Springtime

the picture of happiness 

This is probably my favourite time of the year- days are longer, warmer, and meals are so much more interesting. A trip to the farmers' market is a real pleasure and everything around is green, green, green. Yes, I am happy. :) I want to make the most of it and eat better, leaner and healthier. Now it's the time to have most things raw and fresh, amazing salads with vinaigrette or lemon dressing. To combine exotic and local fruit with spinach, rucola, or celandine. To exercise more often and to shed the weight, the worries & the gloom. Winter is over and remember, No matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow.

Love, xx

spinach and beetroot

celandine

ramson and orach

Cheat's Maultaschen

It's been more than two weeks since I posted anything. I have been down with a bad cold :( and I couldn't focus on cooking nor on taking photos. It seemed as if time flew, but how many things have happened in that space of time: a merciless earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan and a war in Libya. 

On a brighter note, spring has finally arrived, so, with new-found strength, I went to the market and bought a bagful of spinach, orach, ramson, celendine, radishes, spring onions, parsley, and beetroot. Isn't spring wonderful? Yesterday, I made a delicious spinach and ramson salad with oranges and toasted nuts, which I'll post here some time soon. 

I have been thinking about Maultaschen for a while (yes, I miss Germany), but since my baking skills are pretty bad at the moment and the dough didn't come out as smooth as I wanted, I decided that I had to cheat with my Maultaschen! Hmmm.... 

Maultaschen is a traditional Swabian dish which is similar to Italian ravioli or Chinese dumplings. It consists of dough pockets filled with minced beef and spinach. I first had Maultaschen in Stuttgart three years ago and I love it so much that I just can't imagine visiting Bavaria and not having this exquisite dish, cooked either in a clear broth or with steamed cabbage.

Cheat's Maultaschen with Beef Cubes and Fresh Baby Spinach

Type of cuisine: German/European


Cooking time: 2 hours (1.45 h for the beef stock, 15 minutes to put everything together)

For the beef  soup, you will need

2 beef bones with some meat on them

1 carrot

2 small onions

1 small cube of beef stock (for extra flavour) - optional

2 spoons of tomato paste

1 small diced tomato

a pinch of nutmeg

20 spinach leaves (the smallest in the bunch- they are sweeter)

1 small packet of fresh tortellini or ravioli (250 gr)

Method

Boil the bones, the carrot and the onions in 2 liters of water for at least 1 hour 45 mins. Drain the soup into another pot. Discard the carrot and the onions, as well as the bones. If the bones have some meat on them, scoop and cut it into small cubes, and put them back in the soup. Add a small beef stock cube for extra beef taste, the tomato paste, the diced tomato and the nutmeg.

Open the packet of tortellini and boil the pasta in the beef soup. Cut the spinach leaves lengthwise and boil them with the tortellini for 5 minutes before you serve the dish. 

tortellini filled with ricotta and spinach and small beef cubes

Even though it wasn't the real thing (no ready-made pasta can compare to home-made pasta), the beef soup and the fresh spinach certainly make up for this. I loved the rich taste of beef zest, the small bits of tender meat and the baby spinach that brought the sunshine and the spring onto my plate.

People who know me know that Germany is one of my favourite countries in Europe. What a great people! I love German hospitality and the wonderful German specialities: the cakes, the bread, the soups and the earthy dishes.

shopping street in Reutlingen, BW

downtown Stuttgart

a small hidden restaurant, pour les connaisseurs :)

Maultaschen in a tiny family-run restaurant in Filderstadt, BW

Spinach & Ricotta Cheese Pie with Thyme, Sumac and Pumpkin Seeds

When it comes to baking, I'm still at beginner level :(   However, I am working hard to hone my skills :) To quote Cake Boss, "cooking is a passion, baking is a science". I baked this delicious pie with a little help from my mother who gave me the French pie pastry (flour, butter, vinegar, yeast, warm water) which I rolled out and laid on the baking pan.

It's a delicious savoury pie which is baked in less than an hour and will certainly disappear in less than 10 minutes :) A real treat.

Type of cuisine: European/Fusion


Time: 10 minutes preparation time (without the French pastry); 45 minutes baking time. 

You will need:

250 gr ricotta cheese

2 (pref free-range) eggs

a 250g bag of fresh spinach

2 pinches of freshly ground black pepper

1 pinch of salt

2 tsp of thyme

1 tsp of sumac

Decorate with 

fresh mozzarella cheese

pumpkin seeds

linseeds 

Method

Break the two eggs and beat them as if to make an omelette. Season with pepper, salt, thyme and sumac. Incorporate the ricotta and mix lightly using a silicone spoon.

Boil the spinach, drain and let cool.

Grease the pan with butter, cover in flour and lay the pastry. Pour the ricotta-&-egg mixture in the pan and take the spinach leaf by leaf and lay them on top.

Grate fresh mozzarella cheese over the spinach, sprinkle a handful of pumpkin seeds, and use the linseeds to decorate the ends of the pie.

Bake for 40-45 minutes at 150 degrees C.

I loved it. It was so rich, smooth and tasty, you won't know what has hit you when you take a first bite, really.  It had everything I like in any dish: it was healthy and at the same time yummy: it was smooth but also crunchy. 

I will definitely make it again, maybe with asparagus for a change. 

Suggestions for serving

This delicious pie can be paired with a glass of cold milk or savoury lassi with cumin, salt and lime juice.  For a more formal occasion (or not!) it would go down very well with a glass of chardonnay. Mike had it with a Romanian Riesling from Recas, and declared that there was nothing wrong with it! :) 

Veggie's Delight: Spinach Pulao & Aubergine Curry

Spinach Pulao with Jumbo Raisins, Toasted Almonds and Pomegranate Seeds

&  Aubergine Curry

Type of cuisine: Indian/Vegetarian
Cooking time: 2 hours
Difficulty: medium

Since the last time I cooked Indian was more than a week ago, today I had a craving for a curry, and not just any curry, I felt like having a vegetarian curry.

Vegetarian curries are colourful, zesty, and exciting to cook. Even though it was pretty time-consuming (I spent the bones of two hours baking, frying, chopping, dicing, peeling, grating, crushing, etc :) I was happy at the end when I got to take the pictures and we both enjoyed a very nice meal.

If you have cooked Indian before, you know that there's no Indian dish without spices: cumin, coriander, mustard seeds, cinnamon,  turmeric, saffron, cloves, onion seeds, sweet paprika, and chilly- to name just a few. These wonderful spices are the base of whatever you cook.

Preparation

If you want to cook them both (it's a very good combination), you must start with the eggplants. Wash them, pierce their skin with a sharp knife and bake them in the oven for 45 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius.

The Spinach Pulao

In the meantime, deal with the rice. Basmati rice will take more time to steam and it's a good idea to let it soak all the water while you are busy doing other things.

Fry some oil in a medium-size pot, add the spices (cumin, coriander, mustard and onion seeds) and let them pop. Cover with a lid, they are leathal :)

Add two cups of Basmati. Fry and mix with the spices. Pour water to cover and add salt (I used Camargue salt with crushed curry leaves- it's home-made), turmeric, a handful of jumbo golden raisin (yes, be generous) and bay leaves. Let it simmer.

While the rice and aubergines are taking care of themselves, prepare the veggies.

For both dishes, you will need the following vegetables 

a bag of baby spinach 

3 medium-size aubergines/eggplants

3 carrots 

2 red peppers

5 small red onions

 4 cloves garlic

fresh ginger

fresh tomatoes or a can of diced tomatoes

a handful of almonds

jumbo raisins

pomegranates (to decorate)

Method

Going back to the rice, fry a pinch of cumin and onion seeds in the wok and cover.

Cut the two carrots julienne and put them in fry them with the two onions.  Set aside.

Cut the spinach if the leaves are long and fry them in butter.

Toast the almonds.

The wine is just for the show :) I love the reflection mirrored in the black bottle

To finish the Pulao, incorporate the carrot and onion mix with the rice, add the spinach and use a soft rubber spoon to mix. 

Top with toasted almonds and pomegranate seeds. 

Now, with the Pulao out of your hair, the Aubergine Curry will be a piece of cake.

Remove the aubergines from the oven and peel them. Drain and chop. Set aside.

Prepare the curry base: fry the spices (mustard, coriander, cumin, onion seeds- the usual). Add the freshly diced (or grated) ginger, the garlic and the chopped onions (should be the last three).

Add a carrot, two peppers and the diced tomatoes with a spoon of brown sugar, mix the lot, season with a little salt, turmeric, sweet paprika, a pinch of hot chilly, and a spoon of  Madras curry powder.  Reduce.

Can you see the onion seeds on top? They're beautiful.

Work in the chopped aubergines and let them simmer quietly. 

I hope you will enjoy this dish as much as I did. Have it with naan, papadums, raita, or chutney.  

Even though it takes longer to prepare, don't feel discouraged and arm yourself with patience. It took me two hours because it was the first time I cooked these particular dishes.  If you are organised and have all the veggies ready for cooking, you might even spend less time in the kitchen and more time entertaining your loved ones.  Enjoy :))

Ninna nanna marinare...

As promised, here is the Four-Step Prawn Pasta I was telling you about yesterday. This is the dish I usually order whenever I eat out in an Italian restaurant.

I love prawns and sea food. I always buy them fresh and cook them the day I have bought them. They also keep well in the freezer, but really, they taste better fresh. 

I cooked this dish in summer, but it suits any season and the ingredients you need are quite easy to find.

      

Shopping list

~  1 packet of languini, spaghetti or spaghettoni

~  fresh tomatoes or a can of Cirio

~  a bag of baby spinach

~  fresh prawns

~  a tray of mushrooms- for this recipe you'll need a handful though

~ a bottle of white wine

You will also need

fresh garlic

herbs: basil, rosemary, sage, 

extra virgin olive oil

salt

brown sugar

Preparation

Tomato sauce: dice the tomatoes, add the salt, a pinch of brown sugar, garlic, herbs. Reduce.

Pasta: boil in salted water, season the water with herbs and garlic. Your pasta will have a je ne sais quoi yummy taste and if you have guests for lunch or dinner they will all want to know the secret!

Prawns: shell them first, wash them and toss them in freshly crushed garlic and sweet paprika (to enhance their 

beautiful colour), then stir-fry them for a minute. Set aside to cool.

Method

In a separate wok fry the mushrooms, let them brown & soften and then add the prawns and the spinach. 

Add some white wine (the rest, keep chilled in the fridge).

Incorporate the pasta and mix lightly.

Before serving, add a couple of spoons of your own tomato paste and serve with the chilled wine. 

Just a thought...

Never use ready-made ketchup when you make pasta. It tastes foul. Always try to go for local, natural, sustainable ingredients.

When you go shopping for wine, do your homework and read about different wine regions and grapes. In the supermarket, take your time and read the labels. Don't go for the cheapest wines, but not for the top of the range either unless you are a fin connaisseur. The best discoveries are middle-of-the-road price wise. 

Romania produces excellent reds, but also whites.  For this dish I would go for a wine called Frunza Chardonnay. It's a fresh wine with undertones of vanilla, prunes and acacia.  Serve chilled and don't mix it with soda to make spritz.

Wine gives me a slight headache, so I never have more than half a glass, but the upside is that I have a clear head and I get to assess the textures and the bouquet of each sip. :)

Ninna nanna marinare is a verse from Pink Martini Ninna Nanna song. It means "sleep, sleep sailor" and it goes on like this.

On the boat, in the middle of the sea

I speak to you, but you don't answer

You are lost in your dreams