Aioli with Garlic Confit and Parmesan

This is a recipe fromone of my favourite Chefs Thoru Nakamura. 

I am invited to a BBQ this afternoon and my standart marinated sweet corn is sitting in its Bourbon and dark brown sugar liquid fir more than 40 hours now. But I wanted to try this aioli the moment I read the recipe. The Parmesan rind was in the freezer, so no problem at all. I always keep the rind of this cheese for soups or stews.

The method to prepare the aioli is simple, but it needs a good amount of time to cool the oil down to room temperature. So plan ahead and choose a bit more then 2 hours.

Recipe for 4:

8 cloves of garlic and a single one for later

350 ml sunflower oil, 100 ml olive oil, 100 g Parmessn rind

4 egg yolks, 1 tsp Dijon mustard, 3 tbsp tarragon vinegar or chives flower vinegar, 1/2 lemon, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, pinch of salt, 3 stalks tarragon 1 stalk parsley

Peel the 8 garlic cloves and cut the Parmesan into 1 cm cubes. Put that in a small casserole and pour the oil mix on top. Bring to a boil at medium high heat and wait until the garlic gets a little brown.

 Cut out a piece of parchment paper and set it as a lid on top of the oil. Reduce the heat and cook about 8 min until the garlic is soft. Drain the oil in a container and let it vool down to room temp. Save the garlic and put it in a high mixing jar and cool it down too. 

Add egg yolks, mustard, salt and vinegar and take a stick blender and mash it very fine. Bit by bit pour in the oil and emulsify it. If you will need all the oil depends on the size of your egg yolks. 

Season with lemon juice, grated raw garlic, cayenne pepper and maybe a little more vinegar. Chop the tarragon and parsley and stir it in.

Beer Brats or sausage and onions cooked in beer

The title of this dish is what you will get. On one of my many trips through the US I stumbled over this cooking method. Bratwurst is one of my go to favourite meat dishes. Very versatile and inexpensive.

I had a bottle of Doppelbock, a German strong beer with 15 Proof, in my fridge for over a year. The expiration date was a couple of month ago. Since I am not a huge fan of these strong beers I needed an idea to use it. Combining it with sausage and onions was great.

The guy in the US who made it, put the sausages and onions ascwet ad they were on the BBQ and created a huge billowing cloud of smoke. It is more sensible to take the sausage out and pat it dry and drain the onions for a while. 

For 2:

4 raw pork meat stuffed sausages, 500 ml beer, 1 red and 1 white onion, 2 bay leaves

Sslt and pepper and a little oil

Cut the onions in strips, toss in a pot, add sausages, bay leaves and season. Pour the beer in and bring to a simmer. Cook on low for 10 min. Scoop out the brats, pat them dry and put on the BBQ or a griddle pan. Drain thw onions and brown them a little. Serve with bread and mustard.

Lemon Dessert Louboutin Cream

Yes! That is the Christian Louboutin - creator of women's dreams --- shoes! His trademark are the red shoe soles.

I saw a magazine issue were his house and garden been shown. His favourit dessert is this easy 3 ingredients dish with lemon, sugar and fat. That sounds so bad, but it is so delicious.

Recipe for 3:

225 g creme fraiche

180 g sweetened condensed milk

3 lemons, zest from 1

Put it all together and whip it into a smooth cream. Fill into small dessert bowls and put in the fridge for 2 hours. Put the cream in the fridge over night, it gets even better

Figs with Goat Cheese

My fig tree in the front yard has lots of fruits this year. They are ripen in a very short time and I have to eat them soon. They do not stay good long.

I have seen dishes with cheese stuffed figs. A goat cheese roll was in the fridge to use. I seasoned the figs with salt and pepper and put a slice of cheese in. A dash of olive oil out of the sprayer on top and I put them into the air fryer.

I toasted some baguette in butter and herbes de Provence in the pan and set the baked figs on top. All on a bed of lettuce and tomatoes with a lime and olive oil dressing.

Le Coulommiers Sauce with Lentil Pasta

Over ripe cheese is not for the faint of heart. Le Coulommiers tends to have a strong smell even when it is young. Keep it in its paper carton until it reaches its expiration date soon, you will have a smelly fridge. But that is a good sign for the great taste of this cheese.

But after a couple of days out of the house, the cheese made sure I smelled it the moment I opened the fridge door just a little bit to pick up a milk carton. I was inspired to cook with it that day :-) 

Recipe for 2:

240 g lentil pasta or any other kind you like

175 g Le Coulommiers cheese

2 spring onions, 1 tbsp olive oil, 2 cloves of garlic, 125 ml veg stock, 50 ml double cream

1/2 tsp Paprika powder, pepper, chili flakes, chives

Cook the pasta. Chop onions and garlic and saute them for 3 min in oil. Add veg stock and cut up cheese cubes. Melt the cheese. Add cream and seasoning.

Drain the pasta and mix it in the cheese sauce. Finish with chives.

Black Forest Smoked Ham

We found a place in one of the small valleys in the high mountain region that smokes and cures their own ham. It is very famous in the Black Forest: Hexenlochmühle  I was a bit sceptical because many kinds of raw ham have too much curing salt. I react with an allergy on too much curing salt.  

The last time I've been here in May I did not trust the produce. This time I ate at the restaurant a Black Fordt ham platter and I had no problems allergy wise. I asked the waitress if they sell the same ham in the shop. I bought some to take with me home.

The platter was delicious and contained 80 g of smoked cured ham. 2 slices of bread, butter and gherkins and tomatoes.

Pork Neck Steak with Mushroom cream sauce

Birthday evening dinner at a wonderful Hotel Restaurant Lindenhof in Bräunlingen, Black Forest. We had a reservation and took a table inside. They even brew beer here in the small town. 

The food was wonderful and we all started with a light dish. I had a crispy summer salad, my friends had a smoked salmon platter and a beef consomme with pancake strips.

The local beer was served in a small boot shaped glass. You had to be careful drinking it at a sertan level not to get a gluck of beer up your nose.

The main dish was the pork neck steak with fresh mushrooms in a creamy sauce and French fries. Two of us had the same dish, my BFf had plaice in an egg wrap with buttery pasta.

We had 3 different kinds of desserts. Black Forest ice cream cup with lots of cherries in Kirsch, panna cotta with raspberries and a berry mix.

The restaurant was excellent and we spent a great dinner time there.