Duvel

The pain d'épices comes from a recent trip to Belgium. I have made it once, so I know my limits 😉 Thanks for pointing me to Sabra - I haven’t had that one, so I‘ll be on the lookout. Grand Marnier is my „go to“, as it is one of the few liquors my parents stock …

Lucky, lucky you 🤗

Started my Christmas holidays with a visit to my parents, my sister and BIL joined as well … Duvels time to shine 🤗 Starters: Foie gras on pain d'épices … … and pigeon pâté (from Strasbourg) with black truffles and Sauternes jelly. Venison ragout with wild mushrooms, Knödel, red cabbages, sour cream and pears with lingonberry jam … A nice Balearic red to go with … And for dessert some orange mousse with Grand Marnier. Everyone was very full and very happy 🥳 !

Our houseguest requested “a simple German meal” for dinner … so here we go: Leberkäse … … on a bun with Hela curry ketchup and a cabbage salad. No complaints 🤗

Not quite. Tater tots have recently arrived here, but have not been met with much enthusiasm, as similar products (e.g. bite size Rösti) are already available. I like them, though … Kartoffelkroketten (potato croquettes) are in their simplest form just mashed potatoes, that are formed into logs or balls and fried. They are available pre-fried & frozen and can be easily prepared in a convection oven with pretty good results: crunchy outside and fluffy inside. More elaborate versions incorporate eggs and/or cream and drift in the direction of Pommes Duchesse. Occasionally, the croquettes get an extra breading, as in bechamel-based croquettes, but for me this doesn’t really add much (especially for oven-based preparations).

Still enjoying the spoils of our Strasbourg visit, while entertaining our Japanese house guest … Tonight: Côte de Boeuf, reverse seared … Nailed it ✊ Served with haricots verts … Potato croquettes (commercial) … … and a sauce made from the pan drippings, butter, cream and shallots plus a fantastic Roquefort compound butter. A contemporary German red to go with it … No complaints !

Maybe not the same movie, @rotuts 🤗 We watched Disneys Frozen 2 (with the cute snowman and some singing princesses), in English …

That is a perfect description of the cooked filet. The rare center was very sweet, which blends over into a more beef-y flavor in the browned parts …

More or less an encore of yesterdays dinner, this time in bite-sized portions to support our Sunday night movie (Frozen II) … Pâté rustique (from Porcus), that had surprisingly tiny truffle pieces in it - no complaints. Foie gras on pain d'épices. Cornichons. Crisps with mustard flavor. Croquettes with grey North Sea shrimp (from Belgium). Shrimp with Aioli. Toast with Petit Billy (fresh goat cheese). Plus a medium-rare horse filet (from Belgium, too), with tomato garlic butter … Cooks treat while preparing 🤗 No complaints 🥳

In Japan, the noodles used to make Ramen are not hand pulled, but rolled out, flattened and cut.

A little present from our Japanese visitor:

I think the terms involved here all offer a certain amount of flexibility, just as the Japanese take liberties when adapting originally foreign dishes to their palate: Ramen refers to the dish, not the noodle. The noodles are called generically chukamen (“chinese noodles”), and usually mean alkaline noodles (that most people colloquially refer to as Ramen), but egg noodles or regular wheat noodles (referred to as Somen / Yakisoba depending on thickness and oil-content) also make their appearance occasionally. A wheat type noodle is for example used in Tsukemen (or [cold] dipping noodles with a condensed Ramen stock). Unsually, the term “instant” also rather refers to a dish type, namely one that can conveniently be prepared at home, rather than laboriously being cooked at a restaurant. It refers to the whole dish, and emphasis is more on the soup part (as it takes significantly more time to prepare broth and condiments, then the noodles). With regard to the noodles: fresh noodles cook in under one minute in a restaurant, while require cooking / soaking for 2-3 min at home, so they are not the “instant” part. There is however Momofuku Ando’s contribution to the culinary world: flash-fried noodles, which are now colloquially referred to as “instant Ramen” - although this term again refers actually to the whole dish (cup or package). The noodles used for this process may or may not contain alkali salts.

I really like it. It’s my “go to” option in France …

We have a dear Japanese friend visiting over the extended weekend. Today I took her to Strasbourg to see the Christmas market*. A pre-dinner snack. Spätzle with garlic mushrooms and Munstiflette (the local version of Tartiflette, subbing Munster for Reblochon). After a lovely evening we returned home and had some snack-ish dinner. An Alsacien beer to start with … The spread … Pâté en croûte Richelieu from Porcus … Boudin blanc with Perigord truffels from Porcus as well - excellent ! Baguette from Paul … And Roquefort salé, St. Felicien, Munsfer and St. Maure from the legendary Maison Lorho. Some Chimay from my Antwerp trip thrown in for good measure. All served with a reasonably priced Gewürztraminer (tgg ggf at was gone all too fast) … A new discovery: Mayo with garlic and roasted onions - very nice ! A nightcap and everyone** was happy ☺️ —- * and go food shopping 🙄 ** mostly me - I am a simple person

Duvel to the rescue ✊ Take 450 mL of water and bring to a boil in a pot (not a pan). Add the ramen. Boil for 2 min for “hard”, 2.5 min for “al dente” and as long as you want for “soft” (not recommended). Remove from heat. Add the soup package (the bigger of the two packs) directly to the water. Stir. Garnish as you like. Sprinkle on the spicy package (half a pack for medium spicy, one pack for spicy, two packs for very spicy). I recommend to start without or with a quarter pack to being able to enjoy the soup flavor). Enjoy 🤗

A quick business-related visit to Antwerp … Starters on the Christmas Market: potato puree, grey (North sea) shrimp, beurre noisette and poached egg. Very good … At night … Dinner at an institution: “Het Elfde Gebod” Duvel to start with … Mort Subite Kriek (sour cherry beer) to get the appetite going … Mussels in cream sauce, with plenty of fries … Kwak ! Behold ! The holy hand grenade of Antioch … La Chouffe … A very happy Duvel went back to his hotel 😉

Thanks for reminding me of Goudenband … and just in time. Am heading out to Antwerp tomorrow and bringing my car for beer shopping 🥳

I’ve seen them doing that in Tsukiji fish market, Tokyo. Exactly one nail was involved, and it took about 2 seconds to poke the eels head onto the nail and skin the unfortunate critter after being taken out of a bucket and before before it was thrown into another bucket. But buckets were full of wiggling eels, just one bucket was skinless …

No vampire visits tonight …

I think this scenario is highly unlikely. The inside of the chamber will graduately heat up as the fire develops, the thermal mass of your oven will delay the process even more. Water will continously evaporate, not in an explosive fashion. If heated too fast I recognize the chance of cracking, but for a violent explosion (the "BOOM") triggered by pore-enclosed water in set-up for example as pictured above from @Margaret Pilgrim I see very little chance.

Also ok …

Killepitsch, Hamburger Kümmel or both 🤗

That’s the smartest thing ever 🤗 !!! Germans are usually so very good with hangover cures … why didn’t we have invented this ? Shall we arrange for a “spirit exchange” ?

Seeing the quotation marks, did it come from the black forest (like the one a few kilometers from here down the Bergstrasse) ? Or a black forest (in China) ?

In the meantime you can buy an Ooni and practice …