This is a very late post, never quite finished it all this time and while cleaning up my drafts saw it again. Anyway, we went here in June while mom visited us – in fact, this was the last dinner before mom went back to Indonesia again. We chose Ceci based on Zomato reviews and to tried a new restaurant in the area as well. Also mom loved the Korean black bean noodle (Jajangmyeon), but since not many Korean restaurants in Strathfield does it. Those reasons were what bring us to this restaurant.
We didn’t take many pictures here but here are the food we ordered:
The food were not bad, but not outstanding that made us want t0 go back again either. Jajangmyeon was a let down, too greasy and not tasty, the noddle was cooked a tad too long. Then the crispy chicken with spicy sauce, I guess would have been a better choice if we ordered just fried chicken without any sauce whatsoever. Seafood pancake was nice, tasty and not too floury. The noodle soup was also good with generous pork and sausages.
All in all, we had a decent meal, it was not really that horrible but may be just not to our liking. There are plenty of positive reviews on Zomato of this place, but maybe it was not our lucky day or what not. But considering there are many more Korean restaurants around, we would try many others than coming back here.
December is generally a festive month and truly the time when we have many gatherings and catch up sessions going on. Not just for Christmas celebrations, but there is also the end of year, then my husband’s birthday, also my sister in law’s birthday. And yesterday, we had dinner at Maenam Lao & Thai for my sister-in-law’s birthday. It’s the first time we branched out from our usual Green Peppercorn for Laos/Thai meal. Apparently, Maenam means mother river that divides as well as connects Laos and Thai.
Maenam is located in the main strip of Strathfield, few doors next to the Strathfield Plaza on The Boulevard entrance. The restaurant is semi open air, where the front part of the restaurant is totally open. There are plenty of seating, however the walkway in-between chairs are narrow so there could be awkward moments when you bump into other chairs when walking in/out.
The menu itself is quite extensive, with choices of salads, stir fries, curries, noodles, desserts, and drinks. And these are the food that we ordered last night:
So, the verdict? The food were delicious and tasty, love the ox tongue and crispy noodle most! The ox tongue is very tender without any chewiness at all, seasoned well and goes perfectly with the dipping sauce. The crispy noodle is tasty with that goodness thick gravy, and the noodle texture is lovely. This is something we have never ordered at Green Peppercorn, in fact I am not even sure they have it. I think their red duck curry is creamier and very slightly less sweet than Green Peppercorn. We prefer the Green Peppercorn’s version of deep-fried snapper with mango and green apple salad, mainly because the fish has been filleted and de-boned for easier eating plus the salad/sauce is more refreshing. Crispy pork belly is deliciously seasoned, cut in generous chunks which may be why some pieces are not as crispy as others, nonetheless tasted very yummy.
In general we’d still prefer Green Peppercorn, however if for any reasons we don’t feel like going to city for a Laos/Thai meals, this definitely be a great substitute. Price wise is in similar range and taste almost on par anyway. Just maybe, a reservation ahead will save you troubles waiting for a table if you coming in bigger group.
Although we have been getting buritos take away for dinners fairly often and thoroughly enjoy them, I have never had a proper meal at a real Mexican restaurant. And since my brother and his wife have been talking about Dos Senoritas for a long time and speak highly of it, so here we went on one Saturday. This restaurant is located on the busy Victoria Road at Gladesville. There is parking space at the back of the restaurant for driving patrons.
More seating are – this part was not used when we were there, probably only open during busy times
I think the restaurant is not very stand out and you could easily just drive pass without noticing it. The interior is a little outdated as well, but seating area is bigger than it seems from the outside. They are mostly booked out for dinner, so we were fine walked in for lunch that day. A friendly waitress then led us to our table and passed on the menus.
The menu
And these are our orders:
Chipotle Chopped Salad: Grilled chicken breast, iceberg lettuce, jack and cheddar cheese, pico, black beans and avocado. Tossed with chipotle ranch and tortilla chips – $24.00Gringo Burro: Stuffed with choice of chile verde, shredded beef, chicken or ground beef with black beans, sautéed peppers, onions and rice topped with sour cream and green chile sauce – $25.00Pollo Fundido: Shredded chicken with jack and cheddar cheese topped with jalapeño jack cheese and cheddar cheese – $25.00
Did you notice the size comparison of cutlery to serving size? Yes, they are so massive! The burritos are solid packed and super filling. I love the rice on the side, reminds me a little of friend rice without the grease. All the dish tasted great, but I had hoped that the jalapenos on Pollo Fundido be more spicy. That salad bowl made of deep-fried tortilla was the bomb, love this most! I feel that the crunchy tortilla is what takes the salad to the next level and I would really love to order this again and again. Personally I think they are a little steep in price per dish, but then again you get a massive serving of food; I’d rather they charge less for a smaller servings so people can order multiple dishes to share and try out different dishes or at least still have stomach space for desserts. Nonetheless, these are good meals and feels authentic – not that I have been to Mexico myself (ღ˘⌣˘ღ)
Since I bought a jar of jam for bolu gulung weeks ago and still got half jar left on the fridge, I decided to give this cheese tart recipe a go. Rather than jut let the jam to go to waste, we should make use of it, right? I don’t usually have my bread/toast with jam and hubby prefers Nutella himself, so if I ever bough jam it would mainly for my baking experiments only.
A while ago I noticed recipe for these little cheese tarts with pretty patterns and of course, I put this on my to-try list. I think using blueberry jam will make the colour more pop out and prettier purplish. But since I have only black cherry jam, we shall use that instead.
For the tart pastry I use this eggless recipe simply because hubby prefers this texture than the one with egg. I think it is crispier and less crumbly compared to ones with eggs.
And here are the ingredients for the cream cheese filling (source here):
300 grams cream cheese at room temperature
80 grams icing sugar
1 teaspoon lemon paste (I used 1.5 teaspoon of lemon juice)
15 grams vanilla essence (I used 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)
50 grams whipping cream
25 grams sifted corn flour
2 large eggs
your favorite jam for topping
Whisk cream cheese and icing sugar until fluffy and creamy.
Add in lemon paste, vanilla essence and egg one at a time while mixing until everything is combined.
Add in the whipping cream, mix well.
Fill the cream cheese filling to half-baked tarts. Then scoop your favourite jam on the top and make the swirling motion using a toothpick for marble effect.
Baked on 180C for 15 – 20 minutes or until the filling is set.
Let it chill before serving, the cheese custard texture will also harden up after refrigerated.
Still learning and experimenting on how to make a pretty marble pattern or heart pattern (still!)
Tips from me:
I think just like baked cheesecakes, better to leave the tarts cool to room temperature inside the oven after finish baking. Just let the oven door open very slightly and let the tarts sit inside until cool to avoid crack on the surfaces of cheese tarts.
If I had to choose only one cake of mom’s kitchen, I would probably choose her bolu gulung aka rolled cake. Just like many other Indonesian cakes, they use a lot of egg yolks to get that soft texture. I had always enjoyed being in the kitchen when mom baked her cakes. And once she transferred the cake from its tin, I liked to nimble on the thin layer of skin left in the tin. I find it both satisfying to peel it off and tasted just as good ?
I haven’t tried on any new recipes these past months even though my to-try list keeps growing. Last weekend I tried on mom’s recipe of bolu gulung, however I only experimented with half recipe. Firstly, I don’t have the rolled cake tin and secondly the most important reason was it frightens me to try whole recipe and wasted so many eggs if it failed.
Not sure where she got this recipe from but as far as I remember, she has made this since we were kids. Here is the full recipe for 30 cm x 30 cm cake tin:
2 whole eggs
10 egg yolks (a lot, right?)
120 grams castor sugar
50 grams all-purpose flour
125 grams melted butter
vanilla extract
Your favorite jam for filling, or can be substituted with buttercream
Preheat oven at 200C, line the cake tin with baking paper and set aside.
On a mixing bowl, beat the eggs while adding sugar a little at times until it is pale and fluffy.
Then add in melted butter and vanilla extract, keep beating on low to incorporate everything. Make sure no melted butter is sitting on the bottom of the mixing bowl.
Lastly, carefully fold in the sifted all purpose flour to the egg mixture until well combined.
Pour the cake batter to cake tin and gently tap the tin to kitchen bench to release any trapped air.
Bake the cake for about 12 – 15 minutes, keep an eye on the cake while baking. The top of my cake was not brown enough after the 15 minutes baking time even though it has been fully cooked. So, I put it on broil mode for another 2 – 3 minutes until it turned light brown.
Once it is done baking, gently flip the cake to another sheet of baking paper and roll. I left mine rolled until it cooled to room temperature before unrolled it and spread with generous black cherry jam. Then the cake should be easily rolled back and tied both end of baking paper to help hold the cake shape.
It is best to cool the cake in the refrigerator for at least an hour before serving.
Some helpful tips:
To prevent the skin of the cake stick to baking paper when it is rolled, some says to sprinkle little bit of icing sugar on the baking paper.
Do not over bake the cake as it will crack and not have the flexibility to roll.
For buttercream filling, make sure the cake is cooled to room temperature. For jam, usually it will not matter if the cake is still slightly warm.
The ingredients and final cake batter
I tried to make hearts pattern, which most of them turned out to be failed heart shapes ?
Learn from my mistake, I did not broil my cake long enough that the top skin was not brown enough and it stuck on my baking paper ?
So as you can tell my cake was far from perfect in appearance but tasted almost like mom’s! It has definitely earned hubby’s approval ? But indeed as most people would agree, practice makes better, right?
