Duvel

This popped up on my Youtube shorts reel and this morning I didn’t feel to go out to the bakery, so … Spelt low-fat quark Brötchen with seeds … Takes literally 3 min to mix and then 17 min in the airfryer … Taste & texture are pretty good - will be repeated 🤗

Soo … zwischen uns: I have three major restocking modes: 1) a very good Japanese friend brings me sake & assorted snacks when she has a business trip to Germany (minimum one per year). As we live pretty close to Frankfurt, she enjoys a weekend at our place, and I get some treats. 2) We still go to Japan for holidays. Last one was summer 2024, next one is this summer 🥳 3) As my sister lives in Bonn we typically visit close-by Düsseldorf regularly, which is home to the largest Japanese expat enclave in Germany. Great for fresh items (pastry, meat) as well. So, I am usually pretty well stocked - great for family & special entertaining events. Current display, sorted by “eat first” (top shelf), potato crisps & associated nibbles (middle shelf) and rice cracker & (semi-)dried seafood (lower shelf). And in one of the drawers: doubles & sweet snacks.

After a rather busy Saturday I felt rather lazy, but had this hankering for some Chinese food. When I feel too lazy to cook I usually do something with dough, that practically keeps making itself with all the waiting time. So I opted for Rou Jia Mo (肉夾饃) … While the dough was resting and the pork (shank instead of belly, because that’s what my butcher had on offer) was braising away I kept the family happy with two treats from the mancave: Kind of pretzel bites with a odd yet tasty lard with seaweed flavor … Semidried squid with sea urchin coating … The dough before being rolled up, flattened and griddled in a hot pan … The pork shank, chopped up in larger pieces in a complex stewing liquid with literally a dozen spices (that oddly I had all at home 🤭). Shank has an even better skin to meat ratio than belly which added to the dish … And the final product, served with cucumbers, cilantro and chili. I had three, the other two two each … I’d call that success ✊ Enjoyed while introducing little one to the Batman saga of Christopher Nolan. No complaints 🤗

Abendbrot … bread with cold cuts.

If you are making dashi from scratch severely times per week, I assume you buy your katsuobushi blocks at a reputable source and slice it yourself. Have you noticed the the katsuobushi blocks itself has a smokey scent ? Because the very definition of katsuobushi is that the skipjack has to be cooked, smoked and fermented. So, it’s not a revelation that the two flavors go well together. Maybe your block was not of a decent quality. If you want a pronounced smoke flavor, look for arabushi designation. Get a proper one, preferably and you are set in the smokyness department (unless you are looking for that overpowering artificial smoke flavor found in certain commercial preparations). That salt does wonders for an umami-rich preparation shouldn’t be a surprise either. So, if you’ve discovered something new for yourself - good for you 👍

Damn straight it is … that’s the reason why I love cooking rabbit. Rabbit is essentially only liver - a huuge liver … makes you wonder if those critters drink heavily between carrot snacks.

I was also a very picky child. I remember my cousin telling me in 5th grade about pizza - something I had not even heard before, and would not consider eating because the tomatoes on it were warm … unthinkable ! There is always hope. And we keep inviting them, and prepare „our“ food which eventually will wear them down 😎

Very nice - Schweinenacken at its best. If you want to venture into German cooking, this cut serves as the base for plenty of delicious concoctions. Since you have quite some I’d like to recommend Sächsiches Bierfleisch (or Saxonian beer meat). This short video is in German, but pretty straightforward.

It’s always a bit of an hit & miss situation: some are quite happy with our dinners, and sometimes I get feedback from the parents that they enjoyed a lot (including the occasional “how did you get them to eat that ?”). Yesterday was such a case - he had sashimi, edamame, gyoza for the first time and he liked it so much he had to tell his mom immediately when he got picked up. On the other hand, we have for example a semi-regular house guest who considers any topping on a plain pizza pie an insurmountable challenge, who couldn’t eat his hotdog bun because it was made from brioche dough and once requested spaghetti with tomato sauce, which silly me topped habitually with freshly grated Parmigiano, only to eat it then myself (while he got an unadulterated portion). The things we endure for our kids 😎

Little one had a friend over, who stayed for dinner. I offered hot docs; little one requested gyoza. Soooo … Japanese diinner: I picked some dried hoya (sea pineapple) a snack. The perfect accompaniment to sake .. I am not sure if I ever mentioned tgat beside housing my whiskey collection and my cookbooks, the mancave is also home to a rather extensive collection of one cup sakes ? Tonights treat … And foodwise … rice crackers: Excellent menma … Gyoza: Ajinomotos pork one. Simply no comparison 🙏 Tuna tataki & salmon sashimi ..: Chicken tebasaki … Yamitsuki cabbage … Soinach with black miso-sesame dressing … And Dan Dan Udon … And for dessert: Melty kiss … very melty, very good ! No complaints 🤗

The latter. Pork reigns supreme here, and beef is more popular for the “finer” cuts (e.g. filet, Tafelspitz, roastbeef, …).

My butcher had Leiterstück on offer - an in Germany rather unpopular beef cut that translates to short ribs 😎. I bought quite a bit and the first dish I made was Gulaschsuppe : plenty of onion, garlic, peppers, carrot and potatoes. Spiced with both smoked & spicy paprika, caraway, bay leaf and marjoram. Cooked yesterday and rewarmed today. Great 🤗 Served with sour cream, breads, and some nibbles … No complaints 🥳

Google is your friend … https://heartswithfingers.com/blogs/news/how-the-grainy-texture-reveals-whether-your-ghee-is-truly-pure?srsltid=AfmBOoqMIIbmuM8auTDvcA-g1Nr0ZtjGfUJXUS5z7jYtC5U06Phs_MMU

Kombu … (part of the sweet soy stock, too)

Reconvalescence dinner #3 for DW: Sukiyaki (Kanto style) 🤗 I can’t tell you how much time it took to slice up some 700 g of chuck eye roll (the most marbled beef you can find in Germany) into thin slices. And it still looks like a mess … Veggies, tofu, algae, mushrooms - all nature has to offer to offset the beef … Udon for the finish … “Fry“ the beef in a tare based on sweet soy sauce … Mix up some raw egg … And start dipping the barely cooked beef with all the sweet soy clinging to it into the raw egg. Heaven 🤗 After the meat, all the veggies get cooked … And finally the udon noodles are stirred into the concentrated juices … Some shichimi togarashi and the conclusion of the meal is ready … No complaints - none at all. And DW is getting better quickly 🥳

Kind of … salt with spices. My version can be found here 🙏

Reconvalescence dinner #2 for DW: I picked something dear to my heart - Din Tai Fung, an eternal favorite ever since I set foot into their Xinyi branch in Taipei during my graduate studies. The works … Their „house appetizer“: smoked tofu, bean sprouts, vermicelli & konbu … Cucumbers with chili oil … Braised beef with celery, peanuts and cilantro. Basically Fuji Feipian, with a Taiwanese twist. Very good ! (Commercial) Xiao Long Bao - no 18 folds, like Din Tai Fung prescribes it, but pretty decent. Will need to scratch that itch before we have their original XLB in May at their London branch … Sesame noodles with spicy meat topping. A version of Dan Dan Mian - it disappeared together with the rest in a fraction of the time it took to make it. Which made me happy 🤗 So - again - no complaints 🥳 DW is getting better … what else is there to ask for ?

DW had to spend a few days im the hospital after a small procedure. You might have heard that German hospital food is not for the faint of heart … She was released todat, so I picked her up and asked for her first recovery meal - surprisingly, she opted for “more” German food: SchniPoSa - Schnitzel, pommes frites and salad. I bought some veal and got cracking … (Commercial) Fries from the airfryer, doused with Duvel dust - always a good option … Salad with balsamic reduction … And some mushroom cream sauce for good measure … Little one breaded the Schnitzel and had some breading on the tip of his fingers, which we fried as well 🙄 The whole ensemble … And as usual - plenty of leftovers for tomorrows Schnitzelbrötchen … Finally, from our trip back through France we had some puddings left. Paris-Brest themed: cream, caramel, praline - what can go wrong 🤗 No complaints and we are more than happy she is back 🥳

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.