So today I went to the Aroma Festival. It was such a beautiful winters day for it and the crowds had flocked down to Sydney’s Circular Quay/ The Rocks to celebrate one of the things that keeps the western world turning. Coffee! I know I am not alone in my daily need for this caffeinated beverage, and today I had my pick of some of the best and most unique coffees Sydney could muster, alone with various hot chocolate stalls and tea stalls (though really, tea at a coffee festival? A little ambitious if you ask me…). The lines for the most popular coffee stalls run by some amazing coffee shops were huge and one could wait up to half an hour for a cup (if you could figure out where the line began). Most places sold small taster sized cups so the coffee aficionado could sample more than one stall’s frothy wares, assuming of course you had all day to wait in line.        After perusing the entire festival trying to decide …

Today, while at my local veggie shop, I came across these. Beautiful Australian purple garlic. Naturally I had no choice but to buy 3 heads (on top of the normal white garlic I already had at home). So that leaves me with the question; what do I do with all this garlic? The answer? Three cup chicken. Three cup chicken is a Taiwanese dish and is so simple to make. Basically all three cup chicken recipes are based on the 1:1:1 ratio of the three main ingredients, being soy sauce, sesame oil and rice wine vinegar. From there the variations begin. Most recipes contain a few cloves of garlic. This recipe uses a whole head. And I love it! It’s a great dish for those colder months when the family is starting to get the sniffles. My chilli plant is sporting a number of beautiful red chilli’s as well which will go wonderfully.  All that garlic, ginger and chilli will knock any lurking colds right away. Though on the flip side, the amount of garlic …

I love eggplant! But it seems to me it’s one of those foods that needs the right recipe in order for it to shine. This is my absolute favourite eggplant recipe. A friend of mine showed me how to make it a few years ago, and ever since then, I have made it every other week. The friend who showed me this dish has always insisted that he does not believe in recipes, and so it took me a few tries before I was able to recreate it, but I am so happy with the outcome. The method of roasting/charring the eggplant gives it an amazing smokey flavour and mixed with the onion and spices it creates a very unique and delicious dish which I usually pair with basmati rice. Notes on cooking the eggplant: 1. You can either cook your eggplant on a barbecue or place it directly onto the element on your stove top. Depending on the type of stove top you have, this will work with varying degrees of success. I have …