Category Archives: vegetarians

Kuchen und Plätzchen, pic, rec, sweet, vegetarians

raspberry cheesecakes – once again

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these cheesecakes are a favourite ever since i first made them. very easy (and quick!) – whenever i don’t know what to bring to a party i just bring them along. the recipe is adapted from the raspberry swirl cheesecakes at taste.com.au. (but i finally stopped calling them swirl cheesecakes since i never do the swirl part.)

ingredients:

  • 10 finely ground oreo biscuits (including filling. any other biscuit  will do as well, but it really tastes best with oreos)
  • 20g butter, melted
  • 50 g frozen raspberries, thawed
  • 1 tsp icing sugar
  • 375 g cream cheese
  • 145 g sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • optional: lime zest, lime juice

preheat oven to 160°C. line a muffin pan with paper cases. mix ground oreos and butter, divide mixture among paper cases and press down well. bake for 5 minutes, then remove and cool.

mash the raspberries and strain through a sieve. discard seeds and stir in the icing sugar.

beat cream cheese until light and fluffy, then add sugar slowly, beating until combined. add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. (optionally add lime zest and lime juice – in this case adjust sugar to taste). pour cheese mixture over the biscuit bases, then place drops of the fruit puree on top of the cakes.

bake for 10-15 minutes until set. open oven door and allow cakes to cool completely in switched-off oven.

ps: i’m submitting these cheesecakes to the next round of cucina rapida.

pps: for the blueberry version, just use frozen blueberries instead of raspberry puree.

pic, rec, Süßspeisen, sweet, vegetarians

eton mess

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my favourite ways to eat strawberries: (1) as is (2) mashed with a bit sugar and sour cream. and now i have a third favourite (a bit similar to number two but with way more history):

ingredients:

  • 140 ml whipping cream
  • 1 tsp brown sugar
  • 350 g strawberries
  • 20g meringues

wash and prepare strawberries, then cut in small pieces. sprinkle with sugar and set aside for a few minutes. crush meringues in little pieces, whip cream. fold strawberries and meringues carefully into the whipped cream. can be served  immediately or chilled in the fridge until ready to use.

i have to admit that i first go.ogled “eaton mess”. but guess what? i am not nearly the only one. haha.

Kuchen und Plätzchen, pic, rec, sweet, vegetarians

banana muffins (without eggs)

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on our son’s birthday i wanted to make something to take to the kindergarden, and the constraint was to use no eggs – i don’t know if one of the kids is allergic, or if they fear salmonella infections… but banana muffins are a safe bet:

ingredients:

  • 2 ripe bananas
  • 200g flour
  • 50g sliced almonds
  • a pinch of salt
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 80 g sugar (brown)
  • 200ml yoghurt
  • 100ml sun flower oil

in one bowl, mix dry ingredients (except for the sugar). in another bowl, mash bananas, then mix in sugar, oil and yoghurt. stir flour mixture in banana mixture, then stir until the dry ingredients are moistened. spoon the batter into prepared muffin cups and bake at 175° for about 20 minutes.

i also sent along  these cookies. i did not particularly like them, since i found them quite dry – which was the reason i decided to bake the muffins in the first place. but i was told that the kids really loved them. on the other hand,  i guess they would  eat just about anything as long as it is topped with m+m’s.

while making the cookies i noticed that i may have a light control-freak tendency: i ordered the m+m’s  by color to make sure that the colors are evenly distributed on the cookies. and did you know that there are far more in green and brown than in  any other color?

Hauptgerichte, pic, rec, savoury, vegetarians

grilled green asparagus with pine nuts and parmesan

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i think this is the easiest way to enjoy asparagus:

ingredients:

  • 500g green asparagus
  • 1 tbsp butter oil
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 3 tbsp toasted pine nuts
  • 3 tbsp grated parmesan

trim asparagus, heat butter oil in a large pan. cook asparagus until tender. when it is almost done, sprinkle with lemon juice and season with salt and black pepper. transfer to a plate, sprinkle with pine nuts and parmesan.

a few dashes of pumpkin seed oil will make it even better.

and since it is so quick, easy and tasty, i’m submitting it to cucina rapida.

pic, rec, savoury, Sonstiges, vegetarians

quark spread with chive, radish and onion

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spring has come and so it’s time for chive again. at home in my parent’s garden we used to check everyday, starting mid march, on the progress the young chive made. and when it was finally long enough to be cut my father made fresh kräuterquark with chive and onions. delicious.

i don’t have a garden but the store-bought stuff will do.

ingredients:

  • 250 g quark (10% fat)
  • 50 ml milk
  • half a bunch of chives
  • half an onion
  • 6 radish
  • 1/4 tsp salt, black pepper

dice onion and radish, cut up the chive into small rolls. put in a bowl, then add quark and stir until well combined. add milk by the tablespoon until desired creaminess is reached ( i like it rather thin as you can see in the pic). season with salt and black pepper.

the quark is also very nice with fresh potatoes (boiled in their skins) and linseed oil or pumpkin seed oil.

Kuchen und Plätzchen, pic, rec, sweet, vegetarians

kakaós csigák – hungarian yeast pastry with cocoa

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i jumped on the bandwagon and made Anikó’s kakaós csigák – hungarian chocolate rolls which were subject of numerous baking sessions (and almost as many enthusiastic praises) in german foodblogs. yeast pastry with chocolate is not common in germany – unfortunately, i have to say after trying these. i think the key to their deliciousness is to douse them with a lot of hot milk and butter during baking time, which makes them super soft and fluffy. i changed the recipe only a tiny little bit by using fresh yeast instead of dry yeast.

Ingredients:

dough

  • 20g fresh yeast
  • 500g flour
  • 50g soft butter
  • 300 ml lukewarm milk
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 4 tsp sugar plus a pinch
  • 1 pinch of salt

filling

  • 4 tsp cocoa powder
  • 8 tsp powdered sugar

to douse

  • 150 ml milk
  • 50g butter

first pour flour, salt and sugar in a large bowl, make a well in the middle and cut butter around it. crumble yeast into the well, add a pinch of sugar and enough milk to cover the yeast. stir a few times, then cover it with a dish towel and let the sponge rise for about 15 minutes.

add remaining milk and the egg yolk, then knead the dough for a few minutes until it comes together (it is a bit sticky, you may want to use a bit less milk first, then add by the tablespoon).  cover the dough again and let it rise until the volume is doubled – this took about an hour. in the meantime mix icing sugar and cocoa for the filling. preheat oven to 175°C.

knead again a few times, then roll it out to a large rectangle.

cover with the filling and roll it up, starting from the long edge.

then cut in slices, approximately 3cm wide.

transfer the slices into a baking pan and bake at 175°C for 15 minutes. meanwhile heat the extra 150ml milk and melt the butter in it. pour the mixture over the rolls and bake for another 15 minutes.

my baking pan was a bit large, ideally they should cuddle up closely together after baking. anyway, they were divine.

ps: the hungarians are really serious about their kakaós csigák – there is an entire web site devoted to testing them: We Love Kakaóscsiga

Hauptgerichte, pic, rec, savoury, vegetarians

pasta primavera (or sth. similar)

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there is nothing in the fridge except an aging zucchini, half an onion and a bit of leftover heavy cream? oh, and in the freezer are still some peas. dinner is saved:

Ingredients:

  • 1 tbsp sun flower oil
  • half an onion (or more)
  • one zucchini
  • 150g  frozen green peas
  • 100ml vegetable stock
  • 100 ml heavy cream
  • 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
  • salt,  freshly ground black pepper
  • 200g pasta of your choice

sauté the diced onion in a pan with sun flower oil, add diced zucchini and cook for a few minutes. add peas, stir a few times, then add vegetable stock. let it simmer until the peas are done. add heavy cream and let it simmer again for 2-3 minutes. season with lemon juice, salt and black pepper. meanwhile cook the pasta, strain and mix with the sauce.  quick and easy and quite good.

pic, rec, Salate, savoury, vegetarians

salad with avocado dressing and grilled cheese sandwich

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the salad was inspired by the avocado wasabi salad from vegan yum yum. it does not look particularly great with the thick green gravy, but it is really delicious – and the dressing is a welcome change from the usual vinaigrette stuff. different from the original, this salad does not contain chickpeas and broccoli, also the dressing was modified – and there is no wasabi anywhere.

Ingredients:

salad

  • romaine lettuce
  • 2 grated carrots
  • 20g chopped and toasted almonds

dressing

  • 1 avocado
  • 3 tsp fresh lemon juice
  • 1 tsp tahini
  • 2 generous tsp sour cream
  • 1/2 tsp dijon mustard
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt
  • 2 tbsp sun flower oil

dice avocado and mash with a fork, then whisk in the other ingredients for the dressing, except oil. when the mixture is smooth, slowly add oil and keep whisking until emulsified.

in a bowl, mix together salad and carrots, toss with the dressing. sprinkle almonds on top and serve.

the salad was already quite rich, but since we left out the chickpeas and broccoli, there was room for the grilled cheese sandwhich to accompany.

Kuchen und Plätzchen, pic, rec, sweet, vegetarians

tarte au citron et aux amandes

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this tarte has almonds in the crust and almonds sprinkled on top of it. i’m undecided if i like the crust better than the last one, since it was a tad dry. but it worked very well with the lemon filling (which was not as tart this time).

Ingredients:

crust

  • 75g flour
  • 25g ground almonds
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • a pinch of salt
  • 40g chilled butter, cut into pieces
  • 1 teaspoon cold water, more if needed

filling

  • 2 eggs
  • 3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
  • 1 Tbsp freshly grated lemon zest
  • 80g sugar
  • 1 Tbsp butter
  • 20g sliced almonds
  • icing sugar

mix together flour, almonds, sugar and salt. using a pastry cutter, cut the chilled butter into the flour until only a few pea-sized pieces of butter remain visible. sprinkle water over the mixture and toss until it holds together. press dough over bottom and up sides of a 18cm-diameter baking pan. freeze for about 20 minutes until the crust is firm.

combine eggs and sugar in a heavy saucepan and whisk. mix in lemon juice and zest. whisk over medium-high heat until the mixture becomes thick and almost boils  (about 5-7 minutes). remove from heat and whisk in butter.

preheat oven to 200°C and bake crust for about 15 minutes, until golden. (you may want to do the complete blind-baking thing, but it worked for me also without the beans)

reduce oven temperature to 175°C. spread filling in the crust and sprinkle the almonds over. bake for about 20 minutes, until the almonds start turning golden brown and the filling is set.  sprinkle with icing sugar before serving.

Monatlicher Blog-Event bei Low Budget Cooking: Kleine Kuchen

the tarte was made in a 18cm-diameter baking pan (to be more precise: in the 18cm-diameter lid of my glassware pot), and so i’m submitting it to the blog event kleine kuchen (small cakes) by low budget cooking.