Back With Growing Belly

No, I haven't been on vacation for ... what ... 3 months? Gee!
I'm pregnant and I have been suffering of early-pregnancy nausea. No way I could stand in the kitchen and cook something!
Well, I'm feeling better now (though I'm still very tired most of the time) and I'm back at the stove. So I will be posting recipes again in the future time (fighting the tiredness) - at least until late April ;)

Mickey Mouse and Baltic Sea

We're going on vacation: First a couple of days to Disneyland Paris, then 2 weeks to the Baltic Sea (we'll be staying on the beautiful island of Usedom).
Therefore, I won't be able to post any recipes until mid-September. But I'll be back!

Fruit Salad with Ginger and Almonds

Ingredients

a handful of grapes
half a cantaloupe
a thick slice of watermelon
1 peach
1 nectarine
2 kiwis
2 tablespoons slivered almonds
2 tablespoons dried cranberries
1 tablespoon candied ginger
some fresh mint leaves
a dash of freshly ground black or white pepper

Method

Cut the fruits in bite-sized pieces. Cut the grapes in halves and remove seeds. Roughly chop the cranberries. Dice the ginger. Roast the almonds. Chop the mint leaves. And mix it all together. Don't forget the freshly ground pepper.

Verdict

Fruit salad is my favorite kind of dessert. It's refreshing - and no matter how filling the entree - fruit salad will always fit. The ginger and pepper bring out the sweetness and aroma of the fruits, and the mint adds to the freshness. This fruit salad was gone so quickly, I had hardly enough time to take pictures.

Chocolate Cream

I'd always been a little scared of gelatine. I don't even know why. I guess it's the same with people that don't trust yeast. I was always worried it wouldn't work. I've used gelatine once, about 10 years ago, in a hot liquid - and it worked perfectly. The juice thickened within a few minutes. So I haven't even made bad experiences with it. Oh well ...

This time I've used it in a cold liquid - and it wouldn't work. Minutes passed and the the mixture was still as thin fluid as it had been. What did I do wrong? Hadn't I waited long enough for the gelatine to soak up the water? Fortunately, a neighbor knew better. And I have learned: Gelatine in a cold liquid takes 1-2 hours in the fridge to do its job. I will never be scared of gelatine again, because this dessert turned out wonderfully both times I've made it.

This recipe is a variation of Ilkas Caribbean Cream. I don't called it Caribbean Cream, though, because I associate coconut and rum with "Caribbean". Besides, I don't like cinnamon too much in sweet dishes (I love it in hearty dishes, though). Here is how I did it:

Ingredients

2 eggs
30g sugar
1 package vanilla sugar (8g)
a pinch or two of nutmeg
a pinch or three of cardamom
100g chocolate (75% cocoa)
1 package of ground gelatine (9g)
200g cream

Method

Separate egg white and yolk. Mix yolk, sugar, vanilla sugar, nutmeg and cardamom with a whisk until it's turned into a thick cream. Warm up the milk in a water bath (double boiler) until it's about body temperature. Add the broken chocolate and let it melt. Make sure, the mixture doesn't get to hot - you don't want the chocolate to clog. When all of the chocolate has melted, take the pot off the stove. In a little bowl, mix the gelatine with 4 tablespoons of cold water and let it soak for about 10 minutes. Then heat in in a water bath until the gelatine has melted. Take it off the stove and let it cool down a little. Stir in a few tablespoon of the chocolate-milk-egg mixture, then add the rest of the chocolate mixture and stir. Put it in the fridge and wait for and hour or two, until the cream has thickened. Whip the cream and and whisk the egg white stiff. Gently fold in first the cream, then the white egg. Fill in glasses or another dish of your choice and put it back into the fridge until it's turned stiff. Decorate with chocolate; some berries would work very well too, I'd imagine.

Verdict

This is so delicious and it looks so delicate. I made a bowl for my neighbor's birthday, and she was deeply impressed. It's somewhat like mousse au chocolat - and people are always impressed by mousse au chocolat. And this chocolate cream is really very easy to make. I will make it again and again, I'm sure. And I will try other recipes with gelatine now that I know how simple it is to use. Another fear overcome ;)

Mediterranean Penne Salad

- "What would you like me to prepare for your party's buffet?"
- "Oh, that Penne Salad you made last time, please!"
- "Hm, I could make some potato salad, or rice salad, or how about quinoa?"
- "Oh, no, thanks, but I would really like your penne salad."
- "Well, I have a new delicious recipe with penne, I could make that, for a change ..."
- "No, please, the other one was great, make it that one. And could I have the recipe, too?"

You know this kind of conversation? Make it one of your cakes or whatever other dish that your friends keep demanding.
Well, here it is:

Ingredients

This fills a big bowl. Take half of everything for a smaller group.

500g Penne
250g cherry tomatoes
150-200g pitted black olives
250g Feta cheese
2 onions
3-4 cloves of garlic
1/4l vegetable stock
8-10 tablespoons olive oil
8 tablespoons balsamico vinegar
salt, pepper, sugar, cayenne
parsley and basil, as much as you like

Method

Cook the penne in salt water until "very al dente" - 1 or 2 minutes less than you would for a penne dish. Put it in a salad bowl and add the vegetable stock. The penne will absorb the vegetable stock and thus get more flavor. For the dressing, mix vinegar, oil, chopped onion and chopped garlic with the spices and add to the penne. Cut the feta in little cubes and add them along with the olives to the salad. Since I'm allergic to tomatoes, I add the cherry tomatoes as they are. Thus I can just leave them in the bowl and don't risk having tomato juice in my share. If you don't have that problem, cut the tomatoes in halves before stirring them carefully into the salad. Steep for an hour or two (or over night). Add the parsley and basil before serving. You might want to add some vinegar and spices, as the penne will absorb it (and vinegar will evaporate).

Verdict

This is quickly made, so I don't mind making it over and over again - even though I'd really like to make different salads once in a while. But people appear to love it, so I will make other salads just for me and my family, I guess. I still love this salad after hundreds of times (or so it seems) because of it's vinegary taste (I admit, I love vinegar).

This is my first entry for the Pasta Presto Nights hosted by Ruth.

Just Following: Mediterranean Shrimp Salad

I could spend the whole day browsing through cooking blogs. It's just amazing how many intriguing recipes you can find out there in the depths of the internet! Everyday I find recipes I want to try out - there are just not enough meals in a day to eat them, too ...

Today I followed a recipe strictly - not changing anything remarkable - of the wonderful Leftover Queen. Just a couple of days ago, she posted her Mediterranean Shrimp Salad, and I knew at once: That will be highly popular with my family. My little daughter even left Winnie the Pooh to get some of the salad. This was the first time ever that she had eaten shrimps. And she loved it! And so did my husband (though, of course, he had eaten shrimps before). And as for me: This dish was just as delicious as I had expected. And it's so quickly and easily done - we will have this more often. It's perfect to bring along to a party, I'm sure.

Check out Jenn's site for the ingredients and method, and enjoy!

Chopped Turkey with Tarragon-Wine-Sauce

This is my first participation in a blogger cooking event. And it's a very useful event: Malabar Spices...: Summer Express Cooking Event. Aren't we all interested in quickly cooked meals? Having a little daughter, I don't have time enough to spend hours in the kitchen. I'm looking forward to the list of recipes we will soon have :)

My entry is one of my favorite meat dishes. We eat meat very rarely - apart from the barbecue season, of course :) - but this is a dish we love and that has been rather popular with our guests, too.

It took me 23 minutes from taking the pot out of the cupboard until serving the filled plate.

Ingredients

(serving 2 adults and 1 toddler, who only had pasta and some broccoli)

• 250g turkey, chopped in thin stripes (I got it already chopped in the grocery store. If you chop it yourself, add 5 min or so to the required time) - I wanted to use chicken, but didn't get any. Pork works well, too.
• 250g ribbon noodles
• 1 onion
• 1 broccoli
• 250ml white wine
• 200ml cream
• tarragon, as much as you like. I'd suggest 1-2 tablespoons. I prefer fresh tarragon, but didn't get any yesterday, so I had to use dried one.
• salt, pepper
• 1 tablespoon butter

Method

I use an electric kettle to get the water boiling faster before filling it in the pot. Cut the flowerets off the broccoli and cook them in salt water until tender. In the meantime, dice the onion. In a skillet, heat the butter. I usually add some oil to prevent the butter turning brown. Fry the meat stripes at high temperature, until the pores are sealed, then turn down the temperature and add the onion dice. Season with salt and pepper. When the onion has turned soft and glassy, add the wine and let it simmer. In the meantime, cook the noodles. When most of the wine has evaporated, add the cream. Stir in the tarragon and let the sauce boil up shortly. Check, if it needs more salt or pepper. Enjoy :)

Verdict

This is one of our favorite recipes. And we loved it again today. The tarragon works extremely well with chicken and turkey. And together with the white wine it makes a dinner meal that can be served to impress guests. At least that is my experience :)