The Bayswater Hotel/Motel

We've been regulars at the "Baysie" for years now. When our daughter was young it was a great place to get out of the house and enjoy a beer and some lunch in the spacey, clean beer garden they have which has a small kids playground.

 

 

 
  
 They've recently had a re-furb and the main bistro area inside is a great spot for big/family bookings where they do Buffet lunch and dinners.

The menu has been upgraded and I noticed a few things taken off, and a few things added. The pizza menu is now very extensive.

 

 

My Hubby had the Fish Po'boy, a fish burger on a baguette type bun. $16.90

I had the Pulled Pork Roll with Coleslaw and Red Wine Jus, which was really good, I could taste a subtle hint of red wine but it wasn't overpowering. Served with chips for $17.90

A Jug of Coopers was about $21 and the Kids Menu's are $10 with GF and Vegetarian options too.

This was my daughters pizza and she ate all of it!

Inside in the bistro they have a kids karaoke machine and a playground outside to keep the kids entertained while you have lunch.

The Buffet menu changes daily, is served 7 days a week for breakfast and lunch and is great value.

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Crumbed Oysters

I haven't liked oysters for very long.....months perhaps....I figure as I'm getting older my palate is becoming more forgiving to trying the things I never would have a few years ago.

One must press on though, and today we went to Catalano's Seafood factory in Bayswater. Those who don't know Catalano's is owned by Josh Catalano's family, who once was on Masterchef Australia a few years back.

$14 is all it cost for a dozen SA Pacific Oysters.

I had big plans for these babies, deep fried being the first. My first time went well so here it is!

Crumbed Oysters Recipe

1 Egg, whisked with 1 tbsp. water
1/2 cup panko crumbs
1/2 tsp garlic powder (because it makes everything taste better)
s&p to taste
oil to deep fry ( I use a good quality veg)

Separate the oyster meat from the shell and place in egg wash mix. Coat in the mixed panko and garlic powder and then repeat process for extra crispy oysters.

Heat oil and fry for about 1-2 minutes until crispy.

Serve with lemon pepper mayo and Srirracha Sauce!


Lemon Pepper Mayo

1/3 cup mayo
1/2 tsp garlic powder
zest and juice of 1 lemon
cracked pepper

Whisk all together!

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This Little Pig Went To Market - Meal Kits delivered to your door!

This Little Pig Went to Market is a Perth born and owned business by 2 sisters Jessica & Katherine. They create a 2 meal menu each week and deliver the ingredients and recipe cards straight to your door!

I chose the 2 meals for 2 people for 2 nights and this was $65 delivered.

I wasn’t home when my box was arrived and was so happy to find it sitting nicely on my front door mat!

 

The box is very sturdy with all the ingredients stacked nicely with padding and 2 big ice bricks that can keep the food cool in the box for up to 4 hours.

The first recipe was Spinach & Ricotta Ravioli which was handmade by The Re Store in Leederville. Served with a cream-free bacon, sage, asparagus and mushroom sauce. The smell of this cooking was divine and I love how the bacon was already diced and locally sourced from Torre Butchers in Perth. The rest of the ingredients were all portioned and all I had to do was follow the recipe card and chop them up.

 

As mentioned before, the meals I chose are meant to be for 2 serves. Although this meal was plenty enough for my hubby, my daughter and myself to have a decent serving plus my daughters seconds and thirds!

The second meal was a Sesame Beef salad with crunchy noodle, mandarin and mint slaw. Doesn’t that sound good! Again the beef strips were pre-cut and also from Torres Butchers and the beef marinade and salad dressing were portioned in disposable containers.

 

This salad tasted amazing and was definitely filling for a dinner meal, again with a small serving leftover.

 

With all the ingredients portioned for the 2 meals, everything you need is there to make the menu. This means after cooking, you have no leftover food to go to waste.

I loved getting my delivery and thought it was great value. On a busy day I knew I had the ingredients on hand to make a good meal for that night. Or if I had a friend coming over for lunch I could whip this up without having to think of what to cook.

This Little Pig Went to Market are on facebook and you can check out their website to view their menu which changes weekly. Why not order one for a friend or family member as a gift!

I know I’ll definitely be ordering again very soon and regularly!

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Beef Massaman Curry

I love making Curry pastes from scratch. It makes the whole house smell amazing and is very rewarding!

 



 

 


500Gm Beef Cubes
2 TBSP Cornflour
1 Red Onion
2 Spring Onion stalks
2 Cloves of Garlic
1 TBSP Lemongrass paste (or a couple of stalks)
1 Thumb-size piece of Ginger
1 bunch of Coriander (stalks and roots chopped finely, leaves roughly chopped and set aside for later)
1-2 Long Red Chilli's (depending on how hot you like it, some chopped and reserved for garnish)
1/2 tsp Ground Coriander, Cinnamon and Cumin
2 tsp Soy Sauce, Sugar and Fish Sauce
2 Limes (1 juiced and 1 cut into wedges for garnish)
4-5 medium sized potatoes, cut into large chunks
400ml can coconut milk
3 TBSP Sweet Chilli Sauce
2.5 cups Beef stock
Salt and pepper to taste

Toss the beef in the flour and set aside.

Combine the red onion, spring onions, garlic, lemongrass, ginger, coriander root and stems, chilli, spices, soy sauce, fish sauce, sweet chilli sauce, sugar and lime in a food processor or mortar and pestle and process until a paste is formed.

 

 

 Fry off the beef in batches in some oil until browned and set aside. Then fry off paste in some more oil for a few minutes. Add the stock, coconut milk, beef and potatoes and mix until combined. Simmer on very low, covered for 6-8 hours. You could transfer to a slow cooker or cook covered in a low oven too.

Serve with steamed rice and garnish with leftover coriander leaves, chopped chilli and a wedge of lime.

Serves 4-6



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Seafood & Chorizo Paella

 

This recipe is great for dinner parties with friends.....as it's great for feeding crowds and smells amazing! For best results use Medium Grain rice; Bomba or Calasparra Rice is preferred.

1x Brown Onion, Diced
1x Red Capsicum, Diced
2x tsp. crushed garlic
1x Long Red Chilli, Deseeded, Finely Diced
1x Spanish Chorizo, Diced
1x TBSP Tomato Paste
2x cups Medium Grain Rice (Or use Bomba or Calasparra Rice)
2x tsp. ground turmeric and paprika
a good pinch of saffron threads
4x cups chicken stock (hot)
300gm Shelled, Deveined Prawns
300gm Cleaned Mussels
1x cup Frozen Peas & Corn
Chopped Parsley
lemon wedges


Mix Turmeric, Paprika and Saffron threads in the hot chicken stock and set aside to infuse.

Brown off Onion, Capsicum, Garlic and Chilli in some oil in a Paella Pan.

Season with Salt and pepper and add Chorizo until browned. Fry off Paste and add rice followed by the stock mixture and peas and corn.

Cover loosely with foil and simmer on low for about 20 mins until the rice is tender.

In the last 5-10 minutes arrange the prawns and mussels on top in a pattern and cover back loosely with foil.

Once the mussels have opened sprinkle with Parsley and arrange lemon wedges around the edges.

Serve!

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C Restaurant - Perths only revolving restaurant!

Just a few days ago we had lunch at C Restaurant, Perth's only revolving restaurant located at the top of St. Martins Tower on St Georges Terrace in Perth.

We took the quick elevator up to the 33rd floor, and my ears popped on the way up. As soon as we stepped into the restaurant we were right behind the main tills and it took a few seconds for me to realise that the main outer edge of the Restaurant slowly moving along.

We were seated quickly by our friendly waiter and given the menus. As I was reading the drinks list I could see out the corner of my eye, the window going past very slowly. It actually took me about 20 minutes to get used to the rotation, reminded me of being on a boat or catching the ferry over to South Perth/Rotto. Hubby was fine though!

For first drinks, I ordered a Champagne Cocktail which was Moet, Grey Goose and Pineapple Juice with a Maraschino Cherry. I love Moet and it was so smooth with the lovely pineapple juice, I must recreate this at home. Hubby had a long island ice tea and we ordered some house made bread for starters.

We decided to go the 3 courses which was $63 each, which was great value I thought, plus I had my Entertainment card.

Entrees were C's 'Famous' Gnocchi and Oysters done 4 ways; Kilpatrick, Chilli & Lemon, Natural and Orange Tomato Salsa. I had 1 Kilpatrick, my first Kilpatrick style oyster, I'm slowly starting to like them. The Gnocchi was soft and pillowy and the creamy Gorgonzola cheese sauce was very tasty. The portion size was generous I thought too.

Whilst waiting for the mains we ordered more drinks; a glass of Capel Vale Sparkling Brut and a bottle of James Squire Golden Ale. The Sparkling was so delicious, I'll be buying some of this on my next bottle shop venture soon.

My second course was the Pink Snapper 'special' with a sweet fruit quinoa salad and octopus croquettes. Again, my first time tasting quinoa, I have had some in my cupboard for a while but haven't cooked with it yet. I couldn't really tell you the flavour of it, it was neutral to me, but the it wasn't too bad with the Snapper.

The Octopus croquettes were crumbed legs of octopus. AGAIN my first time trying octopus, I had 1 and dished the other to Hubby's plate. It was like a strong calamari flavour encased in a yummy crunchy crumb and you could see the 'suckers' as you cut into them.

The other main meal was the Chicken Roulade with Pumpkin Puree, Sautéed Mushrooms, Pine Nut Polenta Cake and Creamy Morel Sauce. The Chicken was cooked to perfection and the mushrooms were to die for, I knew I could smell them as soon as the dish was presented. The pumpkin puree was so bright and orange and the smokey spiced popcorn was so good I snuck a piece straight away! Everything on this plate married well together and it was gone in a flash!! I didn't get any photos of our mains as we had the sun right on our table as they arrived.

1 Dessert dish was the Turkish Coffee Cake with Chocolate Tuile. I didn't try this as Hubby said it had mint in it, I really don't like mint (Though it's funny how Mojito's are an exception), so didn't try it but I was told the Mandarin Sorbet was very refreshing with the mint and chocolate.

I had the Blueberry and Vanilla Parfait and it was delicious! The fruits of the forest sorbet was sweet and fruity it tasted like a fantastic Raspberry Jam. The Blueberries on the plate were the biggest I've ever seen too, I don't usually like blueberries, the ones I buy are usually very bland tasting but these were massive and full of bursting berry flavour. I couldn't eat the middle bit because it was frozen solid but was pretty full by this stage.

All up we did about a 1 and 1/4 revolutions of the whole restaurant and were there just under 2 hours. Our waiter was attentive without being intrusive and cleared our plates and took drinks orders very promptly. There was a bit of a wait after entrée for our mains, longer than I expected but the revolving view was a great time filler.

We ordered a Long Macchiato and asked for our bill. I had my Entertainment Gold Card on hand so we used that and ended up getting $45 off the total bill. I've always been a massive fan of the Entertainment book, its great for people like me who dine out so often.

Our overall experience at C was a good one, it was a Saturday Lunch and the restaurant wasn't very busy, I found it spun around faster than I expected and in the beginning felt a bit dizzy.

Absolutely fantastic views of the Swan River and Perth surrounds, and its great pointing out/questioning thing as you spin around. Best views from a restaurant I've been too! Definitely recommended!

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Golden Syrup Dumplings

These dumplings are great for a cold night in and also great for dinner parties as they simmer away on the stove until they're ready.

Golden Syrup Dumplings

Syrup:

2 Cups Water

1/3 Cup Golden Syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 Cup Raw Caster Sugar

40 Grams Butter

 Dumplings:

1.5 cups SR Flour

45 G unsalted butter, slightly softened

¾ Cup Milk

1 TBSP Golden Syrup

Combine all syrup ingredients in a saucepan and heat on low until everything is melted. Simmer on low and then make dumplings.

Dumplings: Sift flour into a mixing bowl and rub through butter until fine crumbs appear. Slightly heat up the milk in the microwave (Just to take the chill out of it) and mix through the golden syrup. Add to flour mixture and stir until a smooth/stiff dough is formed.

Spoon heaped teaspoons of Dumplings batter into syrup and cook for 15 mins simmering until dumplings have expanded.

Serve with custard, cream or ice cream.

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Shakshuka

I love Shakshuka! I also love the fact there's a few versions being Spanish baked eggs and Mexican baked eggs too.

I first had Shakshuka at the Subiaco Farmers Markets where Eli, the son on Riki Kaspi owns the popular little stall.

This recipe can be varied and is great to use up the left over meats and veggies in the house.

This recipe is always a winner in my house. It’s very simple to prepare and is a crowd pleaser.

Here's my basic version.

Shakshuka

1x Brown Onion, finely diced
2 tsp Garlic, crushed
1 TBSP Moroccan Spice mix
1x 120gm Pack D'Orsogna Chorizo (or Salami, or bacon or ham)
1x can Red Kidney Beans (or cannellini, or navy beans, or baked beans)
2x cans Crushed Tomatoes
1x TBSP Tomato Paste
2 Cups Chicken Stock
2 eggs Per Person
Crusty Bread
2 TBSP Finely chopped Parsley (optional)

Sauté Onion, Garlic, Spice Mix in a little oil until fragrant. Add Chorizo, Beans, Crushed Tomatoes, Paste, and Stock, season to taste , stir and simmer covered for 30-40 mins, stirring occasionally.

Remove lid and carefully crack eggs into the sauce, trying not to break the yolks. Simmer uncovered on low until the eggs are done to your liking. Sprinkle with Parsley.

Scoop eggs with sauce into serving bowls carefully and serve with crusty bread!

This recipe is great for feeding a few people at breakfast/brunch time!

*You can vary this recipe a lot buy using what's in your fridge and cupboard at the time. Sprinkle with Parmesan or Feta and you can also add Mexican or Spanish Spices or a mix of your favourite spices to create a new flavour!

I've also added Sausages and some sprinkled Feta Cheese and had it for dinner once!

Serves 6-9

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cook Time: 50 mins

You can find this recipe in the La Cucina section of the D'Orsogna website.

 This recipe was created in partnership with D'Orsogna Smallgoods

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Aprils Ricotta Gnocchi

I've made Potato Gnocchi before, so I decided to give the ricotta version a go. Reading up about it on the internet I found a lot of people say that the ricotta gnocchi is just as traditional as the potato kind.

After researching the ratios I then came up with my own recipe to suit the amount of ricotta I had.

Aprils Ricotta Gnocchi

250G Ricotta Cheese
2 Eggs
1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese (finely grated)
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 TBSP Parsley (finely chopped)
1 Cup + 2 TBSP Pasta Flour, plus more for dusting

Mix the Ricotta, Eggs, Parmesan, salt n pepper, Parsley in a bowl with a whisk until smooth.

Add the flour and mix until a smooth dough is formed. Place dough onto a floured bench and knead gently for 30 secs or so.

Pinch off tennis ball sized balls of dough and roll to form a thin sausage. Cut the sausage into smaller pieces.

You can leave them this shape or you can use a gnocchi roller, sushi mat or fork to create the 'ridges' in the gnocchi. I used a sushi mat!

Place gnocchi on a floured plate and cover and refrigerate if using later.

To cook: Bring salted water to the boil and gently boil until the gnocchi float then scoop them out.

I served the gnocchi with a rich tomato sauce and dropped some shelled prawns in for the last few minutes.

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Jamie's Italian - Perth

We decided to visit Jamie's Italian a few months ago, and had heard stories of people lining up for a while and not being seated at a table for HOURS!  So, being eager to try out the famous Chef's Trademark restaurant and not be disappointed, we chose to dine in for lunch on a weekday during my Hubby's holidays.

We arrived just before opening time (11am) and were about the 4th couple from the front, so we were seated very quickly when the doors opened. Once seated, we had our drinks order taken and were given our menus. The place was filling up quickly but only ended up being about half full for this lunch service.

It was also different to see the waiters have their own little bread stations set up around the restaurant where they prepare the baskets full of assorted breads drizzled with Olive Oil, free of charge.

For entrée we chose to share the Crispy Arancini Balls and Crispy Squid. The Arancini Balls were huge and 3 were definitely enough for an entrée for 2 to share.

Our mains took a long while to come out, about an hour, as I was told they hadn't prepared the Ravioli and were frantically making it from scratch. I was promised it would be the freshest ravioli I'd ever eat! Whilst we were waiting I ordered a Mojito. Though what came out was a Ginger Mojito, the non-alcoholic version, boo! where's the fun in that!?!?

Finally our mains arrived and my Hubby had the Crab Risotto which was perfectly cooked, creamy with the subtle sweetness of the fresh crab.

My Mushroom Ravioli was al-dente with a lovely tomato and mushroom sauce. I thought it was great they didn't make me choose another main and prepared it fresh, though we did wait a while for it.

In the end, they knew we had waited a long time and with my Mojito being 'non-alcoholic', they didn't charge us for my main and my cocktail.

Despite it being a relatively cheap lunch outing I know my next experience at Jamie's will be a good one.

*These pictures were taken about 6 months ago and they have since changed their menu.

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