Month: December 2013

I Scream, You Scream, We Scream for Harry’s Ice Cream!

11 Comments

Harry's Ice Cream

As the weather gets warmer, isn’t there just one thing that is always on your mind? It definitely is for me! Ice cream!! I was so excited when I was invited to the exclusive factory tour of Harry’s Ice Cream!

A beautiful setting of table of goodies

Upon arrival at the factory, we were greeted by a beautiful table with canapés, macarons and a blueberry-lemonade-vodka cocktail! Mmmm! Delish! And how pretty is the bunting?? Gosh, I am obsessed with them! hehe

mini smoked salmon bagels and pea tarts

The mini treats were so delicious! Never seen such small bagels before! They were stuffed with smoked salmon, cream cheese and capers! I couldn’t stop at one. haha The pea tarts were surprisingly yum! I am never one for peas, but these were soft and sweet (in a savoury kind of way haha)!

mini chicken sandwiches and blue cheese and fig tarts

How cute are these mini chicken sandwiches? Never seen such small loafs before!!! Next to them drew my attention immediately! Do you know why? hehe Because of the dried figs!!! and they go so well with the blue cheese on the puff pastry base! Mmmmm!

Cocktails in mason jars

Cocktails in mason jars

We were so spoilt that day and were even given cocktails served in mason jars and with a polka dotted paper straw! It had a really good tang to it cause of the 40 lemons that were hand squeezed into the large jar dispenser! hehe Loved the tinge of pink it had too! Such a girlie drink! I have to admit, I almost wanted to take one of the jars home! haha

Lawrence - Owner

While we were enjoying the little nibbles, we were introduced to the brains behind Harry’s Ice Cream – Lawrence! He shared with us the history and how Harry’s Ice Cream came about. So here are some fun facts : They first started making ice cream in 1994 and sold them in stores. The first one is at Chadstone and this carried on till 1999. By then, they had 12 stores and they decided to open the Harry and Larry’s factory! They do supply to supermarkets under different brand names, but decided to come up with Harry’s that did exclusive flavours!

Lawrence and Tony

We were then introduced to the head of the ice cream maker, Tony, who would be bringing us for the factory tour as well as explaining to us the whole magical process!

Group photo at Harry's

(Photo credits : Harry’s Ice Cream)

But before we could enter the factory, we had to gear up and sanitise our hands so that we keep the area as clean as possible! haha Don’t we look good in our hair nets? haha We were ready to roll!

The inside of the factory

It was pavlova day at the factory that afternoon! So the team was high in production! Just tubs and tubs of ice cream being filled and capped, then stored in the freezer!

Making ice cream

Then the fun part started! We were brought to a smaller scale ice cream machine to make the flavour that Ling came up with : White chocolate and mixed berries ! It was such a phenomenal process, from the pasteurised custard to the adding of the mixed berries, and viola! Ice cream!!

Ling's white chocolate and mixed berries ice cream

How pretty is the colour? It was velvety smooth too! All contained and ready to be frozen so that we could taste a little later on!

The filling machine

On a larger scale, these filling machines fill up to 51 tubs per minute! It was so amazing to see it at work!

Ice cream tubs getting sealed

All filled and ready to be frozen

The pavlova flavour had an amazing passionfruit curd swirled into the custard and we could smell it from a mile away! They make up to 3600 litres of ice cream per hour and 68000 tubs of ice cream in 2 hours!!! WOWZER!

After the tour, I definitely couldn’t wait to get some tasting done! hehe

tasting and judging

We were also going to do some judging! Before the event, we were asked to come up with an ice cream flavour so that Harry’s could make it and we could taste and judge which flavour we loved! Before this, I never knew how ice cream was judged in a professional setting! There were three criteria for judging : flavour & aroma, texture & body, and presentation!

Jenny

Jenny is the official taster at Harry’s! She has the best job in the world of making sure all the ice cream is of the right taste, consistency and appearance! She explained to us the process of judging at an ice cream competition and then the tasting began!

Harry's ice cream

First up, the three Harry’s ice cream flavours! My favourite of the day is the Pavlova! It had bits of crushed meringue in it and every bite had lots of it! Gave it a really good texture and of course the flavours were spot on! Mmmmm

Our creations

Then it was time to taste the flavour we each come up with! I was super excited!!! Everyone had such great flavours and totally different too!

Pistachio, rose water and honey

The flavour I came up with was inspired by one of my favourite desserts of all time : the baklava! And if you don’t already know, I love pistachio! So when I was given the chance to come up with an ice cream flavour, I just had to give this combination a go! Pistachio, rose water and honey! I was so glad they added more crushed pistachio on the top of the ice cream, not just for presentation but also for texture! It was SO GOOD! The people working at Harry’s are just amazing!

Winner!

And guess what?? My flavour won!! Everyone liked it so much and it scored the highest! Whoopeedoo! hehe I was so surprised but was so happy! hehe Everyone did so well though! All the flavours were delicious!

Take home box!

The best thing was : take home tubs for everyone!! We had 6 each to bring home! 3 of their signature flavours and 3 of ours! hehe I was so excited that I gave one to Peggy on my way home! hehe The mr couldn’t wait to dig in to all the tubs too!

testing table

I had such a great time learning about the process of making ice cream and of course being able to taste not just the unique flavours that they have and also the flavour everyone came up with! (:

Thank you so much Harry’s Ice Cream and Keep Left PR for this amazing opportunity! It was such a fun event and I definitely recommend you to go try the Harry’s Ice Cream if you haven’t already tried it!

UPDATE :

Harry’s Ice Cream likes the flavour combination so much they are sharing the recipe to make it! Here’s the link and hopefully you’ll give it a try!!!

http://thenewdaily.com.au/life/2014/07/01/homemade-rosewater-pistachio-and-honey-ice-cream-recipe-harrys/

Disclaimer : I was invited to tour the Harry’s Ice Cream factory as a guest of Harry’s Ice Cream and Keep Left PR. Thank you once again or this wonderful experience! 

Tagine Magic : Moroccan Meatballs & Baba Ganoush

12 Comments

IMG_8881-1-1

I haven’t had much Moroccan food, but I can distinctly remember the first time I had it while we were still living in Brunswick many years back. On Sydney Road sits a small little Spanish/Moroccan restaurant, LaPaella, that sells really delicious Moroccan food and it was from this experience where I drew my inspiration from! I was really lucky to receive an Emile Henry tagine from Kitchenware Superstore, so it was perfect for me to make something Moroccan for dinner!

emile_henry_red_tagine

(photo credits : The Kitchenware Superstore)

The 32cm tagine came in a beautiful dark red and the best thing was it was made using the new flame top tecnologyan innovation in ceramics, with the development of a new glazed clay, exceptionally resistant to heat. So it didn’t even need a flame diffuser if you’re using the stovetop! How good and convenient is that?

Moroccan meatballs with baba ganoush

It also keeps the food warm for a longer time! So you’ll still get hot food after all the photo taking! haha (: Definitely perfect for me! hehe

Moroccan meatballs with baba ganoush and turkish bread

I am all for having a balanced meal, so besides the Moroccan meatball, I charred some vegetables, added some okra and also made baba ganoush to go with as a side! This combination, I have to admit, is addictive! hehe You can’t stop having it. I assure you!

So here is the recipe and if you don’t have a tagine, I encourage u to get one, if not, you could always make it in a shallow frying pan. But a tagine is recommended! hehe

Moroccan Meatballs with Baba Ganoush (Recipes adapted from Baltic Maid & David Lebovitz)

For the meatballs :

300g mince pork

300g mince beef

1 small onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 tbs of olive oil, for frying

For the spicy tomato sauce : 

1 can of chopped tinned tomatoes

1/2 cup passata

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 tsp chilli flakes

1/2 cup of beef stock

1 packet of okra (about 200g)

1 red capsicum

1 yellow capsicum

1 green capsicum

1 tsp salt

For the baba ganoush :

2 medium size eggplant

2 heap tbs tahini

Juice of 1 lemon

2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed

1/4 tsp chilli power

1 tbs olive oil, and extra to serve

1 tsp salt, or more to season

chopped parsley & chilli flakes, to garnish

Steps :

1) Under a hot grill, grill the capsicums and egg plant till they are tender and charred. Place them in a metal bowl and cover with cling wrap for about 10 mins. The charred skin would peel off easily. Slice the capsicum lengthwise and place in a bowl. Put the grilled eggplants (let whole) aside.

2) Place the tagine on the stove over medium heat. Add the tinned chopped tomatoes, passata, garlic, beef stock and allow it to come to a simmer for 10 mins. Add the okra and cover, allowing the okra to soften (about 10 mins). Add the chilli flakes.

making the spicy tomato sauce

3) Add the sliced roasted capsicum into the sauce and allow it to simmer for another 10 mins. Stirring to make sure the bottom is not sticking. Then switch it off, leaving the cover on.

Add the roasted capsicum into the sauce

4) For the meatballs : Add all the ingredients into a large meta bowl and mix till well combined.

Ingredients for the meatballs

5) Form the meatballs according to the size you fancy and place them on a plate. Heat a heavy based frying pan on medium heat then add the olive oil. Brown the meatballs on both sides then add them into the spicy tomato sauce (in the tagine). Cover and allow it to simmer on low heat for 20 minutes.

Frying the meatballs

6) While the meatballs are simmering away, slice the roasted eggplant into half, lengthwise, and scrape all the flesh into a food processor. Add the garlic, tahini, chilli powder and blend till quite smooth. Add the lemon juice, salt and olive oil. Blend till well combined. Place in a bowl, drizzle with more olive oil and garnish with chilli flakes and chopped parsley.

Moroccan meatballs

7) Garnish the meatballs with fresh parsley and serve with baba ganoush and warm turkish bread!

Moroccan meatballs with baba ganoush and turkish bread

Enjoy! (:

Hope you all had a great weekend and here’s to an awesome week ahead! Remember to always cook and bake with love! Till the next post, xx!

Disclaimer : I was given the tagine by Kitchenware Superstore to test and write a review, but all opinions and experience are based on my time of use! Thanks so much for this amazing tagine!