Sunday 16 September 2007

Seasons & soppjakt

The year is turning fast, summer is really gone. All those weeks I managed to run around the house in my shorts are just a memory and we have really begun to think about buying some more woolen underwear.

This week the kitchen has been mirroring the change. Friday night, after a long week at work we managed to turn out a deeply autumnal risotto that welcomed in the change of the season. It came about in a good way which was true to the kitchen's ethic that it is wrong to waste food.

Last week when the boss was away I prepared some Palette du Porc a la biere for her return. It was delicious but we had too much sauce left over. So for our first risotto of autumn 2007 we converted the sauce into a stock (or in laymans terms we diluted it with water) for the risotto which gave it a deep richness that allowed the simple ingredients we used. I'm sure there are purists out there who would decry me for allowing a sauce that had french mustard in it anywhere near a risotto but I don't care.

In a slightly odd counterpoint to this the boss & I kicked back last night after service and had a couple of wonderfully stiff mojitos to say goodbye to a great summer.

As if further evidence was needed of the march of time the first snow was seen on Vassfjellet this morning when we got up. Unperturbed by this we went to nearby Bymarka to collect wild mushrooms and endured a day where we were snowed on, rained on, blown about and generally treated like a rag by the elements. Luckily we were well wrapped up so it was great fun to be out. The hunt itself was a desperately frustrating affair as we managed about 4 pig fungus and 1 small chanterelle. Still they were put to good use in tonights service.

Moving time is soon upon us so the challenge now is to empty the freezer of as much as possible. This makes service in the Kitchen very simple but probably means there'll be more time to clean which is my least favourite job!

Keep cooking and waste nothing!

No comments: