efter att ha haft en valp i 2 veckor känns det som om jag aldrig har sovit.

Ilva, här är bildbevis på jycken.

Idag har jag hämtat hem en hundvalp, snott honom rakt framför nosen på hans mamma. Inte för att hon verkade bry sig, lite som de Madonna adopterar från – om det bara finns tilläckligt med pengar i påsen……. Det är var en jävligt dyr adoption, nu får jag bara hoppas att han är värd det.

Det känns nästan som om jag aldrig haft den här bloggen. Men nu måste jag komma förbi och pissa revir. Kanske det hjälper att komma igång igen.

Fortsättning följer (eventuellt)…

Ok, this is my entry for this month’s Paper Chef. Usually one would work to enhance the flavours in a course. By using sweet, salt, sour and so on one can lift an ingredient up to become it’s on star in a meal.

This time I must admit that I was trying to conceal the taste. Is that a good thing? I would say no. But sometimes  it is the sum of the parts that can make it work . At least that is my excuse. For the Paper Chef challenge one had to use:

- Liver, Oregano, Chestnuts, Cheese

So first of all, I would never never order liver at a restaurant. I would never never come up with the idea to cook a slab of liver. Ok, I have once or twice made a chicken liver crostini but that has not been due to salivating taste buds, more curiosity. Second, the idea of liver and cheese in a combination could make the most insensitive person gag. So here is how I got around that.

Dirt Easy Chicken Paté

200 gr chicken live
500 gr minced chicken
200 gr crème fraiche|
2 eggs
2 tblsp cognac
1 onion
1 clove of garlic
salt
thyme

Fry the onion, garlic and roughly chopped liver for a little while. Mix minced chicken, salt, thyme, eggs and the crème fraiche  and the booze til a smooth batter. Then the only thing left to do is add the onion/liver- mix and stir. Put it all in a bread loaf tin and in it goes in the oven on 200 C for one hour.

Let it cool down properly before eating it, trust me it gets better if it gets to settle.

Salad

The salads is rather straight forward. I used a bag of pre-cut (shame on me) that I found in the fridge. A little bit of raspberry vinegar and some olive oil, then I lightly fried some bacon, springonion and almonds with oregano – didn’t find any chestnuts. Tossed it all around and that was it.

Savory tuile

One of the best things with Paper Chef is that it make me try out new things. Before this I had never before  made a tuile, but I had to get the cheese incorporated in the dish. And what better way that to make a crispy light tuile with some parmesan sprinkles.

65 gr flour
teaspoon of salt
teaspoon of sugar
some black peper
2 egg whites
110 gr softned butter

Whisk the butter til it is really soft.

Mix the dry ingredients, add the egg whited and stir til smooth, now add the butter bit by bit until you have a smooth and homogenous batter.

Make thin, and I mean really thin, rounds on a baking sheet and sprinkle these with the parmesan cheese. In it goes in an oven at 200C for 4-6 minutes.

So what are my own thoughts about it.

Well, by using chicken liver and making it into a paté I sort of masked the heavy liver taste which I just can’t stand. Next time I would put more stuff in the paté like bacon, mushrooms, springonion etc. But it is a very fine tasting dish, and for the amount or work and money it should earn a place in most homes.

The salad was kind of boring, but the saltiness of the bacon breaks the taste of liver and my substitute for chestnuts gave texture to the dish.

The tuile was a good solution, now the cheese didn’t get any prominent position but added saltiness to a cracker that was welcome change to the otherwise rather soft texture of the dish.

I could make this for guest, but probably not again for myself.

So this is the moment you all have been waiting for. Me too to be honest. The feeling of power surging through my veins at this moment is impossible to describe. I can be the dictator of taste.  I like it!

However, I wish we could have several winners since there could be winners in different categories.

There are the ones that could win due to the simplicity of their creations. Using just the 4 ingredients in a Paper Chef challenge is not always easy. Less is more, but not always simpler.

Denise, Mike and Tricia were all three of them keeping it straight forward with no fuss but still delivered excellent meals.

Then there is the category where the cooks have added some twist to it, or reconstructed the ingredients.I like how Tori used minced turkey meat and incorporated the others in to the mince. Natashya’s filled turkey roll also shows a different way of using the ingredients. Terry took a whole new approach to the lentils and made griddle cakes.

There is one more person who would fit in here, and that is Hank. But he gets his own personal mentioning since he already before me giving my judgement has won. He is the winner of the People’s Choice. Congratulations, Hank!

What I liked a lot with his entry was the ‘double-cooking’, first braising in broth to enhance the flavour and then frying to get the change of texture. But I think I loved Holly’s snake shooting the most. ….

So this leads us to the third and last category, the ‘over the top’ entries.These are entries that were  very creative, a lot of work and splashed out with several courses or versions.

Here we have Ilva’s 3 course menu with some interesting twists were of  one would be the turkey in the dessert. It sounds weird, but it might just work. I am curious. Tanna filled about everything she could find in her kitchen. She filled the peppers but also flipped things around and filled a pumpkin. Robin might have been late with her entry but she impressed with making 3 different mains.

But who will be the winner of this month?

The category ‘over the top’ kind of appeals to me. Ilva made a menu which I personally find very interesting and makes a full circle entry. Then we have Tanna who was the only one to use the herb that I think goes the best with a winter squash/pumpkin – sage. That is a marriage made in heaven. Then the pomgranate to that. Robin did 3 different types of hot meals that impressed me. Another favourite and a bit of an underdog with it being a single course is Terry and her griddle cakes. I thought it was a fantastic idea, simple yet surprising.

If I could I would have two winners, Terry and Robin. Terry for the wonderful idea of the griddle cake and Robin/Dave for their multifaceted cooking.

In the end I will go for Robin and Dave at Belly Timber.

Congratulations guys!

I have put the roundup on the Paper Chef blog. Go there and have a look at all the great dishes people came up with.

You can also vote for the People’s Choice!

The same day as the US elected their first coloured president the Californians also voted for this.

Change the words gay & homosexual for the words black & coloured person.

Please.

Why do they even let these people have children?

To see the full extent of the hatred, visit their site.

First of all I have to congratulate the world on getting Obama as the president of USA, let’s hope that crazy woman Palin has gone back to her room with a view( of Russia). Anyway, this is not going to be about politics but something more important – food.

It is once again time for the fun of Paper Chef. Since  I was the lucky winner of last month’s challenge I get the pleasure not only to present the 4 ingredients, but I also get to judge you guys.

For the people who have no clue what Paper Chef is I can tell you that it is a cooking challenge that will show you all the good of cooking. It will bring back pleasure in the kitchen (if you lost it), it will spur your creativity, introduce you to new ways of thinking about food, it will become your new addiction.There is no pressure, only jolly good fun.

It is simple. I will here  post 4 ingredients that must be used to create a dish of your choice, it can be one dish or it can be a menu – it is all up to you but they must all contain these ingredients:

- Turkey

- Anaheim peppers

- Winter squash

- Lentils (this was my choice)

Should there be something you cannot eat due to allergies, religious persuasions, being vegetarian of vegan or you cannot buy it where you live- feel free to swap that ingredient for something similar.

The full set of rules  can be found on the site of Paper Chef in the right side column. There you can also see earlier contributions for inspiration.

You have until Tuesday 11th to blow us away. If you have any questions you are welcome to e-mail me at magnus@telfort.nl

Have fun, be playful and surprise me.

magnus

Häromdan skrev Annanannan ett inlägg om alternativ/komplemäntärmedin som tillsammans med sin uppföljning är intressanta frågeställningar att stanna upp vid. En diskussion om placeboeffekter, forskning och kvacksalveri kan föras på hennes blogg, för detta skulle handla om något annat.

Inlägget fick mig att tänka på något som är väldigt specifikt holländskt, eller nederländskt om jag ska var korrekt. Det handlar om ‘de gaper’ eller gäsparen som det skulle bli på svenska. Visst, jag tycker ofta att holländare är konstiga men detta hör till en av de underligare sakerna. Vi snackar ett huvud med öppen mun som dekoration till en husgavel.

Ser han på något sätt normal ut? Nä- tänkte väl att du skulle hålla med mig.

Kolla in fler av dem här.

Det är ungefär samma sak som Hygieias skål med ormen – en symbol för ett apotek. Skillnaden är att det känns lite rassigt, åtminstone om det var så att de var nya. Historien bakom förklarar det. Rundresande kvacksalvare/kringresande apotekarier hade en mor med sig. Då menar jag inte en mamma men en av de som kallas morer. Morer är egentligen berber från norra afrika som kom över till Spanien och sen resten av europa på medeltiden. Det är en förlegad term men beskriver vad det är vi ser, en bild av en berb som är präglad av sin tidsperiod. Nog med förklarandet om termen ‘mor’. Dessa män var följeslagare till apotekarien som höll en show på marknadsplatsen. Moren skulle se lite slite ut, men fick sen sträcka ut tungan och få sig ett piller. Varpå han gick bakom scenen och tog på sig sin finaste turban och outfit och drog en tokig dans för att visa hur frisk han blev. Ville precis säga att de kanske inte var så smarta på medeltiden som gick på en sån grej. Men så hade jag glömt bort all reklam för saker som Q10 som ska göra vår hud slät och fin. Tydligen funkar det än idag.

Så lite rassig är det. Det är liksom friskaraben istället för gladneger.(Men tro mig det finns konstigare saker, Zwarte Piet har jag inte tagit upp än)

Men vad som är lustigt är att Nederländerna också är världens största tillverkare av ecstasy så det får en annan innebörd. Lägg ett piller på tungan och ta dig en dans i din snyggaste outfit. Skulle tänka mig att en ‘gaper’ idag skulle bli en förortskid i alla färger.

Dessutom ser ‘gapern’ här ovanför som om han är på osedvanligt starka droger……