I like to cook, photograph and eat food. I'm an occasional podcaster too.
I have a weekly diary blog named My Thoughts and Stuff, this is where I share what's been happening in my life for the preceding week.
When I'm not cooking I'm practising medicine. You can find more information at my about.me page.
I'm based in Canberra, Australia, so the food and recipes I share will tend to be seasonal and regional to Australia, but I hope if you're from somewhere else you'll find these recipes adaptable to suit your needs. Feel free to send me an e-mail if you have any questions.
This weekend you’re getting a double bunger. Last night, I cooked a Scotch fillet steak. Tonight, I’m cooking a standing rib roast with a difference.
I found a two rib brace1 at the supermarket and thought about cooking it in the pressure cooker. The plan is to then split them and air fry them. I wanted to see if I could get an extraordinary tender steak with a great crust.
Lake Ginninderra. This is near where I live. Today was gloriously sunny. Cold, but sunny.
Pork crackle rinds with blue vein cheese makes for a perfect post-walk snack.
Recipe
Equipment
Pressure cooker
Air fryer
Ingredients
Standing rib roast
Bone broth
Beef dripping
Butter
Avocado
Cherry tomatoes
Olives
Sour cream
Instructions
Put the beef and broth into the pressure cooker and cook for 45 minutes.
Allow the pressure to equilibrate naturally.
Remove the beef and carve between the ribs.
Put one rib into a vacuum bag and seal it. Place it in the freezer for a meal at a later date.
Dry the surface of the remaining rib and rub some beef dripping over the surfaces.
Air fry for 5 minutes a side at 200 °C.
Place a small knob of butter on the steak and let it melt.
Make a salad with the avocado, olives, and cherry tomatoes.
Add a dollop of sour cream.
Plate it up.
Give thanks to the Lord.
Eat with a steak knife and fork.
Thoughts on the meal
The steak was tender and moist. The crust was okay.
The longissimus dorsi muscle was chewy but not tough. It was very beefy in flavour. The spinalis dorsi muscle (fat cap) was gorgeously tender and had that lovely fatty meaty mouthfeel. Gnawing the fatty meat from the bone was a bonus.
This is a guaranteed way of getting a tender piece of steak. This is important for people with poor dentition.
Photographs
Brace of beef ribs. Not cheap. Pressure cooker air fryer beef ribeye with avocado, cherry tomatoes, and olives with a dollop of sour cream.
Footnotes
Brace. One meaning for the word brace, is a pair of similar things. So a brace of ribs, is two ribs.
I hope you have enjoyed a good week. I spent five days in Brisbane visiting family.
While I was there, I tried two new places. The first was Fuzzy Duck Cafe, and the second was the Sandgate Post Office Hotel.
The Fuzzy Duck Cafe is located in Kedron and is close to where I was. The breakfast options looked good, and I liked the ability to modify the elements of a dish. Because I’m low carbohydrate, healthy fat eating, I went with eggs Benedict with crispy bacon and avocado sans bread.
The lunch and dinner options looked great at the Sandgate Post Office Hotel. I had the rump steak with a seafood side and béarnaise sauce. The seafood side consisted of three plump oysters, three battered prawns, and a serving of crumbed squid. The meal came with chips and a leafy green salad.
I had to compromise my eating, so I ate the prawns and squid with the carbohydrate coating, but I gave my chips to one of my daughters.
Sandgate Post Office Hotel rump steak with oysters, prawns, and squid. Served with chips, salad and béarnaise sauce. I didn’t eat the chips and compromised with the battered prawns and squid.
Tonight I’m cooking reef and beef. It was good on Thursday; it will be good today.
Recipe
Equipment
Precision cooker
Water bath
Gas torch
Frypan
Ingredients
Scotch fillet steak
Salt
Butter
Prawns
Lettuce
Olives
Avocado
Cherry tomatoes
Olive oil
Apple cider vinegar
Instructions
Thaw the steak.
Cook the steak at 53.9 °C for 1 hour.
Remove the steak from the bag and dry the surfaces with a paper towel.
Sear the steak in a frypan with butter.
Cook the prawns in the burnt butter.
Make a salad with lettuce leaves, olives, avocado, and cherry tomatoes.
Dress the salad with apple cider vinegar and olive oil.
Place the steak on a dinner plate with the prawns atop. Add a knob of butter, and with a propane (or butane) torch, melt the butter over prawns and steak.
Add the salad to make the food look good. 😉
Give thanks to the Lord.
Eat with a steak knife and fork.
Thoughts on the meal
The steak was tender and juicy, while the prawns were firm and fresh. I considered making a compound butter with curry powder but decided against it because I wanted unadulterated flavours.
The salad was a salad; it helped make the food look good.
Final thoughts
Would you give away perfectly cooked chips?
Do you like venues that permit you to modify the dishes to suit your dietary requirements?
Photographs
Sous vide scotch fillet steakSous vide scotch fillet steak with prawns cooked in burnt butter and served with a lettuce, tomato, and olive salad.
Weight chart correct on Saturday 20230708. The thick horizontal line represents the goal weight.
Introduction
Dear Reader,
I hope you have enjoyed your week. Mine has been terrific, fabulous even.
Do you know the feeling when you’ve lost something and think you’ll never see it again, and then you find it? That feeling! That’s the feeling I have this week.
Apart from this feeling of euphoria, this week, I’ve been exploring the role of diet and insulin resistance in developing Type 2 Diabetes mellitus (T2DM). I’ve been revising the endocrine system’s management of adipocytes and how low insulin levels cause fatty acid retention in adipocytes. Increasing the insulin by stimulating the pancreatic islet cells with sugar worsens the situation. Therefore, to burn the fatty acids, the insulin concentration has to be below a threshold that varies between individuals. The bottom line is minimising carbohydrates avoids raising the concentration of insulin. I didn’t find endocrinology all that interesting in medical school. My attention depends on the skills of the teacher. Self-interest-directed learning makes a difference in my level of interest.
Noakes advocates for low carbohydrate, healthy fat (LCHF) (also known as real food) eating to prevent T2DM and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The ultimate aim is to stave off metabolic syndrome.
I’ve decided to transition from CSIRO TWD to LCHF eating to stave off insulin resistance and avoid T2DM as well as metabolic syndrome. The main difference between the two is the handling of fat. TWD is low fat while LCHF encourages good fat. Good fat doesn’t stimulate the release of insulin in the same quantity as protein and carbohydrates.
Between the books on low carbohydrate, and healthy fat eating, I relaxed and listened to some chapters of Love Stories, which Kathleen sent me as a gift. The book is a series of vignettes told by the author, who asks strangers to share with him a love story. Set in contemporary Brisbane, and as I listen to him narrate his book (Kathleen knows I prefer listening over reading), it draws me to the streets of the central business district and the suburbs he mentions, which I’m familiar with.
The vignettes are moving with humour and solemnity, reflecting Trent Dalton’s casual writing style.
Thanks, Kathleen.
Recipe
Equipment
Precision cooker
Water bath
Frypan
Stick blender
Ingredients
Bone-in ribeye steak
Salt
Butter
Apple cider vinegar
Curry powder
Lettuce leaves
Avocado
Olive oil
Olives
Instructions
Season the steak and place it into a vacuum bag.
Seal the bag and cook at 55 °C for 2 hours.
Remove the steak and dry the surface with a paper towel.
Sear the steak in a frypan with some butter.
Put three egg yolks into a tall cup and blend.
Add a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and two teaspoons of curry powder and blend.
Melt 120 g of butter and pour slowly into the cup while blending.
Keep the cup of sauce warm.
Dice an avocado and toss with some lettuce leaves and olives. Dress the salad with apple cider vinegar and olive oil.
Arrange everything on a plate.
Give thanks to the Lord.
Eat with a steak knife and a fork.
Gnaw the meat and fat from the bone, then lick your fingers and lips.
Thoughts on the meal
What’s not to like? A nice steak and a thick gooey sauce along with a fresh salad. The meat was tender and beefy with fantastic mouthfeel. The sauce was thick, creamy, and salty and coated the inside of my mouth, tongue, and lips. The salad, especially the apple cider vinegar helped cut the richness of the sauce and the beef. A perfect meal to share with a perfect person.
Final thoughts
I decided this week to finish the CSIRO TWD. I’ve achieved my goal weight, and I feel confident I can maintain it without paying a monthly fee for the software application. I always have the option of starting again if I need to. I’m grateful to Kathleen for getting me onto it and helping me achieve a healthy body weight.
How do you feel when you find something you thought you lost?
Do you ever revisit material you may have covered at school and find it’s easier to understand in later life?
How was your week?
Photographs
Bone in ribeye steak and scotch fillet steak. The scotch fillet steak is for next week. Seasoned bone in ribeye steak and scotch fillet steak. The scotch fillet steak is for next week. Green and black olivesEgg yolksBone in ribeye steak pre-searingBone in ribeye steak searedBone in ribeye steak searedBone in ribeye steak with curry flavoured hollandaise sauce and a olive, avocado, and lettuce salad dressed with apple cider vinegar and olive oil
🤏🥊 for the first of the month and the beginning of the Australian 2024 financial year.
Dear Reader,
Greetings from Canberra. I’ve enjoyed a good week. I hope yours was equally rewarding.
I was fascinated this week by the number of people I work with who spent so much time on smart devices or at their computers trying to buy Taylor Swift concert tickets. I was at a meeting on Monday and sat next to someone I’d never met; she spent almost the entire time looking at her smartphone. When she succeeded, she squealed and exclaimed she’d paid nearly $1000 for the concert ticket. I immediately thought about how many beef short ribs I could buy for $1000.
Apart from work, one of the avenues I’ve been exploring out of curiosity started with listening to Jordan Peterson’s “12 Rules for Life” after Gabe Maté’s “The Myth of Normal”.
I went to YouTube to see if there were more insights into their thoughts on the human condition. The YouTube algorithm presented me Mikhaila Peterson, Jordan Peterson’s daughter. Mikhaila is a young woman who has adopted the Lion diet to manage her chronic health condition. She claims she is in remission and the best health of her life. Her father has also adopted the Lion diet to counter his health problems; likewise, he credits the diet to his excellent health.
What followed was watching more YouTube videos about this way of eating and a growing fascination on my part.
As far as I could find, there’s only one published study of the Carnivore diet: a self-reporting observational study. Follow-up commentary on that work has also been published[1, 2].
Lion diet and the Carnivore diet
The Lion Diet and the Carnivore Diet are both restrictive diets that focus on eating only animal products. However, there are some differences between the two diets.
The Lion Diet
Only allows meat from ruminant animals, such as beef, lamb, bison, and goat.
It does not permit plant products, including fruits, vegetables, nuts, or seeds.
It may include salt and water.
It is often used as an elimination diet to identify food sensitivities.
The Carnivore Diet
The diet permits all types of meat, including ruminants, poultry, fish, and seafood.
It may also include eggs, dairy products, and animal-based fats.
It does not allow any plant products.
It claims to improve gut health, reduce inflammation, and boost energy levels.
Critics have raised some concerns:
Nutritional deficiencies: Both diets are restrictive and may not provide all the nutrients humans need.
Digestive problems: Some people may experience constipation, diarrhoea, or bloating when they follow these diets.
Increased risk of heart disease: A high-fat diet, such as the Lion Diet or the Carnivore Diet, can increase the risk of heart disease.
Consulting a general practitioner is recommended before considering any diet. A GP can help assess individual risk factors and advise if the diet is your best option.
Unless they travel with freezers of meat, I guess people on the carnivore diet won’t be on any Mars expeditions, given its fresh meat and organs that contain enough vitamin C to prevent scurvy.
Dear Reader, please note this is not medical advice. Please take a look at my medical disclaimer.
I am writing about this because I am curious. I also note Katharine’s recent blog post on the Carnivore diet. Katharine is a retired medical practitioner from Scotland. She mainly writes about diabetes mellitus. I’ve been reading her blog for many years.
Recipe
I may not be embracing the Carnivore diet; however, tonight’s meal could be eaten by a carnivore san the vegetables. 😆
Equipment
Pressure cooker
Air fryer
Ingredients
Beef short rib fingers
Bone broth
Iodised salt
Brussels sprouts
Red cabbage
Instructions
Put the beef and broth into the pressure cooker and close the lid.
Cook for 1 hour under pressure.
Allow the pressure to equalise naturally.
Remove the meat and place it on a cutting board.
Gently pat the surfaces of the beef with some paper towel to avoid the fatty liquid making a mess.
Place the cooking liquor through a sieve and store the filtered liquor in a jar in the refrigerator.
Pat the surface of the meat to absorb excess moisture and set one aside while placing the others in a vacuum bag and sealing it for use later.
Rub some butter onto the surface of the meat and cook in the air fryer for 5 minutes on each side at 220 °C.
Plate up the meat and vegetables.
Give thanks to the Lord.
Eat with a knife and fork while watching the football (The Dolphins play the Broncos tonight).
Thoughts on the meal
What’s not to like about beef short ribs? A quick high-temperature cook in the air fryer at the end gave the meat a nice crust for a bit of mouthfeel.
Final thoughts
Would you spend $1000 on concert tickets?
Have you heard of the Carnivore diet? What do you think about it?
Photographs
References
1. Kirwan, R., et al., Limitations of Self-reported Health Status and Metabolic Markers among Adults Consuming a “Carnivore Diet”. Curr Dev Nutr, 2022. 6(5): p. nzac037.
2. Lennerz, B.S., et al., Behavioral Characteristics and Self-Reported Health Status among 2029 Adults Consuming a “Carnivore Diet”. Curr Dev Nutr, 2021. 5(12): p. nzab133.
I wasn’t sure if I’d post anything this weekend. There hasn’t been much food inspiration.
The weather in Canberra continues to decline in temperature, with the mornings regularly descending below zero degrees Celsius. I regularly eye the weather in places like Adelaide, Brisbane, and Darwin wistfully. I did see that Adelaide suffered badly this week with heavy rain. The local state emergency service responders were kept busy helping residents who experienced damage to their homes and property. Darwin is peak dry season at 32 °C and about 50% relative humidity.
QUEENSLANDER!!!
Heehee, guess what? The Queensland Maroons (pronounced “ma-rones”) defeated the NSW Blues on Wednesday night. It was a specular game played at Lang Park in Brisbane. I wish I could have been there. It was good to be home and watching the game after missing the first game in Adelaide because I was in Alexandria, Virginia.
The series’ third game is in Sydney in a few weeks. While Queensland has won the series this year, it would be magnificent if they could win all three games.
The following night, the Queensland Maroons Women’s team iced the cake and won the 2023 series in a game they lost to NSW. Aggregated points across two games decide the series winner. I hope the women will play three games like the men next year. In an ideal world, the men and women would play on the same night.
“12 Rules for Life”
Last week, I mentioned the “12 Rules for Life“. I’ve almost finished listening to this book. It’s dense, and I think I’ll try to listen to it again soon. Some “rules” resonate with me, while others do not. I need time to consider the lessons from the “rules” which do not resonate with me.
“Stand up straight with your shoulders back.”
“Treat yourself like someone you are responsible for helping.”
“Make friends with people who want the best for you.”
“Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not to who someone else is today.”
“Do not let your children do anything that makes you dislike them.”
“Set your house in perfect order before you criticize the world.”
“Pursue what is meaningful (not what is expedient).”
“Tell the truth – or, at least, don’t lie.”
“Assume that the person you are listening to might know something you don’t.”
“Be precise in your speech.”
“Do not bother children while they are skateboarding.”
“Pet a cat when you encounter one in the street.”
I’m not sure what I will read next. It may be some science fiction or the sequel to “12 Rules for Life” titled “Beyond Order”, which has twelve more rules to consider.
Recipe
Equipment
Saucepan
Stick blender
Ingredients
Cauliflower
Leek
Brown onion
Garlic
Potato
Black peppercorns
Vegetable stock
Coconut cream (low fat)
Curry powder
Instructions
Cut the cauliflower into florets.
Dice the potato.
Slice the leek and onion.
Sweat the leek and onion in the bottom of the saucepan with olive oil.
Add a tablespoon of curry powder and some whole black peppercorns.
Add the cauliflower and potato and enough stock without covering the vegetables.
Put a lid on the saucepan and allow it to simmer until the potato and cauliflower are soft.
Blend with a stick blender until smooth.
Bring back to a simmer and slowly add some coconut cream to slightly thicken the soup.
Serve the soup in a bowl.
Give thanks to the Lord.
Eat with a spoon while watching the footy.
Enjoy the work of your microbiota fermenting carbohydrates and producing hydrocarbon gases. I won’t be lighting any matches tonight. 😆
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