10-minute carrot and ginger pickle (and a salad to go with it)

 

 

 

If you ever bumped into Peter Rabbit, he would be sure to tell you that carrots are absolutely delicious, worth risking your life for in Mr. McGregor's garden. He would probably go on to tell you they are really healthy and he would ask you if you have ever seen a rabbit wearing glasses. Well, perhaps if you were four years old, and you had a very vivid imagination...

 

The truth is carrots may be good for you and quite tasty at that, but they are also pretty boring and not a vegetable you normally serve your guests, well aside from a few exceptions.

 

 

 

 

These on the other hand are sweet, they are sour, they are crunchy and they have some heat. They take 10 minutes to prepare and 10 minutes to pickle. They last in the fridge for up to a few days, probably even more, but I can't vouch for it because they have never lasted that long in our home.

 

So far we have had these carrots in a lentil salad, the chickpea salad above, in mixed green salads, with cheese and cured meats and even alongside roast chicken. You can use the leftover pickling liquid in a salad dressing with olive oil and perhaps a drizzle of sesame oil or you can just spoon it into your mouth like my 8-year old did last week. 

 

 

 

Once again, I have to thank Lorraine for this brilliant tip and so should you ;o)

 

Ingredients

2 large carrots, peeled into ribbons or grated

1 or 2 tsp grated ginger

4 tbsp rice wine vinegar

3 or 4 tbsp quick-dissolving sugar (like icing sugar)

1 tbsp water

1 tsp salt

1 tsp soy sauce

 

Mix together together the vinegar, sugar (I used a little under the 4 tablespoons indicated in the recipe) and salt until they dissolve completely. Add the water and soy sauce.

Peel the carrots into thin ribbons or grate them. Grate the ginger and mix into the carrots and then fit them into a jar about the size of a jam jar. Pour over the pickling liquid, making sure it completely covers the carrots. Close and pickle for about 10 minutes, turning the jar upside down halfway through. Use immediately or store in fridge for a few days.

 

 

Chickpea salad with feta, apples and pickled carrots

3 cups chickpeas

2 cups arugula

150gr feta cheese

handful fresh coriander, chopped

1/2 apple, sliced

pickled carrots, about half the amount above

 

I cooked the chickpeas, but you can just as easily use the canned variety. Rinse them well, chop up the arugula and coriander leaves, crumble in some feta cheese and add in the pickled carrots and the thinly sliced, bite-sized pieces of apple. Drizzle over some olive oil and lemon juice, mix and adjust for salt.

 

  

 

 

 

 



Plum galette with ginger ricotta filling

 

 

Plums may have been one of the first fruits to be domesticated by humans. Remains have been found dating from the Neolithic age. They were mentioned in writing by Confucius (also, in Chinese mythology, plums are associated with age and wisdom), the Greeks and the Romans.

 

They are the most cultivated fruit in the world after apples and they come in many colors, sizes and shapes. Plums are used in both sweet and savory preparations. They can be dried, pickled and are used to make alcoholic beverages in several countries.

 

Blah, blah, blah...

 

I know. You didn't come here for this. I mean, these facts may have been interesting and even amusing (in a nerdy-foodie kinda way), but this? This is just boring. Stuff you already know, and if you don't, maybe it is because you don't particularly care to know it.

Am I right?

 

I did want to tell you something... it's just that...

 

...

 

... my mind is a total blank...

 

For the life of me, I cannot come up with one single amusing or entertaining thing to write today.

 

 

 

 

 

But I have a dessert for you that I am just dying to share. I want to tell you about it even if I don't have a cutesy preamble for you. After all, this is a food blog, is it not?

 

So I am going to cut right to the chase and give you the recipe for a delightful, very seasonal, rustic yet elegant galette to make with your overabundance of plums.

 

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.



 

 

Of love and of loss - Chicken Tikka Masala

 

 

This has been an extraordinary week, and as I start writing this post it is only halfway through.

 

Extraordinary as in "out of the ordinary" not " unusually great".

 

F and I spent the first two days of it sitting sweat-drenched in stiff, ceremonial outfits in the midst of a heatwave.
 

On Monday we wore the colors of mourning to say goodbye to an old friend. Needless to say, his departure was unexpected, shocking, painful and happened much too soon.

 

It is very different when you bid your farewell to a person that has lived a long, rich life. It is still extremely sad, but you know it is their time, it is part of the circle of life.

 

When, on the other hand, you sit in a pew surrounded by all the people who were a part of your formative years and you see grown men (and women) cry their eyes out, something is very wrong. You almost hear an unfinished life coming to a screaching halt. There is just grief, no comprehension. You feel the weight of injustice on your shoulders; as the priest talks you remember facial expressions, words said, moments spent together that had gone lost somewhere in your subconscious. While you sit in that church it seems everyone is suddenly a good friend... no, your best friend. You are all connected on an intimate level, you share that pain. Everyone has an air of empathy and well meaning. You mentally promise each other you will never forget, you will share the precious memories, you will be better friends, companions, parents, children from now on. You hug, you exchange tissues and bare a part of your soul you usually never let anyone see. And even if you pretend not to notice them, you feel the cold fingers of fear creaping up around your hairline at the mere thought that it could have been you. For days after you spend large amounts of your time being incredibly aware of and thankful for the beauty that surrounds you.

 

So yes, that was Monday.

Raw from the experience of the previous day and a tad unwilling, on Tuesday we donned the colors of summer. I stepped into a flowy, light dress and F replaced his somber tie with a bright one. We didn't even turn on the radio on the drive up to the wedding, our hearts were so heavy. Then, as we neared the mountains and crossed the border into another country, our mood got lighter and we started feeling almost elated.

The sky was blue, the lake sparkled in the sun and the beauty of the landscape enchanted us. Once more we silently thanked someone/something for the breathtaking world we live in.
 

It did us good to see a new family being created after seeing a broken family the day before. It is good for the soul to counterbalance salty tears of grief with the sweeter ones of sentiment. It soothes to see love, to see different cultures, religions, races come together instead of clashing. It helps to be reminded by an exchange of rings, or an email (you know who you are, thank you), how much love there is in the world and how brief our journey through it is.

 

 

It was wonderful to dig our feet into the sand, to see the white of a wedding day spruced up by the bright, warm colors of Africa. Hips in vibrant prints jiggled to the beat of drums, we did the conga to '80s disco music and during the cutting of the cake, an ancient song bid peace to be upon us. Evenu shalom alejem.
 
I felt guilty on my way to the wedding, like I was not  mourning my friend appropriately. But now I know I did what he loved most: I celebrated the awesomeness that is life, in good and bad. I celebrated friendship, I drank champagne, I danced barefoot in the sand. And by doing this I celebrated his life too.

This one is for you, my friend.

 

 

Indian cooking is a bit like life: a mix of contrasting ingredients and flavors. Spicy, sour, sweet, cool earthy. It is all about balacing these flavors to reach the sublime.

I used to be really intimidated by the enormous list of ingredients most Indian recipes require, but the truth is that once you invest in the basic, pantry-friendly range of spices called for, many favorites are just at an arm's reach.

Recipe from Indiaphile

Asian beef stew with Thai garnish (+ how to make another meal out of it)

 

  

On Monday morning I went to work in a wet mess of snow mixed with rain. My throat was sore, my nose was tickling and my eyes were stinging, the beginning of a horrendous cold. Yesterday, however, it was a beautiful day: it was sunny, the air was clean, the sky was a clear blue. When the sun shines these days, it shines a little warmer, the air instantly turns balmy, everything looks brighter. Then, a cloud covers the sun and the chill in the air envelops you, reminding you are still in the grip of the icy fingers of winter.

 



First of two batches



 

This dish sort of reminds me of this time of the year, when it is definitely still winter but little hints of spring start showing up here and there. The stew is hearty, warming, bursting with the flavors from the Far East. While it bubbles on the stove and cooks slowly, ever so slowly, in the oven it pleasantly warms up your kitchen. But mind you, it is not a heavy meal. The meat is tender and lean, the sauce is far from rich, more of an intensely flavored and tinted broth. Every bite is accompanied by the fresh, brightly colored hot and sour Thai salad it is served with. The tangyness of the lime juice, the umami from the fish sauce, the crisp and cool julienned vegetables, the bite from the chilli peppers and the potent aroma of the coriander leaves all contribute to that feeling of spring that is slowly creeping into all things winter.

 

 

Don't be scared off by the list of ingredients, if you already cook Asian-inspired recipes at home, you will already have most, it not all, of them in your kitchen. And if you don't it is not a big deal: I used Mirin instead of Chinese wine, small red chilli peppers instead of large red and green ones, cinnamon powder instead of sticks. I also realized that I forgot to add in the ground coriander at the beginning while I was writing out the ingredients for you. It turned out great anyway. The procedure is extremely simple and allows you to prepare ahead of time: a perfect dinner party dish. All it requires is a few hours of unattended slow cooking (I was taking measurements at Ikea while this baby was in the oven). The flavors are wonderful (even my half Thai friend loved it and asked me for the recipe) and the meat just falls apart at the touch of your fork.

1. Sauté ginger, garlic and onion; 2. add stock; 3. add sauces and spices; 4. boil down sauce once meat is ready.

 

A few notes:

Nigella (Lawson of course) suggests making this with ginger mashed potatoes and parsnips, which I'm sure is delicious, but I just couldn't be bothered and made it with basmati rice instead, which worked perfectly to soak up the sauce.

If you end up not using all of the sauce (I used boneless meat  - she suggests either or - so that could be why... less bulk), DO NOT throw it away! Store it in a jar in the fridge for future use.

On Monday, to nurse my cold, I heated up some stock, poured in a few tablespoons of said sauce and then dumped in the leftover basmati rice: the most perfect meal for a congested head and chest and a runny nose. I loved it so much I decided I wanted to integrate it into our dinner. I had some tuna that I had bought a couple of days prior that needed using up. I heated some more stock, mixed in the rest of the jar of sauce and then added in some rice noodles. On the side, I sauteed some rapini in a pan with olive oil and garlic. Last, I seared the tuna steaks coated in sesame seeds and then cut them into thin slices. I served all the ingredients in a bowl with spoons and chop sticks. Success all the way round!

 

I am telling you, there is nothing better than a meal that yields one, or even two more!

 

 

Burmese ginger salad

I have had a lot of different jobs over the years, including some pretty bizzarre ones when I was in University.

Like that time I did a good friend who worked in PR a last-minute translating favor because he had an emergency which ended up with me wearing a short red velvet dress with white fur lining, pretending to be Santa's helper/wife (I'm still not sure which) standing on a theater stage with a microphone in front of a crowd of pre-schoolers and mothers translating their questions to him in English. Santa spoke not one word of English and we had to totally improvise and the only reason I am telling you this is because we are good friends in an intimate setting.

Another time, when I was working for the inauguration of a historic Italian landmark that had been painstakingly restored, I was asked by that same friend (come to think about it, he is probably to blame for some of the insecurities that have followed me into adulthood) to become an impromptu interpreter for HRH xyz who was on an offical visit from xyz while they were taking her on a tour around the place. Just so you know, they started talking horse racing and thoroughbreds and the related terminology is not a part of my everyday English or Italian vocabulary. I was then pressed to entertain and distract her when the waiters had to take back the second course of the gala dinner as the pigeon that was being served was giving off a rotten smell because it had been aged a tad too long.

These days, however, working in finance, my work life is not quite as eventful or as exciting as it used to be so I had to smile today when I received an email offering me a free lance job totally unrelated to blogging by a person  because he is a foodie, or at the very least has a good sense of humor.

This is what he wrote at the end of his email:

"...P.S. The thing that really convinced me to contact you is the fact that you are a food blogger. Sure beats financial statements..."

In life, you never know what is around the corner and the best way to go through it is not taking yourself too seriously.

When I read the recipe for this salad on Global Table Adventures, I knew I had to make it. I love the flavors, textures and colors of Southeast Asian cuisine but had never tasted anything typically Burmese. I also conveniently had a most of the required ingredients in my kitchen, always a plus for me.

When it comes to food, you also never know what new surprises are awaiting you out there. A few weeks ago I discovered the joy Burmese food can give your taste buds.

Before making it I decided to do a little research. It turns out that this salad, called Gin Thoke, is usually served as a palate cleanser or even a dessert in Burma. I found several recipes for it and although almost all of them listed ginger, lime, peanuts, fish sauce, sesame seeds and cabbage as their main ingredients, several left out chickpeas and lentils or substituted these legumes with black eyed peas, split peas or lima beans. You can also use deseeded tomatoes, papaya, carrots or dried shrimp in it. As all popular dishes, there are as many variations as there are cooks. This salad is ideal for pescatarians and even vegetarians/vegans simply substituting the fish sauce with soy sauce (and kelp powder for fishiness if you like).

As many Asian recipes, this one may seem daunting if you just read the list of ingredients but it is actually very simple to make because it mainly involves a lot of chopping and the following of a few basic steps.

I set out to make this to bring to an aperitivo we were having with friends on Saturday evening and as potluck for a BBQ the following day, so I made about 16 servings worth, which meant I fried in several batches. If you make a smaller amount it will be even less laborious and time consuming.

Oh, last but not least, this recipe will leave you with about a 1/2 cup of deliciously aromatic ginger-infused lime juice that you can use to make a refreshing digestive summer drink with some sparkling water, or as Sasha over at Global Table suggests, adding hot water, vodka or honey (or all three together) to make a somewhat unusual, exciting cocktail.

Filipino chicken adobo

Let's face it... sometimes you just cannot bear to eat another bowl of baby spinach, crunch on another carrot or steam another stalk of asparagus.

Sometimes you just need a punch of flavor and depth from your food, that je ne sais quoi. A sensory overload to give your tastebuds a jolt of pleasure after weeks of dullness, like a dirty dream in a 30-year marriage.

I have already stated that keeping your calorie count low does not necessarily mean boring. Luckily there are dishes that are full of character and tantalizing flavors (remember that ceviche?) without too many calories. Take this chicken adobo: tangy, pungent, briny, delicious. If you are looking for something to make your tastebuds sing, this will have them chanting a cappella. I used low sodium soy sauce and tried to avoid mopping up the sauce with rice to keep it reasonably light, concentrating more on the flavorful meat. My family was only too happy to step in for me.

This dish, that is considered one of the Philippines' national dishes, was originally borne from the necessity to preserve meat in the heat. When the Spanish colonized the islands back in the 16th century, they saw the indigenous population stewing their meat in vinegar and named this technique adobo, after their own tradition of marinating meats, although they have little in common. Filipino adobo is usually made with chicken and/or pork cooked in a liquid made with soy sauce, garlic, bay leaves, pepper corns and the key ingredient - vinegar.

I of course fell in love with Adam's version because you know I am always on the look out for an easy week night meal. His recipe, originally from April Bloomfield, requires using large quantities of garlic and ginger skin on, which also makes the former less aggressive. Once the garlic is cooked, it can easily be nudged out of the skin and eaten. The meal comes together really quickly, the only tricky part being browning the chicken, which took longer than I expected and turned out to be a little messy (meaning I had grease splattered all over my stove and counters. Next time I will use less oil). It is however really essential to get those flavors going, so don't skip it.

Ginger miso carrot soup

Don't you sometimes wish you could touch up your life a little?

Add some color here, soften some sharp edges there?

Some weeks are a little duller than others. On those days a little contrast wouldn't hurt. Other times stuff just gets on your nerves. How about erasing it with one quick swipe?

Come on, you know it would be cool if you could sometimes  photoshop your day a little.

Keep the basics but tweak them a bit. If energy was low and stress levels high, you would just move a cursor up or down a line until you reached the percentage that suited you best.

  

I wouldn't mind cropping some aspects of my life these days, parts involving desks, meeting rooms, coffee machines, badges and monitors, but unfortunately you need more than a mouse or a touch pad to do that in the real world.

Truth is, I am not big on photo editing either. I get by with the really basic stuff and my limited knowledge  is just enough to try to slightly improve my amateur photography skills. Sometimes the light is so superb that I don't even need to turn to photo editing, but today I had a good recipe for you and a bunch of terrible pictures, the kind you take in a dark kitchen in a rush, with family members hungrily and impatiently waiting around a dinner table. So I decided I could distract you and tell you about the deliciousness of this soup anyway.

  

  

I was smitten with this soup the minute I laid eyes on it. It seemed like the perfect way to a) use up all those carrots I had in the fridge and b) devise another way of getting my kids to eat cooked carrots. They are slightly miso-soup-obsessed so I thought if I just called it miso soup and told them the color came from the miso paste, they would eat it. Guess what? It  worked perfectly and my daughter's jaw dropped when I told her right after she literally finished licking out her bowl that she had eaten carrot soup. That doesn't mean you don't taste the carrots, because they shine through, but every spoonful is accompanied by the tingling flavor of ginger on your tongue, the smoky nutty taste of sesame oil and the umami from the miso paste. It is Japan in a spoonful.

Ingredients

about 2 pounds carrots,  sliced thinly
about 4 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed (or to taste)

1 onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp finely grated /chopped ginger (or to taste)

4 cups vegetable stock
1/4 cup miso paste (the recipe suggests white miso paste, but I only had dark paste so I started with less and added it little by little)

olive oil

toasted sesame oil
2 sliced scallions for garnish (I unfortunately didn't have any)

Cover the bottom of a saucepan with olive oil, heat it and add in the carrots, onion and garlic. Sauté for a while, then add the stock and grated ginger. Simmer covered until carrots are tender, about half an hour.

Blend soup and then mix together the miso paste with a ladel of hot soup . When it has dissolved pour it back into the pot. Taste and add more if you like. Season if needed and then serve in individual bowls, drizzled with the sesame oil and garnished with scallions.

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Chewy, ginger cookie bars

Dear Santa,

This letter will probably get lost among the hundreds of thousands that have started filling your Inbox in recent days. With my luck, it will probably end up in your Spam folder.

It is probably safer to do things the old-fashioned way: address it to Saint Nicholas (I know, I know, only your mom and few million German children call you that these days but I think it suits you) and stuff it into a boot on December 5th the way I did when I was a child, before computers became the norm. I mean, let’s face it Nick, countless generations of children did this successfully for decades before me and their letters never got lost.

First of all, before I forget, I don’t mind if you put a few tangerines and walnuts in my kids’ boots together with the candy this year. I know I used to complain about it when I was a child, but now that I am a mother, I totally get your point.

Yes, don’t you worry, I promise I will remind my children that putting out Daddy’s snow boots instead of their rain boots will not increase the amount of candy they get. It is good to know that you and I are on the same wave length about these things.

I will also refrain from telling them our best kept secret, that you are a sweet old man with a good heart and that you would never really leave a branch in their boot instead of candy if they haven’t behaved sometimes. I will however admit that it is a very helpful threat in the weeks preceding December 6th and I intend to take full advantage of it. Whoever started that rumor was most definitely a Mom.

 

 

Oh, another thing. My little girl will be writing her first Christmas letter this year. If you have any problem deciphering what she wrote, please let me know. I will be happy to help.

 

 

I am doing my best to keep up with all the traditions of this season and to make you feel at home when you come with your sleigh full of gifts. We will be decorating a tree on the week end, advent calendars are sitting on the kitchen counter, Christmas music is playing on loop on our Ipod sound system. I bought two really pretty Christmas tablecloths yesterday (ok, I know you didn’t ask for them specifically but they were soooo cute!) and my daughter picked out the new Christmas decoration that we buy every year as per tradition for the tree. We will be setting up our tiny hand carved wooden Crib under the tree and reading A Christmas Carol before bedtime. My daughter may even read a few sentences this year. Next week we will be in Germany to visit family, the Christmas markets and to celebrate the third Sunday of Advent. And yes, I have already pulled out our Christmas cookie cutters and made the first Yuletide-inspired recipe just for you, so you have something to nibble on when you stop by next week to pick up the letters.

 

 

Last but not least, I promised my kids I would tell you we will be in the mountains for Christmas, just in case you forget and come here instead. You should be able to find a snow covered roof to land on with the reindeers pretty easily but I forgot to ask if they had a chimney when I rented the apartment. If worse comes to worse I will open the balcony door for you.

I am so looking forward to your visit. I send you a big hug (are grown ups still allowed to hug you?).

 

 

 

 

 

What is that? My list?

I don’t have any real Christmas wishes: while I was writing you about reading books with my kids, baking cookies, decorating the tree with my loved ones, I realized I have everything I want and need right here in my home.

 

 

But if you really can’t help yourself because you are Santa and it is in your genes, I can always use a book, an accessory, some bling, something food-related…well, you decide.

See you next week!

 

 

Me

Adapted from A full measure of happiness

 

Teriyaki glazed salmon

Oh. My. Goodness.

This is one of the best things I have cooked, no, had lately.  And it took me under 10 minutes to make (excluding the salmon's cooking time) without buying any new ingredients. Who knew teriyaki was so easy?

Thanks to Hunger and Sauce, I discovered my new favorite way to make fish, meat or whatever else I can smother in this delectable sauce. It is perfect for a week night meal (like ours) but just as good to impress guests.

Hunger and Sauce also suggested using the left over sauce, diluted with some water, to dress up some vegetables, rice or noodles. Too bad F practically licked off every last drop from the baking dish there were no leftovers to speak of...but hey, maybe next time?

Today I am giving it another try: I took the day off from work so ciao, off to have me some girly fun! Have a great week end, possibly in the company of this dish. You won't regret it.

Ingredients

a large salmon fillet (or other fatty fish)

a pinch of sesame seeds, toasted

Sauce:

4 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp Mirin

a thumb-sized knob of fresh grated ginger

4 tbsp brown sugar

pepper

Preheat your oven to 180°C. Combine all the sauce ingredients in a small sauce pan (I was out of fresh ginger so I used dry ginger instead) and start mixing over a medium flame until the sauce reduces to a syrupy consistency. Brush over the fish and bake in the oven. We prefer to undercook our salmon so I did not leave it in long. Also, do not forget the sauce is hot when you brush it on and that that will start cooking the fish before you even put it in the oven. Before serving sprinkle over some previously toasted sesame seeds.