Carnival and a Cauliflower Soup with Ginger and Lemon
A couple weeks ago I wrote about our traditional family feast, a time when we all meet at my mother's house in the countryside to celebrate carnival. It's always silly, loud and involves lots of good food. The festive highlight is the making of our Berliner which involves each family member. A Berliner is a sweet speciality which looks a bit like a doughnut without a hole. It’s made of yeast dough, filled with jam, deep fried in vegetable shortening and sprinkled with cinnamon icing sugar. The jam filling changes with the years, a few weeks ago I filled mine with blueberry jam which became my favourite (for now), they tasted divine! The reason I made them at my home without my family before carnival, was a blog tour I was asked to joined. I decided to share our "Berliner" family tradition. I made them on my own for the first time in my life, they were as good as at my mother's but it's more fun with family and friends.
In the end it turned out to be (subconsciously) a wise choice as this carnival will be different. This year there is neither a family feast nor a Berliner to enjoy, for us it's soup instead. A wisdom tooth got in our way and needed to come out quick. Needless to say, a jam filled Berliner isn't the appropriate food in a situation like this, porridge and soup is more like it!
I have a big, beautiful cauliflower in the kitchen, a cabbage I don't use so often but in a velvety soup it shows its finer qualities. The sweet taste and smooth texture is great for puréed soups. I don't add any cream, just broth, onion, garlic and some tangy flavours, lemon and ginger. A piece of ginger simmers together with the cauliflower in the broth before I season it with grated ginger to taste. I add the lemon's juice and zest when the soup is done, arrange it in plates drizzled with some good olive oil and sprinkle some more lemon zest on top. I'm impressed, it's still smooth but fresh!
Last week I told you that eat in my kitchen was nominated for The Kitchn's Best Daily Read Cooking Blog Award 2014. Food52 won the award but I want to thank you all for your support and all your votes, with your help eat in my kitchen reached the final!
Ginger Lemon Cauliflower Soup
For 4 people you need
a big cauliflower, rinsed and cut into 5cm / 2" pieces, around 750g / 1.5 pounds (weight without stem)
vegetable broth 1500ml
onion, chopped, 1
garlic, cut in half, 1
bay leaf 1ginger, thumbnail sized piece plus 1 teaspoon grated
lemon juice 1 tablespoon
lemon zest 1 teaspoon
salt and black pepper
olive oil for frying and topping
In a large pot, fry the onion and garlic in a little oil until golden and soft. Add the cauliflower, bay leaf, the piece of ginger and broth and bring to the boil. Cook for 10 minutes or until the cauliflower is al dente. When it's done take out the bay leaf and ginger and put a few smaller pieces of cauliflower (a small plate full) aside before you mix the soup in a blender. Season with salt, pepper, the grated ginger, lemon juice and zest and put the cauliflower pieces back into the smooth soup. When you arrange the plates, drizzle some good olive oil on top and sprinkle with some lemon zest.
Homemade Sausage with Herbs and Spices and Baked Fennel with Parmesan
Our last visitors from Malta brought some of my favourite sausages along, coarse Maltese pork sausage stuffed with lots of spices and garlic. The kind that you can use to spice up a whole pot of soup. When it comes to sausage that's exactly what I like! When I'm in Malta I fry them for breakfast without their skin and cut in half, like a burger, some fried zucchini (qarabaghli in Maltese) on the side and and I'm prepared for a day on the beach.
The gift from Malta inspired me to make my own sausages, but without skin from the start. I make mine like burgers without egg and bread (apart from a tablespoon of breadcrumbs) and with pork and beef unlike the original. Most importantly they are enhanced with plenty of rosemary, parsley, coriander and fennel seeds (luckily I still have some left from Malta to keep it even more authentic) and my coarse sea salt from Mr. Cini's salt pans in Gozo, Malta's sister island. Spices and salt from other parts of the world will work as well, I just like to add the nice memories and to me, they taste best. As fennel already has such an importance in this meal I add the bulbs as well, baked in the oven with onions, garlic and parmesan. It's the right addition to my Mediterranean sausages which I fry first before I deglaze them with a splash of white wine. This makes a thick sauce of juices, delicious together with the meat and the vegetable.
Homemade Sausage with Herbs and Spices and Baked Fennel with Parmesan
This makes a dinner for 3-4.
For the sausage
minced beef 300g / 10.5 ounces
minced pork 300g / 10.5 ounces
dry breadcrumbs 1 tablespoon
fresh parsley, chopped, a medium bunch
fresh rosemary, chopped roughly, 1 teaspoon
coriander seeds, ground in a mortar, 1 tablespoon
fennel seeds, ground in a mortar, 3/4 tablespoon
black peppercorns, ground in a mortar (coarsely), 1 tablespoon
garlic, crushed, 2 large cloves
coarse sea salt 1 1/2 teaspoons
white wine for deglazing
olive oil for frying
Mix the ingredients well and shape thick sausages. Heat some olive oil in a large cast iron (or heavy) pan and fry the sausages on medium heat until all sides are golden brown. Deglaze the sausages with a splash of wine so that the bottom of your pan is covered, the liquid shouldn't evaporate completely. Turn down the heat, scrape the juices off and close the pan with a lid for 1-2 minutes until the sausages are done inside.
For the baked fennel
large bulbs of fennel, quartered and blanched together with 1/2 lemon for 8 minutes, 2 bulbs (keep the green of the fennel bulbs uncooked and chopped for the topping)
medium onions, chopped, 2
garlic, crushed, 2 cloves
olive oil
Parmesan, grated, 3 tablespoons (you can add more if you like)
salt and black pepper
Set the oven to 200°C / 390°F (I used the Rotitherm roasting setting) and brush a medium sized baking dish with olive oil.
Fry the onion and garlic in a little oil on medium heat until golden brown.
Put the fennel in the baking dish and sprinkle with olive oil and the green of the fennel. Season with salt and pepper, add the fried onions and garlic and cover with parmesan. Bake for 10 minutes until the cheese is golden brown and crisp.
An earthy Chard and Ricotta Lasagna
One of the qualities of chard, besides its wonderful taste, is that it gives me a spring feeling even in the coldest and darkest February evening. The thick green leaves are a promising hint of all the fresh green which will be on my plate in the next months, but for now I gladly enjoy this versatile vegetable. Chard tastes similar to spinach, but stronger with earthy flavours. I like it in combination with pasta and milky cheese. For a quick and easy dinner I chop the leaves roughly, cut the thicker stems into very thin slices, fry them in oil and deglaze everything with a glass of white wine. Mixed with spaghetti, some heavy cream and parmesan it's a wonderful pasta dish.
With a bit more time, chard makes a delicious lasagna together with ricotta, Béchamel and some parmesan. For a cold night, I recommend this comfortable dish. It's done after less than half an hour in the oven, you just need to blanch the chard beforehand and prepare the Béchamel.
Chard and Ricotta Lasagna
I use a 27cm x 20cm / 10.5″ x 8″ baking dish, definitely big enough for 4 people.
For the chard
chard, rinsed, 500g / 18 ounces
nutmeg, ground
salt and black pepper
Bring a large pot with water to the boil. Cut the soft green of the chard into 1 cm / 1/2" strips and the hard white parts into very thin slices. Salt the water, first boil the white slices of chard for a couple minutes until al dente, then throw in the the green as well and cook for 1 minute. Take the chard out of the water and rinse in a sieve with cold water for 1-2 seconds. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste and set aside.
For the Sauce Béchamel
milk 600ml
butter, 30g / 1 ounce
plain flour 30g / 1 ounce
bay leaf 1
a pinch of nutmeg, grated
salt and black pepper
Mix the milk with the nutmeg, salt and pepper and bring to the boil. In a sauce pan, melt the butter and whisk in the flour. Pour the hot milk into the roux and continue mixing till smooth. Add the bay leaf and simmer for around 5 minutes on low heat until the texture is thick and smooth. Take the bay leaf out and season with salt and pepper.
For the Lasagna
lasagna pasta sheets around 250g / 9 ounces
ricotta 250g / 9 ounces
Parmesan, grated, 4-6 tablespoons
Set the oven to 180°C / 355°F and butter the baking dish.
Put down a layer of pasta in the baking dish, spread with 1/2 the chard, pour 1/3 of the Béchamel over it and sprinkle with 1/2 of the ricotta (in big lumps). Repeat with another layer of pasta, the rest of the chard and ricotta and 1/3 of the Béchamel, cover with the final layer of pasta and the remaining Béchamel. Sprinkle with parmesan. Bake for 25 minutes or until the pasta is done, switch on the grill for 2 minutes or until the pasta becomes golden brown and partially crisp.
A Salad of Caramelised Parsnip with Maple Syrup, Goat Cheese and Thyme
At the moment I could eat roots and turnips all the time luckily, as tasty spring vegetables are still a few months away. It's always the same, around March I start to miss ripe tomatoes, juicy cucumber, crunchy lettuce, zucchini, the ripe tastes of summer. Greenhouse vegetables reach their watery peak at this time of the year so they are not really an alternative. The cherry tomatoes I bought the other day had thick skin and when I ate them I had to image tomatoes rather than tasting them. I don't really feel like cabbage anymore, so I stick to everything that grows in the ground.
I enjoyed my Monday's Ginger Honey Navet Steaks so much, their sweet, syrupy juices were delicious, that I thought about other combinations of roots and syrup. My choice was caramelized parsnip roasted with maple syrup and thyme leaves, combined with fresh goat cheese in a warm salad. The juices make a great thick syrup, glazed around the roots they are a perfect match for the milky cheese crumbs and strong wintery herb. You could make it as a side dish, still hot, we ate it as a warm salad, I didn't want the cheese to melt.
I cut three parsnips into long strips and glazed them with 3 tablespoons of olive oil and 2 tablespoons of maple syrup mixed with salt and pepper. A dash of white wine and the leaves of 4 sprigs of time on top, everything well spread in a roasting tin, I baked it for 15 minutes in the hot oven set to 200°C / 390°F, Rotitherm roasting setting. When the parsnip was done, golden on the outside and soft inside, I let them cool for a couple minutes before I crumbled 80g / 3 ounces of fresh, soft goat cheese over the roots. The two us cleaned the tin with our fingers, not to waste a drop of the sweet syrup.
Roast Quail with Spice Crust
I remember when I was a child I refused to eat quail, I didn't like the idea of cooking a bird of that size. I got older, learnt that there is no difference between eating chicken, quail or any other fully grown bird and then one day, I tried a piece of its juicy meat. I was convinced within seconds! I have since tried out many recipes, fruity with roast grapes, quail with different herb variations, pure and buttery, exotic quail with various spice mixtures, so many possibilities that change with the seasons. There's one thing these recipes have in common, I always fry the quail in fat with a piece of garlic and then I roast it in the oven for 8-10 minutes. It makes the skin crisp and the meat doesn't loose its juices.
You can play around with quite a few aromas because it tastes so strong, it allows you to be more experimental than with chicken. I love to look through my big box of spices and follow my nose to choose the right mixture. It makes me feel like a child in a sweet shop! This time I go for 1 small star-anis, 2 cloves, 12 black pepper corns, 1 teaspoon of coriander seeds and 1/4 teaspoon of aniseed, everything ground coarsely in my mortar. This spice mixture makes the crust for 2 quails. I had some goose fat in the fridge, perfect for frying poultry but you can use butter instead. I fried the birds together with 1 clove of garlic cut in half until their skin was golden brown on all sides and put them into a baking dish. The buttery juices mixed with a dash of lemon juice go over the quails, followed by the spices rubbed into their skin and some salt. Now they just need to go into the oven, set to 200°C / 390°F, I used the Rotitherm roasting setting which works perfectly for poultry. Mine were done in 8 minutes, I had bigger quails which needed up to 15 minutes depending on their size.
We focused on the quail and enjoyed this meal with slices of white bread to dip into the spiced juices and a salad on the side.
Crunchy Artichoke Hearts with Spinach Tagliatelle
I had three artichokes left from Emma's wonderful gift from Malta, where they are already in season. I kept them to cook a meal which I usually enjoy in late summer, artichoke fried with onion and garlic mixed with pasta. I remove their leaves and use just their heart and stem, cut into thin slices as opposed to the bigger, round ones which have thicker, fleshy leaves, perfect to dip into dressings and nibble on, also a summer treat I look forward to!
As soon as the leaves have been removed from the artichoke, this meal is really quick to cook. First I prepared the three vegetables which are enough for a dinner for 3. When you pull the leaves off and cut out the fine hair, you can keep the artichoke heart and stem in a bowl with water and half a lemon. This keeps them from changing their colour as you continue preparing the rest of them. I didn't do this as I don't mind.
I went for Delverde Tagliatelle Agli Spinaci (around 300g / 10.5 ounces) to bring in some colour and cooked them al dente while I prepared the artichokes. First I fried 1 finely chopped onion and 1 crushed garlic in some olive oil in a large pan until golden and soft. I added the finely sliced artichoke and fried it until golden brown on all sides. I deglazed it with some white wine, seasoned with salt and pepper and let it cook for a few minutes. When the tagliatelle were done, I poured some of the water I used for cooking the pasta over the artichokes, mixed in the pasta and seasoned everything with salt and black pepper to taste.
Ginger Honey glazed Navet Steaks with Orange Juice and Rosemary
When I saw these beautiful yellow turnips, also known as Navet, at the store, I had to buy them although I wasn't really sure what to cook with them. They are related to beetroot but taste more like rutabaga. After 1 or 2 days of looking at them I found my inspiration, thick Navet steaks fried in butter with ginger, honey, orange juice and rosemary. I made a similar recipe with rutabaga in December and the combination of turnip and ginger is one that I like a lot.
This time, I wanted to add a few more aromas, the sweetness of honey, the fruity sourness of orange juice and some woody rosemary, all this combined in the buttery juices of my yellow turnip. The result left me speechless! I couldn't get enough of this sauce, so thick, sweet, spicy and sour, simply amazing, and the Navet steaks covered in this sticky glaze combined perfectly with all the different flavours.
Ginger Honey glazed Navet Roots with Orange Juice and Rosemary
For a lunch or side dish for 2 you need
yellow turnip, cut into thick steaks, 2 (you can also use rutabaga)
ginger, grated, a thumbnail sized piece
honey, 1 teaspoon
orange juice for deglazing
fresh rosemary, chopped, 2 tablespoons
butter 3 tablespoons
salt and black pepper
In a large pan, heat the butter together with the honey and ginger, add the turnip and season with salt and pepper. On medium heat, fry for 2-3 minutes on each side until golden brown. Deglaze with a splash of orange juice, let it cook for 1-2 minutes and sprinkle with rosemary.
King Prawns, Ginger and Leek Pasta for a special night
Sometimes when I visit my mother and it's just the two of us, we go for a luxurious mother and daughter treat. In our case that's not a day at the spa but a sumptuous meal. We both love seafood, so we go to the fish shop and buy a few king prawns for one of our favourite meals. We fry the prawns, add some ginger, garlic and leek and mix them together with Linguine pasta - so simple yet so delicious! The pasta is glazed with the gingery oil infused with the aroma of the prawns which are so strong on their own that you just have to fry them in hot oil to unfold their pure quality. No sauce, no further distraction, just a subtle spiciness from the leek and ginger. We love it!
It's one of those days again, my mother is at my home at the moment, we went to some great restaurants in the past few days and had some wonderful dinners out but now it's time to cook together in my kitchen again, but first it's time to go shopping! I mentioned my favourite department store when I wrote about my Camembert and Pomegranate Sandwich because of their amazing (and huge) cheese section. I started my own tradition more than 20 years ago when I was still only a regular visitor to my current home city. I would always visit their food section whenever close by, and I still can't resist its attraction. I walk around, take a look at the displayed goods and I always end up in the seafood section to buy a shrimp sandwich. Yesterday I went there with my mother, I ate my shrimps in a crisp bun and she had a few oysters. We bought some king prawns for our dinner, fresh from the open sea, we also chose some wine, cheese and petit fours for dessert and couldn't wait to get home to prepare our special dinner.
I must admit we're still two girls so we didn't just leave it at the food. The fashion section was nearly as attractive as the food so we ended up spending some time there as well. A perfect day - and night!
King Prawns, Ginger and Leek Linguine
For 4 people you need
king prawns, uncooked, rinsed, cleaned, the head removed but with the shell, 12 (we got the ones with head and shell, their taste is stronger and you can make an amazing broth with the shells)
linguine pasta 400g / 14 ounces
leek, cut into thin slices, 1
ginger, cut into strips, 3 tablespoons
garlic, cut in half, 3 cloves
white wine for deglazing and a little of the water used for cooking the pasta
salt and black pepper
olive oil for frying
In a large pot, cook the Linguine al dente. While the pasta is cooking you can continue with the prawns.
In a large and heavy pan, fry the prawns in hot oil for a couple minutes on each side until their shells turns golden brown. Take the prawns aside (I leave mine in their shell but you can also peel them before you mix them with the pasta). Pour some more oil into the pan and fry the leek, ginger and garlic for 2-3 minutes on medium heat. Deglaze with a splash of white wine, add half a cup of the water used for cooking the pasta and season with salt and pepper. When the leek is soft, add the pasta and prawns. Mix everything and divide between the plates.
You can make a delicious broth with the hard shells and heads, fry them in hot oil and deglaze them with Noilly Prat or white wine. Add an onion, 1/2 leek, 1-2 carrots, 1 small parsley root, 1 celery stalk, 4 black pepper corns and 2 bay leaves and cover everything with 1800ml of water. Cook for half an hour and pour through a sieve. I fill mine in containers and put them in the freezer.
Earthy Porcini Lentil Soup with Honey and Ginger
A couple days ago I ate a very aromatic porcini soup at one of my favourite restaurants and I was very surprised when the chef and owner told me where the mushrooms for this wonderful meal came from, the desert. The dunes of the Kalahari in southern Africa produce sensational truffle and porcini in season from now till May. I savored this dinner together with my family and we were all surprised and impressed at the same time! I've never seen mushrooms from the Kalahari in a store or at the markets before but I will definitely look out for them!
The soup was so tasty that it aroused my appetite for mushrooms and I had to think of a lentil soup my aunt Ursula had told me about (she was at the dinner as well). It combines the earthy flavours of lentils and porcini. I went for dried porcini (from Italy not from Africa). My aunt recommended them for this meal as you have to shred them finely into a very concentrated porcini flour which you cook together with the lentils. I used my Swabian Alb Leisa Lentils from South Germany for this meal which conveniently don't need to soak in water. Their taste is strong enough for the aromatic porcini, so strong that I could even add a piece of ginger, some thyme sprigs and a spoon of honey. The result is an absolutely delicious lentil soup full of wintery aromas.
Porcini Lentils with Honey, Ginger and Thyme
This is great to cook in large batches to keep in the freezer for quick dinners!
For 4 people you need
lentils 350g / 12.5 ounces (I use a small dark type which doesn't need to soak)
dried porcini mushrooms, shredded finely in a blender, 50g / 2 ounces
medium sized onion, chopped, 1
garlic, crushed, 1 clove
broth 1000ml plus more for cooking depending on the lentils
fresh thyme 5 sprigs
ginger, thumbnail sized
bay leaf 1
honey 1 tablespoon
salt and black pepper
olive oil for frying
In a large pot, fry the onion and garlic in a little oil on medium heat until golden, add some more oil and the shredded porcini and fry for 1 minute. Add the lentils, ginger, thyme, bay leaf and the broth. Don’t season with salt yet or the lentils will stay hard. Close the lid and let it cook for about 30 minutes. The cooking time depends on the lentil type, mine needed 30 minutes. When the lentils are soft, add the honey, season with salt and pepper and take out the thyme sprigs, bay leaf and ginger.
A Purple Risotto with Bitter Radicchio
When it comes to risotto I like the rice to have a bit of bite, with a velvety texture and not too liquid. I always make mine with broth and wine adding a little at a time so that I don't miss the point of my favoured texture. What's great about this meal is that it's made of ingredients which I usually have in stock. There are always one or two vegetables in my fridge waiting to be used and Arborio rice, onions, garlic, olive oil and wine to cook is on my shelves anyway. So it's perfect for an indecisive day when I don't know what to put on my cooker, or I don't have the time to think about dinner. Conveniently, it's also ready in half an hour!
My purple risotto has a biting bitterness from the radicchio which combines very well with the thyme. The rice is infused with the strong flavours in my broth and spices. I use a bay leaf and cloves which introduce a woody element to the bitterness (although that sounds strange, it describes it best!). When I cook with radicchio I like to have a strong counterpart to balance out its dominant character.
Radicchio Risotto with Spices and Thyme
For 2 hungry people you need
Arborio rice 200g / 7 ounces
radicchio, quartered and cut into slices, 1 medium sized head (I cut a few radicchio slices very thinly which I leave uncooked for the topping)
onion, chopped finely, 1
garlic, cut in half, 1 clove
red wine around 200ml
broth 1200-1500ml
fresh thyme leaves from 4-6 sprigs
bay leaf 1
cloves 2
salt and black pepper
olive oil for frying
butter 1 tablespoon
In a large pot, fry the onions and garlic in a little olive oil until golden and soft, stir in the rice and radicchio and fry on medium temperature for a couple minutes. Deglaze with 1/3 of the wine, let it cook until evaporated and repeat twice, stirring in between. Add 4 sprigs of the thyme, the spices, salt and pepper and some of the stock, enough to cover the rice. The temperature should be between low and medium. When the liquid has been absorbed continue to add more broth, a little at a time stirring in between. Depending on the rice, it sometimes needs more or less liquids. When the rice is al dente and the broth is more or less absorbed take it off the heat, take out the spices, stir in the butter and season with salt and pepper to taste. Arrange on plates sprinkled with the uncooked radicchio slices and some thyme leaves.
Spaghetti Carbonara with Onions and Prosciutto
There was a time when I had this meal at least once a week. It was a special winter that I spent in the North of England, in North Yorkshire directly on the coast. The sea was rough, the air was damp and salty, and it was cold, the kind of wet cold that creeps into your bones. My diet concentrated on fish and chips (every year, this place is voted for the best fish in England), pies and simple dinners I could cook in our tiny kitchen. Spaghetti Carbonara was one of them. Fried Prosciutto, onions and eggs and you can brave any weather.
I use my Tyrolean Prosciutto from San Cassiano - luckily there's still some left. I tried many others for this recipe but I still think this one is the best. In the past I used to make it with crispy bacon but the spices of the Prosciutto add something really nice to the creamy egg and onions. I cut it into strips, like the onions, and fry everything before I mix it with the pasta, eggs, cream and Parmesan. And crushed black pepper, of course!
Spaghetti Carbonara
For 2 people you need
spaghetti 200g / 7 ounces
Tyrolean Prosciutto, cut into strips, 5 slices
medium sized onion, cut in half and into thin slices, 1 -2
egg yolks 3
heavy cream 80ml
salt and crushed black peppercorns
olive oil for frying
Parmesan, freshly grated
In a large pan, fry the onions in some oil until golden and soft. Add the Prosciutto and fry for a couple minutes as well. Mix the egg yolks together with the cream, salt and pepper.
Cook the pasta al dente and immediately put it into the warm pan (off the heat) on the fried onions and Prosciutto. Pour the egg and cream mixture on top, mixing well. Sprinkle with lots of crushed black pepper and Parmesan, and enjoy a glass of red wine with it - that's what I do!
A warming Soup with Chestnuts, Cinnamon and Thyme
For this soup I appreciate the convenience of vacuum packed peeled chestnuts - even though I love the romantic, wintery atmosphere when you bake them in the oven and they fill the air with the smell of their burned peel. I need quite a few nuts for my recipe and with so many to peel, the thought of burnt fingers puts me off. I want a soup without major frustration and injury, so I bought them pre-cooked and peeled. This is a quick soup, relaxed cooking and I didn't want to change that.
I had a velvety soup in mind, smooth and a bit sweet, enhanced with some cinnamon and thyme. I wasn't sure if the chestnuts would be too overpowering so I added a few cooked potatoes. When you have a nice broth on hand, the preparation only takes a few minutes. All you need to do is fry an onion in a little oil, add the chestnuts, potatoes, cinnamon and thyme and heat everything together with the broth, some cream, salt and pepper. When you have everything together, mix it in a blender.
As a main for 2, I used 250g / 9 ounces chestnuts, 3 medium sized cooked potatoes (cut into cubes), 1 large onion (chopped and fried in olive oil), 600ml of broth, 1 tablespoon of heavy cream, seasoned with 1/2 a teaspoon of cinnamon plus salt and black pepper to taste. Fill into bowls and if you like sprinkle with chestnut crumbles, cinnamon and thyme.
Ginger Honey Glazed Duck with Spices and Polenta
Sometimes I don't have the time or patience to slow cook a whole duck for hours like I do with my Christmas Duck. Although this really makes for the most tender and juicy meat, I need a quicker alternative. Here's what I came up with, honey glazed duck legs, juicy as well, with crisp skin, rubbed with spices and - most importantly - you can enjoy all of this after about an hour. If I find the time I marinade the meat in the morning so that the flavours can spread and soak into the skin during the day but it's great either way.
I prefer the darker, deeper meat of wildfowl like duck, goose and pheasant, especially in the cold season. They allow you to rub strong spices and herbs into their skin without loosing their own qualities. For my duck legs, I went for an aromatic mixture of clove, bay leaf, ginger, star-anis, thyme, allspice and a good amount of honey for a crispy caramelized skin. The juices made an amazing sauce, a concentrate of all the spices, I just added some red wine. Perfect to dip the polenta in which I seasoned with thyme and rosemary.
GingerHoney Glazed Duck with Spices and Polenta with Thyme and Rosemary
I prepare the polenta around 4o minutes after I put the duck legs into the oven.
For 2 people you need
duck legs 2
red wine 250ml (or 100ml red wine and 150ml broth)
salt and black pepper
olive oil
For the marinade
aromatic honey 2 tablespoons
ginger, thumbnail sized, grated
thyme, leaves of 5 sprigs
allspice berries, ground, 3
cloves, ground, 5
bay leaf, ground, 1
star-anis, ground, 1
cinnamon, ground, 1/4 teaspoon
Warm up the honey in a small sauce pan until it becomes liquid, spread on the duck legs together with the spices and rub everything into their skin marinating them for 1 hour (if possible). You can also prepare them in the morning (like I do) and keep them in the fridge all day before you cook them in the evening.
For the duck legs
Set the oven to 260°C / 500°F. My oven has a Rotitherm roasting setting which works perfectly for poultry.
Put the duck legs into an oiled baking dish, skin side up, and season with salt and pepper. Pour the remaining honey and spices of the marinade over the duck and place the dish in the hot oven. When the skin starts to get brown after a few minutes turn the temperature down to 130°C / 265°F and pour the red wine into the baking dish (a little over the duck as well) and bake for 60 minutes. Check with a skewer, if only clear juices come out the duck is done. Keep the duck legs in a warm place, pour the juices into a sauce pan and season with salt and pepper to taste. I didn't even need to cook the sauce down. It was perfect, very intense, it didn't need anything else. If you like you can add some more honey, Balsamico or a little orange juice.
For the polenta
polenta 120g / 4 ounces
water 250ml plus 150ml for cooking
milk 250ml
thyme, leaves of 4 sprigs
rosemary, chopped, 1/2 - 1 teaspoon
salt 1 teaspoon
olive oil 2 tablespoons
In a sauce pan, mix 250ml of water with the milk and salt and bring to the boil. Take the pan off the heat, add the olive oil, polenta and herbs and mix with a whisk. Turn down the heat to the lowest temperature and put the pan back on. Cook the polenta for 10 minutes mixing and adding the rest of the water once in a while.
Potato Porcini Gratin with Raclette and Thyme
Imagine bubbling Raclette cheese, golden potatoes, earthy Porcini and aromatic thyme and you have all the strong but well balanced flavours of my hearty gratin. Add some cream, salt, pepper and nutmeg and you're pretty much done. It's a quick one, the potatoes are boiled already and I used dried Porcini which only had to soak for a couple minutes. Normally I make my gratin with raw potatoes, sliced very thinly, several layers stacked on top of each other with cheese in between. It takes longer to prepare and to cook, I didn't have the time so I went for a quicker one.
I like to cook with dried Porcini. It's convenient as you can use them all year round and they are really tasty, even more intense than the fresh ones. I always use the liquid after I soak them in water as it absorbs lots of the mushroom's taste. It's great for risotto or, in my case, to mix with the cream. It makes a lighter sauce than my usual gratin milk and cream mixture. I add some thyme which is the perfect herb for Porcini (parsley also fits well but the thick thyme leaves give it this nice wintery touch). I cut the potato slices quite thick, I don't want them to become mushy when they soak a bit of the sauce. To finish it off it just needs some strong meltable cheese sprinkled on top. Swiss Raclette became one of my my favourites over the past years as it tastes really strong. I don't like to drown my poor food under piles of cheese for a bit of taste, I rather use less of a good and aromatic one.
Potato Porcini Gratin
For 4 people as a side dish, or for 2 as a main, you need
boiled potatoes, cut into thick slices, 800g / 1 1/2 pound
dried Porcini, soaked in 120ml of warm water, chopped, 20g / 1 ounce (keep the water, you will need 100ml for the sauce)
heavy cream 100ml
Raclette cheese, grated, 50g / 2 ounces
thyme leaves of 2-3 sprigs
salt and black pepper
nutmeg, ground
olive oil to brush the baking dish
Set the oven to 200°C / 390°F.
Arrange the potato slices in the oiled baking dish. Mix the cream, Porcini water, chopped Porcini, cheese and thyme leaves. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg and pour over the potatoes. Bake for 30 minutes or until bubbly and golden. At that point you can also put the gratin under the grill for a couple minutes so that the cheese becomes a bit crisp.
Thai Soup and Beef
The past couple of days have brought a lot of snow, turning the world outside into a winter wonderland. Everything is covered by a soft white blanket, which is true magic to me! It looks different, sounds different and it even smells different. Two days ago I had time for a short walk so I went down the road to a tiny park that looks a bit like a secret garden. It's my city hideaway as it seems to leave the noise and bustle outside as soon as you enter the iron gates. The trees and bushes were covered in snow and I had my camera with me, luckily, so I could take some of these wonderful impressions home with me and share them with you.
After walking for a while I started to feel cold and I got in the mood for a warm, spicy broth, a Thai soup. I have all sorts of broth in my freezer. Every few weeks I cook a few litres of vegetable broth to use for soups and risottos, but I also have duck and pheasant broth in stock at the moment. When you have a strong broth you are already well on your way to a good soup. I warmed up the duck broth and added some lemongrass, ginger, fresh chili and coriander. I was really hungry, so I decided to throw in some pointed cabbage and some tiny meatballs mixed with the spices. The meatballs weren't bigger than walnuts, after cooking in the soup for 5 minutes they were done, the cabbage needed even less. If you prefer the vegetarian version just leave out the meat, which is what I often do. Either way, this soup is a perfect treat for this cold season, you can be sure you will feel warm, strong and refreshed afterwards!
Thai Soup with Meatballs
For 2 people as a main or for 4 people as a starter you need
broth 1500ml
pointed cabbage, sliced thinly, 250g / 9 ounces
ground beef 400g / 14 ounces
fresh ginger, thumb sized piece, 1/3 sliced thinly, 2/3 grated
garlic, crushed, 2 cloves
coriander roots, ground in a mortar, 2-3
coriander leaves, a handful
fresh chili, sliced thinly, 1
lemongrass, peeled and cut into thin slices, 1
salt and black pepper
Mix the coriander roots, the grated ginger, the garlic and a generous amount of ground black pepper in a mortar and grind to a smooth paste. Mix the paste together with the beef, half of the coriander leaves (chopped) and a teaspoon of salt. Form little walnut sized balls with a teaspoon.
Season the broth with salt and pepper to taste, add the slices of ginger and lemongrass and bring to the boil. Cook the meatballs in the broth on medium heat for 4 minutes. Keep the lid closed. After 4 minutes, add the cabbage and cook for another 2 minutes. Serve in deep bowls topped with the chili slices and the rest of the coriander leaves.
A Salad with Beluga Lentils and Beetroot
I went a bit overboard on the weekend, two pies (sweet and savory) in two days, time for a change in my kitchen! Something lighter (that doesn't involve butter) is on my mind, a salad with black Beluga lentils and fried beetroot slices. Beluga lentils are perfect for salads. They are tiny little legumes, with a strong and nutty taste and they just have to cook for 30 minutes without having to soak in water. The beetroot becomes a bit sweet when you fry the raw slices, even sweeter than when boiled in water. When it comes to salads, I prefer fewer ingredients with strong flavours and quick preparation. I'm not too fond of salads which mix up lots of different vegetables and fruit as the single tastes tend to get blurred.
Today's salad is a dark beauty, the lentils are dark grey, nearly black with shades of blue and green and the beetroot slices deepen to a dark red when you fry them. All you need for a salad for 4 is 1 cup / 200g of Beluga lentils, rinsed and cooked in 3 cups of water (without salt!) for 20-30 minutes. While they are simmering, I slice 2 large uncooked beetroots with a slicer very thinly. I heat some oil in a large pan, sprinkle the beetroot slices with a pinch of sugar and fry them in batches for a few seconds on each side before I season them with salt and pepper. They burn quickly which gives them a bitter taste so you have to watch them.
My dressing is very simple and light, 3 generous tablespoons of olive oil mixed with 1 tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice and 1 tablespoon of white Balsamico vinegar, seasoned with salt and black pepper. When the lentils are done I rinse them with cold water, drain them and pour the dressing on top. You may have to add more salt and pepper at this point to taste. I lay the beetroot slices on top and the salad is ready to be served!
Buttery Crisp Fennel Tart
A tart, a quiche, a pie, call it whatever you like, anything that involves buttery short crust is heavenly food to me. I'm the happiest person in the world when I have one of these in my oven, filling the air with that buttery smell, teasing me as I can't wait to have the first bite in my mouth. Most of the time I use my all time favourite quiche crust recipe for any kind of savory tart or quiche. I wrote about that recipe in December. It has been with me for nearly twenty years and I never found a better one. It's crisp, it's buttery, yet still light. Just perfect!
If you follow eat in my kitchen you'll find that I tend to buy too much of this and that (I'm talking about food). This time it's fennel, three bulbs! I never throw any food away, I use everything I buy, but I become too excited when I see all the nice food at the market and a million things come into my mind that I'd like to cook with them. So I buy whatever arouses my appetite. Sometimes, my fridge just reaches its limits.
I haven't made a tart in a while so I will use the fennel for the filling, mixed with Parmesan, a few eggs, milk and cream, and the buttery smell can take over my flat!
Fennel Tart
For one tart you need a round (27cm / 10.5″) or oval baking dish or tart pan.
For the short crust base
flour 250g / 8.5 ounces (I use spelt flour type 630 but you can use any other plain flour)
butter, cold 125g / 4.5 ounces
organic egg 1
salt 1 teaspoon
Combine the flour with the salt. Cut the butter with a knife into the flour until there are just little pieces of butter left. Continue with your fingers and work the butter into the flour until combined (there shouldn’t be any lumps of butter left). Add the egg and continue mixing with the hooks of your mixer until you have a crumbly mixture. Form a disc, wrap in cling film and put in the freezer for 10 minutes.
For the filling
fennel, cut in half and sliced thinly, 400g / 14 ounces
organic eggs 2
milk 100 ml
heavy cream 100 ml
Parmesan, grated, 2 heaped tablespoons
salt 1 teaspoon
black pepper
nutmeg, freshly grated
The tart
Set your oven to 210°C / 410°F.
Sauté the fennel in a big pan in a little oil for 5 minutes until golden.
Mix the eggs with the milk, heavy cream, Parmesan, salt, pepper and nutmeg.
Roll out the dough between cling film and line your baking dish with the flat pastry. Prick it with a fork and blind-bake in the hot oven for 10 minutes. Take your baking dish out of the oven and set the temperature down to 180°C / 355°F.
Spread the fried fennel on top of the pre-baked pastry base and pour the liquid mixture over. Put the tart carefully on a baking sheet in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes or until golden, the top should be firm. Let it cool for 10 minutes.
Gravad Lax with Dill and Spices
Yesterday Saveur Magazine added eat in my kitchen to their "Sites We Love" and I'm so happy and excited to be a part of this special list! It's only been two months since I started sharing my personal kitchen moments here on my blog and I have been overwhelmed by the response and support, thank you!
Here is the link to the interview I did for Saveur Magazine: http://www.saveur.com/article/sites-we-love/sites-we-love-eat-in-my-kitchen
So, back to food, a special day deserves a special meal! Coincidentally, today I'm writing about a very special, luxurious if not festive recipe, Gravad Lax!
Gravad Lax is very literally slow food as the cured salmon needs a few days in the fridge, pressed down with weights, looked after and turned once a day. It can take between 2 - 4 days to reach the right consistency, so you must be patient, but you can be sure you will be rewarded.
I cure mine with a marinade of dill, juniper and black pepper and the obligatory salt/sugar mixture. This, to me, is the best way to savor salmon by far. It's an old family recipe made by many of my relatives, it's always one of the starters when my family comes together at table. I have tried different recipes, with more spices and orange zest for example, but I always come back to this one. The dill, black pepper and the juniper just bring out the best in the salmon.
After a few days, when the salmon is done, I cut very thin slices off the fillet. I serve mine pure, with no dressing, just some white bread. That's it, it doesn't need anything else. Apart from a glass of white wine maybe, or Champagne even. It's a luxurious meal so you might as well go all the way!
Gravad Lax
salmon, end or centre-cut, bones removed, skin on, cut into 2 pieces that fit on top of each other, around 700g / 24.5 ounces
granulated sugar 100g / 3.5 ounces
coarse sea salt 80g / 3 ounces
black pepper, crushed roughly, 1 tablespoon (measured before crushing)
juniper, crushed, 6 berries
fresh dill, chopped roughly, 2 small bunches
Combine the sugar, salt and spices.
Spread 1/4 of the dill on a flat dish big enough for the salmon. Place one half of the salmon on top (flesh-side up), rub the spice mixture gently into the flesh and cover with half of the dill. Place the other half of the fish on top (flesh-side down), press it down and cover with the rest of the dill. Cover with cling film, put a wooden board on top and place 2-3 (filled) tins on top, or anything else that is heavy enough to put some weight on the salmon. Place in the fridge and turn once a day. You might have to drain some liquid once in a while. Check after 2 days to see if the texture is already more firm. The salmon will start to look a big glassy. If so, slice it thinly (you must hold a large, sharp knife at a flat angle) - if not, be patient and check again tomorrow!
Cipollata with Raclette Crostini, the perfect Soup for a January Day
I remember when I was a child people used to make onion soup with a slice of white bread and grilled cheese on top. I liked the soup, I liked the melted cheese but I would have prefered the bread if it hadn't been soaking in the soup getting soft and soggy. That was never my thing, I also don't dip my cookie in tea or croissant in my cappuccino. I don't like pastry pieces swimming about soaking up liquid, neither sweet nor savory. Each to their own but this is not for me.
However, the combination of onion soup, bread and cheese is great, especially in winter. It's warming, a treat to the body, and it's rich and feels like a real meal. I found peace with my bread very easily by just keeping it out of the soup, it stays crisp and crusty and I can still enjoy this hearty combination. My soup is bright red as I add tomatoes to the broth, a nice change to the snowy grey outside my window, and a little spicy because I cook dried chili with it. I mix the onions with thick strips of Tyrolean Prosciutto from Mr. Pizzinini in San Cassiano. The spices of the prosciutto fit perfectly to the soup as I also use clove, bay leaf and rosemary.
While the soup is bubbling in the pot for half an hour I put thick slices of white bread covered with Raclette cheese under the grill. This alone would have already put me in a very happy mood but together with the soup I must say I'm at peace with the world!
Cipollata - A Winter Soup with Onion, Tomatoes and Tyrolean Prosciutto and Raclette Crostini
For 4 people you need
For the crostini, cut a loaf of white bread into thick slices, cover with grated Raclette cheese (100g / 3.5 ounces of cheese should be enough for 4 people) and put under the grill until golden brown. Sprinkle with crushed pepper.
For the Soup
onions, cut in half and then into thin slices, 500g / 18 ounces
a piece of Tyrolean Prosciutto, cut into thick strips, 120g / 4 ounces
tinned tomatoes, chopped, 400g / 14 ounces
broth 1000ml
cloves 3
clove of garlic 1
bay leaf 1
rosemary, 1 sprig
sugar 1 tablespoon
salt and pepper
olive oil for frying
Heat a little oil in a large pot and fry the prosciutto until crisp. Take it out, add some more oil and fry the onions with the sugar for around 10 minutes until soft. Add the tomatoes, broth, spices and cook for 30 minutes on medium heat. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve together with the grilled Raclette crostini.
White Pizza with Spinach and Ricotta
A few years ago curiosity got the better of me and I tried a "white pizza" at one of my favourite pizza restaurants. White pizza is made without tomatoes and I didn't quite know what to expect. I had my virgin white pizza moment with a spinach and ricotta topping and all my reservations melted away after the first bite. Lighter and with more space for the single ingredients, the absence of tomato sauce didn't lessen that feel good pizza pleasure.
I wrote about my Sunday pizza tradition a few weeks ago and yesterday was no exception. It has been ages since my last white pizza and, as it's been on my mind for a while, I bought some crisp winter spinach and ricotta. To finish it off I added some olive oil infused with garlic and some crushed black pepper. The dough was light and crisp, it soaked some oil, but not too much, a bit like a Focaccia. The spinach was crisp and had some bite as in winter it's a bit thicker while the ricotta brought a touch of velvety smoothness.
White Pizza with Winter Spinach, Ricotta and Olive Oil
I start to prepare the dough 2 hours before I bake it to give it enough time to rise.
For 1 big pizza (size of 1 baking sheet) you need
For the topping
fresh spinach, rinsed, 250g / 9 ounces
fresh ricotta 250g / 9 ounces
olive oil 4-6 tablespoons
garlic, cut in half, 1 clove
salt and crushed black pepper
Warm up the olive oil together with the garlic for 2-3 minutes.
For the dough
plain flour 350g / 12.5 ounces plus more for mixing
dry yeast 1 package (for 500g / 1 pound of flour)
water, lukewarm, 190ml
olive oil 3 tablespoons
salt 1 teaspoon
Combine the flour with the yeast and salt, add the olive oil and the lukewarm water, slowly, not all at once (you might not need all of it). Mix with your dough hooks for a few minutes. The dough shouldn’t be moist and sticky at all, more on the dry side. Continue kneading and punching with your hands until you have an elastic dough ball, not too hard, not sticky. Put the dough back in the bowl, cover it with a tea towel and let it rise in the warm oven (35°C / 95°F) for 40 minutes. This works really well but make sure that your oven is set to top/ bottom heat and not to fan.
When the dough is well risen, roll it out on a very well floured (this is very important!) working surface. It should be a bit smaller than the size of your baking sheet. Cover with a tea towel and let it rise for another 10-15 minutes.
The pizza
Set your oven to 260°C / 500°F. My oven has a special pizza setting but you can use top / bottom heat as well. Put the baking sheet on the bottom of your oven to heat it.
Take the hot baking sheet out of the oven, flip it over and place it carefully on two stable wooden boards or mats as it will be very hot. Place your risen dough carefully but quickly (best done by two people) on the baking sheet, push it gently into place if necessary. Sprinkle the olive oil and the ricotta in lumps on top. Put the baking sheet back into the oven, on the bottom again, and bake for a few minutes until the pizza is golden. Take it out and spread the spinach on top immediately. Season with salt and pepper, sprinkle some more olive oil on top if you like and enjoy!
