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
Kefir
Kefir is a pro-biotic dairy drink with a thick and creamy texture and a refreshing sour taste, sometimes with a yeasty tone. Depending on the fermentation period it might be slightly fizzy and even contain between 0,08% and 2 % alcohol.
The kefir grain is a complex composition of specific bacteria and yeasts in one symbiosis, that contains a micro flora which develops its characteristic white, spongy form. The appearance reminds a little of a coral or cauliflower.
In order to make kefir, milk (raw or pasteurized, whole or skim milk) is steeped with the kefir grain in a suitable jar. The fermentation time is about 24 hours at room temperature (between 10 and 25 ° C).
After fermentation, the finished kefir is poured through a sieve in order to separate it from the grain. The grain is optionally washed and immediately reattached with fresh milk. This process can be continued indefinitely and with good care a kefir grain will last a lifetime!
The finished kefir can be consumed immediately or stored for later use in the refrigerator.
After some time, the grain begins to multiply and grows. Finally, you are able to either increase the amount of milk (to make more kefir) or share the grain with someone else. The passing on to family members or friends is not only fun, if anything happens to one's own grain, there is still an alternative available.
But there is also the possibility to freeze or even dry the grain.
Buttermilk by contrast is the remains from butter making and contains less than 1% fat and valuable lecithin.
Source: http://www.kefir.at/wasist.php (in German)
The kefir grain is a complex composition of specific bacteria and yeasts in one symbiosis, that contains a micro flora which develops its characteristic white, spongy form. The appearance reminds a little of a coral or cauliflower.
In order to make kefir, milk (raw or pasteurized, whole or skim milk) is steeped with the kefir grain in a suitable jar. The fermentation time is about 24 hours at room temperature (between 10 and 25 ° C).
After fermentation, the finished kefir is poured through a sieve in order to separate it from the grain. The grain is optionally washed and immediately reattached with fresh milk. This process can be continued indefinitely and with good care a kefir grain will last a lifetime!
The finished kefir can be consumed immediately or stored for later use in the refrigerator.
After some time, the grain begins to multiply and grows. Finally, you are able to either increase the amount of milk (to make more kefir) or share the grain with someone else. The passing on to family members or friends is not only fun, if anything happens to one's own grain, there is still an alternative available.
But there is also the possibility to freeze or even dry the grain.
Buttermilk by contrast is the remains from butter making and contains less than 1% fat and valuable lecithin.
Source: http://www.kefir.at/wasist.php (in German)
Friday, February 1, 2013
I'm back with apple-kefir-pancakes
Last Sunday I made apple-kefir pancakes with my daughter, when I realised that almost a year went by since my last post. I started feeling bad having turned my back on my writing for so long. Now I could try to come up with some lame excuses, but it wouldn't change the fact, that I turned a blind eye on it. Anyhow, I grabbed my camera, took a few pictures and here I am, back with apple-kefir pancakes. And I hope I will now pick up, where I started and keep that project up as planed.
Many things changed by now. We finally managed to find a source of Namibian products. I'm now purchasing my dairy products, meat and vegetables from Namibian farmers. And additionally, most of the products are organic - that's what I call a win-win situation.
I remember, when I first arrived in Namibia, how surprised I was, that relatively little products were from Namibia, all seemed to come from South Africa and Europe. But Namibia is luckily making progress and started a project "Proudly Namibian". 5 years later more and more produces are Namibian. Yesterday I even purchased olive oil from Swakop River. And surprisingly it tastes delicious: extremely mild, with a beautiful green-golden colour.
But back to the pancakes. I thought I will start with something sweet, since it's my daughters favourite Sunday breakfast. But it's also a lovely memory of my childhood. My grandma used to spoil me with those every summer I spend with her in a small mountain village in Poland. They still taste as good as I remember and bring back memories from my home country, soothing at one go the bit of home sickness I feel from time to time.
Many things changed by now. We finally managed to find a source of Namibian products. I'm now purchasing my dairy products, meat and vegetables from Namibian farmers. And additionally, most of the products are organic - that's what I call a win-win situation.
I remember, when I first arrived in Namibia, how surprised I was, that relatively little products were from Namibia, all seemed to come from South Africa and Europe. But Namibia is luckily making progress and started a project "Proudly Namibian". 5 years later more and more produces are Namibian. Yesterday I even purchased olive oil from Swakop River. And surprisingly it tastes delicious: extremely mild, with a beautiful green-golden colour.
But back to the pancakes. I thought I will start with something sweet, since it's my daughters favourite Sunday breakfast. But it's also a lovely memory of my childhood. My grandma used to spoil me with those every summer I spend with her in a small mountain village in Poland. They still taste as good as I remember and bring back memories from my home country, soothing at one go the bit of home sickness I feel from time to time.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Quick and healthy food for kiddies
At the Easter party last Sunday at the kindergarten I talked to a friend about cooking for kids, as we have to prepare for our children breakfast and lunch for the kindergarten every day. I'm cooking for my daughter every morning something fresh. You can imagine the looks and the obvious questions; what time am I waking up, how do I do it and what am I cooking. A lot of the mothers don't realise, how quick cooking for children can be.
It was always very important to me, making food for my child that is diversified and balanced, as it is for my husband and me. From the beginning, when I introduced solids to her, I gave her everything to eat that was of course suitable for her development. Till she turned one, or even a bit longer, I completely cut out sugar and strong spices, as I did with honey and nuts. Till today I try to reduce or even leave out the sugar, but I'm not to quibble about it. I was rewarded with a child, who eats almost everything, who is always keen on trying everything new I give her and who is eating by herself since she is 11 month old. And I'm still able to give her oats sweetened only by a banana and the natural sugar from the milk and oats. You would be surprised, how curious children can be about food and ready to try almost everything, if you are convinced of what you are giving them. All without pressure of course. But I also appreciate, that I'm very blessed with such a good eater.
Preparing food for my daughter takes me normally not more than 15 minutes. The key is good preparation. Stuff I always have in the deep freeze are ice cube size portions of chicken or veggie stock, finely diced onion and garlic, chopped fresh herbs (parsley, dill and basil), 3 sorts of early harvest vegetable mix and mostly a pancake or two, left from last Sunday. I'm also lucky to have an own veggie garden, that's why I have additionally fresh courgettes, tomatoes, spinach, cucumbers, paprika and different herbs handy.
Don't be afraid of frozen vegetables, they contain normally more vitamins, than the "fresh" stuff you're buying at the supermarket. The onion and garlic I prepare in order to have a bit for the small portions. And it makes such a difference in terms of taste, if you either use or leave out the onion and garlic. At the end it's your choice, especially, because every child is different. But don't be afraid of offering your child something new, you'll never know, if he or she will like it.
It was always very important to me, making food for my child that is diversified and balanced, as it is for my husband and me. From the beginning, when I introduced solids to her, I gave her everything to eat that was of course suitable for her development. Till she turned one, or even a bit longer, I completely cut out sugar and strong spices, as I did with honey and nuts. Till today I try to reduce or even leave out the sugar, but I'm not to quibble about it. I was rewarded with a child, who eats almost everything, who is always keen on trying everything new I give her and who is eating by herself since she is 11 month old. And I'm still able to give her oats sweetened only by a banana and the natural sugar from the milk and oats. You would be surprised, how curious children can be about food and ready to try almost everything, if you are convinced of what you are giving them. All without pressure of course. But I also appreciate, that I'm very blessed with such a good eater.
Preparing food for my daughter takes me normally not more than 15 minutes. The key is good preparation. Stuff I always have in the deep freeze are ice cube size portions of chicken or veggie stock, finely diced onion and garlic, chopped fresh herbs (parsley, dill and basil), 3 sorts of early harvest vegetable mix and mostly a pancake or two, left from last Sunday. I'm also lucky to have an own veggie garden, that's why I have additionally fresh courgettes, tomatoes, spinach, cucumbers, paprika and different herbs handy.
Don't be afraid of frozen vegetables, they contain normally more vitamins, than the "fresh" stuff you're buying at the supermarket. The onion and garlic I prepare in order to have a bit for the small portions. And it makes such a difference in terms of taste, if you either use or leave out the onion and garlic. At the end it's your choice, especially, because every child is different. But don't be afraid of offering your child something new, you'll never know, if he or she will like it.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Sour-dough, a sponge and its starter
As promised in my last post, I want to show you, how to do a starter for a sour dough and the sour dough itself. It's very time intensive, but worth the work. I love my sour dough breads, they are so fluffy and stay fresh way longer, then breads without the sour dough or sponge. I sourced the classic way of preparing der-Sauerteig. The idea for the regular sponge came up by reading that article and I adjusted it to my needs.
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