Deer Curry with Cauliflower

This deer curry was made from a German producer of organic raised deer. They use the meat in lots of different produce. You can buy deer bolognese, deer sausage and lots of other choices. The veggies are organic too.

I found this jar in one of my supermarket trips out of the city. A good curry is a nice treat on a busy Saturday. 

I bought a head of cauliflower this morning. They had them as special offer for 1 EURO today and they are huge. Since veggies are expensive in the moment, such an offer is great to save some money.

I put a third of it into the steamer and then ripped it apart and mixed into the curry.

I served the deer curry with rice

Chives Flowers Vinegar

I saw that on Instagram. 

A couple of chives flowers went on my rice today. But the pot is in full bloom. I went on my balcony and snipped off all the pink purple heads.

About 200 ml of white balsamic vinegar, the organic kind, went into a freshly sterilized jar. The jar wad still hot, when the vinegar went in.

The flowers have been washed and dried on a piece of kitchen paper. I checked them for tiny insects before I took them into the kitchen.

The flowers went into the jar and I closed the lid and gave the jar a good shake. I have to do thar daily for 7 days. Then I can filter the flowers out. The jar should not be kept in a sunny place.

I hope to get a nice pink vinegar for light summer salads.

Mussels in Seafood Sauce with Asparagus

I saw a photo on Pinterest, but no recipe.

I made a scrumpious sauce and cooked the asparagus and later the mussels in it.

If you look for a very easy meal, just cut up some bread and toast it in a pan in some oil and butter and dunk that in the sauce.

Ingredients:

300 g green asparagus, 400 ml water, 200 ml double cream, 1 pot of crustacean base, 200 g mussels defrosted

1 red bell pepper, 1 spring onion, 1 tsp olive oil, salt and pepper, cayenne

Chop bell pepper and onion in rough chunks and saute them in oil for 5 min, season and adf the water. Cook for 8 min. Pour into a blender and blitz it fine. Use a fine mash sieve and press it through back into the pot.

Add cream and crustaceam stock and bring to a boil. Add thin green asparagus and cook until tender, add defrosted mussels and let them just heat up. Do not cook them.

Brown some bread cubes in oil and butter

 and season them with pepper.

Eaton Mess with Strawberries

Yesterday I was "overrun" with strawberries. On my way back from work I purchased some green asparagus at the local shack. They sell strawberries too. I took one box of them too. While talking to the old nice lady behind the counter and waiting for the goods to be packed, she asked me if she could give me a gift.

That gift was an other large box of strawberries. She had collected them out of the others and told me they were not fit to sell to customers. I should check them and use the ones that were good. It was about 750 g of strawberries! I only had to throw 3 away. I just cut off some spots or mushy parts. And I had a feast eating.

My doorbell rung and my neighbor with her two kids were outside presenting me a big bowl of freshly picked strawberries. She was out with the kids at an self picking field. In about 45 min they picked more than 5 kilos of strawberries. 

I tried just a couple of them and the rest went into the fridge.

I have learned about the dessert Eaton Mess from Sortedfood. They have made a video a couple of years ago. Now it is my time. The Merengue drops have been sitting here since Easter. I had no idea what do prepare with the rest in the open package.

Recipe for 4:

400 g strawberries, 75 ml Creme de Cassis liqueur, 2 hands full of merengue

3 tsp icing sugar, 200 ml double cream, 250 g curd, 3 tsp strawberry Pink Gin Jam

1/4 tsp Zest of some lemon, 50 g almond flakes toasted, sprig of mint

Wash and hull the strawberries and cut them into small chunks. Macerate them in Cassis liqueur for 30 min.

Beat the cream with icing sugar into soft peaks, mix it with the curd. Add zest and jam and swirl it around.

Crush the merengue between your hands and mix them into the cream. Fill into jars with the the strawberries in layers. Top with toasted almonds and a sprig of mint.

Asparagus in Tomato Sauce with Pasta

Absolutely fresh green asparagus is a treat. I was able to get a bunch at one of the asparagus shacks on my way home.

The tomato sauce came out of the freezer. The pasta was from a pasta producer on my last trip with my BFF. Locally grown ingredients reduces the ecological foot print.

Recipe for 1:

250 g green asparagus, 1 spring onion 

1 tbsp olive oil, salt and pepper, 1 clove of garlic, 200 ml home made tomato sauce

100 g pappardelle

Cut the bottom off the asparagus stalks and cut them into 1 inch pieces. Cut the onion as well. Peel the garlic and keep it whole. Fry it off in oil. Season.

Add the defrosted tomato sauce and add it to the pan. Cook the pasta and mix the pasta with the sauce.

 

Puff Pastry with Spinach and Roquefort

This was once again created after a fridge and freezer raid. I had no idea what to cook and assembled all things that needed a purpose. And they had to go with puff pastry.

The pastry was expired last week, but still looked and smelled good. So no way I was throwing it out. Open packages of various cream cheeses went on the kitchen counter. In the back of my fridge stuck a package of Roquefort cheese. That has a very long shelf life and was still not over the expiration date, but the recipe I wanted to cook it with was long ago discarded.

Cheeses and puff pastry are a good combo. A bit of vegetable was needed to make the dish less heavy.

Sticking my head into the freezer door I found an opened package of spinach and cream pellets. I defrosted them and mixed them with the cheeses.

Recipe:

350 g puff pastry, egg wash

150 g cream spinach cooked, 125 g Roquefort, 50 g goat cream cheese, 75 g cream cheese, 2 tsp paprika, nutmeg, pepper

Defrost the spinach and heat it im the microwave. Season with nutmeg.

Mix cream cheeses with Roquefort and 4 tbsp spinach and season with pepper.

Cut the puff pastry in 3 pieces. Fold them like Piede boats and fill them with the mix. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with paprika.

Bake at 190 C for 20 min.

Peppers filled and wrapped

I don't know where I have seen that, but the idea stuck with me. It sounded like an American TexMex classic because of the green hot peppers.

These are not available here this time of year. The alternative are Padron Peppers from Spain. But they usually contain no heat. I helped by stuffing them with little pickled peppers from a jar.

Sausage meat and bacon together with cream cheese -what is not to like?

4 peppers, 4 tiny pickled peppers

4 tbsp cream cheese, 4 rashers of bacon, 180 g sausage meat

Cut the green peppers open lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Push 1 pickled pepper inside and fill the hole with cream cheese.

Wrapp the sausage meat around and then the bacon around it. On medium heat briwn them in a pan in a little oil.

Serve with sweet chili sauce.