January 14, 2009: Chocolate Vicecream

After the lacto-ovo-orgy that was the passionfruit icecream, I turned to Jeff Rogers' Vice Cream for a vegan alternative. His chocolate icecream uses cocoa powder rather than chocolate, and the book is generally all 'organic' this and 'raw' that, so I must admit that I was bracing myself for an insipid ice. But I was wrong - as soon as I whizzed in the cocoa powder the mixture took on the dark colour and flavour I love. It was surprisingly smooth, too, so I had high hopes for this batch of cashew-based icecream.

Alas, this one failed to fluff up at all while it churned, even though my two previous vicecreams became dreamy clouds in half the time of my typical dairy-based mixtures. This means that the icecream's doomed to freeze dense and hard. So I stirred through a tablespoon or two of Kahlua - alcohol inhibits freezing and I hoped it'd make this vicecream a little softer and more scoopable. (As an aside, I think Kahlua is vegan but please correct me if I'm wrong.) It worked a little, I guess, but to my surprise the cashew particles I didn't detect in the unfrozen mixture were back. I'm beginning to think that the only way around this is a fancy (and expensive) blender. It'll be no chore to spoon my way through this chocolate confection, but I can't help wondering whether I've yet eaten vicecream at its best.

Chocolate Vicecream

1 3/4 cups cashews
1 3/4 cups water
1 cup maple syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tablespoon Kahlua (optional)

Put the cashews into a food processor and blend them to a smooth butter - this will take several minutes. Add the water in two or three small batches, blending until well combined each time. Add the maple syrup and vanilla and blend again; add the cocoa powder and blend some more.

Chill the mixture until it's very cold, then churn it in an icecream maker. If it doesn't froth up with air after the usual churning time, you could stir through a little Kahlua to prevent it from freezing too hard.

January 11, 2009: Passionfruit icecream

Over our few weeks' holiday and first week of work, I was champing at the bit to get stuck into my new cookbooks. Sushi was a huge success on Friday night; on Saturday I energetically cleared space in the freezer for my icecream maker in time for sweet, sweet Sunday afternoon. Though I'm usually seduced by chocolate, caramel and other such things, a couple of forecast scorching days inspired my to try something fruit-based from David Lebovitz's Perfect Scoop.

Don't misunderstand me, though: the base of this passionfruit icecream proved to be one of the richest frozen custards I've ever made. Though the volume of passionfruit juice seemed quite small, it thoroughly permeated the icecream and might have been boosted by the few drops of orange essence. While it was churning, Michael invited Mike and Jo over for dinner; several hours and two Michael-made curries later, it reached the perfect consistency. Firm enough to scoop, but only just so; it was airy, creamy, and just a little bit tangy. Worth every one of the eight overpriced passionfruits that went into it.


Passionfruit icecream

8 passionfruits
1 cup cream
6 tablespoons milk
7 tablespoons sugar
pinch of salt
3 egg yolks
a few drops of orange essence

Halve the passionfruits and use a small spoon to dig out the pulp and seeds. David suggests mushing them through a sieve to extract the pulp; I put them through a food processor first to loosen the mixture. Either way, you're aiming for about 1/2 cup of pulp (without seeds). Reserve about a quarter of the seeds for later. Stir together the pulp and half of the cream in a bowl.

Put the milk, sugar, salt and remaining cream in a saucepan and gently warm them, dissolving the sugar. Whisk the egg yolks in a separate bowl, then slowly pour the warmed cream into the bowl, whisking constantly. When it's all well mixed, pour it back into the saucepan and turn up the heat just a little. Keep stirring, stirring, stirring, making sure nothing sticks to the bottom, until the custard thickens and coats the back of the spoon.

Pour the custard through the sieve and into the passionfruit cream. Stir it all together and allow it to cool a while before stirring through the orange essence. Refrigerate the mixture until it's very cold, then churn it in an icecream maker; throw the reserved passionfruit seeds in towards the end.

January 11, 2009: La Panella II

   

The three reasons, pictured above, to visit La Panella aren't anything new. The incredible mushroom pies are only $2 (extra for sauce!), the fine'n'flaky sausage rolls go for $1.50, and the cute (admittedly room temperature) cinnamon donuts are 4 for $1.

It's just that Lisa showed me something I hadn't seen before - a gorgeous bike path running through the middle of St Georges Road. And even a pathetic cycling specimen like me can go the distance.

   

(You can read about our previous visit to La Panella here.)

January 10, 2009: Greenhouse

Greenhouse by Joost, though it's only operating until January 29, has certainly grabbed its share of food-blogging attention. It's a paragon of trendy design and coffee culture, but at its heart is a message of innovation and sustainability. The families day-tripping to Federation Square don't seem to mind it, either.

We stopped by for a drink after our lunch at Base Kamp - it proved a charming and novel space to do so on a sunny afternoon. Michael's flat white ($3.50) looked just like Ryan's, and my iced coffee ($4.50) was just dandy without the usual icecream.

To my surprise, most of the menu listed on the blackboard was vegetarian (at least on this day). The quiches and rolls are visible in a display case at the bar, along with a few cakes and slices. The hedgehog slice ($3.50) was smooth and rich, not grainy with sugar as they can be. The portion size was just right, though it was dwarfed by the mighty particle board it was served upon. (I've not minded the plank-as-platter approach in the past, but this seems like overkill!)

If it were a permanent fixture I'd probably only visit Greenhouse occasionally but it's certainly worth a drink, a gander, and a moment of thought before it 'instantly deconstructs, leaving not a single trace of waste', to paraphrase the official website.

Address: Federation Square, next to ACMI, Flinders St, Melbourne CBD
Website: www.greenhousebyjoost.com

January 10, 2009: Base Kamp

Cindy and I were only alerted to Melbourne's newest vegetarian dining establishment when Kristy invited a bunch of us to try it out early in the new year. Unfortunately, Cindy and I were still hanging out in Tumut and couldn't make it (though we did read Pip and Rachel's positive write-ups), so we put it on our list of places to visit (along with the still unvisited Plush Pizza) and waited for an opportunity.

Base Kamp is generally a weekday lunch and coffee only place, but they open up on Saturdays during summer. Lucky for us - our inability to make it into the city when the regular workers are getting their lunches has stopped us from visiting Fo Guang Yuan for more than two years. Anyway, we had no problems with Base Kamp, who were open and welcoming when we rolled up at midday on a Saturday. It's a cute little place, with seats for about 15 people inside and another handful of tables outside. Foodwise there's a small breakfast menu, and a series of rolls, wraps and burgers for lunch, along with a few daily specials (Spanish omelette and satay 'chicken' when we were there). The prices are reasonable - between $6.50 and $9.00, and the options all look pretty enticing.

Cindy decided to try the Chick'N Roll - Soy chicken with Base Kamp satay sauce, tomato, baby spinach with creamy mayo and sweet chilli sauce. She didn't actually notice any satay flavours, but with both the mayo and the chilli sauce, another condiment was hardly necessary. The roll came out super fresh and lightly toasted, and laden down with delicious fresh salad. The chicken patty was fine, Cindy said it reminded her of the Sanitarium vegie roasts that she had a brief fling with some years ago.

I decided to try the 'roll for count', which is basically a soy beef burger, with a good serving of salad and a paprika and mayo sauce. The 'beef' had an interesting texture - firm and stringy, but its flavour was overwhelmed by the sauce. This didn't really matter because the sauce really hit the spot - the tangy paprika adding something interesting to the mayo base. To be honest I wasn't really in the mood for mock meat, so I didn't really enjoy my burger as much as I could have. Which isn't to say that the burger wasn't good - everything was well executed and I'm sure that on a different day I would have come away raving.

Melbourne just keeps on coming up with the goods - our visit back to Brisbane really brought home how abundant the vego options in Melbourne are - Base Kamp is a great addition to the CBD's lunchtime selection with a fine selection of cheap and delicious fare. The staff were friendly and welcoming and the setting was delightful. If you're a city worker, it's well worth swinging by and checking it out.

Address: 390 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne
Ph: 9670 3569
Price: Breakfast - $4.50-$8.50, Lunch - $6.50-$9.00