A Meaty Situation

During the working week my alarm sounds at 4:50am and in a bid to wake up I peruse the news bleary eyed. This morning stumbled across this article on News.com.au announcing that Dutch Scientists are less than a year away from beginning the first human trials of beef mince grown from 10,000 cattle stem cells. The product 'Vitro Meat' can be grown in 12 months and is designed to tackle the impending food shortage as the human population swells over the next three decades. Though the product would eliminate the need for animal slaughter, Scientists have admitted the product is not particular appetising as it is grey and has a similar texture to calamari.

So this has brought forth a number of philosophical questions and I would love to know everyone else's thoughts:

• Should we be eating meat?
  Believe me I love nothing more than a well marbled, rare steak with some creamy mushroom sauce but we're constantly told a number of conflicting things. "Eat more red meat." "Your portion of red meat should only be the size of your palm." Consume red meat three to four times a week." "Consumption of meat is linked to Cancer." "If you skimp on meat you'll miss out on iron, iodine and vitamin B12." The list goes on and add on top of that all the ethical issues like the humane slaughter of animals and the impact on the planet. My view is human beings are designed to be omnivores so if you happy to continue to eat meat e.g. you don't have ethical or dietary dilemmas then you ought to include meat sparingly. I'm sure our starving caveman ancestors would approve.
  


• Are we playing God?
  Maybe I've missed something I thought we getting back to basics, you know, brown peasant bread and attaching buzz words like organic to branding. Though I'm not terribly keen on the lifestyle choices of the stereotypical smelly hippy, I do like the idea of keeping poultry, growing an edible garden, recycling and composing. I also don't really like the idea of Vitro meat as I am not sure what kind of nutrition a bunch of stem cells will impart. I've held many corridor discussions over the last week and Carmen of Awesome brought up the point that apart from food tasting really good, we need it to live. If we can't decide what is the optimal diet for humanity, then how can we create Vitro meat? I know we love progress and we need to explore but honestly I'm not comfortable.
  


• How old is your meat?
  When you clone an animal, the donor material carries a genetic age. Does this apply with stem cells? How will brand our meat? Will stem cell meat be able to sold as lamb, hogget and mutton?
  


• Can we make it tasty?
  The article states, "even if the initial results do not taste quite the same as proper meat, scientists are convinced the public will soon get used to it." Get used it? I'm not really use I want to consume grey beef with the texture of calamari. But as foodies, it is our job to try to think of a way to make this thing palatable. All I could think was to solve the situation by making a pie or coating it in panko and deep frying (my solution to most of the world's problems). I would love to hear your thoughts on Vitro Meat and how you would sell it.

The Chelsea

The very hip Eliza of Gastronomy Gal calls them PIE: Partner In Eating. Though I don't have a regular companion PIE, I do have a range of wonderful PIEs to call upon and this particular morning I had arranged to meet the fabulous Kate and Mister Spensley at the Chelsea. The Chelsea is located in the Barracks complex and every time I step inside it reminds me of New York. This bistro offers moderately priced meals, seven days a week in a central location (parking is free for the first two hours and the complex is connected to Roma Street Train Station). The coffee pictured above is a skinny mocha. My coffee was a good size, the milk was glossy and coffee was sweet, smooth and without any bite.

Though there were a number of imaginative dishes on the breakfast menu such as Kedgeree - Smoked king fish, poached eggs, curried basmati rice, tomato, coriander and yoghurt. I decided to selected one of the specials which was an omelette with smokey chorizo, roast capsicum and onion. Though I enjoyed this dish immensely as the fluffy texture was contrasted by the wonderfully bold flavours, I am still pining for one of my old favourites - Poached pear on homemade gingerbread with honeyed ricotta and pistachio. I'm still holding hope that it will return to the menu, but I'm sure I will continue to visit this lovely venue.

Rating: 3 out of 5.
Address: 61 Petrie Terrace, Paddington QLD 4064.
Open: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner, 7 days a week.
Phone: (07) 3367 1288.
Price: Breakfast: $5.50 - $17.50. Lunch: $9.50 - $23.50. Dinner: $23.50 - $38.50. Dessert: $12 - $14.50.

Winning!

I'm winning like Charlie Sheen today but with less hookers and cocaine. I normally rush out and try to get my mits on the latest MasterChef Magazine, but not this issue. This issue comes with an old MasterChef Issue and I've been hoping to spot Issue 1 (it's the only one I don't have), but so far I have failed. However I caved when spotted this copy with a free Junior MasterChef Australia Cookbook. Hard cover goodness ...

Cockadoodle Cafe

Cockadoodle Cafe is a bubbly little cafe that has recently taken over the old Olivetto site. The staff a friendly, the space is full of light and has a family friendly feel with whirling rainbow spirals and lots and lots of chicken related nick nacks. Though this fetching establishment serves breakfast and lunch, seven days a week, I was looking for a coffee to wake me up before a session of improvised theatre.

Here is a photo of my skinny mocha. As you can see the milk is glossy and smooth and the froth does not dominate the glass. As much as I enjoy a Babyccino, life is too short and expensive to drink a bad coffee. This mocha had a nice balance of chocolate and espresso.

I came in for a coffee but the Cockadoodle Cafe has an irresistible selection of treats. Lemon Curd filled, Biscuits with an embossed star, Gingerbread and this Lemon Curd Tart are just some the sweet treats you will encounter on your trip. This Lemon Curd Tart doesn't have a lot of zing but the curd is beautifully light and this makes a brilliant foil to the crisp pastry. Happiness is infectious and catching a good dose of it here is a great way to start any morning.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
Address: 5 Enoggera Terrace, Red Hill, QLD 4059.
Open: Breakfast and Lunch, 7 days a week.
Phone: (07) 3369 0610.
Price: Coffee from $4.

Brisbane Food Bloggers Picnic Part 2

By the time I arrived at the Brisbane Food Blogger Picnic I had already had breakfast with friends, ruffled through the Brisbane Arts Theatre Winter Wardrobe Sale, completed a dressage lesson, wandered the Powerhouse Market and perused the World Press Photo Exhibition, but I was still full of beans and excitement. I was going to meet a group of talented foodies who love to share their passion through the written word. As you can see there is no picnic quite like a food bloggers picnic, there was Beetroot Cheesecake with a Chocolate Brownie Crust, Picnic Loaf, Pumpkin, maple and cream cheese Whoopies, Chicken Katsu, Japanese Potato Salad, Dips, wine and baked goods of all shapes and sizes. I was in awe and my food commentary was confided to mmmm hmmm mmmmmm mmmrrrrr.

So who were these food super stars? There was Renee from the Pantry Review, Kay-Lynn from Monkylicious, Mel from the Cook's Notebook, Morag from Miss Morag's Morsels, Haikal from Life at the Tuna Ranch, Fiona and her darling dog Cleo, Julia from Mélanger, Muchisimas Gracias, Michelle from Foxed Glove and Eliza from Gastronomy Gal. They were really cool and I enjoyed my first Food Bloggers Picnic immensely. Thanks everyone!

Rhubarb Custard Melting Moments

To truly appreciate food you have to know how to cook and Food Bloggers are no exception. With the upcoming Brisbane Food Bloggers Picnic I knew I had to plate up something unique, tasty and visually splendid so I turned to my book shelf. I settled on Rhubarb Custard Melting Moments from the Women's Weekly Cookies cookbook as there something so appealing about the bright red rhubarb custard nested between two golden discs. I started by stewing 3 large stems of chopped rhubarb with 3 tablespoons of sugar and three tablespoons of water on low heat until the rhubarb was pulpy. Try to avoid taste testing as you could quite easily polish off the stewed rhubarb at this stage.

I then placed 2 tablespoons of custard powder, 2 tablespoons caster sugar and 1 cup of milk in a saucepan. I stirred it until the mixture boiled and thickened. Once I was happy with the consistency I removed it from the heat and added 2/3 cup of stewed rhubarb and was disappointed with the colour.

Thankfully my red and pink food colour pastes came to the rescue and gave the custard the desired colour. Once the custard had cooled, I covered the bowl in cling wrap and placed it in the fridge to set.

I preheated to 160°C before whipping 500g softened butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1 cup of sifted icing sugar until light and fluffy. I then sifted in 2 cups of custard powder and 2 cups of plain flour and combined.

Lightly grease a cookie sheet and roll rounded teaspoons of mixture into balls. Place then approximately 5cm apart and flatten slightly with a floured fork. Bake for 15 minutes and allow them to stand for at least 5 minutes.

Once they are cool, take two golden discs and sandwich them together with your rhubarb custard. If you pad your container, they travel quite well and are best enjoyed with a cup of tea. Yum!

Ewwww Robert Pattinson!

A couple of days ago singing sensation Holly Throsby posted a tweet that left me giggling like a school girl. It seemed unbelievable that this could be truly printed onto a Fantales wrapper so I went on a fact finding missing to verify its existence (this meant rummaging through a whole packet of Fantales). Proof photographed above, ewww Robert Pattinson!