Sunday, August 29, 2010

White wine and sour cream risotto with foraged mushrooms

Please forgive me for my recent lack of posts. I was away on holiday. But have returned with lots of ideas to share!

Autumn is definitely encroaching more and more on central Europe. Can't say I am enthusiastic about it, as I feel I haven't taken full advantage of summer yet.

One of the aspects of it I can enjoy, is the beginning of the mushroom season.

This is a dinner that we made after a short walk to forage for mushrooms.

I don't think I need to tell anyone exactly how to make a risotto, so here is a more general approach:
Sweat some finely chopped onion in some butter and olive oil for a minute. Add the risotto rice and stir. Add some white wine to deglaze. When this has evaporated start adding hot bouillon or stock by the ladle. Always wait until the pan is fairly dry before adding the next ladle. Your rice should be done in about 15 to 20 minutes.

Finish it with a little bit of butter, some grated parmesan cheese and a generous helping of sour cream. I added some lemon juice to bring out the tartness of the sour cream too.

Clean your mushrooms, fry them in a hot pan with maybe a little bit of finely chopped garlic. Add some chopped parsley when they're done.

Serve the mushrooms over the risotto.

PS: Leftover risotto tastes really nice formed into a rough patty and fried crispy on both sides in a hot pan with some olive oil.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Flavoured oil

This is one project that only takes minutes to make. The result is so convenient to add something extra to whatever it is you're cooking.

I tried this the first time about two years ago. Nigella Lawson always goes on about using garlic flavoured oil on her shows. And making it yourself really isn't a big deal.

Once you get started the possibilities are endless. It's just a question of experimenting to find out what suits your taste best.

250 ml extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
To finish;
Woody herbs of your choice (basil, parsley and such will spoil too quickly)
Maybe a chili?


Add the garlic to the oil and leave to infuse for ca. 48 hours. Shake it once or twice.

Filter out the garlic pieces and fill the oil into a small handy bottle. Maybe add a couple of sprigs of fresh herbs or even a chili to the bottle. These will not only add a decorative element, but also start infusing their own aroma into the oil.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Happy Birthday to me


= carrot cupcakes with cream cheese frosting for the other interns at work!

Recipe to follow as soon as I find the time to type it up.

Update:
Here goes! I found the cupcake recipe eons ago on recipezaar and the cream cheese frosting was found on the truly wonderful Joy the Baker blog.

I scaled down both recipe to more "European" portions. Can I pose the question to the Americans; What do you guys do with the additional twelve cupcakes all the time? :-)

These quantities are for twelve deliciously rich cupcakes. They were a big hit at work and gave us all a sugar rush.

Maple Carrot Cupcakes:
120 gr. flour
110 gr. sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda (Natron)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
120 ml vegetable oil (I used sunflower)
60 ml maple sirup
3 medium sized carrots grated

Preheat the oven to 175°C.
Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. In a second bowl mix the eggs, the oil and the maple sirup together. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ones until just combined. Then fold in the grated carrots.
Line a muffin tin with paper cups and fill them with the batter until about two thirds full. A very easy way to get equal size portions is to use an ice cream scoop to do this!
If you don't want to frost the cupcakes later on, you can sprinkle them with a cinnamon sugar mixture at this stage.
Bake in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes until an inserted tooth pick comes out clean.
Leave to cool before frosting.

For the frosting:
170 gr. butter
110 gr. cream cheese
55 gr. light brown sugar
half a teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt
250-500 gr powdered sugar
1-2 tbsp milk

Make sure your ingredients are room temperature. Start by beating the cream cheese for about a minute. Add the butter and beat 1 to two minutes until well combined. Add the brown sugar, salt and vanilla extract until well combined.
Turn off your mixer and add 250 gr of powdered sugar to the bowl. Start your mixer on a low speed setting. Beat until well combined and repeat the process of adding a little more sugar until the frosting is of the desired consistency. Add milk to thin it out if necessary.
Pipe or smear it onto your cold cupcakes.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

For Thea...

Just returned from a weekend in the gorgeous Engiadina mountains with the whole family. Had a wonderful time, even though I felt like sleeping for most of it. ;-)
One of the fabulous things we did was exchanging birthday gifts due for dates past, present and future. I was once again at loss what I could give my sister. She's a tricky one...
But a hint made me go out and buy this kind of contraption for her:

For all of you wondering what the hell this torture instrument is; It's a Spätzli Reibe!

Spätzli are big news with my family. They are a form of egg dumplings that are part of the traditional venison meal (with for example Brusselsprouts and stewed red cabbage) in autumn here in Switzerland. But they can also be served as a pasta variation the rest of the year.

So all that my sister needs to make authentic Swiss Spätzli in here London apartment is my mothers recipe. Without further ado:
For 4 as a main course (halve if you plan to serve it as a side dish in a larger menu)

Ingredients:
•400 gr of flour
•2 Tbsp semolina flour
•2 Tsp salt
•4 eggs
•3 dl of water

Mix all of the ingredients until well combined. Leave the batter to rest until bubbles start to appear on the surface.

Cooking method:
Boil a pan of water and salt it as you would for cooking pasta.
Prepare the dish, which you want to serve the Spätzli in and put in a pat of butter. This will prevent the Spätzli from sticking together.

Mount the Spätzli Reibe on the pan and pass through a portion of the batter. Remove the Reibe, let the water come back to the boil and let the Spätzli cook for about two minutes. They will go slightly puffy. Remove them with a slotted spoon, let the water drain off and place them into the serving dish with the butter.
Repeat until the batter is used up completely. Maybe add another couple pats of butter during the process.

PS: Photo to follow, as soon as Thea sends me one. ;-) She has a much fancier camera anyway.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

No cooking doesn't mean no eating...


A slice of toasted "Zopf"
A hint of cold butter and mustard
A handful of delicate arugula leaves, picked ten minutes ago from the pot and left to crisp up in cold water
A couple of slices of prosciutto di Parma
Some shavings of parmigiano reggiano

Sometimes it can be that simple...