Autumn Chicken Dish

Fwd:
Originally uploaded by haydnfj

I recently trawled through NPR's feature on meals under US$10. NPR nerds (like myself) posted recipes that are easy on the budget, which is very important in these trying economic times.

There were lots of hearty, bean and rice Latin dishes. There was a very bizarre tuna + brown rice + gravy recipe that a couple posted saying they still eat it 30 years after they made it one night when they were young, poor and a'courting.

But the Autumn Chicken Dish seemed like a nice combination of flavour, substance and simplicity. I endeavored to do this one myself. The first challenge arose with the very crucial ingredient of herbs de provence -- pretty much the flavor component of the dish. H insisted it must be a spice that Americans give a French sounding name, but I think it's just one that you either find at the cornershop or end up searching all over town for. We opted for Italian Herbs instead.

It is definitely a dish for autumn. It cooks for good long while, filling the house with a nice aroma on a dark Saturday night. And with the sweet potatoes and garlic cloves, you sort of just feel like sitting on the couch afterward and not venturing too far. That's just what we did.

Here's the recipe in full:
Autumn Chicken Dish

4 chicken legs, w/ bone, skin
2 yams, peeled, cut 1/4" slices
1 eggplant, cut in 1/4" slices
4 tbs extra virgin olive oil
8 garlic cloves (or to taste), peeled, cut in 1/2
2 tbs herbes de provence
salt & pepper to taste

(All baking temps & times are approx. depending on your oven.)
Pre-heat oven to 425 deg F. Place oven rack in middle position.

Lightly coat roasting pan with olive oil. In pan, mix yams, eggplant, garlic, 1-2 tbs of herbs de provence, & 2-3 pinches of salt & pepper with 1-2 tbs of olive oil. All the yam & eggplant slices should be coated. Next, as best you can lie slices down flat.

Lightly season both sides of each leg w/ salt, pepper, & herbs de provence. Place each seasoned leg, skin side down, on top of the veggies in the roasting pan.

Bake for 20 mins, then turn over each leg & veggies over. Bake for 15 more mins or until juices run clear. Then increase oven temp to 500 deg & bake for 5-10 mins or until chicken skin is golden brown. Keep an eye on your chicken so it won't burn.
When done, place chicken & veggies on separate plate to rest for 5-10 mins, then serve.

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I'm not sure the picture does the dish justice, but it really was good home cookin'.

--tc

Greyhound looking for a good home

At the Surry Hills Festival today, you had your petting zoo ($5 entry, no kidding), your choice of 'stop animal cruelty' booths, shetland pony rides, dudes with goats on leashes, and the friendly, docile retired greyhounds looking for a good home. I stopped and petted these guys for a while...if only I had a big yard with a fence.

--tc

Nostalgia alert: Holly Hobbie

Holly Hobbie
Originally uploaded by haydnfj

I was perusing the 'Misses shop' at Myer today and did a double take on this cute little top. As someone who had Holly Hobbie curtains, pajamas and a doll as a little girl, I was really excited to spot this. But then it struck me that Gen X nostalgia is very really and aimed at people like me. I didn't buy it basically because of that...and because I might be too old for calico and ruffles (at the same time at least).

That said, I kind of want to go back and buy it.

- tc

Hello, Sven

Oh my, I've become a car owner! Or more accurately, a lease-to-owner of a 2008 Volvo C30 called Sven. Below is the pictorial evidence and I can confidently say after a day of cruising and negotiating the streets of Sydney, I'm liking it! Surprised by how much I'm taking to it in fact (having a GPS helps). Never thought the first car I purchased would have a steering wheel on the right side, but I guess I shouldn't be shocked after being in Aus for 3+ years...

As I drove home today, I was pleasantly reminded that one of life's simplest pleasures is definitely driving with windows down and good tunes. Especially with these two tunes in particular:

Half Full Glass of Wine by Tame Impala
Coca Cola by Little Red

Meet Sven (named for his Swedish lineage):








-- tc

Katoomba and environs

Haydn and I headed to the Blue Mountains a couple of weeks back to celebrate the end of a hectic January, oh, and my 32nd bday. It's a 2 hour drive but took me 3 1/2 years to get there! Better late than never, and even better to stay at Echoes Boutique Hotel.

We were in super relaxo mode on Saturday but hiked way down down on Sunday, started out at the Three Sisters and going down the Grand Staircase. Or was it just called The Really, Big Steep Staircase? No matter, since I lived in the Grand Canyon and learned it was the Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps that initially carved out the trails to get to the bottom, I find it intriguing and admirable that the trails are there for us weekend explorers.

And thankfully, there is a cable car to get us back to the top. It took us by Katoomba Falls, which sadly is a falls without the water. It's very dry up that way and we only saw creeks that probably were gushing rapids a few years ago.

Beautiful area of the world with lots of funny old antique/junk shops. I bought a book at a place called Mr Pickwicks.

Here are our photos:
















- chunkytoast

A message from the Bondi Beach Burrito Company

IMG00006.jpg
Originally uploaded by haydnfj

Caption: Please don't throw paper towel into toilet...
Amazing we even have to ask.

True words surely written by the person who cleans up at the end of the night.

H and I had a great meal from BBBC tonight. I went with the green chili roasted pork quesadilla and H the burrito version of the same thing. On his burrito wrapper it said 'oink.' And it was delicious, especially went well with an episode of Mad Men.

-chunkytoast

a little christmas

a little christmas
Originally uploaded by haydnfj

Merry Christmas from Australia! We keep the tree miniature although it does have quite a formidable collection of ornaments.

Haydn and I depart for Queensland the night of the 23rd, so our presents have been opened and we ordered some Thai food. A quiet family Christmas before all the festivities begin.

We don't have windchills and huge drifts of snow, but we could have some traditional Queensland humidity and shark warnings.

Decking the halls...
chunkytoast

Ralph, on the Blair Street beat

11122008.jpg
Originally uploaded by haydnfj

As I was walking up the street to meet a friend for a lift to work, trotting along towards me about 6 houses away from his residence, was my little neighbor dog Ralph. It had been drizzling out a bit earlier and ol' Ralphie was a bit wet and matted. He really is a great dog to have around to take a moment and say hello to.

And what do you know, when I got dropped off at home tonight, there he was on out the front of place just hangin' out and came over for a little pet.

Our 4th Annual Thanksgiving Down Under

For me, November 27th this year was merely 'Thursday.' But I do not miss out on Thanksgiving whatsoever in Australia, we just roll it to the weekend and use it as an oppotune way to introduce others to the wonders of this feast. I do always enjoy giving the little historical overview of the holiday, I must admit.

This year was slightly different from past ones...we started a bit earlier, eating at 5. This allowed our friends who lingered (ie, those of us who wanted to keep drinking wine and watch videos) to go for round 2 at about 10pm.

I have always relied on cans of Libby's Pumpkin Pie puree to help me make the pies, and this year I brought back a big can of it from the US. I thought it was so big as to make two pies, but instead it was just all ingredients for one pie in a big can. So I had a bit of a panic and thought I'd challenge myself to make one by scratch.

I did some googling and decided on this recipe from what looks like a now-defunct online mag about all things Iowa. I liked the simplicity of it and the ingredient that gives it a bit of a kick: bourbon! I also found it rather fitting that it was by a chef at a restaurant in Iowa City called Devotay that I used to walk by daily during my junior year at college when I lived on Linn Street. It was too posh for college students, but I did like to glance at the menu once in awhile.

As it turns out, it's a recipe I can highly recommend. We served the pies up as a taste test and the 'from scratch' version was the crowd favouite, which I will attribute to less preservatives/chemicals and things in my recipe. It was lighter and maybe a tad sweeter. Much more labor intensive tho -- cutting up a pumpkin is hard work.

This year's meal:

The pumpkin becomes puree

About to get to work

Jimmy and Matt ready the bird

How to Make Gravy

Ta da!

Emilie

Kitchen Mistress

Dan, Jimmy, Lisa

Matt, Emilie, Tara

Trouble: Joeley & Lisa

Fresh air post-meal

And, with that, another Thanksgiving comes and goes. We will have to wait another year for stuffing.

- chunkytoast

Way back on vacation

Haydn and I have been back for a full week now and of course, like most good vacations, it seems like eons ago. Like, we were in a paralell universe. I guess we kind of were -- the states during election fever! Since the Brewers couldn't time my visit with a world series appearance, it was good to be around during the buzz and blows of the campaign.

But really, it was about time with family and dear friends. Reunited with family I haven't seen in years, seeing Tom and the wonderful Jen tie the knot and throw a great bash. Taking a couple of day trips to get some small town flavor. And catching up with friends from all eras -- old school, college, grad school...

Let's go to the pics, shall we?

Amazing dinner in Narita, Japan. We thought we'd be at the airport Holiday Inn, but ended up in a really nice town that gave us a good 24 hours in Japan with great sights, wonderful food.



And on to Wisconsin...Mineral Point to be exact. But oddly enough, we can't recommend the pasty at the Red Rooster Cafe (open at 5 am in case you're up early or out late) the Reuben however was diner perfection.




Scenes from the wedding:



The old stomping grounds on campus


The little school house in Fall River, dating back to the 1860s when kids really walked 5 miles barefoot in the snow!


A visit to Chicago, complete with the view from Laura's...



Chicago was good times around the northside with old friends and all night-Mexican -- thank you Lazlo's and everyone who made time to accommodate our random windows of visiting.

There are many, many more photos and you can check them on my Flickr:

Fun times with friends and fam

More wedding pics

-- chunkytoast

Meet Frankie

We've been back in Sydney nearly a week now and I have pics and trip updates to post but the weekend has gotten away. A portion of the weekend went to a couple of drinks at the Annandale Hotel with friends. We were fortunate enough to meet a friend's new Kelty puppy, Frankie. He's all paws, floppy ears, and blue eyes. Adorable and definitely worthy of a Daily Puppy headline!

Sydney Harbour Bridge of Hope

Sydney Harbour Bridge of Hope
Originally uploaded by Meredith Wheeler

A few months back I went to the Opera House steps to meet up with a bunch of expat democrats for this photo. It is part of a Democrats Abroad project in support of Barack Obama.

I purchased my very popular Barack Obama badge that day, which has garnered loads of compliments and lots of words of encouragement -- from a perky shop girl at the Body Shop to a Scottish dude at The Kooks gig, it even gave the grumbly, stern fellow at the corner store reason to smile! The world wants to vote for Obama if reaction to my badge is any indication.

Check out the photos from all around the world.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/bridgesforobama/pool/

tc

Golly gee, modernist design!

We took a little field trip to the northern suburbs today, where the topography changes to tall leafy trees and majestic pines and foothills in the distance. Our destination was the landmark modernist design Rose Seidler House for the the 50s Fair. The house is very much in the vein of a Frank Lloyd Wright in terms of simplicity, smart design, natural touches. It is nestled down from the road amid the trees and kookaburras, engulfed in greenery.

There were plenty of pompadours, puffy dresses, cinched waists, and classic cars for the event. There are still many people steeped in the 50s who are not old enough to have been there for the first time around. Always an interesting phenomenon.

Here are some pics I took on my phone when my digital camera battery went kaput.









Also check out the pics on this site: www.twentieth.org.au/rose_seidler_3.html

Love that fireplace.

tc