The Warne Account

The personal blog of Dan Warne, Australian geek and tech writer

Posts Tagged Food

The best hot cross buns in Melbourne, Australia… the world?

Apr 1

Posted by Dan Warne in Food | 1 Comment

As a real lover of hot cross buns, I salute this fine food journalism effort by Kate at the Eating Melbourne blog. I only wish I'd thought of doing it first (especially as I like eating hot cross buns so much.) She had a bunch of her friends around to do a blind test, too — now that is dedication to the scientific cause.

And the winner is… Natural Tucker in Melbourne, apparently. The bun does look yummy. Personally I think my mum's are still the best I've ever tasted, especially because she makes the cross on top out of real pastry which you can pick off and eat separately in strips, as opposed to this flour-n-water mix that commercial bakeries seem to use. (Or plaster of paris and liquid cement, in the case of Coles.)

IMG 22334 The best hot cross buns in Melbourne, Australia... the world?

Image credit: Kate at eatingmelbourneblog.com

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Knead in Hawthorn: I've found the perfect bakery.

Mar 10

Posted by Dan Warne in Personal | 6 Comments

kneadbakers 500 Knead in Hawthorn: Ive found the perfect bakery.

Knead Bakers in Burwood Road, Hawthorn.

I'm almost tempted not to post a review because I don't want half of Melbourne crowding out this place. But I think I have found my new breakfast spot.

The bread and cakes here are just delicious. They use all organic flour, low salt and you can taste the yeast in the breads. Stunning… they're like the loaves I used to make with nutty, country mill stone-ground flour. Mmm.

The breakfast menu items (available till mid afternoons on the weekends) are equally delicious.

The staff are down to earth and friendly, and the atmosphere is surprisingly calm and quiet considering it's a bustling bakery — I think all the decorations they have on the walls and around the place soak up the noise, making it a pleasant place to eat (as opposed to those cafes that are full of tiles and noise bouncing off every surface.)

I just can't recommend it highly enough! (Current favourite: the hot cross buns with real pastry crosses on top… yummmmmmmmmm!)

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World's best spaghetti bolognese recipe

Feb 26

Posted by Dan Warne in Uncategorized | 14 Comments

Perfected by me over 15 years.The perfect balance between of ease of cooking with pantry/fridge-common ingredients and rich tomatoey goodness.

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 punnet ground beef (the Woolworths organic minced beef tastes best)
  • 1 big white or brown onion (sliced)
  • 2 big cooking carrots (grated)
  • 2 zucchinis (grated)
  • 500g pre-sliced mushrooms
  • 1 heaped teaspoon prechopped garlic from a jar
  • half teaspoon prechopped chilli from a jar
  • 1 beef stock cube (dissolved in hot water)
  • generous shake of salt
  • 1 jar tomato passata
  • 1 800g tin of tomatos
  • big shake of dried oregano (e.g. two heaped dessert spoons)
  • big shake of dried parsley (e.g. two heaped dessert spoons)
  • big shake of dried basil (e.g. two heaped dessert spoons)

METHOD

  • grate carrots and zucchinis, put to the side
  • Fry up onions till soft
  • Fry up meat till well browned (with onions)
  • Put everything else in!
  • Simmer till the ingredients of the sauce seem 'saucy' and well integrated. Usually takes 1 to 2 hrs. Make sure you stir often so it doesn't stick.

Serve with al-dente pasta (thin spaghetti or regular spaghetti), grated parmesan cheese and optionally, good quality crusty bread and butter.Good luck!!! It's a pretty fail-safe recipe.

pixel Worlds best spaghetti bolognese recipe

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