Devouring a fat duck

If they made me pay 500 Pounds, I wouldn't hesitate for a second to take out my wallet. But then, El Bulli refused me and my money, so I had to settle for the second best (literally): The Fat Duck in Bray. And Heston Blumenthal's crew made every single one of the 377 Pounds we paid for the two of us worth while. The food is not only an experience, but also excellent. Actually, it is pretty hard to discribe what we had, so I let the menu speak for itself: it tasted at least as good as it reads...
NITRO-GREEN TEA AND LIME MOUSSE
OYSTER, PASSION FRUIT JELLY
LAVENDERPOMMERY GRAIN MUSTARD ICE CREAM
RED CABBAGE GAZPACHOJELLY OF QUAIL, LANGOUSTINE CREAM, PARFAIT OF FOIE GRAS
OAK MOSS AND TRUFFLE TOAS
SNAIL PORRIDGE
"SOUND OF THE SEA"
SALMON POACHED WITH LIQUORICE
BALLOTINE OF ANJOU PIGEON
HOT AND ICED TEA
MRS MARSHALL’S MARGARET CORNET
PINE SHERBET FOUNTAIN
MANGO AND DOUGLAS FIR PUREE
PARSNIP CEREAL
NITRO-SCRAMBLED EGG AND BACON ICE CREAM
WHISK(E)Y WINE GUMS
PETITS FOURS
It took us 4 hours to eat all of the above. At the end we started to worry whether we would get the last train into London. But apparently a second Fat Duck will open in London any time soon. Will I go there too? Not unlikely :-)

Steamed green shells Qian's way

I am really lucky with my new flatmate. In fact, she's much better than having a boyfriend. She can cook, cleans, is incredibly polite and lovely, yet independent.
When she first came round to view the flat Qian told me she couldn't cook. That must have been Chinese modesty speaking there because in fact she is a brilliant cook.
When a friend of hers came round the other day, she did not only cook one dish but four. And all of them were super tasty. My favourite were her green shells with black bean and garlic sauce, fresh garlic and spring onions. So yummy and so simple!
Steamed green shells Qian's way, for 1-2
: 8 frozen green shells, defrosted
: 1/2 tsp freshly chopped garlic
: 1 tsp chopped spring onions
: 1/2 tsp black bean paste with garlic

Brush the mussels with a little black bean paste, then sprinkle with garlic and spring onions.
Place them with the shell side down in bamboo or metal steamer and steam for 3-5 minutes.
Serve with some rice vermicelli (steamed with the mussels) and a drizzle of soy sauce.
That's it really, couldn't be simpler. According to Qian one should take off the garlic and onions before eating the mussles, but since I like both garlic and onions I simply devoured the whole thing (ok, not the shell though ;-)

An ode to a cocktail

New York is not my favourite city, but it's the city that hosts my favourite cocktail.
I cannot even remember the name of this heavenly creation, but I remember how it's made and where to get it from. But I reckon it must have been called something like Tomartini... the list of ingredients is nice and short: tomato water, vodka, pickles.
Alright, it sounds revolting. I admit, it was sheer curiosity that made me order this cocktail and I rememer even enquiring about the degree of its revoltingness with our waiter, who just replied: "Very good choice, it is lovely". And so it was.

The place to get it from is the Savoy in Soho. Or my place, if I ever find out about how to make tomato water. Trust me, try it. You will not regret it (like the Olive Martini in the Soho Grand Hotel which basically consists of nothing but cheap olive brine and vodka. Yuk.)

Asian spiced steamed lamb with green tea dressed noodles and mango salsa

I haven't had the chance to cook a lot recently as I have been travelling the world for weeks now. I like to travel, but I have the feeling that my digestive system disagrees with me on this one. A few days of restaurant food only are ok and very enjoyable indeed, but when we starting talking weeks rather then days, then I really start missing my own food. I guess it is all part of a routine I have acquired over the years. My eating pattern is rather specific: a slice of bread and a diet coke for breakfast, small sushi for lunch and a large salad with pumpkinseed oil dressing and a side plate of pasta, noodles, rice and/or meat for dinner.

But in the last two weeks I didn't really get any of the above. I spent over two weeks in the US. My first ten days in New York were more easily digestible then the adjacent week in Dayton, Ohio.
I wasn't too impressed with New York in general, but there is one thing the city can be proud of: bakeries. Especially those that are located in Greenwich Village. The sourdough twist with dark chocolate is reason enough for me to return to NY.

Dayton is a different story. There is only one kind of bread the city seems to offer: Bagels. I am not a huge fan of bagels as they have a ridiculously high amount of calories packed and baked into a small bread roll. Lunch as well represented a challenge: not many sushi places in sight. As for dinner: meat and fish always seem to come in a creamy sauce and salad is obligatory served with a huge topping of cheese and bacon.

But the travelling days are over for the moment and I happily returned to my malfunctioning oven this weekend to compensate for 2 weeks of unhealthiness with steamed organic lamb served on carrot noodles. Yum.
Asian spiced steamed lamb with green tea dressed noodles and mango salsa, for 4
For the lamb
: 500g organic shoulder of lamb, cut into portions
: 4 Kaffir lime leaves
: 5 juniper berries, crushed
: 1 large chilli, chopped
: 1 lime-sized piece of ginger, sliced
: 1/2 tsp tamarind paste
: 1/2 tsp minced garlic
: 3 tbsp light soy sauce
: 1 tsp dark soy sauce
: juice of 1 small organic orange

For the noodles
: 4 portions/parcels of dried carrot noodles
: 1/2 red onion, finely chopped
: 1 tbsp chopped ginger
: 1 handful of dried red dates, stone removed
: 1tsp matcha powder
: 2- 3 tbsp light soy sauce
: zest and juice of 1/2 lime
: 1 tsp sugar
: vegetable oil
: sesame oil

For the mango salsa
: 1/2 ripe organic mango, diced
: 1 handful of finely chopped spring onions
: 1 small red chilli, chopped
: 1/2 tsp sugar
: juice and zest of 1/2 lime
: 1 handful of chopped coriander

Marinate the lamb in a mixture of all the ingredients above for at least 4 hours. Dissolve the matcha powder in 100ml hot water, then add the dates and let soak until needed.

For the mango salsa, mix the mango with the chilli, lime zest and juice and the sugar. Finish off with a sprinkle of coriander and spring onions.

Cook the noodles according to the instructions on the pack. Drain and drizzle with a little sesame oil to prevent them from sticking together.

Fill the bottom of a large pan with water and bring to the boil. Put the lamb into a bamboo or metal steamer, then place the steamer in the pan and cover with a lid. Depending on the size of the lamb slices, it will take 10-15 minutes until the meat is cooked (still pink in the middle)

Whilst steaming the lamb, finish off the noodles. Sautee the onion and ginger in a little vegetable oil for around 3 minutes, then add the drained noodles. Season with soy sauce, sugar and lime, then add the soaked dates, followed by the soaking liquid (green tea). Finally, finish with a little more sesame oil.

Arrange the noodles on a plate, place the meat in the middle, then add a tablespoon or two of mango salsa to each plate. Serve immediately.

Mickey's head

I wouldn't dare to disagree with anyone who says France is the culinary capital of the world. But there is still one part of France this honorary title doesn't apply to: Eurodisney.
The food served in this little fairytale land is far from being magic. It is not only overpriced, but also unimaginative, bland, boring and above all: unhealthy. Burger, American style pizza, fries and fizzy drinks.
The Disney eatieries might all look a different interior design theme, but the theme in the kitchens remains the same across them all. Of course, there are exceptions: the Blue Lagoon restaurant, part of the Pirates of the Carribean attraction, gets top ratings even in the world outside of Disneyland. But when you already pay 17 Euro for 2 drinks and one tiny Mickey Mouse head pizza in one of the other places, I don't even want to imagine what pricetag the foie gras in the Blue Lagoon comes with.
My tip: should you ever go to Disneyland, take a picnic with you: baguette, salami, ham and cheese. One third of the price of the Disneyland food but three times as nice.

For dessert, try the only edible thing Disneyland has to offer: a brioche bun filled with Nutella. No need to mention though that it comes in the shape of Mickey's head.

Mini Banoffee Pie

I had my first encounter with a Banoffee Pie in Portstewart, Northern Ireland, a few years ago and I have been loving it ever since. It is one of those things you dream of having but actually never do as it is highly calorific. You do actually taste every single of the thousands of calorie in this heavenly pud. And every bite goes straight on to your hips.
Still, occasionally one should give in to temptation and as long as you keep the main course light, a piece of Banoffee Pie won't kill you. Mini Banoffee Pie, 4 pieces
: 6 milk chocolate digestives, crushed
: 75g unsalted butter, melted
: 1 large banana, sliced
: 1 tin of Coronation caramel
: 150ml double cream, whipped

Mix the biscuit crumbs with the melted butter. Firmly press the mix into the base of 4 small cake tins (you can also use round cookie cutters instead) and refrigerate for 30min.
Top the biscuit base with a layer of banana slices, then cover the mini pies with the caramel.
Finally, whip the cream and and spread over the Banoffee Pies.

Bobotie

When I last was in South Africa two years ago, British TV chef Anthony Worrall Thompson apparently was there at around the same time as I could read in the local newspapers. Now, they asked him: What do you think about South African food? He replied something down the lie of: It is a bit like Europe in the 50ies. Everything, especially vegetables, are desperately overcooked.
I am not a big fan of Worrall Thompson, but he definitely has a point there. If vegetables make it on your plate, which isn't that common in South Africa anyways, then they are soggy, tasteless and vitamin-free.

What South Africans are good in cooking though is meat which is always deliciously marinated or seasoned. Still, in can be a bit chewy, dry and overcooked.
When I last cooked Bobotie my South African friend was surprised how moist my version of this dish was in comparison to hers.
Bobotie is something like a squidgy meat loaf. Using good quality meat and the right ratio between beef and pork mince is paramount if you don't want to be left with a rather dry dish.

There is only one kind of meat that makes it on my table: organic meat. It is so much more succulent than standard meat. Try to fry organic bacon versus cheap bacon. You will not see any water coming out of the organic bacon, whereas all the flavour and succulence of the cheap bacon simply vaporises.

The succulence in my Bobotie of course also comes from adding pork. My experience is that every mince dish benefits from the addition of pork as it doesn't dry out as quickly as beef does.
Bobotie, for 5-6
: 200g organic beef mince
: 200g organic pork mince
: 1 large white onion
: 1 slice of brown bread, preferably sourdough bread
: 300ml milk
: 2 small/medium eggs
: 1 oxtail stock-cube, dissolved in 4 tbsp water
: 3 tbsp apricot jam
: 1 tbsp ginger, grated
: 2-3 tbsp curry powder
: 1 handful of yellow raisins

Soak the bread in half of the milk. Set aside.
Fry the onions until soft, then add ginger, curry and jam. Once the jam has liquidised, add the bread (plus any leftover milk from the soaking process) and the dissolved oxtail stock cube. Combine the mixture well, making sure your are not left with any big pieces of bread. Pour onto a plate or into a bowl.

Using the same pan, fry the meat in a little oil. When the meat has turned slightly brown on the outside, remove it from the heat, then add the bread mixture and raisins and mix everything well together.
Now whisk the eggs and mix them with the remaining milk. Pour half of this mixture over the meat and give it another quick final stir before transferring the mix into an ovenproof dish.
You can either bake the Bobotie in one large dish or - as i did - divide the mixture between 6 large, lined muffin tins.

Pour the remaining egg/milk mixture over the Bobotie before baking it in a 180 degree Celsius oven for approx 45 minutes, or 25-30 mins if you use muffin tins. Serve with creme fraiche, mustard, steamed greens and curried rice.

Organic pork sausages, ratatouille and creamy polenta

Every time when I am away for a few days I return to a skinnier than ever boyfriend. Seriously, I wonder what he does live on in my absence. He can't cook and is a lousy shopper. Chewy bread, cheese, crisps, baked beans and beer, that's all he would buy and eat.
Now, don't get me wrong, I would get really fat if I lived on such a diet for days, if not weeks. He doesn't. It's NOT fair!

But that's the whole trouble I have to face in my day-to-day cooking: come up with a dinner that makes him fatter and me thinner. Dishes like organic sausages with ratatouille and creamy polenta are the perfect exampe of how I master this challenge: Organic pork sausages, ratatouille and creamy polenta: 3 organic pork sausages (at least 80% meat), fried
: 2 courgettes, chopped
: 1 large yellow pepper, chopped
: 1 large onion, chopped
: 2 tbsp organic tomato puree
: 1/2 cup polenta
: 1/2 cup single cream
: olive oil
: salt
: black pepper

Heat a little olive oil in a pan and fry the onions for 2 minutes before adding the yellow peppers and courgettes. Stir fry the vegetables until slightly soft, then add the tomato puree and approx 150-200ml water. Season with salt and pepper, then cover with a lid and let simmer.

In the meantime, prepare the polenta. Place the polenta in a pot an cover with approx 150ml water. Bring to the boil and simmer until all the liquid has been soaked up, then transfer 1/3 of the polenta to a different pot. Again, cover with water and let simmer until the soft. Season with salt and pepper.
For the remaining 2/3 of the polenta, follow as above but this time use cream instead of water.

When the food is ready to be served, transfer the creamy polenta on to your boyfriend's plate and the not-so-delicious-but-not-as-fattening-either polenta on to your plate. Now divide the ratatouille between your plates and drizzle some virgin olive oil over his portion. Finish off your plate with 1/2 a sausage. The rest goes on his plate. Well, as I said earlier: it's not fair.

Kiddie's (and boyfriend's) delight

I am deeply ashamed to admit that I had this bag of plastic dessert (or Angel's delight as it actually is called) sitting around in my cupboard. But then, there it was, so it seemed kind of logical to use it.
To the delight of Scott. After all, it was ready in 5mins. Sometimes, immediate availabilty is more important than natural strawberry flavour.
There I was, standing in the kitchen with a bag of E-numbers in one hand and a whisk in the other. At last I wanted to get something healthy out of te whole exprience for myself by not using an electric handmixer, but the personal-trainer-improved strength of my arms.
As it happened, I really wasn't in the mood of coming up with something more elaborate than Angel's delight. But if I pretend to make something fab from scratch, then I do it big time: some Dutch hagelslag (liquorice covered with sugar) and a Koala bear from the Japanese sweet shop and hey, I could have almost sold it in my favourite place for pastry and other sweet stuff: Yauatcha.

Peppermint Crisp Millefeuille

The Peppermint Crisp chocolate bar you get in South Africa is one of it’s kind. I guess they don’t seell it in Europe since it could be considered a weapon. I am not kidding, the peppermint filling is not only crisp, it is razor sharp! When I little piece fell down on the floor I thought I stoppd on glass… and not chocolate!But then, its also dangerously yummy. On its own and as part of a South African recipe that clogs your arteries when only looking at it. It is a mix of caramel, cream, coconut biscuits and a grated bar of Peppermint Crisp. It tastes divine, there is no other way to describe it. But it doesn’t look very pretty. It is one of those: all in one pot dishes. They taste terrific, but look uninspiring. That’s why I came up with a posh and more handsome version of the Peppermint Crisp Tart: Peppermint Crisp Millefeuille
: 1 grated bar of peppermint Crisp (available in South African shops)
: 1 tin of Coronation Caramel (or boil Coronation/condensed milk for about 4hrs)
: 150ml whipping cream (or less, if you want the caramel cream to be more solid)
: 1 pack of all butter puff pastry
: 1 coconut

Break the shell of the coconut (screwdriver and hammer should do the trick), empty the liquid into a glass, then break the whole nut into pieces. Using a vegetable peeler, slice off thin shavings from the coconut flesh.
Roll out the puff pastry and cut it into the desired shape. Brush with egg wash and bake in the oven (180 degrees C) until nicely risen and slightly golden on top. Set aside to cool.Empty the caramel into a bowl, add a tablespoon or so of the coconut liquid. Now whip the cream and add as much whipped cream to the caramel as needed (until you get the desired consistency). I have tried both, a quite solid and more liquid caramel cream and they are equally nice. The more solid, the more caramel content and the heavier it will be. Assemble the dish by first placing a sheet of puff pastry on a plate. Cover with caramel and some of the grated Peppermint Crisp and top with another layer of puff pastry, caramel and chocolate. Finish it of with a few coconut shavings on top.
The caramel cream is also an excellent addition to banana/raisin pancakes.

Cannelini bean & salmon canapés

I admit this isn't one of my recipe ideas (check the Passionate's Cook blog). I also admit that I actually didn't really make them, I merely assembled them.
Anyway, I ate them and I liked them. So I thought I might as well include them in my blog.

My friend Laurent and I did this for his birthday party. It proved to be a big hit (especially with me) and although I did have my inital doubts (too simple to impress), it was one of the nicest nibbles of the evening. And it is really quick in the making... and almost cheap if you leave out the caviar as we did!

Pea velouté topped with whipped coconut cream

I watched Nigella Express - a cookery program about coming up with something edible for lunch and dinner in less than 20mins - the other day. There the program's presenter - yeah, you guessed right - Nigella explained that it is OK to use stock cubes or powder. She's right, it is OK. Just about ok, it is after all a proven far cry from good restaurant cooking.
Always wanting to impress my guests, I do aim for restaurant standard and therefore have to cook my own stock. I need a much bigger pot for beef and chicken stock than the pathetic excuses of a pot I have at home. My largest pot holds a maximum of 3 litres: that's just about big enough to produce 0.75 litres of good vegetable stock. I keep my veggie stock frozen in 0.25 litre bags. Like that I always have a restaurant trick up my sleeve.
Take my pea velouté for example:
Pea velouté topped with whipped coconut cream, for 6
: 100g unsalted butter
: 2 medium large white onions, chopped
: 2 stalks of celery, chopped
: 500ml homemade vegetable stock
: 200ml coconut milk plus 4 tablespoons for the whipped coconut cream
: 500g frozen peas (preferably petits pois)
: 100ml whipped cream

Melt the utter in a pan, add the onions and celery and let them soften for a bit (you do not want to brown the onions though!). Add the stock and coconut milk, bring to the boil and simmer for 15mins. Now add the peas and boil for another 5 mins. Liquidise the soup, then pass through a fine sieve.
To make the coconut cream topping, whip the cream, then add the coconut milk. Spoon on top of the veloute and serve immediately.

Tuna carpaccio with sweet miso dressing

Sushi is my number one food of all times. I could eat it every day, for lunch and dinner (and probably even for breakfast). Sashimi however isn't my favourite. Rather thickly sliced raw fish with nothing but soy sauce? I would then prefer to have the fish carpaccio style with a little dressing/sauce on the side.Tuna carpaccio with sweet miso dressing, for 2-3
: 100g yellowfin tuna
: 1tbsp sweet white miso paste
: 1tbsp pumpkin seeds
: dash of ginger syrup
: dash of white wine
: dash of light soy sauce
: lime juice
: sugar
: salt

Start with roasting the pumpkin seeds in a little vegetable oil. Once you hear them pop, they are ready to be taken off the heat. Sprinkle with a little salt, then grind them in a pestle and mortar.
Mix the ground pumpkin seeds with the miso, wine, soy sauce, ginger syrup and lime juice. If needed, season with a little salt and sugar.
Now slice the tuna as thinly as possible and spread the slices out over a large chopping board. Cover with cling film. Nor take a bottle, hammer or rolling pin and carefully bash the tuna slices until paper thin.

Finally, arrange the tuna on a plate and drizzle with some sweet miso dressing.

Pea salad with creamy dressing

Most evenings when I come home from work I want a quick supper. Pasta, rice with veggies, Thai noodles or salad. Salad is for sure the quickest of them all. When you count the several times though Scott requested a 2nd dinner 2 hrs after having had his salad, salad it not quite as time saving as it first seems.

So I would usually serve salad on the side of a "proper" dinner. Mostly lettuce with - you guessed right - pumpkin seed oil dressing. Recently however I re-discovered peas. I think I haven't used them for years. But now we have them in soup, rice and salad. Actually, there is no better salad out there than lettuce with peas in a creamy dressing served with some freshly baked bread.

Pea salad with creamy dressing

: green leave salad

: 200g frozen peas

: 1 egg yolk
: olive oil
: lemon juice
: Maldon sea salt

Wash the leave salad and put it in a large bowl. Bring some water to the boil. Add some salt to the boiling water, then add the peas. Leave the peas in the boiling water just for one or two minutes. Once drained, place them in the same bowl as the lettuce. Now drizzle some olive oil and lemon juice over your salad, then add the egg yolk (this helps to add creaminess to the dressing), toss the salad until well mixed and finish off by seasoning your salad with a sprinkle of Maldon sea salt.

Pasta in white wine sauce and prawns

I have been living in the area of Charlton/Greenwich for two years now and for approximately the same time I have been wondering how to get access to the massive See-Woo cash & carry supermarket just down the road. My new Chinese neighbour recently told me the secret: Just walk in. And indeed: no shopping/access card required, private customers are as welcome as restaurant owners.
The first visit to See-Woo was at least as exciting as a day in Disneyland. You find everything you ever wanted for your Asian cooking, and more. Live lobsters and crabs are one of the highlights... not that I would ever buy any of those. The fresh fish counter however must be one of the best kept secrets in London. Best fish at best prices. The same goes for the frozen fish. squid in all shapes, cuts and sizes; large bags of raw, cooked, peeled or unpeeled prawns for a mere fiver. Goodbye Sainsbury's and Waitrose. When it comes to fish, See-Woo has just gained another loyal customer.

Last time I came back home with a bag of cooked and peeled frozen prawns. Since then, I have been dishing up sweet and sour prawns with onions and peppers, egg fried rice with prawns and pasta in white wine sauce with prawns.

Pasta in white wine sauce and prawns, for 2

: 200g pasta

: 200g cooked and peeled prawns

: 1 medium sized onion, chopped

: 1 tbsp butter

: 150ml white wine

: 100ml single cream

: freshly ground white pepper

: sea salt

: fresh curly parsley, chopped

Cook the pasta according to the instruction on the packet. In the meantime, heat the butter in a pan. When melted, add the chopped onions and cooked them until just soft. Letting them turn brown could end up in the onions overpowering the subtle wine flavour of the sauce.
Add the wine to the sauce and let simmer for one or two minutes, then add the cream and let it simmer a little more.

Drain the pasta once it's ready. Set aside for a minute while you add the prawns to the sauce. Remember, they are already cooked, so you do not want to cook them anymore. So let them just heat through in the warm sauce for a minute. Season the sauce with salt and pepper, then add the pasta. Make sure all the pasta is covered with sauce. Finish off with a sprinkle of parsley and serve immediately.

Crumpet pizzetta

It must be one of the simplest and fastest dinners. Not only that, it actually looks pretty good too. A toasted crumpet makes the perfect base for almost every topping: Nutella and toffee gooeyishly make their way through the many wee holes, butter and honey melt into utter creamyness, jam transforms the bready base into an almost cake-like delicacy.

As much as I prefer to eat my crumpets with sweet toppings: crumpets make a delicious savory snack and dinner... ready in a mere 10 minutes. Crumpet pizzette with tomatoes, onions, cheese and a little olive oil drizzle are my favourite. Toasted crumpets topped with bacon and maple syrup are a close second, and a herby scrambled egg topping comes third. But try whatever you fancy; and have them for breakfast, brunch or dinner.

Chanterelles marinated in lime scented pumpkin seed oil

Kim is the Gordon of Vienna. Not that she would be as rude as her British counterpart, but her cooking is considered to be the best in the capital, just as Gordon Ramsey's cooking is in London. Her cuisine however is a bit more daring. She's presenting her guests with a kind of Asian-Austrian fusion cuisine; take her tuna and nash pear filled with Grammeln (dry roasted Austrian speck)
Kim kocht is the name of probably the only restaurant in the whole of Austria that has a three or more months waiting list. I haven't been there yet, but it is definately on my list of places to visit (or better food to try). In the meantime I try to do a Romana kocht based on the recipes in her cookbook.
As mentioned in previous blog entries, I cannot live without a daily dose of pumpkin seed oil. Ever since I bought her cookbook I have therefore been thinking about making the chanterelles marinated in Asian spices pumpkin seed oil. I just wasn't sure what to serve it with. It was when I read the Nobu Now cookbook that it hit me: with beef sahimi (or carpaccio). I went all way to Kensington High Street to get reddest beef fillet ever seen perfectly marbelled with the thinnest lines of fat throughout the whole piece of meat. It was well worth the 5 Pounds or so I paid for a mere 100g.
If you don't like raw meat, simply serve the mushrooms with potato or simple green leave salad.
Chanterelles marinated in lime scented pumpkin seed oil
: 1tsp vegetable oil
: 1 large onion, finely chopped
: 200g chanterelle mushrooms, cleaned and cut into small pieces
: 1 stalk of lemon grass, finely shredded
: 4 Kaffir lime leaves
: 90ml pumpkin seed oil
: a dash of balsamic vinegar
: freshly ground pepper
: salt

Saute the chopped onion in a little vegetable oil. Add the mushrooms and season with salt and pepper, then mix with the Kaffir lime leaves and chopped lemon grass. Finally add the pumpkin seed oil and balsamic vinegar.

Pancakes, kroketten and buttermilk

I am a big fan of the Netherlands. 10 years ago I lived and studied there for a few months and ever since I return on a regular basis to enjoy the two things I like most about the Netherlands: Dutch interior design and proper pancakes. Last week when I visited my friend in Groningen I had the chance to eat the best pancake ever. It was served to us in a small village in the area of Drente. Drente is one of those places where half of the country's population comes for a weekend walk or cycle trip with the whole family. Being such a touristic hotspot the area is full of cafes, resaurants and of course pancake houses. But you really need to walk or cycle for miles to work off the pancakes. I had an apple, raisin and speck pancake drizzles with syrup. The most satisfying thing you can eat on a Sunday afternoon. For a weekday lunch however I would opt for something a bit lighter. "A bit" in its true meaning... you wouldn't see Kate Moss feasting on a kroket with potato salad. Not if the kroket is deep fried and the salad dressed with mayo. But you can disguise it as a healthy option if you order a glass of buttermilk with it. Yes, buttermilk. Or just milk. Both of which can be found on every Dutch menu. Lekker.

Hotpot pot

I don't like throwing food away. It's a waste of money and resources. Whilst others bin all the leftovers from a dinner party, I pack them neatly away in airtight containers and either freeze them or use them straight away on the next day. Take the leftovers from my Chinese hotpot night: fishballs, Chinese greens, rice vermicelli, mushrooms, tofu and of course the hotpot stock. All these lovely ingredients should really feel your belly and not your bin. So I just threw them all ino one pot, let it simmer for a few minutes and served it in large soup bowls with some crispy smoked chillies in oil.

Chinese Hotpot

Beef Wellington, Prawn Cocktail, Floating Island... we can either call them old-fashioned or classic dishes. Fact is, they are all still being served both in restaurants and on our dinner tables.
Recently I watched a few episodes of a program called “Dine with me” where 5 strangers have to cook for each other and at the end a winner is be identified through a scoring system. Anyway, details aside, a good third of the hosts feed their guests on dishes they must have dug out in cookbooks printed in the 70ies.
Take my family and friends: the raclette and fondue equipment is taken out of the cupboards at least once or twice a year. Considering that most electric kitchen gadgets never see the daylight, fondue and raclette sets live a quite busy life.
At home at my parents we have fondue every Christmas. It’s the easiest way to satisfy my sister’s chicken-only and my no-chicken needs. I do grow sick and tired of the yearly fondue though… So I wasn’t half as excited as my neighbour when we decided to have a Chinese hotpot to celebrate the arrival of our new - Chinese – neighbour. Meat cooked in soup sounds suspiciously like fondue to me.
But it wasn’t. Well, the concept it sort of the same as my mum’s fondue: veggies, protein and seasoned/spiced stock. Just that the protein in this case was fish (prawns, squid, various kinds of fishballs) and the veggies were choy sum and fungus (they should try and find a new name for that kind of mushrooms, yak). In addition to that we had tofu and a variety of sauces, e.g. the Chinese version of Hummus (Tahini and fermented bean cured), crispy fried chilli sauce and my favourite which I believe to be more Japanese than Chinese: Soy sauce with a dash of mirin, ginger, garlic and a raw egg yolk.
No mayo based sauces in sight. Dipping the fish and veggies into a light sauce makes this kind of “fondue” so much more enjoyable than my mother’s version. No nasty surprises when you step on the scales the day after.
To make the hotbot base, we bought a ready made stock in See-Woo, a massive Chinese supermarket in North Greenwich. If I was to recreate the dish, I would probably make the base myself by adding lemon grass, ginger, Chinese chive leaves, Sichuan pepper, kaffir lime leaves, soy sauce etc to a home made veggie stock. Might not be authentic, but more yummy for my taste. The rest is perfect just as outlined above. And just like fondue and raclette: it is a very social way of eating and entertaining your friends.

Matcha financiers a la framboise

Starbucks, Cafe Nero, ice cream parlours, restaurants, bars... Matcha is everywhere. The green tea powder has taken London by storm ever since the first few magazines featured this Japanese treasure a few years ago.
I am always curious to try something new, so guess what: I got myself some Matcha as well... a bit too much of it as it turned out. My first online order was delayed but since I wanted to feed my friends with green tea tiramisu, I embarked on a two hour long journey to a Japanese shop in Putney to get soma matcha. A few days later the online delivery came in... actually in time for my dinner party. Nevermind.
So I have got plenty of that stuff at home. Most recently I used it for making financiers.
I had my first financier in Bacchus, a sort of Gastropub in London which is famous for it's sous vide cooking. It came as part of the dessert. Before that, I had never heard of the term financier. I am very glad though that Bacchus brought this dense, moist, nutty little cake to my attention. The nutty flavour comes btw from powdered, toasted almonds and beurre noisette. So yes, there is a little bit extra work involved in making it, but it is well worth it.
Matcha financiers a la framboise, for 12 small cupcakes
For the financier
: 115g unsalted butter
: 35g flour
: 90g icing sugar
: 1 tsp matcha powder
: 3 lightly beaten egg whites
: 50g powdered almonds
: 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
: pinch of salt

For the topping
: 2 tbsp single cream
: 30g white chocolate
: 4 tbsp raspberry jam
: 12 raspberries

Start by making the beurre noisette: melt the butter in a pan. Using a spoon, skim off the white foam (scum) that floats to the surface once the butter has melted. Let the butter bubble for a minute or two until the milk solids at the bottom of the pan turn brown: this is how you add both a nutty colour and flavour to the butter. When the butter has turned golden brown, sieve it through some muslin (or a sieve lined with a sheet of kitchen roll). You should be left with approx. 85g of beurre noisette.
Now toast your almonds. Spread out the powdered almonds on a baking sheet and allow to slightly brown in a hot oven. Alternatively, toast them in an oil-free pan on your hob.
Then mix together the almonds, flour, sugar, matcha and salt in a large bowl. Add the butter and vanilla extract and fold in the lightly beaten egg ("lightly beaten" can mean anything from "still very liquid" to "almost stiff": the more you beat the egg, the more your financiers will rise).
Preheat your oven to 200 degree Celsius. Butter 12 mini-muffin or cupcake moulds. Fill them almost to the rim and bake the financers for about 11-14 mins until slightly golden on top. Leave to cool.

To make the white chocolate ganache, heat the cream in a small pan. Break up the white chocolate into small pieces and place in a bowl. Pour over the hot cream and stir until the chocolate has melted.
In a small pan, heat the rasperry jam until liquid. This will make it easier to spread the jam over the top of the financiers.

Now assemble your matcha-cupcakes: first, glaze your little cakes with raspberry jam. Leave to cool a little, then drizzle over some chocolate ganache and decorate with one raspberry each.

Spinach and sweet potato cake

Any party that exceeds a dinner party in size is a good excuse to search the web and especially food blogs for funky finger food and sweets. In fact, that's how I first discovered the art of food blogging. Some of the stuff you come across there is much more inspiring and handsome than any celebrity chef's offerings.
I admit to being a rather superficial person. Looks, looks, looks. That's how I usually choose my party food. The more impressive it looks, the more likely it is to make it on to my buffet. So when my friend Laurent decided to make a spinach and sweet potato pound cake look-alike from La Tartine Gourmande's food blog (don't get me wrong, the cake on the blog does look nice, it's just missing the wow factor), I suggested a million and one more attractive things to eat, but he stubbornly insisted on his choice.
Right so. The spinach and sweet potato cake not only looked delicious, it was delicious.

Suya Pepper

If someone had asked me two weeks ago what the best pepper based spice mix is, I would - without hesitation - have said: Shichimi togarashi. A Japanese mix of sanshou, chinpi, hemp, poppy, shiso and sesame seeds. It adds flavour and zing to the blandest of udon dishes, lifts every salad and is a great addition to dips.

If you asked me know, my answer would have to be: Suya Pepper. I got introduced to it only recently in an African restaurant in Reading. It was sprinkled over a very simple dish: roast and flaked chicken leg topped with thick slices of fresh onion. The spice mix brought together the flavours of a dish that would otherwise have been totally overpowered by all that fresh onion. Living close to Lewisham comes handy when you are a fan of the African cuisine like I am as they have all the ingredients there: Yam, Cassava, Plantains, Okra... Suya!
It's been a week now since I bought my wee bag of Suya Pepper. And it has spiced up my life tremendously: it's fabulous on Verhackert (a kind of Austrian pork rillette) and a match made in heaven when sprinkled over corn-on-the-cob.

Carpaccio of kohlrabi with caper dressing

Raw kohlrabi has a lovely crunch to it and therefore makes a lovely and light summer salad to go with freshly grilled fish. But even on its own, e.g. brushed with some pumpkinseed oil pesto or green kernel and goat’s cheese pesto it is a delightful little starter. Or try serving it with some baked goat’s cheese or thinly sliced smoked beef ham/osso collo (available in Italian Delis) for a more substantial appetiser. I am not a big fan of cooked kohlrabi though. In fact, I can’t even eat it, that’s how much I dislike it. But if you do like coiled kohlrabi, try this one: Peel 2 small or one large kohlrabi and a few potatoes, cut both vegetables into chunky sticks and boil them salted water until tender. Heat a few tablespoons of butter in a pan and add 3 or 4 heaped tablespoons of dried breadcrumbs. Drain the vegetable sticks and add them to the pan. Cover with the butter-breadcrumb mix and serve as a light meal with green salad on the side.
Carpaccio of kohlrabi with caper dressing, for 2
: 1 kohlrabi, peeled and (thinly) slices
: 3-4 radishes, sliced
: 1tsp salted capers
: juice of ½ lemon
: olive oil
: few leaves of lemon balm

Arrange the sliced kohlrabi together with the radishes on a plate.
To make the dressing, slightly mash the capers and mix them with some lemon juice and olive oil. Drizzle the vinaigrette over the kohlrabi. Garnish with a few leaves of lemon balm.
Serve very thinly slices carpaccio of kohlrabi with freshly baked focaccia as starter or – if cut into slightly thicker slices - serve it as a side dish/salad to meat and fish.

Beetroot with horseradish zabaglione

When I wake up with a headache in the morning it is very likely that I had a glass too many the night before. And most likely also a few calories too many. I only ever drink when there is food involved. So while the normal hung-over person would indulge on a proper fry-up, I have to make sure that the three course meal from the night before will not stay on my hips forever. Diet food for me then. I had four egg yolks from the cake I made the day before in my fridge and some beetroot. Not easy to play Ready Steady Cook here if that's more or less all your fridge has to offer. However, I remembered the horseradish in my freezer (I love horseradish) and had came up with the idea of a horseradish zabaglione. Maybe not the lightest of all dishes, but if not combined with anything else then beetroot it makes in an acceptable dish for those emergency diet days. Beetroot with horseradish zabaglione, for 2
: 6-7 fresh beetroots
: 4 egg yolks
: 100ml milk
: freshly grated horseradish
: olive oil
: white wine vinegar
: Maldon sea salt

Wash the beetroot (leave the skin on!), brush them with a little olive oil and cook in a hot oven for about an hour. Let them cool.
To make the zabaglione, whisk together the egg yolks and milk in a bowl over simmering water until the mixture thickens (approx 10 mins). Add the horseradish and season with salt.
Peel and slice the lukewarm beetroot and arrange on a plate. Drizzle over some olive oil and vinegar and pour over some of the zabaglione.

Wild garlic pesto / Baerlauch Paste

Picking your own fruit and veg is a big thing in Austria. Take mushrooms for example: People would get up as early as 4 am on a Saturday morning to embark on an hour long trip to their secret mushroom spots in one of the many forests in Austria. Of course, no one actually would know a proper secret spot, so if you are not there early enough, someone else will have picked the best and biggest ones. The same goes for wild blueberries.
And wild garlic. But as with mushrooms, not everything that looks like the real thing turns out to be the real thing. Wild garlic and the leaves of Lilies of the Valley are practically identical, just that the Lilies are not quite as healthy as wild garlic. In fact, every year a couple of people die in Austria after accidentally eating Lily of the Valley leaves.
It's not too long ago that I first tried wild garlic and although it has a very acquired taste I warmed to it quite quickly. It's very garlicy, but also very herby, which makes it so much more interesting than just normal fresh garlic.
I assume you can use the leaves in stir fries or add them to wilted spinach. A very common dish in Austria is also creamed wild garlic soup and wild garlic paste. Wild garlic paste is used in the same way pesto is. You can make a great dip by simply adding it to Greek yoghurt or sour cream. Or try to add it to your tomato sauce next time you have pasta.
Delicious but smelly. Best eaten on your own or with friends who don't mind the odd garlic breath. Wild garlic paste
Blend equal amounts of wild garlic and sunflower oil plus a pinch of salt in a food processor. That's it really...

Redcurrant-meringue cake / Ribiselschaumschnitte

Ever since I mentioned the redcurrant-meringue cake of my grandmother in one of my recent blog entries, I couldn't stop thinking about it. Not a surpise then that I bought a few wee boxes of redcurrants when coming across them during my lunch hour today. Immediately after handing the £1.50 to the stall keeper, I walked into the next shop to get some eggs and butter; nothing should stop me now from baking my beloved redcurrant-meringue.

The moment I walked through the door at home I got started. It's amazing, I had no idea that this cake is practically fast food. Well, I am not a keen pastry cook, so the art of baking is really still an art to me. But althoug it was my first attempt my cake proved to be a big success... Enjoy the taste of summer.Ribiselschaumschnitte
For the cake
: 5 eggs
: 90g corn flour
: 90g flour
: 100g icing sugar
: 50g melted unsalted butter
: zest of 1 lemon
: 70g redcurrants
: pinch of salt

For the redcurrant-meringue
: 4 egg whites
: 125 gcaster sugar
: 100g redcurrants

Cream together the eggs, lemon zest, icing sugar and salt for about 8-10mins. Slowly add the melted butter. Now fold in the siftes corn flour and flour.Grease an approx 40x30cm baking tin/tray and pour in the mixture. Bake for about 15mins at 180 degrees. Leave to cool.
In the meantime beat the egg whites and slowly add the caster sugar. Once the egg whites turn creamy and shiny, fold in the redcurrants.Top the cake with the meringue mixture and put under a hot grill for about 5 mins. Eat!