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).

General, pic

brunch

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i love to make brunch since it’s a nice opportunity to try many things all at once. today we had:

the brunch was for eight people plus three kids. i always used to struggle with the amount of food to make for many people. it’s every time the same procedure: i remember that there were lots of leftovers last time, so i plan cautiously. then i panic that it might be not enough – so i add some more. and get lots of leftovers. but not this time! i almost don’t dare to say it, but i really sat down with a calculator adding up the weight of all the ingredients and divided the sum by the number of people. for every dish.  and it worked – i think i was as close to the ideal amount of food as possible. everybody ate her fill, it was enough to nibble for about two hours and almost nothing was left.

such a variety of dishes takes a bit of planning in advance, to make sure that everything is ready at the right time, has the right temperature and the cook is not totally exhausted. so here is what i did:

a few days in advance

  • make empanadas, store in the freezer

the night before (in the following order)

  1. make fruit jelly, distribute in dessert glasses and put in the fridge to chill
  2. make snow bars
  3. set the table while snow bars are baking
  4. make quark mousse, distribute in dessert glasses and let chill overnight
  5. preparation for scones (weighted all ingredients, so i only had to throw it together next morning)
  6. make dough for focaccias, put in the fridge to rise overnight
  7. slice olives (= topping for one focaccia), set aside
  8. toast pine nuts for asparagus, pumpkin seed for salad, sesame seeds for tomato butter, set aside
  9. make tomato butter
  10. make tomato dip for empanadas

∑ 3 hours


this morning (in the following order)

  1. get focaccia dough out of the fridge (it needs to gain room temperature before baking)
  2. get emanadas out of the freezer and let thaw on baking tray
  3. make salad, chill in the fridge
  4. make chimmichurri dip
  5. bake first focaccia
  6. clean and prepare asparagus
  7. distribute salad in serving dishes
  8. bake second focaccia
  9. make dough for scones, bake, wrap in dish towel to keep them warm
  10. brush empanadas with a bit water and crisp up in the oven
  11. meanwhile grill asparagus

∑ 2 hours

i actually think i could have fun working in the area of process optimization.

the only problem with the above schedule is that i did not allocate a slot for proper photo shooting.

some recipes to follow.

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.

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.

carnivores, Hauptgerichte, pic, rec, savoury

pasta with fennel, tomatoes and black forest ham

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i don’t like fennel. this is a fact i never questioned, although i could not tell a single occasion where i ever tasted fennel so far (that is, as a vegetable). it must be a late effect from the fennel tea i was forced to drink as a kid. but i also used to hate eggplant – up until i ate parmigiana di melanzane. so why not try to overcome the fear of fennel as well? i started cautiosly by using in a vegetable soup. it was not bad, though i have to admit that i had difficulties telling it apart from other vegetables. but today i entered the next level: fennel as the main ingredient in a (great!!!) pasta dish.

ingredients:

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 600 g fennel
  • 6 mini tomatoes
  • 3 slices smoked Black Forest ham
  • 50g grated parmesan
  • 2 tbsp toasted pine nuts
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • salt and black pepper, to taste
  • 200 g pasta of your choice

toast pine nuts in a dry pan. set aside. cut ham in small stripes and fry (without additional grease) until it is crisp. set also aside.

wash and prepare the fennel, cut it up into small pieces. keep fennel green for decoration.

saute fennel in olive oil about 20 minutes until it is tender, add some salted water (in which the pasta will be cooked) as needed. quarter the tomatoes, add and cook for a few minutes. add some more salted water – overall it should be about a ladle full. season with lemon juice, sugar, a generous amount of freshly ground black pepper and maybe some more salt.

meanwhile cook the pasta, then pour it over the sauce. mix and let it stand on the hot stovetop for a few minutes – the pasta should soak up some of the sauce. transfer to a large bowl and mix with grated cheese and ham stripes. top with pine nuts and fennel green.

so yes, i think fennel can be added to my list of edible greens.

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.