Best ever Dad's joke

It is a big call, but I reckon I can lay claim to one of the best ever Dad's jokes. It does require a bit of a set up to provide the context, but it is worth it!

A couple of months ago, Jane and I were had Peter visiting, and we were taking him to the Royal Queensland golf course. We drove down Nudgee Road, with Doomben Racecourse on our left, and Eagle Farm  on our right. Jane, noticing the proximity of the race courses to the airport, said "doesn't having the airport so close annoy the horses?"

Serendipitously, at exactly this point in time, we crossed a pedestrian crossing that had a sign that warned "Horses cross here".

So, in response to Jane's question I came back with something along the lines of "Of course they are annoyed - look at the sign!"

Isn't it brilliant?

Jane turns thirty something...

It was lovely to be able to spoil Jane rotten last Friday, for her birthday. MacK and I gave her pearl earrings to go with last year's necklace, a fossil watch and a hint glass frog! I also spent the day cooking a feast of Jane's favourites to share with a few friends. The menu we served was as follows:

Hors d'oeuvres

• Smoked salmon and scrambled egg
• Asparagus wrapped in prosciutto
• Potato Latke with spiced apple and sour cream

Fresh bread

Grilled lamb, beetroot, rocket and persian feta salad

Twice roasted pork belly, with roasted baby carrots and salsa verde, garlic hasselback potatoes and braised lettuce and peas

Chilled watermelon with pistachio dukkah and chopped mint

Smoked cheddar and cabernet paste 'Napoleon' with honey roast walnuts

"Angel Pie'

Kumquat pigs

So- a couple of things that need mentioning from this menu. First up - braised lettuce. I know that a lot of people think that lettuce is only for salads, but you really need to try this dish. Sauté bacon, onion and garlic, and add chopped iceberg lettuce and peas. Add enough chicken stock to wet the dish and finish with a little chopped mint. This is a really fresh way to eat lettuce, and as ever, bacon makes it all better!

The kumquat pigs were a little bit of fun. A couple of months ago we found a chocolate mould for a pig's head. They really are a little too real, and quite grotesque. The filling was a kumquat marmalade flavoured ganache. They were probably one step too far on this menu, but really good though.

The Angel Pie - this came from a book called 'Lost Desserts', and is described by the creator (a Sylvia Hirsch, from Miss Grimbles inNew York circa 1960) as follows:

Desserts are my business, and i find this possibly the most irresistible in all of dessertdom. Dieters fall off their diets and strong men go weak at the sight of it. It is beautiful to behold and luscious to eat.

Now that is a pretty tall order to live up to, but the photograph initially sold me. It has a meringue crust, with a chocolate mousse filling topped with whipped cream and berries. In the making, I realised that it was something a little special. It has all the elements of a classic dessert - cream/crunch/rich/sweet/fresh,  and of course booze and chocolate (the mousse is flavoured with kahlua). What I found interesting was that both the meringue crust and mousse have a little salt added. It is just enough to prevent a cloying sweetness. I don't know if it is irresistible, but I have had it for breakfast for the last two days, and Jane wants it again as a part of our regular repertoire.

One of our guests brought a fascinating wine, made by Damien Tscharke (a 6th generation German winemaker from the Barossa Valley). The Project Naturalis Marananga Savagnin is a really different, lovely to drink wine that (through perfect happenstance) brilliantly matched the menu. We had one of the 670 bottles produced, so you probably won't be able to head off and grab one to try, but it is certainly worth looking for. It is also interesting for the wine's story on the back label, transcribed below:

Harvested 15th Feb at night - 12.2 baume

No foreign yeasts

Full solid ferment - skins, flesh, seeds and stalks

Cap management by hand and foot

Aged in an old Demi Muid French oak barrel

No acidification or fining

Bottled after five months

Unfiltered - minimal sulphur

If you do a search for Tscharke, you will see a passionate young craftsman with a range of really interesting wines. I am told they are really well made, and we will certainly be looking for them to add to our cellar!

A bucket list weekend!

The weekend just gone was ridiculously busy in our house. We had my work function on Friday night, tickets to see Leonard Cohen on Saturday, and a 7 course lunch on Sunday. We didn't get to bed before midnight either night, and MacK was up at 0500 each morning. I think it would be fair to say that we were ready for bed on Sunday night.

The theme for the work dinner was Masquerade, and we were lucky enough to have it at our local pub (also one of Brisbane's best entertaining and function venues). I dropped Jane off there so she could have a drink with her work colleagues and took the car home as we needed it for swimming the next morning. I rode the motorbike back to the pub, which is only worthy of note as I was wearing a kilt at the time!

The photo above is Jane and I on our way to the ball. We are truly hopeless though - there are no photographs of us in masks. It was a great night though. We had excellent food - all cooked a la minute, which is really unique for function catering (how it SHOULD be done though…). I was even more impressed with the drinks package, which had a couple of really good beers included - Matilda Bay Fat Yak, and Stone & Wood Pacific Ale.

On our way out of the Grand Ballroom, we thought we might look in at the pub to see who was still partying. Thoughts that were short lived, after we were asked for ID at the door. Can I tell you that is the first time in my life I have ever been asked for ID. So… we went home, and felt much better for it the next day!

Jane managed to get a couple of hours in bed, and I took a hour on the Saturday prior to our bucket list tick on Saturday night. Does anyone else think that you should get a babysitter for the day after a big event too?

Jane bought me tickets to see Leonard Cohen. He was simply incredible. There wasn't a support act - but I don't know who you could possibly put with him in an case. He is 79 years old, and ran onto the stage. He cam on shortly after 8:00pm, and didn't leave until after 11:30pm having performed four encores. He epitomises "cool", but manages to maintain a level of humility and humour with it. His voice is incredible, and his band were all brilliant musicians in their own rights.

I don't know what I can write about this brilliant musician, who Lou Reed called the most important songwriter of his generation, that would do his performance justice. He performed one of his classics - Hallelujah - and all I could think was that none of the covered versions comes close to the intent or emotion of the original. Quite simply the best live performance I have ever seen. Thank you Jane - that truly is a big ticket item on the bucket list. I just hope I one day have the opportunity to see him perform again.

On Sunday we had the second of our festive season events. The first was a couple of weeks ago, when we caught up with old friends (Keren and Waz) for dinner. The highlight of the dinner for me was the slow roasted grass fed New Zealand Rib Fillet. it really took me back to that beautiful beef that I was fortunate to grow up with. We served it with a Yorkshire Pudding, for which I used Marco Pierre White's recipe - one cup each of flour, eggs and milk. So simple, but light and delicious! It was really good to catch up - and testament to how busy we have been here in Brisbane that this was the first time we have really had the time to meet (and now we are about to pack up and move on).

Lunch this Sunday was to repay the hospitality shown to us by Alex and Elisabeth (see Na Zdrowie, from October 13). I played in the kitchen, and we had a couple of courses… Joining us at the table were Raf and Susan. Half the discussion was in Polish, and everyone had a great time. We were not allowed to take anything with us to Alex and Elisabeth's, but they brought a bison grass vodka, and some home made smoked sausage. Regardless of propriety, there was no way that any of Alex's sausage was going home with them, as it is simply too good.

We served the following menu:

Fresh bread, with a chicken liver and port pate. (I haven't made pate for at least ten years, and had forgotten how good it tastes. It is definitely back on high rotation!)

Roast tomato and sheeps milk cheese tart, with balsamic vinegar glaze and rocket (This is the third time we have served this tart, and the third time we have failed to photograph it. Lucky it is one of Jane's favourites, so we will just have to keep cooking!).

Slow roasted pork belly, jellied beetoot, salsa verde and carrot and mustard jam.

We served this with a side of roast Brussels sprout leaves and potatoes.

I was too lazy (?) to make a sorbet, so we used fresh watermelon as a palate cleanser, with fresh chopped mint and pistachio dukkah.

We served Jane's favourite cheese course next - the cheese and cabernet paste napoleon, with honey roasted walnuts.

Dessert was Tiramisu, and we had "Rugelach" with tea and coffee.

Susan brought a bottle of a Barossa shiraz called 'Dracula's Blood', with tasted a whole lot better than it might have, and we pulled a bottle of Belvedere vodka from the freezer with dessert for a few well deserved toasts!

It was really nice to not be eating well into the night, and I think we will be doing more long lunches into the future. We finished this one at about 6:00pm… The company was superb, and we didn't need to think too hard about dinner!