Travel Food Blog: Australia

Way long overdue post... I've been quite busy sorting out random things since I came back from Australia, so I finally found some time to squeeze in my 'travel food' post. My trip to Australia was alright; I mean all the activities I've done were amazing and worth cherishing, but due to an unexpected twist of fate, I spent most of the trip visiting my dearest P at the hospital. I won't go into details anymore... So where am I? Ah yes, 'travel food' post!

Australia has an amazing food culture. I was simply blown away with the diversity of cuisines available. Their groceries have a wide range of produce, meat, dairy and other ingredients. It was certainly inspiring; it makes a person want to cook and love food. Their ingredients are of good quality; their carrots are so sweet, and their potatoes are packed with flavour. I really had an overwhelming food cultural experience.

As I was sorting out my photos, I realized I have taken loads of food photos. So I've decided to just pick some of my food encounters to share with you guys. Warning: some might mean a lot! Shall we start?

Xiao Long Bao from our stopover at Shanghai

Fish and Chips

Chinese food chugged down with some iced milk tea! Yum!!

Noche Buena... Small feast on Christmas Eve: homemade ham, potato au gratin, buttered carrots, duck liver pate, cheese platter, and some wines and bubbly. This feast was prepared by my sister C, oh carrots by my sister Z!

Tiramisu made by my sister J for Noche Buena. Super yummy!

Wasabi peas 

Christmas feast begins! Seafood and salads... I love salads! 

My aunt R's homemade ham

Roast pork

Desserts: croquembouche, gingerbread house, bombe Alaska and orange chocolate cake (not in picture).

Cousin L's eggnog!! Delish! I drank quite a few... Sigh... such a lovely Christmas feast!

Gorgeous chocolates given by S

Donar kebab - couldn't resist this junkie goodness. 

Baklava 

Wine tasting and wine tour at Hunter Valley. 

Indian for dinner; tikka here korma there, my belly was so satisfied! 

Corned beef - not processed, taste so much better! 

Kangaroo! Surprisingly good; it has a gamey taste, which I love. 

White, milk and dark chocolate dips for churros. 

Churros in the making... interesting contraption. 

Yum yum churros

Pies, pies and more pies! Oh, and don't forget the sausage rolls!

Peppercorn steak pie... mmmm... 

Pumpkin tortellini 

Chicken and Chips. To be honest, I just ordered this kiddie meal because I wanted the tweety cup! Yes, I am a tweety fan. 

Corndog

Pineapple float

Aunt R's kiam peng rice. She was so thoughtful cooking food for my family while we were at the hospital. Thank you! 

Cousin L's lamb moussaka. Absolutely delicious, couldn't stop eating it! Thanks L! 

Lamb sausages (my favourite sausages next to bratwurst) served with caramelized onions and salad.

Butterscotch madeleines that L and I  baked for a very nice lady at the hospital.

Hot Dog de Wheels from Harry's Cafe de Wheels - Continental Frankfurt, on soft bread roll with mushy peas, chilli con carne, garlic onions, chilli and cheese sauce. The best hotdog I ever had! 

Tiger from Harry's Cafe de Wheels - mash, mushy peas and gravy on top of a pie! oooo.... 

Ricotta cheese pancake with fresh strawberries 

Deep fried prawns 

Pad Thai 

Thai duck curry 

Ribs from Hurricane's Grill & Bar 

First salad that I made that's actually good - hake and prawn with avocado, dill and lemon vol au vent salad. 

Crocodile burrito; the croc looked like chicken and had a texture of overcooked fish. Nothing really special I'd say. 

Seared yellow fin tuna served with pineapple rice. Not that good; I'm still on the hunt for my perfect pepper crusted seared yellow fin tuna.

That's one hot hot hot chili sauce. 

German pork knuckle served with sauerkraut and mash. 

Assorted German sausages 

Swiss schnitzel 

Sukiyaki 

Pork cutlet ramen 

The last food photo: my very own blanquette de veau served with buttered dill carrots. I rarely excel on cooking, so when I do, I'm proudly happy!

Whew... done! I would love to go back to Australia to eat more food! I love how there are different cuisines in one country. I'm definitely head over heels with the Australian food culture!

Bisou bisou,

Charlotte

Daring Bakers' Challenge - December 2010: Stollen

Christmas has just gone by, but I still have one Christmas-y thing to do - post my DB Christmas challenge.

 

I only used a quarter of the recipe given by our host, then made two small Stollens.

Blog-checking lines: The 2010 December Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Penny of Sweet Sadie's Baking. She chose to challenge Daring Bakers' to make Stollen. She adapted a friend's family recipe and combined it with information from friends, techniques from Peter Reinhart's book.........and Martha Stewart's demonstration.

Stollen shaped like a wreath using kitchen scissors to form the segments as written in the challenge recipe.

Stollen is a German Christmas bread that contains dried fruits, citrus peels, nuts, and sometimes marzipan, and heavily dusted with powdered sugar. It is similar to fruit cake except it's a fruit bread. This was my first encounter with the Christmas Stollen, so I was really happy I was able to participate this month's challenge despite the busy season. Once I got my dough done, that's when I got excited for the Stollen. The aroma alone of the dough makes you want to eat it. Unfortunately, I had to be patient proofing the dough; all the waiting was definitely worth it.

My version of making a wreath shaped Stollen; I made tiny balls then arranged them alongside each other to form a circle.

I quickly took a bite as soon as I finished snapping some photos. Honestly, I wasn't so impressed at first bite, so I thought maybe if I left it to cool down then eat it the next day instead. Alas, my hunch was right. Stollen is one of those desserts better eaten when it has time to cool down. It goes so well with a hot cup of coffee. It does have a similar taste with fruit cake, but in a bread-like texture.

A photo of the inside of my Stollen; I don't think the yeast worked it's magic as it should have been fluffier.

On a different note, I'm still on my Christmas / New Year getaway in the 'land down under'. I'm really having a blast here with my family. I have many things to share with you guys, so I will definitely be blogging about my trip once I get back.

So how did you spend your Christmas? I hope you all had a very merry one!

Bisou bisou,

Charlotte

Mum-in-Law's Fruitcake

My H has been yearning for his mum's fruitcake this Christmas. I offered to make him my version of fruitcake, but he wants his mum's. So what else can I do, but ask my mum-in-law for the recipe.

When I got the recipe, I became excited to make it. Why? Mainly because it doesn't use butter; all the fruitcake recipes I encountered in the past so far has a butter cake base. Another reason is her recipe uses tea to soak the dried fruits. A completely different and new fruitcake recipe I was really looking forward to make.

Result: success! My H was so glad to have his mum's fruitcake again. Sometimes with food, regardless of how a dish was made or what kinds of ingredients or techniques were used, it's what you are used to from your childhood that would always do the trick.

The fruitcake was quite addictive I must say. The texture has a bit of a soft bite and is a little chewy. The cake has a distinct taste of nutmeg, and the fruits didn't overpower the flavour of the entire cake. As for using the tea for soaking, well I didn't really taste the tea on the actual cake, but I guess it contributed to the taste of the finished cake. I'm not a fan of fruitcakes at all, in fact I was once anti-fruitcake, but this is one that I can actually enjoy eating. So far, with all the fruitcakes I have tried in my existence, this is probably just the fourth one I liked. I'm really happy to have inherited my mum-in-law's fruitcake recipe.

Speaking of family, I will be spending my holidays in sunny Australia with my family. I'm really excited to see them, and I'm also thrilled to be experiencing Australian and Modern Australian cuisine!

Happy Holidays Everyone!

Bisou bisou,

Charlotte

Almond Biscotti

 

I love sharing what I bake with people. So whenever there is a special occasion like Christmas, I definitely have the urge to make special treats to give away. This year I decided to make almond biscotti (recipe from Joy of Baking). Biscotti, which means twice baked, are classic Italian cookies that are dry and crunchy in texture, perfect to accompany a nice cup of coffee.

I gave these lovely cookies to my H's colleagues, and they were really delighted. There's nothing better than spending the Christmas season through sharing and giving!

Bisou bisou,

Charlotte

Follow Me on Twitter

So I've decided to enter the world of twitter... I wanted to have a more casual extension of my blog; at times I often have spur-of-the-moment food related thoughts or encounters that I wouldn't necessarily blog about, so twitter is my outlet for those tidbits.

So to my dearest readers, follow me on twitter - http://twitter.com/ambitiousbubble. See you there, tweet tweet tweet!

Bisou bisou,

Charlotte

Spirit of Christmas

The sound of Christmas songs, bald trees encrusted with dazzling lights at night, shops packed with people buying Christmas presents, Christmas themed shop windows... it's this time of the year again! 

What is it that makes you feel the festivities? For me, there's five things: Christmas gifts shopping, setting up the Christmas tree, Christmas songs, Noche Buena (Christmas Eve feast) and baking something Christmasy. Last Christmas season, I made my first gingerbread house, and I also made some gingerbread bells to give away to my H's colleagues. I can't believe that was already a year ago! 

I'm done with my Christmas shopping, our Christmas tree has been set up and definitely been listening to Christmas songs. So there's two more things on my list to make my Christmas complete!

Bisou bisou,

Charlotte

Louis Vuitton City Guide

Do you use travel guides when you visit a new city? Why not travel in style with the Louis Vuitton City Guide? LV has been publishing their own city guides since 1999. Their city guides covers numerous cities from Mumbai to New York to Tokyo to Thessaloniki; there are bountiful cities to explore with LV.

photo from Louis Vuitton website

I've been reading reviews about the Louis Vuitton City Guides, and so far all write-ups were fabulous! What got me sold for the LV City Guides is this mouth-watering clip:

English Version



French Version



"Je ne comprends pas le français, mais j'aime écouter c'est beau son!" (google translate) I don't understand French, but I love listening to it's beautiful sound!

Yes, Paris! I have loads of dream destinations, but Paris is at the top of my list. Not only is it very rich in culture, but oh... the pastries! I could spend all day nibbling in patisserie after patisserie, heaven!



photo from Louis Vuitton website



Though I have no plans on visiting Paris YET in the near future, I think I would be investing on a Louis Vuitton City Guide Paris 2011 edition. No harm in doing some advance research!

Bisou bisou,

Charlotte