From the category archives:

Italian

Pressure cooker goat ragu with pappardelle

by jeroxie August 3, 2011

I was never a fan of the pressure cooker until I watched the contestants use it and how quickly a piece of tough meat turns into melting morsel of delight. I have heard good and bad things about the pressure cooker. And I was still not convinced about the final flavour of the dish.

29 comments Full article here

Basic pasta recipe

by jeroxie August 2, 2011

100g strong flour to 1 egg.

It is that easy. And do you know why some pasta are so super yellow? Some people like me will add an additional egg yolk to 200g of flour or use only egg yolks. I have used 200g of flour to 4 egg yolks and it works perfectly. You will also need loads of additional flour to dust the dough.

17 comments Full article here

Italy 528, Ascot Vale

by jeroxie February 26, 2011

The same people that opened D.O.C in Carlton has opened up Italy 528 in Ascot Vale… finally! This pizza joint is less than 5 minutes walk from our place. Mount Alexander is slowly turning into quite a cafe/ restaurant strip. Secretly, I really hope that it turns into the next Brunswick or Smith Street but I highly doubt it will happen anytime soon but there is hope. New places are opening up to older establishments. We just need really nice cool and funky cocktail bar to make this strip rock and roll. :) I am very optimistic, aren’t I?

26 comments Full article here

D.O.C. Pizza and Mozzarella Bar, Carlton

by jeroxie December 27, 2010

I must be last the food blogger to visit D.O.C. It has been on my list for the longest time ever but then I am not a big pizza fan so this place has been on the back burner for the longest time ever. D.O.C is a pizza and mozzarella joint in Carlton. It is almost always busy and most people are happy to queue. I am not a big fan but since it is my mum wanted to have some Italian, I thought why not take the opportunity to check out this place. Finally.

18 comments Full article here

Zappa, South Melbourne

by jeroxie August 8, 2010

Thursday is gnocchi day at Zappa. This little cafe is family owned and have been around for ages. It is a South Melbourne institution. Michael is usually there to greet everyone. “Hi Bella! How are you today?” And I love how this place is decked out. So many memoirs and nic nacs stuck on walls from the past to the present. Photos of family, greeting cards, little notes… all of sentimental value and showcases the history of this little café.

15 comments Full article here

Beef ragu pasta

by jeroxie May 23, 2010

We missed out on Gaswork this Saturday and so headed to Melbourne Showground farmers’ market on Sunday. It isn’t my first choice for farmers market. The selection and variety is quite poor and I really hope that with the pick up in crowd, there will be some improvement soon. Maybe I am just spoilt from the offerings of St. Kilda, Gaswork, Collingwood and Slow food. Variety and quality is definitely welcomed. Having said that, I did manage to pick up some free range beef and organic vegetables. So a simple meal from simple ingredients.

27 comments Full article here

Sosta Cucina, North Melbourne

by jeroxie May 21, 2010

I overheard on twitter that this little Italian restaurant, Sosta Cucina, serves up some awesome food. It was also featured in an article called “Australian chef’s favourite Italian dishes” in Gourmet Traveller. I am a big fan of the Italian cuisine. In many ways, I feel that it has some similar philosophy as the Chinese cooking and culture. I feel a nice connection. What do you think? I mean, we both love our noodles or pasta as the Italians call it.

Anyway, Mister and I have not been on a date for awhile so we I decided that we should go on one. This means that I get to dress up a little and took this opportunity to wear my deep red boots for the very first time. Don’t get the wrong idea! It is a tall boots with furry lining. So comfortable. Just perfect for cold winter nights and with a little heel, it does make me feel quite special.

23 comments Full article here

Mezzo Bar & Grill – Pasta Al Giro

by jeroxie April 21, 2010

Pasta Al Giro – A tour of pastas from Pippo’s childhood
$45 per person sharing menu (Menu must be taken by whole table)

Jeroxie was a guest of Mezzo Bar & Grill

I love the bread. And the olive oil from Chapman Hill was perfect. Slightly fruity, quite delicate and complimented the bread flavour. Actually, I could have the bread, olive oil and sprinkling of salt the whole night. I remember one of us mentioned that it tasted quite ‘meaty’. In a good way of course.

23 comments Full article here

The boys at Mezzo Bar & Grill

by jeroxie April 20, 2010

The Oyster Bar that my friends and I used to head to when we crave for oysters (they are half price before 6.30pm) have been taken over by Mezzo Bar & Grill. The duo, Luke Stringer and Joseph Vargetto have transformed the place into a much more casual Southern Italian fare.

A few food bloggers that I know have sung high praises about Mezzo but it has received mixed reviews from the food critics. It is on my list of places to go top this year and so when there was an invite to Mezzo for their Pasta al Giro night, I jumped at it.

We were introduced to both Joseph and Mauro (the head chef) before the dinner started. It is always fun chatting with chefs and I am always so star struck with them. Here are a few questions that I had for the boys and so everyone can get to know them a little better

18 comments Full article here

Cookbook Challenge W20 (Tangy) – Monk fish and lemon

by jeroxie April 4, 2010

I missed out on last week challenge that I hope to make up for soon. I was pretty determine to cook up something for this week’s challenge. But after a night and early morning of eating, drinking and laughing with the girls, I almost changed my mind. The bed and not the kitchen was my best friend. I did eventually drag my sorry self into the kitchen.

The Silver Spoon cookbook was opened in front of me but nothing much was being absorbed. This simple recipe has only 4 fresh ingredients. Even that proved to be too difficult for me at that point of time. There is a lot of adaptation in this recipe. I just chopped and changed it as I went a long. It was also a timely challenge as I present to you the first lemon from the garden!

30 comments Full article here

Meatless Challenge #14 Tomatoes, Holy Goat & Murray Pink Salt

by jeroxie March 31, 2010

A very simple dish but the ingredients played a very big part in making it all work. This is a recreation of the tomato brushetta that I had the Salt book launch. The tomatoes were so sweet and memorable. The dish so full of flavour even though the main ingredients are just tomatoes and the cheese. And of course, the Cyprus black sea salt brought the whole dish alive.

I was at Abbotsford Convent for our weekly grocery shopping. Instead of getting some buffalo mozzarella, I thought that it would work with the Holy Goat La Luna. This is one of the better goat cheese that I love so much. It is creamy with a very slight citrus undertone. And it just won Gold again at the Sydney Royal Cheese & Dairy Produce Awards 2010! Such a beautiful piece of cheese. I was glad to get hold of the last piece

21 comments Full article here

Barbecue or BBQ sauce?

by jeroxie March 24, 2010

I am a little depressed that summer is over. Our cold winter months aren’t too far away. So I really cherish this week’s challenge. Most of the regular punters for this challenge will be introducing the lovely grilled meats and I hope options for vegetarians. And so I thought that I will prepare a lovely sauce to compliment the grilled varieties.

The book, Silver Spoon, mentioned that this sauce was suitable for grilled meat and fish. Instead, I used chicken wings. It was Hyundai grand final weekend and Melbourne Victory will be facing Sydney FC at home. It was a huge game but unfortunately we could not make it to Ethad Stadium. The chicken wings and sauce into the stadium to munch on while watching the game. But it was not meant to be.

25 comments Full article here

Meatless Day Challenge #13 Almost Ribollita

by jeroxie March 18, 2010

Autumn is upon us and it is time where thick soups, stews, roasts, pies and loads of yummy rich desserts (especially chocolate) to tie us through the grey and cold weather. This week will be the first of the thick soups to make its appearance.

I am not Italian and I am sure many Italians will have their own secret recipe for Ribollita. It is a Tuscan dish that means ‘reboiled’. There are so many versions of this but it seems that the most Italian recipe involves the use of stale bread in the soup. I had it at the side and hence is it called ‘Almost Ribollita’. The vegetable and bean soup was definitely kept overnight and then reheated the next day, a good drizzle of good olive oil and served with a side of toasted sourdough bread.

26 comments Full article here

Daring Cooks Challenge (Mar’10) Pumpkin, carrot and barley risotto

by jeroxie March 14, 2010

The 2010 March Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Eleanor of MelbournefoodGeek and Jess of Jessthebaker. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make risotto. The various components of their challenge recipe are based on input from the Australian Masterchef cookbook and the cookbook Moorish by Greg Malouf.

I wished I had a little more time for this challenge as risotto is one of my favourite comfort food in winter. It has been such a jam packed period and with parents-in-law coming over for a visit, this is what I can offer and I hope it is not too shabby!

29 comments Full article here

Gnocchi party and all the amazing contribution

by jeroxie February 28, 2010

I will like to thank to all that came to the party. I feel so humbled by this experience. All of you are super great cooks in your own rights. Beautiful recipes, ideas and amazing photos that makes me just want to lick my screen! All the gnocchi are pillows of yummy-ness and umami-ness.

This is a recap of the umami-high experience that I had while I went through each and every dish. And I think through each dish, it does reflect the personality of each guest and their blogs. This is seriously fun.

30 comments Full article here

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