Friday Drinks #6: First Friday. Scenes From the City. Risoni.


Can you even believe that we’ve made it to our first Friday of 2017 already?

Crazy times at work notwithstanding, I’m still in staycation mode on my days off.  I wonder what it’s going to take to bring me back to reality?  Winter, I suppose.

In the meantime…

it was bacon and egg rolls for all when we went out for breakfast at Garcon

to which I went dressed thus.  I am yet to wear any of my three pairs of white jeans this summer but I have managed to take these white Birkis out and about.  The dress is a jaunty nautical number from Tommy Hilfiger.  I’m probably in the wrong decade of life to be wearing a anchors and navy but meh, #yolo and all that.

It’s been a bit wet and grey in Sydney this week.  Gloomy as that may sound, it’s actually taken the heat and humidity out of our days making walks and drives around town that much more pleasant.  I found this beautiful motorcycle parked out the front of a terrace the other day.  My other favourite thing in this photo is the jade green lamp shade above the door.
I both glimpsed and had a chance to photograph the latest incarnation of The Coke Sign At Kings Cross as well.  The traffic’s building up a bit these days.  It’s still not at the usual levels of Sydney chaos but there’s enough cars on the road  now to not make me feel like a lone road warrior on my work commutes.  It’s amazing how familiarity breeds tolerance when it comes to traffic.  When I first moved here, I never thought that the traffic would become a reassuring presence in my life.

 While our local supermarket may now feature it’s very own piece of edgy street art

and magically expanding face washer cubes,

it does not sell risoni.  Who, what, why!?!?!  Thank goodness, then, for the Tramshed supermarket which has an entire aisle of pasta.

The dish I made with that precious box of pasta was Nagi’s One Pot Italian Chicken Risoni.  Nagi’s blog, Recipe Tin Eats is a wealth of real world recipe ideas.  I really like both Nagi’s warm and bubbly turn of phrase as well as her delicious recipes that deliver a lot of bang for buck.  The basic tenets of her recipes include:

  • maximising flavour through short cut techniques like cooking carbs and meat together 
  • achieving the taste of cream without actually using very much of it at all
  • keeping it real and easy as much as possible while also managing to throw in a bit of excitement with an unusual influence on the flavours of a dish here and there.

Principles I see myself living by as well.

This pasta dish was full of flavour thanks to the chicken being marinated in vinegar and mustard before cooking.  The addition of red capsicum to the tomato based sauce added a lovely sweetness to it.  This was the perfect dish for the last crop of basil from my backdoor herb garden and I can’t wait to try more of Nagi’s recipes.

Happy Friday to you!


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