A LONG TIME BETWEEN MEALS

I have been busy these last weeks and haven't revisited this blog.  We have eaten out on our own or with friends a few times recently.

Most notably at an absolute favourite of ours, the House of Chow.   Now I know its not trendy to eat chinese (these days is Japanese or Vietnamese if you must have asian, even Thai is out of favour).  However at House of Chow it is always crowded and busy.  It is one of those restaurant where the owner, Ros, inhabits front of house and greets a great many of her customers like old friends, because they are repeat visitors, like us.   The food is always top shelf, best cuts of meat, consistent preparation methods, and served with exceptional service from the staff.  So for a cuisine that is out of favour this is one restaurant that is not suffering.

But I stray off topic.  Lets talk Barbeque.  Maybe we are invited for a barbeque to a friends house.  They serve the usual Aussie fare, steak or chops, satays and/or sausages.  Sometimes they marinade the meat although I haven't yet worked out why.  The liquid drips off the meat before it hits the heat or it sticks to it and burns to a charcoal coating on the outside.  Never have been in favour of marinades, don't see that they make any difference at all to the meat flavourwise.

A more recent offering has been whole roasts of meat done in the barby.  This is better in that the meat is usually more likely to be edible at least, and joints often have more taste than small cuts.

For over 15 years now we have owned a smoker.  We bought it on a trip to the US and had it shipped home.  It adds fabulous flavour to the meat and cooks it slowly (up to 6 or 7 hours) to mouth watering tenderness.   To get maximum flavour out of smoked meat it is rubbed with a spice mix first and then maybe basted with a marinade type sauce towards the end of the cooking time.  This is the essential of American BBQ, which is a totally different beast to what Aussies eat.  Its tasty, tender and moist.

But boys being boys my hubby tampered with the settings on it and now it cooks too hot.  Typical, and I desperately want to get a replacement (as they are now on the market here) so we can go back to the wonderful roasts that we had when we first acquired it.

AT LAST

After a series of disappointments with food at cafes and restaurants I have at last found somewhere that is getting it right.

This weekend we went to a little town in our state called Strathalbyn to have a quick dinner with friends before we went to a live music performance.  The cafe, Appleseed, has a limited menu that rarely changes but they have perfected those limited dishes and the  food has that wow factor when it goes into your mouth.

I ordered gnocchi with a wine sauce, cheese and spinach and it was perfection.  I have had the red Thai Curry before and it too has the flavours just right. 

On the night the dishes varied around the table from barrumundi to steak and everyone commented on how they enjoyed their meals.

Gold star Appleseed, keep up the good work.