Tag Archives: Asparagus

Week 52 2012 Christmas

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I hope I have one more post for 2012 to close out the year. This post however, will focus on the lead up and execution of Christmas 2012.

The last weekend was another quiet one. I didn’t have much to do besides wash clothes and clean the apartment. I’d completed all my Christmas shopping and so I enjoyed a weekend of lounging and watching DVDs. I ended up seeing the end of series three of Breaking Bad and watching what in the US is the first series of Strike Back. Apparently in the UK, there were six episodes shown before the US saw the seventh episode which it calls the first episode. I don’t understand the reasoning. The story can be found at IMDB and Wikipedia.

Because I was travelling for Christmas and New Year I needed to go through the contents of my refrigerator. Toasted sandwiches are always a good weekend lunch option.

Toasted red salmon and tomato sandwich. Delicious.

Tomato, tinned red salmon and pumpkin seed bread.

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For dinner I had a scotch fillet steak.

Scotch fillet steak (rare) with mango and feta salad.

I served it with a mango salad that also had salad leaves, cherry tomatoes and lots of Australian feta cheese. I made a light gravy from the marinade which was sherry, oil and soy plus some honey and mixed herbs and some minced garlic. I thickened it with some corn flour and used a little red wine to deglase my fry pan. I like my steak rare so this got about 90 seconds on each side and was rested for 10 minutes.

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On Saturday night a storm brewed but we didn’t see any rain. The clouds though were very pretty. I captured this image from my balcony but there were some much better ones from other IGers.

Amazing clouds over Lake Ginninderra.

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I forgot to mention in my last post, that on Thursday evening when dining with my friends they gave me a book for Christmas. http://garydavidlum.com/2012/12/22/week-51-2012-christmas-party-season/

Great Christmas gift from friends

I like watching Jamie Oliver on television and if you search this blog for Jamie Oliver you’ll see a number of references. http://garydavidlum.com/?s=Jamie+Oliver&submit=Search I’ve heard though with Jamie Oliver’s recipes that sometimes they’re wrong, that is, quantities can be significantly off. This doesn’t always get corrected. If you know enough to know that’s fine but if you’re pretty ignorant like me, that can spell disaster.

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WARNING Sad Image

One of the saddest images I’ve captured is this one. Last week I posted this image of a friendly blue tongued skink. Sadly it was run over in my apartment car park.

This guy greeting me when I got home.

From last week

So very sad. The blue tongued skink I met last week came to a sad end in the car park.

What I came across on Sunday morning.

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I love pistachios

Snack time

Snack time.

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Another toasted sandwich for lunch.

Lunch. Blue cheese, Aldi tinned red salmon and tomato.

This time with blue cheese because like bacon and butter, everything tastes better with blue cheese.

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On Sunday night I cleaned out the refrigerator.

Salmon and mango salad with blue cheese

Salmon with mango salad and blue cheese.

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Normally when I’m walking back from the post office you can see heaps of people at work.

Barren on Christmas eve.

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There are no calories for the next two weeks.

There are no calories for the next two weeks.

Caramel doughnut.

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I was tempted, but this was for a work friend.

No I did not eat this jam doughnut. I did covert it though. Ping @jacquimkane @jesskirkham08

Jam filled doughnut.

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Because a work mate was ill last week when we went to the snag stand, we went back with her on Monday.

Spicy cheese kransky on brioche is the bomb. Ping @kecozanat @jacquimkane @jesskirkham08

Spicy cheese kransky on brioche. This was delicious. Our plan is to eat through the entire menu.

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I finished work early on Christmas eve and I went to the airport as soon as I could.

White Christmas

A White Christmas snack at the Qantas lounge.

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I also had a couple of chilli beef pastizzi in the lounge

Chilli beef pastizzi

They were a little hot.

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I managed to secure an upgrade on flight QF960. The flight was meant to leave a little after 1745 however a couple of storm cells hit Canberra and to keep the ground crew safe they were evacuated from the tarmac and we stayed in the aeroplane for more than an hour connected to the aerobridge. If you follow me on Twitter you’ll see were we able to use our telephones.

QF960 crumbed steak

For dinner I had the crumbed beef. The crumb also contained feta cheese. While the beef was well done and tough, everything else was very nice.

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When I got to my parent’s place I put out presents for them and my girls (who I’ll see later this week).

Mum and Dad's Christmas tree

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It’s Christmas Day. I had a poor night’s sleep, not through Christmas excitement, but because I’m sleeping on my childhood bed. Dad woke up early and we sat together for a couple of hours while he told me stories.

Christmas breakfast of champions. Vegemite on toast. I'm pacing myself today. #Christmas

I had a light breakfast in anticipation of a big lunch. The breakfast of champions, vegemite on toast with a couple of coffees.

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And so lunch preparation begins…

One chook with skin tightened with boiling water. #Christmas

This is chicken after we’d tightened the skin with boiling water.

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Mum's seafood sauce for the prawns.

Mum made a 1000 islands dressing for our lunch time prawns. If you click on the image you can work out the ingredients in a chat with Hilah from hilahcooking.com

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Our duck is patiently waiting. #Christmas

The poultry preparation continued with a duck drying and draining.

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Prawns to start #Christmas

The bowl may not look elegant but that mattered nought.

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#Christmas prawns

I love prawns.

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The prawns were good 😃😃😃 #Christmas

I could not help capture an after image.

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My task is to remove the neck. I love a Chinese cleaver.

The duck had a reasonable neck attached. You can tell my intent by the strategically placed Chinese meat cleaver.

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My next job is an actor on Game of Thrones #Christmas

I want a role on The Game of Thrones as an executioner.

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Because everything is better with bacon. #Christmas duck.

Because everything is better with bacon.

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When chook meets duck #Christmas

Side by side, don’t they look a treat (and very cute too).

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Chicken cut up #Christmas

Mum makes a mean stuffing. Check out https://www.evernote.com/shard/s183/sh/b0224e03-ecac-4ec6-93cd-7f8246b75d18/45f16c08058a64d34147000cbd21095d for the details. I had my eye on the Maryland at the top of the image. It has the cloaca attached. I love a chook’s cloaca when it’s been roasted.

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Poultry mix duck and chook #Christmas

With the duck added. I like to cut the breast off and slice it. It makes it easier to eat because you bite end on into the grain of the meat. Do you see the size of the duck’s neck and cloaca? I’d already bagsed (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=bagsed) them.

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All the stuff separately for lunch #Christmas

Because of the small size of Mum’s kitchen and oven, rather than roasted vegetables, Mum made a potato bake yesterday and we heated it up in a small toaster oven at lunch time. We also had broccoli, asparagus and peas.

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My plate was full of goodness. Duck and chook arse plus duck neck and breast and chook thigh. Oh and some vegetables. #Christmas

This is my plate. Mum made a nice orange flavoured sauce too. It was sublime.

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Mmm... I dissected out the trachea from the neck bones of the duck. The duck coccyx is also there too #Christmas

The neck has such nicely flavoured meat. I also managed to dissect out the trachea too. This started a nice little chat on twitter and instagram.

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So that’s it for now. Mum decided against making a pudding or a pavlova. This evening we’ll have fruit and some cheese. I’m pretty grateful. I don’t really want to blow out. I can fit into a pair of shorts I like to wear at Christmas time so I’m happy holding back a little.

I hope everyone reading this blog had a wonderful time if you celebrate Christmas. I hope your day was full of happiness and peace and good food.

Merry Christmas friends,

Your friend and fellow blogger

Gaz

Things and places mentioned in this post

Kransky sausage
Wiki entry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kranjska_klobasa

Strike Back
Wiki entry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strike_Back_%28TV_series%29
IMDB entry http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1492179/

Pastizz
Wiki entry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pastizz

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The Wild Duck is the duck’s guts

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The term the “ducks guts” is a piece of Australian slang.
From the Urban Dictionary an Australian expression—if you think something is awesome, brilliant etc. then it is said to be the duck’s guts.
Synonyms (see below) include the bee’s knees, the cat’s pyjamas, or, strangely enough, the cat’s arse.
My new cricket bat is the duck’s guts.
Look at that pony-tailed wanker in his BMW. He thinks he’s the ducks guts.
I remember first hearing the expression when watching one of my all time favourite movies, viz., Mad Max. I think in the US it was retitled The Road Warrior.
Here is the scene when Goose uses the phrase. Clearly this is one of the best scenes in the movie and the reason I love Mad Max and Mad Max II.

IMDB also has some great quotes.

On Thursday night I went to dinner with Bron and another couple of dear friends. We ate at the Wild Duck. The Wild Duck is a relatively new restaurant in Canberra and found on the Kingston foreshore. [Map http://goo.gl/maps/6j4zV] If you want to hear a funny story about my arrival you’ll have to tweet Bron.


View Larger Map

The décor is very modern and inviting.

We ate at a booth table for four which was pretty comfortable. Our waiter for the evening was very friendly and very helpful with the menu and provided us with some insights into the restaurant.

The menu is pretty easy to follow. Not too much to select from and not too little that you feel manoeuvred into choosing just what the chef wants you to eat. That said, our waiter recommended a banquet and after some perusal and discussion we agreed on the “Chef’s signature” banquet. This banquet is reasonably expensive at $68 per person and didn’t include dessert. That said the choices where the Chef’s signature dishes and while not exactly degustation, there was an element of that with the starters.

I apologise for the poor photography. The restaurant is quite well lit however, the light casts a very yellow hue in photographs. I need to learn how to balance the colours in my iPhone.

The wonton soup was okay. No one’s wonton soup will ever be as good as my mother’s. No one should even try.

For higher resolution versions please click on the images

Shanghai Wonton Soup

The scallops in XO sauce were delicate and nicely balanced with the asparagus spear which was cooked perfectly.

Scallops with XO Conpoy Chilli

Next came the Lotus Root and Pork Parcels and Xinjang Lamb Skewers. The lotus root and pork was sublime. Crunchy, full of flavour and a nice firmness in terms of texture. Our waiter suggested the lamb may be a little spicy although for me while tasty, it wasn’t spicy. It was definitely not bland though. It was delicious.

Lotus Root and Pork Parcels and Xinjang Lamb Skewers

The next dish to arrive on its own was the restaurant’s special, its signature dish, the Lamb Shank in Golden Sands. I’ve copied the description from the menu: “Served in lettuce cups, slow roasted Lamb shank meat flaked off the bone and crispy fried, finished in a dune of baked golden coconut, garlic and whole black beans”. This was just amazing. I could eat an entire meal of this one dish. It is a must have.

Lamb Shank in Golden Sands

The three main dishes came out together with a bowl of steamed rice. We received the snapper that was delicately cut so when cooked it resembled a piece of coral; next came the Wild Mushroom Duck Breast which was just lovely; and the final dish was the Yu Xiang Pork. This was definitely a spicier dish although the flavour didn’t linger too long.

Coral Cut Snapper

Coral Cut Snapper on steamed rice

Wild Mushroom Duck Breast

Wild Mushroom Duck Breast [close up]

Yu Xiang Pork

For dessert our friends shared a Coconut Jelly and Papaya which was made up of Coconut jelly and sliced fresh pawpaw with warm black sticky rice and palm sugar syrup. Bron and I each had the Dark and White Angel Mousse. This was a martini of dark and white chocolate mousse, dressed with a layered strawberry and raspberry coulis shot. The waiter poured the coulis shot and with the sediment asked for a number between 1 and 9 and proceeded to write the number. Mine was a 9.

Coconut Jelly and Pawpaw

Dark and White Angel Mousse

Dark and White Angel Mousse [and the number 9]

I’d say the Wild Duck is worthwhile visiting. The website is pretty good and the menus are available as separate pdf documents.

Entrée, Mains, Desserts and Banquets

Back in Canberra

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I got back to Canberra last night after a weekend in Darwin. After a sleep in I went for a walk and then to lunch with Bron.

Click on the images for high resolution versions.

On my walk I said hello to Mr Owl

On my walk I went past Weber’s circus

For lunch Bron and I went to Ricardo’s Cafe.

I had a really nice caramel thick shake. Sadly it didn’t agree with my IBS.

I had a Wagyu cheese burger. Sadly a part of an upper left molar broke off while eating it. The burger was delicious.

After the burger I had a pineapple. This was made with meringue and pineapple marshmallow.

This is the inside of the pineapple.

For dinner I had a light meal of salmon.

Salmon with mashed potato made with blue cheese plus asparagus and broccolini.

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My weekend in food was good

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This weekend I completed my income taxation return and caught up on some work. I also spent some time with Bron and managed to enjoy some delicious meals. If you follow me on instagram you can see how I ate this weekend as well as some of my other activities.

Thai salmon cakes

Bron’s fish cakes were really nice.

Sticky date pudding with homemade custard and butterscotch sauce

Bron makes the best sticky date pudding. Her homemade custard and butterscotch sauce are to die for.

Spring in Canberra

The deciduous trees are blooming and my allergic rhinitis is getting worse. I must be snoring like a train because every morning I wake up with a sore throat like razor blades are cutting it.

Lake Ginninderra

Before breakfast I went for a walk and captured some images. We had breakfast at Black Pepper which is on the corner on the left of the image.


View Larger Map

Dead carp

Fishing is popular in Canberra waterways. The lakes are full of carp. They are a pest and regarded as feral. If a carp is caught it is not allowed to be thrown back into the water. From what I’ve seen people go fishing, catch carp and then leave them anywhere they choose.

Green eggs and ham

Bron chose green eggs and ham. The scrambled eggs have avocado in them.

Poached eggs, Kransky and hollandaise sauce

I ate poached eggs, Kransky sausage, mushrooms and hollandaise sauce.

Pan seared salmon served with a tower of potato mash, wilted spinach, pine nuts, peas and corn along with asparagus and broccolini. The mash potato was made with blue cheese.

Tonight I cooked a light meal of salmon. Click on it if you want a larger resolution view.

Oh and if you’re interested, next weekend I want to see the Melbourne Storm defeat the Canterbury Bulldogs. I also want to see the Sydney Swans defeat the Hawthorn Hawks.

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Pork cutlet an a tower of vegetables

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I’m really enjoying the food tube or ring or sleeve that Miss15 bought me for Fathers day. Eventually it will be used for rice and other things but so far it’s been potato and sweet potato along with some pan seared Atlantic salmon.

Tonight I breaded (crumbed here in Australia) a nice pork cutlet. Instead of combining the potato and sweet potato I kept them separate and separated them physically in the tower with wilted spinach, mushrooms and spring onions. I also topped the dish with a little asparagus and broccolini. I deglased the pan with a little white wine and reduced some honey and soy sauce to drizzle on the potato tower.

Sorry I didn’t quite have the cutlet completely covered. The image looks a bit untidy. It was incredibly delicious though. I loved it.

Oh and I forgot I checked out Hilah’s youtube channel on pork chops. I love her accent.

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My new food tube

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Miss15 bought me a couple of food tubes this weekend. I was up in Brisbane visiting my daughters and we went shopping and Miss15 asked if I wanted anything for the fathers day just past a few weeks ago. We were in kitchenware shop looking at cake decorating stuff and I saw a couple of food tubes.

Click on the images to reveal higher resolution views

I seared some Atlantic salmon and mashed some potato and sweet potato in my ricer. I put it into the food tube and created a mash tower in the centre of the plate. I topped this with spring onions. I made a thickish honey soy sauce (it had caramelised and become sticky) to drizzle on the mash stack and vegetables.

And to prove I could do it again, this is from Monday night.

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Splitting a chicken is very satisfying

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Hmmm…an insane day at work. As the clock ticked and I knew I’d be back late all I could think of was how to short cut my dinner plan without compromising the flavour. On the weekend I thought about splitting a chicken and roasting it. I’ve done this in the past in a hooded barbecue. It worked like a dream and tasted great. This time, thanks to the salmon fishing queen (aka Barb) I can spike my chicken. I also added some chilli flakes and salt and pepper. The vegetables are where I did the short cutting. I was thinking of mashed potato but I brought home a heap of work and needed to use the roasting time for work.

In the end it looked and tasted okay. Best of all I have left over chicken.

From my local Coles

Split and flattened

I needed to make sure the chook’s arse was included too

Cooked perfectly (well in my opinion anyway)

Plated up

To emphasise the chook’s arse and vertebral column

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Fusion food

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I’m not making a claim to understand the advantages or disadvantages of fusion cuisine and more because I can than being creative tonight’s dinner is a fusion meal. I crumbed some veal in fresh bread with mixed herbs and GOA beef curry powder and served it with a stir fry of onions, ginger, lup chong, asparagus, broccolini, coriander, spring onions and carrot. This was served with some noodles.

Click on the image for a higher resolution version

Crumbed veal and stir fry

Of course the day started brilliantly with morning tea with Bron. She brought me a pistachio macaron from the Lindt café in Darling Harbour.

Coffee and a pistachio macaron

 

Crumbed chicken and mashed spuds

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Today I worked from home. I had a few personal matters to handle. It was easier to be away from work. I work with a great team.

For lunch I reheated a vegetable curry and served it with noodles.

Vegetable curry

For dinner I had a couple of skinless chicken thighs and some spuds. I decided to crumb the chicken and mash the spuds. I mashed the spuds in my trusty potato ricer.

Potato ricer

For the crumb I used a couple of pieces of Helga’s pumpkin seed bread, some Spike, mixed herbs and Madras curry powder. I used the traditional flour, egg and crumb technique.

Crumbed chicken

I shallow fried the chicken and had some flour, egg and crumb leftover so I thought perhaps I can also crumb the asparagus and broccolini. The carrots were steamed and topped with honey. And because I’m me, I added a little Hass avocado.

Crumbed chicken, asparagus and broccolini with mashed spuds and avocado and carrot

Crumbed chicken, asparagus and broccolini with mashed spuds and avocado and carrot

It was delicious.

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Honey soy salmon

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After such a big weekend in food and a long day at work I thought something simple was needed. Then I remembered I still had some Zymil lactose-free gluten-free light cream in the refrigerator. I had opened it early last week and I needed to get one more use out of the small bottle. On the way home I bought a couple of spuds and thought salmon on a bed of mash with some veges. Bron regularly mentions the lack of greens on my plate so I steamed some asparagus and broccolini as greens.  I also steamed some carrot and added some honey after it was soft and tender. The honey is important because when it is warm it’s runny and along with some of the water from the carrot I used it for the honey soy sauce at the end.

I love my potato ricer. It is such a neat invention and makes such great mash. I boiled two spuds and put them through my ricer and added a dollop of cream plus a tablespoon of Dijon mustard and a teaspoon of garlic from a bottle of raw garlic. This was stirred in along with some finely sliced spring onion and some salt and pepper.

After pan frying the salmon and making sure the skin was crispy I added the honey juice from the carrot to the fry pan and then a dash of soy. I reduced this a little and spooned the sauce over the salmon.

The result was a delicious meal of salmon, mash, greens and carrot.

Honey soy salmon with asparagus, broccolini, carrot and mash (Nikon D90)

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