Pasta with fried Aubergine and Bacon

This kind of dish is the usual fridge raid. 

I had no idea what to cook, but lots of lonesome ingredients waiting for a purpose.

Collecting the stuff on the counter top and thinking on a way to prepare it, is some of the fun. I started with cutting up the aubetgine and placing it in salted water for 30 min. Then draining it. Patting it dry and shallow frying it.

Next was cooking some pasta. From my holiday trip there was an open package of linguine. I took about 90 g and cooked them. When they were done, a splash of oil keeps them from sticking together.

The bacon bits went in the pan first, then aubergines, spring onions and some garlic cream went in. The pasta went in next. Ayvar and some leftover pasta water brings everything together. A bit of Velveeta helps with the creaminess.

Ingredients:

Linguine, spring onions, 100 g bacon, 1 aubergine, 1 tbsp garlic paste, 1 tbsp Velveeta, 3 tbsp Ayvar

Salt, pepper, smoked paprika, thyme, chili

Lime and Coconut Muffins

This is the best recipe for a hot summer day from Cupcake Jemma. I saw it last week on YT and new I had to bake it.

I only added some fresh lemon balm leaves from my balcony to the batter.

I was looking for toasted coconut flakes, but no luck. This week I made a couple of recipes that were lacking some of the ingredients. Is it the food shortage? Is it the drought? Are the the results of delivery bottlenecks? Who knows?

I only found bags of coconut chips untoasted. Since I have a pan, I toasted some myself. I took them from the stove the last minute before they went black. 

Recipe for 15 muffins:

120 g melted unsalted butter, 200 g sugar

Zest of 2 limes, 2 eggs, 1 -2 tbsp chopped lemon balm leaves

100 g buttermilk, 100 g 10% fat Greek yogurt

260 g flour, 1 tbsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt

50 g dessicated coconut

150 g white chocolate chips

Sirup:

Zest of 1 lime

Juice of 3 limes

2 tbsp brown sugar, 2 tbsp water

Toasted coconut flakes

Preheat the oven 200C fan.

Melt the butter and let it cool down a bit. Add the sugar and stir it well. Bring all the wet ingredients together. Add the chopped lemon balm and grate the lime zest directly on top.

In a second bowl sift flour, baking powder and salt together. Toss in the dessicated coconut and stir it in the wet mix bowl. Mix until just combined, do not overmix.

Add the white chocolate chips, I had only 100 g. I grated 50 g white chocolate in too.

Fill 12 muffin cups 2/3 full. You will get 2 or 3 more muffins out of the mix. Use a second tray.

Place then in the hot oven for 5 min - reduce the heat to 175C fan for 15 more min.

Prepare the syrup: zest 1 lime, juice all 3, add the sugar and the water to a saucepan and bring to a boil. When it is a bit syrupy, keep it warm.

When the muffins come out of the oven, brush them with the hot syrup directly and sprinkle the toasted coconut flakes on top.

Broccoli and Cauliflower Tart with Scamorza

This is a recipe from my French Gourmande magazin. Typical for this week, I did not get all the ingredients listed in the recipe.

But the tart came out phantastic in my own version. Just use what is available!

This is a creamy light kind of filling. The veggies are cooked for a couple of minutes then cooled down completely before they went in to the tart. The amount of eggs mixed with the double cream made the filling so rich.

Recipe:

500 g cauliflower and broccoli

6 eggs + 1 egg yolk

200 ml double cream

2 packages ready made shortcrust pastry

Salt, pepper, Piment d'Espelette, herbes de Provence

Preheat the oven 180 

Use a fluted tart tin and place the first pastry dough in. Prick it with a fork.

Mix 6 eggs and the cream together and over season it. Pour it on top of the pastry.

Cut the cooked veggies in small florets and place them all over the mix. They should not overlap. Cut the cheeses in small chunks and throw them on top.

Unroll the second pastry and cut some holes in it. Place it on top and crimp the edges.

Mix 1 egg yolk with 1 tbsp of water and brush the top of the pastry.

Bake for 40 to 45 min. Let it sit outside of the oven for 10 min, then take it out and place it on a plate.

 

Cannellini Beans Soup with Spinach, Foccacia with Pesto

I was downtown to get some ingredients for 2 recipes I wanted to try this weekend. The supermarket I was in on Friday afternoon did not have all I needed.

But sometimes some ingredients are just not available. Use something else or cook a different recipe. No way! I just make them with the ingredients I have on hand.

This soup is vegetarian and can even be vegan when you leave the Parmesan out of the pesto. But then it is no Pesto!

The soup with the bread topping tastes awesome. White beans are usually not the tastiest ones, but in the combination with other things, they shine.

In 25 min you can put the food on the table.

Recipe for 2:

2 tetra packs of Cannelini beans 230 g each

100 g baby spinach, 2 spring onions, 2 cloves of garlic, 1 shallot

3 tbsp olive oil, 800 ml veg stock

2 sprigs rosemary, 1 sprig Okinawa spinach

1-2 tbsp white balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper

4-6 slices rosemary foccacia, 2 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp homemade Pesto

Chop garlic and onions and start them in olive oil. Drain both packages of white beans and let them run under water. 2/3 of the beans go in the pot together with the rosemary.

Season and pour the hot stock in the pot. Cook for 10 min. Heat up the grill in your oven to 180 C. Brush the bread slices with olive oil and put them under the grill for 5 min. When they are toasted get them out and put Pesto on top.

Use a stickblender to mix the soup in the pot. Add the other beans and the spinach leaves. On medium heat let them get soft. That takes 3 min. Add vinegar to taste and check the seasoning.

Ladle soup in bowls and place the bread with the pesto on top to soak. 

Poached Cod with Horseradish

It was a Gazpacho day today. But I needed a bit of protein.

At the supermarket cod was on sale. It looked good, I bought a piece.

On a hot day with thunderstorms in the vincinity, I did not look forward to fry or bake the cod. Poaching fish is a greast way to prepare it. The fish stays soft. After poaching it, is is very easy to pull all the strong fishbones out. That method garanties that you wont rip the fish apart.

I made a stock and spice broth to poach the fish in. From my last trip to aspaon I had some seafood stock cubes. I used one and added a single bulb of garlic, 2 spring onions, 2 bay leaves and mustard seeds, nigella seeds and coriander seeds. With freshly ground pepper this stock cooked for 15 min before I turned the heat down a d added the cod.

Now make sure to keep the temperature low enough that the stock wont boil. Just some tiny bubbles are good. Depending on the thickness of the fish, the poaching time is between 4 to 10 min. The piece I bought took 6 min. The fish was soft and flaky. I served ith with creamy horseradish.

Cantaloup Melon Gazpacho

This is the best when served cold from the ftidge on a hot summer day. I found the recipe in one of the supermarket newsletters.

The only things you will need as kitchen utensils are a cutting board, a sharp knife, a spoon and a high power blender. 

When I put all the ingredients together, it looked like a whole lot. I had to put the veggies and the bread in the blender first and give that a whirl. Now I had enough room to add the cantaloup melon.

Recipe:

1 cantaloup melon

1 red bell pepper, 1 large tomato, 1 cucumber, 2 spring onions

Juice 1/2 lemon, 3 tbsp white balsamic vinegar, 3 tbsp oilve oil

2 slices of pumpkin seed bread, 2 large stalks of basil

Lemon salt, mixed pepper

Celery Cream Soup with French smoked Sausage

I pulled open the veggie drawer of my fridge and started to grab a bunch of things. Staring in the fridge showed me a couple of other ingredients on their way to expiration. 

Now was the time to get all that together. It made two great lunches during the work from home.

This is a always a challenge to make something tasty out of thrown together ingredients.

Recipe for 3:

1 head of celery, 2 spring onions, 2 garlic cloves, 1/2 green bell pepper, 1 hand full of parsley, 3 potatoes

2 chicken stock cubes, 100 ml double cream 

Pul biber, salt, pepper, thyme

4 French short smoked sausages

1 cup fine short angelhair pasta

2 tbsp butter, 1 tbsp oil

Chop all the veggies and toss them in the heated up fat. Season and let it get color for 3 min. Pour in 1200ml of water and add the stock cubes.

Cook for 20 min. Use a stick blender to make a creamy soup. Add the cream.

Cook the sausages and the pasta separat. Cut the sausages up and all that to the soup.

Chicken Cheese Sauce or Blanc de Poulet au Morbier

This is a French recipe. LIDL had a French week recently and I bought a couple of different cheeses. Morbier was one of them.

I had a frozen chicken breast ready to be cooked and needed something to go with it. I wanted an idea and just the words chicken breast and Morbier gave me the French recipe. I missed some of the ingredients, but I made my own version of the recipe.

I served it with rice. But potatoes or pasta goes well with it too.

Morbier is a tasty semi hard cheese with a thin line of ash in the middle. It melts perfectly.

I used two different kinds of whole peppercorns to give this dish a great flavour. I grounded them fresh in a small pestle and mortar.

Recipe:

450 g chicken breast, 200 g Morbier

5 shallots, 2 garlic cloves

1 tsp Szechuan pepper 1 tsp long Kampot pepper

1 tbsp butter, 100 ml wine, 200 ml double cream

Salt, pepper, Piment d'Espelette

Cut the chicken breast in strips and season them. In a bit butter brown them on both sides, no need to cook them through. Best fo it in two batches. Put them in an oven proof dish.

In the same pan with a little more butter brown the halved shallots snd garlic. After a vouple of min, add wine and cream. Season and add 1/3 of the Morbier.

Pour over the chicken. Slice the cheese in small tranches and set them on top.

Preheat the oven to 180 C and bake for 20 min.

Poutine with Mozzarella Balls

I wanted some homemade fries and bought a bag of large potatoes. I used the air fryer to cook them. That is the best way in times of shortages of good subflower oil for frying.

I only wanted to eat them with a dip. But I remembered a jar of homemade gravy sitting in the fridge. 

I usually like my fries crispy and not soggy. But drenched in gravy with a little celery greens and small balls of mozzarella cheese sounded good.

Recipe:

3 long potatoes, peeled, sliced and cut in battonets and soaked in water dor 20 min.

Some oil spray for the air fryer

1/2 cup roast gravy

Fries seasoning, 1 stalk of celery with leaves

65 g mozzarella balls

Depending on the thickness of the potato sticks 180 C for 30 to 35 min will do.

Heat the sauce in the microwave.

Beef and Aubergine Bake Turkish style

I saw a short clip on TikTok. After a couple of days I've tried to find it again. No chance. But I have a good memory foodwise and made my own version of this bake.

I drove back home from my holiday apartment that day and I started early. The temperatures for this day were up to 39 C. I started at 6:45 AM and reached the Turkish supermarket a quarter after 9 AM. I just bought aubergines, tomatoes, onions and beef mince and a bucket of yogurt.

While I was unpacking my stuff and running the first laundry, I peeled the aubergines and stored them in salted water for 30 min.

The beef mince was mixed with a lot of vegetables. That made it very tasty and a lot lighter. Serve it with some yogurt and it is a good meal.

Recipe for 3:

2 aubergines, 1 tsp salt, 1 litre water

500 g beef mince, 1 egg, 80 g breadcrumbs

100 ml olive oil+ 2 tbsp

2 tbsp tomato paste, 2 tomatoes, 2 onions, 4 garlic cloves, 1 spring onion

1/2 green bell pepper, 3 large cherry tomatoes, 4 tbsp parsley, 1 chili

Salt, pepper, pul biber, cumin, thyme

Peel the aubergines and cut them in long strips, soak them in salted water for 30 min. Drain and pat dry.

Chop the veggies fine and take out the wet bit of the cherry tomatoes. Add egg and breadcrumbs and season well. Mix a lot.

Put 2 tbsp of oil in an oven proof dish and layer the aubergines. Season eith salt and pepper. Spread the beef mix on top. 

Heat up the oven to 200 C. Cover the dish with tin foil and place in the oven for 30 min. Mix oil and tomato paste. Spread on top after 30 min and discard the tin foil.

Cut the large tomatoes in wide slices and cut the the onion in 8 pieces. Spread the tomato oil mix on top. Place the veggies on top and back in the oven for 30 more min open.