What the fish?

Hello hello.

Nothing much, life's pretty much been about work and food. And a bit of retail therapy. Not exactly therapeutic when I look at my bank account...

My housemates recently returned from Japan and they got us this pea snack. Omfg it's so good I'm not exaggerating. It tastes like green pea cookies but with the crunch and savoury flavour of potato chips. SO GOOD.

Bought my first pair of designer shoes because of peer pressure wtf. No lah, I've always wanted a pair of Ferragamo Varina and Shopbop had a 25% sale. Don't they look so damn fine...

I wore these out once and I'm never wearing them again wtf. My left foot is a little loose because it's 1 size smaller than the right (story of my life) but still the fit is surprisingly not bad at all. These shoes are quite narrow but my feet is narrow anyway so that's why they fit alright. The reason I'm never wearing them again is...

... the base was worn from all the walking on tar road T_T

I know whatchu thinking. It's a freaking pair of shoes which is meant to be WORN. 

But it's not just a pair of shoes it's a Ferragamo Varina ok! When I saw how scratched up the base was my heart felt like it's scratched too. So I've concluded that if I'm going to do a lot of walking, I'm never wearing these. Unless the floor I'm walking on is tiles (eg. shopping malls), or I'm going for karaoke or something wtf. (Where nobody can even see my shoes in a dark karaoke room and most of the time you remove your shoes and put your feet on the couch/table anyway. But whatever.).

Selfie intermission wtf. Dunno why I like to tilt my head to one side when I take selfies. Makes my face skinnier looking I think.

*** Ok from here on it's all FOOD. You've been warned. ***

One of my favourite breakfast dish from Hardware Societe. Croque Madame. Their brioche toast is just spot on. Plus the combination of gruyere and bacon oh gosh. Nobody can dislike this. Nobody.

Wk had one of the specials of the day which wasn't good. If I remember it right it's smoked ham hock with forgot what croquettes, poached eggs and salsa verde (I think). 

Wk has this theory that usually (not all the time) specials are made of ingredients that are leftovers. Hahah. I kind of agree, because how else can you sell a product made of leftovers right? When you say it's "Special" or "Limited Edition", everyone will dig it.

And my obligatory cappuccino. There's something about coffee art that sort of makes breakfast/mornings 100% better.

Now on to some home-cooked stuff.

I love to eat fish. It's healthy, it cooks quickly, it's simple yet tasty.

Seared blue eye cod with garlic butter, with sides of steamed kale and baked balsamic mushroom. 

My favourite fish is steamed cod, something we would eat at home during special occasion because cod is such an expensive fish, not to mention super delicious too. 

But blue eye cod is not the cod I grew up eating :( It's nothing like it. The cod I grew up eating is black cod, it has a black gelatinous skin and a silky, smooth, tender white flesh. Blue eye cod is a really firm fish, takes a while to cook through too.

Crispy skin salmon with sides of grilled asparagus and baked sweet potato. Salmon is probably my second favourite fish, after black cod. 

This has definitely become one of my favourite breakfast. Eggs and avocado on toast with Vegemite.

Vegemite is yeast extract, it's exactly the same as Marmite. I know whatchu thinking, Marmite on bread? Ew!

I used to be disgusted too. I grew up eating Marmite mixed with porridge, or sometimes diluted with water to make soup. Vegemite on toast is a very Aussie thing. One fine day it hit me. Porridge is usually plain, that's why we add Marmite to flavour it. So is bread! So technically it should taste alright?

So I braced myself one day and tried it.

AND I LOVED IT!

You really don't need a whole lot of it because it's so salty. It tastes even better if you add something creamy on top for example cheese, eggs, or avocado; it helps to balance the saltiness. Avoid salty cheese like cheddar though because salty + salty = yuck. I'd go for something like gruyere.

I saw a Vegemite advertisement once and it had avocado, with a squeeze of lemon juice and freshly ground black pepper on a toast with vegemite. I tried it and omg it's DA BOMB. The lemon juice really help to balance out the creaminess and saltiness.

And then I saw this video on Youtube about combining boiled eggs with avocado and use it as a spread for toast. And that's it, I've found my perfect complementing topping for my Vegemite on toast.

Went to South Melbourne Market one day and found these grass-fed scotch fillet steaks! I've read a lot about grass-fed steaks (basically it's like the beef version of free-range chicken), it's apparently healthier, leaner and some say more ethical too (Because the cows lived a better life before being turned into steaks? Hahha)

I've been to markets and supermarkets and have never actually seen grass-fed steaks (plenty of steaks but none labeled as grass-fed) so I decided to get them and see what all that fuss is about. They're expensive that's for sure, just like any free-range chicken product is if compared to industrially farmed/caged chicken.

Not that I'm a steak aficionado, I really don't know much about steak. In fact, this was the first steak I've bought and cooked!

Don't wanna sound like I'm blowing my own trumpet but I loved it! I give all the credits to the cut really. It's so easy to cook (easy to cook it wrong too!)! There's no need for marinades, no need special pans. All you need is to have the steaks at room temperature and a flat pan to sear it. Season with salt and pepper. 

To me, they were perfect at medium rare (4.5 minutes in total of cooking time, for a 3/4 - 1" thickness). 30 seconds more, and it'll be medium which is alright but medium rare's better.

Another favourite breakfast - oats with natural peanut butter (no added salt/sugar), chia seeds and frozen berries (or sometimes kiwi). Peanut butter makes ANYTHING better. Anything. Hehe. I discovered that kiwi and peanut butter go really well together.

Brunch at Krimper. Forgot to take pictures of my food hehe. 

Crispy skin salmon (again), with sides of wilted spinach and baked balsamic mushroom steaks. Yes, mushroom steaks. They're basically sliced humongous mushrooms. This dinner is so simple and easy to prepare (each element needs approximately only 8-15 minutes to cook and they can all be done at the same time) yet packs nutrients and tastes great without any fancy sauces involved. Fresh produce generally are good on they're own.

It was a warm day yesterday and I was craving for a cold ice-blended drink. Headed to Max Brenner and had the Peanut Butter Iced Chockie. 

I'm not a huge fan of Max Brenner anymore simply because there are better chocolatiers out there but THIS drink, is hands down the best I've had and I have yet to find something like this elsewhere. Unless you're not a fan of peanut butter or you have some severe nut allergy, you NEED to try this.

Steamed Snapper Sunday. 

Lots of fish in this post huh? Hahah. We always have fish on Sundays because that's the day we head to the market and if we do get fishes, we would eat it on the day itself because they sort of lose the freshness as you keep them.

Okie time to get ready for work. Ciao.