trout & hawk | An exploration of flavours and beauty

spiced butternut squash bread

19. November 2015

Spiced butternut squash bread

1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
a pinch of ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon grated ginger
1 cup butternut squash purée *
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs, beaten
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup toasted chopped walnuts or pecans

* to make butternut squash purée
Cut butternut squash in half lengthwise and remove seeds. Bake at 180°C until squash is soft, about 30 to 40 minutes. When cool scoop out the cooked pulp and blend it until smooth. Measure one cup of squash purée. The rest you may use for other purposes.

Preheat oven to 180°C and butter your loaf baking mold.
In a medium bowl sift together the flour, baking soda, salt and spices.
In a large bowl combine butternut squash purée, sugar, vegetable oil, eggs and water until well blended. Add the flour mixture and stir until just blended. Lightly stir in the chopped nuts.

Pour batter into the baking mold and and bake 50 to 60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

quince leather / Quittenbrot / dulce de membrillo

12. November 2015

by troutandhawk

Leave a comment

Once the quince was sacred to Aphrodite, the goddess of love. In the garden of Hesperides it was called the Fruit of Paradise.
Quinces have a soft and furry coat. They are intensely fragrant and have no artificial substitute. They can’t be eaten raw and to handle them you need patience and a good knife. When cooked they change colour from yellow to dark orange.
Quinces make a wonderful jelly because they contain plenty of natural pectin.

Add spices, time to stir and time to dry …. you’ll be rewarded with a heavenly dulce de membrillo.

quince leather / Quittenbrot / dulce de membrillo

2 kg quince, washed, cored and chopped
about 750g – 1 kg sugar (exact amount you see after cooking and blending)
juice and peel of an organically grown lemon
1 vanilla pod, sliced

Put the quince into a heavy bottom pot, cover with water and set it over medium heat. Add the vanilla pod and the lemon peel. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down and let it simmer until the quince pieces are fork tender. About 30 to 40 minutes.
Strain the water, discard the vanilla pod, but keep the lemon peel. Purée the quince pieces in a blender. Whatever amount of quince purée you have , you will need 3/4 of this amount in sugar.
Transfer the quince sauce back to the pot, add sugar and lemon juice. Over low heat simmer the sauce for another hour or two, stirring frequently.
Spread the thickened sauce on a parchment paper lined baking try. Smooth it out and let it dry in the oven at 55°C. You may leave the purée in the oven for 3-4 hours to dry it entirely. Another option is to leave the quince purée in the oven for only one hour and then forget it in a warm and airy place for some days.
If you happen to have a dehydrator, use it. It will turn the drying process into a true pleasure!

Cut the quince leather into squares and serve it the Spanish way with Manchego cheese.

autumn 2022 version:

apple tart and fern

5. November 2015

by troutandhawk

comments 2

Cakes + Cookies / Sweets

To make this fresh and silky apple tart you basically need your hands, 1kg ripe and mellow apples and a few typically German dairy products like Quark (curd) for the crust and Schmand (sour cream) for the filling.

silky apple tart

for the crust:
125g Magerquark (low fat curd)
125g cold butter, cut in small pieces
125g flour

for the filling:
1kg ripe and mellow apples, sliced
the juice of one lemon
400g Schmand (sour cream)
1 sachet custard powder
50g sugar

Optionally you may add raisins or almond slivers on top.

In a bowl add flour, Magerquark and butter. Work the butter and the Quark into the flour using your fingers. Continue working until the dough comes together and forms a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Peel and slice the apples. Sprinkle with lemon juice.

Roll the dough with a rolling pin, transfer to a tart pan, press into the base up the sides, and trim the edge. Place the apple slices onto the crust.
Combine Schmand, sugar and custard powder and spread the mixture evenly on top of the apples.

Preheat oven to 200°C. Bake for 30 minutes or until the rims start to turn golden brown.

marbled walnut guglhupf

29. October 2015

by troutandhawk

comment 1

Cakes + Cookies / Sweets

The calmness around the lake of Moritzburg castle is truly magical on a foggy morning. Later the sun came out and the day burst in glorious autumn colours.

I found the marbled walnut gugl in the recipe book of my grandma.

marbled walnut guglhupf

250g butter
200g sugar
1 teaspoon ground bourbon vanilla
2 eggs
100g corn starch
300g flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
100ml milk

150g walnuts, ground
50g sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon cognac or kirsch – or another tablespoon milk

Combine well nuts, sugar, milk and spirit in a small bowl and put aside.

All the other ingredients should have room temperature. Beat butter, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl with mixer on high until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Sift flour, corn starch and baking powder to mix well.
On low speed beat in flour in 3 additions, alternately with milk, just until blended.

Combine 2/3 of the batter with the nut mix.

Scrape nut batter evenly into a guglhupf mold, top with the white batter. Run a fork through the batter to create the marbled effect.

Preheat the oven to 180°C and bake for 50-60 minutes. Be sure to check, time is approximate. When it tends to overbrown reduce the temperature to 170°C. Bake until a toothpick in the center comes out clean.
Cover with couverture chocolate. The thicker the better!

The Guglhupf will be most delicious when you let it rest in the cool overnight: moist and intensely flavoured.

curried butternut squash soup

22. October 2015

by troutandhawk

comments 3

Dinner / Lunch / Soups

When it comes to butternut squash soup I’m usually on the ~~heavily gingered~~ spicy side. Minimalist Baker’s suggestion is subtly spiced, soul-warming, silky, coconut-infused and surprisingly different.

Curried butternut squash soup
(recipe by Minimalist Baker)

1 tablespoon coconut oil
2 shallots, thinly diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small butternut squash
a pinch of sea salt and black pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons curry powder
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
400ml light coconut milk
500ml vegetable broth
2-3 tablespoons maple syrup
optional: 1-2 teaspoons chili garlic paste

Heat a large pot over medium heat.
Once hot, add oil, shallots and garlic. Sauté for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.
Add butternut squash and season with salt and pepper, curry powder and ground cinnamon. Stir to coat, then cover and cook for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add coconut milk, vegetable broth, maple syrup and chili garlic paste (optional- for heat).
Bring to a low boil over medium heat and then reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 15 minutes, or until butternut squash is fork tender.
Blend until creamy and smooth. Taste and adjust seasonings.

Serve it with freshly toasted pumpkin seeds, a dollop of goat cheese or full fat coconut milk.

Bon appétit!

homemade lemonade

12. October 2015

by troutandhawk

Leave a comment

Drinks

homemade lemonade

This homemade goodness is definitely worth to be called LEMON AID! It’s tasty with hot and cold water and works perfectly against colds. Add hot ginger water and you will even increase the cold fighting effect.

5 organically grown lemons (peels must be unwaxed)
3 organically grown limes (peels unwaxed)
400g cane sugar ( I used the palm sugar cones I brought from Bali)
1 or 2 twigs of fresh rosemary

Wash lemons and limes. Fill lemons, limes and sugar in a bowl and rub the fruit with the sugar to release their essential oils. Pour boiling water onto the fruit and sugar and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Let it cool down. Take the fruit out of the syrup and juice it. Add the juice and the rosemary to the syrup. Cover the mixture and let it rest in the fridge overnight. Next morning you can strain it into bottles. The lemon syrup can be stored in the fridge up to 4 days.

a basketful of muscatel grapes

8. October 2015

by troutandhawk

Leave a comment

Dinner / Lunch / Snacks / Sweets

I used the sweet muscatels as an edible decoration on my table, I spread them on the pizza, juiced them and combined them with little mozzarella balls and black sea salt.

And then there were these sublime
frozen grapes with hot chocolate fudge and grappa
Take the best and sweetest grapes you can get and put them into the freezer for 2 hours. Big grapes will be frozen outside, the inside will be a semi-liquid sorbet. The tiny muscatel grapes will be completely frozen, but will thaw in the moment you dip them into the hot chocolate fudge.

chocolate fudge:
200g 70-80% chocolate
50g butter
100g cream
1 tablespoon icing sugar
1/2 vanilla pod, scraped
a pinch of salt

Melt all ingredients in a bain-marie, beginning with the butter. Add slowly the cream, always stirring, until the fudge has adopted the consistence you like.
Best (and originally served) with a glass of grappa!

panna cotta + cranberry sauce

1. October 2015

by troutandhawk

Leave a comment

Sweets

Aunt Elisabeth’s * mantra always has been “few but only the best ingredients!” Here’s her way to prepare this Italian classic:

panna cotta:
400g whipping cream
50g sugar
1/2 vanilla pod (scraped)
3 sheets gelatine

cranberry sauce

Mix a jar of high quality cranberry preserve with a generous amount of gooseberry liqueur

Soak the gelatine in a bowl of cold water for 10 minutes. In the meantime bring cream, sugar and vanilla to a boil always stirring. When the mixture has come to a boil continue stirring on low heat for 2 or 3 minutes. Remove from heat. Drain and squeeze the gelatine, then stir it into the cream making sure that it melts completely.
Pour the mixture into small molds and put them into the fridge for at least 3 hours.

*when younger, aunt Elisabeth and her husband Hugo (both passionate gourmets) used to throw some incredible dinner parties practically living in the kitchen the days before the feast.

weekend links

26. September 2015

by troutandhawk

Leave a comment

Uncategorized

mood board combining reminiscences of summer and first autumn vibes
Images 1 ⎪ 2 ⎪ 3 ⎪ 4 ⎪ 5 ⎪ 6

1. Five tips for taking photos in low light by Danish lifestyle photographer Christina Greve

2. Tips to draw better in six minutes: The Line-Fine Art Tips (I love this video!)

3. What does Bach’s Cello Suite N°1 in G-major taste like ? by Salt and Straw

4. Do you know Hipster Barbie on Instagram?

5. Our tonight’s dinner ;)

pepino y albóndiga

24. September 2015

by troutandhawk

Leave a comment

Dinner / Lunch

Don’t worry, I won’t write my blogposts in Spanish from now. Pepino and albóndiga have been my daughter’s favourite words in her first Spanish course. So funny, so strange, so absolutely not similar to their fellow cucumbers and meatballs in German, English or French. In the end, both nouns happen to match quite nicely in real life.

The albóndigas in our recipe are crispy veggie balls, being best when you flatten them to the max – the flatter the crispier!

pepino y albóndiga

the pepino:
Peel the cucumber and cut it in stripes with the peeler. Discard the seeds.

the albóndigas (yields about 15):
200g carrots, finely grated
200g broccoli stems or zucchini, finely grated (I added half a small beetroot for the colour)
100g onions
2 eggs
200g cottage cheese
140g fine oatmeal
a pinch of Cayenne pepper, black pepper and nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix salt and vegetables, let it soak and discard the water. Use your hands to combine the grated vegetables, cottage cheese, eggs, oatmeal and the spices in a bowl. Add more salt if necessary. Form the albóndigas with moist hands and fry them until they turn golden and crispy. Serve with parsley and mint leaves.