What do the names Ezard, Manfredi, Gadan, Ousby have in Common?

Well if you know your chefs then you know that this line up is all about class. FoodinFocus Radio launches its Chefs Table Dessert Competition this week on 89.7FM at 4pm.
Our first Chef Teage Ezard will be creating a beautiful Wow dessert  in the studio this Saturday and Stewart White, Vice President of the Australian Association of Food Professionals will be co-judging with me. Justin Walters will be our proficient wine matcher and we are going to have so much fun. Plus we are giving the winning Chef a Philip Stark Designer Piece by XO generously donated by Classique situated in the St Margarets Urban Village. Plus we have a mystery prize for the people’s choice award and you will be able to vote for your favourite dessert each week. All the chefs over the 5 weeks will be filmed and so we will share the fun and the beautiful recipes on youtube on the FoodinFocus Channel. Listen in on Saturday you can do this online or look out for the post next week to watch the highlights and vote. You could be a lucky, lucky winner.

Good Luck to the contestants!

Teage Ezard - Black at The Star

Stefano Manfredi - Osteria Balla at The Star

Vincent Gadan - Patisse

Richard Ousby - Quay

Published on October 21, 2011 in General. Closed Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , .

Zumbo meets Mossée

Fashion and the art of dessert collides as Adriano Zumbo is set to open his latest showcase store at The Star on Wednesday 15th of October. Australian label Mossée and IM Boutique have worked with Zumbo to create an eye popping, taste bud tingling food/fashion statement for the launch event on the 12th of October (invite only sorry..don’t worry I didn’t even get one) but we can all have a go at getting a little piece of fun fashion. This season is all about colour and contour and the Zumbo has created desserts to reflect this gorgeous fashion trend. Originality and Innovation meet at The Star the latest high-end food precinct to open this year.
Visit the store online at www.mossee.com or check out what Adriano is doing on click here

Zumbo is in Fashion

Published on October 11, 2011 in General. Closed Tags: , , , , , .

Exclusive Interview with Massimo Mele & Gingerbread Folk

I have been on a hunt for the best tiramisu for some time now and have not been able to top my favourite which is the one made at Ventuno in Hickson Rd, until now. Massimo Mele Executive Head Chef of Hugo’s has taken the lead with the delicious, perfectly balanced scrumptious tiramisu that he brought onto the show. He is a real professional and a delight to interview. Massimo is fun and personable and has helped Hugos take out the Pizza Awards year after year (too many to name). Ill be looking for an excuse to get him back on the show some time soon.

I often look at products beautifully packaged in the shops and wonder who is behind them? Who makes them and how much love is going into them. The delightful Karen Sharman owner of Gingerbread Folk loves her product. All her ingredients are sourced locally and they are totally egg free. Healthy and ethical Gingerbread… I love it! The beautiful kits that you can make with your children are inspiring I made one with my son a few years back and it was such a special thing to do together (Ok mine did fall down because I got the wrong consistency but I would expect nothing less from myself). During the week we will be giving away a Gingerbread Folk house kit and a tree kit.

Here are the highlights from the radio interview with Massimo and Karen, plus I loved the two wines we tried I wish people would be a little more adventurous and try these wonderful wines with exotic names they are such a surprise.
Happy eating and drinking this week

Published on October 10, 2011 in General. Closed Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

Chef Alessandro Pavoni Teaches Me Italian & Win Wine

Alessandro Pavoni from Spiedo Restaurant and Bar teaches me the language of love. Spice up your life with Zaatar from Sami’s Kitchen and become an Optimiste with some very, very good wine. The latest FoodinFocus radio show was all about quality. I love Alessandro, his food is honest, his produce excellent and for value you can’t beat it. No matter if you are going rustic and real at Spiedo on Level 6 Westfield in the City (Sydney) or a little more modern at Ormeggio at the Spit (Spit Bridge) you can’t go wrong. Plus the Chef brought in the sexiest cheese I have ever eaten. Aromatic deeply delicious. We then went from Italy to Lebanon and sampled some of the fantastic spice blends from Sami’s Kitchen, Hayssam Bejjan cooked up some of his mothers favourite recipes and left us wanting more. The team Sharlene and Steve Dadd from Optimiste Wines are warm and wonderful, when you want a boutique, restaurant quality wine  you need to pop onto their website and have a look. I loved all three wines including the often maligned  semillon, the Optimiste 2011 “Paris in Spring” rose is deep in colour and easy to drink and the  2008 petit verdot was smooth and lovely. I will hopefully be working with all three of these great brands during my Limited Table exclusive food adventures.

Video Production vitalsigns.com.au

Giveaway

We have two, 2 Packs of the boutique Optimiste wines to giveaway to enter click here

Published on September 27, 2011 in General. Closed Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Time to Pause and Watch the Fun – Wine Giveaway

On Saturday I welcomed the boys from Selah a lovely restaurant situated in Loftus Street, Circular Quay. The ever self depreciating Chef Gavin Foster and Restaurateur Sam Pask added some fun to the studio. Their new look venue and Gavin’s great food make for a winning combination. My little great find Redbelly Blood Oranges were a highlight. Delicious fruit and Oh that blood orange marmalade, Len Mancini delighted us with his fruitful stories. And the always wonderful Justin Walters who brought three fantastic wines from Yealands Estate. The Pinot Gris 2010 the Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2009 (Which I loved, loved, loved) , and the Pinot Noir 2009.

Giveaway

One lucky person will receive a bottle of Yealands Estate Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2009 to enter click here

Published on September 20, 2011 in General. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Giveaway – Italian Dinner Voucher – Cheese & Beer Masterclass

Giveaways

Watch the fun video of last weeks show and answer the questions for a chance to receive fantastic prizes.
Tip some of the answers are in the credits at the end!

Jet Bar & Caffe

To be the lucky one to receive a $100 voucher from Jet Bar and Caffe click here

McIntosh & Bowman and the Beer Diva

To be one of the lucky two to receive a voucher for a beer and cheese tasting from McIntosh & Bowman and Beer Diva click here

Next week: we interview the team behind the newly refurbed Selah restaurant and we get into some home grown blood orange produce all celebrated with some beautiful wines from Justin Walters.

Published on September 15, 2011 in General. Closed

Sexy Beer Diva, Luscious Cheesemonger & The Italian – radio goes visual

What happens when I am lucky enough to have a few of my favourite friends in the studio and each one is a total foodie. Fun and laughter is possibly the answer. Chef Danny Russo from Jet Bar & Caffe at the QVB entertained us with true Italian humour and passion. Claudia Bowman from McIntosh & Bowman is a cheesemonger on a mission, a mission to share her cheese love with everyone. And Kirrily Waldhorn is the Beer Diva, a woman who knows her beer and loves to challenge our age old perceptions. Between them we learnt how to match beer to cheese and then how to use it in mamma’s Italian cooking.

As with last week our fabulous video partner vitalsigns.com.au has captured the fun and the food and now all you have to do is sit back and watch the highlights. Our prizes this week are all linked in to the food story unfolding in the video.

Have a great food and wine week!

Published on September 12, 2011 in General. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

FoodinFocus Radio goes on film

How exciting hosting the 89.7FM FoodinFocus Radio show on Saturday as it’s now on film. Lazy me decided that the best way to share our wonderful guests, food, wine and products with everyone is to just capture the fun visually. So here we have a stellar cast.

James Hird and Todd Garratt from Buzo and the Wine Library, Rebecca Varidel from Inside Cuisine and Colin Holt and Jeff Winfield from Hudson Meats. We had great fun talking about Paddock to Plate produce and biodynamic, preservative free wines with the boys. And Rebecca and I got to recount our fabulous Hunter Valley Amazing Race which took place last weekend. So here we share some of the fun snippets with you.

Published on September 5, 2011 in General. 5 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Sarah Crowe of Bimbagen

I am so lucky to have so many passionate wine makers and wine experts on my show. Sarah Crowe Senior Winemaker from Bimbadgen is no exception. In fact she is rather special. A woman in a very male dominated world, who was the recipient of the Hunter Valley Wine Industry Association’s Hunter Legends “Rising Star of the Year” Award in 2009.

Sarah Crowe Senior Winemaker at Bimbadgen

For a girl from the coastal town of Wollongong, New South Wales, who went to the Hunter Valley to explore horticulture she has done amazingly well. Sarah works on a range of wine varietals across the Bimbadgen range.  Bimbadgen is going through a brand extension and part of this is taking a strong stance on environmental sustainability; a new bottle is being used that is 28 percent lighter than previous bottles for its wine range, saving 140g per bottle. Across a yearly production, this equates to an approximate 42,000 kilograms of glass saved per annum. I am passionate about sustainable living and recycling so this is good news.

Bimbadgen Regions 2010 Sauvignon Blan

With a fresh look and feel, come sensational additions to the Bimbadgen wine range including the Bimbadgen Sparkling range, consisting of the popular Sparkling Semillon and new release Sparkling Rose, is a fun and lively twist on classic varieties. I was lucky enough to get to try some of the great Bimbadgen classics on the show.

Beautiful Bimbadgen

when I am next in the Hunter  I will be visiting Esca their restaurant that has just released its highly anticipated winter menu. This features gastronomic delights inspired by fresh local Hunter Valley produce.  Signature dishes within Esca are the Tasting Plates, available in red and white wine options. These tasting plates offer three ‘tastes’ from the Esca Menu, presented with a taste of the matching Bimbadgen wine – an introduction to the food and wine matching process which is always so much fun.

Esca Pumpkin Tortellin Pan Fried Manning River Prawns, Labna and Baby Chervil

Also put a note in the diary about the ‘Day on the Green’ concert series.  These are held at the property’s outdoor amphitheatre overlooking the magical vineyards and they have  just announced American rock legend Meatloaf to feature on October 8, 2011 and jazz-rock legends Steely Dan and Steve Winwood on Saturday, October 22, 2011. Wine, food and music can’t  go wrong there.

Bimbadgen can be located at  790 McDonalds Road, Pokolbin  NSW
Tel 02 4998 4600. www.bimbadgen.com.au

The perfect day out, wine, food and great music

Published on August 15, 2011 in General and Limited Table. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , , , , , .

Butter and Cream or Creamy Butter – Meet Pepe

There are two things I get asked all the time, one; is “can you recommend a restaurant” at which point I become brain dead and suddenly forget all my favourites, and two; is “what are you eating at the moment”.

So I pondered number two for a while and thought I would put it out there. My food passion at the moment which is likely to last a very long time, is Pepe Saya’s handcrafted salted butter. It is handmade with total love. This man is so passionate about his award winning butter his entire face lights up when he talks about it.

Award winning salted and unsalted butter from Pepe

When I popped in to discuss my new Limited Table venture with him he insisted on sending me home with a hamper. Oh and what a hamper. Not only is the butter sensational, his chocolate mousse is a show stopper. I offered the chocolate mousse to a friend as an afternoon treat and tried to pass it off as my own except she knew I can’t cook that well. Boy but can I eat! This mousse tastes totally homemade, not overly sweet, with good texture with the added decadent chocolate swirls through it.

You can pass this Choc Mousse off as your own and get away with it

What is really, really good is the Berry Brownie, I managed to eat it slowly over four days by cutting it into four thick chocolate fingers, then I put one in the microwave for 20 seconds poured the Vanilla Pouring Custard over the top and ate it while sipping my tea in front of the telly. I am not sure my body will recover from this total sugar high I have had it on but seriously it has been worth every second of sublime sensual pleasure. Pepe, thank you!!

Thick and Creamy Panna Cotta

Sticky Date Pudding

Presto Pesto

I can rave on about these products but the pictures speak for themselves. You can find them in Harrison Farm and Thomas Dux or you can swing by the shop at 17 Campbell Street, St Peters It is called the Dessert Wholesaler.

Visit www.pepesaya.com.au to see all the products on offer and watch the video about how good butter is made.

Published on August 2, 2011 in General and Limited Table. Closed