Raining Chaos

Author: reine

  • Pre-travel creation

  • Sommeliers

  • Jam Packed July

    Is what I wanted to call the post, because it has a better ring to it than “Jam Packed June”.

    HOWEVER since I have posted this before July, I should make it clear that I am not a time traveller… yet. So all this did not happen in July!!!

    As always, food is first. But this wasn’t an exercise in cooking or eating, it’s part of what I like to call “intense palate training” as for the coffee I drink, I cannot identify flavours within them. So, after having collected a variety of sour citrus, I ended up doing a lemon and lime taste test – to see what I could figure out.

    Say hello to meyer lemon, lisbon lemon, tahitian lime, keffir lime, blood lime! I stopped buying normal lemons after tasting a meyer lemon, because I perceived the meyer lemons to be sweeter. And then I saw tasting notes for a coffee that said meyer lemon… so then I wondered if you really could taste the difference between different kinds of lemons.

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  • Rosewater panna cotta

    So it turns out rice pudding isn’t super photogenic, and I can’t even get some gorgeous purplish poached pears to make it look good!

    Either that, or I also fail at plating and presentation. So instead, I get to show off my first attempt at panna cotta!

    I decided to go with rosewater because it was a flavour that I had in mind. My main concern was getting the wobbliness just right and of course, making sure it set properly. In addition, I had to figure out what the best mould would be for it – so I went with a whisky glass that came with a bottle of Scotch that my flatmates had.

    Luckily enough, I had some dried flower petals already, but I was unprepared for a sauce. I had an idea to plate with a red sauce, and I’ve previously done this with rosewater pomegranate in my Virtual Valentine, which I’d then garnish with mint as a hint of green. However, there being no pomegranates available, I do admit to cheating and buying some pomegranate molasses, and quince and rose jelly, melting those together and making a pseudo sauce – which managed to mimic the shiny bejewelled effect of pomegranate arils anyway!

    Plus I think it worked out better that way as it made it soooo pretty. And it was the right amount of wobbly, but I’d definitely add a little less gelatin just to ensure the texture is smooth and creamy.

    I’d almost make this a book cover called “Reine’s Kitchen” if it was that tiny bit even more perfect – there are little bits of slightly broken panna cotta side which I tried to hide, having never demoulded a panna cotta before (especially as I haven’t made one previously?). I am one dish closer to claiming I know how to cook!

    I should attempt some even more challenging dishes, but I do have to look after my budget a bit so there may be a hiatus on my creative cooking. And yes, I know, I don’t need to break the bank to do epic dishes like these. This one was cheap as! (except for the bit where I cheated haha)

  • lol, i think i learned how to photoshop

    Yep you get the butchered, “Photoshop Takes Zero Skill” versions!!! Muahahaha
    Teehee!

  • Greenhouse

    Finally. After three years, I found an opportunity to visit. I’m combining this post with my experience from the pop-up restaurant in Sydney as both are amazing. The temporary restaurant was an eye opener and a brand new experience, and seeing the real thing was well worth it.

    Greenhouse by Joost, Sydney

    Greenhouse, Perth

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  • Journey… to the not so West

    Hello Perth!

    So nice to finally meet you, having first wanted to see you in all your glory many many years ago after your most amazing restaurant featured on Masterchef – Greenhouse.

    I had only known a week earlier that I’d get the opportunity to say hi, and had scrambled to shortlist a cafe and restaurant selection for only two days. The internet recommended Standing Room Only, plus some others, but I knew the key to the crawl lay in the charming baristas.

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  • Fancy cooking? What’s that?

    Watching Masterchef and eating baked bean allsorts – baked beans and frankfurt, baked beans on toast, baked beans + bacon + egg bake. Oh, and some mi goreng instant noodles, why not. 🙂

  • Oz Comic Con, Benedict, Amanda, Corin, and a quartet of vocally active troublemakers and the heartless dog

    Where do I start in a world where I like to begin at the beginning, where the beginning is relative to my train of thought, the view of others, my out of body view of myself and the order of events as I recall and the actual happenings. Oh and of course, my own ability to prioritise each of the events in the title.

    Oz Comic Con? I went for Benedict. That silly, adorkable person who is just so polite, and silly and so polite and nice.

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