My current obsession

GPO lucky door prize - cheese making DVD!

No, my current obsession isn't cheese making.

I just wanted to show off the lucky door prize I won at the GPO wine & cheese tasting event I went to the other week. I've never won anything before, so it was kind of cool. The wine & cheese tasting was part of the Sydney Italian Festival, a month-long event which ran over May/June this year.

It was fun - great northern Italian wine & cheeses to be had and all, but I want to go straight onto my current obsession:

Coffee.

Well, not coffee per se, but pouring a proper latte, froth and all.

Ever since my brother gave us a coffee machine as a wedding gift (too cool), I've been trying to pour the elusive perfect cup. The machine is pretty much a fully automated one, so it shouldn't be that hard right? But it's the milk frothing/steaming combo that gets me. The machine has a steam valve thingy which you stick into a jar of cold milk, and that is where my problem lies.

My goal is for the milk to have a lovely smooth, velvety texture. A random search on the internet reveals that I am not alone in this quest. I've been diligently watching a whole slew of "how-to" videos on You Tube, and jealously checking out some cool latte art at Rate My Rosetta

However the results I get vary from having the milk at the bottom and lots of bubbles on top, so when you pour you get runny milk and then a big blob of milk foam; or just a big blob of milk foam which, for some bizarre reason pours as a clump into the awaiting espresso. Actually, in hindsight that may be because I overdid the frothing, I think.

So now, every time I order a coffee when I'm out, I watch how the barista does it. I can only think of two things that may affect the outcome - the steam pressure and type of milk. The steam pressure on those professional coffee machines looks kick ass compared to our humble little home one, and whenever I buy a coffee it's usually with whole milk, whereas we only have low fat milk at home.

I cannot vary the steam pressure at home, but I can certainly try it with whole milk and see how it goes.

Of course the other alternative is to actually go to one of the many barista classes held around the city to find out. But that seems like a pricey way to learn. I think I'll keep to ogling professional baristas from a distance and practicing at home, for now.

Oh Boy

Rule number one when you're having guests over for weekend brunch? Never go out boozing the night before.

Rule number two?

Never attempt to try anything involving pastry, or any recipe for that matter, if you've never done it before.

We stumbled home last night after one glass of wine, one beer, and one vodka too many. So when I woke up this morning I felt absolutely fabulous darling.

To add to my throbbing headache was the fact that I decided to use a variation of not one, not two, but three different recipes. With no notes on how I was going to combine them. Just three separate recipes.

Brilliant.

My hungovered husband decided to make himself some bacon and eggs (perfect), thus using up valuable bench space whilst I was trying to find some method to my madness to start prepping the ingredients.

My cousins arrived a little earlier than expected (great), and sat around watching their usually composed cousin come extremely close to meltdown.

Ahh...you gotta love it hey?

I'd never cooked with pastry before, so the blind baking bit was an experience. Basically you put the pastry in the dish, cover with foil, add rice or pasta as weight to stop the pastry from puffing up and bake in the oven.

Well that was the plan. I guess I didn't use enough rice, it seemed like such a waste since you have to throw it out after, I think, not sure. So when I took it out of the oven it was all puffy and weird looking. Then when I tried to take the foil and rice off, the rice went everywhere. All over the table, on the floor, on the pastry itself. Oh my God.

Surprisingly everything worked out in the end. Nothing got burnt, it tasted ok, and they even asked for seconds. Now before I forget what I actually did, here is my recipe.


Bacon and leek quiche, mimosas

Chick Pea's Bacon & Leek Quiche

Ingredients
2 sheets short crust pastry, thawed
4 - 5 rashers of bacon, diced
2 leeks, cleaned and cut into medium slices
5 large eggs (though I may try 6 eggs next time)
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 1/2 tablespoons roughly chopped thyme
1/2 cup whole milk
1/4 cup cream (or use more milk)
Ground pepper

Method
* Preheat oven to 180C and blind bake pastry in dish for 10 minutes.
* Cook bacon over high heat until crispy, remove and drain on paper towels. Reserve some of the bacon fat and cook leeks until softened. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.
* Combine eggs, thyme, pepper, milk and cream and beat until well combined.
* Add cheese, bacon and leeks to mixture and mix well.
* Pour the mixture into the dish. Be sure not to fill it all the way to the top, as the mixture will rise while baking.
* Bake at 180C for about 30 minutes, or until the eggs have set.

To make mimosas, fill 1/3 to 1/2 a glass with Champagne or sparkling wine, and the remainder with orange juice. I might try bellinis next time, yum.

Tired

Saturday brekkie, Chick Pea style

I've had a shocker at work this week, and I imagine it will only get worse with the lead up to the end of the financial year. Hurrah for the weekend!

I haven't really been up to much (I think, all the days seem to blur into one lately). The weather is finally starting to get a little chilly, though there is talk that it's been the mildest May yet. The upside is that means I can start pulling out all my fancy winter clothes purchased in New York; the downside is I've packed on a fair few kilos over the last year. So everything is a little on the snug side. Oh joy.

We woke up early today to check out a few properties for sale. We saw a nice one bedroom in Surry Hills with a fantastic view. Not Sydney Harbour view, but a view nonetheless. It's on a fairly quiet street, and close enough to the shops and cafes along Crown Street. The only downside to it is that there's a gym, sauna and a 25 metre pool, so the strata fees are pretty scary. We'll ask for the contract on Monday and see how we go anyway, you never know.

I made a yummy fry-up before we headed out. J went out early to get the ingredients, and he actually purchased the bacon from a butcher, and boy, what a difference it is to the standard supermarket vacuum-packed variety. The butcher only opened recently, and no doubt we will be going there again.

Tomorrow my cousins are coming over for lunch. R had purchased a 6-pack of chick-flick DVDs on sale, so there'll be mimosas, quiche & salad, and hopefully more mimosas to be had before we start the DVD marathon. J has wisely said he will be vacating the premises early before the onslaught.

It'll be my first attempt at making quiche, and I'm going to cheat a little and use store bought pastry. I've decided on bacon and leek. Fingers crossed it'll turn out! Off to the supermarket now to get the ingredients.