The bad news? I’ve been totally preoccupied with selling my house, and have been hoarding the stuff at my office, staving off my co-workers from drinking it! So our poor entrants have been left in the lurch as to who will be getting their tasty smackers around the good golden liquid.

Yeah, sorry about that! :S

Anyway, poor excuses aside, it is with much pleasure that I can finally announce the winner of our first ever i8b competition, and the lucky punter who will be walking away with a mixed case of Punt Road’s Pear Cider and Apple Cider!

And the winner is… Karis of Kenmore!

Karis commented on Sarah’s post about the veggie patch, and we were impressed not only by the enthusiasm of the comment, but by the extra info Karis packed into the comment too! Karis is indeed one mad keen herb lover:

“When I started my garden, I was going out everyday to check it. Then my babies started shooting through! I felt like I had pets or children or both! …  Apparently borage is really nice in salads if you can suck it up and eat the prickly bits according to my (and apparently Jamie Oliver’s) herb guru Jekka… She has a brilliant recipe for lavender cookies – yes, lavender! Sounds odd I know, but they are amazingly good. I’ve cooked them a few times and tried making different desserts with them. But lavender is my obsession when it comes to herbs…”

You can read Karis’ full comment here. Thanks so much to all who entered, we were so pleased with all of you who got involved, and there were some really entertaining comments – and some downright hilarious ones too (Indy, we’re looking at you!).

A MASSIVE thanks to the team at Punt Road Wines in Victoria. Make sure you give their ciders a go (and their wines, for that matter) — they really are fantastic!

We’ve gotten a lot of great feedback throughout the comp, and we will run future comps over a shorter time period so that we don’t leave you guys hanging so long! And uhhh yeah– we’ll be more prudent with announcing the winners too!

Thanks again guys, and as always, we welcome any feedback!

In cider love,

Julia & the girls at i8b!

This year, I decided that one of my goals would be to try as many new beers as possible. What an exciting prospect! I have set off with a cracking start to 2010, ordering anything I can find at bars that is unfamiliar – along the way, I have tried locals, such as Burgleigh Brewing Co’s “Big Head“, and international beers, such as the Fourex of Finland, “Lapin Kulta“, and the more adventurous Finnish “Prykmestar Savu” (smoke beer). And by happy fortune, I went along to a beer tasting at the Platform Bar with my friend Mikael, where I enjoyed my first Stone & Wood Draught Ale, and met Beer Matt, the beer-obsessed genius behind Good Beer Lunches.

Matt’s imparted wisdom stepped up my 2010 New Beer Pledge to whole new level, and since meeting him, I have spent increasing amounts of time at Nectar, Grand Central’s Platform Bar (Brisbane’s best-kept boutique beer-serving secret), and the quite new Archives Beer Boutique Bistro in West End. I have ALSO spent a whole lot more time at various beer tastings – including one of Matt’s mouth-wateringly awesome Good Beer Lunches. You take three courses of delectable food, match them with a variety of beers, slather on a healthy dash of beer education, and you have a recipe for Sunday afternoon success.

Matt’s lunches and tastings are friendly and fun, and he welcomes both beer novices and beer buffs. Jovial and unpretentious, he happily answers all questions that are thrown at him (those that he knows the answers to, anyway), and urges guests to make up their own minds about what they like, what they don’t like, and the sorts of flavours and smells they experience in the beers.

On this particular afternoon, we enjoyed our Good Beer Lunch at the Platform Bar. The beers and food were as follows – and thanks to Matt for letting me steal bits from his tasting notes!

Stone & Wood Draught Ale on arrival
This beer is really enjoyable, and has a fresh, fruity (passionfruit) flavour. Yummo! Would be a great beer on a hot summer day!

Schöfferhofer Hefeweizen matched with Scallops with Tomato Salsa
Schöfferhofer is a cloudy wheat beer from Germany, made cloudy by the “hefe”, or wheat. I’ve had this one before and it’s absolutely sensational! Wheat beer is my favourite variety of beer! It was incredibly light and fresh with the minimalist flavour of the scallops.

Stone & Wood Stone Beer matched with Slow-Cooked Lamb Shanks
The Stone Beer is a dark lager made using the medieval technique of adding red hot stones to the brew kettle to assist with the boil. The hot stones caramelise the sugars and enhance the toffee flavours – which matched the  juicy, sweet, lamb shanks nicely. Incidentally, the lamb shanks were incredible.

Little Creatures Pale Ale with Louisiana Cajun Chicken on Sweet Potato Cake
The Little Creatures is an American-style Pale Ale. I have two things to say of this course: firstly, the chicken breast was a little dry and stringy, which overly-enhanced the spices that I think might otherwise have been quite succulent with a bit of a subtle kick. Secondly, I was pretty inebriated from all the beer up to this point, so I really don’t have a proper assessment of the matching for you! Suffice to say, though, having drunk it a few times since, this beer  has a decent amount of bitterness for a pale ale, and is quite enjoyable.

Coopers Best Extra Stout matched with Chocolate Cake, Ice Cream and Strawberry
I really enjoyed this beer. With beautiful coffee and chocolate flavours, the chocolate cake and ice cream cut nicely through the intense bitterness.

BrewBoys Seeing Double to finish!
Wow. What a crazy, crazy beer! Very few people liked this one, but I absolutely loved it! The flavour is quite literally that of blue cheese – well, blue cheese and bitters. It was marvellous! I love really gutsy flavours in beer, wine, food, and cheeses, and so this was a real treat for me. Give it a go if you’re feeling game!

So a great afternoon of beer and food! I had a fantastic time, and so did my friends who came along, all of us with different interests in beer.  I can highly recommend you head along to one in the near future. They’re great value for money, and you’ll learn a lot about beer, regardless of how much you’ve tried in the past.

Matt also runs plenty of other events, including Beer 101 classes, and the monthly Back Alley Beer Club, which features several beers from a single brewery each month.  I attended one of these last Friday, where we were privileged to enjoy a variety of beers from the Kiuchi Brewery in Japan. This evening was another big wow, because, boy do they brew em’ strong in Japan.  With a Belgian style white ale(5%), a ginger ale (7%), a beer brewed from rice (8%), an India pale ale (8%), and an unusual Belgian strong ale (7%) it’s suffice to say that Friday night was very festive night indeed!

I can’t recommend Matt’s tastings enough. Check out his upcoming events by going to Good Beer Lunches, or get the latest on beer internationally and locally by going to Australian Brews News.’

Also, the Brisbane Brewer’s Festival will be happening over the weekend of July 16-18, so if you’d like to get to know beers and their brewers a bit better, there are a range of events happening throughout the weekend which you can read about at Good Beer Lunches. Matt is hosting the opening night on the Friday at Grand Central Hotel, and Archives in West End are also running an event for the festival too.

Finally, on another bottle-related note, don’t forget about our “Win a Mixed Case of Punt Road Cider” competition that we are running until the end of July! All you need to do is comment on any post before the end of July with your Name and Brisbane Suburb, and the most interesting one will land the case! Check out the details here.

PS – excuse the average photos. It’s hard to take photos after a few good beers!

The scenery is breathtaking as well: this weekend, we were at Hinze Damn, were everything is lush, green and peaceful, and we idly chat away, paying little attention to the fishing, basking in the natural beauty. Best of all, though, is the catch: we take what we catch as a group back to the campsite (providing, of course, it’s of legal size and limit) to cook up to enjoy for dinner.

This year, we enjoyed plenty of bass amongst a group of about 30 anglers (Ellen, below, is posing as Rex Hunt with one of her catches), along with a massive haul of Red Claw Crayfish which were caught in traps by one of the fishermen. Red Claw are actually a pest species in Hinze Dam, having been introduced from up North, so you’re legally required NOT to release any you catch – which is fine with me, thankyou very much, because they taste absolutely sensational.  And we had such an overflow of Red Claw that I was able to bring some back with me to Brisbane, even after having fed an army of anglers the night before!

So what of these Red Claws? Well, I’ll apologise that I got them too late to get a photo of a whole one for you (they were almost all shelled by the time I arrived at camp) but I have included a photo that I found here so that you have an idea of how they look whole! 

Deep blue in colour, their bodies are about 10cm long, and the flavour is pretty similar to Moreton Bay Bugs – perhaps a tiny bit sweeter. When cooked, they are firm to the bite, but quite tender and succulent. And slather them in butter and garlic and you’re well on your way to a meal made in heaven. But tonight, I decided to use them in my favourite pasta dish. It’s simple, classic Italian flavours, it’s full of flavour, and it’s always a crowd pleaser. In fact, if you’re feeding a big group of people any time soon, I can highly recommend it, because you can use any shellfish you like, and it takes about 15 minutes to cook – yet it tastes as good as any meal that you might slave over for hours!

Preparing the Red Claw

1. Work on a stable surface.
2. Start by removing the head of the Red Claw by twisting it at the neck.
3. Place the Red Claw shell side up, flat on a chopping board.
4. With a large, very sharp knife, cut down the centre of the shell (bottom left photo, above), cutting all the way through. You will need two hands to do this, and quite a bit of pressure, so make sure you keep your fingers on your secondary hand well tucked under, so you don’t cut them off!
5. With both hands, “break” the shell apart. From here, the white flesh of the Red Claw meat will come away pretty easily from the shell with your fingers.

This method also works well for Moreton Bay Bugs, which are more expensive but much easier to source. Please note, though, that you don’t need to remove their heads before cutting, and that Bug shells are much tougher to cut through, so take extra care with your fingers!

It’s Red Claw Pasta Time!

• 50g butter
• 2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 tins whole roma tomatoes
• A splash of red wine
• 1 tsp sugar
• A handful of fresh basil leaves
• 300-500g Red Claw flesh (approx 0.5kg – 1kg of whole Red Claw flesh, more or less as you like!)
• Spaghetti, enough for 4 serves

1. Cook your spaghetti til al dente, rinse under cold water and set aside.
2. Heat butter and garlic in a large frying pan, until butter melts.
3. Add the Red Claw flesh, and cook until it becomes white and opaque, and just a little bit golden (don’t overcook! you want it nice and tender!)
4. Add the roma tomatoes, roughly breaking them apart with a wooden spoon, a good splash of red wine, and the sugar (which will help cook off the alcohol).
5. Take the basil, tearing it roughly in your hands, and add it to the pasta. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Simmer the sauce for about 5 minutes, and taste for seasoning.
7. Serve sprinkled with fresh basil and a good glass of red wine.
8. Buon appetito!

Serves 4. Recipe courtesy of my mum!

For those of you interested, this is the bass I caught – Hinze Dam bass are absolutely delish!

But not today, dear readers.  Today was all about simplicity, and most of all, quantity. It started off innocently enough, with inspiration from Taylor Takes a Taste – his beautiful photos of blueberry and green iced tea seemed just the thing for a slow, quiet day at home.  But whilst out shopping for blueberries, I thought, “Surely I can put the leftover blueberries to further use! I know! Humble Crumble! I need apples!” And whilst I was at it, I thought, “Gee, I really ought to make some breakfast. Apples + blueberries = quick apple danish!” So gathering together ye darling buds of blue, I set off home with blueberries, apples, and a bit of ricotta for some added fun, and set about my blueberry adventure.

The first thing I needed was a quick breakfast, so out from the freezer came the leftover puff pastry, and I set about thinly slicing apples, and carefully arranging them on very un-fussy, awkward squares of pastry with blueberries, a sprinkle of sugar, and a smattering of ricotta.  Into the oven, and 10 minutes later, voila! An absolutely gorgeous breakfast snack.

Next up, I set to work on Taylor’s disgustingly simple blueberry green tea.  So quick and easy to prepare, and I even used the left over blueberry pulp to make some blueberry ice cubes, which I thought might make for a fun, visual effect.

Later on, after watching half of this year’s BCS National Championship (yes, I am a proud Australian NCAA  jock!), I completed the trifecta with a delightfully easy humble apple, blueberry and orange crumble.  Ohhhh so good.

What a day. 3 ways with blueberry, and 3 levels of devine, juicy, culinary heaven.  And my guiltiest sin of all on this fine day?

I used frozen blueberries, and none would be the wiser.

Deliciously Quick Blueberry and Apple Danish

I stole the inspiration for this recipe from an old Gourmet Traveller.  The rules are simple: take frozen puff pastry, cover in pretty much any assortment of fruit, add other flavours as you like, sprinkle with sugar and bake. I have also used peaches, pears, almonds, brown sugar, and even slathered the pastry with jam before adding fruit.  These are pretty impossible to stuff up, which is why I love making them so much. My version of the recipe is below, and makes 2 danishes.

• 1/4 cup of blueberries
• 1/2 an apple
• 50g ricotta
• 1/2 sheet of puff pastry (cut into 15 cm x 15 cm squares, but you can cut it whichever way you like for decorative purposes)
• 1 tsp sugar

1. Take each square of pastry, and roughly assemble your apples – I did mine in a fan shape
2. Scatter the blueberries on top
3. Sprinkle each square with 1/2 tsp sugar
4. Crumble the ricotta over the top of each danish with your fingers
5. Bake in a hot oven (220° C) for about 10 minutes, checking to ensure they don’t burn.
6. Enjoy with smug satisfaction.

Disgustingly Simple Blueberry Green Tea

Whilst wandering around tastespotting.com this morning, I was absolutely taken by Taylor’s photos of blueberry green tea. The recipe seemed simple enough: make blueberry sugar syrup; add tea; refrigerate; enjoy. What easy refreshment!

• 1 cup blueberries
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• enough green tea (or teabags) to make 2 litres of tea (this will depend on the brand of tea you have)
• a bunch of water (or, 2.25L if you’re so inclined)

1. Put the blueberries and sugar in a saucepan with 250ml (1 cup) water. If you are using frozen blueberries, heat on medium til the blueberries thaw. Once the blueberries are thawed, turn up the heat to high, and cook until the mixture is boiling.  Remove from heat, and allow to cool (10 minutes or so).
2. Boil 500ml (2 cups) water, add your tea (or teabags) and allow to steep for 10 minutes.
3. Using a fine mesh sieve, strain the blueberry syrup into a bowl, and use a spoon to mash all the juice out of the blueberries. Now add your lemon juice and stir.
4. Add your tea (removing tea bags, or, if you are using loose leaf tea, make sure you strain it), and stir.
5. Pour the whole thing into a 2L jug (or some other fancy vessel) and add 1.5L of water to your blueberry green tea mix. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
6. Enjoy ice-cold, and remark at your own cleverness.

Recipe courtesy of Taylor Takes A Taste – whose photos of the tea are MUCH nicer than mine!

Delightfully Easy Blueberry, Orange and Humble Apple Crumble

I stole the premise of this apple crumble from some food magazine or another quite a few years back, so I honestly can’t remember who to credit. The basis is you get a bunch of fruit you like (apples are the base, with whatever else you want to add – peach, rhubarb, blueberry, pear, berries etc), chuck it in a baking dish, and then squeeze orange over the whole thing before adding your crumble.  The orange gives everything a delightful, citrus zing, without being too overpowering.

• 4 sweet green apples (granny smith or similar), peeled, cored and cubed
• 1/2 cup blueberries
• 1/2 orange
• 100g butter, cubed
• 1 cup plain flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup oats
• Other stuff such as walnuts, coconut etc if you so desire

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Butter the inside of a 1.5L baking dish.
2. Put your apples into the baking dish, and sprinkle the blueberries over the top. Mix roughly with your hands.
3. In a large bowl, put your flour, brown sugar, oats, and whatever other stuff you feel like, and mix together.  I added a sprinkling of shredded coconut, but you could also add walnuts, crushed biscuits etc, as you like.
4. Add the butter and rub the flour mix and butter between your finger tips until it all resembles breadcrumbs. You should not have any big chunks of butter left when you’re done.
5. Squeeze half an orange over the top of the apples and blueberries, and then sprinkle the crumble mix evenly over the top.
6. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes, or until the crumble mix is golden brown (make sure it doesn’t burn though!). I usually wait until the fruit is bubbling out the top! Delight in the sweet, fruity, buttery smell that fills your home while it cooks.
7. Enjoy on its own, or with custard, ice cream or cream (my fave!), as you like. Tell your friends that this is your secret crumble recipe, and watch them swoon with satisfaction, all the while marvelling at your simple, orange-infused genius.

So there you have it, i8b-ers. A day of blueberry indulgence.  The best thing about this day is that I really feel I’ve done nothing at all, and yet, I’ve eaten fresh, home-cooked food all day with very little effort involved.

Have you ever had a ridiculous day of cooking based around a handful of simple ingredients? I’d love to know! Tell us in the comments!

And don’t forget about our “Win A Case of Punt Road Ciders” comp!

It was here in Raahe that I experienced more culinary delights, such as the beautiful barbequed whole marinated salmon with Savu (a Finnish smoked beer), and quite a few other various extravagant Finnish feasts, served up by Helena and Timo, our hosts. Helena was also quite delighted about my Finnish culinary leanings, and was eager to teach me many things about local food, including how to make Korvapuusti, a Finnish cinnamon bun often served with cool drinks or tea.

Baking with Helena was a real treat, as she got quite into being photographed by me about a hundred times, and would pose at various points of baking for me, which was fabulous! She was delightfully, quintessentially Finnish. She owned about 5 or 10 different Marimekko aprons, baked with a kerchief over her head, and her cupboards were stocked full of Arabia everything! She was just about one of the sweetest, cheekiest and joyous people I met on my trip – although, you could say the same of so many of the Finns!

She had so many stories to tell about everything, and was able to tell me, in excellent English, the significance of the cross-mark that I had seen on many foods prior to arriving in Raahe (you might remember seeing one earlier on the cheese hoop in this post). Unsurprisingly, it’s a kind of blessing made by Finnish cooks that the food you were cooking would be a success.  The one below is the mark we made in our korvapuustit dough prior to leaving it to rise.

Now, whilst we’re on the subject of Finnish baking education, I’ll let you know that korvapuustit and pulla are actually made from the same recipe. “Pulla” in Finnish means “bun” (the large bun, shown immediately below), and “puusti” means “little bun” (”puustit” is the plural, “buns”), which are the ones we’re making in this recipe. Most entertainingly, though, “korva” means “ear”, which is the shape that the dough that the korvapuustit take when rolled up prior to baking, as you’ll see below. So “korvapuustit” literally means, “ear buns”. Soooooo cute!

Korvapuustit

• 2 Eggs
• 500 ml milk
• 22g dry yeast
• 1 tbsp ground cardamom seeds
• 100g sugar
• pinch salt
• 1.3 – 1.5kg plain flour
• 150-200g butter, cut into large cubes
• roughly 20g each of cinnamon and sugar, for bun filling
• Large granulated sugar, or “Pearl Sugar” (”Kova Raesokeri” in Finnish) – it’s not an Australian product.  You might be able to get this from Ikea, otherwise, this article suggests roughly crushing sugar cubes for the same effect. It also seems you can buy Pearl Sugar here in Australia, but they’re presently on a mid-year break! Fun fact: “raesokeri” literally translates as hailstone sugar – hence the appearance

In a large, heavy bowl, mix milk, egg, sugar, cardamom and salt. In a separate bowl, sift flour and yeast.

Sprinkle half the flour mix onto the milk mix, and mix on low with a hand beater or kitchenaid until combined. Add more of the flour mix and mix with a spoon. Gradually add more and more of the flour mix, switching to knead with your hands when the mix is too sticky for the spoon.
Add the butter in a few parts, kneading the whole thing in the bowl until the butter in incorporated. Add extra flour as required if the mixture is too “wet” after incorporating all the butter.

Continue to knead the dough, moving it around the bowl with your hands until it is quite elastic. The dough should be springy, but not sticky, so add a teensy bit more flour along the way as needed. Kneading should take about 10-15 minutes.

When kneading is finished, form the dough into a ball in the bowl, and sprinkle the top lightly with flour. Use your hands to make a cross with the tips of your fingers to bless it. Cover the bowl with a teatowel and allow to rest in a warmish place for about 40 minutes. It should rise to be about double the size, and will spring back when touched.

Split the dough into two equal balls. Working on a large, lightly floured surface, use a dimpled rolling pin to roll out the dough into a rectangular shape to about 1-2cm thick. Use a breadknife to butter the surface of the dough, leaving about 1 inch around the edge. Combine equal parts (say, 1 tbsp each) of cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl, and sprinkle evenly over the surface of the dough. Make more of the cinnamon sugar mix as needed.

Roll the sugared dough into long log. Cut along the length of the log, making triangles (see photo).

Take each triangle, and turn it so that the largest edge is flat on the board, the tip is on top, and you have a cinnamon spiral on each side of the triangle. Push the tip down, and then pull the tip out in both directions (you are pulling to the top and the bottom of your work surface at the same time), so the whole thing forms a long, ear shape with the swirl of cinnamon on either side (see photo). Phew!

Place the korvapuusti on a tray lined with baking paper.  You should be able to fit the whole of that dough portion onto one large baking tray, but space them out if you prefer. Repeat for the rest of the triangles, and then repeat the whole process for the second ball of dough. Rest the korvapuustit for half an hour, covered with teatowels.

Remove the teatowels and brush each korvapuusti with a lightly beaten egg.  Sprinkle the tops of each with Pearl Sugar.

Bake for 10-20 minutes, checking to ensure they don’t burn (like mine did – we were gossiping too much to keep track!).

Makes approx 36 korvapuustit
Total prep and cooking time is about 3 hours

Now, as mine were so nicely “browned” due to Helena and I gossiping enthusiastically, I have found an image from Vaasan.com, showing you what your korvapuustit SHOULD look like!

Also, don’t forget about our “Win a Case of Punt Road Cider” competition, running until the end of July!

Please put your Brisbane suburb in your comment!

Otherwise we won’t know to add you and your comment into the draw! So just to recap, when you make your comment:

• Leave your suburb name in the comment
• Leave your email in the email box provided (it will be hidden, visible by us only)
• Most interesting comment as determined by us WINS THE WHOLE CASE!

Check out the fine print here. Seriously! A free mixed case (that’s 24 bottles!) of Punt Road Cider going to ONE lucky home in Brisbane! Need some inspiration? This beautiful treasure (pictured above) arrived in the post today – thanks again, Punt Road Wines for your support!

Looking forward to your comments, i8b-ers!

Our hosts kindly greeted us at Ivalo airport, and then took us to see the local scenery – Ivalo sits above the arctic circle, and we were greeted by snow as far as the eye could see.  It was a balmy 4 degrees, and all of us were looking forward to a hot shower after our extensive journey.

But of course, our hosts were keen to take us to the local restaurant for dinner, so we followed them wearily and sat down at a large table, were brought pints of the local beer… and then it came. The most marvellous culinary delight: lohikeitto.

I don’t know quite what it is about your first meal in a foreign country.  My first pizza on my first night in New York was the same, life-changing experience, and no other delectable pizza I ate from then on could ever match up.  Lohikeitto was the same for me on this night, too.

Imagine: delicious morsels of salmon, and just-soft potatoes drenched in cream, with just a little butter and a good helping of dill. Served with buttery rye bread, it was just about the most sensational soup I think I’ve ever tasted.

Fast forward a week, and I’m in Oulu, in central Finland with my host mother, Arja, and we are discussing this first, sublime experience with lohikeitto.  We had been discussing my desire to learn to cook some Finnish foods, and so, with much enthusiasm, she proclaims, “Julia, we make lohikeitto on Saturday!” I was delighted.

We made a visit that Saturday to Kauppahalli, which is a bit like the Victoria Markets in Melbourne, for those of you who have been.  It’s a big, beautiful old building right by the port of Oulu, and inside are a variety of market shops that deal with their various specialities: rye breads, baked goods, sweets, cheeses, meats, and of course, fish. We bought a kilo of the most incredibly fresh (like pink and glistening, sweet-smelling, one day off the boat from Norway fresh) Salmon – for only $15 Euros, or roughly AU$20 if you don’t mind – and headed off to Heikki’s apartment in downtown Oulu.

We had invited some of my fellow exchange companions and their families along, and so we set to work, cutting a mountain of potatoes, salmon and dill, and setting the dining table in Heikki’s beautiful home with gorgeous Iittala glassware, Marimekko textiles, and Heikki’s mother’s (roughly 65 year-old-) Arabia crockery. I say this not to sound overly pretentious, but mainly to point out that good design is such an integral part of every Finnish home.  It was really quite amazing to experience.

It was such a joy to share this day with Arja and Heikki.  When our guests finally arrived, the lohikeitto was bubbling away, and we all enjoyed the gorgeous lunch together with crisp white wine. A truly marvellous Finnish experience.

Lohikeitto

• 1 Tbsp Butter
• 1 Brown Onion, finely chopped
• 4-5 Potatoes (buy a firm variety they should retain their shape through cooking)
• 1.25 l Fish Stock
• 1/2 kg Fresh Salmon Fillet, cubed
• 100-200 ml Cream (or Milk, if you prefer a thinner soup)
• 1 cup Fresh Dill, finely chopped

1. Cut the potatoes roughly into 1-inch cubes, and keep in water to prevent discolouration.
2. In a large saucepan, cook the onion in the butter over medium heat until soft.
3. Add the potatoes, the fish stock, and then enough water so the potatoes are just covered. Turn up the heat to high, cover the saucepan with a lid, and cook the potatoes until they are just soft.
4. Add the salmon to the pot and cook until it is mostly opaque (about 5 minutes).
5. Add the cream, and a good heft of salt and pepper, tasting to ensure desired saltiness. Cook for 5-10 minutes.
6. Stir through the dill, and serve with rye bread and butter.

Hyvää ruohahalua! (Bon Appetit!)

COMPETITION REMINDER!

We have a mixed case of 24 bottles of Apple and Pear Cider to give away from Punt Road Wines. To enter, all you have to do is write a comment on ANY post on iatebrisbane.com. Open to Brisbane (and surrounds) entrants only. Click here for details.

BUT! Before I go any further, I’d like to announce our FIRST EVER! competition here at iatebrisbane! (Yes, we’re giddy as you are!)

We will be teaming up with a host of Australian food businesses over the next few months to bring you some great stuff. First up, we have a massive swag of cider from Punt Road Wines to give away! So if you want to get your mitts on a MIXED DOZEN of Punt Road’s Napoleone & Co. Pear and Apple Ciders, read on, dear friends, read on!

First of all – why the competition? Well, we’re super keen to get all of you Brisbane food-(and drinks-)lovers sharing your opinions and making iatebrisbane a melting pot of Brisbane food-themed discussion. But how to do it? Why, with bribery, of course! With this in mind, we sent out our feelers to the various Australian food businesses that we love, to see if they would be interested in helping us in this scheme – and lucky for us (and you!) Simon and the team at Punt Road Wines said yes!

(At this point, I do need to make one thing clear – iatebrisbane is still an independent blog, and we’re not selling out; we don’t get anything from this except a bunch of comments on our blog!)

So why Punt Road? Well first up – those of you familiar with them will know that they are actually a Victorian winery based in the Yarra Valley. I have been enjoying their wines ever since I first stumbled upon them at the Brisbane Food & Wine Show a few years back. Their 2005 Cab Sav was so rich and full-bodied and I instantly fell in love with Punt Road. A little while back, Punt Road extended their range to include ciders, produced from the orchards they grow on their estate. Sadly, Punt Road lost a portion of their vineyards and orchards in the Black Friday Bushfires in 2009 (along with many other Victorian wineries), but have bounced back spectacularly. You can check out their full range (including their juicy Cab Savs!) at www.puntroadwines.com.au .

Win a Mixed Case of Punt Road Ciders

Here’s what you get:

• 12 x Napoleone & Co. Apple Ciders, and
• 12 x Napoleone & Co. Pear Ciders

Cor blimey that’s a lot of cider! Check them out at Punt Road’s websites under “Our Wines”.

How to win:

• Unfortunately, this competition is open to Brisbane residents only!
• You can comment on any post on iatebrisbane.com between now and 31 July 2010
• Please include your email in the box provided in your comment (it will be hidden on the site, but visible to us) to be considered for the competition.
• Please include your Brisbane suburb name in the body of the comment.
• Comment as many times as you like! Just make sure you include your suburb name and email each time!

Check out the fine print at the bottom of this page, if you’re into that kind of thing!

So that’s it! Good luck! Go win yourself some cider! We’re really looking forward to hearing from many new Brisbane voices over the coming weeks.

Now, onto Scandinavia!

To get you in the mood for 2 months of Scandinavian sensations, let me start by telling you what I experienced during my time in Finland and Sweden: Beautiful design. Reindeer. Fish. Oh so much fish. Freezing winter. Beautiful springtime. Ice fishing. A shipwreck that is older than Australia (it sunk in 1628)! A restaurant that is older than our country (Den Gyldene Freden – ‘The Golden Peace‘ for history buffs – established in 1722 on current premises!). A LOT of rye breads. Plenty of local beer. Warm, friendly, and oh-so-beautiful people. Wow, what a place. I can recommend it to anyone.

I stayed with many host families, met so many inspiring people, was inspired by Finnish (and Swedish) Rotary, and was given so many incredible personal and vocational opportunities. I must take this chance to extend an enormous thanks to the Rotary Foundation and Rotary Districts 9600 in Australia and 1400 in Finland who sponsored my trip through Finland. I was given the opportunity through Rotary’s Group Study Exchange program, which is a fantastic program and I can highly recommend you contact your local Rotary club (wherever you are in the world) and find out more about being involved.

One of the most exciting things about my trip, however, was that (vocation goals aside) I went over there with two goals: 1) To try as much Finnish (and Swedish) food as possible; and 2) To try as much Finnish beer as possible.

I am happy to report that I succeeded on both counts – and I would like to thank all my Finnish mamas and pappas for being so enthusiastic about helping me achieve these goals. Most of all, I’m really looking forward to sharing my Finnish cooking skills with you all over the coming weeks! To whet your appetite, here’s a list of my top 5 meals I enjoyed whilst I was in Scandinavia:

• Arctic Charr in Hollandaise with Frisée, Dill, Roe and Browned Butter (in the top photo below) at Den Gyldene Freden
• Lohikeitto, or, Salmon Soup with Potatoes, Cream and Dill cooked with my host mother in Oulu, Arja (recipe coming soon!)
• Barbequed Chilli Marinated Whole Salmon, enjoyed with Savu, a Finnish smoked beer
• Home-made Korvapusti / Pulla, or, cinnamon and cardamom buns cooked with my host mother in Raahe, Helena (recipe coming soon!)
• Brunberg’s Mansikka Suklaa Kyss, or Strawberry Marshmallow-filled Chocolate Kisses – controversial AND delicious!

Well, that’s enough of a rant for now. Keep your eyes peeled for a world of Scandinavian flavours coming your way in the next couple of months. We’re looking forward to your comments! For now, I’ll leave you with a collection of photos from my adventures to inspire you.

(Scandinavia, from the top: “Summery” sky over Ivalo, Finland; Stockholm’s Skeppsholmen, and omnipresent tulips; a “Norwegian” fisherman and his dog, in Oulu, Finland; Enjoying Arctic Charr at Den Gyldene Freden, and Vaniljä Mohito, in Stockholm; Reindeer in Ivalo, Finland; EATING reindeer with lignonberries, and Sami (reindeer milk) cheese-making hoops in Ivalo, Finland; Cakes at Kauppahalli in Oulu, Finland; Enjoying whole baked fish with rye bread at Lohilaakso in Kalajoki, Finland; A snowy morning in Ivalo, Finland.)

The Fine Print

Note that the Win A Case of Punt Road Cider competition is a test of skill – the most interesting comment as deemed by the team at iatebrisbane.com between 16 June 2010 and 31 July 2010 will win the prize. Please note that delivery is not included. We will contact you at the completion of the competition to arrange collection. The competition is not open to people under the age of 18. Only entries that include a Brisbane suburb name and an email address will be included for consideration the competition. If the winner cannot ne contacted within 10 days of the selection, we will select a new winner. You can enter as many times as you like, as long as you include your suburb name and email address! Good luck!

But after months of an epic “we make better burgers than those guys” war, the iatebrisbane girls decided that we would try and settle the argument once and for all. So here it is ladies and gentleman: Brisbane’s Burger War.  

In the red corner, we have Burger Urge – they’ve been established in New Farm for a few years now (and they have another store in West End), and were one of the first to really make a good, solid go of the gourmet burger market.  They’ve been popular amongst locals of New Farm for many years.

In the blue corner, we have Grill’d, who came to Brisbane by way of Melbourne just a couple of years ago.  They quickly established themselves throughout suburban Brisbane as a quirky and youthful addition to the gourmet burger market, managing to avoid a McDonald’s-esque consumer feel, despite being a chain with roughly thirty stores (9 in Brisbane).

I’ve had the pleasure of trying both of these burgers in the past, and so I wanted to do my best to make the battle fair for each party. As such, I enlisted the help of Sarah, her sister Jessie and baby Josie (as a keen observer!).  We did our best to make the challenge as fair as possible: we ordered the burgers at the same time by phone, and went to collect them in person at the same time also, getting home to my Valley apartment at the same time to analyse our burgers.  We were also lucky enough to have discount vouchers for both stores (hooray!).

We ordered roughly the same burger from each – a Queenslander-esque burger.  We tried to ensure that they were as well-matched as possible, and so from Grill’d we ordered a Big Queenslander (beef, cheese, bacon, egg, beetroot, salad with relish and herb mayo) and added pineapple – cost = $13.20; from Urge we ordered the Urge Burger (beef, cheese, egg, beetroot, pineapple, salad & and relish) and added bacon – cost = $15.90.

Our experience with the customer service at both stores was good (although I must note that at Burger Urge, I waited for about 7 minutes simply to pay for and collect my order – perhaps this could be streamlined somehow?). On returning home, we commenced photography of the packages, and our initial thoughts.

First up – Burger Urge hooks you up with an awesome, industrial-strength brown paper bag, which is perfect for carrying hot foods home.  The Grill’d bag is a little thin, and with the weight of the burger, is inclined to get pretty worn on the short trip home.  It’s a minor thing, but if you’re a habitual pedestrian like myself, you notice little details like this when you carry your dinner home from take-aways regularly!

Most notable on first impressions was that the Burger Urge burger was FRICKEN HUUUUGE! I would estimate it was a good third- to a half-size bigger than the Grill’d burger.  I prefer the smaller size of the Grill’d but I certainly feel that anyone with a big appetite would be more than sated by Urge’s offerings! Another thing to note is that Grill’d gives you a choice of which bread you would prefer (seeded bun or panini).  I really like this option, as I prefer my buns soft (insert girlish laughter), whereas I know others prefer a firmer, crustier option. The panini also held up better against the inevitable burger juices (although I have no idea how their seeded bun would go), which helps prevent your burger going sloppy!

We cut each burger in half to get a good cross-section of the contents (which, I think you’ll agree, were pretty formidable!). You can see from this first look that the Urge Burger bun was starting to get a little soft from the juices.

Our first bite of the Urge Burger was very enjoyable, albeit a little hard to get our teeth around for the sheer size of it! This can be challenging, as in an ideal burger bite, you really want to get a bit of everything, which is challenging with such a big burger.  The relish was tasty, and the burger had a very homemade flavour, which we really liked.  There was a nice selection of herbs in the beef patty.  This burger also had a great deal of salad (tomato, onion, cucumber and heaps of salad greens), adding to the charming homemade flavour, and giving it a bit of a “healthier” feel!

The first chomp on the Grill’d Burger was a subtly different experience.  The meat patty was more refined (lacking that nice homemade flavour that the Urge Burger had).  This burger, however, was noticeably easier for us to eat due to its smaller size, and the bun had maintained much of its soft freshness (ie, no sloppy!) which was impressive considering it was the 2nd cab on the burger-tasting rank.  What really set the Big Queenslander apart for us, though, was the delightful herbed mayo and relish combination.  It’s such a subtle addition, but it gives the whole burger a unique flavour that compliments the rest of the ingredients so well.

The Verdict.

We debated back and forth about which burger we preferred.  It was a tough call, because both burgers were amazingly high quality, and each of the burgers had particular elements that we preferred.

Size of burger: Burger Urge won with the biggest burger, but we preferred the smaller size because we could taste all the flavours in one bite

Integrity of bun: Grill’d’s panini withstood the burger juices best

Beef patty: Burger Urge’s patty had a more homemade texture and flavour, which we really enjoyed

Salad: The salad on Urge’s burger was plentiful and fresh!

Sauces: Urge’s relish was good, but Grill’d stole the show with their herbed mayo / relish combo

Overall verdict: Grill’d’s Big Queenslander by a nose!

To all you gourmet burger chains out there: I really can’t stress enough how much of a turn-off a big burger can be for people with smaller appetites (and jaw spans!).  I really recommend that all gourmet burger stores have smaller portions that smaller people can wrap their teeth around, and not be left feeling wasteful with half a burger left over!

Congratulations to both businesses for fighting so passionately for their product – that’s what we love to see around Brisbane: food businesses working harder to show us just how high quality their overall food experience is!

Lastly, though, and most importantly – don’t take our word for it! Get out there and give your local gourmets a go! We’d love to know what you guys think!

One of the first thing that grabbed my attention was the Lamb Sambousek.  According to LeClerc, Sambousek were discovered during the Crusades, and are supposed to have “later inspired the development of meat pies and Cornish pasties in Britain”. Whilst commonly deep-fried, LeClerc recommends oven-baking the Sambousek to avoid making the pastry so heavy.  I wholeheartedly agree – I’m not really into overly-fatty pastries, and I think that the oven-baked pastry really allows the filling to shine.

This was my first try at pastry crimping, too, so you mightn’t be surprised to learn that my first few Sambousek were a little wonky-looking! All in all, though, I really enjoyed cooking these little parcels of savoury goodness. The recipe didn’t specify the yoghurt dressing, but after the first batch came out of the oven, we really thought that a cool, flavoursome yoghurt would contrast nicely with the cinnamon-sweetened lamb and the texture of the pine nuts.  It was a perfect addition, and we enjoyed the Sambousek with tall glasses of iced cranberry juice – hopefully we’ll get to enjoy them with a glass of Middle Eastern Lemonade next time around.

Lamb Sambousek

Pastry

• 2 cups plain flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2/3 cup cold water
• extra flour for kneading and rolling
• 1 egg beaten with 1 tbsp water (to seal pastries)
• (Sunflower oil for deep-frying, if you prefer)

1. Sift flower and salt into a bowl. Add just enough water to form an elastic dough, mixing the dough with a knife.
2. Remove from the bowl and knead on a lightly floured surface for 5 minutes until smooth.  Return dough to bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes to rest.
   NB: if you wanted to save some time, you could easily alternate pastry for pre-made shortcrust pastry sheets

Lamb Filling

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 375g lean lamb mince
• 3 tbsp toasted pine nuts
• 2 tbsp fresh mint, chopped
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground allspice
• 1/4 tsp chilli powder
• Juice of 1 lemon

1. Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat, and cook onion and garlic for about 5 minutes until onion is softened and golden brown. Add lamb mince and cook until browned, breaking up the mince as it cooks.  Drain off any excess fat.
2. Add pine nuts, mint, spices and lemon juice and cook for 2-3 minutes more. Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Cool mixture before using to fill pastry parcels.

To assemble Sambousek

1. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to 3mm thick. Use a pastry-cutter to cut out 9cm circles.
2. Place a tablespoonful of lamb filling in the centre of each.  Dampen edges with the egg mixture, and fold the pastry in half, covering the filling to form a crescent shape.  Press edges together with your fingers to seal, and then crimp edges with a fork, or by making tight, overlapping folds.
3. To deep fry: Heat oil to 170°C or test temperature by adding a crust of bread – if it bubbles and gently turns golden brown the oil is the correct temperature.  Cook pastries in batches of 4 or 5 at a time, until golden brown.  Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towel.
4. To bake: Line baking trays with non-stick baking paper. Preheat oven to 200°C and bake pastries for 15 minutes, or until golden brown.  You can brush the pastry with egg first, if you want a nice glossy finish.
5. Serve with Mint & Garlic Yoghurt, and dress with sprigs of mint.

Mint & Garlic Yoghurt

Combine 1/4 cup freshly chopped mint, 1 clove finely chopped garlic, and 1 cup natural greek yoghurt.

(Makes 24)