Simplybest from food and life

Lost In Translation

2012-02-21T19:29:00.000+01:00

Unique lunacy of a foreign language Someone asked me to help to translate a restaurant menu and she claim to have good knowledge of english as she has worked in a hotel reception few years ago. Here are some samples of the original translation.

German :Tageskarte ........... Translation: Daily map

Lumberjack Steak
German : Schweinerückensteak mit Schmelzzwiebel und Röstkartoffel ............Pig back steak with fusion bulb and roasting potato

German: Züricher Geschnelzeltes von Truthahnbrust auf feinen Champignon a la crema und hausgemachten Spätzle.

......Inhabitant of Zurich Geschnetzeltes of the turkey on fine mushrooms à la crème

and house-made schwabian noodles

Do I really need to translate ? :-)

Filled Tomatoes

2012-02-12T23:39:00.005+01:00

When I have lots of tomatoes, some old breads or cooked potatoes, here is what I usually do.

Some mince meat, old bread, cooked potatoes and a large onion.

Mince the onion, panfry with little oil till the brown with aroma. Mix with cooked potatoes and mince meat. Add seasonings like salt and pepper, pinch of sugar or broth powder. Stuff them into prepared tomatoes.

Place the filled tomatoes into a pan, add 1 cup of broth and cook/stew on medium heat for about 20 minutes. You may bake them in the oven but I prefer to 'stew' which is faster.

When done, thicken the sauce with cornstarch. Serve either with rice or grains like wheat or couscous.

Salmon (Lachs) Tartar

2012-02-11T18:05:00.003+01:00

I know I've been neglecting my blog lately. Too busy with not too popular household demands like cleaning .......don't want to sound like a broken record. There are some positive changes in 2012 so it is a good start in this Dragon Year I have taken on a new challenge and will stay busy - as always.

First post for 2012 is fish. Not 'yee sang' like the chinese to herald in the new year but a european version of 'yee sang' - Lachs (salmon) tartar on red beets and potato salad accompanied by chard and brussel sprouts which were pan fried in olive oil. A sort of mediteranean 'diet' . Super healthy dish .

Winter Solstice/Tang Yuan

2011-12-21T21:55:00.001+01:00

It's Dong Zhi or winter solstice (22nd Dec) an important event in the Chinese custom. It signifies the longest night in the year.. Some people celebrate it on a bigger scale than Chinese New Year. On this day, the Chinese will make Tang Yuan (汤圆) to signify the arrival of winter and by eating this we will be a year older. In Chinese custom, the round shaped rice ball symbolizes togetherness and completeness of the family. Today, these glutinuous rice balls come in rainbow colours like pink, yellow, blue, green...... I remember my grandmother made them only in pink and natural white, without filling. Today, people are more creative and Tang Yuan comes with filling like peanuts, black sesame, red beans.
You might be interested (thanks to Lily) to read this........ http://chineseculture.about.com/library/weekly/aa122200a.htm

Frankly, while making this, I felt abit homesick :-(

To start, make the sugar syrup with screw pine leaves, sugar, water and a slice of fresh ginger to wake up the taste buds

Dough.....(Divided into 2 portions - natural and pink)
300gm glutinous rice flour
1 tbsp sugar
100ml boiling water
200ml cold water

Fillings....

Black sesame paste

Chestnut paste

Divide the dough into portions and fill each either with black sesame or chestnut paste.

Seal and roll them into balls.

Drop them into slow/low simmering water. Once the balls float to the top, simmer further 5 minutes.

Serve with ginger sugar syrup

Wishing all a harmonious Winter Solstice

Halle (a little Christmas Market)

2011-12-11T17:51:00.002+01:00

Son of Halle - Handel..... 'Michael Jackson' of the 1700 :-)
After Leipzig, we made a short drive to Halle. The Christmas Market is small and not different from Leipzig. Lots of grill - sausages and game.

Weather was wet and cold so I just didn't have the mood to explore the town.

How did he do this ?

2011-12-09T17:16:00.000+01:00

While walking through the Viktualien market in Munich, I saw this (DING). There was nothing else around him. Looked like he was floating. What happens when he let go the stick ?

Have a closer look. Can someone please explain leh.

Christmas Market 2011 - Munich

2011-12-08T08:47:00.002+01:00

Here is another CHRISTMAS MARKET to add to collection. It's Munich or München in German. Munich city alone draw tourists like bees to honey, all year round - to Oktoberfest for one. In the city centre, never to be missed is the Church/Marienplatz. A stone throw away is the Viktualien Market which is another must see. There is also a display of the 'button in ear' (remember Teddy Bear) Steiff animals. It was almost impossible to shoot any photos due to the crowd - please excuse the lousy shots.

Please go to the webalbum to view more

Strange Stuff

2011-12-07T09:03:00.006+01:00

What do you think this is ?

Son said it looks like a tabletop toilet bowl, with 'material' !!

Make a guess before you read further.

His father said it's a mug, the 'spout' is to fit the nose so that when one drinks, one can inhale the aroma at the same time.

There were many stands/stalls offering Glühwein at the Leipzig Christmas Market but there was this particular stall where they also have Feuerzangebowle .

They fill up the cup with Glühwein, not too full or the fire will be put out. A piece of sugar cube is placed on the spout end. The sugar cube is then drenched with high percentage alcohol like Schnapps and fire away ! The sugar will slowly caramalise and suppose to flow into the Glühwein. Then PROST !!

YUMMY - Prawns and Truffel

2011-12-04T08:45:00.002+01:00

I have finally made up my mind so off we went to Munich to finalize the purchase. While the papers were being processed, I went into the city for a round of Christmas Market tour in the city centre. Photos will be posted soon. After an hour of pushing crowds, decided to have a good lunch. And here is our lunch. Huge butter prawns on salad of sour cream red beets - with oven fresh baguette.

Linguine with Truffel cream sauce

Happy decision, happy tummy !

Crispy Trout with Green Sauce

2011-11-24T16:43:00.000+01:00

Easy to prepare, packed with goodness
I picked up 2 flipping fresh trouts from the fish farm nearby in the morning. They were scaled and gutted on the spot which saved me the messy job of doing that at home. My initial plan was to bake them in foil so I went into the garden for some fresh dill. No luck ! Frost got to them during the night. So I decided to panfry them. While running water over the trouts, I didn't notice that the tap was on HOT and......
Uuups! Naked trouts.

Here is the receipe :

Dust the trouts over with flour, panfry at medium till done.
Meanwhile, cook up some potatos, set aside and keep warm.
The green sauce is mainly made from (what I salvaged from garden) parsley, basil, some chives and 2 cloves of garlic. Less garlic if you don't want to walk around smelling of a would-be vampire hunter.

Ingredients for green sauce
A handful of parsley mixed with basil
some chives
2 cloves garlic (or less)
2 tbsp mayonaise
200ml sour cream
1 tsp sugar
salt and pepper to taste
dash of lemon juice (optional)

Put herbs and garlic in Blitzhacker.

Pulse few seconds with blitzhacker

Add mayonaise and sour cream and give it another short pulse.

Add sugar, salt and pepper to taste.
This sauce is also great with hardboiled eggs.

Crab Apples

2011-11-18T23:36:00.002+01:00

If you don't know what crab apples are, they're basically tiny sour apples. Some say you can't eat them raw but I did !! :-) Very crunchy and packed full of pectin flavour - meaning SOUR

A blossoming apple tree is a beautiful sight in spring but later in the summer, it can be a major nuisance. Bees, wasps, birds and rotting fruits on the ground. Wasting all that fruit doesn't feel good either. So if I have time, I would pick a basketful, turn them into something useful like jelly. The chinese turned such a tiny fruit into a snack food (Shan Ja).

Aren't they lovely ?

Just look how small they are.

Applecake 11.11.11

2011-11-11T21:50:00.003+01:00

November 11, 2011 (11.11.11)
Many people worldwide find this configuration set of numbers facinating. Some people had to get married. Some people had to have their baby or babies. Auspicious ?
What will they do on 12-12-12 ?
Hmmm.... wait and see. Naaaah ! No babies for me cos I've closed shop :-)
For me, it's the first day or start of winter because icy wind was blowing and when I went into the garden to get some fresh mint for tea, they were all wilted from the cold.
And I had to have applecake!!

You need just some sour apples like Boskop, Jonagold .........

Ingredients :
6-7 medium size apples
peel,core and slice, sprinkle over with lemon juice.

Butter cake batter
250g butter or margarine
5 eggs (M)
150g sugar (more if you like it sweet)
200g flour
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
Zest from 1 lemon

Spread batter evenly in pan and arrange apple slices on top. You need not press the apple slices into the batter as it will sink in during baking.

Bake at 180°C for approximately 45 mins.

Dust with powdered sugar before serving. For extra calories, you may serve with vanilla sauce or ice-cream.

Wheat Grain & Beans Salad

2011-11-11T21:10:00.002+01:00

Wheat grain with beans - Wholesome and healthy.

Accompanied with green salad and seasoning of yoghurt and cream balsamic vinegar.

Braids/Zopf (Single Strand)

2011-11-06T23:24:00.002+01:00

Raisin Braid

Almond Flakes Braid

Nearly every european country has it's own version of braids. 3 strands, 4 strands, button knots, rose knots etc. After watching a video Lily sent me, I had to make this single strand braid. It looked so simple. Using only 1 long strand of dough and in 4 steps the lady made a beautiful perfect braid. Ha ! I was soooo wrong. Confirmed! . Just watching the steps is not enough. LEARNING BY DOING !

To start, I need to get a good flour. Hopped over to my friend Dieter, who owns a flour mill, for advice. He first gave me a tour through his flour mill and then a quick lesson on the fine details of varieties/type of flour, percentage of moisture, humidity and grades of milling...... Long story short, I came home with a 2.5kg bag of Type 405 strong flour.

After mixing and kneading, I realised the dough texture with this flour is different.

Poked a hole into the dough with finger and the dough sprang back immediately. After proofing, the dough became much more relaxed, ie stretchable.

Ingredients
1 kg Type 405 coarse wheat flour (doppelgriffig)

100g sugar
500ml tepid warm water
50g soft butter
1 level tsp salt
2 sachets yeast (7g each)

1.Mix 1 tsp sugar,100ml warm water with yeast in a small bowl. When all dissolved, sprinkle over with some flour and let stand for 15 mins. or until it bubbles.
2.Sieve flour into a deep bowl together with all ingredients, keeping back 100ml water for 'just in case'.
3.Add in the 'live' yeast and mix, knead (manual or with machine) till you get a sticky homogenous dough. Remember, during leavening/proofing, the flour will absorb more liquid and swell.
4.Cover with cloth, leave to rest for an hour in a warm place.
5. Divide dough into 2 portions. I divided mine into 600g and 1kg.
6. Add a handful of raisins into the 600g dough. Pleat and let proof.
7.Pleat the 1kg portion (plain) dough and let proof. Proofing time should be about an hour.
8.Set oven temperature at 220°C for 30 mins.
9.Brush braids with eggwash. I sprinkled the kilo braid with almond flakes.
10. Place in oven (at middle level) and bake.
11. After 15 mins, set oven temperature down to 160°C and bake another 45 mins.

Now.......... How to braid

First, you roll the dough into a strand of about 60-70 cm long

The right end is A, left end is B. Take one end (the right end A) and place it on 2/3 lengh of strand.

Take the left end (B) and bring it over A, slip it under strand towards '2 o'clock'

Adjust the loop....
bring it down into an oval loop

Twist the loop (clockwise) from left to right to form figure 8

Bring down B and tuck it under end of oval loop. Adjust to shape.

After proofing, it will look like this

Brush with eggwash and sprinkle with almond flakes and bake.

Viola !

Serve just with salted butter or with extra portion of apricot or quince jam. YUMMY !

FATFREE Comfort Food

2011-11-04T18:31:00.001+01:00

Autumn is here when daylight gets shorter and cold wind is blowing. With change of season, so do our tastes in food. Here is a combination which is particularly well suited for this time of year.

You need :
Potato - Its reputation as a high carb comfort food doesn't do it justice . It is high in vitamin C, eaten with the skin it is packed with nutrients like folate and vitamin B1 and B6. Contains only 160 calories if you give butter a miss.
Cook potatoes (with or without skin) in boiling water (about 20-25 minutes) until tender. Leave out the salt. Drain and toss a dash lemon juice in if you like.

Spinach - I don't have to explain. Think Popeye ! Keep depression at bay as eating food high in folic acid may alleviate mild depression.
Wash the spinach and put into a large lidded saucepan/pot over a low heat but no water as plenty of moisture comes out as it cooks. It will wilt after a few minutes, drain the spinach.

Eggs - It was once not healthy as it had cholesterol and now it is healthy or neutral. Don't fret. Think apple - an apple a day keeps the doctor away. Break 1 or 2 eggs into a heatproof bowl and steam/poach on medium heat for 10 minutes.

Add herb salt to your own palate.

Chocolate Cake

2011-10-28T00:06:00.000+02:00

A fast and simple sweet treat with just a few heart stopping basic ingredients.

The key ingredient is, of course, chocolate.
A readymade chocolate sponge cake base (from bakery), dark or milk chocolate, whipped cream, 12 cape berries with their 'frilly skirts' still intact and a handful roasted almond flakes.
Oh ! And a tablespoon of apricot jam.
Now.......making an amazing chocolate cake has never been easier.

Melt chocolate over a waterbath.
Spread apricot jam over the top of chocolate sponge cake.
Spread or pour melted chocolate over the top of cake. Let set.
Meanwhile, whip cream till stiff.
When chocolate has set, spread only the side of cake with whipped cream.
Cupping some almond flakes in your palm, gently stick the flakes to the cream.

With some leftover whipped cream, pipe florettes on top of cake.
Top each cream florett with a berry.
Viola !

Linsen Spaetzle

2011-10-06T22:27:00.001+02:00

Here is another way to make the swabian pasta - using a device almost like a potato ricer. Using the same receipe of http://fressgass.blogspot.com/2011/02/swabian-pasta-spaetzle-spatzle.html
You just place the device over a pot of simmering water.

Fill it up with dough, lower down the cover. You do not need any effort to press at all.

The dough will flow out like long spaghetti into the simmering water.

Soon as the spaetzle floats up, they are cooked.

Drain and add a sprinkle of oil or butter to prevent them clumping together.
You may freeze them up for later use or serve immediately with Wiener and lentils.

Playing with food AGAIN !

2011-10-04T17:58:00.000+02:00

Arranged this bouquet for a gathering.

This bouquet consist of figs, mango, grapes and oranges, crowned with red currants.

Prickly Pears (Cactus Fruit) Jam

2011-09-17T00:55:00.000+02:00

If you've never eaten cactus fruit (prickly pear)before, you must have a try. I must admit, it is an acquired taste but not unpleasant. In my opinion, it is a mix of melon and pineapple. The fruit is as big as a duck egg with thick coarse skin with tiny prickly spines which can be very irritating when stuck in bare hands. The fruit flesh ranges in colour from yellow to orange, or dark burgundy which makes it good for cocktails.
What is even better is to make jam !

Here is what I did with 10 pcs of fruit (country of origin : Spain) from the local market.

You need :
10 pcs cactus fruit (500ml fruit puree)
500g jelly sugar (2: 1)
Juice from 2 lemons
a pair of gloves

Put on gloves.
Slice off both ends of fruit and peel skin off.
Place peeled fruits into a pan and slow cook (without adding any water or liquid)
till fruits are soft.
Strain through a sieve to remove the nasty black seeds.
Cook liquid again, adding lemon juice and jelly sugar.
Cook a further 10 minutes and bottle immediately.

Note: This jam taste totally different from the fresh fruit. It is pineapple and pomegrate with a touch of caramel. The colour is rich golden amber.

Feast fit for monks

2011-09-08T22:33:00.002+02:00

Thai Buddhism people want to invite monks to their home
for blessing and luck.

A thai friend had the honour of having 2 monks coming to her home.
It was her big day.

The usual ceremony of giving food to the monks on arrival and then proceeding into the house, holding a sacred cord tied at one end to the Buddha image or idol of the house-hold. They chanted , blessing all around them. One monk then went around the house blessing trees, flowers, pets (chicken and rabbits) including my car :-)
There was also a bowl of water into which the monk dripped candle wax and from the figures formed, we were suppose to read or imagine our lucky numbers.
After the monks had their meal (before 12 noon), there were presentation of gifts and more blessings. Some seek solace, some seek health. Astrologies and palm reading were done - how correct were the predictions ??

It was not necessary to cook because it was like a potluck party where each person bringing one or more dishes. Of course, all dishes were authentic thai.

Playing with Food - Food Carving

2011-09-06T16:02:00.000+02:00

Over the weekend (5-6 September) there was the European Food Carving competition in Leipzig.
Sigh! Wish I was there to watch the Meisters at work. Wonder what they would say on the following pieces of thai carving.

Pretty maids all in a row

One may add these to a fruit bouquet.

Typical Swabian Dish

2011-09-03T15:50:00.001+02:00

This is a typical swabian meal ... Pork roast with potato salad ( german Schweinebraten mit kartoffelsalat).
In Schwäbisch (dialect) -Schwoibrade mid kardoffl salad )

Roast pork served with salads which is a combination of potato salad (swabian potato salad of course) and cucumbers. Or with spaetzle (swabian pasta) instead of potato salad. Most important, the whole plate should be swimming in brown sauce.

Strange Combi Salad

2011-08-31T15:52:00.000+02:00

This is an almost perfect salad for a hot summer day. The combination might be strange but believe me, they marry well.

You need :

(Flexible mount of ingredients)
Strawberries
Rocket salad
Avocado or mango
Hardboiled eggs
and the crowning sauce - Basil Pesto.

Smoked Makerel Salad

2011-08-16T22:59:00.000+02:00

A Quick lunch fix without any cooking.

All you need ........
1 smoked makerel (cleaned : meaning without bones or skin)
1 or 2 tomato (thinly sliced)
Onion rings
Some coriander, rocket salad (whatever available)

Sauce: Mix together

Juice from 1 lemon or lime

1 tsp sugar or honey

1 tbsp fishsauce

Optional- fine cut fresh pepperoni/chillli

I add in some red currants for additional zing.

Arrange tomato slices at bottom of plate.
Place fish, onions, coriander/rocket salad alternately over tomato.
Distribute sauce evenly over the whole dish.
Serve with rice.

Chanterelle (Pfiffeling) with Linguine

2011-08-12T09:47:00.000+02:00

It's mushroom time again !

A very fast and simple way to prepare ......

You need :
(for 2 servings)
300g linguine
200-300g cleaned chanterella
100g smoked ham (cubed)
1 small onion (fine chopped)
Pepper
Cream, chicken broth powder and a glass of good white wine
Chopped parsley or chives

1. Boil a huge pot of water to cook pasta.
2. Fry chopped onions with olive oil till soft, add some smoked ham
3. After a minute, add chanterella.
4. 1 more minute, add white wine.
5. Another 1 minute (-: add cream.
6. Pepper and chicken broth powder to taste.
7. Serve with linguine, sprinkled with parsley or chives.
Alternative -May serve with dumplings or any of your favourite pasta.