Category Archives: vegetarian

main dish, vegetarian

Summertime Happiness

Leave a comment

Being outside. Throwing your arms up in the air. Simply because you can.

Sunbathing. A book to that?

Dancing in the warm rain. And finally being barefooted again.

Counting the stars, whilst thriving in the coolness of the night.

Celebrating simplicity. Complicated can come back later.

Even more sun! And noshing tarte flambee.

Tarte Flambee Goat Cheese

Tarte Flambee with Goat Cheese, Pear, and Mushrooms

Ingredients for 2 portions

For the dough:

  • 185 g wheat flour
  • 90 ml soda water
  • 2 tbsp peanut oil
  • 1/2 tsp salt

For the topping:

  • 150 g soft goat cheese
  • 2-3 tbsp sour cream
  • 1/2 pear
  • 2-3 champignons or other mushrooms
  • some fresh thyme

Knead the ingredients for the dough until it is smooth and soft. Cover the bowl and let it rest for 1-2 hours if you’ve got the time (the resting isn’t really necessary but it will be better with it in the end).

Preheat the oven to 250°C.

Cut the pear into small dices. Cut the mushrooms and the cheese into slices. Divide the dough into two halves and roll out each of them very thinly, until you almost can see through. Put each of them onto a baking tray with baking paper. Spread half of the sour cream thinly onto each tarte and scatter half the remaining ingredients onto each tarte as well. Bake for 5-10 minutes until the dough is crispy. Serve hot.

sweet tooth, vegetarian

Comfort for the heart

Leave a comment

Baking. Butter. Sugar. A dream team in December, when the cold, wet and grey as its grip on us. The world outside has become complete stark during the last past weeks and becomes more and more cheerless with the all surrounding darkness that creeps closer and closer.

With all that it’s time to attend to your heart again and to what it needs most during this time of the year: Warmth. Some rest whenever you can take it. And some endorphins, caused by crumbly shortpastry out of everything that’s good. Carbs, fat, vitamins (almonds!) and sweet things. Add a few lovely spices to that and the soul can smile again – a happy smile, not a creepy one – and make us endure this year’s final spurt much more easily again.

All of that is even better, when the recipe is easily done. And like that it isn’t really that sad, when all the delicious little half moons are eaten up almost too quickly again.

Chaikipferl

Chaikipferl

after a recipe by the lovely Lena

Ingredients for about 40 pieces

For the Kipferl:

  • 150 g unsalted butter at room temperature
  • 100 g cane sugar
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 200 g wheat flour
  • 100 g ground almonds
  • 1 pinch of salt

For the sugar mix:

  • 80 g cane sugar
  • 1 TL freshly ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 TL freshly ground cardamom
  • 1/4 TL freshly ground cloves
  • 1/4 TL ground ginger
  • some freshly ground pepper

Mix up the butter and the sugar. Add the egg yolks and keep on mixing. Add the flour, the almonds and the salt and knead to a firm dough.

Roll it out into one or two logs that are about as thick as a 2 € coin (or 2 £ coin) and wrap it in cling foil to let it cool down in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 160°C (hot air) and lay out baking sheets on two baking trays.

Cut the dough logs into 1-2 cm thick slices and roll them between your hands. They sould be about 5 cm long in the end and a little thicker in the middle. Slightly curve them to get a half moon shape („Kipferl“ in Germany) and distribute them on the baking trays.

Bake for about 12-15 minutes (with the hot air you can bake both trays at once), until the tips of the half moons start to turn slightly brown.

Meanwhile mix the ingredients for the sugar mix.

Let the baked Kipferl cool down on the trays for about 5 minutes, so they won’t crumble apart at once. Place them into the sugar mix and sprinkle them with more oder very carefully turn them around in it.

Let them cool completely on a roast and store them in tin containers.

Chaikipferl

how-to, soul food, vegetarian

Treasure hunting in the woods

Leave a comment

20151104-20151104-DSC_9220

Enough with the autumnal melancholy! Enough with cheerless and sad glances through the windows! Enough with the resignation when you realize that this year is beginning to draw to a close! It is Novembre – the month of the last golden sunbeams. The almost-end of the delicious mushroom season and the beginning of the long awaited venison season. The month with beautiful star falls of autumn foliage, warm sunny afternoons and also the first misty and lazy evenings on the couch. It’s this month, when we finally can smile at the long-forgotten staple of book again, with a glass of red wine in one hand und a comfy blanket; a cuddly pillow in our arms, with our favourite person by our side. So many hobbies (left unattended during summer) await me, that I almost find it difficult to choose.

20151104-20151104-DSC_9229

But today the sun is shining so wonderfully… so let’s go into the forest again! To inhale the autumn air and catch those precious spots of light between the trees with our freckles. The wind blows away the spiritlessness and the melancholy and makes us feel alive again. Autumn has come! And maybe we will find one or two of my most favorite mushrooms on our way: The shaggy mane mushroom.

20151021-20151021-DSC_8942

Shaggy mane mushrooms are a delicacy. And sadly very short-lived, why we will never be able to find them on the farmer’s markets or in supermarkets. As soon as they start to show their caps between the fallen leaves, they are ready to be picked up.

20151022-20151022-DSC_9102

If not done so we can almost watch them how they start to compost themselves: The cap will part from the stem and curve outwards until it finally begins to turn into thick inky black liquid that drops down. Not very pretty and the dripping indicates the mushrooms have surpassed their lives as edible fruits of autumn. The three photographs of this single shaggy mane I took within tree days, all about 24 hours apart. But if you are lucky and spot a freshly grown shaggy mane…  gently pick it up with a careful grip and a twist of the hand. Also it is best to immediately remove the stem in the same way so your mushroom will definitely survive the way back home. And there you should directly get a pan, because yes: They really start to decay very quickly! 

20151023-20151023-DSC_9144

Like almost every mushroom the shaggy manes are best when you simply fry them very shortly over high heat and in a generous amount of good butter. A little bit of salt and pepper on top, maybe a little thyme and a slice of roasted bread to that is all you need for a little bit of luxury in your belly.

20151013-20151013-DSC_8778

Shaggy mane mushrooms in butter

  • shaggy mane mushrooms… as much as you can find
  • at least 1 tbsp good, unsalted butter
  • a pinch of salt
  • freshly ground pepper
  • thyme leaves

Carefully clean the mushrooms of dirt and remains of the forest. Do not wash them or they will turn soggy. Just use your fingers or a gentle brush without crushing the mushroom. If you haven’t already removed the stems of the mushrooms gently twist them to separate them from the caps and cut everything in bite-sized pieces or chunks.

Put a big pan on the stove and heat it thouroughly. Add the butter and when it starts to sizzle and almost smokes it is time to add the mushrooms. Do not crowd the mushrooms: They should have space in the pan so they can turn brown and crispy within a minute. Gently flip them over to fry them from the other side, too. Season them with a little bit of salt and pepper and some thyme if you want. Serve quickly and best with a slice of golden roasted bread.

20151013-20151013-DSC_8740

– – – –

Shaggy mane mushrooms taste like a wonderful mixture of porcini and green asparagus. The flavour is very mild and still remains for quite a time. A real delight! You can find them on meadows, all the time between March an Novembre, and even fertilized lawns in residential areas are a likely place for them to grow.

You can recognize them by a tall, slim growth, a reddish or brownish offset tip on the otherwise almost white cap, that is covered with upturned scales.

When you pick mushrooms in the woods always be aware of evil twins! Shaggy mane mushrooms for example have a twin that is edible too but that’s poisonous when eaten with alcohol. Always be sure to pick only those mushrooms you definitely know are edible! Go to mushroom counseling if you are just the slightest bit unsure. Always double-check to be certain or just let it be completely and buy pre-selected mushrooms, if you crave for them! Life is too precious and short to eat a bad mushroom.

breakfast, pantry, vegetarian

Fighting the summer blues

Leave a comment

coconut chocolate granola

If you have seen Shawn of the Dead (you have – haven’t you?) you know how a common zombie looks like: The skin is pale, the mouth wide open in a constant yawn. The arms reach out but the hands hang down in a powerless attempt to catch their prey. The eyes are open but weak, the empty gaze is focused to nowhere. The legs move slowly and drag along the unwilling feet… and opposed to a ghoul this specimen doesn’t even seem to have a consciousness. Continue reading Fighting the summer blues →

soul food, sweet tooth, vegetarian

Just for ourselves!

Leave a comment

Donuts

Have you thought about yourself today?

Have you already done something that is just for you? Have you already told yourself: „It doesn’t matter what the others think!“… and did you really mean it?

Have you already treated yourself today? With a calm gaze to the blue sky, a joyous lifting of your arms whilst cheering gladly or maybe rather a nocturnal howling with the wolves? Have you given yourself a small gift today? Just because it’s Friday?

Have you already taken a look deep inside your soul today, to find your greatest wish? Have you done anything for your body today? Have you infected anybody with an honest laugh?

Have you accomplished an irritated look from others with your wonderfully crazy actions today? Have you already beamed so much for joy that sparkling lights surrounded you and almost used up all your energy?

Maybe now it’s time for all these things. Maybe you find your way back to yourself again, to what you really are. To the person that is your existence, without masquerade – without hide-and-seek – your true self!

Maybe a donut will help you with that. A freshly fried, fluffy, vanilla-creme-filled, sticky, sugar-sweet donut! It surely will give you inner calm and it has the secret sugar rush superpower to give you back those pumped dry energy reserves. Wanna bet?

Donuts

Donuts

Donuts With and Without Vanilla Creme Filling and Sugar Icing

Ingredients for about 12-16 donuts

for the donuts (thank you for the recipe, Jens!)

  • 21 g fresh yeast
  • 175 ml lukewarm milk
  • 65 g sugar
  • 420 g flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract or 1 tbsp vanilla sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 35 g soft and unsalted butter
  • 500-750 ml (vegetable) oil for deep frying

for the vanilla creme (enough for 1 whole donut recipe as above)

  • 75 g sugar
  • 20 g corn starch or corn flour
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 250 ml milk
  • 2 big egg yolks
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 30 g unsalted butter

for the icing

  • 30 g unsalted butter
  • 90-120 g icing sugar
  • 1-3 tbsp milk
  • food colouring (optional)
  • sugar sprinkles (optional)

Donuts

For the donuts put the yeast in a bowl and dissolve it with the sugar in the milk. Let the yeast start running for about 5 minutes.

Add flour, salt, vanilla, egg and butter to the milk mixture and knead for 10 minutes until the dough is soft and smooth. Is it still a little too sticky now, add a bit of more flour to the dough. Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for 60-90 minutes.

Meanwhile prepare the vanilla cream: Put sugar, corn starch and salt it a pot and stir until it is mixed up. Add the milk, egg yolks and the vanilla and bring it to a boil. As soon as the first bubbles from boiling start to surface turn down the heat a little bit and cook over medium heat while whisking constantly until the mixture thinkens. Remove the pot from the stove and whisk in the butter. Let the creme cool down to room temperature.

Put the donut dough on a working surface and roll it out until it is as thick as your thumb. Cut out the donuts and if you want to have donuts without filling as well cut out smaller holes in the middle of the donuts. Keep these small balls, they are delicious too! For the donuts themselves I used a glass with a diameter of about 7 cm and for the holes I used a cutter with about 3 cm diameter. After cutting out the first batch knead the rest of the dough, flatten it out again and cut out more donuts. Put the donuts and donut holes on a flour dusted surface and cover them with a clean, dry towel or cloth. Let them rest for about 60 more minutes until they have visibly grown and look all nice and fluffy.

Pour the oil in a pot and heat it up to 150°C (about 325 F). Put a small piece of dough in it: As soon as it has risen to the top and starts to turn brown the oil has the right temperature. If you have one at home you can also use a deep fryer by the way!

Fry the donuts and donut holes from each side for about one minute until they have browned nicely to your liking. Place the cooked donuts onto a paper towel and allow them to cool.

Meanwhile you can prepare the icing: Melt the butter and whisk in the icing sugar and 1 tbsp of the milk. Add more icing sugar or milk until the icing has the consistency you wish: It should be a little bit runny but not too much! Add food colouring to your liking.

Using a pastry bag or something similar squirt the vanilla cream into the donuts you want to be filled. Dip the finished donuts in the icing, turn over and decorate them with sugar sprinkles. Roll the donut holes in icing sugar.

Best eaten fresh!