Avocado

Macaroni cheese with salmon and some Monday link love

Posted by Gary

If you liked my macaroni cheese with cheerios, here’s a recipe for an easy yet sophisticated macaroni cheese with salmon and some Canberra food blogger Monday link love.

Macaroni cheese with salmon and some Monday link love
Recipe Type: Dinner
Cuisine: Australian
Author: [url href=”http://garylum.me” target=”_blank” rel=”nofollow”]Gary Lum[/url]
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 1
Ingredients
  • Macaroni a handful
  • Salmon diced
  • Peas, corn and capsicum frozen
  • Cheese Coon grated and some grated parmesan
  • Cream a good dash
  • Curry powder
  • Panko bread crumbs
  • Spring onions
  • Avocado
Instructions
  1. Get everything ready in advance because you do this in a sequence
  2. Add the macaroni to boiling salted water
  3. Cook for about 4 minutes and add some curry powder (as much as you want)
  4. Add the diced salmon to the boiling water with macaroni
  5. Cook for a further 4 minutes and then add the frozen vegetables with the spring onions
  6. Drain everything and add it all to a bowl
  7. Add a dash of cream and stir through
  8. Add in the grated cheese until everything starts to stiffen up
  9. Transfer to a bowl and top with some more cheese and panko bread crumbs
  10. Grill until the cheese and bread crumbs brown
  11. Add some avocado to keep [url href=”http://www.notquitenigella.com/” target=”_blank” rel=”nofollow”]Not Quite Nigella[/url] happy
  12. Shoot a photograph
  13. Eat the meal
  14. Wash the dishes
  15. Write the recipe
  16. Blog (verb)

My Monday night dinner

Salmon and macaroni cheese with avocado
Salmon and macaroni cheese with avocado

My Monday breakfast

Crumpets with condensed milk for breakfast
Crumpets with condensed milk for breakfast

My view as I walked to Australia Post

Woden wind tunnel
Woden wind tunnel

I love my morning coffee from Urban Bean Espresso Bar

Coffee from Urban Bean Espresso Bar
Coffee from Urban Bean Espresso Bar

Monday link love from the Canberra Food Bloggers Facebook group

I hope you’re having a good Monday

 

Weekend recovery

Posted by Gary
Gary Lum Pialligo Estate streaky bacon
Pialligo Estate streaky bacon

A weekend recovery is what I needed. I’ve recently spent two weeks in Manila for work and ended up getting respiratory and gastrointestinal illnesses. Suffice to say I still have a hacking cough which has also given me a sore back and my bowels still feel a little delicate although I feel a lot better now that I can control what I’m eating and breathing fresh air.

On Thursday night I watched Maeve O’Meara on Food Safari on SBS and she did a segment on Pialligo Estate artisan bacon. It’s my favourite bacon. It’s also local bacon smoked in Canberra. I decided I buy some for the weekend.

Friday night I made myself chicken thigh schnitzel burger inspired by Hilah Johnson.

Gary Lum Grilled cheese chicken thigh schnitzel cheeseburger with avocado
Grilled cheese chicken thigh schnitzel cheeseburger with avocado

For Saturday breakfast I made myself a Pialligo Estate streaky bacon and fried egg roll.

Gary Lum Pialligo Estate streaky bacon
Pialligo Estate streaky bacon
Gary Lum Pialligo Estate streaky bacon and fried egg roll
Pialligo Estate streaky bacon and fried egg roll

For lunch I felt like some raw onion and coleslaw with cream cheese

Gary Lum Red onion with coleslaw in a cream cheese sandwich
Red onion with coleslaw in a cream cheese sandwich

For dinner I made a chicken schnitzel sandwich.

Gary Lum Chicken thigh schnitzel coleslaw and cheese sandwich
Chicken thigh schnitzel coleslaw and cheese sandwich

I felt well enough on Sunday to go for a walk around Lake Ginninderra

But for breakfast I had some melted cheese on toast

Gary Lum Melted cheese on toast
Melted cheese on toast
Gary Lum Lake Ginninderra
Lake Ginninderra
Gary Lum Cows on Lake Ginninderra
Cows on Lake Ginninderra
Portable toilet on Lake Ginninderra
Portable toilet on Lake Ginninderra
Gary Lum Man in the lake
Man in the lake
Gary Lum Lake Ginninderra
Lake Ginninderra

For lunch after I did my ironing and watched an episode of Star Trek TNG I made myself a Pialligo Estate streaky bacon cheeseburger

Gary Lum Pialligo Estate streaky bacon cheeseburger
Pialligo Estate streaky bacon cheeseburger

For dinner on Sunday I slowly roasted some blade beef with some quinoa and vegetables. I had enough left over for two more meals.

Gary Lum Slowly roasted blade beef with quinoa, carrot and onion
Slowly roasted blade beef with quinoa, carrot and onion

The meat just fell apart as I pressed down with my knife.

How often do you need a weekend recovery?

Monday link love

It’s been awhile since I’ve done this properly. Each Monday the members of the Canberra Food Bloggers Facebook group share blog posts. Today here is a selection of those shared.

 

Monday link love

Posted by Gary

Monday link love is something I have been doing on Monday posts for a couple of months. I usually add a list to the end of a post. Tonight I really didn’t have anything to write about so I figured I’d just call this post Monday link love.

Apart from my routine of adding links from our Canberra Food Bloggers Facebook group I wanted to mention a few blogs I’ve started following recently.

As a result of following Little Monster Girl I’ve gotten to know a few more bloggers who all follow Jennifer’s webcomic.

  • Travels with Choppy is Sarah’s story about her dog Choppy, her cat Schooner and her life
  • Jules Rules is Jules’ story about her rules of life and a new book she’s writing
  • Ana Calin’s Blog is Ana’s outlet for psychology quizzes and her fiction
  • Hyperion Sturm is an outlet for a cool blogger who writes about some dark aspects of life in fiction
  • Irene Design is Irene’s jewellery blog along with some photographs from Spain

Here are some posts from today’s link sharing from the Canberra Food Bloggers group

Of course I need to share some food photography of my own.

I started my morning with coffee

Microorganisms are essential to fine food like truffles. Great #coffee from Urban Bean Espresso Bar @asmicrobiology

A photo posted by Yummy Lummy | Gary Lum (@yummylummyblog) on

I had French vanilla almonds for morning tea

French vanilla almonds #lark filter #morningtea

A photo posted by Yummy Lummy | Gary Lum (@yummylummyblog) on

I had a toasted cheese and tomato croissant for lunch

 

For dinner I had a mammal-free Monday salmon salad with crunchy nuts

Photograph of Mammal-free Monday Salmon salad with crunchy nuts and a Bundaberg ginger beer for Monday link love
Mammal-free Monday Salmon salad with crunchy nuts and a Bundaberg ginger beer.

For dessert I had a minty milkshake with Milo

Photograph of Mint and Milo Milkshake for Monday link love
Mint and Milo Milkshake

Salmon salad with crunchy nuts

Posted by Gary

Salmon salad with crunchy nuts sounds delightful doesn’t it?

A photograph of Baked salmon mango avocado kale quinoa salad with crunchy nuts
Baked salmon mango avocado kale quinoa salad with crunchy nuts

In my opinion enjoying food isn’t just about taste but also texture and mouthfeel. I didn’t realise mouthfeel was a word until I started food blogging. When I was younger I really liked really crunchy (like crunchy nuts) and chewy (like nougat) foods but being a child of a less than enlightened government dental health policy in Queensland in the 1960s and 1970s, I never had the benefit of fluoridated water. That’s about my only complaint I’ll ever share about Queensland Government when I was growing up. Without fluoridated water, coupled with a stubborn refusal to obey my mother’s instructions to regularly brush and floss my teeth thoroughly, many of my teeth have cavities and fillings. I have three ceramic crowns and two gold crowns worth thousands of dollars not to mention about half of my teeth have had root canal treatments.

Sorry, back to mouthfeel. I like the smoothness of some mango in salad as well as the crunch of some nuts not to mention the creaminess of avocado. Tonight I enjoyed the soft warm flakey feel of just cooked Atlantic salmon along with the sweet tangy happiness of mango and the robust texture of some crushed crunchy nuts.

Do you like crunchy nuts?

Salmon salad with crunchy nuts
Recipe Type: Dinner
Cuisine: Australian
Author: [url href=”http://about.me/garydlum” target=”_blank”]Gary Lum[/url]
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 1
Ingredients
  • Atlantic salmon 1 fillet
  • Kale coleslaw 1 cup
  • Kensington Pride mango 1 diced
  • Hass Avocado 1 diced
  • Mixed nuts ¼ cup
  • Lemon zest and juice of one lemon
Instructions
  1. [url href=”http://bit.ly/perfectlybakedsalmon” target=”_blank”]Bake the salmon[/url]
  2. Make the salad
  3. I usually put the nuts into a small plastic bag and with a metal tenderiser I lightly crush the nuts
  4. Flake the salmon through the salad
  5. Plate up and shoot a photograph
  6. Eat the meal
  7. Wash the dishes
  8. Write the recipe
  9. Blog (verb)

Monday blogging link love

Today I wanted to share some links from the Canberra Food Bloggers Facebook group as well as some other bloggers I’m friendly with.

Little Monster Girl | Jennifer | I’ve done a shout out to LMG before. Jennifer remains one of my most engaged and engaging social media friends (across Twitter, Flickr and blogging). NSFW

Shenaniganagain | Rose | I’ve only just started following Shenaniganagain today. After I made a comment on a post by The Bloggess today, Rose liked my comment. I took a look and discovered Rose has irritable bowel syndrome. We shared a little about our dreams to fart with confidence.

Champagne and Chips | Nicole | I met Nicole at Eat Drink Blog 2015 in Canberra and have enjoyed reading her twice a week updates for some time.

Off centre and not even | Timothy | This is a photography blog that usually links to Timothy’s Zenfolio profile

 

From the Canberra Food Blogging scene

Michele | Tavern 42° South Hobart https://fineeating.wordpress.com/2016/01/12/tavern-42-degrees-south-hobart/

Anna | ’Art meets food’ at the Wedgwood Tea Room http://shenannagans.com/wedgwood-tea-room/

Rose | A typical Saturday in Canberra http://www.travelandbeyond.org/2016/01/14/saturday-in-canberra/

Bec | Patissez, Canberra City http://www.inexplicablewanderlust.com/patissez-canberra-city/

Elissa | Vegetarian pastry parcels with roast vegetables and goat cheese http://fivebeansfood.com/2016/01/17/vegetarian-pastry-parcels-with-roast-vegetables-and-goat-cheese/

Serina | $5 Friday: New Year’s diet Thai green chicken curry http://msfrugalears.com/2016/01/15/5-friday-new-years-diet-thai-green-chicken-curry/

How to make super delicious roast beef

Posted by Gary

How to make super delicious roast beef? It’s easy. Low and slow. I can guarantee tender tasty and succulent beef like you’ve never had before.

Last week I made some slowly roasted lamb shoulder and did a leftover roast lamb thing with my vacuum packaging machine (aka the Sunbeam FoodSaver).

I was speaking with Mum on Monday afternoon and she mentioned she had cooked a nice piece of blade. Blade is a cut that is often tough and chewy if it isn’t cooked properly. I wondered how it would go if I roasted it and then vacuum packed some of it. Well this is a part one and tonight I’ll focus on the first stage, i.e., the low and slow roasting.

How to make super delicious roast beef
Recipe Type: Dinner
Cuisine: Australian
Author: [url href=”http://about.me/garydlum” target=”_blank”]Gary Lum[/url]
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 1
Ingredients
  • Beef blade 500 g piece
  • Tricolour quinoa 100 g
  • Green peppercorns 1 tin
  • Garlic half a dozen cloves
  • Lemon zested and quartered, save the juice for the salad
  • Water
  • Star anise 2 stars
  • Mango
  • Avocado
  • Kale coleslaw
  • Spring onions
  • Brown onion 1 large one
Instructions
  1. Bring the blade to room temperature and heat the oven to 150 °C (300 °F)
  2. In a baking tray add 1 cm (½ inch) of water
  3. Add the tin of green peppercorns
  4. Add the garlic cloves (you may also want to add some ginger)
  5. Add the lemon quarters to each point of the baking tray
  6. Cut the onion in half and use as a trivet
  7. Add the meat and place it on top of the onion
  8. Season the meat with salt and pepper and add the lemon zest and star anise
  9. Cover with aluminium (not aluminum) foil and seal
  10. Place into the oven for 3 hours
  11. Once the meat is cooked allow it to rest for 20 minutes
  12. While the meat is resting, make the salad
  13. Dice the avocado and mango and add to the kale coleslaw
  14. From the baking tray remove and discard the lemon, garlic and star anise
  15. Drain the quinoa and peppercorns, keep the stock and put into the refrigerator
  16. Add a tablespoon of the tasty quinoa peppercorns to the salad and mix in with the lemon juice and some of the lemon zest
  17. Cut the meat into thirds
  18. Vacuum pack two piece of meat separately with half an onion each plus half of the remaining quinoa peppercorns in each
  19. Slice the remaining beef thinly
  20. Plate up the salad and add the meat on top
  21. Shoot a photograph
  22. In future try to remember to snapchat a photograph (yes my snapchat handle is yummy_lummy)
  23. Eat the meal
  24. Wash the dishes
  25. Write the recipe
  26. Blog (verb)
  27. Watch TV on Netflix

Here are some photographs of this afternoon’s endeavours.

A photograph of Blade beef fresh out of the refrigerator with a nice layer of fat
Blade beef fresh out of the refrigerator with a nice layer of fat. I’ll tell you know the fat was delicious.
A photograph of Preparing the baking tray with an onion, garlic, green peppercorns, lemon and tricolour quinoa
Preparing the baking tray with an onion, garlic, green peppercorns, lemon and tricolour quinoa
A photograph of Preparing slow roasted blade beef with lemon zest and star anise
Preparing slow roasted blade beef with lemon zest and star anise
Peppermint milkshake
Peppermint milkshake
A photograph Straight from the oven. Blade beef all nice and tender.
Straight from the oven. Blade beef all nice and tender.
A photograph of Sunday dinner. Roast beef with mango avocado kale quinoa coleslaw with lemon.
Sunday dinner. Roast beef with mango avocado kale quinoa coleslaw with lemon.

So sometime later I’ll thaw out a piece of vacuum packed beef, reheat it and then enjoy it. I’ll let you know what it’s like.

Have you got a favourite roast beef recipe? How do you cook it?