Risotto with red Beets and Horseradish Ricotta and Arugula

This is a recipe from Swiss Chef Meta Hiltebrand. I hooked on the recipe when I saw the beautiful dark purple color and the topping with cream, greens and a flower.

I just made the recipe for 2 instead of 4 people and divided every measurement.

The photo of the dish I found was very vibrant red. With just one piece of red beet and 200 ml red beet juice, some white wine and veg stock, I was not sure if it was possible to reach the effect. The color was less intense. But I was lucky. A jar of red beet powder was sitting between all kinds of spices. I am using it to color desserts sometimes. It helped a lot to intensify the color.

The recipe calls for arugula topping. That kind of leaf makes me run normally. Usually I try to omit it in dishes and rarely order it. But the combination with the earthy taste of the beet risotto, the dog piss taste of the arugula and the sharp horseradish works well together. Now I have a bunch of these greens sitting in the fridge waiting for an idea or the way to the composte bin.

Recipe for 2:

1 small yellow onion, 120 g red beet cooked, 1 tbsp olive oil, 180 g risotto rice

125 ml white wine, 150 ml strong veg stock, 200 ml red beet juice, 1 tsp dry red beet powder

1 tbsp whipped cream, 1 tsp honey, 30 g Parmesan, salt, pepper

Topping:

125 g ricotta, 2 tbsp horseradish cream, salt, pepper, bunch arugula

Chop the onion and start it in olive oil. After they softened add the rice and stir until well coated. Chop the beet root and add it. Now in with the wine. Stir until it is gone. 

Mix the veg stock and the beet juice and add it in 4 portions to the rice. Cook every pirtion down and stir well. When the rice is done-about 20- 25 min, add whipped cream, honey and cheese. Check seasoning.

Mix ricotta with horseradish, salt and pepper and wash the greens. Pick some edible glowers from your balcony or garden.

Asparagus Summer Rolls with Peanut sauce

I had a couple of steamed white asparagus stalks left over. I was looking for some stuff in my Asian food cupboard and a package of rice paper fell out. I used up about 5 leaves for one dish and the other 45 are still in the bag.

That gave me the idea of summer rolls. Now I needed some more stuff to fill them. The easy way were some mung bean vermicelli. They just need 3 min soaking in hot water and are ready to use. 

I slice of Deli cooked ham did the trick for the protein in the roll. Just cut up in 4 small pieces.

I went on my balcony for some nice looking herbs and took Okinawa spinach leaves. They are purple on one side. Some flat leaf parsley is always welcome.

The dipping sauce was ready in 2 min. Just peanut butter, sambal olec, soy sauce, agave syrup, sesame seeds and a bit of water.

Ingredients:

4 rice papers 

4 stalks cooked white asparagus

1 red bell pepper, parsley, Okinawa spinach, 

40 g mung bean vermicelli, sesame seeds

1 slice cooked ham

Use a plate and pour a bit of water on top. Dip the rice paper in 10 sec on each side.

Start with a leaf, then top with the other ingredients.

Do not overfill the rice paper. Roll it and put it on a serving plate.

Make the dressing and enjoy.

Sakura Jello

I am getting Bokksu boxes for over 2 years now. April is Cherry Blossom Season in Japan.

People go out for Hanami- flower watching in parks and have a picknick under the trees.

The Bokksu box contained lots of pink different kinds of snacks. Mochi, Dorayaki and filled chocolates.

There was a squishy bag in the box. That contained the pink jello with pickled sakura blossoms. I put the jello in the fridge.

Very refreshing.

Cauliflower purple and green with Cheese Sauce

I was grocery shopping at LIDL and found some colorful cauliflowers. Small heads in different color combinations.

The tumeric yellow together with the bright green one wasn't my favourite. I went for purple and light green. First I thought the light green one was a head of Romansco, but it was cauliflower.

I used the steamer to cook the cauliflower. I hate overcooked veggies. That is the best way to prevent that.

The sauce was pretty basic and helped me to get rid of some leftover cheeses.

Sauce:

100 ml water, 150 ml whole milk, 150 ml double cream

50 g Cheddar grated, 3 slices Gouda, 3 tbsp cream cheese. 

3 tbsp parsley, nutmeg, Piment d' Espelette, lemon salt, pepper

Clean the cauliflower and set it in a steamer.

Steam for 15 to 20 min.

Drench in cheese sauce and serve with rice.

Purple Asparagus with Pear Chutney Sauce

I saw this bunch of dark purple asparagus today for the first time. I had to buy a bunch.

It is a lot nuttier then the green asparagus and it has a stronger texture. When I saw it, the dark purple reminded me of dark purple string beans.

When I cooked them for the first time and opened the lid of the pot, the beans were green. I was so dissapointed. That made me curious how the purple asparagus works in the steamer.

Well, dissapointment hit me again. After 10 min cooking in the steam, I had green asparagus. When it cooled down a bit, the color darkened. But it did not reach purple again.

The sauce is from a jar. Peach and quince

 with mustard. It is called Mostarda vincentina. Mixed with creme fraiche.

Chickpeas with Yogurt - Şiveydiz

This is a special dish from Gaziantep in Turkey. It is eaten in April and May. 

The recipe calls for garlic greens, like spring onion greens. But they are not available here. I asked the owner of my neighborhood Turkish supermarket. My co-worker gave me the recipe and told me to use the white part of a leek instead.

Since we are in the middle of wild garlic season, I used a big bunch of it. That gave me the garlic vibe.

The base is a lamb soup. I bought a chunk of lamb shoulder. I took off the fat and tendons and cubed the meat. In a little veg stock it took 45 min to get tender. Then I added leek and wild garlic to cook an other 10 min. In with the chickpeas.

I have gound a new method to get rid of the waxy chickpea skin. I pour them in a bowl of cold water. With one hand I "wash" them against each other. That helps to get a good amount of skin off. The skin floats to the surface and can be removed. I only had to clean some of them.

The soup is bind with flour, egg yolk and Greek yogurt and seasoned with fresh mint. It is eaten with rice. I bought a kilo package at the Turkish supermarket. It looked like some kind of medium white rice. The google translator told me it was Battery Rice. I have to asked my co worker tomorrow, what the right translation is.

Recipe for 2:

250 g cubed lamb meat (shoulder), 1 tsp veg stock paste, 1200 ml water.

1 white part of a medium leek, 100 g wild garlic leaves, 200 g canned chickpeas

6 tbsp Greek yogurt, 1 egg yolk, 1 tbsp flour, salt, pepper

10 mint leaves, 1 tbsp butter

2 cups Turkish medium grain rice

 

Nutella Cake

A good halve jar of Nutella is sitting in my cupboard and gets older. It is time to use it before the expiration date.

I haven't baked a cake in a while. Not true, I baked one at Easter. But a good helping of cake for the weekend and some leftovers for the co-workers at the office the other day is great.

It is a batter that goes in a 30 cm loaf tin. It took a while to find the right one, since I had to stick them in different places in my new kitchen.

The preparation is pretty standart. It took me just a good while longer, since I dropped the flour and starch mix all over the place. I had to clean up and start fresh. My clumsy day.

Recipe:

225 g soft unsalted butter, 250 g sugar, 1 tbsp vanilla sugar

5 eggs, 200 g Schmand (1/3 sour cream, 2/3 creme fraiche)

180 g Nutella, 200 g flour, 50 g potato starch, pinch of salt, 3 tsp baking powder

Chocolate cover:

200 g 50% chocolate, 50 g butter, 50 ml double cream

Preheat the oven 180 C fan

In a standmixer with the whisk attachment beat butter, sugar and vanilla sugar until creamy. Add the eggs, one after an other.

Now add Schmand and Nutella (warm it in the microwave a little to get it out easier).

In a separat bowl mix the dry ingredients. Add them to the wet ones and just combine them. Do not overmix the batter. Use a silicon spatula to scrape the bowl sides and bottom to make sure, there are no flour pockets left.

Spray the loaf tin or use butter. Fill in the batter and cook for 55 to 60 min.

Take it out of the tin after 15 min and let it cool down. Over a Bain Marie melt butter, chocolate and cream and spread it on the cake.