Samosas with Brillat Savarin and Tuna Fish

On my last grocery shopping trip to France I bought a whole Brillat Savarin cheese.  I was looking for a Reblochon for my co-worker. I have a standing order to buy the Reblochon everytime I go to France. I bagged the cheese and was surprised to find the Brillat Savarin beside it. 

I have used this cheese just one time before on an open faced sandwich (blog 24.12.2020). I bought a tiny piece for a horrendous price at a supermarket here. Now I got a whole one for a reasonable price in France.

The cheese is very creamy on the inside and has a strong taste to it. The mixture with a can of tuna fish was interesting. But it worked just fine. The tuna fish balances the cheese flavour. A couple of herbs and some lemon juice and fresh grounded pepper made a tasty spread.

recipe for 16 samosas:

8 Brick pastry sheets, 1 egg

150 g Brillat Savarin, 100 g tuna fish drained, pimpinelle, parsley, sorrel, juice 1/2 lemon, pepper

5 tbsp curd, 3 tbsp Ayvar, lettuce leaves

Mix the cheese and the tuna fish with herbs, pepper and lemon. Cut the Brick sheets in halves.

Spread eggwash on a piece of Brick and fold the underside over. Eggwash again and place 1 1/2 tbsp cheese mix in the left corner. Fold over into a triangle, fold over into more triangles until you reach the end of the Brick sheet. Eggwash and close it. Set aside and prepare the others.

Heat up the oven 170 C.

Use baking paper and spray that with oil. Place the samosas on top and spray them with a little oil.

Bake for 12 min, turn and bake for 10 min more.

Make the dip with curd and Ayvar. Serve and enjoy. 

Sweet Potato Starch Noodles - Japchae

These are Korean glass noodles. They are wonderfully chewy. Mixed with a lot of veggies and your favourite protein, Japchae is a great dish.

The noodles are a bit strange to cook. They are grey in color and need some added dark soy sauce in the cooking water to get a nicer color. The cooking time is 6 min. Don't forget to stir often, otherwise they will stick to the pot. Drain and put in a bowl and add some sesame oil. That prevents them from becoming a blob.

I only used some pok choy, tomatoes and spring onions as veggies. Feel free to use what ever you have at home. But do not skip the green onions. I had 3 slices of pork belly in the fridge from my kimtchi fried recipe. That was a great chance to use them. But the kind of meat to put in is your preference. Leave it out if you like ans use some firm tofu instead.

Recipe for 1:

95 g sweet potato starch glass noodles, salt, 1 tbsp dark soy sauce, 1 tsp sesame oil

3 spring onions, 1 large bok choy, 4 cherry tomatoes, 3 slices pork belly, 1/2 green chili, pepper

2 tbsp light soy sauce, 1 tsp hot pepper flakes, 1 tbsp oyster sauce, 1 tsp brown sugar

Use a wide pan to cook the noodles.

In an other pan start with the pork belly. When its done, cut it up. Take some fat out of the pan with a paper towel. Toss in green onions and tomato slices. Heat up and add the pork again. Pour in the sauces and chili and add sugar and season with pepper.

Add the noodles and loosen them, add bok choy and finish it with a little more sesame oil.

 

Prosciutto e Melone Pasta

My mostly eaten melon needed a purpose. A bit prosciutto was still in the fridge. But ham wrapped melon sounded boring and not enough to satisfy my hunger.

On an Italian website I found the solution to my problem, ham and melon pasta.

Sounds weird? Not if you like to combine salty and sweet things. The element that brings it all together is the fine and aromatic taste of a good quality balsamic vinegar and some grated Grana Padano.

Ingredients for 1:

115 g penne pasta, salt

3 spring onions, 50 g Prociutto crudo, 25 g Grana Padano, pepper, olive oil, 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Start with the pasta in salted water.

Chop the spring onions and cut the ham into strips. Add a little oil to a pan and saute the onions until soft. Use a couple of the pasta water to prevent the onions from burning. Toss in the ham and keep on the heat for 1 min. Take the pan off the heat. 

Grate the cheese. Drain the pasta and add it with a little water to the pan. Mix well and top with cheese and drizzle with balsamic vinegar.

Lemon Stracciatella Muffins

At work we are saying Good Bye to a great co- worker and our boss for a long time. Due to Covid 19 we can't celebrate his last day at the office together. Tomorrow we are just a few people and I thought it was a nice idea to have something sweet for all of us. I am the one bringing in baked goods often and as a last HURRAY, why not?

This is a fast recipe and I used some leftover Callebout milk chocolate from an other bake. That chocolate is too good to go to waste.

Recipe for 12 muffins:

240 g flour, pinch of salt, 150 g sugar, 1 tsp vanilla sugar, 2 tsp baking powder, zest of 1 lemon

2 large eggs, 80 ml rapeseed oil, 50 ml sparkling water, 50 ml milk

100 g chopped good quality milk chocolate, 1 package lemon cake glaze

Bring the dry ingredients together and stir them well.

Bring the wet ingredients together and mix in the dry ones. When the batter is smooth, add the chocolate.

Fill into 12 muffin cases and bake at 180 C for 25 min. Cool down and put the glaze on top.

Polish Beet Soup

I found a Polish little grocery on one of my trips. A couple of pickled vegetables, some sweets and syrup went into my shopping basket. A package of red beet soup was on one of the racks. 

Why not? I will give it a try. Usually I am not a huge fan of dry stuff packages, but sometimes a quick meal is important.

I took the Google translater to check what was printed on the package. Strips of Polish red beets were advertised.

750 ml water, some black pepper, 1 hand full of tiny Angelhair pasta, 2 tsp creme friache

The soup was rich and had lots of beet root strips. Cooking time was 15 min. That was neededto get the beet strips soft. The last 5 minutes cooking time I added the pasta. I finished the soup with creme fraiche and pepper.

The doup tasted good, but after the last spoon my food allergy kicked in and I started sneezing about 12 times. 

Salmon Soup Thai Style

A very fast way to have a great and tasty soup. A yellow curry or red curry can be used as a base.

I bought a 300 g piece of salmon. I checked my fridge and took out a red bell pepper. That looked like a prime piece. When I cut it open, it was b

ad on the inside. Luckily I had a small courgette on the counter. Lots of fresh ginger and a couple of garlic cloves and some spring onion were the base. I had a package of Thai curry seasoning and used that.

The soup was light due to the veg stock and coconut milk. I used some hot paprika paste to bump up the spice level. I added mungo bean noodles.

Recipe for 3:

300 g salmon filet, 400 ml coconut milk, 300 ml veg stock, 1 small courgette, 4 garlic cloves, 2 knobs of ginger, 2 spring onions

Red or yellow Thai curry paste or seasoning, 4 tsp coconut oil, 2 tbsp fish sauce, 3 tbsp light soy sauce, 3 tbsp hot red paprika paste, salt, juice of 1/2 lime, 2 tsp palm sugar, fresh herbs

100 g Mung bean noodles

Chop all veggies into small pieces. Heat up the coconut oil in a larger pot. Add ginger, garlic, onion and pour the Thai curry paste in to fry with them. In with the courgette and give that 2 min. Now add stock and coconut milk. Simmer until the courgette is done. Add soy and fish sauce. Season with palm sugar and lime. Put the noodles in a bowl and pour boiling water over them. Drain after 3 min.

Cut the salmon into bite size chunks and drop it into the no longer boiling soup. Reduce the heat further and let the salmon just rest for 3 - 4 min. Finish with coriander or other fresh herbs.

Greek Restaurant visit

Sitting outside under growing wine in a Greek Restaurant is so unusual after this long time. My BFF visited her Dad and wanted me to joyn her. Then we went to the Greek Restaurant El Greco just around the corner. We had a reservation and were surprised about the amount of people who had the same idea. But sitting outside made it more comfortable.

My BFF went for two starters. I ordered a starter and an main dish.

A plate with grilled sardines and a plate with octopus was served.

My Tzaziki arrived and was tasty but too much raw garlic for me and a bit too much seasining. It lingered.

My main was the Greek classic Gyros. It was served with rice in tomato sauce, onions and a salad on the side. The rice was not my favourite. Too sour and undercooked. The meat was good. But a little on the bland side.

Later we went to a very nice modern cafe and I needed some ice cream to beat the garlic taste in my mouth