Foodiechat note:  I haven’t been to many of these, but can definitely highly recommend Hugos Manly – and not just for the gorgeous long eyelashed Pete Evans

Here are the deals:
4 Pines Brewing – take a complimentary trip out of this world with 4 Pines. Simply purchase a main meal between 11am-5pm, and receive a free handcrafted, naturally brewed, multiple award-winning beer.
www.4pinesbeer.com.au

Once you’ve come back down to earth, Manly is the place to see and be seen. Hang with the hip at Hugos, flirt amongst the flamingos at Manly Wine, and chill out at China Beach. Maybe you’ll even spot a few famous faces.

Hugos Manly – Enjoy a complimentary, and now famous, chocolate dessert pizza with any main course purchased.
www.hugos.com.au

After the land of the living, why not step back in time and dine with our ancestors? Surround yourself with the spooky and supernatural at Q Station. Enjoy a unique experience of world class cuisine, beautiful harbourside dining, in haunted surrounds steeped in history. After dinner, take a ghost tour – if you dare…

Q Station – Receive a $50 credit towards food and beverage or tours during your stay. Quote promotion code ‘Winter11’ when booking to receive.
www.mirvachotels.com/qstation

Manly Wine – Warm up inside and out, with a complimentary warm mulled wine with every main meal ordered.
www.manlywine.com.au

China Beach – purchase a main meal and receive a complimentary entree of either – steamed prawn sui mai with water chestnut, sweet corn and plum with red vinegar. Or a vegetarian curry puff with chilli sauce and cucumber yoghurt. China Beach are a licenced on premise restaurant.
www.chinabeach.com.au

Garfish Manly – This multi-award winning restaurant is offering diners a complimentary small plate from the delicious new bar menu, when two or more people order a drink at the bar.

Sample the beautiful new dishes, including parmesan arancini with smoked tomato dipping sauce, crisp fried cuttlefish and tuna tartare.
www.garfish.com.au

Organicus Kitchen and Pantry – Gastronomy, integrity and showcasing the best local organic food is the focus of the kitchen at Organicus. The food tastes great and is good for you too. Or why not try an amazing organic coffee, made with organic milk? Organicus are offering not one, but two, fabulous offers this winter. From Monday to Friday, receive your second main meal at half price (breakfast and lunch). On the weekend, with every cake order, you’ll get a free coffee.
www.organicus.com.au

Barefoot Coffee Traders – Enjoy a premium roasted Tobys Estate coffee of your choice, as well as a home-made fresh waffle, for only $6.
www.barefootcoffee.com.au

For more information see www.immerseyourselfinmanly.com.au

The recipe called for 2 hrs in the title, 3 hrs in the body of the text, and the instructions on the turkey wrapper said 40-45mins per kg.  how confusing is that!  We also stuck in a thermometer for good measure.  But alas, it was so dry and overcooked. Sorry family

For sides this year, I bought my first ever baby carrots.  They weren’t that baby, but I thought they looked very sweet with their little tops still on.  The prices were quite variable – $3.80 at coles and $2 at the local greengrocer.   I used a very easy glaze – boiling them for 2 minutes and then dressing with a mix of golden syrup and olive oil and seasoning.

My one experimentation came in the form of Luke Nguyen’s Hanoi Crisp Parcels that I saw on Masterchef as well as Chef’s Christmas.  I was very worried that they wouldn’t fry up, as the skins are first soaked in water to reconstitute them, then wrapped with the raw filling and finally deep fried. I wondered how something wet would fry up, but thankfully, they worked!!! Yippee!! They did take a while though, but there were no explosions or burning or sogginess.  Phew.    They tasted absolutely DIVINE when wrapped with a perilla leaf and mint leaves and dipped in the nuam choc sauce.  A fantastic kinda DIY entree.

We love our prawn cutlets and calamari in our family, and along with the Hanoi crisp rolls, we had a very healthy entree platter

OK, some grilled veges as the token greens

I guess a bit of everything isn’t tooooo bad right? hehehe.  When a bit of everything happens a few times over a number of days, it all adds up to a bit of a gut!

And finally, the other main was a glazed ham.  If you search “glazed ham”, or “Christmas ham” you will find endless recipes involving a combination of orange juice, maple syrup, mustard, marmalade – but mostly requiring cloves.  Take your pick really!  We chose a maple, orange and mustard glaze.  I think the ham turned out quite pretty  And I continue to enjoy omelettes, ham and cheese sandwiches and pasta.

And a decadent dessert to finish. Creme brulee made with real vanilla beans!  And the mandatory ferrero Christmas tree.   Moderation? that’s for wusses

This is part of Crave Sydney, a month long festival of art, food, music and outdoor events hosted by the City of Sydney Council.  And it co-incides with the first ever Sydney International Food Festival www.siff.com.au, which is the old Good Food Month ramped up to make Sydney a serious global foodie destination.

The usual suspects are back – the $20 Sugar Hits, the $35 let’s do lunches, and the Chefs Showcase dinners.  Highlights this year include a whole new set of hands on cooking classes, as well as some new outdoor events to add to the always popular Sydney Food and Wine fair and the Danks Street Festival.  Let’s hope the festival is a great success and something to continue to wait 11 months for during the year!  See you at one of the events!

1. The Taste of Sydney festival is on this week at Centennial Park from Thursday 12th march to Sunday 15th.  There are a few tickets on special around the place, otherwise it’s $15 for entry, then $8 – 15 for each plate.  Restaurants exhibiting include Becasse, Assiette, Jonah’s, Balzac, Sailor’s Thai. 

http://79.170.40.165/tastefestivals.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=65&Itemid=83

2. The Noosa Food and Wine festival – loads of cooking classes with your favourite chefs, degustation dinners and lunches. 1 – 3 May.

 http://www.celebrationofaustralianfoodandwine.com.au/

3. The Food of Orange Week – 17 – 26 April. I might try and get to this one this year as I have heard so much about it.  Wine tastings, markets, cooking classes, fresh produce and other events.

 http://www.orangefoodweek.com.au/

Getting a reservation is near impossible – they take bookings only once a year according to Gourmet Traveller, and it is recommended that you put your name on the waiting list, book a two week holiday in Spain and leave your mobile on, ready to go if you are lucky enough to get a call!

But if not, and if you can’t afford the >€300 cost for a meal, you could buy his books, with the latest one to be released in October, and come to his talks in Sydney or Melbourne. Tickets from Ticketmaster on sale now – $40 talk only, or $75 for the talk and the book. Which is a bargain compared to the cost of eating his food

If you don’t know what he’s about, here are some articles by SMH:

http://www.smh.com.au/news/good-living/your-tweezers-sir-and-do-smell-the-rosemary/2008/09/01/1220121114863.html

http://www.smh.com.au/news/good-living/new-age-food-appeals/2008/09/01/1220121114855.html

And some pizza tossing..(and tasting!)

And the big drawcard – Mr Ramsay himself.  He looked really friendly and was so obliging to his (thousands) of fans who queued for hours to get his autograph, and who forked out the extra $15 to see his show.  But his big behind-ed security guard got in the way of most people’s shots!  He got up to a bit of mischief in Matt Moran’s show – tossing eggs and acting as a poltergeist throwing a mysterious pan on the floor!! 

 With your show admission, you get one celebrity theatre ticket – we saw Matt Moran cook mussels, veal saltimbocca, pan fried snapper, and an olive oil chocolate mouse. And we tasted many new products and met with the local producers.  It’s a great day out - leave your prams and kids at home, and enjoy a day out sampling great food, and amazing wines straight from the producers.

The show also travels to Perth, Brisbane and Melbourne. www.goodfoodshow.com.au

I’m quite familiar with the quality of the desserts at the Inter Cont as I had done a Hands On cooking class five years back, and returned frequently to have the cakes take away.

A favourite is the tear drop shaped black forest cake – chocolate sponge topped with sour cherry compote, whipped cream and finished off with a layer of cherry jelly.  Tempting tiramisu manifested as a cake – sponge fingers top, bottom and side, and a smooth thick layer of coffee liqueur flavoured marscarpone – and topped with a delicate rolled tuile.

The pavlova slice is deceptively light – filled with raspberries, mango and whipped cream – soft and fluffy with a slightly crispy meringue top.  And… DIY sugar hit hahaha.

But my absolute favourite of all time is the passionfruit mousse cake, which for me takes the cake (literally) for its tangy passionfruit that cuts through the sweetness in a light mousse; wrapped with a dotted sponge collar and a layer of jelly on top.  Butterflies or leaves of chocolate spiked on top, and a shard of speckled white chocolate for good measure.  The staff could have been a bit more generous with the dessert wine, but when you could catch them were attentive and polite.  The large couches are a comfortable way to rest and soak up the atmosphere – but be quick as there are no bookings on a Friday night – and the queue starts well before the 9pm starting time.

www.gfm.smh.com.au for more events.  Sydney Intercontinental Hotel  117 Macquarie Street Sydney 9240 1369 

You’ve got to be an early riser or a very dedicated foodie to make the monthly Good Living Grower’s Market.  It’s only open from 7 to 11am on the first Saturday of every month. Our efforts were well worth it as it was a sunny and unseasonally warm August morning, and the glimmer of the sun on the ocean front spot in front of the casino provided the perfect setting to spend the morning.  There are around 85 stalls with fresh produce straight from the growers; artisan bakeries selling their wares;

Even herbs and plants available – I bought a 50cm chilli plant for only $7 – brimming with baby chillis ready to be nurtured.

A honey stand provided some sweet tastings for the morning – but the main reason why I was here was to eat breakky.  Popular stands include fresh (huge) pancakes cooked to order; wagyu beef steaks; indian samosas, and for me today – “confused eggs with bacon” – that is, BBQ cooked scrambled egg omelette served with crispy bacon, caramelised onions on a roll with rocket and the secret creole BBQ sauce ($5).

OMG it was so good – I didn’t even pick off the fat as I would normally – the sticky sweet BBQ sauce providing a pleasing tangy sweet finish.  No wonder why the queue is always so long!! Some freshly squeezed organic blood orange juice ($4) to wash it all down.

Or, if you’re in a rush, buy some fizzy organic juice to go.  And of course, organic vege stalls (such as the one selling freshly picked parsnips) about.  Also popular is Toby’s Estate coffee – but I’m not a coffee drinker.  See you there next month?

http://www.goodfoodshow.com.au/