Tag Archives: Pork

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
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David Lebovitz website
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Week 51 2012 Christmas party season

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Saturday night I went to a Christmas barbecue with some friends. It was a good night with lots of tasty food and good company. I’d like to say it was unseasonably cold, but this is Canberra. It’s snowed close by on a Christmas day before. What can I say, I’m looking forward to being in Queensland for Christmas where the weather is more to my liking.

Again like Friday night I was a bit slow with my iPhone and I didn’t capture images of the nibbles. There were lots of nibbles. Lots of nuts, dips, cheese, pâté, crackers, bread, chips, and stuff. For dinner we had a barbecue with steak, hamburger patties and sausages plus potato bake, coleslaw and other salads.

Like a lot of my previous posts I’m using images from my instagram profile. You can get more information on each image by clicking on it to see comments from other IGers.

Dinner is served. Ping @macjam1 @chat2tb @natmcb

The spread

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Okay so there's lots of meat. Ping @chat2tb @natmcb @macjam1

My plate

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Burger

Some of my friends queried my burger contents of steak, sausage, hamburger pat tie, coleslaw and potato bake. I thought it all went well together.

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Pavlova. Thank you @sonia_with_an_i Ping @natmcb @macjam1 @chat2tb

For dessert we had pavlova.

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I was cold

I was cold. I’m glad I brought a hoodie and was given a wrap.

View the twitter conversation here and here and here

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I spent most of Sunday relaxing. I did a little grocery shopping and then got into watching series two of Breaking Bad. This is a surprisingly good series. Like The Walking Dead I’m addicted.

I felt pretty full from the night before so my breakfast and lunch was an iced coffee banana smoothie.

I still feel full from last night at @macjam1 barbecue. Iced coffee banana smoothie for breakfast.

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One of the things I don't like about Christmas.

You can tell it’s Christmas with cars wearing reindeer antlers and candy canes. I’m not a fan :-)

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Pineapple smoothie

I love pineapple and a pineapple smoothie was in order for afternoon tea.

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Dinner. Salmon, salad and @macjam1 's potato salad from last night's barbecue. Lots of lettuce, tomato and feta.

I took home a left over potato bake from Saturday night so now I have potato bake for a few nights this week.

This meal was a piece of salmon, some potato bake and some salad.

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On Monday morning as I was checking out my post office box the new art was standing proud, all shiny and new.

It looks shiny and new #publicart #igerscanberra

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Workplace birthday celebration for a youngster.

One of my work friends turned 32 on Monday.

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Dinner. Pork with @macjam1 's potato bake and salad.

Monday evening’s dinner was a rasher of pork, some salad and some potato bake.

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Sneaking up on Mr Owl #publicart #igerscanberra

I read today the new terms and conditions of use for Instagram. If Instagram wants to use my images I really don’t mind, I can’t imagine any of them are worthy. My only concern is that some of my images contain people and I may not always have permission to include them. Many IGers moved to Flickr. I received more e-mails from Flickr in the last few days than in the few years I’ve had an account. http://www.flickr.com/photos/garydlum

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Dinner. Salmon, salad and the last of @macjam1 's potato bake from the weekend.

Tuesday night’s dinner was a piece of salmon, some salad and the last of the weekend’s potato bake. The drink is made from pineapple and mint leaves plus some lime cordial.

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On Wednesday I forgot to make my lunch.

Lunch. Salmon and caper quiche.

This was a smoked salmon and capers quiche from Urban Bean Espresso Bar. It was very nice. The raspberry soft drink was also pretty good too.

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Food regret

Afternoon tea. Jam doughnut. #BreadTop

Jess went out for doughnuts and I said yes. I shouldn’t have. It came from Breadtop in Woden. The Breadtop franchise has grown well in Australia. See below for details.

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A friendly visitor

This guy greeting me when I got home.

This cute blue tongue lizard greeted me when I alighted from my car in the apartment garage.
Wikipedia entry

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Wednesday dinner was a pork rasher and mango salad. It was delicious.

Dinner. Pork rasher with mango salad.

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On Thursday we had our branch Christmas morning tea.

Work Christmas morning tea

Many sections, branches and divisions have out of office get together. When we’ve tried that in the past something has gone wrong like a health emergency necessitating staff to return to the office. It’s just part of working in an emergency management team.

These were amazing. Thank you @xamyclarex Ping @kecozanat @jacquimkane

These were amazing. Cylinders of crunchy nutty brownie goodness topped with a chocolate ganache with a white chocolate tipped strawberry which is sitting in a white chocolate disc for stability. The person who made these has made some great strawberry based treats in the past, especially her chocolate drizzled strawberry and marshmallow kebabs. I think nearly everyone in the branch has a cooking or food bent. It’s amazing.

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Everyone in the branch received an end of the year award.

Workplace awards at Christmas morning tea for the branch.

I think everyone knows I love capturing images of food and then posting them to Instagram.

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At lunch the other SES (Senior Executive Service) staff from the division went to lunch. We went to The Palette which is in the Beaver Galleries.

Crumbed lamb brains and capers Ping @DrOffal

I’m sorry this is so blurry. I was so excited to be having crumbed lamb brains with a capers and vinegar side. The piquancy of the capers and vinegar offset the fattiness of the brains perfectly. The brains were lightly crumbed and not overcooked. Kept into small portions like these, the taste is delicious and not overpowering. Lambs brains brings back great childhood memories of Mum cooking crumbed lambs brains with a white sauce with onion and parsley.

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The Beaver Galleries are a landmark of Canberra art and culture. I’ve been there a couple of times now. The gallery is full of exquisite pieces. That said, the prices are very high.

One of my favourite food bloggers is Hannah of Wayfaring Chocolate fame. Earlier this year she did a review of sweet selection at The Palette

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The trifecta for Thursday was Christmas dinner with dear friends.

Fresh prawns

We started with freshly cooked prawns. These were cooked in sea water, yes sea water that had been specially collected.

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Amazing crackling

The main was a roast pork and vegetables. The crackling was sublime.

Roast pork and vegetables

The peas were home grown in the garden along with the snow peas.

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Violet crumble semi fredo

For dessert we devoured a violet crumble semifreddo.

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While Friday was not the last day of work for 2012, it had a very holiday feel. Ursula, our branch executive assistant gave me a toy car filled with lollies for Christmas.

Today's Christmas present. It is full of lollies. Thanks Ursula.

I played vroom vroom throughout the day.

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Office moving day. I won't be able to fly these where I'm going. Yes I know the NT flag is upside down. It's a distress signal.

I moved offices as part of my new role. In my old office I had a big pin board on which I could hang my favourite flags. The top one is Queensland’s flag. A quick search of this blog will reveal how I feel about being a Queenslander  and Queensland.

The bottom flag belongs to the Northern Territory of Australia. Brisbane may be my home town and I am a passionate Queenslander, however, Darwin is my spiritual home, it’s where my soul lives. For that reason the flag has always been hung upside down in my office. An upside down flag is a maritime distress signal. I want to return home. I expect Australian readers to recognise it’s upside down, for my non-Australian readers, the stars represent the Southern Cross and it is upside down.

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We’d heard some weeks ago about the Snag Stand. A new franchise from Sydney and Melbourne had opened two outlets in Canberra, one very close to where we work.

I'm at snag stand Woden

They cook and assemble onsite. It’s a pretty busy place.

The menu for the Sydney outlets is here and for the Melbourne outlets here. They don’t have the Canberra ones posted. I assume they are similar.

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We brought our food back to work.

Swiss bratwurst. It was good. Ping @alivicwil @abefrellman

I chose a Swiss Bratwurst. It was topped with a really yummy Sauerkraut

Close up of my Swiss bratwurst sausage.

It was excellent. Not too big and not too salty.

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Last night I needed something light.

Free range organic chicken drumstick with salad.

Organic free range chicken drumstick and salad.

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This morning on my walk I tried the new Instagram Mayfair filter when saying hello to the Owl Statue.

Good morning Mr Owl #ProCamera #Mayfair #publicart #igerscanberra

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I hope at the end of next week to write a short piece about 2012. It won’t be much. Hopefully I’ll be enjoying myself in Brisbane where it will be warm and moist.

Places and things mentioned in this post in more detail.

Breaking Bad
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breaking_Bad
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0903747/
http://www.amctv.com/shows/breaking-bad

Breadtop
http://www.breadtop.com.au/
http://www.westfield.com.au/au/retailers/breadtop/woden
Google maps http://goo.gl/maps/Z5Bdv


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Beaver Galleries
http://www.beavergalleries.com.au/
Google maps http://goo.gl/maps/Di7Yr


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The Snag Stand
http://snagstand.com.au/


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http://www.westfield.com.au/au/retailers/snag-stand/woden
Google maps http://goo.gl/maps/Z5Bdv

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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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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.


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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

I’m a Spike convert | Shout out to the Salmon Fishing Queen

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In Late May Barb from Life in the Foothills blogged that she spiked a chicken. I wrote a comment that I’d not heard of Spike and I’d have to go looking for it. Very kindly Barb sent me a bottle from the US to Australia. The website describes Spike as 39 different herbs, spices and vegetables all lovingly blended with just the right amount of salt! The original version contains salt crystals (earth and sea), nutritional yeast, hydrolysed soy protein (NO ADDED MSG), mellow toasted onion, onion powder, orange powder, soy granules, celery leaf powder, celery root powder, garlic powder, dill, kelp, Indian curry, horseradish, ripe white pepper, orange and lemon peel, summer savoury, mustard flour, sweet green and red bell peppers, parsley flakes, tarragon, rose hips, safflower, mushroom powder, parsley powder, spinach powder, tomato powder, sweet paprika, celery seed ground, cayenne pepper, plus a delightful herbal bouquet of the best oregano, sweet basil, marjoram, rosemary and thyme.

I’m very grateful to Barb for sending me this bottle (Nikon D90)

On Sunday afternoon I prepared a slow cooked pork belly dish for lunches this week at work. I Spiked it.

This was my lunch container today at work (iPhone) Also on Instagram http://instagram.com/p/Mj8YQYxNLh/

On Sunday evening I prepared pumpkin soup. I Spiked it.

I love pumpkin soup. (Nikon D90)

This evening I roasted a Chicken Maryland. I Spiked it.

This is the way Barb explained to use Spike. Rub in oil then rub in Spike. (Nikon D90)

This is the way Barb explained to use Spike. Rub in oil then rub in Spike. (Nikon D90)

Again, thanks Barb. I have more chicken this week and Spike will be used.

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Best meal ever and #StateofOrigin Game 2

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Last night Bron and I visited some close friends who we often have dinner with. Mostly it’s us going to their place to eat wonderful food. Last night was no different. In the words of Bron (and I agree), “Best meal in my life“.

A few weeks ago we set up the date and started talking about a menu. We suggested we’d go to Costco and get King crab legs for an entrée and Bron said she’d make a lemon tart for dessert. P and LP came back and said they would happily prepare an Asian degustation for our main course.

Bron and I ventured out to Costco yesterday morning to learn that the seafood arrangement only came out every fortnight. We’ve been to Costco so many times on alternating weeks that we had not noticed this. This was disappointing because Bron was also going to make her gorgeous aioli and and another dipping sauce. Bron sent P a text message and explained. No worries, “We have prawns” came the reply.

The lemon tart was an experiment. Bron had not made this recipe before. She need not have worried. It was perfect.

So we started with a few prawns and homemade dressing. These had only been frozen once and were a delicious and certainly acted as an entrée or appetiser for us. I was so hungry.

What followed can only be described as awesome. I use that word advisedly. Like a good many words used on social media and on television and movies, “awesome” is over used. This meal was awesome.

We started with LP’s dumplings. Mouth sized and full of flavour. The spicy dipping sauce was just right. P then followed with some of his signature pieces, namely, a crunchy Chinese cabbage salad and seafood cakes. I could have eaten the salad all night. This was followed with LP’s tamarind prawns. Oh my the flavour was fantastic. This was a first time for LP. The Pièce de résistance was P’s twice cooked belly pork. The reduction could be smelled when we entered the house. The star anise and cinnamon wafting in our nostrils tempting us to pick up the jug and drink the sauce was an ever present danger.

With the ‘mains’ over, we entered the dangerous world of dessert. I say dangerous because no one gets between some of us and their dessert.

LP was preparing the chocolate soufflé as we arrived. She was so delicate in folding in the cream. It was certainly worth the effort. I have never had a soufflé so light and fluffy. Bron was concerned that I had left crusty bits of chocolate on the edge of my ramekin. I quickly fixed the problem without burning my tongue :-)

Bron’s lemon tart was also a triumph. Earlier in the day Bron had received a gift from a dear tweep who shared from her bounty of lemons. The quickly prepared candied lemon rind was also delicious along with the cognac whipped cream that LP had provided with her soufflé.

To finish the evening we all enjoyed a half of a small pavlova that P has now perfected. It was a perfect evening with fantastic conversation, lots of laughs and dare I say, for me at least, belt loosening.

I apologise for the quality of my iPhone photography. I was trembling with multiple foodgasms that I had trouble focusing.

Prawns with homemade seafood sauce (iPhone)

Pork dumplings (iPhone)

Crunchy Chinese cabbage salad and seafood cakes (iPhone)

Tamarind prawns (iPhone)

Twice cooked pork belly (iPhone)

Twice cooked pork belly (iPhone)

Chocolate soufflé served with cognac cream (iPhone)

Cognac cream (iPhone)

Lemon tart with Cognac cream (iPhone)

Pavlova served with Chinese gooseberry, passion fruit and strawberries (iPhone)

More as a post script than anything else, I have not blogged for a few days and I should comment on the second game in this year’s State of Origin series. NSW defeated Queensland. As much as I wanted the Queensland XXXX Maroons to win, it wasn’t to be. The game was fierce, it was tight, it was superbly played. Queensland played well and NSW played better. NSW were the best team on the night and deserved to win. This now means a decider in two and a bit weeks. This is not a bad thing. If Queensland had won, this would have made game three a fizzer and given Queensland has won the series in the last six years it would severely damage the State of Origin concept. Dare I say it, NSW winning the series in 2012 would not be a tragedy. The important thing is ensuring the greatest game on the planet, i.e., Rugby League is maintained for everyone to enjoy.

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A big day for Chinese food | Noble Palace | Dumpling Inn

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Yesterday was a much better day at work compared to Wednesday. I woke up feeling ill with a sore throat and a headache yet I was euphoric because Queensland had defeated NSW in  the first game of this year’s State of Origin series.

For lunch we went to the Noble Palace in Phillip. Seven of us enjoyed lunch to thank a dear work friend who had acted up for an extended period of time and performed superbly. We enjoyed Hong Kong roast duck, Crispy skin chicken and plum sauce, Sizzling Mongolian lamb, Peking shredded chilli beef, Pork fillet with chili lemon grass, and rice (I could have forgotten a dish). One of our party also had a vegetable and noodle dish which she generously shared. The Noble Palace is a well known Chinese restaurant in the Woden district and consistently produces high quality meals. They also do wonderful yum cha.

Duck, beef and lamb (iPhone)

Last night Bron and I went to the Dumpling Inn for dinner. This Chinese restaurant is a fantastic suburban venue. It’s relatively small but like the Noble Palace consistently produces high quality food including yum cha on weekends. Last night we enjoyed duck pancakes and fried flounder with rice.

Preparing a duck pancake (iPhone)

Finished duck pancake (iPhone)

Left over duck (iPhone)

Deep fried flounder (iPhone)

After dinner we had dessert at Bron’s. This was some leftover vanilla cheesecake with salted caramel sauce and berries.

Vanilla cheesecake with salted caramel sauce and berries (iPhone)

Because I can’t help myself I’ll share an image from a friend at work from today.

 

Enough said for now :-)

 

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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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Pork belly. Simple and good.

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I had another big day at work. I wanted something I could cook while continuing to work from home. I still have a teleconference tonight at midnight so I didn’t want to muck around a lot.

I chose a small piece of belly pork, a small sweet potato and an avocado. I turned the sweet potato into a mash with butter and Gorgonzola cheese. I scored the pork with a sharp knife and rubbed in salt, a little sugar and some pepper.

Pork belly from Coles

Pork belly from Coles

Gorgonzola and sweet potato used to make a mash.

Gorgonzola and sweet potato

This was not a low calorie meal. I do like butter.

Gorgonzola and butter

Out of the oven the pork rind was crispy.

Pork belly

Plated up with the pork on the sweet potato mash and the two halves of an avocado. I like pepper, chili flakes and Tabasco sauce.

Pork belly, sweet potato and avocado

Pork belly, sweet potato and avocado

The mash was thick and smooth and tasting like cheese. The flesh of the pork was tender and juicy and full of nice fatty flavour.

 

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