Jamie’s 15 Minute Meals: Spicy Cajun Chicken

I got Jamie’s 15 Minute Meals for Christmas, like half of Australia (I requested it since I love Jamie food), and have been meaning to document some of the things I’ve been cooking out of it. The book is actually quite inspiring because it tempts you to break out of the after work mould and try and do something a little more gourmet than the same old tomato based pasta with sauce that is my go-to after work dinner.

It’s also great in the way that 30 Minute Meals (which I also own) was not: recipes are simple, one dish at a time, and nutritionally balanced – Jamie seems to have had to dial back the excessive glugs of olive oil he likes to add to everything with a crew of nutritionists standing over him as he stirs the pot.

This recipe is available on the internet so I won’t give it to you again – Spicy Cajun Chicken with Smashed Sweet Potato and Fresh Corn Salsa.

The chicken is supposed to be cooked with okra, bacon and polenta, but as I am cooking this in the real world, after work when I haven’t got time to go to the supermarket, I made it dusted with semolina as my polenta substitute (obviously if you were eating gluten free, this modification doesn’t work for you) and simply ignored bacon and okra in the recipe. Did it make it less ‘Cajun’? Probably. Was it less tasty? Not at all – the cajun seasoning takes care of that.

I particularly loved the blackened corn salsa with lime and tomato and coriander, although unlike Jamie I didn’t have fresh sweetcorn to hand so I fried up some frozen corn – worked well – and also canned corn – the next time I made it – which also worked well.  Both types blacken up eventually in a dry frying pan, but you have to wait for all the water to evaporate off them first. The salsa was fantastic! I’ve been inspired by it and doing similar things to corn in other dishes.

The only bit I didn’t really like was the mashed sweet potato with sweet chilli sauce. It had a funny taste to it from the sweet chilli sauce – sort of overwhelmingly sweet – and the next time I made the dish I served it with plain sweet potato which was a lot better to my palate. If you still want to amp up the chilli aspect (there’s also fresh chilli in the salsa) I’d just use a hot sauce that’s not sweet – the sweetness of the sweet potato/kumara takes care of any need for sugar.

A riot of colour on the plate.

Return of the Mack (Three Angels Woodfired Pizzeria)

Three Angels Woodfired Pizzeria
17 Salisbury Avenue
Blackburn
http://www.threeangelswoodfirepizzeria.com.au/index.html

So after a long absence from the blogging scene, Fresh Bread returns, with a promotion (at work, so… not interesting to the blog), a new address (the Far East….ern suburbs of Melbourne), a new focus (covering restaurants and cooking east of Warrigal Road – as in, where The Age staff writers wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole since they require a Zone 2 Myki investment), and the same boyfriend (what up Mr Behemoth!).

Perhaps I should explain some of that.

Due to the landlord selling our share house, the move from South Melbourne out to Blackburn went well a few weeks ago, although the process of getting our bond back from what must be the most incompetent property managers of all time seems to be dragging out somewhat… although I digress. No wait, I’ll follow this tangent a little further – I would damn well make an excellent property manager. Here’s all the things that I do at work, that they don’t seem to do:

• respond to emails
• keep important documents (ours lost the condition report!)
• respond to phone calls
• be organised and actually do my work, not take five months to call a plumber
• act professionally at all times.

I have no doubt we’ll eventually get our bond back, because we’ve done everything right along the way, including cleaning the place we lived in until it literally shone – you know in cartoons or movies where someone smiles and the sun sparks off their teeth? It was like that.

Anyway, now we’re renting off my grandparents, and living in their amazing 60s house in Blackburn. I suppose I should show you how we celebrated our first night:

Yes, that’s Mr B’s arm pouring some champagne.

Pizza. We have a huge love of pizza. So we thought we’d check out the local woodfired pizzeria (yes that’s right, The Age, woodfired pizza does exist outside a 10km radius of Spencer Street) which is located in the cute little group of shops facing Laburnum Station – there’s a great cafe Gourmet Girl (subject of a later review no doubt), a deli (Twig and Two Berries – ha!), Frank’s wine store, a fruit & veg, hairdresser, post office… and the Three Angels Woodfired Pizzeria, which has an interesting collection of reviews on Urbanspoon ranging from “best ever!” to “the owner is a crazy person”.

We wondered what would happen to us as we pushed open the door to order.

The transaction went smoothly however (yes, they do have eftpos) and we ordered a large chicken pizza and a large garlic prawn pizza (both $20, so… relatively expensive).

The decor in the restaurant – and you can eat in, although when we were there it was just the owner and offsider eating their dinner which made us feel a little awkward – is over the top, but in a good way. It’s kitsch and cluttered and fun to gaze around while waiting for takeaway pizzas.

We got the pizzas home and… well… the bases were really good, I thought. Really good. Good in that woodfired, crisp, thin yet chewy way.

“No Worries” – Garlic and prawn pizza with prosciutto

Chicken and pineapple pizza … with cheese. Lots of cheese.

However.

The toppings… left something to be desired. Mr B’s chicken pizza, was essentially a molten lavaflow of cheese, with some dry bits of roast chicken, and some pinapple, and some unidentified black fluff which we’re sure wasn’t meant to be on the pizza and you can’t really see in the photos.

Mine was also very very cheesy, but a bit more balanced in terms of flavours – the garlic prawns were yummy and the pieces of prosciutto were also very enjoyable.

I think Rocket Pizza in South Melbourne ruined us with their “healthy” pizzas – they (Rocket) are minimalist with the cheese and these two pizzas just basically overwhelmed us with cheesestrosity. And we are cheese lovers!

Cheesestrosity – unappetising when it congeals later in the fridge

Mr B was hungry, so he still ate his chicken pizza, even though it had black fluff (was it hair? We don’t like to ponder these things), but found it pretty tasteless. And in a sure sign that the pizzas didn’t float our boats, we had leftovers in the fridge for the next two or three days while we valiantly worked our way through them. Thing is, if we really like a pizza? We finish it on the night.

I’d go back, for the woodfired base alone. But I might pick a more minimalist pizza next time.

In terms of other reviewers, Hold the Peas visited and found the place quirky but enjoyed the food, trying one of the baked pasta dishes as well (“ziti”) which we are yet to do.

Hardware Societe, Melbourne CBD

Hardware Societe
118-120 Hardware Street
CBD

Pictures tell a thousand words, especially when there are already 100,000 blog posts on Hardware Societe. Let’s be honest, it’s one of the better cafes west of Elizabeth Street, and every time I’ve had breakfast there I’ve highly, highly enjoyed it. Go. Get there early enough that you beat everyone else.

Glowing red latte… we were sitting under a red light and the sun hadn’t come up yet (yeah, that’s how early you have to get there)

Poached pears and porridge are a beautifully warming breakfast

Baked eggs with chorizo and plenty of bread on the side.

The scrambled eggs come with a side sandwich!

TL, DR: Go back and read it, I didn’t write very much you lazy sod!

The Quiet Man Irish Pub, Flemington

Came here for a quick dinner before seeing a Fringe Festival play elsewhere in Kensington.

The Quiet Man do giant servings of Irish classics, and when I saw that they served stew IN BREAD, I had to order it. Torn between the choices of irish stew, or beef and Guinness stew, I went for the latter.

Beef & Guinness stew, served in bread!

Delicious and I was unable to finish it. Others around the table ordered beef & Guinness pie (looked to be the same stew filling), Irish stew in bread, steak and chips and other pub classics with an Irish twist.

Cheap, filling and yummy food. I’d come back here again any time.

Work lunches at Fugazza and The Workers Food Room, Melbourne CBD

Worker’s Food Room
472 Little Lonsdale Street
Melbourne CBD

http://www.theworkersfoodroom.com/

I don’t know much about the area at the back of the Courts in the CBD. I’ve never worked north of Collins Street, and ventured there only occasionally. This occasion was with a friend to check out the accurately-named Workers’ Food Room after reading a good review of it on Foodie About Town.

The menu and waitstaff are French-inspired and more interesting than the standard work caff stuff you might get elsewhere. I ordered the “levantine with spiced lamb, pine nuts and hummus”, in a complete absence of information as to what a levantine was at all. It came, spiced and pine-nutty and lamby (so far so good), but so so oily (probably from the lamb). I ate it all up but felt guilty about it.

So, for future reference, a levantine is…

Flatbread!

Danielle ordered a salad combo that she was less happy with – a bit boring in flavour was the report. The salads of the day change, so you might be happier with your choice than she was!

Beetroot salad, and cous cous salad

I’d come here regularly if it was in my work sphere-of-lunching, but it’s not a “trek across the city” kind of place.

Fugazza
31 Equitable Place (between Collins & Little Collins, near Elizabeth)
Melbourne CBD

http://fugazza.com.au/

Fugazza are located in that excellent lane of lunching options, Equitable Place, which runs through from Collins to Little Collins Streets just after Elizabeth Street. Hot tip: if there are no tables available where you buy your lunch, carry it through to the upstairs food court at Galleria (the shopping centre to the north on Little Collins). Keep carrying it through the food court, and out to the balcony overlooking Little Collins, that not many people know about. Close the door behind you to shut out the food court sounds, sit, and enjoy your meal while spying on pedestrians below.

Fugazza offers ‘traditional Italian sandwiches’ with a variety of interesting fillings, along with soups. You can also do a combo deal which is half a “fugazza” and a bowl of soup or salad, which is what I went for:

Bean and vegetable soup, cheese fugazza

Yes, the bean soup looks like brown sludge, but it was delicious. The half fugazza on the side had taleggio in it and was a great little counterpoint.

Lot 7
95 Flinders Lane (you will know it by the giant smiley face)
Melbourne CBD

http://lot7.com.au/

Lot 7 (run by Zagames) occupies the warehouse and front part of the late Rosati’s, on Flinders Lane. It offers a bunch of reliable favourites, caters well to large groups and has a good lunch deal where you get a glass of wine included with your lasagne, parma or pasta, so we’ve been there a couple of times with work.

I got the ‘lunch special’ parma, which came with a cute little basket of chips and wasn’t half bad. The full menu parma is around $10 more and doesn’t include a glass of wine or beer, so for that price I’d start expecting a bit more.

I’ve also had the BLT from here too – it was good but heavy on the pepper – someone was a bit over the top in seasoning…

Lunch parma at Lot 7

Be careful, the waiters will try to suck you in to getting olives and grissini to start the meal, but that ain’t free. Still, who doesn’t want to dine in a place that gets your food quickly and efficiently, and has a giant smiley face poking out from the building into Flinders Lane?

Pope Joan, Brunswick

Pope Joan
77-79 Nicholson Street
Brunswick
web: http://popejoan.com.au/

Another day, another brunch post! Matt Wilkinson (he of the new book Mr Wilkinson’s Favourite Vegetables, which I’ve been eyeing off) is the chef and co-owner at Pope Joan in Bruns-a-wick, which makes cheffy and delicious brunches and gets absolutely packed out. Get there before prime brunch-o-clock, or sit next door in the bar where you can still order the same dishes but the tables are less comfortable.

Some friends and I went for breakfast before attending a Green Renter’s workshop up the road on how to make our own jams and preserves. On a side note, I’d recommend, if you are going to a workshop like that, NOT to eat this much beforehand, as Cate (the workshop presenter and half of Green Renters) will have prepared a delicious spread for you to try out jams on scones, cheese platter and the like. Regret!

The dishes are presented beautifully, which is what I meant by cheffy. Check out my order – scrambled eggs, cornbread loaf, smoked trout salad with capers and fennel. I must say although I enjoyed this dish I found that the components didn’t really marry with each other on the plate as well as I hoped. The eggs went well with the cornbread, but the salad felt like a completely different dish. On the plus side, this meant I got to eat breakfast AND lunch, all at once.

Salad for breakfast?

Friend Nat went for a pumpkin and haloumi pie, which she said was amazing, and indeed  looks amazing in the photo below. It’s on my revisit list when I return. Squeaky salty haloumi is God’s gift to cheese.

Pumpkin & haloumi pie is calling me if there’s a return visit…

Incidentally, I’m laughing as I type this because looking at the stack above is reminding me of the episode of Black Books where Manny and Bernard try to serve restaurant dishes in the bookshop, and on Bernard’s orders, Manny creates a tower of soup:

“What’s this? Where are the turrets? It’s RUBBISH!”

But I digress. It looks much nicer than that.

My other friend A ordered the feta omelette with herbs and it came out looking pretty as a picture and strewn with herbs and flowers. That’s gluten free toast on the side, kids, so you can ask for that if you’re coeliac (as A is). She loved it but found it a large meal.

Doesn’t it just look like a spring garden?

Pope Joan is one of those cafes that does really interesting and different brunch food, and is a must visit especially if you live in the area, and even if you don’t. Worth queuing up for.

An ode to the late lamented Mecca Bah, Docklands

Mecca Bah! Why close? You were one of the best things in Docklands! Lunch specials:

Indochine, Box Hill

Indochine
51 Carrington Road
Box Hill

After visiting Tien Dat the girls I was dining with decided that we should do a bit of a tour around Box Hill eateries for our catch-up dinners. Dumplings were eaten at Dumpling King but really I’d wanted to try Indochine for ages. Mum has been on several occasions – tennis dinners, catch-ups with primary school parents – and talked it up.

I’m going to do something different in this post and tell the story through the picture captions. Enjoy!

Spring rolls are the appetiser no-one has to think twice about.

The pho bo as it arrived…

Pho bo, post accessorising. The meat was pre-cooked in this, so I found it disappointingly tough.

Although it was a cold night, bun salad was the ticket.

Visible prawns make diners happy.

Mmmmmm… lemon tart. I really love how the Vietnamese use the best bits of the French rule, like baguettes and patisserie.

Unfortunately Indochine have chosen against the hilarious placement of one banana, two balls of icecream, so beloved by diners for generations.

Other than the disappointing pho, I preferred this place for a night out to Tien Dat (which would be fine for a lunch!). Service seemed less rushed and forgetful, and dishes were better presented. Just don’t order pho (or specify that you like rare beef) and you’ll be fine.

Two Prahran cafes – Windsor Deli and Spoonful

A friend living in Prahran was the impetus for brunching at these two places over a few months. We have actually been to three, but I didn’t take photos of the third: Hobba, on Malvern Road. I can recommend the dish based on bubble-and-squeak with slab bacon most highly.

Windsor Deli
33 Hornby Street, Windsor (oh, well, close enough to Prahran!)

http://windsordeli.blogspot.com.au/

Windsor Deli is hard to find if you are actually looking for it, but uncannily easy to find when you are lost and driving aimlessly around the back streets of Prahran/Windsor between Dandenong Road and High Street. Located in what must have been an old milk bar, it’s a small and cute little place with some tables outside and some tables inside. Sitting right smack-bang next to the cash register, we were able to help ourselves to water AND order up the front without even leaving our seats – some might think that’s a negative, but we loved it.

I had poached eggs on sundried-tomato flavoured gluten free toast with basil pesto… a sweet, relatively simple little dish. The GF toast wasn’t all that exciting to me, being a gluten lover – it was dense and a bit tasteless. I probably would have preferred two large slices of olive or sundried-tomato flavoured ciabatta or sourdough instead, but respect for offering options to coeliacs.

Perfectly poached!

TL,DR: Cute little ex-milk bar cafe.

Spoonful
543 High Street, Prahran

http://www.spoonful.net.au/

Spoonful appears to be a go-to cafe for residents living around High Street and Williams Road in Prahran – I’ve brunched there now quite a few times with friends from around the area. Since my first visit, they’ve expanded into a little providore next door but I’ve never dared to go in.

There are some interesting options on the menu at Spoonful: some have Middle Eastern influences, like the saffron poached pears with labne, or the fruit compote/salad with rosewater.

I ordered the eggs scrambled, a departure from the norm, with dukkah and Persian feta and spinach. You really can’t go wrong with Persian feta, oh my, so smooth and creamy and deliciously marinated. The dukkah was a point of interest but ultimately didn’t add all that much for me – that being said, I’d order this dish again, I’m sure I’ve had it twice already at least.

Dukkah eggs at Spoonful

I also secretly love a toasted ciabatta that cuts my mouth.

Kate ordered scrambled eggs as well with a side of mushrooms and tomato. Her toast was olive bread. Now, I can’t see this dish on Spoonful’s menu on the website, so I can only conclude it was a seasonal offering – let’s hope it comes back! Spoonful does let you construct your own breakfast with eggs any way and two sides for the price of the menu’ed items, so that’s an option if you’d like to recreate the photo below.

Scrambled eggs with mushrooms, spoonful

TL, DR: you are assured of a good brunch at Spoonful.

Fruit Mince for Christmas

While frantically trying to clear my backlog of restaurant reviews in order to take my blog on its new Second Year journey, I do need to post this recipe in a timely fashion for Christmas: Fruit Mince!

Good for so much more than just mince pies – try some stirred into ice cream!

Charged with making the mince pies for the family Christmas this year, I thought I’d try making fruit mince from scratch. How hard could it be? But then, the enormity of my task struck me: there are about 500,000,000 recipes out there for fruit mince. What if I pick the wrong one?

After reviewing a few likely options and rejecting them for various reasons:

• Delia Smith’s Christmas: wanted me to source suet, can’t be bothered
• Australian Women’s Weekly Christmas Book: had plum jam in it, thought that was odd
• Nigella: needed port, clementines, and also used almond essence, bleurgh. Cranberries were a good idea though, so I stole that idea…
• Jamie Oliver: used a jar (Jamie!)
• Taste.com.au (various options): can’t remember why I rejected these. Perhaps not enough brandy.

I ended up going with the doyenne of Australian kitchens Margaret Fulton‘s recipe, mostly because of the highly scientific “her recipe seems to gel the most with what I have in the cupboard and have already bought from the supermarket” method. And it had cranberries in it!

What follows is a recipe for spicy, Christmas-smelling fruit mince, with some adaptations from her recipe because life’s fun like that (plus she uses a food processor to chop the fruit, which I haven’t got). Haven’t made the mince pies yet, but the fruit mince is maturing in the fridge nicely (Must. Stop. Eating. Little Teaspoons. Of It. All The Time).

Ingredients:

• 8 1/2 cups of mixed fruit (I used a 1kg bag of mixed fruit with peel, which was about 7 cups, and made up the difference with chopped dates)
• 1/2 cup cranberries (these create little tangy red jewels in the fruit mince)
• 3/4 cup slivered almonds
• 2 large apples (grated)
• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
• 150g butter (melted)
• 3/4 cup brandy (I have since added more and stirred it in, I fear my fruit mince will be Highly Boozy)
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp ground cloves
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• grated rind and juice of two oranges (except I didn’t have two so I did 1 orange, 1 lemon)

Method:

Chop the fruit and the nuts in a food processor, or, roughly hack at them with scissors in your largest mixing bowl until you think they’re chopped enough. I like a chunky fruit mince.

Stir all the ingredients together and refrigerate till required! Too easy!

Makes a lot.

Fruit Mince ready for maturing in the fridge