Duvel

With that color, are you sure that’s venison ..?!

Irrelevant. It’s pronounced … Peeeeee -

In Germany, Amaretto is the most popular addition to all the hot drinks on the Christmas markets: hot mulled (spiced) wine, hot cocoa, hot apple juice with a cinnamon stick, hot cherry juice with lemon …

Hahaha … rarely. But in the context of food “no complaints” is meant as a compliment from my family - we have a German proverb saying “Nicht geschimpft ist genug gelobt” (or “their silence is praise enough”) 🤗

Recently, I like to turn the bits and pieces inside my fridges veggie compartment (cabbage, carrot, celery, alliums, …) into shepherd’s pie. This time half of the mashed potato topping was actually mashed celeriac, which the family liked as well … No complaints 🤗

They forgot the aflatoxin …

Lovely @Honkman - a fish dish like this would make Mrs. Duvel (and me as well) very happy any day 🤗

Yes - the other three had the same (fixed) menu. You can choose a la carte, but this menu has a far better value and it comes with matching wines. My company (despite doing chemicals as a main business) is one if the biggest wine dealers in Germany, so you get really nice stuff at a pretty decent price - also in the restaurant 🤗

I literally do not know any man who doesn’t like Leberkäse. Maybe you sell it to him as bologna 🤗

In Germany (Frankonia), they are available pickled & canned (with some heart thrown in for good measure) …

Far too seldom I have the opportunity to enjoy dinner in our company restaurant. Luckily, tonight I had such a treat … Menu of the day (plus accompanying wines): Gruß aus der Küche: avocado tartare with goat cheese praline … Tuna with quail egg … Sweet corn soup with scallop … Fermented mushroon risotto … Beef fillet with coffee crust … Banana bread dessert … And a housemade gin and cream praline to go with the coffee (that I decided not to drink, so I’d be able to sleep) …

Forgive my ignorance, but what is pizza cheese ?

There is also a full feature documentary about the origin of the dish and its proliferation …

And dessert …

Nope … Unfortunately, AFAIK only available directly from the source. Gomen nasai 🙏

This is the “official” wiskey glass from the Yamazaki distillery …

This …

Rib eye, sous vide for 3h @ 54oC, then seared in beef fat with garlic and rosemary … Plus the obligatory side dish: green beans, braised with tomato, onion and garlic, and finished with herb salt and Parmigiano … Aaand a little something afterwards 🤗 No complaints !

Because sometimes you have to celebrate a bit …

Grieben in German 🤗

The crispy bits left from rendering chicken skin. Sprinkled with salt and shichimi togarashi after draining the fat. This is the only picture I could take (as this part was reserved for decorating a dish later this week) - the slightly larger main part was practically inhaled 🙄

My butcher had deboned chicken thighs on offer. He does a very good job deboning them and I usually buy too much because they look so good. Mrs. Duvel requested fried chicken and little one agreed in an instant. So, off into the buttermilk brine they went. Fried tonight - juicy and very crisp 🥳 I was feeling more like something Chinese, so I took advantage of the slight overpurchase and made a batch of gōngbǎo jīdīng (宮保雞丁) for me … No complaints. Tomorrow I have quite some chicken skin to render 🤗

That‘s this years ema (絵馬 or „picture-horse“ - a wooden sign) from my friends home shrine, depicting the rabbit for the year of the rabbit. Japanese use two alphabets (hiragana and katakana) and the Chinese-derived script (kanji) in a mixed way …

Well … technically this wasn’t purchased at my liquor store, but was instead send by dear friend from Japan, found its way through the customs, arrived undamaged at my doorstep and has now found a new home in the mancave … Together with this 🤗

Sleepover @ the Duvels. Normally, I‘d make pizza on this occasion (you know, the adventurous „only salami“ one), but today little one requested ribs 🤔 Happy to comply ! No complaints (also not from the houseguest)