Luxury item: Truffle Oil

I am currently trying not to spend too much money (who isn't, I guess). After another afternoon spent wandering through shops without buying a single thing, I did decide to treat myself to a luxury item on my grocery round. Some truffle oil.

I have only recently acquired a taste for these most infamous of mushrooms and have never actually cooked with this ingredient myself...

The first thing I tried was popcorn with parmesan and truffle oil. A very nice combination but the optics still have to be tinkered with... I will present a recipe as soon as it is worthy.

Other things I can't wait to try:

- Pasta with egg yolk, parmesan and a little truffle oil
- Scrambled eggs with truffle oil
- Risotto al tartufo

I guess anything eggy or creamy is on the list.

One thing I have to gripe about though: This packaging is the worst. Considering the product within is meant to be doled out in very homeopathic doses, you would think the producer would manufacture something to that end. Instead one is confronted with a container that cannot drizzle but only pour and leaves a good bit of the strong smelling contents stuck to the side, however you try not to... Definitely one thing to be mindful of in case you were thinking about investing into something like this.

DIY Chili flakes

This is a fun little project to do when you have a little bit of spare time. The results should last you for a good long while! I did it because my chili plant produces way to much to use and this is a great way of storing this spice. But of course you can also use your favorite store bought chilies.

The wonderful thing about making your own flakes is that you can make them as spicy or mild as you please....

There are two possible routes to choose from.
First option:
You dry the chilies whole first.

I cut off the tops and stem and tried to remove most of the seeds by rolling the chilies between my hands. If you decided to go for milder varieties, this step may not be necessary.

Then you just chop them to your desired consistency in a blender.

Alternatively you could start with fresh chilies. De-seed them if necessary and chop them finely then spreed out on to a baking sheet and dry them in a low oven for a couple of hours. Move them around a couple of times and make sure it is really dried out before you store them. Otherwise they could get mold and all your effort would have been for nothing.

I have already used my chili flakes in this meatball recipe.

They were quietly slipped into my freezer waiting for unannounced guests or an evening when I don't feel like preparing something from scratch...

Post edit: I actually took out some earlier this week and  combined them with a simple tomato sauce and spaghetti. I'm sorry not to add pictures at the moment. Blogger isn't allowing me to upload any.... 

Chicken Wings update: Favorite marinade

Making something good even better....

Julia and I were in a bit of a pinch you see. We were in a new apartment with a kitchen equipped with shall we say, the barest of bones. All joking aside, we didn't have all of the knickknacks my lazy self is used to. But in this case it was definitely a blessing in disguise!

We were really craving some chicken wings, like we had last time see here
This recipe is kind of a simplified improvisation that we in fact like better than the original... Who knew?

This has seriously become my favorite marinade to put on any piece of bone-in chicken. Give it a go!

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1-2 cloves of garlic, minced/grated/chopped as finely as possible
1 heaped teaspoon of honey
a squeeze of lemon juice or a splash of vinegar
tabasco or chili to taste

Stir all the ingredients together and give it a taste. The sweet, salty, tangy and spicy should balance each other. Adjust quantities accordingly if necessary.
As you can see in the photo below I used it on thighs. I guess you could use it on pretty much any piece you want. I love it with rice and a side of fried and steamed greens if I want to be slightly healthier... 

Stir-fry of beef with broccoli

This is a very basic template that I often use when doing a Chinese inspired stir fry dish. By template I mean that the specific ingredients can be substituted to taste, seasonality and whatever you have on hand. I love using vegetables that keep a bit of crunch (pak choi, chinese kale, etc.). Otherwise you can use whatever you fancy.

Ingredients for two to three people:
ca. 200 gr. good beef, thinly sliced (steak cuts tend to be good for this)
1 tblsp oyster sauce
1 tblsp soy sauce
a generous pinch of sugar or palm sugar
pepper to taste
Groundnut or vegetable oil to fry
two cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 cm piece of ginger, finely chopped
fresh chili to taste, finely chopped
1 head of broccoli, florets split if they are big, stem parts chopped to equal sized pieces
one glass of water on standby
1 small red onion, cut into wedges
a generous splash of Shaoshing rice wine or dry sherry
1/2 tsp of corn or potato starch dissolved in a little bit of cold water

1. Marinade your meat in a mixture of the oyster, soy, sugar and pepper. Leave it for at least 20 minutes.
2. Heat your wok or frying pan on high. Put in a tablespoon or two of oil and add your beef evenly. Let it sit for a minute or two to brown and then turn over. Take out of the pan and set aside.
3. Wipe out your pan if necessary. Heat it back up and add more oil if desired. Add the garlic, ginger and chili and fry until fragrant (Only a minute or so). Add the broccoli and stir fry for two minutes. Add a splash of water and cover the pan to allow the vegetables to steam for about three minutes.
4. Remove the lid and add back in the beef, the onion and the Shaoshing rice wine. After the wine has cooked off you can add more water if needed for the sauce.
5. Add the dissolved starch at the very end and it will only need a couple of moment to thicken the sauce. Check the seasonings and add more soy or pepper if necessary.
Serve with rice or noodles.

Steaming artichokes

I have a relatively small kitchen where storage and counter space is limited. This means I have to really think about what is worth having around. Therefore I don't own any single use appliances like rice cookers, bread machines, etc., even though I might like to.

I actually also prefer my method of making rice in a pan...

But one of the appliances I have always sort of wanted, but never got was a steamer. It's a healthy way to prepare veggies and meat or fish, but as I said: too much space for such a specific gadget.

A couple of weeks back I had something of an epiphany. I have a large pan with one of those pasta inserts. Basically a sieve so the pasta can be lifted out and drained in one step. The way it fits into the pan there are a couple of centimeters between the bottom of this sieve and the actual bottom of the pan. Ergo you can add liquid without it actually reaching whatever you have in the pasta insert....

I put this theory to the test by preparing some artichokes.

After washing them I trimmed the stem and the outermost layer of leaves back.
I filled the pan with only a few centimeters of water and added a few slices of lemon, a couple of bay leaves and a crushed garlic clove to it, to give the artichoke a little bit of flavor while it steamed.

After that I put the pan including the pasta insert and a lid onto the heat and let it come to the boil. Then you just turn it down to a simmer and let the artichoke globes steam for 35 to 40 minutes (test by pulling off a leave or to, they should be easily removable).

Serve with melted, salty butter and you are good to go!

Five Spice Duck Breast

Duck must be my absolute favorite meat. If it is on the menu I will probably go for that before anything else... My sister and I recently went on quite binge, having three tasty duck dishes in less than one week. But I had never actually prepared it myself.

So when I found some marked down at my local grocery store I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to experiment.

Since this was a first try I decided to go for the most simple preparation and the result didn't dissappoint. I will be making this more often now for sure.

All you need is duck breast, five spice and seasonings.

1. Preheat your oven to 200°. Score the skin side of the breast and liberally sprinkle both sides with salt, pepper and five spice.
2. Place your duck breast skin side down into a cold frying pan. Turn on the heat to medium high. This way more of the fat in the skin will render out and you will get it more crispy.
3. When the skin has a slightly brown color turn around your breast and sear it on the meat side for about thirty seconds.
4. Flip it back over and place the whole thing into the preheated oven for about four minutes for a medium done duck. If your frying pan has a plastic handle preheat a backing sheet in the oven and transfer your duck to it.
5. Let the duck rest for about five minutes before cutting it.

I served mine with rice and pan fried Chinese kale.

Tuscan Bread Salad (Panzanella)

This dish was a total leftovers result of our fabulous Fondue Feast from the First of August. The First of August is our National Day in Switzerland. Normal people stick to barbequing and salads. Being in the middle of summer and everything... But we have really enjoyed having either Raclette or Fondue (traditional heavy cheesy winter dishes) outside. This is marvelous as it is a very communal eating experience and you have the added bonus of not smelling the lingering odor for the next three days. Since we had Very Important Guests it was extra nice to share this very Swiss dish...

But as a result we were left with a large amount of already cubed bread that was going stale. I remembered seeing Jamie Oliver do something like this on one of his shows (Couldn't find out which one) and I had actually tasted one at my school cafeteria a few years back. Therefore I improvised.

The beautiful thing about this dish is that it can be adapted to whatever you have in your cupboard or whatever is in season... be  creative with it! It will be extra delicious in summer when the tomatoes are really at the height of their season.

My version went roughly like this:
Stale bread, cubed or torn to pieces
Fresh rosemary or other herbs, two sprigs finely chopped
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Tomatoes, three large ones cubed
Basil, torn
Vinegar of choice
Capers, a couple of teaspoons
Black olives, one big handful sliced
Anchovies, two or three finely chopped (optional)

1. Toss the bread with the oil, chopped herbs and salt. Then bake in a 180° oven until golden and crunchy.
2. Meanwhile prepare a classic tomato salad with your other ingredients and dress it with your usual vinaigrette (1/3 vinegar, 2/3 oil), making sure you have slightly more dressing than usual.
3. When your croutons have cooled down you can mix them into the salad and serve immediately.

You want the croutons to soak up the dressing, yet retain some crunch. Use whatever you have or like (artichokes, peppers, cucumbers...).

Fresh polenta

This is something I have been dying to try for quite some time now. The result is quite surprising. I love polenta as a quick, stodgy comfort food in the cooler seasons. Making it with fresh corn gives you something akin to a polenta soufflé. It is lighter, sweeter and creamier than its more well known cousin.
I don't think it would hold its own with a heavy meat stew... But I can't wait to try this matched up with fish or a lighter vegetable stew. You could substitute the feta for some other cheese but I think the sharp saltiness is perfect to counterbalance the sweetness of the dish.
The inspiration comes from the genius Yottam Ottolenghi.

Ingredients per person:
1-2 cobs of corn, the kernels cut off
A knob of butter
ca. 25 gr. of feta, crumbled
Salt and pepper

1. Put your corn into a pan and cover with cold water. Bring this to a boil and let it cook for 12 minutes.
2. Take the pan off the heat and pour off most of the water. Keep this, you might still need it. Blend your corn with a stick blender. Add back some cooking water if needed to get the polenta consistancy.
3. Add your butter and feta. Season to taste.

Light and creamy tomato soup

Even though it's supposed to be summer around here, the weather seems to have been otherwise inclined recently... This just leaves one course of action: unpack those spring or autumnal jackets and delve into warm comfort foods.

I myself adore soups and especially tomato soup.
It is delicious in cooler summer weather when the tomatoes are at their best but also wonderful in winter when the veggies can be derived from a jar or can... Very versatile indeed.

One thing I don't like is the soups that are drown in cream... you loose so much of the taste. My trick: lots of gently softened onions. The give the soup a savory yet sweet base and make a wonderful creamy soup when blended.

Ingredients for one big portion:
3 shallots, roughly chopped
A little olive oil or butter
1 big pinch of dried marjoram
2 big plum tomatoes (just go for the ones with the best flavour), roughly chopped
ca. 1/2 litre of stock
Salt and pepper

1. Fry your shallots with the herbs gently in the fat until they are soft and translucent.
2. Add your tomatoes and the stock and let it come to a boil.
3. After the mixture has boiled for ca. 10 minutes blend until desired consistancy.
4. Heat it up once more in the pan and season to taste.

Food (and life) lately

Please forgive my long silence and accept these impressions of the last month as a kind of peace offering.

Normal posts are on the way!

Prosciutti with grilled apricots

I love the combination of prosciutto with melon. But recently a picture on the internet got me thinking about combining it with apricots... This is what I came up with.

The one thing I really like in this combo is the sourness that the apricots also have. Give it a try.
I had them warm from the oven, but I think they would be really nice cooled down too.

Ingredients:
Apricots
Olive oil
Fleur de sel or plain salt
Thyme, leaves picked and finely chopped

Preheat your oven grill to maximum heat.
Halve, de-stone the apricots and place them in an oven proof dish. Sprinke or brush with a little of your finest olive oil, sprinkle with the fleur de sel and chopped thyme.
Place under the grill and wait until the tops are slightly broiled.

Serve with your prosciutto, some salad and I had a little mozzarella to go with it.

Slightly deconstructed insalata caprese

The concept is really nothing new. But recently I felt like assembling this classic a little differently...

So I:
Tore up the mozzarella.
Quartered the cherry tomatoes.
Took a handful of basil, bashed it up with the pestle and mortar and stirred in some olive oil and salt. This sauce was drizzled over the other two ingredients which had been arranged on a plate.

And I really liked the result and have made it a couple of times just like this since. I think you really get more out of the basil this way...

Omelette with asparagus and crème fraiche

I went to the farmer's market this morning for the first time since quite a while.
Wow! What can I say. You rue every single vegetable you bought at the grocery store in the last couple of months... It's definitely something I should do more often.

I came home and made this easy and light dish for lunch. I found the result so pleasing I just might have to repeat it tomorrow...

Ingredients:
Ca. four spears of asparagus, cut into half inch pieces
A couple of sprigs of thyme, leaves picked and roughly chopped
Olive oil
Two eggs, beaten with a fork and seasoned
Ca. two teaspoons crème fraiche
Salt and pepper
Optional: ca. two teaspoons of fish eggs

Start by cooking your asparagus (unless you are using leftovers and they are already cooked.) My favorite technique: Heat a frying pan to medium to high heat and fry the asparagus and the thyme in a little olive oil for four to five minutes turning occasionally. Add a splash of water and cover with a lid to let them steam for about two minutes. Take off the lid and let the rest of the water evaporate completely. Add some seasoning at this point.
Pour in the beaten egg and move the asparagus pieces around so that they are evenly spaced. Take your crème fraiche and add small dollops of it around the pan. Cook the omelette to your liking and season if necessary. If you are using the fish roe, add it after plating.
This makes a lovely lunch with a salad or even on its own... Enjoy!

Fast strawberry jam

I am off in France this weekend. So let me leave you with this small project.

Jamie's strawberry jam

I remember seeing this more than ten years ago on TV. I love it because it's quick, easy and the quantities are almost impossible to forget.

The only thing I changed is that I cut the strawberries instead of squashing them...

Give it a go for the perfect sweet treat for your Sunday brunch!

Beef stew with lemons and mushrooms

Staying with the subject of preserved lemons, this is a stew using them as flavoring.
A stew is quite a simple thing, everyone has their own template which they use, so I guess this is mine. I am sorry that I can't give you the exact quantities for everything, it's a case of using what you have...

Ingredients:
Beef (roughly 400 gr.), in larger chunks ("Voressen" in German)
1-2 tablespoons of flour
Olive oil
A couple of onions, roughly chopped
A couple of garlic cloves, finely chopped
Brown button mushrooms, sliced
1/4 preserved lemon, only the rind, finely chopped
One bay leaf
A couple of thyme sprigs
One sprig of rosemary
One glass of red wine
Ca. 1/2 l of stock
Salt and pepper

Toss your beef in the seasoned flour. Brown in a little bit of oil on all sides and put to one side.
Add a little more oil and fry your mushrooms. Put them with the beef.

Add a little more oil and fry the onions and garlic until translucent. Add your aromatics (herbs and lemon) and fry them for a couple of minutes until fragrant.
Add the beef and mushrooms back in and deglaze with the red wine. Let the alcohol cook off and add your stock. When the stew has come back to the boil, reduce the heat and partially cover with a lid. Let this cook for at least 45 minutes. Check the seasoning.

Serve with polenta and a sprinkle of roughly chopped parsley for color and taste.

Preserved lemons

This is a really fun project that doesn't take a lot of time to do but will give you a fantastic ingredient to cook with... You just need the patience to wait for four weeks.


You don't need a lot of ingredients. The two basic ones are just lemon and salt. But these two simple and everyday components will give you something extraordinary in four weeks time. The result is rinsed, de-pulped and sliced or diced (i.e. you just need the lemon rind) and will give any dish you add it to a flavor intensity that the two raw products on their own could not have achieved.

You can add further flavorings by adding spices. The possibilities are endless; fennel, cumin, coriander, different peppers, cinnamon, star anise, dried woody herbs, etc, etc.

The basic ratio to keep in mind is that you need one to two tablespoons of normal salt to every lemon you want to preserve. The lemons should be organic and ideally unwaxed. If you aren't sure about the wax, wash them thoroughly.

This gives you the option of making a smaller batch to try this out, if I haven't convinced you yet.
I made a portion if one and a half lemon with a bay leaf, coriander seeds and Szechuan pepper this time. I also added a bit of pink salt, so the coloring is slightly off.

So this is the basic "recipe":

Lemons (you may need one or two extra for the juice)
1-2 tablespoons salt per lemon to be preserved
Aromatics to taste
Jam jar or other preserving receptacle

Wash your jar(s) in hot water to sterilize. Quarter your lemons lengthwise.* Start by putting a layer of salt into your jar. Take your lemon quarters, squeeze their juice into the jar and start layering them. Add salt when each layer is finished.
When all your lemons and salt are in the jar, add your aromatics and top up with extra juice if needed. The lemons should be well covered.
Put them somewhere out of the way and give them a shake from time to time.

*The other technique is to quarter them but not cut through completely and them fill the salt into the cavity. I prefer the quarters because you need less space and extra juice and I find that you only need the preserved lemons in doses of one quarter most of the time anyway.

Roast Chicken; Part II aka Banh Mi Sandwich

The roast chicken dinner from my last post left me with two uneaten chicken thighs. As you know I am not a big fan of leftovers as such. I just don't want to eat something that I've already had the night before... But roasting chicken has a big draw for me for an additional reason to that erstwhile meal: Homemade chicken soup! Therefore I never through away chicken bones or carcasses. If I know I will not be able to make the soup in the following days I freeze them and get round to it later on. But that is a tale for a different time.

I took the meat off the bone of those two thighs and froze them separately since I knew I would be out of town for a couple of days. I had seen a recipe of these Vietnamese sandwiches on the foodgawker App and knew this was something I wanted to try. It sounded easy enough except for the pickled carrots. But I soon discovered that this could be made with ingredients found in every household.
This is what I did:

Pickled carrot:
1 cup of hot water
1 tablespoon of vinegar
1 tablespoon of kosher salt
2/3 of a tablespoon of sugar
1 carrot, cut into juliennes

Mix the water, vinegar, salt and sugar so the last two can dissolve. Put the mini carrot sticks into a jam jar of appropriate size, top up with the brine you've just made and put on a lid. It's that easy.
I used red wine vinegar (seriously, who keeps distilled white for anything other than cleaning purposes?), you can use whatever you have or like.

This jar should be left for three to five days.

The sandwich:
One baguette sliced in half, a little bit of mayonnaise, the leftover chicken, sliced cucumber, your pickled carrots, some slices of spring or red onion and some fresh coriander*. I won't give any quantities as it comes down to your taste and sandwich making abilities (i.e. how much can you fit in). The finished composition is fresh and satisfying. I will be eating this again for sure.

*Dear people-who-hate-coriander, don't whine, substitute! It's a recipe, not the European Convention on Human Rights. You are allowed to adapt and diverge. Use any fresh herb you fancy: Basil, parsley, chives... I would especially recommend mint.

Chicken with Lemon, Herbs and Maple Sirup

This is a dish that was drawn together by the necessity of a low maintenance dish that didn't need to many complicated ingredients (e.g. anything I had lying around the cupboard was fair game). The finished result was a real hit for the dinner party guest and myself. Will definitely be putting this together again very soon!

Ingredients:
4 chicken thighs, with bone and skin on
ca. 15 gr of butter
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 pickled lemon, just the rind finely chopped* (substitute with fresh zest)
2-3 sprigs of thyme, finely chopped
4-5 sprigs of sage, only roughly chopped
1 tablespoon of maple sirup (Maybe a little more for later on)
salt
pepper

1. Preheat your oven to 180°C. While it is heating up you can add all of the ingredients (except for the chicken) into a small bowl and let the heat from the oven melt the butter. You  want the butter to just melt and this will only take a few minutes.
2. Put your chicken thighs into a baking dish and spread the sauce over them with a brush. Make sure the thighs are covered with it on all sides. Put them into the oven and let them roast for 40-45 minutes.
3. I pulled mine out ten minutes before they were done and drizzled them with an additional teaspoon of maple sirup per thigh.

Side dishes
Forked potatoes: Cook the peeled and diced floury potatoes until thoroughly soft. Drain them well and let them dry out in the pan for a minute. Crush them roughly with a fork and add salt, chopped spring onions and a little olive oil to taste.
Spring greens: Fry off one finely sliced garlic clove in a little olive oil. Add a couple of handfuls of frozen peas and two defrosted spinach cubes (or fresh). Give it a stir, put a lid on top and let it warm through. Season to taste.


*Making your own preserved lemons is really easy and so quick. My apologies for not having posted the directions yet. This will soon be remedied. They are fantastic to cook with and can to my current experience be added to any dish you would add zest to; stews, roasts, soups, etc.

Pink Rhubarb

The color of this wonderful plant is enough to make you buy it on a whim. Especially if you come across it early in Spring when nothing else is yet as luminous and enticing in the produce section.
That is certainly what happened to me.

I had the presence of mind to grab a packet of puff pastry too and just followed my usual blue print for a delicious fruit tarte.

I did take the extra step of stewing the rhubarb first... It might have been tender enough to skip it in hindsight but I didn't want to take any chances.

Ingredients:

3 stalks of rhubarb (Of course I went for the pinkest ones to be had)
2 tablespoons of sugar
ca. 1/2 a cup of water

Puff pastry, go for the unrolled one as it will rise better
2 tablespoons of sugar
3 tablespoons of ground almonds (If you are allergic you can substitute these with crushed cereal, for example Special K)

1. Chop the rhubarb roughly and add the sugar and water in a pan. Let it come to the boil and then simmer until tender with the lid on. It takes 15 to 20 minutes.

2. Preheat your oven to 180°C. Roll out your pastry to fit your tin. Measure it generously as Puff pastry tends to shrink in size while baking. If you feel so inclined you can sprinkle a bit of sugar into the tin before placing the pastry on top. This will give you a lovely caramelized crust. Spread the ground almonds evenly, these will help soak up the additional moisture in the fruit.
3.With a slotted spoon transfer your cooled rhubarb out of the pot and onto the pastry. Sprinkle with sugar.
4. Bake in the middle of your oven for ca. 25 minutes. In the meantime cook your remaining stewing liquid to a sirupy texture.
5. Serve your rhubarb tarte with a coulis of the sirup and a dollop of whipped cream.

Perfect Easter snack

Or lunch.
Or dinner!

You need:
Bread (toasted pita is a treat)
Butter
Radishes*, sliced
Cress, although it is also tasty without
A hard boiled egg, sliced
Salt to taste...

Assemble and enjoy!
*Keep then in a little bowl of water in the fridge, to keep them crunchy longer.

Quick dinner

Seriously one of my favorite vegetarian dishes ever. Such a big fan of Mr. Ottolenghis...

Postedit by popular demand:
You will find the original recipe under "Sabih" on the Guardian's website. Really delicious!

My cheat's version went like this:
Cook your aubergine "steaks" slowly with a little bit of oil and a little bit of salt in a non stick frying pan over medium heat, turning them a couple of times. This will take about ten minutes, but it's well worth the effort.
Mix some tahini with lemon juice to loosen and add some salt.
Mix some ready made pesto (without parmigiano) with lemon juice.
Toast some pita bread. Assemble the aubergine and a quartered hard boiled egg on top and drizzle with the two sauces. That's it.

Checking in

Take a look at my delicious dinner: forked potatoes with spring onions and a wonderful piece of salmon.

New recipes coming soon. I promise!