Time for Loch Bloggers Around the World

Another week gone. That is how things work. If it's different and you are  wondering why on earth does the time not move on, you probably sit at home in a dark room on your sofa and have a boring life and you don't know what to do with it. Or maybe even ...
... but we don't like to dwell on such thoughts. Anyway, give me 48 hours a day and 1,000,000 years time, I still wouldn't have enough time. Well, this year I don't even have time (nor funds) to go on holiday. There was one thing I would have loved to do, that is doing a little bit of hiking and exploring in Scotland. However, as the year progresses, the time to do that clearly runs out, for I reckon winter will not be such a good time for outdoor activities of that kind.
Accordingly we switch to indoor activities and things you can do at your very home ... cooking food from and inspired from Scotland. For here we are with our new theme for Bloggers Around the World ...

SCOTLAND

Yes, right, it was supposed to be the theme for September, but hey, no worries, there is still enough time to join. We can also do it a few days in October still. We don't need to be too fussy about deadlines. After all, the word doesn't sound nice anyway.

Well, what are we going to cook or to bake. I leave that to your imagination or research skills. However, the last time someone asked me that question, the answer was Scottish Whisky Cake. Let me show you ...

So far my ideas(?) regarding what to bake. For the rest I also depend on research. What could be on your menu then?

There might be some kind of porridge or even kippers. Do I hear haggis? I don't know what comes to your mind here ... so we will see. I can also throw in some words for sweet things: Cranachan and shortbread, the latter being one of my favourites.

You see, we already have some ideas here. Just give it your special touch - if you like - and here we go.

Whatsoever, I myself might focus my attention in the direction of Scotch Pie and Bridie. 

Now you should have enough keywords to go ahead in the Bloggers Around the World Challenge. 

The only thing that is left are a few guidelines ...

1. Link to Cooking Around the World and this very challenge in your post.
2. Use the "Bloggers Around the World" badge (shown just after the guidelines and ... you know).
3. Use either an old post or write up something completely new.
4. You can enter as many posts as your time permits to write up, don't spam me with 1000 old posts.
5. Enjoy the trip ...

There is a wonderful way I can find out about your post and don't forget it for the round-up - you post a link in the comments section of this post. What are you waiting for?! Right, just relax and take your time and join us for Loch Bloggers Around the World ...

Out of the Darkness - Bloggers Around the World Round-up: Spanish Tapas

Am I torturing myself? Why, the last few weeks I have been doing a lot of things I am not so comfortable with, like meeting new people or travelling long distances with the car into unknown territory. Besides that I have added some 'real life action' by having a lot to do. This way I have reduced the 'digital action' and the 'non action' as well.
I don't know whether this going to lead me anywhere, but I know where it took me the last few days.

Do you know, too? Well, it has absolutely nothing to do with the Bloggers Around the World theme we are talking about in a minute, but let me tell you something about it anyway.
Just a few days ago, I came home from the place where you can find the tower, but as I used as much time as possible together with my friends - or maybe even a bit more - it got quite late when I finally made my way home in my car. So I got into my car and tried to drive home back through unknown territory. Good, I managed to get back home safely. Yes, I know, that's always the trouble with all those stories told from the present into the past. The fact that the person telling you the story is still alive shows you he must have survived. Ah, so what's the point now to continue telling you something? Argh!
Fine I only had a voice from my smartphone telling me where to drive while there was just darkness around me for miles after miles. At times perhaps the only ones around me were deers and boars - so I'm lucky I didn't take anyone of those along (more luck than brain). 
Anyway, things could have been worse, there could have been pouring rain. So, no big deal. However, I made it safely out of the darkness so I am able to write the round-up for August's Bloggers Around the World - Spanish Tapas.

The month was very short, for time went by so quickly - the way it is when you are enjoying yourself. Accordingly we have to keep this round-up brief.

Right at the beginning I like to show you some of the delicacies I did in my kitchen.

Yes, you just read about them anyway as it was my last post. Let's focus then on someone else. After all this is not just about me here.

So, please tell me what I can do. Caroline from Caroline Makes ... entered first. What was it? A lovely Paella ...

Hm, yes, I know, but we keep it anyway ...

Who else got the chance to pause and stop by in this fast paced month? It was Jill from Lapin d'Or and More (I love that name ... eh ... judge for yourself which one I mean).

Jill made some wonderful tapas to share with us.

I especially liked the 'croute' of red peppers. You can see them in the top right part of the picture. It's a lovely combination of red peppers, cheese and almonds. What's not to love about that?

What do I love from the next dish, the pea and ham soup? For sure the green colour does a very good job.

At the end ... eh ... let me say thank you to all who had a share this month. As a token of my gratitude let me give you some flowers ...

I hope you all still like me tomorrow and beyond ...

Bienvenido a mi casa - Tapas Night

¡Hola! ¿Cómo estás? Ahora hay tapas. Bienvenido a mi casa. Espero yo tengo algo para todos. Bueno, aquí tengo un pequeño selección de tapas de mi mesa ...

... y un poco mas ...

¡Que aproveche!

Nun, ich denke, ich sollte die Sprache wechseln, das wird mir sonst zu viel und ich brauche ewig mit dem Schreiben.

Oops, maybe that was the wrong one, too. I better switch to what I can write best. Anyway, by now you have noticed what this is all about ... Spanish tapas.

After all, that still is the theme for this month's Bloggers Around the World.

We better do this properly now. Turn up the sound system for the Gypsy Kings ... "Bamboleo ..." or something like that. Maybe we can get into the spirit a glass of Sherry first ...

I imagine it would be great fun to do this with some of my favourite bloggers, but ... anyway, it was fun the way it was.

What lovely kind of tapas do I have for you tonight?

Cheese Empanadas:

Have about 200 g puff pastry ready. Mix some 100 g of cheddar cheese or manchego to be more Spanish with a few anchovies, 80 g dried tomatoes, 50 g green olives and 50 g pesto rosso.

Roll out you puff pastry, cut out circles of all the pastry. Divide the filling among all those pastry rounds and try to seal them by putting a bit of water on the edges and folding over. If you have rolled out your pastry too thin or get your empanadas too close to the heat in the oven, what you can see on the photo might happen.

Brush your empanadas with egg wash before you transfer them for 13 minutes to the oven at 225 °C. Just make sure, you place the tray in the middle of the oven.

Roasted Peppers with Chilli Cheese:

You just need to get some cheese with enough fuego for this, a lovely cheese with enough heat in the form of chilli. If you have the right shop around you might get some Spanish cheese for this, but then a simple cheese with chilli will do. As you see, you cut it into nice cubes.

The peppers are a different story. Get them under the grill to char the skin of the peppers. Then toss them in a bowl and cover with cling film to cool down. Then try to remove the skin of the peppers ... if you can ... and cut the peppers into small pieces. Serve them together with the cheese and a dressing of honey and sherry vinegar.

Steak with Cheese and Salad:

Well, get some steak, season it with salt and pepper and let it lick the heat in your pan, one and half minute on both sides and do it twice. Then let the meat rest for 15 minutes.

Cut the steak into stripes and place them alternating with some lovely cheese on a large plate. In the centre of the plate place some green salad. Toss over some capers and green olives and ... if you are a tiny bit naughty like me ... some innocent looking, but fiery peppers. Additionally sprinkle over some black pepper and sea salt. Squeeze a lemon to leave its juice on top and add some good extra virgin olive oil. There you go!

That's just a small selection. You can add also some olives with different fillings, some chorizo, serrano ham and more cheese to the table. Maybe you also want to offer some tortas de aceite as well. You can buy them in some shops or do your own.

Jamie Oliver has a lovely recipe for this in his book Jamie Does.

For sure you don't want to forget to serve some olive oil roasted padrón peppers sprinkled with some sea salt and more extra virgin olive oil.

Oui, c'est fini! Oh, wrong language again. After all, that was a Spanish tapas night. Maybe we can do something French another time, another challenge. Maybe, if I get someone to join me for a theme of French Chocolate ... something.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed our little tapas night and I look forward to some further suggestions from you or any entries for the Spanish Tapas Bloggers Around the World challenge.

Nos vemos la próxima vez ...

Cheese, Cheese, Cheese and Cheese

Have a careful guess on what this post is all about. No, sorry, you are wrong, it's not all about cheese. What a misleading way to put a title of a blog post. How can I do a thing like that? Yes, just go for it and write it.
While I love cheese very much and all that, this is not going to be a post dedicated to cheese. And this is not a report of about the German cheese museum or a cheese festival that is taking place near to the museum and ... in fact is taking place next month and ... it's not too far from my place. Well, who knows, maybe I get the chance to visit it and then I could write something about it, but now it's simply a recipe containing quite some cheese. That dish is a pasta recipe with a cheese sauce, not just one of those where you put two kind of cheeses in or even three. No, it's Pasta with Quadruple Cheese Sauce.

Let us have a closer look at what we need and how we could go about.

Ingredients:
250 g Ricotta
250 g Gorgonzola
100 g Emmental
50 g Parmesan
2 hands full of cherry tomatoes, halved
2 cloves of garlic, sliced
Salt and pepper
Oil for frying
Yes, of course, pasta

Method:
Note the time your pasta needs to cook. It depends on type and size and when you make fresh pasta, well you have some extra work, but you will love it even more. Right, I didn't do my own pasta, although I could have done that.
Get a pan and get some oil to a hot temperature and fry the garlic and the tomatoes.
Meanwhile in a bowl over hot water you carefully melt the cheeses ...as far as they need melting ... in fact it will suffice to melt the Emmental and the Gorgonzola first and then stir in the Ricotta and Parmesan.

Once you have achieved a nice and lovely cheese mixture you can add the fried tomatoes and garlic to it. Check the seasoning ... eh ... we didn't put in anything so far ... so check whether some salt and pepper is necessary and add at own will.
Did you check the time for your pasta at the beginning? Since you can imagine that it doesn't take that long to put together the quadruple cheese sauce, you for sure agree that it's good to start getting the pasta ready at an early stage.
When all is ready ... enjoy ...

So I really hope, I can manage to visit this cheese festival. Do you know how it is when you want to go to so many things and would love to do so many things and in the end you don't even manage half of it? Well, well, well, life is like that ...

... then there are also these things happening in your life, I'm sure I have mentioned it more than once already here, when you go shopping and see certain ingredients and you feel you need to have them, although you haven't planned anything to do with them, then ... I guess it's time for the No Waste Food Challenge from Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary. Laura from I'd Much Rather Bake Than ... is managing the challenge this month.
Well, this time it was the Ricotta ...

... and if you feel like it and have leftover cheese, why not go for a quintuple cheese sauce or even ... but that would be all up to you ...

All the small things - Tapas for Bloggers Around the World

What? You think I have forgotten? How could you possibly think a thing like this? That is ... that is ... true, I almost forgot that it's time for another round of Bloggers Around the World.
So, let' be nice and start all over again ...

¡Hola! ¿Qué tal?

I really honestly hope you are all doing well, no matter who you are and where you are. Maybe you have a hot, burning summer right now, or maybe you have too much water coming from above. No matter what, I hope you like to join us once more as we make our way to Spain.

However, I don't want you to do any elaborate cooking this month for our challenge. This month we like to concentrate on the small things. Anyway, that is what you should concentrate a bit more in real life, too. A small nice gesture from a family member, a friend or even a stranger can bring you joy. Maybe it's just a smile, a kind word, or a cool drink on a hot day.
Did I say drink? Yes, I did. That brings us closer to what we want to do here: food. And this time it's small food, tapas to be precise.

If you haven't already understood, in order to join us this time for Bloggers Around the World, it's ...

SPANISH TAPAS

You should have a lot of variation here. Just feel free to try new things or share your favourite ones. Here are some of my favourites as I tend to do tapas more often ...

.. fried dates filled with chorizo and wrapped in bacon ...

 

... garlic prawns ...

... cheese with thyme and honey ...

Of course I also want to try something new. So, have a go and give at a shot. If you like you can also invite some friends and have a tapas party with you. So, once again, you can make others happy.

Anyway, it's very easy to make me happy. Simply join us for our big tapas party here and share your tapas posts. Simple use the comment section down here and leave a comment with a link to your post ...

... and keep also the following in mind ...

1. Link to Cooking Around the World and this very challenge in your post.
2. Use the "Bloggers Around the World" badge (you know).
3. Use either an old post or write up something completely new.
4. You can enter as many posts as you manage or of course you can have just one big tapas party.
5. Enjoy the challenge end your life of course...

Of course you have time to join until the end of this very month. So, when it turns September, you shouldn't post any more posts for this, but rather watch out for the round-up.

I wish I could delight you with some impressions from Spain, but I simply don't have any suitable photos ready somewhere around me, although I wish I could take some fresh ones soon ...

Kick it! THE Food World Cup Round-up ... do I need to say more?

This is the day you all have been waiting for! Right, only if you followed or joined or joined and followed the Bloggers Around the World - World Cup 2014 - Brazil challenge. It has been a few weeks of intense football cooking action kind of action in the kitchen and ... beyond. Now, there are only a few things left to do while I type things away until my fingers start to bleed and my brain starts to say 'no more, no more'.
However, first things first and last things last and a lot of cooking in between ...

First of all, I wish to thank everyone for their great support. So, thank you very very very much Galina, Cheryl, Vohn, Caroline, Ruth, Alison, Deon, Gayathri, Karen, Anchu and Catwoman. It has been a lot of fun with you and I hope we can do such a thing again in the future.
Besides that, one of you has won a lovely price of some lovely chocolate. For me, though, you all deserve it. However, as the rules go, there can only be one winner. Obviously, that one is not Catwoman. In order to find out, who the winner is, you have to bear with me for a while.
Another thing we have to find out is, which country made it to be the winner of the Food World Cup. Before we like to kick that off, we need to get you in the mood with a few recipes from the host of  the event, from BRAZIL ...

One of the most popular dishes in Brazil is Feijoada. Lovely Galina from Chez Maximka saw that, too and so she gave us her version of it.  

Still, you could do it slightly different as well and go and visit the Madhouse Family Reviews! blog and see what amazing Cheryl has done in that direction ... and ... check out her Feijoada, too.

Now, before you think, it's just beans and all and it will give us all a lot of wicked air, try Cheryl's Fruity Brazilian Burgers with Coleslaw. If you love burgers, you will love that one, too.

Then again, you could have a Brazilian Potato Salad, too. Let Galina introduce you to such a delightful version ...

Next comes another famous Brazilian dish I already had my eyes on. However, there was one lady, that was a bit faster then me. No, I'm not complaining. I could only complain about me as being Captain Slow, but hey, why should I. Here I have a wonderful recipe for Vatapa, a creamy fish/prawn stew, I can still try any time I feel like it.

Another one to tune you in for Brazil comes all the way from Scotland and from Vohn and Vohn's Vittles. Well, originally it was supposed to bring you happiness in a cold winter, but it will bring you happiness now, as well. Try some Papaya and Melon Jam.

Vohn has something else going for us, Brazilian slow-roasted lamb. That made me very hungry the moment I read it. Additionally I was due to get some food at that time.

Care for a drink now? Then let Vohn serve you Strawberry, Melon and Mint Sucos.

We are not yet ready to start properly, there is still one more Brazilian post of a non match day kind. Cheryl gives us Beef Churrasco & Farofa.

So far to the the prologue for our event. Now we are going to kick it and I'll give you the countries in ascending order until we get to the winner ...

In the past I was younger, but now ... Vatapa

That's a ridiculous thought! In the past I was younger. Although I know that for sure, I am not quite so sure whether I'm already feeling it. Today at work already half way through, I thought it could be over now, because my energy was gone and yesterday evening I was totally shattered. Somehow, it seems, I can't do the things anymore I was able to do five years ago. Somehow! Ah, that is really ridiculous! There ought to be a different reason for all that.
On the other hand, today, I am able to do things I wasn't able to do five years ago. Something like this ...

That's a Brazilian dish called Vatapa, a stew with fish, prawns, cashews and coconut milk. Fine, I had read something about it a month ago and we already had an entry with this dish for Bloggers Around the World quite at the beginning, but I didn't read anything about it lately.
So today, I just went for it without looking at any recipe, with just the key-thoughts in mind: you have to use fish, prawns, cashews and coconut milk.
Well, I let you know some more details now ...

Ingredients:
Splash of vegetable oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 medium sized red peppers, roughly chopped
1 small red chilli
4 small tomatoes, quartered
100 g salmon
100 g prawns
100 g cashew nuts, roasted and salted
165 ml coconut milk
150 ml water
3 spring onions, chopped up
A hand full of chopped fresh coriander
Salt and pepper

Method:
First heat up a sufficiently large pan with the vegetable oil and start with the chopped up onion in it until those pieces go soft. Try not to cry while chopping the onion, though.
Good, if you want to serve the dish with rice, it might take as long from this point on as it takes to prepare steamed rice, at least in the way I use to do it.
Back to the pan, we add the red peppers, chilli and tomatoes. Cook for a few minutes, so the vegetables start to soften up a bit, but we still want to have some crunch on those peppers in the end.
Time for the fish, prawns, cashews, coconut milk and water to join. Bring everything to the boil and let it all simmer for 10-15 minutes. If you want to reduce it more, increase the time, but then the rice will already be ready before you are finished (that shouldn't be any problem) or the peppers might go to soft. Choose for yourself, what you like.
Just before you are finished, check the taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper, if you have to.
Now add the spring onions and chopped coriander. It's time to serve, it's time to eat, it's time to enjoy. I did!

I would say now, this dish is for the World Cup Bloggers Around the World as Brazil is playing Germany today. For Germany I only have some beer in the fridge. No, I don't think the colours of the labels have any meaning as to the German flag, although on this photo it might look like it. 

I might try the left one of them later today. It's called Marc's Chocolate Bock. That sounds intriguing. I would never have thought about buying those beers would it not have been for a 20 % discount at the shop due to the World Cup. This 20 % was on any kind of beer. So people were really pushing out beer from the shop in truck loads.
Anyway, I will see whether that beer was worth its cost. After all one of my workmates recommended it to me. He knows a lot more about beer than I do, but then on the other hand, everyone has to find out for himself, what he likes or not.

Enough about beer! I am not going to do any advertisement for beer here right now. No one asked me to and I have no time for it now.

Well, I also want to add this post to the No Waste Food Challenge. I wouldn't want to miss that one this month. This month Anne from Anne's Kitchen is hosting on behalf of Elizabeth from Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary. After all I saved those red peppers from annihilation as they were far too advanced toward that direction already. Good, it was time for the prawns, too as they were freezing away in the freezer already.

As a conclusion ... I might not be 20 anymore, but since then I have learned a lot and I don't want to trade in this experience ...

Chanterelle, Medallions of Pork and Fried Potatoes

What do you do, when you have cooked to many potatoes and as a consequence have leftovers? For my father this was never a question. The only possible answer was fried potatoes. Therefore this was one of the regulars.
Anyway, I don't know, whether I should still be doing this, but after all, this is the game, Bloggers Around the World. So I keep on going ... or keep on cooking adding more work for myself later on for doing the mammoth round-up. I got some chanterelle mushrooms and some medallions of pork, so I had to go for this one.

There is really no big deal to it, but quite some butter. The Medallions of pork go to the pan in some butter and are seasoned with salt and pepper.
The chanter ell mushrooms go to the pan in some butter and are seasoned with salt and pepper. Fine I added a chopped up onion as well.
You know, the potatoes are cooked and then ... yes, guess ... fried in some butter and seasoned with salt, if you still wish.
Now, this all is somehow not with much variation of colour, but for that you can add a salad on the side. If you do it all right, you can enjoy a lovely meal, that is, if you like those ingredients.

Well, those goes for Germany today, although I would have preferred some baguette, cheese and red wine.

Go for Belgium with Stoemp

Either this will be a total confusion or actually a nice little post. Therefor I want to set a thing straight fright away, concerning the title of this post. The last word is not referring to a percussion group, originating in Brighton, UK that uses the body and ordinary objects to create a physical theatre performance. So it's not Stomp, but Stoemp. Just in case you where suspecting a typo here. 

Stoemp (now I have to be careful not to produce a typo here) is a Belgium dish with mashed potatoes and other vegetables in it, depending on what you want to use. As I understood it, it's all mashed together, and that is what I did then.

In fact Stoemp originates from Brussels. Maybe that's why you could add brussels sprouts as well. Fine, I didn't. I also haven't been to Brussels myself. When I was in Liège, Belgium, my friend, who was driving was too afraid to drive in bigger cities and that's why we didn't go further in that direction. So, I've never been there. 

I have been in Bruges, though. Don't mistake that either, because I am not referring to the movie with Colin Farrel and Brendan Gleason here. No I have been to Bruges (maybe that is a better wording as well) about ... eh ... let's think (no, I don't need to think I just read it a few minutes ago) ... 18 years ago.

Still I managed to get a few pictures for you. The quality isn't that good, though, due to the fact I took pictures from the pictures. So here we go for Belgium ... first of all ... with Bruges.

No, I can't tell you what this is, but I must have liked the architecture ... yes, I definitely can't tell you what it is.

Oh, yes, it's a canal. You remember? It should be a famous thing, too, to do a tour on them ... I reckon.

This one you can recognise easily, that the Belfry of Bruges. Again a no for not climbing the tower. For sure you shouldn't attempt to climb the 366 steps, if you are far too fat. Then The 39 Steps would be better (you could try London for that).

After that time travel, Belgium travel sort of thing we are ready to go for Belgium with Stoemp (yes, still not Stomp, they won't be having any concerts in Belgium soon, but you could try London again).

So, finally, we go for Belgium with Stomp ... ah, no ... got me here ... no ... with Stoemp ... at least my version of it ...

Ingredients:

500 g potatoes, cubed

3 medium sized carrots, cubed

Hand full of peas (no, they will do as they are)

A big knob of butter

1 onion, finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic, finely sliced

A drop of milk (or two)

Salt and pepper

Method:

First of all I got the peas, carrots and potatoes boiling so they are going soft.

In the meantime I melted the butter in a pan on low heat and added the onion and garlic.

Once the potatoes, carrots and peas were soft (that wouldn't be any problem for the peas), I started mashing them up a bit (you may have to rinse them first, though), added the onions and garlic together with the remains of the butter to the pot. Then comes the milk or ... yes, you could use cream, too. A little bit of seasoning with salt and pepper and ready we are to go for Belgium with Stoemp.

Obviously ... yes ... very obviously indeed ... you could have a vegetarian meal here, if you wouldn't add those sausages as I did. You could add whatever you like, if you like. Do you like that? Do you like the dish?

Whatever the case, as this is a Belgian dish and Belgium is playing in the World Cup today, you for sure all know, what that means!