You've all heard of love at first sight haven't you? I was totally in love when I first saw this product:

The lovely Kim from Fully Baked contacted me to see if I was interested in giving the BeaterBlade+ a test run, as they were launching the product to the Australian and New Zealand market. Of course I was most excited because the standard KitchenAid attachment mixes well, but you have to stop the mixing quite often, scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula, resume mixing, stop, and repeat. This can get quite annoying, and can be very time consuming.

Left to Right: Standard KitchenAid attachment, BeaterBlade+

I will confess, I don't actually own a KitchenAid mixer, it is technically my mother's. However I still live at home, and I swear I've used the KitchenAid far more than her. I'm just glad she is happy to share it with me! So I attached the BeaterBlade+ and was anxious to see the results:

BeaterBlade+ attached and ready for combat

The attachment clicked in just as easy as the standard attachments. We have the sexy fire engine red KitchenAid. And you know what they say about red things, they go faster! So lets check out the difference between the standard attachment and the BeaterBlade+:

As you can see, with the standard attachment, the mixture sticks to the sides, and doesn't mix everything together consistently. The BeaterBlade+ scrapes and mixes at the same time, so I didn't have to stop, scrape then mix, then stop, scrape and mix. It even did a fine job when I added the eggs in. This product is just the thing I have been needing my whole baking life! It cuts beating time easily by half! I will be looking forward to easier baking from now on!
You can also check out youtube footage of the attachment in action here.
The attachment is also available for the tilt head models retailing for $55.95. The lift head attachment retails for $59.95. The Fully Baked website is currently under construction, but if you would like to contact Kim about buying one, please contact me and I will supply her contact details to you.

What did I bake though? I tried green tea cupcakes, they have to be healthy if they have green tea in them right? I can only wish!

I decided to not bake in cupcake cases for a change, but instead give my new baby bundt tin a try. The recipe states it makes 24 cupcakes, but I think they were a bit ambitious, and would probably make about 15. It also says to top with Japanese sweet red beans, but I'm afraid I don't normally stock these in my pantry, so cachous makes a reappearance.

To be honest, couldn't really taste any green tea in these babies. Mum suggested I should try a stronger green tea, but I'm not sure which ones would be stronger. If you have any idea, please let me know! If you didn't tell anyone they were green tea flavour they wouldn't know, they would just ask you why they have a green tinge to them. They were more vanilla-y then anything, but still a nice fluffy cake. I preferred mine without the cream, not sure if I will make these again, not unless I find a stronger green tea powder.

Voila! Bon Appétit!

I've been wanting to try using a miso marinade since I saw Tetsuya do one on Japanese Food Safari some time ago. Not Quite Nigella inspired me to get the new Bill Granger book, and once I had a flick through, I knew I really wanted to try this recipe.

It was a really nice, healthy option. If you love the taste of miso soup, you will definitely love miso fish. The lemon and the sugar along with the miso help to give the flavour a bit more depth. It was SO incredibly easy to make, just made the marinade, spread it on the fish and grill! Too easy. Great for those of us watching our weight and not wanting to put on an extra layer over winter.

Miso Fish with Spring Onions & Sesame Seeds
Bill Granger

4 x 180g pieces firm white fish fillet, such as snapper or blue eye, skinned
2 tablespoons white miso paste
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 teapsoons extra virgin olive oil

to serve:
finely shredded spring onions
sesame seeds
steamed rice
steamed green vegetables, such as baby Asian leafy greens and asparagus

1. Place the fish on a lightly oiled baking tray. Preheat the grill to high.

2. Stir miso paste, sugar, lemon juice and olive oil together in a bowl to combine. Brush the fish with the miso mixture and place the tray under the grill for 5-7 minutes, or until the fish is cooked through.

3. Serve at once, sprinkled with shredded spring onions and sesame seeds. Accompany with steamed rice and green vegetables.

Serves 4.

Voila! Bon Appétit!

My favorite place to get sushi when I'm at work would have to be Okoze sushi. The staff are always friendly, and always happy to see me.

They have the standard flavours, california, tuna, salmon, prawn. They also have inaris and a nice range of bento boxes. The one flavour that I thought was a little unusual was springroll.

As you can see, it's a springroll in a nori roll. I thought this was a bit bizarre so I tried it, and I've been hooked on them ever since. It's just basically, a spring roll, some Japanese mayo and lettuce wrapped up in the traditional sushi way. I'm not sure if this should be on the "This Is Why You're Fat" website or not, but I really like them.

Okoze Sushi
1/180 Toorak Road
South Yarra VIC 3141
Phone: (03) 9078 1078

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Instead of spending money on going out, I got together with Iron Chefs; Rob, David and Jason, for a cook off. We decided to try a Japanese soba noodle salad. I've been wanting to try noodle salads for ages, and since the weather is getting warmer, healthy salads are always a great option.


I have had this recipe sitting in my "recipes to try before filing away" folder. This folder is so full I better start cooking my way through it before it explodes! We decided to serve our noodle salad with some sushi rolls in case the salad wasn't filling enough. It was a really refreshing dinner. The salad could have done with a bit more dressing, but I think that was due to the fact we cooked a little more soba noodles than required.


We all agreed more dressing was required, and Jason went to the fridge to get the French dressing. I'm not sure what French dressing and a Japanese noodle salad taste like but he gobbled it all up with no hesitations. The tofu was meant to be eaten raw, but as we thought that was a little weird (even the vegetarians thought that it was weird to eat tofu uncooked) we fried it up with a little soya sauce.

Japanese Buckwheat Noodle Salad with Tofu & Soy-Chilli Dressing
Michelle Curtis, found on www.cuisine.com.au

For the dressing:

• 2 tsp castor sugar
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 2 small red chillies, deseeded and diced

For the salad

• 125g soba noodles
• 100g snow peas
• ½ red capsicum, finely diced
• 1 carrot, shredded
• 2 Lebanese cucumbers, thinly sliced
• 4 red shallots, thinly sliced
• 2-3 tbsp coriander, chopped
• 1 tbsp Vietnamese mint (optional), chopped
• 250g firm silken tofu
• fried shallots, to serve

1. Mix the ingredients together, ensuring the castor sugar dissolves. Set aside.

2. Cook the noodles in plenty of boiling water for 6 to 8 minutes and refresh under cold running water.

3. Boil the snow peas for 2 minutes, refresh under cold running water and slice thinly.

4. Place the noodles and snow peas in a large bowl, then add the capsicum, carrot, cucumber, shallots, coriander and Vietnamese mint (if using). Toss gently, add the dressing, and pile onto a platter. Dice tofu, scatter over the top and sprinkle fried shallots over.Serve immediately.

Serves 6

Friday night the boyfriend and I were craving Japanese food and we both avoided sushi and lunchtime since we knew we were going on the hunt for a Japanese dinner. I didn’t feel like going to the usual places we eat at, so I got out the Cheap Eats guide for inspiration.

Trying to find somewhere near my place we decided on Asakusa. It was rated best in it’s class and the review convinced us we should try it out.

We were seated quickly (since we had phoned up earlier and made a booking), and were shuffled through the front of the restaurant to a smaller room where there were a few other diners. We were promptly given menus and began trawling through the menu to find out what we should dine on.

I immediately suggested Gyoza since I’m obsessed with them:

Gyoza – Japanese style fried dumplings

Asakusa Sushi & Sashimi Set (small)

Gyu Tataki - Tender fillet of beef sashimi served with ponzu sauce

Ramen (Miso)

Yet another cloudy, winter day in Melbourne. Usually I would have loved to stay at home in the warmth all day with Iron Chef Rob watching DVDs but the Melbourne Design Market at Federation Square was on. I had never been before, so I was interested to see what I could find, hopefully some nice stuff for a reasonable price. But noooooooo! It was all massively over priced, fine if you are the arty type, but I was not a rich arty type to purchase such goods.

Anyway, after wondering around the city for bit, lunch time creped up on us, so we found ourselves back at Federation Square in search of food.

At a restaurant called "Chocolate Buddha" I would not have expected Japanese food, but this place was, and business was booming. The staff were all very polite and willing to help.
A good variety of meat and vegetarian dishes, from noodles to wagyu beef.

We ordered gyoza, my latest obbession in life and some noodles. We had no idea what to expect from the noodles as we aren't really professionals at ordering Japanese food.

My noodles came out first, shortly followed by Rob's noodles and the gyoza.

Gyu Ramen: chilli marinated organic beef slices, char-grilled & served with vegetable dumplings, swiss chard, bean sprouts, chilli sauce in ramen noodle soup.

Delicious, fresh noodles, nice broth, complete with all the trimmings.

Tori Soboro Somen: minced organic chicken, flavoured with miso & chilli, garnished with coriander, red onions, spring onions & crispy sweet potato served on somen noodles with a touch of ramen stock.

This looked like Japanese spaghetti bolognaise. I wish I had ordered this as it looked so good! The sweet potato was a nice touch too, nice for a cold Melbourne day.

Gyoza

Full menu available at: www.chocolatebuddha.com.au

Saturday night Iron Chef Rob and I decided to eat out. It had been a while since we had Japanese food so I decided to take him to a nice, quite Japanese restaurant I had been taken to before.

I was put in charge of ordering the food, so I though we would grab some entrees and a sushi platter to share.

So we were settled with our Japanese green tea having a nice chat when the first of our dishes arrived:

Edamame
Steamed Japanese Soybeans

I'll admit this is not something that would normally get me excited but we had these the last time I went to this place and they were very addictive. You pop the seeds out and eat them. Once you pop, you can't stop! Covered with salt, they are simple and delicious.

Next came my favorite Japanese dumplings:

Gyoza
Japanese style dim sim

Rob and I agreed these were quite possibly the best gyoza we had ever had. The filling was delicious and the pastry was so fresh, I could have eaten these all night.

Next we shared a platter of sushi and sashimi as Rob had never had raw fish on it's own before.

House Platter

Gyu Negimaki
Beef rolled with vegetables in teriyaki sauce

Mochi
Japanese rice cake

These were interesting, but in a good way. Inside there was like a jam or paste, which melts off in your mouth. Served cold, they were a subtle sweet, nothing too over powering. Very nice as a refreshment after a meal.

Maiko Special
Japanese Coconut Jelly

Delicious! Very refreshing, also not overly sweet. Very creamy and smooth textured. You can't go wrong with coconut jelly.

At the end of the meal we were brought out some complimentary fresh fruit.

Service was very attentive, always changing our plates, making sure our cups were full of tea, and food came out at steady pace. Love this place, and is on my list of favorite places.

Saturday was my boyfriend's birthday, so there was ALOT of eating out over the weekend!
We decided to take a drive and try out a place I had heard about through work. We drove past and saw no one in the restaurant; generally not a good sign for me, but we decided to give it a try anyway, and were pleasantly surprised!

Kinkaku Japanese Restaurant
628 North Road
Ormond VIC 3204
(03) 9576 7222

I liked the plate!

I decided to try a Bento Box. I had never had one before. There were three different options of the Bento Box, and all sounded delicious! I wish I could have one everyday as I loved everything in it. This one here had gyoza, Japanese springrolls, California rolls, rice, teriyaki chicken, Japanese pickles and miso soup.
( I didn't eat the pickles and I'm not a pickle fan!)

Bento Box

My boyfriend had the beef ramen. He said it was delicious. The funniest part was when they brought it out with a soup ladle to eat with! Stacked full of veggies, it wasn't too heavy as we didn't want to spoil our appetite for birthday dinner.... and cake!

Beef Ramen