FoodHax

Roast Beef
No explanation necessary. Pierced the top with slivers of garlic, seasoned with salt and pepper and covered with rosemary. I think I could have taken it out of the oven about 15 minutes earlier though.

Stellini Soup
I got the idea for this from a recent recipe on 101 Cookbooks for Cous Cous soup. I had a craving for stracciatella but my cupboards and wallet are pretty bare at the moment (starting a new job and being a bit of a nomad) and I was out of eggs. Cue: some powdered stock, a teaspoon of minced garlic, some grated parmesan and 1/4 cup of stellini and we have stelllini soup! Voila! I also added some chopped up sun dried tomatoes and the usual seasonings.

Spaghetti and Kangaroo Meatballs
Loosely based on Jamie Oliver’s recipe that I saw on one of his myriad of TV Shows and incorporating a new found appreciation for our national fauna. Meatballs baked with roasted balsamic cherry tomato sauce and served over a huge tangle of spaghetti.

Tofu Don @ Momotaro Rahmen
To celebrate my *New* job (and payday! Hurrah!) Xenex and I went out for ramen adventures on Bridge Road, Richmond. There are a couple of awesome choices for Japanese in the area now (Read: Happy Kappa on Swan St and Maedaya which has just opened and is owned by former Mach Pelican member Toshi-8Beat) and being a former Richmond local (or Cremorne, or Burnley depending who you’re arguing with) I had wandered past Momotaro many times and never been inside. Styled like a typical takeaway shop, it still felt welcoming enough to sit inside. “Octopus Cakes”, gyoza and Daikon and Carrot Salads for sides and the Tofu was coated in a bitey gingery gelatinous sauce. Delicious.

Parma @ The Westside Hotel
My new place of employment can only be described nicely as“Out West”. Over the Westgate Bridge. On Friday we all had a pub lunch to farewell a co-worker on his last day. I love a good parma and I was told to give the Westside’s a try. Well. Let’s just say I’ve had better.

Marinara @ Kate & Julian’s
By some crazy act of coincidence Kate, Julian and I ended up in the same parts of Japan during September this year and we had some crazy good times watching Weezer, drinking and eating at various Izakayas and eating ¥400 spaghetti at Saizeria together. They invited me over to their cute little residence for Spaghetti Marinara (Well really how could I say no?) and some wine and nerding out about Wilco and Strong Bad. Mmmmmm Mussels.

So, that was my week food wise. What an effort! I think my goal this week is to find an excellent parma (is there anything that comes even close to the Royston’s Parmas of the World anymore?!) and eat something that isn’t a sausage roll from a truckstop for lunch. Hi Just Bento! I will finally get to put my Miffy Bento box and all those cool accessories that I bought from Tokyu Hands to good use! Hurrah!

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I live on my own in a one bedroom flat with a somewhat small kitchen. I kept meaning to make myself this soup while I was knocked out with the flu twice in the last four weeks. A little trick that I learned from my old boss/surrogate grandfather Nello, of Nellos’ Trattoria in Cheltenham back when I was an apprentice. 

It’s unbelievably quick to make, which is what holds appeal for sick and lazy bastards like me. Behold:

Boil the kettle, dissolve a chicken stock cube in the boiling water (maybe 2 cups?). Pour into a small saucepan. Alternatively you can use, and what I use often, is the premade stocks in the tetra packs. In that case just bring it to the boil in a saucepan.

In a separate bowl, whisk together an egg and a handful of freshly grated parmesan cheese. Add a dash of tobasco if you have some. Or, you could just add some pepper, or even dried chilli flakes (I couldn’t reach mine in the cupboard so I just used pepper…). There’s enough salt from the cheese and stock once it reduces so you won’t need to add extra.

Once the stock is rapidly boiling, pour in your egg stuff. Stir! Stir Briskly! The egg will break up and form little strands and clouds. You can serve as is with some toast at this stage but I add little star shaped pastas. Wait until they cook (about three minutes? Less?) obviously before you serve up and enjoy. If you have some lying around your house, toast some sourdough and rub it with a garlic clove and slather with butter!

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