Millet & Stuff

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A lot has happened lately...

I finally moved into my new flat (which now has a fridge...a doorbell...a kettle...but is still missing useful things like a bathroom mirror - don't ask how I blow-dry my hair cos it's definitely not working, a proper sink, and enough storage in the kitchen to not have everything lying around on the floor).

I finally submitted my thesis (the scary part is that I was more excited about getting a fridge than sending everything off).

I booked the flights for a trip to Georgia and Florida in May (I am rather excited about that one because I can't wait to wear shorts again).

It's finally spring in Berlin (and I can hear the birds in the morning when I wake up).

Oh, and I cooked something I'm actually not embarrassed to write about. Actually, it's something I think you should all try sometime.

I made a millet and orange dessert the other day. It is super easy, super tasty, and on top of that actually quite good for you. That said, according to my dad it does taste rather 'healthy' so if you are looking for a decadent dessert, make some brownies instead, but if you're not too bothered about the health-food factor, give it a try!
In case you haven't noticed, this is probably the 10th recipe or so in a row that contains mainly store-cupboard ingredients, so no major shopping required (if your store-cupboard is as weird as mine).

Millet and Orange Dessert
100g Millet
200ml Orange Juice
100-200ml Water
6 Dates, chopped into pieces
1-2 tbsp Almonds, blanched and roughly chopped
2 Oranges, cut into fillets
2 tsp Agave Syrup
A dash of Olive Oil

Combine the millet, orange juice and water in a saucepan and heat over a medium-high flame. Simmer until the millet is cooked through but still has some bite. This will depend a bit on how high your interpretation of medium-high is and this is also where the whole 100ml variance comes in for the water. I used the whole 200ml this time and it took about 25 minutes until it was done, but sometimes I ended up sitting around for 35 until I was happy with the texture and I didn't need quite that much water, so start off with 100ml and if things become too dry, add some more.
After 15 minutes, start filleting the oranges, if you haven't done so, and add the dates and almonds to the millet.
Once the millet is cooked through, take it off the heat, stir in the olive oil (you really don't need much, it just adds a nice flavour and helps keep the grains separated) and allow things to cool down for a few minutes.
When you're ready to eat or when you get bored waiting for the millet to cool down, stir in some agave syrup (you don't need it but just like the olive oil it adds a deepness to the overall flavour that is really nice) and add the orange fillets.
This would make a really nice breakfast but I didn't have any leftovers because I ate them as an afternoon snack when I got bored waiting for dinner.
Oh, and freshly whipped cream is a really nice addition to all the wholesomeness we've got going on here :)

What have you been cooking lately?
And, more importantly, what are your store-cupboard staples?
Do you want me to write about what I normally have sitting around in my kitchen once I have unpacked everything or would that bore you to tears?

I hope you have a fabulous weekend!

Pancake Day

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It doesn't really matter what you call it - Mardi Gras, Fasnacht, Carnival, Karneval….I'll probably never truly understand the whole point of it, but one thing that I love about all the craziness just before lent starts is the last day of it - pancake day. Whoever originally had that idea - using all the milk, eggs, sugar, and butter they wouldn't be using for the next 40 days, in my book that was the best idea ever!
In case you haven't noticed, I am rather fond of all things pancakes - thin ones, thick and fluffy ones, cut-up ones in soup, even the ones that are filled with jam and are bloody donuts (I'm not even trying to understand why they call them Pfannkuchen in Berlin, they're not even made in a proper pan…) oh, and does anyone amongst you Germans remember Petzi? Growing up one of my goals in life (right after becoming a bird-catcher dude just like Papageno) was to get my mum to make a stack of pancakes as high as the one Petzi's mum kept making at the end of each adventure. Unfortunately I wasn't really that good at the whole scheming thing so neither the bird-catcher thing nor the pancake stack worked out…
Anyhow, a while back Verena asked me for a gluten-free pancake recipe so I thought I should come up with one. Since she didn't tell me whether it was supposed to be a thick American-style pancake or a thin crêpe I decided to be lazy and go down the crêpe-route. If you've never had millet, this is a really nice introduction to it. We've used buckwheat in a few other recipes in the past (if you actually cook the stuff I write about rather than just looking at the pictures - yes, Katharina S, I am soo looking at you right now :) )

One note of caution, if you're looking for super thin pancakes that you can pretty much see through and that will roll up amazingly easily, I would probably make palatschinken (aka Austrian crêpe) because since this recipe is gluten-free and I didn't add anything fancy to the batter there there isn't any of the proteiny viscousness in the batter. That said, I do think flavour-wise, these are the best thin pancakes I have had in a while.

Millet and Buckwheat Pancakes
100g Millet Flour
50g Buckwheat Flour
200ml Milk
100g Creme Fraiche
2 Eggs
½ tbsp Sugar (optional)
A pinch of Salt
Zest of ½ Orange (optional)
1 tsp Vanilla Essence

Mix the flours, then whisk in the milk, eggs and creme fraiche. Add the sugar and orange zest if you are using them (in case you haven't noticed lately, I believe orange zest goes with everything). Then add the Salt and Vanilla Essence.
Heat a heavy-bottomed skillet to a medium heat and melt some butter in it.
Pour some batter into the skillet and rotate the skillet slightly so the batter gets evenly distributed. Wait until the pancake looks like it's cooked through and the edges start rolling up (I found that unlike a 'normal' crepe where it doesn't matter as much whether the edges are already rolling up, with these they kept tearing whenever I was too impatient), flip the pancake and give it another minute or two so the second side gets some colour as well.
I had these pancakes with some cinnamon sugar but my mum says they also go really well with some strawberry-rhubarb jam.
What is your favourite pancake topping/filling?

I hope you have a good week and lots and lots of pancakes :)