Showing posts with label dinner. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dinner. Show all posts
Friday, May 3, 2013
Vive la France - and Coq au vin
or braised chicken in wine.
We love our comfort food, that good home cooking, especially now in winter. The evenings are getting quite chilly nowadays - yes, also in Namibia, so we prefer rather something substantial. Coq au vin is one of the classics I really like to prepare, because it somehow cooks itself. Last year Christmas we got a pressure cooker from my parents in law, since then I do my coq au vin in there and after only 1 hour of cooking, the flesh is falling off the bone and melting in your mouth.
I honestly don't remember where I got the initial recipe from, it's so long ago and with years I stumbled upon many recipes with similar ingredients structure and I just added and abandoned here and there ingredients. The recipe I cook with stayed unchanged for the last few years, so I guess I found for me my perfect coq au vin.
First of all, I don't use the whole chicken, as in the original french recipes described, instead I'm just using drumsticks and thighs. For us two ( and a half) I mostly buy a package of 8 each and it's more than enough for one dinner. The amount of the sauce is as much as for a whole chicken, because we love a lot of sauce, so if you prefer using a whole chicken, you don't really need to increase the ingredients.
Aside from that, if you are lucky to get a Burgundy wine, you must promise to use that. If you're not, as myself, you must use a decent wine, preferable a Pinot Noir and not the cheap "papsak" wine (wine in a box), you normally would take for cooking. I know, one should always take a good wine for cooking, but let's be honest, who really does it. So make an exception and you will be rewarded with a delicious dish.
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Seared kingklip with creamed sauerkraut
We haven't had fish for quite a long time, beside the tuna wrap lately. It's funny however, that I didn't categorise it as a fish dish right away. Anyway, let say it like that, we haven't had a proper fish dish for a long time and last time we were shopping I got hold of kingklip again. I really like the fish, as it has a white flesh with firm texture and a slightly sweet taste. It's native to South Africa (and Australia and New Zealand, but is also found on the costs of Argentina and Chile). It's a member of cusk eel family and is also known under that name in Europe and southern America ( source: Seafoodsource.com ).
The idea for the dish came up, because I had cabbage left and I thought, there was once a dish with fish and cabbage I used to make back in Germany. And then I remembered, that it wasn't cabbage after all but creamed sauerkraut. The recipe for the creamed sauerkraut I used here is from the famous German chef Johann Lafer and I found it here (in German language).
I was actually planning to make that dish with bacon. Unfortunately I realised too late, that we don't have bacon in the fridge. But if you have some at home, I would highly recommend to fry your kingklip wrapped in bacon, as it's not only complements with the creamed sauerkraut but also with the fish. If you try it out with bacon, please feel free to leave a comment of what you thought about it.
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Tuna wrap
One of our all-time-favourites are wraps. They are not only done quickly, but are mostly light and always delicious. We eat them filled with either chicken and salad, or with mince, corn and beans for the richer version. Or as this time, with tuna. I didn't have the ingredients for my usual tuna wrap (I will post about the next occasion), so I thought I will take a filling, that was initially a salad, inspired by that recipe (in German language).
At this point I must confess, that I didn't do the wraps myself but used store bought wraps. I tried to do them once and it went horribly wrong. But it doesn't mean, I won't try it again, one day. For now the store bought must do it - and they are delicious too.
Monday, April 15, 2013
Beetroot tart with red onion confit, goats cheese and walnuts
The first time I've made that dish, we were growing beetroot in our garden and all the beetroot was ready at the same time, so I was looking for different dishes I could work with. I love beetroot, but the only dishes I could come up with, were salad or soup. I wasn't in the mood for either of those. I knew, I will cook some beetroot and preserve for later, but there was still plenty left. So I stumbled upon that recipe, but decided to use a tart I knew from another recipe I've made several times already. I love that dough recipe, as it's really quickly done and doesn't contain half a cube of butter (as you maybe remember, I'm trying to lose some weight). Also I'm not a fan of puff pastry tarts - I guess it's also the butter content. Don't get me wrong, I love puff pastry, but not in that kind of dishes. Beside, there are so many fantastic tart doughs and using puff pastry is kind of boring, to me at least.
Why am I telling all this, because every time I've made that tart, I thought, it must taste great with goats cheese. So that time my inspiration came from the goats cheese lying in my fridge and of course the glass of ready-to-eat beetroot in my pantry. As I said, the very first time, I've made the tart with fresh beetroot and wasn't that stoked about the outcome. Since I'm using jarred beetroot, I like the taste much more. And that's really rare, as I normally prefer fresh products.
By the way, we don't grow beetroot in our garden anymore, because we are way too impatient and somehow the bugs in our garden seemed to love the beetroot at least as much as we do. So no beetroot anymore, we tried carrots instead. But that's another story.
Let's start with my Beetroot tart with red onion confit, goats cheese and walnuts
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Okra - mince casserole with homemade flatbread
As I already mentioned, we finally found a Namibian supplier of dairy products, that is on top of it organic. We order every week online, not only our milk. Since they work together with other farmers, we also get the chance to order organic vegetables, meat, preserves and all kind of yummy stuff.
Sometimes I stumble upon very familiar products, I know from Europe, but never see them here in supermarkets, but then also upon products I don't know, like wild spinach or at my last order, okra. I saw okra before at a veggie market and my husband and I were wondering, what it could be.
So that time I thought, I'll give it a chance and try it out. It's always exciting to try something new. I found a nice article about cooking with okra and here a nice recipe (German) I used and just modified to my liking and needs.
Out came a very delicious casserole, I definitely will cook again. And okra, well, I'm really glad I gave it a try and I'm looking forward to cook with it again.
But for now, let's get it started with Okra - mince casserole and homemade flatbread
So that time I thought, I'll give it a chance and try it out. It's always exciting to try something new. I found a nice article about cooking with okra and here a nice recipe (German) I used and just modified to my liking and needs.
Out came a very delicious casserole, I definitely will cook again. And okra, well, I'm really glad I gave it a try and I'm looking forward to cook with it again.
But for now, let's get it started with Okra - mince casserole and homemade flatbread
Sunday, April 7, 2013
My take on Beef Massaman Curry ( from scratch)
Here I was talking about old habits and fish on Fridays and just on Good Friday I decided to make Massaman curry. But let me start at the beginning.
We love to watch MasterChef, especially MasterChef Australia and while we were in South Africa on holiday, we missed quite a few episodes and were now feverish catching up. One episode was a challenge to improve a bad Massaman Curry. To be honest, I've never heard of that kind of curry before, but then I never was a big fan of curries anyway, mostly because they were way too spicy for me. They described the curry as rather mild compared to other curries, so I had immediately to look up the recipe, as it sounded delicious.
I found one here, but I wanted to do make the curry paste from scratch, so I also orientated me on that recipe and I was really happy, that I had almost all ingredients at home, although I had to substitute galangal (never heard about it before) with ginger, the cinnamon sticks with grounded cinnamon, the shrimp paste with fish sauce and I had to leave out Mace (outside tissue of a nutmeg - never heard about it until MasterChef, so I had no clue where to get it) and unfortunately lemon grass, because mine was mouldy. Also I had to substitute tamarind pods with lime juice.
I have to admit, I missed quite a few ingredients, but even without them we had a very delicious curry I was really proud of.
But it was a long road - somehow I misread the cooking time. My husband remembered, that it has to cook for at least two hours, I on the other hand read somewhere it takes about 50 minutes. Well, as it turned out, that was for a Chicken Massaman Curry.
Anyway, I started late morning with the paste; and here the tip of the day: don't do a curry from scratch, if you have a baby and a toddler to look after at the same time. I burned my first set of spices and my first grilled garlic and onions and it took me till late afternoon to make that paste only . That evening we had instead of curry chicken piccata, as my curry was only ready the next day. My husband wasn't a happy camper, smelling curry all day and having chicken piccata to eat, but I can recommend now to prepare the curry the previous day.
So here is my take on Massaman Curry:
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
It's chicken time
As I already mentioned, I'm trying to get rid of my pregnancy fat, but without dieting, because I'm not allowed to do so. And even if I'm one of these women, whom most other women hate, because I can eat as much as I want, as long as I work out just a bit, I'm not really getting fat. I'm also rather a stress non-eater than stress eater so that also helps a lot. But my second pregnancy is not that long ago and I gained with my first pregnancy a few kilos, kept them throughout the time in between and gained again with my second pregnancy, so I'm sitting now with few kilos I need to get rid of in order to have my comfort weight.
Best option is to change my eating habits, which never have been really bad, but lately I felt for stuff like chocolate, the already mentioned fantastic ice cream, croissants and cakes or combinations of all above. So yeah, it's time!
We're trying now to eat more lean meat and more fish, leave the pork out and cut short on fat and sugar. We will see, how it'll work out.
On that note I want to introduce you to another of my favourite chicken recipes:
Chicken Piccata
Best option is to change my eating habits, which never have been really bad, but lately I felt for stuff like chocolate, the already mentioned fantastic ice cream, croissants and cakes or combinations of all above. So yeah, it's time!
We're trying now to eat more lean meat and more fish, leave the pork out and cut short on fat and sugar. We will see, how it'll work out.
On that note I want to introduce you to another of my favourite chicken recipes:
Chicken Piccata
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Tagliatelle with a spicy pepper - bacon sauce
Tagliatelle with a spicy pepper - bacon sauce
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Home made burger with Camembert and tomato relish
The last three weeks we've spent in South Africa with my parents joining from Germany. What a great holiday! I wish I could now report, that it was a culinary journey through the country, but unfortunately with a baby and a toddler, dinning out was kind of out of question. We enjoyed every lunch eating out though and had here and there really good food. Our last day in Knysna for example we found that little cafe / restaurant directly by the heads with a stunning view and even a kids corner. We were impressed by the menu and the philosophy - I actually posted the introduction out of the menu on Facebook. So after a fantastic coffee, we decided to stay longer and try out the food and we haven't been disappointed a bit, if anything we were more than thrilled. So thrilled, that coming home, I had to make that fantastic burger for lunch again and share it with you.
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Seared salmon with a snow pea - dill sauce and pasta
It's funny how we unknowingly adopt things from our childhood or our parents. One of this things in my case is eating fish on Fridays. I know, my parents took it on from their parents and the tradition of eating fish on Fridays roots in the catholic church, which introduced the prohibition or sacrifice of meat in order to remember the Good Friday, when Jesus was killed.
As you can see, I was raised catholic, at least the first 10 years of my life or maybe even longer. That was mostly the time when I lived in Poland. Poland is very convinced catholically and you didn't have much of a choice back then, in great part because my grandparents were devout. I remember my grandparents house with all the crucifixes and pictures of the pope and saints. It was very impressing. The time we moved to Germany, my parents felt more liberated and turned their back on the church. But some habits die hard and so here we are, we had fish for lunch.
That dish is my husbands' favorite and my daughter is also very delighted with pasta and peas.
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Chicken in white wine - grape sauce
I was unfortunately forced to make a longer break from writing again, as my husband and I suffered from food poisoning end of last week. We had sushi from our supermarket, as usual, but that time we seemed to have bad luck. I must admit, it tasted different and was more sticky than usual. And I remember I was gulping the last pieces and was wondering why, since sushi is one of my favourite meals. Luckily our daughter decided not to eat with us, what she normally does, so we just had to cope with our own sickness and the daily madness of having two little children. I guess we won't have sushi for a while now.
So after a few days of dieting it was time to cook again and what better meat to start with than chicken.
With that said, I'm always waiting for the grape season, so I can cook one of my favourite chicken dishes. It's again an easy and quick dish, with lovely flavours. I don't remember where exactly I found the recipe, but I know, that I cooked this dish over and over. When I look back, my daughter was even enjoying that dish with one and a half already.
I hope you'll like it as much as we do.
So after a few days of dieting it was time to cook again and what better meat to start with than chicken.
With that said, I'm always waiting for the grape season, so I can cook one of my favourite chicken dishes. It's again an easy and quick dish, with lovely flavours. I don't remember where exactly I found the recipe, but I know, that I cooked this dish over and over. When I look back, my daughter was even enjoying that dish with one and a half already.
I hope you'll like it as much as we do.
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Hake on pepper relish
I'm always looking for nice fish recipes, preferable quick and easy to make, as I usually need them for lunch. I rarely get hold of fresh fish, if so, it's mostly salmon, which is ridiculously expensive in Namibia. The most popular fish species you can buy in the supermarket is hake, kingklip, smoked haddock, salmon and salmon trout, less often and then rather fresh, is kabeljou and sole, but to be honest you can get hold of it almost exclusively at the cost. So every time we are at the cost, we obviously buy our fish at a fish deli, enjoy it fresh there and can't resist to bring some back home, of course frozen.
But today I was up to something simple and quick. I had hake in my deep freezer anyway, so the choice was obvious.
But today I was up to something simple and quick. I had hake in my deep freezer anyway, so the choice was obvious.
Saturday, February 2, 2013
It's hot and we're having salad
It's summer in Namibia and extremely hot this year. The rain just doesn't want to come and everybody is eagerly awaiting the weather to change. Nobody feels like eating this days, including me and I find it extremely difficult to come up with any recipe what so ever. However, we must eat something. The challenge nowadays is to find something light but substantial, preferable salads.
In December my husband and I watched a cooking show on television, I think it was Christmas with Jamie or something similar, I can't really recall. They served goats cheese with fresh figs and walnuts. Straightaway I was back with my thoughts in my little French restaurant I was managing for a while back in Berlin and remembered the amazing salad served with gratinated goats cheese.
So, a few days ago we had our
Gratinated goats cheese croutons on a bed of baby leaf salad with caramelised figs and roasted walnuts
In December my husband and I watched a cooking show on television, I think it was Christmas with Jamie or something similar, I can't really recall. They served goats cheese with fresh figs and walnuts. Straightaway I was back with my thoughts in my little French restaurant I was managing for a while back in Berlin and remembered the amazing salad served with gratinated goats cheese.
So, a few days ago we had our
Gratinated goats cheese croutons on a bed of baby leaf salad with caramelised figs and roasted walnuts
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