Great Perth Food

Here are some great Perth restaurants; either ones we've tried or plan to:

• Jackson's Restaurant (Neal Jackson)


• Star Anise (David Coomer)


• The Loose Box (Alain Fabregues)


• Restaurant Amusé (Hadleigh Troy)


• Divido (Jason Jujnovich)


• Bistro Felix (Damien Young)


• The Gala Restaurant (Hans Lang)


• Chez Pierre (Steven Black)


• Harvest (Clint Nolan)


• Cream (John Mead)


• Da Bruno's (Bruno Securo)


• Just Bar

And here are some that are not as great as people may tell you:

• Must Wine Bar


• Lamont's

We're Back!

Cooking School Kha Soi
Originally uploaded by Jason Hutchens

As reported earlier on The Sprog Blog, D. and I have been in Chiang Mai, Thailand, celebrating our third wedding anniversary, and we've got lots of pictures of food to prove it! Click on the Khao Soi to go to our Flickr page, with plenty more where that came from!

Lamb Ragu

Lamb Ragu
Originally uploaded by Jason Hutchens.

We had a delicious roast lamb for dinner. You know the type. Nice and simple, some garlic and rosemary, a few roast vegetables, and a bottle of Pinot to wash it all down. Afterwards I noticed that there was a fair bit of meat left on the bone. The solution? A lamb ragu. Simply finely chop some aromatics, sweat them, then in with bits of meat picked off the bone. Chuck in some stock, a bit of tomato paste, some porcini mushrooms, and simmer for a while. Cook up some al dente parpadelle, plate it up, stir through heaps of chopped parsley in the ragu, then top the pasta with it, and drizzle some EVOO all over. Not bad for leftovers, eh mum?

Duck Pasta

Duck Pasta
Originally uploaded by Jason Hutchens.

We've never cooked duck before, but the first attempt turned out pretty nice, if I do say so myself. We got two duck fillets with the fat and skin left on, and I pan fried them skin-side down until golden and crispy. A lot of fat came out during this process, and I saved it for another day. The duck was thinly sliced, then combined with a sauce of tarragon, rose, cream and sherry vinegar. The results were served over a bed of al dente pasta. Wonderful! The duck fat was saved for the weekend, when we had a barbeque with some friends. I made "home fries" by frying large cubes of potato in the duck fat for about ten minutes until crispy golden brown, then tossing in finely chopped parsely, sea salt and pepper. Yum!

Porridge

Porridge
Originally uploaded by Jason Hutchens.

Now, this is comfort food. I made a big batch of chicken stock for our favourite chicken macaroni soup. It was extra flavourful, as my mum (who was visiting at the time) had done a chicken roast, and added half a cup of distilled chicken goodness, sans fat, to the stock. A week later Dzung used the leftover stock, which we had frozen, to make a batch of porridge, complete with chicken, mushrooms and that bready stuff from Chinatown :)

Sage Butter

Sage Butter
Originally uploaded by Jason Hutchens.

Met up with Mum and Dad, who are visiting from Perth, and D. and E. for lunch, at "Pasta Vera" in Harris Street. If there are any foodbloggers out there reading this, and you haven't been or heard of "Pasta Vera", well, I can't recommend it highly enough. Try it.

Dad and E. both had the Putrenesca, while Mum had squid ravioli in a rich tomato sauce, which she described as "the best sauce I've ever tasted", which is a pretty big wrap. I had creamy cauliflower soup with white truffle oil, followed by four cheese ravioli in a burnt sage butter sauce. The burnt sage butter sauce is the signature of "Pasta Vera", and if you're going there for the first time, make sure to order a dish that contains it. Sensational!

Fish

Fish
Originally uploaded by Jason Hutchens.

Simple dinner on Saturday night. Got us some nice Ocean Perch fillets, brushed in good olive oil, seasoned, then under the grill (on high) for three minutes per side. Served with al dente sliced asparagus that had been pan fried in a little bit of olive oil, and had a huge dob of butter melted into it prior to serving. With a squeeze of lemon and a dash of Japanese mayonaisse, the melted butter from the asparagus blended with the creamy fish and the result was sensational. Finished the meal with Stilton, crispy apple and port.

Pine Nuts

Pine Nuts
Originally uploaded by Jason Hutchens.

My attempt to make D.'s clone of one of our favourite dishes at Spaghi's. I pan fry pine nuts in a little butter til golden brown, then fry some Italian-style BBQ sausages that have had their skin removed, chopping them with the wooden spoon while frying to make them into meatballs. All the while a few garlic bulbs are roasting in the oven. Once the sausages are done, the now soft and buttery garlic cloves are squeezed out and pan fried, and then the whole lot is blended together with some Napolatana sauce and fresh rocket. Al dente fusilli is stirred through (the doughy, hand-made variety), and the whole lot is topped with a decent handful or light, crumbled ricotta. Click through for the plated-up version, just prior to devourement!

Pork Noodles

Pork Noodles
Originally uploaded by Jason Hutchens.

D. made a simple but delicious noodle dish for Monday night dinner, accompanied with a bowl of soup made from the leftover pork. What could be easier than noodles boiled in the wok, topped with coriander, spring onion, garlic oil and pork, then mixed with sauce, a squeeze of lime juice and white pepper? Nice one. Click through for a piccie of the soup...

Chicken

Chicken
Originally uploaded by Jason Hutchens.

Another of D.'s classic dishes. Chicken thighs and sliced onions are marinated in a secret sauce and baked in the oven. Once done, the cooked chicken and onions are served on a bed of lettuce, garnished with coriander, and devoured with rice, sliced cucumber and tomato, and a well-balanced dipping sauce. Lurvely.