Category: Australasia


Jul
2020

Ye Olde Crusty Cellar Cheesecake

categories: 1970's recipes, Australasia, Cheesecake, Desserts

At the best of times, a cheesecake (or really any item of food) hailing from “Ye Olde Crusty cellar”  would not sound tempting.  However, these are not the best of times, (these may well be the worse of times) and desperate times call for cheesecake!  Have I ever mentioned how much I love cheesecake?  Next to ice cream, it is probably my favourite dessert.  Also, Fridge, Freezer, Pantry week has come around again and I had half a tub of cream cheese icing I wanted to use up. I did not want to make another cake with cream cheese icing so I thought I could hide it in plain sight as it were by mixing it with more cream cheese, sugar and lemon.

Ye Olde Crusty Cellar Cheesecake1

(Don’t ask me what look I was going for with the fruit decoration!)

Ye Olde Crusty Cellar Cheesecake3

The recipe for Ye Old Crusty Cellar’s Cheesecake came from the book 100 Fabulous Cheesecakes by Ellen Sinclair of The Australian Woman’s Weekly (1971). It is a real shame about the name because the Ye Olde Crusty Cellar cheesecake itself is delicious!!!

100 Fabulous Cheesecakes

Ye Olde Crusty Cheesecake – The Recipe

I did not copy the recipe for Ye Olde Crusty Cellar Cheesecake exactly though.  I changed a few things to suit my personal taste.  You can decide if you make this whether to follow the OG version or mine.  Here is the original with my notes on the crumb crust.

Ye Olde Crusty Cellar Cheesecake6

Here are the instructions on what to do with those ingredients to turn them into a crumb crust:

Crumb Crust 1

Crumb Crust 2

The two changes I made to this were:

  • I did not add any additional sugar as I thought an entire can of condensed milk would be sweet enough
  • I did not add the egg yolks.  Largely because I could not understand what they were doing there.  I totally understand eggs in a baked cheesecake but not in an unbaked.  The only thing I could think that they provided was maybe an additional richness to the mix.  Again, for my taste, cream cheese and sour cream are rich enough.

I was a bit worried that leaving them out would somehow mean that the cheesecake would not set.  But the mixture firmed up beautifully in the fridge overnight to cream a filling that was both light, luscious and not too sweet!

Ye Olde Crusty Cellar Cheesecake2

Ye Olde Crusty Cellar – History

The Ye Olde Crusty Cellar was a wine bar opened at 255 George Street brSydney in 1931 by winemaker Leo Buring.

It was described as having:

“the head of Bacchus…to guide guests in and out’ with ‘shaded lights’ and a feeling of ‘cloistered gloom’.

Hmm, not sure cloistered gloom would be the ambiance I would be seeking were I to open a wine bar. But it worked for Leo!  The “Crusty” was a destination venue, attracting crowds of visitors, many of whom would have sampled the cheesecake!

Sadly the “Crusty” closed in 1974 but luckily the recipe for us, it’s signature cheesecake lives on!

Ye Olde Crusty Cellar Cheesecake4

Have a great week everyone!

 

  • Comments Off on Ye Olde Crusty Cellar Cheesecake

Sep
2019

Chicken Curry Mildura – A Sight for Sore Eyes

categories: Australasia, Chicken, Curry

Coming home from vacation is always bittersweet.  One of the best parts for me is being able to get back into the kitchen.  My head is always buzzing with ideas of how to recreate the food I ate on holiday back at home.  But before any of that, there is the first meal at home.  This is usually some sort of comfort food.  I crave something that is both utterly of home and different to what I’ve been eating.  After time in Asia this might be meatballs or shepherd’s pie.  This time after a month in Europe, the item I most wanted to cook was something spicy.   Chicken Curry Mildura fit the bill perfectly!

Chicken Curry Mildura

Chicken Curry What?

Chicken Curry Mildura.  Now the only Mildura I know of is a country town in northwestern Victoria about 6 hours drive from where I live.  It is situated on the banks of the Murray River.  It is famous for olde worlde paddle steamers and is a centre of fruit growing, particularly citrus and grapes.

The name Mildura is thought to have come from an Aboriginal word meaning either  “sore eyes caused by flies”  or “red rock”

Let’s go with the red rock shall we?  Because it really is a delightful country town!  And a beloved vacation place for many Victorians.

Mildura

After researching it for this post I’m quite keen to go spend the next long weekend up there!

What I could not find at all was why, out of all the Victorian country towns,  Mildura alone gets to have an eponymous chicken curry.

Now, the aspiring Sherlocks in the crowd may be thinking “might this curry contain some of the fruit for which Mildura is famous?”  No, there is not so much as aa peep from any of those stalwarts of the 1970’s curry – apples, bananas and sultanas.  (Thank goodness).

1970's curry

Chicken Curry Mildura does contain one odd, to me anyway, ingredient which is Oyster Sauce.  I have never used Oyster Sauce in a curry before!  It does not taste at all of oysters or seafood of any kind. I think what it brings to the curry is a lovely deep umami flavour that makes this rather simple curry taste a lot more complex than it is!

My PSA

The recipe, which you can access here calls for 6  birdseye chillies. I need to be careful when I cook because although I love my chilli, The Fussiest Eater in the World who has a white boy palate extraordinaire. However, even I feel that 6 birdseyes is a step too far.

 

I used two chillies in mine and it was PLENTY hot enough.  Add your chillies with discretion so you can enjoy the taste of a very delicious curry!

Chicken Curry Mildura2

.  Have a great weekend all!

Chicken Curry Mildura

  • Comments Off on Chicken Curry Mildura – A Sight for Sore Eyes

Jan
2019

Lamington Layer Cake

categories: Australasia, Cake

The Lamington is a classic Australian Cake.  New Zealand may try to claim the pavlova but there is no doubt about the origin of this delicious cake!  It’s ours New Zealand and you can’t have it!  Normally lamingtons are made in individual serving sizes but I made mine as one large Lamington Layer Cake meant to share.  Because that’s what cake is for right?

On the downlow?  Cake is also about eating it all yourself and not giving any of that sweet deliciousness to anyone else….

So what is a Lamington?

For a plain Lamington, you cut sponge cake into squares, dip the squares in chocolate icing then coat the squares in dessicated coconut.

Simple.  Delicious.

My version sandwiches layers of sponge with strawberry jam and cream for a fancier version.  My mum gave me a jar of the most delicious strawberry jam and I wanted to use it in the Lamington Layer Cake because when I was growing up, our local bakery always had raspberry jam in their lamingtons.  So, me, you can’t have a lammy without jam!

Why Lamington?

The Lamington is named after Charles Wallace Alexander Napier Cochrane-Baillie (otherwise known as the 2nd Baron Lamington).  He  was the Governor of Queensland from 1896-1901.

One day, some totally unexpected guests dropped by Government House.   And horror of horrors!  All they had in the house to serve said guests was some stale sponge cake.

For a start…what kind of arsehole turns up at anyone’s house unannounced?  If you turn up at my house unannounced, you’d be lucky to get stale cake.   I’d pretend I wasn’t home until you went back from whence you came.  Or maybe give you some Beetle Pie to teach you a lesson!

You turn up at the Governor’s unannounced?

Lamington Layer Cake

Luckily for history, Governor Lamington had a French chef, Armand Galland, in residence who was less misanthropic than I am.  Galland dipped the stale cake in chocolate and rolled it in coconut.  The guests LOVED it and asked for the recipe.  😍😍😍

Lady Lamington was very impressed and asked Galland to make the cakes for all future official events.  Over time these little cakes came to be called lamingtons.   The first recipe for them was published in 1900 and people have been baking and rolling and dipping ever since!  In 2009, the lamington was officially declared a Queensland icon in 2009.

Lord Lamington? Not a fan, describing them as “those bloody poofy woolly biscuits”.  By all accounts though, he was a total dick who once killed a koala by shooting it out of a tree (whilst on a walk with ecologists to talk about conservation) so who cares what his opinion on anything was.

If you would like to join those guests in getting a recipe for  Lamington Layer cake, look no further than the link below But don’t forget the jam!

Lamington Layer Cake – The Recipe

(From womensweeklyfood.com.au)

Lamington Layer Cake

 

Lamington Layer Cake2Lamington Layer Cake3

Lamington Layer Cake2

 

Happy Australia Day for those who celebrate it!  Enjoy the long weekend if you’re in Australia and try to keep out of the heat! Everyone else, have a wonderful week!

 


Jan
2018

Vegemite and Pale Ale Gougères

categories: Australasia, Beer, Cheese, Snacks, Starters

Today, January 26,  many Australians will be celebrating Australia Day.  On the good side – it’s summer, it’s a great time to get outside and have a bbq and, if you are not in the midst of a dry January, have a few drinks with some friends.  On the downside, the day itself is becoming increasingly fraught for all manner of reasons.

Vegemite and Pale Ale Gougeres

But we are not here to get political.  We are here to eat, drink and be merry.  Because it’s a long weekend.  And we’re going to celebrate with some Australian food.  If by Australian food we mean something that we have totally  (mis)appropriated from another culture.   So let’s get to it shall we?

 

Gougères are the French version of what we in Australia would call a cheese puff.  And they are delicious!  Feather-light pastry flavoured with cheese makes for a perfect snack.  Particularly if you happen to be imbibing something of an alcoholic persuasion.  Making it a perfect start to this weekend’s round of bbq’s.

Vegemite and Pale Ale Gougeres4

But we’re not celebrating Bastille Day…we’re celebrating Australia Day…so how to “Strayanise” these delicious French delicacies?  Well, first we’re going to throw a little Vegemite into the mix.  Now, I’ll be the first person to admit that I…ahem…”borrowed” the idea of the Vegemite Gougères from Rosie Birkett’s recipe for Marmite Gougères.

Vegemite and Pale Ale Gougeres3

And then, to make it even more Australian, I substituted the water in the recipe for beer.  I used the Gage Roads Little Dove Pale Ale as the beer for this because it is my absolute favourite and I had some in the house but you could sub in your own favourite.

Vegemite and Pale Ale Gougeres2

The gougères are delightfully light.  The combination of vegemite, cheese, cayenne and the very slight hint of beer go so well together that it would be a real shame to only save these for one day of the year!

Print

Vegemite and Pale Ale Gougeres

Print Recipe

A tasty snack based on a classic French recipe

Ingredients

Scale
  • 120g unsalted butter
  • 150ml whole milk
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons Vegemite
  • 75ml Pale Ale
  • 150g plain flour, sifted
  • 4 eggs
  • 100g cheddar, grated, plus 1 tablespoon extra, for scattering
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • big pinch freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoonfreshly grated nutmeg

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 200°C and line 2 large baking sheets with baking parchment.
  2. Put the butter, milk and Vegemite and ale into pan over medium heat and bring to the boil.
  3. Add the flour and beat very quickly with a wooden spoon, over the heat, until the mixture is smooth and pulls away from the side of the pan (about 2-3 minutes).
  4. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for a minute.
  5. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition until the mixture is thick and smooth and glossy.
  6. Stir in the grated cheese, peppers and nutmeg.
  7. Spoon the mixture into the piping bag fitted with a nozzle. Pipe little rounds (about the size of a chestnut) onto the trays, leaving space between each mound to allow for rising.
  8. Alternatively, just spoon small spoons of the mixture onto the tray.
  9. Scatter over the remaining cheese.
  10. Bake for 20–25 minutes, until puffed and golden.
  11. Serve warm. Or cool on a wire rack and reheat in a 180°C oven for a few minutes until they crisp up.

Notes

  • The gougères can be made in advance and frozen once cool.

If you’re celebrating, have a wonderful day and enjoy the long weekend!

If not, make these anyway, they’re awesome!

But remember…Vegemite

Back with more Z Food next time!  Have a fabulous week!

Signature 1 Vintage Valentine Quick as Wink2


Jan
2016

REPOST – The Bobby Dazzler – History Happy Hour – 1788

categories: Australasia, History Happy Hour, Mocktail, Recipe Fail

G’day mates,  Happy Australia Day!

Today we are celebrating with a dubious mocktail with a fabulous name – The Bobby Dazzler.

Australia Day celebrates the 1788 landing of the First Fleet into Port Jackson, New South Wales and the raising of the British flag on Australian soil.

The day is marked by celebrations both formal and informal across Australia, with many people enjoying the day off work with barbecues, at the beach and otherwise enjoying the lovely summer weather.

Over at chez Retro Food, we are celebrating with this:

Bobby Dazzler1If you had asked me as a six-year-old to design my perfect drink it would have been something very like the Bobby Dazzler.  “I want coca cola with something pink in it and whipped cream and a strawberry and sprinkles….”  Seriously, if the Bobby Dazzler came with some glitter and a unicorn, it would have been my six-year-old idea of heaven.

Bobby Dazzler2However, according to International Mixed Drinks by Ken Fin (1995) the Bobby Dazzler was created by Maxine Nash at the Bubbles – Wodonga Hotel where it was the runner-up in the Best Border Beverage Competition of 1991.  International Mixed Drinks is silent on whether or not Maxine Nash was a six-year-old.

F.Scott who normally taste tests all the cocktails I  make wasn’t having a bar of this.  But like  his namesake F.Scott is partial to a sip o’ the hard stuff.

Bobby Dazzler3So another tester had to be found.  And how more appropriate than our friend the Tasmanian Devil?

He loved it.  But then again, we found him later on gnawing on one of the popper bottles.

Bobby Dazzler4The Bobby Dazzler  is not so much bad tasting as unremittingly, unrelentingly sweet.  And just when you think you can have no more sweet, you get a mouthful of cream.

Unless you are a six-year-old girl or a Tasmanian Devil you probably will not want to celebrate Australia Day with a Bobby Dazzler!  I still feel a bit ill after drinking it.  I feel like I need to have a little lie down.  Simultaneously, I am so wired on caffeine and sugar I feel like I may never sleep again.

For those who want it, here is the recipe:

Print

Bobby Dazzler

Bobby Dazzler2
Print Recipe

A very sweet and creamy mocktail.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 60ml Grenadine
  • 200ml cola
  • whipped cream
  • 100‘s and 1000’s or other sprinkles
  • Strawberry and 2 blueberries to garnish

Instructions

  1. Blend the Grenadine and cola and pour into a glass.
  2. Top with the whipped cream.
  3. Sprinkle with 100’s and 1000’s and garnish with a strawberry and the blueberries.

I am calling this a recipe fail not because there was anything wrong with the recipe, I think it worked out exactly as it should have.  To me the recipe fails because there is no counterbalance to that cloying sweetness. I also did not like that big chunk of whipped cream which pretty much just made your mouth feel greasy.  I think ice-cream may have been a better choice.  What do I know though?  It’s not like I ever came runner-up in the Best Border Beverage competition.

I hope your Australia Day is dazzling, even if this drink is not.

Have a wonderful week.

Signature 1 Vintage Valentine Quick as Wink2

  • Comments Off on REPOST – The Bobby Dazzler – History Happy Hour – 1788