Addict

August 8, 2015

From Steam Junkies to Addict - I'm not sure I care for cafes naming themselves after compulsions but it seems I'll eat their brunch. Addict has the typical trappings of an inner north cafe - a communal table and drop lights, longnecks for water pitchers and a small queue. Luckily for us, the 10 minute wait estimated by the waiter was more like 2. It was barely enough time to stare hungrily at the doughnut display before we were seated at a sunny window bench.

The Addict menu has abundant Vs and GFs, but doesn't offer much in the way of information or eating for vegans. The coconut & lychee porridge and the citrus-spiked chia pudding might pass muster, but conferring with staff would definitely be needed. By contrast, the vegetarian options are varied and take up half the menu, from buttermilk pancakes to corn fritters and a mega Go Green breakfast.

The Chai Boy Latte's ($4.50) paraphernalia took up most of my table space. For all its name-dropping and bench-hogging it wasn't all that memorable, mildly spiced and only briefly steeped.

The food was a long time coming - even slowpoke Cindy here had sipped the last of her latte before it arrived. Michael ordered the oft-blogged potato hash and mushroom duxelle with roasted field mushroom, a poached egg and caramelised onion ($18). It was compact and quickly consumed, but very rich and dominated by the mushroom flavours. As I continued eating my meal, I caught Michael staring longingly at the corn fritters left by a couple of ladies further along the bench.

Although our friend Will had particularly recommended the pancakes, I passed over them for a blackboard special of cinnamon dusted brioche French toast, date and peanut puree, caramel banana, vanilla mascarpone, sweet and salty nuts, and maple syrup ($17). I was served a whole lot more fried and sugar-rolled brunchtime bang-for-my-buck than Michael was! The brioche was only lightly battered, and dusted to resemble cinnamon doughnuts, the bananas were nearly collapsed under their caramelisation, and the garnished macadamias were deeply toasted. It was spectacularly over the top, and I ate it all.

Michael should not have been surprised that I could manage only a cursory taste of the doughnut we ordered afterwards. It was all Krispy Kreme puff, without cakiness and (to my disappointment) without any tanginess to its berry-tinted icing.

The staff were friendly and capable but there seemed too few of them; we were left waiting for long periods to order and receive food. What the Addict kitchen made was very, very good - fancy but well-composed, a smidge pretentious yet ultimately satisfying.

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Addict has been blogged widely and almost entirely positively, see petit miam x, The Peckish Connoisseur, Gourmet Chick, Go To Bread, Not Bed!, Melbourne Patron, A Chronicle of Gastronomy, Eat. Play. Shop., grazing panda, Never Too Sweet, Food Comatose, Let's Get Fat Together, BLK's Food Blog, thehangrybitch, Melbourne Vita, Eat. Travel. Blog., The Smiling Foodie, Eve Lovelle, The Bake-a-nista, Chasing Spark, Barley Restaurant Reviews, inlovewithbrunch and Lucid dreaming.

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Addict
240 Johnston St, Fitzroy
9415 6420
menu, specials

Accessibility: There's a shallow ramp on entry. Tables inside are standard height and crowded in, with a mix of chairs and stools. We ordered at our table and paid at a medium-high counter. We didn't visit the toilets.

Chimichurri pumpkin bowl

August 4, 2015

We had a big chunk of pumpkin leftover from our most recent veggie box and, after considering a few old favourites, decided it was time to bust out a new recipe. The bowls in Isa Does It have proven pretty successful so far, so when we discovered this recipe on a scan through the index, we were sold (added bonus: it used up a wilty bunch of coriander also leftover from the veggie box). 

Like the other bowl recipes, there's a fair few components - you're baking pumpkin, cooking pasta, heating up beans and making a spice paste - but none of them are very complicated. The issue is more the mess you leave behind than the difficulty involved in throwing it all together. And the results are definitely worth it - the garlicky chimichurri proving to be a surprisingly perfect accompaniment to the sweet, roasted potato, with the beans and pasta adding some bulk and protein. 

We went back for a second round on this - the spice paste recipe makes much more than you'll need for one dinner - and it worked just as well with roasted carrots as with pumpkin. We've had nothing but good results from Isa Does It and this just adds to my resolution to go pawing through it for more ideas.

Chimichurri pumpkin bowl

(slightly adapted from a recipe in Isa Chandra Moskowitz's Isa Does It)

~1kg pumpkin, chopped into big chunks (you don't need to peel it)
250g linguine (ours was a quite passable batch of gluten-free linguine leftover from one of Cindy's field trips)
2 cans black beans

chimichurri
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup pepitas
1 big bunch of parsley, roughly chopped (about 2 cups)
1 small bunch of coriander, roughly chopped (about 1 cup)
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes

Preheat the oven to 220°C. Pop the pumpkin on a lightly oiled baking tray and bake for 45 minutes or so, until completely soft.

While the pumpkin is baking, make the chimichurri in a food processor. Start by blending up the garlic until it's finely chopped. Add the pepitas and grind them up into small crumbs. Throw in the rest of the ingredients and blend into a thick puree.

Drain the beans and heat them up in a small saucepan

Prepare the linguine as per the instructions - you want it to be the last thing that's ready.

Drain the linguine and stir through 1/2 of the chimichurri paste (the noodles' heat will take the sting out of the garlic).

Assemble your bowls with the pasta, beans and pumpkin, topped with a few extra scoops of chimmichurri and garnished with pepitas.

Kiwi cashew slice

August 2, 2015

Our vege deliveries tell me it's kiwi fruit season, so I bookmarked Emma Galloway's recipe for raw kiwifruit + ginger 'cheesecake' the moment I saw it. With melting oil and maple syrup going on, it's not strictly 100% raw, but it's that little bit more workable.

I blended this one up on a Sunday morning, with some equipment that was distinctly inferior to Galloway's. My food processor struggled to break down the dried dates in the base layer, so mine was rather coarse (pre-soaking the dates might yield better results). It didn't fare much better with the cashews in the filling, even though they'd been soaked overnight - there were soft but discernible flecks of nut throughout the mixture. The food processor was completely incapable of pureeing the sly spinach leaves that colour the third layer, so I transferred this last mixture to my spice grinder for a finer result. I added an extra kiwi fruit, too, to intensify the flavour and work through my fruit stocks that little bit faster.

For all my skepticism, this slice has been lovely. The base was crumbly, but the larger date chunks were like chewy caramel. The topping is smooth and almost fluffy, with a subtle twang of ginger. Some fresh kiwi fruit on top completes a gradient of dense sweetness through lighter creaminess to wake-up juicy sourness. We've snatched snacks of it throughout the week, and I've held some over in the freezer to look forward to later.

Kiwi cashew slice
(very slightly adapted from My Darling Lemon Thyme)

base
1 1/2 cups dried dates, pits removed and roughly chopped
2/3 cup raw almonds
1 tablespoon coconut oil, melted

filling
3 cups raw cashews
3/4 cup coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons minced ginger
handful of baby spinach leaves
3 kiwi fruits, peeled

extra kiwi fruits to garnish

Cover the cashews with water and soak them overnight. Drain the water.

Line a large slice tin with baking paper. Grind together the base ingredients in a food processor until they resemble coarse crumbs. Press them into the base of the slice tin, using the back of a spoon to smooth it all out.

For the filling, blend together the cashews, coconut oil, lemon juice, maple syrup, vanilla, salt and ginger until very, very smooth. Pour half of the mixture out onto the slice base and smooth it over with a spoon. Place the slice in the freezer while you perform the next step.

Blend the spinach leaves and 3 kiwi fruits into the remaining cashew mixture until it is smooth and green. Retrieve the slice from the freezer and pour the green mixture evenly over the slice. Refrigerate the slice for 5 hours, or freeze it for 2-3 hours. Garnish with fresh kiwi fruit slices when serving.

Gochujang fried cauliflower

August 1, 2015

It's been too long since I last did some extended, just-for-fun weekend cooking! The half a huge head of cauliflower delivered in our recent vege box inspired me to try one of J. Kenji López-Alt's battered-and-fried cauliflower recipes, which he published more than two years ago on Serious Eats.

I'm not in the regular business of battering or deep-frying, but its never quite as bad as I imagine. There's always a bit of dripping, and disposing of the oil isn't great, but it was well worth it for these tender, golden cauliflower bites. This particular batter includes sesame seeds and dessicated coconut. To my surprise they separated from the batter once it hit the oil, floating up to the surface to form a fragile, nutty lace. It was kinda fun and tasty to nibble at, but a hint that I shouldn't bother including these ingredients in the future - I'll just keep some sesame seeds aside for garnishing instead.

The key point of interest and flavour in this recipe is really the gochujang, a smooth Korean spice paste of roasted chillis and fermented soy beans. I'm glad I image-searched this condiment before we went shopping, because we happened upon the distinctive red plastic completely by chance in an unfamiliar shop - it wasn't on a designated shelf and was covered in a fine layer of dust (but was within its expiry date, I was sure to brush off that dust and check!).

The gochujang forms the foundation of a dressing that's warm, tangy, salty and sweet. It clings to the batter, giving the cauliflower a soft, lively coating that eliminates any need for a dipping sauce. It reminded me a bit of the barbecue sauce we've used for years, and I can imagine skipping the batter palaver and dry-frying tofu in it.

Gochujang fried cauliflower
(slightly adapted from a recipe at Serious Eats)

1 head cauliflower
1/2 cup cornflour
1/2 cup plain flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup sesame seeds (would save for garnish instead)
1/3 cup dessicated coconut (would skip entirely)
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup vodka
large volume of vegetable oil, for deep frying
salt

dressing
1/4 cup gochujang
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
3 tablespoons brown sugar
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ginger, minced
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
2 tablespoons water

Chop the head of cauliflower up into bite-sized florets.

In a medium bowl, stir together the cornflour plain flour, baking powder, sesame seeds (if using), and coconut (if using). Whisk in the water to form a smooth batter, then whisk in the vodka until the batter is smooth and runny.

In a separate medium bowl, whisk together all the dressing ingredients.

Pour the oil into a saucepan until it's about 6cm deep (we chose a small saucepan so that it wouldn't be too much oil). Set it over medium-high heat.

When a drop of batter sizzles in the hot oil, it's time to get frying. Drop a few pieces of cauliflower into the batter, coat them all over, and shake off any excess batter before gently dropping each floret into the oil. Fry the cauliflower florets in batches, for around 4-6 minutes each, until they're golden. Transfer the cooked florets to absorbent paper and season them with salt. (If you're cooking in many batches, consider transferring the fried cauliflower to a baking tray in a oven on its lowest setting, to keep them warm.)

When all the cauliflower is cooked, toss it gently but thoroughly with the dressing and serve, garnished with an extra sprinkling of sesame seeds.

Steam Junkies

Update 12/06/2023: Steam Junkies has become Crazy Lover.

August 1, 2015

Last weekend we headed up to Florence St for a late breakfast before running some errands around Brunswick. We've had half an eye on The Commons for a couple of years - it's a unit block by the railway tracks that has sold itself on its sustainability measures. On an Upfield walk last year we noticed that the ground floor cafe, Steam Junkies, has a few veg options and they've been given a thumbs-up on Green Gourmet Giraffe.

The odds for vegetarians are good, with thirteen of the twenty-two regular menu dishes boasting a V (and almost half the menu including a gluten-free friendly *). Looking beyond the plain toast, though, there's not a lot designed for vegans. Poached eggs and cheeses abound, and there's also a curious preponderance of quinoa.

Michael's plate captured their poached eggs-on-superfoods style, starting with quinoa toast and a mound of garlic sauteed kale and spinach, dotted with dried cranberries, almond flakes and goats curd with a couple of asparagus spears too ($16). His coffee and eggs met with the high standards expected of inner-north cafes, and he liked the way the cranberries broke up the green theme.

Budgeting on a two-meal day, I made my first one a haloumi burger ($13.50). The cheese was rolled in sesame seeds and one of the lightest I've encountered, with barely a squeak to be had, not to mention voluminous! Really, look at it. There was double the cheese this burger needed. But instead of playing haloumi Jenga, I elected to eat this a half at a time, first with the relish-smeared brioche top and second with the tomato, mayo and rocket. The tangy dressings and side salad of rocket, cherry tomatoes, apple and radish were my ideal complements to the cheese, and I capped it all off with a frothy freshly squeezed orange juice ($6).

With its communal table, bike racks and polished concrete floor, Steam Junkies does everything you'd expect of a Brunswick cafe. Their egg-and-quinoa menu is a mite less predictable, and the haloumi burger is unforgettable - they could well have their niche.

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Bloggers have been unanimously positive about Steam Junkies - see fellow vegetarian Green Gourmet Giraffe and omnivorous bloggers A Place A Day, makelovetotheworld and CHOMP AND SLURP.

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Steam Junkies
1/7-9 Florence St, Brunswick
9973 4309
regular menu, specials
facebook page

Accessibility: The entry is flat and wide with a sliding door. Tables are generously spaced, with a mixture of low backless stools, benches and slightly rickety chairs (a couple of infants' high chairs are also available). We didn't visit the toilets, but observed another customer borrowing a key from staff to access them outside the cafe. We ordered at the table and paid at a low-ish counter.