maybe tomorrow?

brewing cough medicine

i might not be the only person having a cold these days and while i managed to steer clear of nasty cough-germs for a couple of years (i never cough!) it finally hit me last week. phew, i even have a mild fever!! and that's really nasty, let me tell you!

it's a good thing i consider myself a little witch and i can brew myself all kinds of remedies!

;)

ah, not really.

but i always rely on household remedies if an illness is somewhat harmless ... this one is, i feel a little weak, i want to stay in bed all day - and i do!! the coughing is just bugging the hell out of me so i need to drench myself in vitamins despite my current state of appetitelessness (is that even an english word?)

so before i officially freak out of cabin fever i pull myself together and turn on the stove. a sick girl needs to eat, even if she's not that hungry!


peel and cut one large carrot (150 g), one large parsnip (130 g), one small onion (55 g), one green bell pepper (90 g), one yellow bell pepper (117 g). put the veggies on a baking tray, sprinkle with a little olive oil and fresh pepper and roast on 180°C until tender.



(i thought i could use the cabbage pictured above too, but i actually didn't. too bad i can't go back in time to rearrange the pic! even when i am sick i am a controllfreak / perfectionist ...)


now grab your immersion blender and mash everything up real nice! the roasted veggies need a little more liquid, so i sprinkled them with a stock cube and poured over 250 ml of hot water. i also added 125 ml of rama cremefine.


looks like i am living on the edge with all the additional cream! i even drizzled a little over the soup when i decorated the plate ... use some more pepper to season (it'll also clear your sinus!)


whoa, i feel better already! watch out nasty germs, tons of vitamins coming your way!

isn't the romanesco the most beautiful vegetable in all the land?

i mean, isn't this the most beautiful thing on the planet?!

Fibonacci sequences appear in biological settings, such as branching in trees, the fruitlets of a pineapple, an uncurling fern and the arrangement of a pine cone. In addition, numerous poorly substantiated claims of Fibonacci numbers or golden sections in nature are found in popular sources, e.g. relating to the breeding of rabbits, the spirals of shells, and the curve of waves. (wikipedia.org)

the most perfect vegetable on the planet! nerd that i am, i lovelovelove fractals, especially the mandelbrot set, the julia set and the fibonacci number (golden spiral).

c'mon! how could you not ABSOLUTELY ADORE something so clearly structured, logical and easy to understand for a non-mathematician (but somewhat nerdy girl) like me?!

i don't even have a recipe for this parboiled romanesco plus shrimp, i just wanted to update again with a few pictures ... i have been relapsing like crazy for a few weeks now - but don't pity me, i'm already on the road to recovery.

so here it goes: another photo-lovestory!
well, at least i can offer you a tiny sign of life out of my kitchen :)








(... and it was delicious!)

tiny little pillows

when i got back on the blogging wagon late last year i was combing through my favorite blogs instead of posting a dish myself. you gotta begin in a small way, right? there was one recipe in particular that would not let me go ... i bookmarked it back then and always always always wanted to try the gnocchi over at tuna toast myself.

well, folks - today is the day!

when i was going over the recipe it occured to me that the bohemian cuisine has something very similar (again!) and that i already had my mum cook those "potato noodles" for me to showcase here - which of course, as i was busy busy busy back then i totally forgot to do!



so let's proceed with the gnocchi instead, right? and though the italian approach over at mizz tokyoastrogirl's looks rather tempting, i decided to keep it short and simple in the end (man, was i hungy!!). i fried the little pillows up with garlic, onions and basil. besides, how should i ever make up my mind and choose only one way to prepare the gnocchi since there are like a gazillion variations of these nockerl in bavarian, austrian, hungarian, slovenian and italian cuisine?!

wash, boil and peel 800 g potatoes. mash them with a food mill if you have one, or just use a potato masher like i did. make a mould in the middle and add a knob of butter, 100 g flour (i try to use spelt flour now and i avoid white flour alltogether) and one egg.


work the dough with your hands and knead it well. add more flour if necessary but be carefull - the dough should be fluffy!


cut the dough in several large pieces and roll the first piece into a long stick about as thick as your finger. cut the stick into little pieces.


usually you should give the gnocchi an oval shape, but this is a step i left out. rolling the pieces with a fork and your finger is another interesting way to shape them a little concave, then again i figured i'd go for little pillows instead. it's much too much work to individually shape them! I WAS GETTING REALLY HUNGRY BY THEN! i might want to try the "pretty version" of the gnocchi next time. i was getting crankier by the minute (did i mention just how hungry i was?), so i figured i'd go for "tasty" this time!


bring a pot of water to the boil and add a pinch of salt. when the water is at a boil, put in the little gnocchi. after a couple of minutes the gnocci will rise from the bottom of the pot to the surface - they are ready now! take them out with a large strainer, be careful not to squish them!


in a skillet heat a little olive oil and throw in one sliced onion, basil and garlic if you like. gently fry for a little while. transfer the gnocchi to the skillet and gently toss them until covered. continue stirring the gnocchi.


serve them hot, you can even add some grated cheese if you like!

i figured that i could easily prepare those little babies when i am in a hurry, so i made the whole recipe and froze three batches. phew!! much less preparation time on the next gnocchi-lunch!


ps: did you notice, i got a brandnew camera! i bought myself a belated christmas present, a sony α, one pretty fine dSLR-cam! i still have to get used to it, sooo many buttons to push, sooooo many adjustments to make! i might stick to my little digicam for my food-pix though. i hate to see this precious baby covered in flour!

hm, did i ever post a picture of myself in this blog before?

whoa, i am stuffed! and you?

the 2nd day of my time consuming christmas baking

lets start the second day of this overnight adventure, shall we?


now, while the dough must be chilled thoroughly i left mine out on the deck overnight - silly me - and sure, it was frozen. -3°c out on the deck does not equal "chilling", it equals "freezing", stupid! it's not intended to end up like that and i had to thaw the lump of dough for a couple of hours inside before i proceeded with the recipe. what an unnecessary step, right? plus, it added a couple of more hours in this loooong baking adventure to begin with ... i suggest you handle that one differently. i don't think there was any harm done to the dough, but according to the recipe you need to only chill it overnight. i will definitely use the fridge next time too.

i rolled out a few smaller portions to about 3 mm thickness. i cut with christmas cookie cutters and placed them on a cookie sheet before baking the cookies at 175° c for about 10 minutes. i finally put them on a rack to cool. you have to work quickly when you roll out and cut the dough because it is very crumbly and handling it can become somewhat nerve-recking!

the last step of assembling the cookies is easy but somewhat time consuming (aaaaw, again?): spead black current jelly on a flat and round cookie and put a zig-zag one on top. coat the cookie-stack with melted chocolate and decorate with half an almond.

as you can see, i used different shapes too. i was assembling only equal shapes though you're supposed to put a smaller cookie on top of a big one ...

mh, nevermind. they still taste perfect this way! i might do a little more "mix and match" as far as the shapes are concerned the next time. no, wait, next time? there is no way in hell i am going to make such sumptuously cookies again!

yes, i took pictures. so here is my fotolove/hate-story:






too much of a hassle, let me tell you!
don't try them at home!

time consuming christmas baking

in my venture to make traditional christmas cookies with healthier ingredients i took on österreichische brabanzerl today. neither do i have a clue what brabanzerl actually are, nor have i ever heard the word brabanzerl itself. it might be something from tirol or vorarlberg or even switzerland ... some similar christmas baking originated here in the bohemian forest, but we use ground hazelnuts instead of the almonds, we don't add chocolate either and we don't have to store the dough overnight (huh, it looks like our recipe is totally different after all!) ... we simply call those cookies biscuits that are stuck together. sounds equally silly - i don't even know if they have a real name. they probably do, but we've never called them anything else than zusammengepickte kekse. i am really curious if the original recipe will taste any good with spelt flour and brown sugar ...


150 g spelt flour (original ingredient: wheat flour)
50 g ground almonds
50 g brown sugar (original ingredient: white caster sugar)
50 g melted dark chocolate
150 g soft margarine (i suppose you could substitute margarine for butter)



mix all ingredients together and store overnight in the refrigerator. out on my deck it's minus 3°c so i'll store the dough outside overnight.


now stay tuned! while my cookie dough rests outside in the cold i am in here with a nice cup of tea waiting for another update tomorrow with baking, glazing and decorating ... oh, and eating!

crooked hazelnut macaroons drowned in chocolate

beat one egg white with a pinch of salt until stiff. gradually add 30 g of sugar, keep beating constantly. fold in 30 g ground and roasted hazelnuts. spoon on wafers on a baking sheet and bake in preheated oven at 180 °c for about 20 minutes. place on a rack and let the macaroons cool.


i am steering clear of many processed foods these days. the (radical) changes in my diet with a focus on MS-related nutrition had a pretty positive effect on my body. i feel stronger and more active and i lost quite a few inches around my waist - i had to buy an entire new wardrobe this winter because not a single pair of pants from this spring fits anymore. not keeping groceries like white sugar in my pantry these days (if any, i use brown sugar instead) is quite a handicap when it comes to christmas baking. i still have to figure out how to make all those gorgeous and sugary xmas-kekse without going completely overboard on the healthy ingredients.

lots and lots of sugar, chocolate and grease are mandatory in xmas-keksen, i could never abandon that! as you can see, my new nourisment is not completely radical! using only spelt, whole wheat or/and honey would probably be a mistake - as a child i could detect "healthy" christmas candy blindfolded - and i would never eat it! healthy baking still tastes good, but i didn't quite get the knack of that yet. so i better stick to what i know and love!



but this first attempt in christmas baking was almost a disaster, mostly traditional ingredients and all ... my macaroons where pretty asymmetric and much too brown when i pulled them out of the oven so i decided to cover them in chocolate - entirely - instead of just the bottoms. tastes yummie and covers up my botched work - what more do i need? turns out, only a good cup of tea! thank god i bought a tea-advent calendar again this year, how kitschy am i?!

yes, very.

it looks like life has its own way of taking care of things

let me give you another quick update, since once again things have turned around pretty unexpectedly for me! your comments and emails gave me so much perseverance and hope and it looks like this stamina paid off!

yes, i am still single. while i was heartbroken for quite a while it turned out to be okay in the end. life goes on. after all, i am used to function better on my own because i am not so distracted! more room for food-blogging and adjusting my camera while munching my food! after all, this is dinner for one!
i also found a very cool job as a marketing assistant (where i am mostly pushing around pixels in graphic programs) and i am also back at university, and that is the most unexpected thing of all!
when i applied for a student grant in september things where not looking good at all, i honestly thought i will never again go to university because i simply can't afford it. i had already made my peace with it, i was looking for full time jobs - and two days after i got this incredible part time thing in marketing i got the news from my advisor that she recalculated my file again ... and it turns out that i actually am eligible for a scholarship after all! i tell you, this truly is a miracle!

while all these thoughts about my uncertain future at first caused quite some inner turmoil and quite some sleepless nights with the disease flaring up again too it finally looks like i hit the ground running!

look forward my friends, this will not be my only post today! i will go grocery shopping after university later today and i plan to treat myself to some christmassy sweetness!

a quick update

things have not been going smoothly for me lately.

i am now on medication and it is back to "for one" - two major changes that pretty much suck most of the time. and though i also finished my bachelor's degree i am still looking for a decent job. no idea yet how to make rent next month!

but i am sure i will get through all this.
i know i am strong.
and i hope to get this foodblog back to life too!
thanks for your patience anyway!

fingerfoodfish

i am always looking for cool ideas to cook fish these days. so when i found this recipe for sardines as fingerfood / tapas i ripped it right out of the magazine. sardines? sure! i tried several kinds of fish in the past weeks and i think i am already tasting differences. so today i'll buy myself some sardines and quickly fry them up for a nice lunch ... or so i thought! can you believe i did not find one single fishmonger in linz who could sell me fresh sardines?! yes, okay, after half a day on my bike on tour through the city i finally found a shop that would sell frozen ones (which i bought anyway). but i wanted to cook them straight away! i would have to thaw and gill them - and that is something that i am not really curious about. i never gilled a fish and honestly, i don't ever want to. i confess that i prefer my meat clean and cut into handy pieces in a styrofoam box. see no evil, hear no evil, don't think of the fact that you actually eat something that was alive once ... yesyesyes! how naive ... don't judge me!


so what is all that about?! are there really no fresh sardines available in this city?!

of course there are. somebody hinted that i could order them in a local eurospar and they would have them available cleaned and gilled the next morning. this is exactly what i wanted! i stuck the frozen sardines in my freezer compartment - they can wait until i am ready to actually gill an animal ... and then i ordered fresh sardines from the eurospar at the city's (only?) shopping center.


[stop looking at me like that!]

rinse 500 g sardines (15 fish) and pat them dry. dredge in flour, shaking off any excess.
heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. when the oil is hot, fry the sardines until brown and crispy. remove to a large serving plate, and keep warm.


add four chopped cloves of garlic to the pan and cook until brown. add one tbsp of paprika powder, one bayleaf, 100 ml balsamic vinegar (the original requires white vinegar), 100 ml white wine and 100 ml water and allow the mixture to simmer, stirring occasionally. when the liquid has reduced by about half, pour the sauce over the sardines. you can sprinkle the fish with chopped herbs too - i used chopped basil. the herbs are optional. let stand for at least two hours to allow the fish to marinate.

serves 3


while looking for other recipes about sardines i found a similar one here. apparently those sardines are called "naples style". who knew!

i also strained and reduced the marinade by two thirds and it makes a wonderful and glossy dip / sauce for the filets. though there is 1/3 of balsamic vinegar in this sauce, it is not acidic at all. it actually gives the fish the final kick!


all in all it took me half a day to cook plus two days to actually obtain sardines, but it really was all worth it!

the best thing since sliced bread!

with the crazy weather here in austria it almost feels like summer is gone already. that sucks, let me tell you! because it has been a marvellous summer so far and i still want more of it - and yes, sure, i almost collapsed a few times when we had 40°c and sometimes even more - but the summer of 2007 will always be remembered as the summer of bbq and chill out afternoons on the deck ♥.

don't get me wrong - i barbecued before. i used to throw the odd cutlet or a hamburger on the grill, a few times every summer, i was experimental enough to grill a pineapple once. it actually became quite a ritual in my circle of friends in 2003, but that bbq never was more than food that was bound to be digested.

that changed this year. i can't even put my finger on it. i don't know what's different now - maybe because food is not just food anymore. this summer was very different in so many ways, and my different approach towards nutrition really might have something to do with it :) i am much more aware somehow. i enjoy every second with my friends and my ♥ out on the deck and i soak up every last sunbeam. and i am even more experimental as far as the food is concerned!

in order to preserve a little of this bbq spirit on a very cloudy lunchbreak i decided to make myself a tasty (and handy!) little sandwich with the ingredients i loved and discovered this summer. that's the best thing since sliced bread! nonono, let me rephrase that: it is the best thing between two slices of bread, baby!





i grilled different vegetables i found in my fridge, basically a tricolour of zucchini, tomatoes and garlic. i also grilled a few cloves of garlic and - the main ingredient now - halloumi! i discovered this unbelievable cheese in early summer and i am hooked ever since. i still like grilled cutlets and grilled hamburgers today, but actually i almost always chose halloumi over meat when we fetched the grill!

when your veggies and the halloumi are done just do this:


i don't want to brag, but this has been the most satisfying lunch i've had in months! now let me get back to the second half of my summer bbq sandwich! you definitely should make yourself one too!