Miso broth with prawns and noodles then a trip to the Rhine

It was a very rainy Friday and as I had arranged to go down to Bonn for a couple of days, I thought I would make a quick meal for me on the afternoon and get some cassoulet out of the freezer for the evening meal. I decided on a light Miso broth with lots of finely chopped green veg and noodles

Ingredients

1 sachet of Miso soup
1 sachet of Tuna flavouring (dashi no moto)

2 stalks of celery
2 stalks of spring onions
1 cube of fresh ginger (2.5x2.5cm)
1 large garlic clove
3 small tomatoes (quartered)
1 red chilli (hot)
250g of raw prawns
3 pieces of dried anchovies

splash of fish sauce (it depends how salty you like it)
1 dessert spoon of Japanese soy sauce (light)

1 block of egg noodles

Bring plenty of water to the boil and break the noodles into it turn off the heat and allow to cook for 3-4 minutes, drain and set aside.

Bring 700ml of water to the boil, add the Miso soup powder and the dashi no moto. Using a madoline on the finest setting grate the celery, spring onion and ginger into the broth, crush the garlic and add this also.

Next chop the dried fish and add this to the broth.

Add the prawns and allow to cook (not too long or they go like rubber), taste the broth and add the fish and soy sauce, if too salty add more water.

Now add the noodles, the tomatoes and the chilli finely sliced in rings.

Serve at once eat with chop sticks drinking the soup from the bowls as one would do out in Japan.

I had made more than enough so this was also our starter for that evening when Linda got in from Kiel.

The main course was a cassoulet that I had made at the weekend and frozen, I made a new topping of chopped garlic and fresh herbs from my balcony, mixed with sauerteig bread crumbs. I must say that as with all one pot meals (Eintopf) it tastes better the second time around.

We set off for the Rhine and Bad Honeff , we are looking at mobile homes and Bad Honeff has a large outlet for second hand ones, so using this as an excuse (not that we need a one) I had phoned to our dear friends Marga and Ewald that live near Bonn that they would be having visitors on Saturday so get the wine uncorked.

We spent a good hour or so viewing the mobile homes and then drove through the area called the Siebengebirge, a once volcanic area on the East inclines of the Rhine in the area of Bad Honeff and Königswinter, with it's imposing Petersberg above, this sits high above the Rhein looking down on Königswinter, the Petersberg was the government hotel that housed state guests and held many conferences when the German Government was in its temporary home of Bonn. Königswinter does not take its name from anything wintery, but in that it was a wineberg (wine growing area) presented to Konig Karl der Große (Charlemagne) and thereafter called Königs Wintzerort (vineyard), this is of course just one of the speculations as to where the name came from, there are many more, but I like this one, so it must be true.
We caught the ferry to cross the mighty Rhine which was in full spate to Bad Godersberg on the West bank, pity it was raining as from here on a clear day you can see into the Eifel on one bank and the Siebengebirge including Petersberg and the ruins of Burg Drakenfels on the other.
We made our way to Marga's and she had a home made chicken and vegetable soup with eierstich (a beaten egg that has been set and then cut into small dice).

We chatted about mobile homes, they are also thinking of buying one, and as I had promised Marga many years ago that I would take her to the land of Rosemunder Pilchard and Dauphney de Maurier, we said that we would do it in 2013 when we would be retired.

Evening was lamb leg chops, rump steaks, salads and breads, washed down with a few bottles of a very nice red from the Altenahr ( Ewald is a bit of a wine connoisseur and specialises in wines from the Ahr region) he also makes his own liqueurs and schnapps, Linda had to try his Kirsch and try it again and again.

Sunday morning after breakfast I wandered the grounds of Ewalds garden (one of them, as he still has a large vegetable and fruit garden up in the hills).

Ewald's vines, that will produce his house wine later in the year

It was here under the walnut tree that we would have had our Grill-Abend alas the rains came

Haus Ewald and Marga

and got myself a few lemons (3 of each sort)

 I am going to make some preserved lemons to a recipe that our friend Carolyn used for Oranges at Christmas.

Carolyn's spiced Orange Rings

6 firm, medium-sized (bio) oranges

400 ml white wine vinegar

350 g soft brown sugar

Cinnamon stick

1/2 tsp whole cloves

2 blades mace

Wipe oranges well but do not peel. Cut them into thin, even slices. Put them into a saucepan and barely cover with water. Boil and simmer for 30 min. or until soft.

Drain liquid into a clean pan, add vinegar, sugar and spices. Heat gradually until sugar has dissolved.

Put drained slices in a few at a time when it is boiling hard and simmer until rind becomes clear.

Transfer rings to warmed jars until almost full.

Boil syrup again until it begins to thicken (ca. 15 min). Then leave to cool a little and pour over orange rings. Cover at once.

Store a week before using.

I will of course use Ewald's Bio Lemons!!!

The six lemons and Marga gave me her heart!

About mid morning we headed off on a round about way, stopping off for lunch in a nice Gasthof South of Munster for lunch. It was a  buffet a veritable spread, I had a matjes salad, followed by Rinderbraten mit zwiebeln soße  (pot roast beef with an onion sauce) and steamed and gratin potatoes (I did manage to squeeze a small beef roulade onto the plate as well), we could have had desserts but gave it a miss.

As we hit the Emsland out came the sun, the weather changed was warm and I thought once Linda was on the train back up to Kiel, I could get my cycle out and go for an hours pedal, I had reckoned without the weather gods, it came across pitch black and poured, I will never get fit at this rate and no I am not going out in the pouring rain.