Ragù

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Fall is really here. We are still having some beautiful days but more often than not, I am coming home looking for something to warm up my hands and my face. There might have been a lot of stews and soups simmering away in my kitchen lately. I originally planned to make this for my friends Judith and Mimi when they helped me squeeze my washing machine into my tiny kitchen and then build a new sink seemingly around it, but after we had completely re-assembled my kitchen we gave up on the whole dinner thing. And I was stuck with a kilo of minced meat at 8pm, so I decided to not make a quick ragù but something rich and seemingly creamy. I didn't get to sleep until 2 that night, but it was definitely worth it.
I used the recipe from Caz Hildebrand and Jacob Kenedy's 'The Geometry of Pasta' as my guide and as always their descriptions were easy to follow (and to adapt to whatever I wanted to make).
Ok, so what should you know before you even start with this recipe - it needs time - if you're really quick with the chopping and browning and stuff make sure you don't have to leave the house for the next 5 hours, if you, like me end up running to the supermarket halfway through the first steps because you've forgotten something, you'll end up needing closer to 6 hours.
It is a fantastic pasta sauce, an even better sauce for a lasagne, it is really nice in pasties (I guess they're not that Cornish anymore once you add the ragù) it freezes really well oh, and it's really nice just with a slice of bread as well.

Ragù (after Hildebrand & Kenedy)
600g Minced Beef
400g Minced Veal
200g Carrot
200g Onion
4 cloves Garlic
100g Butter
60ml Olive Oil
100g Bacon (unsmoked), cut into small strips or pieces
400ml Red Wine
600ml Milk
1kg Tomatoes (I used fresh tomatoes, but you could also use tinned ones)
250ml Beef Stock
A sprig of fresh Thyme (optional)

Before you do anything else, find a big pot.
Peel the carrot and dice it. Cut the onion into pieces about the same size. Then, peel the garlic and cut it into thin slices. The original recipe suggests using a large frying pan for the next step but I don't have a large frying pan so I just proceeded with a big pot and waited longer.
Melt the butter and the oil, then sauté the vegetables and bacon over a medium for 10 minutes until they are somewhat soft. Turn up the heat and add the meat in 5 smaller batches. Between additions, allow the water in the meat to evaporate - if you are using a frying pan, this will be relatively quick, if you are using a pot, give it some time. After you have added the last batch, wait for the pan to 'splutter' I know that sounds weird but you'll see - once it starts happening you'll understand. Turn down the heat and brown the meat. You're waiting for some crispy bits to appear which should take about 15-20 minutes if you have that magic frying pan and took closer to 20-25 minutes in my pot.
While you are waiting for the meat, cut the tomatoes into small pieces. If you are using fresh tomatoes and don't like their skins, you could blanch and peel them. I just left the skins on and cut them into pieces.
Add the wine and if you have been using a pan, now you transfer everything to a big pot anyway. Add the milk, tomatoes, and stock. Now is also the time to start seasoning. Add some salt, some black pepper, some chilli flakes (apparently that is somewhat heretical, but who cares?! It tastes nice!) and if you have some, some fresh thyme.
Turn the heat down very low and simmer for 4 hours or so, stirring occasionally. If the sauce becomes too thick, you can add some more stock or water, but you're aiming for a really thick sauce ('as thick as double cream and, stirred up, the whole should be somewhat porridgy' - and you wonder why I love that book?!?!)
Season one last time. I like to add some balsamic vinegar to adjust the acidity.
Now, either go to sleep or dig in :)

Zucchini and Tomato Bake

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My friend Kathleen introduced me to this bake. We made the precursor to this recipe and it was based on a sauce we made from one of those semi-ready-meal pouches (which shall remain nameless) and I was horrified to discover that it was a) super yummy and b) actually a really good idea (I am normally slightly disturbed by the things you are supposed to be able to make with them).
Anyhow, so I am slightly embarrassed to admit that I went to my local supermarket and actually looked for that stuff, but I couldn't find it.
So today we will be making a home-made, non-MSG-filled, still-super-addictive version of the packet-amazingness.

Zucchini (Courgette) and Tomato Bake (per person)
1 medium Zucchini (about 200 g)
1 Tomato
Olive Oil
1 tbsp Cream Cheese
1 tbsp Nutritional Yeast
1 tsp Oregano (and other herbs you like)
1 tbsp Tomato Puree (optional)
200 ml Stock (or water and about half a stock-cube) - if you are making this for more than 1 person, reduce the liquid to possibly close to 100 ml per person (I will tell you where to check how much you need in the recipe)
Salt and Pepper

Preheat your oven to 190˚C
Cut the zucchini into rounds about 0.5cm thick. Slice the Tomato (those slices will probably be a bit thicker, but try to stay well below 1cm).
Heat some olive oil in a pan and sauté the zucchini slices until they are slightly browned. All we are aiming for with this is some brown spots on the zucchini, nothing more really.
Mix some of the stock with the cream cheese, nutritional yeast, and tomato puree (if using) until you have a semi-smooth mixture and pour it over the zucchini. If there is pretty much no liquid around the zucchini, add some more now, but they don't need to be covered. Add the tomato slices and some herbs. I like oregano with this dish but the options are endless here, so experiment a bit! Add some salt and pepper if you feel the sauce needs it. Let the sauce simmer for a couple of minutes.
Pour everything into an ovenproof dish (if it looks like the vegetables are drowning in the liquid, don't use all of it) and bake it for 15-20 minutes.
I tend to have this on its own but it's really nice with some bread or pasta as well.

Oven Steamed Salmon

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I thought I should talk to you about this obsession of mine (this is really the only way of describing it).
You know, I grew up nearly 700 km away from the sea (and since we're talking about European standards here, that is quite a lot) and while I like fish, I never really knew what to do with it.
Until an ex-boyfriend's mum showed me how to steam fish in baking parchment a few years back.
And I was completely sold.
Lately I've started steaming the fish in an ovenproof dish because it makes adding different liquids a bit easier (my baking parchment parcel wrapping skills aren't that great I must admit) so, without further ado...
Let me introduce you to my favourite dish these days :)

Oven Steamed Salmon
100g piece of Salmon (I'm not saying that is how much you should eat, but that's the weight I go for so you might have to adjust the cooking time)
Some Orange Juice
1/2 fresh Lemon (wash it in really hot water before you use it)

Preheat your oven to 220˚C.
Sit your salmon into an ovenproof dish, then pour some orange juice around the fish (you don't want to drown it but at the same time this will also be what the fish is steaming in so go for a healthy medium).
Cut the lemon into slices and stick them into the dish as well (I normally don't arrange them as neatly as I did for the photo, I did that just for you :)).
Cover the dish with tinfoil and stick it into the oven.
Give it about 20 minutes, then check whether the salmon is done.
This works fabulously with the leeks I told you about a couple of weeks ago, but it's also quite spectacular with some sweet potato fries (you'll get the recipe for those in a couple of days).
Oh, and it's also nice with lime juice, or tomatoes, or....I haven't tried a combination that I haven't liked...

Sandra's Cape Malay Curry

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It's a real pleasure to introduce my first guest-writer!
Today's post was written by my lovely friend Sandra. Sandra is one of the people who have been involved either in the cooking or the eating of probably more than 50% of the dishes I talk about on here so when she offered to show me how to make Cape Malay Curry and write a post for you guys, this was like winning the lottery.
Anyhow,  I hope you enjoy this curry as much as we did.

My dear friend Katharina has been cooking the most wonderful dishes for me and so when she asked me to do a guest-post on her wonderful blog, how could I possibly say no? I know that she has previously referred to me as the queen of Austro-Hungarian cooking and so I decided that I was definitely not going to let her label me as merely that.
I grew up in South Africa and one of my favourite dishes from home is a traditional Cape Malay Curry. This is a curry that is distinct from other curries because it combines sweet and savoury elements in the dish by adding things like cinnamon (I absolutely love cinnamon, it's the best spice EVER) or dried fruit, in particular dried apricots. The dish gets it's name from the Cape Malay community in the Western Cape. They originate from the slaves that the settlers of the Dutch East India Company brought with them from India to Indonesia.
So last weekend, Katharina, Phoebe, and I decided that it was curry time.

Apparently this recipe is meant to serve 4 to 6, but it barely fed 4 hungry girls...

For the curry:
4 Chicken Breasts, cut into smaller pieces
Salt and Pepper
Vegetable Oil
2 Onions, roughly chopped
2 Garlic Cloves, finely chopped
1 small Knob of Ginger, peeled and finely chopped
2 Cinnamon Sticks (or 1 huge one if you're Katharina)
1 tbsp Roasted Masala Spice (or any curry powder)
1 tsp Turmeric
1 tsp Ground Cumin
1 tsp Ground Coriander
1/2 tsp Ground Cardamom (also we managed without it)
400 g tin Chopped Tomatoes
410 ml  tin Coconut Milk
Coriander Leaves for garnishing

Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Sear the chicken in some oil and then set aside. Now fry the onions until golden. Add the garlic, ginger, cinnamon stick , and remaining spices. Simmer for a few seconds to release the flavours and then add the tomatoes and the coconut. Now return the chicken to the sauce and cover the pan and leave to simmer for 20 to 30 minutes.

Whilst the curry is merrily bubbling away, move on to the sambals. Sambals are side dishes that compliment the curry by either making it milder or hotter.

Banana Sambal
Chop a banana into slices and cover with some yoghurt and leave to infuse.

Cucumber Sambal
1/2 Cucumber
Some chopped Coriander (optional)
1 tbsp Lemon Juice
250 ml Plain Yoghurt
Salt

Slice the cucumber into squares and mix together with the other ingredients. Season with salt.

Once you've made the sambals, it's time to enjoy the amazing and wonderful aromas and tastes of this amazing curry.
A perfect accompaniment to this is rice or naan bread. We loved both.

Right, I think that entitles me to at least another year of Katharina's delicious cooking!

Leeky Mashed Potatoes

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I'm sorry I haven't written in a while but I haven't really cooked anything in a while either - until Wednesday night at least :)
Do you remember that recipe for Baked Potato Soup on Smitten Kitchen a while back?
Well, I had been eager to give it a go (especially with everyone posting pictures of their versions of FB) and then we finally had a chance to make some.
 If you feel like all you do is read and write these days then let me recommend this mash, it will feed your soul (and anything that has my 'good for the soul' stamp obviously doesn't have any calories!) and if you're really stressed out you can even get some work done while the veg is boiling (not that I did, I was too busy chopping and freezing herbs and being told off for being too German - does nobody else freeze leftover herbs?!?)
Oh, and I'm sorry about the title, too much reading and not enough cooking...

Leeky Mashed Potatoes
4 Baby Leeks
500g or so Potatoes (go for a floury variety)
1/2 Onion
100g Sour Cream
Some butter to fry the onion
A handful of grated cheese (we had a piece of mature cheddar kicking about in the fridge)
Enough water/stock to cover the potatoes
Dill

Peel the potatoes and cut them into 1.5cm pieces, dice the onion and wash and slice the white and light green bits of the leeks.
Heat some butter in a pot that will be large enough to hold all the vegetables, then sautee the onion. Once the onion has gone glassy, add the potatoes and give them a minute or so before you pour enough stock or hot water on top until the potatoes are covered.
Boil the potatoes until they are just starting to get tender, then add the leek and cook until the potatoes are tender enough to mash.
Remove the pot from the heat and drain the vegetables (keep some of the liquid in case the mash ends up too dry), then mash them roughly (you're not looking for the fluffiest mash you can think of but we're going for a more rustic feel with this) and stir in the sour cream and cheese.
Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. If you feel you're looking at a rather dry affair, add some of the cooking liquid you have saved.
Serve in in a pretty bowl and top with some roughly chopped dill.

Sweet Potato Curry

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I don't know about you, but what I really don't like about winter is how I'm always cold.
So this weekend, when Arti was running around in flip-flops, I was wearing a winter coat and was already regretting not having taken a hat during the 5 minute walk to the supermarket.
Today's recipe is a serious winter-warmer. It warms you from the inside and the cheerful colour makes you think of warmer days. It was born on a day that I couldn't find any coconut milk in town so yes, this is anything but authentic but it does a rather good job when your cupboards are looking a bit bleak.

Sweet Potato Curry
2 Sweet Potatoes peeled and chopped into 1 inch chunks
1 small Onion
2 cloves Garlic
1 handfull Coriander Leaves
1 generous handfull Shredded Coconut (the unsweetened kind...just a suggestion, if you live in a place where you can only get desiccated coconut, add a bit more water later on)
2-3 tsp Red Curry Paste
1 Red Pepper (if you feel like some extra veg)
100g Plain Yoghurt
Olive Oil
Potentially some stock cubes, most likely some salt and pepper

Dice the onion and chop the garlic.
Heat some olive oil in a pan, add the onion and give it a minute or so before you add the garlic. Once the garlic is making your kitchen all smelly and gorgeous, add the curry paste and give it some time to get all fragrant as well.
Now add the sweet potatoes (if you're adding peppers I'd probably add them at this stage).
Add enough water and a stock cube (or if you're too cool for that, add some stock) to cover the veg.
Stir in the shredded coconut.
Cover and simmer until the sweet potatoes are done.
Turn off the heat, then chop the coriander leaves and add them to the curry.
Stir some of the yoghurt into the curry (what the yoghurt is supposed to do is add some creaminess to the curry so see how it goes you might not need all of it, you might need more).
Enjoy with some naan (we found some in the freezer that day, whoop whoo :) ) and how about some proper lime and soda to complete the mental image...

Porridge - your best friend

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In case you haven't noticed, I really like porridge. I would even go as far as saying it's one of my favourite meals on this planet.
I love how you can dress it up, dress it down, eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner, eat it hot, eat it cold, put it into scones or bread - the options are endless.
While I am very fond of plain porridge my all time favourite porridge is with peanut butter and berries. It will keep you going for hours and hours and it just tastes amazing :)
A lot of my German friends (yes, you know who you are! Don't even pretend ;) ) keep making fun of me because they equate porridge with something called Haferschleim.
Haferschleim (at least the stuff I grew up on) tastes about as good as it sounds...it's the kinda stuff my mum would feed me when I was really sick and 'because it's gonna make you feel better' you make it fairly salty or, even worse, use vegetable stock instead of water or milk, for me that was always the kinda stuff that would make me feel better in an instant because even pretending to feel good when you've got the flu is better than eating that stuff.
So, if that's the kinda stuff you're thinking off when I'm talking about porridge, then I wholeheartedly agree with you.
But if you've ever had 'proper' porridge mad by an old Scottish lady somewhere in a B&B in the middle of nowhere (and we're not talking about the places that give you instant, it has to be the 'real' stuff!) you will probably understand (if you still don't then I'm not sure whether I can continue being friends with you ;) ).
Anyway, while I really like plain porridge with a pinch of salt in it, let me tell you about the peanut butter and berry one.
It's super easy, super yummy and even fairly good for you (though, if you eat the whole thing yourself you might want to go for a run or spend some more time in the gym tonight).

Katharina's Favourite Porridge
1/3 cup of either Rolled Oats/Barley Flakes/Rye Flakes (or a mix of them, which is what I normally do) - that's just under 30 grams for the metric people amongst you
400-500 ml Water
A pinch of Salt
1tsp Peanut Butter
1 handfull Fresh or Frozen Berries or two...or three....it's berries, you can't ever eat too many berries :)
1 tsp Agave/Maple Syrup

Bring the water to a boil, add the salt and mix in the oats. Cook over a low heat for 20 to 30 minutes (yes, you could also microwave it but that won't be as nice, and if you're really in a rush, just have muesli or instant porridge instead, seriously...)
If the mix looks very dry towards the end, either take it off the heat or, if the oats are still quite chunky and you want them really well done :), add some more water or some milk and keep going until you feel they're done the way you like them.
Take the porridge off the heat, stir in the peanut butter and the berries and drizzle with the syrup.
Now, enjoy your porridge and then get back to work ;)

My First Recipe

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As I mentioned last week, the first recipe I ever engaged with in a creative manner was that for a creamy pasta sauce.
It's the perfect base sauce for pretty much anything and I've stuck with the same general idea for the last 21 or so years. I'm not gonna pretend I've got a perfect memory (actually if I didn't have Manuel to remind me to send emails to people I probably would forget about most of them) and tell you how amazing it was and stuff, but I do remember the feeling of this piece of paper, on which my dad had recorded my recipe for future generations, being 'mine' and boy was I proud of that :)

Little Katharina's Pasta Sauce :)
100gr Cream cheese
100ml Cream
1/4-1/2 Vegetable stock cube
Some water
Salt
Pepper
Nutmeg

Over a medium heat, stir the cream cheese into a saucepan with some water and the cream. Wait until the cream cheese has dissolved into the liquid and then add the stock cube and wait for the mix to thicken a bit.
Season with salt pepper and don't forget the nutmeg (I stole the nutmeg grater that I used for that from my mum, it's the best nutmeg grater on this planet, if I start hallucinating one day it's not my fault it will be the amazing nutmeg grater's fault).
Done :)
What did you expect? I was 4 or so, nothing fancy....but sooooo good!
You could also add some white wine but I wasn't that into wine back in the days :)

Something that's even nicer though is if you make some tomato sauce and then add both to your pasta (so much better than the readymade stuff).
Or you could just add some fresh peas like I did when I took the photo (there was definitely wine in that version).

Anyhow, what is the first recipe you remember cooking or writing down?

Pasta, Blue-Cheese Sauce & the Amazingess of Quince Cheese

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Ok, I admit it, I am blatantly dreaming of pasta right now :)
But don't worry, at least you get a lovely pasta recipe out of it.
Most of you know about my slight obsession with anything made from quince and with the seasonal calendar thing for the UK (do I look like I know when things are in season in this country?!?!) telling me that quince season is only a couple of weeks away I am now not only dreaming of pasta but also of quince :)
Today's recipe was dinner a few weeks back when I was staring at my fridge and there wasn't much staring back. But, there was a bit of roquefort begging to be used up and there was a square of quince cheese that had been sitting there for a couple of days as well. So the idea was born.
If you're not familiar with quince cheese, don't worry, neither was I  until my lovely cheesemonger offered me some. It's basically quince stewed with lots of sugar for pretty much forever (ok, I'm exaggerating) that is then allowed to set. I remember eating quince cheese or dulce de membrillo covered in sugar as a kid (oh, the pure bliss I missed out on by not knowing how amazing it tastes with blue cheese!!!!), but back to the pasta!

Pasta with a Blue-Chesse Sauce and Quince Cheese
Blue Cheese
Cream
White Wine
Salt
Pepper
Stock Cubes
Pasta
Quince Cheese

Make a quick and easy blue cheese sauce (nothing fancy, just make sure you use enough blue cheese so it tastes quite intense)
Boil enough pasta to feed a small army :)
Mix the pasta with the sauce, then chop the quince cheese into cubes and sprinkle them on top.
See, that was easy!
Enjoy with a glass of wine think of what else quince would go with :)

Chicken Fingers

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So as I said I have given myself the challenge to start cooking meat. I can't say it's making me a happier person but I am really noticing a difference when I go spinning. So let's see how long I can keep this up.
Yesterday I made these lovely chicken fingers (they're based on David Kirsch's Sesame Chicken Fingers) and believe it or not they were absolutely gorgeous and I didn't want to kill anyone while making them...I guess that's a start :)

Chicken Fingers
1/4 tsp Soy sauce
1/4 tsp Mustard (I used German mustard because that's what I had but Dijon is what the recipe suggested)
1 tsp Water
1 tsp Turmeric
1 Chicken breast (mine was 115 gr.)
1 tbsp Sesame seeds

Mix the soy sauce, mustard, water and turmeric in a bowl, then cut your chicken breast into 4 or 5 strips, and coat them with the paste (closing your eyes and pretending you're in art class and working with some seriously dodgy clay got me through this experience), leave them in the bowl, cover in cling film and stick it into the fridge to marinate for about an hour.
After an hour of watching TV (aehmmm...reading a very important paper...) :) come back and heat your oven to 180 degrees.
Coat the chicken fingers in the sesame seeds and put them into a non-stick baking tin. Once the oven is nice and hot, stick them in for 10-15 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.
Enjoy with a fresh green salad :)

Vegetarian Chilli

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I'm sorry I've been so bad with my posts lately, but I'm drowning a bit on the work-front - so bear with me, I'm telling myself it will get better soon :)
Recently everyone and their grandma seems to have been writing about chillis. I have been quite taken by Jenna's creamy chicken chilli on Eat, Live, Run which just looks gorgeous, but I've been shying away from making it because it would involve me having to cook actual chicken (so we'll save that until I feel slightly more adventurous) but with everyone talking about their mum's chilli I started thinking about my dad's chilli (he's the god of the chilli in our family) which is based on Jamie Oliver's chilli recipe from one of the first books.
So on Saturday I decided to improvise and make my own chilli con fake-carne.
I was in the flat hiding from all the freshers that have descended upon town with their parents in tow. It was nice and sunny outside but I was snuggled up in my favourite armchair with a cup of tea, this month's issue of Monocle and I had a simulation running for my current study. Good times!

Vegetarian Chilli
1cup Cannellini beans
1cup Black eyed beans
500g Vegetarian mince (I like Quorn but just use whatever you like/can find, just keep in mind that you'll want to use less if you're using dry stuff)
Olive oil
2 Onions
5 Garlic cloves (I would have used more but I ran out)
1 tbsp Chilli flakes
1 tbsp Cumin (ground, not the whole stuff)
1 tsp Oregano
3 tbsp Brown sugar
Salt
Pepper
50g Dark chocolate
200g Tomato puree (the concentrated stuff)
4 cans Peeled plum tomatoes (or chopped if you're feeling particularly lazy)
250ml Red wine

Some pasta and cheese

All right, in the morning soak the beans in two separate bowls (if you're planning to make the chilli for dinner, not sure why they always tell you to soak stuff overnight, it's not like you'll be making it first thing in the morning....at least I hope you won't).
The cannellini beans will take a bit over an hour to cook, the black eyed beans will only take half an hour. I normally cook the first ones for 35-40 minutes before adding the later ones (ok, sometimes that goes a bit wrong, but hey, it's a chilli, nobody will notice some overcooked beans).
While the beans are boiling away, chop the onions and garlic, fry the onions until they're glassy, then add the garlic and wait until you can smell the amazingess of the garlic in your kitchen.
Add the mince and give it a couple of minutes.
Add the chilli flakes, cumin, oregano and brown sugar and stir.
After a minute or something add the tomato puree, stir and give it another minute.
Add the red wine and then after yet another minute add the tomatoes.
Now it's time to relax (don't forget the beans though if they're still boiling away). Give the chilli an hour or so, stirring occasionally. You'll want to add the chocolate about halfway through (i.e. whenever you remember).
After an hour or so add the drained beans and give the whole thing another 10 or 15 minutes. This is just enough time to make some pasta and to grate some cheese (normally I would have chilli with some bread but I thought I should mix it up for a change).
Season the chilli with some salt and pepper or potentially even with some marmite or vegetable stock if you feel it needs it.
Serve some pasta with a big helping of chilli and lots of unhealthy cheese.
Enjoy in the company of lovely people with a good bottle of wine :)

Autumnal Pasta

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I've made today's recipe twice over the last week. I originally made it on Anna's birthday aiming for something that would make you feel all warm and comfortable both when you look at it and when you eat it. Since my camera was doing funky things the photos for that version went missing and I made it again for a dinner with Sandra and Ashley (thank you for being my guinea-pigs every time I invite you over!) with some minor changes. You get the second version because the pasta ends up slightly pink which I think is super cool :)
Back to the warmth - I added cinnamon and nutmeg. I was originally looking for pumpkin spice mix but mine has disappeared so I went for a more christmasy theme (but if you have pumpkin spice mix or can be bothered to mix your own I would go for that, I have a feeling that would make it even better!).
I also added some chilli flakes for a tiny bit of heat which plays really nicely with the cinnamon.
Anyhow, part of why I love the recipe is because once you're done with the peeling and chopping all you have to do is boil the pasta and wait and chat to your friends or your cat or call your mum....
Also, since you're basically making roast veg, just see how it goes for quantities, you can always have some leftovers for lunch tomorrow :)

Autumnal Pasta
Beetroot, uncooked
Sweet potato
Some kind of pumpkin or squash
Onion
Garlic
Pine nuts
Olive oil
Brown sugar
Chilli flakes
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Salt
Pepper
Parmesan

Some kind of pasta, e.g. linguine

Heat your oven to 220 degrees or if you have put it on the combination-fan-grill setting.
Peel the vegetables and chop them into bite-size chunks. Slice the onion into 3mm wide slices and mince the garlic.
Mix the beetroot and pumpkin with about a tablespoon of olive oil (if you're trying to save oil I would use some low calorie spray here and use actual olive oil later on) and some sugar (1 tbsp for a large baking tray is more than enough). Sprinkle with some chilli flakes (a bit less than 1tsp), cinnamon (about 1tsp) and nutmeg (no clue how much I used, I just grated away for a bit). Mix again and put everything onto a baking tray.
Bake/grill for about 10 minutes, then add the sweet potato (I don't like them when they go really soft) and the onion.
Give the veg another 15 to 20 minutes (check from time to time) and boil the kettle while you go and relax for a bit (this is the perfect time to catch up on some gossip or to prepare dessert.
About 10-15 minutes into you waiting for the veg (you want the veg to start looking soft and slightly browned, like it will need just under 10 more minutes), pour the hot water into a pot, bring it back to the boil and cook some pasta.
Once the veg is ready (which should hopefully be before the pasta is ready), take it out of the oven and put it on the side.
Heat some oil in a pan and fry the garlic until it goes all crispy. Once the garlic is ready put it on the side, clean the pan and toast some pine nuts in it (alternatively put them into an oven-proof dish and toast them in the still-warm oven).
Don't forget the pasta while you're doing all this. When the pasta is ready you'll want to be ready to drain it and, while it's still steaming, mix it with the roast veg. Grate in some parmesan cheese and toss in the garlic and pine nuts.
What I do then is allow people to season their own dish with some salt and pepper and add some olive oil if they want to (even if you've been using low calorie spray earlier on I would use actual olive oil here. Measure it out if you like, you won't need much 1/2 will be enough for one portion, but the extra oil will help carry the flavour).
 I don't know what it is about adding the oil at the end but it is just amazingly amazing.
All right, I am off for tonight, lots of travelling to plan and sort out :)

Potato-Sweet-Potato-Gratin

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You were actually supposed to get a recipe for autumnal pasta today but my camera decided to delete all my photos overnight. If that is the first sign of my memory-card dying I might have to cry.
Anyhow, so it's going to be a potato gratin I made a while ago. And before you ask, it DOES taste nice, I just never had the time to post it before it got warm.
Oh, and before I forget, what does the new design look like in people's browsers? Yes, the page is still not quite finished (give me another month and lots of sleep) but I only ever heard back from people who are using safari and who have the same screen resolution like me (and even though I appreciated you getting back to me that was the only combination I wasn't that interested in ;) )
So if anything looks funky PLEASE drop me a line! I might even dedicate you a recipe to return the favour :)
Back to the gratin. It was part of a series of experimental recipes I made in the spring using different starchy vegetables (they're vegetables, right?) So after a not so successful cassava experiment I decided to play with the colours of potatoes and sweet potatoes.

Potato-Sweet-Potato-Gratin
I know that a lot of you like to measure things but I really don't see a point in doing that for a gratin. Just fill  a dish and if there's leftovers just have them the next day! I tend to use 1 large sweet potato and a handful of normal potatoes for 2-3 people and that fits perfectly into one of those square gratin dishes (I think they're 20x20cm)
You'll need some cream, some butter, some parmesan cheese, a clove of garlic, some salt, pepper and nutmeg and that's it :)

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees.
Peel the potatoes and slice them thinly (think of the thickness of a 1 Euro coin as an upper limit)
Butter the gratin dish, half the garlic and rub it over the butter (you want it to get that hint of garlic-flavour not much more).
Then get creative when you lay out the slices. Season after each layer and add some parmesan before you start the next layer (don't overdo it on the cheese-front). Once you've used up all the potatoes or once your dish is full, season again, add some more cheese.
 Pour some cream over  the whole thing and add a few bits of butter (again, no need to overdo it).
Pop the potatoes into the oven and bake for an hour until the top is nicely browned and the potatoes are cooked through (check with a sharp knife, if the top gets too brown too quickly put some tinfoil over the top).
Enjoy your gratin with steamed vegetables or some green beans in a tomato sauce and it gets even better in good company :)

Marillenknödel

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Today's recipe is one that I adore but have never attempted myself. Marillenknödel (i.e. apricot dumplings) are so simple and yet I haven't made them once since moving to the UK. My mum always makes them when apricots are in season (i.e. earlier in the summer) but my local trusty supermarket had them on offer earlier this week so I thought I should give the whole thing a go.
With dumplings we always have a certain amount of debate in my family. My grandma grew up breathing the amazingness of Austro-Hungarian cooking and according to her a good dumpling is made using potatoes (even though there's all sorts of different dumpling bases from that region....) whereas my mum is not very convinced by the potato-dumpling idea. So today's dumplings are made using an approximation to my mum's version using Quark (if you're in the UK or the US, look for 0% greek yoghurt) which means you can tell yourself that you're eating something reasonably healthy :)
Since the potato dumplings my grandma makes are really good as well I'll make some when I find some nice damsons. Or we could even turn this into a celebration of dumplings and try as many different types of dumplings as possible...oh the possibilities!
The recipe below gives you 4 dumplings so just scale it accordingly

Marillenknödel
4 Apricots
4 Sugar cubes (or if you can't find any just use about 1/2 tsp of sugar in each, light brown moscovado works really well in this case because it will stick together)
50g Semolina
50g Plain flour
200g Quark (strain for about 30 minutes before you use it)
1 Egg-yolk
Zest of 1/2 lemon
Pinch of salt for the dumplings and a bit more for the water

Butter, sugar, and cinnamon to make it look pretty and taste even more amazing

Cut the apricots along the seam (only half though), remove the pits and replace with the sugar cubes.
Heat a large pot of water.
While the water is heating up, mix the quark, egg-yolk, lemon zest and the salt. Mix in the semolina and flour this is going to be a slightly sticky dough but you might want to only add 3/4 of the flour/semolina and give it 10 minutes or so to stand. If it still seems too sticky, add some more flour but keep in mind - the more flour you add the denser your dumplings will be and dense is not what you're aiming for).
Split the dough into 4 pieces and with slightly floured hands wrap the apricots in the dough. I find this works the best if you flatten the dough in your palm and then just fold the sides up around the apricot.
Once the water is boiling add some salt and turn the heat down so you have the water simmering away.
Stick the dumplings into the water and now you have to be patient (I know, how annoying is that!) and give them about 10-15 minutes (they start floating up when they're ready).
While you're waiting melt some butter in a saucepan and twiddle your thumbs (or send me an email, I'd love to hear from you!).
Once the dumplings are done, take them out (one of those nifty spoons with lots of holes works quite well :) but I'm gonna shut up now) and find a pretty plate.
To serve them, cut the little darlings in half, pour some melted butter over them and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon (lots and lots and lots of it, like lots more than what you see in the photo).
Now you have two options :) you either share them with your housemate or a friend and make them love you forever or you just decide that you don't care about them loving you forever and have all the dumplings to yourself :)

Pizza with fresh tomatoes

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I love making my own pizza! Isn't it amazing how little effort it takes and how much fun (or arguments) you can have while deciding on the toppings :)
Juliane and I made pizza the other day using the leftover cheese sauce from a couple of days ago and some fresh tomatoes and some ewe's cheese. Juliane was a bit sceptic at first and we're still debating whether it is still a pizza when you don't have a tomato sauce on the dough. Anyone got an opinion?
Anyhow, let's get going! This should be enough for 2 pizzas:

Pizza with fresh tomatoes
600g Flour
30g Fresh yeast
1/2 tbsp Salt
300-400ml Water, lukewarm
1-2 tbsp Olive oil

10 medium sized tomatoes
Cheesy sauce
150g ewe's cheese
Some basil

Make a dough, make sure you keep kneading long enough! Put it into a bowl and cover with a damp tea-towel. Allow the dough to rise until it's doubled in size (and yes, putting it onto the radiator is cheating!)

Preheat your oven to 210 degrees.

Knock back the dough and give it another 10-15 minutes.

Reheat or make about 1/2  the recipe for the goat's cheese sauce, mix in some milk and once it's bubbling you might want to add some more cornflour to bind it a bit more (but just see how it goes, you might not need any more cornflour).

Divide the dough into two pieces and roll them out on baking trays and give them a couple of minutes.

Cut the tomatoes into slices.

Spread the cheesy sauce over the base, get creative with the tomatoes and crumble the ewe's cheese over everything (if you don't like your ewe's cheese too baked do what we did and add it halfway through baking).

Bake things start looking all fabulous and golden.

Add the basil and enjoy with some amazing company :)

Fancy Chips and Cheese for Anna

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Today's recipe is for my absolutely fabulous friend Anna.
Anna has been asking me for a relatively cow's milk free recipe for a cheesy sauce for a while so today's take on a guilty pleasure of mine is made with  some soft chèvre and some parmesan (which can obviously be replaced with a hard goats cheese).

Fancy Chips and Cheese
A handful potatoes and 1-2 beets (uncooked) per person. I used 3 baby potatoes and 2 beets for myself and it was slightly on the excessive side of things.
Some olive oil (don't overdo it, you can always add more later)

Peel the potatoes and the beets, cop them into wedges, toss them in some olive oil and grill/bake them until they're all nice and crispy (my mum's oven has this amazing grill/fan setting which is perfect for this!).

The following measurements for the sauce are enough for 3 portions (my leftovers went onto a pizza last night, recipe to follow):

150g Soft chèvre (the kinda stuff that's the consistency of Philadelphia)
75ml Water
1/2 Stock cube
A dash of white wine
2 tsp Cornstarch or something else that will bind the sauce
2 tbsp Parmesan or other hard cheese


Put the cheese into a saucepan, add the water, and the stock cube, put onto a medium heat and stir until the cheese has dissolved. Add the wine, stir and add the starch whichever way you have to add the stuff you're using. I used some stuff from Mondamin which you add straight to the pot (oh the sheer lazyness!!!! I had forgotten such wonderful convenience products existed until I was rummaging through my mum's pantry in the hope of finding some cornstarch).
Anyhow, back to the sauce, keep it bubbling for a few minutes and then add the parmesan and season.
Pour the cheesy sauce over the potatoes and beets and enjoy the sheer unhealthiness of what you're about to eat :)

Linguine Alfredo

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When I've been travelling I crave comfort food. One of the things that I normally tend to look forward to the most when I come home to see my parents (well obviously apart from seeing them) is the Maultaschensuppe my mum makes for me. Just thinking about it makes me feel at home and relaxed.
Since I didn't have any Maultaschen left last night (yes, I have taken some back to the UK with me in the past) I had two options - cry myself to sleep or think of something else :)
And the winner this time was linguine alfredo. There's something incredibly soothing about the scary amounts of butter, cream and parmesan that go in there but if you ignore the surprisingly loud voice in your head that tells you that you're completely out of your mind eating something like this...pure pleasure.
The recipe below should be enough for 3 or 4.

Linguine Alfredo
250g Linguine
80g Butter
75ml Double cream
150-175g Grana Padano (for once in my life I actually prefer the cheaper option, I wish that would happen more often)
Salt, Pepper, Nutmeg

Boil the linguine in enough water.
While they're bubbling away, heat the butter in a skillet. Once the butter has melted, add the double cream and stir until they're properly mixed.
Grate the cheese ( I prefer it finely grated here, but if you want to have more of a cheesy experience I could imagine a very coarsely grated version working really well), put it into a serving dish and add the butter-cream mixture. You can stir the mix but there's really no need for now.
Just before the pasta is done take away some of the water and keep it for later in case the pasta mix ends up being too dry.
Once the pasta is al dente, drain it and put it straight into the serving dish. Now you're allowed to mix everything together :)
Season well, keeping in mind that you won't need much salt because of the cheese.
Enjoy the sheer bliss when you get to eat the linguine!

Grilled Vegetables

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Do you know the feeling - you go to your greengrocer's and there's soo much that looks amazing that you can't decide; and then a couple of days later you're wondering what to do with all that veg in your fridge. This is the perfect recipe for just that situation. Grilled vegetables are so quick and easy to make and I could eat them every day :)

Grilled Vegetables
Whatever veg you want to use up. I realy like using some courgette, peppers, onions, fennel, beetroot, and brocoli. Try to include some potatoes (nice and then you don't have to worry about being hungry again in like half an hour).
Olive oil
Some garlic cloves (peeled)
Salt, pepper and some herbs if you're feeling adventurous

Oven-wise you have tow options - either preheat it to 220 degrees (if you don't have a grill or would rather have them baked) or wait until you've chopped all your veg and then turn on the grill in your oven.
Chop your veg into relative large bitesize chunks.
Toss them in a bowl with a small amount of olive oil, add the garlic and season well.
Stick them into the oven until they're nice and grilled (keep coming back to turn them from time to time - so don't get too engrossed in that paper you're trying to finish or the trashy novel you're reading).
Serve with a generous helping of tzatziki or a goats' cheese sauce (recipe will come when I get back to St Andrews....hopefully).

Kaiserschmarrn

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We haven't had a pancake recipe in a while, and this time I even have one that's a main course :)
The recipe is from Sandra who's the queen of all Austro-Hungarian food (and I worship her for that).
I think it was meant for 6 but it fed 3 hungry postgrads rather well.

Kaiserschmarrn
8 Eggs, separated
5 tbsp Sugar
240 g Flour
500 ml Milk
60 g Raisins
1 tbsp Vanilla sugar
1 tbsp Rum
1 pinch Salt
Some butter for the frying

If you like raisins soak them in the rum for about half an hour, otherwise leave them out and just put the rum in with the next step.
In a large bowl mix the milk, egg yolks, vanilla sugar and the flour (add raisins if using).
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites, sugar and salt until soft peaks form, then fold it under the egg yolk mix.
Heat your pan over a medium heat with a generous dollop of butter and put about 1/3 of the batter into the pan. This is the biggest pancake you'll probably ever make so no worrying!
Wait until you see little holes forming, flip the pancake, wait for a minute and then you get to rip it to pieces.
This is Tim attacking the Kaiserschmarrn.

Give it another 2 or 3 minutes until the little pieces are golden brown and all fabulous.
Serve with icing sugar sprinkled on top, or with some apple sauce, or some berries - oh the possibilities!
You'll next hear from me on the train back home (whoop whoop), have a glorious week until then.

Kamut Focaccia

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I haven't really kept up with my food shopping lately....so a few days ago my section in the fridge....ok....if I'm honest I normally seem to take over the majority of the fridge (sorry Vinet!) anyhow, the section I tend to take over was nearing crisis mode...but  I found some tomatoes (ok, not in the fridge) and some mushrooms and the idea of making focaccia was born.
As I said I have a thing for Kamut at the moment. Kamut is related to durum wheat and it gives your baked goods a slightly more golden tone than normal wheat would. The flour smells like a hot day at the end of the summer when you're walking past bales of straw...minus the sunscreen smell.
So I decided to give it a go in a yeasty dough

Kamut Focaccia
300g Kamut flour
300g Strong bread flour
42g Fresh yeast
2tbsp Salt
1tbsp Olive oil
about 350ml water at room temperature...just see how it goes...

So basically what you want to do is put the flour and the salt into a bowl (yes, adding the salt right at the beginning is not good for the yeast but adding it later is such a mess...unless you have a nice and shiny kitchen aid it will be incredibly hard to get it to mix in properly).
Make a well in the flour and crumble the yeast into it. Add some water and stir into a smooth paste. It's ok if you mix in some of the flour but try not to mix in too much.
Give the yeast mixture 5 to 10 minutes and then mix it with the flour and add some more water (don't add all at a time....go for small increments....once you have to start adding flour to make a dough less sticky you're on a slippery slope...) and the olive oil.
Now it's time for your arms to get a workout :) get kneading and keep going for 10 minutes. If you haven an electric mixer it should take about 5 minutes on the slow speed.
Cover your bowl with a damp tea towel and leave the dough to rise until it's doubled in size (give it about 2 hours), knock it back and let it rise for another half an hour (a lot of recipes don't do the middle proof but I once read that this is what makes the dough nice and airy...could just be superstition but it really seems to work...)/
You'll want to preheat your oven to about 220 degrees about now.
Knock the dough back again and stretch/roll it out on a baking tray (unless you've got one of those uber-awesome trays that my mum has that nothing seems to stick to even though they're not non-stick, use some flour or baking parchment or one of those nifty silicone sheets) and yes, you might have guessed, leave it to rise again (last time, I promise!). Give it another 20 or 30 minutes.
In the meantime you chop up whatever veg you want to put on top, or if you're just using rosemary, sit back and relax or write a paragraph :)
Now you're gonna punch little wells into the dough (oh the childhood memories...this is just like playing with playdoh!!!)
Put the topping of your choice on...I was very fond of the mushroom, tomato, red onion and garlic combination I went for...
Bake it or 20 to 30 minutes and enjoy the smell of awesomeness wafting through your kitchen.