Spru's Food

I was once told that you couldn’t re-use the Costco grinders because you couldn’t get them open.  Well, we have finally finished one (don’t ask how long it took), and I started to take it apart.  When you open it, it looks fairly easy as to how it all works.  Turns out it is refillable!

First, take off the top and completely unscrew the thing to determine coarseness.  It may get to a point where it doesn’t want to go any further, but keep going.  You can see that it is just on a threaded bolt.  Once you remove that, you’re pretty much 90% of the way there.

From there, pull out the grind wheel.  You can actually refill it like this.  It makes it easier because there’s a cup around it!  You can also see the coarseness adjustment wingnut in the background.

And finally, you can remove the top cup.  Just grip both the top and the base and twist and pull.  This isn’t a necessary step, but it’s fun to take things apart.

And finally, all the pieces you can take a part.  Just remember to put it back together properly.

As is the tradition here in Australia, we decided to have a ham.  However, as the Thanksgiving Turkey didn’t turn out exactly according to plan, it was decided to have a test-drive the week before.  Yes, that means, we had two, ~4kg hams within a week of each other.  Deliciousness was had by all!

When we bought the hams from the butcher, they still had the skin on.  This was something we aren’t used to in the states, so we decided we needed to do something great with it.  The first time, we cut it into squares, scored it, and baked it in the oven similar to pork cracklin’ (lots of salt).  While delicious, the second time around, we decided to forego the salt and cut it into strips.  We highly recommend this approach as the strips were delicious and not overly curled.  And in case you were wondering, there’s enough fat in the skin that you can cook “fat free”!

As for the ham, it was a fairly simple glaze involving brown sugar, maple syrup, water, and a few cut up cherries as they are in season.  Basting every 30 minutes, and about 30 minutes a kilo at 150C.

Outside of maybe Publican back in Chicago (their ham chops “in hay”), I have never had better ham.  So good.

Oh, we made sides too.  You can read about the stuffing over at Travis’s site.

Another day, another great dinner.  While at the market, Yow-Yow decided to venture out of our normal snags and chickens and get some pork chops.  However, because it is Australia, they aren’t quite the same type of cut as in the states.  We had a bit of bone on one, but very little on the other.  And the largest difference…the full fat and skin on the outside.  This leads to something that people here are crazy about: pork crackling.

With our knew found knowledge, we scored the skin (can’t wait for our knives to arrive), and salted, heavily.  This was after we marinated it with an Asian marinade for a few hours.  Since all we do is use the BBQ, I’m sure you can guess what we did next

Next time, I want to cook the pork at a lower temperature for longer to crisp up the skin a bit more.

Today was a good food day, as we made yummy things for both brunch and dinner.  In fact, we had Travis over, even though we don’t have any furniture or dishes.

This means is actually a typical dinner for us, as it is easy to do everything on the BBQ.  The meat usually changes (but it is frequently sausages), and the veg is whatever looks the best at the market and what we have in the fridge.  Today it consisted of the following:

• Chicken Satay Sausage
• Chicken Thai Basil Sausage
• Grilled Eggplant
• Grilled Zuchini
• Steamed Sweet Potatoes in foil

The Thai Basil Sausage was good, but the Chicken Satay was very maple-y and sweet.  While not good for dinner, I bet it would be tasty in the morning with pancakes!  Not sure how it is “satay”, but who knows.

Also, we may have overdone the butter in the potatoes.  I blame Travis, but still delicious!

Yow-Yow has found a “Mexican” market here in Melbourne.  While there, she picked up some masa  (and salsa, yes!) to try and make corn tortillas.  We tried it the previous day with the tortilladora she also purchased, and attempted to throw them onto the BBQ.  They were a bit thick so still tasted raw.

However, today, she decided to try again with a more watery dough.  Plus, we had chorizo, eggs, and that yummy salsa.  Needless to say, that led to the excellent decision of making Chilaquiles.  Very easy, and very tasty.

• Corn Tortillas
• Eggs
• Salsa (Tomatillo)
• Eggs (2/person)
• Chorizo
• Avocado
• Cilantro (Coriander)

This has become our go-to beer of choice.  After having it a few times, we now have a stock of it at home at all times.  Purchasing a slab (a.k.a. case) makes it easy here too, because the slab just consists of 4 6-packs.  Throw two in the fridge, and two in the pantry; plenty of beer for awhile!

This is definitely one of the better of their beers, very easy drinking, and not too expensive.  James Squire

Cost: $49 / slab

Another day, another item out on the BBQ.  We’ve basically done every meal out there that we could’ve.  Maybe cereal is next?!

Anyways, after the last experiment, we decided to change things up a bit.

• Tajine spice rub instead of the Cajun on we used before.  This was more to just try things out.
• Instead of just a dry rub, we put the spices in some oil, and then rubbed the mixture all over the bird.
• We put the rub on the bird and then let it sit in the fridge for awhile (this is post-brining).
• Actually left it breast side down for 15 minutes (until it was easy to remove from grates), and then flipped for ~20 mins (until done).
• We tucked the legs in as per Travis’s recommendation.

This chicken was great.  The skin was much more crispy than last time.  I’m guessing it had to do with the oil rub.  However, the spices didn’t seem to come through as much as I wanted.  With this, there were a few items that I want to change yet again.

Since making this website, we’ve found a local liquor store, Abbey Cellars, that has a lot of very reasonable bottles of wine.  Needless to say, we aren’t the biggest connoisseurs of wine, but it’s always fun to try new ones out.  Therefore, we are going to post here what we like and don’t like.  Mostly because it’s damn hard to remember if you like a bottle of wine, and what you like.

To start off, we needed to get a dry wine for the Shrimp and Grits.  I headed down, and they had a tasting of both this and the Trentham Pinot Noir.  I wasn’t in the mood to try a bunch out, so I gave it a taste, figured it did the job and bought a bottle.

Over all, not bad.  It’s dry and tasty.  It isn’t something I would drink without food (even though I’m killing the bottle as I write this), but it did the job.  I don’t know about the description on the back, but I still feel like that would  be the best job ever.

Cost: $11.95

After reading about the deliciousness of the previous post, Yow-Yow and I decided to give it a whirl.  I mean, we live on the ocean, so it should be delicious, right?  Well, we had to make a few concessions as some ingredients are quite as easy to get here (ahem, grits).

Our recipe consisted of the following changes:

• Prawns instead of shrimp.  Everything is bigger in Australia (it’s like Texas).  We also left the heads and tails on as Yow-Yow wanted to use them to make stock later.
• Bell pepper slightly grilled on the BBQ.  At the time we didn’t notice it was supposed to be roasted red pepper.  We threw them on the BBQ for a bit though, and I think it turned out quite nice.
• Soy grits instead of southern grits, because you can’t find grits here.  This was definitely the largest difference.  Instead of being starch based, soy grits are 100% protein.  Needless to say, the texture and everything was a bit different.  Honestly though, with as much delicious fatty dairy is added to the grits, it could really be anything!

Below you can see a few pictures of prep.  The grits weren’t quite the same, but man, we didn’t have to eat a lot to feel full.  Talk about an Atkins meal.  Next time we’re going to make it with grilled polenta instead of the soy grits.

When driving north from Florida, we stopped in Asheville NC for the night. A wonderful town. Benita had heard of a restaurant “Tupelo Honey Cafe”. It was a 2 hour wait, but worth the time to explore the city.
Dinner was a delight, we both had shrimp & Grits.

We started talking with the waiter and found out they have a cook book with the recipes. Needless to say, we bought the book.

We have made it a couple of times and never disappointing.

• 2 table spoons plus 1 1/2 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 pound large uncooked shrimp, peeled, deveined and tails removed
• 1 table spoon minced garlic
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced roasted red bell pepper
• 2 tablespoons Creole Spice – good stuff- see below
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 3 table spoons unsalted cold butter
• Goat cheese Basil Grits – see below

Heat olive oil in large skillet on high heat. Add the shrimp and garlic and cook for about 4 minutes, or until shrimp starts to turn a little pink. Add the bell peppers and creole spice and cook for about 2 minutes or until the peppers are heated through. Add the wine and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, just until the shrimp turns pink. Remove from the heat and add the butter, swirling the pan to combine all liquids. Serve the shrimp over the grits and top with the warm sauce left in the skillet. Makes 4 servings.

Creole spice:

• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
• 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon white pepper

combine

Goat Cheese Basil Grits:

• 3 cups water
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 1/4 cup quick cooking grits
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons cream
• 4 ounces goat cheese
• 2 tablespoon chopped basil for garnish

In a heavy sauce pan, bring the water and salt to a boil over high heat. Stir in grits and butter and bring back to a boil. Add the cream and decrease heat to low, simmer for about 5 minutes, or until the mixture is creamy and thick. Remove from the stove and whisk in the goat cheese until melted. Garnish with basil. Serves 4