Duvel

Beside all the cheeses served yesterday I also bought a lovely raw milk Vacherin Mont d’Or while stopping over in Besançon. As per tradition I removed part of the upper rind, added dry white wine, grated garlic and some rosemary (thyme would have been ok as well), “closed” it again and popped it into the hot oven for about 35 min … Glorious - instant cheese fondue, served with some cold cuts, roasted bread slices, pickles and (not traditional, but good) chutney. No complaints 🥳

Browsing through the treasures safely hidden in the mancave, I unearthed two of the fancier instant ramen from Japan … Left: Kyotos Tenkaippin ramen, with a thick gelatinous chicken based soup called kotteri - my personal favorite ever since I lived there. Right: the famous black fish soup ramen from Toyama. Tenkaippin: with four different soup packages to be added at various steps definitely a “complicated” instant noodle - but I managed 🤗 Toyama Iroha: great chewy noodles & light bodies, yet intensely flavorful soup - haven’t had that style in years. All good - and a welcome warm up in this cold weather. No complaints 🥳

On our way back from Spain on Tuesday we stopped at Besançon to refuel the car and pick up some cheeses, that finally made our dinner tonight… From 12 o’clock: Roquefort, St. Maure, Le Chevrot, Langres, Rocamadour, Comte and a Petit Billie in the middle. Pickled gherkins, olives, artichoke hearts and red beets on the side. And also some pâté to go with it … And made some baguette - simple poolish-raised dough, then folded in some extras (from the left): Walnut/cranberry (unfortunately not scored deeply enough), caramelized onion, dried tomato/olive & “au nature” No complaints 🤗

That for months 👆 Freezer for years …

After some 11h drive finally back home - to a freezing cold house & empty fridge. Soo … spaghettini puttanesca ! Hits the spot every time 🤗

That’s half a grilled tomato, topped with cheddar and emmental (utilizing the fridges bounty 🤭) …

2% of the meat weight.

The full Irish (in Spain, nonetheless) …

It it - and it is meant to create a mutual „connectednes“ (if that’s the correct word). I have been to two places like that in Japan - both tiny (lile this one - 8 seats only, maybe two seatings oer night, omakase only) - both very memorable dinners. You don’t. You have to know a former patron (likely a regular) who introduces you via an invite (to dine together).

The most prized wild mushroom in Catalonia is the rovellon (lactarius deliciosus). I snatched up a batch at the market - and while they always look a bit “rotten”, be assured they do taste great … I fried them simply with garlic & parsley as a most welcome mid-day snack. The rest … … went into estofat de vedella (Catalan beef stew) … … served with buttery mashed potatoes (with tiny bit of saffron). The family demolished the whole lot 🥳

We are still in Spain and had some friends over. Little one opted for Japanese, so I had to improvise a bit without my pantry … Hakushu highball (not improvised) for the cook … Half of the table (second part was blurry) Pickled cucumbers & pickles radish (on the right) … Edamame … Tuna tataki … Karaage. Three plates of this disappeared in a flash … Fried aubergine, marinated in mentsuyu … Spinach tofu salad with sesame dressing … Okonomiyaki … Steamed shrimp with ginger & mentsuyu … Yakisoba. Little one requested ramen, but that’s difficult for 10 people … “At least make some marinated eggs” … ok 😎 Choya plum as dessert wine, with chocolates & fruits. No complaints 🥳

Leftovers from the Christmas lumch became Trinxat, a savory potato-cabbage pie from Andorra, served with various meat toppings … Yum 🤗

Pizza night - always a bit challenging without “my” oven setup, but I macgyvered it … Llonganissa (the Catalan equivalent of salami) & mushroom with cheese-stuffed crust … Jamom iberico, aragula and shaved Grana Padano .. Butifarra (a raw Catalan sausage), olives & red onions … Encore (leftovers from the three pies before) … No complaints 🥳

Today in the supermarket … 13€ 😎

Making dinner with little one … We wanted to try the „viral“ minced meat Döner, that has been flooding short video platforms in the last months. Essentially, you are mixing minced meat with yoghurt, grated alliums and spices and spreading it out very thinly between two sheets of baking paper, before rolling it up and roasting the roll(s) in a hot oven. Little one decided to serve the meat in the Iskender Kebab style, so I made some fresh flat breads for that purpose … All topped with a tomato-butter sauce and thick yoghurt … Served with the roasted pepper & tomatoes and some chili flakes for good measure. Little one and me were quite pleased, as was the rest of the family, including mit parents-in-laws 🤗