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Post by bazfaz on Jan 11, 2010 15:21:05 GMT
Enough of snow and bitter cold. It even froze the gas cylinders that supply our gas stove. But Mrs Faz to the rescue with a fan heater followed by thermal wraps.
So tonight we are pretending we are in the balmy tropics with a Thai gingery liver starter; then chicken with chillis, lime juice, coconut and whatever I think will be good; there are mushrooms, Chinese cabbage and red peppers to stir fry; kiwis and mandarins to finish.
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Post by cristina on Jan 12, 2010 1:29:53 GMT
I'm not going to mention my weather right now, which has been unseasonable, but I am living winter vicariously through all of you. And I am seriously craving oyster stew right now. A winter stew memory...  |
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 12, 2010 3:58:26 GMT
Oyster stew! Oh gosh, I can almost taste it.  I would be happy to live any non-winter season vicariously, Cristina. It's not bitter here, but it is cold at night, and these houses are unheated. Well, I have to make a terrible confession -- I used canned food in my supper tonight.  I had an early lunch of the last egg on two pieces of toasted stale bread, at which time I admitted there really was no food in the house. Finally I forced myself down to the Piticó, the sort-of supermarket at the bottom of my road. Inspired by this thread, I returned and made a melange of cabbage and chorizo (<-- fresh, as were the onions & garlic I put in), to which I added a can of "vegetable salad" (read: canned veg) and canned mushrooms. A slosh of wine, some sage, a couple of chipotles, plus ground black pepper and a dash of balsamic vinegar, and I had a very nice meal. Even though I'm embarrassed about the canned stuff, I would make this again, but probably with all fresh ingredients next time. |
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Post by hwinpp on Jan 12, 2010 6:14:55 GMT
That kale - boerenkool in Dutch - does Grünkohl refer to other types of kale as well in German? is a mainstay in admittedly not terribly varied traditional Dutch cookery as well as northern German. I like it very much, though I add onions, leek and garlic to the kale-potato mix. The dish is called stampot in Dutch. Kale is a super-nutritious food. In Dutch supermarkets - even small ones - you find kale precut for stampot and also frozen. Unlike some vegetables, freezing actually improves the texture and flavour. Saveurs du monde has a simple recipe in French: www.saveursdumonde.net/recettes/chou-paysbas/ and in English: www.theworldwidegourmet.com/recipes/cabbage-netherlands/ but the illustration is an ordinary round-headed cabbage, not kale (which is a bunch of dark-green curly leaves). They use Polish kielbasa, similar to but not exactly the same as the smoked sausage the Dutch and North Germans use. And nowadays lots of people in the Netherlands like a bit of Indonesian sambal... Thanks LG. Lots of info I didn't know about. I think Gruenkohl is just that, though people from the coast call it Braunkohl too. T63, 'mincing' by hand is actually quite fast but a bit tiring. Just cut up the piece of meat into inch size cubes then chop it with a knife in each hand. The heavier, the easier. Takes about 10 minutes for a kg and the result is very fine mince. K2, is this the yellow mustard everybody despises? I quite like it. Different mustards for different dishes, I'm quite tolerant ;D |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 12, 2010 10:45:38 GMT
Your photo looks so much like the kind of winter time meal we would have had on the farm HW. Did not know that about kale,the freezing tidbit. Maybe I should have left my kale in the garden to freeze the other night... I do know it is indeed one of those mega nutrient foods. I love kale. |
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Post by Kimby on Jan 12, 2010 18:22:09 GMT
K2, is this the yellow mustard everybody despises? I quite like it. Different mustards for different dishes, I'm quite tolerant ;D That's not the yellow mustard I despise. That actually looks like it might be a good mustard (though mustard is a flavor I usually shy away from). This is the stuff I hate: www.frenchs.com/products/YellowMustard.phpOn top of the flavor, it has the most obnoxious tendency to stain anything it comes in contact with... |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 13, 2010 0:55:08 GMT
Yes, that is the good mustard. The other stuff is colored with turmeric or something.
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Post by hwinpp on Jan 13, 2010 4:40:23 GMT
My mother plants kale inthe garden behind the house and she actually lets it get one night of frost before harvesting it. And I find the stuff sold frozen much better than the stuff sold in cans.
Re mustard, agree with both of you. I know that brand too.
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Post by existentialcrisis on Jan 13, 2010 7:18:42 GMT
I have that brand in my fridge right now!  I pack balogna sandwiches for my partner to take to work... and I am ordered to completely drench the thing in French's yellow mustard! lol ... we just ran out ... and I'm not allowed to use the French's Dijon, honey mustard, or grainy dijon I have in the fridge... it must be regular yellow mustard! |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 13, 2010 20:25:09 GMT
There are a number of the bitter leafy vegetables that are better after a freeze. Belgian endive was always best when harvested under a layer of snow. I presume that the supermarket Belgian endive has just had the bitterness bred out of it to make it as tasteless as possible, just like they do with everything else.
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Post by lagatta on Jan 13, 2010 20:43:04 GMT
Yes, I've had real endive also harvested in the snow. The supermarket stuff has very little flavour.
Even normal cabbage is better with a bit of a frost.
I do NOT like the German kale in tins. Frozen kale is almost as good as fresh, but I've never seen it here - just in Netherlands and Germany.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 7, 2011 13:04:57 GMT
During the coffee break, we were talking about how you can eat a million calories of mostly potatoes and cheese on ski vacations and never gain a gram. Then we all made each other drool with lovingly decribed meals of the same old stuff already mentioned here -- raclette, tartiflette, gratin savoyard...
There's something about the month of January that multiplies the appeal of these items.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 7, 2011 16:50:14 GMT
Ha, funny to see the post above. Yesterday I was talking to Charlie who was waxing eloquent about the braised sauerkraut and the borscht she made recently. We agreed she was responding to some atavistic winter cue from her eastern European ancestry.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 7, 2011 17:53:20 GMT
It's in the genes.
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Post by auntieannie on Jan 18, 2011 19:55:04 GMT
sauerkraut! did someone mention sauerkraut?
I really like cooking "ragout" in winter, which is like a stew? but translating ragout into stew isn't satisfactory to me.
basically, the best dishes are dishes that take ages to cook slowly. and if you're lucky to be home whilst it simmers, you get the wonderful smells wafting through the kitchen. mmmhhh!
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Post by Kimby on Feb 7, 2011 20:22:27 GMT
Yesterday I was talking to Charlie... Where is Charlie lately? She posts so little these days. How dare she have a "real life". I miss her! |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 10, 2013 19:39:33 GMT
sauerkraut! did someone mention sauerkraut? Sauerkraut is on my "coming soon" list. And I recently bought some excellent sausages in Luxembourg which I was wise enough to freeze immediately for future use. |
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Post by Don Cuevas on Jan 11, 2013 1:24:26 GMT
I am starting a new batch of KKAKDUGI (RADISH KIMCHI). This time, I have the dried shrimp to give it that extra WHAM.
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Post by lagatta on Jan 11, 2013 23:18:43 GMT
I have a bag of little Nordic shrimp, frozen. Wonder whether it should just be prepared with rice and onions, tomato, etc. or if there is another use I can find for them...
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