Friday 24th July '09

Morning Tea at Work
Hungry Jacks Cheeseburger

Most of you know that I have an aversion to Hungry Jacks. However, I won't turn it down if it will satisfy a craving for a cheeseburger. We had our courier at work do a 'Hungry Jacks run' for us.

Later, she also went and made a 'KFC run' for us.

Afternoon Snack
KFC Popcorn Chicken Snackbox

I don't know what was wrong with me today...I had my camera on the table when I was having lunch but forgot to take a photo of my salad. I had baby rocket, red onion and sundried tomatoes with a can of sardines.

To my annoyance, I also forgot to take my camera with me when we went out to dinner tonight. I left my bag in the car because I didn't feel like lugging it around with me. Aargh!

After work I caught up with friends at the Belgian Beer Cafe on Murray Street for a few drinks. Afterwards, we went to Lido's on William Street in Northbridge for dinner. We hadn't made a reservation but we only waited for about ten minutes before there was a table for us. The food was fantastic as usual. There was a hiccup where someone had a piece of plastic (that probably broke off a takeaway container) in the beef salad that we shared, but the manager took the dish off our bill.

Thursday 23rd July '09

Breakfast
Toasted Lettuce & Cheese Sandwiches

I love these toasties! I usually make two to eat during the drive to work in the mornings.

Dinner
Mum's Beef Stew with Spaghetti

I suppose Mum wasn't able to procure some quality ox tail so she used beef and made meatballs out of some beef mince that she seasoned. I missed the gelatinous ox tail pieces but it was just as delicious.

Wednesday 22nd July '09

Morning Tea at Work
Moussaka

Lunch at Work
Spaghetti Bolognaise with Lamb

Eggplant Parmagiana

Dinner
Chicken Bee Hoon Soup

While at the shops today, I bought a Granny Smith apple with the intention of making apple crumble for dessert tonight.

First, I peeled and slice the apple and put the slices into a bowl and filled it with enough water to cover them. I added a few cloves and then cooked them in the microwave for a few minutes until the apples softened. Meanwhile I made the crumble.

left: rubbing the butter into the flour
right: the crumble mixture with muesli

I haven't made apple crumble for years. I used to just make a basic crumble for the top, but tonight I decided to use some Apple & Berry Muesli I bought a few weeks ago. I picked out the cloves from the apples and then transferred the slices into ramikins. I covered the apple with my crumble mixture and then baked them in the oven at 180C (fanforce) for about half an hour until the crumble turned golden brown.

Served with fresh cream.

Tuesday 21st July '09

Lunch
Chicken & Squid Bee Hoon Soup

For dinner, I seasoned some lamb cutlets with rosemary, thyme, chilli flakes, crushed garlic and olive oil.



Dinner
Rosemary, Thyme & Chilli Lamb Cutlets
with Potato & Sweet Potato Provolone Bake


The Italian bug bit me tonight and I made several dishes. I sliced two large eggplants into 1cm thick pieces and arranged them in a large dish, sprinkling sea sat liberally over them. On top of the eggplant, I placed a sheet of baking paper and then put another baking dish on top and weighed it down with several large cans. This is to help draw out the extra moisture and bitterness from the eggplant.

Next, I made tomato sauce. It varied slightly from the tomato sauce I made the other night. I used a whole finely chopped white onion, fresh parsley, basil, olive oil and three cans of whole Italian tomatoes. I simmered it all for almost an hour until it became a deliciously rich, sweet sauce.

Eggplant Moussaka
I've been wanting to make moussaka for years now, but have always been reluctant to try making bechamel sauce from scratch after a few failed attempts several years ago. When adding the plain flour, the sauce would burn. Perhaps it was because I was using a bad quality pot or perhaps my stirring technique wasn't sufficient to mix the flour and butter before it began to burn.

Anyhow, I thought it was time to give it another go. I googled a recipe for a basic bechamel sauce.

Basic Bechamel Sauce - Taste.com.au click on the link for the recipe

I added the plain flour, stirred it in and no sign of burning! I added the egg and nutmeg and whisked that in...so far so good! Alas! I checked the method and realised I was supposed to add the milk in before the egg, so instead of starting from scratch, I just added the milk in and hoped for the best. I managed to whisk out most of the lumps and it created a smooth bechamel paste. Yay!

Method:

1. Sautee a small diced onion in some olive oil, then add 500g lamb mince.
   
2. Cook the mince, using a wooden spoon to separate it.
   
3. Season with rosemary, thyme, sea salt and cracked black pepper. Set aside.
   
4. Make bechamel sauce.
   
5. In a deep baking dish, layer slices of eggplant and top with a layer of the lamb mince. Repeat with a layer of eggplant, mince and finish with a layer of eggplant. Cover with a layer of the bechamel sauce and bake in the oven for about 30-40 minutes on 180C (fanforce) until the bechamel sauce goes golden brown.

Eggplant Parmagiana
Method:

1. In a baking dish, layer eggplant slices, the Italian tomato sauce and grated tasty cheese in that order.
   
2. Finish with a layer of the cheese and bake in the oven for about 30-40 minutes on 180C (fanforce) until the cheese has melted and started to brown.

I saved some of the lamb mince mixture from the moussaka to make some pasta for dinner. I simply added some of the Italian tomato sauce into the pot with the mince and then tossed through some al dente spaghetti. Voila!

Spaghetti Bolognaise with Lamb Mince

Monday 20th July '09

I stayed over at Lisa and Tom's place last night. It rained all night, with the heavy showers waking me up every now and then, but I had a really awesome sleep - made all the more better knowing that I didn't have to get up for work. Lisa called me when my breakfast was ready - what wonderful service! She made me cheesy toasts and a cup of tea. Yum!

If I had slept at home last night, I would have no doubt spent most of today sleeping. As it was, I headed out to the city to check out Harbourtown. I haven't been there for yonks. At first I thought I'd wasted my time going there because I didn't really see anything I needed and didn't want to spend money on clothes I didn't need. Until I found some stores and bought some trackpants, t-shirts, underwear and PJ's. I also splurged on a nice skirt and silk top.


SHIMIZU
Shop 29b at 840 Wellington Street, Perth CBD
Kong came to join me for lunch.

I had the Beef Ramen Soup

Kong had the Katsu Chicken Bento Set


Back at home after my day of retail therapy, I set to in the kitchen to make dinner.

I made a potato and sweet potato bake with provolone cheese.

This is a variation of the provolone potato bake that I usually make. I just added some slices of sweet potato. They added a delicious sweetness to the dish.

I needed to do something with all the bread rolls on the kitchen counter that I didn't have time to eat. Instead of wasting them by throwing them away, I used a food processor to turn them into bread crumbs and put some aside to use tonight for dinner, and the rest I stored in a ziplock bag and put in the freezer.

I combined some dried rosemary, thyme, sea salt and cracked black pepper with some bread crumbs. I dipped each lamb cutlet into a lightly beaten egg and then coated them with the crumb mixture. I fried them in some olive oil in a pan.

I packed up some slabs of the potato and sweet potato bake and the lamb cutlets and braved the rain and gusty winds to join Noel and Fleurette for dinner.

Dinner
Potato & Sweet Potato Provolone Bake
Rosemary & Thyme Crumbed Lamb Cutlets
Fleurette made fish curry - OMG it was delicious!

Supper
Chicken Bee Hoon Soup

I love the gorgeous colours of the red onion.

Sunday 19th July '09

Lunch at Work
Hot & Spicy Instant Noodles

I love the flavour of these noodles! I can only buy them from the local Coles supermarket so whenever I'm there I buy a few and store some at home and some in my locker at work. In fact, my locker at work is my emergency stash of food for those days I'm not organised enough to bring lunch or dinner. There's no room to put my bag in there - it's like my pantry at work.

After work I went to Lisa's place and since dinner was still a few hours away, she made me a snack.

Cheesy Toast & 2007 Vasse Felix Cabernet Merlot

Lisa sliced the cheese really thin and toasted them under the grill. They were absolutely divine! A fantastic snack to go with the bottle of red I brought.


KING & I Thai Cuisine
147 James Street, Guildford
I joined the staff from the haematology department at the Osborne Park lab for dinner tonight. The cuisine - Thai.

The place was cosy and warm and the staff greeted us warmly. I loved the design of the menus - they were enclosed in hardcover cases covered in fabric. The lighting was dim but not so dim that we couldn't see each other. I loved how our table was situated in the corner and although there were two large entrances, we still felt like we were in our own private and intimate setting. We also had a heater that was disguised as a fireplace behind us - or at least I think the warm air was coming from the fireplace...

We all agreed on the banquet set menu. This included:

Entrees
Spring Rolls
Golden Bags
Curry Puffs
Satay Chicken

Main Course
Green Curry Prawns
Massaman Curry Beef
Chicken Cashew Nut Stirfry
Mixed Vegetables Sitrfry
Pad Thai Chicken
Steamed Rice

Outside the weather was dark, cold and wet with rain so we warmed ourselves up with wine. We started off with a delicious bottle of bubbly.

Yellowglen's Vintage "Leila" - Sauvignon Blanc Traminer

The entrees were brought out promptly and we all dived for them.

The mains were brought out as soon as we had finished the mains. Our steamed rice was served to us by the wait staff, which was a nice touch.

massaman beef curry

chicken cashew nut stirfry

rather crappy photos of the others dishes

I was trying to take photos quickly before everyone got stuck into the food so didn't have time to check how they turned out before putting my camera away. As it was, these were a bit out of focus.

2007 Yarra Valley 'Sticks' Pinot Noir

my plate

The food was great - although somewhat rather ordinary. There wasn't really a standout dish. They were all prepared really well and with fresh ingredients, but there wasn't much depth to the flavours besides sweetness. We asked for one of the green prawn curries to be medium heat but there was no heat at all. I'd go again with friends for a casual dinner since the service was attentive and friendly, but not for the food being memorable.