A log of dinners (and occasional lunches and brunches).

Wed 28 July 2010 Ted made fettucine carbonara, using bacon given to us by Matt and Leonie, and eggs from our lovely Brookfield cousins Billy and Mary.  I would never, ever think to make this dish myself, but it was delicious. Ted merely rolled his eyes when he told me what he was planning to cook and I asked it it was revenge for all the chickpea dishes I’ve made him eat. After all these years of Let’s Eat with Meg and Ted, it’s amusing that our instinctive food preferences are still so divergent.

Tues 27 July 2010 Frittata of garlicky roast tomatoes and capsicum with coriander.

Mon 26 July 2010 Orecchiette with zucchini, peas, lemon zest, parsley, feta and creme fraiche.

Sun 25 July 2010 A  salad of barley, chickpeas, roast pumpkin and zucchini, garlic, feta, mint and parsley, with a dressing of garlic olive oil and apple cider vinegar.

Sat 24 July 2010 It’s probably a reflection on (a) my poorly educated tastebuds and/or (b) the quality of takeaway Indian available in Brisbane that I always prefer the curries as leftovers, when I mix them together in a single saucepan to reheat.

Fri 23 July 2010 Palak paneer and chicken murgh from Agra. Eh.

Thurs 22 July 2010 Too slack to make dinner. True laziness.

Tues 20 July 2010 Spiced pumpkin soup with coconut sambal.

Mon 19 July 2010  CWA lemon cake FTW at breakfast.

Sun 18 July 2010 Matt and Leonie arrived on our doorstep carrying an esky full of fantastic food, including home-dried mango, tiny olives, a superb lemon cake from a CWA stall, aaaaand much good wine, including a white label Diamond Valley pinot. A snacky, chatty dinner of cheese (including an excellent soft pecorino from Tognini’s), bread, olives and wine.

Sat 17 July 2010 Dinner at Siam Samrarn with Ian, Lisa, Charly and Sally.

Fri 16 July 2010 Anise with Michael, Jenny and Ted.

Thurs 15 July 2010 A gigantic pile of tofu, cabbage and ginger, with soy, sesame oil, chili, etc.  Fantastic.

Wed 14 July 2010 A (free!) sit-down tasting of Italian wines, with canapes, at Era Bistro. We ordered a terrifying number of bottles on the way out.

Tues 13 July 2010 Pasta with capers, sun dried tomatoes, the very very last of the pangrattato and ricotta salata. Why yes, we haven’t been grocery shopping for ages.

Sun 11 July 2010 Dinner with my parents at a Singaporean restaurant in Sunnybank.

Mon 5 - Sat 10 July 2010 Ummm… I need to get back into the habit of filling this in every day.

Sun 4 July 2010 Braised savoy cabbage with Saint Marcellin cheese, from a recipe by Molly Stevens, eaten with a baguette traditionnelle from Chouquette. Perfectly good, and I would be extremely happy to eat this dish again if it were put in front of me, but I don’t think I’m likely to make it again - if only because it’s a crime to cook a Saint Marcellin as gorgeously ripe as the one I used.

Sat 3 July 2010 Spelt linguine with mushrooms, herbs and comté.

Fri 2 July 2010 Dinner with Ian and Lisa in Highgate Hill. We tried to get in to Lefkas but they were bursting at the seams, so we tried Thai Patcharin instead. How it has fallen since the glory days when the dominatrix used to work there and (rightly) insist that you chose the special red curry.

Thurs 1 July 2010 A giant bowl of veggies (braised capsicum, roasted garlicky green beans, cauliflower etc) mixed up with left-over pangrattato and grated ricotta salata. Nom nom.

Wed 30 June 2010 Ted made risotto with chilli, lemon and anchovy pangrattato. Odd but tasty.

Tues 29 June 2010 Pasta with all the non-wilted veggies left in the crisper, which worked out far, far better than I had any right to expect. Casarecce with sauted zucchini, mushrooms, left-over cubes of roast pumpkin and peas, with basil and garlic-infused olive oil, and ricotta salata grated over.

Mon 28 June 2010 Thai green curry.

Sun 27 June 2010 A daal and a so-so veggie curry, with litres of left-overs for lunches this week.

Sat 26 June 2010 Left over baked barley before heading out to watch roller derby!

Fri 25 June 2010 Baked barley and vegetables.

Thurs 24 June 2010 Toast with white miso paste and avocado.

Wed 23 June 2010 Ted arrived home with ingredients for pumpkin risotto, but was somewhat put off by the way I was insensate with jetlag on the couch. I woke up only to take myself to bed.

Tues 22 June 2010 Leftover lasagne (Barb’s recipe) from a dinner party Ted gave while I was away, plus a salad of broccoli, cherry tomatoes, basil and flaked almonds.

Mon 21 June 2010 The 21st was lost as I crossed the International Dateline on my way back from the US. I left LA just before midnight on the 20th, and arrived in Brisbane, 13 hours later, on the 22nd. Possibly an airplane meal of impressively overcooked salmon counted as dinner for this date?

Sun 20 June 2010 Ohhhh yes. Last meal in LA with Carolin, Dave and Andreas, at Casalinda on Abbot Kinney. Chicken tamale with mole, crispy shrimp taco, and fantastic halibut taco. Also a bite of D&C’s octopus ceviche.  Followed by a scoop of salted caramel ice cream from Nice Cream.

Sat 19 June 2010 Eclectic dinner at the Canal Club in Venice Beach, including duck confit chile rellenos, carne asada, eel tacos and spider roll.

Fri 18 June 2010 Summer solstice campout at Nelder Grove with D, C and J, and lots of their wonderful friends. Wonderful food amongst the sequoias, including Jon-Paul’s one dish bliss pilaf (rice, onions, pistachios and wilted greens), Ruth’s grilled zucchini with secret spice blend, and Dave’s mojitos made with feral mint picked from beside the creek in Merced.

Thur 17 June 2010 A day of excellent food from start to finish!  For breakfast, pancakes made with a combination of rye, chickpea and almond flour, eaten with berries and maple syrup. For lunch, before my seminar at UC Merced, a visit to a taco truck for two delicious tacos, one shrimp and one carnitas.  A visit to the Mexican market to buy supplies and ogle the organ meats, the fresh and dried chillis, and the hundreds of hanging pinatas. And for dinner, a birthday BBQ for one of Jamie’s friends.

Weds 16 June 2010 Eaten on the terrace outside Dave and Carolin’s house in Cathey’s Valley, in the gloaming, listening to cows in the nearby field and cicadas humming: dinner of a narrow and delicious rack of lamb, cooked in the oven for 15 minutes on top of a pile of finely cubed potato and sweet potato, with a salad of cabbage, carrot, radish and basil. A drizzle of ume plum vinegar makes the lamb sing.

Tues 15 June 2010 After a day of touring around Marin county with Devin, an unintentionally supersized but still excellent carnitas burrito in the Mission district, followed by a beer at the truly superb Casanova Club around the corner.

Mon 14 June 2010 A vegetarian mediterranean plate, and then (ta-da!) two scoops of ice cream from Ici: one basil and the other meyer lemon. Then the largest single shot of whisky I have ever been served, at the Graduate. Sorry about the hangover, Devin.

Weds 9 - Sun 13 June 2010 At the Asilomar conference grounds outside Monterey. High quality conference food, though monumental in size and ludicrous in the amount of meat used.

Tues 8 June 2010 Dinner with Ted at the Continental Cafe the night before I leave for the Wolbachia conference in the US. Wild boar ragout for me, beef cheek for him. Wild Earth pinot noir, which I love so much. Dessert of plum and rosemary tarte tartin, mmmm.

Weds 2 - Mon 7 June 2010 My first failure in this dinner logging.  I didn’t write it down at the time, and now I can’t remember.  The shame!

Tues 1 June 2010 A small piece of gorgonzola. A scoop of coffee and almond ice cream. A belated beer. Why yes, I am home alone working on my conference presentation for next week.

Mon 31 May 2010 Tarty and salady leftovers.

Sun 30 May 2010 A leek, thyme and smoked cheddar tart that needed more salt and much more mustard, with a mixed leaf salad.

Sat 29 May 2010 Pizza from the appalingly-named Posh Pizza, newly opened on Brunswick St. Surprisingly OK, though not as in the same class as Beccofino.

Fri 28 May 2010 After working stupidly late at uni, dinner with Tedster at Raum Thai. Food ok, company lovely.

Thur 27 May 2010 Yet another tupperware of dal excavated from the freezer - I think I will never, ever get sick of curried lentils.

Wed 26 May 2010 Casarecce (one of my favourite pasta shapes) with gorgonzola and broccoli. This was the last remaining bag of pasta I brought home from Italy last year, alas.

Tues 25 May 2010 Grilled parmesan on toast.

Mon 24 May 2010 Cursing myself for deciding that we needed to be slightly more frugal with food - there’s no way I would normally be forcing myself to eat leftovers of something as unappetising as last night’s curry! A small bowl of the spinach sauce with rice is more than enough.

Sun 23 May 2010 Goat and spinach curry - genuinely bad. Think the meat wasn’t great, and have serious doubts about the recipe too.

Sat 22 May 2010 BBQ at Charly and Richie’s. Excellent sauted mushroom and pumpkin salad!

Fri 21 May 2010 Dinner at A Night in India, at a table for 36 people, celebrating Rainer’s visit back to Brisbane.

Thurs 20 May 2010 Dal at my desk before Italian.

Weds 19 May 2010 Ted made gorgonzola and rocket risotto.

Tues 18 May 2010 Penne with garlicky tomato sauce, spinach and feta.

Mon 17 May 2010 Soup again.

Sun 16 May 2010 Soup of root vegetables, roasted with with cumin and coriander seeds, pureed with chicken stock and harissa.

Sat 15 May 2010 Stew take two.

Fri 14 May 2010 Sick with a disgusting cold, I finally understand what Kevin was on about when he said he craved beef stew when he was ill.  Made this one, cooking for 3.5 hours in the oven while I lay on the couch reading Nancy Mitford. The garlic/rosemary/lemon zest added at the end is essential.

Thur 13 May 2010 Pack of veggie crisps eaten at my desk before Italian class. Oh dear.

Wed 12 May 2010 Left-over eggplant pesto with fusilli.

Tue 11 May 2010 Dinner at Caravanserai with Anne, Jeremy, Tom, Flo, Tom and Becky to say goodbye to Anne (she’s leaving for Finland on Friday).

Mon 10 May 2010 Inspired by a delicious eggplant, walnut and tomato pesto with pasta I had for lunch at Lindell and Marcel’s on Saturday, I tried to replicate it for dinner. I cut the tops off two smallish eggplants and stabbed them a few times, roasted them at 180 till they were collapsing, then roughly skinned them and blended the flesh with a handful of walnuts, a cup or two of tomato passata, a couple of handfuls of finely grated pecorino, a dash of aged red wine vinegar, and a small bunch of parsley. It doesn’t taste anything like Lindell’s (alas), but it is ok, especially after sitting and melding for an hour or two. Served with fusilli and a shower of more finely chopped parsley, it was creamy and quite subtle.

I also pottered around this evening making two kinds of curry for lunches this week: a sweet potato and spinach dal, and a cauliflower, pea and tomato curry. The dal was excellent, as of course happens only when I’m randomly chucking in ingredients without paying much attention. Fried an onion, added approx 1 heaped teaspoon each garam masala, turmeric, ground coriander, ground cumin, cumin seeds, salt, plus 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, two cloves, and two bay leaves, cooked 2 minutes. Added a cup each of 2-hour soaked channa dal and mung dal, plus 1 cup of rinsed but not soaked masoor dal. Added several cups of water and simmered, stirring, keeping an eye on the water level. After 10 minutes added 1.5 cm cubes of sweet potato. Cooked a further 30 mins until dal and sweet potato were soft. Intended to finish off with spinach and a temper of mustard seeds, but it was so good as it was, I left it there.

Sun 9 May 2010 Back from Canberra in the afternoon, we went to a chinese restaurant in Graceville with my parents, grandmother, Les and Carol, Anthony and Louise for Mothers’ day dinner.

Sat 8 May 2010 Kangaroo stew on trenchers at Lindell and Marcel’s!  The trenchers (made by me) were not entirely successful but the stew (Lindell’s) was good.

Fri 7 May 2010 Antipasto and relaxation at L&M’s after a long week.

Thurs 6 May 2010 Solo laksa at Civic Noodle House to try and sooth my incipient cold and the wretched effects of three days of insomnia. Missing out on a posh dinner at the National Museum with the Governor General, but I am too wrung-out to talk science.

Weds 5 May 2010 ECR dinner at the Shine Dome. Scarily typical Australian conference meal - bread and butter, creamy white coleslaw, creamy potato salad, yellow rice salad, baked potatoes, three kinds of roast meat. A shame after the great lunch catering at this meeting.

Tues 4 May 2010 Laksa at Civic Noodle for Jess’s going-away dinner.

Mon 3 May 2010 In Canberra for Science at the Shine Dome. Indian at Taj Mahal with Jess, Rob, Tonya and Simon.

Sun 2 May 2010 Soup of cabbage, borlotti beans and speck.

And an excellent lunch at Beccofino - orecchiette with artichoke hearts, garlic, chilli, parmesan and pangrattato. I’ve never entirely seen the point of pangrattato before, but I think it’s because (a) I haven’t browned it enough and (b) mine usually isn’t so garlicky. Damn fine.

Sat 1 May 2010  Pasta. Eh.

Fri 30 Apr 2010 Bamboo Basket with my parents, for my birthday. Superb!  Sliced silken tofu with century egg to start, delicious. Then noodles with duck, chilli green beans, and incredible, silky, glossy, almost-too-rich pork belly in soy sauce with bok choi.

Thurs 29 Apr 2010 Left-over lunch curry before Italian class.

Weds 28 Apr 2010 Salad of puy lentils with sauted onion, zucchini, garlic and spinach, with roasted capsicums on the side.

Tues 27 Apr 2010 Birthday dinner at Enoteca! Two primi: peas, pancetta and cuttlefish again (not quite so spectacular as last time), then whiting with mushrooms and polenta. Being too full for dessert, I asked Sweet Baby Jesus (waiter and best wine-recommender ever) for an Italian equivalent of a calvados and he came through with Amaro Nonino - not something I would ever chose for myself, but it turned out to be precisely what I wanted.

Mon 26 Apr 2010 Erm… cacio e pepe again.

Sun 25 Apr 2010 Cacio e pepe.

Sat 24 Apr 2010 Toast and vegemite.

Fri 23 Apr 2010 Pasta e ceci.

Thur 22 Apr 2010 Stirfry of duck and vegies with chili and cashews at Renu Thai before Italian class.

Wed 21 Apr 2010 Mushroom and spinach risotto, again the work of Marcel (while the rest of us sat around reading stories to kids and watching They Might Be Giants’ kids’ DVD Here Comes Science).

Tues 20 Apr 2010 Vegetarian sushi, made by Marcel.

Mon 19 Apr 2010 Veggie curry and rice.

Sun 18 Apr 2010  Slow-cooked rabbit with red wine and olives. Delicious! Started with a rabbit bought from The Meat Palace that the cheery butcher cut into 8 pieces for us (on the bone). Browned in a wide pan in oil, then added about half a bottle of red wine, two tins of tomatoes roughly chopped, three carrots cut into ~2 cm dice, 10 golden shallots peeled and halved, pepper and a couple of cups of water. Brought to a simmer on the stove, and kept it at a very gentle simmer for about two hours, stirring occasionally. About half an hour before the end, threw in a couple of handfuls of fat black olives. By the end the sauce was fairly thick - almost more like a fricassee than a stew.

Sat 17 Apr 2010 Sausages from Cooroy’s Meat Hall (a.k.a. The Meat Palace - they have two smokehouses out the back of the shop and the butcher was serious about meat and seriously cheery), with mash and broccoli.

Fri 16 Apr 2010 Boring pasta, but it’s ok because I’m busy packing for holidays at Cooroy with Lindell and Marcel and the kids. I’m also baking this delicious-looking berry cake to take with us.

Thur 15 Apr 2010 The last leftovers of the aubergine dal.

Wed 14 Apr 2010 You can never have just one: salad nicoise.

Tue 13 Apr 2010 Salad nicoise.

Mon 12 Apr 2010 A dal with sauted aubergine and roughly chopped roasted tomatoes stirred through close to the end, riffing on this recipe. Turned out very well, despite my initial lack of enthusiasm about it while it was bubbling in the pot.

Sun 11 Apr 2010 Toast with peanut butter and a monumental strop about how crap we are about making sure we have fresh food in the house. Ugh.

Sat 10 Apr 2010 Penne with the last tiny skerricks of roast chicken, mushrooms, spinach, seed mustard, a dash of sour cream and parmesan. That’s the last of the chicken, apart from the stock I made from the carcass, part of which will probably go into soup tomorrow, and the rest into the freezer. Thank you for (I anticipate) five meals for two people, little chicken.

Fri 9 Apr 2010 Excellent pizza from Beccofino - one with eggplant and stracchino, the other a pizza bianca with porcini and thyme. Thin chewy crusts, speckled almost black on the bottom.

Thur 8 Apr 2010 Left-over chicken with green beans.

Wed 7 Apr 2010 A chicken roasted a la  Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall, with green salad and good bread.

Tues 6 Apr 2010 Tragically oversalted and overcooked noodles with tofu, broccoli and black fungus.  Really pretty disgusting.

Mon 5 Apr 2010 The most incredibly satisfying piece of wholegrain toast with peanut butter, eaten at 11 pm after rearranging all our bookshelves (the new bright red bookshelves are finally in action).

Sun 4 Apr 2010 The first minestrone of the year. Autumn keeps threatening to arrive, but not quite following through. Although I suppose since it’s no longer vomit-inducingly hot I can’t say that summer is still here either. God I wish Brisbane had proper seasons, I hate their absence more than I can possibly convey.

Sat 3 Apr 2010 A late and boring pasta after a day of mattress-shopping and desultory snacking.

Fri 2 Apr 2010 Went to Southbank to watch the new Clash of the Titans in 3D, which did not deliver quality trash as hoped. Come back Harry Hamlin, I now appreciate your value!  At Bamboo Basket afterwards, had cold hand-pulled noodles with sesame sauce and chicken, and braised tofu and vegetables. My favourite dish here is still the spicy green beans we had last time.

Thur 1 Apr 2010 Aubergine, chickpeas and couscous, gobbled cold from a tupperware while sitting on the steps outside my Italian class, two minutes before it was due to start.

Wed 31 Mar 2010 Pizza at the pizza caffe to celebrate Anne submitting her PhD thesis.

Tue 30 Mar 2010 Toast.

Mon 29 Mar 2010 Pumpkin and spinach ravioli with brown butter and sage sauce; broccoli and peas with lemon and garlic oil.

Sun 28 Mar 2010 Indian takeaway from Agra. The palak paneer is not great; but I like the tarka dal and love the chicken in pickling spices.

Sat 27 Mar 2010 Judy produced a tour de force from the Spirit House cookbook. Everything superb. In order: a soup of duck stock with herbs, omlette and chicken dumplings. Salad of prawns and herbs with tamarind dressing. Salad of tea-smoked chicken with crispy vegetables and coconut dressing. Red curry of roast duck and lychees. I am fired with inspiration and admiration!

Fri 26 Mar 2010 Fled Brisbane for the weekend to stay with Peter and Judy in Pomona. I got out of the car at their house in the middle of the bush and felt the weekend open up to receive me. So very, very in need of relaxation. Perfect start to the weekend, a simple dinner of delicious greek-style stewed okra, onions and tomatoes, with good bread. I wish I could bottle this bliss.

Thur 25 Mar 2010 I failed in my mission to bring dinner to eat before Italian class, but did at least get an excellent mushroom pizza at the Schonell pizza caffe rather than crapola refec noodles.

Wed 24 Mar 2010 Dinner with my parents at an Eritrean restaurant, Mu’ooz.  Qulwa (lamb with tasame, rosemary and green chili), zighni (spicy beef curry with berbere, tomato and tasame), tsebhi kantisha (mushroom stew with berbere) and shiro (ground chickpeas), with wonderful enjera.

Tues 23 Mar 2010 Couscous with chickpeas, roast tomatoes and capsicums, and a pseudo-pesto of basil, mint, pistachios, a couple of almonds, pecorino and olive oil. Heidi Swanson’s unfussy apple cake for dessert.

Mon 22 Mar 2010 Roast tomato and basil risotto with steamed green beans. That is significantly more like it.

Sun 21 Mar 2010 You know, I really prefer the “lazy Sunday” where you put a slow-cooking dish on the stove to simmer all afternoon for a delicious dinner, rather than the “lazy Sunday” when you lie around all day and then realise at 7 pm that you are starving and have nothing in the fridge, leading to the purchase of bad Thai takeaway. Next time, Gadget, next time.

Sat 20 Mar 2010 Lovely night at Jean and Edwige’s with Inaki, Begona, Luciano and Eliane. Mushrooms stuffed with cheese and herbs and tiny peeled cucumbers stuffed with agrodolce mince; lamb cutlets with summer vegetable pie and potato; wonderful cheeses E+J brought back from Sydney (incl a particularly good St Marcellin - I’d forgotten how wonderful it can be); little molten chocolate cakes with orange sauce, and Eliane’s Portugese coconut pudding.

Fri 19 Mar 2010 A serendipitous second chance for the rejigged Raun Thai in Tooowong with Ian, Lisa, Sally and Charly. Much better! Very good: mussaman  curry, stirfried beef with green beans and chilli, chicken laab (possibly too much dried shrimp, but great heat). Good: drunken noodles, green chicken curry. Stirfried pork with mushroom and ginger was not very exciting at all, but 5/6 is not bad.

Thurs 18 Mar 2010 Extremely unsatisfying noodles from the noodle bar on campus before my first Italian lesson. I am going to have to implement a bring-my-dinner strategy for next week.

Weds 17 Mar 2010 Left-over frittata with a pile of sauted mixed mushrooms with a dash of sherry vinegar and wilted spinach.

Tues 16 Mar 2010 Frittata of leftover roast cherry tomatoes, capsicum and pumpkin, plus spinach, flat-leaf parsley and ricotta. The ricotta (tub form, not fresh) is a good addition; it lightens the frittata a bit.

Mon 15 Mar 2010 A small piece of saganaki with peppered baby figs, followed by sardines, roast cherry tomatoes and rocket salad.

Sun 14 Mar 2010 Springy hand-pulled noodles with duck, and extremely tasty green beans with pork mince, chilli and dried shrimp, at Bamboo Basket in South Brisbane.

Sat 13 Mar 2010 An experimental freeform closed tart, made with thinly rolled out galette dough, containing goats’ curd, caramelised onions, and wilted silverbeet with sultanas. OK but not totally successful - Matt suggested ground mace in the pastry, good idea. On the side, roast capsicums and pumpkin. Quince and mascarpone for dessert. Most extraordinary: the wines. We drank the two bottles of riesling we’d been hoarding since buying them in Alsace with Marie and Laurent and they were both spectacular. Also a bottle of Peregrine pinot noir which was exceptionally good.

Fri 12 Mar 2010 Matt is down staying with us for a couple of days. Weekend kicked off extremely well with dinner at Enoteca. Two primi, dessert and cheese. The absolute star: cuttlefish, green peas and pancetta. I still shiver delightedly when I think about it.  Sardines with glorious white polenta infused I think with onion and herbs. Canoli. Pecorino washed in red wine and a Brie de Nangis. Superbly chosen (by the staff) wine by the glass with each course. Would eat here thrice weekly if I could afford it.

Thurs 11 Mar 2010 Take two whiskies and call me in the morning. What a day.

Weds 10 Mar 2010 Inspired by a tweet of Shari’s, made Orangette’s broccoli soup with lemon chive cream. Soup good; could eat the lemon chive cream by the spoonful (and a bit extra was also great later spread on rye bread). 

Tues 9 Mar 2010 Salad of plums, gorgonzola, walnuts, rocket and spinach with a dressing of olive oil, champagne vinegar and honey, and some light rye bread.

Mon 8 Mar 2010 Monday-night Ted in the kitchen: wonderful mushroom and sage risotto with a transformative dash of truffle oil.

Sun 7 Mar 2010 Typically traumatic excursion to Ikea led directly to indulgent and fantastically enjoyable viewing of 1981 version of Clash of the Titans (Harry Hamlin, you utter, utter bimbo), accompanied by commercial corn chips and bad salsa. Late at night finally got around to making dinner and gallons of leftovers for lunches. Panch dal (do NOT attempt to skip 2 hour soaking step next time) and delicious spinach and pumpkin curry.

Sat 6 Mar 2010 To Burger Urge for an aubergine burger and a beer. Sat outside and watched a mixture of hipsters and young women wearing miniscule black dresses and teetering heels flow down Brunswick St towards the Valley.

Fri 5 Mar 2010 Oh Friday night I love you. Ted and I stayed home and made this onion, fennel seed and mustard tart (superb), eaten with a salad of baby spinach and Swiss brown mushrooms. The lovely lovely mood was helped along with a great bottle of red (a gift from one of my Perl students, Andrew), a closely-fought game of cards, good music and lots of chat. Now early-ish to bed. [Notes for next time for the tart: 2 tblsp of mustard was perfect; 1.4 kg of onions is enough; heat a pizza stone in the oven, cook the tart for full 30 minutes and just cover with foil if it’s browning too quickly.]

Thurs 4 Mar 2010 Radical breakaway from Thursday night quinoa: this chopped cabbage/tofu/miso salad recipe from 101 Cookbooks, via Thus Bakes Zarathustra. Was a bit ad hoc with the construction; next time need seasoned rather than plain tofu, more (much, much more) of the delicious fried shallots, and less dressing. Ted came home without having had his usual apres-climbing Vietnamese dinner out and ate my leftovers intended for lunch tomorrow: FOILED. (This despite his look of frank horror when I cheerfully told him “it’s cabbage, tofu and miso! Bwahahaha.”)

Wed 3 Mar 2010 Goddamn it, food, we used to be pals. Why are you giving me this drama? Confit zucchini with mint and almonds (tasteless), white beans (mealy), ricotta (past its prime as I should have known perfecty well), roasted cherry tomatoes (fine but not enough to save an almost entirely unsatisfying meal).

Tues 2 Mar 2010 Full of dinner plans at mid-afternoon, by the time I am catching the bus home in the pouring rain at 7.30 I decide to skip grocery shopping and make pasta with a sauce of leftover veggies and fresh ricotta. Fine but uninspiring. I need to get back into the Saturday morning West End market groove so we have better starting material in the kitchen. I was fantasising about eating kilos of fresh spinach with that ricotta, a la the salad here.

Mon 1 Mar 2010 Ted made pizza dough while I was at pilates, aborted pizza-making at short notice to drive me to the doctor for finger-wrangling, drove me home again, resumed making dinner, and good-naturedly presented me with my fantasy zucchini/fresh ricotta/garlic pizza before making his own festival-of-salami pizza.  Best husband ever.

Sun 28 Feb 2010  A crapload of canapes, eaten during the NZ in a Glass wine tasting. Standout vineyards: Vynfields and Clos Marguerite.

Sat 27 Feb 2010 Dinner with Miffy and Simon at our place. Make-your-own pizzas, then green salad, followed by whisky chocolate cake with mascarpone.

Fri 26 Feb 2010 Oxymoronic Thai at Siam Thai Square. Friday beers on the roof appear to be 100% incompatible with actually cooking at home.

Thur 25 Feb 2010 My Thursday nights are becoming a cliche. I was not actually planning on the quinoa/avocado/nori thing but when I opened the fridge it was almost entirely bare except for a bowl of left-over quinoa and a nearly-too-ripe avocado. Fate.

Wed 24 Feb 2010 Take-away Indian from Agra for Vindaloo Against Violence. Peshawari channa, mmmmm. I love amchoor powder.

Tue 23 Feb 2010 Pumpkin and spinach ravioli with tomato sauce.

Mon 22 Feb 2010 Fairly unexciting pizza from Vespa.

Sun 21 Feb 2010 Baguette with blue cheese.

Sat 20 Feb 2010 A mix of black, red and white quinoa; roast capsicum, zucchini, fennel and some narrow baby carrots; pesto made with another huge bunch of basil from Ian and Lisa’s garden.

Fri 19 Feb 2010 Dinner at Raun Thai with Ian, Lisa, Jens and Alison. It’s changed hands in the last few weeks (after, what, 15 years?) and is alas not so good any more.

Thur 18 Feb 2010 Grilled parmesan on toast. Vegetables are a faint memory.

Wed 17 Feb 2010 Glass of champagne & an early night.

Tue 16 Feb 2010 Crackers with avocado and pepper at my desk at uni, trying to finish an analysis.

Mon 15 Feb 2010 Salad nicoise.

Sun 14 Feb 2010 P-p-pesto p-p-pasta.

Sat 13 Feb 2010 Dinner at our place with Tom, Flo, Jean and Edwige.  Awesome starter of saganaki with peppered figs (the original recipe was too peppery even for me; I filtered out about half the pepper before the final sauce reduction). Then pesto and veggie galette, with roast tomatoes and a true green salad (baby spinach, pea shoots, blanched fine green beans and peas, mint leaves, shaved fennel). Plums for dessert.

Fri 12 Feb 2010 Pasta with garlic, chargrilled eggplant, roast cherry tomatoes and feta.  Getting out of this pasta rut is going to take Olympic-level rappelling equipment.  Oh wait, rappelling is going down not up….    noooooooooooooo!

Thur 11 Feb 2010 The eternally delicious red quinoa/ponzu/sesame oil/avocado/nori bowl.

Wed 10 Feb 2010 A so-so spaghetti alla Norma at Arriva.  I knew I should have listened to that radicchio pizza calling my name! Good wine and chit chat with Brian though.

Tue 9 Feb 2010 Pasta with tomatoes, broccoli, chilli.

Mon 8 Feb 2010 Left-over curry and samosas from last night; thanks mum.

Sun 7 Feb 2010 Dinner at my parents’ place to celebrate Ted’s birthday last week and dad’s birthday this coming week. Mum made curries (goat, chicken and vegetable & paneer) and rice, and I made orange and cardamom cake. The cake was very good - perfect crumb, light but with good body.  I substituted the zest of two oranges for the orange extract.

Sat 6 Feb 2010 A great evening at Scott and Beth’s with Jean and Edwige. Prawns with lemongrass, reef fish with malaysian coconut curry sauce and rice, excellent cheese, and delicious pastry with raspberries.

Fri 5 Feb 2010 Feeling lazy after Friday beers on the roof, went to Yum Yum at Merthyr Village for tofu and asian mushroom hotpot with lots of lovely slightly bitter greens.

Thur 4 Feb 2010 Dinner at e’cco for Ted’s birthday.  Me: dukkah-crusted lambs’ brains with celeriac remoulade, rocket and spiced tomato pickle; sous vide ocean trout with parsley risotto, garlic emulsion and herb salad. Ted: pork rillettes, apple puree, frisee, fennel pollen (delicious!) and vincotto; lamb rump, chickpeas, chorizo, tomatoes, spinach and harissa. We shared a dessert, the absolute star of the meal: crushed orange and almond cake with orange caramel, fennel ice cream, and caramelised fennel.  Superb.

Wed 3 Feb 2010 Pasta with tomatoes, zucchini, oregano and goats cheese. Leftovers this tasty are perfectly acceptable.

Tue 2 Feb 2010 A piece of goats cheese with cherry tomatoes and rocket.

Mon 1 Feb 2010 Home-made pizza with tomato, oregano, zucchini and mushrooms, thanks to Ted the Monday-night chef.

Sun 31 Jan 2010 Corn chips at 5, pistachios at 10.

Sat 30 Jan 2010 Housewarming party at Edwige and Jean’s.  We took these rotolos of prosciutto, mascarpone, truffle oil and frisee.

Fri 29 Jan 2010  Dinner with Ian and Lisa at our place.  A galette of pesto, goats cheese, zucchini and capsicum, a bit burnt due to apparent brain damage on my part but still good, plus green salad.  Nectarines sauted with honey/muscat/bay leaves, with vanilla ice cream, for dessert.

Thur 28 Jan 2010  Thursday is Ted’s climbing night, and he’ll be eating out: my chance to eat the seriously hippie food this ex-vegetarian loves more than any meat ever, even anchovies.  Tonight, red quinoa dressed with ponzu, sesame oil and Sriracha chili sauce, with avocado and nori. Recipe from Tea and Cookies via Adventures in the Pointless Forest; it is every bit as good as they say it is. I put the first forkful in my mouth and everything slows down.

Wed 27 Jan 2010  Baguette traditionnelle from Chouquette, tin of good sardines, roasted cherry tomatoes with garlic, and a salad of finely sliced zucchini, basil and toasted flaked almonds. Spanish Albarino.

Tue 26 Jan 2010  Ultra-boring pasta with tomato sauce.  Waited till we were starving to start thinking about dinner, bad move.

Mon 25 Jan 2010  Stir fry of tofu, choy sum, capsicum, snow peas and ginger.

Sun 24 Jan 2010  Sunday lunch special at Curry Connection with Nouri, Nico and Frida.  Plain dosa and masala dosa, both excellent, plus good sambal and chutney and so-so mixed veggie curry.  No need for dinner!

Sat 23 Jan 2010  Dinner at Thai Wi Rat with Mel and Jason.  The ever-excellent duck laab, som tam and sticky rice, plus spicy Laos sausage, pork in red chilli, and vegetarian green curry. Then beers afterwards at Cosmo to continue the conversation.

Sat 23 Jan 2010  Brunch at Sassafras in Paddington.  Chilli corn cakes ok, not convinced about the combination with hummus. But Ted’s eggs were good, coffees fine, and it’s still my favourite cafe for atmosphere - friendly staff, jumble of big mismatched tables inside, and lovely back garden of plants, tables and umbrellas.

Fri 22 Jan 2010  Nothing for dinner - just back from  5 days on Heron Island with my compulsively-overcatering labmates.