As I’m still catching up with the Christmas fallout, so nothing too interesting has appeared on my plate: egg fried noodles with bits of carrot, lots of wholemeal toasties, egg butties, baked potatoes and the odd pasta dish. My most exciting dish for a long time was the above baked potato meal. I baked a few small potatoes, and just before they were done i cut them in half and topped them with sliced mushrooms, courgettes, onions and garlic. After grating some ‘buy one get one free’ red leicester over them, I put them back in the oven and boiled some green beans. The two things went really well together, especially if you toss the beans with butter. And the whole thing looks pretty stunning – to me, anyway – and you can make several portions from just one courgette and half a pound of mushrooms! So it’s pretty cheap and you get your five a day – sort of. I actually had baked bananas and apples for ‘afters’, so that should definitely count!
The other day, there was one of these pseudo-posh pudding in the reduced to clear pile. First I did not want to take it, but then it was only 50p and came in a proper glass jar! So I grabbed it, ate the contents (super sugary and not very nice) and washed out the jar. I immediately had a nice candle holder! Last year, a friend gave me a pile of those jars – with plastic lids. I use them for spices, home-made jam, chutney or my own puddings. One I keep by the kettle for used tea bags, because I’m sometimes to lazy to walk over to the bin with them. Anybody else using them for alternative purposes?
I’ve just watched another episode of my favourite online chef, PrincessDiana161. She explains how to make two sticks of butter out of one and how to make your own margarine or other customised table spreads! Curious? Here it is:
New Year’s Eve I cooked something at my friends’ fantastic party (drumming into the New Year, great music, food & company, what do you want more?). My friends had already made a Mexican style Chilli and an Iranian Dish (gotta get the recipe!), so I thought it would be funny to make something ‘hardcore’ German and went for the ‘Krautspaetzle’ experience. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture (and the one I had posted earlier got replaced by a ’stop stealing bandwidth’ sign by some idiot website owner although i had referenced it – so much for knowledge sharing!), but I’ve just cooked it again, because I had more cravings for this dish! I have to admit I’m not from Bavaria, but as a kid, we once went there on holiday and this dish made a lasting impression on my taste buds. It’s very cheap & simple to make, too, if you’ve got the appropriate equipment, at least. Here is the recipe for last night’s converts to the mighty sauerkraut!
First, you make the home-made noodles. The recipe is simple: per egg you add 100g flour, about 3 tbsp of water (carbonised is best) and a 1/4 tsp of salt. I used 4 eggs and thus 400g flour, about 12 tbsp water and 1 tsp of salt. Add more water if the dough is not stretchy enough (for consistency see above picture). I then press the dough through a grater-type thing into boiling salt water, but you can drip the dough through a colander or scrape it off a chopping board. It’s quite messy, but fun! If in doubt about the method, google ’spaetzle’ and check out people’s diverse methods!
For the sauerkraut I get the most basic one from the Polish shop next door (the one without white wine) and add some vegetable stock, some caraway seeds and plenty (!) of butter & marjoram. Heat it until piping hot, then add the noodles!
I sometimes also eat the noodles layered & baked with grated cheese & fried onions.
This Christmas I was down with flu, so I did not cook much (a great way to lose weight by the way – find a qualified flu carrier near you to not put on weight over Christmas…). One of my favourite things to eat when I’m ill is porridge and what I call flatteringly call ‘eggflower soup’ after the more elaborate Asian creations. It’s basically a beaten egg stirred into a bowl of vegetable stock. It’s simple, it’s tasty & it supplies your body with salt, protein & vitamin E. If you are a carnivore, use chicken stock.
I also made the cream of mushroom soup for my parents, albeit with different spices and wild mushrooms. The local supermarket had a wild mushroom special so I bagged a few handfuls. I have no idea what they are called in English, and one I’ve even forgotten the German name of. Luckily, I took some pictures before chopping them up & throwing them into the pot! Maybe someone can help find the names?
I also added some chestnut mushrooms to the mix:
This is the soup before cooking & before I subjected it to the blender & cream input:
As spices I used a French style dried herb mix – very tasty! I think the herb mix contained something along the lines of lovage, savoury, juniper, thyme, rosemary, lavender, oregano and sage. Taking of herbs, I discovered a new one on Borough Market (near Utobeer): samphire! Must go back there at some point and try something out with it!
What else did I make? Some carrot bread – and cookies of course!
These mutated half-moons are my mum’s favourite cookies. They are called ‘Cedar Wood’ and consist of equal parts almonds & icing sugar (about 400g), three beaten egg whites, some lemon peel & a few drops of bitter almond essence.
I then wanted to make a batch of tasty Austrian ‘Vanillekipferl’, but my mother had accidentally used the extra almonds for an apple cake. So I had to pervert the recipe by adding some raw marzipan (the remainder of which mysteriously vanished into the living room), some dried mixed berries from my travel lunch and some chocolate for decoration. They turned out quite well I thought! If you want to try some real Austrian Kipferl, I can recommend the lovely cafe of the same name near the Barbican tube! The staff is usually very helpful in explaining the intricacies of Austrian cooking. Also try the baked cheesecake and the pancake soup if you have the budget (and whatever else is on the menu, really). You won’t regret it! (Last time I was so dazzled by the experience that I forgot to tip the poor waiter! Next time I have to give a double tip – promised!)
PS: here is a photo from last year’s joint mum-daughter baking session: my mum made the oat cookies & ginger cake, and i made the vanillekipferl, ordinary shortbread biscuits & cedar wood.
This year I have to ask myself – where do I go when my contract runs out at the end of September? Quite a few friends have a similar problem & are already & unsuccessfully looking for jobs. What to do? Well, if we had the funds we would open theme pubs!
My favourite one so far is ‘The Academy’. It has only researchers/academics behind the bar and in the kitchen. You can choose your bartender by subject area (philosopher? astrophysicist? geographer?) and, instead of newspapers, you will find the staff’s academic papers on the tables. Any takers?
There should also be a pub run by unemployed business people/bankers (called The Stockpot or The Exchange?) so they can show on their CVs that they can successfully run this kind of establishment. Screens would show NTV and other business favourites, and in the spirit of CSR customers can get some free financial advice or trade services and items. Of course, they would try to develop it into a world-spanning franchise!
Other possibilities for 2009 would be the Woolworths memorabilia pub (run by ex-Woolies employees), the Guerrilla Craft Exchange (complete with wool basket, crocheting needles & pattern books), the DIY pub (the guests can make improvements to the pub and use materials provided or bring their own) and the Rational Cafe (very basic interior, cheap drinks & food so people can hang out all day – thanks to Rebecca for drawing together some more ideas for this!).
