The veg are in the oven, the gravy is prepared (with the roast comfortably resting inside it), salad is just waiting for the dressing… I guess that means my work is mostly done. ^^ #chezRat

A small heap of stodgy rice with peas on a plate, surrounded by fall-apart tender pieces of beef shin in a rich tomato sauce

Today at #chezRat, I had some osso bucco my mum gave me last weekend, and I paired it with my very first attempt at risi bisi.

(Don't tell any Italians I called it that, though, because I only had basmati rice. ^^;)

A big pot of lovely brown goulash on the hob. In the background, a malt beer bottle and several spice pots and bags are standing around as if by accident.

Today at #chezRat, I'm preparing a malt beer goulash.

But wait! That's only the first step…

Yesterday at #chezRat (no pics though, sorry!), I prepared a salad for lunch at work today, and let me tell you: Seasoning the croutons with a bit of smoked paprika was my best decision in a while. Almost as delicious as bacon crumble.

Guess what was the first thing I did yesterday after returning from a lovely weekend with friends?

That's right, I prepared a pizza dough!

Guess what'll be the first thing I do after returning from work today?

Right again: Prepare a bread dough! :D

#chezRat

A tray full of lightly golden muffins

A muffin on a plate, arranged next to the halves of another muffin that has been cut open to reveal the porous texture.

Today at #chezRat: Cheese and onion muffins. Suuuuper light and fluffy… maybe a bit too much so, as I could have done with a bit more texture in the mix.

Maybe next time I'll add some (vegetarian) bacon cubes… or nuts, or roast onions.

A nicely browned loaf of bread.

The same bread cut open, with a slice in front of it. It looks super fluffy.

Today at #chezRat, it's back to bread mixes. This time, a "rustic country bread" with emmer and einkorn.

Super fluffy, amazing crust… so I just had to indulge my gluttony by eating three (3!) slices.

A big pot of tomato soup with fennel chunks and bits of mince bubbling away on the hob

Today at #chezRat, I finally used up the last of the veg I bought last week to make a tomato soup with vegetarian mince and fennel. And a big pot, too!

A plate full of salad with bread, onions, rocket, tomatoes, olives and cucumber, topped with a blob-like panzanella that's slowly disintegrating.

Today at #chezRat, I had a burrata that needed to go.

So I made panzanella.

And this time, I'm reasonably sure that I'm allowed to call it that. :D

A heap of noodles with broccoli, bits of omelette, carrot threads and onions, all tinged the typical yellow of curry powder

Today at #chezRat: South East Asian style noodles with broccoli, carrots and fake chicken.

Like with yesterday's non-Bolognese, note how I'm explicitly not calling them "Singapore Noodles". :D

A plate full of feta cheese, tomatoes, olives, filled wine leaves and grilled eggplant

Also today at #chezRat, but actually intended for eating today: Baked feta cheese with Mediterranean antipasti.

Impossible to serve gracefully, but absolutely delicious. =^_^=

A top-down view into a big pot filled with a chunky reddish brown sauce

Today at #chezRat, I'm kicking off my weekend cook-a-thon with a vegetarian mince and tomato sauce inspired by ragu alla bolognese.

I'm explicitly NOT calling it a bolognese, because I don't want any beef (or veal, or chicken liver…) with my Italian followers.

A baking tray with several pizza buns the size of bread rolls, topped with cheese. Several of them have burst open, with the filling spilled onto the tray.

Side view of a pizza bun that has been cut open. The bottom has a big lump of super fluffy dough, the top is just a flimsy thin layer over the filling. Any spillage is cleverly hidden by the positioning of the buns in the shot.

So, today at #chezRat: My first attempt at filled pizza buns. They sort of came apart immediately after forming them, so I tried to salvage what I could by topping them with cheese. ^^;

Final verdict: Amazing dough, delicious filling, serious structural integrity issues.

A large ball of yeast dough, sprinkled with flour, in a metal bowl.

Spent the weekend with friends, and it was really lovely.

Still, I've been looking forward to this all weekend. No, I don't have a cooking problem. 😅 #chezRat

A plate filled to the brim with the described foods.

Today at #chezRat: Some more tenderstem broccoli, this time accompanying some store-bought vegetable balls, hash browns and kohlrabi.

Enjoyed with a bit of sunshine, no less.

A plate on which three fried patties lie, almost looking like neat patties. A good serving of ragout and several broccoli stalks are arranged next to them.

Today at #chezRat: Home-made fried lentil patties with spicy red pepper ragout and tenderstem broccoli. Lots of work, but worth it, and almost vegan, too.

A proving basket filled with a light brown dough. Nuts and seeds are visible on the surface.

Baking mixes are nice and all, but I felt a need for seed, so today at #chezRat, I prepared a wheat/spelt bread with parsnip, linseed and sunflower seeds.

I'm going to treat it the same way as the baking mixes, so this doughy boy is now spending a night in the fridge.

A plate of Thai curry with rice. The rice is arranged on the top half of the plate, curry at the bottom. The curry can be seen to contain green beans, bamboo shoots and baby corn.

Today at #chezRat: Red Thai curry with fried tofu and vegetables, assembled from pantry and freezer supplies.

I'm moderately happy -- my tofu-frying skills need work, anchovies are just an acceptable substitute for fish sauce, and I once again find that I just prefer Cock. Curry paste, that is.

A plate containing three heaps: One of haggis, one of potato mash, one of sweet potato mash. The heaps are separated by a lake of creamy sauce.

Today at #chezRat, I made up for the fact that I was away on Burns Night.

Admittedly, the haggis came from a tin, and I had to use sweet potato mash because none of my local shops carry neeps, but on the whole I'm quite happy. Especially with my Laphroaig whisky cream sauce.

A finished pizza on a baking tray. It's not perfectly round (far from it, in fact), but has a nicely darkened crust.

IT HAS RISEN!

Ahem.

I meant to say: Today at #chezRat, the dough I'd prepared yesterday has hatched into a lovely pizza with artichokes, anchovies, olives and capers.

Could have done with a bit more cheese, but the pizza base turned out just about perfect. =^_^= #pizzaRat

Also today at #chezRat, I prepared a pizza dough for tomorrow. No pics, because it's just a lump of dough so far. :D

A tray filled with potato and squash cubes, topped with feta crumble and lightly browned on top. Next to it, a plate of the same.

Today at #chezRat: Hokkaido squash and potato bake with feta topping. I regret that Bsky doesn't have smell-o-vision, because my flat smells as delicious as it tastes. 🤤

An oblong loaf of bread, its surface cracked and pitted beneath a layer of flour dust.

Today at #chezRat: Another bread mix, this time a wheat and oats bread. Didn't come out quite as pretty as I'd hoped (I still need to train using my razor blade right), but it sounds and smells amazing already.

A baking tray filled with several rolled-up pancakes below a golden brown and crispy layer of cheese.

Two pancakes, rolled up, filled and gratinated, arranged on a plate.

Today at #chezRat: Au gratin pancakes filled with a potato and pea ragout.

A bowl of soup with semolina dumplings. Pieces of carrot, celeriac and peas are visible in the soup, and the whole thing is generously garnished with chives and chopped parsley.

Today at #chezRat, I'm still suffering from what I now assume is gastritis -- so I made one of the classic get-well-soon foods from my childhood: Vegetable soup with semolina dumplings.

Haven't had that in ages, and boy does it hit the spot!

Three crispy, delicious fritters arranged on a plate with some spicy fish salad and a dollop of sour cream.

Today at #chezRat: Potato, cabbage and leek fritters with sour cream and "Tuscany-style" fish salad.

The most delicious way to get rid of stuff that needed to go.

And my flat smells nicely fried now. :D~

A long loaf of rye bread with a few seeds. The top is very dark, almost burnt. The bread is cut open, with one slice propped up against the loaf to reveal a nicely porous texture.

Today at #chezRat: My first attempt at a potato bread. I learnt a lot on that one:

* Next time, scale the ingredients by 1.2. It rose nicely, but it just wasn't enough dough for the mold.
* I really need to bake bread at the bottom of the oven. This one was in the middle and almost got burnt.

A plate with two cabbage rolls, one of them still wrapped in twine like a tasty little present. Next to them lies a small heap of boiled potatoes, and the whole arrangement rests in a little lake of brown gravy.

Today at #chezRat: My first home-made cabbage rolls. The details need a bit of work still, but for a first try, I am super happy with them.

Three kinds of cheese and some cuts of cured beef neatly arranged on a wooden board, interspersed with crackers and grapes. The corner of the board holds a small plate with two types of dips, and a cheese knife rests at the bottom of the board.

Today at #chezRat, I'm having my traditional cheese and meat board with Swiss specialties brought back from GLC, accompanied by a bit of home-made fig mustard and spicy chili jam.

A bowl of yellowish-green pea soup garnished with parsley. Single peas and bits of sausage are visible within the soup.

So, yeah, today at #chezRat: Pea soup! \o/

(Okay, more like stew, with how thick it is. And I've made LOTS. ^^;)