box hysteria

so quite deliberately I haven't ever mentioned that my boxes come from ceres. this not for any reason other than this blog wasn't ever an advertising space. it matters now because of one story in a melbourne weekend newspaper about land contamination and the ban on sale of food grown at ceres hq in brunswick.

you see, not much of the story was true, and when given all the facts it seems they didn't get in the way of a good story. ceres fair food people explain it here.

why do I believe ceres, with a clear vested interest, over this melbourne paper? cos I've dealt with the same paper over some stuff, and the same thing happened. they got a good story, which was untrue and backed up by cold hard evidence (which was provided), but they ran with it anyway. sound familiar? oh and there's also the independent tests that identified the problem areas (which were not used for commercial purposes).

who cares? lots of people. ceres does good things in lots of areas, and has been damaged by the article. most of you who read this know this stuff already, but i thought it worth writing down in case some one gets here by google.

i continue to get my box, and it continues to give me top quality local seasonal produce in a way that is good for producers, the environment and me. one article, based on misinformation, won't stop that.

byeee

P

p.s. happy new year. normal transmission (i.e. probably not much) will resume shortly.

boxonomiyaki

hello,

you might remember me from posts like 'exploding kidneys' or 'the potato solution' (still a good name for a court-procedural thriller). well i'm still here, i just haven't been talking to you. i've still been getting boxes, although things got a bit boring over winter, so i stopped for a while.

anyway, i boxed up this week and got leek, broc, cauli, mushies, oranges, tangelos, box choy, asparagus, apples, coriander, kiwi fruit. quite a nice spread.

today i went for a stroll at lunch time and happened upon an asian grocery. this generally means that i will buy things that i don't need nor will ever use. bulgogi marinade anyone? how about yuzu tea but in paste form? what about some salt-flavoured lollies? you get my drift.

but, on occasion, the products align. i bought some okonomi sauce and some kewpie mayonnaise. can you guess where this heading...?

boxonomiyaki!!! (really okonomiyaki, of course, with largely box ingredients).

found a simple recipe (they all are really - the degree of difficulty comes with extra like bonito flakes, nori or red pickled ginger and i had none of these).

here is a picture...

...couldnt have been easier. slice finely some cabbage, some mushrooms, add some corn kernels, spring onion and probably anything else you would like (seafood, bacon, other veges). 'okonomi' apparently means 'as you like', so go for it kids! add your veges to a batter made with 150g flour, 150mL water and an egg. fry in a little oil on one side till crispy and then flip and repeat (although at some point you will need to decide it is cooked, and remove it from the pan). some of the recipes called for tenkasu (tempura bits!) but i added deep fried shallots instead.

nest time, i'll add even more veges. i thought there was a lot in there, but there was space for more in the finished product. here is a picture for reference...

yes, it does look like a bowl of sick.


once cooked, squirt (the okonomiyaki) with okonomi sauce and some mayo, sprinkle some more spring onion on top and enjoy! very easy japanese version of bubble and squeak!


byeeeeeee

p.

chin chin 2

so i kind of accidentally ended up at chin chin for lunch today with the italian speaking anonymous contributor. it was delicious. when you go, for there is no if, you are required to order the kingfish sashimi and the son-in-law eggs. the rest is up to you...

a clear winner for best food of the year so far.

p

chin chin...

was really very good. some of the best food of the year without question. but you've heard all that before. if you like the idea of getting together with some mates, picking at very nice asian food and drinking some original cocktails, you should get there.

the real reason for the post is to share a recipe (well, as close to a recipe as you get here). work has been off the scale - hell fortnight is over as of yesterday. i managed, between crises, talks, training and complaining, to order a box. it's been a while cos i've been jetting around the country a bit lately, and so box ordering gets patchy.

anyway, the recipe...this week's box had some massive spring onions in it (to be honest, i'm not certain that they weren't smallish leeks). a dish on relatively high rotation during the warmer months is inspired by a side-recipe in the cook's companion. stephanie describes a spring onions sauce that she puts over white-cooked chicken, often on boxing day.

the idea is to finely slice a fair number of spring onions, add a little finely chopped or grated ginger and/or garlic. then, heat up some peanut oil until it is almost ablaze. really. you want it smoking hot. when it gets there you pour it over the spring onions - there will be spitting and sizzling, but the spring onions cook a bit, and release some umami. to up this, you then add a splash or two of light soy sauce, a bit of chinese rice wine and maybe half a teaspoon of sesame oil. stir it all together.

for me, this gets pureed over some shredded/slices poached chicken boobs (i make a fake master stock to do the poaching) and some finely sliced snow peas or green beans. when eating it can, not surprisingly, get a bit oily, so i often make a quick 'salickle' (cross between a salad and a pickle - actually that doesn't really work does it now that it is written down...) with cucumber/carrot/daikon. i only had box carrots but this was fine.

the whole thing is served with steamed rice, and looks like this...

it is actually much more appetising than it looks, and could easily be vegetarianised (it would be great with either fried or fresh chunks of tofu). this was one of those rare moments for me where it was exactly what i wanted...plenty of 'frunch' (fresh/crunch - i am tired), and very tasty. after not cooking anything for myself for about a week, it was a nice change.

chat soon

p

sweet sweet scallops

from mure's on constitution dock, hobart.

passive agressive imaginary conversation

person1:
"so, how was your weekend?"

me:
"great, i didn't have to do any fun things, all i had to do was some extra work for work. best. weekend. ever."

person 1:
"that sounds awesome. catching up with people in your life is overrated. it is much more satisfying to spend it in front of a computer. so what did you have to do?"

me:
"it was really exciting and also interesting. i had to write a submission for a review of the [REDACTED] [REDACTED] Act. it's due on monday and this is essentially the first chance i've had to look at it."

person 1:
"wow, that is cool. it's a good thing they haven't given you any more people at work yet to help with these things. imagine if you couldn't do work on the weekend and late at night during the week because most things were covered at LRO."

me:
"yeah, that would totally suck. i mean, i really enjoy not being able to get things done and having to rush them through after deadlines have passed. it is really rewarding and sets a great example. the best thing is that it probably won't make a difference if we make a submission or not"

person1:
"yeah, that is good. it's not like you'd want to be doing all this work for a reason"

me:
"agreement"

person1:
"can i read it?"

me:
"cool your jets person1. having people read these things is not the point. it might put a curse on it or something. no one has read one of these submissions yet, and i'd hate to ruin the metrics"

person 1:
"k"

me:
"thxbi"

more autumnal than...

...fallen leaves. last night, i felt like cooking properly for the first time in a while - cooking mojo comes and goes. inspired by box 20, i made the slaw with purple cabbage, onion and apple (all from this and previous boxes) and dressed it with olive oil and sherry vinegar. i mashed to parsnips and mixed in some diced fresh pear, and i 'roasted' a chicken boob. it was sizzled skin side down for 5 or so minutes on a high heat to get the skin cripsy, and then to the oven for about 15-20 minutes until it was cooked. it was rested well and stayed juicy.

here is a photo...

it's not a great photo, but you get the impression. the parsnip and pear match was fantastic, the slaw was crisp and cool, and the chicken was tasty. thanks box!

p