I modified Emma’s recipe to suit my tastes and predilections. I urge you to read Emma’s version and mine so you can see I’ve done my best to avoid any accusation of plagiarism.
Cauliflower cheese for some people is the ultimate comfort food. Cauliflower has recently taken on this aura as a low carb healthful option to a starchy root or tuber. Please note, I’m not using the word ‘root’ as a verb in Australian vernacular, rather I’m using the word ‘root’ as a noun. Although, in the Australian vernacular, ‘root’ can be converted to a noun when described and prefaced with the adjective ‘good’.
Saturday dinner. Sous vide duck breast with quinoa celeriac mash flavoured with Vegemite and chilli flakes. I cooked the duck for 2 hours at 57 °C/135 °F.
Sous vide duck breast with mashed celeriac and quinoa
Yes, you read that correctly. I’m mixing quinoa and mashed celeriac together. After the success of serving quinoa and mashed pumpkin separately last weekend, I thought, why not see how quinoa tastes and feels in a starchy mash.
The Boathouse is one of my favourite Canberra restaurants for fine dining. The Boathouse was an option for the final session of the conference and we had to provide our preferences well in advance. Given I don’t drink alcohol I wasn’t that interested in the brewery or the winery visits. I would have been happy with coffee, but really I had my heart set on The Boathouse. It seems I wasn’t alone, Amanda Whitley said The Boathouse was the popular choice amongst all the delegates. I’m just so grateful I got my first choice.
As we arrived on the bus with Amanda as our leader we were escorted to the main verandah for a drink and some canapes. The view of Lake Burley Griffin was pretty good for an overcast day.
Lake Burley Griffin from The Boathouse by the Lake
The session would consist of lunch during which we would enjoy a cooking demonstration. We met the owner, James Souter, two chefs John Leverink and Alex O’Brien and the sommelier Kate Hibberson. James explained how he and his wife came to own The Boathouse purchasing the restaurant from James’ father.
The first dish was a raw tuna, avocado and wasabi jelly entrée. We were treated to a new ingredient in wasabi sesame seeds which John explained he sourced from the Good Grub Hub. This stuff is dynamite. They’re on twitter too.
A slight digression, Simone from Play with food found out how to mail order the wasabi sesame seeds and shared the information with me through twitter. The Hungry Mum aka Belinda also got into the twitter conversation and ‘threatened’ to buy up all the wasabi sesame seeds. I felt my happiness was at risk so I immediately placed an order for three bottles. I’ll keep two and give one to a friend.
I suggest you follow Simone, Belinda and me on twitter and you can see how the conversation has developed over a week.
Back to The Boathouse. The entrée was fabulous.
Yellow fin tuna, avocado, chicken skin crackling and wasabi jelly with wasabi sesame seeds. Sorry about the blur associated with the tips of the forceps, chicken skin crackling and herbs.
The Boathouse by the Lake chefs JOHN LEVERINK and ALEX O’BRIEN
The main course was a lovely duck breast.
Duck breast, almond tofu, mustard and legumes
I think everyone was taken by the dessert. This is an Alex O’Brien creation which he and John said is a controversial element of the menu. Apparently people love it or hate it. The chefs love it so it stays on the menu. I loved it too.
Smoked chocolate ice cream, beetroots, speculaas, and baby coriander
I’d highly recommend The Boathouse by the Lake to any food lover living in or visiting Canberra.
Tonight I used some of the wasabi sesame seeds on my baked salmon with wilted kale, peas, corn, almonds, shallots, spring onions, lemon zest, chilli flakes and wasabi sesame seeds
Baked salmon with wilted kale, peas, corn, almonds, shallots, spring onions, lemon zest, chilli flakes and wasabi sesame seeds
I received my wasabi sesame seeds today. Thanks to John Leverink and Simone Emery.
Last week I received an e-mail from Sage dining rooms inviting me to a Good France Dinner to be held on Thursday 19 March.
It seemed like an obvious thing to do to just call the restaurant and make a reservation.
So it’s Thursday night and I have a booking for 7.30. When we arrive the restaurant already has a good crowd seated and everyone is looking happy.
We’re greeted enthusiastically and have at least four people looking after us. The degustation menu is set before us and we’re offered an aṕeritif. I was offered a non-alcoholic drink which is something I’ve never been asked before and I happily said yes. I can’t remember exactly what was in it other than hazelnut. I’m happy to call it Essence of Nutella because it was delicious and made me think of Nutella.
The first food we’re served is the chef’s take on salt and vinegar chips. We’ve had this before and we both love it. The vinegar is subtle, the crispy texture pops and the Hollandaise is so creamy perfect.
I can’t remember all the snacks but one is a leafy green marshmallow with a Spanish ham, the other is a creamy puree and the third is a fried wonton wrap with a fresh bit of tuna in it.
After the snacks, we start with the main dishes. The first is a parfait of hazelnut and pork which includes pâté, crackling, popcorn and hazelnuts. This is unctuous.
The next dish is sea scallops with leek and truffle. Three scallops are cooked in a scallop shell that has been sealed with puff pastry. The leek, caviar and truffle add so much flavour to the perfectly cooked scallops.
Next, we are served a perfectly cooked duck breast with shaved and candied orange. It is served with a ‘two-tone’ caramel which is sweet and bitter.
My favourite dish was the beef cheek that had been cooked for 20 hours. It was the chef’s take on the classic French Beef Bourguignon. The meat was amazing and the onions so cute and sweet.
With a French degustation, we had to have cheese and we were served a marvellous blue vein cheese with honey and homemade Lavosh bread.
The cheese was so creamy and flavoursome.
We were then served a palate cleansing carrot ice cream with liquorice and yoghurt. It was so refreshing.
The final dish of the evening was dessert and I’m happy to say it was spectacularly yummy. It was a large Géant chocolate truffle with a salted caramel soil and the filling of creamy gooey chocolate.
As we’ve said before, Sage dining rooms is a favourite Canberra restaurant. The Good France dinner was fabulous. The service was attentive, friendly and knowledgeable. If you get the opportunity to try it, do it. Apart from the Good France Dinner, I’d highly recommend dining at Sage dining rooms at any time. Go for the degustation menu if you can, it’s so worth it.
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