Gordon Ramsay’s best scrambled egg recipe

I know what I’m cooking this Saturday morning:

Sticky Rice in a rice cooker

I’m not sure about this one – but according to About.com in the Thai food section, someone has posted a technique for cooking sticky rice in your rice cooker. And no, apparently you don’t have to soak it over night. I haven’t tried this technique yet but if you want to be the first let us know how it turns out.

Ingredients:

• SERVES 4
• 2 cups  “sticky” or “glutinous” rice
• 2 1/2 cups water
• 1/2 tsp. salt

Preparation:

1. Place 2 cups sweet rice in your rice cooker. Add 2+ 1/2 cups water and stir.
2. Let the sweet rice stand for 30 minutes (or longer if you want – up to 4 hours).
3. Add the salt and stir once more. Turn on your rice cooker.
4. When your rice cooker switches off (after 15-20 minutes), let the rice sit at least five minutes extra.
5. Enjoy your sticky rice!

Sticky Rice Tip: Sticky rice will become sticker the longer it sits.

The death of farmers’ markets

Despite the fact that since the dawn of civilization we’ve been buying and eating at village markets, the USA has introduced the ‘Food Safety Modernisation Act’. Essentially regulating and forcing registration on any producer who produces food of any kind and then transports it – the fines for non compliance are horrific.

Now I know what you’re thinking, “those whacky Americans” … but seriously, our politicians lack any sort of imagination and I think it’s only a matter of time before we see similar laws in Australia. Which could mean the death of farmers’ markets and a big win to Woolworths and Coles.

Farmers’ markets are a great solution for these troubled economic times – keeping the money in the local community where it gets spent locally. Let’s hope that our politicians leave our markets alone.

On another note, if you want to fight the economic meltdown, why not plant a vegetable garden and get some chooks? Not only do you save money but you now have some chores to give the kids that gets them away from their play stations.

First pics of the spirit house renovations

The builders have left and we’re left with a brand new restaurant. Basically the Spirit House spent two weeks at the plastic surgeon and has come out looking years younger and enhanced in all the right places. New bar, kitchen and a spiffy new paint job plus the last of our courtyards have been concreted and landscaped.

Here’s a picture I took the other day of the veranda area of the restaurant (actually it’s 7 photos made into an HDR image – which is why it has this perculiar look). Click on it to see the larger size:

Can I put this in the microwave?

If the kids are begging you to put some crayons in the microwave ‘ to see what happens’ or you are wondering what would soap do if you set it on high for a few minutes – then I’ve got the site for you. Heaps of videos of every day items put in a microwave and ‘nuked’. The videos are sped up which helps if you’re impatient like me and need to see results fast.

Onion ring volcano

I love an open kitchen, but it gets more exciting when danger is involved. A Japanese chef creates a volcano from onion rings, and oil plus some neat lava:

What! – they don’t even eat this.

Cool effect: Phonographantasmascope

What happens when you have an old record player, some cardboard, pins and a pair of scissors? You create these amazing effects:

Surviving the credit crisis

Certainly not food related but one of the most overheard conversations at the restaurant is this whole credit crisis thing. One of my favourite business authors Douglas Rushkoff has an amazing explanation about the credit crisis, and how it effects you over at boingboing.

Interestingly, the reason I bring this to your attention is because of his solution. It’s something that we at the Spirit House unwittingly have started to do ourselves inspired by the slow food movement and local harvest. By trying to source and buy from as many local suppliers as possible we stimulate the local economy which helps minimise the effects of the global market – here’s a quote from Rushkoff that says it all:

Whatever the case, the best thing you can do to protect yourself and your interests is to make friends. The more we are willing to do for each other on our own terms and for compensation that doesn’t necessarily involve the until-recently-almighty dollar, the less vulnerable we are to the movements of markets that, quite frankly, have nothing to do with us.

If you’re sourcing your garlic from your neighbor over the hill instead of the Big Ag conglomerate over the ocean, then shifts in the exchange rate won’t matter much. If you’re using a local currency to pay your mechanic to adjust your brakes, or your chiropractor to adjust your back, then a global liquidity crisis won’t affect your ability to pay for either. If you move to a place because you’re looking for smart people instead of a smart real estate investment, you’re less likely to be suckered by high costs of a “hot” city or neighborhood, and more likely to find the kinds of people willing to serve as a social network, if for no other reason than they’re less busy servicing their mortgages.

The more connected you are to the real world, and the more consciously you reject the lure of the speculative ladder, the less of a willing dupe you’ll be in the pyramid scheme that’s in the process of collapsing all around us at this moment.

Think small. Buy local. Make friends. Print money. Grow food. Teach children. Learn nutrition. And if you do have money to invest, put it into whatever lets you and your friends do those things.

I like that – get back to community. From Banana blossoms to scallops we try to use local suppliers wherever we can (which has inspired the theme for our next cook book). We use our local hardware store for all our garden and maintenance supplies and we bank here in Yandina. Building, maintenance and repair work is given to friends or friends of friends rather than the lowest quote.

I’m not saying we’re changing the world, but there’s something neat about being able to speak to the person who grows your food.

Spirit House Awards

Last night at the Restaurant and Caterers Awards, Spirit House won the Best Themed Restaurant award as well as the Best Tourism Restaurant Award. I think there will be a few sore heads this morning as our staff love to celebrate.

Spirit House ‘Business Sense’

From the Business Sense program on Channel 9 on Sunday mornings is this segment interviewing Helen Brierty – owner with her husband, Peter, of the Spirit House. Here’s a great insight into the beginnings and business lessons behind the Spirit House