Curry - #Whattodowithpotatoesmushroomsandtofu

Today we had some dish in mind that would use up the soaked beans we had in the fridge. But the beans had other plans - they must have spoiled some time this week.

We were left with potatoes, mushrooms, tofu and onions. A quick google search revealed a bunch of great recipes with those ingredients, and we settled on a recipe for a curry with coconut milk

Ingredients
Oil
2 onions, chopped in half rings
3 potatoes, chopped into cubes
6 big mushrooms, sliced
1 package of firm tofu
100ml vegetable stock
100ml cream
400ml coconut milk
Curry powder, cumin, salt, pepper to taste

In a dutch oven, heat some oil, then add onions and potatoes. Cook for 5 mins until the potatoes start to soften. Add tofu and mushrooms, and cook for a few more mins, adding stock to avoid burning on the bottom. Add spices, cream and coconut milk, and simmer for 10 mins.

The potatoes came out very creamy, and the tofu was flavorful! We served it over brown rice and it was delicious!

Autumn Mac and Cheese

This recipe is basically the same as the Mac and Cheese recipe that I posted a while ago. Only I've added roasted butternut squash and zucchini :)

Ingredients:
elbow macaroni
butternut squash, cut into 1 inch cubes
zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch slices
olive oil
1/4 cup of butter
1/8 cup of flour
1.5-2 cups of milk
0.5-1 cup of stock
0.7 lb of cheese (I used medium cheddar)
turmeric
white pepper

Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 425° F. Place butternut squash and zucchini in a bowl, drizzle with olive oil and stir until they are coated with oil. Place vegetables on a roasting pan and place it in the oven. Stir after 5-8 minutes and return to the oven for another couple of minutes until vegetables are almost done.

Cook the elbow macaroni in salty water until they are not quite done. Submerge in ice water to stop the cooking process. Drain. Combine with vegetables
Melt butter in a skillet, stir in the flour on low heat until the color becomes a light brown. Add the milk and keep stirring. Then add spices, stock and cheese. The cheese does not have to melt all they way.
Measure an equal amount of macaroni and vegetables and cheese sauce (e.g. 2 cups) and mix them together in an oven proof dish. Bake at 350 F for about 30 minutes.

Mac and Cheese

The other day I volunteered in a kitchen and made Mac and Cheese for the first time. I didn't get to try our creation as our volunteer shift ended before the meal was baked. So I tried it at home.

I thought it lacked a bit of salt, maybe I didn't put enough of it in the boiling water of the elbow macaroni, maybe I didn't use the right kind of cheese. I'll experiment some more with this recipe in the future!

Ingredients:
elbow macaroni
1/4 cup of butter
1/8 cup of flour
1.5-2 cups of milk
0.5-1 cup of stock
0.7 lb of cheese (I used medium cheddar)
turmeric
white pepper

Cook the elbow macaroni in salty water until they are not quite done. Submerge in ice water to stop the cooking process. Drain.
Melt butter in a skillet, stir in the flour on low heat until the color becomes a light brown. Add the milk and keep stirring. Then add spices, stock and cheese. The cheese does not have to melt all they way.
Measure an equal amount of macaroni and cheese sauce (e.g. 2 cups) and mix them together in an oven proof dish. Bake at 350 F for about 30 minutes.

I also tried adding mushrooms and served the Mac and Cheese with broccoli.

Beef and Vegetable Stew

Soups and stews are easy to make and can be very tasty.

For this one I used home-made stock made from veggie scraps:

6-8 cups vegetable stock
1 onion, cut
3 carrots, cut in thin circles
1/2 lb ground beef
1 can black beans, drained
2 little yellow squash, cut in quarter circles
1/2 cup quinoa, washed
1 cup macaroni
salt, pepper, cumin, parsley

Heat some olive oil in a pan and fry half of the cut onion for a couple of minutes. Add spices and the cut carrots. Fry for another 5 minutes, then add the ground beef and fry until beef is done.
In a pot, bring the stock to a boil, add salt and spices, then reduce to a simmer. Add beans,  squash, quinoa and macaroni. Cook for about 10 minutes, then add the beef-carrot mix.

I first wasn't quite happy with the result because I had forgotten to salt the stock before putting the macaroni in so that they were kind of tasteless although the broth and vegetables had a good amount of spices in and on them. But on the second day the macaronis had sucked up the flavor and it was much better.
I also liked the colors of the dish :)

Vegetabel stock from scraps

I stumbled upon this brilliant idea a couple of weeks ago. It is quite simple:
1. Collect your veggie scraps in a container in the freezer.
2. Cook the veggie scraps with herbs in water for about an hour.
3. Drain. Use the stock.

This site has a useful picture to show which vegetables make good stock and what should be avoided.

Whenever the containers containing veggie scraps begin to take up too much space in my freezer I make a pot of stock (or rather I assume this is what I will continue doing, thus far it has only happened once) and make a soup with the stock.

So easy!

Chicken Stew with Vegetables and Grains

This is a recipe I wanted to try out after making a similar ready-made mix. I changed it up a little bit, adding vegetables and changing the cooking process. I imagine, it is also possible to make a vegetarian version of this stew.

2 cups mix of beans, rice and lentils
salt
garlic
rosemary *other spices
1 big onion, chopped
4 carrots, chopped
1 celery, chopped
1 - 2 pound chicken breast
10 cups vegetable or chicken stock

Wash the grains, set aside.
Heat up oil and add onions in a big pot. When onions are cooked add spices and chicken and cook for about 5 minutes. Add vegetables and cook for another 5 minutes. Add stock and grains and cook until grains are done.

Chicken Pie

I tried baking mini Chicken Pot Pies in my muffin pan. I didn't actually look up a recipe and the only Chicken Pot Pie that I ever had was the microwave Chicken Pot Pie the day before which led to me thinking "Hm, I bet I can make this myself!"
Apparently I couldn't and the result didn't taste like Chicken Pot Pie usually tastes. So I am calling it a Chicken Pie

For the Crust:
1 cup of flour
1/2 stick of butter
2 eggs
salt, pepper
Mix together, roll out between two sheets of cling foil. Lift the upper foil and use a big cup to cut out circles to press in the muffin pan molds. Safe some dough for sealing the pies. Blind bake at 300 F for about 10 min.

For the filling:
onion, chopped
broccoli, cut into small pieces
peas
carrots, pealed and cut into small pieces
chicken breast
Fry the onion in some oil and add the vegetables. Fry for a couple of minutes, then add the chicken and fry until chicken and veggies are done. Cut chicken into small pieces.

For the sauce:
Turkey stock
corn starch or flour
butter
cream
paprika, salt, pepper
lemon juice
Melt butter in a hot pan, add corn starch or flour and spices. While stirring fast add the turkey stock and cream until the sauce has the desired consistency. Add more salt, spices and lemon juice if needed.

Mix the sauce with the veggies and chicken and fill the muffin pan. Add dough lids and bake until lids are golden for about 20-30 minutes.


I need to learn how to use my seasoning and spices. The pies had too much pepper and not enough salt. But otherwise they were quite tasty.

Puff Pastry Roll Filled With Salmon and Spinach

Puff pastry is great! For dishes with spinach, with cheese, with tomatoes, with cinnamon, with nuts and sugar..
..and for salmon! I tried out this German recipe of a Salmon and Spinach Puff Pastry Roll and adapted it a little bit. It's now one of my favorite recipes even though I've only made it twice so far. It's easy and quick to make and tastes really good!

Puff Pastry Roll Filled With Salmon and Spinach
1 sheet frozen puff pastry
1/2 - 1lb salmon
1/2 onion, chopped
1 bunch spinach or frozen spinach
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup cream cheese
salt, pepper
1 egg, whisked
Thaw the puff pastry and roll it out with a rolling pin.
Fry onion in a pan, add spinach and fry for a couple of minutes. (optional: add some flower). Add salt and pepper.
Fry salmon for a couple of minutes and cut into 1-2 inch cubes.
Mix sour cream and cream cheese and season with salt and pepper.
Spread the sour cream mix on the pastry, leaving 1-2 inches. Distribute spinach and salmon on top of the sour cream mix. Roll the pastry with the filling from one side to another, ending without the sour cream mix.
Transfer roll unto a baking dish and brush with the egg.
Bake at 375F for 25-30 minutes until golden.

This yummy roll can be served by itself, or with a simple white sauce.

For the White Sauce:
3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
3 cups vegetable stock
1 cup cream
salt, pepper, white wine, lemon juice
Melt the butter, slowly add the flour. Then add vegetable stock and cream until the sauce has the consistency you like. Season with salt, pepper, white wine, lemon juice. Serve with the puff pastry roll.

Another one of my favorite recipes that goes well with this one is Potato and Corn Casserole from Argentina.

And of course veggies :)

Turkey stock, turkey yoghurt soup and crunch bars with sour cream chocolate frosting

After Thanksgiving we had a lot of left overs and I got to try out some new turkey recipes.

I was especially exited about the recipes I could make with the turkey stock.
The stock recipe I used was a mixture of this turkey stock recipe I found online and what I found in my newly acquired book "Julia's Kitchen Wisdom" by Julia Child.

My turkey stock:
I cooked the turkey carcass with carrots, celery and onions and also added a bouquet of herbs (dill, rosemary and thyme). After bringing everything to a boil I let it simmer for about 2 hours.
The stock turned out a bit cloudy so I guess I didn't skim enough in the beginning but I think that's ok.

Now, today is the day I got to make my first soup and I chose this spicy turkey yogurt soup with chickpeas, rice and mint. The recipe sounded like a Turkish yogurt soup I tasted in Berlin and I'm pretty happy the way this recipe turned out. I might make it again, I still have about 2 liters of stock in the freezer!


In other news, this week is the week we got a hand mixer! Let the baking begin!

The first "cake" I made (while waiting for the laundry) were crunch bars.
I did change the recipe a little bit and used coconut sugar instead of brown and white sugar. That gave the crunch bars a taste of caramel which turned out very well!
I also changed the frosting because I wanted to try out chocolate frosting with sour cream! The result was not very sweet (which I like) with a nice light tartly taste. I probably wouldn't put it on just any cake but luckily was delicious on the crunch bars!

My sour cream chocolate frosting:
100g (3.5oz) 60% dark chocolate
2 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup of sour cream
1 cup of coconut sugar
Melt the chocolate in a bowl above hot water. Add the vanilla extract and instantly whisk in half of the coconut sugar. Then add the sour cream and the rest of the coconut sugar and whisk until smooth.