Tag Archives: State of Origin

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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I am home :-)

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I am in Darwin. Darwin is where a good part of my spirit or soul or whatever lives. It’s a place I long for.

I’m here for a night for meetings earlier this afternoon and tomorrow morning.

Tonight I’m staying at SKYCITY hotel. I don’t normally stay here but it’s the only accommodation I could get. We have V8 Supercars here this weekend and there is no other accommodation. This is not a bad place. My only disappointment is that it doesn’t have Channel 10 reception so I missed the Jamie Oliver appearance on MasterChefAU tonight.

The good thing about this hotel is complimentary wireless internet and air conditioning that doesn’t work which means I stay happily warm and moist.

Outside the hotel are a couple of V8 Supercars. One is a Ford and the other is, well you know, the crapolden.

The only good thing about returning to Canberra tomorrow night is that I’ll get in just as the second State of Origin match starts.

SKYCITY Casino and a FORD V8 SUPERCAR (iPhone)

SKYCITY Casino and a FORD V8 SUPERCAR (iPhone)

SKYCITY Bathroom hand basin. This is a good way to store stuff (iPhone)

SKYCITY Beef burger (iPhone)

The beef burger was pretty good. It was a little too salty. I didn’t have the time to go to the wharf tonight like I usually do.

 

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Big day and a big result and shout out to @phonakins (#QUEENSLANDER #StateofOrigin)

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Today was huge with back to back meetings all day. I did an hour session on record management systems and came back to the office to be greeted with cake. Readers who follow me on instagram will know I regularly post photographs of cakes and biscuits that work mates make and bring in to work. It makes for a wonderful work environment.

During the training session I answered some questions and received chocolates :-)

Cake and chocolate (iPhone)

Tonight is the first of three State of Origin games. As I was driving away from work I thought about dinner. It needed to be a footy dinner. Hamburger I thought and hamburger is what I made. For readers who don’t know me, I’m a convinced and convicted Queenslander, that is, I am passionate about Queensland the greatest state in Australia; and Rugby League the greatest game of all; and State of Origin, the greatest sporting contest known.

I checked my e-mail and discovered I’d won a prize. On 16 May @phonakins at littlelioness.net posted on her blog a competition to win a Red Rock Deli Corn Chips hamper. The request for the competition was to let Fiona know in the comments your ideal corn chip and dip combination (fantasy or reality) and why they go so well. I answered, “I want a sweet corn chip coated in icing sugar that can be used to scoop up thickened chocolate sauce or melted chocolate and then eaten whole, that is a chocolate corn chip slam ;-) Perhaps then http://wayfaringchocolate.com/ can review.“Thank you very much Fiona. Much appreciated :-)

So I better show images of my hamburger.

Cheese and barbecue sauce with Wagyu beef burger (iPhone)

With it’s top on (iPhone)

And to all my friends and family who support New South Wales and the Blues, I’m sorry if you find me offensive on nights like tonight.

For readers not familiar with State of Origin rugby league history. Queenslanders (Maroons pronounced marones) are known as the cane toads (Buffo marinus) and NSW (Blues) are cockroaches. These are affectionate terms of endearment. As they say, State of Origin is mate against mate, state against state. For those interested, it was Kangaroo great Barry (garbo) Muir who coached the Queensland side from 1974 to 1978 (two years prior to the adoption of Origin selection criteria) and during this time Muir coined the term “cockroaches”, the descriptor of the New South Wales rugby league team still used by the Queenslanders.

In the end, Queensland defeated NSW 18 to 10. There was a very poor decision that resulted in a Queensland try in the last ten minutes that soured the victory. But as they say, a win is a win. I will attend work tomorrow a happy Queenslander.

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My new work area

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I recently agreed to move work areas to make more space for work mates in an area of the branch. The new work area has worked out really well. As part of the plan I have promised to stop storing papers just for the sake of it and become ruthless at not holding on to things.

So far it’s working well. One of my walls used to be a pin board so I thought I would make it a feature wall.

My new feature wall. Queensland and Northern Territory Flags.

You will notice the NT flag is upside down. It’s a distress call. I want to go back and live in Darwin :-)

I will never hide the fact that through and through I am a proud Queenslander. The greatest state in Australia with the most wonderful people and attitude to life. I also feel that part of me still exists in the Northern Territory. The Top End of Australia has the best weather, the friendliest people and the most comfortable life style. It’s humid and warm and full of muggy goodness. I can’t call myself a Territorian because I don’t fulfil one of three criteria, viz., born there, lived through Tropical Cyclone Tracy or spent 20 years there. I want to call myself a Territorian and a Queenslander. Come state of origin time you will read more about being a Queenslander.

F/A 18 Super Hornet Squadron 322 Tindal

The main photograph is especially dear to me. When I was working in the NT the CO of RAAF Tindal was severely unwell with an infection and the medical officer at the base sought my advice. The CO recovered and he gave me this framed photograph. It always reminds me of the times I’d travel to Katherine and would see the F/A 18 Super Hornets flying low and loud. I love feeling the sound of a jet fighter.

My desk now looks a lot cleaner than it has in the past.

My desk

I’m enjoying my new work area.

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