Duvel

Bit lazy today, so Japanese hambagu steak, with mixed salad and wafu dressing …

A plat ravier is a (usually small) oval plate with a raised rim, on which small starters (hors-d'œuvres) are served. The suffix riche probably indicates a certain unctuousness …

Had a can of good crushed tomatoes open (pizza night), plus some real ones at an advanced state of ripeness and chose to make tomato soup. While browsing through the fridge I also found two packages of smoked salmon that needed to go, so I whisked together some bagels. They crowded a bit the pot and took on an oblong shape, but were tasty nonetheless … Homemade bage with horseradish cream cheese, smoked salmon, onions and caper & tomato soup. I’ll stick with my opinion: the best thing about home office is the canteen 🤗

There is just one way to eat Kale: as Grünkohl! Harvested after the first frozen nights, boiled into submission for hours with the finest parts of the pig* and served with icecold caraway Schnaps … *technically only with those that did not make it in any other dish, sausage or mince. Preferably cured and smoked. “Bregenwurst” would be traditional (with Bregen meaning brain).

Noooo …

Nice crumb structure ! You refer to a straight dough, so this is a long (cold ?) rise in the pan ..?

Carrot (and leek, onion, ginger & a bit of tomato) soup with creme fraiche & refried Haxe cubes …

I think the “Sunday night Ooni” studies are over for this year. No fun when it is dark, cold and somewhat wet on the terrace. So, back to indoorsy pizza making … Family liked the recent cornmeal inclusion, so I worked on that: upped the poolish time to 36h, reduced the hydration to 63%, added a bit of sugar to get a bit better browning … family is still happy. Tuna & onion Mushrooms & sweet ham (tad overcooked crust) Homemade Italian sausage Crunchy crumb shot Little one requested “Mary Poppins Returns” - again. I can’t recount how often we’ve seen that movie this year …

Sure 😉

Gesundheit ! And kudos for making it look exactly like the chicken fingers with tangy tomato dipping sauce sans sauteed lacinato kale on the side …

Great job - looks perfect 👍

Fresh !

Yes, crispy skin. Plus a bit of puffing. It was very tasty. Haxe is not the most popular cut these days. It is not always available, yet if it is, it’s usually on offer. These ones were on offer at 4€/kg 🥳 Very hard to resist …

I love these early autumn days - cool air, yet bright sunshine. So pleasant to be outside (even when you are forced to visit a maize labyrinth …). Befitting the season, a little incarnation of the Oktoberfest. Oven-grilled Schweinshaxe (that did not puff as much as expected) … That’s what „fall off the bone“ looks like … Served with red cabbage, potato Knödel and a very good sauce made from the meat juices, onions and brown beer, scented with caraway. And the Paulaner Oktoberfestbier ! Little one had a loose tooth for almost two weeks and couldn’t really enjoy hard foods for fear of the pain associated with knocking it out … it fell out today, so he went all in with the Haxe. Family was more than full after the meal, so I enjoyed the dessert on my own 🤗

To be honest: I have never seen anyone eating tonkatsu with a knife. It gets slices into suitable portions to be picked up with chopsticks, and then eaten in 2-3 bites … Concerning the meat trimming - he does mention that he removes sinews and chooses the pieces of his menu for tenderness (while other cuts don’t make it on the menu because of lach thereof …).

I think he refers to the creation of holes by the skewers, implying a better circulation of the juices within the cooked meat.

Boulderdash … never seen Fruit Ninja ?!

I think it depends on your upbringing with that specific product. For some German sausages (especially aged Mettwurst), we remove the (sheep or cattle gut) casing; here for the Catalan varieties the thin pork gut casing doesn’t really matter in terms of texture. In terms of taste and mouthfeel, I’d consider the edible mold as part of the package (just as a tiiiiny bit of oxidized fat actually rounds off the taste of good iberico ham). But I fully get that it is a matter of cultural background, exposure and most importantly individual taste …

I am not quite sure if I get this correctly … do you mean that he might be put off by the edible mold ? If so, I can assure you that while he is not a huge fan of longaniza (because it is too soft for him), he loves* the fuet (a bit more right in the original picture), with casing, mold and everything. He has never eaten it sans casing. As a matter of fact, we usually have both hanging in the kitchen for snacking … *just not as much as a soft boiled octopus arm

In this regard, please have a look at this video, brief discussion on the frying process starts at around 5:30 min … (the rest is informative as well)

I‘ve got only passive restaurant knowledge: I have been to quite a few tonkatsu places in Japan and Hong Kong, including the ones that prepare the tonkatsu in front of you. It has always been prepared to order, including the coating.

Frozen cooked octopus legs - very good product. Just thawed in salted water, sliced in thick slices, slightly warmed and dressed with olive oil & pimenton de la Vera … aka pop a la gallega.

Little one requested „pica pica“, basically tapas. I pieced together what freezer & pantry had to offer. My wife was super happy; and the little one told me „Papa, for me next time only the octopus“ 🙄 …

I second @mgaretz advise: start with a dry piece of meat. Do not presalt/preseason the meat directly, or add anything that draws moisture out of the meat. From my experience with Schnitzel present moisture leads to a „tighter“, more consistent breading that is much more likely to detach (via evaporating residual moisture) in much larger pieces from the meat.

Maroccan chickpea & spinach soup, with lamb meatballs.