Earl Grey Tea
Goat milk
Freshly squeezed orange and ginger juice
Boiled eggs and bacon
Grilled mushrooms and cherry tomatoes
Brown toast
Sicilian lemon marmelade
Homemade apricot jam
an English breakfast, made with love
5 questions to Sylvia
It was at the end of 2005 that Sylvia Richter-Krancher decided to transform her passion into a business.
Her passion, that is cooking with fresh and seasonal products and presenting her dishes with love and an eye for details. Old family recipes were waiting in the drawer, the big kitchen of the house the perfect workplace already fully equipped and ready to use, and so without further ado Sylvia brought the “klein und fein catering” to life . The little enterprise took off like a rocket.
I had the pleasure to take some photos for Sylvia’s website and so I took the chance to ask her a few questions which might reveal a bit more of her lovely personality.
What are your favourite ingredients in spring?
Sylvia: strawberries, asparagus, rucola, from May on I also prepare venison (Maibock), and all kinds of fresh greens.
To decorate I can’t wait to pick the first daisies, violets and all the wild herbs on our meadow.
What is your favourite meal?
Sylvia: hm, not easy at all…. I think it’s a wonderful filet mignon, medium done, with a big fresh salad.
Name 5 guests whom you would like to gather around your table and to cook for
Sylvia: First of all I would like to invite you and Nancy (us!!, thank you, big hugs, dear Sylvia!), then the singer Udo Jürgens together with the famous chef Sarah Wiener. I’ve always adored her documentaries about the French cuisine.
Of course my daughter Nicole together with her boyfriend Sven have to join us. Nicole shares my passion for cooking and beautiful details. Sylke, my sister-in-law and creative flower girl, who doesn’t cook at all, but therefore appreciates my cooking even more.
Oh, how many guests am I allowed to invite? There’s still Navi, a family friend from Paris, who definitely shouldn’t miss.
A necessary indulgence?
Sylvia: *laughs* there are a few….
Jewelrywise it’s pearls. I love pearls. The pearls even have inspired my logo, the feather of a guinea fowl, Perlhuhn in German. The little white dots on the feathers look like pearls, don’t they?
Foodwise, once a year I buy a whole box of Dickmann’s chocolate marshmallows and eat them all on my own.
… and whenever I’m in Paris I indulge in the delicious macarons of Ladurée!
What’s your dream travel destination and is there a special food you were looking forward to try?
Sylvia: Definitely the South of France, la Côte d’Azur and the Provence. It’s precious memories and dream destination at the same time. I’d love to sit with my beloved ones at the seaside enjoying the fresh seafood and fish.
how to cook a perfectly medium boiled egg
east london street art
Last time I went to London, I stayed in the heart of Shoreditch. It must be one of my favourite places because the streets are so rich in beautiful and interesting art, and the atmosphere is laid back and effortless in contrast to some other areas of the city. I could not walk past without taking a few pictures… after all London streets are famous for being canvas for artists like Roa, Eine, Stik and Banksy.
choco pretzelini
salt pretzels dipped in dark chocolate drying on a piece of parchment paper
summer, I miss you
mistletoe
To spread romance, love and kisses always carry a mistletoe with you! Happy 2014!
dates stuffed with orange scented almond paste, dipped in dark chocolate and sprinkled with sea salt
Date delicious! Datemania! Date away! Date divine!
The making of:
To prepare them in your own kitchen you need:
dates
marzipan
the peel of an orange, zested
dark chocolate, melted
Maldon Sea Salt
a bain-marie to melt the chocolate
2 forks to dip the dates
gingered beans with hijiki
My international family of favourite green bean recipes (German with tomatoes, onions and vinaigrette, Spanish with fried garlic and almonds) welcomes a new brother in their midst: Asian gingered beans with hijiki.
This recipe is full of flavour and makes use of the beautiful hijiki algae, and fancy yet very easy to prepare.
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| dry and soaked hijiki |
gingered beans with hijiki (inspired by Alicia Silverstone)
1/2 cup dried hijiki
1 tablespoon tamari
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup onions, chopped
1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
pinch of sea salt
2 cups fresh geen beans
2 tablespoons grated ginger
Place the hijiki in a small bowl with hot water. Let it soak for about 30 minutes, then drain and rinse.
Combine the hijiki with the tamari, add waterto almost cover in a saucepan.Cook, uncovered over medium heat until the water has nearly evaporated.
While the hijiki cooks, heat the oil, add onion, garlicand salt and sauté for about 4 minutes, or until translucent. Add the green beans. Cover and cook until the beans are tender-crisp, about 5 minutes.
Add the hijiki and ginger.
Mix well and cook for 1 to 2 minutes longer to marry the flavours.
Enjoy!
Michael’s meadows and a lunch al fresco
Michael Simonsen, of Simonsen Freianlagen, the landscape designer and family friend, has a beautiful garden, that we were very eager to visit. Whenever we asked, “can we come see your garden this weekend?” He said “No no noooo, it needs a little more time to show the whole variety of flowers! Half of them didn’t blossom yet!” or “Just a little more patience, I am still waiting for the sunflowers!”
Finally, on a sunny day towards the end of August, we decided “now or never” and called Michael to tell him the day of our visit had come, and that we didn’t want to wait for the sunflowers any longer.
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The walk through the meadows was delightful; we saw a real-life deer and some of the flowers smelled like honey.
For lunch Michael sent us off to the vegetable patch in the beautiful kitchen garden equipped with a washing basket to pick our ingredients. Warty cucumbers, the most differently shaped and coloured tomatoes and little leafy greens and herbs made a wonderful salad.