Farewell Brown Dog Cafe....for now.

The Brown Dog Cafe on Goodwood Rd. fast became an institution for many local and not so local residents, the main reason for this is the hard work and talent of Michelle and Callum Campbell picture above with their 18 month year old son Jackman. 'The Dog' as it is affectionately known to many was taken over by the entrepreneurial couple after they had rescued a Novar Gardens snack stop and turned it around in a few hectic months. Before 'The Dog' the Goodwood Rd. site was the dreary Cafe Deco which had once been a quirky hangout, but had lost any steam and just fizzled out. Michelle's simple but enticing menu's brought the masses through the door and with a personality like Callum out front it is no wonder 'The Dog' was a success. Michelle found the right chef's to continue her work after some early staffing issues, and the consistent quality food and beverage was really moving. As they did with Novar Espresso at Novar Gardens they are selling 'The Dog' at the height of its potential and popularity, which is an extremely hard decision to make. But with their integrity at full charge and strike rate of business success at %100 it is surely the right decision. The potential new owner Jason Brooks (ex Strathmore / Citrus) is planning on taking over the reigns, with as little fuss as possible. I am always cautious when a new owner buys a business with an obvious stamp of someone else upon it, and he had better be mighty talented or extremely hardworking to fill the shoes of Michelle and Callum. However do not despair if you are all ready mourning their departure, it is unlikely to be long before the two are back in the industry (perhaps catering, just a hint)
Thank you Michelle and Callum for all the great food, coffee and GOOD TIMES!
Giles

Festive Photo's...

Kim Wang Super Market, It is super for a reason!

Central Market Frenzy before the holidays!

Individual Lemon Curd tarts for a function - delicious!

Giles

Festive Photo's...

Stephanie Alexander's confusing pancake recipe...

Merlin Inn Catering Satay's are always a hit with the revellers.

Anyone for torte? Cibo lemon torte is a must!

Giles

Getting on the green...

Do you grow your own?

Do you buy the really expensive outdoor stuff?

Do you choke on the additive laden, super charged, hydroponic monsters?

Here in Australia we have always been blessed with the finest quality greenery.

Is it our vibrant multicultural society?

Is it the post war times that forced people to do some pretty crazy things in their backyard, just to turn a dollar?!

I have sampled some amazing home grown produce over the years, so many good times! Good times!

It all started when I was young....

The largest homegrown tomato I ever saw was over 500gm and looked like it should have been in hand cuffs. Million dollar peaches from the side yard that were so sweet and juicy that would put James in rehab, and have Roald Dahl taken in for questioning. My first ever crop of broad beans were twice my own height, I thought this green thumb thing was a cinch!! Avocados from a neighbours Hass tree always brings back memories of the perfect prawn cocktail. My grandfather used to slice fresh green beans with a small knife so sharp you could shave with it, you only had to wave the beans over some hot water to cook. Fresh passion fruit off the vine - oh my golly gosh - ZING!! Feijoa trees with its funky fruit, I'd put a spoon in my school bag so could pinch some from the house down the street on the corner and eat them on the way. Pomegranate from the Scottish couple that lived opposite our neighbour, they smoked inside and I hated their tiny lounge room. Homemade cumquat marmalade. You know your alive when you chomp on some fresh horseradish recently peeled and pulled from under the apple tree - Hello Nose (cross eyed)!!

More recently I have experienced the joys of home grown olives and Italian tomatoes from the lovely Tony and Toni next door in the burbs. Fresh herbs left at the door step - who knows who from. My mother in laws Asian herbs - kaffir, basil, lemongrass - and shes German! My mothers resurgent asparagus patch that never ceases to surprise! Kipfler potatoes - wax is good!

Coriander will always remind me of running through a dense coriander seed crop my father had irrigated with an old rolling irrigator, which could quite easily kill small boys or so I thought.

Some less memorable moments was the coddling moth infestation in the grannies - it was devastation, casualties everywhere! Why our mother thought that choko was a vegetable young children would enjoy perplexed me and my two elder siblings. Under instruction I helped them dig a hole and bury all the produce on the tree, just to make sure there would be no resurrections we crushed them into the dirt as we went. She could not possibly serve us fresh dirt and choko? Could she?! The flavour of choko is not to far from dirt, but at least dirt has texture.

All of these experiences have made me a pain in the ass to go shopping with...

Giles

New seasons growth...

Getting stuck into a hard working weekend can show fantastic results, a real sense of achievement not to mention the sore muscles, back and blisters! My good friend and I took the maroon Fairlane rocket (cats vs. dogs ABC radio - great commentary!!) to the South East to install some serious infrastructure to our fledgling hop garden.
Hops require water and and some line to grow up, so a frame work is required to get them up and away. Past harvests have been mediocre, due to lack of planning and infrastructure.
Plan: All irrigation to go underground, vertical poles and cross braces to span the width of the garden! Easy... sort of, see for your self!

The person who invented the protective work glove, should be hailed as a genius. Good quality gloves can mean the difference between a productive weekend and a pain full, blistered shambles! I will keep you posted on the progress of the crop!

Giles

Maintain the rage!!

Ben posted this comment, as an addition to the Market Crusade blog... I like it and concur whole hearted with Ben.
Benny said...
I think description of the supermarket chains as "cold and heartless" don't nearly go far enough. Coles and Woolworths have a duopoly on Australian Grocery sales. 60% of milk sales and 50% of fresh fruit and veg are sold through these 2 stores that have a 40% share of the Australian retail dollar. These companies contract producers to supply them. They expect a 40 to 50% mark up on that product to go straight in to their pocket. What I think the average punter does not realise is that when these products are on special in Woolworths, their profit margin remains constant and the poor producer has to wear the discount or risk losing his contracts.Coles and Woolies bottle shops (Dan Murphy,BWS, etc etc) actually sell beer and wine cheaper than independent bottlo owners can source it wholesale!Why the tirade you may ask? Well you do save money in when you shop at Woolies, but at the same time, buy saving the money, you squeeze the already slender margins of the independent stores, increasing the strangle hold these heartless bastards all ready have on the Australian food market.Rise up, fellow foodies! Vote with your feet and wallets and boycott these vicious bullyboys who make Walmart look like schoolgirls (They only have 15% of the US Grocery market). Support your local independent butcher and veg shop, because they are by default subsidising the losses most producers are making by supplying the majors. Spread the word and the rage and boycott Coles and Woolies in all forms to support Australia's Farmers! Check out this website for more info http://www.ausfoodnews.com.au/2008/09/02/ex-woolworths-ceo-concerned-market-dominance-may-tarnish-food-production-future.html

Keep me in the dark...

Foodie [foo-dee] -noun Slang.

A person keenly interested in food, esp. in eating or cooking.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Foodie's everywhere operate on a diet of magazines, TV, Restaurants and selected events. They are the super consumer, a Foodie would look specifically for a more exclusive or rare ingredient over a satisfactory version with little coaxing required. The Foodie means to impress, to make jealousy rife amongst lesser types. But also to share - and spread knowledge about the good stuff... This is what I aim to do by exposing some of the best stores, deli's, bakeries, continental stores, mercato's, enoteca's and anything else worth mentioning.
So share and share alike - let me know (post a comment) of any uncut gems and I will seek them out.

Here begins the "Foo-dee FILES"

Keep up with the pace and you might even run into me at one of these locations!!

Giles

Work makes you whole...

Shiraz

Chinook Hops

Lunch

Hard work has its rewards, and that home grown kipfler salad (with french dijon and tarragon dressing) was worth the long morning of grape picking. As well as the roast beetroot and sweet potato salad which was garnished with herbs and goats cheese...oh my, what great food!!

The beer was VF#13 if you must know... a hybrid ale of Irish Yeast, English Malt and American Hops. Please Sir can I have some more?!More??!!

Giles

A Peking duck soup.

Ahh the duck.......

With some friends due for dinner on a Tuesday evening and plans for the meal yet to be made, on the Monday afternoon I had to take action. I wanted a dish that was warming, yet fresh, light, yet filling.

A Peking duck soup with dumplings! - Here’s the story...

I went to the Adelaide Central Markets to get a Peking duck, as I have done once before. I got a park on Gouger St. right in front of Quo Chi Oriental Supermarket at the Chinese gates to the market. Looking-looking and no ducks, I went through to Kim Wang Asian Supermarket frozen uncooked ducks - shit. I walk back to the car thinking 'where did I buy this duck before?' Should I rethink dinner? Just about to get back in the car and rethink dinner, and right in front of where I parked was the BBQ City Restaurant, Peking duck headquarters really!- all hanging in the window . $22 one duck and some sauce ‘Thank you come again’.....

Monday evening:
Remove meat and refrigerate. Make stock with some lemongrass, ginger, onion, carrot, and celery with the stripped carcass of the bird, I recommend frying the ingredients in the duck fat and skin before adding hot water to the pot. Cover with hot water and boil for several hours. ... Let the stock cool and place in fridge to clarify or separate - remove hardened duck fat from the top of stock. That was Monday evening.

Tuesday morning:
I was walking from the work car park near the railway line, adjacent to the Governor Hindmarsh Hotel to the rear gate entrance. You have to walk down this street with two old houses at the end - I am hearing this strange bird noise and wonder that is not a normal bird call for the morning in a tree? I look up to where the noise is coming from and there is a very nice looking duck, speckled feathers with a bright neck ring and long slender neck. It looked a very particular breed. This duck was standing way up on top of the chimney of the house to the right of the street - and it was looking at me making an interesting noise combined with a two step movement side to side!! - Talk about weird.

Should I rethink dinner?

Tuesday evening:
Add some chicken stock to the now strained (through cloth) duck stock - boil. Prepare fresh sliced ingredients like bok-choy or Chinese broc, chilli, enoki, maybe some noodles. - I like making a Japanese omelette with egg water and caster sugar cook and slice thinly to resemble noodle - slurperific!! Place some frozen dumplings in boiling stock - add some tamarind paste, 1 big tspn to get some tart into the stock. Boil until dumplings float which is around 5 mins. Place sliced ingredients into warmed bowls - duck meat (pre-heated) veg, enoki, noodles and chilli. Spoon out the stock evenly and serve with chilli oil and sweet vinegar on top of broth.....

Rich and warm Chinese, yet more like Ramen.

Should I rethink dinner? Definitely not - It was rich – In retrospect I would dilute by halving the amount of duck stock used and freeze the rest - your bowels with thank you!!!

Giles

Ps. One of my friends had a flu vac shot that day and combined with some very rich broth got the shits and was facing the toilet door all night long – all night long.. All night!! Not very complementary of my own cooking but no one else felt ill, maybe bird flu?

The Scullery, food and booze.

For those of you who do not know me you would be un-aware that I am passionate about food booze and everything else we taste and digest. This blog will explore some of those passions with you the reader such as making beer, making cheese, cooking traditional paella and having loads of fun along the way.

Giles