tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-193028162024-03-13T21:35:12.118+00:00The Golden ShrimpEvahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01202559763883473117noreply@blogger.comBlogger106125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19302816.post-91603477647554691902016-12-30T17:49:00.002+00:002016-12-30T17:49:21.205+00:00Reflection<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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As I hinted in my last posts 2017 will be a year of change and with the end of year looming, I always find myself reflecting. The years since my last blogposts have been turbulent: in parallel to getting divorced I changed jobs and took a position that I was overqualified for. At the time, i thought it was an opportunity but in hindsight the combination of that, low self-esteem, bad dating experiences, a bad manager and lack of recognition led to a nervous breakdown in 2013.<br />
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I was lucky that several friends who saw the signs early and convinced me to go on sick leave early in the process. I'm still grateful for that as therefore the consequences were limited and with support from professionals and friends I gradually returned to work, felt better about myself, got recognition and this culminated in a new professional opportunity in October 2015.<br />
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This job met my expectations and ambitions in so many ways; level of responsibility, part of small department but wider project team, a supportive manager, an inspirational project leader, improving patient lives and lots and lots of science. I enjoyed the challenge, made progress, contributed, realised I was good at it despite the ever increasing workload (chronic understaffing). At the same time, I realised I was still unfulfilled for many reasons; long hours were one, but more importantly was the detailed level of knowledge required. I had not been in a situation like this since i my time in academic research, when it was a topic I was fascinated by but I left because I didn't have a burning question I wanted to solve/dedicate my career to. Here I was again, expected to gain knowledge, read papers and be at the scientific forefront but on a subject that, though relevant, didn't interest me to get that deep into.<br />
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In parallel, I have always had the wish to explore working with food. I've been cooking for as long as I can remember with my family and friends, working in hospitality at university, writing this blog, tested recipes for cookbooks and been on the verge of starting a venture a few times.<br />
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So when the opportunity came to potentially help out a friend next summer season at a small place that does not involve much financial commitment the decision was easily made. Sometimes I feel it's a strange manifestation of a midlife crisis being late thirties, single and with no kids. On the other hand, it is a very conscious decision, at a point in my life where I am confident in myself, can afford to take a calculated risk and have the change to live a lifelong dream. Details still have to be sorted out, it may all fall through, but I hope not and am resolved to document my experience, the process, my thoughts and some images here for myself and anyone who's interested. Have a good end to 2016 and looking forward what next year will bring....<br />
<br />Evahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01202559763883473117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19302816.post-38282136998779989962016-10-29T09:51:00.002+01:002016-10-29T09:58:13.209+01:00Is anyone still there?It's been very quiet here the last few years and much has happened....marriage, divorce, an amazing new apartment, several new jobs, a successful career in drug development, several trips to japan, lots of mountains climbed in summer and winter, inspiriting "dinnerclub" dinners, a new developed love for modern art and now a new change...it's a little too early to share so will keep you in the dark a little longer but will share more the coming weeks/months....<br />
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Evahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01202559763883473117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19302816.post-88718721954678571112009-02-09T19:53:00.003+00:002009-02-09T20:03:22.049+00:00No more blogging...at least for a while<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/SZCL5ntqnsI/AAAAAAAAAjA/c0SzVVXnBt4/s1600-h/saasfee.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/SZCL5ntqnsI/AAAAAAAAAjA/c0SzVVXnBt4/s400/saasfee.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300890583444397762" /></a>So, I guess you know what I'm gonna right based on the title....I'm hanging up my blogging, at least for the foreseeable future. It's very sad but life is just too busy at the moment and I just don't have enough time to do it all. Between a new job, a wedding to plan this summer, making the most of the snow with countless skiing weekends, pottery classes, yoga, cooking and crafting, I have no time to sit down and write. But still, I always feel like I should in the back of my mind, which is why this post should help make things a bit more final. <br /><br />So thank you all for reading and commenting, it's been a great few years and I've learned and gotten so much inspiration from the blogging world out there! Perhaps one day I'll be back but for the moment I say goodbye.Evahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01202559763883473117noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19302816.post-44596158353841637052008-11-23T19:36:00.005+00:002008-11-23T20:30:08.321+00:00On culture and cheese<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/SSm3NvmScYI/AAAAAAAAAhU/xdVHChsGrZs/s1600-h/vienna.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 56px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/SSm3NvmScYI/AAAAAAAAAhU/xdVHChsGrZs/s400/vienna.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5271946285557117314" /></a><br />I'm determined to stay with the blogging at the moment but let me explain why I haven't posted for two weeks. Last weekend we had a three day trip to Vienna which was amazing. A beautiful city filled with fabulous buildings and museums, a bustling Christmas market, comfy coffee houses with tasty cakes and a delicious food market filled with many cafe's. After our stay, the feet were very sore from all the walking, the bellies full of the delicious tarts and sausages and the senses overloaded with their plethora of museums.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/SSm3N7kvgYI/AAAAAAAAAhc/jEAchqiAous/s1600-h/oberdorf.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 150px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/SSm3N7kvgYI/AAAAAAAAAhc/jEAchqiAous/s400/oberdorf.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5271946288771858818" /></a><br />Then this weekend has been filled with dinners and meeting friends with at the top of it all, a scrumptious cheese fondue in a friends vineyard this afternoon. It's a small plot of land that first her father and now her brother work as their hobby. We walked up there around 3.30 in a snowy winter wonderland. Once we got to the little house they have, we cooked the cheese on the wood stove and drank their white wine....the most perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon if you ask me! The way down was a bit more challenging as it had started snowing again and there was a fierce wind making it very exciting in the dark.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/SSm3OejL43I/AAAAAAAAAhk/9zsQnXz-2Sw/s1600-h/CIMG5311.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/SSm3OejL43I/AAAAAAAAAhk/9zsQnXz-2Sw/s400/CIMG5311.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5271946298160571250" /></a><br />Finally, a little bit of crafting with this year's dinner table light decoration. Still sticking with a natural theme like <a href="http://thecraftyshrimp.wordpress.com/?s=autumn+lights">last</a> year but using a different plant. And the little leaves swing happily around if you have some candles lit on the table.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Cheese Fondue a la Bischof</span> <br />(calculate between 150-200g cheese per person depending on the appetite)<br /><br />600g of cheese (equal amounts of Gruyere, Vacherin Fribourgeois and Appenzeller - or what you have at hand)<br />3 cloves of garlic (making for a fairly garlicy taste so reduce if you don't like it too strong) <br />300 ml of white wine (and plenty more for drinking!)<br />grated nutmeg<br />2tsp cornflour<br />a small glass of Kirsch (again, have some extra on hand to sip as it aids the digestion)<br />black pepper<br />a pinch of bicarbonate soda<br />plenty of your favourite bread (we had potatobread with walnuts and also half white)<br /><br />Chop the garlic roughly and put it in the pan, add the cheese, wine and cornflour and place on the heat. Stir until all is dissolved and then stir in the kirsch, nutmeg and pepper. Mix well and just before serving add the bicarbonate soda and mix well. Serve with the bread whist stirring in the shape of eights - this prevents the cheese from burning at the bottom and makes for a fantastic "Grossmutter". This is the crust that forms at the bottom and make sure you have some room left as it's the best bit of the whole fondue.Evahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01202559763883473117noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19302816.post-8880509070924356842008-11-09T16:35:00.004+00:002008-11-09T16:46:49.721+00:00First pottery piece..<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/SRcTg8tYkiI/AAAAAAAAAcA/J6iUIr2aJb8/s1600-h/stand.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 271px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/SRcTg8tYkiI/AAAAAAAAAcA/J6iUIr2aJb8/s320/stand.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5266699746006307362" /></a><br />...that I made in my new course (started in April). The progress i this course is much slower but the pieces are finished better and I learn a lot more then before. One down side is that the glazes are a lot less spectacular then in my last class. But at the same time it's nice to glaze thing simply and make a form that suits that. <br /><br />This cake stand is the the perfect piece to present <a href="http://thepassionatecook.typepad.com/thepassionatecook/2007/01/gorgonzola_quic.html">these</a> small savoury tarts on (made with some delicious Cashel Blue and left over beer and coconib <a href="http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2006/08/can_you_can_bee_1.html">jam</a>)and it was soon empty again.Evahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01202559763883473117noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19302816.post-59629862130393392622008-11-02T20:13:00.001+00:002008-11-02T20:15:38.212+00:00Where have I been?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/SQ4KU9dxy-I/AAAAAAAAAb4/Tsi6W7RiuV4/s1600-h/CIMG5022.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/SQ4KU9dxy-I/AAAAAAAAAb4/Tsi6W7RiuV4/s320/CIMG5022.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5264156369655811042" /></a><br /><br />It's been quiet on the blog for the last few months but real life has been busy and bustling. We've had a summer of fabulous sunshine and Rhine swimming coupled with friends visiting, music festivals and mountains. Interspersed there have been many dinners, bbq's, crafting, pottery and testing Japanese recipes.<br /><br />In addition, some life changing events have taken place: I finished my job at the university at the end of July. After months (even years) of doubt I finally made the decision to change careers. After 2 months of job searching (a wonderful week at home and lots of the above mentioned Rhine swimming) I found a new position and have very happily transited to the pharmaceutical industry since the start of October.<br /><br />Last but by no way least, there has been a very unexpected but welcome proposal on the middle of a glacier a few weeks ago followed by a very swift OF COURSE! filling life with lots of champagne,celebrations and this incredible happiness. Who would have thought this would change so much in our happy living together state ...says the Dutch girl always skeptical of marriage, I guess I have to eat my words but boy, they taste sweet :-). With that comes lots of planning/organizing to be done in the next few months.<br /><br />So with all that I fear the blog will suffer even more!<br /><br />I had great plans of overhauling it this summer which obviously hasn't happened and have now decided to merge the two back here and abandon the other <a href="http://thecraftyshrimp.wordpress.com">one</a>. So this will see a bit more craft which will be interspersed with some more food and general ramblings. Thanks for hanging in there and look forward to sharing the experiences with you...Evahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01202559763883473117noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19302816.post-84216515912730916922007-12-26T15:12:00.001+00:002008-12-11T15:08:15.264+00:00Christmas and more excitement<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/R3JvysB8vSI/AAAAAAAAAbw/L_wY8oBGDQM/s1600-h/Mulledwine.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/R3JvysB8vSI/AAAAAAAAAbw/L_wY8oBGDQM/s400/Mulledwine.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5148300240641375522" /></a> So I had a whole series of posts planned but the last few weeks have just flown and not it’s boxing day! And in an hour we’ll be getting onto a bus to get to a plane and another one and another one and then in about 26 hours we’ll be landing in Melbourne to start our 4 week holiday! I’m so excited! Good friends of both Barry and me are getting married in Tasmania in January and we decided it was a great opportunity to catch up with them, see them on their special day, meet other friends who are attending and spend some time on what promises to be a fabulous island. So there won’t be so much posting done although I'll definitely be enjoying lots of nice food and wine. I hope you all have a fabulous New Years Eve and see you in 2008!<br /><br />ps...a fab tip I found in one of my cookbooks, if you have any mulled wine left over, freeze it and serve it as a sophisticated granitaEvahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01202559763883473117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19302816.post-14200306451959512062007-12-08T08:13:00.000+00:002008-12-11T15:08:15.440+00:00A wintery pizza<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/R061bQkO7aI/AAAAAAAAAOo/xnxP3amyYdY/s1600-h/truffel.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/R061bQkO7aI/AAAAAAAAAOo/xnxP3amyYdY/s400/truffel.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5138243704784350626" /></a><br />Another brief post as this week we are in Ireland visiting Barry's family. We're getting all are family visits sorted now as we won't see them for Christmas. The reason?? We're going on a 4 week holiday to Melbourne and Tasmania! I'm so excited as we haven't had a holiday all year and we've been saving days for this one! Anyway, more about that in a later post. <br /><br />With all the traveling, socializing and getting presents organized, the cooking has been somewhat limited recently but I still wanted to share this recipe with you. Its another one from my friend <a href="http://thegoldenshrimp.blogspot.com/2007/08/shf-34-going-local.html" target="_blank">Simone</a> who is a source of great recipes that are often easy but totally delicious! For this one we were lazy and bought a ball of pizza dough at the local store, which here is as good as home made, topped it with thinly sliced potato and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taleggio_cheese"target="_blank">Taleggio</a> cheese. After baking it in the oven for about 20 min at 220°C on a pizza stone the cheese was melted and golden. Topped with some truffle oil to give it a nutty earthy smell, it was an incredibly tasty dinner that we'll be making much more this winter. I also think my little bottle of truffle oil won't last very long (even though a little goes a long way) as we've already been using it on <a href="http://www.deliciousdays.com/archives/2007/05/24/an-extra-dose-of-sunshine-egg-ravioli/"target="_blank">this</a> pasta and I think it would work well on something like a mushroom bruchetta.Evahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01202559763883473117noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19302816.post-60540797957345030152007-12-01T12:48:00.000+00:002008-12-11T15:08:17.529+00:00In a pickle...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/R061OAkO7ZI/AAAAAAAAAOg/fh3I_00ntYQ/s1600-h/pickle.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/R061OAkO7ZI/AAAAAAAAAOg/fh3I_00ntYQ/s400/pickle.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5138243477151083922" /></a><br />...that's what happened to these baby onions, herbs and spices using <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/pickledshallots_13699.shtml" target="_blank">this </a>recipe. I've made this recipe for the last several years and they are great! so much better than the store bought ones. They make a lovely present or are great to keep and eat with fondue, raclette or meat. I normally make half the liquid suggested in the recipe or use twice as much onions...whatever you fancy. This is my entry for <a href="http://www.burntmouth.com/2007/10/spoonful-of-christmas.html" target="_blank">A Spoonful of Christmas</a> hosted by <a href="http://www.burntmouth.com/" target="_blank">Zlamushka </a>I know it's a bit short but am in the Netherlands up to my ears in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinterklaas" target="_blank">Sinterklaas</a> poems and surprises.Evahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01202559763883473117noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19302816.post-6287830224234187882007-11-22T08:34:00.000+00:002008-12-11T15:08:18.392+00:00On Snow, Parsnips and SHF<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/R0NjuQkO7XI/AAAAAAAAAOQ/Rp-A7H1WqEI/s1600-h/snow.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/R0NjuQkO7XI/AAAAAAAAAOQ/Rp-A7H1WqEI/s400/snow.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5135057646504570226" /></a><br /><br />How fitting that my 100th post is about one of the most perfect days I've had in a long time! Last Sunday I went to the mountains in my friends new camper van. After an early start we arrived in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lauterbrunnen" target ="_blank">Lauterbrunnen</a>, took the gondela up and walked to Mürren. This is why I moved to Switzerland! <br /><br />The weather was perfect, sunshine, blue skies and the most amazing snow I've ever seen! About 70 cm deep and covered with a layer of crystals several cm big, they were like little Christmas trees. We made a beautiful walk, played in the snow, built mini snowmen and ate lunch in the sunshine. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/R0NjugkO7YI/AAAAAAAAAOY/FbgggpKqzBo/s1600-h/snow2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/R0NjugkO7YI/AAAAAAAAAOY/FbgggpKqzBo/s400/snow2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5135057650799537538" /></a><br /><br />When it comes to walking food, I'm just not one for sandwiches. I always find that by the time you get to eat it its squashed, cold and often tasteless. Therefore, I prefer home baked lunches, preferably with nuts and cheese for lots of flavour and energy. For this walk I used parsnips as they are back in season! I developed quite a liking for this root vegetable whilst living in Scotland. Before that I'd never even seen a parsnip as they are very hard to come by. However, this year the local supermarket has started selling them as an "ancient vegetable" so we'll hopefully be eating a lot more of them. I know parsnips mostly as a savoury vegetable but they also go well with sweet (think honey roasted) flavours and I'd heard that they can also be used in cakes, like carrots, but that this somehow fell out of fashion after the WWII. <br /><br />I adapted <a href="http://www.latartinegourmande.com/2007/07/30/food-styling-and-photography-at-blogher-stylisme-et-photographie-culinaires-a-blogher/" target="_blank">this</a> recipe (a firm favourite for summer walks) as I wanted to make a savoury and a sweet version to take along and use some of the walnuts from my parents garden. They were a great success. For the savoury I used gruyere, walnuts and fresh herbs (rosemary, sage and thyme), whereas the sweet ones had raisins, nuts, nutmeg and ginger. Both yummy and with lots of energy to keep me going on the walk, hopefully the season will be good, there will be many trips and I can make them loads. This post my entry for this months <a href="http://www.domesticgoddess.ca/pages.php?page=10002"target="_blank">sugar high friday</a> - The Beta Carotene Harvest - hosted by <a href="http://definitelynotmartha.blogspot.com" target="_blank">Definitely not Martha</a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/R0NjuQkO7WI/AAAAAAAAAOI/42x5eka6580/s1600-h/muffins.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/R0NjuQkO7WI/AAAAAAAAAOI/42x5eka6580/s400/muffins.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5135057646504570210" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Sweet or Savoury Parsnip Muffins (makes 6)<br /></span><br />1 cup flour<br />1/3 cup buckwheat flour<br />1 Tbsp baking powder<br />3 eggs<br />2 parsnip - grated<br />1 tbsp creme fraiche<br />1/2 cup vegetable oil<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Sweet </span><br />60g raisins<br />60g walnuts - chopped<br />1 tsp cinnamon<br />1/2 tsp ground ginger <br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Savoury</span><br />60g gruyere - grated<br />60g walnuts - chopped<br />2 tbsp fresh herbs<br />salt and pepper to taste<br /><br />Heat the over to 180°C, in a large bowl, mix the creme fraiche, oil and eggs. Then stir in the flour and grated parsnip. Finally, add the extra fillings and the spices. Or at this point you can divide the mix in two and make both (make sure to halve the amounts given above). Pour the mixture into buttered molds and top with either raisins or walnuts. Cook for 30 min or until a needle comes out clean. Leave to cool and enjoy!Evahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01202559763883473117noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19302816.post-19045154307584392492007-11-07T23:31:00.000+00:002008-12-11T15:08:18.648+00:00Nigella's express mousse<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/RzJB1zflaMI/AAAAAAAAAOA/2wCqm2UCwP4/s1600-h/CIMG0430.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/RzJB1zflaMI/AAAAAAAAAOA/2wCqm2UCwP4/s400/CIMG0430.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5130235318139971778" /></a><br />I'm not sure if you've been watching the most recent <a href="http://nigella.com/" target="_blank">Nigella Lawson</a> series? Titled <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/tv_and_radio/nigellaexpress_index.shtml" target="_blank">Nigella Express</a> she promises you ideas to make good food fast with her usual "fantabulous" style. Don't get me wrong, I watched every episode but can't help feeling a bit cheated after every show. Yes, the recipes she shows are fast and no doubt tasty but a lot if somehow pre-made or bought and for me it takes the joy out of cooking a bit. Plus all the hair-flicking, flirting with the camera and vocabulary seems a little out of place to me. <br /><br />Not that I want to slave over a hot stove every time but when having a dinner party, it's nice to make a bit of effort. But I appreciate that I can be a bit of a masochist when it comes to these things and she definitely has some nice ideas. I've become pretty addicted to her bean mash and when she made her <a href="http://nigella.com/recipes/recipe.asp?article=1254" target="_blank">no worries chocolate mousse</a>, I knew I had to try it as I had the perfect occasion/audience. <br /><br />A friend of mine has been organizing girlie weekend get-togethers in the <a href="http://www.lake-district.gov.uk/" target="_blank">Lake District</a> for the last 4 years. They are weekends to catch up with her friends (and mine both from before and through this) and they are always fabulous. How often do you get the chance to spend a weekend with up to 20 women your own ages from all backgrounds, nationalities, professions in a wonderful setting?! Most make it every year and we chat lots, walk, have been known to treasure hunt and eat and drink lots of nice things. On Friday night it's casual pizza but on Saturday night all the stops are pulled out for a pot luck dinner. Everyone always makes a real effort and there is always to much food.<br /><br />And <a href="http://woolliemind.blogspot.com/2007/10/wanderings-and-little-bit-of-woollie-i.html" target="_blank">this year</a> was no exception, as I was traveling from Switzerland this year, I didn't want to make something very complicated but still wanted it to shine and I figured these would do the trick. And indeed they are a breeze to make (although I was a bit worries about pouring the hot chocolate mix into the beaten cream which totally deflated of course), set very fast and tasted lovely although it was incredibly rich and perhaps a bit too much after a 4 course meal! I paired them with some wafers inspired by the <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Essence-Recipes-Champignon-David-Everitt-Matthias/dp/1904573525/ref=sr_11_1/203-9695715-6506314?ie=UTF8&qid=1194474482&sr=11-1" target="_blank">Essence</a> cookbook I bought recently (fantastic! a definite recommendation and will blog about it soon!). These are very easy to make and look spectacular. The perfect dessert for another perfect weekend, I already look forward to the next one. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Rice paper and cocoa nib tuiles</span><br />50 g sugar<br />50 ml water<br />rice paper (from Asian supermarket;the white ones for making fresh spring rolls)<br />handful of broken <a href="http://thegoldenshrimp.blogspot.com/2007/03/finally-found.html" target="_blank">cocoa nibs</a> (or anything you want to use)<br /><br />Boil the water and sugar together to make a syrup, then leave to cool. In the mean time line a baking tray with parchment paper, cut the rice paper into pieces and dip one into the syrup. Place it on the tray and sprinkle with some cocoa nibs. Repeat this process till you run out of rice paper. Dry these tuiles in the oven at 80°C for 3-4 hours, they will keep in an airtight container so are easy to make in advance.<br /><br />And for the people who wanted the flat bread recipe:<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Flatbreads</span> (±15)<br />2 tsp dried yeast (or 30g fresh)<br />450-475 ml water<br />750 g strong white flour<br />2tsp fine sea salt<br />black pepper freshly ground<br />50 ml olive oil<br />extra flour for rolling<br /><br />Start about 2-3 hours before required and you need quite a bit of space to make these. First mix the flour, salt, pepper and olive oil then add in the yeast and mix well. Finally stir in the water bit by bit to make a soft dough that leaves the sides of the bowl clean. Knead for about 10 min till elastic - you can do this by hand or with a mixer, whatever you prefer - cover the bowl with a lid/moist towel and leave to rise in a warm place. to speed things up you can partially fill the sink with lukewarm water and place the bowl in there. Alternatively, heat the oven to 50°C, turn it off and place the bowl inside. When the dough has doubled in quantity, knock it back and divide in to 15 pieces. Roll each piece out on a floured surface shaped like a large pita bread. Cover loosely and leave to rest for 3 min. Barbecue over fresh hot coals for 1-2 min each side (the bubbles that pop up are great!). You can also try making them in the oven as it's not really barbecue weather, I would guess at 225°C for 4 min each side. If you can use a pizza stone that will make them puff up nicely.Evahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01202559763883473117noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19302816.post-58760814877098032522007-10-31T08:27:00.000+00:002008-12-11T15:08:19.813+00:00Preserving summer....We're well in to autumn here with the Basler herbstmesse (autumn fair) starting last weekend, most of the leaves on the ground and chilling temperatures at night. So here are a few of the things I made this summer an just haven't gotten around to post about and as they're mostly preserves I can still enjoy the summer flavours a bit longer.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/RyY0PzflaII/AAAAAAAAANg/ANLVb9cVpGY/s1600-h/berrycurd.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/RyY0PzflaII/AAAAAAAAANg/ANLVb9cVpGY/s400/berrycurd.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5126842671933253762" /></a>First up is this lovely gooseberry curd recipe that was in last years delicious. magazine. I'm not a fan of gooseberries at all, I've always found them to bitter but Barry is a huge fan so I decided to make it for him. I found these dark red/pink ones here that seem to be just as common as the green ones. It gave the curd a lovely pink/salmony colour and I was pleasantly surprised by the taste. It was creamy and sweet but with a nice tart contrast making it much more palatable and I have to admit that with the help of a few jars of this, I'm even craving gooseberry curds now!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/RyY0QTflaJI/AAAAAAAAANo/gdK2Ttv3WUM/s1600-h/Elderflower.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/RyY0QTflaJI/AAAAAAAAANo/gdK2Ttv3WUM/s400/Elderflower.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5126842680523188370" /></a>Second, is this elderflower curd I made from heads I picked on one of our walks in the Jura. Elder flower is something I learned you could eat whilst living in Scotland. I really enjoy the fresh "green" taste of it both on bread or in desserts. For this recipe, I basically soaked the cleaned heads in apple juice overnight and then boiled this the next day with pectin sugar.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/RyY0RTflaLI/AAAAAAAAAN4/9Mv_SRnDR8c/s1600-h/mirabelle.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/RyY0RTflaLI/AAAAAAAAAN4/9Mv_SRnDR8c/s400/mirabelle.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5126842697703057586" /></a>Third up are <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirabelle_Plum" target="_blank">mirabelles</a>, these are little plums that are only in season for 3-4 weeks in August. We've always had a tree in our garden so their taste is very sentimental but it's hard to resist these sweet little fruits anyway. As the season is so short, I try to make the most of them. We eat them in clafoutis, tarte tatins or just on its own or with some yoghurt for breakfast. To preserve the flavours for the rest of the year I also made jam (800g sugar per kilo of cleaned fruit) and liqueur (equal weights fruit, cleaned fruit and alcohol-I tend to use vodka as it doesn't have a strong flavour). <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/RyY0QzflaKI/AAAAAAAAANw/xEq66tCKGaU/s1600-h/flatbread.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/RyY0QzflaKI/AAAAAAAAANw/xEq66tCKGaU/s400/flatbread.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5126842689113122978" /></a>Last but not least are these flatbreads. I picked up the recipe in a free leaflets from Harvey Nics when I was in London in May. Incredibly easy to make they definitely gain something special by being cooked on the BBQ. Yummy with kebabs, salad, burgers or just on its own. So that's it, I'm all up to date and will blog about some more autumnal food nextEvahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01202559763883473117noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19302816.post-75494168847574296582007-10-24T19:52:00.000+01:002008-12-11T15:08:20.081+00:00Pumpkins and apples<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/Rx7huMzaNkI/AAAAAAAAANY/UrWg7AnLeCQ/s1600-h/halloween.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/Rx7huMzaNkI/AAAAAAAAANY/UrWg7AnLeCQ/s400/halloween.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5124781609821288002" /></a><br />A very brief and quick entry as I'm off to Paris for my fellowship interview tomorrow!! There is still so much to prepare but I just need a break as I feel my head will explode with science! I'm also very excited about Halloween and Stephanies <a href="http://thehappysorceress.blogspot.com/2007/10/blog-party27-halloween.html" target="_blank">Blogpary</a> this month. Although it's not one of the traditions of the Netherlands, I think it's a fab holiday. Dressing up, trick-or -treating, lots of candy, scrummy food and a spooky atmosphere make for a perfect party I think. On top of that I can't get enough of pumpkins at the moment - <a href="http://theswissjob.wordpress.com" target="_blank">Barry</a> jokingly says I will turn into one soon, but who cares! They're tasty and healthy and lovely I think, and my friend Simone agrees which is why we have a whole Halloween pumpkin dinner planned for next week complete with pumpkin soup, bread and ice cream! However, first I have to get tomorrow out of the way and then I can focus on the kitchen again. <br /><br />Anyway, back to the treats for this week: I made <a href="http://cookpad.com/mykitchen/recipe/284344/" target="_blank">these</a> little biscuits I discovered <a href="http://kokonuggetyumyum.blogspot.com/2007/10/preparation.html" target="_blank">here</a> (the beauty of online <a href="http://babelfish.altavista.com/" target="_blank">translaters</a>) on Sunday as was very taken by them. First, they are easy to make. Second, they look beautiful and third, they have a lovely texture, crunchy without being hard or dry. I added some cinnamon and ginger for a more autumn taste which was nice and complemented the subtle pumpkin flavor. A perfect treat served along some hot mulled apple juice (put apple juice in a pan with some cinnamon, cloves and star anis, heat for about 5-10 min to let the flavors infuse) and to keep the brain going till tomorrow.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />Little Sweet Pumpkins</span> (makes 12)<br />30g cooked/roasted pumpkin <br />30g butter <br />25g sugar <br />pinch Salt <br />60g soft flour<br />2g cornstarch <br />pumpkin seeds<br /><br />Cream butter and sugar together, when this is light and fluffy, add the salt and pumpkin. Mix well again and finally incorporate the flour and cornstarch. You should have a dough that is relatively firm but does not crack and leaves the bowl clean. Wrap in clingfilm and leave to rest in the fridge. Divide the dough into 12 parts, roll each of them into a small ball, flatten slightly to give a pumpkin shape. apply marks to the side with a toothpick and insert a pumpkin seed as the stem. Bake 17-20 min at 170°C.Evahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01202559763883473117noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19302816.post-14439332085120667242007-10-21T21:09:00.000+01:002008-12-11T15:08:20.547+00:00Boozy apple upside down cake<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/Rxu5N8R4gsI/AAAAAAAAANQ/u65OfIyYRUI/s1600-h/SHF1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/Rxu5N8R4gsI/AAAAAAAAANQ/u65OfIyYRUI/s400/SHF1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5123892650234643138" /></a>A hasty post for <a href="http://www.spittoonextra.biz/sugar_high_friday_drunken_appl.html"target="_blank">SHF</a> as I'm in the middle of studying for a fellowship interview on Thursday (yaikes!) in Paris (yeah!). So our flat is sparkling clean, my bills have been organized, I've been for a run, met a friend for coffee and cooked lots of yummy food this weekend. But still, the slides for the presentation are not finished and I've read much less than I should have! Part of it is that I always overestimate what I can do but, as you can tell, a big part of it is that I get incredibly distracted when I have very important deadlines and will do anything but that!<br /><br />So SHF was another great distraction and as Andrew from <a href="http://www.spittoonextra.biz/" target="_blank">SpittoonExtra</a> picked such a fabulous theme it would have been rude not to partake. I wanted to use my newest weird ingredient, these <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_pepper"target="_blank">long peppers</a> I bought on my holiday in Paris three weeks ago. I had read about them in an article on pepper varieties in Saveurs (food magazine) a while ago and had been on the look out for them ever since. So when I saw the bottle, I knew it was mine...when I opened it, I was greeted by a sweet spicy vanilla smell so my first association was to use it in dessert although I've later read they are used more in savory recipes.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/Rxu5NsR4grI/AAAAAAAAANI/CIsj38QEALM/s1600-h/SHF.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/Rxu5NsR4grI/AAAAAAAAANI/CIsj38QEALM/s400/SHF.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5123892645939675826" /></a>As I was a bit short on time, I decided to alter a recipe I used <a href="http://thegoldenshrimp.blogspot.com/2006/04/all-of-orange_11.html"target="_blank">before</a>. Instead of the honey syrup I made a syrup of sugar, water, brandy and long pepper and I substituted the oranges for apples (about 6). I grated 2/3 into the batter and cut 1/3 into slices to layer in the bottom of the tin with sugar, butter and some grated long pepper. Unfortunately, we only had Boskoop at home and they cooked to mush so I didn't get the nice French apple tart <a href="http://www.myhouseandgarden.com/recipes/images/Tart%20Normandie.JPG" target="blank">top</a> I was going for but the taste was still great. The semolina made it nice and crunchy whilst the batter was moist from the fruit and syrup. The pepper gave it a hot cinnamon-like taste (so you can substitute with some ground cinnamon and chili powder)and the brandy made you feel nice and warm inside. A perfect autumn dessert!Evahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01202559763883473117noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19302816.post-31385868755802452192007-10-18T22:19:00.000+01:002008-12-11T15:08:20.823+00:00Prickly pears!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/RxfBTcR4gqI/AAAAAAAAANA/jQpe3sUOt6o/s1600-h/pricklypear.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/RxfBTcR4gqI/AAAAAAAAANA/jQpe3sUOt6o/s400/pricklypear.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5122775640910103202" /></a>With a name like that, don't you have to try some?! When I moved here (one year ago already and I've never blogged about them) I was fascinated with these prickly pink, yellow and/or green beauties. I suspected they were cactus fruits and after a bit of browsing on the web I discovered I was right but that their alternative name is prickly pear or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opuntia" target="_blank">opuntia</a>, which is so much more fun. So I bought some, tried some different <a href="http://www.andyboy.com/products/prickly_pear/index.html" target="blank">recipes</a> and was hooked. I love the light fruity taste of them that you can use both in savory or sweet dishes. Last night, we ate some with grilled tofu and a variety of grains (wheat, buckwheat and quinoa, emptying all the left over packages!). To make the sauce simply fry a chopped onion in some olive oil until soft, then add 4 chopped tomatoes and 3 peeled and chopped prickly pears (I'd recommend wearing washing up gloves as I was picking needles out of my finger for the rest of the night - sometimes this doesn't happen but some pears are more prickly than others). Fry for another 5 min till you have a nice sauce, add chopped parsley, season with salt and pepper and enjoy. The pears do contain a lot of seeds but I think you can easily eat around them (think pomegranate or passion fruit). I think it would also be really nice to use in a cold tomato soup, as a sweet jelly or in baking.Evahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01202559763883473117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19302816.post-83022748546124258422007-10-11T22:14:00.000+01:002008-12-11T15:08:21.148+00:00Poppy overload!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/Rw6ch8R4gpI/AAAAAAAAAM4/nWZOy_0-bOc/s1600-h/poppy.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/Rw6ch8R4gpI/AAAAAAAAAM4/nWZOy_0-bOc/s400/poppy.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5120201933297582738" /></a>A quick one as I'm off to the lake district tomorrow for a girly weekend with friends from Dundee! I'm looking forward to it very much as there will be lots of chatting, walking, relaxing and nice food. But I'll blog about that next time. The post now is one I promised to my brother who was visiting last week with his girlfriend. It was so nice to see both of them (last time was in March) and spend some quality time both in Basel and the Alps. Tuesday night was their last evening in Basel and so we cooked the first <a href="http://theswissjob.wordpress.com/2007/10/10/dipping-my-big-fork/">fondue</a> of the season. For dessert I wanted to make something special and decided to open one of the jars of poppy jelly I made in July. <br /><br />I was intrigued from the first moment I saw <a href="http://www.odelices.com/recette.php?num=791">this</a> recipe and knew I had to make it. So I set out one afternoon, gathered way too many leaves and spent hours cleaning all the pollen off (it pays off to be a bit more careful in the picking, then you'll have a lot less work). I made three jars of beautiful red jelly that then disappeared into the cupboard and came out again last Tuesday night. The taste of the jelly was strange but nice, not very strong but also not like anything I'd ever tasted. I decided to pair it with a panna cotta and to prevent it from all being too jelly-like (and stick with the theme) I added poppy seeds which collected at the bottom (=top after inversion) of the mold. They formed a nice contrast both in colour and in texture to the creamy panna cotta. I just thinned out the jelly (2 tbsp with one tbsp water) by heating it and drizzled some over/around the pudding. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/Rw6XucR4gnI/AAAAAAAAAMo/UqEfu85FYTI/s1600-h/poppy1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/Rw6XucR4gnI/AAAAAAAAAMo/UqEfu85FYTI/s400/poppy1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5120196650487808626" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Poppy Panna Cotta</span> (serves 4)<br />200ml Double cream*<br />200ml Single cream*<br />60g sugar<br />1/2 vanilla pod<br />2 tbsp poppy seeds<br />level 1/2 tsp agar-agar**<br /><br />Mix cream, sugar, poppy seeds and agar-agar in a pan. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla pod into the cream and throw the pod in. Gently bring to the boil and cook for 1-2 min. Leave to cool slightly, then pour into individual molds. Leave to set in the fridge for at least 4 hours. <br /><br />* This was just what was in the fridge but you could use double cream and milk or all single cream or whatever you feel like.<br />** I find it easier to just have this at home for when vegetarian friends come for dinner, you could also use gelatine in which case you need 1 1/2 sheets.Evahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01202559763883473117noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19302816.post-65686933027948255842007-10-05T07:17:00.000+01:002007-10-05T07:22:09.087+01:00Busy, busySo much for my plan to try and blog more regularly! We had a fantastic time in Paris, despite the tragic Ireland <a href="http://theswissjob.wordpress.com/2007/10/01/heavy-heart/">loss</a>. It was compensated by so much nice food, shopping and sightseeing. We came back Monday morning and work has been manic since with presentations and deadlines. Now my brother is visiting so we're off to the Alps this afternoon. Hopefully, I'll manage to squeeze a post in next week.Evahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01202559763883473117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19302816.post-72167554398725549412007-09-27T11:50:00.000+01:002008-12-11T15:08:21.327+00:00Hay Hay it's Donna Day #15<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/Rvgjq8R4glI/AAAAAAAAAMY/qTForo3d2Kg/s1600-h/HHDD15.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/Rvgjq8R4glI/AAAAAAAAAMY/qTForo3d2Kg/s400/HHDD15.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5113876597521810002" /></a><br />A last minute assembly tart for this months edition of <a href="http://www.trinigourmet.com/index.php/hay-hay-its-donna-day-15-tarts-all-inclusive-caramelised-onion-and-anchovy-tarts-recipe/"target="_blank">Hay Hay it's Donna Day</a> hosted by Sarini from Trinigrourmet. We're about to leave for a long weekend in Paris to see some rugby, take in some culture, do a bit of shopping and eat lots of nice food.<br /><br />I've been using a lot of chickpea flour <a href="http://thegoldenshrimp.blogspot.com/2007/08/minty-goodness.html" target="_blank">lately</a> but mainly in savoury dishes but wanted to try a sweet version as well. So along with the half pomegranate at the back of the fridge I thought they would make the great basis for an Arabic/Mediterranean inspired tart. I made a simple dough using chickpea flour (200g), butter (75g), sugar (2 tbsp), ground green cardamom (1 tsp) and a bit of water. The dough does not "come together" as there is no gluten in this flour so I just divided it over 4 buttered mini pastry cases. These were baked 15 minutes at 180°C and in the mean time, I diluted some <a href="http://www.travelerslunchbox.com/journal/2005/11/11/dulce-de-membrillo-and-a-host-mothers-love.html"target="_blank">Membrillo</a> with a bit of water to make it into a softer paste. I spread this on top of the case, then applied a thin layer of ricotta, dusted this with more ground cardamom and finally sprinkled pomegranate seeds on top. All done in 25 minutes.<br /><br />The tart was beautiful to look at and the taste pleasantly surprised me. I know you can't go far wrong using all good ingredients but still, it turned out better then expected. The nutty crust combined perfectly with the sticky sweet quince paste and the creamy ricotta whereas the pomegranate seeds provided a nice tart and fresh contrast. Definitely worth a repeat performance.<br /><br />Update: <a href="http://www.trinigourmet.com/index.php/hhdd-15-equal-opportunity-tarts-the-roundup/">the round</a> up has now been posted....what a fabulous collection of tarts! A lot of inspiration/yummy things there to try out soonEvahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01202559763883473117noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19302816.post-75392857339545997882007-09-26T08:36:00.000+01:002008-12-11T15:08:21.622+00:00Waiter! There's something in my... savoury preserve!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/Rvkyh8R4gmI/AAAAAAAAAMg/yw1fqOshN1I/s1600-h/greentomato.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/Rvkyh8R4gmI/AAAAAAAAAMg/yw1fqOshN1I/s400/greentomato.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114174410554114658" /></a><br />When Johanna announced the theme of savoury preserve for this month's <a href="http://thepassionatecook.typepad.com/thepassionatecook/2007/09/waiter-theres-s.html" target ="_blank"> WTSIM</a> I just knew I wanted to take part. I didn't really grow up with savoury preserves as it's not very much of a Dutch thing. So apart from shop bought gherkins and onions the only preserve we ate was green tomato chutney. This recipe had come from an English friend of my parents before we were born and somehow it stuck in my mums repertoire. Every year she would grow tomato plants to harvest the unripe green ones (as they're hard/impossible to buy) and make this chutney. Strangely, we only ate it with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasi_goreng" target ="_blank">Nasi Goreng</a> but I always loved it! <br /><br />Moving to the UK opened a whole new preserving world for me and I still enjoy making and eating lots of different ones. However, this one will always stay my favourite and I've now reached the point of growing my own green tomatoes to be able to make it each year.<br /><br /><br />PS. <a href="http://thepassionatecook.typepad.com/thepassionatecook/2007/10/waiter-theres-s.html">the roundup </a>has now been posted and I'm already planning some serious preserving as there's so much stuff I want to try!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Green Tomato Chutney</span> makes 6 400g jars<br />2.5 kg green tomatoes, sliced<br />50g onions, chopped<br />150g yellow raisins<br />150g black raisins<br />500g sugar<br />1 liter wine vinegar<br />30g salt<br />15 g peppercorns<br /><br />Put the tomatoes, onions, salt and peppercorns in a large bowl and leave overnight. The next day, bring the sugar and vinegar to the boil in a large non-reactive pan. Add the raisins and simmer for 5 min before adding the tomato mix. Simmer everything on low heat until the mixture starts to thicken (45 min) and divide the chutney over some well cleaned pots that have been sterilized in the oven for 10 min at 110°C. Cover, leave to cool and store in a dark and cool place.Evahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01202559763883473117noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19302816.post-19459597959549201412007-09-24T20:20:00.000+01:002008-12-11T15:08:21.925+00:00SHF #35 - The Beautiful fig<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/RvgUs8R4gkI/AAAAAAAAAMQ/2ISuBe-zJr8/s1600-h/Fig.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/RvgUs8R4gkI/AAAAAAAAAMQ/2ISuBe-zJr8/s400/Fig.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5113860139207131714" /></a>A very last minute entry for this month's <a href="http://creampuffsinvenice.ca/2007/09/04/shf-35-the-beautiful-fig/" target="_blank">SHF</a> but when Ivonne announced the theme for Sugar High Friday as "The Beautiful Fig" I just knew I wanted to take part. Lack of time due to too much work and the breaking of our camera have cramped the blogging a lot lately (it's amazing how less nice the blog looks without pictures). But this seemed a worthwhile entry and I even managed to take a crappy mobile phone camera picture! <br /><br />I was never a big fan of figs, for years, my mother tried to tempt me with fruits from the tree in our garden but something in the texture put me off. Then I moved to the UK and somehow developed a taste for them (still not quite sure where) but there they were hard to find. So moving here has been a fig paradise! <br /><br />Basel has been swamped the last few weeks with yummy (and beautiful) figs from France and Italy and I've been eating my fair share. In my yoghurt for breakfast, as part of a <a href="http://www.travelerslunchbox.com/journal/2005/9/12/summers-last-bounty.html" target="_blank">chicken stew</a> or in a <a href="http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/108371" target="_blank">fancy tart</a>, they always taste delicious. But one of my favourite ways (that works very well with figs that are not quite ripe yet) is to just fill a small frying pan with figs, drizzle a bit of honey over them, a few tbsp of water and add some crushed green cardamom seeds. Leave this to simmer for 10-15 min till the figs are nice and soft and the liquid has gone syrupy. Enjoy this with yoghurt, quark or some ice cream.<br /><br />(The roundup can be found <a href="http://creampuffsinvenice.ca/2007/09/28/shf-35-the-round-up/">here</a>)Evahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01202559763883473117noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19302816.post-89802583995436061392007-08-25T07:17:00.000+01:002007-08-25T08:05:25.317+01:00SHF #34 - going local!Moving to a new country can be quite a shock to the system. You have to deal with a new language, culture and customs whilst settling in, looking for an apartment and finding which isle has what in the supermarket. Lucky for me when I moved here, I spent the first two weeks living with a colleague (and now close friend) of mine who helped <a href="http://theswissjob.wordpress.com">Barry</a> and me settle in so much here in Basel. <br /><br />She made me feel really at home in her apartment, translated house adds, helped me to make viewing appointments (my German is ok but I often struggle with Swiss-German), introduced us to <a href="http://thegoldenshrimp.blogspot.com/2007/03/three-days-of-madness-and-mayhem.html">Fastnacht</a> and fed us our first cheese fondue in Basel. We also spent evenings baking Christmas biscuits together and made many nice walks in the Jura. Without her it would have taken us a lot longer to settle in and we forged a great friendship in those two weeks (and since then). I think it helped a lot that we share a love for the outdoors and great food and I'm learning lots of Swiss recipes from her. One of them is this red berry meringue tart that is her signature dish. The recipe came from her mother and before that I don't know. I thought it a very fitting entry for this months <a href="http://www.domesticgoddess.ca/pages.php?page=10002">SHF</a> hosted by <a href="http://thepassionatecook.typepad.com/thepassionatecook/2007/07/shf-34-announce.html">Johanna</a> as for me it will always remind me of Basel and settling in here. <br /><br />You can only make it for a few months in summer as in Switzerland the produce is extremely seasonal (and even regional!) but it is delicious. A buttery nutty crust filled with a mix of tart red berries and a fluffy sweet meringue. Its very fresh and looks beautiful (although unfortunately no pictures due to death of digital camera). This year, I will also try to make it in winter by freezing some red berries to use and perhaps substituting them for cranberries. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Simone’s red berry meringue tart</span><br />Fort he crust<br />-200g butter<br />-100g sugar<br />-300g flour<br />-1 egg <br />-2tbsp ground almonds<br /><br />For the filling<br />-3 egg whites<br />-130g sugar<br />-1 Tbsp ground almonds<br />-500g red berries<br />Mix the ingredients for the crust together, roll it out and place into a buttered tart dish.Bake this blind for 15 min 190°C. In the mean time, whisk the egg white till thick and add the sugar slowly. Then stir the in ground almonds and berries. Pour the mixture into the base, first bake 10 min at 190°C. Then reduce the oven temperature to 160°C and bake for a further 20-25 min.Evahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01202559763883473117noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19302816.post-62296048543118875012007-08-17T23:50:00.000+01:002008-12-11T15:08:22.176+00:00Hay hay it's a very pink Donna Day<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/RsW1H-g_3-I/AAAAAAAAAMI/zYYUNM-JiaA/s1600-h/pink1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/RsW1H-g_3-I/AAAAAAAAAMI/zYYUNM-JiaA/s400/pink1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5099681301712068578" border="0" /></a><br />One of my favourite colours at the moment is bright fushia pink! I don't know why, perhaps it’s due to the lack of a full blown summer which I somehow associate it with, but it just cheers me up. And cheering up is what I needed a lot of lately. With a paper needing revision and two fellowship deadlines within one week I was at the end of my tether. So I was in need of some comfort, especially in my dinners! Normally, when I get stressed, I actually like to cook something more elaborate as it relaxes me somehow but I didn’t even have time for that. So this recipe comes from one of my <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Silver-Spoon-Various/dp/0714844675/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/202-5961515-0573421?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1187362099&sr=8-1">favourite books </a>at the moment and it was the perfect dinner solution. Not so time consuming but still resulting in a great sense of achievement and as I made loads of them, I was sorted for several meals. By coincidence gnocchi were also the theme for HHDD #14 hosted by <a href="http://cafelynnylu.blogspot.com/2007/07/hay-hay-its-donna-day-14-gnocchi.html" target="_blank">Cafe Lynnylu</a>. This is an event I always wanted to take part in but kept missing the deadline so I am really pleased I finally made it.<br /><br />The gnocchi tasted great, I had some trouble getting the dough to come together as I added too much beetroot (2 pureed small ones) and so needed a lot more flour than the recipe stated. I guess next time I would leave out the egg. I finally gave up and the dough was still pretty sticky when I made the gnocchi but I didn’t want to add more flour as the recipe warned they would become too stiff. That’s why the shape is a bit funky but the texture was perfect, light and fluffy with an earthy hint of beetroot. They were so much better then anything store bought! We ate them with mushrooms fried with onion, garlic and parsley topped with parmesan which complemented the earthy flavor very well. I also had them for lunch with <a href="http://thegoldenshrimp.blogspot.com/2007/04/foraging-trip-in-jura.html">Baerlauch</a> pesto, roasted aubergine or just with some goats cheese melted on top. It definitely was a quiet and comforting point in my days to sit down with a bowl of these little pink beauties. The picture unfortunately doesn't do them justice as my camera decided it doesn't like to be turned on anymore so I'm relying on Barry's phone's camera.<br /><br />Now everything is submitted and after some glasses of <a href="http://www.terroir-france.com/region/alsace_cremant.htm">Cremant D'Alsace</a> to celebrate I can put the gnocchi recipe away....but not for too long as I will make these much more, even for non-stressful days.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Basic gnocchi recipe</span><br />1 kg potatoes<br />1 egg<br />200 g flour<br />2 tsp salt<br /><br />Peel the potatoes and cut into small chunks to steam (this is meant to make the end result lighter). When soft, mash them to a fine paste and stir in egg, flour and salt into the potatoes (this is where I added the beetroot, I would suggest adding less and perhaps leaving out the egg). Work everything to a soft dough, on a floured surface roll out into a long sausage and cut off little pieces (impossible with my dough). If you feel like it you can decorate these with a fork, then pop them into a pan of boiling salted water until they float up, you'll need to do this in batches. Enjoy with your topping/sauce of choice.Evahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01202559763883473117noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19302816.post-83286596916343566222007-08-15T18:43:00.000+01:002008-12-11T15:08:22.350+00:00Minty Goodness<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/RsINhq6TfrI/AAAAAAAAAMA/tCKJApudJNk/s1600-h/Minty.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/RsINhq6TfrI/AAAAAAAAAMA/tCKJApudJNk/s400/Minty.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5098652600242503346" /></a>Another blog party, another great theme! For this edition <a href="http://thehappysorceress.blogspot.com/2007/08/blog-party25-minty-goodness_01.html">Stephanie</a> chose minty goodness which was very timely as the mint on my balcony is growing madly. I'm going through a bit of an Middle Eastern food phase at the moment and mint seemed to fit into that seamlessly. For the snack, I threw together these little chickpea, aubergine and pomegranate fritters topped with minty quark. Easy to make, easy to bake and very tasty with the warm nutty flavors of the chick pea flour, aubergine and zatar contrasted by the fresh and zingy mint and garlic. I also like the grainy texture of the quark which is very sturdy so stays well on top of the fritters. To accompany these, I mixed some little Arabic G&Ts by adding mint syrup (made with some leftover sugar from <a href="http://onceuponatart.blogspot.com/2007/05/peppermint-sugar.html">this recipe</a>) and pomegranate molasses (my new favorite cooking ingredient). <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">For the fritters</span> (makes 25-30)<br />Mix 200g chickpea flower, 1 1/2 tbsp oil, 1 grated medium aubergine, 1 tbsp zatar and seeds from 1 pomegranate (keep a few aside for garnish and the drink). The dough should be a little bit sticky but not too thin. Heat some oil in a pan and dollop little balls in there. Fry for a few minutes either side. In the mean time combine 4 tbsp quark, 1 1/2 tbsp chopped fresh mint and 1-2 chopped garlic cloves. Put a little bit on each fritter<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">For the drink</span> <br />Melt 50 g of sugar with 25 ml water. Use either mint sugar or add some twigs whilst simmering the syrup. Leave to cool, then mix with equal quantities Hendricks Gin, tonic and pomegranate molasses. Pour into small glasses and add some pomegranate seeds and small mint leaves as garnish.Evahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01202559763883473117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19302816.post-17160939231085308382007-08-14T08:01:00.000+01:002008-12-11T15:08:22.452+00:00Brownie Babe Nr. 3<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/RsFI-q6TfqI/AAAAAAAAAL4/-zW6GFA7enU/s1600-h/BB3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/RsFI-q6TfqI/AAAAAAAAAL4/-zW6GFA7enU/s400/BB3.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5098436494668037794" /></a><br />After my <a href="http://thegoldenshrimp.blogspot.com/2007/06/sunken-fudge.html">disappointing brownie</a> last time, I decided not the divert from the tried and trusted recipe anymore. For the third edition of <a href="http://onceuponatart.blogspot.com/2007/07/who-is-gonna-be-next-browniebabe.html">browniebabe</a> hosted by Myriam I have made this recipe as long as I can remember, I would bring these to school for every birthday or special occasion and know the proportions off by heart. But even though they're great, I felt they needed to be jazzed up a little bit for this event and this is where it all started to go horribly wrong...<br /><br />You know when you have (what you think is) a brilliant idea and you're so chuffed with yourself for having it that you fire straight ahead without giving it another thought....and then in hindsight you can't believe how stupid you were...well that's kind of what happened to me. I somehow decided it would be great to make honeycomb brownies. I saw someone making the stuff recently on television where it looked really easy and fast plus I love the stuff. Off I went, melted sugar, golden syrup and once caramelising added the bicarbonate soda...no problem...let it cool, chopped it up and put it in the batter....easy peasy....put it in the oven and went away. After 30 min I suddenly smelt this terrible burning, the whole flat was cloudy, so what had happened?! Of course it had kept rising as it had so much bicarb in there...duh!! So it rose higher and higher, flooded over the tin and onto the heating element at the bottom of the oven...damn! Still can't believe I didn't think of that! <br /><br />Anyway, lesson learned so for the second batch I was a bit more conservative. I'd bought some Kumquats so added these as you can't really go wrong with the chocolate orange combination. To enhance the citrus flavor I also added some <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuzu">Yuzu</a> juice and powder that I picked up when I was in <a href="http://www.japancentre.com/">London</a> in May. I love the taste of this Japanese fruit which is a bit more bitter and tart than an orange but not as harsh as a lemon. I also simmered some left over kumquats with honey and Yuzu juice to drizzle on top. The brownies turned out perfect and were squidgy and moist as usual with bits of kumquats for a change of texture and taste. They're a bit bitter/tart, as was the Yuzu but this was nicely complemented by the sweet honeycomb I'd sprinkled on top.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Kumquat and Yuzu Brownies</span><br />175g butter<br />450g sugar<br />50g good quality cocoa powder<br />4 eggs<br />250g flour<br />1 tsp baking powder<br />ping of salt<br />24 kumquats<br />1 tbsp Yuzu juice*<br />1 tsp Yuzu powder*<br /><br />Melt the butter in a large pan, add sugar and cocoa and mix well. Then stir in the eggs and sift in the flour, baking powder and salt. Finally add in the kumquats and pour into a bog baking tin. Bake 30-45 min at 175°C and take out once a knife comes out clean. <br /><br />Leave the brownies to cool and in the mean time make the honeycomb using <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/honeycombicecream_81522.shtml">this recipe</a> (I halved the amount) and the syrup by combining 2 tbsp honey, 2 tbsp Yuzu juice 15-20 chopped kumquats. Leave to simmer for about 5 min, cool slightly and drizzle over the still warm brownies.<br /><br />* optional as not very easy to obtain, try Japanese supermarkets for it.Evahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01202559763883473117noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19302816.post-33733531429254117912007-08-12T18:24:00.000+01:002008-12-11T15:08:22.614+00:008 secrets MeMe<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/Rrt5Sa6TfpI/AAAAAAAAALw/s_0JZZrRPn0/s1600-h/me.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_tha9w_sV3Tg/Rrt5Sa6TfpI/AAAAAAAAALw/s_0JZZrRPn0/s200/me.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5096800760668323474" /></a>So I got tagged by <a href="http://theswissjob.wordpress.com">The Swiss Job</a> ages ago for this meme to reveal 8 secrets no one else knows about me. It took me a while to think us some stuff no one knows and is still interesting so this is what I've come up with....<br /><br />1) When I was 5, a girl in our town broke her leg and got loads of pressies and attention from everyone. I got (a bit) jealous and decided I wanted attention to so for about a week, I tried to break my leg by jumping off a wall that was about 70 cm high. I guess I had no concept of what it meant to break a bone and all the pain involved and am grateful I didn't succeed.<br /><br />2) Another jumping story: about a year later, we were playing in kindergarden by jumping off a box that was again about 70 cm high. I don't know what happened but somehow I was not going fast enough according to the guy behind me so he pushed me. I fell and in the shock I managed to bite my tongue in half between my molars. My dad had to come get me and said it was a horrible sight with blood everywhere. The only thing I remember is that I wasn't allowed to talk for a few days (very difficult!) and had to have this horribly bitter disinfectant stuff put on the cut every day but was allowed a spoonful of sugar afterwards.<br /><br />3) I love pickles, so much so that I used to secretly drink sips of vinegar but I was very selective, only gressie essig herb vinegar please! available at selected Coops near you.<br /><br />4) The final year of my PhD, I sent a request to the Nobel Conference in Stockholm if I could please attend even though I was 2 weeks past registration deadline. Instead of rejecting me, they invited me to give a seminar as they realized they should have invited my boss! So I had 2 weeks to prepare a seminar to talk in between the greats in the field....very very terrifying but a great honor as well.<br /><br />5) I've played the harp since I was 8 years old. It all started when we went on a trip in kindergarten to a rehearsal of the Geneva orchestra. I saw a lady with a harp and was determined I wanted to play this instrument. In Geneva there were no teachers (that we could find and I was still very young) but when we moved back to the Netherlands we found someone. My parents tried to deter me with a trial piano lesson first but with no success and so I ended up playing the harp. With all the moving the last few years I haven't played much but hopefully this will come again soon.<br /> <br />6) I'm terrified of needles and injections, just the thought of them makes me shiver, roll down my sleeves and start feeling queazy. So much so that when I stood in a cocktail stick when I was 11, I pretended I was fine so I didn't have to have surgery. My parents began to suspect something was wrong when I couldn't walk anymore 5 week later! I also got the mould for my crown fitted (copper bent around your tooth) without anastetic as the first injection didn't work but I pretended to be OK (very silly).<br /><br />7) The first outdoor climb I did was called the Inaccessible Pinnacle. Pretty impressive if I do say so myself. So much so it took about 45 min of talking/shouting to get me off it as I was terrified of the drop! <br /> <br />8) The grossest thing I ever ate were fermented quid intestine whilst living in Japan. I was told it was a delicacy but it was pretty smelly, slimy and the taste was just not nice. So at least I can say I've tried but also...never again!<br /><br />So that's it not very terribly shocking I would say. I'm not tagging anyone but feel free to complete it if you want :-)Evahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01202559763883473117noreply@blogger.com2