I haven’t posted in a while so I thought I’d put up some home cooking. My usual stuff looks ugly as, but I always tend to splurge during Christmas and New Year.
In 2017 I bought a couple of live marron, and enjoyed them so much that I bought another one in 2018! One half was grilled, while I extracted the meat from the other half to form a salad of sorts, and then dressed with salmon roe, lemon, micro ice plant.
Several weeks I signed up to a local farmer’s duck mailing list – they had plenty of chickens, but were waiting for the ducks to grow up and had limited supply, so they said I could put my email address down to express interest for a duck. I really had no plans to fork out $$$ for a lovingly hand raised duck, but it turns out their ducks were cheaper than their lovingly hand raised chickens! So I said yes to one when I found that my inbox contained this wonderful news, and picked one up – an added bonus being that this one still had its head attached, how cute! I just wish it also had its feet… oh well.
I was a little disappointed that it came frozen instead of fresh, however, that turned out to be a good thing since I didn’t plan to cook it till the week after. I had spent the next 5 days agonising on how to prepare this delicious being – halved, and cooked two ways? Lightly seasoned and just roasted? But then I remembered one of my favourite restaurant brands had a gorgeous roast duck dish (Pollen Street Social’s roast duck for two) – and I decided to take a chance and make my own version.
I go to a lot of cafes. I try and go to a lot of restaurants. A lot of other people do this too! I was very late to the food blogger game, so I don’t perceive myself as one even though I probably behave like one. I just simply like keeping my own blog about what I’ve experienced.
I don’t go to half as many places as food bloggers, so when I look at what they write about the food, and I compare it to what I can taste from my food, I wonder, am I doing it right? And that’s there my own cooking adventures come in. Every now and again I read up about hospitality, running a cafe/restaurant, and I also try and make the style of foods that I like! And then when things work, it makes me realise I probably do know what I’m talking about (most of the time) – I’m just not terribly confident with my own opinions – especially when it comes to my coffee palate. So my ultimate challenge and self-assurance I know what I’m doing? Cooking.
I base my cooking around my favourite cuisines (modern Australian/contemporary, Japanese) and whatever I find at the markets I visit. It’s highly seasonal and very much decided as I buy each ingredient. I only look up recipes if I need something exact (pastry, curd, tamagoyaki) and rely on my own eating experiences for flavour and cooking time.
Continue reading Intermission: Walking the walk, talking the talk
