That's a Clever Idea!

Hi,

This bright Australian website called The Daily Buzz has many great ideas for food and around the home. I am impressed by these clever, yet simple, ideas.

Check out a couple of tips here from The Daily Buzz - you may then be tempted to click the link at the end of this page to check out their 25 ideas:

Use a straw to hull strawberries. We tried it and it works beautifully!

Photo and Idea from The Daily Buzz

.Photo
Via: amy-newnostalgia.blogspot.com


Use your cupcake tray upside down - bake dough as shown to make cookie shells! These can be used as little bowls for ice cream or other desserts.

Photo and Idea from The Daily Buzz

Via: wilton.com

For all 25 great ideas, here is the link: http://www.thedailybuzz.com.au/2011/11/25-clever-ideas_household-tips_storage-ideas/

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P/S Be sure to check out Idea # 14 for a romantic egg!

Cheers,

Recipes - Eggs

Hi,

One of my fav foods - Eggs!

Gourmet Traveller has just released these egg recipes from around the world.

Recipe # 1 is simple and retro - devilled eggs with a twist. It uses a very under-appreciated part of celery - the leaves. Roasted.

Hmm ... I might give recipe #6 a miss!

Recipe # 10 shows how to make smoked duck eggs using tea leaves.

Oh, if you are feeling under-challenged and want to ramp it up, recipe #26 is Quay Peter Gilmore's Snow Egg recipe, one of the pressure tests in Masterchef 2010.

http://www.gourmettraveller.com.au/egg-recipes-1.htm

I'm inspired. I'm off to make egg fried rice!

Enjoy Egging - in a nice way. :)

Cheers,

Appy Travels - New Snappy Travel Apps

Hi Everyone,


I came across these travel apps by a small team in Melbourne called Appy Travels.


Like the name, Like the content, Like that they are FREE!


These apps work on iPhones, iPads, iPods and Android phones.


http://appytravels.com/



Happy Travels!

Review - Petaling Street

* July 2012  Petaling Street has closed down @ 162 Swanston St, Melbourne. Straits of Malacca has taken over this venue.

*April 2012  A Petaling Street restaurant took over the Straits of Malacca venue @ 188 Little Bourke St, Melbourne.

10 February 2012

Petaling Street
162 Swanston Street, Melbourne
Cuisine: Malaysian, Asian

I have been to Petaling Street in Glen Waverley and also to the one in Box Hill. I thought it was time to go to Petaling Street in the Melbourne CBD. I might as well make it a trifecta!

We went at lunchtime without a booking. The downstairs area was very busy. Luckily, we didn't have to wait for a table. We were shown a table upstairs, which was also busy. If you have ever wanted to eat your lunch in a bank vault, this would be the place. It was a small windowless room which would have been a depressing experience but fortunately I had great lunch companions to chat with.

We came here specifically for the whole fish dishes. So we ordered Steamed Fish with Asam Sauce and Deep Fried Fish with Sambal Sauce. We asked the waitress what type of fish they were serving that day and the answer sounded like Tilapia from Taiwan. So if anyone is interested, here is a Wiki link for this fish. I would have preferred baramundi which is the fish they had on the whole fish menu at the Glen Waverley Petaling Street but hey, that's the way it goes. We also ordered Fried Koay Teow. We must have been hungry as we ordered a 4th dish - Murtabak which is roti chanai with a mince filling (we choose beef mince). All dishes were shared so we could each taste every dish.

The Asam Sauce fish turned out to be the more tasty of the two fish dishes. The asam sauce was nicer than the sambal sauce. The sambal sauce did not have much of a belachan taste and it was more sweet than savoury. The asam sauce had a nice slightly sour and savoury taste which went well with the fish. If you want a healthier dish, the steamed fish would be better than the fried fish. Each fish dish came with a small bowl of rice. The Fried Koay Teow came with the usual amount of prawns, fish cake and bean sprouts. The taste was okay, not terrific but not bad either. The Murtabak tasted good. It had a fine savoury beef mince, with the roti slightly oily on the outside as expected. It came with a small bowl of curry sauce.

Overall, this is a place for standard Malaysian hawker food. We will come back for lunch, just not that soon as there are so many other places vying for our attention.

Taste Rating: 7/10   Value Rating: 6.5/10

The whole fish Menu

 Deep Fried Fish with Sambal Sauce

Steamed Fish with Asam Sauce

Fried Koay Teow

Murtabak - Roti Chanai with minced beef stuffing

 Lunch

Murtabak with Curry Sauce

Petaling Street, Melbourne

Review - Airstream Cafe

5 February 2012

Airstream Cafe
287 Springvale Road, Glen Waverley
Cuisine: Australian, Italian, Asian

I have eaten here several times over the years. Some meals have been good, others were just passable.

We went for an early Sunday evening dinner and had no trouble getting a table without a booking. The place was about 1/3 full. We were given a table along the main aisle, right next to a table occupied by two ladies, one of whom was talking really loudly, right next to my ear. Too close for comfort - I didn't want to partake of someone else's conversation. I also preferred to sit where we would not be brushed by hurrying waiters and ambling diners. So I asked to swap tables. There was no problem with doing that - the staff were quite obliging.

We ordered Eye Fillet Medallions, Moroccan Grilled Salmon, Lamb Fillets and Beef Lasagne. Tonight's meals were mostly very nice.

The Eye Fillet came in the form of two very tender medallions which I had ordered medium to well done. It came with a nice peppercorn sauce. The mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables were just okay but I really enjoyed the tender medallions.

The Moroccan Grilled Salmon was Tasmanian salmon in a creamy spiced sauce. The sauce was not bad but it was a touch salty. It would also have been better not to smother the fish in all that sauce - so you can tell if the fish is fresh ;) Seriously, why have good tasting fish when you can't actually taste it. The fish was accompanied by a red pepper Caponata sauce which typically is a side dish for fish, except in this case it was sitting on top of the fish, which in turn was sitting on scalloped potatoes.

The Lamb Fillets came in a little mountain of lamb strips, sitting on top of baby spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes and ... scalloped potatos. That seems to be the fate of scalloped potatos here - to be sat on by the main dish! There was a drizzle of bell pepper tapenade. According to the menu, the lamb was marinated in herbed honey but there was no overly sweet taste, otherwise it would have spoilt the dish.  The spinach gave it a nice touch. I always like green leafy vegetables.

The beef lasagne I didn't taste. But I'm told it was not bad.

When ordering, I had spotted soft shell crab on the specials board and debated whether I should order this. In the end, I did some profiling and decided the soft shell crab was best left to an Asian restaurant and I opted for the Eye Fillet. As it turned out, I was quite happy with my choice.

Overall, if you are after a Modern Australian meal in a large noisy cafe with dim lighting, where the food may or may not be the highlight of your day, this would be a good place.

Taste Rating: 7/10   Value Rating: 6.5/10




Eye Fillet Medallions



Moroccan Grilled Salmon

Lamb Fillets

Can you see the exclamation mark in the photo!

Steamin Funk - Guava, Mango, Strawberries,
Vanilla Ice Cream, Lemon, Lime & Raspberry

Burger on a Sunday Afternoon

Just had this homemade burger for lunch.

Lean beef, free range egg, salad, lightly grilled bun.

I demolished this in minutes ... Yum!



After 2 Bites!

And for dessert ....



Belgian waffles with Burnt Fig & honeycomb & caramel ice cream



Maggie Beer Ice Cream









New York Restaurants Health Violations Map

Hi,

Here is a nifty interactive map showing New York City restaurants which have health code violations.

The NYC Department of Health conducts surprise sanitary inspections of every restaurant, at least once, per year. That's an amazing feat, considering how many restaurants there are. The map shows restaurants and their violations ratings.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/dining/new-york-health-department-restaurant-ratings-map.html?src=tp



Cheers,