Author: Villa Tempest

  • Fowlers Vacola Preservers End of Summer Discount on Pro Model

    Just in Fowlers Vacola are having a 30% Off Sale on their top of the range, Professional Preserving Unit (source) Now, this is part of their End of Summer Sale, that’s right, end of Summer in Australia. This is an all-Australian product from a company that has been around since before my Grandma, well, since…

  • Free E-Book: Chángshā Kǒuwèixiā 长沙口味虾

    I wrote a little booklet back in 2012 about this wonderful Chinese dish. Today, I just updated it, making a few corrections and changing the recipe a little to reflect an improved understanding of the process of making this dish. Couple of things to add though, if you have access to Louisiana Crawfish, then feel…

  • On Traditional Australian Pie Base

    We all know that a great pie, first and foremost must taste good. The filling should be tasty, tender, moist, not too runny and not too thick but, …it ain’t a pie if the pie crust just ain’t right! I know this. You know this. We all know this, so why is it so hard…

  • Rice Cooker Kidney Bean & Lamb Stew

    Was in the kitchen today, looking at the fridge and the dramatically reduced kitchen cookware at my disposal. I had this lamb that needed to be cooked, or I’d risk loosing it. So, I thought, “stew!” But I only had one, large pot,an elecric table top bbq griddle plate and a rice cooker. “Sweet!” Use…

  • Following Instructions

    The other day I had a rather unremarkable start, to an otherwise challenging day. No mater what I did, I just couldn’t seem to get anything right. Perhaps you can see where I made my mistake… The Instructions said, …in a large pan, reduce one bottle of white wine, with a few coarsely chopped mushrooms,…

  • New Digs

    It is sad to say that Villa Tempest will be relocating from Vietnam, but our time in Hanoi, is coming to a close. If you’re interested in taking up and developing the Villa Tempest Pie Concept in Hanoi, please feel free to contact us for some mutually beneficial offline discussions. We are happy to note though,…