date of visit: Friday 11 May 2012

I’ve been to The Little Leaf and Bean (LLB) once before when, if I recall correctly, I had a coffee and a very good slice of a chocolate and vanilla cream cake. I also knew it was child friendly, so when it came to organising a play date (I never know if these are for the parents or the children …) it was an obvious choice.

The play date was set for 9am which was a brilliant idea until I turned up and realised I hadn’t had breakfast. LLB does all day breakfasts – I opted for the house made muesli which was supposed to come with vanilla yoghurt. I don’t like flavoured yoghurts so I asked if they had plain – unfortunately not, so it was just milk for me. The muesli came with the milk on the side, as well as a decoratively cut kiwi fruit. It cost $7.95 and, while it wasn’t a massive portion, it was big enough for my breakfast and it was really good muesli. Big brownie points for not making it too sweet.

The babies enjoyed fruit toast and baby cinos and, after a little walk, we came back and had cake (an orange-almond affair) and more coffees.

LLB has a (free) wireless hotspot and a good sized outdoor seating area. Inside it’s very cosy – some reasonably tightly packed tables and chairs and a couple of sofas tucked in a corner. All in all, a lot more friendly and welcoming than Artisan!

My newest cookbook is The Hairy Bikers’ Best-Loved Recipes. I’ve read through it (yes, I do do that) a couple of times and noted lots of recipes I’m keen to try.

The cooler weather in Adelaide has meant we’ve started thinking about stews, so later in the week you will be able to read all about Dave and Si’s sausage and bean stew.  But let’s start with what we served as a side to it – spiced cauliflower.

I love all brassicas (broccoli and brussel sprouts are two of my all time favourite vegetables) but Andy finds cauliflower really boring. He doesn’t even really like cauliflower cheese! We had a small piece in the fridge that I was keen to use up and this recipe, although for a whole head, is easy enough to shrink to fit.

Begin by heating some oil in a frying pan or (in my case) wok. Add some chilli flakes (or ground chilli), ground cumin, ground coriander, turmeric and freshly ground black pepper. For a whole head, the recipe calls for 2tsp of each spice – but really it’s a case of using however much you like.

Fry the spices for a few moments then add your cauliflower florets and stir fry, ensuring the florets are well coated with the spice mix.

If you have some tamarind paste, stir it into some boiling water (as a rough guide, you’ll need at 250mL for one head of cauliflower) and pour this into the pan.  If you don’t, just use the boiling water.  Add a splash of vinegar and a pinch of salt and then pop on a lid and cook until the cauliflower is tender.  Remove the lid when it’s almost done so any excess liquid can evaporate off.

Don’t be tempted to skip the vinegar – particularly if you don’t have tamarind.  With this dish, it’s really important you have the sour, acidic component to set up the spices.  And yes – this is spicy, but you can always cut out or reduce the amount of chilli you put in.

Delicious and too easy!

date of day out: Saturday 5 May 2012

A group of friends recently organised a day out wine tasting in the Adelaide Hills. We had a reasonably modest agenda for the day – lunch and three, maybe four, wineries.

For me, the day proper began at lunch time. Our original food plan was scuppered so, at the last minute and with no warning, twelve of us descended on the Charleston Hotel in a tiny town (population 120, apparently) called … Charleston.

Luckily for us, the dining room was empty because by the time we’d sorted out our table, only a handful of other diners could have squeezed in. We obviously massively swamped the poor kitchen (the rumour at the table was that there was one person working there) so yes, our food did take a while to come out and no, it didn’t all come out at once. But we quickly figured out what was happening so people had the good sense to start eating. From where I was sitting I heard only one complaint about the food which concerned a very disappointing looking bar meal of spaghetti bolognese. The disappointment was compounded because the individual concerned had considered ordering the awesome looking lamb burger.

I was pleased to note that, for $13, I could order a ‘half size’ schnitzel (topping/sauce extra). I don’t think I’ve had a pub meal where the schnitzel has not been ridiculously huge and I’ve often commented that the children’s sizes have looked sufficient. All the schnitzels (even the half sized ones!) were generously proportioned and thick. This meant they were juicy – no dried out cardboard here. The salad was definitely above par (although, as usual, drowned in dressing) – it was Greek style complete with feta.  And I very much enjoyed my glass of Kersbrook Hill Shiraz too!

The accommodating nature of the businesses around Lobethal was further demonstrated when we turned up at Golding Wines. The cellar door man didn’t bat an eye at our large group – he herded us towards a large table, lined up the entire range and led us through it. If you want a welcoming cellar door, I can think of few places that do this better than Golding*.

Next up we headed to Bird in Hand, where our large group most definitely caused a problem. “Have you booked?” … er, well, no. “Hmm, that will be $10 a head” … er, well, no. The cellar door was full of a bus load of tourists and obviously we represented hard work. While I realise that large groups arriving unannounced can cause problems there must be a more delicate way of dealing with the situation. As locals, it means that we’re unlikely to take guests (either overseas or interstate) to Bird in Hand in future …

We wrapped up the day with Barristers Block, where we were treated to some further Adelaide Hills hospitality. The tasting here was a lot less formal than at Goldings with everyone trying whatever they were interested in. Which worked well because by the end of the day the two cellar dogs were garnering a lot more attention than the wines from some people!

I’ve been all inspired to work my way through the wineries of the Adelaide Hills – I just can’t work out which end to start!  But hopefully there’ll be some more cellar door tales soon.

* I have been there several times before and I’m a fan of their Last Hurrah sparkling and Handcart Shiraz.

Curious Film has generously given Eating Adelaide a double pass to give away to the film Jiro Dreams of Sushi.

Jiro Dreams of Sushi documents the life of Jiro Ono, the most famous sushi chef in Tokyo. Ono is 86 years old and runs the three Michelin starred restaurant Sukiyabashi Jiro. There are just 10 seats in the restaurant and you can expect to book a year in advance.

If you can’t get to Tokyo and you can’t wait a year, you can now make do with the film.

It opened nationally (Australia) on 10 May. The double pass is an in season pass valid at the following cinemas: Chauvel Cinema, Palace Centro, Palace Nova Eastend, Cinema Paradiso and Greater Union Manuka.

To enter: leave a comment below (use the same name as you use on Facebook please!) AND ‘Like’ Eating Adelaide on Facebook.

As the film has already opened, this competition will run until midday (CST) on Wednesday 16 May, so you only have a few days to enter.

The winner will be drawn randomly – there’s no skill involved other than remembering to comment AND like on Facebook.

Best of luck!

date of visit: Thursday 3 May 2012

Part of me feels like perhaps I shouldn’t write a review of Bracegirdle’s in Glenelg. It was a really rushed visit and that makes me worry that some of my comments will be based on an atypical experience.

However, before I even got in the door of Bracegirdle’s I was impressed. I emailed (via the website’s contact form) asking if the café was wheelchair accessible and whether or not they took bookings. The response arrived within a few hours (yes, to wheelchair accessible, but no to bookings) and from there I was able to work out the details of my visit very easily. Normally my concern is about dealing with the paraphernalia associated with the baby, but in this case it was a birthday afternoon tea for my 94 year old grandmother, who would be using a wheelchair.

I arrived after my parents and grandma – they were already settled in the sofas right at the front of the café. I found a nook for the pram, settled the baby in and then set about ordering myself some cake and coffee.

A cafe latte and raspberry chocolate brownies for me and a mango macaron (from SA’s own Nic and Rocco) for the baby (he’s allowed sweet treats on special occasions – and 94th birthdays are special). I took the macaron back to the table but coffees for dad and me, and my bronwies, we had to wait for.

And while the café was busy, I would suggest the wait was a little bit longer than called for. Overall I’d say the in-house service didn’t match up to the excellent email experience I’d had prior to going to Bracegirdle’s. The brownie I really enjoyed but not everyone was a fan. My dad thought it wasn’t chocolatey enough (“if it didn’t have that sauce on it, you wouldn’t know it was chocolate” – I think he was being a tad harsh there …) while my mum thought it was very rich. Make of that what you will.

As I said – the visit was brief. I had time to scoff my brownie and coffee before it was time to pack up everyone and head back out onto the street. My impressions, therefore, are very much first impressions. So yes, I would go back for a more leisurely coffee but I note that the service can be a little slow and it is quite noisy in the downstairs area (there is also an upstairs). Prices seemed a touch high – for the brownie, macaron and two coffees it came to about $18 (the Entertainment Book does have a voucher for 25% discount) but without paying more attention I don’t really want to commit myself to that.

One to visit again. Indeed, the return visit will be in preference to Europa Espresso.

10 May 2012

San Remo has just released a new range of artisan pasta. The pasta comes in two giant shapes (shells and spirals) as well as casarecce (twisted lengths of pasta).

The pasta is finished with a rough texture and comes in some very distinctive deli-style packaging. It is available now from Foodland, IGA and other supermarkets.

photo by Alister Robertson

date: Thursday 26 April 2012

A week or two ago, Sommeliers Australia played host to Aline Baly, third generation owner of the first growth Sauternes house, Château Coutet. The tasting was held at Press* Food & Wine and we were treated to a vertical tasting of four Château Coutet vintages along with some food from Press*.

Conditions were slightly challenging at the start as we were seated in the restaurant with a rather boisterous table next to us but mid-way through we were able to move to the cosy booths by the bar – which actually proved ideal.

Aline was lovely – she came across as being incredibly genuine, as well as both knowledgeable and passionate about her family’s product. While there are 11 premiers crus in Sauternes and Barsac, Ch Coutet is one of just two in Barsac (the other being Ch Climens). Aline described the difference between Sauternes and Barsac as being one of terroir: the clay and limestone soils of Barsac mean it has a cooler terroir than in Sauternes, where there is more gravel. The gravel captures the heat of the day and releases it in the evening, which keeps the grapes warmer and means that the wines produced tend to be more opulent. The wines of Barsac, on the otherhand, are characterised by crispness, freshness and vivacity.

We tasted the four vintages in order of ‘power’: 2006, 2005, 2007, 1989. Aline told us that Ch Coutet is characterised by ginger, which I didn’t really get at all in the 2006, but it was much more evident in the ’05 and ’07 (the ’07 was my personal favourite). The 2007 had the spice and ginger but also some floral notes and on the palate had amazing acidity, combined with spice, toasted nuts, honey, dried apricots, lime marmalade and even some savoury notes.

Food wise we had gougères*, pâté, croquettes and wrapped up with crème brûlée, which was served with the 1989. The pâté was definitely the best match – unsurprising when Barsac and foie gras is one of the world’s great food pairings! The gougères worked well too but the croquettes were too dominated by Dijon mustard. The crème brûlée, which on paper sounds like a brilliant match, didn’t work so well because it was simply too sweet and rich for the wine. This is always the conundrum with desserts – whatever wine you choose has to be bigger, sweeter, richer, more powerful than the food and with many desserts that is a real challenge.

Aline said that her preferred food match with her family’s wines is lobster. And given the spiciness of the wines, lobster with saffron butter or a saffron hollandaise would be perfect …

Château Coutet is available from the Edinburgh Cellars and Dan Murphys.

*They were described as gougères but as they were fried I’d have called them beignets.

date of visit: Sunday 29 April 2012

It’s been quite a while since I’ve written up a pub meal (the most recent I think is the Victory at Sellicks) and I think it might even have been that long since I’ve eaten in a pub.

Anyway, I’m going to rectify that with two pubs in quick succession. We took the baby for an early Sunday dinner at the Flagstaff Hotel. That’s right – the big, can’t possibly miss 1950s building at the Darlington end of South Road. I guess you could call the Flaggy one of our locals (although certainly not within walking distance).

We’ve only eaten there once before (it was a quick lunch back in 2009) so we thought it was time to give it another try. That, and the fact we had an Entertainment Book voucher!

The dining room at the Flaggy is massive and, depending on where you sit, you can get some impressive views. The website suggests booking – I scoffed at this. We’re going at 5:30pm on a Sunday night! Well, quite – 5:30pm on a Sunday it may have been but there were several large tables booked and by the time we left the place was heaving.

We had a window seat (overlooking the carpark and Flagstaff Road – maybe not the most exciting view ever!) and a spotlessly clean high chair for the baby. One thing to note is that the high chair didn’t have any straps so wouldn’t have been suitable for a very small or very young baby.

The menu is, of course, pub staples but the Flagstaff’s distinguishing feature is its massive salad bar which is included in all main course orders. Salad bar isn’t quite the right term for it – it’s more like a giant fruit and vegetable buffet! You help yourself to bread (loaves of all different types in the bread basket) and there are an array of sauces, hot vegetables and fruit as well as the salads. If you wanted to make an utter pig of yourself, you could.

Food wise both Andy and I went with the seafood basket – reasonably pricey for a pub meal at $26.50. This was a selection of prawns, salt and pepper squid and barramundi (no note of provenance – hopefully it was Australian …), served with chips and salad.

I am not so naive to imagine that this did not come straight to the table via freezer and fryer. Even so, given the price, I will note that the (battered) prawns were tough and utterly tasteless – think fried, slightly salty eraser and I reckon you’re on the money. The barramundi came as two fillets – two very thin fillets so that the fish was completely swamped by the batter. I only ate one of mine and fed the rest to Andy and the baby (minus the batter, in the baby’s case, obviously). The highlight of the plate was definitely the squid which was tender, pretty tasty and not at all greasy.

Andy, who is something of an expert in seafood baskets, rated this one as better cooked than that at the nearby Victoria Hotel, but said that the Vic’s is bigger and overall better.

The chips and salad were pub stand chips and salad.

As the wine list was pedestrian I opted for a beer with my dinner.

All up I’d rate the Flaggy as perfectly adequate for a pub meal, but on the expensive side. For $26.50 you can go to a lot of more upmarket restaurants and be fed something that takes a lot more effort (Andy’s pork belly at Press was the same price). On the upside, the dining area is massive, there is a small play area and the hotel is clearly set up to cater for large groups.

However, for a quick family meal, my vote goes to the Victoria Hotel, further up South Road.

After last week’s uninspiring Mâcon-Villages, I’m pleased to report that this week’s wine, the Ad Hoc Hen & Chicken Chardonnay 2010 from WA’s Pemberton region, restored my faith that I would be able to find good Chardonnay in my $15-20 price bracket. I picked this wine up from a major national retailer, but the Ad Hoc website notes that the 2010 vintage is sold out.

On the nose the wine had some lemon notes with an obvious, but not overbearing, oak influence. There was some creaminess and the citrus was accompanied by some tropical fruit – think melon and even banana and mango.

All of this flowed through to the palate: plenty of lemon and good acidity mellowed to creaminess and tropical fruit. The best way to describe it was a mixture of pineapple and natural yoghurt. The wine had a lovely weight to it and reasonable length. It did strike me as being ever so slightly warm (the wine is 13.5% abv) but not enough to put me off.

Larry Cherubino, the winemaker, has four brands under his belt: Ad Hoc, The Yard, Cherubino and Laissez-Faire. He started his wine making career with Hardys and then Houghtons before setting up on his own in 2005.

The tasting notes for the 2010 give it a cellaring potential of up to 5 years. I guess we’re about half way through that and the wine is drinking beautifully. At $19 a bottle it puts last week’s effort to shame.

Even though I am ‘at home’ most of the week I don’t have nearly as much time as I’d like for cooking exciting and elaborate dinners. So I am always on the lookout for tasty things that I can get out of the kitchen in reasonable time.

Trawling through my delicious bookmarks I spotted this recipe for Vietnamese Shaking Beef. A quick google indicates that this is an actual Vietnamese dish but I can’t comment on how authentic this recipe is. All I know is that it’s pretty quick, doesn’t require a raft of ingredients and is really tasty.

The recipe comes in three parts: marinade, dipping sauce and the actual stir fry.

The marinade is really simple: for about 500g of rump steak use 1 generous tbsp of oil (use a neutral oil such as peanut), one large clove of garlic, minced, a splash of fish sauce, 1 tsp of sugar and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Fresh black pepper is a big part of this recipe, so grab the peppercorns and the grinder now!

Chop your 500g of steak into chunky bite size cubes and marinate for at least half an hour.

The dipping sauce is equal parts water and lime juice (I used ⅓ of a cup of each), with (again) minced garlic and fresh black pepper and balanced with a touch of salt and sugar.

When you’re ready to cook the steak, heat some oil in a wok, fry off some more minced garlic and add the steak, along with some more black pepper. The ‘shaking’ part of the dish’s name comes in now – as you’re supposed to keep the meat moving in the wok. You want to brown the meat and cook it but ideally you’ll leave it at least medium rare.

Finish the stir frying with a splash of soy sauce and a sprinkling of sugar.

Serve the cubes of beef on lettuce, with sliced tomato and steamed rice on the side. Pour a little of the dipping sauce over the meat and serve the remainder on the side. Whatever you do, don’t skimp on the dipping sauce – the lime juice really makes this dish!

We all rated this dish highly – definitely one we’ll be making again.