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...

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.

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!

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.

Simple Carbonara

Well, what do you cook when you get home ravenously hungry?
This is one of my favorite sauces of all times and I have long ago given up ordering it at restaurants... they just don't measure up to the homemade stuff.

I don't normally use any cream in it. I know this to be a break from traditions that will have purists shaking their heads. But try before you judge.
I have added a splash of cream or a bit of cream cheese when I wanted it (aka I was even hungrier than normal).



Ingredients per person:
100-150 gr of semolina wheat pasta (personal favorite is linguine)
ca. 3 rashers of streaky bacon, cut into pieces
1 egg yolk
a handful of freshly grated parmesan
black pepper to taste

1. First of all, put on your water for the pasta and add salt when it comes to the boil. Put in your pasta.
2. Fry your bacon on a medium heat until crispy.
3. When your pasta is almost done, mix the egg yolk, the parmesan and three to four tablespoons of the pasta water together well. The pasta water adds salt and will help the thicken the mixture with the egg yolk.
4. When your pasta is just cooked reserve a cup of the water and drain the rest. Immediately return the pasta to the still warm pan, add the eggy mixture, mix well, cover and let it sit for about ten seconds. If the pasta is too dry, add a splash of the reserved cooking water and mix again.
5. Mix again, add black pepper to taste and put onto a serving platter. Top with the fried bacon.

This is a sauce that doesn't take longer to make than the pasta takes to cook. My favorite kind!

Hollandaise sauce and all its merits

I remember having a lively discussion with my aunt about all the different ways to enjoy Hollandaise Sauce; on steamed asparagus, with roast beef (granted, this would more likely be its cousin the Sauce Bearnaise), over poached eggs for breakfast or cold with hard boiled eggs at Easter Brunch. (It's a family tradition, don't ask.)

She added as an afterthought, that a friend of hers had confessed to have the habit of eating leftovers of it as pasta sauce.... We both tried picturing this and were not at all enamored of the idea. I should have made a picture of the disgusted faces.

Well, I am here to repent and recant. I had made a lemon foam sauce to go with pork chops the night before. It was simply a mixture of vegetable stock, two eggs and the juice and zest of half a lime whisked and heated over a double boiler. When this was quite firm a small amount of cold butter (50 gr.) was cut into pieces and stirred into the mixture.
This is a light version of a Hollandaise Sauce.

At lunch the next day I cooked my favorite pasta (linguine, for the record) and added a good handful of grated parmesan and some more lemon juice to the cup of leftover lime sauce.


I drained the pasta, but not too dry. The residual heat of the pasta ensures the sauce, the cheese and the pasta water come together beautifully. This is a silky, rich indulgence. I will surely make this again one day.