I have quite a few recipes to post so I better get started!

Zucchini, also known as 'courgette' in some other country, was not something that I'm familiar with prior to coming to Australia. In fact I never actually liked it in the past, blame it on lousy mid range restaurants that don't know how to cook it properly. It was listed as my least favourite 'vegetable' for a long time. Although I do like Zucchini flowers. Love, in fact if they stuffed and deep fried. Yumm.

It wasn't until recently when I was watching Masterchef Australia I became curious about it (is anyone suffering from Masterchef withdrawal like I am?). To be specific it was Sam's very first Chicken challenge where he made the Zucchini rosti to serve with the chicken drumsticks (ok I admit, I have a soft spot for Sam even though he was not the best cook amongst the lot). It's not an original recipe of course. A google search brought up many variations of zucchini cakes, rosti, fritters etc. I have attempted a few of the recipes since then. And the winner?

Corn, Zucchini and Chickpea fritters!

400g can chickpeas, drained, rinsed
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
1/4 cup self raising flour
1 large zucchini grated, squeezed dry
400g can corn kernels, drained, rinsed
Half a brown onion, thinly sliced.

1. Roughly chop the chickpeas
2. Whisk milk and eggs in a bowl. Place flour in another bowl. Graduallly add egg mixture to the flour, whisking until smooth. Stir in chickpeas, zucchini, corn and onion.
3. Heat olive oil in a large frying pan over medium high heat. Add 1/4 cup mixture to pan. Spread slightly with a spatula. Repeat to make 3 more fritters. Cook for 2-3 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Repeat with remaining mixture.

Not only they are pleasing to the eyes but they are oh-so-delicious! I was so happy I made 12 because they are really great to bring to work for lunch! You should give this a go. Really!

And just like that, Zucchini goes from the bottom of the list to almost the top of the list. (Still can't beat Eggplants and Tomatoes though)

Oh and did you know that Zucchini is actually a fruit? (I didn't either but now it's useful to know for me because I don't eat sweet fruits. So unconsciously I upped my intake of fruits!)

More Zucchini related recipes to come!

P/S: Hair is done. Here's a quick peek! The dirty blonde bits are now bright red-magenta and the rest dyed black for more contrast. Kept the hair style the same (ie super long). Took them 3 hours!

The red is more vibrant under the sun but you get the idea! So far I'm loving it!

P/P/S: I have been accepted into Psychiatry training. Which means I will be a Psychiatry registrar next year and starting my Master of Psychiatry. Wow, I still can't believe this is actually happening! By that I mean actually making the decision and going through with it, despite the rushed applications. So, time to celebrate!

Ahhh, Jacques Reymond, have been wanting to experience it and haven't gotten around to booking it, so when Libby blogged about it last month I decided to do it as a surprise birthday dinner for Trev. I managed to keep the Restaurant secret up until the night before. Slip of tongue when I mentioned that it's 3 hatted and then realised 'silly me, there are only 2 of them in Melbourne! Can't be too hard for him to figure out.' But I still followed the plan and drove us there without revealing the answer anyway.

Jacques Reymond is basically a mansion situated on Willians Rd, Prahran just minutes away from High Street. The decor is lovely, they even have a fire place! Very romantic setting. I had a quick look around and there are also 2 private rooms which both look fabulous! Imagine celebrating your birthday there!

We started with glass of champagne each and toast for Trev's OLD age :P. And decided we will go for the Taste of winter 7 course degustation (well, a no brainer really). I also chose to have the matching wine while Trev had just 2 wines for the night.

Most people would have heard that Jacques Reymond has kind of a 'no photo' thing going on, and if you read Lib's entry she managed to get some photos without being kicked out from the place, so I'm not sure if this rumour is even true. Maybe they have relaxed it a little. I was still being quite careful, and only took photos after the waiters left the room. But there was another asian couple who were seated not very far from us (the place is not that big anyway) and the wife (assuming because she's pregnant) said it rather loudly in Mandarin 'Look! She's taking photos!'. And next thing you know, she was snapping away with the loud flash and all.  Anyway, I didn't get kicked out either.


Cam whoring before leaving the house! I cut my fringe today after seeing this photo, but I think I might have overdone it.

 
I bought this dress specially for the occasion. I love forever new! I think this might be one of my best buys of the year. Hehe.

So let's get started with the food, shall we?

 
Our Amuse Bouche which was a Duck Terrine with Horseradish mayonnaise with crispy brioche and a citrus fruit salad. I've always loved duck terrine and this was an interesting one with lotsa texture, just enough flavour. The horseradish mayonnaise was delicious!

 
Lobster and Tofu 'Chakin' which is a dumpling, celeriac broth with a hint of blue cheese. Topped with baby herb salad and mini fried potato 'chips'

Very comforting. I thought the dumplings itself tasted a little bland (tofu?? really? why?), but the broth was gorgeous, perfect for winter. This was paired with a Portugal white port, which I thought was interesting. Apparently fortified wine for appetiser is quickly becoming a trendy thing to do. I thought it complemented the creamy taste of the broth quite well, clever!


 
Hiramasa Kingfish with ponzu, Harvey bay Scallop, spiced nougatine with peanuts, leek terrine and chilli gherkin dressing.

The Kingfish was definitely the highlight of this dish. Paired with the leek it's just delightful. The scallop was cooked well but it's not really my favourite ingredient so meh. Trev on the other hand loves scallops, so I guess he was impressed.

This was paired with a 2008 Yarra Valley Chardonnay, good combination.

 
Snapper with four peppers, fennel and white balsamic topped with tarragon foam, and *gasp* green tea and lime emulsion. The tarragon foam was actually quite flavoursome! But I thought that the snapper was lacking, can't really taste much except for the so-called four peppers. But green tea and lime emulsion was a nice touch.

 
Tempura quail breast, organic black rice, whipped persian fetta.

Trev thought this was the best dish. The tempura was done perfectly, light and crispy and the fetta really compliments the quail without being heavy. Inside the quail was still slightly pink, absolutely tender and juicy. I also liked the black rice, maybe I should start cooking those!

Paired with Adelaide Hills 2007 Coriole Nebbiolo which was light and fruity.

 
Flinders Island Wallaby (!) and kombu celeriac cooked in salt crust, dashi and apple jelly, cider vinaigrette.
Can't say I have tasted wallaby before, it was very tender and has a sweet taste to it, I thought it would have been close to kangaroo, but not quite. Some bok choy underneath which was full of flavour and juicy (wonder how they cooked it), and the apple jelly was cute.

2006 Gevrey Chambertin, 'La Gibryotte' Claude Dugat, from Burgundy France.

 
Wagyu Beef rump, oyster sauce and condiments (which?), ravioli of daikon and spicy celery, mustard ice cream.

The best wagyu I've tasted. Wonderfully soft, melts in your mouth releasing that buttery flavour. Oooorgasmic! I thought the mustard ice cream was a little odd at first but it actually worked really well with the beef! It does give a nice balance against the fatty feeling. The 'ravioli' was actually like a pastry filled with caramelised onions, which I absolutely love!

2003 Dalwhinne Cabernet, Pyrenees, VIC. absolutely wonderful! The aroma lingers around my palate for ages after that.

Also, no surprise that this is the winner dish for me.

But, only 2 tiny pieces of wagyu :(

 
Martini of bittersweet chocolate (mousse), coffee ganache, bourbon vanilla chantilly and cripsy rice puffs.

Just enough chocolate to keep us satisfied. And the balance of coffee, chocolate and vanilla, outstanding!

 
What a sexy dessert! Pear and caramel, earl grey ice cream, broken pedro ximenez (which is a grape jelly)

Once again the way the flavours work together was ingenious! The earl grey ice cream was absolute divine! And caramel is my weakness! The soft caramel and the crispy toffee, oh words can't describe how good this taste! Damn it I want more....

2003 Chateau de Myrat Grand Clu Classe from France. (I think I was starting to feel a bit light headed at that stage due to the heavy red I had)


And of course, petit fours to finish the meal!

Silly me had a latte to go with these, and ended up stay up the WHOLE night!  And that totally ruined my sleeping pattern even for my night shifts.

Oooh last but not least, a photo of the birthday boy. (Actual birthday is today!) But I couldn't celebrate with him because I'm well, at work now.

Happy Birthday My love!

The damage? $495! I suspect the portion might have shrunken slightly as compared to the taste of autumn menu and the price has also gone up to $165 without wine and $225 with matching wine. We left the place feeling just full and we are not big eaters. I think it might be time we pay another visit to Vue de Monde for comparison hey?

Well the next one for us will be Ibuki, should be awesome!

Last couple of night shifts until Sunday morning then it's hello Psychiatry on Monday, bright and early! Looking forward to regular weekends off for the next couple of months. Yay!

Once again I was invited to the TVB singing competition as a performing guest. Two years in a row which I think is very much a privilege. The rehearsals were a little stressful because it was really hard, I mean REALLY hard to get everyone together as we all have different work/uni schedules etc. But when we did rehearse it was fun. I think it's about time I organise a karaoke session as practising on my own can get pretty boring sometimes.

So I shall share the videos and photos from the night.  

Singing 'I Hate This Part' by Pussycat Dolls with Tian

Unfortunately due to 'technical difficulties' my solo part in the beginning was cut off, you can all blame Trev for that. Teeheehee. But in all seriousness, many thanks to him for taking the videos, otherwise you won't be able to see them here!

Special mention: my dress is by Ruth Tarvydas, I'm so in love with this Australian designer! My bank account doesn't.

And for the closing song this is one of my favourite group song by a bunch of Taiwanese singers, a song written by my beloved David Tao and Wang Lee Hom, performed by Tian (winner 2007), myself (1st runner up 2007), Bryant Kam (winner 2006), Shine (2nd Runner up 2007)

手牽手 - Holding Hands.

This is an inspirational song and was produced few years ago during the SARS outbreak if my memory serves me right.

And here are some photos from the night, the ones on stage were captured by Mr Tom Huynh, thank you so much!


Opening with the contestants.



 
Doing our thing

la la la la

 
Our group. And by the way the girl in the brown dress is Melissa Seow, the winner of the night! Congratulations! I said to her jokingly we might be distant relatives! (Because we share the same surname and it's not a common surname)

 
A sort of close up of the dress. (Just ignore the face lol it was not a happy song!)


Back stage! (from Tian's camera)

I'm on night 6 out of 7, almost over! Looking forward to Gingerboy with Kerry and Alastair for an early celebration of Trev's birthday. And also a secret reservation for Trev (he's not allowed to know where it is so I won't reveal here just yet) which I'm quite excited about. It's going to a busy week off already by the sound of it.

Here's hoping tonight will be a good night.