Recipe Remix: Choc Chip Hedgehog...

I needed to make something quick and delicious for The Biggest Morning Tea to be held at my husbands work.  Yes, I did get a text message from Mark and I knew that he was hoping that I would offer to make something!  (good wife I am - he he!)  Anyway, as we have been super busy during the week I wanted to make something that was quick and no bake but that was full of chocolatey goodness!  This resulted in the Recipe Remix of the standard Hedgehog slice into a Choc Chip Hedgehog!

You can find the original recipe here, it's pretty simple and I was lucky that I had all the ingredients in my pantry.

The only remix for this recipe was to add a good sprinkle of chocolate chips over the top of the slice as soon as it has gone in the pan and quickly push them in with a spoon.  The result is extra chocolatey and a good crunch when you bite the slice!  I find that with this recipe, you can cut the slice into smaller squares as it's a little bit more 'rich' in flavour and texture.  A great little sweet treat with your coffee!

Enjoy!
Miss Mardi xxx

Like a Whiskey Stone...

Whiskey Stones

I'm an occassional whiskey drinker and when I do drink it, I like it straight up! If you have been reading along at home, you will know my love for a good vodka, again, straight up and chilled.

When I saw these Whiskey Stones in a little shop in San Francisco, my immediate thought was, "well I could use them for my vodka!"  The beauty of these 'stones' that you keep in the freezer, is that they don't dilute your spirits like an ice block would. Genius huh? They also look pretty darn cool in your glass as well.  The chill that they produce is a slow and subtle one.  After reading some research about why you would use a whiskey stone, many people have said that this slow 'chill' allows the spirit to be at a cool temperature but not a cold one, meaning that the oils in the spirit don't get too cold which can lead to a loss of taste and also a harshness in the spirit.  I mean, that makes sense to me.  When you are drinking very expensive and premium spirits that have been lovingly created, you don't want to go and shock it to death with ice!

Belvedere Intense with Whiskey Stone.

They come in two sizes, small and large.  I got the large ones. You just rinse them off after use, let them dry and I keep them in a lock seal bag in the freezer so they don't become contaminated with other smells or food.  I'm not sure if anyone in Australia is selling them but if you get a chance to try them - do!  I'm quite the fan!

A New Kind of Foodie Magazine...

cover of one of the issues - Bon Appetit.

I used to be a bit of a Food Magazine freak. I loved flicking through the magazines and drooling over the delicious looking items on display and then feeling inspired to create the array of sweets and savoury dishes. However, over the last few years I've kind of gone off them. I had either found that the recipes included were too simple to create or they included an ingredient list two pages long that I thought, "that's too hard or
too much effort to make".

Pretty photography...

Though I have found a new magazine that is inspirational, informative and generally just god damn beautiful! My friend in Boston, Anita put me onto it while we were visiting and I was so excited to discover that we could get a subscription via the Ipad (oh yeah, we now read our 'food mags' on the Ipad!) quite cheaply.  Now I can't wait for the little number to flash up on our magazine icon to say that there is the new edition of Bon Appetit Magazine, ready for us to read!

One of the things that I love with the Ipad version is the added videos and pop ups to obtain more information.  They also have the option to read the recipes in a black and white format that is purely text base, making things a little easier in the kitchen. Yep, that's just smart.

My kinda article - the Salumi Whisperer!

There is also the lack of 'hipster' in the Bon Appetit magazine.  I would describe it as New York Cool.  It knows it's cool but doesn't need to shove it down our throat.  I love that.

Definitely check out the Bon Appetit website and magazines if you get a chance. The photography is beautiful and the articles inspire greatly. I also love that it isn't purely USA focused, with some great articles about Europe and Asia.  I am now excited about 'foodie mags' again - thanks Bon Appetit!

OMG... Umami Burger San Francisco...

Check out the Umami Burger website:  www.umami.com

While we were in San Francisco we ventured (and by ventured, I mean took a very long walk!) to Umami Burger.  Mark had heard really good things about this place and it was near the top of our list of burger joints to suss out.  I can tell you know that we were not disappointed!

My Manly Burger at Umami.

Umami are known for their unusual takes on the burger.  One of their specialities is a burger that has a bacon wrapped scallop as the patty.  It was amazing to see a huge scallop patty instead of the usual beef version.  I had what is known as the 'Manly burger' which was a beer patty, beer-cheddar cheese, salted onion strings and delicious thick cut bacon. Hmmmm.... drooooolllll....

Mark's Scallop and Bacon burger.

Naturally Umami have all these special made secret sauces etc on their burgers which make them super delicious too.  What I loved about them was they pretty much tell you that the burgers are what's on the menu.  You can take something off a burger but not add as they have created, what they believe to be specially balanced combinations of burgers, cheese and their special additions.  I love that they stand behind what they make and seriously, the burgers that we got were so delicious with the perfect balance of cheese, sauce and meat that I would trust to go with what's on the menu!  I can see them rolling their eyes at someone trying to mess with the burger system!

smushed potatoes.

The sides were also amazing.  After a few weeks of living on french fries, I decided to mix it up and go with the Smushed potatoes.  They were whole potatoes cooked, smushed a bit, then fried so they were crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside.  Kinda like the perfect roasted potato.  It made for a nice change from fries.

The Pickle Platter!

We also indulged in the Pickle Platter which was a highlight!  It featured a range of pickles, of varying heat and vegetables.  I love pickles so this was a real treat to start off with.  Be warned though, the pickled chilies are HOT!  All of this was washed down with my favourite Portland Maine beer, Allagash.

Umami are a Californian based chain and each restaurant has their own special burgers that they create so if you have the chance to visit a few restaurants, you will get different burger combinations.

Definitely on the list of 'must goes' if you are in San Francisco!  I will be visiting again, next time I'm in the area!

For the Love of a Bloody Mary Oyster Shot!

Bloody Mary Oyster Shooters, a dozen.

As you guys will know, I do love a Bloody Mary.  But what you may not know is that I also love a Bloody Mary style oyster!  While we at the beautiful Heritage Belgian Beer Cafe in Sydney, we totally indulged in a dozen Bloody Mary Oyster shooters.  Oh yeah, we were drinking beer with them too!  Crazy!

Always combine your Bloody Mary Oyster shooter with a good quality beer!

Like a Bloody Mary, the oyster shooter should use good quality fresh ingredients.  It should also be a bit spicy but not to take away from the fresh oyster too.  And yes, it does have vodka in it like any real Bloody Mary too.  We had a chat to our barman and master of the Bloody Mary Oyster shooters to confirm how he had made them and how much vodka was in the mix.  I think that he was pretty surprised at how quickly we had downed them.  What can I say?  They were delicious and totally hit the spot!  Watch this space for my take on this!

Sometimes, Only a Beer Will Do...

Lowenbrau beer with lemonade.

We were in Sydney this weekend to check out the latest Kaldor Art Project with Thomas Demand.  It was amazing but that's a whole other story!  I'm not sure if it was the warm weather, the feeling that we were on vacation, or the fact that we flew up straight after work but this weekend was definitely the weekend of BEER!

Mark enjoying a very large Leffe at the Heritage Beer Cafe.

While waiting for our flight, we enjoyed several beers prior.  I think both Mark and I when we arrived at the airport said at the same time "I really need a drink!"  and quite a few were enjoyed!  We continued with the beer theme in Sydney by visiting Lowenbrau in the Rocks.  Although it is quite touristy, I love the beer hall atmosphere and their selection of beers.  They also do several versions of 'shandies' which are pretty refreshing on a hot day.  I had the traditional German wheat beer with lemonade and Mark tried a dark beer with coca cola.  Surprisingly good!

Lowenbrau also do pretty amazing pretzels if your after a delicious salty treat.

In my happy place, big beer and checking twitter... yes,  multi-tasking!

We continued on the beer tour by visiting the Heritage Belgian Beer Cafe a little bit down the road. The building and decor are absolutely beautiful and it was a great way to spend a lazy afternoon.  They also have some delicious food treats and we will definitely be back to try their famous muscles which we could see people devouring.

Pretzel at Lowenbrau... with a bite out of it!

So after a weekend of beer, I may check out the Good Beer Week which is coming up in Melbourne in May.  There are lots of great activities and programs for you to sample new brews and also learn a little bit more about the craft. And with this continual unseasonable warm weather that Melbourne is having, lets raise a pint to having more beer!

Happy Easter...

Bacon and egg breakfast tart.

For most of us, Easter is a long weekend.  Lots of relaxing times and catching up with family and friends.  For me its about cooking some delicious treats and staying inside being cozy, watching films and knitting.

lounging in my hand knitted socks.

Although Melbourne's weather has been very up and down, I've still gone towards comfort this weekend in my hand knitted socks and tasty simple treats.

So I hope that you have a wonderful Easter and that it is relaxing with loads of tasty treats too!