Soup and leftover-day

Today we were supposed to go out for dinner. Him and me. It’s been a long time.

But he decided he didn’t feel like going out for dinner anyway, so I had to face the fridge and whip something up. I decided to make a vegetable soup with bread and some baked potatoes with mushrooms and cheese (leftovers from gourmet-day yesterday).

The soup turned out really nice, especially with some grated Emmentaler cheese. Yummm!

This is how I made it:

1 packet of julienne vegetables (250 grams)

400 grams of canned tomatoes

1,5 liters of water

2 cubes of beef stock

pepper, salt, harissa and tabasco

 

Put some olive oil in a deep pot. Add the vegetables and tomatoes. Stir for five minutes and add the water. When the water is at a boil add the beef stock. Keep the soup boiling and add the spices. Turn off the heat and mix everything into a smooth soup. Done!

 

 

Waiting for the advent of TACN

Everyone at the Gazebo is really excited to hear a few pearls of wisdom from TACN – they’ve seen him whizzing past on a Sunday going for a fast and furious run while they are all guzzling down schooners and carafes of wine.  Who is he and why does he run so regularly instead of boozing?  What drives him and how can they get some of that energy for healthy living?  Stay tuned for some answers!

Chicken Cider Stew

Currently in the crock pot is my favorite fall stew.  It’s a “stoup,” really, colored with the palate of autumn and the hearty aroma of chicken soup and savory cider.  It’s sweet, savory and hearty at it’s best.  I recommend it for a brisk, fall day.  It will make you smile.

Chicken Cider Stew

Ingredients:

2 c. apple cider

3 T catsup

2 slices bacon (or a few oz. of hearty sausage)

1 1/2 t salt

1/4 t dried savory, crushed

1/8 t pepper

2 lbs. chicken breasts, cut up

couple bouillon cubes (optional, to taste)

4 carrots, thinly sliced

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 onion, finely chopped

3 celery sticks, chopped

1 apple, peeled, cored, and chopped

Directions:

Throw it all together in a large pot.  Bring to a boil.  Cover and simmer about an hour or until vegetables are done.  Note: If you think more liquid is needed, you can either add more cider, water or chicken broth.  The vegetables and apples, especially, will give some extra liquid.  The apple will fall apart and the sweet potato is likely to, as well.  I’m trying it in a crock pot today.  Of course, it’s going to take much longer, but it looks pretty much the same.

A Shared TV Experience, Even Better

A coworker of mine told me today about a TV show called “Three Sheets” on the Fine Living Network (FLN).  It is about a guy, Zane Lamprey, who goes around the world to learn about different drinking customs.

As she talked about it, I could see how this TV show has a shared experience from people all over who like different kinds of adult beverages or even world travel.  Anyone who likes Brandy, Vodka, Wine, Beer, Rum, Scotch, etc, would love to go traveling with him.  But instead must live vicariously through him.

This shared experience could be even better.   Imagine a UPS box being delivered two days before the show aired with the drinks that will be on the next show.  You get two days of anticipation until air time.  When you watch “Three Sheets” you can learn about the cultures and see how it is made.  Then you finally get to sample the drink with the host and everyone else who watches with the “sampler plan” when Zane looks at the camera, raises his glass and says, “…” (Actually I don’t know what he says so I’ll make up something.) “Bottoms up.”

Literature could also be in the box about each drink or country along with personal surveys about each drink, and a small 3 ring binder in the first box.  Then after you watch, you can put the next week’s customs and surveys in your binder.  Remember the recipe cards that used to be mailed out every month?  People would collect them and put them in the little binder that came with it.  This would be the same type of thing.

But, why stop there?  Cooking shows can also have pre-measured ingredients so when the TV personalities cook, so can you.  The “Cooking package” could also come with a DVD of that episode.  Chapters on the DVD can be set up to skip to the next step after your cooking timer dings.  Above the counter DVD players, portable DVD players, laptops, and kitchen computers are becoming more common these days.

Travel shows can have postcards from the country they are visiting signed by the host.  The postcard pictures could be unique with the host or the same exact ones you could get in the country but with the hosts writing on the back.  They should be mailed with that countries stamp and post mark on them, not mailed from within the US.

Any of these would be a great gift to give.  Or as a great gift to get.

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Caramel Sauce

Once again it has been a long long time since I have made an entry. Life has just been so busy and there hasn’t been much time for cooking or posting!

I made this sauce weeks ago, I can’t remember what prompted us to make it. Probably just weekend munchies.

1 tbs butter
1/2 cup of caster sugar
1/2 cup of brown sugar
water
vanilla essence
cream / ice cream

melt butter in sauce pan, add sugar and a little water.
simmer until mixture is getting thick almost like toffee.
remove from heat. add vanilla extract. and cream or ice cream about two heaps spoons or 1/2 cup.
I used ice cream as I don’t usually have cream and it worked really well! Serve poured over ice cream and bananas…

Spaghetti a Gamberetti

A signature dish - yummy!

I love cooking. It’s how I switch off. Last night i made what is probably my signature dish – spaghetti a gamberetti.

Ingredients:
Spaghetti
King prawns
Red chilies
Sun-dried tomatoes
Garlic
Lemon
White wine
Rocket

Method:
Boil the spaghetti. Finely chop a few clioves of garlic and de-seeded chilies. Juice and zest a lemon. Place the sun-dried tomatoes in a blender for a few mins.
Add some extra virgin olive oil to a large oan and gently fry the garlic and chilies. After a minute or two add the prawns and gently fry untlil they turn pink.
Add the wine (about a glass) and the sun-dried tomato paste and simmer for a fdew minutes.
Meanwhile drain the spaghetti and add to the pan. Turn off the heat throw in some roughly chopped rocket, lemon juice and zest. Mix it through a little before serving.

I like to use a Pinot Grigio with this dish – it also goes down rather nicely with it. Give it a try and let me know what you think. Bon appetito!

I must admit my partner, Emma, loves this dish. We’ve some fond memories of candle-lit dinners in the kitchen – very romantic.

Little things

One of the pleasures of backpacking is the little things that work well. For some reason these give a disproportionate amount of pleasure. Things that worked well this trip:

Bivi boots: these were not strictly necessary as the weather was very mild with a low of 12c. However, they are a bit of luxury in the tent. Mine are Needle Sports own fibre pile bivi boots. They may not be as warm or light as down but they have one big advantage: damp is not a problem. On Thursday night I spilt some tea on one of my socks (doh!). No problem, I put the bivi boots on, my feet were warm and within half an hour the sock was dry. At 160g, they are nice and light and are water resistant enough for short excursion outside the tent.

Lakeland Soup ‘n’ Sauce bags: these are really tough self seal bags and ideal as rubbish bags. I’m always concerned that normal plastic bags might burst, but there’s no chance with these.

MYOG camera case: I’m really proud of this one. It works perfectly. It’s easy to access the camera and there’s no fear of the camera getting damaged by a knock or getting wet. A stroke of genius.

Clip lock boxes: I know this is a bit controversial and some think it’s a bit over the top, but I like to keep my food in a plastic clip lock box. It just means that everything (apart from the freeze dry meals) is in one place and can’t get damaged etc. I use a second small one for little electronic bit and pieces as well.

Primus windshield: whoever thought of this is a genius. What can you say about it? It’s simple and it works. No wonder they sold out.

Outdoors Grub pouch cosy and plastic spoon: again, so simple but effective. It keeps your food warm until it’s hydrated and ready to eat. The spoon is the best I’ve used as well. The handle is the right length and the bowl is larger than other spoons I’ve used. Highly recommended.

Cup cosy and lid: the cosy may not be the neatest, but it keeps my tea warm until I’m ready to drink it. It also makes the cup fit perfectly inside my Snow Peak Solo cook set. For a lid I use a plastic top from a fruit salad container, which is slightly oversized. It keeps the drink hot and cost nothing (apart from the fruit salad, obviously!).

Some of my cooking bits and pieces