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.

Seven spice chickpea stew

July 21, 2024

   

We've had a kale and coconut salad in our repertoire for nigh on a decade, but I've never quite hit on the right accompaniment for it. It's textured, chewy and quite filling; sweet with coconut, salty with soy, and just faintly bitter from the green leaves. It needs some protein. I've cycled through various marinated tofu recipes, but they usually include more soy sauce and the overall effect is a bit too samey and salty.

This week I browsed through my bookmarks, thinking I'd try chickpeas instead, and I pulled up this recipe from The First Mess. It's kind of like the vodka pasta sauce I made last month: cooked-down onions, and lots of tomato mellowed out with coconut milk (rather than oat cream). I adjusted some of the recipe quantities to use up full ingredient packages. The coconut is a nice echo across the two dishes and the soft, thick texture of this stew is a welcome contrast. It's a comforting meal hot from the kitchen, and just as enjoyable at room temperature packed into a lunchbox. At last, I've made a match!

Seven spice chickpea stew 

(slightly adapted from a recipe on The First Mess) 

spice blend

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

stew

1 tablespoon coconut oil

1 onion, finely chopped

1 tablespoon tomato paste

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 x 400g cans chickpeas, drained

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

1 x 400g can diced/crushed tomatoes

1 x 400mL can coconut milk

salt and pepper, to taste

Stir together the ingredients for the spice blend in a small dish and set them aside.

Melt the coconut oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened; this will take up to 10 minutes. Stir the spice blend into the onions for 1 minute. Stir in the tomato paste for a further minute. Stir in the garlic and chickpeas for half a minute. Add the balsamic vinegar, then the tomatoes, then the coconut milk, and season the stew with salt and pepper. Stir everything together thoroughly and allow it to simmer for at least 10 minutes. (I cooked it down a lot longer while my kale and coconut baked.)    

Sendok Garpu

July 14, 2024

   

Two years ago Laura recommended Sendok Garpu to us, and this year while in Brisbane we took the time to cross the Victoria Bridge and try it for dinner. Its arcade location, low stools and adjoining grocery section hint that it's aimed primarily at city-worker lunchers, but it still attracts plenty of diners and delivery orders for an early dinner.

The Indonesian menu is enormous (I've linked to 20 pages below!), with vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and spicy options well marked throughout. It was tough to prioritise. 

   

Laura had warned us that the food was very spicy, so we figured we should set ourselves up with cooling drinks. Michael's Es Kopi Gula Aren ($7) had high doses of sugar and caffeine, and kept him abuzz for some time. Es Soda Gembira ($6) was a new-to-me mix of raspberry soda and condensed milk. The carbonation-and-milk combo actually worked pretty well, and the flavour reminded me of jelly tips.

   

Michael focused on the range of rendang dishes on offer, and chose a vegetarian adjustment to the Mini Tumpeng Rendang ($29.95). Around a centre of yellow herb coconut rice, he received an excellent jackfruit rendang (instead of beef), garlic crackers (instead of prawn), chilli egg, crispy tempeh, a very hot shrimp-free sambal and salad. He loved it, and even wished for more rendang.

   

Instead, he satisfied himself with picking at my leftovers. I'd ordered the Ketoprak ($15.95), noted as a famous vegan dish in Jakarta, and available at three spice levels. The featured rice cake chunks are barely visible - they're steamed soft and starchy, not dense and bouncy like Korean rice cakes. They were tossed together with thin rice noodles, then topped with bean sprouts and a sweet, mild and thick peanut sauce. Around the edges I could pick at spongy tofu cubes, boiled egg (not vegan, in spite of that menu heading) and garlic crackers.

We were full, even satisfied, except that I'd noticed a poster advertising martabak (dessert pancakes) on the way in. Happily these were boxed up to take away, so we walked a serve back to our accommodation and enjoyed thick pandan pancakes sandwiching a cheese and condensed milk filling from the comfort of our hotel bed.

Sendok Garpu's CBD location didn't fit naturally into our other planned activities but we were so glad we made the effort to visit. The staff were very welcoming, the food was novel to us, and most of all it was tasty. We're likely to work it into the schedule when we're back in Brissy.

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The Hangry Chef was a big fan of the past Coopers Plains incarnation of Sendok Garpu.

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Sendok Garpu

Shop 6, 97 Elizabeth St, Brisbane CBD

(07) 4602 9979

story, recommendations 1, recommendations 2, entrees 1, entrees 2, set menu A, set menu B, street food 1, street food 2, rice dishes, wok dishes, soup, mains 1, mains 2, mains 3, mains 4, sides, sambal & extras, drinks, desserts  

https://www.sendokgarpu.com.au/

Accessibility: The entry is wide and the stairs up to the tables include a wheelchair lift. Tables are low with backless stools, quite densely packed with a wide pathway along one side. We ordered at our table and paid at a waist-height counter. Toilets are shared within the arcade and located two levels lower, accessible by both stairs and lift; an swipe card from the restaurant staff is needed to access them. The toilets are gendered and a large ungendered cubicle with supports is also available. 

Izakaya Midori

July 7, 2024

   

For the first time in over a decade I've had a weekend at the Gold Coast, and I made a special trip to Izakaya Midori for a meal. I'm familiar with this restaurant through Susan, who's posted at least ten reviews of it! (See collected links at the bottom of the post.) It's located in a little suburban shopping strip, yet the business has transformed their space into a small slice of Japan with nostalgic wooden surfaces, decorative knick knacks and functional accoutrements like wooden chopstick boxes and fabric-covered bag holders on the floor.

It's a rare joy to receive an entirely vegan menu of Japanese foods. Not only is Midori's standard menu extensive, but they also offer specials (including dessert!) and a kids menu. Gluten-free, pungent-free and soy-free dishes are well marked. I was ordering just for one, and wracked with all the dishes I'd be missing out on: edamame served three ways (boiled, smoked and as chips), okonomiyaki, fancy-frilled gyoza, mash-it-yourself potato salad, numerous ramen and don mains.

   

That said, I couldn't fault the dishes I did order. I started with a katsu sushi roll ($6.50, pictured top), served with pickled ginger and not wasabi on my request. I figured the wasabi tartare sauce within would supply enough heat for me. The mock-pork filling was thick and succulent, generously and crunchily crumbed. I noticed and appreciated that I was served just 1-2 teaspoons of soy sauce, precisely sufficient for my needs.

When I saw 'yuzu' on the specials list I was sold, ordering the yuzu 'kara & tofu' combo salad ($19, pictured directly above). What a spectacular rainbow of ingredients it held! Crispy-chewy mock chicken, soft battered tofu squares, unblemeshed avocado slices, refreshing cucumber and tomato, corn kernels, sprouts, pickled purple cabbage, plentiful bright salad greens, all lightly dressing with yuzu and sesame oil. I am a notoriously slow salad eater, and it was a pleasure to take my time over this one.

My lemon myrtle tea ($7.50) enabled me to linger a little longer and digest my meal - I like that they sell this local option alongside their matcha. If I had more time at the Gold Coast, I'd eagerly return many more times to order across Izakaya Midori's menu. Knowing that I didn't, I contented myself with revelling in one unrushed experience.

   

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You can read one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten posts about Susan's experiences with Izakaya Midori. It's also been covered by I Travel For Vegan Food.

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Izakaya Midori

Shop 7/50 Woodland Drive, Reedy Creek Qld

(07) 5645 6625

lunch menu, drinks, specials, dessert special, kids menu

https://izakayamidori.com.au/

Accessibility: Entry from the footpath is flat and there's a shallow ramp between levels inside. Medium-height tables and backed chairs are generously spaced. The toilets are shared with other businesses on the block; they're gendered, narrow and lacking any accessibility features.

Gochujang vodka rigatoni

June 30, 2024

   

I picked up a little carton of cheap Oatly cream from Cheaper Buy Miles kind of by accident (I thought it was milk) but luckily I recalled that Meera Sodha uses it quite often in her Guardian-published vegan recipes. Here's one of them: a riff on vodka pasta sauce, which I don't see around in Australia but I recall encountering often in the United States. The traditional recipes seem to cook onions in butter or oil, combine them with tomatoes and cream, then include some vodka to help blend the latter two ingredients and give the sauce a sharp, clean finish. Sodha makes the obvious substitutions to render it vegan, then adds in gochujang for some extra heat.

My Oatly and pasta packages were larger than the recipe called for so I inflated the recipe by inexactly rounding up most of the ingredient quantities. I also swished tap water around the passata bottle and the Oatly carton to get the last bits out and into the sauce; as a consequence, I decided that I didn't really need the reserved pasta water included in the recipe. Happily, pasta is the kind of food that can take this casual attitude to measurements, although perfectionists might like to adjust the ratios more carefully.

I liked that this pasta was brightly tangy, almost fruity. I paired it with some more earthy burnt butter and black garlic Brussels sprouts.

Gochujang vodka rigatoni

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

2-3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 teaspoon salt

3 cloves garlic, minced

400g passata

1 1/2 tablespoons gochujang

1 1/2 tablespoon tomato paste

1/2 cup vodka

250mL Oatly vegan cream

500g rigatoni

Pour the oil into a large saucepan and set it over medium heat. Add the onion and salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft, about 8 minutes.

Add the garlic, stir for 2 minutes, then add the passata, gochujang, tomato paste and half of the vodka. Allow the mixture to bubble and reduce in volume for about 10 minutes. Stir in the remaining vodka and the cream, cook for another couple of minutes, then turn off the heat.

Bring a large pot of water to the boil and cook the pasta for 1 minute less than instructed. Save a cup of the pasta water and drain off the rest.

In whichever of the two saucepans is the best fit, stir together the pasta and the sauce and set them back on medium heat for a couple of minutes. Add some of the pasta water if needed, but aim for a thick sauce that clings to the pasta. Season to taste and serve.

Cheesy baked rice cakes & kale

June 27, 2024

   

I bookmarked a lot of recipes in Tenderheart when I received it for my birthday last year but when I saw the photo of this one, I actually guffawed. Crisp-edged kale in cast iron under a blanket of golden-brown melted cheese? Yes. With rice cakes as the accompanying carb? That's a cool idea I would never have had. It seemed like a cosy winter dish so I saved it up until now. We've been experiencing colder days than I think I've ever been through in our 18 years in Melbourne, so it's definitely the right time.

Beneath that cheesy top layer there's a lot of stock and a couple of collapsed tomatoes - I was surprised at how soupy it all turned out! That moisture is important for cooking the rice cakes, but I'd be tempted to reduce it a little next time. I reckon using canned (instead of insipid winter) tomatoes might make for a thicker, richer sauce too. As I typed up the recipe, I noticed an instruction that I didn't on the day of cooking, which is to rinse the rice cakes to prevent them from sticking to each other - I'll definitely give that a go next time.

The use of gochugaru matches the rice cakes and adds some extra warmth without burn. Whether this dish turns out soupy or saucy, it's a whole lot of comfort. 

   

Cheesy baked rice cakes & kale

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

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon gochugaru

2 tomatoes, roughly chopped

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon caster sugar

1 L vegetable stock

900g rice cake sticks, rinsed in water to separate

leaves from a bunch of kale, roughly chopped

170g tasty cheddar, grated

200g mozzarella, torn

If you've got a big dish that can transfer from the stove to the oven, use it! I don't, so I started with a large saucepan. Set it over medium heat, add the olive oil and then the garlic. When it's fragrant, add the gochugaru, tomatoes, salt, sugar and stock, stirring to combine. Cover the mixture with a lid and allow it to simmer for 10 minutes.

Preheat an oven to 200°C.

Remove the lid from the saucepan and stir, squishing the tomatoes against the sides or even getting a masher in there. Add the rice cakes and kale, stirring until the leaves wilt. Stir in half of the cheddar and mozzarella. Transfer the mixture to a casserole dish. Top with the remaining cheese and then bake until melted and golden, 15-20 minutes.

Etta III

 June 13, 2024

   

I was away in Perth for my birthday, so we booked a late celebration at Etta. I had fond memories of our earlier visits and Rhys Nicholson's Off Menu appearance was a good reminder that we should return. They've got a brand new chef and we were there in the first week of the new menu - spoilers: it's phenomenal.

 

   

It's got such lovely vibes - the staff are charming and relaxed, the atmosphere is buzzy without being deafening and the kitchen hums away efficiently in full view of the restaurant. It's the kind of place where you feel immediately welcome and immediately ready to indulge - I dove straight into the cocktail list and got myself a dirty martini ($26), while Cindy went non-alcoholic with an R & R tonic (fermented raspberry, rosemary, molasses and tonic, $16). Cindy's tonic was sweeter than she expected, and she couldn't figure out how to drink it without the rosemary sticking up her nose. Both were delicious - it's great that places are offering up some grown-up booze free options these days.

   

We put ourselves in the restaurant's hands and ordered the 'leave it to us' option, which costs $100 and gives you a full taste of basically everything vego they have to offer. As always, things start with fancy bread and butter, which is always going to hit the mark.

   

The bread comes from local heroes Wild Life and the butter was burnt and whipped and just sublime. I would have been happy if the whole meal was just six courses of this, but of course things just got better and better.

   

First up were these skewers: brussels sprouts with spiced yoghurt and jalapeno. These were bursting with flavour: caramelised sprouts all sweet and smokey topped with spicy, tangy yoghurt - a brilliant start.

   

Next up was this plate of eggplant with sambal and crispy onion rings. I think this was the dish when I knew we were in for a special night - zinging with heat, but also rich with sweetness. The eggplant was melt-in-the-mouth good and the light crunchy bits on top just sealed the deal. This isn't on the a la carte menu, so you basically have to order the banquet.

   

Only a few weeks ago I tried to make our turnip cake recipe again, which was an abject failure, so it was a double treat to get this dish: turnip cake with kang kung and sesame dressing. This was another triumph, a great balance of textures and flavours - the turnip cake was nearly sweet while the dressing and garnishes were rich and savoury. 

   

After a little pause it was time for our main and sides. The centrepiece was the chestnut zongzi with charred and pickled shimeji mushrooms and tea eggs. This was another dish with really punchy flavours - spicy sauce and pickled mushrooms adding zing to the milder rice and chestnut filling in the zongzi. As if that wasn't exciting enough, the fried and wok-tossed salt and pepper potatoes came out alongside. As with the fancy bread at the start of the meal, getting a high end restaurant's version of spuds is always worth it - perfection. The cos lettuce, nashi pear and curried egg salad was the ideal accompaniment to the other two rich dishes - light and acidic and fresh. 

The set menu comes with just a single dessert option, but Cindy had a quick chat with the staff and asked if they'd let us try one of each of the two dishes on the a la carte menu. They very kindly complied and we got to try both!

   

First up was the chilli oil parfait with lychee and lime leaf sorbet. They're hoping this will become a signature dish at Etta and you can see why - the chilli oil doesn't really have a spiciness to it, but it adds a fun complexity to this dish that otherwise bursts with sunshine-y flavours.

   

We closed things out with a more classic dessert: a piece of ginger cake with chestnut miso caramel and creme fraiche. The perfect complement - this was rich and dense and perfectly satisfying. 

We had the most spectacular meal at Etta - when we were last there the food was pretty straight-up European-inspired mod-Oz food, so it was thrilling to realise they'd taken a sharp turn into Asian flavours under the last couple of chefs. This was a bunch of big flavours, sophisticated but fun and consistently impressive. I've been a bit off fine dining in the past few years, but Etta really knocked me out - I can't wait to go back again. 

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You can read about our previous visits to Etta here and here. Since we were there BLK's Food Blog has visited a couple of times (one, two).

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Etta

60 Lygon Street, Brunswick East

9448 8233

cocktails, non-veg "leave it to us" menu, a la carte winter menu

https://ettadining.com.au/

Accessibility: The entry is flat and there is one step up from the bar area to the dining area. Tables are moderately spaced and lighting is quite dim. We received full table service. Toilets are unisex and spacious, but we didn't notice handrails or other mobility aids.

Raspberry cheesecake brownies

June 10, 2024

   

Our friend Natalie decided to have a little 'brownies and biscuits' gathering to celebrate her birthday this year. I've got a lot of brownie recipes under my belt but even more bookmarked to try so I went searching the latter set. In particular, I knew I had a vegan cheesecake brownie recipe tucked away. It uses cashews, one of my favourite dairy substitutes, and also aquafaba, which I'm inexperienced with. I thought a brownie might be a gentler way in to aquafaba than, say, a meringue.

I was in the mood for baking and optimistic about this recipe, so I went ahead and doubled it (though I've posted the original single quantity below). I included the optional orange zest because I'd received some homegrown ones from Natalie herself, and I thought it'd taste nice with the raspberries.

   

Whipping up the aquafaba went really well, and I managed to retain a decent amount of air as I folded in the other brownie ingredients. Nevertheless, the brownie mixture ended up quite thick. It definitely needed coaxing to spread evenly across the baking tray and the portion I held in reserve absolutely did not marble prettily with the cheesecake. Thank goodness for the raspberries to distract from those ungainly blobs!

I wasn't surprised that my double-sized brownie needed extra time to bake, and I didn't mind that that caused it to go extra-brown on top. Ultimately, the texture was excellent! Chewy around the edges, densely cakey in the middle, velvetty on top. I really liked the sour bursts from the raspberries cutting through the brownie's richness. There were no issues finishing off this extra-large batch.

   

Raspberry cheesecake brownies

(a recipe from lazy cat kitchen)

cheesecake layer

1 cup raw unsalted cashews

2 tablespoons margarine

1/3 cup caster sugar

1/3 cup vegan milk (I used almond)

1/4 cup lemon juice + zest of 1/2 lemon

zest of 1/2 orange (optional)

2 teaspoons vanilla

frozen raspberries, to decorate (optional)

brownie layer

150g dark chocolate

100g margarine

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 cup plain flour

1 tablespoon cornflour

50g cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1/2 cup aquafaba (canning liquid from chickpeas)

1 cup caster sugar

Place the cashews in a small heatproof bowl and cover them with boiling water. Allow them to soak for at least 20 minutes.

In a medium-large saucepan, gently melt together the chocolate, margarine and brown sugar for the brownie layer. Stir them together to combine well, then turn off the heat and allow the mixture to cool.

Drain the cashews. Place all of the cheesecake ingredients, except for the raspberries, into a blender and blend until smooth.

Preheat an oven to 180°C. Line a 20cm square high-walled baking tray with paper. In a medium-sized bowl, sift together the flour, cornflour, cocoa, salt and bicarb soda. Stir them all together to combine.

In a separate medium-sized bowl, pour in the aquafaba and beat at high power for several minutes to form a foam that resembles whipped egg whites with soft peaks. Gradually beat in the caster sugar. Use a rubber spatula to gently fold the melted chocolate mixture into the foam. Gradually fold in the flour mixture until it's fully combined into the batter. 

If you want to attempt the marbling, set aside 1/2 cup of brownie batter and pour the rest into the baking tray, gently spreading it into an even layer. Pour the cheesecake mixture over the top. If marbling, drop spoonfuls of the remaining brownie batter across the cheesecake. Use a chopstick to swirl the brownie batter decoratively through the cheesecake. Drop raspberries across the top if you're using them.

Bake the brownies for 30 minutes. Cover the top with kitchen foil and bake for a further 13-15 minutes (I think mine actually took a further 20-30 minutes). The cheesecake should look cooked but it's OK if it fails the skewer test. Allow the brownies to cool completely and store them in the refrigerator, initially for 1-2 hours before slicing and serving.

Joanne's Pizzeria II

June 9, 2024

   

A couple of months after our first meal at Joanne's, it again became a cosy and convenient spot for dinner, this time after a movie at Nova. We chose new dishes with the same approach as last time, splitting an appetiser and a pizza between the two of us.

I'm fond of a basic cheap garlic bread of the likes you'd find at Domino's. Sometimes more gourmet Sversions switch up the ingredients well, but often I'm honestly disappointed. Joanne's home-made garlic bread with cheese ($9, pictured below) was one of the good 'uns: both crusty and soft, plenty buttery and generously but not excessively cheesed.

The vegetarian Joanne's special ($23) had generous and well-balanced toppings: thin slices of mock ham and salami, mushrooms, green capsicum, olives and garlic, with just enough mozzarella to bind it all together. Is 2024 the year I finally make my peace with olives? I'll have to update our bio.

   

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You can read about our first visit to Joanne's here.

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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.