Pikelets for afternoon tea...

This afternoon after sitting at my laptop studying all day I got very bored (and hungry) and felt like something yummy! So, i whipped up some pikelets. Served them just with some raspberry jam, and also lemon and sugar. Yum yum yum...

Ricotta stuffed chicken wrapped in bacon served with creamy mash

There was success at the dinner table tonight, a very flavoursome dinner!
Chicken filled with ricotta (flavoured with lemon rind and parmasen) then wrapped in bacon. I made a creamy no lump mash by pushing the cooked potatoes through a sieve and then stirring through hot milk and butter- the best mash iv ever made! the extra effort was definitely worth it. I also made a white wine lemon sauce, which also had dijon mustard in it. The sauce really made the dish and brought it all together. Even my boyfriend and fussy Dad enjoyed it! Will definitely make this again, delicious :) 8.5/10

Red Door Store- Northcote

Tried the red door store for lunch on a lazy sunday....
I had a sweet potato and corn cake with a poached egg, free-range bacon, spinach and spicy tomato relish.
It was flavoursome, but didnt really have a wow factor and I wasnt overly impressed with presentation. The bacon was very very oily and the spinach was merely placed on half of my plate smothered in dressing. I also didnt like how the relish was smeared over the whole cake, it was quite spicy and after a while it was all I could taste. On the upside, this place has a nice atmosphere and does really good coffee! the sweet options on their breakfast menu also sound good (fresh toast with ricotta and rhubarb & coconut crumpets- yum!), so will have to try it again and give those ago.
Overall, the dish I had has room for improvement.

APTE- A place to eat

Yesterday myself and a friend felt like something extremely delicious and our favourite place to go is APTE in Heidelberg Road, Alphington. This place has an all day breakfast menu, which we ordered from despite it being 1pm in the afternoon! We both had the 'mixed platter' which is a half serve of their amazing ricotta hotcakes, infused with orange and served with pears and berries on top, and also a half serve of their equally delicious banana and coconut bread, topped with honey labna, pistachios and stewed rhubarb. This is without a doubt my all time favourite café for breakfast, regardless of what time of the day it is. The coffee was really good too. Overall, 10/10!

Crepés with bananas, bluberries and honeycomb butter

Well today is mother days, so I got up and made my mum (and the rest of my family!) crepés filled with honeycomb butter and topped with caramalised bananas and blueberries. The honeycomb butter is divine, so yummy, especially when its all melted and spills out of the sides of the crepes. Nothing really beats pancakes on a sunday morning! 8/10

Steak and mushroom sauce

Hmm...quick and tasty dinner tonight. Porterhouse steak with mushrooms in a creamy chive sauce. It was yummy! I must look up cooking times for cooking steak so I can get perfect medium rare everytime, i never know how long to leave it on for! tonight was definitely a good guess, it was nice and pink in the middle. Not much can beat a juicy steak smothered in creamy sauce- delicious! 8/10

Replete Providore Hawthorn

This morning myself and 4 girlfriends went off to Replete Providore in Barkers Road, Hawthorn for breakfast. It was winner of best breakfast restaurant 2009. I had eaten there a few years ago but was keen to try it again.

We sat in the back part of the cafe which was good because we were away from the hustle and bustle of the main front. We ordered coffees, my friend ordered a 'large' coffee- expecting a mug size- and it came out in a milkshake sized glass! It was huge! Luckily, the coffee was really good.

I chose their award winning dish- ricotta hotcakes with lemon curd and strawberries. It came with 3 hotcakes- but I could only fit in two! The lemon curd was what really made the dish, it had a tangy tart flavour and a beautiful creamy texture. The hotcakes I found were a little a little dry and starchy, and they could have been a bit more generous with the strawberries. I enjoyed them, but next time will try something else! Atmostphere of the cafe was great, definitely book if you plan to try it as there were people queing out the front waiting for a table.

Overall: 6.5/10

Spiced Lentil Soup

As the weather seems to be getting colder and colder I seem to crave soup more and more! So today, I searched for a recipe that would be quick and healthy and have lots of yummy flavours. This soup was spiced with chilli, cumin and coriander, and bulked up with vegies and red lentils. I finished it off with a big dollop of natural yoghurt and it was delish! I think next time I will use a bit more chilli to add some extra heat...

overall 7/10 :)

Katie's Food for Thought

Welcome to my food blog :)
I dont mind how many or how few people check it out, its really just for fun and a place I can express my love for all things food!
its all very new to me so we'll just see how it goes!