I’m in love. He’s white and unassuming. Like my boyfriend. Unlike my boyfriend, he’s cold and alcoholic, and gives you a thrillingly tingly effect at the back of your throat. Maybe not so unlike my boyfriend afterall.

Ahem. Ahem.

It’s actually a component of a dessert that I’m waxing so lyrical about. But not to get too far ahead of the evening,..

Aforementioned boyfriend booked us into Foveaux Restaurant and Bar for a quiet dinner, some weeks ago. I must admit, on the day itself, I was feeling a little reluctant to spend a couple of hours in a restaurant, having come straight from work; replete with hat-hair and tired eyes. But the minute the bread rolls hit our side plates, I had a feeling we might be in good hands. The rolls were warm and crusty, yet pillowy on the inside. I can’t remember the last time I was served such a comfortingly warm bread roll. Then, the second hit of the evening. A complimentary pumpkin soup with cumin air, served in the cutest little glass. Tilt the contents towards your mouth and the liquid cleverly combines with the air, creating a mix of velvety yet light, perfectly spiced pumpkin soup.

All this, without having even tasted a spoonful of any of the dishes we had actually ordered. What we did order, turned out to be just as interesting, as intense, playful, flavoursome and enjoyable. A meeting of fine flavours on a plate creating joyous unions that internet dating sites could only dream of.

Take for instance, the dish of sweetcorn, chicken and yabbies. Poultry (corn-fed, I hope) meets tender yabby with carrot afro for a sultry, saucey good time. Or crab seeks friendship with little cubes of kingfish ceviche and a micro herb salad, in the most unusual way.

For dessert, the Opera cake with deconstructed versions of itself (coffee custard, coffee jelly (powerful like gelatinised shots of espresso), white chocolate ice-cream and chocolate soil – a pairing that reminds me of Oreo cookies) was nice, but my heart belonged to the Pear Tarte Fine with its scoop of tobacco-infused Poire William ice-cream. The lovely pear brandy is what you taste first, but then a peppery sensation starts occuring towards the back of your throat. It’s all rather odd and a bit disconcerting, but so intriguing that you want more. Love at first bite.

Foveaux Restaurant + Bar
65-67 Foveaux Street
Surry Hills 2010.

The past week has been kind of hectic but enjoyable. Yesterday at work someone had the temerity to remark, “You look much happier than when I saw you last”; a surprising comment. To be fair, the last time I saw him, I was preparing for a major charity function without any help, and his incessant chatter was driving me up the wall.

Anyway, I’m celebrating the end of the week with a stove-free Saturday. On Sunday, I might make a curry and catch a screening of the much anticipated Ratatouille. This week’s WHB is hosted by Katie and her adventures with thyme/time at Thyme for Cooking, The Blog. For it, I thought I’d share a recipe for cheese biscuits which, like another recipe previously attempted, I would highly recommend with a glass of wine.

What do cheese biscuits have to do with WHB, you may well ask. Their secret ingredient highlights my ongoing obsession with peppers and chillis. Basically, if it moves, pepper it – with the exception of chocolate, which I’ve twice had flavoured with chilli, and was a bit underwhelmed by the experience each time. Hungarian Sweet and Spanish Smoked Paprikas, and Cayenne, Black and White peppers are all must-haves in my cupboard. Black and White peppers are both fruits of the pepper tree. The Black pepper is the unripe fruit, while the white is derived from ripe peppers. There are also green (unripe) and pink (ripe) peppercorns which you can often find preserved in jars. Paprika on the other hand, is made from ground dried capsicums/peppers and is used not only for its flavour, but also its amazing colour (hues of red and orange).

Case in point with these cheese biscuits, which only called for cayenne pepper, but I also managed to sneak in a sprinkling of chilli powder and Spanish sweet smoked paprika. Sweet smoked paprika in particular, seems to contribute a certain bacon-y savouryness to dishes which I can’t get enough of. The mild heat of chilli also distracts a little from the cheesy/fattiness of the biscuit. And the glass of wine in hand tempers the heat for those who are less tolerant of the allure of the chilli.

With that, I raise my glass to everyone who is having a cracker of a weekend.. (oh, and Katie, hatching maggots in mushrooms is too much information, yes! 😛 )

Cheddar Cheese Crackers :
(recipe from Tartine by Elisabeth M. Prueitt and Chad Robertson)

105g plain flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3/4 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
225g sharp Cheddar cheese, grated
55g unsalted butter, at room temperature
70g walnuts, chopped medium fine

In a small mixing bowl, stir together the flour, salt, cayenne pepper and black pepper. Set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the cheese and butter and beat on medium speed until combined. Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until incorporated. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Mix in the walnuts on low speed. The dough should be fairly stiff, with small chunks of cheese and walnut visible.

Gather the dough into a ball, flatten into a disk, wrap well in plastic wrap, and chill in the refrigerator until firm but still pliable, about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 205’C.

Unwrap the dough, place on a floured work surface, and roll out into a square or rectangle 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. Cut the dough into whatever shape you like. Arrange the crackers on a lined baking sheet, spaching them about 1 inch apart.

Bake the crackers until golden brown on the edges and lighter in the center, 7-10 minutes, depending on size and thickness. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely. The crackers will keep in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for up to 2 weeks.

Can I just say, man, how nuts has the security been this week! If like me you work in the city, specifically in the Quay area, you’ll probably be nodding in agreement too.

On Monday, I walked to work alongside the 3m high fence. It gave me the chills – I couldn’t tell if I was locked in or out. There were clumps of security guards at Wynyard Station, and posses (or posies) of police around the Opera House. Apparently there are important people visiting.

All of this, I kind of took into stride until today. Today redefined the term “security”, for me. Tomorrow will highlight it in big texta, and by Friday, hopefully I’ll be saying, Meh! Either that, or it’ll grow so extreme that we will find ourselves being escorted everytime someone needs to so much as go to the toilets.

Security = Two checkpoints, a bag scan, a mysterious something-or-other-booth body-scanning death-ray-zapping secret-photo-snapping type of machine.. oh and not to mention the guard dogs, ambulances, fire engines and police vans the size of buses (I wonder where the water cannon is??). In the afternoon, the army dropped by our kitchen for a spot check. A couple of them look worriedly at the pilot lights on my stove. “Are these pilot lights meant to be on?” someone asked. “Yes, they are pilot lights. That’s what they tend to do”, was my reply. Well, almost.

By 5pm, we were hurrying to leave because the corridor was going to be in lockdown. There are important people visiting, y’know. I made it through the corridor, but when I got to the exit gate in the fence, the gate was now in lockdown. We stood there in groups, shaking our heads, trying to look highly inconvenienced but understanding. I wiled away the time taking photos of the security guards. Finally the angry mosquitoes in the sky got louder, and suddenly, a cavalcade (including an ambulance) rode through the main entrance. Apparently it’s someone important visiting.

Vladimir Putin is meant to arrive in Sydney at 7:20am tomorrow. I’m going to have to try to beat him to work.