Monday, 8 March 2010
Million Dollar View - CC's Bday
Ok ... firstly this is what a cool mill buys you:
But money doesn't buy friends ... so we are honoured to have friendships such as these bestowed on us gratis, as we certainly could not afford the price tag otherwise. I was extremely excited to learn early in the day that J was cooking a curry. This is indeed a rare occurence, the significance of which it would be a mistake to discount. It was in aid of CC's birthday, and he could not have asked for greater a romantic gesture.
As the heavens had opened and rained forth hailstones on Melbourne, it took us the better part of an hour just to get to the Eastern. There was evidence of the sudden maelstrom everywhere - rivers running down streets, virtual lakes spilling over footpaths, cars stranded on embankments, one car with both its front wheels caught in an upended drainhole, mounds of collected ice from the hailstone. It felt almost like being in one of those post-apoclyptic movies where everyone is trying to get out of the city because a meteor/wave/earthquake/alien is about to strike.
But once we were on the eastern going out it was a breeze. Traffic going in was banked up bumper to bumper! The smell of J's curry hit us as we climbed up the marble staircase to the main living areas. And after a brief tour of the new house, including a rummage through the rather creepy wine cellar, we settled into a night of food and drinking.
I knew the jig was up when I saw D starting to slice into some spring onions. J was washing mussels in the sink so I decided to give him a hand ... which eventually turned into a quick cheat sauce dish that I whipped up in the wok:
J made a chicken and potato curry, which was what S's partner would refer to white curry .. i.e. a sort of mild kurma ... it was scrumptious:
In addition to the cooked stuff, CC had bought some sliced pig's ears which D and him turned into Sliced Pig's Ears and cucumber salad:
There was some braised duck, sweet and sour ribs and edamame to complete the meal.
All in all , a pretty terrific night ... with a yummy tiramisu cake to boot:
So here's to you CC ... Happy Birthday ... with many more to come.
But money doesn't buy friends ... so we are honoured to have friendships such as these bestowed on us gratis, as we certainly could not afford the price tag otherwise. I was extremely excited to learn early in the day that J was cooking a curry. This is indeed a rare occurence, the significance of which it would be a mistake to discount. It was in aid of CC's birthday, and he could not have asked for greater a romantic gesture.
As the heavens had opened and rained forth hailstones on Melbourne, it took us the better part of an hour just to get to the Eastern. There was evidence of the sudden maelstrom everywhere - rivers running down streets, virtual lakes spilling over footpaths, cars stranded on embankments, one car with both its front wheels caught in an upended drainhole, mounds of collected ice from the hailstone. It felt almost like being in one of those post-apoclyptic movies where everyone is trying to get out of the city because a meteor/wave/earthquake/alien is about to strike.
But once we were on the eastern going out it was a breeze. Traffic going in was banked up bumper to bumper! The smell of J's curry hit us as we climbed up the marble staircase to the main living areas. And after a brief tour of the new house, including a rummage through the rather creepy wine cellar, we settled into a night of food and drinking.
I knew the jig was up when I saw D starting to slice into some spring onions. J was washing mussels in the sink so I decided to give him a hand ... which eventually turned into a quick cheat sauce dish that I whipped up in the wok:
mussels cooked in white wine and portuguese spicy sauce
In addition to the cooked stuff, CC had bought some sliced pig's ears which D and him turned into Sliced Pig's Ears and cucumber salad:
There was some braised duck, sweet and sour ribs and edamame to complete the meal.
All in all , a pretty terrific night ... with a yummy tiramisu cake to boot:
So here's to you CC ... Happy Birthday ... with many more to come.
Sunday, 7 March 2010
And the heavens opened .....
Ok .. hailstones the size of lemons!! Busy day for Melbourne's SES and the rain was welcome relief for our drought stricken state ... but we could have done without the ice blocks!! God moves in mysterious ways ... indeed!
Friday, 5 March 2010
Fever Ray
Ok ... this is why I love Fever Ray ...
Freaky hey! Thanks to D for the heads up.
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Comments:
dan cope wrote:
so gross..
8 Mar
Freaky hey! Thanks to D for the heads up.
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Comments:
dan cope wrote:
so gross..
8 Mar
Lets take a walk down a slavonic memory lane
Ok ... 1976 hey ... I'm sure this was massive in Vladivostok ...
At least its easy enough to sing along to it despite it being in a foreign tongue.
At least its easy enough to sing along to it despite it being in a foreign tongue.
Wednesday, 3 March 2010
Yo Word Up Hommie. Thats my tag on the wall and its staying!!
Ok ... Its Sir read-a-lot Barry!!!
Sir Redmond Barry gets with the times ... if by times you mean early 80s ... Word Up!!!
Sir Redmond Barry gets with the times ... if by times you mean early 80s ... Word Up!!!
Monday, 1 March 2010
Happy Chap Goh Mei - the end of Chinese New Year festivities
Ok ... so we celebrated Chap Goh Mei on Sunday by schlepping out to Glen Waverly (noice Victorian name like ...) to sample the nostalgic delights of Hakka Tea House.
Now how do I describe Hakka food - and exactly what is Hakka in the first place.
Well Hakka people are Han chinese, originating from central china but eventually settling down south and beyond! (Yes I wikkied for you). Now my impressions of Hakka food are quite different from Hakka cuisine in its purest form.
I remember Hakka food as being dark and gelatinous and full of offal. My father's particular favourite was the braised belly pork steeped in dark soya sauce. It was a flavour too intense for my youthful tastebids, but a flavour I now strive to replicate every time I cook my version of this dish. To this day I am still nervous fronting up to a Hakka stall; there's always a bit of a communication breakdown and so it sometimes ends up being potluck on what you get ... and I invariably get white rice instead of porridge!!
Anyhoo, I did my homework this time and FB'd a hurried list of wants to D before we got there. Unfortunately, despite some favourable reviews, our final opinion was that it was not worth the trip. If you were local, then yes, the prices are reasonably low and the portions big. It also provides a slightly different take on what westerners would normally consider chinese food. And don't get me wrong, this is a popular restaurant. Book or otherwise be prepared to wait.
Our meal started off with complimentary chicken soup - be warned - this contains bits of chicken's feet:
Now this is what chinese broth actually tastes like ... not something that I'm entirely au fait with ... but there you go.
Everybody else was being a little wierd, so the ordering was left to D & me and unfortunately D pretty much aquieseced to each of my enthusiastic whims. My first pick was for the salt-baked chicken, which is a quintessential Hakka dish:
You see that little bit of green which is the spring onion-ey sauce ... that was good ... the chicken actually had a reasonable flavour but the meet was tough ... this felt like an really old bird without any muscle tone or fat ... perhaps this is the way its meant to be, but it seemed lacking somehow.
We also had the another typical Hakka dish which is Sliced Pork with Pickled Mustard Greens:
Again, something lacking. The preserved mustard greens should have provided a strong acrid counterpoint to the sweet braised pork, but it was limpid and without any punch whatsoever.
D was interested in the Pork stomach dish so we had one of those, which was pretty much one of the highlights for me ... but whats with all the capsicum and celery - that shit is too old skool ... I'm pretty sure Aussies are sophisticated enough to deal with the real thing ...!!
I also wanted to try the Abacus Beads which is basically noisettes of yam and tapioca - this is the dish that Poh auditioned with on Masterchef.
And again, underwhelming is the word. Although the flavour of the minced pork was pretty nice ... it had the ole wok hei ... smoky wok flavour, and sadly I actually preferred the crispy noodle bits to the actual abacus beads ...
Both me and D were looking for a typical tofu dish and all we knew was that it was stuffed and flat ... so we thought (mistakenly) that it would be crispy fried tofu ... I don't have a photo of this but it was basically fried tofu drenched in mixed vegetables ... and was one of the best examples of watered down chinese food ... so an absolute crime in our books.
So my apologies to my good friends, particularly CC, for a poor show of an ending to the CNY festivities. I will defer on venue and dish choices in the future. Oh CC if you're reading this, I am actually very excited about Bulleen!!
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Comments:
dan cope wrote:
oh dear.. fair but oh no... :P
3 Mar
Now how do I describe Hakka food - and exactly what is Hakka in the first place.
Well Hakka people are Han chinese, originating from central china but eventually settling down south and beyond! (Yes I wikkied for you). Now my impressions of Hakka food are quite different from Hakka cuisine in its purest form.
I remember Hakka food as being dark and gelatinous and full of offal. My father's particular favourite was the braised belly pork steeped in dark soya sauce. It was a flavour too intense for my youthful tastebids, but a flavour I now strive to replicate every time I cook my version of this dish. To this day I am still nervous fronting up to a Hakka stall; there's always a bit of a communication breakdown and so it sometimes ends up being potluck on what you get ... and I invariably get white rice instead of porridge!!
Anyhoo, I did my homework this time and FB'd a hurried list of wants to D before we got there. Unfortunately, despite some favourable reviews, our final opinion was that it was not worth the trip. If you were local, then yes, the prices are reasonably low and the portions big. It also provides a slightly different take on what westerners would normally consider chinese food. And don't get me wrong, this is a popular restaurant. Book or otherwise be prepared to wait.
Our meal started off with complimentary chicken soup - be warned - this contains bits of chicken's feet:
Now this is what chinese broth actually tastes like ... not something that I'm entirely au fait with ... but there you go.
Everybody else was being a little wierd, so the ordering was left to D & me and unfortunately D pretty much aquieseced to each of my enthusiastic whims. My first pick was for the salt-baked chicken, which is a quintessential Hakka dish:
You see that little bit of green which is the spring onion-ey sauce ... that was good ... the chicken actually had a reasonable flavour but the meet was tough ... this felt like an really old bird without any muscle tone or fat ... perhaps this is the way its meant to be, but it seemed lacking somehow.
We also had the another typical Hakka dish which is Sliced Pork with Pickled Mustard Greens:
Again, something lacking. The preserved mustard greens should have provided a strong acrid counterpoint to the sweet braised pork, but it was limpid and without any punch whatsoever.
D was interested in the Pork stomach dish so we had one of those, which was pretty much one of the highlights for me ... but whats with all the capsicum and celery - that shit is too old skool ... I'm pretty sure Aussies are sophisticated enough to deal with the real thing ...!!
I also wanted to try the Abacus Beads which is basically noisettes of yam and tapioca - this is the dish that Poh auditioned with on Masterchef.
And again, underwhelming is the word. Although the flavour of the minced pork was pretty nice ... it had the ole wok hei ... smoky wok flavour, and sadly I actually preferred the crispy noodle bits to the actual abacus beads ...
Both me and D were looking for a typical tofu dish and all we knew was that it was stuffed and flat ... so we thought (mistakenly) that it would be crispy fried tofu ... I don't have a photo of this but it was basically fried tofu drenched in mixed vegetables ... and was one of the best examples of watered down chinese food ... so an absolute crime in our books.
So my apologies to my good friends, particularly CC, for a poor show of an ending to the CNY festivities. I will defer on venue and dish choices in the future. Oh CC if you're reading this, I am actually very excited about Bulleen!!
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Comments:
dan cope wrote:
oh dear.. fair but oh no... :P
3 Mar
Sunday, 28 February 2010
Fix yourself gurrrll!!
Ok .. Patrick Wolf programmed Rage recently and this was one of his picks ... Bless!!!
I'll have a fluff please!
Ok ... birthdays are a tricky proposition as you get older ... but the pangs of age are soothed by friendship and love. Happy Birthday Deeks!!! Another round of Fluffy Ducks and Shane Warnes thanks!!
As for you, K & M, stop pulling out these culinary marvels!!! You're putting me and M to shame.
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Comments:
dan cope wrote:
LOVE it.. xxxxxxxx
3 Mar
As for you, K & M, stop pulling out these culinary marvels!!! You're putting me and M to shame.
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Comments:
dan cope wrote:
LOVE it.. xxxxxxxx
3 Mar
Thursday, 25 February 2010
Happy Vindaloo against Violence
Hope you all had a great Vindaloo against Violence day yesterday ... we were over at Salaam Namaste last night for their scrumptious lamb cutlets and super curries.
Twas a really good idea, methinks ... oh except our friend J thinks its a scam.
Anecdotal horses for courses!!
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Comments:
dan cope wrote:
Is that why everyone was wearing blue ribbons on tv and in parliment?
25 Feb
Twas a really good idea, methinks ... oh except our friend J thinks its a scam.
Anecdotal horses for courses!!
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Comments:
dan cope wrote:
Is that why everyone was wearing blue ribbons on tv and in parliment?
25 Feb
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