Melbourne

Eliott and I have officially been living in Sydney for 1 year! Crazy. Year 2 will be dedicated to exploring more of Australia, so we spent a long weekend in Melbourne. This city is wonderful with its food, entertainment, and short flight from Sydney.

Since this blog is dedicated to food, I'll post about our brunches we thoroughly enjoyed. Eliott used Urbanspoon to find a brunch location for us each morning. Our two favorites were Hardware Societe and Seven Seeds. I wish I could eat at these cafes over and over and over again.

Hardware Societe gave me the opportunity to try French cuisine and I ordered the Croque madame. Yum.

At Seven Seeds, I satisfied my sweet tooth with Brioche french toast with spiced baked pears, mascarpone and toasted pecans. Eliott had a fried egg with smoky berkshire bacon, roasted cherry tomatoes and tomato relish on a toasted poppyseed bagel. This cup of coffee was the best flat white I've ever had.

Our last day was quite classy. We had American donuts and Dr. Pepper. I've never been so happy.

See ya soon, Melbourne.

E: 10 - thanks to technology
A: 10 - we walked 10 minutes from our hotel
T: 9 - popular places means lines
HH: 12 - so happy

Homemade Hamburger Helper

MasterChef Australia kicked off this week and I'm already amazed at what the contestants are cooking. I don't understand half of the techniques they use, so I'm happy to watch from the comfort of my couch instead of competing. These foodies would probably laugh at this ordinary Homemade Hamburger Helper as they make recipes with octopus or seaweed. 

Ingredients:
1/2 lb ground beef
1 lb elbow macaroni
8 ounces frozen corn
1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 cup cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
14 ounces tomato sauce
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp seasoned salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Directions:
Cook pasta according to package directions, drain and set aside. Cook meat over medium-high heat in a large skillet until browned. Drain and return to pan. Add all dry seasonings and flour and stir until combined. Add milk, tomato sauce and corn, bring to a boil stirring frequently. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook for 2 minutes. Add macaroni pasta and cheese, toss to coat. 

E: 9 - just as easy as the original Hamburger Helper
A: 9
T: 9 
HH: 9 - he loved it and the leftovers were tasty too

Zesty Pasta Salad

This world is full of salad options. Caesar salad, fruit salad, potato salad, tuna salad, chef salad, bean salad, chicken salad, taco salad, and many more. Here's a zesty pasta salad for you from Betty Crocker herself.

Ingredients:
16 oz corkscrew pasta
1 pound asparagus, cut into 2 inch pieces
1/2 cup Italian dressing
1 tablespoon dried basil leaves
2 teaspoons crushed red pepper
3 medium bell peppers, cut into bite size pieces (I bought red, yellow, & green)
1/3 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained and chopped
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted 

Directions:
Heat 4 quarts water to boiling in a large pot. Cook pasta in boiling water for 11 minutes. Add asparagus to boiling water, cook about 3 minutes or until asparagus is crisp-tender. Drain pasta and asparagus. Rinse with cold water and drain. Mix dressing, basil, and crushed red pepper in large bowl. Add pasta, asparagus, and remaining ingredients. Toss. Refrigerate for 2 hours before serving. Enjoy your zesty pasta salad!

E: 10
A: 9 - fresh veggies = grocery store
T: 10
HH: 10 - He loves this pasta salad! It is zesty, so lessen the crushed red pepper if your tongue is sensitive to spicy foods. 

General Tso's Chicken

I could eat rice every day. It's so good. I'm a big fan of Asian cuisine in general. Speaking of general, I can't get enough of General Tso's chicken. When we visited friends and family at Christmas, we stocked up on General Tso's seasoning mix. 

I'm surprised we got through security with the 10 packets I had stuffed in shoes and pant pockets. This little discovery in the International Food Section of my local Kroger made me happy a couple of years ago. Who knew I would be hoarding them in my suitcase to carry across the world? 

Sunbird Seasonings has a coupon on their website for the American viewers. 

Ingredients:
1 General Tso's Seasoning Mix
1/4 cup flour
1 lb. chicken, cut into chunks
1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3/4 cup water
2 tablespoons oil
rice

Directions:
Start cooking rice. Add flour to resealable plastic bag and toss chicken chunks to coat evenly. Combine seasoning, sugar, soy sauce, and water in a separate bowl. Blend and set aside. Heat oil in large skillet over medium high until hot. Add flour coated chicken and cook until evenly browned. Stir sauce mixture and add to skillet with chicken. Bring sauce to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until desired consistency. Serve over cooked rice.

E: 10
A: 9 - I don't have chickens running around the backyard
T: 10
HH: 10 - one of our favorites

Tuna Cakes

I found this recipe over at Kraft Foods recipe website. It's easy and fast.

Ingredients:
2 cans (5 oz. each) light tuna in water, drained, flaked
1 package stuffing mix for chicken
1 cup shredded mild cheddar cheese
3/4 cup water
1 carrot, shredded
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoon sweet pickle relish

Directions:
Mix all ingredients. Refrigerate for 10 minutes. Spray nonstick skillet with cooking spray. Heat skillet on medium heat. Use 1/3 measuring cup to scoop portions of tuna mixture, in batches, to skillet. Flatten into patties with the back of your spatula. Cook 6 minutes (3 minutes each side) or until golden brown on both sides.

For your amusement, I would like for you to see the comparison between Kraft's photography and mine. Don't judge. They taste good and that's all that matters in this household.

Kraft paid someone to take this photo.

Clearly,  I took this photo.

E: 10

A: 10 - most of these items are kitchen staples
T: 10
HH: 10

Lamb Cutlets with Horseradish Potatoes

This meal is really simple and really good. I went to the library instead of the world wide web to find this recipe. I flipped real pages and checked out the library with my library card at the Surry Hills Library. Nerd alert.

Ingredients:
1 kg/2.2 pounds baby potatoes

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 tablespoon finely grated lemon rind

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons horseradish cream

50g rocket/arugula leaves

salt & pepper

125 g lamb cutlets (we had 2 each)

4 slices of bacon

4 sprigs of rosemary

Directions:

Place the potatoes in a large saucepan of salted cold water and bring to a boil. Cook for 18-20 minutes until tender. Drain. Return to the pan and lightly crush. Add the garlic, lemon rind, and juice, olive oil, horseradish, salt & pepper and set aside. Wrap each lamb cutlet with a rasher of bacon and secure with rosemary. Heat a large frying pan over high heat and cook for 4 minutes each side for medium or until cooked to your liking. Serve the lamb with the crushed potatoes over rocket. We obviously had green beans too, but those were leftovers.

I found this recipe in the Donna Hay Magazine: Issue 54, December/January 2011.

E: 5 - tying rosemary? not easy.
A: 8
T: 10 - dinner was ready in 30 minutes
HH: 10 - Eliott claimed this meal as "restaurant quality"

fouratefive

One Saturday morning, the weather was absolutely perfect, so we decided to get brunch together.

Our pick was fouratefive which is located at 485 Crown Street (clever, huh?)

This little hot spot in Surry Hills is only a few steps from our apartment. We finally made it over there to see what the fuss was all about. Now, we know.

My stomach was growling intensely as I waited 30 minutes for our name to be called. It's worth the wait.

We ordered flat whites.

My brunch consisted of free range eggs served fried with organic sourdough bread and smoked salmon. Eliott ordered free range eggs served fried with organic sourdough bread and avocado.

If you come visit us, I'll take you here.