Dining Out | Anarchy Road

Tonight I am cooking dinner and reflecting on my day yesterday. It was my 31st birthday. I was overwhelmed with texts, emails, cards, phone calls and Facebook messages, sent with love from near and far. I went to Crossfit in the morning, and my abs are reminding me that I worked hard on my GHD situps. I’m glad I didn’t do them the day before my birthday.

My mind drifts to the food I am cooking, and I realise that most of the vegetables I am preparing are from the organic box my parents gave me as a birthday gift. I am roasting potatoes in the beef tallow that came from the bio-dynamic beef bones we use for stock. I am cutting up tomatoes from my family’s organic farm using the Mac Mighty knife that Tyson gave me yesterday morning and remembering last night’s special birthday dinner at Rockpool.

I show love to myself by eating as well as I can and making my body strong. I make my body strong so that I can have the energy and strength to show love to others. Food and love. Love and food. What else is there?

After watching our beloved Saints get whipped by Essendon last night, Tyson and I decided to drown our sorrows with dinner and cider. The Terminus Hotel is on our tram line and we had heard the food was good so we stopped in.

When we first hopped off the tram we looked over and thought it might be closed. The building wasn’t brightly lit or conspicuous, but there were a few bikes out the front and some tables and chairs, so we headed in.

The menu was fairly simple, but we had a heck of a time deciding what to order. Did I want steak? Yes. I always want steak. But a big one all to myself? Maybe not. I liked that there was the option of choosing grain-fed or pastured (grass-fed) meat. I would go for the grass-fed beef any day. Cows eat grass. Birds eat grain. Cows are not birds, therefore, they shouldn’t eat grain. Right?

So, as a compromise, Tyson and I shared the hanger steak with beetroot mousse and celeriac purée and the soft tacos with chipotle pulled pork. And some french fries, but there isn’t really much to say about that.

I’ve read lots of recipes that involve hanger steak, but I have never cooked or eaten it before. When it came out I was surprised at how rare it was cooked (but not upset!). Tyson jumped on the Google machine and found out that hanger needs to be cooked rare to medium rare or it will be tough. He also discovered that hanger steak is derived from the diaphragm of the beast. Mmm!