Bistrot Bistro - A Review

First impressions, an elegant atmosphere and beautifully candle lit décor.  The wait staff were very attentive, although a little lacking in knowledge as my dining companion and I soon discover.  To begin we select the duck liver parfait, rose jelly, candied walnuts.

I'm in love with pate and parfait, although yet to master a recipe myself.  My favourite at the moment is Maggie Beer's pheasant farm pate.  I visited Maggie's Farm Shop in the Barossa last year, it was the middle of winter and I devoured an amazing picnic basket and pheasant soup with a superb Barossa Shiraz, I was in heaven.  Although honourable mentions must go to MV's parfait, from the McLaren Vale and Stella May's Boozy Duck.

Back on topic, Bistrot Bistro's parfait was presented beautifully and had a perfectly creamy, smooth texture... yet tasted slightly bitter.  The candied walnuts helped to balance this, but overall I was unimpressed due to the expensive price of the lack lustre starter.

For mains I ordered the breast of duck, duck sausage, caramelised witlof tarte fine & burnt orange purée; my companion, the assiette of lamb, ewe's curd tortellini, pine nuts, raisins & sweet corn custard.  The duck was cooked perfectly; disappointingly the purée overpowered the dish with a strong aniseed flavour, so much so that I excluded it from the rest of my dish.  The assiette of lamb was fantastic, cooked to perfection, it simply melted in my mouth, the pine nuts and raisins provided a new, exciting flavour to compliment.

As the conscientious waiter enquired if our meals were to our tastes, we questioned the overuse of anise in the orange purée, to which we were told 'I think it's a French thing'.  We continued to question the knowledge of the wait staff as we ordered cheese for dessert, the waitress left our side to check with the Chef, and on returning still seemed a little lost.  We helped her along and discovered our choices were a blue, a soft cheese and a goats cheese.  We went with the blue and soft cheese.  Both were good and a nice way to end the evening.

Overall the restaurant was nice, pretty for a special occasion or date, yet I was underwhelmed by the food and expected much more.  The wait staff tried their best but left a lot to be desired and really didn't sell the menu. I probably won't go back but am keen to experience an exceptional French dining experience in Brisbane.  Next on my list are C'est Bon, Anise and Montrachet.

Chocolate Indulgence

I recently discovered the most divine, moreish brownies at the Powerhouse Farmers Markets in New Farm.  Dello Mano, a local Brisbane business, make an array of beautifully packaged, scrumptious brownies.  The Classic Belgian Chocolate Brownie is a must but I would definitely recommend the Espresso Walnut, Honey Caramelised Macadamia and Turkish Delight varieties.  Visit the Dello Mano stall at the markets to taste test, you won't regret it!  On top of tasting incredible these brownies come in gift boxes - have them delivered as a delicious present for a chocolate lover.  I'm so impressed I need to focus my baking efforts towards perfecting my own brownie recipe...hmm I wonder if their secret has anything to do with the premium quality Belgian chocolate used.

High Tea Society

Baking is one of my passions and has been since I learnt the basics from Mum as a little girl.  For Mum's 50th birthday I hosted a High Tea with all kinds of yummy treats, and after baking for almost 11 hours (including a little sleep in between) the menu was as follows:

Sandwich Points

Egg and Lettuce (v)

Chicken, Avocado, Lettuce and Sun-dried Tomatoes

Veggie Delight (v)

. . .

Mini Quiches

Tomato, parmesan and pancetta

Mushroom and Sun-dried Tomato (v)

. . .

Scone Time

Date Scones with Strawberry Jam and Cream (v)

Pumpkin Scones with Apricot Jam (v)

Sweeteners

Lemon Meringue Slice

Chocolate Fudge Brownie with Macadamia Nuts

Melting Moments with Passionfruit Vanilla Custard

Passionfruit Lemon Cup Cakes with White Chocolate Icing 

. . .

Beverages

Fruit Punch 

Selection of Hot and Iced Teas

Espresso Coffee

I would not advise creating a menu such as this solo - I was lucky enough to have some fantastic helpers.  One thing I would advise is to use recipes you've tried and tested!  I attempted all these recipes for the first time, except for the simple sandwiches and quiches... I do love a baking challenge.  Everything was delicious but my favourite for taste and simpleness are the melting moments which I created a passionfruit custard variation from the basic recipe in my trusty Women's Weekly Bake cook book.  Here it is:

Passionfruit Custard Melting Moments

makes 25

Ingredients

250g butter, softened                                                                                          

1/2 tsp vanilla extract                                                                                            

1/2 icing sugar

1 cup custard powder

1 cup plain flower

1 tbsp icing sugar extra

Passionfruit Custard

1 tbsp custard powder

1 tbsp caster sugar

1/2 cup milk

1/3 cup passionfruit pulp

Method

1. preheat oven to 160⁰C.  Grease oven trays; line with baking paper

2. make passionfruit custard: blend custard powder and sugar with milk in small saucepan; stir over heat until mixture boils and thickens; remove from heat; stir in passionfruit; cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold.

3. meanwhile beat butter, vanilla and sifted icing sugar in a small bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy.  Stir in sifted custard powder in two batches.

4. with floured hands roll rounded teaspoons of mixture into balls.  Place about 5cm apart on oven trays; flatten slightly with floured fork.

5. bake biscuits about 15minutes.  Stand on trays 5 minutes; transfer to wire racks to cool

6. just before serving sandwich biscuits with a little passionfruit custard

Voila!  You can use any type of fruit in the custard, for example berry compote or stewed mango.

If anyone would like any of the other recipes in the above menu please comment on this post and I'd be happy to share more.