Egg Bistro for Breakfast

Egg Bistro
http://www.eggbistro.com.au/



In need of a suitable brunch buddy one morning, I dragged my mother out with me. She had already eaten but I convinced her to keep me company. We live on the East side so I thought Egg Bistro would be the easiest to get to. I don't think mum liked it though... heading down Stanley Street reminded her too much of going to work.



We parked and headed into the cafe. It was busy, busy, busy. I suppose that's normal for a Sunday morning so we contented with waiting outside. The wait for a table wasn't too bad... about 10 minutes or so. The queue for a table increased drastically after we got seated so I was quite thankful.

Oktoberfest Party at Bavarian Bier Cafe

Bavarian Bier Cafe
http://www.bavarianbiercafe.com/



After my fantastic night at Sake Restaurant, I felt very privileged and excited to be invited to the Bavarian Bier Cafe Oktoberfest Media party. The chance to try exclusive German beer and a selection of pure Bavarian food? Hell yeh. Pencil me in.



I had never been to the Bavarian Bier Cafe before but Mochi claimed the food was good and I find her judgement to be very reliable. To say I was keen is an understatement. As a testament to my eagerness, Byron and I dashed down to Brisbane (from Toowoomba) after work last Tuesday to attend.

French Onion Soup

French Onion Soup
Home Cooking



Writing this post takes me back... back to Bistrot Bistro (I can never remember whether the first or second word ends with 't'). Mochi ordered French onion soup on this occasion, thus taking my French onion soup maidenhead. We were both surprised with the flavor. Rather than creamy and mild, it was winey, sharp and sour. Mochi hated it but in time, I found myself craving more.



I started doing research on how to make French onion soup. I expected it to be simple and I wasn't disappointed. Mostly, it was just a matter of caramelizing some onion, adding stock, flour, cheese and wine (I noticed recipes with red and white). Some recipes called for the use of herbs. Some added splashes of balsamic vinegar. Most had a crispy carb accompaniment in the form of toasted baguette or puff pastry topping.

Groove Train, the lazy person's way

Groove Train via Room Service
Dining out - but... 'in'



Over the last 3 months or so, I've been harboring this deep, dark suspicion about myself. I fear I'm getting lazy. Too lazy. It's not just a matter of not wanting to do chores. Sometimes I don't want to go out because I know it means I have to put on 'proper' clothes (as opposed to trackies and floppy home t-shirt). Sometimes I even dread having to go through basic acts of humanity (showering, brushing teeth, washing hair). My day's off work are spent in bed playing games and reading George Martin books.

Last Wednesday, I attended a CPD seminar in Brisbane (touched upon in this post), before which I stayed in a hotel.



When I start talking about my dinner arrangements, you'll make sense of why I started this post with a speal about laziness.

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Sour Cream Coffee Cake
Home Cooking



This is another remnant of my cooking marathon last week. What's a cooking marathon without a touch of baking?

I find that when you haven't touched the oven for a long time, it can be very daunting to assign The One recipe to break the drought. Logically, it makes sense to pick something tried and tested so as to steadily rebuild one's confidence. Logic is all fair and good but what about EXCITEMENT? I didn't feel like mucking around with scones and cookies (the only things I can really guarantee success) so I settled into my library of cookbooks and started shortlisting would-be contenders.



I bought lots of cream cheese, mistakenly thinking that this was a common addition to cake batters that emphasized moisture. Um... oops, what I was actually thinking of was 'sour cream'. Anyway, I have lots of cream cheese now that I'm sure I will eliminate at a later date.

Brew for Breakfast

Brew
http://www.brewgroup.com.au



I went on a little adventure this week. Rather than spending my RDO in bed playing games/reading (which is my usual routine), I had a CPD seminar in Brisbane city. My original plan was to stay at mum and dad's and then get a ride into town. After an exhausting weekend however, I decided I really couldn't be stuffed driving to Brisbane and back so I booked a hotel and some return coach tickets instead.



As much as I love staying in hotels, I haven't been in one solo since... one night in New Zealand earlier this year. To be honest, I did feel apprehensive at first because I thought I'd get lonely/scared/bored. Then I mentally slapped myself and got into the whole 'independent woman on business trip' frame of mind.

Korean Beef Bulgogi

Korean Beef Bulgogi
Home Cooking



This craving came about whilst watching TV, which is something I haven't experienced since MasterChef finished up a couple of months ago. We were flicking through the channels and a Korean cooking show came up. I'm sorry to say that I can't recall what it was called but there was an older lady who did most of the cooking and a younger one who's job it was to taste at various stages and look impressed.



She did a great job of making the food look good because while I'm not usually crazy about Korean food, I developed this sudden craving for bulgogi, which was one of the dishes they cooked.

Sweet Potato Frittata

Sweet Potato Frittata
Home Cooking



Last Wednesday on my RDO, I had myself a bit of a cooking marathon. As you've probably noticed, the frequency of dining out posts have drastically decreased. I'm trying to make amends to that ASAP but in the mean time, I'm beefing up my blog with cooking posts.



This recipe from Gordon Ramsay's Healthy Appetite was something that caught my eye the first time I leafed through. Anything with sweet potato jumps out to me because I'm crazy for that root vegetable.

Warm Roast Vegetable Salad

Warm Roast Vegetable Salad
Home Cooking



Sometimes, cooking seems to me to be a bit of a puzzle. You register what's available and have to think of ways to combine them into one dish. This is especially the case when you're at the end of your grocery cycle and a few things present themselves as 'needing' to be used up.



That's what happened to me with a couple of sad capsicums and about 1kg of potatoes. I found myself researching a host of capsicum recipes but nothing that really pulled potatoes into the mix too.

Finally, I spied a roast vegetable recipe online that I didn't actually follow but drew inspiration from.

Bill Granger's Oaty Hotcakes with Blueberry Maple Syrup

Bill Granger's Oaty Hotcakes with Blueberry Maple Syrup
Home Cooking



Sunday night. I am sick as a dawg (all my boasts of 'I haven't been sick all year!' have finally come back to bite me) but that hasn't stopped late-night sugar cravings.



Being my lazy self, grocery shopping was avoided all last week and the pantry and fridge are barren. Despite this, I managed to locate enough basics (i.e. flour, eggs, milk) to start thinking about whipping up a batch of muffins or cookies. That proved to be too much effort and I was on the verge of giving up when I spotted Bill Granger's recipe for oaty hotcakes.

I consider Granger's ricotta hotcake recipe as one of the holy grails of my cooking repertoire. I figured that if the success would transcend to the oat version, it would surely be worthwhile.

Donna Hay's Caramel and Sour Cream Cheesecake

Donna Hay's Caramel and Sour Cream Cheesecake
Home Cooking



I'm having another one of those 'should I blog/shouldn't I blog' moments with regards to this cheesecake. Don't get me wrong, the cheesecake itself was fine beyond contention but my photos are disgusting!



It was the combination of poor lighting, drunk photographer and rushed serving. Sometimes, I dream about having a beautiful large kitchen and days specifically allocated to baking where I have all the time in the world to create perfect photos. Unfortunately, the reality is that these days, I only bake on special occasions and on those occasions, I'm too busy having fun/worrying about everything else to prioritize the photography.