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My first Jack in the box meal

Posted by Gary
The Yummy Lummy Cooking for one podcast
My first Jack in the box meal
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I was reminded by a friend today that Jack in the box is best known to microbiologists because of an outbreak of Escherichia coli infection caused by the O157:H7 strain in 1993 which infected 732 people. I’ll let you know if I feel crook.

We started with a quick breakfast at the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf in Honolulu. I had a smoked salmon bagel with cream cheese. It was pretty nice. 

Smoked salmon bagel with cream cheese
Smoked salmon bagel with cream cheese

We left Honolulu today with this view from the Aqua Waikiki Wave hotel. It looked cloudy but it was a beautiful day. #warmandmoist 

Morning view from Aqua Waikiki Wave hotel on Friday morning.
Morning view from Aqua Waikiki Wave hotel on Friday morning.

After picking up a Hertz rental car (Chevrolet Impala—please don’t tell my Holden loving friends that we were forced to drive a General Motors heap with a 3.6 L V6 which I assume is used in commodes back home) we drove up the scenic east coast of Oahu. It was a beautiful drive punctuated with great spots to stop and take in the view.

The view from Diamond Head beach park
The view from Diamond Head beach park
The view from the Hãlona Cove Blowhole lookout
The view from the Hãlona Cove Blowhole lookout
The view from the Hãlona Cove Blowhole lookout
The view from the Hãlona Cove Blowhole lookout

For lunch we stopped in at Waimãnalo and ate at a Jack in the Box. I had a Jack’s spicy chicken sandwich and some delicious stuffed jalapeño peppers. Despite bad history with Escherichia coli I was pretty happy with my meal. The staff were really very friendly.

Jack in the box Jack's spicy chicken burger
Jack in the box Jack’s spicy chicken burger
Jack in the box Stuffed jalapeño peppers
Jack in the box Stuffed jalapeño peppers

We kept driving north and stopped at the Foodland in Lã’ie for supplies. You can tell what I aimed for.

I found spam
I found spam

I periscoped this short movie clip. I’m sorry about the poor quality. I was so excited to see so much spam and corned beef. Did you see the size of the can of corned beef. 

 

 

I did buy some spam. I leave it as a surprise what flavours I bought. I only got two cans.

I love how white these eggs are
I love how white these eggs are
If you love eggs like I do I reckon 18 eggs in a carton is brilliant. Gee I love America.
If you love eggs like I do I reckon 18 eggs in a carton is brilliant. Gee I love America.
Look at all the Processed cheese!
Look at all the Processed cheese!
Yay for Plastic bags. hawaii is not a nanny state like the Australian Capital Territory. Plastic shopping bags are so useful and can be used multiple times.
Yay for Plastic bags. hawaii is not a nanny state like the Australian Capital Territory. Plastic shopping bags are so useful and can be used multiple times.
I nearly bought this Spam T-shirt. I may go back and buy it.
I nearly bought this Spam T-shirt. I may go back and buy it.

After we settled in to our condominium we went for dinner at Kahuku Grill in Kahuku. This place was really good. It was laid back and the staff were extra friendly. The meals weren’t too big and definitely not too small. I had a delicious “Deep bleu” burger with extra pineapple. The beef was juicy and tender, the cheese had a great tang to it. I love pineapple on a burger. The only thing that would make it fair dinkum would be some beetroot and a fried egg. 

The only negative was the lack of lighting. I had to turn the ISO up to 128,000 and shoot wide open at f/2. I kept the shutter speed at 1/40 seconds. It’s a grainy and blurry and the depth of field is way too narrow. Trust me when I say it looked really good and tasted even better 

The Deep Bleu ay Kahuku Grill, Kahuku Oahu with added pineapple.
The Deep Bleu ay Kahuku Grill, Kahuku Oahu with added pineapple.

Have you eaten Jack in the box? Do you like stuffed jalapeño peppers?

Sunday salmon and streaky bacon

Posted by Gary
The Yummy Lummy Cooking for one podcast
Sunday salmon and streaky bacon
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I had a piece of salmon and some streaky bacon that needed eating

I made mistake tonight. I started with my piece of Sunday salmon and thought I’d dust it with some flour. Then I remembered the bacon I needed to eat. I chucked that into the bag with the salmon and flour and ended up with a ghostly white piece of salmon and dusty streaky bacon. At that point I should have changed my mind from baking and gone to frying in a little oil with a lid on the frying pan to moisten the Sunday salmon. Instead I went with my first thought and didn’t think it through. A bad mistake. 

I served the Sunday salmon and bacon with some coleslaw that had been mixed with leftover quinoa that had been cooked in chicken fat and added some jalapeño pepper and red chilli.

The inside of the flesh of the salmon was fine, in fact it was moist and nicely cooked. The yuck factor was the skin. It was floury. The bacon also was dry instead of dripping with fat like it should. A wholly unpleasant experience. I ate the salad and the proteins together to try to improve the mouth feel. It worked but not for the Sunday salmon skin.

I stacked the bacon on the Sunday salmon hoping the fat would come through and moisten the salmon. It didn't, it just got absorbed by the flour.
I stacked the bacon on the Sunday salmon hoping the fat would come through and moisten the salmon. It didn’t, it just got absorbed by the flour.
Some of the streaky bacon slid off during the cooking.
Some of the streaky bacon slid off during the cooking.
In this photograph the streaky bacon looks quite anæmic as it sits atop the Sunday salmon.
In this photograph the streaky bacon looks quite anæmic as it sits atop the Sunday salmon.

So have you ever spoiled dinner?

I should have just been happy with lunch

Sunday #lunch is canned pink salmon with feta stuffed peppers, green olives, cream cheese and spinach leaves.
Sunday #lunch is canned pink salmon with feta stuffed peppers, green olives, cream cheese and spinach leaves.

and breakfast

Truffled poached eggs with potato cakes from Chatterbox espresso bar
Truffled poached eggs with potato cakes from Chatterbox espresso bar

The exciting thing this morning was a flyover of some balloons over Lake Ginninderra. The noise you can hear are my really noisy neighbours.

How I failed Heston Blumenthal

Posted by Gary

Regular readers know I watch Heston Blumenthal videos for cooking tips. I’ve also been boiling eggs for many years so how could I fail boiling a soft boiled egg?

Well I was watching the Heston Blumenthal episode on eggs. He mentioned a foolproof method of producing a soft boiled egg with luscious oozy yolk. I watched this on the #CanberraDay long weekend and went to make them but I couldn’t find egg cups. So yesterday after work I bought new egg cups in anticipation that this morning I’d have lovely soft boiled eggs.
 

 
There is also a description on the SBS site.

So the mistakes I made are:

  • My smallest saucepan with a lid isn’t small enough
  • My induction hot plate is just too slow to bring the water rapidly to 100 °C and not helped with the not so small saucepan

So I have some potential solutions:

  • Buy a smaller saucepan and experiment
  • Experiment with shorter cooking time
  • Use a small portable gas hotplate that I have
  • Experiment a lot and cook lots of eggs

 

This is what I ended up with. 

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I was so disappointed I had to have second breakfast

Caramel tart topped with Queensland nuts (Genus Macadamia)

Caramel tart topped with Queensland nuts (Genus Macadamia) from the Urban Bean Espresso Bar in Phillip. A delicious breakfast 

 

 

Today’s lunch was nice and colourful

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So tonight while watching #MKR I had #breakfastfordinner

Smoked salmon with avocado and a cheddar cheese omelet with spinach leaves, red chillies and jalapeño peppers. I also added a little cream cheese.
Smoked salmon with avocado and a cheddar cheese omelet with spinach leaves, red chillies and jalapeño peppers. I also added a little cream cheese.

I think this weekend I’ll look for a smaller saucepan with a lid and use my gas hotplate. 

Have you ever failed a celebratory chef’s recipe?

The American Dream at Ricardo’s Cafe

Posted by Gary

For me the American dream is owning a big block V8, preferably an Hemi big block. 

For this post though I’m referring to a mousse dessert from Ricardo’s Cafe in the Jamison Plaza in Macquarie.

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But more of that later in the post.

Before dessert comes dinner. When it comes to the American dream I also think of one of my favourite Americans, viz., Homer Simpson. One of Homer’s favourite things for dinner is a pork chop. I haven’t made a pork chop for ages. In Darwin I cooked them quite often. 

 

 

Here are some Homer quotes on pork chops http://simpsons.wikia.com/wiki/Pork_chops and http://www.royalbaconsociety.com/top-10-bacon-quotes-from-homer-simpson/

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So this is the pork chop I bought this afternoon. It had a nice strip of fat attached.

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This is the seed mustard and maple syrup coating I have ready for my pork chop.

The American Dream at Ricardo’s Cafe
 
Recipe Type: Dinner
Cuisine: Australian
Author: Gary Lum
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 1
Ingredients
  • Pork chop
  • Seed mustard
  • Maple syrup
  • Coleslaw
  • Coleslaw dressing
  • Fried shallots
Instructions
  1. Coat a pork chop on one side with the maple mustard
  2. Put into a oven at 250 °C for 10 minutes
  3. Turn the pork chop over and coat the other side with maple mustard
  4. Put back into the oven at 250 °C for 15 minutes
  5. Let the pork chop rest for 7 minutes
  6. Plate up with the coleslaw
  7. Shoot a photograph
  8. Eat the meal
  9. Wash the dishes
  10. Write the recipe
  11. Blog (verb)
 

 

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So here is the dish. It tasted pretty good.

Now it’s time for dessert and Ricardo’s cafe’s The American Dream!

I took a few photographs because it looked so good.

Ricardo's Cafe on Urbanspoon
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In the box

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I hope you enjoyed the photographs. I really enjoyed eating this dessert which consisted of peanut paste mousse and peanut paste brittle with a raspberry coulis in the syringe. It was amazing. If you live in Canberra and want to try this, Ricardo’s Cafe is an amazing place to enjoy breakfast, lunch or high tea. They also make great coffee and the thick shakes are to die for. 

So dear reader, what is your idea of the American dream? 

 

 

Is it possible to make quinoa more manly?

Posted by Gary

Fellas have you ever thought, is it possible to make quinoa more manly?

I asked a mate at work who I respect a lot and he said no. Well, that is, he said no after I thought I had made a decent attempt to make quinoa more manly.

I should say up front I do like quinoa. It has an interesting taste and I like cooking it and seeing the bright ring form that shines nicely when I’m focusing my lens on it. I also like it’s taste when it’s mixed with lemon juice and cooked in beef or chicken stock.

The other thing I like about quinoa is the toilet brush effect it has on my bowels. Every morning after a bowl of quinoa I feel cleaned out. I feel like it helps my irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

Oven baked salmon coated in panko and chilli flakes served with avocado on a bed of quinoa with brown onion gravy
Oven baked salmon coated in panko and chilli flakes served with avocado on a bed of quinoa with brown onion gravy | NIKON D7100 with 24.0-70.0 mm f/2.8 at 40mm and f/8, 1/80sec, ISO 400

So what did I do to try to make a man of my quinoa? I added some brown onion gravy. Doesn’t it look amazing? NOT!!! 

I was watching My Kitchen Rules while blogging and coincidentally the entrée from the blonde butchers was being referred to by a lot of tweeps as a turd on a plate. A tweep from Melbourne took a similar view on my meal and called it dog vomit. 

 

Fair enough, even I reckon it looks awful. It tasted good though.

It also reminded me of the Monty Python Cocktail Bar sketch.

Check out some of my quinoa handy work here