mountain masala

Coq Au Vin

Here's my attempt at Coq Au Vin (chicken in wine), Bill Granger style.

This is nothing like the usual recipe of chicken braised in red wine... Rather its baked with thyme and rosemary and bacon, along with shallots or onion. 20-25 mins at 220 C then 1 cup of white wine added, then another 20-25 mins. Thanks to the wine, the meat is moist but the skin gets crispy from the heat.

Add sauted mushrooms in butter and garlic, and in my case, baked potatoes and steamed purple carrots.

Since I like the red wine in Coq Au Vin, I made a red wine, chicken stock and mushroom gravy to go with it.

Accompanied by a riesling from Goaty Hill on the Tamar River in Tassie.

Simple and very excellent.

new music

yes it's that time of the month again... it's a shame that Australians can no longer join emusic thanks to record company licensing, but it remains a cheap and legal way for me to get new music each month... so what's on my new playlist

"Trees Outside The Academy" - Thurston Moore - 2007 acoustic solo album by the Sonic Youth frontman

"Open Your Heart" - The Men - grungy, rocky, full on

"Trust" - Low - that dark, slow, beautiful rock band from Minnesota

"Psalms" - Birdy - kiwi gospel jazz - that's all I know...

"Postcards and Daydreaming" - Dan Mangan - award-winning Canadian folky rocky dude

"25 32 47" - Janey Winterbauer and Marc Perlman - think Jayhawks - harmonies, countryish

"Score" - Matthew Herbert - orchestral scores from the very clever composer, big band leader, sampling whiz... but this is pretty much classical music film scores....

"Live in Melbourne" - Kieran Kane and Kevin Welch - saw these two guys on TV here a few years ago. they've toured a few times. individually and together they are remarkable singer-songwriters and musicians. wonderful acoustic guitar songs.

"The Unissued Paramount Album" and "The Unissued Capitol Album" - Jim Ford - RnB, rock, country from an amazing artist who missed the big time. Read about him here.

and from other sources

"Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices" - The Welcome Wagon - old-time gospel music from thirtysomethings...

"Where The Wild Things Are" (Motion Picture Soundtrack) - Karen O - quite gorgeous soundtrack from the singer of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

"Sundae Sessions" - Various Artists: Tunes for Change - with The Cat Empire, Kate Miller-Heidtke, Jack Carty, and lots of people I've never heard of...

"Live At Eddie's Attic" - Angel Snow - from Noisetrade - folky, countryish

It's Legal To Seek Asylum

I've put up a new t-shirt design at RedBubble - click here to see. Any proceeds will be donated to refugee legal aid services.

Coconut Fish Curry

Here's a simple curry that I made last night with some pieces of Blue Grenadier.

Ingredients

2 garlic cloves, crushed
3 small green chillies or 1 larger red chilli, seeded and finely chopped
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cayenne pepper
1 tbsp tamarind puree
160 ml oil
300 ml coconut cream
2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves

Marinate the fish pieces in 120 ml oil, garlic, spices and tamarind for at least 30 mins.

Heat remaining oil in pan and fry fish for 1 min on each side. Add the rest of the marinade and the coconut cream. Cook on low for 3 to 5 mins or until fish flakes easily. Serve topped with coriander.

We had this with basmati rice, sauted onion, steamed carrots, fried diced potatoes, yoghurt and lime slices. Excellent.

From "The Food of India", Murdoch Books. It's an excellent book and you should buy it.

Some humble proposals about asylum seekers...

In response to the current political debate about asylum seekers,

I propose that the Australian government agree to triple our very small annual refugee intake, in a spirit of generosity.

I propose that the government publish statistics about the costs of surveillance, detention and legal action regarding asylum seekers, widely and regularly, in a spirit of honesty.

I propose that the government enter more rigorously into bilateral negotiations regarding the causes of people fleeing their countries, and seek to redirect funds from protection (from unarmed, impoverished asylum seekers) to targetted aid to such countries in a spirit of mercy.

I propose that the government ask more openly for groups and individuals who are willing to offer time, resources and care to refugees, in a spirit of hospitality.

I propose that the government document and publish the stories of asylum seekers so that the public may better understand the reasons why people would risk their lives to leave their countries, in a spirit of compassion.

I propose that the government ask the people of Australia to spend 1 minute on the first day of each month in silence, contemplation and lament for people fleeing unjust and violent homelands, in a spirit of prayer.

I propose that the government establish an advisory council of former refugees, in particular those arriving by boat, to help advise us as a nation as to how we might respond to the current refugee crisis, in a spirit of hope.

Terrified, desperate people in fragile boats are not the threat to our identity, security or economy. The threat is a political and media culture that feeds our insecurities for the sake of its own well-being.

This is not a party poitical issue, but it is political for God's sake (see Matthew 25).

If the politicians and media know that we are a people of hospitality, generosity, truthfulness, mercy, compassion, prayer and hope, they will address us differently. Rather, they see us as self-interested, defensive, and fearful of the truth.

I refuse to believe that God calls us to be the image of who the media think we are. The absurdity of this debate is that as a nation we are made of arrivals. May we lead our politicans rather than be led by them at this time.

This is my proposal and prayer. It may seem simplistic and irrational. That would make it like the current political debate at worst!

We will not be defined as a people by fear and distrust, but by compassion and hope.

thanks for listening. clearly I am wound up about all of this....

A Discipleship Handbook

I'm going to borrow an idea from the website "Building Faith" by Sharn Ely Pearson. It's called A Christian Education Handbook, a sort-of DIY manual for doing Christian education in a congregation. Sharon provides a framework for making your own resource manual, and a whole bunch of downloadable resources to assist you to get started.

My research project seeks to link Christian education with the purposes of discipleship and mission. Given that focus and the cultural differences between the US and Australia, I imagine a resource a bit different from what Sharon offers. Nevertheless I think its an idea worth developing and trialling here.

I assume that many church leaders still use paper, and get a bit lost with all of the electronic resources available. Nevertheless, such an idea isnt limited to a ring binder. An iBook might be an accompanying possibility.

What do you reckon? Would you be interested in collaborating on this?

BTW Sharon also blogs here.

 

2011 Census Data Released

The Australian Bureau of Statistics released data from the 2011 Census yesterday. The good news is that you can access community profile info free and online. Click on the above link,  the "Data and Analysis" on the left, then choose QuickStats and go to Advanced Search. Type in your postcode or whatever.

Here's an interesting summary of changes in religious affiliation - Land of Many Cultures.

"Multiculturalism has won the battle for Australia. The 2011 census reveals that Australia has become a melting pot of races, with more than one in four Australians having arrived here as migrants, while almost one in eight has Asian ancestry"

"For the first time, most Australians aged 25 to 34 are no longer Christians."

The Age online has a a data summary here.

Tribute to Timbsy

Our band is playing tonight (10 pm, after my duties at synod/presbytery meeting) at a Tribute Concert for Rob Timbs, local musician and comedian (and other things) who took his life ten years ago. It's a fundraiser for Beyond Blue organised by his daughter Sarah.

Also playing are Leigh Newton, Robin Mann, Ian Coats, "Community", Ian Milne and others, with comedy performances by members of The Flying Fettucinis and The Subtlle Bricks

Download the flyer and come join us - 7.00 pm at Rosefield UC. Entry $10. BYO food and drink - alcohol permitted. It's cabaret style with tables and chairs.

Download Flyer

2012 World Press Photo Awards

The 2012 World Press Photo Awards are on tour as an exhibition (currently in Brisbane at the Powerhouse in New Farm for 2 more days.,

These annual awards were announced back on 15 March. They highlight the best photos from around the world in a number of categories, along with multimedia entries.

An printed book of winners and runners up is produced and its always extraordinary,

There's also a free iPad App which is pretty nifty for showing them in a small group.

And of course there's the archive which will knock your socks off.

Reviewing Lay Preachers

For the last couple of years I've been heading up a national review of the ministry of Lay Preacher, with the expert assistance of Lynne Taylor for most of that time. Due to a couple of requests, I thought I'd archive some of the resources here.

The request for the review came from the Uniting Church's Assembly Standing Committee as a result of a proposal (brought by Amelia Koh-Butler and myself) to our National Assembly in 2009. The review was referred to our Ministerial Education Commission (MEC) and then to the Working Group on Lay Specified Ministries which I convene. This left us with the job of framing and then the review itself... (not my original intention!)