It’s very easy to get the local made saussages in the supermarket, especially in italy or france. They have them specially made for grilling or just to be fried on the pan. I love combineing them with differant spices and then sauté white onions with a dash of wine to go with it. A possible recipe to make instead of BBQing and you could get unexpected guests as well.

Ingredients:

• 1 White onion
• Herbs du provence
• 400g local saussages
• White wine / beer

Method: Heat the pan with some olive oil. Fry the sausages till nicely brown on all sides. Do not make the fire too big, otherwise it will burn before it gets cook inside. Moreover, meat that is prepared with curing salt (e.g. dried saussages which has a good amount of nitrates and nitrites) should not be cooked too long as this enhances the formation of cancer causing nitrosamines in the human body. Once brown, add a dash of wine or beer and add the white onions. Sautè for 5 minutes and serve with gnocchetti, baguette, rice or couscous.

This is a gourmet recipe to try on if you’ve just returned from the market with some fresh quail poultry. The meat is very tender and usually melts in the mouth. The very first time I made them in Sardegna. It turned out fabulous but I made too little sauce to go with it. The second time round in france I made sure there were lots of sauce. It goes perfectly well with polenta, pasta or cous cous. It’s not as complicated to prepare as you may think. You onl really need running water to wash the poultry nicely and free it from the remaining feathers and you’re done. Usually quails are available in the bigger supermarkets, or the local butcher.

Ingredients:

• 4 whole quails ( cleaned)
• 5 mini pears or 1 big pear (cut in wedges)
• 1 cup white wine (gewürztraminer)
• 1 onion
• 1 bunch parsley
• Pinch of herbs du provence
• Salt, pepper
• 1 cup water
• Sugar
• Dash of vinegar / balsamico

Method:

Wash and clean the quails thoroughly under running water. Half the quails so that you can brown them properly. Heat the pan with olive oil, brown the onions then brown the poultry lightly. Add then the cup of white wine and turn down the heat to simmer softly for 10 mins. Add then a dash of vinegar and sugar with the pear wedges, herbs, salt and pepper and simmer with a cup of water additionally for another 5 mins. Add parsley, and stir. Serve with polenta and a fresh green romana salad. It’s probably best to use your fingers to eat them Enjoy!

It’s spring, and the first thing that comes to your nose while everything is blooming is…ramsons! (Wild Garlic/Bärlauch/lat. Allium ursinum) It’s leafy green and pungent garlic smell makes this herb a favourite to make it as a Cream of Ramson soup, Ramson pesto or simply freshly mixed under the salad leafs. If you are out to harvest this on your own, take care not to pluck the “Lilly of the valley” (Maiglöckchen) instead as their leaves are almost similiar. Eating a few leaves of this is poisonous and can become the last meal you had in this life. If you’re unsure, buy them at the supermarket. You can get them as seasonal herbs and spices almost anywhere. (in Germany) Ramsons are at its best when the leaves are still young. Once the plants flowers, the leaves gets bitter and is not anymore edible.

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I must admit, that this year was not spent much cooking outdoors. I’m getting really comfortable with just hitting for the restaurants and getting others to cook for me. Now that isn’t such a bad idea either?With the seasonal weather changing to be colder, darker, wet-ter and just nothing enjoyable to stay outside and freeze your buns out, I’d opt for eating out. Moreover we’ve been hitting for destinations where food’s real cheap, too cheap to think of even cooking by yourself, so that was it… But I promise you, next year is going to THE outdoor year spent cooking cooking cooking and äähmmm, climbing too… nevertheless I still have some recipes up my sleeves for you to try out.

This was amazingly delicious! It’s a perfect recipe for a noodle salad thats tasty and refreshing. It surprised my hubby that it turned out really “lecker” and i surprised myself that it tasted so good. Happy ending afterall…thank goodness Read the rest of this entry »

Nizza’s great. It’s almost like a city back home, with every climbing spot just a milestone away, nowhere longer than an hour. Depending on where you stay, it could also be just right infront of your doorstep. It must’ve been the 5th time in a row we were in Nizza, and we’re still never getting tired of all those tufas, overhangs, and great climbing spots this place has to offer. And with each visit, again we discover new sites, awesome climbing, in an awesome ambient.

Places like La Turbie, St. Jeannet, Gorbio, Cayenne, Pupuce, Escragnolls and so many more to choose from. It offers climbing of all sorts for everyone.

If you have some rest days and are looking for high sugar level for your body, I suggest a visit to “Florian’s Consfiserie” where you could find one of the best candied orange dipped in chocolate, or rose petal jam, and delicious candied lavendel, rose, linden tree…. and don’t forget your credit card

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If you are anywhere near italy or france, you`ll definately find fresh saussages in the supermarkets or at the butcher stall. They could be filled with herbs, or traditionally made according to the country you are in. Choose any to your choice, just make sure that it`s not one of those which is dried (air dried) , but raw.

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If you’re all tired from the usual pasta with just red plain sauce, try this treat for a change. If you’re anywhere in the southern part of europe, you’ll usually find a stand with fresh fish in most of the bigger supermarkets. So buy those seafood according to your hearts desire and make it a fine yummy dish to treat yourself with!

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Have you ever had one of these days when nothing seem to turn out right for you? Sun ray is something holy for me. Funny. It’s been weeks and months since we’ve been blessed with rain, bad weather and no chance for climbing outside. You feel how the cobwebs are growing on your arms making them heavy, your butt’s all sore from surfing the weekend thru in the internet (looking for sun – yeah!) And suddenly when the sun comes out for a couple of hours, you hurry down your cellar, grab your rucksack and equipment and drive 2 hours to a favourite climbing spot…. only to find out that the crag with over 140 routes were all soaking wet?

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It was quiet, terribly quiet and the day was just awesome. I sat outside enjoying every single ray the sun had to offer on a cold autumn afternoon. As a slight breeze came across my face, I watched the golden leaves falling to the grounds…the previous nights were frosty cold and winter was coming in big steps . And I thought, we’re going to have a strong winter this year, one thats white, fluffy and cold….not like the winter’s we’ve been having in the past. I could be wrong, but who knows whats happening to mother earth. Nothing’s predictable. I watched how the marons fall from the trees, and remembered how these marons destroyed my car years back…and everybody thought it must’ve been a big hail storm. Damned! It was a new car, and I was shocked when I saw what happened. And just as those angry memories were about to disappear, I had just the perfect idea for dinner that evening. I was going to get my revenge on those little marons!

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You know, it’s actually not the season for aspargus as it’s summer right now. But there are still times when you can find asparagus in the supermarket…and this wee world does have differant climates on it’s differant parts. So I thought yeah, why not add this right now into the blog. It doesn’t have to be spring time.

We were in France at this time of the year when you could find asparugus abundently. Infact I found some wild asparagus, Read the rest of this entry »