Duvel

It's St. Martin's day ("Martinstag") and to honor the saint there will be bonfires, children parading in the dark with lanterns, singing and reciting poems. And there will be goose ("Martinsgans"), stemming from the legend of St. Martin and the geese, where, depending on traditional belief in your region, the geese either betrayed St. Martin while hiding or sustained him during his time hiding. In both versions, he and the flock are remembered by eating contemporary members of the latter ...

Excellent ... I will give it a try. No Tenderquick available here but I'll figure out the Nitrite concentration and work it out from there ! Thanks !

Wow. Three weeks curing time ... How did you come up with that time ?

Thanks, Steve !

I had to prepare some mini calzones for a potluck. For some reason I chose to put a mutton keema filling with peas, which led to some surprises at the potluck ... Of course there was a lot of dough left (seemed almost by design ...) so Pizza night. Hawaii and Olives/Enoki. Together with a G&T a complete meal.

Nice lunch at Kikusan, a Japanese fusion restaurant in the Landmark building in Central. I opted for cold tofu with avocado, miso-marinated cod and a sushi sampler. Oolong tea. Will go there again ...

Well done!

Strange. I think the combination works pretty well, especially with medium-rare burgers. Think "pave d'onglet avec sauce Roquefort" as a classic bistro dish, and now in a burger bun ...

Blue cheese burger with fries. Happy hour pints of Asahi. Hard to say no, even if you firmly intend to do diet (then maybe start tomorrow) ...

Leek dumplings and suan la tang (sour spicy soup) at a nice Taiwanese joint under the IFC. They have delicious soy milk, too ...

Thanks ... the key for these kind of dinners is portion control. If you convince all the other to exercise portion control, there is always enough of the really good stuff for you. I have not been to the Cannery yet, though from the look at it I might include that in one of the next trips (at least to see you boards and find out, what a "west cost vibe" is ...).

Epilogue: As tradition dictates, after the dinner a smaller group went for "second place". We drove about 45 min across Pudong to reach a street where all the hip bars are supposed to be. I am not sure about that, but we found a decent place and after a couple of Old Fashioneds some if us (o.k. mostly me) were hungry again. They had oysters - who can say no to nice fresh oysters and another Old Fashioned? (there was a "third place" as well that involved driving for another hour somewhere in search for a fried chicken place, finally ending up in another bar having some sort of mediocre pizza and a final beer - however, pictures and memories are too blurry to post here).

After a very long day of discussions and negotiations there is always my favourite part of a business trip – the dinner. Together with our JV partners in a supposedly well-known Shanghai institution, located in a colonial type building with a fitting sino-colonial interior. We had … Jellyfish with sesame oil and vinegar Filled braised lotus root Greens with garlic and walnuts. This was surprisingly nice with a sharp dressing. Drunken chicken. Braised beef shin with Sichuan pepper and chili (a variety of “husband-and-wife” lung slices). Very good. Pomelo with onions and honey. A little bit weird. Red-braised spare ribs. Filled devil’s horn (kind of water nuts) Deep fried river fish. A local Shanghainese speciality. Two types of shrimp Braised beef short rib Spicy chicken legs Steamed abalone with garlic. Very tender and very good. Beijing duck Steamed bamboo with ham Steamed nibbles. Surprisingly popular. Sweet and sour clams with veggies Stir-fried crab with garlic on cellophane noodles. Excellent. Deep-fried lotus root filled with pork and ginger. Also excellent. Three types of steamed pumpkins Steamed carp Dong Po Rou. I love this ! Clear soup with five-spice fish balls Stir-fried water vegetable “Good fortune” noodle soup Green onion pancake.Very light and flaky. I ate three. After that several different fruits, but I was too full to make more pictures. And very happy ...

Sunday night, heading out for a business trip to Shanghai. Food in the Cathay Lounge at HK airport is predictable, but good: Pumpkin risotto with scallops, followed by sea bass on buttered peas. Not pictured are two flutes of M&C (cause it's a Sunday night that I can't be at home, so you need to reward yourself) and a very well prepared G&T ...

Two fish fingers, slightly beyond their expiry date ?

Autumn has arrived - only 23 oC today. Homemade chicken soup with macaroni, carrots and peas. I started to add tiny mounts of white miso to my chicken soyps - not noticeable as miso, but just the little umami-boost needed for a plain soup ...

Bratwurst mit Sauerkraut - the breakfast for Champions. Moe sure is a lucky guy ...

Dis-gus-ting ! Do you know how all bread from Subway tasted like this "Rosmary-in-wet-sock-microwaved" ... just like that. And its supposed to taste like Basil ?!

There are two types of Sushi places in HK: the "Japanese"-style ones, usually good to excellent with more traditional offerings, high quality and high prices (RRO's lunch would fit right in there). And then there are the "localized" ones, good to lousy, with more creative offers, medium to budget prices and quality that you either know or you are desperate. Todays lunch fell in the very last category. I had to run errands in the Fuk Wing street in the heart of Kowloon, known for all sorts of party decorations and cheap toys. Being done at around 13.00h with a toddler sleeping in the stroller is not a good prerequisite for a satisfying lunch. Everything popular (the beef intestine noodle soup shops, curry fishball joints, Sichuan hot-pot places) was crammed with queues, which means no stroller parking with a sleeping kid. Finally, on a corner an unknown Kaiten sushi place - and after some haggeling we were allowed to park the little one in the corner. As I was starved I filled up on the very decent plates from the conveyor belt and then ordered a la carte for some fresher sushis. Note the size of the side-order soup, which was actually a bone-marrow based Ramen. All in all quite ok and for 240 HKD a steal. Would not dare to bring friends here but for an emergency Saturday lunch I'd return any time.

La Vie en Rose ...

Lazy dinner: Sliced steak with caramelized onions, dijonnaise, cheddar and pickled carrots on a baguette. 10 min to make, 5 min to eat. More time to watch "The little mermaid" with someone much smaller ...

Thanks, sounds straightforward... Will bring some rennet from my next trip to Germany and then start production!

Homemade "chevre" - care to share how you do that ?

Thanks to @AnnaN 's recent triple: Caldo Verde ...

Oven-roasted pumpkin pureed with sharp cheddar, cream, nutmeg and salt. Mixed with macaroni and topped with fried lardons. Simple and satisfying ...