Some food firsts

Since my last cooking update, I have made a number of ‘first dishes’ all of which I have been so very happy with. Today, I finally stop being lazy and share them with you!

After making risotto for the first time and having leftovers, it was only natural to try making arancini for the first time too! Arancini are rice balls that have been coated in breadcrumbs and fried.

The assembly line ready to go!

I pan-fried instead of deep frying them so they turned out a little lopsided. Didn’t matter because THEY WERE DELICIOUS!

This is actually the second time I’ve made this dish: rosemary butternut squash and feta cheese dip. Great with our homemade baguette crisps or pita chips!

Potato bake. Potato tossed with (a very moderate amount of each) sour cream, white cheddar and Parmesan cheese. Also mixed in some sauteed onion and cooked bacon. Topped with mozerella and into the oven!

Michael made cinnamon buns – I ate too many. Because they were delicious.

After a couple of attempts, I have perfected a new recipe. Pear cupcakes… fluffy, fruity and moist! My own recipe created by my own brain. Who would’ve thought.

I missed ‘nem nuong’ (Vietnamese BBQ’d ground pork). I finally made some for the first time since coming to Australia and… it tasted like mommy’s cooking back home. <3 I only wished I had a BBQ!

That wasabi lime mayonnaise we tried at Burger Urge definitely made a lasting impression. We had all the ingredients in the house so of course, we made crispy our own sweet potato chips with wasabi lime mayonnaise – delish!

And that’s it for now!

 

Surgery: Groan

We are starting our 3rd rotation – Surgery, next week! I’m already scared just thinking about it.

Received the following email today:

Dear Rotation 3 Students,

Welcome to your Surgery rotation.

Your rotation commences on Monday 20^th of May. You will be required to attend a 6.45am Scrub, Gown and Glove session at the RBWH before your orientation. Please report to Madonna Cameron and or Tina Boric on the 4^th Floor Reception, Operating Theatres RBWH at 6.45am. 

6:45… in the am. My body is already crying. Thank goodness we live 5 minutes away by bus.

Oh well, have to start getting used to it! Surgery rounds (where the team will go around and see all their patients) start at 7am apparently.

On to a new adventure guys! Starting to set my alarm early (7:30am tomorrow) to lessen the shock when I will have to wake up and it’s still dark outside.

 

Yummy burgers located: Burger Urge

We’ve never had a really good burger in Brisbane, so when the opportunity came up, Mike bought a deal: $18 for 2 burgers and 2 small chips at Burger Urge.

We took advantage of this week’s vacation to go try it out and having never been by the place before, we didn’t know what to expect.

Burger Urge (in Fortitude Valley) is a small, edgy restaurant with modest seating areas indoors and outdoors. They are a local establishment (with 4 other locations) and use what I love to see: fresh local ingredients.

Taken from their website:

• There are no preservatives or stabilizers in our sauces.
• All produce is fresh – We go to the Rocklea Markets 3 times a week.
• All produce is sourced from local vendors.
• We use free range eggs and bacon.
• All meat comes from farms and barns – not cages!

A friendly smile greeted us as we approached the counter.

It did not take long for me to make up my mind. The lamb and haloumi cheese combination was irresistible so I got Zorba the Greek (An unbeatable combination of prime ground Australian lamb topped with fresh onion jam, haloumi cheese, whole-egg mayonnaise, and pesto on a bed of cos lettuce and tomato). I also upgraded my chips to sweet potato fries with a garlic aioli mayonnaise.

Mike took longer to decide, but eventually settled on the Primal Urge (Prime ground Australian beef topped with beetroot, pineapple, free range egg, tasty cheddar cheese, homemade tomato chutney, and whole-egg mayo on a bed of cos lettuce, tomato and white onion). He also upgraded to sweet potato fries with a wasabi lime mayonnaise.

Grabbed a drink and took a seat outside. We liked that the seating area was sheltered and was pleasantly surprised at the random decor overhead – colourful suspended bikes. Definitely unique and something we’ve never seen before.

It wasn’t long before our meals arrived and boy did they look yummy!

I apologize now. We were really hungry and just wanted to get on with eating… I didn’t realize how terrible these photos were – they do not do the burgers any justice!

The burgers were arranged and skewered in a way that kept the burger open so you could see everything inside.

My burger had a huge amount of pesto which I thought would be overpowering but that was not the case at all, especially because the patty was nice and thick. The onion jam was sweet and delicious with a generous amount of haloumi. Flavours worked great, there was definitely no leftover burger on my plate.

Mike tried to eat the burger with his hands but quickly admitted defeat as the first bite released a gush of egg yolk. No worries, that’s what the fork and knife are for! The combination of egg, beetroot and pineapple wasn’t something we saw until coming to Australia – but so good!

The one thing I would change about the burgers: cutting off the oxidized edges of lettuce. It would make the burgers even more appealing!

The sweet potato fries came in really cute small baskets. I’ve seen this at other restaurants but still think it’s great to go that extra little step for presentation of chips. The chips were crispy, had great flavour (spicy Urge seasoning) and were delicious. The best thing? Trying the wasabi lime mayonnaise – definitely a hit with us! We’ve always made a curry mayo for sweet potato at home but we loved this! It will definitely be something we make from now on!

Awesome food! We’ll definitely be back whenever we’re in the mood for some seriously good burgers!

 

A holey shirt

This is what happens when you buy $5 t-shirts and use them for more than 1 year.

But according to Mike, “It was still worth it.”

 

Guess who got their N95 mask fitting?

We did!

Glad we got this done during the break because it would have been hard to get it done during business hours while on rotation again.

What am I talking about?

From the FDA website: An N95 respirator is a respiratory protective device designed to achieve a very close facial fit and very efficient filtration of airborne particles. In addition to blocking splashes, sprays and large droplets, the respirator is also designed to prevent the wearer from breathing in very small particles that may be in the air.

Why did we have an N95 mask fitting done? Because it’s one of compulsory requirements for medical electives back in Canada. As they come in different sizes, it is important to have a fitting done in order to know which one to use if they’re ever needed. If fitted properly, they can filter a minimum 95% of particles that are 0.3 microns or larger. We got to keep our 2 masks for reference/practice purposes. Let me tell you, it is not comfortable wearing a mask!

For any of our friends who need to get it done in Brisbane:

Contact Brian or Terry (Occupational Hygiene Advisers) at the Occupational Health & Safety office on St Lucia campus! You can get their contact information HERE.

 

Lunch Date at The Villager

Mike and I decided we would need to wind down a little after our written GP exam last Wednesday. We booked a 50% off lunch deal for Gastrobar at The Villager Hotel ahead of time and were seriously looking forward to checking out a new place and having some good food.

We showed up nearly 40 minutes before our reservation time but were happily shown to our seats and given menus.

For drinks, Mike tried a 4 Pines Pale Ale for the first time that he was quite happy with.

I got a Lychee Lime Mint Frappe. Refreshing, although lychee flavour was completely overpowered by the lime and mint. I ordered this drink specifically for the lychee so it was a little sad not to taste it at all!

We shared a plate of Crisp Pork Belly cooked in a sticky caramel, orange & chili sauce. Although the pork belly had a nice crisp and the sauce was sticky and delicious – I dont think the meat was actually cooked in the sauce (rather tossed in it once cooked) because the flavours were not infused into the meat.

BIG Bad Boy Chips were piping hot, crispy and delicious with the jalapeno aioli

For mains, Mike ordered the Lamb Cutlets with chunky potato gems, smoked aubergine, yoghurt & spinach leaves. Lamb was nicely cooked although way too much sprinkled salt. His mouth was burning a little by the time he finished his meal. He also wasn’t a fan of the potato gems, they were chewy/starchy and had such an odd texture!

I got the Morcilla & Manchego Kiev – stuffed chicken breast served on king brown mushrooms with chunky pumpkin & mushroom puree. Chicken was perfectly cooked and I loved the perfect crisp. I wish there was more of the black pudding and cheese stuffing though, I could barely taste them. The pumpkin was delicious and the mushroom puree was thick and full of flavour. Would’ve liked more mushrooms than 3 little slivers though, especially when the menu says, “served on king brown mushrooms.”

Gastrobar invites you in with a relaxing atmosphere and a great selection at the bar. Definitely the kind of place we would revisit with friends for drinks to unwind after a long day. Food was overall delicious with great presentation but a little pricey at regular price (ie. $9 for side of chips).

The only negative aspect of our visit: We were overcharged around $15 and lucky had a receipt to prove it. When we returned a few minutes later to ask for the difference, an employee who just started her shift wouldn’t listen to our explanation and kept interrupting, insisting the bill was correct until the 3rd or 4th attempt at pointing out the mistake. Everything was completely fine in the end, but it just left us with a slight sour taste in our mouth.

 

The end of GP and 1 week holiday

GP Rotation is finally over after a multiple choice exam last Wednesday and 2 oral exams on Friday.

How did I do? Only time will tell. I always find it hard to gauge my performance, especially during oral exams because I can always think of things I could’ve said or things I could’ve managed better. All I can say is I hope I didn’t fail!

Ended my GP rotation performing a wedge resection of an ingrown toenail – sounds gross but I was pretty excited!

We have this week off before starting our Surgery Rotation next week. No plans to go anywhere or do anything in particular but time is flying. It’s already Monday!

I miss the GP Clinic already, it was such a wonderful place to learn. Thinking of starting a new rotation next week makes me nervous already…