SPAM

Bacon or salmon

Posted by Gary

Well it’s not really a question of bacon or salmon. Occasionally it can be bacon and salmon.

***Please note the medical disclaimer****

I came home early today with ManFlu which gave me an opportunity to focus on work e-mail and do some reading. The World Health Organization (WHO) recently released a report from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) on the potential causal relationship between the consumption of red meat and processed meat with neoplastic diseases. The paper in Lancet Oncology is available for free. The IARC paper’s authors reported that processed meat can cause bowel carcinoma and red meat probably causes bowel carcinoma. This doesn’t mean if you eat a tin of spam or eat a sausage you’ll develop bowel carcinoma nor does it mean you cannot enjoy a good steak or pork chop occasionally. In my mind if these are occasional treats I’m going to make sure I focus on quality rather than quantity.

What it does mean, and none of this is new information, is you shouldn’t eat bacon everyday but one or two rashers a week is probably okay. A small steak once a week is probably okay too. It also means we need to eat more fruit and vegetables.

What does it mean for me as a lover of red meat and SPAM? Well as I’ve written recently I’m taking my health a little more seriously especially after the faecal occult blood test gift from the government and my first colonoscopy which thankfully didn’t find a bowel carcinoma (yet). With an eye on blood biochemistry and bowel health I’ll still occasionally indulge in bacon and SPAM. After all Canberra boasts Australia’s best artisan bacon and my shelf of shame has three tins of SPAM after so much fun on the Hawaiian holiday adventure.

So tonight I just had salmon mainly because I felt unwell and just wanted something simple. Click on the photograph and you’ll see a short time-lapse video of me eating this bad boy.

Salmon cheeseburger with wasabi aioli
Salmon cheeseburger with wasabi aioli

How do you feel about bacon or salmon?

Delicious cauliflower soup

Posted by Gary

Last week I made a dynamite spicy pumpkin soup. At the time I was also thinking of making cauliflower soup and adding some jalapeño peppers to spice it up a bit. Of course I’d also add my secret ingredient, viz., SPAM®

Tonight I put together a cauliflower soup with a twist. In addition to the jalapeño pepper and SPAM® I added some celeriac. It was delicious.

Delicious cauliflower soup
Recipe Type: Dinner
Cuisine: Australian
Author: Gary Lum
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 1
Ingredients
  • Cauliflower
  • Celeriac
  • SPAM®
  • Jalapeño pepper
  • Lime juice
  • Cream
  • Fried shallots
  • White wine
  • Grapeseed oil
Instructions
  1. Add about 2 tablespoons of grapeseed oil to the saucepan and heat
  2. Dice the SPAM®
  3. Dice the cauliflower and celeriac
  4. Slice the jalapeño pepper
  5. Fry off the SPAM® until it has taken on some colour and is sticking to the bottom of the saucepan
  6. Add the jalapeño pepper slices and fry until softened
  7. Add the celeriac and fry off until softened
  8. Add the cauliflower
  9. Add a splash of white wine and some water to just cover the cauliflower
  10. Bring to a slow simmer and cook for 20 minutes
  11. When the cauliflower is soft blend with a stick blender
  12. Add some cream and blend until smooth
  13. Serve in a bowl and garnish with fried shallots
  14. Keep the leftover soup in another bowl, cover and freeze for another time
  15. Shoot a photograph
  16. Swallow the soup
  17. Clean the dishes
  18. Write the recipe
  19. Blog (verb)
Delicious cauliflower soup with celeriac, SPAM®, and jalapeño pepper
Delicious cauliflower soup with celeriac, SPAM®, and jalapeño pepper

I hope you enjoy this soup if you make it. I love cauliflower soup. It’s so comforting in winter. Tonight in Canberra is going to be 0 °C (32 °F)

Do you fart after cauliflower soup? I do 

Tonight I perfected the roast chicken Maryland dinner

Posted by Gary

Tonight I think I struck gold and made the perfect roast chicken dinner. My mouth is singing with happiness.

I’ve been thinking of tonight’s dinner nearly all day. I think everyone who reads this blog knows how much I love roast chicken and my favourite part of the chicken is the Maryland. That’s the thigh and drumstick. Everyone of late also knows I’ve taken to quinoa. Given we’re about to breach winter in Canberra, roasted vegetables are high on the comfort food scale. This is a combination dinner that just sung in my mouth.

Tonight I perfected the roast chicken Maryland dinner
Recipe Type: Dinner
Cuisine: Australian
Author: Gary Lum
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 1
Ingredients
  • Chicken Maryland
  • Potato
  • Sweet potato
  • Capsicum
  • Jalapeño pepper
  • Grated cheese
  • Olive oil
  • Diced spam
  • Black peppercorns
  • Worcestershire sauce
  • Quinoa
  • Rice
Instructions
  1. Place about ⅓ cup of quinoa and rice into the bottom of the roasting tray
  2. Add ⅔ cup of water to the roasting tray
  3. Place a rack in the roasting tray and add the Chicken Maryland which has been rubbed with olive oil, salt and dried mixed herbs
  4. Place the chicken into an oven at 150 °C for 1 hour (use a meat thermometer to ensure food safety)
  5. Cut the potato, sweet potato and capsicum into wedges or batons
  6. Dice some classic SPAM®
  7. Finely dice some jalapeño pepper
  8. Put the jalapeño pepper, potato, sweet potato, capsicum and SPAM® into a large bowl and mix with some olive oil, grated cheese, cracked black peppercorns, and a dash of Worcestershire sauce
  9. Lay out the vegetables onto some baking paper on an oven tray
  10. Place the vegetables into the oven on another shelf with the chicken and cook for 1 hour
  11. Pull the chicken out of the oven and make sure the meat thermometer has achieved the correct cooking temperature to kill most vegetative bacteria (this is 75 °C according to chicken.org.au)
  12. Allow the chicken to rest for about 20 to 30 minutes (resting is really important, it helps ensure a succulent flesh)
  13. Scoop out the quinoa and rice from the baking tray and place half in a bowl in the refrigerator for lunch the next day with some salad leaves.
  14. Keep the rest of the quinoa and rice warm to serve with the chicken and vegetables
  15. Hopefully you’ve timed the cooking of the vegetables to coincide with the end of the resting period of the chicken
  16. When the chicken is rested plate up the vegetables onto a plate, then place the rice and quinoa next to the vegetables. Finally add the chicken.
  17. If you are French you probably made a sauce and lots of it to enjoy with the chicken, me, I’m an Australian. We don’t need sauce.
  18. Shoot a photograph
  19. Inhale the meal
  20. Wash the dishes
  21. Write the recipe
  22. Blog (verb)

The combination of jalapeño peppers in the vegetables made a huge difference. As the vegetables were roasting the volatile odours from the peppers were permeating my small apartment. The rice and quinoa in the baking tray had absorbed all the fatty juicy goodness from the chicken and they stuck together really well to form an old fashioned stack. The chicken was perfectly cooked. The meat was juicy and succulent. I cannot emphasise too much the value of resting roast chicken. Oh, I also added my secret ingredient, viz., SPAM®

If you make this or make a variation of this dish please let me know.

I hope you like roast chicken as much as I do 

Roast Chicken Maryland, Capsicum, Cheese, , Jalapeño pepper, Onion, Potato, Quinoa, Rice, Spam, and Sweet potato
Roast Chicken Maryland, Capsicum, Cheese, , Jalapeño pepper, Onion, Potato, Quinoa, Rice, Spam, and Sweet potato

Delicious spicy pumpkin soup with a twist

Posted by Gary

As they say in Game of Thrones, “Winter is coming”. It’s getting cold so that means warming comfort foods. In my mind for a comfort soup it has to be a spicy pumpkin soup, not a boring creamy bland soup but a soup with kick. 

Here's the kicker. Jalapeño peppers with some capsicum.
Here’s the kicker. Jalapeño peppers with some capsicum.

Now ordinarily I’d start my soup by frying off some streaky bacon but tonight I used some classic SPAM® because I still have some left over from last night’s meal SPAM® is my SECRET ingredient.

Hot and spicy pumpkin soup garnished with fried shallots and dried edible flowers
Hot and spicy pumpkin soup garnished with fried shallots and dried edible flowers
Delicious spicy pumpkin soup with a twist
 
Recipe Type: Dinner
Cuisine: Australian
Author: Gary Lum
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 1
Ingredients
  • Kent pumpkin diced
  • Capsicum diced
  • Jalapeño pepper sliced
  • Classic SPAM® diced
  • Worcestershire sauce
  • Tabasco sauce
  • Pepper
  • White wine
  • Coconut cream
  • Fried shallots
  • Garlic
Instructions
  1. Fry off the SPAM® in a saucepan until it starts to change colour and stick to the bottom of the pan
  2. Add a splash of white wine to deglase the bottom of the pan
  3. Add the pumpkin, capsicum and jalapeño pepper
  4. Cover with some water and add the crushed garlic plus Worcestershire sauce and Tabasco sauce
  5. Bring to a simmer and cook until the pumpkin is soft
  6. With a stick blender process the soup until it is smooth
  7. Add a splash of coconut and stir in
  8. Pour the soup into a bowl and garnish with fried shallots and dried edible flowers
  9. Shoot a photograph
  10. Enjoy the soup
  11. Washes the dishes
  12. Blog (verb)
 

Now for an added treat I wanted to share with some my other meals from today

Uncle Toby's Rolled Oats (Porridge) with brown sugar
Uncle Toby’s Rolled Oats (Porridge) with brown sugar

For morning tea my amazing work mates brought in a Flute bakery cake for my 50th birthday. They are totally awesome.

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For lunch I had an Irish lamb hot pie from Urban Bean Espresso Bar. It reminded me of today’s notquitenigella post.

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So how do you make a spicy pumpkin soup? Would you add spam?

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Delicious spam and roast vegetables

Posted by Gary

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It’s been ages since I’ve eaten spam! Well at least a week. I thought some roast vegetables would be nice for dinner tonight and I pondered what meat to eat. I thought about no meat and then thought bacon. Then I realised I could have spam. The real question was would I use one of the cans I brought back from Hawaii and the recipe book I bought there. 

In the end I chose the classic SPAM® and made up the recipe. 

Delicious spam and roast vegetables
 
Recipe Type: Dinner
Cuisine: Australian
Author: Gary Lum
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 1
Ingredients
  • Potato
  • Sweet potato
  • Capsicum
  • Chili flakes
  • Pepper
  • Curry powder
  • Salt
  • Cheese
  • Olive oil
  • Sesame oil
Instructions
  1. Cut the potato and sweet potato into batons
  2. Slice the capsicum into batons as long as the potato and sweet potato
  3. Dice the Classic SPAM®
  4. Add everything to a large mixing bowl and then add in everything else
  5. Mix with your hands
  6. Pour into a baking tray and place into a preheated oven (150 °C) for 45 minutes
  7. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes
  8. Serve in a large bowl
  9. Shoot a photograph
  10. Eat while watching #MasterChefAU and tweeting
  11. Wash the dishes
  12. Write the recipe
  13. Blog (verb)
 

 

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How do you enhance your roast vegetables?