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Beach Burrito Co.

On September 15, 2011 in Bondi, brunch, food, lunch, Mexican, restaurants, reviews, spicy, spicy food, Sydney

Truth be told, one of the best perks about being a Sydneysider is the amazing variety of cuisine up for grabs. From Portuguese, Greek, Italian, Vietnamese, Japanese, Lebanese and Thai, this sprawling city has the global palate covered. Not surprising when you consider half our residents were born overseas. My only gripe is most cuisines tend to belong to specific suburbs making them a bit unaccessible if you don’t fancy journeying across the city.

Petersham, for example, is home to some of Sydney’s best Greek and Portuguese food, while Five Dock and Leichhardt in the west could be mistaken for Italy.  Chinatown dishes up some of the tastiest Chinese food this side of China while Cabramatta in Sydney’s south-west is the heartland of Vietnamese food.

Sydney’s east has a smattering of interesting cuisines up its sleeve, including some amazing Israeli food and a bar called The Rum Diaries which transports me to Cuba every time I step foot inside its funky doors. The east is also home to a little piece of Mexico by the name of Beach Burrito Co..

Burrito from Bondi Burrito Co.

Burrito from Bondi Burrito Co.

On our maiden voyage to Beach Burrito Co., Paul and I rocked up to their North Bondi premises, smack bang opposite the beach. They are also located in Coogee and Cronulla. An afternoon spent kicking back at this colourful cafe watching the world go by with a frozen Margarita in one hand and a chipotle chicken burrito in the other is my idea of a good time. Even if you’re not on holidays (which half of Bondi seems to permanently be on), it’s easy to pretend you are thanks to the ever-present holiday vibe that permeates the air.

There’s all manners of Mexicana food on the menu here – fajitas, quesadillas, tacos, taquitos, nachos, but Paul and I couldn’t look past the house speciality - burritos. I opted for a chipotle chicken burrito while Paul’s ordered a green chilli pig. We weren’t disappointed. The servings were seriously super-sized and the fillings were really fresh and generous. Not bad for $12.95 a pop. My tortilla was filled to the brim with chargrilled chicken, Mexican rice, black beans, blended cheese, smokey salsa, guacamole, sour cream and pico de gallo (diced tomatoes, coriander, spanish onion and garlic tossed in lemon juice and salt). Paul loved his too – slow roasted pork cooked in green chillies and spices then pulled apart, mexican rice, black beans, blended cheese, green chilli salsa, sour cream and shredded cabbage.

And here’s a bit of useless trivia for you. According to Old El Paso, the name ‘burrito’ translates as ‘little donkey’ and is thought to refer to the folded end of the tortilla, which looks a bit like a donkey’s ear. So, there you go!

I’ve heard the salads are the best thing on the menu (served in crispy tortilla bowls), so I’ll be sure to try that next time. And good news for coeliacs and gluten-sensitive people is they have gluten-free goodies on offer in the shape of corn tacos. Brilliant.

Beach Burrito Co.
252 Campbell Pde
Ph: 9130 7123

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Marion’s Kitchen red chicken curry

On June 22, 2011 in celiac, chicken, chilli, curry, dairy-free, egg-free, food, gluten-free, spicy, wheat-free

Do you have a fallback recipe? One that you go back to time and time again like the ex-boyfriend you just can’t shake? One you can cook on auto-pilot and whip up with your eyes shut? I have a love-hate relationship with my fallback recipes – cooking them fills me with equal measures of comfort and guilt. “I should be more creative. I should try something new,” I say to myself as I whip them up for the 100th time.

I’ve had a few fallback recipes in my time – chicken stir-fry, chilli con carne, spag bol, Thai red or green chicken curry. Truth be told, Thai red curry is the most frequent offender. I’ve been cooking it for years in various guises. It usually makes an appearance mid-week when all inspiration is lost and I just don’t feel like bringing out the big culinary guns.

You can imagine my delight at being sent trial packs of Marion’s Kitchen Thai curry kits to review. Remember Marion Grasby from Masterchef season two? She was the amazing cook who looked likely to win the show before she was ousted in a shock elimination.  I remember being positively gutted at the time.

Since leaving Masterchef, Marion has developed her own food range. Aptly named Marion’s Kitchen, the range covers five popular Thai dishes all nicely packaged in colourful boxes with step-by-step instructions. Think of it as Thai for beginners. It’s hard to stuff this up… even if you try!

For Thai lovers like me, it’s a great mid-week meal option if you feel too virtuous to order takeaway but don’t feel like cooking up a storm. On my maiden voyage into Marion’s Kitchen I cooked one of my fallback recipes – Thai red chicken curry. All I needed to add was 400g chicken (I added more like 600g) and 1 cup of vegies. Marion kindly supplies the rest, so all up it costs around $20 for a meal for four people.

Marion's Kitchen red chicken curry

Marions Kitchen » Marion’s Kitchen BBQ Chook Red Curry

The ingredients list is refreshingly devoid of additives, and I love the inclusion of a dried spices pack to add some extra punch to the curry. Marion suggests crushing the dried chillies if you want extra heat.

Step one: heat oil over medium heat and fry the curry paste for a couple of minutes until it starts to smell beautiful. This allows the fresh ingredients in the paste to release their flavour and aroma.

Step two: pour in the coconut milk and 1 cup of water. You can tell the quality of a coconut milk simply by looking at it. If it’s rich and creamy like this one, you know it’s good. There’s one step missing on the instructions at this point. You need to bring the coconut milk and water to a gentle simmer before the next step.

Step three: this is my favourite step. Add the fragrant dried herbs and fish sauce. The herbs come in a sachet and contain dried basil, dried kaffir lime leaves and dried chilli. For more spice, Marion recommends chopping up the dried chillies before you add them. For less spice, don’t use any dried chillies and add an extra 1/2 cup water. Wait for the curry to start simmering again.

Step four: add the drained bamboo shoots and raw meat. Marion recommends adding the vegies at this point, but I holded off adding mine until the chicken was mostly cooked as I didn’t want them to overcook. The timing depends on the type of vegies you’re cooking. Pumpkin and eggplant will take longer than green beans and zucchini, for example. Then, simmer until the curry is cooked and serve with rice.

So, what’s the verdict? The red chicken curry gets my thumbs up. It’s full of flavour and rich in colour and makes for a great mid-week meal.

Also available in the Marion’s Kitchen range are Thai green curry, Thai basil and chilli stir-fry, Thai fish cakes and Thai satay sticks. Available from IGA, Woolworths, Foodland, Franklins, Drakes, Kemmenys and other retailers. RRP $6.99.

 

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Luke Nguyen’s crispy tofu cooked in tomato-pepper sauce

On February 9, 2011 in allergy-free, celiac, dairy-free, dinner, egg-free, food sensitivities, gluten-free, healthy recipes, recipes, spicy, spicy food, tofu, vegetarian, Vietnamese, wheat-free

Have you ever tracked down a long, lost friend and reconnected after years of silence? If you’re on Facebook, I’m guessing the answer is a resounding yes. Reunions can go one of two ways – you either pick up where you left off or you remember why you lost touch in the first place.

I reunited with tofu recently. We became well-acquainted during my 20′s. Admittedly, I was never very creative with it. I would mainly chuck it in stir-fries and gobble it up with lots or rice and soy sauce. At some point in my late 20′s, I dumped tofu. It was either a case of seeing too much of each other or not realising its true potential. Whatever the case, I haven’t really looked back since… until now.

Now that I’m forbidden to eat grains, eggs, shellfish and dairy (get out the violin), I’ve decided to put a positive spin on the situation by looking at what I can eat. And tofu just happens to be an Amy-safe food. Having recently deep-fried it and drowned it in spicy tomato-pepper sauce, I have to say that I’ve fallen back in love with the stuff. I would describe tofu as the chameleon of the food world – able to adapt to different dishes and take on different flavours with ease and flexibility. In fact, if it were a person, I dare say that I’d really like to meet it.

One of my favourite Australian chefs, Luke Nguyen is the reason behind my rediscovery of tofu. I saw him cook Crispy tofu cooked in tomato-pepper sauce on his awesome show, Luke Nguyen’s Vietnam. I’m not normally one for deep-fried food, but when you can’t have grains, dairy and eggs, you’ve gotta get your kicks somehow.

Luke Nguyen’s crisp tofu cooked in tomato-pepper sauce

This has become a regular mid-week meal in our house.

Think of this dish as a ragout or a bolognese sauce without meat and with lots of spice. The recipe calls for silken tofu, but you’re best to use the firm variety. I highly recommend using vine-ripened tomatoes as they really enhance the flavour of the dish. The sauce turns a nice orange colour after it’s been bubbling away for a while. In theory, you could probably serve four people with this recipe, but Paul and I easily polish off the whole dish between us (served on a bed of rice). I love it so much that I’ve cooked it four weeks in a row!

If you like Vietnamese food, check out Kylie Kwong’s chicken soup.

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Salsa

On October 19, 2010 in celiac, dairy-free, dips, gluten-free, healthy recipes, Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall, recipes, snacks, spicy, spicy food, tomatoes, vegetarian, wheat-free

Today, I’d like to take my hat off to salsa. It is the kitchen’s equivalent to the little black dress – it’s versatile, looks great and never goes out of fashion. You can serve it as a dip, throw it on some brushetta, dress it up as a side dish or serve it as a salad.

Salsa

Salsa goes nicely with barbecued meats or topped on grilled sourdough or ciabatta.

Salsa’s virtues don’t stop at its versatility. It also happens to be a cinch to make. Let’s face it, it’s hard to stuff this one up. The trick is buying good-quality tomatoes (not those dodgy half-ripe ones at your supermarket). Spend the extra cash and find some vine-ripened tomatoes that an Italian wouldn’t turn their nose up at.

For this tomato salsa, I went with cherry tomatoes, but only because that’s all I had in the fridge. For those of you who don’t like capers, you can leave them out. If you want to serve this as a salad, just cut the tomatoes a little bit thicker and Bob’s your uncle.

Recipe adapted from the wonderful Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall:
Serves 4

Ingredients:
500g ripe, tasty tomatoes
1/2 small red onion, very finely chopped
1-2 tbs capers, rinsed
a small squeeze of lemon juice
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 pinch of sugar
a few torn mint or basil leaves
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:
Cut the tomatoes into quarters, then halve each quarter widthways.

Place in a bowl and lightly stir in the onion and capers.

Put the lemon juice and oil in a small jug or bottle, season well and add the sugar. Whisk together (or shake it together), then trickle over the tomatoes. Scatter over the torn mint or basil leave and serve with some grilled sourdough bread (or rice crackers if you’re wheat/gluten sensitive like me). Yum!

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