Thursday, August 22, 2013
Smoked pork chops with a kale casserole
I have a very special relationship with kale and until that dish, it wasn't a very good one.
My first encounter with kale was at German Christmas markets. It was that ugly side dish served with sausage or with sausage pieces in it and the texture and dead green color of it, simmering the whole day, always threw me off and I actually tried it only once and it was as dreadful as I always imagined, so I pushed even the consideration of preparing it myself far from me.
My next collision with kale wasn't good either. The organic store, we order from every week, offered kale and I didn't really know what it is. The funny thing is, when I looked for Kale in German recipes, I found lots of them and I didn't even stumble upon the German expression or let say, I didn't really realize, what it was..
Unfortunately either the Kale was old or I prepared it incorrectly, it was a big failure. For the first time in my life I had to throw away a whole dish to the bin. And the recipe sounded so good, the finished dish looked delicious, but the kale was just so extremely bitter, it was inedible. I remember putting tons of Parmesan cheese on it, hoping to make it at least edible... It ended in the bin and I gave our house keeper the second bunch I still had in the fridge.
I asked her later, if the one I gave her was also bitter, but she negated. So I tried to figure out, what I did wrong and asked her how to cook it properly, in order to avoid the bitterness.
I ordered once again kale at our organic store.
Third time lucky, this dish was divine! The combination of all ingredients, including the potatoes and the smoked pork chops was just perfect. I almost forgot, I found the recipe here and didn't change much, it was just good as it was.
Thursday, August 15, 2013
"Thai style" chicken wraps with a crunchy peanut sauce
I stumbled upon this recipe last week on a search for a quick lunch recipe. I was bored with my old one and gladly tried this one out. Granted, the chicken must be marinated first, but according to the recipe, it's enough, if the chicken just sits a bit in the marinade, while preparing all the other ingredients. I would have preferred the chicken to be marinated longer and will definitely do that next time.
Even so, it was divine and we couldn't get enough of it.
I must admit, I didn't know, there is something like Thai chicken wraps; that's how the dish was called. So I researched and found to my surprise quite a few recipes. But, Thai wraps are wrapped either in lettuce leaves or rice paper and not tortillas. As you can see, I wrapped mine as usual in tortilla bread, so I refused to call mine "Thai".
I didn't change much to the original recipe, just substituted the ingredients I had to. Out came unbelievable tasty, fresh wraps with a sweet and nutty flavor.
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Crusted back of lamb with thyme potatoes and green beans
There are a few things, that are difficult to get in Namibia, especially if it comes to meat. It's not that we don't have a wide selection of different meats, we definitely do, it's more to get meats I'm used to or love to eat.
We managed now to get veal on regular basis, which is really good, but last time I was so adventures to ask for veal cheek and heart and earned only a look of disbelieve. So I guess no chance there.
Or quail for example, no chance either or at least our butcher can't help us.
The other day we asked at an other butchery for rib eye and got minute steak instead. Sometimes I get the feeling, that I'm overwhelming the people with my inquiries.
Why am I telling you that, because it's the same story with the rack of lamb. I'm telling the butcher, I want a rack of lamb, so the ribs of a lamb. He's immediately correcting me, trying to convince me, it's the back. Well, I didn't want to fight, I asked him, if I could at least get the back in french cut. Two days later I picked up a very badly butchered back of lamb. It took me half an hour to clean the piece of meat half decent, so we could eat it more or less easily. Don't get me wrong, they are very obliging, cut in the bones a bit, to make it easier for us to eat, but they have no idea, what I'm going to do with the meat, that makes it difficult to get it prepared the right way.
After I discovered a beautiful Namibian food/travel blog, The Curious Kitchen, and their post about a crusted rack of lamb, I decided on crusting my back of lamb too. But my way.
And I discovered, that I definitely need to work on my pictures. Does anybody know of a food photography course in Windhoek? And what butcher is he using? Dear Christi, if you read this, please give me a shout.
But now back to my back of lamb; I finally found use for my almond butter and it made my crust heavenly.
I struggled a bit with the cooking time of the lamb. By the time the picture was taken, the lamb was still raw inside, so it had to go into the oven for an other period of time. I was so afraid to overcook it, that in the end I undercooked it. Or at least my piece. But in the end we were so hungry, that we didn't want to wait any longer. The cooking time in my recipe is not the one I took, obviously, but the one I'm sure it'll work perfectly. Sometimes I should just trust my guts.
After I discovered a beautiful Namibian food/travel blog, The Curious Kitchen, and their post about a crusted rack of lamb, I decided on crusting my back of lamb too. But my way.
And I discovered, that I definitely need to work on my pictures. Does anybody know of a food photography course in Windhoek? And what butcher is he using? Dear Christi, if you read this, please give me a shout.
But now back to my back of lamb; I finally found use for my almond butter and it made my crust heavenly.
I struggled a bit with the cooking time of the lamb. By the time the picture was taken, the lamb was still raw inside, so it had to go into the oven for an other period of time. I was so afraid to overcook it, that in the end I undercooked it. Or at least my piece. But in the end we were so hungry, that we didn't want to wait any longer. The cooking time in my recipe is not the one I took, obviously, but the one I'm sure it'll work perfectly. Sometimes I should just trust my guts.
Nonetheless the dish was very successful, all the flavors worked really well together and as already mentioned, the crust was just yummy.
Sunday, August 4, 2013
My daughters birthday and a beautiful cake
Today I'm not writing about my cooking or baking, I want to give credit to the work of others.
My daughters third birthday was coming up and this year was all about Tinkerbell. That made it easy to find a cake theme.
I baked these two cakes for her first birthday, a little yellow duck and a pink cake with duckies on it. But I'm not a pâtissier and not the best cake maker either. But, I could put as little sugar in it as I wanted and I've made the icing on the duck out of juice and custard, what made it fruity and fresh and not too sweet.
My daughters third birthday was coming up and this year was all about Tinkerbell. That made it easy to find a cake theme.
I baked these two cakes for her first birthday, a little yellow duck and a pink cake with duckies on it. But I'm not a pâtissier and not the best cake maker either. But, I could put as little sugar in it as I wanted and I've made the icing on the duck out of juice and custard, what made it fruity and fresh and not too sweet.
But it was so much work. I've never made fondant before, let alone figures made of fondant. I'm a perfectionist and this task drove me crazy. Especially the duck cake, I hate being an amateur in doing something. To put it in an other way, I had a long night, a very long night.
So for her second birthday I decided to order a cake. Theme was Mickey Mouse Club House, we've prepared a party with all shebang. All guests got mickey mouse ears, made by my best friend. My daughter was a little beautiful Minnie Mouse and the cake was also supposed to be a Minnie Mouse.
All I can say, the cake was a disaster. When we picked it up, I was actually crying.
I was trying to find a picture of the cake, but I had successfully avoided to take pictures of it. I remember sitting in the car, wishing I had made the cake myself.
So of course this year I was considering doing the cake myself again. But with two kids and my memories of the first years work, I thought I will give it a try to find someone descend. I asked around and a friend recommended me Laurie's cakes. She is situated in Olympia, Windhoek and according to her, she is trying to deliver everywhere, you just need to talk to her.
So I looked at the cake pictures on her page and decided, that I will give it a try.
Laurie was very passionate from the beginning, asked for details and sent me eventually a design, so I could get an idea. We decided on a winter theme, from the latest Tinkerbell movie, that was coincidentally my daughters favorite, for the moment at least.
My daughter breathed very particular wishes for her birthday: shoes, chocolate cake and marshmallows. It's amazing to see, that she, with her only 3 years, already knows exactly, what she wants. So the cake obliged already two of her desires and we just went shoe shopping after the kindergarten to make all her wishes come true.
The cake wasn't cheap though, we paid just a little less, then for our three tier wedding cake with fresh cherries. But I can say, it was worth every penny.
And that's how the cake looked like:
As you can see, lots of love and work went into it and made a little 3 year old girl very happy. The missing piece of wing was my over eager daughter, who couldn't wait for me to take the picture.
And the cake didn't only look good, the taste of it was divine.
It was the moistest, fluffiest and most chocolaty cake I've ever had. The sweetness was just right, after I removed the icing obviously. But even here, Laurie tried to accommodate my request, by putting a Swiss meringue icing on it, that is made of egg white, sugar and butter, so it's less sweet. It had a slightly gooey texture and was big fun for the kids.
Thank you Laurie.
And the next birthday is definitely coming, let's see what we'll having next.
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