simple math

Being near the coast = seafood meals

We grabbed some fish and chips in a little town on our way down the Great Ocean Road…

Super fresh = super yummy.

let’s go outback tonight…

While in Ayers Rock we had some real outback steaks…

We even cooked them up on the “barbie” ourselves…

Which I have to say is a great little concept. They provided a salad bar, baked potatoes and corn on the cob- also known as the quintessential accompaniments to a steak dinner.

It was pretty good, fun to do and much less expensive than the $60 per head buffet. We ended up doing it both nights we were in Ayers Rock and I’m sure our steaks were better than what they were serving up anyway.

The Wife has not lost her touch with the grill.

hopping bambi

So in all honesty, we've been eating in the hotel lounge. A lot. Australia is, to put it mildly, insanely expensive. Our weekend trips are putting us in the hole and we're trying to squirrel away what we can to make up for them.

This means we haven't been delving too deeply into Australian fare. We did plunge in one night in Cairns at a seafood place on the harbor with the fave Aussie fish, the barramundi...

We actually had it again the next day in a restaurant in the rainforest that was much better because it was fresh instead of farmed. It's a clean, white flaky fish, you can see why Aussie's love it. Oh and those sweet potatoes underneath were pure heaven, especially when you've given up sweets for Lent.

We also ate some other true Aussie dishes...

Yes. We ate emu. We ate crocodile. We ate kangaroo. Please bear in mind this was actually before I had even seen a kangaroo and obviously before I fell in love with their gentle little selves. This may be worse than when I ate puffin. At least I didn't hand feed those little guys.

I will say that our guide on Saturday told us that kangaroo was the most humane animal we could eat in Australia since they aren't farmed. They live in the wild, are only hunted to keep their populations in check and it's strictly regulated. So, (justification coming in 3...2...1...) that's like our deer population and deer are pretty cute and I don't feel bad about eating those.

Sometimes it's tough being at the top of the food chain.

'Nawlins

On our first trip to the Big Easy with the international peeps we tried to expose them to as much of the food culture that we could. After some pretty heated discussions regarding the frying of oysters and drinking vodka with breakfast, we finally got them to try some of the staples of New Orlean's cuisine...jambalaya, oysters poboys, shrimp etoufee, catfish, Bloody Mary's, etc.

Of course they all loved it, even the fried oysters.

This year the returnees knew their faves and partook with gusto.

I finally got my beignet, although I ate it too quickly to grab a photo. Actually, I was a little lazy (read: drunk) about taking food photos at all. Which stinks because we had some great food.

Apparently, I only got a pic of my jambalaya lunch...




and some soup...

I dream of Genie this cake.

My Granny-in-law was kind enough to bake my favorite cake for my birthday this year. It's what Southerners refer to as a "lemon cheese cake"...



It isn't a cheesecake in any sense. It is a cheese (space) cake. I have zero idea why they call it that because it is her regular sour cream pound cake layers (aka- pure heaven) iced with homemade lemon curd.

I've been trying to replicate her cakes for almost 9 years to no avail. Like I use the exact same ingredient brands she uses and have even had Julie time how long she does stuff kind of attempts. I've almost got the layers down, but her icings require more skill than I apparently possess. For those who don't know me- I'm pretty freaking skilled in the baking department, meaning her skill level is through the roof.

I've made this cake once and it was pretty close except I screwed up with the cooking temp a little and had minuscule bits of the cooked egg in the icing. It still tasted good, but it wasn't the glassy perfection of curd that she cranks out like it was nothing.

I'm happy to bow down to her superiority though and even more happy that she cares enough to bake me a cake, my very favorite of her insanely delicious repertoire.

I gave up desserts and sweets for Lent. This cake is seriously haunting me right now.

Athens' Finest

Going to Athens means one thing to me in terms of food- a golden bowl at The Grit. Even if you’re not a huge fan of tofu, I promise you'll love it prepared this way. I like mine with sautéed veggies added in and after a decade of ordering it with cheese, I realized I like it better without.



If you can’t make it to Athens, it's super easy to make yourself.

Golden Bowl (serves two, from The Grit Cookbook)

• One 15-oz block firm tofu
• Vegetable oil
• Soy sauce
• Nutritional yeast

1. Cut tofu into cubes slightly smaller than playing dice.
2. Lightly oil a non-stick skillet and place over high heat.
3. Allow oil to heat slightly and add tofu.
4. Saute, tossing with a non-metal spatula until evenly and lightly golden brown.
5. Sprinkle lightly with soy sauce, saute briefly to further brown tofu.
6. Remove from skillet, draining and discarding any excess fluid.
7. Rinse and wipe skillet dry, lightly oil and place it over high heat.
8. Allow oil to become very hot and add tofu.
9. Saute tofu, tossing with a non-metal spatula almost constantly until very
well browned.
10. Sprinkle with soy sauce to taste.
11. Sprinkle with nutritional yeast to coat tofu cubes and, tossing vigorously,
saute for a few seconds and remove from heat.

To make it a true Golden Bowl, serve over steamed brown rice.

TWO

Went to one of our old faves, TWO Urban Licks, a couple of weeks ago with two of our nearest and dearest.

I was very sad to see the pork brisket has left the menu, but the beef rib definitely filled the slow cooked, fall off the bone void…



and as always, their mac and cheese was delish.

Better late than never…

1/1/11- We had the quintessential southern fare that is supposed to bring you luck and money in the next year- collards, black-eyed peas and pork loin...



It was nice to get back in the kitchen, even if it didn’t take much effort.

BTW- if you're from the south (or you just appreciate flavorful, delicious food) and want to cut out all the fat but none of the flavor, I have one word for you- GOYA. Their jamon flavor packets are the best things ever.You can find it in your grocer’s international section with the Mexican foods.

Sake to me*

A friend of a friend of ours took us to a very cool restaurant one of our last nights in Tokyo. They are known for the food and sake pairs and this friend of a friend happens to know a lot about sake. It was a really cool experience to go beyond the hot sake at Rusans or the dreaded sake bombs and really get to appreciate sake for what it is meant to be- a delicate rice wine with as much depth, flavor and variation as the grape variety.

I loved, loved, loved the way it was served...





I dare any wine lover to give sake a fair shake and not be impressed.




*my inner dork could not resist!

we survived!

I swore up and down we wouldn't do it; I mean we have 2 mortgages.

Behold the deadly blowfish or fugu...




Although I was acutely aware of my throat and whether or not it was closing up on me, I did enjoy it. We had the sashmi (pictured) which was delicate in flavor and also some fried fugu, which tasted like fried chicken. Fried chicken that you need a license to prepare and one where the cops literally dispose of the liver because it's a lethal substance.