Monthly Archives: May 2012

A short visit to Sydney and then a lamb ribs dinner

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I’m currently in Sydney. Miss15 is here competing for Queensland in Level 9 in the Australian Gymnastics Championships. I’m at Sydney Olympic Park in the Sports Centre.

The drive this morning from Canberra was cold, foggy and busy. The fog was so thick I missed the exit to Goulburn so I could empty my bladder. In the end I had to wait for the Sutton Forest exit. The traffic in Sydney was horrible.

I’m staying at the Pullman Hotel at the Sydney Olympic Park. I managed to get a free night which I’m happy about.

Miss15 is still carrying injuries to her back, knee and ankles. Today she required physiotherapy after falling while warming up on the uneven bars. All in all the Queensland team and Miss15 did well. They are the 2012 Level 9 Australian Champions. If you follow my twitter timeline you’ll see my comments through the day.

I always like the walk-on so here is a video.

There was also a bit of fun when the Victorian mascot performed a floor routine.

Tonight after a great chat with Miss15 I went to Ribs and Rumps. I’ve eaten here before and tonight I thought I would have some ribs and a Key lime pie.

A half rack of lamb ribs (New iPad)

What I liked was being asked if I wanted whipped cream or ice cream. What I liked more was the lovely waitress did not flinch when I said, “Both”.

Key lime pie with whipped cream and ice cream (New iPad)

It’s been a good day. Miss15 is happy. I’m happy.

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Can you guess every element in my mystery dinner?

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Today was long and drawn out. There was a lot on. No one thing put me off, it was just a combination of things that had me feeling underwhelmed and mentally lethargic. I’m taking Thursday and Friday off to watch Miss15 compete at the Australian Gymnastics Championships in Sydney. She is in the Queensland team for women’s gymnastics level 9. We also have senate estimates on Thursday and I don’t want my bosses under prepared. I don’t want to be called back so I really need to make sure all the briefing is right.

I had great hopes to cook something simple and tasty but I didn’t get out of the office until much later than I expected.

Can you guess all the elements? I have no prizes but it would be interesting to see if you can guess.

What is in this? (Panasonic DMC-TZ10)

From an angle. What is in this? (Panasonic DMC-TZ10)

Salmon and weight loss

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Before Christmas 2011 I shed about 7 kg through a concerted effort of reducing my portion sizes, eating less and avoiding sweets. I also did a little exercise (without going overboard).

I’ve gained all the weight back through a combination of bigger portion sizes, eating more often and consuming sweets and desserts.

I want to feel more comfortable in my clothes and fasten the top button on my business shirts which is my indicator of a good healthful weight.

Seafood is always good and a big protein burst which will sate my appetite.

In Australia Atlantic Salmon is farmed around Tasmania. It’s not cheap but not too expensive either.

Coles Atlantic Salmon (Panasonic DMC-TZ10)

Atlantic Salmon from Tasmania (Panasonic DMC-TZ10)

Some vegetables (Panasonic DMC-TZ10)

Salmon Dinner (Panasonic DMC-TZ10)

 

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Unlike @bron99 I cannot poach an egg to save myself

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Regular readers will know I love eggs. I especially like them for breakfast and I’m a fan of poached eggs, fried eggs, scrambled eggs and omelets. I regularly post images to
http://breakfastforwoojm.posterous.com/
 which is a Posterous site established by a primary school teacher in NSW with a focus on breakfast. Many of the images I’ve posted have been courtesy of Bron who is an expert egg poacher. I, on the other hand am hopeless. I can fry an egg with the best of them, but my poached eggs are a mess. Last night we were watching Bill Granger’s Bill’s Tasty Weekends and Bill demonstrated an easy method to poach an egg with an additional tip from Bron. It was to simply bring water to the boil, put in a egg ring (Bron’s tip), crack in the egg, turn off the heat and put a lid on.

I tried it this morning.

Poached egg and ham (iPhone)

When I cracked the poached egg, the yolk was nice and runny.

Poached egg and ham (iPhone)

I normally post breakfast images with my Brisbane Broncos mug. They lost to the Melbourne Storm on Friday night, so here is my new mug from my recent meeting in Frederick, MD.

I hope everyone has a great breakfast.

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A big day for Chinese food | Noble Palace | Dumpling Inn

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Yesterday was a much better day at work compared to Wednesday. I woke up feeling ill with a sore throat and a headache yet I was euphoric because Queensland had defeated NSW in  the first game of this year’s State of Origin series.

For lunch we went to the Noble Palace in Phillip. Seven of us enjoyed lunch to thank a dear work friend who had acted up for an extended period of time and performed superbly. We enjoyed Hong Kong roast duck, Crispy skin chicken and plum sauce, Sizzling Mongolian lamb, Peking shredded chilli beef, Pork fillet with chili lemon grass, and rice (I could have forgotten a dish). One of our party also had a vegetable and noodle dish which she generously shared. The Noble Palace is a well known Chinese restaurant in the Woden district and consistently produces high quality meals. They also do wonderful yum cha.

Duck, beef and lamb (iPhone)

Last night Bron and I went to the Dumpling Inn for dinner. This Chinese restaurant is a fantastic suburban venue. It’s relatively small but like the Noble Palace consistently produces high quality food including yum cha on weekends. Last night we enjoyed duck pancakes and fried flounder with rice.

Preparing a duck pancake (iPhone)

Finished duck pancake (iPhone)

Left over duck (iPhone)

Deep fried flounder (iPhone)

After dinner we had dessert at Bron’s. This was some leftover vanilla cheesecake with salted caramel sauce and berries.

Vanilla cheesecake with salted caramel sauce and berries (iPhone)

Because I can’t help myself I’ll share an image from a friend at work from today.

 

Enough said for now :-)

 

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Big day and a big result and shout out to @phonakins (#QUEENSLANDER #StateofOrigin)

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Today was huge with back to back meetings all day. I did an hour session on record management systems and came back to the office to be greeted with cake. Readers who follow me on instagram will know I regularly post photographs of cakes and biscuits that work mates make and bring in to work. It makes for a wonderful work environment.

During the training session I answered some questions and received chocolates :-)

Cake and chocolate (iPhone)

Tonight is the first of three State of Origin games. As I was driving away from work I thought about dinner. It needed to be a footy dinner. Hamburger I thought and hamburger is what I made. For readers who don’t know me, I’m a convinced and convicted Queenslander, that is, I am passionate about Queensland the greatest state in Australia; and Rugby League the greatest game of all; and State of Origin, the greatest sporting contest known.

I checked my e-mail and discovered I’d won a prize. On 16 May @phonakins at littlelioness.net posted on her blog a competition to win a Red Rock Deli Corn Chips hamper. The request for the competition was to let Fiona know in the comments your ideal corn chip and dip combination (fantasy or reality) and why they go so well. I answered, “I want a sweet corn chip coated in icing sugar that can be used to scoop up thickened chocolate sauce or melted chocolate and then eaten whole, that is a chocolate corn chip slam ;-) Perhaps then
http://wayfaringchocolate.com/
 can review.“Thank you very much Fiona. Much appreciated :-)

So I better show images of my hamburger.

Cheese and barbecue sauce with Wagyu beef burger (iPhone)

With it’s top on (iPhone)

And to all my friends and family who support New South Wales and the Blues, I’m sorry if you find me offensive on nights like tonight.

For readers not familiar with State of Origin rugby league history. Queenslanders (Maroons pronounced marones) are known as the cane toads (Buffo marinus) and NSW (Blues) are cockroaches. These are affectionate terms of endearment. As they say, State of Origin is mate against mate, state against state. For those interested, it was Kangaroo great Barry (garbo) Muir who coached the Queensland side from 1974 to 1978 (two years prior to the adoption of Origin selection criteria) and during this time Muir coined the term “cockroaches”, the descriptor of the New South Wales rugby league team still used by the Queenslanders.

In the end, Queensland defeated NSW 18 to 10. There was a very poor decision that resulted in a Queensland try in the last ten minutes that soured the victory. But as they say, a win is a win. I will attend work tomorrow a happy Queenslander.

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Cheesecake returns

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Earlier this year Bron made a claim that she would cook a different cheesecake every month. We’ve certainly enjoyed some great cheesecakes however, the one a month concept hasn’t quite come to fruition.

Today we started with breakfast at a sort of new place. The old Hudson’s in the Gardens is now floresco in the Gardens. Bron had Eggs Benedict with bacon and I had Eggs Benedict with Kransky sausage (A cured cooked sausage of dubious contents and indeterminate age). The café was only a week new under the new management. The Eggs Benedict tasted really good with a really smooth and tasty Hollandaise sauce. The Kransky was a little small and not as spicy as I was hoping for. I like a big spicy Kransky sausage. They also didn’t have any cracked pepper on hand which was a slight disappointment.

Eggs Benedict with Kransky (iPhone)

After a bike ride and then a walk I had a late lunch. The other day we did a trip to CostCo and bought a box of pork buns and yesterday Bron bought me a can of pineapple Fanta from a shop (she won’t tell me the name). The pork bun was really good.

Pork bun and pineapple Fanta (iPhone)

Tonight for dinner Bron made a slow roasted chicken with preserved lemons and risotto. The preserved lemons come from a twitter friend who is well known for her lemon curd, lemon jam drops and preserved lemons.

Chicken with preserved lemons and risotto (iPhone)

And for the Pièce de résistance we had vanilla baked cheesecake with salted caramel sauce and vanilla cream. This was so light and yet so rich and so so sweet and unctuous.

Vanilla baked cheesecake with salted caramel sauce and vanilla cream (iPhone)

 

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Chong Co Thai Restaurant and Max Brenner

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Last night we went out with some friends to the Chong Co Thai Restaurant in Belconnen and then enjoyed dessert at Max Brenner which was in the same area. Bron and I had been to Chong Co a couple of times before and enjoyed the food.

There were five in our party and we quickly agreed to start with the mixed entrée which consisted of a spring roll, curry puff, fish cake and and Satay chicken. The spring roll was quite peppery and the fish cakes had a lovely firm texture that wasn’t rubbery.

The mixed entrée consisted of a spring roll, curry puff, fish cake and Satay chicken. (iPhone with flash)

For the main course Bron chose the deep fried batter soft shell crab topped with tamarind sauce, ginger, shallot, coriander, crispy onion and mixed vegetables. The dish was enormous with at least two crabs.

Soft shelled crab (iPhone with flash)

I chose the Pan fried batter barramundi topped with chilli, cooked in coconut milk, kaffir lime leaves and sweet basil leaves.

Fried barramundi (iPhone with flash)

The barramundi was rated with two chillies. For me it was bordering on hot. It was not uncomfortable but certainly sinus clearing. Mixed with some rice, this was delightful.

The service at the Chong Co is remarkable. The ratio of wait staff to customers is very high, nothing is too much trouble.The restaurant was fairly full with a good turnover of patrons. When full the place is very noisy and hearing conversations can be difficult. It would be good if the owner added some sound baffling to the ceiling and walls. The wait staff all look very good in their costumes and the decor is very inviting.

I would recommend this restaurant to anyone who wants a good night out.

After our main course we elected to enjoy dessert at Max Brenner. We’ve been to Max Brenner a few times before. Last night we tried a few different things.

I had a passion fruit waffle sundae.

Passion fruit waffle sundae (iPhone)

Michael had a Max-wich

Max-wich (iPhone)

Bron had a banana crepe.

Banana crepe (iPhone)

Max Brenner Chocolate Bar on Urbanspoon

It was a really good night out. Given the proximity of Max Brenner to Chong Co, it was a great combination.

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Rama’s with friends

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Last night Bron and I went to Rama’s again with friends. These were not twitter friends so sorry no images of the food.

We’ve previously been to Rama’s and had a really nice meal. Last night reinforced why Rama’s is rated as one of the best restaurants (and most popular) in Canberra.

There were seven of us in our party. When Bron and I arrived at 1920 AEST for a 1930 booking, there were still people at the table our party had reserved. The restaurant was full. The wait staff were unfazed and explained the people at our table were finishing their meal and would be gone in time. It ticked over to 1930 and sure enough that party were paying their bill and our friends were arriving. It worked magically. The wait staff were friendly and attentive and they were apologetic for the slight inconvenience. I got the feeling because this place is so popular, this is a regular occurrence.

Seated we were provided with menus and water and we quickly agreed on a banquet. One of our friends has a few dietary requirements so she requested something suitable for her. From the menu we agreed on Rama’s Delight and because one of our friends is allergic to coconut we swapped out the Vegetable Bombay for a Pea and Potato curry. This was so easy and not regarded as a problem at all. We truly were being waited on. We were asked how hot and spicy we like our food. Being a reasonable sized group we elected for a mild approach so we could all enjoy the flavours. Again, this was not a problem. For a couple of us we were asked if we’d like a side of sliced chili and I readily accepted the offer.

The appetisers really did work to whet our appetites. I was so hungry and enjoyed the Pappadums, Samosas, and Bhajia. They were perfectly cooked (IMHO).

The main dishes were Lamb Rogenjosh, Beef Vindaloo, Chicken Korma, Potato and Pea curry with Rice and Roti. The vindaloo was mild and very rich. My favourite though was the chicken korma whose juice was heavenly on the rice and being a glutton we got extra roti and I soaked up all the juice and devoured the remaining chicken and juice. 

To finish I had coconut ice cream which was very refreshing after the curries.

I would highly recommend Rama’s. The price for the Rama’s Delight banquet was a very reasonable $32 per person.

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Ramas Restaurant on Urbanspoon

Left over curry

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Last night I made a beef curry. I had enough left over for tonight. Rather than noodles I added some rice and stirred it in until it was cooked through. Once the rice was soft I added a little coconut cream to finish it off.

This is a good way to finish a day after a –3 °C morning. It really warmed the inside of my belly.

20120514-190917.jpg

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