It’s no secret that one of Scott’s most favourite foods is pork belly, so as a treat this week I made Pork Belly and Szechuan Salt & Pepper. It’s so unhealthy, that this is the kind of treat that comes along maybe once a year, so I hope he enjoyed it while it lasted. 
The recipe can be found here.
There were quite a few changes made to the Sydney Good Food and Wine Show this year. There were less of the more mainstream commercial producers and more boutique wares on offer. The aisles between stalls were also made wider. Combine this with the fact that we went on Sunday (we’ve been on Saturday for the previous two shows), and it was considerably less stressful and crowded- meaning the whole experience was much more enjoyable.
We had a pleasant Sunday afternoon wandering the halls of the exhibition centre sampling foods, wines, snacks, sauces … many of enough sustenance to keep us going. Then came the celebrity chef demonstration, for which Amanda had fantastically managed to land us front row seats.
This year we saw Matt Moran of Sydney’s own Aria. He was very entertaining, and the audience participation was particularly enjoyable. Why shouldn’t kids be given knives and wine as prizes?
Of course, one of the highlights of the event is the shows bags – packed full of goodies to try and of ridiculous value. But Sunday doesn’t just mean few crowds – it also means everyone is trying to clear out all of their bags. If you think $8 for a bag is a bargain, then $2 certainly is. And it was a joy to watch other people’s expressions as they too turned up to collect their gourmet food from The Providores Food & Liquor only to be told that it was now buy one get one free. My arms are STILL sore from getting this fantastic haul home. There are smoked trouts, fresh pasta, fresh sausages, pies, oils, vinegars, coffees, and let’s not forget the Dilmah tea stand where for $10 we came home with 220 tea bags of assorted varieties.
Those eagle eyed Scots among you may have noticed what is undoubtedly one of the highlights of our cache – Tunnocks. Turns out there is a store in Sydney that sells all manner of British treats and thanks to them we had our first snowball in nearly three years last night. Now THAT’S what I’m talking about!
We get eight DVDs per month from Quickflix. I manage our queue of (generally speaking) around fifty films. Normally when say number 3 and number 15 disappear from the list, I can guess what films are coming before the site updates (which takes a few hours) because I’m the one who chose to put them in the queue in the first place. Today we’re getting a film that I’ve never even heard of before. I have no idea when I put it in the queue or why, but I have no recollection of doing so. None. Whatsoever.
Seems a bit too soon for old age, doesn’t it?
Pomegranate Simplicity
2 oz Pama Pomegranate liqueur
1 oz vodka
3 oz Pom pomegranate juice
Add all ingredients to a shaker 3/4 full of ice. Shake. Strain into a chilled martini glass.
Mon: Miso Aubergine with Cucumber Noodles
Tues: Pork Belly with Sea Salt & Szechuan Pepper
Wed: Indonesian Salmon
Thurs: White Bean & Tarragon Soup
Fri: Shrimp & Grits with Bacon
Lunch: Mushroom & Pak Choy Stir-fry
Random shots from our trip. . .A great time was had by all.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I was very excited about our trip out to the Low Isles on Saturday. Excited and nervous. And if I may jump straight to the conclusion – it was one of the most fantastic experiences of my life.
It was a lovely clear blue sunny day as we boarded Wavedancer, our catamaran for the day. We settled into a comfy spot on the deck and enjoyed the pleasantly smooth cruise out of Port Douglas to our destination.
There are a number of ways in which you can do the day – between guided walks, lunch, the glass bottomed boat – but we were keen to get in the water and see the reef. So we gathered up our snorkeling equipment and wetsuits (though it’s not stinger season these provide invaluable protection from the sun) and headed over to the island.
I have to say that I was getting a little anxious the closer the time came to get in the water. Snorkeling was completely new to me, and I had no idea what it would be like. So, as we first started out my heart was racing, and my breathing was decidedly quick and shallow. However, it did not take long to be totally distracted by the reef.
Pictures really don’t do it justice. Moving slowly through the water brings about the most fantastic combination of curiosity, tranquility, bliss and excitement. The fish are so varied in colour, shape and size, and they are everywhere you look. The reef is stunningly beautiful, all different kinds of coral and lifeforms doing their own thing as you waft by – waving, breathing, pulsing … living! And the giant sea turtle with the obligatory shell cleaning fish was just the icing on the cake.
It’s really hard for me to do the experience justice here. It was a simply incredible thing to do, and we would both do it again in a heartbeat. We enjoyed it so much that we were far and away the last people out of the water and only just made the last five minutes of lunch (the lameness of which could in no way ruin the day). Of course, it was only later that night that we realised just how much over 90 minutes of continuous snorkeling will do to your body – oh god the aches and stiffness that was to follow, though still nothing to take away from the day.
After lunch, as we realised our bodies could do no more, we took a walk round the island and just relaxed in the shade of one of the huts before heading back to the boat.
As we returned to Port Douglas, one of the crew whipped out his guitar and started playing. He got out a few Australian standards, and a few tunes for the kids, but the exclamation point on the day was sailing back from such a fantastic experience to the music of Jimmy Buffett.
I think with our wedding at number 1, this may just have been the second best experience of my life.
Okay, so we didn’t actually take any photos at the market, but we did go, and we bought Rosella jam, tropical fruits, sugar cane juice, jewelry- our usual Queensland market haul (though I did miss the Chili Madness lady from the Sunday markets in Brisbane).
The market is located by Dickson Inlet, which is lovely and has crocs, so no swimming there. 
Afterward, because we had been snorkeling the day before (and were VERY VERY sore- more on that later), we decided to go back to our villa and soak our sore muscles in the pool. We had a feeling that we might not be able to walk by the end of the day, so we did some food shopping in town, just in case crawling to dinner was no longer an option.
Before our twenty minute walk back to the villa, we stopped off at the fishmonger and picked up a kilo of local bugs (think small lobsters) and a half kilo of banana prawns.
Once back, we spent most of the afternoon soaking in the heated pool, followed by relaxing in our private hammock. We may have also had some Ben Lee playing, maybe. There was a very hippie vibe going round.
Once sufficiently relaxed, we shelled all the seafood, tossed it in some garlic and shallot (French eschalot here) butter and served over a bed of saffron linguine with some fresh basil from one of the plants in the resort’s garden. A nice glass of Sauv Blanc, and dinner was complete, and we didn’t even have to put on clothes. It was awesome.
For dessert I served up some tropical fruits (yellow dragonfruit and custard apple are my new favourite noms btw), and all was right in the world.
We had a highly enjoyable morning with all of the happy, friendly animals at the Rainforest Habitat in Port Douglas (including Bobo the Magpie Goose who stood in my plate and tried to eat Scott’s toes, the napkins, the salt & pepper shakers, etc. . .). It should be noted that many of the animals here love to have their pictures taken and have set poses and prefered angles. Here are some highlights:
Magpie Goose
Bush Stone Curlew
Southern Cassowary
Eclectus Parrot
Australian Pelican
Papuan Frogmouth
Black-necked Stork
Koala
Crocodile
Whiptail Wallabies
Swamp Wallabies
Eastern Grey Kangaroos
Mon: AWAY
Tues: Fish Piccata on Rocket
Wed: Gnocchi with Mushroom Sauce
Thurs: Chicken with Spicy Tomato Sauce
Fri: Chickpea Bruschetta
Breakfast: Tropical Fruits, Homemade Wheat Bread with Rosella Jam
Lunch: Provencal Style Vegetables with Crusty Bread
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