Beurre et pain

Breakfast buns with hazelnuts

2009-06-27T10:44:00.008+02:00

Fresh, soft buns for breakfast? Slightly warm, with hint of hazelnut and lemon? You want? I tought you might. This is a recipe I bookmarked ages ago at papilles et pupilles, when I had bought a jar of almond purée out of sheer curiosity and was looking for things to do with it. I finished the jar without ever making the buns but the bookmark stayed put. Thank god it did! Those buns are fantastic! And apart from the resting time overnight, they're finished within minutes! I can't believe this recipe hasn't travelled around the world like the no-knead bread. Go make them! Now! And spread the word!

Breakfast buns with hazelnuts (makes about 12)

500g plain flour
2 eggs, beaten
1 plain yoghurt
milk (the eggs, yoghurt and milk have to add up to 425ml)
1 tablespoon hazelnut purée (the plain kind without sugar)
80 powdered sugar
1 generous pinch of salt
1 packet dried yeast
peel of half a lemon (the original recipe uses combava)

In the evening, combine all the ingredients to make a shaggy and wet dough. Cover and put it in the refrigerator overnight. The next morning, tip the dough onto well floured surface and shape it into a roll that you cut into 12 equal pieces. Roll the dough pieces into balls and put them into a buttered muffin tray. You can cut a roughly nut-sized piece off each piece of dough and put a little ball on top of each bun to get the typical brioche shape. I did, but they flattened out during baking. Cover with a damp kitchen towel and let rise on the kitchen counter for about 1-2 hours. Bake for 15 minutes at 200°. Remove from the oven and brush with a little milk (or eggwash before baking). Let cool on a wired rack for a few minutes. They are best eaten fresh with butter and marmelade - I thought lemon was a particulary good match.

Udon noodles with sweetheart cabbage, mushrooms and sriracha sauce

2009-06-17T22:31:00.018+02:00

Two noodle recipes in a row, I know. It's a total coincidence, though. We do eat other things than noodles.

Part of the charm of the subscription to a vegetable delivery is that you get vegetables you wouldn't normally buy or that may not even be on sale at the greegrocer's or supermarket. Like the sweetheart cabbage (gotta love it, if only for the name!) I found in this week's bag. I can't remember having eaten it ever and I have most certainly never cooked it so far. I fancied noodles so without doing any research on the stranger in my vegetable drawer, I decided to stir fry it with some onions, button mushrooms and bacon. Why bacon? Cabbage loves a little pork, I reckoned and really - you can't go wrong with bacon, can you? A spritz of soy sauce and a liberal dousing with sriracha sauce (be a liberal as you dare) finished the dish off. I ate it by myself in the balmy evening air in the "company" only of the neighbours, also out on their balconies or rooftop terraces.

Udon noodles with sweetheart cabbage, mushrooms and sriracha sauce

(serves 1 or 2 , depending on greed)

80g udon noodles
0.5 tablespoons rapseed oil
0.5 onion, in strips
1 tablespoon bacon in small dice
1 sweetheart cabbage 1, finely sliced, tough parts removed
8 button mushrooms, quartered
soy sauce
sriracha sauce

Cook the udon noodles until soft, drain and refresh quickly under the cold tap. Set aside. Heat the oil in a wok or large nonstick frying pan. Fry the onion and bacon for about 2-3 minutes, then add the cabbage and mushrooms and stir fry over a high heat until the cabbage is done. Sesason to taste with soy sauce and sriracha sauce. Add the noodles and toss for a minute until everything is evenly mixed and the noodles are heated through. Serve immediately with more sriracha sauce for those who like it hot.

Soba noodle salad with coconut dressing

2009-06-09T21:08:00.008+02:00

Last year, my employer invited a nutritionist to give talks on what to eat in order to stay healthy during the colder months, hoping, of course, that less people would have to call in sick. A clever little plot, somewhat less radical and obvious than the free flu jab. There was a lot of talk about vitamins, minerals, free radicals and their friends and relations. Very interesting but not much has stuck, to be honest. And after reading "In the Defence of Food: an Eater's Manifesto" by Michael Pollan, I'm not sure it even matters. I thought the greatest tip we got was to make your plate as colourful as possible as, apparently, a variety of colours (vegetables and fruit, not gummy bears) pretty much equals a variety of nutrients. Nutritional value aside, it looks and tastes great. If all the lectures on vitamins, good fats and bad fats definitely turn out to be complete bogus, you at least had a lovely meal. What more could you ask for? Get that chopping board out!

Soba noodle salad with coconut dressing (serves 2)

160g soba noodles
1 scallion, white part finely chopped
2 carrots, julienned
1 zucchini, julienned
1/4 head red cabbage, very finely chopped
1 small handfull sprouts (rocket, onion, alfalfa)
6 radishes, quartered
6 cherry tomatoes, halved
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 tablespoons coconut milk
2 tablespoons sweet chili sauce
2 teaspoons sesame oil
a dash of soy sauce and lemon juice

Cook the soba noodles until soft. Drain, refresh under cold water and set aside. Heat the olive oil in a wok or a large frying pan. Stir fry the onions and carrots for one minute, then add the zucchini and cook for another minute. Add the cabbage and toss. Remove from the heat and put the vegetables into a bowl. Let cool slightly. Add the cold noodles, sprouts, radishes and tomatoes. Stir the coconut milk, sweet chili sauce and sesame oil together and season to taste with soy sauce and lemon juice. Pour over the noodles and vegetables and toss until everything is evenly coated.

I had some grilled paneer with it. Tofu would be nice, too and more "authentic".

Salt-kissed buttermilk cake as seen on 101 cookbooks

2009-05-15T18:16:00.007+02:00

Are there any foods that irresistibly draw you towards a dish on a restaurant menu or in a recipe? I for instance will order almost anything with tarragon. Or make any cake that features yoghurt or buttermilk. For rasperries I have such a deep-founded love, I can easily polish off a whole punnet on my own, anytime, anywhere. It's no suprise then, that the salt-kissed buttermilk cake with rasperries Heidi Swanson wrote about on 101 cookbooks last year ticked all the right boxes for me. I changed a few things, using only half wholewheat flour and half plain and a little more sugar than indicated. It's a delicious cake, not to sweet, which I love and perfect with for afternoon tea or coffee. Heidi recommends serving it with whipped cream, I wouldn't, though, I found it quite rich as it is, even if it's not high in fat.

Dos and dont's:

Don't: misread 1 teaspoon of salt for one tablespoon, think that Heidi Swanson must be mad to use this much salt, use a lot less and still too much.

Do: make this cake, eat it and love it.

Risotto in the speed of light

2009-05-01T07:34:00.006+02:00

Purists, avert your eyes, cover you ears. The method for cooking risotto I'm writing about in this post is so unorthodox, it'll have you throw your hands up in horror.

I use my pressure cooker for making risotto, There, I said it. I never dreamt of making risotto any other way than patiently stirring it for twenty minutes or so until I read this post in Sigirid's beautiful blog cavoletto di bruxelles. I reckoned that she knew a thing or two about cooking and if she considered the pressure cooker method to be ok, I'd give it a try. And I haven't looked back, to be honest. I wouldn't say I'd never make risotto the traditional way again, but the pressure cooker method is so fast, you can have a perfectly good risotto on you table in roughly ten minutes, preparation time included. What's not to love about that?

Pressure cooker risotto (serves 2)

1 small onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
160g risotto rice
1 glass white wine
5dl boiling broth
2-3 tablespoons grated parmesan
1 small knob of butter
freshly grated pepper

Remove the steaming device from the bottom of the pressure cooker. Heat the olive oil and gently fry the onion until soft and translucent. Add the rice and cook for a minute or two until it is shiny, then add the wine and let evaporate. Add the broth, stir and put on the lid. Heat until the valve hisses, turn down the heat and cook the risotto on level two of you pressure cooker (for mine, it's when two red rings show on the valve) for six minutes. Place the pan under the tap and run cold water over it in order for the steam to be released. Open the pan, place it back on the stove and stir for a minute or two until the remaining liquid is absorbed. Stir in the butter, parmesan and black pepper (I also added some chopped spring onions and parsely at this stage), cover and let rest for five minutes. Serve immediately.

I have made this with excellent results using carnaroli. I was given a bag of rice called avorio and tried it, too. The end result was even better but it takes longer, I'd say ten minutes. I don't know what this avorio rice is about, it looks like it's been parboiled but I'm not sure. Does anyone know? All I know is that I want more of it.

I can't wait

2009-04-29T15:04:00.003+02:00

Lunch, anyone?

2009-04-26T22:04:00.013+02:00

What's your lunchtime personality? Do you grab a sandwich at the cafeteria and eat at your desk? Devour a huge plate of pasta that will have your blood sugar crash in a major way by 3 p.m. or do you prefer something light like sushi, a wise point from a nutritional point of view but maybe less so from a financial one? A square of chocolate, an espresso, two cigarettes and back to work? Or do you maybe take a carefully prepared packed lunch every day? I am a little bit of everything (except for the coffeine-nicotine-sugar "lunch", but I swear I didn't make that up), only if I'm honest, the packed lunch doesn't feature on the menu as often as I would like it to. Which is crazy because the amount of money I spend on mediocre restaurant lunches and ridiculously overpriced sandwiches is seriously very crazy! I have therefore come up with a plan. I am queen of plans as you might have noticed reading this blog. I will take a packed lunch every time I go to yoga at lunchtime, i.e. usually three times a week. In four weeks, that will save me enough money to buy another ten-class ticket at my yoga studio. How cool is that? Double health factor! I'm starting tomorrow and brimming with optimism with this brightly coloured bulgur wheat salad.

Bulgur wheat salad with chickpeas and vegetables (serves 1)

60g bulgur wheat (I used the coarse variety)
0.5 teaspoons turmeric
1 large handfull chopped vegetables - whatever you fancy
chickpeas (roughly half a can)
3-4 chopped mint leaves
juice of half a lemon
olive oil
salt, pepper

Cook the bulgur wheat for seven minutes in double the volume of salted water to which you've added the turmeric. Remove the pan from the heat, cover, and let the bulgur steam for about five minutes. Let cool a bit. Toss with the vegetables (I used red cabbage, carrots, radishes, spring onions and rocket), the chickpeas and the mint. Stir together the lemon juice, olive oil and salt and pepper. Pour the dressing over the bulgur and mix thoroughly.

Ricotta cake

2009-04-24T23:56:00.000+02:00

There is no need for me to lose many words about this ricotta cake. It is simple, unpretentious and delicious. I love it for breakfast, as a snack, with my tea in the afternoon and at any other time of the day, and I think you will, too. There are only two things you should know:

1 - You have to be serious about creaming eggs and sugar or the cake won't rise. To be on the safe side, you might want to separate the eggs and fold the whipped egg whites into the batter alternating with the flour. Then again, you might not, because why dirty two bowls if you can get away with dirtying one and anyway, you live live dangerously. I do, and I'm no friend of washing up, which is why my cake is just a tiny bit on the soft side on the bottom as you can see in the picture.

2 - This cake looks very innocent but you don't want to get fresh with it, adding apples, chocolate chunks or nuts etc. A small handfull of raisins is all that it can handle. Otherwise, the cake won't bake but turn into a sorry, solid, doughy block. The Husband ate a large piece of solidified cake batter with chocolate once and said he liked it, but his judgement is clouded when it comes to food containing chocolate.

Ricotta cake

190g sugar
1 tub soft ricotta (250g)
2 eggs
2 tablespoons plain yoghurt
200g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
some vanilla extract or grated lemon peel

Preheat the oven to 180°. Cream the eggs and sugar together for a few minutes until the mixture is very thick and lightly-coloured. Best use one of those nifty hand-held blenders with whisks for that or get ready for a little workout. Sorry, but this step is vital, see point 1 above. Add the ricotta and yoghurt and mix well, then mix in the vanilla extract or grated lemon peel. Sift the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda together and fold into the ricotta mixture. Add a little more flour if the batter seems too thin. Pour the batter into a small baking tin (roughly 23 cm diameter round or a 20x20cm square tin) which you've buttered and lined with greaseproof paper. Bake for about twenty minutes or until a knife inserted comes out clean. Turn onto a wired rack to cool.

Spaghetti with rocket or how not to go shopping

2009-04-22T22:58:00.008+02:00

I subscribed to a vegetable delivery service, similar to the neighbourhood CSAs in the US, only my vegetables don't come from a community garden in the city but from a farm nearby. Every other week, I get to collect my bag at the drop-off point in our neighbourhood. I love the fact that the vegetables are organic and haven't travelled around the world before they reach my plate. The killing of a live lobster during a theater performance witnessed by my very dear friend M. sparked a heated debate between a group of friends as to how we treat animals and more generally - how we feed ourselves. I considered the killing - and possibly torturing - of the poor lobster for the sake of theater to be completely inacceptable while M. argued that surely it didn't matter whether lobsters were killed at restaurants or on a theater stage and what about slaughtering chickens, cows, pigs - why wasn't I opposed to that? I'm not going to replay the whole lobster debate here but it did get me thinking about what food I buy and how I handle it. (Which will make M. happy as it proves just how powerful theater can be and because it might mean that the lobster didn't die in vain.) Enough about seafood though, back to the veg. Here's what I got in my first delivery:

a huge bag of spinach
a somewhat huge bag of baby salad leaves
a relatively huge bag of fiercely peppery rocket
a fennel bulb
a cucumber

The spinach I polished off right away. For the next dinner it was going to be salad (obviously) and rocket-something. Pizza with parma ham and rocket? I had my shop for pizza dough, mozzarella, canned tomatoes and parma ham all planned out when it hit me: I go food shopping all the time, way too often, always buying new ingredients rather than putting together what I already have. I decided there and then to stop. There was food for many meals in the cupboards and I was going to use it. The result of this new mindset (let's hope I can keep it up - it will not only save me money, but time, too!) were spaghetti with béchamel sauce, ham and chopped rocket*, generously topped with grated parmesan. My grandmother used to make this with peas instead of rocket and bake it in the oven. Quintessentially unitalian. It was a good dish, not something I would want every day, but still good. The real revelation? Not going shopping - every so satisfactory.

* Make a béchamel sauce, season with salt, pepper and nutmeg, add the ham and some grated parmesan. Add the cooked pasta and the chopped rocket and mix carefully for a minute or two over a low heat, maybe adding some reserved cooking water if needed.

Tuna and avocado tartar

2009-02-04T22:18:00.005+01:00

I salute the people from the posh supermarket for making my life so much easier by selling small jars of toasted sesame seeds. They also make me quite a bit poorer but I'm very willing to pay the price! So much better than buying a huge bag of the stuff, at least half of which will have to be tossed because it turns rancid long before I could use it up. (As it happened in this household very recently.)

This tuna and avocado tartar is somewhere in between Jamie Oliver's, my very dear friend M.'s version (who learnt to make this from a friend and a talented chef but using salmon and not tuna) and the one I sometimes eat for lunch at a japanese restaurant. Except I don't go there now because tuna tartar and a bowl of rice require a 45-minute wait. The avocado makes it velvety-smooth and quite filling which is great when you make this as a meal but you may want to leave it out when serving the tartar as a starter.

Tuna and avocado tartar
Serves 1

100g sashimi grade tuna
half an avocado
juice of 1 lime
rice vinegar
grated ginger
sesame oil
salt
pepper
toasted sesame seeds
chives

Using a very sharp knife, dice the tuna and the avocado into 1cm-cubes. Put into a small bowl and carefully toss with the lime juice. Add all the other ingredients and taste as you go along until you're happy with the result. It think it's best to go easy with the sesame oil and the ginger, they can be overpowering. M. suggested using coriander and yes, I'm getting used to it but I wasn't feeling brave tonight. Rinse a small bowl with cold water and fill in the tartar, pressing down carefully. Cover with clingfilm and refrigerate for about twenty minutes. Upturn onto a plate and sprinkle a little more sesame seeds on top. Serve on its own or with a bowl of japanese rice.

Cauliflower gratin, take two

2009-01-28T19:46:00.015+01:00

Sometimes, when I'm not sure what to cook, I browse Tastespotting for immediate inspiration (and recipe to go with it!). What strikes me every time is just how many people will put great efforts into making the most elaborate pastries, cakes and desserts. It puts a smile on my face because, surely, with so many people spending hours in the kitchen until they found the key to the perfect éclair, the world can't be bad place. What's my point, you ask? I don't have one, actually. Sorry.

I decided to give the cauliflower au gratin I made some time ago another try. And yes, I do realise I just abruptly changed topic. And that my picture sucks but it's wintertime, daylight is scarce and I don't have a clue about photography. But back to the cauliflower. I hadn't been convinced 100% the first time around, even though my judgement had been somewhat mellowed by the fact that the leftovers tasted so good. But then - why would anyone a make a cauliflower bake that only displayed its true glory after a night in the fridge?

Here's what I changed the second time round: two eggs instead of one, gruyère cheese added to the cottage cheese-egg mixture which I also blended to make it smoother. The result was a little thick so I thinned it out with a glug of milk (full fat, I lost that battle with the Husband long ago). All in all, this version is less diet-friendly than the first but so much better for it. But of course.

Escape to Rome

2008-12-08T10:58:00.009+01:00

Last thursday the Husband casually suggested we go to London for the weekend. Flight schedules and hotel prices for London weren't right so we decided on Rome instead. A few clicks here and there on the internet and a couple of hours later we were strolling along Via Giulia. Hooray to last minute flight fares. Sadly, in one and a half days, there were only three meals to be had, five if you count breakfast. Here's the lowdown:

Friday night, very late: pizza al taglio and beer at a small place near Piazza Navona when none of the restaurants would accomodate us for dinner;
Saturday morning: cappucino and cornetto at San'Eustachio;
Saturday lunch (see picture): rigatoni cacio e pepe, involtini di manzo and puntarelle at Trattoria Augusto in Trastevere - my absolute favourite ;
Saturday dinner: carciofi alla romana, linguine alici e pecorino and sogliola alla griglia at Il Beppone at the Quirinale;
Sunday breakfast: same as saturday, the Husband was immediately smitten with the coffee at San'Eustachio and wanted more;
Sunday lunch: antipasto misto of cured meats, stuffed peperoncini and buffalo mozzarella, tortellini in brodo and bollito misto at Il Bolognese in the Piazza del Popolo - all very nice but definitely too much of a good thing. No more meat for the rest of the week, please.

Should I ever only have time for one meal in Rome (God forbid) I'd go to Augusto. The place is not glamorous or even pretty with its rickety tables covered in large sheets of paper and its neon lights. But who cares about decor. At Augusto, the food does all the talking. And I'd be willing to listen any time.

Countdown running

2008-08-11T11:52:00.006+02:00

The husband and I are going to get married in church in one month (we had the civil ceremony in july, it's compulsory to have that first here). A few weeks ago, I went to the first fitting of my wedding dress, a slim-cut, silk empire-line dress with lace covering the gown from my bust down. I put it on and it fit perfectly, there was no need for altering. The shop assistant was all excited saying that the dresses hardly ever fitted right away and that I would save a lot of money. I immediately bought very expensive underwear. The dress is still at the shop as the clever shop assistant scheduled a second fitting anyway "in case something happens". What she meant was probably "in case you should start eating two large chocolate macaroons per day and not fit into your dress in september". I have no macaroon habit but still, I feel that lately I've eaten more sweets than I usually do so until september, I will not eat any sugar, i.e. won't add it to my food or eat cakes, pastries, chocolate etc. until the wedding day. Not only do I want to look amazing in september, I also want to feel amazing. I'll also reduce my intake of caffeine and alcohol but the sugar, I will cut out altogether. I installed twitter (see right sidebar) and keep you posted on how I'm doing.

P.S. Unfortunately, twitter doesn't seem to work as it should on IE7. The bug should be fixed soon, in the meantime, best use another browser.

Soba noodle salad with tofu-peanut dressing

2008-08-10T21:41:00.004+02:00

In march this year, I went to a yoga holiday to Marrakech. It was something I had been longing do for a while but none of the offers I found appealed to me. Bali? Too far for a week. A hut on La Gomera where the yogis would cook their own vegan meals? A little too hippy-dippy for my taste. And the worst - sharing a room with a complete stranger - please, could there be anything less relaxing? I had almost given up when I found in:spa retreats. Exactly what I needed. Pricey, yes, but with its combination of luxury accomodation, yoga, fitness and a healthy dose of pampering it ticked all the right boxes. The package came with nutritional advice, too and while I was probably doing better than some of my fellow retreaters who admitted to downing a bottle of red wine on their own after a hectic day at work (what?) or relying on ready-made meals most days, I had a simple, yet very important lesson to learn: the lesson about protein. I had often wondered why my - in my eyes - rather healthy lunches of some wholegrain or other with vegetables left me hungry and tempted by the sweets in the cafeteria by four o'clock. Lack of protein, of course! I had to pay a handsome sum of money and travel to North Africa to learn that!

Soba noodle salads are a staple in my lunchbox and I like to think that I'm a bit clever, adding protein with silken tofu blended into the dressing. And what's more: you could feed these noodles to people who wouldn't normally go anywhere near tofu and they would gobble them up with delight, the unsuspecting souls.

Soba noodles with tofu-peanut dressing
(serves 2)

90g soba noodles
3 large handfulls chopped vegetables (cucumber, peppers, radishes, spring onions...)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs - whatever you fancy
a quarter of a block silken tofu (equals roughly 4 tablespoons)
1 tablespoon peanut butter or thai peanut sauce
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon chili sauce
soy sauce to taste

Cook the noodles in salted water until tender. In the meantime, blend all the remaining ingredients except for the herbs and the vegetables together until smooth. Pour some of the cooking water into a cup, drain the noodles and refresh under the cold tap. Set aside. Stir the reserved cooking water into the dressing. Taste the dressing and add whatever you think needs to be added. The measurements given above are approximative, you might want to change them or add other ingredients. Put the noodles, vegetables and herbs and dressing into a large bowl and toss well.

Got milk?

2008-08-06T22:27:00.005+02:00

Linda at make life sweeter hosts a food event called got milk? as the first week of august is breastfeeding week. (Did you know? No? Neither did I). I think food blogging events are so cool and I always want to participate in so many and end up missing all the deadlines. Pathetic, yes. I'm on time for this one so hooray! I don't even like milk particularly, never drink it, don't add it to cereals, only a drop in my tea, thank you. But cooking with milk - absolutely. Two recipes sprang to my mind. The first was latte in piedi, literal translation "milk standing up", an italian pudding similar to panna cotta which, at least in some versions, is prepared with only milk instead of cream. I'm not sure about the recipe I found, it might be the road to the culinary relevation of the year or complete disaster. I'll try it some other time and report back. The second and the one I chose for this event was Plattenmüesli which is Swiss German and stands for "dish muesli" - this is a funny language so don't ask. It might be that my grandmother used to make this, it seems to me that I have a vague memory of this dish but it was certainly not part of my mother's repertoire. It's simple as it gets - whisk eggs, milk, sugar and vanilla together and let it set in the oven. It's an old recipe and might have been something that (well-off) mothers used to make for their little children so they would grow strong and therefore a suitable dish for breastfeeding week.

Plattenmüesli
(serves 4 as dessert)

3 eggs
2.5dl milk
2 tablespoons sugar
scraped seeds of half a vanilla pod
a litte butter for greasing the dish

Preheat the oven to 150° C. Bring water to boil. Grease a medium-sized ovenproof dish. Whisk the eggs, milk, sugar and vanilla together and pour into the dish. Set onto a rimmed baking tray and slide into the hot oven. Carefully pour the hot water onto the baking sheet. Bake for twenty minutes or until completely set. Watch closely as the water must not come to the boil. Remove from the oven and let cool completely before serving.

Ottolenghi green bean salad

2008-08-04T23:19:00.003+02:00

I'm such a lousy/lazy blogger - no post in several weeks. I'm really good at looking at other blogs though, does that count? I particularly love it when the Daring Bakers are getting their whisks and spatulas out and across the world, bloggers tackle the same elaborate cake recipe. Just look at all those Filbert Gâteaux! They look amazing! I love the idea of joining the Daring Bakers myself but two things stop me:

I can't even find time to write my "regular" posts so I won't kid myself into thinking that I might engage in some very advanced baking once a month and write about it, too.
The effect on my waistline would be devastating. Daring Bakers is safer for large households.

I'll stick to reading about other people's adventures with buttercream and génoise and things and try to write about my own humble recipes, such as this bean salad from Ottolenghi: The Cookbook.

Well. I should have known better. I dislike crisp, squeaky green beans and yet, I followed the instructions and cooked the beans for only a couple of minutes. The stiff unyielding beans then managed to keep the other tastes at bay, as if they were sitting in the bowl with their arms crossed, thinking that no way were they going to snuggle up to toasted hazelnuts and orange juice. Can you tell from the picture how stubborn they were? Next time, I'll definitely cook the beans until soft, even if they loose their vibrant colour.

I put down the bean salad as I'd make it in the future, not quite Ottolenghi style but certainly strongly inspired by the recipe in the fabulous book.

Green bean salad with toasted hazelnuts and orange vinaigrette
(serves 4 as a starter)

500g grean beans
1 garlic clove, minced
a small handfull toasted hazelnuts, chopped
juice of one orange
a little orange zest
olive oil
salt and freshly ground pepper

Cook the beans until tender, the drain. Stir the orange juice, zest, olive oil, salt, pepper and minced garlic together. In a large bowl, combine the beans, vinaigrette and hazelnuts and let sit for at least thirty minutes in order for the flavours to combine. Fresh goat cheese and rustic bread are perfect companions.

Semolina porridge

2008-07-21T22:25:00.011+02:00

I believe in breakfast. I don't go far without it, unless I eat until 8 a.m. at the latest (on workdays, that is), I inevitably start to feel weak, shaky and often quite emotional. In my early blogging days, I once mentioned that I go through breakfast phases. I was hooked on steeped oats with grated apple, toasted nuts and yoghurt for quite some time until suddenly, about a week ago, I knew I wanted something else. So now, it's semolina porridge again, the finnish fibre-enriched kind with the cute girl with braids on the package. My very dear friend M. brings me some whenever she visits but even if you don't happen to have friends in Finland, don't despair: use regular semolina mixed with a handful of wheat or oat bran.

Here's my "recipe":

30-40g of semolina
water
a pinch of salt
brown sugar
a splash of milk
berries or chopped fruit
fromage frais or plain yoghurt

Put the semolina into a small saucepan, then add water (it should stand about 2 cm higher than the semolina - yes, my measurements are very scientific and precise here) and whisk in order to prevent clumps from forming. Bring to the boil, add the salt, then lower the heat and simmer for about five minutes or until thick. Stir frequently. Just before eating, add the milk and simmer for another minute. Spoon into a bowl and sprinkle with sugar and add the fruit and formage frais or yoghurt.

I like to take my bowl and sit in the armchair which used to belong to my grandfather while I eat. The husband (yes, you heard me) is usually in the shower or only just waking up by this time. Sometimes, he sleepily shuffles into the living room and steals a spoonfull from me. I don't turn on the radio, I don't go and get the paper. I just sit and eat. It may only be for ten minutes but I couldn't think of a more peaceful - and tasty - way to start the day.

Making cheese

2008-07-09T21:09:00.008+02:00

Luisa from the Wednesday Chef recently made ricotta. I have said this before and I shall say it again - when she recommends a recipe, I think you should listen. I did, anyway, and made ricotta tonight, using sheep's milk as she suggested. Who would have thought making cheese could be so laughably easy? Heat milk and buttermilk, wait for curds to form, ladle curds into a cloth-lined sieve and let drain. There. Ricotta. Truth be told, I never understood while many cooks/food bloggers dislike shop-bought ricotta quite so much. Maybe the ricotta widely available here is of better quality than in most other countries or maybe my tastebuds do not know about ricotta, anyhow, I quite like the creamy kind that comes in the tubs - in pound cakes instead of butter or spread onto toasted bread, with a large spoonfull of homemade (by my mother) jam. I do realise, however, that it does not lend itself well to all the interesting things one can do with ricotta, it is too creamy and sweet for that. The homemade ricotta turned out much firmer and drier and it crumbled when sliced. The taste was very mellow, bordering on bland (in a good way - think of it as a canvas for other foods). The use of sheep's milk I cannot comment seeing I never tried the cow's milk variety. I ate my ricotta on toasted bread with a little sea salt and a drizzle of my finest italian olive oil to accompany sautéd zucchini seasoned with nothing but salt, pepper, a splash of lemon juice and chopped oregano. A lovely summer dinner, great for hot days or when you try to eat lightly with the upcoming first fitting of your wedding dress and the effects of two weeks worth's of spanish food on your mind.

No need for me to retype the recipe, just the measurements I used, in case you're a metric girl/guy, too: half a litre of sheep's milk and 2dl of buttermilk will yield a roughly fist-sized ball of ricotta (about half the quantity of the recipe on the Wednesday Chef.)

Andalucia

2008-07-02T21:52:00.011+02:00

The Boyfriend and I went to Andalucia for our holidays. The region was everything I ever imagined it to be and more: Scorching sun and blue skies, chalk-white houses, curious rock formations and snow-covered peaks in the Sierra Nevada, breathtakingly beautiful, finely chiselled ornaments in the buildings dating back to the moorish period and stretches of sandy beaches with only a handful of bathers here and there. We drove around for ten days with our rental car, discovering places neither the Boyfriend or I had ever been to before. Sometimes it felt like we were the first or even the only ones ever visiting a place - we weren't, obviously - but the quiet we encountered before the beginning of the summer holidays gave that impression. Rarely have I felt so acutely aware of how lucky I am to have found someone who loves me like the Boyfriend does and how happy he makes me. Did it matter that the food was often rather mediocre, drenched in oil and somewhat, um, boring? It didn't. Quinoa doesn't stand a chance against great love.

Chestnut and chocolate cake

2008-06-02T23:02:00.007+02:00

Our poor man's Volvo needed to have its tyres changed on saturday, so the Boyfriend and I ventured off to a nearby shopping centre with garage attached, the idea being that I could to the grocery shopping while the Boyfriend would got to the garage and oversee the changing of the tyres. We are ever so progressive as a couple. I had a lot of time and kind of aimlessly wandered around a posh food hall. Guess what I found? Chestnut flour. And I bought a bag, for no particular reason, simply because they had it basically. I try to refrain from this kind of shopping as I inevitably end up with all my cupboards full of half-empty bags of interesting or unusual foods, more than we actually need. And then there is often the problem of having an awkward quantity left - too much for one person, too little for two - how does everyone deal with that? Anyway, on saturday, despite all that, I bought the chestnut flour. I did a little research today and found out that chestnut flour doesn't keep very well. "This cake must be made with fresh chestnut flour or it will not turn out well" many recipes read, almost making me feel like I had been mighty foolish, buying a whole large bag of the stuff. What could I do but make good use of my special flour right away? Call it emergency baking.

Chestnut and chocolate cake
(makes one round 23cm-diameter cake)

3 yoghurt pots chestnut flour, sifted
1 pot natural yoghurt
1 yoghurt pot brown sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla sugar
3 eggs
100g butter, melted
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda and baking powder each
120g dark chocolate, roughly chopped

Preheat the oven to 180°. Line a round baking pan with parchment paper and grease the sides of the pan. In a large bowl, beat the sugar, vanilla sugar, eggs and butter until light and thick. Add the yoghurt and stir well. Add the sifted flour, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder and stir carefully. When the flour is completely incorporated, stir in the chocoalate. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and bake for 40 minutes. A skewer inserted into the cake must come out clean. Cover the cake with foil if it browns too quickly (as mine did). Turn onto a wire rack and cool completely before eating.

I was extremely eager to find out what the chestnut flour would taste like and could hardly contain myself while the cake was cooling on the balcony. I'm glad to report that it lived up to my expectations: light and fluffy, with only a subtle chestnut taste (which is fine by me) and bursts of sweet chocolate. Some chopped and roasted hazelnuts might be a nice addition, too. One warning: chestnut flour is gluten free which means that this cake is crumbly with a very soft texture. If not being able to neatly slice a cake makes you cry, substitute half of the chestnut flour with plain flour. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must go and steal just one last tiny sliver before I go to sleep.

Aubergine salad

2008-05-31T18:11:00.006+02:00

This is one I clipped out from kochen, I Swiss cooking magazine I have a subscription to. I And I'd better write it down quickly because just when I had finished cooking, the Boyfriend opened the kitchen window and the wind carried my clipping away. Gone with the wind, so to speak.

Aubergine salad
(serves 4 as a side dish or starter)

2 medium-sized aubergines
2 tomatoes
1 small onion
a small handfull of fresh oregano leaves
a pinch of sugar
1 tablespoon pine nuts
1 tablespoon capers
12 green olives, pitted
salt and freshly ground pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
2-3 tablespoons good balsamic vinegar

Finely dice the aubergines. In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil, add the aubergines and fry over medium heat until lightly browned and softened. Season lightly with salt and pepper. While the aubergines are browning, deseed and chop the tomatoes and rinse and chop the capers and olives. Finely chop the onion and the oregano leaves. Add the tomaotes, onions, sugar and pine nuts to the pan and fry for another two minutes. Add the capers, olives, oregano and balsamic vinegar and heat through briefly. Remove from the heat. Check the seasoning, adding more salt and pepper to taste. Serve slightly warm or a room temperature.

I omitted the pine nuts because we'll have this apple torte later which contains almonds and wouldn't it be a culinary fauxpas to serve a starter with pine nuts and a cake with almonds after that? Yes, it would. I added a little chopped mint, though, because we have mint on our balcony and it is growing so beautifully, begging to be added to dishes.

Quite easy courgette tart

2008-05-19T21:44:00.009+02:00

This was going to be the easy courgette tart I mentioned in my last post, a recipe clipped from eve magazine or maybe Easy Living. But things happened on the way. See, the "easy" part of this tart has a lot to do with using ready rolled puff pastry. And while ready rolled puff pastry makes the task of baking a tart laughably easy indeed, it is not so kind on your health, being packed with fat. Now before you think I'm a boring health nut and click away - I'm not. Seriously, I was going to buy the pastry, I had the roll in my hand and my hand was halfway in my basket. And I would have bought it, walked home with it and made this tart according to instructions, had I not cast a glance at the list of ingredients on the package and seen just the kind of fats used in the pastry. Transfats, people, as nasty as they come. I could have dealt with butter but with these I couldn't. The puff pastry went right back to where it came from and I decided to take a leaf from Clotilde's book and make this tart with a polenta base instead. A little more work, yes, but still quite easy.

Quite easy courgette tart (serves 2)

125g fine polenta
450ml water
a good pinch of salt
a generous sprinkling of dried thyme
120g soft ricotta
2 teaspoons grated parmesan
a little grated lemon zest
2 small zucchini
0.5 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper
2-3 basil leaves
parmesan (optional)

Bring the water to the boil and salt to taste. Crumble the thyme between your fingers and add to the pan, then add the polenta while stirring constantly. Simmer for a few minutes over a low heat until quite thick. Spread into a round baking pan or pie dish (mine had a diameter of 25cm, a little larger would be fine, too but you might need more zucchini) which you've lightly oiled with some olive oil. Let the polenta sit for about fifteen minutes. Preheat the oven to 250°. Mix the ricotta with the lemon zest and the grated parmesan and season with salt and pepper. Very finely and evenly slice the zucchini. You can do this yourself or instruct another person in your household to do so under your supervision. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and put it on top of your baking pan with the polenta, parchment paper side down. Firmly press the baking pan and the baking sheet against each other and turn around with a swift movement so that this time, the baking pan with the polenta is on top. Lift the baking pan away. Take a moment to admire the smooth disc of polenta before you, then slide it into the hot oven and bake for about twenty minutes or until lightly browned. You can use the grill but watch that parchment paper. Mine was looking very parched indeed after just a few minutes under the grill. Remove the polenta round from the oven and spread with the ricotta mixture. Arrange the zucchini slices on top, drizzle with a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Slide back into the oven and cook for about twenty minutes or until the zucchini are tender. Transfer onto a serving platter and top with the chopped basil and some parmesan shavings if using.

Clippings

2008-05-13T22:26:00.010+02:00

Last year, I challenged myself to cook a new dish from one of my many cookbooks every week. I kept up reasonably well and enjoyed my challenge a lot. I discovered dishes I loved and tried dishes which were quickly attributed to the no-need-to-make-again catergory by the Boyfriend. (To my deception, he reckoned tonight's monk's beard frittata was part of this category too, calling it the "hay cake"). Not only do I have a tendency to purchase a lot of cookbooks - I dare not use the term "collect", did you notice - but I also like to keep recipe clippings from magazines, newspapers and sometimes the back of packages of foods (I found a memorable lentil salad recipe once so don't laugh). I'm still committed to make better use of my cookbooks and at the same time, I try to go through my folders with neatly arranged clippings (starters, vegetables, meat, fish and seafood, pasta, dessert) to see which ones were worth clipping.

Here are some of the recipes on the waitlist:

Easy courgette tart
Asparagus with mustard-dill sauce
Sea bass ceviche
Minced meat pie with apples and pine nuts
Cold indian chickpea soup
Mel i Mato (fresh goat cheese with walnuts and honey)

Just to name a few. This will keep me busy for a while. Seeing it's may already, I'm not making this a challenge. Not even I am that silly.

What I would like today

2008-02-15T07:51:00.002+01:00

Have a lie-in
Eat a fried egg
Then decide what to do next

It will have to wait until tomorrow.

Not crowned

2008-01-04T14:24:00.000+01:00

Once again it was not acknowledged that I am the legitimate heir to the throne! One of my coworkers very cheekily snatched the piece with the little plastic king inside from under my nose. Oh, well. The cake was delicious, yeasty and soft, studded with plump raisins and flavoured with lemon peel. Worth staying common for.

Downward Dog

2007-11-21T16:30:00.000+01:00

The Boyfriend and I have moved to Zurich. We're settling in nicely. I regularly go to the fancy airyoga to work on my asanas. One time, one of my fellow yoginis announced to the guy at the reception desk that she had changed her name and was now called Seela (to be honest, it may have been something else, but something with a similar yoga-ring to it, anyway). "Oh, good", said the guy at the reception, "I could never remember whether you were called Christine oder Christina". Funnily enough, none of the other people around appreciated the little episode as much as I did.

And yes, I still cook and eat. And I intend to write about it in the near future (ok, as soon as we manage to get internet access, which might take a while, I fear).

On the move

2007-10-15T10:53:00.000+02:00

There are many of these in our apartment right now. I packed lots of kitchen gadgets last night, such as the garlic press and most of the knives. Even if I had time to cook, I wouldn't have the utensils. I can't wait to take possession of my new kitchen next week and start cooking again - this is no state!

Moules marinières

2007-10-05T08:01:00.000+02:00

I have no time for cooking these days. I even ate in the dining car of the train back from work one night. This is bad.

On the positive side, the Boyfriend and I had reason to celebrate last night and celebrate we did with the first moules marinières of the season at the Postgasse Café. Which more than made up for the dining car grub.

Whirligig buns as seen on the Wednesday Chef

2007-09-30T16:32:00.001+02:00

I'm very happy to follow a piece of advice shared by a fellow food blogger so when Nigella Lawson's whirligig buns were featured on Luisa's Wednesday Chef and she gave them a star rating, I made some the very next weekend. Now let me give you some advice: you should make them, too. There couldn't be a better way to start the weekend than with one of these soft, sweet buns filled with gooey chocolate and crunchy nuts and a cup of tea (Lady Gray is my preference) or milky coffee. The Boyfriend was extremely pleased with this unexpected treat and declared that chocolate simply had a way of making him feel so much better. What else could you want from breakfast?

You'll find the recipe here on the Wednesday Chef. I made my dough with fresh yeast, let it rise for about an hour, then formed the buns and let them rise in the fridge overnight. Ideally, let them rise and come to room temperature for another hour before baking. It's very tempting to eat these little beauties as soon as they're cool enough to handle but try to wait until they're cool, they'll be even nicer.

Maccheroni with cavolo nero and red lentils

2007-09-26T07:30:00.000+02:00

The Boyfriend and I are moving in one month. Again. I remember saying to him that I wouldn't go anywhere for a while when we moved into the apartment we now live in. That was not even three years ago. And now things turned out differently at work than I ever expected, big and exciting (scary?) changes await and instead of me trying to find a new job in the town where we live now, he gave up his job and is looking for work in the town I've been commuting to for the last three years. Did I mention that I love him?

Moving, of course, equals the cleaning out of cupboards. We filled large bags with clothes to give to charity and are feasting on pulses like they're going out of fashion. Last week: Treberwurst (a large, ground-meat sausage with a local grappa-style spirit and raisins) with lentils, later this week: thai-scented sweet potato soup (featuring red lentils) and yesterday: maccheroni with cavolo nero and red lentils. We'll be ready to tackle the Beluga lentils by the beginning of next week.

Maccheroni with cavolo nero and red lentils (serves 4)

1 cavolo nero (a kind of cabbage often used in italian cooking)
1 small red onion
40g pancetta, diced
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 tablespoons tomato purée
200g red lentils
200g maccheroni or other short pasta
1 stock cube
water
10 cherry tomatoes (optional)
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Cut the leaves of the cabbage and chop them roughly. Boil them in salted water for 5 minutes, then drain. Finely chop the onion. In a very large and deep frying pan with a cover, gently fry the onion and pancetta in the olive oil. Add the tomato purée and fry for another minute, stirring continuously. Add the drained cabbage, red lentils, stock cube and add enough water to generously cover everything. Cover the pan and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the pasta and the quartered cherry tomatoes if using and cook, uncovered, until the pasta is done. You might need to add more water. Check the seasoning and serve in deep plates with some grated cheese on top.

Stuffed portobello mushrooms

2007-09-24T21:23:00.000+02:00

I used to love to read Bread and Butter, written by Stevi, an Englishwoman living in Greece. Used to because the blog is discontinued - too bad. Stevi once featured a recipe for bulgur-stuffed portobello mushrooms, which I've been meaning to make for ages, only they were never any portobello mushrooms around! I finally spotted some a few weeks ago and immediately changed my dinner plans. The day of the stuffed portobello mushrooms had arrived at last. I roughly followed Stevi's recipe but added finely chopped carrots and tomatoes to the bulgur, as well as some crumbly goat cheese just before I slid the mushrooms into the oven. There's hardly any need for very precise measurements, two mushrooms per person and about 50g of bulgur wheat and then whatever takes your fancy. Serve with a mixed leaf green salad for a too-healthy-to-be-true and (yet) truly delicious lunch.

A cooking repertoire

2007-09-21T07:30:00.000+02:00

Ever since I left home to live on my own and started to really get into cooking, I've always wanted to try new things. I'm endlessly fascinated by the possibilities that lie in cooking and by all the new ingredients and dishes waiting to be tried out. The "symptom" has been aggravated since I started this blog and again when I started the 2007 challenge which consists in making a new dish from one of my many cookbooks every week for a year. I wholeheartedly enjoy all the experiments but I've also come to realise that it might be nice to have a cooking repertoire. A number of dishes you rely on, you know so well you can make them with your eyes closed (well, almost) and despite (or is it because?) having eaten them many times you still look forward to whenever they're on the menu. How comforting and reassuring would that be? I used to have favourite dishes as a child which my mother would make on request for my birthday - why not now? And since I'm the cook, I won't even have to wait for my birthday!

Here's what I've come up with so far:

My grandmother's macaroni and cheese
Oven-baked cod with tomatoes and onions
Julia's chocolate cake
Jamie Oliver's smashed courgette paste
The best apple torte
Pasta with yoghurt and caramelized onions
Moroccan carrot salad
Pasta e fagioli

What are your staples? Let me know in the comments.

Baked figs with honey, vanilla and cointreau

2007-09-19T07:30:00.000+02:00

I'm as partial to fruit desserts as the Boyfriend is to anything containing chocolate. I love petits pots de chocolats, molten chocolate cakes, Julia's chocolate cake - all these make me very happy. But to end a sumptuous meal, nothing makes me happy like fruit, especially when it's warm and served with something cool and indulgent like whipped cream, crème fraîche or maybe some greek yoghurt. Fruit desserts satisfy the longing for something sweet without being too heavy and it's simply amazing how a little sugar or a spoonfull of honey and a squeeze of lemon and a couple of minutes in the oven or the stovetop enhance the fruits' aroma. Figs lend themselves especially well to all kinds of warm desserts.

Baked figs with honey, vanilla and cointreau (serves 2)

8 small figs
4 teaspoons honey
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla paste or one vanilla bean
1 tablespoon cointreau
butter for greasing the dish

Preheat the oven to 220°. Butter a small ovenproof dish. Cut a cross into each fig and open them slightly but be careful not to tear them apart. Set them in the dish. Stir together the honey, lemon juice and vanilla paste or scraped vanilla seeds. Drizzle the mixture over the figs and bake them in the oven for about 10-15 minutes. When they are done, heat the cointreau in a small saucepan. Pour over the figs and flambé. Serve immediately with a dollop of crème fraîche or whipped cream.

Rice pudding

2007-09-17T22:24:00.000+02:00

I made this rice pudding according to Elise's recipe on Simply Recipes. I must admit that when I read how her father had proclaimed that this was how God intended us to eat rice, I considered that statement somewhat, um, exaggerated maybe? Ok, I love rice pudding, too, but surely it wouldn't be that good. Well. Friends. It is. Which is why I shall not keep you any longer. Go make that rice pudding and prosper. Now. And make sure to eat it warm to fully appreciate its other-worldliness.

Tomato and pepper soup with pecorino and basil

2007-09-10T07:39:00.000+02:00

I never thought this would be one for the blog. I made this one monday night after a weekend away when I hadn't had time to shop and there were not many very exciting things around in the kitchen. A yellow pepper, a small handfull of cherry tomatoes. A piece of percorino cheese - small and not so fresh and appealing-looking any more even though it was still perfectly ok. Do you know the kind? They often get treated unfairly, the poor sods. Anyway. A can of pelati unearthed from the kitchen drawer and dinner was saved. While I expected this soup to be tasty and filling, I never thought that we would end up scraping the soup ladle with our spoon after we had mopped up every last bit from our plates. Use only fresh tomatoes if you can for even more summer in your plate, I simply didn't have enough fresh so I resorted to tinned.

Tomato and pepper soup with pecorino and basil (serves 2)

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 yellow pepper, finely diced
5-6 cherry tomatoes, halved or
1 tomato, chopped
1 400g-tin tomatoes
1 tablespoon sour cream
salt and freshly ground pepper
6 basil leaves, finely chopped
a small piece of pecorino cheese, grated

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan, then add the onion and garlic and gently fry until soft. Add the pepper and cherry tomatoes or the chopped tomato and fry for another minute before adding the tinned tomatoes. Half-fill the tin with water and add it to the pan together with the stock cube. Simmer the soup for twenty minutes, then blend until smooth. Add the sour cream and season to taste. Ladle into bowls and top with the basil and the pecorino cheese. Drizzle with some extra olive oil if you like.

If you want your soup to be perfectly smooth you'd have to peel your peppers and tomatoes, even with a top-notch blender, there will still be some of the pepper and tomato skin left otherwise.

Cinderella's kitchen

2007-09-07T08:00:00.000+02:00

I was going to present this for Show Us Your Cookbooks hosted by YumSugar. A one off event - how cool is that? But august went by and I didn't write this post. Silly me. But nevermind, because the cod with tomatoes and onions I made from Aschenbrödels Küche (Cinderella's Kitchen) by Alice Vollenweider is worth writing about anyway. Alice Vollenweider is a food journalist well-known especially from her function as a "agony aunt" for cooking-related queries in the womens' magazine annabelle . Cinderella's kitchen is a collection of everyday dishes made from basic ingredients which won't break the bank. While the recipes are quite simple, the author insists that - just because they are simple - they require a lot of care and attention. The art of these dishes does not lie within exclusive and costly ingredients but the precise, careful and loving preparation. I like that.

Cod with tomatoes and onions
Recipe adapted from Aschenbrödels Küche by Alice Vollenweider

250g cod fillets
salt, white pepper, lemon juice
1 large onion, cut into slices
2-3 tomatoes
1 tablespoons olive oil
one glass dry white wine
a pinch dried oregano
some oil for greasing the baking dish

Preheat the oven to 180°. Heat the olive oil in a large non-stick frying pan. Gently fry the onion for about five minutes or until soft. Season lightly with salt and pepper. In the original recipe, the onions are not fried but placed on the fish raw but they'll remain quite crunchy this way and I like my onions soft. Cut the cod into thumb-sized pieces. Drizzle with lemon juice and season with salt and white pepper. Lightly oil the baking dish and place the cod in it. Cover with the onions and drizzle with the white wine. Cut the tomatoes into thick slices and lay them across the onions. Season with salt and pepper and the crumbled oregano. Seal the dish with kitchen foil and bake in the oven for about thirty minutes. Serve with boiled potatoes or crusty bread and a glass of well-chilled, light white wine.

Chili chicken and cashew salad

2007-09-05T07:30:00.000+02:00

This is the kind of dish that is sometimes called low-carb. It is low-carb, of course, but there is no such label in this blog. We love ourselves some starchy food over at beurre et pain! Potatoes, rice, pasta, bread - bring them on! Why did people suddenly start to believe that carbohydrates were making them fat? Could it be that carbs are not bad as such but that too large quantities will make you pile on the pounds? Anyhow, I'm carb-friendly which is why I think that, by all means, you should add some cold noodles to this salad if you feel so inclined.

Chili chicken and cashew salad (serves 4)
Recipe from Cool Food, published at Murdoch Foods

3 tablespoons sweet chili sauce
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 teaspoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons chopped coriander
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 small red chili, finely chopped
1.5 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
2 tablespoons olive oil
600g chicken breast fillets
100g salad leaves
250g cherry tomatoes, halved
100g lebanese cucumber, cut into bite-sized chunks
50g snow pea sprouts, trimmed
80g cashew nuts, roughly chopped

Combine the chili sauce, lime juice, fish sauce, coriander, garlic, chili, ginger and 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large bowl.

Heat the remaining oil in a frying or chargrill pan over medium heat until hot, and cook the chicken for 5-8 minutes on each side or until cooked through. While still hot, slice each breast widthways into 1 cm slices and toss in the bowl with the dressing. Leave to cool slightly.

Combine the salad leaves, cherry tomatoes, cucumber chunks and snow pea sprouts in a serving bowl. Add the chicken and all of the dressing, and toss gently until the leaves are lightly coated. Scatter with the chopped cashews and serve.

P.S. I misread snow pea sprouts for snow peas. That was nice, too.

Apple torte

2007-09-03T07:37:00.000+02:00

It never ceases to amaze me just how many fantastic food blogs are out there. Every week, I discover new ones I haven't seen before even though they have been around for ages (unlike my own humble beurre et pain). One of my recent discoveries is Cook (almost) anything of which I can safely say that I'd quite happily make every single recipe posted. Let me sing a praise to the world wide web: a few random clicks and there I was with all those gorgeous recipes at my disposal. Happy. And while I often just drool over other people's dishes or bookmark them, yet never get round to actually trying them, I didn't hesitate when I saw the recipe for apple torte on the said blog. I printed it out and made it the same night. I substituted the granny smith, which over here is always imported from far-flung places such as South Africa or Chile for the local Elstar, a tart, crisp apple. One of my favourites so I want to make most of it while it's in season. The torte? Simply amazing. A winner. Truly delicious and I've said many times that I was going to make something again and never have but I know that this time I will. And it doesn't end here. I'm not through with my new favourite food blog. Just look at this polenta and ricotta cake or this brown sugar-nut bundt cake. If anyone's looking for me, I'll be near the oven.

Deviled eggs

2007-09-01T16:42:00.000+02:00

Deviled eggs are an endangered species. When do you ever see these at a drinks party or on a buffet? It's all tuna tartar served on spoons elegantly arranged on a tray (though eating that tartar in one gulp under the eyes of the waiter eager to retrieve the spoon is not nearly so elegant) and teeny tiny servings of soup and nary an egg in sight. Nothing wrong with tuna and soup but I think those eggs should be brought back in fashion. I for one know lots of people who would love one of these beauties with a chilled glass of wine. And I do, too. I made them just for myself as a simple yet gorgeous nibble/starter the other day.

Deviled eggs (serves 2 as a starter)

2 eggs
3 teaspoons mayonnaise
1 teaspoons smoked paprika
salt and white pepper

Boil the eggs for eight minutes. Refresh under cold water, then peel and cut in half. Remove the egg yolks and put them in a bowl. Mash with a fork, then add the mayonnaise and paprika and stir until well combined. Season to taste. Spoon (or pipe if you're that kind of person) the egg yolk mixture back into the hard-boiled eggs and sprinkle with a little more paprika.

Check out deviledeggs.com, a website from someone truly dedicated to the salvation of deviled eggs.

Cauliflower salad with warm parma ham and orange dressing

2007-08-29T07:30:00.000+02:00

Ok, I admit that this may not be the prettiest cauliflower dish you have ever seen but believe me, you might want to trade looks for taste here. This is good stuff, folks. My brother in law gave the Boyfriend a huge chunk of the finest Schwarzwälder Schinken (dry-cured ham from the Schwarzwald region in Southern Germany) for his birthday (a very manly gift, indeed) so ham pops up here and there in our food. I put some in the cannelloni filling I made the other day to very subtly enhance the ragù's taste. But back to cauliflower. I had one in my fridge and wanted to make something a little different with it. This is the result.

Cauliflower salad with warm parma ham and orange dressing (serves 2)

one cauliflower head, washed and cut into florets
2 tomatoes, deseeded and chopped
1 small handfull shaved almonds, toasted
2 thick slices dry-cured ham, diced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoon freshly squeezed orange juice
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
1 small garlic clove, minced
1 bunch flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
salt and freshly ground pepper

Steam the cauliflower until soft and put in a shallow dish. Heat the olive oil in a small frying pan and fry the ham for 2 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and add the orange juice, vinegar, garlic and parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Scatter the tomaotes and almonds over the cauliflower and drizzle with the dressing. Let stand at room temperature for about 15 minutes in order for the flavours to develop.

Peanut bee's peanut butter cookies

2007-08-28T07:15:00.000+02:00

I quite like peanuts in various forms, especially in thai curries or sprinkled onto a salad but peanut butter is something I could never warm to. Quite unlike my very dear friend peanut bee who is an ardent lover of the stuff and all things peanut, really. Which is why when I saw this recipe for peanut butter cookies on cavoletto di bruxelles, (a blog I love to read, even if it takes me ages as my italian is beyond rusty) I went out and bought a jar of peanut butter and made them for her. (Note to peanut bee: there is quite a lot left, just in case you want to come around for a peanut butter sandwich.) I altered the recipe a bit by leaving out the chocolate chips, you can have too much of a good thing, after all. Besides, I had a hunch that peanut bee would prefer the unaltered taste of peanut butter in her cookies. Did you?

Canned food cuisine

2007-08-26T21:23:00.000+02:00

Would you consider making a meal using almost exclusively canned foods? No? It had never occurred to me, either. I plan nearly every meal (to the point of being a bit obsessive, maybe) and I always plan friday night dinner with extra care. Friday is just so special, the week's work done or maybe not but then it has to wait, and the whole weekend lies ahead. It feels like standing in front of a meadow covered in snow, pristine, without foodprints. So many possibilites! Then, when you've ran all over it and it's all messed up - that's sunday evening when you iron a shirt and discover it misses a button. But let's stick to friday for the moment. Last friday I had decided to make the aptly named Single Girl Salmon for a night of solitary dining from Amanda Hesser's Cooking for Mr. Latte. But then, as the afternoon went by, I suddenly felt so unspeakably tired. So tired, that, in fact, I could not fry a piece of salmon steak, let alone simmer puy lentils. No way. Luckily, Amanda Hesser provided just the solution to my problem and that was canned food cuisine such as Canned Tuna with Beans, Creamy Red Pepper Spread and Aged Sherry Vinegar. It was perfect. Ready in ten minutes max., tasty and satisfying and hardly anything to wash up. I immediately stocked up on the cadillac of canned tuna on my saturday shop. Just in case I get hit by that kind of tiredness again. Or laziness, come to think of it.

Canned Tuna with Beans, Creamy Red Pepper Spread and Aged Sherry Vinegar

(Tapas for 4)

Recipe from Cooking for Mr. Latte by Amanda Hesser

12 ounces fine tuna preserved in oil

1/4 teaspoon Spanish smoked paprika (the sweet, not hot variety)

3/4 cup roasted red pepper spread, preferably coarse (or canned roasted piquillo peppers, drained and pulsed in the food processor with a little olive oil)

1/2 cup marinated gigante beans or jarred white beans (also preferably in oil)

Extra virgin olive oil

Aged sherry vinegar

Begin with all ingredients at room temperature. Drain the tuna from the oil and place it in a bowl. Sprinkle over the paprika and stir gently to mix. On each of four small plates, spread a 3-inch circle of red pepper spread. Divide the tuna among them, placing it on top of the peppers. Spoon the beans on and around the tuna. Sprinkle with olive oil and a little sherry vinegar.

I do not know anything about cups and ounces and inches, I just measured things out as it looked right. I couldn't get any marinated beans, so I used canned but added a little chopped parsley.

Financiers

2007-08-23T22:39:00.000+02:00

Just imagine for a minute that you made the petits pots de chocolat for a dinner party the other day. Partly because one of your family members stated that a dessert could not qualify as such unless it contained chocolate (chocoholics tend to be extreme) and partly - why deny it - because people are always so impressed with those little pots and you want to show off just a little bit. You proceed as usual, melting the chocolate, beating eggs and sugar, pop everything in the oven. The phone rings, it's a friend of yours and you start to chat, she tells you all about her pregnancy and that the baby is due in only a few weeks. You get excited and distracted and you don't notice how the water of the bain-marie comes to a boil and things go a bit out of hand with your chocolate pots. In the end, they taste ok, don't look all that great and you're glad that your terrace isn't very well lit.

Or maybe you go about making the petits pots carefully and they emerge from the oven in a state of silky-smooth perfection.

Well (and here comes my point - yes, there is one), either way, you'll end up with three lonely egg whites. And if you're anything like me that bothers you. Surely, you can't just throw away perfectly good egg whites, can you? No. Pavlova? Too fussy. Meringue? Hm. You give it some more thought and you vaguely remember that there is a little cake called financier or visitandine that requires only egg whites. You find a recipe online (thank you google), modify it as you see fit and start baking.

Financiers (makes about 8 smallish muffins)

150g butter
100g sugar
120g ground almonds
50g plain flour
3 egg whites

Preheat the oven to 180°. Slowly melt the butter and keep heating carefully until it's the colour of hazelnuts (this is very aptly called beurre noisette in french, I believe it's quite unhealthy so don't ask). Pour the butter into a small bowl and let cool. Whisk the egg whites and sugar until the mixture is foamy, then add the flour and almonds and mix thoroughly. Add the butter and stir to combine everything. Line your muffin tray with paper cups and divide the batter between them. Bake until nicely browned on top (about 10-15 minutes).

In case you write a food blog, take a picture quickly. Financiers are wonderfully moist and tasty - probably the nasty beurre noisette - with a light crumb. They'll disappear in a flash.

P.S. The picture shows Maja and her friend Willi. It has nothing to with this post whatsoever. Attention-seeking, in other words.

Fregola Salad

2007-08-22T07:30:00.001+02:00

Do you know that happy jolt that goes through your body when you unexpectedly source an ingredient you have been looking for for ages? A spice mix maybe, or a rare dessert wine or - as in my case - a special pasta shape. I had read about fregola sarda here and there and even eaten it myself when on hoilday in Sardinia but I had never, so far, found a shop that stored it. But now I have. It's an unspectacular place, a storage hall rather than a real shop but who cares with all the culinary finds that make any food bloggers heart beat faster? I spotted chestnut flour - chestnut and chocolate cake, anyone? I very happily walked out with a packet of fregola and a similarly shaped pasta called tempestina which is even smaller, like very thin spaghetti chopped into tiny pieces. Traditionally, those small pasta shapes are used in broths but I think they lend themselves very well to pasta salads, too. They retain a lot of starch clinging to them when cooked which means they have a tendency to stick together but the starch helps to make a very tasty and easy dressing when the pasta is tossed with just a little olive oil and the juice from sautéd vegetables and maybe a spoonfull of lemon juice. In other words: the starch is your friend.

Fregola salad with sautéd vegetables (serves 2)

120g fregola sarda
1 small courgette, finely diced
1 small aubergine, finely diced
1 handfull of cherry tomatoes, deseeded and chopped
fresh herbs, finely chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons slivered almonds, toasted
salt and freshly ground pepper

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan with a lid and sauté the courgette and aubergine for a few minutes, then cover and cook until soft. It is important to cover the pan in order to prevent the jucie of the vegetables from evaporating. Season with salt and pepper. Add the tomatoes. While the vegetables are cooking, cook the pasta until al dente. Drain and refresh only very quickly under cold water. Put in a bowl and add all the vegetables, herbs and the lemon juice. Stir thoroughly and correct the seasoning, maybe add another spoonfull of olive oil. Serve lukewarm or cold but never straight out of the fridge.

Chili corn bread

2007-08-20T07:30:00.001+02:00

During the last month I have cooked more corn than I usually do over the course of the whole year. Spurred on by the success of my corn pancakes with chili and chives I tried this cornbread next. I served it on 1 August (Swiss national day) when we had friends over for a barbecue and it also conveniently doubled as contribution to the 2007 challenge. The recipe is from a book called Hot by Michele Cranston (part of the marie claire chunky series). Another corn dish I really liked! Serve it with barbecued spareribs for an authentic southern US feel. I adapted the recipe ever so slightly, adding some grated gruyère to the dough instead of the mozzarella that you're meant to put on top.

Chili cornbread
(makes approximately 24 pieces)
Recipe from Hot by Michele Cranston

150g polenta
125g plain flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
185 ml milk
2 tablespoons plain yoghurt
3 tablespoons olive oil
150g corn kernels
0.5 red pepper, diced
1 small chili, seeded and chopped
3 teaspoons finely chopped marjoram
5 spring onions, thinly sliced
75g grated gruyère or cheddar
1 generous pinch of salt

Place the polenta, flour, baking powder and sugar in a bowl. Make a well in the centre and add the eggs, milk, yoghurt and oil. Mix well. Add the corn, pepper, chili, marjoram, spring onions and grated cheese and mix well. Season with salt and pepper. Preheat the oven to 180°. Pour the batter into a greased 30 x 20 cm baking tray and bake for 25 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool slightly in the tray, then turn out onto a board. Cut into 4cm squares.

Ham and cheese baguette with honey mustard and basil

2007-08-18T16:25:00.000+02:00

I saw several very yummy sandwiches over at my new favourite read Cloudberry Quark and I realised that I hardly ever eat sandwiches. Surprising, really, considering that I usually take a packed lunch to work and that sandwiches travel so well. I really should give them more credit. The ham and cheese baguette with honey mustard and basil was great start, I thought. The bread - a wholemeal baguette with linseeds and sunflower seeds - was still warm when I bought it and literally begged to be made into this sandwich. What can I say - definitely the beginning of a wonderful (rekindled) friendship.

Ham and cheese baguette with honey mustard and basil
(makes 1 sandwich)

one large piece of your favourite baguette- wholemeal is best I think
1 teaspoon butter
1 teaspoon mustard
1 teaspoon honey
1 slice of good-quality ham
1 slab of mild cheese, I used scamorza
1-2 basil leaves

Cut the bread in half and butter both sides. Stir the mustard and honey together and spread onto the buttered bread. Lay the ham and cheese on one slice and top with the basil leaves. Other slice on top and enjoy.

Bean soup with sausage, celery, carrots and tomatoes

2007-08-14T22:12:00.000+02:00

The Boyfriend and I are moving to another city. Only in december but I'm dreading it now already. As much as I'm looking forward to living in a new place, I just find moving so unsettling. Rummaging through my kitchen cupboard the other day, I found a half-empty bag of soissons beans in a remote corner and immediately decided they had to be cooked for fear of having to pack and unpack them in a couple of months. I hear there are pulses where we are going. Apart from the beans I had some sausage that needed to be used up and that's how this meal came together. Autumn has been creeping in and this dish fits the weather perfectly.

Bean soup with sausage, celery, carrots and tomatoes (serves 2)

160g of soissons beans
a pinch of bicarbonate of soda
1 garlic clove
1 large ground meat sausage
2-3 celery stalks, finely chopped
2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
2 tomatoes, deseeded and chopped
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 small dried chili, crumbled
salt and freshly ground pepper
4 sprigs of dill, finely chopped

Soak the beans with the bicarbonate of soda in cold water over night. Drain and cook until soft. (I used my tried and tested pressure cooker and it took only ten minutes.) Blend the beans and the garlic with some of the cooking water until smooth. Pour back into the pan and season with salt and pepper. While the beans are cooking, prepare the topping. Remove the sausage meat from the casing and roll into small balls. Fry them in a large frying pan until nicely browned, then remove. Wipe the pan with kitchen paper, add the olive oil and heat gently. Add the celery and carrots and season with salt and pepper. Cover the pan and cook the vegetables until just done. Add the sausage balls, tomatoes, chili and dill and correct the seasoning. Divide the soup between two plates and top with the sausage and vegetables.

Corn pancakes with chili and chives

2007-08-04T18:36:00.000+02:00

I made this dish simply because I could not ignore that can of corn which had been sitting in the cupboard for ages any longer. It's not that I don't like corn - I do, but lately I just never happened to fancy the sweetish taste of corn kernels. Oh, but I should have, in the combination with chives and especially chili to give them a bit of an edge! What a revelation these pancakes were - the sweetness of the corn cleverly balanced by the fiercly hot chili and the aromatic chives. The saltiness of the grilled parma ham (or bacon, if you prefer) rounds everything off perfectly. Definitely to be repeated.

Corn pancakes with chili and chives (serves 2)

300g canned corn, drained
2 eggs
4 tablespoons fine polenta
2-4 tablespoons white flour
0.5 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons buttermilk
salt, pepper, nutmeg
1 red chili, deseeded and chopped
1 tablespoon finely chopped chives
olive oil for frying

Blend the drained corn into a coarse purée. Separate the eggs and lightly beat the yolks. Add the puréed corn, the polenta, flour, baking soda and buttermilk and stir thoroughly. You may need to add more or less buttermilk depending on the consistency of the batter, which should be quite thick - a bit like cake batter. Add the chili and chives and season generously with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Whip the egg whites until very stiff and fold carefully into the batter. Check the seasoning. In a large nonstick frying pan, heat some olive oil over moderate heat. Pour a little batter into the oil, leaving enough space between the pancakes and cook for a few minutes on the first side, then flip over with a spatula and cook for another few minutes on the second side. Remove from the pan and keep warm in the oven while cooking the rest of the pancakes until all the batter has been used up. Serve with crisply grilled parma ham or bacon on top and a spoonfull of salsa on the side.

Barley with spicy sausage and mushrooms

2007-08-02T07:30:00.000+02:00

This is what I made the third time I cooked barley. After my intial success with the barley caprese, I got a bit cheeky and served it very simply, just seasoned with salt, pepper and a little olive oil. That didn't go down well with all the diners at my table so the next time I reached for my bag of barley, I also made sure I had some spicy sausages and mushrooms at hand to counterbalance the health food aspect of the grains. I'm a bit clever that way, don't you think?

Barley with spicy sausage and mushrooms (serves 2)

120g barley
1 spicy sausage, meat removed from casings
150g mushrooms (possibly mixed)
1 onion, finely chopped
1 bunch flat-leaf parsley, chopped
0.5 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon aged balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper

Cook the barley until soft. In the meantime, fry the onion in the olive oil over a moderate heat. Roll the sausage meat into little balls and add to the onions. Turn the heat up a little bit and fry for a couple of minutes. Cut the cleaned mushrooms in halves or quarters depending on their size and add them to the frying pan. Fry until most of the liquid they will release has evaporated. Add the parsley, balsamic vinegar and season with salt and pepper. Mix into the barley and serve.

Chocolate pots

2007-07-31T07:30:00.000+02:00

I just finished reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It was by far the most intense of the seven books - I got so scared and nervous at times (when they go into the Ministry for instance - my heart almost stopped) that I had to put the book down and do something else for a little while. Cook, for instance. I made these chocolate pots pre-HP, though, when I had a day off and wanted to surprise the Boyfriend with a dessert after his own heart, i.e. one containing chocolate.

Chocolate pots (serves 4)

3dl full-fat milk
3 egg yolks
120g chocolate (with a high cocoa content)
50g icing sugar
2 tablespoons Kirsch or any other liquor you fancy
butter for the ramequins

Preheat the oven to 180°. Butter four ramequins. Heat the milk, then break the chocolate into pieces and add to the milk. Stir until the chocolate has melted completely. Add the kirsch. In a bowl, beat the egg yolks and sugar until the mixture is light and thickened. Slowly pour the hot chocolate milk into the egg mixture, stirring continuously. Divide between the four ramequins and put them into an ovenproof dish. Add boiling water halfway up the ramequins and bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes. Let cool and then chill in the fridge for a few hours before serving. You could add some raspberries or cherries to the bottom of the ramequins but be warned - die-hard chocolate lovers (such as my very dear friend M.) will not love you for it.

Summer Fish Salad

2007-07-29T07:30:00.000+02:00

What is going on with summer this year? It's sweltering hot one day and uncomfortably cool and pouring down with rain the next. In fact, it has been raining so much lately that I got myself a pair of bright pink wellington boots. If you, too, are sick of arriving at work/home with you favourite shoes soaked I highly recommend you have a look at www.funkywellies.co.uk. Of course, I really hope that summer is real wherever you live in which case I this you might want to try this summer fish salad.

Summer fish salad (serves 2)

300g fish fillets, cut into chunks
juice of one lemon
salt and white pepper for the fish
500g green beans, blanched and cooled (any variety works fine)
12 cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1 heaped teaspoon french mustard
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped chervil
salt and pepper

Drizzle the fish with the lemon juice and sparingly season with salt and freshly ground white pepper. Cook the fish in a steam basket until done. Set aside and let cool a bit. Put the beans and tomatoes in a large bowl. Stir the mustard, vinegar, oil, chervil and salt and pepper together to make the dressing. Add to the vegetables, reserving a little bit for the fish. Toss carefully until the beans and tomatoes are coated. Divide between two plates. Arrange the fish fillets on top and drizzle with the remaining dressing. Serve with a glass of well-chilled fruity white wine if you like. Pour yourself a glass of well-chilled white wine and tuck in.

Red lentil salad with avocado, tomatoes and grilled parma ham

2007-07-26T07:30:00.000+02:00

Do you know the feeling when you come back from a holiday and suddenly crave simple, wholeseome dishes? If you do and you've just spent a week or so sampling the local specialties of wherever you went, enjoying leisurely lunches and lengthy dinners with one amazing course following the next, all accompanied by bottles of locally produced wine which is completely average but in your blissful holiday-state of mind seemed to you like the best ever, this red lentil salad with avocado, tomatoes and grilled parma ham might just be the ticket. It'll provide the simple pleasures you might be looking for and yet makes for a gentle (culinary) landing back into everyday life.

Red lentil salad with avocado, tomatoes and grilled parma ham (serves 2)

120g red lentils
1 avocado, diced
4 tomatoes, deseeded and diced
4 slices parma ham
2 teaspoons mustard
1 teaspoon honey
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped chives
salt and freshly ground pepper
salad leaves (optional)

Cook the lentils in salted water until soft. Rinse quickly under the cold tap and put in a bowl and let cool slightly. Add the diced avocado and tomatoes. Combine the mustard, honey, vinegar, olive oil, chives and salt and pepper to make the dressing and add to the lentils. Grill the parma ham until crisp and crumble over the salad. If you happen to have some salad leaves waiting to be used up (as I did), add them, too, toss and serve immediately.

Monday night steak wrap with peppers and avocado

2007-07-24T07:27:00.000+02:00

I admit that I'm a bit of a health nut. At least sometimes. Wholegrains intrigue me and I could experiment endlessly. Most of the time, the Boyfriend is fine with that and I am especially delighted when he ends up liking one of my healthy concoctions as much as I do - the barley "caprese" for instance. I realise that I must not try his patience endlessly, however. For instance, I learnt that I could only administer wholewheat pasta in homeopathic doses in the combination with a generous serving of bacon. As good-natured and unfussy a eater he his, willing to try anything, some days, nothing makes him happy like a straight meat-and-two-veg dinner. Or a steak wrap with peppers and avocado on a particularly dreary and rainy monday night such as yesterday's. I got the idea from The Pioneer Woman Cooks who makes a mean steak sandwich for her Marlboro Man, only my version doesn't include butter (seeing neither the Boyfriend's nor my work involve the rounding up of cattle or similarly physically challenging activities - unless things such as typing furiously, walking to the cafeteria and removing paper jams count) and I added some vegetables other than the onions.

Steak wrap with peppers and avocado (serves 2 hungry office cowboys resp. girls)

250-300g steak tenderized with a mallet , cut into strips
seasonings for the meat to taste (salt, pepper, tacky meat seasoning mixture)
1 tablespoon olive oil
half an onion, finely sliced
one pepper, finely sliced
a couple of cherry tomaotes, halved
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
salt and freshly ground pepper
0.5 teaspoon ground cumin
0.5 avocado, peeled and diced
2 tablespoons lemon juice
mexican salsa from a jar (optional)
4 corn flour tortillas

Heat the tortillas according to packet instructions. (Do this at the very end if using a microwave oven. We don't have one, believe it or not). In a large frying pan, heat half of the olive oil and gently fry the onion until soft. Add the pepper and season with salt, pepper and cumin. Fry for a few minutes until cooked but not completely soft, then add the cherry tomatoes. Cook for another minute. Cover the pan and remove from the heat. Season the meat according to taste. My steaks came in a chili marinade, so I left that out. Heat a grill pan until very hot. Add the remaining oil and fry the steak strips briefly from both sides until just done. Put a tortilla on each plate, spread with a little salsa if using, then add the vegetables and some meat. Roll up and tuck in immediately. Make sure to have plenty of napkins at hand.

Strawberry breakfast smoothie

2007-07-22T15:25:00.000+02:00

Smoothie - friend or foe? A little while ago, they were all the rage and now they're getting bad publicity for having a high energy density but little nutritional fibre, thus leaving you hungry after only a short while. There went the "superfood"-status. For me, smoothies are indeed not substantial enough to keep me going until lunch but I enjoy them during holidays or on weekends when I get up late-ish and don't want a big breakfast for fear of not being hungry at lunchtime. Clever, huh?

Strawberry breakfast smoothie
(serves 1)

one large handfull of strawberries, washed, hulled and cut into halves
2 tablespoons rolled oats or wheatgerm
2 tablespoons (low-fat) natural yoghurt
1 heaped teaspoon malt powder
2 -3 dl buttermilk
honey or brown sugar to taste

Blend everything until smooth and serve immediately in a tall glass.

Cooking for Karina

2007-07-06T07:30:00.000+02:00

When I read about Cooking for Karina I immediately wanted to participate. Isaiah of Gluten-Free by the Bay came up with the idea to assemble a collection of recipes suitable for Karina of Gluten-Free Goddess, who recently discovered that there was a number of foods she was allergic to and of course also for other people suffering from food allergies. The following food groups are ruled out:

Cow's milk/cheese/whey/casein/goat's milk, egg whites/yokes, chicken/turkey, gluten, peanuts, almonds/walnuts, sunflower seeds, soybeans, lemon, avocado, pineapple, papaya, green beans, kidney beans, oysters.

A bit tricky. I read and re-read that list a few times, dishes sprang to my mind - and were discarded for containing one of the offenders. Finally, I settled on a korean eggplant salad with sesame and herbs. Eggplants being one of my favourite vegetables, I'm always looking for new ways of preparing them. I found this recipe here on waskochen, where a group of friends present a new recipe every week, complete with a chef-de-cuisine-film, shopping list etc. This salad is adorably quick and easy to make, wonderfully refreshing on hot days and light as the eggplant, seeing it is boiled rather than sautéd, does not have a chance to do its sponge-act and end up drenched in oil. Ha.

Korean eggplant salad with sesame and herbs (serves 1)

1 eggplant, washed and cut into large cubes
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1-2 teaspoons sesame oil
salt and pepper
1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
1 tablespoon chopped herbs such as parsley, cilantro, mint etc.

Boil the eggplant in salted water for five minutes, then drain. Let cool. Combine all the other ingredients to make the dressing and toss with the eggplant. Lovely with a barbecue or simply a bowl of basmati rice.

I was unsure about the use of sesame and sesame oil. They didn't figure on the list but I know allergic reactions to sesame are not unusual. The sesame seeds can of course be left out and the sesame oil be replaced with any other kind of oil. Minced or finely chopped garlic can be added to the dressing.

Pasta with roasted peppers, rocket and goat cheese

2007-07-02T08:12:00.000+02:00

I adore roasted peppers in any variation but I don't always find time to prepare them. As much as I would like to do all of my cooking Slow Food style, taking time for things , chopping vegetables into tiny brunoise, simmering stews for hours - generally not rushing, reality (at least during the week) is often nothing like it. Rather, I come home from work at 7 p.m., ravenous and eager to rustle up a tasty and healthy dish in as little time as possible. Dilemma, yes, but this is where the nice people from the supermarket come in by making it possible for me to purchase roasted pepper in jars! They'll never taste as wonderful as the fresh, home-roasted ones but they're a very valid subsitute! I prefer the ones in water to the sott'olio kind, I find the oil always tastes a bit funny.

Pasta with roasted peppers, rocket and goat cheese (serves 2)

160g pasta
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 handfull cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1 jar roasted peppers, drained and cut into strips
1 large handfull rocket, chopped
80g fresh goat cheese, cut into cubes
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Cook the pasta until al dente. In the meantime, heat the olive oil in a large frying pan, then fry the onion and garlic over a low heat until soft. Add the peppers and cook for a few minutes, then add the tomatoes and cook for another few minutes, stirring carefully. Season with salt and pepper. Scoop out some cooking water from the pasta, then drain and add to the peppers and tomatoes. Add the rocket and cooking water. Stir carefully until the rocket wilts slightly. Divide between two plates and scatter with the goat cheese.

Lemon and yoghurt cake

2007-06-29T07:39:00.000+02:00

My contribution to the 2007 challenge for week 25 was this lemon and yoghurt cake from Easy Summer Food (various authors) published at Ryland and Peters. It contains yoghurt - reason enough for me to bake it. A very similar cake can be made using the yoghurt pot for measuring quantities - that turns out quite nice, too, I personnally prefer this one though, as it uses butter and no oil. The recipe said to drizzle the cake with vanilla syrup before serving but I like my cake plain, thank you very much, so I left that out. What you get is a simple, yet very tasty cake with a soft and crumbly texture, lovely with coffee or tea any time of the day.

Lemon and yoghurt cake
Adapted from Easy Summer Food

125g unsalted butter, softened
125g caster sugar
zest and juice of 2 unwaxed lemons
2 eggs, lightly beaten
200g self-raising flour (or plain flour and 2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda)
50g fine semolina
150ml full-fat yoghurt

Put the butter, sugar and lemon zest in a bowl and whisk until pale and soft. Gradually beeat in the eggs, a little at a time, until evenly mixed. Fold in the flour and semolina, then stir in the yoghurt and lemon juice.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake tin and bake in a preheated oven at 180° for about 40 minutes until risen and spongy. The cake is cooked when a skewer inseted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in the tin for about 5 minutes , then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Bento Box

2007-06-27T07:25:00.000+02:00

Finally. After years of searching and waiting and more searching and occasionnally a little whining, I finally got a bento box. One of my colleagues went to London and got me one from Muji. Even though japanese food, especially sushi, enjoys huge popularity here, I could not find one of those nifty boxes to pack my lunch, not even in the most specialised shops. Lunch-packing is so much fun now! What I've tried so far:

Brown rice, soy-marianted oven-baked tofu and papaya
Cold soba noodles with beans and sesame dressing, strawberries and cottage cheese (pictured).

I think the concept of packing several small servings of different foods is brilliant - it's more interesting and more satisfying than taking a large pot of just one thing. However, it seems that there is more to packing a bento box than just stuffing leftovers into it - read this article on wikipedia (where would we be without it?) for information on the correct ratios of the different kind of foods. And check out this blog for bento boxes which makes lunch a piece of art.

Chickpea, tomato and pepper salad

2007-06-25T07:30:00.000+02:00

I could drool over Fran Warde's Eat Drink Live, 150 Recipes for Morning, Noon, Night forever and yet, the only thing I have ever made from it is the vegetable couscous. I'm a bit embarassed to tell you this but there you go. The 2007 challenge will hopefully help me do something about it. The chickpea, tomato and pepper salad I made to accompany the barbecued steaks and sausages the other day was a great start, I tought. I swear I'll make the rosemary and lemon roasted chicken next.

Chickpea, tomato and pepper salad (serves 4)

5 plum tomatoes, halved and deseeded
3 large red peppers, halved and deseeded
375 canned chickpeas, rinsed and drained
a bunch of flat leaf parsley
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
extra virgin olive oil, to serve

Lightly oil a roasting tin and add the tomatoes and peppers. Cook in a preheated oven at 190° for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and transfer the tomatoes and pepper to a bowl. Add the drained chickpeas, then mix in the parsley and seasoning. Transfer the salad to a serving dish, sprinkle with a little olive oil, then serve at room temperature. Perfectly easy and summery. If you want a little more "zing", add a dash of aged balsamic vinegar or a sprinkling of Ras el hanout or Dukkah for an oriental feel.

Cold soba noodles with beans, cucumber and sesame dressing

2007-06-23T15:00:00.000+02:00

I sometimes have food phases where I find something I like and then I experiment with it for a while. While the phase lasts, I don't mind eating variations of that food very frequently - which can be a bit hard on the Boyfriend. Reading the food blogs out there, I can see that I'm not alone with the phenomenon, though, it seems to be a foodie thing. Right now, I'm hooked on cold noodles, especially the japanese kind. These cool, slippery soba noodles with crunchy pieces of cucumber and beans are the perfect lunch on days when the heat becomes overpowering: light and refreshing yet filling. Just watch out for your white shirt/tie.

Cold soba noodles with beans, cucumber and sesame dressing (serves 2)

150g soba noodles
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 small cucumber, peeled and very thinly sliced
300-400g green beans, cut in half and blanched, cooled
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
juice of 1/2 lemon
2 heaped teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons soy sauce

For the dressing, toast the sesame seeds in a dry frying pan until lightly brown. Grind into a coarse paste in a pestle and mortar. Tip the paste in a small bowl and add the rice vinegar, sugar and soy sauce and stir well to dissolve the sugar. You may want to vary the quantity of the ingredients according to your taste. Cook the soba noodles according to packet instructions, then rinse under cold water. Place in a bowl and mix with the sesame oil. Add the vegetables and dressing and mix. Make sure only to add the dressing when the noodles are completely cold or they'll soak it all up. For a more substantial meal, serve with beef teriyaki.

Lemon and polenta biscuits

2007-06-21T21:01:00.000+02:00

In my experience, baking your own biscuits to serve with dessert or coffee is one of the easiest way to impress your guests - and make them happy. It's a small touch that makes a dinner just that little bit more special, plus, it's the cook's prerogative to try the first biscuit (just to make sure they turned out fine, of course), warm from the oven, with a cup of coffee or tea, while taking a break from the cooking. I made these lemon and polenta biscuits to accompany the chocolate brûlé (recipe to follow) I served for dessert last saturday. They are actually Jamie Oliver's orange and polenta biscuits from The Return of the Naked Chef except that I used lemon zest instead of orange - either way, they go very well with rich chocolate desserts.

Lemon and polenta biscuits
Adapted from Jamie Oliver's The Return of the Naked Chef

85g butter
85g sugar
125g polenta
50g plain flour
zest of one lemon, finely grated
1 large egg

Rub the butter, sugar, polenta and flour together before mixing in the lemon zest and the egg. Cover with clingfilm and put in the fridge for an hour until slightly firm. Place a large square of greaseproof paper on a baking tray and spoon small teaspoons of the mixture in lines 5cm apart. Bake in a preheated oven at 190° for around 5-6 minutes until the outside edges of your biscuits are lightly golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes before eating.

The wonderful crunch the polenta gives these biscuits will sadly go away very quickly. Nevertheless, they'll still taste great - with a glass of iced coffee for instance - just beware the wandering hands of those around you.

Ziti with tomatoes, almonds, taleggio and rocket

2007-06-19T07:56:00.000+02:00

One large chunk of use-me-up-now taleggio cheese.
One very hungry and impatient girl.
One Donna Hay recipe.

The result: Ziti with tomatoes, almonds, taleggio and rocket, an adaptation (to the momentary contents of my cupboard) of Donna Hay's pasta with blue cheese from Food Fast. Isn't the woman a genius? I love the way she uses cupboard, respectively fridge staples to add a little twist to everyday dishes such as pasta without being over the top or extravagant. Even on days when I'm feeling uninspired to cook (rare occasions but it happens) I only have to flip through one of her books and I'm my normal cooking-enthusiastic self again.

Ziti with tomatoes, almonds, taleggio and rocket (serves 2)
Adapted from Donna Hay's Food Fast

160g Ziti or other pasta
1 tablespoon butter
a small handfull slivered almonds
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
2 tabelspoons finely chopped chives
4 handfulls rocket, chopped
75g taleggio cheese, in cubes
4 small plum tomaotes, quartered
salt and freshly ground pepper

Cook the pasta in boiling water until al dente. In the meantime, melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the almonds and sauté for two minutes before adding the vinegar. Drain the pasta and mix with the chives, rocket, tomatoes, cheese and almond dressing. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper and serve at once.

Beluga lentil salad with slow-roasted cherry tomatoes

2007-06-17T13:07:00.000+02:00

There are things I am strangely drawn to in shops. When I spot them, I simply have to go and marvel at them, feel them and, alas, often buy them. Pretty summer dresses and jewelled sandals are two of those things, pulses are another (the former presenting more of a danger to my bank balance than the latter). You'll understand that I couldn't possibly walk by a bag of tiny, pitch-black lentils seductively called Beluga, don't you? To be honest, I couldn't taste a big difference to green or brown lentils but at least, they make for a very dramatic-looking lentil salad!

Beluga lentil salad with slow-roasted cherry tomatoes (serves 4)

240g Beluga lentils
20 cherry tomatoes, halved
icing sugar
olive oil (for roasting and for dressing the salad)
balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper
a bunch of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

Preheat the oven to 180°. Cut the tomatoes in half and place on a lined baking tray. Dust with a little icing sugar and sprinkle with olive oil. Roast four at least 40 minutes until the tomatoes are reduced in size. In the meantime, cook the lentils until done. Drain and let cool for about thirty minutes before adding the tomatoes, parsley, salt and pepper and olive oil and vinegar. Stir carefully and let stand at room temperature for thirty minutes before serving. With a little feta crumbled on top, this makes a perfect protein-rich lunchbox salad.

Vietnamese pork skewers

2007-06-12T22:07:00.000+02:00

A little while ago, out of the blue, the Boyfriend asked me whether I might be able to cook a dish he had eaten in Paris years ago, something thai maybe, or vietnamese, which consisted of meat and vegetables rolled up in lettuce leaves. Well, I most certainly could! I wanted to know more about the mystery dish but he couldn't remember much - only that it had been very tasty. After a little research, I settled on these vietnamese porks skewers which are rolled up in butter lettuce leaves with raw vegetables and rice noodles. The recipe is from a book called Street Food by Clare Ferguson. I'm not sure whether the Paris dish was anything like it but anyhow, the Boyfriend's (and my) verdict was: very good.

Vietnamese pork skewers (serves 4)

For the marinade:

4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons sugar
6 caffir lime leaves, very finely chopped
20cm-long piece lemon grass stalk, finely chopped
5cm-long piece ginger, finely chopped
1 small chili, chopped

500g pork fillet, cut into 1cm-cubes
12 wooden skewers, soaked in water for thirty minutes

For the dipping sauce:

1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
3 tablespoons fish sauce
1 red or green chiili, chopped
5cm-long piece spring onion, green part only, finely chopped

To serve:

15 butter lettuce leaves
250g rice noodles, cooked (I served them warm, but cold would be fine, too)
1 carrot, cut into thin sticks
1/3 cucumber, cut into thin sticks
finely chopped herbs, such as peppermint, basil, coriander, parsely or chives
soy sprouts

Stir all the ingredients for the marinade together in a non-metallic bowl. Add the meat and let marinate for 20 minutes. Put 6-7 meat cubes onto each skewer and cook the meat on the grill or in a hot frying pan for four minutes until browned from all sides. Keep warm. Deglaze the residue in the pan with the remaining marinade and cook for a few minutes until it thickens. Pour over the meat.

Mix all the ingredients for the dipping sauce. To eat, place a lettuce leave on your plate, then add some noodles, vegetable sticks, meat and herbs. Don't overdo the noodles - consider yourself warned. Roll up and dip in the sauce. Messy but fun.

Ci vediamo!

2007-06-08T07:57:00.000+02:00

I'm off for a couple of days. Ci vediamo!

Tartes aux blettes ma façon

2007-06-03T14:47:00.000+02:00

Tarte aux blettes, a kind of quiche with swiss chard, is, it seems, is a traditional dish from the South of France. What I present here is my version, adapted to my ideas du jour. I have seen many recipes which contained cream and eggs - so that might be the "real" way to make it. The dough with potatoes has its origins in Italy. I wish to point this out because an (anonymous) reader got very cross with me, saying that I shouldn't write about italian cooking since I clearly didn't have a clue what italian cooking was. The recipes I write about in this blog are rarely "pure-breed" but usually a mixture of several recipes or dishes I've tried. I never claim to present the one and only way of making something (which, incidentally, I believe does not exist when it comes to cooking) but simply one possibility. If my recipes appeal to you, that makes me very happy, if they don't, you simply ignore them. No harm done.

Tarte aux blettes ma façon
(serves six or more, depending whether you serve other things as well)

For the dough:

300g starchy potatoes
150g flour
30 fresh yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large pinch of salt

For the swiss chard:

1kg swiss chard
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons raisins, soaked in warm water
salt, pepper and nutmeg

Cook the whole potatoes until soft. Let cool for a few minutes and peel, then mash in a food mill or with a fork. Crumble the yeast into a little bowl and sprinkle with the sugar. Let stand for a minute, then mix with a spoon until the yeast is liquid. Add the flour, olive oil, salt and yeast to the potatoes and mix with a wooden spoon until all the ingredients come together. Knead vigourously for a few minutes. The dough should be soft but not sticky. You might need to add more flour - the exact amount depends on how much starch the potatoes contain. Put the dough back into the bowl, cover and let stand for about 1 hour.

Wash the chard and cut off the green leaves. Chop stems and leaves. Boil separately in a large pan for a few minutes (the leaves will only take a short time) until done. Drain and set aside. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan and sauté the garlic until soft but not browned. Add the swiss chard and the drained raisins and cook for another three minutes. Season with salt, freshly ground pepper and nutmeg and set aside to cool.

Knock back the dough and roll out on a floured surface (about 2 cm thickness). Transfer onto a prepared baking sheet and let stand for 20 minutes. Distribute the swiss chard on top and bake in the preheated oven (200°) for about 30-40 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. Serve tepid or cold, preferably with a glass of well chilled white wine

P.S. This makes a very large tarte, suitable for a buffet or a drinks party with lots of guests.

P.P.S. Dough containing potato will inevitably be softer and chewier than the flour-only variety. You might want to omit the potatoes if you like your tarte with a crisp dough. Or try baking the dough first, like a focaccia and add the chard afterwards (I haven't tried that yet, I only read about it this morning, but I will sometimes soon).

Barley salad with peppers, tomatoes and mozzarella

2007-05-25T16:20:00.000+02:00

The credits for this dish go to Ilva who posted a recipe for farro alla caprese (spelt with tomatoes, mozzarella and basil) in september last year. Last weekend while doing my weekly shop at the supermarket I found myself looking at the different kinds of grains, and I suddenly thought of Ilva's dish and how yummy it had sounded - and looked! I bought barley instead of spelt and added peppers and some balsamic vinegar. The Boyfriend and I both liked the end result very much, in fact, so much that we almost ate the lot and there were only a couple of spoonfulls left to take as a packed lunch the next day (as had been the intention). I let the Boyfriend have them and made myself a sandwich - how nice is that, I ask you? Or we were very greedy, or the instructions on the packet were wrong as I had actually made 150g as indicated for four persons. Either way, I'll know better next time.

Barley salad with peppers, tomatoes and mozzarella (serves 2)

150g barley
1 tablespoon olive oil
half an onion, very finely chopped
2 peppers, preferably red and yellow, diced
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 ball of mozzarella, cut into small cubes
5-6 basil leaves, finely chopped
salt and pepper
a dash of balsamic vinegar

Soak the barley in cold water for 2 hours. Cook in a large pot of salted water until soft (about 40 minutes) or in a pressure cooker for ten minutes. Drain and set aside in a bowl to cool. Heat the olive oil, then fry the onion until soft. Add the peppers and fry for another few minutes over a medium heat, covered, until cooked. Leave to cool slightly, then season with salt and pepper. Add the peppers, tomatoes, mozzarella and basil to the barley and mix. Season with balsamic and maybe more salt and pepper.

East meets west noodle salad

2007-05-22T07:16:00.000+02:00

I've mentioned before that lunch on saturdays is my preferred mealtime of the week. There is nothing more relaxed and more pleasurable as far as I'm concerned! This is what I came up with last saturday, a creation of my own, so to speak - M., this one is for you! The vegetables can be varied according to whatever you happen to have (but I know some people who would never leave the mangtout out). I called it east meets west because of the smoked salmon, which is completely optional, of course, though the saltiness works well with the sweetish dressing (plus, I just needed to use it up).

East meets west noodle salad (serves 1 very hungry or 2 moderately hungry persons)

80g dried egg noodles
1 teaspoon sesame oil
0.5 teaspoon olive oil
half a spring onion, finely chopped
half a red pepper, cut into thin strips
50g mange-tout (I used frozen)
1 slice smoked salmon, cut into strips
1 handfull mustard cress
a couple of mint leaves, chopped
a sprinkle of Nanami Togarashi or chili flakes

For the dressing:

2 tablespoon coconut milk
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon lime or lemon juice
2 teaspoons nuoc nam
1 teaspoon demerara sugar

Cook the noodles, drain and refresh under the cold tap. Place in a bowl and mix with one teaspoon sesame oil in order to prevent them from sticking together. In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil and gently fry the spring onion until soft, then add the pepper and fry for a couple of minutes but make sure it remains crunchy. Add the mangetout and cook briefly until just done. Don't overcook or they'll lose their beautiful colour. Set the vegetables aside to cool slightly. Stir all the ingredients for the dressing together, adjusting the quantities according to taste. Add the vegetables, the salmon strips, mustard cress and mint to the noodles and mix carefully. Pour over the dressing and toss. Serve in bowls with a sprinkling of Nanami Togarashi or chili flakes and eat with chopsticks.

Asparagus salad with smoked salmon and honey-mustard-vinaigrette

2007-05-20T13:23:00.000+02:00

There are some seasonal foods I like so much that I'll have them basically whenever I can and in whatever way. Raspberries are one of these foods. Asparagus are another - green or white, soup, salad, boiled, roasted, with pasta, rice - anything is fine with me. I've tried a myriad of asparagus recipes but this is one I resort to over and over again, it's a simple and classic combination which works every time (I think).

Asparagus salad with smoked salmon and honey-mustard vinaigrette (serves 4)

1 bunch green asparagus (1kg)
1 tablespoon gros-grain mustard
2 teaspoons honey
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 slices smoked salmon, cut into strips

Wash the asparagus and cut off the woody ends. Cut the asparagus in 5 to 10cm-long pieces. Reserve the tips and steam the stems until just tender. Refresh briefly under cold water. Repeat with the asparagus tips and put stems and tips into a bowl. Stir all the ingredients for the vinaigrette together. Add the salmon strips to the asparagus, then the vinaigrette and stir carefully. Serve immediately.

The heart of the matter: pasta

2007-05-17T10:30:00.000+02:00

Ilva is the host for this month's Heart of the Matter, a foodblogging event dedicated to heart-friendly recipes. An event after my own heart (no pun intended) as I don't only like to cook but I also like to cook healthily. If you like creamy pasta sauces but have to give them a miss because they don't agree with your diet, then I've got just the thing for you: pasta with yoghurt. The combination sounds unlikely but it does work if you use good-quality greek yoghurt, such as Total which is strained to remove the whey. Without it, the yoghurt doesn't curdle when heated (but not boiled!), even the low-fat and fat-free versions which I used here. I found the recipe on the Total website, check it out if you want to find out more about cooking with yoghurt. For another creamy, yet heart-friendly pasta dish, I recommend the pasta with smoked haddock, a variation of which you'll also find here on my blog.

Pasta with mixed mushrooms, greek yoghurt and herbs (serves 2)

160g pasta (wholewheat for extra-healthiness if you like)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 spring onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
150g mixed mushrooms, wild if you can get hold of them, cleaned and sliced
150-200g greek yoghurt, such as Total 0% or 2%
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
10 basil leaves, finely chopped
salt and freshly ground pepper

Cook the pasta until al dente. While it is cooking, heat the olive oil in a large frying pan. Add the onion and garlic and fry gently until soft. Add the mushrooms, turn the heat up a little and sauté the mushrooms until cooked, adding the parsley after a few minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Drain the pasta and add to the mushrooms and mix. Add the yoghurt to the pan and mix thoroughly. The pasta and mushrooms must be piping hot when you add the yoghurt but make sure not to boil it as the yoghurt will curdle (which doesn't affect the taste, only the looks of the dish). Stir in the basil and check the seasoning. Serve immediately.

Apple buttermilk scone round

2007-05-15T22:25:00.000+02:00

I've had a baking-intense weekend. I made a focaccia, the pastry dough for a rhubarb tart we had on monday evening and the apple buttermilk scone round pictured above, the week 19 contribution to the 2007 challenge. It's from Linda Collister's Morning Bakes (if you only buy one of her books, make it this one, each and every one of the recipes are of the so-mouthwatering-I-want-to-make-it-now kind) and true to the author's word, these scones could easily be assembled in the morning before breakfast, I was done within 45 minutes, baking included. The scones are moist due to the apples and not overly sweet. We tried them warm for afternoon tea and then spread with butter and honey for sunday breakfast - very nice indeed, both ways.

Apple buttermilk scone round (makes 8 large wedges)
Recipe according to Linda Collister's Morning Bakes

1 large cooking apple or 1-2 crisp tart eating apples (about 250g)
200g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
80g wholemeal flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
75g demerara sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
75g unsalted butter, chilled and diced
about 140ml buttermilk, plus extra for brushing or milk for brushing

one large baking sheet, greased

Peel, core and coarsely chop the apple into 1-cm chunks. Mix the flours, bicarbonate of soda and sugar in a food processor. Add the chilled cubes of butter and process until the mixture looks like fine crumbs. With the machine running, add the buttermilk through the feed tube to make a soft but not sticky dough.

Turn out onto a floured surface and knead in the apple chunks to form a corase and bumpy dough. Shape into a ball and put in the midle of the prepared baking sheet. With floured fingers, pat into a 22-cm round. Brush lightly with buttermilk or milk to glaze, then sprinkle with a little demerara sugar to give a crunchy surface. Using a sharp knife, score the round into 8 wedges. Bake in a preheated oven at 220° for for about 20-25 mintes until lightly golden and firm to the touch.

Cool on a wire rack. Eat warm, immediately or within 24 hours. The scones are also good split and toasted. When thoroughly cooled, they can be wrapped then frozen for up to 1 month.

Spring vegetable salad with smoked trout

2007-05-13T21:52:00.000+02:00

I tried to recreate a dish my aunt once made for me. I wanted to call her and ask for instructions but she was away on a holiday so I just proceeded as I saw fit. This is great for a light dinner, accompanied by some young boiled potatoes or some crusty bread.

Spring vegetable salad with smoked trout (serves 2)

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 spring onion, finely chopped
3 carrots, peeled and cut into sticks
2 zucchini, cut into sticks
150g peas
1 small glass Noilly Prat (dry vermouth)
2 smoked trout fillets
4 tablespoons sour milk
2 teaspoons horseradish
a little lemon juice
salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a large frying pan, gently heat the olive oil and sauté the spring onion until soft. Do not brown. Add the carrots, cover the pan and cook over low heat, stirring occasionnally, until the carrots are nearly done, then add the zucchini. Cook until the vegetables are done but still have a little crunch. Add the peas, up the heat and add the Noilly Prat and let evaporate. Remove from the heat and season with salt and pepper. Cut the trout fillets into large chunks and carefully mix into the vegetables. Stir the sour milk, horseradish and lemon juice together and season with salt and pepper. Pour over the fish and vegetables and toss carefully until the salad is evenly coated. Serve lukewarm.

Donna Hay's porridge with frozen berries

2007-05-11T07:23:00.000+02:00

Porridge - not the most original dish to write about, right? Or attractive and photogenic, for that matter. True, but I wrote this post anyway because I'm so impressed with Donna Hay, once again. I simply have to share my enthusiasm. In Food Fast she suggests adding frozen berries (I like raspberries best) to a bowl of steaming hot porridge. The berries thaw immediately and the porridge cools down to just the right temperature for you to tuck in. So simple really, but someone had to think of it, didn't they? I certainly never would have. I eat porridge almost every day during the cooler months of the year, usually the frozen berries-variety (adding a spoonfull of linseeds), and the berry-trick help me to stay within my morning "schedule". No more running for the train because the porridge was too hot to eat - thank you, Donna!

Check out her book for a pretty picture of porridge (yes, it's possible).

Chinese steamed buns

2007-05-09T07:24:00.000+02:00

I really like these steamed buns but strangely enough, chinese restaurants here never have them on their menu. I just have to make my own then, don't I? And so I did. They're a little time-consuming but actually very easy to make. The filling could be made with whatever your fridge just stocks as long as it can be chopped up finely.

Chinese steamed buns (makes six)

For the dough:

200g plain flour
1.5 dl luke-warm water
15g fresh yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
a pinch of salt

For the filling:

1 spring onion
1 small carrot
1 small zucchini
1 nut-sized piece of fresh ginger
1 garlic clove
2 strips of smoked bacon, chopped
1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
4 mint leaves, chopped
salt and pepper
soy sauce
rice vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
a few drops of sesame oil

Dissolve the yeast in the water. Put the flour in a large bowl and add the sugar and salt. Pour in the water and yeast, mix, then knead vigorously to form a soft dough. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise for 30 minutes. Knead again and let rise for another 30 minutes.

In the meantime, prepare the filling. Chop all the vegetables and the ginger very finely. Mince the garlic. Heat the olive and sesame oil in a large frying pan. Add the garlic and the chopped vegetables. Fry for a few minutes, covered until just barely soft. Stir in the mint and bacon and season with salt and pepper. Add soy sauce and rice vinegar to taste. Let cool a bit.

Form the dough into a roll and cut into six pieces. Using a rolling pin, roll each one out to a circle with a diameter of about 8cm. Place some filling in the middle and gather up the sides, pressing them together. Place the buns in lightly oiled steam basket and steam over simmering water for 15 minutes. Serve with salad and some soy sauce and sweet chili sauce for dipping.

Salmon with miso and soy noodles

2007-05-07T08:00:00.000+02:00

The 2007 challenge dish for week 17 comes from Cool Food, which I've had for years and really like - I've leafed through it countless times, admiring the mouthwatering pictures and mentally selecting all the recipes I would try. I suppose now, finally, I'm on the way... Miso-glazed fish, it seems, is a signature dish at Nobu's, the celebrity hangout. An unrelated question pops to my mind here - do those stick-thin people actually eat when they go to a restaurant? Well, I hope they do because that miso-glazed salmon steak was truly delicious. I altered the recipe ever so slight (nothing new under the sun) - not because I tought I knew better but because it gave me the chance to finish things like the packet of udon noodles that has been hanging around for an annoyingly long time now. And no mustard cress for serving, alas. Here's the recipe according to Cool Food:

Salmon with miso and soy noodles (serves 6)

300g soba noodles
1 tablespoon soy bean oil
3 tablespoons white miso paste
100ml honey
1.5 tablespoons sesame oil
6 salmon fillets, boned and skin removed
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1 carrott, julienned
6 small spring onions, thinly sliced
70g soya bean sprouts
80ml rice vinegar
3 tablespoons light soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil, extra
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
mustard cress

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Fill a large saucepan three-quarters full with water and bring to the boil. Add the soba noodles and return to the boil. Cook for 1 minute, then add 250ml cold water. Boil for 1-2 minutes, then add another 250ml cold water. Boil for 2 minutes, or until tender, then drain and toss with 1/2 teaspoon of the soy bean oil.

Combine the miso, honey, sesame oil and 1 tablespoon water to form a paste. Brush over the salmon, then sear on a hot chargrill for 30 seconds on each side. Brush the salmon with the remaining paste and place on a baking tray. Bake for 6 minutes, the cover and rest in a warm place.

Heat the remaining soy oil in a wok. Add the garlic, ginger, carrot, spring onions and sprouts, and stir-fry for 1 minute - the vegetables should not brown, but remain crisp and bright. Add the noodles, rice vinegar, soy sauce and extra sesame oil and stir-fry quickly to heat through.

Divide the noodles among six serving plates and top with a portion of salmon and sprinkle with the sesame seeds. Garnish with the mustard cress and serve.

Cauliflower gratin

2007-05-05T10:44:00.000+02:00

Gratins usually come with béchamel sauce or lashings of cream, eggs and cheese - hearty, comforting and definitely not kind on your waistline. Is there such as thing as a light version of gratin? According to Julie Andrieu's Julie cuisine pour garder la ligne (Julie cooks so as to stay in shape - no one does "diet" cookbooks like the French) there is if you use only a little half-fat cream and cottage cheese. I was intrigued and tried her recipe for making a cauliflower gratin (she uses zucchini, carrots and spring onions) which also constitutes the contribution to the 2007 challenge for week 18.

Cauliflower gratin (serves 3-4)

one large cauliflowers, washed and cut into florets
1 teaspoon olive oil (to grease the gratin dish)
2 eggs
200g cottage cheese
2 cl half-fat cream
salt and pepper
nutmeg
2 tablespoons water (my addition, the zucchini used in the original recipe probably give off quite some liquid)

Steam the cauliflower florets until just soft. Put into a lightly greased oven-proof dish. Beat the eggs with the cream (and water, if using), then stir in the cottage cheese. Season with salt, freshly ground pepper and nutmeg. Pour the egg mixture over the vegetables and bake at 200°C in the preheated oven for about 20-30 minutes.

My verdict: good. Would I make this again? Yes. Maybe. It's not quite the real thing, though. I might go back to the "full-on" version - just not every day.

P.S. I packed the leftovers in my lunchbox and ate them cold (or at room temperature, rather, as we don't have a fridge at work) the next day and you know what? It tasted fantastic. Might be a keeper after all.

Apple pie with cheese

2007-05-03T08:00:00.000+02:00

A slice of apple pie and a wedge of cheese on the same plate. Does that seem weird to you? I can certainly understand that but for me, apple pie came with cheese for as long as I can remember. The reason for this goes back to the 1920s, when my grandfather, having finished his studies in agricultural engineering, went to the USA to find out about the american way of farming. He travelled and sometimes worked on farms, helping with the harvest. It seems that it was on one of these farms that he first ate apple pie with cheese and he liked the combination so much that back home, at my grandparents' house, apple pie (which in Switzerland is not usually served as a dessert but more often as a main meal, mostly for tea) was always accompanied by cheese - normally something like gruyère or emmenthal. When my parents got married, the tradition continued in their household. Now it continues in ours. I'd love to hear about your family traditions for how to serve or prepare a dish.

Dessert according to me

2007-05-01T08:36:00.000+02:00

While many food blogs regularly feature the most elaborate desserts, I hardly ever write about them. It's not that I don't have a sweet tooth - I do - (even though given the choice between two entrées and a dessert I'll go for the entrées any time) it's just that - I can't be bothered to make them, really. While I'll happily stand in the kitchen all afternoon to make something as complicated as oeufs en gelée, my desserts are always non-fuss, requiring minimal effort and very often involve fruit. Overly sweet and heavy stuff is not my thing - something like tiramisu after a large dinner - no thank you. Vanilla-poached dried apricots from Marie Claire Zest are a staple or, right now, anything simple involving strawberries, such as the bowl of strawberries macerated in sugar and lemon juice topped with a dollop of mascarpone (you've been warned) that we had sitting on the balcony one of last week's exceptionnally mellow nights. Which explains for the very sombre picture in case you wondered.

Among many, I particularly admire the following blogs for absolutely breathtaking desserts:

Fettucelle with truffled asparagus sauce

2007-04-29T19:25:00.000+02:00

I had come across a recipe for pasta with a truffle-scented asparagus sauce in Kochen, a monthly food magazine I have a subscription for. The combination intrigued me but when I looked at the list of ingredients I saw that it was a unbelievably heavy conccotion with plenty of butter and cream- unhealthy and one to leave you feeling unpleasantly stuffed. So I came up with a lighter version and I thought it was very tasty, too.

Fettucelle with truffled asparagus sauce (serves 2)

10 white asparagus spears
1 tablespoon lemon juice
a small bit of butter
a pinch of sugar
1 tablespoon mascarpone or sour cream or heavy cream
salt and freshly ground pepper
4 ramsons leaves
1 teaspoon truffle oil (or more, depending on how strong the truffle scent is)
160g fettucelle, linguine or tagliatelle

Generously peel the asparagus and cut into 3cm-long chunks. Bring a pan of salted water to the boil and add the butter, lemon juice and sugar. Add all the asparagus except for the tips and cook until almost done, then add the tips and cook for a few more minutes until they are done. The asparagus stalks may get quite soft but they'll be puréed anyway. Remove the asparagus with a slotted spoon. Put the tips aside and purée the stalks together with some of the cooking water until very smooth. For a top-notch silky smooth sauce, pass the purée through a sieve. Too much of a kerfuffle, right? So proceed to the next step directly. Put the purée back into the pan. Add the mascarpone* or cream and season with salt and pepper. Keep warm while the pasta is cooking. Add the truffle oil and the finely cut ramsons to the sauce, mix, then add the asparagus tips. Drain the pasta and add to the sauce. Mix until it is eveny coated and serve in deep plates.

*I bought mascarpone for making rillettes de saumon but then I ended up making something else with the salmon and now I have to use up the mascarpone in other ways. Expect to find it many of my next posts.

Frisée with bacon and poached egg

2007-04-26T07:30:00.000+02:00

So simple, so good. Isn't this one of the greatest salads ever? I think it is. Runny, warm egg yolk oozing onto sightly bitter salad leaves, the pleasture heightened by tasty bacon - irresistible. I always used to love poached eggs on my salad, even as a child but it wasn't until recently that I discovered how to successfully poach an egg and started to make these at home. I watched Jamie Oliver to them this way and it really works*: bring a pan of salted water to a simmer and add a dash of white wine vinegar. Crack an egg into a cup. Stir the water with a wooden spoon and slide the egg into the swirl. This way, the egg white will fold itself around the yolk which is heavier and denser than the white. Poach for a few minutes until the white is set and remove with a slotted spoon.

Serve the egg nestled on top of frisée salad dressed in a tangy vinaigrette and some crisply fried bacon.

*I once read to slide the egg into the simmering water and to fold the white around the yolk but let me tell you, it's not so easy to handle raw egg white with a spoon in simmering water.

Leftovers frittatta

2007-04-24T21:05:00.000+02:00

I'm a little bit ashamed to admit this but I'm not always very good at using leftovers which I why, as much as I hate it, I sometimes have to throw food away. Bad, I know. But tonight I'm proud because I did a great job using up several things I had in the fridge all in one go by making a frittatta and the result was tasty, too! I'll definitely resort to this trick again as you could use almost anything from leftover vegetables, to meat or cheese.

Leftovers frittatta (serves 2 to 3)

6 eggs
2 tablespoons plain flour
4 tablespoons water
salt, pepper and nutmeg
1 tablespoon olive oil
one small onion, finely chopped
4 cooked potatoes, thicky sliced
400g fresh spinach, washed
2 slices smoked salmon, cut into strips
3 ramsons leaves, cut into fine strips

Beat the eggs with the flour and water and season with salt and pepper. Cook the spinach in a large saucepan until wilted and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Drain off any excess liquid. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan (ideally one with a heat-proof handle) and gently fry the onion until soft. Add the potato and fry for a couple of minutes, then add the spinach and mix. Add the smoked salmon and ramsons to the egg mixture, then pour over the potatoes and spinach. Cook over a low heat for about 5-7 minutes, then put your pan under the grill to cook the topside of your frittatta. I don't have a heat-proof frying pan (yet) so I turned the frittatta over using a large plate (tricky but manageable) and cooked it for another 5 minutes until it was completely set.

Pasta with chicken, lentil and spinach

2007-04-22T21:27:00.000+02:00

I failed my 2007 challenge miserably last week (shame on me) but I'm back on track this week with this slightly unusual pasta dish. Pasta and lentils seemed like a weird combination to me at first but then I remembered how much I had liked the pasta e fagioli, a similar combination, so I give this one a try and I loved it. If you leave the chicken out - and I might just do that the next time - it's a bit like a vegetarian bolognese, filling and healthy and any leftovers make great lunchbox fare. Surprisingly, the recipe comes from a book called Recettes minceur, originally published in English under the title Low-fat Meals in Minutes but don't let that put you off - it's nothing like a boring diet meals but very, very good.

Pasta with chicken, lentil and spinach (serves 4)

2 teaspoons olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
150g minced chicken or finely chopped chicken breast
salt and pepper
100g red lentils
680 ml vegetable or chicken stock
2 tablespoons tomato purée
250g fresh spinach
375g pasta - conchiglie work well

Heat the oil in a large, deep frying pan and gently fry the onion and garlic until soft. Season the chicken with salt and pepper, then add to the pan and fry until browned. Add the tomato purée, lentils and stock. Simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes until the lentils are soft. In the meantime, cook the pasta. Add the spinach to the lentils and let it wilt. Add the pasta and mix until well combined.

This is one of these great recipes where the quantities given are more of a guideline. I used more lentils and less pasta, about half and half. If you have unexpected guests you could easily "expand" this to serve more people by adding lentils or pasta.

Spaghettini with roasted pepper, goat cheese and basil oil

2007-04-19T07:31:00.000+02:00

My very dear friend M. suggested that I should post more of my own creations. I do have some of my own dishes, things I made as I saw fit and not according to a recipe. But did I actually create these? I'm not so sure. Haven't most dishes been around before? Unless you're cooking El Bulli-style, I'd say they have, at least in one form or another. But that doesn't really matter as far as I'm concerned. I like my food to taste good, look nice, be nutritious and (relatively) healthy, satisfy and sometimes comfort me. I appreciate variety without feeling the need to be innovative at all cost.

Spaghettini with roasted pepper, goat cheese and basil oil
(serves 2)

2-3 red pepper, halved and deseeded
2 teaspoons single cream
0.5 teaspoon piment d'espelette
salt and freshly ground black pepper
80g fresh crumbly goat cheese
160g spaghettini

For the basil oil:

5 large basil leaves
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pinch of sea salt

Place the peppers on a baking sheet and roast in the hot oven (250°) for about 30 minutes until they are soft and the skins are blackened. Put in a freezer bag, seal it and let the peppers steam off for about 5 minutes. Carefully remove the skins, then blend the peppers until very smooth. Add the cream, salt and pepper and piment d'espelette. Cook the pasta until al dente. Just before draining, add a scoop of cooking water to the pepper purée. While the pasta is cooking, mash up the basil, salt and oil in a pestle and mortar. Drain the pasta, mix thoroughly with the sauce and divide between two plates. Crumble the goat cheese on top and drizzle with a little basil oil.

Minted pea soup

2007-04-17T21:30:00.000+02:00

During my year in England, I once bought a bag of minted peas by mistake. And I hated them, peas tasting of toothpaste not being my idea of a nice meal. Never again, I thought. But when thinking about what to make with the frozen peas sitting in my freezer, I realised that the pea-mint-combination was actually great, provided you use fresh mint and get the seasoning right in order to prevent your dish from tasting overly sweet. My minted pea soup is a combination of several versions I found on BBC Food. I served it with melted goat cheese on slices of sourdough bread - the taste of spring!

Minted pea soup (serves 2)

400g frozen peas
1 small onion, very finely chopped
1 garlic clove, very finely chopped
a nugget of butter
4 dl vegetable stock
2 tablespoons sour cream
fresh mint, finely chopped, quantity according to tast
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Melt the butter and gently sauté the onion and garlic until soft. Add the peas and the hot vegetable stock. Simmer for a few minutes until the peas are soft. Blend, then add the sour cream and the chopped mint. Season with plenty of black pepper and maybe a little salt. For the goat cheese toasts, lightly brush two slices of bread (sourdough or brown) with olive oil and top with two slices each of a fresh but fairly firm goat cheese. Sprinkle a little pepper on top and place under the hot grill for a few minutes until the cheese starts to melt.

Can you guess...

2007-04-13T09:01:00.000+02:00

...where I'm off to for the weekend?

Polpettone di tonno

2007-04-10T07:47:00.000+02:00

This is what I made on Good Friday when fish - same as in many other countries - is the traditional dish here. I wanted something that could be prepared in advance and that would go well with the wonderfully warm temperatures so I settled on polpettone di tonno, tuna loaf, something I have been meaning to try for ages. The polpettone is poached and the cooled before serving. I made it according to the recipe in Betty Bossi's Italienische Küche, with slight alterations, and I saw that there is a recipe in Joyce Goldstein's Cucina Ebraica: Flavours of the Italian Jewish Kitchen as well. I served it with a light dip made from fromage frais and basil leaves which I crushed in a pestle and mortar with some sea salt - a little Jamie Oliver trick.

Polpettone di tonno (serves 6-8 as a starter)

390g tuna in brine (drained weight)
100g white bread (only the inner part)
1 dl milk
2 stalks celery, very finely diced
3 eggs, lightly beaten
50g Parmesan
1 bunch flat-leafed parsley, finely chopped
1 bunch chives, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
a little black pepper
a hint of nutmeg and cayenne each

Rip the bread into pieces and pour the milk over it. Let stand for a little while, then squeeze out the excess milk. Mash the bread with a fork. Drain the tuna and flake into a bowl. Add the bread, eggs and parmesan and mix well (it's easiest when done by hand). Add the herbs, garlic, celery and seasonings. Mix well. Place a clean tea towel under the cold tap, wring out and lay on the working surface. Form the tuna mixture into a loaf and place in the middle of the towel. Roll up tightly and tie the ends with string. Place the loaf in a large saucepan of simmering water, it must be entirely covered. Simmer for 40 minutes, then remove from the pan and let cool completely before unwrapping and slicing it. It is best served straight from the fridge.

Tagliatelle al ragù di vitello

2007-04-08T19:37:00.000+02:00

A little more than a year ago, the Boyfriend and I went to Paris for a long weekend. One night, we had the most delectable dinner in a tiny italian restaurant in Rue Tiquetonne, not so far from Forum des Halles. I can't remember the name of the restaurant nor what I had but I have a very clear memory of the Boyfriend's primo: a plate of tagliatelle coated in a silky-smooth ragù. I tried to make a similar dish here but added a little tomato, while there was none in the Paris version, which might actually have been made in broth which was then used to make the sauce, a bit like a very light béchamel. I'll give it a little more thought and try it another time.

Tagliatelle al ragù di vitello (serves 4)

1 tablespoon olive oil
one large onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
2-3 carrots, peeled and very finely diced
2 stalks of celery, equally finely diced
2 tablespoons tomato purée
400g ground veal
3 dl dry white wine
3 tablespoons italian parsley, chopped
salt and pepper
500g fresh tagliatelle or pappardelle

Heat the olive oil in a large, deep frying pan. Add the onions and garlic and fry over a low heat until the onions are soft. Add the carrots and celery and fry for another few minutes. Turn up the heat, then add the meat. Fry for five minutes, then stir in the tomato purée. Season with salt and pepper. Add the wine and let evaporate a bit, then cover the pan and simmer the sauce for about fifteen to twenty minutes, adding the chopped parsley for the last five minutes. Check the seasoning. Cook the pasta, drain and add to the sauce. Mix carefully. Serve in deep plates with grated parmesan and freshly ground black pepper. Perfect for the first warm days of spring.

Spring cravings

2007-04-06T15:03:00.000+02:00

The sky is blue, the sun is shining and it's warm enough to sit outside - in short, it spring and spring inevitably makes me crave spring-like (and sometimes, I admit, summer-like, because, to be honest, spring inevitably makes me crave summer...) food. Last week, I couldn't get the thought of green asparagus out of my head and in the end, I succumbed to the temptation. Temptation because the asparagus I bought had been imported from the other side of the world and was outrageously expensive (what a surprise). I do feel a bit guilty about it as I generally try to avoid produce from far-flung countries but I just wanted it so badly - well, at least I think my appetite has been satiated until the (almost) local asparagus from France, Spain and Germany is on sale. Here's what I made with my first bunch:

Oven-baked asparagus with feta (serves 2-3)

one large bunch green asparagus spears (1 kg)
1 dl olive oil
1 garlic clove, slightly crushed
a litte dried oregano, crumbled
some dried chili, crumbled
1 lemon, grated zest and juice
salt
80g feta cheese

Wash the asparagus and cut off about 5cm from the stem. Arrange in one layer on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper. In a small saucepan, gently heat the olive oil, add the garlic, chili, oregano and lemon zest and let the oil infuse for five minutes over a very low heat. Remove from the heat and let cool a lighty. Discard the garlic and pour the oil over the asparagus, making sure all the spears get evenly coated. Crumble the feta cheese on top and bake in the preheated oven (180°) for about twenty minutes. Serve with bread. Leftovers are great eaten cold the next day.

Rigatoni, spicy sausage meat and mixed wild mushrooms

2007-04-02T07:32:00.000+02:00

I made this the day before we left for Argentina, my new year, new recipe dish for week 9 - a true winner. I'm always a little stressed out before I go away for a while, no matter how much I'm looking forward to it, the thought of having forgotten something important at work, all the other stuff to be done before leaving - flowers, bills, mailbox, newspaper subscriptions - the frantic and as ever fruitless pursuit of a emergency exit seat through the airline's online booking system - so in my decidedly nervous state cooking, and especially cooking (and then eating) pasta provided great comfort and helped me relax. The rigatoni (instead of the pappardelle suggested in the recipe) with sausage and mixed wild mushrooms from Jamie Oliver's The Return of the Naked Chef is keeper in our house, that's for sure. Nothing fancy but with a rather rustic yet chic flair to it and ever so good, the sausage and the mushrooms going brilliantly together. Quick to make, too, it'd be perfect for guests when time is short, even on days when your supermarket (if it is any like mine) decides not to stock the lovely selection of wild mushrooms in a little cardboard box it always stocks otherwise. Don't throw a tantrum ("... but I WANT those mushrooms...!!") - relax, it'll be ok.

Pappardelle, spicy sausage eat and mixed wild mushrooms
(serves 4)

1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 garlic clove, peeled and finely chopped
255g of the best spicy sausage you can find, meat removed from skin
olive oil
2 good handfuls of fresh thyme, leaves picked (I used dried, forgive me, Jamie)
1-2 small dried red chilies, crumbled, to taste
400g mixed wild mushrooms, torn
320 dried pasta
salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 good knobs of butter *
1 handful of parsley, chopped
1 handful of grated parmesan

Fry the onion, garlic and sausage meat in a little olive oil until lightly golden (I rolled the sausage meat into little balls - purely for therapeutic reasons, of course). Add the thyme, chilies and mushrooms. Cook the pasta in salted boiling water until al dente. Reserve a little cooking water. Remove the mushrooms from the heat, season to taste and loosen with 3 knobs of butter and a little cooking water from the pasta. Toss the drained pasta with the mushrooms and serve sprinkled with lots of parsley and some grated parmesan.

* I confess that I cannot bring myself to use so much butter in my cooking, especially not when I just packed a bikini.

La Cabrera, Buenos Aires

2007-03-26T20:09:00.000+02:00

Sometimes a picture says more than a thousand words.

Risotto with parsnips and bacon

2007-03-24T16:57:00.000+01:00

This is something a made a while ago, before our trip to the holy grail of meat-lovers (the steaks were every bit as amazing as I had always imagined, juicy and tender, with that faint whiff of the charcoal they use for the grills, a smell that never failed to stir up an appetite in me), it's a very comforting and wintery dish, thus very suitable here as just in time for the first day of spring, it snowed more than it had all winter. (I was not amused, having walked around Buenos Aires in flip-flops and a summer dress just days before.) The crisply fried bacon provides a lovely crunch and counterbalances the parsnips' sweetness which can be a bit too much for me on its own.

Risotto with parsnips and bacon

1 small onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
120g risotto rice
1 parsnip, peeled and cut into little cubes
1 large glug of white wine
stock (I can't say how much exactly - quite a lot)
4 slices of bacon, cut into strips
1 tablespoon flat-leafed parsley, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion and fry over low heat until soft. Add the rice and the parsnip and fry until the rice is translucent. Turn up the heat, then add the white wine and let it evaporate. Add a laddle of stock and cook the rice over gentle heat, stirring frequently (I don't stir all the time and I think my risottos turn out just fine) until all of the liquid has been absorbed. Continue this process with more stock until the rice is done. Add the parsley, cover the pan and let the risotto stand for five minutes. Fry the bacon in a dry frying pan until crisp. Let drain on kitchen paper and stir most of it into the rice. Serve the risotto in deep plates with the rest of the bacon on top.

On the other side of the globe

2007-03-02T08:23:00.000+01:00

I'm off to Argentina for a few weeks so no blogging. Hasta luego!

Udon noodle salad with mangetout and smoked salmon

2007-03-02T07:49:00.000+01:00

In an ideal world my lunchbox would look like the one pictured above. Even after a long and busy day, I'd feel (and look) as fresh as daisy and my hair would effortlessly fall to my shoulders in soft waves without me doing anything - oh, ok, that's too much, let's just say I'd know how to handle a hair dryer. The reality, alas, looks a little different: my lunchbox is a boring little plastic container and I won't dwell on the rest. But one day, one day, I'll find one of those takeaway bento boxes and everything will just fall into place. What's more important than the lunchbox' looks, though? That's right, its content! A few weeks ago, I made this udon noodle salad with mangetout and smoked salmon and I liked it so much, I made it again the week after. It's tasty, healthy and will only take a few minutes to prepare.

Udon noodle salad with mangetout and smoked salmon (serves 1)

80g dried udon noodles (or another kind of japanese or thai noodles)
1 large handfull of frozen mangetout
1 handfull smoked salmon strips

For the dressing:

1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon lime or lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

Boil the udon noodles until soft, then drain and rinse quickly under cold water. Blanch the mangetout in boiling salted water for a minute or two, they should still be a little crunchy. Drain and rinse quickly under cold water. Mix the cold noodles, mangetout and salmon and put into your lunchbox. Stir all the remaining ingredients together (taste as you go along and add a little bit more of this or that, according to your taste) and pour over the salad. Mix thoroughly. Make sure not to add the dressing to the noodles while they're still slightly warm as they'll soak it all up. I prepared my salad the night before and mixed in the dressing in the morning before I went to work.

Fish vol-au-vents

2007-02-27T21:49:00.000+01:00

Vol-au-vents, those little puff pastry shells which you fill with meat - or in my case fish - in a white sauce are so unbelievably retro that they might even be called vintage and thus, just like that, there is nothing old-fashioned or tacky about them, but they acutally have class. Same as with fashion: last season's couture - no, thank you, vintage couture - yes, please!

When I was a child, we had vol-au-vents quite regularly (I was born in the late seventies I might add) but my now my mother deleted them from her repertoire, I think, much to my father's disappointment. I can't recall ever making them for myself but last week I suddenly had a vision of fish vol-au-vents and there you go.

Fish vol-au-vents (serves 2)

4 little puff pastry vol-au-vents
300g fish fillets (I used half salmon and half sea bass, shrimps would be nice, too)
juice of half a lemon
1.5 tablespoons butter
1.5 tablespoons plain flour
1.5 dl light vegetable broth
1 dl milk
2 tablespoons dry vermouth
1 tablespoon dill, chopped
salt and freshly ground white pepper

Preheat the oven to 180° and bake the vol-au-vents for about 10 minutes. In a small saucepan melt the butter until it bubbles. Add the flour and stir to form a smooth paste. Add the broth and milk and stir vigourously until the mixture is smooth and there are no more clumps. Simmer until the sauce thickens. Add the vermouth and season with salt, white pepper and a little lemon juice. Cut the fish into 3cm-thick strips and drizzle with a little lemon juice, then season with salt and pepper. Add to the sauce and simmer for about five minutes with the lid on until the fish is done. Spoon into the vol-au-vents and serve. Takes you right back to the good ol' times.

February Salad

2007-02-23T08:22:00.000+01:00

Molly from Orangette and Kickpleat from Everybody likes sandwiches both called february a soup month and I couldn't agree more. When the weather is nasty as it was here until recently, cold and rainy, there is nothing like a bowl of hot and tasty soup to restore your spirits. And still, once in a while, I crave salad - crispy leaves, herbs, a tangy vinaigrette - there is something refreshing about it and despite the chilly temperatures, I need refreshment every now and then. The thing is, though, winter isn't the best time for leafy salads in my part of the world. The one salad you can buy in abundance though is chicory, a robust salad which needs a bit of spicing up as far as I am concerned as it can be a little boring on its own. I adapted the classic spinach salad with bacon and avocado to it and it went down a treat with the Boyfriend and me.

February Salad: chicory with bacon and avcado

two large handfulls of chicory leaves
1 small handfull of diced bacon
1 avocado
a little lemon juice
salt and pepper
red wine vinegar
olive oil
mustard
chives

Heat a non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add the bacon and fry until crisp. Peel the avocado, remove the stone, halve and cut into slices. Drizzle with the lemon juice. Mix the salt, pepper, mustard, vinegar and olive oil. Cut the chicory into fine slices and pour the vinaigrette over. Add half of the avocado, half of the bacon and the finely chopped chives and mix thoroughly. Divide between two plates and arrange the rest of the bacon and the avocado on top.

Thai-scented pumpkin soup

2007-02-21T07:31:00.000+01:00

This soup satisfied two needs: the one to fix a nice and not too heavy (having indulged in the usual mountain-top restaurant food such as rösti and huge helpings of spaghetti over the weekend) supper in little time and the one to use up a half-used carton of coconut milk. The thai-style pumpkin soup was great to do away with the coconut milk but there's one thing: I bought lemongrass stalks and kaffir lime leaves for an authentic taste and as always, the little packets held more than I used in one go so I will have to find something else to make with that and I will possibly be forced to buy other ingredients in way-too-big quantities - dear, reader, can you see where this is leading? I'll be stuck in a culinary perpetuum mobile.

Thai-scented pumpkin soup (serves 2-3)

800g pumpkin, peeled and cut into chunks
0.5 onion, cut into strips
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 pieces of lemongrass
4 kaffir lime leaves
0.5 small red chili, finely chopped
2 vegetable stock cubes
juice of 0.5 lime or lemon
2 tablespoons fine brown sugar
1 tablespoon fish sauce
2 dl coconut milk
1 handfull finely chopped parsley

Bash up the kaffir lime leaves and the lemongrass in a pestle and mortar. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan, then add the onion and fry over a low heat for a couple of minutes. Add the kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, chili and garlic and fry for another minute. Add the pumpkin and stir. Add water to just barely cover the pumpkin, then add the stock cubes and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the pumpkin is almost tender. Add the parsley and simmer a little longer until the pumpkin is very soft. Remove the lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves and blend the soup until very smooth. Add the coconut milk, lime or lemon juice, fish sauce and sugar and stir well. Laddle into bowls and serve.

Fennel carpaccio: update

2007-02-19T07:14:00.000+01:00

I have made this before, there is no novelty value to this post as for ingredients, seasonings etc. but - I got myself a ceramic vegetable slicer, or, as the French call it, une mandoline and just like this, my fennel carpaccio has moved to another level. Clotilde from Chocolate&Zucchini once raved about her mandoline but I never realised just how much I needed this little tool until I ate beetroot carpaccio a few weeks ago at a dinner party and the cook revealed her secret to me. I was amazed how thinly and evenly the beets had been sliced, I had never managed that with my metal slicer as the beets kept getting stuck. With my new mandoline, making carpaccio-worthy slices is a child's play - not literally speaking of course, as the blade is very, very sharp indeed - you move whatever you're slicing back and forth over it a few times and you're presented with the most perfect shavings. It's fun. I browsed the market today for more vegetables suitable for slicing.

English muffins

2007-02-15T07:30:00.000+01:00

I have always been fascinated by the idea of baking something on a griddle (over an open fire, ideally) but for some reason, it never occurred to me, until last week, that is, that I could use my frying pan instead of a griddle. Yes, that's right, the frying pan. Last thursday, when the Boyfriend was out on a guys' night, I tried all kinds of things (I like to do that when he's not in as he finds the kitchen-marathons I sometimes engange in quite unsettling) and I made these English Muffins. It was a blast, really easy and I had some fun baking them on the stove (the Boyfriend was back by then and thought I was out of my mind). I think they could probably be baked in the oven with turning them over after half the baking time in order to brown on both sides but then you don't have the griddle experience and you wouldn't want to miss that, would you? I had them split and toasted, smothered with butter and my mother's homemade jam for breakfast on friday morning - a really great way of starting the day.

English Muffins (makes 6)
Recipe from Delia Online

225g strong plain flour
0.5 teaspoon salt
110ml milk
25 ml water
0.5 teaspoon sugar
1 level teaspoon dried yeast
a trace of butter for the pan

Put the milk and water in a small saucepan and heat until "hand hot". Pour into a jug, add the sugar and yeast, mix with a fork and leave for about ten minutes. Meanwhile sift the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl, making a well in the centre, then pour in the frothy yeast mixture and mix it to a soft dough. Transfer the dough to a flat surface and knead it for about ten minutes. It should be very smooth and elastic. Leave it to rise in a warm place four about 45 minutes. Lightly flour the work surface. Roll out the dough to about 1cm thickness. Cut out rounds (diameter about 7.5 cm) with a cutter. Repeat until all the dough is used up. Leave to rise again for another 25 minutes. Very lightly grease a heavy-based frying pan with butter (the original recipe uses lard; in a good non-stick pan it might actually even work without greasing) then add some muffins and bake them for about seven minutes on each side, over a very low heat.

It seems I'm not the only one using her frying pan for baked goods. Check out delicious days for another blogger's countings about English Muffins.

Grana padano flan

2007-02-12T21:29:00.000+01:00

This grana padano flan is my contribution to the cheese event (xx. Blogevent: Käse) hosted by Zorra of kochtopf. The theme is as simple as it is broad: cheese. Makes any Swiss cook's heart sing, of course. My dish is a variation of the Sbrinz flan I made as a starter for a Christmas dinner last year. The use of grana padano convinced me, the flan turned out even smoother than when I used Sbrinz. You could try any mature cheese with a strong, pronounced taste, I think, gruyère would certainly be nice, or mature farmhouse cheddar. This time, I also put little butterfly-shaped pieces of roasted pepper on the bottom of the ramequin dishes - why not try hearts, after all, Valentine's day is just around the corner...

Grana padano flan (makes two small flans)

100g grana padano, freshly grated
2 eggs
60g crème fraîche
0.5 tablespoon flour
salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste
butter for the greasing the ramequin dishes
roasted peppers in oil (optional)

Generously butter two small ramequin dishes. If using, cut two little hearts (or butterflies, pigs, fish, if, like me, you have a strangely large collection of animal shaped cutters) from the roasted peppers. Place firmly in the middle of the dishes, skin-side (if there is any) facing up. Put the eggs into a mixing bowl and whisk vigorously with the crème fraîche. Stir in the grated cheese and the flour. Season the mixture with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Fill into the prepared dishes. Cover with tin foil and place in an ovenproof dish. Pour boiling water into the dish (up to 3/4 of the ramequin dishes' height) and cook on the middle rack of the preheated oven (180°) for about thirty minutes or until the flans are set. Let cool for a few minutes and turn out onto plates or let cool completely to be eaten cold. Serve with spinach or rocket dressed in a tangy vinaigrette.

Pasta with yogurt and caramelized onions

2007-02-10T15:25:00.000+01:00

New year, new recipe is going very well and I'm not sorry at all I came up with this challenge as it's great fun and makes me discover new dishes, not just leaf through cookbooks thinking "mmh, that looks nice" and end of story. I now actually make all these nice-looking things I've never tried, at least once a week but often more than that! The pasta with yoghurt and caramelized onions is from Amanda Hesser's Cooking for Mr. Latte, a book I very much enjoyed reading, it's funny, touching, teaches you a lot about cooking and ingredients and what's more, the recipes are mostly completely mouthwatering. The author may be a wee bit patronising here and there but I decided to just generously "overread" those passages. Hesser thinks every cook should have a repertoire, dishes to rely on as you know they are a success. This pasta recipe is part of her repertoire and it may very well become part of mine. This is so simple to make but it tasted gorgeous, rich and silky but still not overly heavy. The onions taste delightfully sweet when cooked this way. I always have trouble when quantities are indicated in cups and here I couldn't be bothered to figure out how it would convert into the metric system so I just estimated amounts. Also, I misread 6 cups of onions (for four) as six onions and used one instead of about one and a half cup. I liked it that way but use more if you like. Not done with altering the recipe, I substituted sheep's milk yoghurt for cow's milk yoghurt.

Pasta with yoghurt and caramelized onions (serves 4)

2 cups sheep's milk yoghurt
5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
6 cups coarsely chopped onions
sea salt
1 pound tagliatelle
1 cup coarsely grated kefalotyri cheese or pecorino romano

Line a colander with cheesecloth and set over a bowl in the sink. Add the yoghurt and let drain for two hours (I omitted this step for lack of time. I used Total yoghurt which is already drained, though.) Heat the olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and add the onions. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are soft and golden brown, about 20 to 30 minutes. (I seasoned the onions with a little salt at this stage). Meanwhile, fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. As the water heats, add enough salt so you can taste it. Drop in the pasta and cook until soft, not al dente. Combine the drained yoghurt with 1/2 cup pasta water and mix well. Drain the pasta and toss with the yoghurt mixture. Divide the pasta among four warm bowls. Sprinkle generously with cheese and spoon over the caramelised onions and their juices.