Excursion to Alsace

It was Canada Day, it is Independance Day. What better way to combine these 2 national holidays than by paying a visit to the country that provided both Quebequois & the Statue of Liberty? OK - I wasn't thinking of any of that when I planned the trip, I just took the day off & I wanted some good food.

Alsace, like the rest of France, is full of good food. Also, I can get there on my commuter ticket. I packed an overnight bag, slapped on some sunscreen & got in the train. It then promptly started to rain. Most of the day was spent running from one cafe to another, sampling local wines along the way. The wines were Rieslings & Edelzwicker, and we ate a cheese platter, a Tarte Flambée, and some Escargot. They actually had frog legs available, but I wasn't that adventurous.

The cheese platter had a regular hard cheese, a camembert, chevre, butter and a softened buttery-like cheese with herbs. Much better than the stale crackers on the table. I have to figure out what the softest cheese was - I think it was like a cheese ball, but in slices.

The escargot was good, but the tarte flambée was fantastic. We ordered the traditional tarte, which is topped with creme fraiche, onions & lardons - something akin to cubes or slices of ham. The tarte itself was very thin, crispy & in spite of the toppings, it was a light snack.

After having slept back into sobriety (it was really rainy), I went out for dinner & was dazzled. The French have this way with the fixed course menus. I opted for the 3 course dinner & a bottle of 1998 Bordeaux, plus an Auxerrois as an apperetif.

As a starter: a skewer of shrimp and prawn, on a bed of spaghetti a olio. The oil was lightly peppery and garlick-y, and the shrimp were good.

Main course: Duck breast, cooked a la point (they even asked how I wanted it done), in a cherry sauce, with a chili polenta. It was matched well with the 1998 Bordeaux.

For desert, there was a trio of mousse au chocolat, served in layers, as a little cake. From the bottom, there was dark, milk & finally white chocolate. On the side was whipped cream and a vanilla sauce with stawberry sauce swilled in.

After sleeping in this morning, we went to a local bakery for breakfast. French breakfasts aren't all that substantial, but they have fantastic baked goods. We ordered the "full" breakfast, which included cooked ham, cheese (including camembert), butter and jam. The 1/2 bagutte per person reminded me of why France is so good. I don't know if I've had a baguette like this outside of France, and while I am trying to reduce my empty carbs, I could not resist this freshly baked treat.
Another hour until the next train home meant I had a little more time to oggle patiseries. I really should have bought the Kugelkoepff - the local specialty that looks like a bundt cake, but I was really full. There were also macaroons that looked fantastic, but I was afraid of them getting crushed en route.

The town of Wissembourg isn't that far from here. I think I'll be going there more often to eat, but I'll check the weather reports first.

Puffy Strawberry Popovers

I keep on buying things that look good without any sort of plan. The strawberries that looked amazing on Tuesday didn't look quite as good today. The were still good, but they weren't "dip in sugar & eat 'em raw" good. I was thinking of doing something like a turn-over but that requires too much work. It requires cutting & folding & parchment paper. I spent the day doing chores, I'm not making an effort to save the strawberries. I'm using puff pastry & muffin tins.

Puffy Strawberry Popovers
1 package puff pastry
500 g strawberries, washed, hulled & cut into quarters
1/3 c orange juice
1/4 c sugar
3 Tbsp cornstarch

Preheat oven to 200° C (Something like 400° F). In a saucepan over medium heat, cook orange juice & sugar. Add starch, stirring constantly to avoid lumps. Add strawberries, stirring, for 3-4 minutes, until sauce thickens.

Cut pastry into 6 equal sqaures. Place squares in lined muffin tins, allowing pastry to fall over the sides. Fill pastry shells with strawberry mixture. Fold pastry over the top & pinch to seal, if possible. Bake at 200°/400° for 10 minutes, or until tops are golden brown.

I was thinking that I'd take these into work tomorrow. Now, I'm not so sure. They weren't expecting anything in the office, and frankly, I'm not too sure if these are going to survive the night. Maybe next week when I salvage something else from my fridge and can share that. Maybe not. It doesn't sound too appetizing when I phrase it like that. All the more treats for me, I guess.

Weekend Breakfast - Breaking Diet

Normally, on the weekends, I revel in my fritattas. I wasn't a fan of eggs until I discovered the fritatta (read about it here). Just last week, I bought the cookbook I've been wanting to buy since it came out, the 75th anniversary edition of The Joy of Cooking. For me, there's something nostalgic about North American food, and furthermore, there's something nostalgic about old recipes. My mom has an ancient cookbook with ancient pictures - glazed hams in super saturated colour, garnished with pineapple rings & maraschino cherries. I love that book as a historical artifact but I need revised recipes to get me going. The 75th anniversary edition: perfect mix.

I saw the recipe for Jonnycakes, and though I really don't know how they got their name, I do recall them being rather tasty. Corn pancakes that are crispy on the outside. So here I went, Johnnycakes, bacon and eggs for breakfast. I tried to make up for the bacon (& bacon fat) by adding spinach and tomatoes to the scrambled eggs.

Johnny Cakes, Bacon & Scrambled Eggs
(adapted from The Joy of Cooking)

Make batter.
3/4 cup corn meal
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1 chopped chili
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 c hot water
1/4 c grated cheese

Mix dry ingredients, add water & allow to sit for at least 10 minutes. Add cheese.

In frying pan over med-low heat, start cooking bacon. When bacon is nearly crispy, transfer to a small pan & over low heat, continue cooking. Keep bacon fat in pan. Cook cakes in bacon fat, 1 at a time. Keep finished cakes warm in oven over low heat.

Bacon should continue to provide fat. Use this fat in frying pan to cook eggs.

Beat 4 eggs with 1/4 cup cooked spinach, 1 diced tomato, 1/4 tsp dried oregano. Scramble eggs. When the eggs are done, so is the bacon (it was already cooked, it was just drying a little). Try not to think of the health disaster that this dish is, and moreover, try not to have it every weekend. But it was good!

Shots of Summer Borscht

It's summer. Because I say so. No, it's rainy and ridiculously humid today, so I imagine it must be Monsoon season in Germany. It happens. There are hot humid days when everyone and everything is sticky, and then it rains and stays gray for a while. It's a summer thing.

I was just at the market and I saw beets. Normally, I think of beets in winter but to be honest, what really grows in winter? Frost? Yes. Root vegtables? I'm not so sure.

In winter, I make a seriously mean borscht. It takes over 16 hours and involves me being the weirdo in the butcher shop asking for bones (based on the facial expression of the woman working there, I think this is not a frequent request). It's sticky outside, there is no way I'm leaving the stove on for 16 hours, I'm making a summer borscht.

Summer Borscht

500g beets, peeled & cubed
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, diced
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 L chicken stock
3 Tbsp lemon juice
yogurt
dill

In a big pot, sautee garlic & onions in olive oil. Add beets. Stir around for a few minutes, coating beets. Add stock. Cover pot, bring to boil. Turn down heat & allow to simmer for 30 minutes, or until beets are cooked through. Puree soup & chill. Garnish with yogurt & dill.

For a clear soup, cut beets into thin slices & do not puree.

Normally, I could drink liters of soup. Shot glasses keep me in check so I don't eat so much soup that I'm sick. It's also a fun way to serve appetizers. I mean, who doesn't like doing shots?

Peas, Please!

Today, June 25th, is a significant day in Germany. It's the day I finally have to give up asparagus for the next 10 months. Fine. I'll deal. I have peas.

I've been a fan of fresh peas since I was a child, and since I was a child, I've always looked forward to the onset of fresh peas. Because I either get my peas from the farm or my mom's garden, I hardly ever get the chance to cook the peas. I either eat them in the garden, or in the car on the way home from the farm. A few years ago, for the first time ever, I managed to make a mint-pea soup. This year, I bought 1 kilo of peas in the supermarket, and after eating maybe 300g raw, I decided it was time to make another dish of fresh peas.

I pretty much made a pea-mint soup without the liquid and without pureeing anything. 3 leaves of lettuce, 1 spring onion (chopped), sauteed with butter in a saucepan. Allowing the liquid to come out of the lettuce, I then added the peas, some salt, 4 leaves of fresh mint (sliced) and allowed the peas to steam until they looked done.

Not bad, but I still prefer them fresh from the farm, raw, sneaking them out of the bag on the car ride home. Makes me feel like a kid.

Food and Sex

I must confess that while I find a man who can cook attractive (and I have been wooed by mediocre dishes simply because they were prepared by men), I find a man who knows how to wash stockings more attractive.

I heard the term Gastrosexual a few weeks ago while watching Franco-German cultural news. I thought it was somewhat insulting, targeting the young males as predators who cook in order to attract women. A Gastrosexual is apparently a male, aged 25-44, who cooks exotic dishes in order to gain praise. I dealt with the term "Metrosexual", and although I find groomed men attractive, I vowed never to date a man who described himself as such. I think my aversion to a Gastrosexual is even greater. Yesterday, I read an eloquent post at Bacon Concentrate on the subject & I feel that I have to elaborate on my comments.

According to the study of food historian Dr. Paul Levy (the man who coined the term "foodie"), a Gastrosexual differs from a Foodie in the hunt for praise. A Foodie is interested in all aspects of food while a Gastrosexual is interesed in the acknowledgement that he (for the Gastrosexual is nearly always male) receives. The more far-flung the origin of the dish, the more impressive it is, and Asia, being the most far-flung from Britain, is the most impressive. This belief is apparently linked to the perceived complexity of Asian cuisine. This results in the fact that Gastrosexuals cook Asian food and go on Asian cooking tours, presumably to impress the most people. Bear in mind, the study was commissioned by PurAsia, the makers of pre-made Asian food.

For clarification: Asian food is no more difficult to cook than the cuisine of any other continent. (Yes, an entire continent appears to be one generic mass of cuisine. Try that in classification in Europe.) All you need is the right ingredients, which, thanks to the wonders of airplanes and immigration, are not that hard to find. Even in Germany, a country that expressed for decades, it is not a nation for immigrants, I can find all the exotic spices I need to make a decent meal from a multitude of various Asian nations.

Not only does the self-absorbed Gastrosexual seems like an ass, so does the company PurAsia in its attempt to sell itself by claiming that you can impress women with PurAsia products. I doubt I will ever buy PurAsia products, and I hope to never date a Gastrosexual. I found a guy who does laundry. I'm sticking with him.

Green Tea Brebis Frozen Yogurt

I need space in my freezer. I bought a whole bunch of meat by accident, and I need to move things out of the freezer that don't need to be there. Cool packs? Gone. Ice cream maker? Get you out of the freezer & make some ice cream.

I love ice cream but I'm trying to be good. My waistline never really recovered from my trip to Kuwait this year so I'm not too keen on eating custard with whipped cream. Instead, I bought some Greek style sheep yogurt, and some thin, drinkable goat yogurt. The goat yogurt & sheep yogurt are mild, but they give an extra tangy freshness.

Green Tea Brebis Frozen Yogurt
1 Tbsp match green tea
3 Tbsp hot water
5 Tbsp sugar
125 ml Greek-style yogurt (from sheep milk)
250 ml thin goat milk yogurt

In a small bowl, mix tea, water and sugar. Add to the 2 yogurts. Blend everything well. Place in ice cream maker, and follow the directions of the machine.

I might add a little less tea next time, but my goal has been met. I have more freezer space. I just need to figure out what to do with that spinach...