plays with her food

2011-05-25T08:28:00.008Z

poltering around

we had a polterabend the weekend before last. very exciting... lots of plate smashing... too much sekt and the like. i had an army of helpers to bake beautiful cakes and hang garlands and erect pavilions, but i still indulged in a little baking of my own:

you've seen this one before. it's the pistachio zucchini yummarama. oh i do love a good cream cheese frosting.

2011-04-22T09:41:00.002Z

eh fatteh!

the lovely miss cliodhna quigley came to visit us not so long ago (well, ok, long ago, i'm slow) and amid all the fun and games (scrabble truck! scrabble! in the shape of a truck!) we managed to work up quite the appetite. we meandered home a little late in the evening and as such i was very glad to still have a little dinner party lamb tucked away in the freezer.

with my trusty sous chef ac manning the hob, i whizzed up a little fatteh for the troops. we based it loosely on this recipe, replacing the chicken with shredded slow-cooked lamb. it was, from all reports, something of a success.

today marks the start of the grill season. we have a kilo of prawns, some whole trout, an armful of fresh herbs, a bottle of rosado, and a handful of hungry friends. i will try to take some photos in between mouthfuls.

2011-03-06T17:38:00.002Z

food safari mark two

we had the follow-up progressive dinner party last night, devouring more than we could feasibly fit in our collective bellies and washing it down with oh! so! much! wine!

this time it was our turn to kick things off with appetisers. we threw a little sherry at our fellow travellers and plied them with bite-sized treats, including:

1. an impaled beetroot, orange and olive party (i love this combination; i cannot get enough)

2. porcini on bay with little thyme-y parmesan hats, looking somewhat like demure parisian ladies on surfboards

3. grilled scallops on chorizo and roasted sweet potato

4. roasted jerusalem artichokes with labne and cherry tomatoes

5. rare beef fillet with horseradish cream and baked new potatoes

the rest of the evening was an outstanding display of culinary excess with a spectacular pear and celery soup, a slow- and low-cooked beef fillet with truffled mash and an insane gâteau of epic berry proportions. the whole night is documented on fb for your viewing pleather.

the best thing about progressive dinner parties is being able to go totally overboard because there's only one thing to think about! the worst thing is navigating the whole reheating concept.

2011-02-28T20:47:00.007Z

nom nom nam jim

how good is nam jim even? here is a hint: really freaking good. i secretly think this might be the true green goddess. it certainly ticks all my boxes. here it is doused all over a poached chicken and macadamia salad. oh. so. good.

nam jim (supposedly enough for 4 but i make this much for 2)

1. rip the leaves off a fistful of coriander (use them in the salad)
2. bash the naked stems with 2 garlic cloves and a pinch of sea salt
3. chuck in a deseeded and chopped green chilli and bash some more
4. stir in 2 tablespoons each of raw sugar and fish sauce
5. squeeze in a couple limes (you want about a quarter cup of juice)
6. mix in 2 finely chopped shallots
7. drink it up

2011-02-24T21:52:00.002Z

store cupboard dinner

a post-yoga concoction of bits and pieces flying around our kitchen: roasted cherry tomatoes tossed through lemony chickpeas and rocket, topped with grilled scallops and drizzled with a cumin-laced mess of mossy green sludge.

salsa verde (makes half a cup)

1 anchovy
1 tbsp capers, rinsed
1 garlic clove, peeled
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
handful rocket leaves
handful flat-leaf parsley, picked
handful basil leaves
olive oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
juice of half a lemon

throw everything up to (and including) the basil in a jug and pour over enough olive oil to just cover the mess then zing together until it looks sludgy and beautiful. toast the cumin seeds in a dry pan until they smell great then grind them in a mortar and pestle. stir the cumin through the green sludge together with the lemon juice. taste for seasoning and add salt if you think it needs it.

2011-02-24T00:01:00.013Z

back to edy

it's hard to believe that it's nearly a year ago that paul and i headed off to rome for that little thing they call a honeymoon (and the thing we called 'paul's stop-off between his whirlwind six-week conference world tour in which i became a temporary academic widow'). but it's true. and ever since we got back he just hasn't been able to stop talking about the artichoke pasta he gleefully tucked into at edy.

i, of course, have been happily keeping him at bay by pointing to the fact that artichokes have not been in season, and gee wouldn't you know it i just can't seem to find any.

but lo and behold, he managed to track some down this past weekend, and i dutifully complied, whipping together a batch of tagliatelle with artichokes and parsley.

the verdict? wish as we might, it's still not spring in this part of canada, and artichokes aren't in season yet. but i'm sure in a month, we'll be trying it again.

2011-02-23T22:58:00.001Z

souped up

ever since i made an appointment to get my wisdom teeth ripped out of my skull i have been thinking about soup. my favourite kind is a despicably cheesy garlicky mess of chickpeas, tomatoes and rosemary with this insane velvet texture and just the right amount of chilli. i love it.

chickpea must be the only word the the history of words for which the german translation is cuter than the english. gigglepea totally beats chickpea in a cute race. it kicks chickpea's ASS. which is fine, of course, because german has a lot to make up for, given that the literal translation of nipple is breast wart.

on that appetising note, i give you chickpea, tomato, chard and bread soup. try it, it's amazing.

2011-02-16T09:55:00.002Z

pois (the australian kind, not the french kind)

the first in a series of campaigns to make use of large quantities of leftover dinner party lamb = lamb pies, pronounced p-o-i-s. this is an extremely important addition to your vocabulary hannah, particularly as you make your way to the world's nether regions.

these ones were lamb, fennel and chickpea with tomato chutney and spinachy spinach salad. i love spinach.

oh and i used my new ramekins! i love ramekins.

it kinda feels wrong to take a meal, dress it up with a fancy puff pastry hat and pretty mauve stoneware and call it something else... but also entirely irresistible. you know it.

2011-02-08T09:54:00.007Z

block party

remember that crazy progressive party we went to way back when? you know the one: the historic meeting of texas, george the greek's indiscretion, a wall of unread first editions and my disbelief that 'schlecker!' was not how germans say yum.

so we took the progressive party to the next level on the weekend. same beat, of course, but this one was something of a dinner party.

we started with lillet and tonic cocktails at alexis' place, scarfing down green goddess-laden vegies and the most delicious parmesan black pepper biscotti ever. you would love it, really you would.

the night rolled on, and we picked up a stephan as we slunk over to kai's, where he and andrew delivered the goods with inappropriate modesty. creamy beetroot soup with a bruschetta of beetroot and red onion with beautiful grilled dorade.

we wove back to our place, where chris and i had constructed an outrageously unstable dinner table for eight from a pair of cupboard doors, our regular table, and a lot of packing tape. we served slow-cooked lamb with red peppers and chickpeas, which i am quite addicted to. needless to say, i cooked too much and now have endless lamb pies and pots of harira to contend with.

the last stop was ewa's, where she presented the fruits of her five-hour-long labour: an opera to end all operas. dripping with raspberry syrup and chocolate ganache, it was ridiculous in the extreme and very, very good.

2011-01-23T15:03:00.003Z

sunday eggday

this is how it has gone for a while now: i wake up groggily of a sunday morn to a view of snow-capped rooftops and a man dressed in running reds. i mumble something about beauty sleep and fall back into it, only to be awoken what seems like moments later by a sweaty drippy man in running reds. having done nothing to earn it, i then happily partake of our other sunday morning ritual – eggy breakfast. today it was pitched somewhere near the med, owing to the leftover haloumi from last night's feast. together with a toasted loaf of walnut bread, it played the perfect buddy to baked eggs with spinach and tomatoes, which went like this:

wash four handfuls of baby spinach, shake it off and wilt it in a covered pan over high heat for a minute or two. throw it in an oven-proof dish and wipe the pan. halve 10 cherry tomatoes and toss them in a teaspoon of brown sugar. grill them cut-side-down on a hot pan until they caramelise and then throw them in with the spinach. make 4 wells in the spinach-y mess and crack an egg into each one. bake in a preheated oven at 180C for 10 minutes, or until the whites are set. turn off the oven and leave the door open a little while you get the pan hot again. fry 6 haloumi slices in olive oil until golden on both sides. sprinkle both eggs and cheese with sumac and pul biber and drizzle eggs with olive oil.

2011-01-16T12:22:00.002Z

der teufel steckt im detail

it took me a good couple of years of living in germany before i was able to figure out where the seeteufel fit into the english culinary spectrum. part of this lethargy i attribute to the fact that he doesn't swim in southern waters so much. the rest of my ignorance can be pinned to the ridiculously erratic naming conventions – seeteufel in german, monkfish in english, ange de mer in french. evidently there is some dissent in ranks over the moral integrity of the poor man's lobster. he certainly leaves much to be desired in the looks department but tastes quite divine so i can kinda appreciate the confusion. unfortunately he lives much longer than your average anchovy and so overfishing tends to be a problem if not handled properly. happily the uk marine conservation society seems to think that monkfish fishing is fairly sustainable at the moment.

we celebrated this last night with our friend the bouillabaise. actually it was kinda the bastard cousin of the bouillabaise but tasted delicious all the same – monkfish, fennel, tomatoes, orange zest, lovely little leccino olives and rouille setoise. oh. so. so. good.

2011-01-11T09:30:00.005Z

resurrection (or i heart ottolenghi)

aaaaaand we're back.

i'm not even going to talk about how lazy we've been with this blog. instead i'm going to tell you about my new favourite thing: yotam ottolenghi. would that i could keep him on my mantel. in lieu of the actual miniaturised man in my house, i have his book, plenty, which was a christmas gift from that other man in my life. it is a glorious study on the world of vegetables and just thinking about it makes my tastebuds tingle. i took it for a spin on the weekend and made a collection of wintry mezze which we hoovered up with glee. the emotion, not the tv show.

on the menu:
caramelised fennel with sheep's curd (voted most elegant)
puy lentils dressed with yoghurt and spices (voted most flavoursome)
beetroot, orange and olive salad (voted most surprising)
kisir = bulghur pilaf with pomegranate molasses (voted most moreish)

2009-10-06T00:41:00.005Z

apple-picking mayhem!

oh! dear me. hi.

not having grown up in the wonderful province of ontario, i never got to have the quintessential ontario-elementary-school-field-trip experience of picking apples in the fall. now that i have some time on my hands, i decided to grab the bull by the horns.

i think i picked about three before i got bored and started gossiping about boys. thereby unintentionally completing the elementary school field trip experience. here is a little photo diary:

i carefully orchestrated that picture. for posterity.

my first bite of an apple fresh off the tree.

for the record, that look says "holy shit, that's a good apple."

and the finished result. apple pie with a cheddar crust.

2009-06-24T12:12:00.003Z

newfound freedom

sorry to be a bit late in responding to the italian wonderfulness. i'm extremely jealous. especially because the best kind of trip i'm going to get this summer is here or maybe here and here. i'm hoping for some serious lobster and beach time in august at the latter.

BUT! exciting news. i'm all finished with school! which means that i'll actually have time to cook again. and guess what little dr. science got me as a congratulations?

he's a good gift-giver, that one. now if only it wasn't seven-hundred millions degrees outside, i might turn on the oven.

2009-06-14T15:51:00.005Z

food adventures in italy

this is pointwise folks, cuz i got a curry on the stove and a cliff and a sarah on their way over to devour it.

so italy pretty much rocks. but we knew that already. here is a list of the best of our fly-by visit:

1. stupidly delicious spaghetti alla vongole scarfed not two hours into our holiday.
2. chicory fried in olive oil and dressed with lemon juice. ooh!
3. suppli snack on the way out to the bar. very necessary. very delicious.
4. strawberry gelato from heaven. oh! so! good! i went from 'mmm yum strawberry' to 'oooooh strawberry' to 'holy shit! that is strawberry madness!' in three seconds flat.
5. foccacia snacks slathered with ligurian pesto and buffalo mozzarella on our hike along the coast. yes.
6. artichoke pizza in a roman back street. mmm. actually there were artichokes everywhere. spring is a good time to travel in italy. i continued the artichoke love when we got home with this little number:

risotto ai carciofi. very very good.

2009-05-27T03:07:00.006Z

fiddleheads!

if ever there were a sure sign of spring around these parts, it would be the arrival of these guys at the local market. they usually sit at the foot of the door, in big pans filled with water. and you had better snatch them up fast, because they're only around for about two weeks. you know, it was actually jack and lydia who pointed them out to me first, when they were visiting a couple years ago. not being a native ontarian, i always thought they looked kind of gross. but you know what? they aren't. they're really totally super delicious.

here they are next to some soupe au pistou (which i am still eating EVERY DAY at work). i'm gonna miss those little guys when they're gone. even if it DOES mean we're that much closer to xmas.

you had better be taking a lot of photos in italy, miss abigail. i want to see them all.

2009-05-18T08:31:00.009Z

further to the easter feast thing

so although the indian fiesta will doubtless go down in history as a major (and unmatchable) eat-a-thon, it seems as though this year's holiday was also fairly foody o'er here. at least, the last two meals i photographed were both on easter weekend. the first was a light dinnery thing after eating the motherload of picnic goodness in the park for lunch. i'd been meaning to try this haloumi and strawberry salad for a while and finally had sweet enough berries to justify giving it a go. i think i'm going to do a rerun during prime season but the early guys were yum all the same.

the second was a much heavier roast lamby thing with eggplant, chickpeas and chargrilled chilli peppers. the recipe came from deicious magazine but they don't seem to list it online so i'll have to get back to you on that one. super yum though. mm-mmm.

in other news, we're off to italy on wednesday for a little pre-summer treat. i'll try to take some food pics! love.

2009-05-12T12:43:00.003Z

two for one

two dishes today, ms. abigail, to demonstrate my love for gourmet. i was a non-believer for a long time, but i think this marks my conversion. first up: a savoury pain perdu

and last night's special dinner: roasted mushrooms and lemon-y gnocchi

pay no heed to their pictures. mine are much more edible. that lemon gnocchi thing made me hum and wiggle with glee. yum.

also: it's time to grab a picnic basket! i'm very excited.
and look at this.
(awwwwwwwww. sminket.)

2009-04-14T01:09:00.006Z

artichokes!

as per usual, spring has me perplexed by the mere fact that seasonal change is possible, and i find myself wandering around the market saying things like 'holy shit, these vegetables are not only fresh, they're almost affordable!' and 'how the hell did i ever bike with these heels on anyways?' only to have those first few moments of wonder quickly once again fade into the everyday. it's kinda sad, really. so for those first couple of days when the sight of beautiful, fresh, tender baby artichokes is enough to make my heart stop, you gotta just run with it and have a little party. plus, this was a nice chance to try out a new recipe. (two hours prep time? totally not true.) i was singing a little song and licking my fingers all the way to the plate. except for that sad excuse for falafel. i'm not really sure what happened there.

remember our easter feast? when we made lemon pickle and all the chutneys and then that mango lassi with the cumin star? i was thinking about that this weekend. this year saw me feastless. by choice.

ps - these plates belong to the good doctor. i used to think they were hideous, being a white plate snob myself, but they're kinda starting to grow on me.
help.

2009-04-11T17:24:00.003Z

oh no now he's spoiled sigh

last night's converation went something like this:
h "dried pasta."
dr s "dried pasta?"
h "oh fine." (makes fresh pasta)

lately, though, i've been going through this thing where eating flour makes my face and arms break out into this huge red rash. it's pretty disgusting. so i've slowly been exploring the exciting world of polenta! which basically means i've been taking whatever the pasta sauce or topping would be and throwing it on polenta instead. in other words: help. i need some inspiration.

until then: here's a tomato, ricotta and basil number that went over well.

2009-04-01T22:00:00.005Z

tuesday

is the night when i get together with sean and emily and watch a little show we like to call 'project runway canada.' oh! if only it were as good as it sounds! instead it is just one more reminder that canadians really suck at reality television shows. and even though it's hosted by iman, david bowie has YET to make a special appearance. (i've waited almost two seasons here and NO ZIGGY STARDUST)

but it does make for some good snackin'. last night i knew the party was on when the sausage, cheese, wine, chips and dumplings were joined by a throwback to the living in little korea days with (insert drum roll here)

kim chi! huzzah!

sorry the picture is so dark. but i just discovered that my new phone will make this picture-taking thing much easier! i will brighten the future ones. versprochen.

2009-03-31T08:40:00.006Z

fenneltastic

i am obsessed with fennel. braised or grilled, raw or roasted, seeds and fronds. i don't care how it comes, i just love it to bits and pieces. this recipe is one of my favourites: braised globe artichokes with fennel, tomato, preserved lemons and black olives... made all the better with the help of lovely homemade preserved lemons from my wonderful godmother. oh. so. good.

in other news, it's looking more and more like picnicking weather o'er here. stay tuned for g-r-i-l-l-i-n.

2009-03-31T00:46:00.006Z

2009? what?

what? been gone a long time? i don't know what you're talking about.

i miss our food conversations, abigail. so i've made a spring resolution to post again. and not just the fancy schmanzy pantsy stuff. just plain old food.

dr. science and i had pizza tonight. just a basic crust with some sliced baby tomatoes, olives, basil, fresh mozzarella, and a drizzle of this really awesome olive oil i picked up the other day.

basic pizza dough

250 g unbleached all purpose flour
120 ml water
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp yeast
pinch o' salt

grow the yeast. make the well. stir it up. let it rise. punch it down. cornmeal pan. toss it up. spread it out. go.

then one-two-three-go pizza-eating race. i won. and had just enough time to grab an action shot of one happy scientist.

hello. i miss you.

2008-09-22T08:44:00.014Z

cook learnin'

ooh goodness me it's been a while...

so i went to france and learned a thing or two from a canadian-born niçoise with my little mama who was in the process of setting europe aflame. we started in the marketplace and checked out the local produce. lip-smackingly good, i tells ya. oh for a real marketplace.

then we went back to rosa's little maisonette and cooked up a storm. everything was very regional and fresh and lovely and fun. we made:

1. pissadière: caramelised onions on cakey eggy pizza dough, strewn with little black olives and anchovies ('pissala' is a nissarte anchovy paste).

2. les petits farcis, for which the course is named: roasted baby vegetables stuffed with veal and parmesan.

3. ricotta and lemon cake with a slosh of marc de provence grappa and a strawberry and mint salad.

and a pair of lovely rosés, of course.

that was a coupla weeks ago. we arrived home to a wintry dresden a week ago and mama left shortly after that. chris returned home this weekend, just in time for our much-anticipated bean & beluga preserving course. it was very very interesting in more ways than you can imagine, and embraced the following themes:

1. these people know how to run a restaurant. the service was so stupidly good that i forgot i was in dresden. bubbly pear wine flowed freely throughout the course, and the three-course lunch that followed was tended to by as many staff as there were guests.

2. but for the ring on his left hand, our herr hermann is quite the ladies' man. the women who joined us in the course had all been to multiple courses and seemed to have only a passing interest the food side of things. very amusing indeed. we never hang out with real live dresdners.

3. i am really quite shy in german.

at the end of the show = cooking six different preserves; touring the restaurant and kitchens; wandering through the forest to see the site of his upcoming outdoor project; and filling our bellies with yum...

... we all took home a package filled with lovely jams & chutneys. very cool indeed. now we are fully stocked for winter with fig & olive confiture, caramelised plum compote, green tomato chutney, pickled pumpkin, elderberry confiture and loganberry compote.

2008-08-01T14:57:00.004Z

bean & beluga

we ate at bean & beluga last night for my birthday. i started with vitello tonnato with mustard fruits and a beaujolais and chris, gazpacho with tuna tartare and a grüner veltliner. then i had oxtail ravioli with creamed spinach, red wine butter and a glass of blaufränkisch from austria. chris had cod with a wild herb risotto and more of the same.

easily the best meal i've had in dresden. the fun part is that my birthday present included a lesson with the chef in september. ha! and yay!

just keeping you informed.

2008-07-08T12:08:00.005Z

BRNch

we finally got around to having a proper streetside brunch at bunte republik neustadt this year. it comprised delicious home-made bagels (courtesy of the daring bakers recipe via this blog) and bunch of different cream cheesy concoctions: blueberry with orange zest; maple and walnut; kalamata olive and thyme; sun-dried tomato and basil; and plain old chive. lovely lovely.

2008-05-29T08:28:00.006Z

pho-ndue

did i tell you that i got a fondue set for christmas? well i did. from chris' mama. and being the heathen that i am, i thought that fondue was all about gooey cheese and bread. but it's not! apparently the type that i have is specifically for bourguignonne (hot oil stylee) and court bouillon (hot broth) fondues. awesome!

we started out with a bastardisation of pho bo kho and a slew of tasty treats with which to dip, including carpaccio of beef marinated in chilli, lime and mint; broccoli, snowpeas and oyster and swiss brown mushrooms. mm-mmm.

the pho went like this:

1. take 1 medium yellow onion, chop finely and sauté gently for about five minutes
2. add 1 teaspoon of chinese five-spice powder, a grated knob of ginger, 1 teaspoon of brown sugar, 2 tablespoons fish sauce, a bay leaf and a hefty stalk of lemongrass cut into inch-long pieces and bashed with the flat of yo knife
3. let it bubble away a bit till it smells lovely
4. add a tin of tomatoes, half a teaspoon of salt and reduce for around ten minutes
5. throw in 2 star anise and half a litre of fresh beef stock and simmer for five more minutes
6. stir in a handful of coriander and mint leaves and pour it into your christmas present

2008-05-24T22:42:00.002Z

meat, glorious meat

adam and i had a vegetarian-free dinner last night.
i was still thinking about it when i woke up this morning.

lightly pound boneless skinless chicken breast
season one side with salt and pepper
i had no fresh sage, so i used thyme (weird, but it worked)
roll up the breast
wrap in pancetta
cook in 1 tbsp oil, turning frequently, until browned
cover and cook over low heat 20 mins or until cooked.

i finally splurged and invested in a really good olive oil. it was totally worth it.

2008-05-05T21:02:00.003Z

how to handle heavy-handed herb hassle

if you're like me, and you like fresh herbs but can't wrap your head around the overly ambitious pre-ordained bundle size of your local fruit and veggie stand, there is hope. picked up a ridiculous amount of basil the other day and kneaded it into a batch of fresh pasta* that both alleviated my conscience and my tattered nerves.

mix about 1 1/2 cups of flour and some good salt.
make the well.
pour in two eggs (medium beaten) and a cup of well-chopped basil.

mix together and knead on lightly floured surface (adding water and flour as needed) for about ten minutes, or until you have a nice little ball.

wrap in a damp, warm towel and let rest about 15 minutes.
have fun.

i made some fat old dudes and served 'em up with oven roasted tomatoes and the usual fixins.

*caution: making fresh pasta may result in loved ones requesting it constantly.

2008-04-24T08:17:00.008Z

our new grill

does that even make sense in english? sometimes i fear for my vocabulary what with all this living in german-pseudo-english land.

anyways...

here is our new grill. or barbecue. or whatever. yes i know it's dinky but it was only six bucks and it is very very portable:

yesterday was market day on münchner platz and so i picked up some trout:

some big fat kalamatas (they're in the salsa):

some new potatoes and some 'sparagus:

and took it all to ze park after work for some pre-summer outdoor dining. why am i so obsessed with eating outside? hmm.

the little fishies were stuffed with lemon thyme and rubbed with olive oil; the potatoes were parboiled, wrapped in foil with rosemary and then shoved into the coals (see figure 1); and the salsa comprised tomatoes, olives, fresh red chilli and garlic, sauteed with a sprig of rosemary and thrown together with flat-leaf parsley and lemon juice.
ta-da!

2008-04-22T01:41:00.002Z

don't mess with success

a little while ago i tried to make some brownies that had a black bean base. it was a bad idea. very very bad. dr. science said, "hannah, i love you, but those are disgusting."
and since then i've had a hankering for the real deal.

UNHEALTHY BROWNIES

preheat oven to 350
melt 1/2 cup unsalted butter and 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
let cool (seriously. if you don't, they will be heavy and dry)
beat 4 eggs and 1/4 tsp salt until light and frothy
gradually add 2 cups of sugar and 1 tsp vanilla and beat until thick
now take your wooden spoon (seriously) and
stir in cooled chocolate mixture (with a few quick strokes)
stir in (until just combined) 1 cup flour
and maybe some nuts

bake about 25 mins or until toothpick comes out clean.
let cool completely (or at least blow on them to avoid burning your tongue)

now THAT'S what they're supposed to taste like.

2008-04-01T19:30:00.008Z

mister liu

ivan's back from gay paris slash montreal slash the world and so we had a cook-out the other night in honour of his return. can i tell you how mad i got at dresden slash snooty market sellers slash the world when i went a-shoppin' for 'gredients? goddammit where is the sprouting broccoli? where are the ligurian olives? where are the artichokes and the frenched lamb cutlets? where are your manners? oof!

anyways, we ate yum stuff all the same, including the lime oil we picked up in margaret river (plus some rockin' dukkah with the sumac that hannah so kindly sent over)...

these little baked ricotta babies...

and a very delicious new vegetable treat from everybody's favourite australian expat. obviously i was too (ahem!) excited to take photos once dinner was underway. also i forgot the goat's cheese. hmm...
and now i have a date with lost.
ab out.

2008-03-20T22:08:00.004Z

boxed soup

when i was a kid, i wasn't allowed to eat a lot of junk. but everytime i got sick, my mama would make me boxed chicken noodle soup with dumplings. and there was something about the salty, fake chicken goodness and those dinky noodles combined with egg dumplings that always made me feel better. and i needed some of that today.
because.

i have pink eye. and i think you can tell just how happy i am about that.

so here you go. crappy chicken noodle soup with dumplings. now i'm going to sit down and watch rocky iv because it seems fitting and it's the one where pauly gets a robot and i really like robots and i don't care what you think. so there.

look how yellow it is! don't you feel better already?

dumplings

one egg
splash of milk
enough flour to make dropping consistency

drop into simmering soup. remove from heat and serve when dumplings rise to the top.

stupid pink eye makes seeing hard.

2008-03-13T20:10:00.007Z

not-so-sour grapes

so jill dupleix was bangin' on about roasted grapes this month and i was all like "roasted grapes? what's all that about?". and then i was on my way home after skipping yoga cos my shoulder's all messed up and i took a little detour to the brand spanking new konsum on alaunstraße, picked up a little lamb and headed on out to herr green grocer. two minutes later i had a bunch of rocket in my hand and the dude behind the counter was "noch etwas?"ing me. i started to say no but then! a bunch of red globes caught my eye and the whole world lit on fire.

anyways, to cut a long story less long, i roasted those babies with half a red onion cut in wedges, a little salt and pepper and a slosh of balsamic vinegar for twenty minutes. then i doused them in white wine, threw in a bay leaf and gave them another twenty. i grilled my lamb nice and rare on the griddle pan and let it rest for ten while i made a little salad of spinach, rocket, finely sliced fennel and sheep's milk feta.

can i tell you how good those goddamn grapes tasted? holy shit. the pan-juiciness of it all sent me into conniptions. true. there is nothing more to say. except that very good, aged balsamic vinegar is an extravagance whose value i have begun to fathom.

barcelona next week baby. i will share the food love as soon as i hit the ground. give my love to miss linda.

2008-03-12T00:04:00.003Z

the hudson bay used to own part of my country

now they sell me pretty bowls. i got two of the beauties below along with two gorgeous blue denby cups and a pretty mustard creamer/mini-pitcher for 22 bucks. that's, like, 15 euros. it was a soup-er sale. (groan)

roasted eggplant soup

one eggplant
three medium tomatoes
a small onion
six cloves of garlic

halve everything (except garlic)
brush with olive oil.
roast about 45 minutes (425)

then put in pot with 4 cups chicken stock (or vegetable if your boyfriend's a carrot)
simmer until onions nice and soft.
puree in batches

grate some parmesan into bottom of bowls
ladle soup on top
squirt in some fresh lemon juice (soup-er important)

six cloves of garlic is potent. you are warned.

ps - the hudson bay company (now like sears) really did own my country. you can read about it here.

2008-03-03T00:03:00.003Z

british columbi-icious

last night, my kitchen was invaded by british columbians (vancouver, surrey, fernie), and i had nothing to ward them off with but a rolling pin, a cheese grater and some remedial ninja skills. what was a poor, hannah-sized gal to do?
these helped.

pumpkin tortelli

preheat oven to 350. put 4 cups pumpkin (chopped) in a roasting pan, drizzle with 2 tbsp olive oil, cover with foil and bake for about 1 hour. puree in food processor, and mix in a medium-sized boil with lots of parmesan, 2 eggs (lightly beaten), salt and pepper. add enough bread crumbs to make a fairly firm mixture. roll out pasta and stamp out 3-inch rounds. spoon a little bit of filling into the centre of each round, fold in half, and crimp edges. cook in a large pan of salted boiling water for 10 minutes. Serve with sage butter and extra parmesan.

adam and emily got me the world's greatest cookbook for my birthday (the silver spoon), and i've been powering through its deliciousness ever since. (see: the incredible amount of italian food i've made lately)

a-n-d! i've now decided to only have dinner parties that are based on geography.

2008-02-24T18:41:00.002Z

comfort food

i've had a rough couple of days. so i decided to spend yesterday in the kitchen to relax. and also to thank dr. science for putting up with the craziness that is hannah.

mmmmm. manicotti. fresh pasta (i am soon going to have massive pipes), filled with spinach, mushroom and ricotta. baked in a very delicious tomato sauce.
blanch about five medium-sized tomatoes.
skin, seed, and dice.
cook over medium heat with a good dollop (read 3 tbsp or more) good quality olive oil, two garlic cloves, and a sprig of parsley - ten minutes.
remove garlic and parsley and serve.
(for a thicker sauce let cook five minutes over high heat)

and the most delicious chocolate chip cookie i've ever made. i often have trouble with chocolate chip cookies. i've never been able to make a satisfying batch. when i was living in germany, land of no real cookies, this was especially frustrating. however, this recipe from 101 cookbooks rocks my world.
hoorah.

2008-02-21T00:00:00.003Z

more pie

yep. it's an obsession.

rhubarb (and apple) pie
5 cups chopped rhubarb stalk (and apples)
1 1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup corn starch
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt

mix well in a good bowl. let sit, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes. then pour into your pie crust and cover with a top (i like the bastel quality of my crappy laticework)
bake at 425 for 30 minutes, then lower to 350 for another 25.
allow to cool completely.

notes:
1. those little flute things that they put on the edge of crusts. apparently they're not just for decoration. they help keep the juices in.
2. you m-u-s-t put a baking sheet under the pie. or you will have to clean your oven after. (learned that lesson last time)
3. you really do have to let it cool completely. otherwise the juices run out, making tomorrow's left-over pie lunch (although tasty) somewhat drier.

2008-02-18T03:06:00.003Z

rubber boots, rain and ravioli

rain + puddles + rubber boots = awesome

so does this ravioli i whipped up in a desperate attempt to convince dr. science that i really need a pasta-maker. like, for reals. yo.

thinly sliced mushrooms and one small onion (frying pan 15 minutes)
food processor (zoom zoom)
one cup ricotta cheese
yum.

2008-02-17T17:18:00.012Z

three new salads

yes i know it's still winter, but these are winter salads. sorta. and besides, winter seems to have forgotten dresden. the following come c/- jamie oliver, ben o'donoghue and skye gyngell respectively.

1. roast carrot and avocado salad with orange and lemon dressing.

the (par-boiled) carrots are marinated in bashed-up cumin, chillies, thyme, garlic, olive oil and red wine vinegar and roasted with orange and lemon halves, which then become a hot and tangy dressing for the vegies. the rest is just avocados, mixed leaves, ripped up toasted ciabatta, poppy seeds and a little sour cream on top. very very good. possibly my new favourite.

2. crispy asian salmon salad.

basically the good ol' vietnamese rice noodle salad with limey fish sauce dressing. but! deep-fried salmon and capers make everything crunchy and delicious. mm-mm. from this month's delicious magazine.

3. rare roast beef salad with green beans, new potatoes and horseradish cream.

the trick here is very good beef fillet and boiled potatoes which are dressed with lemon juice and zest, olive oil, salt and pepper while they're still hot. slow-roasted tomatoes and red onions do their bit too. we had some gorgeous white italian radicchio with this, beautiful green beans and a lovely creme fraiche spiked with horseradish and dijon. yes-sssah. so good.

2008-02-17T08:10:00.002Z

as american as i want to be

a post from the prodigal sun (or perhaps the land thereof)
my apologies. i hate february. and shoveling snow. and i've gone into hibernation.
but this post comes thanks to a very special bit of sunshine who particularly likes pastry. and apples.
my first apple pie

it wasn't nearly as hard as i thought. but what was hard was capturing this:

and then this:

and then this:

i think this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship.
(with pies. and maybe a little bit of sunshine, too.)

2008-02-03T11:12:00.000Z

recreating the breakfast bruschetta

first up, much love to hannah on her birthday. herzlichen glückwunsch zum geburtstag, äffchen.

here is my attempt (read bastardisation) at the vans breakfast bruschetta extravaganza. spinach, prosciutto, roasted tomatoes, grilled mushrooms, soft-poached eggs and basil oil. oh life is good.

by the way i am totally crap at poaching eggs these days. i used to be the poaching master but somehow i've lost it. today's effort was saved somewhat by our mid-week purchase of an induction hotplate. these must be among the greatest inventions of our time. so so so good. when i grow up i'ma have a real set. yessir.

2008-01-12T12:28:00.000Z

oh austral-ii-ia!

how i love yo-ou!
you fill my bel-ly!
and make me gri-in!

sigh. where to start? i'm going to have to list 'em:
1. first and outrageously foremost, our new year's eve lunch at vasse felix winery in margaret river. we took an early trip to the cellar door so we were well-equipped to face the wine list in the restaurant upstairs. the rest kinda followed from there...

we started with a sparkling shiraz (oh!) and the charcuterie plate comprising (left to right) salad niçoise atop beef fillet; duck confit with cabernet jelly and balsamic onions; pork rillettes with cane cut semillon jelly; and pork and pistachio terrine with pickled ratatouille. mmm so meaty, so good.

i had a sauvignon blanc and candied pork with sticky black rice which almost made me cry with pleasure.

chris had the shiraz and bigoli (loooong spaghetti) with shredded duck, red globe grapes, baby spinach and braised fennel.

dessert was a bittersweet chocolate tart with beautiful rosemary and honey frozen yoghurt and caramelised dates. oh. oh. oh.

2. is it wrong to list one of mine in second place? hm i don't know, but i was really excited about cooking lunch for my family as a post-christmas treat. we didn't take any photos but the day was suitably perfect and made me glow inside.

chris and i continued our love affair with skye gyngell by serving her beautiful mezze plate (roasted pepper purée, beetroot and mint purée, chickpea purée, slow-roasted tomatoes, braised lentils, lemony salad, fresh ricotta and basil oil), followed by the chilled almond soup, all of which appear in her book.

we stoked the wood-fired bbq and charred a couple of legs of lamb that had been pre-roasted earlier in the day. while the meat rested, kate and i grilled some peach halves and then served the lot on a bed of rocket and scattered with hazelnut picada (roasted hazelnuts, orange and lemon zest and juice, parsley and anchovies).

late in the afternoon we feasted on frozen grapes and chocolate and grappa di moscato. yay!

3. mama's every meal. no, seriously. my favourite was the marinated and barbecued baby squid, prawns and scallops. chris has a hard time deciding whether it was the faux-christmas roasted turkey or the farewell crayfish which changed his life more.

4. and last but not least (cuz i'm running outta space and time), the breakfast bruschetta at van's in cottesloe = pancetta, spinach, slow-roasted tomatoes, soft-poached egg, persian feta = gold.

only eleven months to wait! yippee!

2007-12-09T13:39:00.000Z

nikondiments?

double post! this one is mostly about showing off the fact that chris finally worked out how to use the nikon in less-than-perfect lighting. hurrah! this was friday night's quick chicken burger dinner. we raced home after a late evening at the good ship lollipop and stocked up with supplies en route. alas it wasn't till we got home that i realised we were outta mayo. chicken burgers without mayo? no way jose! luckily i had my new skye gyngell book on hand and, armed with my new mini food processor, we whipped some up together.

it went like this:
3 x egg yolks in the machine with the juice of a lemon, 2 teaspoons of dijon and a pinch o salt n pepper. then, with the motor running, a steady (and fine) stream of olive oil goes in until you've fed it about 200ml. genius!

2007-12-09T13:18:00.000Z

squash is the name of a fruit drink

yo so i have been meaning to upload this for some time = a success story with tricky pasta-making extravagance. i was convinced this would be a flop but it actually worked. wowsers. it was a rotolo of roasted pumpkin, spinach and ricotta from jamie's italy book. there is copy of the recipe here along with a video (!) of james fooling around wit' some yankees. yessir. just quietly, i used store-bought fresh lasagne sheets, because smeghead is still holding my pasta machine hostage. ooh. (sorry the pictures suck ass.)

2007-12-08T15:41:00.000Z

more moor

so i'm obsessed with this

and last night had the favourites over for some tagine (sans tagine), stuffed bread, and quinoa salad

the salad:
1. cook quinoa
2. chop up a good amount of celery, some mint, some parsley, some toasted walnuts
3. toss it all together with some raisins and pomegranate seeds and salt and pepper and lemon

the stuffed bread:
1. make a basic dough (or buy it from the bakery if pressed for time)
2. roll it out as thin as you can before getting annoyed
3. mix together some chopped spinach, rocket or dandelion with some chopped onions, feta, salt and pepper and zaatar.
4. make pocket and bake until golden brown...

yum. and yum.

2007-12-06T17:25:00.000Z

winter developments

1. brrrr.
2. shovelling snow.
3. falling off bike due to slippery tram lines.
4. warm and wonderful food.

two curries. a red one with pumpkin, sweet potato, spinach and peas. and a lovely cauliflower ditty from a new/old favourite.

the rice was made to perfection by le monsieur paul (because i am incompetent in this regard).

it almost made me forget the near-death bike experience. but
5. i'm still riding.

2007-11-26T12:34:00.000Z

i really like soup

there's no denying it. and it's soup season.
this is a nice little pea number

you'll note my lack of creme fraiche.

BUT! in happier news - half decent bread, pseudo-minty ontario basil (which i'm finally warming to) and creamy creamy gouda.

2007-11-14T09:02:00.000Z

pass the haggis

a weekend spent in scotland with three of the most excellent people on this earth and wonderful food to boot. sigh. those brits (am i allowed to call them brits?) really outshine their humble yorkshire pud roots these days. market shopping kicks some serious ass in edinburgh; we happened upon a coupla lovely local lamb racks, some delicious salmon, the best gingerbread i've ever come across and a monster pork roll extravanganza that left the boys in raptures. somehow we managed to... er, pass the haggis.

here are some very average photos of our very wonderful sunday roast: pistachio-crusted lamb, lovely spicy sweet potato mash, roasted tomatoes, delicious (if temperamental) minty basil sauce, broccoli and (drum roll) brussels sprouts! yep i'm converted. it's my new favourite green thanks to miss lydia lange.

2007-11-13T11:44:00.000Z

no vampire kisses, either

i'm sick. and as some of you might know, i really hate being sick. i am potentially the world's saddest, mopiest, whiniest sick person. BUT.
every time i DO get sick, some part deep inside of me does a little dance (a feeble dance, mind you, and then doubles over coughing and moaning), because being sick means making garlic soup.

for one (large) bowl of garlic soup:
a) roast 13 good-sized cloves of garlic in their skins at 350 with some olive oil and salt and pepper (in glass dish, covered with foil)
b) after about 45 mins or when golden brown, remove and let cool
c) 1 tbsp butter, about 1 cup onion, some thyme in pot until onions translucent
d) squeeze roasted garlic out of skin and into pot and add an additional 9 garlic cloves (about 3-4 mins)
e) add about 1 1/2 cup chicken stock and simmer until garlic tender about 20 mins
f) puree the sucker
g) add some parmesan cheese (which i never have)
h) LEMON (essential)

it pretty much cures you. and tastes like the czech republic = awesome.

hooray.

2007-10-20T13:04:00.000Z

central is not eastern europe

so picture this. hannah writes story about hungarian cultural centre and notices that they're having a cabbage roll and bake sale. hannah: "rad. i dig cabbage rolls, i'll come back on friday, get some last minute interviews and pick some up."

so picture this. hannah, biking 25 minutes downhill on her dinky folding bike, one hand on the handlebars, the other holding a styrofoam container of cabbage rolls, trying to avoid the splatters cabbage roll juice (which got everywhere).

i smelled like my baba.

but when i opened the container, i was a little disappointed. these weren't my baba's cabbage rolls. instead of being small and full of rice, they were stinky sausage stuffed monoliths. but i'd worked hard for those suckers, so i heated them up and, well...

they didn't look all too appealing. a-hem. (in fact, they looked kinda gross)
BUT, with a bit of salt and pepper they were pretty darn tasty. i just had to eat with my eyes closed.

hungary is NOT ukraine. and my baba's cabbage rolls are still better.

2007-10-17T21:38:00.000Z

don't start with me, cobber

so i go to the market this morning right? and the fish dude, herr mück or whatever, has barramundi on show right? and so i wait in line while all the pensioners get their mid-morning fish snacks (read: seven years) and then finally get up front and say guten morgen usw., can i please have some of your luverly looking barramundi fillets (i suppress the 'mate')? and the dude is all like barra-mundi? ach soooo, barra-MOONDI. and so i'm all like dude! ich bin eine australierin, kay? we say barramundi... mate. seriously, the cheek of these freakin' fishmongers. anyways, barramundi with szechuan eggplant and a little gruvi = heaven. the recipe is from ms skye gyngell, who is a goddess in the kitchen. i will forward the details i promise (check the comments for a recipe). right now though, i'm off to bed. love!

2007-10-15T00:20:00.000Z

my stomach is always right

it is. i swear. today when we were having our usual conversation about what we would like to have for dinner, it was very insistent. and, as usual, my doubts were completely unfounded.

moussaka

yum. yum. yum. really, the only compromise the stomach was offering was spaghetti and meatballs, and so i figured this was the better option.

ps - i did put some salad down next to it. but this was as far as i could get before i absolutely had to put it in my mouth. a premature picture is better than none.

2007-10-12T12:50:00.000Z

footnote to the rabbit

what to do with the rest of the rabbit once you've run out of polenta?

rabbit pie! genius!

and just for texas, who says i never share my recipes, here is an excerpt from the angelo pellegrini book, from which the bunny came:

"Choose an older animal; cut him in small pieces and brown them. Salt and pepper to taste, add a large can of tomatoes, a cup of stock, and let the whole simmer until nearly done. During the last half-hour add a generous cup of red wine, two cups of black olives and the following condiment:
Mince six capers and enough parsley, rosemary, thyme, and sage to make a teaspoonful of each. Brown two cups of mushrooms in butter with two cloves of garlic and an onion chopped fine. Add the herbs and cook a minute longer. Add the whole to the stew, stir well, and complete the cooking. Remember that the herbs should cook no longer than about half an hour; so time the processes accordingly."

2007-10-10T02:31:00.001Z

here we go again

if it seems like my posts come in spurts, it's because i keep making promises to blog every dinner i eat, and at first i'm super excited about it and good at it and then i get busy or forget or my batteries die. so bin ich eben.

but tonight adam was in need of some comfort food. and for me that always means...

tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches.

for the tomato soup, i roasted some tomatoes with garlic and onion and thyme and then mashed it all up in the food processor with some chicken stock and sugar and sea salt and pepper.

the grilled cheese was a lovely jalapeno havarti on mixed rye. but for those of you who did not have the awesome experience of being a child in north america in the eighties i give you this.

somewhat different from my variety. but probably more comforting.

2007-10-09T00:23:00.000Z

ramble alert

sometimes i really miss germany. lately i've been missing it a lot. there are, however, some things that i don't miss. like unemployed elderly men who drink schnapps in front of the grocery store and make remarks to me in a dialect that i, quite frankly, find frightening. or like the fact that the stores are never, ever open.
so when i got up to go to the monstrosity that is the 24-hour grocery kingdom down the street from me this morning only to find it closed (closed?!) for thanksgiving monday, i had to smile a bit.

and do the "what can i rustle up from the crumbs in the cupboard" that i was so familiar with on the other side. so i came up with this:

baked pumpkin risotto with pancetta.

which isn't too bad. i'm not a giant fan of risotto, but i've never been one to turn down pancetta.

1. put one cup of arborio rice, two and a half cups of chicken stock, half a pound of diced pumpkin, some butter in a pan and cover it and bake it at 400 f for 30 mins.
2. take it out and stir that mother. oh and add some salt and pepper and parmesan (or bread crumbs if you are me and have no parmesan)
3. make pancetta crispy.
4. eat.

i'd never baked a risotto before, and was pretty delighted with the results. mostly because it gave me more time to look at this

2007-10-08T13:59:00.000Z

homecoming

after running all over the country last week, i was all about a little home cookin' action. luckily everything had already been thought of and shopped for by the time i arrived and alls i had to do was roll up my sleeves and play sous-chef. this is what we gobbled down:

1. breakfast = fresh figs and greek yoghurt with walnuts and honeycomb. my favourite way to start a sunday. copious quantities of cafe latte of course, of course.

2. lunch = prosciutto with leafy goodness, pomegranate seeds and a wonderful new zealand sauvignon blanc to toast our fellow rugby (ahem) losers.
3. dinner = slow-cooked rabbit with olives, soft creamy polenta and a very lovely côte du rhône (in honour of those cheese-eatin' winner types).

he is clever, no?

2007-10-07T03:41:00.000Z

oof.

it's thanksgiving here, and all of my thanksgiving plans fell through due to a) too much work and b) too much work. so i decided to stay in tonight and rearrange my books. it was situation critical. and seeing as i was a) at home and b) for a while, i thought i would cook myself something a bit more fun. in the spirit of the season, pumpkin gnocchi.

1. buy pumpkin. pour first glass of wine. (yes, there is a sticker on the pumpkin. yes, it gives you cooking instructions that involve a microwave)

2. stop to admire how wonderful gourds are at this time of year. hooray.

3. (insert actual important steps here). and enjoy.

.

(and here's the part where i ask abi technical questions. abi, i totally cropped those stinkers so that you wouldn't see the camera cord - lame - but it didn't work. any idea why?)

2007-09-19T23:04:00.001Z

all this talk from abi about moet and rieslings got me thinking about my favourite drink. the 44oz mug of molson canadian at the lester b. pearson international airport. for cheaper than a pint downtown.

i've been at the airport a lot lately.

that's one heck of a beer. it takes both my hands to lift it.

2007-09-19T09:06:00.003Z

herbstzeit = muschelzeit = weißweinzeit

aaah autumn how i love you to bits and pieces. we kicked off the season last night with moules à la provençale. the kaimaster hauled out the moët to get us started (ooh-er) and then we had possibly my favourite german riesling yet from some dude called dr loosen. yessssssss-ahh.

2007-09-18T02:42:00.000Z

everything comes full circle

once, when i was a young whipper-snapper, i spent two weeks eating rice and lentils in various forms. not because i was poor, but because i didn't have time to go to the market. today i found myself in much of the same situation.

rice. lentils. cumin. turmeric. and some lovely sweet paprika just to make it a little sexier. oh. and a frightening amount of salt.

dear abi. i promise that tomorrow i will eat real food again.

2007-09-04T20:56:00.000Z

my new favourite salad

my love-hate relationship with radicchio got upgraded to a love-love relationship when i figured out how well it plays with the other kids. the other kids being fennel, rocket, parmesan, balsamic, olive oil, pine nuts and crispy crispy prosciutto. made in: 4 minutes. gone in: 11 seconds.

2007-08-28T19:34:00.000Z

OKAY SO YOU GOTTA TILT YER HEAD

hmmmm. it may take me a while to get used to the new posting system. long story short, hopefully i'll figure out how to fix this soon. but for now, you gotta tilt yer head. please accept my apologies.

the first little dish here is a selection of salads thrown together after an afternoon at the outdoor pool: roma tomatoes, bocconcini, basil and some tasty vinegar. and then a lovely little collection of couscous, fresh veggies, and walnuts.

and then some tasty pizza. with a little bit of a gremoulade. because summer should always taste like lemon. (i think)

2007-08-27T21:54:00.000Z

home alone

yo i just had this totally yummy dinner and noone was around to see it! it was baby carrots and beets roasted in ras al hanout and balsamic respectively and chucked together with spinach and mint, feta and toasted walnuts. the dressing was red wine vinegar and olive oil with a mashed-up clove of roasted garlic. it rocked! kinda obvious i guess but no less tasty for it. ding!

2007-08-20T08:51:00.000Z

baby squid vs killer cow

last week's abendessen made me happy. thai beef salad one night, squid and chorizo stew the next. and then we passed the reins over to switzerland and tucked into some australian lamb. mm-mmm. surely people grow sheep around here though? why is it so hard to find lamb that hasn't been hauled over equator? tell me, please.

2007-08-08T13:55:00.000Z

it doesn't even cool off at night

lightly beer-battered, shallow-fried fish tacos with fresh guacamole, sliced cabbage, coriander, and tomato salsa.

and then the shining star: fig and mascarpone ice cream.

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 3/4 cups water

450 g mascarpone

1/2 cup cream

fig confit

1. place the sugar and water in a saucepan over low heat and stir until sugar dissolves. simmer for 3 minutes, then remove from heat, and leave syrup to cool.

2. mix the syrup with mascarpone and cream. place in metal container and freeze for about 45 mins.

3. swirl in fig confit. return to freezer and stir at one hour intervals.

ta da!

2007-08-05T19:44:00.000Z

pieces of sunday evening

fritto di salvia e alici with limey gin tonics at early dusk...

followed (some hours later) by lovely honey-braised duck from mister perry via the chris. he's so clever:

2007-08-01T09:16:00.000Z

in lieu of little italy

so now we have a brand spanking new copy of italienisch kochen: neue rezepte aus dem river cafe and last night we had our first experiment with the antipasti section. the photos are terrible of course because the whole thing followed an early evening trip to wohnzimmer, but you can use your imagination. oh! and the guardian has some excerpts from the english version.

1. raw zucchini and rocket with prosciutto and mozzarella
2. grilled aubergine with roasted tomatoes and basil
3. roasted red peppers with capers
4. cucumber, mint, chilli and mascarpone

thrown together with a garlic, olive oil and fresh oregano pizza. mmm.

2007-07-31T14:23:00.000Z

birthday girl

ooh check out my birthday cakes!

luscious flourless carrot and almond cake on the left, made in secret by my lover and left to fend for itself in in the treppenhaus all night long in order to maintain the secrecy.

raspberry, pistachio and rosewater semifreddo on the right, sculpted into a three-layer extravaganza in honour of my new freezer. hurrah i have a freezer!

did i mention that 28 is a perfect number?

2007-07-30T12:54:00.000Z

busy weekend

in terms of eating, that is.

friday

sheila and i went back to musa and ordered a ridiculous amount of food.

the shining star was this cajun-spiced calamari. not rubbery at all, and resting on a bed of roasted vegetables, it went down a bit too easily.

saturday

corn season has officially begun here, and the markets are overflowing with beautiful beautiful ears of corn. these babies were four for two dollars. which, in euro speak, is free.

i also discovered a local beer that i like. and seeing as how i hate beer, this is quite something.

this mill st. brewery organic is light and somehow doesn't give me that "oh my god my belly is full of yeasty yeasty beer" feeling.

it also comes in cute little bottles.

and it went lovely with a littlebit of barbecue on

sunday

corn, two kinds of potato salad, chorizo sausage.

2007-07-27T13:04:00.000Z

new local

toronto's little italy, while full of lovely little shops, is not the most affordable place to eat and drink. which is why discovering musa this week has been both a relief and a delight. sheila and i stopped by yesterday on our way home from the pool and treated ourselves to some grape leaves and lovely mussels in a lemongrass, ginger, and white wine sauce. compared to the burgers and fries and grilled cheese sandwiches of my old local, it made me smile and smile and smile. definitely a step in the right direction.

i know what you're thinking, abi. mussels? in toronto? believe it.

yay!

2007-07-23T13:02:00.000Z

allergies schmallergies

one of my favourite things about my new neighbourhood is my ability to walk out the front door and be inspired by food. and after friday night's beef binge, i was looking for a bit lighter fare on saturday. so when i happened upon the most beautiful looking smoked salmon in my local meat market, i couldn't resist. allergies be damned!

i also spied these lovely onion and dill rolls. i toasted them on the grill, and stirred up some REAL cream cheese (god bless this continent!) with fresh dill. to the side we had a salad of nectarines and pears tossed with lemon and the most gorgeous ontario honey. i couldn't eat too much of the salmon, but the little piece that i did was perfect.

it was so tasty, sheila even licked the bowl.

2007-07-23T12:45:00.000Z

lover of the russian queen

when i was fourteen and wanted desperately to be 'different', i was really into tom robbins. and i remember reading in the beginning of one of his books a comparison of rasputin's power and the beetroot. something about the almost hypnotic power beets 'held' over russians (which, given both their borscht and pickling potential, is fairly easy to understand). rasputin, i remember him proposing, had beet-like eyes.
then again this could all be something that i imagined. sometimes i have trouble discerning the difference.
regardless, whenever i think of beets, i hear the strains of boney m.

this little beauty might look familiar to some of you. but when i went to the farmers market on wednesday and saw the gorgeous beets and radishes and greens, i couldn't resist.

the salad is greens with spicy spicy radishes, julienned beets, and a horseradish-aioli dressing. the main side is this lovely top loin (3/4 of which is still in my freezer) peppered and grilled and served on a garlic potato mash.

ooooooooooh.

ps - can anyone corroborate the tr story?

2007-07-20T12:00:00.000Z

way down south

ok so y'all know by now how completely smitten i am with the people and colours and coastline and (most importantly) food of portugal. hot-damn they know how to do it in the south. we feasted on new and exciting things each day of our trip and came back with full bellies and wide grins. unfortunately i was too engrossed most of the time to get out the camera, but here is a shortlist of favourites anyways. you'll just have to use your imagination. in temporal order:

1. breakfast of peaches, fresh cheese and pumpkin (yes pumpkin) jam. ooh-wee.
2. snails and cerveja. not exactly my thing, but an experience in itself.

3. pork braised with honey and coriander. actually this was monkey's order but i snuck a few bites and they were heavenly. i was sure i'd had enough of pork already after two years in 'schland.
4. my order was grilled octopus which was similarly awesome. so tender. perfectly charred. i'm going to try my darnedest to reproduce it someday. the restaurant was a doorbell affair, buried in the hills of principe real in lisbon.
5. pasteis de belém (see picture). they are fresh and hot. there is nothing more i can say.

6. a MOUNTAIN! of shellfish (big fat crabs, lobster, prawns and mussels) overlooking lisbon's harbour on the eve of our departure. i know this isn't very exciting for the australians but holy shit do i miss the sea sometimes.
7. frango piri piri. flattened grilled chicken with piri piri chilli sauce. oh yeah. nando is the bastard cousin of this sucker.
8. vinho verde. so cold. so good.
9. queijo de figo, se faz favor. dried figs and cinnamon and star anise pulverised into a yummy ball of happy-abi.

can i go back now?

2007-07-13T12:33:00.000Z

past the ante

last night we sampled a taste of what my new neighbourhood (little italy) has to offer in terms of fresh antipasti.
prosciutto, artichokes, kalamatas, vine tomatoes, pear, cucumber, fresh pesto, bulgur salad, bread.
and a merlot.

you had to move fast to catch it before it was all g-o-n-e.

ps - new neighbourhood = good on the food vibe

2007-07-13T12:30:00.001Z

poetry, not poultry

i live in north america
and in the summer.
i eat beef.
burgers.
on white buns.
and sweet potato fries to the side.
and margaritas.
in my mouth.

ps - this is not a real poem. i am not that pretentious. sorry.

2007-06-29T09:02:00.000Z

soothe-laki

comfort food summer stylee: the perfect antidote to exhaustion after days of keeping deutsche bahn in business.

lemony grilled lamb, stuffed into pita with tabbouleh, hommous, minty yoghurt, marinated feta et al.

also the perfect prelude to test-driving our new toy.

2007-06-19T02:45:00.001Z

with sincerest apologies to madam donna hay, i offer you tonight's dinner. still refusing to cook indoors (it is hot, i swear to god) i roasted up some tomatoes and capocollo (i forgot to go to the italian deli on the way home for prosciutto, whoops) and served them on a bed of spinach with some of yesterday's fresh mozzarella (too lazy to wander out for good parmesan, whoops) with the most l-o-v-e-l-y dressing - 2 tbsp lemon juice, 2 tbsp olive oil, 1/4 cup shredded basil, and 2 tsp brown sugar.

2007-06-18T02:19:00.002Z

so, like, i know that pesto is so totally 1997, but i'm really freaking tired from jet lag, and i have this massive basil explosion thing happening on my deck right now, and it's ridiculously warm, and my brain has stopped working. in other words, it was all i could think of. but at the very least i spiced it up a bit by adding some spinach to the equation and topping it all off with chili flakes, lemon zest, and these lovely kalamata olives that i picked up today. to the side is tomato and fresh mozzarella.

it's just rather unfortunate that i can't boil water on the bbq.
yet.

2007-06-17T15:18:00.001Z

oh! little miss lindsay is visiting and that helps to delay the leaving germany sadness.
last night we had mexican (sorta).

roasted some red bell peppers and spanish onion on the grill, tossed that with chipotle sauce, mixed it in some corn tortillas (warmed on grill) with mixed beans and coriander and salsa verde. and a tasty fresh corn, coriander, spring onion, and lime salad on the side. it looked a bit like this:

yum!

2007-06-03T21:09:00.001Z

sucker for a lamb roast
oh yes i am.
this one came c/o of big hunky ben and tasted like ten birthdays and a long weekend all at once.

studded with garlic and anchovies, smeared with olive tapenade, wrapped in rosemary. oh so lovely. we gobbled it down with roasted vine-ripened tomatoes, spinach with lemon and garlic and a feisty little spanish red. oh! and a rad little mint sauce that was a bastardisation of this one (substituting half the basil for mint).

oops! quick! photo before it's all gone.

2007-04-30T21:18:00.000Z

so picnic season is officially open...

we kicked it off on sunday with pétanque and pastis and pistachios and other p-related things. pashing? pain? those pistachio shells totally screwed my thumbnail.

anyways, my new window-ledge basil surplus afforded us some pesto, ricotta and roasted tomato calzones for the occasion (gone too quick to photograph) and we whipped up a fine green storm of a cake: zucchini and pistachio with creamy lime icing.

yay summer. check out the rest of the photos here.

2007-04-24T16:04:00.001Z

all about fish

lordy me it's difficult to feel good about eating fish this far inland, but it's just too delicious to forego. one of these days i'm going to do a little research and find out where the fancy karstadt foodstore actually gets its fish from so i can try to buy a bit more carefully. in the meantime (ha) i've been enjoying some lovely things of late:

1. pig + fish + tomato = awesome. grilled squid and chorizo salad with roasted tomatoes and rucola.

2. charred salmon steaks with spicy tomato and cinnamon sauce, cranberry and pistachio pilaf and spinach salad with caramelised lemons. in honour of converging visits from my mama, my aunt and my lovely friend linda.

3. seared tuna nicoise. monkeyhead treated me to post-yoga salad heaven last week with a little help from his new friend donna... and mack der messer.

4. the caff at uni hired a sushi chef. sometimes dresden surprises me.

2007-04-24T14:42:00.000Z

check out video jug for filmic food fun. there are some nice little tips in there yessir.

2007-04-23T20:59:00.000Z

it has been a never-endingly dreary winter this go 'round, so when the sun finally decided to make an appearance last saturday, i decided to celebrate with a refreshing thai-spiced chicken and some lemongrass rice salad. it looked a little like this:

sorry for the lacklustre presentation, but eating came after champagne which meant i no longer cared. it was quite simple. whilst preparing some basmati rice, cook up some chopped red chili, lemongrass and spring onion in a pan (for about three minutes). when the rice is finished, add this, some fish sauce, some lime juice, coriander, mint, and sugar. give it a stir, and she's done. for the chicken, prepare a bit of a base of egg white and rice flour, add some more red chili, coriander, sesame seed and lime leaves (i refuse to buy lime leaves by the thousand, so i didn't have any) and fry that on up. about three minutes a side. serve it with a simple dipping sauce of soy sauce, lemon juice and brown sugar.

be sure to keep the champagne flowing in the hot weather, and when you serve it, your guests are guaranteed to look like this:

they will be so happy that they'll forgive the lacklustre presentation, and offer you some of this:

(scotch)

which you will enjoy until the bike ride home becomes dangerous.

yum!yum! sunshiney fun!

(note: as a contact lens-wearer, you should always wear gloves when handling spicy, oily things. ouch ouch ouch the burning searing pain)

2007-04-20T22:04:00.000Z

hi. it's me again. i'm figuring it out. guess i don't have to say that it's me all the time though, eh?

well. i was just thinking. and maybe the reason why i haven't been doing this is because i have fallen in love with being able to afford to eat in restaurants. being back in canada and all.

my friend sheila and i go out for brunch almost every sunday. and we always seem to end up at auntie's and uncle's - a very cosy locale just off college st here in toronto. every time i go there i hem and haw and talk about ordering something else, but i always always always get this:

scrambled eggs. cottage cheese. poached pears. and the most wonderful dill and dijon potato salad.

sheila is a bit more adventurous (that's her in the corner there), and usually opts for the bacon and greens.

2007-04-20T22:00:00.000Z

hi. hi, it's me. hannah.
i decided to post.

felt a little foolish at first, because my food maybe isn't as tasty as miss abigail's. and my pictures are maybe not as nice. but i'm just little.

so i thought i might maybe share last night's dinner with you?

it's just a little roasted sweet potato and red onion soup. and then i found these really pretty long beans at the market on my bike home. so i thought maybe i'd put those on, too.

first post. yay! go, hannah, go!

2007-04-16T15:30:00.001Z

bircher muesli muffins

lately i've been doing this incredibly nerdy thing involving breakfast-muffin-baking of a sunday afternoon. yes yes i know it is ridiculously domestic (and these little babies are sickeningly healthy) but they make the math look better in the morning light.

so here's the deal...

one! half a cup of rolled oats, a mashed banana, a grated apple, whatever other fruit you fancy and enough yoghurt to make a sloppy bircher muesli mess. sometimes i like to put in a little orange zest.

two! new bowl! one and a half cups o flour, sifted with three teaspoons of baking powder and one of cinnamon. throw in a big handful of chopped nuts or coconut or summin.

three! third of a cup each of honey and brown sugar in with the flour.

four! dried fruit, lots of, in the muesli. i like cranberries and apricots and dates.

five! mix everything together with an egg for good gooey measure. spoon in into twelve muffin forms and bake for twentyish minutes at one-eighty.

six! aaaaaah.

2007-03-04T16:48:00.001Z

fake sushi!

as promised... the kitsch finger food made for mister kai's thirtieth birthday. fake sushi (eggplant, mozzarella and roasted pepper terrine) with fake wasabi (rucola pesto) and fake soy (balsamic vinegar). plus some other things. frittata and whatnot. oh so kitsch.

2007-01-22T14:21:00.001Z

gnocchi/nookie

gnocchi-making funtimes in honour of the sophinator's visit to ye olde dresden town. i can't even remember what we sauced 'em up with but they were super-fun nonetheless. i finally got to use my gnocchi board and potato ricer! thanks to doctor bird for the photos and sophie, of course, for the inspiration.

oh and ps. while we're on withers - hot damn did we have some fine food in berlin last weekend with the lovely miss goodison. oof! melty aubergine and (real!) bagels and silky thai curries and buffalo mozzarella pizza. aaaah.

2006-12-29T01:47:00.001Z

kids dig fish

chilli shellfish and sticky rice with the lyons in st kilda.

oh i love this part of the world.

2006-12-06T15:07:00.001Z

boy can cook

check out these babies!

i am stressed! out! so i am allowed to prance around the house like a lady while dinner is made for me. yessir it's a good deal.

steamed wontons, beany bean bean salad and icy cold beer.

aaaah!

2006-11-13T16:27:00.000Z

mirin me

i have a crush on a new salad. i wanna eat it all the time. the first time i made it i butched it up a bit by ripping some poached lemongrassy chicken into it. but since then i've eaten it as intended and it still makes me swoon.

it comes from the lovely mister granger, via delicious magazine and c/- my wonderful mama:

pearl barley, broccoli & cashew salad with tamari dressing

5/4 cups pearl barley (or dinkel, as i'm pretty sure it's called in these parts)
400g broccoli, cut into florets
4 spring onions, thinly sliced
2 cups baby spinach leaves
1/2 cup ripped up mint leaves
1/3 cup toasted cashews, roughly chopped

dressing
1 tsp sesame oil
3/2 tbs tamari
3/2 tbs mirin
1 tsp finely grated ginger

cook the barley/dinkel in a large pan of lightly salted water for 25-30 minutes until al dente. drain then rinse under cold water.

blanch broccoli in a pan of boiling water for two minutes until bright green and just tender. rinse in cold water and drain well. whisk the dressing ingredients together and toss it through the rest of the salad.

sigh!

2006-11-12T15:24:00.001Z