Mushroom Risotto

Dear Readers,

I fell in love with mushroom risotto while dining at Villa Romana Restaurant at Lygon Street in Melbourne. As a student to eat at Villa Romana was expensive and a rarity, I think I only dined there 3 times in 5 years of my student life. We had gone there for a special occasion, two of my friends were moving back to India after finishing their study. It was a funny thing, we (my housemate and I) lived in Carlton right across Lygon St and ate there often but kept to the restaurants and cafes on the left hand side as they were cheaper. The right hand side ones were more expensive and so we never really dined there. Since it was a special occasion it warranted we dine at a restaurant on the right side, it was such a treat to be eating a dish that costed $22 (we only ever ate $8-$10 meals) The risotto was delicious, I still remember the poor waiter had to stand at our table grinding pepper for what seemed like 20 minutes. What can I say, I like my pepper. I only wish I knew how to cook risotto then, it seemed so exotic and difficult at the time, that way I would have gotten to eat it more often. Anyways I am sharing my mushroom risotto recipe with you, hope you enjoy it :-) Any leftovers ? Turn them into crispy arancini balls, find recipe here.

Love,

Cookie

Recipe                                                                                               Print Recipe

Serves 2-3

Ingredients
1 cup Arborio Rice
1/4 cup white wine (optional)
4 cups Vegetable or Mushroom stock 
1 tbsp Olive oil
a few dried Porcini mushrooms-soaked in hot water (optional)
250 g Fresh Assorted mushrooms ( I used cup, enoki and oyster)
1 large Onion - chopped
6-7 Garlic cloves- finely chopped
Juice of half a lemon
Parsley leaves-chopped
1 tsp Thyme leaves
Ground Black pepper
2-3 knobs of butter (optional)
Parmesan cheese


Method
Heat the olive oil in a pan and add the chopped onions once the oil is heated. Saute the onions till they are translucent. Add the chopped garlic and saute till the raw garlic smell disappears. Do not let the onion and garlic brown, saute on a med-low flame. Add the mushrooms and saute for 5 minutes.

Assorted mushrooms

Arborio rice

Add the rice and give it a good mix so that the rice is coated in the oil and onion-garlic mixture. now pour the wine into the pan and let the alcohol evaporate. Add the thyme leaves and give it a good stir. 

Squeeze the liquid out of the porcini mushrooms and add the brown mushroom flavoured liquid it was soaking in to the pan. This will give an intense mushroom flavour. 

Soaked Porcini mushrooms 

Now start adding the stock to the rice one ladle at a time and let the rice absorb the liquid before adding more. Continue adding the stock till the rice is cooked but not mushy ( it should still have a little bite to it) 

Now add a few knobs of butter to it and squeeze the lemon juice into it right before serving. Add some fresh parsley, black pepper and give it a good mix. Serve with a few parmesan shavings on top.

Mushroom Risotto

Enjoy!

Sticky date Pudding

Dear Readers,

Winter is here in all it's glory in Sydney. I know I know being from Melbourne this shouldn't be too bad but I am close to the stage where once I am snuggled in my doona (duvet for my non Aussie friends) dressed in my flannel pjs, even getting up for a glass of water seems like an arduous task. But I love winters,  it's probably because I grew up in a tropical country in a city where the only climate is hot and humid. I love the cycle of seasons and the change in activity and pace it brings with it and how nature has a unique way of replenishing itself.

So what makes winter nights so special you ask? Hot cocoa, my special Baileys hot chocolate, crumbles and best of all gooey sticky date pudding smothered in toffee sauce with a dollop of cream - sends you straight to gooey pudding heaven. I have a secret to share with all of you, I never ate dates while I was in India, they reminded me of cockroaches too much for me to eat them.Only after I developed a serious case of anaemia when I moved to Melbourne and my mom advised me to eat two dates every day to boost my iron levels did I start eating dates and absolutely loved them. I seriously regretted not having eaten them all these years. I shared my dates-cockroach resemblance story to my hubby who then told me that he ate dates as a kid only because he thought they looked like cockroaches and thought it was so much fun because of that. Wow! So alike and yet so not alike!

Coming back to the pud, this recipe is fail proof, trust me I have made it in the most meticulous fashion and sometimes really carelessly it works every single time. I usually make sticky date puddings in muffin trays so that I have individual servings but you can make one large dish and cut it into slices like in the original recipe. Either way it's a really enjoyable dessert, perfect for those snuggly winter nights or days.


Love,
Cookie

Recipe                                                                                               Print Recipe

(Adapted from Super food ideas July 2004, page 49 recipe by Dixie Elliott, found on taste)
yields 12

Ingredients
250-300 g Pitted dates -chopped
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
11/2 cups of boiling water
125 g unsalted butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
13/4 cup Self Raising Flour - sifted

For the caramel/toffee sauce
1 cup brown sugar
300 ml thickened cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
60 g butter

Double cream or vanilla ice cream to serve with.

Method
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (160 degrees C, fan forced). Lightly grease and flour a 12 cup muffin tray (you can choose to line them with muffin cases if you wish).

Put the dates and bicarb in a bowl and cover it with the boiling water, keep it aside for 20 minutes.

Beat the butter, sugar and vanilla together till it's fluffy and pale. Now mix in the date mixture till well combined. Now gently fold through the sifted flour till everything is combined and you get a smooth lump free batter. 

Spoon the batter into the muffin tray and let it bake for 15-20 minutes till they are golden brown, well risen and a skewer comes out clean when inserted in the center of the puddings. 

Pierce the puddings with a skewer and drizzle the sauce over it generously. Best served warm with a dollop of double cream or vanilla ice cream. 

Enjoy!

Note: The puddings and the sauce can be made a day or two ahead, they keep really well in anairtight container. The sauce can be reheated right before serving.

Eating my way through Chennai

Hubby and I got back from India a few weeks ago. We were there for one of my very good friend's wedding and also to visit family. Our itinerary included Chennai, Delhi (Gurgaon) and Mussoorie. We spent about 6 days in Chennai where my parents live and the place where I grew up. My friend who was getting married is one of my oldest friends, we have seen each other grow from gawky teenagers to thankfully - beautiful, confident women (and all the craziness in between) Every year when I went back home I knew her's would be one of the first few faces I would see, it's a strange feeling knowing that this might not be the case anymore, as she has moved halfway across the world to Washington, D.C. 

It's amazing how old friends can stop time and even turn it back, whenever we meet we have so much to talk about and reminisce, as if we were never apart. So to be a part of her wedding and see her enter this new phase of life was an exciting and emotional experience. If you know anything about Indian weddings,you know they are dramatic, colourful and full of chaos. If you are ever invited to one, let go of your inhibitions and just go with the flow. Chaos is the ultimate path to having a good time in Indian weddings. Nothing ever happens on time, there is a lot of food and a lot of people trying to feed you, lots of dancing, clothes go missing, people go missing just as long as the bride and groom make it on time to the ceremony, all is well. After having a wonderful time at the wedding and partaking in the madness and enjoying Marwari hospitality, we were all set to just chill and enjoy the city for a few days.

A little about Chennai, formerly known as Madras, it is one of the four largest metropolitan cities in India. It is also the capital of the southern state Tamil Nadu. Tamil is the state's official language and is one of the oldest languages in the world. Now hubby belongs to Delhi and is not a big fan of the south, all those years of conditioning are hard to get rid off that quickly. India's different regions are so varied and culturally different from one another that in spite of living in one country, no one can claim to understand every region, their language, food and so on. It's a culinary adventurer's dream and a traveler's unconquerable conquest.  I took upon myself the task of making him like the city that I know so well and love. He is not a fan of art or architecture, so no temples, churches or galleries would do. I decided that apart from the two days at the wedding we would eat our way through the city. I would take him to my local eateries that I have loved for ages and also enjoy the new culinary hot spots in the city.

Saravana Bhavan
101, Dr. Radhakrishnan Salai, Mylapore, 
Chennai - 600 004.
No visit to Madras is ever complete without eating tiffin from Saravana Bhavan. Saravana Bhavan is a Madras food institution, and has branches all over the world. Not much has changed here, the same setting, same delicious food, of course prices have inflated a lot over the years. We ordered idlis, onion rava dosa, vadas, appam with cauliflower side dish and filter coffee. The highlight for me is the consistent good taste and quality of food. I love the sambhar here and the coconut chutney is the best I have ever had. I absolutely love South Indian filter coffee, it is the Indian cappuccino if you will - perfect combination of the bitterness with a hint of sweetness and froth. The food was as good as i remembered, all my south Indian food cravings were satiated and we were both so full at the end of it all.

Food 9/10
Service 8/10
Ambience 5/10

Idlis with sambhar and chutny

Medu Vada with sambhar and chutny

Appam with side dish

Onion Rava Dosai

Cooling/frothing action

Filter coffee

Fruit Shop on Greams Road

# 49/50, Whites Road, SL:22, Base-1,
Express Avenue Complex,
Royapettah, Chennai - 600014

This used to be a popular hangout during my schooling, our very own Pop tates (Archies) if you will. The first one was at Greams Road, hence the name. It has about 10-12 branches in Chennai now and are really popular because f their superb quality of fruit juices and milkshakes. Their juices and milkshakes are as popular now as they were 10 years ago. We had a citrus cooler, kiwi based juice and the famous Jughead milkshake (ice cream based) . The quality and taste was great and the refreshing drinks was what we needed on a hot day. They even gave us a little shot glass for my nephew to have juice out of. 

Food 9/10
Service 7/10
Ambience 7/10

Citrus cooler

Kiwi cooler

Jughead special

My nephew enjoying juice in his baby glass

Mainland China

44/145,Hotel Tulip Aruna Complex,Sterling Road, 

Nungambakkam,Chennai,TN,600 034, India

I have been coming to the Mainland China at Tulip Aruna Hotel ever since it opened. The Hotel boasts of some very nice restaurants like Fusion 9 and Sigree. We went for dinner with my parents who also enjoy the food here. The food was good as usual and the service was top notch, very polite, attentive and professional. I love the Indianised Chinese food and seriously miss it a lot in Aussie Land.  It is no wonder that we non resident Indians look forward to visiting the motherland so much. The soups, side dishes and noodles were really tasty, only let down was the creme brulee which had no sugary crunch nor was the custard very creamy and it lacked the orange blossom taste which was promised in the menu.

Food 7/10
Service 8/10
Ambience 8/10

Wonton soup

Hot and sour soup

Crispy corn

Lamb stir fry

Crispy vegetables 

Pan fried noodles

Orange blossom creme brulee

creme brulee

Amaravathi 
Opposite Music academy, Cathedral Road, Gopalapuram, 
Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600086

This is one of my favourite places for Andhra meals apart from National Lodge. Andhra food is characteristically hotter and I love the gongura (sorrel leaves) chutney and the sundried salted chilli accompaniment. The food in this visit was a little bit of a let down for me as was the service. It's because I am used to efficient service and piping hot, delicious food from this joint. The vegetarian meals included sambhar, rasam, curd, 3 vegetable side dishes and accompaniments like pickle, gongura chutney and dal powder. I love the first course of rice with ghee, dal powder and chutny - yumm! My carnivorous husband enjoyed prawns and mutton with flaky parathas. I don't think he had tasted anything like it in Delhi and he loved it. 

Food 7/10
Service 5/10
Ambience 6/10

Vegetarian Meals

Spicy prawns

Mutton fry

Parathas

Sweet finish - sweet and bananas with beeda paan

Flying Elephant
39 Velachery Road, Near Raj Bhavan, 
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, 600032

This was our fancy pants night out with two of my girl friends from school. One of them had already been here and was raving about the food so we had to try it out. The restaurant is at the newly opened Park Hyatt Hotel and first impressions were impressive. I loved the interiors and the architectural finishes and use of lighting was beautiful. It even had a beautiful courtyard where I can only imagine what fun it would be to have brunch on a nice sunny day. It has been designed by George Wong and the emphasis is on the theatricality of the art of cooking, multiple levels and open kitchen stations ensures the engagement of visitors.

Mango chips with Guacamole

We were escorted to our table and given the menus. We decided to order some cocktails ( can not remember the names except the mojito) and try their mango chips (seasonal specialty) with guacamole. The mango chips were interesting, they were like dehydrated or air fried thin wafers of mango, quite tasty. The cocktails were delicious and fruity.

Complimentary bread

Indonesion Gado Gado salad

We then ordered a Gado Gado salad and grilled ricotta in a strawberry syrup for the vegetarians. The salad was good and the satay sauce was tasty but the grilled ricotta was sensational. It had both sweet and savoury notes with hint of cinnamon and cloves. It was sublime and no it was not a dessert.

Grilled Ricotta with strawberry compote

Grilled Ricotta again!

Burrah kebab

Next we ordered the tiger prawn with olives and burrah kebab for the meat eaters. It was tasty and well cooked and was thoroughly enjoyed by them.

Tiger Prawn with olives

The bar

We then ordered desserts, my friend was keen to try the pavlova which is very Aussie so that we could tell her if it's good or not. A good pavlova is crisp on the outside and soft like a marshmallow on the inside. This unfortunately did not have a soft interior. It was hard and very sugary. The fruits and cream on top were nice and the presentation was good but it failed to impress as a pavlova.

Pavlova

Finally the pièce de résistance arrived and it certainly was a show stopper - the Bombe alaska.  Beautifully piped meringue exterior ready to be burnished by flaming liqueur. The flaming liqueur crisped up the meringue a little. We then cut through the meringue to reveal the cake and sorbet layers inside. I couldn't wait to get into it and boy was it good. The tartness of the fruit sorbet, soft sponge and sweet fluffy meringue with the hint of liqueur was just divine. This was my favourite dish of the night. 

Bombe Alaska being lit up

Bombe Alaska

 We then strolled around in the courtyard with our drinks and enjoyed the ambience. The waiters were quick to transport our drinks outside and very courteous.

Courtyard

Beautiful reflections in the water - courtyard

Food 8/10
Service 8/10
Ambience 9/10

I have written about 5 of my favorite places to eat in Chennai but there are so many more. I can't wait to visit my beloved city again and sample both the old and cherished and the new and hip joints along with my mumma's cooking.  

p.s yes the hubby fell in love with the food and the city is starting to grow on him :-)