potato and tomato salad with gremolata dressing

by on May 2, 2013

potatoe gremolata dressing-301

Once upon a time I wished I were a princess. No never the queen, ladies with this job description have kind of a bad reputation. I guess there had been too much Grimm’s fairy stories in my early youth where the queen tent to be evil and demanding the princess’ heart. Lucky me becoming a princess never turned out… Growing up I also wished for white Christmas and I wished for endless ice cream.  Then I wished for becoming a famous rock star but cancelled that early on due to my stage fright.

My childhood wishes sound pretty much unrealistic and hard to become true, but that’s also the problem with my grown up wish: finally becoming organized.  Last week had been challenging. Isn’t it always the case just before leaving for vacation? I thought I had it all figured out, but my schedule had been turned upside down due to some switched appointments and I had been running all day to get everything done. It’s a mystery but working Eva is so much different, organized, accurate and dead on time. I am living proof for two extremes in one person, my inner organized genius being in conflict with my chaotic other half of the brain. So please tooth fairy, genie in a bottle or Santa Claus in future make me finish the laundry in time, so I can stuff my favorite shirt in my suitcase, make me buy deodorant (it makes all the difference) and let me go to the post office earlier, so they don’t close the door in front of my nose.  And please make me pack my bag in time, so I don’t have to do it just before leaving and forget my toothbrush again. Thanks. That’s all for now.

This potato salad was the last meal I made at home before leaving for our road trip to Washington DC. The salad holds up very well until the next day. Actually that was my plan, taking the leftovers with me on the trip, but there was nothing left. It’s so much different from a German potato salad I grew up on and still love so much. But it is also much healthier, less work, easier and faster. This is a great potato salad for picnics, BBQ parties and office lunches, no mayonnaise therefor no problem if not being stored in a fridge for a long while. Actually it tastes best eaten at room temperature, marinated for some time.

potatoe gremolata dressing-286

potato and tomato salad with gremolata dressing potatoe gremolata dressing-290-2

ingredients

  • 1 pound potatoes (Fingerling or Yukon gold)
  • 3-6 tomatoes (depending on size and you liking)
  • for the gremolata dressing:
  • 1 small or ½ garlic clove
  • 2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
  • grated zest of 1/2 lemon
  • 2 Tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped
  • 1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
  • salt and black pepper to taste

instructions

  1. Boil or steam potatoes.
  2. While potatoes are cooking, cut tomatoes in chunks and transfer to your salad bowl.
  3. Peel the garlic clove, chop roughly, sprinkle some salt on it, and use a fork to press it firmly into the board. Go back and forth over it, pressing until the garlic is a mashed paste. …or use a garlic press.
  4. Mix all ingredients for the dressing except the olive oil. Drizzle in oil while constantly whisking until emulsified.
  5. Drain and cut the potatoes in bite size pieces if necessary. Add everything to a salad bowl and stir gently to combine.

variations

optional you can add one of those or all of them:

about 15 black olives (preferable Kalamata olives)
2 Tbsp. capers
60 g / 2.1 oz. feta or goat cheese, crumbled

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{ 3 comments }

leek and pancetta quiche

by on April 24, 2013

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Did I brag about our sunny weather here in the South East last time? I did and I won’t take it back even it is raining right now and drops are falling on my window. A spring shower gives me a break from the sun. My belly asks for comfort food and my mind for a hot bath tub with fragrant foam. Carpe diem the rare days of suitable weather for cozy me-time.

Do you remember the days of your childhood when your mum served a wonderful meal (after she spend hours in the kitchen) and you grabbed the ketchup bottle and covered everything under a red blanket? Yes guilty as charged and I finally got the payback. This quiche is not a big deal of work but I wanted to get the flavors right and headed to the store to buy pancetta and goat cheese. But as we sat down at the table Mr. F asked for ranch dressing… Can you believe that?

Quiches, tarts and pies make their weekly appearance in my kitchen. I love them all no matter if sweet or savory. I have to admit most of them are sweet. This one is a classic, oldie but goodie, and suitable for a rainy day treat or enjoying with guests. Although the goat cheese is not dominant at all, you can easily substitute with cream cheese. Enjoy!

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leek and pancetta quiche

ingredients leek quiche

for the crust:

  • 140 g / 4.9 oz. all-purpose flour
  • 60 g / 2.1 oz. rye (or all-purpose flour)
  • ½ tsp. fine sea salt
  • 110 g / 1 stick unsalted butter, cold
  • 3-6 Tbsp. ice cold water

for the filling:

  • 550 g / 19.4 oz. (about 2) leeks, sliced 1.5 cm / ½ inch thick
  • 135 g / 6 green onions, sliced
  • 110 g / 4 oz. pancetta, diced
  • 4 large eggs
  • 160 g / 5.6 oz. goat cheese or cream cheese, softened
  • 1 tsp. fine sea salt
  • ½ tsp. white pepper

I used my 20 x 30 cm / 7.8 x 11.8 inch tart pan with removable bottom. But you can also use a round tart pan or springform pan 26 cm / 10 inch.

instructions

  1. Add flour and salt in your food processor with a blade attached and pulse a few times to mix the ingredients. Add butter and pulse again until little pea sized bits start to forms. Slowly add ice water, not all at once, just enough (this depends on the humidity level of your flour) and pulse again. The dough should be crumbly but hold together than squeezed. Knead shortly with your hands, form a disk, cover with plastic wrap and put in your refrigerator for at least 30 minutes or over night.
  2. Preheat your oven to 200 C / 400 F.
  3. Add pancetta to your large pan and bring to a medium heat. Render the pancetta for 2 minutes, add the sliced leeks and sauté for 5 minutes. Add green onions and sauté for 2 more minutes. Stir from time to time. You shouldn’t need to add more oil but do so if it’s too dry. Let cool.
  4. In a medium bowl add eggs, goat cheese, salt and pepper and mix well.
  5. Grease your tart pan and roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface and shape into your tart pan. Arrange the leek mixture evenly on the bottom of the pan and pour the egg mixture on top.
  6. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, let cool for 10 minutes.

variations:

Smoked salmon makes a great substitute for the pancetta.

leek quiche-279

{ 4 comments }

barley risotto with loads of mushrooms

by on April 5, 2013

barley risotto-212

I started running again, for some good reasons.

I have a great view from my desk and there is always someone and something running up and down the street – no matter what. Seeing those elastic athletes passing by my window made me feel lazy and jealous. Would you call this peer pressure? I don’t know what came over me, but I had the urge to move my feet (and bud). So I started chasing them.

On the other hand, I should move myself a little more often anyway.  Let me correct that, I should run out of my door and don’t stop for a long while. Who thought painting a house in style a la Animal from the Muppet Show wouldn’t balance my calorie budget in regards of having take-out for dinner for two months straight?

Apart from that my diet is pretty simple, I believe in chocolate and greens, maybe not at the same time. But eating right qualifies me for something gooey, creamy, chewy and necessary sweet afterwards. You know what I mean. There is nothing I am willing to change on this topic so getting in shape is my only possibility.

The “before” is my problem, the weak-minded pre-running moments: getting ready, finding the right time and making time. I tent to have the same argument with myself: why shouldn’t I rather stay at home and having a cuppa and cookies? We are all human more or less. After all running is fun! I love running and as soon I am on the street, I enjoy it.

The other good reason for running is listening to music. Finding the right grooves to your moves (is it still ok to say grooves? I am so 80’s 90’s). I have to admit I started nice and slow, why hurry? I make two steps in the same time Mumford or one his sons sings hee-eeaa-aa-ar-rrtt. Nevertheless I am still proud of myself, no one told me about this hills in Atlanta, they kill you.

The next goal I am trying to achieve (and it could be lifesaving) is improving my post running habits. How awesome would it be if I could just collapse under my fridge, operate the water dispenser with my pinky toe and manipulate the water jet with my big toe for targeting my mouth? Genius but mostly gross I know, that’s why I haven’t tried it so far, but with the arriving of summer weather I might announce a victory over this challenge.

The other thing I love about running? This would be thinking, somehow my brain is overachieving while blood will be pumped throughout my body, no surprise this works even for me. Running gives me the time to reflect and evaluate, anyway I am thinking about food very often. Well yes, of cause I had been running when I imagined the toe-water dispenser idea.

And by the way if I said running all the time, I mean slow motion jogging, my fault, no judging please.

Barely risotto is also kind of genius invention. It wins in multiple ways compared to the real deal risotto. It comes with less cheese, less effort (no constantly stirring necessary) and is as comforting as healthy. This recipe can be easily morphed into vegetarian or vegan food.

barley risotto-202

barley risotto with loads of mushrooms

ingredients

  • 10 g / 1 small handful dried mushrooms
  • 200 g / 1 cup pearl barley, rinsed and drained
  • 3 cups broth (chicken or vegetable)
  • 3 garlic cloves finely diced (about 1 Tbsp.)
  • 2 tsp. ghee or olive oil (divided)
  • ½ tsp. dried thyme
  • ½ tsp. smoked hot paprika powder
  • 680 g / 24 oz. fresh mushrooms (baby bella)
  • crumbled feta cheese and fresh cilantro (optional)

instructions

  1. Soak dried mushrooms in 400 ml / 1 2/3 cups hot water for 30 minutes, drain and save the mushroom water. Slice the soaked mushrooms in stripes and set aside.
  2. Melt 1 tsp. ghee or oil in a large nonstick frying pan over a medium heat, add garlic and sauté but don’t brown.
  3. Reduce heat, add barley, sliced (soaked) mushrooms, mushroom water, 2 cups broth, thyme, paprika powder, cover with a lid and simmer for 45 to 50 minutes. Stir once in a while to make sure the barley doesn’t stick at the bottom. Add more broth if needed in the final stages.
  4. Meanwhile clean the fresh mushrooms, cut off the very end of the stems and slice them vertically. Add the remaining 1 tsp. ghee to another skillet over medium high heat and let melt. Add sliced fresh mushrooms and toss them around to coat them. If the pan seems too dry, add a little more oil and butter. Stir and toss the mushrooms occasionally. Fry them until brown for 10-15 minutes.
  5. Add mushroom to barley and stir well, serve with crumbled feta and/or cilantro.

Cooking time: 45-50 minutes

Number of servings (yield): 3-4

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{ 4 comments }

cilantro and smoked almond pesto

by on March 16, 2013

cilantro smoked almond pesto (1 of 1)

First comes first, thank you all for your lovely comments on my last post, you made my day. I am caught of guard about your honest emails, you might not know how helpful this is for me. I appreciate you all so much!

The other thing that’s bothering me about being new in town, is starting from scratch with everything. Beside the administrative stuff like getting a new driver’s license and car registration (check and check), I also have to find random shops like favorite groceries and pizza delivery service. But I postponed the search for a new dentist, there is no need to rush, who want’s that? Being so lazy about that topic is maybe the reason why I ended up at one of my last dental practice. This place stuck in the late 70’s including the receptionist hairstyle. I was amazed to find a computer on her desk, I rather expected paper stacks and steno notebooks. I spend the next hour saucer-eyed and with too much blood in my head. Let me explain… My former dentist was a little on the short side, means while he was sitting on his little stool his assistant pushed the antique dentist chair as low as possible and my feed went up and my head went down. That explained the (overflowing) blood in my head. And why I had my eyes gapping wide open? While he worked on my teeth he explained his practice situation. Turned out there had been a fire in his former rooms and he had to move temporary. One night after business hours a guy broke in, not for stealing the dentist’s favorite dental drill but for (gasp) self-immolation. He managed to survive without injury, I guess – I wasn’t able to ask any questions. But he burned down the whole place. I felt sorry for my tiny dentist, he had been still outraged weeks later. You might wonder why someone should try to perform suicide at his dentist office? Well I did, hanging there nearly upside down, with an over performing brain due to an unreasonable amount of blood and someone else’s fingers in my mouth. I put two and two together while listening to his next stories. Turned out he was head over heals in love with a guy in Berlin, he found it appropriate to share this with me because I am from Germany and… I don’t know actually. But suicide out of spurned love made sense to me.  I spare you the rest of his stories (involved carnival in Germany) because you won’t believe me anyway. Needless to say, this is no fairy tale, all true. It was so far the most bizarre and entertaining dentist experience in my life.

Back to business, Mr. F and many more are not a big fan of cilantro because it is too soapy for their taste. I shared this opinion but it grew on me and now I love it. I made this pesto for a couple of times and keeping it more or less “plain”, I mean no other spices or flavors added, allows me to combine it with more dishes. It is great as a base for a sandwich, fish burger, with baked potatoes, grilled meats, for seasoning rice, garnish for soup especially this one… Let me know if you have a combination I missed so far.

cilantro smoked almond pesto-131

cilantro and smoked almond pesto

ingredients

  • about 100 g / 3.5 oz. (1 small bunch of) fresh cilantro, washed and dried
  • 40 g / 1.4 oz. smoked almonds
  • ½ -1 garlic clove
  • sea salt
  • 60 ml / ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

instructions

Add cilantro, almonds, garlic to your food processor and blend until crumbly. Add olive oil and process just until incorporated. Season with salt to taste but keep in mind almonds are already salted.

cilantro smoked almond pesto (1 of 1)

{ 2 comments }

roasted cauliflower and kale pie with potato crust

by on November 1, 2012

We survived Halloween! Everything went fast. Everything! Unbelievable fast. This time I was well prepared, there is not much to do anyway. Get a load of candies, put everything in a bowl, wait for the door bell. I make it short, we all know the process. Do we? I have to admit I felt a little weakly and lousy like an incipient cold yesterday. I bundled up on the couch, took a nap and let our dog greet the kids and Mr. F took care of the candy bowl. I had been looking forward for Halloween and was a little disappointed to miss out all the fun and the costumes. Only half an hour later Mr. F called for a refill of the bowl. Refill? That was all, how did that happen so fast? I rushed into the kitchen wrapped a muffin, which I made earlier and handed it to the little princess in front of our door. Well she was not happy with her treat, she said a well-behaved ‘thank you’. I couldn’t make it more appealing with mentioning it’s a pumpkin muffin. Even whole wheat flour didn’t make her eyes sparkle. I don’t blame her. Behind the closed door I searched for the reason of our candy problem. Mr. F said I wouldn’t believe how this kids snatched as many treat as they could grab with both hands. Little monsters! Indeed some looked like zombies and we are lucky they were after sweets not our brains. So he just didn’t handed one candy per child he offered the whole bowl and let them self service. Seriously he is a smart guy,  how could this happen, what a rookie mistake!

Maybe I should offer some of this pie next Halloween, I will definitively scare some little monsters away with kale and cauliflower. Lately we had a lot savory pie, quiche or tart, they are easy to make, great for office lunch and wait for you in fridge to be warmed up for a fast dinner. This one is made with a potato crust, the recipe is basically for Reibekuchen (potato fitter) which has to prebake anyway, so I roasted the cauliflower because veggies are better roasted and added more flavor with garlic, ginger and cumin.

roasted cauliflower and kale pie with potato crust

ingredients

for the crust:

  • 500 g / 17.6 oz about 2 1/2 cups peeled, grated potato
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
  • 1 large egg

for the filling:

  • 300 g / about 1/2 small cauliflower, trimmed, broken into florets
  • 2 Tbsp vegetable oil + more for the pan
  • 60 g / 2.1 oz kale, stems removed cut into 1 cm / 1/2 inch pieces
  • 100 g / 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/4 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/2 tsp mustard powder (I used Colman’s)
  • 1 tsp grated ginger
  • 1 tsp minced garlic
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 50 g / 2 oz feta cheese, crumbled

instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 190 C / 375 F. Grease your 20 cm x 4 cm / 8 inch x 1.5 inch pie pan, line a baking pan with parchment paper.
  2. Put grated potatoes into strainer, sprinkle with salt, allow to stand for 10 minutes in your sink. Squeeze with your hand to remove excess liquid, move to another bowl, add egg and flour, stir well to combine. Press into pie pan, forming an edge around rim of pie pan.
  3. Cover cauliflower evenly with oil and place on a baking tray. Bake potato crust and cauliflower for 25-30 minutes.
  4. Bring a pot with 3 l / 3 quarts of water to boil, add kale and cook 5 minutes then drain.
  5. In a big bowl add sour cream, 2 eggs, cumin, mustard powder, ginger, garlic, salt whisk well. Add roasted cauliflower, kale (squeeze out excess liquid) and feta, stir and pour on potato crust. Bake 35-40 minutes or until set and golden brown.

some notes

I used many kinds of potato, so far all did the job, I like Yukon Gold best.

variations

Change the flavor profile using lemon zest, garlic and rosemary!

Number of servings (yield): 6

{ 18 comments }

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