Duvel

I think this is where the wording „your mileage may vary“ applies ... I am fully with @weinoo on this one: how much better can you get your product if you purchase MP if you are already happy with it ? I am not trying to sound arrogant here, but I am ~95% happy with my pizza (and so is my target audience - my family). I really like pizza: I have read a lot about it, I have sampled really a lot and I have made a lot. For the last ~5 years years practically every Sunday night is pizza night, with ~3 pies on average. I have tailored „my“ pizza to what I like best. And I remember all my milestones: the preferment, the 550 extra fine flour, the long cold rise, the hydration tweaking, the sauce formula (including the drop of vinegar), the cheese mix, the transition from „oven floor“ to baking steel. By now, I make very consistent pies and - while me and my son do enjoy the classics with minimalistic ingredients - I am happy to experiment with new toppings (sorry, @weinoo 😉). But my formula remains the same. I can see the advantage of MP taking the guess work out of whatever you want to achieve and shortening the learning curve to get to a great pizza. I will appreciate the unusual ideas on dough, sauce, toppings for sure. As a scientist I certainly also appreciate the insight into the why's and how‘s. That’s why I will follow the discussions on MP with great interest. But I will - at this point - not invest to achieve the last 5% satisfaction on my pies (which I personally believe are a matter of practice and maybe equipment, not knowledge). But - as I wrote in the beginning - YMMV ...

We are still trying to entertain out houseguest ... today we went to nearby Darmstadt. Visiting the Waldspirale, designed by Friedensreich Hundertwasser, and then doing some window shopping in the city center (as far as CoVid19 restrictions permit) ... After the cultural exposure I decided some more approachable food was in order ... Burgers ! Grilled, with Brioche burger buns ... Cherry Old Fashioned as aperitif ... 4 varieties - each as individually requested: simple cheeseburger with salad for the niece, „Arnau“burger with BBQ sauce and roasted onions for my wife, double „Arnau“burger for me with extra pickles and a burger with fresh pineapple and teriyaki sauce for the little one ... Simple food is sometimes the best ! Served with my hometown beer (for me, of course) ... Little one enjoyed as well (together with a BBC documentary on sharks) ...

There was a nice crunchy crust from the subcutaneous fat layer, that I left on the meat ... The leg was rubbed with oil and salt and roasted with rosemary, garlic and onions in a closed cast iron for 5.5h, then 30 min without the lid. After 4.5h I removed the accumulated juices (for the sauce), put in white beans and finished as described above ...

At the end of a rough week I was feeling for some comfort food - lamb specifically ... Slow roasted leg of lamb, sourced from a local Turkish butcher. Their lamb is fantastic ... Served with oven roasted veggies (eggplant, zucchini, red pepper, garlic, onion) ... And garlicky white beans, cooked in the last 1.5h with the lamb ... Simple, yet very satisfying !

I am certain it will be fantastic conpendium. At that pricetag however I am wondering whether it‘ll make more impact to what I serve to my family than some hardware improvements at the same cost level (e.g. outdoor pizza oven, ...). I will not preorder, but will watch the (definetely interesting) discussions here and probably succumb shortly after ...

Sure ! 3 large potatoes, peeled & grated 1 medium onion, grated 1 large egg 1 tbsp AP flour salt, pepper, garlic and pinch of nutmeg Grate the potatoes & the onion. Mix with egg & flour, season. Wait app. 15 min, the fry (best done swimming) in oil, clarified butter or - like my grandma used to do it - in lard. Flip 2-3 times and remove once the edges crisp up ...

Homemade fishcakes (haddock) with rémoulade and potato salad ...

Ok, that’s it ! You know ... I have a tremendous amount of respect for people that like good food. Reaaaally a lot. But this is over the top. You post this type of food porn again, I will complain to the moderators and put you on my retaliation list, should I even get my hand on some decent, fresh seafood 😋 (you have been warned)

Pizza & movie night 🥳 Salami & mushrooms ... Olives & extra cheese (requested by our house guest) ... Hawaii with fresh pineapple & bacon ... Margherita ... All enjoyed with Ice Age (todays smallest common denominator 🙄). And as an extra treat: Dolomi, a childhood favourite with lemon/raspberry/woodruff taste !

Happy Anniversary 🥳 But ... who would want to go out if THAT is your spread at home ?!

Thanks ! We had „Inside Out“ - picked by our house guest and much to the delight of the little one, who expected movie night happening tomorrow. Of course, there will be a lot of bargaining required to allow a second full movie on the weekend tomorrow, but it is Pizza & Movie night and - if not anything - I am a man of tradition 😉

My wife’s niece will be staying for the next two weeks with us. We picked her up at her boarding school in the North today, where she is currently staying to learn German. It’s a beautiful area ... I assumed she would like some Catalan food after more than six weeks of German diet, but it seems I know very little about 15 yo teenagers ... my wife suggested Japanese and that was more to her liking. So, we had ... Edamame (and some pickles) ... Chikuwa stuffed with cucumber ... Dashi tamago ... Gyoza (commercial product) ... Okonomiyaki ... Karaage (with yuzu kosho) ... Rice plus some miso soup. And some Dassai 39 for the cook 🥳 No complaints 🤗

Hmm ... that sounds like an idea. What are the proportions (and serving size / mode) ?

Family requested oven baked chicken wings and I am always up for that ... Served with sliced tomatoes, parmesan shavings and basil ... I decided to toss my ones in a Korean marinade (ssamjang, sesame oil, vinegar, garlic, honey) ... we ended up saucing the ones pictured above as well 🤗 Served with simple smashed cucumbers with seasoned soy sauce, sesame oil and katsuobushi flakes.

I do prefer duck blood, but this kind of simple soup is just right up my alley 🤗

Happy Father’s Day ! After making a round around one of the many lakes and enjoying sights of the (semi-domesticated) wildlife ... ... I opted for a simple grilled bacon cheese burger with fries. And a subscription to Disney+, because I really wanted to see „Blackbeard‘s Ghost“ today ... Happy faces all around 🤗 Aaaaand ... it’s a fun movie !

Exactly my initial thought, but ... The longer I think about it, the more sense it makes. I feel that it‘ll prepared in my kitchen at one point* ... *most likely when the cook is drunk. So chances are high this weekend.

Happy Father’s Day ! Potato pancake with fresh goat cheese cream ... preparing my body for things to come (hint: beeeeeeeer !) 🥳

Spam ice cream ...

Why is there no „fantastic“ button ?! Great job, @Kim Shook !

Granted, I has been more than a decade since I lived in Japan, but I think you might be shopping in the wrong supermarkets and not bringing your shopping bags. These are not premium items, and cut up & plastic wrap have never been the standard at the markets I‘ve frequented ...

If I get my hands on a bottle of Taketsuru 21, I‘ll be posting it everywhere I can as well 😜

I bought a nice fillet of wild pollock today ... yes, not the most adventurous fish, but sustainable and more importantly available fresh here in a regular shop. I was going for battered fried pollock, but in a last-minute decision I went for fish chowder. Good decision - family was very happy !

It‘s „Okonomi“, literally „as you wish“ ... So ... I picked it up, but I can definitely see me (or you) sticking a chopstick in and eating it like a popsicle 😉

Lazy Okonomiyaki dog ...