Golden Harvest - Revisited

Sweet and Sour Pork

Last month I had a great meal at Golden Harvest with a couple of friends. As they weren't familiar with Chinese food, I was allowed to take charge of the ordering, so we ended up having some of my favourite dishes.

Kung Pou Vegetables

I've always loved Kung Pou Chicken. The Kung Pou Chicken at Golden Harvest isn't exactly like the kind I am used to, but it's still pretty good. Instead of the usual cashew nuts, they serve their Kung Pou with peanuts and fried sweet buns (man tou). Their version is a little sweeter and not as riddled with dried chillies (and therefore not as spicy) but hits the spot for me nonetheless. The crispy, sauce soaked, sweet buns and peanuts keep the dish interesting because with every scoop, your palate gets a variety of textures and flavours - soft, chewy, nutty, crunchy, sweet, savoury, etc. This time around, I ordered the Kung Pou vegetables instead of chicken (both are equally good), because I had known for days that I wanted to order the Crispy Chicken.

Crispy Chicken

Ah, the Crispy Chicken. Salty, crispy skinned, juicy, tasty chicken pieces. What more could anyone ask for? Mmm, I think this is my favourite dish at Golden Harvest. There's something so incredibly satisfying about biting into a piece of beautifully cooked, crispy skinned chicken. I automatically recall the smell and taste of it (and drool a little) every time I look at the picture. I will need to get a fix very soon.

To offset the savouriness of the chicken, I ordered the Sweet and Sour Pork (the last time I dined here, I made the mistake of ordering a few dishes with the same flavours). It actually looked like and tasted like decent sweet and sour pork, which is more than I can say about the stuff that I've had at other establishments here. The first few years I was here, I was amazed at what some places were passing off as "sweet and sour pork" and incredibly annoyed that for something so common, edible, authentic sweet and sour pork was scarce. Having said that, even in Asia, it is difficult to find a place that serves really good sweet and sour pork. It's probably because it is such a common and simple dish that nobody thinks it's worth the time or effort to pay attention to the details and perfect it. If anyone knows of a place that serves outstanding sweet and sour pork, do tell.

Anyway, at the rate we were yakking, we were lucky that we had all that good food to keep us going. We were very happy with the meal (and the company) and left feeling content with just the right level of 'fullness' in our bellies. No matter the quality, a dining experience is always marred if you are left feeling uncomfortable and/or sick because the food was too rich/much.

Golden Harvest Restaurant

218 George Street

Dunedin

Wartime Recipes

Critic Issue 8: Anzac Day Issue - Num Nums

Mock Goose

In keeping with the theme of this issue, I thought it would be interesting to try some wartime recipes. These were not what soldiers were fed, but rather recipes that women used, with what little rations they had, to feed their families. After some quick research, which consisted solely of entering ‘wartime recipes’ in Google, I settled for what looked like the recipes that would produce the most palatable food of the lot – ‘Mock Goose’ and ‘Honey Cakes’. Ah, the lengths that I go to for material for this column…

The ‘Mock Goose’ was horrid. Okay maybe I am exaggerating a little but it was one of those things that tasted tolerable at first but got exponentially worse the more you tasted it. It was basically made with layers of sliced potatoes, apples and grated cheese, baked in vegetable stock. In addition to that, we were instructed to season each layer with salt and pepper. The combination of the cheese, salt and vegetable stock made the entire thing far too salty for me. It probably wouldn’t have been so bad if it was a side dish that accompanied a sweetish or citrusy fish or meat, but on it’s own it was AWFUL. Whoever named it ‘Mock Goose’, deceiving me into thinking of it as a main meal and thus aggravating the experience, needs to be charged for the worst misnomer crime in history.

The tasting of the ‘Mock Goose’ left us in an understandably fragile state so we were very suspicious of the ‘Honey Cake’. Luckily, although not at all cake-like, I must say that if I lived during the war and got to eat ‘Honey Cakes’, I would have considered myself quite lucky. It had a somewhat stiff exterior but the crumbly texture of peanut butter cookies on the inside. The mild sweetness and the honey and cinnamon flavours were quite pleasant and I think ‘Honey Cakes’ would be great with a hot cuppa. My obliging colleagues ended up being the unsuspecting guinea pigs for the cakes (I chose not to inflict the goose on them) and 5 out of 7 quite liked them.

Honey Cakes

I am not going to try to prove it but I don’t think it gets much better than these recipes – I avoided things like ‘Pea Puree Pancakes’ and ‘Carrot Fudge’. Obviously with rations like 1 packet of dried eggs and 100g of margarine a week, people who lived during the war had to eat and do whatever they had to do to stretch their rations and survive. I truly have a newfound respect for people who survived that era.

Honey Cakes

Quantity 16 to 20

Ingredients

1 level teaspoon sugar

2 and a half oz. margarine

2 Level tablespoons honey

6 oz self raising flour

1 level teaspoon cinnamon.

Beat together the sugar and margarine until the mixture is soft and creamy, then add the honey. Sift together the flour and cinnamon. Add to the creamy mixture with a spoon until it binds together then work it with your fingers until it is a soft smooth dough. Flour your hands, take off a piece of dough about the size of a large walnut and roll between the palms of hands until it is a smooth ball. Put onto a slightly greased tin and flatten slightly. Continue until all the dough has been used up. Bake in a moderately hot oven until the cakes are done – about 15 mins.

Killinchy Gold's Maple Syrup & Walnut Ice Cream

Food discovery of the week: Killinchy Gold's Maple Syrup & Walnut Ice Cream is delicious, especially when topped with Hershey's chocolate Shell. Mmm. I have S to thank for recommending the ice cream. I must admit I did not expect it to have such a bold maple syrup flavour - for some reason, I didn't think they would be able to capture it. But they did and did it well. The walnuts complement the maple syrup flavour well and add a pleasant variation in texture, as does Hershey's chocolate shell. MMMmmm.....(dang, if only I could insert the 'drool-face' emoticon here).

Serious Orange (Cup)Cake

This divine orange cake recipe is something that everyone has to try at least once. Even if you think you don't like orange cakes, try it. You won't be disappointed. I have written about Damien Pignolet's Serious Orange Cake once before, but did not have a good photo to go with it. This post will rectify that transgression, not that one needs an excuse to bake this cake. I must acknowledge S who, despite being incapacitated by the flu, would let nothing stand in between her and the Serious Orange Cake.

On the pretext of being too ill to go out, she sent us off to the supermarket to get a slice of cake to appease her penchant for cake that night. We were also to purchase the ingredients for the Serious Orange Cake, under the impression that she would bake it when she felt better, sometime in the next few days. When we got back, that little minx was in the kitchen with the other ingredients for the recipe already prepared - not that I have anything to complain about! If not for her cravings and her diabolical determination to satiate them, I would have gone without these ethereal cupcakes, and the opportunity to share better photos.

Before you even get to taste it, the delicious, heady, buttery, citrus-y aroma that will fill your kitchen will envelope you and tease you with the anticipation of what's to come. Imagine a light, fluffy, soft, warm orange flavoured cloud. That's what this cake is like, fresh from the oven. Each bite of this moist, delicate cake is preceded by a titillating waft as you hold it in front of your mouth. Then it crumbles and melts in your mouth, tasting subtle at first, but then surprising you with a burst of orange flavour. Di-vine. Like I said in the previous post, I don't know how, but it is light and rich at the same time.

Damien Pignolet's Serious Orange Cake recipe is the ace that you can keep in your baking repertoire for days when you need a sure-fire, satisfying, elegant cake that will wow anyone, or even just as a 'pick-me-up' for yourself.

PS: As you can see, we turned them into cupcakes rather than one whole cake, for easy access and consumption.

Damien Pignolet's Serious Orange Cake Recipe

Ingredients:

1 orange, weighing around 150g, washed well and diced, pips removed

200g sugar

3 eggs

150g self-raising flour, sifted

a small pinch of salt

180g butter, melted and cooled a little

Orange Syrup Ingredients:

60ml orange juice

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon caster sugar

1-2 tablespoons Cointreau

Method:

Preheat the oven to 170ºC. Grease and line a 24cm diameter springform cake tin with baking paper. Place the diced orange in the bowl of a food processor with the sugar and process until very smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well between additions. Add the flour and salt and combine for 30 seconds. With the machine running, add the butter all at once. Transfer to the prepared tin and bake for 35-40 minutes; test for doneness by inserting a bamboo skewer--it should emerge clean and dry.

While the cake is cooking, make the orange syrup. In a small saucepan, combine the orange and lemon juices and the sugar. Bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar, and simmer for 1-2 minutes. Add the Cointreau to taste and simmer for 1 minute more.

When the cake is ready, remove from the oven but leave in the tin to cool for 5-10 minutes. Use a bamboo skewer to pierce the cake all over, then slowly spoon the syrup over the cake and leave until completely cool before turning out.

The Rainforest

This is a review that I wrote for Critic, Issue 7:

Beef Rendang

Malaysian cuisine is a very general term that may be applied to anything from ‘tau foo fah’ (soy bean curd pudding) to ‘mamak rojak’ (mixed vegetables and fritters tossed in a spicy sauce). The amalgamation of the various cultures in Malaysia resulted in culinary blending and borrowing, and it is the diverse array of cuisines that are all identified as ‘local Malaysian cuisine’, that makes Malaysia unique. The Rainforest offers the Indian, Malay and Mamak variety of Malaysian cuisine.

Teh Tarik

Away from the hustle and bustle of George Street, The Rainforest is a cosy little place to escape to and enjoy a leisurely lunch or dinner. They have a good selection of popular Malaysian dishes and most of the favourites are offered on the lunch menu for a reasonable $10. As an added boon, groups of students dining at night get free ‘Roti’ for starters.

Mamak Mee Goreng

I dropped by The Rainforest one evening, hungry and tired after work. By the end of the meal I was so full that I felt as though I could have rolled myself home. We started with a tasty ‘Mamak Rojak’ which consisted of all the usual ingredients plus fried fish balls, which is a rather unusual, but harmless addition. My favourite ingredients in mamak rojak are the fried tofu and fritters, which are especially delicious when slathered in the spicy, nutty rojak sauce. To wash that down, we sipped on ‘Teh Tarik’ (directly translated as ‘pulled tea’), which is basically frothy tea and sweetened condensed milk but has a distinct taste that must come from a particular type of tea. The ‘Teh Tarik’ was smooth, subtle and had that lovely, faint bitter aftertaste that tea has. It was soothing and exactly what I needed to unwind. We then attacked our mains – the ‘Mamak Mee Goreng’ and the ‘Beef Rendang’. Both were spicy and very tasty. The ‘Mamak Mee Goreng’ was well stir-fried, which is important, and was laden with hunks of meat and vegetables. The beef was tender and the rendang sauce was slightly sweet, thick and rich with flavour, as it should be. All in all, it was hearty and satisfying meal and I plan to visit again to try some of their other dishes. It is a true relief to be within easy reach of some authentic Malaysian food this far south in the world.

The Rainforest

95 Filleul Street

Dunedin

Baker's Dozen - Chicken Curry Pie

Okay I know it's not real curry, but I really like the Chicken Curry Pie from Baker's Dozen in Mornington. The crust is relatively light and flaky (but still nice and buttery) and the mild curry filling is smooth with big strands of shredded chicken. It doesn't look like much, but it is pretty filling and so satisfying, particularly if you're cold and hungry. I am one of those people who will keep ordering the same thing from the same place once they have found something they really like, so the only other pie that I have tried from Baker's Dozen is the mince pie, which is just as good. I am fairly confident that most/all of their other pies are equally tasty. Maybe one day (soon) I will recruit some hungry friends, buy one of each and report back to you.

Ooo...they make delicious lamingtons too!

Baker's Dozen (at the corner of the Countdown carpark)

43 Mailer Street

Mornington 9011

Critic Issue 6: The Health Issue - Num Nums

I think that there are enough sobering issues in this world to contemplate as it is, and food should not be added to the list. I can’t abide the practise of calorie counting and the scrutiny of nutritional content. For goodness sake, life is short and there are many other things to be miserable about. I think that most people would be fine if they practised common sense and moderation when it comes to eating. If you would like to read about health and nutrition, there are numerous related food articles to be found – I am not going to be another preacher. I will however, provide some easy, relatively healthy recipes that any student can whip up. I remember reading a Critic article some years ago about the average varsity student’s diet which apparently consisted of (surprise, surprise!) lots of junk food and very little fruit or vegetables. Here are a couple of fuss free ways to add a little zing to your vegetable intake for the day:

Recipe #1 is from Gordon Ramsay’s Cook-a-long show. Just mix 1 tsp Dijon mustard, 1 tbsp white wine vinegar, 2-3 tbsp olive oil and salt and pepper in a small bowl and voila, you have a nice piquant dressing for a salad.

Recipe #2 is my mom’s. Cut up a cucumber into sticks and remove seeds. Soak sticks in a little white vinegar and sugar mixture (just enough to cover - experiment with the vinegar and sugar amounts until you get a balance that you like) in the fridge for at least half an hour. Drain (optional) and serve. The result should be refreshing tasting, sweet & sour-ish, crunchy cucumber sticks. You can also use carrots and cabbage if you like.

I don’t know many Kiwis who like tofu. Here, tofu seems to be equated with vegans and health and abhorred by the average Kiwi. It’s like kryptonite – suggest tofu for any meal and watch their faces contort in horror. I have always maintained that that is because most Kiwis have not been exposed to the different kinds of tofu and the various ways of cooking tofu. It may be too late for some, but here’s my attempt to introduce tofu to the rest of you. Rest assured that the recipe is flexible and you can replace the tofu with potatoes and please use your own estimations for the ingredients by tasting as you cook.

Minced Meat & Tofu Recipe

1. Marinate minced meat (I like to use pork, but feel free to substitute with beef, chicken or lamb) with corn flour, pepper and light soy sauce.

2. Drain tofu (use the firm kind if you’re grossed out by the soft) and set aside OR peel and cut potatoes into cubes. Cut tofu into squares if you like.

3. Fry minced garlic in a little oil until fragrant

4. Add minced meat and stir-fry until mince is separated.

5. Add a little dark soy sauce (optional), oyster sauce, & sugar to taste.

6. Add some water and when sauce is simmering, place tofu on top of mince and cover pan to steam tofu for several minutes.

7. Garnish with chopped spring onions and fried minced garlic and serve.

Pasta in Rosso Sauce

I was introduced to this recipe by a friend who got it off some guy who got it off the back of pasta packet. I have since modified it to my liking. It’s easy and it tastes pretty damn good. In fact, in my opinion, it’s as good as, if not better than, the ‘Penne Al Nono’ at Etrusco. It also keeps well so feel free to cook up a big ol’ pot and have it for lunch for 4 days in a row.

Pasta in Rosso Sauce

Ingredients:

1 can tomato puree (400g)

1 bag pasta of your preference (250g)

1 chopped onion

Thickened cream (300g)

Chopped/rubbed parsley

Salt & Pepper & Olive Oil

Bacon (500g)

Italian mixed herbs

Method:

1. Boil pasta in some salt and a little olive oil.

2. Fry bacon till browned then remove from pan.

3. Fry onions in a little olive oil till fragrant then add tomato puree.

4. Add chopped parsley and Italian herbs to your preference then let sauce simmer for a few minutes. Check on your pasta. Make sure it isn’t overcooked.

5. Add browned bacon to the pan and simmer for a few more minutes.

6. Add thickened cream, mix well, then add pasta, mix well and serve.

Thai Green Curry

This is one of the easiest things to make, when you use the Mae Ploy Green Curry paste that you can buy at any supermarket. Just follow the instructions on the container. I used chicken thighs and added sliced water chestnuts (canned) and green beans (use whatever vegetables you like – I used frozen green beans because I was lazy). The thing I love about making this myself, at home, is that I can use as much of the paste to make it as spicy and/or potent as I like. Sautéing the green curry paste imparts a lovely pungent aroma which is then mellowed by the addition of the coconut milk. The result is a delicious, thick curry with a nice depth of flavour (considering that a store bought paste was used) and just the right level of spiciness to leave a little bite on your tongue. Mmm-mm!

Fong Lye

Taiwanese Deep Fried Chicken 

Sweet Potato Balls

I visited Fong Lye with my friends in November last year and though I remember enjoying the experience immensely, I can't remember the names of some of the dishes (luckily I took a photo of the receipt) or details about the flavours and textures of the food. There are many of these 'to-be-blogged' food photos tucked away in my numerous picture folders, but I have not found the time to write about all of them. The price for my procrastination is the decay of my memory of those meals. While I will still be able to share the pictures, I will probably not be able to include as detailed a description as I would prefer.

Pork Chop Rice set

At first glance, Fong Lye looked quite posh and expensive and sceptical ol' me (of course) was bracing myself for a disappointment. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised. Fong Lye actually offers scrumptious Taiwanese fare at decent prices, considering the ambience and location. The great thing about visiting a restaurant that you have never been to before with a big group of friends is that you can order a lot of different dishes and try a little of everything. As far as I can remember, everyone liked everything except for the beef slices in filo pastry and the 'Cheesy Pork Chop Rice', which were not bad but a little odd. I liked that all the dishes came with side dishes (stir fried green beans, soy sauce stewed boiled egg and some mayonnaise filled potato and corn hash brown type thing) and a soup. As if that wasn't enough, the rice that was served with each dish was topped with a little meat sauce!

Sweet and Sour Spare Ribs Rice set

We began with an assortment of starters. My favourite was the Taiwanese Deep Fried Chicken but a number of the others loved the Sweet Potato Balls. The chicken was tasty, crunchy and slightly peppery (I think). The balls, which to my surprise were actually crisp hollow shells, were sweet and a little chewy. The Pork Chop Rice set that I had ordered for myself was tasty enough, but not enough to keep me from coveting what my friends' had ordered. The Sweet and Sour Spare Ribs and the Claypot Sliced Beef in particular, were delicious.

Claypot Sliced Beef Rice set

Unfortunately, I didn't really get to try the Taiwanese Braised Beef Noodles, which is one of the more well known Taiwanese dishes. If memory serves me right, my friends said the broth was rich and the beef was tender.

Taiwanese Braised Beef Noodle set

I really liked dining at Fong Lye and will definitely be going back again when I can. The restaurant was elegant, yet comfortable and casual, making it an ideal place to catch up with old friends. More importantly, the food was tasty and well presented and the service was friendly and efficient.

PS: Thanks to T for lending me his iPhone to photograph the food and then sending the pictures to me.

Spare Ribs Rice set

Fong Lye Restaurant

Lot T-208, 3rd Floor

The Gardens, Mid Valley City

Lingkaran Syed Putra

59200 Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia

The Kiwi Beer Lover's Cookbook Review

The following is a cookbook review I wrote for Critic:

The Kiwi Beer Lover’s Cookbook

Recipes by Sam Cook

Publisher: Hurricane Press Ltd, 2009

Chicken Paella

Frankly, I had no idea there were quite so many ways to use beer in cooking. I knew about beer battered fish and chips but this book contains beer incorporated recipes for dips, stews, sauces, casseroles, boil ups, pies, burgers, cakes, waffles and even ice cream. According to the foreword, beer is great for tenderising meats, leavening bread and batters, as well as maintaining the moisture during baking. I had originally intended to attempt at least one recipe from each of the nine chapters in this cookbook but as time and pecuniary constraints would have it, over three weekends, the obliging cooks that I recruited for this mission and I managed to execute eight recipes from five chapters – a respectable effort nonetheless.

Shepherd's Pie

The first recipe we tried was disappointing. The Chicken Paella (cooked with Monteith’s Original Ale) turned out flat and plain and tasted just like rice cooked with store bought marinara sauce. Bleagh. Then we tried the Shepherd’s Pie recipe (incorporating a dark beer - we used Black Mac) which produced a juicy, tasty, hearty meal. Since the Shepherd’s Pie recipe was one of the ones with a photograph of the dish, I decided that we would only try the recipes that had pictures from then on. For the most part, this system worked well. The Avocado Wedges and Sesame Green Beans were made with a lager (Carlsberg) batter and fried. The results were firm avocado wedges and tender green beans that were encased in beautifully light, crispy, tasty coatings. Absolutely delicious. The dipping sauce that went with the tempura-like green beans complemented the dish perfectly and I swear, if you didn’t know the wedges were avocados, you’d think you were eating Cajun-style potato wedges *wipes drool covered keyboard*.

Sesame Green Beans

Avocado Wedges

The next recipe involved sticking a can of Carlsberg up a whole chicken’s butt and sitting it upright on the roasting pan, which of course, was the entire reason we chose that recipe. Here I feel I must give credit to the chicken which sat upright, sans props, throughout the entire process without complaining even once. Having the beer steam the insides of the chicken while it was roasting produced a most delectable, moist and tender bird. Burp.

Beer Can Chicken

From the ‘Sweet As’ chapter, we made the Triple Choc Brownie (with a Black Mac) for a pot luck party. As if the divine aroma of chocolate wasn’t torture enough, fresh from the oven, scattered throughout this decadently rich, dense and moist brownie were the most fascinating little pockets that oozed warm liquid chocolate! I think it’s a good sign when the guests ask if they can take some home and the hosts ask for the leftovers.

Triple Choc Brownie

The only other two recipes that we tried that we weren’t crazy about were the Fish in Beer & Vodka Batter and the Afghan Biscuits with Beer Icing. The beer & vodka batter, while airy and crunchy, had a bitter aftertaste. We suspect that if we had cooked the batter a little longer, the bitterness of the vodka might have dissipated, but we had no reason to do that because (at that point) the fish was cooked perfectly. The Afghan biscuits, I am sad to report, had no redeeming qualities and was completely uninteresting. The biscuit was oddly powdery and the beer icing was too squishy.

On the whole, the recipes were simple, easy to follow and flexible, which is great for people like me who prefer the ‘no fuss’ approach to cooking. Most of the recipes turned out well so try the ones you think will work best and leave or tweak the ones that look iffy.

Golden Harvest

I have lived in this city for close to 8 years now. Many of my opinions about this place have changed over the years, but one in particular has stayed constant: generally the Chinese food at restaurants in this city, for lack of a better word, sucks. Of course, there are a few exceptions and over the years I have learnt to lower my standards in order to satiate my cravings for Chinese food, but overall, the prospect of Chinese food here can be downright depressing.

I am happy to report that the food at Golden Harvest does not suck. In fact, over the years, it is the only Chinese restaurant that I have kept going back to, even though there have been a few short-lived affairs with other Chinese restaurants. I couldn't fly home for Chinese New Year (the equivalent of Christmas in NZ) this year, so D and I went to Golden Harvest on CNY's eve to have our own version of the 'reunion dinner'. There were a lot of students there, celebrating CNY's eve with friends in Dunedin, in lieu of family back home. It sure made me miss home.

Anyway, we ordered four dishes even though it was just the two of us. I didn't care - it was CNY eve after all. We ordered the Sweet & Sour Fish, the Mongolian Lamb, the Garlic Prawns & the Stir Fried Gai Lan. My favourite dish was the Garlic Prawns (ask anyone who knows me, I am a prawn fiend - not in the District 9 sense of course). Overall, the prawns, the lamb and the vegetables were a tad too salty.

Garlic Prawns: Garlic + Prawns = A win, win combination for me! There was a copious amount of minced garlic in the sauce. Luckily, the succulent prawns, each encased in tasty, light, crunchy batter, were not drenched in the rather strong sauce, but simply placed upon it so that people may coat the prawns in the sauce to their preference. Delicious and perfect with rice, which mellows the intensity of the sauce.

Sweet & Sour Fish: To me this was a bit disappointing - not because it was bad, but more because I am used to the more complex flavours of the sweet & sour sauces served back home. This sauce tasted like plum sauce (only) and was a little one dimensional for me. Also, because the fish was skinned, filleted, battered and fried, the flesh of the fish was bland. For this dish, I am used to the fish being served whole and with only an extremely thin batter. But I suppose they have to cater to the local clientele. Having said all that, the fish was perfectly cooked - the batter was light and crispy and the fish was tender. If it had a different name and I wasn't comparing it what I am used to, I would have probably been quite happy with it.

Mongolian Lamb: D liked this the best and ate most of it. We had to divide the labour so I ate almost all the fish and he ate almost all the lamb, which may be the reason why I don't remember much about it. I must order it again.

Stir Fried Gai Lan: For the uninitiated, Gai Lan is a type of Chinese leafy vegetable. It grows well in Asia but the good stuff is a little harder to come by in Dunedin. I find that when I buy Gai Lan at the farmer's market or supermarket, the stems and leaves are often thick and tough, indicative of an older plant. In Asia, they are almost always sweet, young and tender. That night, the Gai Lan was alright overall, albeit a little salty and the odd stem was a tough. The Choy Sum that we ordered during our previous visit was good, but since vegetables are seasonal, it wasn't available that night.

There are numerous other dishes at Golden Harvest that I know are good and would like to photograph and others that I would like to try but I will need to revisit it with S, who is a little more gastronomically adventurous than D. D did, however, pay for the meal, from which we walked away waddling with very full bellies. Yum.

Golden Harvest Restaurant

218 George Street

Dunedin

Fudge Brownie Smart Cookie

Let me share my food ‘discovery’ of the week. On the way back from Christchurch we stopped at the Cookie Time factory shop and got a bag of the Fudge Brownie Smart Cookie. Maybe everyone already knows about this and I missed the boat on this one when it was released in 2006 but for those of you who don’t know, they’re deliciously soft and chocolate-y and they smell heavenly! They’re cookies but they smell and taste just like brownies. Mmmm.

Cookie Time Factory Shop
789 Main South Road, Templeton

Etrusco

Penne Al Verde

This isn't the first time I have written about Etrusco. But seeing as the last time I wrote about Etrusco was way back in 2006 and I didn't have very good pictures, I think it's time for time for an update.

I visited Etrusco last week with a few friends and it's good to see that despite the recent economic climate and numerous businesses closing down around town, Etrusco was bustling on a Thursday night. And why shouldn't it be? Etrusco offers consistently decent food, a pleasant ambience and reasonable prices and it's that sort of consistency and familiarity that keeps people coming back for more.

Salsiccia

There are, however, a few comments I would have to make if I were to be completely honest. I have not visited Etrusco as often as I would otherwise have because of the following (personal) reasons/preferences:

1. The food, while always decent, is not outstanding. I have a few favourite items on the menu, but I can also make pretty good pasta at home. Thus, there is less motivation for me to go to a restaurant to have something I can quite easily make myself.
2. The ambience is pleasant...when it's not busy. When it's busy, for some reason the acoustics of the place just amplifies the noise and you have to shout at the person next to you to have a conversation. You also have to wait (for service or food) quite a bit if they're busy.
3. The last time my friends and I visited Etrusco, years ago, we had a snotty waitress and our experience with her was probably the main reason we avoided going back to Etrusco. All the other staff were lovely, but every time we were there, we got the same waitress. Over the years, there were numerous occasions where when we were thinking of some place to go to just for a nice dinner or to celebrate something, Etrusco came up, but was quickly dismissed because of our experience with that waitress. What can I say? Can't blame us for not wanting to put up with her again, can you?

Michelangelo

Having said all that, I am glad I went back. We had a very friendly and pleasant waiter, a really enjoyable meal and a good ol' chat among friends. I ordered the Penne Al Nono, gobbled it down very quickly because I was starving, and promptly spent the rest of the meal eyeing my friend's Penne Al Verde (which is one of my favourites and was the other thing I contemplating ordering but didn't because there's no meat in it and I am unfortunately one of those people who feels like they haven't eaten if they haven't had any meat). Luckily we all shared our food so I got a bite of the Verde and a slice of the Salsiccia, which was quite yummy (Please visit Etrusco's website for descriptions of the menu items.)

Penne Al Nono

We also had desserts: the Tiramisu, the Hot Fudge Sundae and the Gelato. Apparently the Gelato and Tiramisu were very good and my Hot Fudge Sundae was just what I needed to round off the meal. Slurp.

Etrusco

The Savoy Building

8A Moray Place

Dunedin

List Geek

This supergeek has just created two very ambitious food lists. The first is a list of restaurants/food places to visit and blog about and the second is a list of things to make (at the mercy of S's kindness and generosity) and blog about. The former currently stands at 65 places and is considerably longer than the latter. Let's not think about how much this will all cost...

Oriole

When I visited my brother in Singapore a couple of months ago, he took me to Oriole for brunch. That, my good reader, was where I discovered the delicious Garlic Prawns Bruschetta mentioned in the previous post, which incidentally turned out to be the most memorable food item of the entire trip. That last comment will probably irk my brother a little because he always makes an effort to take me to interesting/nice (read: often expensive) food places in Singapore whenever I visit, knowing what a greedy, fussy little sister he has, and Oriole was not one of the fancier or more expensive restaurants that we patronised. Having said that, it is very likely that the Garlic Prawns Bruschetta lingered in my mind more than anything else I that had in Singapore because I happened upon it soon (a few weeks) after being visually tormented by that bruschetta scene in Julie & Julia.

I know I sound like I don't get out much when I say this but I couldn't believe it when I saw the Garlic Prawns Bruschetta on the menu. I'd be dreaming about Julie's bruschetta for weeks - the scene replaying in my mind over and over and over. And there it was, right in front of me. I was finally going to satiate my craving. And ladies and gentlemen, it did not disappoint!

NB: Let me apologise for the crappy pictures and warn you that all my posts about food from my trip will feature pictures taken with the 2.0 MP camera on my Nokia 5310 cellphone - I didn't have the good camera with me.

Upon each crispy, golden brown slice of bread was a bed of tasty, seasoned, diced tomatoes - upon which sat a springy, savoury prawn, crowned with a single slice of sautéed garlic. Each bruschetta was the perfect bite-size and each bite delivered the wonderful combination of the sweet, juicy tomatoes, savoury garlic and prawns and the crispy, crunchy texture of the toasted bread. MMM-mmm-mmmmm! Absolutely delicious and totally satisfying.

Of course that's not all we had. I ordered the Philly Steak & Cheese for my main and my brother ordered his tried and true Spaghetti Prawns. Mine was alright, and his was very good and very similar to my Chili, Garlic & Prawn Vermicelli dish. The only difference was they used fresh sliced chillies and added rocket and tomatoes and the only fault was that the tomatoes were tasteless.

For dessert I had a disappointing grilled lemon cake, which had such an overpowering spiciness (I think with cardamom?) that I couldn't finish it. My brother, however, had the affogato and gave it the thumbs up. Oriole also serves good espresso - my brother should know, he had two and he's a coffee fiend. [10:38 PM Edit: Apparently he didn't really like the espresso because it was too acidic for his taste, even though that's not how I remember it and he did still have two - one espresso and one affogato.]

Verdict: Worth a visit for the bruschetta and spaghetti and coffee if you're in the neighbourhood.

Oriole

96 Somerset Road

#01-01 Pan Pacific Serviced Suites

Singapore

Tomato Bruschetta

Ever since I watched Julie & Julia, the scene where Julie Powell pan fries lovely golden brown slices of bread to make tomato bruschetta has been haunting me. That has inevitably manifested into an irrepressible urge to make (or rather, consume) said bruschetta. I managed to somewhat allay this urge when my brother took me to a brunch place, a few months ago, that unexpectedly had 'Garlic Prawns Brushcetta' on the menu - which I will write about some other time. Nevertheless, the urge returned with a vengeance. So yesterday, four months after watching the movie, I finally made tomato bruschetta with S.

Garlic Prawn Bruschetta @Oriole

I looked up some recipes online, got the gist of how to make it and just winged it, as I usually do. Instead of rubbing the garlic on the fried bread, as per most of the recipes, for half the bread slices, we mixed grated garlic with olive oil and spread a layer on each slice of bread before pan frying them. This technique of course yielded a more robust overall garlic flavour than garlic-rubbing. I also decided to exclude the cheese because I wanted to keep it light and clean tasting. Besides, I don't think there was cheese on Julie's bruschetta in the movie. All in all, it turned out pretty well - the tomato and basil topping was very tasty and refreshing. My (self) criticisms would be that I should have seeded the tomatoes and diced them finer and used a French baguette instead of Italian ciabatta. I think this one will be a winner with the folks back home, so I'll definitely be making it on my next trip back.

Tomato Bruschetta Recipe

Ingredients:

Tomatoes (I bought something called Tom Tomatoes(?) I think but most recipes recommend heirloom tomatoes)

Fresh Basil

Fresh Garlic

Baguette

Salt

Pepper

Olive Oil

Method:

1. Seed and finely dice the tomatoes to approximately 0.5 - 1 cm size cubes.

2. Finely chop the basil.

3. Toss basil and tomatoes together in a bowl and season with salt, pepper and olive oil.

4. Grate or mince garlic and mix in a bowl with some olive oil.

5. Slice baguette diagonally, about 1.5 - 2 cm thick.

6. Spread a layer of garlic & olive oil mixture on to each slice and pan fry, oily side down, in a hot (dry) pan.

7. As one side of the bread is browning, spread garlic and olive oil mixture on the top side of each slice, then flip over to brown.

8. When both sides are golden brown, remove from pan, assemble on a serving platter.

9. Use a spoon to scoop the tomato and basil mixture, ensuring that you drain any excess liquid off the spoon.

10. Spoon tossed tomatoes onto each garlicky toasted slice of bread.

Boo Berries

I also got some blueberries when I got my cherry fix on Saturday. Of course blueberries aren't the only berries (or berry like fruit) available this summer - there are also gooseberries, raspberries, red currants, black currants, etc. I didn't buy any other berry because I am not a baker and I can't be bothered trying to figure out what to do with the tartier berries. So, I just picked the one I thought would be best to eat just on its own - the blueberry. I got these (pictured) from the Ettrick Garden stall at the market at $5 for a small container.

Maybe I'm a little loopy but I love the moody, faded dark blue colour under the patchy coat of grey on the almost leather-like texture skin of the berries. They look like they belong in Miss Havisham's room in Great Expectations, covered in dust, untouched for years. Let me assure you, however, despite my silly romantic notions, they are in fact clean, fresh and nummy, nummy, nummy. These dainty, adorable, charming little blue balls are delicate, sweet, juicy and surprisingly refreshing. Perfect on a hot summer's day - you could easily eat a handful at a time. If you're more industrious and imaginative than I am, which is not hard to be, you can use them for making pancakes, muffins, cakes, etc. Lazy ol' me prefers to chomp away at the berries as they are - naturally fresh and delicious.

Cherry Season

I know it's a little late in the season to be writing about this but IMO the best part about summer in Dunedin is being able to enjoy fresh summer fruits.

My personal favourite is the seductive cherry. D is somewhat disturbed by my current obsession with cherries but he forgets that stone fruits don't grow where I come from. In fact, despite having lived here for almost eight years, it was only 3 or 4 years ago that I discovered how amazing fresh cherries can be. Can you blame me? Up till then, my experience with cherries was based solely on the fluorescent red, sickly confectionery sweet maraschino cherries, which I am quite averse to. I can't remember how I finally relented and tried a fresh cherry but I know I have S to blame. That first cherry was pleasant, but not outstanding.

I have since discovered the heavyweight champion of all cherries, or rather the company that sells them. The Big Fat Cherry company sets up shop at the farmers market during cherry season and charges $2 more per kilo than any other stall in the market, yet people continue to flock to their stall. Unfortunately, I can't say that they sell the best cherries in the market because I have never bought cherries from any other stall - I was at first drawn to the clever name of the stall, then hooked after I tried their sample cherries. But it doesn't take a genius to work it out - there's a reason why they are getting away with charging $14/kg when everyone else's cherries are going for $12/kg.

The Big Fat Cherry's cherries are about 3cm in diameter. They're so beautifully fat that they look like they're about to burst out of their skins. When my teeth crack the taut, crisp skin of one of these gorgeous, firm, dark red, rotund cherries, I am initially greeted by the faintest taste of wine-like bitter-sweetness and followed by an explosion of delicious, sweet cherry juice and flesh which melt in my mouth. In my opinion, they're like tasty little mini plums. Little cherry juice bombs! Heavenly. Be sure to get them while cherry season lasts. I bought 3 kilos yesterday!