Life here is a bit hectic, we are in the mist of a move and we don’t have a place to move to yet, I am finding it a bit traumatic but liberating at the same time. In the mist of this all, I have been taking comfort in simple things, like perfectly roasted chicken and having family we can rely on. Perfect, easy and oh, sooo good! Thomas Keller’s roasted chicken recipe is so crispy, so perfect, my husband and I finish off one chicken together… Granted my husband is a bottomless pit and can eat, and eat and eat.    I added asparagus to the dish about 45 minutes into the roasting. Not picture perfect but welcome simplicity when all your cooking supplies are in boxes… This is why I didn’t truss the chicken here!

My favorite simple roasted chicken by Thomas Keller.

You are probably thinking another Chinese recipe? Weren’t you just in Iceland, Ireland and Scotland? Where is the Icelandic leg of lamb, Irish lamb stew or champ recipes? Where is your tasting notes from all the whiskeys you enjoyed? Well, there will be more posts from our trip and I got a lot of inspiration, I feel so filled with inspiration actually I can’t stop smiling. I didn’t realize how much we needed a vacation and am so thankful for it!   Yet, after a week of eating delicious Ulster fries and champ,  I was craving some spicy food when we arrived back to Queens. Reading No Recipes Beef Rendang Recipe post, didn’t help either, it looks so good! I can’t wait to try it with stew meat from one of our bulls.

Dan Dan Noodles were one of my favorites but unfortunately Chinese take out is now off limits because I am avoiding gluten. This didn’t stop me from creating a gluten free version that was a show stopper, it is easy and packs a full flavor punch. I used our pastured pork, and while it was frying up it smelled like slow roasted pork, that is how much flavor our pork has! Ground pork has become one of my favorite quick meal secrets, I defrost it in a water bath for about an hour and use it in meat sauces, burgers and meat balls. Quick and because it is ground pork it is a welcome change from our weekly grassfed beef burgers. I am a big fan of Ancient Harvest Gluten Free Organic Pasta and used the spaghetti type here, you can also use pad thai rice noodles and Trader Joes is carrying a corn pasta which has great texture and works well in Asian stir fries.

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I spent the week without Internet, on tours of the north coast of Ireland, where steep grassy pastures plummet into an azure Irish sea.  We were accompanied and guided by my sister-in-law, her husband and lovely new baby—it was mind clearing and moving. There was a lot of craic, which in Ireland is the most important of all activities and translates into “having a good time with friends or family.” It requires a sharp wit and hopefully, a good cup of tea. Nothing is rushed in Ireland, and lingering over a cup of tea is almost an art form. Nothing compares to an Irishman’s wit, and sitting for hours talking is a welcome change from our faced-paced New York life.

The blackfaced mountain sheep, triplets are common for this mountain breed.

View down into one of the Glens of Antrim

Visiting Northern Ireland with my Dublin-born-and-raised husband was moving and sometimes difficult, and ghosts of the past were everywhere.  Ballycastle and its surrounding areas are predominantly Catholic, and the impossibly steep pastures  with minimal topsoil became a haven for Irish Catholics who had been forced off the good land to settle on rocky country that is good for little else than grazing. It was a hard place to live, but it is impossibly beautiful, and smaller breeds like the black faced mountain sheep excel in this area. You don’t see as many cattle grazing here, or even lowland sheep like the Suffolk, which require better feed and do not excel on a grass-fed diet. This area of Ireland is sheep country and there were thousands of sheep grazing all around us on small pasture-based farms. Ironically, this bad land where Catholics were forced to live is now prime real estate for tourism, and attracts thousands a year because of its spectacular natural beauty. As an outsider to the troubles, I felt ill equipped to understand it all, but the fault lines didn’t detract from the profound natural beauty and the deep Gaelic culture that was present in Ballycastle and surrounding glens.  It is possibly the most beautiful place I have ever visited and I recommend it to anyone.

More pictures of sheep! I am flirting with putting together a book proposal about lamb with essays on the culture and history of lamb in different countries and found Country Antrim to be the perfect place to research sheep and find inspiration.

This isn’t really a recipe. I made this yesterday and  it was so  incredibly good I had to share. I thinly sliced 1/2 pounds of (cleaned and trimmed) Brussel sprouts, and let a heavy bottomed skillet get really hot(over a medium/high  heat), added olive oil(you can also use bacon fat or lard) and then cooked them quickly until they were a bit soft. I then seasoned them with a dash of sea salt and served them immediately! Enjoy!

Surprisingly, creating an outside fire in the middle of the winter is a wonderful way to entrain a group of friends or family, you just have to make sure the fire is big enough. There is nothing as compelling as an open fire, and when shared along with good friends, it is one of my favorite activities.

There is something cathartic about fire, and it is a perfect way to reflect on the year and what is to come. For New Years, we usually do a big Scandinavian brunch, with a smorgasbord of cold delicacies like smoked salmon, grav lax, sardines, pickled herring along with homemade mayo, our hard-boiled eggs and generous cheese plates.

I am not really one to pledge New Year’s resolutions. I prefer to wait till spring to make changes, however I do have something things on my mind that I think will help me focus. Do you have any resolutions?

Happy New Year!

I didn’t have a iron but you get the idea…

Have you noticed that things look a little different around here? My sister redesigned this site on word press. Isn’t it gorgeous? She also got me these gorgeous cake plates for Christmas! Aren’t sisters the best? Thank you, Melkorka!

Speaking of the holidays, I didn’t do much cooking or baking to prepare for Christmas for this year, usually I at least bake something or have a small holiday party but for some reason this year it didn’t happen. Maybe it is because our kitchen is a bit small and baking is something I am never inclined to do anyways. Truthfully, I am not really a natural baker. My sister, who went to architectural school is a natural at it, and is an amazing baker, but I definitely do not have her flare for it. However, I get immense joy from baking because it is always surprised by the outcome. I baked that? It also fills one with a sense of accomplishment, and for some reason baking this cake had a healing effect on me. The holidays are so hectic, it really was a zen experience to bake this cake. Odd I know, but cooking has that effect on me, it calms me and makes me feel good.

After reading Sassy Radish’s(one of my favorite bloggers) post on “the perfect apple cake” back in September, I had been wanting to create a gluten free version of the cake ever since. The original recipe is from Merrill Stubbs from food 52. I love how easy the recipe is and how elegant it is. We had a bumper crop of apples this year, actually all of New York State did, and I have a freezer full of homemade apple sauce from our own tree, so this is going to be a go to cake in our home this winter. It is extremely sweet, so I might make it without the glaze for a weekday treat for my husband after work.

If you were going to a dinner party with a gluten free friend or relative this would make for the perfect dessert— it is a very easy gluten free baking undertaking!

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Mussels are not only sustainable and reasonably priced they are also easy; they really are a “fast food.” Do not be intimidated! You just need to know how to clean them: start by rinsing them a few times in cold water and then soaking them in the cold water for at least 20 minutes, this helps to get the grit out. Make sure to go over every mussel to make sure that they are closed(discard any open ones) and then scrub the mussels and remove any beards.

Mussels are a romantic meal for my man and I. We had one of our first dates at Cafe Brussels, a charming albeit retro Belgian place in the West Village which has since closed. Funny, how New York is forever changing, no? I can not decide which I like better, the mussels with their delicious broth or the crispy french fries. For a home-style version of the bistro classic I like to oven fry the potatoes in olive oil. They get really crispy too! The secret? A glass baking pan and an hour cook time at 375 degrees.
 

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Salad dressings have become an interesting topic in our home, as newlyweds we find ourselves creating traditions together and our salad dressing is no exception. We both come from salad eating families and growing up, dinner wasn’t dinner if there wasn’t a salad. A salad would accompany a vegetable, some sort of protein and a starch. It was never the whole meal, because it was an accompaniment my mother would make a simple apple cider vinaigrette with olive oil, Dijon mustard or soy sauce and she would toss it with whatever greens were in season or were growing in her fabulous garden. Her dressing is almost astringent in it’s acidity but this would always work well because it accompanied a big meal. My husband is always enthusiastic about everything I make, but he might not be the biggest fan of apple cider vinegar, or he doesn’t want it every night. To temper the acidity of the dressing I have been adding a dash of maple syrup(from our farm) or a bit of honey, which makes us both happy! This sweeter dressing works well with all the fall produce we have been getting in our CSA too. Here, I added more than a dash of maple syrup but the sweetness of the dressing plays well with the earthy flavors of the beets and kale.

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