Efendy, Meze Bar and Taste of Sydney with Somer Sivrioglu

Recently I managed to win a free ticket to Taste of Sydney thanks to Efendy chef and owner, Somer Sivrioglu. At last year’s event, Efendy took out the inaugural Best in Taste award for their Ali Nazik, a traditionally-made kebab with veal backstrap, leg of lamb and lamb tail fat.

Zucchini and feta fritters

I made this up today, inspired by my recent success with amazingly simple and delicious zucchini and haloumi fritters. These are low in sugar and carbs and are of course low GI as well.

The texture of these is lovely, light and slightly crisp; somewhere between a pikelet, an omelette and a fritter. I recommend serving simply with a squeeze of lemon, or some crispy bacon and tomato chutney for something more substantial.

• 2 zucchini, grated, squeezed and drained (the more moisture you can remove, the better – ideally leave to drain for a few hours in a colander)
• 100g Danish-style feta, crumbled
• 2 eggs
• pepper
• chopped fresh parsley, dill or mint
• 2 tablespoons plain flour to help bind (you can substitute with corn flour or almond meal if preferred)

Mix everything together, then fry in small spoonfuls until golden and browed on the edges – they’ll still be quite light and fluffy inside. Voila!

Green and red hot sauce

These are my basic green and red hot sauce recipes which I adapt every time to accommodate for seasonal availability.

I’ve been growing my own chillies since Christmas and I’ve already harvested about two kilos, the equivalent of four batches of hot sauce. I urge you to try growing your own; it’s ecological, economical and incredibly satisfying!

Some tips: Make sure you taste and adjust amounts of ingredients as necessary, as every batch will be different. You may sometimes need to add a little sugar, or more or less vinegar or garlic. And always, always, always use gloves! I’ve learnt the hard way that while your tongue may become desensitised to chilli, your eyes never do…

Incredibly easy classic chocolate mousse

This dessert is a real treat for any poor sods who are lactose intolerant, as it’s naturally dairy free (as long as you use proper dairy free dark chocolate). It’s also so easy I’ve been making it since I was a kid, way back in the eighties. Retro!

All you need is:

• 200g quality fair trade chocolate – you can use milk, dark or a combination
• 3 large free-range eggs

That’s it. No cream, no added sugar, no avocado, nothing! (You can add a drop of vanilla, orange essence or booze to the egg yolk and chocolate mixture if you wish.)

Chicken Adobo

This Filipino classic is one of Mr Black’s favourite dishes, and mine as well. I absolutely adore vinegar – as a child I would drink leftover dressing straight from my salad bowl. If you love vinegar, you’ll love adobo! Best of all it’s dead simple to make, perfect for either a midweek dinner or an easy party dish.

Crisp salt and chilli tofu

I find this dish so comforting. Perfect for a Valentines night dinner with yourself! <3

It’s usually made with spring onions too, which are a delicious addition. If using chuck them in towards the end along with the chilli and garlic.

Frittata of baby spinach, pumpkin, feta & jamon

I began this dish thinking I was going to make spanokopita. But having no filo pastry, I added a few eggs to turn it into a frittata. I also decided to throw in some thinly sliced pumpkin to bulk it up and a few slices of jamon because, well pork products make everything better. Obviously you could leave it out if you wanted to keep it vegetarian.

Riesling Olympics at Fix St James

I post far more often about scoffing than quaffing, for three main reasons:

1. I can’t make wine

2. I am not confident in my abilities to describe the flavours of wine

3. Quaffing makes me forget to take photos and/or causes me to take blurry photos, which are rubbish.

The Hub House Diner, Dulwich Hill

The Hub House Diner, next to Moon’s Fresh Sushi on New Canterbury Rd, has been eagerly awaited by Dulwich Hill locals since the signage went up just before Christmas. They were absolutely packed on their first – and second – day of opening. I suspect they weren’t quite prepared for how busy they’d be, which resulted in the longer than ideal wait time as mentioned by some on Urbanspoon. I did appreciate that the owner (or floor manager?) indicated to us before we sat down that there would be a bit of a wait. I’m not going to slag them off for it – I mean, it’s their first weekend open people, give them a break!

Another visit to Hartsyard, Newtown

First of all, apologies. I’ve been a bad blogger. Life has been incredibly busy lately and I recently realised that I haven’t posted much at all in the last few months!

To make up for it, here are some exciting new dishes from Hartsyard. It’s no secret that Hartsyard is my favourite restaurant in Sydney, and I’ll use any excuse I can to go there for dinner. This particular trip was for my birthday in late October, and I’m going back next week for my hens’ night – the boys are jealous!