Mother's Day and French Macarons

I have been having major problems with updating my blog - please excuse my entry being so late. But here's one you cannot miss - especially those who need to have their desserts.

I've always enjoyed French Macarons, I have special special memories having them with my sister and my cousins in Paris. They are little almond meringue cookies with a soft creamy filling. With the very good ones, there also came the very bad ones - those that are too sweet and don't have that chewiness that you're after. I never did find them in the cafes here in Adelaide - until my friend Cate gave me a few to sample.

Enter Pastille Petite Desserts-these Macarons are good! Cate's friend Sigrid has a booth at the Rundle Street Sunday Market and she offered seasonal flavours(fruit in season), vanilla, salted caramel and chocolate. For my first order I got to try raspberry, passion fruit/chocolate, chocolate, vanilla and salted caramel. Fruit flavours were good, but we fell in love with the salted caramel flavour!

Knowing my mom would be in town for Mother's Day, I had to order these little desserts for her. Pastille Petite Desserts accepts orders with a 2 doz. minimum (single falvour per doz.) and with free delivery around the Adelaide CBD. Cost per piece is $1.50 at the Rundle Street Market (2nd & 4th Sundays only) and $36 for 2 doz. pcs.

'Til the next post!

Sharlyn

Salted Caramel & Chocolate French Macarons

Pastille Petite Desserts

P. 0432 066 138
E. info@pastille.com.au

The Tomahawk! Just Cos

If you've been following my blog, you would have come across a few restaurants we eat in quite often. One of them is a steak house in the city named, Cos!

One dish Mart and I could never eat just on our own was the Tomahawk! When my family was over for a visit and wanted the best Aussie steak dinner - we knew this was the place to take them. The Tomahawk is a rib eye steak - char grilled to your desired wellness and is served with different potato sides and several dipping sauces. Size of the steaks start from around 1.2 kilos and can go up to around 3!

For our dinner, we settled with a 1.5 kilo steak for 6 people and my dad ordered his own 300g Scotch Fillet. This dish did not disappoint! We were very happy with the flavour and of course the meat was not dry. I would have been happy though if all the sides were just the truffle scented mash instead of all different kinds of potatoes. Some of which were left almost untouched in the table. The sauce selection ranged from mushroom cream sauce, to bearnaise sauce, to different kinds of mustards and a peppercorn sauce - great for large groups.

Check out the pictures we took with the rib eye bone!

'Til the next post!

Sharlyn

Family picture with our little (well...not so little) feast!

Close up on the meat please!

Sides of pomme frittes, wedges, potato cubes, mash and mushrooms

Mich loving the truffled scented mash! Our favourite - smells divine!

Yes - that's the bone!

For real!

Contact information from www.justcos.com.au

Address 
18 Leigh St Adelaide
S.A 5000

Phone: 8231 7611
Fax: 8231 7644

Email: cos@justcos.com.au

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Opening Hours
Monday - Friday 12 pm to 3 pm (lunch)
Monday - Saturday 6 pm - late (dinner) 

Justin's favourite meal - Hahndorf Inn Hotel

During a quick breakfast in the airport, I asked all my family members what their favourite meal in Adelaide was, interestingly no two answers were the same. For my brother Justin, his answer was Hahndorf Inn hands down!

Tucked in the charming Main Street of Hahndorf in the Adelaide Hills, the Hahndorf Hotel has a front bar, restaurant and al fresco area serving diners all day. Aside from the German beers on tap, they have an extensive wine selection. My first encounter with Hahndorf Inn was when I joined a tour of the area back in 2007 - the tour offered a tasting of 3 beers on tap and with that ofcourse we had to have the sausages on offer. Ever since then, it has been a favourite of ours and we find that it's the better option from the other hotels in the area. 

After a nice drive from the city, we arrive at Hahndorf Inn and took a table in the restaurant area. Since it was the first visit of my family we decided to pick our meal from the Taste of Germany Menu and picked the Taste of Germany Platter and the Six Star Sausage Combination. The menu says these dishes serves 2 but the platters were enough for our party of 7. The German Platter had a selections of sausages with pork chop, pork knuckle, potatoes and sauerkraut.  The Six Star Combination was a platter of Wursts and Kranskys served with pretzels. They bring a selections of mustards to the table to accompany the sausages. I have to say that the knuckle deserves special mention, the pork meat was very tender and juicy and very easy to tear from the bone. The platters are great for big groups because there's something to keep everyone happy. 

For the next visit I'd like to try their steaks or ribs from the char grill menu!

'Til the next post!

Sharlyn

Sandra & Mich in front of the Menu Board

Home baked garlic bread, $5.90

Taste of Germany Platter, $ 52.90

Six Star Sausage Combination, $ 42.90

Happiness!!! 

Contact Information taken from http://www.hahndorfinn.com.au

35 Main Road

Hahndorf SA 5245, Australia

(08) 8388 7063

Road Trip to Victor Harbour & Nino's Cafe!

While my family was here we took several trips out of the city to show them some sites. One of the trips we took was out to the Fleuirieu Peninsula to explore Victor Harbour and cross over to Granite Island.

Part of the attractions are the Whale Center, the Horse Drawn Tram and the penguins on the island. Part of my research for the trip, was not only sites and attractions but also good places to eat. And after my food search, I settled with Nino's Cafe. Located at the end of Main Street at Albert's place it was an easy wall from the parking areas and all the attractions we went there to see.

Pretty much an institution in the area, the cafe has been open for over 27 years and has recently been sold to new owners after the original owners retired.  They offer quality italian food in a casual environment, this is what I wanted to bring our guests to. Somewhere where we can relax after quite a drive and be able to recharge as we explore the town.

Finding the place was a bit tricky, since all the restaurants are quite close to each other - but with the help of Mart's iphone we confirmed that we were going the right direction and found the cafe. We were seated in the ground floor and the lunch crowd was growing as we settled into our table. Nino's fare is typical of a pizzeria - offerings range from soups, salads, gourmet and traditional pizzas and their pasta selection. For their main's, Mart and Justin ordered their lasagna and I'm so glad they did.

From all our orders, I have to say the lasagna was the stand out favourite. The menu describes it to be Angela Solari's original recipe with layers of ham, cheese and pasta topped with a bolognese sauce. This is the ultimate comfort food. It's the best lasagna I've tried here in South Australia - it screams home cooked and is worth coming back for.

'Til the next post!

Sharlyn

Calamari $18.50

Garlic Pizza, small $4.50   large $8

*we had 2 large orders and it was no trouble finishing it off! so good!

Spaghetti Bolognese $16.90

Home made beef lasagna $18

Nino's

Albert Place

Victor Harbour SA

Ph: 08 8552 3501