Sizzler Toast (Super Easy)
Try this super easy Sizzler cheese toast recipe with only 3 ingredients to relieve the good ol days
I have extremely detailed memories of eating with my family growing up. Summers of eating KFC in the sweltering heat, dunking each scrap of chicken skin into the gravy and clutching steaming hot corn cobs. Weekends at Istana, freezing in their arctic restaurant, shovelling down piping hot plates of hokkien mee or Hainanese chicken rice. School arvo’s were spent at the corner store staring hopefully at the jars of 2c lollies but inevitably getting a bundle of hot chips showered with chicken salt and wrapped in butchers paper to share with my brother.
But one of my favourite memories was during school holidays and we’d trek to the Sizzlers for the all you can eat buffet and I’d get the cheapest meal possible just so I would have access to the baskets of cheese toast. Never mind the dessert bar with the allure of building a giant soft serve sundae topped with all the sprinkles, nope, it was those golden triangles of happiness that seared it’s way into my heart.
Ingredients:
250g parmesan cheese (I happened to be at Costco and the grana padano cheese was on special)
250g salted butter, room temperature (do NOT use spreadable butter as this is way too oily and the cheese crust will melt)
White bread (about half a loaf)
Step 1. In a food processor dump in your parmesan and butter and blitz until smooth.
See? Smoooooth.
Step 2. Slather about a tablespoon worth of mixture onto your bread and spread evenly on one side only.
Layer a square of baking/parchment paper in between each slice or they will stick together.
Step 3. Important: FREEZE! If you skip this step the mixture won’t stick to the bread and will melt when you go to fry it!
Step 4. Heat a frying pan to medium heat and place the toast with cheesy butter side down into the pan.
Step 5. Cook until the bread on the top side is defrosted (about 2-3 mins) and check to see if the cheesy side is golden brown. Be warned a lot of oil will ooze out and you will question your life choices. Also if you lift the bread too soon there’s a chance your cheese mixture will slide off.
Step 6. Cut into triangles and immediately serve and reminisce about the good ol days.
Firedoor, Surry Hills
FIRE! Lennox Hastie is at the helm of Firedoor where all cooking is done over fire.
I love fire. There’s something hypnotic watching flames, twisting and dancing to their own tune. Growing up out west where bushfires was the norm, I grew to love the smoky scent in the air, the headiness of the slightly burnt char scent on satay sticks grilled in the backyard or the gooey sweetness of marshmallows roasted at school camps. No this is not an admission to my slightly pyro ways but the reason I couldn’t wait to eat at Firedoor and celebrate Helen’s birthday.
We start with deliciously warm slices of woodfired bread ($8) with cultured butter and crunchy nubs of sprouted rye. I friggen love cultured butter oh man MOAR PLS! It’s creamy and rich, slightly tangy and oh so silky and perfect to be slathered inch thick onto the nutty, smoky bread.
I was blown away by the Swordfish, sugar snaps, buttermilk ($28). The swordfish was briefly kissed by flames before slicing and setting on top of the sweetest sugar snaps I have ever had. But the swordfish was beyond incredible, I believe the belly is used and it just melted in the mouth and was buttery and incredible. The buttermilk dressing (the liquid left behind after churning their house made butter) is nice and light, adding a touch of creaminess but without overpowering the fish.
And if you guys follow me on Instagram you’ll know about my recent obsession and the reason we were dining at Firedoor: The Scarlet prawn ($24)! This beautiful prawn tastes like a cross between a lobster and a scampi, with delicately sweet tasting flesh. But the prawn head is what it’s all about, use your hands and suck out all the prawny juices- it will be the most intensely prawn experience you’ve ever had!
Sadly since it was just Helen and I, we decided there was no way we could finish the 203 day dry-aged rib of beef ($176) so instead ordered the Wagyu flank, smoked eggplant, horseradish ($54) which was absolutely perfect. The steak is thickly sliced with a perfect caramelised crust and a juicy center. I was surprised the steak didn’t have more of a smoky flavour but the smoked eggplant sauce provided all the incredible sweet smokiness I needed so I could control the amount I wanted with each mouthful.
We ordered the Smoked white chocolate, cherry and coconut bombe ($20) for dessert, not really expecting too much but oh boy how I love the theatrics of the alcohol poured over the dessert and set on fire! It had the perfect balance of creamy richness from the chocolate and sweet tartness of the buried cherries with a nice crunch contrast of the coconut biscuit on the base.
Firedoor
22-33 Mary Street
Surry Hills
NSW 2010
Trading Hours:
Sunday – Wednesday: Closed
Thursday – Friday: 12 – 3pm, 5:30 – 10:30pm
Saturday: 5:30 – 10:30pm
Here’s to 2019!
2018. It has been another whirlwind of a year! I started a new job (again), […]
2018. It has been another whirlwind of a year! I started a new job (again), there was a Kygo concert, the complete and utter obsession with Terrace House, and an epic food trip to Hong Kong where I ate my body weight in bbq goose, egg tarts and buttery pineapple buns.
My hair finally went aqua/green/turquoise, I ate a looooot of barbecue, I didn’t get any new ink but for the first time ever I have joined a gym but that’s thanks to the crippling pain of a pinched nerve. I gave up coffee just to see if I could do it for a month and ended up continuing it for the rest of the year with occasional ‘lapses’ when I needed to be social.
There has been a very large increase in the amount of bubble tea drunk (Coco is life but Song Tea has my heart), as well as many a Scarlet prawn(s) consumed and this year’s guilty pleasure was Shin ramen with copious amounts of plastic cheese. There were less burgers, ramen and unagi this year but more croissants, Costco pizza and generally a lot of eggs.
Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all have a safe and awesome NYE, thank you for following me and here’s to a delicious 2019!
Bistecca, Sydney
Sydney’s hottest restaurant is Bistecca, featuring Florence’s famous T-bone steak as their own main but with plenty of delicious side dishes
MEEEEEEAT! Sydney’s hottest restaurant is Bistecca, featuring Florence’s famous T-bone steak and is located off Dalley St and around the corner from the horror that is the light rail construction on George St.
Make your way down a slightly shady looking staircase which opens up to the bar area where you’ll wait if your entire group haven’t arrived yet. Reservations are only for groups of 6 or more and generally if you aren’t there before 6.30pm you’ll have to wait about an hour and a half for a table. Luckily the bar does serve snacks like olives, cured meats and cheeses and while there’s no pressure to order a drink while you’re waiting, the menu is actually quite reasonably priced (though I’d skip their poor attempt at a bellini and stick with the wines).
When we were finally led through the bar to the secret entrance of the restaurant we were momentarily confused when we were told to surrender our mobile phones. You don’t have to of course but it’s to encourage customers to enjoy their meals and engage with each other so with a shrug we deposit our phones into the cushioned drawer which is then locked and we’re given a key in case we need to access them during the meal.
While we peruse the menu, focaccia bread arrives and a candle is lit and placed on our table but this is not just any ordinary candle, it’s a candle made of beef drippings! Wait a bit for the candle to melt before tearing off some focaccia and dipping into the puddle of rich beef fat.
We’d missed out on the first seating and didn’t want to fill up on snacks while waiting so by the time we were shown to our table we were ravenous and our eyes gleamed when we were asked how many grams we wanted our steak to be. There is only one type available, the Bistecca alla Fiorentina which is $13 per 100 grams and staff recommend about 300g per person so the 4 of us we decide to get 1.5kg as the steak does include bone.
Our waiter delivers the verdict to the open kitchen and we watch as they hack away at a giant slab of meat to cut our steaks to order. The steaks are then presented to us for inspection and the weight and cost is scribbled on our paper table cloth before they’re whisked away to sizzle on the woodfire grill.
Oh helloooo! Our t-bones are a perfect medium rare with delicious charred edges and sliced and reassembled for ease of eating. It’s incredible juicy, tender and our table is silenced as we gleefully give in to our carnivore happiness and eye each other over who gets to gnaw at the bone.
While there is only one main available, there’s a whole bunch of sides that we couldn’t resist ordering. If I’m eating a steak then I will always need a carb so we had to order the potato mash ($10) which was nice and fluffy and so easily dispatched into my carb loving stomach.
I’m not sure what I was expecting with the Asparagus, cured yolk, prosciutto ($12) but I was a little underwhelmed at the row of asparagus all lined up and showered with grated cured egg yolk. I didn’t taste any prosciutto but maybe the asparagus spear that I nabbed was missing this? It was fine but well, it just didn’t do anything for me.
The Brussels sprouts ($15) however, are a bloody revelation, the outer leaves are crisp and charred with a tender center and works well with dabs of the sour cream and shavings of pecorino.
I somehow don’t have a photo but surprisingly I really liked the cavolo nero ($11) the most out of all the sides, maybe because it was loaded with confit garlic cream and I can never have too much garlic haha and it definitely helped with the meat sweats.
We were pretty damn full but when there was a mention of tiramisu ($15) we perked up and agreed to share one. It’s thankfully light and creamy and just sweet enough to hit all the right notes.
Bistecca
3 Dalley St
Sydney
Trading Hours:
Restaurant
Lunch Wednesday to Friday 12pm-3pm
Dinner Monday to Saturday 6pm-10pm
Bar
Monday and Tuesday 4pm-2am
Wednesday to Friday 12pm-2am
Saturday 4pm-2am
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