Tag Archives: David Lebovitz

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

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

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

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

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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

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

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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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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

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)

Coffee and cake. What could be better

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

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

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

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

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

This was so yummy

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

Dessert

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

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After a good sleep Bron made breakfast

Poached egg and marmalade on toast

Nothing like a good breakfast

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Cracking open the egg revealed a perfect runny yolk

Poached egg

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

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

This was nice but a little grissly

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Rock salt chilli chicken drumettes

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

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Sticky rice and pork dumplings

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)

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

Pure happiness in a wrap

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Steamed pork dim sim

These were very nice with hot chilli sauce

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Crispy skin roast duck

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

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Custard tarts

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
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

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

My week in Instagram | Different foods | #bestblogs13

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So this week it’s back to a five day work week after two Easter associated short weeks. I’m currently nursing a sore ankle so I’m not walking around as much as I would like.

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Sunday’s breakfast was a salad wrap as opposed to a banana smoothie.

Breakfast wrap

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For dinner I kept to the wrap theme and made a salmon and salad wrap

Salmon and salad wrap

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On Monday for morning tea I had coffee with Bron at a local coffee shop at work. Bron brought in one of her peanut paste salted caramel biscuits. It was delicious.

Peanut paste salted caramel biscuit

This was made from a David Lebovitz (Follow @davidlebovitz on Twitter and Instagram) recipe

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I’ve started to capture images of coffee I’m making in the office with various reading material that is occupying my mind at the time

The Australian Immunisation Handbook 2013 coffee

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For Monday evening dinner I used the two remaining Elite Meats chicken rissoles and continued the wrap theme

Chicken rissole wrap

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Lyme disease coffee

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On Tuesday morning Bron brought me another biscuit

Tuesday biscuit

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For lunch on Tuesday rather than a meaty treat I went with a mango yoghurt

Mango yoghurt

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On Tuesday night I prepared the Elite Meats scotch fillet steak

Scotch fillet steak

Raw goodness

Cooked happiness with a salad

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Extreme weather coffee

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After collecting my mail I thought I’d capture an image of the building I work in

Scarborough House

Scarborough House

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For lunch I had a mixed berry yoghurt. If you click on the image you’ll see the Instagram comments. They’re hilarious.

Mixed berry yoghurt

“Blood” in a Petri dish disease themed lunch

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I went to Bron’s for dinner on Wednesday night and she made a delicious Toad in the Hole

Toad in the Hole

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Bron also made a dessert with fresh free range eggs that we got from Elite Meats

Portuguese custard tarts

These were amazing. So good.

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Thursday Style Manual coffee

So many good Instagram comments with this image

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Thursday was pay day so it was #paydaypieday. This is a curry lamb and potato pie from Urban Bean Espresso Bar.

Curry Lamb Hot Pie

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In the afternoon Bron visited my office and brought over a sweet treat

Portuguese custard tart

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For Thursday dinner I cooked some of the Elite Meats sausages I got. I bought six Black Angus and Burgundy snags and put away three lots of two sausages.

Black Angus and Burgundy and salad wrap

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Follow me on Twitter http://twitter.com/garydlum

Follow me on Facebook http://facebook.com/garydavidlum

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David Lebovitz http://www.davidlebovitz.com/
Portuguese custard tarts http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2012/04/comme-a-lisbonne-paris-pasteis-de-nata-tartlets/

The Australian Immunisation Handbook http://www.health.gov.au/internet/immunise/publishing.nsf/Content/Handbook10-home

Urban Bean Espresso Bar http://www.urbanbean.com.au/
Google maps http://goo.gl/maps/Wq2Lu

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Elite Meats is at Shop 12 Kippax Fair http://www.kippaxfair.com.au/Page1_storemap.html
http://www.kippaxfair.com.au/Page2_storeinfo.html#MeatCentre
http://www.kippaxfair.com.au/index.html
Google maps http://goo.gl/maps/rChyl

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Rockpool on George | #ManFlu | #bestblogs13 (garydavidlum.com)
My Easter | #ManFlu | #bestblogs13 (garydavidlum.com)
Instagram: How to Become Instafamous (bizsugar.com)
Chicken rissoles | Elite Meats @2CC | #bestblogs13 | The Castle (garydavidlum.com)
This Weekend, Host a Photo Walk For more information on how to… (instagram.com)

Australia Day and other thoughts

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Yesterday was Australia Day. It’s a day that most Australians celebrate to remember the landing of the first fleet in what would become Sydney in 1788. When I say most Australians there are many Indigenous Australians who refer to 26 January as Invasion Day. Australia Day is a national day and a public holiday is always gazetted. Given this year 26 January falls on a Saturday all the celebrations occurred yesterday yet we get Monday as a public holiday. I love Australia. We get so many public holidays and everyone receives four weeks of recreation leave a year as a basic employment entitlement. That said, statistics show that Australians work longer hours per week than most member countries of the OECD so while we get plenty of holidays, we also know how to work hard.

English: Dick Smith (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

On Australia Day, I always think about how fortunate I am to have been born in Australia and to be Australian. For many Australians the celebration revolves around food and alcohol. As a non-drinker (which is pretty uncommon in Australia), I focus on food. In recent years the lamb industry has invested significantly in advertising that real Australians eat lamb on Australia Day. While I don’t believe it’s unpatriotic not to eat lamb on Australia Day, I do like lamb so that’s what I had.

There was also a very cheeky YouTube and television video played this Australia Day by Dick Smith who is an entrepreneur, business man and advocate for buying Australian made.

WARNING It’s a little rude.
YouTube video http://youtu.be/VHP-znJv9ps

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So for my Australia Day lunch I had some very nice Maggie Beer products, viz., some pâté and quince paste.

For dinner I pan fried some lamb cutlets and served them with a salad.

I’m taking a break from work soon and a book I plan to read is Food Photography for Bloggers. David Lebovitz did a nice blog post on it with the author.

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English: Maggie Beer at the Australia Day citizenship ceremony at Commonwealth Park in Canberra. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When real life and blogs fuse | Ginger cake | Lemon Marmalade

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This morning after my walk I read through the blogs I follow on WordPress. One of my favourites is Spoon Feast which is written by Pamela Roberts who is a Certified Executive Chef (CEC) and Certified Culinary Educator (CCE) through the American Culinary Federation (ACF). This morning Pam had written about lemon marmalade. I wrote a comment about how I like marmalade and that lemon marmalade would be great. Later in the morning I had morning tea with Bron and she brought along some of her ginger cake. The recipe is a David Lebovitz creation. Bron’s creation was amazing. It was moist yet light and not sticky like some cakes are. The cake has a good amount of molasses in it as well as fresh ginger. To accentuate the ginger and molasses flavours the cake has black pepper. It really does work together.

Click on an image to get a higher resolution version

Bron’s awesome ginger cake

On returning to my desk I noticed that Pam had responded to my comment. In my mind I had thoughts of salmon, ginger, and lemon marmalade. I knew that Buderim Ginger made a ginger, lemon and lime marmalade and thought I could combine that with the salmon I was cooking tonight.

Buderim Ginger, lemon and lime marmalade

So tonight I pan seared some salmon and made a sauce with the ginger, lemon and lime marmalade to signify the fusion between real life and blogs. I even added some black pepper to accentuate the flavours.

Salmon with ginger, lemon and lime marmalade

Lemon Marmalade (spoonfeast.com)
Lemon Ginger Honey (theflamingpotholder.com)
Meyer Lemon Marmalade Cake (threecleversisters.com)
Marmalade&Mash (babyccinokids.com)
Mascarpone and Marmalade Ice Cream (underthebluegumtree.com)
Fig Marmalade (americanainorvieto.wordpress.com)
Dark orange marmalade (carolynchan.wordpress.com)

Chicken mole magnificence by @Bron99 inspired by @davidlebovitz

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Update. Please read Bron’s comment at the bottom

Bron has a plan! We have some dear friends who were regularly eat dinner with; most often we go to their place and we have a fantastic time. Bron is keen to have our friends over to her place for dinner.

As a follower and reader of David Lebovitz’s blog and cook books, Bron is going to cook Chicken mole.

I’ve eaten chicken mole in Mexico City while there for a meeting. My recollection is that it was enjoyable but nothing I’d want to make myself.

On Friday night I was Bron’s guinea pig for her second go at cooking Chicken mole. She’d previously cooked it for her sons.

Okay, this was magnificent. The chicken drumsticks had been skinned and then pan fried and then immersed in a casserole. The result was incredible taste and tenderness. The mole sauce was amazing with the ancho dried chilies adding so much flavour yet no heat. I’m embarrassed to say that I grabbed more corn chips, corn and sauce and when the chicken was finished I used the sauce and corn like a dip and consumed a heap of corn chips. It. Was. Amazing!!!

Bron’s Chicken mole

On Saturday we went to vote and then treated ourselves to morning tea at Ricardo’s Café. http://goo.gl/maps/pzOQq I had a piece of carrot cake.

Carrot cake

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Meatball sandwich @bron99 version of a @davidlebovitz grinder or hoagie or submarine sandwich (garydavidlum.com)
Chicken with Puebla-Style Mole Sauce (thebittenword.com)
Steak, crabs, flowers and sweets, lots of sweets (garydavidlum.com)
black mole’ hot chicken (bigdawgeats.wordpress.com)
Mole Recipe (mademan.com)
chicken in red mole sauce (nomilkmonday.com)

Grand final footy food

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This week has seen a good few days in food but tonight was the NRL grand final. It required something special. Something inspired. In terms of inspiring meals, we’ve already seen this week how Bron was inspired by David Lebovitz. I took my inspiration from Bron’s inspiration.

I wanted to make a sandwich that required both hands to hold. I also wanted to use a bread that wasn’t as crusty but not too soft. I wanted cheese too. But what to put inside. I had a mystery meal in the freezer. I knew it was a curry of some sort. I wouldn’t know until I thawed it out.

The ingredients for tonight’s Grand Final sandwich included Mozzarella cheese, Butter, Bread roll, and Mystery meat.

When I thawed the curry it looked like belly pork. I was winning already.

Before I get to the sandwich, the good news is the Melbourne Storm defeated the Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs Rugby League Club. The final score was 14:4 and the triumvirate of amazing Queenslanders Cronk, Smith and Slater played superb games this evening. It was disappointing that the Brisbane Broncos and the North Queensland Cowboys didn’t advance further this year. Such is life.

Now to the sandwich. I thawed the curry pork for a couple of minutes in the microwave oven. The roll was sliced to produce a butterflied length of bread. I smeared some butter on both sides and then cut the cheese lol. I warmed the roll for about 20 seconds in the microwave oven too. After laying on the meat I laid over it the sliced mozzarella cheese. I then grilled it until the cheese went a little brown. It felt good holding a sandwich that needed both hands to hold.

Mozzarella cheese for laying on the meat.

This is the bread I chose from Coles at Jamison.

It was a nice loaf.

Sliced open and laid flat.

Pork belly curry for the filling.

Meat laid on a buttered bread roll.

Laying on the sliced Mozzarella cheese.

After being under the grill.

Closed roll.

A close up

The image I posted to instagram http://instagram.com/p/QMW8hpRNCF/

So how did it taste? It was great. The curry and cheese worked well. The soft bread roll made all the difference. It was great holding a big sandwich in both hands and watching the footy. It was so big though I needed my own half time break to finish eating it. There was a degree of scepticism about this sandwich on Twitter. I can understand why it seems like an odd combination. In my mouth and on my taste buds this combination worked and worked well.

I hope all the Storm supporters are happy, and I hope the Bulldog supporters can be happy knowing they were the minor premiers this year and know on the night the better team won.

All the images captured with a Nikon D90 except the last one posted to Instagram with my iPhone 4