★ what if ..Pixar had made The Avengers ★

via: http://www.cartoonbrew.com

Wine Chocolate Cake

+Hari Bhanu  pointed me and +Carrie Canup  towards a bundt cake recipe, that has been going around numerous food blogs. Which led to the immediate purchase of the gorgeous bundt cake tin shown in there and the desire to make that cake. So, no regular food today. Instead feast your eyes on this little beauty that is most definitely a cake for the crown ups with the hint of cinnamon, note of red wine, dark chocolate flavour and a touch of vanilla. Please note that I changed the amount of sugar from 1 3/4 cups of brown sugar to 1 1/5 cups of caster sugar. Make sure all ingredients are at room temperature. The wine will not evaporate, please remember that this cake contains alcohol if this is 

Ingredients

120 g / 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, I used 70% dark chocolate by Lindt
270 g / 1 1/5 cups caster sugar
140 g / 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
289 g / 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
110 g  / 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 large eggs, slightly beaten at room temperature
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
250 ml 1 cup red wine
80 grams 1/3 cup whole milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Nonstick vegetable cooking spray

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 F / 180 C  degrees and spray a 10-cup bundt pan
with non-stick cooking spray or grease and flour. Set aside.

In a small bowl or a double boiler, melt the chocolate and set aside to cool to room temperature.

In the bowl, mix the sugar and butter together until light and fluffy. Add
the eggs separately or better yet, separate the eggs, start with egg white, mix and then lastly add the yolks, mix again until combined. Add the cooled chocolate and mix until it is a smooth homogeneous mass.

In another large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, cinnamon,
baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Using a sieve, add the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl. Pour in the wine, milk and vanilla extract. Beat on medium speed just until combined, make sure that the batter is not too dry, it should flow but not be liquid. Add more milk if required scraping down the sides as necessary.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Gently tap the filled cake pan on the counter a few times, this will make the air bubbles/pockets rise up and away from the outside of the cake.

Bake for 45-55 minutes in the middle of the oven, until a tester inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Cool for ten minutes in the pan before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely. No more and no less than that. Let it cool down completely, dust the cake with confectioners' sugar.

Bon Appétit

Based on: http://goo.gl/XBaXq
The bundt cake tin is from Nordic Ware "Heritage Bundt".

_Would you like to be notified about food posts? Let me know in the comments. If you would like to see my other recipes, check out the about part of my profile:http://goo.gl/bzgOa_

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Lord of the Rings cake and cupcakes

This  just tickles every geeky nerve in my body. 

Via: http://goo.gl/5jgwb (Between the pages)

Created by Love is Cake

Traditional German Cheesecake

My dear friend +Kyla Myers  asked me to make a classic German Cheesecake for her. Your wish is my command, sometimes :)

This recipe does not use pudding like many current recipes do. It is a pure and simple type of cake. The German version of cheesecake is rather different compared to the American version. The texture is most similar to a ricotta-based cheesecake.  It's not as creamy, but has more of a dense texture. It's somewhat sweet, but a lot less than American versions.  The crust isn't made with Graham crackers, but with butter-shortbread dough. All in all, it is a delightful cake that will have you wanting for more combined with a nice cup of tea or fresh coffee.


Ingredients

Crust:
9 oz / 250g all-purpose flour
4½ oz / 125g butter
pinch of salt
1 oz / 30g sugar
1 egg
2-3 Tbs of cold water 
1/2 tsp baking powder

Filling:

2 egg yolks
10g 0.35oz of melted unsalted butter (cooled down again)
150 g/5.29 oz of sugar
Juice of half a lemon (and zests too if you want to)
200g/ 0.85 cups heavy cream
1 kg/35 oz regular, low-fat quark. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quark_%28cheese%29 )
50g/1.8 oz  of cornstarch
2 egg whites, beaten
1 Tbs of vanilla extract
1 pinch of salt


Mise en Place

Crust:
- In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar and salt, then cut in the cold butter.
  Add egg and water. Then knead with your hands just until the dough is
  smooth.
- Wrap in plastic foil and place in the refrigerator for at least half an hour.
- Grease a 11 inch / 28cm spring form with butter and put it aside.
- Preheat oven to 350°F / 180°C.

- Combine the quark, cream, sugar, egg yolks, lemon juice (zest) and the salt. Mix well. Then add the butter, the vanilla extract and afterwards add the starch. Mix well again.

- Roll out the dough, then press it into the bottom and the up sides of the spring. Make sure to poke a few holes into the bottom using a fork. The corners should be closed and the dough on the sides of the spring form can be very thin.

- Beat the egg whites stiff and carefully fold them into the quark mix

- Pour the mix into the form and spread the cake filling evenly using a spatula or pastry scraper


Preparation

Put the cake into the oven (lower third) and bake for about 50 minutes or until the dough starts to golden lightly, turn off the heat and let it remain in the closed oven for about 15 more minutes golden enough – it resembles a soufflé at this point (It will sink in the middle, it’s supposed to do this).

Remove from the oven and let sit for at least half an hour before you carefully remove the outer ring of the spring form. Let it cool down completely and enjoy this cake from Germany.



Bon Appétit

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+Foodies of G+ +Indulge Into Darkness 

The Hobbit Cupcakes of delectability 

Well, this seems to be the right time to post this. 
These may just be the best The Hobbit cupcakes I have seen yet! 

Made by   Imaginarium Cakes in Wellington, New Zealand 

seen on betweenthepagesblog.typepad.com
Link to post: http://goo.gl/qYMBG

more images at the link! 
#thehobbit  

★ Steak Sandwich Dirk Style ★


The original plan was to make a Steak & Guinness pie today. But temps of 26°C (78°F) prompted me yesterday to go for something different. So, here is my version of a steak sandwich with rocket, dried tomatoes, caramelized onions and home made herb mayonnaise. I wanted to make a mayonnaise with Horseradish, alas the one I bought had gone bad and so I skipped that idea for now. 

Ingredients ✔

Steak & toppings
180g sirloin steak
1 ciabatta
1 small bunch of rocket, washed and dried
1 onion, cut into slices
clarified butter
1 teaspoon of brown sugar
a few pieces of dried tomato

Herb Mayonnaise
Salt
Pepper
1 whole egg
2 teaspoons of mustard
2 garlic cloves crushed
A hand-held blender
1 tablespoon of mild vinegar
fresh herbs
200 ml sunflower oil (no olive oil)
everything needs to be at room temperature! 

Mise en place ✔

- wash and dry off the steak, make it really dry and let it warm up for about 20
  minutes outside of the fridge
- cut the onion into slices
- crush the garlic
- wash and dry the Rocket


Preparation ✔

Herb Mayonnaise

Use a container that is just big enough for the hand held blender. Add the oil, the mustard, the whole egg, the vinegar, the herbs, garlic. Season with salt and fresh pepper. 

Place the handheld blender on the bottom of your container, making sure to cover the egg with it. Start mixing until the bottom part starts to emulsify.Now – very slowly – start moving the immersion blender upwards until all of the oil is incorporated and you have a smoothly textured mayonnaise. Done!  You will never use bought mayonnaise again. Put immediately into fridge. This takes no more than two minutes and can adapt to any taste you want. Leave out the garlic and the herbs, add whatever you like to it. 

Onions
Heat a small skillet to medium to low heat and cook the onion slices at low heat in some clarified butter for about 10 minutes, add some sugar after about 5 minutes and stir continually until the onions are nicely caramelized. Set aside to cool and drip off. 

Steak
Make sure the steak is really dry, heat the clarified butter in a skillet and sear the steak from all sides for about 2  minutes for medium rare, depending on the thickness of your steak and how well done you like it. Only flip it once as soon as good seared markings are visible. Put it in a piece of tin foil and let it rest for about 8 minutes. 

Spread the bread with the delicious mayonnaise, place rocket on the slices and top with rocket, onions and small drops of mayonnaise. Cut the steak against the grain into think slices and place it on top of the onions, lightly salt the meat now and add fresh pepper. Top with a second slice of bread and cut into pieces. 

Bon Appétit

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Game of Thrones and Calvin and Hobbes mashup

Dawwww I mean, in a vicious and deadly yet kind of adorable way :)

Tyrion and Bronn :)

Medallions of Beef Tenderloin with a Nutty Herb Crust on Celeriac Potato Purée and Spicy Carrots

The middle of February has arrived far sooner than I realised, Winter keeps coming and going and the thought of combining some of my favourite dishes and giving them a little twist came to me on Friday. My original plan was to cook pork but then my butcher had this beautiful beef tenderloin and I just could not resist. So, I ended up with a extremely tender and tasty beef medallion, topped with a flavourful crust and combined with the nutty-hot carrots and the savoury richness of browned butter seasoned celeriac-potato mash.

2 servings

Ingredients

Tenderloin
2 beef tenderloin medallions, thick cut each about 200 g / 7 Oz
Kitchen yarn

Crust
30g unsalted butter
2 twigs of fresh Rosemary
2-3 stems of flat leaf parsley
20 g / 0,7 oz walnuts

Wine reduction (optional)
250 ml / 1 cup of dry red wine,
100 ml / 1/2 cup of beef stock
about 20g of ice cold butter

Carrots
300 g / 10 oz of carrots with green tops
1 small  Bird's eye chili
Dried ground cilantro

Puree
200g of floury potatoes
200g knob of celeriac root
1 bay leaf
1 glove of garlic
Milk
Fresh ground nutmeg

General
Pepper
Salt
Brown butter (recipe see http://goo.gl/Vpww2 )
Meat thermometer

Mise en Place

- Peel potatoes and celery, cut into cubes of about 3 cm or 1 inch length,
store in cold water
- Peel carrots and leave about 1 cm of carrot top on the carrot
- Wash the chili, cut open, remove inside and cut finely, set aside
- The brown butter can be made any time in advance, it keeps for about 2
months in the fridge.
- Pre-heat oven to 80 degrees Celsius (176 F)
- Wash the beef with cold water and dry off carefully, tie into shape with
kitchen yarn leave meat outside to make sure it is at room temperature
- Wash and dry off the herbs, chop finely
- Let the butter get soft
- Chop the walnuts finely
- Mix the soft butter, walnuts and herbs thoroughly with the soft butter, season with salt and pepper, set aside

Preparation

Heat a neutral oil to high heat in a pan, sear tenderloin for about 1 minute per side, make sure the sides are seared as well. Remove from pan and transfer to a rack in a shallow roasting pan in the lower third of the oven.
Insert the meat thermometer into the thickest part of one of the medallions so you can easily see the temperature.

Cook for about 30 - 40 minutes at 80 C / 175 F or until the core temperature has reached 50-55 C / 120-130 F which will render the meat very moist and tender with warm juices. Adjust accordingly if you prefer your beef more done.

In the meantime, deglaze the pan with the wine and beef stock, bring to a simmer and let it reduce to about 1/5, season with a bit of sugar (maybe salt) add the ice cold butter and turn heat to lowest setting.

Heat a pan with one tablespoon of brown butter to medium heat, add the carrots and cook for 10-15 minutes depending on thickness and desired softness. After 5 minutes, add the chili and season with a bit of salt and the cilantro. Keep tossing the carrots. Keep warm.

Heat salted (should taste as salty as a broth) water until it cooks add the bay leave and the two halves of the garlic glove, add the potato and celeriac cubes.Cook both for about 15 minutes until the tip of a knife slides easily into both potato and celeriac, strain and leave them in the pot, do not put back on the heat. Heat some lightly salted milk (about 100 to 150 ml / 0,5 to 0,7 cups)
Using a potato masher, roughly mash potatoes and celeriac, add butter (20g) and hot milk to the mix . Beat with a wooden spoon until fluffy. Add two tablespoons of the brown butter and beat again until you have the texture you want, season with fresh ground nutmeg. Cover and keep warm.

Remove the meat from the oven when the desired core temp has been reached, turn on the grill. Spread the herb-nut butter on top of the tenderloin and put it back under the grill. Keep an eye on the crust, let it get golden brown which should take no more than 2-3 minutes. Remove from oven, wrap lightly in aluminium foil and let it rest for 8 minutes. Arrange on a hot plate, serve with a dry red wine and enjoy.


Bon Appétit

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Pork Roast with Crackling and Potato Dumplings

Do I need an excuse to make a delicious pork roast? No, I don't. The taste alone is worth it.

This is one of many classical German dishes in one of its simplest yet most amazing forms. Simple flavours with a focus on the meat and the beer sauce. This is comfort food that is just perfect for the first day with snow in my part of Germany. I have chosen to use Pork belly because it has a more fat than pork shoulder and will also taste better. I will just link to a recipe for the dumplings because I use a basic recipe that works really well.

6-8 servings

Ingredients

1.5 kg /  3.3 pounds of Pork belly (deboned)
1 large onion
200g / 2 cups celeriac, chopped
2 tart, medium sized apples cut in pieces
1 kg / 2 pounds / 4 cups chopped leeks
1 litre of beer of your choice, I like to use a dark beer
4 whole gloves of garlic, peeled
2 teaspoons of sweet marjoram
1 teaspoon of fresh black pepper
sea salt, about 2 tablespoons
1-2 teaspoons of caraway seeds



Mise en Place

Meat: If your butcher has not already scored the skin for you. You will need a sharp long knife to make sure that skin is scored evenly and your cuts to not enter the underlying meat. Now season the meat from all sides with the sea salt, don't be stingy with it and make sure to rub it into the cracks of the skin. Put aside.

Tip Put the meat into the freezer for about 15 minutes , that will make scoring the skin a lot easier and ensure a nice look. Make sure to use long, shallow and even cuts, score the skin crosswise to get 1 cm / 0.3 inch little cubes of skin.

 - Clean and peel all the vegetables, chop celeriac, leeks, apples and the
   onion and put it with the whole gloves of garlic into a large roasting  
   dish. Set aside.

 - Pre-heat the oven to 150 C / 300 F  upper and lower heat, no fan.

Dunplings: I skipped the filling for this dish.
 http://www.whats4eats.com/pastas/kartoffelknoedel-recipe

Preparation

Place the pork belly one the vegetable bed and put it into the middle of the oven. calculate the total cooking time allowing 2 hours to the kilogram / two pounds. In this case it would be 3 hours because of the fairly low temperature. It will later take another 10 to 30 minutes to create the crackling.

Time the preparation of your dumplings accordingly.

After three hours. Remove the dish from the oven and season the meat with the freshly ground caraway, pepper and marjoram . Make sure that no spices are rubbed onto the skin.

Pour the beer into the dish and place the meat back on top. Increase the temp of the oven to maximum heat, top heat only and place the dish on the lowest possible part. Cook for another 10 to 30 minutes but keep an eye on the pork belly. The skin will now crackle and pop nicely. Make sure to not burn the skin, this can happen rather fast at this stage.

Once the skin is crisp and golden, remove from the oven and let the meat rest for about 30 minutes. Use this time to cook the dumpling and drain the sauce into a separate pot.

Skim the fat off the sauce and season with salt, pepper and bit of sugar as you see fit. Add one teaspoon of mustard and use a few small,  cold pieces of butter to mount the sauce and give it that glossy shine and enhance the flavour.This means that you add the pieces to the hot sauce and stir them in, this cools down the sauce and will thicken it. 

Use a cutting board and place the meat with the crackling down, cut the meat until you reach the crackling and then use the full length of the large knife blade to cut through the crackling. This will prevent the crackling from breaking off. Arrange with dumplings, the vegetables and sauce on a plate and serve with a green salad of your choice. Like always, a nice beer is a great companion for this dish.


Bon Appétit

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Mac & Cheese Deluxe

The air smelled like Winter this morning as I went for a walk and this made me crave comfort food. Today's recipe is based upon a classic American dish, Mac & Cheese but with a few twists that will show you a whole new world of flavour when it comes to this dish. The original idea is by Jamie Oliver. This is my take on it, modified to my personal preferences and using different flavours.

Ingredients

45 g / 1/5 cups of butter
1 1/2  Tablespoons of all purpose flour
5   gloves of garlic
3 bay leaves
500 ml / 2 cups  low fat milk
300 g /  10.5 oz Pasta of your choice
5-6 sun dried tomatoes
90 g / 3.17 oz Cheddar
70 g / 2.46 oz Parmesan
2 pinches of nutmeg
3 sprigs of thyme
salt
pepper

Mise en Place

- Peel and cut the garlic into thin slices
- Chop the tomatoes into small pieces
- Grate the cheese
- Remove the tips from the sprigs of thyme
- Pre-heat the oven to 200 C or  392 F

Preparation

Cook the pasta al dente. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a small pot, add the flour and keep stirring until you have a paste (Roux) add the garlic and keep stirring gently until the garlic turns lightly golden. Add the bay leaves and the milk and keep stirring to create a nice sauce. Let simmer for a few minutes after a short boil. Season with nutmeg, salt and pepper.

Strain the finished pasta and immediately add the sauce, the cheese, the tomatoes and half of the thyme tips. Mix it all and pour it into a casserole or an oven-proof pan. Cook for about 30 minutes until it is lightly golden, the sauce is bubbling and delicious.

Serve with a Chardonnay. Add some fresh thyme tips right before serving.

Bon Appétit

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Battle of the sexes, who makes the best sound effects

This has me laughing with an aching tummy as a result. Love the light sabers! 

h/t to +Martin Erben 

Chili Dirk Style

This is one of my favourite dishes, the complex layers of flavours make it my perfect chili for cold days, giving you a slightly bitter and smoky note with the richness of the chocolate and the heat of chilies and cinnamon, combined with an intense meat flavour.This will also get better with each day. I like to make a bit more for the next days and usually freeze the leftovers for a quick meal after work.

(8-10 Servings)


Ingredients

Chili
1 kg or 2,25 pounds of boneless chuck roast, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
500 g or  1 pound of ground beef
200 g or 1/2 pound of Chorizo cut in slices
500 g or 18 oz dark red kidney beans

2 bottles of dark beer
1 chilli chipotle pod, toasted and soaked in water
1 jalapeño, finely chopped
120 g or 4 oz  dark chocolate ( 80%)
4 large onions, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced (about 1 tablespoon)
1 tablespoon dried oregano leaves
1 (500 g or 28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1-2 tablespoons of white wine vinegar,
3 bay leaves
2-3 teaspoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons tomato paste

Spices
1 1/2 tablespoons whole cumin seeds, toasted, then ground
1 1/2 teaspoons whole coriander seeds, toasted, then ground
2 whole cloves, toasted and ground
1 star anise, toasted and ground
1 tablespoon extra-finely ground coffee beans
1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper, toasted and ground
1 tablespoon of ground cumin to season as required
2 teaspoons of cinnamon

Garnish
Sour cream
Scallions


Mise en Place

- Peel and mince the onions
- Peel and finely mince the garlic
- Using gloves, clean the jalapeño and remove the seeds, chop finely
- Brown the meat vegetable pol in a large  Doufeu or a Dutch Oven (do
  not brown too much meat  at once or it will merely cook) set aside.
- Gently toast the spices in a non-stick pan until they pop, then grind them
  as fine as you can using mortar and pestle
- Toast the dried chipotle pod carefully and let is soak in hot water
  afterwards for about 10 minutes

Preparation

Use neutral vegetable oil and heat the Doufeu to medium high heat. Add the onions, the fresh chili and garlic, cook them for about 6 minutes without browning them, until the onions are soft. Add the oregano and deglaze with beer. Make sure to scrape browned bits off of the bottom as you deglaze. Add the all ingredients including the ground spices except for the beans, those will be added before serving because they are already cooked. Bring to a simmer, Reduce the heat and cook, with cover slightly ajar, for 2 hours. until the beef is tender and broth is rich and slightly thickened,.15 minutes before serving, add the beans and heat them. Season with salt to your liking.

Serve with sour cream or garnish of your choice and a nice dark beer.

Bon Appétit

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✰ Heroes ✰

I am not sure what technique is used by Alexandre Salles from Brazil, but I could spend hours going through his gallery on DA. His style is so lifelike at times and yet to decidedly different. Oh what am I rambling about, just enjoy :-)

http://axlsalles.deviantart.com/

Orange Chicken Stir Fry with Chorizo and Oregano

It seems to be a lazy Saturday today, I am still stuck on the chorizo from the pasta a while ago. So, creating a stir-fry that combines the aroma of oregano, with the nuances of garlic and onions, the savoury taste of the chorizo and the lovely texture of the chicken, seasoned with orange zest and juice to add a fruity yet not sweet, fresh note, seemed like to thing to do.

(2 servings)

Ingredients

100g chorizo
1 medium sized red onion
300g chicken breast
500g potatoes
olive oil
1-2 gloves of garlic
4 stems of oregano
the zest of one large organic orange (two if small like mine, you need a fine grater for that)
the juice of the same orange

Mise en Place

- Remove the skin from the chorizo, cut in slices
- Cut chicken breast in pieces as you see fit
- Take a plastic bag, add the chicken and add some starch or flour, close the
  bag and shake it, remove the chicken and set aside, removing all excess flour or starch before doing that. You want the chicken to be dusted.
- Dice the garlic finely
- Peel the onion and cut it into slices
- Peel the potatoes and cut into cubes of about 3cm (1.2 inches), dry the
  cubes.
- Wash and carefully dry oregano, do not yet cut to preserve the aroma. If
  you have young  stems, use them, if they are older and thicker, just remove
  the leaves
- Pre-heat oven to 80 degrees Celsius (176 F) 
- Wash the orange thoroughly with hot water

Preparation

Heat one or two tablespoons of oil in a non-stick pan to high temps, add the chicken (not all in one go as that will reduce the heat quite a bit, you want to cook the chicken breast golden brown, not braise it). Cook with high heat until golden from both sides, remove from pan and set it on a plate in the oven. Add the chorizo and cook for about one minute per side, remove from the pan and add the sausages to the chicken on the plate. 

Add about 2 tablespoons of oil into the pan, let it heat to high temp and reduce the heat to medium high, add the potato cubes, toss them thoroughly to coat them with the spicy oil and cook them for about 20 minutes while tossing them from time to time. Season with salt and fresh pepper. When the potatoes are done (just try the largest cube). add the onions, the garlic, the chicken and the chorizo. Cook for about five more minutes. Add the oregano after 2 minutes and stir.

Add the orange zest and the juice, mix it all and season with salt and pepper. Serve with a nice dry red wine. 

Bon Appétit

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+Foodies of G+ +G+ Cook Book 
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Slow Cooked Rosemary-Garlic Shoulder of Lamb alongside Ratatouille topped with soft Goat Cheese

The theme of this week's dish is France, using very few basic flavours, blended into a complex result based on an easy way of preparing them. I wanted to use my slow cooker again and I haven't made a lamb shoulder yet. Procuring the lamb was no problem because of the large number of ethnic groups that will not eat pork and prefer lamb living in my town. The biggest challenge for this dish is, that it takes time, which on one hand will allow you to plan ahead and make little fuzz, but also requires you to be fairly structured in your timing and work. The Ratatouille is indeed inspired by the Pixar movie in case your first thought was of a cute little furry chef :)

You will end up with tender, moist and succulent meat, with a rich sauce, wonderfully soft vegetables in an intense Ratatouille, that tells stories of a summer day in the Provence.

(3-4 servings)

Ingredients

Lamb

4 to 4.5 pounds  / 2 kg Shoulder of lamb with the bone intact but the leg removed.
Rosemary – several fresh sprigs
3-5 large cloves Garlic  (peeled & halved)
1 Tbs extra native Olive oil
1 large onion peeled and quartered
3-4 large Carrots
250 ml / 1 cup Beef or Vegetable stock
250 ml / 1 cup red wine (for example a Pinot Noir)
Cornflour – 2 tablespoons

Ratatouille

1 red onion, finely chopped
2 -3  garlic cloves, very thinly sliced
1 cup tomato pieces and juice (You can also peel 4 tomatoes, remove seeds and chop them finely, keeping the juice) But at this time of year, canned ones are the best way to get ripe tomatoes)
2 Tbs extra native olive oil, divided
1 small eggplant
1 small zucchini
2 red bell peppers
1 longish red bell pepper
4-5 sprigs of fresh thyme,  remove the leaves on two and keep them separate
Goat cream cheese to decorate.
Salt and pepper
Pinch of Saffron

Mise en Place

Shoulder of Lamb

Trim the meat, remove excess fat from the outer skin. Wash and dry off.

Peel and cut the garlic, wash the rosemary and dry it carefully, keep the sprigs intact but cut them into pieces about 3 cm / 1 1/2 inch long. Cut pockets into the meat and stuff them with slices of garlic, season with salt and pepper.

Clean and roughly cut the vegetables. Heat the stock and wine. Turn on the slow cooker (High), and heat the liquid.

Heat olive oil in a large frying pan to medium heat, add the lamb and brown well on all sides. then insert the twigs of rosemary into the pockets as well. Brown the veggies in the oil, then add them into the liquid in the slow cooker.Set the slow cooker to "low".

Place the lamb on top of the vegetables and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.

Preparation

Make sure that you start on the vegetables about 1.5 hours before the meat is done.

Ratatouille

Pre-heat the oven to 220 C / 420 F.

Clean the vegetables, cut of the ends of the eggplant, the zucchini and peel and mince the garlic. Finely chop the onions. Cut the peppers in half, remove  seeds and pith, roast them cut-side down on an oiled baking tray until the skin has blistered (about 20 minutes) , then remove and leave to cool, turning the oven down to 120 C / 245 F. Simply put the peppers into a freezer bag, close it and wait for few minutes. you can then just move the peppers around and the skin will come right off. Rinse the peppers and set them aside after you have cut them into small squares.

Heat one Tbs of olive oil in a frying pan to low heat, add the onions, let them cook for about 8 minutes on low heat, do not brown them. They will slowly caramelize and become sweet and tender. Add the garlic after about 4 minutes.

In the meantime, use a mandoline or an adjustable-blade slicer to cut the eggplant, the zucchini and the longish red pepper into thin slices.

Then after 8 minutes, add the tomatoes, the sprigs of thyme and let it simmer until most of the liquid is gone. Now add the roasted pepper along with the saffron. Season with salt and pepper. Let is simmer for a short while. Remove the sprigs of thyme and cover the bottom of a baking dish with the sauce. Now layer the vegetables from the outer edge towards the inside, making sure to slightly overlap the slices. Now add the remaining leaves of thyme to 1-2 Tbs of olive oil, and drizzle it over the vegetables. Cover the dish tightly with aluminium foil. and put it in the oven for about 40-50 minutes until a knife slides easily into the veggies while making sure they are only soft and not mushy. Keep warm.

Lamb

Remove the meat from the slow cooker carefully, set it aside covered to let it rest, you can put into the still warm oven, make it remains covered and the temperature is just high enough to keep the meat warm. . Pour the liquids from the slow cooker into a pot through a strainer, then use a potato masher to press out all the good taste into the liquid. Now you should remove the excess fat from the liquids, I use a gravy separator for that.  Once you have done that, heat the liquid to a simmer and let it reduce by about 2/3, then season to taste with salt and pepper.Add a few small pieces of ice cold butter and 1 to 2 tablespoons of corn starch dissolved in cold water to thicken it to your liking. Keep warm.

Now that the meat has rested, cut it into cuts to your liking, it is very moist and tender and can be easily eaten with a fork as it will fall right off the bone. Arrange on a plate with some gravy. Now you can make the ratatouille even more delectable by adding a few teaspoons of goat cream cheese on top of the veggies.Drizzle lightly with a bit more extra native olive oil. 

Serve with a strong red wine, like the Pinot Noir used for the lamb. This wine is known for being earthy supple and silky.  It has a gorgeous dried cherry aromas and goes well with both dishes. 


Bon Appétit

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Entrecôte with Avocado and caramelized Tomatoes

As I thought about what to cook last night, I remembered Andrea Evans telling me the great tasting Avocado she had eaten on a sandwich.
The idea was to combine my desire for meat with the delicious flavour of caramelized cherry tomatoes and avocado.

This is essentially a dish you can make in 20 minutes, if you have the tomatoes ready. These can be prepared the day before and stored in oil.

2 servings

Ingredients:

300g Entrecôte
1 ripe avocado
lime juice
1 medium sized onion
olive oil extra virgin
flat leaf parsley

300g cherry tomatoes
olive oil extra virgin
salt
pepper
thyme

Mise en Place

Tomatoes (can be prepared well in advance, cooking time about 2-3 hours)
 
- Cut the tomatoes in half end-to-end, and place cut side up on a pan
  covered in baking paper.  Season with fresh or dried thyme leaves.
 Season with sea salt and   fresh ground black pepper and drizzle extra-
 virgin olive oil all over the  tomatoes. Place in the oven at 100 degrees Celsius (200°F)  for 2-3 hours; the tomatoes will collapse. during the last half hour, season lightly with sugar and turn up the heat. Make sure they do not burn. Remove the tomatoes from the pan and keep the tomato flavoured oil. Make sure to check after about 2 hours, the tomatoes are not supposed to dry out completely.

Entrecôte

- Cut the meat against the grain into stripes. Dry the meat, heat a non
  stick frying pan with a neutral oil and fry the meat stips until lightly
  brown. Do not cook all of them at once or the meat will start to cook,
  place on a table, cover and put aside. Keep the pan ready.
- Dice the onion
- Halve the avocado, remove the flesh, cut into cubes and drizzle with
  lime juice.
- Pull the leaves of the parsley and mince

Preparation

Heat the pan again, gently fry the onions and the tomatoes for a few minutes. Add the meat and the avocado and let it re-heat with the remainder of the heat. Season to your taste with salt and pepper, add the parsley. Serve hot and enjoy.


Bon Appétit

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+Foodies of G+ +Indulge Into Darkness  

Gingerbread Cookies

So, this happened today. Like I mentioned in the previous post, I had to come up with the recipe on my own because I wanted to re-create one that I had last made when I was 12. I am not perfectly happy with it and there is no written record of it in my family. That means I will do more experimenting next year and maybe, maybe not quite that late >_> They do taste delicious, not quite like most Gingerbread. I did cut back on things like sugar which I remember it used a lot of. So, there is the wonderful flavour of all the often used Gingerbread spices:

The frosting is confectioner's sugar mixed with rum. I made it intentionally not as thick as I could. I like the effect on the cookies and I also prefer a thin layer of frosting.

The Portal Cookies aren't bad but are nothing to look at with the coloured frosting I used. So, I will do those again too. Sorry for not delivering on them.

I wish all of you happy holidays and a great time with your loved ones, whether you celebrate or not; have a good time and spend it well with those you love and care for.

Ingredients

750g / 3 and 1/3 cups all purpose flour
100 ml / 1/2 cup of milk
4 medium sized eggs
300 g / 1 1/2 cups of sugar
4 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon of baking soda
2 teaspoons of baking powder
4 heaped teaspoons of Gingerbread spice
125 g / 1 stick of butter
1 pinch of salt
3/4 cup powdered sugar = 120 grams of powdered sugar 
Rum 

Mise en Place

Gingerbread spice: Either use the store bought version or mix it yourself: 

About  3 1/2 Tablespoons of Gingerbread spice

2  T. ground cinnamon
2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 tsp. ground cardamom
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground anise seed
1/2 tsp. ground star anise


Mix all the dry ingredients thoroughly in a large bowl, make sure to sieve the dry ingredients. Add the eggs and the butter, all at room temperature,
add the milk and mix well using the dough hooks on your electric whisk.

Remove the dough from the bowl and knead it on a lightly floured surface. If the dough is too sticky, add some flour and knead again. Wrap the dough up in Saran wrap and put it in the fridge for at least one hour. 

Preparation

Preheat oven to 150 C / 300F. You will need several cookie sheets lined with baking paper. Roll dough out on a well-floured surface until ¼ Inch  / 0.5 cm thick. Use cookie cutters of your choice and gently lift the cookies onto the prepared cookie sheet. 

Bake ca. 12- 14 min or until slightly firm. 

In the meantime, prepare the icing. Mix the powdered sugar with about one tablespoon of rum. Mix well. The icing can be a bit runny. 

When the gingerbread cookies are done, remove them from the oven, let them cool down until they are still warm, gently lift them on a separate piece of baking paper and using a pastry brush, apply the frosting on the still warm cookies. Let them dry and cool and keep them in an airtight container with half an apple. 


Bon Appétit

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Ménage à trois of Fruity Delights - three kinds of Sorbet

Warm and beautiful weather this week prompted me to dust off my ice cream maker and during a conversation with +Carrie Canup, Raspberry and Champagne sorbet came up, so why not? But why stop there? I enjoy all kinds of berries, so I selected complementary yet distinct flavours to create a delightful mix of tangy, fresh, sweet and creamy sorbets. You can easily adjust amounts to make as little or as much as you want. I only created equal amounts for two kinds of sorbet, the blueberry one was only a small portion because I could not find enough high quality blueberries (or frozen ones) when I was shopping, but I will include the full recipe I came up with. I also used Crémant instead of Champagne, frankly there is little difference in my book other than it being a name that can only be used when it is created in the Champagne. A good Crémant is easily the equal of most Champagnes. Sorbets are among the easiest desserts you can create but they also very versatile and can be changed as you see fit and like.

Without further ado, enjoy the dish of the week.

Note: if you use frozen fruit, you need to soak it in the hot syrup or let them thaw. I will include examples for all variants.Making three different sorbets also takes quite a bit of time if you include the cooling down of the ingredients and and churning in the ice cream maker followed by the final freezing of the sorbet. Mind you, you can eat the sorbet right away but it is better if is completely frozen. I also don't use beaten egg whites, which is also an option to create smoother sorbets.

Ingredients

Raspberry Crémant Sorbet

300 ml / 1 1/4 cups Champagne or sparkling wine (I used Crémant)
60 ml / 1/4 cup water
100 g / 1/2 cup caster sugar
300g / 2 cups raspberries, frozen (a small handful of fresh ones for nibbling and garnish)

Blackberry Crémant Sorbet

300 ml / 1 1/4 cups Champagne or sparkling wine (I used Crémant)
60 ml / 1/4 cup water
100 g / 1/2 cup caster sugar
300g / 2 cups blackberries, fresh (set a few aside for garnish)

Blueberry Yoghurt Sorbet

300 g / 2 cups of blueberries, fresh (set a few aside for garnish)
1/4 teapoon of organic lemon zest, fine grated
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
25 g / 3 tablespoons of icing sugar
70 g / ¼ cup of greek yogurt
2 tablespoons of white wine (optional)

You will also need to following:

Immersion blender or regular blender
A fine mesh sieve
A soft spatula
Ice cream maker


Mise en Place and Preparation

Raspberry Crémant Sorbet

Add Crémant, water, and sugar in a medium pot. bring to a boil and turn the heat off and put it aside.Add the frozen raspberries and let it rest, covered, for about 10 minutes (until the raspberries are thawed).

Pour the mix into a matching container to use with the immersion blender or into a blender. Blend until smooth. Then pour the mix through a fine mesh sieve, using a soft spatula to separate the seeds from the liquid. Let the liquid cool in the fridge until thoroughly chilled (4 hours up to 24 hours if you want to). Process in your ice cream maker as described in the manual of your particular device. Make sure to freeze the sorbet in the freezer afterwards to ensure that it is frozen through.

Blackberry Crémant Sorbet

Add water and sugar in a medium pot. bring to a boil and turn the heat off and put the syrup aside to let it cool down.

Blend the blackberries using the immersion blender or a blender.Add the white wine. Blend until smooth. Then pour the mix through a fine mesh sieve, using a soft spatula to separate the seeds from the puree.

Mix the puree and the syrup, pour in the the Crémant and let cool in the fridge until thoroughly chilled (4 hours up to 24 hours if you want to). Process in your ice cream maker as described in the manual of your particular device.

Blueberry Yoghurt Sorbet

Add blueberries, lemon juice, zest and icing sugar and blend until smooth. You can strain it through a sieve afterwards if you want to but I found it to be smooth enough to process as it is. Add the greek yoghurt and the white wine and blend again. Let it cool in the fridge until thoroughly chilled (4 hours up to 24 hours if you want to). Process in your ice cream maker as described in the manual of your particular device.

Once the sorbets are frozen through, you will have to remove them about 10 to 20 minutes before serving them from the freezer in order to allow them to thaw enough to be scoop them.

Garnish with the fresh fruit and some lemon zest, or a bit of mint. Enjoy these fresh delights any time of the day because, really, we do not need a reason to indulge in this :)

Bon Appétit

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Thai Green Chicken Curry With Broccoli and Carrots

Winter still has us in a light grip, the occasional snowfall, temperatures around freezing, but nothing that can be compared to what many others experience all over the world. Nonetheless, I do enjoy a meal with some heat in these times. Luckily, I have an Asian supermarket around the corner and so I can usually get my hands on fresh ingredients for these dishes. That includes their home made curry paste. Because sometimes, you don't have to make everything from scratch, when there are people around just do it better.

This weeks dish is a mix of fresh vegetables, tender chicken, crunchy peanuts and the smooth heat of ginger and chili, rounded with the tartness of lime juice and lime leaves; combined into a scrumptious dinner that will warm you and give you a boost for the rest of the day.

(2-3 servings)

Ingredients

Rice
150g of Jasmine rice
300 ml / 1 1/4 cup lightly salted water

Curry
5-6 medium sized carrots (about 300-350 g)
250 g / 2 cups of frozen or fresh broccoli florets
350 g / 3/4 pound chicken breasts, boneless, skinless, cut into chunks about 1 1/2 inches
1 bunch of cilantro including the root if possible
1 red  Chili Pepper ("Bird's Eye" Chilies)
1 can unsweetened coconut milk (14 oz./398-400 ml)
3 Tbs sesame oil
1 thumb-size piece ginger
3 Tbs of unsalted peanuts
3 Tbs of Thai Green Curry paste (If you want to make it fresh, a recipe can found in this older recipe of mine http://goo.gl/nBy7F )
1 egg white
Corn starch.
Soy sauce
4 Kaffir lime leave
Lime juice
200 ml / 1/2 cup of water

Mise en Place

- Fresh broccoli needs to be washed under cool running water. Never allow it to sit in water as it will lose water soluble nutrients. Both frozen and fresh broccoli are prepared in the same way, cut the florets into uniform pieces for even cooking. simmer in about one inch of boiling water for 3 minutes, rise water and set aside.
- Clean the carrots, peel them. Cut into cubes.
- Finley mince the washed red chlli with the seeds
removed and the ginger.
- Open the can of coconut milk after shaking it thoroughly
- Wash the cilantro, dry it off carefully and remove the leaves, set aside, cut off the root and scrub it gently, set aside
- Mix about 1 teaspoon of starch with the egg white, put the chicken into a plastic bag and pout the mix over it, mix thoroughly, set it aside.
- Bring the sesame oil to medium-high heat in a high stir-fry pan.

Preparation

Prepare the rice, while the rice is is simmering, prepare the curry.

Bring 300 ml / 1 1/4 of lightly salted water to a boil, add the rice, stir, reduce the heat to low, then allow the rice to simmer for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the water has been absorbed and the rice is tender. Remove the pot from the burner and fluff the jasmine rice with a fork. Replace the cover and allow the rice to set for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

The oil should now have a medium high temperature. Add ginger, the cilantro root and the chili and stir for about 2 minutes. Then add the peanuts and the carrots stir, add the curry paste, again stir and let it cook for short while.
Add the chicken. Now add the coconut milk, the lime leaves and about 200ml / 1/2 cup of hot water, stir in the open pan. Let it simmer for about 10 -15 minutes.

Season to your liking with soy sauce and pepper. Add the broccoli and let it get warm again. Add the fresh cilantro leaves, keep a few for decoration.

Serve with a beverage of your choice and some fresh cilantro leaves on top of the curry and enjoy. 

Bon Appétit

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Raspberry Braid

I haven't posted something sweet for a while, why not something that is traditional in Germany, but with a little twist. Yeast braids are often eaten around Easter in a lot of different variants. This one is my take on the traditional yeast braid combined with the sweet tang of raspberries the slight crunch of pistachios. This one is not overly sweet and goes beautifully with coffee or tea. Obviously  I also need to practise braiding dough, because that did not exactly turn out the way I wanted. If you lack that skill as I do when it comes to braiding, no worries, it will still taste great. Have a great weekend :) 

Ingredients

Dough
100 g / 4 oz of butter
3.85 cups / 500 g of cake flour (type 550)
2 packages of instant dry yeast
75g /  1/3 cup sugar  tablespoons of caster sugar
1/4 teaspoon of salt
2 medium size whole eggs
225 ml /8 fl oz / 1 cup whole fat milk
400 g / 14 oz raspberries (frozen or fresh)
60 g / 1/2 cup shelled, unsalted pistachios, coarsely chopped
2 Tablespoons of apricot jam

Mise en Place

Weigh and measure all ingredients, make sure they are at room temperature and the room is draft free.

Preparation

Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl by sifting the flour and the dry yeast into to the bowl. Add the other dry ingredients, the eggs, butter and using a electric whisk with dough hooks, combine into a smooth dough while adding the milk. If the dough is too sticky, slowly add more flour and knead it in using your hands on a floured surface until it no longer sticks to your fingers.

The dough then needs to be lightly dusted with flour and should rest covered in the bowl in a warm place without draft for about one hour. It should double in size during that time.

Take the wad of dough, knead again thoroughly and using a rolling pin, form into a rectangle on a surface lightly dusted with flour until it is about 50 cm / 20 inches in length and  25 cm / 10 inches width.


Set a few raspberries and about 1 tablespoon of the pistachio aside for garnish. 

Forming the braid

Cut into three pieces, lengthwise. Put the raspberries and pistachio at the inner side of each rectangle and fold them in, creating ropes of dough. Make to pinch the ends together.

Line ropes side-by-side on floured surface or directly on a piece of baking paper.

With the three ropes lined up, begin the braid at the center of the ropes. Braid loosely from center to end. Grab the center of the right strand and cross it over the middle strand, drop it in the center. The right strand is now your middle strand.

Grab your left strand and cross it over the middle strand. The left strand becomes your middle strand. Repeat the first steps (right strand to middle, left strand to middle) until you have braided to the very end. Pinch the three strands together at the end. Turn it around. Repeat the final steps (left strand to middle, right strand to middle) until your are done. Pinch the ends of the loose strands together. Form into a circle.

Baking

Now transfer the round braid to your sheet of baking paper on a baking tray and cover with a kitchen towel, Let it rise for another 30 minutes.  Preheat your oven to 180 C / 356 F (no convection).

Place the braid in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes, make sure not to burn it, lower temp if needed. Once the cake as a nice golden crust. It should be done. Remove from the oven. Heat the  apricot jam until liquid and use a basting brush to apply jam to the surfaces, sprinkle the remaining pistachios onto to still sticky and warm jam and let it cool down on a cooling rack for about 20 minutes. You can enjoy this warm or cold, garnish with raspberries.

Bon Appétit

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It just might turn out to be one of those days

The unedited original can be found here: 
http://www.shoeboxblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/siren-song.jpg

Apple Pancakes

For a good start into the last day of 2012 and because I want to torture make +Carrie Canup happy :) 

Apple Pancakes with sugar and cinnamon on top and a dash of whipped Calvados cream on top. 

Have a happy new year 2013 everyone! 

+Andrew Clifton-Brown +Lou Horton 


2 persons

Ingredients

3 eggs (medium sized)
6 tablespoons of all purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar (not heaped)
1 teaspoon of baking poweder
1 pinch of salt
1 apple (I prefer tart apples)
1/2 tablespoon of sugar (caramelise apples)
0.416 cups of whole milk
1 tablespoon of butter
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Mise en Place

Mix the eggs, salt and the sugar, whisk well.
Sieve the flour and the baking powder into the mix, add milk and keep whisking. Let it rest covered for about 30 minutes.

When the 30 minutes are up, whisk the batter again.
Peel the apple, remove the core and cut it into slices

Preparation

Add the butter to a non-stick frying pan with high sides. Heat to medium high heat, add the butter. 

Add slices to pan, Cook for about 2 minutes, add the sugar and let it caramelise. Make sure the apple slices are well covered in caramel. Reduce heat to low.

Now pour the batter in the pan, cover the pan and cook for about 4 minutes. Slide the half-done pancake onto a plate, hold the pan over the plate and let it slide in on the reverse side. Cover again and cook for another 4 minutes.

Mix the  teaspoon of sugar with the 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and sprinkle it over the pancake, serve while hot. 

Enjoy :) 

Man of Blue Steel

Hansel has nothing on him

<_<

via. reddit 

Intense Chocolate Cake with Rum Ganache

This recipe goes out to all the chocolate lovers here. This is pure chocolate taste, with a hint of orange and rum, topped off with a bit of sea salt. Don't shake your head yet, try it. It is an amazing taste; but of course, purely optional. 

I will be attending a birthday tomorrow, only shortly, but I offered to make a cake under the provision that I could cut into it today and take pictures.

This is one of the most intense, chocolaty cakes you'll ever eat. Let's just ignore just how much one piece of cake offers in energy. It is just too good to be thinking about this.

This should serve up to 16 pieces of cake.

Ingredients

Cake
300g / 1 cup and 2 oz of  high quality dark chocolate, chopped
300g / 1.3 cups of unsalted butter
5 eggs
5 Tablespoons of sugar
1 pinch of salt
150 g / 1 cup of  all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
2 tablespoons of orange jelly

Chocolate Ganache
200ml of heavy cream
200 g of dark, high quality chocolate, chopped
1 dash of rum or more
30-40 g of butter. 

You will also need some unsweetened cocoa powder and baking paper for the spring form.

Mise en Place

- Pre-heat the oven to about 160 C / 320 F (no convection)

- Brush a deep, round spring form with melted butter to grease. Line the
  pan with non-stick baking paper and cover the bottom lightly with cocoa  
  powder.

- Gently heat a medium sized saucepan using low heat. Add the butter,
  the 300 g dark chocolate and whisk until everything is smooth and well
  mix. Set aside to cool.

- Use a large mixing bowl and electric beaters to mix the sugar and
  the eggs until they are creamy. Add the chocolate mix until well
  combined. Now slowly sift the flour and the baking powder into the mix
  until they are well combined.

- Pour the cream into a saucepan, gently heat it to low heat, add the 200g  
  chocolate and a dash of rum. Slowly whisk until all is melted and well
  combined. Add the butter and whisk until the butter is dissolved.
  Remove from the heat and let it cool to room temperature. Whisk  
  occasionally. 

Tip: If you are unsure about the temperature of your stove, use a double boiler or simply use a smaller pot that is set within a larger pot with cooking water. You should not let the temperature go over 88 C / 190 F.

Preparation

Pour the mix into the spring form and bake it in the oven for about 35-45.

Tip: Use a wooden skewer to see if the cake is done. Push it into the cake and pull it out again. If there is no dough on the skewer, then the cake is done.

Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool on a wire rack for about 20 minutes before you remove the spring form or turn it onto the wire rack. Let the cake cool down completely.

Gently heat 2 tablespoons of orange jelly and spread the jelly thinly over the cool cake.

The Ganache should be warm and flexible enough to still be poured onto the cake. If not, slowly re-heat it using the improvised double boiler. It should not be liquid.

Spread the Ganache over the cake using a palette knife or a smooth dough scraper.

Let it all cool for about one hour. Cut the cake with a knife that has been heated using hot water and dried off , to keep the Ganache from cracking.

Enjoy this with a glass of red wine or a hot beverage of your choice.

Bon Appétit

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+Foodies of G+ +Indulge Into Darkness 

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Jalapeño Cheese Bread with Bacon and Maple-Chipotle-Butter

Who doesn't love cheese and Jalapeños ? This is pure comfort food, simple, easy and the combination of hot Jalapeños combined with smoky bacon and wonderfully gooey cheese topped with a small dash of sweet-smoky cold butter, will blow your mind and tickle your tastebuds.

This is a different take on the bread I made last year, foregoing the mediterranean flavours. Again, this can be easily adapted to your preferences, even as a vegetarian dish by leaving out the bacon. I had a similar butter in a restaurant I was a while ago but they did not tell me exactly what was in their version. So I made my own. 

Ingredients:

Bread
500 g white bread flour (type 550)
300 ml / 1.5 cups lukewarm water
1,5 packages of instant dry yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon sea salt
150 g / 1 cup of grated cheddar or any other sharp cheese with a high fat content
Bacon cubes (about two tablespoons)
1-2 large Jalapeños diced

Butter
1 Stick / 100g of soft butter
1 teaspoon of Chipotle Powder
3 tablespoons of maple syrup

Mise en Place

Phase 1

Use a large mixing bowl (large enough to contain a risen wad of dough) or a clean kitchen counter.

Sift the flour into the bowl, make a well in the middle, pour half of the water on and add salt and sugar to the water, add all of the instant dry yeast and gently stir with a fork to add more flour to the mixture in the middle by slowly scraping the flour from the sides into the mixture . Once all of the flour and the rest of the water, have been combined into a dough, dust your hands with flour and start kneading for about 10 minutes, fold the dough, knead until dough is smooth and elastic.

Dust with flour, place in a bowl, cover with Saran wrap and in a warm and draft free place, wait for about 1 hour until the dough has at least doubled its volume.

Phase two

Gently remove the Saran wrap, dust the kitchen counter heavily with flour and take the risen wad of dough out of the bowl and punch it down several times, fold it again and again. Roll out the dough until you've created a rectangle roughly 9 inches / 25 cm wide and about 1 cm / 0.4 inches thick.

Sprinkle half of the Jalapeños on your counter, place the dough on top and then add the remaining Jalapeños, the bacon and the cheese on top of the rectangle. Smoothen out and roll up vom the short side, pinch the ends and fold under. Place it on a baking tray and cover with a clean kitchen towel or in a bread baking form of your liking. Let rise again for another hour.

During the rise of the bread, take the soft butter, mix in the spice and maple syrup and using a kitchen machine, mix thoroughly. Season with salt to taste if you want (I skipped this), spread the soft butter into a container of your choice and refrigerate.

Preparation

About 15 minutes before the second rise is completed, preheat the oven to 180 C / 365 F.

Line the tray with baking paper and place the bread on top. Baste the top of the bread lightly with a neutral oil. Bake the bread for about 20 minutes, then cover the bread with aluminum foil (It should be nicely golden now), and bake for another 20-30 minutes depending on your oven. Remove from the oven and let it cool for a short while on a cooling rack. Cut into thick slices carefully and enjoy this delicious moist bread with a beer of your choice.

Bon Appétit

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Mustard-Thyme Crusted Schnitzel with Balsamic Carrots

This year, there seems to be a thousand things to do, to get done and organise. Which makes it even more important to eat a balanced and delicious meal in my spare time. Oh, it also snowed again over night, this makes this comfort food even better with the mix of tender meat, thyme and mustard along with the slight tangy-sweet aroma of the vegetables, rounded out with the crunchy and earthy potatoes and beets. 

 2 servings

Ingredients

2 pork Schnitzel (*cutlets each about 200g / 7oz, thinly cut)
1 sprig of fresh thyme
40 g / 2.5 tablespoons of soft butter
1 tablespoon of *Meaux Mustard (*whole-grain mustard. Roughly crushed, multi-coloured mustard seeds mixed with vinegar and spices)
3 tablespoons of bread crumbs / Panko

Balsamic carrots
1 table spoon of sugar
salt and fresh pepper
2-4 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar ( Aceto Balsamico )
400g / 14 oz carrots
200g / 7 oz shallots
100 ml of water
2-3 sprigs of fresh thyme

Mise en Place

- Wash the cutlets with cold water, dry them off using paper towels
- Clean and peel the carrots and shallots, cut the carrots into thick slices and halve or quarter the shallots until they are all uniform in size, set aside
- mix the butter, bread crumbs, mustard and the leaves of 1 sprig of thyme thoroughly, set aside
- pre-heat the oven to about 200 C / 390 F

Preparation

Add some oil to a large frying pan and heat to medium hight temperature.

Cook the cutlets separately for about 1 1/2 minutes per side, season with salt and fresh pepper, set aside to let them cool down.

Fry the carrots and the shallots in the frying pan for about 5 minutes while stirring, add the sugar and caramelize them while stirring. Add the water/vinegar mix and cook them on medium heat for about 6-8 minutes, until either the water is almost gone or they have reached the desired doneness. Plug the remaining thyme leaves off the sprigs and add them, season with salt and pepper to your liking.

Spread the butter-breadcrumb mix on top of the cutlets, put them in a gratin or baking dish, and broil them for about 3-5 minutes. Watch the crust, is is supposed to turn crisp and lightly golden.

This goes well with oven roasted potatoes and beets which can be done in advance of the Schnitzel and set aside covered.

Arrange on a pre-heated plate and serve with a beer of your choice.

Bon Appétit

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★ love ★

Love in this sense, is not only the romantic type, this love is also the one you feel for your closest friends and companions.

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Text: Slavoj Žižek

Pasta with Smoked Salmon, Peas and Tarragon

It is one of these weekends. Time seems to fly, lots of things to do and little time to do so. The snow is gone and I have been craving food with more vegetables, something fresh and light.

Enter this weekend's quick and delicious dish; pasta combined with lightly smoked salmon, peas and tomatoes in a white wine, tarragon and mustard sauce. A wonderful combination of flavours that brings out the best of all ingredients used.


2-3 servings

Ingredients

300 g / 12 oz pasta
200 g / 7 oz smoked salmon, chopped and/or torn
150 g / 5 oz  young green peas, fresh or frozen
1 tablespoon clarified butter (Alternatively, mix 0.5 tablespoon of butter with 0.5 tablespoons of olive oil)
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 shallots, finely chopped
a handful of aromatic small tomatoes
120 ml / 0.5 cups of dry white wine
150 g / 0.5 cups crème légère
1 tablespoons whole grain Dijon mustard
0.5 to 1 teaspoon dried tarragon
1 tablespoon fresh dill, finely chopped
Fresh black ground pepper to taste

Optional: corn starch, mixed with cold water to thicken the sauce if so required.

Mise en Place

- Peel and chop the shallots finely
- Peel and finely chop the garlic
- Cut the salmon into thin stripes, set aside, leave a few as garnish.You can freeze the salmon for about 10 minutes to make it easier to cut.
- Wash and finely chop the dill, again put something aside as garnish
- Wash the tomatoes and cut them in half or quarter them, set aside

Preparation

Set up a large high rimmed pan for the sauce. Heat the clarified butter to medium heat, add the garlic and shallots and  sauté until the onions are translucent. Add the wine and bring to a simmer. Cook until the wine is reduced by half. Add the peas.

Prepare a large pot with water for the pasta. Bring enough water to a boil, add salt and cook the pasta as required until al dente. In the meantime, reduce the heat of the pan, add the crème légère slowly while stirring. Then add the mustard, tarragon, salmon, dill and tomatoes, season with fresh pepper and salt to taste, be careful because the salmon will add salt to the sauce. If you find the sauce to be too acidic, add some sugar until the desired level is reached.

When the pasta is done, drain the water from the pasta pot and add the sauce to the pasta, mix well, season again with fresh pepper to your liking. Garnish with some strips of salmon and fresh dill.

Best served with a chilled white wine, like an Italian Pinot Grigio.


Bon Appétit

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Asian-Style Meatballs

Shopping in a supermarket, that primarily sells Asian foods is always fun. The smells and flavours I can find there, are so unlike traditional German cuisine and yet so delicious.

Autumn has come, instead of a hot soup, I wanted something with a bit of meat, savoury, packing  heat and a hint of freshness.

(4 servings)

Ingredients

1 bread roll (at least one day old)
2 small onions
1 small piece of ginger
1 stalk of lemongrass
1 bunch of cilantro
500 g minced meat (half pork/beef)
1 egg
1 red  Chili Pepper ("Bird's Eye" Chilies)
300g of carrots
1 can coconut milk (14 oz./398-400 ml)
Soy sauce (up to t Tbs)
AP flour (2 Tbs)
2 Tbs of butter

Mise en Place

- Soak the the bread roll in water, make sure it soaks up water, press the
  air out and leave it in the water for about 10 minutes, press out as much
  water as you can
- Clean the onions, finely dice them
- Remove the tough outer layer of the lemongrass, cut off the bulb and
  mince it into fine pieces
- Peel the ginger, mince it into fine pieces
- Wash the cilantro, pick off the leaves only
- Set up a pot of water, about 2 litres, salted
- Set up a high rim pan
- Open the can of coconut milk (shake thoroughly before)
- Wash the chili, cut it open, remove the seeds and wash it out, mince
  into fine pieces (wear gloves for this)
- Mix the minced meat, salt, fresh ground black pepper, the egg and half
  of the lemongrass, onions, ginger and cilantro in a large bowl, add the
  bread roll (make sure it is not too wet) and mix it all using your hand. Do
  not press to much or the meatballs will be too dense. Season with salt
  and pepper.
- Form about 10 meatballs using your wet hands
- Clean the carrots and julienne them (cut them into relatively uniform    
  thin, even strips). I like them to be a bit varied in size.

Preparation

Bring the water to a boil and reduce the heat, place the meatballs in the water and let them steep for about 15 minutes.

Remove the meatballs from the broth and let them drain in a sieve.

Save about 350ml of the broth, pour it through a sieve and set aside.

Heat about 2 Tbs of neutral oil in the pan and gently fry the meatballs until golden brown, remove and set aside. Stir the carrots in the medium hot oil for a few minutes, remove and set aside.

Heat the butter in the oil, add the rest of the chili, ginger, lemongrass and onions and saute them for a few minutes, dust with the flour and keep stirring for about one minute.

Pour in the the broth and the coconut milk, mix it and bring to a boil, reduce heat and let it simmer for about 5 minutes. Season with the Soy sauce, salt and pepper.

Re-heat the carrots and meatballs in the sauce, add the rest of the cilantro and serve with rice and a beautiful cool glass of Chardonnay.


Bon Appétit

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Asparagus on Sauce Béarnaise wrapped in Jamón Serrano  with Chicken Saltimbocca

After a short timeout (you did notice, right?) due to a defective stove, I am back in action. The time for asparagus has finally arrived. I personally prefer the green variant that is grown above ground to the white one that is grown below It is more versatile and aromatic in my eyes. That said, what to do with it? I also saw that my sage plant has grown enormously so I figured why not combine two classics in a melange of taste and texture. Mixing the wonderful sage aroma with crisp Spanish ham and top it off with beautiful vegetables, wrapped in savoury ham and rounded out with Bearnaise sauce that will not only hopefully tickle your fancy, but also delight your tastebuds.

Serves 2

Ingredients

Chicken Saltimbocca

2 medium sized chicken breasts without skin
8 fresh Sage leaves
4 rashers of Serrano ham (thin, you can also use Parma if you want)
75 ml / 1/3 cup of Marsala wine
Clarified butter

Asparagus

500g / 1 bunch of green asparagus
4 small or 1 large carrots
4 rashers of Serrano ham (thin, you can also use Parma if you want)
Flat leaf parsley

Sauce Béarnaise (non traditional)

2 egg yolks (medium)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 pinch of salt
black pepper freshly ground
170g / 1 1/2 stick of unsalted butter
1 tablespoon dried tarragon
1 tablespoon créme fraîche

Immersion blender
1 Pan with heat-resistant handle

Mise en Place

Pre-heat your oven to 90 degrees Celsius ( 194 F)

Wash and peel the carrots, cut into stick, set aside

Wash the  asparagus under cool running water. Trim away the bottom 1/3 of the stalk. If you bend the asparagus it will naturally snap at the point where it goes from tender to tough (which is usually about 1/3 of the stalk).

Wash and dry the chicken breast. Using a sharp knife cut a pocket into each breast, take the chicken breasts, place them between two sheets of plastic and tenderize the meat to get an   even thickness.

Season the inside lightly with salt and place two Sage leaves inside. Wrap one rasher of Serrano around the breast and place a Sage leaf on top, wrap the other rasher around, they should stick nicely if you press firmly, if not, secure with a toothpick.

Prepare a pot with salted, boiling water. Cook the the asparagus and carrot sticks for about 5 minutes, drain and cool down in cold water. Set aside after drying them off.

Create two bundles of asparagus and carrot stick, wrapped with the Serrano and place in a greased baking dish of appropriate size.

Melt the butter, bring to a boil. turn off heat,Separate two medium sized eggs, keep the yolks. Add the yolk along with the creme fraiche, lemon juice and a pinch of salt into a high and narrow container  mix with the immersion blender until smooth. Now add the melted butter slowly and keep mixing with the blender until you have a smooth emulsion. Add the tarragon leaves and season to taste with salt and pepper. Do not blend too long or it will separate again. Voila, a quick and tasty variant on the classic sauce.

Wash and chop the parsley. Set aside

Preparation

We will first prepare the chicken, then the vegetables.

Heat some clarified butter in the pan to medium-high temperature and cook for about 2 minutes per side, deglaze with the Marsala, cut the remaining two sage leaves into pieces and add to the pan.and put it into the oven for about 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, remove the pan from the oven, place the chicken on a plate, cover it and let it rest.

Increase the temperature to about 175 C / 350 F. Pour half of the sauce over the vegetables and keep the rest hot. Place the asparagus in the oven and cook for about 10 minutes. During the last 3 minutes, turn on the grill to gratinate the sauce. Remove from the oven, season with fresh pepper.

Arrange on a plate with the chicken, add the parsley and some of the hot sauce. Enjoy with a glass of white wine or of the Marsala.

Bon Appétit

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Sunken Apple Cake

It doesn't really get a lot simpler than this. Then again, some of the best things in life, are simple things. I craved cake today, I had apples so I made a quick and simple cake I enjoyed when I was a wee lad back in the days.

It is wonderful warm or cold, with coffee or tee, with a dash of whipped cream or like I enjoy it, with a bit of icing sugar on top. I have greatly reduced the sugar compared to the old recipe I got from my grandma.

Ingredients

2-3 Elstar apples (tart and suited for baking)
150g / 2/3 cup of caster sugar
1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
120g / 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
3 medium eggs, separated
250 g / 2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
150 ml /  3/4 whole fat milk
Icing sugar

Make sure the ingredients are all at room temperature.

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 F / 180 C  degrees and spray a 10-cup spring form
with non-stick cooking spray or grease and flour. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, mix the sugar and butter together until light and fluffy. Add
the yolks, mix again until combined. Beat the egg whites separately until stiff.

Using a sieve, add the dry ingredients and keep pouring the milk as well, in to the mixing bowl. Beat on medium speed just until combined, make sure that the batter is not too dry. Add more milk if required scraping down the sides as necessary. Carefully fold the egg whites into the prepared batter, mix well. Pour batter into greased spring form.

Gently tap the filled spring form on the counter a few times, this will make the air bubbles/pockets rise up and and level the surface.

Peel the apples, cut in half, remove the cores and score the upper side with a fork. Place slices on top of the batter, gently pushing them in a little bit. The cake will rise around them, no worries.

Bake for about 35-40 minutes until lightly golden brown, remove from the oven. Let it cool for about 10 minutes, remove the spring form and let it cool down for a while. Add icing sugar on top and enjoy. 


Bon Appétit

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Bacon-Prunes Beef Roulade with Walnut-Savoy

A new year with new recipes has begun. I am still working on my cook-book, that just might take a bit more time than I had anticipated.

That said, it has gotten cold again, temperatures below freezing, finally the right weather to prepare more of these savoury dishes that warm both body and heart. Beef Roulades are a staple of German cuisine. This is a slightly different take on them with the addition of prunes instead of the usual pickled cucumbers and onions. 

I will save most of this dish for other days but making a small portion for only one person, just doesn't work that well when it comes to getting a nice sauce. Without further ado, I present to you the dish of the weekend.

4 -5 servings

Ingredients

Roulades

4 pieces of brisket or rump, beef, 1/4 inch thick across the large surface (about 900g or 2lb in total, can be less)
4 teaspoons of Dijon mustard
2 large onions
8 thin rashers of smoked bacon
12 prunes
salt
fresh black pepper
clarified butter
250ml / 1 cup of dry red wine
200ml / 0.8 cups of NFC apple juice
400 ml / 1 3/4 cups of water
(beef) roulade skewers (one for each roulade) OR kitchen yarn
1 1/2 tablespoons of all purpose flour

Walnut Savoy
nutmeg
1 head of savoy cabbage (cut into 1/2 inch stripes)
200ml / 0.8 cups of water
2 tablespoons of Walnuts
butter

Roasted Thyme Potatoes
1 kg / 2 pounds of waxy potatoes
fresh Thyme
olive oil
salt

Mise en Place

- Peel onions and chop finely.

- Dry the meat, thinly spread one teaspoon of mustard on one side of the meat per roulade, season with fresh pepper and salt. Add two thin rashers of bacon in the middle, press three prunes onto the bacon.

- Start rolling up the roulade from the filled end make sure to apply pressure and roll them tight, fixate with the skewers or the kitchen yarn.

- Clean and cut the savoy cabbage into thin stripes from the stem, set aside.

- Clean potatoes, cut into slices, mix with olive oil, and thyme leaves, season generously with salt and pre-heat oven to about 200 C / 390 F, toss potato slices in a baking tray and make sure they are thinly covered with oil. 

- Heat butter to medium heat in a large cooking pot, gently roast the walnut cores. Make sure to not burn them, remove from the butter.

Preparation

Heat clarified butter to high heat in a Dutch Oven and brown the roulades from each side, one after another. Take them out and set aside. Reduce heat to low.

Add the onions and sauté for a few minutes, until soft and the bottom has been deglazed.

Add the apple juice, the red wine and about 400ml of water, bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low again and add the Roulades. Braise for about 1 3/4 hours.

After 1 hour, put the potatoes into the oven. They should be done in about 45 minutes.

About 30 minutes before serving, cook the savoy in the walnut-butter at medium heat and season generously with salt, fresh nutmeg and pepper, keep stirring for a few minutes. Then add 200 / 0.8 cups of water and braise the cabbage for about 20 minutes on low heat, season to taste, add the walnuts and set aside. 

After 1 3/4 hours, remove the roulades from the sauce. Keep them warm. I usually remove the onions before applying the final touch on the sauce. Reduce the sauce by about 1/3, then season to your liking with salt, a bit of mustard and a few pieces of ice cold butter to get a smooth texture and shine.

Serve with a red wine or a strong beer.

Bon Appétit

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Spinach Risotto topped with Goat Cheese and Maple Syrup Garlic Salmon

I haven't made fish for quite some time now. While there are certainly more exclusive types of fish than salmon, this simple way of preparing salmon has always appealed to me, combining the savoury soy sauce and garlic and the rich sweetness of maple syrup while still maintaining the distinct wonderful most and flaky texture of salmon that is cooked just right. The subtle flavour along with the smooth and creamy risotto that is topped up with the fresh soft goat cheese and the slight tang of lemon zest, will surely make this worth your time.

(Serves 3-4)

Ingredients

Salmon
500 g / 18 oz of skinned salmon
1 medium sized clove of garlic
50 ml / 1/4 cup of soy sauce
50 ml /  1/4 cup of maple syrup

Risotto
250 ml / 1 cup pinot gris (German: Grauburgunder) a dry white wine
250g / 1 cup Carnaroli rice (risotto rice)
olive oil
1 large shallot
2 Tbs of butter
50 g / 1 half stick butter (Parmesan)
60 g Parmesan
2 glove of garlic
1 l / 4 cups of vegetable stock
150 g / 5 oz of fresh spinach

Mise en Place

At least one hour before the cooking, mix the marinade from the maple syrup, the soy sauce and the finely sliced clove of garlic. Put into a ziploc bag with the salmon and marinade it in the fridge for about 1 hour, turning it once. Remove from the fridge and let it warm up. Prepare a baking dish with
a cover of aluminium foil for the salmon.

Peel the shallot and the garlic and mince finely

Heat a Tbs of butter and some olive oil in a medium sized pot until it melts and keep it a medium low heat, add one fine chopped glove of garlic and grate fresh nutmeg in. Add the fresh spinach and cook it for about 5 minutes until it is wilted and the wonderful smell of garlic fills the air. Remove from the heat, let it cool and once cool, blend it to a smooth paste.

Bring the stock to a boil

Preheat the oven to around 180 C / 350 F

Preparation

In a medium sized cooking pot, gently heat about 1 Tbs olive oil and 1 Tbs of butter to very low heat, add the shallot and the garlic and cook them without browning for about 10 minutes until sweet and tender. In the meantime; pour the marinade and the salmon into the baking dish, cover with the aluminium foil. Put it into the oven.

The cooking time for the salmon depends on the thickness, between 15-25 minutes should do nicely though.  The salmon is done, when you press on it with the flat side of a knife and it parts in large flakes. Back to the risotto, after ten minutes, add the risotto rice and stir until translucent, after about 3 minutes of gentle stirring add the white wine, stir and wait until the liquid has been soaked up by the rice. Start adding the stock until the risotto is covered, stir occasionally and keep adding stock and stir from time to time.

Once the salmon is done, turn off the oven, pre-heat the plates in the oven and let the salmon rest for a few minutes.

Try the risotto after about 15 to 20 minutes, it is supposed to be soft on the outside and still have some bite in the middle all the while already being creamy. Turn off the heat once the desired texture has been reached and add the spinach, Parmesan and the rest of the butter . Stir and put the lid on the pot. Let it rest for about five minutes. Season with salt and fresh Pepper to your liking.


Arrange the salmon on the risotto, and using a fine grater, add lemon zest and also fresh pepper along with more freshly grated Parmesan and the crumbled goat cheese on top. Serve with a chilled white wine and enjoy this delicious meal.

Bon Appétit

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Spicy Pork and Beef Goulash with Peppers

I hope it stays cold, because that will give me more excuses to continue  cooking comfort foods. This one is my own take on Goulash, touching upon a soup and ending up with a spicy, delectable soup, tender meat and a rich smoky flavour.

6-8 servings

Ingredients

500 g / 17.5 oz of pork shoulder cut into 2 inch cubes
500 g / 17.5 of  beef chuck or stewing steak cut into 2 inch cubes
100 g / 3.5 oz of streaky bacon cut into small cubes
1 heaped tablespoon of pimenton de la vera ( dried, smoked, and smoothly ground mature red peppers)
3 tablespoons of all purpose flour
4 carrots
750g / 26 oz of white onions
4 cloves of garlic,  chopped
1 red and 1 yellow Bell pepper, also known as sweet pepper or a pepper (in the United Kingdom)
1 -2 chilli peppers of your choice, finely chopped
2 -3 teaspoons Marjoram
3 tablespoons of tomato paste
400 g / 14 oz waxy potatoes cut into small cubes
1.5 litre / 6.5 cups of hot water
250ml / 1 cup of dry red wine
2 tablespoons of clarified butter / Oil

Mise en Place

- Clean the vegetables and chop them (size, see ingredients), set aside

- Peel potatoes, cut ino medium sizes cubes, cover and set aside

- dry off the meat using paper towels, heat clarified butter in a large Dutch Oven a a large, heavy-bottomed pot over high heat. Cook meat in batches, being careful not to overcrowd the pot, and adding more clarified butter or oil as needed. Cook each batch of meat until well browned on all sides and transfer to a plate while the next batch browns. Season meat with salt and pepper to taste.

Preparation

Heat the pot again to medium high heat, add the vegetables (except for the potatoes) and cook for about 5 minutes while stirring. This will deglaze the pot. Add the tomato paste, mix well. Now add the meat, dust with flour and pimenton and mix again. Pour in the red wine and hot water. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low. Cover and let it simmer for about 1,5 hour. You can add a few dashes of vinegar of your choice if you want to.

When there about 30 minutes left, add the potatoes. After the goulash is done, season to taste with a bit of mustard, salt and pepper.

Serve hot with a slice of fresh bread and a cold beer.

Bon Appétit

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Mediterranean Shoulder of Lamb with Lemon Butter Carrots and Rosemary Garlic Potatoes

Not celebrating Easter, does not mean I won't follow some traditions so, I went and got lamb for this week's dish. I wanted to go for lamb shanks but ended up with boneless shoulder of lamb instead. Oh well, I can make that work too. Mind you, when it is deboned, the meat is more like a flat piece of meat than a typical roast. So if you want a pretty roast, go for shanks with the bone. This combines wonderful mediterranean flavours with tender and moist lamb and the sweet, buttery carrots and the tartness of lemons to create a beautiful dish that will make you crave every single bite and want for more. For the full experience,  pick one of the soft cloves of garlic and spread it on your cut of meat and experience pure bliss.

Serves 3-4

Ingredients

1.5 kg / 3 lb of boneless shoulder of lamb
2 tablespoons of fennel seeds
2 organic lemons
3 twigs of rosemary
1 head of garlic
200g / 7 oz shallots
1 kg / 35 oz of waxy potatoes
4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
2 -3 tablespoons of brown butter or clarified butter
A good handful of carrots with tops
1 tablespoon of honey
1 tablespoon of mustard
2 cups of red wine (Use stock of your choice as an alternative)
Kitchen yarn
Salt
Pepper

Mortar and Pestle
Casserole dish of appropriate size


Mise en Place

Remove the lamb at least one best two hours before cooking from the fridge.
Preheat oven to 180C / 356 F (no convection)

Wash the lamb, dry it off, set aside. Wash the lemons with hot water, set aside.

Remove the zest of one lemon, cut the lemon in half and juice it, set aside.
Wash and dry the rosemary. Plug the needles off. Set aside.

Peel the cloves of garlic and the shallots. Half or even quarter them. Set aside.

Wash the potatoes (peel them if you want to). Cut them into medium sized pieces, as even as possible. Set aside.

Clean the carrots and leave a bit of green at the top. Halve them, thicker ones should be quartered, again, to ensure even size and thickness.

Put the fennel seeds, the zest of one lemon, 1 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper into the mortar and grind them to a fine paste. Add the lemon juice, a tablespoon of olive oil and create a paste. Tie the lamb shoulder into form using the kitchen yarn to ensure even cooking. Rub the seasoning all over the lamb, set into the casserole.

Mix the potatoes, the garlic and shallots with some olive oil and salt. Make sure everything is lightly covered in oil.

Place the mix on the bottom of the casserole, place the lamb on top.
Remove the zest from the second lemon, juice it and set aside.

Preparation

Place the casserole into the lower third of the oven. Cook for 75 minutes (25 minutes per 500g / 1 lb of lamb). Add about 1 cup of red wine over time to the potatoes over the cooking time.

About 30 minutes before the end of the cooking time, add the second cup of wine to the potatoes.

About 15 minutes before the meat is done, heat the brown butter / clarified butter in a heavy pan to medium low heat. Add the zest and some juice. Then add the carrots and cook for about 6-8 minutes. Season with salt and a pinch of sugar.

About 10 minutes before the end of the cooking time of the lamb, mix the honey and mustard and baste the roast with the mix, do not let burn. 

Remove the meat from the casserole set it aside covered to let it rest, you can put into the still warm oven, make sure it remains covered and the temperature is just high enough to keep the meat warm. . Pour the liquids from the casserole into a pot through a strainer Now you should remove the excess fat from the liquids, I use a gravy separator for that.  Once you have done that, heat the liquid to a simmer and let it reduce by about 2/3, then season to taste with salt and pepper.Add a few small pieces of ice cold butter and 1 to 2 tablespoons of corn starch dissolved in cold water to thicken it to your liking. Keep warm. (You can also add lamb stock if you have it and let that reduce as well).

Serve with a strong red wine, like a Pinot Noir. This wine is known for being earthy supple and silky.  It has gorgeous dried cherry aromas and I like to use it when making lamb. The thin sweet and savoury crust on the meat combines beautifully with the other flavours, making this a real treat. 


Bon Appétit

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★ monochrome beauty ★


Australian artist Nanami Cowdroy, combines her mixed Japanese and European roots to create a unique style. Using characters and detailed objects, her work combines elements of various styles and cultures. 

Her signature detailed style reflects a refined monochrome pallette with her name ‘Nanami’ (meaning ‘Seven Seas’ in Japanese) stamped in red. Fluid line-work and watery creatures are some of her favourite subjects and distinctive forms which feature in her artworks.

http://www.nanamicowdroy.com/

You can also get her art as skins for your Gadgets :) 
http://www.gelaskins.com/gallery/Nanami_Cowdroy/

#Art   #artgala  

Paperman Cosplay

A lot of you have enjoyed the Disney short Paperman that was aired before Wreck it Ralph http://youtu.be/2C76DPZzpS4

Chris and Wendy, created a charming and beautiful cosplay version of this. I am also very much impressed with the photography that perfectly captured the mood of the short.

See more here: 
misswendybird.tumblr.com though.
You can find the photographer at http://www.facebook.com/S.Colorful
And the cosplayer at http://www.facebook.com/hellomisswendybird

Find a lot more images on their Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/albertlien/sets/72157632779408996/

Happy Humpday everyone :)

Winter Stew

I'll just pretend that there is snow and frost outside. 

Nonetheless, I wanted to cook a hearty stew that will not only feed me for a few days, or uses seasonal veggies, no. I wanted to cook a stew that tastes just like what you crave when you come back inside from a long walk outside and that will fill you with its warmth and savoury flavour. Of course, there was also +Mezza May  who demanded asked for  " bacon!"  and yes, there is a little twist that makes this a bit different from most stews. Go on, you'll see.

Ingredients
Stew

1 large leek (cubed)
1 large onion (cubed)
5 carrots (cubed)
2 litres of vegetable stock (you can also use 1 litre of water and 1 litre of stock)
1 kilogram / 2,25 pounds of beef cut into cubes
2 (about 1 pound / 0.5 kg) pieces of boiling meat including bones
2 thick slices of bacon
2 parsnips (cubed)
1 large piece of celeriac or celery (cubed)
5 waxy potatoes (cubed)
1/2 head of savoy cabbage (cut into 1/2 inch stripes)
1-2 tablespoons of fresh rosemary (chopped)
1 tablespoon of clarified  butter

Potato Purée

5 large, floury potatoes
1 bay leaf
200 ml of milk
salt
black pepper
30 g of butter
2-3 spring onions
1/2 teaspoon of freshly ground nutmeg


1 handful of flat leaf parsley

Mise en Place

- Clean and dice all the vegetables. Set aside separably because they
   will be used at different times.Make sure to keep the ingredients for the
  mashed potatoes separately.
- Cut the bacon and the boiling meat into cubes
- Heat the stock and keep it warm

Preparation:

Stew

Heat the clarified butter in a large cooking pot to high heat. Add the bacon and cook it until lightly crisp. Now add a handful of the dried off, cubed beef, cook until browned on all sides, add the next handful until all the beef as been browned. Now add the onions, the celeriac and the leek. Cook for about 5 minutes while stirring.

Add the boiling meat, the vegetable stock and the roughly chopped rosemary. Cover and bring to a short boil, reduce to heat to low temperatures and let it simmer for about 60 minutes until the beef is tender.

Add the waxy potatoes, the parsnip cubes, the carrots and the savoy cabbage. Cook at low heat for about 20 minutes until the potato are done. Turn off heat and keep the stew hot.

Mashed Potatoes

Cook the peeled and cubed floury potatoes in lightly salted water with the bay leaf until they are done.Strain them and let them steam off for a few minutes.

Cook the chopped spring onion for about 5 minutes in about 200ml of milk, seasoned with salt,pepper and bit of butter. Using a potato masher, roughly mash potatoes, add butter (30g) and hot milk including the spring onions to potatoes.Beat with a wooden spoon until fluffy. Season with salt, pepper and the ground nutmeg.

Now add as much of the mashed potatoes to the stew, until you have the desired texture.Let it rest for about 5 minutes and season with salt and pepper.

Serve hot with a dark beer of  your choice.

Bon Appétit

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+Foodies of G+ +Indulge Into Darkness 

If you follow the hashtag DReulWorthyRecipes  in the first comment, you'll get all my recipes in a stream, including pictures.

Game of Thrones 

This, this is amazing! So pitch perfect! I do not even like Rap but.. this is brilliant! 

Thanks to a friend who is not on G+ for the tip! 

I got Dragons, Bitch!

#GoT   #gameofthrones  

RESHARE:
snort

Yes, this is pretty amazing! 

via +Cindy Brown 

Reshared text:
This...is awesome

Two kinds of Rass el hanout spiced Meatballs on Pomegranate Couscous and a Yoghurt Mint Sauce

I recently bought a very good variant of Rass el hanout. I haven't cooked anything from this type of cuisine for a while, so why not spice things up and go a different route. Ending up with a fluffy couscous, combined with the uniquely sweet-tart flavour of pomegranates, the two very different tasting, sweet spicy and savoury lamb and beef/pork meatballs and the gorgeous fresh yoghurt mint sauce to bring it to a tasty finish.

Note: if you cannot get Rass el hanout  you can easily make your own mix of spices as you like, there is not definitive mix. I like to use a mix of powdered coriander, cumin, cardamom, cinnamon, black pepper, chili, tumeric and nutmeg.

(3 servings)

Ingredients

Lamb meatballs filled with sage and feta

250 g / 8.5 oz of freshly ground lamb
1/2 tsp of Rass el hanout
1 medium sized egg
2-3 Tbs of Panko or dry breadcrumbs
1 Tbs of milk
50 g / 1.8 oz of Feta
3 fresh leaves of sage
extra native olive oil
3-4 dried dates without stone

Spicy beef / pork meatballs with dates and almonds

80 g / 3 oz of ground almonds
1 medium onion
2 cloves of garlic
2  Birds Eye chilies
4 -5 dried dates without stone
250 g / 8.5 oz ground beef
250 g / 8.5 oz ground pork
2 eggs
1 heaped teaspoon of mustard
3 Tbs panko or dried breadcrumbs
1.5 teaspoons of Rass el hanout
2-4 stems of flat leaf parsley

Pomegranate couscous

250 g / 8,5.oz of precooked couscous
250 ml / 1 C of stock of your choice (Or used water salted with about 1 Tbs of salt)
1 Pomegranate
2 - 3 flakes of butter
1 Tbs of olive oil
1 stem of flat leaf parsley

Yoghurt Mint Sauce

4-5 stems of mint
250 g / 8.5 oz greek yoghurt
2-3 Tbs of milk
1  Tbs lime juice

Mise en Place

Pre-heat oven to 230 C to 400 F.

Lamb meatballs

Chop sage leaves and 4-5 dates into small pieces, mix with feta, add 1 Tabs of milk, mix thoroughly. Set aside.

In a medium sized bowl, mix the ground lamb, one (1) egg, the spice mix, the panko and season with salt and pepper to taste. Take a small handful of the ground meat and divide it in half. Sculpt both halves of the meat loosely around a teaspoon of the mix, until it is no longer visible. If it's packed too tightly, the cheese will eventually flow out. Form filled balls until everything has been used up. Put the meatballs on a plate in the fridge.

Beef / pork spicy meatballs

Clean and peal the garlic and onion. Wash the herbs and dry them off carefully, pluck of the leaves off the parsley, shred the parsley with your hands to a size of your liking. Set aside some for the couscous.

Wash the chilies, cut them open, remove the seeds and wash, chop into small pieces. Set aside.

Chop the dates. Mince the onion and garlic. Heat a frying pan with one Tbs of olive oil to low heat. Add the onions and cook them for about 5 minutes, add the garlic, cook for another three minutes. Do not burn. Put on a piece of paper kitchen towel to soak up excess fat. Set aside.

Mix the ground meat, two (2) medium sized eggs, the spice mix, onions and garlic, chilies, dates, ground almonds, 1 Tbs of panko, mustard and the parsely in a medium sized bowl until well mixed. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Form small handful sized meatballs and put them on a plate. The goal is to have meatballs of uniform size.

Yoghurt Mint Sauce

Mix greek yoghurt, with the lime juice. Season with salt and black pepper to taste. Chop the mint and mix well.

Preparation

Line your baking tray with baking paper. Place the meatballs on there with even spaces and put them into the pre-heated oven for about 20 minutes.

After 10 minutes, bring the stock or water to a boil. Remove from the heat, slowly add the couscous, stir. Cover and let sit for about 2 minutes. Add the butter, stir again. Put it on low heat for about 3 minutes to let if finish. Add the pomegranate seeds and leftover parsley. Cover and set aside.

Arrange on a pre-heated place, place the meatballs on the couscous, add fresh pepper and drizzle some mint sauce over the meatballs.

Bon Appétit

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Spicy Boston Blade Steak Asia Style on a Bed of Nuts and Greens

This is usually something I'd throw on the grill, but it works equally well in a pan. Using the Boston Blade steaks from the neck of the pork, ensures a juicy piece of meat that brings lots of flavour but is not lean. If you mind a piece of meat with some fat, this is not for you. Using Hot and savoury ingredients, adding some sweetness and the wonderful flavour of sesame, you get a great piece of meat to spice of your diet. The salat was a mix of crunchy, fresh and savoury with the tartness of lime juice and the nutty flavours of toasted sesame seeds and peanuts.

Serves 2

Ingredients

Meat
2-3 1 inch steaks from the Boston Blade Neck of pork
1 large clove of garlic
2 medium hot peppers / chilies / jalapenos
0.50 inch / 1 cm fresh ginger
1 small onion
1 spring onion
1 Kiwifruit
2 tablespoons of brown sugar
3 tablespoons of soy sauce
2 tablespoons of sesame oil

Salad
1/3 small head of red or white cabbage
2 -3 spring onions
0.50 inch / 1 cm fresh ginger
2 fresh carrots
150g baby spinach or lamb's lettuce
1/3 bunch cilantro
1,5 oz / 40 g roasted peanuts (not salted)
2 tablespoons of sesame seed, toasted

Dressing
1 lime, juiced
5 tablespoons sunflower oil
1 tablespoon of sesame oil
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
1 teaspoon of fish sauce
2 teaspoons of granulated sugar

Mise en Place

Peel and finely dice the garlic. Peel and cube the kiwifruit. Wash the peppers, cut them open and remove the seeds, cut into fine pieces. Peel and grate the ginger. Wash and clean the spring onions, cut into fine rings. Peel the onion, dice finely. Mix all ingredients. Add the marinade into a ziploc bag, add the pork, cover well from all sides and let it marinade up to two hours in the fridge.

Wash the sesame seeds, rinse them in a fine mesh sieve and add them to a small pot without oil. Heat to medium heat. Keep stirring, the water will evaporate and after awhile, you will start smelling the nutty flavour of toasted sesame seeds, keep stirring and mind to not burn the seeds. If you try them, they should fall apart between your finger and be completely dry. Immediately pour into a different bowl to let them cool off.

Cut the spring onions into fine rings, the carrots into Julienne (very thin stripes). the cabbage into thin stripes. and wash and dry off the cilantro. Chop roughly. Set aside.

Mix the dressing well,season to taste with salt and pepper, pour over the salad but do not add the peanuts, sesame seeds or the lamb's lettuce yet. Let the salad marinate in the fridge.

Preparation

Remove the meat from the fridge at least half an hour before cooking. Remove the pork fro the marinade and scrape off most of the marinade.

Heat a frying pan to medium high heat with a little bit of neutral cooking oil. cook the pork steaks from each side for about 3-4 minutes until nicely browned.

Remove from the pan and let rest for 5 minutes. Cut into stripes against the grain. Season with salt.

Take the salad, mix in the peanuts and sesame seeds, add the lamb's lettuce and mix well. Arrange on a plate, place the pork on top and season with fresh pepper. Add a bit of the toasted sesame seeds on top and some fresh cilantro or flat leaf parsley.

Bon Appétit

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Gruyere Gratinated Mushroom and Ham pane filone a la Betragne

Tonight called for a quick dish, something fresh, savoury and delicious. I had some mushrooms left, onions and lean bacon. After a quick shopping trip, this is what I came up with. Enjoy the slight tartness of lemon marinated mushrooms, combined with the savoury yet smooth taste of the Gruyere and topped with the rich taste of creme fraiche with ham and garlic. 

Serves 1-2

Ingredients

1 pane filone (you can use a French baguette but I find these are too narrow)
4-5 large swiss brown mushrooms, cut into slices
2-3 tablespoons of lean smoked ham / bacon, finely cubed
1/2 medium sized onion, finely minced
5 tablespoons of creme fraiche, seasoned with salt and pepper and mixed with herbs
3-4 slices of savoury cheese, Gruyere 
1 medium sized lemon, juiced
1-2 medium cloves of garlic, finely minced
1 handful of fresh, flat leaf parsley 

Mise en Place

Clean and cut the mushroom, put into a medium sized bowl.
Peel and finely dice the onion and the garlic and add to the mushroom.
Wash and chop the parsley, add to the onion and garlic.
Juice the lemon, add juice to the bowl, season with salt and pepper and stir, making sure the ingredients are well covered with lemon juice.
Pre-heat oven to 180 C / 350 C. 
Let the mix marinade for about 15 minutes. 

Preparation

Halve the bread horizontally, spread the creme fraiche on top, season again with salt and pepper to taste. 

Spread the ham / bacon on top, add the mushroom mix on top and cover with the Gruyere

Cook in the oven for about 20 minutes; the cheese will be bubbly and a wonderful smell of cooked garlic and onions will fill your kitchen. Remove from the oven, let cool for a short while and serve while warm with a nice glass of dry white wine of your choice. 

Bon Appétit

Would you like to be notified about food posts? Let me know in the comments. If you would like to see my other recipes, check out the about part of my profile:http://goo.gl/bzgOa

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#cutewars

Finals round against +Luis Roca +Wanda Howe and +Mellie B

You did say you like to see more cute butts in your Stream, right?

Winter Wonderland 

While cooking, this is my view from my kitchen :) It snowed last night for the first time in my part of Germany. 

Autumn Pumpkin Curry

Autumn has finally arrived. Bringing  crisp air, blue skies and strong colours heralding the end of Summer. +Tammy A. Mulcahy  asked if I could come up with an Autumn inspired rice dish.  Here you go, combining Hokkaido pumpkin, with green chicken curry and serving it on a bed of fragrant Jasmine rice.

I hope you'll all enjoy this warming comfort food as much as I did. The green curry paste was made earlier this week and I did not take any pictures because of reasons.

(2-3 servings)

Ingredients
Rice
150g of Jasmine rice
300ml lightly salted water

Curry
1/2 Hokkaido pumpkin (about 300-350g)
250ml water
300g thin cut chicken escalope
1 stalk of lemongrass
1 bunch of cilantro
1 red  Chili Pepper ("Bird's Eye" Chilies)
1 can unsweetened coconut milk (14 oz./398-400 ml)
1 leek (about 300g)
1 clove of garlic
3 Tbs peanut oil

Green Curry Paste
1 stalk lemongrass
2 green chilies
3 cloves garlic
1 thumb-size piece ginger
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves & stems
1/2 cup fresh Thai basil
1 small onion
3-4 Tbsp. coconut milk
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. ground coriander
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
2  Tbsp. lime juice


Mise en Place

Green Curry Paste
All ingredients are finely sliced or minced, placed in a blender or food processor. Season with salt or soy sauce to your liking. The texture should be thick and not runny. Will keep up to one week in the fridge.

Curry
- Clean the pumpkin, remove the seeds and cut it into cubes. You can
  technically eat the skin of the Hokkaido pumpkin, I prefer to remove the
  outer skin.
- Finley mince the lemongrass, the halved leek without the upper green
  part, the peeled clove of garlic, the washed red pepper with the seeds
  removed
- Heat the peanut oil in a medium sized pot to high temps and stir fry until
  lightly golden brown, season with salt and pepper and put aside (about
  2-3 minutes). Be careful not to put too much meat into the hot oil at
  once, or it will only cook and not be fried. Keep the oil in the pot
- Open the can of coconut milk after shaking it thoroughly
- Wash the cilantro, dry it off carefully and remove the leaves, set aside

Preparation

Prepare the rice, while the rice is is simmering, prepare the curry.

Bring 300ml of lightly salted water to a boil, add the rice, stir, reduce the heat to low, then allow the rice to simmer for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the water has been absorbed and the rice is tender. 4Remove the pot from the burner and fluff the jasmine rice with a fork. Replace the cover and allow the rice to set for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

The oil should now have a medium high temperature. Add the pumpkin and the leek and stir for about 2-3 minutes. Add the minced, red chilli, garlic and lemongrass and cook for about 2 minutes. Then add the curry paste, again stir and let it cook for short while.
Now add the coconut milk and about 250ml of water, stir and close the lid. Let it simmer for about 15 minutes or until the pumpkin is tender. Season to your liking. Add the chicken and let it re-heat.

Enjoy with a cool German Riesling that can take the heat and complex flavours of the curry and enhance them.


Bon Appétit

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+Foodies of G+ +Indulge Into Darkness +G+ Cook Along 

Coq au Vin on Roasted Garlic Potato Mash - Doing it French Style

Classic dishes are a favourite of mine. Some of the classics have been perfected over time and I enjoy the old time flavour this brings. This time, I went for a classic of the French cuisine; Coq au Vin, I did change it a bit to suit my own tastes and to use available ingredients, but the seemingly simple, yet complex layered flavours of dry red wine, vegetables and herbs, combined with garlic and the savoury bacon are just wonderful.

Please note that this does involved quite a few steps one day in advance, but I enjoy the meticulous approach to this dish :)


Ingredients

Coq au Vin
10-15 Shallots
3-4 chicken thighs and legs, or 1 or a whole chicken, cut into pieces
200g / 7 ounces of thick bacon, cubed
4 tablespoons water
500g / 18 ounces of Swiss brown mushroom,
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, warm
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, ice cold
2 (750 ml) bottles Pinot Noir (or any other French, dry red wine)
1 white onion, quartered
3 stalks celery, quartered
5 medium carrots, quartered
3 cloves garlic, cut into fine slices
1 heaped tablespoon of dried thyme
1 bay leaf
500 ml / 2 cups chicken stock
1 1/2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/3 cup Cognac
2-3 sprigs of rosemary

Potato mash
6 Floury potatoes, large, peeled, rinsed and diced
2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
1 bay leaf
5-6 cloves of garlic (still in the head of garlic)
80g / 1 cup of Parmesan cheese
200ml / 3/4 cup full fat milk

Saute Pan or a medium sized casserole
Doufeu or a Dutch Oven

Mise en Place

The day before

Peel the carrots and cut into thick pieces.
Wash and clean the celery, cut into quarters.Remove the ends.
Open the wine bottles, set aside.
Clean and quarter the mushrooms.
To easily peel the shallots, cut the root end of the shallots and blanch them in boiling water for one minute, drain and cool down with cold water. Let cool off, then you can simply press the shallots out of the skin. Set aside to dry.
Peel and clean the garlic, cut into thin slices, set aside.
Peel and quarter the regular onion (not the shallots)

Heat a Saute Pan or a medium sized casserole to medium heat, add 3 tablespoons of water and the cubed, thick bacon. Keep cooking until the water is gone, then the bacon will start to brown nicely and all over. Remove the cubes once they have the desired level of crispness. Let them dry on a piece of paper towel, set aside.

If there is only little fat left, add a bit of fat and then add the shallots, season with salt and let them get lightly golden brown, tossing them. Remove and set aside with the bacon.

Wash and dry the chicken parts carefully, season with sea salt and brown them in the pan from all sides until golden, add a bit of fat if needed. Only brown 2 -3 pieces at a time to keep them from cooking. Remove and place the chicken parts in a large Doufeu or a Dutch Oven. Add the celery, carrots, garlic, bay leaf, thyme and the normal onion.

Add a tablespoon of butter to the pan and saute the mushrooms until they are golden, remove and set aside together with the bacon and shallots. Keep all three in fridge until the next day.

There should be little to no fat left in the pan. Now use the cognac to deglaze the pan, keep scraping with a spatula until all the brown residue is dissolved. Add the tomato paste and a swig of red wine, mix and pour over the chicken and vegetables in the dutch oven.

Now add the chicken stock and all of the wine except for 1/2 a cup, until the chicken is just covered. Cover and keep in the fridge overnight. Do not season with salt yet.

The second day

Remove the Dutch Oven with the chicken from the fridge at least two hours before cooking to let it get to room temperature

Clean and peel the potatoes  cut into even sized pieces and place into salted water with a bay leaf. Set aside. Grate the Parmesan, set aside.

Trim the end off a head of garlic, place root site down on a piece of aluminum foil, drizzle olive oil, fold up into a tight package and set aside.

Preparation

Pre-heat your oven to 160 C / 325 F. Add the rosemary to the chicken and place it in the oven for about two hours, letting it simmer gently, covered.

Place the garlic package into the oven as well, for about 20-30 minutes. Remove and set aside.

When the chicken is done, remove it from the Dutch Oven, cover it and the vegetables and place them in the oven to keep them warm.

Put the dutch oven uncovered on your stove and bring it to medium high heat, reduce the liquid to about 1/3 of the original volume. Then add the bacon, mushrooms and shallots. Reduce heat and cook covered at low heat for about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook the potatoes until they are tender, drain the water and keep them in the pot. Mash the potatoes, season with nutmeg and butter. Then add the parmesan and the wonderfully soft garlic that you press out of the skin into the mash. Mash and add milk as needed until you have your desired texture. Season with salt and fresh black pepper.

Taste the sauce, the bacon should have added more than enough salt to the sauce now. Add a teaspoon of green mustard and a healthy swig of red wine, season to taste with pepper. Do not let it boil again, add a few pieces of ice cold butter and keep stirring to give your sauce that lovely shine. Add the chicken back into the sauce to let it get hot again.

Arrange on pre-heated plates and serve with a Pinot Noir.

Bon Appétit

Would you like to be notified about food posts? Let me know in the comments. If you would like to see my other recipes, check out the about part of my profile:http://goo.gl/bzgOa

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Rosemary Potato Pizza with sweet Onions and Feta - Earthy delights

Because I have to atone for my food-fail of the weekend, I wanted to make something quick and easy that I can also eat tomorrow. A pizza dough can be made many way, I went for the really easy one described here: http://goo.gl/kktwG enough for about 1 baking try if rolled out thinly.

The topping is catering to my personal tastes, I love feta, red onions, Rosemary and potatoes. Combining them with a bit of Ricotta, freshly ground black pepper and extra virgin olive oil, creates a simple yet delightful dish bringing the mediterranean into my dreary and overcast German day.

This will easily feed 3 grownups :)

Ingredients

(without pizza dough)
150 g / 2/3 cup of Ricotta cheese
3-4 waxy potatoes
300 g / 2 cups of feta cheese
3-4 red onions or a mix of sweet onions and red onions, medium sized
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
Fresh ground pepper
Extra native olive oil

Mise en place

Prepare the pizza dough, roll out into a rectangular shape (cut to fit you want, place it on a matching sheet of baking paper. Pre-heat the oven to 220 C / 428 F, heat the baking tray in the oven.

Clean and peel the potatoes, using  a use a mandoline or an adjustable-blade slicer to cut really thin slices. (You can now blanche the the slices for about 4 minutes in salt water, rinse and dry them off on kitchen towels, this is optional however and was not required for me).

Peel and cut the onions into thick chunks, making sure not that they are not too thin, will keep them from drying out and burning.

Wash and dry the sprigs of rosemary, remove the rosemary leaves.

Preparation

Place the rectangle of pizza dough on the piece of baking paper. Spread the Ricotta on the dough, season with a bit of salt and generously with black pepper. Place the thin slices of potato on top of the ricotta layer side by side with a small overlap. Crumble the feta on top of the potatoes, add the rosemary. Spread the onions slices all over the feta and sprinkle generously with a good olive oil.

Place the pizza using the baking paper on the hot baking tray in the lower part of your oven , bake for about 30 minutes. If the potatoes are not done by then, reduce the temperature to 2/3 thirds and keep baking until the potatoes are done.

Season again with fresh pepper and a bit of olive oil, serve hot or cold.

Bon Appétit

Would you like to be notified about food posts? Let me know in the comments. If you would like to see my other recipes, check out the about part of my profile:http://goo.gl/bzgOa

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The largest ice-caves in the world

I showed these yesterday to +Andrea Evans because she will be going to Austria soon, I figured why not share this with all of you. If you are in Austria near Salzburg, I truly consider this to a place you have to visit to see the wonders of this formation: 

Cave formation:

The Eisriesenwelt is a labyrinth of caves with a total length of over 40 km. As is the case with all caves, their formation spans a long period of time. The first cracks and crevices in the limestone appeared during the elevation of the mountains approx. 100 million years ago and over the course of thousands of years became more developed and extended as a result of chemical reactions and water erosion. Caves in the alps are still developing, although in many cases the process of drying out has limited their development.

Ice in the caves:

There are various ways in which cave ice can form. The Eisriesenwelt is a dynamic cave, meaning that the corridors and the crevices connect lower lying entrances to higher openings hence making it possible for draughts of air to circulate – similar to the effect in a chimney. Depending upon the outside temperature, it is either warmer or cooler inside the mountain and this causes the air to circulate upwards or downwards. In winter, when the air inside the mountain is warmer than outside, cold air streams into the mountain and reduces the temperature of the lower areas of the caves to below freezing point. In spring the meltwater seeps through the cracks in the rock and when it reaches the colder lower areas of the caves it freezes and turns slowly into the wonderful ice formations visible inside the caves.

Find more infos here: 
http://goo.gl/DQppX

Images are from the homepage of the ice caves

Moroccan Chicken on red Couscous with Pomegranate and Cilantro

I bought organic chicken breast yesterday and also a bunch of beautiful pomegranates. So here you go, a culinary trip to North Africa, sort of. This is extremely simple and quick to cook since you can prepare most in advance and just need to cook it when the time is right. Join me in tasting the delightful combination of tender chicken seasoned with Moroccan spices, earthy and fruity notes, combined with slight tartness of pomegranates and the fresh and citrus like cilantro.

Serves 2-3

Ingredients

Chicken

2 organic chicken breasts
1 1/2 teaspoons of Ras el Hanout
1 teaspoon of salt
fresh black pepper
1 tablespoon of honey
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons of soy sauce

Beet-apple couscous

250 g / 8,5.oz of pre-cooked couscous
250 ml / 1 C of stock of your choice (or used water salted with about 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt and 1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 Pomegranate
2 - 3 flakes of butter
1/2 bunch of cilantro
1 large beet,  cooked and cubed
1 sweet apple, peeled and cubed
Apple juice

Mise en Place

At least two hours before cooking (I did this in the morning)

Cut the chicken against the grain into inch sized cubes, set aside. In a bowl, mix the Ras el hanout, salt, honey, olive oil and soy sauce until well mixed. Add the chicken and turn to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least two hours, longer is better.

Right before cooking

Peel the apple and the beet, cut into cubes. Add into a container and using an emulsion blender, while adding a bit of apple juice, blend well. It can be thick and should not be too liquid.

Wash and chop the coriander. Remove the seeds from the pomegranate, set aside. Keep the juice.

Preparation

Heat a frying pan with a bit of neutral oil to medium-high heat. Add the chicken, do not overcrowd the pan. Fry gently until the chicken changes colour (about 2 minutes per side) remove from the pan and let it rest. Cook the rest and set it aside.

In the meantime, bring the water / stock, mixed with the beet/apples to a boil. Remove from the heat, slowly add the couscous, stir. Cover and let sit for about 2 minutes. Add the butter, stir again. Put it on low heat for about 3 minutes to let if finish., keep stirring using a fork Add the pomegranate seeds and leftover parsley. Cover and set aside.

Mix in the cilantro, arrange on a pre-heated place and add the chicken on top. Season with fresh pepper and some more coriander.

Bon Appétit

Would you like to be notified about food posts? Let me know in the comments. If you would like to see my other recipes, check out the about part of my profile:http://goo.gl/bzgOa

Search for  DReulWorthyRecipes and you'll get all my recipes in a stream, including pictures.

#foodporn  

I see your bacon +Carrie Canup and I raise you fresh strawberries with whipped cream

#dirkwhipshisfluffyearsbackansforth

Dry Aged Entrecôte with Rosemary Oven Baked Vegetables

I went shopping this morning and behold, my butcher had some dry aged beef. I bought 2 pieces of Entrecôte each about 1.5-2 inches thick.  The use of potatoes and beets, both of which can be baked in the oven, gave me a nice side dish that played well with the flavour of the meat.

You can use any steak cut (Filet, Sirloin, Rib Eye, Porterhouse, T-Bone and NY Strip) of your liking for this, please mind that the cooking time will of course vary with thickness and cut. Another point that will have some people in uproar, is the fact I salt the steak before I cook it, long before. I leave the salt on the steak to help relax the proteins and infuse it with taste of the meat and the flavour of my choice which will be kept during cooking. The meat needs to be at room temperature before cooking it, that is the most important part. So, no more ado, here is the recipe for this Saturday's dish.

2 servings

Ingredients

2 1.5 - 2 inches thick steaks (about 300g each)
2-3 beets
500 g/18 oz/1.2 pounds of potatoes
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
a few sprigs of fresh rosemary
coarse sea salt or kosher salt
whole black and red peppers
kitchen yarn

Mise en Place

-Remove the meat from the fridge at least two hours before cooking it, let
 it get to room temperature.
-About 1 hour before cooking, season the meat from both sides with
  about 1 teaspoon of coarse sea salt and rosemary. Leave it covered
  outside the fridge.
-Gently wash the beets, cook them in salted water for about 15 minutes
  and peel them under water, cut into thick slices, put into a baking try
-Peel and wash potatoes, cut into thick slices, add to the beets
-Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
-Gently roast the pepper in a dry non stick pan, grind using a mill or
  mortar and pestle

Preparation

This will take about one hour, pre-heat the oven to 180 C (350 F)

Place the vegetables into the oven, after 30 minutes add the chopped rosemary and leave it in the oven for about 15 more minutes. drizzle lightly again with olive oil and season with freshly ground pepper. Set aside covered to keep it hot. Reduce the heat of the oven to about 120 C (250 F)

Rinse the steaks thoroughly, make sure you pat them really dry after this before you cook them.

Use a very large pan or better yet, two pans for steaks this size. Heat a cast iron or non stick pan to high heat using a neutral oil or some clarified butter. Make sure the steaks have the same height all over, I used kitchen yarn to ensure this.

Sear the steaks on the edges and then sear each side for about 1.5 minutes at high heat to form a nice crust. Remove from the pan and wrap it in aluminium foil. Place them in the oven for about 8 minutes to cook them medium rare. You can place the vegetables into the oven as well to re-heat them. After the steaks are done, arrange and serve while hot. Season with a bit of coarse salt and the fresh pepper. Enjoy this simple dish that combines only a few basic flavours to great effect.



Bon Appétit

Would you like to be notified about food posts? Let me know in the comments. If you would like to see my other recipes, check out the about part of my profile: http://goo.gl/bzgOa

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+Foodies of G+ +Indulge Into Darkness 

If you follow the hashtag DReulWorthyRecipes  in the comments, you'll get all my recipes in stream including pictures.

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sorry, but someone failed at GUI design 101. Unless you are trying to drive us nuts or just have posts that say "lol". 

+Google+ We are providing feedback of course, now we can hope that someone listens. It is actually easier to use Google+ on mobile right now. 

Hey <_<  Wait, ... 

via +Halfdan Reschat 

PS: I had to scroll, in this composer window.. this is ridiculous. 

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I mean, really.
It makes it so fun to chase a comment box.

The Wolverine - official, international Trailer

now, this could be lots of fun! 

Thank you

I am still not recovered from yesterdays amazing birthday onslaught! You are all just wonderful friends and I have a hard time expressing just much this all means to me for once. That says something because I am usually considered to be uhm wordy <_<


Aw, who am I kidding. I had an incredible day yesterday. I woke up and the Reulek was all over world, as in there are so many wonderful pictures with him out there and a lot of you just went above and beyond everything. Thank you. 

Thank you all so much for my beautiful presents <3
I promise I will not use it for smut :P

Yes, for those wondering, this is a hard disk inside in a book :) and I love it! 
The coffee mug was already put to good use of course this morning, I <3 it so much! 

Slow roasted pork belly

This is my all time favourite way of preparing a pork belly. The basic concept is to cure the meat for up to 48 hours (minimum 8) with spices and slowly roast it in the oven. The flavour infused meat will be tender and most of the fat will be rendered out and you are left with wonderful pork meat.

That means that this is not a complete menu, no side dishes this time because I want to use this as cold cuts in the next days.

Ingredients
1 kg of deboned pork belly with or without skin
2-3  tsp coriander seeds
2- 3 tsp fennel seeds
2- 3 tsp caraway seeds
50g salt ( 1/4 cup )
50 brown sugar ( 1/4 cup)
1 tbs black peppercorns

1 baking dish that is roughly the same size and the pork belly

Mise en Place

(up to 48 hours before cooking)

If the skin is still on the pork, score it with a knife and make sure not to cut too deep. Score it cross wise.

Gently roast the coriander, caraway, fennel and the black pepper in a non-stick pan without oil. As they start to pop, immediately remove them from the heat and use a mortar and pestle to crush them, mix with the sugar and salt.

Rub the dry rub on all sides of the pork belly, place it in a dish and pour all the remaining dry rub top, cover it and cure it in the fridge for up to 48 hours. Turn the meat from time to time, making sure the spices are everywhere.


Preparation

Remove at least 2 two hours before cooking from the fridge after the spices have been rinsed off with cold water.

Pre-heat the oven to max temp 240 degrees C (475 F). Place the baking dish with the pork belly in the oven (skin side up) and roast for about 15 minutes, reduce the temperature to 140 degrees C (290 F) and roast the pork belly for another two hours. You can pour the rendered fat over the belly from time to time.

Once the time is up, remove from the oven. if you want the skin to be nice and crunchy, briefly turn on the grill and broil it for about 5 minutes. Let the meat rest for about 15 minutes and then cut into slices or wrap it in clear film and let it cool in the fridge. You can eat them cold or re-heat in a pan.

This works really well in a hot savoury broth, with mashed potatoes, on buns or whatever tickles your fancy. Use mustard or herb mayonnaise, or enjoy it pure.

Bon Appétit



Would you like to be notified about food posts? Let me know in the comments. If you would like to see my other recipes, check out the "About" part of my profile  http://goo.gl/bzgOa

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#DReulWorthyRecipes  

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mhhh Canadians

+Mellie B +Wanda Howe +Melissa Bryan +Brynn Brown +Terry McNeil 

<_<
I had no idea..

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Hah..... Probably true.

Happy birthday dear +Mz Maau

It is been a year again and I had to travel long and far, to find this little guy for you. He does remind me of someone, <_<

I hope this day will find you happy and smiling, covered in cats and slightly nibbled upon by your loved furry ones as you wake up. You deserve the most wonderful cake, lots of it and for once, no greedy Bits all over it. 

<3 You wonderful, delightful, lovable, squeeable and glittery friend. 

#happybirthdaymaau   #ephelant  

I want this place, who wants to move in with me and why should I choose you?

 I'll cook  :P

Loft 24-7, designed by Fernanda Marques Arquitetos Asociados, is located in São Paulo, Brazil.

The home exists as much on the outside as on the inside, blurring the boundaries of the house with the use of ponds and trees placed in key locations. The modern design loft spreads on a 250 sqm / 2700 sqf area in the shape of a large bungalow open to the natural surroundings. The idea behind the project is to make the internal living space one with nature by using open rooms, natural materials and daylight.

h/t +Carrie Canup 

http://www.fernandamarques.com.br/

Pear and Gorgonzola Risotto with roasted Walnuts

Today's dish a real Italian classic, combining the the spicy, piquant flavour of the Gorgonzola with the sweetness of the caramelized pears. There is even a saying in Italy “al contadino non far sapere quant’è buono il cacio con le pere” (don’t let the farmer know how good cheese is with pears).  This is a beautiful combination. For those afraid of strong cheese, this is not the dominant flavour, it is the mix of savoury and sweet that is a true pleasure, go ahead try it. Add less cheese if you are afraid and increase the amount until you are satisfied.


(2 servings)

Ingredients

150g Carnaroli rice (risotto rice)
olive oil
250ml dry white wine 
1 shallot
1 leek
fresh ground black pepper
40 g butter
60 g Parmesan
fresh Thyme
small handfull of Walnut cores
1 Tbs of brown sugar
butter
80g of Gorgonzola
2 ripe pears
1- 1,5 l of boiling vegetable stock (or chicken)

Mise en Place

-  peel the shallot and mince it finely and cut the cleaned leek into thin
   rings
- bring the stock to a boil
- gently roast the Walnut cores in a non stick pan, do not burn them
- peel the pears, remove the core and cut into bite sized cubes
- heat a Tbs of butter in a non stick pan and saute the pear cubes for a
   few minutes, add the sugar and caramelize them gently, put aside
- grate the Parmesan and pull off a tsp of thyme tips, put aside

Preparation

Heat the olive oil in a pot, add a tsp of butter, add the chopped onions and leek, stir and cook until translucent. Add the risotto rice and stir until translucent, after about 3 minutes of gentle stirring add the white wine, stir and wait until the liquid has been soaked up by the rice. Start adding the stock until the risotto is covered, stir occasionally and keep adding stock and stir from time to time.

Try the risotto after about 15 minutes, it is supposed to be soft on the outside and still have some bite in the middle all the while already being creamy. Add the Gorgonzla and pears and keep stirring until the cheese melts and the pears are warmed through.

Turn off the heat and add the Parmesan and thyme tips along with a tsp of butter. Stir and put the lid on the pot. Let it rest for about two minutes. Season with salt and fresh Pepper to your liking.

Serve with a fruity, chilled white wine and add the roasted walnuts along with some fresh thyme tips.

Bon Appétit

Would you like to be notified about food posts? Let me know in the comments. If you would like to see my other recipes, check out the "About" part of my profile  http://goo.gl/bzgOa
#DReulWorthyRecipes  

When life gives you spices, take them and make cookies

This may happen tomorrow and I may post about another recipe from my childhood

Cherry Cake with Semolina

This is a recipe from the 50's, a classic that reminds me of my childhood and a real treat, no matter if it is cold outside or warm. For me, it is a winter dish,  using the canned cherries we picked in the summer. But you can and should try it with fresh, pitted cherries in Summer as well. It is simple and delicious and makes me feel right at home. I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I do.

Ingredients

60 g / 0.53  stick of unsalted butter
100g / 1/2 cup of sugar
1 vanilla bean pod / 2 teaspoons of Vanilla extract
3 - 6  drops of bitter almond aroma or a bit of Amaretto
2 eggs
150 g / 3/4 cups of Farina / Cream of Wheat / Semolina
125 g / 1 cup of all purpose flour
3 teaspoons of baking powder
1/4 l / 1 cup of milk
300 g / 1 pound of pitted cherries


Mise en Place

- Pre-heat the oven to 180 C or  356 F.
- Butter the flat tin / or pie plate add some semolina until it is lightly  
  covered  to prevent the cake from sticking.
- Using an electric whisk, mix the soft butter, sugar, vanilla, the almond
  oil,  the eggs and the Farina until you have a smooth mass. Then mix
  the flour  and the baking powder and slowly sift the mix into the dough
  while adding   the milk. Pour the dough into the flat tin and then add the
  cherries and lightly press them into the dough.

Preparation

Bake the cake for about 45 minutes until the top has a golden crust. Remove and let it cool for about 10 minutes. Serve while hot with whipped cream or plain like I enjoy it.

Bon Appétit

Would you like to be notified about food posts? Let me know in the comments. If you would like to see my other recipes, check out the about part of my profile:http://goo.gl/bzgOa

#foodporn  

+Foodies of G+  +Indulge Into Darkness 

If you follow the hashtag DReulWorthyRecipes  in the first comment, you'll get all my recipes in a stream, including pictures.

The Rocky Horror Big Bang Show

The cast of The Big Bang Theory at a Alzheimer's benefit as the cast of the Rocky Horror Picture Show

FTW!

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Some people should never be forgotten 

via  +Michael Washington 

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What will you do today to make someone's life better?

Irena Sendler - Life in A Jar
http://www.irenasendler.com/

#truehero  

Type based Images by Peter Ware

Love these! :)

source: http://www.behance.net/gallery/Drive-in-Prints/6508447

The Hobbit - new trailer

Watch it while it is fresh because obviously! 

#thehobbit  

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.. They know me

via +Terry McNeil 

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Temptations ....

http://pinterest.com/pin/117656608987364731/

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yep

So game designers, time to change hm?

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I a few gamer girl friends and this made me think of each and every one of them ;)

#gamergirls #geek #videogames  

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Be afraid be very afraid

:P

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"Be there in a sec."

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Take a look at what +Mezza May made with the recipe for German cheesecake I posted last year. I'm a decidedly bad influence on her and I love it :)

Please show some love on the OP if you enjoy the result :)

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Baked Cheesecake

I have been wanting to make this cake for a long time, ever since +Dirk Reul reminded me of it with his post and recipe:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/111306922173966452075/posts/WSfcRU3teN7

I used to live in Germany and this was one of my favourite things to eat.
There were a couple of things holding me back from making it though. First of all I am notoriously bad at making pastry and secondly, quark (the soft cheese used in the recipe) is not widely available in the UK and where it is, it's usually a "virtually fat free" variety which Dirk was not sure would give optimum results.

Well, eventually I decided to just try it with the low fat version, which is all I could get hold of.

The result? Brilliant! True, my pastry leaves a lot to be desired but it's edible. It's also true that my oven doesn't distribute heat very evenly, hence make cake doesn't look perfect. However, the finished result was more than satisfactory and using low fat quark doesn't seem to have impaired the flavour or texture either.
I also have a smaller cake tin than Dirk's 11 inches...mine is only 9" which I believe is the standard size in the UK, so I did have extra pastry and quark mix left over which I made up and baked in separate ramekins. The recipe makes a huge cake...I would consider altering the recipe next time to fit properly into my 9" tin.

Verdict : Delicious and highly recommended.

I served the cake on some very special bone china that you can read about here:
http://mezzamay.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/noras-salvaged-treasure.html

#cheesecakephotography   #baking   #cake   #dreulworthyrecipes  

Merry Christmas

Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, or if you choose to do something else entirely. The next days will be special for many people I know and care for. Regardless of what you believe, I hope you'll have days of peace, time well spent in joy and I wish you well. I will be out and about, so I'll just leave this here for the next days :) 

You know who you are, I am glad to have you in my life. Be well my friends.

Porcino Walnut Ravioli in a Lemon-Butter Sauce

After indulging myself in the last week with lots of ice cream and a hearty meat pie, the goal of this Saturday was to create something that combines the upcoming Autumn, with the last beautiful days of Summer. So, out with the trusty Pasta machine and let's make some Ravioli.

(2 Servings)

Ingredients

Ravioli

50 g flour
50 g durum semolina
50 ml cold water (add more if needed)


Filling

1 ½ Hands full of dried Porcino (Penny bun)
75ml lukewarm water
2 Tbs chopped walnuts
¼  onion, finely chopped
1  Tsp clarified butter
30 ml Martini (Rossi Vermouth)
75 g Ricotta
50 ml heavy cream
salt, pepper and nutmeg


Lemon-Butter sauce

1 lemon (organic)
1 Tbs sugar
50 ml white wine
100 g cold butter in little pieces
salt


Parmesan

Mise en Place

About 2 hours before cooking, prepare the Pasta.
-Mix the durum semolina with the flour and the water and knead into a
 smooth, non-sticky ball of dough, wrap into clear wrap and store it in the
 fridge for a least one hour. If the dough is too crumbly, add a few drops of  
 water and keep kneading.

-Soak the dried mushroom in hot water that you bring to a short boil, take off
 the heat and let it soak for about 20 minutes. Remove from the water, (keep
 the water, strain it into another container) press the excess water from the  
 mushrooms and cut them into smaller pieces.

-Gently roast the chopped walnuts in a skillet without adding fat, when
 roasted, remove from the pan and set aside

-Heat the clarified butter in a large skillet, braise the onions lightly, add the
 mushrooms and cook those for about one minute. Deglaze with the Martini and the
 strained mushroom liquid and let it simmer until all the liquid is gone. Season
 with salt to your liking.

-Let the mix cool down and add the Ricotta, the cream and mix it. Season with
 salt, pepper and nutmeg. Set aside in the fridge.

- After one hour, take your dough out of the fridge

- Flour your board, your dough and your rolling pin. Roll your dough into a
  very thin rectangle. You want the dough as thin as possible. Depending on
  the tools available, you can use a special tool for making ravioli (a Ravioli
  press) or use a round cookie cutter of appropriate size.

Create as many ravioli as you can from the dough, place a small amount of filling on one half. You want to make sure that when you fold the upper part of the ravioli over, there is enough filling and not too much. Now put some water on the outer edge of the ravioli before pressing them together. Place the finished ravioli on a floured baking sheet and keep them i the fridge until you want to cook them.

Preparation

Wash the lemon under hot water and scrub thoroughly. Using a potato peeler, remove thin strips of lemon peel from 1/3 lemon and cut those into extra thin slices. Press out the remaining lemon and keep the lemon juice.

In order to cook the ravioli bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Drop in your raviolis and stir gently. Raviolis will be finished cooking once they float to the top. Drain and pour back into the hot pot. Place on the still warm burner. Be sure they won't stick to the pot.

Take a large non stick skillet and caramelize the sugar until golden, deglaze with the lemon juice and white wine and reduce to half (be really careful, this will happen fast). add the ice cold pieces of butter and the little slices of peel and mix gently. Season with salt

Serve the Ravioli on a pre-heated plate and season with fresh pepper, fresh Parmesan and a dry white wine.


Bon Appétit

Would you like to be notified about food posts? Let me know in the comments. If you would like to see my other recipes, check out the "About" part of my profile  http://goo.gl/bzgOa

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Since +Melissa Bryan did hers.. I gave it a first try. I feel there might be more..  

http://www.jointherealm.com/

Love Hurts First Aid

Melanie Chernock, created this nifty set of first response essentials for a broken heart ( I do not have have to insert a wink here, right?) Too bad it is not for sale. 

_Love Hurts was created based on an assignment to make an activity book. I thought it would be more interesting to make a sort of activity kit instead. From there, I came up with the concept of Love Hurts: A first aid kit for a broken heart. Initially, I knew that I did not want to make a kit of sadness and wanted to approach the product with a sense of humor. Love Hurts contains all of the essentials for going through a rough breakup such as dark chocolate, vodka, bubble bath soap, a candle with matches, candy hearts, a mix CD, and, if all else fails, tissues. All of the products come neatly packaged in a compact kit. Unfortunately, the kit is not yet available to purchase. If anyone is interested in producing it, please get in touch! _

See more of her work here: www.melaniechernock.com

*Behind my office. *

I am now waiting for Clara to show up and.. oh wait.. that was the Christmas special

Apple Cinnamon Cocoa Cake

Due to reasons, no regular food post today. Instead I opted for another childhood classic. One I still like to bake today. It is not as sweet as most cakes and deliciously moist and yummy with the taste of Christmas all around.

Follow me on my trip down memory lane with this simple recipe that just might surprise you.

Ingredients

Dough
1/2 cups /113 g/4 oz of butter
3.85 cups / 500 g of cake flour (type 550)
1 package of instant dry yeast
2 Tablespoons of sugar
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 large or 2 small size whole eggs
1/4 l / 1 cup whole fat milk

Filling
2 apples of your choice (I prefer Elstar)
cinnamon powder as you see fit.
2 - 3 Tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder
2- 3 Tablespoons of brown sugar
one Vanilla pod (use the appropriate amount of vanilla extract)
a few dashes of Rum.

Mise en Place

All Ingredients should be at room temperature.
- Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl by sifting the flour and the dry
  yeast into to the bowl.
-Add the other dry ingredients, the eggs, butter and using a electric whisk with
 dough hooks, combine into a smooth dough while adding the milk. If the
 dough is too sticky, slowly add more flour and knead it in using your
  hands until it no longer sticks to your fingers.
-The dough then needs to be lightly dusted with flour and should rest
 covered in the bowl in a warm place without draft for about one hour. It
 should double in size during that time.

-Take the wad of dough and using a rolling pin, form into a rectangle on a
 surface lightly dusted with flour until it is about 0.5 cm / 0.2 inches thick.
- Now start adding the cocoa, the vanilla seeds, cinnamon as you see fit
  and the brown sugar all over the dough, leaving a 0.5 inch broad border
  free all around.
- Peel the apples and using a grater, spread the apples all over the
  cocoa. Add a few dashes of rum.
- Now fold one end lengthwise inside while rolling it up  to form a roll with
  the folded up ends pointing upwards.
- Gently put this roll on a large sheet of baking paper, put that on a baking
  tray and turn the ends of the roll of dough inside to form an half open
  circle. Cover again with a tea towel and let is rest for about one hour,
  again in a warm and draft-free place.It should again more than double
  in size.

- Pre-heat the oven to about 170 degrees celsius / 212 F.

Preparation

Bake the cake for about 30 minutes. Once the cake as a nice golden crust. It should be done. Remove from the oven and let it cool down on a cooling rack for about 20 minutes.

Enjoy warm or cold with a hot beverage of your choice.

Bon Appétit

Would you like to be notified about food posts? Let me know in the comments. If you would like to see my other recipes, check out the about part of my profile:http://goo.gl/bzgOa

#foodporn  

+Foodies of G+ +Indulge Into Darkness 

If you follow the hashtag DReulWorthyRecipes  in the first comment, you'll get all my recipes in a stream, including pictures.

★ Seared duck breast with Pommes Noisette and Green Beans on  Orange-mustard sauce ★

Tender duck breast with an orange mustard sauce, green beans and potatoes roasted in butter.

The slightly tangy orange mustard sauce is a real treat combined with duck and the nutty flavours of the Pommes Noisette (balls of potato roasted in butter until golden brown) combines beautifully.

(1 person)

Ingredients

1 duck breast with skin intact (wash and dry off carefully)
1 shallot (finely diced)
1 handful of green beans (cleaned and cut into same length)
3-4 large potatoes (washed and peeled)
2-3 organic oranges (depending on size)
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
400ml of duck stock (chicken stock)
salt
black pepper
leaf parsley
clarified butter
butter
some corn starch to thicken the sauce
1  Melon Baller (used to make balls of vegetables and fruits)
1-2 teaspoons of sesame seeds

Mise en Place

- Use the Melon Baller to form nut sized balls out of the potatoes, put them
  in cold water in a pot
- clean the beans, cut into same length and wash
- wash the duck breast and dry thoroughly
- Prepare a bowl of Ice water for the beans
- wash the oranges and make about 100 ml of orange juice
- mix a little bit of starch with cold water, make sure it is mixed well
- Set up one pot for the green beans, lightly salted water, bring to boil add
  green beans, cook for about 8 minutes, drain and put beans in ice water to
  stop them from cooking, this will also help retain the rich green colour.
  Remove from cold water after a few minutes and let them dry off.
- Set up a cold non stick pan for the duck
- Pre-heat your oven to 90 degrees Celsius ( 194 F)
- Set up one pot of salted water with the potato balls and bring it to boil,
 cook  for about 10 minutes, drain and let cool
- chop the leaf parsley

Preparation

You will need to watch your timing, the duck will take about 15-20 minutes in total. The potatoes will take about the same times but need to be stirred constantly, the beans will need about 5 more minutes to sautée in butter.

Pommes Noisette
Heat some butter in a non stick pan, add the potato balls and season lightly with salt, keep stirring until they are golden brown from all sides, add the parsley and the sesame seeds.

Duck
Put the duck into the cold pan, skin downwards and heat the pan to high temps, this will render out the fat. Once the skin side is golden brown, flip and sear for about two minutes, put duck breast on a roast in oven for about 10 minutes and let it rest. Leave the pan for the sauce

Orange sauce
Leave about 3 tablespoons of the rendered duck fat, deglaze with the orange juice, add the duck stock and let it reduce to about 2 thirds at high heat. Add the mustard, stir thoroughly, let it reduce to about 1 third. Season to your liking with salt and add the starch-water mix to thicken the sauce.

Green Beans
Set up one small pan with some butter for the green beans, add diced shallot and sautée until glassy. Add the beans and cook for about 5 more minutes, making sure to cover the beans with the butter


After the resting period, remove the duck from the oven and cut into thin slices, arrange all on plate and serve with a light white wine, for example a flowery Chardonnay.

Bon Appétit
#DReulWorthyRecipes  

This just happened..

Well, I think I know what will happen when I have a quiet moment, with a good book. 

Google+ is

+Scott Cramer started this a few day ago,( http://goo.gl/ULX9N
)  this is my tale.

Amidst all the shenanigans, the laughter and banter, the shared stories. the hours spend talking and reading; the sharing of beautiful art, found or self made, the discussions, the whispering of things that move us personally with those whom we trust must  I have found Google to be one thing in particular

This is the place, where I went from feeling a bit lost, to being welcomed by wonderful people. Where I met so many that have touched my life in all the ways imaginable. Some have disappeared, some have moved on, some have revealed themselves to be different from what I thought they were, some have broken away and found new people they enjoy, some have surprised, made me laugh, made me cry, challenged me in all the good ways, helped me become a better person in some ways, or have simply shown that there is so much good out there if you are but willing to look and give people a chance.  

When it comes to those that stayed, some have shown themselves to be true friends, not different than those I know IRL, people I confide in , people I connected with and still do to this day. They have stayed true, they gave me a little piece of themselves, as a gift, nothing less.

This is what Google+ is to me. a place where I came to meet new people and found friends instead

#gplusis  

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I think.. this could come in handy..

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I might hand these out to people as awards at work.

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So wrong.. and +Tara Mulder is so right

Really, you 22 year old wise dude from Miami? (Thank you +Halfdan Reschat for digging that up)  Having sex and education are mutually exclusive? Sex is something positive as is education. Embracing both enriches our lives. Sex-shaming people is wrong. Period. 

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And then bite the fingers right off that asshole who not only slut-shames you, but thinks that having/enjoying sex and getting an education are mutually exclusive.

Blood and Chrome

This Friday on Machinima :D 

Source: http://insidetv.ew.com/2012/11/05/battlestar-galactica-prequel-date/


Here’s the raw essentials: BSG: B&C is a prequel movie being presented as ten, 7-12-minute episodes on  entertainment company Machinima’s YouTube channel, called Machinima Prime. The first episode will be released on Friday, Nov. 9, with the remaining episodes rolled out over the next four weeks. In early 2013, the two-hour version of B&C will air on Syfy, followed by the release of an unrated version on home video.

h/t to +Katey Springle Lempka and +Michael Gaines 

So, let us wait for the unrated version eh? :)

Chocolate-Kahlua Sherbet

The things I learn about ice-cream. Apparently, a Sherbet is a bit like a sorbet only it is usually made with milk or egg whites. In this case, it was made with milk. The taste is pretty amazing and the texture is very creamy, it is fairly dense so it reminds me more of an Italian Gelato. But if you like chocolate Ice-cream or just chocolate, this could be your ice-cream (looking at you +Dee M :P )

The Kahlua added a really nice flavour to it, all in all, not suited for children but wonderful for grown-ups. You can, of course, leave the Kahlua out. 

The recipe is by David Lebovitz and it was just a very nice addition to a hot, fresh coffee. I can really recommend this recipe. 

Ingredients

2 cups (500ml) milk (whole, low, or non-fat)
1/2 cup (100g) sugar
pinch of salt
1/2 cup (50g) unsweetened cocoa powder
4 ounces (115g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
optional: 2 tablespoons coffee-flavored liqueur, such as Kahluà

Preparation

1. In a medium-sized saucepan, warm half of the milk with the sugar, salt, and cocoa powder.

2. Bring to a full boil while whisking, then reduce the heat and simmer gently for 30 seconds.

3. Remove from heat and add the chocolate, the vanilla, and the coffee-flavored liqueur, if using. Stir in the other half of the milk.

4. Taste, and if the chocolate is a bit grainy, puree it in a blender to smooth it out.

5. Chill thoroughly, then freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Source: http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2009/06/chocolate-sherbet/

#DReulWorthyRecipes  

I've been a bad boy! Honestly,I waited way too long to let you guys know how much your gifts meant to me. They took a while to get here and then, kept putting posting it off because how could I convey with mere words how my heart almost burst when I opened them (including the ones that arrived in time for my bday) how I felt like I just diced onions, how I want to hug each and everyone of you like mad, cook your favourite food or/ and get drunk with you or just laugh and have fun. Maybe all of it. Thank you for making my birthday one I'll remember forever !

So many feels!

I would also like to point out how that one character on the Weiner shirt looks suspiciously like Scott >_>

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Want
via +Helene Dsouza 

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Chocolate Roulade with Burnt Sugar Buttercream

Recipe http://www.ledelicieux.com/recipes/chocolate-roulade-with-burnt-sugar-italian-meringue-buttercream/

#chocolaterecipes   #swissroll   #buttercreamfrosting   #bakingrecipe  

Blackadder - why you should start

Do you enjoy black humour, sarcasm, witty dialogue or utter nonsense? Brilliant  welcome to the world of Blackadder. What truly made Rowan Atkinson famous, was surely this show. Not the rather, well, simpler Mr. Bean. You will also see a lot of familiar faces throughout the seasons;  Hugh Laurie (Dr. House) or Stephen Fry to name but two.  That said, grab a servant to rest your feet, a potato and if I may say so, Sir Your Moustache Is Lovely.

You ride a horse rather less well than another horse would. Your brain would make a grain of sand look large and ungainly and the part of you that can't be mentioned, I am reliably informed by women around the court, wouldn't be worth mentioning even if it could be.

Watch all episodes. online, on Dailymotion: http://goo.gl/qhurm

#H201306220700   

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Well.. no one can say that I am not doing nice things for them on Easter. I mean look at those eggs! 

<_<

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Beware the After Easter Bunny!

While I was away last week, the doshare app crashed so your pre-Easter mash-up is now your post-Easter mash-up featuring the one and only Mister +Dirk Reul! ;-)

#gplususermashup #Easter #EasterBunny

*Happy birthday +Ashlan Nathens*

I came to know you via +Andrew Clifton-Brown last year, I enjoyed your art and friendly nature a lot. Then via Andrew again, I met +Andrea Evans and soon after we had a hangout where we noticed that you and I not only share the passion for certain literature, but also that we share the same birthday. Ash, is has been and still is, a pleasure to know you. With all the wit, generosity, talent and being just a wonderful person to chat with, you have more than earned all the good things that have happened to you since I met you and I hope things will continue to go well. I would warn you, however, that you should always stock up on food for +Yoon-Mi Kim and maybe keep a bag of treats in your pockets for when she suddenly gets hungry.




I hope you will celebrate like there is no tomorrow and have a jolly good time, mate!



#HappyBirthdayAshlanNathens

#HappyBirthdayScribblegraph

Knitting out of control

Right, fashion.I don't even.. is this what happens when +Mellie B +Mezza May or +Carrie Canup are out of control? 

Yes, that is actually being sold by www.siblinglondon.com

I have to say the sheer ballsy move to name the collection "Please Kill Me" .. genius, pure genius though I am not sure this will be worn by many men. 
But, they are creative and +Lady Gaga would probably go for it. 

Time for Cake

Today is a special day. +Kyla Myers's birthday to be more precise. Getting her birthday to trend was the first thing we did, the Scooby Gang Birthday Gang created lots of wonderful things for Kyla, custom photos, amazing cakes and all kinds of shenanigans.

But.. that was not quite everything. We've been burning the midnight oil to finish a very special piece for Kyla. Her very own, personal and slightly wacky, Dr. Who themed comic.

Dear Kyla, I hope you will have the best of times when you finally get to celebrate on the weekend.

You are not only a warm hearted, talented, incredibly smart and wonderfully snarky friend. You are also very dear to me, happy birthday to you and lots of love! 

#happybirthdaykyla  

PS: I will create a separate post where you can download the comic as: 
- epub
- regular pdf
- 600 DPI pdf
- CBZ file

I don't always post cat pictures, but when I do ...

I could not resist >_>
Don't judge me

Via GAS

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This

no comment required. 

giggles manly

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Monty Python + Dirk Reul = This

Well, either this or a giant foot squishing his head. When I posted the original animation earlier, I just felt like it was missing something. So far, my theory of image improvement holds true. Just add +Dirk Reul. He's like the all-spice of graphics. ;-)

#gplususermashup  

The House of Reul - We Own The Noms

Ingredients are gathered, and now my time begins. It shall not end until my cake is done. I shall take no tofu, hold no low quality pots, use no ready-made sauces. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall cook and bake at my post. I am the spatula in the darkness. I am the cook in the kitchen. I am the fire that burns against the cold, the light that brings the dawn, the coffee that wakes the sleepers, the bacon that strengthens the realms of all I pledge my stove and honour to the Cake's Watch, for this night and all nights to come.

Right, after this is it, my final attempt to come up with my own version of Game of Thrones inspired house emblem that does not use the generator provided by HBO. So, now that you are sick of seeing my attempts, I shall it quits for today. You have all been lovely :) 

Special thanks go out to +Mezza May +Melissa Bryan +Carrie Canup and +Clare Cosgrove :) 

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Be still my grumpy heart

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I don't usually go for meme t-shirts, but I love this one
http://www.redbubble.com/people/powerpig/works/9823665-its-awful
Via laughingsquid.com
#grumpycat   #grumpycaturday  

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Bazinga

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Reverse Procrastination

Yes, we've all bad these days when we wanted to have fun and just waste time but then ended up being super productive.

We probably should not complain >_>

Via http://www.shoeboxblog.com/?p=33286

It's been a while. easy A

I adore this movie, perfect delivery, well played, Emma Stone.
Did I mention Emma Stone?

Also, love the parents

http:/imdb.com/title/tt1282140/

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So true

via +angelique b 

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Superheroes
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