whats another year...

Nothing to do with that dodgy eurovision song by Johnny Logan...and not so sad...
Its just a catchy title as almost a year has gone by without blogging...
And, I reckon this wee one in picture has taken up a lot of cooking time...
And changed a lot of my cooking habbits...
A Lot less chilli,a lot less spices and alcohol...

Theres been work...setting up my online shop...http://www.etsy.com/shop/23mamas which is a wee treasure for me...soon to add more and play more
And for the last month teaching English..eek how did that happen! suddenly memories of school flood back to me and the hope that I,ll be a good teacher.

The photo is blurry ,yes, but its Anouk,s first ever wild mushroom she found this month.
Its called yellow legs in english or chanterelles(well a variety at least).
Here they,re called cama grocs and grow in huge quanities...best with egg dishes or simply sauted and served with pasta.
They are very easy to dry and last for well into a year.
Tonight we feasted on parasol mushrooms,ink caps and lactius delicious,dipped in beaten egg with garlic,parsley,salt and pepper-then in a mixture of dry breadcrumbs and polenta and fried until golden....UUUmmmm....
The winner for me was the ink caps which have the most intense flavour but the big parasol fritters look very dramatic and would be a fabulous base for a mountain chard and walnuts on top.
I,d like to stuff the ink caps next time or use them for ravioli ....
But its early days yet, a few more weeks to go for proper mushroom picking.

New discovery of the week from chef friend John is when cooking pasta add small cubes of potato-this is for when you want an oily sauce to stick, like pesto.
Theres more starch on the pasta so it coats evenly.
Leave the wee bits of potato in the dish.spuds rock.

Star shaped pieces of omellete and food with faces are replacing a lot of stuffed courgette flowers but all is good in my world.
I,m sending out a wish to juggle (and enjoy juggling)food blogging,crafting(please pop into my 23mamas shop),teaching,being a moma ,and a girlfriend to my lovely gorgeous parner who if you read this I love you like a crazy person!

Hopefully,will blog again soon....

Sugarsnaps with spelt seitan and the last of last year,s dried chanterelles...

The peas we,re calling me today for lunch and dinner.Ah that damned sweetness beckoning me...

For lunch I fried some chanterelle mushrooms that I dried last year in Autumn.(True treasure)
First I rehydrated them in boiling water ,keeping the liquid to use in the recipe....
Then I fried them in olive oil with chopped garlic and parsley and some sea salt(A catalan way with mushrooms or setas as they are known here)
The mushrooms were added to some cooked brown organic rice(regular brown rice has loads and loads of chemicals just under the rusks)

In another pan I browned some spelt seitan torn into strips,to which I added spring onions,a wee bit of chopped ginger...adding splashs of the mushroom juices when drying too much....the last minute I added sugarsnaps and I wee splash of shoyu soya sauce.....was tempted to add some red wine and chilli but no I restrained and all was good and holy in my world

Seitan made with spelt flour seems less heavy and easier to digest.
Forgive the photo...perfectionist Jean can do better...but heh ,it,s thursday(could,nt think of a good excuse)