Ingredients for the pandan coconut ganache filling

• 250g of white chocolate- preferably chocolate chips/buttons or chopped up or grated
• 150ml of coconut cream
• 80g of butter 
• Pandan extract  - from asian groceries 

 Method for pandan coconut ganache filling

1. Place the white chocolate in a large bowl 
2. In a saucepan, bring the coconut cream to the boil 
3. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate. Whisk to combine. 
4. Allow to cool then add the diced butter and combine well until smooth
5. Add the panadan extract. I used about 5mL, but it's up to you how strong you want the flavour and the colour of the filling.
6. Cover the ganache with the cling wrap in contact with the surface of the ganache so a skin doesn't form 
7. Refrigerate until firm

Ingredients for the macaron shell:

• 300g of almond meal
• 300g of icing sugar
• 300g of caster sugar 
• 75ml of water 
• 2x 110g of egg whites  (room temperature) 
• dessicated coconut dyed with green food colouring for decoration 

Follow the method from my previous post to make the macaron shell. To dye the dessicated coconut, put about half a cup into a small sandwich bag, add some green food colouring and shake. Sprinkle the green dessicated coconut on top the shells.




I adapted this recipe from Adriano Zumbo's Zumbarons. Using pandan leaves instead of extract probably would have given a more distinct panadan flavour.Thanks SDE for the help!

I decided to go for the scrambled eggs with kiahler potatoes, shitake and enoki mushroom, parmesean, silverbeet on sourdough toast ($14). This was probably a bad choice on my part as I'm not a big fanatic of mushrooms in particular, so the abundance of mushrooms in my dish was overwhelming. However, the buttered sourdough bread was a good complement to the smoky taste of the mushroom and bitterness of silverbeet. Anyhow, I probably wouldn't order this again.

Ingredients for the macaron shell:

• 150g of almond meal
• 150g of hazelnut meal 
• 300g of icing sugar
• 300g of caster sugar 
• 75ml of water 
• 2x 110g of egg whites  (room temperature)

 Ingredients for the hazelnut and chocolate ganache filling:

• 300g of cooking milk chocolate - preferably chocolate chips/buttons or chopped up or grated (option: replace a portion with dark chocolate so it's not as sweet)
• 200ml of thickened cream 
• 50g of butter - diced
• 50g of hazelnut meal or chopped hazelnut pieces

 Method for hazelnut chocolate ganache

1. Place the chocolate in a large bowl 
2. In a saucepan, bring the cream to the boil 
3. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate. Whisk to combine. 
4. Allow to cool for a couple of minutes then add the diced butter and combine well until smooth
5. Optional: add chopped hazelnuts or hazelnut meal 
6. Cover the ganache with cling wrap, with the cling wrap in contact with the surface of the ganache so a skin doesn't form 
7. Refrigerate until firm

Method for macaron shell:

1. Combine the hazelnut meal, almond meal and icing sugar, preferably in a food processor.  If you don't have a food processor like myself, be prepared to sift the mixture several times to make sure it is fine.
2. Mix the first portion of egg whites with the dry ingredients until well combined (Refer right) and set aside
3. In a saucepan, dissolve the sugar in the water and bring to the boil.
4. As it is starting to boil, start beating the remaining portion of the egg whites until soft peaks
5. Once the sugar syrup reaches approximately 115-118°C, take off the heat and slowly begin to pour the syrup in a thin stream down the side of the bowl into the egg whites. Continue to beat egg whites while doing this. (This is the hardest step for me, since I have a hand held mixer and have to multi-task all these steps at once. I highly suggest if you don't have a stand alone mixer, you get someone to help you!). The egg whites should thicken up and form a meringue mixture.
6. Continue to beat the meringue mixture for approximately10 minutes so it cools.
7. Using a spatula, add approximately a third of the meringue into the previous mixture containing the hazelnut meal, almond meal, icing sugar and egg whites. Fold through until the mixture begins to loosen.
8. Fold in the remaining meringue until well combined. The mixture should slowly fall off the spatula.
9. Now the mixture is ready to pipe! I find it best to draw a stencil of circles onto baking paper. You can make the circles however big or small you want. Make sure there is equal amount of space between each circle, approximately 2-3cm.
10. Place the stencil underneath another sheet of baking paper and start piping. Best way to pipe is to hold the piping bag in one position and pipe straight down.  You can then remove the stencil and reuse it to keep piping.
11. For decoration, I sprinkled some leftover hazelnut meal on top of the macaron shells.
12. Before putting the macarons into the oven, leave them at room temperature for approximately 30 minutes. You will be able to see the skin or you can gently touch the surface with your finger and it should not stick.
13. While waiting for the skin to form, preheat the oven to approximately 135°C.
14. Bake the macarons for approximately 14-16 minutes.
15. Remove from the oven and set aside for 2 minutes.
16. Let the shells cool and then start pairing them up according to size. The shells should come off easily from the baking paper but you may put them on a dampened bench top to make it easier to remove.
17. Start piping the hazelnut chocolate filling. Pipe the mixture onto one shell then sandwich it with the other shell. Voila!
18. Refrigerate overnight before eating; it makes it tastes so much chewier!

I had so much ganache left, I also quickly made bite sized cupcakes! I used this recipe, but just added extra milk to make the mixture a bit runnier.
With my macaron recipe I had help from these references:

• Secrets of Macarons by Jose Marechal
• Zumbarons: A fantasy land of macarons by Adriano Zumbo

I first heard about Revolver when JHL and I were in search for Sydney's best burger. In doing my research I consulted my SMH Everyday Eats Guide 2012 where Revolver won the award of 'Favourite Burger'. We were meaning to visit the cafe for a while now, and had finally found time to stop by for brunch before our Sculptures by the Sea date.

The cafe is hidden in the quiet streets of Annandale and transformed from what used to be a cornerstore. The interior design emitted a vintage and archaic vibe. We noticed the cafe had a wide range of clientele ranging from uni  students, locals, oldies, businessmen/women. It is definitely the place you go to when you want to a have a nice catchup with friends over good food and coffee.


Of course we had to order Sydney's favourite burger, named the 'Ultimate cheeseburger' topped with smoked mozzarella, old school pickles, beetroot, rocket and tomato served with a side of rosemary salted lemon chat potatoes ($14.50) . It looked too good to eat! However, with the first bite the burger was addictive, we couldn't get enough. The bun was perfect, the meat patty was juicy and the mozarella was smoked just to the right degree. The fillings gave an interesting combination of sweet and sour which complimented each other.

Another thing that stood out besides the food was the excellent customer service we received from the moment we approached the cafe till our departure.

Also, be sure to check out Sculptures by the Sea this year at Bondi Beach to Tamarama Beach before it ends this Sunday! Some snippets below.



Revolver
Address: 291 Annandale Street, Annanadale 2038
Phone:  (02) 9555 4727
Opening times: Mon to Sun, 8am - 4pm
Website: http://revolver.com.au/ 

Parramatta Lanes was a new addition this year to the festival's lineup of events. The event was hosted over four nights (18, 19, 25 and 26 Oct) from 4.30-9pm. JHL and I headed up last Friday after work to check out the festivities. We found ourselves exploring hidden lanes that we have never stumbled upon previously, all which were retouched for the event to create a different theme and atmosphere.

Our first stop was Darcy Lane where we were greeted with sounds of a live band seated on top of the La Toosh carriage immediately transforming the hidden street into a Parisan street dining atmosphere. La Toosh hosted a range of sweet and savoury crepes however we had to give it a miss that night as we were searching for solid food to fill our bellies.



It was our bellies that led us to  The Gourmet Rotisserie, mesmerized by the glorious rotating meat. We couldn't resist grabbing each of the panini sandwiches - Porchetta (with onion and fennel marmalade - $15) and Chicken (with ailoi $13). We seated ourselves on the colourful deck chairs ready to dig in. Both the chicken and pork were both juicy and tender but we couldn't ignore the fact that there wasn't enough of it in the sandwiches.

Our bellies which were not yet filled, were drawn over to Pinbone  two stalls down which houses a 2 for $10 hot dog or meat wrap special. Of course we grabbed one of each to share plus a fruit iced tea (white tea, pineapple, apple, mint, lime -$5) to wash it down. The hot dog was topped with a unique combination of corn cheese, sauerkraut, sriracha hot sauce, and prawn crackers. Oddly enough, it didn't taste too bad, with the hot sauce giving it an extra kick, however our only complaint was the bread was a tad hard to bite into.

The beef wrap was filled with smoked beef brisket, watercress, cucumber, tomato, rice, beans and chipotle dressing. My gosh, it must of been the best wrap I have ever had. The beef was so tender, bursting with flavour and the combination of the fillings was so refreshing and light. We loved it so much we had to go back and seconds!



Next stop was Batman Walk which had stalls from Cira Bakery and Cafe Sotto. Never had an arancini before, JHL without any thought, grabbed the bolognese arancini ($4) from Cafe Sotto. For his first arancini he was not disappointed. The rice casing had the perfect texture and crunch with the bolognse sauce and mozzarella filling oozing out.

Red Cow Lane was serving gelato and coffee from Bar Coco but we gave it a miss knowing there was still one more stop at Erby Place. Erby Place was asian inspired, decorated with lanterns and paper cranes hung up among the Jacaranda trees. Having tried the curry and rice from Jackie M at the Night Noodle Markets couple of weeks before, we opted for the Chicken Char Kway Teow (Stir fried rice noodles with garlic, beansprouts, chives and egg -$13) and Prawn Laksa Nonya ($15). We seated ourselves on the cushioned milk crates and indulged in our Malaysian dishes. The laska was creamy and coconutty with an abundance of prawns and the Char Kway Teow, although a tad bit oily, had a good balance of flavours.


All in all, although we were a tad excited and overindulged just a bit, we really enjoyed our night out exploring Parramatta. I hope next year there there will be more events like Parramatta Lanes.