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Patates in Spanakopita recipe paper – Hellenic Republic

Image by avlxyz

We went to Hellenic Republic to check out what the fuss with George Calombaris’ new casual dining Greek restaurant, dubbed the "Jetstar version of the Press Club".

My highlight of the night was a silky smooth taramosalata, the famous Greek cod roe dip, but it’s not pink. Instead it was milky white with the consistency of a stiff marscapone. The taste was sublime! There was quite a bit of cod roe in there to give it the nice metallic tang which reminded me of the spoonfuls of cod liver emulsion! Maybe that’s his trick? It is the same George who served Ribena, another childhood memory, with a game bird, which I forget. But, I’ll never forget the sauce!

Compared to that, the smoky eggplant puree was almost a pedestrian melitzanosalata, but a very posh and refined one, so was the tzatziki flecked with more than a few sprigs of dill.

Cumin seemed to be the star of the cold items, featuring in both the roasted beetroot salad and the smoked lamb. I’m not sure either needed such a level of spice, especially since the smokiness of the lamb didn’t need a supporting actor.

The oozy Kefalograviera Saganaki was another fav. Served with peppered figs and a wedge of lemon to take the edge off the salty chewy cheese.

Next came the grilled ocean trout, succulent and smoky from the wood grill. Add a splash of tangy lemony latholemono and it was a magical dish! There was also a horta with loads of lemon juice and olive oil which seemed to counter any bitterness in the endive/chicory leaves.

The Yiouvetsi was a superb little "pasta" dish with little rice-shaped pasta, succulent prawns and strips of squid, all bound by a rich tomato sauce laced with lots of fennel. Yum!

When the lamb off the spit finally came out, it was met with ooohs and aaahs as the fragrance seemed to give us all an extra stomach! Tender juicy bits of lamb had the most wonderful lamb flavour without being greasy like a giros after midnight! The flavour almost seemed like mutton, but it was too tender for that. And the chips, or rather, patates, were fried with their skins on just the way i like it. To balance it all, a nice crisp Fasoulakia, blanched French beans with crumbled feta and toasted pinenuts.

Then came dessert! Out came the Loukoumades, the Kleftikom the Baklava and a fruit platter. I also got a strong Greek Coffee, metrio / medium sweet of course, and Kevin got a frappe, which was mighty tempting in a chilled glass.

I was a bit disappointed at the Loukoumades at the Press Club bar, so I wasn’t expecting light clouds of crunchy dough on the outside with the lightest almost souffle-like interior of these Loukoumades! By George, I think you’ve done it!

Kevin was very impressed with the Kataifi and so was I. We could both tell that, sitting on top of the shreds of pastry was a semolina custard topping. The custard had vanilla, the black seeds gave it away. But, there was an elusive flavour hidden within. Was it rose-water? Perhaps it was mastic? As it turns out, it was mastic, most commonly found in the Easter bread tsoureki. I had a mastic flavoured custard at Ottoman recently too!

Since we initially booked for 12, our banquet menu ran a bit like this:
Group Trapezi Menu (for 10 or more people) AUD70/AUD65 with/without dessert. Sparkling and still mineral water, teas and coffees were included.

Meze & Salads
Horiatiki Salata – Village Salad / Greek Salad
Patzari – beetroot roasted in cumin served with yoghurt
Dips (taramosalata, melitzanosalata, tzatziki), Olives
Kefalograviera Saganaki with peppered figs
Toursi Pickled Vegetables, Mussels with fennel, Dolmades
Kapnisto Arni – smoked leg of lamb

Dessert
Baklava Yianniotiko – Baklava from yiannina
Loukamades – Greek donuts, Attiki honey
Ekmek Kataifi Pagoto – Soaked Kataifi, cherries and mastic icecream

All in all the food at Hellenic Republic was good traditional Greek food made with top-notch ingredients. Was it worth AUD70? Well… someone has to pay for the brand :)

Hellenic Republic
(03) 9381 1222
434 Lygon St
Brunswick East VIC 3057
www.hellenicrepublic.com.au/

Reviews:
- Hellenic Republic, by Larissa Dubecki, Epicure, The Age, February 12, 2009
- It’s all Greek at Hellenic Republic, by John Lethlean, Executive Style, Sydney Morning Herald, March 11, 2009 Calamari, kalamata, Calombaris. It’s all Greek and all good at Hellenic Republic.
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- Hellenic Republic – blog.youknowitmakessense.net 06 December, 2008 Stepping inside does not quite equate to entering a portal to the Aegean coast, although if you answered to the name of Onassis and enjoyed cruising the Greek isles in boat shoes and linen trousers you’d complement the design well.
- Lunch @ Hellenic Republic – eatalmostanything.com Saturday, January 03, 2009 saganaki with peppered figs – this was deliriously good

Crème brulée, fait-maison s’il vous plait

Image by Lys*

Found the recipe here, but added the members’ suggestions.
For non French-speakers, I translated it for you :)

Servings: 4
Preparation: 15 min
Cooking time: 1h30 minutes
Resting time: 2h in the fridge
Total time: 3h45

Ingredients
5 egg yolks
100g brown sugar
50 cl whipping cream
1 vanilla pod (or less sugar -10g and 10g sachet of vanilla sugar/or a teaspoon of vanilla extract)

For about 4 individual ramekins (If you don’t have ramekins, you can also use a big Pyrex bowl)
1. Whip egg yolks with brown sugar until the mixture whitens and becomes foamy.

2. Split a vanilla bean in two and scrape into the inside with a knife. Remove the seeds collected directly into the bowl and mix. (OR vanilla extract OR vanilla sugar)

3. Slowly add 50 cl whipping cream and mix vigorously with a whisk.

4. Cover the bottom of the ramekins with brown sugar, it prevents the liquid to leak.

5. Pour the cream into the ramekins and put them in a preheated oven at 130°C for 1H30.

6. Let cool at room temperature then refrigerate for at least 2 hours, until the cream becomes slightly harder.

7. There are 3 ways to caramelize crème brûlée after dusting with brown sugar :
- Use the oven: Leave it just under heating element at 250°C for about 5 minutes but make sure it doesn’t burn too much!!)
- Use a kitchen blowtorch
- Use a fire-heated cast-iron plate (= salamander) sold with ramekins set

Of course, do not burn your cream and let it rest, then serve after a long time. If you do, the cream will not be crispy on top.

Feel free to add any flavour to your crème brulée: lemon, orange blossom extract, rosemary, chocolate, coffee, fruits, and even spices such as ginger.

Mistakes make the best ice cream.

Image by leedav

At least in my experience. This time a cook at work was making a sauce for french toast and while reducing the maple syrup, he accidentally caramelized it. I tasted it and it wasn’t burnt so I added some cream and half and half, cracked and separated some eggs and later that night, enjoyed a bowl of caramelized maple syrup ice cream with a sprinkling of Maldon sea salt.

If you want to play around with ice cream flavors, you don’t need a recipe. Just the knowledge of how to make a custard and the ratio of eggs to cream/milk. You can find a recipe for custard on the internet if you are unfamiliar with the steps and once you have that down, you can memorize the ratio that 1 egg yolk will thicken 1 c. of milk/cream/half & half. It doesn’t really matter which you choose, it will just affect the consistency of the finished product. I usually go for half cream and half 1/2&1/2. If you want to try lower calories go for frozen yogurt instead.

Now to get the flavor in there, you can steep your flavor agent in the warm cream (this works well for nuts or coffee beans) or you can make a simple syrup and puree the flavor agent with that (this works great with mint but I am thinking of trying tarragon soon. Works for fruit too). Don’t forget to strain through a fine mesh sieve. Now the flavor you want is in the cream or simple syrup. A few (but not too many!) Tbsp. of a complimentary alcohol (or vodka if you don’t want to taste it) always helps to make scoopable ice cream.

So here is an example that I am thinking of trying today. My machine can take about 4-6 c. of ice cream base at a time. I’d like to make Black Currant Swirl using some jam I made recently. I am going to make a vanilla flavored base using 2 cups cream, 2 cups milk 3/4 c. sugar, and several Tbsp. of homemade vanilla bean brandy. I will need 8 egg yolks. I’ll warm the cream, milk sugar and brandy and then add a little to the yolks to temper them. I add this mixture back to the pot and watch and stir carefully until the base thickens (takes practice but it’s not hard at all). I’ll cool the base completely before churning it and in the meantime puree the jam in the blender. After churning the base, I’ll swirl in the jam and freeze. Ta da! See why I don’t write recipes?? Anyway, I hope this helps someone create an ice cream flavor of their dreams.