Apple Fennel Salad

Something really simple and very good:

Dice (~1/2 cm) tart apples (I used Cox Orange) and fennel. Toss with greek yogurt and a bit of salt.

An interesting ingredient: candied lemon peel with rosemary and mint

When I read this food52 recipe I was completely uninterested in the cake, but the candied lemon peel struck me. I immediately thought of using it in savory dishes and the idea was intriguing.

I made a batch using the technique described in the cake recipe, but I added rosemary and mint to the syrup I cooked the lemons in. The results are really interesting and will be fun to use in other dishes.

So far I've used it, minced, with sauteed zucchini (oh boy is it zucchini season)... it's good stuff. :-)

As a side benefit: the remaining candying syrup has a concentrated lemon/rosemary/mint flavor and would no doubt be excellent for cocktails.

Aromatic rhubarb-apple compote

I followed this Food52 recipe pretty much exactly and we were both extremely happy with the results.

The earl-grey, cardamom, orange zest, lemon juice combination is definitely worth remembering.

Korean-inspired chicken stew

Maybe if I just stick to particularly memorable stuff and keep it short I will start doing this again.

This one was an invention, inspired by the presence of gochujang in the fridge.

Dissolve a few heaping Tbs of gochujang and a heaping Tbs of miso paste in water in a slow cooker. Add thinly sliced leek, diced carrot, skinned chicken leg quarters, and sufficient water to cover. Turn on the slow cooker, put on the lid, and go do something else for a few hours (like go climbing). Taste the broth and add a bit of sugar or more gochujang if required. Add some diced (2cm) tofu and let cook for another 30-45 minutes (if you can stand it). Serve over rice.

Nano restaurant review: Matisse Basel

It's hard to do a nanoreview of an experience like this.

I'll try it this way: we were in the restaurant for a bit over 5 hours, had 12 different rounds of food brought to us (described as 6 courses, but there were just as many amuse bouches and other extras) and each of those had a variety of different components and flavors. It was an intense evening; in a very good way.