Cooking with Kylie Kwong – Woolworths
If you haven’t heard already Kylie Kwong who is an Australian television chef, author, restaurateur and was a guest judge for MasterChef Australia is now plating up her signature Chinese dishes to Woolworths customers. The oh so very new range of Chinese dishes includes Aussie favourites such as Mongolian style beef and stir-fried chicken with cashew nuts and if you LOVE Cantonese style dumplings then there is prawn dumplings with ginger and coriander that’s ready for you to make it yourself at home within minutes.
Let’s get the party stared.
To celebrate Kylie Kwong’s partnership with Woolworths guests partied hard at Billy Kwong. The purpose of adding a new dedicated section in Woolworths stores is providing delicious Chinese meals in the space of your own kitchen at home. The experience of the meals will be the same fresh flavours you get at a restaurant with added authentic recipe secrets from Pauline Kwong’s unique approach to cooking Cantonese cuisine.
Such a long LONG LIST for dinner. *Grins*
Table is set!
Billy Kwong’s open kitchen
Started with a few glasses of white and red.
Guess which object is Kylie Kwong’s instagram image?
Before we started our long-crazzzzzy tasting menu, Kylie tells us her stories of how she started her passion for Cantonese food and it’s all thanks to her mother, Pauline Kwong. Kylie jokingly tells us a story of when she use to attend Epping North Public School and how after school she’d go to her Russian friend’s house to eat their cuisine food and the very next day in exchange Kylie would bring her friends over to eat her mother’s cooking.
Kylie tells us the history of how her passion started in her mother’s kitchen.
One Chinese classic dish that can grow better and richer over time would be the master stock eggs. Bathed heavily in pork stock you can tell these half sliced golden eggs have been soaked for what it seems to be hours, but really 45 mintues, said Kylie.
Master Stock Eggs
We move on to the food kit that can be cooked from scratch and that is great value for money is the prawn dumplings with ginger and coriander. This is a great Cantonese style dumpling that combines a filling of seasoned chopped prawns and secret sauce. My mouth kinda fell open a little when this plate arrived looking so awesome. The sauce had an aromatic smell of fresh grated ginger and chopped coriander and it tasted exactly what I had smelt.
Prawn Dumplings with Ginger and Coriander
Next up we deep-fried silken tofu squares with black bean sauce. The superstar ingredient of this dish was of course Kylie’s black bean sauce. This custardlike deep-fried tofu was simultaneously rich, creamy and light and married so well with the powerful taste of the black bean sauce. The sauce was a deeply savoury taste which had a pungent salty flavour.
Deep-Fried Silken Tofu Squares with Black Bean Sauce
I had a weakness for the seared prawns when there was only one left remaining on the plate. It was crazy insane to see the perfectly tender prawn that’s been sweetly caramelised with honey and ginger sauce disappear and devoured in record time.
Seared Prawns with Honey and Ginger Sauce
It was lovely guests had the opportunity to meet Pauline Kwong who is Kylie Kwong’s mother. She’s one beautiful lady who knows how to tell jokes. Pauline explains how every Chinese New Year and Christmas she’d be in her own kitchen for hours stir-frying or deep-frying to cater over 50+ relatives.
Kylie introduces her mother, Pauline Kwong.
This fried rice is overloaded with nutritious vegetables that includes carrot, mushroom, buk choy and tofu. The fried rice is really simple and traditional, however I found it to be a tad soggy, but that didn’t matter because flavour was more important for my tastebuds.
Vegetable Fried Rice
A popular Chinese stir fry with a spicy edge would be the stir-fried beef with black bean and chilli sauce. This was my least favourite because I can’t handle spicy food as much as I want to but I am trying. But if you enjoy the sharp, pungent and spicy flavours then you go for it because I did feel a punch to the mouth. Besides that wild flame on my tastebuds I really liked that somewhat syrupy flavour of the black bean sauce. I tell you this dish totes goes well with a bowl of plain rice.
Stir-Fried Beef with Black Bean and Chilli Sauce?
Something really simple yet I rarely see these days in Asian restaurants is the stir-fried chicken with cashew nuts. I was so easily distracted eating the cashew nuts because of its crunchy texture and the chunks of juicy tender chicken that I had forgotten my bowl of rice. It just shows how this dish can be on its own.
Stir-Fried Chicken with Cashew Nuts
The stir-fried eggplant with black bean sauce was dangerously tasty. I mean WHOAH that black bean sauce goes so very well with eggplant. The slices of eggplant was evenly covered in the sauce and it contained a sticky outside and as you bite into it it was warm and gooey.
Stir-Fried Eggplant with Black Bean Sauce
Action shot of Kylie Kwong in her Billy Kwong kitchen.
It only takes seconds to notice the crispy chicken with sweet and sour sauce. The sauce are a deep red in colour and if you dunk a piece of the chicken into it then it’s going to be a satisfyingly sticky situation.
Crispy Chicken with Sweet and Sour Sauce
Now Mongolian style beef is something I don’t often cross paths with but I do like the savoury flavours of the soy sauce and sweetness from the hoisin sauce. This dish is another perfect example of having it with a bowl of steamed rice. There’s a lot of bright colourful vegetables in this dish like carrot, red capsicum and spring onion.
Mongolian Style Beef
Stir-fried chicken with honey and ginger sauce was really mind-blowing with chicken with thick strands of spring onions. And might I add that sauce was pure perfect comfort with rice as well.
Stir-Fried Chicken with Honey and Ginger
Incredible fragrant of the pork belly soaked in master stock arrived soon after. It was hard to believe nothing was added into this dish for instance any extra spices or sauce because it tasted like it has been marinated for days.
Master Stock Pork Belly
Even the vegetables in master stock provided the same full flavour. Kylie suggested if you use her ranges especially the master stock, it is best to let the meat, vegetables or egg soak for 30 minutes before cooking.
Master Stock Vegetables
For our final savoury dish we were introduced with stir-fried mussels with black bean sauce. There was a lot of flavours going on with the fresh mussels and sauce. I was overjoyed for the first time to have black beans and mussels together.
Stir-Fried Mussels with Black Bean Sauce
Not only was I super happy to meet Kylie Kwong but I also got to meet Lorraine Elliott from Not Quite Nigella. If you don’t know already I am such a FAN GIRL of her blog. Lorraine and I have crossed paths before at Maille High Tea, however I was sooooo nervous to introduce myself to her and plus it would have been freaky to go up to her and say I stalk your blog. Haha. Moving on! Lorriane is an incredibly talented food writer. She tells me her stories about her blog, her husband and how she started Not Quite Nigella. It was truly jaw-dropping to finally have a lonnnng conversation with ONE-OF-A-KIND full time food and travel writer. OH MYYYY GODDDDDD somebody pinch me I really can’t believe we took a selfie together 😀 😀 😀
Selfie time with the beautiful Lorriane from Not Quite Nigella
Photo credit: Lorriane from Not Quite Nigella
Guess who’s got her very own personalised chopsticks?!
I had to take a photo with Kylie Kwong just to prove I wasn’t dreaming. But before a happy snap, Kylie was super-excited as she grabs my hand and gives me a personal tour of Billy Kwong’s open kitchen at Potts Point. Kylie is one passionate Chef who revealed her secrets and rewards of hard work. She gave us a glimpse of her family’s Australian-Chinese festivities and taught me how to use her NEW Cantonese cuisine ranges available only at Woolworths. I cannot wait to give these products a go at home.
Kylie Kwong with Nessy Eater Girl.
Disclaimer: Nessy Eater attended Kylie Kwong’s Woolworths tasting menu, thanks to One Green Bean.
Opinions are however, Nessy Eater’s own.
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Just at Jinda Thai, Abbotsford Melbourne
So it is true you’ll find wonderful restaurants, bars and cafes in nearly every suburb in Melbourne, offering best burgers, hipster drinks and celebrity restaurants. For the ultimate Thai food experience, Jinda Thai Restaurant serves the best shared-eating concept, except I suggest you don’t share desserts. Desserts are not made for sharing. Teehee. It was such a coincidence Amy from Milkteaxx was also in Melbourne the same time as me so we ended up driving to Richmond and having a one on one dinner date to catch up.
Get ready to get fat!
Found the famous purple Jinda sign in Melbourne.
To help easy our pain of Amy parking her “mini bus” vehicle in a tiny street in Melbourne I ordered nom yen ($3) that is the direct translation of tea milk cold and basically it arrived looking creamy pink that is flavoured with strawberry. It pretty much tasted like sugary milk and lacked that fruity berry flavour.
Nom Yen ($3)
Another popular drink that Amy ordered was the cha dum yen ($3) which was a sweet iced black tea. This is one of my favourite Thai drinks because I do not know how to strongly brew tea like the Thai’s do.
Cha Dum Yen ($3)
Every foodie loves a bit of fried stuff and luckily Jinda offers the deep fried soft shell crab ($8.90) served with sriracha mayo and sweet chilli sauce. Hello deep fried deliciousness! This one piece crab chopped in smaller itty bitty pieces wasn’t the perfect serving between two starving food bloggers, but enough to hold our stomachs for the next dish. OHHhhh that crispiness was light and with the sriracha mayo have a nice chilli kick.
Deep Fried Soft Shell Crab ($8.90)
The satay platter arrived looking so juicy with 3 pieces of chicken satay ($8.90) that is heavily covered with peanut sauce. It magically disappeared in the matter of seconds thanks to Amy, so judging my observation I think she liked it A LOT. It was marinated in satay awesomeness. There was no sign of lack of flavour.
Chicken Satay ($8.90)
Son in Law’s ($12.90?) includes CRISPY boiled eggs, tamarind sauce with dried shallots, chilli and coriander. The paper thing crispiness covering around the egg whites make a great team. It was win for the chilli lovers as it provided a top notch burning sensation on my tongue. This dish is a treasure for the protein junkies!
Son in Law’s ($12.90?)
Whatever it was the Roti ($3) tasted insanely good. I clearly remember eating this because it was crispy, flaky and the perfect accompaniment to the chicken satay sauce.
Roti ($3)
Jinda’s beef noodle ($10) was tasty and contained rice stick noodle with sweet soy sauce, pickled turnip and gravy beef but unfortunately the sauce level was miles away. It was the most incredible bowl of beef noodle that was rich, intense and perfect on that cold winter night, but it would have been nice to have a few more teaspoons of sauce just to even out the flavours with the noodle.
Jinda’s Beef Noodle ($10)
Basket filled with jars of sauces
I totally wasn’t expecting the Thai milk tea crepe cake ($8) to be FREAKEN DELICIOUS! It was a nice surprise the Thai cream custard was light and super SUPER smooth. It looked heavy when it first arrived at our table and Amy and I wasn’t too sure if we’d be able to finish it, but we gladly did. I loved the layers of crepe and I’m such a big fan of Thai milk tea that I had to order one for the road. It makes sense now why this dessert is constantly flooding my Instagram account. Totes would recommend it!
Thai Milk Tea Crepe Cake ($8)
Now the hard part was getting up and walking my big ass outta here. I really love Jinda Thai Restaurant as their décor is beautiful when you walk in. The food is reasonably affordable and meets the cheap eats guide. I strongly recommend if you visit Melbourne you have to visit Jinda and order their Thai Milk Tea Crepe Cake.
Photos by Vanny Tang
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Bring on Sashimi and Sushi Busshari, Potts Point
HEY Foodie Friends! It’s been a while since my last post and I’m slowly coming back to planet Earth. Forgive me, but ERMAHGERD winter is here. Since I’m slowly returning to the eating world I thought it was time to visit Busshari in Potts Point that is minutes away from Kings Cross Station. As I entered the restaurant I look around and it’s dark with a few dim lights, but that didn’t matter because I easily spotted the bar seating, YIPPEE!
Is your belly excited or what for some Japanese food?!
What? There’s sashimi and sushi at Busshari?
Busshari Bar Seating
We started with the chef’s selection sashimi plate ($34) that includes ocean trout, tuna, scallops, kingfish and fabulously decorated with red kombu and seaweed. Undoubtedly fresh! What a way to start dinner.
Chef’s Selection Sashimi Plate ($34)
Was it really necessary to take another photo of the fresh sashimi plate? YES IT WAS! My favourite was the ocean trout and tuna which had an utterly decadent texture to it and had us fighting over the last piece with our wooden chopsticks.
Liking the side view?
There was an impressive looking sake menu and well I had to order one for the team. Teehee. We tried spotting a waitress with our sake bottle, but instead she brings a selection of handmade sake cups to our area first and excitingly informs us to choose a cup. I took a gamble and embarrassed myself by singing eeny meeny miny moe. Look below what I picked…
Which sake cup shall I choose?
The Tengumai sake ($17) had the perfect sweet balance and matched incredibly well with sashimi and the sushi plate. Just a tip: If you order sake’s lukewarm/hot in winter they’re usually the ones where you instantly feel the alcohol going around to your head (like you might with vodka). After two shots of sake it did its job making my world spin.
Tengumai Sake ($17)
I felt comfortable staring at the chef’s selection sushi plate ($34), it was hot property between two hungry food lovers. I try the unagi that’s freshwater eel broiled with a sweet brush of teriyaki sauce and tamagoyaki as well as uni nigiri and they were wonderful. The textures made me crazy that I didn’t want to share so what else to do but to continue to eat….
Chef’s Selection Sushi Plate ($34)
This has got to be the LARGEST tamagoyaki I’ve ever had as I found it hilarious that it looked like a Japanese surf board and it’s edible. It looked so LOOOOOOOOONG that I compared it with my iPhone, almost the same height. It was tasty nonetheless.
My Tamagoyaki looked like a surf board. HAHA!
We applaud when the plate of sushi roll rainbow ($17) arrives. Usually normal people would eat the sushi but I had to do investigate each sliced sushi piece. Rainbow rolls are awesome in my world because you get a nice variety of fish, and they’re colourful and I love colours. There was a mix of ingredients including tuna, salmon, yellowtail and prawn.
Sushi Roll Rainbow ($17)
Turns out I was lucky enough to eat three quarters of this dish. These babies didn’t disappoint and had a tasty inside of avocado, cucumber and crabstick. I loved the fragrance of the rice as it was well put together with the other ingredients.
It’s ALL mine!
Fasten your seat belts because the soft shell crab karaage ($18) was FREAKEN INSANCE and finger-licking good. There was good chemistry with me and those crabs. It did look double battered, but looks can be deceiving my friends. It didn’t take much to make my happy with this dish and certainly wasn’t willing to share. I take the biggest piece that I could find and it was light and crisp. It almost felt as if each piece was hollow inside but had a strong flavour of the crab. A very exciting dish to order if you HEART FRIED STUFF.
Soft Shell Crab Karaage ($18)
Well when there’s fried food on the table one has to order Asahi beer on tap ($9.50) just to balance the flavours…
Asahi beer on tap ($9.50)
We genuinely liked the wagyu beef sizzling tobanyaki ($33), however for the wrong reason. After a friendly start with the wagyu beef sizzling in a clay pot with extremely hot charcoal we waited for a few minutes before we dived our chopsticks in. To my surprise the meat was kinda bland and lacked that wagyu melt in the mouth texture, but it was overall juicy. Some pieces were a tad chewy and whilst others were somewhat tender. It’s quite a popular pick for the locals as it looks fun, so do give it a go and maybe you’d get lucky with the flavour and texture of the meat. Make sure to ask for a bowl of rice ($4) to accompany those juicy pieces of wagyu or at least turn that boring plain rice into something meaty.
Wagyu Beef Sizzling Tobanyaki ($33)
I had high levels of affection with the mixed sizzling vegetables including corn, asparagus, mushroom and a piece of carrot carved into the shape of a flower. Something about vegetables being sizzled on a hot clay pot taste so much more awesome that I required a guard to make sure none of these pieces gets stolen from me while I went for a toilet break.
Top view of the wagyu at its best!
We struggled eating the last two pieces of wagyu and it was a real shame that it wasn’t the highlight of this dish, instead the mixed fresh veggies were. We had to make sure we didn’t get the wrong dish and had asked the waitress to clarify if this was the the wagyu beef we ordered. She confirmed this was the dish and informed us it was the wagyu shoulder. For some gut feeling I didn’t want to believe it. But hey I ate all my vegetables at the end of the day and most of the meat. How can one complain when meat is sizzling right in front of you…
Woooo this pot comes with hot charcoal inside and a flame…
Handmade plates made by the Chef himself, Nobuyuki Ito.
Our very last dish had to end with the dessert platter ($15) and I went way to emotional with choosing three part desserts. Living in my own little bubble the pumpkin mousse brulee made me feel like Cinderella who lost her shoe at midnight, but instead I just got fat. Teehee. The brulee was reasonably smooth and had a tiny bit of raw pumpkin flavour. Next the sesame tart was crazy intense with a good solid crunchiness to it and it was pretty generous with the sesame seeds as you can see. For the black sesame ice-cream it was undoubtedly rich and smooth and I just wanted to slab a few tablespoons onto the tart but I was too late. AND if you are a Washoku Lovers member you get a scoop of green tea ice-cream for FREE. All you need to do is just flash that card of yours to the staff. How easy was that?!
Dessert Platter (3 Choice- $15)
It was entertaining to see Chef Nobuyuki Ito show off his knife skills as well as plating each dish during the night with freshly cut sashimi and hand-making sushi right in front of us. I can see why Busshari is so popular at Potts Point as they recently celebrated their 9th Year Anniversary. I loved the bar seating area, the food was pretty up there, however very sad the wagyu wasn’t as great as I imagined. I do have plans to revisit this place again soon and try the rest of the sake menu.
Concentration is key at Busshari when it comes to making seafood sashimi salad.
Photos by Vanny Tang
Disclaimer: Nessy Eater plus guest attended Busshari, thanks SD Marketing Global and Washoku Lovers.
Some meals in this post were independently paid for.
Opinions are however, Nessy Eater’s own.
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My Food Bag- Weekday Meals Made Easy at Home
“What’s for dinner tonight?” seems like the most important question on everyone’s mind every night. Dinner ideas can be really frustrating especially when you just finished a stressful long day at work. When you finally figure out a dish you want to cook (usually the same idea: chicken and broccoli or steak with chips), then comes the chore of having to purchase the ingredients and lining up in the supermarket queue. By the time you finish unloading your groceries onto the kitchen table, you’d be ready to jump into bed. Rewind everything you just read and let’s just order seven days of take-out food for dinner. Luckily there is a solution for this and here is how: My Food Bag. Full stop!
My Food Bag was born in New Zealand in March 2013. After a huge success and support from their kiwi fans, it hopped on to a plane to Australian soil and launched in Sydney, Melbourne and soon to launch in other Australian cities. What My Food Bag offers is a selection of healthy recipes, AND EVERYTHING you need to whip up to make a 5-star dish (minus a fraction of pantry staples that you may already have at home e.g. egg, salt and or pepper).
Food rainbow
There are three different Food Bags to choose from to suit different households and tastebuds, unfortunately this does not include pets if you count them as family, sorry. Delivered on a Sunday so you’re all prepped for the week ahead:
- The Family Bag, designed for a family with 2 adults and 2-3 young children ($169 for 5 people for 5 days)
- The Classic Bag, designed for a family of 4 with 4 adults or 2 adults and 2 older children ($129 for 4 people for 3 days)
- The Gourmet Bag, designed for two people ($149 for 2 adults for 4 days)
The first thing I noticed about My Food Bag is that they are great with communicating with their hungry customers. For instance we received an email on Friday informing us what recipes we’d be cooking the following week. I must confess all recipes for my week looked MOUTH-WATERING. On Saturday they send us a text telling us time slot for our delivery. And on Sunday it felt like Santa popped by because as promised My Food Bag-Classic arrived right on our doorstep. As we unwrapped our presents, everything seems to be top notch. The organic meat and free range chicken to spices and brown rice was meticulously labelled. Fruits, vegetables and herbs smelt ridiculously healthy. Totes give My Food Bag a HUGE TICK of APPROVAL for freshness.
What’s in the My Food Bag Classic?
For your first delivery My Food Bag gifts you with a mini folder where you can store your deepest darkest secrets of your favourite recipe cards. All recipe cards are seasonally based and are created by their top dog Head Chef, Miguel Maestre (from Channel 10’s The Living Room), as well as Zoe Bingley-Pullin who co-host of Channel Ten’s Good Chef Bad Chef and 2011 MasterChef New Zealand winner, Nadia Lim.
Time to unwrap the recipe bag…what’s cooking good looking.
Get ready to be rescued from starvation in your own home! What are you waiting for…keep scrolling for more healthy home cooked meals.
Day 1: SALMON WITH SALSA VERDE, SMASHED POTATOES AND SPINACH
Taste: Great start to a Monday with a fat piece of salmon that smelt like it just had been caught from the ocean before it was then pan fried. I loved how the salsa verde from The Cooking Room made the warm salad much more tastier. The downside of this dish was the salmon flavour seemed to be super strong in freshness that it didn’t blend so well with the salad. Maybe I should have marinated the fish with the salsa verde….note to self for next time.
Verdict: I was absolutely stuffed eating this dish and had half a plate of leftovers. It was a fantastic warm-up exercise to get started in the kitchen. I noticed there was vegetables on my plate and I cooked it (GASP).
OH EM GEEE! What am I cooking?
Salmon with salsa verde, smashed potatoes and spinch
Day 2: ZA’ATAR CRUSTED CHICKEN WITH LEBANESE FATTOUSH
Taste: This dish was pretty darn addictive. The Lebanese fattoush was enough to send me running to the nearest farm and pick up the same ingredients to make it again. I did not know mint and parsley can go so well together with salad, it tasted refreshing. The chicken was so flavoursome like it had been marinated for hours but really it was max 10 minutes, so applause to za’atar. As for the pieces of Lebanese bread I made a new batch right after demolishing this dish. So much goodness in this recipe!
Verdict: To my surprise I now know how to make a fattoush salad using herbs and learnt how to use za’atar spice with chicken thighs. Also what an excellent idea of substituting deep fried chips with baked Lebanese bread and it’s served hot. Great for winter snacks that’s just around the corner and doesn’t increase your waistline.
Gonna make the most delicious dish on the planet! Can you guess?
Za’atar crusted chicken with Lebanese fattoush
Being oh so childish as always and pretending to be creative in the kitchen, I thought it would be fun to make a fattoush boat. This would be great for the kids as it was served in a small portion. Do you like my work of food art?
Nessy Eater’s fattoush boat (Please don’t judge me!)
Day 3: PORK STEAKS WITH SWEET POTATO ROSTI, MANGO SALSA AND CURRY MAYO
Taste: There was plenty of vegetable element in this dish and all ingredients married so well together even the curry mayo. Life’s too short to just have one serving. Teehee. The pork steak bathed in curry powder was beautifully paired well with the salsa and had the perfect sweet/salty balance as well as a bit of tanginess from the dressing. LIP SMACKING DELICIOUS RECIPE!
Verdict: I am gobsmacked that I made a sweet potato rosti. Never knew sweet potato can be used like that before and that’s why I never buy sweet potatoes at the supermarket, but that’s going to change from now on. Besides the rosti the salsa was screaming summer all over the plate. Not only did this dish bring happiness to my belly but it kept me dreaming about it the next day.
I think I can smell a healthy meal coming soon…
Look how fabulous my sweet potato rosti looks before pan frying it.
So weird to admit I made this…
Pork steak with sweet potato rosti, mango salsa and curry mayo
Day 4: ZOE’S LAMB, TAMARIND, PUMPKIN AND YOGHURT CURRY WITH BROWN RICE
Taste: Get punched in the mouth with Zoe’s lamb with flavours of modern India. This curry was easy to make and sang with flavour, I wish it was a never ending pot. The lamb was tasty enough with the curry and wasn’t overpowering. I may have had a bigger appetite than Zoe with this dish, so thank goodness for leftover Lebanese bread.
Verdict: The curry was seriously amazing because well I cooked it. Haha. However I failed to cook the brown rice accordingly to the recipe card, but that didn’t stop me from eating it. On a much happier note I now can make lamb curry. This pot of curry would be pretty high up on my list for winter meals. To my shock I used curry leaves, tamarind puree and Bombay curry powder for the very first time in one dish. I think I’m ready to apply for the next MasterChef.
Need curry in a hurry? Make this!
May need to work on cooking brown rice a little bit more…
Zoe’s lamb, tamarind, pumpkin and yoghurt curry with brown rice
Day 5: VIETNAMESE BEEF SALAD WITH RICE NOODLES
Taste: The rice noodles was fully coated with fish sauce and there was completely no sign of lack of flavour. I quite enjoyed the slices of beef sirloin steak that combined so well with the super refreshing salad. It was very juicy and tender that it was pretty impossible to share. Pretty impressed with using Thai herbs and eating 3 vegetables. Can be easily served hot or cold because that sweet sour flavour doesn’t vanish.
Verdict: This was so easy to make that I could do this blind-folded. Most of the time spent was chopping up my vegetables into different shapes. Again I am still overwhelmed of using herbs in any of My Food Bag recipes.
Bring on the next My Food Bag recipe!
Vietnamese beef salad with rice noodles
Aaaand that’s a wrap up of My Food Bag Classic. I have definitely gained a lot of skills during these 5 days and instead of eating my beloved steak and fried repeatedly during the weekdays, I have now got 5 recipe cards to use. It was great that every day was a mix of vegetables and meat so it wasn’t boring at all for me to be in the kitchen. There was plenty of left over spices and herbs that can be used for other recipes you can try at home. I love the idea of having not to use my brain to plan ahead of what to eat for dinner and go to the grocery store to buy each ingredient. My Food Bag is super duper convenient for families.
Top 5 Reasons to Try My Food Bag
- The ingredients you pull out of the paper bags is 110% fresh, you can smell it from miles away. All My Food Bag produce is organic and free range that is straight from the farmers. There is definitely a difference to the taste when it comes to organic vs. purchasing at a supermarket.
- Delivered straight to your door for FREE. This means fewer trips to the shops. No need to battle the supermarket queue on weekends- I know how frustrating that can get!
- Don’t need to menu plan because My Food Bag has already planned 5 days of delicious recipes for you and the family.
- Great family activity and bonding time with kids and or loved ones.
- You’ll be eating healthy for dinner. There are at least 2 vegetables or greens for each recipe without you even knowing!
Final Thoughts about My Food Bag
- Felt like a 5 star chef in the house
- Never knew I can use spices and herbs in my own kitchen
- Had leftovers = YUM
- Never ate 2-4 vegetables on one plate in one night before
- Great family activity
- Learnt a few new tricks
Photos by Vanny Tang
Disclaimer: Nessy Eater received a trial of My Food Bag-Classic, thanks to Porter Novelli and My Food Bag.
Opinions are however, Nessy Eater’s own.
Check out other My Food Bag post I did. Click here.
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Long Luxurious Night at La Grillade Crows Nest
Tucked away behind the Lower North Shore terrace, La Grillade has been the gourmet retreat for the social set and often the romantic dinner spot. This iconic venue is operated by husband and wife team, George and Ann. You may be familiar with this couple at The Little Snail where French style cooking combined with friendly service meets personality and charm for each table.
Such a cosy restaurant at La Grillade
Dining at La Grillade you will expect food as being exotic and sophisticated at realistic prices. For instance we opted for a set priced menu at $63 for 3 courses (for an entrée, main and dessert) with the full a la carte menu to choose from including snails and prime steaks, which are a key feature of La Grillade’s menu. But if you fancy something a little more meatier than it is your mission to order the 14 hrs slow cooked lamb shoulder for two (additional $20).
What’s on the menu?
For entrée I was happily digging in to the platter of garlic-drenched escargots. The snails in the shell came in one dozen and sizzled in garlic parsley butter that may have overpowered the the red wine. My personal recommendation is to also order a few slices of plain bread so you can watch the puddle of butter and bread marry together like a edible sponge.
Snails in the shell
I was busted for taking a small scoop of someone’s duck liver pate that contained green peppercorns, port jelly and croutons. That teeny tiny bowl of pate had us glancing at each other. Port jelly was one of my absolute favourite things. The flavours was sweet and very aromatic with red wine. As for the pate it was super SUPER SMOOTH.
Duck Liver Pate
If you are not so keen to ordering a duck liver pate then perhaps the rillettes of pork is an option. Traditional rillettes of pork with a hint of orange and tarragon fell far short of doing the generous quantity. The rillette was tasty and it was stuffed with a lot of shredded pork meat and cooked slowly in fat until it was tender enough to be easily served to form a paste.
Rillettes of Pork
I thought I’d have issues with this entree but it was alllll good with the a generous portion of crispy pieces of croutons to balance it off the taste of pork love making in my mouth.
Our starter wasn’t complete till we chosen the golden fried calamari which came with chilli, salt and pepper with garlic aioli. I love the calamari’s strong flavour and utterly unique texture; it’s nice and meaty but soft in the center, and when the coating is lightly fried, it is utter perfection on a plate.
Golden Fried Calamari
Love the setting at La Grillade
True French style courtyard dining
Moving on to mains came this sexy ENORMOUS piece of lamb shoulder (for two) (additional $20 for set priced menu) that’s been slow-cooked for 14 hrs straight. It looked like a GIGANTIC slab of meaty goodness, just sprinkled with deliciousness from the crispy herb bits which then drowned in the Junee’s finest lamb sauce. It may look small in the photo but oh boy was it filling for three dinosaur stomachs. If you are not in a rush and want to spend the final minutes with this shoulder then now is the time to order a glass of red to accommodate this dish. A lovely falling-off-the-bone moment was witnessed and for the taste and texture it developed a deep, rich flavour that melts in the mouth.
14 hrs Slow-cooked Lamb Shoulder (for two)
And because we love meat so much it is very important to decorate your main with some glossy steamed vegetables that has been generously tossed with olive oil.
Steamed Vegetables
Say goodbye to boring duck breast because the one in La Grillade was pretty damn tasty as it has been twice cooked and decorated with pink flesh then glazed with sweet and sour cherries. The duck breast wasn’t a challenge to eat as I believe it’s the meatiest and best eating part of the duck. Okay…there may be some signs that these breasts were dry, but that didn’t stop me! This dish was easily finished because of the sauce, delicately sweet.
Duck breast
To complement any meaty mains we ordered the creamed potato ($8). The texture was mild, thick and creamy, and this was a pleasant change from vegetables. There was no river of gravy in sight but I totally approve how delicious this was because none of us wanted to share.
Creamed Potato ($8)
The rib eye (400gm) was just so mindblowingly good here that it was only right to have it cooked to medium rare. You can tell this slab of prime beef, dry aged was lightly smoked and grilled. It was seductive to see the pool of beef juice and served with Paris butter and veal glaze. There was so much tenderness in this beef that I managed to sneak a few more slices back to my own plate. Oh that evil grin begins!
Rib Eye (400gm)
Can you handle dessert after all the above?! Well YES FOR ME. We chosen the baked lemon cheesecake because we saw the word “cake” at the end of cheesecake. Teehee. I must say this was a very ordinary dessert, nothing that fancy my pants other than the slight sour lemon flavour and silky smooth texture of the cheese.
Baked Lemon Cheesecake
If you can’t handle a super heavy dessert then the coffee profiteroles Kahlua anglaise would be a good pick, which are stuffed full of sweet coffee creme covered in a profiteroles patissière and are placed over a small pond of mild Kahlua sauce.
Coffee Profiteroles Kahluaanglaise
We weren’t going to leave a French restaurant without having the crème brulee. Although for some reason, a bowl of custard isn’t seen as an appropriate dessert for a grown adult, but stabbing our way through a perfect golden sugary layer and into the smooth custard can be an excuse to having this.
Crème Brulee
Can you see how this decadent dessert is with the vanilla custard and tops it with a layer of crisp caramelized sugar…Hmmm I feel fat.
That brulee…
By now I’ve reached exploding point and it felt like I was ready to roll out of here, but first let me just finish our last dessert- rich chocolate mousse. It was a perfectly fine mousse even though it wasn’t anything super special. Not only did it manage to convey both indulgence and comfort it was a heaven in a dish for all you chocolate fans out there.
Well I was feeling a tad heavier than I was before I visited La Grillade. Best to go for the set menu as I feel it’s more worth it when you calculate in your mind the original price for each dish. I will definitely come back for dinner again an try my luck on the rest of the menu.
Rich Chocolate Mousse
Photos by Vanny Tang
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