Nov 17

Restaurant review - degustation at NuNu

Our final night in Cairns, and why not finish our holiday with a bang?  A decadent degustation at NuNu in Palm Cove sounded right up our alley.  You can choose between 5 and 8 course versions.  Have we met?  Of course we went for the 8 course option, 6am flight be damned.  And my dining companions took the decadence one step further by enjoying matched wines.  I just had a few sips, but as always was astounded by the skillful choices of the sommelier.  Unfortunately, my memory is failing and I cannot remember which wines went with which dishes – however, I have made a list of all sampled wines.

Brace yourself, there is going to be some gushing in this review, but I’ll try to keep it to a minimum.  I apologise for the quality of some of the photos, the restaurant was quite dim (I believe that’s called “atmosphere”, which I promptly spoiled by using the flash).  A moment to rave about the location – picture palm trees, the soothing sound of surf, jazz softly playing the background, candles, open walls and the smell of sea salt.  Tropical paradise.

Pre-degustation

nunuspredegust

Homemade bread with preserved lemons and sea salt.  Piping hot from the oven, and a real wake up to the palate with big hits of lemon and salt.

Course 1

nunuscourse1part1 nunuscourse1part2

Millionaires salad: shaved local heart of palm, honeydew melon, lime, baby herbs and chilli.  Light and refreshing start to the degustation.

Also, salmon roe, garlic chips, fried shallots, green papaya (and a mystery ingredient or two!) wrapped in betel leaves.  I loved this dish and it was one of the highlights – such a variety of textures and flavours, yet perfectly balanced.

Course 2

nunuscourse2

Hervey bay scallops with spanner crab, hazelnuts, new season muscatels, parsnip and gold leaf.  I must admit, I don’t really see the point of gold leaf, but that aside this was a great dish.  I don’t believe the scallops were cooked but they were so fresh they melted on your tongue.

Course 3

nunuscourse3

Butter poached tiger prawn and spiced lentil toasty, yoghurt, cucumber and curry leaf.  One of the most amazing things about this degustation was the high standard of every single dish.  This was no exception.

Course 4

nunuscourse4

Local line caught reef fish, smoked eggplant salad, tumeric sauce and clams.  The sauce in this was amazing, some was served in the clam shell and eagerly slurped up by my party.  A dining companion declared this his favourite dish of the night.  A huge flavour hit.

Course 5

nunuscourse5

Slow roasted red duck curry with squid and young coconut salad, thai basil and jasmine rice.  Even I loved this dish, and I’m not the biggest fan of duck.  The red curry paste/sauce was out of this world!

Course 6

nunuscourse6

Garlic rubbed beef, with burnt butter gnocchi, crushed peas, sprout leaves, hazelnuts and gorgonzola dolche latte (and an onion ring!).  Another highlight for me – the beef was beautifully cooked, the gnocchi featherlight, and I loved the combination of hazelnuts and gorgonzola.

Course 7

nunuscourse7

Cheese – Gallo Dairyland Baci (Brie) with date paste, a tuille and fennel seeds.  A smooth rich cheese.  We found the additional of fennel particularly inspired, and it worked so well with the matched wine.

Course 8

nunuscourse8

Passionfruit souffle with passionfruit icecream and passionfruit curd tart.  I love it when “dessert” is actually 3 different dishes – a great dish to show off the merits of a sometimes underrated tropical fruit!

Wines

Sparkling – Ayala, “brut majeur” from Ay, France

Riesling – 2008 Dr burklin-wolf trocken from Pfalz, Germany

Semillon Sauvignon Blanc – 2009 Henschke ‘elanor’s cottage’ from Adelaide Hills, SA

Aromatic – 2008 Domaine la grange, muscadet surlie from Loire Valley, France

Pinot Noir – 2008 Rabbit ranch from Central Otago, New Zealand

Zinfandel Shiraz – 2008 Buckshot ‘the square peg’ from Heathcote, VIC

GSM – 2006 Cotes du rhone ‘Guigal’ from Rhone valley, France

Sweet – 2008 Bress ‘kindust cut’ guwurtztraminer

A restaurant after my own heart, NuNu are commited to using local, seasonal and, where possible, organic produce.  They were awarded “Regional Restaurant of the Year” by Gourmet Traveller in 2008, and it’s easy to see why.

NuNu Restaurant
123 Williams Esplanade
Palm Cove, Queensland
Ph: 07 4059 1880
Web: http://www.nunu.com.au/

17.11.10 | Of: , , , | In: Food | 4 comments

Nov 04

Felafel with labne

felafel1 I recently read this post and stored it away in my “to do” file.  And of course, I had to make felafel to enjoy with my labne.  For those not in the know (like me until I read this post) labne is a middle eastern cheese made with a yoghurt base.  It’s tangy and pairs exceptionally well with felafel.

This is a recipe for felafel, slightly adapted to my tastes, that I found whilst scouring the web.  I do feel like some crucial spice or ingredient was missing, so I welcome any suggestions for additions.

I love felafel and I think it’s a great example of how satisfying and tasty vegetarian food can be.  I think even raging carnivores might be able to appreciate a felafel wrap!

felafel2

Felafel
Posted October 19, 2010 by Leah in Posted In:

Cuisines: , , , ,
Details
  • Prep Time:
    15 min
  • Cook Time:
    15 min
  • Ready Time:
    30 min

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups Dried chickpeas, soaked overnight
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • 1/3 cup Flat leaf parsley finely chopped
  • 2 tablespoons Fresh coriander, chopped
  • 1 clove Garlic, minced
  • 1-2 teaspoon Cumin
  • 1 teaspoon Paprika or red pepper flakes
  • 3 tablespoons Water
  • Olive or canola oil

Directions

  1. Soak the chickpeas overnight.
  2. Drain and rinse the chickpeas.
  3. Add the chickpeas and all remaining ingrediants other than water and oil to a food processor.
  4. Process until a coarse paste.  Add water if necessary to bring together.
  5. Roll the paste into balls.
  6. In a medium saucepan, heat 2 inches of oil to medium high - so that the balls immediately start to fry once in the oil.
  7. Fry the balls in small batches until browned and crisp.  Alternatively you could try baking in the oven.
  8. Drain on paper towels, then serve on pita bread or wraps with salad, tabbouli, hummus and labna as you prefer.
04.11.10 | Of: , , , | In: Food | 3 comments

Oct 22

Winter warmer - Beef and Guinness Casserole

beefguinness It’s still felt like winter the last few weeks in Brisbane (lots of rain and wind), so here’s one last winter warmer dish.

This is easy and simple, and is taken from the book “The CSIRO Heart Healthy Program”.  I know the CSIRO diet was very popular a few years ago, and despite its detractors I think most of the recipes are delicious.

We also made dumplings to throw on top for the last 30 minutes of cooking.  Dumplings are simply made by rubbing flour, a pinch of salt and butter together and then adding water until you have a reasonably firm dough.  You can also add herbs to taste – we added rosemary to these ones.  Roll them into little balls and place on top of the cooking stew.

Beef and Guinness casserole
Posted October 19, 2010 by Leah in Posted In:

Cuisines:
Details
  • Prep Time:
    30 min
  • Cook Time:
    120 min
  • Ready Time:
    2 h, 30 min

Ingredients

  • 400 grams Beef, in 4cm cubes
  • 1 tablespoon Plain flour
  • 2 tablespoons Oil
  • 2 Brown onions, diced
  • 2 Carrots, thickly sliced
  • 2 Sticks celery, sliced
  • 440 mL can Guiness
  • 2 cups Beef stock
  • 2 tablespoons Tomato paste
  • 1 Bay leaf
  • 1 sprig Rosemary
  • 1 sprig Thyme
  • 200 grams Small button mushrooms
  • 600 grams Chat potatoes, halved
  • 1/4 cup Roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley

Directions

  1. Place flour in a bowl and season with pepper, then toss the beef through the flour.
  2. Heat 1 tbs of the oil in a heavy dutch oven over medium heat.
  3. Add the beef and cook in batches.  About 3 minutes or until browned.  Remove and set aside.  You'll probably end up with flour stuck to the bottom of the pan - this is the flavour!
  4. Add the remaining oil to the casserole dish and cook the onion, carrot and celery for 5 minutes until they begin to soften.
  5. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 1 minute.
  6. Add the beef, Guinness, stock, bay leaf, rosemary and thyme.
  7. Bring tot he boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, covered for 1.5 hrs, stirring occasionally.  Add the dumplings if making in the last 30 minutes.
  8. Add mushrooms and potatoes, then simmer, uncovered, for 10-15 more minutes.
  9. To serve stir in the parsley and serve with green veges.
22.10.10 | Of: , , | In: Food | 3 comments

Sep 23

Boston Baked Beans

This recipe makes a hearty dinner, and the leftovers would be delicious for breakfast also.  Although this version uses bacon, I’m sure this could be omitted to make the meal vegetarian (and also vegan).  We didn’t have any greens with the meal (tut tut) but now that I think of it, a side of spinach or zucchini would have been lovely.

Don’t be intimidated by this dish.  Although it requires a bit of foresight (you have to soak the beans the night before), and quite a bit of cooking time (up to 4 hours), it is dead easy.  We only made half the recipe, but if you made the full amount you could freeze portions for an easy dinner on another night.  And these baked beans leave the tinned version for dead.

bostonbeans
Boston Baked Beans
Posted September 19, 2010 by Leah in Posted In:
Baked beans - but not as you know them! Once again, I've borrowed from Maggie Beer. This will have to be my last recipe from her, but I highly recommend you check out "Maggie's Kitchen" - she hasn't led me astray yet.

Cuisines:
Details
  • Prep Time:
    15 min
  • Cook Time:
    240 min
  • Ready Time:
    4 h, 15 min

Ingredients

  • 500 grams Dried cannelini beans, soaked overnight
  • 2 tbsps Mustard powder
  • 1/4 cup Treacle
  • 1/4 cup Brown sugar
  • 2 Cloves
  • 1 Onion, halved
  • 100 grams Smoked pork belly or bacon, roughly chopped
  • 2 Bay leaves
  • Olive oil
  • 400 grams Tin chopped tomatoes
  • 1/4 cup Red wine vinegar
  • Sea salt and pepper
  • 1 tbsp Chopped mint

Directions

  1. Drain and rinse the beans.  Cover with fresh water and bring to boil in a saucepan.
  2. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 45 minutes.  Drain and leave to cool.
  3. Mix together mustard powder and water to make a paste.
  4. Add treacle and brown sugar and stir well - it will form a thick paste.
  5. Preheat the oven to 150* (mine isn't fan-forced).
  6. Spike each onion half with a clove.
  7. Splash some olive oil into a dutch oven.  Add the onion halves, bacon and bay leaves.
  8. Cook over a medium heat on the stove for about 5 minutes.
  9. Add tomatoes and mustard mixture and stir to combine.
  10. Add the beans and cover with a tight-fitting lid.
  11. Maggie suggests baking for 4 hours, or until the beans are cooked.  There is no way my beans took that long to cook, so just keep an eye on them and play by ear.
  12. Remove the lid for the last 30 minutes of cooking and add the red-wine vinegar.
  13. Season with salt and pepper.
  14. Once the beans are ready, add the mint and adjust seasoning as necessary.  If they are still a bit too sweet for you, stir through a little more vinegar.  Use a light touch, because if you add too much vinegar there will be no fixing it!
  15. We served our with some crusty bread.  A few greens might also be a good idea!
23.09.10 | Of: , , | In: Food | Leave a comment

Sep 19

Winter warmer - Rabbit Stew with dumplings

rabbitpot

This is a Jamie Oliver recipe that we made one Saturday night.  It’s definitely a weekend dish as it requires quite a bit of preparation and cooking time.

Rabbit is not a meat I have eaten very often.   As with most other meats, there is a considerable difference between the farmed variety and wild rabbit.  In a funny coincidence, we actually went to J’s parent’s for dinner the following night and ate rabbit there!  We’re pretty sure that we used wild rabbit in this dish, but J’s family used farmed.  The difference in taste was quite marked – the wild rabbit was far more gamey, whereas the farmed rabbit was very similar in taste to chicken.  It pains me to admit this, given I’m so opposed to factory farming, however I far preferred the taste of the farmed rabbit.  It may also have been the recipe that we use (which is reproduced below).  For some reason, all I could taste was nutmeg, and I felt it clashed with the strong gamey flavour of the meat.  For this reason, I’ve listed it as optional.  It’s worth noting that J really enjoyed the dish, even with the nutmeg, so that says something about different tastes.

I also think this dish would work quite well with chicken, if you aren’t quite able to face up to rabbit.

rabbitbowl
Rabbit stew with dumplings
Posted September 5, 2010 by Leah in Posted In:
Taken from Jamie Oliver's "Cook with Jamie". We halved this recipe and it easily would have fed 6-8 people.

Cuisines:
Details
  • Prep Time:
    20 min
  • Cook Time:
    90 min
  • Ready Time:
    1 h, 50 min

Ingredients

  • 400 grams Self raising flour
  • 200 grams Butter
  • bunch Fresh tarragon, finely chopped
  • Sea salt and black pepper
  • Milk
  • Nutmeg (optional)
  • 2 RAbbits, jointed and cut into 10 pieces each
  • Flour
  • Olive oil
  • Butter
  • 10 Rashers bacon, finely sliced
  • 2 Sprigs fresh rosemary
  • 250 grams Mushrooms, chopped in half
  • handful Baby onions (or 1 whole onion roughly quartered)
  • 2 Cans stout
  • 850 mls Chicken stock

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 190*.
  2. Make dumplings by rubbing together flour, butter and tarragon.  Add salt and pepper, then use a fork to mix through enough milk to get an unsticky dough.
  3. Bring together until quite stiff.
  4. Flour your hands and knead into a dough.
  5. Roll the dough into little balls (about 18 in total).  If using the nutmeg, sprinkle over the balls.
  6. Refrigerate balls until ready to use.
  7. Now take out your rabbit pieces and coat with flour.  Shake off any excess.
  8. Heat a splash of olive oil and about a tablespoon of butter in a deep dutch oven.
  9. Add the rabbit pieces in batches, cooking until golden on all sides.  Remove and do the next batch.
  10. Once you have browned all the rabbit, return the pieces to the pot and add salt, pepper and bacon.
  11. Cook for a couple of minutes to make the bacon crispy.  Ensure you keep the rabbit moving so it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.
  12. Add rosemary, mushrooms and onions and continue frying another 10 minutes until the vegetables have softened.
  13. Mix in 1 tbs of flour, pour in the stout and chicken stock.
  14. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
  15. Put your dumplings on top of stew with about 1cm between them.
  16. Drizzle with a little olive oil and put the pot into the preheated oven.  You don't need to cover the pot.
  17. Bake for 45 minutes.
19.09.10 | Of: , , | In: Food | Leave a comment

Aug 19

Weeknight meal - Cauliflower pancakes

cauliflowerfritters   I have a confession to make – I don’t really like cauliflower.  I love its cousin broccoli, but cauliflower leaves me cold.

I’m usually all about letting the flavours of vegetables shine through.  I try to serve vegetables with every meal, and I’m happy to just have plain steamed greens most of the time.  Plain steamed cauliflower, however, has me wrinkling up my nose in disgust.

The flip side is that I’m trying to limit the amount of waste we produce – including food waste.  So when we got a half head of cauliflower in our Food Connect box I knew I had to find a way to make it palatable.

Enter the SBS website!  Cauliflower pancakes was the starting point for inspiration.  I served with a robust salad and a perfectly poached egg.  Add a dollop of J’s grandma’s mango chutney, and a dollop of natural yoghurt and you have a simple, healthy and delicious weeknight dinner!

Cauliflower pancakes
Posted August 19, 2010 by Leah in Posted In:
Adapted from the SBS website, with a few changes.

Cuisines:
Details
  • Prep Time:
    30 min
  • Cook Time:
    15 min
  • Ready Time:
    45 min

Ingredients

  • 1/2 head Cauliflower, broken into little pieces
  • 2 tbsps Olive oil
  • 1 cup SR Flour
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • 2 tsps Ground coriander
  • 2 tsps Ground cumin
  • 180 mls Milk
  • 1 Egg

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 180*.
  2. Toss the cauliflower florets with olive oil.
  3. Roast in oven for about 20 minutes, until tender.
  4. Prepare batter by beating together flour, salt, spices, milk and egg.
  5. Add cooked cauliflower to batter and stir.
  6. Heat a dash of olive oil in large frypan over medium-high heat.
  7. Add spoonfuls of batter.  You may need to smooth the pancakes out slightly depending on the size of your cauliflower pieces.
  8. Cook for 2-3 minutes on each side until golden brown.
  9. Serve with a poached egg, salad and condiments of your choice.  Some coriander or shallots sprinkled on top is also nice.
19.08.10 | Of: , , | In: Food | One comment
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