Category Archives: savoury

pic, rec, savoury, Suppen, vegans

red lentil soup with vegetables, dates and ginger

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here is another recipe inspired by chili and ciabatta. i made the vegetable soup with courgettes, with minor modifications. being warned that the amount of lentils in the original recipe was not enough to qualify for a lentil soup, i more than doubled the amount. i also added chick peas, baby peas and lemon juice. the soup is flavoured with a paste made of ginger, garlic, dates, chili and some other spices – which i find a very interesting (and tasty) take on seasoning.

ingredients:

paste:

  • 6 dates (cored)
  • 25 g fresh ginger
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 1/2 tsp pul biber (chili flakes), more to taste
  • 1/2 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1/2 tsp ground cumin seeds
  • zest of one lemon

soup:

  • 2 zucchini
  • 1 bunch of green onions
  • 15 small tomatoes
  • 160 g red lentils
  • a can of chick peas (340g)
  • 80 g baby peas (frozen)
  • 60 g couscous
  • 1.6 l vegetable stock (yes, it makes a lot of soup. i cooked for 6 people.)
  • 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice, more to taste
  • salt

to serve:

  • olive oil

cut dates, ginger and garlic in small pieces (i used a mincing knife), then pestle with the remaining spices into a thick paste.

cut zucchini in little pieces, cut spring onions in small rings, quarter tomatoes.

in a large pot, cook the ginger-paste in olive oil for a few minutes on medium heat. add zucchini and cook for a few minutes. add 800 ml vegetable stock, then add red lentils and cook for about five minutes. add remaining vegetable stock, chick peas and baby peas. when the lentils are almost done, add couscous and cook for another five minutes. season with salt. finally add green onions and tomatoes and let it simmer at very low heat for two minutes. season with lemon juice, and more chili flakes to taste.

to serve, sprinkle with a bit olive oil. we had it together with barbari.

note: the soup was quite thick, i wanted it to be more like a stew. if you want it more “soupy” you could leave out the couscous or use less lentils.

Hauptgerichte, pic, rec, savoury, vegetarians

pierogi ruskie

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we went on a little roadtrip through poland early 2008, visiting wrocław and krakow. among the many nice things we ate were pierogi ruskie. i, and i guess most people,  thought this means russian pierogi, which is kind of funny since in russia pierogi (or rather piroshki) are something that is baked in the oven. but as i learned here, ruskie is actually an old Polish word meaning Ukrainian. In old Polish Ukraine was called Rus [from the word Ruthenia], and Ukrainians Rusini. Therefore the name pierogi ruskie would translate as Ukrainian pierogis. you live, you learn.

ingredients:

dough:

  • 200 g flour
  • 75 ml water
  • 1 tsp soft butter
  • 1/4 tsp salt

filling:

  • 200 g cooked potatoes
  • 120 g quark (white cheese)
  • 1 large onion, diced
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • salt and pepper to taste

to serve:

  • brown butter, or breadcrumbs fried in butter
  • sour cream or yoghurt

mix salt and flour, add butter and water and knead well for about 8 minutes. chill in the fridge for an hour.

cook onion in butter until soft and golden. mash potatoes with a fork, then mix with quark and onion. season with salt and pepper.

roll out the dough very thin, cut out round shapes, place a teaspoon of filling in the middle. then brush the edges of the circle with cold water, fold into a semicircle and seal. (i used my new set of pasta makers to do this, and it worked great.)

cook for 3-5 minutes in boiling salted water. the pierogi are done when puffed and floating atop.

put in a bowl and cover with brown butter to prevent sticking.

serve with breadcrumbs fried in butter and sour cream or yoghurt. another version is to serve them with onions and diced bacon, fried in oil.

pic, rec, savoury, Sonstiges, vegans

peanut sauce

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i made this peanut sauce already twice this week, it is just so good.

ingredients:

  • 4 tbsp crunchy peanut butter
  • 100 ml coconut milk
  • 100 – 150 ml hot water
  • 3 cm ginger, minced
  • 1 tbsp brown sugar
  • 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 2 tsp mustard (dijon)
  • chili flakes or fresh chili to taste

in a blender, mix all ingredients. transfer to a small pan and let it simmer at medium heat for a few minutes, until the sauce thickens.

Brote, pic, rec, savoury, vegans

chapati

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i always get a bit confused by the many variants of indian bread. chapati, puri, nan, roti,… i’m making this version  for a while now, and i think it is close to chapati (but the dough was originally for the paratha in jaffreys book)

ingredients:

  • 100g flour (type 405)
  • 100 g flour (type 1050)
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp ghee, melted
  • 75 – 100 ml water

mix flour and salt, add ghee, then water (by the tablespoon) until the dough comes together, knead for 5-10 minutes, chill in the fridge for an hour.

cut the dough in six pieces, and roll them out – VERY thin. cook in a dry pan from both sides.

carnivores, pic, rec, savoury, Vorspeisen und Snacks

a second take on empanadas

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empanadas are great for brunch – in fact i made them for the first time to appear on a brunch buffet. so i am submitting this recipe to zorra’s brunch blog event:

Jubiläums-Blog-Event LVI - Brunch & Giveaway (Einsendeschluss 15. Mai 2010)

the empanadas require a bit of work, but can be prepared well in advance, baked and stored in the freezer. on the day of use they should be thawed for one to two hours, then sprinkled with a bit water and baked at 175° for about 10 minutes. for dipping, i made chimmichurri sauce and tomato sauce (adapted from here).

for this version i used the dough from the original empanadas mendocinas recipe, but the filling was the same as last time i made them.  the dough was very nice, way easier to handle than my first try and with a better texture after baking.

ingredients:

dough

  • 360g flour
  • 110g butter
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 180 – 200 ml warm milk
  • 1/2 tsp salt

filling

  • 500g ground beef
  • 2 large onions, diced
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 2 tbsp paprika
  • 1 tbsp dried oregano
  • 1/2 tbsp ground cumin
  • 1/2 tsp chili flakes
  • 1/2 tsp salt, pepper to taste
  • 1 bunch green onions, finely chopped
  • 2 tbsp chopped parsley
  • 10 green olives, quartered
  • 20g raisins, soaked in hot water
  • 3 hard boiled eggs, sliced

other

  • 1 egg, white and yolk separated

in a large bowl, mix flour and salt. using a pastry cutter, cut the butter into the dough. add egg yolk, then milk in small amounts, knead until the dough comes together. make a flat ball and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

in a large bowl, mix paprika, oregano, cumin, chili flakes, salt and pepper. add ground beef and knead until well combined. chill in the refrigerator until use.

melt the butter in a large pan and cook onions until tender, about 10 minutes. add meat mixture and cook until the beef is done, stirring frequently. let the mixture cool down a bit, add parsley, raisins, olives and chopped green onions and mix well.

on a lightly floured board roll out the dough into a thin sheet and cut out round shapes. i used a cup of 10cm diameter and got 28 empanadas.

add a spoonful of meat mixture on each disc and a slice of boiled egg. brush the edges of the empanada with egg white (i used my fingers for that), fold the empanada disc and seal. twist and fold the edges for a repulgue, or use a fork to finish sealing.

brush with whisked egg yolk and bake at 200°C for 20 minutes.

note: the filling is a bit to much for the dough – i think 3/4 of it could do as well. but since it is so delicious i keep making the full amount, and then use leftovers e.g. on frozen puff pastry.

pic, rec, savoury, Suppen, vegans

red lentil soup

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red lentils are great if there is not much time to cook – they need only about 15 minutes until tender.

ingredients:

  • 1 tbsp ghee (or butter oil)
  • 1 bunch of green onions
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 4 pieces of celery stalks
  • 2 carrots
  • 200 g red lentils
  • 1/4 tsp chili flakes
  • 1 l vegetable stock
  • 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
  • 3 tbsp soy sauce
  • salt, black pepper

cut up celery stalks and carrots into small pieces. seperate green and white of green onions and chop.

in a large pan, heat ghee. add garlic and the white of green onions, cook for two minutes. add carrots and celery, cook for another two minutes. add red lentils, cook fon one minute, stirring frequently. add  chili flakes and vegetable stock and let it simmer until the lentils are done (15-20 minutes). right before the end of cooking time, add chopped green parts of the green onions (keep a bit for decoration). season the soup with lemon juice, soy sauce, black pepper and salt.

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, vegans

chimmichurri sauce

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i like parsley, but i am not a big fan of parsley dominating an entire dish. therefore i was a bit reluctant about the chimmichurri sauce as a dip for the empanadas and made it primarily because i thought it would look nice, together with the tomato dip i was planning to make. (shifting of priorities, eh?)
and what happened? it looked very nice indeed, and nobody took a picture. but fortunately it was delicous, too.

ingredients:

  • 1 bunch of parsley
  • 1 clove or garlic
  • 6 leaves of basil
  • 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
  • 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
  • 4 tbsp olive oil (add more if needed)
  • 1/2 red chili, chopped (but it was not very hot)
  • salt and pepper to taste

combine all ingredients in the blender, mix until the sauce is smooth.  chill in the fridge until ready to use (should be used the same day).

carnivores, General, pic, rec, savoury, Vorspeisen und Snacks

empanadas with beef (…but not mendocinas)

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i started with the empanadas mendocinas recipe at laylita’s recipes. but i wanted to have raisins in it – which mendocinas do not have, i added parsley to the filling and since i confused the mendocina dough recipe (which contains milk) with the other dough recipe at laylita’s i ended up with something a bit different from the original. but they were really nice – at least those that we tried, the other empanadas are sitting in the fridge waiting for brunch on sunday.

their form was not perfect yet,  but you can follow the evolution of my repulgue in the above picture.  i did not need all the filling for the 28 empanadas i got, but found a great way to use up the leftover meat: i put it on frozen puff pastry, topped it with mozarella cheese and baked it.