Pasta con le Sarde

I ate this dish on my second trip to Sicily. Since that time I wanted to try it at home. 

The food on the island was special. It showed the influences of the various people that had the reign over the island in centuries.

But the recipe fell off the to -cook -list completely. But I stumbled over an older YT video of Spaghetti con le Sarde and it went back on the list. Checking a lot of different websites I found several recipes. All were bit different. I made my own version.

Recipe for 2:

160 g Buccatini pasta, 1 can sardines, 3 anchovis, 1 medium yellow onion, 60 g raisins, 1 bulb of fennel, olive oil, 60 ml white wine, 80 ml tomato passata, lemon zest

2 cloves of garlic, 60 g Panko breadcrumbs, 1 tsp fennel seed, 30 g pine nuts

This is a bit tricky to get everything ready on time.

Best start with the pine nuts. Toast them in a dry pan without burning them. Put them in a bowl for later.

Use the same pan to toast the fennel seeds. When they smell nice, put them in a pestel and mortar and grind them. Peel the garlic and put it in the same pan with a good gluck of oil. Heat up and toss the fennel powder in. Now add the panko and let it get color. Take it out and set aside.

Cut the onion into strips. The fennel bulb in fine pieces too. Keep the green fonds for later. Now start the pasta.

In a large pan saute onion, anchovis and fennel until softened. Add raisins and wine and let that cook down completely. 

Take the sardines out of the oil and pat them dry. Flake them a bit.

Add passata and pine nuts and cook a bit. Now in with the sardines. Season with lots of pepper but be careful with the salt. Add enough pasta water to keep the sauce at a good consistency.

Drain the pasta and stir them through the sauce.  Plate, add breadcrumbs and a little lemon zest and fennel fonds.

Rhubarb Crumble

The rhubarb season is almost over. I haven't cooked anything with it this year. Today is the day.

A bit of dessert after  the Beluga lentil salad sounded good. The rhubarb compote is pretty simple to make. Just do not underestimate the amount of sugar you will need to compensate for the sourness. I had some field rhubarb. That is just a bit red on the outside, but completely green on the inside. 

To give it a bit rounder touch I cooked it in red Tawny Port Wine.

I love a good crumble. But one that is a bit crunchy and chewy. The best way to get that is a mixture of flour and oats. 

Recipe:

500 g rhubarb, 50 - 70 g sugar, vanilla, 75 ml Port wine, pinch of salt,

1 tbsp Vanilla pudding powder

90 g butter, 85 g flour, 40 g oats, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp salt, 120 g sugar

Clean the rhubarb and cut it into 1,5 cm pieces. Put it in a small saucepan and add the other ingredients. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and cook until the rhubarb is tender, but not mushy. 

 

It is no problem to cook the rhubarb the day before. Just mix the pudding powder in before you put it into the baking dish.

Make the crumble. I prefare to take a knife and cut the ingredients together. Only touching them before I start to crumble them over the rhubarb.

Bake for 30 min at 180 C. Serve with some whipped cream.

Beluga Lentil Salad with Buffalo Mozzarella

ALDI had a picture of a beluga lentil salad with mozz in one of the pre Xmas ads. The idea and the cut out rested on my recipe stack since then. There was no recipe attached, just add for balsamic vinegar.

I bought some organic beluga lentils last week and a ball of buffalo mozz. The picture  of the cooked lentils looked pretty black. It did no contain any kind of veggies. A salad without veggies, what kind of salad is that?

I added tiny pieces of yellow bell pepper and  small chunks of white and green parts of a spring onion.

The tiny bok choy were dipped into the lentil pot for 30 seconds to wilt down. Careful not to scoop uncooked lentils out with them. Cook the lentils without salt. They will take 20-25 min.

With lots of fresh herbs from my new balcony collection I boosted the dish.

The beluga salad at the ALDI ad was deep black. It was either covered in a balsamic glaze or cooked with the use of food coloring. Beluga lentils loose some of their solid black color after cooking.

Ingredients for 2:

110 g beluga lentils, 2 buff mozz

Mini bok choy, yellow bell pepper, spring onion, lots of fresh herbs, 1 avocado and lemon juice

Black Hawaiian salt, black pepper, balsamic vinegar and olive oil, 

Pork Loin with an Onion Cap

This recipe is sooo old. My BFF made it often when she had guests. I have cooked a couple of times too, but long before I started blogging. It is comfort food, no diet food!

This Saturday I went on to a morning trip to a butcher in the middle of the Odenwald. A hill country not far from where I live. About 45 min by car. My BFF gave me a gift certificate for the butcher shop to get me out of the house and out of my working from home funk. I used that and shopped groceries in an other supermarket chain. I found lots of new things that will keep me busy in the kitchen for a while.

For this dish you just need a pan and the baking dish in the oven.

Preheat to 200 C

Recipe for 2:

340 g pork loin, 1 kg onions, 4 garlic cloves, 150 g raw ham in slices

2x 200 g creme fraiche, fresh or frozen mixed salad herbs, salt and pepper, olive oil

Use what ever kind of onions you have at home. I used a mix of yellow and red onions, shallots and spring onions. The small ones cut into rings, the large ones cut into strips. Chop the garlic. Use a wide pan and some oil. Sauté the onions until soft. Use a lid, that makes it easier. Take out of the pan to cool down a little.

Mix with creme fraiche and herbs.

Season the onions. Clean the silver skin off the pork loin and cut it into 2 cm slices. Season them lightly.  Place the ham in a baking dish and set on each one a piece of pork loin. 

Cover with the onion cream mix. Bake for 20 min. Serve with rice.

The dish can be eaten cold as well.

 

Chicken and Potato Casserole

This a the newest recipe from Donal Skehan. I watched the video 2 days ago and knew I had to make this. It is a One Pot Dish.

What is not to like? The only thing that is different to his recipe is the salad in the dish. Baby Gem Lettuce was not available today in the supermarket. I had some iceberh lettuce at home and used that. Not much difference.

 

This is do tasty. And the amount of work in the kitchen is tiny. And even better, just one pan to clean afterwards.

Recipe for 2:

4-6 boneless chicken thighs, 80 g bacon bits

Salt and pepper, 80 ml white wine, 350 ml chicken stock, 4 stalks thyme, oil and butter

400 g small potatoes, 150 g defrosted peas, 3 spring onions, 2 chunks of lettuce

In a large pan with a lid heat up 1 tbsp oil and brown the bacon bits in it. Take them out. Season the chicken and add a good amount of butter to the pan and place the chicken in skin side down. Brown and then turn. Add wine and thyme. Bacon and stock.

Get the potatoes in and bring to a boil. Cover with a lid and reduce the heat and cook for 15 min. Check if the potatoes are nearly done.

Cut the spring onions in 7 cm pieces and add them with the peas and the lettuce to the pan. Cover and cook for 5 more min. 

Serve and enjoy.

 

Chocolate and Sour Cream Bundt Cake

The original recipe is from the blog twopeasandtheirpod. But as usual I changed a few things. Since I am now the owner of high quality Red Cameroon cocoa and Black Cocoa, I had to use it. I am now looking forward to the taste experiance. Simple Dutch pressed cocoa as used in the recipe does not do it for me now. And I added coffee granuals to the water too.

The preparation is simple. Just use a casserole and a big mixing bowl. No stand mixer needed. I bought two Danish metal dough whisks with wooden handles. One is perfect for this batter.

Recipe for a 24 cm bundt cake pan:

1 cup unsalted butter + some for the pan

1/3 cup red Cameroon cocoa+ 1 tbsp black cocoa

1 tsp salt, 1 heaped tsp instant coffee, 1 cup water

2 cup ap flour + enough to flour the pan

1 3/4 cup sugar, 1 1/2 tsp baking soda

2 eggs, 1/3 cup Smetana or sour cream, 1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 175 C. Butter and flour the bundt cake pan.

In a casserole mix water, coffee, butter, salt, cocoa bring up to heat an melt together and set aside.

Sift flour and baking soda and add sugar and stir well. Pour in 1/3 of the butter mix, stir and repeat until all liquid is in. Add one egg, stir then the other.

Whisk in smetana and vanilla extract. Make a smooth batter and fill in the pan.

Bake for 40-45 min. Let it rest in the pan for 15 min. Get it out on a wire rack to cool.

I put one third of the cake directly in the freezer for my trip end of next week to a good friend who loves cake.

Asparagus Frittata with Wild Garlic Paste

A light dinner and a chance to get rid of some asparagus that was still sitting in the veggie drawer. 

Green asparagus is great for pan frying and keeps its structure very well. Together with strips of a large onion and a couple of eggs a nice dinner is on its way in less then 30 min.

Just break off the ends of the asparagus, wash it and cut it in 2 cm pieces. Make onion strips. Saute the onions first in oil for 3 min, add the asparagus and cook 5 more min. Season and put some herbes de Provence in.

I used a mix of eggs and double cream to get a lighter constistency and added salt, pepper and smoked paprika to the eggs. Pour over the veggies and on medium low heat with lid let it set. Depending how you like your eggs that can take up to 10 min. Make sure the bottom does not burn. It will be the top later.

Slather with wild garlic paste.

Ingredients:

200 g green asparagus, 1 medium large yellow onion, 3 tbsp olive oil, salt and pepper, herbes de Provence

3 eggs, 80 ml double cream, salt and pepper, smoked paprika, wild garlic paste