Easter Weekend

I arrived in Kiel at 10:00 Good Friday morning having set off at about 06:30 from Rheda. We had arranged that Linda would get some fresh fish and a frozen sea food mix and I would bring a filet of smoked haddock that I had in my freezer from Christmas.

So it was to be Fish Pie a la Ma' Smith! My Mam (a very religious woman) always made fish pie on Good Friday.

So it was a large filet (with the skin on) of smoked haddock (please not dyed)

A piece of salmon

A piece of cod loin

1/2 pkt of frozen pre-cooked mixed prawns, shrimps,mussels, cockles, calamari and crab sticks (thawed)



The smoked haddock filet




Frozen peas, frozen shell fish, slice of salmon, a piece of cod
















Poaching liquid

1/2 ltr of full milk

3 cm piece of cinammon

5 all spice berries

3 cloves

2 cardamon pods

1/2 an onion

1 teaspoon of herb de provence

1 clove of garlic crushed

A sprig of rosemary

A few twists of pepper

A scrapping of nutmeg

No salt - the smoked haddock will give up enough salt to the poaching liquid




Poaching the haddock with herbs and spices

 Remove from the poaching liquor and flake putting into the base of a terrine.

Poaching the salmon




Poaching the cod











I first poached the smoked haddock (make sure the milk does not boil or it will split), remove when it flakes easy and flake it and put it into a shallowish terrine dish,  cut the salmon and cod into pieces (add any skin from the filets to the liquid), now poach and remove these before they ar e fully cooked through (just translucent). Place with the smoked haddock and add the mixed seafood.

The cheese sauce.

The poaching liquid

300ml of chicken stock (or fish if you have any)

50g of butter

2 table spoons of whole meal flour (had nothing else)

A good handful of cheshire cheese

100g of frozen peas

2 hard boiled eggs



Strain the poaching liquid and in a clean pot melt a nob of butter, add the chopped onion and fry until translucent, sprinkle with the flour and cook over a low heat until it comes away from the sides, slowly add the poaching liquid until all is combined, add the peas, continue to cook, adding the cheese, the sauce may be too thick, use the stock to slacken (it should coat the back of a spoon). Raise the temperature until it bubbles and pour over the fish in the bottom of the dish. Slice the boiled egg and put on top.

Next make the potato topping.

Floury potatoes

Large knob of butter

Slug of milk

Small handful of chopped fresh parsley (if you've got big mits borrow the young lad next door, but make sure they wash theit hands first).

I am not going to tell you how to make mash!!!!! enough to say it should be smooth and creamy.

Starting at the outside work in a sort of spiral so that the sauce doesn't leak out and run down the side (it will burn and will not look very nice (not that it bothers me, it's the taste that counts). Break the spud topping surface with a fork, it looks nice but also gets the topping brown quicker.

Now pop into a very hot oven (or under a grill) until the topping has browned.

We had it just by it's self on Friday (well we did have a bottle of Pique poul to wash it all down).

This is one of my Mam's dishes that whisks me back to my early childhood, I can shut my eyes and transpond myself back into the 50s, I still miss my Mam, she was not a kissy, kissy, touchy, touchy mother, she was a hard working, God fearing woman, that reared 8 children on my dads wages, ok later we also added to the monies that crossed the kitchen table on a Thursday and Friday, but that is a story for another day.

Friday evening was a very nice evening out with our cookery club friends (minus Kalle), we went  out to a nice Mexican restaurant and enjoyed a quiet evening just eating,drinking and chatting. The service was quick and friendly, it couldn't have been better!



Lind's (pork) spare ribs




Marianna's Fajitas




And Caroline's




My shrimp Fajita




The table


 We did finish off the evening with a few cocktails (BOGOF or as it is some times called Happy Hour(s)

Easter Saturday
This was Lindas cooking day, we where up and about very early as we had a few things (food and non-food) that required buying, it was to be a Mamta's lamb curry and a Tarka Dal. Linda had bought a shoulder from the local Turkish butcher and it had been in the freezer for a couple of weeks. Sunday was to be roast leg of Lamb with all of the normal trimmings so it as still a visit to get a fresh leg.

The link to Mamta's fantastic recipe:

http://www.mamtaskitchen.com/recipe_display.php?id=10363



Some of the wonderful fresh lamb (Hoggat) meat



And some more



Linda trimmed and diced the meat

Added to the slowcooker with the rest of the ingrediants.

The Dal was next and here is the Link to Mamta's recipe:

http://www.mamtaskitchen.com/recipe_display.php?id=13232



softened the onions





Making the Tarka



And the wonderful Mamta's lamb curry with a split pea and lentil Dal, plain boiled rice and a cucumber/mint Riata



The evening was taken up with visiting the Kiel Theatre to watch a modern version of Julius Caesar, it was realy good and was very well produced and on the lighter side.

Easter Sunday

I was up bright and early and decided to go for a bit of a drive, to take some spring photo's, first I headed to the Förder at Loof (a favorite restaurant over looking Kiel Harbour.




The early morning sun across the Förder



 

Some of the yatches waiting for a Easter sail

I then went down to the Locks at the Kiel canal (Nord-Ostsee Kanal), when at sea I had passed through these many, many times, in fact it was after passing through the other end of these and into a massive storm in the German Bite back in 1976, that ended my sea going career´and started my new life in Germany.

The Holtenau Locks at the Baltic end of the Canal

A Blackbird watching the goings on



A white bird waiting for the next ships



I next drove to the park just below the Opera House, it was silent with the exception of the birds. I watched the sun rising into the sky in the Horishima memorial park.



The memorial fountain



towards the Opera House

The bluming magnolia tree

A Blackbird collecting its breakfast, that reminds me!!!!!!

This was while waiting for the local French Baker to open (fresh rolls for breakfast), when I got there a little after 08:00, there was a que already outside of the door. This is a true French bakery, the baker even buys his flour from France, wonderful bread and fantastic patiseries!!!

The French bakers shop



The bread, freshly baked






And for those with a sweet tooth



The Sunday lunch was meant to be a traditional roast leg of Lamb, but owing to a change of plan that had been made on Friday, it meant that we took the remainder (2/3 of it) of the fishpie round to our friends. I had also brought 1.5kg of Asparagus with me from my local "Spargelhof Meloh" in Rheda. Marianne had made a nice starter of orange duck liver pate.



The orange duck liver pate, with a small salad and grey bread



The fishpie, with Meloh aspargus and sauce Hollandaise



Martin had made a smashing rhubarb desert in the Tiramasu style, now this was fantastic and I shall reproduce the recipe when I get it from him, it is in no way heavy and contains no eggs. Quite refreshing and light.



The pud befoe being attacked



I want some as well!!!

showing the layers

Easter Monday will be the roast leg of lamb!

Linda was to have cooked the Lamb pink, alas it turned out just a bit less than pink, BUT oh, did it taste wonderful, tender and ever so tasty.

Served with 2 sorts of spuds, new and roast, Turkish beans, plain steamed Cauli with butter and an intence lamb gravy. Of course we also had mint sauce.

The Leg of lamb that had been studded with slithers of Garlic, Anchovy and sprigs of Rosmary, then cooked in the oven until the core reached 70 °C

The new and roast spuds

Cauliflower and butter

Turkish beans

The plate of grub, boy was it tasty

Sunday and A visit to Meloh spargel farm and Schloß Möhler

When I got up this morning, at about 06:00, the weather didn't seem at all what we had been promised, so I put a Keith Floyd DVD in the player and settled down to watch a couple of hours of one of my kitchen favourites, nay cookery heroes! It was the Spanish, come Medi one. I had got up to the Morocco one when Linda decides to join me. So we watched in unison. Fantastic, I liked his take on Egypt, when he didn't rate a couple of restaurants, hotels and the floating hotel down the Nile. But I did like the mad Prof from the valley of the golden mummies.

That done I started on breakfast,

I decided to do a fried breakfast, as I had some small spicy Nuremburg sausages, a few large mushrooms, a few rashers of bacon, tomatoes. I made some herby scrambled eggs to go along with it (I had also popped out to get some fresh rolls from the bakers).

We had finished breakfast, washing up done and finished watching KF. Linda had made the conscious (or otherwise) decision to be a couch potato. So I went out to get asparagus and new potatoes from my local farm shop, this is within easy strolling distance, but I took the car.

Spargel Hof Meloh



It was smashing day, the sun had just burnt the morning cloud away, I pulled in and got the spuds and asparagus, wonderful and fresh having just been picked that morning. In fact as I had drove through the lanes to the Hof, I drive along the edge of a couple of the fields and the seasonal workers where hard at work. They now have a trolley affair that covers the drill they lie on their stomachs and the contraption lifts the foil over their heads setting it down again when they have dug the asparagus below, quite ingenious and saves a lot of time and effort.

As it was still quite early and as I was loathed to spoil the couch potatoes slumbering, I decided to take a trip through the fields and bye ways of the locality. I eventually ended up at a little village called Möhler, this village consists of a couple of farm stead’s, a bakers a closed hostelry, a chapel and a few houses, not a lot I hear you say? but it is also the home of a schloß. I have passed this many, many times, but it is set a little way back from the road, so have never ventured through its gates. This morning, that was to change.

I parked the car and walked towards the schloß, it is set in it's own barrock style grounds, it was fully restored in about 1980 and is now in the hands of various firms, who use it as offices and conference rooms.


The Schloß Möhler between Rheda & Herzebrock



A little bit of History of the Schloß

The present Schloß was built in the Barrock style of a water palace between 1710-15 by Karl Aemilius Freiherr von Kettler, but it fell into disuse and the 2 side wings had to be demolished due to their dilapidated state. It was built on the site of a previous Renaissance residence that belonged to one of the leasers of the manor (landgut) that had been built between 1549-64 this was Lubbert de Wendt, but this building seemed to have become untenable by the end of the 1700s and by inheritance passed onto Freiherr von Kettler (these where one of the old Teutonic Baltic East Prussian families that also had a lot of land in East Westphalia).



The Hof Musicians




A canadian strolling in the park




a canadian swimmer passing one of the islands




one of the lakes islands




The Schloß moat



I strolled through the park and along the water features and moats, the Canada geese have made it their home and breed on the Islands of te lakes and ponds. The trees and plants are in wonderful bloom and the fresh green of the trees and shrubs made it a perfect Sunday morning. I caught a few pied wagtails, chaffinches and blackbirds hopping about the grounds and fluttering into the apple blossom.

I came out and just as the Chapel bell of St Lugerius struck 12 noon (the chapel had been built from the rubble of the demolished schloß wings).

I meandered my way back home to prepare Sunday lunch, passing through the killing fields (later in the year), this was to be Pork Schnitzel in the Vienna style), New Potatoes and fresh Asparagus with a sauce Hollandaise.



I had bought 4 nice pieces of pork schnitzel cut from the rear leg (as schnitzel meat should always be). I did not hammer it flat and as thin as possible, while this is the true way to make a schnitzel, I like mine somewhat thicker, I find that by hammering them thin, they lose flavour

I salted and peppered them and squeezed 1/2 a lemon over both sides and set to rest.

I next laid three plates out:

Plate No.1: mixture flour, garlic powder, dried oregano, plenty of pepper

Plate No.2: 1 egg,lightly beaten with a good pinch of salt and pepper (the egg turned into 2 as I ran out on my last schnitzel

Plate No.3: Panier mehl (toasted bread ground to a course flour)

The raw schnitzel

Walzing in the herb flavoured flour



Turning  in the egg



The crumbing

I then peeled the potatoes and asparagus, put them on to boil, and heated up my cast iron skillet. I added a good 2 mm of neutral oil into the base and then processed the schnitzel, dusted both sides in the herb flour, then into the egg, then into the bread crumbs, then back into the egg and a final time into the bread. when all are evenly coated, into the skillet, added a few knobs of butter, this should not be too hot as you want them to cook through but not burn the outer crust, that will form around the meat.



The finished floured, egged and breaded schnitzel



adding butter to the oil

I done them 2 at a time and as the first 2 where finished I put them into a warm oven to keep warm.

Now the cheats part, I didn't make my own Hollandaise sauce, shame, shame, I bought a tetro-pak and put it into a nice white jug, covered with a microwave foil and pinged it for 1 minute. It did taste rather nice, but next time I shall make my own.

The Spuds and Asparagus where now finished, spuds into a serving dish with a lid, chopped some fresh parsley (from my balcony) and added a couple of knobs of butter. Asparagus out of the pan onto a serving tray with the schnitzel a few lemon wedges and there it was Sunday lunch.



The new potatoes




The schnitzel, asparagus and the sauce Hollandaise



The finished plate of food

And that was my Sunday !