Goat Curry and Apple, Pear and Blueberry Crumble

A few weeks ago Mel told me about a curry she'd made on the weekend that was a HUGE hit. I was curious to try it. I finally made my way to the Vic Market yesterday and bought a few choice ingredients. Namely, goat. That place is brilliant.

I'm sure that, for many people, eating goat is not a big deal. Me, I've never had it, so I had NO idea what to expect. Mum told me to think of lamb, and J said imagine a game-y type of lamb. I was more confused than ever!! However, having now made the curry and enjoyed it IMMENSELY, I'm a convert. I'll now happily try goat in almost anything. I was surprised at how lean it was, and how well it worked with long, slow cooking.

This was a deliciously rich, incredibly more-ish dinner that sure as hell had us licking our lips. J went back for seconds... and then finished off the rest a couple of hours later. Sadly, the picture I have here really doesn't do it justice, which of course means that you're going to have to go and make it for yourself. I think this would work well with any red meat.

I could link you to the recipe, but websites have a habit of disappearing, so here it is, with the variations I made due to either lack of ingredients or lack of equipment. What I can tell you, though, is that I can't imagine the flavour lacked anything for my changes.


Goat Curry (adapted from Steve Manfredi's recipe that appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald, 10/10/08)

Cube 500g of goat. I used top-side. Heat some oil in a large heavy-based saucepan, then add 1 diced brown onion, a cinnamon quill, and 5g of curry leaves (or a couple of stalks-worth) and a table spoon or so of chilli powder. Then add a tablespoon of fennel seeds, 5 crushed cloves of garlic and a few vigorous shakes of ground ginger (the original recipe called for the fennel seeds, garlic and fresh ginger to be pounded together in a mortar and pestle till they became a paste, but I don't have one of those. This still worked out well) and stir fry gently for a few minutes.

Add the goat and fry over a high heat for a few minutes till the meat is browned. Add a cup of water and simmer that over a low heat for 30-40 minutes. Cue good smells.

Add 125ml of coconut cream (or more if you like), a pinch of salt, a pinch of sugar, and the juice of 1 small lemon. Cook this over a low heat until the liquid reduces to be fairly dry and any sauce coats the meat (this can take a while... I think it took a couple of hours for me). Stir it occasionally. And if little bits "caramelise" (ahem) on the bottom of the pan, scrape them up and keep on going. It all adds to the flavour! I had hoped this would serve the two of us and leave me some for lunch today, but I have to admit that, even though I was a tad heavy with the chilli, it was pretty fu... um... it was pretty damn good. And there were no leftovers. At least I know hubby-to-be likes my cooking!

After a meal like that I couldn't think what to serve up for dessert. After such a rich meal I wanted something relatively simple. Cue a treat that I don't think I've made since grade 10 Home Ec: crumble.

Oh yum. Sadly, as I made this up as I went along, I don't have exact measurements. I only made about 2.5 people's worth of it (lucky I did that extra .5.... J cleaned it all up again!).


Apple, Pear and Blueberry Crumble

Melt some butter and grease a small ovenproof dish. Core and peel 2 medium Granny Smith Apples and 1 large pear, then cut into thin slices. Line the base of the dish evenly with half the apple slices. Layer the pear slices. Throw in a handful of frozen blueberries. Sprinkle a little brown sugar or honey around, then layer with the remaining apple slices. Preheat the oven to 180C.

How much crumble to make depends on a couple of things, like how big your dish is, and how much you like crumble. I ended up with some left over, even though I made what I thought was a tiny amount. Put 1/4 cup plain flour, 1/8 cup brown sugar and 1/8 cup of oats into a bowl. Add 25g of cold, cubed butter and rub it all together until it looks like fine breadcrumbs (alternatively, you can use a food processor). Naturally, if you need more, increase the amounts. Sprinkle this over the top of the fruit to the depth you like, pressing it down lightly. Bake for 30-40 minutes.

I had planned to make custard to have with this, but then realised that I had no custard powder left, so ended up using store-bought instead. So it wasn't quite all home-made, but it was still good.

I have to admit, if I may without sounding completely up myself, that that was a damned good meal. I done good :-)

Prime Restaurant, GPO Sydney

GPO Sydney
Downstairs from the foyer, 1 Martin Place
P: 02 9229 7777

A month or so ago we went north for a weekend, staying in Sydney overnight. We asked the concierge where he’d recommend for a great steak, since we were in a carnivorous mood. He suggested Prime Restaurant, also advising that it was difficult to find. And it was, until we worked it out.

Prime feels like a cave under the GPO, albeit a nicely turned out cave. Its stone walls, arched doorways, curtains and dim lighting all contribute to the feeling of being in a hidey-hole, possibly doing something illicit.

We were squeezed around a centre booth-style table, with the table having to be moved for us to get seated (and no, not because of monumental girths; even a supermodel would have had trouble getting into the seat without moving the table at least half a foot), and menus were presented. That’s when we realised exactly how dim the lighting was – we couldn’t read the menus. We tried tilting them towards the (fake) candle on the table, still with little success. Finally I got my phone out and used the screen to provide enough light to read by, and squinted my way through the menu. This is also why there are no pictures to go with this post. They must have switched the lights on to full-power for the pictures on the website.

Chewing on some particularly good bread (from memory, slices of a brown sourdough loaf) while we decided what to eat, we thought that while we were feeling steak-y, we weren’t overly hungry, so figured we'd share an entree before moving onto our mains. I don’t recommend doing this if you like more than a taste of each of the cured assiette of air dried wagyu and Kurabota pork served with pickled vegetable and onion marmalade. A beautifully presented plate contained one small artistic coil of each of the meats, with a small pile of the said vegetables. Half of each coil really wasn’t quite enough to fully appreciate what was, in actual fact, some really nice wagyu and pork. There was a sizeable dollop of the onion marmalade, which was equally tasty, and which we piled onto our bread to enjoy more fully.

From there, onto the mains. Steak orders come with roasted cherry tomatoes, potato one of two ways (pureed, or a frittata-style wedge), and sauce. I chose the 220g Black Angus fillet, apparently from Glen Innes in Northern NSW (good country up there!) cooked medium-well, while J had a different cut... I can’t remember... possibly the sirloin on the bone, cooked well. We also ordered a side of something... possibly vegetables... sorry, my memory has, as always, failed me. In any case, you know the food is good when conversation stops entirely once it arrives. All you could hear from our table was “mmmMMMmmm... try this!” and variations thereof for a good 5 minutes or more. The steaks were cooked perfectly, and so tender that you could have cut them with a butter knife. The potato puree was smooth, creamy, and rich with flavour. Similarly the other serving-style of potato was delicious, with a beautiful flavour.

Despite feelings of fullness, desserts were ordered. We ordered two different flavours of sorbet each, and these were well-done without being remarkable.

Prime is also apparently a top choice for wagyu, although I can’t comment on how they do it (maybe next time). I notice they also offer an express lunch menu which looks interesting. Unfortunately its just a little too far away for me to make it for lunch during my workday.

I’d definitely eat at Prime again. Prices are a little high, but the food is superb, and the staff are friendly, cheerful and helpful. I’ll just have to remember to take a torch.

Appealing to the youth of today?

I'm in a dill of a pickle of a cucumber.

VicRoads has launched a new range of ads online aimed at getting young people to behave in a more sensible fashion and have a greater chance of not crashing and dying and killing us all with them. I haven't seen them all, but I just watched one here (hopefully that will take you to the one with the lovely young Asian man speaking). And I really don't think it's appropriate.

I did, however, find it p**s-funny. Particular moments are at 1:00 and 1:16.

Which is what leads me to the dill-pickle-cucumber situation: on the one hand I think this ad really is not appropriate, mainly because of the swearing (and yes, I swear, but I believe there's a correct - or less incorrect - time and place, and an advertisement is neither), yet on the other hand that ad made me laugh out loud, and obviously it had an effect on me as I'm now blogging about it.

But on the OTHER hand (yes, I have three hands. I borrowed one) perhaps this is what will appeal to young drivers and maybe, just maybe, it'll make them think twice before using their phone while they drive. I mean, let's face it, the ad isn't aimed at children, it's aimed at people old enough to be driving on our roads, so there's very little chance they'll hear anything in it that they don't say themselves. In fact, they quite probably use far worse words in their every day life.

Unfortunately I'm not so sold or amused by some of the other VicRoads ads... "Emo" and "Red Head Gets It's Wings" I think are going too far (as well as the grammatical error in the Red Hed title just bugging me... my grammar is by no means spectacular, but come on people, this is an organisation advertising to young people - TRY to get it right) and I didn't enjoy them. Probably because they're poking fun at very specific sets of people, but not in the light-hearted way of the video I linked to. "Poleaxed" I thought was being a bit too flippant about a speed-related crash where the car flipped five times, knocking out a "No Stopping" sign but thankfully not killing anyone... The "Turn off Facebook" and "Turn off Twitter" ads were mildly smile-inducing for a second or two. And the "Using Your Mobile While Driving" air traffic control and surgery ads make a very good point.

I'm curious if other people have checked out the ads and how they'll be received generally. They're getting publicity in the newspapers with some pretty interesting feedback.

I guess, if nothing else, it's all drawing attention to the issue of safety on the roads.

"I-Love-Weekends" French Toast

I luuuurrrrv weekends. Not sure if you know, but for a while there I was working 2 jobs, which meant 7 days a week I had to get up and get moving (and let's not dwell on the time, in my late-teens and early 20s, when I was holding down 3-4). When I quit about a year ago I found that I'd completely forgotten what I used to do on the weekends.

Didn't take me long to remember, though.

There's one thing in particular that I love about weekends, and that's the fact that I don't have to drag my ass out of bed when some alarm goes off, before the sun is even up, and race off to work. Yep, I wake up whenever the hell I want (well, some weekends), and I have time for a proper breakfast. Like today.


It might not look like much but this was fabulous, if I say so myself. And I do. It was SO worth the effort. And yet so simple.

6 strawberries, hulled, sliced in half, and thrown into a small bowl with a slick of good balsamic and a bit of icing sugar, then mixed all around to coat the strawberries (with an occasional stir while the rest is being prepared). An egg, a splodge of milk and a little vanilla in another bowl and beaten. Bread (in my case, wholemeal, which ain't the most picturesque of breads) thoroughly soaked in the egg mix, then thrown into a hot pan to cook and get yummified. Repeat with a second piece of bread (note to self - use smaller bread next time, or make extra egg mixture). Throw on a plate, top with strawberries, some of the sweetened balsamic, and a twirl of golden syrup. Dish it up with a lovely cup of coffee.

Welcome to Saturday morning.

Delicious.

Check Out These Girls

I can't even remember how I found out about these girls now... but I likem.

Garfunkel & Oates are actually Riki Lindhome and Kate Micucci. And I like their humour. So much of their stuff gets me giggling.

Check 'em out. They've got a few videos here