Goose

Roasted goose is a traditional German Christmas dish. I absolutely love roasted goose, particularly during the cold autumn and winter period.
Getting a goose can be a bit tricky at times. I have not yet seen one in any of the supermarkets - not even Waitrose. Meaning, you will probably have to source it from a local butcher. 
Preparing and roasting a goose is relatively easy. Roasting a goose is, however, time-consuming. Goose is very "muscly" poultry and it needs time to soften the meat. You should estimate 1 hour per kg!

What works with a roasted goose?

• red cabbage (see one of my earlier blog posts)
• bread dumplings (Semmelknoedel) 

What you need

• goose: 4-6 kg. When you order one it isn't always possible to get a particular size. But geese typically are in the weight range between 3.5 - 6.5 kg.
• salt, pepper, cinnamon 
• garlic, 2-3 onions, mugwort, 2 carrots, 2 parsnips, 2 pears, 2 apples. Mugwort can be tricky to get - rosemary works as well
• parsley
• vegetable stock, water
• gingerbread for the sauce
• creme fraiche/sour cream for the sauce

Equipment

• baking tray
• ideally a roasting rack - but not really necessary
• ladle or large spoon to remove the fat
• bowl for the fat. Ideally also a fat & gravy separator

How you do it

Preparing

Filling the goose

• chop apples, pears, 1 onion, 1 carrot, parsley and 1 parsnip
• mix 3 teaspoons of salt with 1-2 tea spoons of cinnamon and 1 spoon pepper
• rub the inside of the goose with the salt/cinnamon/pepper mix
• stuff the goose with the fruits/vegetable/parsley mix

With a sharp knife cut a hole through the frontal skin near the opening. Then pull the leg

from the opposite site through the hole - as shown in the picture.

Finally, use salt, pepper and rub it into the outer skin

Roasting

• preheat the oven to 120 C (fan) 
• in the baking tray place a carrot, parsnip, 1 onion and the mugwort/rosemary
• if the butcher included the entrails of the goose, place them on the tray as well.
• dissolve a 1-2 teaspoons of vegetable stock in a glass of water (ca 150ml) and pour into the tray.
• DO NOT USE ANY OIL/FAT: the goose has loads of fat (which you will have to remove) so no need to add any to it
• put the goose onto the roasting rack - or directly onto the tray and in the oven.
• cook at 120 C for 1 hour. This will start the process of the goose loosing fat

After one hour remove the tray from the oven and increase the heat to 160C.

Add some salt and pepper to the outside of the goose and put the goose back into the oven.

In regular intervals:

• pour some water over the goose
• with the ladle/large spoon remove the fat from the tray and put in a bowl or gravy/fat separator. - There will be LOTS!

As mentioned before: roasting a goose takes time. Ca 1 hour per kilo. In order not to burn it the heat should be no higher than 160 C/170 C (fan oven). The first hour is at low heat of 120-130C (fan) to soften up the meat and start releasing the fat.

Gravy

• Chop an onion, use 1 teaspoon of oil and start frying in a sauce pan.
• Fry the onion for 12-15 min while stirring. The onions should be golden brown.
• Add a 1/2 - 1 tablespoon of flour and keep stirring.
• Add the gravy from the baking tray and stir until sauce thickens
• if you have a small piece of dry gingerbread - crumble it up and add to it.
• you may want to add a small spoon of creme fraiche/sour cream

Sweet Potatoes with Porcini Gravy

This is a copy from Nigel Slater's recipe on http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/dec/29/nigel-slater-sweet-potatoes-with-porcini-gravy-recipe

But as usual with cooking I'd recommend a slight variation to it.

What you need

• 1 onion
• 1-2 table spoons of flour
• 2 table spoons of olive oil
• salt, pepper, thyme (best if fresh)
• 2 sweet potatoes
• package of porcini mushrooms
• 400 ml water
• 200 ml white wine (dry)
• creme fraiche

Equipment

• Sauce pan
• quiche form
• bowl

How you do it

Gravy

1. put the dried mushrooms in a bowl and cover with white wine. 200ml should be enough
2. let rest for at least 30min
3. after 30min, put 400ml of water in a sauce pan and bring to the boil
4. pour the dried mushrooms with the white wine into the sauce pan and cook for 5 min
5. take sauce pan off the cooker and pour all of its content back into the bowl
6. peal and chop the onion
7. clean & dry the sauce pan and put 1 table spoon of olive oil in it
8. heat until the oil is hot pour the chopped onions in it. 
9. Add some salt & pepper.
10. you need to cook the onions for 12-13 min. Stir while they're cooking.
11. The onions should be golden brown.
12. Then put the 1-2 table spoons of flour in the sauce pan. Stir for ca 3 min
13. slowly pour the mushroom/water/gravy mix in it while stirring. Do this step by step - so that at each step the sauce has a chance to thicken.
14. when you poured all of the mushroom/water/whine mix in - continue cooking and stirring for ca 5min.

Sweet Potatoes

1. Put the oven on 200 C or gas mark 6
2. peal the sweat potatoes and cut in 5mm chunks
3. put the cut potato pieces in the form
4. sprinkle salt, thyme, pepper and a bit of olive oil over them
5. put in the pre-heated oven and let bake for ca 30min

Voila: get the potatoes out of the oven and place on a plate. Pour some of the gravy over it and a tea spoon of creme fraiche on the side.

Schlessische Mohnkloesse (Silesian Poppy Dumplings)

This desert takes me back to my childhood days, when on Christmas Eve my late grandmother would bring this absolutely delicious dish with her. Hailing from Wroclaw (formerly Breslau) it apparently is a traditional Christmas desert. Schlessische Mohnkloesse (Silesian poppy dumplings) are some kind of bread pudding.

This dish should be prepared 1 day before eating it.

What you need

• 2 pints of milk (not skimmed/semi-milk)
• an old/dry loaf of bread, or old bagels. They should be dry
• 200-250g poppy seeds
• vanilla. It pays to get the vanilla pods - the taste makes all the difference
• 200g sugar
• raisins or mixed dried fruit
• 200g almond flakes
• a pinch of salt

Equipment

• a simply pot and something to stir with
• a glass bowl
• sauce spoon

How you do it

• pour the milk in the pot and heat
• while heating extract the vanilla from the pods. This should be a dark/black paste. 
• put the vanilla and the sugar in the milk and stir.
• add the pinch of salt.
• When the milk is on the boil add all the poppy seeds and stir.
• Put heat on simmer and cook for ca 15min. Stir while cooking
• after 15min add the almond flakes and let it all simmer for another 15min.

After 30min, the poppy/vanilla/milk/almond mix is ready. Put it aside for now. It should rest for another 10 min.

• In the glass bowl, lay out the dry bread at the bottom. Make sure the the surface is well covered. Add a sprinkle or raisins and dried fruit to it.
• with a sauce spoon stir the pot with the milk/poppy seeds and slowly cover the first layer of bread with the milk/poppy/almond mix
• add another layer of bread/raisins and repeat until all milk/poppy/almond mix is used up.

If the glass bowl has a lid put it on. Otherwise cover it with aluminium and let it cool down.

When sufficiently cooled down, put the covered glass bowl in the fridge.

It should be there overnight - or at minimum 4-5 hours.

Bread Dumplings (Semmelknoedel)

No Bavarian/Austrian dish would be complete without the famous "Semmelknoedel" (bread dumplings). It goes particularly well with game, roast chicken/duck/goose. Since it is Christmas time again, it is - again - "Knoedel"-time.
They are a lot easier to make than potato dumplings (particularly those based on raw potatoes). You should buy the bagels at least 1 day before doing the dumplings.

What you need

• 6 - 8 bagels (based on white plain flour)
• flat-leave parsley
• 1 small onion
• speck (bacon) - although this is optional
• 3 eggs
• 250 - 350ml milk
• salt pepper
• butter
• 75-100 g white/plain flour

Equipment

• small pot for heating up milk and simmering onions/bacon
• a glass for stirring the eggs
• bowl for preparing
• large pot

How you do it

Prepare the dough

• After you buy the bagels, let them dry in the open kitchen for a day or so. The bagels should really be dry when making the dumplings (that way they suck up more milk/eggs)
• On the day: cut the bagels into slices and place the slices in a bowl
• put the milk in the small pot and heat up. No need to put the milk on the boil. Just heat it up.
• When the milk is hot/warm - pour over the sliced bagels in the bowl and let it rest.
• Chop the onions (and bagels)
• In the small pot melt butter and put the onions (and bacon) in it. Sautee the onions (bacon). 
• Turn off the heat and let cool down.
• Next chop the parsley very finely.
• Next put the eggs (yolk and egg white) into a glass and mix - (e.g. with a fork)
• Now you are ready to put the chopped parsley, mixed eggs and onions (bacon) into the bowl together with the bread/milk mix. 
• Add 1-2 teaspoons of salt and some ground pepper.
• Finally, mix all ingredients to a dough. You can do it with your hands (messy) or in a food processor).
• The consistency should be moist and soft, but obviously not liquid, or not too firm.

Finally

• Take a small handful of the dough and roll in your hands until it forms a small ball
• sprinkle/roll in flour
• repeat until all dough is gone and formed into dough-balls

• Now take your large pot and fill with water. Add 1-2 teaspoon of salt
• Heat up the water until it boils, then turn down the heat
• Now place each doughball carefully into the hot water. Remember the water only needs to be hot - it must not boil (as this will help disintegrate the dough balls).
• The doughballs will most likely sink to the bottom.
• Let the doughballs int he hot water for ca 10 min. Most likely, they will move to the top as the dough gets hard.
• Remove from the pot and put on a hot plate. 
• They are best served hot.

Toast with Egg Salad

This is a recipe I have used for the last few New Year's Eves. It originates from my grandmother whose birthday was shortly after NYE. Mostly she did the buffet herself - and this recipe was always an integral part of the dishes she presented to her guests. It was - and still is - one of my favourites.

Given the ingredients you might be excused to think there should be a government's health warning attached to it. But then I only eat once a year - on NYE.

What you need

• 12 eggs
• 10 pickled onions
• 5-6 gherkins (pickled)
• 3-4 hot peppers (pickled)
• 1 onion
• pepper, salt and a pinch of sugar
• mild curry powder
• mayonnaise 500gr
• ketchup
• mustard (mild)
• Emmenthal cheese
• toast bread sliced

Equipment: baking paper, a bowl for preparing the egg salad

How you do it

Prepare the egg salad

• boil the eggs for several minute. We need hard eggs for this.
• Once boiled, let the eggs cool down in cold water. Then peel off the shell
• peel and chop the onion - put into the bowl
• take the pickled onions and chop - put into the bowl
• the gherkins and hot peppers should but cut thinly. Add the cut peppers/gherkins to the bowl
• cut the hard boiled eggs into little cubes (if possible) and add to the bowl
• now add the mayonnaise (all of it)
• add 2 table spoons of ketchup and 2 tea spoons of the mustard
• add 1-2 tea spoons of the mild curry powder
• spice with pepper, salt and a pinch of sugar
• mix thoroughly

It's best to store the egg salad in the fridge for a few hours, or even overnight so that the flavour of the salad can develop.

Prepare the toast 

For each slice of white bread do the following

•  take as many table spoons of the egg salad and spread evenly over the slice of bread
• cut a few thin slices from the Emmenthal cheese and cover the bread with the egg salad

Heat up the over to ca 180 degrees (C) and bake the toasts for ca 35-40 min - so that the cheese on top starts getting slightly brown (but not burnt)

You can serve the toasts hot - or cold.

And if you can manage more than 4 you are VERY good.

Piddie's Lamb Stew

What you need

• 1 kg lamb cut in cubes - no bones
• cinnamon stick or powder
• oregano (dry)
• 4 All Spice berries, 4 whole cloves
• pepper corns
• salt
• 1 or 2 bay leave(s)
• 1 small onion, 1 garlic
• ca 500 gr shallots (small onion)
• 6 medium sizes tomatoes
• ca 250ml red wine
• 2 table spoons red wine vinegar
• tomato puree
• olive oil

Equipment: pestle/mortar for crushing berries/cloves/corns, large casserole dish, small pan 

How you do it

• peel, chop the medium and small garlic
• put 1 table spoon olive oil into the casserole and heat up until hot
• put the lamb cubes into the casserole and add some salt. Cook and stir for ca 10 min.
• add chopped onion and garlic and cook for another 5-10 min
• now crush the all spice/cloves in the pestle/mortar. Add the crushed spices, the cinnamon, the oregano and ground pepper to the pot.
• stir and cook for ca 5 min.
• Now add a glass of red wine and 2 table spoons of red wine vinegar to the casserole. Bring to the boil.
• lower the heat and put the lid on.
• Wash and cut the tomatoes into quarters.
• Peel the shallots.
• Heat up the small pan with a tablespoon of olive oil. When hot, add the shallots to it.
• Stir and cook until the onions are slightly brown - take the pan off the cooker and let cool it down.
• Now add the chopped/cut tomatoes to the casserole/lamb stew. Stir and put the lid back on. If you are running short on sauce in the pot, add a bit of the red wine to it.
• Let the stew cook in the casserole on a small flame for ca 1 hour.
• After an hour, add the previously cooked shallots to the casserole.
• Cook for another 1 hour on small heat with the lid on.
• Add the tomato puree and mix into the stew. Stir and close the lid. Cook for another 40-45 min.

• In the final hour of cooking I usually take the lid off. Continue cooking on small heat. However, since the lid is off, you would have to stir regularly.
• As the lid is off, the sauce in the casserole will ultimately thicken.

The total cooking time should be something like 4 hours.

The stew is getting better if you prepare it the day before and let it rest overnight. Then warm up and serve with either rice or roast potatoes. 

Potato Dumplings

Another traditional German side dish to accompany most roasted meat dishes are potato dumplings. They come in a number of different varieties. Probably the most common is the half-half potato dumpling. Meaning, it is based on half boiled, half raw potatoes.
The other common form is a potato dumpling entirely based on raw potatoes.

That's the recipe we are going to handle here.
But be warned, this is not for the faint hearted. Potato dumplings made from raw potatoes are quite tricky, the most common danger being that they turn to potato mash.
It took me quite a while to get a handle on them. And I won't claim that the recipe below is perfect. But it should get you going.

What you need

• 1.5-2kg of potatoes. 
• Up to 300g of potato flour. My grandmother used to get the potato starch directly from the potatoes, but that is a pain in the butt. So let's just make it a bit easier, ok?
• Salt
• 75g of semolina
• a pint of milk

Equipment: kitchen grater (flat if possible), a large bowl, a large pot, a smaller pot for the milk. A kitchen towel. A good kitchen mixer. Grease proof paper.

How you do it

• fill the large bowl with cold water
• peel the potatoes one by one. Once you peeled one potato, immediately grate it into the bowl with cold water. The reason to put it in the water is so they don't oxidise (and turn brown)
• make sure that when you grate them you use the finest grating. There should be no lumps of potatoes
• pour the milk into the small pot and bring to the boil
• add the semolina. Constantly stir (otherwise it'll burn) until it is really thick. Remove from cooker.
• take the crated potatoes out of the bowl and place them on the kitchen towel centre.
• Now close the towel and wring it so that all the remaining liquid drains out. Repeat so that only a minimum amount of rest water remains.
• Use the bowl of the kitchen mixer and put the grated/wringed potatoes in there.
• Now add salt and switch on the kitchen mixer.
• Slowly add the milk/semolina mix
• let the mixer run for a while so that it becomes a nice mash
• now - with the mixer still running - add the potato flour/starch. 
• Make sure it is all well mixed.
• Roll out the grease proof paper. 
• put some potato flour on your hands to get a grip on the dough.
• From the bowl take out a small handful and form into a ball. Place the ball on the grease proof paper. At this point you know if you added enough potato flour. The dumpling should stay in shape on the grease proof paper.
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• Put some salt in the large pot - fill with water - and bring to the boil.
• Add the potato dumplings to the hot water. I'd recommend to try it with only 3 first time round. 
• Put the pot on a simmer and let it cook for 20 min.
• Then take the dumplings out. 
• They are ready for consumption

A tip: you usually put the dumplings into a porcelain dish. If you do that, use a small saucer and put it upside down at the bottom of the porcelain dish. That way the water can drain from the dumplings without soaking them.

Variation

Additional Ingredients:

• parsley
• a few slices of white toast

Here's what you do with it

• cut the white bread into little cubes
• fry them in a pan until brown
• store aside
• chop the parsley as fine as possible

Put the breadcrumbs into the dumplings

• After you prepared the potato dumpling dough in the kitchen mixer:
• take a hand-full of the dough one at a time.
• for each hand-full: put a little dent with your thumb in the dough
• put a few breadcrumbs into it
• now close the dough and shape into a ball. the crumbs should be right at the centre.
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• put the raw dumplings into the hot water and put on a slow simmer for ca 20min
• when you take out the dumplings put them on a serving plate and sprinkle them with the chopped parsley 

Red Cabbage

As the festive season is upon us, there is a traditional German side dish to roasts that I'd like to share.
It is Red Cabbage (in German Blaukraut or Rotkohl).

It is NOT to be confused with Sauerkraut, which is actually quite tricky to do yourself (some might so totally impractical).
Although, you can buy Red Cabbage ready made from Delicatessen stores, it is relatively easy to make yourself.

What you need

For the marinade

• whole Red Cabbage
• Red wine vinegar
• Apple
• Raisins
• Sugar, salt

For the cooking

• Cloves (2), All Spice grains (4-5), juniper berries (4-5), peppercorns
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 onion
• goose fat

Equipment: a container for storing the marinated red cabbage in; pot to cook it in; pestle & mortar for grating the spices

How you do it

Red cabbage is best if it is marinated at least 1 day before serving. I would recommend to start preparing it 2 days before the dinner.

• remove the outer leaves from the whole red cabbage
• cut the piece into quarters. Remove the stem.
• wash the rest
• cut each quarter so that you end up with thin, small pieces of cabbage
• put all of the cut red cabbage into the container.
• next, peel the apple. Then cut it into quarters, remove the seeds/core. cut into small pieces and add to the cut red cabbage in the container.
• take 2 tablespoons of raisins and add to the red cabbage/apple in the container
• take a small cup and put 1 tablespoon of sugar, a pinch of salt and at 4-5 table spoons or red wine vinegar. Mix thoroughly.
• pour the mix over the cabbage/apple/raisins mix in the container. Mix thoroughly.
• take a small glass of red wine and pour over the cabbage in the container. Mix thoroughly.
• Close the container, and store away in the fridge for 2 days.

Cooking the red cabbage. You may do this on the day. However, once you cooked the red cabbage it can be reheated. This may actually add to the flavour. So, if it is all getting far too much. You may cook the red cabbage even the day before dinner - and then simply reheat it.

• put 2 table spoons of goose fat into the pot
• get the marinated red cabbage container out of the fridge
• peel and cut the onion into small pieces
• heat the pot. When hot, add the onions to the hot fat. Stir and cook until the onions start getting sauteed (looking "glassy") 
• add all of the red cabbage/apple/raisins mix (with the marinade) into the pot and stir/mix thoroughly.
• next take the juniper berries/all spice berries/cloves and peppercorns and grind in the pestle/mortar.
• add the ground spices into the pot with the cabbage.
• put the lid on the pot and cook on a small heat for 40-50 min. 
• In between the cooking add small amounts of red wine to it (1-2 tablespoons at the time). Mix and stir when doing so.
• After 40-50 min the red cabbage should be soft and ready to serve.

Pasta with Porcini

Here is a quick and easy dish I made last week.

What you need

• Dried Porcini mushrooms, ca 15-20g
• Dry white wine
• Sour cream
• Pasta , e.g. rigatoni. But better still, tagliatelle 
• Parsley
• Olive oil
• Salt, Pepper for seasoning
• 1 Garlic, 1 small onion
• sour cream
• parmesan cheese

Equipment: small bowl, pot (for the pasta) sieve, frying pan

How you do it

Prepare the mushrooms

• take the small bowl and put the dried porcini in it. Pour white wine over it until it is covered.
• Leave for at least 2 hours.

Next start putting the pasta on the boil

• put 2 teaspoons of salt into the pot and fill with water.
• bring to boil and put the pasta in.
• when pasta is al dente (i.e. is not overly soft), pour the hot water/pasta through a sieve.
• At that stage you may want to preserve a cup of the hot pasta water for later.
• give the pasta in the sieve a good stir - otherwise it may glue together.
• store the pasta for later

Finally, the sauce

• chop garlic, onions.
• clean/wash and chop the parsley
• grate the parmesan - and store for later
• put a tablespoon of olive oil in the frying pan and heat up.
• put the garlic and onions - and half of the parsley into the hot oil/frying pan - and sautee the onions/garlic
• add salt and pepper
• now put the Porcini mushrooms together with the white wine into the frying pan.
• let it boil until the sauce starts to thicken. then put a tablespoon of sour cream to it and stir again.
• you may also want to put a little of the hot pasta water to it
• let it cook until the sauce thickens again (stir while doing so).
• now add the pasta and mix with the sauce
• add the rest of the parsley to it
• add the grated parmesan
• continue to stir until the parmesan starts to melt

Serve straightaway.

Pasta with Capers, Olives and Tomatoes

What you need

• capers - ca 60g
• black pitted olives
• parsley (fresh)
• 1 onion, 1 garlic clove
• 4 tomatoes
• red pepper powder
• 1 glass of red wine
• parmesan cheese
• salt, pepper, oil

Equipment: pot, frying pan

How you do it

• drain the capers
• chop the pitted olives
• peel and chop the onion, garlic into small bits
• wash and cut the parsley
• wash and cut the tomatoes into quarters. If you don't like the skin - put the tomatoes into a pot of hot water until the skin cracks. then peel.
• bring a pot of water to the boil. when boiling add 1 teaspoon salt. when the salt is dissolved add the pasta.
• add 1 tbl spoon to the frying pan and heat until hot.
• add the capers, chopped olives. add a bit of salt and pepper.
• cook for ca 1 min. then add the chopped parsley, onion and garlic.
• cook for ca 2 min until the onion/garlic get soft
• then add the chopped tomatoes. add 1 tea spoon of red pepper powder.
• stir frequently and cook for ca 5 min.
• add the glass of red wine. cook until the most of the wine evaporates and the sauce gets thicker.
• in the meantime - when the pasta is ready: drain it.
• when the caper/olive/parsley/tomato sauce is thick add the pasta.
• stir and cook for another 5 min.
• serve hot with freshly grated parmesan

Pasta With Porcini

What you need

• Farfalle (ca 150g/person)
• porcini (dried mushrooms), ca 100g - for 2 persons
• parsley (fresh)
• oil, salt, pepper
• a glass of dry white wine (e.g. Chardonnay)
• 1 garlic clove, 1 small onion
• parmesan cheese

Equipment: pot, frying pan

How you do it

• put the dried porcini into a small bowl. add the glass of white wine - and let rest for at least 30min. However, I usually leave it for ca 2 hours.
• wash and cut the parsley
• peel and chop garlic/onion

• put ca 1ltr into the pot. bring to the boil, add 1 teaspoon of salt. when dissolved add pasta.
• put oil into the frying pan and heat up until hot
• add the garlic, onions and half of the parsley. add a teaspoon of salt and freshly grated pepper.
• stir and cook for ca 4-5min.
• add the porcini with the white wine.
• cook until most of the wine has evaporated and the sauce gets thicker. stir frequently to avoid burning.
• when the pasta (farfalle) is ready - pour the content of the pot through a sieve to drain the pasta. But try to keep ca 100ml of the pasta water.
• add the cooked farfalle to the frying pan. stir well.
• add the other half of the parsley.
• add a bit of the retained pasta water to it.
• cook for ca another 5 min.
• then serve - with freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Sweet Potato and Chilli Soup

What you need

• 1-2 tbl spoons vegetable oil, salt, pepper
• 2 chillies
• 3 parsnip roots
• 4 sweet potatoes
• 1 bunch of fresh chives and spring onions
• 2-3 garlic cloves
• 1 litre water

Equipment: food processor, pot

How you do it

• cut chillies in halves, wash and remove the seeds. then chop into small bits
• peel onion, garlic cloves, parsnip roots and sweet potatoes
• wash chives and spring onions
• chop the onions, garlic cloves and parsnip roots into small bits
• put the vegetable oil into the pot and heat up
• when the oil is hot add the chopped chillies, parsnips, garlic and onions. add salt and pepper. stir and mix and then let it cook for ca 5 min.
• in the meantime, cut the peeled sweet potatoes into smaller chunks. chop the spring onions into small pieces.
• add the sweet potatoes - cook for 2-3 min then add the chopped spring onions.
• cook for another 5 minutes while stirring
• now add the 1 litre water and bring to the boil.
• when the soup boils reduce heat - put a lid on the pot and let simmer for ca 25 min.
• remove from cooker and let it cool down for ca 1 hour.
• in the meantime chop the chives - but do not add them just yet.
• when the soup is cooled down - process it in the blender/processor until smooth.
• put it back into the pot and heat up until it just boils.
• then add the chopped chives, mix and cook it for another 1-2 min.
• either serve - or remove from cooker.

Roasted Pepper/Tomato Soup

What you need

• 3 peppers
• 4 cloves of garlic
• salt, pepper, basil leaves, oregano leaves
• 8-9 tomatoes
• 1 onion
• 4 small potatoes
• ca 1 litre water
• 3 tbl spoons oil
• 4 spring onions
• 1 teaspoon of balsamic vinegar

Equipment: baking form, a pot, food processor/blender

How you do it

Prepare the peppers

• preheat the oven to ca 200 C
• wash the peppers, cut in halves. Get rid of the seeds.
• peel the garlic cloves and chop into small bits
• lay the washed and cut pepper halves into the baking form
• sprinkle the chopped garlic over it
• pour the oil over it
• put the form into the oven and bake for ca 1 hour
• remove from oven and allow to cool down.
• save the oil in a cup

Soup

• wash the tomatoes, basil and oregano leaves
• peel the potatoes
• peel the onion and spring onions - and chop into small bits
• cut half of the basil and oregano leaves very small
• remove the stems from the tomatoes and cut in quarter

• use the oil from the pepper roasting and put into a pot
• heat up until hot
• add the roasted pepper, onions and the chopped oregano leaves. heat for ca 5 min
• add the potatoes. heat for another 5 min. then add the tomatoes and basil leaves and cook for another 5 min.
• add the teaspoon of balsamic vinegar.
• add the water. stir. heat until the soup is on the boil.
• reduce heat, add the cover the pot and let cook for 10 min.
• after 10min add the other half of the oregano leaves
• cook for another 5 min then add the chopped spring onions. Let it cook for another 10 min.
• Turn off the heat and add the basil leaves.
• Let it cool off. When cool put the soup into the blender and process the soup until it is smooth.
• you may retain a few basil leaves when the soup is going to be served.

Broccoli Stilton Soup

What you need

• broccoli
• stilton ca 75-100g
• 1 onion
• 1 tbl spoon oil
• salt, pepper, muscat
• flat leaf parsley
• 4 small potatoes
• vegetable soup stock cubes (you need 2 for 1 litre)
• 1 litre water

Equipment: pot, food processor/blender, knife, chopping board.

How you do it

• peel potatoes, onion
• wash broccoli, parsley
• chop onion and parsley into as small pieces as possible
• put oil into pot and heat until very hot. put chopped onions and half of the chopped parsley into it. add salt and pepper.
• cook for ca 3 min until onions turn slightly brown.
• add 1 ltr of water and bring to the boil. add the vegetable soup stock cubes and stir until dissolved.
• add broccoli and potatoes. Bring to the boil briefly - then turn heat down and cover the pot with a lid. Let cook for ca 25min.
• Let it cool down for ca 1 hr.
• Put the cooled soup into a food processor/blender and process until the soup is thick/creamy.
• Put the soup back into the pot and heat up again and boil briefly.
• Add the Stilton cheese and stir continuously until the cheese is melted. Grate fresh muscat into it (be careful with it as it has quite an intense taste).
• In the last 2 minutes add the rest of the parsley to it.

Fruit Salad

What you need

• 2 bananas
• 2 peaches
• 2 apples
• 2 kiwis and/or strawberries
• dried fruit mix, i.e. raisins, lemon/orange
• sugar, cinnamon, vanilla
• 1 lemon

How you do it

• get the juice from the lemon and keep in cup.
• wash the peaches, apples (strawberries).
• cut the peaches/apples into 1/4 pieces. Remove the seeds/stones. again cut the 1/4 pieces into halves. Chop the remaining pieces into small pieces. add to a bowl.
• peel Kiwis and chop into small pieces. peel banana and slice into small pieces. add to bowl.
• add the dried fruit.
• sprinkle 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, 2 tablespoons of sugar. if you have access to vanilla sugar you can take 1 tblspoon normal sugar and 1/2-1tblspoon vanilla sugar. otherwise extract the vanilla from the pod and add to the fruit mix.
• add the lemon juice.
• mix well.
• cover the bowl and put into fridge for 1-2 hrs.

The dish goes very well with either whipped cream and/or Advocaat (egg based liqueur)

Black Olive Paste

What you need

• black pitted olives (ca 100g)
• salt, pepper, a pinch of sugar
• 3-4 garlic cloves
• olive oil
• balsamic vinegar

How you do it

• peel the garlic cloves
• put the pitted olives, garlic, salt, pepper and a pinch of sugar into a food processor/blender
• add ca 1-2 tblspoons balsamic vinegar
• add 100mL olive oil
• close the lid and switch on the blender. If the paste gets too solid add olive oil.
• let it run until it is really creamy.

Spicy Pasta Salad

What you need

• pasta (e.g. penne) ca 200g
• salt, pepper
• parmesan finely grated
• prawns - ca 100-150g
• 1-2 chillies, 2 garlic cloves
• olive oil
• coriander, parsley

How you do it

• bring a pot of water to the boil. then add salt - then the pasta
• chop the garlic cloves.
• chop the parsley and coriander leaves. keep separate
• cut the chillies into halves, remove the seeds and wash thoroughly. then cut into thin slices
• wash and dry the prawns
• in the meantime, put 1 tblspoon olive oil into a frying pan and heat up until the oil is hot.
• add chopped chillies, salt, pepper, prawns and parsley into the frying pan. fry for ca 5 min and stir well.
• remove the frying pan from the burner and let cool down.
• remove the pasta from the pot when ready and let cool down until luke warm.
• add the pasta to the prawns/chilli mix in the pan. stir and add the chopped coriander. Mix well.
• let it rest for a 5 min - then add the finely grated parmesan cheese and again mix well.
• put the pasta mix into a bowl. ready to serve.

Sugary Cinnamon Buns

What you need

• Bread baking machine. Fast acting yeast - 1 sachet
• 300g white flour
• 2 eggs
• 5 table spoons of raisins, dried lemon/orange pieces
• cinnamon, brown and white sugar
• 120-150ml skimmed milk
• pinch of salt

How you do it

With Bread Baking Machine

• In the Panasonic breadbaking machine add the yeast first.
• whisk the eggs
• Put flour, milk, whisked eggs, 1 tblspoon sugar a pinch of salt into the bread pan
• select 'Dough' programme

Without breadbaking machine

• use a clean bowl. pour the flour in. in the centre of the bowl dig a small hole.
• heat the milk until lukewarm - then add yeast and sugar. whisk until all is well mixed.
• pour the mix into the small hole of the centre of the flour in the bowl.
• cover with a kitchen towel and let rest for at least 30min. before you proceed check that the yeast is actually expanding.
• next put the whisked eggs into the mix and knead the dough. add flour if necessary. It is useful to cover your hands in flour - so the mix won't stick to your hands.
• form a ball and put back into the bowl. cover again with the towel and let it rest for another 2 hours.

Making the Buns

• preheat the oven to 200 degrees (centigrade)
• put the dough on non-sticky baking paper. roll out and form a rectangle. again cover your hands in flour to avoid the dough sticking to your hands.
• once a rectangle cover the surface with a slight film of milk. this is so the fruits will stick.
• cover the surface next with cinnamon and brown sugar. then add the raisins/lemons/orange bits evenly.
• then start rolling up the dough. start at the long axis of the rectangular dough. continue rolling until the whole dough is rolled up and forms some kind of 'sausage'.
• take a sharp knife and cut the dough into separate bits.
• put the pieces on non-sticky baking paper. you may cover the buns with additional sugar/cinnamon.
• put into oven for 20-25min until slightly brown.

Classic Green Pesto

What you need

• Olive oil (ca 20 tablespoons)
• 80-100g pine kernels
• parmesan cheese finely grated - ca 50g
• 1-2 bunches of basil leaves
• salt, pepper, 3 garlic cloves - and a pinch of sugar

How you do it

• wash basil leaves, peel garlic cloves (but don't chop).
• add everything into food processor and let run until it is creamy. Add oil if necessary.

Red Pesto

What you need

• ca 200g sun-dried tomatoes
• ca 20 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 cloves of garlic
• salt, pepper, chilli flakes and powder
• pinch of sugar
• some 8 basil leaves
• ca 80g pine kernels

How you do it

• put a small pot on heat and add pine kernels. Roast until slightly brown then remove from burner/oven
• put everything into a food processor. turn the machine on and let it run until the pesto is of creamy consistency. Add oil if necessary.