annachan

Took a look at the book inside on Amazon. Great to see that caramelized onion recipe in there. I've been doing that for years to make the base of my onion soup.

I'm so missing zin! I really took it for granted being able to pick up a decent bottle of zin just about anywhere in San Francisco. Now in Australia, it's just not something readily available. No doubt I will return with a few bottles when I visit SF. I really enjoy Rosenblum zin. There was a San Francisco Appellation a few years back that was fantastic.

We've cooked a few roo steaks, kabobs and some mince since we got here. I have to say that the taste isn't that far off from beef. However, it does smell quite gamy so they're being cooked, especially the mince. I like to have roo more often but it's just not as available as the other meats. The only place I've seen them is at the supermarkets and one butcher shop that has it frozen to a stage that I can't even tell what cut it is.

haresfur, just want to let you know that I'm really enjoying your blog. How is that porcini noodle from ALDI? I have a pack in the pantry. I like the butter chicken sauce from there as well. Do you use your transformer often? How has that been working out on the appliances. I used it with my KitchenAid mixer the other day to make cookie dough and that worked alright. Not sure if I'm comfortable using it to make marshmallow yet.... I haven't had a banana since we moved here. I've never paid more than $1/lb (about $2/kg) for them before and I'm not ready to pay over $7/kg! I'm also interested in hearing what a Shiraz-Viognier is like. I saw that and other similar blends which I've never seen before. Looking forward to more posts!

Along the same idea, stuffed cherry tomatoes. You can use a variety of ingredients for stuffing. Tuna salad, pilaf salad with pesto, bay shrimp, bocconcini and basil, etc. Can stuff a variety of vegetables as well, like peppers, zucchini and celery.

I love pastries so that's good to know. Will have to remember to stop by next time we're in Fyshwick.

When I lived in SF, I shopped on Taraval often. For meat, there's Guerra Meats (Taraval by 15th Ave.) for meats, deli items and a small but good selection of grocery products. There is also a limited selection of seafood. Prices are quite good as well as quality. A block away on Taraval by 16th Ave., there is a good produce store. You'll find a very good selection of vegetables plus a variety of ethnic (Middle Eastern mostly) grocery. Prices are also very good. For even cheaper fruits and vegetables, go to the produce store on West Portal. Just know that the selection is more limited and you won't find much more than the basics. Not too far away (by car) on Vicente and 39th Ave., you can find seafood and Asian grocery at decent prices. I prefer this branch to the one on Irving as parking is much easier. As for farmers markets, I went to the Alemany (Sat. AM) and the Stonestown (Sun. AM) ones often.

I understand that. But the name short and long here does not refer to the cooking time.

Got a take out menu from a local Chinese restaurant so I browsed through it. I came across "Short or Long Soup." I had no idea what the heck that was. I googled it and found that short soup means wonton/dumpling soup and long soup means noodle soup. If you want wonton noodle soup, it would be a short and long soup. I read somewhere that long is referred to the length of the noodle. But how did that get turn into long soup? Never heard of this in Hong Kong, in China or the US. Is this just an Australian thing? Just find this interesting and wonder if anyone know much about it.

When we're in San Francisco, we were regulars at quite a few places. Now that we're in Australia, Canberra no less, the only place we're regulars at is the farmers market.

I don't like to wait and I generally do everything I can to avoid it. I will arrive at a restaurant early (usually around opening or just a little before) if I can't get a reservation or it doesn't take reservations. Or, I'll go during the least busy time. Generally, the wait I endure are under 30 minutes. I generally won't wait too long for food truck, food stand and to go food. The exceptions are at El Huarache Loco for some authentic Mexican eats and an Ike sandwich....

Now in Australia, I miss how cheap potatoes are in the US. I do end up buying frozen fries more often now because of the cost of fresh potatoes. Bananas is another off the chart thing. I've never paid more than $1/lb. Here, $3/lb is considered a good price.... I've seen as high as about $7/lb. That's more than some meat!

In the US, I was always amazed that purchasing a raw duck is 2-3 times more than purchasing a roast duck. One reason why I didn't bother cooking duck much in the US....

My husband would say I hoard containers. Before moving to Australia, I got a set of glass containers with air tight lids along with some large plastic containers. Since we got here 2 months ago, I bought 3 sets of plastic containers plus some single pieces. I can't help but look when I walk by the container isle.... I used to hoard cookbooks. I can't not buy them when I saw them on sale. I got rid of quite a lot of useless ones when we moved. I still buy cookbooks but I'm a lot more selective now.

Just thought about the pork belly dish we had over at Morimoto Napa. It was just divine. I found the recipe online: http://chubbyhubby.net/blog/?p=495 Anyone tried it?

Just picked up a 2 lb piece of pork belly at the market. Skin-on, no bone. Since there are only 2 of us and neither one of us can eat a lot of it at a time, I'm thinking splitting the belly in 2 and making 2 meals. I think I will braise one, Asian (either Chinese or Japanese) style and maybe confit the other. What are people's thoughts on cooking a 1 lb piece of pork belly? Should I just stick to one dish with what I have on hand?

With praise like that, I can't help but wonder which recipe it is. Is it one in the book you have, or is it online? It is this recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/old-fashioned-apple-crisp-recipe/index.html I haven't tried the filling but have used that topping on a apple rhubarb crumble. It's so good!

I like her recipes as well. The crumb topping on one of her crumble recipes is just amazing. I also enjoy the simplicity of her recipes, especially since they produce great results. I only have one of her cookbooks, but I often look for her recipes online.

Yes, egg. Sorry, didn't realize that was left out.

I wouldn't use brown sugar as it isn't a popular ingredient in Hong Kong. I would try the recipe with just white sugar. Also, maybe use a mix of dark and light soy. I find the combination gives the food a more complex flavor than get using one. Charred bits of noodles - yes! Crunchy noodle - no!

Actually Spam - the Chinese version of it called "lunch meat" - is quite popular in Hong Kong. We use Spam in sandwiches with eggs, baked bao with eggs, ramen noodles with eggs. While it may not be on the menu, I am sure you can order Spam fried rice in Hong Kong. It's a very popular topping for ramen and macaroni in soup as well. And you can always get luncheon meat and fried eggs for breakfast. I kinda remember that we slice and dip the luncheon meat and fried them up in a pan at home when I was growing up in Hong Kong.

So, after some searching, I finally found a crusty bread that I like. It's Dom's woodfire Italian Bread. I've been getting it at EPIC by they are available at other places. I have no idea that sourdough is so popular over here. Frankly, I'm not a sourdough fan. I know that's weird since I'm from San Francisco. I haven't tried the bread at Silo but the pastries were very disappointing. Croissants, rhubarb puff pastry, caramel tart and lemon tart were average at best. Good thing I found other really excellent pastries at other shops....

I generally only like skin when it's crispy. However, I do eat the flabby skin in some dishes like Haninese chicken or soy chicken....

For me, breakfast food has just gotta be simple, unless someone else is doing the cooking! I can eat just about anything for breakfast but I don't, because I just got up and I'm in no mood to do a lot of fancy cooking. I think that is the case for most people therefore they just stick with what they know. Also, since it's the first meal of the day, you just want to stick with the food that you know will sustain you and not give you any stomach issues.

I'm not surprised that sugar may be used. I tend to use a little of that it stir fry dishes to balance out the soy sauce. I also tend to mix regular and dark soy (or mushroom soy) when frying up noodles. The regular soy gives it the salt and the dark/mushroom soy gives it a nice thickness.