Twice-Baked Aubergines

Posted on March 20, 2012 by Carmen

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients:

  • 2 medium aubergines
  • 200g tomatoes (peeled normal size or slow roasted cherry size)
  • 1 glove of garlic
  • 1 red chilli
  • 1 tsp grated ginger
  • 1 small/medium red onion
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds (or a bit less ground cumin)
  • Juice of half a lemon
  • 1 + 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tsp fresh herbs (coriander or parsley work well, but any other herbs you like will do)
  • 100g goats cheese
  • Salt & pepper for seasoning

Method:

  • Heat the oven to 200 C
  • Wash the aubergines, rub dry and cut of the stems.
  • Half the aubergines length wise and scoop out the flesh with a tea spoon, leave them about 1cm thick
  • Drizzle the aubergines with olive oil (1 tbsp) and lay cut side down on a non-stick baking tray, bake for 15-20 minutes until they are al dente
  • In the meantime chop up the aubergine flesh you have scooped out, add the chopped tomatoes, minced glove of garlic, de-seeded and finely chopped chilli, grated ginger, finely chopped onion, cumin, lemon juice, 3 tbsp olive oil, finely chopped fresh herbs and season with salt & pepper
  • Place the pre-baked aubergine halves and place into a flat oven dish, cut side up. Fill with the mixture and top with crumbled goats cheese.
  • Bake for 15-20 minutes until browned.

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Pistou Soup

Posted on March 10, 2012 by Carmen

I don’t remember where I got this recipe from but it is a kind of soup that tastes good at any time of the year. It is a light yet hearty dish, which does not require a massive shopping list nor a lot of time to make it.

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients:

    • 2-3 tbsp olive oil
    • 1 medium onion, finely chopped
    • 1 large potato, peeled and diced (small chunks, maybe 5mm)
    • 1 large courgette, diced
    • 1 large carrot, peeled and diced
    • 2 medium tomatoes, cored and de-seeded, diced
    • 200g canned white haricot beans, drained
    • 2 tbsp tomato puree
    • 1 l vegetable stock
    • salt
    • pepper
    • basil leaves or parsley or chives, finely chopped

Method:

Take a large saucepan and heat up the oil. Put down to medium heat and saute the potatoes, onions, carrots and courgettes just until they start to soften (5-7 minutes).  Add the tomato puree and cook. The add the beans, pour in the stock, bring to the boil and continue to simmer for about 20 minutes until the potatoes and beans are soft. Now add the tomatoes and herbs and let it simmer for about 5 minutes. It tastes great hot from the hob but can also be prepared hours in advance.

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Quick Weekend Rolls

Posted on March 3, 2012 by Carmen

Everyone likes fresh rolls for breakfast, especially on a weekend. But not everyone likes to go out to the shops or bakery to get some, especially on a weekend :-) So this is a quick and easy recipe to make your own. As the dough is without yeast there is no time required to let it rise so it does not need a lot of preparation time at all. They are also great for freezing and taste best if you let them defrost for 20 minutes and then pop them into the hot oven for 5-10 minutes just before serving.

Preparation time: 10-15 minutes
Baking time: 25-35 minutes (180°C)
Number of servings: Makes 8 rolls

Ingredients:

  • 50g butter (room temperature)
  • 2 eggs
  • 250ml milk
  • 500g flour (I use wholemeal flour)
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 2 tsp baking powder

Method:

  • Turn on the oven to pre-heat (180°C) – if fan assisted then put an oven proof dish onto the bottom of the oven half filled with boiling water to prevent the rolls from drying out
  • Beat the eggs and butter until creamy (If you don’t like them plain and prefer to add some herbs or spices then add them in just after the eggs and butter have been beaten.)
  • Add the pinch of salt
  • Now (using dough hooks) alternately add the flour and milk
  • Add the baking powder right at the end
  • Knead the dough just as long as needed, if it is too sticky add a bit of flour
  • Divide in 8 portions (or more or less depending on how large or small you like the rolls to be), form between your hands into roll shapes and place on a lined or greased baking tray
  • Brush with a bit of milk and cut or cross the top with a sharp knife
  • Bake for about 30 minutes at 180°C

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Butternut Soup

Posted on March 2, 2012 by Carmen

I have never been a fan of butternut or pumpkin soup so I thought I shall look around whether I can find a recipe that works for me. I couldn’t find one so I created one myself, a bit of a mixture of all the different recipes I could find but I’ve managed to maintain the butternut taste without killing it by adding other vegetables or spices. It looks like baby food but I have to say…I will make it again.

Preparation time: 15 minutes (plus 30 minutes cooking time)
Number of servings (yield): 2

Ingredients:

  • 200g butternut
  • 100g carrots
  • 100g potatoes (or sweet potatoes)
  • 500 – 750ml vegetable (or chicken) stock (depends how thick you like your soup to be)
  • Coarse salt and freshly-ground pepper for seasoning
  • A pinch of cinnamon
  • A pinch of ground nutmeg (ideally freshly ground)
  • 2 tbsp of natural yoghurt
  • Fresh herbs (I like parsley but coriander works well too)

Method:

  • Peel and dice the butternut, potatoes and carrots
  • Add with the stock into a sauce pan and bring to the boil until they are soft (about 15 minutes or so)
  • Purée with the potato masher (or blend if you do not want any bits in there)
  • Stir in the spices, herbs and yoghurt
  • Bring to the boil again, turn the heat off and let it sit for 10 minutes before serving

Posted in Mains, Soup | Tagged | Leave a comment

Pumpkin Flammkuchen (Flame Cake/Tarte Flambée)

Posted on February 24, 2012 by Carmen

This is a lovely alternative to pizza and also much quicker. It is a speciality from the French area called Alsace, where you can find it with all sorts of toppings, savoury or sweet. The traditional topping is bacon and onions, and some of the sweet Flammkuchen, which contain mostly fruit, are actually flambéed with Calvados; I suppose that is where the name comes from. The prep is very easy and to make the dough is actually easier than making a pizza dough (I’ve heard that some people are not very successful with those…).

Preparation time: 20-30 minutes (plus 20 minutes baking time on 200-220°C)
Number of servings (yield): 4 (2 baking trays)

Ingredients:

  • 300g plain flour
  • 250ml cold water
  • 3 tbsp oil (rapeseed or any other vegetable oil as long as it is not strong in flavour)
  • A pinch of ordinary salt
  • ⅓ – ½ butternut squash, depends on the size (tastes best but you can use any other pumpkin)
  • 1 large onion
  • 2 gloves of garlic
  • 2 stalks of spring onion
  • 200g crème fraiche (you can use ordinary sour crème as well)
  • A sprinkle of grated Gruyère cheese (tastes best but you can use any cheese you like)
  • A pinch of coarse sea salt
  • A pinch of freshly ground pepper

Instructions:

  • Mix the flour, water, salt and oil and knead into a smooth dough. That happens fairly quickly and the dough must not be sticky or too dry. If sticky then add a bit of flour, if too dry and/or crumbly then add a drop of water or oil. The dough can be made hours in advance as long as it is being wrapped in cling film it’ll stay nice and smooth.
  • Half the dough and roll out each half into a thin roundish disc of the size of your baking tray. It must not be thicker than 5mm, ideally 3-4mm if you can.
  • Place the dough on the baking trays (ideally on baking paper).
  • Now for the toppings: Peel the squash and take out the seeds, peel the onion and cut both (or better use a slicer) into very thin slices. Peel the garlic and either chop roughly or cut thin slices. Cut the spring onion into small pieces.
  • Now spread the crème fraiche thinly over the rolled out dough (again not too thick, not too thin), sprinkle with coarse salt and freshly ground pepper. Then add the garlic, onions and pumpkin slices and top with a sprinkle of spring onions. Top it with some grated cheese but not as thick as on a pizza, really just a few specs here and there. That’s why Gruyère cheese tastes best as it is not a thick cover.

The oven needs to be pre-heated and as the dough as well as the toppings are all pretty thin it should not take more than 20-30 minutes until the Flammkuchen is baked. However it depends on your oven as well; if the edges start to brown and the toppings have some nicely browned specs then it is. You can also check it underneath whilst lifting it up a little to see if the dough is slightly browned underneath.

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