Pumpkin and Parmesan Fritters

A Hokkaido pumpkin is the best kind to eat without peeling it. Just wash it.

To make it easier to cut it open, put it in the oven at 180 C fan for 15 min. That softens the pumpkin to be cut a lot easier.

Take out the seeds and either grate chunks on a box grater or do it like I did and put it in the Thermomix. Grate the Parmesan first in it and just pour it in the bowl.

Chop onion and garlic and add flour, eggs, 2 tbsp herbes de Provence to the bowl.

Salt, pepper, smoked paprika and the Parmesan follows. Take a large spoon and mix everything well together.

Use a large frying pan, pour in enough oil to cover the bottom. 

Heat up the oven to 80 C and store a plate inside.

Cook 3 to 4 fritters in one go, store them in the oven until all are made. Mix Greek yogurt with chives, salt and pepper and serve it with the fritters.

Ingredients for 3:

600 g shredded Hokkaido pumpkin

2 eggs

60 g flour

1 onion, 4 garlic cloves

3 -4 tbsp Parmesan

2 tbsp herbes de Provence, salt, pepper, smoked paprika

Oil for frying

, 

 

Ensalada Cebolla Paraguayan style

I love onions!

The Onion Episode by YT Beryl Shereshewski showed this very easy recipe. Eaten usually with meat. I will have it with salmon today. 

 

The sweet Vidalia onions are not available here. Instead I bought 3 huge "Gemüsezwiebeln" or vegetable onions. They are less strong and often used in large quantity dishes. 

This salad had just one onion and that was enough for 3 servings. Only add some tomatoes and fresh watercress and make a dressing.

To prevent a strong onion breath, put the fresh sliced onions in ice water for 5 min. Drain and add the dressing.

Putting a salad like this on a table where lots of grilled meats are served is a good alternative to more heavier salads like potato or pasta.

Dressing:

Juice 1 lemon

1 tsp agave syrup

3 tbsp olive oil

Lemon salt

Pepper

Watercress

Cinnamon and Plum Jam Buns

A cinnamon roll was the basic idea of this bake, but I wanted some jam inside too.

Plum jam and cinnamon butter work very well together. The only problem was that the filling was leaking out a bit. But I scraped it off the baking paper and stuffed in on top.

Covered under some creme cheese frosting, no problem at all and awesome tasting.

I used a wonderful fresh dough out of a package. No planning ahead to make some my own. But it was only a smaller portion and that was great for me.

Cinnamon spread:

50 g softened unsalted butter

60 g dark muscovado sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

40 g plum jam

Cremecheese frosting:

50 g cremecheese

1 tbsp soft butter

2 tbsp pink glitter icing sugar

Spread the cinnamon sugar butter mix all over the dough sheet.

Preheat the oven 180 C.

Dollop some small bits of jam all over and start rolling the dough up from the wide side.

Place baking paper on a baking sheet and with a sharp knife cut 8 to 10 pieces off. Set them on the paper, cover with a cloth and let them rest 15 min.

Bake for 15 min and let them cool down. Prepare the frosting and brush it all over.

 

Potato Sandwich filled with Tuna and Chard

Insta and TikTok are boosting this potato "Sandwich". I had to give it a try.

Very strait forward. Just peel the potatoes anf use a mandoline to cut 3 mm slices. Do not cut yourself on this razor sharpe blade, as I did.

Put baking paper on a baking sheet and lay down the potatoe slices like the skin of an amadillo. Brush them with a little oil and add grated cheese on top.

Bake at 180 C for 30 to 35 min. Take them off the paper and drape them over a long loaf tin to get some shape. 

Filling them was easy. Some tuna from a can and fresh picked chard. A couple of tomatoes and some seasoning were last.

 

Breakfast Soup Asian style

Soup for breakfast in Germany is very strange.

We are the land of bread eaters with either savoury toppings as in sausages or cheese or sweet toppings like jam, honey or Nutella. Butter as the line in between is a must.

I visited many countries that like a warm soup to start the day. A Japanese breakfast without a cup of Miso Soup is a lost cause.

Vietnam and other Asian countries see soups in the morning as the best call for a strong start in the day.

Today is the 3rd of October, a national holiday: Unification Day

A cold morning greeted with some soup! I had some chicken stock left over from yesterday. Some carrots and a huge spring onion  went in it first to get a bit soft. I checked the open noodle packages in my cupboard and found Soba and Somen noodles.

A bag of dried pancake pieces - better known as Flädle - gave some more structure to the soup. I usually add this small pieces to Okonomyaki instead of Tempura bits.

I cooked both noodles directly in the stock with the softened veggies. I dropped two eggs in as the protein and let them set in the heat of the soup.

Last some Korean soup soy sauce, sesame seeds and some dried chives.

Ingredients:

650 ml chicken stock

2 tbsp Korean soup soy sauce

2 carrots, 1 spring onion

2 eggs

3 tbsp dried pancake strips

60 g Soba noodles

20 g Somen noodles

Pepper, dried chives, sesame seeds

Filo Crinkle with Salami RS

What kind of Salami is Salami RS?

Porsche and AUDI use the RS on some of their models and it means Rennsport as in race sport.

Today I was at EDEKA supermarket and went to the butcher there to buy some Salami. I went for the Italian kind with the fennel seeds. While I was waiting that the Salami was run through the slicer, I saw the offer of the day:

Rennsportsalami

Or Salami RS

A package of Filo pastry was sitting in the fridge for a very long time. The recipe I wanted to do with it got shelfed a long time ago. But this kind if pastey dough keeps.

Eggs, Butter, Cheese, Milk, Cream and Seasoning were the only things needed.

The most boring thing is folding the pastry sheets like an accordion. 25 accordions later and the right size of baking dish found, I stuffed the Rennsportsalami in between the sheets. Melted butter helped too.

The liquid on top and in the oven at 180 c fan for 25 min

Napa Cabbage and Chili Fritters

The Koreans often use different kinds of veggies to make delicious pancakes.

I had a small head of Napa Cabbage sitting ol the counter. A quick check through my Asian cooking box gave me a bag of Thai "Tempura" style flour. 

That was elevated by two eggs, spices and water and cabbage, fresh harvested chili and 1 spring onion. An easy way to combine everything.

I eyeballed the amount of flour. It just needed to coat the veggies lightly, not cover them completely. The eggs helped with the structure.

I served them with Kalamansi Soy and Sweet Chili Sauce.

Ingredients:

1/2 head small Napa Cabbage

1 green onion, 1 red chili

2 eggs

Thai Tempura flour

Pepper, salt, 1 tsp Gochugaru hot pepper flakes

Water

Frying oil for a shallow fry