Monday 28 January 2013

Slow Food
We at Bøjden Cottage are a member of Slow Food. Slow Food is an ironic way of saying 'No' to fast food. Slow Food means living an unhurried life, beginning at the table.
The Slow Food movement was founded by the food activist Carlo Petrini in the small northern Italian town of Bra in 1986. Its initial aim was to support and defend good food, gastronomic pleasure and a slow pace of life. It then broadened its sights to embrace the quality of life and the survival of the imperiled planet we live on.
Slow Food protects places of historic, artistic or social value that form part of our food heritage and is committed to protecting traditional and sustainable quality foods, primary ingredients, conserving methods of cultivation and processing and defending the biodiversity of cultivated and wild varieties.

For us, it means that the ingredients in our meals are home made, ecological and locally sourced.
Throughout the summer we cook jams and jelly's of the fruit that grows in my garden. Locally grown vegetables are bought from farm shops and we are lucky to have Carsten as our neighbour, he sells the most delicious meat you could wish for. From his own Hereford cows that graze on large fields just around the corner.
All our bread and cakes are home baked and our desserts might be home made ice cream, or an old fashioned pudding. The breakfast table features three different kinds of bread, so if you want to try them all, it will be a slow breakfast, As we intend to. Some of last years guests sat at the breakfast table until 12.00.
One of the special evening meals we serve, is a gypsy style stew. With Hereford meat, of course. If you are not able to visit us this summer, you can try to make it at home.  Start early, as it needs ca. 4 hrs. You will need:

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 pounds beef shank, cubed
1 tablespoon shortening butter or oil
4 onions, chopped
1 pound potatoes, peeled and diced
2 cups of beef stock or broth
1 cup robust red wine
a few stems each of thyme, tarragon and parsley
peel of one organic orange
1 whole onion stuck with 4 cloves
2 fresh, or dried bay leaves
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons tomato puree
1/4 cup chopped and pitted green olives
1/4 cup chopped and pitted black olives
salt and pepper

In a large heavy casserole heat the oil over medium-high heat. Then brown the meat on all sides, preferably in batches. Remove the meat, set aside and keep it warm.
In the same casserole, melt the shortening over medium-high heat, then cook the chopped onions and potatoes until golden, about 8 minutes, stirring frequently and adding small amounts of water to scrape the brown bits of the bottom of the casserole if necessary. Return the meat to the casserole, pour in the beef broth and the wine, add the herbs, orange peel and the clove-studded onion, bay leaves, garlic, tomato puree and chopped olives. Season with salt and pepper. Reduce the heat to low, as low as possible, and simmer for ca. 4 hrs. Uncovered if you want a thick sauce, or covered with both a piece of baking paper and a lid to keep all the flavours inside.
Remove and discard the orange peel, the herb stems and the whole onion and serve immediately.

You can order Carstens Hereford meat at www.seiring.dk




Thursday 24 January 2013

Sea eagles
Not far from Bøjden Cottage, in the woods around the lake called Brændegaard Sø, a pair of sea eagles nests and if you are lucky, you can see them foraging on the waterfowl of this lake. So we usually take our guests down there and this year most of them were lucky enough to see them. In late autumn we even saw their young: three eagles in a tree on the lookout for some snacks.
The friend visiting us in January, was not so lucky - at first. It was a cold and grey day, not many birds on the water, and certainly no sea eagles.
But as the Native Americans say: don't go looking for things, if you turn your back, it will find you...
The following morning, while sitting by the fireside and drinking our morning coffee, we spotted a very large bird flying above my field: an eagle! Yes, there were even two. One was hunting low over the water, the other one landed in a tree at the bird reserve. The treetop was bending under its weight as he (or she) sat there as a big fat turkey. Sea eagles have an incredible size and their wingspan can be more than 2 metres. They are the largest European eagles. It was just incredible.
The next day we went shopping in Faaborg and on our way back we took a scenic route. And there we saw an eagle again, gently drifting above the hill. Three eagles in two days.... and it even got better:
The following day we drove to Helnæs on the other side of the bay. Near Brunshuse we spotted an eagle. He landed and was pecking at something while we watched him from our car until he spread his wings again and flew away. Four eagles in three days.... We drove home happily and when turning into my driveway an hour later, we saw our fifth! Soaring low over my field, incredibly low over my car and down he went to the bird reserve. But maybe it was the same eagle, being very annoyed with this red car following him everywhere.
The picture below was taken autumn 2012 at Brændegaard Sø by German birdwatchers who kindly sent it to us.