MOS Burger at Sunnybank

MOS Burger has arrived! Menu photos from Urbanspoon are here. The best bit about MOS Burger was a) the tastiness of the beef yakiniku b) the smallness and neatness and cleanness of everything c) the green tea (unsweetened! IN A GLASS!) and d) the complete lack of bogans anywhere. Megalove. Am going back soon.

Japan convenience store goodness

Just a few complicated images of some of the tasty snacks available at the national Japanese convenience store chain, Lawson. I don't know what many of these things are, but the ready-made plates of food are pretty cool. They can heat them up for you when you buy one.
The Hello Kitty hot dogs are interesting, as are the prepacked cheese rolls.

Potato chip goodness

Via KitchenDaily.

Crazy KitKat flavours

From Slashfood.

Fran Whipps

Another item of treasure brought back from Japan. Mmm, fran whipps.

Blue Smoke BBQ

Well, hush my mouth. Apparently the best (read: only) BBQ and rib joint in Brisbane. Perhaps I agree.

I first heard about Blue Smoke via Urbanspoon, weirdly enough. It looked interesting. Then I googled it, to find reviews praising the food and damning the service. Despite that, we decided to go, and prepared ourselves to eat well while fending off possibly abusive waitstaff.

However. Arrived, given reserved table promptly. Friendly, positive, energetic staff. Complimentary cornbread turned up. Soft, spicy, warm cornbread with creamed honey butter. SIN. FANTASTIC.

Ordered, with help from the manager who was very lovely and straightforward. A plate of buffalo wings with blue cheese sauce ("original" spiciness level), half size servings ($21 each) of Kansas babyback ribs and Memphis ribs, each served with chips and coleslaw, a Budweiser and a Heineken. Total cost $35 each, not cheap, but not over the top either.

Buffalo wings JUICY. I sucked those wing bones clean.

We were both VERY glad to have chosen the half-serves of ribs, because they were insanely huge, and on top of the ten giant wings with sauce and the cornbread, it was getting crazy in there. And delicious. And with great atmosphere and service. (Kansas ribs with sauce, Memphis ribs with dry-rub and tomato sauce)

Maybe Blue Smoke read the internet reviews and lifted their game, or maybe all those other reviewers were nuts. Either way it was great, the food was great, service was great, fun night. Yumbo.

Seven terrible breakfast ideas

Aren't you glad that these aren't even an option in Australia?

KFC Cayan Grill

What the hell is that?
What the hell is that word?

Is it cayenne?
Is it caiman?

No, it's cayan.

I have NEVER seen that word before. This is not a good sign, KFC. Google has no idea what it means, either. All the official KFC website tells us is that the Cayan Grill has herbs and spices on it, and it's grilled. As in, not fried. As in, trying to simultaneously alienate and win over the respective 50%s of KFC's market share.

Not a major KFC fan, unfortunately, except for the occasional stress-induced snack pack of popcorn chicken. However, this new menu item confuses me deeply and I wish to know whether or not it is a NEW FLAVOUR and if so WHAT FLAVOUR IS IT. And please stop inventing words that have no meaning, just random onomatopoeic associations with New Orleans.

WILL THE MADNESS EVER END?

Names for future failures

I see many things. Many, many, disturbing things. Something that disturbs more than most is the disregard people apparently have for their children's future mental health. One parent I know of, who had a drug history, named her daughter Opi. Short for Opium. Someone else has Dazza on their birth certificate. Then there was the family who named all three daughters in similar tree-hugging fashion: Rainie, Sunny and Dawn.
Tragic.
As if Rainie is ever going to get further in life than the shotgun-wedding chapel carpark. No Supreme Court judge is ever called Opium. These are recipes for failures, people. A gorgeous little baby called Sunny might be super-cute. But get a kitten instead, because imagine a forty-two year old Centrelink patron and a concession bus pass holder with four kids and a variety of patterned tracksuits. This is Future Sunny.
MomsWhoThink.com (really?) has thoughtfully provided us with a list of inspirational names for your offspring. Stuck for which name to choose? Would you like to give your child a head start on the depressing life you have selected for him or her? You can choose from Death Row Names (Jemarr, Vernice and Mack), Future Mortician Names (Aladdin, Blackie, Deatrice... I really want someone to name their child Blackie and escape a massive lawsuit in twenty years' time), Future Truck Drivers' Names (Flo, Wanda and Lonnie), Names that Make you Feel Weird (I kid you not), like Aloo, Fable, Delete and Panther (Christ, they're not wrong), Future Slackers (Loki, Bo and Rip), and Macho/Girly Names, like Hud, DeeDee and Esteban.
And just in case you'd like to choose a direction for your child other than down, there's also the full list which tells you how to name your future doctor, lawyer or televangelist.
Enjoy the section on Most Obnoxious Baby Names, like Optimus Prime or Sunshine Deathray.

Worst foods of 2009

Just in case anyone hasn't seen this list already. Incredible stuff!

Truss tomatoes

Don't these look like they could take over the world?

Look at their sprawling, viney, tentacle-like stems. Beware the attack of the killer tomatoes!

Boylan Bottling Co

Wow. Down at the Fig Tree Deli today, ran into these brand spankin' offerings from theAmerican Boylan Bottling Co, apparently been around since 1891, only the best and purest ingredients, old-school techniques, blah blah blah.
Meanwhile, I had the Diet Cane Cola. And it was really really good. It may sound weird, but not too sweet. Bizarre, I know, for a bottled lolly water to be not too sweet. And also not too fizzy. The bottle looks really cool, and it's taller and bigger than a Coke bottle. They say they've had them in for almost a month, and selling very well.

Spotted dick

Ha ha, yeah, it's hilarious. At the British Lolly Shop in Kings Cross, the lovely owner let me take a photo of this can of spotted dick, imported from the UK alongside lots of other drygoods, cereals, puddings and teas. Plus all the lollies.
Wikipedia says that the pudding is also known as:

• spotted dog
• plum duff
• steamed dicky
• figgy dowdy
• dotted lloyd
• packphour's lament (what the hell?)
• biff togger
• Haverford lumps
• nuns in a criddle
• Dicky Widmark
• plum bolster
• A DD (Dotted Dick)
• slattern's bonnet (Ooh, I like that one)
• Spotted Richard
• Dickie Burton

"Time fo' a spot of Dicky Widmark, mum? Dotted lloyd? I'll make us a noice cuppa."

I wasn't quite ready to buy the tin and inspect its contents, for if I were to try a spotted dick I'm sure I'd prefer to make it at home rather than go the commercial tinned route. For now I'll savour my picture of slattern's bonnet and dream of what might have been.

Bagel burger

Mmm. After my search for the perfect bagel, and after someone recommended Glick's, I got a packet of their frozen poppyseed bagels down at Annerley. Pretty good. Slightly sweet inside, and more on the cakey side than I would have liked. Needs to be more chewy. But still a good bagel. I will try the non-poppyseed varieties and report back.

Anyway, with this particular bagel, I decided to create an Italian-inspired bagel burger. There's about four culture clashes right there for you: the US burger, the Jewish bagel (could tie in nicely with the US, except that there's a meat issue), the Italian ingredients, the Aussie twist. Gloriously un-PC and 90s fusion, trash-style.

Regardez.

Bagel Burger

• 1 bagel


• olive oil


• beef mince


• sliced fennel


• juicy tomato


• thyme leaves


• fresh chili


• capers
  
• 1 egg

Slice bagel in half lengthwise and heat in oven till hot and toasty. Take a handful of mince and shape into a flat patty. Cook briefly in a hot pan with a little olive oil till done to your liking (I like mine very carpaccio-ish, brown without and oozy within.) Construct a bagel tower on the bottom slice of bagel: sliced tomato, fennel, meat patty. In the now-vacant pan, insert egg and fry gently. Add egg to top of tower, sprinkle with finely-chopped chili, thyme leaves and capers. Scrumptiousness.

Cowboy food

Got this book from Cumquat's the other day. Veeeery interesting. Published in 1997: a collection of recipes arranged by location within the US.
Lotta beans in there. Beans n' rice. Beans n' meat. Chili n' beans. Beans n' beans.
But seeing as we all know how to make chili con carne anyway, let's disregard el beanos for now and look at the MUCH MORE INTERESTING stuff on offer.
What is it with American lowbrow cooking? Why do they call for so much prepackaged brand-name product? To make a pie, why not just make a crust and make a filling yourself, instead of specifying x-brand biscuits to mash up for a crust and a tin of bought pie filling? (Just thinking about tins of pie filling make me uneasy. What the hell's in there...?)
It creeps me out, imagining doing a run to the supermarket before baking and ending up with a trolley full of stuff that would probably survive a nuclear (nucular) blast.
Something's not right with that. It's not cooking, it's assembling. And it's fake, like 1950s domestic fake. But it IS very creative. Somebody had to invent this stuff. Anyway. See exhibit A.

Grasshopper Pie

1 package Oreos
quarter cup melted butter
1 bag white marshmallows
1 cup milk
2 cups whipped cream
6 tbsps creme de menthe

(Are you freaking out yet?)

Crush cookies into fine crumbs. Reserve a few for topping. Add melted butter to crumbs and mix well. Press into pie dish. Carefully melt marshmallows in milk using a double boiler. Cool until syrupy.
Add cream to cooled marshmallows. Fold in the liqueur. Pour over crust and sprinkle with leftover crumbs. Refrigerate overnight: can be frozen.

Now see exhibit B.

Dirt Dessert

1 package Oreos (there's a pattern here)
1 8oz package Philadelphia cream cheese
three quarters cup butter
1 cup sugar
8 oz Cool Whip
2 three-ounce packages of instant chocolate pudding
2 and a half cups milk
Half cup Irish Cream liqueur
1 washed flower pot, approx 6in diameter x 5in high
washed fresh flowers

Crush cookies in processor and set aside. Mix together cream cheese, butter, sugar and Cool Whip. In a separate bowl mix pudding, milk and liqueur. Stir the two mixtures together.
Line bottom of flower pot with aluminium (aluminum) foil. Spread half the crumbs on bottom. Pour in pudding mixture. Top with remaining crumbs. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Just before serving, insert flowers into pot.