Crazy but awesome beef toms from Fratelli Fresh |
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| February 2005 | |||
| Pizza with potato (Dutch Cream) and pesto. On this occasion I used the stretchy method rather than rolling out the pizza base which must just squish out most of the bubbles, defying the whole point of leavening surely. It seemed to work, with fluffy outer and microthin crispy centre, if somewhat mis-shapened and uneven- very rustic and authentic (??). | |||
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The Greek fish monger calls these Babounia, otherwise known as red mullet. Fried whole, but gutted, with left over rice and pale peppers, spring onion, parsley, mint and verjuice, done as shown left on the grill plate of the bbq. We did eat them before with guts, but you have to be in the right mood, quite a hardcore oily mouthful. | ||
| Zoe and Lewis for dinner | Bbq octopus I, with black pepper/ olive oil II, with pomegranate sauce. Chicken with cumin/ corrinader/ fennel seed. | ||
Williams
Crossing Pinot noir- not bad at all |
A wrong turn on the Anderson fire trail left Lewis in a metobolically challenged state, and the poor bugger then had to work a night shift. I on the other hand went home and had a fine feast, starting with a new found wonder cupboard emergency, artichoke paste 'carcofini' which went brilliantly with some Aussie jamon and olive oil to mop. Main meal was a roast duck stuffed with 'bashed' potato, parsley and bunya nuts. These bizarre nuggets (left) are from the worlds largest pine cone, bigger than a mans head. The nuts are the size of a thumb and have a very subtle resin 'arome'. You need to cook them first to enable removal from the super tough shell. Boiling them is OK, but roasting/ bbq till just charred enables them to be opened with a sharp crack. Over cooking them leads to an enamel hazard. | ||
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Superb sushi in Chinatown (Sushi Express) |
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Kreglinger sparkling- toasty, dry and complex |
Homard Chaud Champeau, according to Simon H. Well, there seemed only one thing to do with a live lobster, that is, split the bastard in two and fling it on the barbie; mate. Well, with a little French finesse thrown in for good measure. A macarbre intention to video the poor thing's bisection was cuppered by technical ineptitude meaning that no 'on' happened, but off was actually on. So I recorded a few minutes of myself flying around the kitchen after the event, very weird to see- such precision. The actual event was very 'Alienesque', with a gush of fluid shooting up the side of the cleaver as it pierced the shell, with much frantic beating of tail and scrambling legs. It requires a firm grip. Further cinematic recapitulation in the form of Terminator occurred when the two halves are still wriggling, even on the grill! Now that's fresh. You get such an even heat using the bbq grill, and you can produce copious noxious fumes without concern. The cupboards also get far less sticky from all that vapourised fat. Anyway, briefly, a finely choppd shallot on the grill with a knob of butter. Put to one side and put the lobster flesh side down. FLAMBE with cognac, though I actually used gin. Once delicious caramalisation occurs on the flesh, flip over to finish. Parsley on top, though I can't recall if I cooked it first. Chips to accompany and Shona of course- perfection. | ||
| Shona left some lobster, a rare occurrence. It was eaten cold the following day with mullet roe omelet, salad and bread. | |||
| Shona's onion tart with parmesan pastry. | |||
| bbq kingfish with mushrooms, mirin and garlic, bokchoi with tahini (the Japanese also use a sesame paste) and chopped bunya nuts with rice vinegar. | |||
| Osso bucco in stout with oysters., carrots and parsley with kipfler potatoes. | |||
| Lobster revisited | I had
crushed th
bisque with tomatoes sea perch with spinach mash and lobster hollandaise. |
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