Chermoula Eggplant with Quinoa and Yoghurt / Spicy Carrot Salad

After all the  traditional German Christmas food (roulades, red cabbage, potato dumplings, Sacher torte etc.), the recipes from “Jerusalem: A Cookbook” just came in right for a contrast. I highly recommend this book to everyone who is interested in the Jewish kitchen or just likes wonderful, easy to prepare, non-fancy but still amazing food that tickles your taste buds with all its different and rich flavors.

Chermoula Eggplant with Quinoa and Yoghurt
(serves 2)
adapted from Jerusalem: A Cookbook

Ingredients:

1 clove garlic, crushed
1 ts cumin
1/2 ts chile flakes
1/2 ts sweet paprika
1 tsp finely chopped preserved lemon peel (I used lemon zest)
70 ml olive oil
1 big eggplant
75 g bulgur (I took quinoa for a gluten-free version)
25 g raisins
2 TS fresh cilantro, chopped
2 TS fresh mint, chopped
25 g pitted green olives, sliced
15 g sliced almonds, toasted
1 green onion, chopped
3/4 TS freshly squeezed lemon juice
60 g Greek yoghurt (I used sheep’s yoghurt instead)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C.

2. For the chermoula, mix together in a small bowl the garlic, cumin, coriander, chile, paprika, preserved lemon (zest), 2/3 of the olive oil and 1/2 ts salt.

3. Cut the eggplant in half lengthwise. Score the flesh of each half with deep, diagonal crisscross scores, making sure not to pierce the skin. Spoon the chermoula over each half, spreading it evenly, place on a baking sheet cut side up and bake in the oven for about 40 minutes until completely tender.

4. Meanwhile, cook the bulgur/quinoa according to the instructions on the package.

5. In a small bowl cover the raisins with hot water and let soak for 10 minutes.

6. When the bulgur/quinoa is ready, let drain in a sieve and in a bowl mix together the bulgur/quinoa with the drained raisins, olives, remaining oil, herbs (leave some for garnishing), almonds, green onions, lemon juice and a pinch of salt.

7. When ready, transfer the eggplant halves on a plate each, cut side up, and spoon the bulgur/quinoa mixture on top. Garnish with yoghurt, some sprinkles olive oil and the remaining herbs.
 

Spicy Carrot Salad
(serves 2 as a side dish)
adapted and amended from Jerusalem: A Cookbook

Ingredients:

3 large carrots, grated
1 1/2 TS olive or rape oil
1/2 onion, fine chopped
1/2 ts harissa
1/4 ts ground cumin
1/4 ts sugar
1 1/2 ts apple vinegar
salt
sunflower seeds

Directions:

1. In a salad bowl whisk together the oil, onion, harissa, cumin, sugar, vinegar and salt.

2. Add the grated carrots and sunflower seeds and toss well to combine.

 

And I thought it was winter…

Quick Tuscan Shrimp Soup

Quick Tuscan Shrimp Soup
(serves 3)

Ingredients:

1 TS olive oil
1/2 small zucchini, finely diced
200ml fish stock (I used the remainings of the mussel fond)
100ml cream or milk (I used soy milk)
400ml sieved tomatoes
100g shrimps
10 green olives, sliced
2 ts capers
2 TS basil, chopped and more to garnish
salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Heat the olive oil in a pot over medium heat, add the zucchini and fry until lightly golden. Deglaze with the fish fond.

2. Add the sieved tomatoes, cream/milk, shrimps, olive slices, capers and basil, bring to boil and let simmer on low heat for about 10 minutes.

3. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve in deep plates with baguette and garnished with more basil.

(If you don’t have fish fond, I assume that vegetable stock + white wine (half and half) works, too, but the soup will taste less fishy. You should also add 1 garlic clove.)

 

Pomegranate, Pomegranate

Wintertime is pomegranate time. During this season, the fruit grows in Spain and Italy and markets here are flooded with it. So a couple of days ago, when I hadn’t received my copy of Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi’s Jerusalem: A Cookbook yet, I found a wonderful recipe by them (which is not included in that book though) that contains pomegranate, fennel (a winter vegetable, too) and quinoa (gluten-free). And since the pomegranate I bought was so big and I only needed half of it for the recipe, I also made a pomegranate and olive relish inspired by The Kitchn.

 

Quinoa, Pomegranate and Fennel Salad
(Serves 2)

Ingredients:

3 TS olive oil
1 medium fennel bulb, cut lengthwise into thin slices
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 TS lemon juice
1/2 ts ground cumin
1/2 ts raw cane sugar
110g quinoa, rinsed to remove bittern
1/2 green chile, seeded, chopped
3 TS chopped fresh cilantro
3 TS chopped fresh mint
1/2 ts chopped fresh dill
seeds of 1/2 pomegranate

Directions:

1. Heat 2 TS of the olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the fennel and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until fennel is tender and lightly golden (about 10–12 minutes). Stir in the lemon juice, cumin, and sugar and cook for about 1 minute. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.

2. Meanwhile, bring the quinoa and 270ml water to a boil in a pot. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer until quinoa is cooked (about 10 minutes). Set aside and let cool.

3. Gently mix the quinoa with the remaining 1 TS olive oil, add the fennel mixture, chile, pomegranate and herbs. Toss gently to incorporate. Season with salt and pepper.

 

Pomegranate Olive Relish
(makes one small bowl)

Ingredients:

110g green olives, sliced and pitted
40g cup roasted pistachios (I used pine seeds)
110g pomegranate seeds
1 TS minced shallots
2 ts finely chopped fresh mint
2 TS olive oil
2 ts pomegranate molasses (I used maple syrup instead)
dash of lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Coarsely slice the green olives and chop the pistachios/pine seeds to roughly the size of the pomegranate seeds or a bit smaller.

2. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and season to taste. Depending on the flavor of the pomegranates and olives, you may need more or less lemon juice and salt.

3. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to a day before serving.

4. Serve with crackers, bread, or pita chips. Delicious on crostini with goat cheese.

♥
Stornoway

French-style Steamed Mussels

After my last attempt to cook mussels was a big failure as I mistook the 2 TS of peppercorns for ground pepper (…), this time I chose a recipe that doesn’t require any pepper at all and it turned out perfectly. I think I don’t want to eat anything else but mussels until Christmas.

It’s also a shame that oysters are so expensive in Germany.

Woodhouse Fish Co. San Francisco
Weird Fish San Francisco
Icelandic Fish and Chips Reykjavík

French-style Steamed Mussels
serves 2

Ingredients:

3 TS olive oil
2 shallots, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, grated
1kg mussels
240ml dry white wine
120ml cream (I used soy milk light which worked fine, too)
3 TS butter or vegetable margarine
1/2 bunch fresh parsley, chopped
salt to taste
Serve with baguette or rustic bread

Directions:

1. Wash the mussels under cold running water and throw away the ones that are already open.

2. Heat the olive oil in a large pot, add the onions and garlic and cook until golden, about 5 minutes.

3. Add the mussels, wine, cream/milk, butter/margarine, parsley and salt and bring to boil. Reduce the heat and let simmer for about 15 minutes until the mussels have opened (throw away the ones that haven’t opened).

4. Transfer the mussels into deep plates and the liquid into a bowl for dipping the bread.

(As there was so much liquid left, I let cool the remainings and put them in the freezer for later use in a soup, sauce or dip.)

Goaty Pumpkin and Potato Gratin and Mâche with Pomegranate

After a long walk along the Rhine collecting items for home decoration (I’ve just recently fallen in love with Apartment Therapy), I came home to prepare a hokkaido for yet another pumpkin cake I plan to bake next week and since an entire hokkaido is way too much for one cake, I made a pumpkin and potato gratin with 1/4 of the hokkaido and what other ingredients I had left at home.

 
 
 
Goaty Pumpkin and Potato Gratin
(serves 2-3)

Ingredients:

8 small red potatoes, roughly sliced (I used Franceline)
250g hokkaido, cubed
3 TS olive oil
2 TS fresh or dried sage
2 TS sunflower seeds
2 TS butter or vegetable margarine
2 TS flour
250ml goat’s milk
1 ts instant vegetable broth (glutamate- and yeast-free)
1 small clove of garlic, grated
salt
freshly ground pepper
nutmeg, ground
100g goat’s milk feta cheese crumbles
2 TS Pecorino cheese, grated
1 slice toast or other white bread, crumbled

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 230°C.

2. Spread the cut potatoes and hokkaido separately on a prepared baking sheet, sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper and toss to combine. Bake on the middle rack for about 25 minutes until lightly roasted.

3. Meanwhile, melt the butter or margarine in a pot, stir in the flour and let turn lightly golden. Add the goat’s milk and bring to boil while stirring with an eggbeater in order to avoid the formation of lumps. Turn down the heat when the milk starts to boil, keep on stirring while adding the instant broth and garlic. The mixture should turn into a béchamel-like sauce. Set aside and season to taste with salt, pepper and nutmeg (remember that the feta will also add salt to the gratin).

4. Remove the pumpkin and potatoes from the oven and turn down the heat to 190°C. First, transfer the pumpkin into a prepared baking dish, creating an even layer. Sprinkle with the sage and sunflower seeds. Add the potatoes, creating another even layer.

5. Pour the goat’s milk sauce over the potatoes evenly and garnish with feta, bread crumbs and pecorino.

6. Bake the gratin in the oven for about 20-30 minutes until brown and crisp on top.

 

Mâche with Pomegranate, Dates and Bacon
(serves 2)
This actually is my wonderful flatmate Gesa’s creation.

Ingredients:

2-3 hands full of mâche
3 TS pitted dates, sliced
kernels from 1/2 pomegranate
2 TS lean bacon, small dices
3 TS olive oil
1 1/2 TS balsamico di Modena
1 ts Dijon mustard
1 ts honey
salt
freshly ground pepper

Directions:

1. For the vinaigrette, mix the olive oil, balsamic, mustard and honey in a small bowl, season to taste with salt and pepper and stir well to combine.

2. Put the mâche, dates, pomegranate and bacon in a bowl, add the vinaigrette and toss carefully to combine.
 

 

Berlin Pumpkin

I’ve never spent as much time in Berlin as this year. Every single time I visited my friends I had the most wonderful days – it was magical, really.

Diane Arbus Exhibition at Gropius Bau
Market at Kollwitzplatz
Sushi Zionskirchstraße
Lass uns Freunde bleiben bar
Der Hahn ist tot restaurant
Filmgalerie 451

The picture below looks nothing as delicious as this salad actually is at all!
Inspiration: Healthy Green Kitchen

 

Hokkaido Salad with Pecans and Dates

Ingredients:
(serves 4)

Olive oil
1 TS raw cane sugar
salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 TS honey
1/8 ts cayenne pepper
100g pecan halves
1 large hokkaido
6 TS olive oil
4 TS white wine vinegar
1 TS Dijon mustard
100-200g mâche or arugular
a handful of dates, pitted and quartered lengthwise

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 165°C. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Lightly coat the parchment with olive oil.

2. In a medium bowl, stir together the sugar and 1/4 ts salt. Set aside.

3. In a frying pan, warm 2 TS of the honey over low heat. Add the cayenne pepper and stir to mix well. Add the pecans and stir to coat. Spread the nuts in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet and toast in the oven until fragrant and lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly, then add the nuts to the bowl with the sugar mixture, and toss to coat. Discard the parchment paper and spread the pecans out in a single layer on the baking sheet to cool completely.

4. Raise the oven temperature to 230°C. Line a second rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and coat generously with olive oil.

5. Cut the hokkaido in half lengthwise and scrape out the seeds. Cut the flesh into cubes (There’s no need to peel the hokkaido but you might want to wash it before use!) and pile them on the prepared baking sheet. Drizzle with 2 TS of the olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and toss to coat. Spread the hokkaido out in a single layer. Roast, turning several times, until fork-tender and lightly browned all over, about 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and cover with aluminum foil to keep warm.

6. In a bowl, whisk together the vinegar, mustard, and the remaining 2 TS honey. Add the remaining 4 TS olive oil in a slow, steady stream, whisking constantly until a smooth, emulsified dressing forms. Season with salt and pepper.

7. Spread the mâche/arugular on 4 plates, top with the roasted hokkaido, pecans and dates and drizzle with the vinaigrette.

Dahlias and Lentils

Since I’ve just started participating in the Foodie Pen Pals program, I’ve decied to continue writing in English so that everyone visiting from the program can read my posts and recipes. This month’s FFP reveal date is October 1 – I’m excited!

Although it hasn’t got much colder yet, the slowly coloring leaves and the golden sunlight of the late summer make me feel autumnal. Autumn actually is my favourite season, still, in order to preserve some of the midsummer feeling that didn’t really come up this year, I picked a bouquet of dahlias in the Drachenfelser Ländchen.

Dinner eventually turned out quite autumnal though. Inspiration: Healthy Green Kitchen.

Moroccan Lentil Soup

Ingredients:
(serves 4 )

1-2 TS olive oil
3 shallots, peeled and finely minced
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely minced
2 carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
70g raisins
1 ts ground cumin
2 ts ground cinnamon
1 1/2 ts ground turmeric
2 ts ground sweet paprika
2 ts ground ginger
Pepper, salt
400g canned tomatoes with juice
150-200g sieved tomatoes
480g red lentils
500ml water or vegetable broth

Directions:

1. Heat the olive oil in a big pot and add the shallots, shortly braising them until yellow. Add the carrots, celery, raisins, garlic and spices and let simmer for about 10 minutes.

2. Stir in the canned and the sieved tomatoes. Rinse the lentils under cold water and add to the other vegetables in the pot.

3. Add the water / vegetable broth and bring to boil. Let simmer for about 20 minutes. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper.

I had the soup with bread and diced fresh tomatoes with fresh cilantro.
The cinnamon and the raisins make this soup really special and unlike any other lentil soup!

This is nuts.

Best snack ever!
The pecan belongs to the walnut family but tastes much milder and buttery than the common walnut. In the United States, the pecan is used way more often in cakes, ice cream etc. than the walnut, whereas in Europe you have to spend a small fortune for a tiny bag of them. The pecan tree is the state tree of Texas and there even is an annual Pecan Festival celebrated in some states..
.
Inspiration: Authentic Suburban Gourmet

And this just had to be mentioned…

Pecans and Cashews with Rosemary and Thyme

Ingredients:
(1 serving)

200g pecans
300g cashews
5 TS butter/vegetable margarine
3 TS raw cane sugar
2 1/2 TS coarse sea salt
1 ts cumin
1/2 ts cayenne pepper
Fresh thyme leaves
Fresh rosemary leaves

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Spread the pecans and cashews on parchment paper placed on a baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes on the middle rack until lightly brown and fragrant (be careful not to burn them – this happens quite easily).

2. Heat the butter/vegetable margarine in a medium-sized pot until lightly brown. Remove pot from the plate and add sugar, sea salt, cumin, cayenne pepper, thyme and rosemary. Stir until well combined.

3. Take the nuts out of the oven and add them to the mixture in the pot. Carefully stir until the nuts are completely coated.

4.Put the nuts back on the baking sheet and bake for another 10 minutes until dry (If the nuts are still very damp from the mixture after 10-15 minutes, put them in a sieve to drain for a couple of minutes). Take the nuts out of the oven and let cool.

The nuts can be stored in a lockable box for about 2 weeks.

Chickpea Purée Cookie Dough

Hearing the words chickpea purée, the first thing that comes to one’s mind is hummus, of course. But there’s a way to make a sweet version of chickpea purée which actually tastes really good.
Inspiration: Natural Noshing

Ingredients:
(serves 2-3)

230g canned chickpeas
90g peanut butter
1 pinch of sea salt
3 ts vanilla essence
2 ts (soy) milk
5 ts raw cane sugar
2 ts ground almonds
chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Pour the chickpeas into a sieve, let drain well and transfer to a mixing bowl, adding the peanut butter and the milk. Purée well with a hand blender.

2. Add salt, vanilla essence, sugar and ground almonds and stir well to combine.

3. Carefully fold in the chocolate chips and transfer into 2-3 small bowls.

4. Put the bowls in the freezer for about 2 hours and remove from freezer about 15 minutes before serving.