Blissful Blunders
Helen Greenwood in Good Living, today, has a fun article that reminds us that even the mistakes of our top chefs probably taste better than our most successful experiments ;P
« October 2004 | Main | December 2004 »
Low on Bangalow
Joe Byrne advises in the Bangalow Sweet Pork Newsletter that they are experiencing a short term supply problem.
He says, "This is not only due to the seasonal increase in demand. The main reason is a perennial problem at the production end. It is an industry problem due to a natural occurrence in our industry known as “summer infertility”. With sows mated in the hot months of summer, i.e. December, January, and February, conception rates are often reduced by as much as 60%. The pigs which fail to be conceived at this time are those which are needed at the time of peak consumer demand, i.e. November and December. The summer of 2003/2004 was the worst for this problem in the memories of all our contracted producers."
I dunno about you but I think we'll be stopping into TJs in the next week or so...
The (almost) final word on Ocean Room
Arriving early for a Xmas party at Posh last night, we decided to pop our heads into the hotly anticipated Ocean Room.
There was nothing on the floor as yet and the make-over of the former Opium space (who didn't change things much either) was fairly light. (see sneaky phone pics)
There were, however, chefs (including Raita Noda) milling about in the kitchen. So we went to the source for the definitive word, which is, they are opening a week Saturday.
Let the nosh begin.
(Incidentally, who should my cab driver be on the semi-drunken way back home?)
Grog and blog
Nerd Alert! Nerd Alert! The Sydney Grogblogging Event is tomorrow and while we meant to post this sooner, we're pleased to report that we'll be there.
So come out and join us and a truckload uteload of others (and bring your liver).
Punk Rock Kitchen
We are definately more into the approximations of cooking than the precision of baking but all the same, seeing the "Cookie Chaos" Book from Punk Rock Kitchen over yonder at Gothamist brought a snearing snarl of a smile to our faces.
The book comes complete with a pop out copper cookie cutter, a suggested music sountrack which you can download on the site (we are especially tickled to see The New Bomb Turks on the soundtrack) and a disclaimer....
The Punk Rock Kitchen's Cookie Chaos! contains references to booze, dive bars and pill-poppin. We figure yer never too young to learn about the important things in life (i.e. loud rock 'n' roll, whiskey and cookie dough). Still, others (like the folks who want their kids to grow up to be little pussies) may not agree.
....the site itself also has a blog (the above image was borrowed from there)
Noda News
...awhile ago we reported that SMH reported that in November Ocean Club would Rise from the ashes of the way oversmoked Opium with Raita Noda doing all the fancy work with the knives and pans...
Well we can now happily report that SMH reports that shortly (ie. early December) the space will finally open under the name Ocean Room due to a bit of a glitch with way the Liquor Licensing folks define a "club."
Good, new word on the street is also that due to strong numbers, Rise will stay open and continue the all degustation format it adopted earlier this year.
Chimichurri cha cha
I love chimichurri, that famous Argentinian condimento caliente. Making it is theraputic and it tastes great on nearly everything from cardboard to crow - but especially on a nice slab of grilled cow flesh.
I searched high and low (ie. google) and the internet machine could hand me no definative recipe - leading me to conclude that the tried and true recipe that I use must be the definative one just waiting to be posted.
So grab yourself about 5 cloves of garlic and a half a bunch of flat leaf parsley, some chopped fresh chilli (like one small red one) and some red wine vinegar.
Whack the garlic, parsley and chilli, in your mortar and pestle with a bit of salt and pepper to create some grip and pound to a pulp. Add red wine vinegar to make it saucy. (I generally don't use any but some olive oil helps sauce it up sometimes, just a drizzle mind you, this is not salad dressing but a salsa) Chill for a few minutes.
Serve it over something.
Saturday, in the park
The Sydney Food and Wine Fair on Saturday was great fun for a great cause. At $8 a mini-main, it didn't exactly make for a cheap lunch but we sampled some interesting food from our top restaurants.
Our highlights included:
- Pomegrante glazed chicken on a tomato, watermelon and feta salad from Omega Restaurant
- deliciously decadent Valrhona Chocolate coronet from Quay (think chocolate cone filled with mousse and topped with chocolate ice)
- Flying Fish's superb seared tuna with pink grapefruit and pork
but the best of all for us was:
cuttlefish on soba noodles with ink and lime from the Boathouse (where we haven't been for awhile but will be making a point of stopping in again)
'Shroom Stacker
Ok, so it doesn't look a perfect treat, but trust me this one was a winner.
Take a big-ass field mushroom, tear some fresh basil and grate some parmigiano-reggiano into it (the 'shroom that is) and then drizzle in a healthy amount of olive oil and grill.
In the meantime, drudge some sardine fillets in breadcrumbs and fry them in olive oil (skin down) with about 5 cloves of sliced garlic and finely chopped eshallots for about a minute. One quick turn and off.
Stack the sardines on the now grilled mushroom and top with a slice of fresh tomato. (We added the crunchy bits of garlic and shallot for an extra texture)
