Minty Pea & Yogurt Soup

27 Mar

She’s back.

Sort of.

Just like spring, she has decided to give you a little sneak peek of what’s been going on.

Too much work and no play.

But: Vacation time is coming up!

And the sun has been all over the place.

Accordingly, lunch was taken outside today.

 

Minty Pea & Yogurt Soup

1 garlic clove

300g green peas, fresh or frozen

500ml vegetable stock

mint, preferably fresh or dried

200g yogurt

1 egg

1 tsp flour

olive oil

salt & pepper

optional: dill & lemon juice and zest

 

Heat olive oil in a pot over medium heat.

Saute minced garlic until fragrant.

Add peas and chopped mint

Stir well.

Add the vegetable stock and let simmer until the peas are tender.

Take a second pot and combine yogurt, egg and flour.

Remove the peas from the heat and puree with an immersion blender.

Gradually and slowly add the hot soup to the second pot, a ladle full at a time, and whisk.

When you have transferred all of the soup to the yogurt mixture, place the pot over medium heat.

Warm the soup up, but make sure it doesn’t boil.

Season according to taste.

Serve with an extra dollop of yogurt and more mint.

You can also add a little bit of lemon juice and lemon zest, as well as fresh dill.

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Blood Orange Juice – Two Ways

16 Mar

What is this marbled beauty, you are probably asking yourself.

Or: Has she once and for all lost her marbles?

Probably both.

Blood orange season is almost over.

Sad days are coming.

Here are two quick and easy ideas that you should try asap.

No pressure here…

 

Blood Orange Juice & Buttermilk

1 part fresh squeezed blood orange juice

1 part buttermilk

 

Pour into a glass and marvel at how pretty it looks.

Drink.

Repeat every morning.

 

Blood Orange and Walnut Dressing

2 tbsp walnut oil

2-3 tbsp blood orange juice

1 tsp maple syrup

1 tsp white wine vinegar

salt & pepper

 

Mix all ingredients and pour over your favorite salad.


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Ginger Hoisin Noodle Soup

13 Mar

If you haven’t tried one of her favorite soups yet, you really should!

The other option would be to try this recipe.

It seems similar but it’s really not.

It’s the other soup’s mad cousin.

More ginger, more chili, delicious hoisin sauce.

Welcome to her crazy soup family…

 

Ginger Hoisin Noodle Soup

1 onion

1 garlic clove

1-2 tbsp fresh grated ginger

3 tbsp hoisin sauce

1-2 tbsp soy sauce

red chili flakes

750ml vegetable stock

1 carrot

5 (brown) cremini mushrooms

a couple of broccoli florets

a handful of (mung) bean sprouts

thin rice noodles

toasted sesame oil

 

Sauté the onion, garlic and ginger in sesame oil.

Add red chili flakes.

Add hoisin sauce, soy sauce and veggie stock.

Bring to a simmer.

Add the chopped carrots and the broccoli.

Let simmer for 5 minutes.

Add the rest of the vegetables and as many rice noodles as you like.

Simmer for another 2-3 minutes.

Season according to taste and adjust the amount of soy sauce, ginger, chili or stock.

Turn off the heat and let sit for 5 more minutes before serving.

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Blueberry Muffins – The Showdown

11 Mar

Oh my.

This is the ultimate showdown.

Cynthia vs. Yotam.

Blueberry Muffin Galore.

 

The outcome?

How can two things, bearing the same name, be ever so different!

Brothers from another mother, really.

One is rich, with complex flavors and fancy with a streusel topping.

The other is more simple and straightforward but bursting with blueberry flavor.

One is a real treat, the other is a little something for the weekday.

 

Her verdict: Ottolenghi 1 – Barcomi 0.

 

Recipes can be found all over the internet and in Cynthia Barcomi’s Backbuch and in Ottolenghi: The Cookbook.

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Roasted Pumpkin Salad with Black-Eyed Peas

8 Mar

She’s had her fair share of pumpkin soup this winter.

Enough is enough.

What was she thinking buying yet another pumpkin?!

 

Salad or not: Spring will never be in the air as long as the smell of roasted pumpkin fills this place…

This shall be the last pumpkin for the next six months.

Until then, enjoy this salad!

 

Roasted Pumpkin Salad with Black-Eyed Peas

1/2 small butternut

2 onions

100g dried black-eyed peas

1 green bell pepper

olive oil

lemon juice

maple syrup

red chili flakes

salt & pepper

 

Preheat oven to 200°C.

Wash the black-eyed peas and place them in a pot with cold water.

Bring to a boil and let simmer for approximately 45 minutes.

Rinse and drain.

Peel, core and cube the butternut.

Cut the onion in thick wedges.

Toss both, pumpkin and onions, with one or two tablespoon of olive oil, salt, pepper and chili flakes.

Roast in the oven for about 20-30 minutes, depending on the size of the butternut cubes and your desired consistency.

Cut the bell pepper into short stripes.

Mix two tablespoons of olive oil, one tablespoon of lemon juice and one teaspoon of maple syrup in a large salad bowl.

Add the black-eyed peas and the bell pepper.

Once the butternut and onions have cooled off a little, add to the bowl and gently mix.

Season with salt and pepper and adjust the amount of lemon juice and/or maple syrup.

 

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Pear & Berry Upside-Down Cake

5 Mar

With the best intentions in mind, she had planned to bake a cake this Sunday.

Hi, Initiative Sonntagssüß!

Pears, she thought, should take center stage.

Delicious, juicy, ripe pears…

 

Sunday came and suddenly all there was were two pears.

Delicious, juicy and ripe – but nothing else.

Does anyone else ever forget to go shopping?

With all stores closed on Sunday, she decided to go with what she had on hand…which wasn’t much, to be honest.

But at the end, her upside-down day turned into a rather yummy upside-down cake.

 

Pear & Berry Upside-Down Cake

2 ripe but firm pears (about 500-600g)

1 handful of frozen berries

She used frozen raspberries.

100g sugar

100g flour

1/2 TL baking soda

1 pinch of salt

60g butter

1 egg

1/2 vanilla bean

1 tsp cinnamon

120ml buttermilk

Optional: a handful of almonds, butter & sugar to caramelize

 

Preheat the oven to 200°C.

Line the base of a springform pan (22cm) with parchment paper.

Grease the parchment paper and the sides of the pan.

Sprinkle some flour into the pan.

 

Peel the pears and cut them in half lengthwise.

Remove the seeds and cut into wedges.

Arrange the pear slices neatly in the pan.

Mix berries with a tbsp of sugar and arrange on top of the pears.

 

Whisk together flour, baking soda and a pinch of salt.

Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean.

In a second, larger bowl beat the softened butter and the remaining sugar.

When the mix is fluffy and light, add the egg, the scraped seeds from the vanilla bean and the cinnamon.

Beat on low speed.

Add flour and buttermilk alternately in 2-3 batches until just incorporated.

Spread the batter evenly onto the fruits and smooth out the top.

Bake for 35 minutes.

Let it cool for only a few minutes before you run around the inside edge of the pan with a knife.

Unlatch springform side and remove.

Place an inverted plate or a cake stand over the pan and flip the cake.

Peel of the parchment paper.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

 

Optional: If you wanna add a little sugary crunch to this, dry roast some almonds in a pan. Push them to side of the pan and add 1-2 tbsp of sugar. When it has reached the desired color and consistency of caramel, add a little bit of butter.

Stir to combine butter, caramel and almonds. Turn off the heat and let cool.

When it has cooled off, take out of the pan and chop the almonds.

Sprinkle on top of the cake and serve.

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Savoy Cabbage with Pasta, Fruits & Nuts

1 Mar

Ah, spring seems so close now!

Time to bid farewell to winter – to runny noses, cold feet and nasty, wet weather.

Let’s celebrate with cabbage – the ultimate, and very German, winter vegetable.

 

Note that this is not a pasta dish – but rather a vegetable dish with a little bit of pasta.

Mission “lower the number of almost finished pasta packages in the pantry” accomplished!

 

Savoy Cabbage with Pasta, Fruits & Nuts

100g pasta

She used whole wheat penne.

250g savoy cabbage

1/2 onion

4-5 (brown) cremini mushrooms

1 heaping tbsp dried cranberries

1 heaping tbsp nuts and seeds of your choice

1/2 juiced lemon

olive oil

salt & pepper

 

Heat oil in a large pan.

Saute the chopped onion until softened.

Chop the mushrooms into small pieces and add to the pan.

She uses chopped mushrooms whenever a recipe calls for bacon – or when she thinks that it should call for bacon so she can use some mushrooms instead. 

Thinly slice cabbage and add to the pan.

Sauté the cabbage over medium heat until it has decreased in volume and softened. This may take up to 20 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper.

You can speed up the process by adding a little bit of water or vegetable stock. If you like your veggies with a little crunch, she suggests skipping the extra liquid.

In the meantime, cook pasta according to package directions.

Chop the dried cranberries.

Push the cabbage to the side of the pan and place the nuts and seeds in the middle.

Toss them for 1-2 minutes before adding the cranberries and the drained pasta.

Turn off the heat.

Mix everything together and add the lemon juice and an additional tbsp of olive oil.

Taste and adjust the amount of lemon juice, salt and pepper.

 

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