Rhonda Bracey: At Random

I have no clue how I came across this blog post (http://veganyumyum.com/2007/06/knit-night-cupcakes/), but for a first-timer, the author sure put her four hours to a very creative use of marzipan!

We decided to give Jarrah Jack’s another try (see previous post for our bad experience there a few weeks ago). I’d taken the day off work so we drove down to Pemberton for lunch and to sample the wines and beers at Jarrah Jack’s Brewery and Woodsmoke Winery.

Our experience this time was much better. Not perfect, but decidely better than the last one! They must be doing something right as there was a decent crowd there for mid-week lunch: in winter and not in the school holidays. Small groups of people too, so it’s not like there was a busload of tourists that had to be catered for. We arrived just after 1:00pm so were at the tail end of the traditional lunch period. We had a short wait for the beer tasting sample, and a bit of a wait for our lunch. But nothing out of the ordinary. Lunch was nice, but nothing to rave about. And this time the service was friendly.

Can’t ask for much more than that, really. At least, we now have a better impression and will likely return. They need to do something about that awful potholed gravel road and driveway though…

Photo of the beer tasting rack to come…

One of my tech writer friends posted this today on a list we both frequent

“…if we are out enjoying a lovely dinner and someone’s phone rings, that person will check the caller ID and then immediately silence the phone. We all show respect towards one another….”

My response:

Ummm… Am I the only one who sees something wrong in this? Personally, I’d turn OFF the phone as soon as I got to the restaurant and all the parties had arrived. I *may* leave it on if someone in the group hadn’t turned up or was running late, just in case I needed to call them or vice versa (“Where are you?”). But as soon as everyone is there, the phone goes OFF. Period. Is that just me?

What do you think?

I forgot to mention that on Wednesday this week just gone we drove over to Busselton to do some shopping, have lunch with my parents at the Ship Hotel (BTW, excellent value! $12.95 for a full-size Scotch Fillet with chips and salad; for the North Americans, Scotch Fillet is what you call Rib Eye steak).

On the way home (between Busselton and Nannup) we stopped in at a place we’ve often driven past: the Cambray Sheep Cheese factory and shop. Neither of us was familiar with sheep cheese until we starting watching the excellent “Cheese Slices” series presented by Aussie Will Studd on the Lifestyle Food channel. So here was our opportunity to try some. They have free cheese tastings and if you want something more substantial, you can buy a cheese platter to eat on the veranda looking out over the lush green paddocks to the rams’ enclosure.

As is typical with any cheese factory, the smell hits you as you walk in the door. Phew! But after about a minute your nose acclimatises and you don’t notice it. They have some fabulous hand-made cheeses—we tasted them all and ended up buying a hard cheese (similar to a pecorino), and three soft cheeses (similar to brie and camembert, and their own special Friesette from their East Friesland sheep).

The Cambray sheep cheeses weren’t cheap but they sure were nice!

Paula (on one of my discussion lists) posted these barbecue rules the other day. It’s easily found on the internet so I don’t know who to acknowledge. But thanks for sharing it, Paula. So true, so true…

***********
We are about to enter the summer and BBQ season. Therefore, it is important to refresh your memory on the etiquette of this sublime outdoor cooking activity, as it’s the only type of cooking a ‘real’ man will do, probably because there is an element of danger involved.

When a man volunteers to do the BBQ the following chain of events are put into motion:
Routine…
(1) The woman buys the food.
(2) The woman makes the salad, prepares the vegetables, and makes dessert.
(3) The woman prepares the meat for cooking, places it on a tray along with the necessary cooking utensils and sauces, and takes it to the man who is lounging beside the grill – beer in hand.

Here comes the important part:
(4) THE MAN PLACES THE MEAT ON THE GRILL.

More routine….
(5) The woman goes inside to organize the plates and cutlery.
(6) The woman comes out to tell the man that the meat is burning. He thanks her and asks if she will bring another beer while he deals with the situation.

Important again:
(7) THE MAN TAKES THE MEAT OFF THE GRILL AND HANDS IT TO THE WOMAN.

More routine….
(8) The woman prepares the plates, salad, bread, utensils, napkins, sauces, and brings them to the table.
(9) After eating, the woman clears the table and does the dishes.

And most important of all:
(10) Everyone PRAISES the MAN and THANKS HIM for his cooking efforts.
(11) The man asks the woman how she enjoyed “her night off.” And, upon seeing her annoyed reaction, concludes that there’s just no pleasing some women….
***************

A friend laid down the gauntlet to me and another friend of hers a couple of weeks ago, after reading Scott Adams’ (of Dilbert fame) post “900 comments and counting“:

“For those of us who are not familiar with Indian or Thai food, where would we start on the menu? What would be the best dish (or kind of dish) to use as an entry point into these ethnic categories?”

Here’s my response:

Where to start with Indian or Thai? hmmm… that got me thinking! It’s a while since I’ve eaten Thai, so I’ll just do Indian!

Both cuisines use herbs, spices, and flavours that may be unfamiliar to you or very hot (various varieties of chilies), so for many people, these new tastes put them off. Start mild and work up!

If you’re unfamiliar with the tastes, here’s an easy entry into Indian ‘heat’:

• Anything with “korma” in its title is mild and creamy. The creaminess comes from yoghurt.
• Anything with “rogan josh” in its title is fairly mild.
• Anything with “madras” in the title is medium.
• Anything with “vindaloo” in the title is hot.

“Tandoori” is meat (usually chicken) cooked in a Tandoor oven. The chicken is rubbed/marinated in a yoghurt + some sort of reddish spice for a time, then cooked in this special earthen oven. The result is quite a reddish looking chicken piece, which, if overcooked, can be quite dry.

Naan bread is also cooked in an earthen (Tandoor?) oven. Like a tortilla, but thicker and breadier, it is slapped on to the inside of the oven for a few minutes. It should come out nice and crispy on the edges, a bit like a good crusty pizza base.

Pappadums traditionally are cooked for a few seconds in very hot oil and drained, but many people now microwave them (I do – it takes seconds and they’re much healthier for you, and there’s a helluva lot less cleaning up!). They are a very crisp ‘bread’ (think tortilla chips), and usually served with dips and sauces.

Dahl (daal?) is cooked-to-almost-mush lentils + spices. Looks like crap, tastes great! Very healthy vegetarian. Eat it with rice. Good accompaniment.

Here’s a couple of decent looking websites:

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A3073556
• http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5638057
• http://www.littleviews.com/home/newyork/indian_restaurants.cfm
• http://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/indian_restaurants/index.html
• http://indianfood.about.com/od/thebasics/a/restordering.htm
• http://indianfood.about.com/od/thebasics/ss/restordertable.htm (printable reference card!)

Personally, I like *hot*. I’m a chili fiend and use it – or some variety of it – almost daily in my own cooking. So when we “do” Indian, it’s the hot stuff we go for!

Update: While wandering the web searching for something completely different, I came across this entry by Ian Anderson (of Jethro Tull fame for those of us old enough to remember…), on the official Jethro Tull website. It’s a good run down of the types of dishes – and their effects!

(with apologies to any Mexicans who no doubt do chicken quite differently!)

This is a quick and easy weekend recipe using a lot of ingredients in your pantry. Use as little or as much chilli as you want. Feeds 4 to 6.
Ingredients

• 2x chicken breast fillets, diced into pieces about 1-3cm (1/2 to 1 inch)
• 1x 400g can diced tomatoes (just under a pound)
• 1x 420g can red kidney beans (just under a pound), rinsed thoroughly
• 1x 35g pack of Old El Paso Chilli Seasoning mix
• McCormicks BBQ Seasoning mix
• Cajun spice mix
• fresh chilli (optional)
• 1-2 brown onions, sliced and diced

Garnish/accompaniments

• Red capsicum (red pepper) slices
• Iceberg lettuce, sliced
• Sour cream or Greek-style natural yoghurt
• Pickled Jalapeno peppers (optional)
• Sharp cheese, thinly shaved
• Cooked rice (boiled or steamed)
• Nacho chips

Method

1. In a hot non-stick pan, brown the chicken, onion, and chilli in a touch of oil.
2. Coat lightly with a good shake of the BBQ seasoning and Cajun spice.
3. When the chicken is browned, stir in the red kidney beans and diced tomatoes.
4. Add the whole pack of Old El Paso Chilli Seasoning and stir in well. Add a touch of water if the mixture is too dry.
5. Turn down the heat and cover the pan.
6. Cook for about 10-15 mins, stirring occasionally to make sure the mixture doesn’t stick. Add a little more water, if required. The end result should be a little bit sloppy but not watery – think ‘stew’ not ‘soup’.
7. Spoon rice into large bowls, add chicken mixture. Garnish with any or all of lettuce, red capsicum, shaved cheese, sour cream, jalapeno peppers, and some cracked black pepper. Add a side of nacho chips, if required.
8. Enjoy!

We now have our own lemon tree in the backyard and it’s starting to get weighed down with lemons. Fortunately, they don’t all ripen at once! I picked a dozen or so this morning, and within 5 minutes of picking, they were being cut and juiced, ready to be frozen as lemon ice cubes.