Review - Naked for Satan - $-$$ - V

When I visited San Sebastian in the Basque country a few years ago I was most pleased to find that a popular local activity is to go on a pinxtos crawl. Pinxtos are the Basque version of tapas and are served in most bars. Usually it's a piece of bread with some delicious little morsel on top with a toothpick jammed in the middle. The little spear isn't just for holding the food on top though. As you eat the pinxtos you keep the toothpicks and then hand them to the bartender at the end of your feasting, paying for as many pieces as you ate. This means you can just stand around helping yourself and if you're inclined to a bit of thievery you might snap a couple and discreetly drop them on the floor. This of course is terrible Kulinary Karma and will earn you nothing other than a bad sardine and wicked case of food poisoning to teach you a lesson (well that's what I think would happen anyway).

So, why am I telling you all this? Because a pinxtos bar has opened on Brunswick Street. It's got a bit of a saucy name - Naked for Satan - and lots of infused vodkas. I headed there with some friends on Cup Day and we stuffed ourselves silly and drank a fair bit of the bars own ale.
The principle at NFS is the same as the real deal; you help yourself to the cold pinxtos from the front bar and the hot ones are brought around by the waiters. There's little cups on the tables for your toothpicks so you just hand them over at the end and it's job done.
We sampled a LOT of different kinds: prawns on roasted red peppers, meatballs, chorizo croquettes, potatoes with Taleggio and aioli, rice balls with quince paste and cream cheese, eggplant chips on blue cheese, veal schnitzels, tortillas and on and on we went. It was pinxtos madness and Mr Tea had to roll me with a stick down to Labour in Vain afterwards!

The bread gets a bit much after while so we found ourselves just eating the toppings in order to be able to continue our piggery. I also found it odd that when the waiter asked if we'd visited before and we said no, she didn't bother explaining how it all works, she just assumed we knew which might be unhelpful for the uninitiated.
All in all though this is a cracker little bar, perfect for long drinking sessions fuelled by the ability to eat when you feel like it. In the evenings the pinxtos are all $2 each but at the moment there is a lunch special on weekdays from 12-4pm and they are just 50 cents per piece! Obviously at these prices there's no reason to hide your toothpicks - you'll be stuffed for under $4.

Enjoy!

Flea Market Finds

This week's finds were part of a giant haul that I found at the Sacred Heart Op Shop just up the road from the fab Dr Jekyll. I took Mr Tea for lunch there after raving about their chicken sandwiches and top-notch service. His verdict? "I could definitely see myself coming here again." Indeed!

For one lobster (that's $20 for those of you that don't live in 'Stralia) I managed to pick up: 6 gorgeous yellow tea cups (I left the saucers behind because they were blue and yucky); a wooden kitchen chair for my friend The Snake who is collecting a mismatched set for his kitchen (it came with complimentary bird poo); and a an old fashioned soda syphon to add to my ever-growing collection of glassware (I cannot for the life of me figure out how to open it).

The syphon is from the Boon Spa company which according to the googles used the Muir's Spring out near Daylesford up until 1998 to bottle to water. According the bay of Es it is worth about $30 and even though the bottle states it "...always remains the property of Boon Spa" I believe in the credo "finders keepers" so it's mine now!

Head over to Her Library Adventures for more fab finds. I'm heading out west for the last lamb shanks of the year...

Enjoy!

Mexican Chocolate Chilli Cake - 2 - $ - V

Yesterday many people around the world celebrated Dia de Muertos or the Day of the Dead festival with Mexico being the most famous for its colourful festivities.

On the weekend however, we celebrated my gorgeous friend Benny's 40th birthday with a Tex-Mex style BBQ and party. The birthday boy got up at 5am to light coals and hickory chips in smoking drums in order to cook the marinated brisket and sausage for about 8 hours! It was a mega effort and well worth it because I have never had such tasty, smoky, tender beef before - it was a real treat. There was also lots of white bread, corn muffins, 'slaw, beans and tangy potato salad all whipped up by Benny's smoking hot lady-wife.
For dessert we made a Mexican Chocolate Chilli birthday cake. I must send out a few shout-outs for this one as the designated baker hurt her back and it was last minute scramble to get a suitable cake baked to feed over 40 people! So to Kymmy for the tins and Mish for the recipe a big THANK-YOU.

I used some lovely Ancho chilli powder that I picked up at Gewurzhaus in Carlton and I am told it is the secret ingredient in a recent award winning cocktail...
This is a really low heat powder so I ended up doubling the amount in the recipe below and I think it could have even gone up a notch; use your own judgement and taste when making your version of this cake.

For the icing I substituted some of the cocoa powder with a chocolate spice mix that I also found at Gewurzhaus. It contained cassia, ginger, coriander and all sorts of other pungent smells and spices. The addition of this mix made the frosting top of the cake really sing with flavour, so again experiment with your own tastes.


Ingredients

1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 cups sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper or chilli powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup cold water

Icing

2/3 cup icing sugar

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2-3tbs warm water

Preheat oven to 175C degrees and grease and line an 8-inch round cake tin.

In a large mixing bowl combine all dry ingredients. Make two wells and pour the vinegar in one and the vanilla in the other. Pour the cold water over everything and whisk until just combined (doesn't matter if the batter isn't super smooth).

Bake for 30-35 minutes.

Once the cake has cooled completely, sift the icing ingredients to together in a bowl and add the water a little bit at time, stirring vigorously until the icing is nice and smooth and shiny.

Spread evenly over the cake, allow to set and serve.

Enjoy!

Halloween Birthday Party and Frittata - 1 - $ - V

Pardon my absence over the last few weeks! There are so many birthdays in my world during October that it's been non-stop parties and lots of cooking which I look forward to sharing with you over the next few days.

A year ago today one of my best and most favourite girls in the whole wide world gave birth to a little girl of her own. This tiny pumpkin has grown so fast over the last year and brought much joy and laughter to those in her world. Being her mother's daughter, she decided to take her very first steps today in front of a cast of thousands at her Halloween-themed birthday party!

Being birthday number one today's party was a huge affair with loads of yummy food and the world's most amazing birthday cake that my friend made all on her lonesome. The cake was chocolate, the cupcakes around it were banana muffins with cream cheese icing and the bones were meringues covered in sour cherry 'blood' sauce. Totally OTT and totally delicious!

One of the guests also turned up with the most impressive 'bring a plate' I have ever seen - a graveyard made of chocolate and biscuit tombstones!

We made a stack of bite-size savoury food with the easiest and most versatile being the frittata. The recipe below is for an asparagus version but when we ran out of spears my friend had the genius idea of using broccolini as a substitute which worked a treat and was actually more tasty than the original. I have listed this as a vegetarian recipe, however we put some crispy prosciutto on top of some of ours so you can omit/add that if you wish. We also made bulk versions to save time so I can confirm this recipe will still work perfectly if you double the amounts.


Ingredients

6 eggs
1/2 cup cream
1/2 cup roughly grated Parmesan
1 bunch asparagus or broccolini
4 slices prosciutto (optional)
tomato (optional)

Preheat oven to 180C degrees and grease and line a slice pan.
Lightly whisk the eggs, cream and cheese together and season.
Lay the asparagus or broccolini along the bottom of the pan, alternating tops and tails.
Pour the egg mixture over the top and lightly shake the pan to spread it out evenly.
Cook for 20 minutes or until golden.
Meanwhile, fry the pancetta until nice and crispy and drain and set aside. Deseed and finely dice the tomato, set aside.
Once the frittata has cooled, cut into small squares and top with a piece of prosciutto (or not) and little bit of tomato. Serve as part of an array of finger food.

Happy Halloween everyone and Happy Birthday to my favourite little pumpkin!

Enjoy!