Monday 18 March 2024

Green sweet Dessert Drink

St.Patrick's Day Dessert!



It is only light green. I did not use enough green foodcoloring. 

But the taste is amazing. I wanted a bit more food to celebrate and looked though my freezer. The ice cream was made some weeks ago and needed to be eaten. Combining that with milk was fine, but a bit more substance was needed. 



1 green kiwi and some French yogurt with syrup from sugar cane came in handy.

All of that stuffed in a high container and with a stick blender made in to a creamy thick dessert. Do not call it a smoothie!



Whipped cream from a can and some sprinkles, voila!



Ingredients:

150 ml milk

125 g plain yogurt with sugar cane syrup

50 g homemade coconut lime ice cream

1 kiwi

3 drops Pandan extract

Whipped cream, sprinkles

Sunday 17 March 2024

Leprechaun Hats for St. Patrick's Day

Today is March 17th - the Irish holiday.



Green is the main color on this day. Food and drinks are beeing served in green.

Usually I prepare a green Jell-O and serve that with custard. Over years I brought lots of it to the office.



Today in Sunday and I was looking for something else. 

On Pinterest are many pictures and I saw these cucumber based Leprechaun hats.

Ingredients:

Cucumber

Yellow bell pepper

Slice of cheese, I used goat cheese slices

Agave syrup as glue

Cut a 1 inch piece of cucumber and cut it down the middle. Shape the sides. Cut some batonettes and glue them with syrup to the bottom.

Cut small strips off a yellow bell pepper and make cubes. Trimm the insides and make them slimmer. A slice of cheese gets cut in small strips and glued on top of the lower part of the hat. Set a yellow cube in the middle.




Saturday 16 March 2024

Cauliflower Rice with brown Garlic Butter and Merlan Filet

My grocery shopping trip to France brought me a head of cauliflower and a piece of fish.



The huge head of cauliflower was on sale and I could not walk past it. €1,99 was a steal. I had no idea what to prepare with it, but I am seldom lost for ways to cook veggies.

Just take off a couple of florets and wash them and chuck them in a blender. Make it to rice consistency and put it in the Microwave with a lid.



The Merlan filet was on 30% off, because it expired the next day. Since I planned on eating fish anyway today, it came in handy. Merlan is a part of the cod family. The meat is firm and best way to eat it, is not doing a lot to it. Just seasoning and a bit of flour and a jump start in the pan with some oil and a finish with a little flake of butter. 



It took me cooking the fish just the time the cauliflower rice needed 5 min in the microwave.



The brown butter or Beurre noisette with lots of garlic was made earlier this morning. Just let the butter melt on medium high heat and add the chopped garlic. Stir constantly until the milk solids sink to the bottom of the pan and butter and garlic get darker. Pour in a little bowl to cool down.  I added some dried chives and some salt and pepper to it later. Mixed in the hot cauliflower rice it was a treat.



I finish with fresh chives that already is going strong on my balcony again for 4th season.

Ingredients:

1/2 head of cauliflower

Fresh chives

1 1/2 tbsp butter and 5 cloves of garlic, 1 tsp dried chives, salt and pepper

1 Merlan filet, fish seasoning, pepper, 1 tbsp grapeseed oil, 1 /2 tsp butter


Friday 15 March 2024

Mussels in Ras al Hanout and Wine Sauce

I was grocery shopping in France today. I huge package of mussels went in my shopping cart together with seasfood for tomorrow and pork for Sunday.



I already bought the meat for the Easter holidays. This year rabbit and lamb. I know, I know: the poor rabbit, the poor lambs!

But everything is better than poor Tofu.



After a long drive I had to get two ice boxes and lots if shopping bags inside in pouring rain, no fun! After sorting through everything and packing the groceries I purchased  for 2 friends to be picked up later the day, I was hangry.



I washed the mussels and checked for damaged or open ones to discard. I only took most of a bulb of garlic and an onion to throw in a large pot with some olive oil. 

Ingredients:

2 kg mussels

1 yellow onion, 6 garlic cloves

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp Ras al Hanout

1 cup white wine



After steaming the mussels, check if there are closed ones. Throw them in the trash. When you have some cooked mussel left over in the pot, take the mussel meat out of their shells and put them in the fridge.



Thursday 14 March 2024

One Pot Lentil Soup with Pasta and Sausages

The pasta I used were Spaetzle.



Thick dough that is pressed in boiling water through tiny holes. But I used Swabian shop bought ones. Cook them first and set aside or use up leftovers from your fridge. But any other kind of short pasta will work too.



I found a small can of brown lentils in water in my supermarket a while ago. The can came back to my mind when I had to restock my pantry after cleaning it.



Now was the time to use it. Lentil stew with brown lentils is a very common dish here in Germany. Many buy it in large cans ready made. But I do not like these cans. Too many cheap ingredients and not enough lentils.



Recipe for 2:

60 g dry spaetzle or other short pasta

1 small can brown lentils in water

2 yellow onions, 3 garlic cloves, 1 carrot

1 tbsp olive oil

225 ml veg stock homemade

2 tsp agave syrup

50 g raw ham cubes, 3 small Wieners

Bunch of chives

Salt, pepper, herbes de Provence

2 tbsp white balsamic vinegar

Cut the onions in strips and the carrot in small cubes, press or cut the garlic. Put that in some olive oil in a pot or wok. 



If you have day old pasta, wait until the end. But if you have to cook some, do it first in the same pot and drain it and set aside.

The veggies need 5 to 8 min on medium heat. Season in the beginning, then add the agave syrup and the raw ham. It does not have a much fat, so it does not need a lot of time.

Pour in the drained lentils and the veg stock and bring back to a boil. Cut up the sausages and put them in the pot.

Finish with chives and some vinegar.



Wednesday 13 March 2024

Mini Romain Lettuce with oven baked Chicken Thighs

I used boneless chicken thighs fir this dish. They cook much faster.



Thry render a lot of fat on the baking paper. To get rid of it, I pulled the skin off after baking and discarded it with the fat. With this method, the seasoning and the moisture stayed with the meat.

The mini romain lettuce was just pulled apart. I drizzled some rose balsamic vinegar on top and used my olive oil spray bottle for a light touch of oil. Freshly ground pepper and very little salt followed. Some mustard cream with veggies was in the fridge. A few teaspoons of it were the topping on the lettuce and went very well with the chicken. 

Ingredients:

240 g boneless chicken thighs with chicken seasoning

1 head mini romain lettuce

1 tbsp rose balsamic vinegar, spray olive oil, salt, pepper

3 tsp Bautz'ner mustard cream with veggies


Tuesday 12 March 2024

Feta and Spinach filled Puff Pastry

That is one good looking pie and great to share between two people.



Instead of fresh baby spinach you can use frozen ones, but it is important to squeeze out as much water as possible to prevent the pastry from getting soggy. But you have more amount of mix, by using fresh leaves.



If you have enough puff pastry, make two individual pies. I just had enough for one.

Ingredients:

80 g Baby spinach

150 g feta

25 g shredded gouda

1 egg

2 tsp pesto 

5 chive strands, 2 garlic cloves

1 rectangular piece fresh puff pastry

White and black sesame seeds

Pepper, herbes de Provence



The shrinkflation hasn't stopped at the fresh produce counter. The bags with baby spinach always contained 100 g, now they only contain 80 g. The feta shrunk from 200 g to 150 g. But the prices have gone up.



Wash and chop the spinach and chives and put that in a bowl, crush the garlic anf the feta and add the shredded cheese.



Season with pesto, pepper and herbes de Provence. You wont need salt.



Crack the egg and take the yolk out for later. Dump the egg white in the mix. Ungold the puff pastry and look for the middle. Spoon the green cheese mix on the pastry and fold it over. Close the sides and brush with egg yolk, cut a cross on top of the pastry. Sprinkle wuth seasame seeds.

Bake at 200 C fan for 15 min