Spring beech and bluebell

 

今早有點陽光，到附近樹林走走，眼前一片青翠，山毛櫸beech 的嫩葉剛剛長出來，地面上bluebell 花才露臉，並未到盛放時段，已經是四月底了，這𥚃仍然似初春的樣子。

其實是自己未習慣季節而已，春季較遲，估計由三月中至六月初？因為參加一個本地組織，有春日聯誼聚餐，安排在六月六日，起初看到以為是弄錯日期或延遲了，現在看到樹林的生長速度，其實是冬季較長，春天姍姍遲來。

Vegetable gardening

Germinated indoor and planted seedlings inside green house in mid March, very successful and had the first round of harvest of little Pakchoi 鹤薮白菜 and cherry radishes.

Soon to harvest are Takchoi烏塌菜, Daikon and Kailan 芥蘭, and another month to wait for khol rabi and baby potatoes.

I have sown a second round of cherry radish and Pakchoi inside greenhouse. But it will soon be too hot for these cruciferous veg to grow inside greenhouse. So a second lot of seeds have been sown in propagators, to be planted in outdoor fields in May when weather is still cool enough.

daikon

Kailan

carrot and potato

second sowing of pakchoi and coriander

Takchoi, khol rabi and just harvested pakchoi,

Steamed fresh scallop on shell

 

Last of this season’s Connemara scallops on shell, delivered alive.
Seasoned with a little salt and a drizzle of olive oil, steam for 8 minutes, warm through medium rare, perfect texture and wonderful sweetness.

Sourdough baking

Got a sourdough starter working well following Maurizio’s The Perfect Loaf recipe. To keep it active, I have to remove daily most of the starter and feed it with water and flour. It is a small quantity of starter but I don’t want to waste it, so have been creating easy ways to use them up.

Sourdough pancake is one, just add flour and water to the quantity needed, prepare pancake as usual.

Sourdough focaccia - add flour water, salt and a little olive oil, let is rise in a baking dish brushed with olive oil, spread herbs on top, brush with olive oil. When risen, bake until golden.

Sourdough Grissini - add flour, water and salt, knead and shape into long sticks, let it risen. Grate cheese on top and bake until golden.

Grilled lake trout fillets

It is simple and easy to prepare, ensuring very moist flesh. 

1.Season fillets with salt, rest in fridge for a day, the flesh will become firmer.
2.In a baking dish, place cut pieces of butter at the bottom, sprinkle cut up chives, place fillets flesh side down. Grill at 220˚C for 8 minutes.

Grilled lake trout rib cage

 

I love the juicy flesh around belly and fin muscles.
Fisherman brought back trouts from the lake, filleting was not done well, but not a problem, no wasting of food in my household.
Season with salt and bake, enough for a meal for two.

Mixed vegetavle sourdough pancake

 

The vegetable garden is starting to have harvest, in small quantities, fennel, water cress, leek and radish.
Thought of this simple way to turn them into a presentable dish, chop up stir-fry until just soft, add sesame and seasoning, pour in sour dough batter, cook until set.

Madrid 5 days tour

Spent 3 days in Madrid, visiting sites and wandering around town, day trips to Toledo and Aranjuez by train, both worthwhile with different characters.

My favorite spots in Mardrid:

Plaza Mayor - huge space and very lively, lots of restaurants, great to have a drink to rest the feet and people watching.

Royal Palace - every room is sumptuously decorated. 

Retiro Park - immense park and lake, well lay out

Royal Botanical garden - Good size with a lot of plants and trees, well labeled.

Caixa Forum Museum Vertical Garden - beautiful outdoor vertical wall filled with many different flowering plants. 

CentroCentro - a renovated palace converted into artist studios, exhibition spaces, free entry, good view from 8/F

Mercado San Miguel - old market converted into stylish food hall, good selection of beautifully prepared local and international dishes, in small portions, and cook to order seafood. Packed full at meal times. 

Museo de Illusion - great fun for all ages!

Flamenco show - Teatro Alfil, small theatre dedicated to flamenco, 2 shows per day, great dancing, guitar and singing, full of energy and emotion. 

 

Best tapas restaurant - Vinitus at Gran Via 6, a big restaurant with classic tapas and daily tapas for fresh seasood and seasonal ingredients, with display counter of seafood available. Good execution, light seasoning, well presented, a tasty meal very value for money.

Lemon yogurt cake

 

 

 Very easy to make and gluten free, not that I needed gluten free, but I do like the low flour (carbohydrate) aspect.

300gm Greek yogurt (very thick)

3 eggs

33 gm cornstarch

juice of one lemon

honey/sugar to sweeten

1. Whisk the eggs, add the other ingredients and mix well, a liquid batter.

2. Pour into baking tray lined with baking paper, bake at 170˚ for an hour.

3. The cake will puff up while baking and deflate when cooling down. Serve cold, on its own or with raspberry coulis.

Ray cheek

 

 

Fishmonger sent me a pack of fish cheeks to taste, I assume it is Monkfish cheeks which are common in France and Spain. 

Season with salt and pepper for half a day, mix with minced wild garlic and added sliced chorizo to flavor it. 

Cover with  shredded potatoe, sesame, desiccated coconut and cheese, bake unitl golden, around 40 minutes. 

 Easy to please, meaty and no bones, meat stays reasonably moist . 

After checking that I liked it, he said that they were actually ray cheeks, as he had a big delivery of rays last week. They were more time comsuming to remove than monkfish, whick is already hard work. He made the effort not wanting to throw them away, hence I had the chance to eat my first ray cheeks. 

Evening colour

 

前天，終於全日大太陽，天朗氣清。
黃昏在戶外木柴慢烤雞，看落日霞色變幻，似一幕幕藍調水墨畫。

 

 

Rib eye rim meat

In the butcher in Croom, he slaughters his female cow at around 26 months old. Being a smaller size female, the rib eye is not that big, and I normally buy the rim of meat around it, which is equally marbly. 

I like to ask the butcher to remove this part as a piece, then cut the rib eye part into steaks, instead of cutting them together into steaks. In which case the rim part always fall apart from rib eye part during cooking.

I cut this rib eye rim meat into slices, season with salt, black pepper and rice wine, and cook on plancha. Nice rich beef flavour.

Cherry radish

Sow in March inside polytunnel, germinated well and ready to harvest in a month’s time. The leaves are tender enough to cook like any green leafy vegetable.

Vegetable seedlings

 

在香港带來的種子, 第一次種鶴藪白菜和塌菜，原來細細過已經有那形相。

 

而芥蘭修長苗條，三歲定八十

Vegetale seedlings

 

 

 

 

Seeds sowed in warm barthroom in boxes in early March, has germinated and planted into propagators in green house. Then by early April, they are big enough to be planted in polytunnel. It is great to see growth and progress, the invigorating spirit of Spring.