Oysters

Kangaroo Island

Posted by Gary

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Dear Reader,

Introduction

I hope you’ve had a good week. I’m now back in Canberra after spending nine nights in South Australia visiting Kathleen. Last week, it was Kathleen’s birthday. It was her daughter’s birthday this week and we went out for dinner. We also visited Kangaroo Island and spent three nights there.

How is the foot?

What’s happened this week?

The good news is that being away in South Australia did me good and my foot and knee while weak and limited feel good.

What have I been watching?

Star Trek Deep Space Nine and Star Trek Voyager

One of the amazing things about Kathleen is that she understands my enjoyment of Star Trek. There were times when we watched some Star Trek together and times when I watched while Kathleen was doing something else.

Restaurant reviews

The Meat and Wine Co

We went with Kathleen’s daughter out to dinner at the Meat and Wine Co. in Adelaide’s central business district.

It is a restaurant which features a lot of beef. The restaurant also does two different types of dry-aged steak. One is done the traditional way, and the other is butter dry-aged.

I went with a bone-in scotch fillet steak, which was traditionally dry-aged. It was a very nice piece of steak.

Kathleen decided to have chicken breast for dinner.

Dry-aged beef at The Meat & Wine Co.
I gnawed the rib
Chicken breast at The Meat & Wine Co.

Penneshaw Pub

View from Penneshaw Pub

We arrived on Kangaroo Island on Tuesday and on arrival enjoyed lunch at the Penneshaw Pub.

We shared six oysters. Kathleen enjoyed some rare tuna and I had some lovely lamb cutlets.

Tuna at Penneshaw Pub
Lamb cutlets at Penneshaw Pub
Oysters at Penneshaw Pub

For dinner, we called around a few places and couldn’t get a table so we returned to the pub for our evening meal.

Kathleen had crispy skin salmon while I had a T-bone steak. We shared another six oysters too.

I decided to make my meal a reef and beef.

Oysters at Penneshaw Pub
Salmon at Penneshaw Pub
T-bone steak at Penneshaw Pub
T-bone steak and oysters at Penneshaw Pub

The house we stayed in had a fully equipped kitchen with both a wood stove and oven plus a gas stove and oven.

This meant I could scramble eggs in butter each morning for breakfast.

Kangaroo Island Fresh Seafoods

We spent the morning in Kingscote and decided to try some fish at Kangaroo Island Fresh Seafoods. This place it collocated with a servo (that’s Australian slang for petrol station). We both asked for flathead fillets. Mainly, because we knew that flathead being a cartilaginous fish like a shark or a ray wouldn’t have bones.

The flat head was okay. I had mine grilled while Kathleen’s was crumbed. Unfortunately, the fryer the restaurant uses for battered fish wasn’t working.

Crumbed Flathead fillets grilled from Kangaroo Island Fish and seafood
Flathead fillets grilled from Kangaroo Island Fish and seafood

Drakes steaks

For dinner we bought some scotch fillet steaks from Drakes. Drakes is a local independent supermarket in South Australia. The steaks looked great in the packaging and cooked nicely that evening. We also bought some blue cheese and goat cheese and enjoyed it with the steak.

Scotch fillet steak

The Oyster Farm Shop

On Thursday lunch was a seafood platter (also known as the Aquaplatter) from the oyster farm shop in American River.

The term aquaplatter niggled my brain because aqua normally refers to fresh water while marine normally refers to sea water.

The platter had oysters, prawns from Port Lincoln, King George whiting, smoked salmon wings, pippis in butter and garlic, plus some condiments.

The platter was okay to good. It was the first time Kathleen and I have eaten pippis. I’m not convinced I’d have them again.

We were told the oyster season finished that Thursday, so we were pleased to enjoy the last of the oysters.

Aquaplatter at the Oyster Farm Shop American River

Reflections Mecure Kangaroo Island Lodge

There was a Mecure Hotel near where we were staying and we decided to have dinner that the hotel’s restaurant on Thursday night.

This was partly because at dusk, kangaroos were likely to be out and about. On the Tuesday night we’d seen a large roo hop across the road in front of us as we were driving to Penneshaw.

Kathleen is an experienced and expert driver in regional and remote areas. Experience and expertise also mean, don’t put yourself at increased risk if you can avoid it.

Kathleen enjoyed the Lamb Rogan Josh, while I thought the rump steak was okay.

Lamb Rogan Josh at Reflections Mecure Kangaroo Island Lodge
Rump steak at Reflections Mecure Kangaroo Island Lodge

Fat Beagle Coffee Shop

On Friday morning, Kathleen enjoyed brunch at the Fat Beagle Coffee Shop. She enjoyed the breakfast hot dog which featured sriracha sauce and jalapeño peppers. Kathleen also had the vanilla slice which she said was possibly the best she’s ever had.

One of the best things about Kathleen is her love for a vanilla slice which equals my love for them too.

View of Port of Pelicans
View from Penneshaw Pub
Baudin Beach Kangaroo Island

Kathleen’s Kitchen

On Friday, we took the ferry home to Cape Jervis and drove back to Adelaide. Kathleen had purchased tickets for a show at the Adelaide Fringe. Prior to the show, we needed to eat, so Kathleen put some beef short rib fingers into her pressure cooker, and we enjoyed a plate of beef rib meat, cheese, cream cheese, pâté, and avocado, plus some butter.

Beef short rib

The show that Kathleen took me to was very funny.

Final thoughts

  • It was a fabulous holiday. The best ever.
  • I even slept better than I have in years. I was able to get between five and six hours most nights while I was away.
  • Holidaying with Kathleen is awesome.
  • If you don’t have someone Kathleen, it’s still worth visiting Adelaide and Kangaroo Island.
  • While the food was mostly good, I think Kangaroo Island is less food destination and more for the flora, fauna, and environment.
Kangaroos on Kangaroo Island

Disclaimer and comments

This post and other posts on this blog are not medical or health advice. I’m sharing my personal experiences from my lived experience. My opinions remain mine.

For health advice, see your regular medical practitioner. For diet advice, consult with appropriately registered professionals.

Baudin Beach Kangaroo Island

Picanha and oysters with hollandaise and crispy kale

Posted by Gary

Jump to the recipe and skip the introduction. 

Introduction 

Dear Reader, 

I hope you enjoyed good health and eating last week. 

What have I been reading?

I’m close to the end of Gary Taubes’ Good Calories, Bad Calories Fats, Carbs, and the Controversial Science of Diet and Health(1). It is a very long book at 640 pages or 25 hours and 35 minutes of listening time. The basic summary is that calories are not all created equally. As a unit of energy, a calorie is consistent; however, the form of the calorie is critical. A calorie of fat will not stimulate the elaboration of insulin like a calorie of sucrose will. Gary advises we must not agree to the thermodynamic equation for weight loss and obesity management. The message is that simply reducing the calories in and increasing the calories out will not always work. The biological effect of that calorie must be considered. Moreover, calorie restriction without restricting carbohydrates will result in constant hunger and craving. Having listened to CASE FOR KETO: the truth about low-carb, high-fat eating(2), Taubes advocates for low-carbohydrate, healthy fat eating.

I’ve also started reading a new 426-page textbook. I am reading this book rather than listening because it’s unavailable as an audiobook. Ketogenic: the science of therapeutic carbohydrate restriction in human health(3) is for health practitioners, including medical practitioners, nutritionists, and professionals in related fields. I wouldn’t ordinarily read a textbook cover to cover (Apart from Pathologic Basis of Disease(4)), but this is a book I’ll likely read comprehensively.

A new low for me 

One of the unintended consequences of transitioning from the CSIRO TWD to a low carbohydrate, healthy fat eating way of living is a new minimal mass. I do not intend to lose more weight, but this week of low carbohydrate, healthy fat eating has had that effect. This meal will hopefully add some weight.

I know the body mass index (BMI) is an imperfect tool, but in my opinion, while crude, it is useful. I currently sit in the healthy weight range but at the upper limit. When I looked at the numbers, I could remain in a healthy weight range and lose another five kilograms. If I keep losing weight, seeing how it makes me feel will be interesting.

Weight Chart 20230729 This spans 2022 and 2023. The horizontal lines are 1 kg increments.

Glucose monitoring

I’m toying with getting a glucometer and measuring my blood glucose after each meal. I’m curious to compare such measurements with a specimen collected on getting out of bed.

Picanha steak

For the first time, I’ve seen Picanha in the supermarket. Picanha is a cut of beef that is popular in Brazil.

Beef cuts Brazil.svg
From wikipedia

The most well-known proponent of picanha on the internet is probably Guga from Guga Foods and his other channel, Sous Vide Everything.

Here is an old video of Guga discussing what he describes as the Queen of Steak.

Recipe 

Equipment 

  • Air fryer
  • Microwave radiation oven
  • Stick blender

Ingredients 

  • Oysters 
  • Picanha steak
  • Lime juice
  • Iodised salt (flaky)
  • Kale
  • Egg yolks – 3
  • Curry powder – 1 teaspoon
  • Apple cider vinegar – 1 tablespoon
  • 100 mL of melted butter

Instructions 

  1. Dry the surface of the meat with a paper towel and lightly season with salt.
  2. Wash the kale leaves.
  3. Put some wet kale leaves into the base of a baking dish and then place a trivet for the steak over it.
  4. Cook the steak (and kale) in an air fryer for five minutes on each side (of the steak) at 180 °C.
  5. Make a hollandaise sauce with the stick blender.
  6. Lay the crispy kale onto a plate and place the steak on it. Add some oysters in shells.
  7. Season the oysters with lime juice and flaky iodised salt.
  8. Pour the hollandaise sauce into a ramekin and use it as a dipping sauce or spoon some over the steak, oysters, and kale.
  9. Give thanks to the Lord. 
  10. Eat with a steak knife and fork. 

Thoughts on the meal 

I know what you’re thinking. Yes, I could have had more vegetables.

The steak was good, and the oysters were plump, firm, and fresh. It all worked well together.

I have no complaints.

Final thoughts 

  • Would you acquire a glucometer to measure your blood glucose?
  • Have you tried picanha steak? What did you think?
  • Do you like oysters?

Photographs 

Air fryer picanha with oysters and hollandaise sauce on a bed of crispy kale
Picanha (I discarded the chimichurri sauce).
Picanha and kale
Pacific Ocean oysters and hollandaise sauce
Pacific Ocean oysters and hollandaise sauce
Air fryer picanha with oysters and hollandaise sauce on a bed of crispy kale

Bibliography 

  1. Taubes G. 2008. Good calories, bad calories: fats, carbs, and the controversial science of diet and health. Anchor, New York.
  2. TAUBES G. 2022. CASE FOR KETO: the truth about low-carb, high-fat eating. GRANTA BOOKS, S.l.
  3. Noakes T. 2023. Ketogenic: the science of therapeutic carbohydrate restriction in human health. Academic Press, an imprint of Elsevier, London.
  4. 2021. Robbins & Cotran pathologic basis of disease Tenth edition. Elsevier, Philadelphia, PA.