Warmed up Mozzarella and iced Cucumbers

This is a recipe from chef Tohru Nakamura from a Restaurant in Munich who writes recipes for the Sueddeutsche Zeitung.  I saw the picture and had the taste on my tongue. The ingredients are simple but as always I changed them to my possibilites and what I had in stock.

Take the plastic bag with the mozzarella ball out of the fridge and place it in a bowl with not boiling but hot water. Let it sit 10 - 15 minutes. Place the cucumber in the freezer for 10 minutes.
In the meantime raid the edible flowers in your garden or in the herb pots. I added a few tiny tomatoes and one baby bell pepper to the mix.
Get the fresh herbs together and you are ready to go,

recipe for 2:
125 g Mozzarella
1 medium sized garden cucumber
2 stalks of basil
2 stalks of mint
1 baby orange bell pepper
10 mini tomatoes
edible flowers
1 tsp dark sesame oil
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp rice vinegar
1 tsp  white balsamic vinegar
1 lime zest and juice
1 spring onion
salt and pepper

Make the dressing first.
Chop spring onion, mint, basil and place it in a jar. Add lime zest and juice, sesame and olive oil and the 2 vinegars. Season with salt and pepper.
Chop the deseeded bell pepper in tiny cubes.
Clean the flowers.
Take the cucumber out of the freezer and top and tail it. Use a speed peeler and peel off strips so that you have still a bit of peel on each strip. Discard the wet middle bit.
Place the cucumber strips in a bowl and dress it with the sauce. Let it sit a couple of minutes.
Take two deep plates.

Cut the mozzarella into two discs.
Half of the cucumber strips divide in the middle of both plates and set the mozzarella on top. Season with salt and pepper and place some cucumber curls on top.
Add the bell pepper cubes and tomatoes around and add the edible flowers and a bit of basil.
Pour the rest of the dressing on both plates.

Peas and Coconut Soup with Apple Sesame strips

This is a so fast and tasty recipe and it is based on organic products. I found it in a magazine issue from Germany´s major DM drugstore chain. They sell lots of organic dry store goods. I seldom catch the new news item there, but my BFF is collecting them for me and just takes out the recipe she thinks I might like. This recipe definetly is a winner.

recipe for 2:
2 spring onions
2 cloves of garlic
1 tbsp organic coconut oil
250 g frozen organic peas
250 ml veg stock
200 ml coconut milk
salt and pepper
1 tsp maple syrup
1 tsp apple vinegar

topping:
1 apple
1/2 lemon
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp unpeeled sesame
1 tbsp coconut oil

Chop onions and garlic and in coconut oil give them 3 minutes, add the frozen peas and the veg stock and cook for 10 minutes.
Add coconut milk and season with salt and pepper.
Use a stick blender and make a fine soup.
Add maple syrup and apple vinegar and the soup is ready.

While the peas are cooking, peel the apple and cut it into wedges. Drench with lemon juice. Coat in honey and sesame seeds. In a small pan heat up the coconut oil and toss the apple slices in. On medium heat brown the sesame a little.
Toss the slices in the soup and serve.

Indian Mango Rice Salad

I have a ripe mango in my fruit basket.

During the commute home I thought about something not sweet to eat containing that mango.
I arrived home and checked Google and found an idea. The recipe there was pretty basic and just contained 2 teaspoons full of curry powder. That is not my way of cooking Indian cuisine.
I gave the recipe a swift kick in the backside and came out with a salad that will be one of my future summer salads.It is soooo tasty and really fast to prepare.

recipe:
250 g Basmati rice
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp tumeric
1/2 tsp dried lovage
2,5 l salted water

1 ripe mango
120 g cherry tomatoes
3 spring onions
1 bunch chives
1/4 bunch parsley
1 lime zest and half of the juice

300 g Greek yogurt
2 tsp java curry powder
2 tsp agave syrup
1 tbsp rapeseed oil
salt and pepper

Cook the rice with the spices in the water and drain and let it cool down.
Peel the mango and cut the flesh in bite size pieces, set aside.
Chop spring onion and chives and parsley and half the tomatoes.
Mix that with the cold rice.
Make the dressing and mix that in the rice mix.
Add the lime zest and lime juice and the fresh mango pieces.
Serve and enjoy.

Broccoli Cashew and Potato bake

I did some brainstorming today to find a solution for a fresh broccoli I bought yesterday. It was a nasty rainy and stormy day and I dreamed about a hot soup. But my favourite soup with broccoli and peanutbutter. So what else to do with the head of broccoli.

I had a handfull of potatoes in my pail and they needed a purpose, I cleaned everything and tossed it in oil and spices. A cup of cashew nuts with paprika powder gave the final touch.

A nice dip with sweet chili sauce makes the dish complete.


1 head of broccoli
4 potatoes
50 g cashews
paprika powder
herbes de Provence
salt and pepper
olive oil
2 tbsp Greek yogurt
1 tbsp mayo
2 tbsp sweet chili sauce

Tomato Tarte Tatin

I have a bowl fresh harvested tomatoes sitting around and a small leaflet from an Italian organic grocer. I found a recipe there a couple of weeks ago. Now is the time to prepare it, because I bought a bag of fresh puff pastry dough last week.

Use an ovenproof pan and you can save on washing up. I have a tarte tatin pan for my induction hob and it works well.

recipe:
500 g cherry tomatoes or any others
1 puff pastry dough
2 tbsp of butter
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper
1 tsp dried oregano and some fresh one for decoration

Preheat the oven 200 C.
Cut the cherry tomatoes in half, the bigger ones into quarters and leaf the mini tomatoes as they are.
Melt the butter and add the sugar. When it becomes amber coloured, add the tomatoes, season with salt and pepper and oregano and cook on high heat for 5 minutes.
Add the balsamic vinegar and cook 2 minutes more. Shut the heat down.
Cut out the puff pastry in the size of the pan and place it over the tomato mix. DO NOT burn your fingers on the hot liquid!

Tuck the pastry in around the sides of the pan and stick it in the oven and bake for 20 minutes.
When it comes out, let it rest 10 minutes.
Put a large plate on top and turn it over.l
Decorate with some fresh Oregano leaves.

Blueberry Ketchup from Scandinavia

In my Garden magazine issue was a story about different countries and their BBQ styles.  This is the Swedish blueberry sauce that is served with flat bread and game meat.

I wanted to try this recipe for a month now and finally I bought some blueberries and I was ready to go. The taste of the warm ketchup was incredible and I want to prepare more of it as long as the blueberries are in season.

recipe for one small jar:
300 g blueberries
1/2 lime
60 g brown sugar
1 tsp sweet paprika powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp Ancho chili powder
1 tsp cinnamon
4 stalks of thyme

Place all ingredients into a pot and start to boil until the blueberries pop.
Reduce the heat and cook for 35 minutes until the mix gets syrupy.
Fill in a clean jar.

Nutella Banana Oat Muffins

They sound a bit healthier then the regular muffins and they seem to have not so much sugar.  But they taste amazing and a bit of Nutella makes everyone happy.

I wanted to bake them for a while now, but when I checked my small jar of the brown stuff I had way less in then I thought and the muffin baking was not happening.
I told my coworker about it and she gave me her second open jar that was bought for the holiday, opened and just 2 spoons of Nutella were eaten.

recipe for 12 muffins:
240 g flour
85 g oats
100 g brown sugar
2 ripe bananas
1 egg
60 ml rapeseed oil
125 ml buttermilk
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
12 tsp Nutella

Use a medium bowl and a kitchen machine.
Preheat the oven 175 C.
Sift flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda in a bowl.
In the kitchen machine mash the bananas, add all other ingredients except the Nutella and make a fine batter.

Use 12 papercups and line the muffin tray.
Fill the batter in 3/4 and put a tsp of Nutella on top of each.
Use a toothpick and swirl the Nutella in the batter.
Bake for 20 minutes.