Aria

Our friend Carol gave us a very generous engagement/farewell present before we moved - a gift voucher for Aria Restaurant. Having just been to The Press Club we were excited about trying out another fine dining restaurant owned by another of our Masterchef favourites, Matt Moran.

We had booked a table for 6pm and this early seating time came with an offer of a complimentary glass of 2007 Stonier sparkling wine (Mornington Peninsula, Victoria) on arrival. The meals were absolutely divine and the service was attentive without being intrusive. Pair that with a view of the Brisbane River and you have the making for a wonderful evening.

ARIA Restaurant Brisbane • 1 Eagle Street, Eagle Street Pier, Brisbane QLD • Ph: +61 7 3233 2555

Oysters - freshly shucked and served with a selection of dressings: cocktail sauce, red wine vinaigrette and ginger and shallot

Salmon - seared fillet with a crab and kipfler potato salad, broccoli, almonds and quail egg

 Duck - roast breast with duck pastilla, parsnip purée, caramelised witlof and a muscatel jus

Banoffee - banana brûlée with caramel, almond praline and toasted almond milk ice cream

Ekka

Being a newly minted local I thought I'd better check out the highly publicised Ekka - "Queensland's biggest and most iconic event - the Royal Queensland Show (Ekka) - is a 10-day celebration of life in the sunshine state. Each year, Ekka attracts about 400,000 visitors who can enjoy more than 3000 free things to see and do."

It was very similar to the Melbourne show with lots of cute baby animals, fatty foods, rides and showbags. Although it was a bit cheesy we had a good night embracing the festivities.

Back to Yatala

I've been craving Yatala Pies ever since our first visit in July and now that we are living in Brisbane I can cruise down there as often as my waistline allows... Today we opted for a chicken and mushroom pie to share with and apple pie for dessert. We also grabbed a family size pie to take home so I'll have to try to make mushy peas on my own for that one...stay tuned!

Yatala Pies

Today we headed down to Yatala Pies. H has been talking them up quite a bit so I was expecting something pretty good...and they certainly didn't disappoint! We shared a steak and mushroom with mash and mushy peas and the special of the day - Lamb coconut curry. Then for dessert, we couldn't resist the custard tart with apple- yummo!

A snowpea isn't a course...but one scallop is

Sunkee BBQ Seafood House
352-354 Chapel Street
South Yarra

We bought the infamous 10 course banquet voucher from Deals.com.au and booked a Friday night dinner at Sunkee hoping to have a lovely banquet. Before heading to the restaurant I read some reviews on Urbanspoon and was a bit disappointed to find out that our ten courses would simply be ten pieces of food.

Upon arriving we ordered some wine and waited for the first course...and kept waiting for 35 minutes before asking the waiter why other diners who had arrived after us were being served the first course of their banquet while we went hungry. It turned out that they had been served our first course by mistake by a waitress who had just started work at Sunkee that day. Not happy..

When our first plate finally arrived after 40 minutes it was good, but we were so hungry that two courses were devoured in two seconds.

First up was a pork dumpling and ginger scallop (that's 2 courses).

Next was the Lobster San Choi Bow that we'd missed out on initially (3 courses). The lobster was lovely but the lettuce cup had been trimmed so much that you couldn't roll it at all and the filling kept falling out.

Then the chicken and sweet corn soup (4). Nice but such a small bowl :-(

Next was a wasabi prawn, some kind of battered and deep-fried white fish and a snowpea. I was debating whether this brought us up to 6 or 7 courses...surely a snowpea can't count as a course...

Next up was a Peking duck pancake - it was lovely but we were preoccupied with whether we were up to 7 or 8??)

Then came some Szechuan chicken and a broccoli floret (will this be 8 or 9?? Please let it be 8, I'm still starving!!)

Then the waiter advised us that next would come some special fried rice (I guess that's 9) then dessert. Thank God the snowpea wasn't going to be counted as a course.

Dessert was a deliciously sweet toffee apple fritter and ice cream (that's 10..)

All in all the meal was nice but nowhere near enough to claim that it's a 10 course banquet worth $120.

The staff were friendly but many mistakes were made. After having our san choi bow served to another table we almost got served the soup twice (and three other tables also had plates delivered only to turn the waitress away because they had already had that course..)

Goat Shank Tagine

Figments: FROM THE MENU: Goat Shank Tagine: "Goat Tagine with Fennel and Olives"

I tried this on Saturday night with two Goat leg roasts and it was delicious.. The meat falls off the bone and it is so simple to prepare and walk away.

Protein Balls

These fabulous protein balls are so moreish I ration myself by only taking a few to work in a zip lock bag. Otherwise I'd eat them all in a day..

1 cup rolled oats
1 cup honey
1 cup chocolate or vanilla protein powder
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup of pepitas and sunflower seeds
1/4 cup sesame seeds

Mix together everything but the sesame seeds in a bowl till thoroughly mixed (use your hands to knead) then make into 20 Balls. Roll in sesame seeds to finish.
Place on baking paper in an airtight container and keep in the fridge.

You could also add sultanas, dried ranberries or currants. I have also used chopped up dried apricots which worked really well.

Warm Salmon Potato Salad

Try this easy summer dish with pan-fried salmon, warm potatoes, dill and watercress salad. The garlic–lemon dressing adds instant flavour, while the fennel and tomato give a wonderful raw crunch. If cooking for more than two, fire up the barbecue and grill the salmon for that great barbie flavour.

For The Salad

400g kipfler potatoes, washed, skin on
2 x 180g salmon fillet
½ bulb fennel, sliced thinly
1 lemon, zested
½ punnet cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1 red onion, sliced
½ bunch watercress, picked and washed
12 sprigs dill, picked

For The Dressing2 tbsp whole-egg mayonnaise
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp hot water
½ clove garlic, crushed
Salt and pepper

Bring potatoes to the boil from cold water. Cook gently till just done, drain and set aside. Brush the salmon skin with olive oil and place, skin down, into a warm nonstick frypan. Cook salmon for about 5 minutes till skin crisps. Turn over and cook another 3–4 minutes. Remove from pan. Meanwhile, to make the dressing, whisk all the dressing ingredients together.

In a bowl toss together fennel, lemon zest, cherry tomatoes, red onion, watercress and picked dill. Slice warm potatoes and toss into the salad with the dressing. Serve on large plates and place salmon fillet on top, or see this week’s tip for a flaked version.

You can also serve this dish by flaking the salmon and tossing it through the salad. Once salmon is cooked, discard the skin, flake into large pieces and lightly toss with salad and dressing.

Preparation time: 20 mins
Serves: 2

Hamburgers

SERVES: 6

500g very lean beef mince
½ small onion finely diced
1 egg white
2 tablespoons tomato sauce
2 tablespoons BBQ sauce
pepper to taste
cooking spray

In a large mixing bowl place mince, onion, egg white, tomato sauce, BBQ sauce, pepper to taste.

Mix together using your hands until well combined. Roll into 18 small balls. Place meatballs on a baking tray that has been coated with cooking spray.Bake 30-40 minutes or until cooked, turning once. Serve hot or cold with a suitable dipping sauce.

Easy Scones

5 cups self raising flour
300ml cream
1 can lemonade
1/4 cup plain flour

Preheat oven to 210C
Sprinkle a little plain flour on baking tray
Mix flour, cream and lemonade with a spoon then knead gently until smooth (do not overwork or scones will be tough)
Sprinkle a little plain flour on bench and gently pat dough to approx 2cm thick
Sprinkle a little plain flour around edges of a glass and press into dough to make scone shapes or cut into squares
Place on baking tray and cook in oven for 11 mins

Serve with jam and cream or butter

NOTE: You can also add sultanas or dried fruit