I love the markets!

Looking back when I was a little girl I dreaded the thought of going to the markets. The thought of having to step around all the soggy veggies squished on the ground, walking through the crowds without getting lost and walking through a wet area covering my nose to avoid smelling the fish in the seafood section...I really didn't like it back then...fastforward 20 years later...and early on a Saturday morning I find myself *gleeing* with excitement as I get up to get ready...today I am going to the local Farmer's market in Warwick Farm. The day is just perfect...the sun is out and the early morning air is fresh...I drive by the trackside and gaze over...the place is filled with marketers and marketees.



I love how everything here looks really simple...no added flavour...no preservatives...it's as raw as you can get it!



Everything has been picked that very morning and transported to the markets at the crack of dawn...hmm what is that I can see amongst the carrots...?




Wow! the biggest squash I have ever seen... O_O The young lady also told me they had an even bigger one growing on their farm. ;-p



Yummy, juicy tomatoes



The head chef of Courtney's Brasserie in Parramatta, Paul Kuipers. He also had his young daughter there to help him. After sampling the duck and caramelised beetroot, I've got my eyes on visiting this restaurant...



A morning well spent. I didn't buy much fresh produce but I know where I'll be shopping when I own my own place!




I love buying fresh flowers for my mum whenever I come here =)




Warwick Farm Trackside Markets
Trading hours: 8am - noon
Days: Every Saturday (rain, hail or shine)
Location: Warwick Farm Racecourse
Cnr Governor Macquarie Drive and Hume Hwy, Warwick Farm
Website: http://www.warwickfarmtracksidemarket.com.au/

Festival First Night -Fast Festival Feast

We started our day walking around Hyde Park. There's was plenty of food stalls and the line up was crazy long. But all we wanted was some of this...



ahhhh....free fresh air....


For dinner, we made reservations at Mad Cow located in Sydney's Ivy Bar



As part of the Fast Festival Feasts, Mad Cow are offering a main course and glass of wine or beer for $30

The choice between the wine and beer are difficult, I love my red wine ...but today being so hot I opted for the beer...






Mmm nothing beats warm, fresh sourdough and french butter






We also decide to order a few entrees-above Gazpacho with sauteed chorizo and green chilli

below-Plate of sashimi with grapefruit and wasabi


What's on Mezza's plate... Eye Fillet 200gms, roasted garlic potatoes, creamed spinach, roasted mushrooms and shallot thyme jus

Sorry for the blurry pic, and yes I forgot to take the pic before I started eating ;P (it's much better this way...hehe)

The experience at Mad Cow was fantastic, even the most simple meal of steak tastes like quality from start to finish. The succulent centre of the steak to the char-grilled edge drizzled with jus...I cannot help but ponder what my next meal here would be. I'll definitely be back here again.

After dinner, we walk to The Domain, where festival goers eagerly await Blues legend Al Green. It was worth the wait- Al Green is awesome...his voice is like water flowing through the crowd... "let's stay together...loving you whether...whether times are good or bad, happy or sad..."

HAPPY SYDNEY FESTIVAL FIRST NIGHTS!!

Mad Cow
330 George St
Sydney 2000 NSW
Phone: (02) 9240 3000

Hu Tong Dumpling Bar - Melbourne

Hu Tong Dumpling Bar, does not require an introduction. As the restaurant name implies; dumplings, dumplings, dumplings. They are my absolute favourite chinese food. I love them in soup, I love them with soy/vinegar and fresh ginger, I love them in spicy/garlic sauce, I love them in szenchuan sauce, I love them with chinese brocoli at yum cha, I love them pan fried, I love them deep fried, I love them in hot pots, I love them VERY much! Do you think I could have an obsession?


Our mini trip to Melbourne continued on 030110. Someone had reccommended we try Hu Tong Dumplings. We were really keen but didn't make any effort to try look for it especially because we were tight with time. Anyways, so it was Sunday morning about 10am, and our group was on our way to visit a church in the CBD. As you do, the seven of us got lost, however along the way we came accross Market Lane...ahhhh - looked down the street and saw the banner - Hu Tong Dumpling Bar - YESSSSSS - we are going there for lunch today!


When we got there there was no room available (Mez Question: are you one of those diners who walk away from a restaurant when they turn you down and say you have to wait?? hehe...I don't like walking away...it makes me want the table even MORE...so I tend to wait for it...if you are someone who walks away...I urge you to stay if it happens to you here....it's worth the wait!) Anyways, so the kind waitress asked us to come back at 2pm for a seating.

2.30pm...phewww...we made it! We were the last group to be seated because the restaurant closes at 3pm. We are lead upstairs and seated on a large round table with a lazy susan. I love it already - the decor is very modern yet still has the oriental feel to it. The other tables are buzzing with lots of shared dishes - lots of dumplings, lots of hot and spicy soup - I generally like to gaze around to see what others are eating before I make my order. Here is what we ordered


We cannot visit a dumpling bar, without ordering the ever so gracious Xiao Long Bao - soft pillows of delightfulness with juicy pork mince overflowing with succulence :-D


Steamed pork wontons in hot and spicy sauce - these were delicious


My favourite item at this restaurant were the pan fried dumplings. These were served on a crispy base, but soft and juicy when bitten in to- they too look like soft pillows on a bed. :-)

Eveything on the table


We also ordered some other dishes- fried rice, wonton soup, chinese brocolli in oyster sauce

What's on Mezza's plate?


Succulent Xiao Long Bao - and how they look inside ;-)

14-16 Market La
Melbourne 3000 VIC
Phone: (03) 9650 8128
Opening Hours:
Daily 11.30am-3pm
Sun-Thu 5.30pm-10.30pm
Fri-Sat 5.30pm-11pm

Hairy Canary

Our first meal for 2010 was at Hairy Canary. A friend had reccommended us try this place for breakfast. It is somewhat hidden away on Little Collins St, and the sign-if you blink you might miss it.

We were directed to the back table which is shaped like a teardrop and drinks came out first.


Chai latte

I prefer chai lattes made from proper tea leaves and spices, not the powder variety some cafes sell. This one tasted just right, enough flavour to taste the cinnamon and hints of cloves, cardamon and ginger ... it was frothy and creamy - simply delicious.

My friend ordered a long black with a dash of hot milk



We started off with a serving of caramelised banana and warm rice pudding - I could taste the flavours of cardamon through it and the bananas topped it off nicely

What we ordered


A g'f and I shared the above two dishes - Eggs benedict - eggs were poached perfectly-hollanaise sauce was creamy and delicious-corn fritters were very tasty.


Breakfast in a pan

I have heard this place serves really wicked cocktails - gives me reason to come back here again. Oh and forgot to add, we were so impressed by the the banana and warm rice pudding, we ordered another one. This time it came out with poached pears - they were sooooooo good.

Hairy Canary
212 Lt Collins St
Melbourne, VIC 3000
Mon-Fri 7:30 am-3: 00 am
Sat 9:00 am-3: 00 am
Sun 10:00 am-1: 00 am
Tel: (03) 9654-2471
Fax: (03) 9654-7548

New Year's Eve 2009

This year a group of us decided to go to Melbourne for New Year's Eve. We went to

- Check out the fireworks
- Check out after xmas sales
- Check out all the food Melbourne has to offer

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!



It poured out on New Year's Eve, but that didn't stop the crowds from coming out - Sydney has better fireworks but Melbourne has better shopping. And food...well food is awesome everywhere ;=D

For those who love spanish tapas I recommend you try Canary Club. This is the sister restaurant to Hairy Canary - small cafe on Little Collins Street that has been established for more than 14 years.

On New Years night, the manager at Hairy Canary suggested we try their sister restaurant/bar located up the road called Canary Club and he kindly gave us vouchers for free jugs of sangria. We were in the mood for tapas and sangria. Upon arrival our sangria was served, it was delicious. I was munching on green apples that were drenched in the sangria to get my palate started.

To save the fuss of ordering from the menu we decide to get the banquet and for $35/person it was a fairly good price to pay. The food took a while to arrive so I forgot to take a photo of the bread and dips. We all just went for it! Of the three dips - guacamole, tzatziki and hummos, the guacomole was the yummiest. This was followed up by warm olives and patatas bravas; they didn't disappoint




Afterwards there was squid, chicken meatballs, pork, chorizos, rigatoni pasta, and this interesting watermelon dish (sorry for the lack of photos; we were all hungry hippos :p)





This warm watermelon dish was topped with pistachio nuts, cherry tomatos, rocket and dressed with a balsamic glaze. It tasted delightful. I grew up eating watermelon with rice so now I don't feel weird eating watermelon as a savoury dish. ;p

That was not all the food, our mains were now being served


Seafood Paella...mmm...mmm...mmm...so much food.
The paella was steaming hot (the way I like it) and it had good flavours to it...only thing missing was the crispy rice you find on the bottom of the pan (it's a must for one of my girlfriends when she has it)

We finished off with churros that came with a dark chocolate and orange dip. I prefer churros with dulce de leche sauce. This one had cinnamon on it so it was good just on it's own. I'll definitely be going back to this place when I am in Melbourne.



Venue:
Canary Club
Address:
6 Melbourne Place, Melbourne
03 9663 1983
Licensed/BYO:
Licensed
Info:
Mon/Tues 4-1am
Wed–Sat 4-3am
Closed Sundays (available for private functions)

Merrily Christmas -December 24th, 2009

Wishing you a Merry Christmason this special day. I hope you enjoyed your day with all your loved ones, there's just under 2 hours left and it's not too late to still feast on some glazed ham and roast turkey.

My first blog- I am kind of nervous writing it up, but I'm also excited to start it up. To tell you a little bit about what this blog will be about and how the name mezzaplate started. I would like to give credit to my good friend L - she actually gave me the name *thumbs up L!!* I thought about other names like mezzaplace - but it somehow reminds me of Melrose Place. Anyway mezzaplate has a triple meaning to it #1 mezza plate - plate of food that is shared around
("mezze") #2 mezza - is the nickname people have given me and #3 mezza's plate - what do I have on my plate today? In saying that you will probably have guessed it - this blog will be about food. I love food. I love how it brings people together and I love being able to share good food and have good conversations about food. More recently I have been inspired by so many lovely food bloggers out there. It's so nice to be able to see and be encouraged by food bloggers who support each other in there food blogging adventures. In this blog I will also share other good things I like or would like to try - although I am your typical twenty something year old female who enjoys food and all things girly I hope you will continue reading this blog and go away with something you can be excited about to share with your loved ones.

Christmas Eve 2009

Some friends and I were invited to a South American Christmas Eve party this year.

So after I finished work, ran around did some last minute grocery shopping, came home to bake a banana cake and an orange and poppyseed bundt, and then wrapped the Christmas presents, I was just about ready for bed. Coming from a family that doesn't culturally celebrate Christmas, a South American christmas sounded like a lot of fun. It wasn't my first time, I remember going to another one a few years back. This one was a Peruvian one.  Like all good South American food, Peruvian is no exception. We started off with this



Pisco Sour - The national Peruvian cocktail - made from pisco, lemon, egg whites, simple syrup and bitters - there was some good amount of alcohol and sourness - it was amazingly tangy and tasty.

There was some of this


Simple salad with a good balance of olive oil, salt, pepper and lemon.


What's on mezza's plate? Something like this


The chilli sauce was amazingly hot, but not the kind of hot that keeps lingering in your mouth - it gave the turkey and pork just enough bite and I really enjoyed the gravy on the roasts too. I didn't get a chance to ask what it was made of but it was so creamy and tasty. I also love the way south americans make their salad dressings - lots of sour and salty flavours, yummy! 

After exchanging our kris kringle presents we played a few games and heard a traditional South American song by a lady.  Am really drawn to the Spanish language, I tried really hard to listen, I could only make out what she was singing by looking at her expressions; the music was passionate and moving; the songs were powerful.

Thank you to the M family for your lovely hospitality. It was a really special night celebrating Christmas morning with everyone.