Curry time!

So I was all on Facebook chat instead of doing my essay which is due tomorrow and I was chatting to my friend Abbey and somehow I got her to agree with me that I should go get curry. So I scurried (haha) down the road a few meters and ended up in Indian Tukka.

I have only recently (like a year) become acclimatised with Indian food. Because well lets just say...I don't like spicy food! Okay I've admitted it, I can go cry into my lemon and herb Nando's seasoning and drink a glass of water or two.
Because I can't handle spicy foods I was convinced by all and sundry that I would never be up to the challenge of Indian food. So whenever Indian was put forward as a valid dinner option I would put on my best toddler face and say "I don't like Indian" and all would obey for fear of seeing a teenage girl throw a Clueless tantrum.
Then one day I was in Paris, it was Bastille Day and when in Paris one must do as the French, be all patriotic and what not and eat curry. To my surprise - no burnt mouth, no drinking a fish tank of water and none of the dreaded Dehli belly that my mother had so adamantly claimed was the fate of all Indian diners.

So the point of the story is...
You should go eat at Indian Tukka, right now. It's located practically on the corner of Victoria Parade and Wellington Street. The people who run it are very friendly and polite. Tonight I ordered the Saag Aloo (Potatoes cooked in a rich puree spinach sauce) it was delicious and will surely get me through the last 500 words of this essay. I have also tried the Navrattan (Vegetable) Korma warmed up for breakfast straight from the fridge, this is thanks to the wonder that I call Abbey. No one else in the world could bring flowers to your party and leave you with curry.
Also the Naan bread is really, really good. Get 2 serves trust me, or as my mum would say "Go Girl!", actually maybe she was talking about the essay.

Alright I'll stop procrastinating, but here's the Take Away number 9419 4199 or 0425 711 674, use it!

Squirrelled away

It's cold. I now wear my cardigan instead of carrying it and my circulation is already being aided by woolen socks worn night and day. This change in weather has influenced my eating habits. I have become much less inclined to venture out of doors or it may also be due to the large amount of mid-semester University assignments I should be doing...right now. But it's best not to think about reasons and instead focus on results.
30mins prior to this post I just consumed the most delicious meal made all by myself in my shoe box apartment and toy sized kitchen.

The recipe is from Sophie Dahl's cook book 'Voluptuous Delights' which I highly recommend you obtain and devour. I know you may be a little hesitant about a cook book written by a model, as we all know Kate Moss will not be producing a cook book in this lifetime. But then Sophie Dahl is a very different type of model (she eats...a lot) and is also the most divine looking creature on the planet. Her cook book is sectioned off into seasons so I started with the first recipe in Autumn - Poached Eggs on Portobello Mushrooms with goat's cheese.

They key to the deliciousness of this recipe I believe lies in the use of fresh ingredients.

Mushrooms:
I sourced my fungi from the Wild about Fruit: Farm Shop on the Cnr Edward & Coldstream West Rds, Coldstream. This is were I buy my fresh produce each week on the way to my parent's farm in the Yarra Valley. These field mushrooms were incredibly cheap and taste sublime. Trust me you haven't eaten a mushroom until it's been picked from an open field. They make supermarket mushrooms taste like cardboard.

Goat's Cheese:
The best soft cheeses in Melbourne I believe reside in one building, The Yarra Valley Dairy. For this recipe I used the marinated Chevre Medallions, alas I am also obsessed with the marinated Persian Fetta and the Black Savourine.

How to assemble:
De-stalk 2 large field mushrooms, place in a frying pan and douse in olive oil, top and bottom. While this is cooking, take a free range egg and poach it. I find using glad wrap to be the fool-proof way but whatever poaches your yolk is fine. When the mushrooms are browned and tender, move them onto a plate to cool.
Line the base of a flat bowl with baby spinach, place the mushrooms on top and then the poached egg should be transferred without the glad wrap to rest upon the fungi. Generously crumble goats cheese all over and you have heaven on a plate-bowl.

Enjoy my dears and stay out of the cold.