This.... is bananas

Wassup hollaback gurls? 

Ahahahha we crack ourselves up. Sigh.

Now that bananas are finally cheap again, we have been going bananas buying bananas. The overripe bananas at the end of the week were mushed and made into muffins with some chopped dark chocolate and walnuts. 

We can never resist freshly baked muffins; these were warm, moist with the buttery taste of walnuts and oozing chocolate.

Made the night before, these were enjoyed for breakfast in PJ's. 

Bananas in pajamas.

Twinkle twinkle little star

There are a few places in Victoria Park that offer halal food. Bintang Cafe on Albany Highway across the street from the popular Lebanese restaurant 'The Prophet' is tiny hidden gem, serving cheap Indonesian fare. We're not kidding when we say 'tiny.' The cashier doesn't even have room to sit behind the counter! The customers get the better deal, with nice food and for those who can fit in the cafe, a comfortable enough sitting arrangement. Don't bring along big shopping bags and definitely no prams. There is the option of escaping the cramp and sitting outside, enjoying the view of, er, the carpark and Albany Hwy traffic.

The menu is pretty typical of Indonesian cafes. Unfortunately in Perth, there's no 'pecel lele' as catfish is not easy to find here (this is one of our favorites). That's ok, because there's plenty of other dishes. 

This dinner comprised of ifu mie (crispy noodles with chicken and egg sauce) and nasi Bali (lemongrass chicken, white rice, grilled chicken, fried boiled egg in chili sauce) and teh botol (sweet jasmine tea). We helped ourselves to the free sauce plate (terasi!). Generous portions of humble, homey food with no frills that don't leave a big hole in the wallet.

We give it five bintangs*.

*Bintang = star

Chicken Noodle Slurp

Perth weather had a bit of a cool change recently. We wanted a hot dish, preferably one we can noisily slurp but without looking too uncouth.

We knew we couldn’t achieve this in public, so we threw together a simple dish to enjoy in the privacy of our own home.

Chicken drumsticks, star anise, cinnamon stick, cloves, cardamom, ginger, onions, garlic, celery, coriander roots and vegetable stock bubbled away in our pot, filling our home with a therapeutic aroma. Rice noodles, roughly chopped coriander leaves and fried shallots completed the dish. The therapeutic aromas in the house changed into something quite different (think smelly old socks) when Mr decided he would try making a special topping, one he remembers fondly from meals at Blok M Indonesian café in Melbourne- sambal terasi or belacan!

Not one to take shortcuts, he decides to toast belacan (fermented shrimp paste) on the stove and pound the chillies, salt, lime juice and fish sauce, using mortar and pestle.

In the end, the cacophony and stink were well worth it. Slurp, we did.

Holiday treats at home

Teriyaki Time

More Japanese food!
Public holidays in Perth mean that not much outside the city is open for business, so we have spent a fair bit of time in the city recently. Shimizu on Murray Street serves halal food and we love Japanese food so hello, Shimizu! 

Gloria Jean’s is just next door and Tim Tam frappucino seemed like a good idea on that hot day.

They were out of ginger beef so we both had teriyaki beef, which was thinly sliced and flavourful. The salad with orange puree dressing was refreshing.  There's rich, creamy mayo in the middle of it all, which only made the dish better. 

Next time, we’ll get different dishes… Food bloggers probably shouldn’t write about one dish. But sometimes two teriyakis are better than one.

Ho Ho Ho Berry Christmas!

December in the southern hemisphere is in the summer.

Stone fruits, being the fruity flavour of the season, commonly end up in our holiday period dessert dishes.

A friend's Christmas BBQ saw us arrive with a plate of custard tarts topped with these colourful season’s offerings.

Like snowflakes, each piece was different thanks to the puff pastry taking whatever shape it pleased in the baking process. But no worries, they were charmingly rustic and tasted fine. Silky custard dotted with vanilla, whipped cream, roasted almond slices, raspberries and blueberries topped these crispy puffs of pastry and then subjected to a small blizzard of icing sugar.

The cherries did not make it onto the tiny mountains of whipped cream (cue satisfied borborygmi).

Cooking in Coogee

Coogee beach with its jetty and ample parkland at Woodman Point in the John Graham Reserve is one of the most beautiful spots in Perth, we think.

The pristine stretch of sandy beach, the clear aquamarine of the sea, the verdant park dotted with BBQ pits… Subhanallah!

There were plenty of people about- resting under the shade, snorkelling, scuba diving, fishing, swimming, BBQ-ing, you name it!

A distinctly meaty aroma permeated the air, from the many pre-Christmas BBQ’s. Some even brought their own BBQ’s- there was even lamb on a portable automated spit!

We brought lamb skewers and lamb ribs. Diced lamb was marinated in yoghurt, rosemary, cumin and coriander powder, salt and pepper and skewered with red and green capsicum. We cheated and bought pre-marinated lamb ribs from the Carousel halal butcher.

Our friends brought tandoori chicken and liver and sausages (which we unfortunately could not stay to eat)...but we did try their delicious biryani rice, potato salad, fresh salad and dessert of homemade “rum balls without the rum, so just balls.”

Happy holidays to all!