Who am I?!

OK I’m doing it!  I’m revealing myself…in a writing sense not a naked one!

Last April I started my humble little blog ‘Food For You Reviews’, a weekly blog reviewing food from various people and places.  When I began I really had no grand plans for it, I still don’t really, I just wanted to write about what I know and love which is food.  I would have been happy if one person read my blog and liked it.  And that was it.

I made the decision to be anonymous for a couple of reasons.  One – because I really didn’t know what I was doing (still don’t) and two, I am fully aware that I’m not the world’s greatest writer therefore it was a lack of confidence thing.  In saying that, I wanted to write my weekly food reviews because of the passion and experience I hold in the food industry. My anonymity behind the blog is becoming a poorly kept secret.  It's about time I put a name and face to the reviews I write.  In a sense, its time to own up!

So allow me to introduce myself…

My name is Zhoe Jess.  I am a wife, mother, friend, educator, student, consultant, food lover, restaurant judge, cook, writer, dreamer, loyalist, blogger and I love a glass of bubbles. 

I am married to a spunky guy who thinks he’s a pretty good bloke and we have two beautiful children together.  A six-year-old son and a 4½ year-old daughter.  They are 15 months apart and they think they are twins even though they look nothing alike!

At the moment we live in Bendigo – where we have been for four years.  I would move back to Melbourne in a heartbeat and hopefully we will one day.

I am in love with New York City.  I WILL go back there one day… I will.

I love to talk to my friends – I could do that all day long.  I love yoga, exercising and being fit.  A couple of years ago I learnt how to run properly and completed my first fun run.  I love food – eating it, cooking it and writing about it.  I love my husband and children – we rock!

I want to be a published ‘world famous’ food writer.  So, last year I started studying writing online with Swinburne University.  I want to learn how to be the best writer I can be and write about what I am passionate about.

I think food is in my genetic makeup.  I come from a Hungarian background where food and cooking is an essential part of the European bloodline.  My Hungarian grandmother in particular has had a strong influence over my passion of food.  As a little girl I would watch and ‘help’ her cook.  What fascinated me as I got older was I noticed that she never refers to a recipe, ever.  Her ability to cook comes from within.  Deep within her soul and her heart.  I have very strong memories of being in Hungary with her when I was six years old, watching her and her mother and sisters feed the entire family from produce grown in the back yard.  I also learnt that chooks really do run around with their head cut off!

About 20 years ago (that is so crazy to comprehend) when I finished year 12, I went to Adelaide and studied Hospitality Management.  It was during this time I started working in the hospitality industry.  I started out in a bars and nightclubs before I started working with the Hyatt group.  After a couple of years I moved to the Gold Coast where I worked at the Royal Pines Resort before moving on to restaurants and cafes for the next few years.

A bout of illness forced me to move back to my hometown, Mildura.  Once recovered, I opened my first cafe. Two and a half years later I sold the cafe and started working in the TAFE sector teaching hospitality.  I worked in the TAFE sector for ten years working my way up into senior management.

Last August I decided to leave my position at TAFE and the security of a regular salary to start my own hospitality consultancy business called ZAP CONSULTING.

Last year I was honoured to become a judge for the Golden Plate Awards, which is a hospitality restaurant awards program in regional Victoria.  I relish this role as a restaurant judge.

So that’s me.  I hope this little insight on me assists you in loving my reviews as much I love writing them.  Thanks for reading friends!

Me & Shane Delia

You can follow me on twitter - Zhoe Jess @food4ureviews 

Kids Birthday Party Food Success

I think I just may have nailed it yesterday at my son’s 6^th birthday party.  My mission was to throw an awesome kids party with (mainly) healthy food, minimal waste and at a low cost.

For the two weeks leading up to his birthday party my son had been sick.  He was so sick that the party had been rescheduled to a week later than originally planned.  The brief my son had given me many weeks earlier, before he was struck down by illness, was – lunch, swimming and ice cream.  This brief needed to be tweaked slightly as we felt after being sick swimming in a public pool may not be the best idea for him.  I also felt that after being so sick that junk food and an over load of sugar was probably also not ideal.

With my son’s approval I came up with this no fuss, low cost, relatively healthy menu for my son and nine of his closest buddies.

Ribbon sandwiches filled with – ham & cheese, vegemite, honey

A fruit platter – watermelon, red grapes, blueberries, plums, orange wedges, strawberries

Mini chocolate & apple muffins and star cookies dipped in white & milk chocolate

Followed by Cadbury Freddo Frog Ice Cream Cake

That was it. 

We had the children start with eating at least two ribbon sandwiches each, then at least two pieces of fruit, then they could have the muffins and cookies and of course later on they had a serve of ice cream cake each.

I will admit I was waiting for a mini riot or some kind of anarchy from 10 six year olds all coming at me with ‘where are the lollies?’ or ‘why aren’t there any party pies?’ or ‘when is the party food coming out?’  I was even prepared from some of them to throw a few grapes at me.  But to my delight there was nothing like that.  All 10 children happily ate their sandwiches and fruit, drank their cups of water and played merrily with water bombs in the backyard.

There was no riot, no fights, no tantrums and no wasted food at the end of the party!  There was also no overspending on my part either.  But best of all, my son said he had the most awesome birthday party ever!

Three Ideas for Cucumbers

Cucumbers are going crazy in my veggie garden at the moment.  They have been for weeks.  I can’t keep up with the supply of them.  I’m certainly not complaining because I love cucumbers and they are very versatile.

Cucumbers are the fourth most widely cultivated vegetable in the world. They are enjoyed on almost every continent and they are incorporated into most types of cuisine.  They have a unique combination of nutrients that are said to provide us with valuable anti inflammatory, antioxidant and anti cancer benefits.

This overwhelming supply of cucumbers from my garden has prompted me to make good use of them and be a little inventive.  Today I’m going to share with you three uses I have made with the humble cucumber.

1.    Creamy Cucumber Salad (my Hungarian Nanna’s recipe)

What you need:

Cucumbers – peeled and sliced

3 tablespoons of salt

2-3 cloves of garlic – crushed

1 cup white vinegar

1 cup water

White pepper

½ cup cream

Sweet paprika

What you do:

Place cucumbers in a bowl with salt and garlic.  Leave for one hour.  Then squeeze out liquid.

Return to bowl.  Mix vinegar and water together and pour over cucumbers.  Leave for 30 minutes.  Drain.

Place cucumbers in a salad bowl, add pepper to taste, cream and top with sweet paprika.   Serve.

2.    Cucumber and Tomato Salad

What you need:

Cucumbers – peeled and diced

Tomatoes – diced

Onion – peeled and sliced (optional)

Salt & white pepper – to taste

What you do:

Mix all ingredients together in a salad bowl.  Serve.

3.    Gin & Tonic

What you need:

30 ml of Gin – I prefer Henricks or Tanqueray

Tonic water – I prefer Schweppes Diet Tonic

Cucumbers – peeled and sliced in to ‘fingers’ (2 per glass)

Ice

What you do:

Place all ingredients in a tall glass, stir, and drink.

MANtasic Meals – Part 3

Duncs’ Butter Chicken

Let me tell you about the good man we call "Duncs"!  Duncs is a HR Manager in the health sector, loves a round or two of golf, he’s a mad AFL supporter and a bachelor most nights of the week except for when he is hanging out with his two strapping teenage sons whom he adores and oddly enough Duncs someone you love to have a beer with!

When I sent the shout out for the ‘Mantastic Meals’ recipes, Duncs was the first to reply.  That’s one of the things we all love about him – he’s someone you can count on.  His reasons for sending this particular recipe were pretty simple.  He said to me “I love all Indian food but I love butter chicken”.  Do we need anymore reason than that to trust this man’s recipe for butter chicken?

What you need:

•   2 tablespoons peanut oil

•   3 shallots, peeled and finely chopped

•   ½ white onion, peeled and chopped

•   40g butter

•   Juice of ½ lemon

•   1 clove of garlic, crushed or chopped

•   2cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped

•   2 teaspoon garam masala

•   1 teaspoon chilli powder

•   1 teaspoon ground cumin

•   1 bay leaf

•   3 tablespoons natural yogurt

•   250ml (1 cup) cream

•   250ml (1 cup) tomato puree

•   ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste

•   1 pinch salt

•   1 pinch black pepper

•   500g boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces

•   1 pinch cayenne pepper

•   1 tablespoon cornflour

What you do:

1 To make the sauce: heat half of the oil in a large saucepan over medium high heat. Fry the shallots and onion until soft and transparent.

2. Stir in butter, lemon juice, garlic, ginger, half the garam masala, chilli powder, cumin and bay leaf. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute.

3. Add tomato puree, and cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.

4. Stir in the cream and yogurt. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring frequently.

Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and set aside.

5. Heat the rest of the oil in a large heavy frypan over medium heat. Cook chicken until lightly browned, turning once, for about 10 minutes. Reduce heat and season with the rest of the garam masala and cayenne. Stir in a few spoonfuls of sauce, and simmer until liquid has reduced, and chicken is no longer pink. Spoon the cooked chicken into the sauce.

6. Mix together the cornflour and water, then stir into the sauce. Adjust seasonings and cook for 5 to 10 minutes, or until the sauce thickens.

Serves 4.  Enjoy friends!

Duncs found this recipe on the Internet.  Site address not supplied.

If there are any male readers that would like to submit their favorite recipe to be published in the ‘MANtastic Meals’ series, I would love to hear from you.  Please email me at foodforyoureviews@hotmail.com