International Incident Scones Party – Pumpkin scones with sweet tomato jam

by jeroxie August 22, 2010

I remembered the first time I made scones. That was for a domestic economic class at secondary school back in Singapore. It was terrible. It was so hard so all my classmates laughed at me and called them rocks. No one ate any of it. They all went straight into a bin. I was traumatised by the incident and can remember it vividly. This is a real mental challenge for me. I want to do it well so badly.

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Milk Bar Compost Cookies

by jeroxie August 19, 2010

Ever since I tried the compost cookie that @annatreasure made at one of Anna’s infamous dinner parties, I have been meaning to make some. So after months of reading about compost cookies on other delicious blogs and also missing out on the real deal, I made some. Imagine a cookie where you can chuck in chocolate, leftover M&Ms, crisp and even coffee grounds. I did follow the recipe that I grabbed from Amateur Gourmet quite religiously. I took out the corn syrup and added honey instead. And of course, used my own choice of naughty snacks!

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Winners to Taste of Melbourne 2010

by jeroxie August 19, 2010

The 5 winners of the doubles passes to Taste of Melbourne 2010. I hope you all have fun at Taste and enjoy eating.

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A Special Giveaway – My new travel buddy, the Panasonic Lumix TZ10

by jeroxie August 17, 2010

A Special Giveaway
I was and still am totally thrilled to be offered the opportunity to test out the new Panasonic Lumix TZ10. The reviews that I have read have been pretty good. I
spent the last week taking it everywhere I went. The new TZ10 comes with a 25mm wide-angle, 12x optical zoom, LEICA lens camera. Pretty impressive specs. So what did I think of it?

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Parisian Patisserie Boulangerie, North Essendon

by jeroxie August 17, 2010

Some of you may be aware that I am trying to achieve some decent baking skills before year end and to be able to bake a reasonably batch of macarons. I bought my first proper baking book ever. A very popular recommendation from twittverse. It shall be reviewed in the coming weeks. Please stay with me as I thread onto the world of flour, butter, sugar and eggs.

An invitation to a proper patisserie to taste and ….. this post is not about me but a very talented patissier, Neil Mckenzie (trained in Le Cordon Bleu) and the newly opened shop, Parisan Patisserie that is set up by him and his wife, Majella. This Parisan Patisserie Boulangerie is located in North Essendon and it’s just a 5 mins drive from home! Perfect!

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Hung Vuong, Footscray

by jeroxie August 15, 2010

I cannot believe that I have blogged about Hung Vuong in Footscray. With so many choices along Hopkins Street, this has been our preference lately. Maybe because it has heating in winter and air-condition in summer unless many of the older establishments. And also maybe because it has nice white light and better for taking photos!

I made my usual order of beef special combination. It is basically pho served with beef slices, beef sausage that is heavily laced with black pepper, tendons and thinly sliced tripes. The broth is quite heavily scented and flavoured with clove. MSG? Of course! But still a nice broth. The portions here are quite generous. As usual, I love topping it with bean sprouts, Vietnamese basil, a good squeeze of lemon with slices of fresh chill, chilli sauce, hoisin sauce and more chilli oil. Stir, combine and slurp! Pho is the best in winter! Comforting and somehow doesn’t make me feel too heavy after

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Meat glue fish and meat balls plus steamboat extravaganza

by jeroxie August 12, 2010

I bought a 50g sachet of Transglutaminase that I bought a couple of months ago out of curiosity. Transglutaminase or meat glue bonds protein together and is used industrially to make meat and fish balls. Prior to this, I have tried binding fatty bacon with kangaroo. Just to note, it does not bind fats! The meats still held together and it was quite a challenging taste. Imagine smelling bacon but tasting kangaroo. I was a little thrown off but the overall flavour was really interesting and actually, good!

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Meatless Mondays #33 – Poached pear & chocolate pizza

by jeroxie August 10, 2010

Super sweet tooth this weekend. Maybe it was the macarons that Mister brought back for me from Sydney. Can I just say that Adriano Zumbo is a genius with flavour, balance and texture. Everyone that has a piece of the precious commodity always end up saying ‘OMG! It’s so good.’ The macarons are always the first to go at his shop. If you are in Sydney, make sure you head in before the shop opens.

I was digging through the old Sydney photos and found this. This pinenut millefueille is one of the best cake ever! It looks sickening sweet but it so not. I can’t remember how many layers there are but every layer has a different flavour, different texture. Every layer is like a chapter in a book and together, they told a story. So regret not getting more!

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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.

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Meatless Mondays #32 – Leftover fried rice

by jeroxie August 7, 2010

It’s another week that I eat alone. Not every night of course. But a girl still needs to feed herself while partner’s away. I decided to make fried rice using the leftovers from Saturday’s steamboat. I have chrysanthemum leaves, white cabbage, spring onions, garlic, chillies and eggs. Fried rice for me is comfort food. I guess it was one of the dishes that my dad would cook for me when I was younger. Actually, my dad can only cook fried rice but he does it very well.

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Jeremy Shipley – Bacardi Sensology ‘Art of Cocktail Making’ at Taste of Melbourne 2010

by jeroxie August 5, 2010

Cocktails. I love cocktails. There is a cocktail for every occasion and mood. I love a nice dirty and smokey martini in winter and a cool cucumber and mint mojito in summer. Simple and delicious cocktails can be made at home and they are usually great crowd pleasers.

I was pretty excited when I found out Bacardi’s Sensology ‘Art of cocktail making” is making a debut at Taste of Melbourne this year and jumped onto the chance to have a one on one interview with Jeremy Shipley. He is originally from New Zealand that has been in Australia’s bartending and cocktail scene for the past 12 years. He was awarded Australia Gourmet Traveller Magazine’s ‘Best of the Best Bars’ in 2006 and co-authored a top-selling cocktail book entitled ‘Shaken’, released internationally by Murdoch Books.

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Delicious Vietnam #4 – Melbourne Banh Mi Showdown

by jeroxie August 3, 2010

What is Banh Mi? To many, it is known as Vietnamese roll or Vietnamese baguette. The ones that we get in Melbourne are usually filled with different types of pork slices, pâté spread and a nice dose of pickled salad, fresh coriander and chillies. Over in Vietnam , there is no luxury of meat and it is the bread roll that is the star. I like mine crunchy and flaky. I am prepared to have bread crusts all over me when eating banh mi. That is the first good sign of a good banh mi. And then it is the salad. It has to be fresh with a nice crunch.

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Christmas in July at The Langham Melbourne

by jeroxie August 2, 2010

I was literally running to The Langham. The tram stopped infront of Crown Casino and I ran all the way. By the time I arrived, I was puffed and ready to get into the chocolate and pudding classs. We were served beautiful canapes (which unfortunately I had no photos) with champagne. And before we headed off to our ‘Masterclass”, we were all given a set of apron and chef hat. We all had a chuckle and so wanted to have a group photo after. Alas, we forgot… What a waste! We all looked hilarious. So I compiled the photos and hopefully it gives you an idea of our happy silliness!

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International Scones Incident Party

by jeroxie August 1, 2010

Scones reminds me high tea. And it seems best when eaten simply with butter or jam with a cup of tea. It is indeed a very simple pleasure in life that I don’t do quite often enough. With all the new and trending breads, sweets, cakes and desserts, scones seem to have taken a back [...]

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Matcha Madness – Matcha shortbread cookies

by jeroxie July 31, 2010

I love matcha. Besides making matcha tea, it is not an ingredient that I have worked before. Matcha is one of my favourite ice-cream flavour. I have green tea almost everyday at work. And I still salivate when I think about the piece of matcha cotton soft cheesecake that I had 2 years ago in Singapore. And of course reading all the matcha recipes from Catty’s blog is enough to send me MATCHA MAD!

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