Winter slaw

This rather random assortment of veggies and a fruit have become a real staple for me in the last month or so. The ingredients are very cheap, they can be stored well and the result is absolutely delicious.

Give it a try.

2 decent servings:
1/4 red or white cabbag, remove the stalk
1 medium to large carrot
1 apple (I like Braeburns for crunch and tartness)

dressing:
1 teaspoon vinegar
3 teaspoons oil of choice
1-2 teaspoons greek yogurt
Fresh herbs, finely chopped (I recommend mint, basil or parsley)
A big squeeze of your favourite hot sauce
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Slice your cabbage finely and julienne the carrot and apple on a mandolin or in a food processor. (So it by hand if you feel like a work out. ;-))
2. Mix the ingredients for the dressing and add it to your salad. Make sure everything is evenly coated. Serve and enjoy the crunchy, tangy freshness during the colder seasons.

Mackerel and Samphire

Switzerland is just coming off a major heatwave. 30+ temperatures for days on end really gets to you. So I was really pleased to find these two ingredients wandering around the largest Coop in town. they made for a light and refreshing meal.

I have only had samphire once before. I visited my sister and her in-laws in England a month ago and this gnarly sea vegetable was quite the revelation. Funnily enough they are selling it under the name "Meerbohne" (sea bean) in Switzerland.

Mackerel is a fish you don't come across too often in a landlocked country in Europe. But I read about it often in my English cookbooks and it's always praised as a really healthy oily fish. Add to that I would really like to build up my confidence in preparing fish of all kinds so when I saw the lonely last mackerel on the fish counter I decided to take it home... :-)

This meal was really easy and quick to prepare and since I only needed a frying pan the clean up was minimal too.

Ingredients:
One mackerel
Salt
Pepper
A small sprig of rosemary, leaves picked
One small garlic clove, crushed in its skin
Butter
Samphire (I had ca. 150 g)

1. Start by rinsing your fish quickly under cold running water and making sure it's clean inside (yes, that happened). Pat it dry with a paper towel, then take a sharp knife and make deep cuts, ca. 1 cm apart on both sides right down to the bone. This will help any flavorings you use penetrate the flesh and also make the fish cook more quickly. I then sprinkled both sides liberally with salt and pepper (and some lemon zest, but don't think this element was worth it in the end result). Rinse your samphire under cold running water in a sieve and let it drain well.
2. Heat your frying pan to medium high heat and add a small amount of vegetable oil. Place your fish in the hot pan and then LEAVE IT ALONE. Fish does not like to be hassled. After about three to four minutes you can check to see if the underside has gone brown and crispy. If so, turn it over carefully with a fish slice or spatula. Add the rosemary and garlic to the pan for a bit of aroma, give the pan a shake and leave it to finish cooking. Transfer it to you plate after another three minutes or so.
3. Reheat the same pan (you could wipe it clean with a paper towel, but don't have to) and let a nice knob of butter melt. Then add your drained samphire. Gently toss or stir it and let it warm through. It should be ready in about three minutes. Only add some pepper. No salt as it is very salty in itself and no lemon juice, as acidity will make it loose its brilliant color.
Enjoy.

Next time I will try flavoring the mackerel by rubbing it with either five spice or garam masala.

Cucumber, onion and coriander salad

As per request...
If temperatures where you live are set to hit the high twenties this weekend as well, this might just be the perfect accompaniment the the mandatory BBQ you are planning.
It's a simplified version of Yotam Ottolenghi's. It's easy and quick to make so give it a try!

3 tablespoons vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons sugar (I used palm)
2 teaspoons toasted peanut oil (the original calls for sesame)
One small red onion, halved and finely sliced (use a mandolin, if you have one)
One large cucumber, halved and finely sliced at an angle
One small bunch of coriander, roughly chopped (haters, use mint instead)
One clove of garlic
Thumbsized piece of ginger
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Mix the dressing and add the sliced onion. Leave it to stand and mellow for at least an hour.
2. Smash your garlic and ginger with a big pinch of salt to paste in a pestle and mortar or put it through a fine microplane grater. Mix this with the prepared dressing, sliced cucumber and coriander. Season to taste. All done!

Vietnamese fried mincemeat

This is a dish I had in a Vietnamese restaurant on an early summer evening. We analyzed its components over dinner and decided it must be quite easy to replicate.
I tried it at home recently and was so pleased with the result, I ate variations of it for the remainder of the week. It is a perfect template recipe in the sense that lots of the ingredients can be substituted for similar things you might have on hand. No rigid list of ingredients so to speak.
If you plan on serving it with rice, make it a bit saucier by adding stock or a splash of rice wine that you let cook off a bit. I liked it with just the protein and the veggies, kind of like a warm, rich salad.

Ingredients:
Minced meat of choice (mine was half pork and beef), ca. 100 gr. per person
Splash of oil (optional)
One garlic clove
Chili to taste
A piece of ginger, the size of your thumb
    all minced
Soy sauce
Fish sauce
    to taste
Chopped veggies (Chinese broccoli, asparagus, pak choi, broccoli are all good options. Maybe add the leafy part after frying off the stem bits.)
Fresh herbs (spring onions, mint, coriander, chive, parsley...?

1. Heat up your frying pan to medium high heat. Add the oil and fry off the meat until evenly dark brown. Stirring every now and then helps.
2. Add the chili, garlic and ginger and fry until nicely fragrant and evenly distributed.
3. Add your veggies and fry off for a couple of minutes. If it is quite a hardy vegetable add a splash of water and cover your pan for 2-3 minutes so they can steam through.
4. Take off the lid, season with soy and fish sauce and add your fresh herbs just before serving. The spring onion is especially nice.

Spiced meatballs with Tahini sauce

Yotam Ottolenghi meets Gordon Ramsay.... At least in the culinary sphere.
I still had a lot of the meatballs from this post lounging in my freezer. It would seem that I am just not a big enough fan of spaghetti with meatballs to use them up in a decent time span. But low and behold I have found a use that has made my stash disappear practically over night!  I spiced up my very decent but standard meatballs before frying with a spice mixture adapted from this recipe.
Meatballs

A big pinch each of allspice, cinnamon and nutmeg, all ground

A little oil to fry

A couple of sprigs of flat leaved parsley, roughly chopped

2 tblsp tahini

One tablespoon lemon juice
a little bit of crushed garlic (optional)

Salt 

A couple of teaspoons water
Sweet paprika

1. Let your meatballs thaw, if frozen. Sprinkle them evenly with the spices and fry in a hot pan with a little oil.
2. While they are frying stir together your tahini sauce. Add enough water in the end to make the tahini mixture usable as dip and adorn with a dash of parpika to brighten it up.
3. Sprinkle the fresh parsley over your meatballs, plate them up with your sauce and serve with toothpicks for dipping.

Meatless Monday comfort food

This was such a simple and low effort dish that I am loath to call it a "recipe". But the combination was absolutely lovely and I will make this again for sure.

Components:
One serving of cooked quinoa
Two to three baby pak choi, sauteed with a little garlic, ginger and chili
One to two fried eggs

Soy sauce to season

This is a very basic template. You can substitute the quinoa for rice and the vegetables can be anything you want or have lying around in the fridge. If you wanted to make this even healthier you could of course steam the veggies and poach the eggs.

Miso Salmon

I recently found sachets of miso paste at an asian market near my house. I have been really keen to start experimenting with miso but never wanted to buy the huge tubs of it before...
This is a really simple misi marinade that you could use on any kind of protein you like.

It was especially tasty on the salmon though!

Ingredients:
One teaspoon each of:
Miso paste
Soy sauce
Runny honey
Shaoshing rice wine or a dry white whine
One piece of salmon fillet, I prefer the skin on variety
To serve:
Wedge of lime or lemon
Fresh basil (optional)
Side and veggies to you taste

1. Mix together your marinade and let the non skin side of your fish soak it up for at least twenty minutes (the longer, the better).
2. Preheat your overhead oven grill to max as well and frying pan with a metal handle. Lightly score and salt the skin of the fish. When your pan is preheated add a tough of oil and put in your fish skin side down. Take the pan and place it under the grill for about three to four minutes. The cooking time depends on how done you like your fish to be and how your specific piece is shaped...
3. Plate up with your sides of choice, squeeze over some citrus and add s sprig of basil for color.
Enjoy!

Pork chops in orange and mustard sauce

Where to begin... I am so sorry for not posting during the whole of march (!). Can state that I was recuperating from a medical procedure for half of the month and we will forget about my blog lapsus? Thanks.
This recipe is another one that came about through hunger and invention. I was going for Nigella's mustard pork chops. To my great disappointment I had to discover that my local grocery store does not stock any cider... Since I had a schriveled orange lounging in my kitchen I decided to use that. The result was actually quite pleasing. Although the dish certainly moved from Normandy into the more Asian influenced territory, as I used some shaoshing rice wine too. The sweetness of the orange juice goes really nicely with the pork.

Ingredients:
Two pork chops
Oil, to fry
One orange, juiced
A small glass of rice or white wine
One teaspoon of grain mustard
Cream, to taste, if desired

1. Preheat your frying pan and season the pork chops with salt and pepper. When the pan is hot add your oil and the chops. Fry until done (two-three minutes on both sides, depending on the thickness). When they are done, cover and set aside.
2. Put your pan back on the heat and use the orange juice to de-glaze. Add the wine and cook off the alcohol. Stir in your mustard. Season to taste, adjust the consistency if needed and add the cream if you are using any. Also check if there are any meat juices from the chops. Add those to your sauce too.
I had mine with some (prefab) gniocchi.

Grapefruit with yogurt

This dish looks pretty enough to be dessert and it certainly is as delicious. But it has recently become my favorite healthy breakfast option. I had always thought mixing citrus fruit with dairy was a no go (because of splitting the latter). It actually makes for a winning combination.
Give it a try. You could also multiply it and serve it at your next brunch...

Here's how easy it is;
One small pot of Greek yogurt.
The filleted segments of one red grapefruit.
Three teaspoons of the juice mixed with one small teaspoon of runny honey.

That's it.

Vietnamese Pho with Duck (the quick version)

It's been dreadfully cold, wet and gray around here lately. This made me all the more thankful to my friend Anna for teaching me how to do one of my favorite restaurant dishes at home. It's simple, easy and healthy, not to mention it tastes divine! Give it a try and you won't be disappointed. Promise.

Ingredients for two:
1 l beef stock
3 cloves
2 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
1 generous tablespoon of fish sauce
ca. 4 cm. fresh ginger, sliced
1 medium onion, peeled and halved
ca. 150 gr. rice noodles
one duck breast (without the skin) or ca. 200 gr. of beef steak
bean sprouts
spring onions
Thai basil or fresh coriander
optional: fresh chilies or hot sauce

1. Let your beef stock and the aromatics (everything up to and including the onion) come to a boil over high heat. Turn it down and let it simmer for ca. 45 minutes.
2. When your stock is done and smelling wonderfully fragrant, prepare your rice noodles according to the packet instructions. When they are done make sure to blanch them under cold water.
3. Wash your bean sprouts, pick your herbs off the stems and chop your spring onions. The duck or beef needs to be cut very thinly (it will only be cooked by the hot broth being poured over it). My duck was frozen, so I just defrosted it for a short while and pulled off the skin. It was very easy to cut afterwards.
4. From this point on it is simply a task of assembly. Layer the cold noodles over the meat and pour over the hot (boiling!) soup. The aromatics, except for the onion, can be discarded. Let every person add their own sprouts, herbs and spring onions. I like adding a bit of chili. Enjoy!

Variations: I am sure this would be delicious with halved prawns or sliced fish too. You could also leave the protein out completely.

Merci Anna!

Scaloppine al limone (Veal escalopes with zingy lemon sauce)

With one or two notable exceptions the last couple of weeks have been very gray in Zurich. I was lucky enough to find some veal escalopes that were marked down at my local grocery store. I often shop for my protein this way because it has the added bonus of making be notice cuts I wouldn't usually go for...

This is such a simple dish to prepare and the result was so delicious. I will be making it again for sure. With a simple salad of rocket it makes a wonderful light meal.

Ingredients for one person:
Veal escalopes (I had four small ones)
2-3 tablespoons of flour
Oil or butter to fry
Half a lemon, juice and zest cut off &chopped with a paring knife
1 small glass of white wine or 1/2 of stock
Ca. 20 grams of cold butter, cut into pieces
A few sprigs of flat leaved parsley, roughly chopped
Salt and pepper

1. Place your flour on a flat dish and season with salt and pepper. Dredge both sides of the escalopes in them making sure to pat off any excess.
2. Preheat a non stick frying pan to medium high heat and add your fat of choice. Fry the escalopes on both sides until just done. This should take 2-3 minutes on both sides and they should be slightly browned. Take out of the pan and keep warm.
3. Put the pan back on the heat, add your juice, chopped zest and the wine or stock and deglaze the pan. Let the alcohol cook off and the sauce reduce for 4-5 minutes. Stir in the butter and adjust the seasoning.
4. Add your parsley at the last minute (if using) and pour over the warm escalopes to serve.

Salmon steak with sweet potato and pea mash

Hi everyone! I am back from my one month on Africa's other end. It was fabulous and hot. But I am ready to get back into the kitchen.
I present to you my dinner yesterday evening. I never used to like cooked salmon. Only when I tried to prepare it myself did I find out that it was because I don't like the texture it gets when it's well done... too rubbery. So I tend to almost undercook it at home. It stays nice and tender that way.

This was a simple meal, rustled up in about a quarter of an hour. It was actually two meals considering I mashed all the leftovers and fried it into a little Rösti to serve with a fried egg on top for lunch...

Ingredients:
one salmon steak (without without skin, according to your preference)
one sweet potato, peeled and thinly sliced
two handful of (frozen) peas
(optional: a little stock)
salt and pepper
lemon juice, to serve

1. Boil your sweet potato in just enough water or stock to cover. This should only take about ten minutes. Add your peas and cover with a lid to let them cook. You can turn the heat off or down to medium while you prepare the fish.
2. Preheat a non stick frying pan on medium to high heat. Season your salmon with salt and pepper and put it into your frying pan. You can add a little oil if you'd like. Fry until you have a golden color. This will take two to three minutes. Flip over carefully and fry on the other side for a further two to three minutes or until done to your liking.
3. Save about half a cup of the liquid you boiled your potatoes and peas in. Pour off the rest. Put the pan back onto your stove for a couple of minutes to dry the vegetables properly. Mash and season. Add some liquid back if needed. Serve with your fish on top and add a squeeze of lemon juice.
Easy as that.


 This is what lunch the next day looked like: