Interesting new marinade

Last weekend I joined some friends for the weekend in a 17th century chateau in Burgundy (sorry I know I am boasting... I can't help myself!).

On the first night, we were cooking a BBQ for dinner.  My friend Christoph had bought some Bon Maman chestnut spread... he didn't quite know what it was when he bought it, but thought it might be interesting to try.

He and his girlfriend decided that it might be fun to use it as a sort of marinade on some chicken breasts they had bought for the BBQ.  I suggested that mixing it with grainy Dijon mustard might balance the sweetness, so Monika did just that; smeared the chicken with pretty close to even quantities of mustard and chestnut spread.

The chicken was cooked, and the marinade declared to be an unqualified success.  I thought I would post  it up here so that I would remember it, and maybe you could try it sometime.  It proves once more that the real key to exciting cooking is the willingness to just experiment, and try new things that you haven't tried before.

Guerilla cooking

I rented an apartment on the meditterranean for a week to study. The plus to this was that I was away from my normal space, and forced to study. The hard part was that being away from my kitchen, its tools and ingredients.

You don't realise what you have till its gone!

I arrived to find a kitchen that did have pots and a fry pan, a microwave, two hotplates (which I discovered through bitter trial and error have their numbering back to front), crockery and cutlery.

The glaring omissions were that it had no oven, sharp knives (a blunt paring knife and a twisted out of shape blunt peeler were in evidence), chopping board, storage containers, cooking tools such as slotted spoon, serving spoons, tongs, ladle.
Also no food.

Well, to give credit where it is due, there was a bottle of salt. So what to buy? I had no desire to buy a whole pile of foodstuffs and kitchen tools for someone else. I needed food for 5 days of staying in, so I needed variety, simplicity, and flexibility. And a sharp knife.

When I got to the supermarket I found some cheeses that had a cheeseboard included for free. 1 problem down. I found a little purple knife for 4 euros. Another problem down. A packet of "herbs de provence", some oil, pepper and I was just about at the end of the things I was willing to buy and donate to the apartment owner. Until I stumbled upon one of those sets of plastic containers... 14 containers for 3.90 euros. Yup I will have that.

I bought some meat, some bread, some vegetables... the usual stuff. I was set, vaguaries of my desires set aside.

Two days in and my second meal of pork chop, potato and sweet potato. The first time around it was burnt pork chop (see above comment on the stove) and mashed potato and sweet potato (pressed with a drinking glass then mashed with a fork). This time I had an onion to add to the excitement and had boiled the potato and sweet potato. But the dish cried out for a gravy. But... I had no flour, no stock... nothing to make it from!

I looked around. Ahah. There was the packet of french onion soup I had bought in case the predicted rainy day happened. There too was the "pompote" I got as part of my 'kids meal' at a cafe the day before (I usually find that a kids meal is actually more than enough food than we need and, limits in options aside, is very good value. 3.50 euros for a little hamburger patty, fries or vegetables, a drink and a dessert [the aforementioned pompote]). A pompote is a sort of apple mush in a squishy tube.

So I fried up my fresh onion, sprinkled on a tablespoon of the french onion soup mix and squeezed out a good dollop of the pompote. Gradually added some water and raised it to a simmer. What do you know? I had a very yummy gravy!

It just shows what you can do with a bit of imagination and willingess to experiment.

On a slightly different subject....

I have mixed pride about my food photography, and in fact my photography generally.

Sometimes I take shots that I am absolutely thrilled with, but rather more often the photos are ok at best. I do wish I had more talent, but to be truthful, don't spend the time really learning enough about photography to become expert. That said, among the chaff are some real gems and I have decided to share them in a more formal fashion.

I just wanted to tell you that I now have a Redbubble site, where you can buy prints in the form of greetings cards and posters of some of my photos. Even if you don't lash out and buy anything, I would love it if you visited my site and commented on photos you like...

Eating with the Vikings

One of the more fun mini-chain restaurants in Finland is Restaurant Harald. The one we went to was in Turku. Decorated up on a Viking theme, the waitresses wear Viking gear, and you can order dishes served up on shields or spitted on swords. Terry and I thought it might be fun to go to the one we saw in Tampere, but had our dinner in the tower instead, so when we got to Turku and found another "Harald", we couldn't resist!

The buffet table, or is it the bar?

For entree, I was seduced by the idea of moose salami, lingonberries and sprucetip syrup, so my choice was:

Game delicacies of Finland
Smoked reindeer sausage, delicious moose salami, grilled beef breast, smoked
garlic, red onion marmalade, lingonberries with spruce tip syrup, smoked almonds,
Rieska (soft flatbread), carrot bread, all served on a slab of slate.

My dinner partner didn't want an entree, but I knew he would 'throw himself on the grenade' and eat some of mine, and indeed he did.

Then for the main course I chose:

Sausage Pan
Wild boar sausage, reindeer sausage, pheasant meatballs, mustard seed sauce,
smoky cheese potatoes, creamed beetroot.

A hearty dish, this was probably a poor choice for me, as it was far more than I could possibly eat, but I really was in the mood for a sausage, and so even just having a mouthful of each was a pleasure. Terry helped out again as he still had room after his:

Blacksmiths Wild Duck
Wild duck breast, malt sauce, smoky cheese potatoes, marinated beans,
creamed beetroot, port wine marinated nuts, red onion marmalade.

I had a teeny taste of the duck which was pleasant, though not amazing by any means.

At this point in time, I was feeling pretty full, but Terry was rather keen on the idea of dessert, and we decided we really had to have something served on a shield... how could we possibly resist this indulgent platter?

Asgot the Red's Ending Shield
Caramel chocolate ice cream, chocolate cake, apple sorbet, Viking style pancakes,
Hulda’s berry dessert, blackberry compote, port wine marinated nuts,
carrot compote.

The caramel icecream was great as was the apple sorbet. The viking pancake was pretty ordinary but much better with the berries on top, and the chocolate cake was absolutely fantastic and although I was groaningly full I wouldn't let Terry have a crumb of my share!

I thought that Restaurant Harald was fun: the atmosphere and silly stories on the menus are very amusing, and if you are in Turku, Tampere or Kuopio, go on... try it... definitely worth 1 visit.

The entry to Harald

Wordle... a word image of my blog

How cool is Wordle?
Wordle generates "word clouds" giving greater prominence to words that appear more often in your site. It is only working off my latest posts, but I would be very curious to see what it would come up if it could view my whole site.

Adventurous eater food meme

1. Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2. Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3. Cross out any items that you would never consider eating. (I will italic, as I don't have cross out ability)
4. Optional extra: Post a comment here at http://www.verygoodtaste.co.uk/ linking to your results.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses (as in the cheese?)
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras (I will go to hell for it, but well.. its worth it - the person who said nothing tastes as good as thin feels" never ate foie gras on fresh paillasse read)
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters (smoked only - my seafood sensitivity forbids it any other form)
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl (me and clams could get ugly)
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float (lime spider yes, but root beer tastes like dettol smells to me)
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects (fried, roasted and raw)
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more (still didn't like it)
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut (SO overrated)
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Ber above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Loche asinthe
74. gjetost or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie (what is it? Is it just a premade fruit pie?)
78. Snail (land and sea)
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant (no, but a) am working on it and b) ave managed a 1 star)
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shelled crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee (dont drink coffee)
100. Snake

Not bad. Out of 100 things I am not missing many that I can safely eat. Hmmm... now what would I have on my personal food list that everyone should try would be:

1. Emu
2. Kangaroo
3. Blue cheese
4. Parma ham
5. Spanish ham
6. english muffins
7. crumpets
8. corn on the cob (I know it isn't unusual but it IS heavenly and everyone should try it)
9. Allens jelly snakes
10. Basel leckerli

I am sure I could think of more, but tell me... what would you add?

Taking to the fields...

Taking food art to a new level, check out this rice field art.

Cakewrecks

So I am sitting eating my salad at lunchtime surfing some foodblogs (as you do) when I started yelping out loud with laughter. Believe me, you just have to go and have a look at this blog: cakewrecks.

Its not that I havent been cooking

I have been cooking up a storm in fact, but I regret to say, I haven't much in the way of new recipes to share. At the culinary squat I helped out on the food stall, making and serving quesadillas, sushi, curries and having whipped up a big batch of Anzac cookies, which sold pretty much as fast as I made them. You might recall I posted up the recipe for Anzac biscuits a while ago, and if you haven't made them yet, DO! They are totally addictively good.

There are some photos of my partners in cooking on my flickr site, and even a little film clip of them being silly while some bluegrass music was playing. The ambience of the weekend was really lovely. Everyone was happy, relaxed and having fun, even despite the rain.

Food and Love and how it all goes wrong...

An interesting (and rather poignant) read: "When the Chutney's Gone"

Check this joint out for a dinner with a difference!

http://dinnerinthesky.com/

A friend sent me this rather scary link, which I just had to share!

http://www.cracked.com/article_14979_6-most-terrifying-foods-in-world.html

Food humour

Have to share this link with those who don't already hurt themselves laughing at Jim Gaffigan and his food humour.

Junk food... the ultimate example

Check this out:

This is a hotdog hamburger pizza. Available from your nearest Japanese Pizza Hut. For those interested, apparently it has 646 calories per slice. Gulp.

Yes and no game

A meme from my friend Drakey

The Yes and No Game

You can ONLY answer YES or NO!
You are NOT ALLOWED to explain ANYTHING unless someone comments and asks!

These are mine...
Do/Have you:
Kissed someone on your friends list? Yes
Had feelings for someone who didn't have them back? Yes
Been arrested? No
Kissed someone you didn't like? No
Slept in until 5pm? No
Fallen asleep at work/school? Yes
Ran a red light? Yes
Been suspended from school? No
Totalled your car/motorbike in an accident? No
Been fired from a job? Yes
Sang karaoke? Yes
Done something you told yourself you wouldn't? Yes
Laughed until something you were drinking came out your nose? No
Caught a snowflake on your tongue? Yes
Kissed in the rain? Yes
Sang in the shower? Yes
Sat on a rooftop? Yes
Been pushed into a pool with all your clothes? Yes
Broken a bone? No
Shaved your head? No
Blacked out from drinking? No
Played a prank on someone? Yes
Felt like killing someone? Yes
Made your girlfriend/boyfriend cry? Yes
Had Mexican jumping beans for pets? No
Been in a band? No
Shot a gun? No
Tripped on mushrooms? No
Donated Blood? Yes
Eaten crocodile meat? Yes
Eaten cheesecake? Yes
Still love someone you shouldn't? Yes
Think about the future? Yes
Believe in love? Yes
Sleep on a certain side of the bed? Yes
Ran around naked outside? Yes

and these are a few of my favourite things...

I got an order in of great Aussie sweets. Here are a few of my favourites:

Allens Snakes Alive

Jelly snakes are a lovesome thing. Chewy, sweet and fruity in flavour and in lovely jewel-like colours, I have tried all sorts of brands from all around the world, and take it from me, accept no substitutes!

This great collection shows a range of Aussie sweets worth trying -