On and off the beach

We decided to treat ourselves to a day at the beach today, so jumped in the car and headed down to the Gold Coast. There was no real plan, just throw a few toys in the car and see where we end up.

It was a brisk & windy day so the idea of going for a dip was swiftly dismissed. But we were lucky enough to see this guy making the most of the on-shore breezes

He was on a surfboard so was able to ride the waves on the way in, then turn around and cruise back out again. And he was a good surfer, carving the board down the wave

and smashing the lips with top turns

The most impressive thing was that he was on a normal surfboard - no foot straps, and not even a leash. But he was still able to cope with the waves without losing his board. I have no idea how he did that.

 I was inspired, as I athletically sat in the car drinking a flask of coffee

I've been playing around on my drift skates for the last few weeks and I'd thrown them in the car that morning, so figured it was time to give them a go. Hmm - now how do these work again?

There was a lack of useful posts to be able to push off from, so I had to launch from the flat pavement down the gentle (but surprisingly speed generating) slope. When I first started learning to do that it gave me calf cramps, so things are moving on.

Liz found the video feature on the camera, so if you want to watch a fat middle aged bloke wobble precariously down a gentle slope then here's your chance!

Easy Peasey Cheese (y)

Panir (or Paneer) is an Indian cheese with a mild flavour that can be eaten raw or used to cook with. It's also really easy to make and you don't need any special equipment or ingredients, so if you've ever fancied making your own cheese it's a good place to start. I'm taking the recipe from Ricki Carrol's 'Home Cheese Making' - an excellent book for budding cheese makers - but there are many similar recipes on line.

The only equipment that you need to make Paneer is

• Saucepan big enough to hold 3L of milk
• Slotted spoon
• Large knife
• Cheesecloth or muslin (available from supermarkets)
• Colander
• String or shoe-lace
• A kettle (to boil water for sterilisation)

 and the ingredients are equally simple

• 3L milk (full fat or semi skimmed)
• Around a cup of lemon juice (ie 3 or 4 fresh lemons) 

First use the boiling water to make sure that everything is clean & sterile. I'm doing 2 3L batches here, hence the 2 saucepans

Next comes the time consuming bit - you need to gently heat the milk up to a rolling boil. If you heat it too quickly or don't stir it regularly you'll burn the milk so you'll need something else to keep you amused. Handy hint - if you take the milk out of the fridge up to 12 hours before you plan to make the cheese it will get closer to room temperature, which saves a bit of cooking time.

While you're waiting juice your lemons

On our crappy rental stove it took around 90 minutes to get the milk up to a gentle rolling boil. Be careful when you get close to the boiling point - keep an eye on the milk and keep stirring it. If it bubbles over it can be very messy.

Reduce the heat to low and pour the lemon juice into the milk before the foam subsides. Them remove from the heat and stir gently until you get chunky bits (the curds) forming. The remaining liquid (the whey) should be clear - in the picture below it's a bit milky so if you see this put the pan back on a low heat and gently stir until the whey clears.

 This is better - nice clear whey. And don't worry, it's supposed to be yellow.

Once you see this take the pan of the heat and leave it to sit for 10 minutes or so. Whilst you're doing this line the colander with the cheesecloth and sit this over a pan.

When the curds have settled below the whey, ladle the curds into the colander. Or you can carefully pour directly into the colander from the saucepan. The curds should look like cream cheese or popcorn. The saucepan underneath is to catch the whey as you want to keep that too.

Wrap the curds in the cheesecloth and rinse under cold water for 5 to 10 seconds. Also gently twist the cheesecloth to squeeze out a little more whey.

 Then just hang the bag somewhere where it can gently drain for 2-3 hrs

 After that, unwrap the cheese and it's good to go

You can slice it and eat it straight away, or you can store it for a couple of weeks and let the flavours mature a bit. It doesn't melt so you can also cook with it - it's excellent in curries and stews.

The whey can be used as a liquid substitute for bread making, for stock, to boil pasta in or (according to the book) "it makes a delicious summer drink when served with ice and crushed mint leaves". I haven't been game to try that one yet!

It's as simple as that. You can also work the cheese a little more after it's drained and add herbs & spices to make a flat pattie you can fry up. This is called a chenna, and if you're interested I'll add another post later showing how to do that.

Go on - give it a go on the next rainy day!

Shitake getting hectic

Brisbane had a 'regional tastes' festival the other week and we picked up a shitake mushroom log from a local produce stand. At first this looks like a dirty log wrapped in clingfilm (which drew some entertaining looks at the festival), but there was a break in the clingfilm and when we got it home the mushrooms soon took advantage of that. Insert your favourite 'not mush room in there' pun here.

The mushroom log is basically a hard-packed compressed woodchip cylinder that has been innoculated with mushroom spores. You need to keep it somewhere moist but allow a bit of air to circulate, and after a bit of looking around we decided that our empty fishtank would be perfect.

The mushrooms emerge in three or four 'flushes' over 6 weeks or so. We weren't sure when to harvest the mushrooms so we left lovely white mushrooms on the log too long and we had to throw hald of them away because they turned a bit brown and mouldy. Next time we'll pick them when they look ready instead of waiting for the whole 'crop' to be ready. But the ones we tasted were lovely - fresh, clean and with a hint of an aged cheese to the flavour.

Thinking about it, that might work in a beer...

The GOD riff

One of the joys of moving to a new country is getting to hear all the classic music that was around before you arrived but that you didn't get to hear at your original home. Australia has a very strong rock'n'roll history and I reckon that this is one of its standouts, released by 4 lads from Melbourne aged 15 & 16 in the late 1980s.

I just can't get enough of that constantly repeating riff, and if you feel the same here's the same song as a backing track to some awesome (and painful) skating.

Enjoy...

Sandgate ride

Yesterday was another beautiful day, so I made the most of it and met up with a couple of friends for a gentle spin out to the coast. We met up at Nundah and I realised I'm slowly becoming naturalised after tossing up whether to wear a thermal under my jersey when it was wall to wall sunshine and with a forecast of 23 degrees!

We headed out on the bikeway in a loose formation, swapping turns on the front when it was time to swap gossip

First off we rode alongside the Kedron Brook floodway, which is far prettier than the name implies

Then after a short road section you turn off into the Boondall Wetlands - this alternates between mangrove swamp (negotiated via a boardwalk)

open plains of grassland (where you can pretty much hear the snakes jogging alongside you checking you out for a sign of weakness)

 and light woodland

The path twists and turns it way along, and at times it bunches up and almost feels like singletrack on tarmac. 

Ah the joy of corners - we'd never make the womens triathlon team

After a few more twists and turns you end up cutting through a small housing estate, although it's a little different over here than in the UK

Eventually you emerge at the head of Cabbage Tree Creek, where there is a small marina and a few commercial fishing boats selling fresh-caught seafood. Sadly I'd left my panniers at home so couldn't pick up a kilo of prawns as I was passing.

There's a brief climb which allows you to look down over Moreton Bay in all it's glory - you can just see Moreton Island in the distance

 and then after some winding along suburban roads you emerge on the seafront

At this point we could have continued, but the lure of sitting in the sun, catching up with old mates and discussing the Olympics proved too great

 As did the 'brunch of champions'

 There are worse places to be on a sunny Sunday morning

 As you have probably guessed, it was a cracking way to spend a Sunday morning

    Thanks all! :)

Chilly mornings

Brisbane's going through a cold snap at the minute, dropping down to 4 degrees overnight. You can smell woodsmoke in the air and the guy over the road is out chopping logs in his back yard. It's the kind of weather that makes people who don't understand science comment "they say there's global warming but it's colder today than it was a week ago".

Luckily despite the 'cold' the skies are still clear and blue. It's nice to head out on the morning, find a sunny spot, have a coffee and talk about bikes and where to go next. The number of racked bikes is ever-growing....

Ginger Slapper

No, not a post about Geri Halliwell but another ginger beer - which means another picture of a big bowl of ginger...

This brew was inspired by Miff's nickname for my last ginger beer. I decided to make a ginger beer with a real bite and a kick to match...something that slaps you around as you're drinking it, but in a way that keeps you coming back for more.

So -

• 2kg raw sugar
• 1kg brown sugar
• 1/2 kg wheat malt extract
• 1/2 kg lactose
• 1.3kg ginger (cleaned & blanched in boiling water, frozen and then diced with the skins on)
• 2 lemons
• 4 limes
• 2 sliced chillis
• 7 cloves
• star anise   

Boil for 60 mins, adding in 4 more diced chillis and 5g Tasmanian pepper with 10 mins to go.

This made 21 litres of wort with a gravity of 1042-ish, so if this ferments out completely (which it should do with American ale yeast S-05) it will give a spicey zesty 5.2% brew. Get your slap on!