Doi Bong

Great Perth Food

2008-01-13T14:20:00.000+11:00

Here are some great Perth restaurants; either ones we've tried or plan to:

Jackson's Restaurant (Neal Jackson)

Star Anise (David Coomer)

The Loose Box (Alain Fabregues)

Restaurant Amusé (Hadleigh Troy)

Divido (Jason Jujnovich)

Bistro Felix (Damien Young)

The Gala Restaurant (Hans Lang)

Chez Pierre (Steven Black)

Harvest (Clint Nolan)

Cream (John Mead)

Da Bruno's (Bruno Securo)

Just Bar

And here are some that are not as great as people may tell you:

Must Wine Bar

Lamont's

We're Back!

2007-11-02T03:21:00.001+11:00

Cooking School Kha Soi
Originally uploaded by Jason Hutchens

As reported earlier on The Sprog Blog, D. and I have been in Chiang Mai, Thailand, celebrating our third wedding anniversary, and we've got lots of pictures of food to prove it! Click on the Khao Soi to go to our Flickr page, with plenty more where that came from!

Lamb Ragu

2007-02-07T15:49:00.001+11:00

Lamb Ragu
Originally uploaded by Jason Hutchens.

We had a delicious roast lamb for dinner. You know the type. Nice and simple, some garlic and rosemary, a few roast vegetables, and a bottle of Pinot to wash it all down. Afterwards I noticed that there was a fair bit of meat left on the bone. The solution? A lamb ragu. Simply finely chop some aromatics, sweat them, then in with bits of meat picked off the bone. Chuck in some stock, a bit of tomato paste, some porcini mushrooms, and simmer for a while. Cook up some al dente parpadelle, plate it up, stir through heaps of chopped parsley in the ragu, then top the pasta with it, and drizzle some EVOO all over. Not bad for leftovers, eh mum?

Duck Pasta

2006-10-11T20:15:00.000+10:00

Duck Pasta
Originally uploaded by Jason Hutchens.

We've never cooked duck before, but the first attempt turned out pretty nice, if I do say so myself. We got two duck fillets with the fat and skin left on, and I pan fried them skin-side down until golden and crispy. A lot of fat came out during this process, and I saved it for another day. The duck was thinly sliced, then combined with a sauce of tarragon, rose, cream and sherry vinegar. The results were served over a bed of al dente pasta. Wonderful! The duck fat was saved for the weekend, when we had a barbeque with some friends. I made "home fries" by frying large cubes of potato in the duck fat for about ten minutes until crispy golden brown, then tossing in finely chopped parsely, sea salt and pepper. Yum!

Porridge

2006-08-26T10:26:00.000+10:00

Porridge
Originally uploaded by Jason Hutchens.

Now, this is comfort food. I made a big batch of chicken stock for our favourite chicken macaroni soup. It was extra flavourful, as my mum (who was visiting at the time) had done a chicken roast, and added half a cup of distilled chicken goodness, sans fat, to the stock. A week later Dzung used the leftover stock, which we had frozen, to make a batch of porridge, complete with chicken, mushrooms and that bready stuff from Chinatown :)

Sage Butter

2006-08-11T08:01:00.000+10:00

Sage Butter
Originally uploaded by Jason Hutchens.

Met up with Mum and Dad, who are visiting from Perth, and D. and E. for lunch, at "Pasta Vera" in Harris Street. If there are any foodbloggers out there reading this, and you haven't been or heard of "Pasta Vera", well, I can't recommend it highly enough. Try it.

Dad and E. both had the Putrenesca, while Mum had squid ravioli in a rich tomato sauce, which she described as "the best sauce I've ever tasted", which is a pretty big wrap. I had creamy cauliflower soup with white truffle oil, followed by four cheese ravioli in a burnt sage butter sauce. The burnt sage butter sauce is the signature of "Pasta Vera", and if you're going there for the first time, make sure to order a dish that contains it. Sensational!

Fish

2006-07-30T17:09:00.000+10:00

Fish
Originally uploaded by Jason Hutchens.

Simple dinner on Saturday night. Got us some nice Ocean Perch fillets, brushed in good olive oil, seasoned, then under the grill (on high) for three minutes per side. Served with al dente sliced asparagus that had been pan fried in a little bit of olive oil, and had a huge dob of butter melted into it prior to serving. With a squeeze of lemon and a dash of Japanese mayonaisse, the melted butter from the asparagus blended with the creamy fish and the result was sensational. Finished the meal with Stilton, crispy apple and port.

Pine Nuts

2006-07-26T23:47:00.000+10:00

Pine Nuts
Originally uploaded by Jason Hutchens.

My attempt to make D.'s clone of one of our favourite dishes at Spaghi's. I pan fry pine nuts in a little butter til golden brown, then fry some Italian-style BBQ sausages that have had their skin removed, chopping them with the wooden spoon while frying to make them into meatballs. All the while a few garlic bulbs are roasting in the oven. Once the sausages are done, the now soft and buttery garlic cloves are squeezed out and pan fried, and then the whole lot is blended together with some Napolatana sauce and fresh rocket. Al dente fusilli is stirred through (the doughy, hand-made variety), and the whole lot is topped with a decent handful or light, crumbled ricotta. Click through for the plated-up version, just prior to devourement!

Pork Noodles

2006-07-26T23:42:00.000+10:00

Pork Noodles
Originally uploaded by Jason Hutchens.

D. made a simple but delicious noodle dish for Monday night dinner, accompanied with a bowl of soup made from the leftover pork. What could be easier than noodles boiled in the wok, topped with coriander, spring onion, garlic oil and pork, then mixed with sauce, a squeeze of lime juice and white pepper? Nice one. Click through for a piccie of the soup...

Chicken

2006-07-19T21:12:00.000+10:00

Chicken
Originally uploaded by Jason Hutchens.

Another of D.'s classic dishes. Chicken thighs and sliced onions are marinated in a secret sauce and baked in the oven. Once done, the cooked chicken and onions are served on a bed of lettuce, garnished with coriander, and devoured with rice, sliced cucumber and tomato, and a well-balanced dipping sauce. Lurvely.

Leftover Lamb Pasta

2006-07-19T21:10:00.000+10:00

Leftover Lamb Pasta
Originally uploaded by Jason Hutchens.

A quick slap-up meal of leftover roast lamb, olives, pasta and a stir-through sauce. Rich and heart, and perfect with a glass of leftover pinot. Courtesy of D.

Scrambled Eggs

2006-07-17T08:46:00.000+10:00

Sunday Brekky
Originally uploaded by Jason Hutchens.

What to make with the leftover cream from the potato gratin? Scrambled eggs for Sunday brekky, of course. Four eggs are cracked into a bowl and beaten, then poured into a saucepan that's been greased with butter, and is on the lowestgas setting on the smallest burner on the stovetop. Patience is then required , as it needs constant stirring with a wooden spoon as it slowly starts to come together. Just when it is at the verge of being completely cooked, a liberal amount f cream is poured in, and cooking continues until done. Very nice on hot butteren English muffins.

Minestrone

2006-07-17T08:43:00.000+10:00

Leftovers
Originally uploaded by Jason Hutchens.

D. made a sensational minestrone, which we strung out to three meals. Rich and hearty, it included bacon and anchovies, and a big thick rind of an old hunk of parmesan, which melted away. Nice one!

Lamb and Potato

2006-07-17T08:41:00.000+10:00

After
Originally uploaded by Jason Hutchens.

D. requested that I make potato gratin, which I haven't done before, but she recalled finding it delicious when she and her sister had it in a restaurant in Perth. So I googled the recipe, and made it to accompany some nice roast lamb on Satdee night. Thinly sliced potatoes are stewed in milk, then layed out in a baking dish that has been greased with butter and had crushed garlic cloves rubbed over its surface, covered in cream and grated Gruyere cheese, then another layer of the same. Came out very nicely, if I do say so meself.

Noodles

2006-07-17T08:39:00.000+10:00

Weekday Lunch
Originally uploaded by Jason Hutchens.

Nice to come home for lunch to this on Friday. Nice and simple - a plate of noodles garnished with stir fried thinly sliced beef, green beans and broccolini. The secret is in the sauce: oyster sauce with a *lot* of black pepper. Very nice with a squeeze of lemon.

Foie Gras

2006-07-14T00:06:00.000+10:00

Foie Gras
Originally uploaded by Jason Hutchens.

Well, it's been a while since I blogged about food, what with the baby arriving and everything. Our diet has changed considerably, with a lot more takeaway, home delivery and quickly prepared meals, and a lot less in the way of lengthy, epicurean feasts. So, tonight, when I arrived home to a hungry wife and cranky daughter, and a bare cupboard, there wasn't too much to be scraped together. Luckily, a bit of searching revealed a small tin of Foie Gras and Black Truffle hidden away behind the Vegemite; a present from Dancing Linh back when she visited Gay Parry (or somesuch place). Out of the blue, we did have an Epicure's Delight on hand. The Foie Gras tin was opened, the contents sliced in twain and pan fried (Iron Chef style, according to D). This was then served with toasted bread and a glass of Tasmanian Pinot Noir. Very satisfying! To follow this meal with the annual serving of Bangers and Mash would have been heresy, had they not been so good. Thanks, Dancing Linh!

Spaghi's

2006-04-16T15:37:00.000+10:00

That's More Like It!
Originally uploaded by Jason Hutchens.

In Perth for Bruce and Mel's wedding, D., Lain and myself met up the happy couple for a sensational pasta dinner at Spaghi's, the best pasta restaurant in The Shire. As custom dictates, we ordered a dish of pasta each, and "one for the table". D. has managed to perfect the table dish, which features a tomato-based ricotta sauce, at home. We washed down the meal with lashings of Charlie Merton's "Rose of Virginia", perfect for an autumnal lunch. We've recently discovered Pasta Vera in Mordor, which matches Spaghi's for Quality and Value, BTW.

Salad

2006-01-04T19:48:00.000+11:00

Salad
Originally uploaded by Jason Hutchens.

D. loves her pasta salad, and she often makes it when we go on picnics (and also when we fly back from Mordor... so much nicer to have than Virgin Air Fare). But this piccie is of Chef Annie's creation, a delicious summertime meal out on the patio at Chang and Jeff's place. Pasta, bacon, mushrooms, rocket, olives, sundried tomato - quick, simple and yummy.

That's No Bagel

2006-01-04T12:13:00.000+11:00

That's No Bagel
Originally uploaded by Jason Hutchens.

Clint and I embarked on a Bagel quest after both catching an episode of "The Food Lover's Guide to Australia" which showcased the "Kosher Food Centre" in Perth. Apparently the guy who makes the bagels and doughnuts there is a former five-star French chef. So why, we ask, are the bagels nothing more than soft, bready things? Where are the dense, chewy delicious bagels I fell in love with while living in London? Can you get them anywhere in Australia? Well, can you? Am I mistaken, or are bagels supposed to be dense and chewy, and not light and fluffy? Help!

Handmade

2005-12-31T21:07:00.000+11:00

Slice
Originally uploaded by Jason Hutchens.

We decided to cook the meal to end all meals to celebrate the end of the year. I made a Tetsuya's recipe: angelhair pasta with asparagus and truffle oil. And I went one step further, rolling my own. Check out our piccies on Flickr to get the whole story.

Shire

2005-12-23T20:48:00.000+11:00

The Shire
Originally uploaded by Jason Hutchens.

We returned to the Shire from the land of Mordor to celebrate Crozzle and Hogmany with friends and family. Funny, you don't appreciate the Shire when you live there all the time... you long for adventure. But returning from twelve months in Mordor is a blessing. I don't think I realised just how good it is!

Pho

2005-12-18T14:37:00.000+11:00

Pho
Originally uploaded by Jason Hutchens.

Had a late morning, and then set off for a snack and a bit of Crozzle shopping in Market City. And what better snack than a steaming bowl of beef noodle soup, with lots of Vietnamese basil and lemon to enhance the flavours. Yum!

Rarebit

2005-12-17T13:43:00.000+11:00

There's something about a well-cleaned apartment that somehow makes everything better. I was in the doldrums because I hadn't vacuumed for two weeks, which made the place feel messy and uncomfortable to be in. So when D. went to her yoga class this morning, I went ballistic, cleaning every nook and cranny, and giving the whole place a thorough twice over (once not being enough). Now everything is fresh and nice, and the world seems kinder somehow. Afterwards, settling down with a strong coffee and some cheese on toast (smothered with a delicious spicy tomato chutney) to catch up on my feeds, I couldn't help letting out a Sigh Of Satisfaction. Now, off to finish the Crozzle shopping!

Rosemary

2005-12-12T22:06:00.000+11:00

Lamb and Wine
Originally uploaded by Jason Hutchens.

D. cooked one of our favourite lamb dishes for dinner tonight. Nice and simple. You dry roast a frenched rack of lamb cutlets, along with a few smashed garlic cloves, and then deglaze the pan with a glass of good red. Then it's in with tomato paste, rosemary and brown sugar. Balance the flavours and reduce the sauce, then slice up the cutlets and coat them with the sauce before serving atop a bed of al dente pasta. Yum!

Dim Sum

2005-12-11T19:06:00.000+11:00

Dim Sum
Originally uploaded by Jason Hutchens.

Here's one of our first piccies on our new lil' digi. And, hey, it's an obDoiBong, what with us eating and all. Dim Sum for Saturday brunch can't be beat, especially when you're in a small group so you get a table right on the intersection of two aisles, guaranteeing lots of trolley action!

Leichardt

2005-12-05T22:52:00.000+11:00

Went to Leichardt on Sunday for a fantastic Italian meal that D. had been craving. Very nice indeed, but the damper on the evening was me getting a $75 parking fine for not parking rear-to-kerb (I parked front-to-kerb). Apparently that's standard stuff over here in NSW. Sucks to be me.

Lamb

2005-06-12T22:48:00.000+10:00

The other weekend we went and bought some lamb. D. had this idea of getting some Wagyu beef, for tataki, and she found a butcher over the bridge that supplies it. When we got there, all the beef was gone, so we bought other things, like pork sausages (big fat English-style sausages), a leg of lamb, some lamb shanks and a rack of lamb. Oh, and we had a quick snack of Laksa and Roti before leaving the shopping centre (and almost left without paying), but that's another story.

The lamb shanks were fine. Slowly braised in the Le Creuset. The roast lamb was sensational. The night before I stabbed it repeatedly and stuffed its wounds with whole cloves of garlic and sprigs of rosemary. I then rubbed it down with olive oil, seasoned with sea salt and ground black pepper, and left in the baking dish in the fridge overnight. After work the following day I added sweet potato and small onions, then chucked in the oven until it looked done. The fat was crispy and delicious, and the meat pink and tender. We finished off a bottle of white wine with it.

I salvaged a plateful of meat which D. used in noodles the next day (of all things... we just pretended it was a traditional northern Chinese dish). I then boiled up the remaining meat on the bone for soup stock. I started the boiling just before bed, so (my mum will blanch at this) I turned off the gas and left it on the cooktop overnight (pot's too big for the fridge) and re-boiled before work the next morning to keep it healthy.

You get a really thick, fatty stock with lamb, so I strained it through paper towels. This gets rid of all the tiny impurities and the fat, leaving a clear, fat-free stock. I boiled this up with pearl barley and green beans to make a sensational soup (even better with a splash of the old wooster).

I also twisted D.'s arm to get her to agree to banger's and mash, something our old pal Cathy always loved. Haven't cooked it in ages. This time I made potato and celeriac mash with butter and cream, green beans with truffle oil, gravy with beef stock, caramelised onions, french mustard, black pepper and corn starch to thicken, and big fat pork sausages fried in the pan and then kept hot in the oven. I surprised even myself with this one... and D. gave me several compliments, so I think this dish might become a winter regular.

The leftover cream went into this morning's scrambled eggs, along with some truffle oil. They were light and fluffy. Along with a virgin mary, a strong coffee and a crumpet with honey, they started a lazy Sunday of reading in bed followed by a walk around town to do a bit of shopping. It's nice to de-stress after a milestone, let me tell ya.

Italian

2005-05-28T13:10:00.000+10:00

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

2005-05-22T23:00:00.000+10:00

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

2005-05-21T23:00:00.000+10:00

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

2005-05-17T23:00:00.000+10:00

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

2005-05-16T23:00:00.000+10:00

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

2005-05-15T23:00:00.000+10:00

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

2005-05-14T23:00:00.000+10:00

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

2005-05-13T23:00:00.000+10:00

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

2005-05-12T23:00:00.000+10:00

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

2005-05-11T23:00:00.000+10:00

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

2005-05-10T23:00:00.000+10:00

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

2005-05-09T23:00:00.000+10:00

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

2005-05-08T23:00:00.000+10:00

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

2005-05-07T23:00:00.000+10:00

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

2005-05-06T23:00:00.000+10:00

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

2005-05-05T23:00:00.000+10:00

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

2005-05-04T23:00:00.000+10:00

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

2005-05-03T23:08:00.000+10:00

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

2005-05-02T23:00:00.000+10:00

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

2005-05-01T23:00:00.000+10:00

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.

Haloumi

2005-04-30T23:00:00.000+10:00

Left home early to drive down to Kiama for a holiday, and to celebate our 6-month wedding anniversary. Checked in to a lovely B&B with fantastic views over rolling green pastures towards the ocean, and an extensive garden featuring a well-tended vegetable patch and a chicken coop... methinks the breakfast here will be nice. Sam, the resident border collie, greeted us on arrival, and reminded us of Badger, the rock-chewing crazy canine we met on a dairy farm stay in the UK with mum and dad. After arrival we drove into town for a late lunch (a tender steak sandwich with a vanilla milkshake for him, and a green salad and strawberry smoothie for her), and then returned to the accomodation to test the spa before having afternoon tea (sticky date pudding) and chatting to one of the other couples staying here. Booked dinner at Cargo's on the Wharf, and spent a good amount of time perusing the menu in the comfort of our room before setting out (one of the great pleasures in life, a well-considered plan of attack on a restaurant).

Unfortunately, upon arriving at Cargo's we discovered that their menu had changed from the version we saw at the B&B. Eventually D. decided on half-a-dozen natural oysters (which I won't touch with a barge pole... I reckon you could save money just by sucking on a lemon whenever you have a phlegmy cold), and we got a serving of scallops to share. I also ordered an entree of fried Haloumi cheese served on lettuce leaves, drizzled with balsamic vinegar with barbequed asparagus and sun-dried tomatoes on the side. All the entrees were fantastic, although the cheese was a bit too salty (too salty for the balsamic and lettuce to balance out the flavours). D. had an entree serving of grilled king prawns for her main, while I went for the ocean trout with fennel and blood oranges, which unfortunately was served sans the oranges. When eating it, I couldn't help but salivate at the thought of the missing ingredient, which would have enhanced the subtle flavours of the fish nicely. As it was, the dish was a bit too bland. After dinner we returned home for a touch of stargazing over a glass of port.

Six Months

2005-04-29T23:00:00.000+10:00

A busy day at work, and had to run an errand for D.'s sister, so only enough time to grab some take away sushi at 3 o'clock to eat at my desk. After work met up with a bunch of friends at The Basement to see Four Play, a string quartet that covers the Beastie Boys. We got ourselves a table in front of the stage and ordered some food. D. had Lobster Ravioli, which was absolutely delicious, while I had a salad of Rocket, Pear and deep-fried, crumbed artichoke halves, which were surprisingly delicious. The contrasting textures and the slippery segments of the artichokes were an interesting disovery! The mains weren't so nice... my Osso Bucco with sweet potato mash was workmanlike, as was D.'s rissotto with prosciutto-stuffed chicken fillets. A cheese platter to snack on while drinking beer (Bohemian Pilsner) and watching the show got things back on track. A great night out with good friends... who could ask for more?

Pad Thai

2005-04-28T23:00:00.000+10:00

Had a really crappy Pad Thai for lunch. How disappointing. D. and I moved back into the apartment today (from our temporary accomodation, where we've been for three weeks while our bathroom was replaced). So lots of packing, moving and unpacking after work. Didn't have a chance to eat until almost ten o'clock at night. Grabbed two longnecks (aka king browns) of Coopers Sparkling and headed down to Spice Siam, probably the most authentic Thai restaurant in Sydney. Had a proper Pad Thai (therapy over the bad lunch), along with their special of the day... an absolutely delicious sauce of minced pork, tofu and coconut cream with a selection of fresh vegetables (including the small thai eggplant) to dip into it. We also had a dish of green beans, tender pork meat and pork crackling, with steamed rice, which was fantastic.

I said I'd write about the rice cooker one day. And I will. But for now I'll just say that if you ever move house and put the rice cooker on the passenger seat of your car, make sure you clean the little thingo on the side of it which collects the drips of condensation... because if you don't and it spills over the seat, you'll find out that the old, fermented rice juice smells just like baby sick.

Chicken

2005-04-27T23:00:00.000+10:00

Home late. Picked up some chicken wings and drumsticks on the way. D. marinated them, together with some sliced onions, in oyster sauce, a dash of fish sauce, a little bit of a sweet, sticky Indonesian sauce (kecap manis) and chopped garlic. These were put in a baking dish and cooked in the oven until done (wow, what a delicious smell).

All this was served with steamed rice (thanks to the wonderful rice cooker... I should remember to write about that) on a bed of freshly sliced tomato and cucumber, topped with fresh coriander. D. made two dipping sauces for the chicken. The first was a fresh batch of the spring onion sauce that I made for the corn on the weekend (to use up the spare spring onion), and the other was a sauce of fish sauce, lemon juice, grated carrot, chopped red chilli, finely chopped garlic, white vinegar and sugar to balance the other flavours. What a feast! So the only thing left to do is for me to pack up, then kick back with a glass of cognac and "At The Movies" on the ABC. Cheers!

Oh, in the rest of my life, today was a day of announcements:

Famitsu gave Nintendogs a perfect 40/40, and it's out in Australia next month!
PSP is out on September 1 for AU$450. Man, I could buy two DSs and a copy of Meteos for that!
The iTunes Music Store is launching here tomorrow! But AU$1.80 per song. Dang.

Prawns

2005-04-26T23:00:00.000+10:00

A full-on day at work, with only time for a quick tomato, ham and cheese toasted sandwich and double-strength latte for lunch at two. It's "tight-ass Tuesday" (i.e. movies are half-price), and D.'s friend Grace is going to join us for dinner at home before seeing "Precinct 13". I pick up a West Australian Riesling on the way home, and quickly prepare the prawn pasta...

Finely chopped garlic and finely sliced fresh thyme leaves are thrown into a pan of hot olive oil, and a goodly amount of black pepper is ground into the mix. When the garlic shows signs of browning, the prawns are added and tossed around, before pouring in a glass of the wine and squeezing half a lemon and half a lime in for good measure. A pinch of sea salt and then on with the lid. After a few minutes to burn off the alcohol and cook the prawns, toss in a bug handful of chopped flat leaf parsely and three finely chopped chillis, and add enough white sugar to balance the flavours. Mix everything together, and serve on a bed of al dente spaghetti that has been tossed in olive oil and a dab of butter.

Dinner washed down with a pot of tea, before going to see "Assault on Precinct 13", one of the worse piece-of-shit movies with a number in the title that I've had the misfortune to sit through. I mean, Mark Wahlberg turned down he lead role for this crap-fest. Unbelievably, it made "Ladder 49" look good, and that was the previous holder of the worst piece-of-shit movie with a number in the title that I've had the misfortune to sit through.

Which got us talking, and we decided that although most movies with numbers in the title are bad, there are some good ones. Like "Se7en" and "2001: A Space Odyssey". And, strangely, although we could think of move titles containing the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10, we couldn't think of a movie title that contained the number 5.

Dumplings

2005-04-25T23:00:00.000+10:00

Woke early to the sounds of the Anzac Day parade. Watched from the window while eating hot buttered toast with German strawberry jam (it has just a hint of vanilla) and drinking a steaming cup of fresh coffee.

In 1915, my country said, "Son,
It's time you stopped ramblin', there's work to be done."
So they gave me a tin hat, and they gave me a gun,
And they marched me away to the war.

And the band played "Waltzing Matilda,"
As the ship pulled away from the quay,
And amidst all the cheers, the flag waving, and tears,
We sailed off for Gallipoli.

D. and I walked into Chinatown, to get some fresh clams for tonight's dinner. Unfortunately there weren't any to be found, so I got half-a-kilo of tiger prawn flesh instead. The pasta I wanted to make also needs white wine for the sauce, but, as the bottle shops are closed today, we decided to make the pasta tomorrow. So we picked up some pork dumplings, pork belly, Chinese cabbage and "morning glory" instead.

At home, D. stir-fried the "morning glory" in preserved soybean, and made a soup of the dumplings, pork belly and Chinese cabbage. With a dipping sauce of soy sauce and cut chilli (for the tender pork belly and the cabbage) and a dash of garlic oil in the soup, this hearty meal had us rubbing our bellies with satisfaction.

After eating, it was back to working on my entry for the "One Key" comp., while D. was more than satisfied to catch up on her "Desperate Housewives".

Cassoulet

2005-04-24T23:00:00.000+10:00

A basic brekky, and after a slow morning an afternoon visit to Bondi where we had barbequed prawns and scallop skewers. Working up an appetite for this evening's visit to Paua to try their Cassoulet, which they do one Sunday evening during the colder months. I just love the haricot beans, but D.'s not a big fan. We'll see how it goes...

...and two-and-a-half hours later I'm back home almost paralytic, with the kettle boiling for a steaming pot of peppermint tea to ease the pain. The Cassoulet for two was served in a seemingly bottomless tureen with a spoon for dishing the beans, lamb, pork and duck out onto our plates, with a side-serving of Witlof salad (slightly bitter witlof leaves, which D. calls "chicory", flat leaf parsely and a light dressing of lime and vinegar) to cleanse the palate and balance the heaviness of the Cassoulet. All washed down with a bottle of fine Argentinian Malbec.

Unbelievably (if you don't know D. and I), we ordered dessert following the meal. We had a rhubarb lemon tart with our espressos. Even more unbelievably, D. has gone out dancing with her friends, while Yours Truly can hardly move.

Corn

2005-04-23T23:00:00.000+10:00

Wandering around Sydney late Saturday morning. Caught a bus into Chinatown. Got some corn, spring onion, watercress and tomatoes from Paddy's Market. A quick bite to eat and then home. Hungry again in the late afternoon, so roasted the corn and made a sauce of finely chopped spring onion simmered in olive oil with a shake of fish sauce and some white sugar to balance it out. Who needs butter? The blackened cobs swimming in the sauce had us licking our fingers. This was followed by "shaking beef"... cubes of fillet steak fried over a very hot flame with slices of onion, with butter and black pepper added just before serving on a bed of watercress and sliced tomato, with a dipping sauce of lemon, sliced chilli, white pepper and salt on the side, and some steamed rice to balance out the flavours as we eat. Delicious.

Oh, apart from that, we spent the day:

Writing "Quantum Light Cycles" for the one-key comp.
Playing "Lost Cities" and "Carcassonne".
Listening to "Gaming Steve" on the new iPod shuffle.
Watching D. crack 160,000 on the downloadable version of Meteos.
Watching the "Iron Chef" (what else)?