Italian

Okay, so it's been a while since my last post. Don't think I can keep up the daily thing. We've been building up to a milestone deadline at work, so other things have fallen by the wayside. Also, because of the milestone, my meals have been quick and simple.

D. and I have been eating a lot of Thai in Sydney. The food is better and cheaper than in Perth, and we have two sensational restaurants on our doorstep. Recently we've been missing good Italian, so, when D. got an Entertainment Book from a work colleague, the first thing we did was visit a good Italian place.

Aioli is at the bottom of Crown Street in Surry Hills, just a few minutes drive from our place. We had veal carpaccio for starters (served with roast beetroot and rocket, and drizzled with good olive oil) and a plate of white asparagus with gorgonzola sauce. D. had spaghetti vongole for her main (why, I ask you, when I've started cooking this at home) while I had handmade fettucini with slow-cooked duck, which was done with the aromatics and a marsala sauce. This dish was absolutely delicious, and we'll definitely be attempting it ourselves. I think D. ended up having half of it.

L. is in Sydney on the beginning of her big adventure, and has been staying with us. The girls have been eating out, and they tell me that the boat noodles at Thainatown are to die for. I'll be trying these soon!

Last night D. bought some excellent beef fillet, and asked me to make Beef Tataki, our old favourite. I rub the beef with olive oil, season with a bit of sea salt, and then cook in a very, very hot pan, for only a minute per side. It's then plunged into a bowl of ice water to stop it from cooking. I make a sauce of Tamari, Sake, Rice Wine Vinegar, palm sugar and finely sliced garlic. The beef is patted dry with paper towels and thinly sliced. The idea is to have a barbequed crust around the outside, while keeping it red and raw in the middle. The best of both world... flavour and texture. The beef is eaten cold with the vinegar sauce, some wasabe and some rice. Very nice.

Kha Soi

A lazy morning, then a bowl of kha soi at Thainatown. This dish is similar to laksa. It hails from northern Thailand. Soft noodles and crunchy dry noodles with curry soup, chicken, pickled vegetables and a squeeze of lemon over the top. Delish. Then it was home to finish the DVDs before heading off to The Vanguard in Newtown to see some new-age world-music jazz. We sat at a table and had dinner while watching the show. My duck, with roast beetroot and crispy grated potato, was sensational.

Catching Up

It's been a while. Very busy, so not much time to write. The day after the Uchi Lounge, D. and I ate at Spice Siam, our favourite Thai restaurant in Sydney, just a few blocks away from our place. I was working late, so we arranged to meet at the restaurant. D. arrived with two Coopers Sparkling longnecks under her arm, bless her. The food, as always, was superb.

The following night D. cooked some simple pasta (smoked oysters, pasta sauce and lots of fresh parsely) and we hired a bunch of DVDs. A nice, restful night in after a long week of work.

Saturday was spent shopping (we finally managed to get a credenza we like, and I got me a new set of Campers), with lunch at the Japanese place in the QVB, which someone had recommended us. Not fantastic, unfortunately. Dinner was at the Mahjong Lounge, which is not too far from our place. Quite delicious, especially the peking duck pancakes and the black sesame dumpling for dessert. They do mahjong dim sum on the first Saturday of each month, so I thing we'll be booking in for that.

Uchi Lounge

Very busy with work, so not much time to write the blog. After work we met up with Grace and some friends at the Uchi lounge for dinner. Very cool place, just a few steps from our building, but very small servings. Beef tataki is good, as is eggplant with white miso and parmesan. Grabbed a tub of cookies and cream for dessert.

Ditto

Worked late tonight... lots to do before the deadline. There was another serving of Laksa left over, so we dug into that for dinner. Afterwards D. watched her Crossing Jordan while I cooked up some spag bol in much the same way that I did the "open pie" t'other night. Double-browned the minced beef in the pan (to prevent it stewing, and to impart a nice meaty flavour). Then the aromatics, seasoning, the cooked beef and some beef stock and wine to deglaze. A bit of tomato paste, a tin of tomatoes and some chopped cherry tomatoes. Then some roasted cloves of garlic and some parsely. A few chopped chillis and a slow bubble, with a bit of sugar and salt to balance near the end. I've dished this up for our lunches tomorrow, because we're meeting up with some friends in the hip Japanese restaurant next door. Now off to read more E3 news (the Sony press conference is happening soon)...

Laksa

D. can make a wicked Laksa. Much better than what we got at the place serving the so-called "best Laksa in Sydney". It's not too complicado... she just uses a packet of Laksa powder (the same brand as the one we used for Cathy's Curry). This is fried with finely-chopped onion until it's smelling great, and then mixed with coconut milk and water. Chicken drumsticks are added, and, just before serving, spring onion, fish cake, tofu, prawns and bean sproats. The egg noodles are heated and put into deep bowls, and the soup ladled over the top (after making sure it's balanced, and maybe adding a bit of fish sauce and sugar to smooth it all out). Served with a head of fresh coriander and plenty of lemon for squeezing over the top.

We had trouble finishing our Laksa because Aladar and Deb visited for some gaming action, and brought along some snacks. We played Carcasonne and Digging, and Meteos on the DS. And we all got very excited with the recent 360 announcement (espesh Yak working on the music visualiser) and with the fake Revolution video. This is E3 week, and I'm like a five-year-old.

Open Pie

So last week, when we were shopping at the markets, I thought I'd cook something different. Saw a recipe for beef and red wine pie. The idea is you make it in a bowl, chuck some puff pastry over the top and cook it in the oven. Well, we don't really have any appropriate bowls, so I invented the idea of the "open pie" instead. It was delish.

Got out the trusty "Le Creuset", pumped up the gas and cooked half the cubed fillet steak in much the same way as we do for the shaking beef... really hot so it barbeques instead of stewing. When that was done, I did the other half (if I did both lots at once, it probably would have started stewing). Nice crusty beef layer in the bottom of the pot. In with a bit more olive oil and very finely chopped carrots and celery, and halved small brown onions. Stirred this around for a while, and all the bits of beef left in the pan stuck to and mixed with the veges. Then back in with the beef, a good grind of black pepper and some sea salt, then some beef stock and red wine. Chucked in heaps of fresh thyme leaves and left to simmer with the lid on.

After half an hour, chucked in some chunky potatoes (so they don't overcook). Got the puff pastry prepared... cut into triangles and brushed with egg, then into a hot oven. After fifteen minutes of cooking the stew, added some corn starch and left the lid off for the sauce to thicken. When it was done, spooned the mixture onto plates with plenty of gravy and a couple of triangles of golden puff pastry. The beef was juicy and tender... pink in the middle. The potatoes were firm, and has soaked up the flavours of the sauce. D. says "great presentation, delicious beefy-winey flavours". We ate the lot.

Spent half the day at work, getting ready for a dealine at the end of the month. D. still not well, she spent the day resting and reading. Off to Dim Sum in the morning with Grace, and then we're hoping that Aladar and Deb will drop in to play some board games in the arvo.

Ditto

D. not feeling too well, so we decided to eat and sleep early. Pretty lame for a Friday night, unna? There was just the right about of chicken, stock, coriander and spring onions left over from last night, and it was all pre-prepared, so chucking it all together was simple (although I had to fry up another batch of garlic oil, and make more dipping sauce). This time I added some white pepper to the soup, to make it even more delicious.

Chicken Macaroni Soup

I had a very late night working on my entry to the one-key comp, and I finally finished it! Download from http://rubyforge.org/projects/qlc/ if you want to give it a bash. D's best score is 56.

We've both had the sniffles, and the weather's getting colder and wetter, so it was a great opportunity to cook up a batch of our favourite soup. We got a fantastic chicken in Chinatown, but the poor little fella still had his head on, so I got busy with a big knife. This was boiled up with a chicken carcass and a whole lot of aromatics (brown onions, carrots and celery). In the meantime I prepared some sliced spring onions, some chopped coriander and some garlic oil.

After twenty minutes, the chicken is removed from the stock, its meat stripped off the bone, and the carcass added back to the stock to simmer a while longer. A batch of pasta is cooked... the type of pasta doesn't matter so much, provided that it's good at holding the soup (so shells or tubes I guess). The stock is strained, and then everything is dished up.

Starting with some pasta in the bottom of a big bowl, topped with some choice pieces of chicken, spring onion and coriander. Then plenty of ladles of the stock to fill the bowl (in our case, about six full ladles each). This is served with the garlic oil and a dipping sauce on the side (lemon juice, fish sauce and sliced chilli). Slurping down a full bowl of this comfort food is more than a meal, and we both feel that we've sweated out our colds in the process.

We've been eating this regularly since our London days, and it seems that each batch is better than the last. Yum!

Cathy's Curry

Got home late to find D. preparing dinner. I'd taken the chicken wings out of the freezer in the morning, and she was browning them in the pan. I got the job of peeling and slicing the small potatoes and onions. Yum... we haven't had this one for a while. When we lived in London with Cathy, our bestest friend, she cooked this one regularly, and we've been missing it. The trick is to get the right curry paste... it must be "Hup Loong" brand "Kari Kapitan". This is all cooked up in our trusty "Le Creuset" pot, with some coconut milk added. The sauce thickens and the flavours soak through the chicken and potatoes. After a good 30 minutes, the curry is served with plenty of coriander, rice, and a dipping sauce of finely chopped raw garlic, lemon juice, salt and white pepper. Although it could never live up to our fond memories of Cathy's Curry, it was might fine. And leftovers for lunch too... who could ask for more?

Shaking Beef

I've missed a couple of days of writing, so this will be quick. D. and I have been unwell, and I've been working hard on my entry to the one-key comp on Retro Gamer. Anyway, we cooked up a quick meal of shaking beef. D. cubed the fillet steak, set out some sliced tomato and cucumber on the plates, and made the dipping sauce and the rice. She then asked me to do the shaking. I got the pan really, really hot (i.e. put it on the biggest gas burner, on high, and wait a few minutes). Then a tiny bit of vegetable oil (which starts bubbling) and throw in half the beef. Shake the pan constantly so the beef doesn't stick or burn. It starts smelling like a BBQ almost straight away. After a minute or two, in with half the onion. Continue shaking until the onion is browned, then turn of the gas. In with a huge dollop of butter, quickly mix everything up before the butter starts burning, then onto the plate to be eaten straight away. Repeat for the second plate. Delish!

Leftovers

Canh Chua is even better the next day. We heated it up with some fresh prawns, added a bit of sugar (yesterday's was a bit too sour), a squeeze of fresh lime, coriander and Vietnamese basil, some chilli and fish sauce, and a fresh batch of garlic oil. It was so delicious... but now we're both nursing over-full bellies while D. watches Desperate Housewives and I polish my entry to the one-key competition.

Canh Chua

A good sleep in, waking up to find D. bringing me up a nice strong cuppa. What a good way to begin a lazy Sunday! Did the Guardian crossword in bed, called mum (it's Mum's Day) and wrote a shopping list. Thought we'd restock everything for the week at least. Went to the markets to pick up all our stuff, which included a live fish, which was scaled, cleaned, chopped into four pieces and into our bag only minutes after being fished out of the tank. Home to some lef over curry and then started to cook tonights dinner. This Vietnamese soup tastes so good and feels so healthy. We started by boiling up five chicken carcasses for the stock (they cost us a measly $1). To this we addad cabbage, tomatoes, pineapple, the fish, prawns, fried chicken wings, various herbs and tamarind paste. Served with a plentiful amount of garlic oil, a dipping sauce of cut chilli and fish sauce, and plenty of rice. Yum! Plenty left over, so methinks this will be tomorrow-nights dinner too.

Fish

Very seedy in the morning. Had a slow start to the day and a strong coffee before venturing down to the Surry Hills festival. It was overcast and cool. Starting to get really hungry, so stopped at a Turkish food stall for a plate of Gozleme. This is similar to a northern-Chinese pancake, filled with spicy minced chicken, spinach and fetta cheese, with a decent squeeze of lemon over the top. Delicious! D. bought herself a knitted top, and then it was off home, via Spice I Am on the way for a snack of Tom Yum noodle soup and Pad Thai. In the evening we went to David's party, but we were both so tired from the previous night that we couldn't do it justice. We left around ten o-clock when we found that we were both starting to phase out. On the drive home through Newtown we stopped off at another Thai restaurant for a whole deep-fried fish swimming in "four seasons" sauce (i.e. hot, sweet, sour, spicy for summer, autumn, winter, spring) and some beef salad. Home and to bed with a pot of peppermint tea, for a listen to Dirk Gently as we both drifted off into sleepy-bye-bye land.

Alcohol

A liquid diet tonight. We had our first "formal friday" at work. Instead of dressing in our regular jeans and t-shirts, we suited up. Our end-of-week programmer's meeting morphed into a corporate presentation, complete with a mystifying powerpoint presentation and a contest to see who could speak the phrase "going forward" the most often. Afterwards we headed off to a suit bar in the city, to mix with the lawyers and steal their women-folk. D. joined me there, and I fear that I had too much beer and vodka shots on an empty stomach. Dinner should have followed, but I was in no state to enjoy it, and I suffered all the way home. As I so often say in these situations, "never again"! And we've got a party to go to tomorrow. Oh, well...

Curry

A nice laksa for lunch from chinatown (with a wedge of lemon for squeezing over the top, and fresh chilli in fish sauce for balancing the flavour). Grabbed a few Cooper's long necks on the way home, and got the curry on again. D. came home and heated up a serving of the soup from the other night for starters (she was starving after going to the gym), and volunteered to make the chutney. Natural yoghurt, green chilli, finely chopped garlic, lime juice, salt, sugar and finely chopped coriander. This perfectly balanced the slightly sweet curry (due to those great carrots), and beer was the perfect beverage to wash it all down. Delicious, and plenty left over for Sunday lunch. Finishing the night watching my old boss present B&W2 on GDC TV before challenging D. to a game of Lost Cities over a glass of Cognac. And so to bed!

Pork Belly

D. has been bugging me to prepare a nice beef curry, as it's been a while since we've had one. So I grabbed the ingredients on the way home from work. Curry is much better the next day, so we decided that D. would cook something quick, and I'd get started on the curry after we'd eaten. I got D. some pork belly and pickled mustard leaf, and she made a delicious soup (with the aforementioned ingredients, plus some sweet carrots which both balance the flavour of the stock and add texture). We ate this with steamed rice, stir-fried gai lan (with garlic and oyster sauce), and stewed pork and cucumber (to use up the remaining pork belly). Delicious.

The curry is simple, and I cheat by using a jar of vindaloo sauce. Cubes of beef are double-browned to get that delicious barbequed flavour. Diced onion is added, and, when they've softened, carrots and celery. Next is roasted garlic. I chop two heads of garlic in half and roast them in the oven until they start to brown, which makes the cloves easy to get out of their skin. Finally, a tin of tomatoes is added along with a few tablespoons of the vindaloo sauce. This is simmered for a few hours and left out overnight to fester, then refrigerated in the morning to be cooked again tonight. Should be delicious with some chutney and beer!

Schezuan

A full-on day at work. Had a quick lunch of Pho, the delicious Vietnamese beef noodle soup. D. and I met up after work and went to see Hitchhiker's as our "tight-ass Tuesday" moofie. Afterwards I twisted D.'s arm to go to Red Chilli, a Schezuan restaurant in Chinatown. Now, I don't usually eat Schezuan cuisine (we're more Cantonese and Hainanese folk), but I had been wanting to have some Mapu Tofu ever since I saw the Iron Chef Chinese preparing it. Unfortunately it turned out that the dish was fairly one-dimensional, as was the braised duck with konjac (which I thought was cognac mis-spelled, but which turned out to be a correctly spelled but heretofore unknown non-food... Google it if you wanna know). The hot and sour soup was good, but that was small salvation. And so home and to bed, but not before picking up a mango and banana frappe on the walk to help forget the Schezuan experiment, and falling asleep to Douglas Adams reading the first few Dirk Gently chapters (after a quick and frantic search for D.'s keys to the apartment... she's better than David Copperfield, I just don't know how she loses these things).

Kha Soi

A late breakfast of fruit salad and french toast with maple syrup, then off to the rainforest walk. Enjoyed seeing the waterfall and spotting quite a few lyre birds. Drove back home and unpacked, then grabbed a few Coopers Sparkling long-necks and headed down to Thainatown on Goulburn where D. tucked into a bowl of Kha Soi while I ordered "crying tiger" and stir-fried morning glory. A salubrious end to a fantastic weekend.

Speaking of Kha Soi, I should point out that this Thai version of Laksa embodies the spirit of all Asian foods. Firstly, texture is paramount. Kha Soi is a bowl of curry noodle soup, made with fresh flat egg noodles (which are soft and slippery) and fried flat egg noodles (which are crispy and crunch). The combination of both textures is a delight. Secondly, the ultimate balance of flavours is left as a task for the diner. So the dish is served with pickled mustard leaf, shallots, wedges of lime, fresh red chilli and fish sauce on the side, which you add in various proportions until it tastes just the way you like it.

D. and I discovered Kha Soi in northern Thailand on our honeymoon, and we're so happy to have found a place in Sydney that does a fairly faithful version of what we tasted over there.

Elise Pascoe

After an early breakfast (which didn't live up to the promise of yesterday), we travelled to Elise Pascoe International Cooking School, a beautiful purpose-built farmstead perched high on the rolling green hills of the Illawarra dairy country. We met our fellow students (their were 13 of us in all), and we were given various dishes to cook throughout the day. D. and I were assigned the lamb cutlets and the turkish delight. Sounds like fun, right? Well, that's what we thought. Unfortunately it transpired that we did all the dirty work (such as preparation and cleaning up), while Elise did the fun stuff (i.e. the actual cooking and serving). For example, although D. and I spent a good hour "frenching" the lamb cutlets, it was Elise who got to barbeque them and apply the garnish of finely chopped onion, parsely, lemon zest, lemon juice and olive oil afterwards. To top it all off, she had the temerity to compliment us on our dish! I had half a mind to suggest that she might as well eat it too, since she'd done practically everything else.

The net result is that we learned very little, we didn't have much opportunity to be hands-on, and when we did get the chance, we were either doing menial tasks or getting pulled up by Elise for doing something "wrong". And it wasn't just us. Another poor girl was about to drizzle some olive oil over her stuffed fennel bulbs, only to have Elise say "I'll do that", take the bottle from her and then do it herself! It may sound like I'm being picky, but it really was disappointing. We wanted to have fun cooking delicious food that we could be proud of, but we were let down. Elise can be mildly insulting (she said to one student that he had "ruined" a dish by using coriander instead of parsely), and she prefers to take over rather than have her students make a bit of a mess of things. But that's exactly how you learn, isn't it? And I know that D. and I would have had a much better time, and been a lot prouder of what we'd done, if Elise had just let us sprinkle the garnish on the lamb ourselves. At least then we'd have felt partly responsible for the final dish. But, no, we had to watch her do it, and then smile embarrassedly when the other students complimented us on our dish, knowing full well that we had little to do with it.

After the ultimately disappointing visit to Elise Pascoe International Cooking School, we enjoyed a quick hit of golf at Jambaroo golf course, as the sun was setting. Just a bit of mucking about with a nine iron and a putter in the practice area, but a nice way to unwind after getting a bit annoyed with Elise's holier-than-thou attitude and boastful anecdotes from her younger days. We returned to the B&B for a relaxing spa, during which it started to rain. Still needing dinner, we dashed into Kiama and drove around a bit before settling on Chachis, which turned out to be a wonderful Italian restaurant. We arrived late, so the chef could only offer some of the menu (nothing than required a long time in the oven). D. wanted to have the seafood linguini, and asked whether the seafood was fresh. The waitress actually went into the kitchen and asked the chef, returning to tell us that the fish, prawns and calimari were indeed fresh, but that the scallops were frozen. Good for them! D. happily ordered the linguini, and wasn't disappointed. My gnocchi, pan-fried in lots of butter with bacon, spinach and spanish onion, was absolutely sensational. A light salad on the side helped balance the heavy food, and we departed Chachis happy with life once more.