Rosso Pomodoro

When a pizza place is highly recommended by an Italian, you know its going to be good. She's been trying to get me to go for the last 3 years. Yet every time they've organised an outing to Rosso Pomodoro, I'm either on holidays or have something already planned. This time, I was determined to go! Everything is going to be cancelled so I can go get some pizza into me!!

There are only 2 seatings a night at Rosso Pomodoro, 6pm or 8pm. We chose the 8pm seating since most of us didn't get off work til about 6pm. This meant we were STARVING by the time we got there. Didn't help we had drinks before hand and was in desperate need for some booze munchies!


We left the ordering up to our resident Italian, although I had already told her ones I wanted to order. hehe Actually, she was really really keen on knowing my opinion on the pizza as I can't stop raving about that one perfect slice of margherita pizza I had in Venice. Which is why she ordered every pizza I wanted! Woohoo!

Diavola - Tomato, Italian mozzarella, hot salame, capsicum

This was one of the first pizzas that came out and got placed infront of 3 boozed up boys. I almost lost a hand trying to take this photo! Vultures I tell you! VULTURES! I managed to get 1 left over mangey slice before I got stabbed with a fork. No wonder the boys refused to share! Hot, spicy and cheesey. The exact thing you need after 2 hours of non stop drinking! *squawk* *squawk*

Gorgonzola - Italian mozzarella, gorgonzola, ham, mushrooms

One of my favourites of the night. The salty stinky gorgonzola, ham and my favourite vegetable, Mushrooms!

Patate e Salsiccia - Italian mozzarella, Italian sausages, potatoes, rosemary

I love potato pizza. I never knew you could have potato on a pizza until my Italian teacher took us out for dinner one night and its become one of my favourites since. This version is beautiful. Soft fluffy potatoes, chunks of italian sausage and the lovely aroma of rosemary that has crisped up in the oven. Heaven!

Charred base

A photo of the famous "lesbian art" inbetween pizzas

If you ever go Rosso Pomodoro, you'll notice quite a few paintings of naked women. I didn't realise there's a second half to this painting since there was a table sitting right infront of bottom half. The BOTTOM half... *cough*

Prosciutto - Tomato, Italian mozzarella, prosciutto

Simple classic italian pizza. The prosciutto is placed on the pizza after it comes out the oven. All it needs is the residual heat from the pizza to release the fatty aromas. So good! I would love a whole plate of just prosciutto to munch on whilst waiting for the other pizzas to come out.

Capricciosa - Tomato, Italian mozzarella, ham, olives, mushrooms, artichokes

My absolute favourite pizza of the night! I've always ordered capricciosas whenever I go out for pizza anyway. Its got all my favourite ingredients. Ham, mushrooms and olives. This one had the addition of artichokes. I've never liked artichokes much, especially italian artichokes because they're usually marinated and too vinegary for me. These ones were divine! They were soft and almost slightly creamy....I was actually picking off extra artichoke when no one was looking! hehehe

Special of the day - Zuchinni flower, pancetta and brie?

This was the special of the day that cause my friend to jump up and down in excitement. She had this about 2 years ago and absolutely loved it. But every time she went back, they never had that pizza again. I'm her lucky charm ;)

The boys were still like vultures swooping in on the last of the pizza, so we ordered 2 nutella calzone pizzas to shut them up. *squawk*

CALZONE alla NUTELLA - Calzone filled with Nutella and almond flakes

OoOoOozey nutella calzone

Ugh.....we really didn't need those 2 calzones. I was in a pizza coma by the end of the night. (Mind you, I was full, not bloated like cheap pizza will do to you). What is my verdict? Molto Buono! Some of the best pizza I've ever had and even better than alot of the ones I had in Italy. Mind you, I always order mushroom pizza and I was in Italy in Summer. This meant most places were serving pizzas with pickled mushrooms. Even if I take out the mushroom factor, Rosso Pomodoro's pizzas were supreme. I can't wait to go back!

Rosso Pomodoro
Shop 90-91, 24 Buchanan St
Balmain (White Bay)
(02) 9555 5924
http://www.rossopomodoro.com.au

Home cooking mega post

I had an impromptu dinner party last night to show a few friends how to play mah jong. As I uploaded the photos onto my computer, I realised that:

1. I forgot to take a photo of the main, and
2. I took a photo of the exact same dish earlier
3. That photo was already processed along with a heap of other stuff I've been meaning to blog about

So here we are, my mega post:

Antipasto platter

Clockwise: Grilled Haloumi cheese, grilled eggplant and zucchini, shaved beechwood ham, semi sundried tomatoes, shaved danish salami, mixed olives, serrano prosciutto.

Centre: The wonderful wonderful sweet tomato and pistachio relish I got from Orange

All served with warm crusty bread straight from the oven.

Cabonara/Boscaiola pasta

This is basically what I served. Time was of the essence, less cooking, more mah jong. This was a super simple dish to make. Sautee bacon, mushroom and a touch of garlic. Add pasta, beaten eggs, cream and parmesan cheese. Toss and serve.

Stir fried glutinous rice

This is something I've always loved getting at yum cha, but they always use so much oil that it makes me feel sick after eating it. The home made version is super quick and super simple. Not much difference between making a fried rice, just a little more prep work.

Curry chicken and rice

This is the ULTIMATE comfort food for me. Curry chicken, soft potatoes, sweet onions on boiled rice. I've never grown up eating cereal and toast for breakfast, instead, I sometimes have a big bowl of curry chicken and rice for breakkie!

Thai noodle salad

I'm not sure how "Thai" this really is, but it was what I was aiming for. As it's nearing summer, I think I'm going to start making this for my Bentos as well. I soak some glass noodles in hot water, then rinsed with cold water and drained. I then browned some mince and prawns before letting them cool. In the meantime, chop up some tomatoes, cucumber, coriander, onions, chilli. The sauce was made simply from fish sauce, chilli, garlic, lemon juice and sugar. Toss it all together and leave it for a few minutes before eating.

Potato and bacon bake

Wayyy too simple to make. I like to sautee my bacon first whilst I slice some potatoes and onions thinly. Layer potatoes, bacon, onion and a sprinkle of cheese. Finish with a layer of cheese ontop. Pour in a mixture of cream, pepper and a little broth (I like to add chicken broth so its not so rich). Bake until potatoes are tender and you have a lovely golden crust on the top.

Central American Chilli with chocolate

Not much I can say about this, except that I used this recipe. This was my first time making a chilli, and it turned out really really well. The addition of chocolate gives this dish a deep complex flavour. I probably ruined it by eating it with supreme cheese doritos! lol

Potato and bacon pizza

I made this pizza as a part of a onling cooking comp. I didn't win, but did end up near the top end of the scale! This was basically a twist on a traditional Italian potato pizza, with the addition of bacon. You can't go wrong with adding bacon to things can you?

Chorizo, mushroom and prawn pizza

The competition only allowed one entry. But I couldn't decide what to enter so I made this pizza as well, but in the end I submitted the potato and bacon one. Basically just mushrooms, prawns and pan fried slices of chorizo topped with cheese.

Pan fried fish with home made wedges and salad

I was running late one day and the local fish monger closed, but I had a real hankering for fish. I ended up grabbing a few basa fillets from Woolies, even though they were frozen, they still tasted really nice. The fish was panfried with salt and pepper, and when the fish was almost cooked, I threw in some butter, garlic and parsley before deglazing the pan with lemon. Wedges were tossed with garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper.

Fridge soup

I don't really know what to call this, but it was basically whatever I could find from the fridge thrown together. I chopped up some bacon (yes, I've been using ALOT of bacon) and sauteed them in a pan with garlic, carrots and potatoes. Add water, chopped tomato, asparagus, beans and mushrooms. I also added some red lentils to thicken the soup up. I seasoned the soup with salt, pepper and a dash of paprika. I could not believe how flavoursome this soup was. It was as if I had made it a whole leg of ham! It was brilliant!

600th mega cooking post

Wow.....I can't believe this is my 600th post. I really need to get a life! haha I thought I'd celebrate my 600th post by doing a consolidated post of all the yummy things I've been cooking.

Swedish Meatballs

Swedish meatballs

I forgot to take a photo of the final product, but these were really yummy for a first attempt. You're supposed to shallow fry these meatballs, but I tried to reduce the amount of oil/butter by using a non-stick pan. So they didn't turn out as dry and crunchy as the traditional swedish meatballs, but they were really good nonetheless.

Chicken and mushroom pastry

Chicken and mushroom pastry with potato gems

Innards

I haven't made this in almost 2 years. The last time I made this was during a dinner party where we ended up watching the secretary and freaking everyone out. I marinate the chicken and quickly pan fry the chicken to seal in the juices. The mushrooms are sauteed and mixed with cream cheese and cream plus a whole heap of other spices. This is then wrapped in puff pastry and baked until golden brown. I then drench the whole thing in a light cheese sauce. Sooooo good!

High Tea

I have my mother's mentality of "Why go out and pay for something, when you can make the same thing, only better, cheaper and in bigger quantities??". So when my friend mentioned that we should do high tea, I offered to whip up a high tea pigging out session.

Finger sandwiches

I made 3 types of finger sandwiches. Smoked salmon with cream cheese and cucumber, cucumber and mayo, and good old creamy egg salad sandwich with extra pepper. I think the egg sandwich was the winner.

Crab dip on toasties and pigs in a blanket

The pigs in a blanket isn't something you would normally find at a high tea, but it was something I haven't made for awhile and was seriously craving. The crab dip was a recipe I got off The Food Pornographer and it was absolutely delicious! I wish I managed to get my hands on some fresh crab meat instead of canned crab meat, it would've been sooooooo much nicer!

What are these golden orbs?

I found a fantastic recipe to make scones, and what high tea would be complete with scones? This only took me a few minutes to make and they turned out absolutely perfect. And what needs to go with fresh warm fluffy scones?

Hand whipped cream

So on top of hand whipped cream, you need strawberry jam. Luckily, I still had some strawberry jam from the last batch I made.

Put home made chunky strawberry jam on the fresh hot scones...

... slather with whipped cream. Consume.

OH. MY. GOD. This was utterly orgasmic! The scones were hot and fluffy, the strawberry jam and thick cream was the perfect end to the high tea.

Lasagne

Another dish I haven't made in a long long time. This lasagne had a thick rich meaty sauce layered between sheets of pasta with white sauce, all topped with cheese.

How good does that look?

Big Breakfast

I can think of no better way to start the weekend when you've got a hangover, than with a big breakfast. Wait, I can. Someone ELSE making you the big breakfast. But then you can't pig out without making a fool of yourself. The only way will be to cook it yourself.

Now THAT is a big breakfast

Bacon, eggs, sausages, baked beans, mushrooms and potato gems. I forgot to buy hash browns, so the potato gems will have to do. This was the perfect way to wake up in the morning.

Eggy closeup

Pizza

I really gotta make my own pizza base one day. But the cool weather makes it hard for any dough to rise properly. So I bought some "Bazaar" pizza bases to make these pizzas.


Rich tomatoey base, topped with ham, onions, sundried tomato and loads of cheese. I then sprinkled some oregano ontop before baking it until the cheese went a nice golden brown.

Chunky steake and mushroom pie

In this cold cold weather, one of the most comforting things you can have is a lovely hearty pie. As much as I love my junk pies with the unknown meat gravy, I thought I might try my healthier version with chunky steak and mushrooms.

Chunky steak and mushroom pie with potato gems

Innards

I don't know how other pies get their filling so dark, I think it could be the stock they use or something. Even though it doesn't look like your typical pie filling, it definitely tasted like it.

Indonesian Oxtail soup

I first had this when I was in Singapore and I couldn't believe how flavoursome it was. I search the net for a recipe, and luckily, Lilia posted a comment on my post with a recipe! I followed the recipe and although it didn't taste exactly the same as what I had in Singapore (And I think thats cos I didn't put any msg in!), it was still delicious. This is rich, yet light. Almost like a really good Pho stock.


Chicken burger with a twist

I didn't exactly cook this, my friend did, but I did help assemble my serve!


Grilled chicken breast with avocado and sundried tomato burger.

Hokkien Fried Rice

This was a dish I tried about 15 years ago, and I loved it so much, I made my parents put it on our restaurant menu. When I cook this, I try to make it extra extra saucy. I love my sauce, especially if its on Hokkien fried rice.


The fried rice simply stir fried with egg and peas. The topping was a combination of diced chicken, prawns, mushrooms and asparagus. The sauce was made from the rehydrated mushroom water, chicken broth, oyster sauce, soya sauce and pepper. It doesn't look like a lot of sauce, but what I did was I dug a well in the centre of the rice before pouring a whole heap of sauce onto it.

That's a lot of cooking, but it was done over quite a few weeks, so don't think I ate all of that on one weekend! I've just been too lazy to post, but being the 600th post, I had to make a bit of an effort! Lets see what I can rack up for the 700th post?

GPO Woodfired Pizza

Since our work xmas party last year at GPO Martin Place, I've been addicted to the GPO Woodfired Pizza. I took one of my workmates there for our "World Safari" lunches since she missed out on the xmas party. Since we've move into different departments now, our World Safari lunches are once a month now.

Caprese Salad - Tomato, Bocconcini, mixed lettuce and balsamic vinegar

This isn't your traditional Caprese salad of just Tomato, Mozerella and Basil. It was still nice and refreshing. We thought we would be good and order a salad cos we were going to pig out on pizza!

Spicy Pizza of some sort

Salsiccia - Italian sausage, mushroom and spinach

The pizzas are incredibly light and crispy. Even though the pizzas look huge, the bases are quite thin. One large pizza will easily satisfy most hungry people. My favourite would have to be the Salsiccia pizza as it is loaded with mushrooms, and I love anything with mushrooms. The spicy pizza (Can't remember what its called) was a bit too oily and salty for my liking. I know a lot of guys love this as its the equivalent of a meat lovers. I've also had their Proscuitto and Funghi pizza, Potato pizza and Boscaiola. All were fantastic.

GPO Woodfired pizza is now open at night times. There's no bookings, but usually there are plenty of tables at lunch and dinner time.

Allysons Family Restaurant - Lebanese

I've never had Lebanese twice in a week. But I was up one night suddenly wanting to find out what was happening with our old family restaurant, when I found out about Allysons. Allysons is actually a few shops up from where our old restaurant used to be. Looking at the reviews, it sounded promising, so I conned a friend into going with me (So I can walk past our old restaurant to see how its doing).

As we walked in, I noticed a big table of about 20 people celebrating someone's birthday. To the right hand side, there was another room with a table set up for about 40 people. Luckily I had made a booking and was seated in no time. The decor is very simple, almost a bit sterile. But I was there for the food.

As I looked through the menu, I spotted Kibbi and knew I had to order it. Kibbi is the Lebanese version of Icili Kofte and it one of my favourite middle eastern dishes.

Kibbi

Crunchy on the outside, filled with a spicy lamb mince and pinenut mixture. It was sooooo good. Luckily, our platter came out and I wrapped these up with some dip an bread.

Mixed platter for one

We ordered a mixed platter for one to share. It came with a chicken kebab, shish kebab, kafte kebab, hommus, babaganoush, labne, garlic dip, tabouli and lots of lebanese bread (Both fresh and fried). I didn't think this was a lot of food shared between 2 people, but I was really really full by the time we finished this platter off. Which was a good thing, because the pizza we ordered was a complete disappointment.

Seafood pizza

I've never had a seafood pizza made almost entirely out of seafood stick. We actually counted before eating, that there were 2 prawns, 1 piece of fake crab meat and the rest was all seafood stick. The base was quite nice, but the excess seafood stick made the pizza almost sweet. And the cheese was strange in the sense that it didn't melt properly.

I would probably go back for the Lebanese food, and maybe the pizza again. But I'll definitely check what pizza other people are eating before ordering.

Homecook heroine...wannabe

I've been in a bit of a strange mood lately. Either I want to go out and party and spend up, or I want to stay home and mope whilst I think about my career. I've also been moping at friend's place which gives me a chance to whinge and work out what I really want in life right now, which is everything. The upside is, when I don't go out drinking and eating my salary away, I will be cooking up a storm.

SMJ Minestrone - Starring Cavalo nero

This was my "oh my god, I've been drinking 6 days straight" detox healthy soup of carrots, zucchini, potatoes, broccoli and cavalo nero. I have been staking out Woolies for the past 4 months after I found out that they're one of the few retailers that stock cavalo nero. And when I spotted the last packet on the shelves, I grabbed it before I realised what I would use it for. Using it in the soup really let me taste the natural sweetness that you don't always associate with cooked cabbage.

Chunky fried rice

Using leftover home made bbq pork, I added some chunky chicken before stir frying up the biggest wokful of carb loaded comfort food to an asian. Fried rice.

Shepherds pie

What better way to combat the cold, bone chilling weather we've had with a hot bubbling tray of shepherds pie. The filling was a combination of lamb mince and slowly stewed chunky beef, finely grated carrots, onions and peas. The next time I'm going to make this, I'm going to make it extra saucy, but in a deeper dish. A lot of the sauce bubbled over the sided of the tray and dried it out a tad.

Big BIG breakfast

What can I say? Theres nothing better than a big breakfast to cure a hangover. This was more lunch than breakfast, but it was good enough to eat 3 meals a day (If it doesn't kill you). Runny sunnyside up eggs, sausages, bacon, garlic mushrooms, grilled tomatoes, hash browns and baked beans, all served with crunchy hot toast.

Scotch fillet with pommes noisettes and garlic mushrooms

The steak was good, but the star of the show was really the pommes noisettes. I saw the photo of the pommes noisettes on TFP's website, I just KNEW I had to have some. The last time I had these would have been a good 6-10years ago. Damn it was good!!!

Curried sausages and mashed potatoes

I'm a bit obsessive compulsive. Like there was one time I watched "Everybody loves Raymond", and they had a scene where they were eating biscotti. Next thing you know, I'm googling a biscotti recipe and ripping everything out of my pantry to try and find flour to make biscotti at 10:30pm. I couldn't find any flour and was tempted to run to the shops in pouring rain so I could make biscotti. The only thing stopping me? It started thundering and lightening.

So when I was reading one of the forums, I saw a recipe for curries sausages. And ever since then, all I want to do is make curried sausages. Not that I followed the recipe, but its curry and sausages isn't it? Served with a pile of mashed potatoes to mop up the sauce...MmMMmm

Then I wanted to make pizza. Lots of it.

Attempt 1: Ham, cheese, onion and oregano pizza

Attempt 2: Ham, mushrooms, cheese, onion and oregano pizza

Attempt 3: Ham, mushrooms, cheese, onion, oregano and chilli pizza

And this? I didn't cook this. But I ate this with my workmate after a big night out where we both got kicked out of the bar. These are possibly some of the best squid in all of Sydney. They were crunchy and spicy. Lightly dusted with a chicken like salt, served with rocket and aioli. We also ordered a big bowl of chips to share. You can get this at Chicane on Bond St, opposite Australia Square. The BEST squid.