my very first "gemüsekiste"

perfect! now i don't have to carry my vitamins home anymore, the'll be delivered right to my front door! as i found out last week there's a farmer near linz who offeres various boxes of veggies, fruits, and you can even get bread and other bio-products from other local farmers! i ordered over the internet and i am quite content with how fast my order was processed and how very obliging they handled my calls and mails.

my first treasure chest is called "die bunte" (the colorful) and contains salad, strawberries, carrots, peaches, tomatos (oh damn, i forgot to mention that i don't like tomatos!!), lemons, zucchinis and onions. great! i am so looking forward to cooking dinner today!

addendum:

i was cooking the tomatos today, imagine that! i was so excited (and so hungry) that i completely forgot to take a picture and post it here :) i don't acutally have a recipe, but i made an italian-style sauce for my pasta. i was blanching the tomatos, then i peeled and diced them. i also used the delicious spring onions and did sauté them before adding the tomatos. i added some more basil and a little salt and threw in some mozzarella. this sauce was incredibly easy and quick and it tasted like heaven! and finally i can make use of unloved tomatos! i never ever would buy tomatos on purpose, but now i have a good recipe and i might hit the tomato display in the veggie section of my supermarket every once in a while ... oh wait, i don't have to! i can just wait for them to arrive on my doorstep :)

colorful dishes

lately my siblings and i give eachother little presents for no reason from time to time. today was my lucky day because i got some rather special stuff from my sister and her boyfriend:

i am totally into glass and white as far as my tableware are concerned, yet my little sis knows that i need some color in my life. red for example. it's her favorite color and picking it for my new cereal bowl and coffee cup was a brilliant idea!

thanks baby! you know what's good for your elderly sister!

if you want to pep it up, just "strudl" it!

on my last post i mentioned that i sometimes transgress my rule of low cal by wrapping my veggies up in puff pastry. as much as i like that, i really need to pull myself together in order not to drift off into my old habits.i figured i could still indulge in wrapped up food and make it a little healthier. on my quest to substitute the junk with healthy stuff i once more was digging into our family traditions.

i was always fascinated with the way my grandma used to make strudl. though it was mainly the plain old apfelstrudel on our menu we would also have a savoury strudl every once in a while.

the greatest thing however was watching my grandma preparing the dough for the filling , which we call "strudlziagn" - loosely translated as "pulling the strudl". i was sitting next to her, my legs dangling under the dinnertable and i was completely hypnotized by the way she was transforming a sticky lump into waferthin and perfect sheets of strudl the size of the dinner table. that was real art. it was tricky, you had to be quick and i never ever have seen one single hole ripped in her thin sheets of dough. you could virtually read a paper through it. how she managed to do this was beyond me. and it still is, actually.

sometimes some of the grandchildren where allowed to help and granny would give us little lumps of dough and a dish cloth and we would make a sticky something that was looking like a pizza. displeased with our poor achievments she would always grab the "pizza", scrunch the dough up, lifting it up in the air and letting it hang from her hands and pulling it in shape at first. when it had the right size she would place the dough on the cloth and with quick movements she pulled and tuged a litte - within less than a minute our lumpy stuff was a perfekt piece of raw material for her strudl.

in remembrance of my late grandmother i tried to make the perfekt strudl myself today. don't get me wrong, i have made strudl before. you just HAVE to make strudl when you're austrian :). but i always bought the thin sheets of strudldough. today i actually tried to make the dough myself and i did the "strudlziagn" myself as well. THIS was the real challenge.

125 g flour
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
a dash of salt
water as needed (about 100 ml)

01 sift the flour onto your working space or in a bowl
02 make a dent in the middle and add oil, salt and water
03 combine to a smooth dough and let rest at room temperature for about twenty minutes
04 you can use a rolling pin to bring the dough in shape. you can also use your hands and try the traditional way of "strudlziagn *ggg*

as you can see, i did not really succeed, i ripped the sheet while i was rolling the strudl. hey, this is really a hard thing to do with such delicate pastry! but even the leaking thing is rather nice to look at. so i don't count this as a flop, i actually am rather proud of the outcome.

guess my grandma would be proud too ... well, actually, i think she would have grabed my lumpy thing and made some propper strudelteig out of it :)

i still miss her sorely.

technorati tags:cooking, food, recipe

watching my weight apparently makes me a pretty dull foodblogger

i hardly ever cook something spectacular now. i braise my vegetables, i steam my meat - actually i hardly ever eat meat. i feast on fruits and vegetables and the apple has replaced my beloved sausage sandwich. i switched to light stuff and products that have less calories, fat and e-numbers in them. strangely enough i have a weird craving for spelt, buckwheat and amaranth ... hm ...

i allow myself sweets though. well, not sweets actually, but sweet things. like 70% dark chokolate. i guess this is why i don't have the munchies for opulent dishes right now - it makes me stick to my plan and the good news is that i have like 3 kilos less than 2 weeks ago. and my pants fit better.

as i am getting acquainted to the odd bio lifestyle i sometimes can not resist wrapping up steames veggies and roast turkey breast in puff pastry which actually shoud be shunt from my fridge since it has way too much calories ... eh! what the hell!


tagged with: cooking + food + diet

how do i make leftover apricots more interesting?

by making a desert, of course! a desert with virtually no calories :)

01 cut apricots and put in a pan over medium heat
02 add a little water and stir the mixture until the water thickens
03 grate a medium piece of dark chocolate and chop some almonds
04 when the apricots are softened and the added water has turned into sirup pour on a plate and sprinkle with almonds and chocolate

also great with icecream!

andere länder, andere sitten

... that would be the german equivalent of "when in rome, do as the romans do!".

i was always really bad in converting the values and measures from american or british recipes. i usually cook very intuitivly and when i must follow a recipe i tend to make mistakes. in my world it does not make any difference if i use a level spoonfull or a heaped spoonfull. when it comes to foreign recipes these inaccuracies usually turn into a mini-disaster. as i really want my food to actually look as delicious as it tastes, my americanstyle cakes tend to be a mashed up something (still good to eat though!) and my americanstyle muffins don't rise or melt away.

for future reference i want to point out a webpage i have known for years and might be usefull for all the (german speaking) europeans out there: usa kulinarisch. the site is devoted to american cooking and gives an insights in american traditions, regional dishes, holidays and saisonal recipes ... and they have a great section for all those troubles an european girl has with the "cup", the "ounce", the "fluid ounce" and the "pound" ... don't even get me started on fahrenheit! another great section is the part dealing with replacement of american ingredients that are either hard to get or very expensive import articles here in europe.

convert measures, temperatures / replace traditional american ingredients

and now i will roll up my sleeves and dig into your archives for a nice (and healthy) american recipe for a desert ...

why resist mamas delicious food?

since i am trying to loose some extra inches on my ass and tummy it is particularly hard to visit my parents. as i probably mentioned before my whole family *loooves* to gorge on mamas great dishes. she inherited her way of cooking from her mother and passed it on to her daughters, and though this might be a wide generalization i assume exactly our traditional home cooking is responsible for the struggle with my weight.

of course my mother has her own style and she did not actually copy her mothers recipes. but her only commitment to health probably was to substitute lard for butter or margerine. we where not wealthy at all when i was a kid and so the main aim probably was to feed the kids and put something filling on the table.

only recently as my father is struggling with diabetes my folks had to review their diet and this is a constant battle for them as the really tend to hang on to their (mal??-)nutrition. i do not want to be judgmental and blame my fat ass entirely on my heritage, but it was a real struggle for me to let go of unhealthy food. when i first moved out of my parent's and started my own household i was not able to integrate vegetables and fruits in my daily routine. i really had to force myself to grab an apple instead of a bread roll or a glass of water instead of a soft drink. i was just used to satisfy hunger quickly.

when i am with my parents i am usually adapting the conventions in their household in the wink of an eye. but i was not willing to give in this time! i wanted to stick to my rather strict diet and so i had to use a little trick for myself. though my mother did not want to hand over her kitchen to her daughters today (for gods sake mama, it's mothers day!!!) we somehow made a healthy deal: the other day i told my mum that i was crazy for fennel at the moment. my mum told me that she had never eaten fennel before in her entire life! so i suggested that i would prepare the side dish for lunch today. she agreed.



still my brother and my father would insist on their pasta on the side of their schnitzel but my mum and my sister where swept off their feet by my easy half steamed and half roasted fennel&vegetable creation.

i am strangely proud of myself to introduce my mama into the art of steaming vegetables - or letting a fennel touch her schnitzel :)

tagged with: cooking + food

bauerntoast

whenever we make toast with regular brown bread we call it bauerntoast. it usually is way better than using sandwich bread and in my opinion even grilled cheese on brown bread is tasting better. i am a big fan of bread to start with and i put almost everything on bread. like schnitzel for example:

1 small escallop of turkey (125 gramm)
2 slices of whole-grain bread
salad
1 teaspoon of rama cremfin
salt, pepper, fennel seeds

01 toast the bread until slightly crunchy
02 season escallop with salt and pepper and roast over medium heat
03 mix cremfin (or yoghurt, sour cream, ...) with a few fennel seeds.
04 stack bread, salad and escallop and spread the cream/fennel mixture on top
05 top with remaining slice of bread

tagged with: cooking + food + recipe

healthy diet

i am devastated.

yesterday i had to whip out my fat ass jeans. when i hid them in my closet about two years ago i thought "i am doing so well, i will never have to wear them again".

well, there you go. the fat ass obviousely is back and i am crushed.

to be honest, i haven't stepped on the scales yet. i lost quite some kilos three years ago with weight watchers flexipoints ... i might have to start a diet-blog, folks, because i really want to at least get somewhere near my feel good weight again ...

aaahhh! this day sucks.

tagged with: breakfast + diet

tyrolean bacon dumplings

finally i am back in my own kitchen after quite some time abroad! my trip to london was just fabulous! i have to make sure to not let this much time pass before i go back to london next time. i think i'll make this an annual trip :)

we where living on sandwiches practically the whole time because we did not really have much money to spend. i just LOVE sandwiches, and the local supermarket in hammersmith had an amazing range of sandwich fillers on stock which i have never seen and tasted before. an entrie section in the fridge-area was dedicated to sandwich fillers, can you imagine that? this is what my ultimate sandwich-fantasy looks like! i posted from my mobilephone while i was there and loaded up pictures later too. there are not too many food-related entries though. check out my photostream on flickr if you like!








after all this fast (prepared) food it is rather tough not to stick to the habit and eat sliced austria bread all day. i have to cook something sturdy now and overcome my newly gained lazyness. how about tyrolean bacon dumplings? as i am always scared that my dumplings fall apart (due to a dumpling fiasko about a year back) i roll the mixture nice and tight in a napkin and cut the mega-dumpling in slices later.

100 g bacon, finely diced
3 rolls diced as well
125 ml milk
1 egg
1/2 onion, finely chopped
parsley
30 g flour
salt, pepper

01 roast bacon and remove from pan
02 roast onion in fat from bacon
03 blend milk and egg, add salt
04 put diced rolls in a bowl and pour over milk/egg mixture
05 stir in roasted bacon and onion and let rest for half an hour
06 sprinkle flour over the mixture and mix well
07 make dumplings - remember to keep your hands moist
08 let simmer in water or soup for about 15 minutes

the slices of the dumpling make a main course, i like them with mushroom sauce. you can eat them as a side dish with meat or vegetables as well.

tagged with: cooking + food + dumpling + recipe

london, baby!

my easter holidays are always reserved for the family. so i spent the last few days at my partent's, i ate way to much and hung out with my folks ... and i am still not tired of them!

today i am going to london with my sister and my mother for a couple of days. i have been planning this for months now and i can't wait, i am so excited! check out my flickr-account for pictures because i am planning to send pictures from the uk via my mobile phone. i hope roaming is not too expensive in the uk ...

lady marmalade

i am a sucker for maralade (or jam as you might call it). though i am not a great eater when it comes to breakfasts, i often start my day with a good slice of brown bread with an even more delicious blob of marmalade. the classic "marmeladebrot" has been comfort food since i was a little girl and will probably accompany me my whole lifetime.

i always keep at least 5 different jams in my kitchen cupboard and when they are down to three i really tend to get nervous. but today i am sitting here in front of my last two glasses, i stare horrified at the remains of rosenmarillen (apricots) and ginger. all i can squeeze out of these glasses will be approximately two teaspoons of jam - i always knew this was going to happen someday but i am just not prepared for it ... having a craving for something and not being able to give in really sucks.

i need more jam!
i need more jam!!
i need more jam!!!

tagged with: jam + marmalade + breakfast + marmelade

euro blogging by post 4 (again)

so i sent a parcel to mr. david lebovitz for euro food blogging 4.

it is a disaster what happened! read for yourself ....

... and weep - just like i did! i spent so much time and effort putting the parcel together and now pretty much everthing is ruined. not only did i spend (probably way too much) good money on all the stuff (i am sure everyone who participates does that!), i am really disappointed that my first blogging by post experience did not turn out too well. when i heard from david i was really devistated, i was thinking about not joining in anymore ...

... but this would be silly, actually. first of all, david was on holiday for a couple of days and the parcel was probably in a damp corner of some french postoffice for too long.
and second of all i was lucky enough not to get some mouseshit delivered, i got a pretty good parcel.

i am just really disappointed that i probably could not fulfill david's expectations.

tagged with: ebbp + euro blogging by post

bratwurst & potatos, zucchini, fennel

tagged with: cooking + food + bratwurst + fennel

little adjustments

ever since i have my foodblog i constantly think of how i could pep up my standard recipes. one thing i cook quite often is some sort of roasted meat, noodles, rice or vegetables on the side and some sort of gravy since growing up in a bohemian influenced middle european home makes it absolutely essential to get ahold of meat at least once a day. vital household recipes in our family include g'röstl (roasted sausage and cut up potatos), schnitzel, bratwurst, leberkäse, gulasch, reisfleisch (rice with meat), speckknödel (bacon dumplings) ... i know way more everyday recipes containing meat and being savory than recipes for sweet dishes (though upper austrian cuisine is supposedly famous for pastries and deserts!).

for most of my life meat was the epicenter of each meal. but growing up and learning about food and health made me think. from the first day i had home economics at school i became very aware of what i consume and how it affects my life. when i was eleven i came home from home ec and proudly announced to my surprised family: "i am a vegetarian now!!!". of course my strong-minded decision only lasted until next sunday's schnitzel.

since i moved out of my parent's flat i had several issues with my weight and even though i made my peace with the fact that i will never be super-skinny i don't want to feast on regional food anymore. i'd much rather indulge in a slimmed down version of traditional dishes and i adjusted my style of cooking. i do not use heavy cream anymore for example. i rarely used salt in my diet, so it was no problem cutting down on heavy seasoning. and i now replace ingredients to get more variety in my dull standards.

i am much more aware of what i eat and how the dish tastes, and that is quite a change. now i can easily make a traditional austrian roast filet taste sort of asian :). today i replaced an onion with an apple for example.

a piece of filet (pork, turkey, whichever you prefer)
1 apple
1 onion
200 ml cream (or similar but much lighter rama cremefine)
salt, pepper
rice

01 boil the rice while you prepare the dish
02 roast filets in a pan and put aside when done
03 chop onion and cut apple in really tiny pieces
04 in the same pan now saute the onion over medium heat
05 add the apples and saute a little more
06 add 200 ml of cream, (i like to use rama cremefine instead, it has much less fat and calories) but be careful, the acid of the apple can quickly curdle the sauce!
07 though the juice from the roast meat has a very rich taste you might want to season with salt and pepper

tagged with: cooking + food + recipe

easy bread and carrot soup

my project "40 soups of lent" is a gigantic failure. i planned on making a different soup each day during lent and so far i have only made 11. oh well. maybe i manage to try out 30 new recipes for soup in passion week, who knows ...

recipe # 11: easy bread and carrot soup

1 clove of garlic
1 slice of dark bread
1 big carrot
1/3 l water
oil
salt

01 cut garlic and fry with one tablespoon of oil
02 dice dark bread and add to the pot
03 grate the carrot and add to the pot as well, stir it all well
04 add water and bring to a boil
05 place a lid on the pot and let boil for 20 minutes
06 once the soup thickens season to taste and serve quite hot

tagged with: cooking + food + recipe + soup + suppe

i am a tofu virgin

i have to admit i never had tofu before. so last week i bought tofu in order to search for some easy recipes on the internet, something even a tofu virgin like me could handle. as i was going through my kitchen cabinet yesterday evening i found some rice noodles i hadn't thought of in ages (i had a big thing for asian cuisine last summer, i ate stir fry every day for like 3 months!) as well as a can of bamboo shoots i purchased a while ago. i thought i might mix that up and have my first tofu experience. i figured when it comes to cooking i could handle the tofu like regular white meat, so this is what i came up with:

250 g tofu
150 g bamboo shoots
teriyaki sauce
garlic
oil
stir fry rice noodles

01 place rice noodles in a bowl and cover with boiling water
02 cut tofu and fry with a little oil in a wok over medium heat
03 add finely cut garlic
04 add bamboo shoots and stir-fry until garlic starts to brown
05 season with teriyaki sauce and finally add the drained rice noodles

tasting the outcome of my first tofu adventure was kind of disapointing. i mean, the dish wasn't bad at all, but it wasn't really mouthwatering either. as far as the other ingredients are concerned it all was pretty asian-influenced, but when it came to the tofu ... it was rather spongy and tasteless.

i have to admit that i am not really keen on soy anyway. i am always willing to give new stuff a try, but when i bought soy milk for the first time about a year ago and i could not even finish off the carton. i did not like it at all - the consistency, the taste and especially the aftertaste it left in my mouth.

i am sorry to say that cooking with tofu was an equally disappointing experience. i guess i'll stick to chicken in the future :)

tagged with: cooking + food + recipe + tofu

london, baby!

after managing some dates and appointments i have finally booked a flight to london! i originally planned to make the trip with my sister and brother, but they both don't have time now ... how sad! i thought i'd have to fly alone, but then my mother suggested to come with me! how great! she could not visit either of her daughters during our stays in the uk (i was there 1996-1997 and my sister 1998), so now i finally have the chance to show her all the important places and sights of my life back then ...

chiswick, where i used to live.

ealing, where i went to college to improve my english

hammersmith, sheperd's bush, brentwood, earl's court, where i used to hang out with my aupair friends

my favorite pasttime on sunny days: hanging out in chiswick park, holland park, kew gardens, richmond and hempstead heath, chilling on the riverbanks of the river thames.

i can't wait to show her around. of course mum wants to see the tourist stuff as well - she has never really been travelling, the furthest would be a visit to relatives in plauen, germany. she is very excited, because it also will be her frst time on an airplane ...

the fastest spread/dip in the world

this is a delicious spread i invented due to a lack of fresh groceries when i was about twenty and living on my own for the first time. since i am very busy right now i tend to relaps and use processed food rather than fresh ingredients. nevertheless this is a favourite of mine, it goes with breakfast, snacks or munchies.

strain a can of kidney beans (225 g), throw in a food processor, add a little salt and freshly cut herbs if you want. also add a dash of sour creme - this will soften the mixture (you can also use cream, yoghurt or even a little milk). blend until smooth. add more sour creme if you wish to liquefiy the spread

tagged with: cooking + food + recipe

a foodbloggers meme around the world

i have been tagged with a nice meme by chili & ciabatta! i am crazy about collecting foodblogs and this is just the perfect meme for this addiction! so here we go:

1. please list three recipes you have recently bookmarked from foodblogs to try: this would be alu paratha by "food, in the main", the espresso bars by "bakingfreak" and the red radish and arugula soup by "la tartine gourmande"
2. a foodblog in your vicinity: there are not many foodblogs in my area, i wish there was a foodblogging map or something ... angelika is from austria and my sister is not too far away either.
3. a foodblog located far from you: the foodies in australia are on the other side of the globe!
4. a foodblog (or several) you have discovered recently (where did you find it?): my most recent discoveries: i came across sailu's food a few weeks ago as i was looking for indian recipes. and i found saffron hut's link in another blog (but i can't remember where i found it)
5. any people or bloggers you want to tag with this meme: anyone who is inspired by this meme should feel free to answer the questions! happy meme-ing!

euro blogging by post 4 - a parcel has duly arrived

i received a nice parcel from christina today! how great!! it is filled with various delicious treats.

two cookie cutters - christina wrote that she collected dozens and hardly ever uses them - well, so do i! i collect them as well, but i use them at least 4 times a year (especially around xmas).

homemade parsley and walnut pesto - how nice to send something she made herself, how thoughtful! can't wait to feast on that!

almond crush - "this unique snack from japan has been loved throughout the world for many years". i have not heard of it before and the writing on the box is intirely in japanese. they look delicious and i will try them with a nice cup of english tea tonight.

scottish oatcakes - i love, love love all things remotely connected to great brittain. did you read my mind?

trout terrine with grilled almonds - sounds like a pretty luxurious ingredient. most surely a nice variation on my dull everyday menu!

thank you so much christina, i was so excited by your parcel and its content!

tagged with: ebbp + euro blogging by post

euro blogging by post 4 - fly away little parcel, fly away!

i finally got everthing together for euro blogging by post 4! i sent out my parcel yesterday.

tagged with: ebbp + euro blogging by post

euro blogging by post 4 - simmering with excitement

oh my god, i am blushing! it is the first time that i take part in euro blogging by post and yesterday i got the adress of the person i am about to surprise with my specific austrian parcel - gosh, the person is fairly famous in the blogoshpere!

honestly: i am a little intimidated by that! i have to send out my servants to fetch the finest of austrian cuisine!

tagged with: ebbp + euro blogging by post

anglophile

reading about your traditional dishes in other languages actually gives you a hole different point of view. at least for me it shifts perceptions. it transforms the usual, the not ecxiting and sometimes even dull everyday dishes into lucullan highlights and flavourful masterpieces. it also lets you discover new ways to prepare dishes since even when it comes to food a tiny country like austria has an astounding variety of possibilities to offer. it almost seems that even cooking is colored by the local dialect here ...

i was surprised to see that the big bookstore in my town is acutally going global with quite a variety of austrian cookbooks in other languages in stock.

this is nice for tourists and guests from other countries as well as for anglophile people like me :)

knoblauchcremesuppe (garlic soup)

i read a delicious entry over at tea and cookies about austrian garlic soup which inspired me a lot to make this delicious treat. so here we go. although there are probably a thousand different recipes for garlic soup i suppose my version is not that different from hers:

recipe # 10: knoblauchcremesuppe (garlic soup)

1 small onion
1 tablespoon flour
1/4 l milk
1/4 l vegetables stock
butter
3 cloves of garlic
parsley
white bread

01 chop onion and garlic and saute on low heat in butter
02 sprinkle with flour and add milk and vegetable stock
03 keep stiring and bring to a boil
04 add chopped parsley
05 make croutons of white bread and garnish soup

tagged with: cooking + food + recipe + soup + suppe

lentil soup with roasted bacon

recipe # 9: lentil soup with roasted bacon

50 g dried lentils
1/2 onion
1 clove of garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon tomato paste
a dash of cream or creme freche
1/4 l water
1 bayleaf

01 rinse lentils
02 sautée finely chopped onion and garlic in olive oil
03 add tomato paste and stir well
04 add water and lentils
05 cover and let simmer for about 30 minutes
06 when lentils are soft, remove bayleaf and serve with roasted bacon

tagged with: cooking + food + recipe + soup + suppe

pear-a-dise cupcakes

very much inspired by chockylit i made some cupcakes today.
i singled out the weakest one and ate it right up.

200 g pears
250 g flour
100 g sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
a dash of salt
30 g vegetable oil
50 g honey
200 g plain yoghurt
1 egg
2 tablespoons rum

01 preheat oven to 200°c.
02 dice pears
03 mix together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and sugar. also add pears to the dry ingredients.
04 in a bowl combine yoghurt, oil, honey and egg
05 mi in flour mixture
06 spoon into paper liner cups and bake for 20 to 25 minutes

coconut soup

recipe # 8: coconut soup

1/2 red pepper
1/2 eggplant
1/2 zucchini
100 g mushrooms
1/2 leek
125 ml coconut milk
500 ml vegetable stock
1 can of shrimp coctail (you can also use 125 g scampi)

dried lemongrass
curcuma
salt

01 clean and cut pepper, eggplant, leek, zucchini and slice mushrooms
02 bring vegetable stock and coconut milk to a boil
03 throw in vegetables
04 cook for 20 minutes
05 add shrimps (or scampi) and let simmer for 5 more minutes
06 season with dried lemongrass, curcuma and salt

tagged with: cooking + food + recipe + soup + suppe

efficiency and inspiration

i noticed that ever since i maintain a foodblog i am becoming really efficient and planed out (is that an english expression?) in the kitchen. i am a really organized person but growing up in a large family i am always cooking way to much. in the past i pobably threw out hundreds of euros worth of food because i did not finish off dishes or something was laying rotten in my fridge (yak!!). that is not only expensive, that is unnecessary and not very thoughtful (now i hear my mum in my head telling me about all the starving kids in africa!!!)

it is not really easy though to cook for one person. first of all smaller quantities are always rather expensive compared to family sized packaging. and the other thing is that if i buy a large pack of a perishable ingredient i usually have to use it up within a short period of time. usually being rather busy i am not used to plan ahead. i always go with my impulse to decide what i am going for. i don't want to eat stew for dinner 3 days in a row.

reading all your delicious foodblogs has inspired me a lot and changed my approach towards new tastes and recipes. as i run over your posts i memorize recipes, ingredients and quantities and when i am in the store i shop according to that. foodwise i am still on the spur of the moment, but your recipes are really broaden my horizon ...

cream cheese soup with minced meat

recipe # 7: cream cheese soup with minced meat

1/2 onion
1/2 leek
1 tbsp of butter
100 g minced meat (3-4 tbsp)
1 tbsp of flour
1/4 liter vegetable stock
75 g creme cheese (i used rama cremefine)
salt, pepper, chives

as i am going for less calories at the moment, i took rama cremefine). this product can be used everywhere you normally would use cream, whipped cream or creme freche. but only consisting of vegetable fat and milk. it has much less calories than those products and to me it actually tastes even better. it is not as heavy and rich, it is light and creamy and just delicious :)

01 dice onion and cut leek
02 heat butter in a pot and roast the onion for a while
03 add minced meat and keep roasting
04 the last thing you'll add is the leek
05 sprinkle with flour and pour in hot vegetable stock
06 let simmer vor 20 minutes
07 add the soft cheese and bring to the boil again
08 garnish with cut chives and serve with baguette

tagged with: cooking + food + recipe + soup + suppe

eggplantsoup with a twist

recipe # 6 : eggplantsoup with a twist

150 g aubergine
1/2 small onion
100 g zucchini
1 clove of garlic
olive oil
150 ml vegetable stock
salt, pepper, chives, cream

01 cut the vegetables and toss in a pan (don't forget to remove skin from the aubergine). drizzle with olive oil
02 put in the oven and roast at 200°C until browned and stirr occasionally
03 remove from oven and let cool for a while
04 puree roasted vegetables and put in a saucepan
05 add vegetable stock
06 simmer over medium heat for about 10 minutes
07 season to taste and garnish with a dash of cream and some chives

tagged with: cooking + food + recipe + soup + suppe

go figure! i am a girl!

please stop me! i am turning into a housewife (just without a husband and a bunch of kids)!!

my mother got a new sewing-machine a few weeks ago and i said: "hey, wait, don't throw out the old one!! i want to have it!!" my mum was stunned. not only is she delighted by my desire to cook, cook and cook some more of our family recipes lately (and me calling her twice a week to ask her cooking questions), she is also embracing the fact that i am turning into a domestic girl.

for your information: i was a tomboy as a child. though i had looong blond pigtails i used to climb trees and beat up the boys in my neighbourhood. i refused to wear dresses and skirts and i banished everyhing remotely girly from my life. i cried my heart out when i had to wear girl shoes to church when my first communion was celebrated.

my mother and my sister on the other hand are just ... perfect in all the handiwork. knitting, embroidery, sewing, cooking, home decorating ... you name it - they do it. my mother is almost like a devoted housewife from the 50ies, only with a good deal of emancipation *g*.

she never pressured me into all this woman-stuff though. when a friend asked her about my desires to settle down and start a family when i was about 25 she proudly said: "no, but she just bought her second computer, isn't that great?!" when i showed up at her house in a skirt - i was 27 then - she was delirious with joy. i think she even cried a little bit.


well. here i am. in front of MY sewing machine. trying to figure out how that thing works. it is an heirloom from my mom's cousin. her family emigrated to australia and this is a device from down under she got as a vintage present while i was still a child.

so here i am. in front of MY sewing machine. trying to figure out how that damn thing works.

i am a techie girl.
i can figure that out!
just give me a minute.

soup delay

i have been rather busy over the last few days so i have not been able to catch up with all the soup recipes i promised you. there are a few more to come but i suppose i will not be able to post before the weekend. look out for eggplantsoup with a twist, turkish noodle soup, cheese soup and lentil stew.

rindsuppe mit grießnockerl (semolina dumplings in broth)

recipe # 5: rindsuppe (broth) - made from scratch!

2 small beef soup bones
1 onion
1 carrot
1/2 liter of water
one small celery stalk
salt
1 clove garlic
some juniper berries
one bay leaf

01 blanch the bones in hot water to remove all fragments from the bones
02 chop onion, carrot and celery into chunks
03 place onions and bones in a pot and roast, uncovered, until the bones are browned. it does not matter if the onions are turning brown/black-ish, this adds a great taste to the soup
04 pour water into the pot and add vegetables, juniper berries, bay leaf and garlic
05 bring this mixture to the boil and reduce heat
06 let simmer for at least two hours
07 when the soup is done strain it through a cheesecloth to remove all solid parts
08 you can also skim off fat if you like

grießnockerl

4 tbsp semolina
2 tbsp soft butter
1 egg
salt, nutmeg

01 in a bowl combine smooth butter and egg
02 add semolina and season to taste
03 let the mixture rest for at least half an hour
04 form tiny "nockerl" with the aid of two spoons
05 throw them into slightly boiling broth and let simmer for 10 to 15 minutes
06 take the pot away from the stove and let rest for another 5 minutes

tagged with: cooking + food + recipe + soup + suppe















it was harder to translate this than to actually make the soup from scratch :)

creamy sweet corn soup

recipe # 4: creamy sweet corn soup

sweet pepper powder
2 tbsp olive oil
70 g potatos
200 ml vegetable stock
50 ml cream
200 g strained grains of corn
1 spring onion

01 mix sweet pepper powder and olive oil and put aside
02 dice potatos and cook with vegetable stock, cream and half of strained grains of corn for about 20 minutes
03 purée everything and put back in the pot. bring to the boil again.
04 cut spring onion into tiny rings, add them to the soup and also add the rest of the strained corn.
05 let cook for about 3 more minutes
06 season to taste
07 put in a dish and drizzle with the olive oil prepared earlier

tagged with: cooking + food + recipe + soup + suppe

apple curry soup

recipe # 3: apple curry soup

1 apple (sourly)
1/2 onion
0,25 l vegetable stock
1/2 tablespoon of curry powder
butter
salt
pepper
crème fraiche
croutons

01 dice onions and stew in some butter
02 (peel and) mince apple
03 add to the onions and stew a little more
04 add curry powder and vegetable stock
05 you might want to use a handblender if the bits are to junky. i like them that way!
06 season to taste
07 you also can add some crème fraiche if you like
08 some fresh croutons also go very well with the soup

tagged with: cooking + food + recipe + soup + suppe

krautsuppe

recipe # 2: krautsuppe

1/4 white cabbage
1 small onion
1/2 l vegetable stock
15 g flour
sweet pepper powder
caraway seeds
nutmeg
salt, pepper

01 chop cabbage finely
02 fry diced onion in butter and sprinkle over sweet pepper powder
03 stir a little more and add a little bit of water and sprinkle with flour
04 add cabbage
05 season to taste and add caraway seeds
06 finally add vegetable stock and let simmer for half an hour

tagged with: cooking + food + recipe + soup + suppe

mühlviertler fastensuppe

today is ash wednesday. i am not particularly religious but i do not eat meat on ash wednesday and good friday. and i usually try to abstain from some beloved habit during the days of lent. watching less tv or cut back smoking for example.

as a new tradition i don't really want to cut back on something, i take up the challenge of making a different soup every day for 40 days of lent. lets see how that works out.

recipe # 1: mühlviertler fastensuppe (lent soup from mühlviertel)

1 tablespoon butter
20 g flour
1/2 onion
1 small potato
1/4 kohlrabi (stem turnip)
20 g white cabbage
0,25 l vegetable stock
parsley
salt
pepper
nutmeg
a little lemon juice
1 slice of dark bread

01 dice vegetables and stew in salted water until tender
02 make roux from butter and flour
03 add vegetable stock and stir in the precooked vegetables
04 season to taste with salt, pepper and nutmeg
05 pour in a soup plate
06 dark bread is perfect with this dish

tagged with: cooking + food + recipe + soup + suppe