Day 13 - Lauren and Alex's, Sydney - Chez Piggy Mussels “Piri Piri”

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Back when we lived together in Toronto a few years ago, my Canuck friend Lauren and I shared a small thing for reality tv shows. As much as I hate to admit it, watching the train wreck that was the Bachelor was indeed brainless entertainment. Big Brother, another reality show filmed in several countries, is supremely popular in Australia. Every sunday the show and its viewers purge one of the housemates following a long, drawn-out special show episode ... sounded like a good excuse to us for some barbecue, seafood and wine.

In an attempt to bring a bit of home cuisine along with me to Sydney, three of my cookbooks made the flight with me from Toronto: the first for patriotic reasons ("Best of Canada"), the second for future discovery ("Surfing the Menu") and the third because it’s the one book I consistently use over and over to impress dinner guests ("Chez Piggy"). Those of you who graduated from Queen's University may remember Chez Piggy as being one of Kingston, Ontario’s more recognized culinary hotspots. This mussel dish is one of the few recipes that I can pull off with my eyes closed. Although the mussels are great, the broth is probably the best part about this dish. Have lots of bread handy to soak up all the white wine sauce once the mussels have been finished off and the shells have been discarded.

That Sunday afternoon, before Big Brother aired, we made a quick trip to Sydney's Fish Market, justifiably famous for (you guessed it) its seafood and shellfish vendors.

No problem finding top quality mussels for later on (although mussels are sold in Australia without their "beards" removed, for whatever reason ... this requires an additional clean-up step not usually necessary in Canada).

Having lived in central Canada for some time, it was very odd to be walking through the Fish Market parking lot and run not into pigeons, or squirrels, but rather pellicans (they're WAY bigger in person than expected) which were wandering around looking for handouts. Bizarre.

I present to you "Mussels Piri Piri", a Portugese treatment for mussels.

(Be warned, depending on how many chilies you use in the sauce, the heat tends to stay around for a while on your lips / tongue ... and consequently transfers quite easily to other people's ... ummm ... well, their lips / tongues also if you kiss them, for instance ... Be warned, I'm speaking from experience). *grin*

Ingredients

1/2 cup olive oil

Juice from 3 lemons

3 dried bay leaves

6 cloves garlic, sliced thinly

1-3 red chillies (depending on heat tolerance), seeded and chopped

1/2 bottle dry white wine

1 KG mussels per person, discard any open (i.e. dead) mussels

Fresh coriander for garnish

Method

Bring all ingredients except mussels and coriander to a gentle boil. Once bubbling, add mussels, cover, and increase heat. Toss gently a couple of times. Once shells begin to open from the steam, transfer mussel to large bowls for serving, garnish each serving with a dash of fresh chopped coriander, and pour remaining broth over the mussels. Serve immediately.

Day 12 - The Rocks, Sydney - Toast Two Ways: w/ Vegemite, & w/ Ricotta, Cinnamon and Honey

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Vegemite really is a true Australian phenomenon and is very much part of the country's national identity. Considering 22 million jars are sold each year, it's ironic that vegemite is a result of brewers' leftover yeast extract (i.e. waste). Though this dark brown paste can be overpoweringly salty when used in excess, when applied in moderation it can be very tasty (honest). My first taste of vegemite on Aussie soil took place in a quaint courtyard cafe in the Rocks with my Aussie friend Richard (who explained, at length, Vegemite's many health benefits). I forget what those are now ... I think I was still half asleep at the time.


Bloated, but satisfied, we took a quick stroll to work some of breakfast off through the Botanical Gardens, directly across from the Sydney Opera House off Sydney Harbour and the CBD (Core Business District). The contrast between the 100+ year old indigenious trees and the ultra-modern business towers (some of which were used in the filming of Mission Impossible and the newly filmed version of Superman) was not lost on me.



Another interesting attraction in the Botanical Gardens: fruit bats. In the daytime, particular areas in the Gardens are densely populated with resting fruit bats (they're h-u-g-e). At sunset, they take flight virtually simultaneously, filling the sky (not unlike the scene from the Wizard of Oz when the flying monkeys take off all together - creepy).

A quick tour of the Gardens, then I was quickly off to join Canuck friend Lauren to head out to Olympic Park where Canadian rock superband Nickelback (yessssss) were in town for a sold-out show. Best concert ever, as we had stadium floor tickets and got to the front row (yes, front row) along the railing. Whazzzzup??!!

The popular bread-of-choice for vegemite-and-toast appears to be turkish bread, for whatever reason. Think of flatbread which tastes somewhere between sourdough and focaccia (if that's a fair description). The following recipe uses a starter which ferments for 4 days. (via Allrecipes.com)

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups bread flour
3/4 cup water

5 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 teaspoon white sugar
2 cups warm water, tepid
6 cups bread flour
2 teaspoons salt


To make the starter: Place 1/2 cup flour and 1/4 cup water in a coverable bowl; stir well. Cover and let sit at room temperature overnight. The next day, add 1/2 cup flour and 1/4 cup water to the bowl. Cover and let sit at room temperature overnight. On the third day, add 1/2 cup flour and 1/4 cup water to the bowl. Cover and let sit at room temperature overnight.

To make the dough: In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast and sugar in the warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

Break the starter into small pieces and add it to the yeast mixture. Stir in 4 cups of flour and the salt. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well after each addition. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Sprinkle a little flour over the dough and then cover it with a dry cloth. Let it raise until double in size.

Put the dough back onto a lightly floured work surface and punch out the air. Divide the dough in half and knead each piece for 2 to 3 minutes. Shape each piece into a tight oval loaf. Sprinkle two sheet pans with corn meal. Roll and stretch two loaf until they are 15x12 inch ovals. Dust the tops of the loaves with flour. Cover with a dry cloth and let raise in a warm place until doubled in size. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).

Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes. Mist with water 3 times in the first 15 minutes. Loaves are done when their bottoms sound hollow when tapped. Let cool on wire racks before serving.

Day 11 - Lowenbrau, Sydney - Crackling Roast Pork Belly w/ Beer Sauce, Roasted Potatoes and Cabbage

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Finding this restaurant was a complete fluke. En route to meeting up with a new Aussie friend for beers in The Rocks, an older area just off Sydney's Harbour (and packed with bars / pubs), my hunger got the best of me. Quite randomly, I walked by the Lowenbrau and was immediately drawn to it's brighly-lite outdoor patio, which I suspected would be excellent for people-watching. Indeed it was, but little did I know that the food would end up being the main event.



Never having tried pork belly before, but having seen it used many times on Iron Chef, finding it on the menu made it an easy call. And it had beer sauce. Fur sure! Great for meat-and-potato dipping.


Although I didn't stick around for the "Oom Pah Pah Band" entertainment after dinner, I can say my dining experience a la German was complete.



Versus trying to explain how to prepare pork belly, I will simply provide a recipe for beer sauce.

Beer Sauce (via the good folks at Epicurious):

Ingredients
1 tablespoon butter
2 large onions - thinly sliced
3 large cloves garlic - finely minced
2 tablespoons molasses
2 tablespoons Asian-style sweet 'n' hot chili sauce
salt to taste
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1 cup dark hearty beer - such as Guinness or Rickard's Honey Brown
2 tablespoons cold butter - cut into small pieces
1/4 cup minced fresh flat-leaf Italian parsley

Melt butter in pan over medium heat and when bubbling, add onions and cook over medium heat, stirring often, until richly caramelized, about 20 minutes. Add garlic, molasses, chili sauce, salt and pepper, and stir until blended. Add beer, stir well, bring to a simmer and cook for 2-3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat, whisk in butter, a few pieces at a time, until melted. Stir in parsley.

Day 10 – Bill's Restaurant, Surry Hills, Sydney - Bill's Coconut Bread

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Bill Grainger, considered by many in Oz to be "Australia’s answer to Nigella Lawson", is probably one of Australia's most well-recognized celebrity chefs and restauranteurs. In addition to a handful of Sydney restaurants, Bill's ever-expanding culinary empire also includes several fantastic cookbooks loaded with creative dishes attainable by the common home-chef.

A few weeks before leaving Toronto for Sydney, I had dinner with my Aussie friends Davey and Nathan at their place in Yorkville. Davey pulled out his copy of Bill Grainger's "Sydney Food" and we followed Bill's recipe to make his coconut bread for dessert. Shortly after arriving in Sydney, naturally I visited one of Bill's restaurants for breakfast to see if Bill's version was any better than mine and Davey's. (Davey - ours was almost as good!)

After breakfast, I walked back into downtown through Hyde Park, probably Sydney's largest inner city park. The Sydney Morning Herald, one of Sydney's most widely distributed newspapers happened to be putting on a picture expo along Hyde Park's main walking path. (As an aside, they publish "Sydney's Good Food Guide" which provides food critic write-ups on Sydney's restaurant scene. In many ways, this guided my eating patters during first two months of my australian trip.)

One display were a few dozen interesting, significant pictures that had been published throughout the SMH's many years in print. This is the one that caught my eye:

Cronulla, a neighbourhood in Sydney's north end, a few months prior to my arrival in Australia had experience some racially-motivated, and widely publicized, riotting. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_Cronulla_riots I had seen the above picture both on-line and in the Toronto Star around the time I was making my Sydney plans. So sad, I thought, that racism exists in so many forms, in so many countries of the world ... yet, it's (generally) a result of similar factors and human behavioral patterns. The picture above is of an Australian of presumed middle-eastern decent being attacked by several white residents from the surrounding area. Sad, sad, sad ...

Anyhow, onto happier topics. :) After going through the other pictures on display, I took in some of Hyde Park's other sights, including some of its impressive gardens and water fountains.

Light and slightly crumbly, Bill's coconut bread is a great way to kick off brunch in his restaurant or at home.

** Note: recipe (potentially) soon to come ... I need to look into this whole "piracy of intellectual property" thing before re-printing Bill's recipe on my blog. He may have a number of highly-paid junior lawyers scouring the internet on his behalf, looking for potential criminals like me ...

Day 9 - Breakfast with Shannon Noll, Sydney - Stir-Fried Pumpkin w/ Egg, Chicken & Coriander

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(In my best 12-year old girl voice) Like, up to this point in my trip, this was, like, omg, the greatest day eeeh-vuuuur! (How's that for a story set-up)

Now, let's be honest, we all have our little exentricities. Those little things that make us unique. Special. Perhaps a little different than those around us. Things that are out of character from what people may expect from us. This is mine: I'm a grown man, quite normal in most ways ... however, I am an unapologetic music fan of a former Australian Idol runner-up winner.

...

(Still with me?)

Late one night, I was alerted by a friend to the fact that Shannon Noll (Australian pop rock superstar, and Australian Idol runner-up winner a few years back) was performing live at Sydney's Channel 7 news on their morning show the next day. (Hold on, this is where I really start to lose respect from several of you ...) And since I had all the time in the world on my hands that morning, I got up at 5:30 a.m., got myself down to the Channel 7 studios, and lined up in the cold to watch the show from outside with a growing crowd of 12-year old girls ... and their mothers .... then there was me. 6'1', 220 pound, 28 year old, Mr. Me.

Though the performance was muffled, visually I had a great vantage point (as you can imagine, I could see over top of all the other fans, being 12-years old and all) and I was able to take some great photos. While in-line before the performance, I met a woman who moderates Shannon's on-line fan website.

Naturally, I emailed her several of the better pictures I took that morning.
Naturally, she credited me on the website.
Naturally, my Shannon Problem has only intensified since this experience. (However, my Shannon Anonymous ("S. A.") meetings are going very well ... I hope to kick the habit by the time I return to Canada.)

Of course, all the fans were treated to a post-performance session. Might as well get in there for a picture together, no?

After my Shannon-experience, I sat on a park bench in Hyde Park (large, beautiful park in Sydney's centre), played some guitar, and wondered what it would be like to be famous. Then it occured to me the number of 12-year old girls that would probably hunt me ongoingly for autographs ... hmmm ... better to enjoy my privacy and wallow in obscurity.

Hunger-struck, I headed south to Surry Hills, a quaint neighbourhood a few minutes from Hyde Park, where I successfully found Prastits, a thai restaurant recommended by an Aussie friend. I was assured "They have the freshest thai food in the city". He was right (recipe guesstimate below).

With a full stomach, and still on a high from my Shannon-experience, I took a bus ride home over the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Appropriately, it began to rain lightly, and a rainbow symbolically emerged over the habour.

So right ... So right ....

Ingredients

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
1 cup finely-chopped chicken
1.5 cup bite-size pieces of peeled pumpkin
2 eggs
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup 2 inch length green onion
Fresh coriander
Handful of fresh bean sprouts


Heat the oil in a wok until very hot. Add garlic, stir-fry until golden brown. Add chicken and saute until cooked. Add pumpkin, stock, oyster sauce, soy sauce, seasoning sauce and sugar. Stir together and cover for 3 minutes or until pumpkin is almost done. Break the eggs into the wok and stir, add green onion, remove from heat. Add fresh coriander and bean sprouts, toss, and serve. Serve with white rice.

Day 7 - Botany Bay, Sydney - Herbed Barramundi with Salad and Tzatziki

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Botany Bay, located in Sydney's south end, provides one of the best stretches of beach in the city for kiteboarding.



With relatively steady wind conditions and low tidal activity, kiters can usually be found any day of the week playing hooky from work and showing off for the passers-by.



Botany Bay is also an area of town heavily populated by the Greek community - who love their fresh fish. Following an afternoon of playing guitar in the surf and watching some experienced kiters work the waves (note to self: I will compete at their level some day, and very soon), I came across a seafood take-out restaurant. There are several of these throughout Sydney, many of which are chain restaurants. Hungry onlookers can either choose from the usual suspects (salmon, trout, etc ...) or go for more interesting, local varieties. I went for my first taste of pan-fried barramundi ("bare-rah-mun-dee"), a native Australian fish with first white flesh and a reputation for being one of the country's finer eating fishes. Mine was served lightly herbed with salad, tzatziki sauce and an overly-generous side of fries ... which of course came as no surprise when I found out the owners were, in fact, Greek.





I will provide you with a couple of food resources: (1) a list of some herbal blend suggestions for flavoring any fish, meat or poultry, and (2) a recipe for tzatziki (opa!), a thick and garlicky yogurt-based spread. Grrrreat on sandwiches too! (note: if you want your tzatziki really thick, be sure not to skip over draining the yogurt overnight through cheesecloth - it's worth the extra effort)

1) Herbal Blend Suggestions

** Play around with proportions, depending on your personal tastes.

Fish Herbs - Dill weed, basil, parsley, chives, fennel, lemon peel and lemon pepper.
Italian Herbs - Oregano, rosemary, basil, thyme, marjoram, chilies.
Lemon Pepper - Lemon peel, lemon juice & pulp, black pepper, garlic, onion, citric acid.
Herbal Blend - Oregano, savory, basil, marjoram, garlic, thyme, sage, parsley, black pepper, onion.
Herbs de ProvenceThyme, basil, savory, fennel, lavender, marjoram.

2) Tzaziki Recipe

Ingredients
1 container (16 ounces) plain lowfat yogurt
1/2 English (seedless) cucumber, peeled, seeded and finely chopped
1/1-2 teaspoons salt
1 to 2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint or dill plus additional sprigs
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions
Spoon yogurt into sieve lined with cheesecloth or coffee filter set over bowl; cover and refrigerate overnight. Transfer drained yogurt to medium bowl and discard liquid.

In batches, wrap chopped cucumber in kitchen towel and squeeze to remove as much liquid as possible. Pat dry with paper towels, then add to bowl with yogurt.

With flat side of chef's knife, mash garlic to a paste with remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt. Add garlic, chopped mint, oil, vinegar, and pepper to yogurt and stir to combine. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 or up to 4 hours. Serve chilled or at room temperature, topped with mint sprigs.
Makes about 1.5 cups.

Day 3 - Lauren & Alex's, Sydney - Kangaroo Barbecue

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Question: Could anything be more Australian that kangaroo steaks cooked on the barbecue?

Answer: Nope.

With only residual jet-lag remaining and feeling like I was well on my way to getting a sense of Sydney, it was time to sit down with friends Lauren and Alex for our first barbecue on their fantastic penthouse terrace. (very posh, no?) Our trip to the grocery store for rations proved interesting: you know you're in Australia when you go visit the local IGA supermarket ... and there are kangaroo steaks for sale. Bizarre!

After feeding the wild laurakeets which visited their balcony before sundown (Lauren's a bit of a sucker for animals, and she got the birds in the habit of coming back everyday for a hand-fed honey fix), we sat down for kangaroo on the barbie.

The day after, I joined some new friends (canucks and aussies) for a trip to Symbio Gardens, a petting zoo in Sydney's south end where we were able to get up close and personal with many local animals such as koalas, wallabies and (you guessed it) kanagaroos.

Hand-feeding a kangaroo the day after eating one. So ironic. ("It's like 10,000 spoons, when all you need is a knife." ... oh Alanis ...)

Not much of a recipe to be shared, but perhaps some pointers for the perfect barbecued steak:

http://www.greatsteak.com/6-steps-to-grill-the-perfect-steak.htm

Day 3 - Paddy’s Market, Chinatown, Sydney - Barbecued Pork Buns

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"Shopping" has never been a pleasurable passtime for me. It probably never will. Those among you who have the stamina (and interest) to endure hours of aimless wandering through shopping malls and arcades truly perplex me. It's just not in me. Nonetheless, a few days into my Australian adventure I decided to ignore this basic personally trait of mine and set out to explore Sydney's markets. At the top of the list was Paddy's Market, best-known for its bargain basement shopping.



Picture the inside of Paddy's Market as follows: a seemingly endless (un)organized labyrinth of shopping stands, much like the one below.



Surprisingly I discovered that Paddy's actually has a reasonable food market where hoards of locals were pouring over fresh food products, exotic produce and local seafood. It didn't take long, naturally, for me to get hungry (this will come as no surprise for several of you). As Paddy's Market is situtated in the middle of Chinatown, I set out to find some authentic, quick and cheap Chinese eats.

My strategy: follow the locals. Logic: all of them couldn't be wrong.

The crowds lead me to a bakery shop in the heart of Chinatown, loaded with fresh pastries, cakes and sweets. (Dessert for lunch, anyone?) The below Barbecued Pork Buns were tasty, cheap, and hit the spot.

Recipe:

Filling:

6 oz Chinese BBQ pork, diced
1 tb Oil
2 ts Water
1/2 ts Salt
1/2 ts Sugar
1/2 ts Thin soy sauce
1 ts Oyster sauce
1 ts Hoisin sauce
2 ts Cornstarch
4 ts Cold water (For thickening)

Mix together the warm water, 1/2 tsp. sugar and yeast in an 8 oz. measuring cup. Let stand until it rises to the 8 oz. level (about 20 minutes).

Sift flour, cake flour, sugar and salt into a large mixing bowl.

Add shortening, yeast mixture and mil.

Knead mixture 5 minutes to form a dough. Cover with a damp cloth and set dough in a warm place. Allow the dough to rise for 3 hours.

Heat wok, add oil and stir-fry pork for 2 minutes.

Add 2 tablespoons water, salt, sugar, soy sauce, oyster sauce and hoisin sauce. Bring it to a boil.

Prepare thickening by mixing the cornstarch and 4 tablespoons cold water. Stir into the mixture and cook for 1 minute. Let cool before using.

After 3 hours, when the dough has risen, shape into rolls about 2 inches in diameter. Cut each roll into 1-1/2 inch pieces.

Shape each piece into a shallow bowl shape.

Put 1 tablespoon filling in the center, close ans twist dough to form a bun. Put the bun on a 2 inchsquare of white paper. (This prevents the bun from becoming soggy while steaming.) Place 8 buns in a pie pan and allow them to set and rist for 15 minutes in a warm place.

Steam for 25 minutes.

SOURCE: Chopstick, Cleaver and Wok. From Gemini's MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini

Day 1 - Manly Beach, Sydney - Potato Wedges with Sweet Chilli Sauce

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You cannot get away from sweet chilli sauce in Sydney. It's served everywhere: bars, restaurants, bus stops ... (ok – maybe that’s an exaggeration). I had my first dose of sweet chilli sauce in Manly Beach with Canuck friend Lauren within hours of my arrival in Sydney. It usually gets served with a generous side of sour cream to cut the heat from the chillis. No worries - the chillies won't overpower you. The sauce is a great balance of sweet, sour and (mild) spice. Nonetheless, it's not a bad idea to have a few cold drinks (beers?) within reach ... y'know … just in case.

Note: Unless you have an unusually high pain threshold, please use disposable gloves when making the sauce at home and handling the blended chillies: (chillis) + (eyes) = you have all been warned!


Manly really is a fantastic beach: great sand, stunning scenery, and lots of beach volleyball courts for pick-up games!


And, of course ladies, the lifeguards were out making sure all us tourists were safe.


Getting caught up in the waves, jet-lagged as ever and starving for a snack ... recipe below:

Ingredients:

100 g large long red chillies
2 medium red peppers
2 tsp salt
1 tsp sesame oil
2 cups sugar
2 cups white vinegar2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

Wearing disposable gloves, roughly-chop half the chillies. Discard seeds from remaining chillies, roughly-chop. Cut red peppers in half, discard seeds, roughly chop. Pulse ingredient in food processor until fine. Heat oil and add chilli mixture, cook 3 minutes stirring often. Add sugar and vinegar, bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium, boil uncovered 15 minutes. Add garlic, cook another 8 minutes. Cool and serve – keeps for a few days. Makes 2 1/2 cups.