Summer Meals on the Balcony

Summer time in Canberra can be hot. Cooking outdoors on the barbecue and eating outdoors on the balcony is one way of overcoming the heat. We have taken to simple eating with minimum of preparation and maximum of enjoyment. First English Pork Sausages with various garden salads. The Kipler potatoes come from the vege patch.

The second meal was fried rice with barbecued prawns, some chilli and blachan from an earlier meal prepared a few weeks ago.

Days around Christmas

Over Christmas we house sat in Stephen and Donna's new house. We spent a day travelling on Sydney ferries.

The only culinary experiences were cakes at the Four Seasons on the rocks and a cake at Gilberts in Mittagong.

After coming home we came back to regular fare. Last night was a barbecue and salad. This time we "threw a prawn" on the barby and served with Vietnamese spring rolls and fish sauce with chillis.

Barbecue Chicken

Our outdoor barbecue has had some work this week. It keeps the strong smells out of the kitchen and the taste of the open fire is different from regular grills. The chicken was a surprise because the main marinade was Keens Curry. Some oil, chillis, garlic, pepper and curry powder were rubbed over the chicken before grilling.

Before eating the chicken and salad we had one of Ah Fong's regular soups. This is Daikon radish with pork spare ribs. There are often a few chinese dates and other soupy bits and pieces.

Tonight we opened a bottle of JB's Rose. It was good - which is just as well as we have a case.

Another disrupted week of eating

Eating has been disrupted with trips to Sydney and Christmas Parties. Sydney was notable for the venue which was "The Town and Country" of Slim Dusty fame. This is Stephen and Donna's local and has a reasonable Thai restaurant. Donna of course won a plate of meat which is a waste as she does not eat red meat. The Epicorp Christmas party was most notable for the company and a good time was had - and I forgot the camera.

Some dishes this week have been salads, beetroot from the garden, and fish wrapped in bacon and tarragon then steamed.

Week after illness

Last weekend and the few days around it were miserable for both Ah Fong and myself as we battled with the stomach bug. Frank Campbell came to visit and unfortunately we had to leave him to his own devices as we were hardly capable of looking after ourselves.

Things have improved over the past few days and even though I had another trip to Sydney and we have had a couple of interesting dishes.

One of our recovery dishes was soup made with a cheap cut of beef and plenty of veges.

In Sydney Donna, Stephen and I went to a Halal Pakistani restaurant in King Street Newtown which had good inexpensive food. The Tandoori chicken is shown in the picture.

During the week I cooked again with considerable help from the baker with an Italian crusty bread stick, and char grilled anti pasto from woolies.

This was served with a stew of carrots, beef, tomatoes onions and garlic.

A few other dishes during the week were pork mince with bitter cucumber, brocolli and chicken pieces with red capsicum and chillis.

A wasted few days

Excuse the pun but this last few days has been a culinary desert. I was in Sydney for two days and had a very ordinary Chinese meal with friends then over the past few days I have suffered from some form of stomach flu with difficulty in keeping anything in the stomach.
Saturday was my birthday and Justine and family came with a blueberry and nut tart from Flute of Fyschwick. Jade and Jonty helped me with the candles and with the eating.