Chakchouka printanière aux Jambon

Spring Shakshouka with ham. The French sounds definitely better.

Green beans as a spring treat are good. This combination was new to me. But it is an easy side dish to serve or eaten on its own as well.

The raw smoked ham gives a salty and intense flavour to the beans. The eggs give the richness.

Keep the beans on the crunchy side. Soft and overcooked beans are the death of this dish.

After taking the tops and bottoms off the beans and washed them, I 've put them in the steamer basket of my Thermomix with some savoury herbs and steamed them for 5 minutes.

Spring onions and garlic chopped and sauteed in some olive oil for a couple of minutes. Then the beans went in without the herbs and needed 3 minutes. Everything was seasoned with salt and pepper.

Sliced ham and chopped parsley went in next. 4 openings in the pan and the eggs went in and cooked covered 3 minutes.

Time to serve.

Ingredients for 2:

400 g green small beans

2 stalks savoury herbs

2 spring onions

1 young garlic clove

2 tbsp olive oil

Salt and pepper

50 g raw smoked ham

4 eggs

Parsley

 

Chanterelle Mushrooms with Tagliatelle

I was out meeting my BFF halve way to her home. Both of us only had 1 hour to drive.

We met in a tiny village that only had one road going in and then you had to turn around the same way out.

In the middle of the forest is a nice restaurant. You can sit on the opposit side directly under huge trees or on a terrace. But we both prefared inside, because of all the insects and wasps.

I had Tagliatelle with cream sauce and chanterelle mushrooms and a side salad.

My BFF had a "Children Menu" with Bratwurst and fries.

We both had dessert. I had vanilla ice cream with dark berries and Creme de Cassis. She had a flour free cake with different nuts and chocolate.

Some place to come back to again.

Buta Shogayaki or Ginger Pork

I was looking for simple and fast to prepare Japanese food. And I had bought a piece of pork neck steak from the butcher.

The fridge cold pork was easy to cut with a sharp knife in strips about 0.6 cm thick. Seasoned with salt and pepper.

Then I prepared the sauce with a bit of potato starch to bind it. Since I used irganic fresh ginger, I just gave it a good wash and grated it on the rougher side of my microplane.

The other ingredients went on top, were stirred in and set aside.

The Japanese shortgrain rice went in the rice cooker first. It needed a headstart. After half of the cooking time I started the pork.

A tablespoon of oil in the pan and heated up to high, the pork slices went in. Since they are so thin, they do not take a lot of time to get color. The sauce went on top and thickened immediately. 100 ml of water was added to loosen that up.

Served over the rice.

Finished with some sesame seeds and greens from a spring onion.

As a side I served a kohlrabi salad with lots of parsley.

Ingredients:

200 g pork neck steak

Salt and pepper

1 tbsp oil

Sauce:

2 tsp grated ginger

2 tbsp Sake

2 tbsp Mirin

1 tbsp dark soy sauce

1 tsp agave syrup or sugar

1 tsp potato starch

80 - 100 ml water

Finish:

2 tsp sesame seeds

1 tbsp spring onion greens

Sides:

Shirtgrain rice

kohlrabi

Banana Kiwi Jam

Bright yellow bananas are not very fond of long car trips stored in a bag with other stuff.

I only needed 2 bananas this weekend to get me going around the racetrack. But they only came in bundles of 5. No lonesome singles in sight.

I baked a cake the last time. But I wanted to use them in an other way. My BFF suggested this jam. She cooked it around Halloween last year.

I found huge soft kiwis at the supermarket, only when I peeled them I saw that one way a golden kiwi and the other one was a green one.

A big red Grapefruit joined the fruits. But only about 40% of it. I took away all the skin and seeds and only used the flesh for additional liquid. More liquid came from Triple sec liqueur.

Ingredients;

3 large bananas  =320g peeled

1 big golden kiwi

1 big green kiwi

1/2 red grapefruit

40 ml Triple sec liqueur

280 g 3:1 pectine sugar

The amount of fruit was 760 g. I filled it up to 800 g with the Triple sec

800 g :3 = 267 g =  280 g sugar mix

Chicken and Vegetables Surinamese style

Surinaamse Stijl Ketjap Laos Kruidenpasta. But I served it over rice.

This was the second spice package from the supermarket JUMBO in the Netherlands. Only 1 chili heat sign on the bottom of the package. But it still delivers some heat that lasts about 5 to 10 minutes.

The one with 3 chilis is still on my counter.

You can use either chicken, prawns or Tempeh as a protein. I went for chicken. 300 g of mixed vegetables are advised to improve the dish. I bought a bag of frozen Asia veggies. Not so much hassle to get a variety of veggies and less fuss to clean and chop them.

Start the rice cooker first. I used Basmati.

I pulled the skin off the cornfed chicken thighs and cut them in bite size pieces. A little salt and pepper not tp forget. They went in the wok with a little oil until golden. Then out to rest.

Onions and garlic went in to soften, then the defrosted Asia veggies. 100 ml of chicken stock and covered on medium heat for 5 minutes.

The seasoning paste went in next and was stirred in with more stock. Chicken went back in. Heat on medium high to thicken the sauce.

Serve it with rice.

Ingredients:

1 Surinam Ketchup Laos Sauce pack

400 g chicken thighs

1 tbsp oil

200 ml chicken stock

1 yellow medium onion

2 spring onions

3 garlic cloves

300 g Asia style frozen veggies

Salt and pepper

Basmati

 

 

 

Eating out at Comfy Corner Adenau

I started my day at 5:15 this morning and left the house short after 6 AM to drive to the Nuerburgring. Just a small yogurt for am early breakfast.

After a 2 hour drive I directly went on the Nordschleife for some laps.

A cappucchino later at Devil's Diner I decided to drive down to Adenau for some food. It is only the second time that I am down here to have some food. 

Last year I grabbed a Döner at a Kebap house.

Now the next place to give a try, a restaurant that advertises that it is in business for 100 years "Gemütliche Ecke".

Lunch starts with a complimentary soup. A clear meat broth with tiny pasta and carrots. Even on a warm day something decent.

I ordered a large salad with grilled chicken. It was huge and I could not finish it. But a good combination of raw veggies and seasoned salads.

The only thing I did not like were the kidney beans from a tin.

 

Berner Sausage with quick Pasta

Cooking at a holiday apartment again. Since I am at this place for the 4th time already, just 3 minutes from the Nuerburgring, I know my way around this kitchen and where everything is.

At the supermarket down in Adenau I got some bacon wrapped Berner sausages and a couple of veggies.

A package of elbow pasta was with a quarter left still in my "kitchen bag". 

Chopping spring onions and slicing cherry tomatoes was easy and they went in olive oil first for a couple of minutes. Then a brushed them to the side of the pan to get the sausages in.

The bacon took some color. Then seasoning and some cream cheese went in together with pasta water.

The drained pasta was stirred in after I took out the sausages.

A light and tasty lunch.

Ingredients:

Berner sausages wrapped in bacon

2 spring onions

7 cherry tomatoes

Salt, pepper

3 tsp creme cheese