Xmas or New years Buffet

New years is all about having a good time with your family. So the preparations for the new years eve shouldn't keep you busy all day.

Prepare a little buffet with delicous food in no time,for 6 people all you need is:
A box of cheese, from your local farmers market or shop
2 baguettes
butter
ham
asparagus from the tin
12 eggs
2 spoon mustard
250 ml vegetable oil
1 lemon
Salt&pepper
1 pack fillet of salmon
butter

Preparation time for one person should be approx 45 minutes.


Step1:
boil 10 eggs in water for 10 minutes until they are hard. We are going to make filled eggs.

Step2:
while the other eggs boil separate remaining 2 eggs, you need the 2 yolks. Add a dash of the lemon, two teasppon of english mustard, a bit Salt and Pepper. Using a hand mixer you are going to make mayonnaise by poring in, bit by bit the vegetable oil. Mix well and dont poor to much oil at the time.

Step3:
Cut the boiled eggs in two half's, remove the cooked egg yolk and put them into a bowl. Add some mayonnaise made in Step 2 and some salt and pepper to taste and mix well.

Step4:
Take the egg mix and fill the empty egg half''s with that now spicier mix. You can use a piping back to make it look attractive.

Step5:
Cut the baguettes in slices, half of it topped with butter and the salmon nice arranged on a plate, the other half in a bread basket so people can use it with the cheese.

Step6:
Take the asparagus and roll it in the ham to get little rolls as shown on the picture above.

That's it, very simple but effective. But most important, its tasty and there is something for everyone.

Hope you will slide over well into 2013, see you there !

How to cook a Xmas Turkey

Whoo, just 5 times sleeping and Xmas Day is finally here. Like most people we will have Turkey as well, but how to cook the perfect one ?

Most important for that operation is,
Do not attempt to cook a frozen Turkey !

Thawing times for frozen turkeys;

4–5kg: 20 hours at room temperature; 65 hours in fridge
5–6kg: 24 hours at room temperature; 70 hours in fridge
6–7kg: 30 hours at room temperature; 75 hours in the fridge
8–9kg: 40 hours at room temperature; 80 hours in the fridge
9–11kg: 48 hours at room temperature; 96 hours in the fridge

Stuffing, some people prepare that a few days ahead, some on the day if the use raw eggs. Make sure you match your families taste, sometimes a simple filling, a onion, a lemon, some herbs can be the best way to give your bird some extra flavour !

Prepare the Turkey, rub it in with butter and honey, have some foil and cover it when placed in the roasting tray. Start moderately with the temperature and allow about 30 minutes for each kg of the total weight of your bird. this may vary depending on your oven and how often you open it for basing.

let the bird rest 30 minutes before you serve it, that gives you time to do your vegetables.

Enjoy your meal and don't rush into things,
allow time, have fun and enjoy the company of your family rather than being completly stessed out about that turkey.

Make sure you wrap the leftovers up so you have plenty of food for the next days :-)

Xmas Tiramisu

I recently wrote about my favourite tiramisu and now for the run up to Xmas I created a simple Xmas version of it by using a piece of carton decorating it in a Xmas theme with Cacao powder.

Doesnt it look great ?

Mickey Mouse Birthday cake

My daughter Sophie and Laura had recently birthdays and I wish I could have made a trip back to Austria to make for Laura also a nice Bday cake.
Sometimes its not easy, also, not easy to make a nice cake. I googled a bit and found a nice recipe how to make a Mickey Mouse cake.

As you can see in the pictures, I made twice the amount of my Sacher cake recipe which you find here.

Than I used two small and one big mould to make the ears and face.

My talented Au pair did draw a Mickey Mouse face on same baking paper with a pencil, So I could transfer that features easy on some marzipan.Well the result of my Pastry talent you can see at the left, that's the best I could do in that short time, Sophie was happy !

I hope I inspired you a bit to give it a try yourself !

Happy St. Nikolaus

Some people might think the picture above displays Santa Klaus, that's wrong, there is no Santa.

We believe in the Christ kind in Austria which is an Angel and brings the gifts on the evening of the 24th. The gentlemen above is Sankt Nikolaus, who is bringing little gifts to children on the evening of the 6th of December. That Character is based on a real men originally from Turkey. He felt guilty because of something he did so to make good he visited houses at night and placed little gifts there.
More Details you find on wikipedia

Anyway, in our tradition we place the boots in front of the house on the 6th, and when you check in the morning Nikolaus filled it with sweets.

Krampus day !

Its Krampus Day today in Austria, the most feared day by children. If you have been nasty, the Krampus (in Germany known as Knecht Ruprecht) will give you a beating. Normally a few of this guys accompany Nikolaus on the 6th of December in a big parade. On the 5th and all December this guys are around to make sure bad childrens and adults get scared and behave better the next year.

Traditionally the Krampus (Perchte) was created to get rid of bad spirits of the winter, to scare them away. Now in modern days most wooden made masks look more like the devil than the traditional ones I prefer. Anyone with a plastic mask that day should get an extra beating in my opinion.

Anyway, when I was a child I had much respect of this guys, when I became older I used to wear the family mask which was passed down generations and is in the family for more than 100 years.
I think its a fun tradition and I miss it a lot. Well, maybe next year I can spend some time home and visit this event and visit some Christkindl Markets as well.

Tiramisu

Bella Italian, I love Italy and especially the Italian Food.
One of the famous desserts from Italy is Tiramisu.

To make a great Tiramisu you just need to put in just few Ingredients but a lot of amore (love)
250 gram Mascarpone (to be found in the cheese section)
50 gram sugar
sponge fingers
200 ml Coffee
1 table spoon rum or a bit rum aroma
3 eggs
cacao powder

First separate the eggs, than add half of the sugar to each, yolk and white and mix it well. Place the sponge fingers in the coffee and let them soak a bit. Mix the Mascapone to the egg yolks and add than the white and mix in the rum too.

Make a layer with the sponge finger, than add a layer of your mix, add another layer of sponge fingers and again a other layer of the mix in a form.

Place your finished product in the fridge for a few hours to settle, before serving sprinkle it with cacao powder.

Bon appetito !

Recipe: A Quick Chili con carne

Lazy days are happy days...
Sometimes when I am really busy, like now working on my cookbook I need to cook quickly something up.
So here my very quick Chili con carne.

Carne is Italian and stands for meat, so take minced meat, cook it in a pot with some oil, add the chopped onion, a can of beans and corn and to Finnish up some chopped tomato. Spice it to taste, I think you get the Idea ?
Some Chili should be in it too, dont you think ?
Anyway, its prepared in 5 minutes, let it simmer a bit and serve with some toast, or with the famous Sopa paraguaira

Enjoy !

Planning a Xmas Party

It’s a bit early to mention the C word now,
but let’s don’t deny it, Christmas is coming up fairly quickly.
I am not a fan of Xmas decoration in shops and streets before December,
but believe it or not, some little elves are working already hiding away in conference rooms in a workplace near to you.

It’s the time of the year companies are planning their Xmas Parties to make sure they get a date in at the different venues. It’s easy to get confused what’s on offer and what should be planned for your company Xmas Party, gathering with club members or friends before the festivities.

Here a little guide if you are involved in the planning of a function for your workplace or club.
Gather Information:

How many people you expecting to attend ?
Are you up for a formal sit down dinner or does your team like it rather informal ?
What’s the budged per head for food/drinks and entertainment?
Which Date is preferred by management, party during the week or on the weekend ?

Once you gathered this information you should already have a good enough idea what offer is best for your crowd.

Offers available:
For small team night outs and informal gatherings where the craic is most important, with a low per head budget you will probably get the best deals if you talk to your local publican.
You can’t go wrong with tasty sandwiches and a tap, or two drink vouchers and that’s available for as low as 10 Euro per head.  In pubs they are offering menus at restaurant level and you can get more than just the finger a food option.

For groups who want the intimacy of a sit down menu, get your dates in now in one of the towns restaurants. Menus are available from around 20 Euro per head for a 2 course meal, up to 40 Euro for a 4 course meal deal. The spaces/dates are already limited, so make your bookings now.

Good advice for anyone reaching out to the venues for offers, call between 3 and 6pm to talk about your party, around lunch time and in the evening the staff is busy with their lunch/dinner service.
Or why not dropping them an email or text message with your contact details, so they can call you back and take time to discuss what you are looking for.

The last option I wanted to mention is one of the Xmas party nights organized by the local hotels.
There are food / entertainment packages available starting at around 27,- Euro up to 45,- Euro which include mulled wine reception, game entertainment and party music.
That’s good value too, especially if you up for a good night dancing and partying.

Whatever option is best for you and your colleagues is entirely up to you, most important is that you have fun and a relaxing time, doesn’t matter how big or small the budged is.
Make sure you prearrange transportation or have a designated driver so you get back home safely from your night out.

Richies Cooking Class

I wrote previously a review of Richys bistro & Restaurant cooking classes here in Clonakilty.
I had again a lot of fun with two different classes, cooking fish and game,
and I wanted to let you know there is one upcoming for the 27th of November which is focusing on Christmas Cooking.

The cooking classes are about fun but also to learn how to have all dishes ready in time.

To be honest, before the classes I could cook,
but my timing was way off. My wife can report you about evenings with delicious food at home, and the 1 hour waiting time since it just took me longer to get all ready than I expected.

Now, after a few classes, I learned to time the starter and main dishes perfectly. No more starving now, and with all the small tips here and there my overall performance in the kitchen improved a lot.

I can just recommend you, book a class, 50 Euro for a fun evening in the kitchen, with wine to each course is a superb value !
Book your place now at http://www.richysbarandbistro.com/

Vodka Berry revisited

I wrote earlier this year about the vodka berry mix I made. So after a few weeks on the shelve I dried now my creation, and what shall I say, smooth. I dried it but at room temperature and out of the freezer and have to say you taste the berries better when the drink is served ice cold.

I should have made more of that stuff....next time...

1 year anniversary

Time is moving quick, believe it or not, but this blog is 1 year old already.
I look forward to many more years bloging, even doh its hard sometimes to stick to the schedule and come up with new ideas !

This Fishing Season...

... was rather chaotic for me this year.
Didn't had the chance to go as often out with the boat as I hoped for due to the bad summer we had here in Ireland.

I recently went to the peer here in Clon again but I only caught small Pollock, no mackerel at all.

Well I can only hope its better next year, I keep you posted, in mean time I will put my gear in the storage.

Spiced Salt

Xmas is coming soon and many people look for gifts. Why not making a gift yourself  ?

I made already some spiced salt,Ii used some left over berries and mixed them with sea salt. After I tried the mix on a baking tray as seen in the picture.

Finally fill it once dried in a glass and decorate it nice, voila, a spiced salt as gift. It tastes great and i use it a lot now for cooking.

Snails - Escargot

Today I share a pretty easy recipe with you, Escargot. (Snails) First, get some Burgundy Snails in a can, (if you don't have access to alive ones) and snail houses, than make a garlic butter with herbs.
Place a bit of butter in the snail house, stuff back in the snail, and close the house with more butter as seen on the picture.
After place the tray in the preheated oven at 180 C for 5 minutes, than serve them hot.Tastes super, usually its served with some white bread.

Weekend Tip Rumleys Farm

I nearly forgot to blog this last few days since it was so busy with visitors over, Sophies Bday and Halloween.

We have been on the weekend to Rumleys farm close to Cork and it was really good fun. You should check it out yourself, they have all kinds of activities and animals there, your kids will love it.

here a link to their website

Recipe: The world fastest cake

When you short of time and still want to give your loved ones a dessert after a meal, why not trying this recipe.
Its the world fastest cake, and it tastes actually pretty good if you consider that it only bakes for a few minutes.
This is what you need for one portion:
4 Table Spoon flour
4 Table Spoon cacao powder
4 Table Spoon sugar
1 Table Spoon vanilla sugar
3 Table Spoon milk
3 Table Spoon vegetable oil
1 egg
1 pinch of baking powder

Mix all the ingredients together and fill it in a greased form, i used my crème brule forms for it.
To avoid a mess cover it with some cling film. Dont fill the form completely since the cake will rise.
Place the forms in the micro wave and turn in on at the highest setting for 4 minutes.

After let it rest for half a minute or so, be careful when removing it from the microwave, its extremely hot. Let it cool down a bit, before serving you can give some chocolate cream or powder sugar on top.

Enjoy !

Time change this weekend

Many people seem to have Issues each year with the time change,
therefore I help you now, next Sunday we switch back !

Ireland/UK:   


When local daylight time is about to reach
Sunday, October 28, 2012 at 2:00:00 AM clocks are turned backward 1 hour to
Sunday, October 28, 2012 at 1:00:00 AM local standard time instead

There will be a week until 4th of November where the time difference will be 6 hours between the US East coast and Europe, rather than 5 hours normally.

US:

When local daylight time is about to reach
Sunday, November 4, 2012 at 2:00:00 AM clocks are turned backward 1 hour to
Sunday, November 4, 2012 at 1:00:00 AM local standard time instead

Most people have phones and computers who automatically switch over,
but I for Example need to change manually the following. Kitchen Clock, Oven Clock, Microwave Clock, Car Clocks and my Watch. Happy Changing !

My new toy, a mincer

Life is great, and since I like to try out new stuff, I got myself a new toy. A mincer !
At the moment I have troubles to find cheap meat I can mince, since in the supermarket the minced meat is actually cheaper per Kilo than any other pieces of meat I can find to mince.

At my local butcher i got a kilo of good pork I could mince for a very good price, but I am not as much used any more to pork mince than I thought. I think I will try next time a combination of pork and beef.

Next step would be to produce my own sausages, that will be a interesting adventure, I hope a friend can help me to accelerate my learning since i think its complicated to make a good sausage.

I keep you posted !

Garlic Spaghetti butter

Out of laziness, I didn't want to wait for the butter to melt to make garlic butter, I just used the garlic press and made some spaghetti like garlic butter as you can see here in the picture.

Simple idea, looks great.

Clonfavour favour fyre

I had huge fun last Sunday with the first ever Clonfavour favour fyre, swapping my own produce with others. I ended up with fresh fish, apples, Swiss chard, etc. a full menu :-)

Checkout more pictures and Infos about Clonfavour here.

Recipe: Sweet Potato Gnocchi in Tomato Sauce

A recipe I wanted to try for a long time is sweet potato Gnocchi . I found several recipes on-line but all contained peanut butter for the sauce, or almonds. Since I am allergic to nuts I needed to modify the recipes to be able to enjoy it myself.

To be honest, I didn't like the result, maybe because the Austrian version of Gnocchi is fried, and not boiled in butter.

My wife and my au pair however loved it, so here it comes, my simplified recipe.

Ingredients:
1 kg sweet potato
1 egg
250 gram plain flour
250 ml water
pinch of nutmeg
pinch of salt

for sauce:
tomato chopped
garlic fine chopped
honey
1 onion fine chopped
1-2 teaspoon of sugar

heat your oven to 200 degree C and cut the potatoes in slices as shown on the picture above.With a bit of oil place them in the oven so they get soft. In meantime prepare the sauce. Chop onion and a toe of garlic and fry them in a pot. Once nice roasted add the sugar, than the chopped tomatoes. (you can use the ones out of the tin) Add a spoon of honey and salt to taste. bring to boil and than keep it warm. Making the sauce really depends on the taste you like to have, you can vary this.

Remove the potato from the oven, they should be easy to skin now, than using a blender make a smooth paste, add the water, flour, nutmeg, salt and egg and mix well. I used a kitchen machine but you can do it also with your hands. You should get a sticky dough.
Bring a put of water with a pinch of salt to cook. Using 2 spoons you form little dumplings which you let fall into the boiling water. Once they are cooked they rise up to the surface.Keep them warm untill you have made all, than serve with the tomato sauce you made.

Voila, Sweet Potato Gnocchi. A lovely vegetarian dish witch tastes good according to my wife.
I will soon try the fried version and will let you know if I liked that better.

Recipe: Black Berry infused Vodka

Its not to late yet, at least here in Ireland, get out there quick to get a handful or two of the last remaining black berries you can find.
Clean them well, put them in a bottle and squeeze a few. Top it up with the vodka of your choice and let it stand for 2 weeks, turning it once or twice a day.

After 2 weeks you should be able to taste the first drop and you hopefully will have a nice flavoured shot. I keep you posted how it goes, and if the result tastes as good as it looks.

Greetings, your Master of long sentences (my wife calls me that)
Christian

The egg trick

So, its October, my little blog break seems to be over,
however I decided to move on in a bit a slower pace since I plan to finish my cookbook before Xmas there is a lot of work to be done.

I will however try to post 3 times a week about my ongoing projects or interesting stuff I find around my favourite topics.
Lets start with this video I found on the web, isnt it exciting what kind of stuff people come up with ?
http://vimeo.com/49708691

Clonlin Blog Break

Dear Blog followers,

let me first say sorry, you might have noticed the past few days no news from me.
It was a awful busy time for me at work but also at home, so I take a little time-out from blogging until the end of the month.

I am working hard to get my first cookbook finished before Xmas and some other projects are in the pipeline.

Please stay tuned, sign up here on the right via Email,
and I will be back in October with fresh topics, new recipes, and funny stories !

Cheers
your Clonlin

Recipe: Quiche

Ingredients:

Dough

150 g of ham (little pieces)

100 g fresh cream

4 eggs

A bit of nutmeg

Salt, Pepper

Take a tray, and add a bit of flour

Spread the dough on the tray

Cook the ham in a pan slowly, and spread on the dough

Mix the fresh cream, the eggs, salt, pepper and add on top

Pre heat the oven 180°C, and cook the quiche for 40 minutes

Bernerwuerstel

The weather is supposed to be better again in Ireland, so if you don't want to spend much time in the kitchen, here a simple and delicious way to make a simple dish like a frankfurter sausage a bit tastier.
In Austria we have a sausage style called Berner Wuerstl, all you need is a simple Frankfurter (Wiener) sausage, Serrano ham and pieces of any cheese really.

Make some slices in the sausage, wrap the ham around and cook it in the pan. I usually serve some vegetables with it.

Latest Review: Adrift restaurant @ Dunmorehouse hotel in Clonakilty

Checkout my latest review on the West Cork times about a fabulous restaurant in Clonakilty

Da Capo: A year ago on Clonlin

The Germknoedel Incident

Fruits, Sophies 5 a day

Recipe: Frog Legs a la Provencale

Since my first trip to China and south of France I discovered how tasty frog legs are, and there are so many tasty ways how to prepare them.

Taste wise frog legs taste very similar to chicken wings, here a French recipe I tried recently.

First thaw the frozen frog legs slowly in milk, than dry them off well. Coat them in flour, melt butter in a frying pan and add the frog legs. Careful the frogs open their legs once they are in contact in the hot butter, so be careful that they don't push each other out of your pan if you have placed to many of them in it.

Cook them for 7 to 8 Minutes on the hottest setting while stirring regular. Then dust with a mixture of minced garlic and parsley, add salt and pepper and serve warm with salad or rice.

Enjoy !

Da capo: A year ago on Clonlin

 

Are not the simplest things the best ?

Recipe: Marinated Mackerel