As you can see, the blog didn't pick up pace as we landed in Stockholm. Been way to busy to pay any attention to it and sadly i'm pretty sure i will be for the foreseeable future.
I might start it up again in a couple months time, but then again i might not.
Ciao.
Please excuse me for the lack of updates recently. But in 5 days we move over seas and its been very hectics the last couple of weeks, which have meant we've eaten out 80% of the nights and the rest its been simple pasta recipes or soups, ie nothing to write home about. I was about to post a chicken soup i made though, but was quickly shut down by my wife who claimed it was to damn bland to post about. While i kinda agree with her, i still want to post a picture of it, not for the soup itself but to show off our new soup bowls we bought ahead of the move. They gonna be fantastic to make French onion soup in!
Just now the removal company came to pick up the last of our stuff, which means I no longer even have the basic stuff to cook with. What this means is that the last meal in my fantastic kitchen has been cooked. As a side note, the majority of our stuff was shipped a month ago by boat. The last pieces is going by air,allowance for the air fright was 50kg, we ended up with a nice 107kg...
On the upside, the blog will definitely pick up speed again as soon as we touch down in Stockholm, so please do check back.
S2
20-30g butter
30ml white wine vinegar
15ml brown sugar
1 pear, quartered and cored
60ml walnuts
30g rocket
6 slices of creamy blue cheese
Melt the butter along with the vinegar and sugar in a frying pan. Add the pear and walnut and cook till the pear gets soft, about 5 minutes.
Place the rocket on a plate, top with pear and walnuts, finish with the cheese and drizzle with olive oil.
drink: l'ormarins sauvignon blanc 2006
Not sure how authentic this dish is as i couldnt find a complete recipe, so had to guess a few things. However, it worked out very nice.
S4
600g chopped pork spare ribs
15ml vegetable oil
15ml brown sugar
30ml fish sauce
5ml paprika powder
1 garlic, finely chopped
1 shallot, finely chopped
100g of small Rosa tomatoes
250ml water
s&p
Melt the sugar in oil in a pot for a couple of minutes. Turn up the heat to max and saute the pork in batches, just to get the color right. After all the meat is sealed, throw it back in the pot. Add the shallot and garlic and cook for about a minute before adding the water and fish sauce. Season to taste and let it simmer till the sauce is reduced to 1/3, about 45 minutes.Serve with jasmine rice and the tomatoes. Garnish with chopped garlic chives and some of the sauce.
drink: st.george beer
S4
700g spaghetti
200g bacon
3 big cloves of garlic, chopped
70ml capers, drained
80g rocket, roughly chopped
1 large red chili, thinly sliced
1oml of lemon zest
45ml lemon juice
250ml grated Parmesan
black pepper
olive oil
Cook the pasta in a large pot with lots of salt. Meanwhile fry the bacon till crisp.
Saute the capers and the garlic for about 2 minutes on medium heat in about 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the chili, zest and lemon juice and stir for one min, then take the pan of the heat.
Drain the pasta once its done and toss with the garlic mix. Then add the rocket and Parmesan.
Serve with bacon strewn on top along with black paper and some extra Parmesan.
drink: hartenberg merlot, 2003
S4
400g pasta
150ml cream
150ml Parmesan, grated
125ml basil, roughly chopped
15-25ml lemon juice
10ml lemon zest
pepper
Bring a big pot with water to the boil, add a lot of salt.
Cook the pasta according to the packets intructions. Drain and throw back into the pot and stir in the other ingridients, toss well. Serve with some extra grated Parmesan on top.
drink: water
S2
2x200-250g kingklip fillets or other firm white fish
600g medium sized potatoes, sliced thinly lengthwise
1 onion, sliced
1 teaspoon chili flakes
3 plum tomatoes, deseeded and cut into thin wedges
zest of one lemon
olive oil
s&p
knob of butter
Preheat the oven to 220c.
Spread baking paper on a baking tray and toss the potato on it. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Cook for about 35-40 minutes or until golden and crisp.
When 15 min or so remains on the potato, heat a saute or frying pan with 15ml oil.
Mix the onion and chili flakes in the pan and cook for three min. Meanwhile, season the fillets with salt and pepper. Add to the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes each side over medium heat. Once done, remove from heat but keep warm. Add the tomatoes and lemon zest to the pan and turn up the heat. Cook for 4 minutes, season to taste and add the butter just before serving.
drink: a nice chenin blanc or a light pinotage
S4
150g white chocolate
500ml pouring cream
45ml hot water
10ml gelatine powder
250ml blueberries, fresh or frozen
Dissolve the gelatine in the water. Melt the chocolate in a saucepan along with the cream. Then pour in the gelatine and let it cook for one min.
Take of the heat, transfer to a bowl and place in a ice bath to cool.
Stir in the berries and portion the mix into glasses.
Chill for 2 hours.
drink: single espresso
Due to a small emergency the beef got a tad to medium, should be medium rare for this dish.
S4
500g rump steak
400g rice noodles
500ml chicken stock or deli bought chicken stock
1 rec chili, deseeded and chopped
2 scallions, chopped
15ml grated ginger
7,5ml five spice powder
5ml chili powder
45ml vegetable oil
Cook the noodles according to instructions.
Combine the stock, chili and ginger in a pot and bring to the boil, then turn down and keep warm.
Mix the five spice powder and chili powder in the oil. Toss the beed in the mix.
Fry the beef over high heat for about 3 min each side.
Portion the noodles into bowls, slice up the beef and place on the plates and scatter the onions over the dish. Finish with pouring the stock around the dish.
drink: black label
S4
3 slices of nice white bread, torn into pieces
100g rockets
100-150g mozzarella, torn
4 plum tomatoes, sliced
30g tapenade
12 basil leaves
60ml olive oil
30ml red wine vinegar
Preheat the oven to 225c. Toss the bread with 30ml of the olive oil and cook it in the oven for 8-10 min or till crusty and golden.
Place the rocket, tomatoes, mozzarella and bread on four plates. Top with the tapenade and basil leaves. Drizzle with the dressing.
drink: nothing
