Smokin...!

Last Saturday we had our local farmers markets in Bowral.  Now I confess I am not a regular attender (never out of bed and ready in time!) but this weekend I wanted to go and have a look see what was on offer.

We became Weber BBQ owners about a month ago and been keenly testing it out, with our rotisserie, the pizza stone and this Saturday it was time for us to smoke!  (But we did not inhale, :-)  )

I went a bit crazy on the meat side, and bought a standing rib roast, a wonderful piece of free range pork, a free range chook and the piece de resistance was a Thirlmere Duck breast. For those of you who do not know about these, check it out  Thirlmere Duck  is featured in some of the best restaurants in Australia, indeed I remember a wonderful dinner with had a few years ago with my sister  in law and brother in law at Grossi Florenti in Melbourne  see here  where I if I recall correctly everyone had Thirlemere Duck except me!  And the man selling it at the farmers market told me that if I was flying Qantas First Class I would have Thirlmere Duck on the menu ( a bargain at $16,000 a ticket!) I settled on the $17 double breast alternative.

 Anyway I digress. I though it would be good to try smoking the duck breast and doing the chicken as well on the rotisserie.

So here's what I did to make Kate's Smoked Thirlmere Duck Breast with truffled honey and orange.

I patted the duck breast dry with some kitchen paper towel, and then put some truffle salt on the skin side.

Thirlmere Duck Breast

One of my goodies from the Truffle hunt, I just sprinkled it over the duck breast

Duck Breast with truffle salt on the skin side

Another one of the goodies I bought home! It is also wonderful served over goats cheese.

mixed the truffle honey, about 2 teaspoons  with the juice of 1/2 an orange

I marinated the duck breast for about 1 hour, but you could do it overnight if you had time,  Then placed it on the Weber with the hickory wood smoking and this is my final result, a lovely smokey flavour, with sweetness from the honey truffle and  still pink on the inside. Overall cooking time in the Weber was about 90min, but I was watching it like a mother hen ( forgive the pun!)

The final result!

The chook was great as well, but I didn't do anything special with that, but it makes a great cold meat for salad or as I did today a toasted sandwich.

I felt quite proud of myself, as I have never been a "duck" person, but really feel that going out of my comfort level ( food wise that is!) was worth the effort, and I am planning to offer this dish to my friends in the future.

Have you ever challenged yourself in the food arena, either by trying something new or cooking something out of your comfort zone?

Up Up and Away

Last Friday night we went to see Pam Ann in Sydney, Yes, we had a night in the Big City, we went out and had a social life!!  I lurve Pam, I have seen her before and enjoyed her show on Foxtel a couple of years ago.

For those of you who don't know Pam, she is the ultimate Air Hostess, yes a Hostess with the mostest, not just a Flight Attendant but a Hostie in the good old fashioned sense.

Pam Ann, the Hosties' Hostess.

So we entered our business class seats in the State Theatre and prepared for Take off. I must say that I think my significant other was the only hetrosexual male in the whole theatre, but boy was there a lot of nice eye candy there ( what a waste, I say!)

The take off was a bit bumpy, but Pam soon had us laughing in the aisles with her stories and rants about the joys of flying.  A poll of the audience revealed a number of flight crews from various airlines present and then she began to mock them all, especially Virgin.

The business class seat demonstration was hilarious. I must say the language was very blue, but the expletives only added to the hilarity of the stories.

The inflight entertainment included news reels of various air disasters, which really made me feel glad that I was safe on the ground.

Pam does not have intervals in her show, she says "The venues hate me" but I don't give a shit!! She's my kinda of girl.

Pam's website is here she does shows all over the world, so as Molly would say do yourself a favour and go and see her. You can also see some videos of her performances to get an idea of what she's like.

I would say it was a great night out, and it really beat my usual Friday night of Silent Witness on the ABC ( but thank God for iview I could watch that the next night!).

A mere Truffle....

The other weekend we went to Oberon in the central highlands to go to a Truffle Hunt. I was really looking forward to it and seeing how the truffle dogs worked and see a truffle up close and personal. My sister gave me a fresh truffle last year after doing the same hunt and I loved using it in the kitchen, so when she suggested we go with them, we were up for it!


In order to make the most of our weekend we planned a night away. Now you all know that I am a bit off 5 star accommodation at the moment ( unless some else is footing the bill, that is) so I search for some local pub accommodation which we have found recently offer excellent value for money.  We also planned a bit of a meander around the roads to see some areas we have not traversed for over 20 years.

Saturday morning saw us off about 10 ( still like my sleep in) anticipating the drive would have us arrive at 1.30 in time for a 2pm hunt. We decided to go via Goulburn along the highland way through Bundanoon which is much more scenic ( and apparently according to Google shorter than using the main highway). Turning off at Goulburn we headed west stopping at the quaint little town of Taralga which was originally settled by the workers on the Macarthur (yes, them of the merino fame) estate located nearby history of Taralga. We had coffee at the Taralga Girl Cafe and here is a picture of it ( before it was a cafe)

Taralga Girl cafe site on R, circa 1880,
http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/imageservices/2011/06/taralga-on-the-road-to-wombeyan-caves/

really good coffee, blazing warm open fire and great friendly country service, do stop there if you are ever going through.

Twenty minutes later we were back on the road and heading into the mountains. I had a lot of fun using an app on my iPhone seeing how high we were getting,  (not THAT kind of high!)  with 1250m or thereabout being the measure.

After a short detour through Oberon we found out destination 9km out of town on Lowes Mount Road.

Here is where we went. Sue and Colin Roberts were our hosts and I can say the hunt was great fun and very informative. They trained their own Truffle dog, a very well fed black Labrador, apparently there is a shortage of trained dogs available. We follow behind the dog up and down the rows and when he smells a truffle he starts to dig under the tree.

sniffing the ground for truffles

We did find some truffles and Sue then does a taste and demo on what to look for in truffles ( beware of Chinese imitations!). Some of the fabulous food ideas were: honey infused truffle with hazelnuts served over fresh goats cheese, 

 (that will be making an appearance at my place), truffle omelette, and the piece de resistance .... truffle ice-cream. A very adult ice-cream, which I shall try when I have my new kitchen.

We stayed at the historic O'Connell Hotel which is located half way between Bathurst and Oberon. Built in 1865 you can see the wattle and daub of the building under glass in the main bar. Our room was small but perfectly formed with a wonderful electric blanket. Dinner was served in the dining room and we both had the best steak I have ever had cooked by someone else. After dinner we spent some time in the bar taking in the atmosphere and local colour.

A wonderful restful sleep and it was off to breaky. The hotel does not do breakfast but 100 meters down the road is the most wonderful cafe see here.

After breakfast it was off again via Wombeyan Caves which we plan to visit in November with the whole family for a weekend, they have cabin and camping sites for rent.

A drop into the Burrawang Belle's maison for a coffee and then we were home.

I am still eking out my truffle, storing it in a glass jar wrapped in kitchen paper with 2 fresh eggs which take on the aroma of the truffle, great for an omelette or scrambled eggs.

It was only 1 day and night away but we felt really refreshed and relaxed, I think mini-breaks are great for your soul, what about you???