Recipes

A rainy, cold and miserable day in New York = the perfect excuse to bake all day. Settled on making some fresh ricotta and baking an Earl Grey Tea cake… because all I want on a rainy day is a bottomless cup of tea and a piece of cake.

I’ll be the first to admit I am not the best baker. Measuring things exactly is not my forte… but I do love it, and when it works out I find it very very satisfying. Since living in New York, the times I have baked have been few and far between, so I am a little out of practice. With the oncoming of the cooler weather (and a good excuse to drink bottomless cups of tea and baked goods) I decided it was about time to make my return to the world of ovenly delights.

I recently signed up to NETFLIX. It’s incredible. I have access to so many cooking shows on demand. Which means every night I crawl into bed and enter the kitchens of various famous chefs all over the world. I have become slightly addicted to Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares (yes cringe now if you must) but I honestly love it. And find it surprisingly, very inspirational!

The recent hurricane threat in New York reminded me a lot of the time leading up to the Brisbane Floods in January. One of my favourite parts about the pending natural disaster was observing what people purchase in times of crisis. The food that they believe will sustain them for a day/week/month. The things that I notice are the QUANTITY of food purchased and the type of food purchased.

...You can’t deny the squid there is something grotesquely sensual about the squid.

Upon seeing the styrofoam box brimming with squid at the West End markets, we thought it was time to get learned in gutting and stuffing these little numbers.

So, the departure of Bookery Cook’s Maxie for the big city bright lights (and edible wonderland) of NYC called for a grand feast. We decided to invade the kitchen and deck of good friends in Auchenflower for the occasion.

 Having gone the (West End) markets Saturday, Wednesday rolling around surprising quickly, dinner booked out for Thursday night, and not touched any of the market produce, it was time for some rash vegetable action.


 

Sunday afternoon at our parent’s house/farm on the Sunshine Coast… outside fire, platter, beers… then Japanese banquet (^_^) !

Weeks of suppressed cooking urges due to study and life commitments erupted into a frying, caramelising, roasting, sauteing, wine-drinking frenzy last Friday night.

Inspired by a Guardian article entitled ‘The life-saving qualities of pizza‘, the need to a repent a hangover fromThe Fleet Store opening after-party (a project of Maxie’s along with QUT fashion student comrades), the call of entertaining on the deck in summer and the need to feed friends before heading down to Class to see The Bookery Cook’s Vivandiere and Bookery COok head taste-tester and revered Dank Morass dj Walrii go back to back, we decided to make pizzas, bring-a-topping style.

Sunday night we needed a nourishing feed after spending the afternoon in the park recovering from a Saturday that involved an afternoon rave to Instra:mental and back to friends for champagne, red wine and gin. Having been inspired by Poh’s Kitchen (*sigh* Poh) a few nights previously we made Malaysian Black Beef.

A partial lunar eclipse, a night with our intergalactic dancing boots on at Dank Morass‘ Dankside of the Moon and a dinner party featuring spherical meat… cosmic coincidence?

Winter is here in Australia and this means our love affair with fennel has been reignited.

A friend who has been running a restaurant in Morocco on the beach for the last couple of years and I (check out the pics below if just hearing that doesn’t make you jealous) put the leftovers of our fridges and cupboards together to create some Friday fare.

The Bookery Cook recently took a trip to the home of quality meats to learn how to bone and stuff a chicken.

With our parents away cruising down the Mekong, we thought it a perfect opportunity to have some friends over for a party. Originally set to be Morman-theme, the party was rebranded at the last minute to something a little more culturally liberated: JUNGLE.

Over the Easter weekend, we heard the call of the land, and the call of family friends’ combined 18t/21st/100th anniversary of their property, so took a 5 hour drive west to Moonie (about 350km west of Brisbane, Qld, Australia).

A glimpse of other summer highlights…

Apparently Australia Day = Meat Day

Christmas was a casual affair for The Bookery Cook after a big year and mammoth Christmas last year.

Wanting to cook but needing a change of scenery, we packed our bags full of chopping boards, sharp knives, blenders, kitchen scales, ingredients and serving wares in preparation to invade the kitchen of our good friends at Latrobe st.

The first affair was a Sunday night Indian-Benglai curry feast, which was well in order after a swashbuckling Saturday night out spent walking the plank from the dancefloor to the bar at Dank Morass’ pirate-themed Davy Jones’ Morass.

What better way to procrastinate study than some procrastibaking for a new date!

Bookery Cook contributing blogger/ mix maker Walrii celebrated his 21st birthday recently. In honour of his mulatto heritage, he threw a 'British India' themed house party.

A couple of Sundays ago those of The Bookery Cook and related company held a Jumble Jungle Garage Sale. 

The latest Cuisine Magazine was purchased recently on a Wednesday morning, and by Thursday night we had made 3 dishes and had littered the pages with post-it notes.

In this month’s seasonal spotlight is the tart but sweet, juicy, pink (or ruby-red)-fleshed delight that is the pink grapefruit, Citrus Paradisi.

There's something about craving a Japanese breakfast that you can't settle for anything else.. so we didn't.

“It is, in my view, the duty of an apple to be crisp and crunchable, but a pear should have such a texture as leads to silent consumption.”