More Simple

October 14, 2018

We had a friend over for a Sunday dinner and turned again to Simple for inspiration. We worked through the pasta section looking for ideas, settling on this chickpea and za'atar pasta as our centrepiece. It's definitely simple - easily put together and requiring no more than about 20 minutes on the stove. You need za'atar of course, but by Yotam's standards that's basically a pantry ingredient. Our dish didn't turn out quite as well as we'd hoped. It proved beyond me to get the chickpeas to crisp up at all. It was still pretty tasty, but I was a little bit disappointed - one to try again perhaps. Luckily, the black garlic Brussels sprouts we made on the side were as good as we remembered them - a must make dish.

The dessert was also a huge success - Cindy made the sumac-roasted strawberries with yoghurt cream. It was utterly wonderful, although in keeping with Ottolenghi's approach to simple cookery it involves straining yoghurt through muslin. Simple as heck Yotam, but absolutely worth it.

For all my teasing, I'm really enjoying cooking out of Simple. The recipes are simple only in relation to Ottolenghi's other recipes, but that at least makes them manageable - you could even make this pasta on a weeknight!

Orecchiette with chickpeas and za'atar

(from Yotam Ottolenghi's Simple)

45ml olive oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 teaspoons ground cumin

10g thyme leaves, stems removed

1 lemon, zested and juiced

2 400g tins of chickpeas, drained

1 teaspoon brown sugar

400ml mock chicken stock

250g orecchiette pasta

50g baby spinach leaves

15g parsley, roughly chopped

1-2 teaspoons of za'atar

1/4 cup capers

salt and pepper

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and throw in the onion, garlic, cumin, thyme, lemon zest and some salt and pepper. Fry for 3-4 minutes until the onion softens and starts to brown.

Reduce the heat and add in the chickpeas and sugar. Fry for 8 minutes or so, trying to get the chickpeas to brown and get crispy (we failed). Add the stock and lemon juice and simmer for 6-8 minutes, until the sauce has reduced slightly.

In the meantime, bring a large pot of water to boil and cook the pasta as per the instructions. Drain and stir the pasta, capers and spinach leaves through the sauce. Serve, sprinkled with za'atar.

Pavlov's Duck

October 14, 2018

Pavlov's Duck is perched at the less cafe-dense northern end of Smith St, among the clothing outlets. Nevertheless, it's been attracting bloggers for years, through a combination of promotional events and novel offerings (see links below). The all day menu starts with the usual eggs, toast, avocado and muesli but turns sharply into Sri Lankan-inspired dishes half way through - there's milk rice with curry, roti, and hoppers. Vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free items are well-marked across their menu.

We stopped in for Sunday breakfast on a whim, and focused on the Sri Lankan side of the menu. Michael was well satisfied by the kottu ($17, pictured above), a heavily spiced plate of chopped roti, vegetables and eggs.

I set my heart on a hopper, but slightly flubbed my order. I should have simply requested the traditional hopper ($14), which is accompanied by dhal, coconut sambol and chilli onion. Instead I ordered the egg hopper ($5), which is served plain and I think is intended more as a side. Michael generously shared a little of his kottu to flavour it and all was very well: the hopper was one side crisp and toasty, one side light and tender, the egg was more soft comfort.

We enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere at this time of the week, and we'll have to aim for it again to perfect our menu choices.

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Blog accounts of Pavlov's Duck are universally positive! See fellow veg*n blogger Vegan About Town (twice), and then omnivorous bloggers Lips Temptations (freebie), The Penguin Eats, Dammit Janet I Love Food, trading plates, DonutSam Eats & Travels, In Love With Brunch (freebie), The Spice Adventuress (freebie), Eat & Be Merry (freebie), Chewing is Exercise, A Chronicle of Gastronomy (freebie), and hungry cookie.

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Pavlov's Duck
401 Smith St, Fitzroy
9416 4336
food, drinks
facebook page

Accessibility: Entry is flat and there's a wide corridor through the centre; furniture is densely packed with mostly backless benches, stools and chairs with backs to sit on. Toilets are gendered cubicles with narrow entry. We ordered at our table and paid at a low counter.

Annual lab culinary competition

October 5, 2018

In its 15th year, the annual lab culinary competition is still a major point on the social calendar, with many strong entries! This year we saw a fabulous array of finger foods, pastries, bright fresh fruit and vegetables (some from the entrants' own gardens!), sweet things in cups and baked as beautiful whole cakes, foods originating from other cultures and classic dishes we knew well. Unusually this year, I didn't make a dessert submission, though I put in my requisite two entries: among the pics above, you'll be able to see my broccoli & gorgonzola pie, and some hot & sour rhubarb tofu.

The grand prize was reserved for the sparkliest of cakes and the baker who dressed just like it.

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I've also written accounts of this competition in 2006, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016 and 2017.

The Origin Tales

Update 12/06/2023: The Origin Tales is now closed.

October 4, 2018

Well, this is a little embarrassing. An all-vegan restaurant opened up at the end of our street and it took over two months for us to notice it! We were quick to grab dinner at The Origin Tales once we'd realised our mistake, and it's now firmly in our weeknight lazy-dinner rotation.

The menu is mostly Chinese-Malaysian, with a couple of burgers and fried snacks (loaded cheese fries, tempura and popcorn chicken among them). Mock meat is abundant, and the couple of gluten-free options are clearly marked.

I was drawn to the Hainanese chicken rice ($15.90) and was richly rewarded. The rice was oily and aromatic, the mock-chicken included a crispy-skinned layer on top (it didn't have the typical poached texture, but was still delicious), there was a little pot of very spicy sauce, and some garden salad to freshen it all up. The raspberry iced tea ($5) was tangy-terrific, too.

Michael was also rather pleased with the sizzling hotplate noodle ($17.90), which arrived furiously bubbling and steaming. It included heaps of veges in BBQ sauce, and a few pieces of mock-char siew on top.

I've since been back for the Zinger Tower burger ($16.90, including chips) and it was one of the best life-after-KFC burgers I've ever eaten (messy as heck, though!). So it's official: The Origin Tales is our new favourite convenience food.

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The Origin Tales
41 Lygon St, Brunswick East
8383 9061
entrees & mains, mains, burgers, sides & desserts, drinks, specials
http://www.theorigintales.com.au/

Accessibility: There's a shallow ramp on entry, densely spaced tables and a wide corridor through the middle. We ordered at the table and paid at a low counter. We didn't visit the toilets.

Xenia Food Store

Update 12/06/2023: Xenia Food Store is now closed.

October 3, 2018

Xenia Food Store is a Greek restaurant that popped up late last year, in one of newer apartment buildings lining Lygon St in Brunswick. Soon after, we read news on facebook that they proudly tout their vegetarian and vegan options, offering discounted vegan banquets on Tuesday and Wednesday nights ($30 per person, compared to a usual $40 per person). We rallied our friend Lisa and made it a banquet for three earlier this month.

The opening share plate impressed us all! We picked through olives and soft salty, marinated blocks of mock-feta, ate dolmades and falafels with our hands, and slathered eggplant and fava dips over soughdough bread. Our favourites were the large oval-shaped koupes, golden-fried bulgur wheat shells stuffed with savoury minced greens. We did not leave a skerrick.

The main meal was even heartier, and we had no choice but to leave a lot. (Not to worry, it travelled home with us to be reheated another day!) I'm not typically a huge fan of stuffed vegetables, but these rice-stuffed tomatoes and capsicums were good 'uns. The grain salad offered some contrasting chewiness to the the vegetables' collapsed softness, and the lemony roasted potatoes were always going to be a hit.

For dessert, Xenia have figured out vegan loukoumades, and they're very generous in their portioning. These crunchy little batter balls were sticky with syrup, dusted with crushed walnuts and cinnamon.

Xenia is a casual and comfortable option, and we reckon this discounted banquet is great value for money. I can foresee us popping in again on a lazy weeknight and simply ordering the vegan plate for 2 (which looks very much like our entree plate up top).

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There's a positive review of a complimentary meal at Xenia over on consider the sauce.

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Xenia Food Store
202 Lygon St, East Brunswick
9191 7206
meze, mains, sides, salads & sweets, banquets, drinks 1, drinks 2
http://www.xeniafoodstore.com.au/

Accessibility: Entry is flat and there's an average amount of space around the low tables and chairs. We ordered at our table and paid at a high counter. We didn't visit the toilets.