I had grand plans of treating the family for breakfast at the Machine Laundry Cafe I had heard so much about. Alana had told me they do excellent breakfasts, and I had previous read about the place and thought it would be a great place to blog; a laundrette and a cafe in one. However, I couldn't find the place, at least not until later on in the day, and it looked like it would be impossible to get a table.
I also read the about Retro Cafe close by. They had won the Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Guide's award for best cafe in 2005. But the breakfast menu in there was so limited, and the atmosphere was pretty flat, I had no desire to eat there.

Zum had been recommended to me by Zoe Skewes (@HeraldSunFood) on Twitter, and the breakfast menu there had lots of variety. It had such a fantastic atmosphere, I was so glad we finally ended up there.

Eggs Benedict $15.00

Poached eggs, ham, house hollandaise on toscana bread

Mum thoroughly enjoyed her eggs benedict. I was relieved because I had dragged her around for quite a bit trying to find the Machine Laundry Cafe, and she kept whinging she would have been happy with a croissant from the markets.

Ricotta Hotcakes $15.00
Served with a berry compote and King Island Cream

I have been wanting to try ricotta hotcakes since seeing and hearing about Bill Granger's famous ricotta hotcakes.
When my dish arrived at the table, we all took a step back to take in the size of the serve. This was a breakfast of champions! The hotcakes were so light and fluffy. Teamed up with the berries and cream (and I'm not a huge cream person), was just freaking fantastic. I had trouble finishing it all, but I'm so glad I did; or I would be sitting here wishing I had.

Chocolate Croissant $5.00, Blueberry Muffin $4.50, Mocha $3.60, Chocolate Milkshake $5.00

Dad started off with a croissant, but wasn't sure if he was full or not, so then ordered a muffin. He also thoroughly enjoyed both.

ZUM is now one of my favorite places in Tasmania for sure. I noticed there is also one on Elizabeth Street in North Hobart.
Service here was outstanding. The wait staff constantly working extremely hard to keep everyone happy.

They also sell one of my favourite beverages; Charlies' Homemade Lemonade, as well as drink from the Phoenix range. In fact they are freely available in Hobart! I have such trouble finding them in Melbourne.

Raspberry Muffin - $4.50

We tried to have breakfast here again before our Cascade tour, but a table of 20 came in just before us and slowed down the kitchen. We had to cancel our order and get muffins and pasteries instead, or we would miss our tour. This raspberry muffin was so moist and delicious, packed full of fruit. Zum wins again!

ZUM Salamanca
29 Salamanca Place
Hobart, Tasmania
Ph: 03 6223 2323
www.zumsalamanca.com.au

I tried to not make my list of things to do, eat and see in Tasmania too big. I had seen Onba's menu online through my research and I liked the variety on offer. I thought my mum would like to try the duck liver pate in the tapas menu, and there seemed to be a good range of dishes to keep everyone happy, not matter what time of day we ended up being there. Lucky for me, it was our first night, we had just landed, and needed a place to eat!

 I had the smallest bottle of Sprite I've ever seen in my life! 

Mum however didn't order the duck liver pate, since she has been known to make a pretty damn good pate herself. This suited me as I'm not pate's hugest fan.

Crab meat omelette with spring onion relish and sweet soy sauce  $12.50

With a similar sauce used in peking duck, the fresh crab omelette was amazing. Very refreshing, and a full body flavour. I'd love to try and recreate this one at home.

Pan-fried roast hazelnut crusted goats cheese with lemon myrtle infused quince syrup $13.50

The hazelnuts worked so well with the incredibly creamy cheese. It was the quince sauce that really made everything work together. The sweetness really complimented the savouriness of the goat's cheese. Served with crackers, it was a great way to start dinner.

Chicken breast filled with semi-sundried tomatoes, spinach and fetta served with potato gnocchi and roasted red capsicum and tomato sauce  $26.50

My chicken dish was truly amazing. Crispy skin chicken, filled with feta, semi-sundried tomatoes and spinach, was not dry at all. The red sauce was amazing, I think it might have had a hint of mint in it, that just brought it to life. This is only the second time in my life I've had gnocchi, so I can't say if it was good or not, as I'm not really an gnocchi-connoisseur, but it was delicious. Quite evidently hand made too.

 Venison "civet" fore-quarters slow cooked in a red wine stock and served with a braised root vegetable and potato mash $26.00

The venison just melted away in your mouth. Just perfection on a plate. A rich red wine flavour dominated the dish, and worked ever so perfectly with the creamy mash potato. (Sorry about the fuzziness of the photo, still trying to learn the art of manual focus when you are photographing someone else's dish when they are in a hurry to eat it!)

Spring Bay Mussel Pot (1kg) steamed with white wine, dill & cream served with shoestring fries and garlic aioli  $26.00

Mum seemed please with her 1kg of mussels. When we were waiting for the dish, I asked her if it was with a white wine sauce or a red sauce. She said she didn't know…. she obviously stopped reading after she saw '1kg of mussels'.
Served with fresh chips and aioli, it was a very good sized meal!

We all left nice and full, with good memories to start our long weekend. The staff were super friendly, with someone always around to great new customers who entered the restaurant. Our main waitress was delightful, she did tend to wink a bit though ;)

Check out the gang at Onba for breakfast, lunch, dinner or tapas!
They also have free 30 minutes of wi-fi if you buy a drink.

Onba
301 Elizabeth Street
North Hobart
Tasmania
Phone: (03) 6231 5931
Web: www.onba.com.au

I debated if I could post a non-food related post on my food blog... then I thought... "Stuff it. It's my blog, I can do whatever the frick I want!" So with that in mind; I give you some miscallenous shots of my recent trip to Hobart. The food posts will come, and so will a gorgeous photo journal of my trip to Port Arthur.

I finally started reading Matt Preston's book on the flight over, with my $4 tube of Jetstar Pringles. Awesome book. I was chuckling to myself on the plane, hoping no one thought I was a crazy lady!

Excuse the small map. It was done in iPhoto... I could have done the connecting lines but you wouldn't be able to read anything!

My home for 5 nights was at the Wyndham Resort on Seven Mile Beach; 2 bedrooms (complete with electric blankets), 1 kitchen with laundry facilities, 1 bathroom, lounge, outdoor dining area.

We had 1 pool, 2 spas, 2 detox boxes (one wasn't working, and I didn't feel very detoxed after 30 minutes in the one that was working), a games room, playground, massive chess set, barbecues, and you could even hire bikes, fishing rods and golf clubs.

Around the resort.

The resort was just across the road from the beach. The top photo is a lovely sunset over Seven Mile Beach. The other two photos were taken at scenic viewpoints on our way back home from Port Arthur.

Tasmania was every bit as gorgeous as everyone said it would be. With rolling green hills, and bursts of floral colour on the roadside where ever you drive; it is really a picturesque part of Australia.

Salamanca was probably my favorite place in Hobart. The markets on Saturday were great, I will be following up with a post just on them soon! Lots of great food finds down there too.

I found a giant wall of ramen.

Some of the cute and quirky signs I found along the way.

This was Dootown. Every house had a cute name like; Love Me Doo, Doo Mee, Dr. Doo Little, Doo Try It, Just Doo It..... you get the picture.... even the cafe at the blowhole had a doo-name.

Taken on my last day, when it finally started raining, I saw these on a boat and couldn't help but sing, 99 luft balloons!

Stay tuned for my Tazzie food adventures, and more photo journals. I hope you enjoyed this one.

Have you been to Tazzie? What was your favorite site or food place?

It's another meatball curry!
I ❤ meatballs.
I ❤ curry.
I found another recipe to combine the two, and this time it has a Thai twist.

So simple to make, so tasty. I amazed myself with how delicious these were.
It just proves, you don't need to have pasta in a napoli sauce to enjoy a good, old fashioned ball of meat!

Red Curry with Meatballs

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 red capsicum, thinly sliced
2-3 tablspoons Thai red curry paste
400ml can coconut milk
1 long red and 1 long green chilli, seeds removed, thinly sliced, plus extra to serve
3 spring onions, thinly sliced, plus extra to serve
1 lemongrass stem (pale part only), finely chopped
Juice f 2 limes, plus wedges to serve
1/2 cup (60g) almond meal
Steamed rice, to serve

Meatballs
500g lean beef mince
2 spring onions, finely chopped
1 long red chilli, seeds removed, finely chopped
1 lemongrass stem (pale part only), finely chopped
2 tablespoons finely chopped coriander, plus extra to serve
2 tablespoons finely grated ginger
Grated zest and juice of 1 lime
1 free-range egg, lightly beaten

1. For the meatballs, place all ingredients in a large bowl, season, then use your hands to mix together until will combined. With slightly wet hands, form into about 20 walnut size balls. Chill for 15 minutes.

2. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large, deep frypan over medium heat. Cook the meatballs, in 2 batches, for 10-12 minutes until browned and cooked through. Remove. Set aside.

3. Wide the pan clean, then heat remaining oil over medium-low heat. Add capsicum and cook for 2-3 minutes until softened, then add curry paste and stir for a further minute until fragrant.

4. Stir in coconut milk, chilli, spring onion, lemongrass, lime juice and almond meal. Simmer for 2-3 minutes until slightly reduced and thickened.

5. Return meatballs to curry sauce, stirring gently to coat, then place over a low heat for 1-2 minutes to heat through.

6. Scatter curry with corriander, chilli and spring onion. Serve with rice and lime.

Serves 4.

Voila! Bon Appétit!

Guest chef, Iron Chef Mumma has been busy in the kitchen again. She has been trying a few new recipes each week from her massive collection of magazine tear outs. I know most of us have a folder like that. A few nights before these amazing ribs, we got served a portugasmic Portuguese chicken. I will be making that myself one day. But today, let's focus on the ribs.

The ribs were bloody good. That's all really that can be said about them. So deliciously tasty, so tender, so the dish I wanted to come home to after a crappy day at work. I suggest you make yourself a batch and see for yourself!


Crisp-Fried Pork Ribs with Pepper-Salt
"This is a popular dish with Chinese communities around the world. The salty flavour stimulates the appetite, so it is usually one of the first courses to be served at a banquet. The Chinese traditionally use bony pork ribs for this dish. A pile of bones beside the plate is a sign that the been has been thoroughly enjoyed." 

1/4 cup dark soy sauce
1/3 cup hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
2 tablespoons Chinese cooking wine
3 teaspoons, sugar
1 kg meaty pork ribs, chopped into 4cm pieces
1 1/2 cups cornflour
3 cups vegetable oil for deep-frying
2-3 tablespoons pepper salt
2 fresh red chillies, seeded and finely chopped

1. Mix the soy sauce, hoisin sauce, garlic, wine and sugar in a large bowl. Add the pork, mix well to coat with the marinade and leave for at least 2 hours or overnight.

2. Remove the pork from the marinde and drain for 15 minutes on a rack over a bowl. Coat lightly with the cornflour.

3. Heat the oil in a work or pan substitute for deep-frying. Add half the pork until it is crip and brown, about 3 minutes. Using a wire mesh scoop, remove the pork from the oil and drain on paper towels. Repeat with remaining pork.

4. Heat a wok or non-stick frying pan without oil and dry cook the pork ribs. Sprinkle the pepper-salt and shopped chillies over and stir-fry for about 1 minute to evenly distribute the spices; serve.

Substitutes:
- You can use barbeque sauce or tomato ketchup to replace the hoisin sauce
- You can use dry sherry or sake to replace the Chinese cooking wine
- Plain table salt mixed with white pepper or Chinese five-spice powder, at a ratio of four to one, can be used in place of the pepper-salt.

Serves 4-6.

Voila! Bon Appétit!

I like to spend my Sundays either as lazy as possible, or going somewhere new and exciting. I was planning on going to the Mornington Markets, as they were raising money for breast cancer on that particular Sunday. However, I was far too tired and had swollen, aching feet from the Joshua Radin concert the night before, I opted for one of those lazy Sunday days.

I have riden my bike to Jell's Park since I was a wee tacker. On recent trips, and actually paying attention to my surroundings a little more; I noticed there was a nice looking cafe there.

Since it was already past 12pm, breakfast was no longer being served, so we had to choose from the lunch menu. Not really a problem as there was so many delicious sounding things to choose from.

Chicken and Hazelnut Salad

I ordered the chicken and hazelnut salad because I had never had 2 of my favorite things combined like that before. The chicken was coated in a hazelnut dukkha, and cooked to perfection; not dry at all. It worked perfectly with the balsamic glaze, lettuce, sweet potatoes, and my favorite ingredient in the salad; pears! All things I wouldn't really think to put together, but worked as a taste sensation.

Steak with Chips and a Mushroom Ragu

My dining partner was tossing up between steak and chips or pie of the day. So much tossing up that when he ordered a pie, he then changed it to steak. I told the waitress to write it down and leave before he changed his mind again!
The steak was cooked perfectly, nice and tender. It was a perfect portion size.

I don't normally eat dessert at the same place I eat my main meal at. I usually like to go for a walk and find somewhere else. But when we spotted chocolate springrolls on the menu, we knew there was going to be dessert straight after lunch. I spied another table ordering scones, and they were massive and made my mouth water .. just a touch.

Chocolate Springrolls with Ice-Cream, Cream and Strawberries

Our friendly waitress came over to lay down some cutlery for the springrolls. She didn't know how we wanted to cut them up so we eat got a fork, a knife and a spoon. I used all three, my dining partner used the spoon from his latte.

I had no idea what to expect from chocolate springrolls. When they came to the table I was in awe of how awesome they looked.

It wasn't until we cut through the crispy shell, and the chocolate just oozed out, like making the first cut into a chocolate fondant. I immediately grabbed my camera for this Kodak moment.
You can tell they have used quality chocolate in the dish; which is good because cheap and nasty chocolate would just totally wreck it. Perfectly teamed with vanilla ice-cream, cream and gorgeous strawberries; I want more as I sit here reminiscing about it.

When I was contacted by Linsday to see if I wanted to try POM juice I snapped up the opportunity as I had heard people talking about it, and I had seen it in the supermarket in it's sexy, curvaceous bottle.
POM can be used in cocktails, mocktails, and cooking. I didn't know this when I took the photo, but a whole range of recipes can be found on their website. Considering I don't have lots of ingredients listed in the recipes, I will be just reviewing it as a drink.

The day the shipment of POM Wonderful arrived, I got home from work, then scooted off to the gym before dinner. Mum wanted to drink it with dinner, but I wasn't letting her have her way. I hadn't had a chance to photograph it, yet have a look at any of the reading material that came with it! So she had to wait until the next night to try it.

So we sat around, each with a glass of POM in hand, and for some reason, when I get things to try out, my parents turn into the harshest of food critics. There were a few Matt Preston facial expressions going on, and with the way they were going about it, it was like we were trying a 1967 Penfold's Shiraz or something (I don't know if Penfold's made a shiraz back in 1967, it was just an example, so don't write in telling me I've got my facts wrong!)

From multiple tastings, over multiple nights, our conclusions are as follows;

• On it's own, some of us found that it had a slight drying effect on the mouth. I have had this with other drinks I have tried in the past.

• The drying effect can be solved by adding lemonade for a nice fizzy concoction

• Some of us felt fizz was mandatory when consuming POM

• The rest of us really like it on it's own

• Dad asked me if the bottle was meant to look like pomegranates; a couple of days later, I jokingly concluded it was meant to look like a prostate since it is good for your heart and your prostate... for those of us that have a prostate! I found it hard throwing the bottle in the bin though, it was such a nice looking bottle.

• We didn't really feel like it had a pomegranate flavour to it, but it was a nice refreshing drink with the added fizz of lemonade or lemon squash. Health benefits are always a bonus

• I would really like to try the other flavours, like the pomegranate blueberry, pomegranate mango, and pomegranate cherry.
  

The POM army, waiting to attack..

Some facts about POM Wonderful:

• It contains more antioxidants than red wine, grape juice, acai juice and even green tea.
• In every 475ml bottle, there is no added sugar or artificial ingredients, just juice from five pomegranate varieties 
  
• Primary research areas for health benefits have included the prostate and the cardiovascular system
  

POM Wonderful is available at most Woolworths stores, in the produce section; should you wish to try it yourself. For more information on the health benefits, recipes and other varities; check out: pomwonderful.com.au

Thanks again Lindsay for sending me out some samples to try!

Hope you all have a POM-tastic day!