Potato Soup with Bacon

This soup is the result of my bimonthly fridge raid. The veggie drawer held a lot of single pieces and small amounts of leftovers. 

On the other shelfs I found a container of  this weeks mashed potatoes and a package of smoked bacon. That was slightly over its expiration date. But trust your nose and eyes and you are able to decide to eat it or to chuck it out.

Thinking about a flavour enhancer,  I took out the container of white miso paste. For a bit more richness some cream cheese. In the door of my fridge was some veg stock left in a jar. Out with it and in the soup.

Ingredients:

250 g mashed potatoes, 100 g smoked bacon bits, 1 tsp oil

2 spring onions, 4 garlic cloves, 2 carrots, 1/2 leek, 2 celery stalks

250 ml veg stock, 300 ml water, 1 stock cube

4 tbsp cream cheese, 1tbsp miso paste, pepper

Start the bacon in a little oil. Chop onions and garlic and add that to the bacon. Cut up all the other veggies. 

Pour in the stock and the water and add the stock cube and miso paste.

Now in with all the veggies. Cook for 15 min. Take a stick blender and make the soup creamy. Add pepper and cream cheese. Check if salt is needed.

Lambs Lettuce Smoothie with Carrots and Almonds

A smoothie was not planned when I bought the lambs lettuce. 

But change of plans is my usual business. I looked for a recipe to get rid of some salad.  Kale is the green of choice for many smoothies, but not for me. Kale is not one of my veggies I often use.

The combination of lambs lettuce and juices is great. 

Recipe for 2:

250 ml orange juice, 1 lime, 1 knob ginger, 1 tsp agave syrup, 1 tsp olive oil

90 g lambs lettuce, 1 banana, 1 apple, 2 carrots

2 tbsp toasted almond flakes

Put carrots, apple, banana, ginger, olive oil,  lime and agave syrup in a strong blender and make a finer consitency. Add almonds, lambs lettuce and orange juice and give that a final whirl.

Golden Milk Pasta

This is a sweet pasta!

Serve it as a dessert or as a sweet light meal. I found the vegetarian recipe in the same ALDI magazine as the Onion and Apple Soup

I made my own version of the recipe. It is easy to prepare. The only downside is, you have to stay at the hob and stir very often.  Manage the temperature to prevent the milk from boiling over and the pasta from burning on the bottom of the pot.

I have a spice pot Golden Milk and added Tumeric and Cinnamon.

Recipe for 4:

300 g short pasta, 1 liter whole milk, 50 g butter

1 tbsp light brown sugar, 1 tsp vanilla paste, 1/2 tsp tumeric, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp Golden Milk

50 g sliced toasted almonds, 4 tsp honey

Applesauce

In a large pot melt the butter and get the pasta in. Like risotto stir the pasta in the butter for 2 min. Add the milk.

Now add Golden Milk, cinnamon, tumeric, sugar and vanilla paste. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium to medium low later and stir every 3 to 5 min. Cook until the pasta is done, not too al dente! 

In a clean pan toast the almonds until they get some color, don't let them burn.

Divide in 4 portions and top with almonds and drizzle with honey. Serve with applesauce.

Mushroom Sauce with mashed Potatoes

Keeping a meat free dish was my aim for today. 

I saw a guy on a REEL raving about it. My punnet of brown button mushrooms was still 3 / 4 full and still very good. A waste to let them sit more days in the fridge. Potatoes are sitting in a pail waiting to he cooked. No better way to get the dish done.  

The mash was made in my Thermomix as always. Why change something thst works perfectly fine? I cleaned the mushroom with a little brush - mushroom shaped :-) and only cut the bigger ones up. A bit of garlic and a green onion as flavour enhancer. The sauce was made with a roux and the last of my homemade veg stock. Some soy sauce helped with the color and the deeper taste. 

Recipe for the sauce:

150 g brown button mushrooms

2 garlic cloves, 1 spring onion, 1 tbsp rapeseed oil

Salt and pepper, thyme

2 tbsp butter, 2 tbsp flour, just enough stock for a creamy sauce, 3 tbsp soy sauce

Heat up the pan to high and lightly oil it. Drop in the mushroons and WAIT, keep your hands off the pan for a couple of minutes. The mushrooms will shrink without watering out. Stir and cook a while longer. Add chopped garlic and onions and reduce the heat. NOW you can season them with salt, pepper and thyme.

Get them out of the pan. Melt the butter and add the flour. With a silicon spatula or whisk stir until golden. Gradually add some stock and stir to prevent lumps. When you have a creamy sauce, add the mushroons and cook them for 2 more min.

Pour over the mash and enjoy. 

Onion and red Apple Soup- vegan

ALDI had their own Veganuary magazine in January. I just had time to look through it. 

This recipe is easy as a light meal or as a starter for 4. Not too much work. The only thing you will need is a sharp knife and a pot.

The combination with good croutons makes it a easy dish when you look for something light.

Recipe:

2 small red apples, 5 medium red onions

50 ml apple cider vinegar, 1 tbsp coconut oil

500 ml veg stock homemade

Salt, pepper, herbes de Provence, fresh thyme

3 slices of walnut bread, 2 tbsp olive oil

Peel the onions and slice it in thin rings. Take the core out of the apples and cut it in slices.

In a pot melt the coconut oil and toss in the onions, give it 2 min and then add the vinegar. Close the lid, reduce the heat and let it cook 10 min. 

Now in with the apples, stir for 2 min and season. Pour in the veg stock. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and cover. Cook for 15 min.

Cut up the bread and in some olive oil brown it.

 

Gochujang and Strawberry Sweet and Spicy Sauce

Served over Air fryer chicken wings.

I wanted some Gochujang sauce with my wings. The box with the fermented chili sauce is going to be empty soon. This sauce is a good way use it up.

I looked through Pinterest to find some ideas for a sauce. One caught my eye with an unusual ingredient, strawberry jam.

I have an jar of homemade strawberry jam sitting on my counter. Just opened last weekend. What better way to use some of it.

Recipe:

3 heaped tsp Gochujang, 3 heaped tsp sugar

6 tsp strawberry jam, 2 tbsp rice vinegar

2 garlic cloves, 1 knob ginger

5 tbsp water, 1 tsp honey

1/2 tsp salt, pinch 5 spice powder

1 tbsp ketchup

Grate garlic and ginger in a pot and all other ingredients. Bring to a boil. If it is too thick, add a bit more water. Cook 2 min and use.

Leftovers can be stored in a jar in the fridge up to 5 days. Reheat before using.

Tofu Brownie vegan

I usually do not eat Tofu, but for a Korean recipe I needed some firm tofu. I bought both kinds and then I had to something with it.

Today is the day. I looked up some sweet desserts and found the vegan brownie recipe by plant&soul. I reduced the amount of sugar and used my favourite Red Cameroon Cocoa.

And I can only say: WOW ! Best brownie I had in a very long time.

Recipe for a 22x22 cm or 9×9 inch baking dish. Bake it at 180 C or 350 F for 30 min.

230 g silk tofu,  260 g light brown sugar, 40 g muscovado sugar

150 g melted  organic coconut oil, 2 tsp vanilla extract

125 g flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 80 g Red Cameroon cocoa

Ganache:

200 g semi sweet 55 % chocolate chips, 1 tbsp  agave syrup,  2 tsp coconut oil, 115 g silk tofu, 

fleur de sel and more chocolate chips for decor.

Paper the baking dish. Mix flour, salt and cocoa in a bowl.

Melt the coconut oil and cool it down a bit. Drain the tofu. Mix the sugars and all other wet ingredients with the tofu until smooth. Use a spatula to fold the dry stuff in. Pour in the baking dish and use a off set palette knife to smooth it out.

Bake for 30 min and cool down completely outside in the cold or in the fridge.

Melt the chocolate chips with the coconut oil either in the microwave or over a pot of boiling water. Pour in a blender and add tofu, agave syrup and mix. Spread over the brownie.

Use more choc chips for deco and sprinkle some fleur de sel on top. Cool down in the cold for 30 min. 

Store leftover brownies in the fridge. Otherwise the gananche will fall apart.