Alfio's

Hello :) Two thursdays ago my friend Renee and I went to the new pop up restaurant from the full circle team called Alfio's in Leichhardt. I went last year to their pop up called The Eat In - in a warehouse in chippendale and was super impressed, so knew I was in for a nice meal. This time they've used a former Italian restaurant that has been vacant for a few years and actually distantly remember going there as a kid. With Alfio's, you pay $50 per person for a set menu of 4-5 courses that changes each night - how fun!

We got there early for a 6pm sitting and there was some lovely light streaming through the window ... 

Olives to start.

Raw mushrooms salad with pecorino.

Sourdough with capsicum and house made ricotta (shared) Oh the ricotta!!

Fish in a bag with zucchini & lemon. So simple but so tasty - must try this!

Roast beetroot with balsamic and broad beans - served with the fish.

Gnocchi with goat ragu. 

Peach tart with mascarpone. 

As you can see all the food was superb. The kinda food that I can imagine someone gathering from a produce market and cooking with friends with plenty of vino. Alfio's is open Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights for the next few months - so get in quick and reserve a table! 

Also ... 

I think this shall be my last post before I fly to Europe in a week (!!!) I forget if I've shared all the places I'm travelling to but here they are (in order)... Helsinki, Budapest, Vienna, Salzburg, Munich, Zurich, Gunten (near Interlaken), Lake Como, Prague & Berlin. I've written a few notes of things to see, but since we're staying in apartments I think it's more fun to ask the hosts what to do and discover things for ourselves. Too exciting! Also if you have any must see things to do for any of those places I would love to hear from you. 

Some fancy essentials I've bought for the trip ... a few novels for long train rides between most of the countries, geranium body cream (which will double as a hand cream) from aesop, warming cinnamon tea and gumption coffee for the aeropress.

See you all around the middle of december! If you want to see photos of the trip you can follow me on instagram - hfong14.

Hannah x

ps. here are my posts from last year's trip in case you want to read ... Copenhagen, Amsterdam boathouse and city, Brussels, Paris, Lyon, Nice, Remoulins, Avignon ... & I also went to Spain but never did finish blogging about it, oops!

Aeropress Coffee

Hello :) In two weeks from today Adrian and I will be on a plane to Europe, with our first stop being Helsinki! While he is busy finishing his honours thesis due next week, I'm planning all the real important things for our trip, like deciding which dental floss to buy and working out how I'm going to drink nice coffee everyday. I took the plunge (ha ha) and decided to buy an aeropress coffee maker, which is a nifty little device that makes a great cup of black coffee. 

You can read about it (here) if you haven't heard of it before - but basically it's a really quick method of brewing coffee that uses filter paper to remove the coffee solids, air pressure to gently squeeze the grounded coffee for a smooth flavour & only takes about a minute to brew and serve. It comes with two cylinders, plenty of filter paper and a scoop and stirrer (which you don't really need). 

I bought mine from the sensory lab in bondi the other week, and though I was a little sceptical at first -I've been making a cup of coffee with it most mornings! It is great if you love black coffee, though you could of course add milk. I'm also not buying coffee out as much now, as I have an easy way to make nice coffee at home. Will definitely enjoy using it overseas! 

Does anyone else love using an aeropress to make coffee?

Hannah x

A Nice Few Weeks

Hello :) What a nice few weeks it has been ... 

Spent two weekends ago working both days at the first chocolate festival in circular quay at the Mayan Xocolat stall. We were making coffees and hot chocolates spiked with chili, cardamom and cinnamon - such a nice kick of flavour! I didn't make the coffee though,  I was giving out samples, grabbing milk from the fridge, and on Sunday when it was super hot we started selling iced coffees so I spent most of the time filling up cups with ice!

Roberto has a stall regularly at orange grove and french's forest market with plans of opening a cafe next year ... 

The dense chocolate brownies were slightly addictive ... 

My friend introduced me to this divine italian cheese called stracchino ... a creamy and soft fresh curd type cheese. I paired it simply with pasta, fresh tomatoes, parsley and olive oil. Good food doesn't need to be jazzed up all too much.

Dinner outside one evening ... lamb backstrap with buttery parsnip mash (so good! must make it again soon!) and a fresh, crunchy salad.

Porridge made by soaking oats with a tablespoon of chia seeds in coco quench (a coconut and rice milk mix) overnight, and cooked in the morning stirring honey and cultured butter in it. Sometimes I add in sliced pear that I poach in a little water and sugar.

Making the most of my downtime ... I'm actually working seven days a week at the moment! It's a little hectic, but luckily they aren't all full days so I can enjoy a morning or afternoon off a few times a week. 

Slowing easing into the day with a long black and the paper 

I have been loving the early evening light in my room ...

Cabbage, broccoli and baby cauliflowers from wollahra markets

I used an outer cabbage leaf to make a wrap for dinner tonight - raw, crunchy and fresh! Added some barley, trout, labnah, radish and cucumber. 

Afternoon snacking with market produce ... rye spelt toast from sonoma with pepe saya butter, stracchino cheese, radish, cucumber and sugar snaps. 

Hannah x

Caraway and Lemon Cake

Hello :) I've been having a great week so far! This morning was quite chaotic though, as I was working last minute at a toby's estate coffee stall at a market - just managing the cash register and taking orders, but oh it was hectic. We had a rush for a few hours, with everyone wanting their coffees at once! So when I got home feeling exhausted, some cake and a cuppa was in order.

My nanna made this cake when I visited my grandparents last weekend - a classic from a Women's Weekly cookbook. It's a very simple butter cake with some caraway seeds for an extra punch, and I added some lemon rind to the recipe to give a little zing. Plus, we had a few large lemons from my nanna's tree!

Recipe: Caraway and Lemon Cake (adapted from a Women's Weekly cookbook)
Ingredients-
180g butter
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 tablespoon caraway seeds
1 1/2 cups self raising flour
1/4 cup milk
zest or rind of 1 lemon
Method-
Grease a 14cm x 21cm loaf pan. Beat butter and sugar in small bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy; beat in eggs 1 at a time, beat until combined. Transfer mixture to large bowl, stir in seeds, sifted flour, milk and zest. Spread mixture into prepared pan, bake in moderate oven about an hour. (I used a square pan so it only took around 30 minutes)

This is a beautiful classic cake with all the right things! And it's nice every once in a while to make a cake with no alternatives (spelt flour, rice malt syrup, coconut oil etc!) if you know what I mean ...

Have a lovely rest of the week! I'm working at a stall at the chocolate festival in the rocks this weekend - check it out if you want a day out in the sun eating delicious chocolates and pastries!

Hannah x