Almost Pakora

 


A quick snack for the family.

Kohlrab in White Sauce

Kohlrab is in season.   It is a very versatile 'root'......good as salad, quick stirfry with fishsauce or soysauce. For a typical german meal, I made pancakes and Kohlrab in white sauce.

Rose Pao

After my delightful affair with butterflies, I continued flirting with yeast/pao dough after seeing what Lily has done.

Want to see more ?

Spring (3)

Went to a friend's birthday and just look the beautiful blooms in her garden.

 

Butterfly Paos

Butterflies

Green Asparagus

 
We need rain.  Look how miserable the asparagus in my garden are growing.

Was dreaming of simple stirfry green asparagus with sambal paste, sprinkled with cashews.





 

Pork Tongue

Offal
Some people, correction - alot of people absolutely refuse to accept offal as food.  They think its only suitable for dogs, cats and not suitable for human consumption.    They don't know what they're missing. 

Pork tongue in red wine sauce accompanied by panfried (in olive oil) potatos.

Rhubarb Tart

You know it's spring when you find stalks of rhubarb in the market.  I picked a few young tender stalks from my garden to bake a part egg and part 'fruit' tart. 

Can you believe it.....this 'vegetable' rhubarb was officially declared a FRUIT in 1947 

  

Pastry:    Mix following ingredients to form a paliable dough.
150g butter
50g sugar
200g allpurpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1 egg (large)


Filling:  Mix filling (except rhubarb) till sugar is dissolved.
300g rhubarb (cleaned and diced)
150g sugar
400ml cream
3 eggs (large)
1 tsp vanilla essence
pinch of salt


Set oven temperature at 200°C

My lazy way of making the crust without making a mess.  Put everything into a freezer bag, close it and start kneading to form dough.  When done, do not take dough out.
Just roll dough inside the bag into desired thickness with a rolling pin. 
   
  
Open up bag, sprinkle some flour on surface of dough to detach from bag.  Cut bag open on one side and flip dough into baking pan.  Viola !!         

Remove bag and press dough into pan.  Neaten the edges.










Arrange rhubarb in pan and add mixture of cream, sugar and eggs, etc. Bake at lower case at 200°C for  30 mins. Thereafter, 15 mins at 160°C. 

Daily Menu

Dug out from refrigerator - one schriveled corgette and a green pepper, some dried smoked ham.  
What I always have for 'emergency'.......onions, carrots, readymade flaky pastry, 200g grated cheese (either Emmentaler or Gouda), eggs and whipping cream.

TA DA !!    
Almost Vegetarian Quiche  (served with red pepper salad)

MORCOTE (Part 2)

The drive towards Morcote is very scenic.   One starts from Lake of Constance, into Austria and then into Switzerland,  passing through (ex-tax haven) Lichtenstein and 'Heidiland', through San Bernadino tunnel.

Spring 2011 (2)

 April  is often considered the most beautiful and inspirational period of the year.

Colours on the ground

MORCOTE (Part 1) - WHAT A TRUNK !!

I love to shop in italian supermarkets.   Food, Food, Food - a feast for the eyes.  The varieties of cheese, hams, pasta, fresh baked pizzas, olives like these .......
 Please excuse the poor quality - was secretly taken with a handphone

 We paid a visit to an old friend who is lives 6 months a year in Paris and most of summer in Switzerland.  No no, not up in the mountains.  She lives just 20 mins from the italian border - in Morcote.  Usually, we would drive across to the Italian side to shop or for dinner. It is like another world.  Here is an example........ 




Guess what this is ?   
Mortadella.   You know what is the diameter of a normal mortadella ?  Just click on the picture and you can have a better view.


   

 

Wild Garlic (Bärlauch) Pesto

  
These were growing like weeds in my garden - wild garlic or Bärlauch to the Germans.  It became very popular the last few years as pesto for pasta, as a  spread on bread or sprinkled like chives in salads.
 
 

 Before they start to bloom, I decided to make a pesto with the young tender leaves.






 
The pesto is served with pasta and tomato sauce.

Spring 2011

AT LAST.........SPRING

Daily Menu

 
PEPPER FILLED WITH TURKEY MINCE
BAKED WITH RED WINE; TOPPED WITH CHEESE AND FINALLY SERVED WITH COUSCOUS





Had half bottle of red on the shelf so son emptied it into the dish to bake.  It was a mistake.....just look at the colour.  Taste wise it was abit too wine-ny but it improved after toning it down with some broth.