Gastro tourism

If you have neither time nor money to travel all the 500 and something kilometers northwest of Stockholm for a memorable meal at Fäviken in Åre you can opt for a more accessible option. I did and it was great. Dinner at restaurant EKSTEDT in Stockholm was a revelation. I'm truly fond of any chef who manages to delight, tickle and surprise. 

From the single oyster on a bed of seaweed to the pigeon served with a smooth charred blood pudding my tastebuds were singing. I was nearly crying for it is a rare chef who combines common sense, inspiration and - what Florrie at Ballymaloe called TLC - Tender Loving Care. 

I will go back. Find a cheap flight, be content with cheap accommodation and then splash out on a proper meal. That's my kind of gastro tourism and while waiting I can look forward to another occasion: the unveiling of my very own bresaola. 

A bundle of joy that needs at least four
weeks to mature in the larder.

Less sugar

Sugar is our new enemy. I'm telling you now unless you hadn't noticed. I understand the downside of too much sugar; my liver can't cope with it and turns excess sugar into fat. Which is not what I need. So, I decided to abstain. In fact I've resolved to do so often lately but something always happens to derail my plan. 

Yesterday it was the very nice man in the organic food shop who gave me a packet of milk chocolate flakes. Well I couldn't say no to that offer and since chocolate is a product with a finite shelf life (my bag of choc flakes will expire on the 28 November) I made these velvety milk chocolate pots - sans the raspberries. 

If you ask me, these velvety milk chocolate pots will have been eaten by Monday and then I can start avoiding sugar. Again.

Muted November colours

Nature always knows how to put on a show, even in muted November colours. So much beauty on display without anybody making any effort and it's all for free.

Autumn fare

Temperatures have dropped 10 degrees since Saturday but I'm not complaining. While I suffer in the kind of sticky heat we had in July and August I thrive in cooler temperatures. I get focused and I get things done.

So, yesterday I got working on my autumn fare and made Nigel Slater's lamb hotpot. Gloriously easy and delicious!

Hot baking

Yeast dough rising like mad in the unusually hot kitchen

Sunflower bread for a wedding in August

Quiet time

No guests at Klippan means quiet time and time to catch up on laundry - both private and the company kind. The chilly winds blowing in straight from the Artic Sea (feels like it at least) did manage to dry my bed linen in no time at all so I'll have an extremely crisp and clean bed this evening.

Prepping for Ireland

The Kerrygold Ballymaloe LitFest of Food and Wine proved a great experience. Under the calm tutelage of chef David Tanis I felt I was prepping for Ireland. And boy were we down to details. I was deconstructing wild garlic flowers for a good part of Saturday afternoon and I hope they went down well. They looked beautiful!

Wild garlic grows in great abundance around Ballymaloe

A thought for Nigerian girls

A quiet morning at work and I have time to catch up on my studies. Religious food practices is the topic for today and I feel fortunate to be able to be sitting here - in peace and quiet - studying and gathering knowledge without some person telling me that I really ought to be sold as a slave in the market or be married off - double quick.

For the abducted Nigerian girls the first is as bad as the other.

One of the perks

Going for my morning run is a chore no more. Definitely one of the perks of working in a fairly remote location of natural beauty.

A lunch ruined

Today my lunch was ruined by a senior citizen who sat down opposite me - two tables away - and who wouldn't stop staring. I'm used to walking into cafés and restaurants by myself, sitting down and ordering something from the menu. I did so today and thoroughly enjoyed the fried herring in a butter and capers sauce.

Hadn't it been for the chap who shared every bit of my lunch I would have lingered much longer. From the salad through the fish main course to the cherry rum top with vanilla ice cream my lunch was not my own.

How odd. And annoying.

What do you do

What do you do when your sister and brother-in-law hand you freshly caught perch - already gutted and filleted? I'll tell you what you should do! You should rush home to harvest the tenderest sprigs of chives and lovage barely poking out of the ground, you should go inside and fry your precious produce in butter with a little salt. I did and now it's bliss and loveliness all around.

Easter in the kitchen

Four days of cooking for 40 people ended with a finale of chicken tagine and an enormous dish of pascha which was gobbled up in no time at all. What a joy to cook when you have appropriate facilities and a rock-steady crew to help you out.

At work

After attending the health-and-hygiene-in-food lecture yesterday I drove straight to my workplace and spent my first day just strolling around. We're between seasons and winter still lingers. No food yet but I did try the oven roasting some chicken thighs.

Next step

After three months of doing work practice in a school kitchen I'm ready to move on to doing a season as matron at a summer camp. Tomorrow is my first day and I will spend it getting an update on the dos and don'ts of kitchen hygiene. Well worth doing since a health inspector is bound to come poking around later on in the season.

Over the next two months I'll do my best to find a way to implement my Ballymaloe-ideas on a low budget. A good place to start is getting that herb garden going!

April in February

I accept this April weather in February! Without difficulty. Our garden has even started landscaping itself. We now have a pond that threw lovely reflections into the cottage this morning. Too bad I don't have a picture.

Obsessive compulsive washing-up disorder

An obsessive compulsive disorder emerges whenever I do the washing up at work. I have to do the yellow trays separate from the red ones. Glasses and mugs have to be arranged separately in a certain way in order to allow the maximum amount to go in the machine with each cycle. I always sort the forks before the knives when they come out of the machine and I can't have bits floating around in the sink.

Some (Irish) people might call this being anal.

I prefer efficient. Or organised.

Either or.

Happy days in the school kitchen

It's a lovely thing to fry homemade fish cakes made from locally caught fish and serve them piping hot IN THE SCHOOL KITCHEN.

I'm happy!

New insights

I get new insights as I putter around in my kitchen. I did everything right when I made the yoghurt cake with lemon curd from Darina Allen's cookbook Forgotten Skills. Everything, except using cold pressed rapeseed oil instead of sunflower oil.

Please note that the overall result is substandard, it tastes weird and now I will have to make it all again.