3 October 2012 - Dunlop Triangles (no Michelin Stars here!)

Gentle listener, it has been a quiet-ish week with no travel for me.  What on earth does that leave me to write about I hear you cry?  Never think that I cannot spew words forth on to a page even when little has happened, you know me, I always have a lot (or too much) to say.

The main focus of this entry is about food.  No surprise there I hear you cry.  When am I not sharing photos and descriptions of meals at 30,000 feet or at gourmet dining establishments (commonly known as restaurants, but then McDonald's calls itself a restaurant).  Well this time it is the food I have been cooking. 

Most of you probably did not know I had the skill or inclination to cook but prefer to be served my meals.  As much as we all liked to be served, there are times that no matter how long you sit at the table no food arrives and there is an expectation to make something yourself.   What a crazy notion.  So, as I have a little more time on my hands I thought I would revisit the art of cooking.  Of course one needs to take these things slowly and one step at a time.  I will not be appearing on MasterChef anytime soon or co-hosting with Jamie Oliver (fresh 'erbs!!).

So I had set myself the challenge to cook more and try new things.  Overall it has gone well and S has enjoyed the meals (and the service) and has even complained that I am feeding him too well.  There are some challenges....shopping at a Swiss supermarket is one.  Although they have lots of choice and options some things are just not available or I just don't know the German word (more likely I guess).  Also, Asian food is not a popular here and as such the items available in the supermarket is much less than home.  One of my missions is to find a decent Asian Grocer.  I have seen one near Zurich and will be exploring soon.  Poor S's pantry has never had so many ingredients.  One of the local supermarkets (Co-op) is opening a new large store in November and I hope to be invited to the opening, maybe even cut the ribbon!

I have not focused on any particular cuisine and will have to expand to some local delicacies.  It is approaching winter so I imagine lots of potato and meat - yum - with some cheese thrown in for good measure.  Have to support the local economy after all.

So what have been doing?  Well, as you have occasionally seen I take a photo of my accomplishments but thought that a post dedicated to it was appropriate.  Now S has also been cooking and I will showcase his dishes too.  You will also notice the crockery which is the Petit Fleur collection from Villeroy & Boch.  I prefer a white plate and have never made any comment about the crockery....even the time I closed the dishwasher and the bottom rack was out could have been disaster - the twenty set piece almost became two hundred.  But no, the Petit Fleur survived.

Time to "Brace! Brace! Brace!" for a pictorial culinary tale...........

My first effort was Pasta Puttanesca - the prostitute's sauce with anchovies and capers....not sure why it got this name, I am sure it has nothing to do with the fishy smell!

Definately will do this one again.

A little light chicken with salad.  I think S was away so I was trying a no wine time - not recommended.

 Another chicken salad and the wine is back....phew!

Easiest dessert in the world, mascerated strawberries (balsamic vinegar and caster sugar) - so good and served with a gentle dollop of Movenpick vanilla ice cream.

 Stefan was visiting and we had bought a lot of food.  To start a simple pasta with olive oil and parmesan cheese....

To follow, pan fried veal with a porcini mushroom sauce, ratattouile and smashed pototes.  I have no idea how I did it but I cooked the veal to perfection if I say so myself!

 Picnic time and here is our beverage - champagne!

And something to absorb the alcohol - we had ridden on our bikes to this field after all.  In the white bowl is S's mother's potato salad.

My first attempt at schnitzel.  I had to make my own bread crumbs as I could not locate them in the supermarket.  Have to say they are better than the bought ones.  It was delicious and leftover crumb means more schnitzel to come!

Fresh mozarella and tomato salad followed by a mushroom risotto.  The stock was made from the porcinis we had with the veal and can I just say, there is a lot of stirring involved!! Will do again but will need some time to wipe the memory of the endless rotating spoon.....like child birth, you need time to forget.

One of the things I made had quite a lot of rice left over so it became rice budding with fresh rasberries.

S is a big fan of salmon and so to rest my weary kitchen feet he prepared some pan fried salmon, vegetables and dill.

Was time to have a person in the photos.  Here is dear Kate about to have a lovely continental breakfast - yes, carbs and cheese.

Time to go sub-continental and have some curry.  I have to admit this was from a jar but was still delicious.

 A delicious pasta with tomato sauce a la Stephan....

More asian, this time a thai green curry with a splash of rose champagne.

More schitzel (veal this time) with potato dumplings.  I was responsible for the meat and S the potatoes.  Please not the distinct lack of vegetables...we were appalled and then inhaled the food.

A light dinner of cold cuts, cheeses and salad - not really that light.

Someone looking very excited with this meal or just hungry and eager to start - I let you decide.  It is satay chicken (sauce made from scratch and it was soooo good) and fried rice.  Need to work on my fried rice.  I thought it was a bit gluggy.

Doesn't look great in the photo but it was fresh pasta (four varieties) with a burnt butter sauce.  It all went together beautifully and the only disappointment was the lack of sage.

My first attempt at lasagna with bachemel sauce.  It tasted great but geez it was a lot of work.  Imagine if I had also made the pasta sheets from scratch!!

 It looks a lot better in the baking dish!

How to ruin a perfectly decent piece of steak by Rodney.  Not one of my finest efforts but willing to share it nonetheless.

Claypot chicken from scratch - not too bad but the sauce went a bit thick.

S's triumph...trout cooked two ways (steamed with pepper and roasted with a herb crust) served with pasta and burnt butter sauce.  Let's pretend the green in the crust are vegetables.

 

And last but not least (for now) is a potato and leek fritatta.