For the Next Family Get-together

A while back, I had to visit the family. It wasn't a happy circumstance, but sometimes you have to do things you don't want to do. Afterwards, it's much better. Because it's family, and in spite of everything, you have been spoiled. If only because you spoiled yourself.

I spoiled myself. The last time I was home, I saw a bottle of Canadian Club whiskey at the duty free store in Pearson airport. While I normally buy Canadian Club there, this one was special. This was not the 12-year old CC Classic, it was the special edition. To celebrate the 150th anniversary of Canadian Club, they released a 30 year old special reserve. At the time, I thought that $180 was WAAAAAaaaaaaaaaay too much to pay for a bottle of anything. But I kept on thinking of that whiskey. A few months later, I was still thinking of it, and considering how much money I saved on the flight, well, it's a steal. Right? Right?

As said, I normally drink the 12 year old Canadian Club Classic. For Christmas, I got the 20 year old. It was smooth. The 30 year old, smoother. Mild, fruit notes, vanilla, general yum. I was into it. I don't know if I'll be buying any more any time soon, but it made the best of the situation. I hope there are no simmilar situations coming up soon. My credit card might break soon.

Banana, Be Gone!

I thought I was going to use my bananas for some smoothies. I guess I was right, but this was more of an emergency situation: I've been noticing fruit flies & I want to eliminate any potential habitat. I have this theory that fruit flies bite. They're so little that no one would really notice. They don't have vampire fangs or anything.

Every now & then, I buy fruit. I don't really know why. It's good for me, it's full of vitamins, but I'm more of a vegetable girl. The fruit I buy sits on the counter & looks very pretty & gives guests the impression that I've grown out of my university years, when the diet consisted of Dr. Pepper & Mr. Noodles. (Why, if I was so well acquainted with them, were we never on a first name basis?) Often the fruit simply waits until it's time has come, in a painful, real-life sort of 17th century painting. A reminder of the passage of time. That sometimes leaks.

It was to be the deforestation of my kitchen counter. The bananas and the mango were about to go. I had some ginger, a whole lot of mint (that lives outside & is allowed to have as many fly friends as it likes) and a little bit of white tea leftover from breakfast.

Banana Mango Smoothie
2 ripe bananas
1 ripe mango
2 thumb sized pieces of ginger, peeled & cut into chunks
7-8 ginormous mint leaves (or more, if your mint is not a mutant like mine)
1/4 cup cool white or green tea
10-15 ice cubes

Mix everything in the blender. Pour into glasses. Garnish with more mint.

As I tried to photograph the drinks, a big bee-like insect came out by & hovered nearby. I think I'm better off without this insect attraction. I'm certainly better off for having actually eaten my fruit, instead of having an artistic reminder of the passage of time on my counter.

Shopping in Strasbourg - II

A while back, I had the pleasure of spending a day in Strasbourg looking for food. While I find that my local vegetables from my farm guy are better, it's just fun to shop in France. Of course, Germany isn't cut off from the rest of the world and you can get things here, but the variety in France makes things fun. Like chickens with heads & feathers. Fun. A mountain full of avocodoes. Fun. Wine barrels from the 15th century. Fun (although I'll pass on the wine).

Here a few samples of what I saw:

A wine vat dating back to 1472. The wine in it has only been served 3 times - the last time being as General De Gaulle visited Strasbourg, and the city just returned to France immediately after the Second World War. The vat is located in the Cave Historique des Hospices de Strasbourg. That's right - the city hospital has it's own wine cellar. It dates back to 1395 and was an effort for poorer people to have health care. They couldn't pay with money, but they paid with wine. If you can read French and are interested, you can find more info here.

View of the Strasbourg Catherdral on the way to the market. The second tower was never completed.

Fresh chicken at the market. Note the yellow skin. While I didn't buy these birds, the ones I bought were equally yellow (but headless) & absolutely fantastic.

Time for a break with the Salad Gourmande. Shrimp in cocktail sauce, tomato with shallots, an oyster, crudites, a salad of celeriac? in a creamy sauce, a thick slice of bayonne ham, melon, smoked salmon and foie gras. Under all of this, there is in fact lettuce.

The grocery store where I do my shopping. I go there for the food, not for the carousel. Honest.

I heard that there is an avocodo shortage in North America this year. I'm not too sure whether or not this is true, but I didn't see any signs of a shortage in the supermarket.

When I'm driving over the border with a cooler, I always pick up some oysters. Bear in mind that Strasbourg is still 8 hours away from the sea. The 2 hours seems to make all the difference because they have better seafood than we do in Germany.

I'm not too sure if I actually bought any of this wine, but there was something strangely appealing about the mountain of bordeaux. It was so cheap, I should have bought the whole mountain. Or at least a little rock.

So that's a little bit of what I do & what I buy when I go to France. Reason enough, non?

Why I Love my Farmer-Guy

Recently, I posted about a misunderstanding that I had with my vegetable guy. I can't afford to get into arguments with my vegetable guy. Here's why:


Fresh corn, peas, zucchini, FRESH FIGS, potatoes, a gagillion tomatoes, lettuce, potted mint, and cauliflower. All from the local farm. The eggs and the blueberries are from other local farms but sold in the farm shop.

Normally, I go to their stall at the market, but when I go to the farm itself, it's just fun. Plants that I can't grow, local fresh veggies - all grown on site. The bunnies & guinea pigs in the front are an added bonus.


Lenz Garden in Heidelberg. Click here for directions and opening hours.

So Long, my Fair Avocado!

Avocados are more difficult to find here that in North America, and they are often unripe in the store. They need to wait on the counter until that perfect moment arises - but sometimes, I'm too late. That was the case with this green trooper.

I realized that it's finally time to send off the avocado on my counter, but I wanted to do it right. I think I bought this avocado to take with me to work - it was supposed to be my out from cafeteria food. I had high expectations of it and I let it down. It needed to make it up to the avocado. I wanted to give it a Mexican avocado in-tummy-ment. The best way to do this, I thought, was Mexican burgers, with homemade salsa & guacamole.



Mexican Burgers
250 g ground beef
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp chopped garlic
1/4 tsp chilli pepper
1/4 tsp paprika

Mix all ingredients together. Allow to sit for 30 minutes. Shape into patties & grill.

Salsa
150g red & yellow tomatoes, seeded & chopped
2 tsp chopped fresh coriander
1 small red onion, chopped finely
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp lime juice
1/2 tsp or more chilli pepper, depending on taste

Add all ingredients together, allow to marinate for 30 min.

Guacamole
1 dying avocado (must be very ripe)
1 small onion, chopped
1 tsp chilli spices (mix of cumin, coriander, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, chilli powder)
2 tsp lime juice
salt & pepper to taste

Mash all ingredients together.

Arrange burgers on a tortilla, cover with guacamole & salsa & try to eat.

It was a fun tribute to a fruit that held so much expectation. It still has a comrade in the fruit bowl. I will take him to the hallowed halls of my office tomorrow. Maybe not. Maybe the dying plants on my desk will scare it too much.

Rain Roasted Tomatoes

It's one of the rare breaks in this year's rainy season. Instead of going outside & enjoying my fabulous balcony (it has live plants on it!), I spend my evenings in the kitchen with low maintenance food. Take the humble tomato, for example. It is capable of so much - everything from the ketchup to pizza, to sauce, to a salad caprese, to gazpacho, to being stuffed; it can be a star yet it is not afraid of being in a supporting role. To think that the Europeans were afraid of the tomato when it first came from the Americas - they claimed that it gave rise to passion, and although I think they meant carnal lust, I am still passionate about fresh, local tomatoes.

The local farm has many fresh tomatoes. I had a minor argument the other day as I was discussing which tomato would be best to roast. My trusted green grocer wanted to direct me towards meaty tomatoes. I however, wanted the sweetness that the smaller varieties have.

Smaller tomatoes, with their inherent sweetness, lead me to the bottle of balsamic vinegar I bought in Italy a while back. It's a 12 year old & rich & drippy & thick. Plan: Roast tomatoes with olive oil, drizzle with balsamic vinegar & sprinkle with sea salt when they come out.

Rain Roasted Tomatoes
300g small tomatoes
1 Tbsp olive oil
sea salt
balsamic vinegar

Preheat oven to 160°C.
Slice tomatoes in half.
In a bowl, gently toss sliced tomatoes with olive oil to coat.
Place tomatoes on baking sheet & roast for 45 minutes (will take longer with larger tomatoes).
Sprinkle with sea salt & drizzle balsamic vinegar on top.

I'm amazed by the sweet caramel of these tomatoes - in fact, I was just picking it off the baking dish. Maybe I'd try some rosemary of thyme with it, and I have to say, I was very happy. But in retrospect, I have to admit, there is nothing worth getting into an argument with my vegetable guy for. Vegetable guy: I'm sorry. I'm more than happy to try again with meatier tomatoes.

Find the Fungus

Sometimes, I know what things are called in German but am oblivious to their English names. Until recently, this was the case with Mu-Err mushrooms. As I saw a package of them in the store, I was surprised to learn the English name: Black Fungus. When choosing an English name, they should have had a marketer involved. Or maybe they should have paid the translator enough money to care. I didn't think that I would be buying black fungus, but the Chinese masseur told me that it's good for something. I can't remember what, I just know that I should be eating it. Black Fungus. Yum.

It doesn't taste too bad, actually, I like both the taste as well as the texture, although I know it turns most people off. Today, I'm making a wonton soup with hidden Mu-Err mushrooms - I'd rather call them that than the unappetizing, unfortunate English name they've been given.

Wonton Soup with Hidden Black Fungus
Wontons
300g ground turkey
3 green onions, chopped
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp minced ginger
1 tsp sesame oil
3 Tbsp chopped black fungus (make sure it's rehydrated!)
1/2 Tbsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp black pepper
wonton skins

Broth
1 tsp oil
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp minced ginger
4 c chicken broth
1 carrot, finely sliced
3 Tbsp thinly sliced black fungus (again, make sure it's rehydrated, following package directions)
1/4 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp oyster sauce
1/2 tsp soy sauce
3 green onions, chopped

In a bowl, mix all wonton ingredients except wrappers. Fill wrappers with 1 tsp at a time & pinch into pouches. Set aside.

In a saucepan, gently sautee garlic & ginger in oil. Add carrot & stir until softened. Add chicken broth, mushroom, sesame oil oyster sauce & soy sauce. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer.

Gently drop wontons into a separate pot of boiling water. Allow to simmer for 5-6 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer wontons to broth. Garnish with green onions.

A light broth with turkey instead of pork, plus supposedly healthy mushrooms makes me feel as though I'm doing good things for myself. I know there's less fat, more liquid (always good) limited carbs, and a bunch of minerals. Now if I only knew what those minerals were good for & why the Chinese masseur recommended I eat them, that'd be even better.