Found this post in a food blog - this is exactly what I will never post

Let me say it again: this was found in another food blog

Everyone remembers the college student's diet: beer, beer, more beer, and, of course, top ramen before another bottle of beer. Heating up a quick bowl of ramen in the microwave, waiting exactly three minutes, and topping it with some hot sauce was the go-to meal every broke undergrad could appreciate. Fast. Simple. And kinda tasty--if you've just had another beer.

But this humble delicacy doesn't have to stay that way. Nowadays, people are gettin' fancy with the noodles, creating recipe after recipe with the main ingredient being . . . you guessed it: ramen! From breakfast dishes to classy dessert options, ramen can get you through a whole day's worth of meals, all costing under $10.

Breakfast: Ramen Burrito With Egg and Hot Sauce

Waking up in the morning, the first thing many of us crave is a breakfast burrito. But to make this morning meal even more epic, include ramen in the recipe. It's super-simple and sort of good if you don't actually think about what you're eating.

Ingredients:

1. top ramen

2. 1 egg

3. 2 cups of water

4. 1/4 cup of shredded cheese

5. a flour tortilla

6. hot sauce (optional)

Directions

Cook the ramen in 2 cups of water and add a beaten egg. After 3 minutes, drain all but 1 T of water. Stir in cheese, ramen seasoning, and hot sauce. Wrap in a tortilla, and enjoy your ramen concoction!

Amaretto Sours ....in my mouth

My fave drink for years was the Amaretto Sour.  Got into them when I was in New York in the late 80s.  My friends use to love them and we drank jugfuls of them.  Always frozen and always made with Amaretto Di Saronno. Had one the other day and it was some watered down version. That was in a hip bar/restaurant in Victoria Street in Potts Point (Jimmy Liks). The food (Thai) was much better and so was the service. 
Anyway they should always use the correct Amaretto ... add lemon juice and some egg white and blend it.  Add ice if you want it frozen.
Happy sours!!!!!

Martinis

Ok ... why does a martini cost so much in a bar?  It is only gin with a bit of vermouth (more on that later) and it is classified as a "cocktail" ... wow not much work sticking in 3 parts gin with 1 part dry vermouth and stirring it round with ice (yeah, I know the barkeep says it's two slugs of gin but how often do they just dilute it with the melted ice to fill the glass).  

I prefer to keep the gin in the freezer and the vermouth in the fridge ..then no ice and that means no water and that means no dilution. So, stronger flavours but also faster licence loss or messy guests (very). 
The classic (in the olden days) martini was the two alcohols poured into a jug (often without ice) and mixed around and served into a nice glass and topped off with an olive or a twist.
Yes you can use vodka instead. 
And you do not need to use some fancy expensive gin or vodka.  Gordons has a great juniper flavour that really makes a martini. Sometimes I use Tanqueray or even Bombay but it depends on the flavour I want. 
Recipes? Try adding a twist of orange peel instead.  Or if you want a dessert martini wash the glass with Grand Marnier (on that theme ..I will post my secret Martini Royale recipe here soon!!!). Make it a Dirty Martini by adding a spoonful of olive water with two olives. That one works with vodka or gin.

Cavolo Nero ..not an opera

Winter vegetables coming up:  Cavolo Nero is showing up in the shops ... I even found it in a Coles supermarket prepacked with sliced red cabbage. It is Tuscan cabbage ..but nothing like our pale green cabbage.  It has a great deep flavour, somewhat nutty.
Wilt it and then blend it or bamix it with a good virgin oil and some garlic (please not that Chinese stuff ...maybe the one from Argentina?)...but not too fine (you can even slice it up fine with a knife)  and add salt and pepper !!!! Put it all on some pasta, much like a pesto or on some diced boiled potatoes (you could even add baby peas to this).  
Or you can just stick the leaves in a pan with a tiny amount of water to wilt it, then add butter or olive oil and some salt and serve it as a side or with your main. I eat it by itself that way. DOUBLE YUM.

Dulce De Leche

Who has tried this caramel confection that is so popular throughout South America? Eat straight or spread it on toast or even biscuits.  In Argentina it is in many confections and especially in alfajores (a magical treat).

Well, you can make dulce de leche at home: millions of recipes on the web or you can buy jars in secretive South American delicatessens.  To make it the cheat's way : buy Nestle condensed milk cans and submerge them in a pan and boil them for at least two, even three hours. Keep watching so you don't boil the water below the tops of the cans. With my pressure cooker I can do it much faster and not worry about losing the water.  Let a can cool down then open it and mix the contents with some vanilla essence and stick it in a jar (keeps in the fridge for weeks) but will not last that long (hungry little spoons!!!). The other treasured unopened cans will keep for months.

Healthy Cooking Under Pressure

Bought a pressure cooker ...fancy Swiss number.  OMG!!! Forget that it saves the world by using less energy as it cooks quicker.  It makes food healthier as vitamins etc are better preserved by shorter cooking times.  I made a paella (a paella in a pressure cooker ????) and the saffron was beautifully infused through all the food, whilst the chicken was as tender and moist as one could never imagine.  

Buy one anywhere but cheapest places I found were online: (1) Everten, at  Hornsby (with $6.90 delivery) and really cheap for cookware etc and (2) The Pressure Cooker Centre, in Perth who got my baby to me within 3 days (faster than a stork) - they were fantastic help on the phone, really taking their time to talk to me. 

Fixed Menus ...Many Courses ...augh

Pet hate at the moment: restaurants with fixed menus ... I thought that was the thing you got in a bad restaurant in Paris : the dreaded Menu Touristique (usually written in English or German).

I like to eat what I choose, not what the chef decides.  I also sometimes like to pop in and have a "light" meal in a great restaurant.  So why do some of these establishments only offer fixed 3 or 4 course menus (or even more!) ????
Paramount, Christine Mansfield's old restaurant in Potts Point had hats galore and was happy to let you in at 9pm and and have a main and a glass of wine. Quay is one of the pompous "menu fixee" places  ..either 4 or 8 courses there ...augh !!! Too much food for me and not the combination I want.

Pizza Pizza Pizza

Birthday dinner at Luccio Pizzeria at 248 Palmer Street, Darlinghurst.  My company was Darren Taylor  and Ruby, his daughter.  With such a great chef to talk about food and great pizza to eat this was a great birthday.  Luccio was away at his brother's wedding in Napoli but his offsider managed to maintain the incredible pizza ...seriously this is the best pizza in Sydney.  Try the four cheese pizza ...or the calzone .... oh ...dessert: that incredible chocolate tortino or the pasteria (ricotta cake with pearls of moistened wheat bubbles ...to die for).   I could eat there every day ..but then I would not fit in any of my clothes.

Opera Australia Dinner On The Dock

Went to a great event last Saturday night ..a fundraiser for Opera Australia. It was set in  the dock where they paint their sets, in their Surry Hills building.  Vitek Vodka with a rose flavour presented in martini glasses at arrival ...far too sweet for me so I had to give it back, but it might go well with a dessert (just give me Absolut thanks). Dinner was by Peter Gilmore from Quay.  It was rather ordinary.  Thank goodness for the excellent performances of different arias between courses .

When I first went to Quay over 10 years ago there was a different chef (Guillame) ... the food was good and there was no media hype around the restaurant. Now it is listed as number 26 in the world on the San Pellegrino list. Why? Too harsh a critic? Let me eat at Quay again and I will see if I am being mean.