Get Your Shabu On!

This is really just a quick post to mention a place that I've been going to with some friends for a couple of months now. Every Wednesday night, as part of my efforts to strengthen my core and prevent back spasms that lay me up in bed for weeks on end, I do an hour's pilates class in town. Now the timing isn't great, it starts at 7 and goes for an hour. Given that it's punishing the abs, food beforehand doesn't go down well, and if we waited til we got home to cook, we wouldn't be eating until 9-9:30. Hardly ideal.

Enter Mr. Shabu Shabu. A small Japanese cafe situated about 3 mins away from pilates in the "University Quarter" of town, this place does the best cheap ramen and udon noodles I've found in Canberra. For around $13, you can get a large bowl of ramen noodle soup, with a pork schnitzel (called tonkatsu) and japanese curry. This tastes fantastic, although I will admit if you haven't been addicted to it like I have, it does look a little suspect. But one taste and you'll be hooked. Throw in the fact that you get free Japanese green tea when you sit down and it's a lovely little place to go for a quiet dinner after a workout.

Pizzas @ Debacle

With my grandma making her annual 6 month pilgrimage back to the UK on Thursday, the family got together tonight for 2-for-1 pizzas out at Debacle in Braddon. Having not been to Debacle before, but having heard from a multitude of friends about their pizzas, I was looking forward to having some tasty pizza and beers.

The beers, while expensive (although less then the cost of a pint nowadays from an old favourite, The Wig & Pen), were very tasty. It's the first time I've been able to try Budvar on tap; It's certainly tasty, but shows once again how America makes a (very) poor imitation of foreign exports. I've only had Budweiser once, but vowed then and there to never have it again as it tasted, to me, as though someone had emptied half my beer and replaced it with water.

The pizzas, while tasty, weren't the taste epiphany I was expecting. Don't get me wrong, they weren't bad. But I think I still like the pizzas at Babar's in town better. Debacle's pizzas seemed to have an over-abundance of toppings, to the point of being a distraction from the dish. Having had my favourite pizza ever in a small cafe in the back-streets of Florence, I've come to enjoy the less-is-more approach to pizza toppings. You don't need to go overboard with the amount or number of ingredients to make a good pizza. Just get the taste balance right. And put it on a thin crust (this was an option at Debacle, but not one chosen by the family).

Having said all that, would I go back? The beers alone make it irresistible for me to go back. And on a 2-for-1 Tuesday, I'd certainly go another pizza. But it's not Florence.

How D'you Like Them (Love)Apples

Whilst on the topic of soups, I was cleaning up the random mountain of papers on my desk the other day when I came across a recipe scrawled on the back of a primary school maths exercise sheet (from my wife's scrap-paper pile, no doubt). The recipe was one I copied down hurriedly over the phone from my mum whilst planning an entry for a Soup Cook Off with some friends of mine.
I'm glad I found the piece of paper now, as it's a recipe I was really happy with and think it's time to file it in a more permanent, and more organised, medium. The recipe itself claimed to be for Love-Apple Soup. This is the only time I've ever heard tomatoes referred to as Love-Apples.  With a few on the fly additions to the ingredients list, I came up with the following recipe for: Cream of Chill Tomato Soup.

serves....plenty
Ingredients

700g tomatoes, peeled and chopped

125g butter

3 sliced carrots

60g chopped bacon

120g flour

2L water

2 bay leaves

1 large handful of basil, corsely chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 - 2 tsp  cayenne pepper
1/4 - 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

salt, pepper, and caster sugar to taste

Method

1. Melt butter over a medium heat, add carrots and bacon and sweat them in a covered pot for 5 - 10 minutes
2. Add flour and cook for 2 - 3 minutes to make a rue
3. Remove from heat, add tomatoes, water, basil, garlic, bay leaves, and cayenne pepper
4. Bring to the boil and season to taste, then cook for 1 hour on a low heat, skimming the surface when necessary.
5. Blend in batches and serve with a dash of cream, some freshly ground pepper, and crusty bread.

I absolutely love this recipe, and it went down a treat in the Soup Cook Off, earning a second place behind an amazing French Onion Soup (which was the inspiration for the recipe I came up with).

Tearfully Delicious

A couple of weeks ago I tried my hand at a French Onion Soup. I looked at a few different recipes from taste.com.au and, in the end, picked and chose from a few to concoct my own recipe.

serves 4

Ingredients
80g Unsalted butter
1 Kg brown onions, halved and sliced.
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp brown sugar
2 tbs plain flour
1 L Beef Stock
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 bouquet garni
1 bay leaf
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 30cm baguette, sliced
1 tbs dijon mustard
1/2 cup shredded gruyere cheese
sea-salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method

1. Heat butter in a large pot. Add onion and cook, stirring, for 10 minutes or until the onion softens. Add the sugar and cook, stirring occasionally, for 8-10 minutes until the onion is golden.
2. Add the flour and cook, stirring, for 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat and gradually add the beef stock and red wine, stirring until combined.
3. Place the mixture over medium heat. Add the bouquet garni, bay leaf, and thyme and bring to the boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes or until soup thickens slightly.
4. While soup is simmering, grill baguette slices until bread is dried, but not browned. Spread one side of each slice with dijon mustard and sprinkle with cheese. Place under grill and cook until cheese is golden brown.
5. Remove bouquet garni and bay leaf and season to taste with salt and pepper.
6. To serve, ladle soup into serving bowls and top with the baguette slices and a sprig of fresh thyme to garnish.

All in all the soup was a winner, though the cheesy croutons are a definite must as they contrast the flavour of the soup perfectly and turn a ho-hum meal into something wonderful. As an aside, the Gruyere was quite pricey ($50/kg) and from a flavour perspective I think you could probably get a similar result with a decent parmesan mixed with a little shredded mozzarella for the elasticity.

Who Needs Nando's?

Why go out and spend $9 on a burger at Nando's or Oporto's? As something that my wife and I have started making at home recently, I really love the flavours you can put into these chicken burgers. The below is a guideline of how I make mine, but experimentation with flavour is, of course, part of the fun.


(makes 2 gourmet chicken burgers)
Ingredients
1 Chicken Breast, halved depth-wise
4 rashers of shortcut rindless bacon
1/2 Avocado
2 Tbsp mayonnaise
1 handful of mixed lettuce
2 slices pineapple
60g cheese, sliced
2 Hamburger rolls (fresh from the bakery is best)
Satay or Nando's Peri-Peri sauce to taste (or something else, if you prefer)

Method

1. Mash the avocado in a bowl, add 1 tsp of the mayonnaise and mix well.
2. Heat a griddle-pan to a high heat and cook the bacon for 2-3 mins each side.
3. Meanwhile, cut the rolls in half and toast under a grill until dried but not brown. Place cheese on the top half and return to the grill to melt cheese and toast bottom half lightly. Remove bottom half when toasted and turn off grill when cheese is melted to your satisfaction.
4. Remove bacon from the pan and place under the grill to keep warm. Lower the pan temperature to med-high and place chicken in the pan, cooking for 4-5 mins each side until cooked through.
5. To assemble the burger, spread the remaining mayonnaise over the bottom half the the rolls, followed by the mashed avocado. Add a small handful of mixed lettuce and sauce of your choice. Top each burger with one half of the chicken, 2 rashers of bacon, and a slice of pineapple, then the top burger half.

A simple burger which nevertheless tastes fantastic, and can be put together for around $7 for two burgers. Definately cheaper than Nando's!