freestyle asian

freestyle asian

a new asian food shop has recently opened in our neighbourhood and yesterday i went to check it out. i got fresh cilantro, ginger, 4 pak choi and noodles (3.50 – quite cheap i think) and got inspired by this post (in german) for the following “somehow asian” dish:

sweat finely chopped ginger, garlic and onion for a few minutes in sunflower oil, add diced sweet potatoe and a cup of vegetable stock, let it simmer for another few minutes. add small strips of a carrot and celery stalks, some cilantro, a tsp kurkuma and after yet another few minutes four more cups of vegetable stock. next comes a can (400 ml) of  coconut cream. then the white parts of the pak choi, sliced, and finally the green parts, also sliced.  season with 2 tsp sugar and salt to taste. served with asian instant noodles and fresh cilantro. some chili would have been nice, but was omitted since we had a little eater at the table. who liked it, by the way.

banana bread

actually it was more like a banana cake, mostly following this recipe (in german): melt 80g margarine with about 120g sugar and put in a bowl, add 180g ground almonds, 120g flour and 2 tsp baking soda. mix in 80ml lukewarm milk (or soy drink if you want to go for the vegan version), 3 mashed bananas and finally 50g chopped chocolate. bake at 160° for about 45 minutes. i found it a tiny bit to sweet but at least another batch of leftover ingredients from christmas baking is gone.

weekend delights

we had guests on sunday evening, and this is what we ate:

grilled peach salad with bresaola, replacing the peaches with pears and the rocket with lamb’s lettuce. having tested the original before i must say that both versions are really on a par.

parmigiana di melanzane, with a recipe from the silver spoon. and while you may find the picture not particularly appetizing i can still assure you it was great. that being said from someone who usally hates eggplants.

and finally chocolate blancmange with caramel-orange-sauce.

there is no picture from the most impressive part of the meal (at least from my point of view): i managed to bake ciabatta for the first time, using this recipe (in german).

mushrooms with lemon juice and thyme

i didn’t wanted to cook, but was somehow talked into. so i came up with stirred mushrooms, which were seasoned with salt, thyme and lemon juice. at the end i put two slices of cheese (cut in smaller pieces) on top of it and let them melt. served on buttered bread, with parsley and black pepper. and – tada – “this was exactly what i was hoping for!!!”. you’re welcome.

vegetable soup with anise, ginger and orange juice

this is an incredibly delicious veggie soup, with a recipe i found here (in german).

first roast a tbsp of anise seed and a finely chopped piece of ginger (3cm +x) in some sun flower oil. add diced vegetables and stew for a few minutes. add 1.25l vegetable stock and simmer at medium heat for about 15 minutes. add 125ml orange juice and simmer again for 5-10 minutes. season with salt and pepper.

served with orange segments, smoked tofu that has been fried with some sesame seeds, chopped parsley, olive oil and freshly ground black pepper.

it’s dead easy, and as long as you stick with the anise-ginger-orange part, it works with almost every combination of vegetables. for the soup pictured above we used a rather simple mix of 3 carrots, 3 potatoes, 100g baby peas and 1 zucchini. had an equally great result with carrots, parsnip, sweethart cabbage, peas, potatoes and leek.

more inspiration and photos here.

chocolate cake


this is an adaption of belgian chocolate cake, of which many recipes are floating around on the net. main differences: used crème fraîche instead of kefir, left out the cocos stuff and made only 2/3 to fit in a 20cm baking pan. here we go:

first some preparations – it’s better to arrange all this stuff beforehand. put 50g cocoa in a bowl, add 100ml hot (not boiling) water. melt the cocoa, let it cool down a bit. melt 75g butter. take two eggs, seperate egg yolk and egg white. sift 200g flour together with 1.5 tsp baking soda.

now beat egg yolks with 150g sugar until creamy. add melted cocoa. add butter. add flour/baking soda. (ha – great that we prepared this in advance!) add 100g crème fraîche. beat the egg whites until stiff and gently fold it into the dough.

now pour the batter into a greased baking pan and bake for about 40 minutes at 175°C.

meanwhile prepare the frosting: chop 75g of your favourite dark chocolate (70% cocoa should be minimum!). heat 50g heavy cream and 1 tsp butter (microwaving is allowed here). pour it over the chocolate and stir until everything is evenly combined. let it chill. once the cake is cool enough cover with frosting. let it chill. sift cocoa powder over the cake before enjoying it.

stuffed zucchini with tomato sauce

stuffed zucchini

it’s done like this: fry minced meat (plus chopped onions if you like) in a bit olive oil, cook some rice. mix it together, add parsley and feta cheese. season to taste with salt and pepper. optionally you might want to add a tsp. tomato puree. that’s about the filling. wash and prepare the zucchini, removing its core with a tsp. now put the chunky crushed tomatoes in an ovenproof dish, mix it with a bit olive oil, oregano, salt, pepper.  stuff zucchini with the filling, place it on the tomato sauce. bake for about 30 minutes at 175°C, until the zucchini is done.  served with pita bread.

for four medium-sized zucchini we used 250g meat, 50g rice, 2 Tbsp chopped parsley, 200g feta cheese, and a can (450g) crushed tomatoes.