Sauteed zucchini and black olives

Garlic
Zucchini - 2 big ones or 3 little
Black olives - pitted
Cherry tomatoes - just a handful
Some herbs - I like a herbs de provence mix.

Chop zucchini into coins, and halve them so you have little half-moons. Chop the olives and tomatoes in half. Dice the garlic.

Start the garlic in some olive oil, in a large frying pan on medium heat. When it's starting to soften, add the zucchni and herbs and a little salt and toss it all together.

Let it all cook until the zucchini is about halfway done, i.e. starting to soften and maybe even brown. Add the olives and toss again. Let them cook for a couple more minutes. If the zucc's and garlic are browning too fast, add a little water to simmer it all (just making sure it's enough to all boil away in the end). When very close to finished, add the tomatoes and just let them soften a little (but not mush).

Swiss engineered chocolate chip cookies

This is what I came up with using the ingredients available in local grocery stores:

1 large stick butter + some extra: approx 225 g
1.5 c white sugar: Feinkristallzucker is about the right texture for this volume
2 tsp molasses (approx; just dribble it in until it's the right color)
vanilla: some tsps of ground bourbon vanilla powder
sea salt
1.5 tsp baking powder (approx, I just scoop with a small spoon)
2 eggs

2 c flour: Halbweissmehl (not Weissmehl! That is cake flour)

70% dark chocolate bars: 2
optional nuts: walnuts, sliced almonds

Cream together butter and sugar (do NOT melt the butter! Leave it room temperature, or just soft enough for mixing but no softer). Mix in molasses. Mix in vanilla. Sprinkle in sea salt and mix. Shake in baking powder and mix. Scramble the eggs and mix in. Stir in flour.

Chop up chocolate bars with a large knife and fold in. Fold in optional nuts.

Cover dough and chill in fridge for at least 30 mins. Chilling gets the butter back to a nice place; cold butter will melt at the right speed in the oven, warm butter might melt too fast and spread, giving a flat hard cookie instead of soft and chewy.

Heat oven to 185C.

Spoon out cookies onto baking paper. Spread them out far enough so they don't run together, and don't make them too big. The more spherical the scoops the better. Bake 8-10 mins. Take them out when they're just brown on the edges; they'll harden as they cool, so if they look just a little gooey when pulled out, that's good.

Try to wait before eating one until they're at least cool enough to have a little structural integrity, and the chocolate won't scald the tongue. If they're still moist the next day, it is a success!

Butterflied Rosemary Roasted Chicken

Ohmygosh, butterflying is amazing! The chicken cooks SO well. Fast, even, and all skin is exposed for crisping.

We made this the other night and it's heaven; definitely joining the regular rotation:

http://www.inspiredtaste.net/21410/butterflied-rosemary-roasted-chicken-recipe/

Tip: if you're not getting your potatoes crispy-on-the-outside-tender-on-the-inside, try parboiling them first. Boil; drain; return to empty-but-hot pan and shake around to get them dried out on the outside; toss with a smidgen of olive oil. Then scatter around the prepared chicken before popping it into oven. Crispy taters, I guarantee you.

Pressure-cooker potroast

We get a little fancy with our potroasts. :) Mmmm, Sundays!

1 beef roast (we acquired ~600g of ribeye. The Swiss don't mess around!)
onions, garlic
veggie broth
red wine
carrots and potatoes
rosemary, thyme, parsley

salt, pepper

flour (for gravy)

Add a little oil of choice to pressure cooker. Saute chopped onions and garlic. If using dry herbs: stir them into the veggies a minute or so before the veggies are done, just to get the herbs moist and fragrant, but still green. Scrape out of pot into a bowl, and return pot to heat. Turn up heat.

Drop meat into pot. Brown on all sides. And brown! Not grey, browwwwn. Very dark and crispy. Getting close to burnt is okay.

Turn down heat and add some water. Add back sauteed veggies, plus veggie broth and red wine. Add chopped carrots and potatoes. Salt and pepper. If using fresh herbs: now is the time to add them.

Cover and turn up heat to bring to pressure. Once at pressure, turn down to low, enough so that it stays at pressure but doesn't go crazy. If it's hissing, it might be too much.

Cook 30-45 mins, depending on the size of roast.

Remove from heat and depressurize. Remove roast and veggies. Return the liquid to the heat to make gravy: boil it to reduce to desired water level, then reduce heat and whisk in flour using the cold water trick, until desired thickness.

Dish up veggies and roast and served with generous gravy. And the rest of that red wine.

Beef Stir Fry

Marinade: ½ tsp Chinese 5 spice powder, ¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes, 1 tsp dark soy sauce, 1 clove garlic (crushed), 1 Tbsp of liquid (dry sherry or white wine or just plain water). Note: This makes enough marinade for 3-4 oz of beef. Double or triple the marinade to match the amount of beef you are using. 3-4 oz of lean sirloin steak per person. Slice beef into strips. Mix with marinade, cover and refrigerate for at least an hour. I usually leave it overnight. Chopped onion, Broccoli, Carrots (sliced), Bean sprouts, 6-7 oz (200ml) of beef stock. Directions: Heat a wok or non-stick frying pan over a high heat. Add beef and fry for 2 minutes. Add onion. Fry for 1 minute. Add veggies and fry for 2 minutes.. Add beef stock. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes or until veggies are tender. Serve over rice or noodles. I’m trying to cut down on carbs so I skip the starch all together. The beef and vegetables are more than enough, both in volume and taste.

Roast Salmon and Vegetables

One of the things I like best about this recipe is how little prep there is. You don’t even have to think ahead to thaw the salmon if it’s frozen. Just put it (in sealed pkg.) in a little very warm water while everything else is cooking. It will be thawed by the time you need it. You can vary the kinds of vegetables you use…whatever roasts well in the oven. These are just the ones I like. I didn’t include amounts. Just ‘eyeball’ it depending on how many people you are feeding. If you’re not a salmon fan this recipe works equally as well with any other kind of fish. 

Roast Salmon and Vegetables 

Preheat oven to 190C/ 375F Prep/Cooking time: 60 minutes 

Ingredients: 

• New or baby potatoes (cut in half) 
• Asparagus spears (cut in half) 
• Baby tomatoes (cut in half) 
• Carrots (cut however you like) 
• Parsnips (peeled and cut) 
• A couple of tsps. of capers (drained) 
• 1-2 lemons sliced into wedges Salmon filets 

Directions: 

1. Grease 9x11 glass baking dish with olive oil. Add potatoes (tossed with a bit of olive oil and seasoned to taste) and roast for 20 minutes. 
2. While potatoes are roasting, peel and chop veggies. Toss together (including lemon wedges) in a large bowl. 
3. Add veggies to baking dish and mix in with potatoes. Cook for another 20 minutes. 
4. Lay salmon filets on top of potatoes/veggies. Season to taste (I sprinkle with a mixed fish seasoning) and cook for a final 20 minutes.

Turkish goulash

Turkish goulash

This was incredible!
(Serves 4)

700-800 grams (roughly 2 lbs) cubed beef
Oil, butter or ghee
1 large onion
1 large tomato
3 "toes" (as we say in German, hee hee) garlic
1 tbs honey
2 tbs raisins, if you'd like
1 cup dry red wine (if you're cooking for kids, you can replace a lot or all of the wine with beef broth)
5 nodules (what are these, seeds? Kernels?) of allspice, ground up; probably around a teaspoon of powder
Maybe 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon (I didn't really measure)
About 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
Some chili powder if you'd like
2 bay leaves
1.5 cups broth (beef, chicken, veggie, what-have-you)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
Salt and pepper
Splash of red wine vinegar
Potatoes or rice

Slice up the onion into thin noodley strings. Mash/cube/crush garlic. Cube the tomato. Toss it all into a hot buttered/oiled/gheed pan and sautee til soft. Remove from pan.

Put more oil/butter/ghee into the pan and brown the meat bits. Add the veggies back in, together with the optional raisins and honey. Shake in some pepper. Pour the wine over top and let it bubble until the mixture has thickened a bit. Add the broth, tomato paste, bay leaves, and spices, cover the pan, and let everything simmer for a good hour.

Now is a good time to make the potatoes (boiled, mashed, steamed, all are good) or rice.

Before the hour is through, you can remove the lid to let some extra water evaporate if it's not quite thick enough. It should have a stroganoffy consistency.

Add a splash of red wine vinegar toward the end for some nice sourness and stir in. Serve on top of potatoes or rice with a dollop of yogurt or sour cream.

This made the house smell amazing. With the Christmasy spices, it's great for a cold winter's day!

*A tip: If you're making for big eaters, I might suggest upping the ingredients a bit, or at least just adding another half pound of beef and a bit more broth & wine. Four people got full, but there were no leftovers!

Fish casserole

We had only some canned mackerel and noodles, so put together a pretty tasty dinner!

Have on hand:

  Boiled egg noodles
  Prepared veggies of choice: steamed broccoli, or, e.g., a bag of frozen veg (peas, green beans, carrots)
  Sauteed or canned mushrooms (drained)
  Cans of fish: mackerel, tuna. Probably sardines, salmon, etc. would also work.

Then for Sauce:

  Yellow onion
  Herbs (ideas: basil, oregano, parsley. Summer savory. Or tarragon, dill. Whatever you like.)
  Butter
  White wine
  Flour

  Veggie broth

  Milk

Then for Topping:

  Bread crumbs

  Parmesan (or Gruyere, or other dry, salty, tasty cheese)

  Olive oil or melted butter

Start oven on "bake" at 200C.

Prepare a cup or so of veggie broth and add some splashes of white wine.

Make the sauce: saute onion and herbs in generous butter. When onion is soft, start whisking in flour until you get a thick, smooth paste. Slowly pour in veggie broth + wine combo and keep whisking until you get a smooth sauce of desired thickness (it will also thicken a little when it cools). Add splashes of milk to desired creaminess.

Now is the time to mash a bunch of the drained fish into the sauce! Mash mash mash. Or if tuna: flake flake flake. Don't be shy with the fish, I used four cans of mackerel last time, and could probably have used more. Tip: if it's packed in oil, I would completely drain, otherwise the dish is too heavy. But if it's packed in water, you could keep the juice to retain all the fish nutrients (of course, this will thin the sauce a bit so prepare the thickness accordingly).

Add veggies and mushrooms to sauce and mix. Add noodles and mix. Dump into casserole dish.

Make the topping: mix equal parts bread crumbs and cheese. Moisten with olive oil or melted butter, and stir to make sure all is moistened. Spread over casserole dish.

Bake for 20 mins or until topping is browned, crisp and bubbly.

I recommend serving with squirts of lemon juice. :)

Variation 1: This might work well with rice as well, but haven't tried it yet.

Tip: I would avoid sautee'ing the mushrooms with the onions, as I don't know if the water from the shrooms would interfere with the roux. But if someone tries it lemme know how it works out.