Four Years of Scoffing & Quaffing

Just over four years ago, during dinner at Hikaru with a lovely friend, I entertained the idea of starting a food blog – just to share my favourite restaurants and recipes with family and friends. And once said lovely friend came up with the name Scoff & Quaff, I though it was too good a title to waste!

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.

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!

Moon’s Fresh Sushi, Dulwich Hill

Dulwich Hill is a fabulous suburb to live in, with Vietnamese, Thai, Lebanese, Pakistani, Chinese and Portuguese restaurants, plus plenty of excellent cafes, delis, butchers and patisseries. There are times, however, that I simply need sushi. So I am very very happy to announce that Dulwich Hill now has its own sushi restaurant!

Food Bloggers’ “Fancy French Dinner Party” at Atelier Restaurant, Glebe

It finally happened…

After nearly three years of food blogging, last June I managed to attend a food blogger event! The food bloggers’ #fancyfrenchdinnerparty was held at Restaurant Atelier, a gorgeous little sandstone cottage in Glebe. It is just the kind of place at which I would love to have a special dinner or event – I could even imagine having our wedding reception here, if we hadn’t already planned one!

Great Aunty Three Vietnamese Eatery, Enmore

I had been looking forward to trying Great Aunty Three, and yesterday, with howling wind and rain outside and Mr Black sleeping off a big night, I took myself off for a little treat.

Gujarati Shrikhand – spiced yoghurt dessert

As part of our recent Indian Christmas in July party, my beautiful and talented foodie friend Sal (of Sassy Bites catering) offered to bring a dessert. Expecting sticky sweet gulab jamun, or perhaps some kind of kulfi, I was surprised and intrigued when I spied these beautiful little ramekins of spiced yoghurt – aren’t they beautiful!

Revolver Cafe, Annandale

For an excellent coffee you can always count on Revolver Cafe in Annandale. Tucked away in a lovely spot, just a few streets behind Johnston St, it exudes neighbourhood charm.

Spaghetti Pollanaise – a recipe inspired by Michael Pollan

Recently, we saw Michael Pollan talk at the Opera House. He was awesome.

The things he spoke of were not new to me. Ideas about eating locally grown produce; not eating too many refined “white” foods; avoiding foods so artificial that our grandmothers wouldn’t recognise them as food… But there was one line which stuck with me above all others:

Crispy smoked paprika chicken wingettes with aioli

This recipe is featured on Masterchef Food Hub

I asked for advice from many people and did a lot of internet research to find out how to make my chicken wings super crunchy. And let me tell you, there is a lot of information out there. Overall, it seems to boil down to three main aspects:

1. Removing moisture from the wings prior to cooking
2. Using some kind of baking powder in the dry rub
3. Roasting over a rack in a hot oven

So, here is my version of crispy wings, using these three key elements. I used 1.5kg wings per batch, with the tip removed and cut into two (as in my honey soy chicken wingettes).