Chip crusted eye fillet steak with mustard potato mash

Posted by Gary

Chip crusted eye fillet steak with mustard potato mash.

Red Rock Deli Lime & Black Pepper Potato Chips

Do you like crunchy textures in your mouth? When it comes to steak, most people want a tender bite and beefy flavour. Mum used to make crumbed steak when I was a young fella. It was so good that I would spit on the spare one which Mum always cooked, so my two younger brothers wouldn’t want it. Yes, I was a very naughty boy. Some might say, I still am! 😉

Ingredients

  • Eye fillet steak
  • Rock salt (in a grinder)
  • Whole black peppercorns (in a grinder)
  • Red Rock Deli Lime & Black Pepper potato chips (1 bag, crushed with a food processor)
  • Dijonnaise mustard
  • Birds Eye potato mash (with butter)
  • Wholegrain mustard

Instructions

Steak

  1. Go to the supermarket and look for the cheapest eye fillet you can find. There’s no point going for a super expensive steak because this meat will be cooked under a vacuum in a water bath (sous vide).
  2. When you get home, and after you’ve made an excellent strong (Atlas blend) coffee in caffettiera, season your meat with liberal quantities of freshly ground rock salt (iodised, of course) and black peppercorns.
  3. Seal your meat in a vacuum bag and refrigerate and go about your day. For example, I went for a lovely walk around Lake Ginninderra and admired God’s wonder in the beautiful autumn leaves.
  4. When you’re ready to think about dinner seriously, heat a water bath to 54 °C and put the steak into the water bath and cook for about 2 hours and 10 minutes.
  5. After cooking, remove your perfectly cooked meat from the water bath, open the bag, and dry your meat with absorbent kitchen paper.
  6. Sear your meat in a cast-iron skillet or use a torch. Avoid basting with butter (yea, I know this sounds heretical for regular readers who know my unparalleled devotion to butter, but there is a purpose to my madness). You want the seared surface to be relatively dry.
  7. With a kitchen brush (yeah, not a bathroom brush), apply a coat of dijonnaise mustard to the outer surfaces of your meat. Then dab your sticky beef into a bowl of crushed potato chips.
  8. Set aside or, if you prefer, sequester your meat to somewhere warm and moist but not too humid. You don’t want the chips to get too soggy quickly. 
Autumn trees on Lake Ginninderra

Potato mash

  1. Remove the package from the freezer.
  2. Note the instructions to cook using microwave radiation for 2 minutes and 30 seconds. Also, note the microwave radiation oven doesn’t have a functioning 1 or 2 button, so do some mental arithmetic to calculate a two-step cooking process. Make a note to buy a new microwave radiation oven, given this one is nearly 14 years old. 
  3. When you have ceased to irradiate the potato mash, allow the package to stand for one minute.
  4. Open the packet and transfer the potato mash to a warm bowl. Stir through a tablespoon of wholegrain mustard for an added bit of flair!

Plating up

  1. Transfer the mustard-flavoured potato mash to a warmed dinner plate.
  2. Place the potato chip crusted steak atop the potato mash.
  3. Serve with green vegetables.

Final thoughts

It’s not a meal to write home about, but it will do.

If you live alone, you can make a slightly pretentious and fancy meal out of steak and potato. Please give it a go and let me know what you think.

You don’t need to cook sous vide either. Eye fillet pan-fries very well and will be tender.

  • Red Rock Deli Lime & Black Pepper Potato Chips
  • Crushed Red Rock Deli Lime & Black Pepper Potato Chips
  • Dijonnaise and Wholegrain mustards
  • Chip crusted eye fillet steak with mustard potato mash
  • Chip crusted eye fillet steak with mustard potato mash
  • Chip crusted eye fillet steak with mustard potato mash

Gary makes eggplant parmigiana

Posted by Gary

Gary makes eggplant parmigiana.

Eggplant Parmigiana with steamed broccolini
Eggplant Parmigiana with steamed broccolini

Backstory

I’ve never made eggplant parmigiana before. I don’t think I’ve eaten eggplant parmigiana before. I know I’ve eaten chicken and veal parmigiana before, which probably reflects my primarily carnivorous mindset. 

I was at a work lunch recently, and a friend asked for a chicken parmigiana. When it arrived, it was bigger than my head (and I have a large noggin).

Photograph of eggplants at the supermarket
Photograph of eggplants at the supermarket

GC, my amazing Italian friend, has shared photos many times of eggplant parmigiana made by her hands. I asked about a recipe, and GC shared a blog post from Silvia Colloca, an Italian-born Australian opera singer, YouTube content creator, and TV celebrity.

When I visit Brisbane, SBS Food is often on the TV, and I’ve seen Silvia’s show many times and enjoyed the way she presents her food.

The blog post, while instructive, wasn’t written as a recipe per se, so I sought extra instruction from GC, which she generously shared.

So, armed with all the information I thought I needed, I went to Coles and purchased everything I needed.

Ingredients

  • Eggplants—choose the girthy ones rather than the pencil-thin ones.
  • Salt—If you’ve read my previous posts, you know why I always use iodised salt. Don’t believe the people who claim iodised salt is terrible for you. These individuals have no idea of what damage they are doing to society.  
  • Vegetable oil—this is for frying the dry eggplant slices. I bought home-brand sunflower oil. I’d appreciate any guidance on whether readers feel this isn’t the best oil to use. I figure it has a higher vapour point than extra virgin olive oil, and I don’t want a bitter taste associated with overheating the oil.
  • Mutti passata—I bought a 700-gram bottle as per GC’s advice.
  • Garlic cloves—I bashed them and left the skins on. 
  • Fresh basil—leaves and stems.
  • Shallot—1 chopped finely.
  • Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
  • Mozzarella cheese—GC recommended La Casa Del Formaggio as per GC’s advice.
  • Parmigiano reggiano cheese
  • Black peppercorns—For the most lively flavour on your tongue, I always try to grind the peppercorns just before adding them to a dish. 

Instructions

Eggplant

  • Wash the eggplants (or aubergine—you fancy pants!) with tap water. You should wash all your vegetables to free them of dirt, potential pathogens, and to dilute potential toxic chemicals on the surface of your vegetables.
  • With a sharp cook’s knife, slice the eggplants longitudinally. I did ask GC whether it would be best to cut circular discs; however, GC cuts along the long axis of the eggplant. Who am I to question the master!
  • Layout the sliced eggplant on a tea towel, and then add a liberal amount of salt to each slice. Leave the pieces for about ten minutes, and then using a paper towel, wipe off the accumulated moisture and wet salt.
  • Turn the slices over and repeat the salting and drying. The aim is to get your eggplant as dry as possible. You don’t want it moist. Frying wet food is dangerous, and you don’t want a problematic eggplant! This step also minimises any bitterness in your eggplant. After all, you want a nice dry eggplant with good taste and mouthfeel. I did watch a few YouTube videos of Italian cooks and chefs making eggplant parmigiana, and many of them sat weights on the slices to actively squeeze more water out. This eggplant squeezing looked like a lot of hard work.
  • Some people suggest dusting the dry eggplant with flour. Some people even suggest dusting with flour and then dipping it into a beaten egg. GC doesn’t do this. So, I don’t do it.
  • Heat the vegetable oil in a wok. Yes, I use a wok because a wok is safer for working with hot oil. I wouldn’t use a vertical side saucepan or skillet. When using this sort of cookware, hot oil can “climb” up the sides and results in more dangerous hot oil splatter. I’ve burnt myself too many times. 
  • To test the temperature of the oil, drop a little bit of eggplant skin into the oil. If it bubbles on landing in the oil, you should be good to start.
  • I took the time to measure the temperature so I’d know for next time. The temperature of the oil was 170 °C.
  • Fry the eggplant slices in small batches to avoid the oil temperature falling, resulting in the eggplant absorbing oil rather than being fried quickly.
  • When the eggplant slices are golden brown, remove them from the hot oil with chopsticks (after all, you’re cooking in a wok) and lay each piece onto an absorbent paper towel. Doing this will soak up excess oil.

Tomato sauce (Sugo)

  • In a saucier pan (yes, okay, I’m fancy, I have an excellent saucier pan, you can use a saucepan or skillet), gently fry off the bashed garlic with the skin on, the chopped shallot, and the basil.
  • Add in the bottle of passata and gently simmer for 20 minutes, stirring the sauce occasionally. 
  • Set the sauce aside to cool.

Assembly of the eggplant parmigiana

  • Heat your oven to about 200 °C.
  • With a ladle, add some sauce to the bottom of a baking tray.
  • Add a layer of eggplant on top of the sauce.
  • Add thin slices of mozzarella on top of the eggplant.
  • Repeat the layering until you have finished.
  • Grate some Parmigiano Reggiano on top and place the baking tray into the oven for about 30 minutes.
  • On completion, remove the baking tray from the oven and allow it to rest for about 15 minutes.

Plating up

  • With a large serving spoon, cut out a portion on the eggplant parmigiana and place it on a warmed dinner plate.
  • Serve with some freshly steamed green vegetables.
  • Garnish with fresh basil.
  • Season with freshly ground black pepper.
  • Salted eggplant
    Salted eggplant
  • Tomato sauce with garlic, shallot, and basil
    Tomato sauce with garlic, shallot, and basil
  • Fried eggplant
    Fried eggplant
  • Sliced Mozzarella
  • Layering up the eggplant parmigiana
    Layering up the eggplant parmigiana
  • Eggplant parmigiana out of the oven
    Eggplant parmigiana out of the oven
  • Eggplant parmigiana out of the oven
  • Eggplant Parmigiana with steamed broccolini
    Eggplant Parmigiana with steamed broccolini

Dessert idea

After 15 months, I returned yesterday to working as an honorary visiting medical officer (VMO). I do this clinical work once a week to keep my specialist registration as a pathologist (microbiologist). 

It was great being back in my natural habitat and surrounded by pathologists, medical laboratory scientists, and trainees (known as registrars*). I love the banter of being with my colleagues; we laugh, we joke, and we dive deep into enjoying the wonder of the interactions between pathogens and humans.

One of the new trainees recommended a vegan ice cream. Her husband is vegan and so she has adopted many of his food preferences. It sounded perfect, so for dessert (as well as afternoon tea), I had an affogato made with vegan ice cream and Atlas coffee.

Dessert affogato with Vegan Connoisseur ice cream and Atlas coffee.
Dessert affogato with Vegan Connoisseur ice cream and Atlas coffee.

Final thoughts

  • Many posts I’ve read and YouTube videos I’ve watched suggest that leftover eggplant parmigiana tastes better than freshly cooked. I’ll let you know what I think in another post in the future.
  • As far as I’m concerned this was delicious. I think I may have used a little too much salt on the eggplant because it was saltier than I’d anticipated.
  • Have you made this dish before?
  • What’s the best oil for frying eggplant slices?
  • Would adding some slices of provolone cheese on the eggplant be inappropriate? I like the sharp bite of what has become one of my favourite cheeses (thanks, GC, for introducing me to all the great cheeses in life).
  • Can you describe in the comments below how you cook this dish?
  • I’ve heard some people say this is better than lasagna. Do you agree?
  • My next food project is making lasagna. I’ve never done that before. 
  • Shout out to best friends like GC who make life better and worthwhile. Praise God! 🙏

*a registrar is a (medical) doctor in training who is embarking on specialist training.

Thumbnail/Featured image of "Gary makes eggplant parmigiana"
Gary makes eggplant parmigiana

Slow cook Family Roast

Posted by Gary

Slow cook Family Roast

I wasn’t sure what to cook today. It’s a colder day and overcast with some poor weather in Sydney.

At Coles, I saw some short ribs, and then I saw what I assume is an eye fillet roll.

Slow cook roast beef in packaging
Slow cook roast beef in packaging

Ingredients

  • Slow cook family roast (1.5 kilograms of meat)
  • Carrots (diced)
  • Onions (chopped)
  • Celery (sliced)
  • Beef stock (1 Litre)
  • Cooking sherry (1 cup)
  • Mustard powder (2 teaspoons)
  • Worcestershire sauce (2 tablespoons)
  • Brussels sprouts (halved)
  • Horseradish cream
  • Broccolini
  • Baby green peas

Instructions

Meat instructions slow cook family roast

  1. Heat your oven to about 150 °C.
  2. Unwrap your meat from its tight plastic coating.
  3. Dry your meat with absorbent kitchen paper.
  4. Season your meat with lots of iodised salt and freshly ground black pepper.
  5. Prepare your carrots, onions, and celery and place them into the bottom of a large casserole.
  6. Place your seasoned meat onto the bed of carrots, onions, and celery.
  7. Pour in the litre of beef stock as well as the cooking sherry and Worcestershire sauce. 
  8. Add in the mustard powder.
  9. Place the lid on the casserole and put it into the oven for four hours.
  10. After four hours, remove the lid from the casserole and continue to cook for 45 minutes.
  11. Add the halved Brussels sprouts to the casserole around your meat and atop the hot fat rendering from your piece of meat.
  12. After 45 minutes, remove the casserole from the oven and rest your meat. Because your meat will be firm with heat, you want your meat to relax and loosen up for that perfect mouthfeel of fatty, juicy and moist meat on your tongue.
  13. Lift your meat from the casserole and place it into a shallow bowl and cover with aluminium foil for 15 minutes.
  14. Remove the Brussels sprouts and place them into another bowl.
  15. Once your meat has rested, dissect it along the muscle planes. Place the large muscle bundles into plastic containers for the refrigerator for future meals. 
  16. Place half of the Brussels sprouts into plastic containers, too, for future meals.
  17. Leave aside the fat cap, which has become crunchy on top during the final 45 minutes of cooking. You’ll notice the fat has rendered, and the remaining connective tissue has become crispy. The fat cap meat may be cooked well-done, but because of the amount of fat and the loose muscle fibre structure, this meat is not only tender but delicious.

Vegetable instructions

  1. Wash the broccolini and then saute in a skillet.
  2. Add the frozen baby green peas to the same skillet and some of the fatty meat liquid from the casserole and put a lid on the skillet for 3 minutes.

Plating up instructions for your slow cook family roast

  1. In a shallow bowl, spoon in the peas to act a comfy bed for your meat.
  2. Place your meat atop the peas.
  3. Place the broccolini next to the meat on one side of the bowl and the Brussels sprouts opposite.
  4. Add a large dollop of horseradish cream to your meat.

Final thoughts

  1. The taste was similar to a roast rump roast I did last year.
  2. What’s your favourite way of cooking large pieces of beef?
  3. What other vegetables do you enjoy with beef?
  4. Do you like horseradish cream?
  • Slow cook roast beef in packaging
    Slow cook roast beef in packaging
  • Slow cook roast beef sans plastic wrapping
    Slow cook roast beef sans plastic wrapping
  • Slow cook roast beef sans plastic wrapping
    Slow cook roast beef sans plastic wrapping
  • Slow cook roast beef seasoned with iodised salt and black pepper
    Slow cook roast beef seasoned with iodised salt and black pepper
  • Carrots Onions Celery
    Carrots, onions, and celery
  • 1 L of beef stock
    1 L of beef stock
  • Slow cook family roast cooked in a casserole with Brussels sprouts
  • Slow cook family roast resting
  • Slow cook family roast resting
  • Slow cook family roast resting
  • Slow cook family roast with horseradish cream, Brussels sprouts, broccolini, and baby green peas.
  • Slow cook family roast with horseradish cream, Brussels sprouts, broccolini, and baby green peas.
  • Slow cook family roast with horseradish cream, Brussels sprouts, broccolini, and baby green peas.

One pork knuckle gave me six meals

Posted by Gary

One pork knuckle gave me six meals.

On Saturday night, I cooked a pork knuckle for dinner and had enough leftover for four more meals. Here is what I did with that one pork knuckle for readers on a budget and cooking for one.


Saturday night

Pork knuckle with crackling on potato mash with green vegetables.

Pork knuckle with crispy crackling, potato mash, Brussels sprouts, and baby green peas.


Sunday dinner

Laksa-flavoured pork knuckle curry

Sunday tea. Laksa-flavoured leftover pork knuckle meat with coconut creamed rice and a side of broccoli.

Monday lunch

Pork knuckle meat with cherry tomatoes and cucumber.

Pork knuckle, cherry tomatoes, and cucumber

Tuesday dinner

Oven-cooked laksa-flavoured pork knuckle curry

Leftover oven-baked pork knuckle laksa-flavoured rice curry with asparagus and Brussels sprouts. Cooked in the oven to make the rice crunchy.

Wednesday lunch

Pork knuckle meat with cherry tomatoes and cucumber.

Pork knuckle Cherry tomatoes Cucumber Coffee

Wednesday dinner

Pork knuckle meat with a tomato-based sauce

Leftover oven-baked pork knuckle with tomatoes and bocconcini plus lentils and broccoli

A few nights working on Norfolk Island

Posted by Gary

A few nights working on Norfolk Island

I’ve just returned from a short trip working on Norfolk Island. I’ve now had three short trips to the island in three years. While I’m not at liberty to share what I was doing, I can share what I ate!

The first trip was in 2019. The second in 2020 before COVID-19 struck. I also shared some thoughts from my first trip here.

COVID-19 has impacted travel to and from the island, with Qantas taking over most flights instead of Air New Zealand.

Norfolk Pines all in a row!

No butter on Norfolk Island

We discovered soon after landing that there was no butter on the island. Because of COVID-19 freight supplies had become unreliable and there had not been a delivery of butter. While the island is replete with cattle, the cattle are for beef and not for dairy products. Prior to the legislative requirements for the pasteurisation of milk, there was an abundance of fresh milk, cream, and butter. Now, most island residents rely on UHT milk.

This meant my usual travel breakfast of Eggs Benedict was not possible without butter for the hollandaise sauce.

Monday dinner

“The Bowlo” The Bowling Club Bistro
Taylors Road, New cascade Road, Burnt Pine

Local Norfolk Island rump steak with prawns and chips. A steak knife would have helped, but the meat was very tasty and tender. I asked for medium rare, however, it was served medium. Not a disaster, because the meat tasted so good. The prawns were a great addition too.

Tuesday breakfast

The Olive Café
Taylors Road off Taylors Road, Burnt Pine

Fried eggs and toast with tomato chutney. Don’t be fooled, the yellow stain on the toast isn’t from butter.

Tuesday lunch

The Olive Café
Taylors Road off Taylors Road, Burnt Pine

A BLT with some of the best hot chips I’ve ever eaten. The chips taste and have a mouthfeel like they’ve been double cooked in beef dripping.

Tuesday dinner

The Garden Restaurant and Bar
70 Queen Elizabeth Avenue, Shortridge

The pork belly and vegetables were superb. However, the crackling was soft and limp. I enjoyed the sneaky Brussels sprout which you can see under the prism of pork.

Wednesday breakfast

Golden Orb Bookshop Café
Taylors Road, Burnt Pine

Bacon and a fried egg. Again, don’t be fooled by the yellow stain on the toast.

Wednesday smoko

Prinke eco store

36F Taylors Road, Burnt Pine

Prinke makes the best coffee on the island.

Photograph of the definition of the Norfolk Islander word Prinke. Gary Lum. Claire Quintal.
prinke

Wednesday lunch

Juddway
36 Taylors Road, Burnt Pine

A magnificent takeaway crab and prawn roll. Six solid inches of goodness. The bread roll was soft and fluffy and the prawns and crabmeat were fresh.

Wednesday dinner

Bounty Bar & Grill
Douglas Drive, Burnt Pine

Surf and turf! Local Norfolk Island scotch fillet cooked medium rare with calamari and deep-fried prawns. I amazed my work colleagues as I cleaned up my plate including the crunchy and delicious prawn heads and tails. I also scored the deckle meat from another work colleague’s scotch fillet. I had an amazing night.

Thursday breakfast

The Olive Café
Taylors Road off Taylors Road, Burnt Pine

Sitting outside and enjoying fried eggs and toast with tomato chutney again. Yep, don’t be fooled by the yellow stain on the toast.

Thursday lunch

This is a fresh kingfish ceviche made by a local St John Ambulance manager who is also a qualified chef. This was a magnificent lunch and a great last meal on the island.
This is a fresh kingfish ceviche made by a local St John Ambulance manager who is also a qualified chef. This was a magnificent lunch and a great last meal on the island.

Bowling Club Bistro

The Olive Cafe

The Garden Restaurant and Bar

Golden Orb Bookshop Café

Juddway

Bounty Bar & Grill

Prinke eco store

The damage

So, I know what you’re thinking, how much weight did Gary put on over the three nights away?

Would you believe I weighed in at roughly the same weight I left?

I know right! Pretty amazing. God is good. I think it comes down to the amount of standing and walking and other activity. At my regular job with all the teleconferences and video teleconferences it’s like I’m growing my COVID-19 arse like some sort of weird science experiment.

Final thoughts on Norfolk Island

  • Have you been to Norfolk Island?
  • What did you think?
  • Would you be able to cope for three days without butter?
  • What’s your favourite travel breakfast?

Acknowledgements

Work travel always requires support from work colleagues and I am always grateful for their help and assistance.