Meaty Friday

I had a work lunch at Little Jimmy in Epsom with some office staff and our web dev guys. Though I was eyeing a fish starter and a veggie side, I ended up with their Wagyu Beef Short Rib fillet with celeriac puree and some bokchoy. It was the size of my fist- and I have a small fist.

Luckily, one of the guys offered to share his curly fries. It needed a side, just saying ( and I was really hungry that day). It was labelled as a large plate too which was not accurate. To compare, Sarah from work ordered a small plate of trevally ceviche, and the ‘small plate’ was actually a condiment bowl. I know that the restaurant industry is struggling but…

Dinner/ Blue Ox Babe BBQ
Continuing our fortnight eating-out runs, we put aside Korean for a change and tried out this Texas barbecue joint in Pukekohe with the strange name of Blue Ox Babe. If you’re not sure of how much meat you’re supposed to order you can ask them to make that decision for you. We ordered the brisket, pork belly, sausages and the ribs and skipped the chicken. With four adults (Matt was still at work), they recommended doubling the ribs to a full stack.

For sides, we had two curly fries (there’s a loaded one slathered with pulled pork), slaw and the pickled cucumber (the total bill was just under our magic number of $200).

They were spot on with the quantity though I would be happy with just the brisket and the ribs. The ribs were great- firm with a nice even layer of fat on top (I loathe ribs with the meat falling off) and unslathered with sickly sweet sauce which I also hate. I would’ve wanted rice for a side- or something plain, like maybe corn on the cob or even bread buns. The curly fries were a disappointment; they were under-seasoned and hard.

The hero side was the obviously home-made pickles - actually crinkle sliced Lebanese cucumbers with just the right combination of tang, crunch and acidity to freshen your palate for another forkful of meat (and no forks!).

We were in agreement that next time, we would do takeaway and eat it at home with rice.

Burnt Basque Cheesecake

I bought a block of Philadelphia cream cheese nearly a month ago intending to make peanut butter cheesecake and thought that now was the time to make one. However, I came across a cheesecake that I had always seen at cafes but assumed that it was known simply as a baked variant- I honestly have always preferred the non-baked kind- but this one had a proper name; burnt Basque cheesecake (Tarta de questo).

And in spite of a name that somehow implies it goes back a long way, it was actually invented by a Spanish chef, Santiago River of the La Viña restaurant in 1990 who wanted a custardy cheesecake.

And to achieve this texture, the oven has to be really hot (400 degrees) with a cooking time of exactly an hour. The top after this is that deep shade of brown that is 5 minutes away from being burnt, and the cake has that jiggle that is just a tad shy of being firm, but not too wobbly. Some recommend clocking it at 40 minutes for that soft, custardy consistency and I’m glad that I didn't, because I think, it would’ve tasted too eggy (this Bon Appetit recipe calls for 6 large eggs.) which I would hate; if I wanted eggy, I’d make an omelette.

It’s recommended that you let it cool completely (like 3 hours), but we ate it anyway just two hours in and it was still slightly warm. I drizzled maple syrup (Nigella Lawson has a recipe where she serves it with licorice sauce) on it and that was a good idea because it isn’t exactly too sweet.

I had another taste of it after it had been chilling in the fridge for about 2 hours and it tasted even better, like the marriage of a regular cheesecake and an egg flan, airier and less dense than a New York cheesecake which I’ve always found to be stodgy (that’s because a New York cheesecake is normally baked for an hour and a half, cooled inside the oven and doesn't use heavy cream).

Cooking pork belly #1,001,000 (this one works!)

If I could eat pork belly everyday I really would. I’ve cooked it so many times but I still could not find the one fool-proof, consistent way that would serve me meat that would have the following characteristics:

  1. Intact, crispy skin

  2. Nearly falling apart, flavourful flesh and fat

I’ve boiled, brined, dried and salt-crusted with varying degrees of success and what’s annoying is that the next time I boil, brine, dry and salt-crust, the results are different again.

But this one worked right off the bat:

But the meat could’ve been more tender. Maybe the ratio of fat to meat makes the difference. I got the pork from the supermarket and the fat was on the thin side.

Next time - #1,001,001 - I’ll try the butchers.

12

Yup. Another Korean restaurant. And we’re starting to see a menu pattern:

  1. All serve fried chicken dishes

  2. They all have a version of steamed or boiled pork belly (my favourite)

  3. They all serve some version of beef

  4. The price points are on the average, the same, but the quantities vary

  5. This one is more on the pricey-ish side ($200 for five dishes)

Twelve is at 1 Courthouse Lane, Auckland CBD, Auckland.

Birthdays

?

There’s a photo of me about to blow a candle or candles on a cake. I’m wearing my good clothes; a short-sleeved polo shirt and pants. The shirt has some prints on it but I believe it’s basically white. I’m not sure though because the photo is black and white. All the neighbourhood kids crowd around me and I remember some of the faces, some of whom were kids much older than me. I’m probably standing on a high bench, hunched over the cake, my short arms solidly planted on both sides. I look like a princeling biding my time as if waiting for instructions from the photographer when to blow the cake. I look neither happy nor sad. I look business-like; as if I somehow knew how all this was going to play out.

I don’t remember how old I was, and I couldn’t remember how many candles there were on the cake which would’ve given than information.

20 - 30

Can’t remember at all.

40

It was a good year, but I just didn't feel like announcing it because it seemed that I already was, on Facebook. The word ‘blessed’ was being bandied around as if God was in a great mood and was passing good fortune around like party favours. I finally learned this - I don’t need to explain my life to anyone but you can always ask me. And guess what? Nobody does. Deleted my Facebook account and celebrated it by cooking three dishes I had been craving.

Thank you for the gifts!

Lockdown part 5

Life wouldn’t be without its biggest moaners, so really thankful that I’m still suspended from Twitter because I’d be sticking my unwanted opinions in if I had the chance.

It won’t be the same, but here it is anyway:

  1. To that Papatoetoe family who claimed to not have received 15 text/email messages from the government, you’re all a bunch of FUCKING GODDAMNED LIARS.

  2. To those Indians caught playing cricket in the park during lockdown and claiming they didn’t hear anything or couldn’t understand what the government is saying, you’re all a bunch of FUCKING GODDAMNED LIARS.

  3. To the Republican Party, hope you all catch Covid and….(see? This is why I was suspended)

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How to Zoom. Properly

My mother has told me this a thousand times in different ways, but the gist is, ALWAYS PUT YOUR BEST FOOT FORWARD. Like always. And she practices this as well. When she would stay over for a couple of months here in New Zealand, Matt and Toni would always roll their eyes when they would ask her to go with them to the superette a few metres down the road. She would take some time to fix herself up before doing so.

And I’m the same- DON’T FUCKING GODDAMNED CARE IF I’M JUST GOING TO THE SUPERMARKET. Not going out looking like a fool because I’m not a fool. If you’re that bitch who says you don’t care about the way you look, it doesn't mean that you have strength of character for coming onto the screen in your bathrobe, hair all a mess with a sour expression to tie everything in together (people who do porn actually have the same rationale just FYI).

It just means YOU’RE UNCARING- probably of everything, and who needs a person like that? NOBODY.

Today Feb 14

Happy Valentines! I felt like buying chocolates- for myself of course but then thought nah. I’ve begun putting a tiny bit of brown sugar into my espressos lately, so I should be cautious of over-doing it. Don’t want to be suddenly diabetic.

Auckland goes into another lockdown today as there are three Covid cases of still unknown origin in the community.I could say ugh, but I actually welcome it- you get to control the spread, and you get some quality work done at home without all the office distraction. Win-win really.

Plus we get to spend some quality time with our new cat Lily; and get to write; and get to work-out.

Triple win and fuck Covid!

Converse Pro leather Bandulu Mid Flux Gum Light

Honestly, I’ve never liked high tops.

I just find them uncomfortable and painful- they don’t have much cushioning you see - but this hasn’t stopped me from buying a couple of pairs through the years simply for the fashion. A worn, threadbare pair provides that stark contrast to dark, indigo Selvedge jeans for example, or that long monochrome look with black skinny jeans. I’ve also worn them for a while with shorts and tied their usually long laces at the back of my ankles in a knot like high-school kids do.

I’ve had variants of the Jack Purcells as well as a pair of that collaboration with Comme des garcons, which I left by mistake in a hotel in Singapore. Would I buy these leather ones? Not really, but what’s cool about these is that what I mistook to be paint splatter are actually embroidery which is what the European brand Bandulu does. Just wondering how durable the embroidery is; the shorts are cute tho..

Today Feb 12

Protect your tree
I have a favourite tree at the Papakura Central Park. It is some sort of pine. When I pass by it, I always stop and put my hands on its trunk, my eyes closed for a moment. Being connected to a living organism is not stupid; but developers who can’t work their way around them are. Would I protest when my favourite tree is in danger of being cut down? I won’t be as brave, but this kid is.

People who voted for Trump are also complicit
If you’re watching the Trump Impeachment Proceedings The Sequel, you’d know that it’s pointless reasoning with a party that sacrificed their testicles at the altar of Trump. So now the House Democrats want to convince the 73 million or so who voted for him. Good luck with that! Those stupid turds are even worse.

Purchase
I bought an adjustable weights bench for $154 on Trade Me. It came unassembled of course like everything else in this country. But putting it together wasn’t as hard as I thought. It actually gives you an idea on how sturdy it is; let’s put it this way- it’s just right for my 5 foot 8 and a half, 74 kilogram frame. Any heavier = 👻. So officially starting on weight training again which I’ve postponed for the longest time.

Law of nature says, only the fittest survive
And this applies to businesses as well. Queenstown is still moaning about its situation and still deaf, blind and dumb to the reality of 2021 which hasn't changed much from 2020- Covid is still raging; vaccines are not the 100% guaranteed fix we expected them to be; we still need to have our borders closed. The loss of a business is not comparable to people getting sick and dying, period.