Fondue with charcuterie
When Phyllis, Anna and I went on a short holiday to Paris last summer, I had cheese fondue served with boiled potatoes, charcuterie and lettuce for lunch at a restaurant.
Recently Asda started selling an Austrian cheese fondue that can be microwaved in its container, so it’s really convenient.
I decided to recreate the Parisian experience, so tonight I served the Austrian fondue with a packet of Italian prosciutto crudo and salami, boiled new potatoes, iceberg lettuce leaves and crusty bread.
It might sound a bit strange, but it actually tasted lovely – even Anna loved it.
Black turkey
Ever since reading The Time Traveler’s Wife, I’ve been intrigued by the blackened turkey they were eating for Christmas in it.
Having bought a big turkey recently, I decided to find the recipe.
I’m pretty sure it must be this one.
Sadly, however, it looks like a lot of work for an ordinary Sunday roast, so I don’t think I’ll be making it this time round.
But it’s definitely on my to-do list for whenever there’s a suitable occasion.
Preferably one without my mum, because she sounded absolutely horrified when I told her the recipe: “Can’t you eat the skin? But that’s the best bit of the bird!” she cried.
Green on black
I made some homemade pesto for lunch the other day.
We served it with some black (cuttlefish ink) pasta – didn’t it just look cool?
Anna loved it, but Ann (my mother-in-law) wasn’t brave enough and referred to the “black worms”. Her loss. 
Interestingly, the pasta was quite nauseating on its own, but combined with the pesto it was really nice.
Iron Chef
Just discovered this:
A restaurant to avoid
With Marcel away on a school-trip to Castle Toward, we thought that Charlotte needed a bit of fun, too, so we all went to La Tasca in Silverburn. I had already been to the La Tasca in town with work, and that was fine, so we were all looking forward to it.
When we arrived, we noticed that they had an offer called Tapas for a tenner – tapas ad libitum for £10 per person. It said everybody at the table had to join in, but when questioned, they said it was fine for the kids to have kiddie menus.
So we ordered two of the tenner menus, and three kiddie ones at £4 each. They said the adults could order four tapas each, with the option to order more later, and the kids could choose two each from their menu.
The drinks (tiny ones for the kids, but then they were included in the price) arrived quickly, as did six slices of slightly stale baguette.
But then we waited and waited. All drinks were long gone, and we spent ages taking turns to take the kids to the toilet on the second floor.
Finally, the food arrived. Ours were fine, but the kiddie ones were miniscule – not nearly big enough for a one-year-old, far too little for a three-year old, and about 1/20 of what a nine-year-old would eat.
So of course we had to share ours with the kids, and we needed more food.
The restaurant was now very full, and it took ages before the waitress got to our table again. She started to clear the table and ask whether whether we wanted tea or coffee, before we managed to make her understand that we wanted more tapas. She took our orders and disappeared.
The second batch of tapas arrived at 8.15 – more than two hours after we arrived!
But then we had all built up huge appetites, and we quickly realised we should have ordered many more, but with those waiting times we decided to go home and eat some soup and toast.
Fortunately our kids behaved well – most kids wouldn’t have stayed quiet in a boring restaurant for more than two hours with almost no food to eat.
Also, Phyllis noticed that the table behind were served so late that their second orders would be taken after the cut-off point for the tapas for a tenner availability. When they asked the waitress, she said she didn’t know what would happen!!!
Needless to say, we didn’t tip. Strangely, though, the waitress queried Phyllis why. When she was told the service was far too slow, she replied there had been a rush of people, and there was nothing they could do – as if it’s not up to the restaurant how many people to employ!
Although the food actually was nice, I must advice everybody to stay away from La Tasca, but especially families with kids. It’s a complete disaster!
Dönererfinder gestorben
Der Erfinder des Dönerkebaps, Mahmut Aygün, ist gestorben.
Er hat nicht das Dönerfleisch erfunden, nur das Fleisch mit der Joghurtsoße in eine Pita gefüllt, aber das allein ist ja auch eine hervorragende Erfindung!
Ich finde es übrigens interessant, wie der Döner verschiedene Namen in verschieden Sprachen hat: Deutsch Döner, französisch kebab (und es gilt da als griechisch, nicht türkisch), dänisch shawarma (arabisch statt türkisch).
Eating grapes like a hamster
Has Anna been a hamster in a previous life?
Oblatspisere
Da Miriam og mig var børn, elskede vi oblater.
Kun at spise én om ugen var noget i underkanten, syntes vi, så vi sneg os ofte ind i vores mors kontor og stjal nogle håndfulde.
Men senere i livet har det ikke været nemt at skaffe oblater, især uden først at gå i kirke, så jeg har vansmægtet en del.
Men så fik jeg i år en vidunderlig julegave fra Miriam: To pakker oblater!
Det er godt nok tyske bageoblater, men de ser ligedan ud og smager også ens.
Phyllis og de ældre børn synes ikke, de smager af noget, så jeg troede først, jeg kunne spise dem alene, men så lykkedes det at lokke Anna til at prøve dem, og nu elsker hun dem også!
What a Christmas!
It sounded like a good plan: My parents would arrive on the 19th, and on the 25th Phyllis’s parents and brother with wife and son would come for Christmas lunch.
I was going to serve some crostini when they arrived, and the actual lunch would then be a prawn and sweetcorn bisque followed by goose and pork roast, followed by cheese and finally three-coloured chocolate mousse.
However, first nephew Gordie got a stomach bug. Then Anna got it. Then my parents. But Phyllis and I were still going strong.
Then yesterday, we had a nice Danish Christmas dinner, my parents went for church as 11.30 pm, and when they came back I was feeling queasy.
I lasted till bedtime, when I emptied my entire stomach. Phyllis lasted till 3am, and in the morning, we were both feeling dreadful.
I found my parents and asked whether they were well enough to cook some food. They fortunately agreed, so Christmas day could go ahead, albeit with a reduced menu.
I didn’t join them for lunch, but I believe they had carrot soup followed by pork roast, then cheese and finally Danish ris à l’amande.
I think the day went fine, even if Phyllis and I were completely useless!
Umami
There’s a good article about umami in The Guardian today.
It points out that MSG is the cheapest and simplest way to get umami, but by no ways the only one.
This is excellent news for people like me who suspect they’re allergic to MSG!
Key common ingredients rich in umami include fish, such as sardines (glutamate 280mg/100g and inosinate 193mg/100g) or mackerel (inosinate 215mg/100), meats such cured hams (glutamate 337mg/100g) and vegetables including ripe tomatoes (glutamate 246mg/100g). Sauces such as Bovril, soy sauce and anchovy sauce will all provide over 500mg of glutamate per 100g and parmesan cheese contains small white glutamate crystals, providing about 1200mg/100g.