Almond Corner

Prawns with purple carrot puree, carrot paper with black cumin, curry sauce, mango with chilli, coriander oil, fresh coconut milk and chips

noreply@blogger.com (chriesi) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:45:00 +0000

During my weekly shopping tour I was totally distracted and I just bought products without having a single idea what I am going to cook. Somehow my subconsciousness was awake, because I still managed to cook something really so to say, round.Though this dish is simply too little on its own, therefore I would rather imagine it in a five or so course menu. I spent quite a long time wondering about the elements of the dish, but then, as so often, I just started and luckily everything worked out pretty well. Coconut and carrot are great together and they very screaming for prawns. Then I grabbed a thai mango, the only type I like, I know it is neither local, nor in season (?) but once in a while I can't say no. So all these ingredients called for a curry sauce. As I also had a fresh coconut, I prepared some milk and chips and some ginger flavoured coconut foam. The carrot is on the plate in two different ways: once a puree made of purple carrots with coconut oil. The other is a so called carrot paper with black cumin. And the kick comes from the mango with chilli and some freshly made coriander oil.

Ingredients:
for the carrot paper:
(based on a recipe by Nils Henkel)
100 g carrot
1 lemongrass
1 piece of ginger
30-50 ml peanut oil
1 sheet gelatine
1/4 teaspoon black cumin

Bake peeled and diced carrot together with the lemongrass, ginger and half of the oil in foil in the preheated oven on 200°C until soft. Puree carrot without ginger and lemon grass, in case it is not smooth enough add the rest of the oil. Mash puree through a strainer and stir in over low heat the previously soaked gelatine. Smear puree onto a baking paper and dry in the over over 70°C.

for the puree and coriander oil :
100 g purple or other carrot
30-50 ml coconut oil
50 ml vegetable stock
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1 sliced ginger
50 ml olive oil
1 bunch fresh coriander
salt, pepper

Caramelise diced carrot in sugar, pour stock over it and cook it over medium heat together with the cumin and ginger until soft, then remove the spices and puree. Season with salt, pepper and add some coconut oil to make it more creamy. Heat olive oil to 120°C, add coriander leaves, remove it from the heat and let it stand covered until it is cool. Puree and sieve.

for the curry sauce:
150 g prawn peels
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon curry spice mixture
1/2 teaspoon curcuma
3 garlic cloves
1 piece fresh ginger
1 chili
1 onion
10 curry leaves
150 ml fish stock
200 g coconut milk

Heat olive oil, add prawn peels and when it turned red add chopped onion, garlic, ginger, chilli, curry leaves, spices and curcuma. Mix everything together and pour stock over it, reduce by half, sieve. Add coconut milk and reduce by 1/4. Season with salt and pepper.

Minestrone and Oregano-Dried Tomato Bread

noreply@blogger.com (chriesi) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:02:00 +0000

Today, I was in some kind of rustic mood, if I may say that, so the timing couldn't have been better to cook a big pot of minestrone. The other reason for the soup is that I have collected a couple of parmesan rind, that actually is the heart of every minestrone. Without it is just not the same, and nothing can replace that savoury cheese. Minetrone is a soup that you can enjoy in every season, but to me winter is the best time of the year for a bowl of heart warming soup. This season I always add dried beans and curly kale or savoy cabbage to the vegetable mixture. Just feel free to use any vegetable you have at home and are in season. I think dried beans are essential, but if it should be rice or pasta, is really up to you. Freshly baked bread is just perfect with it, however those who follow my blog know, that I am not very good in bread baking. However today it must be my lucky day, because I managed to bake a soft bread with a crispy crust. Finally, I made it!

Ingredients:
for the soup:
50-70 g dried beans
1000-1500 ml vegetable or chicken stock
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion
3-4 carrots
1 piece of celeriac
2 parsley root
1 leek
1 garlic clove
2-3 potatoes
1 can plum tomatoes
5-6 leaves curly kale
1 piece of parmesan rind
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
40-50 g pasta
salt, pepper

Drain dried beans the evening before and cook it the next day until soft. Peel and dice the vegetables and sautee in olive oil for a few minutes. Add about a 1/4 teaspoon salt and dried oregano, the parmesan rind and the garlic clove. Pour stock over it, add canned tomatoes and cook over low heat for 40-50 minutes. Then stir in cooked beans and pasta and cook until the pasta is done. Season with salt and pepper.

for the bread:
250 g strong flour
7 g salt
25 ml olive oil
10 g yeast
230 ml water
30 g sun dried tomatoes
2 twigs fresh oregano
1 teaspoon durum wheat

Sift flour into a bowl, sprinkle salt somewhere on the side and make a mold in the middle of the flour. Crumble yeast into the mold and pour lukewarm water over it and start to work the ingredients together. Then add olive oil and knead a smooth dough. Let it rise for an hour. Preheat the oven to 220°C. Cut dried tomatoes in small cubes and mix it with the fresh oregano leaves and knead it into the dough. Form a long bread, brush with water and sprinkle the top with durum wheat. Pour about 250 ml water into the hot oven and bake the bread for about 30 minutes.

Cep-Sunchoke Ravioli with Gorgonzola Sauce and Cep Foam

noreply@blogger.com (chriesi) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 17:32:00 +0000

While I was watchin the fifth egg white dripping into the plastic box, I started to panic a little bit, because I had no clue what I should make using them. Of course I could bake some macarons and I probably will, but I rather wanted something salty, after all today I baked a big portion of aranygaluska among a portion of vanilla sauce. Oh yes, and that meant two more leftover egg whites. And where are these egg whites when I need them for cleaning a consommé?! Usually then there is not a single one waiting in the fridge. But finally I have seen the solution: pasta! I have been waiting almost a year to make these! Altough I often end up with quite a lot of egg whites, but still I just had no opportunity or I simply did not think of it. Thank to a sudden idea I cooked some sunchoke and those made just the perfect filling together with cep for the ravioli. I've never thought that these two work so well together. Love it! Of course I could have included pears or walnuts, even beetroot would have matched the main ingredients, but maybe next time! Now I wanted the cheese and the cep to be stars of the dish. However, as now fresh cep is not available I served some fried king oyster mushroom flavoured with shallot, garlic and thyme with it.

Ingredients:
for the pasta:
(source: lamiacucina)
100 g egg white
160 g flour
40 g durum wheat
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt

First prepare the pasta dough: sift flour, add egg white, salt, durum wheat and olive oil. Start kneading and when the dough is getting viscous keep on kneading until you get a smooth dough. Chill for an hour before using it. With a help of a pasta machine roll out pasta dough as thin as possible and place a teaspoon of the filling on it and form a ravioli with a help of a cookie cutter. Bring salty water to simmer and simmer ravioli for a 2-3 minutes and toss in melted butter.

3-4 small sunchoke
1 shallot
1 teaspoon butter
1 twig thyme
30 ml sherry
10-15 g dried cep
salt, pepper

Cook sunchoke until soft, then peel. Soak dried cep in hot water, then sieve, but put the water aside. Melt butter and sautee chopped shallot, then add mushroom. After a few minutes add sherry, cep water and thyme and reduce almost completly. Puree together with the sunchoke and season with salt and pepper.

1 shallot
1 tablespoon butter
70 ml white wine
150 g gorgonzola dolce
100 ml cream
salt, pepper

Sautee onion in butter, add white wine and let it reduce by 3/4, sieve, then add cream and gorgonzola and stir it until the cheese is molten, season.

20 g butter
1 shallot
150 ml white wine
100 ml cep water
50 ml cream
1 twig thyme
salt, pepper

Sautee onion in melted butter, add white wine and reduce to 2/3. Now add cep water and reduce by half. Sieve, then add cream, season and foam it with a blender.

Chestnut Soup with Purple Curly Kale

noreply@blogger.com (chriesi) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:57:00 +0000

One of the good things during these extremly cold days is definitely a bowl of hot soup. I have never been a big soup fan, but it seems that the cold has changed it. In fact, I can hardly think of anything else then a hot cup of soup, so expect some more comforting meals here at the "corner" this week. This soup was inspried by two fellow foodies. At first by Anna's delicious chestnut soup, that I was lucky enough to taste and by Robert's purple cabbage soup. I served this purple soul warmer with some gorgonzola, but some fried chorizo would also go very well with it.

Ingredients:
200 g chestnut (peeled)
1 onion
1 tabelspoon butter
1 small garlic clove
100 g parsley root
50 g celeriac
700-800 ml vegetable or chicken stock
100 g curly kale
1/2 teaspoon apple vinegar
salt, pepper

Sautee chopped onion in butter together with the sliced garlic. Add diced parsley root, celeriac and sautee a few more minutes. After add cooked and peeled chestnut (now that it is not in season anymore, use frozen or precooked chestnut) and pour stock over it. Cook over medium heat for about 20-25 minutes or until soft. Now add vinegar and chopped curly kale and cook for another 10 minutes, then puree. Season with salt and pepper.

Seared Chicken Liver with Baked Apple Parsnip Purée, Port Wine Shallot with Sour Cherry and Chinese Artichoke

noreply@blogger.com (chriesi) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:51:00 +0000

Frankly, I did not plan this dish, not for a single second, I simply felt the taste in my mouth. This might sound strange, but that's how it happened. I took out a pack of sour cherry and some Hungarian chicken liver from the freezer, by the way real treasures to me! And so I started with peeling parsnip and baking the apple slices.You might think that this dish takes long to prepare, but you are wrong! And it is not complicated at all. Most of the work is done by itself, after all the apple bakes on its own, the parsnip cooks silently in its milk bath. The sauce needs most of your attention, but after the first steps the work is done.I must say that now I am really sorry for all those who doesn't like liver, and even more sorry for those who do not even dare to try it! The puree is so silky and smooth and the parsnip works so well with the vanilla and clove scented baked apple. The slightly sage flavoured sour cherry with the shallots are perfect with the seared chicken liver. It is truly a combination made in heaven!

Ingredients:
for the puree:
250 g parsnip
1 shallot
2 small apples (Jonathan)
1 clove per apple slice
1 vanilla pod
white port wine
400 ml vegetable or chicken stock
100 ml milk
2 tablespoons butter
salt, pepper
for the port wine shallots:
6 shallots
150 g chicken liver per person
2 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon butter
3-4 sage leaves
5 tablespoon elderberry vinegar (or a berry vinegar)
2 tablespoons sugar
50 g sour cherry
150 ml port wine
150 ml veal stock
salt, pepper

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Slice apples in about 1 cm thick slices and stick a clove into each of them. Cut vanilla pod in about 1 cm slices, half them and smear it on the apple slices. Sprinkle with white port wine and bake for 15-20 minutes, then turn off the oven and leave it in the hot oven for 1-2 hours. Melt a tablespoon butter and sautee chopped shallot, add sliced parsnip and a small piece of vanilla pod. Cook parsnip until soft in a mixture of stock and milk. Remove the peel of the baked apple slices and puree together with the parsnip and about 50-60 ml cooking liquid and puree. If it is not silky enough, add more cooking liquid, a tablespoon butter, mix it up and season with salt and pepper. Sear liver in oil, then keep it warm in the 50°C warm oven. Discard oil from the frying pan, melt butter and sautee shallot for a few minutes. Add vinegar, reduce, add sour cherry and sugar. Let it caramelise, add stock, port wine and sage and cook until it has reduced and turns into a thick sauce. Add one or two knobs of butter and season.

Lemon Soup with Scallop and Basil Oil

noreply@blogger.com (chriesi) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:57:00 +0000

Considering the mood of this soup, I think we can hardly call it wintery, but for me it was just perfectly comforting on this extremly cold day. The first photo is kind of a cheat, because I haven't used Meyer lemons, but regular one. I think the zest would have been a bit too bitter otherwise. I must say, that I was waiting for days, until I finally gave in and cooked this soup. I was afraid that I end up with a warm lemonade. Well, I was wrong, it is so taste, I would even say it is kind of a soul food, after all in a way it is fresh, but still it warms you and so smooth that it strokes your throat. It is not visible, but a bunch of peas are hidden in the soup, that were perfect in combination with the scallop, and the basil oil just brought the whole thing to right point.

Ingredients:
1 shallot
1 tablespoon olive oil
50 g round grain rice (e.g. arborio)
1000 ml chicken stock
50 ml vermoutt
100 g peas
1 lemon
1 egg
salt, pepper

Sautée chopped shallot, add rice and stir so it is covered with oil. Add the vermouth and cook over high heat until it has reduced. Add 500 ml stock and cook over low heat with the lid on until the rice is cooked thorugh. Now puree, sieve and pour it back to the pot. Add the rest of the stock, peas and bring it to the boil, let it cook for 2 minutes. Grate lemon zest into the soup. Whisk egg white until half stiff with a pinch of salt. Whisk egg yolk with two tabelspoons of lemon juice and add some of the hot soup while whisking. Pour egg yolk mixture into the soup and whisk it together, then stir in the beaten egg white. Season with salt and pepper and serve with seared scallops and basil oil.

Sunchoke Beignets

noreply@blogger.com (chriesi) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:47:00 +0000

Well, honestly I do not often make doughnuts or beignets or other deep fried treats. In fact, I only do it once in a year, simply because of the scaring calories, however I decided to break this habit. Therefore here I am with the second batch of beignets this year. After the beetroot, I've chosen another seasonal favourite of mine, the sunchoke, that I boosted with some nutmeg. Though this wouldn't been enough, so I sprinkled it with ginger-lemon flavoured icing sugar. Well, my neighbour, who received a medium sized paper bag full with beignets just ate it all within a few minutes, while we still were chatting. I think that was quite a compliment! By the way, what I especially love about these, among the taste and the light and fluffy texture, is that they pretty much resemble to the sunchoke bulbs, agree?

Ingredients:
180 g sunchoke
60 g butter
200 ml water
150 g flour
2 eggs
nutmeg
pinch of salt
icing sugar
ground ginger
zest of 1 lemon

Cook sunchoke until soft, peel and puree. Bring water with butter, salt and freshly grated nutmeg to the boil. As soon as it is boiling add flour, the whole amount at once. Whisk it together with a wooden spoon, and as soon as a thin white layer is visible on the bottom remove it from the heat. Pour batter into another bowl and stir in 150 g of sunchoke puree, then stir in the eggs one by one. With a help of a spoon form small balls and bake in hot oil for 3-4 minutes. Roll baked beignets in ginger-lemon flavoured icing sugar.

Spicy Pear Preserve with Whisky

noreply@blogger.com (chriesi) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 17:15:00 +0000

While I was in Hungary, I was lucky to enjoy some fragant sour cherry and plum preserves togther with chicken liver and mashed potatoes. That is an unbeatble combination and no fancy food can compete. As the mentioned fruits are not in season at the moment, I decided to prepare some pear preserve that will just be gorgeous with veal liver. I am pretty inexperienced with preserves, therefore I am thankful for any advice. I indeed received some of them, but then I decided to do it the same way the pickled cucumbers. By the way those turned out perfectly crisp, but I must make some changes, because it was not sour enough, at least according to my taste and some of the spices I am also going to remove when I make it again. But back to the pears! I think it was a great idea to add whisky, however port wine would be a winner too!

Ingredients:
1500 g pear
2 lemons
1 vanilla pod
3 cardamoms
5-6 sichuan pepper
1 clove
2-3 allspice
1 small piece of cinnamon
100 ml bourbon whisky
500 g sugar
700 ml water

Peel and dice pears and keep it in lemon-water so they don't get brown. Bring water together with sugar, whisky and spices to the boil. Put diced pears in jars, pour hot syrup over it and close the jars. Cook jars in 90°C warm water for 20-25 minutes.

Nashi Pear - Sunchoke Loaf with White Chocolate and Vanilla

noreply@blogger.com (chriesi) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 16:45:00 +0000

While enjoying the first bites of a nashi pear, suddenly I noticed that it smells in a way like chocolate. Immediately everything was clear and I just knew how to combine the ingredients for the cake I was planning during the weekend. I wanted to bake a loaf using sunchoke and nashi pear. If sunchoke, well then hazelnut is a must, but what about the rest? So that chocolate fragrance that filled the air in the morning brought me the idea to add white chocolate and vanilla to the loaf. The neighbour's eight years old daughter loved it, so I am pretty sure that I made the right choice with the ingredients. Besides a slice with a cup of hot tea was just perfect in this cold and snowy afternoon.

Ingredients:
150 g butter
200 g sugar
1 pinch of salt
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or paste
130-150 g sunchoke
150 g flour
100 g ground hazelnut
1 teaspoon baking powder
juice of 1/2 a lemon
100 g white chocolate
2 nashi pears

Cook sunchoke until soft, then peel as long as it is lukewarm and puree. Whisk butter with sugar and a pinch of salt until fluffy, then whisk in the eggs one by one. Stir in 100 g of sunchoke puree, vanilla extract, flour and ground hazelnut. Sprinkle baking powder on top and squezze lemon juice over it. Fold in coarsly chopped chocolate and the peeled and diced nashi pears. Bake for 50-60 minutes in the preheated oven on 180°C.

Saucisson with leek-bacon "dumpling", Sauerkraut sauce and white cabbage purée

noreply@blogger.com (chriesi) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 16:16:00 +0000

In the Romandie, the french speaking part of Switzerland saucisson is a very popular cold smoked sausage that is usually made of pork. The so called Longeole is originated in Canton Geneva, while Canton Vaud is famous for the Boutefas and the Saucisson vaudois. I must confess that altough I love the smell of these sausages I am not really a fan, but once in a while they are welcome on our table. Today's lunch was inspried by dish from Canton Vaud, the so called Papet Vaudois that is kind of a leek-potato stew made with white wine and served with saucisson. Yesterday, I discovered a delicious potato dish in this blog and I felt immediately, that I must make them. I only have changed the filling that is inpsired by the traditional Papet Vaudois. The idea of the Sauerkraut sauce is already since quite a while on my mind and actually I planned it to be served among fish, but the smoky sausage just was screaming for it! Then I suddenly thought, why shouldn't I use cabbage in some different way in this dish. That's how I had the idea of white cabbage puree. Simply sautee sliced white cabbage in butter and caramelise with sugar, cook in a little stock, puree with cream and to give a tiny kick season with smoked salt. Roll in blanched savoy cabbage and warm it in brown butter right before serving. That's it!

Ingredients:
250 g potato (slightly floury, yellow)
50 g flour
1 tablespoon potato starch
1 egg yolk
salt, nutmeg
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 teaspoon olive oil
1 leek
50 g bacon
1/4 teaspoon majoram
50 ml white wine
salt, pepper

Mash or grate the cold, cooked potatoes, then add flour, starch, egg yolk season with salt and nutmeg and knead a dough. For the filling fry thinly sliced bacon in butter-oil mixture, add finely sliced leek and sautee. Add majoram, white wine and cook it until the wine is absorbed. Season aith salt and pepper. Roll out the potato dough and put some spoons of the filling in a row, fold it and slice. Fry in clarfied butter from both sides until golden brown. Put it into the preheated oven for another 15-20 minutes on 80-100ºC.

70 ml veal stock
70 ml Sauerkraut juice
1 shallot
2 juniper berries
50-70 g cold butter
salt, pepper

Bring veal stock, Sauerkraut juice togther with the chopped shallot and the juniper berries to the boil and reduce over low heat by two thirds. Sieve, add diced cold butter and whisk it up with an electric mixer. Season and if necesarry keep it warm in a bain marie.

Blood Orange-Beetroot Tart

noreply@blogger.com (chriesi) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 09:47:00 +0000

It wasn't that easy to get back to the kitchen, as I expected. Somehow those few days, when I had the opportunity to relax and enjoy the food that is cooked by someone else, I pretty much got used it. Although I also baked two chocolate mousse cakes, but still, nothing can beat mom's paprikás csirke. Anyway, the original plan was to bake a simple lemon tart, so to say to warm up and get back to the routine, but then I ended up making this beetroot-blood orange version. I have been ever so curious about Heston Blumenthal's pastry, so it was the perfect opportunity to try it. The filling is also based on his recipe, but I must confess, that I already have some new plans with it. So stay tuned for a pretty exciting dessert to come. As far as the pastry is concerned, well it is gorgeous! Already while working the raw pastry, I felt that this is going to be something amazingly good. If you want that the tart has a more intense orange flavour, then use normal oranges instead of blood.

Ingredients:
200 ml blood orange juice
50 ml beet juice
240 g sugar
300 ml cream
1/2 vanilla pod
6 eggs
1 egg yolk

The recipe for the pastry you find here. Preheat the oven to 120ºC and place the baked tart shell onto a sheet. Put the ingredients of the filling into a heatproof bowl, mix it together and leave it over a bain marie until it reaches 60ºC. Now pour it over a sieve, remove any bubbles and pour it into the preheated tart shell. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until it has reached 70ºC. Let it cool, then trim the overhanging pastry. Serve with blood orange fillets and coarsly chopped pistachios.

Coffee mousse on coffee flavoured joconde, caramel panna cotta and coffee-white chocolate ganache

noreply@blogger.com (chriesi) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:38:00 +0000

Well, yep, all these in one little cake! I have been planning this for quite a while, until I finally managed to decide how it should be. Actually, I have some more versions waiting to be baked, but this coffee flavoured one is just perfect right now as a so to say "good-bye" post. It is only a short break, because I travel to Hungary, but will be back already next week. So now back to the cake!

It is in fact pure coffee, except for the caramel panna cotta part. The cake itself was inspired by the coffee mousse that I served among a caramel sauce. I kept the mousse part, but prepared a panna cotta instead the sauce. The mousse is not that sweet at all, so if you drink your coffee without sugar then it is just perfect, but feel free to add more sugar. However I think it is unnecessary because together with the caramel panna cotta and the ganache is just perfectly sweet enough. The bottom is a light coffee flavoured joconde, that is the base of the cake, on top of that comes the mousse, but I put a cannoli baking form onto the base in order to have a hole. As soon as the mousse is set, I removed it and poured the cooled panna cotta base into the hole. Of course you can simply make a layer cake, no need to complicate is. Before glazing it with the coffee-white chocolate ganache freeze it for about 30 minutes. So that's it!

Ingredients:
makes 6 cakes á 7,5 x 7x5 cm
50 g ground almond
50 g powder sugar
40 g egg yolk
30 g egg white
50 g instant coffee
50 g flour
100 g egg white
60 g sugar

Mix together the almond with powder sugar, add 40 g egg yolk and 30 g egg white and whisk until fluffy. Stir in flour, while that beat 100 g egg white with sugar until it forms soft peaks and fold it into the almond mixture. Finally stir in the dissolved coffee. Bake for 5-6 minutes over 230°C.

200 ml milk
100 ml cream
2 tablespoons sugar
2 gelatine sheets

Caramelise sugar, add milk and cream and bring it to the boil, then stir in the previously soaked in gelatine. Find the mousse recipe here.

300 g white chocolate
200 g cream
20 g instant coffee or espresso

Chop chocolate and pour boiling cream over it and whisk it together. Let it cool and glaze the cakes with the ganache.

Sunchoke Salad with Chervil Sauce

noreply@blogger.com (chriesi) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 16:45:00 +0000

Right here and right now I have to confess, that once more I could not resist and had to bake something. After yesterday's doughnut it might be a little too much, but I do not care. So stay tuned, because tomorrow I am here with a coffee bomb! Until then, check out this light, yet amazingly delicious salad. After all something light like a salad is more than welcome between two sweet treats. The taste of raw sunchoke resemble to hazelnut, so it was clear that I am gonna add some to the salad. While seeking for something green, I discovered a beautiful bunch of fresh chervil that just perfect with sunchoke so I decided to make the sauce out of it. The poached egg and the pecorino goes perfectly well with the sunchoke that you find both raw and fried on the plate.

Ingredients:
3 sunchokes per person
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon coarsly chopped hazelnut
1 egg per person
1 big bunch of chervil
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
1/4 teaspoon English mustard
50-60 ml olive oil
pecorino
salt, pepper, nutmeg

Peel sunchoke, but set a small piece (unpeeled) aside. Slice the rest of the sunchokes and fry over low heat in butter and let the butter turn brown. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Set some of the chervil aside and puree the rest with vinegar, mustard and oil. Season with salt and pepper. Mix fried sunchoke with the leftover chervil leaves, slice some raw sunchoke and pecorino over it. Sprinkle with hazelnut and serve with the chervil sauce and a poached egg.

Beetroot Doughnuts

noreply@blogger.com (chriesi) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 16:06:00 +0000

Hmm, I have just realised that I haven't posted a single recipe with beetroot this year yet! Today it is just the right time to change that, thanks to a sudden idea. I believe that beetroots and blood oranges are made for each other, so there was no question that I am going to serve these cute little beet dougnuts with blood orange curd. It turns into a real treat if you sprinkle it with some cardamom flavoured icing sugar! A real delight!

Ingredients:

500 g flour
20 g fresh yeast
50 g powder sugar
50 g butter
1 egg yolk
50 g beetroot
juice of 2 oranges
3 cardamom pods
2 tablespoons orange liqueur
1 pinch of salt
150 ml milk
150 ml beet juice
500 ml oil for frying

Peel and dice beetroot and cook until soft in orange juice together with the cardamom pods. Heat milk and beet juice until lukewarm nad set about 2-3 tablespoons aside. Pour the rest of the milk-beet juice mixture over the yeast, 3 tablespoons flour and 1 tablespoon powder sugar and let it stand until the yeast swims on top. Meanwhile puree cooked beetroot with the rest of the milk-beet juice mixture. Add the rest of the flour, powder sugar, egg yolk, beet puree, liqueur and lukewarm melted butter to the yeast mixture. The dough is pretty soft, so take a wooden spoon and beat it for about 20 minutes until it is smooth, or leave the work for a machine. Let the dough rest until it doubles its size. Flour a working surface and flatten it with your hand, cut out any shape you like and let it stand for another 30 minutes, then deep fry in oil.

100 g butter
100 g sugar
juice and zest of 1 lemon
juice and zest of 2 blood oranges
2 egg yolks

Over a bain-marie melt butter with sugar, fruit juices and zest. As soon as the butter has melted whisk it together, add the egg yolks and whisk on the highest level for about 10 minutes until it thickens. Pour into jars and chill.

Revised Fish & Chips

noreply@blogger.com (chriesi) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 17:33:00 +0000

Well, honestly, I do not even know where to start! But maybe I just should start right at the begining. Yesterday, I was thinking about making a sauce using purple or blue potatoes, how cool would that be?! While wondering about it, slowly the sauce turned into a foam. What about the rest? Of course it had to be fish once more and then the foam seemed to be just perfect after all it reminds one of the sea. While thinking about the details of the foam, I reminded about that roasted potato peel consommé from last year, and so it was clear that this must be the base of the foam. However it was pretty challenging to keep that purple colour! During my first trial, when I cooked to potatoes into the stock it has just turned somewhat brownish, so that was not the solution for a bright purple colour. I have almost given it up, when I had the sudden idea to simply grate some raw potato into the sauce and so there I've got my bright purple colour. However even then you have to serve it fast, because it turns pretty soon brownish. So chips part: done! Or not?! Well, depends how you look at it. In this amuse bouche the fish turned into chips. That's pretty easy to make, you simply have to flatten the sliced fillet between a foil covered with rice flour and then just deep fry it, season and there you go! But there was something missing! Of course you need some kind of pickles to be served with it and there I've found the great idea of the fried capers in Vera's blog. Instead a remoulade or a tartar sauce I decided to make a sorrel mayonnaise, though I used my blood sorrel, but I would not recommand that, because it is not acidy enough, so wait rather for the real one when it is in season.

Ingredients:
7 small purple potatoes
200 ml veal stock
1/4 twig majoram
1 shallot
1 teaspoon butter
2 tablespoons cream
salt, pepper

Bake 6 of the potatoes in the preheated oven. Sautee chopped onion in butter, then add 100 ml stock and reduce by half. Peel baked potatoes, you will not need the flesh of it, but do not throw it away, cook a soup or make a puree the next day. Bring the other portion of stock together with the oven roasted potato peel and the majoram to the boil, then let it stand for 15-20 minutes, but remove the herb. Sieve both liquids, add cream, season and bring it to the boiling point, then remove it from the heat. Take the leftover raw potato and grate it into the sauce then mix it up and serve. FIsh chips inspired by pwf&w.

Coconut flavoured Buckwheat "Risotto" on Gingery Carrot Puree with Coriander Oil

noreply@blogger.com (chriesi) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 07:45:00 +0000

Sometimes it has to be vegetable, no meat, no fish, just veggies. Of course nothing can beat a juicy steak, but there are times when I can not even think of meat or even eggs. I anyway care very much about what type of meat I buy, therefore I rather buy less, but then at least I know it is good quality and the animal had a worthy life. Lately, I am pretty fond of buckwheat, in fact I am kind of in love with the flour. While I was wondering what kind of vegeterian dish I could prepare using buckwheat, I decided that I am not going to use any animal product. I had the idea of making a buckwheat risotto, but oops! I have just knocked out butter and parmesan, so what? Suddenly, the solution came on my mind: coconut milk! Yep, this will make it really creamy and risotto like. Carrots and ginger work great together and also prefect with coconut and so the dish was born! The freshly made coriander oil just brought the dish right there, where I wanted it to be.

Ingredients:

150 g buckwheat
1 shallot
1 teaspoon olive oil
50 ml white wine
500 ml vegetable stock
70 ml coconut milk
100 g carrot
1 teaspoon peanut oil
50 ml vegetable stock
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 slice ginger
50 ml olive oil
1 bunch of fresh coriander
salt, pepper

Heat olive oil, add finely grated shallot, sautee, then sweat it for a few more mintues together with the buckwheat. In another pot bring vegetable stock to simmer. Pour wine over the buckwheat and let it reduce. Season with a little salt and pepper. Add some stock and let it cook over medium heat, while stirring, as soon as it has absorbed add another portion of stock and repeat it until the buckwheat is almost cooked through. Add coconut milk and cook it for a few more minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Caramelise diced carrot in sugar, pour stock over it and cook it over medium heat together with the coriander seeds and ginger until soft, then remove the spices and puree. Season with salt, pepper and add some peanut oil to make it more creamy. Heat olive oil to 120°C, add coriander leaves, remove it from the heat and let it stand covered until it is cool. Puree, sieve and serve it with the buckwheat "risotto".

Scallop on buckwheat purée, marinated citrus salad, vanilla-long pepper whipped blood orange jelly and baked lemon sabayon

noreply@blogger.com (chriesi) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 17:28:00 +0000

Among beets my new favourite ingredient is buckwheat. I am really getting obsessed with it, and frankly I can not tell you why. So far they made it into spicy buns and a "risotto", that is going to be published tomorrow. It's been a month that the idea of this starter came on my mind, but the details just did not want to get clear. I had the buckwheat puree on my mind as the first element, then the citrus part came together. After I decided which fruit in which consistency is going to be presented on the plate, I only had to decide for the spices. Finally, I took lemons and baked them in the oven, that way they got mild, but somehow also a tiny bit bitter. This went very well with the slightly sweet and fragant vanilla-pepper flavoured beaten blood orange jelly. The marinated citrus salad just brought the missing freshness to the dish. And the buckwheat, well it is hidden in the background but it keeps the whole dish together.

Ingredients:
3 scallops per person
buckwheat flour
olive oil
butter
salt, pepper
50 g buckwheat
1 teaspoon butter
250-300 ml chicken stock + 30-50 ml when making the puree
1 shallot
1 celery stalk
1 tablespoon crème fraîche
salt, pepper
100 ml blood orange juice
50 ml simple syrup
4 sheets gelatine
1/4 pod vanilla
1 long pepper
2 lemons
50 ml fish stock
1 egg yolk
salt, pepper

Preheat the oven to 180°C and bake lemons for 15-20 minutes. Sautee diced onion and celery stalk in butter, add buckwheat and pour stock on it. Cook over medium heat until soft. Puree in a mixer with butter and crème fraîche, season with salt and pepper. If the consistency is too thick and some more stock and puree again. For the blood orange gelatine bring juice and simple syrup with vanilla and long pepper to the boil. Remove from the heat and dissolve the previously soaked gelatine. Let it cool and chill until set. Before serving whisk it up. For the sabayon mix together the fish stock, 50 ml baked lemon juice and an egg yolk and beat it over steam until foamy, season. For the marinated citrus fruits I used blood oranges and two different types of grapfruit and flavoured it with olive oil and sherry vinegar. Dust scallops with flour and sear in butter-olive oil mixture, season.

Mille Feuille

noreply@blogger.com (chriesi) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 13:05:00 +0000

Well, actually I promised that I will not bake during January, but I've failed thanks to the puff pastry. Okay, it could have ended up in something salty, but a mille feuille is just unbeatable and a must. Agree? However, I did not listen to the recipe and rolled the pastry only about 80-90 mm, instead of 2 cm. Therefore soon I am going to bake this again which is just the perfect opportunity to try another recipe for puff pastry!

Ingredients:
puff pastry
500 ml milk
100 g sugar
4 egg yolks
45 g cornstarch
1 vanilla pod
heavy cream

Scrap vanilla seeds (I used two pods, because they seemed to be so thin) and bring milk together with the seeds and the pod to the boil While that whisk together the egg yolks with sugar ( I used homemade vanilla sugar) and corn starch. As soon as the milk boils pour some of it to the egg yolk mixture while stirring constantly. Pour it back (through a sieve to avoid lumps) to the rest of the milk and bring it to the boil and cook it for 2 minutes. Pour it into a bowl, sprinkle the top with powder sugar and let it cool, then chill for a few hours. Weigh pastry cream and stir in a third of the weighted amount in form of beaten cream. Roll out puff pastry 2 cm thick, put a baking paper on top, take two corks and put a wrack on the pastry. Bake for 20-25 minutes over 180°C or until it browns.

Galette des Rois

noreply@blogger.com (chriesi) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 14:15:00 +0000

It's Epiphany, so it's just time to bake a your King Cake, if you haven't made it already! This year I decided to make the French Galette des Rois, that actually comes in four different versions. If it is made of yeast dough (brioche), then it is either sprinkled with sugar or filled with candied fruits, like the one I used to bake. The other type is made with puff pastry and is also available simply sprinkled with sugar, that is the so called galette sèche or dry galette. The other kind is made with frangipane filling and that's the one I decided to bake this year according to Alain Ducasse's recipe. However, I left away the pastry cream that he adds to the frangipane. And the puff pastry from Ladurée? Oh well, it is a dream! Go for it, it's worth it and it is not that time consuming as you might think!

Ingredients:
(based on a recipe by Alain Ducasse)
100 g butter
100 g powder sugar
100 g ground almond
10 g cornstarch
1 egg
puff pastry
2 teaspoons amaretto
1 egg yolk

Cream soft butter, stir in powder sugar and ground almond, then stir in the egg and the amaretto. Cut puff pastry in two pieces (you need about 1/4 of the linked recipe for one 18 cm galette). Roll out half of the pastry about 1,5 mm thick, the other 2 mm and cut out two 18 cm circles. Put frangipane filling onto the middle of the bottom, glaze the sides with water and cover with the other circle. Glaze with egg yolk and chill for 20 minutes. Glaze again and decorate with a help of a cookie cutter, but be careful not to cut the pastry through. Bake for 20-25 minutes over 200°C.

Pâte Feuilletée á la Ladurée

noreply@blogger.com (chriesi) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 13:31:00 +0000

Nothing is easier than to grab a pack of ready made puff pastry from the store, get home and pop it into the oven topped with anything one desires. In the past I also used to do that, however I've started to make my own puff pastry already some years ago. During that time I tried a couple of different recipes, from fast puff pastry to traditional. Currently my favourite is Michel Roux's pastry, however it would be a big mistake not to try Ladurée's recipe. How it turned out? Well, I can't tell you yet, because still two turns need to be done including the resting time over night. However, its texture seems to be gorgeous, so I bet I am going to be more than happy with the result tomorrow.

Ingredients:
500 g flour
75 g butter
250 ml water
10 g salt
400 g cold butter

Dissolve salt in the water at room temperature. Melt 75 g of butter over low heat. Pour flour into a bowl, incorporate the salty water, then add the melted butter. Mix everything together using your fingertips, until the dough is just homogenous, be careful and do not overwork it! Place it on a clean surface and form into a 15x15 cm square and wrap it in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour. Place 400 g of butter onto a sheet of baking paper and pound on the butter to soften in. It must have the same consistency like the dough. Form butter into a 15x15 cm square. Roll out the dough (détrempe) into a 30x30 cm square and place the butter (beurrage) in the center and fold the 4 corners of the dough into the center to completly enclose the butter. Roll out this package of dough (pâton) to a rectangle 60 cm long and then fold it in thirds. Turn dough one quarter, roll it out again and fold it in thirs. Wrap it in plastic and chill for 2 hours. Repeat the turning 2 more times, that means that you should turn the dough a total of 6 times. After the last turn chill for 2 other hours, but better over night.

Kalács

noreply@blogger.com (chriesi) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 17:12:00 +0000

Kalács is a Hungarian sweet bread similar to brioche baked in a braided form and it is typical for Easter, but in our family it may not be missed during Xmas time. Similar braided breads are popular in other Eastern European countries as well. However you do not need any kind of holiday to enjoy this light bread!

Ingredients:
1 kg flour
80 g sugar
100 g butter
800 ml milk
30 g fresh yeast
1 teaspoon salt

Heat milk until lukewarm. Crumble yeast and sprinkle about a teaspoon of sugar over it, then pour 100 ml lukewarm milk over it. Mix flour with salt and the rest of the sugar. Pour yeasty milk into a mold in the flour and start kneading, while adding the rest of the milk. As soon as the dough seems to come together and it is almost smooth add lukewarm, molten butter and knead until smooth. Let it rest in a warm place for an hour. Cut in three pieces and form one 26 cm kalács and two small ones. Put each in baking paper covered cake molds and let it rise for another half an hour. Bake for about an hour (the smaller ones might need 10-15 minutes less) over 160°C.

Chocolate Mousse Cake

noreply@blogger.com (chriesi) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 11:05:00 +0000

After all those delicious cookies and other treats during the holiday season, it's going to be great to have a break during January. However, I couldn't resist, I just gotta share the recipe of this cake that I preapred for New Year's Eve. I would like to wish with this chocolate bombe everyone: Happy New Year!

Ingredients:
hazelnut "meringue":

240 g powder sugar
20 g cocoa
140 g finely ground hazelnut
4 egg whites
dark chocolate mousse:
4 egg yolks
110 g simple syrup
200 g dark chocolate (60% cocoa)
400 g cream
whisky-dark chocolate ganache ( by katucikonyha):
50 ml cream
125 g dark chocolate
20 ml whisky
chocolate sponge (Ladurée):
30 g flour
22 g potato starch
15 g cocoa
3 eggs
75 g sugar

chocolate glaze (Ladurée):
150 g dark chocolate (minimum 60% cocoa)
120 ml cream
60 g milk
30 g sugar
30 g butter

Sift powder sugar and cocoa. Beat egg whites with a pinch of salt, then stir in the sifted ingredients and the ground hazelnut. Pipe two circles on a baking paper, one about 15 and one 17 cm diameter and dry on 140°C (keep the oven open with a wooden spoon). Cool on a wrack. Melt chocolate over steam, beat egg yolks with simple syrup in water bath, so that half of the bowl is covered with water, beat until thick and creamy. Remove and beat until it cooles. Stir molten chocolate to the beaten egg yolks and fold in beaten cream. For the ganache bring cream to the boil and pour it over the chopped chocolate, then stir in the whisky. For the sponge preheat the oven to 170 °C. Beat egg whites with sugar until stif, then stir in the egg yolks and fold in the sifted flour, starch and cocoa. Pipe a circle onto a baking sheet about 23-25 cm and bake for 10-15 minutes. Cover a round bowl with foil and pour some chocolate mousse into it, cover with one hazelnut "meringue", then add the rest of the mousse, cover with the other hazelnut base and pour ganahe on it. Then cover it with the sponge and chill over night. The next day remove it from the bowl and freeze for about 45 minutes, then cover with the glaze and decorate with macarons and coarsly chopped hazelnut. For the glaze bring cream, milk and sugar to the boil, then pour it over the chopped chcolate and stir until smooth. Finally stir in the room temperature chocolate and as soon as it is lukewarm cover the cake.

Pain d'épices

noreply@blogger.com (chriesi) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 09:36:00 +0000

Pain d'épices is kind of gingerbread that is made of rye flour, honey and spices and it makes a perfect holiday breakfast with butter and a mug of hot chocolate.

Happy Holidays!

Ingredients:
(based on a recipe by Alain Ducasse)
basic dough:
120 ml milk
4 g star anise
200 g rye flour
215 g honig
100 g brown sugar
the next day:
65 g flour
13 g baking powder
132 g (about 2 and a half) eggs
105 g soft butter
6 g salt
265 g oranger marmalade
4 g spice mix (ground mace, allspice, nutmeg and cinnamon)

Bring milk together with the star anise to the boil, then let it cool to lukewarm. Mix together rye flour with the honey, brown sugar and the sieved milk. Refrigirate for two days. Preheat the oven to 170°C. Stir flour and the eggs one by one to the basic dough. Cream butter with the salt and mix it to batter. Finally stir in the marmalade and the spices and pour the batter into the buttered 15 cm baking form and bake for 50 minutes.

Mint - White Chocolate Ganache

noreply@blogger.com (chriesi) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 13:11:00 +0000

Well, somewhen in October I saw a huge box full with candy canes and though I have never really liked them, I took a bunch with me. I thought they might be handy to use in one or the other photo during the holiday time. Then I had the sudden idea to make macarons with mint-white chocolate ganache, but I had no time to bake them until today! After last week's baking "stress", it felt so good to spend some time making these macarons and relax.

Ingredients:
(recipe by Tartelette)

80 g aged egg whites

25 g sugar

100 g almond flour

100 g icing sugar

100 g sugar

35 g beet juicefor the filling:

100 g white chocolate
50 g cream
5-7 mint leaves
natural green food colouring (chlorophyll)

Beat 40 g of egg whites with 25 g of sugar until it forms peaks. Meanwhile make the syrup: bring 100 g sugar with 35 g beet juice to boil and as soon as it has reached 110°C remove it from the heat and add it to the beaten egg whites in a thin stream while beating constantly. Keep on beating until it has cooled down, this takes about 10 minutes. Stir the other 40 g of egg whites, unbeaten to the sieved almond-icing sugar mixture. Preheat the oven to 150°C. Pipe macarons onto a silicon sheet or a baking paper covered baking sheet. Bake macarons for 13-15 minutes depending on the oven or a few minutes longer if you make bigger ones. For the ganache bring cream with mint leaves to the boil and pour it over the chopped chocolate. Add chlorophyll and stir until smooth. Refrigirate for 1-2 hours.

Saffron Fish Consommé

noreply@blogger.com (chriesi) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 16:05:00 +0000

What a week! I am so totally tired, you have no idea! After all I had to bake about 6 kilos of cookies, two 40 cm cakes and one 20 cm round one. In fact, I still have to decorate them and pack the cookies, but that is just peanuts! However, I must say that I have enjoyed every single moment of baking and I would do it over and over again! On the other hand I had absolutely no time to plan for Xmas, but I am going to catch up next week and take 2-3 hours to think about everything in details. Today, I felt like I really deserve something special for lunch after so much baking. Agree? I wanted something that is prepared fast and not much work. Huh? A consommé and little work? Well, if you have a fish stock in the freezer, then nothing is easier then that. The rest of the work isn't that much at all, really! Of course I had some ideas while cooking about how to pimp the seafood served with the soup, but I had just no energy to realise them. Though I could not resist to at least prepare a portion of herb oil using the green of the fennel bulb, at least that!

Ingredients:
100-150 g fish bones (prawn shells and other parts)
2 celery stalks
1 parsley root
1 onion
1 fennel bulb
1 bay leaf
5 coriander seeds
1/4 teáskanál sáfrány
500 ml fish stock
3 egg whites
few drops of lemon juice
4 prawns
4 scallops
2 seabass fillets
salt, pepper

Mix together the chopped onion, parsley root, half of the fennel bulb, celery stalks with the fish parts and the egg whites and pulse it for a few minutes in a mixer. Over low heat bring the chilled fish stock with the spices and the egg white mixture to simmer and let it simmer for about 30 minutes. Sieve using a cheesecloth add saffron and bring consommé to the right temperature and simmer for a few minutes. Season with salt, pepper and few drops of lemon juice. During this time the egg white mixture is going to clear the consommé. Fry or poach the fish, prawns, scallops in court bouillon or fish stock.