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Showing posts with label cider. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cider. Show all posts

Revisting My Childhood

My father and his siblings grew up in a Public Housing Estate in Hong Kong called So Uk Estate (蘇屋邨). My late grandparents were still living there after my father & Co. married, moved out and had children. They knocked most of the buildings down because they are way too old and the 6 remaining buildings will go in 2012.

In the 80's/90's and maybe the early millennium, we often went back to So UK Estate to visit my grandparents and sometimes have dinner at Lily Chinese Restaurant (百合酒樓). The grand kids, who are all in their 20's/30's now, would sit around a special table and eat children-friendly food. My favourite were deep fried fish fillets with corn sauce, sweet and sour pork, Cantonese style steak fillets and lemon chicken.

I made lemon tofu chicken last week using the amazing Health Wise gluten free batter mix from Absolutely Gluten Free. K thinks it taste a lot like batter from fish and chip shops.

The tofu chicken part is damn simple:

- Cut tofu to bite size.
- Marinade the tofu in a bit of salt (and/or gluten free soy sauce), white pepper (I use black pepper), paprika and dried thyme.
- Dip them in the batter mix.
- Shallow-fry (or deep-fry) them!

With the Lemon sauce, I used this recipe from Christine's Recipe. It is a bi-lingual omni home cooking blog. Christine is a Chinese mum in Queensland.

When they are ready, pour the lemon sauce and serve!

I did the dish again, two big packs of tofu worth, at the gluten-free flour testing party at Cindy and Michael's home and five of us finished the whole thing in a blink of eye.

If you are too lazy to make the sauce, you can just sprinkle Chinese five spices or salt and pepper on it. Enjoy it with Cooper's Pale Ale or Gypsy Pear Cider. La Dolce Vita!

I also made the Cantonese Style Steak, combining different traditional omni recipes online.

What you need is two packs of tempeh.

- Halve tempeh lengthwise, then halve each half crosswise, then halve each portion crosswise again so you will get 8 thin "steak fillets".
- Boil them in water for 5 to 7mins.
- Marinade them in gluten-free few splashes of gluten-free soy sauce, a tablespoon of sugar, a dash of rice wine vinegar, some white/black pepper and few drops of seasame oil.
- In the mean time, slice 2 medium onions. Fry them but remove it from the pan/wok before they turn brown. Put it aside.
- Fry the tempeh til they are brown on both side.
- In the meantime, mix 2 tablespoons of Tomato Sauce and Spring Gully Gluten Free Worcestershire Sauce (vegan-safe and available at Coles), 1/2 tablespoon sugar and salt and dash of rice wine vinegar together in a bowl.
- Add cooked onions and sauce to the tempeh fillets and gently stir fry it on low/medium heat. Add in corn flour water mixture (1 tablespoon of corn flour with 4 tablespoons of water) and cook til the sauce thicken up.

Here you go:


On my walkman:
The North Wind Blew South by Philamore Lincoln
My father and his siblings grew up in a Public Housing Estate in Hong Kong called So Uk Estate (蘇屋邨). My late grandparents were still living there after my father & Co. married, moved out and had children. They knocked most of the buildings down because they are way too old and the 6 remaining buildings will go in 2012.

In the 80's/90's and maybe the early millennium, we often went back to So UK Estate to visit my grandparents and sometimes have dinner at Lily Chinese Restaurant (百合酒樓). The grand kids, who are all in their 20's/30's now, would sit around a special table and eat children-friendly food. My favourite were deep fried fish fillets with corn sauce, sweet and sour pork, Cantonese style steak fillets and lemon chicken.

I made lemon tofu chicken last week using the amazing Health Wise gluten free batter mix from Absolutely Gluten Free. K thinks it taste a lot like batter from fish and chip shops.

The tofu chicken part is damn simple:

- Cut tofu to bite size.
- Marinade the tofu in a bit of salt (and/or gluten free soy sauce), white pepper (I use black pepper), paprika and dried thyme.
- Dip them in the batter mix.
- Shallow-fry (or deep-fry) them!

With the Lemon sauce, I used this recipe from Christine's Recipe. It is a bi-lingual omni home cooking blog. Christine is a Chinese mum in Queensland.

When they are ready, pour the lemon sauce and serve!

I did the dish again, two big packs of tofu worth, at the gluten-free flour testing party at Cindy and Michael's home and five of us finished the whole thing in a blink of eye.

If you are too lazy to make the sauce, you can just sprinkle Chinese five spices or salt and pepper on it. Enjoy it with Cooper's Pale Ale or Gypsy Pear Cider. La Dolce Vita!

I also made the Cantonese Style Steak, combining different traditional omni recipes online.

What you need is two packs of tempeh.

- Halve tempeh lengthwise, then halve each half crosswise, then halve each portion crosswise again so you will get 8 thin "steak fillets".
- Boil them in water for 5 to 7mins.
- Marinade them in gluten-free few splashes of gluten-free soy sauce, a tablespoon of sugar, a dash of rice wine vinegar, some white/black pepper and few drops of seasame oil.
- In the mean time, slice 2 medium onions. Fry them but remove it from the pan/wok before they turn brown. Put it aside.
- Fry the tempeh til they are brown on both side.
- In the meantime, mix 2 tablespoons of Tomato Sauce and Spring Gully Gluten Free Worcestershire Sauce (vegan-safe and available at Coles), 1/2 tablespoon sugar and salt and dash of rice wine vinegar together in a bowl.
- Add cooked onions and sauce to the tempeh fillets and gently stir fry it on low/medium heat. Add in corn flour water mixture (1 tablespoon of corn flour with 4 tablespoons of water) and cook til the sauce thicken up.

Here you go:


On my walkman:
The North Wind Blew South by Philamore Lincoln
reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Castlemaine and Daylesford Part 2

So Kristy and I headed up north from Castlemaine to Harcourt. There are quite a few wineries and even a cidery. I have never been to a cidery so we went to the home of four different vegan ciders: Henry of Harcourt.

I thought we could check out the orchard, how they press the apples and brew but those activities weren't available. But I guess tasting all the ciders there was good enough.

Chooks @ Henry of Harcount

I skipped the Pink Lady cider that I've had a few times at Las Vegan and started with the amazing Perry($5/500ml), a cider made of Perry Pears. It tastes similar to Weston Organic Perry cider but drier (still sweet enough) and more nature. The second one was Duck and Bull Cider($7/500ml), a Pink Lady and Yarlington apple cider. It tastes a bit sweeter than the Pink Lady cider and has a nice aftertaste. The third one was Last Apple ($15/750ml), a non-sparkling apple wine. It was pretty nice but I prefer wine made of grapes or pears (like this 2 quids El Cheapo).The last one was the amazing Yarlington Mill ($20/750ml). It smells and tastes very very very very very nice. I have never paid $20 for a bottle of cider before, regardless the size. Well, I have now.

Henry of Harcourt
219 Reservoir Road,

Harcourt VIC 3453

The guy at Henry of Harcourt informed us Mount Alexander Winery is the place to be, so we took his advise.

The winery is ran by a couple and two cute dogs. We tried their Pinot Noir, Shiraz and Cabernet Shiraz. We both loved the Shiraz and were amused by the awesomeness of the Cabernet Shiraz. I'm not an educated wine drinker and all I can say is that Cabernet Shiraz is an interesting wine. It has lots of layers and transforms in your mouth. Both of the Shiraz and Cabernet Shiraz are vegan. They use egg whites to filter the Chardonnay but I forgot if their Pinot Noir is vegan.

The gang of booze and my new Keepcup

Mount Alexander Winery
410 Harcourt Road,
Sutton Grange, Victoria


We also revisited Chocolate Mill at Mount Franklin. We were there around two years ago and tried all the vegan-friendly chocolate and the soup mug sized hot chocolate. This time, in additional, we watched the demo they do at 11am and 2pm every day.

They explained that, unlike other commercial chocolate manufacturers in Australia, they use only high quality
Callebaut Belgian Couverture chocolate, with no vegetable fat or palm oil. They are pretty vegan and gluten-free friendly and cater for different dietary requirements. All their dark chocolate, apart from Acticoa Dark (63.5%), are vegan.

They sell vegan filled chocolates at the shop for around $8 per 100grams, including dark chocolate dipped apricots, orange slices, candied ginger pieces, cardamon discs, cinnamon sticks, my favourite Dark Cherry Lips and Kristy's favourite Peppermint Leaves. We ate them all before we have chance to take photos but you can see some of them from our last post.

lots of chocolate
Mini Willie Wonka chocolate river
5KG of Belgian Chocolate. (No, you can't get it from Costco)
Mr "Chief Taster" turned the chocolate brushed mold upside down.
They called it the "Chocolate Rain"

Voila!
Piping

5451 Midland Hwy, Mount Franklin VIC 3461

On the Walkman:
Moonshot - Buffy Sainte-Marie

So Kristy and I headed up north from Castlemaine to Harcourt. There are quite a few wineries and even a cidery. I have never been to a cidery so we went to the home of four different vegan ciders: Henry of Harcourt.

I thought we could check out the orchard, how they press the apples and brew but those activities weren't available. But I guess tasting all the ciders there was good enough.

Chooks @ Henry of Harcount

I skipped the Pink Lady cider that I've had a few times at Las Vegan and started with the amazing Perry($5/500ml), a cider made of Perry Pears. It tastes similar to Weston Organic Perry cider but drier (still sweet enough) and more nature. The second one was Duck and Bull Cider($7/500ml), a Pink Lady and Yarlington apple cider. It tastes a bit sweeter than the Pink Lady cider and has a nice aftertaste. The third one was Last Apple ($15/750ml), a non-sparkling apple wine. It was pretty nice but I prefer wine made of grapes or pears (like this 2 quids El Cheapo).The last one was the amazing Yarlington Mill ($20/750ml). It smells and tastes very very very very very nice. I have never paid $20 for a bottle of cider before, regardless the size. Well, I have now.

Henry of Harcourt
219 Reservoir Road,

Harcourt VIC 3453

The guy at Henry of Harcourt informed us Mount Alexander Winery is the place to be, so we took his advise.

The winery is ran by a couple and two cute dogs. We tried their Pinot Noir, Shiraz and Cabernet Shiraz. We both loved the Shiraz and were amused by the awesomeness of the Cabernet Shiraz. I'm not an educated wine drinker and all I can say is that Cabernet Shiraz is an interesting wine. It has lots of layers and transforms in your mouth. Both of the Shiraz and Cabernet Shiraz are vegan. They use egg whites to filter the Chardonnay but I forgot if their Pinot Noir is vegan.

The gang of booze and my new Keepcup

Mount Alexander Winery
410 Harcourt Road,
Sutton Grange, Victoria


We also revisited Chocolate Mill at Mount Franklin. We were there around two years ago and tried all the vegan-friendly chocolate and the soup mug sized hot chocolate. This time, in additional, we watched the demo they do at 11am and 2pm every day.

They explained that, unlike other commercial chocolate manufacturers in Australia, they use only high quality
Callebaut Belgian Couverture chocolate, with no vegetable fat or palm oil. They are pretty vegan and gluten-free friendly and cater for different dietary requirements. All their dark chocolate, apart from Acticoa Dark (63.5%), are vegan.

They sell vegan filled chocolates at the shop for around $8 per 100grams, including dark chocolate dipped apricots, orange slices, candied ginger pieces, cardamon discs, cinnamon sticks, my favourite Dark Cherry Lips and Kristy's favourite Peppermint Leaves. We ate them all before we have chance to take photos but you can see some of them from our last post.

lots of chocolate
Mini Willie Wonka chocolate river
5KG of Belgian Chocolate. (No, you can't get it from Costco)
Mr "Chief Taster" turned the chocolate brushed mold upside down.
They called it the "Chocolate Rain"

Voila!
Piping

5451 Midland Hwy, Mount Franklin VIC 3461

On the Walkman:
Moonshot - Buffy Sainte-Marie

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Las Vegan's revisited and Ciders

When I was in the hospital, the amazing Kristy bought me food from Las Vegan for lunch and Trippy Taco for dinner.

We looooooooooooove Las Vegan. When I used to have days off during the week, I went there for lunch very often. Kristy could, however, rarely go there as they only opened during lunch from Tuesday to Friday.

They started serving dinner on Thursday and Friday from July last year. It is a good news for Melbourne Vegans but the cafe is sometimes a bit empty when we are there for dinner. I hope they can get more dinner customers as they are working extra hard for us.

We ordered the satay rice balls with gourmet salad, sloppy Joe on rice, with gourmet salad and chips to share. (sorry, the photos are too blurry, so just use your imagination)

Sloppy Joe is my all time favourite dish. It is made of TVP and chopped mushrooms. It tasted good as a burger filling and topping on rice. They make TVP calzones as well. They are very yummy but not gluten free though.

The satay rice balls were freshly made, served with homemade satay sauce. The super-crispy rice balls are kind of like risotto balls but made with brown rice.

They are now serving Henry of Harcourt vegan cider on Thursday and Friday too. I haven't tried it yet but I heard lots of good things about it.

Talking about vegan cider I've recently tracked down some Coldstream Apple Cider from Blackhearts and Sparrows. It is delicious, vegan friendly but so bloody strong (1.8 standard drink in a stubbie). I enjoyed it on rocks. They are $4 a pop or $20 for a six pack. You can also enjoy it on tap at Mamasita, a new vegan-friendly gluten free Mexican restaurant.

Weston Organic Perry cider is also awesome. They are pretty pricy in Melbourne. I bought the 500ml bottle for $7.8 at Carwyn in Thornbury and I guess it is the best deal you can get.

On my walkman:
Alopecia - Why?


Kristy said that the gluten free potluck and lots of other posts are coming up soon.
When I was in the hospital, the amazing Kristy bought me food from Las Vegan for lunch and Trippy Taco for dinner.

We looooooooooooove Las Vegan. When I used to have days off during the week, I went there for lunch very often. Kristy could, however, rarely go there as they only opened during lunch from Tuesday to Friday.

They started serving dinner on Thursday and Friday from July last year. It is a good news for Melbourne Vegans but the cafe is sometimes a bit empty when we are there for dinner. I hope they can get more dinner customers as they are working extra hard for us.

We ordered the satay rice balls with gourmet salad, sloppy Joe on rice, with gourmet salad and chips to share. (sorry, the photos are too blurry, so just use your imagination)

Sloppy Joe is my all time favourite dish. It is made of TVP and chopped mushrooms. It tasted good as a burger filling and topping on rice. They make TVP calzones as well. They are very yummy but not gluten free though.

The satay rice balls were freshly made, served with homemade satay sauce. The super-crispy rice balls are kind of like risotto balls but made with brown rice.

They are now serving Henry of Harcourt vegan cider on Thursday and Friday too. I haven't tried it yet but I heard lots of good things about it.

Talking about vegan cider I've recently tracked down some Coldstream Apple Cider from Blackhearts and Sparrows. It is delicious, vegan friendly but so bloody strong (1.8 standard drink in a stubbie). I enjoyed it on rocks. They are $4 a pop or $20 for a six pack. You can also enjoy it on tap at Mamasita, a new vegan-friendly gluten free Mexican restaurant.

Weston Organic Perry cider is also awesome. They are pretty pricy in Melbourne. I bought the 500ml bottle for $7.8 at Carwyn in Thornbury and I guess it is the best deal you can get.

On my walkman:
Alopecia - Why?


Kristy said that the gluten free potluck and lots of other posts are coming up soon.
reade more... Résuméabuiyad