Peek-a-boo into a Munich kitchen

This is my friend's lovely, cosy, very lived-in and fully utilised kitchen in the heart of Munich. I didn't get her permission to post this so I better not reveal her identity or she'll never cook for me again, and that's too big a loss to bear. 

And this second picture here is my favourite corner of her little kitchen. It has all the wonderful spices and herbs that she transforms into magic so we can all taste life from her perspective! Which is all about passion and love and joy and peace. My dear friend - how I miss her already.

I also found she squeezed space out of another corner for her pretty and practical utensils. She's not known to be the neatest girl around but I have to salute her for being rather tidy here, haha! She's kinda untidy in a creative yet organised way, if you know what I mean. Like, she knows where all her stuff are even though there are stuff everywhere in every nook and crook. Have you met anyone like that?

Word of the Week: Farfalle

Farfalle, a type of pasta, originated from northern Italy as far back as the 16th Century. Also known as "bow-tie" pasta, Farfalle in fact means "butterflies" in Italian. Though suitable for all kinds of sauces, Farfalle is best for cream and tomato based sauces.

I bought this pack in a little shop in Florence, the same place where I got my truffle oil. Did you see my post on all that shopping I did for my kitchen? The shopkeeper, always proud of her own products, told me the colours come from the base ingredients used to make these pasta. So, for instance, the red is from beetroot, yellow from turmeric, and green from spinach. The most interesting has to be the black - it comes from squid ink. How cool is that.

Zero preservatives, addictives, MSG, flavour enhancers… and what have you.

I will let you know about the taste when I make these for the family one of these days.

Home-cured Pancetta - Part IV. Wait, there's a Part IV?

It's been more than 2 months since I started curing this piece of pork belly. I open it up to peep at this baby whenever my curiosity gets the better of me.

On 14 November, it looked like this at the start of this interesting culinary project that has captivated me since.

After 10 days

After about 25 days

Today, I opened it again after more than 60 days and find that I could possibly use it!

I cut some very small pieces remembering how salty and rubbery they tasted the last time I tried when it was not quite ready. Scattered them over my home-made pizza and the verdict?

Does my pizza look sexy or what. Thanks to my friend Grace for a very simple recipe. 

Extremely salty but no longer as rubbery. The longer time I give it to allow for the curing process, the better the texture but it also means deep salt penetration. If salt is the key ingredient to cure the meat so that I don't die from eating contaminated raw meat, then how does one reduce the saltiness in the taste? Hmm.. need to find someone who has done this.

I can continue to use the pancetta as an ingredient for pasta and pizzas as the Italians do on a daily basis but I will have to rinse off the crazy salty on the next use.

Here's a picture of the pancetta done by the professionals which I bought in a Tuscany morning market. Doesn't it look absolutely gorgeous? I have yet to try it but will do so very very soon and let you know how it tastes.

Beautiful piece of pancetta from Tuscany now sitting in my fridge

My pancetta butcher. We used an iphone app to ask him in Italian how much it costs. We were perfect in our articulation and then were completely stunned at his answer 'cos we couldn't catch a single word he said!

For those very interested and crazy enough to waste time doing this, please read the previous posts before you attempt. And remember to write to me about it!! Adios!

Home-cured Pancetta Part I
Home-cured Pancetta Part II
Home-cured Pancetta Part III
What on earth is a Pancetta??

Italians - gotta love 'em!

A creative basker we met on the street. How does he do it? I love the Italianos!

Please also see my other posts on Italy:
- an authentic Tuscan kitchen
- what I lugged back from Tuscany for my own kitchen
- a working farm in Tuscany
- cooking by the fireplace in a 14th Century stone villa
- what al dente means and why you should cook pasta this way

Italy - a working farm

Today, we visited Luciano's working farm just 10 minutes drive from our farmhouse at Cretaiole. He had just slaughtered 2 pigs yesterday and today, he has invited us to come over at 4pm to see what he's doing with them. We walked into this what looks to me like a murder scene in a farm barge. Here, Luciano's men are stuffing pork sausages. On the left, you can see their home-bottled tomato paste.

Luciano cures his own meat - these above are more than a year old hanging next to his wine barrels.

He lifts up this netted crate to show us his cured cheese as well.

 Luciano slices off his pancetta for us to taste.

We also tasted his extra virgin olive oil fresh from the infusion and before bottling. 

It was a totally enjoyable visit and I wish I could be a farmer's wife ... maybe just for a little while!

Italy - roasties by the fireplace

We are spending 6 nights here in our farmstay in Tuscany. As the temperatures are consistently sub-zero every night, one of the things we truly enjoy is the Tuscan fireplace. I find myself staring into the fire for easily over an hour or more each time. The warmth, the glow - there's something mesmerizing about it.

Well, last night, as everyone was already in bed and I was staring into the dwindling fire while thinking of what I'd be cooking in the next meal, it suddenly occurred to me that I could roast my veggies right there and then. I took the cut veggies out of the fridge, placed them on a roasting pan, put a grill over the fireplace and wahla! I was cooking in the wee hours of the night, sitting all alone there with the fire. I only drizzled some extra virgin olive oil infused by the farmer, sprinkled some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and left it there as the fire started to dwindle more.

I've done moonblush tomatoes before and this idea of energy-saving is not too different except it's over the fireplace instead of the oven. I couldn't wait to see how the roasties would look in the morning.

So, I woke up bright and early to see this - moist from the melting tomatoes (almost, almost tomato juice but not quite), the horizontally-cut garlic were soft, onions caramelized while the brocolli still retained a bit of crunch and texture. It was excellent. Except how does one serve this in the morning??! LOL. I kept it for dinner, of course, and got good reviews from the family, yes, even the teenagers.

I googled fireplace cooking and found there are some people who are absolutely crazy about this method of cooking and even offer recipes on the web. It was indeed fun and sexy! Real woodfire for the grilling purist. How primitive and rustic and romantic.

Was I glad to have the chance to do this, and boy, do I wish I could do this again!

Italy - an authentic Tuscan kitchen

Was excited to be cooking in a Tuscan kitchen in a 14th Century stone villa.

Last night, we took an overnight train from Munich to Tuscany and disembarked in a station called Chiusi. After an hour's drive, we found ourselves in a most gorgeous valley, south of Tuscany, called Val d'Orcia. Located on the rolling hills of Pienza and Montichiello, it is earmarked as a UNESCO World Heritage site and should not be missed when in Tuscany.

Pienza is located in a place so beautiful that even the Pope fell in love with the area. The landscape is of immense and incomparable beauty and has been used for blockbuster movies including Gladiator, The English Patient and Twilight. As we were there in winter, we met more locals than tourists which was really really nice.

We checked into the beautiful Cretaiole, an awesome 14th Century stone villa. For the next 7 days, the kids didn't want to leave this villa!

View from our farmhouse. 

An authentic Tuscan marble sink. The tap on the left brings spring water from the mountain into the kitchen.

The sunrise(s?) and sunsets in Tuscany were dramatic and a daily phenomenon.
Photo credit: my aspiring photographer daughter

The beautiful Creatiole - highly recommended.
Photo credit: daughter

A dish drainer that doubles as storage - now, why didn't I think of this when I renovated my kitchen?

Some of the utensils I used while cooking there. 

These were just outside the door and I helped myself to them too. 

I did an easy roast chicken with lemon and thyme. Somehow, it looked better in Tuscanware even though I did
not get to truss the chicken.

The Tuscan kitchen inspired my 2 sons to want to make something that night. One made mash potatoes and the other made egg mayo for breakfast the following day. There's just something culinary about Tuscany.

If you like this post, please or leave a comment. A little Like goes a long way.

Italy - look what I got for my kitchen from Tuscany

Do I really need these? What an irrelevant question. Use these to love people!

I went berserk over everything-truffle, truffle oil, truffle cream, truffle gel. Or Tartuff as the locals call it.

Moka, an Italian coffee-maker. Cute. Especially the tricep.

Please click here to see more Europe pig-out pictures.

Bacon-wrapped Dates - My darling little cocoons

Taken on the iPhone 

Medjool dates wrapped in Danish bacon streaks - an appetiser we ate in Germany and I said I would be making soon. Well, I tried it for the first time this morning and here's how they look - my darling little cocoons. I served it as a breakfast item for 15 hungry ironmen as part of my annual power breakfast birthday treat for my husband and his Crazy2Tri buddies (yes, they have a name for their group, a blog and their own branded jerseys!).

Well, this dish turned out to be the highlight at the breakfast table and it finished in no time. I have my dear friend Sandy to thank for teaching me to make this. It is so easy to make and the results so rewarding - you have to try it. I am going to do this for my family reunion dinner this Chinese New Year.

Ingredients:
One date for each bacon streak - that's all!
No salt, no pepper, no oil, nothing else.

Portion: 
3-4 dates for each guest

Method:
1. Remove seeds from dates while pre-heating oven to 180C
2. Wrap each date with one bacon streak
3. Place on baking tray or use aluminium foil to minimise cleaning up
4. Bake for about 10 minutes or until fat is rendered or when bacon is of your preferred texture. I baked for 15 and they were fine.

Does this remind you of something I blogged about called Barding? It's worth checking out if you want to feel like a professional chef!

Enjoy!

Europe pig-out 7 - wait, one more beauty in Nuremberg

We had this for afternoon tea. One very pretty pie. With one very large portion.

This portion below fed our entire family for tea. The lady next to us had the whole thing to herself, a true sweetie pie.

Europe pig-out 6 - where the world's most famous Christmas market is

Germany is the best place in the world to go to a Christmas market and Nuremberg, where we are today, has the most famous Christmas market in Germany. An open-air market, the Christkindlesmarkt attracts some 2 million visitors each year. Here are some sights and scenes to share.

World's most famous Christmas market, started in the 17th Century and shows no signs of slowing down.

We sipped mulled wine in Bavarian porcelain mugs on the streets and watched the world go by in sub-zero temperatures. Mulled wine or gluhwein is red wine heated and spiced with cinnamon sticks, vanilla pods, cloves, star anise and sugar, with a shot of rum or liquer added. So basically, sugar and spice and everything nice, and it soon became our daily beverage.

It was when I saw this scene that I felt our attempt to brave the wind and the snow and the long drive to Nuremburg is well worth it. Nuremberg is located along the Rhine-Main-Danube canal and is medieval and a sight to behold. Adolf Hitler chose Nuremberg as the venue for his Nazi party rallies.

The Imperial Palace stands majestically behind us.

Wait a minute, is that Steve Irwin?? 

This was another delightful surprise as we walked the market - a traditional, all-men choir singing with true grit and gusto. I didn't understand a word and yet loved every word they sang. Love is universal and beyond language. And they brought Christmas right into my heart at that moment.

Now, this one I have to tell you was crazy yummy! I don't even know what it is since everything is in German. It tasted like some mini beef steak and comes with a small loaf. The kids swarmed to it like bees to honey. It was the most tender piece of meat I'd ever sunk my teeth into. Of course we went back for more, and again and again. You get back one euro when you return the blue plastic. You can see customers flooding the stall. Wish I could get behind that counter and discover the secret ingredient!

I love Munich and I love Nuremberg and I love my parents and kids and ok, ok, get a hold of myself...