crazy food combinations

Winter is putting on it's charm with all this drizzle and gloomy skies. Normally on a day off such as this I would be rugged up on the couch watching TV series back to back, but today there was a need a need for food. Ten One Ate has been on my list for some time now, and one of my work colleagues keeps talking about it so there was no time like the present than to venture out into the streets of Essendon to experience it myself. This all sustainable and organic kitchen using local produce, has designed a rather leisurely menu to make for pure enjoyment. With a menu that offers Buttermilk pancakes with a limoncello curd or Truffle scrambles eggs served with mushrooms, goats curd and caramelized onions is sure to get the apertite thinking. Our choice this morning through was for the Potato waffles served with a hot smoked salmon, pickled heirloom beets, crisp kale, salsa verde and oozy poached eggs. This picture perfect breakfast was a true enjoyment to eat. With a well balanced fla...

A delightful bakery that serves fresh delicious delights and consistently has a line out the door for take away and full tables for most of the morning, is really saying something. It's a good place to be. Rustica is a modern and quaint little bakery that is bustling with local trade. Surprised in our luck we were able to stop in and grab a bite to eat and we were very happy we did. A Croque monsieur was not like the normal. Made with a soft pumpkin brioche and coated in cheese goodness and stuffed with ham was expected to be rich, and with seeing the size passing our table as we waited questioned how we would conquer it. To our surprise it was delicate and light and truly delicious and amazing to eat. So much so we went and brought a loaf of the pumpkin bread so we could make it at home. It's that good! I went for the selection board, filled with a salmon croquette, smashed avo, fritter and a poached egg with an oozey yolk for the hot selection. For the cold a bircher museli j...

Morning sun beams shine through the tall bared windows, which stream across the dark timber tables and shining above the succulents that sit pretty on the window ledge. It is a relaxing and calm beginning to a Sunday morning, and to be frank I wouldn't have it any other way. The Glass Den, positioned on the outskirts of the CBD and worth the extra drive to visit. Its tall windows and casual seating sets the scene of a relaxing and modern environment. It's everything you look for in a cafe, a stylish and hip brings nothing but pleasant moods to the scene. Soaking up the morning sun on my back I begin with a luscious St Ali blend coffee and get excited about the menu. Choosing something off the special board is always fun, it gives you more of what the chefs enjoy creating and lets them expand there minds and test new ideas. The choice of the Spinach open omelette with herded infused fetta, beetroot mousse, kale sesame crumble and red chilli was a hit. I swear it looked just like...

Theres never a moment where I don't get excited about going out and finding delicious food combinations where it explodes nothing but flavours and textures. Where chefs have thought about the dish and how they can take it to the next level. Being a home cook, I sometimes wish I had the resources to do what they do, to make my casseroles blow my husbands mind and have people lining up for hours to enjoy my cooking....wait take that back, please don't line up at my door to taste my food. You get the idea though. An evening out at Supernormal was a perfect evening of cocktails and food delights. Staff where on point with service, friendly and efficient and fast. A sometime rarity, when you are in a busy restaurant the upping the ante doesn't always show. Food at Supernormal is inspiring, and showcase some amazing produce with sublime flavour combinations. Nothing with so much power that it hides the main component of the dish. Everything is with restraint and respect. Tuna wit...

There's a place on Sydney road that sits quietly as busy punters drive past, you could miss it in a blink of an eye, but you would be truly mad not to stop in. Maddox Cafe located almost adjacent to the Aldi or the Retreat, with its large glass window grasping the morning sunshine. Quaint and relaxing this small cafe is truly going to deliver some perfect coffees and delicious meals on your visit. Take for instance my pancakes. Smothered in a delicate chocolate sauce with a good serve of raspberry finished with macadamia, micro herbs and freeze dried berries. A dish for a Queen as it looks so perfect on the plate. Pancakes that are soft and almost the hight of a crumpet. Looking dense but is disguised well as they are pillow like. Although I am one to share, on this occasion it was very difficult for me to part with such a deliciously naughty breakfast. I was on holiday's so I was not to care, in actual fact I'm pretty sure if I wasn't on holiday I still wouldn't wa...

Ingredients: 125g Melted Butter 220g Gingersnap biscuits 80g Granita Biscuits 750g Cream Cheese 300g Sour Cream 150g Caster sugar 3 tsp Ground ginger 1.5 tsp mixed spice Caramel topping 4 Eggs To decorate: Mini gingerbread men Rock candy Caramel wafers Method: Pre Heat Oven on a low 150c Grease and line a spring form circular baking tin and line with baking paper. In a processor, pulse down your biscuits to a fine crumb.  Add melted butter and mix well together. Press biscuit mix on the base of baking tin and make a wall around the sides. Place tin in fridge to set. Clean your processor and combine cream cheese, sour cream and sugar to a smooth consistency. Add in your dry spices and blend in eggs 1 at a time. Remove tin from fridge. Pour in 1/2 your cheese cake mix and swirl in some caramel topping. Pour in remaining mix and repeat process with topping. Place cake into pre heated oven for 1 hour. When finished, slightly open oven door and leave to cool inside oven. To serve, top y...

There's nothing to be said when you find a location that is quaint and peaceful, and for those that struggle in the morning it's always a blessing in disguise when you stumble upon it. John Gorilla Cafe is tucked in the back streets of Brunswick west and although a popular choice with the locals, it remains to be a charming and relaxing. I enjoy the places where they are the perfect balance of busy, not over crowded but continues to have full tables inside and out. People aren't sitting of laps of the unknown and you can't hear the conversations of others. Walking through the doors you are greeted by staff from a high counter filled with daily baked goods. Now I say high because I'm a shorty, for others it's probably just regular size. Anyway........ Seating can be chosen from street, to inside or out back in the courtyard (my choice every time). The menu speaks simplistic flavours but each dish is packed of bold flavours making for an astonishing breakfast. On ...