Jamie's Italian, Sydney CBD

I think any parents out there reading this will understand completely when I say that making it to your child's first birthday is a very significant milestone. It's one of those times in your life when you breathe a huge sigh of relief and say "Phew... We made it!" I'll be posting soon about little Roman's birthday picnic, but this post is about our parental celebration :)

To celebrate making it through our first year of parenthood, Mr Ladybird and I headed to Jamie's Italian on Pitt Street in the Sydney CBD last week for lunch (by ourselves - wahooo!) Sure, having lunch with Roman is nice and all... but so is just the two of us. No stress over high chairs; cutlery being jabbed in the eye, or glasses being sent flying from the table... just the two of us, like "the old days"!

I really enjoyed this meal. The vibe at Jamie's Italian is stylish and unpretentious. And the food is much the same - simple, delicious, and nothing over-the-top. Just good honest Italian food. Service was prompt and friendly too, which can often make or break a dining experience! We started with complimentary bread and lovely olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

For entrees, we both had the zucchini flower special ($14.50)... a scrumptious stuffed and deep-fried zucchini flower with a rich tomato sauce and rocket pesto. I'm not usually one for anything deep-fried, but I can never say no to a good zucchini flower. The crumbed exterior was wonderfully crisp and crunchy, a nice contrast to the creamy interior of the flower.

For mains, Mr Ladybird enjoyed the pasta special - ravioli with asparagus, peas, mint, lemon zest and watercress $18.50. I enjoyed a small Pumpkin pasta ($12.50) which was wonderful.

Oh yes, and a cheeky side of Polenta Chips ($8.50).

And for dessert, Mr Ladybird and I shared a portion of rich Special Tiramisu ($9) coffee flavoured trifle with orange mascarpone and chocolate. Heaven!

All in all a lovely treat to ourselves on our son's first birthday. Thumbs up, Mr O!

I'll post again soon with some snaps from our little one's birthday celebration (and the cake of course!) Till next time...

Ladybird x

Jamie's Italian
107 Pitt St, Sydney
(02) 8240 9000
http://www.jamieoliver.com/au/italian/

Baby Panettone

One of the things I love about food blogging is that you actually end up learning a lot about food along the way. I particularly love learning about festive food from around the world, its history, the way foods evolve along with soceity, and so on. Fascinating stuff (well.. for me anyway!). I had one of these warm and fuzzy moments when reading an article about panettone recently. It was so lovely to read about its origins and how significant it is to Italians at this time of year. Food really does bring people together, which I think is one of the nicest things about Christmas. So, even though I am not Italian, I decided I wanted in on this panettone business!

So what is panettone? Panettone is a traditional Italian bread with a domed top enjoyed around Christmas. It is a lovely buttery and lightly sweetened bread dotted with dried fruit such as raisins and candied citron. It is said to have originated in Milan, and is commonly enjoyed warm or lightly toasted along with (and even dunked into) espresso at breakfast.

Although it takes a little time to wait for the dough to rise (I definitely do not recommend attempting to make this on a weekday after work), here is a recipe to make your own baby size panettone. I'm a sucker for anything miniature, aren't you?! To make this recipe, you'll need 8 empty, clean, regular-size cans. I only had 4, so I actually halved the recipe below.

Baby Panettone
Adapted recipe from 200 Christmas Recipes by Hamlyn

2 tsp easy-blend dried yeast
125g caster sugar, plus 1 tsp
175ml hand-hot milk
700g strong bread flour (available in the baking aisle of most supermarkets)
4 large eggs, plus 2 yolks
2 tsp vanilla extract
zest of 2 lemons
175 salted butter, very soft and diced
185g mixed dried fruit

1. Grease 8 x 400ml clean food cans and line with greaseproof paper that extends above the rims. Grease the paper.

2. Stir the yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar into the milk in a large, warm bowl and leave for 10 minutes or until frothy. Stir in 100g of the flour. Cover with clingfilm and leave for 30 minutes.

3. Add the eggs and egg yolks, the remaining flour and the sugar, vanilla, zest and butter. Mix with a round-bladed knife to make a soft dough, adding a little more flour if the dough feels sticky. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. Leave to rise in a lightly greased bowl, covered with clingfilm, for 2-4 hours or until doubled in size.

4. Knock back the dough and lightly knead in the dried fruit. Cut the dough into 8 pieces and drop into the tins. Cover and leave to rise until the dough reaches the can rims.

5. Bake in a preheated oven at 200 degrees celsius (Gas Mark 6) for 20-25 minutes or until risen and golden. Remove from oven and leave in cans for 5 minutes before shaking out the panettone to cool on a wire rack.

Variation
To make a whole panettone instead of 8 baby ones, shape the mixture into 1 large ball. Place in a 15cm round cake tin, greased and lined with a double layer of greased greaseproof paper that extends 10cm above the rim. Cover and leave to rise. Bake for 15 minutes at 200 degrees celcius, then reduce to 180 degrees celcius and bake for 40 minutes until well risen and an inserted skewer comes out clean. Leave in tin for 10 minutes, then cool on a wire rack.

Enjoy at home, or wrap well with clingfilm, add some festive decorations and give away to family/friends!


Ladybird x

Lemon Gelato

It's official - gelato is the most difficult thing to photograph. Ever!

I was reading an online article during the week in which a photographer described the challenges of his work, particularly when it comes to capturing shots of children or animals. Ridiculously, I scoffed.. "Clearly he has never tried to photograph gelato!"

The previous day I had pre-scooped and frozen the gelato, hollowed out and cleaned a lemon and set up my scene to photograph this lemon gelato. Despite being organised, it was nothing short of frantic chaos. You see, gelato melts incredibly quickly. Once you've served it, it's Go! Go! GO! It was worth it though. I managed to get some shots of gelato (as opposed to chilled lemon soup) hehe...

There are two main reasons why gelato melts so quickly. First, gelato typically has a low fat content than regular ice cream and secondly, its semi-frozen consistency. I really enjoy gelato, particulary after dinner because it is so light yet so flavoursome.

I adore all things lemony, and I especially love the refreshing and zingy hit of lemon gelato. I'm getting a bit sick of the cold weather here in Sydney, so perhaps a summery gelato will help bring on summer (?). A bit like a home cook's rain dance, only for warm weather! haha..

Lemon Gelato
Makes approximately 1L

1 cup water
220g caster sugar
1/3 lemon zest
2/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
2/3 cup double cream

1. Place the water, sugar, lemon zest and juice in a small saucepan.
2. Stir over a low heat until the sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil and cook for 2 minutes, then remove from heat.
3. Strain the mixture through a fine sieve and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.
4. Whisk together the lemon mixture and cream in a large jug.
5. Churn in an ice cream machine following the manufacturer's instructions, before transferring to a container then freezing. Mine was a little runny after churning, but was ok once frozen.

Note: If you don't have an ice cream machine, never fear. To read advice from David Lebovitz (in my home, referred to as 'The Ice Cream Guru') about how to make ice cream without a machine, click here.

Have a lovely weekend, everyone :) If the weather is warm in Sydney, perhaps it will be the gelato that brings it on! Let's wait and see...


Ladybird x