooooooooooooo right.

Thanks to Rachel for choosing this week's recipe (which will be on her site when it is Tuesday NYC time). To see how the other TWD members went with this tart, visit the TWD blogroll.