At last

We are leaving for France tomorrow, for a well deserved holiday. The image above shows the garden as viewed from the house and I wish I could just skip over the three days of travel ahead of us and just will us there now!

I am not sure if I will be able to post, since there is only dial-up available, but I will try my best.
In the meantime, because my brain is too empty to do anything beyond packing (and for 5 people, so YAY brain!) all I can leave you with is telling you to go click through my blogroll, leave comments here (or there) and expect me back with more food, stories and a possibly improved mood in three weeks!

Parents know best

Growing up, I always had the chance to have both my parents cook for us kids (and for themselves, of course!); but Saturday lunches were always (and still are) the meal most frequently cooked by my father.

The three staples of this lunch — egg, potatoes and fresh mushrooms — are always combined and served in a different form. His ultimate variation is his french-fries, which he serves with eggs sunny side up. And I am not even lying when I tell you that those fries are cut by hand, matchstick thin, and fried in a real deep-frying pot, not a machine. They are the most perfect fries ever, and I will never be able to cook them this way, because I am terrified of deep frying (Sorry to disappoint).

Another variation is ‘pommes de terre sautées’ (diced potatoes with mushrooms and parsley), and scrambled eggs. I know how to cook those eggs, because he taught me how, and told me the secret. The secret, my friends, to soft, fluffy, scrambley scrambled eggs is: DO.NOT.SKIMP.ON.THE.BUTTER.EVER. And always stop cooking the eggs, as soon as you think that they are just starting to look like they are coming together. But mainly, just use lots of butter, and you scrambled eggs will never be watery or gummy, or dry again, as the often are at any buffet or brunch place. ewww.
So, today our lunch was eggs and mushrooms, quite like any other Saturday lunch in my life. Nothing to see, business as usual!

Scrambled Eggs with Sauteed Mushrooms

prep time: 5 min/each cooking time 15 min total

1 frying pan, 1 saucepan with a heavy bottom

For the Mushrooms

1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp butter
250 g fresh mushrooms
1 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley

Quickly rinse the mushrooms under cold water (there is no evidence, that they will retain water if they are rinsed as oposed to brushed clean). Slice them as thinly as you like

In a frying pan, melt the butter together with the olive oil and add the mushrooms. Cook at medium heat, stirring until the mushrooms start to soften and all the water has evaporated. Add the chopped parsley and reserve.

Scrambled Eggs

serves three

1 tbsp butter
6 eggs

Crack the eggs in a mixing bowl and gently swirl them togther to break up the yolk. Don’t beat them like crazy. In a your heavy bottomed saucepan, melt the butter at medium heat. When about half of it has melted, add the eggs. Wait for a light layer to form at the bottom of your pan, than keep gently scraping and swirling the eggs together, until all the eggs have somewhat cooked, but still look very shiny and runny. Turn off the heat, keep gently scraping and stirring. Serve.

Serve the two together, with or without bread and potatoes.

Bright Eyed and Bushy Tailed

Will you believe me if I tell you that it is currently just before 6 am, and that I have already been up for half an hour? This, by the way, is in no means due to my otherwise highly energetic nature, but rather to the fact that my little twins B. and B. (obviously not Brendon and Brenda, they are boys) are both working out their standing skills. And they both seem to believe it’s a good idea to be up bright eyed and bushy tailed at the crack of dawn. Me, not so much.

L. and I have decided to take the fall every other day, in the firm belief that this too shall pass. Today seems to be my day so here I am bleary eyed, malcoiffed and ready to share with you a lovely salad, that I would make again in a heartbeat, if I had the right ingredients on hand. For once, I don’t believe in substitution!

As an aside, I was going to share my recipe for High Tea, scones, cucumber sandwiches, radish sandwiches and meringues. Since my scones are the same ones as these, and the sandwiches are pretty easy (thinly slice cucumbers or radishes, butter some white bread with (salted) butter, spread with the thin slices of the vegetable of your choice, cut off the crust, cut the bread diagonally in four parts, serve), and ultimately since pretty much every picture of the lovely High Tea table, set all in shades of pink and the even lovelier company, was flawed to due the eminent presence of a jar of baby food at every shot (Note to self: remember your father’s adivce and always remove bottles and jars out of photos of tables!). I abstain in favor of this lemony lima bean, zucchini and chickpea salad.

Lemony Lima Bean, Zucchini and Chickpea Salad

adapted from the Martha Stewart website
prep time: 10 min

300 g lima beans, fresh or frozen
1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 small zucchini
juice of one big lemon
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp of basil
1 tbsp of parsley
Parmesan to taste
olive oil
salt and pepper

Blanch the lima beans (or cook them if they are fresh) until they are just tender: 6 min for frozen, half the time for fresh beans. Blanch the zucchini for about 2 min. Toss togther with the chickpeas in a salad bowl. Add the lemon juice, olive oil, parsley, basil, salt and pepper. Toss to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste.