Maple Pork Belly with Chinese Spices

I'm still stuffed from this one. But it contains a combination of maple syrup and pork, which, as a former quasi-Canadian, I think is about the best thing in the world and have to share right away. Maple and pork are especially good if the porc bits are actually bacon... Mmhhh bacon. Others agree but I digress.

1. Combine about quarter cup of maple syrup and soy sauce each in an oven-proof casserole with a lid.
2. Add a tablespoon of five-spice, a teaspoon of ground star anise, two cloves of garlic (chopped) and a good dash of chili powder.
3. Cut ca. 1kg of pork belly into bite size strips, add to mixture, mix everything well.
4. Cover and place in oven at 180C for about an hour, remove.
5. Heat vegetable oil with a few dashes of sesame oil in a pan. Fry bits of porc until crisp.

Serves 3-4. Serve over choice of noodles (e.g. Udon), rice & vegetables (e.g. fried mushrooms, spring onions) with strained porc jus from casserole.

Green Curry Soup

For an evening of dinner and movies at home with some vegetarian friends of ours, I made a quick and impromptu green curry soup. Initially I thought I'd make the standard green curry and rice with whatever vegetables we had around, but due to a lack of proper rice (only had short grain) I decided on making a big soup instead, serving it with Udon noodles.

1. Boil udon noodles for four, set aside.
2. Peel, thinly slice one large carrot.
3. Quarter a medium onion.
4. Cut into chunks a handful of mushrooms.
5. Heat olive, a good spoonful of green curry paste and a dash of sesame oil in a large pot. Add vegetables in the above order in 1-2 minute intervals.
6. When mushrooms start to let liquid, add 6 bowls of water and a spoonful of vegetable soup mix. Let everything boil for 5-10 minutes
7. Add a can of coconut milk
8. Cut two red or yellow peppers into small pieces, add to soup.
9. Remove stems from three twigs of kai lan (Chinese broccoli), also add to soup.
10. Let simmer another 2-3 minutes, then add the udon noodles. Serve with lime zest and more coconut milk, if too spicy.

Nice things to add that I didn't have around: Thai basil, lemon grass, lime leaves. Certainly works with shrimp or chicken as a meaty variant.

Moorish Rabbit Stew

Now that Christmas is done and over with and the pounds are on, it's time to turn back and reflect before shaking off the pfefferkuchen-blues in New Year's frenzy.
So, before looking forward and sweating some of it back off, there are two recipes from this holiday season I thought were worth sharing. Here's the first.

Moorish Rabbit Stew with Saffron & Couscous

• One rabbit (2kg) in pieces, no giblets
• 1kg of white onions, in thick slices
• 0.3g of saffron
• 1/4l of white wine
• 150g of raisins
• Salt & pepper to taste
  
• Olive oil
  
• Buttered Couscous for four
  

Stir saffron into wine. Preheat oven to 150C. Heat oil on stove top in oven-proof casserole. Fry pieces of rabbit in oil to sear, season with salt and pepper, set aside. Fry onions in same oil over low heat until glassy and soft. Remove half the onions, add the rabbit and then re-add the onion and pour in the wine. Place covered in oven for 20 minutes, add raisins and keep in oven another 20-25 minutes or until done. Serve with couscous.

Rabbit was graciously supplied by Matthias. Thanks mate!

Berlin City, French Food

Long time no post. Due to the fact that I returned to Berlin, switched job several times, started up a company, will marry next week and wait for my second boy to see the light of day, I think it's OK to have a little rest.


Nevertheless, some weeks ago, I had a nice evening with Guylaine, Matthias and Okko with several (no figures!) bottle of wine and some food, which I had the honour to prepare. For convenience, I will publish just a dinner overview and will post the recipes on request.









Starter
Celery remolade

Main
Daube Provencale
Gratin dauphinois

Dessert
Creme brulee

Here are some pictures:

Chorizo Cheese Tortilla

We just returned from an annual family vacation in Denmark, during which all family members take turns cooking. It's normally a gain-five-pounds deal, though this year ten is more close to reality. On my day I prepared various tapas, including a simple tortilla:

• Dice and boil 5 large potatoes.
• Dice one red paprika, an onion and a tomato, fry in an oven-proof pan in some olive oil over medium heat for 5 minutes.
• Chop 300g of chorizo sausage into chunks and add to pan, fry another 5 minutes, browning evenly.
• Add diced potatoes.
• Whisk 5 eggs, season with salt, pepper, paprika and pour into pan. Lift at the edge occasionally to let the egg mixture run underneath.
• When eggs set, grate a layer of Mahon or Parmesan cheese over everything and put into preheated oven for 15 minutes.

Serve hot, warm or cold in slices.
I also prepared some yummy marinated green olives. Will post here if I recall the recipe.

Scrambled Eggs & Truffle Brekkie Sandwich

Having moved home to Germany recently after an extended period of time (eight years) in the Angle-Saxon world, the food I typical eat for breakfast nowadays (when it doesn't have to be quick) changed quite drastically from warm toast-eggs-and-bacon-based dishes to something more along the line of whole bread, cold cuts and jams ('continental', if you will.)
Today however, perhaps because of the drinks last night, I was craving a good old greasy spoon egg dish (sorry Jochen, Oxtail Soup wasn't gonna cut it). I decided to give this one a little twist with some truffle-olive oil I made last week. The truffles in it I had rescued from a white truffle honey, which I brought back from Italy a little while ago (the honey was awful, but the oil is nice and fragrant.)

• Heat butter in a pan and crack 3 eggs into it
• Stir the eggs lightly, season with salt, pepper and Tuscan herbs, reduce heat
  
• Continue cooking, folding the eggs occasionally, for about 2-3 minutes until eggs are cooked but still nice and runny
• Toast two slices of white toast bread, butter and drizzle lightly(!) with truffle oil
  
• Arrange slices tomato and prosciutto or Serrano ham on the toast
  
• Place half the scrambled eggs on each slice of toast

There. For breakfast it doesn't get much simpler, but the egg, prosciutto, tomato and truffle flavor was divine.

Quick Tomato Pasta

Working mainly from home these days, quick lunches and dinners made of leftovers and random ingredients in the fridge are a blessing. This one had me finish some cooked spaghetti, an open cup of crême fraiche and some red pesto before spoiling. Nothing fancy, but satisfying.

• Fry 6 halfed cherry tomatoes, face down in some olive oil for 2-3 minutes
• Add a handful of sundried tomatoes, some oregano and a tablespoon of red pesto, leftover cooked spaghetti, some water if necessary, let simmer
• Turn off heat, stir in a spoonful of crême fraiche, salt pepper, serve with shaved or shredded parmesan

Duck Breasts in Creamy Mustard-Lingonberry Sauce

Sorry if this is quite similar to a recent recipe. I liked the creamy mustardseed combination over butter spätzle, so I thought I'd give it another whirl with the duckbreasts - a meat I love but that I've grown rather tired off in its common manifestations.
The trick here is to keep the meat really moist and tender. It's going to cook, but only just since it will be stripped of its fat (sacriledge!) and will dry easily.

• 2 white onions, very finely diced
• 6 white mushrooms, very finely diced
• 1 duck breasts, trimmed off all fat and cut in very thin slices (most of it comes off without any implements, but for about 1 cm has to be removed with a sharp knife)
• 1 cup of cream
• 1 leaf of laurel
• 2 tablespoons of ground mustardseeds
• 2 tablespoons of lingonberry jam or preserve, available at IKEA ;).
• salt, pepper, butter, olive oil

Fry white onions in butter and olive oil until glassy, then add mushrooms until they let water, add laurel leaf, mustardseeds, season with salt and pepper. Reduce and lower heat. Place slices of duck on top of everything in the pan, add the cream. Let simmer for about 5 minutes until the meat has just browned enough to be eaten (do not overcook).
Serve over butter spätzle

Chicken in Tomatoes with Thyme

This is a beautiful little French recipe - simple and tasty. Falls in the low-effort, tastiness-ensues category.
Ingredients:

• 150g of bacon cubes
• 5 small onions, finely cut
• 1 clove of garlic, mashed
• 4 chicken legs, drumsticks separated from thighs.
• 1kg of tomatoes, cubed
• 2tblsp of thyme
• 1 leaf of laurel
• 2 baguettes

Fry the bacon bits until crisp in a pot that holds all ingredients. Add onions and garlic until glassy and fragrant. Add chicken pieces, season and brown. Add tomatoes, thyme, laurel. Boil partially covered for 45 minutes to one hour. Serve with baguette.
If you don't mind the fat, you can add butter and olive oil at the beginning.

Last Fondue of the year

OK, today has been the very last opportunity to chase away wintertime and I think we did it the right way.
I met Liam this morning for a short hiking tour from Pfäffikon to Einsiedeln, where we saw the black Madonna and ate a rather bad Bratwurst. On the right, you may see the result.

Anyway, it didn't hurt us so much, since we both knew, what's waiting at home: the last fondue of the year. Of course we all know, there are some strange people up there in the western part of Switzerland, who eat fondue the whole year, but I simply refuse to talk to them.
I know, there is a lot of mythology around fondue. Since I'm german, I believe in rationality and as a result my advice for the best fondue ever is quite simple: only trust in really good cheese. Here is the recipe I use:

Ingredients for four persons

1. 200g Gruyere, 200g Appenzeller, 200g Bündner Bergkäse, 200g Freiburger Vacherin gross grated
   
2. 400ml vine for fondue (dry, high acidity). If you are in Switzerland, buy the special fondue wine, but never (!) try to drink it
   
3. 6 or more cloves of garlic
   
4. 4 tsp. cornstarch
5. 1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
   
6. Kirsch
7. Pepper and nutmeg
8. Enough white bread in small pieces
   

There is nothing magical in dressing a fondue: Peel garlic, robout the Caquelon with one of them, throw all garlic, the cheese, the vine, the cornstarch and the juice into the Caquelon and boil everything up. Take care to stir a lot. When it bubles, put in some Kirsch, pepper and nutmeg. The decision on how much Kirsch to use, depends on your mood. When I began preparing fondue, I preferred to take a lot of Kirsch, but now, I just use one small jigger.

When the fondue is too fluid, mix some Kirsch with some more cornstarch and mix it into the cheese. But beware of taking too much cornstarch. If you are satisfied, be sure to serve quickly on a prepared rechaud.


If everything goes well, you will have lucky guests as you may see on the foto on the left.
Remember: a good fondue has only good cheese in it. If you are lucky and live in Zürich, try out the Chäslädeli in the Zollikerstrasse.