Baking w/ Alcohol?

Last night our group of seasoned (and even a few not-so-seasoned) drinkers got together for one of our ubiquitous booze seshes. It involved copios amounts of vodka, melted cheese and the divulging of one too many secrets. But I won't go into that…

What I do want to discuss, however, is the bizarre treat that my teetotal friend, Beth, brought to the party.

Beth is a fascinating and cultured young woman, and although she doesn't drink, her adoration for Victorian-era cooking outweighs her plethora of reasons to stay sober. Because do you know what Beth lovingly baked us?

Absinthe muffins.

Now imma let you finish, because I too found myself brimming with questions at the mere mention of this. "Absinthe muffins?" I hear you say, "What the..?"

I know, I know. Crazy, right?

In addition to many other amazing culinary exploits, absinthe muffins are one of Beth's more adventurous ones. Although she's yet to introduce a recipe that my tastebuds haven't loved, her gingerly-ventured disclaimer that "you might want to eat them slowly, because each muffin has two standard drinks" did little to reassure me. I mean, come on! Absinthe muffins? TWO standard drinks? I could knock back two vodka cruisers and get drunk slower than I would if I simply chowed down on one of the tiny green-tinted muffins.

Soft as air and laced with a anise-infused sugar glaze, they were absolutely delicious, but the idea of baking liquour-flavoured goods is still rather foreign to me. However, I did manage to find a number of recipes containing various spirits.

After extensive research, it looks as if copious amounts of alcohol are a rather common theme in baking (maybe that's why Julia Childs always seeemed drunk?), so it looks like I might have to road test some recipes soon.

White Russian blackberry cheesecake, anyone?

Japanese food!

That little restaurant? You know the one.

Whether it's a kiosk in your local mall or a shopfront on the city strip, everybody knows one.

That place whose front window boasts bland-looking Westernised Japanese dishes, with their glue-glazed models. The plastic-y ramen with the chopsticks suspended in mid-air, next to the synthetic rendition of a bowl of steaming katsu-don. Between them sits a plate of oddly-perfect plate of unagi, the slices of eel immortalised in a shiny plastic glaze.

You approach the till and allow your eyes to wander along the rows of plates and bowls behind the glass. The dull light glints off the dishes' surfaces, each as freakily fake-looking as the next. You make your selection and gesture indiscriminately to no particular direction.

"That looks good. I'll have that one, please".

It doesn't look good. It looks odd and alien, embalmed on the shelf.

You don't really want to eat it.

But when it arrives, the plate's contents bely their bizarre model.

It looks amazing.

It smells even better.

You take a bite…

AWESOME!

The flavours mingle delicately on your palate, the steam rises tantalisingly off the plate.

Yeah, you know the place :)

Review- CHOCFEST @ Max Brenner

"I invite you to watch, smell, taste and feel my love story"

When I first enter Max Brenner, the Hallmark-esque phrase is the first thing that I notice.

Printed in gilt lettering, it graces the dark-chocolate wall of the chocolaterie, invoking a nostalgic, homely feel that flawlessly compliments the shop's other distinctive feature: the smell.

Wafting from a marble countertop where chefs clad in spotless white uniforms manipulate and mould the googey substance, comes the

IRRESISTIBLE,

DECADENT,

SENSUAL

PUNGENT

aroma of melted chocolate.

It fills the small shop in every form- sweet and creamy, dark and rich, bittersweet and tangy.

Chocolate is everywhere.

Tonight's feast consists of a simple set menu: no set entree, main and dessert (I mean, it's all dessert, isn't it?), but a triad of three dessert-style dishes. Yum.

The first is a small ramekin of melted chocolate. I guess it's to get our palettes used to the night's gastronomic frivolity, but it seems nice and simple.

It's nice and sweet, but after one mouthful, it seems a little TOO sweet.

A more bitter chocolate might have been a better- and less overwhelming- introduction to the meal.

STILL, it is really good chocolate. Rich and creamy, indulgent and delicious. It's truly a

mazing. It just might have been better towards the middle or end of the night.

The main, though, was really something to write home about! Two types of fondue- milk and dark, served with fresh strawberries, marshmallows, banana slices and cubes of banana bread.

Self-explanitory: it was awesome. I've never had banana bread with chocolate before, but it was delicious. As lovely as the milk chocolate was, the bittersweet dark chocolate really brought out the sweetness of the accompaniments. Dark chocolate and strawberries=my new favourite combo!

Last, but certainly not least, was the start of the night. Chocolate pizza with bananas and marshmallows. Yep, it really was as amazing as it sounds. Check it out here, under "sweet icons". Also served was the pizza with a crunch, which contains caramelised pecans and cornflakes instead of

banana and marshmallow. With this weird Javanese creation in mind, I gave it a wide berth, but those in our group who had it very much enjoyed it.

The banana pizza was to die for, though. Those of you who've had the pleasure of eating crepes with banana and Nutella (if you have been to Germany or have family over there, chances are that you have), will know how awesomely the flavours go together. Take that and add marshmallow. I know, I know. Ladies, get in line.

+ I really liked how we were served similar ingredients throughout the night (bananas, marshmallows). The dishes were tied nicely together.

- All in all, though, the night seemed a tad lacklustre after all the hype of Max Brenner that floats around Brisbane. I guess I was expecting something a little more spectacular (truffles, mousse?) after what I'd seen on the website, but, hey, it's still chocolate! And damn good stuff at that.

Max can be found at shop 1.1 and 1.2 Stanley st Plaza, South Bank QLD 4051.

Opening hours are 8am-11pm Mon-Thurs

8am-12am Fri-Sat

8am-11pm Sun

Check out their site for more contact details and their amazing menus.

Review- LR Sushi on Albert Street

As many Brisbanites who frequent the CBD will tell you, the best sushi in the entire metropolis is at LR Sushi on Adelaide Street.

Many's an afternoon that a common sight will be that of a queue so long that it stretches past the neighbouring Starbucks and has to be wrangled by waitresses breaking the starving

lunchtime mob up into manageable groups.

"Why?" I hear you ask.

Well, the honest answer is that the sushi is truly

THAT good.

Armed with a $5 bill and my trusty iPhone camera, I braved the ravenous noontime hordes to bring you my critique of the best lunch in Brizzie- and all for just $4.60 :)

If you are a sushi cynic, you may think, "all sushi is the same", but there is a fine and delicate art- a skill, if you will- required to make truly amazing sushi.

Firstly, it has to be fresh. The only thing I find more repulsive than crime-scene shots is dry, day-old sushi. Thankfully, the sushi here is prepared on site, and it looks it! If the sashimi was any fresher, it would still be in the ocean. You can virtually smell the healthfulness of the sushi seeping through the cabinet. Yum!

Secondly, there has to actually BE filling in the roll. Those skinny, pathetic-looking rolls that you see in most sushi kiosks? They pale in comparison to these babies. If those regular sushis are Kate Moss, LR sushi is Beyonce- their thicker, better cousin. The fillings here literally fill the nori to bursting point, making for a satiating lunch indeed.

Lastly, quality sushi cannot exceed the budget of the common wo/man. Otherwise, how can we all get a taste of mainland Japan for a reasonable price? The simple answer is that we cannot. And THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is when anarchy is unleashed. Besides being good for our waistlines, sushi has to ALSO be kind to our wallets, right? Right. All rolls here are priced under $3, meaning that taste comes with a generous serving of value.

So, satisfied that LR fulfils these qualifications, I made my selection of two rolls- one wakame and tofu, one Japanese omelette.

The wakame and tofu roll consisted of thinly sliced red chillies and fresh wakame wrapped snugly in a seasoned tofu sheet. The diverse, flavoursome trifecta literally explodes on the palette: the richness of the tofu, the delicate saltiness of the sesame-seasoned wakame and the biting spiciness of the chillies made the roll a savoury literally to die for. Never have I had such fresh wakame.

The Japanese omelette roll contained traditional tamagoyaki, the sweet omelette unique to the orient, freshly julienned carrot, cucumber and capsicum, and an interesting, nectarous Japanese pickle (I think it contained ginger). It was by far the best sushi roll I've even had- that pickle gave the veggies an interesting, sweet element that really brought our their crisp flavours. Delicious!

In addition to the rolls I tried, other more interesting options contain chicken and peach, smoked salmon

and cream cheese, egg salad, spider crab and loads more.

LR sushi can be found on the corner of Edward and Adelaide Street (the end closest of George Street) and is open 7 days, but get in early unless you want to wait! :)

An Ode to Quark

There are few simple joys that in life- one is watching extraordinary violent movies, the other finding something for which I have long searched.

Unless you want to hear about my un-pacifistic film fetish (and by all means, tell me if you do :)), today's post will be about the latter: in particular, finding a pot of quark cheese.

As an exchange student in The Fatherland, each morning I would be roused by the pungent aroma of toasting rye bread (not a particularly romantic memory, I know, but bread is so essentially Germany). I'd wander bleary-eyed into the kitchen where breakfast- lovingly prepared by my exchange mother- would be waiting for me: a steaming mug of cocoa and thick, toasted slices of rye bread from the local bakery, loaded up with quark cheese and organic apple jam, made from apples from the nearby orchard. BEST BREAKFAST EVER.

Ahhhh, it invokes much nostalgia.

So, you can imagine my disappointment when, wanting to relive the sentimental memories of my sojourn to Deutschland, I was unable to track down a pot of quark. I hunted high and low- in foreign smallgoods stores, the cheese aisle of the supermarket, at Aldi- but with little avail. I even asked expat friends, but alas, it seemed as if my quarky memories would have to fade for good. I was heartbroken.

So you can imagine my amazed delight when, after my daily cardiac torture sesh at the local gym, I popped into the the organic grocer for some firm tofu for lunch and saw a lone pot of quark sitting in the refrigerated section between the marinated veggies and bean curd. If the gym hadn't been enough to give me a heart attack, this was.

I was elated. My cup ranneth over with ecstasy. Despite the $8.25 price tag (ouch!), my tofu and I rushed to the checkout. I bet you can guess what I had on my toast this morning :)

Here is a delicious authentic German cheesecake recipe that I'm hoping to try soon. I think it would taste lovely with raspberries OR maybe some grilled figs with honey? Yummo! I would probably also add some grated ginger to the crust. :P

Review- lunch at Madtongsan I

Today's post is brought to you by the letter K.
K for Korean and K for kickass, as these two words describe yeterday's culinary exploits.

I must admit that I have oft wondered what korean food is like, but a slight ignorance of Korean culture, coupled with year 12 history's Cold War unit led me to conclude that Korean food is probably similar to its japanese counterpart, with just a healthy dash of socialism mixed in :)

However, an opportunity arose yesterday to try this magnificently multifaceted cuisine in the form of lunch at the charmingly tiny Madtongsan 1, located in Brisbane's Elizabeth Street Arcade.

Despite occupying merely a diminutive corner of the arcade, it's difficult for passers-by to miss Madtongsan 1. The kiosk-sized restaurant exudes a warm charm and certain aura of hustle and bustle as the waitstaff flit hurriedly between the cramped tables, and crowds of chattering, salivating customers wait patiently for a table outside, gazing longingly at the steaming bowls on seated patrons' tables and at the brightly-illustrated menus that paper the windows. Having witnessed the hype over the small restaurant, I decided to give it a go.

Decor/ambience- although cramped and somewhat minimalistic in terms of decoration, the amazing smells wafting from the nearby kitchen and the large portion sizes are enough to get anyone's tummy rumbling aggressively. Warm lighting and colours and a surprising lack of music create a homely feel that makes patrons feel relaxed despite the "get in, eat, get out" mood that is the hallmark of most lunchtime eateries.

Food- Despite a small menu, choices vary widely and all look positively mouthgasmic. My selection, bibimbap, a ricebowl dish, looked simple and plain on the menu, but when it arrived at the table, I saw that I was much mistaken in my initial critique. As illustrated in the accompanying photo, bibimbap is a fantastical concoction of steamed seasoned rice, Korean veggies all prepared lovingly in a variety of manners and a big dollop of Krakatoa-hot hot sauce, all topped off with a fried egg, sunny-side up. The point of the dish is to mix the bowl's contents together, stirring the hot sauce through, creating a cacophony of colours and flavours- delicious! We were also given two complimentary traditional side dishes- spiced potato and the ubiquitous kimchi (or kimchee).

If you haven'tbeen fortunate enough to have tried kimchi (the little dish in the left in the photo), it really is something. Like an Asian version of sauerkraut, it revolves around pickled cabbage, but that is where the similarities to its Germanic cousin, end. As well as vinegar, the cabbage is also favoured with chilli, salt and a number of secret Korean 'erbs and spices that create an unami-esque taste explosion that is truly unique. Eaten by the Koreans with every meal, you can put the versatile condiment with A-NYthing and it will taste wonderfully amazing. It really is one of those flavours that makes you say, "day-um!"

Value- For a paltry $9, this bibimbap was one of the most awesome Asian dishes I have ever had in my entire life (bear in mind that I just came back from a month in Vietnam), and the marriage of the salty kimchi, spicy sauce and flavoursome veggies definitely left me wanting more. In fact, if they eat like this ALL the time in Korea, I might consider taking my next holiday there. Now, when does the next plane leave for Seoul? :)

Madtongsan is located at 28 Elizabeth Street, Brisbane. Mains are $9-$11 each.