Sunday, September 30, 2012

Co Do

Co Do
196 Victoria Street
Richmond 3121

A cold, wet Melbourne Monday night.  My friend and I wanted a quick, cheap, filling meal.  I also wanted something that wouldn't derail my diet and had been craving chicken soup.  So we headed to Richmond where we knew we would be spoilt for choice.  Co Do fit the bill perfectly.

  
Wine and tea to begin the warming process!


We shared the prawn rice paper rolls to start.  My friend who has eaten at many of the Vietnamese restaurants along this strip declared them not the best he'd had but they were still very fresh and tasty and a very generous size.  



We both had the soup with rice noodles. 

Chicken






Bean shoots, fresh mint, lemon and an array of chilli sauces to add to the soup.


Chicken and Beef



The soup was lovely.  The broth flavourful, heaps of yummy noodles and the chicken and beef beautifully cooked.  A very generous serve.

Our total bill was just $24.50.  Excellent value and exactly what we wanted.  We left very full and warm from the inside out!



  Co Do on Urbanspoon

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Eau De Vie

Eau De Vie
1 Malthouse Lane
Melbourne 3000


Eau De Vie is a cool, intimate city bar which specialises in cocktails and spirits.  Located at the end of Malthouse Lane, off Flinders Lane, there is no signage, just impressively big doors with brass handles.  

The cocktail menu is extensive, the drinks we tried lovely and the food sampled delicious. Loved the retro glasses! 





Our party was in a private room - the walls lined with bottles locked in their own little glass lockers.  These temperature controlled lockers can be rented to hold your treasured whiskey or wine.


The spicy prawns were served with a coriander aioli and were delicious.




Ocean Trout, creme fraiche, cucumber on soda bread.  Divine.







A cute finale - jam donuts!




Unfortunately I was unwell on the night and couldn't indulge in the lovely cocktails.  I think a return visit is definitely in order!



  Eau De Vie on Urbanspoon

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Stuffed Mushrooms



Like this pasta, my stuffed mushrooms are a quick, low fat, low calorie dinner.  They are a light meal yet filling at the same time.  Not the most attractive looking dish but they taste great and mushrooms are so good for us!  Mushrooms are nature's super food - high in antioxidants, nutrient rich, full of vitamins and minerals including vitamin D, and they are inexpensive! Perfect.

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees. In a little olive oil saute diced onion, sliced mushrooms, garlic, red capsicum, spinach leaves, chilli flakes and cracked black pepper.  Chopped bacon is a nice addition.  Once soft remove from the heat and allow to cool.


Whilst the onion mix is cooling prepare your mushrooms.  I use the flat BBQ mushrooms but you can use any large mushroom like Portobello.  Remove the stalk and peel.  Spray both sides lightly with olive oil spray and place on a tray lined with baking paper.




Once the onion mix has cooled combine with low fat ricotta cheese and fill your mushrooms. I use the ricotta you buy in the tub as I find it easier to work with in this recipe but fresh ricotta from the deli is fine too.

Adjust quantities to suit how many mushrooms you want to fill.  For these four medium mushrooms I used one small onion, about a cup of sliced mushrooms, a quarter of a capsicum, a large handful of spinach leaves and a generous tablespoon of ricotta.




Bake for approximately 20 minutes until the mushroom is soft and cooked and the mixture golden.






Enjoy with a crisp salad for a healthy, delicious meal!