A tale of Two

February 5, 2013

Orange, fennel and spelt salad.

A winter dish with orange and mint leaves as reminders of warmer, sunnier times. This light salad goes well as a starter. It`d be a nice main dish accompanied by some yogurt-mint dressing, a loaf of white bread and white wine.

ORANGE FENNEL AND SPELT SALAD.
for 4

spelt, grain – 200 grams
fennel – 2
orange, organic – 2
mint leaves – 1 hand full
olive oil – 4 teaspoons
cider vinegar – 2 tablespoons
salt and pepper

Soak the spelt grains in water over night.
The very next day heat some water, add the salt and spelt grains and boil for 45 minutes. Drain and put aside.
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Wash the fennel and cut into quarters. Brush a baking tray with some olive oil and cover with the fennel. Bake for about 30-40 minutes.
Meanwhile grate one orange and use the zest for the dressing. Peel the oranges and cut into slices. Then chop the mint leaves roughly. For the dressing, combine the orange zest, mint leaves, olive oil, cider vinegar, salt and pepper.
Arrange the salad on plates and drizzle with dressing and serve.

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January 30, 2013

Clementine and almond cake.

A warm hint of clementine in winterly almond sponge. Just the right amount of soft sweetness, smoothed by a generous dollop of whipped cream and a cup of black tea.

CLEMENTINE AND ALMOND CAKE.

clementine, organic – 2
almonds, coarsely ground – 250 grams
flour, wheat – 50 grams
eggs, organic – 6
sugar, brown – 150 grams
a pinch of salt

Set the oven at 180°C. Butter and line a round 20 cm cake tin.
Grate the clementines and extract their juice. I peeled, pitted and pureed them in a food processor. Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt and two thirds of sugar and put in the fridge. Then cream the egg yolks with the remaining sugar until light and fluffy. Slowly add the clementine zest and juice. Add the stiff egg whites and mix very gently. Sift the flour into the egg yolk mixture, add the almonds and fold very gently till the flour and almonds are no longer visible. Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake tin, smooth the top and bake for 20-25 minutes, until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.
Serve the cake with a dollop of whipped cream.

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January 23, 2013

Spelt and apple rolls.

Spelt and apple rolls go well with both sweet or savoury spreads. Serve whilst still hot from the oven, cut into halves and place a dollop of butter onto them. Watch it melting.

SPELT AND APPLE ROLLS.

spelt flour – 200 grams
strong white bread flour – 100 grams
water, lukewarm – 120 ml
fresh yeast – 5 grams
brown sugar – 15 grams
a pinch of salt
apple, finely chopped – 1

Developing a starter begins with making a culture. Combine the flours in a large bowl. Form a small hollow in the centre. Crumble the yeast into the hollow, add the sugar. Slowly pour in some water, using a fork mix the yeast until dissolved. Do not mix in all the flour, just some so you achieve a viscous consistency. Sprinkle with flour, cover with a towel and let rest for 15 minutes.
Pour the remaining water into the flour. Add the salt. Stir to a soft dough then tip out on to a floured board. Knead the dough lightly and gently until dough starts to feel drier and tighter. Shape the dough into a ball and put it back into the floured bowl. Cover with a warm, damp cloth and leave in a warm place for about an hour, until it is roughly twice its original volume.
Divide the dough into six pieces and while shaping each of it into a ball, fill them with some pieces of apple. Place them on a tray lined with parchment paper. Dust with flour and cover it with the damp tea towel and leave it to rest for another 30 minutes.
Set the oven to 240°C and bake the rolls for 20-25 minutes until dark and crispy. They will sound hollow when they are done. Remove and cool on a wire rack.

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January 20, 2013

Cashew Coriander Spread.

Coriander works terrifically well as an up-grader to oh so many average soups, salads and pasta dishes. But it`s an entire different story with this spread in which coriander is not only the supporting part but the protagonist in scent and flavour. You can tell by now, I (Philine) am a huge coriander fan.

CASHEW AND CORIANDER SPREAD.

cashew nuts – 500 grams
coriander – 300 grams, fresh
parmesan – 30 grams, finely grated
garlic – a clove of, chopped
lemon – juice of half a
salt – to taste
sugar – half a tbsp
balsamic – 1 tbsp
vinegar – 1 tbsp

Cover cashew nuts with water and let stand for a few hours or overnight. Once they are soaked and fairly squishy, place them in a large bowl with all the other ingredients and simply puree until you get a smooth paste.

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January 15, 2013

Wiener Hazelnut Cake.

Another January birthday came up and we celebrated with hazelnut cake, covered in icing resembling the freshly fallen thin snow layer on rough grassland and Berlin streets. We lit several candles, snuggled into our seats and had loads of cups of tea.
This recipe is adapted from Sarah Wiener’s “La Dolce Wiener”.

WIENER HAZELNUT CAKE.

hazelnuts, grounded – 250 grams
hazelnuts, halfed – 200 grams (keep the most beautiful once for decorating)
eggs – 4
butter, soft – 250 grams
sugar – 200 grams
salt, a pinch of
vanilla sugar – 2 teasp of
flour – 250 grams
baking powder – 2 teasp of

ICING
icing sugar – 200 grams
water, a little bit

Heat oven at 175 °C. Seperate eggs and beat eggyolks, butter, sugar and vanilla sugar until foamy. Afterwards beat egg whites with a pinch of salt to stiff peaks. Lay on eggyolk mixture and sift flour, baking powder and grounded nuts above. Blend thouroughly but not too intensely.
Put half of the dough in a well buttered spring form. Place all of the halfed nuts on the first layer, then add the second half of the dough. Let cook for about one hour.
Once ready, take out of the oven and let cool. When cooled, gently take the cake out of the spring form. Stir powder sugar and as much water as needed to get a viscous icing. Pour over cake and even at the edges so everything is completely covered. Start decorating with the left over hazelnuts.

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January 9, 2013

Corn Bread.

This bread, scented with rosemary and thyme, works both as something to eat whit a winter soup on a crisp day and as a bread for breakfast in which case you might replace the herbs with dried fruits. Corn meal gives a pleasingly tender and open crumb to the bread. This is rather not a new version of the classic american cornbread, it is more a savoury way of our previously posted polenta cake.

CORN BREAD.

cornmeal, fine – 350 grams
flour, wheat – 250 grams
baking soda – 2 1/2 teaspoons
sugar, raw – 20 grams
egg, organic – 2
olive oil – 3 tablespoons
water or butter milk – 500 ml
a good pinch of salt
herbs – 2-3 tablespoons

Preheat the oven to 200°C and line a loaf tin with parchment paper. Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. If you like add some dried herbs like thyme, rosemary or basil. Break the eggs into a bowl and beat them lightly with a fork, then introduce a little at a time the olive oil and water or buttermilk. Gently add the dry ingredients mixing thoroughly between each addition to prevent lumps. Pour the dough into the loaf tin and bake for about 20-30 minutes, till well risen, golden brown and crisp on top. It should feel springy when pressed. Leave to cool slightly before serving.

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January 3, 2013

Clementine Honey.

Small jars, filled with a golden cream. The smell of clementine in the kitchen. It is a perfect way to bid a farewell to the holiday season. A farewell to christmas baking. To short days with strolling, to lazy afternoons and long winter nights.

CLEMENTINE HONEY.

blossom honey, white and creamy – 500 grams
clementine, organic – 1 small

This recipe calls for soft and sticky honey. Use a light one that moves inside the jar. Grate the clementine zest. Be sure to use an organic one. Add the zest to the honey and mix thoroughly. Let step for a week.

Also try it with lemon zest and grated ginger, lemon zest and mint or dried figs.

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a pretty packaging
and one more

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December 25, 2012

Fröhliche Weihnachten.

Merry christmas and happy new year dear blogreaders. We’ll see you in the new year with lots of new recipes to share.

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December 23, 2012

Pumpkin Quince Chutney.

Enjoy this pumpkin quince chutney with (for instance) wholemeal bread, some cheddar cheese and fresh salad. Chutney is said to develop its final and best taste and texture within about three weeks when kept in a cool, dark and dry place. It’s true.

pumpkin – 1.4 kg
quince – 800 grams
water – about 400 ml
white wine vinegar – 600 ml white wine vinegar
brown sugar – 100 grams
bay – a bunch of
chili – 1 tsp
pepper – 1 tsp
cinnamon – half a tsp

Cut the pumpkin in half and scoop out the seeds. Remove the skin from the pumpkin (unless you’re using hokkaido pumpkin, which I would recommend) and chop into small cubed pieces. Cut quince in four and remove seeds. Chop into equally sized small cubed pieces.
Place all the ingredients, except the bay, in a large saucepan. Bring to boil, before reducing heat to a simmer. Simmer gently, uncovered, for about 30-45 minutes until pumpkin and quince are tender.
Roughly chop the bay and add to the pumpkin, stirring to combine.

Store in cool, dark, dry places in sterilized jars. Once opened, consume within 2 weeks.

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December 19, 2012

Roasted sunchokes and potatoes.

Intentionally this recipe intended to be a typical Swiss potato Rösti. But more often things do not turn out the way you want them to be. The Rösti fell apart the minute I removed them from the baking tray. So next time I simply should try using parchment paper because that was the reason. Nevertheless this recipe is a beautiful way to use sunchokes once more. The potatoes do balance the sometimes sharp sunchokes and are intensified by the captivating scent of roasted rosemary.

SUNCHOKE AND POTATO RÖSTI.

garlic – one small piece
potatoes – 300 grams
sunchokes – 200 grams
some rosemary
a pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Line a baking tray with parchment paper and brush with olive oil.
Wash and grate or thinly slice the potatoes and sunchokes. Season them with salt. Put the potatoes and sunchokes on the tray, along with the rosemary and lightly form a flat cake.
Reduce the heat to 180° C and bake for about 15 minutes. Turn the cake around and bake for another 15 minutes or until golden and tender.

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