Christmas FEAST

Every 24th of December, I'm the master of the kitchen.

Nobody could say otherwise.

This Christmas was a bit of a whirlwind.

It was chaos. It was quite the rush. 

I spent 2 hours slaving in the kitchen- I usually spend half a day.

Despite that, we had a lovely and might I say simple simple dinner.

And as always, I try to make it better than the previous year.

At Adara's.

We've been hanging around at Adara's place a LOT.

And lately it's been pretty much every Sunday- doing group work.

We turn up there, just bum and chill for a bit then we TRY very hard to get work started and done.

While working, we're usually thinking about what we're having for lunch.

Seriously, that's how we roll. 

What better way to kick start mornings, yeah?
Workshop Espresso is the bomb. Or at least for now.

Boost for brunch.
Went for the carrot-celery-ginger juice that day.
Usually I'm a sucker for brekkie to go.

My ISCAHM Culinary Experience in 10 Dishes

At first, I was determined to make a blog post for each and every class that I had, but the thing is, I was quite busy, and I've only been able to write ONE. Now, I seriously doubt catching up on all the missed posts would be meaningful. So I've decided to sum up my culinary experience in 10 dishes! Note that they're in no particular order since it's already hard enough to just pick 10, and it would be even harder to rank them 1 through 10.

1. Salmon Tartare with Honey Dill Mustard Dressing
This dish just might be the most refreshing salmon dish you would ever have. It's composed of 3 types of salmon- Smoked Salmon, Gravlax*, and Fresh Salmon. The crunchy bits of celery yield refreshing intervals in between the spoonfuls of salmon. And everything is held together by yogurt which is way better and healthier than mayonnaise.** This is Chef Gerd Menger's recipe, apparently he created this dish when he was the executive chef for a cruise ship. Three cheers for this dish, it's wonderful.

The New Year's Eve Dinner

So January's almost over and I've yet to tell you about our New Year's Eve dinner!

I went absolutely crazy that day. My room was a terrible mess (the results of a year's over-shopping, panic buying, hoarding... you add the synonyms) and there were TWO huge "orocans" (pinoy-speak for LARGE plastic boxes) full of CLOTHES! And shoes strewn all over the floor... And clothes PILED on the bed... Cosmetics making molehills on my dresser... Accessories on top of the telly, on the bedside table... It was chaos. Not to mention the paperbags full of bags, scarves, hats, beads, and gowns I had stuffed under my bed! (This was perhaps the most challenging and stressful aspect of all, because it was so dusty).

So, for the whole of DECEMBER 31, 2010, I locked myself in my room and sorted through the entire mess. I ended up with FOUR ginormous garbage bags full of unwanted stuff. I just FORCED myself to give away the stuff I would never again wear. It was awfully painful, because I've always held on to the hope of having a garage sale or succeeding on selling everything on eBay. But I just decided that it wasn't worth the headache of a TERRIBLY MESSY room... It had reached a point wherein I couldn't study anymore because the MESS was so stressful!

Now my room's absolutely airy and everything in my closet (well, not everything, I always exaggerate too much) is in the spectrum of browns and tans and taupe and cream. I am absolutely in love with those colors right now. They are to me what GRAY and WHITE once were. I'm very happy because everything in my closet is wearable-- the most ridiculous and unwearable thing I have right now is a pair of embellished and partly-crocheted Diesel jeans my grandma bought for me from a trip abroad. They are crazy and not going to be in fashion for quite some time (not to mention far too big for me now) but I just couldn't give them away... Okay, I'm deviating too much away from food now...

It was around 10 hours of full-on cleaning! Not lying! There is no hyperbole going on in that sentence-- I really spent 10 hours cleaning out my room. I was so into it that I didn't eat a single thing. Which was perfect because I knew that I was going to PIG OUT come evening. And I really did!

Here's what greeted me (after a nice, long shower):

Black pepper prawns

Vicky Clemente's MAMA'S TABLE, Baguio

Chef Vicky Clemente was a banker who, at 50, decided to follow her true passion (la vie culinaire-- did I just murder the language?) and took up the appropriate cooking classes at some fancy shmancy French culinary institute abroad. She now does private degustations for guests in her own beautiful home. I'm not the type to be impressed by houses (it's a rare occasion that I visit a house or hotel that leaves me truly awestruck) but I was definitely impressed by hers! It had so much PERSONALITY in it, and it evoked a lazy, eccentric, old-rich feeling. It was EXTREMELY high-ceilinged with ENORMOUS windows. The best part was the sofas-- print on print on print! Not to mention they were on Indian rugs. It is one of the most beautiful houses I've ever been to.

My beloved sofas

There was also a fireplace, and a pretty tree with tinsel on it (reminded me of my grandmother, who thoroughly exalted the merits of tinsel), and a beautiful garden outside, absolutely full of hydrangeas and other darling flowers...

My Last Meal: Food Faves

Some memories from childhood include beaches, playgrounds, meat pies, and fish & chips. There were a lot of fish & chips because my parents owned a fish & chip shop in Manly. When my parents were working, I would just be there watching the cooks make batches of fish & chips! I'd often snag a mouthful or two! It's something that's nostalgic and close to my heart indeed. Each time that I go to Manly, the memories just keep rushing back to me. Sad to say, in my opinion, there isn't a nice fish & chip shop there these days.  So, for the best fish& chips, I head directly to the source, the Sydney Fish Market.

Peter's Fish Market

The Fisherman's Basket accompanied
by Charlie's Honest Juice

The fish market is such an interesting place to be. So many restaurants and shops to see & try. My favourite happens to be Peter's! It's the first place that I've tried when I first went to the fish market and I've been going there ever since. I always tend to get the same thing every single time, the Fisherman's Basket. It has pieces of beer-battered fish, crumbed calamari, chips! At $11, it's one of the best deals you'll ever find!

The fish was cooked to perfection, it was smoking hot when I got it, and boy, I have to tell you, it was absolutely grand. It was flaky and moist. The calamari was very much tender, but once it got cold had that tendency of getting hard. The chips were mediocre compared to the other contents of the meal. It was soggy, I was so sad because I'm such a sucker for hot crispy chips. I usually have some sashimi and oysters but I was definitely bloated after the Fisherman's basket and I couldn't pack in anymore. And after all, my friend and I had a whole lot of other foodie places to go to!

The Manly Bakery

Assuming that I'm really dying, I'd definitely pack in some meat pie after my fish & chips. Meat pie from the one and only Manly Bakery. It's a small bakery sort of hidden in the back streets of Manly, but boy do they know how to make good meat pie! My favourite would be the beef, cheese, and tomato pie. The cheese is blended in with the beef and it creates just the best sauce ever. The meat is in form of mince and small strips which is a good variety to have. The tomato rings are placed on top of the meat, it is very much soft and melted. And all these goodies are enclosed in a very pleasant pastry. It's more flaky and less brown than I remembered, but is, nevertheless, great. My friend had a vegetarian pizza, it had tomato, olives, onions, cheese, and peppers! He said it was tasty.

Beef, Cheese and Tomato Pie

scrumptious inside view

My friend's vegetarian pizza

These were a few of the things that I had yesterday on a food trip with my friend! We walked for ages through rainy and crazy windy weather but it was definitely some experience!:)

The Way to Start September Right!

Perfect Lunch- Roast Beef Roll with Preshafruit Juice

It's been a few days into September already and I haven't really been eating the way I would want to cause I'm on my self-created diet and it's proving to be effective! So I'm happy nevertheless! Back to starting September right, as I may have mentioned before, I always grab something scrumptious to eat every Friday lunch since it's the end of the stressful week and I deserve it. On today's menu, Roast Beef Roll with Caramelized Onions and Extra Gravy. I just came across this website that displays Sydney's 10 Best Sandwiches and this happens to be second on the list! What's even better is it's located at the foodie's mecca, the David Jones Foodhall. I head to the Foodhall quite often, the variety of food that they have there is astounding. They have all the good stuff- Valrhona Chocolate, Harrod's Tea, Truffle Oils, and the other hard to find goodies. On top of that, they have oyster, grill, juice, cheese& antipasto, and gelato bars. If that doesn't count as heaven, then I don't know what does.

Anyway, the queue for the carvery was long. I mean, I wouldn't be shocked if it was actually lunch time, it was beyond lunch time, I arrived at 3! I was definitely banking on it to be shockingly good. While waiting in line, my mouth was watering. There were all these different roasted meats just shining on the food counter. The man in front of me was ordering kept repeating to the server that he wanted roast pork with crackling and applesauce. And when the server asked him if he wanted pepper, he said with crackling, with crackling, I wonder how many times he said crackling, I lost count. I on the other hand was so excited to order, I ended up saying:"Roast beef on onion gravy roll" What a FAIL. 

Roast Beef Roll:)

Onto the taste test, the aroma was exhilarating, it was very peppery and savoury. The appearance is rustic and the beef is just overwhelming as it drops out of the roll, it's really really inviting. The bread has a bite to it, and it's not one of those rolls that scratch your palate as you eat. The roast beef is crazy tender and flavourful and the caramelized onions have a sweet vibe and just melt in your mouth. The gravy is the ultimate hero, it has hints of rosemary and thyme and is gorgeously rich. The bread was flaking apart because of all that extra gravy. It's ecstasy. 

Epic bread, note: the black bits are pepper.

And now that I've finished writing this post, I'm craving for another roast beef roll. In my opinion, this might just be the best $9.95 I've ever spent. Yes, I would choose it over the Wagyu Beef Burger by Becasse. The Wagyu burger has more of a value for money but this one is just nostalgic and uplifting.

What's in store for tomorrow? A massive food adventure.

David Jones Food Hall

65-77 Market Street
Sydney, NSW