Louisa’s ramen

23. August 2014
by troutandhawk
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Soups

Ramen is a Japanese noodle soup, quick and easy to prepare and very versatile due to the variety of possible toppings (just raid your fridge!).

Louisa’s ramen
serves 2

a package of Mie noodles
1l vegetable broth
2 tablespoons fresh white Miso paste
1 drop of roasted sesame oil

toppings:
spring onions, finely sliced
carrots, finely sliced with a peeler
a few twigs of cilantro, chopped; we used blended and frozen cilantro
2 soft boiled egg halves

Cook the ramen noodles according to the package instructions (most ramen noodles need only 3 minutes to cook). Drain and rinse with cold water.
Bring the vegetable broth to a boil, add the noodles, remove from the heat and stir in the miso. Ladle the soup into the bowls. Top each bowl with carrots, spring onions, cilantro and the egg halves.

If you plan to go deeper into ramenology, don’t miss to watch this video about ramen chef Ivan Orkin.

kohlrabi towers

23. August 2014
by troutandhawk
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Lunch / Snacks

I always wondered how to give kohlrabi a bit more sex appeal,
I mean I loved my mother’s homely kohlrabi with cream sauce and roast potatoes, but this good old German meal is rather heavy and not too fun.My new favorite alternative is to roast kohlrabi slices in the oven, then build them into towers with a Mediterranean or a Thai stir-fry. Instant sophistication. Sweet potato slices are a nice addition, too.

kohlrabi towers

serves 2
2 kohlrabis, each cut into 4 slices
1/2 sweet potato, sliced
Thai stir-fry:
1/2 Spanish onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, chopped
a small piece of ginger, chopped
a small piece of chili, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
2 teaspoons of fresh (or frozen) cilantro, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Oven roast the slices of kohlrabi and sweet potato at 200°C for 20 minutes.

Stir-fry the chopped ingredients in a pan until they soften and begin to fill the kitchen with a mouth-watering scent.
(For the mediterranean stir-fry replace the ginger and the cilantro with tomato, rosemary and thyme).

Pile up little towers and decorate the plates with the basil sprigs. The basil isn’t just decoration, it gives an amazing flavour to the dish.

potato-cucumber soup

23. August 2014
by troutandhawk
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Soups

Potato-cucumber soup is a true summer classic in our family. The secret behind this savoury soup is to first stir-fry the potatoes with the onions and to add the fresh cucumbers only in the last minutes. So two  irresistible flavours melt together.

potato-cucumber soup

1 tablespoon olive oil or ghee
1kg potatoes, peeled and diced
1 large, fresh cucumber, peeled, seeds removed and diced
1 onion, chopped
1 spring onion, thinly sliced
vegetable stock, enough to cover the potatoes
1 teaspoon mustard
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil or the ghee (if you prefer a buttery taste) in a saucepan.
Add the onions and the potatoes, stir-fry until the onions are glassy and the potatoes have taken a little bit of colour.
Cover the potatoes with vegetable stock and let the soup slightly boil until the potatoes are done.

Add the diced cucumber and let it warm up for two or three minutes.

Add the mustard and blend the soup with a hand blender.
Finally, add salt and black pepper to taste and sprinkle with the sliced spring onion.

Serve it hot or cold. Enjoy!

the colours of summer: vegetables right from the oven

23. August 2014
by troutandhawk
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Lunch

Today I won’t supply you with an ingredient list because it’s entirely up to your taste buds which vegetables you choose for this simple dish. Simply cut them into bits of similar thickness (so that everything is ready at the same time), drizzle with olive oil, salt, pepper and chuck onto an oven pan in eye pleasing constellations. 200°C and about 20 minutes should do the trick. We had it with a  goat camembert, which was just delicious.

 

 

guacamole – and sardines in a tin

23. August 2014
by troutandhawk
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Snacks

Homemade Guacamole is an alltime favourite for summer days. It is super easy and fast to make, we serve it as a light lunch, as snack or as a dip for a barbecue.  Yesterday we spread our guacamole on slices of rye bread and topped it with sardines.

The avocado contains all 6 human nutritional needs in abundance: water, fat (essential natural fats), protein, natural sugar, vitamins (B,C, E and K) and minerals (potassium, calcium, iron and phosphorus). Rich in monounsaturated fatty acids the avocado helps to reduce levels of “bad” cholesterol in the blood.  So don’t be fooled by avocado’s bad reputation as a high-fat food, actually it provides us with unique health benefits.

Guacamole
serves 2

2 ripe avocados
1 tomato, chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
a few dashes of Tabasco
sea salt (or Himalayan salt) and grated black pepper
the juice of a freshly squeezed lemon

I don’t use the blender to combine the ingredients, but smash the avocados with a fork, add the remaining ingredients and season with pepper and salt.

Lady Furnival’s banana and walnut bread

12. May 2014
by troutandhawk
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Breakfast / Cakes + Cookies
 

Imagine the humble banana and walnut bread without the decoration of those beautiful rhododendron blossoms! I’m sure Lady Furnival’s Daughter (this rhododendron has been named after her) would be delighted to lend some of her  blossoms in return to being dedicated a delicious banana bread. Though, don’t eat the blossoms, rhododendron is a poisonous plant.

 

 

 
 

I love to use the “Blankenburg” baking mould because the cute little crown can be filled with flowers, fruit, chantilly…. It’ always looks nice on a table.

 

 

 
 
 

Banana and Walnut Cake


200g whole wheat flour
100g sugar
a pinch of salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 egg
60g butter
5 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon lemon peel
2 ripe bananas
100g walnuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 180°.
Combine, flour, sugar salt and baking powder in a mixing bowl.
Combine the egg, butter, milk, lemon peel and the bananas in a blender and mix until smooth.
Pour the mixture into the dry ingredients and gently. Finally, fold in the chopped walnuts.

Bake for ca. 45 minutes. If you use one single baking mould, instead of two small ones, the baking time
is ca. 60 minutes.

Sprinkle with icing sugar. Enjoy!

 

Tarte au Citron, the quintessential Frenchness

4. April 2014
by troutandhawk
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Cakes + Cookies / Sweets

When I was searching the internet for a lemon tart recipe ( it should be quick, easy and the best ever) I found so many enticing pictures, I read so many recipes that I ended up combining my own experience as a home baker with a bunch of helpful advice from the blogosphere.

For the topping:
Thinly slice a lemon. Remove the seeds.
In a small saucepan add 3 tbs sugar and half a cup of water and stir to combine. Place over low heat, dip the lemon slice and let simmer for about 15 minutes or until the pulp looks transparent. Let them rest and cool down in the liquid.

For the crust:

200g butter
100g sugar
300g flour
a dash of pure vanilla extract
a pinch of salt
a pinch of lemon myrtle
1 egg

Combine the ingredients and make a smooth dough with your hands. Press the dough into a baking form and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 175°C.
Bake the crust until light golden brow, about 15 minutes.

For the filling:
4 tbs sugar
3 large eggs
1 tbs lemon zest
freshly squeezed juice of 1 1/2 lemons
2 tbs corn flour

Whisk sugar and eggs until creamy, add the zest, the juice and the cornflour. Pour the filling into the crust and continue baking until the filling is set.

Arrange the previously cooked slices on the tart, dust with powder sugar and enjoy!

weekend links

29. March 2014
by troutandhawk
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On the first Friday of each month Heidi from FoodieCrush shares her 5 favourite foodblogs.  Have a look at these amazing pictures and recipes.

This photo inspired me to go out with my camera searching for the most beautiful places to have a picnic.

Knolling?  Always. Be. Knolling.

Daily Routines. How writers, artists and other interesting people organize their days.

“The eight Chapters of Ramen”. If you love ramen, you’ll love this video about the noodle-obsessed chef Ivan Orkin.