Jasmyne Tea

Three Ropes Espresso, Parramatta

If Circa Espresso and my old school canteen had made sweet, sweet love and had a baby, they would have named him Three Ropes and situated him in a tiny alley-way in Parramatta.

It doesn't look like much - the cafe is about 5 metres wide, and the side opens up in a sort of canteen situation, with cookies, cakes and biscuits in jars. People literally take a second look on the street because they can't believe there's a window in the alley that looks so inviting. The interior is decorated with mint condition (I assume) action figures, old army surplus equipment and exposed copper pipes.

They've only really been open for a couple of weeks, but already they're well known by the locals for their excellent coffee, friendly service, and decor that is some sort of eclectic industrial kitsch.

We were welcomed in by Andy, the guy who runs the place, and shown to a seat. Three Ropes doesn't have a huge selection in terms of food or beverages, but they know what they do and they do it well.

Cappuccino - $3.50

Ok, this cup right here? It contains THE finest cap I've ever had. It was smooth, it was robust, and it had the exact right amount of foam to qualify it for cappuccino-hood, which is so often lacking. I seriously cannot rave about it enough!

Flat White - $3.50

Stephen's flat white was much stronger in coffee flavour and quite bitter, but it was just what he was after.

Pork and Fennel Sausage Baguette - $8.00

We ordered two sandwiches, and mine was beautiful. The baguette was fresh and toasted, so that the crust was lovely and crisp, and it was filled with caramelised onion, wilted baby spinach, and a creamy spread that could have possible been creme fraiche. The sausage was amazing, filled with quality pork and sharp fennel.

Ham & Cheese Toasted Sandwich - $8.00

The gentleman at the table next to us was eating this sandwich, and it looked so good that Stephen ordered it too. It was big enough to function as a doorstop, buttered on each side and toasted, and filled with ham off the bone, cheese, baby spinach, and a delightful smear of some kind of sweet chutney that really just made this sandwich special.

Apricot Frangipane Tart - $3.50

The desserts were made over at Circa, and the minute Stephen heard "frangipane" he knew he had to have it. The shortcrust pastry cradled a thick frangipane paste and juicy, caramelised apricots.

Lamington - $3.50

This was the king of lamingtons - the sponge was butter-yellow and dense, covered in a thick chocolate sauce, and then served with a sprinkling of shredded coconut.

If you're in the Parramatta area, you OWE it to yourself to visit Three Ropes Espresso. The food is good and humble, the coffee is extraordinary, and the boys there make you feel like a local.

Oliebollen

I've been eating these for years, but I never knew what they were called until a month ago. Every year we used to drive the 8 hours (then 5 hours when they fixed the highway) to Albury to visit my grandparents, and the hours of boredom and fighting with my brother on the way were compensated by a batch of freshly fried Dutch doughnuts at the Sunday Trash & Treasure Markets.

The taste, smell and texture of those doughnuts are implanted in my memory forever - they have a beautifully crisp outer, and fluffy, soft innards. Studded with raisins and dusted with a liberal amount of icing sugar and cinammon, they were probably the ultimate comfort food of my childhood.

Recently I found the recipe here, and thought I'd give it a go - it was only when I fried a batch of these that I realised these Oliebollen were the doughnuts of my youth.

Oliebollen

INGREDIENTS

1 tsp sugar
2 small packets of dry yeast
4 cups flour
1/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 cups milk
1 tsp salt
1 peeled and grated Granny Smith apple
1/2 cup of raisins or sultanas
8 cups vegetable/sunflower oil

Icing sugar
Ground cinnamon

1. In a medium-sized bowl, mix the teaspoon of sugar into 1/2 cup (120 ml) of warm water. Sprinkle the yeast on top, stir, cover with then allow to stand for 10 minutes.

2. Mix together the flour and sugar in a large bowl and make a well in the middle. Add the eggs as well as the yeast mixture. Warm up milk in the microwave for approximately 30 seconds until lukewarm. Add half of the milk to the well in the flour and mix until all ingredients are combined. Add the rest of the milk and whisk until smooth.

3. Cover the bowl with a damp dish towel and allow to rise in a warm area for about an hour. Once the dough has doubled, stir in the salt, apple and raisins.

4. Heat the oil in a large, deep pan or in a deep fryer. To check whether the oil is at the right temperature, stand the handle of a wooden spoon in the oil. If little bubbles form around it, the oil is ready.

5. Use two tablespoons to form and handle the dough, as well as a slotted spoon to remove the Oliebollen from the hot oil. Quickly dip the two tablespoons into the oil and form small balls of the dough with the oiled tablespoons, then carefully scrapeand drop the dough into the hot oil. Fry at least 6 Oliebollen at a time, but don't crowd the pan. Fry until golden brown on both sides, carefully flipping when required. Drain on a tray lined with paper towels.

6. Sieve powdered sugar over the Oliebollen as well as a dusting of ground cinnamon, and serve warm.

Bubba Gump Shrimp Co, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

"Anyway, like I was sayin', shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. Dey's uh, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There's pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. That- that's about it."

- Bubba, Forrest Gump (1994)

So there Stephen and I were: sore from a long flight from California to Louisiana, deaf from the pressure of landing, freezing our extremities off because it was SO much colder here than where we'd come from. Oh, not to mention STARVING - there was no food on the plane, and there are only so many peanuts you can eat before you start to feel sick.

Enter Bubba Gump Shrimp. We saw it in the cab on the way over to the hotel, and, being big fans of the movie, were interested enough to try it out. We quickly called and made a reservation, then scurried on over, practically running due to the cold.

The decor is a shrine to the legend of Forrest Gump, with memorabilia lining the walls, tables, and there's even an attached store selling shirts and souvenirs. There are signs on the table that indicate a customer's need for service - "Run Forrest, Run" means that service isn't required. Soon enough, our waitress came over, gave us the specials then took our orders.

Speckled Blueberry Lemonade - US$3.99

Stephen ordered the lemonade, which came in a huge glass, but was pretty weak in flavour. The blueberries were an interesting addition, but ultimately did nothing for the taste.


Fleur D'Lis - US$10.99 (with Hurricane Glass)

This drink was recommended to us by our waitress - it was sweet and fruity, consisting of Malibu, peach schnapps and melon liqueur. We also got to take the glass home as a souvenir!

Popcorn Shrimp - US$8.99

I loved the way that the popcorn shrimp was presented - they print their own paper with headlines from the time period of the movie. The shrimp were bouncy and tender, crunchy on the outside but juicy when bitten into. There were also crumbed and fried bell peppers, and two dipping sauces.

Dumb Luck Coconut Shrimp - US$17.29

The coconut shrimp was really well executed, the shrimp battered and dipped in coconut before being deep fried, and served with fries, coleslaw and Cajun marmelade.

Mama's Southern Fried Chicken - US$15.99

I ordered the Fried Chicken, which turned out to be a BIIIIIIG mistake. Don't get me wrong, the chicken was perfectly cooked, the batter was crisp and the gravy was tasty; but the potato was gluggy and had the mouthfeel of packet potato, and the coleslaw and corn wasn't enough to cut through the amazing amount of grease that the chicken contained. Combined with the residue oil from the other dishes, I was actually feeling quite sick on the way back to the hotel.

Side House Salad - US$5.49

Apparently in the US it's odd to have a salad as a side - it's normally served as an appetiser. Luckily Bubba Gump Shrimp doesn't prescribe to that practise, because we sure as hell needed one. It was a simple house salad, nothing fancy, with our choice of dressing, which was a raspberry vinaigrette.

Key Lime Pie - US$6.25

This is also something I wish we didn't order. We've made a key lime pie before, so we naively assumed we knew what one would be like if we ordered it in a restuarant - not so. The crust was gritty and almost had the texture of sand, the lime filling was so sweet it hurt my teeth, and there was no huge layer of meringue, which was what I was looking forward to.

Clearly there are better places to eat than Bubba Gump Shrimp, but they are good for a quick fix, and most of what we tried was pretty good. Steer clear of the Key Lime Pie and you're set.

Parramatta Phoenix, Parramatta

A couple of people who read my blog have asked me about the relative proliferation of Yum Cha posts I've done. It is true, out of all the cuisines I've featured on this blog, Yum Cha does tend to crop up more than others, and I'll tell you why:

Every time I start editing the pictures for Yum Cha posts, I remember how good the food was and I start to get cravings for it again!

Steamed Prawn Dumplings

I think I'm so attracted to it compared to other types of food because I had absolutely zero exposure to it as a child. The only Chinese food we had came from a corner-store Chinese restaurant where the floors were covered with peeling lino and ten-year-old Christmas lights hung from the windows in a derelict fashion. Not only was this a depressing scene, but the food was simply terrible, all oily and soggy, and it put me off Chinese food for a very long time.

Steamed BBQ Pork Buns

Luckily, the Phoenix chain of Yum Cha restaurants are nothing like the restaurants of my childhood. They opened up a new branch last year in Parramatta called Parramatta Phoenix, which is awesome because it's not too far away from where I live and work. True to the other restaurants, the decor is airy and modern, the service quick and snappy, and the food made with fresh, quality ingredients.

Dim Sims

All our old steamed favourites were there - Prawn Dumplings, BBQ Pork Buns and Dim Sims, which were all executed perfectly and served to us hot and fresh.

Fried Noodles

Combination Dumplings

Deep Fried Vegetarian Spring Rolls

Of course, all our favourite fried dumplings made an appearance as well, including Fried Noodles in Soy, crunchy and crispy Combination Dumplings, and Vegetarian Spring Rolls that were a little soggy but still full of flavour.

Eggplant and Minced Prawn

This was something new for me, a little tower of braised eggplant and minced prawn doused in some kind of sauce, I imagine made from seafood considering its overall flavour. The contrast between the slightly mushy texture of the eggplant and the firmer, meatier texture of the prawn mince was magic.

Mango Pancakes

This was a dessert I'd never tried before. It was pretty simple - whipped cream (which I suspect may have been mock cream) and slices of fresh mango were enfolded within a light-as-air mango pancake. It wasn't very sweet in the way true to form for Chinese desserts, which made it all about the mango.

Sweet Tofu Soup

This was also new to me, but I wasn't a fan. I found it to be flavourless, and whilst the tofu was deliriously soft and silky, I definitely prefer it in a savoury dish.

Mango Pudding

The reliable mango pudding was served at the end, with delicious pieces of mango dotting the pudding and condensed milk in a thin layer over the top.  Of course, this was demolished.

Parramatta Phoenix

Westfield Parramatta
Level 4, Shop 4070
159 - 175 Church St
Parramatta NSW 2150.

Ph: (02) 9891 3338

"Handsome Coffee Roasters" Jingle

This ad is just the bees knees. "Careful, it's science!".

 

In other news, my radio silence has been due to the fact that my immune system is shot, and I've been doped up on Cold 'N' Flu and Vicks. Never fear, I'm bouncing back and will be posting again soon!

Barbeque Chicken with Toum

Now that it's winter, the barbeque makes less of an appearance at our place; really, no one wants to be hovering over a grill with an umbrella while the rain is pouring non-stop. So on one of those rare days when the sun peaked out from behind the clouds, we went ahead and started that barbeque without even knowing what to cook. Luckily inspiration came in the form of a craving for Lebanese charcoal chicken. Granted, the chicken recipe is more Morrocan or Tunisian than Lebanese, but I paired it with delicious toum and pickles like at Al Barakeh and said craving was satisfied.

Barbeque Chicken with Toum
Adapted from When I Get Home by Matt Moran

INGREDIENTS

1 1.6kg chicken, cut in half and flattened
1 lemon, quartered

Chermoula Rub
1/2 bunch corriander, chopped
1/2 bunch flat-leafed parsely, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 tbsp chopped ginger
3/4 tsp sweet paprika
3/4 tsp roasted ground cumin seeds
3/4 tsp roasted ground coriander seeds
150mL extra virgin olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
1/2 long red chilli, finely chopped
1 tsp salt

1. Mix together the ingredients for the chermoula rub until combined, then massage the marinade into the chicken and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

2. Preheat the barbeque to its hottest setting (preferably a coal bbq), then cook the chicken skin side down for 15 minutes. Turn the chicken over and cook for a further 10 - 15 minutes, checking with a skewer inserted in the leg - if the skewer comes out hot, chicken is cooked. Remove chicken from the bbq, and serve.

Serve with a cucumber and tomato salad, pickles, lebanese bread and toum. I used the toum recipe from The Food Blog, and highly recommend it - the recipe produced a delicious, fluffy garlic sauce that went perfectly with the chicken.

Gray's Papaya & Levain Bakery, New York, NY, USA

What do you do when you visit New York City as a tourist? Check out all the famous places, of course.

You see glimpses of Gray's Papaya all over the place. It's in Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, the 90's movies Fools Rush In and You've Got Mail, and TV shows like Sex and the City, Castle and How I Met Your Mother. Hell, Gray's Papaya is practically a movie star!

 Gray's Papaya is open 24 hours a day, every day, and sells thousands of hot dogs every week from their two branches. Signs and placards cover the walls, proclaiming your hot dog to be "the best damn frankfurter you ever ate!" and "No Gimmicks, No Bull!".

 The hot dogs here are grilled instead of boiled, and the buns are toasted as well. But, interestingly enough, they also serve all sorts of tropical fruit juices alongside them. Stephen explained to me that pineapples and papayas contain an enzyme that helps break down protein, which aids in digestion.

Recession Special - US$4.95

For US$4.95 you get two hot dogs and a medium drink of your choice, which is excellent value. The dogs come with your choice of toppings, and we ordered two with onion and two with sauerkraut. The frankfurts are a little tougher than what I'm used to, probably due to the cooking method, but they have a lovely charred flavour to them.

Pina Colada

Pineapple Juice

The drinks we chose were pina colada, a smooth, creamy mixture, and the pineapple juice, which was cool and refreshing. I couldn't tell whether or not the pina colada was alcoholic, but I doubt it.

 We migrated to Levain Bakery, a quick 10 minute walk away, which was founded in 1994 by Connie McDonald and Pam Weekes. They're well known for their giant cookies and rustic bread, have a very loyal local clientelly, and anything they don't sell goes to charity.

Latte - US$2.50

 It was freezing cold, so we started with a coffee, which was smooth and strong.

Chocolate Chip & Walnut, Double Chocolate Chocolate Chip, Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip - US$4.00 each

 These cookies are amazing. They're bigger than the size of a human fist, and chock-full of chocolate and nutty goodness depending on what you order. The outside of each cookie is hard and crunchy, and the inside is deliciously chewy.

 We were lucky enough to get our cookies fresh out of the oven; the chocolate was still melted and gooey.

 Afterwards we had a wander and decided to check out the American Museum of Natural History, which is also very famous: scenes from Night at the Museum and How I Met Your Mother spring to mind. It's an amazing place to visit, I highly recommend it!

Gray's Papaya

2090 Broadway
New York, NY
USA

Phone: (212) 799-0243

Levain Bakery

167 West 74th St
New York, NY
USA

http://www.levainbakery.com/

American Museum of Natural History

79th Street and Central Park West
New York, NY
USA

http://www.amnh.org

Sweet Cheese Pie with Poached Quince

If there is one recipe you make from Turkey: Recipes and Tales from the Road by Leanne Kitchen, it has to be this one.

This book, although pure food porn, also has some amazing recipes that really show us that there's more to Turkish cuisine than pide and adana. The pictures (and the stories!) are colourful and vibrant, with a sort of rustic charm that really makes me want to visit Turkey.

Source

This pie is decadent and sweet, with a super crispy filo crust encasing a silky smooth ricotta mixture, flavoured delicately with lemon and vanilla. The oven poached quince lends its unique flavour and sweetness to the dish, matching it perfectly and making everyone reach for seconds.

Sweet Cheese Pie with Oven-Poached Quince
*Adapted from Turkey: Recipes and Tales from the Road by Leanne Kitchen

INGREDIENTS
Sweet Cheese Pie
220g caster sugar
1 tbs lemon juice
700g firm fresh ricotta cheese
1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped
2 eggs
2 1/2 tbs icing sugar
125 mL pouring cream
1 1/2 tbs sifted plain flour
8 sheets filo pastry
125g melted butter

Poached Quince
3 quinces, peeled, cored and halved
330g caster sugar
2 cinnamon sticks
625 mL boiling water

1. For the oven-poached quince, preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Arrange the quince halves in a high-edged baking tray in a single layer, and scatter over the sugar. Pour over the boiling water, add the cinnamon sticks , then cover the dish with aluminium foil and cook for 45 minutes.

2. Turn the quince halves over and cook for a further 45 minutes, until the quince halves are tender. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the syrup. Cut the quince into wedges to serve, retaining the syrup.

3. For the pie, combine the caster sugar with the water in a saucepan over medium-low heat and bring to a simmer. Cook for 5 minutes, then remove from heat and add the lemon juice. Leave to cool.

4. Process the ricotta, vanilla seeds, eggs, lemon juice mixture and icing sugar in a food processor until smooth. Add the cream and pulse until just combined. Add the flour and pulse until smooth, then set mixture aside.

5. Brush a 24cm round baking dish with melted butter. Place a sheet of filo pastry in the base of the dish and brush liberally with butter (keep the remaining filo sheets under a damp tea towel to prevent it drying out). Repeat with the rest of the filo pastry,  placing each sheet at an angle so that the overhang evenly lines the dish.

6. Spoon the ricotta mixture into the pastry case, and fold the overhanging pastry over the filling to cover. Tear up a leftover sheet of filo pastry and scrunch up the pieces to fill in any gaps in the middle of the pie. Bake the pie in the oven for 30 - 40 minutes, or until golden and slightly puffed. Remove from the oven.

7. Spoon the reserved quince syrup over the top of the pie, then leave to cool to room temperature. Cut the pie into slices and serve with the quince on the side.