Long weekend in Groningen. Lots to tell you about. Two days of work in London. Not much to tell you about. Now back. Exhausted. With food and foodie stories to share. And don’t you just love these Welsh tea, coffee and sugar pots? Read about them on the train in Homes & Antiques and fell in love. Never seen them in Wales though. From Adra.

Do you remember Marks’ birthday? The party we were planning? No? Oh. (Disappointed look on my face … really?) Ok, I guess it’s ok to forget. This once.

Let me remind you a little the agony (mine): when looking for his birthday present, I was faced with lots and lots of possibilities. Yet none had the ‘wow’ factor I was looking for. Golf? Too personal and complicated. I tried once and it turns out golfers like to chose the clubs themselves. Go figure. A trip abroad and another restaurant? Too expensive just before Brazil. Agony, I tell you. A-g-o-n-y. Until I came across Nudo.

Now, of course I know Mark well enough to know he likes his olive oil. But he never had an olive tree. (This in itself I guess is pretty obvious.) Very few people in the UK do own an olive tree. Something to do with the weather I hear. High time for a change, I thought. And so bought him a tree in Il Capo.

The gift voucher arrived, birthday came and went, Mark was happy, and here we are in 2008. Honestly, with all in between, we sort of forgot about the olive tree. (I’m really getting the feeling we are not that good with this whole adoption thingy…) Although, we are planning to visit … him? she? it? in June. I’ll admit it again, we’re just not good at adopting.

Imagine the surprise, when a couple of days ago 1.5L olive oil were waiting for us at home. Cute little 250ml and 500ml metal containers, all black with green (olive) dots. A rhapsody in black and green. The olive oil? So, so flavoursome. Delicious. Mark finds it peppery. I think it has hints of lemon. We both find it somewhat ‘herby’. Maybe a combination of all? Who knows. In any case, absolutely delicious olive oil.

So far, we had it au naturel. But with so much olive oil in the house it is difficult not to make plans. Mark is already thinking of olive oil ice cream (must be Nice). I am thinking olive oil cookies. The possibilities are endless. Any suggestions? Part of me wants to keep the Nudo olive oil just as it is, in it’s cute little metal box and enjoy it with a chunk of home made bread. Or perhaps drizzle it on fresh goats cheese. Some sliced, ripe tomatoes, a sprinkle of sea salt and a dash of Nudo? Sounds good too.

We’ll keep you posted. Any suggestions you have how we can use the Nudo olive oil? Send them our way.

Oh, we had some great food lately. With the days suddenly so much longer. Great British Menu pushing the boundaries of modern food. Us more in Brussels for a change. Market abundance with spring and all. A perfect mix for a foodie cocktail.

Mark made a spot on bisque. We ate perfect mash. A great carbonade a la Flamande. The most exquisite duck a l’orange. Why am I telling you all this, I hear you ask? Well … because none of this made it long enough for a foodie photo shot. Sorry!

However I drew the line at the Chinese tea smoked chicken!

Granted this is the ‘before’ photo, as the chicken legs were long gone before I could take an ‘after’ photo. We decided on this recipe for two reasons. The interesting wow factor: tea smoked! The volume factor: easy to make for a party of 20+ who expect an Asian influenced dinner. When we planned this party we looked for any and all recipes that could be cooked for a crowd. Rice aside. Looking through a very (!) 80s looking cooking book we agreed that tea smoked chicken legs sounded modern enough to make it to the menu. Meet Chinese and Oriental Cooking. Don’t judge a book by its cover that’s what I have to say.

It went down a treat. I know, difficult not to love chicken. Tea smoke it and you get ‘fancy’ chicken. A recipe to keep in mind if like us, you invite loads of people (good) but you only have 1 oven (bad).

Tea Smoked Chicken (serves as many as you like)

1/2cup - 125gr sugar
3tbsp tea leaves
2tbsp salt
1×1.5kg - 3lb chicken (we used chicken drum sticks, 1 per person)
freshly ground black pepper
1tbsp soy sauce
2tbsp sesame oil

Line a baking dish with sheets of aluminium foil large enough to completely enclose the chicken. Combine sugar, tea leaves and salt and spread out over foil. Place a roasting rack in the baking dish and place chicken on rack. Sprinkle chicken liberally with black pepper, bring foil up around chicken to completely enclose and bake for 1h.

Combine soy sauce and sesame oil. Open foil parcel, brush chicken with say sauce mixture and bake, uncovered, for 20min longer until chicken is cooked through.

We don’t have the most chefy kitchen, yet it is a fairly well stocked kitchen. I often get emails on what utensils we use, gadgets, etc. Merging two households we have our fair share of stuff and for this recipe we relied entirely on the Ikea Koncis roasting tin.

So, what have you smoked lately? In kitchen terms, of course. A while ago, we also tried tea smoked trout on Glorious Food and Wine.

One, I have been a very bad adoptive parent. Two, I have been abroad all last week and oh, the stories and the food I have to tell you about! Gorgeous! With the 1 and 2 May official days off in Belgium, I guess I am not the only Brussels resident who decided to take a week off.

But we are back. Probably heavier than we left, as we spent a good part of our holiday eating and drinking. Does this happen to you as well? Nevertheless, our batteries are charged, our cameras full of souvenirs, our bags full of goodies.

Which brings me to the adoption part and my little black book. Some have a little black dress, I have a little black book. Which I carry with me everywhere. Why? Because you never know when a good blog idea can hit you. I might be in the tram on the way to work and suddenly think that a blog post on the best frites in Brussels could be a good idea. Well, I write it down. Or I come across a great must try recipe in one of my many food magazines? I write it down too. A gorgeous photo I like the look of, the composition, which perhaps could be an inspiration for my own food photos? I will make sure to cut it out and save it in my little black book.

You might say I am doing this because I have a short memory. True! But also because ideas come and go with the speed of light. And I am not always in a position to start writing a blog post (Did you ever try writing a post while engaging in a very serious conversation on the import of Chinese toys? I thought so.) A scribble here, an idea there, and I already managed to fill one little book. Now on to season two. Sometimes a life saver - wine tasting notes, restaurant reviews. Sometimes a great conversation piece - oh what a cute little book. Do you keep a diary? Sometimes a great source of inspiration - for example this post here !

How do you make sure your ideas don’t get lost? Do you keep a little black book too? I would be very interested to hear how and where do you come up with new ideas for your food blog. And most important how you make sure you won’t forget them?

]]> http://onfoodandwine.wordpress.com/2008/05/04/adopt-a-blogger-lesson-2/feed/ http://onfoodandwine.wordpress.com/2008/04/27/potatoes/ http://onfoodandwine.wordpress.com/2008/04/27/potatoes/#comments Sun, 27 Apr 2008 08:00:00 +0000 Andreea http://onfoodandwine.wordpress.com/?p=633

An entry for Click.

Potato. If I am very, very honest then this is probably my most favourite vegetable. Seriously. You can eat it in almost every way except raw. Then again, raw it seems to be very good for removing dark (eye) circles. All the things you learn!

Potatoes. Fried? Mashed? Baked? Boiled? Stewed? You name, all possible with the potatoes. And don’t even get me started on the sweet variety.

Last recipe we tried with potatoes (the ones in the photo to be exact) was the perfect mash by Mr. Marcus Wareing. I have a love hate relationship with Mr. Wareing. Love the way he cooks. Hate the way he is just a little tiny bit arrogant. Or so he comes across. It’s also true that everything he cooks (or writes) is instant perfection. Spot on all the time. So I guess a little self-assurance is ok? What do you think of him?

Anyway back to the mash.

Perfect Mash (serves 4)

1kg potatoes (King Edwards)
a good pinch of fine salt
125gr cold unsalted butter, diced
100-200ml hot full fat milk
1/4tsp freshly grated nutmeg (optional)
sea salt and freshly milled white pepper

Peel the potatoes and cut them into 4cm pieces. Put the pieces in a saucepan of cold water, add the fine salt, and bring to the boil over a high heat. Lower the heat to medium, cover and simmer gently (don’t boil) for about 20min until soft. Drain well.

Return the potatoes to the pan and dry them out, then remove from the heat and mash until smooth. With a wooden spoon, work the butter into the mash a few pieces at the time, then beat in enough hot milk to give a soft, dropping consistency.

Taste and correct the seasoning.

Under Key to Perfection, Marcus Wareing writes on pg.98 to drain the potatoes, then return to the pan and let them steam a few minutes. Work hard with the potato masher. Hot milk is essential, as it helps to smooth out any imperfections.

Enjoy! (Oh, and I am also planning to get his second book. Guess it’s all that love/hate.)

Incidentally, 2008 is also the International Year of the Potato. But you already knew that. Reading their website I came across something of interest: combining food/ potatoes and photography. Hmm…

Matcha doesn’t need an introduction anymore. It is just me being on the slow side… Everyone tried it our like zillion of times, and way, way back in time. Then here I come along and give it a try as well. Guess you are never too old to learn?

Intrigued by so many posts and so many variations on matcha I decided it was time our household had a matcha experience too. First I had to find this matcha powder. Granted, a couple of shops I asked for gave me a blank look. I gave them a blank look back. We moved on. Finally I came across the most over priced matcha in the history of matcha at Le Palais des Thes. And bought it. When I’m on a mission, nothing stops me. Jane Bond!

(Of course we came across matcha after the expensive buy in every other Asian shop at a fraction of the price. That be a lesson to you. Patience is a virtue!)

Home with the expensive matcha I had to decide what to do with it. In a very non organized fashion I first bought the (main?) ingredient and then started thinking of a recipe. Kind of chaotic. I finally settled down for a matcha ice cream. With the ingredients in the house, outside somewhat warm, ice cream was the answer. Now before I share the recipe with you, note I made the mistake of not actually making matcha white chocolateice cream. The white chocolate bit is probably something that could take this ice cream to the next Japanese level. If you don’t believe me, you’ll definitely believe her. Or her.

Matcha Ice Cream

2 egg yolks
2-4tbsp sugar
200ml heavy cream
1-2tbsp matcha powder
2tbsp hot water
50ml water

Lightly whisk egg yolks in a pan. Add water and sugar in the pan and mix well. Put the pan on low heat and heat the mixture, stirring constantly. When the mixture is thicken, remove from the heat. Mix hot water and matcha green tea powder together. Add the green tea in the egg mixture and mix well, cooling in ice water. Add the whipped heavy cream in the mixture and mix well.

Result? A very green and refreshing ice cream. Sort of tastes ok. But of course it lacks the smooth silkiness and creaminess of the white chocolate. Better luck next time.

More matcha for you: Il Pranzo di Babette does the matcha latte in Italian. La Tartine Gourmand goes for a matcha marbled cake. Here is someone who used matcha way back when: Chez Pim does a matcha vinaigrette. I like the sound of that. And over at Happy Home Baking you can try your hands at a matcha loaf.

What have you tried out with matcha? Any suggestions on how I should use up the left over matcha? Would love to hear.

Don’t you love it when spur of the moment you book a weekend break? Just like that. Because you want some sun. A change. Flights are cheap. You choose.

Exactly what we did. Friday 9:00am I was in my office, looking at my screen, trying hard to concentrate with the pouring rain outside. Miserable. Friday 9:00pm we were walking along the Promenades des Anglais, admiring the beauty of Nice and wondering if it will stay as warm over the weekend?

Nice. My first time on the Cote d’Azur. I know! What took me so long?! A weekend there was just enough to give us a taste of la vie en Provence. Not long enough to really experience everything the Cote d’Azur has to offer. We decided to spend the whole day Saturday and what we had of Sunday only in Nice. This way we didn’t feel pressured to run around, checklist in hand. And enough time to savour Nice.

Ah the shutters. How beautiful can a sea be? Colourful walls mirroring the shadows of the sun, laundry hanging out to dry. A maze of streets to get lost in. And always the blue sea to return to. We walked a lot - I always prefer to discover a new city on foot or on bike. In vieux Nice we walked. Occasionally we stopped. For a photo. For a glace. For a verre du vin. For a pancha. We explored the colours, the rhythm, the flavours of Nice. And I am sure there is still so much more to discover.

On Sunday morning we went to the market. There and then I wished that just for that day we would actually live in Nice. The fish. The gorgeous red bell peppers. Artichokes. Olives everywhere. Oh I could just go on and on and on.

Not living in Nice, we restricted ourselves to a few fresh goodies: we stopped for socca. We bought juicy, sweet and sticky strawberries. Sun dried tomatoes. And fruits confits.

A quick stop for a salade Nicoise. A glace aux olives. And it was time to fly back. Despite our very kind taxi driver, who offered to take us on a last tour on the Promenade des Anglais and if needed … crash (tempting! One more day in Nice?) … anyway …

Sunday 10:00pm we were back in Brussels.

Our stops in Nice:

Interested in other other French adventures on Glorious Food and Wine? Then go to Categories/France. What is your favorite spot on the Cote d’Azur?

Ciao. And where did the time go?

How do you like the new design? I am still working on it but time has been very limited these past few weeks. Work was mad. Our social life picked up … hmm … I wonder why? Who knows, it might just be the spring sun. Oh, and there was also Nice.

Yet this post is long overdue and I apologize for this! Why the ‘ciao’ or the croissants you wonder? Well … let me tell you about this little food blogging event, (European) Blogging by Mail. This is what you’d probably call food heaven in the food blogosphere! You get to spend time putting together a little food package. You ship it to your ‘mystery’ recipient. And you wait for the surprise, the joy, and eventually the foodie post. I was on time with all of the above. Except the post.

So without further ado: my little package from the Italian Housewife. Ciao, now you understand! It was such a great surprise. First of all I got to discover a great blog. And the goodies inside? Delicious, original, exotic. We went through a whole bag of mini croissants - yumm! I heated them up just a little bit so the chocolate inside got all gooey and runny. Sinfully delicious.

What do you think of when you think of Italy (food)? Besides the pasta! Parmesan, of course. There was a little bit of that too. Anchovies. A great mushroom sauce I am dying to try out. Grissini. The best and most wonderful party snack. My trick? I wrap the grissini top with a little Parma ham - stunning, easy and delicious.

The exotic touch Violette put in her package? Curry leaves! We never bought or cooked with curry leaves, so I am very much looking forward to using them. Exciting.

And all accompanied by a lovely letter which made me discover a little bit more about Italy and Malaysia, food combining the two and of course the Italian Housewife.

Grazie, Violette. Baci.

It’s officially spring. Freezing outside. But everywhere I look it’s spring: flowers blooming, birds singing, a timid sun. Which is probably why I feel like a change. Well, more like a blog change.

So please bear with me while I tweak and make some changes - and please, please let me know along the way how you like, feel, use the new design. I will try to make Glorious Food and Wine more attractive, user friendly and delicious

Manioc. If you don’t know this root vegetable yet, I’ll try to convince you otherwise. If you know it already … then, I can only envy you!

Such a delicious discovery. It all started in Brazil. Remember? Amongst the many different foods we ate, we also tried the ‘mandioca frita’. Eh? Manioc chips? Living in Belgium there is a certain aprehension whenever someone else around the world is trying to sell you fries (chips). Yeah, right!

But these. These fries were the best we ever had. Or almost (sorry to the Belgian audience/ readership!). They were delicious. Fluffy. Crunchy. Crispy. Everything a fry should be. And then some extra added for good measure.

Back in Belgium, I was determined to try and recreate these manioc fries. Granted, there is always the reality that holiday food never tastes the same at home. But fries are fries, right? Wrong!

We went to Matonge (the African neighbourhood in Brussels, which in itself deserves a post … coming soon) and bought manioc. Somehow this root vegetable I always passed by and wondered what to do with it, seemed so accessible. Inviting. Asking ‘fry me, fry me’. Strange, I know. Who knew vegetables can talk?

At home, I tend to stay away from the frier. Not because I don’t like my fried food (guilty pleasure), but because Mark knows the deep frier. So: Mark meet manioc. Manioc, meet Mark. The actual process of getting the manioc from its root state to a perfect chip is a little more complex than your usual potato but so worth the effort! Trust me.

1 Manioc, 2 People
Peel the manioc.
Cut the manioc into strips. (Your fries to be)
Cook the manioc in boiling water and salt.
Drain the manioc. Let it cool and dry. Let me repeat this: let it cool and dry. This is one of the most important steps.
Heat the oil to a high temperatue in a frying pan or deep fat frier.
Add the manioc.
Fry until golden brown.
Drain on kitchen towel. Season with (sea) salt. Serve.

Now, aren’t these the best fries you ever had? I thought so.
Brazil and back. We have mastered the mandioca frita. What else could we try cooking with manioc? Now that we are on the same wave length and we discovered how delicious it is - what next? I’d love to have your suggestions. Oh, and do try the manioc fries!