Category: brunch

Tick Tock Diner ticks the box #ticktock #diner #newyork

Of course we had to eat at an American diner while we were in New York City recently!

Tick Tock Diner in Midtown Manhattan claims to be the largest diner in New York and it certainly is very big! However the design with shared tables and traditional booths and the fact that it is full of locals (Madison Swuare Gardens and Penn Station across the road) and tourists alike at anytime of the day makes it feel much more intimate than you would expect.

The original Tick Tock opened in New Jersey in 1948 so the formula has now been extended to a number of diners in locations throughout New York and beyond..,

Serving traditional and run-of-the-mill American comfort food including Italian, Tex-Mex and Greek favourites, the huge all day menu caters to all tastes.

Service is a mixture of curt and courteous, with old school waiters in traditional diner uniforms.

Coffee is American style – percolated and poured into tin mugs with milk in plastic (!!) but all you can have.

Whilst our breakfast there wouldn’t rate as the best we had in New York it was in fact not too big and overwhelming and exceeded our expectations. On reflection it is probably better than some of the real tourist traps closer to Broadway/Times Square but not as good as some of the traditional smaller local favourites like Chelsea Square Diner on W23rd and 9th Ave.

We certainly got our diner experience just down the road from the apartment we were staying in and it set us up well for a visit to MOMA and some pre-Thanksgiving shopping in Manhattan!

Ticks every box in terms of a budget American diner brunch and experience if that’s what you might like to try!

Shanthini3 Comments

Easter Feasting and Grazing. #easter #feasting #pearlbeach

A lovely Easter holiday at Pearl Beach, one of our favourite Sydney getaways. Lazy beach days as summer turns to autumn here, walks, swims and a book fair to keep us all stocked up for reading. Blissful family time and healthy grazing and feasting as well.

Here are some photos of our some of our lunches so far. Promise to post recipes in weeks to come.

Welcome grazing Board!
Caramelised Fig, Avocado and Toasted Walnut Salad
BBQ Swordfish with Pepperonata, olives and capers.
Tortilla, fresh prawns, pesto mayonnaise and toasted Turkish bread

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#salmon #caviar #Crepe Cake

Changed up the traditional Smoked Salmon Crepes recipe creating a layered crepe cake for a celebratory brunch.

Layered with herbed creme fraiche with dill and capers, smoked salmon and caviar, the overall result was delicious and looks fabulous. You could add finely chopped red onion or replace caviar with salmon roe..lots of options to suit your taste.

I used my favourite crepe recipe Martha Stewart Crepes but made them a bit smaller so that the mixture made about 18-20 crepes to layer up into a high pile, leaving a few to drape over the top to complete the picture.

Easy and fun. plenty of options to make a sweet version for a dessert too!

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Counting ourselves lucky: lunch at #Abacus #Prahan #melbourne

First plane trip in more than 12 months today, travelling from Sydney to Melbourne. Masked up all the way but that was a minor inconvenience considering how lucky we are to be able to travel to (most places) within Australia (at the moment).

Got a warm welcome at the Como MGallery Hotel #comomgallery before heading down Chapel St until we spotted Abacus and headed in for lunch. Had read about the all day dining in #broadsheet and the food certainly rates a mention. Here’s a link to their lengthier review https://www.broadsheet.com.au/melbourne/south-yarra/cafes/abacus

The Ballarat breakfast featuring Toulouse sausage and pig cheeks from a special butcher in Ballarat was accompanied by a beautifully poached egg.

All day brunch, as well as a short but good main section featuring octopus, fish of the day and steak. Exactly the type of good cafe lunch we were seeking.

Steak with chimchurri
Prahan mural cnr Chapel amd Elizabeth St’s

With cool vibes, lots of indoor greenery and large windows opening out onto the Chapel st sights and sounds(bit more subdued than normal but still buzzy) Abacus is a great stop during Prahan shopping or as a destination cafe!

Abacus
Abacus greenery

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Smoked salmon with crepes, cucumber, herbed Creme Fraiche and “caviar”.

This classic combination of ingredients is hard to go past as a delicious brunch, breakfast or entree.

Smoked salmon with crepes, herbed creme fraiche and caviar.

Crepes

For the crepes I just halve the sugar and throw in some dill leaves into my favourite easy Martha Stewart crepe recipe….https://www.marthastewart.com/921813/how-make-crepes

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1.5 cups milk
  • 4 eggs
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • Small handful Dill leaves (no stems)
  • 3 tablespoons melted butter (1 tablespoon extra for frying crepes)

Put all the ingredients into a food processor or blender and blend until frothy.

Heat small non-stick pan, dip kitchen paper in butter and lightly coat pan with butter.

Pour a small ladleful of crepe batter into pan and swirl to create a thin crepe. Wait until browned on one side and flip. Repeat until you finish batter. You will have about 12-14 crepes depending on the size of your pan.

Filling:

  • 250g Thinly sliced Smoked salmon
  • 1 cup creme fraiche
  • 2 tablespoons dill leaves finely chopped
  • 2 tablespoons finely chopped chives
  • Pinch of salt
  • Ground black pepper
  • 1 Lebanese cucumber diced
  • 100g smoked salmon pearls or caviar

Mix creme fraiche with herbs, pinch of salt, a grind of black pepper.

Lay crepes on plate, line with smoked salmon, add a dollop of herbed creme fraiche,a few bits of cucumber, roll up and serve topped with a teaspoon or two of caviar, and additional cucumber on the side of you like.

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Roasted #capsicum with #tuna filling #tapas

Just made these as part of a #tapas lunch we enjoyed on the deck of our beach house at beautiful Hyam’s Beach on the South Coast of New Sput Wales, about 3 hours from Sydney.

Tapas lunch consisted of : charcuterie and cheese board including machengo cheese, jamon Iberico, san Danielle prosciutto, cornichons, salami, quince paste and a blue cheese; garlic prawns, Spanish tortilla, chorizo, sourdough bread, green salad and a fruit and chocolate platter to finish. And these very nice red roasted capsicum rolls filled with tuna.

Prep time: 10 minutes Cooking and cooking time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

  • 2 small long red capsicum or 4 long red peppers
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
  • 200g canned tuna
  • 1/2 cup Greek natural yoghurt
  • 2 tablespoons small capers
  • 2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
  • Ground black pepper

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 220 degrees Celsius.

2. Place capsicum on foil lined baking tray.

3. Wrap peeled garlic cloves in foil and place on baking tray.

4. Grill capsicums for 20 minutes, turning over to blacken skin on all sides. Remove garlic from oven.

5. Put capsicums in oven for another 15-20 minutes until skin is blistered and black.

6. Meanwhile, smash garlic with salt and 1.5 teaspoons of capers and mix with yoghurt, olive oil and lemon juice.

7. Drain canned tuna, add yoghurt mixture and mix through tuna. Add chopped parsley, rest of whole capers. Grind black pepper to taste and mix again.

8. Remove capsicum from oven and place in plastic bag and tie off to allow steam to soften skins. Peel off skin carefully, cut in half and remove seeds, trying not to tear capsicum flesh.

9. Stuff with tuna mixture and roll capsicum into neat parcels cutting each half into two or leaving whole.

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