Sausage Dinner (by G)

Initially I had forgotten that Biggs would not be home for dinner - once I realised (when Biggs reminded me) I decided to make an abstract meal based on that Samuel L. Jackson movie where there are snakes on a plane... I can't recall what the title.

The sausages represent the snakes - the bread represents various other things. I haven't personally watched that particular movie but I'm pretty sure I covered all the plot elements.

Triffid Dog and Pork Chips (by Biggs)

Bon and I headed to the Triffid tonight to see Australia's beloved Whitlams and arrived a bit early to fill our bellys before the gig began. Bonnie couldn't decide between the hotdog and the pork chips so I suggested we have both. And both were really quite good.

The cheese kransky on the dog was great. Good pickles too. Bon had concerns about the chefs generosity of condiments. She argued that condiments are a very personal thing and should be left to the diner.

That's what we do in our household - I leave G to add his own gallon of sriracha to anything I cook.

Cheese, cured meats... and such (by G)

I cleverly saved some pork belly aside from the pork stew I made the other night. After roasting, chilling and slicing it was an excellent accompaniment for cheese, salamis, cured pork, cheese, cornichons, pickled onions and crusty bread.

Apart from having to do a lot of slicing dinner was high on the satisfaction-to-effort scale.

Dumplings (by Biggs)

I headed to Fi and Dan's tonight for dinner but was warned in advance that, if I wanted to eat, I would be put to work on a dumpling production line. They've had a work colleague visiting from China for the past month or two who had taught them the fine art.

Fi and Dan have a tendency to get a little monomaniacal when they discover a new food or recipe so have dedicated much of their time of late perfecting these dumplings. Fi's strength is making the dough and rolling out the skins where as Dan has the wrapping and stuffing skills.

Knowing we'd be at it for a while I came armed with some Burlington BBQ char su pork and a bunch of noodles and veges as a lettuce cup starter. A lovely little number complimented by some quick pickled cabbage Fi whipped up. Yep. This is why I love Fi. Because she's the sort of girl that keeps a jar of pickling liquid ready to go for any pickling related emergencies.

The dumplings were stuffed with a pork mince flavoured with soy, mushrooms, chives and I'm sure many other things. Once wrapped they were popped in a steamer and lovingly overcooked while we drank, chatted and listened to music.

A lovely night. Being part of the production line was incredibly meditativly therapeutic and the resulting dumplings were the best I've ever had.

Hangug-eo Seutail-ui Jeonyeog Sigsa (by G)

I love Korean food and this is probably the most authentic Korean meal I've made. It was fun to make too. Just put some cubes of pork belly in a pot, add some hot regular bean pastes, raw onion, capsicum, kimchi, garlic and a little water then let it simmer away until the pork is satisfactorily cooked. I added some of the thick rice cake noodle type things near the end as well - because that adds to the authenticity.

I served the stew on a bed of shredded lettuce and topped it with some spring onion.

Delicious. Maybe a bit too spicy for Biggy. It was very pleasing to my palate and, in the end, isn't that the main thing.

Miso Soba Noodle Salad (by Biggs)

There's a recipe, on the back of the packet of the most popular brand of soba noodles for a smoked salmon and caper dish, that is loved by this household. I thought there must be a vegetarian version and there was. Although, it turned out to be no where near as delicious.

This particular tofu was better than the average tofu (even with no seasoning added) but it still paled significantly in comparison to the delight of smoked salmon.

The soba noodles cooked to perfection (because I hovered relentlessly over the boiling pot to avoid overcooking), then chilled and served with slightly steamed carrot and snap peas as well as some rocket and thinly sliced radish. The tofu and some sunflower seeds were added along with an oddly acidic dressing.

The dressing was rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, miso paste, oil, Dijon mustard and ginger - mixed together it just tasted like lemon juice....even though I forgot to add the half lemon that G had left over from last night.

This dinner was horrifically healthy tasting. It made me feel good eating it - I could literally feel my superpowers returning....like, the ability to walk up a set of stairs and comfortably put on a pair of socks. But still, healthy dinner, really? What the hell was I thinking.

Prawn and Citrus Tortillas (by G)

It never occurred to me to make ceviche tortillas before, I don't know why. Possibly because the only time I've ever had ceviche it was in a hot, fly-blown shed somewhere in Latin America - the soggy, slightly rancid acid cooked seafood that I ate there did not greatly impress me.

I thought that with fresh local ingredients I could probably make a decent ceviche - in the end I lost my nerve and lightly cooked the prawns a little before marinating them in a lime juice, garlic and chilli mix.

The tortillas were quite good with the standard chunky salsa I made - I kind or regret pre-cooking the prawns in hindsight.