Bull & Barley Inn, Cambooya

On a glorious autumn day, my family and I visited the Bull & Barley Inn in Cambooya, Queensland, for lunch.  Cambooya is a rural town on the Darling Downs that was once home to Arthur "Steele Rudd" Davis, author of the Dad and Dave stories.  Here is a glimpse of the countryside that you drive through on the way to Cambooya:

The Bull & Barley Inn was built in 1902, when it had the much less poetic name of the Cambooya Railway Hotel.  There is not much else in the township of Cambooya, so just come for the drive and a great pub meal.  I recommend booking for a visit to the Bull & Barley, as it was quite busy when we were there, and most tables were reserved.  

The extensive menu at the Bull & Barley is very reasonably priced.  We all ordered from the lunch menu.  You take the menu to your table and order at the counter when you are ready. 

My pick was the steak sandwich, with rib fillet, bacon, caramelised onion, cheese, salad and barbecue sauced on a bun (not really sourdough) ($20): 

All lunch menu items come with a side of very good chips.  I really enjoyed this sandwich - hearty, medium rare steak, and two musts - barbecue sauce and beetroot.

My Mum ordered the Club Sandwich ($24), with bacon, chicken, sans onion for Mum, cheese, tomato, lettuce and mayo:

I laughed when this came out, as the serving was huge and Mum doesn't eat much.  I was very proud of her for managing to finish the entire sandwich - a testament to how good it must have been.

My brother ordered the Wagyu Beef Burger ($20), with bacon, onion and salad - again not really a sourdough bun: 

He polished this off along with half of Mum's chips, again a testament to the quality of the food.

To down your meal, you can order a beer at the bar:

When you are finished your meal, go for a wander down the lovely tongue and groove board hallway, complete with archway:

and make your way to the pool room for a spot of billiards or darts (but no Daryl Kerrigan memorabilia):  

Bull & Barley Inn

61 Eton Street

Cambooya Qld 4358

Ph: (07) 4696 1235 

Nigella's Italian Christmas Pudding Cake

Way back in February, it was my friend Vanda's birthday.  To celebrate, she held a gathering of family and friends at her house.  Vanda's family is Italian, so they always put on an amazing spread.  Although we didn't have to bring anything, I decided to contribute a dessert to the spread.

Being an Italian gathering, the natural choice of dessert for me to make was Nigella's Italian Christmas Pudding Cake, recipe in Nigellisima, but also published online here. 

I had bought a panettone at Christmas time and kept it, so it came in handy as panettone is a key ingredient in Nigella's Italian Christmas Pudding Cake.  Slices of panettone are brushed with marsala, and layered with marscapone, chocolate chips, nuts and candied chestnuts (or candied ginger, in my case).  The top of the cake is decorated with more nuts, chocolate chips and pomegranate seeds:  

How pretty is that!  And it tastes devine.

To make your own Italian Christmas Pudding Cake, you will need:

625g panettone (I used the whole 900g panettone!)
6 tablespoons marsala or coffee liqueur
2 eggs
75g sugar
500g marscapone
250ml cream
125ml marsala
 74g candied chestnuts or other glace fruit of your choice
125g chocolate chips
100g chopped pistachios
2 tablespoons pomegranate seeds

Line the base of a 22cm springform pan with baking paper.  

Cut the panettone into 1cm thick slices.  Line the base of the springform pan with 1/3 of the panettone slices.

Sprinkle the panettone in the base of the pan with 2 tablespoons marsala (or other liqueur of your choice). 

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the eggs and sugar until creamy and thick.  Slowly whisk in the marscapone and the cream.  Add  the 125ml marsala and whisk thoroughly.  Put a cup of the marscapone mixture into the fridge.  

Add the chopped glace chestnuts or fruit to the remaining marscapone mixture.   Add 100g of chocolate chips and 75g of pistachios, and fold through until well combined.  Spread half of this mixture over the panettone lining the springform pan.

Top the marscapone in the pan with another 1/3 of the panettone slices.  Sprinkle over another 2 tablespoons marsala.

Spread the remaining half of the marscapone over the top of the panettone layer, then top with the remaining 1/3 of the panettone slices.  Sprinkle over the last 2 tablespoons of marsala.  

Cover the pan with cling film, put a weight on the top of the cake, and chill for up to 2 days.

When ready to serve the cake, unmould it from the springform pan and place on a cake plate.  Spread the top of the cake with the reserved cup of marscapone mixture, and sprinkle it with the remaining chocolate chips, cjopped pistachios and pomegranate seeds.  

Slice and serve - enjoy!

TWD - Palmiers

The last Tuesday with Dorie recipe for this month is Palmiers.  These treats comprise puff pastry that is rolled with sugar, folded, then coated with melted butter and more sugar, to create  layers of puff pastry that are cut into "ears" and caramelised in the oven.

Palmiers to my taste are very plain, but they are apparently adored by French children.   To me, the best use for palmiers is Dorie's suggestion to place them on top of other soft desserts to add a bit of crunch and texture.

Some of my palmiers refused to stay folded up as they baked, so that you can see that as well as ears, I have hearts and "C" shapes.  The shape really doesn't matter if you aren't trying to sell them - they all taste the same.

To see what the other Dorie bakers made this week, visit the LYL section of the TWD website.

Matzo Toffee Crunch

For Tuesdays with Dorie, I had to buy matzo crackers to make Matzo Morsels.  I had an open packet of matzo crackers that I did not want to waste, so I decided to use them up by making Matzo Toffee Crunch.  I used this recipe over at Tori Avey.

I have made matzo toffee crunch/brittle/crack once before, but I did not realise that it was eight years ago!  Wow, time does fly when you are having fun.

The principles behind this recipe are the same - line a sheet pan with matzo crackers, make a toffee using butter and brown sugar, bake to help spread the toffee out, top the hot toffee with chopped chocolate, allow it to melt, spread out the chocolate over the top of the toffee, then sprinkle over chopped nuts.  Tori's recipe also uses a sprinkling of salt over the chocolate to give the toffee crunch an extra flavour hit.

Cut the toffee crunch into squares before placing into the freezer to set the chocolate.  Serve and enjoy!!

Old Man Drew, Ascot Vale

A relatively new but cool and quirky café on the north side of Melbourne is Old Man Drew in Ascot Vale.  Old Man Drew combines a café with a shop selling gourmet foods and gifts, and a glorious garden out the back.  It also comprises a number of different rooms, all kitted out differently, so you can eat in an atmosphere that suits your mood that day.

Here is a shot of the front of the café, looking out towards the shop and counter:

These are a few of the goodies for sale in the shop:

Old Man Drew has a delicious selection of cakes on display in the front counter, which changes daily:

I have visited Old Man Drew twice.  The first time, my friend V and I were seated in a spacious, cathedral-like atrium garden area:

All of the tables are prettily dressed with vases of real flowers, and flowers and herbs are used to decorate the food and even the water jug:

I ordered the chicken 'n bre sandwich ($20) - I subbed out the Turkish roll for sourdough, which was filled with chicken, brie, lettuce, avocado, lettuce and cranberry sauce, and decorated with edible flowers:

V ordered the chilli scramble ($18) - chilli scrambled eggs with baby spinach, parmesan and aioli on garlic bread:

On the second occasion, we sat inside in a room with a downstairs suitcase, with this sitting room next door:

I just love the quirky wallpaper and the "Sherlock Holmes" feel of this room.

Our table was decorated with this beautiful vase of flowers: 

As much as I loved the chicken 'n brie first time around, I decided to try the Schnitzel roll ($22) on my second visit:

It looked different to what I expected, but in short is a brioche roll filled with chicken schnitzel, Asian slaw and aioli.  It was delicious but very filling.  V had the chilli scramble again, so I think that speaks volumes about how much she liked it.

Here is a chair in one of the other rooms, replete with a tapestry cat cushion:

Out the back, there is a beautiful garden, where you can also sit if you desire. On our first visit, it was a glorious sunny day, which helped us to make the most of the garden: 

Old Man Drew has great food and a fun atmosphere - it is highly recommended by me.

Old Man Drew

359-361 Mt Alexander Rd
Ascot Vale VIC 3032

Ph: (03) 9375 4024

Vanilla Glazed Choc Chunk Hot Cross Buns - QBC

It is Good Friday today, heralding the start of the holy Easter season.  For Queen Baking Club this fortnight, the recipe was fittingly Vanilla Glazed Choc Chunk Hot Cross Buns.

These hot cross buns contain a traditional blend of spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves) and raisins, together with the less traditional addition of chocolate chunks.  The finished buns are glazed with a syrup that is flavoured with vanilla.

Here are my buns just before going into the oven:

I found that I needed twice the amount of flour paste suggested in the recipe to make crosses for all of my buns, 20 in all.

Here is a yummy hot cross bun, fresh from the oven and spread with butter:

The smell of hot cross buns is amazing!  Loved these buns, and my colleagues seemed to like them too.

Queen's recipe is quite straight forward, should you wish to try making your own hot cross buns for today.

Wishing you a blessed Easter.

TWD - Matzo Morsels

This week's Tuesday with Dorie recipe doesn't involve any baking at all - it is a melt and mix concoction that you could easily make with your children as a holiday treat.  It is Matzo Morsels, comprising chocolate, chocolate chips, raisins, crushed matzo crackers and butter all combined together and chilled in the fridge.

Matzo Morsels are not unlike Chocolate Crackles, Hedgehog Cake or other "refrigerator" cakes.  Very simple to make, even easier to eat.

To see what the other Dorie bakers made this week, visit the LYL section of the TWD website.