the 'hay'-box and sizing down (not that they are connected as such)

hello there, it s been a while...

summer, or whatever we should call that rainy july and superhot august, has once again made way for autumn, which, with a few exceptional showers, has been wonderfully crisp and fresh.

meanwhile, Sam and i have gone on cycling trips, like we have been doing the past few years, but with new foldable bikes... so we were able to explore further and see more than we had before... our other bicycles only allowed us to start from home, cycle 30-35 kms at the most and then we had to make the return trip in order to get home and feed the cat!

but now, we were able to load up our new bikes in the car, drive to the seaside, or to Zeeland, to Gent, Leuven...

Belgium is such a small country and it s so easy to travel around by car, but i can definitely say that there is some beautiful countryside out there that most of us city-people just miss... mainly because it s nothing to go from point A to point B on the myriads of highways we have here.

one thing tho, cycling is tough when you re too heavy.

the past ten years my weight has gone steadily up and up and up... and getting more and more interested in food and cooking and eating and blogging hasn t helped at all. yikes!

sure, i was feeling all good, even had a check-up in the beginning of the year, and my liver is working as it should, my sugar-levels are normal, my cholesterol is perfect (the doc even seemed a bit surprised... i think he expected me to have loads of problems)...

but the cycling; i knew i shouldn t be getting so tired, not out of breath exactly, but just tired, so we stopped often, usually my excuse would be that i had to take loads of pics.

then we watched 'The Hairy Bikers Dieters' (we ve been huge fans of these guys since they first started out) and both Sam and i knew we had to change our eating habits as well.
anybody who follows some great tv-chefs and programmes on the BBC must also have noticed that our fave wine expert Olly Smith and diva-cook Nigella Lawson have shed quite a few kilos too?

so, we started, not by following a fad diet, not cutting out on anything (well, some things like too much sugar and fats and alcohol had to go), but eating everything, just in smaller portions (god, the portions we used to have!).

that s what we ve been doing the past few weeks.

i have banned Coca-Cola, i quit putting sugar in my coffee and tea, i use maybe about two-thirds less fat when cooking, we make spritzers of our wine, have one cookie instead of five, upped our veggie intake even more (we do love our veg), more than halved our consumption of meats...
and instead of having a baguette with an omelet in the morning, i make myself a smoothie with a half a cup of frozen raspberries, a cup each of frozen mango and frozen pineapple, a cup of water and half a cup of apple juice (i hate bananas...). i don t drink this in all in one go... but have a little all thru the morning, and then not even every day, but usually on a friday, which i call my special treats day. and on top of that, i ve quit grazing... my true downfall.
Sam s secret apparently is having porridge during the day... but he eats everything i make for dinner.

Sam also made us a hay-box inspired by something we saw on Wartime Farm...
believe me, this box is a wonder! whenever i m making a one-pot meal now, i just prepare all the ingredients, start it on our cooker, and once it has been boiling for about 5-10 minutes, i put my pot into the box, and leave it for a mininum of two to three hours to cook. and yes, i mean cook, the pot comes out of the box piping hot, and the food is cooked to a tee! since Sam and i both have busy evenings, knowing that we ll have a hot dinner without too much hassle when we can finally sit down to eat, is great, and i hope that a lower gas bill will soon also be a bonus.

yesterday, i didn t use my hay-box since what i had planned was simplicity itself, again inspired by another of my favorite chefs: Mr. Nigel Slater.

he has a new show on and i just couldn t resist making one of his recipes my own (and perhaps a tiny bit healthier? sorry Mr. Slater)

MAGRET DE CANARD (or duck breast) with BEANS and VEGGIES:

INGREDIENTS:

1 duck breast of about 300 gr
1 can of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 can of borlotti beans, drained and rinsed
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
4 spring onions, sliced
about 20 cherry tomatoes, halved (did you know 1 cherry tomato is about 1 calorie?... woah!)
1 tablespoon dried sariette (or winter savory)
sea-salt and black pepper

METHOD:

1. score the fatty skin of the duck breast diagonally
2. lay the breast skin-side down in a frying pan and fry on a gentle heat, you ll see the fat come out (like crazy, there s so much, but it s one of the healthiest fats around, very good for your heart and cholesterol... seriously) and while the skin becomes crispy, just tilt the excess fat into a small bowl (keep it for roast potatoes or something!)
3. when the skin is golden and crispy, turn the breast and brown the other side
4. give it about 5 minutes, again, a gentle heat, and when the breast is about rare to medium done, take it out and leave it to rest
5. meanwhile, leave about a small tablespoon of fat in the pan, and fry the chopped garlic, taking care not to brown them, add the tomatoes and the chopped spring onion and gently fry until softened, then add the beans and winter savory (this is an almost forgotten herb, but a wonder with beans - helps keep that horrible windiness, yes you know what i mean, away) with a bit of water (Mr. Slater uses marsala wine, which i thought might jeopardize the diet) and warm thru.
6. slice the duck breast, warm thru with the beans and serve...

seriously, seriously delish... as i m sure the version with marsala wine would be too, but hey, a few sacrifices...

wish us luck, we hope to reach our target weight by next year! i did say... hope...

Vietnamese style spring rolls

there are so many things to do and so little time.

could it be because i am now past 45 that everything seems more urgent? there used to be a time when i wasn t in such a hurry. or is it only because of this day and age we live in now? everything needs to be done more quickly, and a lot more of it in less time. the need also, to be connected with, well, everything if at all possible.

and here i am, blogging, about food, about my jewellery, twittering or tweeting (whatever it s called now), facebooking (is that a word?) etc.

and yet i m loving it. i love being able to see what the rest of the world is up to. although the news, more often than not, isn t great. it s keeping up with the little things; a friend celebrating her 23rd anniversary being married to the same man, another friend having a baby, still another becoming a grandmother. seeing my son growing up and slowly putting one step in front of the other into his own life and new experiences.

i also love having this medium to learn new things, about other cultures... naturally, about other food cultures.

and how it s important sometimes, to stand back, breathe, and slow down. taking time to prepare something you know is just going to be good. clean and pure.

i was inspired by a recipe i found in White on Rice Couple for Vietnamese spring rolls. being half Japanese and half Belgian myself, any amalgamation of flavors always intrigues me... so i had a go.

VIETNAMESE SPRING ROLLS:

INGREDIENTS:

2 chicken breasts (skinned and boned)

for the marinade:
1 thumbsize piece of ginger, grated
2 cloves of garlic, grated
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
1 tablespoon of honey
1 tablespoon of yuzu juice, or lime juice

1 small cucumber, cut into matchsticks about 5cm long
3 carrots, peeled, cut into fine matchsticks about 5cm long
5 stalks of spring onion, cut into 3cm pieces, lightly blanched
100 gr mungbean sprouts, lightly blanched
2 tomatoes, peeled, deseeded and cut into petals
some iceberg lettuce leaves, torn into manageable pieces
a handful of mixed herbs (i used coriander, mint and dill), roughly chopped

for the dipping sauce:
3 tablespoons of mayonnaise
1 tablespoon of tahini or toasted sesame paste
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
1 teaspoon of fish sauce
1 very small chilli, finely chopped

sheets of Vietnamese rice paper

METHOD:

1. begin by mixing the soy sauce, yuzu or lime juice, honey, garlic and ginger for the marinade.
2. make some diagonal cuts in both sides of the chicken breasts and marinate for about an hour or longer if you like
3. prepare all the vegetables and place them in different bowls
4. heat the oven to maximum and place a baking sheet covered in aluminium foil in the oven to also heat up
5. once everything is prepared, place the chicken breasts on the baking sheet and grill/bake for about 15-20 minutes
6. once ready, slice into strips and keep warm
7. mix all the ingredients for the dipping sauce, let it down with a little water if too thick, it needs to be a little runny
8. the rice sheets just need to soften in some water (not more than 20 seconds) and then filled with whatever one fancies from the vegetable assortment and the chicken
9. roll, dip and eat

again, in this stressful world, taking a moment to stop and savour the surrounding air, or in this case, experiencing wonderfully new flavors, has become very important to me.

and i m taking my time...

another Belgian summer s day and bbq chicken

this morning, around 8.15 am, at work.

my colleague calls me to the window and points to the sky.

wow! so glad i had my camera with me. what an amazing cloud formation.

we d had a real humid and hot day yesterday, but today the forecast was grim, and it certainly looked like we were going to have a crasher of a summer s storm...

but no... by early afternoon, the sun had burned away the clouds, and the humidity had risen again, it felt tropical. in Belgium! i could almost imagine myself back in Japan, where summers are hot and humid, and airconditioning is really necessary if one doesn t want to melt (not good for climate change, i know, but still).

so by the time i was on my way home in the evening, the temperature had soared to 34°C! (i really had to take a picture of the thermometer in my car to prove this)

and even tho the weathermen were still adamant that a tropical storm, well, a lot of rain and thunder and lightning, was on its way, i was totally determined to have Sam light our new little bbq because i wanted chicken. just some marinated chicken with some salad and some bread, nothing more. not too much to ask, right?

so i bought some chicken thighs, all the while thinking what marinade i might use, and i had to think of one of my friends suggestion on FB : yuzu juice, garlic and olive oil.

as i d bought that 'yuzu tea' last weekend, i wanted to use that too. don t ask me why, it just seemed right.

MARINADE FOR CHICKEN (or fish or veal or pork...)

6 tablespoons of yuzu juice
1 tablespoon of yuzu tea
4 cloves of garlic, grated
1 thumbsize piece of fresh ginger, grated
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
a good pinch of salt and a grinding of black pepper
2 tablespoons groundnut oil

mix together and rub into meat.
marinate for at least half an hour, if possible, longer.

throw onto the bbq and grill until caramelized.

smoking!

as i mentioned, nothing more than a salad and some bread went with this.

Sam said it was the best darn bbq-ed chicken he had had in a long long time. (he would do, seeing as he was in charge of the grilling!)

but...YAY! (seeing as i made the marinade!)

and then...

it rained! it thundered, it lightninged (i know this isn t proper English, sorry, i like to make up words)! it was great!

ps. that friend i mentioned, she s Ms. Monday Michiru... and her songs make me happy too.

chicken ballotine with tomato sauce and couscous

last night i just couldn t think what i would make for dinner. usually, especially on school nights (when i need to be there on time), i try to make one-pot meals, quick and easy.

but yesterday i did have some time, and it had been a while since i d made something with chicken, so i came up with this.

i call it a ballotine, let me check if i was correct, because i just made up this recipe with what i had on hand... just checked, it is what it is, some might just call this stuffed chicken breasts though... oh well.

here s how i made mine:

INGREDIENTS:

for the ballotine:
2 chicken breasts, de-boned and skinned
100 gr ricotta cheese
1 clove garlic, crushed
300 gr young spinach
salt, pepper and nutmeg
olive oil and butter

for the tomato sauce:
4 tomatoes, cut into cubes
100 ml tomato passata
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
splash of water
splash of vermouth (i used Noilly Prat)
salt and pepper
pinch of sugar
some chopped parsley

for the couscous:
100 gr couscous
boiling water
tablespoon of butter

METHOD:

1. start by wilting the spinach leaves in a little olive oil, set aside to cool
2. mix the crushed garlic with the ricotta cheese, add the cooled spinach, and season with salt, pepper and some grated nutmeg
3. wrap the chicken breasts between cling-film and beat down to about 5mm thickness
4. spoon on some filling (i was able to use exactly half for one filet and half for the other) and roll into a sausage shape
5. most ballotine recipes call for the chicken to be wrapped tightly in clingfilm and poached in stock, but i wrapped mine in aluminium foil (i m sure cling would be fine too) and steamed the rolls for about 20 minutes
6. meanwhile sauté the onions and the garlic, then add the chopped tomatoes, the passata, water and vermouth, leave to simmer for about ten minutes, then season with salt, pepper and a pinch of sugar
7. for a very quick couscous, put the grains in a heatproof bowl, top up with boiling water until just covered and cover with clingfilm, leave to swell for about 10 minutes, then fork it through until the grains are separated (at this point you could add herbs, chopped onion, tomato, cucumber... but i kept it simple by just adding some salt, pepper and chopped parsley)
8. when the chicken has finished steaming (or poaching), unwrap and flash it in a pan with some butter (i do this because i think otherwise it looks a bit anaemic, the choice is yours)
9. plate up and enjoy!

ps. yesterday i did steam the chicken for a bit too long (i gave it more than half an hour) so it came out a little dry, but 15-20 minutes should suffice, depending on the thickness of the ballotine

now i have to start thinking about what to make for tonight! never-ending story, but i think about food all the time anyway ;-)

magret de canard my stylie

yesterday i didn t have much left in my fridge except for some celery and some red onions... yes, yes, i did have Japanese shortgrain rice too, but i always do have a lot of dry goods in my larder... anyway, so not much re fresh veggies.

however, i had a serious craving for duck breast, and since my taste buds are still suffering a bit, i needed something that had enough flavor, so i came up with this:

INGREDIENTS:

1 nice big piece of magret de canard or 2 small ones, approx. 600 grams
4 or 5 celery sticks, cut into 2 cm pieces
1 large red onion, sliced
3 garlic cloves, sliced very thinly
1 tablespoon groundnut oil
4 tablespoons soysauce
3 tablespoons mirin (Japanese cooking wine)
2 tablespoons Shaoxing rice wine
1 tablespoon sweet chili sauce
some ground black pepper

METHOD:

score the skin/fatty side of your duck breast
heat your wok WITHOUT any oil until nearly smoking and start frying the duck breast skin side down
you will notice there will be a lot of fat coming out of the duck breast, discard before this starts to burn
once the skin is crispy, turn the duck breast over and leave to cook for about 3 minutes... then take the breast out to rest (it will still be raw in the middle, but that s fine, because it will be added to the cooked veggies and left to cook a little longer)
clean out the wok with some kitchen paper so as not to leave any burnt bits from frying the duck breast
add a little groundnut oil and start stir-frying the onions, then add the celery pieces, the garlic and the seasoning... turn the heat on low and cover... leave to steam for about five minutes until the celery is just al dente
slice the duck and add to the vegetables, leave to cook for another 2 minutes and serve with a steaming bowl of rice

i was very pleased with the result, seeing as i could taste every ingredient... i m guessing you could try this with carrots and onions, different kinds of mushrooms... quick and simple