Gourmet Nosh

I was put onto this idea a while ago when I was in Perth. It's a bit like a bruschetta, though with a few differences. Bruschetta, if you don't know, is an italian snacky thing that is basically sliced italian bread, rubbed with garlic, drizzled with olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper, and then grilled until toasty. It can then be topped with anything from diced tomato, roasted peppers, and/or cheese.

The idea I was put onto, was as simple as dipping bread into some oilive oil, maybe mixed with a few herby things and some soy sauce. I tried it once and found it to be rather tasty, and olive oil is supposed to be good for you. Yesterday I tried this out with some olive oil on sliced turkish bread with some salami, and today I tried a bit of a variation on this idea.

You will need:
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Bazaar Turkish bread roll, or if you can get it, Coles bakery makes a nice Turkish loaf that has a nice garlic flavour to it. I only got the Bazaar ones because they were out of the loaf today.
The Grove Avocado Oil with Carribean Lime
3 slices Parma Ham or prosciutto

To put together:
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1: Slice the bread on an angle to get about 6 thin slices.
2: Drizzle the bread with the oil, it doesn't have to be completely covered, just make sure you get an even coverage.
3: Grill the bread as you like it.
4: Slice each slice of prosciutto in half
5: Once the bread is grilled to your liking, place all the slices on a plate and top with the prosciutto.

Easy as that! The oil gives the bread a nice citrus flavour due to the lime oil, and the prosciutto is prosciutto, and tastes better than ham. This also works well with a good extra virgin olive oil. And you can also vary the type of cold meat you use, or not use any at all. This also works better with bread that's day-old, as it is easier to slice than fresh bread.

Suggestions: Garlic! (always good), caramelised onion, some thin slices of a good aged parmesan or romano cheese... But whatever you use, keep it simple! Stick to no more than 2 ingredients..the idea is simplicity, and let the flavour of the ingredients do the work.

Cats and Dead Plants

So a few days ago I took some pictures of the cat, who has been lazy as fuck the last week or so... he's been sleeping a LOT during the day, so we figure he's been out tarting around the neighbourhood at night... which is funny, cuz kitty has no balls :P Nevertheless, he has been giving up some of the most adorable poses while sleeping...







Kitty also likes to sprawl out!



Kitty also decided to play doormat one evening...and thankfully, he stayed in the same spot while i took the photo! Usually he moves before I can snap the picture... lol



Here is a shot of my (assumingly) dead succulent. I WAS watering the damn thing, but it looked like it was starting to die. So, I just left it be, and now it's a shrivelled monument to its once formerly succulent glory.



And...here are the sandals I got today from K-Mart... wow, life is exciting at the moment, ain't it...non-stop thrills a minute :P



Thanks for tuning into this belated update of The Frostilicus Perspective. Toodle-oo!

Today's Pictures

Here are the pictures that I snapped today...

This is the cat snoozing on my housemate's chair:



I thought it looked cute and he managed to stay that despite my other housemate's 11yr old son trying to wake him up (ggrr)

And here's one of Douggie that looks a bit like he's doing drunken karaoke.



Of course, there's no microphone and there was not a beer or girlie drink in sight, so you'll just have to imagine it. :P

'Til next time!

~Frostilicus~

Trip '06 Continued... Sydney Part 2

On my second day in Sydney, I went for another wander, this time in the opposite direction. I passed a bakery, some trendy shops, and a few cafés, one of which seemed to have very little shop space. Past all the shops, I spotted a church (St John's Anglican) and thought I would go in and have a look around. I'm pretty much an atheist, but I like churches for the architecture and the stained glass.

Here's the front part of the church:



(There was another picture I took of the actual entrance, but there's a truck in the way so you can't see all of it)

Once I got into the church, I found the only guy in there, who might have been the cleaner for all I know, and politely asked if photography was allowed inside. He said it was, so I set about taking some pictures. Unfortunately, due to camera issues, not many that I took without a flash turned out un-blurry. (this also proved to be a big annoyance on the Indian Pacific) So, most of the pictures I took of the stained glass windows without flash turned out blurry, and the ones I took with flash are slightly glared. However, I picked out the best of the bunch that I took within the church:





Only two... which kinda sucks... One day I'll go back there and get better pictures :(

Anyway, I took so many pictures inside that DID turn out better...


The pews...


The pulpitty thing where the priestly guy does his sermon

The pulpit was actually quite intricate, it was decorated with bas relief sculptures cut into the stone:









The church has a pipe organ, which adds to the ambience of the place. Obviously the church is very old (for a church built in Australia, anyway), and I would hate to be the poor sucker who has to clean all the pipes lol







After my hour or so in the pleasant silence of the church (not to mention coolness, weather wise), I set off to go to the noodle bar I passed on my way...



(Excuse the crappy phone picture)

This noodle bar must have been built only recently, because the interior looked new. The decor was interesting, as noted by the stools...



The flash on my camera was ruining this picture, so I had to take one to the best of my "non-shaky hands" abilities. But as you can see, the stool is constructed of resin, into which has been set several old bottle caps. Coke, Pepsi, Fanta and other brands of soft drink.

Anyhoo, I ordered noodles...as one does in a noodle bar, I should think. Combination Hokkien Noodles with Peanut Sauce. It was smelling rather tasty in there, and I didn't even have my meal yet. The noodle bar also did take-away, and served the take-away noodles in those trendy white boxes!



Here's what I was greeted with when I got my meal. The bowl was HUGE. Included in my noodle dish were the following: HUGE prawns, baby octopus, tofu slices, bean sprouts, squid, broccoli, chicken, beef, pork, spinach, carrot bits, the noodles of course and peanut sauce. They were delicious and very filling!

Not sure if I mentioned it in a previous post, but the view from my window at the hotel was.. well it left a lot to be desired. The window had no curtains, and faced onto the back alley. I had a tree blocking part of my view, and apartments behind me. Next time I stay at that hotel (which, other than the shitty view, I couldn't complain about... The bed was comfortable, the TV was free (and if you felt like paying the $10 for the pay TV, you could get p0rn!), and the shower was hot.)



Also durign the day I passed a danish ice cream parlour, and got some ice cream... I don't remember what flavours I had.. I think it was rum and raisin and something else...



After all that, I went back to the hotel for a bit of a rest, downloaded the pictures off my camera and then went out to get some dinner. I decided to try one of the kebab places on Darlinghurst road. They had the usual kebab selection... Chicken, Lamb, Felafel... as well as pizza and other turkish food items (pide and such)

So I decided to try a felafel (which I had never eaten before), and a slice of pizza which was spinach and something or other...



My first (and LAST) felafel. I ordered my felafel without hommous, and the guy serving me mumbled something in broken english about "felafel without hommous not felafel", but I just said "well I'm not one for hommous". Even so, the felafel was... awful. Guess I'm just not one for things made from chick peas. The pizza, on the other hand, was better, if not a little overcooked (it had been sitting under heat lamps for most likely the better part of the whole afternoon), but it was more edible than the felafel, which I only ate half of.

Coming soon, Photos from my last morning in Sydney...

~Frostilicus~