menus inspired by Sophie Calle's "chromatic diet"

This is a project of contemporary artist Sophie Calle. I immediately loved  its playfulness and  knew I wanted to try it myself . So from tomorrow I will come up with my own six monochromatic meals. Although I must say that the orange Monday with the puré of carrots, the prawns and the cantaloupe comes  so close to perfection that  I might use the original menu!

Lunch at Deli Elements

There's a very nice Deli just beside Zeitenströmung, Dresden, Königsbrücker Straße 96.

Recently I went there with a friend, and our mission "lunch" was a true success!  I recommend you give it a try if you are in the area.  The atmosphere is relaxed, food and wine delicious!

If you happen to stand in front of the Elements Restaurant (hungry as we both were) looking for the  Deli,  just follow the street in direction of the beautiful fountain; it's the small door on the left!

The Restaurant, very modern and edgy, located in a huge manufacturing hall, only opens in the evening.

late night anger fit

Why am I not able to place two photos next to each other? No tutorial? No simple and easy way to deal with this problem?  Picasa? Photoshop? I've no idea.... Help!

The original title of this post should have been "late night cooking"...

Gründonnerstag - the day we traditionally eat something green

My proposal for your Summer Breakfast:

A few months ago I bought an amazing Almwiesenmuesli (= MOUNTAIN PASTURE MUESLI). Beautiful to look at, in a bottle, with dried yellow and blue  mountain pasture blossoms  between grains and roasted nuts.. I know you understand me, I just had to buy it because it looked fresh and healthy (still colours are reason enough to buy something!...)

We all know this: too often nicely coloured food looks better than it tastes. NOT THE ALM MÜSLI! It tasted so good that when I had finished the original Muesli bottle I decided to buy all the ingredients and assemble my own slightly improved  (additional choco chips!) version.  

Intrigued?? This is the recipe:

Almwiesenmuesli

3 cups of oat flakes 

3 cups of wheat-barley-buckwheat flakes

1cup of amaranth poppies

1/2 cup of green raisins

1/4 cup of hazelnuts, chopped and roasted

1/4 cup of almonds, chopped and roasted

1/4 cup of pine nuts, roasted

1/4 cup of apricot nuts, chopped and roasted

1/4 cup of cedar nuts, roasted

1/4 cup of pumkin seeds, roasted

1/4 cup of psyllium

1/4 a cup of chocolate chips

and not to forget: some dried, edible flowers . If you shouldn't have the possibility right now to harvest your own mountain pasture flowers, take flowers from your garden or get some from the wholefood shop.

Put all the ingredients into a big bowl and mix well. To store I recommend  a high glass jar or a paperbag.

For breakfast fill a handful of Muesli into a bowl, add a bit of hot water to smoothen it, add half a grated apple or pear, a teaspoon of flaxseed or a teaspoon of flaxseed oil (for the culmination of positive effects) and voilà: the perfect healthy summer breakfast. Of course, you may substitute my finishing proposals by milk, yoghurt, fruit juice or whatever you prefer. Enjoy!

Antipasti in the sun

Lazy sunny weekend- like the beginning of an amazing holiday on a wooden three-master in the Mediterranean..  or at least in an ancient monastery in Florence.

the big spring cleaning followed by a big artichoke dinner

Yes, March seems to become a "food" month, I'm aware of it. But  anyway, the weather was so bad until now, so grey, that I didn't feel like going out.  I felt like staying  at home, playing Mozart quartets, cooking, waiting for the sun... April will be more "outdoor", I promise!

And coming to the artichokes; we cooked them as a whole and ate them with a yoghurt dip. So yummy!

How to cook and eat whole artichokes:

Rinse  the artichokes in running cold water. In a large pot, put water , a clove of garlic, a slice of lemon, a bay leaf and salt. Add the artichokes. Bring to boil and let it simmer until the outer leaves can easily be pulled off.

The dip: yoghurt, salt, pepper, lemon, olive oil and fresh herbs, like chopped chives and parsley, mixed together.

Once cooked, pull off outer petals, one at a time.
Dip fleshy end in the sauce. Grip the other end of the petal, place in mouth and pull through teeth to remove soft, pulpy,delicious portion of the petal. Discard remaining petal. Continue until all petals are removed.
With a spoon scrape out the fuzzy part covering the heart of the artichoke. The remaining bottom is the heart. Dip it into the sauce and eat.  Enjoy!

Ground Peanut Brittle

Still ice on the lake today.

Schlossteich, Moritzburg

In my kitchen a bowl of leftover roasted and salted peanuts from the last party. STANDING THERE FOR DAYS. Strange ideas about  homemade peanut butter  had already passed my mind when I stumbled upon an amazing recipe in one of my favourite food Blogs  EatMakeRead by Kelly Carámbula.  Ground Peanut Brittle! After having left Kelly a spontaneous "Thank you"note I went straight to the kitchen to adapt her recipe to my needs.

This meant to wash off the surplus of salt, to dry and ground the peanuts. For the rest I followed Kelly's recipe to the letter.  DIVINE!

8:00 p.m.

Homemade Blood Orange Jam

I hope this recipe comes  still in time....

because usually the good quality sicilian blood oranges are sold  by the end of February. If nevertheless you decide to have a try in your own kitchen, you should start  NOW with the adventure race in search for the last organic blood oranges. I promise it's worth the effort: this Jam is to die for!

"La Marianna" is not organically grown. I bought 1kg of organic oranges ( for peel and juice) and 1kg of the regular "Marianna" (for juice).

peel, pulp and juice

The recipe

2kg      blood oranges, zested and pressed (should yield 1l of juice)

500g    sugar

2 tbs    apple pectin

100ml freshly pressed lemon juice

Instead of sugar and apple pectin, you may use 500g of  "2:1 sugar" containing already the pectin.

Zest the organic oranges with a zesting tool. Then squeeze the oranges  and the lemon. Add also the pulp of the oranges. Add the zests of 2 oranges. Should yield 1l altogether.

Add sugar and apple pectin, bring to boil stirring constantly. I cooked the mixture for 10 minutes always stirring. If you are not sure if the jam is ready, place a small amount on a chilled plate. If it wrinkles 

the jam is ready to be filled in glasses.

Spread  the remaining zests on a baking paper, sprinkle with sugar and let them dry during the night.

Next morning you'll find a most delicious candied treat!

Crossover Lentil Soup

My everyday cooking for lunch often develops like this: " Hm, it feels like soup today "(you may exchange the soup for vegetable, fish, polenta or salad, whatever my stomach suggests to my brain or vice versa).
Next I  look for the necessary ingredients while reminiscences of recipes start dancing in my mind. The Thai-Vinaigrette?  Or  a mixture of China spices and white wine?  Should I browse  the  "The Modern Vegetarian" for inspiration which is my favourite cookbook right now? Or should I pestle some of the exotic pinecone shaped pepper I got for Christmas?

As to the lentil soup of the picture I first cooked the lentils with greens- the traditional way. Thereafter I switched over to the intuitive part -  the seasoning and tasting with crossover-surprise-ingredients. So my recipe will be structured in a precise part and in a playful one. The measures of the second part will be only approximate!!!

Hope you'll love your own very special result!

Traditional part:

250 g            lentils
a bunch of    greens without the celery
2                   tomatoes, chopped
1                   onion, chopped
2 l                 water

Cook the lentils for about half an hour until smooth. The exact time varies depending on the sort of lentils and if you have soaked them before or not.


Intuitive part:
Add to the so far traditional lentil soup

Soy sauce                      start with 4 tbs
olive oil                        2 tbs
Balsamico Creme          4 tbs; maybe more: the lentils require a lot of acidity
ginger                           a small piece  (1-2cm), grated
white wine                    a glass; with the help of the wine I washed the ginger off the grater
China spice mixture       1 tbs, pestled
Long pepper                  4; pestled together with the China spices. Long pepper tastes very similar to
                                      normal black pepper, maybe a bit warmer. Just replace it in case you don't
                                     store  the long version...
turmeric                         a pinch of
Tabasco sauce                a few dashes
                                    
salt , pepper , more soy sauce, more balsamico vinegar...????

Cafe Fernando

Browsing food blogs some days ago I made an amazing discovery: Cafe Fernando by Cenk who describes himself as a "food blogger, novice photographer, seasoned home baker and a shameless chocoholic from Istanbul, Turkey".
Food Blogger: no doubt about; novice Photographer: a big NO to "novice", his photos are outstanding, real works of art, supermotivating; shameless chocoholic : makes him absolutely and utterly adorable!

As I got to know today independently of each other my daughter, my cousin and I discovered Cenk's Blog and fell in love with the Best chocolate mousse of your life...

having Turkish Coffee in our tree house

  

Oven-baked carrots with olive oil and fresh marjoram

Last weekend I bought a whole armfull of fresh herb pots and so turned my windowsill into a summerly smelling little mediterranean garden. Italian parsley, chives, chervil, lemon balm, marjoram, thyme and rosemary... Best preconditions to prepare a simple and aromatic dish like the carrots with marjoram!


You just need carrots, a 1st class sea salt, a 1st class olive oil and some sprigs from the marjoram pot.

Spread the sliced carrots on a tin foil, sprinkle with sea salt, add some olive oil and top with the marjoram sprigs.
Close the foil and put it into  the oven for 20 minutes at 200°C.

It's a perfect light and healthy dinner!

on the way to Dippelsdorfer Teich, Moritzburg

Mascarpone Yoghurt with Muscobado Sugar and Red Fruit

So soft and sweet and rich! It absolutely has the potential to make you addict. It's summer and happiness. Exactly what I need in this moment.... And it's so easy to prepare:

For 4 servings


250g          Mascarpone
200g          mild plain creamy yoghurt
3-4 ts         Muscobado sugar plus additional Muscobado for the topping
fresh or soft dried red fruit

Mix Mascarpone,yoghurt and sugar.
Spoon it in glasses and top generously with more Muscobado sugar and red fruit.
Enjoy!

Homemade Pizza Ten Cheeses... or maybe eleven?

Sunday - the perfect day to prepare  homemade  pizza! Everybody loves it and its so easy to prepare!

Well, lets see what fridge and basement have to offer: red bell peppers, onions, olives, no Mozzarella - but instead plenty of cheese -  goat, cow, sheep, and of course, flour and tomatos.


So follow the images to find out how it is made:

The dough (for 2 baking trays):

400 g                   flour

1 sachet               dry yeast

a pinch of            paprika powder

1 tbs                    whole cane sugar

a pinch of            pepper

1/2 ts                   salt

300 ml                 lukewarm water

Mix all the ingredients and knead the dough until smooth. Let it repose for half an hour.

Roll out with a rolling pin for 2 baking trays. Put it on the trays.

The tomato sauce:

750g                    tomatos, peeled and chopped

1/2 ts                   paprika powder

1/2 ts                   whole cane sugar

                            pepper, oregano and thyme , a pinch of each

                            salt

Cook without cover until the sauce starts to be creamy. Let it cool down and spread it on the dough.

Slice the onions, the bell peppers and the cheese and arrange it generously over the tomato pizza.

Add olives and whatever more you find in the kitchen.

Put it in the oven for 15 minutes at 225°C.

Enjoy!

New ways to shock my mum:

entirely black spaghetti!