Category Archives: Food

Blog posts about food I have cooked or eaten.

Pizza and profiteroles with Bron

8 Replies

Tonight Bron invited me over for dinner. The plan was pizza and profiteroles and then a movie on the television.

This is the Choux pastry just filled with vanilla custard.

These two pizzas are mushroom and feta and then a barbecue chicken with tasty cheese.

These two pizzas are tomato, mozzarella and basil and then a sweet potato, pine nut and blue cheese.

These are the first profiteroles Bron has made. They look amazing.

Do you think I added enough chocolate custard?

This was an amazing dinner. So delicious and filling. Bron is an amazing cook.

I hope you had a great dinner tonight too

My birthday

26 Replies

I turned 48 this week (Wednesday 01 May) and enjoyed some fun food.

Before the food though a little reflection. I’ve never really been one to ponder too much about birthdays and getting older. We’re born, we live and if we’re fortunate we age, grow old and then we die. When I turned 30 and 40 I didn’t have a party because in my mind it wasn’t a big deal. Over the last year or so I’ve experienced some evidence of ageing in terms of my health. I’ve had to think more about my weight, my blood pressure and my diet. While I still eat more, I’m more and more conscious of the need to keep my weight at a certain level. On Tuesday night I went to bed and for the first time reflected on the following day I would be 48. Forty-eight sounds old. Forty-seven seemed to be a little way before I hit 50, but 48 is two years away from 50. In my mind 50 is old. That means in 2015 I reckon I’m taking a couple of days off around my birthday and spend some time in quiet reflection. The last place I want to be is at work.

So on Wednesday I woke up feeling quite flat. I needed something sweet and refreshing. The best thing in the morning though was a text message from Miss15 who sent me a pinch and a punch for the first day of the month. Normally I get in first.

I made the smoothie with Chinese gooseberry and pineapple pieces. The coffee was also strong.

———-

On checking my post office box I had a couple of cards. One from my parents and one from Bron.

Coffee and cards

———-

I work with great friends. A couple of them decorated the glass outside my work area.

The good news is I move work areas again next week.

———-

I decided against lunch because Bron was taking me to dinner. When we got there I got a gift from Bron.

Popping candy and chocolate.

———-

We went to our local Canberra Southern Cross Club at Jamison. The club does a pretty good steak which is what I wanted to eat.

This is a Scotch fillet steak with hollandaise sauce and mash potato.

———-

Bron bought me a nice cake and we had some at the club. It was great going out with Bron and having a good meal and enjoying each other’s company.

One candle was enough

———-

The next morning I walked

Hello Mr Owl

———-

I had some cake for breakfast

———-

I only had a little

———-

Office coffee with popping candy

———-

I got a nerf gun for a birthday present from a work friend

———-

It’s a nice little pistol

———-

Chicken and vegetable bake was necessary before I could finish off the cake

———-

Yes I ate the rest in one go

———-

Just so you know it’s got cold again in Canberra

———-

So I celebrated over a couple of days.

———-

Jamison Southern Cross Club http://www.cscc.com.au/location/jamison/
Google maps

View Larger Map

Thai to die for | The best Canberra restaurant experience in some time (garydavidlum.com)
April Instagram Update (keepinitcali.wordpress.com)

My pedantry about vaccination and immunisation | shoutout @sciencesarah | Custard apple | shoutout @SybariticaBlog

18 Replies

Over the last week as part of my regular blog reading I’ve commented on a couple of blogs.

The first was on Science for Life. 365 which is a post a day blog by an Australian scientist and writer Sarah Keenihan. On Day 257. Killing smallpox and parasites Sarah wrote about her vaccination in Canada before coming to live in Australia. I made a comment about being vaccinated and vaccinating others and mentioned my pedantic habit of referring to vaccination in the context of smallpox immunisation and immunisation for everything else. To me Edward Jenner vaccinated with cowpox (Vaccinia virus). The process was immunisation and vaccination specifically refers to using Vaccinia virus (or a derivative) to immunise against smallpox. I once explained this to a work colleague and she told me I was wrong. She said I didn’t understand vaccination is universally accepted as the term to protect people by stimulating their immune systems and had nothing to do with smallpox. I didn’t say anything. She didn’t have a science background and it wasn’t worth an argument. When I was a lot younger I recall the early iterations of the Australian Immunisation Handbook had an explanatory footnote on the difference between immunisation and vaccination. It last appeared in the sixth edition. I’ve scanned the relevant pages and made them available in this link. I think in earlier iterations the explanation was different.

The second blog I commented on was Sybaritica by John Thompson who lives in Canada, practices law, travels the court circuit of regional and remote Canada and seems to be more Chinese than me. Recently John posted about custard apples and it made me think back to my childhood growing up in Brisbane and being an avid fan. It’s been a long time since I had a custard apple even though they’re readily available. I made a comment on John’s blog and mentioned that I didn’t recall them being that laden with seeds. I saw one in the supermarket on the weekend and knew I had to buy one.

The one I bought had lots of seeds. Perhaps as a child I swallowed them all Anyway, it was delicious.

Good night.

Smoked ham hock my way | #bestblogs13

10 Replies

In February I won a competition on radio station 2CC. I won $50 worth of meat from Elite Meats at Kippax Fair in Holt (in the North of Canberra).

Today it felt like a good day to cook the smoked ham hock I chose.

Elite Meats smoked ham hock

This is the ham hock thawing because I forgot to take it out of my freezer last night.

———-

I looked over a few recipes and while enamoured by many of them I decided to just make it up as I went along based on suggestions from a number of websites.

———-

This is a heavy duty meal so it needs heavy duty cookware.

My casserole

———-

I thought I should add some nectar of the gods. It is such a shame I have a liver that cannot metabolise ethanol, otherwise I’d drink this every day for my health. Not to worry I did see a recipe that used beer rather than wine.

XXXX Gold. XXXX sponsor the XXXX Queensland Maroons. Anyone who knows me knows how much I love the XXXX Queensland Maroons and state of origin rugby league. By far and away the greatest game of all. The first state of origin game will be soon. Can Queensland make it eight years in a row?

———-

Of course man cannot live on meat and beer alone so there are vegetables included.

I forgot to include the Brussels sprouts in the image :-/

———-

It’s a fairly simple dish to make. I chopped onions and added them to some olive oil in a saucepan on a low heat. I waited for the onion to soften nicely before adding some balsamic vinegar and brown sugar. Once that was simmering and well incorporated I added the tomatoes. When the tomatoes were soft I added the chopped celery and mushroom. When everything was really soft I started to prepare the casserole. I lined the bottom with thinly sliced red cabbage and laid the ham hock on top. I then added the contents of the saucepan and poured the stubby of XXXX GOLD into the casserole. I then added the carrots and Brussels sprouts. I put the casserole into a low oven (150 °C) for four hours.

———-

This is how it looked at about 3 hours

You can see the meat falling off the bones.

———-

After four hours I pulled the casserole out. My apartment has a delicious sweet smoky aroma to it. I plated up the slow cooked smoked ham hock on a bed of noodles.

Okay, it’s doesn’t look that colourful and I captured the image before I added some continental parsley.

———-

I didn’t add any salt or seasoning like a stock cube because I knew there would be so much flavour in the ham plus the flavour of the balsamic vinegar, sugar and onion really came through. I expect I may blow the sheets off the bed tonight after eating so much cabbage, onion and Brussels sprouts. It’s a good thing it’s just me

———-

Voting closes in a couple of days

———-

Ham hock
Definition
Noun (n) (a small cut of meat from the leg just above the foot)
Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ham_hock

XXXX Queensland Maroons Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/queenslandmaroons

My beloved MacBook is fixed | #bestblogs13 (yummylummy.com)
Ham Hock, Cannellini Beans and a few Autumnal Photos (peasepudding.wordpress.com)
Ham Hock and Turnip Soup (l2ee2l.wordpress.com)
100 – Random9 Art exhibition | Black Pepper | Oblivion | #bestblogs13 (garydavidlum.com)
Scotch egg, anyone? (thecadogan.wordpress.com)
Mexican dinner party | Shout out to @davidlebovitz | #bestblogs13 (yummylummy.com)
Wraps as a theme | Shout out @hilahcooking | #bestblogs13 (yummylummy.com)
Wraps as a theme | Shout out @hilahcooking | #bestblogs13 (garydavidlum.com)
Winter has arrived so it’s time for the winter avi | #bestblogs13 (garydavidlum.com)

My beloved MacBook is fixed | #bestblogs13

7 Replies

On Thursday night I blogged about the problem I had with a swollen battery in my MacBook. I had called the Apple store and made a Genius Bar appointment for Friday night and was told to expect a five to seven day turnaround. I was preparing myself for doing everything from my iPad when away from home.

As it turns out I need not have fretted. When I arrived at the Genius Bar and was seen by an Apple Genius it was obvious my battery was big and turgid and its tumescence needed relief. The Genius cleaned my MacBook and put it into a sleeve and printed a repair contract. Then when I expected him to say come back next week he said come back in 15 to 20 minutes. He also said given the amount of warping if the hard metal case didn’t spring back to shape and if the track pad wasn’t working properly they would probably need a few days.

I was hopeful. I returned after 15 minutes and to my delight my beloved MacBook was fine and straight.

A big bouquet to the Apple Store in Canberra and to the Genius who helped me.

The Genius was running a diagnostic after fixing my MacBook.

———-

The night got better too. Bron cooked dinner and we watched an episode of Game of Thrones.

Perfectly cooked Wagyu steak with cauliflower cheese, and potatoes and sweet potato baked in duck fat with some greens. This was amazingly good.

———-

This was followed by Ginger cake and ice cream

———-

Anyway, I’m pretty happy my MacBook is fixed and I can use my track pad.

———-

Apple store Canberra http://www.apple.com/au/retail/canberra/
Google maps http://goo.gl/maps/oXSd8

View Larger Map

First day tips and tweaks for new MacBook owners (reviews.cnet.com)
Warning: Your iPad may put your MacBook to sleep (reviews.cnet.com)
MacBook Woes (lostgirlwildworld.wordpress.com)

Mexican dinner party | Shout out to @davidlebovitz | #bestblogs13

1 Reply

Thursday night saw Bron invite a couple of dear friends over to her place for dinner. The theme was Mexican, that is, the food theme, we didn’t do any Mexican hat dancing or tequila drinking.

For an entrée Bron made corn chips with a David Lebovitz guacamole, salsa and sour cream. Bron made the corn chips from tortillas and they were amazing. They were tasty, crunchy and light. The guacamole and salsa were fantastic. I watched Bron make some of each and had the pleasure of tasting it along the way. I could’ve eaten corn chips all night.

It looks like I had a lot of sour cream. It just seemed to spread across the plate (honestly).

———-

For the main course Bron made a David Lebovitz chicken with chocolate mole sauce. The mole sauce amongst other ingredients contained ancho chili peppers, onions, various herbs, tomatoes, pepper, and unsweetened chocolate. The sauce had a nice kick to it but it wasn’t an unpleasant heat that some chillies have. While Bron and our friends enjoyed wine with their meal I found pineapple juice to be an excellent accompaniment to the spicy flavours.

Chicken chocolate mole

This is the chicken covered in the chocolate mole sauce. No I did not eat all of this.

———-

This is my plate with a tortilla in the making and the chicken ready to be shredded. I only ate one tortilla

———-

My tortilla. It was delicious. What you won’t see is how much chicken I ate after finishing this.

———-

I remember on a trip to Mexico City enjoying enchiladas and mole sauce. I blogged about it and one of my work friends was horrified that I’d eaten a mole (as in the blind mammal that lives underground). I laugh and laugh every time I think of that.

———-

For dessert Bron made a David Lebovitz ginger cake plus some home made non-churn cherry and white chocolate ice cream

Doesn’t it look amazing? The ice cream was creamy and delicious. You wouldn’t know it was not churned. The cake had a lovely kick of ginger and a hint of pepper. It was brilliant. Bron is such a magnificent cook.

———-

You can find information on the recipes at the David Lebovitz website http://www.davidlebovitz.com

———-

Stop press

Friday morning morning tea (or mornos as defence friends say)

Coffee and cake. What could be better

———-

Wraps as a theme | Shout out @hilahcooking | #bestblogs13 (yummylummy.com)
Italian and Sons | #bestblogs13 (yummylummy.com)
100 – Random9 Art exhibition | Black Pepper | Oblivion | #bestblogs13 (garydavidlum.com)
Sanur’s | Max Brenner | #bestblogs13 (garydavidlum.com)
Lunch at Ricardo’s Cafe | #bestblogs13 (garydavidlum.com)
Rockpool on George | #ManFlu | #bestblogs13 (garydavidlum.com)
Bron cooking up a storm | Dumpling Inn Macquarie | #bestblogs13 (garydavidlum.com)

Italian and Sons | #bestblogs13

4 Replies

Last night Bron and I went to Italian & Sons for the first sitting dinner (in at 6 pm and out at 8 pm). We’ve been here before and enjoyed a number of excellent meals. We’ve been keen though to attend on a Tuesday evening. The day of the week is important for Italian & Sons. The menu varies, that is, the major main meal changes each night. Tuesday is suckling pig night.

If you take a look at the sample menu you’ll see what I mean. You can see a sample menu here

The ambience is really nice. It’s quiet, it’s dark and it’s warm. Unlike Ned Stark’s northern kingdom whose words were “winter is coming”; winter has arrived in Canberra. It was a very cold last night even at 6 pm as we were walking to the restaurant. Being dark was a bit of a problem though. Darkness is the enemy of the amateur food blogger armed only with an iPhone. Despite the iPhone 5 having an enhanced low light camera, it can’t compensate for really dim light. I am very sorry to Italian & Sons that the images I captured do not do the food justice.

———-

For our entrée we asked to share one of the specials. It was a Gorgonzola and polenta croquette on a delicate cheesy white sauce. I’m sure there’s an Italian name for the French word that describes cheesy white sauce but I don’t know either of the words. Happy to be educated if you know

Entrée croquette

There were three on the plate. We had one and a half each. They were delicate yet they cracked open easily and the cheese and polenta were combined perfectly. The odour and taste of the Gorgonzola was present but not too strong. It was delightful. If offered, you should take it.

———-

For the main course Bron seemed tempted by a lamb special but in the end we both went for the suckling pig on lentils.

Suckling pig

This was sublime. I’ve not had better pork. The crackling came away easily. It was thin, crispy and easy to cut and eat bite sized pieces. The muscle was perfectly cooked. It could be cut with a spoon but it wasn’t falling apart. The taste was exceptional. The lentils with the meat were delightful. Combined with a forkful of salad it was perfectly balanced.

———-

Rocket, pear and shaved ricotta salata

This was a lovely salad

———-

The service was really very good. Our main server was a dead ringer for Freddy Mercury. He was attentive and helpful and knowledgeable about all the dishes and the wines. The other wait staff were also very helpful and attentive. I feel a bit bad we didn’t stay for dessert. We talked about it and we both wanted to go to Koko Black for dessert and have some chocolate.

As promised in a previous post I’m going to start adding a napkin and dunny rating. For Italian & Sons the first thing I noticed was the cloth napkins which means pass, that said after I went to the dunny I noticed on my return it had been refolded neatly which gives Italian & Sons an exceptional napkin rating. The toilet has earnt a 4/5 dunny rating. If it wasn’t for the bulk toilet paper dispenser it would have been a 4.5/5. I really don’t like the bulk dispensers. I understand why they’re installed but as a user rather than an owner/cleaner, I prefer a standard toilet roll. The hand basin, taps, soap dispenser and paper towel dispenser were all good. The toilet pedestal itself was clean and it looked well maintained. The room itself was a nice size.

———-

For dessert we walked around to Koko Black in the cold night air. I was shivering and my teeth chattered a little. Getting into Koko Black was cosy and warming. Bron chose a chocolate mousse and I asked for a chocolate affogato.

Chocolate affogato

Yay the lighting in Koko Black is more photo friendly

———-

The night was a wonderful combination of food. The entrée and main at Italian & Sons was something all Canberra residents should try. Look through the sample menu and choose a night. I can’t say anything else is better than the suckling pig if you’re a meaty like me. Koko Black appears regularly in this blog. You know that means it’s good.

———-

The finalists for the Best Blogs 2013 have been announced. Check out the finalists here Congratulations to all the finalists especially Christina the hungry Australian

The people’s choice round is still open. I’d love for you to vote for Yummy Lummy if you haven’t voted already.

———-

Italian & Sons http://www.italianandsons.com.au/
Italian & Sons sample menu http://www.italianandsons.com.au/assets/files/f919bbf39.pdf
Google maps http://goo.gl/maps/QkU5s

View Larger Map

Koko Black http://www.kokoblack.com/
Google maps http://goo.gl/maps/6rTJJ

View Larger Map

100 – Random9 Art exhibition | Black Pepper | Oblivion | #bestblogs13 (garydavidlum.com)
Rockpool on George | #ManFlu | #bestblogs13 (garydavidlum.com)
Lunch at Ricardo’s Cafe | #bestblogs13 (garydavidlum.com)
Sanur’s | Max Brenner | #bestblogs13 (garydavidlum.com)
Bron cooking up a storm | Dumpling Inn Macquarie | #bestblogs13 (garydavidlum.com)
Wraps as a theme | Shout out @hilahcooking | #bestblogs13 (garydavidlum.com)
My Easter | #ManFlu | #bestblogs13 (garydavidlum.com)
My prize meat tray | Thank you @2CC and Elite Meats | #bestblogs13 (garydavidlum.com)
My week in Instagram | Different foods | #bestblogs13 (garydavidlum.com)
2 Yummy in Belconnen | Not 2 Yummy for Lummy Yummy | Laksa and Duck | #bestblogs13 (garydavidlum.com)

Bron cooking up a storm | Dumpling Inn Macquarie | #bestblogs13

15 Replies

In last night’s post I mentioned that Bron was cooking up a storm for dinner. She told me she used every plate in the cupboard to do this and truly it was one of the best home made meals I’ve ever eaten. Bron has been experimenting with Mexican cuisine a little lately and for dinner we had a Mexican theme.

For starters Bron made some home made corn chips using tortillas

Home made corn chips

These were amazing with sour cream and some of David Lebovitz’s http://davidlebovitz.com guacamole

———-

As part of the main course Bron prepared some corn fritters. I’ve always loved corn or zucchini fritters. They are just fried loveliness.

Corn fritters

Nothing like the sizzle of fritters

———-

Gratuitous video of corn fritter frying

———-

Alongside the corn fritters the Pièce de résistance was a pulled pork stuffed avocado coated with egg and fried

Main course

Served with David Lebovitz’s guacamole and sour cream

———-

There was some pulled pork left over so I finished it off with some sour cream and guacamole

Left over pulled pork

This was so yummy

———-

For dessert Bron made a caramelised white chocolate and lemon curd with double cream tart

Dessert

Dessert was eaten as we watched Game of Thrones Series 3 episodes 2 and 3

———-

After a good sleep Bron made breakfast

Poached egg and marmalade on toast

Nothing like a good breakfast

———-

Cracking open the egg revealed a perfect runny yolk

Poached egg

A yellow runny water fall of happiness

———-

For lunch we’d booked a table at one of our favourite restaurants in Canberra, viz., The Dumpling Inn. We hadn’t eaten Yum Cha for what seemed like an age.

Yum Cha is one of life’s joys. A meal of guaranteed happiness.

Char siu pork

I love walking past Chinese restaurants and seeing char siu pork and roast ducks hanging in the windows. I love finely slice char siu pork with noodle soups.

———-

Steamed pork ribs

This was nice but a little grissly

———-

Rock salt chilli chicken drumettes

The flavours were amazing with this dish and very similar to their rock salt calamari. The chicken was so tender it was fall off the bone good.

———-

Sticky rice and pork dumplings

This is similar to a sweet dish my grandfather’s brother Les used to make with coconut and sugar

———-

Char siu boa (one of my favourite foods)

On a cold night, a few of these make a remarkably good snack

———-

Every culture has a wrap Peking duck pancakes

Pure happiness in a wrap

———-

Steamed pork dim sim

These were very nice with hot chilli sauce

———-

Crispy skin roast duck

Mmm…crispy skin duck. What more can you say?

———-

Custard tarts

I really liked Bron’s Portuguese custard tarts, these were good too

———-

We left The Dumpling Inn feeling very satisfied. I’ll let you in on a secret. Before I walked in I loosened my belt a notch to avoid any in-restaurant embarrassment

———-

So it’s been an amazing weekend in food. What we really need next weekend is an amazing weekend in exercise. I hope you all have a good week ahead.

———-

Dumpling Inn
Google+ https://plus.google.com/114311113628052468999/about?gl=au&hl=en
Google maps http://goo.gl/maps/CPcpF

View Larger Map

David Lebovitz website
David Lebovitz on twitter
David Lebovitz on Facebook
David Lebovitz on Instagram

Lunch at Ricardo’s Cafe | #bestblogs13 (garydavidlum.com)
100 – Random9 Art exhibition | Black Pepper | Oblivion | #bestblogs13 (garydavidlum.com)
Rockpool on George | #ManFlu | #bestblogs13 (garydavidlum.com)
Sanur’s | Max Brenner | #bestblogs13 (garydavidlum.com)
Wraps as a theme | Shout out @hilahcooking | #bestblogs13 (garydavidlum.com)
My week in Instagram | Different foods | #bestblogs13 (garydavidlum.com)
Pho Viet Review 2 | The Aldi Expressi Coffee Machine | Back with Bron | My week in Instagram (garydavidlum.com)
My Easter | #ManFlu | #bestblogs13 (garydavidlum.com)
RECIPE: Home-made chinese pork dumplings (foodographer.net)
2 Yummy in Belconnen | Not 2 Yummy for Lummy Yummy | Laksa and Duck | #bestblogs13 (garydavidlum.com)

100—Random9 Art exhibition | Black Pepper | Oblivion | #bestblogs13

8 Replies

On Friday evening Bron invited me to an art exhibition opening. The art was created by Randon9 which is a Canberra-based artists’ collective. 100 examines Canberra in a historical, political and cultural context. The exhibition is being held at the Belconnen Arts Centre at 118 Emu Bank.

It was an interesting exhibition. The BAC is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 5 pm. The Patron is Mr Jon Stanhope the former ACT Chief Minister. If you like art, it’s worth going to see and experience.

———-

Okay just a little rant here. One of the disappointing things about the BAC is the recent poor maintenance of its outside appearance. The yellow straw bundles each have a pavement embedded spot light shining up. Of the five or six bundles and lights only one works.

Yellow “straw” bundles at the Belconnen Arts Centre are street lights at night, although not now with only one working

This has been a deteriorating situation for nearly a year. They have evening exhibitions so I assume the managers are aware. Perhaps there is a conflict between the BAC and territory and municipal services (TAMS) It would be good if it could get fixed. Rant over

———-

After taking a look at the art we walked around to Black Pepper for dinner. We hadn’t booked but given it was around 6.30 pm we figured we had a good chance to score a table. When we arrived the restaurant was pretty bare and we got a nice table in the corner by a window.

The day in Canberra had been very cold and windy. We’ve really changed from summer-autumn to autumn-winter. It wasn’t quite bone chilling but the wind chill was very unpleasant. Inside the restaurant was cosy and warm even though it didn’t start to fill with customers until after about 7 pm.

———-

The dinner menu is relatively new and looked pretty good. It can be downloaded from the Out in Canberra site.

For an entrée we chose to share the Panko crumbed brie cheese for $13. It consisted of Japanese crumbed and fried brie cheese with orange and fennel salad.

Brie cheese

This was delicious and sharing half each was more than sufficient

———-

For mains, Bron chose the Swiss potato roesti stack for $15.50. It was layered with Napoli sauce, Swiss cheese and grilled eggplant, served with broccolini and gazpacho vinaigrette. I didn’t capture an image of it.

I chose the Scotch fillet and horseradish for $26.50. The Scotch fillet was served with garlic mash, horseradish cream, red wine jus, greens and game chips.

Scotch fillet

I like my meat rare. The beans were really squeaky on my teeth so I swapped them with Bron’s broccolini.

———-

The dinner menu was pretty good. I think Bron’s potato roesti was good value for money. My steak was nice but I’m not sure it was worth $26.50. It’s certainly better than what I’d get at a pub or bar but I would think between $18 and $22 is how I’d price it. The entrée was good but I’d probably be happier if it was priced at around $12.

———-

Afterwards we watched the ANZAC test match between the Australian Kangaroos and the New Zealand Kiwis. I was so happy to see military bands used to play the national anthems. One of my pet peeves (well it’s more than a peeve it’s a hatred) is the use of pop stars to sing our national anthem. More often than not (I kid you not) they mangle the anthem into their individual interpretation as part of their artistic expression. I can’t stand it. Not only is it painful on my ears, it’s disrespectful to our nation. Apart from a military band, my preference would be for a school choir to sing the national anthem. Channel Nine offers excellent coverage of Rugby League matches in Australia. Before the match a minute’s silence was observed for the death of Ross Livermore. Mr Livermore was the heart and soul of Queensland Rugby League (QRL) for 31 years. Queenslanders, especially lovers of the XXXX Maroons owe so much to Mr Livermore and what he did for Rugby League in Queensland and Australia. Needless to say it is very sad when such a great person dies. The Australian Kangaroos wore black arm bands in memory. It was shocking to hear louts in the crowd disrupt the silence with jeers and noises as a sign of disrespect. It’s a pity the ACT Police were not called in to remove the louts and cowards. Rest in peace Mr Ross Livermore. The game ended in an Australian victory.

———-

So this morning we needed breakfast. Out of convenience we ventured back to Black Pepper. I couldn’t help but notice a patron sitting near us.

My daughters tell me Crocs are a crime against fashion, I think mismatched socks do not help in the fashion stakes.

Fashion Fail

There’s a hole in the right heel too

———-

I didn’t want a huge breakfast but I did want something that would keep me going all day.

Poached eggs and a side of hollandaise sauce

The Black Pepper hollandaise is to die for

———-

This afternoon after a trip to Costco (optometry appointment for me) we went to see Oblivion IMDB and Google+. We’d seen the shorts for this movie while watching Top Gun at the Darling Harbour IMAX theatre over Easter.

I won’t be a spoiler for this movie suffice to say I enjoyed it. I’m a fan of a lot of science fiction, especially simple action genre science fiction. I’m a huge Star Trek fan and am eagerly awaiting the new Star Trek movie. I know Tom Cruise cops a lot of flack as an actor. I haven’t watched all his movies and probably won’t. I really enjoyed Top Gun, I enjoyed the Mission Impossible franchise and recently on a flight to the USA I watched Jack Reacher and enjoyed it. A Few Good Men and Taps are also favourites. I know there was a lot of controversy about Tom Cruise in the starring role for Jack Reacher. I understand Jack Reacher is portrayed as a giant of a man which Tom Cruise isn’t. Without having read the books, I can’t really criticise. I did enjoy the movie.

I would recommend Oblivion to anyone who likes science fiction that doesn’t require a lot of thought. There were a couple of question marks for me in terms of inconsistency but not enough to put me off. We also saw this movie at Hoyts Belconnen in their Xtremescreen cinema. The experience was really very good. Watching an action movie in the Xtremescreen cinema is very worthwhile.

———-

Tonight Bron is cooking up a storm, I’ll blog about that tomorrow. If you want a sneak peek though, follow me on Instagram | Facebook | Twitter for a glimpse of what she is cooking tonight.

———-

One last thing, I’m thinking of a rating system for restaurants based on two non-food criteria. If I remember I will offer a dunny rating and a napkin rating. I believe a good rest room (toilet or dunny) should be specific for gender (preferably not unisex), have urinals set at adult height and not just pædiatric height, pedestals with out swinging doors (for emergency situations), have paper towel (cloth for the really posh ones) and/or a Dyson air blade or XLERATOR™ air dryer. I’ll elaborate on this in future posts. For Black Pepper it gets a four out of five dunny score. For napkins I prefer cloth napkins over paper. My ranking would be fail | pass| excellent. My napkin ranking for Black Pepper is fail.

———-

Belconnen Arts Centre http://www.belconnenartscentre.com.au/
Google maps http://goo.gl/maps/dxrLf

View Larger Map

Black Pepper http://www.outincanberra.com.au/blackpepper
Google maps http://goo.gl/maps/2uxsW
The marker is in the wrong position. I’ve moved it and Google is reviewing my suggested move. If they agree the marker will show the correct placement in the future.

View Larger Map

Costco http://www.costco.com.au/index.shtml
Google maps http://goo.gl/maps/NtGyt

View Larger Map

The ANZAC Test Preview – How the Kangaroos Will Win (thearmchairselector.com)
PAN-FRIED SWEET POTATO & SAGE LEAVES GARNISHED WITH OLIVE OIL & CINNAMON SERVED WITH GRILLED GRASS-FED BEEF SCOTCH FILLET SEASONED WITH ROSEMARY – Oh so fragrant, tasty and nutritious! (powerfoodsfitness.wordpress.com)
Thai to die for | The best Canberra restaurant experience in some time (garydavidlum.com)
Cold and disappointed (kiwiincanberra.wordpress.com)
Pho Viet Review 2 | The Aldi Expressi Coffee Machine | Back with Bron | My week in Instagram (garydavidlum.com)

Wraps as a theme | Shout out @hilahcooking | #bestblogs13

9 Replies

For the last week I’ve been eating more meals as wraps. My week in Instagram shows it in graphic detail I’m not sure why I’ve turned to wraps this week. Instagram followers will be familiar with my love of the Mavi Breakfast Wrap over the last 18 months.

On Thursday night I enjoyed an Elite Meats Black Angus and Burgundy sausage wrap

———-

The sausage wrap was followed on Friday morning with a Mavi Breakfast wrap

This is my wrap laid bare for all to see. The Mavi Breakfast wrap contains bacon, egg, mushrooms, hash brown, cheese and barbecue sauce.

———-

In between Hilah Johnson from Hilah Cooking posted a video on a Smoked Sausage Wrap

YouTube of Hilah cooking a sausage http://youtu.be/z15XchLnLqc

I decided on Friday I was so going to make a version of Hilah’s sausage wrap because my version from Thursday night was crap in comparison. I split my snag and added onion.

Hilah Cooking http://hilahcooking.com/
Hilah’s smoked sausage wrap http://hilahcooking.com/smoked-sausage-wrap/

———-

On Sunday night I made a chicken and onion wrap

———-

I did the onions in the afternoon. I needed three large brown onions, a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, two tablespoons of brown sugar and a two tablespoons of balsamic vinegar. I spent about an hour softening the onions with the oil and a good pinch of salt. I then added the sugar and vinegar and stirred regularly for another hour. It turned into a lovely gooey mess of happiness. I also added a little curry powder and smoked paprika for flavour.

———-

On Monday evening Bron came over for dinner and inspired by Hilah I made a sausage and onion wrap.

Bron brought over some caramelised onion she bought at the Sydney Royal Easter Show. I cooked the sausages like Hilah did in her video and made the wrap. The bread I bought even came with little paper pocket bags.

———-

The best part of the evening though was that Bron brought over some of her home made macarons and non-churn ice cream. The flavours were orange and cardamon and lemon curd ice creams. The macarons where chocolate with chocolate popping candy ganache and lemon curd.