definatalie.com » food

Kale chips, my new thing.

Natalie — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 02:20:50 +0000

I’ve been seeing kale chips all over the internet for the last year or so but because kale is oddly hard to find where we live I never tried them until today. If you’re already a kale chip convert feel free to nod knowingly and scroll on, this post is for the newbies.

My mother-in-law is the president of our local community veggie garden, so until we moved in with her I’d never had the chance to get close to kale. One of her lovely friends has been letting us “borrow” kale from her patch now and then, and we’ve made a few different things with it (it’s good in veggie spaghetti bolognaise) but today I thought I’d seize the day and raid the kale for chip making purposes.

Collage of kale pre-destalking and then kale after rinsing and seasoning.

You will need:

Kale (grab just a handful for your first time!)
Oil (I used rice bran oil spray)
Salt or any other seasoning (I used Masterfoods Tuscan Seasoning and parmesan)

What to do:

Preheat the oven to 180˚.
With a sharp knife cut the leaves from the stem of the kale and rip those leaves into mouth sized bits.
Rinse the leaves in a colander and dry with a tea towel (or use a salad spinner.)
Get out a cooking tray and put some baking paper over it.
Lay the dry, ripped up kale pieces on the paper and drizzle/ spray oil over leaves, then add the seasoning of your choice.
Cook for about 10 minutes in the oven until every bit is crispy. You might need to turn the pieces, or reduce or lengthen the cooking time depending on your oven.
Grab the long ends of the baking paper and transport your chips to a bowl, or pour directly into your mouth.

A bowl of green crispy kale chips fresh out of the oven.

The chips aren’t even really hot fresh out of the oven! It’s a super quick tasty snack that you can do all kinds of things with. I’m going to try garlic seasoning next!

Malaysia Kitchen Insider: Sayang Malaysian, Paradise Point.

Natalie — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 07:53:12 +0000

A photo of the specials blackboard on a wall.

With a lot of sadness, my Malaysia Kitchen jaunt was rounded out with dinner at Paradise Point’s Sayang Malaysian. Apparently my desire to try a Malaysian restaurant outside our suburb was “weird” according to Nick, and akin to driving across Brisbane for a meal. That didn’t put me off, I’ve certainly driven across town for a good meal, so we drove half an hour to a cute restaurant just off the main strip in Paradise Point which is north of Southport. Look at me, I’m slowly getting better at Gold Coast suburbs!

A pretty dodgy phone photo of the menu with a beautiful illustration of three women on the front.

Sayang Malaysian is a family owned business and I really loved that you could tell the business was run with love and humour. We were greeted and served by the chef/ owner, his wife and daughter, and the menus were absolutely joyful to browse through with huge colour illustrations. I was too shy to ask, but I wonder if someone in the family drew them? Speaking of the menus, the range of dishes was pretty broad with hawker style food as well as other fusions of Malay, Thai and Indian, and there was a page dedicated to vegetarian and vegan dishes! Horah!

A photo of Nick holding up a glass of lemon, lime and bitters with a yellow swizzle stick.

A photo of me holding up a glass beer jug of ginger beer.

A photo of two entree dishes, calamari and vegetarian curry puffs.

The restaurant was pretty busy when we got there and there was a little wait for our entrees, but I actually preferred having the time to talk to Nick. A lot of the places we’ve been to served us so quickly we were out the door without having swapped more than a sentence!

I had the vegetarian curry puffs to start and was a little surprised at the small size, but when I bit into one I knew why they were so small… the beautifully curried vegetables inside were quite bitey! Nick reported that his calamari rings were cooked to perfection, so I couldn’t resist stealing one. Yes I’m a vegetarian now, but I have a bit of seafood now and then, and who was I to resist when Nick was raving about delicious calamari?!

A photo of my veggie char keow teow with bonus roti.

A photo of Nick serving up some rice and devil lamb.

I asked our waiter what she would choose if faced with the option of laksa or char keow teow, and she advised the latter unless I wanted to swim in laksa! Then she went on to say that her Mum only has laksa at home because it’s so messy! I agreed that it’s definitely a messy food and something I reserve for ultra laksa cravings, and went for the char keow teow. I told Nick to get the devil lamb because it sounded dramatic and naturally he acquiesced to my demands.

The vegie char keow teow was aaaaahhhhhmaaaazing. So many vegetables! So much tastiness! When the chef came out to say hello (he stopped for a chat with every table!) I had trouble forming superlatives. Nick almost preferred my dish, but once he got into the devil lamb he was raving about it.

A photo of my mango ice cream which swims in passionfruit and strawberry swirled sauce.

And what is dinner without dessert? A FARCE. I was hoping to order the sago gula malaka because I have faint memories of my Mum making sago dessert for us when I was a kid, but alas there was no sago. We settled for ice cream, hand made by the chef, which came out all moulded and in fancy sauce! I’m not a huge ice cream fan but my mango ice cream was delicious, kind of like a home made Weiss bar.

After patting our satisfied bellies we waddled out of Sayang Malaysian quite enamoured of the place. The staff are all charming and friendly, the food is ultra yummy, and the atmosphere is fun and lively. It’s definitely a place to bring my out of town friends to show them how fabulous Gold Coast Malaysian is.

Sayang Malaysian
10 Grice Ave, Paradise Point QLD
Phone – (07) 5529 5881

I dined at Sayang Malaysian as a guest of Malaysia Kitchen Australia as a Blogger Ambassador. This is my last post of four reviews over the last few months.

Malaysia Kitchen Insider: Kampung Malay, Robina

Natalie — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 02:58:59 +0000

Our third Malaysia Kitchen jaunt took us to the Kampung Malay at Robina, one of three in the Kampung family (the other two are in Mudgeeraba and Bundall). I did my obligatory internet research on all of the possible Malaysian restaurants on the south end of the Gold Coast, and Kampung won me over with its favorable reviews and online menu.

I didn’t get any photos of the interior but it reminded me a lot of the restaurants in Sunnybank, big rooms filled with large tables intended for feasting on banquets of incredible Chinese or Malaysian food. It wasn’t fitted out with fancy artwork and lighting like Little Malaya, but in stark contrast to that empty restaurant Kampung Malay was filled with people laughing and sharing food. Considering that I’m from a suburb known as the unofficial China Town, this was a GREAT sign that the kitchen was serving up the real fancy stuff.

A bowl of bright red soup in a small bowl with beans and tofu.

I can’t stress this enough: OH MY GOD, I wasn’t disappointed. When I ordered I asked if it was possible to order the coconut cream soup with tofu instead of chicken or beef as was written on the menu, and shortly after this bowl of perfection was set in front of me. The spices danced over my tongue. They did! I’m not a food writer so I’m not especially equipped to wax lyrical over delicious food, but this bowl of soup deserves poetry and songs. Nick had the same but with chicken and agreed with me, we could have eaten a bucket of this!

A photo of Nick looming over his lettuce roll.

A plate of roti with some curry dipping sauce.

Our next move was second entree, because we were there to eat and… why the hell not! Nick did battle with a lettuce roll and found the filling could not be contained by lettuce alone and ended up eating most of the filling with his fork! My roti was, how do you say, FREAKING delicious. I’ve made roti before, but it has never been this flaky and delicious! The chef performed some more spice magic with the curry sauce, it was every bit as complex and moreish as the coconut cream soup.

Our table full of gado gado, nasi goreng and red lemongrass beef.

Me smiling at the table and preparing to fill the tiny free space left in my stomach with gado gado.

Our entree extravaganza led to most of the real estate in our tummies being taken up, so when our mains came to the table we faced a conundrum. However, we were on duty so we tucked in! My gado gado was a little bit disappointing, I suspect because the spectacular version offered by Ipoh Laksa still has a fond place in my heart (and stomach). The vegies weren’t as crunchy as I’d like but the sauce lived up to the tantalizing standard set by the entrees. Nick thought his red lemongrass beef tasted “like goodness”, with a hint of spice and complex flavours.

I’m definitely going back to Kampung Malay, those spice combinations are calling me back for more.

Kampung Malay
Shops 1-3 Robina Quays Shopping Centre
Cnr Markeri Street and Robina Parkway, Robina 4226
Ph – (07) 5689 1077

I dined at Kampung Malay as a guest of Malaysia Kitchen Australia as a Blogger Ambassador. This is my third post of four planned reviews over the next few months.

Malaysia Kitchen Insider: Little Malaya, Coolangatta.

Natalie — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 01:34:07 +0000

After all the excitement of the last few weeks I’m a little behind on my Malaysia Kitchen exploration! We dined at Little Malaya, Coolangatta on Thursday night after doing some research on Malaysian restaurants on the Gold Coast with more than a few vegetarian options. Nick had enquired about vegetarian dishes at another restaurant but the person on the phone said we’d have to come in to have a look. This isn’t good enough, there’s no happiness in getting to a restaurant and finding you can’t eat anything, so we continued our research. It’s hard though when many places don’t put their menus online, and I encourage restaurants to do this because I guarantee that I and most of the people I know look up menus online before deciding on where to eat. It’s something that can make or break a booking!

View Larger Map

Nick came across the menu for Little Malaya and found a whole page of vegie dishes so we set off for Coolie (look how local I am!) After a bit of difficulty finding the restaurant (it’s just not actually on Marine Parade, and the street is unnamed on Google Maps) we were welcomed to a quiet restaurant with cool lighting along one wall. I opted to sit down the back in a dark corner but didn’t realise it would hamper my photo taking!

A photo of a pink wall in Little Malaya with a cityscape cut out of wood and lighting behind it.

A photo of vegetarian spring rolls, calamari balls and a bowl of tom yum.

We opened the menus and found that they didn’t match the website’s offerings, with only a few vegetarian options presented. Eep! I decided to go for some vegetarian spring rolls and laksa, not especially adventurous but it seems that the vegie options I’ve come across on my Malaysia Kitchen outings have been pretty stock standard. I ought to have asked if they would do me up a special dish but I wasn’t feeling too good and just went with one of my favourites! Laksa!

A photo of vegetable laksa in a big red bowl. Bok choy and fried onion sit on top.

The laksa was HUGE! This is definitely a dish for sharing, or for eating if you’re very hungry. The soup was delicious as were the fresh vegetables and silken tofu. I did chomp down on a few kaffir lime leaves accidentally and had a bit of a “WTF WAS THAT?” moment. While I’ve used them before, I’ve always taken them out before eating the dish! I managed to eat half of the laksa but had to take the rest home. It made for good eating the next day.

A photo of our dinner with Nick's crispy skin chicken sitting in the middle with crackers on top.

One of the wait staff came out after we’d ordered and encouraged Nick to try a special dish, so he got the crispy skin chicken because he’d never had it before. He was a little shocked to find most of the bird was on the plate and had trouble eating around the bones. The special sauce was apparently very good and he mopped it all up with his coconut rice!

A photo of me in the restaurant.

Hi, here is me looking tired and full! On the way out the wait staffer noticed my Malaysia Kitchen eftpos card and so I told him about my blog. Hi if you’re reading!

Little Malaya is quiet but has a nice ambiance, I especially liked the cityscape and light treatment on the wall. The vegetarian offerings are pretty standard but the meat dishes look to be more adventurous for those who have a western palate. Next time I get a laksa craving I’ll know where to go on the Gold Coast!

Little Malaya
Shop 14-15 Beach House Plaza
52 Marine Parade, Coolangatta, Qld
Ph – (07) 5536 2690

I dined at Little Malaya as a guest of Malaysia Kitchen Australia as a Blogger Ambassador. This is my second review out of four planned reviews over the next few months.

Malaysia Kitchen Insider: Chilli ‘n Spicy Hut, Burleigh.

Natalie — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 03:04:06 +0000

The Chilli ‘n Spicy Hut at Burleigh is the first excursion on my Malaysia Kitchen Australia tour. I can see that it’ll be a catalyst for exploration of the Gold Coast’s restaurants, which is pretty important because getting to know a city’s foodie offerings makes you feel that much more settled!

So I took Nick and Sheila (my mother-in-law) out to dinner last night to kick off my Malaysia Kitchen Blogger Ambassador stint. We chose The Chilli ‘n Spicy Hut on the recommendation of the nice people at Malaysia Kitchen Australia because it’s located pretty close to where we now live and we found their menu online. I always like a restaurant that has their menu up somewhere, especially because I’m vegetarian and there’s nothing worse than going out for dinner and finding nothing on the menu to eat!

A photo of the exterior of the Chilly 'n Spicy Hut which has a big yellow and orange awning over the front.

Chilli ‘n Spicy Hut is located in the Old Burleigh Theatre Arcade, a great old building full of retailers. The restaurant is just inside the arcade marked by a cheerful yellow and orange awning. It’s a very small restaurant with inside and outside tables, and because the restaurant is inside the arcade it wasn’t too cold for outdoor diners. There were lots of cheeky chillis strung up inside the restaurant intimidating me because while a little spice is nice, too much makes me cry!

A photo of three entree dishes, top left - clockwise: Mixed entree, sugar cane prawn, vegetable spring rolls.

We arrived early and were among the first diners of the night ensuring that our drinks and entrees were served efficiently. The vegetable spring rolls were the only vegetarian entree option, but they were delicious and crunchy with a fresh vegie filling. Sheila had the sugar cane prawns and Nick had the mixed entree, both raved about the sugar cane prawn! None of us had ever seen the dish before so we were all curious about it; the cane sticks out of the batter much like a prawn tail and apparently gave the prawn a subtle sweet flavour.

A photo of Nick and Sheila at the table, she has her head on his shoulder and both are smiling.

After entrees we chatted and warmed up with our wine. See how cute Nick and Sheila are?! They are super rad. We’re living with Sheila now and are getting on famously; it’s so nice to listen to stories about Nick as a kid!

A photo of four dishes, top left - clockwise: curry duck, combination ho fun, vegetable fried rice, mixed vegetables and bean curd hot pot.

A photo of my dish: Mixed vegetable and bean curd hot pot.

A photo of my dinner bowl full of vegetable, bean curd and rice.

I asked the staff member attending us if she could recommend the vegetarian dish that she liked best and she chose the mixed vegetable with bean curd hot pot. It was one of the only vegie dishes without an ominous chilli symbol beside it and even though I would have given the others a go, I went with her recommendation. I also got the vegetable fried rice and Sheila couldn’t stop raving about it! My hot pot was really warming and full of vegetables. The bean curd tasted beautiful but the sauce was very mild. I think it was more of a Chinese dish rather than Malaysian, so I was a bit disappointed there but it was still delicious.

A photo of our dinner spread with my hands in the background busily scooping food out (to go in my face!)

A photo of a serving bowl full of Nick's Malaysian duck curry and vegetables.

I had a spoon of Nick’s curry duck sauce and it was spicy but really delicious with lots of different spice flavours rather than just being hot. I wished I could have a curry bean curd like Nick’s! Maybe next time we go back I’ll ask if they can do that for me.

A photo of three dessert plates: Nick's fried ice cream, Sheila's banana fritter and my pineapple fritter served with ice cream and a cherry on top.

The dessert menu was full of fried delights, not something I usually go for but I figured since I’m doing this ambassador thing I have to go the whole distance. It’s my duty as a Malaysia Kitchen Blogger Ambassador! I was glad to see a pineapple fritter on the menu as I’ve never liked banana, and when our desserts were brought out Sheila and I couldn’t believe the task ahead of us. There was so much fritter and ice cream! My pineapple was freshly cut into huge chunks and the batter was nice and crispy. I gave Nick most of my ice cream though, he didn’t complain!

A photo of the business card for Chilli 'n Spicy hut sitting inside an empty dessert dish with a scrunched up napkin..

With food in our happy bellies (and the leftovers in gratefully accepted containers!) we left the Chilli ‘n Spicy Hut just as it hit peak busy time. The restaurant had a few loyal local diners very friendly with the staff, and it seems like just the place to hang out if you need a big warming meal after a windy day on the beach, which is just opposite the arcade. (What a life, I love the Gold Coast.)

While I left wishing I’d had something a little more traditionally Malaysian, I know I’m now a local and can always come back and try new things!

Chilli ‘n Spicy Hut
Shop 13 Old Burleigh Theatre Arcade
66 Goodwin Terrace 4220
Ph – (07) 5576 8025

I dined at Chilli ‘n Spicy Hut as a guest of Malaysia Kitchen Australia as a Blogger Ambassador. This is my first review out of four planned reviews over the next four months.

Natalie’s Big Day Out.

Natalie — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 13:58:30 +0000

Today was super busy for me and I’d been dreading it a little because the last few months have been fraught with social anxiety and even though I’m starting to pull up out of it, it’s still a challenge. In this blog post bonanza I have TWO (2) outfit photos for your sartorial pleasure as well as some delicious Malaysian food eye candy.

Go get a cup of tea and come back… ok. Now prepare yourself for photographic evidence of all today’s happenings.

An outfit photo of me, fat and pale skinned with short blonde hair, wearing a white dress over slim leg jeans with a silver and black jacket.

A full length photo of my outfit showing my black court wedges

First up, a trip into the city to see my psychiatrist. I didn’t want to wear all black today and managed to pull it off with the exception of my shoes and handbag! When we move down the coast I might take advantage of some out of the way op shops and find a nice colourful handbag. Shoes are difficult considering I have big wide feet, so that quest will be a long term project.

Tunic: Target
Jeans: New Look
Blazer: Ebay score for $11
Shoes: Softspots
Necklaces: Ebay/ markets/ gift combo
Brooch: Etsy thanks to Mel!

A close up photo of a rose brooch pinned on the lapel of my jacket, much like the brooches of the Vesta Rose agency in the movie She-Devil.

My favourite thing right now is this brooch that Mel Stringer had sent to me. I’ve conveniently misplaced the business card of the Etsy shop she bought it from though! Ever since I watched She-Devil the other week I’ve been besotted with the Vesta Rose pins given out in the movie. Now I finally have one! Mel you are so precious!

An outfit photo of me wearing a knee length black dress with a rope print all over it, a black corduroy jacket, red tights and black court wedges.

Dress: City Chic
Blazer: Target
Tights: We Love Colors
Shoes: Softspots
Necklaces: Ebay/ markets/ gift combo
Brooch: Again with the Vesta Rose brooch <3

PRESTO OUTFIT CHANGE. As you can see, I wore clothes as per societal contract. Night time isn't terribly conducive to outfit photos so let's leave this here and move on to the food.

Capital idea!

A plate of four vegetable samosas with some sweet chili dipping sauce.

A plate of skewered satay beef or chicken (forgive me, I forgot which was which!)

Some plates of delicious foods including gado gado and curried prawns.

A steaming hot plate of crocodile. Yep!

Tonight in my second personal challenge of the day I met up with some Brisbane bloggers and the organisers of Malaysia Kitchen, a campaign to spread the delicious joy of Malaysian cuisine throughout Australia. My task for the next four months is to dine at a different Malaysian restaurant every month and report back with photos and my gastronomical experience.

One of the reasons why I really appreciate blogging is the opportunities it affords me that challenge me and push me out of my comfort zone. I got to meet four other bloggers who write about a huge variety of things, and we chatted about our blogs, our passions (and how they inform our blogging) as well as social media. It’s so great to connect with other bloggers in meat space!

Now as a Malaysian Kitchen Blogger Ambassador I get to try lots of food I’ve never had before. If tonight’s meal at Ipoh Laksa was anything to go by, it’s going to be a yummy four months. Being the vegetarian in the group will be interesting and I am curious to see exactly what Malaysian cuisine can offer me.

The owner of Ipoh Laksa brought us a whole bunch of dishes to try, and I loved all the vegetarian options he put in front of me. The samosas were probably the best I’ve ever had; the gado gado is fresh and swims in satay sauce (I am a sucker for satay); and the dahl is a simple yet gorgeously warming mild curry. Others in the group tried the crocodile and some weren’t even aware it was croc until they were told!

A group photo of myself, Dani, Naomi, Annabel, Mel, Carrie and Anthony sitting at a table in Ipoh Laksa.

I highly suggest following all the Brisbane bloggers taking part in Malaysian Kitchen’s campaign because we all live in different parts of Brisbane and are sure to be visiting a whole bunch of restaurants across the city. Due to my move I’ll be trying out some Malaysian restaurants on the Gold Coast as well as Brisbane, focusing mostly on vegetarian food but I’m sure Nick would love to review meat based dishes too!

For your reading enjoyment:
Dani of Hello Owl
Naomi of Seven Cherubs
Carrie of BNE Hot or Not
Anthony of The Travel Tart

Ipoh Laksa
738 Main Street Kangaroo Point

Malaysian Kitchen

Tonight on Disaster Chef… [insert flame visual]

Natalie — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 15:28:35 +0000

I have been craving roasted cherry tomatoes with balsamic vinegar reduction for the last week and tonight was the first night in a long time that I’ve had enough energy to cook. So I decided to righteously address my craving and because it was such a momentous occasion I took photos. Seriously, when you find five spoons down the back of the couch of your well-being even small things you can do for yourself are worth documenting! As well as the fatigue and pain I’ve been experiencing in the past few months, my coordination has been quite shocking and amongst various mishaps I’ve smashed two full bottles and dropped 2kg of sugar in the floor in the noble pursuit of feeding myself and others. I like to call myself Disaster Chef.

We get a vegetable box delivered every two weeks from Home Fresh Organics and this week it was full of beetroot. pumpkin and garlic, as well as a punnet of delicious cherry tomatoes! I decided to roast all the vegetables as well as the tomatoes and pair them with couscous and my longtime lover, a balsamic vinegar reduction. I could just drizzle it on anything and lick it off. (Except maybe not Nick’s sneakers.)

A photo of my hand splotched with beetroot juice.

Beetroot is one of my favourite vegetables because it’s just so FUN. I love getting beetroot stained fingers.

A photo of half roasted pumpkin and beetroot pieces in a baking tray with fresh cherry tomatoes and garlic added ready for roasting.

I roasted the beetroot and pumpkin pieces for 20 minutes at 200˚C then threw in the cherry tomatoes and garlic for the last 15 minutes.

A photo of a saucepan on the stove (inside is balsamic vinegar).

I sat down while the vegies were roasting (cutting up pumpkin is exhausting for me!) and Nick took care of the couscous and balsamic vinegar reduction. Thanks Nick <3

A photo of the roasted stuff just out of the oven.

YUM YUM ROASTED EVERYTHING!

A photo of dinner: roast beetroot, pumpkin, garlic and cherry tomatoes on couscous served with balsamic vinegar reduction and many basil leaves.

I hardly think this is a Masterchef quality dish, but it’s good enough for dinner. I always laugh when serving up food now that “plopping food on a dish” has been replaced with “plating up”.

Disclaimer: I am not a photographer or a chef, just a sick person who is very proud of herself for helping make dinner.

And it was fricking amazing.

Easy House Vegetarian Restaurant: A+ will eat again

Natalie — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 23:11:03 +0000

I grew up on Brisbane’s southside eating a lot of Chinese cuisine, but since going vegetarian I haven’t eaten much of it because many of the meals are centred around meat. When Nick told me we were going to the Gold Coast for vegetarian Chinese I was terribly excited because Brisbane has a real lack of vegetarian dining. Now, I’m not a food blogger but I had to blog about this restaurant. If you’re a veg*n in south-east Queensland and you haven’t heard of Easy House Vegetarian Restaurant I have come to inform you it is DELICIOUS! Had I known what a fantastic meal we were to eat I would have brought my proper camera with me, but these iPhone snaps will just have to do.

These rice paper rolls were complimentary and we were both kind of astounded after tasting them. They have chicken flavoured TVP in them as a substitute for meat as well as loads of fresh vegetables like mushrooms and carrot and whatnot.

I ordered the chicken and corn soup (a long time favourite comfort food) and Nick got the fried dim sim. We ended up sharing with each other because the servings were so generous. The soup had TVP once again, probably not necessary but it was still yum. The dim sim were AMAZINGLY tasty and full of fresh vegetables.

These dishes are HUGE! On the left is the satay “chicken” and on the right is the sizzling pepper “beef”. I don’t usually eat mock meat, but I was surprised by how tender it was in both dishes. My favourite was the “beef” dish – those vegetables had the perfect crunch factor.

DESSERTS! Nick got the banana fritter with coconut soy ice cream, and while I passed on the banana (ewww) the ice cream was fantastic. I am not an ice cream fan but this stuff might turn me into one. Apparently the brand is “Cocolicious” and if anyone knows where to get it in Brisbane pls advise! I had the thousand layer cake, a steamed cake with wintermelon and a coconut layer. It was beautiful – not very sweet, but moist (I hate that word!) with a delicate flavour.

The staff are absolutely gorgeous and Mary, the owner, had a chat to us about the food. Apparently lots of Sunnybank natives (where I’m from!) come down because Easy House do the only vegan yum cha in Queensland at this stage. All the doughs and mock meats are prepared fresh daily, and I assume all the vegetables are bought fresh too because they tasted fantastic.

If you’re local, run don’t walk to Easy House, but if you’re going to make the trip I’ve got a feeling it’ll be worth it! We drove back to Brisbane in the drizzling rain with very contented tummies (and leftovers for lunch tomorrow).

Easy House Vegetarian Restaurant
Shop 8
90 Markeri Street & Sunshine Blvd Mermaid Waters
Gold Coast, Australia
(07) 5572 8808
Open Tuesday to Sunday: 10am – 3pm and 5pm – 9.30pm

Thanks Nigella, food is pretty awesome!

Natalie — Thu, 13 May 2010 06:33:34 +0000

When you talk about hard issues, like body image and being fat and feminism, it’s nice to have a refuge. Somewhere to recoop lost Sanity Points. A little place where you don’t have to justify why you have the right to take up space, or field the same old tired questions. Nigella Lawson is one of my happy people who makes a happy place where I can revel in foodie delights and appreciate good food without the guilt that usually accompanies cooking shows.

As a Type 1 Diabetic, I can tell you a few things about food guilt. A serve of carbohydrate ought to be as big as one’s balled up fist, low hypoglycemic foods better serve one’s blood sugars and fizzy, sugary drinks are to be avoided. One should eat small meals every couple of hours and manage one’s blood sugar levels by finger prick tests and the administration of insulin, by another needle. One must also be prepared to be asked, “Should you be eating that?” when one is eating regular meals, and especially when one is suffering a hypoclycemic attack (when one needs carbohydrates to recover!) When T1D guilts start playing with the food guilt at large in the world, one’s brain gets quite muddled. For a long time I saw food as fuel only, and didn’t cook much because the whole concept of “food” overwhelmed me.

I’ve only really started cooking in the last couple of years, and it’s been because of my involvement in the fat acceptance movement. A lot of people might nod and think, “Ah yes, because Teh Obese People want to raise the green flag on food! They just want to eat without sanction!” however it’s a little more complex than that. And a little less scare-mongering too. I wasn’t surprised to read that poorer people were more likely to be obese, because genetics aside, it’s HARD to nourish yourself when you’re time and/or cash poor and especially if you’re confused as to what is actually nourishing. And when brands like Biggest Loser (the Australian TV series) and Domino’s join up, it’s a thoroughly brain melting combination.

Not being in charge of my meals really destroyed any kind of confidence I had in nourishing myself. I ate what other people suggested, and didn’t listen to what my body wanted. This year I figured out, after having my consciousness raised by the concept of intuitive eating, that my body doesn’t digest meat in an especially comfortable way, so I became vegetarian. In the last few months the bloating and bowel pain I’d suffered most of my life largely disappeared, and only reappeared when I ate a small portion of meat (yes, to test myself – very scientific!)

As a result of my brand spanking new vegetarian requirement, I started cooking a hell of a lot more, and discovered that I LOVED it. All of a sudden you could find me mixing my own spices, creating new dishes and making noodles from scratch. It’s honestly been like a series of revelations for me – I feel a slowly growing sense of confidence as I become more connected to myself and so much more nourished. I mustn’t avoid the topic of digestion here because it’s been so core to my altered outlook on food, and sorry if you’re sensitive to such matters, but since removing a food group that was causing me such distress (while supplementing my iron and protein of course!) I’ve found I’m poopin’ more regularly with no pain! Yep, I went there – but I’m all for normalising completely NORMAL body functions, naturally.

So, back to Nigella Lawson who I last saw devouring a cupcake dipped in raspberry sauce in the chiaroscuro light of a refrigerator. Thank you for serving your foodie talk with dollops of care and compassion while never failing to address the psychological aspects of eating. I find Nigella’s attitude refreshing, and much more ideal than the confused mess and mayhem of ideas towards food in the real world. Food really isn’t an enemy when I watch her show.

Super tangy lemon pudding

Natalie — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 03:18:23 +0000

I was craving something with a citrus tang last night so I cobbled together a recipe for a microwavable lemon self-saucing pudding.

Ingredients
1 cup self-raising flour, sifted
1/3 cup caster sugar
2 small lemons, rind finely grated (you can substitute any citrus on hand, really)
60g butter, melted, at room temperature (I used olive oil spread)
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 egg (replace with apple sauce to veganise)

Sauce
1/3 cup caster sugar
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (again, substitute this for any citrus on hand)
1/2 cup boiling water

Instructions
You’ll need a microwave-safe bowl with at least a 6 cup capacity. I use the big bowl from my Tupperware red stack cooker set.

Combine flour, sugar and rind in the bowl. Whisk together butter, juice and egg in another small bowl then stir into the flour mixture until well combined. Flatten the surface with the back of a spoon.

To make the sauce place sugar, juice and boiling water into a microwave-safe jug and stir to dissolve the sugar. If the sugar hasn’t dissolved, put jug in microwave for short bursts and stir until sugar dissolves. Pour sauce over the back of a large spoon to evenly cover pudding.

Put pudding in the microwave and cook, uncovered, on 50% power for 8 to 9 minutes or until a skewer inserted around edges comes out clean but centre is still a little sticky. Cover tightly with foil. Stand for 5 minutes or until centre is no longer sticky.

Serve with ice-cream, yoghurt or eat it plain and enjoy the tarty bitterness!

(You’ll notice that the bowl I served it in is also Tupperware, I am such a Tupper-tragic!)