This local produce market has been one of the highlights of my 2012 Australian holiday so far. My mum has been coming here for years, but after all the times I’ve visited back home, this is the first time I made the effort to go myself.

It has made me so envious of the availability of delicious produce. Not only is there fresh local fruits and vegetables, but potted herbs, eggs, at least three different bakeries, flowers, and many stalls just selling the one thing they’ve got – local avocados, mushrooms or tomatoes.

Alongside the produce there’s a mini United Nations of vendors with easy to eat snacks. Last Saturday I tried Japanese Nikumaki, these funny little meat rice balls (amazing, especially with fresh green chillies and coriander sprinkled on top), and this week I watched a guy stretch out the dough by hand to make me a grilled Lebanese pancake, filled with spinach, feta, mushroom and pork mince. It was like a Lebanese quesadilla and it was delicious!

So, if you ever find yourself in this part of the world (southern end of the Gold Coast of Australia), check out the Palm Beach food & farmers’ market on a Saturday morning. Your taste buds will thank you!

OK, so no points for my woeful iPhone photography on this one, but trust me it was rather delicious, and took under 30 minutes to make. Weeknight dinner score!

Lemon Chicken

1. Take 2-3 chicken breasts and cut into thirds
2. whisk an egg in a bowl, coat chicken with egg
3. cover chicken in flour after the egg
4. put oil in a pan, wait until it’s really hot, drop in all the chicken at once
5. brown both sides while keeping the heat high
6. after brown, pour out any excess oil (leave a little) and then add 1 glass water with chicken stock cube
7. squeeze 3 or 4 lemons into the pan
8. put lid on, simmer on medium for about 10 minutes
9. turn down heat and turn chicken over. Let sauce reduce and thicken

Serve with cous cous and quickly sauteed broccoli, zucchini and peppers.

Check it out – what a thing of beauty!

After seeing this on TV last night, by this morning I am already looking up Amtrak fares to Philadelphia… and all for a sandwich! The roast pork and broccoli rabe sandwich at DiNic’s in the Reading Market Terminal.

Image thanks to a fellow sandwich lover at Flickr

Looking for something to do this weekend?

From today Friday 5 November through to Sunday 7th, the Real Food Market decends on London’s Southbank. La Fromagerie will be there serving up delicious cheeses (usually reserved for visitors to Marylebone), along with 40 other producers including the Flour Power City Bakery for great brownies and Woodward Farm for free-range beef and eggs.

I’m keen to check out the goods from Cafe-on for what is decribed as “French Patisseries with Asian flavours”. The macaroons on the Cafe-on website look delicious, and are gluten free!

Image borrowed from Cafe-on website

Opening times: Fri 11am-8pm; Sat 10am-6pm; Sun 12 noon-6pm

For more information and the complete list of producers: Real Food Market website

Another reason to be happy about my recent move to the South East of London – the London Particular. I read about this on the lovely Scrambling Eggs blog, and I can see it becoming a brunch favourite. Nice!

I’ve not yet had the chance to try this out, but it’s a great idea. Marky Market sources the best meat and fish from various markets around London, and then delivers it to your door. Prices are reasonable, and the produce no doubt tastes a million times better than what you’ll find in your local supermarket.

More info over at www.markymarket.com

A weekend in Melbourne or New York would feel incomplete without brunch in a cafe somewhere; so can you believe that after more than two years here, I’d never been out for a classic English breakfast? Well, now I have. And it was well worth the wait – yesterday morning I finally had one at SOS Cafe in London.

The place is owned by an Australian to be proud of – John Torode (of Masterchef fame) – the food was simple, classic stuff.  I had the number 2 – poached eggs, sausage, bacon, beans and toast. Tasty! The best bit was the atmosphere and staff -  totally warm, friendly and unpretentious. Just like the person I had breakfast with. I think I have found my No. 1 breakfast place in London!

This weekend I visited Zurich for the first time, and I’ve instantly fallen in love with the city. It does help that it was an unusually sunny and beautiful 27c on both days, but still – the place is gorgeous in every way. It’s noticeably lacking in hawkers, rubbish and unsavory humans; instead teeming with happy types, cute little independently-owned cafes and bars. It’s  lush with trees, and then it’s got THAT lake. It was perfect for what I love to do most – eat, wander, drink, chat, nap… repeat as desired.

After a quick glass of Perrier Jouet in our suite (with terrace!) we headed out to dinner at Restaurant Seerose, right on the lake. We ate all manner of delicious seafood and met some lovely Zurich locals at the next table. One of these gorgeous locals has the most envious job of all time – he travels the world making over hotels. His latest project is the Hotel Eden Au Lac, a palace of a building right on the lake. We went back there and enjoyed a cocktail on the hidden roof terrace that has views of the city and lake – divine.

The next day just got better with some lovely macaroons from Sprungli, a wander through the flea market, a walk around the lake AND a bratwurst! That evening saw the BEST steak sandwich ever (I’m suspecting it’s all in the chive and garlic butter…) from the Park Hyatt, and a visit to Katie’s soon to be new house.

Zurich – what’s not to love?!

The new Yotam Ottolenghi cookbook, Plenty, will hit the shelves in early May – just in time for summer BBQ season. The last one was full of delicious salads, tarts and sweet treats that could (mostly) be prepared in advance, meaning there wasn’t any fussing about when guests are around.

I look forward to trying out the new recipes on my unsuspecting BBQ friends in the coming months.

I’m a week and a half into my Australian summer christmas holiday. It took a few days to get into the vacation vibe; but now I’m waking early, baking & listening to music, swimming at the beach, napping, hanging with the fam & watching tonnes of movies. Christmas in the sunshine is great!

So the title of  this post was a bit of an excuse to post some pictures of the newest member of our family – little Caio. He’s 10 months old and it was hilarious fun snapping him mid bawling! he’s actually a really happy kid, more like the photo below. way too cute!

So, on to the recipes! when I visit my mums, I always bake up a storm. This time, the favorites by far were the cranberry & macadamia cookies and the apple cinnamon muffins. Recipes below.

CRANBERRY & MACADAMIA COOKIES

ingredients
- 2 cups plain flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup butter, melted
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups (chopped if needed) macadamia nuts
- 1 1/2 cups dried cranberries

directions

1. preheat oven to 190c (375f)
2. in a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda & salt and set aside
3. Beat together the melted butter, brown sugar, white sugar. Beat in the egg, then beat in the vanilla
4. gradually add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture, until just moistened. stir in the macadamia nuts and cranberries by hand
5. roll into tablespoon size balls and drop onto a greased or lined baking sheet, and press down the cookie dough with a fork to flatten (but not too much!). sprinkle with brown sugar if desired
6. bake 12-15 minutes or until edges look golden brown. cool on baking tray for 5 minutes before transferring to a rack

APPLE CINNAMON MUFFINS

ingredients
- 2 cups plain flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups chopped apples
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon plain flour
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon butter

directions

1. preheat oven to 190c (375f). grease muffin tin or put paper cups in tin
2. in a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda & salt and set aside
3. Beat together the butter, sugar and the eggs until smooth. mix in the vanilla
4. stir in apples and gradually blend in the flour mixture & spoon into muffin cases, filling almost to top
5. in a small bowl, mix brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. cut in the butter until mixture is like coarse crumbs. sprinkle over tops of mixture in muffin pan
6. bake 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until toothpick inserted in the centre of a muffin comes out clean. allow to sit for 5 minutes before removing muffins from the pan. cool on a wire rack.