Lady Dash meets Curtis Stone "Chef & Top Bloke"

Curtis Stone and Lady Dash @ Roosevelt Hotel in LA

Such a Top Bloke (im using the word bloke for a reason) didn't mind an Aussie interrupting his night for a quick photo op.

donna hay "BAKE AT HOME" Vanilla Cupcakes

Friday was the day for me and my good friend Fizzle Out to get together to take some piccie’s while making the donna hay "Bake at Home" Vanilla Cupcakes . If you have read my past posts about making the donna hay "a cook's guide to Vanilla Cupcakes you would know that they weren’t very successful- shape and size were fine but the dense texture and heavily buttered flavour was not nice at all. 

When Fizzle Out arrived at my place I had made some lunch for us, while we were eating we were chatting about this and that and started talking about my very unsuccessful attempt at the a cook’s guide cupcakes. Expressing my confusion on what the hell happened to them- TWICE, she asked to take a look at the recipe. While reading she asked if my BAKING POWDER was in date, my puzzled face must have been a dead give away that I had no idea if it was or that they had an expiry date. I went to the cupboard and picked up the packet and started to laugh I was like um it expired in May…. Fizzle Out started laughing also but then looked at me ask said “That’s BAKING SODA, not powder- is that what you used?  Giggling awkwardly I replied, “is there a difference? I thought one was the Aussie name and one was the American name. Laughing even more so now Fizzle Out let me know that yes there is a big difference and this must be why the Vanilla Cupcakes were a small disaster.

The purpose of making the “a cook’s guide” vanilla cupcakes, were to compare if paying the $7.99 to make 12 cupcakes is worth it and do they achieve the same result. To settle this debate I will now have to make the “a cook’s guide” vanilla cupcakes AGAIN (third time lucky) using the correct ingredients… All I can say is sorry DONNA HAY!

Now back to the donna hay Bake at Home Vanilla Cupcakes, I was sent the range by donna hays peeps to give it a whirl and blog about my findings. I opened the box and inside was 12 Cupcake Liners, 1 Packet of Cupcake Mix and 1 Packet of Icing Mix, reading the back of the box it had a small list of fresh ingredients that I needed to add:  Cupcake Mix needed 125g Butter, 2 Eggs, ¾ Cup of Milk and the Icing Mix needed 125g Butter and 1 Tbs of Milk. Well that easy every amateur cook has those ingredients on hand at any one time.

donna hay
"Bake at Home"
Vanilla Cupcakes

Reading the box I followed all of the “donna hay way” instructions to the minute and measurements. There is lots and lots of whisking/whipping involved, so i am now very glad i had my kitchen aid on Friday (Find out what happened to my kitchen aid).

The end result was pretty dam good if I might say, I had bought a piping bag to give them the extra wow factor but the cupcakes on the box hadn’t been piped only iced with a spatula, the a “cooks guide” ones had been piped.

Cupcakes Baked to Perfection

I might be a little biased with my findings as I am a cream cheese frosting girl, I love it, so the butter based icing for me was not that pleasant to eat as I felt like I was eating whipped butter, which you basically are. The texture of the icing was perfect for using a piping bag or spatula it just made me feel unhealthy which I know probably sounds weird as I am after all eating a cupcake. The cupcake its self had a fluffy texture that peeled perfectly out of the liner, it was a beautiful pale yellow and tasted delicious with a hint of vanilla, a perfect afternoon reward for a day in the kitchen.

donna hay
"Bake at Home"
Vanilla Cupcakes
by Lady Dash

At this point, I would have to say that this trial was a success- it made 12 Bake at Home Vanilla Cupcakes that look picture perfect and tasted really good but until I  make my final decision on whether it is worth the $7.99 purchase price plus fresh ingredients I will have to let you know, once I make the donna hay “ a cooks guide” Vanilla Cupcakes with Baking Powder not SODA…..

Score 9/10 (It was the icing that didn't make it 10/10

Thanks so much to Fizzle Out more my amazing photos they make such a difference.

RIP KITCHEN AID..... who killed the Kitchen Aid?

If you follow me on twitter/facebook you made have seen my posts about the sudden and unexpected loss of my Kitchen aid. Yesterday while baking in the kitchen i thought i would try and make fresh bread to go with our "Sexy Sunday" dinner, boy was that a HUGE mistake. 

Reading the packet instructions instead of my Kitchen Aid instructions i turned the Kitchen Aid up to speed 6 and thought to myself while walking to the bin "Geez im so lucky i dont have to knead this myself" and then BANG. I came running to the kitchen and there was my beautiful Kitchen Aid lying on the floor, i raced over picked her up and put her back on the bench "sigh of relief" she looked ok. 

I plugged her back into the wall and she was a little bent over but i thought she is ok so i turned her on then BANG again the head fell of the stand, terror and sadness took over my whole body, now covered in flour i started to cry...

The Victim

Not knowing what the hell to do, whether to tell Horn or act like nothing had happened...... Minutes went past and my lip started to quiver, then tears filled my eyes, i had to tell him. 

I was very embarrassed to go outside as Horn had a friend over and they were having a beer while looking at a Harley Davidson (a fantasy moment for him). I went to the fly screen and yelled "baaaabe" (very shakily) he immediately knew something was wrong and then burst into free flowing tears and said "the kitchen aid is broooooken"!

Being as supportive as he could be about my loss, he said calm down lets read the warranty and see what it says. Reading the warranty i was thinking as if they are going to warrant being an idiot but any how i flipped through the pages and finally i found a service number. I immediately called the number hoping they would be opened at 3pm on a Sunday- of course there was no answer. 

Coming out of the office Horn suggested if anyone else, had one that i could borrow to finish dinner- I replied "Hi its Ashe, can i borrow your $750 Kitchen Aid? I just broke mine." I starting laughing and so did the boys but seriously would you lend me yours?

Its now Monday and i have been on the phone with the warranty company- sending photos and details... Its not under warranty but hopefully it can be fixed..... Fingers Crossed

The Murderer

dinner party "the donna hay way"

Before our overseas trip, we purchased a dining suite off our friend Courtney's mum unfortunately we didnt have time to use. So i jumped at the chance to through a small dinner party when Horn was out at fight night last Saturday.

Struggling with a mild hangover from the Fabulous Fridays lunch the day before, i needed to plan a menu and write my shopping list. Once i had come up with something i phone my gal pal Jadee and asked her opinion she said "yeah good" haha. 

Next a lift from my brother to get my car (don't drink and drive kids) and then off to Ferry Road Markets and a place that i like to call heaven Wheel & Barrow. I will make any excuse to go in there but today i actually had a reason- i needed a white linen tablecloth to take the dinner party to the next level. Moments later and arms full i had a white linen table cloth, white block candle, scented melt for my burner, 8 wine glasses and two baking dishes- $240.00 later my Wheel and Barrow fix was fulfilled (p.s the table cloth was $90 can you believe that- $90 and it was too BIG, i used it anyway).

My doll of a hubby decided to take me out for lunch since it was GC Restaurant Week and every one had been telling us to go to Rocksalt Modern Dining check out my review here) still struggling with my hangover i accepted the invitation and said i need to be home by 2.30pm to prepare for my guests who were arriving at 7pm and of course Jadee who arrives an hour early all the time.

Now throwing dinner parties can get very x'y sometimes so i decided to charge the girls $20 each for a three course meal and if they were drinking to BYO. The shopping came to $127.00 which i am pretty impressed that i managed to feed 8 people for under $20pp. 

The Menu

First up, menu design (actually this wasn't first i forgot to do it until about 6.30pm but it doesn't make sense if i do it later). Of course the menu selection came from donna hays cook books and magazines. As it' still very cold at night i decided to do a yummy winter style menu.

The Dining Table

I was very proud of my table setting skills, and even thou the table cloth was $90 it added that wow factor when the girls arrived with the candle and mood lighting (very romantic for 8 girls haha).

Entree
Herb & Mozzarella Mushrooms with Garlic Toasts

Garlic Toasts
8 Thin Slices Baguette
Olive Oil for Brushing
Sea Salt & Cracked Pepper
1 Clove Garlic, Halved, For Rubbing

Herb & Mozzarella Mushrooms
40g Butter
400g Pine Mushrooms, Halved
2 Sprigs Rosemary
1/4 Cup Sage Leaves
250g Buffalo Mozzarella, Torn

the donna hay way:
Heat a char-grill pan or BBQ over high heat. Brush the bread with oil and sprinkle with s&p. Char-grill or BBQ the bread for 2-3 minutes or until golden. Rub with Garlic and set aside.

Melt the butter in a large non stick frying pan over high heat. Add the mushrooms, rosemary, sage, salt and pepper and cook for 5 minutes or until golden. Top with the mozzarella and place under a pre heated hot grill (broiler) for 2-3 minutes or until melted. Serve with garlic toasts. Serves 4.

Lady Dash says:
I used a BBQ to char-grill the bread and i left the rubbing of the garlic up to the individual. I couldn't find Pine Mushrooms so i used a mix of Flat Top and Swiss, I also used normal Mozzarella as the Buffalo was $16.95 per 120g and i needed 500g as i double the recipes and thats just ridiculous to spend $70 on cheese. The entree was absolutely my favourite dish of the night, it was cheesey, garlicy, hot with crusty bread what else could you possibly want on a winters night! There was some extreme garlic breath from the raw garlic we rubbed on the toasts but it was good very very good.

Main
Lamb with Rosemary, Feta & Garlic
(Image before going into the oven)

1 Small Boned Leg Lamb, Trimmed
Sea Salt & Cracked Black Pepper
2 Heads Garlic, Cloves Separated and Skin On
8 Sprigs Rosemary
1 Tbs Olive Oil
350g Firm Feta, Thickly Sliced

the donna hay way:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Heat a large frying pan over high hear. Sprinkle both sides of the lamb generously with salt and pepper. Add to the pan and cook for 4 minutes each side or until well browned. Place the lamb in a baking dish lined with non-stick baking paper and toss with the garlic, rosemary and oil. Add the feta to the pan and bake for 25 minutes for medium or until cooked to your liking. To serve, slice the lamb and serve with the roasted feta and the garlic squeezed from its skin. Serves 4.

Lady Dash says:

I kind of cheated with the lamb and bought it already boned as thats way to much thinking for me to do, plus the lovely butcher chopped up the bones for Shazz and Darla my two doggies. Everybody loves a good roast and this was a roast with a twist- the salty pieces of Feta were a stand out for me. I doubled the recipe to feed 8 and i served with roast potatoes, pumpkin and green beans.

Dessert
Cheat's Chocolate Fondant with Vanilla Mascarpone

the donna hay way:

Previous post: http://ladydash.blogspot.com/2011/05/garlic-prawn-pasta-cheats-chocolate.html

Once again i cheated a little as i have made this dessert before, but everyone loves chocolate and it was easy to make a large quantity. Everyone was very very full at this stage but there were a few clean plates on the table- mixed feelings about the almond meal taste too!

For the Vanilla Mascarpone whisk together tub of Mascarpone, 1 Tbs of Vanilla Bean Paste and 1/4 Cup Light Cream.

I had the most amazing time hosting my first "posh" dinner party and i cannot wait for the next one. I think i did an good job but will definitely be upping the anti for the next one- new recipes, new techniques and no roasts...

Rocksalt Modern Dining Restaurant Review

To be perfectly honest at first i wasn't thrilled about the idea of going out for lunch last Saturday, for the 3 following reasons 1. I had hangover  2. I had a dinner party to prepare and 3. I still had a bad taste in my mouth from our last dining disaster.

But poor Horn had been working so hard all week and really wanted to spend some time quality time with me before Monday rolled around again. It just so happened that it was Gold Coast Restaurant Week (restaurants in Broabeach put together set menus to get new people into their shops). 

We were tossing up between Moo Moo's and Rocksalt Modern Dining, we decided on Rocksalt as we have been to Moo Moo's quite a few times and its nice but in the last week 3 people had recommended Rocksalt to us. 

So with a brave face and a smile i got ready for lunch, i knew Horn would feel like a drink as he had just finished a huge week at work. 

The Menu

We made a reservation earlier as we weren't sure with GCRW if it would be packed, when we arrived we were welcomed by a lovely guy named Lee/Leigh. He was chirpy and bubbly- just what we like in a waiter.

I noticed straight away that there were reserved signs on most tables so i was glad that we booked, then I noticed that they had those bloody wall length couches too (you know the ones where you have to sit close to people), i crossed my fingers and prayed that we wouldn't be seated there. It must of been our lucky day because we were the only table for two inside not on the couches.

Looking around the restaurant the decor was nice and clean with modern features, Lee/Leigh was our waiter for the afternoon and he was informative, friendly and fun. There were 3 menus to choose from: Al carte (anything you wish), GCRW (choices of entree, main and dessert) or the weekly lunch special (2 entree sized dishes with a glass of house wine or local beer), we looked through all of the menus and to help me decide i asked Lee/Leigh what the house wine was with the lunch menu and to my delight it was from Marlborough NZ so i decided to go with the LUNCH SPECIAL.

Now Horn pretends he doesn't have a sweet tooth but he does, he in fact loves his sweets! So i wasn't shocked when he suggested that if he got the GCRW menu that we could "share" the dessert....

So we placed our orders and our drinks soon arrived, my wine (the hair of the dog) was lovely and Horn ordered an Asahi (beer), chatting away we were hoping our meals would be nice and that's when our entree's arrived.....

Salt & Pepper King Prawns with
Asian Spanner Crab Salad,
Sweet Corn Custard, Soy Dressing

I ordered the S&P Prawns, it may look small on the large round plate but it was enough and boy was it DELICIOUS.... The light crispy coating on the prawns, the fresh spanner crab and the sweet corn custard was silky and perfect... The only thing left on my plate were the prawn tails.

Pan Roasted Quail with
Pine Nuts, Raisins, Soft Polenta,
Parmesan, Thyme Jus

I wish i was as adventurous as Horn, there are still a few things that i cant get my head around and quail is one of them. I have tried it before and liked it but as Forrest Gump mumma says sometimes you never know what you gonna get, so i stick to what i know. Horn said it was beautiful, the raisins were his favourite part he loved the little pops of sticky sweetness and said it went perfectly with the tender quail.

Rare Peppered Beef Carpaccio with
Celeriac, Horseradish, Garlic Croutons,
Truffle Oil, Parmesan

My second entree was the Carpaccio, it was slightly different to what i am used to but i really enjoyed it. I am trying to find the right words to explain the texture of the meat and i am not sure if this is correct but i am going to say it was "aged" or dehydrated it was NOT DRY at all just not as raw as i expected but it was awesome.  All of the components went extremely well together and i loved the Garlic Croutons and Horseradish.

Loin, Cutlet & Shoulder of Lamb with
Fondant Potato, Dutch Carrot, Glazed Shallot,
Peas & Mint and Lamb Sauce

Now everybody knows that Horn loves Lamb, so its no surprise he ordered it again. I would like to let everyone know that i DO cook Lamb at home, he just cant get enough of it. He also has a secret fetish for baby carrots so his face lit up when he saw it on the plate.  The three different cuts of Lamb were all cooked they way they were supposed too: loin was juicy, the shoulder braised and tender and the "frenching" on the cutlet was precise and the meat perfectly pink. You cant see it in the picture but the "peas and mint" component was a puree and the colour was the most vibrant green i have ever seen.

Dark Chocolate Marquise with
Peanut Butter Mousse, Frozen Banana Zabaglione
and Caramel Popcorn

Dessert time, we decided to go CHOCOLATE of course... The other option was Lavender Panna Cotta, (i hate to sound like a drama queen but i hate Lavender, the colour, the smell, the over use as a fragrant and the fact that its used on toilet paper says it all) there was no way we were getting that. 

This dessert has still got me drooling......... I have really been enjoying peanut butter lately so when i saw it on the dessert menu i got super excited.. I wasn't sure what Marquise was but gathered it would either be a cake or a dense mousse and it turned out that it was a combination of the two and semi frozen, it was nice but really rich. 

The stand out for me was the Frozen Banana Zabaglione i am not sure if any one remembers Barney Banana by Billabong (not to be confused with a Banana Paddlepop they are very different)- it tasted exactly like it, it was creamy and tasted like real Banana not a flavouring and the caramel popcorn, well all i can say is who doesn't like pop corn?

The Bill

So once we polished off our desserts, we asked for the bill after all i had a dinner party to prepare for! The grand total was $113, which we think is very reasonable for 2 Imported Beers, NZ Sav Blanc, 3 Entrees, 1 Main and a dessert. 

We had such a lovely afternoon, it put us in a great mood and got us ready for the night ahead. We were very happy with the service, presentation and taste of the meals- we will definitely be back and by the look of the restaurant (which was packed when we were leaving) Rocksalt Modern Dining is a favourite for locals and tourists...

Score: 8/10

donna hay "a cooks guide" vanilla cupcakes

Ok, I decided before i make the donna hay's home bake vanilla cupcakes that i would try to make her a cook's guide to vanilla cupcakes which are from scratch. I think this is the only way to to work out if the $7.99 is worth it. I have absolutely no idea what is going on but i cannot make these cupcakes from scratch. Unless they are supposed to be buttery and dense not airy and light? They still tasted nice (well so my friends said) but the cupcake was nearly impossible to remove from the liner and was quite heavy.

Vanilla Cupcake Ingredients
1 1/4 Cups (185g) Flour, Sifted
3/4 Tsp Baking Powder, Sifted
1 Cup (220g) Caster Sugar
125g Butter, softened
2 Eggs
3/4 Cups (180ml) Milk
1/2 Tsp Vanilla Extract

the "donna hay" way:

Step 1: Preheat Oven to 160 degrees. Place the flour, baking powder, sugar, butter, eggs, milk and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer and mix to combine.

Step 2: Spoon into 12 x 1/2 cup capacity (125ml) muffin tins lined with paper cases and bake for 20-25mins or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Cool on wire racks. Ice as desired. Makes 12.

Mixture ready to go into the oven.

Baked, now cooling on the racks.

Lady Dash's Pink Cream Cheese Frosting:

Whip Cream Cheese & Butter in and electric mixture until there are no butter lumps. Add Icing Sugar one cup and a time until combined, then add Pink Food Colouring mix until colour is even.

Vanilla Cupcakes with
Pink Cream Cheese Frosting

Lady Dash's Pink Cream Cheese Frosting
1 Tub Lite Philadelphia Cream Cheese
125g Butter, Chopped & Softened
3 Cups Pure Icing Sugar
1 Lid of Red Food Colouring

Lady Dash says:
The 12 cupcakes had been eaten in an hour, so i am guesssing that they were still good even thou they are not what i was used too. I even had to make another batch for Horn to take to work as he was sad that the girls ate them. Funnily enough he just Hey Tell'd me  as i was writing this saying "P.S I love these cupcakes, they are like tradie cupcakes" hahaha, i have no idea what that means but it made me laugh.

I guess i will be able to tell once i give the donna hay's home bake vanilla cupcake a go next week. Can wait to see the result.....
Score 6/10.

Absynthe Restaurant Review

Finally it was the 16th of July on the calendar, which meant it was our long awaited date night. We had made the reservation for Absynthe over 2 months ago and we were very excited to be having a culinary night to remember.

Apart from the fact that weather was crappy and we were still recovering from our trip physically and finically, we pepped each other up by getting all dolled up, having a sneak peek at the menu online (so we could chat about the menu options on the way) and then we hopped in the car to go to our long awaited reservation.

We arrived at Q1, our original plan was to use our annual passes and go up to the Sky Deck and have a drink and watch the sunset however we decided against that as the sun had been setting at like 5pm. Luckily we didn't go as when we were waiting for the lift in the basement there was a sign saying it was closed for a private function, so my advise if you are planning on a trip up to the Sky Deck ring in advance.

Walking through the doors we waited to be seated, scoping the joint out i noticed it was fairly modern and sterile with some artwork on the walls, no candles  or white table cloths. Once we were seated i knew we had a problem already, we were seated in between to other tables maybe 45cm each side of us which is MY PET HATE. Why your thinking??? Well i am the biggest eaves dropper in the world, i cannot concentrate on my own conversation and i feel the need to whisper.

We were handed the Menu and Wine List. Reading Meyjittes Boughenout story we were very excited to being eating at the restaurant of a two Michelin star chef. First our beverages for the evening Sparkling Water $8.00 and Maven Sauvignon Blanc $70.00 (it was the only Sav Blanc from NZ we could find).  Returning with our vino they waiter asked for our order, now we love a little bit of a chit chat with the waiter so we asked him for any recommendations- very surprisingly he didn't have any. Our puzzled faces must have prompted him to continue talking and he then elaborated by asking us what we like to eat. We said we are happy to try anything once and he then replied with the Lamb Cutlets are good, Horn was very pleased to hear that as he loves Lamb, however there were no Lamb Cutlets on the menu only Lamb Shanks. After some thought we decided on the below.

Now at one of the most expensive fine dining restaurants on the Gold Coast would you expect the full silver service? When our meals where placed in front of us that was it, no "tonight you have ordered the blah blah with blah blah, try eating it in this order blah blah, enjoy your meal." Is it to much to ask for the waiter who's job it is to explain these foriegn dishes to us?

Dinner Roll Complimentary 

The roll was warm, yummy and probably the highlight of my meal- WHOOPIE!!!

Cauliflower Veloute, Vanilla Croutons, Olive Bubbles &
Pan Fried Scallops $32.00

I ordered the Scallops, as i have explained in past posts i love Scallops and normally always order them however after this experince i may rethink that. The Scallops were as small as a ten cent piece and there was only 4. The roe had been removed but the connector duct was still on- so as small as the Scallop was i had to cut a 1/4 off so i didn't eat the chewy bit. There were two Olive bubbles and they were amazing and exciting, i could have eaten a whole plate of just them (they were very similar to the Corn Puree Bubbles at Room81) Vanilla Croutons were OK nothing special and the Cauliflower Veloute was mediocre a little oily and way to much poured into the bowl it ruined the presentation of the dish, if the Scallops had of been big and juicy it probably would have been fine.

Lightly Cured Ocean Trout, White Chocolate
Cannelloni, Shellfish Broth to Drink,
Pomegranate Reduction & Wasabi Ice-Cream  $28.50

Horn had the Trout, he said it was fine nothing to write home about. The presentation was lovely with great colours however all the ingredients that were on the menu did not come out on the plate.

Crispy Skin Pan Fried Barramundi, Lobster Bisque,
Sliced Potatoes & Baby Carrot $45.00

Now i don't normally order Fish when i am out but since i have never tried Lobster Bisque before and we were at a french restaurant i thought what better place to try it. BOY WAS I WRONG!!! This was by far they worst meal i have ever eaten in my life. The Barramundi skin was so thick and chewy it was making me sick and i am not sure because i have never eaten scales before but that i swear it still had scales on it, it was so bad that i actually had to remove the skin from my mouth. The Lobster Bisque was oily, transparent and tasteless and to top it off Baby Carrot was stone cold.

Twice Cooked Maryland Duck Breast, Orange &
Spice Glaze with Artichoke and Sweet Potato $43.00

Horn liked his Duck, he said it was juicy, cooked well but very small, the glaze didn't have any punch and looked bland the plate. Now I don't believe in sending food back to the kitchen because i am too scared of what they may do to it but I will (if asked) explain what was wrong (which is hardly ever). I didn't even eat a 1/4 of my mini meal and the waiter simply asked if i was done and took the plate away.

After that we were asked if we would like dessert (we had previously decided not to stay) we politely declined. Once we declined we were basically invisible, we had to ask for our glasses to be filled (we pretty much sculled so we could get the hell out of there.) I was dying to have a dessert from this place, i had been drooling over the photos for days but because of the horrible experience we wanted to leave A-SAP and refused to give them an extra $25 for a dessert that would be small and possibly not worth it.

The Bill

Not only was this the biggest disappointment ever, it also cost and arm and maybe half a leg to experience it. It only adds to my theory that food needs to look as good as it tastes and taste even better than it looks! We ended up having dessert somewhere else and it saved our night.

Every ones experiences are different maybe they were having an off night? Who knows....

Score 4/10