Food Envy

In my spare time at work, I love to browse Taste.com.au. I love food, and I like getting inspiration for new recipes. I take pleasure in looking at recipes that make my mouth water and stomach rumble. This also leads to a lot of food envy.

Below, here are some recipes I'm feeling massive food envy towards at the moment.. Click the title of the links to view the yummy recipes.

Savouries

Tomato, bacon & bocconcini gnocchi bake

Italian-style shepherd's pies

Broccolini & chilli spaghetti with pangrattato

Coconut chicken and lime curry

Antipasto pizza

Mozzarella-stuffed veal schnitzel

Speedy Tuscan white bean soup

Sweets

Chocolate and hazelnut soft-centred puddings

What's for dinner tonight?

With it being such a miserable, rainy, cold and wet day today, I can't wait to get home and put my trackies on and cook something warm and delicious.. and Beef Bourguignon is ideal for a night like tonight.

You might be wondering what exactly Beef Bourguignon is? Well it's a French recipe that entails a stew prepared with beef braised in red wine and beef broth, and is flavoured with garlic, onions and mushrooms. Serve it on a bed of polenta, cous cous or rice and the meal is complete.

Heart-warming and delicious. Tender pieces of goodness in a rich and tasty sauce. I'm excited to be curled in front of the television tonight eating this fabulous dish! What more could you ask for on a night like tonight?

I think I'm turning Japanese

I am obsessed with Japanese food. Their food is so healthy, fresh and tasty and is a nice change to add to the diet every now and again.

It's hard to find good sushi, I pretty much refuse to eat the pre-made rolls that sit in the window of shopping centre stores; cold, hard and off-tasting sushi is definitely not my thing. My ideal sushi has to be freshly made, warm and delicious.

Which is why when Foodbox Sushi opened locally in Waitara, I finally found the perfect sushi! Their sushi rolls are huge, and are sliced up into various large pieces. It is all made fresh to order and tastes absolutely devine. My personal favourite is the salmon sushi and the tempura prawn, mixed with wasabi, ginger and a generous amount of soy sauce of course.

They also make beautiful crunchy and fresh tempura vegetables, which is a great starter to the meal. Can't go past their gyoza's either; tasty little morsels that burst with flavour in your mouth.

Excellent value for money, this restaurant is high up on my list of favourites!

Bontà Vita

Before a night out in the city for a friend's birthday on the weekend, Jayce and I decided we would go in early and grab dinner together. As the event was at a bar on Sydney's Oxford Street, we wanted to find a place close by where we could walk to afterwards.

Wondering down the busy street we stumbled across an Italian restaurant called Bontà Vita. From the exterior, it looked like a small and simple restaurant, but upon walking in we discovered it actually expanded out to a cosy little room downstairs which had a lovely set up. The interior of the place looked very Italian, and for a second I almost pretended I was at a beautiful place somewhere romantic in Italy.

Starving hungry, we ordered the Aioli Bruschetta. While only small servings, it was absolutely delicious and full of flavour. This was the first time I've tried Aioli Bruschetta, and I must say it will definitely be something I'll be wanting to order again when the opportunity arises. I love both Bruschetta and Aioli as two separate items, so it went without saying that I would love them even more combined.

We ordered two pizzas; The Verdure, which was a mixture of eggplant, artichoke, peas, mushroom, onion, sundried tomato, tomato and Napolitano topped with Mozarella, as well as a chicken pizza which we ordered olives as an extra on top.

The pizzas tasted sensational, and although the bases could have been crispier, we walked away satisfied and ready to start the night. We will definitely be returning to this cute little restaurant sometime in the future. Bellissimo!

Cupcakes Make the World go Round

It's true when they say that 'cupcakes make the world go round'. They make the world a better place. There's something about those cute little fluffy delights that bring a smile to your dial on almost any occasion.

I'm not a massive cake eater, I find some cakes to be too rich and heavy on the stomach, but cupcakes are another story.

For as long as I can remember, it is a tradition that I bake cupcakes to celebrate close friends birthdays. Not only do I love the joy in baking the cakes, but I find it so rewarding when I see the happiness it can bring. I personally like baking vanilla cupcakes and decorating them with bright and cheerful colours - pink being my favourite.

I recently baked the beneath cupcakes for several special birthdays and they were an absolute treat, well worth the effort!

Can't be bothering whipping them up yourself? Cupcakes on Pitt (now conveniently located at several Sydney outlets) have an arrangement of outstanding cupcakes to suit any occasion. Why not try the Mango & Coconut, the Peanut Butter, the Cherry Ripe, the Chocolate Sundae, or perhaps the Green Tea may tickle your fancy? Too many options if you ask me, I can't pick a personal favourite, would have to be a tie between the Tiramsu or the Lemon Meringue. Yum! 

Picnic Perfect

For me, picnic's are always associated with happy memories; loved ones getting together, relaxing in beautiful surroundings, basking in the sunshine and indulging in delicious foods. As a child, I loved family picnics, but unfortunately as I have gotten older they seem to have become a distant memory.

Which is why when I wanted to do something special and meaningful for Jayce's and my anniversary, I thought what better way to celebrate then a lovely surprise picnic. As we were driving to Coffs Harbour for the Easter long weekend, I packed and cooked the food the night before and had everything ready in a pretty wooden picnic basket. The setting was beautiful; we stopped about 10km out of Coffs at a secluded park that sat alongside a river.

I thought long and hard about what food to pack, and it was enjoyed by both of us. The highlight was the asian noodle salad with prawns that I cooked up, which is one of my personal favourite salads; so fresh and satisfying. The combination of the chilli, mint and lime juice are to die for.

We also enjoyed an assortment of dips, cheeses, olives, antipasto, pate, grapes, chips and crackers, and for sweets we had lamingtons which I purchased at Thomas Dux Grocer's, who make them fabulously rich and fluffy.

It was a lovely opportunity to enjoy each other's company in celebrating a special occasion.

I'd like to share the recipe for the asian noodle salad as it is mind-blowing. For the picnic I added prawns to the salad, but it's just as great with chicken or other meats. If you have never made it, I strongly suggest you do. Now!

Asian Prawn Noodle Salad

Serves 4

500g fresh rice noodles

100g snow peas, trimmed

2 long red chillies, deseeded, thinly sliced lengthways

1 cup snow pea sprouts, trimmed

4 green onions, thinly sliced diagonally

750g cooked prawns, peeled, tail intact, deveined

1 cup coriander leaves

1/3 cup sweet chilli sauce

2 small limes, juiced

1. Place noodles and snow peas in 2 separate heatproof bowls. Cover noodles and snow peas with boiling water. Stand for 3 minutes. Drain. Refresh in cold water. Pat snow peas dry with paper towels. Thinly slice lengthways.
2. Combine noodles, snow peas, chillies, snow pea sprouts, green onions, prawns and coriander in a large bowl.
3. Whisk sweet chilli sauce and 1/4 cup lime juice in a small bowl until combined. Pour dressing over prawn noodle salad. Toss to combine. Spoon salad onto plates. Serve.

Fish & Chip Gelato. What in the World?

Don't get me wrong, I love a good gelato. And nothing beats a good serving of fish and chips. But together? I'm not so sure. So when I recently read about the new 'Fish and Chip' gelato now serving at Kailis Fish Market Cafe in Fremantle, Melbourne, I couldn't help but cringe.

It's just not something you could imagine until you try it, so I'm not going to rule out that I won't enjoy it. I'd be very keen to give it a go sometime if I'm ever visiting Melbourne!