Tuesday 28th July '09

Today I did the most stupidest thing! I forgot that I had agreed to a shift swap so instead of starting at 8am, I was to start at 4pm. But no, I rocked up at work at 8am and then had to drive back home. I guess being unwell yesterday just threw me off because I knew leading up to this week that I had this shift swap. Ah well, I got home and Simba was so happy and surprised to see me. I changed back into my PJ's and we both got into bed.

Lunch
Char Siew, Chilli & Coriander Roll with Mayo

Dinner at Work
Mum's Paprika in Soy Sauce with Rice & Chilli

This is one of my favourite dishes that Mum makes. If I see paprika on special at the supermarket, I usually buy some and ask her to make it for me. It's so simple - just stirfry them in a bit of soy sauce and sometimes garlic. The paprika has a much sweeter taste than that of capsicum. I love it!

Late Night Snack at Work
Nong Shim Hot & Spicy Instant Ramen Noodles

I saw this type of instant ramen and bought one to try. Yes, I have been getting into the instant noodles lately, haven't I? I'm steering clear of the cheap and crappy brands that you get in the supermarkets, such as Maggi. I'll only buy the Asian brands to try. Afterall, if anyone knows instant noodles, it's the Asians!

I loved the little bits of shitake mushroom that were rehydrated. There were also spring onions and bits of carrot. The noodles were nice too. Really good. I really need to stop drinking all the soup that remains though. All those preservatives can't be good! My mouth waters at the thought of that deliciously salty, hot and spicy soup.

the Verdict: Yum!


Supper
Wantan Soup

Mum had prepared the wantans for me so when I got home from work, all I had to do was make the soup and add whatever ingredients I felt like. I made the soup by boiling some water and adding some chicken stock and soy sauce. I then added some wombok, stuffed chillies and the wantans when the soup boiled. Serve with some ground white pepper and fresh spring onions - hearty winter food.

Monday 27th July '09

I woke up with a headache this morning and had to stay home. By about noon I managed to crawl out of bed and put together a sandwich.

Char Siew, Mayo, Chilli & Coriander Sandwich

The chillies were sooooo hot that after my first bite, I sat panting for about ten minutes. I had to actually pick out the rest of the chillies before I could attempt to finish the sandwich.

I spent a few hours sitting infront of my aquariums just gazing at the fish to try to distract myself from the pulsing pain in my head. I learnt on the weekend that the phosphate level in my main tank is ridiculously high, which is probably what's been killing my fish. I managed to catch my pair of corydoras and transferred them into the smaller tank. After a bit of swimming around in their new environment, I was able to take this photo of them resting together.



Later in the evening, I was feeling better and remembered that I had some fish paste and chicken mince in the fridge awaiting my attention. I slit some chillies, removed the seeds and stuffed them with a mixture of fish, chicken and pork (I found some pork mince in the fridge too). These should last me a while.

Dinner
Wantan Soup with Prawns

Sunday 26th July '09

Today I slept in and then made my way to Benoit and Ivy's place. It was a nice sunny 40km drive.

I had some of Benoit's Dad's wan tan soup

Parsley is growing amok in their garden!



We went to the Wanneroo Markets and bought some fruits and vegetables. We're having a BBQ for dinner tonight. We also picked up some meat from IGA and I had brought some prawns that I bought yesterday.

I peeled the prawns and we marinated them in olive oil, chilli, garlic and parsley.
I skewered them - 3 each.

Ben prepared the vegetables that we would grill.

The beef blade steak got marinated with olive oil, rosemary and thyme.

With the boys preoccupied, I set about on the BBQ doing the cooking. I don't mind being the one that cooks the BBQ. All I need is a few good mates standing by to chat to and a cold beer. Inside, they were bustling about to get the table set and drinks made. The boys were making fresh fruit smoothies. Soon, we all sat down to dinner.

I had my drinks:
mango smoothie
strawberry & watermelon smoothie
a nice cold beer

grilled eggplant, zucchini & mushrooms

steaks & prawn skewers

Ivy made potato cakes that we cooked on the BBQ

Benoit's Dad made egg noodles which I ate with lots of chilli and prawns.

After dinner, we all crowded around Benoit's fish tank when he spotted the bristleworm that's eluded him until tonight. His brother and parents spotted it not long ago but this is the first time he's seen it himself. He made a trap using a plastic water bottle and some bait to try to catch it. We were all squealing in disgust and awe as we watched it snake around the bottom of the tank. It soon crept quickly back under the rocks to hide.

Saturday 25th July '09

GOOD ONE BBQ RESTAURANT
808 Albany Highway, Victoria Park
Today Jocelyn, David, Mum and I went for lunch in Victoria Park. A late lunch. It was 3pm and most places had closed to prepare for the dinner service. Fortunately, we didn't have to walk far to find that Good One was still open.

combination of 3 meats:
roast duck
roast pork
barbecue pork

pak choy in garlic sauce

seafood ho fun with egg sauce

Afterwards, we walked past Baskin-Robbins for dessert.

my Green Tea Ice Cream


ELIE'S TENT - Lebanese Restaurant
610 Albany Highway, Victoria Park
Tonight we went out for dinner to celebrate Ling's birthday.

I scrapbooked him a card with a magnet at the back so he can keep it on the fridge.


We were rather early and needed to draw out our entree and main course so that we could stay to watch the belly dancer at 8:30pm. On arrival, we thought the place looked cosy and rather ethnic looking from the outside. We felt a bit rushed by the unprofessional waitstaff though. I think they're a family run business so they lacked the etiquette and training. We felt a bit harrassed when they kept asking us every few minutes if we were ready to order. There were only two tables at the time so there was no need to rush us.

I liked the menus.

The photos of the entrees are shocking because we were eager to just dig in when they arrived.

Entrees
Moutabbal (baba ghannouj with tahini sauce)
smoked eggplant blended with tahini, garlic, fresh lemon juice and spices

Warakinab (vine leaves with lamb)
selected grape leaves, fresh tomato, onion, parsley and ground lamb

Falafel
combination of beans, fresh onion, garlic, parsley and special spices - deepfried

Bastorma
thin slices of hot seasoned smoked beef

I was disappointed with the entrees. The baba ghannouj needed a bit of seasoning. The stuffed vine leaves required seasoning and just flavour in general. The falafel were nice but deep fried for too long. The bastorma was rather nice - sort of like soft jerky. Yeah...nothing special.

After another bout of pestering to order our mains, we ordered after we had finished our entrees. Ling and Shallen brought a 1999 Pepper Tree Cabernet Sauvignon (I think!??) and one of the ladies asked if we wanted it opened and we replied 'yes please'. A few minutes later, Kong noticed that she had gone to place it on the table beside us and they were busy greeting their friends who had just turned up so they didn't really notice. Thank F*** Kong saw because he hurriedly went to retrieve our precious bottle. We ordered several main dishes to share.

Mains
King Prawns Mishwee
specially marinated king prawns, charcoal grilled and served with sayyadieh rice

Seafood Platter
a selection of snapper fillet, octopus, king prawns and scallops,
marinated, charcoal grilled and served with hoummos and tabbouleh

Shidrawi Chilli Chicken
skinless chicken maryland, marinated with their own recipe of piquant sauce, charcoal grilled and served with hot chips and salad

Shish Tawook
two skewers of marinated skinless chicken cubes, charcoal grilled and served with moujaddara (rice and lentils) and vegetarian stew

Oh boy were we disappointed! The first thing we all did was gasp at the dismally tiny seafood 'platter' and dive for the hot chips that were served with the chilli chicken. I don't think any of the meat impressed me but I did enjoy the moujaddara, vegetarian stew and tabbouleh. So basically, the salads and sides were the most tasty part of the meal.

Half a scallop from the seafood platter.
Ling's half of the scallop and my half.
No, they're not giant forks.

It definitely was a memorable night when the belly dancer performed. She picked Ling (yay for the birthday boy!) to join her out on the floor and he did his best to entertain us!


Back at home, we were all a bit unsatisfied with dinner so we looked forward to dessert. I'd brought all the ingredients so I set about preparing it.

I bought this pastry flan from Coles today.

I whipped together mascarpone cheese, cream and sugar.
This photo looked a bit naughty...go on - use your imagination!

I spread the mascarpone mixture into the flan and then spooned frozen berries on top. We baked it in the oven for about fifteen minutes. When we took it out of the oven, it looked absolutely delicious!

I dusted some icing sugar over it.

As it was Ling's birthday, we scrounged around for a candle and sang 'Happy Birthday' to him.

I probably could have ommitted the baking step because when we went to slice it up, the mascarpone mixture had melted into a soft gooey consistency and it was difficult to cut nice neat slices.

This was the best looking slice!

Alas! We were still hungry! We had some prawns in the freezer that were left over after our last steamboat dinner so we took them out and all gathered around the kitchen counter to watch Shallen cook them for us. She marinated the prawns in chopped garlic, chillies, coriander, mirin and olive oil. She skewered the prawns and then cooked them on the sandwich press.

I love the sandwich press. Such a versatile appliance and easy to clean afterwards.

Delicious!

Meng loves eating prawns!