weltbestes Rührei
non toxic insect repellent made from walnut leaves and olive oil
Pick fresh walnut leaves, fill them into a glass jar and cover with olive oil.
Let the mixture rest for two months in a sunny place in the garden or on a window sill. No worries if there are rainy or overcast days. It’ll work anyway.
Strain the olive oil into the container of your choice, discard the leaves- that’s it. Your insect repellent is ready to use! I decided to melt a tiny amount of bee’s wax into my walnut leaf oil, as the creamy texture felt easier to apply to the skin.
The walnut leaf based repellent works well against all kind of mosquitos, wasps, bees and even ticks.
It will leave a bronze glow on your skin, but be mindful that it could stain light fabrics.
Perlkuchen
Wenn die Beeren reifen…
Rührteig, frische Johannisbeeren mit süßem Eischnee obendrauf. Das Rezept der Schwestern aus der Abtei Fulda ruft Kindheitserinnerungen wach- von damals, als die Sommer noch heiß und endlos lang waren!
Perlkuchen
100g Butter
100g Zucker
3 Eigelb
200g Weizenvollkornmehl
1 1/2 Teelöffel Backpulver
1 Päckchen Vanillezucker
12 Esslöffel Milch
500g weiße, rote, schwarze Johannisbeeren
Weiche Butter und Zucker schaumig rühren, Eigelb zugeben, dann die anderen Zutaten unterrühren.
Den Teig auf ein Backblech oder in eine Backform streichen und bei 160°C etwa 30 Minuten backen.
Für den Belag werden 3 Eiweiß mit 100g Zucker steif geschlagen. Dann etwa 500g Johannisbeeren unterziehen und auf den heißen Teig geben.
Das ganze bei 180°C nochmals 30 Minuten backen.
chilled watermelon & tomato soup with feta and pine nuts
700g watermelon, without rind
1kg ripe tomatoes, with skin
50ml olive oil
a small handful basil leaves
2 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
salt, black pepper
Cayenne pepper or chipotle Tabasco sauce to taste
Basil leaves, chopped feta and roasted pine nuts for topping
Throw the ingredients into your high speed blender and blend until they turn into a soft and silky liquid. Add cayenne pepper or Tabasco sauce to your liking.
Top with chopped feta or mozzarella, roasted pine nuts and basil leaves.
garden rose tea (centifolia)
The rose petals are best picked after the dew has dried, but before their oil has driven off by the sun at ten or eleven o’clock in the morning.
Spread them to dry.
For a more intense colour and a slight hint of tartness, just add a few dried hibiscus petals to your tea.
Caraway, oat and seed crispbread
caraway, oat and seed crispbread
(yields 2 baking trays)
from the book 26 grains by Alex Hely-Hutchinson
270g rolled oats
315g mixed seeds, such as sunflower, pumpkin, flaxseeds, sesame seeds
2 tablespoons caraway seeds
2 tablespoons chia seeds
1 teaspoon garlic flakes
2 teaspoons sea salt
3 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
1 tablespoons maple syrup
Preheat the oven to 180°C / fan 160°C/ gas mark 4 and line 2 baking trays with baking paper.
Blitz 120g of the rolled oats in a food processor until you have a coarse flour, then add to a large mixing bowl with the remaining rolled oats, all the seeds, garlic and salt and mix until combined.
Mix together the wet ingredients in a small jug with 375ml of water, add to the dry ingredients and stir until everything is nicely mixed.
Put half the mixture into the center of one of the baking trays and lay another piece of baking paper on top. Roll out the mixture to a thickness of about 5mm, then remove the sheet of baking paper and repeat for the other batch.
Place both trays in the oven for 15-20 minutes until golden on top, then flip the crispbreads over, and return to the oven for a further 15 minutes.
Leave to cool and break into shards.
“These crackers are a perfect pairing to any dip, cheese or smoked fish”.
ayurvedic cooking inspirations
brown rice + pearl barley + coconut breakfast
You need 1 cup containing
- 1 tablespoon coconut flakes
- 1 tablespoon pearl barley (stimulates the break-down of fat in the cells)
- brown rice
Transfer the dry ingredients to a pot. Add one cup of water and let the rice mixture soak for at least two hours or overnight.
Add another cup of water, a pinch of salt, cook for approx. 30 minutes on low heat until the water is soaked up completely. Finally, stir in a few tablespoons of coconut milk.
Enjoy it pure, with a teaspoon of honey or with fruit.
browntop millet + coconut bread/waffles
(serves 2)
- 1 cup ground browntop millet or browntop millet flour
- 1/2 cup coconut flakes
- a pinch of salt
- 1 cup of lukewarm water
Mix all ingredients, form little rounds and bake until crispy. If you opt for the waffle method, fill small portions into the waffle maker.
eggplant curry
Start with crushing garlic, ginger, cumin and whole cardamom seeds in a mortar.
In a frying pan heat coconut oil.
Add a teaspoon mustard seeds and the crushed garlic, ginger, cumin and cardamom.
Add, in the following order and stir fry
- chopped onions (generous amount)
- curry (and pandan) leaves
- a piece of cinnamon
- curry powder
- mustard
- salt
- coconut vinegar
- crushed black pepper
Add thin coconut milk, the eggplant and mango chutney to taste.
Let the eggplant curry simmer for a few minutes to combine the flavours giving it an occasional stir.
fish curry
Crush the garlic in a mortar and cut the fish (eg. Spanish mackerel) in bite-sized pieces.
In a pot (still without heat) combine
- the fish
- curry powder
- curcuma
- pepper
- salt
- curry leaves
- pandan leaves
- mustard
- chopped onions
- crushed garlic
- tamarind paste
- fenugreek
Add thin coconut milk (Aroy-D) and put on the heat.
After a while add thick coconut milk to the curry for a creamier result.
pane pugliese
pane pugliese
- 100g Sauerteig Starter aus dem Kühlschrank
- 100ml lauwarmes Wasser + 100g frisch gemahlenes Weizenmehl
Mischen und gehen lassen bis sich das Volumen ungefähr verdoppelt hat
- 125g Hartweizengrieß
- 300g Weizenmehl
- 275 ml lauwarmes Wasser
- 1 gehäufter Teelöffel Salz
Hinzufügen und erneut gehen lassen
Nach der in Tartine Sourdough Country Loaf beschriebenen Methode stretch-and-fold, letter-fold, im Gärkörbchen über Nacht in den Kühlschrank, am nächsten Morgen auf ein Backblech kippen, Oberfläche einschneiden und freigeschoben backen.
Ofen auf 225°C vorheizen.
20 Minuten bei 225°C backen + 2 Dampfstöße oder eine Schale mit 50ml Wasser in den Ofen stellen
10 Minuten bei 200°C ohne Feuchtigkeit backen
10 Minuten im ausgeschalteten Ofen stehen lassen, wenn man es etwas knuspriger will
Schmeckt besonders gut mit einem Olivenöl + Balsamico Dip.
The Farm
guest post by Loui
Located just outside of Byron Bay in New South Wales is The Farm.
It is a working regenerative farm with the beautiful ethos to “Grow. Feed. Educate. Give Back”. The entry to the farm is free, offering many activities for children and a self-guided farm walk (approx. 1,5km). Moreover, farm courses such as permaculture or floristry and a guided farm tour can be booked. The produce store and the bakery allow to indulge in farm goods, as does the restaurant Three Blue Ducks.
The self-guided farm walk takes you past chicken, beehives, pigs and goats, cattle, greenhouses and flowers, a nut orchard (macadamia and pecan), and the market garden. To allow enough time for stops, you should plan with approx. 45 to 60 minutes for the tour.
Afterwards, I can highly recommend lunch or dinner at the restaurant Three Blue Ducks. It serves fresh produce from the farm and doesn’t fail to impress.
xxx Loui
orange cake
A beautiful way to enjoy the first Tarocco oranges of the season!
orange cake
4 organically grown oranges
a generous dollop of butter to coat the baking pan with
sugar to dust the bottom of the baking pan
3 eggs
100g sugar
1 pinch of salt
125g flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
50g finely chopped almonds
50g sour creme or Quark
2 tablespoons Grand Marnier or Cointreau
100g melted butter
Wash the oranges and slice them thinly. Butter the baking pan and sprinkle the bottom with sugar. Arrange the orange slices onto the butter/sugar bottom.
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
For the batter beat eggs, sugar and salt until creamy. Slowly add flour and baking powder. Finally fold in sour cream, chopped almonds, melted butter and Grand Marnier.
Pour the batter evenly onto the orange slices.
Bake for 30-35 minutes.
