Duvel

Happy St. Patrick‘s Day 🍀 It‘s been 22 years now that - as a fresh master student - I celebrated my first St. Patrick’s Day in Dublin. So many memories remain ... plus my college‘s team shirt that unfortunately does not quite fit anymore ☺️ So, corned beef and the works tonight. Brisket, dry-corned 7 days and SV 10h @ 180F. Very tender & yummy, but not the most popular dinner for the rest of the family ... You may notice a small grey spot in the middle of the brisket, where the curing salt didn’t reach. Will need to up the anount of pink salt and prolong curing time by a day next time. But to stay in with the Irish theme quoting Samuel Beckett “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” ✊ Finished dinner with a fine Irish whiskey that just arrived in time two hours earlier. Smooth, balanced yet with a bit of spice - highly recommendable. (After the whiskey I got a bit emotional, but luckily some Irish songs happily supported my melancholy ...)

Thanks - I was very sceptical when my wife suggested them as our new tableware, but I got used to them quite quickly 🤗

I bought two soy-based meat substitutes today at Aldi. No special reason, just curiosity. The come as chunks resembling chicken and are available as “chicken” or “Döner”. I marinated the “chicken” variety with my Döner spice mixture to make a side by side comparison. Served with a greek salad, baba ghanoush, hummus, tomato sauce and freshly baked flatbread ... The “chicken” version with my Döner spice won. It does not really taste lile meat, and the texture is a tiny bit off, but with some flavorful sauces and textured accompaniments I would not really notice that. The macros are bery clise to chicken meat, so maybe I use this occasionally in the future.

Flatbreads ... 90% wheat, 10% rye; yoghurt in the dough. Cooked on baking steel in 2.5 min. Nigella & sesame on one to test my families reception.

Resuming fading traditions: Pizza & Movie night ! The classic “Salami & Mushroom” with loooots of cheese ... And “Meatlovers” aka “clean out the fridge”, featuring chicken breast, smoked ham, chorizo, Mett and red peppers, onion and olives. Very satisfying 🥳 Enjoyed with “Night at the museum” - we all wish to go to a museum soon !!!

I am serious ! I trade you for this ultimate compendium on “African cuisine” (in Catalan, though). Unfortunately, no more illustrations inside like the progressive / “#me too” (depending on your upbringing) one on the cover ...

Wow 😱 Before you throw that gem out, please send it to me ... 🙏🙏🙏

To die for ?

Ok, looks like it’s a variable mix of undetermined species ... I made some compound butter with a wakame/kombu mix, but was never really happy with the results. I’ll try to source this one to try ...

Whatever I have on hand. Sometimes cornstarch, sometimes potato starch. It “softens” the dough a bit (for a lack of a better description). The effect mimics a bit the addition of yam, which is not readily available here ...

I use a mortar, but half way through (about 5 min), I sieve the mix, separate and pound the coarser part for some minutes more ... I toast all spices at the same time, but break down the cinnamon and crush the cardamom with a rolling pin before.

Sure ! Prepare a batter of 90 g AP flour 10 g starch 1 egg 120 mL of strong dashi mix with 350 g finely chopped cabbage (if this is your first one, start with a bit less cabbage, it’ll hold better together that way) and let sit of some 20 min or so. You can add finely chopped onions or some chopped chives as well. Preheat a pan, but some oil and drop a generous amount of the cabbage-batter mix in. I usually prepare a disc of about 20 cm, with 2.5 cm thickness. Add “whatever” (hence the name Okonomiyaki) you like on top and press a bit. Bacon, sweet corn kernels, shrimp or nothing ... Cover and cook for some minutes at medium heat. Flip carefully, but fast, and cook the other side as well. Disc should be browned on both sides and cabbage cooked but still “al dente”. Dress with Okonomiyaki tare (a thick and sweet soy & Worcestershire-based sauce), drizzle with Kewpie (criss-cross is traditional) and top with Katsuobushi and nori flakes ... Enjoy !

Which seaweed did you use ?

Some weeks ago I ran out of garam masala, so I decided to make some today. While happily pounding the roasted spices my wife remarked that “we haven’t had Indian for a while” (wink, wink). So saag paneer, dal tadka, mughlai kofta, coconut turmeric rice and fresh garlic naan. Plus a new (and rather light) beer I found today at Aldi.

Same here. Most of the temperature/time combinations for a “traditional” texture aim for 82 oC (180 F) and 10h. I found one recipe using that temperature and 8h cooking time and it seems to work fine, too. Some compare it to crockpot results, which usually use a setting that goes up to 85 oC and a cooking time of 8h. So, although it doesn’t help you in terms of first hand experience, I will go for 82 oC and 10h this year ...

Nope.

Lazy dinners continue ... Banh Mi (paté & 5 spice beef), enjoyed with “Jumanji” (1995 version).

Tomato - very juicy !

Lazy weekday evening, featuring pork burgers & an episode of “BBC Earth” ...

For me excess / leftover / on purpose purchased cabbage goes pretty much exclusively into Okonomiyaki. Like that my family can go through a small cabbage in one sitting (plus a few pieces for next days snack) ...

Presoak your (good quality) beans, braise the leg with some salted/fermented fish product (e.g. anchovy), white wine, herbs (e.g. rosemary) and garlic for about 1.5h and add some crushed tomatoes. Braise one more hour, adjust seasonings and done !

Shoulder: 24h @ 70oC. Leg: I prefer traditional braise, as I usually flavor beans or potatoes with the resulting braising liquid ... I‘d go for 12-18h @ 70 oC if I have to ...

That depends on your animal. For young lamb in terms of treatment yes. Older animals will differ and the leg would need a bit more time. But if the precision is „2-3 days“ - yes, they will be equivalent ...

Quick and easy: curried cauliflower-carrot soup with a touch of cream cheese ...