Green Bean Griddle Cakes -- Canadian

Served with maple syrup, Greek yogurt and sesame chili oil dip.

I had a package of green beans in the fridge. The original plan was an Iranian green bean, lamb and saffron rice dish. Due to nasty weather I did not go out to buy lamb and the recipe went on the backburner.

Now I needed an inspiration to cook the green beans. Salad, no. Cooked as a side, to what? I wanted veggie pancakes and asked Google for green beans pancakes and got lucky. I read the recipe and thought that something was missing. I checked again and missed some kind of liquid. But I started the recipe as it was and .... Ta Dah  .. I needed to add some water.

There was no dip in the recipe and I created one on the go. What works well with Canadia food - Maple Syrup. What works well with pancakes - Greek yogurt, What do you need to spice up your life - Chili oil - the one with sesame is so aromatic!

The main preptime is needed for the beans and frying off the onions. The rest is pretty basic. Just make sure the egg white is very stiff and you fold it in very carefully.

recipe:

500 g green small beans, 2 large shallots, 2 large free range eggs,

1/4 cup flour, 1/4 cup sparkling water, 1/4 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 3 tbsp olive oil, pepper

dip:

5 tbsp Greek yogurt, 3 tbsp maple syrup, 5 drops Japanese sesame chili oil

Top and tail the beans and cut them into 1/2 inch pieces. Cook them in boiling salted water for about 5 min. Drain and cool in ice water. Chop the shallots fine and saute them in 1 tbsp olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Set aside to cool down.

Whip the egg white into strong peaks. Mix egg yolks with flour and baking powder and add the sparkling water ( or tap water) and the veggies. The batter will be still very stiff. 

Fold in the egg whites and carefully mix it. Heat enough oil in a pan that the whole bottom is covered.

Pour batter in and fry off 2-3 min on each side on medium high heat. Let them rest on kitchen paper.

Mix the dip.

Squid Ink Risotto with Squid

Early Saturday morning I went out for some groceries. I went to a smaller supermarket and found squid at the fishmongers counter.

 

I have some tiny packages of squid ink at home from one of my shopping trips to French supermarkets. Now was the time to try it.

It is actually a recipe from Croatia. They use the bigger cuttlefish and the ink from it. Here in Germany I can only buy squid. That is cleaned and frozen. But the result is the same. The squid is easy and very fast to prepare. I hate it when it is chewy like a bicycle tube. 

The most work is the risotto. But I like all kinds of risotto and coloring it dark is easy. Some people say the ink tastes fishy. I don't think it does. 

 Recipe for 2:

1 cup Aborio rice, 1 spring onion, 1 clove of garlic, 1 knob of butter

150 ml white wine, 500 ml veg stock, 1 package squid ink

180 g squid, shaved Parmesan, 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp butter, parsley

Clean the squid and cut it in fine strips. Set aside.

Chop onion and garlic and saute them in butter, add the dry rice and let it fry 2 min.

Add wine and cook it down completely. Heat up the stock and let it sit on the hot pmate to keep the temp. Add it in 3 stages. In the last stage add the squid ink and stir until fully dissolved. Check the rice, then add butter.

In a pan on high heat in oil fry off the squid for 2 min. Mix it with the rice qnd serve with some Parmesan and parsley.

Napa Cabbage Stew with Honey and Soy Sauce

This stew can be a side dish or eaten as a main course. I just wanted it as a light dinner. I bit off a bit of my red chili and this time one of them was hot. My mouth was on fire. But I used a lot if it for the stew and it went well.

Ingredients:

7 napa cabbage leaves, 2 small carrots, 1 spring onion

2 red chilis, 1 small ginger, 4 cloves of garlic

 sesame oil, rapeseed oil

Sauce:

1 tbsp dark soy sauce, 1 tbsp white vinegar, 2 tbsp honey, 80 ml apple juice

Topping:

Cashews, chives

Clean all veggies and cut them in strips. Make the sauce.

Every good dish starts with a spice blend. Crush garlic and grate ginger and chop chili. Use a large knife and chop it fine.

 In a large pan in neutral oil and sesame oil fry off all the spices. Add carrots and onion first and cook them for 5 min. Now in with the cabbage and the sauce.  Crank up the heat and let some of the sauce cook away.

Finish with cashews and chives.

Silesean Dumplings or Kluski Slaskie

That should have been a family tradition, but I never heard of these dumplings until now. My Mom was from Silesea, but came here when she was very young. She only made potato dumplings the same way her mother-in-law, my grandma,  made them. 

I came across this recipe on the YT channel from Beryl S. This is the 4th recipe of one of her series.

Recipe for 3:

700 g floury potatoes, potato starch and some for the cooking water

Nutmeg and salt, 1 egg 

I made a bacon and onion brown sauce to go with the dumplings and ate some braised red cabbage with it.

Steam or cook the potatoes. Steaming is better because they will not get water logged. Use a potato ricer or press and get them in a bowl as long as the potatoes are still warm. Press them down and let them cool. Use a knife and cut a cross in the dough. Scoop out one quarter completely and fill that to the top with potato starch. This is the reason I can give you the amount of potato starch in the recipe.

Season and add the egg. Mix it all into a compact dough.  Form small balls, flatten them a bit and make a thumbprint in the middle. That is hole for the sauce later.

Use a large pot, add salt and 2 tbsp of potato starch to the water. That will prevent that the dumplings are falling apart. When the water is boiling, add the dumplings and reduce the heat. The dumplings have to cook below boiling point. They will need 15 min. Drain them and fill the holes with sauce.

Salsiccia in white wine sauce with pappardelle

I have finished my 5 vegetarian/vegan meals this week.  Now I wanted some meat back on my plate.

Italian spicy salsiccia was on sale at the supermarket. What is not to like when you can find great Bratwurst. 

I did not go into the Italian cuisine with a tomato based sauce this time. I kept it simple with a good amount of white wine. The wine lets the salsiccia take the first place in this dish. Just a piece of leek and some spring onions made up the veggie part of the sauce.

Recipe for 2:

300 g Salsiccia spicy, 3 spring onions

150 g leek, 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp butter

150 - 180 ml white wine, thyme, salt, pepper, smoked paprika, parsley

200 g pappardelle pasta, Parmesan shavings

Take the skin off the sausages and roll the meat into small balls. Fry in oil and butter until they got some color. Add chopped onions and leek and season. Cook until leek is soft. Add the wine and close the lid and cook on lower temp for 6 min.

Add parsley and drained pasta and Parmesan.

Bell Pepper filled with Ham and Egg

The air fryer was still on top of the kitchen counter and freshly cleaned. Ready to store again - or not.

Breakfast with a little twist, why not. While I was researching veggie recipes for the air fryer I came across some filled bell peppers.

Just a slice of ham, a bit of cheese, some oregano and an egg. What is not to like.

Cut the bell pepper in halves and take the seeds out. Fold in ham and cheese and add oregano.

Crack an egg in and season with salt and pepper. Spray the air fryer with oil, set the peppers in and spray them with a little oil too.

Bake at 180C for 10- 12 min.

Tuna Salad stuffed Plantaine

I had this crazy dish at a Cuban food stall at the Bayside FoodCourt in Miami years ago. I made it with regular sweet bananas some times in the past, but it works better with ripe plantaine.

My local supermarket had a bag of overripe plantaines on sale. I usually fry them, bash them and fry them again to eat with some dip. There is a blog here already. But looking at them inspired me to finally try the stuffed pantaine. I have some high quality tuna fish in a can and I spooned some of it out. 

Recipe:

1 ripe plantaine, 50 g tuna from a can

3 tbsp mayo, 1 tbsp parsley, salt and pepper,

2 slices American processed Cheddar

Peel the plantaine and cut it along the middle and open it up.

Mix tuna, seasoning, parsley and mayo and stuff it in the middle. Cover with cheese.

Bake at 180 C for 15 min

This brought me back to the Bayside of Miami, looking out on the marina and feeling a bit of a warm breeze in my mind. Great way to travel during these times.

Mango with sticky Coconut Rice -vegan

This is a dessert from Thailand.

Yesterday I made Champorado from the Philippines and the container with sticky rice was still sitting outside on the kitchen counter. I had some ready to eat Mangos and that brought up the idea of the Thai dish. Now the container of rice is back in the cupboard to prevent any more sweet stuff. 

The cooking method this time is totally different. I am steaming the sticky rice. Yesterday I boiled it in cocoa water. Lets compare both methods and check which one is better. The list of ingredients is small. Not much to have prepare. I just cooked the coconut milk with sugar and salt and peeled and sliced the Mango.

Ingredients:

200 g sticky rice, 1 l water

200 ml good quality coconut milk, 1/4 tsp salt, 3 tbsp brown sugar

1 mango, zest of a lime

You have to soak the rice for 3- 5 hours. Drain it and put it into a steamer basket. Cooking time about 35 min.

Make the coconut sauce with salt and sugar and mix it with the steamed rice. Leave some sauce extra for the fruit decoration with the lime zest.

Grate some lime zest on top.

Broccoli with Parmesan roasted in the Air Fryer

I was not sure if this would work. 

A head of broccoli was sitting in the veggie drawer of my fridge for several days now. I needed to prepare it. A while ago I found recipes for the air fryer that had different veggies as the main component. I was sceptical if that would taste good. But I had to give it a try.

500 g broccoli, florets only

Salt, pepper, onion and garlic powder, Everything but Bagels seasoning, grated Parmesan, olive oil

Use only the florets. Use the stalks for something else. Cooking time is short and they will stay tough.

Mix oil with the seasoning, except the cheese, and toss the broccoli in it.

Spray the bottom of the basket with a little oul, pour 2 tbsp water in and place the broccoli in the basket. 

Cook at 180 C for 4 min, shake the basket and sprinkle the cheese on top. Cook for 2-3 min more.

Serve with a dip:

Greek yogurt, Kewpie mayo, Sriracha, curry ketchup, 1 tsp agave syrup, dried herbs

It works and tastes great.

Champorado with fried Sardine

A Philippino comfort food! 

Sooooo good, sweet chocolate sticky rice. The combination with the fried fish works just fine. I had to use Sardine from a can that was fried in a pan. The special kind of fish from Asia is not available here.

This an other recipe from YT Beryl Shereshewsky. More ideas from her videos will come.

When I first checked the recipe I was astonished about the ratio between rice and water. But while the rice was cooking in the pot in the dark brown cocoa water, a bit more water was needed to prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom too much. After I added the two pieces of chocolate and the sugar, the liquid was gone and the rice was creamy.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sticky rice to 2,5 cups water, pinch of salt

1 heaped tsp unsweetened cocoa powder, 25 g 75% dark chocolate

1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup coconut milk or evaporated milk

Fried Sardine

Bring the water with salt to a boil and add the rice to it. Cook for 5 min, then add the cocoa powder. Cook for 20 min on low heat and stir a couple of times to make sure it does not stick. Add chocolate and sugar and let the rice set for 5 min. Fry the fish.

Add the rice to a bowl and drizzle with coconut milk. Serve the fish on top or on the side.

Polenta Romania Style - Mamaliga

I found a new YT Channel: Beryl Shereshewsky, New York. She is fun to watch.  She cooks and reserches food around the world.

I was looking for comfort food and some vegetarian options. I found both. Polenta is not a side dish I choose very often. Many love it baked and covered with cheese, but I find that boring. Until I discovered polenta fries made in the air fryer, leftover polenta always went into the organic waste bin. Today there was no leftover polenta. I ate all of it! 

Beeing on a vegetarian food trip this week, the Romanian polenta was a winner.  

Recipe:

100g polenta, 400 ml veg stock

2 tsp butter, 2 tbsp creme fraiche

80 g goat and sheep feta

1 poached egg, salt and pepper, chives

Heat up the veg stock with the butter and stir in the polenta. Cook and stir constantly. Add the creme fraiche.

Poach an egg. Bring all together on a plate

 

Pineapple, Ginger and Carrot Smoothie

I am still a bit through the weather with my cold and in need of something "healthy". Smoothies are often advertised as healthy food. But I am not going out and buy some stuff for a lot of money. When I am checking the ingredients list on the bottles, I often ask myself, why do I pay so much money for so low qualitiy.

I went through my fruits and veggies at home and took what caught my eye. Fresh ginger is a great spice when you suffer from a cold. I grated a good amount of it, peel and all into the blender. It gave a kick to the smoothie and I felt a lot better after I enjoyed it.

ingredients for 3 smoothies:

2 carrots, fresh ginger- about 17 g - , 150 ml pineapple juice, 75 ml sparkling water

1 banana, 1 kiwi, 1/2 fresh pineapple, 1 lime, 1 t tbsp rice syrup

Put all of it in a strong blender, except the rice syrup. When you use a very ripe banana, you can leave the syrup out. The banana that I had, was still on the green side. The rice syrup balanced the taste.

Sopa de Fideo or Mexican Noodle Soup- vegan

I have a cold and I wanted some comfort food with ingredients I have at home. This Mexican soup is very easy to prepare and does not need lots of ingredients. The kids in Mexico love it. And now I do too!

I did not have short thin pasta at home, but Cappellini pasta. I broke the strands into 1 inch pieces. I roasted them in olive oil until some of them turned brown. The rest got crunchy. Keep an eye on them, otherwise you will have burned pasta.

A good quality veg stock came next.

In a blender I mixed to tomatoes with 1 large shallot and 2 cloves of garlic and poured them through a sieve into the pot.

Cook until the pasta is done and finish with some parsley.

Ingredients for 1:

100 g fine short pasta, 2 tbsp olive oil

2 regulat tomatoes, 2 garlic cloves, 1 large shallot

500 ml veg stock, parsley