Blanc bar and bistro

My second fine dining experience in Adelaide and I was looking forward to it. Blanc is conveniently located in The Village, North Adelaide. The ambience is charming except for the group of loud peeps sitting next to us. Service is moderate.

On the plate: butter, olive oil and butter~

As we waited for our meals to arrive, I've decided to go ahead practising my indoor photography skills. I took heaps of pictures and filtered out the decent ones:)






The huge piece of bread~

Seafood au volvent (if I remembered correctly)~ This was an impressive appetizer although it was slightly messy.


While we waited for the mains to arrive~

Bug chilli bla bla~ it looks..scary-.- I'm not sure if I appreciated the flavours but I hope someone else didO.o

Seafood platter~ Honestly, this was pretty simple to prepare and it lacked good presentation skills. If I wanted a simple seafood platter, I would have ate this at the jetty where I do not need to adhere to some dress code rules and it would definitely be wayyy cheaper. The calamari was rubbery and according to my brother, the mussels wasn't cooked well.

Pan fried and baked pearl perch fillets with deep fried potatos and french beans, served with peso sauce~ Fresh fish but unfortunately, the entire dish lacked creativity. I didn't like the peso sauce at all-.- I'll probably attempt making dish at home but with a different type of sauce=/

Frozen strawberry souffle~ omggg.....my initial reaction was that the waitress forgot to include the souffle but after waiting for 10 minutes with no response from them...It was strawberry ice blocks. Too frozen to enjoy, no creamy texture and it was sour (nothing to balance that out). I think this is one of the biggest fails of the night. Maybe there are different types of souffle but seriously, whoever that wrote the menu needs a smack in the head. He/she could have just mentioned "Strawberry puree ice cream" or "Strawberry ice cubes". I'm so very disappointed with this. It spoilt my entire evening mood>=( I am able to bear with the main but this is too much to expect from me.

I shall hit the sack now and calm myself down. There's so much preparation needed for tomorrow and hopefully, I don't fumble along the way. Wish me luck!^^

SE Asia cuisines at home

I'm in a slack-ish mood today after completing an oral test of which, I am super grateful to have not too strict examiners. Hopefully I have provided sufficient information as well as asked the correct questions. I did made blunders ie good morning when it's afternoon and the usage of medical jargons. I knew I would mess up somewhereT.T

After a much delayed, procastinated blog post, I have finally compiled a mini album of the food that I did not cook nor help during the preparation but instead sat at the dining table when the time is right made by the boy and a few by Mr.k-party:) Took me a while to transfer the files around but alas, it's done!

Tom yum bihun noodles served with mushrooms, chicken pieces, cauliflower, bok choy and garnished with kaffir leaves, coriander and chilli flakes~

Korean noodles served with bok choy and crabs in crab/seafood broth~

Malaysian style curry noodles~ generous portions of tau fu pok in creamy curry broth, my dream curry mealxD

Tom yum fried rice~ mushrooms, onions, kaffir leaves, chicken pieces and egg:)

2.5 minute tofu garnished with chopped spring onions and garlic oil, served with soy sauce~ I make this dish whenever I'm busy. It's nothing special but dunno why the boy likes it-.- Is he hinting that my other food sucks big time?O.o

Ingredients for making chicken broth~ We both use heaps of chicken broth in our sauces or noodles so best to prepare in advance and leave it in the freezer:)

Steamed egg with minced pork and garnished with fried shallots and a splash of soy sauce~ I like this very much. It's light and yummy, good for mixing with rice:)

Bbq crab and my bro's fingers~ apparently this was one of our largest catch this season so somebody had to camwhore with it lol.

Fried fish in chilli paste~ I forgot the name of this dish so...hehe. It's veryyyyy nice:P

Omelette topped with marinated chicken pieces~ another egg dish from the boy!:)

Sambal belacan garlic stem~ caution. Not for those with weak stomachs.

Will be uploading more foodie pics soon so stay tuned. May be delayed due to the upcoming exams.

p.s: i'm super duper hyped about my melbourne trip hehe. Ms. A just gave me a mini guide of the must see places in the city..hehe...you know laaa~~

Quick and easy meal 3: Rosemary for 2

I am obsessed with rosemary's scent and taste since I bought a pack of these fresh lovelies last week for only AUS2.45. The dried version costs about AUS2.00 for a mini jar of which I also do have for emergency situations;)

Firstly, some puppy pictures from Rundle's pet shop. They are so adorable, playful and cute. I get upset whenever the puppy I like is no longer at the pet shop..I want a house!!;(

Labrador~~sooooo cute!! My second choice if I can't get a bernese mountain dog in australia..or maybe I should get both?? hehe

Beagle and shih tzu playing around~

Beagle vs labrador~apparently the beagle stole the labrador's toy bone so they ended up "fighting"

I didn't get a picture of the labrador biting the beagle's tail=/

:D

Sniff sniff~

Resting after chasing the beagle around~

Okok, enough puppy-ing around. I have included 2 rosemary recipes (in case some of you guys are afraid of not fully utilizing them). However, do be cautious as the second recipe is more challenging but should be attempted if there's ample time to spare:)

Baked Maryland

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 2.5 hours (inclusive of baking time of which you don't really need to watch the oven every second)
Difficulty rating: 1/5

I completely forgot to take pictures of the entire process. Sorry guys! Here's the recipe:

2 pieces of maryland chicken, cleaned
A splash of olive oil
3 cloves of garlic
1tbsp of rosemary leaves
1/2 tbsp of thyme
1.5 tsp Dijon mustard
3 tbsp lemon juice
Pepper and a bit of sugar for seasoning

All you need to do is marinate the chicken with all the above ingredients and don't forget to cut lines on the chicken to allow better absorption of the flavours. You can marinate 2 days ahead and leave it in the fridge. When you're ready, just place them in the oven to bake at 150C for 2.5 hours. You need to "wash" the chicken with the released chicken juice in the baking pan after about 1 hour. Other than that, there's nothing too difficult to handle;)

I've made egg rice and simple spinach with mushroom to compliment the dish. Here's the recipe for the gravy:

1 small cube of butter
3 tbsp of plain flour
1 bowl of chicken stock
1 bowl of released chicken juice

Melt the butter and add plain flour until it becomes a creamy texture. Slowly incorporate the chicken stock until no lumps are seen. Finally, add the chicken juice and stir well:) This took about 6 minutes? Hehe

Shepherd's pie
Recipe adapted from Jamie Oliver but with modifications~

500g minced lamb
1 tbsp olive oil
1 red onion
3 cloves garlic
1 stick of celery
2 carrots
25g pancetta
Rosemary
200g tomatoes
1kg potatoes, peeled
200mL milk

I've marinated the lamb with sugar, pepper, salt, rosemary and some olive oil a few days before just for easy preparations~

Fry the onion cubes with olive oil while allowing the potatoes to boil in salted water. Add the garlic and fry until fragrant. Add the pancetta and fry for about 5 minutes before adding in the minced lamb. Allow to cook until the meat is cooked before adding in the chopped carrots and tomatoes. Once completed, allow to bake in the oven for about 15 minutes

Soft baked potatoes before adding in butter and milk~

Smashed potatoes:P

The baked lower half~

Added with mashed potatoes and lines drawn across~

Chilling with peach tea!

Baked~ I'm supposed to let it brown on the top but the sides were browning too fast:(

Served with lettuce slices~

My meat portion's miserable compared to the potato portion..i even have an extra bowl of mashed potatoes lol!

Enjoy and have a lovely week:)