Right Location, Rich Mix from Paintings to Distinct Clothing and Garden Fare Make for Successful Yard Sale
As in retail, you will get buyers, not just passing by visitors , if you have the right ingredients and not just a mass of things for people to dig through the piles.
How to Not have Just Another Yard Sale? Concierge Mondays # 20
Summer lunch up North (meaning Scandinavia) has seafood rillettes on the menu.
Like this Smoked Mackerel Rillettes With Rye Crisps recipe from ScandiKitchen: Midsommar: Simply Delicious Food for Summer Days (Ryland Peters & Small, 2018, 2021) by Brontë Aurell, co-owner of ScandiKitchen in West London.
Smoked Mackerel Rillettes With Rye Crisps
This is a super-easy way to prepare an appetizer or light lunch. Rillettes are a coarse, potted meat similar to pâté that are stirred together and spread on toast. They’re usually made with fatty pork (or duck) leftovers, but I love making rillettes with fish. This recipe works well with both smoked mackerel and smoked salmon.
Ingredients:
8–12 thin slices of rye bread or store-bought rye crisps (available in supermarkets)
200 ml/3⁄4 cup crème fraîche
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons chopped chives
squeeze of fresh lime juice
1⁄2 teaspoon horseradish sauce
300 g/10 1⁄2 oz. smoked mackerel
freshly ground black pepper (hold the salt until you taste it, some mackerel is very salty)
TO SERVE
1⁄4 small fennel bulb
1⁄2 apple
freshly squeezed lemon juice
fresh pea shoots
4 individual serving glasses
Serves 4 as a generous appetizer or light lunch
Directions:
If using rye bread, preheat the oven to 140°C (275°F) Gas 1. Slice the rye bread very thinly and place on a baking tray. If the bread is too thick it will be hard to eat as crispy bread, so do make sure it is thinly sliced. Bake in the preheated oven for about 10–20 minutes (depending on your bread) until completely dry. You can make it several days ahead and store in an airtight container.
Mix the crème fraîche with the mustard, chives, lime juice and horseradish (if using). Remove the skin from the mackerel and add the fish to the crème fraîche mixture. Stir just until mixed – I like my rillettes with a few chunky bits, but some people prefer it smoother. If you like yours smoother, simply mix a while longer. Check for seasoning and add black pepper to taste. Spoon the mixture into the serving glasses. Chill until ready to serve.
When ready to serve, slice the fennel and apple very thinly, ideally using a mandoline. Add a squeeze of lemon juice to stop the apple going brown and mix well. Serve the apple and fennel salad with pea shoots, the glasses of mackerel and the rye toast on the side. You may need extra toast as the mackerel makes a generous portion.
( Reproduced with permission from ScandiKitchen: Midsommar: Simply Delicious Food for Summer Days By Brontë Aurell, Ryland Peters & Small, 2021 / photography by Peter Cassidy © Ryland Peters & Small, 2018, 2021)
P.S: Please note that the recipes in ScandiKitchen: Midsommar are the same as in ScandiKitchen Summer, which was published in 2018.
Into The Woods, want to wander off off Paris, here's a map of natural parks and wooded areas around Paris.
Carte des Bois via Enlarge Your Paris
Will online marketplaces soon be flooded with 'For Sale' breadmakers and Peloton (Interactive) bikes?
Will people start interacting with other people instead?
With warmer days and people starting to trickle back or being tricked back (at least part time) to the office, time will tell!
Not so new shiny objects for Concierge Mondays # 19
Being a liaison could become prominent concierge role for me in this getting past covid period.
After reading number of articles on what 'back at the office' might mean, most of us are still muddling through this, it appears that ferrying things (documents, supplies, and more) from main office to satellite ones and same to and from 'working from home' team members could be a prominent activity in my New Jersey Concierges line of work.
Using a new canvas for changing shape of work, a slightly belated Concierge Mondays # 18
Whether you are moving, need to empty part of your house or apartment for a home improvement project, or just running out of space for some of your possessions, many of us do, pick up a facility that has a drive in garage or loading room with direct elevator access to your storage space.
Temperature control is also part of the basic requirements so none of your items suffer during their time in storage.
If you plan to sell some of the items brought to your storage unit, it will be a plus to have that easy elevator access to move items to buyer's vehicle. It will also allow you to conduct transaction without bringing 'strangers' in your home.
Slightly belated storage space tips for Concierge Mondays # 17
Make the message fit on a very small birthday cake, shrink It!
More small studio than penthouse!
Cake and portion control for Concierge Mondays # 16
Crustacean eating red mullet makes for smooth pink Whole Thai Fish Skewers, a recipe from Skewered: Recipes for Fire Food on Sticks from Around the World by Marcus Bawdon (© Dog ‘n’ Bone, April 27, 2021)
WHOLE THAI FISH SKEWERS
I’m a lover of red mullet and I think it’s much under-rated by a lot of folk. It’s a lovely pink, smooth-skinned fish, and the flesh is delicate with a shellfish flavor from all the prawns/shrimp and crustaceans it eats.
I figured it would work well with a red Thai curry coating and a nice crispy, slightly charred skin. This is a lovely way to cook fish as you get a crisp skin, without fear of the fish sticking because it’s not in contact with the grill grates.
Feeds 2
RECOMMENDED HEAT: Moderate coals
Ingredients:
2 red mullet, gutted and scaled
2 tbsp Thai red curry paste
coarse sea salt
lime wedges, to serve
CHOOSE YOUR SKEWER
long flat metal skewers
Directions:
Set up a narrow grill so that the skewers go across both sides so that the fish can be supported just above the coals.
Skewer the fish through the head, body and out through the tail end. Make a couple of slashes in the thick part of the body to help even cooking, and to allow the curry paste to penetrate the flesh. Season lightly with the salt, and then brush on the Thai red curry paste. Make sure the fish has a nice even coating of the paste.
Place the fish skewers over the coals and turn occasionally, making sure the char on the skin doesn’t get too dark. Total cooking time should be 10–12 minutes or until the thickest part of the fish has an internal temperature of 55°C/130°F on a digital probe thermometer.
Finish with a squeeze of lime juice and serve with some fragrant jasmine rice, if liked.
(* Excerpted from Skewered: Recipes from Around the World for Fire Food on Sticks by Marcus Bawdon - © Dog ‘n’ Bone, 2021- Photography by Marcus Bawdon)
Cannon N0 1 treat with no close contest: Meyer Lemon Cheesecake from Baking at the 20th Century Cafe 'Iconic European Desserts from Linzer Torte to Honey Cake' (Artisan Books, October 2020) by San Francisco baker extraordinaire Michelle Polzine
Cecil Cannon’s Favorite Meyer Lemon–Coconut Cheesecake
Cecil Cannon, the most remarkable child I have ever known, sprang from the loins of my soul brother, Vince Cannon, a Marxist punk rocker in the guise of a corporate lawyer, with a sense of humor even more bawdy than my own. She’s always got her nose stuck in a book (her stepmother, Claire, is an English professor) and is not afraid to speak her mind. Cecil has boldly declared Easter to be her favorite holiday, because that’s when I make Meyer lemon cheesecake. I in turn declare this to be Cecil Cannon’s Meyer Lemon–Coconut Cheesecake. Don’t expect her to share her piece with you.
As with the Vanilla Cheesecake, you bake the cake and crust separately and then perform the same tricky invert-flip-flip move to combine them. You can make the cake up to 3 days ahead, but don’t combine crust and cake until shortly before you plan to serve this, or the crust will get soggy. If you must put it together in advance, brush the crust with a thin layer of melted white chocolate before attaching it to the cheesecake.
Makes one 9- or 10-inch (23- or 25-centimeter) cake; serves 12
Ingredients:
For the Cheesecake
26 ounces (737 grams) cream cheese (see Note, opposite), at room temperature
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (255 grams) crème fraîche, homemade or store-bought, at room temperature
3 tablespoons (18 grams) grated Meyer lemon zest
3 large eggs, at room temperature
2 large egg yolks, at room temperature
¾ cup (148 grams) granulated sugar
3 tablespoons (45 milliliters) Meyer lemon juice
Pinch of kosher salt
For the Crust
2 cups (226 grams) fine unsweetened dried coconut (sometimes called macaroon coconut)
¼ cup (28 grams) confectioners’ sugar
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
4 tablespoons (57 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 tablespoon beaten egg white
2 teaspoons granulated sugar for sprinkling
Directions:
Make the cheesecake: Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C). Line a 10-inch (25-centimeter) or 9-by-3-inch (23-by-8-centimeter) round cake pan with parchment and set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a large bowl, using a wooden spoon), paddle the cream cheese, crème fraîche, and lemon zest on low speed until creamy and smooth (the goal is not to add air to the mixture, which would cause the cheesecake to pouf while baking and then crack). Add the eggs one at a time, followed by the yolks, mixing after each addition until incorporated. Add the granulated sugar, lemon juice, and salt and mix, still on low speed, until homogeneous. Transfer to the prepared baking pan and smooth the top with an offset spatula.
Fold a paper towel into quarters and set it in the center of a roasting pan. Set the cake pan on top of the paper towel to prevent the bottom of the cake from overcooking and to keep the cake pan from sliding around when you move the roasting pan, then add enough hot water to the roasting pan to come halfway up the sides of the cake pan. Transfer to the oven and bake until the center of the cheesecake is set, about 50 minutes. Let cool in the water bath, then transfer to the refrigerator and chill for at least 4 hours. (The cake can be made up to 3 days ahead.)
Make the crust: Preheat the oven to 275°F (133°C). Using a dark marker, draw a circle the size of the pan you are using on a sheet of parchment, then flip the paper over and place it on a sheet pan.
In a medium bowl, combine the coconut, confectioners’ sugar, and salt. Stir in the butter and egg white until combined. Transfer to the center of the circle you traced and press into an even 10-inch (25-centimeter) or 9-inch (23-centimeter) round, depending on the size of the pan you’re using to bake the cake.
Bake the crust until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes, then transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool completely. Once it is cool, carefully peel off the parchment.
To assemble the cheesecake: Remove the cheesecake from the refrigerator. Run a small offset spatula, with the front of it facing outward, around the edges of the cake, pressing against the pan so you don’t cut into the cake. Then swirl the pan over a low burner to warm the bottom slightly and make it easier to remove the cheesecake from the pan. Blot any moisture that has accumulated on the surface of the cake with a paper towel, then sprinkle the surface of the cake with the granulated sugar. Take a deep breath! Invert a flat plate over the cheesecake and, in one fluid motion, turn the cheesecake out onto the plate. Carefully peel the parchment from the bottom of the cake, then set the baked crust on top of the cake. Invert a serving plate over the cake and (deep breath again!), in one fluid motion, invert the cake onto the serving platter so the crust is now on the bottom. With a sharp paring knife, trim any excess crust.
Cut the cake into wedges and serve.
(*Excerpted from Baking at the 20th Century Cafe by Michelle Polzine -Artisan Books-. Copyright © 2020. Photographs by Aya Brackett.)
Summer vacation flight is on your mind?
My suggestion, book directly through the airline in case of hiccups.
I had booked a round trip flight for me and my son in November 2019 (EWR to Rome via Copenhagen) for Spring Break 2020.
Covid came and of course what would have been a wonderful getaway did not happen.
Flight was on Scandinavian Airlines but it was booked via Expedia.
It took me almost a year of efforts to get reimbursed.
Airlines beat Portals for Concierge Mondays #15
(* Photo of Copenhagen Guide I kept from wonderful stay late August 2011)