The Weekend started quiet enough, I had to work on Friday!!! This meant that I got onto the motorway at 13:00.
As it was my Birthday a few friends where putting a surprise party together (it wasn’t a real surprise as one of them couldn’t hold her tongue). It was not a big affair just 5 of our cookery club (Marianne is sunning herself in Cornwall).
I wracked my brains (??) what I would make, as I hit the Elbe tunnel at Hamburg it hit me (not the tunnel but what I was going to make). A Tom Yum soup!!!
I have made some nice Tom Yum soups over the past few years, some variations of recipes from people who used to use the BBC food board (Josh and Sunflower) and some from Far Eastern Cookery recipes. This time it was put together while on the motorway so I will call it Autobahn Tom Yam soup.
I had no ingredients so it meant a visit to Citti Markt in Kiel, this would have every thing I wanted to make a nice soup.
Autobahn Tom Yum soup
So the ingredients are: (for 8 prtions or 6 if Martin is there)
Stock:
1 pot (50g) of Chicken stock paste (JügenLangbein) (if you have time make your own)
2 teaspoons of marigold vegi stock powder
Coriander stalks
2 chillies
1 stalk of lemon grass
2 cm piece of ginger grated
Note: the time can be cut down by buying a Tom Yum paste and just adding water, but making it yourself is far more fun ;-)
Soup:
2 Chicken breasts
7 large sea water prawns (head and shells removed but used)
A piece of fresh Tuna steak cubed (about 200g)
1 stalk of lemon grass
4 spring onions sliced into rings
1 chilli
Juice of 1 lime
5 or 6 curry leaves
3 cm square piece of galangal (sliced and diced)
1 tin of Chinese straw mushrooms
6 very small ripe tomato’s
3 large field mushrooms thinly sliced
2 handfuls of bean sprouts
200g Broad rice noodles (half a packet softened in warm water)
Fish sauce
Soy sauce
First make up the chicken stock and vegetable stock with 2 ltrs of water, bring to the boil and reduce the heat, add one of the stalks of lemon grass crushed, one of the chillies chopped fine, the stalks of the coriander crushed, the grated ginger, the zest of the lime, the prawn shells and heads, simmer for a good 10 minutes, pour through a sieve into a clean pot.
Now add the chicken pieces, the galangal, the remaining stalk of lemon grass hard outer skin removed bashed and chopped very fine and simmer until the chicken is almost done, Now add the Tuna cubes and the prawns cut into pieces. Next add the sliced mushrooms, curry leaves and the drained contents of the tin of straw mushrooms, the bean sprouts and the drained rice noodles. Allow all to fuse for about 5 minutes over a low heat. Just before serving adjust taste with the fish and Soy sauce, add the small tomatoes halved and the spring onion rings.
Serve in a large bowl decorated with chopped coriander and chilli sliced into rings, everyone helps themselves. I will often have bowls of sliced spring onions, extra coriander, fish sauce and chilli rings so that the guests can add a little extra to suit their taste.
Linda had done marinated pork filet medalions and grilled pepper.
Carolyn had been and got a nice plump smoked trout and various other niceties
Martin had made "kaseler in schlafrock" kaseler in puff pastry, and popped it into the oven, this was served with a horse radish sauce.
And last but not least a Rhubarb Crumble with vanille sauce from Kalle, it was a wonderful end to a meal,
There was, sekt to start and lots of wines and I do believe Martin and I had a beer or two!
Saturday morning we had decided to all meet at the coffee stall at the Market
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| The coffee stall holder started off in a very small way about about 4 years ago with just his stall and a couple of tables that you stood at, look at it now!! |
then do a bit of shopping, I went to the hair dressers (A real Turkish Barbars). Sauntering back just taking a few photos of the fresh produce it is really such a well provisioned market.
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| Double Matjes filets |
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| Salt herring |
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| Punnets of fresh strawberries |
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| Fancy a whole plaice ready for the pan |
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| New season (Cypriot) potatoes, and a whole load of fresh white asparagus, kohlrabi, artichokes etc |
I then tracked the group down at Jacques! Wine tasting indeed they only go to get free wine and bread
I joined them, but they had already started, there is just no holding them back when they smell wine. Jacques' is one of our local wine merchants, who not only has a fantastic range of wines from all over the world, but also some nice olives, pates, cheeses and other bits and pieces from France, Spain and Italy.
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| The wines that we tasted |
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| Talk about posing for the photographer |
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| Some of the jars, tins anf packets of wonerful sauces, pates, olives, sardines etc |
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| They even had some real Yorkshire Crisps, wonder what part of France Yorkshire belongs to???? |
After the wine tasting Linda and I decided to go into the Altstadt for Lunch, we went to the Kieler Brauerei, this is set in the heart of Kiel and not only serves beer but also very typical German hearty food.
The weather was fantstic so we sat ourside and watched the world go by. But the inside is like a wonderland for a beer drinking "Geordie Lad"
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| The inside |
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| And the outside |
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| Next weeks brew starting to brew |
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| The coppers where the brew is finished is finished |
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| A bottle of the stuff (especially for the tourists) |
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| This is for the Swedish (and other) tourists that come here to let their hair down, when the ferries and cruise ships come into Kiel. I have never used one myself but have seen many bent over them calling for Huey |
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| But I had a glass of the the real good draught, Linda being a lightweight had an "Apfelschorle |
I had a typical North German dish of Pickled Bratherring, fried potatoes and a small salad
Linda had Salmon on a bed of mashed potatoes and a Mustard sauce, also a gürken salad accompanied it.
We then had a walk around the inner Kiel this is one of the small lakes that are connected to the Kieler Förder. The birds and the locals all seemed to be enjoying the sunshine, it was a really nice warm sunny day.
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| A pochard keeping an eye on things |
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| Some of the Kieler residents enjoying the Saturday sun |
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| A couple of Canadian tourists in the front with some of the Grey locals behind |
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| A coot having a bath |
We went home for a little nap (as one does after the strains of eating and walking. We had decided to go out for a meal (well Linda had as part of my Birthday present) to "The Bauch Von Kiel". We know this restaurant very well, Linda had her **th birthday there and we had gotten to know the owner and the Barman very well. It is well within walking distance THERE and only a short taxi ride home.
We both had a mixed starter, this was quite a meal in itself and could have done us both, but I do not like sharing food! So it was one each!!
We both ordered the duck breast for the main; this was perfect, lusciously tender and pink.
We had a carafe of the house wine (Rioja that evening) to go with it and a very nice one it was too.
We then went into the bar (we could have sat in the bar to eat) and chatted to Gordon the barman, Gordon is a fantastic chatty person, the perfect barman; we had a couple of Gin and Tonics and then got the Taxi home. It wasn't too late as we where off to the Hamburg Fish Market and the Marathon the next day.
Sunday Morning 06:00 start, no traffic on the roads to talk about, so we listened to Radio 4. We got to Hamburg and I had noticed that there was a Park and Ride just before the Elbe tunnel at Bahrenfeld. After a bit of getting on the wrong train and going in the wrong direction, we arrived at the U-bahn Landungsbrücken and walked along the Elbe to the Fish Market. For all of those that have never been, I can only say it is time you went. It starts at about 5 in the morning and was originally the main fish market for the whole of Northern Germany, it has now changed and the fish Market hall has been turned into an event hall but on a Sunday morning it is the place to be, with bars and eating on 3 levels but the atrium is where you will want to get into (it cost nothing) as here there are live bands playing, they alternate between one end of the hall and the other.
But before you get there you have to walk through the stalls, not all selling fish, but the central area is set aside for that and boy what a display almost any fish you could wish (at the moment no brown shrimps as the "Krabbencutters" are on strike for a fair price for their catch)
We breakfasted at one of the stalls I had a doppel matjes brotchen and a cup of black coffee, Linda said she was going to try a matjes, but being a woman and able to change her mind any time she wishes settled for "krabbenbrotchen" (Conserved, I bet from Aldi).
We had agreed to meet up with one of my work colleagues and his wife as both his daughter and son where running in the Marathon. Phone rang and it was he, now that was an operation trying to find the pair, but we got to them just as the leading pack arrived (containing the eventual winner). After his 2 siblings had went past they decided to go for a boat trip around the warehouses in what is known as the speicherstadt, this had been before the days of the large container harbours where most of the oversees commodities arrived into Germany. As I had been there many times during my time in the Merchant Navy and as one warehouse looks very much like any other and the adjoining canals are not all that enthralling either, we gave this a miss. We said we would meet up at U bahn station Eppenbaum, we arrived there and moved along the road until we got a good position to watch, we where at the 37km watering place and as it was about 4 hours since the start there where many distressed bodies forcing themselves along. We actually missed my friends so decided to have a go to the inner Alster, we went to the Rathaus and then decided it was time for a spot of lunch. As Linda was traveling back to Kiel with the train, it was decided that we would find some thing in that direction, we actually went to a Sushi bar inside of the main station, the food was all freshly prepared, it was clean and very tasty. We both had the mixed sushi which only cost €11´- very good value for money.
Linda went to get her train and I got the U-bahn back to my car and then on home to my bed after a long but very, very enjoyable Birthday Weekend!!
Photos to be added, but it is now late and time for bed!
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