Week 62. Andorra. Trinxat.

I love my son more than you could ever imagine, but we have just had 24 hours of bliss without him. Looking after a two year old is an intense job and slowly, slowly your energy levels drain. You don’t realize it’s happening as it’s so slow, but 6 hours sleep starts to reduce your personality. You talk less at social events, you don’t do much needed exercise, you forget how to relax and simple things like doing the ironing become enormous jobs. It took us about two years to realize that just a very occasional break does wonders. In the last 24 hours I have had a 2 hour rest, a 9 hour (wow) overnight sleep, had a run, been for lunch, been to the cinema and been out for dinner. I feel utterly revitalized and ready to take on the world. I hate to be the smug parent who thinks they know best, and this is far from the truth, but what I can say is that if you are a parent and you get the opportunity for a break and a rest it doesn’t make you a bad parent – it makes you a better parent for when you are back with them in your possession. Adults need looking after too sometimes.

I drew Andorra this week and one of the very smallest countries in the world. Sandwiched in between France and Spain it has the highest capital in Europe in Andorra la Vella and is a prosperous country, largely due to the ski fields. I decided, therefore, that I needed to do mountain food. I’ve only been skiing once (I can parallel turn one way but not the other) but what I do know is it makes you ravenous. When it got to lunch time I needed mulled wine and a lot of hot food. Trinxat would have been perfect.

In the UK we have a dish called Bubble & Squeak which is named after the sound it makes in the pan when cooked. It is usually a breakfast dish and is made with the leftovers from a Roast Dinner. We usually make it on Boxing Day and use mashed roast potatoes and sprouts. It’s delicious but doesn’t take much thought and it lazily flavoured, usually with just salt and pepper. Trinxat is a a restaurant quality version of Bubble & Squeak. Think about the texture you would get by mashing a tough sprout and a hard roast potato. It’s rough and chunky. Trinxat uses cabbage and mashed boiled potatoes. They blend together much better and you can infiltrate the flavours garlic and pepper much more evenly throughout. The streaky bacon adds smoke and makes it more of a meal. I would eat it with some chunky buttered bread. If you were tired from a morning’s skiing, this is the dish to order. It will fill you with carbohydrates and iron and give you the fuel for another afternoon of exercise.

Right – I’m off to pick up the little monkey and take him to the park and kick a rugby ball about. I’ve got so much energy you see!

Trinxat Recipe:

I don’t want to be too strict on this as like Bubble and Squeak it can be thrown together.

You will need:

• Cabbage or Kale
• 3 Large Potatoes
• 3 Cloves of Garlic
• 5 rashers of smokey bacon

Boil a large cabbage or kale or both. Boil the potatoes.

Drain the cabbage and potato thoroughly and pat dry. Mash together with a little oil and salt and pepper.

Turn on the grill and grill strips of bacon on high. You want them very crispy.

In a flying pan, fry 3 chopped cloves of garlic softly for five minutes.

Pour the garlic infused oil into the bowl you set aside for the mash and stir it all in.

Return the flying pan to the heat and add in the mixture in small patties, frying them on both sides until they are browned.

Plate up and add the bacon strips. Enjoy!

Week 53. Vietnam. Pho.

We have a guest blog section this week. I’ve not been to Vietnam, but my wife has. So – here is Desiree:

As you were making the Pho this afternoon it brought it all back. I think it is the fish sauce bubbling away mixed with all the sweet smelling spices that reminds me of walking along in the sweltering heat of Ho Chi Minh. Pho was street food which we bought in foil trays and slurped sitting on the steps of buildings watching the madness of the city unfold. I remember the thousands of bicycles and crazy drivers trying to mow them all down (or that’s how it looked). I remember the motorbikes with babies with no helmets on, sat on the handlebars.  I remember the dogs trying to get at me and me screaming and pouring the pho all down me. I remember how some Pho were mild and others like fire. I particularly remember how you only had to show photos of designer clothing to the incredible tailors there and within hours you had superb replicas.

We spent time visiting the beaches in Vietnam and seeing their unspoiled emptiness . By the sea I remember eating the best spring roll I have ever eaten. Not deep fried, but wrapped in rice paper it was bursting with freshness and from that day I can’t eat the sickly fried cousins. I had the impression whilst I was there that I was lucky to be seeing the country in its true, raw form and before the West ruined it. There were a splattering of US restaurant chains, but nothing offensive. I was there 7 years ago and I will take you there sometime - but I am nervous it won’t be as I remember. Back to you Joe.

I’m not sure if everyone who cooks a lot experiences the same as me, but I have one bogey ingredient and almost every time I use it – the dish is ruined. For me it’s Fish Sauce. I don’t know whether I don’t really like the flavour as much as most, but I seem to overpower any dish I use it in-  it just seems to dominate. So, when one of the prominent ingredients of Pho was Fish Sauce I was nervous.

I am delighted to say that my fears (this time) were unfounded. This soup/ noodle dish was delicious. You could tell there was fish sauce present, but it wasn’t pungent. Instead the fresh coriander came out, as did the zing of the chilli which comes right at the end.  The noodles gave it the body to ensure this could be a main dish and the fact that it was simmered for 3 hours made the flavours taste complex. Our house now smells of Vietnam and it’s a great smell! Definately give this a go (if you have a muslin and about 3 hours).

Ingredients (for 2):

• 1 Fist Sized Fillet Steak.
• 2 Onions
• 2 Inches Ginger
• 2 Birds Eye Chillies
• 1/2 Cup Fish Sauce
• 1 Cup Beef Stock
• 250g Handfuls of Beansprouts
• 250G Noodles.
• Spice Mix. I made it out of  Star Anise (3), Coriander Seeds (1tbsp), 1 Cinnamon Stick, Fennel Seeds (1 tsp) and Cloves (4).

Ingredients for dressing the Pho:

1. Plum Sauce
2. Coriander
3. Basil ( we wanted Thai Basil but couldn’t get any)
4. Chilli Sauce
5. Chilli

• Firstly take the steak and put it in the freezer. Set the timer for 1 hour. It will be much much easier to slice then when it is nearly frozen.
• Take a casserole/ large dish and slowly sweat one chopped onion and half of the ginger (chopped) in some oil.
• As this is sweating and in a frying pan, fry off the other chopped onion and the rest of the chopped ginger. Do this with no oil and just brown them. This will bring out some sweetness and once done add them to the main pot.
• Into the pot add one or two chilies depending on how hot you want it. Also add 10 cups of water, 1/2 a cup of fish sauce and a cup of beef stock (strong).
• You also need to add the spice mix, which you need to tie into a mesh like this.

• We used a baby muslin which works fine.
• Once the muslin is in the pot, let it all simmer for 2 hours slowly on a low heat. You don’t want more than 20% to evaporate. If it does, add some more water – but try not to let it.
• After two hours what you need to do is get only the clear broth so sieve everything out and discard- and return the broth to the boil. Add the beansprouts and the beef (sliced very thin).
• Whilst the beef is poaching in the broth (it can be in there for up to 15 minutes) prepare the noodles (depending on the type you have) and arrange them at the bottom of bowls.
• When ready to serve, the broth should be poured over the noodles and then you can dress the dish as you choose.

Load it up with the dressing ingredients and enjoy!