Schiacciata di Patate

This is a potato flatbread from Tuscany.

It does not have yeast in it, it does not need time to rest and it is the answer to Foccacia.

This one is pretty easy and very basic. Upgrading the recipe should not be difficult.

 

I found it as a Reel on Insta. Gianos kitchen does easy recipes from his mother or Nonna.

Peel and grate the potatoes on a box grater. Add flour, water, oil, salt, pepper, Parmigiano and dry Italian herbs. A little overseasoning is good!

Spread it on baking paper and top with more seasoning and Parmesan.

Preheat the oven 200 C and bake for 20 to 25 min.

Ingredients:

360 g peeled and grated potatoes

200 g 00 flour

30 g olive oil

265 g water

Salt  pepper Italian herbs Parmesan cheese

Mixed Mushroom Sauce with Pasta

A big pile of oyster mushrooms and half a punnet of brown button mushrooms were waiting for a purpose. 

A low fat mushroom sauce sounded good to me. Just a teespoon of Chipotle oil, 150 ml homemade stock and 1 tbsp sour cream were enough for a tasty veggie sauce.

Mushrooms contain lots of water. To reduce that high heat at the beginning is important. That helps to evaporate the liquid. The moment salt hits the mushrooms, they get soft and let more moisture out. I always try to add salt last to the pan.

I used homemade stock as a base for the sauce and reduced it while cooking the mushrooms. Then the pasta went in to be finished in the pan and soak up some of the stock. Sour cream in and a little fresh parsley and the dish was ready to serve.

No cheese this time!

Ingredients:

100 g wide long pasta

100 g oyster mushrooms, 200 g brown button mushrooms

1 tsp Chipotle seasoned oil

3 green onions, 4 garlic cloves

150 ml veg/chicken stock, 2 tsp sour cream

Paraley

Salt, thyme, pepper

 

Lean Chicken and Vermicelli Soup

A warming soup with veggies and lean chicken breast.

The noodles in this soup are mung bean vermicelli. I have a couple of small packs sitting around. Now is a great time to use some of them. Not a lot of work to do with it, just drop them in a bowl and pour hot water on top. Let them sit for 10 minutes. I take my Korean sissors and cut through the vermicelli.

The chicken breast was used to prepare a lot of stock. A piece is now ripped to shreds and used in the soup.

From my punnet of brown button mushrooms I took out half of it. I cleaned them and cut them in the middle and placed them cut side down in a hot clean pan. No oil or butter. After 5 min I turned them and put a tiny bit of oil in the pan and some pepper. They went in the soup and still retained their shape.

A handfull of fresh herbs, a boiled egg and some carrot and celery were assambled. 

A dash of light Korean soup soy sauce finished the bowl.

Chicken Salad with Sweet Corn

Something to use up a cooked chicken breast.

From my homemade stock I had some chicken breast sitting in the fridge. I am not a huge fan of boiled chicken breast because it is often on the dry side. But I needed a bit of lean stock.

Chicken salad is sold here in small containers in the supermarkets. But when you check the ingredients lists, the amount of chicken is often less than 50 %. The veggie part is minor too. Meat is expensive and all kinds of sauces are not. 

That is the reason I do not buy any of those. I used a small can of sweet corn, 1/2 of a huge red bell pepper and lots of fresh chives. The base of the sauce was a mustard veggie mix and a little bit of sour cream and some tasty fruity vinegar. Just enough sauce to bind the ingredients together.

Recipe for 4:

1 1/2 cooked chicken breasts

1/2 to 1 red bell pepper

1 small can sweet corn

Bunch of chives

3 tbsp Bautz'ner mustard veggie cream, 3 tsp sour cream, 1 tbsp mild vinegar

Salt, pepper

Serve it with bread or eat it as a salad.

Dates and Peanutbutter covered in Chocolate

Date Bark went viral.

I watched a Reel on Insta - my downfall :-)

A fridge dessert when you crave something sweet and a little salty. But I did not top it with flakey salt. Too much is too much.

I was in the large supercenter this morning. There you will get everything, most of the time - but not today. I was looking for Medjul dates, the super soft ones. I only got the basic kind. But that went well in the recipe. I love dates more on the firm side.

And I bought some decent peanut butter, without palm oil and lots of added sugar.

I mixed 30 g of high quality milk chocolate with 100 g 80% dark chocolate and added some coconut oil to make it glossy. Melt it in the microwave in 30 sec blasts, stir in between.

A small piece broken off is enough to satisfy my craving. Back in the fridge with the stuff. It will last a longer period of time this way.

200 g dates destoned

50 g good quality creamy peanut butter

130 g chocolate

1 tsp coconut oil

Atlantic Catfish with Caper and Mustard Sauce

Use homemade stock as the poaching liquid for the fish and as the base for the sauce.

Poaching fish is one of the best methods for a healthy meal. The stock was low on salt and that helped too. The same stock went in the sauce. No flour needed, just a good bit of time to reduce the liquid until only 1/4 remained.

A little bit of butter and oil to sauté the green onions and then the stock went in the pan. On high heat I reduced it. The mustard and sour cream went in together with the roughly chopped capers. Just a bit of pepper and the sauce was done.

I served it with reheated rice and broccoli.

Recipe:

220 g Atlantic catfish

500 ml homemade veg/chicken stock

2 green onions

1 tsp butter, 1 tsp oil

2 tsp Dijon mustard, 2 tsp sour cream, 

3 tbsp capers

Divide the stock 400/100 ml. Heat up the 400 ml and poach the fish on low heat.

Sauté onions in butter and oil. Pour in the stock and reduce it on high heat. Add the other ingredients.

Smashed Broccoli with Cottage Cheese Low Carb High Protein

There is no need to heat up the oven for a single portion of smashed broccoli. Just use the Air Fryer.

The florets get cooked in salted water for 5 minutes, then drained and smashed with the bottom of a glass. But use whatever you have on hand to smash them.

I made a little seasoning paste to brush the florets with. Just a teaspoon of olive oil, some lemon juice, 1 tbsp grated grana padano, some garlic and onion powder and salt and pepper. A light coating is enough.

My air fryer does not need preheating. I put the smashed and brushed broccoli in and cooked it at 180 C for 10 minutes.

Cottage Cheese half fat was mixed with fresh chives and herb salt.  A very tasty kind of spread to go with the broccoli.