Monthly Archives: March 2012

Kreativ Blogger Award

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A fellow blogger, viz., Susartandfood‘s Blog was generous and has passed on to me the Kreativ Blogger (award). Thank you very much Susan.
I’m now passing this on to seven fellow bloggers (I’m sorry if they’ve already shared in this happiness).

The rules for this award are:

  • Thank the blogger who gave me the award and provide a link. My thanks go out to Susan from across the Pacific. Please stop by and visit her and catch up on her thoughts about life, living and eating at http://susartandfood.wordpress.com/.
  • List 7 things about myself that my readers might find interesting
  • Nominate 7 other bloggers, provide links, and let them know

Seven things about me that aren’t exactly exciting but you may not have known.

  1. I’m an ABC (Australian Born Chinese) and fifth generation.
  2. My great grandmother was Irish.
  3. I always wanted to study medicine because my Dad is a doctor.
  4. I also wanted to be a zoologist but didn’t because I couldn’t grow a beard and all the great zoologists seem to have big bushy beards.
  5. I don’t drink alcohol because my liver doesn’t produce the enzyme to hydrolise alcohol. I often want to drink to understand what my friends are enjoying.
  6. Despite my carrying on about Canberra being too cold, I don’t like it really hot, I like warm and humid weather because it makes my skin feel better. When it’s too hot I get a headache.
  7. I do not like, sorry I hate gardening and yard work.

Now for my seven nominations (again sorry if you’ve already had this passed on to you)

  1. TheBernieBrand because she is just so light happy and funny with a great sense of humour http://theberniebrand.com/
  2. The anonymous hotel worker because she is new and tells funny stories about guests at her hotel. I’ve travelled a bit and have seen the truth of it too http://hotelanonymous.wordpress.com/
  3. The Diane Lee show because Diane is open and honest about life, gives great advice and writes from the heart http://dileeshus.wordpress.com/
  4. Invisible Ink because Sarah is so heart felt. She’s not a frequent blogger but her words are worth reading http://invisibleink.posterous.com/
  5. Domestic Diva MD because she’s a fellow medical practitioner who likes food http://domesticdivamd.com/
  6. Wayfaring chocolate because Hannah is a Canberra resident who loves chocolate http://wayfaringchocolate.com/
  7. In the Taratory because T1 and T2 are now Canberra residents and write great restaurant reviews for Canberra http://inthetaratory.wordpress.com/

So there you have it. Please visit all these sites and leave comments.

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I like pie

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Would you believe I’ve never made a pie. I know I’ve eaten hundreds of pies. When I was at school there was a year when I think I ate a cottage pie every day from the tuck shop in addition to the lunch Mum made me.

Tonight I had some chicken, some sweet potato, some cheese, a packet of French onion soup and some puff pastry. I didn’t blind bake or do anything like that. I was hungry when I came home from work and just put the pastry in a lined glass oven proof dish. I browned some diced chicken, grated some sweet potato and cheese and then covered with some cream that had been whisked with an egg and the contents of a French onion cup-of-soup packet.

The ‘thing’ looked hideous as it cooked.

Of course I had to finish with ice cream.

Cooking in the oven

Cooling on the bench

With barbecue sauce of course

Cracked open, oh the creamy chicken and sweet potato goodness

Ice cream and berries

All in all it looked bad but tasted great.

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Baked salmon and then a little ice cream

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Today was a quiet one. I’ve eaten well, walked a little and spent some time thinking. I also spoke with my parents on the telephone. A pleasant quiet Sunday.

After last night’s dinner I slept in and awoke feeling a little full but not uncomfortably so. After grocery shopping and a coffee at a local café I went for a stroll along Lake Ginninderra. You can see the route here.

I’ve always thought that imitation is a valid form of flattery. I thought about Bron’s various French Toast creations and thought I’d try some. I made mine with a piece of Brioche, an egg, some milk, vanilla and sugar. I also had some blueberries and cream with maple syrup with the toast.

French toast made with Brioche, cream, maple syrup and blueberries

About mid afternoon I started feeling a little peckish and thought about a cheesy snack. I had some salami and thought a platter of salami and blue cheese would be ideal.

Salami and blue cheese

For dinner I had some Atlantic salmon in the refrigerator and some puff pastry in the freezer. Along with a sweet potato and Gruyere the decision was easy. In the sweet potato and Gruyere cheese dish I added some broccoli and green beans. In the pastry parcel I had the salmon, some cheese and a couple of asparagus spears.

A couple of friends have said I need to include images of food after the first cut. So I’ve included a shot of the pastry cracked open.

Sweet potato, beans and broccoli. An odd combination I know, but hey there are vegetables in this with cheese. CHEESE, therefore it must be good.

The salmon in puff pastry

Plated up

Cracked open, the salmon was cooked nicely and creamy.

I know I should not have but I also had ice cream for dessert.

Ice cream, cream and blueberries

It has been a good day :-)

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Raan from The Cooking of India

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Tonight Bron made Raan, spiced leg of lamb. The recipe is from The Cooking of India, a Time-Life book released in 1975 which she picked up at Gorman House Markets some years ago. The recipe calls for ginger, garlic, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, cumin, turmeric, cayenne, salt, and lemon juice to be blended to a smooth purée. The lamb needs to be slashed deeply and the spice purée rubbed in. After 30 minutes a
second purée of pistachios, raisins, almonds, and yoghurt is spread over the lamb. Honey is dripped on the leg of lamb before it is covered and sealed and stored in a cool place for for 24 hours or in the refrigerator for 48 hours. Saffron is prepared by soaking in just boiled water for 15 minutes and then poured over the lamb. About a cup of just boiled water is then poured over the lamb. The whole arrangement is brought to the boil, covered tightly and then baked for 90 minutes, the heat is reduced and baked until lamb is tender and shows no resistance when pierced with the point of a sharp knife. The meat should be rested for 1 hour.

The Raan worked out really well. It was tender and juicy. We also had naan bread, dips and vegetables. After the main meal we had Bron’s sticky date pudding with ice cream, custard and butterscotch.

There are about 18 images in the slideshow. It may transition a little slowly on an iPad unless you’re connected to wifi.

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Raan recipe written out by Bron

 

I have decided to grow my winter coat with a hamburger and ice cream

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Sure it’s Autumn, but this is Canberra. It’s absurdly cold. We haven’t had a Summer.

After a long week, I didn’t want to prepare anything complicated. I decided on a hamburger and ice cream.

Wagyu beef hamburger pattie. I love butter and barbecue sauce.

Doesn't look nice and neat on the plate.

Ice cream and whipped cream. YUM.

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Rama’s Fiji-Indian Restaurant

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Last night we ate at Rama’s Fiji-Indian Restaurant in Pearce. This is one of Canberra‘s most popular restaurants. Last night was our first taste of Rama’s Fiji-Indian cuisine.

The Inside is pretty open and they have some tables outside as well. The service was very friendly and efficient. We weren’t left waiting and were well attended.

The menu is available as a PDF at http://www.ramas.com.au/Dine%20In%20Menu.pdf or in html.

We enjoyed a mixed entrée of Vegetable Samosas, Fish Pakoras, and Bhajia. It was pretty good, especially the Samosas and the Bhajia. The Pakoras were a little over cooked.

Then we asked for a couple of dishes from the specials list, viz., Aamm Chicken (Mango Chicken) [Boneless chicken pieces cooked in fresh spices and a sweet mango sauce] and Fijian Pork Curry [Cubes of pork cooked with capsicum, onion and coriander leaves in a tangy, spicy sauce]. Both of these were delicious. They were both spicy but not painfully hot.

I want to go back and try more food there. After the meal we went and had dessert at Bron’s. She made chocolate truffles and ice cream.

Ramas Restaurant on Urbanspoon

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Wonderful Wagyu rib eye (scotch) fillet

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I had intended this meal for tomorrow night but I will be away for most of tomorrow and won’t be back until late. It seems so indulgent, decadent to have a Wagyu steak two nights in a row.

I had some left over vegetables in the refrigerator I didn’t want to waste. I made it look a little nicer by crumbing some bread and cheese and putting it in the oven to heat through and brown on the top.

Last night I followed a recipe, tonight I tried a variation. I heated the oven to 100 °C and put the vegetables in. After 30 minutes I heated up the stove to high and got my my saucepan and oil hazing. I had already dried the meat surfaces with paper towel and seasoned with salt and pepper. I seared one side for sixty seconds (that is, I counted to 60 slowly) and then turned and put straight into the oven. I left it there for 30 minutes and pulled it out. I put the meat on a warmed plate and covered with aluminium foil to rest for 10 minutes. I turned the grill to high and browned the top of the vegetables. The rest is history.

Rather than a long page of images, here is a slideshow to enjoy.

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Two nights in a row. There’s nothing wrong with that.

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My first Wagyu beef cooking experience

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Yesterday we went to Costco and bought some Wagyu beef.

Wagyu steak from Costco

This morning we started with homemade Eggs Benedict to prove a point about the niceness of runny yolks and a smooth Hollandaise sauce. While yesterday’s breakfast was nice, this was better.

Bron's Homemade Eggs Benedict. Runny yolks are good.

A lot of thought and some research went into preparing for this evening’s meal. Wagyu beef is an expensive investment. The returns in terms of delicious flavours need to be maximised through careful cooking. The last thing we wanted was for the meat to be mishandled in any way.

After reading many websites and articles, we agreed on this method http://www.evernote.com/shard/s183/sh/6d02cff7-25f4-4a37-84ad-453bfa366032/72e8c7be756eac09e6fe4edc9b06a67c This is a method advocated by the Internet Chef.

Without an induction stove top we worked out our plan of attack. The meat was chilled and then the board dressed Jamie Oliver style to apply the seasoning. One side was cooked for 90 seconds and the fillet was turned and placed on a low heat hob with the lid on for 45 minutes. After cooking it was rested for 10 minutes. During this time Bron prepared a Jamie Oliver horseradish mash and we also had asparagus and peas.

Just look at how beautiful this piece of meat looks. It's good enough to cut thinly and eat raw.

The rib eye fillet looks gorgeous. Unctuous, gorgeous, beautiful, YUM…

Seasoned after seasoning the board as per Jamie Oliver

Don’t worry, this is not too much salt.

Bron's plate

I dissected the lean fillet from the fatty deckle. Bron prefers the lean fillet and I love the fatty deckle. The lean fillet was delicious and went well with the horseradish mash and peas.

My plate

I love the fatty deckle and all its succulent juiciness. The sauce was simply a white wine reduction with a little Dijon mustard and cream in the beef’s pan juices.

The tastiest meat and fat I've ever had

The deckle meat is on the left. It was separated from the lean fillet by a nice piece of fat. The fat tasted amazing. It was not a ‘fatty’ texture at all. It melted in my mouth and was full of flavour.

Steamed pudding with chocolate cherry sauce

This is a Jamie Oliver recipe.

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Maestral Mediterranean and Seafood restaurant in Weston

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Yesterday was a slow kind of day. We started with brunch at Black Pepper in Belconnen. This is a local café that does a good breakfast and brunch on weekends. It is very popular amongst locals and especially cyclists and walkers who exercise around Lake Ginninderra.

Bron asked for Eggs Benedict on Turkish bread and I asked for the Black Pepper big breakfast with Turkish bead. Black Pepper Menu July 2012

When our meals arrived, the Eggs Benedict were sitting on a muffin. Rather than waste time and send the dish back, I shared my Turkish bread.

Beautiful eggs Benedict

The plates were cold and the bacon was also cold. The eggs were slightly over cooked. The yolks were still soft but they weren’t really runny like we like them. Otherwise, the Eggs Benedict and Black Pepper Breakfast were very nice. As you can see I also asked for a bowl of hollandaise sauce to go with my breakfast. Along with our coffees, it was a good start to the day.

The day got better with a visit to Costco. I wanted to see the optometrist, although I didn’t realise I needed an appointment. I’ll be returning next Saturday. To compensate my disappointment we went to look at the meat section. There is a whole cold section dedicated to Australian produced Wagyu beef.

Costco's Wagyu cabinet

I will blog soon about cooking Wagyu beef.

The Maestral Mediterranean and Seafood restaurant is on 13 Trenerry Street in Weston. The menu is a combination of Croatian, seafood and beef. The surf and turf/reef and beef options look amazing.

We started with baby fried calamari and then went onto a Maestral seafood platter.

Baby fried calamari

The calamari was perfectly fried. It was juicy and tender.

The Maestral seafood platter. The soft shell crab was the highlight.

The platter had a combination of oysters (natural and oysters Maestral [see menu]), scampi, prawns, fish, soft shell crab and fried potatoes.

Me smiling because I love seafood platters

I would definitely go back and try other dishes on the menu. It’s a very popular restaurant. We saw a number of familiar faces and friends there last night.

After the Maestral we thought we’d enjoy dessert at Max Brenner in Belconnen. I chose the waffle with strawberries and vanilla ice cream.

Max Brenner waffle with strawberries and vanilla ice cream

And so finished a pretty good day.

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Quick hamburger meal after a long week

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It’s been a long week with some significant travel. I got back to my apartment with a bag of wet clothes that needed to be washed. I also had two blown light bulbs in my bedroom that needed replacing. I wanted something quick and easy to cook and eat.

Normally a hamburger should have lettuce, beetroot, pineapple, a fried egg, tomato and cucumber.

This one just had meat and cheese with some barbecue sauce.

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