17 Mar 2012

Other Cook da Books dinners



Burkhard's Cook da Books dinner


Char on Sauerkraut with Herb Dumplings


Lemon Tarte


Chaja's Cook da Books dinner


Osso Bucco with creamy spinach, courgettes and carrots
- the meal that converted me back to bone marrow


Flourless chocolate cake with clotted cream and the first strawberries of the year

16 Mar 2012

Dinner for Cook da Books

Last December it was my turn to cook dinner for my book and cooking club 'Cook da Books'. We had read and were going to discuss a book called 'We have always lived in the castle' by Shirley Jackson. The story is about two sisters and an uncle living together in a big house outcast by their village. The rest of the family is dead. They were killed with arsenic mixed into the sugar on the berries that were the dessert of a big Sunday roast lunch.
I based the dinner menu on the Sunday roast lunch menu from the book. In the book it's a Spring menu. I adapted it to Christmas time.



The Menu


A Deadly Dinner

Prosecco with Cranberry
Kale Crisps

Salad with Herbs

Roast Lamb Shoulder
Crushed New Potatoes and  Vegetables
Minty Mushy Peas

Eton Mess with Blackberries and a Pinch of Arsenic




 Kale Chips


Kale is my new favourite winter  vegetable, whether blanched and sauteed with onion, olive oil, lemon juice and salt or, like in this recipe, baked in the oven until crispy. A very simple way to create a wonderful snack. I got the recipe on a blog called Roost, which I highly recommend for healthy recipes: http://www.roostblog.com/roost/tuscan-kale-chips.html


Salad with Herbs


A simple salad with any herbs I can find and finely sliced radishes. I like flat leaf parsley, chives, coriander and chervil. For the dressing I use olive oil, salt, pepper and either lemon juice or white wine herb vinegar.


Roast Lamb Shoulder
Crusched New Potatoes and  Vegetables
Minty Mushy Peas


For the lamb shoulder  I used a Jamie Oliver recipe, which I will definitely cook many times in future! It is so simple and so delicious! It's easily prepared in advance and needs little attention while in the oven so it's perfect for when you have people coming round for dinner: www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/lamb-recipes/incredible-roasted-shoulder-of-lamb-with



For the vegetables I used lots of different coloured carrots - white, orange, dark red, almost purplish, some orange with a purple boarder.



Eton Mess with Blackberries and a Pinch of Arsenic


For the Eton Mess I made a Pavlova rather than smaller meringues. I love it when there's a lot of gooey meringue in the Eton Mess. 



For the berries I had to use frozen ones. Along side the Eton Mess I served a bowel of sugar. With a pinch of Arsenic of course!


As I always I forget to take pictures of the finished food and the dinner itself. Here a couple of shots including the aftermath...


9 Mar 2012

Spring is in the air...

... and on my plate.
Today I passed by the market in the Viadukt and was very happy to see all the wonderful spring vegetables at the stall of Käsers Schloss. I couldn't resist and bought all these wonderful green things for dinner.

Artichokes, barba di frate, fresh peas, watercress, mint, parsley and chervil



5 Mar 2012

Another perfect breakfast with Katschi


Crispy bacon, scrambled eggs with lots of herbs, barba di frate with olive oil, toast, ricotta with lemon juice and olive oil, sun dried tomatoes, pickled courgettes, olives....


...followed by a walk through Zurich on a perfect, sunny Sunday!

25 Feb 2012

Home-made pizza / iphone app

A friend came round to my place recently for a TV dinner, to watch a TV program I cannot admit to watching. Lets say it was a documentary about something really important, deep and meaningful... We made pizza using a Jamie Oliver recipe from his iphone app with the imaginative name 'Jamie's Recipes'. It's a useful app with many easy to follow meal ideas. I often stand in the supermarket wondering what to cook for dinner and I use this app to get ideas. Just search for something you feel like eating and it gives you list of options. All necessary ingredients are automatically added to a shopping list, you can set it to either 2 or 4 people and the amounts are adjusted accordingly. Recipes are listed according to themes, i.e. light meals, 20 minute meals, comfort food, breakfast, date dishes...



Post Opening Dinner at the Gallery

15 Feb 2012

You blog, I read

Here are some blogs I read regularly - some about food, others about art, cinema or furniture...

Food is good
http://sebastianroach.blogspot.com

The realpickygourmet's Weblog
http://therealpickygourmet.com

101 Cookbooks
http://www.101cookbooks.com

Sous Style
http://sousstyle.com

L'art J'aime pas
http://ketuta.blogspot.com

Kino Madeleine
http://kinomadeleine.blogspot.com

Sanctuary
http://houseofbliss.blogspot.com

The Selby
http://www.theselby.com