always ready for pizza

my favorite pizza dough, dry ingredients always handy (check out @frenchguycooking) #gourmet

Ein von @tschoerda gepostetes Foto am 11. Nov 2015 um 12:35 Uhr

(get proportions on french guy cooking website)

[laˈzaɲa] for my computer guy

well, i am a computer girl myself. i don't mind to screw open a data processor and adjust hardware. in most cases i even adjust hardware sucessfully *lol*. my friend peter is hardcore though. he can do *everything* with a computer, may it be hardware, software, a network or whatever. no kidding. i bow before him!

peter drops by with a few ram modules for the server he gave me recently and therefor i will cook a delicious lasagna for him tonight.



when he presented me with the server a couple of weeks ago i was a geek girl in heaven! i hope tonight he'll be a geek boy in a lasagna coma :D. undoubtedly he *will* be, because i made my first lasagna in a cooking class when i was eleven years old and it was very good right from the start. now, 22 years later i still cook it from time to time. i don't need a recipe, i cook it slightly different every time and it still turns out ... well, pretty darn good! yes yes yes, i blow my own trumpet here, but believe me, my lasagna IS perfection! [but whose isn't?]

in a pan, fry one small onion in a little olive oil. add 500 g of minced meat and gently fry over medium heat. sprinkle in two stock cubes. add one spoon full of tomato paste and a couple of cherry tomatoes. add dried basil, cover with a lid, leave on medium heat and let simmer for half an hour. stir occasionally.



prepare béchamel sauce (or white sauce) once the meat looks ready by whisking 300 ml of scalded milk gradually into a white flour-butter roux (roux is equal part clarified butter and flour). the sauce should not be too thick! stir a couple of fresh basil leaves into the meat sauce and start to build the layers:




ladle enough meat sauce in a baking dish to cover the bottom and top that with non cook lasagna noodles. top with béchamel sauce, just enough to cover the noodles. add an even layer of your favorite cheese. now add meat sauce again, then noodles, béchamel sauce, cheese, meat sauce and so forth. make as many layers as you wish, i usually get to four or five. top with béchamel sauce and add some more cheese. for a fresh touch i like to add cherry tomatoes and fresh basil and even more cheeeeeeese :) bake in a preheated oven for one hour to 90 minutes and allow it to sit for a few minutes before serving.


i think peter enjoyed my dinner.


he even finished off what i did not manage to eat! good guy!

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?

pasta with swiss chard and onion

while i grew up with the wonderful but very rich and heavy dishes my mama and my grandmother taught me to cook i desperately needed to discover my very own style. i believe that every generation needs to learn from the previous one but also should adapt and change the food they grew up with and set their own new standards.

well, that's what i did. and compared with the two previous generations my style was totally lean cuisine (which it is so not!). my grandmother for example used to fry all the wonderful bohemian style dishes in lard almost exclusivly. my mother made the transition to butter and margarine while yours truly in the third generation tries to avoid that grease alltogether. or use a non-stick frying pan and a tsp of olive oil or a knob of butter. don't get me wrong, lard and butter have a very distinctive flavour that often is essential and indispensable in upper austrian cuisine (perhaps in all native rural cooking in general) and i would never totally ban it from my diet. but i don't need to eat it every day either!

coming from a family of loud and big ass women (and i say that in the most loving way, after all i inherited the big mouth and the famous tush!), it still took a while until i gained confidence and my organic way of living. because a herd of dominant women can be very daunting!

i try to broaden my horizon regarding food in general. when i grew up spaghetti really was code for any kind of noodle with a meat and tomato sauce. today i have a different, more diverse point of view as far as pasta is concerned. and i especially like my spaghetti with steamed vegetables and very little sauce. i like all my pasta that way, no matter if spaghetti, tagliatelle, cannelloni or sedanini.

if i still had my spaghetti with butter and heavy sauce i guess i'd have a REAL problem with my weight instead of the oh no, my belly is wobbly and oh god, my thighs are really chubby - remarks i tend to make from time to time ...

where am i going with this post?! i wanted to show you my dinner!

since i had swiss chard in my farm box (a vegetable i absolutely adore) i made some spaghetti with swiss chard and red onion for dinner today. what a lovely combination!

1 swiss chard
1 small red onion
1 tsp of olive oil
100 ml of cream (i used rama cremefin)
pasta, which ever one you like :)
cheese, which ever one you like for your pasta (i used a slice of gouda)

1. cook pasta in a pot of salted water. i like my pasta very well done, but if you like yours al dente that'll work too
2. in the meantime dice the onion, clean and slice the chard
3. when your pasta is done drain it but leave enough of the cooking water to blanch the chard for a few minutes
4. don't overcook the chard, the vegetable should still be firm to the bite. it really only should take a few minutes
   
5. now drain the chard too
6. fry an onion in olive oil (i did that in my pasta/chard-pot) and add the chard before the onion turns brown
7. now stir in the cream and bring to a boil
8. add the cheese and season to taste
9. add pasta and gently toss to combine
   

risotto with leek, broccoli and feta

i have another fine dish for you that will soothe your tummy and tastes totally yummie! yes my friends, i am ryming. because i am finally over the stomache-ache. i am on my feet again.

1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium leek, chopped
125 g rice
125 g broccoli
50 g feta
600 ml vegetable broth
salt
pepper

1. cook broccoli for 10 minutes and make sure it's not overcooked. it will later be added to the risotto and has some more time to cook
2. heat olive oil in a pot (or saucepan) over medium heat
3. stir in leek and cook until it is just begining to turn color
4. pour in the rice and stir until the rice is coatet in oil. stir for 2 to 3 minutes
5. stir in one third of the vegetable broth and continue stirring until incorporated.
6. repeat this process untill all the liquid is absorbed (should take about 20 minutes)
7. when you pour in the last broth add the broccoli as well
8. once the rice is toroughly cooked add the feta and stir until it has melted
9. season to taste and serve

gratinated canneloni casserole

i cleaned up my kitchen cabinets yesterday and i found some really cool pasta my brother brought back from a holiday in italy. i've had it for quite a while now and since it was stuck in the back of the cabinet i completely forgot about it. the pasta is canneloni-style and i always wanted to do something special with it - perhaps an exotic filling or a lavish sauce? well, i never got to be creative on this italian speciality, so i figured i'd just use it for a little twist on a regular dish.

easy sauce
1 onion
1 clove of garlic
8 tomatos
vegetable oil, salt, basil
1 mozzarella

01 cut onion and garnic and fry in a little vegetable oil
02 dice tomatoes and add to the onions and garlic
03 add basil and let simmer on medium heat for about half an hour
04 cook pasta
05 purée sauce with a hand blender
06 align pasta in a casserole and cover with sauce
07 cut mozzarella and arrange on top of the pasta - you can even stuff some into the canneloni if you like
08 put in the oven and roast until the mozzarella has melted

the recipe itself is nothing special really, but it sure looks very pretty. aligning the canneloni is a bit of a hassle, but the final dish is totally worth it.

technorati tags:canneloni, casserole

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obsessive-compulsive "waiting-for-my-parcel" disorder

as i am sitting here thinking about a parcel on its way to linz every single minute (especially after my sister already got hers) i figured i need to get my mind off of it for a little while. and what's a foodie got to do? of course! i need to cook something!

"sort of" pizza margherita

for the dough i was combining 150 g of flour with some salt and half a pack of dry yeast. i made a smooth dough with half a cup of lukewarm water and a little olive oil. after kneading it for a few minutes i let it rise for 20 minutes. in the meantime i cut up one onion and 5 tomatoes and made some fried-tomato-and-onion gravy. i placed the dough on my little baking tray and spread the tomato/onion gravy on the dough and covered it with mozarella.

very yummy.

still ... now that i am sitting here enjoying my litte mini-margherita i am starting to dream about euro blogging by post again ... talk about me being obsessed ... i might just be your regular crazy foodblogger though ... :)

green nockerl with mozzarella

75 g potatos, peeled and diced
50 g spinach leaves
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp olive oil
30 g grated mozzarella
20 g flour
salt, pepper

01 cook potatos and mash 'em up
02 blanch spinach leaves
03 sprinkle flour on the work space
04 place mashed potatos on work space and make a dent in the middle
05 add egg yolk, oil, spinach, mozzarella and flour
06 season the firm dough to taste
07 make tiny dumplings and throw into hot water untill they surface
08 place on a plate and garnish with some more mozzarella, spinach leaves, or salad

update:
this recipe was supposed to be for gnocchi but somehow my sleight of hand seems to be a little sloppy. what was supposed to be firm and tiny turned out to be rather fluffy and nockerlstyle. in order to adjust the title and erase the gnocchi-part i tried to look up the propper english word for the southern german and austrian delicacy - and guess what: the generally understandable word for nockerl IS gnocchi.

how funny.
you live and lern.
:)

tagged with: cooking + food + recipes

spaghetti tart and home made tomato sauce

spaghetti tart

160g spaghetti
1 liter salted water
1 tablespoon oil
50 g grated cheese (gouda is fine)
70 g tomatos (from a can)
70 g olives (they used peas in the original recipe)
100 g sour cream
2 eggs
salt, peper, parsley

01 cook spaghetti al dente and pour off the excess water
02 clean and cut tomatos or use tomatos from a can and add to pasta
03 add cut up olives and grated cheese as well
04 mix eggs, sour cream and season to taste
05 pour the spaghettimix in a cake pan and pour egg/creamsauce on top
06 heat oven to 200°C and bake for 60 minutes
07 serve spaghetti tart with home made tomato sauce

tomato sauce

375 g tomatos
1/2 onion
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt, pepper, basil
10 g parmesan
10 g fine chopped pine nuts

01 mince tomatos with hand blender and strain through a tight sieve to produce some kind of tomato puree
02 chop onion and sauté in olive oil
03 add tomato puree and season to taste
04 once the sauce is thickened add basil, parmesan and pine nuts

if you use the quantities for 4 persons you really get a big cake! since i come from an austrian/bohemian background i always expect tarts to be sweet. having a recipe transfer that given image into an italian dish is quite experimental for me ... i also did not use a big pan, i used some tiny childrens cookware and adjusted the time in the oven. after all i devide all my recipies to match my needs as a single gal. i don't need to eat eight servings ...

tagged with: imbb # 22 + noodle

for my first imbb i also decided to add two more pictures of the tart ...