Two Peas, Glebe

It's really REALLY wonderful to see more and more restaurants focusing on providing us with produce from ethical sources. Two Peas in Glebe is the new ethical kid on the block and I'm tickled-pink that it's (sort of) walking distance from my office.

Two Peas makes no secret that they source their met from ethical, free-range farms. The chefs, fresh from a stint in the Jamie's Italian kitchen, also source seasonal + local produce which means the menu is constantly changing.  I think that a menu that is always changing is great - it shows that the chefs really know their stuff, being able to move with the seasons and cook what's available when it's available.

The menu is amusingly split into section such as "now", "soon", "later" + "and also" - it makes a fun change from the usual Entree, Main, Dessert and Sides.

I find it hard to resist a steak sandwich on a menu especially if the beef is 100% pasture-fed.  The almost paper-thin steak is wonderfully tender + slightly charred and is sandwiched between two fat slices of  focaccia bread. I like how focaccia bread is back in vogue these days as it's certainly filling and provides good bang for your sandwich buck! The steak is partnered with some wonderfully sharp cheddar (I could eat a plate of just this cheese!), fresh tomatoes and pieces of lettuce.

I'm always open to suggestions and do as the menu instructs and order the Polenta Chips as my "and also"! I probably would've order them "now" too if that had been an option! The chips were amazing - lovely and salty, super crispy on the outside with an audible crunch as you bite through to the soft pillow centre.

Miss Chicken orders the Free-range Chicken Caesar Salad and from the few tidbits I tried I can confirm that it was a wonderful choice.  The chicken was plump (and happy) and the creamy dressing would've have me licking the plate clean. And who could resist that oozing river of runny egg yolk. Bliss.

Miss Chicken and I return for another lunch and true to form I couldn't resist the steak sandwich. This time it comes with sourdough bread - maybe focaccia is out of season again hence the swtich-a-roo with the bread. Either way it's delicious, especially as I get a side order of big, fat hand-cut fries. The fillings are the same as my previous steak sambo encounter...cheese, tomatoes and lettuce.

Miss Chicken's free-range chicken + avacado sandwich comes wedged between too pillowy slices of focaccia . Bread envy - that's MY bread!

Two Peas is at 198 St Johns Road,Glebe (or Forest Lodge if you want to be technical about it).

#porkfest Cooking Class, Restaurant Atelier Glebe

Sometimes The Boy and I have THE DUMBEST disagreements about stuff...like the best way to cook pork crackling for example. I'm a firm believer that you have to salt the rind and The Boy stubbornly thinks you don't...he thinks it will just "crackle on its own" (kinda like the way he thinks the bathroom might just clean itself). Of course neither of us are great cooks so I took the pork crackling debate to Twitter (yes, cos I'm nuts) where I got a tonne of different ways to cook crackling and most of them proved me right (in your face BOY)! By this time The Boy had adjourned to the study to watch The History Channel and wasn't interested in my victory dance in the kitchen.

Needless to say when I heard that Darren Templeman from Restaurant Atelier in Glebe was teaching a class in Pork Crackling I knew this was one class I HAD to attend. Conveniently The Boy had other plans that day so couldn't come (and be proven wrong again). Turns out really that both The Boy and I were somewhat right in our pork crackling methods. You do salt the pork and THEN you rub it off later - it has salt and then it doesn't.

This was the first class of a series that Darren plans to offer each month. There'll be another Pork Crackling class in May and after that the classes will vary...I'm keen for a sausage making class (hint hint).

The classes are "demonstration style" in a commercial kitchen - you can get as close to the hotplates, smokers, ovens, pots, pans and the chef as you like. Ask questions, sample the goodies, peer into the saucepan to see exactly what "really caramelised" means.  The class is relaxed and fun.  Darren is totally relaxed in the kitchen and happily answers ALL the questions we throw at him.  I've never been in a restaurant kitchen before so this was REALLY exciting.  A lot of the attendees were really happy to be able to ask a chef questions about his cooking methods - much more interactive then just reading a recipe from a book and hoping you're on the right track (like I do).

I was intrigued that Darren planned to teach us THREE different methods for making pork crackling - you mean there is more than one way to crackle a pig?

Method 1:   I was in slightly familiar territory with the first method that Darren demonstrated to us, Crispy Pork Belly and I could easily attempt this at home without too many tears. The pork belly is coated with a mix of salt and other spices and left to cure overnight in the fridge.

The next day wipe the salt mix off the pork and wash off any excess "stuff", pat it dry, spray (or rub) with oil and pop into the oven.  A big thing I took away from the class was NOT to score the meat. Whilst scoring might look fancy and perhaps make the roast easier to cut up it essentially lets all the juices run out of the meat rather than back into the piece of pork.

Method 2: Whilst I've eaten a bit of Confit Pork in my time I've never thought about making it at home as it involves cooking the meat in quite a bit of fat which I thought would be super messy (it's not). The more adventurous and experienced cooks in the group were really taken by this method and it's actually much more simple than I thought it would be.

A slab of pork belly is placed in a deep dish, covered with fat and cooked in a slow oven (the dish is covered in foil).  Once cooked and cooled, the pork is wrapped in Glad Wrap and cooled in the fridge overnight under a heavy weight to compress it.  Then you simply cook the pork in a pan skin side down until the skin is super crisp and crackling and dance like a maniac around the kitchen when the Chef allows us to sample the Confit Pork. The Confit Pork was so soft, like butter, totally delicious yet surprisingly didn't taste or feel fatty at all. Miracle stuff.

Method 3:  If I have one weakness it's Pork Scratchings - I could eat bag loads of the stuff and still want MORE.  When I realized that Darren would be showing us how to make this I did (another) crazy little dance around his kitchen and squealed like a Big Girl!  Of course when the time came to sample I had to dash out of the restaurant to put more money in the parking meter...luckily noone sampled anything until I got back.

I'm considering if I'd "try this at home" given deep-frying is involved and I burn myself on boiling water - imagine what damage I could do with a pot full of bubbling oil.

In this method the rind is boiled, cooled, and the fat removed from the skin. The skin is then dehydrated in a slow oven until it resembles a piece of plastic. It's then popped into a deep-fryer and Miss Piggy dances like a fruitcake when the whole lot emerges from the fryer ready to eat. OH HAPPY DAYS!

Samples:  throughout the class we got to sample each of the three types of pork demonstrated to us.  Darren of course, like most chefs I've met, doesn't do things by halves. He also prepared a few extra styles of pork for us to try.  He also let us try a few extra things like a fancy fish sauce he'd just got into the restaurant, as well showing us the perfect way to make a Pork Jus.

We were also sent home with a piece of pork belly and a bag of seasoning to try and make our own Crispy Pork Belly at home. Along with this everyone was given a piece of Confit Pork Belly to finish off in the pan at home. We're sent home with a recipe for each of the three methods we've learnt...easy peasy.

Left: Pork Neck Rillet and Right: Smoked, deep-fried pork belly. OMG

Lunch: After the class we all sat down to a fantastic Sunday lunch. Darren had slow-roasted two HUGE pork shoulders overnight for us to enjoy - both complete with an Armour of the most crackly of crackling.  This felt A LOT like a long, relaxed fun family lunch - a long table heaving with beautiful food and fantastic conversation. 

Darren had also been foraging for Pine Mushrooms the day before, along with Karen, and he had returned with a HUGE haul of mushrooms that he smoked as a side dish for our lunch.  The smoker was a pretty impressive machine.

Smoked Pine Mushrooms and a Green Salad with roasted Hazelnuts

Dessert - complete with POP ROCKS!

The classes are organised by #twEATup guru, Karen.  She organises the classes via Twitter (cos she's very modern you know) and you can follow her on Twitter @vanityfare1 to keep abreast of further classes and #twEATup events.

Restaurant Atelier is at 22 Glebe Point Road, Glebe. Phone them on 9566 2112.

Restaurant Atelier, Glebe

Our last #twEATup saw us dining at Booth Street Bistro in Annandale.  At the table were Chef Darren Templeman and his restaurant manager wife Bernie who together own and run the gorgeous Restaurant Atelier in Glebe. Of course it's only logical then that we all descend on their restaurant for our next #twEATup to put them through their paces and to eat them out of house and home.

Our group of ten "tweeps" (@LeBlanc13 {wife Claudia}, @vanityfare1{#twEATup organiser}, @conjurupfood, @pickledcumquat, @le_bon_vivant_{plus friend G} and @thefrenchwench) are dining upstairs in the private dining room.  The room is quiet, comfortable and is cosily tucked away from the rest of the restaurant - it feels like dining at someone's home. I'm super impressed at Bernie who runs up and down the stairs all night laden with plates of food and doesn't break a sweat - they'd have to call an ambulance for me if that was my job.

We're here for a ten course degustation ($90 per person) and I've worn my most roomy of eating dresses.  Let the feast begin!

As with all good meals in Sydney our feast begins with a generous serving of crusty bread served with individual pats of salted Pepe Saya butter.  If you can tear yourself away from the Pepa Saya there is also some olive oil with Balsamic as well as a generous quenelle of olive tapenade in EVOO.

Le Bon Vivant has, again, very generously raided his wine-cellar for us and our glasses are kept full all night. Of course I have no idea what any of it is, but it keeps flowing and it's lovely. Our dinner kicks off with sumac-cured kingfish belly, heirloom tomatoes, greek basil topped with tomato sorbet.  It's as pretty as a picture, light and refreshing and serves to wake up my lazy tastes buds.

Atelier buys the majority of its meat from ethical butcher Urban Food Market so I went on a meat-eating rampage this night!  Our next dish is poached Western Australia Marron tail, crispy pigs’ ear, grated green apple with a red curry oil and citrus sesame dressing.   What a fantastic dish.  I loved the delicate Marron and the crispy pigs' ear served as a great textural balance to the Marron - oh my!  The delicate little pea-sized balls of avocado just illustrated to me how much care and attention was going into the preparation of our meals.

Our third dish was a Chicken Ballotine with pea and ham ice-cream (swoon), baby lotus root and peas and crispy chicken skin.  I had mentioned to Chef Darren prior to our dinner that I didn't eat foie gras which the others had sprinkled over their Ballotine...and I wasn't too fond of offal either (innards = eep).  As soon as I saw this Ballotine I just KNEW there was some sneaky offal hidden within...and there was. I later found out it was a case of crouching liver, hidden cocks comb but you know what I LOVED this dish.  And for the record Crispy Chicken Skin is AMAZING!

If you're a fan of Miso Soup then you would seriously fall in love with this - I know I did.  A dainty bowl of confit bonito, tofu, snake beans and enoki mushrooms is placed before us, the shaved bonito flakes dancing delicately in front of us. Steaming Miso Soup is ceremoniously poured into each of our bowls - fantastic, really flavoursome!

The poached fillet of John Dory with celeriac, pine mushroom, royal blue potato, baby sorrel and a béarnaise sauce was a huge hit at the table. Conversation feel silent as we all enjoyed the buttery John Dory - topping a buttery tasting fish with béarnaise is a stroke of genius. Oh so good! I loved the crispy little cube of potato, I could've eaten a whole bowl to myself.

Ta-da! A surprise sixth course makes its way upstairs to ooohs and aaahs from the group - even the "non-food bloggers" whip out their cameras and iPhone to take a snap or three of this delicious looking Suckling Pig. After enjoying our earlier Marron dish with crispy pig ears I commandeered the ears for myself and munched away. Crispy + salty = yum!

This dish was a first for me - never having eaten goose before, and we all had a chuckle when Bernie randomly called out "goose" in the middle of our boisterous conversation - I guess it's a good way to get our attention so the dish could be explained to us.  To be honest when the glazed breast of goose served with jerusalem artichokes, jicama, baby king browns and warrigal greens was put before me I was a little...hesitant. I'm not sure why - I guess I stupidly thought I wouldn't like goose, like maybe the flavour would be "too strong", or I would freak out because it's cooked more on the "pink side" of things and I'm from the "burn it" school of meat eating.  Stupid me.  I actually think this was my favourite dish of the night, the goose was so tender, so succulent, so full of lovely flavours...and it was topped with a crispy tile of skin, love crispy skin!

Our last main of the night is a roast rump of Saltbush Lamb, Confit Rib, Carrot Puree, Portobello Mushroom and Confit Onions.  I LOVE Lamb and I LOVE Saltbush Lamb - it's full of flavour and so succulent.  Having lived in Broken Hill for a while I made friends with some farmers who grazed their sheep on salt bush.  Being the city slicker I was at the time I had no idea sheep ate anything other than grass - I mean, there's not much grass out there so that's all there is to eat really.  I loved this dish and it reminded me of some great friends I met out west.  Sigh.

And onto the cheese course.  It doesn't look like a cheese course and it's a dish that really messes with my head.  The grated Comte (that's cheese to you) with roasted apple, bacon and maple ice cream and a carob crisp LOOKS like it should be a sweet, and when I take my first mouthful I'm confused by the savoury flavour. It's a fun and challenging dish. And BACON ICE-CREAM! Need I say more?

It's dessert time, and surprisingly I'm not full!  One of the benefits of a long leisurely meal is having the chance for your previous seven courses to sink towards your toes a bit.  Our first dessert is a beautiful Chocolate and Olive Oil Delice served with a silky smooth sheep’s milk yoghurt ice cream, fresh blackberries and a vanilla salt milk purée. I loved mixing the Delice with the salt milk puree - salty and sweet go so well together.  Fresh blackberries are a real treat too.

Our final dish for the night is a fairly interactive one.  My Strawberry and black pepper soufflé is nearly tall enough to touch the ceiling and it seems a bit of a shame to dig a hole in the middle of this light, airy perfection in order to spoon in some fraises des bois sorbet and pour in a bit of basil milkshake.  But I do and I'm rewarded with an explosion of flavours and texture. And best of all, I get to eat the chocolate straw once the milkshake is finished.

Sadly The Boy missed out on our EPIC feast last weekend as he was away refereeing Water Polo in Newcastle.  The meal was so amazing that I feel he really missed out on something special...so I happily raced backed to Atelier last night just for him (well, mostly for me - but any excuse for good food, right)?  We had another epic degustation, a really special meal and were made to feel so welcome by Bernie and Darren - if we lived in Glebe I know that this would definitely become our "local".

Restaurant Atelier is at 22 Glebe Point Road, Glebe. Phone them on 9566 2112.

Doy Tao, Glebe

A work errand in Glebe fortuitously sees me over near one of my favourite lunchtime Thai restaurants, Doytao.

And as luck would have it I'm in the neighborhood where my old work buddies Miss Chicken and The Vegetarian work so it's not hard to convince them to join me for a quick bite to eat.

I probably don't eat Thai food as much as I used to, but that's only because I'm now aware of all of the other amazing cuisines that Sydney has to offer.  When I do get around to eating Thai food for a quick lunch I want it to be good and I know that I won't be disappointed with our quick lunch at Doytao in Glebe.

Glebe's Doytao a tiny hole in the wall place, so not at all like the cavernous space you'll find at their Newtown restaurant.  There are five tables that hold setting for about 20 people in total.  Get in earlier or be prepared to take away!

The lunchtime menu is not extensive - just covers all the basics really. I already know what I want so don't waste much time looking at the menu anyway.

I opt for one of their lunch specialties, Pad See Eew with Chicken ($11.90). The prices are not as cheap as they used to be when I first started going here about three years ago, but the servings are HUGE so I don't feel ripped off.

The thing I love most about Pad See Eew is the gorgeously plump, thick rice noodles.  They are so tasty as the soy sauce sticks to them like glistening glue.  A squeeze of fresh lime just enhances the flavour tenfold.

The chicken is thinly sliced and wonderfully tender. I love the sprigs of shallots and Chinese broccoli which give the dish a crunchy texture. 

This dish is probably big enough to share between two people who have a modest appetite between them. I manage to polish mine off all by myself. As I get up to waddle back to work I realise that I've probably eaten just a little bit too much.

 

Doytao Glebe is at 35C Ross Street, Glebe.  They have a number of other restaurants through Sydney. 

Mamak Village, Glebe

I swear that Mamak Village has opened up near my work just to fuel my obsession with Roti Bread. If I don’t end up here for lunch every other day it will be a miracle of epic proportions.

Miss Chicken and I met up at this new Malaysian Restaurant on Glebe Point Rd for lunch today so I could debrief her on my tummy’s exploits in Hawaii.

Funnily enough Mamak Village actually offers a Hawaiian Roti (maybe just to rub it in that I’m back at work now), but I give it a miss in favour of my old favourite Roti Canai. Plus I find cooked pineapple wrong on so many levels.

The Roti Canai at Mamak Village is only $4.00 at lunch, and $5.00 at dinner which is incredibly cheap. I can imagine this place being inundated with uni students looking for a cheap eat once the new semester starts – all more reason to go as often as I can before the end of February.

The Roti Canai comes with two dipping sauces – a not-too-hot curry sauce, and a deliciously sweet dahl sauce. There is also a blob of chilli paste – almost like jam – which I find mildy hot, but also quite sweet tasting. The amount of sauce is plentiful, and I probably could’ve done with two pieces of Roti as I had sauce left over which seemed such a shame.

The Roti itself is thick and square and not as fluffly or flaky as other Roti’s I’ve had around the traps. This may be be because they are cooking the Roti on a make-shift hot plate, rather than flat grill. I did enjoy unfolding the layers of roti pastry however to make myself one huge long piece of Roti.

I’ve always been intrigued, and slightly scared, of food that comes wrapped up like a birthday present. Often I’ll give this sort of food a wide berth as I’m always slightly sceptical of what could be inside. I think this may hark back to the days when my mother used to wrap perfectly good savoury mince inside a cabbage leaf and boil it until everything tasted like an old sock. Blech.

That said I feel like I’ve become much more “food-brave” and adventurous since starting my blog, plus I’ve already heard good things about Mamak Village’s Pandan Chicken ($6.00) even though the place has only been open for a few weeks.

I’m quite excited to unwrap the pandan leaf and find a juicy morsel of boneless chicken inside, with some charred crispy pieces to give things a bit of crunch. The chicken doesn’t have a strong flavour of pandan (or socks - phew) which I was expecting, but then my sole experience with pandan was in gelato form at Gelato Messina, so I guess I wasn’t really sure what to expect? Maybe I was expecting this dish to taste like Coconut and Pandan Gelato?

Miss Chicken orders the Penang Char Koay Teow ($9.50 at lunch, $12.50 at dinner). Her dish looks absolutely divine with plump juicy prawns and fat slices of fish cake.  I have a slight moment of food envy, but it only lasted until I took my first mouthful of Pandan Chicken.

The service at Mamak Village is really great, the overly attentive service that you’d find at most new establishments. That said, the staff were genuinely nice guys and I think being cheery and customer friendly might just be in their nature.  I really hope this place sticks around and doesn't suffer the same fate as the two restaurants that came before it in this same spot.

Mamak Village is at 25 Glebe Point Road, Glebe.