Mankoushe XI

November 23, 2024

   

Mankoushe has been one of our neighbourhood favourites for well over a decade, and we don't manage to stop in as often as we'd like. All year, every time they pop into my instagram feed, I've been telling myself that we're overdue to stop in for brunch.

The menu is simple and savoury, with most items baked in the wood-fired oven; three days per week there's a lunch plate ($18), there's a small selection of dense sweets at the counter, and custards or rice puddings spiked with fruit in the fridge. Veg*ns are always well cared for, while coeliacs might prefer to avoid the prevalence of flour.

   

I ordered the zataar bread ($5) toasted and filled with tomato, cucumber, onion, olives and mint ($4). The bread's a little thinner and grainier than it used to be and I like that! I picked out the onion but, in a big step for me, I left the black olives in. They were the right salty seam through the fresh salad and earthy, spiced bread. (Maybe it's time to update our bio.)

   

Michael can rarely look past a shakshuka ($19) when it's on offer and this was the hearty dish he hoped for: eggs dressed with tomatoes, capsicum, onion, garlic, cumin and paprika with a side of the same wholemeal pita.

We both enjoyed glasses of blood orange juice ($7 each) and Michael added his requisite long black ($4). We keep coming back to Mankoushe because we always leave feeling nourished.

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You can read about one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten of our previous visits to Mankoushe.

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Mankoushe 

323 Lygon St, Brunswick East 

9078 9223 

breakfast & lunch

https://mankoushe.com.au/ 

Accessibility: There is a small step up through a narrow entry. Tables are regular height, chairs have backs, and furniture is medium-spaced across the floor. We ordered at our table and paid at a low counter. We didn't visit the toilets.

Brother Bon VI

October 29, 2024 

   

While True North is conveniently placed along my public transport route from work to home, Brother Bon is my stalwart for the cycling route. There's a lot to love on the standard menu, but the specials are often extensive and always worth consideration. Most recently I took a chance on the creamy udon carbonara ($28) and absolutely loved it! 

The name alone gives away that we're not going for authenticity here, and given that Brother Bon is all-vegan this dish is going to satisfy neither the add-cream nor the egg-only carbonara camps. Soft udon noodles are a great comfort food, enhanced here by a thick, creamy sauce dotted with mock-bacon, garlic mushrooms, green onions and parsley. I carefully rationed out the grilled mock-chicken served on top, relishing its layered texture, and happily crunched on the novel garnishing mushroom chips. This dish served the joy I'd derive from carbonara, even if it lacked many (any?) of the traditional ingredients.

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You can read about one, two, three, four, five of our previous visits to Brother Bon.     

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Brother Bon 

377-379 High St, Northcote 

9077 1335 

https://www.brotherbon.com.au/ 

Accessibility: The entry is flat and tables are moderately spaced. Most tables are low and paired with backed chairs; there are also high benches along the front window with backless stools. I ordered at my table and paid at a low-ish counter. Toilets are individual non-gendered cubicles with a shared sink space. A cubicle I have used included menstrual product disposal, and another one was marked for both wheelchair access and a baby change station.

Fluffy Torpedo III

October 26, 2024

   

Now that warm weather and longer days are here, we're having the odd spontaneous trip out for icecream. Michael was ready to try some more novelty flavours from Fluffy Torpedo, and we had appetites for two scoops each ($9.10 each).

Michael hit on a winner with the top-listed blue cheese roasted fig brown sugar jam, a combination that sits well on a cheeseboard and also, it turns out, in an icecream cone. His accompanying miso cinnamon white chocolate faded pleasantly into the background, not forming as strong an impression.

I tried the famous Vegemite white chocolate icecream. The first mouthful was distinctly Vegemitey, though I again rapidly desensitised to it and experienced most of the scoop as vanilla malt (which wasn't a problem). My second scoop was the irrepressible salted chilli pineapple coconut vinegar sorbet, which reminded me of sweet chilli sauce in its flavour and viscosity.

Credit to Fluffy Torpedo for offering such a lengthy menu of adventurous flavours - they'll never please every person with every flavour, but it's always a memorable experience. And the ones that hit right are appreciated all the more for their uniqueness.

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You can read about one, two of our previous visits to Fluffy Torpedo.

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Fluffy Torpedo 

213 Sydney Rd, Brunswick 

7044 7745 

menu 

https://www.fluffytorpedo.diamonds/ 

Accessibility: Fluffy Torpedo has a flat entry and wide queuing strip. There are backless bench seats inside and backed metal chairs outside. We ordered, paid and picked up our orders at a low counter. We didn't visit the toilets.

Caramelised garlic, zucchini & butter beans

October 24, 2024

   

Cindy keeps a pretty good list of recipes bookmarked from around the internet, and remembered this one when we had a few key ingredients aging in the fridge. It's very, very simple to make and the pay off is a nice, messy dish of veggies, beans and sauce that really does cry out for accompanying fresh bread to sop things up. A very satisfying weeknight meal that was surprisingly rich - I guess miso, olive oil, wine and garlic are a pretty hearty combination of ingredients. This makes a pretty scant four meals, so we had some lunchy leftovers out of it, but it's not going to fill the freezer for the week. 

Caramelised garlic, zucchini & butter beans

(based on this recipe from Meera Sodha's Guardian column)

500g zucchinis, cut into rough bite-sized pieces

6 tablespoons olive oil

6 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

150ml white wine

2 tablespoons white miso

800g butter beans, undrained

1 lemon, zested and juiced

small bunch parsley, leaves chopped

small bunch mint, leaves chopped

salt

Put a couple of tablespoons of oil into a frying pan on high heat and fry the zucchini, turning occasionally until they're golden, almost charred. Sprinkle with salt and set aside.

Put the rest of the oil in the same pan and fry the garlic for a couple of minutes until it's started to go golden. Add the wine and miso and stir the mix together so that it's smooth. Add the beans with their liquid and simmer for 10-15 minutes until you've got the texture you want - a bit liquidy, but you want it to have thickened up a bit.

Stir in the zucchini, lemon zest and juice and simmer for another minute. Kill the heat and stir through the herbs. Serve, with bread.

True North V

October 16, 2024

   

Back in April I resolved to visit True North for one of their night time events this year, and I did manage it six months later! I stopped in for dinner after work on a Wednesday, when Michael had plans with his netball team, and it was conveniently located along my trip home. I had no problems getting a well-lit booth to myself that early in the evening.

The menu is short but appetising - simple starters like olives, chips and dip; a burger, two pasta dishes and a dessert. I started with a rich and molten cauliflower, cheddar and jalapeno croquette on a spicy mojo rojo ($5). I chose the cola amongst their house-made cordials and it was more complex and refreshing than any of the commercial ones.

   

I was a little surprised that the mushroom ragu ($18) was blended to a fairly thin, smooth sauce, and it clung lightly to the galletti. The sauce had a deep flavour, brightened a little by the garnishing feta and rocket, and was pitched and portioned just right as a satisfying but not over-the-top weeknight meal.

This was a casual, uncomplicated way to eat well when I wasn't motivated to cook. It'll remain top of  mind for similar future office days.

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You can read about one, two, three, four of our previous visits to True North.

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True North 

2A Munro St, Coburg 

9917 2262 

menu 

https://truenorth3058.com/ 

Accessibility: There's a small step on entry and a pretty crowded interior (especially on the weekends when the stools at the bar are in use). I ordered at the table and paid at a high counter. The toilet is a narrow non-gendered cubicle.

Shakahari VII

October 12, 2024

   

We don't eat out in Carlton as much as we used to, and even when we do Shakahari has fallen off our rotation. One of the Moody Noodles suggested we make a nostalgic return visit after we saw a movie together. After all, Shakahari is a trusty spot for food that's jointly vegan and gluten-free.

   

I felt compelled to order their signature Avocado Magic starter ($18.50) to share around. It was served as generous lengths of avocado, capsicum and eggplant instead of its past roll shape, with the familiar crispy rice batter and pool of coriander puree beneath.

   

Shakahari are not famed for spicy food, and Michael was pleasantly surprised to sense some heat from the Laksa Habat ($26.50). With tempeh, tofu and seitan included it was generous on the protein and just what Michael felt like.

   

The Legendary Satay ($26) was everything I remembered: generous chunks of home-made seitan, tofu and vegetables smothered in a heavy, mild peanut sauce, a neat serve of rice, and a colourful collection of lightly steamed and pickled vegetables.

I would've like to complete the set with a shared tofu caramel but the staff were very slow to return to us and, when I was honest with myself, I was very full. Perhaps we can save that report up for a where's the beef? 20 years on post in 2026.

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You can read one, two, three, four, five, six of our previous blog posts about Shakahari.

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Shakahari 

201-203 Faraday St, Carlton 

9347 3848 

dessert & entrees, mains 

https://www.shakaharivegetarian.com.au/

Accessibility: There are a couple of steps up on entry, and a couple more between rooms on the inside. Tables are widely spaced. We ordered at our table and paid at a high counter. We haven't visited the toilets in a while.

HaTiNA / Vegan Heaven

October 10, 2024

   

We were sad to receive news that Vegie Mum closed its Fitzroy restaurant back in May. Happily, the premises have become a sibling to another beloved veg*n restaurant! At the same address, HaTiNa was announced as a second restaurant from the Huong Viet Vegetarian crew. We visited in October, and since then they have undergone rapid renovations and reopened as Vegan Heaven, and remain associated with Huong Viet. The menu remains largely unchanged, running to dozens of vegan dishes. Gluten-free foods are marked and reside primarily in the tofu, mushroom and stir-fry sections of the menu. There are a few chilli warnings scattered about too. Thankfully we had a crew of six hungry veg*ns ready to try as much as we could during the restaurant's brief phase as HaTiNa.

We began by carefully sharing out Lion's Mane Mushroom skewers ($15, pictured above) - these were really meaty and thickly coated in a savoury sauce that had us all appetised for more. 

   

Likewise, the Crispy Fish Salt and Pepper ($16) was very well seasoned and had us eager for the more substantive dishes ahead; it was nestled amongst some colourful, barely-dressed salad.

   

The Authentic Viet Broken Rice ($25) offered welcome variety and heartiness. Similar to the one I've enjoyed at Easy Vegan, it's centred on a mound of rice and a complex dressing, then surrounded by grilled mock meats and shredded vegetables, a mock fried egg, pickles and salad veges.

   

If you thought broken rice might be awkward to share among six, it's easier than laksa! The Zesty Laksa Bowl ($25) was a reasonably spicy rendition containing varied mock meats.

   

The Thai glass noodle salad ($25) was a balancing, fresh contribution to the meal but ultimately didn't rate as anyone's favouite.

   

For me, it was the mini savoury pancakes ($26) that ruled the night. I probably haven't eaten them in a decade, and I was thrilled to have the chance again. These little rice flour pucks are sweet with coconut, fried with crisp savoury toppings (often prawns if not vegetarian) then teamed with a dressing a fresh green herbs.

   

For several others, the Tom Yum Flounder Sweet & Sour Fish ($35) was the pick, and deservedly so. The fish pieces were kept separate from the tangy sauce long enough to retain a crisp, delicate skin and there was just the right medley of fresh vegetables to offset the mock meat richness.

   

Drinks are worth a mention too - there are plenty of non-alcoholic options to choose from, including juices and smoothies. The coconut juice ($10) is served in a coconut and there's vegan condensed milk available for Vietnamese iced coffees ($12)!

This was a really fun, casual meal with lots of dishes we'd gladly eat again. The challenge ahead will be trading off between revisiting their known delights and the potential new favourites that still lie untasted within such an expansive menu. I think we're up to the task.

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HaTiNa / Vegan Heaven

72 Johnston St, Fitzroy

0432 468 538

menu pages one and two 

facebook page

Accessibility: There's a step up on entry. The interior is flat with moderately crowded regular-height tables and backed chairs. We ordered at our table and paid at a high counter. We didn't visit the toilets.

Sautéed rhubarb & fior di latte dressed in peppercorn oil

October 5, 2024

   

Here's the final component of our Ottolenghi grilling trilogy. This one's my favourite of the bunch and it actually hit the cast iron pan as intended. Sections of rhubarb are set on high heat just long enough to soften and char, then they're dressed with ginger honey, layered with big chunks of fior di latte, scattered with basil leaves and finished with peppercorn oil. It's tangy and creamy up against each other, shot through with sweetness and spice. I think I'd be as happy eating this for dessert as I was working it into my main meal!

Sautéed rhubarb & fior di latte dressed in peppercorn oil

(slightly adapted from a recipe by Yotam Ottolenghi in The Guardian)

400g rhubarb, trimmed and sliced on the diagonal into 4-5cm lengths

350g fior di latte, burrata or other fresh, milky cheese, drained and roughly torn into large pieces

10g basil leaves

peppercorn oil

1 teaspoon peppercorns

1 teaspoon coriander seeds

1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes

flaked sea salt

2 tablespoons oil

ginger honey

90ml runny honey

15g fresh ginger, peeled and julienned

Using a mortar and pestle, lightly crush together the peppercorns, coriander seeds, chilli flakes, and a pinch of salt. Heat the oil in a small saucepan and then add the crushed spices. Cook them for just 30 seconds, then pour the spices and oil together into a small heat-proof bowl or jar. Clean the saucepan.

Set the small saucepan back over medium heat, adding the honey, ginger, a splash of water and a pinch of salt. Cook for about 5 minutes, then turn off the heat and set aside.

Set a cast iron pan over high heat. When it's hot, add the rhubarb in batches, cooking until just charred and softened and then setting aside in a bowl as you go. When they're all done, stir through about half of the honey mixture.

To serve, layer up the torn fior di latte and rhubarb pieces. Drizzle over the honey, scatter the basil leaves on top, and finally drizzle with the peppercorn oil.

Charred carrots & tofu with harissa

October 5, 2024

   

The second phase of our impromptu Ottolenghi afternoon was this double tofu ensemble, combining a silken tofu and tahini-based cream with some charred up firm tofu and carrots. We made a few simplifications from the original recipe, holding back on the spring onion garnish, but otherwise stuck pretty close to Yotam's directions. This packed a pretty decent punch - our supermarket harissa had a good kick, and you really needed the creamy silken tofu underlayer to balance things out. It was great in combination with the fresher greens and rhubarb dishes and the leftovers kept me going for a few lunches. Not a show-stopper, but a very solid contributor.

Charred carrots & tofu with harissa

(slightly adapted from a recipe by Yotam Ottolenghi in The Guardian)

100g silken tofu

2 tablespoons tahini

salt

50g harissa

1 teaspoon golden syrup

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons tamari

5 garlic cloves, peeled and minced

20g fresh ginger, grated

1.5 tablespoons olive oil

300g firm tofu, cut into thin rectangles

250g baby carrots, trimmed

Blend the silken tofu, tahini and salt together and set aside

Combine the harissa, syrup, vinegar, tamari, garlic, ginger and oil in a biggish saucepan and saute over medium heat for five minutes, until fragrant.

Meanwhile put a frying pan over high heat (we used our cast iron one) and fry the tofu in batches, with just a spray of oil. You want it to char up, so leave it on each side for a couple of minutes. Once it's all cooked up, pop the tofu in the saucepan with your harissa mix, along with 100ml of water and stir together gently.

In the same frying pan, char up your baby carrots until they've blackened in a few spots and softened through - the time it takes will depend on how thick they are, ours probably only took 5 or 6 minutes with a couple of turns. When they're done stir them into your saucepan as well.

 

Serve it up by layering the silken tofu cream down first and then gently arranging the saucy tofu and carrots on top.

Broccolini & asparagus with green salsa & butter beans

October 5, 2024

   

On a weekend in early October, we had the time and energy for a big cook-up. I was in the mood for fresh flavours and hit on an Ottolenghi Guardian column that I bookmarked last year about grilling (i.e. using an open flame). It was bright and all-vegetarian and we were ambitious enough to cook all three dishes!

Since we were making three multi-component dishes, it wasn't realistic to grill everything. We actually grilled (as in 'broiled') the green capsicum and garlic involved. But we oven-baked the intended-to-be-grilled broccolini and aspargus, trusting that they'd acquire a gentle crispness and char around the edges. They're served on a bed of mashed butter beans, intermingled with a spicy green salsa and topped with toasted, cumin-spiked almond flakes.

It was a savoury, hearty dish on the night we made it, still great at room temperature on the following days, and Michael even had some bonus salsa to eat with hummus on toast.

Broccolini & asparagus with green salsa & butter beans

(slightly adapted from a recipe by Yotam Ottolenghi in The Guardian)

250g broccolini, cut into large bite-sized pieces

200g asparagus, cut into large bite-sized pieces

2 tablespoons olive oil

salt and pepper

green salsa

1 green capsicum, sliced into four flat surfaces

6 cloves garlic, peel still on

3 large red chillies, sliced into large chunks

30g fresh coriander

10g fresh parsley

1 tablespoon lemon juice

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon cumin seeds, lightly crushed

salt, to taste

fried almonds

1 tablespoon olive oil

30g flaked almonds

1 teaspoon cumin seeds, lightly crushed

salt, to taste

mashed butter beans

2 x 400g cans butter beans, drained

2 tablespoons lemon juice

salt, to taste

Turn a grill onto medium-high heat. Place the capsicum pieces skin-side-up on a baking tray and add the garlic cloves. Place them under the grill until the capsicum skin blisters and turns black, and the garlic cloves have softened. Turn off the heat and set them aside.

Preheat an oven to 180°C. Place the broccolini and asparagus pieces in a baking tray, drizzle over the olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and toss everything around. Bake for 15 minutes until tender, then set them aside.

When the capsicum is cool enough to handle, peel off the skin and place the pieces into a food processor. Peel the garlic cloves and add 3 of them to the food processor. Add the remaining salsa ingredients and blend until everything is almost smooth. Transfer the salsa to a bowl and rinse out the food processor.

Set a frypan over medium heat, add the oil for the almonds, then the almonds and a pinch of salt. Saute, stirring regularly, until the almonds are golden and fragrant. Turn off the heat and stir in the cumin.

Place the butter beans in the food processor, add the remaining 3 peeled garlic cloves, lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Blend until it's all as smooth as you can reasonably achieve.

Spread the butter bean mash over a large platter. Spoon most of the green salsa over the top and swirl it around. Pile on the broccolini and asparagus, drip over the remaining salsa, and sprinkle over the almonds. Serve.

Celery-cashew stir-fry with a food court omelette

October 3, 2024

   

We're pretty ambivalent about celery over here - it's a valued ingredient in a few favourite recipes, but often leaves more stalks behind than go into the chosen dish. Roasted cauliflower salad is my usual fall-back and it can take some extra beyond the written quantity. When I chose that as my first celery-laden dish this week, I decided to test whether Hetty Lui McKinnon's recipe for cashew celery could serve as a similar back-up.

McKinnon stir-fries celery chunks with your choice of green vegetable, strips of five-spice tofu and cashews, and coats it all in a cornflour-thickened savoury sauce that's lively with ginger. Served with rice, it's a full meal. Even so, I decided to serve it alongside McKinnon's food court omelette, another recipe I'd bookmarked from Tenderheart. It's stuffed with broccoli (or in my case, what remained of a bag of frozen mixed green vegetables) and smothered in a salty-soy gravy that echos the stir-fry sauce.

The omelette is another dish that, served atop rice, is potentially a full meal on its own. (I remember first encountering something similar at Middle Fish and absolutely loving it.) My omelette was much messier than McKinnon's, and I'll not repeat frozen veges for this one, but the gravy was fun and these two dishes worked together well. Time will tell whether we return to this tasty combination, either to use up more celery or entirely on its own terms.

Food court omelette

(slightly adapted from a recipe in Hetty Lui McKinnon's Tenderheart)

2-3 tablespoons vegetable oil

a few spring onions, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

6 eggs

salt and white pepper, to taste

1 head broccoli, cut into small florets and a 5mm dice (or two handfuls frozen green vegetables)

rice, to serve

gravy

1 tablespoon cornflour

1 1/2 tablespoons tamari

3 teaspoons vegetarian oyster sauce

3 teaspoons Shaoxing rice wine

2 teaspoons sesame oil

1 cup vegetable stock

pinch of white pepper

Make the gravy by placing all of the ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to the boil, stirring consistently, for 4-5 minutes. When the gravy has thickened, turn off the heat and set it aside.

Heat a few teaspoons of oil in a frypan, then add the spring onions and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and set it aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, beat together the eggs, salt and pepper. Stir in the broccoli. Return the frypan to the heat and add a tablespoon of oil. Add a quarter of the spring onion mixture and a quarter of the egg mixture, cooking until the underside is golden and much of the egg has set. Flip the omelette over and allow it to cook through. Remove the omelette from the pan (I stored mine on a paper-lined tray in the oven on low heat) and repeat with the remaining oil, onions and eggs.

Serve each omelette over rice with gravy poured over the top.

Cashew celery

(slightly adapted from a recipe in Hetty Lui McKinnon's Tenderheart)

2 teaspoons cornflour

3 tablespoons vegetable stock or water

1 tablespoon tamari

2 tablespoons Shaoxing rice wine

vegetable oil

4 stalks celery, trimmed and slice diagonally

1 tablespoon minced ginger

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

a few spring onions, finely chopped

green vegetable of your choice (we had kai lan), cut into 5cm lengths

200g very firm five-spice tofu, sliced into 5mm strips

1 cup roasted cashews

white sesame seeds, to serve

rice, to serve

In a small bowl, stir together the cornflour, stock/water, tamari, and wine until they're well mixed. Set them aside.

Set a wok over medium-high heat and add some oil. Add in the celery and stir-fry for a couple of minutes until the celery starts to soften. Push it to the side of the wok so that you can stir-fry the ginger, garlic and spring onion for 30 seconds, then bring the celery back in to the mix. Add the green vegetable, tofu and cashews, cooking for just a minute. The cornflour has probably separated from the other sauce ingredients in the small bowl, so stir them back together and pour them into the wok. Toss everything together until the sauce has slightly thickened and coated everything evenly.

Serve over rice, sprinkled with sesame seeds.

Roslyn Thai Cafe

September 27, 2024

   

Roslyn Thai Cafe popped into my instagram feed at some point in the past year, and their pastel sweets earned my follow. It was a convenient lunch stop on Friday's public holiday on our way to the Untitled Goose Exhibition at ACMI, and we didn't mind waiting 10-15 minutes for a table given the rare, fair weather. We assumed we'd be seated in the small, dark interior but were happily led to a terrace out back.

Roslyn's menu is not designed with veg*ns and the gluten-free front of mind though the vegetarian, dairy-free, nut-free and gluten-free options are marked. Pork features widely across the main dishes, with vegetarians having the choice of scrambled eggs on a baguette and a seemingly-vegan roti murtabak.

   

Michael was enthused about the roti murtabak ($19) and added a soft boiled egg ($3) into the mix. The roti was golden and flaky, stuffed with a dry curry mushroom, potato and onion; Michael slathered over the mild satay sauce, cucumber relish and actually-solid-yolked egg.

   

I picked the kaya set ($13.50), a sweet that sticks out amongst the other mains. Here four puffy Chinese donuts are teamed with two pudding-like dips, flavoured with pandan and with Thai tea. They were prepared perfectly, with the hot toasty donuts contrasting effectively with the cool sweet accompaniments. (In the background is Michael's also-very-sweet O-liang black coffee; $5.50.)

   

Roslyn Thai Cafe also features abundant puffy toasts with sweet toppings, fluffy cakes and colourful drinks. They were all out of the sweetcorn custard cake that I ordered, and a staff member helpfully recommended the pandan coconut chiffon ($10.50) as an alternative. Michael and I both derived equal delight in its layers of feather-light pandan cake, coconut jelly and whipped cream.

   

Roslyn Thai Cafe is a cute spot for fancy snacks on an otherwise unattractive street. I'm so glad we stopped in and hope we'll have an excuse to do so again.

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Roslyn Thai Cafe has also received positive coverage from mamma knows melbourne and momentsinmelb.

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Roslyn Thai Cafe

477 King St, West Melbourne

0451 348 039

ahaan/food, cakes & drinks

https://www.roslynthaicafe.com.au/

Accessibility: There is a small lip on the door due to the uneven street. Furniture is densely packed, with low-medium height tables and a mixture of backed chairs and backless stools. The pathway through the furniture is winding. We ordered and paid online via QR code and received food at our table. We didn't visit the toilets.

Peanut cucumber noodles

September 11, 2024

   

   

We bought a 1kg pack of fresh noodles to make a batch of char koay teow, which only needed 500g of them. Cindy had a browse through Anna Jones' One Pot, Pan, Planet and found this recipe, which is so incredibly easy that I decided I could squeeze it in before netball on a Wednesday night. It's probably better suited to summer than whatever second winter/fake spring Melbourne is going through right now, but it's still utterly delicious. You can put it all together in about 20 minutes, so we're definitely going to come back to it in the summer time!

Peanut cucumber noodles

(slightly adapted from Anna Jones' One Pot, Pan, Planet) 

1 Lebanese cucumber

200g snow peas

500g fresh noodles

peanut sauce

5 tablespoons peanut butter

2 tablespoons tahini

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 teaspoons sesame oil

4 teaspoons honey

5 teaspoons rice wine vinegar

1 tablespoon chilli oil (more if you're brave - I added some post-hoc so as not to ruin Cindy's meal)

2 cloves garlic, minced

garnish

roasted peanuts

a small bunch of coriander, leaves only

chilli oil

Halve the cucumber lengthwise, scoop out the mushy seedy bit and set it aside. Cut the remaining cucumber into matchsticks and halve the snow peas longways.

Make the sauce by combining the cucumber middle with the peanut butter, tahini, soy sauce, sesame oil, honey and rice wine vinegar in a food processor and blitzing until smooth. Stir through the chilli oil and garlic plus a bit of water if it seems too thick (ours was). 

Cook the noodles as per instructions - ours simply needed a soak in some just-boiled water for a few minutes and a bit of gentle prising apart. Drain and rinse them under hot water and pop them in a big bowl.

Stir the sauce into the cooked noodles and toss, add the veggies and combine again. Serve, topped with coriander leaves, peanuts and extra chilli oil.

Salted choc chip cookies

September 8, 2024

   

One of my friends made us a little batch of choc chip cookies as a thank you gift and they were the most delicious treat I've had in ages. I hit her up for the recipe and got cracking on making another batch so I could feast on them again almost immediately. The original recipe is from this Basics with Babish video, helpfully transcribed on reddit. 

There's a tiny bit of faffing around in that you've gotta brown your butter and then cool it down again, but once you've managed that everything falls into place pretty easily. I would definitely recommend a generous sprinkle of salt on top as soon as they come out of the oven, it really takes them to the next level.

This recipe makes a pretty big batch, but we'd eaten them all inside four days - it's impossible to stop. 

Salted choc chip cookies

(based on this recipe from Babish)

250g unsalted butter

1/2 cup caster sugar

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

2 eggs

2 1/4 cups plain flour

1 tablespoon salt

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

2 cups dark chocolate chips

1/2 cup pecans

fleur de sel (or other salty flakes) for sprinkling

In a small frying pan melt and then gently brown your butter - I wasn't sure how far to push it, but be careful not to burn it. Kill the heat and pour it into a container to pop in the fridge/freezer so it re-solidifies.

Once you've got some solid brown butter, preheat your oven to 180°C.

Using an electric mixer, cream the butter with the caster and brown sugar until they're well combined. Add the eggs one at a time and keep beating until it's combined smoothly. 

Sift the flour into a separate bowl and stir through the salt, bicarb soda and cinnamon. Slowly add the flour mix into the buttery bowl, mixing it all together. Once it's all combined, stir through the choc chips and pecans and your mix is done. 

Dollop out the mixture onto baking trays lined with grease-proof paper - keep the dollops pretty small (like a heaped teaspoon) and spaced apart, they'll spread. I reckon we got about 25-30 cookies out of the mix. 

Bake for about 14 minutes, sprinkling with fleur de sel as soon as each batch comes out - leave them to cool before you try to move them around too much, they're pretty delicate. 

Spiced chocolate cake

September 3-4, 2024

   

I prefer collaboration over competition every time. There's a baking event within my work environment each year, and my local team choose to work on a project together rather than individually submitting entries. It's symptomatic of why I like working here so much! This year fourteen of us prepared cake with various shades of icing and sliced them into squares to form a pixelated image. I was lucky to be assigned 'almost black' - easily achieved with a dark chocolate ganache and a touch of black food colouring.

I volunteered to make something vegan, and turned to the classic Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World to try a new cake. I was tempted by the peanut butter cake and the chai-spiced cake but ultimately went for the Mexican Hot Chocolate cake, which looked like a crowd-pleaser. It aims for a slightly grainy texture and complex flavour with coconut milk, flax seeds, almond meal, cinnamon, cayenne, vanilla and almond essence all in the mix. The recipe is designed to make a dozen cupcakes sprinkled with sugar, cinnamon and cocoa but a square cake with a ganache topping better suited my purpose.

This cake achieves that excellent complexity but - I chuckled to myself as I ate a small leftover piece last night - more than anything it evokes the softness of a Coles chocolate mud cake. It's the flavour of cinnamon and cayenne that set this cake apart.

   

Spiced chocolate cake

(slightly adapted from a recipe in Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Hope Romero's

Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World)

cake batter

1 cup coconut milk

1 tablespoon ground flax seeds

3/4 cup plain flour

2 tablespoons cornflour

1/4 cup almond meal

1/2 cup cocoa 

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

generous pinch of cayenne pepper

1 cup caster sugar

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon almond essence

chocolate ganache

4 tablespoons coconut milk

75g dark chocolate chips

3 tablespoons golden or maple syrup

Preheat an oven to 180°C. Line a 22cm square cake tin with paper, or line a muffin tray with cupcake papers.

In a large bowl, whisk together the coconut milk and flax seeds. Allow them to sit for 10 minutes so that the seeds thicken the milk.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cornflour, almond meal, cocoa, baking powder, bicarb soda, salt, cinnamon and cayenne.

When the coconut milk-seed mixture is ready, whisk in the sugar, oil, vanilla and almond essence. Gradually add the flour mixture and mix well. Pour the cake batter into the baking tin(s) and bake for 20-25 minutes, until the cake passes the skewer test. Allow the cake to cool before applying the ganache.

When the cake has cooled, make the ganache. Place the coconut milk in a small saucepan and heat until almost boiling. Turn off the heat and add the chocolate, stirring until the chocolate is entirely melted. Whisk in the syrup. The ganache might look quite runny; if that's the case you can let it sit a while to thicken slightly. Gently pour the ganache over the cake(s) and allow it to set a while (although it will still be soft) before serving.

Mushroom & walnut samosas

August 29, 2024

   

Last Thursday I was trawling around for dinner ideas; I didn't seem to be in the mood for any of our usual favourites. I didn't recognise this Meera Sodha recipe for mushroom and walnut samosas at all when I found it among my bookmarks, but I liked the concept anew and gave it a go.

A large volume of mushrooms goes into the filling, and Sodha gives us the option of throwing them into a food processor rather than slowly, finely chopping the lot. It's a handy approach but I'd still recommend some patience with pulsing the mushrooms in small batches. I tried to process too many at once and ended up with an uneven, mostly very-finely-ground mixture. Filo pastry packets don't translate precisely across countries, so I just winged it with quantities that felt right and used up most of a box.

My approach generated about 30 golden packages of subtle savoury goodness. Though they're intended as an entree or snack to be shared around, we piled the samosas into shallow bowls for dinner and loved smearing them with lime pickle. The samosas also teamed brilliantly with a green bean salad that echoes the mustard seed and lime (we've been making it on and off for 18 years!). We relished two rounds of leftovers at home, where we were able to crisp up the pastries again in the oven.

   

Mushroom & walnut samosas

(slightly adapted from a recipe by Meera Sodha on The Guardian)

120g walnuts

600g mushrooms

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

3/4 teaspoon black mustard seeds

3/4 teaspoon cumin seeds

1/2 teaspoon nigella seeds

1 large onion, finely diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon ginger, minced

2 green chillies, finely chopped

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground pepper

~220g filo pastry

spray oil or melted margarine

Grind the walnuts finely in a food processor and transfer them to a bowl. Pulse the mushrooms in a food processor in batches, until they're roughly pea-sized. (Don't over-fill the container, I did and ended up with very unevenly blended mushroom pieces.)

Set a large frypan over medium heat and pour in the oil. Add the mustard, cumin and nigella seeds. When they start to pop, add the onion and cook, stirring regularly, until soft and starting to brown (up to 10 minutes). Add the garlic, ginger and chilli, and cook for a further 5 minutes. Sodha says the onions should look like 'dark jewels'. Add the mushrooms and gently fold them through the onions, cooking for about 7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and cook until all the liquid is evaporated, about 15 more minutes. (Be fussy about this! Too much moisture will make for soggy samosas.) Stir in the walnuts and cook for 3 minutes. At long last, turn off the heat and allow the filling to cool.

Preheat an oven to 220°C and line two baking trays with paper.

Unwrap the filo pastry and keep the unused bits lightly wrapped in a damp teatowel as you go. Slice through all the layers to form a rectangle roughly 23 cm x 10 cm - for me, that was the bottom quarter of the sheets. Take one piece and place about a tablespoon of the filling in the corner closest to you. Wrap the pastry upwards at 45 degrees to form a triangle; keep wrapping up and up to preserve the triangle shape and use up the whole rectangle. Apply a bit of oil/margarine to the outside and give the samosa a second wrapping. Place the samosa on a baking tray and repeat the wrapping process until all the filling is used up.

Apply a bit more oil/margarine to the samosas and bake for 15 minutes, until brown and crispy. Serve with chutney or pickle.

Eat Pierogi Make Love III

August 15, 2024

   

This is just a small post to note that we've collected the set! We've tried all three vegetarian pierogi at Eat Pierogi Make Love. We probably got to the classic, top-of-the-list Ruskie Pierogi ($24) last because they're stuffed with two foods offered abundantly across the menu: potato and cheese. (Rest assured, we've eaten potato and cheese in some form every time we've visited.)

The pierogi are served simply: boiled, plonked on a swirl of sour cream and sprinkled with fresh dill. They don't offer the brightness of the kapusta or the ziemniak pierogi, but they can't be beat for squidgy, starchy, savoury comfort.

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You can read about one, two of our previous visits to EPML.

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Eat Pierogi Make Love 

161 Lygon St, Brunswick East 

8394 5240 

menu: special menus, alcoholic drinks, drinks, & food for vodka, small plates, mains, pierogi & toppings, side salads & desserts 

http://www.eatpierogimakelove.com/ 

Accessibility: There is a flat entry with a shallow ramp. Furniture inside is densely packed, a mixture of fixed booths and a high bar with backless stools; we didn't visit the outdoor courtyard or the toilets. We ordered at the table and paid at a high bar.

Pickles Milk Bar III

August 8, 2024

   

Pickles Milk Bar aren't sitting still, with a slow, subtle rotation of options on their printed menu and high rotation of specials on their texta-ed shop tiles. I picked up a couple of new-to-us options for a weekday lunch.

On the left is the already-rotated-out Honey Boo Boo special ($18), where a chicken schnitz is teamed with slaw, honey mustard and pickled jalapenos. It's a good combo, but didn't surpass the vegan schnitzel we know well from Nico's. 

On the right is our first foray into the breakfast sandwiches. The Hot Breakfast #2 ($15) is overall a sweet, smoky and saucy (but not too sloppy) affair with thin-cut smoked tofu bacon, a hash brown, cheese, pickled onions, mayo, bbq sauce, hot sauce, and garlic butter.

Everything's vegan and nothing thus far has been a disappointment. We're lucky to have Pickles so close by, ready to brighten up any work-from-home day.

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You can also read about one, two of our previous visits to Pickles. It has also been reviewed favourably by That Vegan Dad.

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Pickles Milk Bar 

1008 Lygon St, Carlton North 

menu 

instagram account 

Accessibility: There is a small lip on the door and a relatively spacious interior with a low counter. There is a line of bench seating along the wall, with small low tables and low backless stools. I ordered, paid and picked up my food over a mid-height counter. I haven't visited the toilets.

Makan

August 2, 2024

   

We were in the city for a Friday night Wheeler Centre event and needed an after-8pm dinner. Michael googled around for Indonesian food and Makan rapidly came up with available seats. Others will know it because it's run by the Seger sisters from My Kitchen Rules, or simply because they're more on top of the city dining scene than we are! As so many Melbourne restaurants are, Makan is tucked a fair distance down a laneway, so spontaneous walk-ins are surely less common. It's got a very familiar contemporary atmosphere with polished concrete, neon lights, pastel finishes and a prominent cocktail bar.

   

To my delight, they're on top of their mocktail game as well. All seven options appealed to my tastes and it was the novelty of the Coco Pandan Highball ($12) that I ultimately had to try. It was a super-sweet close sibling to the soda-and-condensed milk Es Soda Gembira I recently sampled at Sendok Garpu, with the bonus texture of grass jelly.

   

Michael observed that vegan wines were well-marked amongst the drinks, which is funny because we couldn't see markings for dietary requirements on the standard food menu. Nevertheless, plenty of it looked veg-friendly, and we chose one dish from each of the subsections.

First, there was Bakwan Sayur ($21) from the Plates, a very battered tangle of shredded vegetables accompanied by green chili mayo. These were fun but ultimately a touch too oily for me.

   

I was less ambivalent about the Roti Serabi ($10) from the Bites. Described on the menu as 'coconut crumpets', they're made from a batter of coconut milk and rice flour, are perfect for soaking up the rich and spicy gulai sauce, and are garnished with serundeng (spiced and roasted shredded coconut). Just my kind of snack!

   

From the Large offerings, it had to be the Tempeh Lodeh ($32) for us. Here was another lovely coconut broth, holding the most tender, flavourful tempeh pieces, plus browned cauliflower and okra, garnished with crisp tempeh chips. We made sure most of the broth was soaked up in our Side of Nasi Serai ($7), and brightly flavoured bowl of rice with lemongrass.

   

We had room to negotiate one dish from the Sweets. Again, I was torn in several directions and ultimately we were both satisfied with the Teh-ramisu ($17), a cutely layered cup where the sponge fingers are soaked in a subtly sweet Indonesian jasmine tea, interspersed as usual with mascarpone cream, and then garnished with chocolate shards. It's less assertive than a traditional coffee-infused tiramisu but has its own charm.

Having no prior knowledge or expectation, finding a comfortable seat and kinda-fancy last-minute vegetarian meal at Makan was the best case scenario for our Friday night out. We'll certainly file it away for future reference.

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Makan has also received a positive review from Kulture Kween.

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Makan

Collins Way, Melbourne CBD

9642 3109

food, mocktails 

https://makaninmelbourne.com.au/

Accessibility: Makan has a step down from its Collins Way entry into the main restaurant floor. (Michael thinks there is potentially another flat access point from elsewhere in the building, but prior arrangements might be needed with the staff outside of business hours.) The tables are regular height and generously spaced, with a mixture of padded benches and backed wooden chairs. We ordered at our table and paid at a low counter. Toilets are gendered and include an accessible option.

Fluffy Torpedo II

July 24, 2024

   

Last week I was lucky to have dinner with two friends visiting from Perth. We shared just the right number of dishes at Rin Sura (including long-time favourite chive frittata and new favourite spiced burrata with roti) and backed it up with a trip across the street to Fluffy Torpedo for icecream.

After liking the mildly unusual flavours I chose on my first visit, I was ready to level up with my next two scoops ($9.10). Roasted polenta and lemon had all the right flavours but perhaps a suboptimal texture; I sensed the sandiness of pantry polenta rather than the velvety mouthfeel it develops when cooked. Unfortunately my palate had lost much of its sensitivity by the time I accessed the buttered baguette-flavoured scoop underneath. I got a couple little hints of that toasty crust flavour and none of the butter; I was otherwise just working my way through a pleasant but plain icecream base.

So, not the most inspiring follow-up! I'll be seeking out some stronger source ingredients on my next round.

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You can read about our first visit to Fluffy Torpedo here.

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Fluffy Torpedo 

213 Sydney Rd, Brunswick 

7044 7745 

menu 

https://www.fluffytorpedo.diamonds/ 

Accessibility: Fluffy Torpedo has a flat entry and wide queuing strip. There are backless bench seats inside and backed metal chairs outside. We ordered, paid and picked up our orders at a low counter. We didn't visit the toilets.