May 20, 2008: Broccoli and blue vein soup

Many months ago one of Cindy's friends had passed on this recipe for broccoli and blue cheese soup - with winter properly upon us (it was 3 degrees when I was riding to work this week! 3!), Cindy dug it out of her email and set me to work on it. It's remarkably simple - a bit of chopping, some simmering and a run through the food processor - and pretty tasty, with the blue cheese flavour really shining through (in contrast to this effort, where the cheese flavour was a bit too subtle). The downside of the cheesy flavour was the removal of any pretence that this is a particularly healthy soup, in fact it sat a little heavily in my stomach by the end of the meal, and might work better in smaller bowls to start a multi-course meal off.

Broccoli and Blue Vein Soup

Oil
1 Onion
2 large potatoes, chopped
1.1 litres vegetable stock
350g broccoli, chopped roughly
80g blue cheese, crumbled
150mL milk
Salt, pepper and juice of half a lemon (opt.)
90mL (6 tablespoons) cream, to serve

1. Soften the onion in a saucepan. Add potatoes and stock and bring to the boil. Simmer 10 minutes.

2. Add broccoli and cook for 10min. Puree or mash the soup.

3. Add the cheese and milk and season to taste with salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Heat through without boiling.

4. Serve with swirl of cream in each bowl.

May 15-16, 2008: Chocolate beetroot brownies

Orange, coffee, mint, fruit and nuts: these are the flavours I'm accustomed to pairing with chocolate. But what about beetroot? It seemed like a match made in purgatory when I first heard it. Yet I was impressed by the agreeable earthy flavour once I sunk my teeth into that dark, moist chocolate and beetroot cake about 12 years ago. I was in high school and it had been baked by my friend's older sister - the cake probably contributed some way to my image of her as cool, alternative, and galaxies away from my closeted life.

Not being much of a cook at the time, I wasn't curious to try my own hand at it. It's only since I've been blogging that I've started collecting recipes that pair chocolate with beetroot. And here's my first trial of the odd couple at home, a recipe for brownies that recently appeared in Karen Martini's section of the Age's Sunday Life magazine. I baked them for the occasion of another guest speaker at work, and I was a little anxious as to how they'd be received. Consequently I went a little overboard with the chocolate "drizzle" over the top (it was more of a downpour).

I thought these brownies were fantastic. Chocoholic as I am, I was actually quite happy for my favourite food to take a step back from centre stage and share the limelight with almond meal, nutmeg and beetroot. They combine to form an organic, complex flavour and moist, slightly chewy texture. I'd even skip the chocolate drizzle altogether next time, though it probably did ease the way for a couple of skeptics in the group. My new-old mixmaster made the beating stages effortless, though I didn't spend quite long enough incorporating the eggs (make sure you do!). Deciding to make one and a half times the original quantity to share around (these are the measurements given below), I finally found something to fill up a convincing half of the mixer's gigantic bowl. The only nuisance was grating the beetroot, but that certainly won't stop me from making these again.


Chocolate beetroot brownies

150g butter, softened
150g brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
165g plain flour
6 eggs
135g dark chocolate, melted
150g ground almonds
170g raw beetroot, finely grated
75g extra chocolate, melted

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Line a baking dish with paper and grease it well.

Cream together the butter and sugar. Mix in the vanilla, nutmeg and flour. Beat in the eggs one at a time until well combined (I failed to do this!).

Once the melted chocolate is at room temperature, add it to the batter. Fold in the ground almonds and beetroot.

Spread the brownie mixture in the baking dish and bake it for 25-30 minutes until a skewer comes out clean.

Once the brownie has cooled, drizzle over the melted chocolate before slicing and serving.

May 11, 2008: Leftover makeover - colcannon

Dinners of knishes and bangers and mash yielded extra shredded cabbage and mashed potato. I figured that they could easily be transformed into some kind of patty, and a wander around the internet produced this recipe, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's version of the Irish peasant food colcannon. Though I wasn't aware of it at the time, the chopped deli slice I added to the mix was entirely consistent with the traditional addition of boiled ham or bacon.

It was a struggle to keep the mixture together in one piece, but of course the crumbling edges didn't affect the taste at all. Paired with mushroom paprikash, it was a fine, warming winter meal.

May 11, 2008: Green Refectory

One day we'll have sampled all the breakfast options in our surrounds. It might take a few more years given how long it takes us to visit places as highly recommended as Green Refectory. A few of our friends have spent months raving about their affordable and delicious muffins and the quality of their coffee, but we've been too lazy to make it all the way across to Sydney Road.

After some missed opportunities, we'd booked in a post-breakfast ACMI trip, and Green Refectory was as good a mustering point as any. There was a shortage of tables inside we trusted that the weather would hold, made our way to the back alley, and pulled together an impromptu group table. It's all counter-service so, after downing some very impressive coffee, we wandered back in and browsed our options. There were plenty of veg meals, some sweet and some savoury - I decided to brave the rather hefty sounding breakfast stack ($9): a potato cake, slabs of haloumi, tomato chunks and spinach, all topped with a poached egg. The egg was just slightly over-poached and the potato cake was a bit soggy, but otherwise the stack was pretty good - basically any excuse to have haloumi at breakfast will do me.

Cindy couldn't resist the muffins, going for a two course muffin-meal: a pumpkin, feta and pine nut (with added zucchini, cheesiness and sundried tomatoes - $3.50) for her savoury first-course and then a raspberry, choc chip and pear muffin ($2.80) for breakfast dessert. They were not the most photogenic treats - all lumpy with fillings. Both were a little less nutritious than Cindy prefers, but they were good value and rich with flavoursome bits and pieces.

The staff were helpful and friendly, curious as to how we'd all managed to sneak out on Mother's Day without getting in trouble. That's just one upside of developing a gang of ex-pat Brisbanites*.

Address: 115 Sydney Road, Brunswick
Ph: 9387 1150
Price: veg breakfasts $2.50 - $14

*This review is dedicated to our wonderful Mums!

May 10, 2008: Cafe Italia

On Saturday night we had a spontaneous meet-up with my aunt Carol and family friend Jens for dinner and a movie. We floated Thai, Vietnamese and Indian as options, but Jens had a hearty appetite and a preference for Italian so I suggested we try to get a table at Cafe Italia. Set in a laneway away from the spruikers on Lygon St, it still has no trouble attracting diners through its closed doors. In summer the open courtyard is delightful and in winter the same area is snugly closed up, housing just as many people.

Cafe Italia's menu is adequate for vegetarians if not inspiring. There's bruschetta or dips to start, plenty of side dishes, four pasta plates and a pizza on offer. Disappointingly the mushroom risotto is made with non-vegetarian stock, but the waitstaff are clued up enough to know that kind of thing. (On a previous visit a waiter offered, without any provocation from me, to find out what kind of stock was in the soup of the day. I was impressed.)

We concentrated on the main courses but it took very little coaxing from our waiter to have us start with a pizza aglio (sliced garlic, sea salt, rosemary and olive oil, $6.50). It was the perfect portion to share amongst the four of us; so hot and fresh and salty, leaving me appetised and keen for the next round.

Michael ordered the agnolotti (jumbo spinach ricotta pasta with napoli sauce and shaved parmesan, $19.50). While he enjoyed it, he was disappointed that it didn't quite fill him (and at that price). Before I was half way through Michael was already casting scheming eyes over my plate!

It was full of fettucine pesto (fresh basil, pine nuts, a touch of cream and cheese, $17.50). While it was a bit oily, I couldn't get over the soft tenderness of the pasta - one of the best I've ever eaten. (Between my meals here and at the Corner, I may have to rethink my skepticism of restaurant-prepared pasta.) Even so, I didn't mind sharing a bit with Michael since it left open the possibility of dessert.

In particular I'd heard good things about Cafe Italia's tiramisu ($10.50) and bullied Carol into sharing a piece with me. It was the real deal, and the ideal pick-me-up before embarking on our late movie session.

I wouldn't strongly recommend Cafe Italia to an adventurous vegetarian, particularly given that Shakahari is only a short walk away. The menu doesn't offer any surprises and the prices are a little steep. Yet the food and surrounds are a world of quality away from the Lygon St hussle. It's a pleasure to share it with carnivorous company.

Address: 56-66 University St, Carlton
Ph: 9347 0638
Fully licensed
Prices: veg mains $16.90-19.50
Website: www.cafeitalia.com.au