Slow crawl today

I’m only on 37.5 hours a week so on Fridays, I finish up at 2pm. This arrangement was a throwback from when I first started and nearly everyone else has converted to 40 hours. I’ve thought about it too many times to count, but haven’t made the plunge (once you go 40, you can’t revert back). I thought about the money- the additional 2.5 hours is what wage-wise? Pre-tax $5K? Didn't convince me. For one thing, on some Fridays, I work beyond 2pm- my choice, so money is not a factor.

And this is the thing about work- on some days, it feels like work. Like today. It feels like a slow crawl to 2pm and I know for sure that when it hits 2, I’m clocking off. Unless my boss rings for something. These are the days- who knew I’d be one to crave for sunshine but I do now. Today is over-cast with a hint of rain, hardly inspiring. But I did the laundry anyway during morning tea break because I had to do stuff.

So I’m actually glad, I’m off at 2. Happy weekend everyone!

Let there be light

We got some new shelving for the upstairs- nothing fancy, just industrial shelving from the local Mitre 10- and because I hate over-head lighting (unless it were pin-lights), I thought, why not get a floor lamp?

My budget was reasonable, anything a bit over $100 was fine and of course, I saw these…( and no, couldn't afford these):

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!