Lunch – Random Yummy

One pork knuckle gave me six meals

One pork knuckle gave me six meals.

On Saturday night, I cooked a pork knuckle for dinner and had enough leftover for four more meals. Here is what I did with that one pork knuckle for readers on a budget and cooking for one.

Saturday night

Pork knuckle with crackling on potato mash with green vegetables.

Pork knuckle with crispy crackling, potato mash, Brussels sprouts, and baby green peas.

Sunday dinner

Laksa-flavoured pork knuckle curry

Sunday tea. Laksa-flavoured leftover pork knuckle meat with coconut creamed rice and a side of broccoli.

Monday lunch

Pork knuckle meat with cherry tomatoes and cucumber.

Pork knuckle, cherry tomatoes, and cucumber

Tuesday dinner

Oven-cooked laksa-flavoured pork knuckle curry

Leftover oven baked pork knuckle laksa-flavoured rice curry with asparagus and Brussels sprouts. Cooked in the oven to make the rice crunchy.

Wednesday lunch

Pork knuckle meat with cherry tomatoes and cucumber.

Pork knuckle Cherry tomatoes Cucumber Coffee

Wednesday dinner

Pork knuckle meat with a tomato-based sauce

Leftover oven-baked pork knuckle with tomatoes and bocconcini plus lentils and broccoli

One pizza, four meals

One pizza made on Friday night has become four meals. This use of leftover pizza is how I’m approaching portion control.

Pork sausage sandwich

I love working from home on Fridays. I can cook lunch.

Ciabatta fried in a nudge of Lurpak butter, melted provolone, sliced tomato and avocado and the last pork sausage, halved and fried in butter served with mushrooms and onions.

I also had a great morning tea too.

Morning tea. Atlas coffee and a Dobinsons vanilla slice with passionfruit icing.

Tonight was pizza.

Sweet corn and caramelised onions

I felt like a relatively light lunch but I wanted something which would require some effort.

Caramelising onions seemed like the right thing to do.

It’s fairly simple to make caramelised onions.

I slice a couple of onions with a sharp knife and put them into a cold skillet with some olive oil and a nudge of butter. I then heat the skillet gently and keep the heat low and slow until the onions take on a brown colour. Once the onions begin to smell sweet I add in some cooking sherry and cook until the sherry has reduced. Then I add some Worcestershire sauce and cook until the onions are sticky. I turn the heat off and add a liberal quantity of dried chilli flakes plus freshly cracked black pepper.

The sweet corn is easier to cook. I buy the corn with the husk on and run it under a tap for a few seconds to get it damp. I then wrap it in aluminium foil and put it into an oven set at about 200 °C for about 45 minutes. After about 45 minutes, I unwrap the corn, remove the husk, and then season it with salt and pepper.

Democracy sausage time

I voted today in the ACT local council elections. Because of COVID-19, the polling is open for three weeks before the scheduled election day.

It was all very good with physical distancing and lots of alcohol-based hand rub.

There was no barbecue set up for a democracy sausage so I came home and made my own with a cheese kransky, sourdough roll, some fried onion, and sauerkraut.

Democracy sausage and a caffettiera Atlas coffee

Toasted provolone and pickled onion cheeses with pepperoni on pumpkin bread with lashings of butter

#covidlife #workfromhome

On Fridays I’ve been working from home and participating in teleconferences through the day.

Toasted provolone and pickled onion cheeses with pepperoni on pumpkin bread with lashings of butter

Provolone piccante, salami and pepperoni grilled cheese toastie

#covidlife #workfromhome

My Italian friend, GC, has again hit a six. She uses provolone cheese on her toasties (also known as grilled cheese sandwich for North American readers). GC recommended I combine the cheese with some spicy cured meats. I’ve never tried provolone as far as I know. I went to the Belco markets and found some provolone piccante at the deli. GC explained the piccante has more bite than the dolce. Indeed, this cheese is bitey. I like it. This is a fantastic sandwich. I highly recommend it. Thanks, GC 🤤😃👍

This working from home gig on Fridays is going well.

Provolone piccante, spicy salami and pepperoni with pane di casa.

Coles southern fried chicken and homemade coleslaw grilled cheese sandwich

#covidlife #workfromhome

Doing teleconferences from home today.

This sandwich is the bomb. I mentioned this as an option last night when I cooked a piece of Coles southern fried chicken thigh.

Coles southern fried chicken and homemade coleslaw grilled cheese sandwich

Bondage sandwich

I'm still working from home on Fridays and participating in teleconferences during my lunch period.

I present to you the bondage sandwich. No this is not some fetish or BDSM thing.

Have you ever had the embarrassing situation of cooking a grilled cheese sandwich or what we prefer to call in Australia, a toasted sandwich (also known as a “toastie“) and the top half sliding off and spoiling its structure?

Even in a sandwich press this can happen, so unless you’re using an old fashioned jaffle iron, the slippage problem is an ever present danger.

Butchers or cooking twine is an easy solution to bind the sandwich to ensure structural integrity while it cooks.

Italian bread with Mersey Valley pickled onion cheese, sliced tomato, and smashed avocado bound with cooking twine

Italian bread with Mersey Valley pickled onion cheese, sliced tomato, and smashed avocado bound with cooking twine being grilled in a cast iron skillet on an induction hob — Italian bread with Mersey Valley pickled onion cheese, sliced tomato, and smashed avocado bound with cooking twine being grilled in a cast-iron skillet on an induction hob

Grilled cheese sandwich with avocado, salami, jam, red onion, Coon™ mozzarella and Colby cheeses

Introduction

Yesterday I posted about a salami and Vegemite sandwich after a conversation with my friend GC and our speculation on sandwich combinations.

Have you ever had a turkey and cranberry sandwich? I really like the combination of turkey and cranberry. I’ve also enjoyed ham and jam before but I’ve never had salami and jam.

I’m a big fan of jam combinations. One of my favourite jam combinations is orange marmalade, peanut paste, and sliced banana.