Duvel

Fantastic, @Shelby. What a great meal 🤗 !!!

After witnessing the current state of affairs in our (usually exceptionally well stocked and slightly upmarket) supermarket ... I felt a very strong hankering for Erbsensuppe. Probably because all the dried peas were sold out. Since I had a decent stock I thought to satisfy my craving, knowing that it might become a rare occasion in the future, should the irrational hording of dried peas become a thing ...

Jägertoast - typically a toast bread, topped with pork loin and smothered in mushroom cream sauce. In tonights version with SV chicken breast filling in for the pork loin - tasty nonetheless ...

Cleaning the fridge ... Cheesy broccoli gratin with bacon & spring onions.

And I thought thats a little overweight kid with wings and poor aim ... (not Prof Hill !)

Left-over Mett turned into lemongrass-scented meatballs. To augment, yellow curry paste bloomed in coconut oil, diluted with chicken stock plus ginger plus dried kaffir lime leaves. Rice noodles and coriander finally made it into ... I don’t know. But it was tasty and consumed in the kitchen ☺️

Nope, we are beyond that. These days its the beloved Otfried Preußler classic "Das kleine Gespenst" ...

Me toooooo ...

Easy dinner: Mett ... Wurstsalat ... Herb & garlic butter stuffed baguette ... Omelett (slighly odd looking, but very delicious) & oven baked cheese ... And finally - one happy (and slightly overenthusiastic) kid with a Brezel ...

I usually drink my whiskey neat, or on ice (provided only little dilution, i.e. with large round ice spheres). But to stay with the Japanese theme, I do like highballs - one part whiskey, 2-3 parts sparkling water, plenty of ice. Its refreshing and yes: you are able to appreciate the nuances of the whiskey. Otherwise I wouldn’t use my Yamazaki 12 for it 😉 ...

It started with „there is still a cabbage in the fridge“ and ended with a Japanese-themed evening, followed by „Nausicäa“ on Netflix (they have most Ghibli movies now) ... Cabbage turned into Okonomiyaki ... Fried mackarel made a reprise as Nanbanzuke ... Matjes with Ponzu (always a winner) Edamame (from the freezer) Miso soup (with selfmade miso blend) And for the cook: Yamazaki highball ☺️

Test run ... Homemade corned beef with mixed veggies. Was good ...

Sunday evening: Family movie („Madagascar 3: ratatatattaa afro circus“) and pizza night. Tonights favourites were classic Margarita and tuna & green asparagus ...

Tonight: pork collar roast (1.6 kg for 4.5 eaters), tightly wrapped around a bread dumpling filling. Onion gravy, steamed carrots with butter & parsley. No pictures (except for my sons plate), no complaints, no leftovers ...

Nothing beats Mett for breakfast ...

To stay with the „lent“ theme, today fish dinner with everything the German cuisine has to offer on that subject: herring, in many, many ways ... Overview ... Brathering ... Matjes (with onion ponzu) ... Heringssalat (left) and Fleischsalat (right, for good measure) ... Smoked ... Omelette with brown shrimps ... Helped by a Glengoyne 21yo (or was is two or three ?) ...

Yessssssss !!!

A long day at work, so stopped at the butcher on my way home: Schnitzel, Fleischsalat and Rohesser ... accompanied by one of the left-over Christmas beers from 2019 !

The beginning of lent - time to give up precious habits, if only for 6 weeks. I decided for alcohol and carbs ... Flash forward - feeling a bit deprived I found a Netflix show called „James May - Our man in Japan“. After the first episode I was feeling very much sorry for myself not living in Japan (or Asia in general) anymore and I decided to toast to myself ... Whiskey highball (with one my last Hakushu bottles) About half way in the second episode I feel the sincere urge for some Japanese food. Luckily I found a pouch of Kaigun Kare (Japanese Navy Curry) and I remembered some frozen Udon in the freezer ... The combination of Kaigun Kare (augmented by some cubes of SV corned beef) and a decent highball works so perfectly ! So, I modified my lent theme to „give up good intentions“ until Easter, which I believe I will suceed in 😉 Ganbarimasu !

Pizza Margerita - 5-day cold rise dough, San Marzano tomato passata, Mozzarella di Buffala, Parmigiano, olive oil and fresh basil. So simple, so good ... 3.30min baking time ...

Yup. ChefSteps recommended 48h and 52h fitted my schedule better. Corned brisket was tender and moist ...

As promised, some “real” cooking: homemade corned beef (9 days curing, 52h@65 oC SV) with a bit of a BBQ note (liquid smoke, pimenton a la vera, brown sugar, cajun spice mix). All put on whole grain rye with some raclette cheese and grilled ... Very, very satisfying (with some help of a aperitif/digestive/whatever ...)

Tonight, the third of my lazy evenings in a row. I promise I start cooking properly tomorrow again 😉 So, Raclette it was. With a couple of french cheeses (Raclette, Morbier, Reblochon, Gruyere, ...) and a variety of cold cuts and Weisswurst leftovers. Augmented by sweetcorn, fried onions, mandarin oranges, asparagus and my mom’s strawberry marmalade (for the strong cheeses). Roasted bread (from our last Strasbourg trip) and a good Portugese red - what else you need ...

They were quite good and “short” ... I guess thats why they appear plump. Usually, I buy them fresh so they don’t actually change during the brief time the get warmed in salted water.

Hahaha, I am so relieved that the “forgotten in microwave” thing doesn’t happen to me alone 🤗