Seriously – nothing could be easier. It’s cheating, not cooking!

• 1 litre yoghurt (full fat yields a creamier texture of cheese, full fat Greek is my all time favourite)***
• Cheesecloth or muslin
• stainless steel or glass bowl
• String or very thick rubber band
• fine mesh sieve (You can do without this but it makes life easier)

***Avoid commercial yoghurt containing gelatine. Gelatine prevents the whey (liquid) from separating out and making the cheese.

I do make my own yoghurt as well, but you do not need to.

1. Pour yoghurt into a large bowl and stir just until smooth. Take the cheesecloth and fold into several layers of thickness. Place the cheesecloth in the strainer so that it is laying flat against the bottom with the ends up and over the sides.

2. Transfer the yoghurt into the cheesecloth, and then gather up the ends. You will end up with a “sack” containing the yoghurt. Tie the sack securely with string or wrap with the rubber band or just twist it up and peg it closed.

3. Hang the sack containing the yoghurt from a cabinet knob or handle and place the bowl underneath to catch the whey that will drain out. Let the yoghurt drain for 8 to 24 hours. The longer the yoghurt drains, the thicker the cheese will be. Overnight is preferable. Because I am in QLD, I always drain in the refrigerator. But you can drain it anywhere!

4. Remove the sack and open it up. You will see the cheese. You can use the whey that has drained out for cooking – we use ours in smoothies. Store the cheese in the refrigerator. It should keep for approximately one week but I have kept it much longer – if it lasts and doesn’t get eaten up :) One cup of yoghurt yields about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of cheese.

6. Serve sprinkled with chopped basil leaves or drizzled with a little olive oil along with pita bread, black olives, stuffed grape leaves, tabouleh, or any of your favourite Middle Eastern foods. Try sprinkling on Zaatar. Or blending in creamy roasted garlic… or… roll into balls and preserve in flavoured olive oil.

Looking through the big panes of glass that section off the area from the street, you are greeted with eye candy of home wares and gourmet goodies. Take away day patrons can choose from gourmet salads, sandwiches stuffed with organic rotisserie chicken, rolled roasted pork with crackling, spring lamb or roast beef. The patisserie  displays a mouth watering range of cakes, brioche and cookies. Or how about a French ‘pizza’ of caramelised onion, anchovies and olives; a lamb, eggplant caviar and mint chutney sandwich or a divine ratatouille salad?

And if you are not in the mood for a takeaway, you can join the communal table, situated centrally between cooking school and delicatessen, overlooking the terrace.

And then there is dinner.

And, I was so fortunate to join a group of people at a pre-opening dinner just before Christmas. Brisbane sommelier Peter Marchant hosted this dinner which was composed of six wonderful courses, matched with wines. It was a wonderful night with great company, great food and great wine. It was a shame I had a tummy bug all that day and had to keep leaving the table. I don’t think anyone noticed  right until the end – when they all thought I had snuck off home!

My souvenir:

One for my collection of obscure or rare menus from restaurants.

Their cooking school will be run by chef Joshua Lopez who was once at 2 small rooms, one of my very favourite places in Brisbane. There will be lunchtime cooking lessons and guest celebrity chef classes. Looking forward to trying these!

These ribs are tender, tangy and terrific.  Easy to make, simply  coat the ribs in the marinade and let them bake slow and long – the key to making them tender and soft.

Ingredients:

• 500g pork ribs (Pork  belly strips cut into bite size chunks)
• 1 fresh pineapple cut into chunks
• 1 birds eye chilli, chopped (add more if you like it spicy!)
• 1 tbsp palm sugar
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp Chinese rice wine
• 2 tbsp oyster sauce (or thicken stock with cornflour if coeliac)
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 3 tbsp peanut oil
• 2 tbsp  tomato sauce

Cooking:

• Heat wok, add oil. Add pork and stir fry until almost cooked.
• Remove from heat and drain on paper towel or over the grid on the wok.
• Remove oil from work.
• Heat water in wok over medium heat, wait until boiling then add pork.
• Add pineapple and the rest ingredients, and turn down heat until simmering.
• Cover work, and simmer for 30-40 minutes until the spare ribs are tender.
• Remove from heat. Transfer to the serving plate and garnish with spring onion.
• Serve immediately with hot steamed rice and stir fried greens.

Note: * After cooking the pork, I do the rest of the process in a large cast iron pot in the oven. Keep it on low and remove the heat for the last 10 mins or to really sticky them up.

(Image from google, the lens fogged up so much my image is deplorable!)

It’s awesome.

Anyhow.

Strawberries and Amaretto are 2 of my favourite foods. So, combined with a hot day and the elcheapo machine, I produced some ice cream.

Yum.

3 cups strawberries  washed, hulled and halved
2 tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar (I bought some 10 year aged at the Black Pearl bloggers do)
1/4 cup Vanilla Sugar 
1 + 1/4 cups sugar ( reserve 1/4 cup)
1 teaspoon Vanilla Paste  
2 tablespoons Amaretto
1 1/4 cup milk 
1 1/4 cups sour cream 
1 cup pouring cream

Line a baking sheet (make sure it has a low side or small lip) with alfoil. Spread the halved strawberries. Combine Vanilla Sugar and  1 cup of sugar, sprinkle over the berries, drizzle the Balsamic Vinegar over the berries and sugar.

Roast at 180  until the sugar dissolves and the juices start to bubble and caramelise. This will take about 15 minutes or so. Remove from the oven and pour into a bowl. Strain berries  from the juices, while mushing them slightly. Set aside the mashed berries in one small container and allow the hot strawberry sugar balsamic juice to cool in another container. Add vanilla paste or extract and the Amaretto. Set Aside.

Mix the milk and remaining 1/4 cup sugar for a few minutes on low speed in a mixer. Add the creams. Mix well. While mixing, add the Berry Juices, and mashed berries. Pour the mixture into the freezer bowl and churn until ready, but make sure it is slightly of soft consistency. Pour and spread into your container or a loaf pan. Freeze for several more hours in the freezer until ready to serve.

Viola.

McGuigan Wines contacted me late last year, to enquire if I would be interested in a ‘Twitter Wine Tasting’.  A wine lover I am, so of course, I said yes.

McGuigan posted me a bottle of their newly released ‘The Semillon Blanc“  which I popped straight into the fridge, ready for it to be crispy cold and looked forward to sipping and tweeting.  To my knowledge, this is the first Twitter wine tasting to ever occur. If not, it’s certainly the first I have been involved in. It is a novel concept and, with the exception of one small bug, it really WORKS.

Finally, armed with Manchengo, Jamon, crackers and my icy, icy white, I sipped, supped and tweeted.

I found The Semillon Blanc to be aromatic, flavoursome and crisp white wine, made in white burgundy style, but softer. It was fresh and crisp, fruity without sweetness, delicious fruit flavours that lingered on the palate. The aroma was delightful and citrusy fresh. It would sit well with seafood, light pasta, salads and Asian style dishes or simply as a sipping wine.

Oh – the one small bug? Daylight savings! 7.30 PM tasting was the allocated time frame. I almost missed it, but it not for a stray tweet read when I should have been doing something else, at 6.25 PM. If you are organising a virtual event, make sure you remember people in other time zones and instruct them accordingly. I had no idea the tasting was on NSW time.

McGuigan supplied me with ‘The Semillon Blanc” in line with my Disclosure Policy

I had the lamb special (pictured) which was divine. Husband had Finnish meat pies (Karelian) – 2 served with a side salad. These were generous and filled with a spiced ground lamb. Mr 14 was in breakfast mode and ordered Eggs Benedict and I have to say it was was presented beautifully and the Hollandaise had a wonderful tang.  The boys shared a ‘slapped ear’ – (Korvapuusti):  a doughy cardamom bun filled with brown sugar and cinnamon.

A fresh banana berry smoothie for the boy, Finnish coffee for the man and organic apple juice served with a hibiscus flower for me.

Lovely meal, lovely view.

1525 Tamborine-Oxenford Road
Wongawallan
Queensland
4210

07 5545 1424

3 large eggs yolks
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch salt
1 cup milk
1 cup cream
1 cup lemon curd

In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, vanilla, and salt.

Pour the milk and cream into the top of a double boiler and heat over barely simmering water until hot, but not boiling.  Stir with a wooden spoon, scraping the bottom of the pan to prevent sticking. Slowly pour some of the hot cream into the eggs to temper them. whisk lightly whilst doing so.   Slowly add the rest of the hot cream, whisking constantly till smooth. Return to the double boiler and cook over medium-low heat until thick and bubbling around the edges.  You are making a thick, rich custard, so be very careful to stir constantly and to keep the temperature to medium-low.  It takes about 15 minutes for the custard to thicken, so be patient.

(If you don’t know how to tell if egg custard is ready, here’s the tip: Run your finger through the custard on the back of the wooden spoon.  If the line remains separate, it’s ready! )

Strain the custard through a fine mesh sieve into a metal bowl (don’t skip this step).  Cover and chill for at least 4 hours or overnight. Once very cool and set, whisk lemon curd into the chilled custard.  Pour the mixture into the ice cream machine and churn.

Transfer ice cream to a shallow container, cover with plastic wrap and a tight fitting lid and freeze for at least 4 hours before serving. The plastic wrap stops those little crunchy icicles from forming. Serve with a dollop of lemon curd :)

A huge thank you to James and Matt – who write a great vegan blog – and to wonderful Steven, Andy (and Kuro the cat!), who run a one-stop cruelty-free online shop The Vegan Store.

This chocolate is so good! Made on rice milk, very creamy. Tastes lovely.

And the sugar free version was even better in my opinion. The cranberries added a sweet tartness that I LOVED.

Pop on over to the vegan store, even if you are a carnivore ;) there are so many goodies there you will not be able to resist. James and Matt write a pretty good blog, too!

My friend Mei Yen Chua, author of Brisbane’s Budget Bites shared her recipe but I never got around to it. This year, however, I made this to sing in the new year. A few tweaks to her original depending what I had in the fridge – and viola – panettone Trifle Cake.  (‘Tis very yum).

Syrup
Grated zest  of 1 orange (zest 2, use the second separately, below)
Juice of 2 oranges
3 tbs caster sugar
2 ttbs Grand Marnier (You could use Cointreau, or Frangelico)

Cake
500g panettone (The cheaper ones work just as well in this recipe – Aldi have them on special right now!)
900ml cream or 500 ml cream and 400 ml creme freche
Zest of 1 orange
2 tbs caster sugar
2 punnets of strawberries

Syrup:
combine 1 orange zest, juice and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat, and stir to dissolve sugar. Bring this to boil slowly. Simmer for a minute or so then set aside to cool. When cool, stir in Grand Marnier.

Cake
Slice off 3 rounds about 2.5cm thick from the bottom of the cake, to make round discs. (Save the rest of panettone to eat later, or scoff it while your cooking. Toasted with butter. Mmmmm….)  Brush each of the rounds with the orange syrup. Be quite generous.

Beat cream, zest and sugar until you make lovely sift peaks. Now comes the fun part. :)  Place the base round on a serving  platter and cover with a layer of whipped cream. Top with 1/3 of the berries. Repeat with remaining panettone rounds, and  on the top layer, smooth out the cream and decorate with the last of the berries. Now drizzle of the remaining syrup.

Serve immediately, or chill for up to 2 hours. Serves 8. Or not. ;)