My chop-chop

Well Im bragging of course, but my chop-chop is a bit of a catch. Hes swiss in his mid 30s and absolutely gorgeous. I met him online of all places last year and after a 6 month internet courtship we decided to live together. Hes a man of many faces, highly intelligent and sensitive. He has two masters degrees related to Architecture and his life is full of learning new things and books. The multi-faceted, interesting side is hes also a poker player, he cashed this year in the wsop (thats the world series of poker). He won a ticket worth £17,500 in an online tournament. That included a suite at the Manderlay Bay, picture windows showing the strip, cinema sized tv in the bedroom replete with king sized bed and all the excesses America is so famed for. He's serious, fun, wild, intelligent, racy and incredibly kind. Ive always imagined people who excel at one thing are limited by that but my chop-chop never ceases to amaze me. How can someone who enjoys and understands culture have a history of graffiti writing, hard-core trance (with everything that goes with that) and poker playing. Oh did I mention kick boxing and being a museum guide?

Christmas in Swissy

Ive only ever experience christmas in England before, with everything that goes with it. Getting up at 6am christmas morning getting the lunch ready for my family, opening presents and looking thru the window at the rain most probably.

Ive always found christmas to be a terrible let down. Im a hopeless romantic and always imagined everyone else had this story book existance that culminated in the most fantasamagocial christmas extravaganza. Whilst me on the other hand, spent my time pushing a huge trolley around Tesco whilst creatively thinking of recipes and food for a family more interested in champagne and parties. (Ive always been a square peg in a round hole me :)

So was christmas with chop-chop in Swissy going to at last exceed my overly high expectations of the christms season???

My first christmas in Swissy was a totally different experience. I arrived in Zurich a few days before christmas and hadnt seen my boyfriend chop-chop for over a month.(his nic name if you read my first post lol). Having lived in zurich for about 5 months beforehand I knew what foods I could buy and what i couldnt so i had the brilliant idea of shopping at Tesco and taking all the traditional things i thought chop-chop might like with me in my suitcase. I flew from Gatwick and i was allowed one case, a handbag and one item of hand luggage. Chop-chop has a huge record collection, hes a real music buff but no record player anymore. He usually listens to music on his computer now and has a woofer thingie and all the high tech gismos that make experiencing music akin to being in a nightclub. Well I discovered this turntable thingie that plugs into the computer. Great idea for chops chops pressie i thought, so I duly bought one. Huge box which i couldnt wrap up incase customs wanted a lookie, so i carried it in a bin bag lol. My case was then stuffed with meat products (which are hugely expensive in swissy), a ham to glaze and bake, a turkey etc. then englishy things like christmas pudding. I joked that if customs wouldnt let me thru I could have my christmas dinner at the airport. So my case weighed a ton, I had a huge bin bag with a record deck in it, a handbag stuffed full of stuff as well and off i went.

Everything went without fail and I arrived to a cold but snowless Zurich at about 7pm that night. chop-chop was waiting for me and i was really excited because there was a new tram directly from the airport to where we lived. I also got vast quantities of alcohol in the duty free, so we got stuck into that and a last minute purchse in duty free of a tin of ginger biscuits from Harrods.

We spent the next day buying and wrapping presents and me cooking my ham. Men always leave these things to the last moment dont they, was great fun, all the christmassy lights and crisp air, people rushing around, made me feel christmas had finally come. We spent the next day wrapping the presents. Chop-chop is very artistic he used to be a talented graffiti writer (when he was still nimble enough to run fast :) so we made cards for all the gifts, used silky ribbons, stencils, cuttings knives. wow they were the best looking gifts id seen for ages.

December 25th - I cooked my ham, with a brown sugar and mustard glaze in the oven for about 2 hours. Chop-chop liked that with salad and crusty bread for lunch and there was heaps and heaps left over for over christmas. In the evening we went for a christmas meal with his family, then afterwards we went back to his sisters house for the present opening ceremony. This was fantastic fun and his sister made these delicious traditional swissy cookies with spices for us all to nibble on whilst we tore paper off gifts, hugging and kissing one another (oh and did i mention drinking copious amounts of vodka) :)

Christmas was one of the best I ever had, filled with love and warmth, unfortunately the snow didnt come until the New Year, but when it came boy did it come lol :)

Sunday Lunch yum yum

I love sundays. In the summer its nice to go for a picnic with friends, but my fave is cooking a traditional sunday lunch at home for my chop-chop.

Today Im cooking roast lamb with all the trimmings.

Roast Lamb (for two)

Leg of Lamb

olive oil

salt and pepper

1 lemon

4 large Potatoes

2 parsnips

half a swede

4 carrots

1 onion

half a cabbage

1 knob of butter

packet of stuffing (i just dont like homemade im such a chav lol)

Plain Flour

half a pint of milk

Put lamb in a oven tray, drizzle on about 1 tablespoon of olive oil, squeeze the lemon over, sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast in the oven. Times depend on size and liking (rare, medium, well done). We like lamb slightly pink, so with a small leg for 2 people I roast at 200 degrees for an hour and a half. Checking after an hour and a quarter by stabbing with a sharp knife to check the colour of the fluid. Red its still rare, pinkish is ideal for us, clear and its well done.

Peel potaotes and cut into 4 peices. Put in a pan and boil at top heat for 10 minutes. Drain and put back in saucepan, sprinkle in 1 tablespoon of flour and a good pinch of salt. Put lid on and roughly shake. Throw into an oven pan pre-heated with olive oil. Make sure the spuds are all coated by tossing around and bang it back in the oven. These take about an hour. I turn them half way thru. On the half way turn, i put in the peeled parsnips which ive cut into 4, straight down length ways then once across.

Boil the carrots and swede, peeled and diced together, these take longer than potatoes and your knife should slip in easy. Mash them with a knob of butter and salt and pepper. If these are done early no problem, put them in a bowl then zap warm with the microwave just before serving them.

Peel and slice your cabbage and boil for about 20 minutes, drain and put in another knob of butter, shake about and its done.

Slice your onion and put in a saucepan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and a good spinkle of salt, cook while stirring for about 10 minutes until soft. In another pan add a knob of butter until its sizzling, throw in a tablespoon of plain flower and stir quite fast until its slightly brown, chuck in half a pint of milk and stir it until its smooth but quite thick, if its too thick add more milk. Throw in the onions and take it off the heat. Let it sit for at least 15 minutes so the mixture absorbes the oniony taste, then reheat either in the pan or transfer to a dish and heat in the microwave just before you put the dinner on the table.

For the gravy, when you take the meat out of the pan and leave to rest (about 10 minutes and i cover with a clean tea-towel to stop it getting too cold). Pop the pan back on a medium heat until sizzling, add 2 teaspoons of plain flour and mix with a wooden spoon. Be careful at this stage it burns quite easy and can get thick and cloggy. Then add a quarter of a glass of white wine and mugs of hot water from the cabbage. Mix thoroughly and transfer to a saucepan, let it bubble away to burn the alcohol off and ...........perfect gravy.

We dont have a starter or a pudding. But we usually have something sweet and yummy at tea time. :)

The swede and carrot mash, the cabbage, the gravy and the onion sauce can all be re-heated so your not running around with everything timed to finish at the same time lol this is a recipe for caos (if your me). Do all this while the lamb is cooking, time your meal for the lamb finishing.

Place it all on a plate and serve the onion sauce in a jug or a bowl with a spoon for people to lash over their lamb as they wish.

There is loads of lamb left and we dont like it cold, I find it goes quite hard so I usually make a spicy lamb dish of my own concoction for mondays dinner. Or make it and freeze it.

I will add my spicy lamb dish incase you want to try it. :)

3 course feast

We had some friends come around last night, and I wanted to cook something yummy that wouldnt have me slaving over a hot stove all day and also would allow me to spend time with our friends and not be tied to the kitchen.



Starter
For 4 people

Pumpkin Soup (made earlier and simply warmed thru)

Half a pumpkin
Red Chilli
Garlic
1 Onion
2 chicken stock cubes
1 Tub creme fresch
Parsley sprigs
large pot double cream (your just using a swirl the rest is used in the main course)


Half a pumpkin peeled, chopped into cubes. Add to a pan of cold salted water, pop in two chicken stockcubes (any brand) and boil. Takes a little bit longer than boiling potatoes but not too bad. In a separate pan add 4 table spoons of virgin olive oil, 4 cloves of garlic (crushed), a sliced onion and half a red chilli, chopped up with the seeds included. Sprinkle liberally with salt (sweats the onion and makes it soft) cook on a medium heat for about 5 minutes.


Once the pumpkin has finished cooking (jab it with a knife should be soft) add the contents on the onion pan. You havent drained the pumpkin btw your using the stock for the soup.


Let it cool down then zap it with a hand blender, if you do it hot you can get a nasty splash. Then simply add a pot of creme fresche. When you plop it in the bowls swirl a little cream into the top and flip in a sprig of parsley.


Serve with warm crusty bread. I find those that are part-baked are good, pop em in the oven for 5 minutes while you warm your soup up.



Main Course

Sublime Sole with creamy parmesan potato and green veg


1 fillet of sole per person, leave skin on.
1 tin of brown crab meat
Prawns (a handful per person)
Double cream (whats left from the swirl in the soup)
half a bottle of white wine
4 cocktail sticks
Milk about half a pint
Knob of Butter


Spread the brown crab meat onto the sole fillets, roll them up and skewer with a cocktail stick.
Put in a casserole dish, cover with the milk. Pop in the oven and bake on 200 degrees for about 15 minutes.

Put the pint of cream in a small saucepan with 1 full glass of white wine and heat until its simmering but not boiling. You must simmer for at least 10 mins to boil off the alcohol or this tastes foul. At the last minute throw in the prawns to heat thru.


Peel the potatoes cube and boil until you can stick a knife in. Mash them dry then add about a quarter of a cub of heated milk (not boiling just so its not cold i do this in the microwave), add a knob of butter and about 6 tablespoons of grated parmesan. Mash it up and its a done deal.


Serve with green veg of your choice. I usually use green runner beans or brocolli.



Sweet

Tiramissu (homemade is so easy and knocks anything you can buy right out the window)


1 mug of coffee (proper coffee made fresh doesnt matter how you do it, but NOT instant)
About 6 tablespoons of rum (white or dark) or tia maria
Packet of ladyfinger biscuits (or trifle sponges)
Tub of marscapone cheese
tub of double cream

bar of dark chocolate (at least 80% solids)


Make the coffee, throw in the alcohol and dip in the ladyfingers. they absorb the fluid really quickly so just dip dont soak. Arrange them in a trifle dish. (you can do it in individual dishes if you prefer). Make sure there is about 4 tablespoons left. Add this to the marscapone in a clean bowl. This unstiffens the marscapone and colours it a light coffee colour. In a separate bowl whip the double cream until it stands in peaks, then chuck it in with the marscapone mix and cover a layer of sponges, add more sponges and repeat.


Grate the chocolate over the top until there is a thick covering and refrigerate for at least an hour.

We all drank and ate far too much, but was a great evening. Everyone super impressed with how long i must have spent in the kitchen.

In reality the tiramissu took about half an hour and the soup just a little bit longer. The fish i did in about 5 minutes just before my guests arrived.

Hope somebody tries this, it looks and tastes as good if not much better than most restaurants :)

First trip out in swissy alone

My very first blog, so bear with me I will try and make it as interesting as possible. I moved to Switzerland to live with my boyfriend (who i will now refer to as chop-chop) and I love it, everything is so different. Zurich is the most beautiful place Ive ever seen, the air is crisp, the streets are so clean and the traffic is less than in England as they have a wonderful tram system.

Going on the trams excited me like a child really, and my first trip alone was a blast. I decided to go into main station to do some shopping on a sunday. chop-chop was left at home, big warm coat, gloves, hat and scarf, shopping bag and i was off on my first adventure.

Of course id been to the main station on the tram before with chop-chop so i knew where to get on and off and i knew where the shops were. I will add at this point I dont speak any swiss-german but luckily most people here speak a few words of english. Trip there was pretty uneventful and the shopping was great alone. chop-chop hates shopping so we always have to rush around, now i could stop and look at all the different ingredients and foods and jostle around with the huge amount of people that filled the Migro at main station.

Migro is a top food shop here a bit like Tesco or Morrisons, they have shops of all different sizes some sell electrical equipment, home goods etc, but the one i went to this day is purely food. I have a horrible habit of spending exactly what i have, I just keep going until ive spent my money (or in this case chop-chops money). I love cooking for chop-chop and he loves eating it, but i really know i have to cut down a bit. In my mind when im in the shop im thinking of receipes i can make, I never take a list with me which is probably why i spend too long shopping and spend so much of chop-chops money.

Anyway back to my story, I filled two huge shopping bags and made my way back to the tram. This is where the problems started, I knew the tram no. but i wasnt sure which side of the road i should queue in. I tried looking at the signs but i really didnt have a clue at this stage, I had two heavy bags and my tram was coming so i just hopped on. I found a seat straight away and i was on my way home.......or so i thought.

Id been all around the city with chop-chop, so the views out of the window wern't new to me, but was this the way home? The next stop a man got on the tram and stood up by the doors as all the seats were taken, he had a violin case with him and after a few moment got his violin out and started to play a classical song, I was enthralled.

Maybe a bit too enthralled, Im easily led away from the task in hand and day dreamer is my middle name, well by the time Id figured I was on the right tram, but going the wrong way the fiddler had packed away his violin and the tram doors whooshed open as he got off. Hastily jumping up and dragged half of Migros behind me I got off as well. No problem now, I just crossed over the road and waited for the right tram to come, which happened in about 3 minutes so i hopped back on again.

It was at this point i realised I hadnt purchased a ticket. There arnt any conductors just ticket machines at all the stops, but periodically a ticket-checker gets on and if you dont have one you get a hefty fine. So did I get off after one stop, buy a ticket, wait again, drag what now felt like more than half of Migro and get back on again or did I sit panic stricken and wait for the ticket-checker to arrest me. In my mind he was getting on any minute, police would be called, I would be dragged off and chop-chop would get a call to ask him to come and pick up his shopping from police headquarters. Now the big coat, hat, scarf and gloves felt mighty warm and i sat there like a pickled cabbage awaiting my fate. Of course no ticket-collector got on and the imagined conversation, me crying and begging for mercy never happened.

As i walked back in the apartment, chop-chop greeted me with a gorgeous smile and delving in my bags for his treat. Id survived my first trial by fire, but there was more to come :)