SIDE TRIPS: Farm lanes

We live in farm country--beef, lambs, goats, fruit, cheese, milk. All around us are farm lanes, a network of dirt/gravel roads used by the farmers for generations to bring their animals to and from the pastures and their farm equipment home. They’re rough roads, often muddy in Belgium’s damp climate. They offer this city kid some wonderful rambles. They say you can go from here to Germany without ever hitting real pavement.

Today I took a walk down this lane. You can see the light dappling the lane, and the hedgerows on either side and the trees that make a tunnel for me to stroll through. What you can’t do is feel the gentle breeze and smell the new-mown hay. You can’t hear the bees buzzing or the cattle lowing or smell that almost-fall smell. I’m sorry that you can't, because it’s lovely. It’s a popular place to walk. I sometimes see my neighbors out for a constitutional.

As I walk along, I see these guys cooling off in the shade of the big trees. I can hear them gently lowing. I can smell them gently...nevermind.


I grew up in the Southeast US, prime blackberry country. But I never picked them, because in Georgia, where you have blackberries, you have chiggers. These are microscopic parasites whose bites ooze and itch for several weeks. I’m not kidding. I had roommates that didn’t stick around as long as chigger bites. They effectively kept me away from blackberries for many years. Blackberries grew all around me, but I had to BUY them if I wanted them.

So you can understand that when I walk down the farm lanes and see these growing in the hedgerows, I’m very happy. I can walk along and pick blackberries all day long and not have a single chigger bite to show for it! I think I’m in heaven. I think it’s free food. It is, I guess.

But wait a minute. I’ve discovered that the blackberries here are guarded not by chiggers, but by these. Stinging nettles. I’d heard most of my life about stinging nettles, but had never actually encountered one in person. We didn’t have them in Georgia. We had chiggers instead. If these nettles touch you, it burns and itches for about a day and a half. Bah. Nothing compared to chiggers! One day last month as I was picking blackberries, I stepped in a hole and in order to avoid falling into a bed of stinging nettles, I grabbed a big, bare handful of .... stinging nettles. Ouch. My whole hand burned for a couple of days, in spite of frequent applications of baking soda. But you know what? It was NOTHING compared to chiggers. And a small price to pay for wild blackberries. A small price to pay indeed.




Ouch, all the same.

TODAY IS....

Today is International Talk Like A Pirate Day.

So avast, me hearties, and get yerselves talkin fierce! Today is also the day when yer Beauty and her Matey are returnin from their sojurn in Germanland. AAaarrrr. We managed to get by without having to walk the plank, and we’re lookin’ forward to gettin’ back to our own little pirate island. Till then, I have a little ditty fer yer readin’ pleasure (apologies to Dorothy Parker)

I should like to ride the seas,

A roaring Buccaneer;

Cutlass banging at my knees

A dirk behind each ear.

I should like to dance and laugh

And pose and preen and sway

And rip the hearts of men in half

To toss the bits away.

I should like to strut and curse

Among my blackguard crew...

Instead I’m writing little verse

As proper ladies do.

AAaaaarrrrr! ......... >ahem<

Photo setup courtesy of Fairydust Studios in Aachen, Germany.

TAGLIATELLI AL SALMONE

We love pasta. We eat a lot of it. Almost all of the sauces that I use for pasta are made in the time that it takes the water to boil and the pasta to cook. ‘Cause I don’t like to wait.

This recipe was inspired by a pasta dish I had in Venice. It was tagliatelli with salmon in a cream sauce (see the inspiration?). It lacked something. The salmon didn’t have much flavor, and the sauce was pretty bland, without even the usual Italian suspects: garlic, onion, celery, tomato. I asked the waitress for some parmesan, and she looked at me, shocked: “Il pesce non si mangia con il formaggio!” Ok, I KNOW fish isn’t eaten with cheese, but let’s be frank here, there wasn’t much fish in there. And it needed SOMETHING.

This recipe uses smoked salmon. We cook it. I know, I know, heresy. I really like smoked salmon, but sometimes I find it too smoky. Too salty. Too strong. Cooking it makes it softer and less smoky. And it’s wonderful cooked like this, with the added punch that comes from cardamom and pink peppercorns.

Double heresy: cheese with fish. I know. But it works here. Especially if you have a bit of peccorino with truffles in it lying around. Wowiezowie, is that wonderful. But just parmesan will do. I don’t know about you, but whenever I have cream and pasta I just HAVE to have parmesan. Or peccorino. With or without truffles.

Go ahead. Live dangerously. Try it--cooked smoked salmon, cream, cheese, all of it. You know you want to.

Ingredients

1 pound / 500 g tagliatelli

1 shallot, chopped fine

1 clove garlic, chopped fine

1 tsp olive oil (I use oil infused with hot peppers)

4 pods cardomam

2 Tbsp pink peppercorns, plus more to sprinkle on top

1 tsp chopped fennel leaves (or 1/4 tsp crushed fennel seeds) - optional

1 cup / 50 cl light cream or half-and-half

1/2 lb / 250 g smoked salmon, chopped

1/4 cup grated parmesan or peccorino, plus more to sprinkle on top

• While the water boils for the pasta, saute the shallot and garlic in the olive oil in a pan large enough to hold the pasta (I use a wok).
• When the water is boiling, add some salt and the pasta.
• Open the cardomam pods and crush the tiny black seeds and the pink peppercorns in a mortar and pestle. If you’re using fennel seeds, add them too. If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, use the flat bottom of a glass to crush the spices on a cutting board.
• Add the crushed spices to the garlic and shallot, toss to coat with the oil, and saute for about 30 seconds. Add the cream and the fennel leaves (if you’re using them). Stir to blend.
• Add the chopped salmon, toss to coat with the cream, and cook on low heat till the salmon is cooked, then add the parmesan or peccorino.
• When the pasta is al dente, drain it and add it to the pan with the sauce. Stir to coat the pasta.
• Serve with additional grated cheese, pink peppercorns and some fresh-grated black pepper.

Serves 4 if the like it and 10 if they don’t.

Note: I know this has cream in it. But in the end it’s not that much per serving. I’ve tried this with low fat creams and cream substitutes, and it just doesn’t work--it curdles when you add the salmon. Ew.

´Nother Note: We´re still on holiday, and internet access is spotty. If you leave a comment, I promise-cross-my-heart to get back to you when I get home. Thanks!

NO-EGG CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM

Ok, since I live in Belgium I feel that I have to post a chocolate recipe. This one is special. I only share it with my closest friends. I make this when I want a blast of intense chocolate flavor without a lot of heavyness. No, that's not really true. I make this when I want some chocolate bliss.

Use the best chocolate you can get—at least 60% cocoa. Yes, there's cayenne pepper in this. If you hate cayenne, then close your eyes when you put the pinch of it in, but trust me on this, ok? Just do it. The same with the black pepper. It should be as finely ground as you can get it—I grind mine in the pepper mill and then crush it more with my mortar and pestle. You don't want chunks of pepper in here, only the depth of flavor.

Adapted from this David Lebovitz recipe.

Ingredients

1 cup (225 ml) cream

1/2 cup (100g) sugar

pinch of salt

1/8 tsp instant espresso

pinch cayenne pepper

1/8 tsp finely ground black pepper, crushed even finer in a mortar and pestle

1/2 cup (50g) unsweetened cocoa powder -- the best you can get

4 ounces (110g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, cut in small pieces -- also the best you can get

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup (225 ml) milk

1. In a medium-sized saucepan, mix the cream and the cocoa. Whisk it until the cocoa is incorporated into the cream. Add the sugar, salt, instant coffee and the peppers.

2. Heat, stirring constantly until it comes to a boil.

3. Remove from heat and add the chocolate and the vanilla. Stir until the chocolate is melted and then add the milk.

4. Chill, then freeze in an ice cream freezer.

Variations:

• You can pour the liquid into popsicle forms and freeze it that way. This works very well.
• You can replace the cream with half and half or even milk. This will reduce the richness, of course.
• You can replace the instant coffee with Kahlua.

Serves 4 if they like it and 10 if they don't.

CLASSICS: Caesar Salad

I love new things. But sometimes I just have to go back and revisit the classics. After all, there's a reason they're classic, eh? This is one of my favorites. When summer comes and the Romaine lettuce starts to come in, I love to make this salad. With a cheese tartine, it's a light meal.

The dressing is essentially a fancy mayonnaise, and I love the complexity of its flavors. YES, it's got anchovies in it (eeewww, I can hear you saying), but they're really necessary to achieve the depth of flavor in this. Don't leave them out, I beg you. It's worth it. Don't leave out the Tabasco, either. It doesn't make the dressing hot, it just makes it perfect. In fact, don't leave anything out. Promise me that you'll make it just like this, at least the first time. After all, there's a reason it's a classic, eh?

I like to make the croutons, let them cool, and mix them with the dressing before I add the lettuce. That way the creamy dressing has a chance to get to know the crunchy croutons.

2 heads Romaine lettuce

1 0z/25 g shaved parmesan (or you can use fresh grated)

Croutons:

2-3 slices bread (I like to use a sourdough rye), cut into small cubes

1-2 tsp olive oil

Dressing:

1 small clove garlic

1 oz/25 g/half a small can of anchovies

1 egg yolk

1/4 t salt

1 T lemon juice

1/8 t dry mustard powder or 1/4 t strong mustard

1/2 T Worchestershire sauce

1-2 dashes Tabasco

2 oz/50 ml good olive oil

2 oz/50 ml unflavored oil (canola/colza or sunflower)

2 T water

1 oz/25 mg freshly grated parmesan.

First, make the croutons. Put the olive oil in a frying pan and heat it gently. Add the bread cubes and toss to coat them with the oil. Heat over medium heat, tossing frequently, until brown and crunchy, about 10 minutes. Drain on paper towels. Cool.

Wash and dry the lettuce, and tear it into bite-sized bits. Put it in the fridge to crisp while you make the dressing.

To make the dressing, put the garlic through a garlic press into a bowl. Chop the anchovies and add them, along with the egg yolk, salt, lemon juice, mustard, Worchestershire sauce and Tabasco. Whisk/press/mash all this together, and add the oils s-l-o-w-l-y. Remember, you're making a fancy mayonnaise here, so the mayo rules apply. GO SLOW. (Or, you can do what I do sometimes and put it all in a glass with an immersion blender and whizz it. But you still have to add the oil slowly.) If it gets too thick, add some of the water. It should be thicker than vinaigrette but a little thinner than mayo. It should pour, but just barely. I'd add some water anyway, to help the oil emulsify in the egg yolk.

Put the dressing in your salad bowl, and add the grated parmesan and the cooled croutons. Mix well. Add the lettuce which should by now be really crispy and fresh. Toss gently. It may take a few minutes to toss it all, but take your time. It's worth it. Sprinkle with the shaved parmesan to serve.

Serves 4 (as a main course) if they like it and 10 if they don't.

Variations:

• You can add garlic or herbs to the oil before you put the bread cubes in to have flavored croutons. I don't do this, because I tend to use hearty bread with a lot of its own flavor.
• You can of course add chicken or ham or shrimp or grilled slices of beef to this salad. Or you can add them to the tartine you have with it. Or you can serve them on the side and keep the crisp lettuce with its cloak of dressing.

NOTE: This recipe is gluten free if you leave out the croutons.

LANGUAGE LESSONS: Bon Voyage

Our bags are packed, we’re ready to go...

We’re off for two weeks in nearby Germany, to improve our German. We’ll be in Bamberg, taking German lessons in the mornings and photos in the afternoons. I have several posts saved and with luck they’ll show up while I’m gone, so come back! I don’t know yet about internet availability where we’ll be staying, but as soon as I can I’ll check in to read and answer your comments. So leave me some, ok?

And I hope you wish me a Bon Voyage in French, 'cause you can't say it in German without making me laugh. I'll tell you why another time.

NOTSO BUCCO

I love Osso Bucco, but sometimes I can’t find the right cut of veal for it. I know too that there are a lot of people who don’t eat veal for a lot of reasons. But that’s no reason to give up osso bucco! Here’s a version made with pork. I added a diced potato because I had one and it fit with the general feeling of the dish. This one cooks long and slow in the oven, so it’s perfect for a long lazy Saturday or Sunday. Because it doesn’t need a lot of last-minute fussing, it’s also perfect for a dinner party. Here I use a cut of pork called “spirling”. I think it’s roughly equivalent to sirloin chop. Basically, you want a cut that you can cook long and slow to make it fall apart.

Ingredients

1 T olive oil
1 leek, cleaned and roughly chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped fine
2 carrots, cut into 1/2 inch dice
2 stalks celery, roughly chopped
1 potato, cut into 1/2 inch dice
4 pork sirloin chops
1/4 cup white wine or lemon juice or stock (to deglaze the pan)
I can chopped tomatoes
Salt, pepper

Preheat oven to 300F / 150C

In a large pan, heat half the olive oil and add garlic. Saute for a minute or two, then add the leek, carrots and celery. Sweat these till they’re soft, then remove to a large oven-safe dish. Add the potatoes to the dish and mix well. Heat the rest of the olive oil in the same pan, salt and pepper the pork chops and brown the them on both sides over medium-high heat. You don’t need flour for this, but you really want to get them seared, with those lovely brown bits on them. When they’re brown, put them on top of the vegetables in a single layer. De-glaze the pan with the wine or the wine or the lemon juice or stock, pour this over the meat. Pour the chopped tomatoes over it all and add 1/2 can water. Put it in a slow oven for 3 1/2 - 4 hours. Check it every hour and add liquid if necessary.


Serves four if the like it and ten if they don’t.