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Tomatoes with mozzarella is probably - together with melon and prosciutto - the most served starter at a dinner party. Both 20th century classics, both reminders of the time when Italian dishes other than Spaghetti Bolognese, Pizza and Lasagne finally started to make it big across Europe. I remember my mother preparing it for lunch, dinner and parties. Tomatoes and mozzarella everywhere.
The dish hasn't lost any of its appeal ever since and still proves to be a dinner party hit. Rather than having them sliced on a plate with a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, I like to present them in little pots. Mini-mozzarella balls, cherry tomatoes, a drizzle of olive oil and a few dollops of green pesto.
Gooseberries are my favourite fruits, closely followed by currants: red and white. I will always remember the redcurrant cake my grandmother made whenever they were in season. Spongecake with redcurrant-meringue. I adored it, I loved it, I would have given away my Barbie for it. My mother didn't share my appreciation for this cake though. The pungent acidic flavour of the redcurrants and the slighlty uber-sweet meringue didn't tickle her tastebuds enough to ever bake it.
Redcurrants are not only tasty, but also very pretty little berries and great for decorating dessert. Especially when frosted with caster sugar. Simply dip the washed fruits in a little egg white, then cover with sugar. Leave them to dry for an hour or so. They add some texture and crunchiness to mousses and cream desserts, or even cakes (try it with my favourite chocolate cake)
Mebos must be some kind of chicken nugget amongst snacks. We believe them to be healthy, but actually, they are worse for you then a Big Mac.
When I went to South Africa some time last year, I came across those compact fruit rolls in a wee road side shop. The first bite is a bit of a shock to the system… very sour and salty. But the more you nibble on it, the better they get.
They are very high in salt and sugar content, but hey, at least they are 100% fat free. And they keep for months!
It is a recipe for summer since you will need to dry them in the full sun for a few hours. So not much chance that I will make my own this year!
Apricot Mebos
: sweet, ripe apricots
: 250g or more sugar per 500g mebos
: 1kg salt to 8 litres water
Soak the apricots in salted water for 12 hours, then drain them and remove the skins. Leave the whole apricots out in the sun for 12 hours, then squeeze gently to force out their stones. Press the apricots into round flat shapes and spread them out on racks to dry for a few days. Keep on shaping and pressing them (dip your hands in a mixture of 25ml salt and 2 litres water) occasionally during drying. Pack the mebos neatly into small boxes and cover them with sugar. If you layer them, make sure to put a good layer of sugar between them. Store in a dark place.
I don't like ice cream. In fact, I do find it rather disturbing that every single dessert in some of London's top restaurants is served with ice cream.
When I grew up, our cakes did not come with a compulsory blob of ice cream on the side. We would have our cakes and Strudel on their own, at the very most with some whipped cream on the side. The concept of pouring cold liquid unwhipped cream over my cakes - like they do here in the UK - is one of the things that still seem very strange to me.
I try to accustom though and integrate cream or ice cream into my desserts. Preferrably ice cream on its own though. Like my frozen yoghurt and raspberry shots (inspired by La Tartine Gourmande's Rhubarb and raspberry yoghurt ice pops: they make my guest happy and although I wouldn't eat them myself I am happy to put them on the menu as they are no effort at all.
Frozen yoghurt shots, for 10 shots
: 1 egg
: 60g icing sugar
: 300g yoghurt
: 200g raspberries
: 1-2 tbsp caster sugar
Simmer 100g raspberries and some caster sugar over a low heat until the fruits start to liquidise. Drain off the fruits and set the liquid aside.
Beat the egg with the icing sugar until creamy, then mix in the yoghurt. Pour 1/3 of the yoghurt mixture into a separate bowl and mix with half of the cooked fruits. Roughly chop the remaining uncooked fruits and fold into the main yoghurt mix. Blend the other half of the cooked raspberries with the raspberry syrup.
Spoon the yoghurt mix containing the roughly copped fruits into the shot glasses (fill them up to 1/2 or 2/3 with the mixture). Place them in the freezer for 30 mins, then add 2-3 tablespoons of the syrup to each glass. Freeze again for 30 mins. Finally fill th glasses with the remaining yoghurt/cooked fruits mixture and place in the fridge for another 20-30mins beforte inserting wooden or plastic sticks to make the lollies. Keep in freezer until entirely frozen.
Loosen the frozen yoghurt from the shot glasses by placing the glasses in a bowl of hot water for around 30 sec. Serve in shot glasses.
I defrosted my freezer a few days before I had my BBQ. I came across the duck liver which I had left over from my last party. Just a few small livers, not enough to feed a party of 15-20 with a nice paté for starters. Still, I wanted to use it up and out of the blue I had the idea of duck liver filled paté.
I sort of didn't think any further (I do like experimenting with my patés by adding herbs, alcohols etc.), so when the time came to actually make the paté I wasn't prepared for any special flavours. While going through my fridge looking for potential paté enhancers I remembered the chocolate-balsamic glaze on the top shelf: also a leftover from my last dinner party. Brushed on top of the choux pastry it would make my little savouries look like the real chocolate eclairs. So Japanese fusion filling then. I had some pickled sushi ginger and fresh lemongrass. That's all I really needed.
Mini duck liver paté eclairs with chocolate-balsamic icing, for 10-15 small eclairs
For the duck liver paté: 150g duck liver
: 1/2 stalk of fresh lemongrass
: 1 tbsp of pickled sushi ginger
: 100g butter
: soy sauce
: sesame oil
For the chocolate-balsamic glaze
: 100g caster sugar
: 50ml balsamic vinegar
: 50ml cider vinegar
: 30g good quality grated dark chocolate
Prepare the eclairs/choux pastry shells.
Wash the duck livers and quickly fry them on a very hot griddle until slightly pink in the middle. Add some sesame oil and a good splash of soy sauce.
Remove the outer leaves from the lemongrass stalk and chop finely.
Place the liver together with the lemongrass, sushi and butter in a food processor to make a smooth and creamy paté.
To make the glazing, gently heat the vinegar and the sugar until the sugar has dissolved and simmer over a medium heat for a further 5 mins. Take off the heat and whisk in the chocolate.
Slice the eclairs in half and using a piping bag, fill them with paté and brush some of the chocolate-balsamic laze on top.
It's a very cold summer here in the UK. Shops seem to have given up on this year's summer. When I went to Asda's the other day to get some charcoal for my BBQ, I found myself in front of empty Sale shelves. The supermarket chain has decided to sell off all their BBQ stuff that has been sitting on the shelves for ages and to not re-order any more this year.
Luckily I did finally manage to get some charcoal from another place and we spent a very nice afternoon with friends and neighbours in our backgarden munching on tuna burgers, chopped steak burgers, sausages and salads.
My favourite salad was the peach, mozarella and walnut salad. Jamie Oliver did something similar once if I remember well. I guess that's where I got the idea from.
I cannot remember what exactly went into Jamie's salad, but mine goes like this:
Peach, walnut and mozzarella salad with maple syrup, for 6
: 5-6 ripe peaches, cut into chunks or wedges
: 2 mozzarella
: 150g walnuts
: 250g baby spinach
: 100g rocket
: maple syrup
: extra virgin olive oil
: lemon juice
: Maldon sea salt
Cover a large serving plate with the spinach leaves. With your hands, tear the mozzarella balls into bit size chunks and arrange on top of the spinach together with the peaches. Add the rocket and sprinkle over the walnuts. Drizzle over some maple syrup, the juice of half a lemon and a few tablespoons of olive oil. Season with Maldon sea salt.
It's a big hype in South and Central Europe, in the UK however it hasn't had much success among the bar crowd yet: Aperol. In London, you only find it in the most Italian of all Italian cafes, bars and shops.
The bitterness of this orange liquor reminds of Cinzano and Campari. Two drinks that haven't made it big on the British Isles either.I came across it last time in Austria where literally everyone sitting outside in a beer garden is sipping on an Aperol Spritzer: white wine, soda and a splash of Aperol. The perfect refreshment on a hot summer's day.
Which could explain the lack of enthusiasm about it in the UK: so far, we haven't had a summer yet.
Still, I was excited to see that my favourite Italian Deli had a dusty bottle of Aperol tucked away in the corner of the drinks section. The shop owner was delighted when I asked for it. It brought me one step closer to being Mrs Shop Owner one day (he IS cute ;-).When I served prosecco with a glugg of Aperol to my guests recently, I got basically two kinds of reaction: content faces from the Southern/Central Europeans and the request for a spoon of sugar in it from the rest. I like it. Prost!
I still had a pack of Chinese Choi Sum in my fridge. I fried it with some garlic, fresh lemongrass, freshly squeezed orange juice and soy sauce, added very little rice and some water and let it steam for a bit. It was a meagre dinner, but not bad at all. 
Newest culinary invention using pumpkinseed oil is pumpkinseed pesto. It isn't that different in the making from Pesto Genovese. Use pumpkinseeds instead of pine nuts and pumpkinseed oil instead of olive oil. Or take some ready made pumpkinseed oil pesto with you on your next trip to Austria just like I do! 
Aubergine and zucchini salad with beans and pumpkinseed oil pesto, for 6
It's a big hype in South and Central Europe, in the UK however it hasn't had much success among the bar crowd yet: Aperol. In London, you only find it in the most Italian of all Italian cafes, bars and shops.
