During our winter, I haven't made soup as often as the previous years, so I thought I had better snap into gear and do so before the end of our cool season. There is something quite satisfying about coming inside from the cold outdoors, then heating up a serving of soup to diminish the chill.

What had also prompt me to make this potato soup with the spicy paprika, was due to the abundance of the powdery substance we already had in our cupboard. Peter's (my hubby) Hungarian colleague arrived at work one day with his gift of Kotányi Paprika Csípös from a recent trip to Hungry, and would brag (I won't tell you what he really said) that this Hungarian paprika variety beats any powered paprika on the German food market "hands down" as far as its strength. I have yet to open the second 100g packet that the fella has given us, so I wonder just how many potato and paprika soups we can endure over the course of time. The soup is rather wholesome, and has a touch of crispness with its pre pan-fried potatoes and croutons that is added to the mixture. This soup recipe is definitely a keeper in my books, or I should say blog, so there will be more use for this red powder to come!

What do you like to cook with your powdered paprika?

Töpferei Wenzel also produces contemporary lamps and art pieces for the home. Their charming rooftop figurines shaped as cats, foxes and witches...just to name a few shapes, are iconically fixed to the rooftops of homes in our Kraichgau region. I highly recommend a visit to their website, and Herbert Wenzel speaks English for International enquires.

 Next-up...the soup kitchen will open again, and more Töpferei Wenzel pottery to come!

What you'll need to serve 4:

How to make the soup:

1. Wash, peel and chop the potatoes evenly into cubes. Melt 40g of butter in a pan and fry the potato cubes for 3 minutes at a medium heat. Add the paprika powder, capsicum, salt, pepper and the kummel to the potatoes and fry until the potatoes are slightly crisp and brown. Transfer to a soup pan and add the vegetable stock. Bring to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
2. In the meantime, add the extra butter and sprinkle paprika to the melted butter in they fry pan and fry the bread cubes until crisp. Set aside on kitchen paper.

3. After 15 minutes, remove the pan from the heat and purée or mash half the soup mixture. Return the puréed mixture back to the pan, add the sour cream and cook for a further 5 minutes. Serve with the croutons and garnish with green onion.

Tip: If you cut the potato cubes evenly,  they will cook evenly. And if you don't have any day before bread, then leave your bread cubes to air dry for a couple of hours, as this way it will prevent the bread from crumbling while frying.

I've been meaning to post this second part of food in still-life for a little time now, but with today's news of the sale of my exhibition picture of the apples (in my previous post), this has prompt me to do so. You may like to have a peep at the original post regarding the exhibition held at the Culinarium restuarant, and how the pictures are printed directly on acrylic.
 
The gallery of pictures in this post are also a favourite of mine, but due to the exhibition being held during autumn, I decided to run with the food of its season and due to the wall space that was offered.

Even though I had entered the Saturday farmers' market with a fruit or vegetable in mind to photograph, it was hard to be a stickler with my tiny models. I came across a unique looking luminous yellow and red striped lettuce (as seen in the gallery below); a lettuce whose variety the stall assistant and myself could not fathom out, but we presumed it came from the Cos family. Another interesting find was the artichokes that had already gone into flower; regardless of not being able to be eaten they did make an interesting photographic subject. Another find was these tiny green pumpkins (in the gallery) whose use was suitable for decoration only. Oh, and I mustn't forget to mention the elegant purple and white striped eggplant and the purple capsicum that I picked up. Not having a clue what to place them on, and as my luck would have it at the flea market that same day; I stumbled across the same colour green and purple patterned bowl as the capsicum for just 5 Euros. 
 

Here's a tomato soup and Asian mushroom dish that I made with the produce the following day—only because I was too pooped to make on the Saturday!

 Julie

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Today, I am showing off this pretty, little, jam filled biscuit, accompanied by the crusty macaroon. I can’t take credit for the recipe creation this time around ladies & gents, as friend Paul Schwendemann was kind enough to share his recipes with us all on P&P.  I am still searching for my baking equipment packed in our storage shed from a recent move!

Leading up to advent, Paul bakes his batch of small biscuits with passion in the basement of his restaurant. When prepared, they are placed into small gift boxes then dressed up with a pastel ribbon. These quaint boxes are then ready for Culinarium’s customers, to purchase in the gourmet shop that adjoins Paul’s restaurant. If you have already done your holiday baking, then you may like to consider making these small delicacies throughout the winter period to add some pastel to your coffee table.

Wishing you and your family a happy holiday, and eat, drink and be merry...no doubt you will!

For approximately 25 heart biscuits (double layered)

1. Beat the egg whites until stiff while gently adding the lemon juice.

2. Fold in the almond meal and sugar gently into the frothy egg mixture until mixed through. If the mixture is a little too soft, then add a little more almond meal. Form the dough into a ball, and wrap in plastic wrap and place in a cool area for 1 hour.

3. Preheat the oven at 160°C (320°F). Prepare a working area by sprinkling some of the almond meal on the work surface. Divide the dough into 4 parts, and roll each piece to 5-6mm thickness.

4. Using a heart shaped form, cut out 50 pieces. Place the hearts on a paper lined backing tray on the middle point of the oven. Bake for approximately 12 minutes watching carefully not to brown too much.

5. Prepare the icing sugar into two sections in two bowls. One plain white and the other add drops of the pink colouring into the icing mixture. When the biscuits have cooled, hold the hearts from the bottom edges and dip into the prepared white icing mixture. When semi dry, dip half of the biscuit into the pink mixture and place an almond on top. Allow to dry completely.

6. Spread the plain heart biscuits with the strawberry jam and place with an iced heart.

Coconut Macaroons

Makes approximately 25:

2 egg whites, large
1 pinch of salt
300g, desiccated coconut.
150g of sweetened condensed milk
30g almond meal
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 160°C (325°F).
1. Combine the desiccated coconut, almond meal, milk and vanilla in a bowl. Whip together the egg whites and salt until egg mixture has peaked and stiffened. Carefully fold the egg whites into the mixture.

2. With a dessertspoon, place the batter onto a paper lined baking tray and bake for 25 or until slightly golden.

As I was experimenting with a few ingredients from the pantry today, I decided to add a liitle sunflower oil and semolina. The Semolina gives it a lighter consistancy. As a result, they make for a no fuss desserts with a mild honey flavour ...you could also top with a little icecream!    What will you be baking for the holiday period? 

 For 4 small baking pots (200ml in content)

 How to make:

1. Combine the flour, semolina and baking powder in a bowl mix. Add the honey, salt, eggs, milk and sunflower oil and hand beat for 2 minutes to form a smooth dough.
2. Grease the pots with the extra oil and scatter with semolina until well covered. Pour the batter 2/3 of the way into the pots and set the pots on a baking tray on the second row of a hot oven at 180°C. Bake for 25 minutes until springy and slightly brown.
3. Allow the pots to cool slightly on a wire rack. When raised, add a teaspoon of mixed berries and drizzle with honey.

We couldn't have wished for anything more on this winter's day, then to come across this freshly laid snow for our photosession.  Backdroped by a cute little hut, tall pine trees and elevated at nearly 1,000 meters in the Northern Black Forest; it was no wonder that Janna & Toni went a little dotty with their play!
 

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Where does the year go? This coming weekend would be a year  since we held my photography exhibition "Food in still-life" at the delightful Culinarium restaurant and gourmet shop owned by friend Daniela Schwendemann. The vernissage was held on a cool autumn afternoon and spent with friends and customers alike; chatting eagerly with a glass of Prosecco or a mug of hot chocolate in hand. Each autumn impression were printed directly behind quality, acrylic glass in either a glossy or matt finish, uniformly mounted against the wall to give a 3D and elegant impression.

Prior to the opening, I had spent several Saturday mornings all "bright eyed and bushy tail" perusing each aisle of our local Gutenberg Platz food market. A visit to Peter's Pilz would not prove to be a let down. With the help of the vendor, we would carefully select unblemished Flamingo mushrooms who would then become my model on that same afternoon—by the end of the weekend, the mushrooms were thrown into the fry pan with a variety of the mushrooms then served with rice Asian style!

 To view the image gallery of the exhibition, please open the link below.

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Exhibition images "Food in still life" held at the Culinarium resturant and gourmet shop.

The Cooking Ape in Frankfurt am Main had been plucked from the search engine particularly because of its name! This was Silke's initiative for finding our group of fifteen photo snappers a table in this chill-out loft style room. Our meeting spot has turned into a new experience of eating out - as The Cooking Ape's subtitle suggests: Manufaktur der Esskultur (The manufacture of eating culture). A catering distribution, deli and eating area has been transformed under the one roof.

This family run business firmly believes that their innovative approach to food fare, is owed to the inspiration of their meshed family cultures: German, Jewish and Portuguese. Besides this, they like to be thorough in what they do to ensure the best quality of their produce. This is being achieved by the pastas, sauces, pastries and ice creams all being made in-house; through their persistence of blending all ingredients of choice.

Through their open style Kitchen, chefs are preparing antipasti variations. Homemade pasta is being topped with prawns, tomato pesto and brandy. A hearty pumpkin and ginger soup is steaming, and deer meat is being served on a plate with red cabbage noodles; all are an array of seasonal autumn dishes.

Juan demonstrates how to use their state-of-the-art cold griddle by mixing goodies into self-prepared ice creams and sorbets. I've let Juan surprise me with a 'Basil Sour' by whipping together two scoops of lemon sorbet, balsamic and topped with fresh basil like the actions of a Teppanyaki chef, then places the mixture into a bright coloured container that is has been made with corn. Along with its colourful spoon, I feel like I've won a prize from a funfair, but only without the additives!  

Happy with our refueled stomachs both Frankfurt and Karlsruhe Flickr groups have ventured out to greet the city of Frankfurt am Main.

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Again, I was able to pick up a selection of perfectly healthy looking portabello mushrooms at our local Gutenburg Market.  Saturday the mushroom seller from Schloßbergpilz had arrived from a significant distance...140km to be exact from the city of Freiburg. All I can say is that us Karlsruher must be well worth their journey, and as a customer I definately wont complain. With  our current week of wet and windy weather, the mushrooms were put into perfect use for a creamy cheese (Philadelphia to be precise) and mushroom soup that  seemed fitting for our outdoor filler. We packed the picnic set with the vacuum flask of hot soup, accompanied with a treat of an apple and cream cheese tart (see picture in the gallery). With our wet weather gear we were off for a stroll in the Black Forest.   Well for the most part, rain doesn't neccessarily stop play!      

For location pictures in the Black Forest with Ann-Kathrin and Tobias please scroll below...

Mushroom and cream cheese soup (serves 6)

1. Clean the mushrooms and quarter and set aside a few thin slices for garnishing the soup. Finely dice up the garlic and onion.
2. Heat the butter in a large pan and sauté the mushrooms until golden adding salt and pepper. Add the onion, bacon strips and garlic and cook for a further 3 minutes.
3. Add the stock and cook for a further 15 minutes. Add the Philadelphia and the cream together and bring to the boil, remove from the heat and blitz through a blender until the texture is fine, then add salt and pepper to taste. Gently fry the mushroom pieces in a small pan.
4. Divide the soup into six bowls and top with the mushroom slices.

Apple and Fresh cream cheese tarts (makes 8 large ones)

 
2 Sheets puff pastry, store bought
500g, Light curd (magerquark)
200g, Fresh cream cheese
3 Eggs
150g Fine sugar
1 packet vanilla sugar
1 Packet Cheesecake aid
2 Large Apples

1. Roll out the pastry and evenly cut into six pieces with the baking paper intact. Place the baking paper side first into 12 tart forms, pressing gently and rolling the edges into the forms. Preheat the oven to 180°C.

2. Place the fresh cheese, eggs, sugar, vanilla sugar, cream and the cheesecake aid into a large bowl. With a hand mixer, mix the ingredients together for two minutes. Pour the cream mixture evenly into the forms and smooth out evenly.
3. Rinse, core and peel the apples and cut into six pieces width wide. Place one apple slice on top of each tart form and sprinkle with a little sugar. Bake for about 25 minutes until the filling is set. Leave to cool down before removing from the forms.

See the tart picture in the picture gallery.

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No other vegetable demonstrates spring like these emerging stalks that stem from the darkness. During their growth, the molds of dirt are covered under white plastic to deprive their stalks from the sunlight's it is called an etiolating period which stops the asparagus from turning green. Here in the state of Baden-Württemberg they pride themselves as the prime asparagus-growing region in Germany and their asparagus export  extends overseas. This region is referred to as the "Asparagus Route" that runs close to Karlsruhe then through to the city of Schwetzingen. This city claims to be the "Asparagus Capital of the World" as their International visitors flock in to attend the city's annual festival's an abundance of asparagus and plenty of entertainment can be found here, and they also crown their very own asparagus queen! Nationally, it has been quoted that 70,000 tons of asparagus have been produced each year in Germany.

When buying asparagus, make sure that the stems are firm and pump with a slightly sheen appearance and that the tips are intact and firm. The best time to serve the vegetable would be at midday when the asparagus is freshly picked in the early morning; their flavour is heighten!  A few restaurants in the area do prepare them this way, but it is not practical for majority of us asparagus buyers. When they are not being cooked immediately, it is best to wrap them in a damp kitchen towel then stored in the crisper of the fridge. When ready to prepare, wash the stalks and peel them with a vegetable peeler starting from the base of the bud to the bottom of the stalk (see pictures below). Our local asparagus farmer recommends to cook them in a steamer for 12 minutes for the thinner variety and 15 minutes for the slightly thicker stalks by placing them in a shallow pot or a narrow asparagus steamer. The latter comes with an inserted colander where the asparagus can stand upright in the pot. Many asparagus cooks add a little sugar, salt or even a knob of butter to their cooking water.

There is only  a short time to make use of this elegant vegetable before it is goes out of season, but for now you may like to look at the white asparagus with morchel recipe.

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When Zuzana asked me whether I had heard of ©Forever Aloe Vera products, I automatically thought of the Aloe Vera plants that I would sometimes be lucky enough to find on the side of the road in Australia. I would slice open a part of the plants leaf and then smear its cooling gel directly onto my slightly sunburnt shoulders. Failing to find this spiky, green plant; I would then pop down to our local chemist to pick up its gel form produced in a tube.

After a couple of email exchanges, Zuzana then sent me a recipe how to bake the berry nectar and honey muffins whose ingredients were made from a few ©Forever Aloe Vera products. And with no effort all all on Zuzana’s part, the courier soon arrived with my Aloe Vera goodies ready for the bake— due to my bad head cold at the time; I decided to take a dose of the nectar that is full of vitamins to help towards my recovery, and help to build the immune system a little before attempting to bake these wholesome breakfast muffins:

What you’ll need:
 
500ml all purpose flour
1 Teaspoon baking powder
170ml Aloe Berry Nectar #034
6 tablespoons, unsalted butter
150 ml Forever bee honey #207
100g hazelnuts, chopped
1 teabag, Aloe Blossom Herbal Tea #200
 2 Eggs, medium
80 ml Sweetened condensed milk
1 pinch of salt
 
For the topping:
 
125ml Aloe Berry Nectar #034
60 ml Forever bee honey #207
125ml Powdered sugar (icing sugar)
 
 
How to make:
 
Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC (350ºF). Combine flour baking powder and add the salt. Heat the butter in a saucepan with the honey until it starts to bubble; reduce the heat. Add the Aloe Berry Nectar, eggs, sweetened condensed milk and open the contents of the teabag, add to the syrup and mix well. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and fold in the hazelnuts. Scoop the mixture into the paper muffin cups until ¾ full. Bake muffins for 15 – 20 minutes. Allow them to cool on a wire rack, while preparing the syrup for the topping.
 
For the topping:
Heat the Aloe Berry Nectar gently in a saucepan and whilst stirring; sprinkle in the powder sugar until it forms a glaze. Add the honey and stir thoroughly. Drizzle the glaze over the cooled down muffins and enjoy them for a breakfast treat!