I stumbled across an article on a special type of a traditional japanese hatchet, the “Nata“. It derives from the use as a garden tool, but it seems to also gain increasing popularity in the bushcraft and knifemaker scene. I liked the form and the unpretentious design and wanted to try my own version.
Smoked Char
We got two beautiful chars from our favourite fishmonger and brined (see below) them over night. Then they were “hot smoked” – a fast and delicious cooking method, but not suitable for long-term preservation.
Hot smoke for about 30++ minutes (depending on the size of your fish) at up to 90°C/195 °F and until golden on the outside. Add your favourite smoking wood after 10 minutes for a nice aroma. They’re done when you can pull out the back fin very easily and can be served for example with toasted bread, salad and horseradish. They’ll keep in the fridge for max. 2-3 days.
We’ve got a Greenhouse! Yay!
Last year we got a greenhouse for a very reasonable price compared to now and we finally managed to set it up (with oooonly just a little help…) Oh, and the door is still missing 🙂 I’m a complete newcomer to greenhouse gardening and now I’m very hooked about the first try!
How to Defrost Your Freezer
Uahhhh… 🙁 I went to the basement today and discovered this. Seems I’ll have to defrost the fridge (actually, both of my fridges) to make sure they work properly again. Here’s how to do it (this is a manly hint):
Pickles Taste Test
After 4½ days in the fridge I went to try the pickles I made last week. Summary: Really not bad at all, but of course improvements are possible.
Asparagus and onions are perfectly ok; Crunchy, fresh and bright. A great addition to “Brotzeit”! I won’t do it again with green onions though, they became rather mushy and even got a little brown. Absolutely edible but not very appealing.
Also, I’ll try some more sugar next time since that distilled white vinegar is very acidic and needs to be balanced out a little more.
Cream of Green Asparagus Soup Recipe
I tried making pickles for the first time lately, among else using asparagus as a vegetable. Since I didn’t want to throw away the trimmings I made cream of asparagus soup. Not complicated, not time consuming and tasty.
Basic Vegetable Pickling Recipe
I wanted to try pickling, so I decided to give it a try on the weekend, but starting with only small batches. My beloved aunt Inge would vividly oppose to the term “pickling” (she’s an institution on home grown greens as well as food-preservation and she’s some kind of an old-style, longtime proficient german homesteader, not the american style 🙂 ). But I’ll try anyway.
Roasted Garlic Recipe
There’s a sh*tload of videos online from people making oven roasted garlic and using it for garlic bread, etc. I wanted to try that too eventually – and boy, is that amazing! The whole house smelled of garlic and I don’t want to know how *I* smelled afterwards 🙂 This is luscious, delicious and by the way absolutely easy to make. Do try this if you haven’t already.
