Caramelised Brussels sprouts & kimchi with rice cakes

April 21, 2024

   

We've been eyeing off all the Brussels sprouts recipes in Hetty McKinnon's Tenderheart and counting down until they were in season to try some out. We jumped the gun a little with this - they don't really peak until May or June - but we were too impatient to wait. The newish Korean grocery at Barkly Square made ingredient shopping for this one super easy, and the results were excellent - smoky and spicy and generally delicious, with a great combo of textures. I really love cooking with and eating rice cakes, so I'm pretty sure this will get another go around before winter ends. 

Caramelised brussels sprouts with kimchi & rice cakes

(from Hetty McKinnon's Tenderheart)

500g sliced rice cakes

400g Brussels sprouts, trimmed

olive oil

salt and pepper

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 teaspoon minced ginger

3/4 cup vegan kimchi, roughly chopped

1 tablespoon tamari

2 teaspoons sesame oil

1 tablespoon toasted white sesame seeds

Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil and cook the rice cakes - check your packet, but ours only took a couple of minutes. Drain and refresh under cold water - try to keep them from sticking to each other too much.

Halve the Brussels sprouts (or quarter them in if they're big) and heat a frying pan over high heat. Drizzle with olive oil and add the sprouts and a generous shake of salt to the pan. Leave them to cook for a couple of minutes without stirring, so they char on the bottom and then turn them and do the same again for another couple of minutes. Repeat until they're tender and nicely charred all over. Transfer them to a bowl and set aside (you may need to do a couple of batches, depending on the size of your frying pan).

Add some more oil to the pan and stir together the garlic, ginger and kimchi. Press the kimchi into the pan and leave to cook for 2-3 minutes until it's also nice and charred. 

Run some more water over the rice cakes and separate them as best you can and then add them into your pan with the kimchi, along with the sprouts. Toss everything together and add in the tamari and sesame oil, plus generous shakes of salt and pepper. 

Kill the heat and serve, topped with a generous sprinkle of the sesame seeds. 

Fenton III

April 21, 2024

   

This post sets me on the path to a personal goal: visiting Fenton at least once per season to experience the variety of their produce-centred menu! We were there last winter and late summer, and here we are firmly in autumn.

   

It seems the chilli scrambled eggs ($25) are evergreen, which suits Michael well. The standard version featured chorizo, but the vegetarian adaptation included a welcome slab of haloumi, generous house-made hot sauce, pickled chilli and crispy fried shallots.

   

The sweet breakfast of the day was more distinctly autumnal, cinnamon apple French toast ($24). The single, thick toast was drenched in dolce de leche, piled with popcorn and scattered with pecan crumble. I was initially disappointed with the lack of apple, but actually there was plenty lying low under the popcorn and vanilla whip. This is a plate big on comfort, but also playful with textures.

While the dishes change, the excellence remains - can't wait for the next round!

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

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Fenton

158 Rathdowne St, Carlton

9328 3401

food

https://fenton-farmhouse.com/

Accessibility: Fenton has a flat entry and medium-to-densely packed tables and backed chairs, with a clear wide path to the counter. We ordered at our table and paid at a low counter. We didn't visit the toilets.

Joanne's Pizzeria

April 14, 2024

   

The neon sign out front of Joanne's Pizzeria attracted Michael's interest during his work commute - it took us a while to drop in, but we lined it up for dinner after a comedy show. This is an omnivorous establishment, yet they'll offer a vegan variation on any pizza for $2 extra and a gluten-free variation for $4.

   

We started with a dairy-heavy burrata served with focaccia ($15). It was super-creamy in taste and texture, with a pool of grassy olive oil and some salt and pepper providing a subtle seasoning; the focaccia was plenty soft with a light crust.

   

We went half-way with a vegetarian conversion on our shared pizza and gave the hot honey trend a go, ordering the 'sweet thing' ($26 + $2). This bubbly, wood-fired crust was layered with tomato, mozzarella, stracciatella, mock salami, basil, and Mike's hot honey. It was a fun medley of sweet and savoury, freshness and heat and a little spice.

   

I can almost never consider a pizza dessert after a pizza dinner, so the nutella pizza and pistachio calzone probably aren't for me. But there are so many more savoury options to return for before we even get back to these excellent dishes: a few classic appetisers (garlic bread, salad, fries), and over a dozen veg-adaptable pizzas.

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Joanne's Pizzeria

639 Rathdowne St, Carlton North

9813 3437

menu

https://www.joannespizzeria.com.au/

Accessibility: There are four steps up on entry. Furniture inside is quite densely packed with a reasonably wide path through the middle. We ordered at our table and paid at a high counter. We didn't visit the toilets.

Sesame noodles with charred broccoli & chilli oil

April 13, 2024 

   

Cindy stumbled onto a packet of fresh wide noodles at our local Korean grocer and had us scanning through To Asia with Love to find a way to use them. In the end we couldn't resist this pretty basic option: sesame rice noodles with charred broccoli. Hetty's version leans heavily on a serve of her excellent 'everything oil', but we made do with a store bought alternative. The use of tahini as the bulk of the noodle sauce feels a bit unusual, but it just gives things a really rich sesame flavour, which the chilli cuts through perfectly. Without the spice hit, this is a bit plain, so it's really one for the chilli heads.

Sesame noodles with charred broccoli & chilli oil

(slightly adapted from a recipe in Hetty Lui McKinnon's To Asia with Love,

which has already appeared online at Unpeeled Journal)

300g thick noodles

2 teaspoons sesame oil

1/2 cup tahini

1 garlic clove, crushed

750g broccoli, cut into florets

2-3 tablespoons of chilli oil (to taste)

salt and pepper

olive oil

fried shallots, to garnish (optional)

Cook the noodles as per packet instructions - about 6 or 7 minutes in boiling water for ours. Drain and rinse with cold water a few times to refresh and stop them clumping - toss the sesame oil through to coat them.

Whisk the tahini, garlic and 1/2 cup of water together until it's a smooth paste. Season with salt and pepper. 

Heat a cast iron pan over high heat and drizzle with olive oil. Cook the broccoli florets in batches, generously seasoned with salt and pepper. You want them to get charred and tender - about 5-10 minutes per batch, turning regularly. 

Combine all the ingredients (noodles, tahini sauce, broccoli) in a big bowl and toss with more salt, pepper and olive oil. Serve in small bowls, topped with chilli oil and some crunchy fried shallots if you've got them. 

Pickles Milk Bar II

April 12, 2024

   

I've become a regular visitor to Pickles Milk Bar, often cycling down to pick up a sandwich on a work-from-home lunch break. On my most recent trip I had a flexible day on my own and decided to eat in and try a not-so-cycle-friendly shake. The soy milk-based miso caramel shake ($10) was thick, cold and super sweet - I didn't pick up on any miso nuance. Meanwhile, the sausage roll ($7) was a sturdy fellow filled with well-seasoned mock meat, and accompanied by a lovely relish. It carves its own space alongside my homemade fave, and the cheaper La Panella roll.

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You can read about our first visit to Pickles here.

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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. We ordered and paid at the counter. We didn't visit the toilets.

True North IV

April 1, 2024

   

True North up in Coburg seems to be just beyond the boundaries of our neighbourhood and our recall, but we always enjoy it when we do visit. It's that rare gem of a non-veg cafe that has vegetarian and vegan adaptations available on almost every dish, and the same goes for gluten-free.

When we stopped in for a public holiday breakfast recently, they graciously handled some extra temporary dietary restrictions I had around grains and seeds. Lucky for me, the Black Maple Society ($22) was compliant: the twice-baked French toast is actually a compressed pastry brick in the style of a bread-and-butter pudding! It's crowned with whipped ricotta, macerated strawberries and flaked almonds, with concentric moats of strawberry syrup and black maple tahini.

   

Michael was just as satisfied with the Bean Caught Stealing ($19), a butter bean and apple cider cassoulet served with haloumi, spicy oil and charred sourdough toast. He's always happy for a chance to sample from True North's extensive hot sauce collection.

True North has offered night time foods and events of various kinds over the years, and it looks like they've got a variety on the go at the moment - hopefully we'll manage to report back on one or more of them this year!

   

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You can also read about one, two, three 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). We ordered at the table and paid at a high counter. The toilet is a narrow non-gendered cubicle.