Shakshuka or Brunch people are coming over in an hour...

My.... It's been this long, has it?

Well, hello again my virtual culinary notebook.....

Shakshuka is at the same time a very simple dish to make and very much a crowd pleaser with wow-effect. Silky soft eggs cooked in a spiced or even hot tomato sauce with fresh herbs strewn over before serving... What's not to like?
I've made this very adaptable recipe ever since I saw Yotam Ottolenghi do it on one of his television shows. I think you can still find it on youtube...
All you need to be mindful of is that the tomato sauce needs to be bulky enough to support the eggs as they are being poached. Add whatever you like in the way of spices and herbs.
I love cumin and fresh coriander best but you can really be creative here...

Quantities are generous for two and might even feed three.
Here is the recipe:
Olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
a medium onion, finely sliced
chili flakes, to taste
0,5-1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 big handfuls of cherry tomatoes, roughly chopped
or
A can of pelati
5 eggs

Fresh herbs and bread (upgrade: garlic bread!) to serve.

Add a little oil and the garlic to a frying pan and heat to medium high. Add you onions and fry them gently, stirring often. When they go soft and start to caramelise add you chili and cumin to fry. If your tomatoes are not up to par you can add some tomato paste at this point. When the spices (and paste) have cooked through add your chopped tomatoes. Add a little water and let the sauce cook down and reduce. Up to this point you can prepare the dish well ahead of time.
When it's gotten to the consistency you want (and you want it slightly on the bulky side) season to taste with salt and pepper. Then you can make little wells and crack in the eggs. Lower the heat and put on the lid until the eggs are cooked to you liking.

Sprinkle with your torn fresh herbs (and maybe some fresh sliced chili) and bring the pan to the table to serve.

*photo by irishinswiss

Pulled pork

Hello everyone!
It seems I must once again apologize for an unplanned hiatus here... But I have a really good i'm-sorry-let-me-make-it-up-to-you treat.
This recipe has been asked for a lot and I am so happy to be posting it.

I had one of those annoying round birthdays this year and was very pleased that about 20 people actually wanted to celebrate with me. This left me a bit in the lurch as to how to feed them all. If it would have been a smaller group I would have headed straight for fish tacos. But I didn't see myself flipping filets for twenty hungry eaters. So I tried out something new and I have to say the results were more than pleasing... It is an easy dish you can prepare ahead and when it comes to serving your guests can do some diy.

If you are planning to prepare this in Switzerland make sure you talk to your butcher beforehand about getting pork shoulder. It's not a very standard cut. My butcher actually gave this dish the nickname of American Döner, which isn't too far off the mark. ;-)

I based my recipe for the meat off this one.
For the meat:
1 onion, roughly chopped
2 carrots, roughly chopped
some olive oil
1 pork shoulder, deboned (ca. 1 kg)
2 tbsp paprika
2 tbsp cayenne pepper or chili to taste
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp salt
2 tbsp tomato paste
ca. 500 ml beer
ca. 500 ml water

1. Preheat your oven to 160°. In a large pot with a fitting lid heat some olive oil and fry off your veggies. In the meantime mix your spices and coat your pork on all sides. You could brown your meat after this step. I couldn't and it turned out fine.
2.Place your pork on top of the sauteed veggies, add the tomato paste and fill the pot with half water and half beer until the liquid comes up to 3/4 of the meat. Let it come to the boil and cover with the lid. Place it into the hot oven for about three hours turning the meat over halfway through.
3. Take it out and let it cool slightly. Lift the meat out of the sauce (you can reduce it slightly if you feel like it). Shred it into pieces with two forks. Place it onto your serving dish and pour over some of the sauce.

To serve:
Soft rolls
Julienned carrots
Finely sliced cabbage
Fresh herbs (go with coriander or mint)
Sour cream that has been heavily seasoned.
Sliced tomatoes
Onions
Basically whatever you feel like...

Everyone can make their own sandwich. We had it with different salads and it was a great meal. Sorry to say that this was the only photo I have....

Do give it a try.

Post-edit:
I like adding garlic in with the onion and carrots. Just a about two chopped cloves.

Pan fried cod with sauce vierge

This dish is very easy to make and absolutely delicious. I wanted to make the best of the tomatoes and basil from the balcony while they last and this recipe really brings out their flavors. You could combine this sauce with other fish or even make it slightly thicker and use it over pasta or bruschette as an appetizer. Don't try it without really good tomatoes though... I omitted the peeling and de-seeding as I had laborously grown these gems from seed...

Ingredients:
ca. 1 dl good olive oil
a large handful of cherry tomatoes, chopped
a small handful of pitted olives, chopped (you could use capers or even some anchovies instead)
Three sprigs of basil, leaves roughly chopped
Juice of half a lemon
Salt and pepper

One piece of cod

 

1. In a small pan warm up your olive oil over medium low heat. The trick with this sauce is that it should under no circumstances be boiling/cooking. When the oil is warm add in the tomatoes and lower the heat if necessary. You want to warm it up as close to boiling as possible without getting there, if that makes any sense. After a few minutes, add the chopped olives.
2. Heat up a frying pan to medium high, season your fish with salt and pepper and fry it in oil of your choice. Depending on the thickness, turn after two to three minutes. It is done when it starts to flake under pressure.
3. Check and adjust the temperature of the sauce vierge if necessary. Add the lemon juice and seasonings to taste. Add the basil about two minutes before serving. This way it will keep it's color and some of the fresh taste. Pour the sauce over the fish and serve.

Pea, Edamame, Spinach and Feta Salad

This is a variation of a standard pea salad that I make quite often. Recipe found here  Just scroll to the bottom.

I have recently found that the local asian supermarket sells shelled edamame ready for cooking. I added a handful of those to the peas and mixed fresh young spinach with the dressed feta before burying them with the drained peas and beans. It wilted very nicely.

This is a fun quick lunch to make and so simple!

Summer drinks

Even though summer has been treating us in central Europe really badly so far, I am always trying my best to drink enough fluids during the day. I have on occasion reffered to myself as a camel because of my general lack of thirst....
All joking aside I struggle with drinking enough water. So these tasty alternatives will really help when the next heat wave will hit. I am still hoping.
Regarding gadgets I have really come to love the little countertop smoothie maker my sister gave me a couple of years ago! But you can use a regular blender instead. (In case of the lemonades you can even use a stick blender.)
These quantities are all guestimates for one ca. 3 dl glass. Multiply and make pitchers if you are more than two!!! Chic straws optional.

Iced coffee
One espresso or alternatively instant coffee
Sugar sirup or sweetener to taste
Ice
Water
Milk
Mix the coffee while still hot with the sugar/sweetener to dissolve. Add lots of ice to a tall glass and pour it over to cool down. Then add milk and water to taste. I usually go for a half and half mixture to keep the drink on the refreshing side.

Mint or strawberry lemonade
Juice of a lime or half a lemon
Sugar sirup or sweetener to taste
One sprig of fresh mint/two to three hulled strayberries
Water (try sparkling)
Ice
Add the sweetener to the citrus juice to dissolve. Add the mint or strawberries then blend as finely as possible. You might have to add a splash of water depending on the gadget. Pour over ice and fill up with cold still or sparking water.

Watermelon smoothie
Watermelon, cut into chunks
Ice
One squeeze of lime juice
Some water, if you would like the consistency more fluid
Fill your glass half with watermelon chunks and then ice. Squeeze over a bit of lime juice and add water if you would like it to be more like lemonade instead of a smoothie. Blend until smooth. Drink with a stray.

 

**Please excuse the lack of watermelon smoothie pic. It seems to have gone missing. Just imagine a very un-tanned strawberry lemonade above. :-) 

Post edit

I forgot the most classic option: Iced Tea! When I grew up the summer months always meant a huge jug of this in the fridge. Since I don't have the fridge space for it I compromise by making this concentrate in a 0.5 l measuring jug.  Just add two or three black tea bags, ca. two heaped tablespoons of sugar or sweetener to taste and top with boiling water. When it has cooled remove the tea bags and add the juice of one lemon. Fill a glass with ice, half iced tea concentrate and half cold water. That's it. So much better than the bought stuff...

Warm aubergine and tomato salad with feta

This might just be my new favorite light summer dinner. I got the idea when a friend had this dish in a museum cafe recently after we had been to an exhibition.
Added bonus: It's dead simple to make.

Ingredients for two:
Two or three sprigs of thyme
One midsized aubergine, roughly diced
One clove of garlic, finely chopped
Four plum tomatoes, roughly chopped
A small glass of white wine of stock
Ca. 50 gr. of feta, sliced
Fresh basil, to taste
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

1. Start by heating your olive oil in a deep frying pan. Add the thyme so you will know when it's hot enough. When the herbs start to sizzle you can add the eggplant with a large pinch of salt*. Fry the eggplant over medium to high heat and turn every couple of minutes until the vegetable is cooked through. This will take around ten minutes.
2. Add the garlic and turn up the heat. As soon as the garlic is fragrant (and before it burns) add your chopped tomatoes, give it a quick stir then add the wine and another pinch of salt*. Let it come to the boil, reduce the heat to medium and let it simmer with a lid for 5-10 minutes.
3. Check so see if you still need to let some liquid evaporate, check the seasoning of a final time. Then arrange it on a platter or in y bowl, top with the feta and basil (torn or roughly chopped at the last minute) and serve with some nice dark bread.

This dish is wonderful the next day. Reheat it in a microwave or eat cold, what ever you prefer.
*Seasoning a dish like this in stages will make it more subtle than just throwing in a lot of salt at the end. Just remember that you can always add more and err on the light side....

Spring chicken noodle soup with lemon, asparagus and parsley

This recipe is based on this one by one of my favorite cook book authors Nigel Slater. It is an ideal template recipe to play around with as it is simple, adjustable and the results will be delicious.

I used about 6 chicken wings for roughly 1 liter of water. One adjustment I would recommend is only using one half of a lemon.

Brown your wings on both sides in a little fat over medium to high heat (the darker they go, the more flavour and colour your soup will have), then the cut side of the lemon half. Add your water, let it come to the boil and let it simmer for about 45 minutes.
Now you can play around with it and adapt it to your taste... I lifted out the wings and put them to one side. Squeeze the juice and discard what is left of the lemon. Try to sieve out the pips as they are really unpleasant if you happen to bite in one. Season the bouillon to taste. It will need a lot of salt.

Regarding the meat you have the whole range of possibilities: return them to the soup whole, debone them and give them a rough chop or painstakingly remove every bit of skin and sinew and finely chop the meat before returning. It's all up to you (and maybe your guests') preference.

Think about what kind of vegetable(s) you would like to add and how long they will have to cook for. I went with asparagus (still had a few spears in the fridge), which I cut into 1 cm chunks at an angle. Add the pasta you like (I go for orzo quite often). Then add the vegetables according to how much time is left on the pasta timer. (This sounds so complicated. But I am sure you know what I mean. :-) )
At the very end sprinkle on a few chopped sprigs of your fresh herb of choice, such as the first shoots of flat leaved parsley, season for the last time and serve.

The perfect dinner for a cold spring evening!

Spaghetti con Barba di Frate

Yes, indeed spaghetti with monk's beard.

Last year I was asked if I would translate a cookbook from German to English. As I wasn't working full time and you all know how I feel about food the answer was pretty obvious to me. It was a wonderful experience and I was already enamored by Donatella Maranta's work, but I have come to an even higher appreciation for her cookbook Rule of Pi.

The cookbook has now been published as an ebook in English and I can't help but feel a little proud to see the (virtual) product of something I helped make.... Go have a look here. 

Two weeks ago I ventured out to the farmer's market for the first time in a very long time and came away as inspired and excited as always. I had found an ingredient that Donatella wrote of with near reverence and I was very enthousiastic to try it out. Barba di frate or monksbeard is a vegetable I would most liken to samphire or "Meeresbohne" as it is sold here.

This dish from Donatella is light, easy to make and was very well received by the friend who came for dinner.

Here is the recipe, with permission, in the words of the inventor herself:

Barba di frata – monks beard – grows on sandy ground near the ocean.

Whenever I see these green bundles I always imagine how the wind moves the plants in gentle waves and makes them glint silver in the sunlight. Salty air and the scent of algae.

One bunch will serve 4 people. Remove the reddish roots and carefully wash the barba di frate.

Fry 1 cm strips of streaky bacon until crisp and put to one side. Pluck the leaves off about three sprigs of flat leaved parsley. It shouldn’t be too much as you only want to add a hint of fragrance.

Cook your spaghetti all dente. Add the barba for the last 3 minutes of cooking time.

Keep back one cup of pasta water!

Drain the spaghetti and the barba and add them into a preheated serving bowl with a few knobs of butter and some good olive oil. Add the cooking water slowly and mix well. Sprinkle over your parsley and the bacon.

This goes well with lots of Parmesan. And if once again I have some ricotta salata I am truly in seventh heaven. 

There you go. It couldn't be easier or tastier. And if you can't find the monksbeard, do give it a try with samphire!

PS: It was so delicious I made myself the exact same thing the next evening! ;-)

 

Warming Winter lentils

Happy New Year to one and all!
I have been quite busy, as impressively demonstrated by the lack of posts.... What is it about the Christmas season that makes it go by in an absolute blurr?
Please let me give you a recomendation as to what your next dinner or appetizer for a round of drinks should be:
Do yourself a big favor and try out the first recipe on this link.

It is absolutely delicious and will make you feel quite virtuous too. It's vegetarian and kind of healthy to boot... I don't think I can add anything to this already glowing review, so please give it a try and let me know what you think.
One adjustment I would consider: My puy lentils weren't quite cooked through after 20 minutes, so give them a try before taking them out of the water...

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.