#101 - Cooking for more than 1...

The day after the Fish Markets - you have to use all the fresh seafood as soon as you can.  There was a request for garlic butter with the fresh crab but I was craving it with chili, garlic and spaghetti - luckily it was well received.  The good thing about making it at home is that you can have seconds if you want and even better, there's more of the good stuff.  Needless to say there were a couple of trips back for a bit more, although it could have used a bit more salt and chili.  Much better once we added a bit more sea salt but I was afraid to overdo the chili.

Dinner was scallops - we had a lot to use and unfortunately I was lazy so didn't cook them in batches as I probably should have.  Not overcooked and they were warm in the middle, but didn't have the really yummy crust you get when you put them in a screeching hot pan.

Some fancy eating

A quick walk along Bondi to Tamarama beaches, then lunch at a French cafe whose name I can't remember.

French cafe food

First time for coconut juice - it tasted coconutty and woody - kind of weird.  Dim sum at one of my favorite places in Sydney - service is always good and I tried tripe - can't handle the texture, yech.  At least I can say I tried it and now never have to eat it again.

Then a few other adventures in Sydney - dinner at Guillaume at Bennelong:  started really strong (the basil infused tuna is amazing) but ended a little less impressively (massively overcooked Wagyu beef when I asked for medium well, knowing the French penchant for giving you bloody meat when it's "medium") and rubbery duck (skin was not crispy, fat not rendered - might have benefited from the waiter telling us the skin had not been prepared with a view to eating - I didn't eat it, being picky but GY was not so lucky and had to avail himself of a tissue to spit out the offending piece of skin).  Souffle was rather impressive if you like souffles.

The other end of the spectrum:

Chinatown and Pho Pasteur - yummy pho for me.  GY didn't like his - the "Special" pho had a few pieces which had a lot of fat on it and it was too hard to eat around the fat.  Spelling mistakes amusing.  Had a Korean hot pot for an early lunch one day - it was unexpectedly cold and I was felled either by allergies or a cold - hard to tell which.  Spicy soup was enough to chase away the stuffy nose, but luckily we were headed home where I homed in on the toothpaste and toothbrush the moment I got inside.

Home cooked dinners were a big hit.  Made sukiyaki with home made dashi, courtesy of an Asian grocery store under Town Hall train station.  Then Ma Po tofu with the spicy Chinese bean paste - the package directions leave the mixture needing something, but luckily I learned the recipe from a girlfriend ages ago so the missing ingredients went in.  Eaten with great gusto and until we couldn't eat anymore.  There were some leftovers, as usual - which ended up being breakfast (not mine) one morning.  I find that with a boy in the house, nothing goes to waste.

As GY's trip ends...

Biennale is on.  Lots of art in various places, one of whom was Giuseppe who seems to be going for a world record.  We checked - it's canvas.  It's outside the Museum of Contemporary Art - and has little things like finding Waldo and a few other items to look for on a little sheet for those who care to look.

Then...a tour of Sydney by food...The Rocks Market had wagyu burgers which I saw a while ago.  I guess they're not there on Sundays because they weren't there when I went last week, but perfect for an early lunch.  Didn't even need ketchup or mustard and did not taste like a Big Mac.  Would have been even more delicious if the bread had been a nice hamburger bun instead of a pretty hard ciabatta roll.

Some afternoon jazzy stuff by a couple of people I dubbed "the Cool Cats".  And some troubling spelling, written large and proud on our way to check out the local arts and crafts.

It was such a nice day that we grabbed a seat outside at a cafe.  Chai latte (second encounter for GY - and still a happy one) then a Belgian waffle with fresh fruit, praline ice cream and dipping chocolate.  I think I would have liked it even more except that allergies have stuffed up my nose enough to interfere with smell and taste.

GY leaves Sydney tomorrow, so I decided it was a night for all Australian food.  The Wallabies were getting walloped during the Bledisloe Cup and we had to head up to the pub for dinner.  Dinner in the Garden Restaurant of the Lord Dudley - and they had bangers and mash (aka pork and fennel sausage, mash potato and onion gravy).  I had the steak, potato and rocket/arugula, onion and something salad with peppercorn sauce.  Onion chips were a bit too salty but the garlicky parmesan from the salad went really well with the steamed broccoli.  And of course to end, a sticky date pudding.  Arguable as an Aussie classic - some like meringues and Pavlovas - but this was delicious.

Lord Dudley has gone through a few tweaks and the food has also been revamped just a tad - much more like a gastropub.  I think the steak was better than what we had at Guillaume at Bennelong (whose Wagyu medium well was more like shoe leather, whereas the medium well from the Dudley was still pink and juicy but not bloody.

So until next time, happy eating!