Lazy Summer Days

Yes, I know I have been remiss in updating the blog.   Rest assured, it isn't because I gave up cooking or eating.  I've travelled a bit and have taken the lazy days of summer to heart.  I remember my trip based on what I ate, Mussels and pomme frites in Brussels (of course), Raclette in Geneva, Thumper in Prague, and "Cosmopolitans" in Bratislava. 

I have to recommend Mussels in Brussels.  There are plenty of places to get good mussels in the States.  I think the difference in Belgium is that even the sketchy eateries know how to perfectly cook a mussel so they are flavorful and don't taste like a rubber band.  Just instinct, but I think the local beer helps a lot.  I am not a french fry gal, but the pomme frites in Brussels converted me.  I was confidentially told that the secret is frying the pomme frites twice resulting in a crispy exterior and creamy interior. 

Our hosts weren't too excited about having raclette for dinner in the middle of summer, but lucky for me they acquiesced. Raclette, a type of Swiss Cheese, has a fairly strong, but pleasant, flavor.  Traditionally, the swiss mountain men would take a wheel of raclette and melt it on the fire and then scrape off the melted cheese and serve it over potatoes or pickles.  The modern version is "raclette a gogo," or a basket of potatoes and cornichons and pickled onions, and of course cheese.  It's a gogo because as soon as you finish one plate of cheese another miraculously appears.  I think I literally ate a pound of cheese.  If you can find raclette in the States, I highly recommend trying it.  If you don't have a raclette maker (they sell them at Williams Sonoma), melt the cheese under the broiler.  Serve it with boiled fingerling potatoes and pickles.

The Kitchen Klutz Enjoying A Bratislavan CosmoThe rest of the trip was just as satisfying.  The rabbit in Prague was delicious.  It was served with a honey bacon reduction.  The sauce was actually very light and perfect with the rabbit which truly does taste like chicken.  In Bratislava, I ordered my "Cosmopolitan" by pointed to the table next to me and, using universal food language, motioned that I wanted what she was drinking.  The Slovakian version of the Cosmo is SO much better that the US version.  It tasted like a mixture of sour cherries (not the robitussin cough syrup version of cherry liquor, but real sour cherries) and subtle layers of Chinese five spice powder.  I wish I got the recipe.  I did buy some Slovakian Cherry liquor so I might try to experiment at home.

Anyway, back to the real world and real American cuisine.  I bought a duck at the farm market yesterday as well as some fresh figs.  I'm going to experiment roasting the duck with the figs.  Stay tuned for the results...