Grandma’s Waffels  (12-14 pieces)

250g butter or margarine

3-4 tbsp caster sugar

2 packets vanilla sugar

6 eggs

a pinch of salt

1 tsp rum flavour

1 tsp lemon flavour

500 g all purpose flour

3 tsp baking powder

1/2 l milk (mostly a little more)

Mix all ingredients and whisk well. Bake waffles in waffle iron (I prefer the old style in shape of little hearts) and put them onto a grid to cool down. Don’t put them on top of each other, otherwise they’ll turn too soft. After a couple of minutes sprinkle them with icing sugar and serve them with whipped cream.

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Preserved mushrooms (à la Jamie Oliver)

 

 

 

1,5 kg mushrooms (big ones cut into halves)

The marinade:

750ml good olive oil extra virgin

6 cloves of garlic (cut into slices)

2 fresh red chilis (chopped, without seed)

fresh thyme

fresh rosemary

fresh sage

The vinaigre brew:

1,5l whitewine vinaigre

1,5l water

3 tbsp sea salt

Prepare some smaller sterilized preserving glasses. Mix all ingredients for the marinade in a big bowl. Put the vinaigre, water and salt in a big pot and let it boil. Give mushrooms into the water and let it simmer for 3 minutes. When the mushrooms come up to the surface take a skimmer and dunk them back into the water.

Afterwards take the mushroom with a skimmer out of the water and put them directly into the bowl with the marinade and stir carefully.

Pour the mushrooms into preserving glasses and fill every glass up with the marinade until all vegetables are covered. Lock every glass with its lid and let them cool down. It’s ideal to wait for a minimum of two weeks until you open a glass because the mushrooms need the time to soak in the flavours of the fresh herbs. Store them in a cool and dark place, you can keep them about 3 months. Ours never survive that long, the stuff is too good.

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  Roast pork with herbs and bacon

Sea salt

Black ground pepper

8 coles of garlic

Fresh herbs (like sage, rosemary, thyme)

Olive oil

You just need some sea salt, black pepper, garlic, fresh herbs like sage, rosemary and maybe thyme and a big roasting tin (in case you don’t have one,  put it on the baking tray) and you’ll have a delicious roast in about 90 minutes. Fresh potatoes (ideal are the small ones, washed not peeled), cooked for a couple of minutes then roast with good olive oil, sea salt, garlic and rosemary – a perfect dinner and really simply done.

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  Strawberry icecream (without icecream machine)

150ml water

160g caster sugar

1kg strawberries

Juice of 1 big(or 2 small)lemon

400ml cream

Before all else…it takes about 7-9 hours to make this icecream without an icecream machine, we usually start making it the day before. Let water and sugar boil for 2 minutes. Cut strawberries in halves, give them into the sugar water and let them cook for 5 minutes until they’re soft. Add the lemon juice, blend well, strain with a sieve and let it cool down. Then add the cream while stirring thoroughly and put the bowl into the fridge. You get the best result if you take it out every hour to stir, this will mix the colder bits from the side with the more liquid cream in the middle.

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Spaghetti with green asparagus

Serves 2:

500g green asparagus

250g spaghetti

3 garlic cloves

a small handful fresh basil

2 tbsp lemon juice

Olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Parmesan cheese

Cook spaghetti in plenty of salt water until al dente. Cut off the ends (1,5 – 2 cm) and the bits which feel hard and woody of the asparagus. The rest cut into pieces about 2cm long. Heat plenty of olive oil in a pan and fry the asparagus, add the soft heads 5 minutes later, salt generously. After 1o min. you can add the chopped garlic and fry for another 2-3 minutes. Then drain the spaghetti and fill them into the pan with the rest. Season with salt, fresh black pepper and lemon juice. Fill on plates and sprinkle with chopped basil leaves and ground parmesan cheese.

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  Fish fillets with bacon and potatoes in lemon butter

(the recipe for the lemon butter is adapted from Alfons Schuhbeck)

(serves 3)

6 white fish fillets (i.e. coal fish)

Olive oil

100g concentrated butter

100g bacon

Potatoes

Salt

Black pepper

Rosemary

Juice of 1 lemon

1 small glass capers

Peel and boil the potatoes in salted water. Spread the bacon on the bottom of a casserole and put it into the preheated oven (100°C). In the meantime season the fish with salt, pepper and rosemary and roast it (2 min. each side) in a pan with some olive oil.

Put the fish onto the bacon and put it back into the oven.

Melt the cocentrated butter in a small pan and add the lemon juice, pepper and the capers.

Serve on hot plates with 2-3 tbsp lemon butter over fish and potatoes.

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Grilled fish

Here’s what you do: first wash the fish, then dry it with kitchen paper. Crush sea salt, black pepper, garlic cloves, rosemary and chili in a mortar and rub the fish with this marinade. Put olive oil and garlic in a casserole. If you have any tomatoes (bigger ones cut into halves) you can add them, too and the fish comes on top of it. Now cover the fish with lemon slices, fresh herbs and olive oil and put it into the preheated (180°C) oven for about 40 minutes (depending on the size of the fish) and…ready to eat! We usually have a look around the kitchen and if there’s some leek, spring onions, fennel or peppers we want to get rid off we simply put them in there, most vegetables work with this, it’s almost impossible to mess it up.

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Roast potatoes

Here’s one of our favourite recipes for roast potatoes in the oven:

Wash and quarter the potatoes (peel if needed) and put them into a bowl with a marinade made of olive oil, sliced garlic, sea salt, black pepper, rosemary and season with dried chili flakes. Mingle everything with your hands and put it on a baking tray into the preheated oven (160°C), about 30-40 minutes and you’ll have lovely crispy potatoes which are great with most meat, fish or a nice yoghurt dip and bread.

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Ravioli (serves about 6)

400g all-purpose flour (type 405) or pasta flour (type 00)

4 eggs

3 tbsp olive oil

Put it all into the kitchen machine and knead on low level for about 5 minutes.  Then wrap it in cling film and put into the fridge while you’re preparing your filling. Don’t be scared, make your own mixture of stuff , everything you can imagine as a good combination with pasta. The only important thing is not to make it too liquid. Maybe you’ll try it with a mixture of 200g ricotta cheese and 150g spinache seasoned with sea salt, black ground pepper and nutmeg. Mix everything in the food processor and put it to the side.

Now take the dough out of the fridge, remove the cling film and cut it (the dough not the foil) into pieces of about 200-250g and roll it out on a floured surface. Then cut it into stripes and use your pasta machine, start with the thickest level and reduce the thickness every time until the thinnest level. Put a teaspoon of the filling onto the dough and try what size works best for you. Some use a ravioli board but we haven’t got one and if you like the rough look of the ravioli (like we do) just use your fingers. Especially when you do this together with kids don’t be too perfectionistic, this should be fun! I watered my finger and used it to wet the frame of the ravioli and covered it with the next sheet. When you cover it make sure your hands are dry again otherwise it doesn’t stick well enough to each other. You can use a cookie cutter, a glass with a sharp bezel, a pizza wheel or a simple knife to bring it into the right shape. Put the finished ravioli on a floured tray or kitchen towel until they’re all ready.

Bring a big pot of salted water to boil. For the sauce you can simply heat a good knob of butter and then add chopped sage and a pinch of salt. Give the ravioli into the boiling water and let them simmer until they come up to the water surface. Take them out with a skimmer and put them on warm plates before adding the sage butter, some freshly grated Parmesan cheese and fresh pepper.

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Basil Lime Parfait (originally from Holger Zurbrüggen, serves 4)

100ml cream

100g sugar

a good handful of fresh basil

zest of one lime

3 egg yolks

1 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp mascarpone

100ml whipped cream

Mix the cream with the sugar and add the basil (leaves and shafts) and the zest of (a well washed) lime. Let it steep at ca. 50°C for about 15 minutes, then put into a bowl through a sieve and let it cool down a bit.

Whisk the egg-yolks and the sugar over a hot bain-marie until it’s creamy. Now add the basil/lime cream, the mascarpone  and finally the whipped cream.

Fill into glasses and put into the freezer over night. Best is to get it out of the freezer 10 minutes before serving with a fresh basil leave, strawberries or any other fresh fruit with icing sugar and lime juice.

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Quiches with two different fillings

12 pieces each, use a muffin tin

The dough (for 12 pieces):

250 g all-purpose floure (Type 405)

100g soft butter

1 egg yolk

100 g cream cheese

a pinch of salt

Mix together and knead until you have  nice dough. Wrap into cling film and put into the fridge for 50 minutes.

In the meantime you can preheat the oven to 200°C and prepare the fillings.

Filling 1 – peas and mint:

300 g fresh or frozen peas (to be honest, it doesn’t make a big difference here)

one handful of fresh mint leaves

1 onion (finely chopped)

2 garlic cloves (finely chopped)

3 tbsp olive oil

5 eggs

200 ml milk

100 g crème fraîche

2 tsp mustard

salt

pepper

50 g feshly grated Parmesan cheese

Fry the onions and the garlic in a pan with olive oil until translucent. Mix the peas and the mint in a bowl. Whisk eggs, milk, créme fraîche, mustard and salt and pepper in another bowl.

Now fill in the baked onions and garlic first. Then add the peas and the milk/egg mix and finally add the Parmesan cheese. Put into the oven for 30 minutes.

Filling 2 – zucchini and bacon:

400 g zucchini

2 onions

100 g bacon (chopped)

3 tbsp olive oil

5 eggs

fresh thyme leaves

200 ml milk

100 ml cream

1 tsp mustard

salt

pepper

70 g old Gouda cheese (freshly grated)

Fry zucchini, onions and bacon in a pan. Whisk eggs, thyme, milk, cream, mustard, salt and pepper well in a bowl.

Oil the muffin tin and cut circles of 10-12 cm out of the rolled out dough (I used a dessert bowl), put them on the hollows of the muffin tin and bring each into the shape of a cup. Now fill in the baked zucchini/onions/bacon first. Then add the milk/egg mix and finally add the Gouda cheese. Put into the oven for 30 minutes.

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Pflaumenkuchen (one baking sheet)

All you need is 400 g flour, 1 egg, 125 g fine sugar, 1 cube yeast, a pinch of salt, 100 g soft butter, 150 ml lukewarm milk, 2 kilos of plums or damsons (I still don’t know the difference) and whipped cream for the topping. Give the yeast into the lukewarm milk and stir. Give flour, 100 g sugar, egg, salt, butter and yeast-milk into a bowl and mix with the kneading hooks of your kitchen machine. Cover with a kitchen towel and let it rest in a warm place for 45 minutes. In the meantime wash and pad dry the plums, cut them into halves and remove the stone. Preheat the oven to 175°C. Then knead the dough with your hands (use additional flour for your hands and work surface), roll it out on a baking sheet with baking paper and let it rest for another 20 minutes.  Now arrange the plums evenly on the dough and sprinkle with the remaining 25 g sugar. Put into the oven for about 30 minutes, depending on the size of your plums and how you like it best. Let it cool and cut into square pieces, you can sprinkle it with cinnamon and more sugar if you like it that way. Serve with enough whipped cream and a good coffee or tea.

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Kartoffelpizzette mit Coppa (bis auf den Coppa alles wie bei  Cornelia Poletto)

Zutaten für vier Personen

Teig

30 g Hefe, frisch

300 ml Wasser

500 g Mehl

1 TL Salz

Belag

6 Kartoffeln, klein und fest kochend, à 50 g

3 EL Olivenöl

1 EL Rosmarinnadeln

4 Zehen Knoblauch

8 Scheiben Coppa Schinken

Fleur de Sel

Pfeffer aus der Mühle, schwarz

Zubereitung

Teig

Die Hefe zerbröckeln und mit 200 Milliliter lauwarmen Wasser und 100 Gramm Mehl verrühren. Zugedeckt circa 30 Minuten gehen lassen. Restliche 400 Milliliter Mehl und Salz in eine Schüssel geben. Hefemischung zufügen und mit den Knethaken kurz verkneten, dabei das restliche Wasser einarbeiten.

Den Teig auf eine bemehlte Arbeitsfläche geben und mit bemehlten Händen circa zehn Minuten kräftig durchkneten, bis er schön glatt und geschmeidig ist und nicht mehr klebt. Dabei ab und zu auf die Arbeitsfläche aufschlagen. Den Teig vierteln, die Portionen mit etwas Mehl bestäuben und locker mit Klarsichtfolie zugedeckt circa eineinhalb Stunden gehen lassen, bis sich der Teig verdoppelt hat.

Den Backofen auf 225 Grad vorheizen.

Belag

Kartoffeln schälen und in zwei bis drei Millimeter dünne Scheiben schneiden. Mit Öl und Rosmarin mischen. Leicht salzen und pfeffern. Circa eine Stunde marinieren.

Backblech mit Öl bepinseln. Die Teigportionen vierteln, jede Portion zu einem runden Fladen von circa zehn Zentimeter Durchmesser drücken und jeweils acht kleine Pizzen (Pizzette) auf das Blech legen. Kartoffelscheiben darauf verteilen, salzen und pfeffern. Auf der mittleren Schiene circa zwölf Minuten backen. Knoblauch schälen, in Scheiben schneiden und nach der Hälfte der Garzeit über die Pizzetten geben. Nach Wunsch zum Schluss mit etwas Olivenöl beträufeln und mit den Coppascheiben belegen.

Potato Pizzette with Coppa Ham

Serves 4

Dough

30 g fresh yeast

300 ml water

500 g all-purpose-flour

1 tsp salt

Topping

6 small potatoes

3 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp rosemary

4 cloves of garlic

8 slices of coppa ham

fleur de sel (or other good salt)

black fresh ground pepper

Preparation

Dough

Mix yeast with 200 ml lukewarm water and 100 g flour, cover and let rest for 30 minutes.Give the remaining 400 g flour, salt and the yeast mix into a bowl and mix with dough hooks, slowly adding the rest of the water. Put the dough on a floured kitchen board and knead with your floured hands for about 10 minutes until it’s elastic and doesn’t stick to your hands anymore. Quarter the dough, sprinkle with some flour and cover it with cling film and let rest for 90 minutes or until it doubled its size. Preheat the oven to 225°C.

Topping

Peel the potatoes, cut them into slices of 2-3 mm and mix them with oil and rosemary and some salt and pepper, leave in the marinade for about 1 hour. Oil the baking sheet. Quarter each portion of dough and press and form each to a little piece of pizza (10cm). Top them with the potatoes and salt and pepper again. Bake for about 6 minutes. Peel the garlic, cut it into thin slices, put it on the pizzette and bake for another 10 minutes (might be even more). When the pizzette and the potatoes are golden brown take them out of the oven, sprinkle with good olive oil and put a slice of coppa ham on each – ready!

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“In Bier geschmorter Schweinenacken mit Spätzle” (6 Personen) aus “Schwein & Sohn” von Stéphane Reynaud (Christian Verlag) :

1,2 kg Schweinenacken ohne Knochen

3 Schalotten

3 Knoblauchzehen

100g geräucherter durchwachsener Speck (gewürfelt)

500 ml dunkles Bier

2 Lorbeerblätter

300 g Spätzle

50 g Butter

Salz und frisch gemahlener Pfeffer

Den Braten mit Salz und Pfeffer würzen und in einem Schmortopf rundherum braun anbraten. Die Schalotten und den Knoblauch schälen und mit dem Speck dazugeben, den Lorbeer einlegen und zugedeckt auf kleiner Flamme 1 Stunde und 15 Minuten schmoren lassen. Das Fleisch regelmäßig mit dem Schmorsaft übergießen. Den Braten auf einen Rost über den Topf legen und weitere 15 Minuten bei 180°C im Ofen Farbe nehmen lassen. Weiter regelmäßig mit der Schmorflüssigkeit übergießen, damit sich eine schöne Kruste bildet. Die Spätzle in kochendem Wasser garen. Die Butter unter den restlichen Bratensaft schlagen. Den Bratensaft mit den Schalotten, dem Knoblauch und dem Speck unter die Spätzle mengen. Den Braten auf einer Platte anrichten und mit den Spätzle garnieren.

  Pork roast in beer sauce with Spaetzle (serves 6):  from the book “Schwein & Sohn” by Stéphane Reynaud (Christian Verlag).

1.2 kg of boneless pork

3 shallots

3 garlic cloves

100g smoked bacon (cut in cubes)

500 ml dark beer

2 bay leaves

300 g of spaetzle

50 g butter

salt and freshly ground pepper

Season the roast with salt and pepper in a saucepan and fry all around. Peel shallots and garlic and add together with the bacon. Add beer and bay leaves and let cook covered over low heat for about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Put the roast on a grill over the pan and leave it another 15 minutes at 180 ° C in the oven to become brown. Give roast juice over the meat regularely in order to build a nice crust. Cook the spaetzle in boiling water. Beat the butter into the remaining gravy. Mix the juice with the shallots, garlic and the bacon and the spaetzle. Serve the roast on a platter and garnish with spaetzle.

 

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