Goats Cheese & Roasted Grapes Tart with Parmesan Crust Pastry

Hello!

How's everyone enjoying their weekend? 

As for myself, I spent it catching with uni friends for dinner on Friday, going for coffee with a friend on Saturday and then another family dinner (baby shower and cousin's belated birthday) on Sunday night. Spending lots of quality time with close friends and family really is the ideal weekend for me. Once upon a time, I used to be one for going out late every night but not anymore, no thanks. Nothing crazy, nothing too hectic. Gives me time to run my errands on the weekends too. Geez, how old do I sound? 

Anyway, I first tasted this tart that my friend Shellie made when I was at Daylesford earlier in the year attending a food photography workshop that she and Ewen was running. Fantastic weekend. First of all, it looked absolutely drop dead gorgeous as soon as she laid it on the table. Once we took our first bite, our eyes completely lit up and almost felt like the world had stopped for a quick second. It was sensational in every sense of the word.

I knew then and there that I HAD to recreate this tart at home too. I loved the sharp and garlicky flavour of the creamy cheese which was balanced absolutely perfectly with the sweet, caramelised, roasted grapes. This combination was unreal. To finish off, that parmesan crust pastry was seriously the best thing ever. So crumbly and flavourful it complemented the flavours of the filling so damn well. I've definitely found a favourite savoury pastry crust with this one and will be making it a lot in the future too.

Right, I'm getting hungry just describing the tart. Trust me when I say this is good. Hope you get a chance to make it too.

This was the one that Shellie made at the workshop... Life changing ;p

Goats Cheese & Roasted Grapes Tart with Parmesan Crust Pastry 

(adapted from this recipe by Iron Chef Shellie)

Click here to print the recipe

Ingredients:

Parmesan Pastry

125g butter, unsalted 

1 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil 

4 1/2 tbsp water 

2 pinches of salt 

1 1/2 cup plain 

1/3 cup parmesan cheese, shredded 

1/3 tsp black pepper 

Roasted Grapes

Few bunches of seedless red grapes 

1 tbsp olive oil 

Salt and pepper 

Goat Cheese Filling

3/4 clove garlic 

1 1/2 tbsp fresh rosemary 

320g goat cheese  

1/4 cup thickened cream

1 1/2 tbsp olive oil 

3 tsp fresh lemon juice 

A few tablespoons of water 

Salt and pepper to taste 

Method:

Parmesan Pastry

1. Preheat the oven to 210ºC. In a medium size oven-proof bowl or dish, add the butter, oil, water, and salt. 

2. Place the bowl into the oven for 15 minutes. Wear oven mitts, possibly a long sleeve shirt, and hold the bowl away from your face, when removing from the oven, as the butter may splatter. Place the bowl onto the counter, with a pot holder or towel underneath. 

3. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, shredded parmesan cheese, and black pepper. Slowly stir the flour mixture into the hot butter. It is important to still be cautious of the hot butter, it may still pop when you add the first bit of flour. Also, remember that the bowl is very hot, so wearing oven mitts while stirring is ideal. Stir the mixture until combined. Let it sit and cool for 5 minutes. 

4. Once the dough is cool enough to handle, press the dough flat with your fingers and up the sides of a tart pan/mould. Prick the shell with a fork 10 or so times. Once you have finished forming the tart shell, place the tart shells onto a baking sheet and place in the oven on the middle rack. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack.  

Roasted Grapes

1. After baking the tart, turn the oven to 200°C. Arrange the bunches of grapes in a single layer on a baking tray lined with baking paper. 

2. Toss with the olive oil and sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. 

3. Roast for 15-20 minutes, until the grapes begin to burst and the juice around them starts to thicken. Remove and set aside for later.

Goat Cheese Filling

1. While the tart shells are cooling and grapes are in the oven, make the filling. In a food processor, add the garlic and the rosemary. Pulse several times to chop/mince finely. 

2. Then, add the goat cheese, cream, olive oil and lemon juice. Blend until smooth and creamy, adding as much water as necessary to keep it moving and to make it creamy, but make sure not to add more than 1/4 cup. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Mix well.

3. Once the tart shell has cooled and grapes are roasted, pour the goat cheese filling into the tart shell. Smooth the surface with a spatula, if necessary. Finally, add the roasted grapes from earlier. Enjoy.

Balsamic Mushrooms Linguine with a Garlic Parsley Crumb

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post. Winston received a box of mushrooms to cook with from the Australian Mushroom Growers as part of the #MushroomMania2014 campaign

Mushrooms, mushrooms, mushrooms...!

A few weeks ago, I was approached by Australian Mushroom Growers (aka Power of Mushrooms) to see if I'd be keen to take part of their #MushroomMania2014 campaign, which encourages people to eat and share their favourite mushroom dishes in the month of July. The Mushroom Mania campaign is pretty well known and has been running successfully for 14 years now. I've seen so many of my favourite bloggers take part over the years, so I was glad to be asked to join them as well this year.

As part of the campaign, I was given a seriously beautiful box of fresh mushrooms from the Prahran Market to cook with; and also a $100 Visa gift card to dine out on mushrooms. Best part about this campaign is that you get to take part too! The best part is that Power of Mushrooms are giving out 30 of these $100 Visa gift cards as well. Anyone who dines out on mushrooms this month and tags #MushroomMania2014 on a social media platform stands a chance to win!

Isn't that the most beautiful box of mushrooms in all of the land...?

(portobello, swiss brown, king oyster, enoki, shimeji, shiitake)

Back to the recipe. I was honestly quite blown away by the array of fresh, beautiful mushrooms I received and immediately felt so inspired to get cooking. I knew I wanted to make a quick, easy pasta that's perfect for a weeknight meal. Breadcrumbs are actually really perfect for simple pastas and I do it all the time. They give an extra textural element to the dish and can be flavoured with anything you like. 

Anyway, I just had this for dinner tonight and it was definitely delicious and quick to make. I'll be sharing another mushroom recipe again in the next few days so do tune in to check it out!

Hope you're all having a smashing start to the week. Happy Shroomin'!

Balsamic Mushrooms Linguine with a Garlic Parsley Crumb

(an original recipe, serves 2)

Click here to print the recipe

Ingredients

For the breadcrumbs:
3/4 cup breadcrumbs *
1 1/2 cup (or large handful) of flat leaf parsley
3 cloves garlic
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 tbsp butter

For the pasta:
250g linguine
Extra virgin olive oil
Chilli Flakes
Salt and pepper
Truffle oil (optional)

For the balsamic mushrooms:
250g fresh mushrooms of choice (sliced) **
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper

* I used Japanese Panko
** I used a variety of portobello, swiss brown, king oyster, shiitake, enoki and shimeji

________________________________________


Method

1. Blitz all the ingredients for the breadcrumb (except the butter) in a mini food processor until well combined. Place a pan on low heat on the stove with the 1 tbsp of butter. Toast the breadcrumb mixture in 2 batches until golden and toasted. Set aside.

2. Place a pot of salted water on the boil. Add the linguine and cook as per packet instructions. Drain and mix with extra virgin olive oil, chilli flakes, salt and pepper until well seasoned. 

3. Place the mushrooms and butter in a heated pan and fry for 5 minutes or until cooked. Stir in the balsamic vinegar. Turn off the stove and season with salt and pepper.


4. To serve, place the pasta on a plate. Top with mushrooms and breadcrumbs. Drizzle with truffle oil, if using.

Chinese Steamed Egg Custard Recipe

A silky, smooth and thin custard topped with a savoury mince. A dish that's very common in many, many Chinese households around Malaysia

One of the reasons why I LOVE my company is that everyone is such foodies, no kidding. What brings us together is that we're all such fatties, which is something we happily embrace. We. LOVE. Food. Whether it's cooking awesome meals for your usual weekday lunch using the office kitchen; or telling each other about a new restaurant we've tried over the weekend; or even sharing a recipe we've tested that turned out amazing. 

Another thing that makes this whole foodie scenario more fun is the fact that we truly celebrate each other's cultural diversity. Which is why every few months, we have this thing called the "International Food Day". Basically, it's a potluck for everyone to bring a dish from their cultural heritage. Plus, we secretly love it even more when some people get their Mums/Aunties/Grandmothers to prepare these traditional dishes -- wowsers. If only Mum lived in Melbourne too so I can kindly ask her to contribute something and pass it as my own creation (as if anyone's going to buy that).

Obviously, we always, always overestimate the amount of food to bring and we end up having SO much leftovers. Personally, I'm not complaining because one of my favourite things about potlucks is (shamelessly) taking home the leftovers. 

Taken from my Instagram: @winceeee

We've honestly outdone ourselves the last time. We really did. Our company is growing, which also means, more food at International Food Day... Yeeew!! This time, we had Italian, Australian, Lebanese, Syrian, Jewish, Iranian, Thai, Vietnamese, Malaysian, Russian, Macedonian and Greek food... AMAZING to say the least. Everyone always puts in so much effort (or sometimes, their Mum does haha) that the end result is just too good.

For myself, I always make sure that the food I bring is Vegetarian, just so I can share with my vego friends in the office. Not the easiest thing to do if you're Chinese as we are natural carnivores but I think it's been so far so good. In the past, I've made my Seri Muka (Malaysian Pandan Custard with Sweet Glutinous Rice), Vego Fried Noodles, Malaysian Vegetable Curry and now this, Chinese Steamed Egg Custard (but the vego version). 

These photos are the vegetarian version, using tofu instead of minced meat =)

This dish is hands down one of my favourite childhood dishes to eat. It's a dish that's found in almost every Chinese household around Malaysia, with so many variations from family to family. There's 2 ways that I like to have this:

1) The quick steamed version (that creates a soft, pillowy custard) with the mince at the bottom of the dish

2) Low and slow steamed version (that creates a smooth, silky custard) with the mince at the top of the dish

I've shared the first version several years ago in the link: here

Photo of pillowy version from 2011 

*cringes at old photos*

Essentially the same dish, but the different methods make it feel like 2 completely different dishes. I make the first version at home on for a quick weeknight dinner and the second version when I want to make it more presentable to share with others. Both equally delicious and satisfying.

Anyway, here's the recipe for the smooth, silky, thin and light custard version. With vegetarian version, which is just as satisfying as the meat version, if I may add. 

Chinese Steamed Egg Custard Recipe

Click here to print the recipe

Ingredients For the custard: 8 eggs * 400 ml stock or water * 1/2 tsp salt White pepper 1 salted duck egg yolk (optional) 1 century egg (optional) * Quantity may be adjusted to suit the size of your dish. Ratio is 50ml stock/water per egg. For the seasoning: 1 1/2 tbsp oyster sauce 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce 1/2 tsp dark soy sauce 1 1/2 tbsp Chinese Shao Xin wine 1/2 tbsp sesame oil 1 tsp corn flour 2 tbsp water Few dashes white pepper For the mince: 200g minced pork or beef * 1 cup dried shiitake mushroom 1 1/2 tbsp oil 1/2 brown onion (diced finely) 4 cloves garlic (diced finely) * For vegetarian version, replace minced meat with equal amount diced firm tofu To garnish: Chopped spring onions Fried shallots (optional) 1 tsp soy sauce Sesame oil Method 1. Beat all the ingredients of the custard in a large bowl until well combined. Dice the salted duck egg yolk and century egg (if using) and stir into the custard. Pour into a deep round dish and set aside. 2. Mix all the ingredients of the seasoning with the minced meat. Set aside. 3. Place the dried mushrooms in a bowl of boiled water for 20 minutes to let it rehydrate. Drain and squeeze out the excess liquid. Dice to small cubes and set aside. 4. Heat up a pan with the oil. Add the onions and garlic and fry until fragrant. Add in the minced meat and mushrooms and stir until the meat is cooked. Dish out and set aside. 5. Place the dish with custard in a steamer. Steam on medium-high for 25 to 30 minutes until the egg is set but still slightly wobbles in the centre. It is done when liquid doesn't spill out when you cut into it.  Tip: Don't cover the steamer completely with the lid (with about a 2cm gap) so that the steam doesn't get pent-up. This helps to make sure the custard remains smooth and silky.If the steam is too high, the custard will inflate and has lots of pores on the surface.  6. Remove the cooked custard from the steamed and top with cooked mince mixture. Drizzle 1 tsp of soy sauce and few drops of sesame oil around the egg. Garnish with spring onions and fried shallots (if using). Serve immediately with rice.

Dolmades (Dill and Mint Stuffed Vine Leaves)

Yup, okay… 

I know what you're thinking. Most of you are probably wondering what this young Asian boy is doing fiddling with these Middle Eastern/Mediterranean treats. Trust me, I was so clueless throughout the entire process that I was wondering the same thing too. 

See, I've only had it once before something possessed me to give these a crack at home. You don't see stuffed vine leaves anywhere in Malaysia. My colleague had brought some that her Mum made to share in the office. It tasted so interesting and I really enjoyed them. It's been a while since I've experimented in the kitchen so I asked if she could help get me some vine leaves so I can make them at home too. I was definitely nervous about making them because cuisines from that region are really, really unfamiliar territory to me. But I'm glad I tried them out because they were much simpler than I thought and turned out quite tasty. They were actually quite quick and easy to roll. It was only that there was a lot of them to do, so make sure you trick someone in your family to helping you at it too.

Decided to add pine nuts as well to give the filling a bit of crunch, which ended up working really well. Love the colours from the filling! 

Dolmades reminds me a lot of dumplings. They're prevalent in many Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cultures; just as dumplings are to people with an Oriental heritage. The exact origins of both dishes are highly debatable but who the hell cares, they're tasty and that's all that matters to it. 

The Internet recently taught me that "Dolma", actually means "to stuff with" and is almost a category of food on its own. Because it's so common in many people's homes and cultures, there's so many variations to this dish. You can get them with different types of vegetables stuffed (zucchini, peppers, cabbage, etc); with or without meat in filling; tomato or cream sauce or no sauce at all; the list goes on… 

Personally, I love to keep these simple and vegetarian (stuffed with flavoured rice only). It has so much taste and flavour, but not heavy and more enjoyable because it doesn't have meat in them. Plus, I didn't want to have meat in them so I can share it with my vego friends too. This is a version that I enjoy but you can make it whichever way you want! I had lots of fun making this and definitely recommend people try it too to share with other friends and family =)

Dolmades (Dill and Mint Stuffed Vine Leaves)

(adapted from these recipes, makes approx. 60)

Ingredients:

500g vine leaves *
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
2 red onions (finely diced)

1 cup rice

6 cloves of garlic (crushed)
1 cup or 150g pine nuts
2 tsp salt
2 tbsp dried mint
1/2 cup fresh dill (chopped)
1 1/2 to 2 litres stock (chicken or vegetable)
Lemons (to serve)

* Can be fresh, dried or vacuum packed in brine. Available at Mediterranean or Middle Eastern wholesalers

Method:

1. Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Place the vine leaves in a pot and boil for 5 minutes. Remove vine leaves and place in a large bowl of cold water to cool.

2. Heat up a small frying pan. Fry the onions in the olive oil until it becomes fragrant and translucent. 

3. Remove onions from pan and place in a large bowl. Mix in all the remaining ingredients except the stock and lemon.

4. Place a piece of vine leaf on the plate with the spine of the leaf pointing away from you. Place a scoop of filling horizontally in a line near the bottom of the leaf. Roll the bottom, fold the sides, roll again until filling is wrapped tight. Repeat until all leaves and filling are used up. (You can check out a video of the process: here)

Tip: You may layer 2 or 3 vine leaves on top of one another to form a larger sheet if you find that some leaves to be too small or have holes.

5. Place all the vine leaves, seams down, tightly together at the bottom of a pot. Place a heavy plate at the top of the stack to hold it down tightly. Add extra weights, if possible. 

6. Place the stock in the pot until all dolmades is submerged in liquid. Simmer for 50 minutes. Top up with more stock or water if necessary. Remove from pot and squeeze generously with lemons just before serving.

A night out in Fitzroy: Vegie Bar & N2 Extreme Gelato

Vegie Bar:

Despite being such an iconic Melbourne establishment, I've actually never heard of Vegie Bar until my colleague first mentioned it to me. Being a vegetarian himself, I was curious to know what places he likes to go to because vegetarian eating is so unfamiliar to me. Everything sounded sensational when he was telling me about it and I knew I had to make a trip down to try. Even though majority of Asians are meat eaters through and through, I knew that there was something about Vegie Bar that would make us come around... And it did. Not permanently, but we really, really enjoyed it. 

In other words, Vegie Bar to me is vegetarian eating -- redefined. 

Photo taken from my Instagram: @winceeee

Green Juice -- $7.00

Blended spinach, cucumber, avocado and kale sweetened with apple

Samosa -- $2.90

Filled with a mild vegetable curry, served with both tzatziki and our mystical fresh chilli sauce

Stuffed Mushrooms -- $8.50

Piping hot mushrooms filled with tofu and herbed fetta, served with our special chutney sauce

Tagine -- $15.00

A rich tomato and vegetable tagine, slow cooked with apricots, saffron, cloves and cinnamon. Served on almond and currant couscous, finished with spicy harissa, yoghurt and dukkha

Sambal Noodles (Hot) -- $15.50

Mixed vegetables, asian greend and imitation duck, wok tossed with hokkien noodles, sambal chilli and hoisin sauce

Thai Green Curry -- $15.00

Thai green curry with potato, zucchini, capsicum and cauliflower

Broccoli and Blues Pizza (Large) -- $12.50

Gorgonzola, broccoli, roast capsicum, caramelised onion and mozzarella on a Napoli base

Cauliflower and Pecorino Ravioli -- $15.50

Delicate pasta parcels in a reach and creamy pumpkin, mushroom and white wine sauce

Faux Chicken Wrap -- $9.50

Mock chicken, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, mango, sweet chilli and our own special mayo

Raw Living Stack -- $13.50

Layers of thinly sliced tomato, zucchini and squash, grated carrot, baby spinach, avocado, basil pesto and cashew ricotta. All stacked on a marinated mushroom and smothered in a zesty tomato and beetroot puree. Finished with dehydrated herbed tomato, raw parmesan and kale chips

My God... By the end of the night my friends and I were so damn happy and impressed with all the food that we ate. Now, we get why the place is so packed out and famous for all these years.

Everything tasted seriously fantastic. Every dish had such bold flavours and was executed really well. They all tasted so different and we got a taste of everything from East to West, North to South. All in one meal. Not to mention, how cheap and huge the portions were. They were insane. The samosa was the size of my fist. The sambal noodles was honestly like a mountain. That $9.50 burrito wrap was at least the size of that anywhere else.

What I loved about our meal was that each of us had our own favourite dishes of the night. We all LOVED the food and put us in such a good mood the entire night. Whether it was the fantastic pizza with the amazingly crisp base and blue cheese/broccoli combo; or the super crispy and tasty faux chicken (in the wrap) that we couldn't get enough of; delicious tagine with fluffy and flavourful couscous; moorish green curry with the fragrant rice; or even the refreshing stack of cold vegetables that was so cleansing to have as part of the meal.

It seemed like there was something for everyone. So affordable too. Huge tick in terms of value for money. Cannot wait to come back here again with other friends and also my family when they visit -- I'm sure they'll all love this place too.

N2 Extreme Gelato:

After a fantastical meal at Vegie Bar, we decided to head straight over to N2 to try their famous liquid nitrogen ice cream since it was only a few doors down. Suffice to say, there was already a massive queue before we even arrived.

Was also a great surprise to bump into my dear friend Winnie of Eat Play Shop there with her hubby and friends that night too!

1. Deconstructed Chocolate Lava 

(with sour cream chocolate gelato and warm chocolate ganache syringe)

2. French Earl Grey

3. Pretzella (Queen of the Dessert)

(Nutella based gelato with pretzels)

4. Pandan (no-) Egg Tart 

5. Lemon Lime and Bitters Sorbet

6. Buttered Popcorn

Pash Pavlova Flavour (with meringue, passionfruit and strawberries)

Taken from my Instagram @winceeee

Overall, did I enjoy N2 Gelato? Yes.

In terms of the flavours, I LOVED the French Earl Grey as well as the Pretzella Gelato. I thought they were my favourites until I went back a second time and had the Pavlova flavoured one, which was SO good. Chocolate was good as well. Buttered popcorn was and Lemon Lime Bitters was a little on the underwhelming side but that's okay, you win some/you lose some. I also found that N2 was quite good at getting the right level of sweetness for its gelato. 

If you ask me, I find that the main difference that I found with these liquid nitrogen gelato (as opposed to your conventional freezer made) ones is the texture. It was really smooth and still had a slight bite/resistance to it. What I liked as well about these gelato over the normal ones is its temperature. It wasn't too cold and you could enjoy big spoonfuls of them at once.

Most of you may know that I am very rarely keen on the latest food trends in Melbourne but I must say that after 2 visits, I am definitely on board with the N2 Gelato train =)