Last of the family meals

I've been lucky enough to be the recipient of more home cooking: home made pizza, and this chicken and vegetable hot pot from my daughter in law.

I also cooked them a dish my daughter taught me, but which, of course, I have changed:

Chicken clay pot rice:

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts in bite sized chunks
2 lup cheong ( Chinese sausage), in thick slices
1/2 handful dried shiitake mushrooms, sliced after soaking ( or buy slice and soak)
1/2 handful dried wood ear fungus (sliced after soaking)
2 tablespoon dark soya sauce
1  tablespoon matchsticked ginger
1/2 tablespoon sugar
 1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon cornflour
1/2 cup scallions, diced
 3 cup Jasmine rice
 7 cups stock and water that mushrooms and fungus have soaked in
2 tablespoon oil
 salt
pepper

Method:

Marinate chicken, sausage, mushrooms and fungus in ginger, soya sauce, sesame oil, scallions, sugar, salt, pepper and cornflour.
Steam rice in rice cooker with 6 cups stock and mushroom water.
Heat oil in frying pan and cook chicken mixture until almost cooked ( 3-4 minutes).  Add 1 cup stock and bring to boil.
Spoon chicken mixture on top of rice, cover and cook 10 minutes.
 Serve. (I served it with steamed broccolini and diced salted duck egg)

I was taken again to Metro Bakery and Cafe in Mt. Gambier where, despite us confusing matters with a change of order, they were polite, hospitable and generous.  When you add  to that the fact that our meals of Thai prawn curry

and Bruschetta with goats cheese, olive tapenade and spinach

were very tasty, you can see why we keep coming back.  When will other food establishments learn that being pleasant to customers and providing good food is good for business?

We also visited Molten chocolate cafe, where I bought some of their beautiful chocolates for my chocoholic husband.  So pretty!

 I had the mint chocolate drink which tasted a bit chemically and was very thin and watery for drinking chocolate, but my daughter- in- law's Italian one, which included nuts, was much better.

On my last night in Mt Gambier, we visited the Barn Steakhouse in Mt.Gambier, where we ordered steak, of course.  My filet mignon was cooked just as I ordered it (medium rare) and very tender, but my son's (medium) was a bit overcooked.  On the other hand, he found his mushroom sauce very tasty, while I found mine a bit salty.  Maybe it was the bacon round my steak that made it salty?  We all, however, enjoyed the desserts:
Gooey chocolate pudding and ice-cream:

and Eton Mess:

Back in Melbourne, I tried my hand at chicken stew for some of the family:

Then, I was introduced to a barbequed chicken roll, with salad, chilli sauce and sauce from Jenny's Hot Bread in Camberwell. 

The queues confirmed what my taste buds found out.  Jenny's food is great!

And lastly, we tried out the yum cha at Secret Kitchen in Doncaster.  The food was great:

(yes, these are chicken feet)

(and yes, we ordered much more than this).

However, the service was very peculiar.  We got a mass of savoury offerings, then nothing, then a dribble of desserts, then nothing, then a dribble of savoury things, then nothing........  I think they would have made more money if they had kept an even flow of offerings.  We got fed up with waiting and left - full, but not full enough!

And with that, it was goodbye to old friends and family, and back home, with the firm intention of eating less and exercising more after the gluttony of the last two weeks.

China Bar Signature

We had a family meal at China Bar Signature in Burwood.  This is a great place to eat if you are the sort who likes all you can eat restaurants.  In fact, there were a lot of very large people there who looked like they may may force feed themselves there every session in every day of the week.  Even though it is called "China Bar", Japanese, Malaysian, and other types of Asian food are available, and generally, it is of good quality. Forewarned, I didn't have breakfast so I could fit more in!

 Here are some examples of what is available for those of you who are interested:

Beans and prawns

Calamari and black bean sauce:

Mixed vegetables:

Mixed condiments and accompaniements:

Fried wontons:

Soups:

Steamed dumplings:

 Icecreams ( mango, durian, coconut.....)

 Lollies and varied desserts:

Salads:

 And more lollies:

I could have included sashimi, roast pork, curries, sushi and more, but I think this gives a general indication.

It is all a bit crass, but fun once in a while.

The kids certainly enjoyed it:

and made sure the adults did too:

Avoiding cooking in Melbourne (great restaurants and cafes)

I have been spoiled by not having to cook lately.

My son in law is a keen fisherman and my daughter is a good cook, so I really enjoyed the fresh squid they dished up.  Apparently the secret to a crunchy coating is to use potato flour, and a draining rack.  And, the secret to sweet, tender squid is to eat it fresh!

I also had delicious tuna bake with another daughter, while my youngest so cooked me roast lamb and, another time, this delicious meal of tandoori chicken, saffron rice, flavoured yoghurt, salad and aberry pie that he whipped up with his other half for an impromptu table of 9 guests. (The kids also liked the strawberries dipped in chocolate).

On a trip to the city, a friend and I happened across Movida, the Spanish tapas bar,  in Hosier Lane.  It is so popular, we had to have a small wait for a table, so we fortified ourselves with sangria and sherry.  Our orders made the wait worthwhile:  mussels,

clams,

 green peppers

and cauliflower,

all cooked well and with delicious sauces.  Oh, and fresh bread to mop up the juices.  Wonderful!  It was filling, otherwise I think we would have kept eating just for the pleasure of the taste.  It is amazing what six chefs can create in a small space.

Apart from lunch, we had coffee breaks.  The first was at Il Tempo, where we were served by very persuasive waitress with the most wonderful French accent, as a result of which I was persuaded to try the almond croissant ( nice but not fantastic)

  and my friend to try the Italian hot chocolate  since there was no gluten free cake ( very good - thick and rich).

 The second was at David Jones where my friend had the gluten-free hazelnut cupcake with toffee on top.  Very good and decadent.

I also visited to Fu Manchu, in Preston, for a friend's birthday dinner.  Food there is Asian fusion, I think you could call it.  We shared a few dishes, which included wagyu beef pho:

 

Fried dumplings with pork and prawns:

 

Barramundi:

 

Fried pancake:

Banh cuon (my absolute favourite):

Pork belly and quail egg hot pot, kimchi, and rice paper rolls with peking duck.  Plus, I ordered 3 colour drink with durian.

If that wasn't enough, we had a passionfruit and cream, home-made sponge at their house, which their little dog yearned for, but was not given:

A tale of two cities - suburban eating in Brisbane and Melbourne

We had two impromptu meals out.

 The first was at the Sultan's Kitchen, on Sandgate rd, Clayfield, in Quuensland, a suburban Indian restaurant, where we stopped for a  bite to eat after attending an art exhibition.  Service was friendly, and welcoming, and for little ones, the cooks working with the tandoori oven could be viewed behind a glass window.  The decor is slightly kitsch, the location on a main road a bit hard for parking, but better than nearby Albion, where we first tried to stop.  We ordered the mixed entrees - which in hindsight would have been enough.  I found the chicken a little underdone, and the fried foods a bit mushy, but the dips were nice if a bit small, the sausage was good, and it was all tasty.

Next, we ordered the mild prawn masala, vegetable  biryani, garlic naan and , by mistake, saffron rice.

The cooking was very rich, very saucy, quite tasty and, according to Bob, not mild.  The sauce was again very good.  We couldn't finish it all, there was so much.  We  were glad we hadn't ordered the tempting lassi or the desserts. A nice meal.

In Melbourne, Victoria, we were taken to Box Hill Centre shopping centre, to an old favourite which is improving steadily, RaRamen.  This is not a fancy place.  You just come here for the food, not for fancy service or decor. Plain tables stacked in the restaurant and extending into the shopping aisle.  Near the market, between the cake shop and the coffee/ chocolate shop, and opposite the Greek delicatessen and the take-away offal shop.  The waitress comes to take your order, writes it in Chinese, and you go off to the counter to pay in cash.  On the way back, you help yourself to free slushies, water,tea and or red bean soup.   There is vinegar, soy and chilli sauce on the table. The dishes arrived.

The seaweed salad was brilliant!

The pork and chicken steamed dumplings were equally good, and equal favourites with the salad.

The fried pork dumplings were delicious though

And the salty fish and chicken fried rice were nice, even though I am not usually turned on by fried rice, which I feel is home cooking.

 The steamed Shanghai steamed dumplings were probably my least favourite although the others obviously enjoyed them.

Lastly, I was pleasantly surprised by liking the Spring Onion pancake.

  You should guess by now that this place focuses on dumplings and is one of my favourite eateries.  Highly recommended.