Smoked Bell Pepper Soup

This is a recipe from Chef Ali Güngörmüs. But I made my own version.

It is an easy work to do. Good to cook when watching 24h Le Mans. 

The main seasoning of this soup are smoked paprika and fresh thyme.

The Chef recommended toasted walnuts to add as crunch on top. But I have an open package of sunflower seeds, they need to be eaten.

Chopping everything and starting onion and garlic in butter. The peppers are added and a bit of celery stalk. Let it get some color and then add hot water, veg stock paste and thyme. Lots of smoked paprika for color and taste is next. A shot of Noilly Prat helps too.

Let it cook covered on medium heat for 15 min. Pick the thyme stalks out and use a stickblender to make a coarse soup.

The creme fraiche goes on top together with chopped parsley and sunflower seeds.

Ingredients:

1red bell pepper, 1 yellow pepper, 1 celery stalk

2 green onions, 4 garlic cloves

2 tbsp butter

5 thyme stalks

3 tsp smoked paprika

2 tsp veg stock paste

2 tbsp Noilly Prat

500 ml water

4 tsp creme fraiche

Pepper

Sunflower seeds, parsley

Watermelon Feta Sandwich

I still watch too much Reels. But this one is a winner!

Instead of slapping Feta, Tomatoes and Greens on some slices of bread, use the low carb version. Great for warm Summer days.

But it tastes great without Summer weather too. Until now, mid June, we are still far away from Summer vibes. It is cold and rainy.

But watermelons from Spain are back in the supermarkets. With all the telltale signs on the outside checked, I found a sweet and ripe one.

First step: cut the melon in the middle. Take one piece and set it cut side down on a board. Cut off a quarter on each side, that gives you a cube. Now put it on one side and cut off two "sandwich" slices - about 2 to 3 cm thickness.

Take a slice of feta cheese and carefully cut it in 2 parts to have thin slaps. 

Tomatoes, fresh herbs with basil and some seeds for chrunch. I had some sunflower seeds on the counter. But use what you like. Even chopped nuts will work great.

Do not forget to season the watermelon sandwich slices with salt and pepper. Add all ingredients and drizzle good quality balsamic cream over it.

Put the second slice on top and add more seeds and balsamic cream.

Have fun eating it. I recommend knife and fork :-)

Carrot Salad in Low Fat High Protein Mayo

Just an other carrot salad! But a good one.

The low fat mayo keeps in the fridge for 2 weeks at least. Now was the time to use some of it. 2 Carrots in the fridge were on their last leg, but still good to eat. 

I decided to use my small boxgrater and the slicer part of it. Usually I only use this part to grate cucumbers.

This small grater makes very fine slices. The carrots got very fine too.

Ingredients:

2 carrots

1 spring onion, only the green part

Salt, pepper

3 tbsp Low fat high protein mayo

1 tbsp white vinegar

Mixed fresh herbs

Put all ingredients together and eat on its own. I served it with Greek Gyros on Rice.

Chickpeas in Tomato Sauce with Chard and Sausage

At a local butcher in Adenau I bought smoked sausages. One of them was left over and I took it home. 

These are mostly eaten cold with some bread or as a snack with some beer. But cooked in a vegetable dish is an alternative.

The chickpeas came from a can already seasoned and with the tomato sauce. The name on the can said: Nohut Pilaki - translated from Turkish it means Chickpea Stew.

I am growing colored chard on my balcony and behind the house in some pots. I only wanted to buy one plant at the garden center, but they only sold them in 12plant seedling boxes. I only used 9 of them and gave 3 plants to a neighbor.

Now I have lots of chard to eat over the summer

Heating up the stew was easy. I added the chopped chard and the sausage in bite size chunks. Some fresh ground pepper and that was it. I served it with some Basmati rice.

Canned Fish and Pasta

I am still in my holiday apartment at the Green Hell - Nürburgring- and after some hot laps around the track I was hungry. 

To go to a Restaurant was not on my list of things to do today. But I had packed a couple of things at home to create something with it.

Canned fish in tomato sauce is a staple in my household. But I eat it mostly with some bread.

But the cans are a lot more versatile. Put some of the fish in some lettuce leaves or eat them with Japanese short grain rice. Chop some of it up and put it in some onigiri.

My idea was a lot less hassle. Cook some pasta in vegetable stock. Open the can and shred the fish with a fork. Mix the tomato sauce with hot seasoned pasta water and put the pasta in.

Just some pepper and job done.

Warm Applestrudel with Vanilla Ice Cream

 A second day in a row eating cake!

I was in a Thermal Spa in the morning and enjoyed swimming in lots of warm water. After that I needed some pick me up. 

I am in a Spa town for a daytrip - Bad Bertrich- and took the chance to go inside an old cafe. The couple who ones it is the lower 70s.

There was a sign above the cake counter: a piece of cake has to have 300 g at least, otherwise it is a cookie.

The applestrudel caught my eye. And I opted for a piece with all the trimmings: vanilla ice cream and cream. That went great with the warm piece of cake.

A delight!

Coffee Stop on the Way to the Nürburgring

My new hobby is calling me again. No, not cake eating! But driving the most dangerous racetrack in the world. The legendary Green Hell.

After a bit more than 2 hours on the German Autobahn, no not all the way derestricted, I arrived in Adenau.

Before checking in at my holiday apartment, I needed to pick up some groceries. The big supermarket has a large coffee shop and bakery attached to it.

I know it from other trips up here that the quality is great. Today there were a lot of people occupying the tables. But I found a spot. Dutch and Brits were the majority.

The selection of Danishes and cakes was big. It took me a couple of seconds to make a choice.

Orange Cheesecake and a large Cappucchino!