Grab Your Fork: A Sydney food blog: December 2009 Archive #navbar-iframe { display: none; }

Thursday, December 31, 2009

2009: A Grab Your Fork digest

Where did the year go? It must be a sign of getting older when the year swoops by faster than a food blogger's camera over your main course.

People often say to me "you seem to eat out a lot" to which I always reply "oh no, not really, just a few meals here and there". And yet reviewing a year's worth of posts seems to prove otherwise - so much food. How did I fit it all in?

With ease, of course.

In late January 2009, Grab Your Fork hit 1000 posts. Over the year, 248 posts were published - this is post number 1223. It's been a delicious year spent with family and friends, including an ever-increasing circle of near and dear food blogging compatriots. It's always the food memories that stand out to me the most. I may not know what I was wearing, or what music was playing, but name an occasion and I'm more than likely to remember the meal I was eating at the time!

Here's a brief snapshot of my favourite pics and posts of 2009:


Crab racing at the Court House Hotel, Newtown


Shish kebabs and Turkish pizza at New Star Kebabs, Auburn


Rooster on a bed of xoi sticky rice at Veruca Salt's Chinese New Year banquet


Making an R2D2 cake with Veruca Salt


The first-ever night-time Chinese New Year parade


Vietnamese Tet festival at Fairfield Showground

Finally learning how to make my own chopstick rest
using a chopstick wrapper


Hosting my own afternoon tea


Visiting Nonna's Gourmet Sausages for a behind-the-scenes tour
on how sausages are made (and I make my first video)


The gloriously kitsch Grotta Capri, Kensington,
featured in Underbelly and Muriel's Wedding


Making the crowd-pleasing Moroccan lamb pizza


Raclette, brie fondue and "snow" at the Sydney Winter Festival, Cook+Phillip Park


A truffle lunch at Senso, Canberra during the Capital Country Truffle Festival


Tasting the tonkotsu ramen at Gumshara, Chinatown for the first time,
and shooting a sneak peek video of his kitchen and cavernous stock pots


Eating deep-fried sushi at Kana Express, and liking it a little too much!


Eating silkworm pupae at Best Friend Korean Restaurant
and liking it not so much


Being flown to Wellington by Positively Wellington Tourism
for the Wellington on a Plate food festival


The spring dinner with champagne at Becasse, Sydney


Finding out Matt Preston reads Grab Your Fork
- and he finally leaves a comment too


The nose-to-tail barbecue at the Good Living Growers' Markets
with Fergus Henderson and twelve leading Sydney chefs


Discovering the joys of deep-fried crab with salted egg yolk
at New Shanghai, Ashfield


Making chocolate bacon cupcakes
and realising that people appreciate any excuse for bacon


Attending the World Chef Showcase and being inspired by the
renegade Alvin Leung and the quietly talented Fuchsia Dunlop


Undertaking a Cabramatta food tour and group cooking lesson
with
Luke Nguyen and his parents


Interviewing Luke Nguyen and marvelling at his
gorgeous childhood photos!


Interviewing Poh Ling Yeow from Masterchef


Eating up Singapore during the Nuffnang Asia-Pacific Blog Awards


A nose-to-tail dinner party for Stomach's Eleven by the amazing Pig Flyin


Seeing my work published in a book -
To Japan with Love


My first ever novelty birthday cake made by Chocolatesuze


Finding the most amazing pecan pie at South Restaurant, Neutral Bay


Helping out as a lighting assistant on a food photography shoot
with Billy and Peter G for Mad Mex, Sydney


Hosting the biggest ever gathering of Sydney food bloggers (50!)
with Chocolatesuze where 24 Elvis cupcakes (bacon, peanut butter
and strawberry jam) disappeared in an instant


Eating a Luther Burger, a bacon cheeseburger in a Krispy Kreme donut
made by Chocolatesuze and living to tell the tale


Digging into a homemade roast suckling pig for a Stomach's Eleven
Christmas feast by Mr and Mrs Pig Flyin

Thank you all for the sharing 2009 with me. Here's to an even more delicious and food-filled year ahead!

24 comments - Add some comment love

posted by Helen (Grab Your Fork) on 12/31/2009 04:23:00 pm


Wednesday, December 30, 2009

The day I met the Luther Burger



Oh yes. They really are donuts.

A meet-up with food bloggers is guaranteed to bring a few interesting dishes. We gathered at Richard's for a post-Christmas catch-up, but perhaps the star of the show was Suze's Luther Burgers.


The Luther Burger, a bacon cheeseburger
sandwiched with a Krispy Kreme donut by Suze


The Luther Burger is named after Luther Vandross - some say it was his favourite snack, others say he invented it, using Krispy Kreme donuts to fulfil a hamburger craving when he ran out of hamburger buns. The burger was a regular menu item at Mulligan's, a restaurant near Atlanta in the USA.

In 2006, the burger received extensive news coverage when it was discovered that the burger had not only been included on the snack menu at the homeground of Illinois baseball team, the Gateway Grizzlies, but it was actually drawing in crowds because of it. The Grizzlies version includes a deep-fried Krispy Kreme donut that packs a whopping 1,000 calories.


Inside the Luther Burger

Coming face-to-face with a Luther Burger is a little daunting to say the least. There's a mix of shock, horror and a touch of devilish intrigue. As each guest arrives, it's hilarious to watch each person's face change from puzzlement to disbelief as they spot the burgers and then ask "wait, is that a donut?"

It feels so wrong to bite into a burger sandwiched with a donut. The glaze leaves a sticky residue all over your fingers, which makes it understandable to see why most places grill the cut side of the donut and then sandwich it cut-side up.

There's a moment of hesitation before I take my first bite. There's no resistance as I sink my teeth into the soft fluffy donut before it meets cheese, crispy bacon and the beef patty. Suze has added a fried egg which oozes a runny yolk, and a pineapple ring which provides a welcome acidity. The donut adds a strange sweetness to the burger which isn't altogether unpleasant, although the entire experience is tainted with dietary guilt - perhaps that's half the appeal.

Most of the females only attempt half a burger and I'm not sure I could eat a whole one - or whether I'd do it again!


Homemade tomato, ham and cheese bread by Shez

We feast on a communal contribution of dishes, the jar of American baconnaise piquing everyone's interest and added to everything in the pursuit of "research". The condiment has a huge list of ingredients but surprisingly, or perhaps unsurprisingly, bacon is not one of them. It smells and tastes like those "bacon bits" that come in a jar in the spice section at the supermarket, a thick creamy slurry that is sweet, salty and smoky.


Sausages by The Ninja alongside Richard's baconnaise

The baconnaise was sandwiched with sausages, but also worked well as a spread on bread on its own. There was homemade bread by Shez, Indian fried snacks bought by Leona and a creamy potato salad by Jacq.


Aloo bonda and samosas from Leona


Potato salad by Jacq


Chicken surprise by Simon

Simon's chicken surprise is so-named because some of the deep-fried chicken parcels contain vegetables, with one contained a generous patty of wasabi. The Ninja finally uncovers the wasabi surprise although he pronounces it tame, perhaps as a result of being deep-fried.


Pork belly by Richard

Richard's marinated pork belly is aromatic and sweet, unctious with the generous ribbons of fat. Billy's roast pork is still warm from the oven, the tender flesh dipped into hoisin sauce whilst the top layer of crunchy crackling is savoured last.


Roast pork by Billy

Desserts? Where does one begin? It was a herculean effort sampling each and every one of them - diligent research a pre-requisite for any committed food blogger of course!


Green tea-ramisu by Lisa

Tiramisu made with green tea matcha powder was an Eastern twist on a traditional Italian favourite.


Lemon cake with cream by Shez

Shez's lemon cake had a refreshing zestiness, the soft layers of cake sandwiched with fresh whipped cream. On a baking frenzy, she also contributed a chocolate fruit pudding which was boozed up with wine and served with cream.

Jacq's pannacotta was smooth and silky, topped with a layer of jelly and fruit.


Pannacotta by Jacq


Momofuku cookies from NYC courtesy of Teresa

When Teresa had said she would bring along Momofuku cookies, most of us expected a batch baked from the Momofuku cookbook. In fact these were straight from Momofuku in New York city, couriered personally to Sydney by a friend with very good taste.

The cookies were dense and sweet, soft chewy cookies that were mixed through with chunks of extra ingredients. We found blueberries in one, and a tasty mix of peanuts, choc chips and pretzels in another. Dark chocolate cookies had an intense cocoa flavour.


Steph blowtorching her marshmallow-topped chocolate cheesecake

Steph's marshmallow cheesecake came with a fiery finale, the surface scorched all over with a blowtorch, toasting the marshmallows to all shades of caramel brown.


Toasted marshmallow chocolate cheesecake by Steph

The chocolate cheesecake was deliciously bitter against the top layer of melting marshmallow. It was a rich dessert made all the more impressive by the blowtorch spectacle. This would be a great finish to any dinner party.


Strawberry and balsamic cupcakes by me

And my contribution? Cupcakes - of course. These vanilla cupcakes had a filling of strawberry jam, then topped with a swirl of balsamic icing and sprinkled with strawberry popping candy. The balsamic vinegar adds a piquancy to the icing - I would have preferred to have served with fresh strawberries and made a dusting of icing sugar, but made do with strawberry popping candy in this instance.

Later than evening Lex arrived with anchovy butter prawns, and still later, Yas with two huge platters of sushi. Thanks again go to Richard for being such a generous host and for the food blogging company who, it turns out, are not only great at Rock Band, but talented at Pictionary as well. Good times!




Strawberry and balsamic cupcakes

125g salted butter softened
125g sugar
125g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
2 eggs
2 tablespoons milk
1/4 cup strawberry jam
strawberry popping candy (optional)

Balsamic frosting
125g unsalted butter, softened
250g-300g pure icing sugar
1-2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon strawberry jam


Preheat oven to 170C or 150C if using fan-forced.

Combine the butter, sugar, flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, vanilla essence and eggs in a food processor and blitz until well combined. If you do not have a food processor, cream the butter and sugar first and then add the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, vanilla essence and eggs and beat until well combined.

Add one tablespoon of milk and blitz/beat. Add the second tablespoon if the mixture still looks a little thick.

Distribute the batter evenly across twelve patty pans in a muffin tin. I usually dollop out a tablespoon in each. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into one of the cupcakes comes out clean.

When the cupcakes are cool, use a piping bag with a plain tip to squeeze a small dollop of strawberry into the middle of each cupcake. Alternatively, use a small sharp knife to cut out a small circle, lift out gently, add jam and then replace the cake lid.

Pipe over with the balsamic frosting. Just before serving, dust with strawberry popping candy - encourage your guests to eat this immediately as the candy will quickly dissolve upon contact with the icing and lose its mouth-popping ability. The popping candy is available at supermarkets in the ice cream topping section.

Alternative serving suggestion: Instead of the strawberry popping candy, serve with fresh strawberry halves dusted with icing sugar.

Balsamic frosting
Using an electric mixer, cream the unsalted butter until light and fluffy. Beat in 250g of the icing sugar, then add 1-2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, adjusting according to your personal taste. You may need to add more icing sugar to get the icing to a pipeable state.

Makes 12 cupcakes

Related GrabYourFork posts:
Cupcakes - Bacon chocolate
Cupcakes - Bacon, peanut butter and strawberry jam (Elvis cupcakes)
Cupcakes - Banana
Cupcakes -
Black sesame in ice cream cones
Cupcakes - Chocolate
Cupcakes - Coca Cola
Cupcakes - Ginger with chai icing
Cupcakes - Mini
Cupcakes - Popcorn
Cupcakes - Red velvet
Cupcakes - Vanilla
26 comments - Add some comment love

posted by Helen (Grab Your Fork) on 12/30/2009 02:55:00 am



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