Nell’s Rants

I firmly believe that if you are an artist (singer dancer etc) and you wake up in Canberra then you’d probably sue your manager for mental abuse. Suffice to say the latest Sydney Dance Company performance didn’t come to Canberra so Q and I zipped up to Brisbane to see them.

It was beautiful. Simply beautiful. They did a take on Norman Lindsay’s artistic works that was one of the most wonderful things I’ve ever seen. I love Sydney Dance, it was worth every cent to go up to Brissie for a couple of days.

Now we’re back here and I have a damned cold. So much for getting the flu shot this year - I’ve got the annoying runny nose and sore chest with gravel throat. This sucks. It’s also so bloody cold here that my hands are freezing as I type. Sucks. Summer can’t come soon enough as far as I’m concerned.

Of course I know you are all hanging out to find out how the Yucatan Pork turned out. The first thing I noticed was the salt. It was pretty obvious that I’d used too much, though I’d stuck to the recipe precisely. The meat fell apart and it tasted a lot like a vindaloo. I’ve been told that we can only taste 3 different flavours at once and I’d say - chile, salt and the tequila were the most obvious. Although I only put in one shot of tequila I’d have to say it was one of the strongest flavours. BTW I used Mezcal.

Over all - would I make it again considering it took 4 hours to cook; 30 min prep; 24 hours to marinate… yes - I’d like to have Johnny Depp come over and shoot me for cooking the best Puerco Pibil in Canberra (and possibly the only person to cook it here in 2006).

http://www.thamike.com/faux_newz/31_314/bastards.html

I really need to get some more constructive hobbies… like doing my studies instead of surfing the www

I don’t think I’ve told you about my culinary expertise. Maybe that’s too polite a way to talk about it.. I love to cook - unfortunately I also love to eat my own cooking.

Today we’re making Puerco Pibil. This is Yucatan style slow roasted pork. We’ve been to the Yucatan but didn’t try this unfortunately.If you’ve seen Roberto Rodriguez’s movies - (The Mariarchi series) Once Upon a Time In Mexico then you will be familiar with this dish. Johnny Depp’s character orders it at every restaurant he eats at and finally shoots the chef when he eats the ultimate dish.

I thought it would be too difficult to get annato seeds in Australia but Surprise I managed to buy them in a Herbies Spices pack at the local market. Q helped me make up the marinade and we’re letting the pork wallow in it for a couple of days before I slow roast it in bannana leaves for 4 hours.

http://www.thespicehouse.com/recipe/recipe_Puerco-Pibil.php

Other than that I’ve got this week off to do my last essay for uni this term. I’ve got my fingers crossed. I think I’m just finding the whole uni thing very frustrating at the moment - part time uni just takes so very looong to complete. I just wish it was all over with.