Girls Curry Night

Last week, J was out of town so I invited all the female friends I've made (mostly CERN wives or female physicists) for a Girls Night In. It's pretty expensive to go out to eat in Geneva and without any Olive Garden options, I made three curries and they brought wine.

One of the curries was loosely based on Jamie Oliver's recipe:
Click on the picture for the recipe at http://www.jamieoliver.com

A few change and clarifications to his version:

1. Frying the mustard seeds at first is important because it makes the flavor better, and it's really fun to hear the little seeds cackle on the frying pan.
2. I tried grating the onions with large hole cheese grater, and while I had to stop because my eyes were stinging, it actually made for a nice onion paste. I didn't have the patience/stamina to do both onions that way, so I just chopped the second onion which worked just fine. I also used a jalapeno type pepper for the hot pepper.
3. I used regular potatoes and thai eggplant (eggplant=aubergine) and realized that Jamie did not specify a cooking time. Even at small bite size pieces, it took at least 30 minutes for these items to cook. I made a mistake and boiled the coconut milk which you really shouldn't do. Keep at a simmer if possible.
4. Having neither okra nor peas, I threw in red and yellow peppers instead. It still turned out lovely.

Really great flexible recipe for a chilly autumn night and hanging with the girls.

Bacon Cheddar Scallion Biscuits

Yay, glad you're posting too Sarah! I agree, pictures are ideal but even if we don't take them we shouldn't let that stop us from posting. I actually made these biscuits again this weekend and this time I did take pictures. So here they are!

Recipes from Switzerland

Louisa! All is not lost! I've been thinking about blogging more about the recent cooking I've been doing too, so pictures to come! Recipe links for now!

Since last you all saw me, I got married and moved to Geneva, Switzerland. Most of my friends work at CERN at the Large Hadron Collider (or LHC). There are lots of nice things about Switzerland (cows! cheese! wine!) and downsides too (#3 most expensive city in the world).

So, we end up cooking a LOT instead of going out to eat. In the land of a burger costs $20, my reliance on Julia Child and Joy of Cooking has skyrocketed.

Recently, I've made a lot of scones to entertain my friends who stop by for tea. (I know, it sounds like we're living in the 1940s here.) But tried and true, this recipe for lemon scones actually one of my favs. Don't over knead the dough and if you have european butter, all the better. Did you know the fat content is totally different in butter here? Fascinating!

Scallions!

No one else seems to be posting here but I'm going to continue, even if it's just for my own records. So, the main thing I've been getting in my CSA that I can't keep up with is scallions! Every week there's another big bunch and most things I make with them just uses a little bit. So I had to find more uses for them.

One thing I found was this scallion pesto. I didn't know if it would be any good but I also just got my first food processor so it was the perfect thing to try. I would say the scallion pesto is not amazing or anything but it's pretty good, definitely gives things a nice oniony tang, and a great use of my scallions!

The other thing I made was really awesome: bacon cheddar scallion biscuits! I used this recipe from the Pioneer Woman and just added scallions (sauteed them briefly in a little of the bacon fat before dumping them in the batter). I brought them to a potluck and they gotten eaten up pretty quickly. They are not healthy in the least but they are really good!

Swiss Chard

I joined a CSA for the first time this year - together with a coworker we're getting a half share, so we each get a quarter share which is working out very well because it's not too hard to use it up. Last week we got some swiss chard, which I think is so much better than spinach, and I found this recipe to use it. It's really simple, just sautee some swiss chard, I added dried cranberries instead of currants, and then put in some feta at the end. I didn't add any water though the recipe says to. The only thing is I'm always amazed at how all that leafiness cooks down into not that much, so my one bunch of chard made a small dish but it was very good!