Crêpe Suzette

 

 

 

A tasty dessert that can be done with Crêpes made the day before.

For 2 people you'll need 4 Crêpes.

Preparation You'll only need: A standard large pan A zester or similar tool Matches or culinary torch 4 crepes (freshly made or old ones from the day before)
Ingredients (for 2 persons - 4 crêpes) For 2 crêpes I would halve all ingredients except the orange juice: 150 mL 2-3 large juice oranges for zest and 200 mL juice 50 g brown cane sugar 30 g butter 6 Tbsp. Grand Marnier 1 Tbsp. Austrian Strohrum (80%)
Preparation Wash oranges and peel off a zest. Then fillet these (the easiest way is to halve the oranges at the "equator" and then cut first on the inside once around to remove half the orange from the peel. Then cut the individual half pieces out of the skin). Press the other orange(s), 200 ml of juice is needed. Caramelise 50 g of brown cane sugar in a pan until the sugar has a dark brown color and is viscous. Immediately deglaze with the orange juice. This will steam heavily and the liquid caramel solidifies again. Now add the zest and bring to boil to dissolve the solid caramel. Then fold in 30 g of butter, add 4 crepes and simmer for about 2 minutes. Then turn over the crepes and let it simmer for another 1 to 2 minutes. Flambé: Put 1 Tbsp. of Strohrum and 6 Tbsp. of Grand Marnier in a glass and then pour over the crepes, immediately light the alcohol and flambé (you should have done this, with this amount of alcohol this could be dangerous - I would, for example, switch off any kitchen hood). Place the 4 crepes on preheated plates. Now simmer the halved orange fillets in the pan for 1 to 2 minutes, pour the sauce over the crepes and serve.

French Mini Blinis

Mini blinis go really well with caviar (it's almost a must to have them with caviar) and with Taramasalata.

Preparation You'll need: A large pan A medium-sized bowl
Ingredients for the blinis (for 2 persons) Should result in around 20 mini blinis. 65 g standard flour 35 g buckwheat flour A large pinch of baking powder 2-3 pinches of salt 150 mL kefir 30 mL water 1 egg ½ tsp. honey
Preparation of the dough Mix 65 g standard flour, 35 g buckwheat flour, a large pinch of baking powder and 2 to 3 pinches of salt in a bowl. Measure 150 mL kefir and 30 mL water together in a beaker. Mix well with a fork. Separate the egg. Add the yolk, togehter with a small amount of honey (< ½ tsp.) to the kefir mix. Also mix well with fork. Add everything to the flour and stir to a smooth dough. Beat the egg whites until stiff - good if you have a food processor ツ. Add to the dough and stir well.
Frying the mini blinis Heat up large pan (medium-high). Coat the pan very thinly with butter. Using a tablespoon, place several round blobs of dough as far apart as possible in the pan and bake until the top no longer looks 'wet'. With a spatula carefully turn them around and check the colour. The blinis shouldn't get too dark. Then fry the second side until desired colour is reached. Put aside and repeat the steps until all dough is gone.

American Pancakes

Preparation You'll need: A large pan A medium-sized bowl
Ingredients for the pancakes (for 2 persons, makes approx. 10-12 pieces) 135 g flour 12-15 g baking powder 3 pinches salt 240-250 mL buttermilk 1 Egg 40 g butter Trimmings Bacon (slowly fried in pan until cross and brown) Apple sauce Marmelade Classic and important: Maple syrup Whipped cream 150 ml cream (at least 30% fat) and 9 g icing sugar Before preparing the whipping cream put cream and whisk into freezer for 10 minutes. Put cream and sugar into bowl. First mix cream and sugar on low speed, after 1 minute go to maximum speed to whip the cream until stiff (takes several minutes). Don't whip for too long, only until the whipped cream reaches the right consistence. Maybe some butter to spread on the pancakes
Preparation Melt 40 g butter in microwave. Give 135 g flour, 12-15 g baking powder and 3 pinches of salt into a bowl, mix well. Add 1 egg, 40 g melted butter, whisk carefully while adding 240-250 mL buttermilk in several steps. To bake the pancakes, heat up pan (medium-high). Spread a small amount of butter with kitchen paper then give just under half a ladle of dough into the pan and let it bake until the top is not looking 'wet' anymore. With a spatula check carefully on one side if the pancake is ready to be turned, it should not be a problem. Now bake the other side until it's brown, then repeat all steps until all the pancakes are made. In a large pan one can do 2 or even 3 at the same time.

Morel Sauce

 

 

Sauce for poultry (with white wine) or beef (with red wine)

Preparation time around 20 Minutes

Preparation You'll only need: Small pot with lid Small pan
Ingredients (for 2 persons) 20 g dried morels 150 mL milk 25 g chopped shallots 1 Tbsp. butter 2 Tbsp. Cognac 200 mL white wine (for poultry) or red wine (for beef) 150 g Crème Fraîche 2 Tbsp gravy thickener for dark sauce (in Germany I'd buy Mondamin Fix Soßenbinder)
Preparation Cover and simmer the morels in 150 mL milk in a small saucepan for 15 minutes, while... Finely chop a shallot; 25 g are needed. Sweat this in 1 Tbsp butter in a pan, add 2 Tbsp Mondamin and stir. Deglaze with 200 mL wine, stir vigorously and simmer for 3 minutes. Add 2 Tbsp cognac and simmer for another 3 minutes. Add 150 g crème fraîche, stir well, season with salt and pepper. Tip the morels with the milk through a fine sieve, collect the milk in a small bowl. Add the morels to the sauce together with the strained milk, stir the sauce and keep warm.

White fish with coconut cream

Something quick... If you get deep-frozen fish and take it out of the freezer one day in advance, put it into the fridge to thaw, the rest should be done within half an hour.

Preparation You'll need: A pan with lid
Ingredients (for 2 persons) A white fish, e. g. Pangasius (Swai), ca. 400 to 450 g. 1 to 2 onions, depending on size 1 can of coconut cream (400 mL) 2 cloves of garlic 1 to 2 thai chilis 1 small courgette 1 bag of parboiled rice (125 g) 90 mL lemon juice (1½ - 2 lemons) 1 tsp. curcuma 1 bay leaf Some salt Some clarified butter (such as Indian ghee)
Preparation Cut 1-2 onions into rings. Heat the clarified butter in a frying pan and sauté the onions over a medium heat. Meanwhile, first quarter 1 small courgette lengthways, then cut into small, not too thin, pieces, press or finely chop 2 cloves of garlic. Chop 1-2 Thai chillies into small pieces. Add everything to the onions and sauté for a few more minutes. Add 400 mL coconut milk, 1 bay leaf and 1 tsp turmeric, stir well. While that is heating... Wash the fish and cut into bite-sized pieces. Add together with the loose rice (tip in from bag if necessary). Add a little salt. Cover and simmer over low heat for approx. 15 minutes (also depending on the cooking time of the rice!). Squeeze the lemon, add the juice, stir briefly, season with salt.

Muffuletta

 

My take on the Italian/American Speciality from New Orleans.
I only did it once so far, and we liked it. But I am going to change a few things, making it less "original". For instance, we missed tomatoes.

Attention! This has to be done one day in advance! The muffuletta then goes one day into the fridge.

Preparation You'll need: A bowl with lid out of glass or caramic A large bowl for the dough
Ingredients for the Muffuletta itself (for 2 persons) 180 mL warm water 15 g yeast some icing sugar 180 g standard flour 90 g bread flour (I took French T65) 1½ tsp salt 20 g lard (I took Griebenschmalz, German lard with crispy pieces of pork skin) 1 Tbsp sesame seeds 2 Tbsp olive oil 1 egg (one only needs a little bit, so if you do more dough for four persons, one egg will still be enough) 1 Tbsp cold water
Ingredients for the filling (for 2 persons) 60 g pimento-stuffed green olives 30 g Kalamata olives 2 cloves of garlic 1 Tbsp capers 1 Tbsp of celery stalk 1 Tbsp of carrot 30 g pepperoncini 15 g marinated cocktail onions ½ tsp dried oregano 1 Tbsp fresh basil ½ tsp ground black pepper 75 mL olive oil 25 mL sunflower oil 80 g Genoa salami (or a real Italian salami, out of beef or beef and pork mixed), thin slices, could have pepper corns inside 80 g cooked Italian ham, thin slices 80 g Mortadella, thin slices 70 g Mozzarella, sliced (alternative: Edamer) 70 g Gruyere, sliced (Original version: Provolone) 2 medium sized ripe tomatoes, sliced (Original version: no tomatoes, but 20 g of chopped pickled cauliflower)
Preparation of the olive salad (4 to 5 hours before assembling the sandwich) Chop the green olives, remove the seeds of the kalamata olives, chop them, too. Add the capers, pepperoncini and the cocktail onions, chop again. Dry of that mass with kitchen paper (or the bread with get too wet). Add to the bowl. Add oregano (½ tsp), cloves of garlic (2-3, chopped), celery stalk and carrot (1 Tbsp ea., cut small), basil (1 Tbsp, chopped), ground pepper (½ tsp), red wine vinegar (30 mL), olive oil (90 mL) and sunflower oil (50 mL) and mix well. Cover with lid and place in fridge.
Preparation of the dough (ca. 3 hours before assembling the sandwich) Give the flour (180 g and 90 g), salt (1½ tsp) and lard (20 g) into the large bowl. Mix, press a dent into it. Into that give the yeast (15 g), some icing sugar and a bit of the warm water. Put 15 minutes on the side. Mix again, the pour in several steps the rest of the water while kneading the dough, until the dough comes together. Then strongly knead the dough on a floured work surface for 10 minutes. Form into a ball, coat with olive oil put it aside in the bowl for 1½ hours, losely covered (I always put dough into the oven at 30℃). Take the dough out, knead it again for a short time. Spread some olive oil on a baking try. From a flat round out of the dough, around 1½ centimetres thick, place it on the try. Sprinkle the top with sesame seeds (1 Tbsp), press the seeds lightly with your hands into the dough. Place the tray on the side for 1 hour (Oven, 30℃). Prehead the oven at 220℃ (convection). Brush the surface of the flat bread with egg wash (1 eg, 2 Tbsp cold water). Place into the oven and bake it first for 10 minutes at 220℃, then continue for another 20 to 25 minutes at 190℃. When the bread is golden brown, take it out and let it cool down.
Stacking the bread When the bread has cooled, take a large bread knife and cut the bread in half horizontally. Spread half of the olive salad (including the oil) on each of the pieces of bread. Layer the bottom half with half of salami, ham and mortadella. Place on top all of the cheese (Mozzarella and Gruyere). The place on top the rest of the mortadella, ham and salami, in reversed order. Carefully place the upper half on top and wrap it in cling film. Place for at least half a day into the fridge. Just before you want to eat the Muffuletta, preheat the oven at 190℃, then heat up the bread for just 5 minutes - the bread should be nicely warm on the outside, but still cold inside.

Cheesecake Verrine with Fruits

 

Attention! This goes into the refrigerator for 5 hours!

Carinne's taking over ChezTeddy for this dessert :-)

Preparation A little dish Two bowls Four glasses
Ingredients (for 4 persons) For the base: 15 wholemeal biscuits 30 g sugar 65 g butter The cream: 200 g cream cheese (in the original recipe it's Mascarpone) 30 g icing sugar 1 sachet vanillin sugar The fruits: Frozen fruits, e. g. raspberries, bilberries
The base Crumble the biscuits in a bowl with your hands, not too fine. Add melted butter and sugar, mix well. Put in the refridgerator.
The cream Mix the cream with icing sugar and vanillin sugar.
Build the cake First spread the base equally in the four glasses, don't compact it too much, then the cream. But the still frozen fruits on top. Put that into the fridge for 5 hours.

Snacks with white bread

 

 

 

For people in a hurry: Done in 5 minutes and not your usual snack.

Ingredients (for 2 persons) 4 slices of white bread 100 g farmer cheese or cream cheese 1 large Tbsp. creamed horseradish 1 pack sliced smoked salmon (ca. 100 g) Some cucumber
Preparation Mix the cheese and horseradish well. Spread on the bread. Cut several thin slices of the cucumber and put on two of the four slices. Put the slices of smokes salmon on the other two. Finally cut all slices in quarters.

Spanish Chicken

 

Goes well with farmhouse bread, Baguette or Greek flatbread

Attention! Preparation time ca. 1.5 hours!

Preparation You'll need: A Tajine (or a casserole dish with tighly closing lid) A pan with lid
Ingredients (for 2 persons) 2 chicken legs 40 g Serrano ham ½ red and ½ green bell-pepper 2 medium-sized onions 1 Tetra-pak chopped tomatoes (500 g) 4 cloves of garlic 1½ heaped tsp. Pimentón Dulce Ahumado (Spanish smoked sweet paprika) 1½ bay leaves 1 lemon (bio) ½ bunch of parsley Olive oil Salt and pepper
First steps Fry the chicken legs in regular olive oil on medium high heat (6) on both sides until they are dark brown. This will take some time - in the meantime you can prepare the other ingredients: Coarsly chop the 2 onions, cut the bell-pepper halves into large pieces (2 to 3 cm), put together aside. Rinse and pluck half a bunch of parsley Remove the skin of the 4 cloves of garlic, press and finely chop them. Cut 40 g Serrano ham into small pieces Zest 1 complete lemon, juice one half of it.
Preparation Pre-heat the oven at 180℃. As soon as the chicken legs are brown, set them in Tajine aside. Now sauté the onions and bell-pepper in that oil for 5 minutes, also on medium heat. Then add the garlic and sauté for another 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, Serrano ham, 1½ heaped tsp. pimentón, lemon zest and juice (20 mL), bay leaves and most of the parsley (the rest of the parsley will be used at the end). Mix well, season with salt and pepper, pour into the Tajine next to the chicken legs. Put the chicken legs on top, close with the lid and bake for 40 to 45 minutes (depending on the size of the legs) at 180℃ (convection). After the 40 to 45 minutes, remove the lid, continue to bake for another 15 minutes.
Serve To serve first remove the legs for a moment, season the sauce again if necessary, put the sauce on the plates, garnish with parsley, place the legs on top.

Gözleme

Preparation You'll need: A large pan A pastry brush
Ingredients (As a snack or a starter for 2 persons, yields 2 Gözleme) 120 g flour 1 Tbsp Sunflower Oil ½ tsp salt 60 to 75 ml water Ingredients for stuffing ½ bunch parsley 75 g feta cheese 4 cloves of garlic 2 chilis Additionally: 1 tsp. butter, to brush the finished Gözleme
Preparation Mix 120 g flour, 1 Tbsp oil, ½ tsp salz and 60 to 75 ml water. Knead the dough for 5 minutes. Split in two pieces, roll them in dough and let them rest for 10 minutes. In the meantime you can wash, pluck and roughly chop the parsley. Press or finely chop the garlic, also finely chop the chilis. After the resting time spread one of the pieces of dough as thin as possible. Sprinkle half of the stuffing (feta - crumble it with your hands, chilis, parsley and garlic) over the center part of the dough. Repeat with second piece. Bring pan to middle to high heat (7). In the meantime you can wrap the flatbread. You have to fold the outer thirds over the center section - first the lower and the upper then the left and right parts to get a small parcel. Press a bit on top with your hand. Place the two pacels in the pan and bake until the bottom side gets brown, the turn around. In the meantime you can carefully melt 2 tsp butter in the microwave. After the first side is brown, the parcels are stable enough to turn them around easily, until both sides reach the desired colour - we like them rather dark brown. As soon as you turned the flatbread around the last time, and the upper side is to your liking lightly brush some melted butter on top. When the bottom side reached the desired colour, too, you can serve the Gözleme.