italian

Gelatissimo x Trolls

- Alex Prichard Leave a comment
gelati
Poppy’s Frosting & Branch’s Cupcake

disclaimer: I was a guest at the gelato masterclass

A couple of weeks ago I was invited up to Gelatissimo at Norwood to a gelato masterclass which also celebrated the launch of two limited edition Trolls flavours.

For some reason, I’ve always been under the impression that gelato is non-dairy based (unlike ice cream). However,  I have been wrong. Sorbet is water-based, gelato is milk and cream-based and ice cream may be milk and cream-based or it may be custard-based (in which case it also contains eggs). At Gelatissimo, the range also includes sorbets – so if you don’t eat dairy, you can still enjoy an icy treat.

We started with a quick run down of the theory of making gelato, before being shown the ropes. The Gelatissimo stores all make their product on-site and in the Norwood store, the action takes place behind a wide window, so you can get an idea yourself.

Gelato is made by mixing the milk, cream and sugar at temperature (in order to dissolve the sugar) before cooling and adding flavourings.  It is then churned at near freezing temperatures in order to both set the gelato and ensure there are no crystals.

gelato machine
Where the magic happens

While gelato is hardly health food, Gelatissimo does keep one eye on nutrition and there’s an emphasis on using natural products. Despite its very scary purple appearance, the Trolls-inspired Branch’s Cupcake gelato is actually coloured with beetroot! Quite a few of the standard flavours use Stevia in lieu of extra sugar and where possible, natural flavourings and colourings are used. The great thing is that the staff in the Norwood store (at least) were across all of this, so you can quiz staff about their product and they will actually know.

We sampled the two new flavours – Branch’s Cupcake and Poppy’s Frosting. I was really scared by the purple of Branch’s Cupcake (purple and blue are two colours foods are just not meant to be!) but I really enjoyed it. Not sure I can nail a flavour description for you – Gelatissimo describes it as ‘cupcake’ so I guess that kind of vanilla and cake batter vibe is what you should expect. I really wasn’t a fan of Poppy’s Frosting. It’s described as a bubblegum flavour but to me it was more along the lines of banana or banana sweets. 

As these are limited edition flavours, if you want to try them out you should do so during the school holidays. But never fear if you do miss out, as Gelatissimo has a very impressive range of flavours to choose from!

Gelatissimo Norwood
1/198-200 The Parade
Norwood SA 5067
ph: (08) 7225 4320

Two Ingredient Pizza Dough

- Alex Prichard 4 Comments

2 ingredient pizza dough

The idea of a two ingredient pizza dough recipe has been floating around the internet for a while. This hit my inbox at some stage and while I noted it, I never really thought there was anything wrong with my existing pizza dough recipe.

We had pizza a week or so ago and had some mozzarella hanging around in the fridge, so I was determined to use it up before it needed binning.  Unfortunately, inspiration was a bit thin on the ground at the end of last week so … pizza it was. However, given that we always have yoghurt in the fridge I thought maybe it would be worth a bit of an experiment.

I don’t know where the two ingredient dough originated but kidspot seems to stake an early claim. However, by both my standards and those of many of the commenters, the recipe given is really rather deficient.

  • Serving size? 1 pizza base. Because there’s some kind of universal standard for pizza bases …
  • Greek or natural yoghurt is given in the list of ingredients … but the recipe creator says in the comments she hasn’t tried with natural yoghurt …
  • There are a ton of complaints about the ratios
  • There’s no cooking temperature
  • There’s no cooking time

And that’s before I complain about the fact that the flour quantity is given in cups, rather than grams.

I’m all for playing fast and loose with recipes but I suspect that had you never made pizza dough before you’d be facing an uphill battle with this one!

The following recipe makes a thin crust for a 30cm diameter pizza tray. We find that this is perfect for dinner for the two of us (the small child won’t touch pizza on account of the bread component).

Of course, the really important part of all of this is … how did it taste? While it was OK it was … just OK. While it was a thin and crispy base it had a slight but discernible taste of raw flour and the texture was slightly too crumbly (for want of a better word). The dough is also very soft which makes it difficult to work with.

I can see the appeal in this dough – no yeast and no rising time. But with dried yeast so readily available and the rising time for pizza dough less crucial (and, indeed, for ease of dinner prep I made this dough in the afternoon so there was no advantage to me at all there) I’m not sure that the compromise in taste, texture and easily workable dough is worth it.

We’ll be returning to our standard recipe.  Yes, it’s 4 ingredients but so worth it!

 

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Two Ingredient Pizza Dough

Ingredients

  • 200g self raising flour + extra for kneading
  • ¾ cup plain yoghurt (I used Paris Creek B-D Yoghurt)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 250°C fan (or as hot as it will go).
  2. Mix the flour and yoghurt until they come together in a soft dough.
  3. Knead well on well floured board and roll out to fit 30cm pizza pan (greased with olive oil).
  4. Top with your favourite toppings - we use a base of tomato paste, oregano and chilli flakes, topped with mozzarella, bacon, red onion, hot salami and capsicum (for example).
  5. Bake for 10 minutes and serve immediately.
https://eatingadelaide.com/two-ingredient-pizza-dough/

Il Mondo Caffe Bar

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date of visit: Tuesday 4 March 2014

There are way too many interesting bars opening up around Adelaide at the moment. One of the things that I loved about Leeds was the small bar scene. Yes – there were the arena sized Wetherspoons, the cheesy nightclubs and the shopping (oh, yeah, I never got into that!) but there were also so many small independent bars where you could get something interesting to drink.

This is something that Adelaide has lacked for far too long. Too many of Adelaide’s old pubs have had the homogeneous makeover treatment and, if you want to feel trendy, you can have a boring pint in many shiny establishments.

I don’t know if it’s the small bar legislation, but a bar revolution has been under way for quite a while and now, when faced with an all too infrequent drink after work, I find myself spoilt for choice.

Tuesday’s drink after work was postponed for a week which meant even more bar-prevarication on my part … but I held my nerve and headed along to Il Mondo Caffè Bar, located on James Place. Surprisingly central to Rundle Mall, for anyone needing a restorative retail tonic …

Il Mondo opens at 9:30 so breakfast, coffee and lunch are well catered for.  At lunch and after work (from 5:30pm) you can indulge in ‘il aperitivo’: a drink and free run at Italian bar snacks for $15. If you’re up for more serious food there’s plenty available, including my all time favourite, spaghetti con alio, olio e peperoncino.

Unfortunately I was there for a super quick drink so I couldn’t indulge in any aperitivo snacks and I certainly couldn’t wolf down a bowl of pasta (well, I could have … but at home, Andy and dinner were both waiting for me) so I had to console myself with the wine list.

The wine list is (unsurprisingly) Italian wine heavy with pretty much everything available by the glass (and mostly under $10). It is SO refreshing to see a wine list which doesn’t start by listing New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc …

As it was a warm day, white wine was definitely in order. I’ve recently become a little concerned about the quality of wine by the glass being poured in Adelaide so when it came to ordering a glass of Falanghina (there are two Italian Falanghinas on the wine list – on its own, impressive!) I was cautious. After all, it was just gone 5 so would I be drinking from yesterday’s open bottle? And how many people in Adelaide are actually drinking Falanghina at the moment?

I’ve clearly spent far too much time thinking about the ‘stale wine by the glass conundrum’ because I’ve actually come up with an approach to counter it.

I approached the bar and asked “which of the two Falanghinas would you recommend and which have you opened most recently?”. This enquiry was met with a broad smile, an immediate recommendation and the offer to open a new bottle for us. You can imagine – I was sold.

My friend and I sat at a wine barrel outside, had a couple of glasses of wine and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. of course, the highest praise of all is that Il Mondo is definitely now on my “to return to” list.

And let’s face it – today’s Friday and you should really try somewhere new for that after work drink!

Il Mondo Caffè Bar
20 James Place
Adelaide SA 5000
phone: (08) 8212 3626

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