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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Uncategorized

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.

 

7 days of spring detox

28. February 2014
by troutandhawk
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Drinks

Hi, dear readers, time is ripe and ready for a spring detox! This year I decided to live on fresh vegetable and fruit juice the biggest part of the detox week: juice/smoothie for breakfast, juices for lunch and teatime. For dinner I’ll skip the juice and have steamed vegetables instead, a creamy soup or a salad. No coffee, no dairy, no carbs. Lots of water and herbal teas. If you’d like to join me, you’ll find a whole bunch of amazing juice recipes on Jason Vale’s website (well, there you find EVERYTHING you ever wanted to know about juicing!) or in the free e-book on Lisa’s blog Healthy, Happy and Well

 

Green vegetable juice is the healthiest. Nevertheless I recommend to mix it up with one or two  apples or a few chunks of pineapple if you won’t let your detox become a chore.

To start you need a juicer (a centrifugal or a masticating one) and a blender to to add bananas, avocados, berries or ice cubes to your juice.

The little yellow one is the” healthy expresso”. It’s nothing more than a generous piece of ginger and an apple and, oh yes, it wakes you up… Check out as well Jason’s Sherbet Lemonade, it’s terrific, one of my favourites !
I wish you a happy healthy week!