Muesli Breakfast Crumble

Kath July 25, 2017

When I’m working, and there are early mornings, long days and lots of travel ahead, the last thing I feel like doing when I wake up is make breakfast. However, breakfast is exactly what I need to start those kinds of work days off on the right foot. I tend to opt for quick things like toast, though they don’t keep me full for very long. Every so often however, I find something for breakfast that I really like, and can be made in advance and quickly re-heated and eaten before the work day begins.

A couple of years ago I started making a double batch of these pancakes on the weekend, then kept enough for two per day in the fridge for the working week, or freeze them to defrost in the microwave each morning. While reheated pancakes don’t have the same ring to them as freshly made, I found it so much easier to wake up each morning knowing I had something nice to eat. I made sure I had some nice maple syrup, honey or fresh honeycomb, berries or other fruit and yoghurt to eat with them and it made the start to the day so much easier.

I have since found a few more breakfasts that can be made in advance, including the crumpets in this recent post, and this Muesli Breakfast Crumble. The crumble is inspired by the dessert crumble I made last year, which I loved, and some homemade muesli I was gifted from a friend at work who later gave me the recipe. I have used finely sliced Pink Lady apples and poached quince as my fruit filling for this Breakfast Crumble, however almost any fruit combination will work. Stone fruit and berries would be amazing in Summer, and rhubarb in Winter. The quantities of the fruit don’t matter so much, as long as they fill your baking dish with enough room for the crumble topping to sit on top.

What are your tips for easy and tasty breakfasts during the work week?

Also just a little note to say I'm going to be putting together a (mostly) weekly newsletter, filled with recipes, tips, tricks and recommendations you won't find here on the blog! I'm hoping to share even more exclusive content via the newsletter soon, so click here to sign up!

Grounded Pleasures Organic Panela Sugar - used in crumble mixture

Muesli Breakfast Crumble

Ingredients:

x3 small apples, I prefer Pink Lady, finely sliced then roughly chopped

1.5-2 large poached quinces, roughly chopped

2 tbsp quince poaching liquid

1 Grounded Pleasures Vanilla Bean, seeds scraped

60g wholemeal plain flour

60g oats

1/2 tsp cinnamon

50g margarine or softened unsalted butter

20g sunflower kernels

15g chia seeds

75g Grounded Pleasures Organic Panela Sugar

25g pepitas

30g slivered almonds

Greek yoghurt, to serve

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Mix the apple, quince, poaching liquid and vanilla bean seeds in a baking dish (interior dimensions approx. 24 x 19.5 x 6.5cm), then set aside.

In a medium/large bowl combine the flour, oats, cinnamon, margarine, sunflower kernels, chia seeds, Panela sugar, pepitas and almonds, until they are well combined and the margarine has evenly dispersed.

Spoon the muesli crumble mixture over the apples and quince in the baking dish, ensuring the entire surface of the dish is evenly covered.

Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until the crumble topping is golden. Serve warm from the oven with Greek yoghurt or reheat portions for easy breakfasts later on.

Thanks to Grounded Pleasures for sponsoring this post and providing the yummy Panela Sugar & Vanilla Beans!

Bergamot Loaf Cake

Kath July 20, 2017

If you’ve been following me on Instagram lately, you may have noticed my slight obsession with bergamots. I seem to be drawn to interesting and lesser known fruits, and bergamots are no exception. Bergamot is a citrus, and is best known for being the flavour in Earl Grey tea. It has a slight floral flavour, which in my opinion not only makes it slightly sweeter and less sour than other citrus, but also it’s best quality. As evidenced by how many times I have used rose in my cooking, it is no surprise that I like the floral notes of bergamot. It may be a little much for some, I guess it depends on what you like, but as far as I’m concerned, it is now my favourite citrus.

This does however pose a problem. Bergamot being a lesser known variety of citrus, are therefore not grown and sold nearly as readily as other citrus varieties. To the point where I have never seen bergamots being sold anywhere here in Sydney (if you know of anywhere please let me know!).

As I have mentioned before, last year we were able to buy and plant a bergamot tree. I watched the three bergamots growing on the tree for months, hoping they would survive, and be as tasty as I hoped. Finally last month, they had turned from a bright green, to yellow and were ready to be picked. I deliberated for quite a while about what to make with them, with only three bergamots for the whole season, I needed to make a good choice.

One of the options I settled on was this loaf cake, which can be made with any other citrus if you don’t have access to bergamots. The zest in the cake, and the juice in the syrup and icing give the cake a lovely flavour that will brighten up any dreary Winter’s day.

What is your favourite citrus? Have you even eaten or baked with bergamots before?

Bergamots growing on the tree before they have ripened

Homegrown citrus picked fresh from the garden - (top to bottom) lemonades, kaffir limes, mandarin & bergamots.

Bergamot Loaf Cake

Ingredients:

250g margarine or softened unsalted butter

265g caster sugar

zest of 1 bergamot

3 eggs

265g plain flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

100ml milk

Ingredients for the Syrup:

1 tbsp water

1tbsp caster sugar

2 tbsp bergamot juice (about half a small/medium bergamot)

Ingredients for the Icing:

250g icing sugar (confectioners)

2-3 tbsp bergamot juice, approx. (about half a small/medium bergamot)

remaining bergamot zest

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius, and grease and line a loaf pan (31 x 7.5 x 8cm, approx). Allow some of the baking paper to come above the sides of the tin so it will be easy to remove the cake from the tin later.

In using a stand mixer, beat the margarine and sugar until well combined and creamy. Add almost all of the bergamot zest, leaving some to add to the icing later. Mix well then add the eggs separately, ensuring they are well combined.

In a separate bowl whisk together the flour and baking powder, then add half of this to the cake batter until just combined. Add the milk, then the remaining flour and mix until just combined.

Transfer the cake batter into the prepared tin and bake for 50-60 minutes, or until the cake is golden, springy to the touch and cooked in the centre (check with a skewer).

Once the cake is of out of the oven, make the bergamot syrup by gently heating all the ingredients in a small pan over low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Poke holes in the cake using a skewer, then spoon over the syrup so it evenly covers all of the cake. Allow the syrup to soak in and the cake to cool.

Once the cake has cooled, remove from the tin using the overhanging baking paper to help. Make the icing by whisking the icing sugar in a medium bowl until most of the lumps have been broken up. Add the remaining bergamot zest and 2 tbsp of the juice and whisk until combined. If the icing is too thick add a little more juice (or water), if the icing is too runny add more icing sugar and mix. When you have a good consistency, ice the cake allowing the icing to run down the sides.

Reference: ‘The Violet Bakery Cookbook’ by Claire Ptak (Ten Speed Press, 2015), pp.114-115.

Buttermilk Crumpets with Homemade Butter, Poached Quince & Cream

Buttermilk Crumpets & Homemade Butter

Kath July 7, 2017

I was inspired to make crumpets again after having an amazing breakfast at Synonymous Cafe in Medlow Bath while I was away a few weeks ago. The crumpets we had there were really good, and the combination of accompaniments got me thinking that I should be serving crumpets at home with more than just butter/margarine and vegemite. Keeping with the travel inspiration theme, I decided to pair my crumpets with quince I had poached after buying some from the Agrestic Grocer in Orange while we were away, and amazing cream from Dubbo based Little Big Dairy Co whose milk we enjoyed at a few cafes in the Central West.

I also Little Big Dairy Co's pouring cream to make the butter as well, and the resulting buttermilk can be used for this recipe also - just top up the quantity with another milk if you don’t get quite enough. I did this the second time I made these, and used Little Big Dairy Co’s unhomogenised full cream milk, which I think is the nicest milk I’ve ever tasted. The first time I made these I used Pepe Saya’s Buttermilk, which is a by product of the butter making process. As you can see I really like supporting great Australian small businesses, and buying local when possible. I love to support people who are passionate about food, and make a top quality product like Pepe Saya and Little Big Dairy Co. And I have to say it’s so worth it when you cook with products from these small producers and the taste is so much better than you’ve had before.

Do you ever find cooking inspiration on holidays? And what are your favourite small food businesses and producers you love to support? Let me know in the comments below, I’d love to add to more to my list!

Homemade Butter

This is well worth the effort, and in fact it’s not really that much effort. All you need is a stand mixer, whisk attachment, muslin and some pouring cream. Use the best quality cream you can find, as it will produce a nicer quality butter and buttermilk. Both the butter and buttermilk can be used straight away for frozen or another time, so no need to stress about using a whole litre of cream, it won’t go to waste. You can however use any quantity of cream, as long as it is enough for the mixer to process.

Ingredients:

1L good quality pouring cream

Method:

Pour the cream into the bowl of a stand mixture fitted with the whisk attachment. Start mixing on medium-high speed, covering the bowl with a tea towel if the cream is jumping out and making a mess. After a couple of minutes of constant mixing, the cream will thicken and become whipped. Continue mixing for a few more minutes (at least 5), and the cream will start to turn a yellow colour. In the next few minutes the butter will begin to separate from the buttermilk - you might want to cover the bowl with a tea towel again as I find the buttermilk jumps out of the bowl quite a lot. Continue mixing for a few more minutes, or until the butter and the buttermilk have completely separated.

Place a large colander over a bowl, and line the colander with the muslin. Pour the butter and buttermilk over the colander, then squeeze out the butter over the colander using the muslin to release more of the buttermilk. The buttermilk can be used in the below recipe, kept in the fridge for a week or frozen for later use.

Rinse the butter in cold water, then knead on a dry surface to release more of the buttermilk. This process is essential to give the butter a longer shelf life as, if too much buttermilk remains the butter will go off. Rinse the butter again and knead until most of the buttermilk as been released. Roll the butter into a log or shape into a disc and wrap with baking paper and seal. Use for the below recipe and store in the fridge (it should keep for a couple of months), or weigh it out into portions and freeze.

Cook crumpets on low heat in a crumpet ring until bubbles then holes appear, then flip

Buttermilk Crumpets

This was my second recent attempt at making crumpets from scratch. I have posted a recipe for crumpets before, but have since found a new recipe I like better and have worked out the best way to cook them. They key is to cook them low and slow, so you give the tops time to bubble and burst, giving that distinctive hole-y top crumpet look, without over cooking the bottoms. You will need crumpet rings for this recipe but you can use egg rings, which will give a smaller fatter or larger thinner crumpet depending on their size. I had been searching for crumpet rings all over for a few years, and finally found some at the Lost & Found Department where they had sourced crumpet rings and handmade cake tins etc from a supplier in Tasmania (if my recollection of the story is correct).

As I mentioned above, I used buttermilk from the butter making process for this recipe. If you can’t get any or aren’t making the homemade butter, just substitute with regular or skim milk. Don’t substitute with cultured buttermilk (the thicker variety found in supermarkets), I’m not sure the thickness of it will work well with this recipe.

Ingredients

275ml buttermilk (not cultured)

55ml water

1tsp caster sugar

250g strong white flour (bread flour)

8g dried fast action yeast

1/2 tsp bicarb soda

50ml warm water

butter for cooking, and to serve

poached quinces, to serve (optional)

thick/clotted/dollop cream, to serve (optional)

Method:

Warm the milk and water (55ml) in a saucepan over low heat, then add the sugar and stir. Don’t overheat the milk. Place the flour into a large bowl and stir in the yeast. Pour in the warmed milk mixture and mix together until smooth. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place to rise. The batter will be ready when it has risen and become frothy and full of bubbles, this should take around hour, but leave for longer if the batter hasn’t become very bubbly after an hour.

When the batter is ready, mix the bicarb soda with water (50ml) then mix into the batter until smooth.

Grease the insides of the crumpet rings with butter, and heat a large flat plan on low heat. Grease the pan with some butter and place the rings on to the pan (how many you use at one time will depend on how large your pan is).

Fill the crumpet rings with batter, until the surface of the ring on the pan is fully covered and the batter comes up around a quarter to half way up the crumpet ring (this will depend on how big you want your crumpets to be, allowing for them to rise a little).

Cook for about 5 minutes, keeping the pan on low heat, or until bubbles then holes appear on the top of each crumpet. This is a slow process so don’t be tempted to rush it.

Flip the crumpets over once the holes have appeared on the tops, and cook for another couple of minutes or until golden - you can remove the crumpet rings at this point, and allow them to cool a little before re-greasing them to use again. Continue with the remaining batter. I found the batter made about 10 crumpets.

Serve straight from the pan, or warmed up later on under a grill with fresh butter, cream and poached quinces, or any other topping you fancy.

How to make Crumpets - Kulinary Adventures of Kath

References: ‘Fortnum & Mason The Cookbook’ by Tom Parker Bowles (4th Estate, 2016), p.60; ‘Real Food Projects’ by Kate Walsh (Murdoch Books, 2016) pp.92-3.

A Road Trip to the Blue Mountains & Central Western NSW - Part Two: Central Western NSW

Kath June 29, 2017

For the second part of our road trip (click here for part one) we continued to Central Western NSW. While having gone to Orange a few times as a child, I had not been for over ten years and was keen to go back and check out the food scene I had heard so much about.

Millthorpe

Millthorpe, located in between Bathurst and Orange, was our base for the two nights in the Central West. Boasting amazing old architecture, it was exceptionally quiet, and you couldn’t not be relaxed and follow the slow pace of life there. We arrived on a Wednesday, and almost nothing is open until Thursday! The weekends are meant to be quite busy, with some shops only opening on the weekend. Luckily for us a the pub was open for dinner so we didn’t go hungry on our first night!

Food is a big part of this town, which is one of the reasons we stayed here. The town has a hatted restaurant (Tonic), some lovely small cafes and homewares shops.

We ate at Tonic, the hatted restaurant in Millthorpe, on our last night there. We contemplated long and hard about eating here, not sure if hatted restaurant food was really our thing, and if we really needed to have a full two course meal after having such a food focused trip. I am so glad we did make the effort to go, as the food was great and were much larger portions than I was expecting. We had two courses each, all of which were amazing, and I would highly recommend eating there especially if you are staying in Millthorpe.

The Cork and Fork at The Commercial Hotel in Millthorpe was our only option for dinner on our first night, and it was a cheap and cheerful meal - in the absolute nicest sense of that phrase. The pub was warm and cosy, and nicely decorated. The food was good, and very inexpensive. We decided to share some bruschetta and a pizza, as we had already eaten lots that day. I noticed that the pizzas were only $12.95 each - where they really small, or kids size, would it be enough for the two of us? If you pay $12.95 for in pizza in Sydney you can almost guarantee it is only enough for one, or you’ve ordered off the kids menu. When I ordered and asked the size, the lady serving me said it was definitely big enough for two, that she thought she’d be able to get through half of one herself. When our meal came, it was enough for both of us to share! I was so surprised at the good value of the meal, it’s definitely not something we are accustomed to in Sydney!

Our favourite place to eat in Millthorpe was the Millthorpe Providore. A deli come cafe, selling lots of local Central West food products, as well as other gourmet goods. They serve T2 tea, Bills Beans coffee and use Little Big Dairy Co milk. Bills Beans seem to be well known for their quality and great taste in the Central West and we quickly learnt that any cafe serving it would be good - though Mum said the coffee at the Millthorpe Providore was the best! The combination of Bills Beans and Little Big Dairy Co milk was a winner! I had heard of Little Big Dairy Co through Local is Lovely, and since they recently started selling their products in David Jones in the city, I was able to buy some of their cream not long before our trip. Their products are of exceptional quality, and actually taste like they should - to the point where I feel I’ve never really tasted proper cream until now. I made a note before we left of cafes that said they used this Dubbo based dairy’s products, and they were well showcased at the Millthorpe Providore.

We had breakfast here on our first morning in Millthorpe, most other cafes were not open for breakfast until the weekend, but the Millthorpe Providore was by far the best choice regardless. I had learnt during my research for this trip that the Trunkey Bacon & Egg sandwich was the thing to have here. There weren’t too many other options to be honest, though the quality of this sandwich made me think they didn’t need to offer anything else. I can’t say that a bacon and egg sandwich would be my usual choice for breakfast, but this one was outstanding. They used shaved Trunkey Bacon, which is a product of a local Orange business Trunkey Bacon & Pork. It was by far the best bacon I have ever had and not only had me craving another sandwich the next day, but also looking up where I can buy this bacon back in Sydney (they sell at North Sydney Produce Markets thankfully!).

Our favourite homewares store in Millthorpe was Tomolly Millthorpe. The store has a wonderful aesthetic and Belinda the owner was so friendly you couldn’t help but get chatting. We both walked out with a few gifts for others and I bought a couple of nice tea towels too.

Highlights: Tonic, Millthorpe Providore, Tomolly Millthorpe.

To try next time: The Old Mill Cafe & Le Billot de Boucher.

Orange

We stopped into Racine Bakery, located on the edge of the Woolworths carpark, twice during our time in Orange. We first went there for a quick lunch, having pies and hot drinks (made with Little Big Dairy Co milk no less). We then stopped back to pick up some bread to take home. Next time we definitely need to go to the Racine restaurant, as the photos I’ve seen on Instagram look so lovely.

We drove around most of Orange, taking in the wide tree lined streets and amazing old houses. We spent a little time at Cook Park on our first day in the Central West. Cook Park is a lovely park to be in, and some of the (very) early Spring blooms had started flowering which was nice to see. I had fond childhood memories of going to Cook Park with my friend and buying homemade lollies at the Cook Park Guildry which sells local arts and crafts. We went back to the Guildry just to satisfy the kid me in really, and they had a great selection of homemade slices, biscuits and jams, and I walked away with an ANZAC Caramel Slice (pictured below) that was so sweet and so so good.

For lunch on our second day we made our way to the Agrestic Grocer. After hearing so many good things about it we were keen to check it out. We started by looking around the produce shop, which sported lots of local organic produce and other local deli items. I bought some quinces, which ended up being the most fragrant ones I have ever bought.

Unfortunately we both found The Agrestic Grocer cafe a bit disappointing after all the good things we’d heard and the excitement of getting to actually go there. We both had vegetarian dishes which were really big, bland and just a bit too expensive for what they were. As we drove away, Mum commented that they should get their hands on an Ottolenghi book to learn to cook vegetables in a more tasty and interesting way. It was a shame, but we were definitely beginning to think that the food in Millthorpe was going to be the star of our trip.

After lunch we continued driving away from Orange and ended up in the small town of Molong, and our experience there improved our day significantly.

Highlights: Racine Bakery, Cook Park.

To try next time: Bills Beans Cafe, LolliRedini, Racine Restaurant, Hillside Harvest.

Central Western NSW Kulinary Adventures of Kath

Molong

Molong has one main street for shops and cafes, Bank Street. It was a quiet place, however after walking down the street we found a really nice homewares shop, Booful Gifts & Homewares. Inside the shop was the biggest collection of Robert Gordon ceramics I had ever seen. We jumped at the chance to buy some as the collection was so extensive, and I know from experience that buying directly from Robert Gordon online takes a little while as everything is glazed to order.

The whole shop was so well thought out, and was a beautiful collection of colourful and interesting things. We were able to talk to the owner of the store, and she said it was named Booful, as when she was younger she couldn’t say ‘beautiful’ and said ‘booful’ instead. A very cute story for a very cute store!

We also had a look in The Yarn Market Molong, a similar local arts and crafts shop to the Guildry in Cook Park. The ladies working in the store that day were incredibly friendly, and again they had a wonderful collection of homemade cakes, slices biscuits and jams. I bought a loganberry and boysenberry jam, and some rocky road to take home.

Highlights: Booful Gifts & Homewares, The Yarn Market Molong.

Robert Gordon Ceramics from Booful Gifts & Homewares Molong, Chai Walli Tea from The Essential Ingredient Orange — Robert Gordon Ceramics from Booful Gifts & Homewares Molong, Chai Walli Tea from The Essential Ingredient Orange

Mugs and Tea as above, ANZAC Caramel Slice from The Guildry Cook Park Orange, tea towel from Tomolly Millthorpe.

Rydal

Not far off the Mountains, after Hartley Valley and just before Lithgow, is the opportunity to take sweet detour on the way to or from the Central West. I knew of Rydal from going to a couple of Local is Lovely Workshops on a farm in Rydal, and when Mum and I were driving home we decided to take a short detour through this tiny town. We made our way towards Rydal Train Station, having heard what a lovely old building it was, and soaked in our last views of the countryside on our way back to Sydney.

As our trip came to an end, we reminisced about all the food we ate, and the places we should go next time. I also noticed what a lovely slow pace the few days had been. Often when you plan a holiday, you spend so much time planning it, then when you are actually on the holiday the time flies by. That certainly didn’t happen on this trip, and we were so grateful for it. We both needed some time away from the city, and it was great to enjoy a slower place of life for a little while.

Do you have any favourite places in the Central West? I’d love to hear about them, I’m already starting a list of places to go for next time!

A Road Trip to the Blue Mountains & Central Western NSW - Part One: The Blue Mountains

Kath June 29, 2017

For those of you who follow me on social media, you will have seen I travelled to the Blue Mountains, Millthorpe and Orange in NSW a couple of weeks ago. I put a few things on my Instagram story at the time, but I really wanted to write about our trip here as well. We had a great time, and of course food was pretty much our main focus! So I wanted to share a few great cafe and food finds that we stopped at, and a few I want to try whenever I next get the chance to go back. I have broken this post up into two, Blue Mountains then the Central West, as there are just so many things to mention one post would just be too long!

To see my second trip post on the Central West click here.

Glenbrook

One of the first places you can stop on your way up the Mountain (or one of the last on your way down), and is well worth a visit. The main street, Ross St, is a short detour off the Great Western Highway and features a handful of great cafes and a few other shops that are well worth a look. Much quieter during the week than on the weekends, Glenbrook gives off a relaxed vibe that lets you know you aren’t in Sydney anymore - which for our trip, was exactly what we wanted!

We ate at both the The Church Glenbrook and Vincent. The Church Glenbrook is a lovely old wooden Anglican Church which is now a coffee shop and brew bar. It is the sweetest old building, painted and decorated so tastefully in keeping with the history of the building, wooden floors and the lovely old church windows taking centre stage. They serve Campos coffee and Tea Craft teas, and have lots of homemade cakes and biscuits - when I ordered I noticed a large oven behind, and a rather colourful KitchenAid mixer which made me feel like we were definitely in the right place!

Vincent is a slightly larger cafe on the other side of Ross St (opposite The Church), with a more extensive menu. There is an old feel to the place, as they have utilised lots of second hand and vintage things in the fit out of the cafe - again making me feel right at home. We stopped here on the way home, as the menu looked so enticing when we had a look a few days before, and combined with the name of the place, it was just meant to be. I would definitely go back to both of these cafes, and I think Vincent in particular would make a lovely brunch spot if you were just getting out of Sydney for the day (or for a few hours).

Highlights: The Church Glenbrook, Vincent, Clearing the Closet, Nice Old Stuff.

To Try Next Time: 2773 Cafe & Kickaboom Cafe

Hazelbrook

A frequent stop for us, purely due to Hazelbrook Cottage Antiques. Easily my favourite antique shop in the Mountains, it is jam packed full of old treasures, with such a variety of things almost everyone who loves antiques and vintage would love it here.

Highlight: Hazelbrook Cottage Antiques.

Leura

Leura is always a bustling place, being a popular stop for tourists and day trippers alike. Leura Mall is the main street for cafes and shopping, and is exceptionally close to Leura train station. Parking can be difficult, so be prepared to walk a little as parking close to the Mall on the weekends in particular can be scarce. The surrounding streets are so quaint however, that taking in the old houses, B&B’s and gardens only adds to the lovely atmosphere of Leura.

Highlights: The Leura Garage - We had eaten here only a couple of months before, so didn’t stop in this time. However, the pizzas are great, and I had the best pulled pork burger here last time, so I am keen to go back soon! Leura Gourmet Cafe & Deli, Megalong Bookshop, Few & Far Homewares.

To Try Next Time: Silk's Brasserie

The Three Sisters from Echo Point Lookout, mid morning

View from Echo Point Lookout in the late afternoon

Katoomba

We stayed in the Mountains for one night at Lilianfels Resort & Spa in Katoomba on Echo Point Rd. It was a lovely hotel, and decorated to a high standard. I loved the patterns used in the rooms we had, and that everything in each room matched the colour scheme and patterns used. We had booked into a high tea on the day we arrived, which was a nice way to relax after driving from Sydney. We sat in the lounge which was quiet as it was a weekday. The high tea was nice, maybe not the best I’ve ever had, but a lovely thing to do when staying at Lilianfels. They also offer Devonshire Tea in the lounge which would be a nice option to try as well, particularly if you didn’t want all the food that comes with a high tea.

Echo Point Lookout is a short walk from Lilianfels, and we went down after High Tea on our first day and before we left the following day. Both days the lookout wasn’t busy, and the differing times of day created a different light over the valley and Three Sisters.

Highlights: Lilianfels, Echo Point Lookout - the Three Sisters.

To try Next Time: Daley’s Restaurant at Lilianfels

Medlow Bath

Despite having been to the Hydro Majestic Hotel last year for High Tea, we didn’t realise there was any more in Medlow Bath. When researching cafes to try, and where we could have breakfast after leaving Lilianfels, I came across Anonymous Cafe in Blackheath and their sister cafe in Medlow Bath, Synonymous. Out of the sample menus on each website we decided Synonymous Cafe was where we should have breakfast - they had homemade crumpets on their menu so we had to go there! Synonymous is on the other side of Medlow Bath Train Station (not the Hydro side) on Railway Parade - it’s easy to find and park as it’s the only cafe there!

The cafe’s menu changes seasonally, and they make everything, bar a few of the sweets in the front cabinet themselves. The building is an old general store, and like some of the other cafes we went to in the Mountains, Synonymous had been designed with the history of the building in mind. They serve Campos Coffee and T Totaler tea, and I can highly recommend their crumpets! They seem to be a menu staple, but the accompaniments change with the seasons - when we had breakfast there they were served with roasted stone fruits, candied pistachios and crème fraîche, when we stopped in for coffee on our way home they had moved into a more Winter menu, and were paired with rhubarb and whipped cheesecake mousse. I have since made some crumpets inspired by our visit to Synonymous and the rest of our time away, and I’ll share the recipe here on the blog soon!

Highlights: Synonymous Cafe.

To try Next Time: The Boiler Room Cafe at The Hydro Majestic

Blackheath

We didn’t stop too long at Blackheath, having already decided to eat elsewhere. It would be a good place to stop on your way back to Sydney from the Central West as it’s not too far up the Mountain coming from that direction. We stopped in at the Victory Theatre Antique Centre, and while not the best antique shop in the Mountains, is worth a look if you have time.

To Try Next Time: Anonymous Cafe

As you can see we really tried to eat at as many places as possible, whilst also keeping the pace of our trip slow and relaxed. There are quite a few places I would love to go back to, and new places to try another time. Do you have any recommendations for the Blue Mountains? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

To follow our trip onto the Central West, click here!

How to Cook with Kaffir Limes - Kaffir Lime & Coconut Poached Chicken with Noodles

Kath June 9, 2017

There is definitely a story behind this recipe!

We have a kaffir lime tree, and have done for a few years. We use the leaves now and then in cooking, but for quite a few years I never saw limes growing on the tree. In 2015 some friends and I went to Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution Live. Jamie demonstrated a few recipes, one of which he used the zest and juice of a kaffir lime. I was amazed. How do we have a kaffir lime tree and I’ve never seen a kaffir lime before? And more importantly, why aren’t we cooking with them?

When I got home I was telling Mum about the day and Jamie’s use of kaffir limes. She was shocked, she had thought kaffir limes weren’t edible. If that were true, I was sure that Jamie Oliver of all people would know that and not demonstrate the use of one in a live show. It transpired that Mum had been removing the flowers from the kaffir lime tree each year so if never went to fruit. But since we have now been educated on kaffir limes (thanks Jamie), we have had a complete glut of them! This year in particular, we’ve had at least 20 particularly large limes from our humble tree.

While I was very excited about this, and the other citrus we have that were showing good signs of a bountiful season, I didn’t have many ideas for actually using the kaffir limes. Since we had so very many, I gave some away (along with some of the leaves). One recipient was so freaked out by them - ‘Are they meant to look like that?! They look like brains!’. I guess if you’ve never seen them before they do look pretty weird! Luckily their flavour makes up for their weird appearance.

I knew kaffir limes worked well in South East Asian cooking, but as my mind immediately goes to ideas for baking, I tried to make kaffir lime shortbread. That was a definite no go. The sweetness of the shortbread combined with the intense citrus notes of the kaffir lime conflicted with each other so much, I wasn’t sure if I was eating something sweet or savoury.

Once it became clear that sweet was out of the question (there goes my idea of a kaffir lime pie), I steered my thoughts back to the world of savoury cooking. Having eaten a few chicken dishes (mostly Thai) that used kaffir lime leaves, I decided to combine what I liked best about them, but also use the actual kaffir limes. And this is the result. This dish will feed 4-6 people, depending on the size of chicken breasts you use (the pieces of chicken I used ended up being particularly big, so there were lots of leftovers which I have now frozen for another day!). If you can’t get any kaffir limes, use the kaffir leaves and regular limes for the juice and zest.

Kaffir Lime & Coconut Poached Chicken with Noodles

Ingredients for the Poached Chicken:

x3 chicken breasts

x2 270ml cans of light coconut milk

juice of 1/2 kaffir lime

zest of 1/2 kaffir lime

x6 kaffir lime leaves

1 cm slice fresh ginger

1 stalk lemongrass, outer leaves removed and cut in half

x3 stems of coriander with roots, well washed

Ingredients for the Sauce & Rice Noodles

1 tbsp vegetable oil

x3 small gloves garlic, crushed

x1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped

x4 spring onions finely sliced, white part only

juice of 1/2 kaffir lime

zest of 1/2 kaffir lime

150ml chicken stock

500ml coconut poaching liquid

1 tsp soy sauce

x1 zucchini, peeled into strips

285 g mixed beans & peas

200g packet pad thai rice noodles

x2 (or x3 small) bunches coriander, leaves & stems roughly chopped

Method:

In a medium pot, add the chicken, coconut milk, kaffir lime zest & juice, kaffir leaves, ginger, lemongrass and coriander stems. Mix to combine then place over low heat, and loosely cover with lid. Poach the chicken for 20-30 minutes, turning over half way through. To check the chicken is cooked, cut open with a knife and check the middle of the chicken breast has cooked through. Once cooked remove from heat.

When the chicken has cooled a little, remove from the pot and cut into chunks or slices. Reserve 500ml of the poaching liquid, then put the cut up chicken back in the pot with the remainder of the poaching liquid to keep warm.

In a large pan on medium heat, add the vegetable oil, spring onions, garlic and chilli. Cook for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly so everything cooks evenly and doesn’t burn. Add the kaffir lime juice and zest, stock, poaching liquid, soy sauce and a couple of the kaffir lime leaves from the poaching liquid. Stir to combine, then allow to simmer for a couple of minutes. Add in most the chopped coriander and the cooked chicken. Meanwhile cook the rice noodles according to packet instructions, then add to the pan. Stir to combine, then add the zucchini, beans and peas. Mix through (using tongs is easiest), then serve with the remaining coriander.

References: ‘Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals’ by Jamie Oliver (Penguin Group, 2010) p.88; ‘The Heart of the Home’ by Julie Goodwin (Ebury Press, 2011) p.82; Donna Hay's Coconut Poached Chicken Salad.

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