Baked Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Mushroom Sauce

Baked Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Mushroom Sauce
Home Cooking



I got the 'Meals Men Love' cookbook as a gift a while back and this is the first recipe to be trialed. All the recipes look quite easy and don't require a lot of ingredients. This particular recipe was chosen on the basis that I felt like something chickeny.


The procedure is really simple and straight-forward. I didn't follow exact quantities that were mentioned but rather, did my own thing using the recipe as a rough guideline. I substituted bacon for ham and served some baked asparagus on the side. The recipe below is MY version.

Espressohead for Breakfast

Espressohead
169 Boundary St, West End



Breakfast posts get me excited. As well as being my favorite meal of the day, breakfast food photos always turn out amazing because of the morning lighting. I heard excellent things about the quality and serving size of breakfast at Espressohead.


The cafe spans across 2 small shopfronts on Boundary St. The decor is casual and artsy - great atmosphere for coffee and chatting. We ordered beverages first. My friend got a cappuccino and I ordered an unsweetened iced coffee with soy milk (my new usual cold coffee choice).

Simple Sweet Coleslaw

Simple Sweet Coleslaw
Home Cooking



This is a throw-together recipe from a while ago. I was craving fresh vegetables and didn't want to eat anything heavy for dinner. Coleslaw is an ideal solution. It has enough body to fill you up and all those shredded veggies make you feel like you're eating concentrated nutrients!


Coleslaw is easily a family classic. It's versatile - can be used as a side or for lunch, dinner, picnics, whatever. The composition of vegetables and what you put in the dressing is all really flexible but best of all, it's easy to make it taste good.

Mecca Bah

Mecca Bah
http://www.meccabah.com/bris/index.html



I'm developing a habit of suggesting Turkish food for group gatherings. Last time, it was Caravanserai. The most recent time I had the chance to catch up with friends, we went to Mecca Bah at The Emporium.


(Interrupting to say: I'm sorry about the poor quality of photos. I managed to water-log my camera... again... and at the time of this dinner, I used a point-and-shoot method that didn't involve the screen. In other words, I had no idea what my photos looked like)

I LOVE Mecca Bah. I've been there several times now and it's been a great experience on each occasion. There are downers, that's for sure - you can't book so you have to risk waiting for a table. Also, whilst the waitstaff are friendly, the service can be a bit rushed simply because they're so busy.

Slow-cooked Moroccan Lamb Shanks

Slow-cooked Moroccan Lamb Shanks
Home Cooking



I recently took advantage of the interest-free period at Myer and acquired a slow cooker. The first formal project was lamb shanks. Perhaps it's weird to crave such an obviously Wintery dish in Summer but lamb lovers like shanks all year round.

We didn't really follow a formal recipe but instead chose veggies that seemed appealing. Being the pumpkin addict I am, I opted for half a whole butternut pumpkin. My friend was EXTREMELY skeptical, to say the least and I got accused to no end. Thankfully the end result wasn't over-bearingly pumpkinesque or I would've REALLY copped it.

Curried Egg and Tomato Sandwich

Curried Egg and Tomato Sandwich
Home Cooking



I was raiding my parent's house one day hoping for something to ease hunger but was disappointed by the lack of food available. Thankfully, there was a loaf of Helga's and enough to provide for this sandwich. I would have liked a bit of lettuce too but hey, beggars can't be choosers.

La Dolce Vita Cafe

La Dolce Cafe
12/20 Park Rd, Milton



I was Christmas shopping with some friends last weekend. It was 100% ineffective and we all left empty-handed. As a reward for poor efficiency, we thought a coffee break was well-deserved and I put forward Park Rd as a suggestion.

Gelato bar

After roaming a bit, we settled for La Dolce Vita Cafe, affectionately nicknamed within our group as the 'Eiffel Tower'. There aren't many tables indoors but La Dolce Vita has an expansive outdoor dining area. Food offerings are the standard cafe affair with an Italian twist.

Peking Duck at Home

Peking Duck
Home Cooking



Peking duck has to be one of the greatest food ideas ever. I am crazy about and I eat and enjoy just about anything but if I really had to come up with a 'best of' list, Peking duck might just top it. Of course, I'm referring to the real, authentic stuff you can only get in China.

The so-called Peking duck dishes available in Chinese restaurants here are just not on par at all. They're the wrong breed of ducks and also, the wrong technology. Also, you pay quite a bit for a duck but they don't give you all the meat. The duck gets wheeled back into the kitchen after a few slices of skin are carved off and goodness knows what happens to the rest.



My dad came up with a decent alternative. I'm not going to pretend it's the same as Peking duck in China. Let's be reasonable here. Instead, this is an idea you can easily follow at home and it's much more economical than those restaurant rip-offs.

Satay at Satay Hut

Satay Hut
www.satayhut.com.au


There's been a few times when I haven't been able to think of anywhere to eat in the city. Sure, it's my everyday hangout during term and I know the cafe lunch scene back to front but come night time when I want more than a salad/wrap/yogurt, I get a bit stumped.

To get around, that one night we made the effort to trek to Southbank Parklands. I think Southbank is a bit underrated and tends to be type-casted as some kind of tourism gip but it's really a lovely place to hang out. If you manage to go at a time when there aren't invasive hoards of school children on holiday, the dining and entertainment is not bad at all.



I went from one extreme in the city where I didn't want anything to the other end of the scale in Southbank where there were just too many options and not enough decision-making. In the end, we opted for the first restaurant we walked past that we hadn't tried before.

Desi Dragon: Two-For-One Tuesday

Desi Dragon
www.desidragon.com.au/



I think I first read about Desi Dragon in a newspaper of some sort. In a way, this can be deemed 'fateful' because I never read the news (nor do I pretend to know what's going on). The style of cuisine is described as 'Indian and Chinese'. This combination was so intriguing that I just couldn't resist and Desi Dragon soared pretty high up my 'go to' list.



As it happens, that was a long time ago but I did finally manage to visit a couple of days ago. Since I've been financially challenged of late (not my fault, it is the season for indulgence after all), I waited for a Tuesday because on Tuesdays, there's a special buy-one-get-one-free deal.

Summer Daze - giant ice-cream juice and sky watching

I've been so dizzy with heat, I can barely move. I realize that I seem to be whinging about heat in every post but that can't be helped! High temperature stickiness is bringing out the inner nag. In this post, I plan to introduce you to something that helps me enjoy Summer.

On days when the idea of an icy beverage in a glass frosty with condensation beats the idea of a steak 1000 to 1, this is for you...

Christmas Menu at L'Academie Hotel

Christmas Menu at L'Academie Hotel
http://www.lacademie.com.au/



I've blogged about an experience at L'Academie before. It's a training restaurant facility and as a diner, you take advantage of that by enjoying bargain 3 course meals. Around now, as it's getting closer to Christmas, they have a special Christmas menu to chose from. Since my parents are huge fans of L'Academie, we made a booking to go.

Hainanese Chicken Rice

Hainanese Chicken Rice
Home Cooking



On those really hot, sticky, blazing Summer days (such as what we've been getting of late), the last thing you want to stomach is hot food. Despite this, we still gotta eat, right? I'm not one to let the weather get in the way of a good meal. What we must do is compromise.



Hainanese chicken rice aka Hai Nam chicken rice is not something I was crazy about as a kid. It's quite a subtle/understated dish and when you're young and obsessed with cheese, sauce, sweet and sour etc, it's easy to think of this dish as bland.

My opinion's done a 180, especially with this rendition. I have no claims on authenticity (as with most things I cook); we didn't even follow a recipe. But the end result is tasty, great for Summer and lots of fun. Bland is not part of it!