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Welcome to Sydney Table, my foodie blog. This is where I will review the restaurants I visit and post the recipes I try out. You may also find some random and interesting food articles. I hope you find some culinary delights on here that you like. Eat and cook with your heart people and remember the best meal is the shared meal, with friends or loved ones. And be sure to check out my other websites: www.saltypopcorn.com and http://www.orble.com/total-randomness/ Have a great day!
Firstly a HUGE thanks to my friend Anna who works at Allen and Unwin and sent me a cookbook called "kitchen coquette: THE GO-TO GUIDE FOR THOSE RANDOM LIFE SCENARIOS WHEN FOOD IS THE ONLY ANSWER" - seriously one of the most unique cookbooks I have ever owned. It is basically a scenario cookbook with meals for all of those scenarios. For example - there is a "what the f**k should we cook for dinner?", "movable feasts", cooking for potential in-laws, what to take to outdoor cinemas and abundant other scenarios - it is superb and the food is mouth watering perfection. If you want a brilliant cookbook for yourself or as a present then hunt this one down - it is unique and quirky and totally user friendly.


mac and cheese, wasabi macaroni, pasta recipe


I wanted to cook the last meal of my holidays so hit up the cookbook for a peruse yesterday and came across something that peaked my excitement. WASABI MACARONI AND CHEESE - OMG MOUTHWATERING DELIGHTFUL JOY

mac and cheese, wasabi macaroni, pasta recipe



The author of the book quotes this for the recipe: "Don't deny yourself the cheesy goodness of a Mac and Cheese, you might get hit by a bus tomorrow, which would just prove that the fates have a cruel sense of humour, and that life is far too freaky and obscure to be lost on a diet that doesn't include cheese and pasta." SOLD I AM COOKING IT.

mac and cheese, wasabi macaroni, pasta recipe


My Über skinny little flatmate eats but not really huge servings but last night she ate more than me, moaned in ecstasy and ate enough for three people - I seriously could not stop her. I have found her weakness

Now to make this you can use cheese substitutes if you want but if you want the most sensational tastes then hunt down the best cheeses you can and I thoroughly recommend you find the Panko breadcrumbs from either an Asian store or I found mine in a big Coles - you can find them!! For the cheeses I ended up going to a delicatessen - I ended up with quite a bit left over from the gruyere and pecorino as I could not buy them in such small quantities but that is fine - I will make more of the mac and cheese and freeze it. I also added the broccoli as I needed a green in it so as it now contains broccoli I am claiming the recipe as my own You could substitute the broc for peas and claim that as your own recipe Besides the Broc I followed the recipe to the gram.

mac and cheese, wasabi macaroni, pasta recipe


YOU WILL NEED:
* 195gms (1.25cups) macaroni
* 1 whole head of broccoli TRIMMED into tiny florets
* 1TBSP olive oil
* 375mls (1.5cups) milk (I went skim)
* 60ml (.25cup) cream (I went lite)
* 1TBSP wasabi (available from most supermarkets or Asian grocery stores - and a suggestions - NEVER put a whole teaspoon of it in your mouth - you will seriously hallucinate )
* 20gms butter
* sea salt and freshly ground black peppe
* 150gms (1.5cups) smoked cheddar GRATED fine
* 40gms (.5cup) pecorino cheese GRATED fine
* 25gms (.25cup) gruyere GRATED fine
TOPPING:
* 45gms (.75cup) PANKO bredcrumbs
* 2tsp chilli flakes or Piri Piri

mac and cheese, wasabi macaroni, pasta recipe


YOU WILL NEED TO:
1) Preheat oven to 250degreesC (500degreesF) - yeah bloody hot
2) Grease lightly a 25X25X5cm ovenproof dish or similar sized (doesn't matter too much)
3) Cook the mac as per the instructions and maybe take out 2mins before done - it bakes better. Drain and toss with some olive oil and broccoli and set aside
4) Gently warm the milk, cream, wasabi and butter in a saucepan and bring to a slow simmer, seasoning well with a good pinch of S&P
5) Combine all the cheeses in a bowl, then add half to the milk (still simmering) and butter mixture and stir well
6) Take this off the stove and thoroughly stir this into the pasta
7) Tip pasta into the prepared baking dish and sprinkle with the rest of the cheese, top with the PANKO crumbs and chilli flakes
8) Put in the oven and bake for 15mins until brown and bubbling
9) The baking time is the perfect time to throw in some garlic bread on bottom shelf of the oven
10) Serve them together with a glass of red and maybe a green salad

mac and cheese, wasabi macaroni, pasta recipe


HEAVEN!!! The wasabi warmth will make your year!!
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It was another HUGE and successful Christmas lunch at Dragon's Liar, the parental's property at Bermagui on the South Coast of NSW Australia - oh - I got them a website for their B&B/ Studio styled apartment on the property so (small plug) suss it out HERE (and feel free to tell all your friends about it ).

Christmas ham, christmas lunch, dragon's lair, ham glaze


Christmas has grown into this wonderful thing at Dragon's Lair. Each year we used to alternate and the parentals would come to mine one year and then I would go to theirs the next. But with the intro of the B&B and the larger bookings of the holiday season it became me heading down to theirs more and more. This eventually became the much preferred option as I got to get the hell out of dodge and leave my work behind for a few days to help me rejuvenate.

Christmas ham, christmas lunch, dragon's lair, ham glaze
Our first Xmas Guest of the Day


Then about 3yrs ago we decided to try and have all the local friends who weren't travelling to partake in family activities at our place. It was a massive success. Everyone brings a plate or two of food plus alcohol and we provide something large, plus the best venue you could imagine and a superbly set table (by me of course). Everyone brings presents for each other and my stepdad dresses up as Santa and we have a huge gift session - it's awesome and just like having a massive family for the day!

Christmas ham, christmas lunch, dragon's lair, ham glaze
The StClair/ King Family Tree


This year I scored the ham and had never glazed a ham before so set about searching the internet for a ham recipe that wasn't your standard and wasn't all Amercianised with cherries on top - I wanted something that would be unique and would get some oohs and aahs.

Christmas ham, christmas lunch, dragon's lair, ham glaze
My awesomely set tables - MY DOMAIN - STAY AWAY MUM!!


Roger and Monique started the day with their standard and much anticipated freshly shucked oysters and prawn cocktails and we made a HUGE cheese platter. Then there were three salads, two whole roasted turkeys, a pickled pork (just like Corned Beef but with pork), there were Polish pates, fruit, and three types of cake. It was a such a feast that I had to leave about an hour after dessert and have a lie down as my body could not cope trying to digest 35kgs of just eaten food. I was even having troubles walking I ate so much - but for the lucky people this is the one day of the year we get to observe the sin of gluttony in its entirety.

Christmas ham, christmas lunch, dragon's lair, ham glaze
Some of the feast


So the ham recipe I ended up settling on I found in my mum's old recipe mags was from the December issue of Family Circle from 1997 (yes, she hordes recipes ). It is for a Sticky Glazed Ham with Pineapple and Ginger. I have amended it slightly to improve it in my opinion .

Christmas ham, christmas lunch, dragon's lair, ham glaze
I am full just remembering it


YOU WILL NEED:
* One kick ass huge ham on the bone (recipe was for a 7kg but we had a 9kg one) It looked like the side of a house and even with 18 people for lunch we still never got through half of it. Which is awesome in its own right because we have cryovaced a heap of it for me to take home - SCORE - as we did to a bunch of Turkey - I am set for the month of January Now the recipe I have stuck to a 7kg because this is probably more common - just lessen or leave the glaze amounts for better coverage
* 3TBSPs of honey
* 100gms glaced ginger
* 100gms glaced pineapple
* 1/2 cup of ginger jam (yep the stuff for toast) - I used Ginger and Fig because it was what we had in the cupboard and the fig added a further delicious element
* 1/4 cup of green ginger wine (I had actually bought a bottle of Stone's with me and it's less than $10- from most bottle shops and makes an awesome drink with vodka, soda water and fresh lime)
* juice from 2 oranges

Christmas ham, christmas lunch, dragon's lair, ham glaze
Even More Feast


YOU WILL NEED TO:
1) Preheat oven to 180degrees.
2) Remove the ham rind - OMG - it is like skinning a carcass, creepy - I wanted to make a Hannibal Lector mask with the rind once removed There is an art to removing this stuff but I am no legend at explaining - I just kept sliding my fingers under it and separating it from the meat - it doesn't take that long - I also peeled off any excess fat that was under there.
3) Make light slashes randomly over the remaining fat and ham across the top.
4) Place the ham in a sufficient baking dish.
5) Rub the honey all over the ham. More grossness - imagine massaging an obese person with honey
6) Place glace ginger and pineapple in a bowl with the jam and wine, get those hands in there and combine the hell out of it - you do not want my description of this I actually made this glaze the night before and refrigerated overnight.
7) Pour the glaze and rub it in all over the ham top. Do not worry if some of it falls into the bottom of the baking dish.
8) Pour the orange juice into the bottom of the baking dish.
9) Cook the ham for one hour and spoon over juices EVERY 10mins to get that flavour in there.

TIP. The one tip I have when you are opening and closing oven doors the whole time - so you maintain the heat, turn the oven to full prior to opening the door and lower it once you have your meat back in there and cooking. DO NOT FORGET TO LOWER IT AGAIN. But I have found cranking the heat to full while spooning the juices will maintain the oven's internal temps.

Hope you all had a sensational Xmas and have an even more brilliant New Years.
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OK I know these are late and should have been made pre Xmas so I could have put the recipe up but you can make them all year round and they are delicious and I promise to repost them just prior to Xmas next year but OMG they are delicious. I was watching the Jamie's Kid's Xmas Special on the night of the 23rd at mum's place and we both thought it would be great to make our own fruit mince tarts for once. I absolutely LOVE fruit mince tarts but they are packed with so much sugar and preservatives it is out of control - this is probably why I love them so much but it was nice to cook a mince tart that mum could eat and that wouldn't upset her delicate little tummy

Jamie Oliver, Christmas Food, Fruit Mince Tarts


WHAT YOU NEED:

• 100g/3½oz good-quality mincemeat
• 25g/¾ oz dried cranberries or blueberries, chopped
• zest of 2 mandarins (or oranges)
• a splash of sherry or brandy
• flour, to dust
• 250g/8oz good puff pastry
• 1 pack filo pastry
• 50g/1¾ oz melted butter
• 1 free-range or organic egg, beaten
• 50g/1¾ oz flaked almonds
icing sugar, to dust

Jamie Oliver, Christmas Food, Fruit Mince Tarts


To be honest I don't think the muffin tins need the filo pastry lining - next time I will be cooking it without it. They are more like mini fruit mince tart scrolls than actual tarts.

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO:

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400ºF/gas 6. Scoop the mincemeat into a mixing bowl and mix in the dried berries, the mandarin (or orange) zest and the sherry or brandy.

Dust a clean work surface with flour and roll out the puff pastry into a big rectangle about 20x40cm/8x16 inch and the thickness of a pound coin. Thinly spread the mincemeat over the pastry, leaving a 1cm/½ inch gap around the edges. Tightly roll up the pastry, lengthways, like a Swiss roll, place it on a floured tray, and pop in the fridge to firm up.

Jamie Oliver, Christmas Food, Fruit Mince Tarts


Take two cupcake trays (for 12 cupcakes each) and butter each one lightly with the melted butter. Place one layer of filo pastry over the tray (you may need more than one sheet to cover each tray depending on the size of the sheets) and ease the pastry into each hole. Brush with the melted butter, then cover with a second layer of filo pastry. Brush with butter again.

Jamie Oliver, Christmas Food, Fruit Mince Tarts


Take the puff pastry roll out of the fridge and, with a sharp knife, cut it into 24 slices. Place each slice, flat-side down, into a filo-lined hole. Brush with the egg and sprinkle a few flaked almonds on top of each little pie, then pop both trays in the oven for about 25 minutes, until cooked and golden brown.

Leave to cool, then crack the individual pies out of the trays. Dust with a little icing sugar before serving.

Jamie Oliver, Christmas Food, Fruit Mince Tarts


PS You can freeze the cooked, cooled mince pies in their trays (just wrap the lot in cling film) or in a plastic container. Just reheat them in a hot oven straight from the freezer.

BIG THANKS TO JAMIE OLIVER - one of my inspirations that my mum worships and who is so relaxed with his cooking he makes it more fun!!
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Vietnamese Clay Pot Chicken

December 11th 2011 08:04
A big part of my life has been missing, not having the time to scratch myself let alone cook a meal has been killing me and making me quite depressed, as well as slightly rounder from eating too much lazy take away meals while on the road for work.

I am sometimes working up to 60hrs a week and when I am home I am so exhausted I don't want to do anything besides veg out. My email got up to 1000 in the trash with over 100 important messages in the Inbox. But this weekend I had no responsibility and time on my hands to catch up on articles and to cook my little heart out


[ Click here to read more ]
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Baked Bacon and Eggs in a Muffin Pan

December 10th 2011 22:17
It feels like forever since I posted a recipe and it probably is

But today I have two for you, I finally had a relaxing weekend off with nearly nothing on and was inspired to cook my buns off [ Click here to read more ]
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Rowie's INDULGE

November 25th 2011 20:26
There was this lovely lady I met about 10yrs ago when I first started working at the Grower's Markets. She was this tall red head with the most sensational smile that always lit up those damned early mornings. She was always up to lighten the mood and have a chat about life and our passion, food. She made these OMFG gluten free cake like things that were so deliciously sweet that they gave me foodgasms. Anything that was left over at the end of the day, which was mostly nothing as everyone gathered around her stall, she would hand out to the closest stall holders around her, of which we were one. I thank her partly for the extra tyre that has formed around my waist

rowie dillon, gluten free, indulgence, book review

[ Click here to read more ]
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With the constant rain of this weekend and temperatures definitely not typical of a Sydney, even Manly Grand Final Day, day I thought it was time for a nice belly warming soup to make me feel a bit better. It was also a sensational time to make the soup as, for me, working at the Sydney Good Food Grower's Markets recommenced on Saturday and I spent all my pay buying yummy foods to cook with. I bought herb pots of basil, parsley, lemon thyme and then also some pots of strawberries for the new garden. I also got salted caramel macadamias, cheese and chilli "old school" cheese straw biscuits, a ginger lover's cake and a gourmet 70% couverture chocolate brownie made with belgian heaven (from Australian Bush Christmas Cake Co.), then I bought dumplings to have for dinner that night and we ate this caramelised honeycomb dipped in dark chocolate and finally I bought a giant leek for $3-, it was huge - nearly twice the size of a standard leek. And shhhhh, but next month it is orchids - big ones in a pot for only $25- beats the $70- from the nursery.

Crave, Sydney Food Festival, Potato Leek Soup

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Yummy Basic Chocolate Icing

September 25th 2011 02:25
This is YUMMY and it is SWEET and avoid it at all costs if you are on any form of a diet . It is ideal on a chocolate cake and depending on your level of sweet-toothedness you can decide to use milk chocolate all the way through to uber dark chocolate couverture. I am on a race to become a diabetic with my sweet tooth so I went for cadbury milk chocolate in the recipe and actually found it bordering on way too sweet. Next time I will go with a 30% couverture and work my way to a 70%.

As for the cake - any damn chocolate cake you want will suit this great icing. Sometimes I will make one from a recipe and some times I am feeling very lazy so settle on a packet mix [ Click here to read more ]
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Prosciutto, Lettuce and Pea Pasta Recipe

September 16th 2011 22:07
This is easily one of the nicest pastas I have cooked for ages. The original recipe is care of Stephanie Alexander but I have altered to my tastes and my flatmate ooh and ahhed the entire meal. It is a must to have a nice red wine with it and don't eat this one if you are on a huge diet

pasta recipe, lettuce, papperdelle, peas, proscuitto

[ Click here to read more ]
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Slow Cooker Sunday: Honey Soy Lamb Chops

September 4th 2011 21:00
Many thanks go to the Women's Weekly Slow Cooker Book yet again for the base recipe on this one. Originally I was either going to cook slow cooked Osso Bucco or Beef Cheeks but realised I did not have enough time.

slow cooker recipe, crockpot recipe, lamb recipe, rosemary

[ Click here to read more ]
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BEST Marinara Recipe in the World

September 2nd 2011 22:45
Many will disagree and many will like it but I was cooking a marinara the other night for my second dinner gathering at the new place with flattie, Chrissie, and best mate Carrie who got to see the place for the first time.

I usually cook my own version of a marinara which is a sweet chilli and lemon myrtle variety. But this time I thought I would try something new and searched Google for the "Best Marinara Sauce in the world". This is what came up


[ Click here to read more ]
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Finally the house is unpacked and life is slowly resuming to some sense of normality but it's all changed for me now. New house, new job, new car, new flatmate, even my cat feels like he has changed in some way and become less feral .

I had the first official housewarming dinner party the other night with new flattie, Chrissie, and great friends Jack and Rosie. And I had a hankering to cook Pork Belly with an Asian influence as the christening dish


[ Click here to read more ]
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I am back!!! Did u miss me? Even know I was missing? Stupid internet was down for close to a month and I also started a new job that has been just great but it's a little more corporate so the hours and training have been ruining me. For the next two weeks I have 10X 8 hr days and throw in 3hrs of travel and I don't even want to eat when it's over let alone write a bunch of articles. But the good news is I no longer work 6 days a week and actually have weekends off. OMG - it is amazing and I get two days of sleeping in - I LOVE IT!!

Slow Cooker recipe, crockpot recipe, beef recipe

[ Click here to read more ]
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It's been a long time coming but finally I have cooked something worthy of writing about. This dish is just sensational and is based on a joint recipe from Masterchef from last year where they made mystery boxes.

baked recipe, vegetarian recipe, masterchef, haloumi, broccoli

[ Click here to read more ]
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