haresfur

Took a few pictures of the British and American when I went back for more takeaway. Apparently dine in is open with restricted numbers now. They didn't have the Tandoori Chicken available and I asked if I should call farther in advance if I wanted it, they insisted on taking my phone number to call me when they were doing some up. So I guess I'm going to have unexpected chicken some night. Lest you think alcohol is really inexpensive, those are the prices for premix tinnies bourbon and cola so more or less equivalent to a can of beer.

There was an old Bob Hope military movie where he would use a CO2 fire extinguisher to chill his beer. You might try that.

Tradesperson/tradesman because we have to shorten everything. I didn't mention because it goes without saying, that the British and American has a BottleO - bottle shop for take away alcohol, especially tinnies of premix (aluminium cans of things like Jim Beam and Coke)

I have no photos, so gather around the radio and let your imagination fill in the blanks. We have a hotel called The British and American in a particularly dodgy neighbourhood I drive past on the way into town. They always had a sign out front advertising "The British and American - Chinese and Australian food". Didn't look like the kind of place you would be eager to check out. A few months ago they changed to an Indian restaurant, Daawat, and I eventually looked up the website since I've been pretty disappointed with Indian food I've had in town. It looked promising enough to try for the entertainment value, if nothing else. Ordered takeaway after picking up my car from the mechanic and swung into the gravel parking lot that hadn't been graded in decades. Thought I heard frogs but it turned out to be the croaking of the restaurant's exhaust fan. Walked in through the bar (turns out the restaurant has an entrance around the back, by the dumpster. The bartender pulled up her mask upon seeing mine and directed me through. The bar patrons were exactly what I would have expected. Mostly older tradies with long grey beards dressed in Hi-Vis, looking like they had been sitting in the same spots for most of their lives. The restaurant area had some crappy tables and chairs that had probably been there since the 1970s. A few Indian decorations on the wall and a big screen TV for when dine in is open or for the cooks when there is no business, I guess. There was a pass through to the kitchen and you could see the cook working the tandoor. I was about 15 minutes early for my food and saw one other person picking up an order. The food was really good. So often I find Indian Restaurant dishes all taste very similar but they were clearly doing each sauce separately. We had dahl makhani, kadhai paneer, and methi chicken along with roti and onion kulcha. The Kadhai paneer was the highlight. Portions big. Next time maybe I'll grab a pot of Carlton Draught at the bar.

Just when I think food supplies are back to normal, it seems everyone is out of Schweppes Bitter Lemon Soda. Tragic. We are into a period of on-again and-off again lockdowns (currently out of lockdown) with a 5 km travel radius allowed for essential services unless they are not available within that distance. That doesn't get me to a big chain supermarket but I do have a closer Aldi and IGA. Don't tell anyone but I have a few legitimate excuses to go into the CBD and have been known to buy groceries or takeaway coffee while I'm there (of course I would never just sneak in, shh!). I can get drinkable coffee nearby from Skip's Skateboard Shop. Heck of a nice guy who supports the community and skateboarders of all ages.

Where I live, chicken meat comes from a chook. On a small scale anyway. Supermarkets sell free range chicken and eggs from free range chickens. Although there is a chain of dodgy takeaway chicken called Charcoal Chook.

How long in the SV?

Looks great. Do you only sear the scallops on one side. I just had a dismal failure trying to sear scallops. Couldn't get them to release from the pan. What's your secret?

There's a line of hot wire because Ace kept jumping or climbing out. Shadow has been known to walk across the raised beds if he's out to eat a bit of grass. That doesn't help the vegetables. I mulched with bad hay, which was fine at first but it had enough seeds that I now have enough to bail.

Thanks. It makes sense that it did ok, then because it's winter here, which is our wet season (at least this year; some years we don't get much rain). So crops that can handle a little frost do ok. My snow peas are coming up and I have a couple of swedes that might survive. Oh, and the Italian parsley is very happy.

Good taste in rum.

I think this cauliflower is the first time I have had success growing a brassica. I have no idea how to tell when they are ready to harvest but it seemed big enough, although not a very dense head and I decided not to push my luck. It was delicious in a cheese sauce over brown rice. Shadow was more interested in the grass.

Very nice. Mine sprawls a lot more and has smaller leaves. I wonder if I should thin it next spring

I have been unsuccessful at caramelizing figs but will keep trying with the 3-4 we get a year, especially since the person selling them at the farmers market is retiring. Still a long way from having enough for jam.

I'm sure you know how to solve that issue

This brings up the great cultural divide between people who say "parma" and people who say "parmi"

Ham under the sauce is @ChrisZ's idea upthread. I usually like to get the ham crunchy on top, but in this version, underneath really works. Never thought of putting it under the crumb

Most of it was stir fried and I often do throw it all together but I wanted to try keeping the meat separate so it stays rare and so you can taste the mountain pepper. I usually do the noodles first then throw them back in near the end but wanted to see if I could keep them from getting soggy.

Deconstructed stir-fry. Noodles. Broccolini/mustard greens in sauce made with soy, "Peking Duck Sauce", and Zhenjian vinegar. Porterhouse with mountain pepperberry and black wattleseed rub, sous vide at 57.5 then sliced - no searing. Need to work on the timing because the meat got pretty cold before I plated everything.

I'd just finely chop some smoked salmon, mix it in, and wait for a day to get a salmony spread. That's how my cheap-ass dad would do lox and cream cheese, but it really is good stuff.

I have a new favourite way of making chicken parma, based on the baked chicken katsu recipe here. The key is in pre-toasting the panko breading with a little oil. Butterfly the chicken and pound flat with the bottom of a pan. Then do the usual flour, egg (with a little water), panko breading. I put Serrano between the breading and the sauce to keep things crispy. The sauce was from tomatoes I canned last autumn with a little tomato paste, sage and oregano from my container garden then cooked down to thicken. I cooked on a wire grill rack at 190 C for about 20 minutes. Served with spaghetti. I'll have to try with sous vide chicken but I don't think it will add anything. ETA: Cheese was 1/2 mozzarella 1/2 Jarlsberg

I tried this cooking method a few days ago. Let's just say I'm going back to my half then throw into the the pan and fry the everloving shit out of them method. Maybe I left them in the water too long but the texture and flavour were not to my liking.

You use a whisk? I use a rubber spatula and just add cold milk in small glugs. After a few batches you get to know how much you can add at each stage without getting lumps. Rubber spatula means you can use a higher heat without scorching the bottom.

Tia Maria, especially if you are sipping it. I actually liked Starbucks coffee liqueur when they were selling it, and I'm sure there are a number of smaller production ones around that are good (and probably quite a few that are bad). Kahlua is a fair bit less expensive here and I mainly use it in Brave Bulls so it works ok.

Pasta con Costco Cook pasta and toss with stuff out of those big jars of marinated artichokes, olives, sun dried tomatoes, grilled red pepper, whatever. Three bean salad? Sure. Grate some Parmesan on top. Add some salami or chorizo if you want meat.