A fabulous dinner at C'est Bon French restaurant - Port Melbourne

My husband and I had made our reservation and rocked up right on 7.30. We were greeted and seated by a 30 something French man, french accent and all. Once we got settled, we were immediately brought the wine and food menu. While the f...rench waiter left us to peruse our menus the maitre de, a lovely Australian older blonde lady who was very refined and well spoken came to let us know all about the specials for the evening. While tossing up what to have, we were served with two very warm little aranchini balls. Normally i dont really like them as i find them to be ricey glug but these were DEVINE. Ertan and i were so in awe of the menu we decided that stuff the portion sizes for a night and we were going to over eat and have an entree, main and dessert each and taste each others food. So we ordered a lovely bottle of french reising from the rhone valley along side, hazel nut and rocket salad with sweatbreads and a cheese souffle for entree. For main we ordered duck breast in an orange sauce on a bed of sweet potato and chicken in a creme cheese sauce that had the pungency of blue cheese but wasn't blue cheese.
The service was fantastic with the empty plate of the aranchini balls taken away swiftly and the bread arriving whilst our waiter was topping up our wine. All of this was being done so gently that although we were getting all the attention in the world they were delicate and not over servicing us and were not in our faces.
When the entrees arrived, i tucked into the bread and it was like french bread should be. So soft and airy in the middle yet had a nice thick layer of fresh and crisp crunch. I put a piece of the sweetbread into my mouth along with some salad and my taste buds began to sing. Delicately, i carved a piece of the souffle iwth my fork and it was smooth, light and had an airy texture and amazingly delicate flavour.
We were very happy at this stage cause everything we had put into our mouths had been exceptional. Not good, not very good but exceptional.
In a perfect amount of time after we finished out entrees, about 20 minutes our mains arrived. The presentation of the food was an art form. So much so the Asian couple next to us were taking photos of their plates.. Yes I'm not joking but they were.
Duck is usually a heavy meat, but it had been cooked to perfection. It was not dry and the orange gave a lovely balance to what is normally a heavy meat. Ertan's chicken with the pungent cheese sauce was so creamy and still moist.
By this stage I was beyond full but as i was so highly satisfied with everything i had to have dessert. The menu has some typical french things like chocolate mousse and creme brulee but i decided to have a biscuit with marinaded strawberries with a honeycomb ice creme and hazelnut mousse. I thought Ertan was being boring ordering creme brulee but now i understand the difference between a normal creme brulee and a VERY good one. There was no trace of that egg yolky taste you normally get from a brulee. My biscuit concoction i ate in tiny tiny bits as i didnt want it to finish...
So impressed, we then decided to see what their coffee was like. 2 long macciatos. Wow,, they even do great coffee with fabulous presentation served with a chocolate rum ball..
Price wise, we payed $210 which i thought wasnt too bad for the quality of food and service considering the bottle of wine was $60... Mains are about 34-40, and entrees and desserts to make it simple budget for $20.
Its a lovely special occasion venue where you will be guaranteed GREAT food and GREAT service. They were very deserving of the $10 tip we left for them.
Its a definite MUST GO and experience ...

How to make Dolmades ( stuffed vine leaves) South East Anatolian Style

Dolmades – Stuffed vine leaves – South East Anatolian Style

These sarma or dolmades as they are better known as in Australia do not resemble the slimy, oily dolmades that you’ll find in your local deli. You can learn to cook dolmades in Turkish Thyme’s cooking classes.

Ingredients Vine leaves – 150 grams 1 onion finely diced ½ tin of pureed tomato 2 tbsp pine nuts 1 tsp mixed herbs ½  tsp vegeta Lemon juice 1 1/3 cup long grain rice Pomegranate molasses 2 tbsp currents salt and pepper 1/3 cup of water 1 tsp mild Hungarian paprika Olive oil

1. Wash the vine leaves and leave to soak to remove the salt for at least 2 hours changing the water at least once.
   
2. Wash rice until the milky water is clear. Set aside.
   
3. In a frying pan, add oil and sauté the onions with vegeta, mixed herbs, paprika, salt and pepper.
   
4. Add the washed rice and cook until the rice separates and no longer sticks together (about 10-15 minutes). Add the pomegranate molasses, pureed tomatoes and lemon juice.
   
5. When the rice is half cooked, add the pine nuts and currents and cook together for another minute or so.
   
6. Place the vine leaf on a flat surface with the veins face up. Place the prepared filling to the top and fold the edges over the filling and then wrap it.
   
7. Cover the bottom of a saucepan with broken and ripped leaves. About 3-4 layers deep. Place the sarma over them.
   
8. Place a flat plate over the sarma. Heat the water and add to the pan slowly, pouring from the edge. Add some olive oil and another drizzling of pomegranate molasses.
   
9. Cover and simmer over a low heat for 45 minutes. Transfer to a serving dish when cooked. Serve with yoghurt and lemon.
   

Neil Perry's Rockpool Melbourne Restaurant review

I know its not very Turkish in food but I thought you'd still be interested.
Last Tuesday night, my husband and I went to the famous Neil Perry's Melbourne restaurant, Rockpool.
It was a lovely balmy Melbourne evening where I met my husband along the banks of the Yarra, where we stepped inside Rockpool. We wandered through a dark corridor where we found ourselves at what looked like a mini hotel reception. So the staff greeted us warmly but then there was a little kerfuffle as they couldn't find our booking,, Last name, first name, spelling of last name, spelling of first name, they couldn't find our booking although my husband had received a phone call from the restaurant only an hour prior to  confirm we were still dining at 7pm.  So luckily there were plenty of tables and we were seated in a large dining room.

It was lovely in the sense that the kitchen was open for everyone to see so you could watch the chefs, cooks and apprentices at work, busily weighing everything to ensure precise portion sizes and exact measurements.
We wine menu arrived in a lovely brown leather bound book and no jokes it was like a book. Prices varied from $45 to $5900 for a bottle.. So we opted for the lower end of the budget, a nice Bannackburn Sav Blanc (Geelong region) which was lovely and crisp without being dry.
It took a while for our dinner menus to arrive and except we didnt quite realise it was the menu. A piece of butcher paper with a black and white cow was printed on it and was layed on the table in front of us, cow facing up. It felt like the tray lining at Mc Donalds and i have no idea why i lifted it and turned it around but lucky i did. It was the menu!!! So as we perused the menu, it was really lovely and i must say, somethings were priced reasonably and others seemed crazy. $150 for a 300gm steak but clearly it was special.. I didnt order it. For entree i had a chicken waldorf salad which was perfectly balanced sharpness from the apple but had the creaminess from the mayo and soft crunch from the walnuts. Truely magical. Ertan has the king prawns which he said was lovely. What was nice was they had sliced them down the middle so they kept thier shape but they also could be eaten with a knife and fork, leaving his hands nice and clean.
We sat there with dirty plates in front of us for 20 minutes or so which surprised and disappointed me. I would expect a restaurant with that  
For mains, Ertan had a steak, not the $150 one and i chose a duck cooked in an apple sauce on a mango cheek. We ordered sauteed mushrooms and garlic brocollini for sides.
The food was nice but did it have the wow factor i would expect from that standard of restaurant. Not one little bit. I ate it enjoying my meal but thinking to myself, this place is an fancy steak house.
It was time for dessert and although i understand consistency, I got quite confused with this next part. The dessert manu arrived. This time a smaller piece of butchers paper with a printed black and white cow. Turn the page and voila.. the dessert menu.. Now i didn't understand how the cow was quite relevant to the dessert menu. Thankfully the dessert was  truely devine. I had a hazlenut macaroon sandwich with banana icecream. finally i got the WOW factor i had been looking for. Ertan had the strawberry tart of which he enjoyed but didnt get the wow i had just experienced.
Time for the bill,, so we requested the bill and again, we were wondering what was happening. Why was it taking so long. Then the waitress proceeds to tell us there is a queue for the credit card machine therefore our bill will be out shortly.
So all in all we found ourselves a little disappointed as our expectations of 2 hatted restaurant were clearly higher.. Its quite funny, as we seem to find little gems of restaurants and cafes for a fraction of the cost were we are offered the same if not better quality of food and better service.
Do i recommend it, no... I would take my chances on another 2 hatted restaurant and see how that goes..

Gourmet Cooking Class - 11 Dec

Yesterday's gourmet cooking class was a complete success. We went over time a little but that's ok. I had a happy customer and that's all that mattered.
My client a young Anglo-Indian male had come back to the cooking school after completing a traditional cooking class 2 weeks ago. He loved the personal nature of the classes and that they were so small.
We tweaked the class menu to suit his tastes and needs. He wasn't confident in the kitchen but has left the Turkish Thyme kitchen we more confidence.
The menu went like this, stuffed capsicum with pine nuts and currents, toasted walnut pomegranate and green olive salad, helloumi stuffed, pistachio crusted zucchini flowers and finally lamb with a morello cherry and thyme sauce and a bed of cauliflower mash.
When he completed all his food and went on to taste it all, there were lots of noises of satisfaction when he was taking a bite of each meal, particularly the lamb with cherry sauce.

How to make Turkish Delight? - Turkish Dessert Recipe

Turkish Delight like many Turkish Foods is quite simple. This one is a little time consuming as it needs time to set but well worth the wait.

What you need?
4 cups of caster sugar
1 cup of cornflour
1 tsp cream of tartar
2 tbsp of rosewater
1/2 cup of pistachios
1/3 cup of icing sugar
2 tbsp cornflour (extra)

1. Into a large heavy based saucepan, pour 2 1/2 cups of water and bring to boil. Add the caster sugar and stir until completely dissolved and then remove from heat.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the cornflour, cream of tartar with 1 cup of cold water. Slowly add this cornflour mixture to the sugar syrup and then return the saucepan on a medium heat and keep stirring until it comes to boil.
3. Reduce to a low heat and simmer for 45 minutes, ensuring you stir it often. The color will change from being a little murky and will become clear and golden as it thickens.
4. Add the rosewater and pistachios and pour into a lightly greased oven tray. Preferably 30 x 20 cm and leave to set. This could take a couple of hours but its best to leave it overnight.
5. After its set and firm, cut into cubes (size as you wish) and toss into icing sugar and extra cornflour..

Serve with Turkish Coffee.. Yummy!

Traditional Turkish Delight (none of this chocolate coated cadburys stuff) with Turkish Coffee

Skip the Turkey, have Turkish this Christmas

Ditch the Turkey and have some Turkish this Christmas!!

Add a Turkish dish (anything from hummus to baklava) to your Christmas menu and then post it here.

Tell your friends, lets get as many Turkish tasty ideas for your Christmas table.

For ideas, go to the turkish recipes section of Turkish Thyme.

Sussan Woman's fun run and Turkish Thyme's contribution

This morning I woke up at the crack of dawn with only 5 hours sleep to do the Sussan woman's fun run starting in St Kilda. The charity was for the Breast Network of Australia of which I'm proud to say that Turkish Thyme cooking school raised $1220.00 to go towards breast cancer awareness.
After a slow breakfast and only 5 hours sleep due the the neighbours partying, I realised I was going to be late so I made my husband ( who I dragged out of bed so he could take some photos) and myself run from home to the start line.. That was 1 km. I had about 2 minutes to rest and then the siren went and off i went. The first 3-4 km I felt I was doing cross country. I'm yet to understand why those who know they are walking choose to go to the front of the line and get in the way. So up and down the curb I went, zig zagging through the crowd like a crazy driver on a 4 lane highway. At about 6km, I got a stitch so slowed the pace but after a minute, I pushed through at a steady pace. Once I hit the 8km mark, I once again took off like I had turbo charged and came accross the finish line at what I thought was an impressive time of 52 minutes and 39 seconds. I came 353 out of 2466 woman.
So I'm quite proud of two aspects of the day, my physical fitness and health but also that Turkish Thyme made such a fabulous contribution to breast cancer awareness.