Birthday Afternoon Tea

I've sampled Afternoon tea in a fair few places but Buxton in the peak district is aparently famous for it so since it was my friend Dr G's birthday and my birthday hadn't long since past it was time to check it out.

Although it was late in the day they had no problems fixing up an Afternoon tea for us, They offered to split one between two if we wanted but we were there to spoil ourselves (and were planning to head out for birthday cocktails without any dinner) so we went for the one each option!

The pot of tea arrived before the food which is just the way it should be - The tea has time to brew so it can be enjoyed at the same time! The tea was in a nice large pot and Dr G managed to convince me to wait until it was properly brewed and the correct colour. whenever I make pots of tea the first cup is always too week as I'm too impatient to have tea NOW!

Wow! It makes me happy just looking at it! A Three Tier cake stand of Goodness! So, we have....

Tiny Sandwiches! and I mean tiny, I felt like a giant! We had the clasic cucumber sandwich, smoked salmon and a honey roast ham. Surprisingly the ham was the winner, the smokey flavour with the soft white bread was perfect!

We went for the Sultana Scone over Cherry (who has cherry scones? really?) The scones were big and fluffy, we could have used a little more clotted cream but probably because we are a bit gluttenous and like to pile it high on two sides of the scone.

We had a selection of four cakes: Victoria sponge, Bakewell tart, Gingerbread and some sort of Tiffin? (is that what it's called?) We really wern't hungry by this point but felt we must at least taste them, The Gingerbread was the stand out with cristallised ginger on top, mmmmm.

Turns out neither of us like almonds so the bakwell tart was abandoned on the plate. How lucky we hadn't gone to Bakewell which is just a short drive away! Ah well G we always knew we had similar tasts except for pineapples which I love and you hate!

Number 6 was a lovely Birthday treat and a great place for two old friends to gather for a LONG catch up, we didn't feel rushed and the service was attentive without hasseling us at all. We felt very welcome. The room is filled with teapots of all shapes and sizes and was warm and cosy on a cold-ish October day.

Number 6,
The Square,
Buxton
UK
Tel: 01298 213541
Website: http://www.no6tearooms.co.uk
Opening Hours: Monday to Firday 10am-4pm
Saturday and Sunday 10am - 5pm

Tapas Off

The most recent in a line-up of offs, (See Pie off, and Curry off) The Tapas Off was a roaring success, I think we have mastered the little bites of food and often for offs rather than large meals.

With 7 of us taking part there were many tasty morsels to be had, Starting with a Mezze plate (or is that more Turkish?) Slivers of melt in your mouth prosciutto, a crumbly mature Cheddar, olives, crusty bread, and Andrew had pickled Sardines which came out fantastic and octopus with not so much success!


L&T made stuffed mushrooms, My mum says "Life is too short to stuff mushrooms" Even if it takes a while theses were delish!


Andrew deep fried white bait, white bait are tasty but the tiny bones were a bit disconcerting, best when straight out of the hot oil.

The Boy made Empanadas, he even made the dough (pastry?) they actually turned out a little like Cornish pasties. very tasty.

Oh dear these were Bad. Andrew bought a Tapas book and this looked so strange we said he had to make them, Not sure what they were called but I believe the combination of dates, brandy, chili, and blue cheese wrapped in prosciutto, should never be touched again. disgusting.

Prawns wrapped in prosciutto a much better plan!

The Boy made Spicy meatballs cooked in a sofrito sauce. The meatballs had a hidden cheesy gooey centre. The boy did a practice run with these and did half with cheese and half without. once cooked you couldn't tell which were which and after my 4 for tea I had all non-cheese filled. For lunch and other 4 non-cheese filled. finally for lunch on day 2 I found a cheese filled one! delish. on the night they were all stuffed with cheese to avoid disappointment.

L&T cooked spicy chicken wings with a yogurt and turmeric oil dip (please correct me if I got that wrong) we all made a mess as we ate them. Really good.

L&T had slow roasted the Pork Belly on a bed of fennel at home and just warmed it up on the night, this was melt in the mouth succulent and juicy. I'm not usually a fan of pork belly because of how fatty it is, but the slow roasting had broken down the fat and just left beautiful meat.

Chris cooked up whole spicy paprika prawns, I believe there was a lot of butter involved in the cooking, really tasty prawn meat just waiting to pop out of their shells, I'm sure when I was up in Darwin someone showed me a trick to getting prawns out of the shell it was so easy and fast and simple and then i had a few more beers and now I can't remember it at all. Another messy dish!

Ah! my dish was a combination of 2 recipes. I was aiming for a frozen vodka gazpacho! I combined a frozen vodka tomato soup recipe and a gazpacho recipe and ended up with a savoury slushy that was really weird. A complete flop and not the palate cleanser I was aiming for!

Finally Karen russeled up a HUGE Paella, the special paella pan creates a crunch crust on the bottom as it cooks, I'd never seen paella made before, the main ingredients are sauted off in the pan and then the rice and stock are simmered together in the pan until the rice has absorbed all the stock. There are many rules about stiring to create the perfect cruncy bottom. Karens version was great but it was small portions all round as we had eaten quite a lot already!

Thanks guys for a fantastic evening, what shall the next off be?

The Stag, Rundle Street

Friday Late night shopping can really wear you out. We went looking for food on Rundle Street and decided to try The Stag I've had the cone of chips here before and loved the cone holder they bring to the table, It advertises itself as Adelaide's worst vegetarian restaurant, due to the quantity of meat on it's menu.

The boy went the Jucy Lucy ($20) at the recommendation of the girl behind the bar. The Jucy Lucy is a cheeseburger with the cheese inside the beef pattie.

I went the Chili Lime Chicken($26), Half a chicken marinated in Chili and Lime served with chips.

Unfortunately neither of us thought our food was great. The Jucy Lucy was really greasy, which I guess it to be expected but there was no salad or anything to cut the grease just bun-burger-bun. I was a little worried when I ordered the Chicken that it would be too big or too spicy, I asked the girl behind the bar if it was very spicy, her response of "I dunno" showed she couldn't care less. It arrived and was quite small and not spicy at all, it was a really sweet coating, and the flavour was only on the skin it hadn't made it into the meat at all, more like a glaze than a marinade.

I have to admit that the chicken was cooked well, nice, juicy and tender with a crispy skin. But very disappointing meal, afraid we won't be heading back.


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Lamb Leftover

I needed a little pick me up happiness after a bad day at work.

I called the boy at his office and said we should go out for tea, he reminded me that our fridge is full of leftovers.

It’s amazing what you can do with leftovers when you actually try.


Leftover boiled potatoes roasted in hot olive oil seasoned with rosemary, thyme, dried basil and salt


Individual Cauliflower cheese – Cauliflower steamed in Microwave while I whisked up a cheese sauce with a big tablespoon of Dijon mustard, and a little parmesan.


Peas Steamed in Microwave


Leftover Lamb re-heated in Bisto and redwine sauce

This is one of the nicest meals we have had in ages (and we don’t eat bad)
It always helps when it’s joined with a nice bottle of bubbles.

Ristorante Pinocchio, Unley Rd

Me and the boy headed out for Dinner the other night to Unley Road. I really fancied Asian food and there are a couple of nice restaurants there I fancy trying.

However the menu and fantastic atmosphere of Ristorante Pinocchio changed my mind and had me craving Italian instead.

The Restaurant is quite new to the Unley Strip (I think it used to be an internet cafe, but the renovations make it un-recognisable) The furniture is wonderfully solid, big heavy chairs selection of small and huge long tables make it perfect for couples or large groups. The fresh white walls are decorated with colourful Pinocchio paraphernalia of all shapes and sizes from days gone by.


It was a cold night so we started with a bottle of Italian red to warm us from the inside out! I think it was a Zinfandel although I can't quite remember, the Fruity blackcurenty flavours still linger strongly in my mind.


The menu was vast and so were our appetites! We ordered Antipasto 'La Fraschetta' for starter and both ordered Specials for main.


The Antipasto ($17.90) was a lovely way to start the meal, little tastes which left you longing for more. I'm not sure what the little fish were (Maybe sardines?) but the salty tang combined with the marinated mushrooms was fantastic! And the prosciutto was melt in the mouth but not wafer thin.


I tried an olive (which I thought was very brave!) and it wasn't as strong as others I've attempted but I'm just not an olive fan. I think the seeds are cardamon seeds? The boy likes them and did his best to eat our fair share!


The Salmon was a replacement for the Tuna special which had sold out (I liked that they had a replacement option available as often once it's gone it's gone...too bad!) The Salmon was grilled and served with a Truffle butter and steamed vegetables (we thought the waitress had said roasted veg so we didn't order a side of potatoes. and It was a little on the small side without ordering the side, next time we will know better).


I finally decided on the Umbricelli alla Bolognese ($24.00) Homemade pasta, like a thick spaghetti, tossed in a slow cooked veal and pork bolognese. mmmm. The pasta was quite al dente and had a really nice flavour to it, I'm not sure I've ever had homemade pasta before? The sauce had a lovely rich meaty flavour and not as tomato-y as I was expecting.

Definatly a place we will go back to.


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Pinocchio Ristorante
50 Unley Road (Opposite Boho)
Parkside
Tel: 0414157974
e-mail: edoterni@yahoo.it

Open Lunch- Tue-Fri 12.00 - 3.00pm
Dinner- Tue-Sat 6.00 - late

Loca-vore Stirling

Sometimes friends know exactly what you need, or maybe you are friends because you are similar. I woke up late after a night out and found a text on my phone "Tea and cake?"

Perfect! My friends picked me up and we went to Stirling the home of Tea and cake!

Loca-vore on the main street looked nice and had a few people sitting on the outside tables.

We headed inside and stood at the bar, 2 staff making coffees paid no attention so we found a menu and took a seat. sign on the table sent us back to the bar to order.

A long time later we managed to order
One Iced Coffee, with Apple Tartin
One cup of tea, (no pots avaliable) with Apple Tartin
One Hot chocolate with citron Tart


Cue Iced Chocolate. Nope not our order... The waitress plonked it on the table and started to walk away before we could adk what it was. her responce when we explained we didn't order it was "Huh, but then I'll haveto make it again, can't you just have this one?" erm no.


Cue Apple Tartin, hmmm, I didn't really enjoy it too much something... maybe cloves?


The Citron Tart was much nicer, very sweet


After we had pretty much finished our cake the hot chocolate came out, and then my tea (well hot water a tea bag and the ultimate sin hot milk)

I really likes the ethics of this place, Local ingrediants sourced from within 100km. such a shame the service was such a let down

Photos by Dr Vix

five months of catch up

November was a long time ago, We have moved house and been without internet for about 3 months. Also I've been lazy.

I do nice stuff and take nice photos and never get around to posting!
Lets see...

January 6th was Auld Christmas - we went to Tandoori oven on Unley Rd (Now closed as of 16th February, so don't drool over the pictures that much!)


In February I received my Full Permanent resident Visa, The boy bought me a wonderful book on Lighthouses and I bought myself a BBQ to celebrate... I didn't realise it would be flat pack and we would have to build it!


March is Festival time in Adelaide, full of Picnics and BBQ's


Oh and I went fishing and caught a cuttlefish! The boy cooked it up in a green thai marinade (lots of Chilli and ginger) very tasty.


I'll try not to leave it so long next time.

Curry Off

On Saturday night a group of enthusiasts joined for the underground world of the curry off. The night was not aimed at the hottest curry or the most curry eaten but the simple aim of rolling home with full belly's and having to lie on the sofa and say "Oh, why did I go back for thirds?"

Fijian Goat Curry
The boy brought a Fijian Goat curry, after a few false starts (Hyderabadi chicken which was too spicy for my sensitive taste buds...) The Fijian Goat curry was a winner. Goat was sourced from Wild OZ in the central markets. Cooked on the Friday night and the flavours left to mature in the fridge overnight.

It was a zesty, tasty curry where the goat was so tender you didn't need a knife but holding it's shape enough that it didn't turn to mush! Delish definitely one we will make again.

Beef Massaman Curry
Karen went for a tried and tested recipe handed down from her Mum, She had a hectic day whipping up a second batch of curry as the Friday Night batch had gone dreadfully wrong (Turns out you can't use evaporated coconut milk instead of the real stuff!) The finished product was delicious, I really liked the long strips of soft stewed onion, mmmm melt in your mouth flavour. Not as spicy as I was expecting I thought the Raita would definitely be required!

Red Thai Mussel Curry
Andrew made a Red Thai Mussel curry. When I heard about this one I was a bit wary, I've never been a fan of Seafood curries I always have a hunch that if seafood needs to be curried it's not fresh enough(also weirdly I'm never game for seafood on pizzas). This curry may have changed everything! This reminded me of a moules mariniere the mussels were cooked in a covered fry pan and allowed to steam in the red thai sauce. They were Fantastic! cooked to perfection and so tasty. It was this curry that made me go back for 2nds and I greadily spooned the sauce on to my plate. It turned out the sauce on it's own was really spicy but when combined with the mussels the flavours blended together really well. I have already stolen the recipe!

Saag Aloo
Andrew also brought Saag Aloo, A Spinich and Potato curry a tasty side

Lamb Kari
Chris made a Lamb Kari, a North Indian Curry from Madhur Jafrey's Ultimate Curry Bible ..... We realised we had a real spread of curry recipes Fiji, Malaysia, Thailand, and India. I'm glad we didn't all go for the same region. The Lamb Kari had really soft green capsicum chunks (Yip I've Australianised! They are now capsicums to me not peppers!) I really likes the big Chunks of Capsicum, soft and full of soaked in flavour, the Lamb was very tender I think this was one of the spicier curries although once they were all on my plate it was hard to tell where the heat was comming from as I'm a big fan of fitting a bit of everything on to my fork!

Mango Chuttney and 2 types of Raita
Andrew brought a homemade mango chutney,wow, he talked it down as it was a bit sweet and when you tasted it on a spoon it was really sweet but when eaten with curry it went really nicely. Good work!

Me and Karan both made Raita, different recepies mine was Cucumber and Mint Raita it turned out really runny (more than I'd intended. maybe I didn't dry the cucumber enough) and Karens had Tomato in I think? both were called upon to reduce the flames in my mouth later!

Daal
What is a curry off without Daal! I frantically made this just before we set off, I say I made it, The boy bought the ingredients and chopped everything while I got ready then I put it into the pan and stirred! Thank you my sous chef!

A Tasty Well Heaped Plate


We had a great night a wonderful follow up to last years Pie off! what will the next challenge be? Suggestions welcome.