Do you have a minute? If you do, why don’t we go talk about it? Talk about it somewhere only we know. This need not be the end of everything. 

A little old, a little tired. At this point in time, I’m about needing somewhere to begin. So, can we go?

This is me feeling a little nostalgic:  A song from almost a decade ago came bursting through my head a few days ago and suddenly I felt like I was taken back in time; yearning for simplicity and familiarity. 

Shall we?

I walked across an empty land
I knew the pathway like the back of my hand
I felt the earth beneath my feet
Sat by the river, and it made me complete

Oh, simple thing, where have you gone?
I’m getting old, and I need something to rely on
So tell me when you’re gonna let me in
I’m getting tired, and I need somewhere to begin

I came across a fallen tree
I felt the branches of it looking at me
Is this the place we used to love?
Is this the place that I’ve been dreaming of?

Oh, simple thing, where have you gone?
I’m getting old, and I need something to rely on
So tell me when you’re gonna let me in
I’m getting tired, and I need somewhere to begin

And if you have a minute, why don’t we go
Talk about it somewhere only we know?
This could be the end of everything
So why don’t we go
Somewhere only we know?

Oh, simple thing, where have you gone?
I’m getting old, and I need something to rely on
So tell me when you’re gonna let me in
I’m getting tired, and I need somewhere to begin

And if you have a minute, why don’t we go
Talk about it somewhere only we know?
This could be the end of everything
So why don’t we go?
So why don’t we go?

This could be the end of everything
So why don’t we go
Somewhere only we know
Somewhere only we know
Somewhere only we know?

Written by Richard David Hughes, Timothy James Rice-Oxley, Tom Chaplin • Copyright © Universal Music Publishing Group

Source: AZ Lyrics

If you love cooking, fun, and a challenge, this free recipe and cooking game is for you!

So says my lovely, multi-talented culinary dynamo friend Jas Brechtl who picked me to host February’s instalment of Recipe Showdown. 

Armed with SAGE as my chosen ingredient, I decided to experiment with a dish of potato gratin that’s infused with fresh sage and Pepperocino olive oil. I then stack the taters up and layer them with feta cheese in between.

The insides are all packed up but crumbly soft at the same time. The feta cheese snuck in between the ridges and the infused sage in Pepperocini Oilive Oil gave it such a willful taste so to speak. I can’t resist scrumptiously scattering chopped beef salami all over it with grated parmesan on top of it.

Drooling yet? I hope you would be by the time you get to the bottom of the recipe! Here’s my creation for #RecipeShowdown without my usual Recipe Card Plugin (still trying to figure out why!) which I’m complementing to weekly  Friday Flavours:

Sage-Infused Feta and Potato Gratin

The insides are all packed up yet crumbly soft at the same time. The Feta Cheese oozes out of the ridges and the infused sage in Olio con Pepperoncino gives it a wilful personality. A very hearty dish that’s good as a side-dish or even breakfast!

Ingredients:

• 350g par-boiled scalloped potatoes (or thinly sliced with mandolin)
• 3 tbsp Olio con Pepperoncino
• 3 pieces of fresh sage, chopped finely
• 250g Feta Cheese
• 2 gloves garlic, pressed
• Half a cube chicken bouillon
• 1 tbsp black pepper
• 1 egg
• Half a cup skimmed milk
• Haf a cup chopped parsley
• Beef salami, chopped
• Half a lemon
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• Grated Parmesan for topping

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 180 degree celcius
2. Mix garlic, chopped sage, chicken bouillon, Olio con Pepperoncino and black pepper in a bowl and heat it in a microwave oven for 30-40 seconds
3. Mix it to the taters and set aside. Then arrange the taters in a deep baking bowl
4. In a separate bowl, mix egg and milk
5. When all the taters are used up, pour the egg and milk mixture all over the taters. Make sure it covers almost to the top Squeeze the lemon
6. Sprinkle the beef salami all over followed by the leftover Feta cheese (if any)
7. Sprinkle grated cheese on top along with chopped parsely
8. Pop it in the oven for 25-35 minutes till the top turned brown

Notes: I saved a lot of time by using fresh already par-boiled taters from the supermarket. Just make sure you buffer for a longer time if you use uncooked taters.

The rules of the game “Recipe Showdown”

1. The host site (in this case my site) for a particular month sets the key ingredient/food product that participants must use. The ingredient is given on the 1^st of the month. 
2. Any time during that month, participants make a dish with the given ingredient and publish the recipe on internet with a link to the homepage of the game (this page), and a link to the post in which ingredient is given (host site). 
   • The participant who has already published a recipe with a given ingredient, regardless of the date, can use it to share, following the same rules (link to the host site and the game homepage).
   • Participants have to e-mail the host page the following information:

            – Name
            – URL of the page where the recipe was published
            – Photo of the finished dish

3. The host site will publish all submissions with links in a post at the end of that month and select a winner/new host site for the next month. The host site can, if they wish, send a small gift to the winner.
4. The host site will share the post on their social media.
5. Re-entering the same recipe and repeating the host site is allowed after 2 years (subject to change).

 
Here’s the deal:
The game homepage (this page) will keep a running list of all host sites and ingredients, hence the rule to link here (so we can keep track).

To more success from #RecipeShowdown! Don’t forget to submit your recipes to ann at grubbsncritters dot com with the subject line Recipe Showdown February 2017 and share your creations on social media using hashtags #RecipeShowdown & #allthatsjas