Parma Times...good times @ Palmerston Hotel, Sth Melbourne.

The Parma or Chicken Parmagiana - is probably one of the best pub grub items that is recommended to any discerning diner looking for a good counter meal. Noted as one of the best places to feast on a good parma in Melbourne is the Palmerston Hotel. Located on the corner of the busy Kingsway strip and Palmerston Crescent, it is only fitting that their signature dish be the Parma, and they even do their own variation with a twist called the Palmie.
It's Saturday night and with some time to kill before meeting up with some friends for a night on the town, my buddy MH mentioned he had a hankering for a Parma. I knew of the Palmerston but had not eaten a Parma there so just a short drive out of the city alongside the bustling traffic of other Saturday night 'out on the towners' and we're there.
A family friendly pub greets you with the warmth of dark cedar furniture and fittings. Big screens showing the current football match at the MCG and mesmerised footy devotees feeding their faces with their eyes fixated on the match.
We're seated quite promptly and the large blackboards reveal the extensive menu which ranges from Steaks and Curries to a most intriguing Chicken Wellington. Gastro-pub style menu much appreciated but we knew what we wanted, so bring it on and to be adventurous, make mine a 'Palmie'
Up until now I'm assuming you, my reader, knows what a Parma is - but if you don't it's simply a crumbed chicken breast topped with ham, napoli tomato sauce and melted cheese.
Caution: Although simple as it sounds, it is very, very easy to be recipient of a terrible Parma... Yes it is possible to get it horribly wrong. I'm talking about dry tasteless chicken, overpowering sauce and/or not enough cheese resulting in burning the surface. Potential for disaster!!!
Mulling over a cheeky pot of the cold amber stuff known as beer, we have a short but reasonable wait for the parmas. When they are delivered to us, the look and the aroma in the air tells you - it's gonna be a good one. And it certainly is. Chicken breast cooked perfectly, still moist and tender and well flavoured. No second rate chooks were put into this ensemble. The sauce had the right amount of tang and complemented the warm blanket of ham most justifiably. The final layer of cheese also lived up to expectations, with just the right amount of molten goodness oozing as you cut into this fine work of art. The twist on my 'Palmie' was that the tomato sauce is replaced with bolognaise sauce - Bellisimmo! Great idea and while certain Parma variations can go of the rails somewhat, this one is right on track.
Noticeable, is the smallish serve of chips you receive alongside a carefree salad of basic veg. I think the kitchen does not want to take your focus away from the star of the show, and it succeeds quite remarkably. Besides, as a wise animated man once sang 'You don't make friends with salad'.
All in all, a meal well worth the visit and I'm glad to say that the Palmerston Hotel holds its signature dish in good stride.

More Parma reviews at www.parmas.com.au  

I reckon I am going to have to put their top ten list to the test.  Let me know if you are up for a "Parma Crawl"

Review: Cafe Little Hut - Russell St, CBD

This tiny little cafe on Russell St, near the corner of Little Lonsdale St. greets you with the tagline "Beyond Expectations". On entry you see that it can only seat a few people and from speaking to its owner it's success relies on its regular patronage, who have obviously had their expectations meet. 
We were there at around 1pm which turned out to be not the best time to dine as we had missed out on seeing the bain maries full of food.  Of the remaining morsels in the servery was enough to make up two full sized plates for our lunch meal. 
The owner-operator, who was quite welcoming and friendly gave us a bit of history on her endeavour with Cafe Little Hut. When acquired three years ago in 2008 it read simply Cafe 294, and served coffee to the regulars. Not being on the busier end of Russell St, the need to expand the menu to include lunch items was quickly realised. The result is a bain marie laden with home-cooked style Sri Lankan goodness. 
Our plates came served to our tables with a timbale of rice on the centre of a square plate surrounded by small serves of various dishes akin to a plate you would be served at your auntie's house. There was a small serve of chicken curry and a dryer style beef curry. A couple of vegetable dishes and a nice serve of homemade chutney.
Whilst the plate set-up is that more of a tasting plate rather than the regular rice and curry affair, it does give you trip through the Sri Lankan menu. The curries are well seasoned and spiced with just the right amount of heat for my trained palate. The definite highlight is the chutney which is reminiscent of South East Asian sambals, and it complements each mouthful very nicely.
For home-style cooking that you know is from the heart Cafe Little Hut definitely delivers. I do recommend an earlier lunch visit to ensure you can get more of the dish you like, although the tasting plate with rice that we had was also quite pleasing.

Malaysian Style Sambal Recipes

I love Sambal - I could probably eat it with a plate of steamed rice alone, because it is so flavoursome. The main Sambals that I create have a Malaysian influence and I am yet to create those from Indonesia. They all seem to have similar ingredients - covering the usual hot - from the chillies, sour from the tamarind, sweet from the sugar and salt from the shrimp paste. Try the two fairly easy ones I have posted. They go great with just about any Asian dish.
Basic Sambal Paste
This is a simple, easy to make Malaysian style sambal paste and does not take very long to make and even quicker to eat. These simple condiments pack a blast of flavour and will leave your taste buds wanting more and more.
In a small food processor blend the following ingredients to a thick paste:
2 Tbsp Chilli Paste (Sambal Olek)
1 x Red Onion, roughly chopped
1 Garlic cloves, chopped
2tsp of Brown Sugar
2 Tbsp Tamarind Concentrate (or ½ cup of Tamarind puree)
1 x cup of chopped Dried Prawns or 2Tbsp of Belachan
Directions
Add water if necessary to achieve right consistency
Turn out paste into a wok
Cook on medium heat for about 2 minutes then add a few drops of Sunflower Oil to give the sambal a glossy sheen.
Now this basic sambal is ready add zing to some pretty bland staples. Stir through steamed vegetables such as Asparagus, Beans, Broccoli, Cauliflower and even Boiled Eggs to create a great accompaniment to a mains dish. If you double the ingredients you could make enough to stir through cooked prawns or even on pan fried fillets of your favourite white fish - and serve it as a main meal.
The sambal will keep if refrigerated, in a airtight jar for about 2 weeks - But really!!! It has never even made it that long without being eaten.

Sambal Ikan Bilis
This is a recipe for a more traditional style sambal made with dried anchovies or Ikan Bilis. You can blend the paste ingredients in a food processor but grinding it by hand has a much better consistency - and more satisfaction for the cook. Use dried chillies and soak them in warm water before preparing the mix.
Ingredients:

1 x cup of Ikan Bilis, rinsed in cold water

8-10 Dried Chillies, stalks and seeds removed and roughly chopped
½ Red Onion, finely diced, (finely slice other half for use later in the recipe)
2 Garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1 Tbsp of Belachan 

Directions

Shallow fry the Ikan Bilis in batches, in a skillet on medium heat, be careful not to burn the tiny dried fish
Drain on paper towels and keep aside
Reserve any remaining oil
In a mortar and pestle grind the remaining ingredients to a smooth paste

Place skillet on medium heat again and add remaining onion slices and a sprinkle of salt 

Cook the onions down to a golden brown, do not allow these to burn
Turn out the sambal mix into the skillet and stir fry for 1-2 minutes
Add the fried Ikan Bilis to the dish and fold through to combine
Add 1Tbsp of Brown Sugar and stir through
Season with Salt to taste
Serve as an accompaniment to a mains dish or if you must – feel free to eat it with a plate of steamed rice and a fried egg - I do!.
This sambal has a longer shelf life of up to 4 weeks in the fridge but once again - why would you want to keep it so lonely in your fridge for so long.