Apr 29

Treacle - restaurant review

Treacle is a cafe/restaurant that prides itself on using the freshest and most seasonal produce.  Executive Chefs and Owners Richard Gardner and Shenyia Laverack have put together a Modern Australian menu and have focused on using some of the excellent Queensland produce at their fingertips.

Breakfast is beautifully presented and the menu has a great variety of sweet, savory, gluten-free and vegetarian options.  The coffee was very good and the meal sizes are generous.  I enjoyed my breakfast but I think perhaps my dining companians made better selections.

treaclebreakfast1

I ordered roasted field mushrooms on sourdough with grilled haloumi cheese and roasted tomato.  It was enjoyable, but I felt my mushrooms were a bit plain and I would have preferred if they had more flavour to them.

treaclebreakfast2   treaclebreakfast3

One dining companion ordered herb-roasted potatoes, oven baked with baby roma tomatoes served with spinach and poached eggs and toast.  Her eggs were perfectly poached – breaking them open the yolk ran out onto the toast and potatoes.

My other companion dislikes eggs, so she ordered the zesty avocado on sourdough with bacon, roast tomato and rocket.  She opted to add haloumi as well.  The avocado was generously slathered on the toast and I think the addition of haloumi was inspired (but then, I think cheese makes nearly everything better).

On a separate occasion, I visited Treacle for lunch with J and friends who were visiting from Sydney.  The lunch menu seems to stay pretty constant year around, although they do have daily specials which seem to have a more seasonal focus.  I was hoping to have something reasonably light as we were going out for dinner the same night.  I ordered the Thai style rice fish cakes which are served with a side salad and dipping sauce.  The flavour of this dish was lovely, but I didn’t realise the cakes would be deep fried.  I think they might have been left in the a fryer a bit too long also, as they were a bit crispy for my liking.  I think I probably would have enjoyed this dish a bit more if there had been several smaller cakes, rather than two enormous ones.  However, overall I still enjoyed my meal, and ate with gusto.

treaclelunch1

J ordered one of the specials – lamb ribs in crispy breadcrumbs with a sticky Asian dipping sauce.  Our server informed us that one of the secret ingrediants in the sauce is actually Coca Cola.  I am not a big ribs person (I find them too fatty), but J loved this dish.   I was impressed by the dish, particularly as it was something really different that I haven’t seen on a menu elsewhere.

treaclelunch2

Overall I enjoyed my Treacle dining experience, and I will probably be back before too long – hopefully for a wine matching night they are having in May!  I’m always keen to support local businesses with sustainable practices when the owners are passionate about what they do.

Treacle is located at Grange and is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner Tuesday-Saturday and breakfast and lunch on Sundays.

Treacle
Shops 2-3 Days Rd
Grange
Ph: 3352 4144
Web: www.treaclecafe.com.au

29.04.10 | Of: , , , | In: Food | One comment

Feb 15

Mushrooms with creme fraiche and bacon

Mushrooms with creme fraiche and bacon In a moment of weakness a few weeks ago, I ordered several cookbooks from Amazon.  One of my purchases was Ainsley Harriott’s “Fresh and Fabulous Meals in Minutes”.  It is no coincidence that I had been watching Ainsley’s show on tv earlier in the day.

I hardly need more cookbooks.  I’m fairly certain that if I was to cook every recipe in every cookbook I wouldn’t duplicate a recipe for 20 years.  However, there’s something about Ainsley’s cheeky and relaxed style that sucked me in.  And I have no regrets, if even half the recipes are as good as this one.

The mushrooms are meltingly tender.  If you cook them in the same pan as you just cooked the bacon, they take on the flavours of butter and bacon. If there is a better marriage of ingredients I don’t know it!  The garlic, added later in the cooking process, doesn’t have time to crisp up and turn bitter and instead mellows with the addition of the creme fraiche.  The thyme, my new favourite herb to use fresh, cuts through the richness of the dish and adds body to the flavours.

Make this dish for a loved one and they’ll be beating a path to your door.  And it is simplicity itself to put together – providing you with even more time to spend with said loved one.

Mushrooms with creme fraiche and bacon

By: Leah

This recipe is taken from one of my new cookbook acquisitions - Ainsley Harriott's "Fresh and Fabulous Meals in Minutes". It's the first recipe I've made from the book and if it's anything to go by the book will be getting a workout! This is not health food. This is not a recipe for every day or mass consumption. Nor would you expect it to be, with all that butter, creme fraiche and bacon. We made it for Valentine's Day brunch and it was the perfect indulgence...especially as I was feeling a little worse for wear after a hen's party the night before...
Details
  • Prep Time:
    10 min
  • Cook Time:
    10 min
  • Ready In:
    20 min
Servings: 2 servings
Ingredients
  • 40 grams Butter
  • 350 grams Mushrooms (I used button)
  • 1 tsp Fresh thyme
  • 1 clove Garlic crushed
  • 2 English muffins
  • 3 tbsps Creme fraiche
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 50 grams Bacon crisped up in the pan first
  • Salt and pepper
Directions
  1. Melt the butter in a frying pan over medium heat. Be careful not to have the heat too high as the butter will burn.
  2. Add the thickly sliced mushrooms to the pan and cook for about 3 minutes, stirring gently.  The mushrooms should start to soften.
  3. Add the thyme and garlic and continue to cook for another 3 minutes, until the mushrooms are tender and juicy.
  4. Meanwhile, split and toast the muffins.
  5. Add the creme fraiche, mustard and salt and pepper to taste to the mushrooms.
  6. Allow the creme fraiche to melt, mix to combine and let bubble for about 30 seconds until warm through.
  7. Crumble or roughly chop the bacon and add to the pan.
  8. Arrange the muffins on a plate and top with the creamy mushrooms.
  9. Serve immediately and prepare for lip smacking and moans of enjoyment.
15.02.10 | Of: , | In: Food | 2 comments

Feb 08

Mango pancakes

pancakes2

J and I rarely have big breakfasts, however a few weekends ago we were in the mood.  I had some mango in the freezer that needed to be used, so I decided to throw together some mango pancakes.

My inspiration came from a Women’s Weekly recipe for apple and cinnamon pancakes with maple syrup, found in “GoodFoodFast”.  Here is the recipe with my adaptations.  It’s actually fairly healthy if you don’t have ice cream!

Mango pancakes

By: Leah

I originally included cinnamon, as per the original apple recipe, but I have left it out of the recipe - I don't feel it went well with mango. I was a little short on mango, so I added blueberries to serve. Ice cream is a little indulgent for breakfast, so if you're feeling virtuous swap it out for plain or vanilla yoghurt.
Details
  • Prep Time:
    5 min
  • Cook Time:
    10 min
  • Ready In:
    15 min
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients
  • 1 cup self-raising flour
  • 0.25 cup Firmly packed brown sugar
  • 0.5 cup Skim milk
  • 1 Egg yolk
  • 0.5 cup Coarsely chopped mango
  • 2 egg whites
  • 1 cup Mango to serve
  • 1 cup cup Ice cream to serve
  • 2 tbsps Maple syrup to serve
Directions
  1. Combine flour in a large bowl with sugar, milk, egg yolk and chopped mango.
  2. Beat egg whites in a clean bowl with an electric mixer on the highest speed, until soft peaks form.
  3. Gently fold egg whites into the flour mixture.
  4. Heat a fry pan over medium heat - grease if not non-stick.
  5. Pour about 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake.
  6. Cook until bubbles form on the top.  Flip and brown on the other side until cooked through.
  7. Serve pancakes with mango, ice cream and maple syrup.
08.02.10 | Of: , | In: Food | One comment