It had been two years since we last had a long break so we decided to take some time out in Orange, 3½ hours drive from Sydney.
Orange has been described as the “food bowl of New South Wales” and, when I started looking for accommodation, I discovered that the Orange F.O.O.D (Food of Orange District) Festival ended a couple of days before we arrived.
With the festival, school holidays and Easter long weekend, finding accommodation with a full kitchen was difficult. The apartment that I booked had a kitchenette with, according to the website, only a microwave for cooking.
I mainly use my microwave for warming frozen meals, so cooking with a microwave was going to be a challenge!
This post lists what we bought, meals we prepared and some of the local eating places.
What we bought
Driving, instead of flying, to Orange meant that we could take more food than we normally would, containers to bring back leftover food, and an esky for cold foods.
We bought and brought the following from Sydney:
- Dips: Roasted capsicum, hummus, and tzatziki
- Ground coffee (instead of coffee bags, which we normally buy when we're away. I was able to pack a coffee plunger!)
- Hot cross buns
- Packet of frozen vegetables packaged in three separate bags for steaming
- Pide bread
- Sachets of quick oats
- Small bottles and cans of drinks
- Perishable and leftover food:
- Bread
- Cottage cheese
- Fruit: apples and bananas
- Vegetables: bok choy, cucumber, english spinach, mushrooms, parsley
- Skim milk
- Food from our pantry:
- Granulated garlic
- Mixed herbs
- Olive oil cooking spray
- Olive oil
So, the groceries we bought whilst in Orange were mainly to supplement what we had and for snacks:
- Loaf of bread
- Eggs
- Fruit and vegetables:
- Avocado
- Mushrooms
- Tomatoes
- Potatoes
- Zucchini
- Meat and seafood
- Sliced ham
- Marinated kangaroo steaks
- Salmon fillets
- Smoked salmon
- Multigrain wraps
- Canned and packet food
- Baked beans
- Fruit chutney
- Gherkins
- Pickled onions
- Rice crackers
- Spreads: jam, peanut butter, and Vegemite
- Smoked oysters
- Soup
- Chilled and frozen food
- Haloumi
- Skim milk
- Other groceries
- Drinks
- Snacks
One of our more interesting purchases was Jeremiah Weed Cinnamon Whiskey, which we enjoyed mixed with cola or ginger ale.
Meals we prepared
Thinking that we only had a microwave, I cooked and froze a number of meals to take with us. When we arrived, the host apologetically advised that there was a portable cooktop in the room. No need to apologise! This was more than I expected, and most welcome. I could cook!
I should've also expected, given that it was a kitchenette, that there would only be a bar fridge. It meant that the freezer was miniscule, so we had to eat a lot of the prepared meals earlier in our stay.
Breakfast
With only a microwave I was expecting most our breakfasts to be oats, toast or possibly even microwaved cheese and tomato on toast with the occasional breakfast out. In the end, we only ate out once.
- Oats
Although more expensive, the sachets of oats with fruit are much easier to transport and makes a nice change from the plain oats that we normally have. They're so quick to cook in the microwave.
- Hot cross buns
I bought a pack of hot cross buns in Sydney and froze them. Although I couldn't toast them under a griller, a couple of minutes in the microwave resulted in soft, hot cross buns. Perfect for breakfast with my favourite spreads: peanut butter and jam.
- Breakfast egg muffins
Breakfast egg muffins were another meal I cooked and froze so I could warm them up in a microwave.
To make the egg muffins:
- Place a slide of cooked potato at the bottom of each muffin cup.
- Wrap a piece of ham around the side of each cup.
- Add diced cherry tomatoes and mushrooms in each cyo.
- Beat 4-6 eggs and season with pepper and dill.
- Pour beaten egg into each muffin cup.
- Bake in a moderate oven for 15-20 minutes.
These weren't too bad but unfortunately, although I lined my muffin tin, I had to throw out my muffin tin because trying to remove the cooked egg removed the non-stick lining!
- Big breakfast
When on holidays I love going out for breakfasts but I'll still cook a couple of big breakfasts in our apartment. And knowing that I could transport food home meant we could buy some ‘fancier’ ingredients like haloumi, baked beans and ham.
Lunch
Most days we bought our lunch. Haloumi, ham and smoked salmon are favourite ingredients for big breakfasts but they are also good for sandwiches and wraps. When on holiday I tend to be more creative in using up leftovers, and even used leftover frittata with smoked salmon and salad vegetables for a wrap.
Dinner
- Frittata with sweet potato, spinach and mushroom
I used my Pumpkin, spinach and mushroom frittata recipe, substituting sweet potato for the pumpkin, then put it in the freezer to take to Orange.
To accompany the frittata I made a side dish from leftover rice from Chinese takeaway, sliced kangaroo, tomato and zucchini.
- Indian-style fried rice and momos
I'd packed the fried rice and momos for two separate meals but having such a small freezer, we tried to finish the frozen meals as soon as possible. The fried rice was made from leftover rice and vegetables from Hubby's Mum's 90th birthday party, barbecue chicken and pork, and flavoured with grated garlic, ginger and butter. We ate the leftover Indian-style rice with our Indian home delivery.
I'd made prawn and pork momos when I was hankering for wonton and discovered that I didn't have any wonton pastries.
Having a cooktop I was able to create a stir fry using leftover bok choy, fresh mushrooms, garlic granules and caramelised capsicum.
- Kangaroo steaks
I actually can't remember this meal but I know that we bought kangaroo because I used the leftovers for the frittata side dish. I suspect we had the kangaroo steaks with stir fried vegetables and possibly microwaved potatoes.
- Pan-fried salmon
I seasoned the salmon with lemon juice, and chopped parsley and granulated garlic from home. I used the microwave to steam the vegetables and cook some jacket potatoes, and used tzatziki for the potatoes.
- Turkish feast
After a day of travelling, we settled into our room and the last thing we felt like doing was shopping or going out for dinner. Luckily, I had enough to cobble together dinner.
I'd bought the dips and pide bread in Sydney for a Turkish Feast.
I made a simple salad using some parsley, diced apple, cucumber, and mushroom dressed with tzatziki, pepper and granulated garlic. If I make something similar again, I think I'll drop the mushroom. It wasn't a memorable salad.
Some of the groceries were used to make smoked oyster dip for a late-night snack.
Places we visited
Following are some of the places we enjoyed both in and around Orange:
- Bissys Cafe, Warrendine Street
During our stay in Orange, we only went out for breakfast once and that was on the day we left.
Bissys Cafe was ‘sort of’ in the direction of home, a couple of blocks away from the town centre. It's located opposite a park, seemed very popular with mothers and their young children, and definitely kid-friendly. There is a bright mural on the side of the building, and the bright, red door welcomes you inside.
Inside there are murals and an eclectic collection of decorations that give the cafe a busy, homey type of feeling. There was so many things to distract you: books, knick-knacks, a piano!
The servings were generous. We ordered the vegetarian breakfast and received a huge plate with buttered toast, hash brown, baked beans, spinach, mushrooms, tomato, and fried eggs. And our medium and large coffees were larger than expected.
We didn't need lunch until mid-afternoon when we stopped at rest area in Richmond, about 40 minutes from home.
- Ferment, Hill Street
Ferment, the Orange Wine Centre and Store, is located not far from the town centre in a beautiful historic building. It wasn't exactly what I expected—I thought we'd be able to peruse available wines and buy some.
Inside was more set up like cellar sales: counter and long tables for wine tasting before purchasing wines. We weren't really in the mood for wine tasting so instead, I requested recommendations for that night's planned Chinese dinner.
That night we tried the Slow Wine Co Gerwurztraminer and it was the perfect accompaniment to that's night meal.
The other wine that was recommended to us was Cooks Lot Riesling. We brought the bottle home and enjoyed it with a steaming bowl of noodles.
- Groundstone, Byng Street
Our first full day in Orange was the day before Good Friday and there seemed to be many people around shopping for the long weekend.
We were having difficulties finding a lunch spot, somewhere where there was room for us to sit in, or that did not require us to queue for a long time.
Groundstone is a cafe next to the Visitor Information Centre and Regional Museum, with tables both inside and out. It was a little cold to be outside but there was one table left inside.
Both of us opted for the Asian Poached Chicken salad: poached chicken, bean sprout shoots, bean sprouts, Spanish onion, tomatoes, cucumber and shallots with a sweet chilli sauce. Light and delicious!
It might sound healthy but we also shared a (quite large) serving of shoestring fries with aioli. Yum!
Hubby also ordered a blood orange and chilli soft drink. Interesting taste ... orange with a little bit of a kick.
- Overlander Indian Restaurant, Lords Place
We didn't visit the Overlander Indian Restaurant but ordered dishes to be delivered to the apartment.
We ordered vegetable samosas for entree, and chicken korma and eggplant marsala for our mains. I didn't order any rice because we had some leftover Indian-style fried rice but asked for a side of garlic naan and raita.
I asked for our dishes to be mild because mild is usually spicy enough for me. It's the reason I also ordered the raita, to help cool down the chilli. However, compared to what I've had as mild in the past, these dishes were too mild. We were both bordering on colds and I was counting on some spicy Indian dishes to clear the sinuses.
The dishes were flavoursome. We enjoyed the raita with the complimentary pappadums but were disappointed that the naan wasn't as garlicky as we hoped.
For dessert, we ordered gulub jaman, something we hadn't had in a long time. Delicious!
That night we enjoyed a wine varietal we haven't seen in a long time—alicante bouchet—a sweetish rose that went well with the meal.
- Patmos Garden Cafe, Yellow Box Way
Patmos Garden Cafe is located next to the Orange Botanic Gardens and Orange Adventure Playground specialising in Greek-style cuisine. The cafe has a glassed-in dining area with views towards Mount Canobolas.
We arrived there late in the lunch period, around 1:30pm, so most of the patrons were in the midst of or ending their meals, and the staff seemed to be slowing down after the rush. For many of the patrons it seemed to be a special day out, they were well-dressed. So it was unclear whether this was a formal place, and whether we were to seat ourselves or wait to be seated.
The staff seated us near the kitchen but we were underneath an air-conditioning vent. The dining area looks like an enclosed verandah. Being so narrow, I think the air conditioning just hits the walls and windows, and creates draughts.
We were looking for something light because we planned to go out for dinner that night.
The menu was a little confusing because we asked for two servings of the "herb and garlic bread", and received one slice of herb bread and another slice of garlic bread.
Hubby had the tandoori chicken salad (which doesn't sound very Greek) and I ordered the crusted haloumi with the beetroot salad.
The crusted haloumi was something different and delicious. I wish the serving had been larger but I guess that would've made it quite salty. I was disappointed in the beetroot salad. It seemed more of a garnish, diced beetroot, red onion, some English spinach leaves, walnuts and a drizzle of (I think) balsamic dressing.
If we'd been looking for something more substantial, I'd consider the fish and chips. That looked delicious!
- Sweet Sour Salt, Summer Street
I was hoping to visit this restaurant but Hubby wasn't feeling well so we ordered in instead. Sweet Sour Salt is a modern Asian restaurant and have their own online ordering interface on their website.
Their menu is simple but again, confusing. I was looking for the entrees and the mains, whereas, it seems that every dish is a main with some smaller side dishes. We ordered a small serving of the salt and pepper squid as an entree, and then ordered the Thai chicken chilli jam stir fry and deep-fried soft shell crab with a side of stir-fried Asian vegetables and mushrooms, and steamed rice. The dishes all seemed comparable size to the ‘mains’ in Sydney.
Unfortunately, Sweet Sour Salt rang us to advise that the chicken wasn't available so they asked us whether a Kung Pao chicken would be OK.
The two standout dishes for me?
- The salt and pepper squid, which was served with a cucumber and shallot salad and a green chilli dipping sauce. Light and delicious. The chilli sauce added a different dimension to the usual sweet chilli sauce, and the cucumber and shallot salad provides the coolness to counter the heat.
- Soft-shell crab served on a salad of green papaya, cherry tomato, red onion, dried shrimp floss with a sweet, citrus dressing. Again, different from other soft-shell crab dishes we've had and a perfect balance of tastes.
- The 19th View Restaurant, Wentworth Golf Club, Ploughmans Lane
Our host recommended this restaurant. It was located across the road, a new chef had recently been hired, and our host had heard good reviews about his food.
Ploughman's Lane is not well lit so we needed our smartphone torches to make our way across the road. But it was worth it!
The meal ended up being one of the best we'd had while we were away: soft, buttery, garlicky garlic bread; generous serving of fish and chips and salad; and a crisp local wine Swinging Bridge Wines sauvignon blanc.
A little further afield ...
Orange is a great base to the Central West and we took a number of day trips to nearby towns. Following are some of the cafes we visited.
- Dish Cafe, Parkes
The major attraction at Parkes is the Parkes Observatory, better known as ‘The Dish’.
The Dish Cafe has both inside and outside seating with a view of the famous ‘Dish’.
I was hankering for a meat pie so seeing the red wine beef pie on the menu, the choice was obvious. Delicious, filling and maybe a tiny bit rich for me.
- Gift and Homeware House, Yeoval
Yeoval is the childhood home of the Australian poet, Banjo Paterson. It's a (very) quiet village at the intersection of two secondary roads leading to Forbes, Orange and Dubbo.
The cafe attached to the museum was full so we walked up the road and came across the Gift and Homweware House, a coffee lounge and general store selling gifts, homewares, hardware and garden supplies. There were tables so we could sit both inside and out.
We sat outside watching locals pull up and pop in for a lunch or a coffee whilst enjoying our lunch - a great steak sandwich: steak, tomato sauce, tomato, beetroot and lettuce.
- Taste Canowindra, Canowindra
Our friends in Cowra introduced us to Taste Canowindra in 2009. It's a restaurant, a cellar door for local wineries, a vendor for local produce and arts, and a venue for many Aussie acts including Christine Anu and Casey Donovan.
And the food here is delicious! Hubby and I selected the cold meats and salad on Turkish rolls; Hubby chose turkey and I chose roast beef. Definitely one of the best meals we had whilst away.
Taste Canowindra is currently up for sale so I'm not sure what to expect next time we head out that way.
More photos
Photos of our meals are available on my fromdebskitchen Instagram feed, the first photo taken on 13 April of the portable cooktop in our room and the last posted on 1 May of Bissys Cafe.
unique blog, nice. thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteThank you Jessica.
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