Vegetable Soup with Couscous

After my LUCID testdrive and the visit to the GALERIA skyline lounge I went to my friend in Frankfurt for an afternoon visit.

She promised to cook us some soup in her Thermomix with the help of Cookidoo.

A bunch of soup vegetables and potatoes, some veg stock and couscous made a great soup. This was the first time I saw Cookidoo in action. I use an older model TM31 at home and mostly come up with the steps on my own. 

But interesting to see that way of cooking.

We added some bonemarrow dumplings from REWE to the soup for additional flavour.

Ingredients:

3 carrots

1/4 celeriac

100 g leek

2 shallots

Piece of parsley root

2 tbsp oil

800 ml veg stock

80 g couscous

Salt and pepper

10 bonemarrow dumplings

Cheesecake at GALERIA skyline lounge

I am in Frankfurt today to go on a testdrive with the LUCID AIR touring. 

Since the store is in the middle of downtown, I used the chance to walk over to the GALERIA and went up to the 7th floor. Sunshine and a great view from here

But I did not come for the view only. I had some warm cheesecake in a jar and a good Latte Macchiato.

The cheesecake was awesome.

Enjoying the view over downtown Frankfurt was a bonus.

Puff Pastry filled with Meatsauce

My plan was to have meatsauce with pasta. 

But checking my fridge drawer a roll of puff pastry caught my eye. Just one week over its expiration date. No problem in my mind, but it needed to go.

Two slices of Raclette cheese were left, a bag of endive looked good, so why not bring it all together.

The ground pork/beef mix with vegetables was prepared first to give it enough time to cool down. Putting hot fillings on puff pastry makes the bottom of the pie soggy. No one likes a soggy bottom.

For an intense flavour I smeared a couple of teaspoons of Dijon mustard on the base. The meat on top.

I thought about chopping up the leaves of the endive (chicory), but went for single leaves on top. The remaining cheese was cut in halves and laid along the row of endive. A bit of fresh ground pepper and chili salt for more taste.

The pastry was folded over, brushed with egg and sprinkled with sesame seeds.

Baked at 200 C fan for 25 min.

Ingredients:

1 butter puff pastry rectangular

350 g pork/beef mince

2 green onions

3 garlic cloves

1 celery stick

1 carrot

1 tbsp olive oil

Salt, pepper, smoked paprika, herbes de Provence

4 tsp Dijon mustard

1 head of endive (chicory)

2 slices Raclette cheese

1 egg

Black sesame seeds

 

 

Radish Salad with Walnuts and Oranges

Red long Radishes are a rare sight here. You either get the little red balls or the long white ones. I even found a round huge black one.

Now I was looking for different ways to prepare the 3 large red radishes.

This salad is a combination of crunchy walnuts and sweet orange sliced that went in a pan with butter and honey.

The radish was only washed and then knifecut in battons and discs. They were salted to drain a bit of their sharpness. I put them then in the microwave for 2,5 minutes and then washed the salt off.

1 red radish

50 g walnuts

1 tbsp butter

1 orange fileted

Dressing:

White balsamico vinegar

Olive oil

Lemon juice

Agave syrup

Mixed black pepper, chives

The radish had time to sit in the dressing for 15 min and made it a lovely orange pink color.

Japanese Cheesecake - viral

Open a page on Insta/ FB/ TikTok you can't escape the new viral cheesecake with 2 ingredients.

Since a half eaten Greek yogurt with 10% fat was sitting in my fridge and a XXL package of Biscoff singles was in my sweets drawer, no better time then now.

Just enough yogurt to fill 3/4 of a ramequin. Pressing the cookies in filled it up to the rim.

5 hours in the fridge were long enough to enjoy it. 

A round of applause to the one who came up with this idea.

Buns with Curd and Yeast

I found the idea at "Chefkoch".

From my New Years Eve Pigs I had 21 g of fresh yeast left over. I did not want to waste it and looked for a baking recipe. A 250 g package of curd needed to go too. That sounded like a good combination for a fluffy bun.

I have Manitoba flour at home. Usually I use that for Focaccia or other Italian baked goods. But it works great with fresh yeast and has enough gluten for an eleastic dough. But use wheat bread flour as it was used completely in the origional recipe.

I have some enzyme activated bun leverage powder at home. I usually use it for Swabian Seelen. But adding a bit to the dough sounded like a good idea to me. 

I used my Thermomix to prepare the dough, but an electric standmixer will do too.

Recipe for 8 buns:

350 g Manitoba flour

150 g bread flour (550 in Germany)

21 g fresh yeast

150 ml handwarm milk

250 g 20% curd

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp runny honey

70 g unsalted soft butter

1 egg

1 tbsp enzyme activated levener

Topping:

Milk 

seasame seeds, poppy 

Use 100 ml warm milk to soften the yeast. Put all bread ingredients in the maschine and start kneading the dough. In my Thermomix it needs 2,5 min. In a standmixer 7 min.

Lightly oil a bowl and place the formed dough in. Cover with a damp towel and place in a warm spot for 45 min. On a flour dusted surface knead it 2 min. Use a cutter to cut it in 8 pieces. Fold them over and roll them on the surface until closed. Set them on baking paper and cover them to rest for 30 min.

Preheat the oven 200 C.

Brush the buns with milk and sprinkle with seeds. Bake them for 25 to 30 min. They are good to freeze, just reheat them in the airfryer.

 

Inihaw na Liempo or Filipino grilled Pork Belly

I should have made this recipe when it was outside BBQ time. But at -3 C and snowfall starting the electric grill - no chance in hell - I had to use my heavy duty Le Creuset grill pan.

It worked beautifully, but splattered everything including my glasses. Cleaning the kitchen and the pan will take some time.

But it was worth it.

I started my morning with the prepwork. Marinating the pork belly for 4 hours. It is not the first time I had to use some kind of lemon soda as a base. Sprite was the one in the recipe from "Manilaspoon", but any other is fine too.

Adding lots of garlic cloves and covering it up to rest outside on the balcony until it was time to cook it. I call that my EUROFRIDGE method.

As a vegetable I prepped a leek and cut it in strips to sautee in a pan. Just seasoned with salt and pepper and a dash of Noilly Prat.

Marinate:

1 cup Lemon Soda or Sprite

1/4 cup light soy sauce

1 tbsp Worchester sauce

1/2 head garlic

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp sugar

Fresh ground pepper

Baste:

Banana Ketchup 

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp oil

Ingredients:

Jasmin rice

Vegetable of choice

 

Chorizo and Jamon Rice Soup

It should have been finished with Manchego cheese, but I used Grana Padano -sorry Spanish Manchego was not available. 

And the Jamon is actually from the Black Forest. But it is the idea that counts! A while ago I watched a travel series about Spain and in a rural area of the North a hearty soup was eaten. Protein was Chorizo and local raw ham and whatever veggies that were on hand. Rice acted as the filler.

Looking through my stash in the fridge and looking out of the window at snowy conditions, driving to a supermarket for fresh ingredients was not an option. I took out two small Chorizo and an opened package of ham. Then I remembered the Spanish rice soup. 

In my veggie drawer of my fridge was the basic soup stuff: carrot, celery, leek and spring onions. And I had made 3 jars of vegetable stock paste for the winter. And I am a rice horder with more than 10 different kinds of rice.

Some fresh cherry tomatoes, chili paste and cheese (the wrong one - but who cares?) to use too.

Recipe for 2:

1 tbsp olive oil

50 g Chorizo

30 g raw ham

1 carrot, 1 celery stalk, 100 g leek, 1 spring onion, 5 cherry tomatoes

600 ml veg stock from paste

1 rice cooker cup longgrain rice

1 tsp chili paste

Salt, pepper, thyme

50 g Grana Padano

Start the protein in hot olive oil. After 5 min add the hard veggies and let them sear 3 min. Season. Now in with the washed rice and coat it well. Add the stock and the chopped tomatoes and cook for 15 min until the rice is done. 

Check seasoning and add chili paste and lots of cheese.

  

Vanilla Rum Pudding or Herrencreme

It is not advised to drive a car after a bigger portion of this dessert. 

I added 7 years oak barrel aged Cuban rum to the pudding, and not only a tiny bit. It has 45 % or 90 proof alc.

This is an easy recipe. Just prepare a vanilla pudding and let it cool down completely. Beat whipping cream to semi stiff peaks and stir in the chocolate. 

Put the rum in the pudding and add the cream mix. Put it in the fridge for 2 hours, then enjoy.

Ingredients:

500 ml whole milk

40 g sugar

1 package Dr.Oetker vanilla pudding powder

50 ml brown rum

200 g double cream

60 g chocolate shavings or sprinkles

Kotosoupa Avgolemono or Greek Chicken Lemon Soup

A good Winter dish when you love soups.

Originally presented by German TV Chefs Meuth/Duttenhöfer. But as always, it is my style.

First cook the chicken to get the chicken stock. The better the chicken, the better the stock. I used French free range chicken pieces that our big supermarket sells now too. Cornfed chicken thighs are great for a rich soup. I even had to skim some of the fat off. 

The stock was cooked with endpieces of carrots and celery tops and bottoms. Waste not. Just a bit of my homemade veg stock paste, a dried chili and a bay leaf. I prefare to season stocks later. 

While the stock was cooking I used a smaller pot to cook the pasta. When it was ready I put it in cold water to stop from overcooking and then drained and set aside for later.

Recipe for 2:

550 g bone in chicken thighs cornfed

850 ml water

2 tsp veg stock paste

1 bay leaf

Ends of 2 carrots and 2 celery stalks

1 chili dry

2 carrots

2 celery 

50 g defrosted peas

2 eggs

2 lemons

Black pepper

Salt

Parsley and chives fresh or dried

75 g Kritharaki pasta

Since it is freezing today, I put the chicken stock out on the balcony to cool down after I got the chicken and the veg out. After 1 hour it was very easy to get rid of too much fat on the soup.

One cup of stock 1 took seperat for later.

Cut the carrots and celery in very small cubes and add that back to the soup. Cook for 6 min, then toss the peas in for 3 more minutes.

Now check salt and pepper needed to add.

Crack 2 eggs in a bowl and beat. Heat up the cup of stock in the microwave. Press the 2 or 3 lemons (juicy or not?). Stir well and add the hot stock. Now you have a watery looking liquid.

Get the soup down to low heat and stir in the egg mix. Constantly stirring on now medium heat. DO NOT BRING TO A BOIL

Get the cut up chicken and pasta in to warm up again. Finish with parsley and chives.