Last weekend Mum came to stay. We got a fair bit of stuff done around my house, but most of the time was spent eating. And teaching Mum how to use social media (Twitter, Instagram and the art of the selfie).
It's so good having a foodie Mum - we spend a lot of time talking about food - especially the food we cook. She is happy to come to stay and be well fed.
We ate at some local restaurants...
For Friday night dinner...Toast with eggplant, feta and honey (amazing!) and lamb, apricot, date and almond tagine (so warming on a freezing night). We also had quail in a chocolate sauce. That was our first time at Arcadia. Really impressed with this restaurant and will go back soon.
And for lunch the next day, we had a Mexican share plate at La Tortilleria. I am so in love with this place - it's fresh and tasty Mexican. My favourites were the toasted tortillas filled with pork, pineapple and cheese - crispy tortillas, tender pork, sweet pineapple and melty cheese. Yum!
The tortillas are made on site in this big machine. It was great to watch this process. Mum and I both bought packets of freshly made tortillas - hot from the machine.
Eating great food at restaurants inspires both Mum and I to cook great food at home. And of course we did. We went to my local shopping strip to stock up on fresh produce - meat, veggies and cheese. I bought a rolled pork roast - I felt so grown up!
I made a major purchase - a new fridge - which I admit has rekindled my passion for spending time in the kitchen. This fridge holds a lot, its shelves are sturdy, and the crisper keeps the vegetables crisp. The milk has some friends now - there's cider and wine on the bottom shelf now!
Once the fridge was delivered and installed, Mum and I got cooking. On Saturday night we cooked a Mexican inspired feast:
Pico di gallo (onion, tomato, coriander, olive oil)...
Salad of spinach, beetroot, mandarin, hazelnuts, feta, lime juice...
And roasted pork filled tortillas like the ones we had that day...
It was a fantastic meal! Quite healthy, and really relaxing preparing all the dishes. Lots of leftovers too.
On Sunday we lunched at Hausfrau with Camille. Mum hadn't met Cam before but she had heard lots about her of course - and loved her of course!
I ate a pumpkin fritter with beetroot, creme fraiche and a poached egg. Yum!
And we had some cake...
I cooked a faux-fancy meal for dinner on Sunday night. That is, a dinner that looks quite fancy but is really easy. It's chicken fillet rolled in prosciutto and stuffed with spinach and cheese, with herbed potatoes and turnips, steamed choy sum and carrot, and cranberry sauce. Yum!!
Since I downloaded Instagram, I've become a bit obsessed with taking photos of most meals I cook, buy and eat. I tend only to take photos of cafe breakfasts or if I cook them on the weekends. I just don't have time to set up a photo of my weekly breakfast - plus my daily smoothie/oats/ fruit yoghurt muesli is pretty boring. And my work lunches are mostly left overs so it's rare for me to photograph those.
Food gives me so much pleasure - the cooking, the browsing, the sharing. And photographing food helps me remember those good times. For those wondering, I create frames for my photos with an app called Diptic.
Here's what I've eaten in this past week. Enjoy this.
Last Sunday dinner, home cooked. Macaroni and vegetable cheese - cauliflower, orange pepper,
squash, zucchini, kale, green chilli, feta and tasty cheeses, béchamel
sauce and wholemeal pasta - plus ginger beer. It was a hot night so ginger beer was really refreshing. My Dad gave me that cow plate when I moved to Melbourne. I love it.
Weeknight dinner: home made baked cannelini beans with tomato, capsicum, garlic and red chilli, topped with goats cheese. This would have made for a great breakfast too.
Crayfish
from the Victoria Market night market on Wednesday night. Jess, my
friend and social media consultant extraordinaire, went to the final
night market of the summer, after work. I also ate some pork crackling
(it came in a cup, but it was very salty and chewy and I felt guilty
about the fat content so I only ate four pieces) and Jess and I both had
corn fritters which I wasn't impressed with. This cray was fantastic -
lots of meat and really sweet and juicy.
Lemon and chocolate-raspberry cakes from The The Premises. I had been recommended The Premises by Jentopia and yesterday was the second time I went for breakfast. Last time I went I had the French toast with meringue (really good!). Yesterday I had eggs on toast with smoked salmon. It was average, and to be honest, I think it's pretty pricey compared to The Auction Rooms and Three Bags Full. As I paid, I was tempted by the cabinet of cupcakes, and chose two to take to Steph's house for morning tea. The lemon cupcake had glitter on top, which made it even more appealing. Steph and I said as we've become older, we prefer fruity cakes over chocolate cakes. We cut the cakes in half so we could sample each flavour. "I don't want this lemon cake to end" Steph said. I agreed. The cake was so full of lovely lemony flavour, and was rich and dense and I think there was a dollop of lemon curd in the middle. So. Good. The chocolate-raspberry one was good, too, but the lemon stole my heart.
Contrary to what it seems, I don't eat regular meals on the weekend. I eat brunch at around 1030 am and then don't eat until dinner. Last night I was starving, though at 5 pm, it was hospital/old person's time to eat dinner. So while dinner was in the oven, I made a platter of goat's curd brie (if you haven't tried this, make sure you do - lots of bite, but soft like traditional brie), hot salami, chilli olives and peach. I had a bottle of elderflower cider - I had hoped it tasted more elderflowery, less cidery, but not the case. Maybe I will need to mix elderflower cordial with plain cider?
Saturday night's dinner was inspired by BabyMac - her blog is full of amazing meals and beautiful interiors and cute children - though I varied the recipe a little. It is chicken pieces baked with garlic, onion, tomato, chorizo and sweet potato, and seasoned with olive oil, lemon zest, oregano and chilli flakes. It was really good, and there's plenty left over for tomorrow' lunch.
I went to the farmer's market yesterday morning. I love the farmer's market, especially the barbeque breakfast. I had already done my shopping, so didn't buy much produce other than grapes and capsicum. I bought a mini cupcake from Play Lunch - they had a huge range of intricately decorated and flavoured cupcakes. I bought a cookie dough cupcake, topped with real cookie dough. So yummy. I loved the animal cakes, and I asked if I could photograph the gift box. The condiments list is what I had on my poached egg and polenta - featured in the bottom right (the best value breakfast in Melbourne I think - so tasty and healthy). And the grapes are lovely too!
I bought a sausage roll for a late lunch. God it was good. Turkey and pork mince, with lots of seasoning and cranberries. The pastry was light and flaky. I could eat these often! I am not sure of the company who makes them - next time I will take note.
Finally - last night's dinner - salad of roast chicken, tomato and pine
nuts with spinach, grapes, corn off the cob and fresh chilli, seasoned with
lemon, oil and balsamic, topped with sheep's cheese. It was fantastic! I kept the chicken bones to make into a stock this week. I may start a
catering company. I love food.
When the temperature is 38 degrees and I get in my hot car to drive into the city - fortunately not a long trip - but seems longer with the blistering sun and airconditioning that takes a while to warm up (cool down?) - I know that I've made plans for a good night ahead. Or I wouldn't be going out at all. I much prefer to hibernate at home sitting in my bedroom with my new airconditioner on its coldest setting. But last night I had made plans to catch up with two of my favourite people in two separate events - dinner and seeing a band.
First stop was picking Sydney Shop Girl - I am always embarrassingly early and this trait worked out well as I got to wait for her in the coolness of the hotel lobby, admiring a beautiful bride, and just being thankful I wasn't in the heat. 15 minutes later and SSG came down to meet me, I was calm, and we were set for a fabulous dinner.
We headed on to My Mexican Cousin - which is situated in the Melbourne Recital Centre on Southbank Boulevard (where I won my Yooralla Media Award). Unfortunately there is a big lack of parking in the area, and we had to park around 500 metres away. Ok, it was probably less, but in that heat it seemed a bigger distance. I was pleased to be able to swing my car into a tight spot (I am not good at reverse parking, having only ever done during my driving test back in 2000 - gosh, it pains me to admit that in writing, on the internet, which will be forever - but with SSG's guidance, I made it. And also did another semi reverse park later in the night! Things are looking up for my reverse parking skills. Note - I am pretty competent at driving forward.
It was a good job we parked so far away because we ate So. Much. Food. And needed to walk it off. My Mexican Cousin is not the Mexican I've been obsessed with lately. It is more like home-style Southern American tapas and mains. Which may prepare me well for my American trip.
We were perched at the bar, where the cool kids sat, quipped the barman, drinking wine and starting off with bar snacks.
First up - spicy and sweet popcorn. It had bites of chilli and perhaps honey. I definitely know there was chilli on the popcorn as some of it ended up in my eye and I had to make a hasty trip to the bathroom to dab my eye with water and eye drops. I want to try making the popcorn at home. I promise to be careful with the chilli.
Entree was salt cod fritters - cod and mashed potato with a side of garlic aioli. The fritters were deliciously fishy.
Our first main course was the Poboy sandwich - shared - deep fried prawns, lettuce, mayo and a semi spicy Creole tomato chutney. It reminded me of eating a Vietnamese Banh Minh. The prawns were big juicy and flavoursome. I could eat a whole Poboy.
The second main we shared was the pulled pork topped with crusted cornbread. While maybe a little too hearty for the temperature outside, it was such a yummy dish. It was served in a hot skillet. The cornbread was just crisp enough, and between the cornbread and pork was a layer of melted cheese. I do think it could have been a touch more salty though.
We had a conference about dessert and decided our tummies could withstand two desserts to share. So we chose chocolate brownies and pecan pie. Wow. Perhaps on this rare occasion, my eyes were too big for my tummy. But I ate for Australia and made it through the not very arduous task of finishing my desserts.
The chocolate brownie was fudgey and dense, filled with pistachios and cardamom. It was served berries in their juice, the most delightful sweetened cream, strawberries and mint leaves. When eaten altogether, the flavours were amazing.
But it was the pecan pie that won my heart. There were shards of toffee were scattered over the plate was a brown sugary-pecan filling was atop a shortcrust pastry. The vanilla bean icecream was a perfect match - but it melted too quickly for me to eat it with the pie.
We enjoyed sitting at the bar - the staff entertained us with their cocktail skills and humour.
Sydney Shop Girl and I had a lovely chat and she promised me she will give me some tips on eating affordably in London, as she heads off there next week. She tried to convince me to buy that spotted blue dress from Target but I stayed strong.
After getting lost around the maze of streets at Crown Casino (I always do) I said goodbye to SSG and headed to Northcote to meet my friend Melissa at the Wesley Anne. Again I drove around and around to find a park. At one stage I entered a tiny, dark and isolated carpark in a backstreet, and a man looked to be walking to his car. I he waved to me, gesturing me over to his park and I started to turn around, nodding that I was coming. He then ran to my car, shaking his hands around. I got a bit scared, and sped off. Anyway, after driving for about 10 minutes, I scored a carpark right out the front of the venue!
Mel and I were there to see Tania Doko - formerly from Bachelor Girl and She Said Yes. The show was acoustic, and really lovely. Mel and I got there just in time to see Janine Maunder who sang such pretty songs. Janine also performed backing vocals for Tania.
She did a mixture of old and new - it was nostalgic hearing the Bachelor Girl songs. She also did two songs by the Eurythmics which matched her voice perfectly.
Lots of her friends and family were in the room - she told funny stories about her Dad, and gave shout outs to her boss at White Lion where she's a youth worker, and mentioned her Italian teacher.
My favourite part of the show was Buses and Trains where she sang parts of it in Italian, and got the audience to sing along. If you listen closely you can hear me singing at the end. The chorus seems to go on forever and today it is in my head - in a good way!
So apart from the relentless heat, last night was a really good one. Great to catch up with BFFs, eat good food and see wonderful live music.
This has been on my mind for some time now. Fad diets and elimination of food by choice. I read an article about it on Sunday and nodded along to the words, and also received some judgment about my own food this week. I'm going to come right out and say it.
If you're on a
sugar/dairy/gluten free diet by choice, don't try to guilt me for my generally good
choices. FFS. Sick of your judgment & grumpiness. Go eat something
delicious and cheer up.
Most of the food I eat I cook from scratch. I can say that I know most ingredients I put into my cooking. That is, I try to only use whole foods. It's rare that I cook with pre-made sauces or even pasta now. I use fresh (and sometimes frozen) vegetables, fresh fruit, (mostly) organic free range meat, fish, olive oil, plain yoghurt, rice, duck eggs, organic milk (I have been using Elgaar milk from Tasmania lately), beans, lentils and barley, oats, flour, herbs and spices, and nuts. I occasionally buy bread, and it's only these past few weeks I've had icecream in the freezer. I don't drink coffee and only drink herbal tea, and don't add sugar to my foods or drinks. I find it hard to find a late night snack in my fridge or pantry because I don't keep biscuits or chips, and the only chocolate I have is Green and Black's dark orange. Sometimes I drink coke and other soft drinks but I also drink about three litres of water a day. Cheese is my weakness.
I eat whole foods because they make me feel good and happy. Over-processed foods make my tummy sore. I know I am getting the goodness I need from whole foods without added nasties. And I also never feel guilty when I dine out or eat a cake at work once a fortnight for afternoon tea.
Though I don't exercise as much as I should, my BMI is between low and average, I have a fast metabolism and feel pretty healthy.
In the past week these are some of the things that I've cooked and eaten.
Chicken with a salad of mango, tomato, corn off the cobb, spinach, capsicum and lime juice, with a side of quinoa. Roast lamb chops with broccoli, carrots, pumpkin, potatoes and beetroot. Half an apple scroll, strawberries and pineapple, and muesli on Yalla yoghurt. Vegetable fritters made from squash, pumpkin, spinach and corn off the cobb topped with mayonnaise. Yum! And I can name almost every ingredient except for the spices on the chicken, the ingredients within the mayonnaise and the apple scroll.
Food confessional over.
So when people who are on fad diets by CHOICE, I don't appreciate them tsk-tsking my own food choices. The sugars in my fruit, or my full fat dairy or the additives in my mayonnaise are none of your business. My belief is that I eat such a balanced diet that the occasional food with hidden sugar or salt or transfats (whatever they are?) doesn't matter. It's like when people are on these food elimination diets by choice, their attitude becomes holier than thou, and they are obsessed with what they and others eat.
I am finding the rise in these food choice/elimination fads - no gluten, no sugar, no dairy - are making people a bit grumpy, very judgmental, quite boring, and often difficult at meal times. I am wondering if these food elimination diets are a new form of eating disorder?
Continuing on from Mia Freedman's piece - I also wonder if food elimination is done to be trendy? While I am about to set foot into controversial territory, I wonder whether all food allergies exist. I was talking with my dermatologists and allergy specialists about food allergies - they find it strange that I don't suffer from any food allergies, yet am very susceptible to them. They also said that they believe many people don't actually have a true food allergy.
I was reading a blog post a while back, by a nutritionist (I am sorry I don't have it to link to now though) that outlined the panic surrounding eating full fat dairy. The post detailed the nutrients in dairy, and then made the point that people shouldn't be panicking about eating fresh whole foods, but processed foods, like the ones that come in packets and tubes. Like avocado in a tube or cheese in a can.
Here's my food philosophy:
Cook meals with ingredients that you can see. As in - fresh, whole foods.
Cook simple meals. It doesn't take long to chop some vegies, steam some fish and put together a delicious fish taco.
Whole foods doesn't mean boring.
Eat for health.
Eat for happiness.
_
I am going to cook dinner now. I am having salmon and leftover mango salad. What's the sugar content in that?
PS - a friend asked me if I eat McDonalds, given that most of my diet is pretty good. Yes. Yes I eat McDonalds and am quite partial to a Quarter Pounder.
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