El Bulli

Nah, don't get excited. It isn't that El Bulli. I wish. Just a night out our local tapas joint in Surry Hills. Bastards kicked us out before dessert though. I was so looking forward to churros. Not our fault they didn't give us time to eat a proper meal. What we did have was pretty good though.

Ah, happy times before we were asked to leave

Ad Hoc and Movida

I got a little adventurous recently and actually opened a couple of cook books. Since Georgia came along I've been doing a fair bit of the cooking and I have got really good at cooking stews. But even I can get tired of stew so I cracked open Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc At Home and Frank Camorra's Movida Cookbook.

Thomas Keller owns the legendary French Laundry restaurant in California. There's little chance I'd attempt one of his recipes from the French Laundry but Ad Hoc At Home is as it says. A cookbook for the home. Lots of basic but tasty recipes. I've tried his fried chicken recipe and it is sensational. This time though I made his Pan Roasted Duck Breast with Butter Braised Brussel Sprouts, Radishes and Kohlrabi. Before I attempted this I'd never even heard of Kohlrabi. Click here to read up on it. Thankfully are local green grocer, Fratelli Fresh, had it.

The duck breast was fairly easy to prepare. Simply marinated in various herbs then fried and finished off in the oven. The vegies took a little more preparation including cooking the radishes in emulsified butter. Butter emulsification? Hadn't done that before either. Anyway, it all came together reasonably successfully I think. The reason I chose duck is because Michelle loves the duck. Really. Loves the duck. She was even impressed with mine.

Pan Roasted Duck Breast with Butter Braised Brussel Sprouts, Radishes and Kohlrabi

Frank Camorra runs Movida in Melbourne. Movida is a Spanish restaurant cum tapas bar and serves extraordinary tapas and raciones. Best we've had outside of Spain so I was keen to try his pork recipe from the Movida Cookbook.

The pork had to be marinated is all sorts of herbs and liquids including sherry vinegar, white wine and sherry and then cooked in the oven. For something that isn't cooked for very long it comes out soft and succulent. I also felt like patatas bravas - potatoes in a mayonnaise base sauce. And yes, I hand made the mayonnaise. I over did it on the sauce when I mixed it in with the fried potatoes though. Still, it was pretty good. Patatas Bravas recipe here.

Marinated and braised pork with patatas bravas and broccoli

Two fairly involved and complicated, for me, meals in two days. I don't know what I'll try next.

After the footy it is time for tapas and the beer of the day

Cafe Asturiana in Sydney for tapas. Just what you need after a hard day at the footy. Ambar is my cerveza del día.

Movida and Melbourne laneways

Updated 21/09/2009: Let me start by saying Movida is very good. Very very good. But I'm starting to think Melbourne's restaurants are overrated compared to Sydney. Not by much, maybe by a point or so. If a Melbourne restaurant has 3 Hats knock a hat off and it will be about right. Movida is a case in point. As I said, very good, but 2 Hats? I dunno, maybe 1 Hat would be about right. Is it a full 2 Hats better than Bodega in Surry Hills? I don't think so. Same goes for last night's Vue de Monde. One of only two 3 Hat restaurants in Melbourne. Having 3 hats suggests it is up with Tetsuya's, Quay, Pier or Marque in Sydney. Sorry, but no way. 2 hats might be a fair call. Unfortunately they charge 3 Hat prices (they charge more than any of the 4 Sydney restaurants I mentioned) especially for the Grand Gourmand menu ($250) and frankly most of the 9 courses we had didn't have that "wow" factor a genuine 3 hatter has. What we had was very very good and the risotto, for example, was one of the best we've had but it was just a risotto (give Michelle a truffle and her risotto is just as good). Both Moira and Michelle thought our Spanish Don Juan sommelier at Vue de Monde was cute though. Flirtatious sod he was. ;-)

Movida 4

Moira, Nick, Shane and Michelle.

Movida 3

Can't remember what the drink was called but in it had 2 shots of espresso, 15ml of Tia, 15ml of Kahlua and a full shot of vodka, shaken with ice and then poured. Noice mate.

Ganache caliente con turron
Hot chocolate ganache pudding with vanilla bean ice-cream and nougat

Churros
Rich drinking chocolate and Spanish doughnuts.

We also had one of the best jugs of Sangria ever.

Movida 2

Bistec Tarter De Wagyu
Spicy steak tartare of raw, grass fed Wagyu Beef

Gambas Al Ajillo
Prawns cooked in garlic and fino with broad beans

Cigarillo
Baby leak wrapped in brik pastry served with chicken liver parfait

Cecina
Air cured Wagyu Beef thinly sliced with a truffle foam and poached egg

Fabada
White beans garnished with Berkshire pork belly, chorizo and black pudding

Carillera De Buey [not pictured unfortunately - went to fast to take a photo]
Slowly braised beef cheek in Pedro Ximenez on cauliflower puree

Movida

Anchoa
Hand filleted Cantabrian Artisan Anchovy on Crouton with Smoked Tomato Sorbet

Pimiento De Piquillo
Hickory smoked piquillo pepper filled with salt cod and potato

Viera
Roasted scallop with jamon and potato foam

Movida for tapas

Movida is a 2 Hat tapas restaurant and wine bar in Melbourne.

Encasa for Tapas

Bodega

Bodega does a modern Australian twist on traditional tapas. It is totally bodacious.

Adam doing flamenco

Flamenca

Casa asturiana por tapas