A Fabulous Dip
2 Comments [A filler post because I have been neglecting this blog during the holidays. More posts to come.]
Here’s a recipe I learned from a CouchSurfer while I was in Austria:
- 500 grams of Cream Cheese
- 3 Tablespoons of Sour Cream
- 200 grams of finely chopped ham. Or replace with finely chopped red or white onion.
- Salt
- 50 to 100 grams of finely chopped green onions
- A few dill pickles
Instructions:
- Finely chop the dill pickles.
- Finely chop the ham.
- Finely chop the green onions.
- Mix all the ingredients together until the dip is fine and smooth.
- While mixing, add salt as you need. Stop, taste, add, repeat until desired flavor.
It’s super easy to make, and I love how it spreads over breads. It just took me two attempts to get the taste to my liking.
Fried Chicken Followup
Comments Off I just tried the fried chicken recipe I learned. The two things of note from this solo cooking trial:
- Don’t be afraid to let the chicken really fry up before flipping.
- Keep the oil temperature high. Lower oil temperature makes for “less fried crispy” skin.
Otherwise, yummy.
Fry em up
1 Comment It has been a long week at the European CouchSurfing Collective for me. There is an intensity in the work, the people and the fun. I have met many great people, and have learned a great deal about CouchSurfing and the values surrounding it. This was all well and expected, but the unexpected lessons one is confronted with are generally the most interesting and fun.
There is always someone in the kitchen preparing snacks or food to share with others. This particular day Beverly had begun making North Carolinian Fried Chicken– Yum! I got in and learned how to make this incredibly tasty food.
Ingredients:
- Chicken. Cut pieces, not too big.
- Flour
- Pepper, spices
- Salt
- Vegetable Oil
Preparation:
- Place a lot of flour in a mixing bowl.
- Marinate the chicken by dusting the pieces with salt and pepper (spices) on both sides. A light coat will be good enough.
- Coat the chicken pieces with flour by mixing the chicken pieces around in the bowl of flour.
Cooking:
- Heat the vegetable oil to near boiling, but beware not to burn the oil. Vegetable oil is used because it is more difficult for the cook to burn the oil.
- Place the chicken pieces skin (the side with the most skin and meat) face down in the pan. One should see and hear an immediate sizzle of oil.
- Cover the pot, but have the lid tilted to allow some heat to escape (avoid burning the oil).
- Indications that one must flip the pieces: After a brown crust form around the edges of the exposed chicken; the meat pulls away from the bone.
- Flip the pieces.
- Indications that the chicken is ready: The two pronged fork slides easily in and out of the chicken.
- Pull out chicken and place on a paper towel covered place to help drain the oil.
Notes:
- The chicken only requires two flips, but one may do a third flip to make the skin extra crispy.
- Skin side is faced down first so the cook can control the crisp texture of the chicken skin.
- Red Blood will bubble up out top of the chicken before the first flip.
- The first batch is the best because the oil tends to burn after you start pulling out the chicken. The other batches will have a hint of darker and burnt grease.
- Hide away the first batch, cooks do it.
Raw Herring
Comments Off Don’t knock it… It’s in season (I’m told it’s a delicacy from Holland) and I tried it. Like sushi… quite good actually:
One main difference I noticed is that the herring is very salty. The texture is nice and firm though. Good eating. [Ate it while in Belgium though.]
Pitta Royal
Comments Off Ok, Pitta is a Greek term yet this place is Lebanese. Noel, the owner, has been in Belgium for thirty some years and been in this particular shop for the last ten years. His talkative nature gets us listening to all of the subtle differences between the Lebanese, Turkish and Greek styles (giving us samples of each). And as you sit listening, the smell coming from the kitchen gets your stomach growling. The food is by far the best pitta I’ve ever had. The pitta bread is freshly cooked by Noel; the sandwich is served in a small stand to catch all the juices that would otherwise spill everywhere– the meats are that fresh; the spices tease the mouth.
The place is not in the central part of Brussels. I only ended up there because my host and I stopped for dinner before the evening’s gathering. At 324 ch. de Waterloo, 1060 Bruxelles, Belgium, I guarantee that no backpacker will be wandering by for a bite to eat. I’m glad that I got to go, but I get bummed because this place isn’t in the States.
Wine Tasting Event
1 Comment I was fortunate enough to go to a wine tasting event hosted by Wengler, a distributer here in Luxembourg. The event served some tastey cheeses and a pasta dish with an overflowing amount of bread.
I was able to taste a whole lot of different wines– and not even close to the number of wines they were serving– from many areas of France and Italy. The following is a list of wines and my initial impressions:
Angelo Gaja’s 2004 Chardonnay “Gaia & Rey” is a white wine, smooth tasting and simple, not complex. Good for a young wine.
Angelo Gaja’s 2004 Alteni Brassica is another white wine. A bit more complex and at twice the cost, it gave a quick bite during the sip, and faded with no aftertaste.
Angelo Gaja’s 2001 Langhe “Darmagi” Cabernet Sauvignon is a nice red wine. This French grape was grown in Italy for this fresh tasting wine.
Angelo Gaja’s 2001 Langhe Nebbiolo “Sperss” was a very dry red wine, which was I downed, but couldn’t find a difference between it and the Cabernet Sauvignon… both at 96euro per bottle.
La Spinetta’s 2001 Barolo Campe was a red that I found a bit tart, yet not overpoweringly awful… it was definately drinkable.
Luciano Sandrone’s 2000 Barolo “Le vigne”, which I found to be a very tasty glass of red. I got a business card from a Sandrone family member and will be touring their vineyard when I pass through Italy.
Clerico’s 2003 Barolo Ciabot Mentin Ginestra was a nice dry red wine. It was full bodied– good legs– and gave me a kick.
Clerico’s 1999 Barolo Percristina was another full bodied red wine, a bit dry for my tastes, but somehow better than the Clerico 2003.
Conterno Fantino’s 2000 Langhe Rosso “Monpra” was a wine that I didn’t get a good taste… I got the last of the bottle and ended up with more grape skin in my glass, which gave me a bitter taste.
Elio Grasso’s 2004 Chardonnay “Educato” was a smooth, simple, sweet white wine. Similar in taste to Gaja’s Brassaca, it is a great deal at 12euro a bottle.
Sassetti Pertimali’s 2000 Brunello di Montalcino had a mild smell, strong flavor (I think I got a sense of oak), yet did not kill me with any aftertaste.
Scopetone’s 2000 Brunello di Montalcino did not leave any impression.
Rocca di Montegrossi’s 1998 Geremia and 1999 Geremia. They were both good light, fresh reds. Don’t ask me, they both tasted the same to me.
Over all I think I like the white wines a lot more than the reds I tried tonight. I generally despise whites, so blam I want some bottles here.
To make up for not having pictures of the bottles listed above (and for such a poorly described list of wines), here are the pictures of the wines we had last friday at a gathering in Luxembourg… the Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon from the Pauillac region were by far my favorite:
A Castle Dinner
1 Comment After getting back from Bastogne, dinner was had at an 800+ year old castle outside Luxembourg. We sat outdoors overlooking the small village during the long sunset evening. And please pardon my casual sloppy clothing (it’s the price one pays for travelling as a backpacker). Pictures along with totally inadequate commentary (I don’t have Eric’s gift of cuisine criticism, and I’m writing quickly to get to my World Cup post):
The dinner started with a tart, yet sweet, raspberry yogurt and a glass of some nice white wine to go with the seared tuna:
The main course was Wellington Rabbit. The meat was a bit overcooked, but tastey none the less. Its sides were some mini potatos, peach slices and some sort of cake.
Tiramisu came for desert and I wolfed it down before remembering to take a pictures.
Wine Tasting Lessons
Comments Off I am staying with Uncle Richard and Auntie Helen in Luxembourg for a few days– getting ready for the world cup. I got to ask many wine questions that I was too embarassed to ask. Plenty of local wines that never have been gotten to the States:
The wines we drank:
I would’ve liked to talk more about the tastes, but… well I don’t quite remember too well about them.
Lisbon Couch Surf Meet
1 Comment There was a large Couch Surfing meetup in Lisbon on June 2, 2006. 15 people RSVP’d, at least 25 showed up, with some pics:
The meetup was held over, at first, dinner and followed by bar hopping Lisbon with the locals. It seems that a lot of Couch Surfing revolves around tastey food. At this meetup, I tried many traditional Portugese food, all of which was yummy. The hosts kept on pilling small portions of their own dishes on top of mine so I could get a taste of everything. Wow, so kind; Wow, so full.
Monasterio del Corpus Christi
5 Comments There exists a convent in the heart of Madrid, which also sells dulces (sweets) to the public at large. It’s off west of Plaza de Mayor off past the farmers market in a small side street. I made my way to the convent on my first afternoon in Madrid (25th May 2006).
Upon arrival, I mistakenly entered the chapel, which sported large double doors. As I entered, I heard a nun chanting prayer services in a very decorated medieval style church; pews were sparsely populated with senior citizens. Boy was I confused, no candy here. But I did get to take in a bit religious art.
I went outside, looked around confused. I just happened to say hola to a homeless person sitting by the entrance, which was all out of plain curtousy. He responded in english, asking what I was looking for. “Ah, the dulces. It is up over there” he responded and then promptly lead me up the street, for which I gave him some loose change, to a smaller door. There one must press the top-most doorbell/buzzer for entry. Unfortunately for me, the business hours (9:00-13:00 and 16:00-18:30) had passed and I was out of luck for the day (no one even answered the intercom).
Out of luck, I wandered a bit of Madrid and stopped into a pub. I couldn’t resist this pub, whose name is The Drunken Duck:
The next day (26th May), I arrived at the convent around 11:30. A nun answered the intercom, to which I replied, “dulces”. The door buzzed open for me and in I went through, following the posted signs, a hall to a lazy-sue type device. At this point, one must communicate to an unseen nun to obtain the candy. Double misfortune for me, I had the hardest time understanding what the nun was saying and finally determined, with another visitor’s help, that they were sold out for the morning.
Third time’s the charm (27th May). I went to the right place, made the right incantations through the intercom, got to the lazy-sue and spoke (and understood the) Spanish. I got a kilo and a half of cookies and candy:
