Bombay Bliss @ Milton

Bombay Bliss @ Milton
14 Park Rd, Milton



Though it might seem that I cook and buy Indian food very often, I have felt deprived of late. We haven't tried any of the Indian restaurants in Toowoomba and whilst there has been the odd curry cooked at home, it's very different to ordering and enjoying a professionally-cooked banquet.



I was very excited about going to Bombay Bliss. Very, very excited. So much so that we arrived at Park Road more than 30min early and had to kill time in a nearby cafe.

Rich Chocolate Brownies

Rich Chocolate Brownies
Home Cooking



We were planning to make a lemon meringue pie for Australia Day but... I forgot. I literally forgot that it was already decided upon and spent hours trawling through online recipe sites trying to find a good dessert.



What I ended up with was a recipe from Vogue Forums. The original thread was actually about Jamie Oliver's brownies (which I've made before) but someone posted up what they thought was the best they've tried. I read it and thought it sounded promising.

Lamb Two-Ways

Lamb Two-Ways
Home Cooking



It can be a bit tricky to define Australian food. I always thought it's more about the ingredients and quality of produce than specific dishes. Lamb was a no-brainer for us on Australia Day.

I admit to being less than accomplished in cooking meat so Mochi got the honors. She decided to get creative and try more than one flavor.

Smoked Salmon and Potato Salad

Smoked Salmon and Potato Salad
Home Cooking



I like potato salads but try not to make them too often because they truly go against the idea of salads being healthy. Often, the best-tasting ones involve white potato boiled and tossed with loads of cream, sour cream and mayo.

When I saw this recipe, I couldn't resist. It doesn't have huge amounts of cream, just a few dollops of creme fraiche, which isn't too bad. More importantly, it combines the luscious idea of potato salad with one of my favorites, smoked salmon, to create an awesome food superchild.


The original recipe is by Jamie Oliver but I left out horseradish because I couldn't find any. Since that was a crucial component of his version, I can't really claim they're the same dish. I also forgot to add capers even though I had some in the house... hey, it happens when you're running around trying to make 3 things at once.

Vietnamese Chicken and Mint Salad

Vietnamese Chicken and Mint Salad
Home Cooking



It's rare for me to repeat a recipe, even one that's good, because I'm constantly needing new material for this blog. I've made Nigella Lawson's Vietnamese chicken salad before but on that occasion, it was devoured before I got any good photos.

I needed to come up with some salads for Australia Day and I remembered that this one works. It's easy to do and it's light and fresh for Summer but with a bit of a kick (Vietnamese cuisine = chili).

Chillin' out on Australia Day

I've heard some people speculate that with Mochi and I living in the same house, we'd be eating gourmet feasts every night.

I suppose that springs from the fact that we're both foodies and have a library's worth of cookbooks between us.

All stocked up

Truth is, we're also lazy. Lunch for us is usually a sandwich. If I'm feeling posh I'll microwave frozen leftovers. The usual dinner for her is salad and for me, it'll be something ridiculous like chocolate and a piece of toast or 3 muesli bars.

That's not to say we don't love cooking. It's just that everyday life leaves us tired and too CBF to do anything fancy.

When there's an excuse to pull some dishes out and try recipes from our 'gotta make this' lists, we'll have a ball getting it all together. Australia Day was a perfect time to let the normally-restrained cooking bug come out and live it up.

Seafood lunch

We spent the morning food-prepping, had a lunch of fresh prawns and fried calamari and started cooking/eating in the afternoon. From about 3pm onwards, we spent a good 4 hours or so just grazing on the produce.

Due to my terrible organization skills, I wasn't sure how many guests we'd be having but we agreed between ourselves that even if it was just the 2 of us, we'd still go all out.

That wasn't the case in the end (thankfully) and it was great because as much fun as it is to make and eat your own food, it's about 10000000000000 x better sharing with friends.


Thanks to all our lovely friends for coming (some all the way from Brissie) and their contributions of spirited debate, odd topics and interesting anectodes that may or may not be true. This is the stuff that good memories are made of.

To our friends on Australia Day... CHEERS!

Beer bottle cap in a finished glass of Kahlua and milk

Our Australia Day menu:

Starters -

• Vietnamese chicken and mint salad
• Smoked salmon and potato salad

Mains -

• Mint and vodka lamb
• Cumin and cinnamon lamb

Dessert -

• Extra rich chocolate brownies

Lok Fok

Lok Fok
19A, Sunny Park Shopping Centre, 342 McCullough St, Sunnybank



I always get excited about new eateries opening at Sunnybank. The selection of Asian food in Sunnybank is nothing to be sneezed at but it doesn't hurt to have more. Most of my 'usual spots' are collectively located in Market Square. When Lok Fok opened (months ago now), I was keen to try it but I'm rarely at Sunny Park plaza so it wasn't easy.



Finally, the other day, I asked mum and dad to choose a new restaurant for us to have dinner at. Dad suggested Lok Fok and so finally, after months of speculation and nearly going in but changing my mind at the last minute, we made the plunge.

The Chelsea Bistro

The Chelsea Bistro
http://www.thechelsea.com.au/



I did plan to visit Brisbane every weekend but that has been affected by the floods, my laziness and unwillingness to spend money on fuel. Having said that, I managed a trip last weekend and did the responsible thing of eating at as many places as possible so I'd have enough material to blog.



The Chelsea has been on my wishlist since I started going to The Barracks. Though I'm usually relaxed with eating out, I thought this time, because I was traveling from Toowoomba, it would be worthwhile to make a booking and avoid disappointment.

Crunchy Wombok Salad

Crunchy Wombok Salad
Home Cooking



I have a new favorite salad. I admit that I do like salad. There exists people in the world who see 'salad' on the menu and immediately erase it as a potential choice. I, on the other hand, frequently order salad at restaurants at the expense of a protein main. And I'm rarely disappointed.



BUT... my idea of a home salad is somewhat less exciting. I usually throw together a concoction of pantry spares. This means: leaves, ham/tuna, boiled egg and a piece of bread toasted and torn to simulate croutons. If I'm lucky, I'll have an avocado ready too.

The Spotted Cow Hotel

The Spotted Cow Hotel
http://www.spottedcow.com.au/



It seems that I've made up for 3 weeks of being bored out of my brains in Toowoomba all over one weekend. Starting with the trip to Amigo's, I kept my hair let down over the next three days, doing my best to eat my way out of my small town rutt.

So far, it's working. But at the same time, I'm going to have to dial it down or risk exploding.

Last night, our restaurant marathon ended with The Spotted Cow.



We were kindly invited out for dinner by some friends living in Toowoomba. They chose the spot but Mochi and I, being keen and hungry, arrived early and snatched a table.

Cherry Tomato, Basil and Bocconcini Salad

Cherry Tomato, Basil and Bocconcini Salad
Home Cooking



This is another one of my lazy throw-togethers that don't really deserve the description of 'home cooking'.



The idea of combining tomatoes with basil and bocconcini is hardly original. I've seen it as an entree on many bistro menus. Often, it's presented in stacks, or as skewers.

Breakfast Buffet at Cafe Forte

Breakfast Buffet at Cafe Forte
http://thecafeforte.businesscatalyst.com/



An indulgent Sunday breakfast is one of life's great pleasures.

My biggest dilemma these days is deciding to cook up a big feast at home or go out for something nice (minus washing up).

Yesterday, we opted for the later and headed out onto Margaret Street knowing that there would be at least one cafe along the way that had something good on offer.



As predicted, we spotted a sign for a buffet breakfast at Cafe Forte. It was only $10 with $5 from every order donated towards the flood relief efforts.

Sweet Potato and Spinach Risotto

Sweet Potato and Spinach Risotto
Home Cooking



I have a terrible memory for the past. While some people can recollect events from when they were children, I have trouble remembering things that happened last year.

Every now and again, a blast from the past swims to the surface and I find myself thinking 'hey... that was cool'.


This is a story from when I was younger. It's not much of a story actually. Basically, mum was never very experimental with food and tended to steer away from Western food. One day she brought home a risotto premixed packet from Woolies. It contained rice, spinach, semi-dried tomatoes and cheese. She cooked it in the rice cooker and it turned out great (for my standards at the time, keeping in mind that I had no idea what risotto was 'supposed' to be like).

Amigo's Bar and Grill

Amigo's Bar and Grill
131 Margaret St, Toowoomba



Last night was my first ever Friday in a long, long time where I didn't have to work the next morning. I've been doing Saturdays since high school and as a result, have never really experienced the sheer relief people get after calling it a day after Friday is over.



Yesterday, it finally came and boy, was it good.

Flood relief comfort cookies - soft and melty choc chip

Soft and Melty Choc Chunk Cookies
Home Cooking



I had an RDO 2 days after the Toowoomba flash floods. 80% of it was spent in bed watching TV and on Facebook. I did manage to do the laundry and wash some dishes, which felt productive. I also whipped up some cookies.



Cookie baking is great because the process is comforting/distracting/relaxing and the result is equally (or even more) comforting.

Nothing beats a bacon sandwich

Bacon sandwich two-ways
Home Cooking



I've been shunning bacon for years now. Years. After a while, believe it or not, the mind/body gets used to it and you start forgetting how awesome it is.

At least, that's what a thought.

A couple of weeks ago, I developed inexplicably strong cravings for bacon sandwich. I'm pretty sure I read about it in a book somewhere. A novel. And it sort of just ingrained in my mind and refused to let me go.

Well I'm not one to refuse my needs. It so happened that I had some bacon stocked away for Byron (boys never go on bacon bans) and I thought I could put it to good use.

Pappa Roti

Pappa Roti
195 Margaret Street, Toowoomba



Being new to Toowoomba, I thought that flooding might be commonplace. Apparently it's not. And the evidence is that this small town is all over the news today.

I live in my sheltered world of my unit + my clinic but I hear that some of the main streets were like rivers with cars floating around like boats. Perhaps that's a romantasized (is that a word?) view... I'm not sure. I missed out on the action.


In any case, the rain's been around for a while and on a day similar to today (but without the dire consequences), my mood matched the weather and Byron took me to have a Pappa Roti coffee bun.

Vegetarian Stir-fry

Vegetarian Stir-fry
Home Cooking



A while ago, Byron bought this weird can of vegetarian abalone. I thought he was crazy. We didn't end up using it for whatever he wanted to make that time and the can sat in the pantry, unloved, for a long while.



It ended up traveling with us to Toowoomba and we finally found a use for it. I say 'we' but it was really his own little food project.

Fitzy's on Church

Fitzy's on Church
153 Margaret Street, Toowoomba



I haven't had much of a chance to explore the dining scene in Toowoomba because that takes a dining buddy. I left Hien behind in Brisbane and there was noway I was going restaurant hopping on my own around here. Lucky for me, Mochi's come to my rescue.



We headed to Fitzy's for dinner and catch up. It's located behind Fibber's, which sources tell me is the most happenin' pub in town.

Mangomisu for Christmas Day

Mangomisu
Home Cooking



Yeh, yeh, it's nearly 2 weeks since Christmas. Maybe more. I'm a bit late for relevance. But let's set the clock back a short while. I was given the task of making dessert for Christmas and by now, y'all should know me. I take that kind of thing very, very seriously.

Dong Bei Restaurant

Dong Bei Restaurant
Shop ?, 70 Pinelands Road, Sunnybank Hills



The first thing I want to say is that I realize that '?' is not an appropriate way of describing where this restaurant is. I'm betting it's shop 3 but I can't find any online sources that confirm it.

Dong Bei Restaurant is located in the same mini complex as Endless Noodle and Oishii Sushi. They are shop 1 and 2 respectively and Dong Bei is the next one along so... logically speaking, 3 should follow.

The reason why it's so elusive online, aside from the fact that it doesn't have an English name (making it a b*tch to Google) is that it's brand spanking new. My parents were telling me about this proposed new restaurant in the papers and I saw it get fitted out and decorated.

Mint Oreo Ice-cream

Mint Oreo Ice-cream
Home Cooking



Over a year ago, I bought an ice-cream machine and fell in love with that ice-cream machine. Due to unfortunate circumstances, I have only used it 3-4 times since then. The thing about my ice-cream machine is that the bowl needs to be put in the freezer 24 hours before you want to churn a batch so your freezer needs to have room.



At mum and dad's house, their freezer never had room to spare. The freezer was full of odd things from tins of green tea to a frozen gold fish (one of dad's pets that died and he was too sad to let it go or flush it down the toilet) and my ice-cream machine was left abandoned in the pantry.

My blogging drought is about to come to an end

Hi all,

HAPPY NEW YEAR

The closest photo I could find that resembles champagne... ah well, at least it's bubbly

Thanks for patiently waiting as it's taken me this long to get internet access at my new place. I have plenty of review/cooking posts ready to upload so that's on my to-do list for the moment I've set up the modem.

It's slightly depressing how dependent we are on internet nowadays. Technically, I've got access on my phone but because the reception's unreliable, it's really slow and I'm just not patient enough to deal with it, not to mention having to type on a palm-sized touch screen.

Knowing I'm going to get fast internet by tonight is The Most Exciting Thing that's happening this week :D.
From that point on, I'll feel like life is back to 'normal'. Facebook, e-mails, food blogging and constantly refreshing my Netbank balance to make sure I haven't popped my credit card limit...

All in all, I'm happy to get back on the horse. I hope everyone's had a great start to the new year.

Here's to a new 365 days worth of eating, drinking and cooking.
Cora