Video review of Nick's Diner

Hey so we decided to do something a bit different this time and make our review on camera at the actual venue. Tell us what you think!

Teriyaki Beef Stir-Fry

Last night I made teriyaki beef for the first time and it was so delicious I've decided to share the recipe with you. 

Firstly, slice 500g of rump steak into 1cm thick strips. To marinate the steak combine 1/3 cup teriyaki marinade, 1/3 cup rice wine vinegar (mirin), 1/4 cup soy sauce, 1 teaspoon of brown sugar, 3 cloves of garlic (crushed) and a thumb size piece of ginger (grated). Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour before cooking.

For the vegetables, julienne 1 carrot, half a red capsicum, and 6 asparagus spears. Also, slice 1 red onion into wedges and finely slice one red chilli. 

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a wok and brown the beef in batches. Add the carrot, capsicum, asparagus, red onion and stir-fry for 5 minutes.
Finish with a squeeze of lemon lemon and some chopped coriander and serve with some steamed jasmine rice.

A quick, tasty meal thats easy enough for anyone to give it a go.

Indian takeaway

Despite being Indian, I actually don't like Indian food all that much. So I was understandably disappointed when my parents brought home takeaway from a place at Epping Station - Hothi's Indian Restaurant and proclaimed it as my dinner. That said, as a food blogger, I'll try to make a useful review of it.

I tried two of the dishes, the chicken vindaloo in the image above, and also some butter chicken. The butter chicken in my opinion was beyond horrible - It had an unpleasant neutral taste that was nothing like any butter chicken I've had before (mainly because it lacked the sweetish taste that I've come to associate with the dish). It was like they'd just made a weird orange curry to pour onto their chicken and then realised that it resembled butter chicken. On the other hand, the vindaloo was really good. It had a strong spicy texture and aroma and was accompanied by a thick curry.

So I wouldn't say Hothi's is a horrible place to eat, but it might be wise to avoid dishes that are typically sweet if you go there.

Strawberry Smoothie

Now that Spring is here and the weather is getting warmer I figured it a good time to share with you my favourite strawberry smoothie recipe.

It is very easy to make as it only has four ingredients yet it is very tasty and is also quite healthy for you. Simply add 6-8 strawberries, 1/3 cup of pitted dates, 1/3 cup natural yoghurt and 1/3 milk to a blender and your done. I like to use dates as the sweetener in my smoothies as they are not only good for you but they help to make the smoothie deliciously thick and rich. Banana's are also great in this smoothie, but seeing's as I earn less than 100k a year i'll give them a miss until they come down in price!

Smoothies are easy to make and nearly as filling as an actual meal so why not experiment with your own creations during the warmer months. 

Its whats on the inside that matters

Now this cake I absolutely had to blog about. I haven't seen a cake like this before and found it amazing! The thing I found interesting was the fact that when it originally appeared it was very plain. It was just a tall white vanilla cake. It wasn't until it was cut that it showed its beauty.

 Now I'm not sure about you, but I have only seen cakes that are pretty on the outside. So having a cake cut to reveal a gorgeous layer of different pinks was a pleasant suprise. "Its whats on the inside that matters"- so next time maybe try and make the inside of the cake as amazing as the outside.

Mediterranean Roast Chicken Salad

As a financially and time poor uni student it is often difficult to come up with quick healthy meals that don't break the bank. One of my latest creations, however, meet these criteria and ofcourse tastes great as well. 

My Mediterranean Roast Chicken Salad is made using oakleaf lettuce (any salad leaves will do), sliced tomatoes and cucumber, olives and crumbled feta cheese. I dressed the salad with a balsamic dressing and then tossed all the salad ingredients together. 

I used one chicken breast (half is more than enough per serving though) which I seasoned with salt and pepper before roasting it in a moderate oven for 15-20 minutes. I then sliced and added the roasted chicken to the salad while still warm. 

To make the meal more substantial I also toasted a couple of pieces of sourdough, though any crusty bread will do. 

So take a break from your mi goreng and give it a try!

Manchurian Chicken

So my mum has finally returned from her trip to New Zealand and with a new recipe to boot.

She calls this Manchurian Chicken because it's based off a dish of the same name she tasted at a Chinese restaurant in India.

It tastes pretty good I think, at least in comparison to the steak, mince and boiled eggs my dad, brother and I are able to make on our own. Unfortunately I have no idea how she made it aside from chicken thigh fillets being a key ingredient ;)

Chocolate Mousse Cups

Now this is my ultimate favourite recipe of all time. For a long time I was addicted to making chocolate mousse and so every week I attempted a different recipe to find the perfect mousse.  Out of all the recipes I have tried, when I found the one to make this chocolate mousse I stopped searching because in my opinion this made the perfect mousse. 

Making chocolate mousse has most certainly entertained me. I always play some music and dance while I do it because it’s relaxing and fun (unlike some recipes). You could almost say that making mousse was like singing in the shower for me.  The amazing thing is, whoever you make it for will be impressed (that’s what I have found) and all you need is some eggs, cream, chocolate and unsalted butter.  It’s very cheap compared to other food recipes as well, but the quality of the chocolate affects the quality of the mousse. So don’t be cheap and spoil yourself with the good chocolate and not the cooking chocolate. 

Some tips I have learnt while making chocolate mousse:

·         Try and use milk chocolate rather than dark chocolate- Milk chocolate isn’t as powerful a flavour and therefore it doesn’t become too rich

·         Make sure you “fold” in the cream-  this takes longer but if you simply mix the mixtures together the mousse won’t be as fluffy

·         Add raspberries-their tangy flavour compliments it better than strawberries or other fruit and gives it a burst of freshness

·         Place in chocolate cups- this makes it more appealing for guests and it can easily be made or bought from the shops.

Mississipi Mud Cheesecake

My younger brother Jarrah recently celebrated his 17th Birthday. To avoid a kitchen nightmare I opted to buy him a cake instead of attempting to bake one myself. Jarrah has always been a big fan of cheesecakes, so I figured the Continental Mississippi Mud Cheesecake from the Cheesecake Shop (where all cakes are baked on premises) would be a safe bet - and boy it did not disappoint! 

The silky chocolate ganache icing and the creamy cheesecake filling was the perfect marriage between sweet and savoury. Crushed peanuts coated the outside of the cake providing great texture, and along with the chocolate icing and maraschino cherry garnish, brought back memories of chocolate sundaes at the beach. 

For such a decadent creation, the flavours complimented each other really well. That said, I would strongly advise on only having a thin slice unless you want to risk going into a sugar-coma! Now I just have to wait until another birthday party so I have an excuse to visit the Cheesecake Shop again - I hear their baked cheesecakes are just as good!

Crown Wands

The other week I attended a birthday party for a little girl and found these gorgeous crown shaped biscuits attached to a stick. Biscuits aren’t very interesting, but something about placing it on a stick made it seem more appealing than normal. I’m not sure if its the idea that the biscuit was trying to imitate a lollipop, but holding a giant glamorized crown on a stick made me feel like a small innocent child again. 

Surprisingly this crown wand wasn't sickly sweet with a sugar over-load, but rather had a sweet subtle hint of vanilla. The biscuit was creamy vanilla, and the icing was pink "royal icing" that was thinly spread evenly over the biscuit and therefore didn't over power the subtle hint of vanilla. This small delicate piece is a great snack for a small children's party, but older generations may not appreciate the delicate piece.

Beef mince!

Hey everyone!

My mum is currently overseas so I decided I'd test my culinary skills today by making some bolognese mince. I stopped by coles and picked up some premium beef mince (since I'm a premium kind of guy) and then I basically just put it into a pan with a bottle of bolognese sauce and stirred it on high flame until it looked like this:

It tasted pretty great too so I'd advise all you uni students living off boiled eggs and two minute noodles to convert since this was probably just as simple to make.

Our first post!

Hey, we are three isys100 students who are creating a blog about the food we eat. Tune in for info about cheap and tasty food recommendations in the local Sydney area as well as some easy to make recipes etc.