When in Switzerland

I haven’t been anywhere this summer, so to treat myself, I decided to go see a friend in Switzerland.

I have to say that the country has stolen a piece of my heart. Cheese and chocolate, what else do I need?  Yesterday, was my last night in Basel and we decided to have cheese fondue at home!

 
I have had a lot of fondues in my life.. Like meat fondue, chocolate fondue or the Chinese fondue. Never really had cheese fondue until last night.

The classic dip for this would be bread, but I went a bit crazy.. I started googling ingridients that would be nice for dipping… No, unfortunately no nachos! On the table we have boiled cauliflower and new baby potatoes. Also have pears, cured sausage, pears and our main guest: bread.

You’ve guessed right, there was no cheese left behind.

We have bought ready grated cheese pack for fondue. I’ve done my research and the simple version seems to be from Neuchâtel, which only uses Emmantel and Gruyere. Add about 200ml of white wine – I cannot stress enough about this, but please use a wine that you would drink. If you wouldn’t drink that wine then why would you use it to cook and eat? To the wine, add two tablespoons of strong white flour or ideally cornstarch, once the mixture is warm, add the cheese and melt it. The consistency should be thick but a bit runny.

It’s the perfect social dish for winter.

Ana xx

Pecorino and Garlic Ramen Fries

Hello guys!

I have seen this recipe on BuzzFeed Food on Facebook and I had to try it!!

Cook two packets of ramen according to directions. If you’ve never cooked ramen before, then please crawl back to the whole you came from… I’m only joking.. But no.. Do follow instructions because you don’t want to overcook it!

After straining ramen in a colander, run cold water over it until noodles are cool. Once they have cooled down, whiskey eggs and seasoning packets together, and add in cold, strained ramen noodles. Mix the egg mixture in to evenly disperse.

Line in baking/foil sheet with plastic wrap, and dump your ramen egg mixture in. Mash the ramen into a tight, even layer and add another sheet of plastic wrap on top. Put something heavy on top to weight it down, this part is critical – it is important that you do this, otherwise the noodles will turn out loose when you fry them. Throw it in the freezer for 2 – 3 hours.

You should have a semi-frozen ramen brick, and now you can start cutting it into long rectangular shapes and fry them until pleasantly crispy and brown.

In a bowl, shave some pecorino cheese, you can use Parmesan if you like. Add some black pepper, garlic powder and dried parsley. Sprinkle this on top of the ramen fries when ready to eat.

I would definitely suggest you to try this at home! At least it would be a new way to cook your instant noodles.

Ana x

The Poutinerie – Field Day Festival

One of the great things about festivals are the various food stalls with good variety of cuisine.

For the first time, I’ve tried Poutine. Poutine  is a dish originating in Quebec, Canada, made with french fries, topped with a light brown gravy-like sauce and cheese curds.

The folks from The Poutinerie (check them our on twitter @ThePoutinerie ) were providing this lovely dish at the festival, and I must say they were one of the few stalls that caught my eye.

They serve two types of Poutine, the original for £5.00 which is chips, cheesecurd and gravy. And the other one that I ordered for £7.00 – Roast chicken and bacon Poutine, chips, cheesecurd, chicken, bacon and gravy… I must say that this really hit the spot for me.. I can imagine many variations of this dish.. Can’t wait to experiment in a few months!

Right, unfortunately I am going to do my atkins/ketogenic diet and cut off sugars and carbs.. I have put on a bit of weight the past few months.. So more potatoes or homemade pasta for me!

Wish me luck guys!!

Ana x

A Cheese Affair

Good Wednesday pals!

So everyone that knows me, knows I have a unhealthy obsession for cheese – cheese on everything pleeeeease!!

When it gets to almost the end of the month, you’d rather save those pennies and have a scavenger hunt in your cupboards!

I went away for Portugal for a week and completely forgot that I had black truffle oil laying around in my house.. Yes this is something that you can use and lift a dish up.

 Let me present to you:

Grilled cheese in truffle oil

 
Instead of buttering the outside parts of the bread, sprinkle a bit of the truffle oil – not too much because the taste can be overpowering! – grill that mofo’ until you can see the cheese inside oozing out. Now for the cheese, I used cheap cheese but if you can please take the time and go to your local fromagerie and ask for a mild child that melts easily – like Gruyere, manchego, Swiss, Haverti, provolone, etc..

When it’s time to serve, please do yourself a favor and sprinkle a bit of salt, pepper, smoked paprika and dried herbs (herbs de Provence should do).

Now, get off your seat, try it and thank me later!

Ana x