Tag Archives: Cook

My take on corned beef | Avoiding the canned stuff

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When I was in Atlanta I had my first (and second) Reuben sandwich. I’ve been wanting to make one ever since. Before I get there though I wanted to practice cooking corned beef. I’ve done it before but it was a long time ago.

The task for today was to simply cook some corned beef that I could have for dinner and also make as a filling for toasted sandwiches at work.

The whole process took a few hours from start to finish.

This is the piece of meat I used

#dinner Image 1 #cornedbeef #experiment

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I soaked it in some tap water with some star anise, cloves, bay leaves, brown sugar and vinegar

#dinner Image 2 #cornedbeef #experiment soaking with bay leaves, star anise and cloves

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After soaking I cooked the meat in a pressure cooker

#dinner Image 3 #cornedbeef #experiment after one hour in the #pressurecooker my favourite cooking tool

In my youth I would cut the fat layer off and put it between two well buttered pieces of white bread and add some mustard and then inhale. Nothing tastes as good as silverside fat from corned beef between buttered bread.

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I wanted to add some caramelised onions

#dinner Image 4 #cornedbeef #experiment softening onions and caramelising them

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I finished the cooking by putting the onions, corned beef and a cup of the cooking fluid from the pressure cooker into a casserole and cooked in a low oven. Half-way through I took it out to add a little curry powder and a potato for my dinner.

#dinner Image 5 #cornedbeef #experiment part way through cooking in a casserole in a low oven #potato added for tonight's dinner

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For comparison. I wasn’t going to open the can, but the shot is for comparison (sort of).

#dinner Image 6 #cornedbeef #experiment comparison between what I cooked and a can from the supermarket. I prefer mine.

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This is a large bowl that I will use for toasted sandwiches at work this week.

#dinner Image 7 #cornedbeef #experiment Shot for the blog. This is what I'm keeping for sandwiches this week.

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This is so much cheaper and easier but way too salty and oily

Image 8 for the blog. For comparison with my homemade hashed #cornedbeef #experiment

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Tonight’s dinner. My take on corned beef and vegetables. No white sauce here :-(

#dinner Image 9 #cornedbeef #experiment Tonight's dinner It was #yummy My take on corned beef and vegetables. 😃😃😃

This wasn’t too bad. The meat fibres pulled apart easily. It wasn’t too salty or oily like canned corned beef. It was sweet with the onions.

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The next step when I feel confident is to try a Reuben sandwich. That’s a dish I want to make well so I can share it with Bron.

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Smoked ham hock my way | #bestblogs13

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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

#dinner Elite Meats smoked ham hock out of the freezer #yummy

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

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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.

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

#dinner My trusty casserole

My casserole

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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.

#dinner Nectar of the gods. I wish I could metabolise ethanol. For my slow cooked smoked ham hock #yummy

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?

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

#dinner Vegetables for my slow cooked smoked ham hock #yummy

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

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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.

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This is how it looked at about 3 hours

#dinner Half way there. Slow cooked smoked ham hock. #yummy

You can see the meat falling off the bones.

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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.

#dinner My bowl of slow cooked smoked ham hock #yummy

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

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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 :-)

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Voting closes in a couple of days

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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

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

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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.

#dinner #entrée Bron made corn chips and salsa and guacamole #superyummy

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

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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

#dinner Chicken with mole sauce (chocolate sauce) #yummy

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

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#dinner Chicken mole with tortilla being prepared #superyummy

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

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#dinner Chicken mole tortilla A Bron special 😃😃😃 👏👏👏 #superyummy

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

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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.

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

#dessert Bron made a @davidlebovitz inspired ginger cake and home made non-churn cherry and white chocolate ice cream #superyummy

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.

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

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Stop press

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

#morningtea Bron's ginger cake with #coffee Reading #TheScientist

Coffee and cake. What could be better :-)

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Related articles

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

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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

Bron made home made corn chips. They were #yummy

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

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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

Bron is cooking corn fritters #dinner #yummy

Nothing like the sizzle of fritters

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Gratuitous video of corn fritter frying

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

Main course

#dinner Bron made corn fritters and pulled pork stuffed avocado with @davidlebovitz guacamole and sour cream #superyummy

Served with David Lebovitz’s guacamole and sour cream

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

Left over pulled pork

I got Bron's left over pulled pork, @davidlebovitz guacamole and sour cream to finish off #superyummy

This was so yummy

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

Dessert

Bron made #dessert Caramelised white chocolate and lemon curd tart with double cream #superyummy

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

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After a good sleep Bron made breakfast

Poached egg and marmalade on toast

Bron made me a poached egg and marmalade on toast #yummy #breakfastforwoojm

Nothing like a good breakfast

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Cracking open the egg revealed a perfect runny yolk

Poached egg

Perfectly runny egg yolk. Thanks Bron. #yummy #breakfastforwoojm

A yellow runny water fall of happiness

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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

#lunch char sui #yummy

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.

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Steamed pork ribs

#lunch #YumCha pork ribs #yummy

This was nice but a little grissly

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Rock salt chilli chicken drumettes

#lunch #YumCha rock salt chicken chilli drumettes #yummy

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.

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Sticky rice and pork dumplings

#lunch #yumcha sticky rice and pork balls #yummy

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

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Char siu boa (one of my favourite foods)

#lunch #yumcha char sui bao #yummy

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

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Every culture has a wrap :-) Peking duck pancakes

#lunch #yumcha Peking duck pancakes #yummy

Pure happiness in a wrap

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Steamed pork dim sim

#lunch #yumcha steamed pork dim sim #yummy

These were very nice with hot chilli sauce

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Crispy skin roast duck

#lunch #yumcha crispy skin duck #yummy

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

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Custard tarts

#lunch #yumcha custard tarts to finish #yummy

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

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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 :-)

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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.

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Dumpling Inn on Urbanspoon

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


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

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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

More prize meat from Elite Meats as part of my @2CC prize. Black Angus and Burgundy snags in a salad wrap. #dinner #yummy

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

Hey @hilahcooking this is my breakfast wrap full of bacon, egg, mushroom, hash brown, cheese and barbecue sauce goodness #breakfast #breakfastforwoojm #yummy

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

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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/

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On Sunday night I made a chicken and onion wrap

Tonight's chicken and caramelised onion wrap

#dinner my chicken and caramelised onion wrap #yummy

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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.

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

#dinner Black Angus and burgundy sausage wrap with caramelised onion, salad and cheese #yummy

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.

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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.

#dessert Bron's homemade non churn lemon curd and orange cardamom ice creams plus lemon and chocolate macarons #yummy

This dessert was amazingly good. Bron is a genius in the kitchen and a genius in general (yes her IQ is off the charts)

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Follow me on Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

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Mavi http://www.maviturkish.com.au/
Mavi Phillip Menu http://www.maviturkish.com.au/images/Mavi-Phillip.pdf
Google maps http://goo.gl/maps/A17B8


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

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University hijinks and fish fingers

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I was on the telephone chatting with a friend the other night and she was cooking herself fish fingers for dinner. I explained that when I was in university we used used to visit a friend’s house and have fish finger sandwiches.

That was a really good time in my life. I had entered medical school as one of twenty boys from my high school into a class of 220. In my third year I decided to take a year off and complete a Bachelor of Medical Science. This meant I said good bye to people I’d become very familiar with and some friends who I’d sat in classes with for eight years. After I completed my BMedSc I had to join a new class and get to make new friends. I happened to be put into a group with five others who had all spent the first three years as university college residents. None of them were from Brisbane. This was a great group of people. During the winter one of my fondest memories is spending some lunches at Jo’s place. She shared with another medical student in a different group and a physics student. We would go to Jo’s and make toasted fish finger and cheese sandwiches.

At the time a couple of the blokes in the group were still residents of a university college and when we spent days at hospitals they would get a cut lunch. The lunches consisted of sandwiches and fruit and were presented in a brown paper bag. One day I remember taking his brown bag out of his bag. I carefully unwrapped the sandwich and then took a single large neat bite from his ham and cheese sandwich. I then wrapped the sandwich again and put it back into the paper bag which went back into his bag. I then waited patiently for lunch time. It was so funny. I did it a couple of times after that and became known as someone not to be trusted.

Toasted fish finger and cheese sandwich for students and adults

Fish fingers
Students pan fry the fish fingers in butter until golden.
Adults cook fish fingers in an oven without any extra fat.

Cheese
Students use four slices of Coon. Two on each side of the fish fingers in the sandwich.
Adults use a little blue cheese on one side.

Bread
Students use white bread and liberally apply butter to the outside so the sandwich has a rich buttery smell.
Adults spray a little olive oil on the sandwich press and nothing on the multigrain or wholemeal bread.

Accompanying drink
Students enjoy their toasted sandwich with Coca Cola.
Adults enjoy theirs with sparkling mineral water or a cup of tea.

A happy ending and the end of a good little break | Ping @ColouredPurple

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On Wednesday evening I vented my frustration about a bad taxicab driver and a lost bag. I don’t really like to vent. I prefer to be more positive and upbeat. I was coming down from the high of being with my daughters and having such a good time. I was surprised how annoyed and upset it made me feel, after all I’ve had my bags mishandled five times in the last twelve months by Qantas and United Airlines. The good news is my bag caught up with me sixteen hours after I returned to Canberra. The relief was palpable. I’m just grateful it didn’t happen on the way to Brisbane given that bag contained presents for my kids and parents.

So coming back to Canberra means coming back to the same old routine.

Back in Canberra after my break. Back to my routine. Iced coffee banana smoothie. Not quite the same as Dad's breakfast snags and bacon.

Ice coffee banana smoothie for breakfast

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I received a call from Qantas at about 0900 AEDT saying my bag had been found. This is despite the website stating the bag couldn’t be located and they were still tracing. Given it had arrived in Canberra at 0900 AEDT, it’s hard to believe it just appeared on that flight. I shouldn’t complain further, I have my bag. What it meant though was I had to hang around and delay my day’s plans for it to arrive.

Welcome home bag 😃✈

My bag with the offending Qantas QTAG.

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Multigrain topped with salmon and tomato. #lunch

Routine means tinned red salmon and tomato on toasted multigrain Vienna loaf

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Thursday evening saw dire warnings across southern Australia of an impending heatwave. There were predictions of temperatures in some areas in the mid to high 40s (degrees Celsius).

Salmon with lettuce, cucumber, mango, nectarine, spring onion and tomato salad. #dinner

I wasn’t feeling that warm but wanted a light dinner suitable for warm weather. Mangoes and cucumbers are cooling.

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A sweet gift from my daughters. Dark chocolate around ginger.

Dessert. Dark chocolate covering ginger from my girls.

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You need refreshing drinks on warm evenings.

Crushed ice and pineapple pieces with lemon lime and bitters cordial blended and Coles sparkling mineral water. So refreshing and I forgot the mint.

Crushed ice and pineapple pieces with lemon lime and bitters cordial blended with Coles sparkling mineral water. So refreshing and I forgot the mint.

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Even though we’re past 2012/12/21 (day with longest daylight time) it was still light until late.

Last light over Lake Ginninderra.

Last light over Lake Ginninderra

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As predicted on Friday we started seeing extreme temperatures across southern Australia (with attendant bush fires destroying homes and causing injuries). I did what most people do if they don’t have air conditioning and aren’t at work, I went to the local shopping mall and watched a movie. It’s been a few months since I’ve been to a movie. I chose Skyfall, as in James Bond 007. I enjoyed it. It was longer than I was expecting. The ending was cool. I’d rate it 7.5 or maybe 8 out of 10. If you’re a James Bond fan it’s worthwhile although a little tedious in parts.

For the remainder of the day I chilled and watched a DVD or two. One of them was The Dictator. I love the quote about Crocs (footwear). “The universal symbol of a man who has given up hope.”

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Dinner had been in my head since Thursday evening. I watched an episode of How to Cook like Heston. It was the first episode in the series and it was dedicated to beef. In this episode Heston describes the myths around steak and his technique. I didn’t follow his method exactly because I didn’t have two days to age my piece of Scotch rib fillet. That night I unwrapped the steak and put it in the refrigerator uncovered and let it dry out. On Friday night I got a pan smoking hot and seasoned the steak with some salt. I then applied the steak to the pan and turned it every 20 seconds for a total of three minutes. I then let the meat rest for a full five minutes. I had prepared a salad with some lettuce, avocado, beetroot, Parmesan, spring onion, tomato, and Chinese sausage with some lemon juice. I sliced the steak thinly and added it to the salad.

Dinner. Scotch fillet cooked Heston style with lettuce, avocado, beetroot, Parmesan, spring onion, tomato, and Chinese sausage salad with some lemon juice.

Scotch fillet cooked Heston style with lettuce, avocado, beetroot, Parmesan, spring onion, tomato, and Chinese sausage salad with some lemon juice. I was pretty happy with the comments I received on Instagram :-)

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On Thursday evening a Twitter friend @ColouredPurple mentioned after I posted my tropical drink that she had come across a nice Italian sparkling mineral water from Aldi. On Friday night I made my drink with it.

Tropical drink time. Ping @colouredpurple for tip on the Aldi mineral water.

It was pretty good. Better than the $0.80 bottles from Coles.

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This morning I woke up a little later than normal and went for a walk.

Sun rising over Lake Ginninderra #igerscanberra

The sun rising over Lake Ginninderra.

Good morning Mr Owl. You're all golden and shiny this morning. #publicart #igerscanberra

As the sun rose the Owl Statue looked all shiny and golden.

My view. Morning walk.

My view as I walked down Benjamin Way.

The Serenity #igerscanberra

Another view of the lake.

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After watching part of the test match from Sydney I had this delicious lunch.

Gorgonzola cheese, Maggie Beer pâté and quince paste. Sadly I broke a tooth on the toast. #toothache

I’d bought the Gorgonzola cheese, and Maggie Beer pâté and Maggie Beer quince paste earlier today.

Deliciousness

Unfortunately while biting through the toast I lost part of an upper right side molar.

The bit that broke off from a molar

That’s the bit next to an Australian five cent piece.

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Okay so it’s a little warm today.

Why can we just have low 30s and 95% humidity. That would be perfect.

Why can we just have low 30s and 95% humidity? That would be perfect.

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Despite a broken tooth I’m determined to keep cooking and eating. Tonight I had a raw beetroot and grated it into the salad. There’s also grated Parmigiano-Reggiano plus cucumber, celery, nectarine, spring onion, lettuce and tomato.

Salmon salad with lettuce, grated fresh beetroot, celery, cucumber, lettuce, parmigiano-reggiano, spring onion and tomato.

Nothing like a light salad as the rain falls to cool down the day and increase the humidity.

Catch you later. :-)

Things mentioned in this post

Skyfall
Website http://www.skyfall-movie.com/site/
IMBD http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1074638/

The Dictator
Website http://www.thedictatormovie.com.au/
IMDB http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1645170/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

How to cook like Heston
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/how-to-cook-like-heston
http://www.channel4.com/4food/recipes/tv-show-recipes/how-to-cook-like-heston-recipes
http://www.channel4.com/4food/recipes/chefs/heston-blumenthal/hestons-perfect-steak

Aldi
Website http://aldi.com.au/

Coles
Website http://www.coles.com.au/

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It’s starting to feel like Summer

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It’s finally starting to feel like Summer. Yesterday and today we had maximum temperatures >30 °C. It’s just a pity it was so dry. The weather would be perfect if we had more humidity and some rain.

After a breakfast of scrambled eggs I spent today Spring cleaning for a rental inspection this week. I used my new Magic Bullet to prepare the eggs with a little cream. I served it on quinoa and flaxseed toast. I really needed a good mug of coffee after another poor sleep.

Fluffy scrambled eggs on quinoa and flaxseed toast with coffee. Good morning world.

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This evening I enjoyed an almost tropical meal of salmon with mango coleslaw. The coleslaw has red cabbage, red onions, carrot, coriander, mint and parsley.

Atlantic salmon served on a bed of mango coleslaw. Tropical yumminess. #YummyLummy http://garylum.com

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This afternoon I received a visit from a friendly magpie.

I have a visitor. Ping @ohwir

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This morning while walking I captured an image of the trees down Benjamin Way. Using Diptic I posted to Instagram a comparison of the Winter and Spring images. Canberra truly has the best expression of seasons in Australia with true demarcation between each of the four seasons. While it is beautiful I miss the simplicity of the wet season, dry season and build up in Subequatorial Australia.

Winter compared to Spring. #igerscanberra

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XXXX Gold braised roast pork Ping @Nigella_Lawson

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This week I watched an episode of Nigella’s Kitchen where she cooked pig hocks. While I didn’t have a pig hock it was easy enough to buy a rolled piece of pork with some rind on it. I knew it would require gentle cooking and could not be treated like a hock.

I placed the pork on some onions in a baking tray and then placed into a hot oven (220 °C) for 20 minutes to sear the skin. I pulled the pork out and poured some XXXX Gold ale over it and added a quartered royal gala apple and a potato. I put some foil over this and placed into a moderate oven (160 °C) for 90 minutes. I then pulled the meat out and turned the oven back up to 220 °C, uncovered the meat and returned it to the oven for 20 minutes.

I pulled the meat, apple and potato out and then heated the onion and juices to make a sauce. This was by a simple reduction.

The crackling was crisp and the meat was okay. It wasn’t as tender as I’m sure Nigella’s hock would be. It had a nice flavour.

Next time I’ll use an hock.

 

XXXX Gold Beer

Pork from Coles

Pork in a baking tray sitting on onions

Ready for the oven after a quick blast and after the beer has been added

Nearly finished

Carved ready for my plate

Plated up with the gravy

The crackling was pretty good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Thai barbecue lamb at Chong Co Thai Restaurant

6 Replies

Today was busy and hectic. Bron and I finished later than normal. We agreed on a quick meal at Chong Co. We’ve been there many times before.

Tonight Bron had the barbecue perch and I had the barbecue lamb along with some coconut rice. Bron also tried the house wine, suitably named, Chong Co Chardonnay.

Barbecue lamb (iPhone)

Tonight the lamb was not as tender as previous times. The perch though was very nicely cooked. It was delicious. Bron enjoyed her Chardonnay and the rice was nicely cooked and flavoured.

The Chong Co restaurant in Belconnen is worth visiting and trying.

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