astridv

Today I tried another recipe from the ever-helpful chefkoch.de. I had zucchini, cabbabe, and couscous all close to their expiration date, and I found this (Kohlrouladen mit Couscous - Cashew - Füllung mit Curry) which turned out to be delicious. Like, seriously, it tasted like something one would get served at a pretty decent restaurant. All the ingredients harmonized and created nuances that I didn't expect at all when I set out to find a use for those aging zucchini.

(Instead of dried apricots I used canned peaches.)

Mission Impossible - Ghost Protocol rec:
The Beach House by ladygris
Gen; Brandt & OC (plus background team); friendship/drama/spies and secret agents; rated teen; 60,000 words
Summary: When Will Brandt unexpectedly inherits a beach house from his estranged grandfather, he decides to rent the home to an old childhood friend. Things get complicated, however, when secrets are discovered and begin tying their families together. With an international plot coming to light, Will races to find an assassin before someone he cares about ends up dead.

A really interesting story, with a lot of original elements and characters that mesh with the MI verse. I was sceptical at first, as I tend to be when reading fic with a prominent OC at ffn, but the writer pulls it off well. Right from the beginning I got drawn into that world, the little town and its inhabitants.

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Today at awesome_places, a beautiful piece of architecture: Ballena Mexicana - The Mexican Whale House (Mexico)

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Hier ist ein geniales Rezept für irisches Kartoffelbrot. Hab's gestern mal ausprobiert und werde es von jetzt an sicher häufiger machen. Das Rezept ist ganz simpel, aber das Brot schmeckt wie ein raffinierter Partysnack.

Ich habe als Mehl Dinkelmehl genommen, und nur einen halben Teelöffel Salz. Und die Kartoffeln weichgekocht und mit dem Zauberstab püriert. Der Teig ist ziemlich klebrig, deswegen habe ich gar nicht erst versucht, ihn auszurollen, sondern direkt aufs Backpapier gekippt und dann mit etwas mehr Mehl flachgedrückt.

Today's rec, inspired by what I just ate: one of my favorite quick&easy recipes-for-one. I cook this when I want a proper hot meal but don't feel like going to a lot of trouble cooking for just one person. It takes about 10 minutes and I find it seriously tasty.
( pan-fried zucchini with garlic (and noodles) )

( another variant: pan-fried chicoree )

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So, there's more interest in that perspective thing than I thought! Cool. I'll get to that then. :)

My SGA obsession is progressing quite nicely. Many thanks to everyone who provided fic recs and links - I've started to dig through them; they should keep me occupied for the next decade or so. :)

I'm almost through S1, waiting for S2 to arrive. On the one hand I'm starting to think I should ration the eps a bit better, on the other hand I can't wait to see how they're going to get out of this dire situation they're in right now. I rather liked 'Letters from Pegasus': insurmountable odds stacked against them, the threat from the Wraith armada closing in... and contrasting with that, some great character stuff. I find the mythology of the series intriguing... and I've finally figured out what a ZPM and a DHD are, too.

More character sketches: ( Rodney McKay )

recipe: via midnightsjane I found this recipe for sweetcorn cakes. We tried them out; they're tasty and easy to make (though I cheated and used canned corn because I couldn't get fresh cobs).

I thought I'd share the recipe from this week's 'Dinner with Buffy'... 'cause it was as easy to cook as it was delicious. And because my book is done, I have today off and tomorrow as well, and I got plenty of time. (Translating recipes is hard... I tried my best with the conversions, correct me if I got them wrong.)

( Broccoli Gratin with Feta Cheese (4 servings) )

***link: 33 writers. 5 designers. 6-word science fiction. Very Short Stories

For monanotlisa's recipe exchange meme... Garlic Veggies

Da-yamn, there're a lot of words I don't know. You think you speak a language rather fluently, and suddenly you see that you don't even know the standard cooking vocab. Anyway, I hope it all makes sense. The quantities are in gramm and milliliter but at least I'm pretty sure I got the temperature converted okay.

We've tried this recipe once so far and it's been a hit. How can you go wrong with four bulbs/tubers? of garlic.

For four people you need:
250 g shallots
600 g small, firm potatoes
10 artichokes (alternatively zucchini or something similar)
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
250 g small vine tomatoes
150 ml olive oil
4 bulbs/tubers/? of garlic
3 branches of rosemary
1 small branch of bay
salt
pepper
150 ml dry white wine
400 ml vegetable fond
parsley

1. Peel shallots, cut into fine rings. Peel and wash potatoes, let water drip off. Cut off top third of artichokes, remove outmost leaves. cut off most of the stems. Peel stems until you see the white, um, meat(?). Lay artichokes in lemon water. Wash tomatoes.

2. Pre-heat oven at 200 Celsius (392 F), preferably don't use circulating air. Put in baking tray somewhere near the bottom of the stove. Let artichokes drip very thoroughly and cut them in two, lengthwise. Pour 100 ml olive oil on the baking tray. Put shallots, potatoes, artichokes (or zucchini), garlic (as whole bulbs; just remove the outmost peel but leave the cloves unpeeled and stuck together), rosemary and bay on the tray. Salt and pepper. Cook in the oven for about 50 minutes, stir on occasion. After 20 minutes add white wine, vegetable fond, and the rest of the oil. During the last 10 minutes, add the tomatoes.

3. Drip parsley, chop it and spread it over the veggies before serving. For serving, distribute the vegetables and the sauce on plates. Slightly cut garlic cloves and squeeze them out of their skin, crush garlich and potatoes with a fork and mix with the sauce.

Guten Appetit :O)

Okay, is it a bulb or a tuber?