It's the dry season here in Darwin and that means lots of fun things going on outside. Last night we went to a fundraiser at the Deckchair Cinema for the NT Environment Centre. They were showing the very feel-good movie about British allotment gardens, "Grow Your Own."
Since it was a fundraiser, the cinema's usual food service was displaced by locals making dishes for sale, much of which was local and some even grown by the cooks themselves. Unfortunately, the food took second place to the desire to raise funds and they sold us tickets for meals even after the good stuff was gone. We weren't late but there were heaps there before us (since it was our first time, we didn't have the inside scoop of these obvious veterans). So we missed central desert camel and Mary River barramundi ("barra" here - so if you're visiting you can slip in the local lingo). We had one plate between two of wet rice and runny lentils...but all in good fun. The movie was good and the cause worth supporting.
It was a good excuse to make popcorn when we got home...
Showing posts with label eating in the tropics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label eating in the tropics. Show all posts
Friday, July 17, 2009
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
take me away from take away
Why do I keep trying it? Take away food, I mean. I get to feeling hungry, can't remember if there's anything at the house, don't feel like going to the store...and boom, there I am with a pile of pseudo food wondering why I've done it to myself again. Maybe it's only once a month, but my body doesn't seem to recover between episodes...
Strategy idea: cook something kind of like junk food and put it in the freezer - and remember that it's there next time the urge strikes to do the dirty deed.
Meanwhile, what am I going to do with those fish and chips swimming around in my arteries?
Strategy idea: cook something kind of like junk food and put it in the freezer - and remember that it's there next time the urge strikes to do the dirty deed.
Meanwhile, what am I going to do with those fish and chips swimming around in my arteries?
Saturday, July 4, 2009
wintry delights
Somewhere south of us, much further south of us, the forecast is for snow. Here in the tropics, we're in the midst of the dry season which has a certain autumnal quality to it. And while it isn't cool by any stretch of the imagination, if you work up a good sweat and then sit under a fan in your wet tennis clothes...you can almost feel a shiver coming on with the night.
So tonight we indulged the cooler clime appetites with a potato bake.
Red bliss potatoes sliced very thin.
Cream and milk (2 thirds/1 third respectively)
olive oil to cook 1 minced onion and 2 cloves garlic, chopped
3 tablespoons of flour
a bit of salami
cheese
salt
pepper
Heat the oven to 200C.
Sweat the onion and garlic in the olive oil in a saucepan. Add the flour to coat. Stir in the milk and cream. Add the potatoes, salt and pepper. Bring to the boil.
Layer in a baking dish with cheese and salami, finishing with a nice layer of cheese.
Bake for 45 minutes or until bubbling and browned; the potatoes nice and soft.
Let it rest before you dig in for best flavour and texture.
Snuggle up in your tank top and shorts on the rattan couch with a cold beer and tuck in!
So tonight we indulged the cooler clime appetites with a potato bake.
Red bliss potatoes sliced very thin.
Cream and milk (2 thirds/1 third respectively)
olive oil to cook 1 minced onion and 2 cloves garlic, chopped
3 tablespoons of flour
a bit of salami
cheese
salt
pepper
Heat the oven to 200C.
Sweat the onion and garlic in the olive oil in a saucepan. Add the flour to coat. Stir in the milk and cream. Add the potatoes, salt and pepper. Bring to the boil.
Layer in a baking dish with cheese and salami, finishing with a nice layer of cheese.
Bake for 45 minutes or until bubbling and browned; the potatoes nice and soft.
Let it rest before you dig in for best flavour and texture.
Snuggle up in your tank top and shorts on the rattan couch with a cold beer and tuck in!
Monday, June 29, 2009
yes, I have been eating...
I've been eating a lot, in fact. Perhaps so much that I haven't had the energy to blog about it! It's been a lot of eating out, which leaves no time to post. Many a market here in Darwin in the dry, filled with all sorts of delights from Indonesian redang to green paw-paw salad.
Tonight, it was potato wedges, Little Creatures Pale Ale, and part of a caesar salad (is there anyone in the world who can actually make a decent caesar salad...this one wasn't).
But the sunset that came with the meal was grand, at the Darwin Trailer Boat Club.
Heard a great line from a 10-ish-year-old boy on the way out, "They should put on the menu, you can have it deep fried or you can have it cooked properly."
Future chef there, eh?
Tonight, it was potato wedges, Little Creatures Pale Ale, and part of a caesar salad (is there anyone in the world who can actually make a decent caesar salad...this one wasn't).
But the sunset that came with the meal was grand, at the Darwin Trailer Boat Club.
Heard a great line from a 10-ish-year-old boy on the way out, "They should put on the menu, you can have it deep fried or you can have it cooked properly."
Future chef there, eh?
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
We've Opened the Glorious Thai Book!
We've opened our new and glorious Thai Food by David Thompson. It's so pink and beautiful! We bought it months ago in London and had it shipped here to Darwin. It arrived a month or so ago and we haven't had time to play with it yet.
Last night we used the Thai green granite mortar and pestle to make the lovely chicken curry on page 291.
It was clean and fresh, a perfect tropical treat.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
beer after run
After a day of too many morning and afternoon tea snacks at a meeting, I had a good sunset run immediately followed by a cold beer. One of life's most sublime pleasures, to be sure.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
verandah stir fry
Last night we tried out the new set-up for stir fry on the verandah. Verdict? Yes!
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Hanuman's oysters so lovely
Last night some friends treated us to a dinner out at Darwin's best restaurant (until proven otherwise by experience!)
It's called Hanuman's, one of three in the group (the others are in Cairns and Alice Springs). It's not really a fusion restaurant, just a solid and varied menu of Thai, Indian and Nonya cuisine.
Everyone raves about the oysters and they were delicious indeed. (Follow that link to the recipe.) Amazing how doing so much to them in terms of flavors didn't drown the oyster flavor itself. A very neat trick.
It's called Hanuman's, one of three in the group (the others are in Cairns and Alice Springs). It's not really a fusion restaurant, just a solid and varied menu of Thai, Indian and Nonya cuisine.
Everyone raves about the oysters and they were delicious indeed. (Follow that link to the recipe.) Amazing how doing so much to them in terms of flavors didn't drown the oyster flavor itself. A very neat trick.
Friday, April 3, 2009
fish curry in a hurry
The other night we were watching "Feast India" on SBS and saw this recipe. Made it tonight, but it requires some adjustments, as in he forgets to put "fish stock" in the ingredients list. Coriander is cilantro to Yanks like me...
It's very good without the tomatoes, also, but lacks a nice color. Tumeric maybe?
Ingredients
2 long green chillis thinly sliced on angle
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp cumin seeds
½ tsp black mustard seeds
2 garlic cloves finely chopped
1 dessertspoons minced ginger
1 brown onions finely chopped
4 plum tomatoes skinned & diced
1 tins of coconut milk
12 curry leaves
Vegetable oil
4x200g portions of white fish
1 handful of chopped coriander
Preparation
Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the mustard seed & cumin seed and stir until it starts to pop (ours popped out of the pan so maybe it was a wee bit too hot), then add the onion, garlic & ginger and sweat for about 5 minutes.
Add the chilli & curry leaves and cook for a further 5 minutes then add the coconut milk, fish stock (see what I mean - not in the ingredients list. I improvised by making a reduction in the fish cooking pan - see below - with water in the coconut milk can and a tiny bit of fish sauce) & salt and bring to the boil then simmer for about 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool.
Refrigerate until ready to use. (or eat right away, also good)
Fry your fish skin side down in a fry pan until golden brown, then turn over and cook for about 2 minutes then add to the curry sauce, cook for a further 3-4 minutes, add the coriander to the sauce and serve.
It's very good without the tomatoes, also, but lacks a nice color. Tumeric maybe?
Ingredients
2 long green chillis thinly sliced on angle
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp cumin seeds
½ tsp black mustard seeds
2 garlic cloves finely chopped
1 dessertspoons minced ginger
1 brown onions finely chopped
4 plum tomatoes skinned & diced
1 tins of coconut milk
12 curry leaves
Vegetable oil
4x200g portions of white fish
1 handful of chopped coriander
Preparation
Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the mustard seed & cumin seed and stir until it starts to pop (ours popped out of the pan so maybe it was a wee bit too hot), then add the onion, garlic & ginger and sweat for about 5 minutes.
Add the chilli & curry leaves and cook for a further 5 minutes then add the coconut milk, fish stock (see what I mean - not in the ingredients list. I improvised by making a reduction in the fish cooking pan - see below - with water in the coconut milk can and a tiny bit of fish sauce) & salt and bring to the boil then simmer for about 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool.
Refrigerate until ready to use. (or eat right away, also good)
Fry your fish skin side down in a fry pan until golden brown, then turn over and cook for about 2 minutes then add to the curry sauce, cook for a further 3-4 minutes, add the coriander to the sauce and serve.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
the fish with the unfortunate name
Last night we made our first jewfish. I felt a bit uncomfortable ordering it - can't find on the net where the name came from and if I should be concerned about it not being very pc. It's a kind of grouper and it's delicious, proving that a fish by any other name can still taste good.
It's a thick and meaty fish and didn't need much done to it to bring out some lovely flavor.
We put the large fillet on foil on a baking tray, sliced garlic and ginger onto it, salt and pepper, drizzled EVOO on top, put a cover of foil on it, sealing the edges. We cooked it for 20 minutes at 180C, but it's good to check on it so that it doesn't get over done.
Made a sauce of EVOO, cashews, garlic, ginger, honey, rice wine vinegar, white wine vinegar, salt, pepper, basil, the juice of one small local lime, and water, all blended thoroughly with a bar mixer to the consistency of mayonnaise.
Delicious.
It's a thick and meaty fish and didn't need much done to it to bring out some lovely flavor.
We put the large fillet on foil on a baking tray, sliced garlic and ginger onto it, salt and pepper, drizzled EVOO on top, put a cover of foil on it, sealing the edges. We cooked it for 20 minutes at 180C, but it's good to check on it so that it doesn't get over done.
Made a sauce of EVOO, cashews, garlic, ginger, honey, rice wine vinegar, white wine vinegar, salt, pepper, basil, the juice of one small local lime, and water, all blended thoroughly with a bar mixer to the consistency of mayonnaise.
Delicious.
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