On Christmas day my Grandmother gave us some zuchini flowers which can be used to make a form of yimista - or rice stuffed vegetables, or flowers in this case. She also gave us a marrow.
These were all grown in my grandfathers moonee ponds backyard. NOW that is organic.
On saturday my mum set to work making the stuffed zuchini flowers or loulouthia as they are called in greek.
You can liken the rice mixture on the inside to the rice mixture found in dolmathes which are the vine leaves stuff with rice.
most vegetables can be stuffed so long as they are relatively cavernous when hollowed out. The flowers however are slightly more fiddly but can be done easily if care is taken.
These are the end products of my mothers labour and I must say - fine job MUMMY!
The inside was soft and the flavour was delicate but it danced around my mouth like a family gathering with all the drama and excitement you love about them.
Since the flavour is not particularly heavy and the flowers are especially quite bite size, it is very easy to finish an entire serving of them. But remember folks, it's rice and too much rice isn't good for you. Moderation is the key to enjoying food.
The stuffed marrow would be something you would serve as a more main meal if you were to have this as the centre piece of a dinner party.
It is more satisfying and accompanied with some kind of meat and a nice salad would be perfect.
Greek style yoghurt is a must have when eating these lovely foods. A good slathering of greek yoghurt ontop of the marrow or simply dipping the loulouthia into some yoghurt on your plate is refreshing and makes this meal pleasingly appropriate for summer.
Speaking of summer, my family and I went to the Botanical Gardens yesterday which is always a wonderful trip on a summers day. Especially recently from all the rain we have recieved, the gardens are lush and the grass is greener than I have seen it in years. Truly picturesque!
Before trecking through the gardens we stopped off at the observatory cafe which is near the main entrance, turn left, walk past the children's garden and I'm pretty sure it is the older conservatory building - don't quote me on that though.
the way the cafe is set out and functions isn't my favourite method of ordering usually because it doesn't work well - BUT in this case it was pretty decent. It was quick, efficient, and you had plenty of time deciding on what you wanted to eat, drink etc.
I had mineral water and a calamari salad because I wanted something light but I needed some meat to sustain me during my walk around the gardens.
I liked the look of this and I'd hope you'd agree with me in thinking it looks satisfying. I was especially pleased with the lemon wedge - because lemon goes hand in hand with calamari on most occasions. The lovely waiter always cracked some pepper on for me.
Cracked people trumps powdered pepper all the way. IF you have the choice - always choose cracked pepper over powdered shit. It clumps. It's disgusting.
Anyway so moment of truth - the calamari, how would it be? It can often be tough and hard to eat when not cooked properly. WELL I was surprised - SO TENDER, beautiful!
The batter was light and delicately flavoured. and something else I especially enjoyed was the dressing on the salad was the perfect amount for its type. As you can see it was a kind of ranch dressing - and the salad isn't drenched in it. They were not stingy either. It was a moderate amount. and with something like ranch - you need moderation. Personally I'm slightly lactose intolerant so too much ranch would send me to the toilet instantly and keep me gassy for hours. But this was just enough.
I was genuinely surprised with the Observatory Cafe located in the botanical gardens. And while the prices are a tad above average - The salad was $16.90, I felt that because the salad was good, the ambience of the cafe was very fine - the price was perfectly justified. I'm usually quite suss about cafes and restaurants in parks/zoos and places of 'general' family amusement because they are often over priced and the food is shit. Well Observatory Cafe, you have pleased me.
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