This time last year I tried to get some food photography accepted by foodgawker.
I tried four times and each time my submission were declined. The good think about food gawker is declined submissions are accompanied with a reason. For me it was basically a problem with low flat lighting in my food photography. At the time I thought I’d try to do something to improve my food photography and while I did that I promptly forgot about submitting to foodgawker. Since then I’ve basically used Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to share my food photographs.
Last night while I was in bed and looking at photographs on my iPad I browsed through the various sharing options and remembered 500px and foodgawker. I entered my foodgawker account and thought I’d try again. Because foodgawker prefers a recipe and an associated blog post I used my quinoa fritters.
This morning I received an e-mail from foodgawker accepting my submission. It gave me a little skip in my step as I walked home from breakfast.
As I continue my quinoa journey I was inspired by #MKR last night and made quinoa corn fritters for dinner tonight.
Last night on My Kitchen Rules, a couple of contestants made corn fritters. I thought I could do something similar with quinoa and made quinoa corn fritters.
These ones had my own special touch to them and I reckon tomorrow I’ll be thinking #ringoffire 😀
Quinoa corn fritters and caramel popcorn cronut
Recipe Type: Dinner
Cuisine: Australian
Author: Gary Lum
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 1
Ingredients
Corn kernels
Quinoa
Flour
Curry powder
Freshly ground black pepper
1 egg
Chilli flakes
Coriander
Mint
Sliced red chilli
Lemon zest
Lemon juice
Instructions
In a small saucepan cook â…“ cup of cleaned quinoa in â…” cup water. Boil for 10 minutes until all the water is absorbed. Remove from the heat with the lid on and rest for 5 minutes.
In a large bowl add some corn kernels, the quinoa, a couple of dessert spoons of plain flour, a teaspoon or two of curry powder, a good few grinds of pepper, 1 beaten egg, shredded mint, shredded coriander, a dessert spoon of chilli flakes, a sliced red chilli, the zest of a lemon, and the juice of a lemon.
Mix thoroughly and allow to rest for a few minutes.
In a frying pan add a thin layer of grape seed oil and a big nob of butter. If you’re a hippy you can use some coconut oil but I have no idea if that’s any better than grape seed oil and butter or beef dripping or lard.
When the oil and butter is hot add dollops of the quinoa corn fritter mix
Fry each side for about 2 minutes
Drain on some absorbent paper
Plate up with some olives and a stuffed pepper
Shoot a photograph
Eat the meal
Then eat the cronut
Wash the dishes
Write the recipe
Blog (verb)
3.2.2925
and after the hot and spicy quinoa corn fritters, it’s time for a caramel popcorn cronut from Ricardo’s Cafe in Jamison.
It’s a Friday night and Bron and I are on Lonsdale Street in Braddon. Lonsdale Street is Canberra’s hot strip of modern and hip restaurants and eateries. If you’re looking for a good dining experience and you know nothing else about Canberra, Lonsdale Street is the place to go.
It’s a busy week in Canberra with parliament sitting and the universities conducting orientation activities. We had a booking at the Elk and Pea at 6.30 pm. On our arrival the outside tables are all occupied while there is plenty of space inside. Mind you 6.30 is a bit early for most people. Inside is a bit warm and stuffy but the best part about being inside is the art that is screwed to the ceiling beams.
Bron and I have been to the Elk and Pea before for breakfast but as far as we can remember not for dinner.
The menu is about sharing with some elements being a single serving. Bron suggests that I choose so I ask for quinoa fritters and pork ribs. Both are for sharing between two people.
The quinoa fritters are delicious. The outside of each fritter is crispy and the sauce had a lovely tang.
Quinoa fritters. Crispy corn, quinoa, zucchini, and sun dried tomatoes with mint mojo
The fritters came out pretty quickly and we were told it would take about 30 minutes for the ribs to be ready.
When the ribs arrived we were ready for them. We had a nice little mountain of ribs to share.
Costillas adobadas. Pork baby back ribs, with cauliflower puree, charred corn, tortillas and braised greens
The ribs came with a board of charred corn and tortillas.
It took a while to get through all the ribs and even though large red chilies are not super hot these ones still had enough of a kick to them.
Pork baby back rib bonesLike me Bron enjoyed the ribs | Photograph courtesy of Bron.
The meat was succulent and just came away from the bones. Bron and I both enjoyed them and we’d recommend them to anyone who likes slowly cooked tasty meat.
So after Elk and Pea we ventured up the road to Mr Frugii’s ice cream laboratory.
This place has only recently opened and it’s been all over social media in Canberra, some of my favourite Canberra food bloggers seem to go there repeatedly.
On entry there are two main areas, the cakes and the ice cream. On Friday night they had three choux pastry cakes. Bron chose a rose water pastry with a red love heart on it and I chose a chocolate custard pastry with injectable raspberry sauce.
Rose water choux pastry with a red love heart | Photograph courtesy of Bron.Chocolate custard and raspberry sauce in choux pastryChocolate custard and raspberry sauce in choux pastry and salted caramel ice cream
The choux pastry was delicious. The pastry itself was perfect in its consistency and the custard was buttery smooth. The raspberry sauce really complemented the chocolate nicely. The salted caramel ice cream was OMG good. Bron and I both had it and we both enjoyed how strong the caramel flavour was. That said I reckon Bron’s salted caramel is the best I’ve ever tasted.
The set up in Mr Frugii’s makes for rapid turnover of customers. It seems to be an efficient process with customers coming to ask about the cakes and ice cream every few minutes. I hope the staff behind the counters get some free cake and ice cream at the end of their shifts.
We’d both highly recommend Elk and Pea for dinner and then Mr Frugii for dessert. If you live here in Canberra or if you’re just visiting both places are must do.
If you’ve been to Elk and Pea and/or Mr Frugii let me know what you think in the comments below.
Sunday in Canberra was pretty glorious. The sun was shining and the sky was a beautiful blue. Bron suggested we have breakfast at The Cupping Room.
The Cupping Room is open for breakfast and lunch every day. They don’t take reservations; just walk in and ask for a table. I suggest getting there early because it doesn’t take long for a queue to form.
We arrived just before 8.30 and there were plenty of tables available. The staff are pretty friendly and helpful.
Coffee was the first order of business. The Cupping Room doesn’t do lattes and flat whites as such. They do milk based coffees to create a balance of espresso and textured milk. The milk based coffees are served at 60 °C. We were offered the ‘house’ or the seasonal coffee. The house coffee being more chocolatey while the seasonal is more fruity with cherry overtones.
We both asked for the house coffee to begin with knowing that there will be an opportunity for a second coffee at the end of breakfast.
For breakfast I asked for the Ham hock fritters (Ham hock, corn and potato fritters with two poached eggs, ‘cuppers hot sauce’ and a cress and alfalfa salad) and Bron asked for Avo and his mates (Half an ‘A grade’ avocado, whipped goats curd, snow pea sprouts, herb infused Maldon salt and sourdough toast) with poached eggs.
Ham hock fritters with poached eggs, Cupper’s hot sauce and alfalfa salad. Apple iPhone 6 with iPhone 6 Plus back camera 4.15mm f/2.2 at 4mm and f/2.2, 1/40sec, ISO 32
The fritters were full of lovely ham hock meat and the fritters weren’t too salty. The Cupper’s hot sauce was amazing. It complemented the fritters and the lovely oozy runny egg yolk from the perfectly cooked eggs. The cress and alfalfa salad was lightly dressed and very refreshing.
I’d happily recommend eating here. The coffees we had were excellent. Starting with the house coffee was a good move and then finishing with the seasonal coffee was better.
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