Tag Archives: Broccoli

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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Honey soy chicken

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You know when you’re on a good thing….

Last night I did honey soy salmon and I was hankering for more honey soy goodness. Surely it will work for chicken and cabbage.

Tonight we have a skinless chicken thigh, some boiled cabbage, steamed carrot, steam broccoli and steamed broccolini.

Click on the images for higher resolution versions

Honey soy chicken

Honey soy chicken

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Steak with savoy cabbage, asparagus and broccoli

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So tonight it’s more steak. Along with some savoy cabbage, asparagus and broccoli. The red stuff is cranberry jelly. I was going to make a pepper sauce with cream but I’ve been thinking about the amount of fat I eat and had second thoughts.

Click on the image for a higher resolution version.

Steak and vegetables with some cranberry jelly (Nikon D90)

I am hopeless with presentation. That said, I liked the way the steak was cooked.

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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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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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Chalk and cheese | Onred and Central Cafe | Canberra and Queanbeyan

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Regular readers will know that I have a liking for all sorts of food. Fine dining and bulked up comfort and truck stop food. One day I will write about my grand parents and their Chinese restaurant at one of the biggest truck stops in Australia.

On Wednesday night Bron and I went to Onred Restaurant. This is regarded as one of the finest eating places in Canberra. Today we had lunch at Central Cafe in Queanbeyan. This is regarded more broadly as the place with the amazing mixed grill challenge. I don’t think it’s in the league of Man v Food but it’s pretty sizable and it certainly takes a good attitude to eating to finish the plate, or at least in my case, complete the meat eating.

The philosophy at Onred is many small serves to enjoy the flavours. At Onred they recommend choosing three or four entrée sized dishes from their menu and then enjoying a dessert each. The way the meals are served, sharing between diners is encouraged.

Onred Restaurant on Red Hill

I think many readers will be surprised that I did not capture any images of food. The ambience of the restaurant was not conducive to me pulling out my iPhone with each course. Given we had seven dishes and then two desserts I would have spent the whole night with my iPhone out. I can describe what we ate.

Polenta fried calamari w cauliflower and almond puree and eggplant chips [8/10]
Pan fried sweetbreads w bread sauce, celery, parsley, hazelnut and sultanas [9/10, I really enjoyed the sweetbreads]
Baked parmesan scallops and scallop ceviche [10/10]
Chicken, sage and bacon crepinette w parsley puree, roast cherry tomato and fried capers [7.5/10, it was okay but a little bland compared with everything else]
Salted pork belly w bacon dusted grapes and radish salad [8/10, pork belly is now ubiquitous and it's not as special as it once was]
Char grilled sirloin w black pudding, smoked onion puree and pickled onion rings [8.5/10, the sirloin was a little tough, the black pudding was spectacular with the onion]
Szechuan glazed duck breast w confit duck, confit orange and lemon and coriander buckwheat [9/10, the duck was superb, I'm not a fan of the buckwheat]

Caramelised pineapple w ginger cream, sable crumbs and lemon myrtle ice cream [9/10, the flavours were fresh and tropically sweet. I loved it]
Crushed flourless chocolate cake w liquid chocolate, orange and mandarin puree, honeycomb and orange ice cream [Bron had this. It was a generous dessert and it look luxurious and comforting. It looked like a loving hug on a plate]

The restaurant is on the second story in a building on top of Red Hill. The views of Canberra are very good and the room itself was relatively quiet given the harshness of the glass surfaces. The service was good. It was attentive but unobtrusive. It was a very nice evening. I would definitely return for another meal. My favourite dish was the scallops. They were near perfect and the one dish I’d want to come back for for a larger serving to enjoy myself.

Today we had lunch at Central Cafe in Queanbeyan. This is an institution in Queanbeyan and well known in Canberra. When I first started working in Canberra a work colleague mentioned the place to me and the mixed grill challenge. He was a power lifter and said it was one of the few substantial meals for a reasonable price anywhere in the Canberra/Queanbeyan district. So after four years of thinking about it I finally tried it.

It’s situated on the main drag in Queanbeyan and pretty obvious as you drive down the street.

Central Cafe from the street

Okay, so no surprise I went with the mixed grill. If you read the menu you will see Mixed Grill – A serious Challenge for $29.50. Famous around Australia for its size, weight and quality, our Mixed Grill is NOT FOR THE FEINT HEARTED! Have you got what it takes?

The famous Central Cafe Mixed grill. Pork chop, steaks, snags, ham, bacon, lambs fry (liver), crumbed veal, roast potato, chips, cauliflower and broccoli cheese and carrots

The plate is a full dinner plate and it is covered in food. I was disappointed there wasn’t a lamb chop or cutlet. There were two steaks, two sausages, two pieces of ham, a bacon rasher, four pieces of liver, and a piece of crumbed veal. I started well and felt confident I’d finish the meat in terms of a high protein low carbohydrate challenge. I ate a few chips and all the cauliflower and broccoli.

Me eating the Cantral Cafe mixed grill. The pepper sauce was pretty good too.

It wasn’t until the end, towards the piece of veal which I was keeping for last that I started feeling full and my brain was giving me signals to think about slowing down.

Only about a third of the way through

I didn’t eat all the chips and carrots. I was feeling a little full. Rather than make myself feel full or force myself to eat I felt comfortable stopping after eating all the meat.

All the meat is gone.

This was a good meal. It was worth going to Central Cafe and enjoying lunch. It’s another milestone in my Canberra bucket list.

Well I wouldn’t think of Onred and Central Cafe as chalk and cheese. That suggests one is bad while the other better. Both of these places is good. Both of these places serves a purpose. I’d return to both places. If you’re new to Canberra and want to take someone out to a nice dinner in a pleasant environment with a good view, Onred is a good start. If you’re new and you like big hearty meals, try Central Cafe, you won’t be disappointed.

Central Cafe menu

Coming back from a week away overseas

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I got back into Canberra this morning at about 0930 AEDT. I’m very grateful to Bron for coming and picking me up and dropping me off at my place. I had an invitation to share calamari with her this evening but this afternoon I started coming down with rhinorrhoea and pharyngitis. The plan tonight is early to bed and hopefully I’ll have a reasonable sleep.

On Wednesday night in Washington I did not sleep at all. Not a wink. I ended up watching American television in all its glory. I think I watched alligator catchers, barehanded catfish catchers (noodling), a guy in Colorado who has more guns and flame throwers than anyone else in the world, a show comparing the AK-47 against other assault rifles and loads of cooking programs.

On Thursday morning, I had a free session so I walked >12 km around all the museums and monuments in Washington DC. So on the flight home my thighs were really aching. It all meant though I slept on the flight between LAX and SYD. A little over six hours straight. That is remarkable for me. There was also a screaming baby next to me as well. That said, when I woke up, there were no smiles. I figure my snoring kept everyone else awake. No one was brave enough to nudge me, or if they did I was so out of it I didn’t stir at all.

Today all I’ve done is wash clothes and towels and put stuff away. I wasn’t sure what to prepare for dinner. Before I go away I usually clean out my refrigerator and throw old stuff away. When I was a kid we come home to a failed freezer and I’ve never forgotten the rancid putrefying odours. I had a small piece of pork in the freezer and a sweet potato in the pantry. I went and did a little grocery shopping and bought a small tub of sour cream, some chives and some extra vegetables.

I really could not be bothered slow roasting the pork. I was too tired and not in the mood. I pulled out my pressure cooker and put the pork in that. I added some celery, carrot and potato along with onion and baby leeks. I had the pressure cooker go for about 45 minutes. As I was releasing the pressure I cooked some sweet potato in boiling water and then pureed it with my Bamix™ after adding a little butter and sour cream. I also cooked some baby broccoli too.

Mashed sweet potato made with sour cream, butter and chives

This was nice and rustic with good texture. 

Boiled pork with mash and broccoli

I plated this in a large white bowl. 

Okay, it’s time to wash the dishes and get ready for bed or maybe a soak in the bath tub.

 

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Succulent Slow-Roasted Pork Belly with Crispy Crackling

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Tonight Bron prepared Succulent Slow-Roasted Pork Belly with Crispy Crackling from www.allrecipes.com.au I think she has been thinking about this meal for some time and started telling me about it yesterday. Today while I was packing to go to Washington DC all I could think about was tonight’s dinner. I love pork and pork belly is close to the best part. It’s true I love the trotters, hock, bacon, ham, chops, roast shoulder, roast leg, pork sausages, pigs ears and just about all the other parts of a pig; the belly pork is always so tasty and the meat just falls apart and melts in your mouth.

Rested and getting to room temperature. The apples and the orange are important for the sauce.

I like how dedicated Bron was with the score lines.

Pork resting on apples and onions

Ready for the oven and four hours of slow roasting

Still not completely cooked, this is just an inspection

Cooked, resting and ready for carving or more accurately bluntly dissecting

The crackling was very crispy. The meat was easily pulled apart and a carving knife was hardly necessary.

Okay on the cutting board, now it's ready to cut

The crackling was so nicely done it just fell away from the flesh.

Plated up with the sauce, broccoli and sweet potatoes

The finished product looked and tasted magnificent. The sauce was sweet but too sweet.

For dessert Bron wanted to use a few pears that were getting a little too ripe. She chose a Jamie Oliver recipe, viz., baked pears with wine and a scrumptious walnut cream. It was delicious.

baked pears with wine walnut cream

Overall a culinary triumph in my humble opinion.

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A two meal day

1 Reply

This morning we met friends at Pizzazz Café for brunch. I had sausages, an egg, spinach and mushrooms.
For dinner we had roast lamb, Aubergine, pumpkin, parsnip and broccoli.
Dessert was a wonderful creme brûlée and mango.

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Rack of lamb

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Tonight I cooked a small rack of lamb. The method I used is one I’ve come to really like. I get a stainless steel saucepan really hot with smoking olive oil and lay the lamb on it fat side down. After a few minutes I turn the lamb over and put the pan into a hot oven for fifteen minutes.

Tonight I also baked a potato which I had cut into wedges and coated with oil, salt and pepper. In addition I cooked some broccoli, cauliflower and asparagus.

Rack of lamb

Rack of lamb