yogurberry @ railway pde., eastwood

Admittedly I've been a little slow to catch on to the frozen yoghurt phase that has swept Sydney. It was just the other week that mum was telling me that that two places selling frozen yoghurt had opened up in Eastwood; and only just metres away from each other too! And well who could resist; with bright pink neon signage alerting us that they were open for business, the boy and I stopped by Yogurberry to check in on all the hype.

For their first week, Yogurberry in Eastwood were offering 50% off their standard prices. It was a pretty good deal considering after filling up my container with all the frozen yoghurt flavours I wanted to try and the corresponding toppings, this little baby weighed in at $7.90 and I was even in the midst of finding enough spare change in my wallet till I realised that I was reading the wrong price (yes, sometimes I can be a little bit of a dope!)

The pricing is worked out based on the weight of the frozen yoghurt and the toppings. As you walk in the store, you pick up the size of container you're after, top it up with frozen yoghurt followed by the topping and then pay when you're happy with your selection.

There's ample seating at the Eastwood store so if you're not in a hurry, it's quite a nice place to sit and hang with friends. Lately the boy and I have found it quite hard to get a spare moment to ourselves so was glad to sit down and enjoy this one (though it did get a little cold eating frozen yoghurt in the middle of winter).

My favourite frozen yoghurt had to be the Taro (even though it didn't really go with anything else we'd picked, I still loved it). There were 6 flavours on offer the night we went but now that I think about it, I wonder if they rotate the flavours otherwise you can pretty much try it all in the one go with no real need to go back. Also, I'm not too sure about the pricing after the special, do people really pay $7.90 for a small container of frozen yoghurt?

Anyway, will get around to try the other place and report back on which one is better!

korean style ddukboki spicy rice cake

Married life has certainly taught me a thing or two about food; how to shop for groceries, how to get the best prices, how to cook for two but most of all, how to be adventurous and cook up restaurant meals in the comfort of your own home. The boy and I have tried to be good and tend to cook dinner most nights; main reason being that if we cook enough we have lunch to bring to work the next day which ends up saving us a tonne of money (and it's healthier too)

Korean Spicy Rice Cake is one those things which I always order if I see it on the menu at a Korean restaurant. Usually it's only the boy who is brave enough to eat this with me because depending on how heavy handed the cook has been with the chilli, this one can come with some serious bite. Cooking it myself, I could see why.

Soak 1 package Korean rice cake in boiling water until softened. In a small bowl, mix together 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp chilli flakes, 1 tbsp minced garlic, 1 tsp sesame oil, 1/2 tsp ginger powder, 1 tsp salt and 3-4 tbsp gochujjang (Korean red pepper paste). In a large pot, boil 2 cups water, stir through the sauces until all dissolved. Add 3 sliced green onions, 1 pack sliced fishcake, 1/3 head of cabbage, and the soaked rice cakes and simmer for about 5 minutes until the sauce thickens. Once the sauce has thickened, the dish is ready to eat.

I'd say on a scale to 1-5 (5 being hot), this is probably a 4.5!

Surprised how easy this one was to make and reheated really well the next day in the microwave at work. A colleague of mine even commented how gourmet it looked and how adventurous I was but really, it takes just over 10 minutes to make from start to finish.

carrot & chorizo soup

As I was growing up, my mum's advice to me when it came to looking after myself had always been to know how to cook. She'd say 'You need to cook for your future husband otherwise what are you going to eat?' Fortunately, it seems mum and I have both been somewhat lucky and married husbands that are quite handy in the kitchen and actually don't mind doing a bit of the cooking; my own has been doing a disproportionate amount of the cooking over the last couple of weeks (which I'm ever grateful for).

To make this Carrot & Chorizo soup, heat 30g unsalted butter and 1 tbsp olive oil in a pot over medium heat. Cook 2 finely chopped onions and 2 finely chopped cloves of garlic for 5 minutes until softened. Add 5 coriander roots, 2tsp ground coriander, 1 tsp ground tumeric and 2 tsp cumin seeds and cook, stirring for 1-2 minutes. Add 1 kg chopped carrots, then cover and cook for 10 minutes until the carrots start to soften. Season with salt and pepper and then add 1.25L chicken stock. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat to medium and simmer for 20 minutes until carrots are tender.

Cool slightly, then blend in batches until smooth. 

Always a tip to place your hand over the blender cover to make sure no nasty accidents happen (though I suggest a towel in between the hand and cover when you're dealing with hot soup).

The boy and I actually made this the night before we actually ate it to save a bit of time. 

To serve, heat a frying pan over medium heat, add 150g chopped chorizo and cook for 3-4 minutes until crisp. Serve the soup with chorizo and coriander leaves. This soup is absolutely divine and actually reminds me of a curry because of the spices; great for this winter weather and worked out well to take to work.

A huge thank you to M for the blender wedding gift. It's taken us a little while but we've finally cracked it open and have it sat proudly on our kitchen bench. Looking forward to breakfast smoothies, soups and other blended goodies - thanks again!

chinese fried dough stick with kaya

I really can't help but be a snacker - the boy doesn't agree with it and says I should eat more at meal time but bad habits die hard. And well, despite the boy telling me one thing, he snacks too and introduced me to this somewhat unhealthy snack of his but by golly, it is tasty and makes for a great snack!

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Place store bought Chinese fried dough sticks on a tray and bake for 5 minutes till warmed through. Top with a generous serving of kaya.

Kaya can be bought from most Asian supermarkets but if you're lucky like me, you'll get a jar of homemade kaya as a wedding gift (definitely amongst the top of my list of wedding presents!) It's a big jar too so should last me for a good while.

Probably not something to snack on every day but as a treat once in awhile, I'll say that it's ok. There's just something about combining sweet and savoury that makes this snack absolutely perfect!

miss chu tuckshop @ regent place, sydney

Miss Chu has been on my radar for a long while now but with the original Darlinghurst shop being a little out of the way, I didn't quite get round to trying it (yes, it's partly laziness). How convenient that Miss Chu Tuckshop pops up in Regent Place in the city!

If you didn't know already, Miss Chu's is queen of Vietnamese rice paper rolls. We took the special they had that day; the roast pork rice paper rolls. One word - YUM! Give me a dozen of these any day.

Some other things we had that night; the Caramelised Free-Range Pork Belly Stew (served with Asian greens and a brown rice). Pictured also is a serve of the Traditional Pork Hanoi spring rolls.

Prawn dumplings which are a little drowned in a puddle of sauce. The skin on these are a little thick unlike traditional Chinese dumplings.

What had my attention though were the desserts - Thai Custard with a Black Glutinous Rice Slice and their Lychee Tapioca Pudding with Coconut Cream. The boy didn't seem to think these were all too healthy but by god, they are so very yummy in the tummy.

Miss Chu's is certainly a refreshing take on Vietnamese food but at the same time a little more pricey than your average Vietnamese shop. The tuckshop at Regent's Place isn't all that big either so better for small groups (it was actually quite cute to see how they had ironing boards as dining tables but they only seat about four).