TWD - Lemon Sugar Cookies

This week's Dorie's Cookies recipe is Lemon Sugar Cookies.  These are really simple mix, roll and bake cookies, but the are delicious.

The lemon sugar cookies contain lemon juice and rind so that they definitely taste lemony.  The hardest thing to manage with these cookies is that they spread a lot.  Dorie says as much, as she means it.  I ended up only being able to bake 5 cookies at a time on a tray.  The first tray of cookies, with eight cookies on it, spread into one another.

From a half batch, I only got 18 cookies - according to the recipe, it should have made 30.  This was not a problem, as I don't want or need 30 cookies - just mentioning it as part of my experience in making these cookies.

The resulting cookie is caramelised and chewy - I loved them.

To see what everyone else made this week, visit the LYL section of the Tuesdays with Dorie website.

Bendigo Trip, Day 1 - Farmers Markets and GPO Bendigo

For the recent Labour Day weekend, Tim and I packed our bags and headed for beautiful Bendigo, a 2 hour train ride from Melbourne.   We arrived on Friday night for 3 full days.

As with any trip, there was plenty of eating involved, and Bendigo has some culinary delights that are worth discovering.  We had been a few times before, so this time, we sought out some new adventures.

For brekky on the first day, we went to The Green Olive in historic Bath Lane, chosen for no reason other than it looked busy.  I ordered the vegetarian breakfast: zucchini & Haloumi fritters, brioche crumbed field mushroom,  cherry tomato compote, watercress and two poached eggs  ($17.50):

This was a tasty and filling breakfast which set me up well for the walking tour which we did that morning.

After our walking tour, we hit the Bendigo Farmers Markets, held only once a month on the second Saturday in central Sidney Myer Place.  One of my favourite finds was the scrolls by Starving Artist.  I bought a peach and raspberry scroll - delicious, but tooth-achingly sweet: 

Tim bought a Turkish Delight scroll - my favourite, as it was sweet but not overly so:

We also bought some other goodies, including these Florentines from Sweet Sisters ($10 for 5 huge cookies):

My other picks from the Farmers Market were Pink Muesli, made with beetroot ($25), a huge tub of honey ($10) and a jar of sauerkraut ($8), which sadly got left behind as I was told to keep it in the fridge, where I promptly forgot about it until it was too late:

There also happened to be an antique clothing and book stall on in View Street that weekend.  I got to look at and touch some beautiful original Victorian era clothing (horsehair padding anyone?), and I purchased this book of wartime recipes by the British cooking stalwart, Marguerite Patten:

After stuffing ourselves with scrolls, lunch was a meal that I could have skipped quite happily, but I rocked up anyway to The Good Loaf for these Indian baked beans ($13.20):

It tasted pretty good, but I was underwhelmed by the girl who took my order at the counter, who could not answer any of the basic questions I asked about the other dishes I considered ordering (eg is there quinoa in this?  How is it served?).

To accompany my meal, I bought this fabulous Schweppes Pear and Melon soda that I have not seen anywhere else, which I  made into a spider with icecream ($5.70):

For dinner that evening, we went to the GPO Bendigo, a modern Mediterranean restaurant which does a very fine range of tapas dishes delivered by efficient and friendly staff.  We decided to go with the tapas so that we could try a range of dishes.

First up, we went for the pan seared scallops with spinach puree and parmesan tuile ($14 for 3):

The star of this dish was the delicious parmesan tuile.

Next up, we went with the slow cooked pork sliders, with chipotle mayo and tangy slaw ($14 for 2):

These were tasty morsels.

To make us feel slightly more virtuous in getting our greens, we ordered the rocket and pear salad with shaved parmesan and balsamic dressing ($9): 

Back to the tapas - our final dish was the Korean style wagyu beef tacos, with Asian slaw, cashews, chilli and coriander ($13 for 2):

These soft shell tacos were delish.

We could not pass on dessert, so we ordered the churros with hot chocolate sauce ($14) to share:

After dinner, we ended Day 1 of our Bendigo trip with a wander through the Bendigo Moonlight Markets in the mall, also held on the third Saturday of the month.  These were bustling markets with more of a novelty feel than the Farmers Markets, although a few of the vendors were the same. It was extremely popular with young families, who took their children for some fast food and fun. 

The Green Olive

11 Bath Lane

Bendigo VIC 3550

Ph: (03) 5442 2676

The Good Loaf

404 Hargreaves Street

Bendigo VIC 3550

Ph: (03) 5444 2171

GPO Bendigo

60-64 Pall Mall

Bendigo VIC 3550

Ph: (03) 5443 4343

EwE - Healthier Pecan Pie - Sweetypie

 
I chose this week's theme of Sweetypie for Eating with Ellie.  My interpretation of this theme was to make Ellie's Healthier Pecan Pie from Comfort Food Fix. 

 

 
Ellie makes the pie crust healthier by replacing some of the butter with low fat cream cheese, and by using a mixture of wholemeal and plain flour.

She makes the filling healthier by using mashed sweet potato to replace some of the sugary bits.

All in all, this pecan pie was delicious - I liked it just as much as an ordinary pecan pie.

To see what the others made this week, visit the LYL section of the Eating with Ellie website.

TWD - Pithiviers

This week's Tuesday with Dorie recipe is Pithiviers.  This involves filling two rounds of puff pastry with a rough home-made prune jam and almond cream, cutting shapes in the pastry to make it look fancy, and baking it until golden.

I had a lot of fun cutting pointy triangles around the edge of my pithiviers, and I think it looks super-impressive (although was easy to do):

For some reason, during baking, my almond cream and my prune jam melded, so you can't see two distinct layers.  No matter - it tasted good.

To see what everyone else made this week and what they thought of it, visit the LYL section of the TWD website.

Rice Paper Scissors, Melbourne

Recently, on a cold, wet, miserable Melbourne day, we went to see Kinky Boots The Musical at Her Majesty's Theatre.  It was a fun musical which I almost skipped, but it was so uplifting and cheerful, I am glad that I added it to my schedule of entertainment. 

Before Kinky Boots, Tim and I went to lunch at Rice Paper Scissors.  This restaurant is modelled on the hawker bars of South East Asia, and is all about shared food.  The only catch is that you can't book for less than 6 people and it can therefore be hard to get into, as it is a small but popular venue.

When we went, they were in the middle of their special yum cha season:

We didn't have the yum cha, and instead ordered off of RPS's extensive menu.  The price of the dishes varies, but there is a special where you can order 5 dishes for around $60 (that is, around $30 a head).

Our first choice was the betel leaf topped with fresh lobster, green mango salad, crispy pork belly and chilli jam:  

And what a delight little bite this was! The fresh Asian flavours are irresistible.

We also ordered one of the specials of the day, a Wagyu beef stiry fry - delicious but very hot in flavour (it definitely cleared the sinuses):

Next up was the Galloping Horses - caramelised pork, prawn and peanut on sour pineapple:

It sounds a little out there (so of course, I chose it), but it was sensational.

We also went the more traditional route and ordered the Steamed Pork Buns with pork belly, cucumber, shallots and hoisin sauce:  

The buns were soft and juicy and light as a feather.

 

Our final dish was the Duck Salad - crispy roast duck and banana blossom salad with lychee and herbs:  

This was a fresh tasty way to finish off.

As this was our first visit to RPS, we also ordered dessert - in our case, the Vietnamese tiramisu ($12):

It looks like a houseplant, but the "dirt" is actually chocolate biscuit crumbs that cover the coffee flavoured mousse beneath.

We washed it all down with Hawkers Pale Ale ($8):

The service was very efficient, and we were out of there quite quickly (it's hard to get in right away, but you can pout your name on the list and the turnover is quite rapid).  We in fact dallied longer than our fellow diners who arrived at around the same time so that we could talk and while away the time until Kinky Boots.

We loved RPS and would definitely go back.

Rice Paper Scissors

19 Liverpool St

Melbourne VIC 3000

Ph: (03) 9663 9890

EwE - Roast Beef Sandwich with Watercress and Horseradish Sauce - Lunch! Soup Salad or Sandwich

For Eating with Ellie this week, our theme is Lunch! Soup or Salad or Sandwich.  I made Ellie's Roast Beef Sandwich with Watercress and Horseradish Sauce from So Easy (also online here).

They don't sell bread as pumpernickel here, so I opted for dark rye bread.  (Fun fact - pumpernickel means farting devil.) I also didn't find watercress, but I did find micro watercress, so I went with that.  I figured the flavour profile would be the same.

This was quite a tasty sandwich.  There was just the right balance of zing vs sweet, and the flavours melded well.

To see what the others made this week, visit the LYL section of the EwE website.

TWD - "Corked" Breton Galettes

For this week's Tuesdays with Dorie (Dorie's Cookies), I made "Corked" Breton Galettes.  In reality, these are buttery shortbread formed by cutting discs off a log of dough, baking in a muffin tin, and using a wine cork to make an indentation in the cookie while still hot, to be filled with whatever sweet filling you like.

I filled my cookies with Rosella jam - because I could.

I loved these sandy, buttery little cookies.  Yet another hit from Dorie's Cookies.

To see what everyone else made this week and what they thought of it, visit the LYL section of the TWD website.