This year's wine harvest for a refreshing blend of Bianco d'Alessano, Verdeca and Malvasia bianca. An extraordinarily humid summer and some ugly hail have caused quite some damage, especially as we like to keep fungicides to an absolute minimum. But that's nature. We have to do some more work sorting out bad grapes. Cat Frodo... Continue Reading →
It is unclear why the water in which this fish is simmered is considered to be crazy. It might be due to the chillies that give this dish a spicy tang, or due to the fact that the water is actually mostly wine. These considerations apart, this dish is a simple and extremely easy recipe... Continue Reading →
A medieval dinner featuring Apulian ingredients: A meat and mushroom pie, crepes with chicken cooked in spiced wine with apples, vegetables, fire roasted onions with verjuice and olive oil, cheese, pears poached in red wine, and bread baked from home grown wheat. Not to forget the wine, of course.
It looked more like a weed field but it actually was a wheat field: Now we, well, a neighbour with his tractor, to be honest, harvested our first wheat. Looking forward to bake my first bread out of homegrown wheat, with sourdough, of course!
Who actually made the first wine? And where? Several Middle Eastern and Caucasus countries have been competing for the oldest traces of winemaking, even China is among the top five. But let's start from the beginning: Answering the question of the cradle of winemaking depends on how you define wine. A 9,000 year old residue... Continue Reading →
What shall we do with lots and lots of apricots? Apart from the obvious jam and dried apricots (here drying on an old bed frame), we are making fruit rolls. After a few hours of pruning, I blend all the fruits with a mixer, add nothing at all, spread the pulp out on trays and... Continue Reading →
The sour cherries are starting to mature. Time to make rice with chicken and sour cherries! After pitting the tiny fruits and leaving my surroundings stained red, I boil some basmati rice in slightly salted water until almost done. I grease oven-proof pot and line the bottom with flatbread, fill one layer of rice, add... Continue Reading →
Verjuice (French „verjus“, Italian „agresto“, Persian „ab-ghureh“) is the juice of green, unripe grapes, hence its name „vert jus“ = green juice. It is acidic and astringent and is a perfect substitute for vinegar and lemon juice. Actually, I totally prefer it to vinegar. We even make ceviche with it, instead of lemon juice. Verjuice... Continue Reading →
It is time to say thank you to our feathery ladies, chicken and quails, who kindly provide us with tasty eggs. Eggs are such a diverse ingredient! Have you ever tried steamed egg in a glass? An easy way to improvise a snack, a first course or a small dinner. Take a normal water glass... Continue Reading →
