Ottolenghi's hot and sour mushroom soup

Yotam Ottolenghi's cookbook Plenty More and the filters of VSCOcam : two things I enjoyed spending time with during the Christmas holidays . The hot and sour mushroom soup, photographed with the VSCOcam app in F3 filter, is a little taster for you. My family loved both of it!

Hot and sour mushroom soup (slightly adapted)

(serves six) 

1 tbs sunflower oil

3 small onions (roughly chopped)

3 medium carrots (peeled and sliced)

6 celery staks (sliced)

6 garlic cloves, peel and left whole

a chunk of fresh ginger root /peeled and sliced)

3 lemongrass staks, roughly chopped

6 prunes

1 red chili

(6 star anise; in brackets, because I didn't use any)

2 tbs tamari soy sauce

6 lime leaves

1tbs coriander, pestled

2 tbs red Tandoori paste ( instead of Tamarind paste, which I had not in my pantry)

toasted sesame oil to finish

a choice of mushrooms ( I used brown champignons, dried and soaked cèpes, chanterelles, shitaake and and chinese tungkow), sliced

juice of about 2 limes

coriander leaves

basil leaves

some peas ( green beans in the original recipe)

I also added a tbs of vegetable stock and I didn't discard the vegetables as Ottolenhi suggested. As we wanted a more filling meal I added some rice noodles to the soup. Perfect for a warming lunch. 

Begin by heating oil in a sauce pan and add the onion, carrot, celery, garlic and ginger. Cook on a high heat for about 5 minutes until the edges begin to colour. Pour in 2 2.5 liters of water and add the lemongrass, prunes, chilli, soy , lime leaves and coriander. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a low simmer and cook for 45 minutes.

Add the Red Tandoori paste , followed by the mushrooms and cook for 1 minute.Then add the remaining ingredients apart from the sesame oil, along with 1 1/2 teaspoons salt - and some instant  vegetable stock, if necessary. Allow to heat for a further minute.

Ladle into bowls and finish with a little drizzle of sesame oil in each bowl.

my lunch today

yellow and orange bell peppers, mushrooms and parmigiano

gingerbread berries and Caesar's potato salad

I love to bring something homemade to a barbecue with friends. Yesterday I fancied to prepare a potato salad with a  Caesar dressing and to experiment with mixed berries, Greek yoghurt and authentic gingerbread brought from my last visit to the English Lakelands.

The ingredients: gingerbread minced in a blender, greek yoghurt mixed with chantilly, topped with strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, woodland strawberries and juneberries.

Usually the way you prepare a potato salad reveals the region of Germany you come from. If it's made with mayo or broth, if it carries pickled gherkins, pieces of sausage or lots of fresh herbs. Yesterday I decided to try something new. Here are my ingredients:

Potato salad with Caesar dressing
2 kg potatoes, cooked and sliced
4 yellow tomatoes
4 spring onions
a bunch of radishes
parsley and chives

For the dressing:
a piece of grated parmesan
4 chopped anchovis
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
the juice of half a lemon
1 tablespoon mustard
liberal amounts of black pepper, salt, olive oil and vinegar

my lunch today: whole wheat pancakes, kohlrabi and lettuce

The ingredients

for the pancakes
an egg, whole wheat flour, milk, salt

for the kohlrabi
kohlrabi (young and tender), baby spring onions, baby garlic, dill butter

for the salad
leaves of lettuce, vinaigrette with mustard and parsley

the ingredients

When the butter has melted, add the kohlrabi, the onions and the garlic and stir-fry on medium heat until everything starts smelling nicely. Add a tiny bit of water and close the lid. Reduce the heat to minimum. Let it simmer for about 10 minutes.

If you look very closely at the chopped baby garlic you already can distinguish the future cloves.

Whilst the kohlrabi is being cooked I prepare the vinaigrette with mustard and parsley. Very nice the Austrian "Englischer Spezial Senf"  (a gift from a friend who swears  it is the best mustard he ever tried....)

gingered beans with hijiki

My international family of favourite green bean recipes (German with tomatoes, onions and vinaigrette, Spanish with fried garlic and almonds) welcomes a new brother in their midst: Asian gingered beans with hijiki.

This recipe is full of flavour and makes use of the beautiful hijiki algae, and fancy yet very easy to prepare.

dry and soaked hijiki

gingered beans  with hijiki (inspired by Alicia Silverstone)

1/2 cup dried hijiki
1 tablespoon tamari
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup onions, chopped
1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
pinch of sea salt
2 cups fresh geen beans
2 tablespoons grated ginger

Place the hijiki in a small bowl with hot water. Let it soak for about 30 minutes, then drain and rinse.

Combine the hijiki with the tamari, add waterto almost cover in a saucepan.Cook, uncovered over medium heat until the water has nearly evaporated.

While the hijiki cooks, heat the oil, add onion, garlicand salt and sauté for about 4 minutes, or until translucent. Add the green beans. Cover and cook until the beans are tender-crisp, about 5 minutes.
Add the hijiki and ginger.
Mix well and cook for 1 to 2 minutes longer to marry the flavours.

Enjoy!

ruby woo curry

The preparation is very simple and yet you will feel rewarded when serving this bright red dish. We named it after my favourite lipstick shade by MAC, Ruby Woo.

1/2 cauliflower, cut in small pieces
1 red bell pepper, chopped
4 small potatoes, chopped
1 beetroot, chopped
2 onions, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
2tbs olive oil
1 ts coriander powder
1 ts cumin
2 tbs coconut cream
2 cups water
salt to taste

First heat the oil. When hot add the coriander and the cumin. When they start darkening add onions and garlic. Always stirring add the vegetables in the following order: potatoes, beetroot, cauliflower. Then add the water. Let it simmer (about 10 minutes), then add the coconut cream and the red bell pepper. Let it simmer so that the flavours combine (about 15 minutes). Then check if all the vegetables are fully cooked and it's ready to serve. Add salt to taste.

For decoration and fresh flavour mint leaves, basil or lemon balm work perfectly. Add those just before serving and be careful that the dish is not to hot, because the herbs will blacken.

Enjoy!

April, 25th

{and snap - first outdoor lunch of the season}

Poached Quail Eggs on Roasted Radicchio

Poached Quail Eggs on Roasted Radicchio

(original recipe by Donna Hay, Food Illustrated  April 1999)

4 small radicchio, halved 

olive oil

2 tablespoons sage leaves

60g butter

8 quail eggs

Place the radicchio on a baking tray and sprinkle with olive oil, sage leaves and black pepper. Bake at 180°C /350°F for 20 minutes, or until the radicchio is soft.

Place the butter in a saucepan over a low heat and gently cook until it is a golden colour.

Poach the quail eggs in simmering water for 45-60 seconds (chicken eggs need 3 minutes to be poached).

Place the radicchio on plates, top with the eggs and spoon over the butter.

Roasted radicchio is a delicious thing. Crunchy and full of flavour if done right.

If like me, on some days, you prefer a quicker version, I suggest you just sauté your radicchio in some butter (as pictured above). Enjoy!

little potato bags

After all the wonderful Christmas dining and overstuffing I celebrate to come back to the simple things of life. Like a little bagful of oven roasted potatoes. Together with some lemon and parsley dressed sardines and a nicely  smelling Chaumes they make for a delicious dinner.

Little Potato Bags

Fill  each square-cut piece of parchment paper with 4 small sized, clean scrubbed potatoes. Sprinkle generously with fresh parsley, thyme and oregano, add a piece of butter, a tablespoon of olive oil, salt and pepper.
Tie them up.
Bake the little bags in the oven for 40 minutes at 160°C.

Combines perfectly with a glass of red wine!

Spaghettini with Coquilles St. Jacques and Seaweed

This time I brought a couple of coquilles St. Jacques and a little box of emerald green seaweed salad from downtown Dresden.
As my family is very fond of pasta I created a quick spaghettini lunch with the coquilles and the seaweed.

These are the ingredients:

For the sauce

olive oil
1 red bell pepper, chopped
a handful of baby tomatoes, quartered
a bunch of parsley
2 or 3 cloves of garlic, finely sliced
the zest of half a lemon
10 coquilles St. Jacques
a small box of Asian seaweed salad
a glass of white wine
salt and pepper, and
2 or 3 sun dried tomatoes to intensify the flavour.

Cook the spaghettini:

From now you have exactly 7 minutes to prepare the sauce - (Haha, of course you are allowed to start with the sauce before you cook the spaghettini... )

Start stir-frying the bell pepper, the garlic and the tomatoes, then add the coquilles. When the coquilles are nearly done, add the stripes of lemon zest and the chopped parsley. Continue stir-frying at low heat.

The moment your kitchen starts to smell like heaven and you hardly can refrain from eating the coquilles right off the pan, it's time to pour in the wine. If one glass doesn't seem to be enough, add more.

Let it reduce for a few minutes, then mix in the spaghettini and in the very last moment before serving add the seaweed.

Lunch is ready!

lecker lunch at the "VG"

Today I finally have to write about my favourite grocery shop. We literally don't shop anywhere else since we are members of the VG, which stands for initiative of consumers for regional and organic products. Even if we don't have to do grocery shopping we love to stop at the VG just to enjoy a plateful of the daily stew. Usually there are two of them to choose, all vegetarian, mostly vegan and always finger licking good.

By the way, the "Zupfkuchen" (also in the picture above) is my perdition....

Easter weekend and time for the next series of @fatmumslims challenge photos

 If you want to know more about the photo-a-day challenge you find all details here.

2.colour

Spontaneous gathering of bright colours in my kitchen sink


3.mail

My mailbox, which on my flickr site has had the honour to be invited to www.rustymailbox.blogspot.com.
Thank you, rustymailbox guy, but again: this mailbox is NOT rusty! It's just painted in a rusty shade of brown. Any suggestions for a more attractive colour?


4.someone who makes you happy

My beautiful children full of life, health and inspiration. 

5.tiny

For me it's the tiniest High Heel ever - a small piece of sliced cabbage fallen down to the floor

 6.lunch

Delicious Pappa di Pomodoro lunch, which I had together with my daughter in a small  Florentine restaurant. Vik, I'm comiiiing!!