Begonia City Motor Inn - Ballarat

Well my husband and I have been away for a short break, he thought he needed a break while painting the kitchen, as he has been working up to it for 2 years I can't understand the need. But never mind we went away for 2 nights.

On the second night we stayed in Ballarat at the Begonia City Motor Inn, we had never stayed there before and as it was on the road out of town, which would make it easier for me to navigate my motorbike home we selected it.

Well I can't speak highly enough of Michael who booked us in or the standard of the room. We had a deal which included breakfast, we selected the cooked breakfast, both of us choosing the bacon and eggs.

At the appointed time for breakfast we received a phone call to say that breakfast was on its way. We got 2 beautifully poached eggs and four rashers of middle bacon on 2 slices of toast. I valiantly ate it all. Thank goodness I was riding, not travelling in the car, as I would have been asleep not long after leaving.

So if you need somewhere to stay in Ballarat consider the Begonia City Motor Inn.

http://www.bcmi.com.au/

Rubens Restaurant - Hepburn

On our trip to Daylesford, on the Sunday we took our daughter to Rubens restaurant in Hepburn. We enjoyed it so much that we went back on the Tuesday evening for dinner.

I had the seafood spaghetti, it was beautiful a bit light in the spaghetti department, but the seafood was beautiful the scallops were succulent and sweet. On my second visit I had the capricossa pizza. My husband had this on both visits.

As you can see by the photos the pizza is quite big, with a thin base which was crisp. We also had a greek salad on both visits. This was nice but a little light on contents, plenty of mixed lettuce leaves (goats thistles my husband calls them).

On the Sunday my sister had the pasta carbonara, which was very large serve not short in the pasta department. My mother had the flathead fillets with chips and salad. She got 3 lightly battered fillets with a generous portion of chips. The fish was very white and fresh. she thoroughly enjoyed it.

On the Sunday I had the homemade merinque, which was actually a small pavlova, which indeed was homemade. This was served with ice cream and mixed berry coulis. The tartness of the coulis goes well with the sweetness of the pavlova.

So if you are in the Daylesford area try to visit Rubens. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

http://rubensrestaurant.com/

Very Easy Chicken Enchiladas (enchiladas de pollo)

Well I am back online after yesterday - the day from hell - when a fuse kept blowing taking out power, so no laptop.

I make these enchiladas all the time, the recipe is very versatile. I will give variations in the recipe, as they are very filling I can get 4 enchiladas from 1 large chicken breast and 8 enchiladas from 2 chicken breasts. If you don't want the dish to be hot leave out chilli powder/tabasco sauce, and if people would like some warmth they can drizzle theirs with either green or red tabasco sauce. I will quote amounts for 8 enchiladas.

Chicken Enchiladas

2 large chicken breasts - cubed, 2 heaped tablespoons plain flour, 1/2 cup milk ( I have made this with soy milk, you can also use low fat), 1/2 cup chicken stock (I use boiling water & stock powder), 1 tablespoon tomato paste, 1 teaspoon each ground coriander and cumin, 1 large/2 small cloves garlic grated, 1/2 tsp chilli powder or a few drops tabasco sauce, 8 flour tortillas

Tomato Sauce

1 cup tomato passatta, 1 teaspoon each ground coriander and cumin, few drops tabasco - if you want the sauce hot.

Mix together

Grated cheese. To serve greek yoghurt or sour cream.

Chicken filling

Heat 2 tablespoon olive oil in a frypan, add chicken cook until white, you can brown slightly if you wish. Make room in centre of frypan, add tomato paste, cook for 1 minute. Stir into chicken, add garlic, stir. Sprinkle over the flour, stir 1 minute. Add milk and stock, stir quickly to prevent lumps. Add spices. Stir until sauce has thickened. You want a bit of sauce as this it what makes the enchiladas moist, if the sauce thickens to much add a bit more boiling water. Remove from the heat.

Place tortillas on a flat surface, divide mixture evenly in the centre of each tortilla. Roll up into a sausage shape. I squeeze/push the filling to fill the length of the enchilada as I roll it.

Place half the sauce in base of your baking dish spread it around. Place the enchiladas in the dish. Spread the remainder of the sauce on top. Top with as much grated cheese as you want to use.

Bake in 200.c fan forced oven 15-20 minutes, if cooking straight after making the sauce, as you only need to heat through and melt cheese. If you have made it earlier it will take about 25 - 30 minutes.

I serve it with a salad and a dollop of greek yoghurt, I find sour cream to rich, but if you like it use it and Enjoy !

Daylesford

Well we have just recently been to Daylesford, we took out daughter there for her birthday. Because our eldest daughter doesn't live at home anymore we needed to take out elderly Jack Russell - Jessie with us.

So the search was on, firstly in Adelaide, but all the dog lovers who take their pets had booked the accommodation until May !!

Finally I found a house that allowed dogs inside. It was in Hepburn, we have never stayed in Hepburn before, it was called Abelia Cottage.

http://www.abeliacottage.com.au/

We had a lovely time, I took my daughter to Endota Spa so the 2 of us could have a aromatherapy soak, then she had a billabong foot spa. Once my husband picked her up, I had an hour of please with organic endota facial, which included a billabong foot spa. Mmmmm pure heaven.

http://www.endota.com.au/default.cfm?id=247