I had a near-perfect day today. The church service was excellent, and I had a good chat with my youngest brother, who lives interstate. I completed a talk to honour a friend and recorded it since I won’t be able to attend the function held in his honour. I chatted with my girlfriend a couple of times, and I had a great Group FaceTime catch up with my daughters.
After what I think was a reasonably nutritious lunch, I decided on something a little indulgent for dinner. Well, it was pretty amazing.
Sunday lunch was drumhead cabbage soup with red chilli, coriander, red onion, vegetable stock, soy sauce, MSG, and Sriracha sauce.
Ingredients
Arborio rice
Beef short rib fingers
Master stock
MSG
Red onion
Red chillies
Coriander
Lime
Instructions
Add a cup of arborio rice to the pressure cooker vessel.
Pour in a cup of master stock created and nurtured from the liquor of many previous dishes knowing this is its final resting place because the rice will absorb it all.
Sprinkle in a good whack of MSG. A good whack is equivalent to a generous pinch. A good whack is not as much as a good smack.
Sit the beef short rib fingers atop the rice.
Seal the lid and turn on the pressure cooker.
Set the pressure cooker to 1 hour.
After the internal pressure has equilibrated to atmospheric pressure, remove the lid and gently lift the ribs. Gently wiggle the bone and gently pull on it to get it to come out of its meat tunnel.
Scoop out the glutinous rice and put it into a bowl. If you’ve done this correctly, the rice will stick a little to the cooker’s base, and when you lift it off, there will be some lovely caramelised bits that add to the richness of the flavour with some texture. You’ll note that the rice has absorbed all the stock. It will be brown, gooey, and sticky, and it will have a magnificent rich fragrance.
Set some of the rice in a bowl and add slices of the rib meat.
Garnish with cut red onion, red chillies, and coriander leaves.
Add some spicy kick with a good spurt of Sriracha sauce.
Add some acid with a squeeze or two of lime juice.
Give thanks to the Lord.
Eat with chopsticks and a spoon.
Pressure cooker arborio rice and beef short rib enhanced with MSG, red onion, red chillies, and coriander
For the first (senior) cohort, I shared insights on pathologists and medical laboratory scientists’ critical role in applied epidemiology. For the second (junior) cohort, I spent a couple of hours providing practical instruction while doing my honorary visiting medical officer job at Canberra Health Services. It allowed me to share my fondness for microbiology’s history, philosophy, and value to modern medicine. My next session will focus on the policy piece which attracted me to Canberra nearly 15 years ago.
In other news, it’s been disturbing to see the number of people infected with SARS-COV-2 rising worldwide and reading reports of reinfection becoming more common.
The SARS-COV-2 Omicron variant is extraordinary as an excellent immunological escape agent. It shows little cross-reactivity with the original virus and other variants. So this means if you haven’t been immunised and you’re infected with BA.1, you are unlikely to be protected against infection caused by different variants.
Suppose you’re not immunised and infected with the SARS-COV-2 Omicron variant. In that case, you may be infected with other variants soon after you recover. It’s not an argument against immunisation; it’s an argument for immunisation. Some people assume there might be some partial immunity, but it appears to be non-existent.
I have no recipes this week. This week’s feature is that I “enjoyed” crumbed chicken and coleslaw thrice.
On Wednesday afternoon, I went out to dinner with some work friends. I had made a deal with one friend that it needed to be a chicken parmigiana the next time we went out for a meal. The last couple of times, she’s eaten a chicken parmigiana and commented on the addition of ham. MG is from Adelaide, and apparently, the addition of ham is not a feature of the dish in the City of Churches. I expressed that I’d never eaten a chicken parmigiana, so we should both have one next time.
The crumbed chicken breast was tender, and while not as moist as I would like, it wasn’t stringy or dry. The crumb was crispy, and the topping, including the thin pieces of ham, were tasty.
The coleslaw was a little bitter for my liking, and the gravy a little thin and tasteless. I think it needed some monosodium glutamate (MSG).
The chips were nothing to write home about.
Fenway Parmigiana with gravy and slaw
What I like about Fenway Public House is that requesting food and drink is completed using a tablet device when seated at a table. The drinks and food come out quickly, and payment at the end is simple, with each diner paying for their own meal. For a group of workmates, it’s perfect.
Crumbed chicken thigh and homemade coleslaw
Okay, a confession, when I posted this photo on Instagram, a friend who follows this blog pointed out that not all crumbed chicken is chicken schnitzel. I accept the error I’ve been making all these years and will refer to what I ate as crumbed chicken.
The coleslaw was made with red cabbage, red onion, red chilli, spring onion, parsley, and carrot bound with wasabi mayonnaise. I also added some green peppercorns to some instant gravy.
Chicken schnitty with green peppercorn gravy and wasabi mayonnaise coleslaw
Crumbed chicken thigh on Turkish bread with store-bought coleslaw
Tonight’s meal comes after a day of feeling not so much out of sorts, but I feel like only 7 cylinders are firing, and the 8th is losing compression. In many ways, it’s been a good day, but there’s something not quite perfect.
It could be that I splurged on a sausage roll and feta and spinach triangle for lunch!
This dinner sandwich is simple. Everything was store-bought, and my only effort was in frying the crumbed chicken thigh in vegetable oil.
Crumbed chicken thigh and coleslaw on Turkish breadCrumbed chicken thigh and coleslaw on Turkish breadCrumbed chicken thigh and coleslaw on Turkish bread
Final thoughts
Do you like crumbed chicken?
What’s your favourite recipe for coleslaw?
Are you up to date with the COVID-19 immunisations?
Do you enjoy dining out with workmates?
Feel free to answer these questions in the comments box.
I missed a post last week because I spent the weekend with my girlfriend, so you get two posts this weekend. Yesterday I cooked some lamb.
One of the benefits of replacing the old microwave oven is I can now use my microwave radiation pressure cooker again.
Ingredients
Pork belly
Iodised salt
Ground white pepper
Ground Chinese five-spice
Ground coriander seeds
Ground cardamom
Ground cinnamon
Ground rosemary leaves
Ground nutmeg
Star anise
Instant noodles
Peanut oil
Sesame oil
Monosodium glutamate (MSG)
Shallots
Garlic
Spring onions
Red chillies
Ginger
Laksa paste
Instructions
Before cooking the dish, season the belly pork with salt, pepper, Chinese five-spice, ground cardamom, ground coriander seeds, ground rosemary leaves, ground cinnamon, and ground nutmeg, seal the meat in a vacuum bag and refrigerate overnight.
On the day you cook the dish, place the pork belly into the pressure cooker.
Add about a litre of water and add some laksa paste, crushed ginger, and star anise.
Cook in the pressure cooker using microwave radiation for twenty minutes.
Open the vessel and remove the meat when the pressure cooker has reached atmospheric pressure.
Transfer the cooking liquor to a saucepan and bring it to a boil.
Add the noodles and cook for a couple of minutes.
Drain the noodles and use chopsticks to ensure the noodles aren’t sticking.
Dice the cooked pork belly.
Heat the wok.
Add some peanut oil.
Add chopped shallots and garlic. Stir fry until fragrant.
Add in the diced pork belly pieces and stir fry.
Add in some sesame oil and then the noodles.
Stir through the noodles to absorb the oily garlic and shallot flavours. Get the noodles and pork entangled in each other.
Sprinkle in a good pinch of MSG to enhance the flavour. Keep stir-frying.
Turn off the heat and add in the spring onions and chillies.
Give thanks to the Lord.
Serve in a bowl and eat with chopsticks and a spoon.
Final thoughts
This post is a quickie; please let me know what you think.
How are you this week? I had a fabulous week. Spiritually, personally, and professionally, it’s been a great week.
It’s been a weird week weather-wise in Canberra. Some days have been warmer than expected, and other days it’s been windy and cold. My gut is telling me we’re really into the autumn run and temperatures and humidity are about to plummet.
Sous vide lamb backstrap with pomegranate, mint, and coriander pumpkin mash plus curry roast cauliflower
Ingredients
Lamb backstrap (eye of the tenderloin)
Salt
White pepper
Ground cinnamon
Ground cardamom
Ground rosemary leaves
Ground nutmeg
Ground coriander seeds
Fresh coriander leaves
Fresh mint leaves
Frozen pomegranate arils
Kent pumpkin
Sour cream
Vegetable oil
Olive oil
Cauliflower
Curry powder
Instructions
Go to the supermarket or butcher and buy a piece of lambstrap.
When you get home dry the surface of the meat with absorbent kitchen paper.
In a small bowl or ramekin make a spice mix with the salt, pepper, cinnamon, cardamom, rosemary leaves, nutmeg, and coriander seeds. I mix with chopsticks because I’m Asian. 😉
Pour the spice mix onto a small tray and then season the meat by pressing the meat into the spice mix and cover the entire surface.
Place the seasoned meat into a vacuum bag and vacuum slea the bag.
Store the meat in the refrigerator for a few hours. Overnight storage would be better, but it’s not essential.
When it’s time to cook, turn the oven on to 180 °C (fan forced).
With a Chinese cleaver cut the pumpkin into chunks about the size of a squash ball or perhaps a little smaller.
With a paring knife, trim the stalk of the cauliflower but don’t remove it. The stalk is good. There’s nothing wrong with a firm stalk, it’ll be fresh and good to eat. If the stalk is limp then it’s probably not very good and no amount of paring will help.
Pour a little vegetable oil into the palm of your hand and rub your hands together and then rub each piece of pumpkin. Place the pumpkin onto a baking sheet.
Pour some oil over the cauliflower. You’ll need more oil because of all the added surface area on the cauliflower. Rubbing it on with your hands will help but don’t be stingy with the oil.
Sprinkle a generous amount of curry powder over the cauliflower and rub it on the cauliflower to smooth out any oily lumpy bits.
Put the cauliflower on the baking tray next to the pumpkin chunks.
Cook the vegetables until you can penetrate the pumpkin with the tip of a sharp paring knife and it slides in and out without any resistance. It should feel tight and not loose. Loose and sloppy means you’ve gone too far.
Heat the water bath to 55 °C (131 °F) and cook the lamb for 40 minutes.
Remove the lamb when it’s finished cooking.
Remove the meat from the vacuum bag and dry the surface with absorbent kitchen paper.
Heat a cast iron skillet and wipe the hot surface with some rice bran oil and sear the lamb.
Let the meat rest while attending to the vegetables.
Place the hot pumpkin into a bowl and mash them roughly with a fork.
Mix through some sour cream to make the mash a little more creamy.
Slice the meat to the thickness you desire.
Smear the mash over the dinner plate and place the slices of lamb on one side of the mash. On the other side, garnish the mash with some roughly torn mint leaves and coriander leaves. Add some pomegranate arils which will add a lovely sweetness to the mash. I think pomegranate arils also add an amazing visual appeal. It’s almost sensual. I wish I had got some dried flower petals to add but I didn’t want to drive to Kingston to buy some.
Place the roast cauliflower on the plate.
I would use a decent steak knife with this meal rather than a standard dinner knife.
Give thanks to the Lord.
Enjoy the meal.
How was the meal?
This dish was inspired by my girlfriend. She loves pomegranate and last weekend we enjoyed a slow-roasted lamb rump served with a pomegranate and mint salad. That dish was superior to what I cooked tonight. The slow-roasting process produces firmer yet still tender flesh. It also had more flavour through the meat itself.
The seasoning I used was distinctive and I could taste it with each mouthful but I think I prefer last weekend’s rump over the backstrap.
All that said, this was still pretty good and I’ve sequestered half of it to the refrigerator for another meal.
Final thoughts
Do you like pemegranate arils in a dish?
How thick do you like to slice your meat?
How was your week?
Sous vide lamb backstrap with pomegranate, mint, and coriander pumpkin mash plus curry roast cauliflowerSous vide lamb backstrap with pomegranate, mint, and coriander pumpkin mash plus curry roast cauliflowerSous vide lamb backstrap with pomegranate, mint, and coriander pumpkin mash plus curry roast cauliflower
Happy Canberra Day! Canberra is 109 today. We get a public holiday on Monday, but I’m on-call this weekend, so I’m hoping for not too many calls.
I planned to complete my annual CPDP submission today, but I had a huge lunch, and I’ve felt bloated all afternoon. It’s also stimulated the gas-forming bacteria in my microbiota. There’s a lot of gas formed from glucose metabolism in my enteric bacteria, especially those in the Order: Enterobacterales.
I’m just a simple bloke, so focussing and farting is not something I can do together. I elected instead to watch a movie on Netflix called The Ice Road starring Liam Neeson. If you like suspenseful drama, it’s worth viewing.
In other news today, I bought a new oven which cooks with microwave radiation. The old model was only 13 years old and developed a problem. The only keys I could use were the number 3 and the start cook button. I’ve been cooking things for 33 seconds, 3 minutes and 33 seconds for the last few months. The new oven is a 1000 W Samsung. Appliances don’t last very long these days.
Ingredients
Chicken thigh
Sourdough bread
White onion
Tinned tomatoes (Mutti)
Capers
Olives
Pickled jalapeño peppers
Olive oil
Worcestershire sauce
Cooking sherry
Red wine
Basil
Instructions
Ideally the chicken thigh has been seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper and then vacuum sealed to flavours at least hours beforehand.
Peel and quarter a white onion.
Sweat the onion in a skillet with some vegetable oil. As the onion takes on some colour, add some cooking sherry and then some Worcestershire sauce until the onion begins to caramelise a little.
Add in a small tin of tomatoes and simmer.
As the sauce thickens a little add in the capers, olives, and pickled jalapeño peppers.
Simmer with some stalks of basil and then add a good glug of red wine and simmer.
Turn on the toaster oven to as high as possible.
Lubricate the surface of a baking sheet with some vegetable oil.
Place a piece of sourdough bread in the middle of the baking sheet.
Pour some olive oil over the bread so in the oven it’s like it’s “frying” the bread.
Remove the seasoned chicken thigh from the vacuum sealed bag and place it on the lubricated bread.
Place the bread and chicken into the hot oven and cook on high heat for 10 minutes and then turn the heat down to a low heat and keep cooking for a further 20 minutes.
When the chicken is cooked, remove it from the oven and let it rest for about five minutes.
Place the chicken and toasted/“fried” bread in an shallow bowl and then spoon the tomato sauce around it.
Use a serrated steak knife to eat this because the bread will be stiff and hard.
Give thanks to the Lord and enjoy.
Thoughts on the meal
I cooked the chicken perfectly! It was still succulent and juicy. There was an abundance of juices oozing out from the folds of flesh as I penetrated it with my knife.
The sauce was pretty tasty; I like the acidity of the pickled jalapeño peppers along with the olives and capers. I forgot to add some Swiss brown mushrooms I’d also bought for this meal. The acid cuts through the oil and the chicken fat.
I know I said last week I was trying to reduce my meat consumption. I haven’t forgotten, and I have loved ones reminding me of my health. I’m grateful to them for looking out for me ❤️
Final thoughts
Do you ever cook meat over oil soaked bread?
Does it annoy you when you go somewhere for breakfast and they serve toasted sourdough which is stiff as a board and give you a butter knife?
How has your week been?
How long have you been using your microwave oven?
Roast chicken thigh and tomato-based sauceRoast chicken thigh and tomato-based sauce
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