eG Foodblog: Misgabi - An Australian's week

[misgabi]

Actually, just found this recipe link and might try this next time. Sounds excellent.

Edited November 5, 2003 by misgabi (log)

[misgabi]

Have just had a diet coke and an apple and custard muffin for morning tea. Really busy at work today and will have very little time for lunch.

[mags]

I love multi-culti food information. For example, it would be pretty much impossible to overstate the extent to which beets are not part of your standard American burger experience. Oooh, and still dying to know about the lamb flaps.

Edited November 6, 2003 by mags (log)

[misgabi]

Oooh, and still dying to know about the lamb flaps.

I am unsure how to describe lamb flaps. I imagine it was the cheapest cut of lamb which was cooked and ended up in tins with sauces like "curry" and "tomato". It had the most unbelievably bad smell - almost rancid and the nationals who ate it seemed to smell a bit this way too (don't want to offend any who are reading this!!).

Obviously, I never actually ate lamb flaps (even our cat wouldn't touch them) but they were obviously popular as they could be mixed in with the cooked rice (purchased in 10kg bags).

Along the same lines as the lamb flaps was mackeral in tins - again with disgusting smelling sauces. I assume these were cheap to mass produce??

[misgabi]

Being a foodblog I suppose I should mention lunch. Had calamari and chips with a salad from the Italian place across the street. Outstanding tartare sauce

I cannot get them to tell me what they crumb the calamari with - seems to be almost foccacia like crumbs. They do crumb their own - and make their own chips - yum.

Just for a change I had a diet coke!!!

[Squeat Mungry]

Obviously, I never actually ate lamb flaps (even our cat wouldn't touch them) but they were obviously popular as they could be mixed in with the cooked rice (purchased in 10kg bags).

Okay, I think I'm being incredibly dense again, but were these people actually buying 10-kilo bags of rice that had already been cooked?

Keep up the good work!

Squeat

Edited to add that the lamb flaps sound absolutely revolting!

Edited November 6, 2003 by Squeat Mungry (log)

[misgabi]

No Squeat, the rice was uncooked - I just didn't explain it very well

[Squeat Mungry]

Okay, thanks. I hesitated to ask, but I have been halfway around the world in another direction and seen some pretty unusual things!

Cheers,

Squeat

[lamington]

hi folks -- I have to add a beetroot comment... i grew up eating hamburgers in Melbourne and they didn't have any beetroot, then I went to study in Canberra and remember being utterly revolted when I discovered slices of beetroot in a hamburger... a small regional difference, I believe. Do other Victorians (the state of which Melbourne is the capital) concur?

[misgabi]

Lamington: I grew up in Canberra so maybe that is where the beetroot in the burger comes from.

Had Thai for dinner last night as my parents were bored and felt like going out. Fishcakes, curry puffs, chicken satay and tempura (probably not authentic thai but really tasty) to start. Then had red duck curry, green chicken curry and a sort of sizzling beef and basil dish. We had steamed rice and crispy noodles as well. There was so much food we got a doggy bag and I took the rest home for later (hubby has probably eaten it for breakfast now).

Got a danish from the bakery on the way to work (ham and cheese) and am eating as I type with an earl grey tea beside me.

[misgabi]

Have just eaten a banana for morning tea.

We are deciding if we should go away for the weekend - either down to Rutherglen and the wineries, or head off to Sydney. It is so rare that we both have Saturday and Sunday off we thought we might make the most of it.

First banana was so nice I think I might have another

[lamington]

Lamington:  I grew up in Canberra so maybe that is where the beetroot in the burger comes from.

My NSW parents think it's a NSW/ACT thing. And I must admit that I got used to it, and now almost miss than purple stain on the bun

Enjoying your blog!

[Niall]

hi folks -- I have to add a beetroot comment... i grew up eating hamburgers in Melbourne and they didn't have any beetroot, then I went to study in Canberra and remember being utterly revolted when I discovered slices of beetroot in a hamburger... a small regional difference, I believe. Do other Victorians (the state of which Melbourne is the capital) concur?

I was in Melbourne last weekend for the rugby, and a bloke in a greek burger shop on Lygon tried to put beetroot on my burger. It is a practice I am completely opposed to; the only good beetroot is a roasted one..

That was almost the height of the culinary experience in melbourne; we had pies at the footy, pizza for lunch, grease for breakfast. And beer. And beer. And some bundy and cola. And beer. Typical footy weekend.

Go to Rutherglen... as long as you can find somewhere showing the rugby!!!

The thai sounds good... I find that there's quite a few of places starting to do the thai/ korean/ japanese mix; Oishii in the Hunter is one place that seems to do well with the combo.

[misgabi]

Niall: yeah Rutherglen looking like the go. Although I had to promise Rugby watching time!!!

The thai was excellent - I love how many different entree selections they seem to have (I usually only order the entrees and skip the mains). The tempura was completely different to japanese - the batter seemed "thicker" but without being stodgy and the veges inside were perfectly cooked. That plus the chilli dipping sauce

Have just come back from lunch - we went to the Italian across the road and I had ravioli in carbonara sauce (my favourite - pleb that I am). The garlic bread to start was really garlicky so I am sure my clients will be thrilled this afternoon Two glasses of diet coke and a salad that was mainly "fancy" green leaves and red onion with a quarter of a really tasteless tomato - very disappointing

[Niall]

Salads should be so easy..

You could always go to melbourne for the rugby... and your clients will be fine with the garlic I'm sure..

[misgabi]

I firmly believe that if we get into the car to drive to Rutherglen then my husband will use the time in the car until we arrive to "convince" me that Melbourne would be way more fun, and then he could accidently watch rugby - all the time trying to make me believe it was my idea in the first place!!

Or I could send him to the rugby and I could stay home and have a sleep!!

[Niall]

If you go to Rutherglen you should make sure to visit Chambers Rosewood; They make some of the best fortifieds around; I haven't been yet, but what I've tasted of theirs is amazing stuff.

Heres a list of wineries down that way.

I believe that most of the wineries have some great fortifieds that aren't usually available most other places.. I'll have to drag the other half down when we get back from the UK.

[misgabi]

Thanks Niall, will certainly do my best to visit a good selection of these wineries. Any recommendations re eating down there?

[misgabi]

I am having a few of friends over tonight for a BBQ - hubby will join us when he gets off work. I am baking in the oven a whole scotch fillet - at a fairly low heat, for quite a while as this makes it super tender. I rubbed it with mustard (sundried tomato gourmet one) before it went in.

We are also having on the BBQ kebabs of prawns (tiger) threaded alternately with lime wedges. I also plan to flash BBQ some calamari on the plate with lime juice just before serving.

I have a several loaves of fresh white bread as well as bread rolls.

The usual suspects of salads appear (green, bean, fake tabouli) but I have also made an egg salad with quartered hard boiled eggs, thinly sliced celery, a tiny, tiny amount of red onion, some grainy mustard and homemade mayo.

I am boiling up chat potatoes which we will either have just boiled with butter and fresh parsley or we will cut in half and deep fry (majority rules )

I found some really nice corn cobs at the shops and will either bake in foil as before or steam (depends what I feel like in a few hours).

I have a couple of bread and butter puddings soaking at the moment (with crystallised figs) and intend to clean down the BBQ later, slice the cheeks of fresh mango, sprinkle liberally with dark brown sugar and BBQ those until caramalised - served with King Island double cream.

Cheese plate for later with a Jindi triple brie, roaring 40's blue, local CSU cheese with wild mint and one with native pepperberries.

Nibbles to start I have made some meatballs with satay sauce and some spincach and fetta triangles (plus some cheese - again the blue, a camembert and a CSU with bush tomato)

Let's see how this sorts them out

[Pan]

Misgabi, how do you make a shrimp kebab? Do you finely mince shrimp and then fashion it into balls with some binding agent (eggs, flour?)?

[tammylc]

I've noticed you usually steam your corn, or roast it in foil. Have you ever tried grilling it? This is our favorite way to make corn - it gets all smoky and maybe a little bit charred and has excellent flavor. It does require that your corn come with the husks still on - not sure how it's usually sold in Australia. Just soak the corn, husks and all, for about 20-30 minutes, then throw it on the grill. Turn frequently until it's black on all sides, remove the husks, and enjoy.

We also love grilling asparagus - just toss it with a little olive oil and salt and pepper, and grill until done. It's completely transformative.

Sadly, it's most definitely not grilling season here in Michigan, so I must live vicariously through you. Excellent blog - thank you!

[fifi]

Oh my goodness... I never thought of grilling mango "cheeks". I never thought of calling them "cheeks" either. What an appropriate name. You have added to my vocabulary.

Your menu sounds wonderful. I want to be your neighbor and friend.

[slbunge]

I've noticed you usually steam your corn, or roast it in foil.  Have you ever tried grilling it?  This is our favorite way to make corn - it gets all smoky and maybe a little bit charred and has excellent flavor...

We also love grilling asparagus - just toss it with a little olive oil and salt and pepper, and grill until done.

I'm will tammylc on this one. This is the way we do corn on the cob. Actually, I used to soak the ears but now I don't even do that and it seems to work fine.

In the summer, we often grill fish on our charcoal grill. Because I go to the trouble of building the fire and the fish is on for such a short time, I have experimented with lots of vegetables on the side so that they pick up the smoky flavor. Asparagus is great. Have done green beens which are also quite good. Summer squashes. Young onions. Fingerling potatoes (usually par-baked or par-boiled). Fresh figs (sprinkle gorgonzola on them when they come off the grill). Etc.

One note: I've got a 'Griffo' which is a flat, enamel coated, steel pan with holes in it to pop onto the grill. That way the small stuff doesn't fall through the grate.

[ronnie_suburban]

Grilled mango...Yum!

One thing we do with corn on the cob is take it out of the husks, wrap it in bacon, then foil and cook it on the grill for about 30-40 minutes, turning frequently. It's just awesome that way.

=R=

[tammylc]

Grilled mango...Yum!

One thing we do with corn on the cob is take it out of the husks, wrap it in bacon, then foil and cook it on the grill for about 30-40 minutes, turning frequently.  It's just awesome that way.

=R=

Most things wrapped in bacon are...