Saturday, November 13, 2010
Quick and easy Pumpkin-Potato-Soup with Feta Cheese
Cut pumpkin in pieces, peel potatoes and dice. Heat oil in a big pot, fry pumpkin and potato, than top with boiling water and cook until both are tender. You can add whatever spices you like, such as chilis or ginger. Drain, but save the cooking water!!! Blend potatoes and pumpkin and add cooking water to make a thicker or thinner soup, just as you like it best. Top with feta cheese and serve with bread.
CBC - Fusilli ai peperoni
I wasn't thrilled by this recipe, but I'd make it again. The preparation is kind of a turn-off though...
The cookbook was: La cucina dell'Emilia Romagna in 450 ricette tradizionali; Newton & Compton Editori 1998, page 83
Ingredients (for 6):
400gr Fusilli
400gr bellpeppers
80gr butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 ladle of fine broth
one glass of dry white wine
salt and pepper
Preparation:
Prepare the peppers (cut out the "innards", little white skins ecc.) and put into boiling water for a moment to skin them. I did this step only partially, the skin did not want to come off, no matter what! If you have a better way to do this, please tell me (I think one can put them in the hot oven?). Cut into small pieces and fry in butter and oil. Add wine and simmer until evaporated, do the same with the broth. Salt and pepper, and let simmer on low heat. Prepare the Pasta, drain and mix with sauce, serve immediately.
As you can see from my pic, there was no sauce. There were only single pieces of pepper, nicely cooked in wine and broth. I think I also added a whole lot of broth, because the peppers were still hard and started to burn as all the broth had already evaporated. The dish is also in desperate need of parmesan cheese to top it off.
The cookbook was: La cucina dell'Emilia Romagna in 450 ricette tradizionali; Newton & Compton Editori 1998, page 83
Ingredients (for 6):
400gr Fusilli
400gr bellpeppers
80gr butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 ladle of fine broth
one glass of dry white wine
salt and pepper
Preparation:
Prepare the peppers (cut out the "innards", little white skins ecc.) and put into boiling water for a moment to skin them. I did this step only partially, the skin did not want to come off, no matter what! If you have a better way to do this, please tell me (I think one can put them in the hot oven?). Cut into small pieces and fry in butter and oil. Add wine and simmer until evaporated, do the same with the broth. Salt and pepper, and let simmer on low heat. Prepare the Pasta, drain and mix with sauce, serve immediately.
As you can see from my pic, there was no sauce. There were only single pieces of pepper, nicely cooked in wine and broth. I think I also added a whole lot of broth, because the peppers were still hard and started to burn as all the broth had already evaporated. The dish is also in desperate need of parmesan cheese to top it off.
CBC - Strozzapreti with Salmon-Cream-Sauce
I made this on request of my better half, and it was good. Crazy good. I have no idea what made it taste so good, as it was basically only pasta + salmon + cream. But I thought not to ask, but to enjoy instead. And I am adding this to Soul-Food!!!!! Definitely.
So, the cookbook is the following: Pasta, Zabert Sandmann, 2000 (the same editor as the Antipasti-Book), page 64
Ingredients:
400gr Strozzapreti (it's a kind of thick-cut pasta)
Salt
various herbs (e.g. Basil., Rosemary, Oregano ecc.)
1 tablespoon butter
250gr cream
2 tablespoons Lemon-Juice
400gr Smoked Salmon (I think I used less)
freshly ground pepper
Preparation:
1. Cook Pasta according to package instructions.
2. wash herbs, shake dry and pick leaves from stems. Put aside some for decoration, cut the others in small stripes.
3. Heat butter in pan. Fry herbs in butter, add cream and lemon-juice, let simmer for 4 minutes.
4. Cut salmon in stripes and warm in hot sauce. Add salt and pepper to sauceas you like it.
So, the cookbook is the following: Pasta, Zabert Sandmann, 2000 (the same editor as the Antipasti-Book), page 64
Ingredients:
400gr Strozzapreti (it's a kind of thick-cut pasta)
Salt
various herbs (e.g. Basil., Rosemary, Oregano ecc.)
1 tablespoon butter
250gr cream
2 tablespoons Lemon-Juice
400gr Smoked Salmon (I think I used less)
freshly ground pepper
Preparation:
1. Cook Pasta according to package instructions.
2. wash herbs, shake dry and pick leaves from stems. Put aside some for decoration, cut the others in small stripes.
3. Heat butter in pan. Fry herbs in butter, add cream and lemon-juice, let simmer for 4 minutes.
4. Cut salmon in stripes and warm in hot sauce. Add salt and pepper to sauceas you like it.
5. Drain pasta and mix with sauce. Decorate with herbs (or not, see below).
Mealplan 13 - 19 november
Saturday: Oven-chicken with veggies and Fries
Sunday: Left-Overs
Monday: Pasta with Roman Cauliflower and Feta-Cheese
Tuesday: Hubby's Birthday - so it'll be fish!!! Linguine alle Vongole and afterwards some fish-plate
Wednesday: Meatloaf + some Veggie
Thursday: My alone-night - something Chinese / Thai
Friday: not decided yet
Sunday: Left-Overs
Monday: Pasta with Roman Cauliflower and Feta-Cheese
Tuesday: Hubby's Birthday - so it'll be fish!!! Linguine alle Vongole and afterwards some fish-plate
Wednesday: Meatloaf + some Veggie
Thursday: My alone-night - something Chinese / Thai
Friday: not decided yet
Friday, October 29, 2010
Gnocchi with Brussels Sprouts, dried Tomatoes and Sage
I saw this recipe on a friend's blog and fell in love with it. Actually, I've discovered my love for Brussels Sprouts recently.....
The "original" recipe is here! As always, I did not stuck to the amounts, but did it by rule of thumb.
For 2:
* one package of Gnocchi (500 gr.)
* 300 gr. Brussels Sprouts
* 50 gr. Pine Nuts (I didn't have any)
* 80 gr. dried tomatoes (drained well from excessive oil)
* fresh sage
* Olive Oil, salt, pepper, nutmeg
Prepare Sprouts (I cut off the "stem" and peel off the dark leaves or the dirty ones). Cut into quarters. Put into boiling salted water and boil for about 5-7 minutes. Take out of water with a slotted spoon so you can use the water to cook the gnocchi. Heat oil in a pan and fry the pine-nuts, then add sprouts, diced tomatoes and sage (leave some leaves for decoration). Salt, pepper and if you like, add nutmeg as well. Cook gnocchi according to package instructions, drain well and add to the pan. Let "fry" for a couple minutes, serve.
The "original" recipe is here! As always, I did not stuck to the amounts, but did it by rule of thumb.
For 2:
* one package of Gnocchi (500 gr.)
* 300 gr. Brussels Sprouts
* 50 gr. Pine Nuts (I didn't have any)
* 80 gr. dried tomatoes (drained well from excessive oil)
* fresh sage
* Olive Oil, salt, pepper, nutmeg
Prepare Sprouts (I cut off the "stem" and peel off the dark leaves or the dirty ones). Cut into quarters. Put into boiling salted water and boil for about 5-7 minutes. Take out of water with a slotted spoon so you can use the water to cook the gnocchi. Heat oil in a pan and fry the pine-nuts, then add sprouts, diced tomatoes and sage (leave some leaves for decoration). Salt, pepper and if you like, add nutmeg as well. Cook gnocchi according to package instructions, drain well and add to the pan. Let "fry" for a couple minutes, serve.
These were the veggies in the pan
Together with the gnocchi it looks a bit chaotic - if you want nice pictures, please go to my friend's blog.
Or do as I did: Cover the mess with a lot of parmesan cheese!!!
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Risotto with Chestnuts
Risotto with Chestnuts
For the Risotto-part, please view my other post!
Chestnuts (about 25-30 pieces)
Sugar
With a sharp knife cut two lines on the flat side of the chestnuts, one vertically and one horizontally.
Bring water to the boil and add chestnuts, let boil for 10-15 minutes. Take out one by one and peel off the hard outer shell and the soft dark skin (it leaves a bitter taste). Leave some chestnuts as a whole, cut the others into small pieces.
In a small pan melt 2 tablespoons of sugar until liquid, then add water (the sugar might become one solid piece upon contact with water, but be patient, it'll dissolve again). Stir until you have a nice syrupy liquid, then add the whole chestnuts and let boil a few minutes until nicely caramelized from all sides.
Add broken chestnuts to the rice about halfway through the cooking-process, continue with ladle / broth / simmering as described above. When the risotto is done, use the caramelized chestnuts to decorate. Here we go:
Three Types of Risotto
My In-laws were coming (again) for dinner and so were two of hubby's nephews. So we were 6 + Baby, and I decided to make different types of risotto. I still had left-over ragù, I had bought mushrooms and had not planned to use them in my weekly menu, and I had the brilliant idea to make chestnut-risotto. So here it goes. Again, unfortunately, I did all of this without sticking to closely to a recipe, so there won't be any indications to grams or Milliliters.
As you might have guessed, the base of all of the risottos is, well, risotto. Who would have thought that???
Risotto
Risotto-Rice (Arborio)
Onion
Olive Oil
Hot Broth (I made it with beef stock-cubes, but of course you can make it from scratch or with vegetarian cubes)
Just so you know, I had about 2,5 liters of broth and 800gr of uncooked rice and there were 5 strong eaters + one picky one and I still have some in the freezer....
Prepare broth and keep hot. Dice onion and fry in olive oil until light golden. Add rice and turn with wooden spoon until glazed with hot oil from all sides. Add a couple of ladles of broth and stir until rice has absorbed all liquid. Continue until rice is done (not too mushy though, the center still has to be "al dente"). You might not have to use all liquid or maybe you need to prepare some more broth. Of course you could add some white wine with one of the broth-ladles.
Risotto ai Funghi
'Shrooms :-))) (champignon or porcini)
Parsley
White Wine
Olive oil
Cut mushrooms in thin slices and fry in oil. Add white wine and let simmer and evaporate most of it. Add parsley and if it's too dry some of the broth.
Risotto with Chestnuts
Chestnuts (about 25-30 pieces)
Sugar
With a sharp knife cut two lines on the flat side of the chestnuts, one vertically and one horizontally.
Bring water to the boil and add chestnuts, let boil for 10-15 minutes. Take out one by one and peel off the hard outer shell and the soft dark skin (it leaves a bitter taste). Leave some chestnuts as a whole, cut the others into small pieces.
In a small pan melt 2 tablespoons of sugar until liquid, then add water (the sugar might become one solid piece upon contact with water, but be patient, it'll dissolve again). Stir until you have a nice syrupy liquid, then add the whole chestnuts and let boil a few minutes until nicely caramelized from all sides.
Add broken chestnuts to the rice about halfway through the cooking-process, continue with ladle / broth / simmering as described above. When the risotto is done, use the caramelized chestnuts to decorate. Here we go:
Risotto al Ragù
Left-Over Ragù (recipe is here or here)
Risotto
Mix. Done. Picture is bad. Sorry.
As you might have guessed, the base of all of the risottos is, well, risotto. Who would have thought that???
Risotto
Risotto-Rice (Arborio)
Onion
Olive Oil
Hot Broth (I made it with beef stock-cubes, but of course you can make it from scratch or with vegetarian cubes)
Just so you know, I had about 2,5 liters of broth and 800gr of uncooked rice and there were 5 strong eaters + one picky one and I still have some in the freezer....
Prepare broth and keep hot. Dice onion and fry in olive oil until light golden. Add rice and turn with wooden spoon until glazed with hot oil from all sides. Add a couple of ladles of broth and stir until rice has absorbed all liquid. Continue until rice is done (not too mushy though, the center still has to be "al dente"). You might not have to use all liquid or maybe you need to prepare some more broth. Of course you could add some white wine with one of the broth-ladles.
Risotto ai Funghi
'Shrooms :-))) (champignon or porcini)
Parsley
White Wine
Olive oil
Cut mushrooms in thin slices and fry in oil. Add white wine and let simmer and evaporate most of it. Add parsley and if it's too dry some of the broth.
Mix well with the cooked risotto, and here's the result
Risotto with Chestnuts
Chestnuts (about 25-30 pieces)
Sugar
With a sharp knife cut two lines on the flat side of the chestnuts, one vertically and one horizontally.
Bring water to the boil and add chestnuts, let boil for 10-15 minutes. Take out one by one and peel off the hard outer shell and the soft dark skin (it leaves a bitter taste). Leave some chestnuts as a whole, cut the others into small pieces.
In a small pan melt 2 tablespoons of sugar until liquid, then add water (the sugar might become one solid piece upon contact with water, but be patient, it'll dissolve again). Stir until you have a nice syrupy liquid, then add the whole chestnuts and let boil a few minutes until nicely caramelized from all sides.
Risotto al Ragù
Left-Over Ragù (recipe is here or here)
Risotto
Mix. Done. Picture is bad. Sorry.
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