Double Baked Gruyere Souffle

Now we go with a really nice Vegetarian starter, but something that is not really Vegetarian because everybody likes it. The Souffle can be made in advance and then just baked again in the oven, even so I like it just after the first baking. I like to serve it on mushroom sauce, just go give it even more richness, but you can as well use some nice tomato and basil sauce or simply serve it with a fresh garden salad, the possibilities are endless

300 ml (10 oz) Milk
40 g (1.5 oz) Butter
40 g (1.5 oz) Flour
3 ea Egg Yolk
120 g (4 oz) Gruyere Cheese
5 ea Egg White

Pre-heat the oven to 210 C
Warm the milk and reserve

Melt butter in a heavy bottom pan, add the flour and mix, fry on low heat for 2 to 3 minutes to make a white Roux

Add gradually the warm milk, mixing well after each addition to ensure the mixture reminds smooth

Add the egg yolk, mix well and return to the heat, bring the mix to a boil and cook for one minute

Add the cheese and season to your taste, mix till the cheese is melted

Beat the egg white till soft peak, then fold one third of the egg white carefully under the cheese mix until well combine and fluffy, then add the rest and fold in carefully.

Butter ramekin mold and then fill them with the cheese mix to nearly the top

Bake for about 20 minutes or till firm

Either serve the souffle directly, or cool down and then bake again when needed. Sprinkle with cheese just before serving.

The mushroom sauce on the photo is optional

Rhubarb Jam

I am cooking jam, I have done it a couple of times before and love it. I know you might say that a professional chef is not cooking jam, that sound more like what house wives do. But I love cooking jam and I love having a really nice jam on my bread. Like this the morning already starts good. A nice cup of coffee and some fresh bread with loads of butter and jam......healthy? No, good? YES!!!!

I don't have it every day, it is more like a treat, but to have a good jam on the bread is something really nice, something one has to savor. So I am doing jams that are a bit different to what one buys in the shops. So this rhubarb jam is not just rhubarb and sugar, no there is vanilla in it and some star anise, just to give it more flavor.

What is important is that the rhubarb gets cleaned properly. Young rhubarb is OK, but when it gets older and the stems thicker, they have veins running just under the skin and they are pretty tough so we don't want them. Easiest is to take a paring knife and just pull them out from both sides, top and bottom of the rhubarb. This is easily don, insert a little cut just about half a millimeter under the skin on the bottom of the rhubarb, press your thumb against the knife so that the strings are pressed between thumb and knife, and then pull them down, similar of like you would clean a bean or sugar snap

So here we go

Recipe

1 Kg Rhubarb

1 Kg Sugar

1 Ea Vanilla pod

2 Ea Star anise

Method

De-vein the rhubarb (take out the hard strings with a knife). Cut the rhubarb in slices. Mix all incredients in a heavy based pot. Bring quickly to the boil Boil till the jam thickens a bit. Make a taste in the fridge to see that the jam stes nicely. Pour in sterilized jam jars. Keep closed for a week to 10 days to allow the flavors to develop

New Zealand, Napier

Port of Napier

We are sailing along the Coast of New Zealand and have stopped in Napier, a beautiful and quiet town on the North Island. Napier is special because after a devastating earthquake in 1931 nearly the entire town was rebuilt, so now one can find one of the best collections of buildings of the Art Deco era. There are only two places on earth with such substance that is Miami South Beach and then here in Napier.

We were lucky that at this time of the year there are many cars exhibited from the same time, so it really gives a good feel, walking through the main road and seeing these vintage cars driving around and people dressed up in the clothes of that time.

Napier and the Art Deco Houses

We went to s little coffee shop for a nice bite to eat. It was vibrant and light, the food was very reasonably priced and very good.We had two sandwiches, a toasted chicken and cheese....ham was out and a pizza sandwich with mozzarella, tomato and basil. There are so many places one can eat, just lovely.

We loved walking along the beach and just explore this little town a bit, it has so much to offer, but mainly all these buildings are amazing, it is a bit like time stood still.

Tourism is big here in Napier, I have seen a lot of back packing and a lot of mini buses picking up and dropping off Backpackers. It is the ideal place to stay if you want to explore the wine region of Hawkes Bay a bit. The wines are absolutely amazing, not just the Sauvignon Blanc, for which New Zealand is so famous, but many more. I love the Pinot Noir here, a stunner, typical New World, but because the temperatures are so moderate, it is the perfect weather for these grapes

Two oldies, but both still looking very crisp!

Butternut Soup with Cinnamon

Let's say, it is winter....which in many parts of the world it is, and a very cold one on top of it ( I am in mid Summer in New Zealand at the moment and the temperatures are very nice. So now in this cold winter, I like to make a heart warming soup and Butternut or Butternut Squash is a perfect vegetable to make a lovely winter soup.

Of course one can take just Pumpkin, but I prefer the taste of the Butternut, not that it really matters as a soup, but when using it as a vegetable I think Butternut is just a bit finer, more subtle. It is easier to peel as well, the Pumpkin has a very thick skin, the Butternut a bit less, so it does go easier with the peeling

But now comes the first little twist of all the readers who are in hot areas like me, this soup is delicious when served cold, so it is not really just a winter soup. When I serve the Butternut Soup cold, I like to add a little bit of freshly pressed orange juice and zests, just to give it a bit more of a tang.

Then I like to combine a bit sweetness to it, I always caramelize the Butternut (or Pumpkin) with a little sugar, then add some orange and cinnamon, it really gives a warm feeling when the soup is finished.

Recipe
1 Each Butternut
1 Each Onion
50 G Butter
 40 G Sugar
5 G Salt
2 G Pepper
5 G Cinnamon
500 Ml Water

350 Ml Cream

Method

Peel and de-pip the butternut and cut in 1 cm cubes Peel the onion and cut in julienne Saute the butternut and onions with butter and sugar in a pot without color. Add salt, pepper and cinnamon and sautée futher until the water gets drawn out of the butternut. Simmer for 10 min Add the cream and simmer for further 15 min Blend, strain and season to taste. Makes about 1 Liter of soup

New Zealand, Lyttleton

Lyttleton, a quiet, lovely town

Nobody really knows about Lyttleton, it is just a sleepy little town that suffered like the rest of the region from the devastating earth quake last year. But maybe you know better where I am when I tell you for which city this town is the main port.....Christchurch. Now everybody knows where I am, we sailed up the coast of New Zealand and are now in Christchurch....sorry Lyttleton. Christchurch is actually just on the other side of the mountain, 20 minutes drive from here.

Being a turn around day, we had of course loading. So for a couple of hours everybody helps with carrying the boxes, loads of them as after Antarctica the ship is pretty empty in the stores. Even so we have now only a 8 day golf cruises ahead, there is still a lot to be loaded. Being on such a small ship, everything is done by hand, there are no folk lifts putting whole pallets in the ship like on the big ones I was on before, no, here the chef stands outside and we inspect the quality and then the boxes get handed over in a long line all the way to the stores,

Winsome and me, she is my favorite supplier

One of our best suppliers, and by far my favorite one, is based here in Lyttleton. It is Winsome Dormer from Independent Providores. I have never seen someone more dedicated and really going out of the way to find the best products for us, looking after us and being there basically 24/7. Winsome has a fantastic team and we all went out for dinner that night, something I have rarely time, but as the guest only embarked the next day, we took the time and were treated royally

Winsome is our supplier since many years and I have never seen anybody working so hard to make sure we get exactly what we need. Her and her team have sourced organic edible flowers, Kiwi Berries, even Ice Carvings for us. It has been such a pleasure to have her and her team making sure that we only got the best quality ingredients

We went to a restaurant called Freeman's. It has just been re opened after the earth quake and has been beautifully decorated. The food was up to par with the rest of the restaurant, it was beautifully presented and tasted fantastic. We had some Antipasti for the table, one of them was stuffed and deep fried Zucchini Flowers filled with Ratatouille and Ricotta.

Then the main course was either the slow braised pork cheeks with creamed potatoes or roasted Akaroa Salmon with Tortellini, both dishes were delicious.

 We had a fantastic evening, it is just great to get to meet your supplier, as the whole office team came as well, so now there is not just a cold email, but there is a face and a voice behind it. We visited the offices too, so now I even know where the email comes from, it makes the purchasing so much easier, to know the person and to have a real personal contact, something that is very difficult to have on ships

Brazo de Mercedes

We are going sweet again, very sweet I have to say and I love it. I am a sucker for sweet desserts and this dessert is sweet, very sweet. For this reason I will actually give you 2 recipes, one is the original Brazo De Mercedes and the other one is slightly changed, I added a bit Passion fruit juice that gives it a bit of an edge and instead of Condense milk I make a Vanilla Custard, like this it is not as sweet anymore, hehehe, but still sweet.

This is another Cake from Philippines, so after the Buko Pie and the Sansrival, this is already my 3rd cake on the Blog that comes from this beautiful Country. There are so many more recipes and I am slowly getting them all together to have a nice recipe collection of Pinoy Recipes

The Brazo De Mercedes is actually very easy to make, but it needs a little timing with the baking of the Meringue as you don't want it to dry out, so take the time and check your oven often, you want it baked, but not too much color, that is really important. The Meringue must be nice and moist that it can easily be rolled later with the filling on it.

Now here the Recipes

Original Brazo De Mercedes

12 ea Egg White

300 g Sugar

50 g Corn Starch

1 Tin Condense Milk

20 ea Egg Yolks

Method

For the Meringue whisk egg white with one quarter of the sugar to soft peak, then add the rest slowly, beating it all the time. Ad the end mix the corn starch with some sugar and add it too.

Spread the mix on a baking tray with a non stick mat on it (Flexipan) then bake in the oven at 160 C for about 10 minutes

Cool the Meringue down

Mix the condense Milk with the eggs and beat in a bain marie till very thick and creamy

Pour on top of the meringue, roll tightly and cool in the fridge till completely cold

Passion Fruit Brazo De Mercedes

12 ea Egg White
300 g Sugar
50 g Corn Starch

1 Tin Passion fruit concentrate
12 ea Egg Yolks
350 ml Cream
0.5 ea Vanilla Bean
10 g Corn Starch
50 g Sugar

Bring the Passion fruit concentrate to a boil, take off the heat. Add the sugar first, then all the other ingredients.

Put the filling back on the heat and bring to a boil. The corn starch will prevent the eggs from curdling, but the mix needs to boil up, just briefly to activate the corn starch

Then pour on top of the Meringue, roll tightly and cool in the fridge till completely cold.

Fresh Mussels

How often have you eaten fresh mussels....and how often have you actually cooked fresh mussels? Most of us don't dare to do fresh mussels, but then it is actually so easy to prepare and so delicious to eat. I cook mussels regularly and enjoy it tremendously. It is so quickly done and succsess is nearly guaranteed.

There are of course different mussels, thee are the normal black mussels, widely used in Europe and other places. The are a bit smaller, but also delicious in taste.

But now being in New Zealand, I get the fresh Green Lip mussels. They are very similar in taste, but a bit bigger and ...of course green. Not the meat, no, when that is green then the best thing to do is run, run fast, because then they are off, no it is the shell that is slightly green. But when you have these fresh mussels, just simply cooked like you will with this recipe, they are absolutely delicious.

Here is what you need

1.5 kg Mussels, black, fresh, cleaned

150 g Onion Julienne

150 g Carrot Julienne

150 g Leek Julienne

Garlic, sliced

Butter

White wine (Chardonnay)

Pernod

Salt, Pepper

Method

Heat butter till starting to foam, then add the mussels and vegetables at one go

Mix properly, then add white wine and Pernod, season

Cook covered for 2 to 3 minutes, then stir

Cook for another 3 minutes, stir again, taste, season if necessary

Serve immediately with either baguette or garlic bread

Nuffnang Blog Survey

What is he writing about a Nuffnang Blog Survey, what is that, what is Nuffnang?

It is easy, Nuffnang is a company that helps Bloggers like me to put some advertising on the Blog, but not just any advertising, that is the key, they want to make sure that the right advertising is on the right Blog. There is not much use that there is an Ad on my Blog for Hair wash products or  baby products, but something that has to do with food and travel. Now, this little Blog here is actually a sponsored post by Nuffnang, yes that is right. It is the first time that I write a "sponsored" post. I am sure there are plenty of Bloggers out there doing that, it is just not always advertised like I just did here

And the survey made exactly that, plenty of questions about me and my Blog, I tell you, plenty, but at the end of the day, this is a good thing as I want to make sure the Ads are corresponding to my article. And I do like that a company cares about ME and doesn't just give me the cold stats of how much I have earned....the bits and pieces as most of us are not getting rich with advertising, but it is just fun having it on the Blog. So the questions of course included my age, normal income, the usual, but then the questions were really specific about what I write, so I am sure when they have finished getting all the results, the already great service I receive will be even better

So, there we are, I am writing this article that is not really related to what I usually write, but  on the other hand it is related.

Nuffnang is mainly active in Asia and Asia is big and there are many Asian living all over the world like I live in Asia, Philippines to be exact. I love it here, the food is amazing, the country beautiful and the people some of the friendliest I have met so far. Originally it has started in Singapore an Malaysia, it has now offices in several countries, and that is the difference again to other Ad companies, they have actually offices with real people, one can see what they do on the website, for me being in the hospitality business for such a long time, this is so important, I am in contact with people every day, so when I am writing my Blog, it is nice to know that the advertising needs are taken care of by real people. 

So if there is anybody else who wants to become a "Nuffnanger" check out their website http://www.nuffnang.com you will see that this is a cool company that really cares and makes sure we, the publishers have the right stuff on our websites