DeepFried

Earlier this week there was a 50% off deal at Domino's for any pizza on their standard menu, and I thought to myself what better reason do I need to get pizza than this?

There's never a bad time to get pizza and the discount was just icing on the cake.

Pizza is a magical dish that brings everyone together at the call of its name.

There is no better feeling after spending all day working than to call up your family and friends and invite them over to share a slice. And that is why pizza is so special to me.

It doesn't matter who the person is, where they are from, what allergies they have, there will always be pizza out there with their name on it and a group of friends to share it with.

photo courtesy of: Crews1972.com

Recently I've been craving all things lemon -- if you couldn't already tell from my last post. It might be because they taste so fresh and tangy and leave you feeling nice and clean on the inside or maybe its because I haven't had them in a really long time either way there's something about this sour fruit that gets everyone hooked. So today I'm going to share this delicious lemonade recipe that hits the spot. So lets get started.

Approximately 7 or 8 lemons

150g of sugar

500ml of water

Roll the lemons around with firm pressure to make them easier to juice. After washing, zest the lemons and add about 500ml of water to a pan and bring to the bowl. Add sugar and the zest and leave it over the heat for about five minutes -- make sure the sugar is completely dissolved. Strain the zest mixture to remove the zest pour it into the lemon juice. Pour this collective mixture and pour into a pitcher and add water to your taste (you can add sparkling water if you would like).

Enjoy!

photo courtesy of: CountryLiving.com

This recipe is a family favourite of mine: Lemon Meringue Pie. Its a simple classic that always looks fancier than it actually is. Watch it get devoured instantly at your dinner table.

150g Arnotts milk arrowroot biscuits

50g melted butter

3 egg whites

120g and 150g caster sugar (keep these two amounts separate)

2 large lemons (limes will also do)

2 eggs

100g cubed cold butter

1 tsp heaped corn flour

Bash the biscuits into a fine powdery/bread crumb consistency. Melt the butter and pour it onto the biscuits and make sure the mixture is evenly coated. Spread the mixture onto the base of a springform pan, press it down and leave in the fridge to set.

To make the lemon curd, zest the lemon rinds and squeeze out the juice into a pan over low heat. Add the eggs and whisk while adding sugar. Add the cold butter and cornflower and keep stirring until it comes to a simmer. Take it off the heat the moment it becomes a thick consistency. Pour it over the biscuit layer and put it back into the fridge.

In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Add in the caster sugar and beat. Pile the egg whites on to lemon curd and place the springform pan under a very hot grill for under 5 minutes.

photo courtesy of: HuffingtonPost.com

As our society's consumeristic ways condition us to be more wasteful and less resourceful with our daily items we see an increase of unnecessary waste being created -- waste that then goes on to further destroy our environment.

A good idea would be to encourage people to get into the idea of using safe, biodegradable products for multiple purposes. There's nothing better than food to do exactly that. The best thing about using food items as replacements for other stuff such as cleaning chemicals is that it can do the job just as well (contrary to popular belief) and they are non toxic.

A popular choice for this kind of versatility is coconut oil! Here are some ways you can put your coconut oil to good use.

1. You can use your coconut oil as a moisturiser.

2. You can use it as a natural deodorant (its naturally very anti-microbial and anti-fungal, I know, the 'eww' factor at first is pretty strong but it works).

3. Use it as a replacement for olive oil in frying and cooking (its better for your health apparently).

4. Mix a reasonable amount of coconut oil with a tablespoon of chia seeds for a natural energy boost (be warned: don't do this before sleeping).

5. Massage lukewarm coconut oil onto your scalp as hair oil treatment.

6. Instead of using risky bleaching agents to whiten your teeth, mix a bit of coconut oil with turmeric powder or baking soda and leave on your teeth for 5 minutes.

7. Use coconut oil instead of shaving cream.

8. Use coconut oil instead of using a makeup remover.

9. Mix sugar and coconut oil to use a scrub in the shower.

10. Use coconut oil instead of cream or milk in your coffee.

The last time I did a trending post it was on something current on the here and now. This time I'm taking it back about a year ago when Maccas introduced their delivery services in selected restaurants known as McDelivery. I'm sure you've all seen those posts on social media with everyone's obsession with chicken nuggets and even that photo a group of friends surrounding a table full of fries. Some may look at those photos in disgust, while others looked in complete awe and curiosity

Proud to say I ~~looked in disgust~~ was part of the others.

For my friends 18th birthday, we decided to order about $150 worth of Maccas for the fun of it instead of getting wasted. We stayed in all night and were so euphoric about what we had done.

Here's what our night looked like:

(Serious business taking place)

(We also had soft drinks on the side!)

This is not something that is practical for a large group of people. It's costly, timely and not the most filling of meals. But if you want to do something out of the ordinary maybe a Maccas party (teen style) may tickle your fancy!

Photo courtesy of: pixstatic.com

Naturally, I'm the kind of person who likes to spend time in the kitchen but doesn't exactly get every creation to taste as delectable as they were intended to be. This is probably due to my lack of ‘kitchen skills’ so to speak or maybe it’s because despite my undying love for eating good food I am actually quite clueless when it comes to making it.

Now you may be thinking, “Why don't just follow a recipe then, duh?” and that’s actually a good point, touche, but even when it comes to following recipes I have difficulty getting it right. Normally when I see words like ‘julienne’, ‘sautee’ and ‘repose’ in a recipe I end up with an over (or sometimes under) cooked, nightmarish mess that nobody wants to eat and I end up getting reprimanded for wasting food.

So is there hope for someone like me? I like to think so, and that hope my friends comes by cheating the system and hacking your way to perfection. Here we have my top ten food hacks from all around the inter webs designed to get your cooking on point.

HACK 1: If an egg shell breaks into tiny pieces that float around in your egg and swim away whenever you try to pluck it out, try this hack. Dip your fingers into water, then take the shell out. You're welcome.

HACK 2: If you have an electric knife and somehow you need to cut off corn kernels from loads of knobs put the two together. You’ll get the job done a lot quicker.

HACK 3: If you like traditional oats for breakfast but you don't like instant oats for some crazy reason, or maybe you need to go somewhere in a jiffy and this place has no hot water just a microwave then try making your oats the night before, freeze them in muffin tins and then transfer them into a bag or container so you have your portion size all ready for thawing and eating.

HACK 4: Cook your bacon on a waffle iron for 2 minutes each side. It wont shrink or dry out.

HACK 5: If you want to add some flair to your tea try this: add milk and crushed oreos to an ice cube tray. Freeze and pop into your hot tea or other warm beverage.

HACK 6: If you have fancy guests coming over for some chit chat and all you have in house is white bread, cheese and ham, have no fear. Cut the edges off the bread slices and place the cheese and ham onto one side. Roll them up (You can dip them in some egg wash if you have eggs lying around) and fry them. Serve with some fancy tomato sauce and no one would be the wiser.

HACK 7: If you hate getting gooey liquids stuck onto your measuring utensils, spray them with some oil or non stick spray first.

HACK 8: If you like bananas and you're craving some ice cream, freeze your bananas and then process them until you get some banana soft serve.

HACK 9: Wrap your bananas at the top (where the woody bit is) with some cling wrap to make them last up to a whopping four days longer. Wow!

HACK 10: If you don't want to cry like a baby when your cutting up some onions then cut them under the hood fan of your stove.

If it isn't obvious already, I love to bake. In my family all my cousins and aunties have made gorgeous Pavlova's for various occasions so I finally gave it a shot!

They aren't difficult to make but I've listed a couple tips along the way to help make this experience easier for you.

What you need:

6 egg whites
1 1/4 cup of caster sugar
2 tsp cornflour
1 tsp white vinegar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
300ml thickened cream
2 tbsp icing sugar mixture, sifted
Fruit of your choice.
- this is for decoration so choose whatever your heart desires!

Method:

Preheat oven to 120 degrees celsius. Line oven tray with foil. Lightly brush olive oil or melted butter over the tray and use a pastry brush to further distribute it. Heavily sprinkle flour over the tray.
**Ensure you use a good amount of cornflour. Too much grease will make the Pav. heavy and lose its light fluffy texture.**
Whisks the egg whites using an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar, ensuring that it well mixed before another addition.
Add cornflour, vinegar and vanilla and whisk till combined.
Use a spatula or a spoon to create a base for your pavlova. Gently add and spread the remaining meringue. Ensure that the edges are slightly raised. This acts as a nest for the fruit to sit in.
**You can choose to draw a circle on the foil to assist you in create the perfect round base**
Bake in oven for 1.5 hours. Let the pavlova cool before taking it out.
***No matter how tempting, don't open the oven door while baking! Sometimes the pavlova collapses so don't do it!**
Once cool, decorate with all your favourite fruit and you're done!

Hope you've enjoyed this one!

I only stop by Max Brenner's every so often, but it's a memorable experience every time.

Choosing a place to eat is hard enough already, but when you're not really hungry so much as wanting to satisfy a craving that seems to not want to reveal itself, it's even more frustrating. It seems crazy writing that, i mean, can you really crave something and not know what it is?? Yes. Yes you can.

But the good thing is that i know the solution. Dessert bars.
Since Max Brenner is the first thing that comes to mind, i decided to focus my efforts and really isolate its appeal. As i only know to base my results on experience, i can state that it is as smooth an experience as the chocolate dripping from their chocolate fountain. Accompanied by an innovative menu and great service, i don't see why it wouldn't deserve the attention it receives.

Sooo.. the other day was something else.
I've been hearing about the Tella balls dessert bar for a while now, but honestly never got around to trying the place out. Additionally, I have never been the person to follow the hype, in fact, i always preferred going out to places that only a few people knew about. Nonetheless, when my sister suggested we actually give this place a try, especially for their signature dessert of a Nutella infused doughnut-milkshake hybrid, i decided to tag along.

I of course, being the type to swim against the currant decided to order the caramel and pretzel infused cronut milkshake. Presentation-wise, it was definitely pleasing to the eye through its unique style. The quality of the dessert was impeccable as well and was definitely as impressive to the eye as it was to my tastebuds. Overall, despite having a great experience, I would not be returning anytime soon due to the sheer fact that i should be avoiding anything with sugar for at least a year, for as to recover from its rich and generous proportions.

My favourite of them all! My local cafe just down the road from me is one of the best eateries I have ever been to (Yes I know, so good!) with the best breakfast, lunch and dessert menu. My favourite being the sugar and spice french toast, the twice cooked duck with caramelised cabbage, smashed potato and an orange reduction, for dessert I absolutely LOVE the pistachio and vanilla bean pannacotta with strawberries, turkish delight, rhubarb syrup, mint and persian fairy floss. One element I love about this cafe, is the garden and the flower shop beside the cafe, accompanied by a beautiful view while dining in, it makes the food experience so much better! The Wild Pear Cafe is the ideal cafe for a nice local brekky or lunch with excellent service and delicious food.

For my 19th birthday this year, my family decided to take me out to a restaurant at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Circular Quay for breakfast. It had a beautiful view of the Harbour Bridge and what not but the servings of their food were very small portions, I was still left hungry after. Another weakness I of this restaurant were the few choices they offered on their breakfast menu, there was only 5 choices for breakfast on their menu. However in saying that, these choices were different and they had mixed flavours that usually one would not eat for breakfast. I ordered the sweet corn waffle with tomato relish and sour cream which was quite average. I would have preferred their lunch menu rather than their breakfast menu which consists char-grilled Cape Grim grass fed sirloin, eschallot butter & cress and Cootamundra grilled lamb rump, herb crust, sorrel, minted peas & onion rings. Divine!

Lately, I have been obsessed with amazing food trends that are both incredibly beautiful to look at and delectably tasty. Here are my top five favourite food trends of 2016.

photo courtesy of: oyez.com

Rainbow bagels

The Rainbow Bagel is a New York foodie trend (like the Teriyaki Chicken Pizza and ‘Cro-nut’ sensations before it) that has taken the world by storm. It was an original creation of Scott Rossillo, the owner and head baker of The Bagel Store in Brooklyn. The bagels are made of coloured doughs that has been flattened and stacked on top of itself, then cut and rolled into bagels. Its normally served with ‘fun-fetti’ frosting. The rainbow bagel has been featured on Insider and Buzzed.

photo courtesy of: foodiggity.com

Sushi Burger

Described by DailyMail as the “latest foodie fad to take over social media”. It uses all the traditional ingredients of a sushi roll and uses it to form a burger — the rice is packed into a bun shape to replace brioche, and fillings such as salmon, avocado, sashimi and chicken are used. It has been praised as simple and healthy and there are even popular vegan versions of the recipe that have been circulating.

photo courtesy of: chopstickchronicles.com

Japanese style pancakes

Japanese Style Pancakes are pancakes that are incredibly thick and fluffy and are described as sweet and almost ‘crumpet-like’ in texture. The rise of the Japanese Style Pancake is mostly attributed to Pinterest and Instagram which have earned the modern Japanese classic its rightful popularity within the western world.

photo courtesy of: tablespoon.com

Rainbow Waffles

The Rainbow Waffle food trend was started on Youtube with content producers such as PopSugar and MyCupcakeAddiction gaining over 4million views on their waffle-making videos. Also insanely popular on Pinterest, these colourful waffles are red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple from the outside in.

photo courtesy of: welikela.com

Rainbow Grilled cheese

The ‘Rainbow Grilled cheese’ sandwich is an original recipe from the Kala Toast cafe in Hong Kong. Its characterised by is incredible cheesiness and colourful stripes. Each of the colours have a different flavour — the blue is lavender, green is basil, red is tomato and the yellow is a four cheese blend of mozzarella, cheddar, emmental and gruyere. According to Chinese food blogger @hkfoodiexblogger, each sandwich is approximately $5.

Let us know which food trend you'd like to try down in the comments or tweet us @DeepFried01.

As someone who dances from 445-945pm every Wednesday night. Nothing excites me more than thought of all the food I can eat afterwards. After two consecutive Wednesday night Maccas runs, my friend and I finally looked up places that were open till late. To our dismay, most of the places were all the way in the city or way too pricey for what they were serving. I had a lightbulb moment and remembered a place called Maisy’s 24 in Neutral Bay which offered all day breakfast, the catalyst for our night.

The restaurant offered high quality food, without leaving you broke till your next pay check. Maisy's 24 offered ’great coffee, tasty breakfasts and a choice of comfort or contemporary cuisines, as well as delicious desserts.’

I ordered the lamb burger with haloumi, aioli, lettuce tomato and cucumber. It wasn’t dry and the flavours were a match made in heaven. The chips were a thick cut (my favourite kind). It was also a great portion size for the price.

Conveniently located, just off the M2, opened 24/7 with a great range of delicious food. This place is a must for a late night feed.

The following recipe is always a hit wherever I take it. It's easy to make and since the icing is white, it's so versatile to decorate with . This was originally a chocolate cake recipe, so feel free to make this into a cake if your desire.

What you need:

Dry Ingredients:

2 cups of caster sugar
1 3/4 cups of plain flour
3/4 cup of cocoa powder
1 tsp salt
1.5 tsp baking powder
1.5 tsp bicarb soda

Wet Ingredients:

2 eggs
1 cup of milk
1/3 cup of canola oil
2 tsp of vanilla essence or extract (I prefer extract as it is more potent)

Additional:

2 tsp of instant coffee
1/2 cup of boiling water

Icing:

Rich n Smooth Vanilla Icing (pre made)
- available at Cake Decorating Solutions

Method:

Sift all dry ingredients (sugar, flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder and bicarb soda) into a mixing bowl.
Combine the wet ingredients in a separate mixing bowl and mix.
Create a well in the centre of the mixing bowl with the dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients to the mixture.
Mix until smooth.
Combine the coffee and water together. Slowly pour it into the mixture.
Separate the mix into muffin trays. Only fill a third of the muffin case as this recipe rises a great deal!
Bake in oven for 25 minutes at 160 degrees fan forced. Poke a clean skewer into the cupcakes, if it comes out clean it's ready, if not, cook for a further 5 minutes until the skewer comes out clean.
Leave to cool
Spread or pipe icing onto cupcakes.
Decorate as desired!

**The Rich n Smooth Icing that I use is pre made. Pour 1 or 2 cups of the icing into a mixing bowl and beat till soft peaks form (as per instructions on the bottle). I added a bit of red food colouring to the icing to get a baby pink colour. ***

Hope you enjoy this one as much as I do!

If you’ve been on social media recently, you most likely may have seen the greasy goodness that is the HSP – the Halal Snack Pack. A snack pack, is a box of chips with chicken, beef, or lamb with sauces. In December last year, a group of friends created the Facebook group ‘Halal Snack Pack Appreciation Society’ which immediately took off and now has a following of over 108,000 ( SBSFood, 2016).With social media exploding with images of a group of friends devouring the HSP, I had to try it.

After finally gathering a group of friends, we found a place called Sofra’s in West Ryde that offered the HSP. To my surprise, the snack packs were priced from $10 - $65, with the size varying form a small rectangular take away container to a pizza box the size of a Costco pizza.Once we had demolished it, we were stupidly satisfied. The HSP is a great option for a group of friends, who have thrown the diet out for the night, want an alternative to a typical Macca’s run and want something everyone can agree on.

P.S Sorry for the terrible photography!

Reference:
Food. (2016). Unpacking the halal snack pack. [online] Available at: http://www.sbs.com.au/food/article/2016/05/09/unpacking-halal-snack-pack [Accessed 12 May 2016].

Its not often that one goes to a pop up bakery housed in an old shipping container surrounded by milk crates, enticed by bearded bakers and the sound of middle eastern drums for what is known to be the best Jerusalem street food in Sydney! Knafeh bakery is known for their diverse way in which they have brought people and cultures from all over Sydney together, making it a Sydney foodie’s ultimate experience.

My first visit to Knafeh was in early 2015 when it was first based in a warehouse next to Strathfield train station where the line for their symbolic dessert consisting of Jerusalem type rice pudding, was nearly out of the actual warehouse. I remember, I timed the amount it took it my sister and I for our orders to be taken by the bakers, it took approximately 35 minutes…but boy was it worth it! The one thing I loved most about knafeh was how culturally diverse their joint was and the way they have differentiated themselves within the industry. It’s not your ideal late night dessert run at a cafe or restaurant. So, I highly recommend Knafeh bakery for anyone who is urging a fantastic, fun, foodie experience!

As an employee of the Macquarie Centre, I love trying different things in the Centre on my lunch breaks. One day I went to The Vogue Cafe with a coworker to see what all the social media fuss was all about as they are known for their crazy milkshakes. The special milkshake of the day was the iced nutella milkshake with milo milk served with bueno chocolate bars with peppermint to give it a dash of flavour. It was fair to say that I had had my chocolate fix for about a weeks worth! I loved this place, had such a cool vibe for everyone, also family friendly. So would highly recommend for parents to take the kids out for a cheeky chocolate treat!

My sister and I had discovered The Burger Project after work one day where we were after somewhere cheap, local and convenient (and of course we felt like burgers on a Friday night!). We were in the CBD, so I googled burger joints that were close by and the burger project popped up so we decided to try it out.

This place was probably equivalent to America’s infamous In N Out and it was amazing! From the range of burgers they offered to their cheesy fries and their salted caramel shakes were to die for! A very funky place to hang out after work on Fridays! Loved the vibe! They'll also be expanding to Macquarie Centre this winter so stay tuned!

If you're a big fan of eating cookies with a nice glass of warm milk during the winter, or whenever really, then here's a little snack that will change your life for the better.

The Tim Tam slam (or straw), if you've never had the pleasure of experiencing it, is a sacred technique that was first shown to me by one of my sisters many years ago which I shall now show to you.

The general gist of the Tim Tam straw is to use a Tim Tam in order to drink one of your favourite beverages.

Here's how to do it:
Step 1) Get a packet of Tim Tam's in your favourite flavour (I recommend you pick one that doesn't have any extra filling inside, such as caramel).

Step 2) Cut or bite off some of the Tim Tam on either its end or opposing corners.

Step 3) Enjoy it with your favourite beverage! I generally stick to milk (cookies and milk has nothing on this btw) in either plain or chocolate – if you're the type of person who likes to dip their cookies into milk and get it soggy I recommend you heating up your drink beforehand.

Let me know down in the comments or tweet @DeepFried01 on what drink you like to have with your Tim Tams.

- Dione

Welcome all to DeepFried!

We are a cooperative group of five bloggers, who have a great passion for all things FOOD.
From our informative food reviews to our casual expressions of ways to best satiate our hunger, we hope to start a community that any and everyone can relate to.

We hope you all are as excited as we are to share our thoughts and stories that we have to offer.

Stay tuned for many awesome posts to follow!
-Evan

Top left to top right: Summer, Evan
Bottom left to bottom right: Alexandra, Dione, Kayeleanne

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