Cocktails, Canapes and Cake...April 30th!

It's time to Celebrate ONE Year of Tablenosh!  Come join the 'Cocktails, Canapés and Cake' Party on April 30th.

It is hard to believe it has already been a year of my 'underground' restaurant journey...a great year of gathering people around my table to enjoy different foods (I can hardly believe I really did it!).  I am not quite sure what this year is going to bring but I have a few ideas!  I hope April 30th will re-energize me for another year another fun 'tablenosh' experience in itself.  

I seem to be on a major cake kick this year, so I thought why not bake up a few more cakes for my tablenosh one year birthday!  Everyone loves cake...right?  I am envisioning 3 cakes, one carrot cake w/cream cheese frosting, one chocolate cake w/mocha mousse filling and a citrus cake with passion fruit custard and lemon buttercream icing...yummmmmmmy!

And for all the savoury people I will feature my favorite canapés and compliment it all with a few special cocktails!  

 

If you want to join in the fun and food just shoot me an email and I will book you a spot!

tablenosh for friends and neighbors

So, recently I must admit I have lost a bit of momentum for tablenosh (please feel free to encourage me!).  Maybe I overdid it and am all cooked out or maybe I need to leave more space in between dinners.  I am not really sure but am trying to re-think things to get myself motivated again!

One of my recent thoughts has been to focus on dinner parties with friends and if they want to bring a neighbor a guest then that's fine but if not, no worries.  This may have come from the fact that last weekend I had to cancel tablenosh due to a horrible migraine, but had so much food that the next night I just invited a bunch of friends over to enjoy it (and a few of them were very generous and chipped in on the cost).  It ended up being really fun to sit down and enjoy what I was preparing with friends (plus I love Mexican food and that was the theme!).

My scary fish w/lime, chilli and coriander!

In regards to costs I will ask friends to chip in 5-10$ for the evening (which will still include at least 3 courses, etc.).  This way I still get to do my cooking, some of the costs get covered and I can enjoy an evening with friends.  Seeing as this is probably our last year in Australia I thought I really want to make time for our current friendships.  However, this being said I will keep the doors open for strangers and other guests as well.  So, if you are stumbling across my site and think I really want to come to a 'tablenosh dinner' then just let me know and I will make you a friend too!

At the moment I am scheduled to do a Tablenosh Celebration evening on April 30th.  This will be a cocktails and canapes style party and is open to anyone.  I just need you to email and let me know you want to come leilanel@hotmail.com.

Learning to Cater...

The last three weekends I have had some type of catering responsibility.  First the wedding cake, then a morning tea birthday party and last weekend a 70th birthday buffet lunch for 40 people.  I am learning a lot! 

Over-catering is easy to do and we live in a society that tends to do just this, which sadly means a waste of money time and food!  This is something I am working on.  I have realized it is easier to do when you have finger foods or canapes or you are plating the dinner yourself, otherwise it is hard to know how much people will eat.  Generally you can expect guests to eat 4-6 peices of food and also you can know exactly how much should fill a person up.  With buffet style things I am learning this is a lot harder...go figure there was a lot of salad left over!

As for me and catering, I have decided I would probably be better at making specific items for people such as a cheesecake or a cake.  I think I might have to stick with the 10 people dinner parties or smaller until I get a better functioning kitchen!

Although the next BIG tablenosh event is for 30 people...I am throwing a Tablenosh One Year celebration/birthday party on April 30th.  If you are interested in coming book yourself a spot now!

My first wedding cake!

So, about a month ago a young couple we know called me to see if I would be willing to make their wedding cake!  They were having a fairly low budget wedding and said anything would do...now, it has been a dream of mine to make a wedding cake before I die, little did I know it would come before I had even taken a class!  Obviously I said yes and then decided I might as well give it my best shot.  I emailed the woman who made my cake in the US and asked for her help and also sought help from my cousin who has just gotten into making cakes.  They were both VERY helpful!

After the practice round last weekend I took a short break and then got back into making the REAL thing!  I started baking on Thursday night for a Saturday wedding.  I was going for 3 tiers, two would be chocolate with a raspberry glaze and filled with vanilla custard cream and raspberries.  The middle tier was a Lemon Sour Cream Cake with a raspberry glaze and filled with lemon custard cream.  The icing was Swiss Meringue Buttercream with a hint of Maple. I am just not a fan of fondant icing or icing that does not taste good.  However I now realize it is VERY hard to get this icing smooth...I did not quite figure it out, I will have to learn the trick next time.

So Thursday night I made the first batch of cakes, basically I had to make six cakes, two of each size.  I also made the frosting and started on the mascarpone custard filling (which I must admit is a Leila Original and a favorite!).  To make the swiss meringue buttercream frosting you use a LOT of egg whites and butter and begin by whisking the eggwhites and the sugar over heat until it reaches a certain temperature and the sugar can dissolve.  The you whip the eggwhites until glossy peak form.  I must add I am EXTREMELY thankful for the new mixer I bought last week, I am not really sure how I operated without it!  Next you add the butter and keep mixing until it begins to look SO smooth and delicious.

Friday I finsihed baking the other four cakes, they all seemed to turn out pretty good.  I finished off the custard filling, made the raspberry glaze and started to ice the cakes.  I needed to have each tier iced and filled so they could go in the fridge overnight.

Saturday morning I got up and made another small batch of frosting and then I hit a problem...I could NOT get the frosting the same color as the day before.  I ended up trying to re-ice all 3 cakes...with a very THIN layer of icing.  As you can notice from my picture, there is a little bit of a two-toned look happening! Oops.
I put wooden dowels through each tier and then boxed each section up and got ready to transport.  Needless to say I was feeling a little nervouse about the drive!  But they all made it safe and sound. 

Once I got to the church reception site I unloaded and set out to stack the cakes and do the final decorations.  I went with a very simple 'pearl' border since I was going to use fresh flowers to decorate it as well.

I managed to get all the tiers stacked and the icing as smooth as possible, I am still sad about my 'two-toned' look but hey what can ya do!  Here is another picture of the final product. 

This is Scott one of our friends who claims the cake was also really yummy!  Yay!  First wedding cake down...now what next?

Wedding Cake Practice

I have been asked to make my very first Wedding Cake!  Very exciting and overwhelming all at the same time.  I have never taken a cake class or anything, so this is an adventure.  I have spent the weekend practicing my cakes, fillings and frostings.  A lot of cake has been consumed! 

southern roots...

What can I say I do love the South (USA that is)... I kicked off my first tablenosh dinner this year with a few southern classics and some new recipes out of a recently purchased cookbook from the best Chefs in Charleston.  Hopefully the Australian diners were not too overwhelmed with new flavors, foods and concepts!

For example 'grits', what in the world you ask are 'grits'?  They are basically the inside of the corn kernal also called hominy and very similar to polenta.  They are a traditional southern food and often served for breakfast alongside eggs.  Over the years the chef's of Charleston, South Carolina and other places have come up with creative and delicious ways to serve this simple food.  I imported some grits back with me this trip and cooked them up for last night's dinner.  The featured Main Dish for the evening was called 'Low-country Shrimp & Grits.'   Which is basically a cajun shrimp dish, with onions, tomatoes, peppers, bacon and spicy sausage peices.  I think most people enjoyed it.

Mint Julep Martini

As for the rest of the menu...the evening started with a 'Mint Julep Martini' and Truffled Risotto Balls w/tomato jam.  A 'mint julep' is a popular southern drink made with mint infused sugar syrup and bourbon.  I squeezed in some orange juice, added a few drops of vanilla vodka, triple sec and topped it off with tonic.  Delish!

Truffled Risotto Balls w/ Tomato Jam

I served a Strawberry Salad w/baby spinach, carmelized walnuts and feta for the entree along with some buttermilk biscuits.  And for dessert we had blueberry peach cobbler with vanilla bean custard cream (that was the best part).

I think this year will be about recipes I love as well as experimenting and I have a feeling this new cookbook could be the inspiration for more than one Tablenosh dinners, so I hope the Aussies grow to love my southern roots!

The next tablenosh event will be a Tablenosh Re-launch/Birthday Party!  Stay tuned!

Back to the Blog!

Clearly I have been keeping myself busy and slowly falling behind with my blogging!  I just landed back in Sydney this morning and figured I better get back with the program.  The US was a fabulous time and even included a few exceptional dining experiences, which was a real treat. 


A beautiful chicken dish from 'Lucques', Los Angeles

As far as my own new recipes go, I have decided I will shoot for 50 original perfected recipes by the end of the year.  I have two in the works at the moment and a few to work on from last year.  Once I perfect them I will document the actual recipe and create a space for them on the blog. 

 Gingerbread Trifle - Leila Original #2 (still needs a little tweaking)

In terms of Tablenosh Dinners and Events, I am up and running!  I did a small 'tapas and sangria girls' night when I was in Virginia, but the first tablenosh dinner in Sydney is listed below and there are a few spots available.  I have determined the cuisine yet, but will keep you posted.  I am hoping to get some new flavors happening this year and lots of NEW people around the table!  I have also booked some private catering events, so if you have an idea and need some help with the food don't hesitate to ask me, it would be great to do some private parties or special dinners this year.

Upcoming Nosh Dinners:

February 19th at 7pm
March 12th at 7pm

The Final Five...including the Snow Egg

Somehow I managed to get them all finished by New Years Eve, including the incredibly difficult and time consuming recipe for 'The Snow Egg' from one of Sydney's most renowned restaurant's called Quay.  

96. Spinach & Feta Pastry

97.  Balsamic Strawberries w/ Mascarpone Cream

98.  Creamy Broccoli Soup

99. Buttermilk Fried Chicken w/Spiced Peach Gravy (this was amazing, from a new cookbook called 'Chefs of Charleston)

And then there was number 100...'The Snow Egg'
http://www.lifestylefood.com.au/recipes/12484/guava-snow-egg

Frankly I really thought this was NOT gonna happen (in fact if it were not for my support team, cousin Katie and my husband, there is no way I would have done it).  So, I got up on New Year's Eve and started to review the recipe, only to realize I should have been preparing for this thing WEEKS in advance!  Some of the ingredients and tools needed were going to be impossible to find.  The first was the 6inch hemisphere molds needed to make the poached meringues, where on earth was I gonna find these things??  I could only locate them online, clearly I was going to have to improvise (notice my snow egg is more like a snow muffin :). 

Then there were the ingredients, I looked for guava and for custard apples, but they were NO where to be found in Richmond, Virginia.  So, I decided I would have to alter the recipe and use different fruits, the icecream would be mango-banana and the granita & fruit puree would be strawberry-raspberry. 

Once I returned home from the grocery store I was already pushing noon and this is when I read in the recipe that the granita needed to be in the freezer for at least 12 hours!  This is when I decided we would bring in the new year toasting with dessert.  Needless to say I clearly needed to make this granita first.  This basically consisted of boiling my fruit in sugar syrup and then pushing it through a sieve and then pouring it into a baking dish to go in the freezer. 

Next up was the custard, which again I realized was another step where it needed to chill for six hours after you make it!  I figured the custard part shouldn't be to hard as I have made creme brulee a lot this year and that was pretty much what I was making, the only mishap was I trying to convert the measurements and accidentally put in a 1/2 cup too much sugar, making for very sweet custard!

Poached Meringues

After the custard was done and setting in the fridge it was time to work on the poached meringues that I was going poach in cupcake tins.  I could hardly believe it when they actually worked!  Of course it made for a rather large and odd shaped snow egg, but hey at least it worked.

Now somewhere in there I also make the 'berry puree' that would later be mixed with the cream to be 'strawberry fool' (that is what Peter Gilmour calls it).  And somewhere along the way I also realized I was going to need an icecream MAKER - oops another failed oversight on my part!  Hence why I needed to read the recipe well in advance!  Very fortunate for me, my aunt happens to have one and lives 10 minutes away, my sweet husband headed out to get it.  And I got started on the mango & banana.

I have never made icecream before, so this was actually pretty cool.  Sadly the banana completely overpowered the mango, but otherwise it worked out really well and was yummy.

The other element needed for the recipe is called a 'malose tuille', this was the saddest part of my snow egg...I could not find liquid maltose anywhere and thought maybe I would be able to improvise.  Sadly my attempts did not work and there was no tuille, there was a crispy sugary powder that I sprinkled on but just not the same :(

At 11:30pm I headed to the kitchen to begin to put all the elements together and make this fabulous creation.  I made a last attempt to make a tuille and failed and finally decided it would have to do without.  We toasted with the snow eggs at about 12:10 (I figure it was still 2010 in California).  I don't think I will go into detail about the taste, let's just say it was good but I am going to have to give it another try once I get back to Sydney, because it was nowhere close to perfect.  But I was very pleased I gave it a shot and it was a great way to finish out the year, 2010 has been a learning experience indeed!

I am looking forward to cooking up some new recipes in 2011 and definitely looking forward to Tablenosh Dinners...hope to see you at my table!

Upcoming Dinners/Events:

Tablenosh Tapas & Sangria Girls NightJanuary 16th
Nelson County, VA

Tablenosh Dinner
February, 19
Inner West, Sydney

Holiday Baking and 'Christmas Rocky Road' Recipe

Brown Sugar Pavlova w/Custard Cream & Berries

Holiday baking has pretty much been non-stop and the sad news is I still need to do FIVE more NEW recipes before the end of the year!  I believe it is crunch time and at the moment I am feeling pretty 'cooked out' after three days of baking and making Christmas dinner last night! 

One of my favorite recipes of the season has been this little creation and I am calling it 'Christmas Rocky Road', here is my recipe, but you can doctor it to your liking. 



Christmas Rocky Road Recipe

2 cups dark chocolate chips or chocolate pieces

1 cup milk chocolate chips or pieces

1 tablespoon of butter

8 candy canes crushed

10 chocolate cookies (biscuits) crumbled

3 cups marshmallows (mini or large ones cut up)

Place a heatproof bowl over boiling water and place chocolate and butter in the bowl. Stir once the chocolate has started to melt until completely smooth and then remove from heat. Stir in the rest of the ingredients and spread into a baking dish with parchment paper. I sprinkled extra crushed candy cane on top. Place in the refrigerator to cool and once hardened cut into slice it up. Enjoy.



Christmas Rocky Road

Roasted Cornish Hens & Sweet Potato Risotto, Chocolate Orange Biscotti, Self-saucing Brandy Pudding

Roasted Cornish Hen w/Sweet Potato Risotto & Cranberry

NINE more to go...I am getting there!  With 2 Christmas parties to cater and Christmas dinner I should have no problem finishing my challenge.  The last three recipes were Roasted Cornish Hens w/ Sweet Potato Rissotto & Cranberry Sauce, Chocolate & Orange Biscotti and last night I made Self-saucing Brandy Pudding.

Chocolate Dipped Orange Biscotti

The Cornish Hens were delicious and definitely would do this recipe again, would have been really nice with sweet potato mash and maybe some greens.  I am not that impressed with the biscotti, but unless you have a nice warm drink to dip in let's face it biscotti is just so dry!  As for the brandy pudding, it was lovely but was a little low on the sauce, so I think with a bit more sauce and maybe even some nuts or something else in there it would have been even better.

Self-Saucing Brandy Pudding

Easy Hors d'oeuvres

Dates wrapped in Prosciutto 

Yesterday I had the pleasure of catering a jewelry party for my mom, isn't it nice to be home!  My mom is a jewelry designer and launching a new concept of people having parties to come together and learn about the jewelry, have some fun and hopefully make some purchases!  Feel free to check out her website http://www.krobinsdesigns.com/ . 

Crackers w/Brie & Fig Jam

The only new recipe was the 'rocky road', however, I did alter it a bit (added dried cranberries instead of glace cherries and almond flakes instead of macadamia nuts!)  As for the other delectable eats, they included: Mozzarella, Cherry Tomato & Pesto Bruschetta, Spinach & Roasted Red Pepper Tartlets, Salmon & Cucumber Crostini, Proscuitto wrapped dates and crackers w/fig & brie.
It was a lovely afternoon and a pleasure to cater for my mom. 

Tonight I am determined to make another new recipe, cornish hens w/sweet potato risotto & cranberry sauce.
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Cornish-Game-Hens-with-Sweet-Potato-Risotto-and-Cranberry-Sauce-104344