Cullinary Delights

I usually have a lot to say about food on this blog... but since I haven't posted for a while, I'm going to have to go with a summary of highlights.

First up, we were really happy with the food at the wedding. We had lots of great feedback about the food, and the wedding cake worked out very well too. Gots to love that Guinness gravy!

Jodie and I had a quick [one night] honeymoon in Hobart after getting home. We had a wonderful meal at Maldini's [pictured above] in Salamanca, which was where I proposed. It's our special place, and we highly recommend it if you are looking for a great restaurant in Hobart. We also had our first 'gold class' cinema experience to see Bourne Ultimatum. I managed to have room enough for profiteroles after our wine and cheese.

We have been busy cooking as usual. We have started making our own pasta again from scratch, and we've had some wonderful 'Italian' nights. My favourite has been Jodie's spaghetti and meatballs. Now that's a bold statement, because it beat out a fantastic smoked mushroom lasagne for my favourite.

We finally have a tortilla press, thanks to Jodie's efforts googling. We are now close to completing the ultimate 'Huevos Rancheros', with only the tomato chili sauce to make from scratch. Another favourite new breakfast/brunch is Jodie's Spanish baked eggs. We also got a bottle of 'insanity sauce' which is freakishly hot and has a wonderful flavour. It also appeals to me due to it's economy. I'm up to several hard shakes of a tabasco bottle in my baked beans on toast, but it only requires two fat little droplets of insanity sauce to get me moving in the morning.

I've been busy making curries too. The lamb we are getting from our new butcher has been a real highlight of the dishes. The most recent was a Rogan Josh, and I'm looking forward to left overs tomorrow already. We have some friends coming to visit on the weekend, and are looking forward to preparing a curry feast. Jodie has been particularly persuasive in her requests for particular dishes this time around, so we are basing the curries around her favourite chicken dish - a spicy Red Parsee Chicken.

Finally, I had the best fish and chips I have ever had the other night. Col and Jacqui, our wonderful neighbours brought us some Stripy Trumpeter and Morwong [Sea Pearch] after a day on the boat Stripy hunting. Jodie had me grate our fresh home made bread for breadcrumbs, and fried the fillets with chunky potato wedges as well. It is a real treat to be able to try different types of fish on the day that they are caught, knowing that the flavour and texture are as good as it can possibly be.

I've got some photos of the tortilla making process... so I'll dedicate a future blog just to huevos rancheros.