For the two of us, this summer has been all about fresh fruit.  Of course we all know my love affair with strawberries, but now that the season has passed, I’ve branched out to enjoy the other tasty sweets nature has to give us [...]]]>

For the two of us, this summer has been all about fresh fruit.  Of course we all know my love affair with strawberries, but now that the season has passed, I’ve branched out to enjoy the other tasty sweets nature has to give us along with the bright summer sun.  Whether it be sharing a fresh carton of blackberries while walking home from work, picking raspberries on a path out on an evening walk, or waking up in the morning with yogurt, granola, and slices of apricots that aim to be as sweet as the ripest of peaches, we certainly have been enjoying our fruits!  And then there are figs.  I like to wait til they are super soft, so delicate a firm grip would end them in a fit of a sticky disaster oozing everywhere.

Not every fruit needs to be sweet to be enjoyed.  Currants are a tart little explosive burst of flavor when they enter your mouth.  At first I was a bit skeptical of my potential love for this fruit because of that, but they have really become a staple in our kitchen the past few weeks.  I enjoy their tartness, especially paired with something sweet.  They are perfect for balancing sweetness, and are exactly why they are such an integral part of this salad.

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This granola was made specifically as a method for enjoying the dried strawberries that we got at the market the other day.  They aren’t just dried fruit, the strawberries do have some sugar added and when we bought them were labeled as “confiture”, making them more like fruit snacks, [...]]]>

This granola was made specifically as a method for enjoying the dried strawberries that we got at the market the other day.  They aren’t just dried fruit, the strawberries do have some sugar added and when we bought them were labeled as “confiture”, making them more like fruit snacks, but oh were they delicious and worth every franc (at 4.50/100g they are not cheap!).  So that we didn’t scarf them down like small children who had just found their way into Willy Wonka’s factory, I decided to incorporate them into a gluten free granola.  Granola isn’t hard to make, it just takes a little babysitting and turning every now and then.  The best thing about granola? You can put in it literally whatever you want!(...)
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I remember when I first knew we were going to move to Switzerland, and my husband asked me “Isn’t it going to be cold all the time?” haha.  If you have been in Romandie at all the past couple weeks you will [...]]]>

I remember when I first knew we were going to move to Switzerland, and my husband asked me “Isn’t it going to be cold all the time?” haha.  If you have been in Romandie at all the past couple weeks you will know that it does indeed get very warm here!  I don’t think anything has hit 90 ºF yet (and no, I am not yet able to think in ºC outside of 0=freezing,  37=body temp), but it sure has felt like it in the sunshine and with all the mugginess.  I partly blame that on lack of A/C, which is usually fine except for those rare days like the ones we had last weekend when there is no wind.  And it only took a couple of hours outside to get sunburned, leaving an oh-so-fashionable imprint of my necklace on my chest.  Good things scarves are all the thing here no matter what the season, so no one else had to see me looking like a total dork for the next few days!  But the lake was gorgeous and worth the walk (and the sunburn) -

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Yes, you read the title right.  Bagels.  Gluten free bagels.  Until last week the idea had crossed my mind a few times, and all I could picture are those kinds that come frozen in a bag that you have to microwave to defrost [...]]]>

Yes, you read the title right.  Bagels.  Gluten free bagels.  Until last week the idea had crossed my mind a few times, and all I could picture are those kinds that come frozen in a bag that you have to microwave to defrost at which point they become a bit mushy for my taste.  My husband likes them.  He misses not having those frozen bagels available to buy.  But that’s because it’s been SO long since he’s had a truly good bagel.  I’m talking about one you can make a sandwich out of, sink your teeth into and let your tongue dance on the sweet and soft flavors as they cross over each part of your mouth – the kind where you lick your lips fast as you can after taking a bite because it would be a high crime to allow any crumb to fall to the merciless floor, wasted.

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Did you know that shopping on a Saturday is NUTS?  Ok, that’s probably expected, but shopping on Saturdays en Suisse is much crazier than any Saturday morning I remember in the States.  I suspect this has much to do with the fact that most everything is closed [...]]]>

Did you know that shopping on a Saturday is NUTS?  Ok, that’s probably expected, but shopping on Saturdays en Suisse is much crazier than any Saturday morning I remember in the States.  I suspect this has much to do with the fact that most everything is closed on Sunday, and so everyone is rushing around to get the weekend’s worth of food.  Here, it is also the day when the largest market is out and open for business, which always draws a crowd.  While both my husband and I desperately wanted to sleep in this morning, 10 am came (which wasn’t sleeping in enough for us) and I knew if we wanted any chance at braving the crowds we’d have to go into the city centre soon.  I urged him to wake up, persistent even through his groaning like a little kid who doesn’t want to go to school.  We are still both very much in “college” mode where Saturdays should be declared sanctified “sleep in til noon” days, and despite living here for almost 6 months (I can’t believe it!), we still have not transformed our mode of thinking about Saturdays just yet.  But then, 6 months of Swiss life isn’t very much compared to the last 8 years of college that engrained the habit into the both of us…(...)
Read the rest of Chive and Dill Pesto (409 words)

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You either love ‘em or hate ‘em.  Remember last Winter how it was the coolest (or uncoolest) thing ever to wear big furry suede boots of a certain unnamed brand and tuck your jeans in them? Chances are people either thought you were [...]]]>

You either love ‘em or hate ‘em.  Remember last Winter how it was the coolest (or uncoolest) thing ever to wear big furry suede boots of a certain unnamed brand and tuck your jeans in them? Chances are people either thought you were either rocking them like a cute little ski bunny or that you looked freaking ridiculous.  But no matter if you actually wore them or not, you’ve no doubt seen someone with them and have a pretty solid idea if they were awesome or terrible.

That’s exactly how beets are – they are possibly one of the most polarizing foods I know, and everyone has an opinion about them, good or bad.  We both happen to be part of the “beets are freaking awesome” camp, but are always looking for new ways to eat them besides in salads, our usual choice.    I just love their earthy, almost “umami” type of taste – they add an extra dimension to the flavor profile of just about any dish.  So when I came across this recipe for baked beet chips by Joelen of Joelen’s Culinary Adventures, I knew it had to be next on our list of yummy delights to try.

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Before I made this, the last time I used a mortar and pestle was in chemistry class.  I felt oddly alchemic (is that even a word?) while making this curry paste, continually turning and grinding – this is a process that is slow, repetitive, meditative even.  I found it [...]]]>

Before I made this, the last time I used a mortar and pestle was in chemistry class.  I felt oddly alchemic (is that even a word?) while making this curry paste, continually turning and grinding – this is a process that is slow, repetitive, meditative even.  I found it surprisingly therapeutic – though I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, as I find most activities in the kitchen relaxing (well, except dishes – dishes are evil).  I sat at my dining table (since I have like 0 counter-space), opened the window, and felt the breezes of the next Spring storm against my face, enjoying the last few bits of sunshine before the rain clouds rolled back in.  Oh and the aromas wafting up from the blending of all of the flavors was incredible!   Ground coriander seeds have a bright fresh, almost even lemony scent – add in some lemongrass, cilantro leaves, a little basil, and one ends up with bright fresh green flavors whose aromas fill the entire room.

The key to using a mortar & pestle is taking your time, and actually not using that much force.  I ground up salt/spices first before gradually adding in the wetter ingredients like onions, garlic, and the herbs – I think the salt/spices helped to act as an abrasive which aided me greatly when working with the other ingredients.  Oh and it’s also useful to mince everything up as finely as you can first – it’s a lot of chopping, but well worth it.  How did this compare to the jarred stuff?  It was more fresh, more vibrant, more full of flavor, and made for one heck of a curry sauce

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Read the rest of Thai Green Curry Paste (187 words)

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Yes it is the long awaited strawberry balsamic salad dressing!  This dressing is packed with flavor.  You don’t need a lot.  If you are the type to add 1/2 cup of dressing into your bowl and thickly coat all of your salad, this is not the dressing for [...]]]>

Yes it is the long awaited strawberry balsamic salad dressing!  This dressing is packed with flavor.  You don’t need a lot.  If you are the type to add 1/2 cup of dressing into your bowl and thickly coat all of your salad, this is not the dressing for you.  Here, a little bit goes a long way.

I first wrote about it last week after enjoying a great rainy (always rainy) weekend in Montreux looking at some beautiful Swiss mountains across the lake.  Now, Spring really is in full bloom, and I even got to see some sunshine today!  Sunshine seems to be a rare treat after such a long and gray Winter, and I am looking forward to actually enjoying being outside again.

I love that I can get fresh strawberries here in March/April.  One of the awesome things about living in Europe is that there exists a wide variety of climates in a relatively small area (compared to the US) – these strawberries came from Spain, which is about 500 miles (depending on where in Spain) from where I am.  In the States, that would be close enough for my old grocery store to put up a giant “Local!” sign, haha.  Not sure if I would call Spain “local”, but at least they weren’t shipped across continents.

Since I first mentioned about this, I’ve made it a few times, and I think I finally have the best balance of tart and sweet.  The great thing is, there is no exact science to dressing.  Usually I don’t even measure things, I just throw stuff together and whisk.  That’s really all you need to do as well.  I love that it goes well on a variety of salad toppings – my favorite way to enjoy this is to pair it with some rather salty salad fixings – I used some thinly sliced bündnerfleisch (a Swiss cured beef) in my salad, as the salty cured meat marries very well to the sweet & tart dressing.  Oh and those morel chips I made last week?  They are an absolutely perfect salad topper as well, along with some herbed chevre to adorn this salad.  Chevre is not a really salty cheese, but its mellow texture was a welcome contrast to the crunchy radishes and morel chips.  But then I could talk about morels forever – they always seem to somehow find a way to re-enter my thought processes, maybe because I am so happy that fresh ones are in abundance right now.  Someday I would love to figure out how to forage for my own, but until then I am quite content to buy them at the market.  But this post is about strawberries and dressing! Not morels.  I digress.  Gah, I always digress…..

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Sometimes it’s all about the little things, right?  Like this sweet apricot & yogurt mustard, intended to garnish my birthday celebration of roast lamb.  My memories of lamb growing up at various family functions always involved some sickly sweet mint jelly from a jar that I thought had [...]]]>

Sometimes it’s all about the little things, right?  Like this sweet apricot & yogurt mustard, intended to garnish my birthday celebration of roast lamb.  My memories of lamb growing up at various family functions always involved some sickly sweet mint jelly from a jar that I thought had no place near any meat I was ever going to eat, often emanating a radioactive green hue that made me wonder if I could somehow get it to glow in the dark instead of garnishing a roast lamb.  Needless to say, I’ve never really been able to get over that impression when it comes to mint jelly (though I’m sure if I tried a homemade version this impression could easily be altered), and so sought out something a little different to garnish my rack of lamb last weekend.  Actually, I stayed away from mint altogether, since I already had mint with the peas – I decided instead to embrace the sweeter flavor of the mustard/pistachio crust, and made a great little garnish that rivals any mint jelly.

Maybe I should call this a dip, because I could just as easily dip crackers into it as I could use it to garnish meat.  Either way, it was sweet and tangy, but not so potent that it overpowered the taste of the rich meat.  It was also incredibly easy to throw together – no cooking, just add everything to the food processor and mix.  You could use several different dried fruits here, I could easily see figs being used too – be a little adventurous, maybe you’ll find a great new flavor combination!

As for the chips, I was totally inspired by a 12 year old food blogger, who is super cute and created some of the most instructive cooking videos I have seen in a while – it just goes to show that cooking can be done at any age, and she is truly a great young talent!  She posted a video about making sage risotto that included a garnish of sage chips.  I took the idea one step further, and also made some morel chips out of fresh morels I got at the store this weekend.  I was seriously giddy inside when I saw that there were fresh morels available at the market.  If you haven’t noticed by now, I’m a bit of a mushroom nut and love cooking with all sorts of mushrooms.  Maybe I’m just a big fan of that umami element to food, or maybe mushrooms just freaking rock.

So how do fried morel chips taste?  Great – the frying really enhanced their flavor, and I love how they were so crunchy like chips.  I probably did not even have to salt them like I did the sage chips because they were so flavorful already.  But I liked the contrast of the fried salty savory of the chips against the sweet apricot and mustard yogurt.  I also liked how the textures contrasted as well, with crunchy chips complementing the smooth creamy yogurt mustard quite well.  And it all went with the lamb, even with the minted peas.  Thanks to a fantastic 12 year old cook for the inspiration!

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Read the rest of Apricot & Yogurt Mustard with Sage & Morel Chips (158 words)

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