So it has actually been a while since I have done any cooking. Work has got busy, the reno is in full swing. We have been eating at friends and family quite a bit, which in all honesty is pretty welcome. The lack of a decent stove and prep area isn’t getting me down, the lack of a kitchen sink to wash dishes in however is. Doing dishes in the bath is no fun. We have a routine set up, but it still really stifles what I cook. I don’t want to use a lot of dishes, because washing them up is a drag!

This dish really just came together as something to clear out the fridge. We had some shrimp sitting there. I had originally intended to do another fondue, with scallops, however a quick look at our fondue thing brought about the realization that we were out of the ethanol burner thingies that keep the pot of stock hot enough to cook anything in. So a fondue was certainly off the cards. Most likely a good thing though - we had some brussel sprouts that really needed to be used up, and that is really what inspired this dish.

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This was always the dilema in England on Boxing day (day after Christmas). Obviously, we don’t have Thanksgiving in Blighty, we reserve the humble turkey for Christmas. I have never been that much of a fan of turkey though to be honest. If you ask me there are way tastier birds out there. Throughout Europe people would cook a variety fowl at Christmas - pheasant are popular, as too is partridge. My family normally did a big old turkey though, like most others in England.

The biggest problem for me was never how to cook the turkey at Christmas (or now Thanksgiving, and Christmas!), but what to do with all that left over meat. Sure, you can make a sandwich, but heck, how many can you really eat without getting completely bored?

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So this is where we are at with the reno. No walls, no ceiling. The electrical has been re-done (removal of old knob and tube, new circuits). The plumbing has been done (removal of old galvanized pipe). err.. what else. Ah yes, most of the floor has been levelled. There was a dip of a couple of inches in the floor in one section that had to be corrected, and our contractor Dan has fixed up that. This is still early stages. This week brings an end to the electrical, the floors completely level and sub-floor done, and the ceiling squared away nicely. Next week early is drywall. Hopefully the weekend after that we will be able to paint.

There have been a few surprises the last couple of weeks. The electrical was in far worse shape than we thought. We knew that the knob and tube had to go, but the electrical work done by the previous reno people in the 80s wasn’t that great, so that got replaced also. The plumbing was in bad condition, and really had to be upgraded. What is more, it turns out our canterlevered deck wasn’t really canterlevered. The architect who did it (in the 80s) obviously didn’t realise that it has to go back into the house (the floor struts of the deck) twice as far as it sticks out. Turns out it looks like he got that ratio the wrong way round! Thankfully we got support posts put in under that deck a few months back. I cannot wait for this kitchen to be done!! I don’t mind the cooking outside, it is fun. The lack of a kitchen sink is a bugger, and knowing how good the new kitchen will look, man it is killing me not having it

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It is still fun. Honest. So far I haven’t been rained on cooking outside. That is of course because when it is raining, we get take out. Yep, I haven’t braved cooking outside in the rain yet though. I reckon it will be fine though, a decent jacket and a large rain umbrella, and we will be set!

The biggest problem with this dish was the lack of light. Sounds really odd, and is nothing I have had to consider before when cooking. Yep, our halogen work light went out. To top it off, the electrical in the kitchen is being worked on, so I couldn’t really turn on the kitchen lights, which would cast a bit of light outside. So this was cooked by flashlight. One of those small, crappy by last forever LED flashlights. I know, I should be more prepared, but I wasn’t. And yes, we will be buying a new bulb for the work light before I do any more cooking!!

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Ahhh, an Italian classic. I am sure hundreds if not thousands of recipes exist for this classic rustic italian soup. I hadn’t cooked this in maybe 6 years, and I have no idea why not. It has to be one of my favorite tomato soups. What is more, I normally make this with really good canned plum tomatoes, so not only do you get a great amount of flavanoids, but you can also legitamately eat this year round. If you ask me, it works great in the cooler months when you are craving something that reminds you of the sun, but also something that is a little heavier than a light fresh tomato soup. Of course, you can make this with really ripe plum tomatoes too, which is simply fabulous, but that does require summer, and some really special tomatoes.

This did take a while on our little camping gas stove, but it got there in the end, and was absolutely delicious. I have to say that I am still loving cooking outdoors all the time. It has yet to rain on me yet, and the weather has been pretty mild. It really makes for a relaxing evening right now actually. Danika and I stand outside, with a glass of wine, chatting and cooking. It is really pretty great, especially today since it was windy, and we honestly had a rain of leaves coming down off nearby trees.

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You know how sometimes you have been doing something for ages, and then all of a sudden you find a far better way of doing it. The first thought with me is always “well, crap, I wish I had thought of this before, but at least I discovered it now!” This pizza was one of those moments. I have cooked my fair share of pizza’s, and have always done them in the oven. Who would think that a BBQ would work out amazing for a pizza? But, when you think about it, it makes complete sense. You have a really strong direct heat, and the food is pretty close to it. So, with the lack of an oven, and a hankering for pizza, I decided to give pizza on the BBQ a go.

The first thought was just how will I get the dough onto the bbq in the first place. I was pretty certain that after a couple of minutes on the grill the dough would be stiff enough to flip OK. That part was true. However, how do I get it onto the grill in the first place. I like a pretty thin crust on my pizza, which makes this task even harder. In the end, it took Danika and I to gently lower the dough base on to the grill front, and then gently push the pizza base toward the back of the grill. This gives room for another one at the front (since we are making two).

Another problem did evolve too. The lack of a work surface to roll out the dough, and the lack of a rolling pin. Well, the dining room table did as a work surface. For the rolling pin? Well, a bottle of Pimm’s did the trick there. In fact, it makes a pretty great small rolling pin. The bottle doesn’t taper off early like a wine bottle, so you actually get a decent sized cylinder to roll the dough.

So the basics go like - roll the dough out into two thin pizza bases. Heat up the grill to medium-high. Too hot and the bases will just burn, and not cook properly. Cook for about 3 minutes, and check them out. They should start blistering. If any bubbles form, just poke them down. The base is done enough on that side when small areas start to gently char, and the base is hard enough to flip. Using a slice, remove the pizza bases from the grill. Flip them over, and add your toppings (see mine below). Put them back on the grill for maybe 5 minutes.

What you get is just an amazingly flavored pizza. A crisp light dough, slightly charred in places, about as close as you can get at home to a pizza cooked in a wood-fired oven. I was actually stunned at the difference in taste and texture between a pizza a cooked just two weeks ago in my old oven, and this one on the BBQ, just no contest in my book, the BBQ wins hands down. If you cannot get to Cafe Lago (or don’t want to spend what I consider a lot of cash on a pizza) or Serious Pie, this is the next best thing.

So, what goes onto my pizza? In this order - sliced tomatoes (I prefer using sliced tomatoes to a tomato sauce - it is lighter), part-skim mozzarella, parmesan, fire roasted red peppers - sliced, sliced onion, torn up proscuitto, basil, salt and pepper, then finally a little balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

I often get rather obsessed with one ingredient. You will notice that it happened with fennel a few months ago. Well, right now it is leeks. A pretty brilliant vegetable if you ask me. Stocked full of flavor, they exhibit a richness that they don’t really have - if that makes sense, they seem a lot richer than they are. I have tried a bunch of different recipes and preparations of leeks, but this has to be an absolute favorite. The hazelnuts add some crunch and extra earthiness, and the vinegar just seems to mellow out and smooth the leeks even more. It might sound like an odd mixture, but it is absolutely fantastic, give it a go.

 Leeks, roasted hazelnuts and balsamic vinegar

2 large leeks

2 handfuls of hazelnuts

2 tablespoons of really good balsamic vinegar

olive oil

butter

a splash of white wine (optional)

salt

Start by trimming the leeks. Cut off the tough dark green tops, and cut of the rooty bottom. Remove the tough outer layer of the leek, it really won’t taste that great. Wash the leek, making sure all dirt is removed, especially from the top end (the rings are more open there, and dirt loves to hide up there). Cut a slice half way through the leek lengthwise down the whole length of the leek. Now, cut the leek into 1″ slices, crossways. The long slit that we first made will allow each of these rings to open up.

Put the hazelnuts in a dish, cover with foil, and roast in the oven at about 400degrees for 20 minutes. The skins will blacken. When roasted, tip out into some paper towels, and vigorously rub all over to remove most of the toasted skins. Coarsely chop the hazelnuts, discarding the burnt skins.

In a large frying pan, heat a little oil and a tablespoon of butter. When hot, throw in the leeks. Gently cook until the leeks are just soft. At this stage you can crank up the heat and add the white wine if you wish. Let this cook right down until close to dry. Toss in the hazelnuts, and a sprinkle of salt. Toss together, and slowly add the balsamic vinegar. Mix in 1 tablespoon and give it a taste. All the flavors should blend perfectly. If you cannot taste any of the vinegar, add a bit more. All vinegars behave differently, so use taste to judge.

There you go, job done! This would go great with a nice fillet of fish, or even some steak to be honest.

I have a pretty big love of cheese. Really good cheese. I have never liked cheese fondue that much though. Every time I have had it, I have found the sauce to be heavy and overbearing. So why on earth did I buy a fondue set a year ago? Well, chocolate for one But also for doing broth based fondues. I was first introduced to it a couple of years back by some friends of ours, and just thought that it was a wonderful way to cook. Super healthy of course, and really a lot of fun. For once I am not in the kitchen cooking, with a single visitor, but we are all at the table, cooking our own food, and having a good time. Course, it tastes blooming lovely too.

Since our kitchen is in pieces, and getting worse every day(has to get worse before it gets better.. right now it has no walls, no ceiling, no floor, and no power), we are having to be creative as to what we cook. I say creative, we don’t actually have to be that creative.. We have a BBQ and a single burner gas stove, so we aren’t exactly cooking over a candle here.. The biggest thing is actually prep, and washing up. We have a small dining room table that we use for everything - including food prep. I don’t want to do anything that takes a lot of pans/boards/dishes because I then have to wash them up, bending over in the basement bathtub. That got old after the first day of this! So, we try and cook stuff that doesn’t need a huge amount of prep or pans.

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I thought someone might get a giggle from this. Welcome to my kitchen for the next couple of months! Starting from the left.. w have a halogen work light (out picture, but supplying the light!), a BBQ, a portable gas stove with pan on it, a chopping board, my glass of wine, olive oil, a bottle of wine, a plate of leeks, and some fish ready to cook. I have to say, this is a lot of fun. Sure it is cold, and really not convienent what so ever.. It also takes an age to cook something really basic, but hey, I am enjoying it!

This dish really didn’t have the most favorable beginnings. I was planning on cooking the leeks and prosciutto on the little portable gas stove that I picked up, and the fish wrapped in foil on the BBQ. I would then use the BBQ to keep the leeks hot, whilst I made a quick sauce with some butter, white wine, shallots and thyme. Unfortunately before I even got the BBQ really hot, the gas can for it ran out. Joy! So, what to do? Well, I had already started cooking the leeks, so I figured I might as well bash something together.

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