A meaty trip

Hello everyone!

My BF & I were away in Europe (Amsterdam, Venice, Prague, Budapest & Vienna) for 2 weeks, hence the disappearance of posts, but Tramie's Kitchen is back! The cooking and baking has not yet begun since I've only been back for a few days & still nursing vacation withdrawal syndrome, so I bring you pictures of food that we've encountered, eaten, digested and in my case, heart-burn induced.

*Warning: some blurry-ness may occur, as these are vacation pics. LOL!

Over all, although I wouldn't call it a culinary delight, the food was good. Most of the time after a meal, I would have Alka Seltzer in my water as a digestive or chewing Tums like candies. There was a lot of meat: stews, sausages, slow-cooked, jam-packed in soups. And then there were fries and such as well. (We always had to have specific trips to the grocery stores to get vegetables and fruitsfor me, I cannot imagine how my life would be without greens...I seem to run into this problem a lot when I travel, almost everywhere except Vietnam)

So first of all.... WHAT IS THIS????? We kept seeing pictures of it everywhere outside of meat shops in Budapest & Vienna, and it really puzzled us. It looks like a pig with a sheep's wool, it's very odd!!!!

The mystery of the Shpig in Europe...

Venice display a lot of sweets that caught my attention. They were all very big size though, not what I remember of Venice 10 years ago. I wonder if that has anything to do with North America tourists.... Or again, it could just be me who didn't pay attention 10 years ago?

Gelato, one of my main food groups during this trip. I especially loved the yogurt for its perfect amount of tang.

Ginormous pine nuts meringues, almond chocolate bars, huge blocks of black & white chocolate, gigantic rolls of torrone.

Hmmm.. massive chocolate covered torrone rolls... Yummy...

As we moved towards Eastern Europe, the trip got more meaty...

Delicious typical Czech beef stew with barley.

Very filling goulash soup of beef and potatoes

More goulash with bread dumplings and pickled shredded beet

Pasta with speck and balsamic sauce

Sausage at a corner stand, after a Mozart symphony & opera concert. I love the concept: the bread is made like a tube, where the inside is hollow with only the top opened.They fill it with ketchup or mustard, then drop the sausage in. As you eat, nothing falls from the bottom!

. The BEST sour cherry strudel, from a market in Budapest. It was the most perfect slightly chewy bites of plump sweets & sour cherries (chewy due to the oat in the mix, I believe)


The BEST sauerkraut ever, again, from the market


. SCHNITZEL!!!!! (It's always so much fun just to yell it, lol!!!)


One of the best things that I ate, from the Australian stand at the International Film Fest in Vienna: grilled red tuna steak & rice with lots of veggies (as you can see, I forgot to take a picture BEFORE I ate it because I was so excited to plow through it)


Obviously my BF opted for the "alpha male" dish: potatoes & speck with sauerkraut


Sachertorte, tastes good but too dry

There are so many more I would like to post, but I will restrain myself. I saved you the best for last.

When I saw this, I was lost for words. All I could utter was: "Really? REALLY? OH COME ON!!!!" As I proceeded to take a picture while laughing hysterically, a mean-looking man whom I assume was the owner, was standing not so far from me, gave me the dirtiest look I've ever gotten.

Seriously...

Poached egg & pan-seared asparagus on pâté & toast

I bought a bunch of asparagus a few days ago. Fat, juicy, crunchy looking asparagus. But my cold have drenched me of my desire to cook & bake for the passed few days, so the lovely asparagus have just been laying there, staring at me everytime I opened the fridge.

They would have eventually started talking.

So I started obsessing over the thought of what I was going to make with them. Seriously, it haunted me for 2 days! I really didn't want to turn on the oven to make a quiche or a tart, it's too hot for that. Luckily, my brain still haven't given up on me after the extensive researching & planning for our Eastern Europe trip, I geared towards breakfast for dinner. Not very original, but still better than nothing!

Poached egg & pan-seared asparagus on pâté & toast

• a bunch of asparagus, stemmed, washed & dried
  
• a dash of olive oil
• a couple teaspoon of balsamic vinegar
• sea salt
• an egg
• some pâté (optional)
• a slice of bread
  
• black pepper
  

In a big bowl, marinade the asparagus in the olive oil & balsamic. Sprinkle the salt on top. Let them sit for a few minutes.

Heat a pan over medium high heat. Dump all the asparagus in, including the marinade. Cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally, until the crunchiness of your choice . (I cooked mine for about 3 minutes because I don't like mushy vegetables)

Remove the cooked asparagus. Pour a few cups of water into the pan, but not to the rim. When the water starts simmering, crack the egg into a ladle, place the ladle into the pan and gently nudge the egg out (Gently so that the egg white doesn't run all over the place)

Mean while, toast your bread and spread some pâté onto it. Place some asparagus on top. At this point, the egg will be cooked, so remove it with a ladle that has holes in it so the water doesn't come with.

Place on top of everything else, crack some black pepper over it, and bite. Make sure you have a napkin ready for the dripping egg yolk.

Oh yeah...

Strawberry mousse cake with chocolate chip cookies bottom

Bleh! I've been nursing a cold for the passed week. You know, the slow torturous one that starts two weeks in advance, with muscle pain and headaches, then "BAM!" just like that, it hits, and you're completely thrown off balance.

Left with no energy & no appetite, I lost the desire to cook. I KNOW! It's soooo wrong!!! Everything tastes mediocre or yucky, so I haven't cooked or baked ANYTHING at all... except for birthday cakes. Ya, this is the third one in 7 days. LOL!!!! It was a friend's birthday dinner yesterday, and so I made what I was told to be his preference, Strawberry Mousse.

I didn't want to turn on the oven, so instead of making a cake base, I made it with crushed chocolate chip cookies & cream cheese. The rest is simply strawberries, cream, a bit of sugar and gelatin.

The base:

• 16 chocolate chip cookies (I used the Compliments ones, but Chips Ahoy or anything similar is fine)
• 1/2 block of cream cheese (4 oz)

Line bottom of a 9-inch spring form pan with
Crush the cookies in a big bowl. Soften cream cheese in the microwave for 1 minute on medium power. Mix cookies & cream cheese together, using your hands to mash them together well. Press in bottom of baking pan. Refrigerate.

The mousse:
(adapted from Joy of Baking Strawberry Charlotte)

• 1 bag 600g frozen strawberries, no sugar added, thawed
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 pouches of Knox gelatin
  
• 250 ml whipping cream

Puree the strawberries in a blender, add the sugar according to your taste. Reseve 1 cup in the fridge.

Sprinkle the gelatin over 1/2 cup of strawberry puree, let sit for a few minutes. Stir and microwave for 15 seconds or until the gelatin has dissolved. Add it to the rest of the puree and mix well.

Beat the cream with a mixer until soft peek form, then fold the puree into it and continue beating until stiff peak. Spread over the cookie base and refrigerate a few hours.

The glaze:

• 1 cup of strawberry puree
• 1.5 Tbsp of Knox gelatin

Sprinkle the gelatin on top of the puree and let it sit for a few minutes. Microwave for 15 seconds or until the gelatin has completely dissolved. Mix well and spread over the top of the mousse.

Decorate to your desire & enjoy! I am off rolling myself in the blankie & fry like an imperial roll... (Oh yeah... I'm s.l.o.w.l.y getting my appetite back)

Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Raspberry Ganache

Last Sunday we went to a friend's family cottage for his birthday/pizza party. They have an awesome wood oven that he built by himself, so we basically just made pizza, ate, drank & hung out near the lake.

The infamous wood oven that my BF would love to have


Coogee, the best dog EVER!

The weather was great. The sun was shining. The breeze was subtle & almost omni-present. And the bugs... well the bugs were hard at work. I've got 6 humongous bites on my neck to show for it and they are each as big as a peanut!!!

Nonetheless, the bugs didn't stop the pizzas from tasting delicious. Right out of the oven, "ooh" "aah" hot on your fingers but you still don't want to stop grabbing.

We topped the pizzas with home-made tomato sauce, sliced bocconcini, prosciutto, pickled eggplants & arugula. Killer combo, I loved it! I basically just kicked back with a glass of red wine & let the men cook. Somehow "men", "smoke" and "fire" just always go so well.

We finished off everything with a birthday cake that I made for him: Chocolate cake with chocolate & fresh raspberry ganache.

Chocolate cake
(adapted from Kraft's Best Ever Chocolate Cake)

• 1-3/4 cups each: flour and sugar
• 1-1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. MAGIC Baking Powder
• 2/3 cup butter, softened
• 4 square BAKER'S Unsweetened Chocolate, melted, cooled
• 1-1/4 cups brewed coffee
• 3 eggs

Heat oven to 350°F. Line bottom of two 9-inch round cake pans with parchment paper. In a large bowl, beat all ingredients except the eggs with electric or hand held mixer on medium speed 2 min. Add the eggs and beat an additional 2 minutes. Pour into pans and bake 35 to 40 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool cake layers in pans 10 minute, then remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely, about 1 hour or so.

Ganache:

• 300 gr. dark chocolate pellets 65%
• 300 ml. whipping cream 30%
• one 6oz box of raspberries, washed and dried with paper towels.

Place the chocolate in a bowl. Heat the cream in a pot over medium heat for a few minutes, until it starts forming small bubble on the rim. Take off heat and pour over the chocolate. Let sit for 5 minutes.

Stir chocolate & cream mixture until well blended. Let cool a few minutes.

Scoop out about 1/4 of the ganache in a smaller bowl. Choose 16 best looking raspberries ans set aside, mash the rest into the small bowl of ganache. Sandwich this between the cake layers.

Crumb coat the cake with some ganache, place in the fridge to harden up, then take cake out and pour the rest of the ganache over the cake. Let drip over the sides and decorate with the pretty raspberries.

The only decent picture I could take of the inside of the cake

Weekend breakfast

I'm a fan of breakfast food. I can eat breakfast anytime of the day. Although technically, it's a loophole in the system for me, since in Vietnam, breakfast can range from "xôi" (sticky rice) "Phở" (Tonkinese soup) to pan-fried eggs with drizzles of Maggi or "cháo" (rice porridge) with seafood and/or pork.

This passed Saturday morning wasn't a relaxing one for me, so breakfast was just another bowl of cereal & fruits. I ate quickly so I could run around making two different birthday cakes. By the time I had some time to spare, I was still too full, so I made the usual weekend breakfast for just the BF.

No, I didn't make "Phở" nor "xôi", unfortunately. Just a no-fuss prosciutto omelette, with a couple of pinches of black pepper. Along side a few slices of crackly warm baguette & a cup of blueberries & raspberries. Had it not been for the BBQ we were going to, I'd have thrown in some of the 2 year-aged cheddar and a side of pâté for his spreading needs, and he would have been full until supper time, LOL!!!!

This is definitely a no-recipe post, because we obviously all know how to make an omelette, right? I mean, even my dad can do it! (He would always say that he knows how to cook four things: eggs boiled, sunny-side up, over-easy or omelette) I'm hoping it's more of an inspirational post that will trigger fun ideas, in case you were hungry and wanted breakfast food for dinner :)

Vietnamese G7 cappuccino ice-cream

Although being Asian, I'm definitely still perplexed by wacky Asian product names & packaging. Most of the time, the translation is completely off, or there isn't any at all. The other day, I went to Chinatown to get red bean paste (and glutinous rice flour) for a mochi attempt, and it took me forever to find a bag where the expiration dates are of the future and not the past. Finally, the two types they had, only one had a four-word line of English translation. I had to ask an employee there just to make sure that both bags were essentially the same thing.

So...G7? No, not the meeting of the finance ministers of the seven industrialized countries. G7 as in Trung Nguyen's instant all-in-one coffee mix.

That's an odd name, right? They said it's because each pouch is best mixed with 7 oz of boiling water. But then what does the G stand for? Then there's this hilarious clarification on the website "All G7 products are independently tested for safety and purity by third-party labs in Germany and Malaysia, and its ingredients NEVER come from China". LOL!!!! NEVER!NEVER, u hear?

All confusion aside, 1 thing I'm sure about: Vietnamese coffee kicks ass :) There are also awesome instant ones that are great for dessert. I used to drink Vinacafe, got all my friends hooked on it, only to realize recently that it gives me heartburn :( (ya, my digestive system isn't very impressive)

So ever since I stopped my daily dose of Vinacafe, I started using the mix to make ice cream, and I wasn't even surprised that the ice cream turned out AMAZING! Here is the G7 version I made that was inhaled in 2 days.

G7 Irish cream Cappuccino Ice-cream

• 2 cups cream
• 1 cup whole milk
• 5 pouches of G7 Irish cream cappuccino instant mix
  
• 2 tbsp instant coffee granules
• 2 tbsp Bailey's or Kahlua

Heat the cream & milk together over medium low. Once it's got tiny bubbles forming on the rim, add the G7 mix along with the coffee granules into the milk & cream . Stir constantly to blend. Take the pot off the heat. Chill mixture in the fridge over night.

When ready to rock, stir in the Bailey's or Kahlua and churn in your ice-cream maker.

I served mine over chunks of bananas, chopped almonds and topped with pieces of home-made sugar waffles.