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German Lentil Soup (One Pot Dish – “Linsen Suppe – Eintopf”)
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German lentil Soup
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The lentil soup is pretty much a family staple food in Germany. Although this is a classic soup / one-pot-dish, every family has their own variants re the ingredients, meaning every family develops their own traditions how they like their lentil soup best.
For some it’s just soupy with lentils and sausages, for others it’s a full blown meal with loads of veggies in it. Here is my version of it with suggestions as my Bavarian grandmother would cook it: with “Speck”.
(Although Wikipedia traces its origins to Austria and Italy, Speck is very traditional to Germany. It is not for the super lean cuisine conscious folk, but I challenge anyone who experiences the delicious and mouth watering cooking smells wafting enticingly through the home not to develop a very healthy and hearty appetite!!
Ghanaian Peanut Soup – spicy hot
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Ghanaian - West African - Peanut Soup
This recipe originally was given to me by my Ghanaian friend, Patricia, but I needed to tweak it to suit my taste buds (read: add more chillies and give it more oompf!!). My dear friend still thinks she should tone down the spiciness for her Caucasian food lover … not so, please! I prefer a wild taste bud party with fire!
I have also discovered that this dish is ideally suited for a large slow cooker and cooked for best part of a day on a low heat. That way the chilli spiciness is not harsh but mellows in beautifully and allowing all the flavours to mature and blend nicely.
If you’re up for an unusual peanut soup with chicken or any poultry, here is the recipe:
Autumnal Vegetable Soup
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Autumnal Vegetable Soup
The other day my dear friend Simone invited me over to spend a lovely afternoon and evening with her. Ever the outstanding hostess and brilliant chef, she produced this delicious tomato soup from fresh ingredients. It was totally amazing. So tonight I decided to cook it lest I forget how she did it. I added a few other ingredients and did some small short-cuts to make it really simple, in fact you can use any autumnal veggies and play around with it.
Unfortunately the battery of my camera was dead, so I used my iPhone to take the pictures. The soup is delicious and quickly made … definitely a winner!
Chocolate Cupcakes with Nutella Cream-Cheese Icing
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Chocolate Cupcakes with Nutella Cream Chese Icing
These cupcakes Charis baked yesterday, too. I must say they were incredibly delicious. We could not stop licking our fingers *accidentally* dipped into the Nutella cream cheese icing. The cupcake base is beautifully chocolatey moist.
Really yum!!
Earl Grey Cupcakes with Lemon Buttercream Icing
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Earl Grey Cupcakes with Lemon Buttercream Icing
Today, my daughter Charis baked two lots of cupcakes, and I acted as her chef’s assistant, plus taking pictures. Here are the Earl Grey cupcakes with a really delicious lemon buttercream icing.
Spanish Rice with Chili Peppers and Chicken
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Spanish Rice with Chicken
Well, Germany did not win the World Cup, yesterday, Spain did. Congratulations and well done for a great team performance! Actually, lucky me, I have more Spanish family than German family, so there was still a reason for celebrating!
So, here is my version of Spanish Rice
Basic Classic German Marzipan Cake
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Basic Marzipan Cake
This is a very basic marzipan cake, a classic basic German cake which is firmer and more dense than the English sponge cake. I shall be experimenting with various additions of fruit and/or nuts, as I have so many delicious cake recipes in my German cookery book and folder with old recipes from my mother, etc.
Anyway, many, many years ago I made this cake as a birthday cake for my son. He is really keen on marzipan, so he requested this cake recently.
I have a terrible admission to make: I had not baked in nearly two decades, and for some reason amidst moving homes my baking equipment got either sadly missing or was thrown out due to not working anymore. I tend to focus on spicy, savoury dishes, so baking had never been my forté, even though I produced some pretty awesome cakes in the past. This I will need to change and get myself back into baking again (maybe invest in some decent equipment ….)
Anyway, after all this time, this cake is my first *again*
Avocado Salmon Wrap
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Half munched wrap ... sorry! Was too delicious and forgot to take a pic of the finished (and uneaten) wrap ....
This is ‘Dinner for One’. I fancied playing around with a food wrap and literally looked around my kitchen and fridge what I could use.
I tend to have a variety of home sprouted seeds, as a staple alfalfa and mungbean seeds sprouted. I love them, they are so cheap and easy to grow and there is always something fresh and nutritions in the kitchen.
Well, I decided to take pictures, stage by stage of my creation, but in the end I forgot to take a picture of the end result. Got carried away and started munching. I noticed it half way through my delicious wrap.
Chicken & Salsa Veggie Wrap
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Wraps are the most versatile pack-it-all-in foods. Here's one of my creations ... and I served it with baba-ghannouj
The dish described below I made for two people. It is quite filling and very yummy.
A fair warning, though, because the wraps are so packed with veggies and salad it’s just impossible to make a neat pretty wrap parcel out of that. Plus with the dip, all in all, it makes a very messy finger licking dish.
Spiced Plum-Ginger-Chestnut stuffed Duck (Either in Red Wine or Roasted Crispy )
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Fortnum & Mason of Piccadilly, London - Christmas shop window decoration. The theme was 12 Days of Christmas
Christmas time, to me, has a serene and serious meaning of remembering the joy of Christ pouring out His love to this world, whether He was actually born on the 25th of December is irrelevant ….. Christmas also has a certain childlike magic to me of fairytales and a lot of fun. In London there is a fabulous shop, one of my favourites, Fortnum & Mason at Piccadilly (very expensive, though!). It usually has spectacular window displays, so here is one I took a photo of. Granted it’s not a duck but a goose, but it will have to suffice.
Actually, in Germany, the traditional Christmas bird to roast is not a turkey but a goose. Sometimes people also use ducks, so this recipe is for a duck.
Langoustines in White Wine
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Langoustines disguised in wine, fresh herbs and chillies
Langoustines in White Wine – scrumptiously delicious finger-food!
Personally, I think there is nothing more romantic or sexy than eating with fingers, licking off the racy flavours and sucking out wine drenched shells. So leave your ‘good manners’, pop a large bowl of hot water with loads of slices of lemons and tuck into the deliciousness ….
Cornish Pasty Family Recipe from Grandma Pengelly
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Piping hot Cornish Pasty - nose and taste buds tantalizing pure West-Country delight!
Late Grandma Pengelly, my former mother-in-law, took great pains to teach me how to make a proper Cornish pasty as enjoyed generations back. In fact it must have been the first and most important Cornish family tradition to pass on to the then new daughter-in-law.
Ghanaian Goat Curry
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Goat Curry Ingredients .... as I learnt them from my Ghanaian friend
(Click on pictures to see them full size)
Since 1988, I’ve had strong connections with Africans and I am happy to say that some dear friendships resulted which have lasted till today.
Needless to say, I was also enjoying their generosity when it came to new and interesting foods. So here is one recipe I made many times at home and has become my own family favourite.
Stollen
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Sumptious moist Stollen
With or without Marzipan
Traditionally Stollen is baked at Christmas AND Easter. It’s the same recipe. The only difference is that at Easter you have it for breakfast and is eaten together with hard boiled eggs and home cooked smoked ham, unusual combination but really delicious. Well, this is how my Bavarian grandmother always did it, and I have kept the tradition.
Stollen was as important in my family as pasty was to my in-law family from Cornwall. My mother was one of five sisters, so there was always great competition who baked the best stollen …. My preference was always the one my aunt Carla made. Of course I never dared to admit that whilst my mother was alive!!
