Blackberry Limoncello Ice Cream

That is would make such a mess, I did not expect. Have I known that, I would not made that recipe.
But it was all my fault, loosing the grip on the ice cream container from the machine and getting it just everywhere.

It is a nice recipe when you have a good amount of fresh blackberries. And now is the time of the year for them. The combination with the Italian lemon liqueur give it a hint of summer in the South.

recipe:
300 g blackberries
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 1/2 tbsp Limoncello
85 g icing sugar
150 ml double cream
3 tbsp whole milk



Wash the blackberries and put them into a blender. Blitz them and pour them through a sieve.
Mix that with sugar and lemon juice and Limoncello.
Mix that again with cream and milk.
Use an ice cream maker and churn for 40 minutes.
Do not get it all over you!

I served it with a Soufflè with red fruits from Noyon.

Courgette Bread

This Sunday started with baking bread for the amuse bouche of my menu a la Picardie.

My friends brought a special kind of courgette, that looks like a swan and does not have so much water inside. It tastes great raw and as a salad. All other kinds of preparations are possible too.

Recipe:
320 g bread flour
15 g fresh yeast
1 tsp salt
130 g curd
1 egg
150 g courgette
1 tbsp raoeseed oil
1 tsp dried herbs like dill, chervil and lemon peel

Start the dough:
270 g flour, mixed with salt, yeast, curd and egg.
Grate the courgette, if it is too wet, squeeze the water out.
knead with adding more flour until it is not too sticky.
let it rest for 40 minutes.

Strech the dough and poke it a couple times, brush it with oil and sprinkle the herbs on top.
Preheat the oven 210 C and bake it for 25 min.

The bread was served with smoked salmon and creme fraiche.

Fish wrap

An easy lunch to prepare and to enjoy.
I am out and about to prep everything for tomorrow´s cooking with friends and bustling in the kitchen. The mess I made with the ice cream took me an hour to clean everything up and start the washíng machine. Then I had finally time for my lunch.60 g

recipe for 1:
160 g wolffish fillet
salt and garlic pepper
1 tbsp flour
2 tbsp butter
1 tsp oil
1 Dueruem wrap
3 tbsp Greek yogurt
1 tsp Ayvar
1/3 cucumber
1 tomato
2 tbsp parsley
1 bit green from a spring onion

Peel the cucumber and get the wet middle out, quarter the tomato and do the same.
Chop the parsley. Season with salt and pepper.
Mix yogurt with ayvar.

Cut the fish into 4 pieces, season it and flour it.
In a small pan heat up butter and oil and give the fish just a few minutes on each side.
Heat the wrap in the microwave
Smear a strip of dressing in the middle and put the salad on top. Stick the fish on and the rest of the dressing and close the wrap.

My famous marinated sweet corn

I do not know how long I prepare these pieces of sweet corn for BBQs I am invited to.
I get the invitation with the order to bring enough of it for everybody.
The idea came when I was on one of my trips to the US. Americans love Bourbon and brown sugar. The more Bourbon the more sugar the better.
When I came home I tried many different spice blends until I found the right one. The times I went low on Bourbon and sugar were not so sucsessful with people, but since I leave that content high enough, everybody is licking their fingers.

Tomorrow I go to a BBQ with friends in their garden and the sweet corn in marinate is going with me.

Recipe for 4:
4 corn on the cobb. Cooked.
100 ml Bourbon
50 g dark Muscovado sugar
50 g maple syrup

1 tsp ground coriander
1 tbsp rapeseed oil
3 drops liquid smoke
1/2 tsp salt and pepper
1/2 tsp chilipaprika smoked
1 tsp herbes de Provence

Cut the cooked corn cobbs into 3 or 4 pieces
Use a tupperware container or a ziplock bag and built the marinate.
24 hrs min.

Leek and Bacon Wheels

I bought a piece of leek last week to cook it with the lamb shanks, but that did not work out. The leek is sitting on my counter since this time. Usually left over greens or chunks of leek are getting frozen for soups and stews, but I have no storage space in the freezer.

I checked my fridge in the morning at 5 AM to locate a few things to take with me for lunch at the office and found a small package of bacon bits, some French soft goat cheese and 2 slices of hard cheese and a puff pastry roll from ALDI.
During the day I built up an idea what to make with it and designed some wheels.

recipe for 2 or 3:
1 rectangular piece of fresh puff pastry
1 egg
1 leek
60 g bacon bits
2 slices of hard cheese
30 g goat soft cheese
3 tbsp parsley
1 tsp olive oil
salt, pepper
4 stalks fresh thyme

Preheat the oven 180 C fan.
top and tail the leek, half it cut it in 1 cm bits and wash it.
in a pan brown the bacon and add the leek, saute until soft and season.
drop on a cold plate and cool down.
chop the cheese and the parsley and add to the mix.
unroll the puff pastry and separate the egg.
brush the egg white along the rim of the pastry.
get the mix on, sprinkle some goat cheese on top and roll up and cut into 1 inch tranches.
brush with egg yolk and bake for 20 minutes.

Okra Coconut Curry vegan

At the Turkish supermarket I bought a bag of okras. It took a couple of days until I found an idea how to prepare them.

Today's motto was vegan.
The dish was so good. I did not miss any meat.

Recipe:
300 g okras
2 shallots
3 spring onions
3 cloves of garlic
1 knob of ginger
1 red chiĺi
1 tbsp coconut oil
2 tbsp dessicated coconut
200 ml coconut milk
1 tsp curcuma
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
5 stalks parsley
5 kaffir lime leaves
Salt and pepper

Heat up the oil. Get the seeds in and let them pop. Add onions. Garlic. Ginger. Chili.
Let the mix get 3 minutes head start.
Top and tail the okras and cut them into 1 inch pieces. Chuck into the pan and cook for 4 min more. Pour in the coconut milk kaffir leaves and the curcuma.
When the okras are soft, add seasoning and lime juice. The dessicated coconut are tossed in last. Finish with parsley.

Mixed Veggie Pan on Rice

I wanted to get rid of some bits and pieces of vegetables and a small box of meat sauce. Getting them all in a pan, I roasted them until they were nearly cooked then tossed the beef/pork mince sauce in and reheated it thoroghly.
A cup of long grain rice from Surinam was eaten as a side to the dish.

Recipe:
1 carrot
4 greens  of spring onions
1 eggplant
1 tomato
80 g meat sauce
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp white wine
salt and pepper
1 cup rice

Throw everything in a pan, get it done and add the meat sauce.