Octopus Salad with Pickles

A couple of cooked octopus arms needed a purpose. Working from home called for a quick kind of lunch.  A salad is always a good choice.

My good friend gave me a jar of her freshly homemade pickled cauliflowers three weeks ago and told me to let it sit in the fridge for a while unopened. Now was the best time to taste them. Crunchy and vinegary and a little bit spicy. Some of these small florets went in the salad with a hand full of brown Kalamata olives.

Early in the morning before work, I sliced a red onion in very fine strips. With salt, sugar, vinegar and a little water I left it to pickle until noon. The pink color was amazing. Tge onions went into the salad as well.

Dressing:

3 tbsp olive oil, juice 1/2 lemon, Swedish lemon salt and black pepper

I served the salad with buttered hot toast.

Mushrooms and Bacon in Mustard Curry Sauce

I am still cooking from the ingredients I bought in the week after Christmas. The mushrooms were over 8 days old. They were still closed and looked as if I bought them 2 days ago. I am so excited about my new fridge. Keeps lots of food away from the waste bin.

4 slices of bacon made the dish richer. A combination of Dijon mustard and Java curry gave a special kick to an otherwise simple cream sauce.

Instead of a little bit of bacon, chicken breast will work even better. But I worked with the ingredients I had in my fridge.

Recipe for 1:

80 g Tagliatelle

175 g button mushrooms, 3 spring onions, 2 cloves of garlic,

60 ml veg stock, 100 ml double cream, 3 tsp Dijon mustard, 1/2 tsp Java curry, salt, pepper

1 tsp potato starch 1 tbsp veg stock

4 rashers of bacon

Start with the bacon in a large pan. When it gets crispy, get it out and save for later. In the bacon grease soften the onions and garlic. Add the mushroom slices. After 5 min, season them with salt (I used Truffle salt) and pepper.

Cheese and Herb Pancake - easy Chatschapuri

An other day to tackle leftovers. This time grated cheeses and fresh or not any longer so fresh herbs.

The solution for this is a thick pancake. The recipe has its origin in Georgia on the Black Sea. It is called Georgian bread. Nice to eat at lunch or as a snack. There are many different versions of this dish. Many are more complicated and resemble bread, others look like pancakes.

The prep time is short and that is a good midweek meal. 

Ingredients for 2:

2 eggs, 110 g grated cheese (I used Cheddar and Gouda)

110 g flour, 160 g sour cream, 1 spring onion, bunch of parsley and coriander (use any kinds you have such as dill, chives, basil....)

Enough neutral oil in the pan to nearly cover the bottom. 

Mix cheeses, sour cream, eggs together. Season with some pepper. Add flour and stir well.

Chop onion and all herbs and add them

Bake until golden brown on both sides. I served it with some Daikon.

Vermicelli with Leftovers Asia style

After the holidays there are some veggies and meat left over. To create something tasty, you only need a good idea.

The idea shows the direction of the new dish. I wanted a Korean style version. All kinds of  veggies work in this style. Grab what you find and use that as the base. Mostly these dishes are eaten on top of rice. But I was looking for a different base.

Instant Ramen? No! Sweet Potato Vermicelli? Yes! These chewy noodles are such a great base for lots of veggies. I am a big fan of them.

Ingredients:

120 g sweet potato vermicelli, salt, 2 tbsp dark soy sauce

1 large garlic clove, 2 bok choy, 1 red bell pepper, 2 spring onions, 2 king oyster mushrooms

150 g cooked gammon or pork knuckle

Sesame oil, rapeseed oil, oyster sauce, syrup, dark soy sauce, Gochugaru pepper flakes

Toasted sesame seeds

Cook the vermicelli in salted water with dark soy sauce for 6 min. Drain and add sesame oil.

Chop all veggies and start them, onions first, then garlic, then peppers, mushrooms and last bok choy.

Season with a bit of salt and pepper. Cut up the meat.

Make the sauce and pour it over. Now add the vermicelli and stir well. Top with sesame seeds.

Fennel and Onion Soup

I looked in my Eco fresh drawer of my fridge and saw a bulb of fennel. I planned some kind of fish fondue for the second day of the New Year. But I only bought frozen fish and was not in the mood to set it out to thaw. The fish is still in the freezer and an other option was needed for the fennel bulb.

Many recipes are going in the oven roasted direction. Some with cheese, others with pasta. Then I stumbled over a humble soup.

Slow caramelizing onions and fennel in a pan. It does take a while. But the result is very tasty. 

The caramelized veggies are added to a good stock with a bit of cream and blended  to a smooth perfection.

Cornbread toasted in butter as an added ingredient.

Recipe for 2:

1 fennel bulb, 3 yellow onions, 2 spring onions, 2 Chinese garlic bulbs, 2 bay leaves 

50 g butter, 1/ 2 tsp dried thyme, salt and pepper, 1 tbsp brown sugar, 2 tbsp white vinegar

500 ml chicken stock, 100 ml double cream

Cornbread and butter

Cut the veggies in strips. Use a wide pan and get the butter up to foam. Toss in all veggies and the bay leaves. Give them 10 min  m3dium high heat and stir often. Season with salt, pepper and thyme. Put on a lid and reduce the heat. After 15 min stir, cook 15 min more, stir and cook 15 min more. Add sugar and let it caramelize. Add vinegar.

In a small pot heat up chicken stock and cream. Use a strong blender and bring veggies and soup together.

In the empty pan toast the cornbread in some butter.

Cauliflower Bolognese - vegan

At the first day of the year I wanted something vegan. 

I found that recipe on the Internet and thought, why not. I love cauliflower and the combination with pasta sounded great. I had a lot of meat and fish over the holidays and cooking something different was no big deal. But I do not have a New Years challenge to become a vegan. I just like to mix dishes up.

 

The amount of veggies needed a quick way to be chopped in to little pieces. What is better than to throw them in my kitchen helper Thermomix and get them done. Since they were in there anyway, I decided to cook the bolognese in the Thermomix too. Just one regular pot to clean later. That is just a nice way to prepare any kind of Bolognese. Nothing will stick to the pot and no need to stir often.

Recipe for 4:

500 g cauliflower florets, 1 large carrot

2 red onions, 2 spring onions, 2 large single Chinese garlic cloves

1 can of chopped tomatoes, 3 tbsp tomato paste, 100 ml veg stock, 2 tbsp Maple syrup

3 tbsp Olive oil, salt, pepper, Italian dried herbs, Arrabiata herbs, Tabasco, smoked paprika, parsley, 2 tbsp red wine vinegar

Peel garlic, onions and carrot and put them in the Thermomix. Blend for 8 sec at speed 7. Srape down the sides. Add tomato paste, salt and pepper and olive oil. Close the lid, set timer for 4 min at 100 C speed 2,5

Clean the cauliflower and break into florets. Put on top of the onion mix, blend for 10 sec at speed 7. Scrape down. Add chunky tinned tomatoes, veg stock and the other seasoning, except the parsley.

Set timer to 20 min, at 100 C at speed 2 and put the basket on the lid.

Check the seasoning and cook the spaghetti. Put fresh parsley on top.

Leftover sauce freezes well.

Yosenabe - Japanese Hot Pot

New Year's Eve calls for something special.

The typical German meat or cheese fondue was not to my liking. I wanted to eat a bit of seafood. I checked different websites and found Hot Pot. 

Hot Pot is served in many Asian countries. It is a great winter warmer food. In this dish it is all about the broth.

I used 1 litre of water and a "teabag" of Dashi stock without any MSG. I still have some left from my shopping tour through Tsukici Outer Market in Tokyo. Added to it was just some of my vegan veg stock and a bit of Japanese soy sauce. Sooo good.

A Hot Pot is mostly a variety of different kinds of veggies. To add protein you can use what you like. I decided on seafood. I bought scallops, large prawns and a piece of salmon steak.

But the veggies, especially the mushrooms and the sweet corn stole the show.

Ingredients:

100 g Napa Cabbage, 1 Bok Choy, 5 brown large button mushrooms, 4 king oyster mushrooms, 1 spring onion, 1/2 smal can of sweet corn, 1 medium carrot

3 black tiger prawns, 3 scallops, 160 g salmon steak

1 package dashi, 2 tsp veg stock paste,  3 tbsp Japanese soy sauce, 1 tbsp cold butter

Bring everything together in a Hot Pot and cook for 5 to 7 min. Serve with short grain rice.