Monday, February 13, 2012
Post-Order, Cold-Weather, Situation-Clarification
Hello. There has been a dearth. The reasons are twofold. First, it's cold over here. (Needs no more explanation.) Second, everything I write sounds idiotic, inane, unpracticed, uninteresting. Several posts were started and left to moulder. But now I've decided that I don't care, I'm throwing them up online! Take that lovely image and keep it in mind when you read the posts that follow this one, they are from as many as four months ago. Anyhow. Here I am, in Copenhagen, future home of Megan. I took the train, with my bass. It's scarcely gotten above freezing for the entire time I've been here. Pity the Californian. There has been a good deal of faffing, practicing, waiting for Husband to get out of work, hanging out with Husband and Other American Musicians, going to concerts, minimizing the amount of time one must spend outside. Before I awoke this morning I dreamed I was walking through a park in late spring, I could feel the warm air on my skin. My feet were bare, the grass was a little damp. Plants were flowering. The leaves on the trees and bushes were so clear in their different shapes and hues of green and they moved in the warm breeze. Andrew's voice was asking me if I was ready for toast and tea. I opened my mouth to utter a noise like a sick sheep before rolling over to recapture the Better Season. When I was in London (see two posts down) I had about 45 minutes to visit the Victoria & Albert museum before meeting a friend. I made my way past the miniatures, through the stained glass hallway, to the print room (boring), and then on to the tapestry room, which was darkened and humid, like a greenhouse. On display is the collection of Devonshire Hunting Tapestries, and one in particular had so many different kinds of trees, all their leaves made clearly recognizable, and the sea, with whitecaps that looked like clouds. My current roommate in Basel, June, is leaving in a month to be an intern with the textiles collection at the V&A. I'm jealous. Looking for those tapestries exposed a third reason for the continued post posting delay: the internet is too damn distracting.
The day I left Basel it snowed so beautifully. At least when it's snowing the weather seems less depressing. On Saturday, I'm getting on a train in the evening so that I can arrive in Paris the next morning. I have a week of work in France, playing two Haydn symphonies (The Bear and The Chicken) before I return to Basel and begin working in earnest on my recital program. That's right, folks. I'm nearly A Master. What I have not yet mastered is riding the bike we found for me here in Copenhagen. It's one of these silly upright-style bikes with foot brakes (remember those, from when you were 5? Exactly.) and a basket and some little flower decals on the body. I think it needs some anarchist stickers or rough-talking decals to make me feel less like an overgrown child. Last night riding home in the cold I kept thinking, This is so stupid. And, also, Don't die. I know it will get better, I'll grow accustomed to the bicycle, the weather will warm up, snow will turn into rain, plants will make their leaves and wave them around in a warm breeze. Any day now. Seriously. Oops. I mean, Yay! Winter!
Delish
Made dinner for my friend Amy tonight.
Last week was at her house, and we attempted to make a dessert crumble. I say attempted because early on in the process she encountered a container of sugar that had been webbed over by moths - I don't understand, and I didn't look at it, but I didn't need to, her face said everything I needed to know. I calmly asked her for a plastic bag, into which I double and triple knotted the container, and then left it on the balcony. We used white sugar in a different container instead; it was only after a great dinner, and 20 minutes of apple & fig smells wafting from the oven, that we finally tried the dessert.
"Mmhm, apples!"
"Huh, this is, uh, salty."
"Yeah, really salty."
So tonight was my week, and I didn't know what to make, but I came across a recipe for a savory crumble via a blog via another blog that I read. Seemed like the perfect thing.
I never use recipes, btw. I'm nearly categorically against them. But hey! This was great.
From cannelle et vanille, which has beautiful pictures, here's the recipe:
(I couldn't find quinoa flour or brown rice flour, so I used a little more cooked quinoa, and regular white flour. Worked fine. The cooked quinoa got a little hard so I'd use closer to the recommended amount. The woman who writes the blog makes everything gluten free, which explains the various grain flours and alternative ingredients.)
(Also, it seems complicated, but it totally is not.)
Red kuri squash, apple and quinoa crumble
serves 4 to 6
Crumble topping
1/2 cup (70 g) superfine brown rice flour
1/2 cup (70 g) quinoa flour
1/2 cup (70 g) cold cooked quinoa
1/2 ounce (15 g) finely grated Idiazabal or Manchego cheese
3 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
6 tablespoons (90 ml) olive oil
In a bowl, whisk together the first six ingredients. Add olive oil and stir until a sand-like crumble forms.
Chill the crumble while preparing the filling.
Filling
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 medium leek, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 medium red kuri or hokkaido squash, peeled and diced (about 3 cups diced)
1 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
3 sage leaves, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
2 medium Gala apples, peeled and diced
3/4 cup (185 ml) chicken stock
1 ounce (30 g) goat cheese, crumbled
Preheat oven to 400F (200C)
In a large saute pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the leek and garlic. Cook for 5 minutes until tender, but not browned. Add the squash, parsley, sage, salt, pepper, and coriander. Increase heat to medium high and stir. Cook for 5 minutes stirring occasionally.
Add the chicken stock and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the apples and cook another 5 minutes until soft but not mushy.
Transfer the filling to a greased baking dish or individual over-proof bowls. Top with the crumble.
Bake the crumble until topping golden and filing bubbling, about 30 to 40 minutes for a larger dish and 20 minutes for individuals. Serve warm.
Last week was at her house, and we attempted to make a dessert crumble. I say attempted because early on in the process she encountered a container of sugar that had been webbed over by moths - I don't understand, and I didn't look at it, but I didn't need to, her face said everything I needed to know. I calmly asked her for a plastic bag, into which I double and triple knotted the container, and then left it on the balcony. We used white sugar in a different container instead; it was only after a great dinner, and 20 minutes of apple & fig smells wafting from the oven, that we finally tried the dessert.
"Mmhm, apples!"
"Huh, this is, uh, salty."
"Yeah, really salty."
So tonight was my week, and I didn't know what to make, but I came across a recipe for a savory crumble via a blog via another blog that I read. Seemed like the perfect thing.
I never use recipes, btw. I'm nearly categorically against them. But hey! This was great.
From cannelle et vanille, which has beautiful pictures, here's the recipe:
(I couldn't find quinoa flour or brown rice flour, so I used a little more cooked quinoa, and regular white flour. Worked fine. The cooked quinoa got a little hard so I'd use closer to the recommended amount. The woman who writes the blog makes everything gluten free, which explains the various grain flours and alternative ingredients.)
(Also, it seems complicated, but it totally is not.)
Red kuri squash, apple and quinoa crumble
serves 4 to 6
Crumble topping
1/2 cup (70 g) superfine brown rice flour
1/2 cup (70 g) quinoa flour
1/2 cup (70 g) cold cooked quinoa
1/2 ounce (15 g) finely grated Idiazabal or Manchego cheese
3 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
6 tablespoons (90 ml) olive oil
In a bowl, whisk together the first six ingredients. Add olive oil and stir until a sand-like crumble forms.
Chill the crumble while preparing the filling.
Filling
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 medium leek, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 medium red kuri or hokkaido squash, peeled and diced (about 3 cups diced)
1 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
3 sage leaves, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
2 medium Gala apples, peeled and diced
3/4 cup (185 ml) chicken stock
1 ounce (30 g) goat cheese, crumbled
Preheat oven to 400F (200C)
In a large saute pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the leek and garlic. Cook for 5 minutes until tender, but not browned. Add the squash, parsley, sage, salt, pepper, and coriander. Increase heat to medium high and stir. Cook for 5 minutes stirring occasionally.
Add the chicken stock and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the apples and cook another 5 minutes until soft but not mushy.
Transfer the filling to a greased baking dish or individual over-proof bowls. Top with the crumble.
Bake the crumble until topping golden and filing bubbling, about 30 to 40 minutes for a larger dish and 20 minutes for individuals. Serve warm.
Surprises
Sometimes, just when you think there's no chance you'll pay your bills or do anything to make money or to be productive ever again, you get a surprise phone call while eating your oatmeal, and kapow, you're in the thick of it. A couple weeks ago, Sonja called from kammerorchester basel to see if I was available for rehearsals already underway, and I didn't even ask any questions - of course I said yes. Yes! I arrived at rehearsal an hour later and found I would be the only bass player. I can't even remember at what point I realized that the first concert was the next day; not until the evening, I think.
The program was a mixture of things, two contemporary pieces for which the composers were in attendance, a Haydn symphony, and a really wonderful piece for tenor, horn and strings by Benjamin Britten, called the Serenade. The tenor was incredible, his name is Mark Padmore, and I'm biding my time until his recent recording of the piece is released. The piece is really perfect, it was written in several movements, each with text from a different poet (Tennyson, Blake, Jonson, Keats) on the theme of night. Beautiful, terrifying, lulling. I think I'll remember our concert at Wigmore Hall in London as one of the highlights of my playing career. Plus I knew there would be some proper ale after the performance.
If you have any interest in Britten or the Serenade, there's a nice BBC program to be found on youtube (here) that talks about his life and the piece. It was written, as with so many of his works, for his partner, Peter Pears; they had been together in America, and were so disturbed by the buildup to WWII that they actually came back to England in 1942 and took a house near the seaside, where Britten wrote what are considered to be his best pieces. I also discovered that the piece was premiered at Wigmore. How about that.
Unfortunately, I didn't take so many photos when I was in England. In fact, I took none. But as proof that I was there, here is a picture I took of a crumpet, bought in London, and toasted, buttered, marmaladed, and consumed in my kitchen.
The program was a mixture of things, two contemporary pieces for which the composers were in attendance, a Haydn symphony, and a really wonderful piece for tenor, horn and strings by Benjamin Britten, called the Serenade. The tenor was incredible, his name is Mark Padmore, and I'm biding my time until his recent recording of the piece is released. The piece is really perfect, it was written in several movements, each with text from a different poet (Tennyson, Blake, Jonson, Keats) on the theme of night. Beautiful, terrifying, lulling. I think I'll remember our concert at Wigmore Hall in London as one of the highlights of my playing career. Plus I knew there would be some proper ale after the performance.
If you have any interest in Britten or the Serenade, there's a nice BBC program to be found on youtube (here) that talks about his life and the piece. It was written, as with so many of his works, for his partner, Peter Pears; they had been together in America, and were so disturbed by the buildup to WWII that they actually came back to England in 1942 and took a house near the seaside, where Britten wrote what are considered to be his best pieces. I also discovered that the piece was premiered at Wigmore. How about that.
Unfortunately, I didn't take so many photos when I was in England. In fact, I took none. But as proof that I was there, here is a picture I took of a crumpet, bought in London, and toasted, buttered, marmaladed, and consumed in my kitchen.
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