Category Archives: rec

pic, rec, Salate, savoury, vegetarians

salad with celery, carrots and nuts

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this is another relatively elaborate – but oh so delicious – salad. and if you like a salad that represents a complete meal, this is definitely the way to go. cut 3 celery stacks in small pieces, grate 2 carrots, grate about 60g parmesan and mix together. add 3 tbsp toasted sun flower seeds, 3 tbsp raisins and 2 tbsp chopped cashews. prepare a dressing from 3 tbsp lemon juice, 5 tbsp sun flower oil, 1 tbsp runny honey, salt and black pepper. toss over the salad and let it stand for at least 30 minutes. meanwhile make croûtons from 2-3 slices bread, or buns – whatever you have at hand.  mix the croûtons and some fresh cress with the salad – ready to eat.

pic, rec, Süßspeisen, sweet, vegans, vegetarians

pineapple peppermint dessert

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i don’t remember where i first read about this idea – but it’s really a great one. those two flavours go together very well and make for a refreshing and light desert. plus it takes only minutes to prepare it: cut a pineapple in bite-sized pieces. chop the leafes of 4-5 twigs of peppermint and pestle with 1-2 tbsp sugar. this becomes peppermint pesto, and it’s used to marinate the pineapple in it. the marinated pineapple can be enjoyed as it is or served with plain yoghurt.

Hauptgerichte, pic, rec, savoury, vegetarians

sunday fridge clean up: vegetable lasagna

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for dinner on sunday evening i gathered all the vegetables remaining in the fridge and put them together into a vegetable lasagna. i found: 2 celery stalks, 3 carrots and one shallot in questionable state, about 100g baby peas, one tomato, half an onion, 150g mushrooms, one zucchini. slice, dice, cut all the vegetables, then sauté for a few minutes each, throwing them in the pan in the following order: onion & shallot > carrots > celery > peas > mushrooms > zucchini > tomato. some origano can go in there as well. add 500ml vegetable stock and let it simmer for another few minutes. add 2 cans (à 400 ml) crushed tomatoes, let it again simmer. finally add 100ml heavy cream and season with salt and black pepper. it is quite runny by now, but that’s ok. i don’t like the bechamél that goes usually into lasagna, so all the liquid needed for the pasta comes from the sauce. assemble the lasagna with about 250g lasagna sheets and lay 125g mozzarella slices on top. ( i also sprinkled a bit grated parmesan – another leftover – between three of the layers.)  bake at 175° for 25 minutes.

Kuchen und Plätzchen, pic, rec, sweet, vegetarians

mini scones

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i wanted to make rolls for breakfast, but did not manage to get up in time. so we had scones, which are really quick and easy to make. i followed this recipe with minor modifications – i replaced the 140ml 1.5%milk with a mixture of 2tbsp crème fraîche and 3.5% milk and baked them at a lower temerature (200°). and since my cookie cutter is only 4 cm in diameter we got not only 6 scones, but 16 mini-scones. they were delicious, and reminded me of holidays in Ireland back in … 1998.

pic, rec, savoury, vegans, Vorspeisen und Snacks

fried potatoes with cilantro

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and yet another meze dish: cut 500g potatoes in small cubes and fry in olive oil.  meanwhile pestle 2-3 cloves of garlic with 1/2 tsp sea salt thoroughly, until it becomes a thick paste. chop half a bundle of fresh coriander. when the potatoes are done, transfer them on a plate. put the garlic-salt paste and the coriander into the pan and heat for a few minutes. put the potatoes back into the pan, stir well and season, if needed, with some more salt and black pepper. can be served lukewarm or cold.

pic, rec, savoury, vegetarians, Vorspeisen und Snacks

zucchini fritters

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here comes the next meze dish: grate 500g zucchini and mix with 1/2 tsp salt, let it stand for about 15 minutes. meanwhile chop 1 bundle of italian parsley and cut two shallots finely. transfer the grated zucchini onto a sieve and press a bit to remove excessive liquid. mix zucchini with parsley and shallots, add 50g feta cheese crumbles, 2 eggs and 50g flour. stir well and season with salt and black pepper. fry the fritters in olive oil for about 4 minutes on each side (using ≈1 tbsp dough apiece).

carnivores, rec, savoury, Vorspeisen und Snacks

meat balls with feta cheese filling

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one item from our meze table: mix in a bowl 1/2 tsp sea salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/2 onion, finely diced, 2 tbsp chopped and toasted pine nuts, 2 tbsp chopped parsley, 2 tbsp breadcrumbs, and one egg.  add 250g minced meat and knead well. cut about 150g feta cheese in little dices (1.5-2 cm edge length). form little meat balls around the cubes and fry in olive oil.

Kuchen und Plätzchen, pic, rec, sweet, vegetarians

tarte au citron

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tonight we had guests and once again i made the incredible veggie soup, this time with carrots, potatoes, fennel, hamburg parsley and peas. tarte au citron was the desert.

to make a tarte au citron has been a plan for quite some time. i did some research on the internet and found an amazing number of possible variations, finally ending up at david lebovitz’ lemon tarte recipe. the interesting part here is the tarte dough, as it is done in a very uncommon way: first you boil the butter and some other ingredients in the oven for some time, and then add  the flour – which makes for quite a bubbling and sputtering experience. (i don’t want to repeat the full recipe here, go check out the french pastry dough).  i modified the filling of the tarte a bit, using 100ml lemon juice plus 50ml orange juice, 100g sugar, lemon zest, 3 eggs and 50g butter. after the custard was cooked i added also 2tbsp crème fraîche. the filling is still quite tart (i did not pay attention to this detail while reading the recipe), but with some raspberry sauce it was very nice. next i’ll give the almond version a try.

pic, rec, savoury, vegetarians, Vorspeisen und Snacks

piroshki? empanadas? poğaça?

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the request for dinner today was “something stuffed with vegetables”. for the yeast dough i used 500g flour, 100ml lukewarm milk, 100 ml sun flower oil, about 70ml lukewarm water, 1 tsp salt, 20g fresh yeast. i had two different fillings: one with 200g leaf spinach, sautéd with one clove of garlic, and 100g feta cheese. the second filling was made from two tomatoes, cooked with olive oil and origan for about 20 minutes, 100g feta cheese and 3 tbsp tomato paste. served with yoghurt mixed with chive, parsley, salt and black pepper.

Hauptgerichte, pic, rec, savoury, vegetarians

mushroom potato spinach quiche

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here i made for the first time a real pâte brisée out of this book and i must say that the extra effort (i.e. 1 hour cooling time, fraiser, again 30 minutes cooling time, blind-baking) was really worth it. very delicate pastry, not at all stale like your ordinary shortcrust sometimes. i used for a 23cm baking pan 200g flour, 80g cold butter, 1/4 tsp salt and 3 Tbsp cold water. the filling was made like this: cut one potato in small cubes, fry in 2 Tbsp olive oil for about 10 minutes. add about 10 medium-sized mushrooms, finely sliced,  and one peeled clove of garlic. sauté with closed lid for 5 minutes. add about 200g leaf spinach (i used the frozen stuff) and saute for another 10 minutes or until the spinach is done. remove garlic clove, season with salt & pepper. prepare about 1 cup of grated cheese – i used some parmesan and two slices Edam. in a seperate bowl, whisk together 3 eggs, 3 Tbsp of cream cheese (well, i just found it in the fridge and thought it might fit) and about 1/2 cup of milk. mix the cheese first with 1 tsp flour, then add as well. pour the vegetables on the meanwhile blind-baked pastry, and then the egg-cheese-milk-mix. bake at 175° for about 35 minutes or until golden brown and set.