Thanks for complimen
I am just a tired old lady with so much work around my garden that I now find very little time for cooking.
However, I would say that this time around, my second attempt at cooking
tomato pie, for those who might want to give it a try, I added my bountiful cherry tomatoes , cooked until they burst and though there was a whole bowl, which initially I thought may be too much for the dish, they cooked down and spread between layers easily , added extra oomph to the dish aside from the regular tomatoes.
Another thing is that by adding a layer of cheese. on the bottom of the crust which I prefaced for 10 minutes, the crust was not soggy at all. I did not skin the tomatoes but just took out the seeds, salted it for 20 minutes and patted it dry.
Thank you! I shall make a post for this restaurant this weekend.
Thanks to the Germans and Austrians 
Speck is such an important ingredient in their cuisines.
One of my German/Austrian cookery books. This one is dedicated to Speck. The texts read: “Austria the Speck heaven”
Also in the north of Italy - where the local production of speck has protected geographical status under EU law.
Yes, but that part used to be Austrian.
Stifling hot night = raw tomato sauce
Hot cold
And normal salad, 'cause you die if you don’t have salad every day
Indeed so. Borders change and food and language evolves. You know that’s all part of our shared European history. I suppose Alsace & Lorraine are the classic examples of recentish history. Not fully French until the 17th century. German from 1870 until 1918. French until 1940. German until 1945. French since then.
I made pasta with raw tomatoes this past weekend. I also added leftover chilled fresh tomato puree to it. (Photos to be posted later)
Yep, I know this. In case someone wants to do some light reading about Alsace-Lorraine.
I’ve been to Strassbourg and Colmar. One thinks they are somewhere in Germany there. The architecture and food, not to mention the wines are all very familiar.
Made char siu for the first time. Used pork cheeks (jowl), which is a lot more forgiving than other cuts. Came out excellent.
I went with an overnight marinade in red fermented bean curd, soy, dark soy, shaoxing, oyster sauce, 5 spice, honey, and sugar. Roasted at 400F for 12 minutes per side, basting in between, then flipped and basted once more, finishing on broil for color.
It’s a subject which crops up with surprising regularity on World War 1 forums. And I have a fellow researcher pal who knows more about the Franco-Prussian war than is good for anyone
I need to start cooking from the freezer. So out came a small container of overly spicy lamb tagine that I needed to tone down in heat, a chunk of Easter roast lamb, a cup of homemade chicken stock, and about a half cup of canned pumpkin.
Sauteed some chopped onion in olive oil, and when the onion was soft, added some minced garlic and grated fresh ginger, a bit of honey, then about a Tbsp of tomato paste. Tossed in chopped leftover lamb and sauteed some more, then added a small cinnamon stick, the chicken stock and canned pumpkin, and some halved dried apricots.
Let that simmer for awhile while the rice pilaf and carrots cooked. Topped with some toasted Mediterranean pine nuts.
This was tasty, toning down the heat from the last time.
There was wine.
My dinner tonight ran the gamut from healthy to not.
Started off with a nice chickpea salad (oil, vinegar, cilantro, garlic, red onion, salt, pepper) and then made some Portobello fries in my new air fryer. They were only sprayed with cooking spray so not too bad. Then baked pork chop** schnitzel (Ritz cracker coating) but had to be brushed with melted butter before cooking. Side of spaetzle, also with butter. Washed down with a Leiny Summer Shandy.
**For those that have an Aldi near them, their thin sliced, boneless pork chops remain the best. This pack had 14, and was a little more than $4. Hardly any fat, sliced paper-thin. Great if you are breading and frying, or have a recipe that calls for thin.
Looks fantastic!
TJ’s tarte d’ Alsace with green salad with maple balsamic dressing and garlicky zucchini zoodles. Anyone else having trouble with photo uploads?
Mrs. P made her delicious quail salad with the usual ton of ingredients. A few new ingredients were homegrown big daddy peppers, yellow shishito peppers, and fresh shaved gruyere cheese.
freezer pull of Moroccanish lemon/olive chicken, this time with a fat dollop of TJs garlic spread (aka, toum that I haven’t tried making myself. yet.) (but the TJs stuff is terrific!) BF made a salad with a vinaigrette of freshly grated garlic and sumac. Vampires, beware.
Beyond Meat burger with cheese on English muffin, fried onion, tomato, avocado with Kewpie, sweet potato oven fries. And beer.
I’m doing one of my fairly regular Middle Eastern mezzes.
There’s lamb, of course. This is now my preferred way of dealing with leftovers from a roast - I cut it into small chunks (getting rid of most of any fat) and freeze it. It’ll now get tossed in olive oil and a mix that the local Syrian shop describes as “sharwama spices”. I warm it through in a frying pan, using quite high heat so the spices crisp a little on the meat
Alongside, there’s supermarket houmous and I’m going to make a tahini and date syrup dip. And a fattoush salad (or maybe just cucumber, radish and peppers). Chopped feta dressed with a little chilli sauce. Torshi and olives from jars. Khobez bread as the carb.
If a dessert is needed, there’s a tin of figs. A scattering of almonds or chopped pistachios and a drizzle of yoghurt won’t harm it at all.
That entire meal sounds wonderful!
