 Spring is here, and even though we are all in quarantine, we can at least enjoy some of the great ingredients that are harvested at this time. In my case are strawberries and asparagus. It always gets a bit tricky to cook the same food for us three, as I am an adult, Pepa, a toddler, and Otis, a baby. So here is how I solve this including a video of it at the end.  As I am writing a book for some months now, one of the things I need to do is to try different kinds of cooking technics. KMB & Braun Household send me the Multiquick7 to try it out. I had a Stabmixer from Braun for 20 years, and it still works as if it was new. But much has changed in technology since 1999. And all the new features that it has made my life (with kids) nowadays easier. Now even more as I make all meals for us three at home.  Making meals for us three could be time-consuming if you can't make them at the same time. So this recipe won't take more time than a conventional method, and it will include a baby meal. What you need for this recipe: A steamer or a steam basket 2 cups strawberries 1 cup of apples in slices 10 asparagus 2 garlic cloves lettuce fresh spinach 1 egg 200 ml of neutral oil a squeeze of lemon juice white vinegar a handful pistachios salt and pepper and a multiQuick7 of course
We start steaming now. Add the apples and 1 cup strawberries in the steamer or a pot with a steam basket. If your baby is 10 months old, you can add 1 asparagus. Add some water and let it steam until the apples are very soft. You can add some cinnamon to the water as well.  For the dressing, you need to make a mayonnaise first. This is super easy with the Multiquick 7. Check the video here or at my IGTV. Put in the glass the egg, oil, lemon, and insert the Multiquick 7 stab. Start blending with the Activeblade all the way down for a while until you see white coming up. Then lift the blade slowly until all is mixed and then push up and down until the consistency is perfect. This takes about a minute, and it is fools-proof. Add some vinegar to it until it reaches a dressing consistency.  Change from the Activeblade to the mini processor and use it to make the pistachios small. You can use any other nuts, but I love how strawberries taste together with pistachios. Heat a pan with some oil and add the chopped garlic. Break the last part of the asparagus stems with your hands and fry them until they are golden and take them off the heat.   By now, the fruits should be done. If your baby has no teeth still, I would use the Activeblade again to make it very smooth, but in my case, I changed to the mashed potatoes accessory and puree it until the fruits were done. Put it aside and let it cool down.  In plates, add the lettuce and spinach, use the rest of the strawberries thinly cut, and the asparagus cut in 3 cm pieces. By now, the baby food will be at room temperature.  The cutest thing I got with this PR package was this lovely bib for Otis... Isn't it the cutest? I drool every time he wears it!
Now we are ready to eat. Add the vinaigrette/dressing over the salad and sprinkle the pistachio dust over it, and you are ready to eat.  As I never get to eat warm, because I need to feed Otis, and sometimes Pepa, at the moment, I am eating a lot of cold foods. This salad tastes delicious warm, or after some time sitting there.  Eating fresh food that has a similar taste to the food that you regularly eat, helps your kid develop the same taste in food as you have. This will help you in the future to avoid "food dramas" and unnecessary "double cooking."
 Otis was a big fan of this food and couldn't get enough, Pepa had the salad and even got to help to feed Otis. This meant one spoon for her and one for him... kids!  Here is a short video of how easy it was to make this spring meal at home using Braun´s Multiquick7. I hope you liked this and you will make it at home. Please tag me in your stories or posts to see how you did! AD/PR Sample
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 Pepa´s Birthday is in May, but last May I was swamped with work and it was just impossible to pull off a big birthday party. We celebrated together at home on the actual birthday and made a cake, but she was asking for a birthday party... So why not make a "Half Birthday Party"? Halloween was the date... So I opened Pinterest and started my mood board... Halloween without scaring all the kindergarten kids... The main thing about planning a birthday table is to check how many stuff fits in your table. I arranged plates around and ended up with 14 dishes. And here I will show you what they were:  Here is the Table. It is important to keep the taller plates at the back and the cakes in the middle. I have to accept that I didn't attempt to make my own cakes. I used instant cakes for all these recipes... No room for mistakes. 2 days before the party I baked the cakes for the cake pops. I mix them with frosting, made the small balls and froze them.  My favorite cake pops were eyeballs on forks. You can make them with just dipping the cake pops in candy melts or white chocolate and painting the veins with food coloring. The iris was candy melts as well and I added a bit of chocolate glaze to it. For the savory treat, I carved a pumpkin and put inside a plate full with cheese sauce, added nachos and a guac-mayo sauce... I couldn't get the adults away from that corner!  The witch cake was supposed to be Witch Pepa. I baked 2 boxes of cake in three forms. Covered it with cheese frosting and started making the witch. The legs were made with the tubes where the rolled fondant came. The legs were my dad's work. He covered them with fondant and colored the rest of the fondant with red color and piped the stripes. Thanks, dad! With the rest of tule from Pepas costume, I made the witch skirt and I added mini marshmallows for the "underwear/skirt"  What is a Halloween party without ghosts? For this ghosts, I made cupcakes and added frosting over it. Then I put a mini Chocolate Kiss on it and covered it with a circle of rolled fondant. Then I decorated the eyes and mouth with decorating glaze in black.  Worms on earth... I made this 2 days in advance as well. Made some chocolate boxed pudding and put it in small cups, added a gummy work in it and then cover with chocolate powder. I put chocolate in my food processor and done.  During Halloween times the store LIDL has red apples... all red. That means they are red outside and inside. The best thing about this apples is that they don't oxidate. I cutted slices of them and added spekulatious cream (you can add peanut butter instead) and paste teeth gummies. If you don't have these apples, you can use regular red apples and don't peel them. And if you don't find teeth gummies (found them in IKEA) just add mini marshmallows.   The boxed cakes came with glaze. So I used them to make these monster cupcakes. I dipped them in the glaze and add a decorating eye and then piped the glaze over it to make the hair... these were my favorites.  No Birthday is complete without a chocolate cake. And I made this one. I baked two chocolate cakes in 4 forms and made chocolate mousse. The decoration is 2 spekulatius cookies as graves and a twig my mom found outside that looked just like a dead tree. Thank mom!  For the third cake pops, I used the chocolate glaze that came in a cake box and then I added some white glaze lines to make these mummies... The eyes came in a decorating set for bees.  For the hungry kids, I made vegan sausage mummies. I cut a sheet of dough and rolled it over sausages. Then baked them and added 2 eyes with piping color. They are super simple to make and were gone after a few seconds... I make them for Pepa at home all of the time.  My mom made the ghost lollipops... Can you imagine I had only 4 left after the birthday party?? They are regular lollipops covered on a napkin and with 2 stickers on them. For the sugar-free kids, there was some food as well... Mandarines painted as pumpkins are one of the best healthy treats IMHO.   And for drinking, besides water, I made a red punch and added some fingers inside. Plastic ones of course. Four the adults was a separate table with chips, punch, gin, and beer... Who says it is not possible to have fun as an adult on a kids party? I love that Kettle Chips make orange and black bags.   We were witches and here you can see our costumes... My mom made Pepa's skirt without sewing. Making this all work and look good was hard, but Pepa was a witch as she wanted and she finally got her birthday party...
Thanks, Sophia for grabbing my camera and taking pictures as I was walking back and forth with all the kids and Pepa.  Berlin is hot, hot, super hot at the moment. Having a toddler 24/7 and this heat makes me so unproductive and lazy. But as I need to get some things done, I decided to go pick up my new WMF pots in West Berlin with the help of a friend. (He is tall enough to carry the big boxes) But on our way back, we got a bit hungry, so I thought why not make a quick Gazpacho? It was pretty late so my kitchen was kind of dark but still wanted to share this with you.  The main thing about Gazpacho is the ingredients. As they won't be cooked, you have to be sure that you have good quality veggies and your tomatoes should be as ripe as possible. Ingredients: 8 Ripe Tomatoes or 2 cans of 400 gr of shredded tomatoes a handful of cherry tomatoes 1/2 Cucumber 1/2 Paprika or 5 small ones (like in the picture) 2 garlic cloves 1 Shalott 50 ml white wine Vinegar 2 tbsp Olive oil Salt & Pepper Fresh Chives or any other herb  Now it is chopping time. We will be cutting 2 different things: Soup and Topping. Start chopping 1/4 of your cucumber in thin slices and then cut the slices in 4. Do the same with your paprika, cut 1/4 of your paprika in thin stripes and last but not least, cut about the half of your cherry tomatoes in half. Put all these ingredients in a small bowl and sprinkle some oil to it and let it rest..  Chop the rest of the ingredients in small dices and add vinegar, oil, salt and pepper and let it rest in the fridge for 15 minutes or more (if you have time). Make sure that you mix it well so all the flavours will combine.  Put this mix in a blender until smooth. I like to strain my Gazpacho but not with a very fine sieve, so I actually use my potato press just to remove the seeds. You still feel the vegetables and it isn't that fine. But if you like to have a good old-fashioned Gazpacho, get the whole pure through a very fine sieve. Get your soup in a jar and put it back in the fridge until you will be serving it.  For serving, add a spoon-full of the topping mix and serve the soup over it. I have this vintage hen jar that I had for many many years and I love how it looks when I serve soups from it. With a spoon serve some more topping in the middle and sprinkle olive oil over it. Do not spare on oil! It just makes your soup taste better!  Cut and sprinkle some chives or fresh herbs over your Gazpacho, it gives it a great aroma. Toast some bread and enjoy with Cold Grüner Veltliner or a dry Rosé if you are a fan of Rosé.  All Pictures were Made by Christian Mentzel... I tortured him as art director to see the picture outcome. It was really hard not to be the one making the pictures though ;)
 There are loads of places in Berlin that serve brunch, but my all-time favorite place to go with friends is Allan's Breakfast Club aka ABC. This tiny french place owned by the super french and super cool Allan is not only cute, but serve the meanest eggs benedict in town. It is situated in the heart of Kollwitzkiez in Prenzlauer Berg and just some minutes from my flat, very convenient.  I took Kay and my frenchie girl Marie for some drinks and brunch last Friday. While we waited for Marie to arrive, we had some coffee and lemonade while we had a chat with Allan, man! it was hard to decide what to eat, but this time we didn't go for those mean Bennies, but tried some other stuff.  We chose to try different dishes instead of ordering just one per person. Starting with a delicious potato waffle covered with cured salmon rose, capers and avocado, sprinkled with a buttermilk & creme fraiche dressing and red pepper.  Did I mention that I had a hangover? And the best cure for this is: Bloody Marys! The best frigging BMs in town, even better that the ones my grandma used to make *wink wink* If you are into this ridiculously tasty red drink, you definitely need to make a pitstop at ABC after a crazy party night. Or if u are like me, just after 2 glasses of wine, haha.  Talking a bit about Allan, he comes from France but he used to live many many years in Australia, hence the awesome eggs Benni and the poached eggs in some of his dishes, like in this creamy Czech Mountai soup with a drowning poached egg on top. Did I mention bacon???? BACON!  Marie ordered a hot chocolate with Belgium Callebaut chocolate buttons. OHMYGWAAADDDDFFF! Allan adds the hot steamed milk over them so that they melt... ahhhhh heaven! If I wasn't too much afraid sugar, I would stop by everyday to have this chocolate and milk heaven.  You wold think that ABC wouldn't have a choice for vegans with all these eggs and bacon, but their boost up smoothie bowl is vegan, glutenfree and AMAZING, it is a bowl of frozen smoothie, covered with fresh fruits, coconut flakes and cacao. A huge bowl of energy and awesomeness.  What would it be a menu of a french restaurant without a Croque Monsieur? Well, Allan offers a Tweaked Croque Monsieur. He uses brioche instead of bread, filled with loads caramelized onions, melted Gruyere cheese, Ardeche ham and mushrooom bechamel, served with chips and salad. But don't let this picture fool you, I moved the chips to show you the brioche and the whole thing was bigger than my head ;)   Here is Allan opening a Bodvár n5 rose from provence for me. If I didn't have to go to work after brunch I would have probably stayed there for hours sipping some more glasses of it. And for the ones not drinking wine, we got some more homemade lemonade and a beautiful and elegant coffee martini.  Some will ask why i didn't show you the many-times-mentioned Eggs Benedict in this blogpost. It is so you get up and run there and try them! And of course the rest of the menu and the flat whites and the oysters in summer and enjoy their terrace. and and and... Just go there! Cheers!  As their opening hours were confusing in the past year for many people... here I´ll explain them to you:
Opening Hours: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday Friday and Friday 10am-3pm Sat and Sunday 10am-4pm But from May: Thursday and Friday: 3pm-6pm open for coffee, cake and Rosé Wednesday- Thursdays and Fridays 6pm- Midnight for Wine  I am not vegan, but many of my close friends are. I love the challenge when cooking vegan. Most of the food I see in restaurants aren't that creative or even resemble the "regular" food. I was asked by Bordeaux Wines to make a whole Christmas dinner and I was very excited about making this dinner with a Twist. (You can see the dinner here). I had loads of messages asking me for the recipe of the loaf. I have to accept I have been busy like a hive of bees, but tomorrow is the last day the shops are open, so if you have vegan guests for Xmas or you are vegan yourself, run to the closest Whole Foods Store/Bio Markt and make this Loaf.  Ingredients: Loaf: 1 can of white beans drained (you can use chickpeas, jack beans or pinto beans) 2 cloves garlic 1 cooked beet 1/2 cups vegetable broth 2 tbsp soy sauce 2 tbsp olive oil 200 grms Wheat gluten Mushrooms 2 tbsp ground mushrooms 1 tsp sweet paprika or regular a pinch of salt Pepper Stuffing: 4 Soya bratwurst or any vegan white sausage 1 medium white onion 2tsp nutmeg 1 tbsp fresh parsley 4 slices of bread a bit of nut milk or oat milk Oil  We start with the loaf. Turn on your oven, 180 C. Add the beans food processor or blender, until the are mashed. Add the garlic and beet. Throw the canned mushrooms, dried mushrooms, paprika, salt & pepper and broth. The mushrooms will give your "meat" that umami taste. Regular meat has an umami taste to it as well as mushrooms, so we are cheating here. Soak the bread in the milk. This will give some "body" to the stuffing. If you like salty food, soak it in broth instead of milk.  In a bowl knead the bean mix with the wheat gluten. The beet gives this dough the meat color. It is scary how close to ground meat this looks like. Once it is all mixed. let it rest while making the stuffing.  Dice your sausage and onion. Fry both until the onion is transparent, add the nutmeg and parsley. Add some salt to it. Add the drained bread and taste again, you can add more salt to it. Let is cool down for about 10 minutes. We don't want the gluten mix to react to the warmth of the stuffing.  On a tray with alu foil, press the gluten mix flat and add the stuffing. Roll it. and shove it to the over for one hour.   Remove the foil and turn it around carefully. Be very careful removing the foil. you don't want the stuffing to come off. Brush some oil all over and let it grill for 10 more minutes. Let ist cool before cutting.  Serve with mashed potatoes with skin, gravy and Brussel sprouts. All your vegan friends will be jumping on one foot. I am really sure about that! Merry Vegan Xmas! If you want to try my turkey Xmas recipe, Check it here   When Bordeaux Wines asked me to make a cozy winter Xmas dinner, I was super excited. But how to make a dinner extraordinary? I decided to make it vegan! But I am not vegan... you all know this. Many of my close friends are and I have been testing different methods. Before I start, all pictures were made by my dear Friend and Amazing Blogger & Photographer Katja Hentschel. But first things first: decoration. I wanted this Christmas to look like all those pinterest pictures I liked through the years.  I am not into Christmas trees. TOO much mess, all those pine needles everywhere. So I bought 2 big pieces of tree. Already dried of course. I could have gone to the forest and get them for free. But let's accept it: I have no fricking time lately. I put Max ladder on my table and got to drill my over 4-meter high ceiling. With 2 hooks and iron rope, I hanged these 2 babies. I hanged 4 Christmas ornaments and 100 fairy lights. I added some sheepskins on the chairs and banks. (Not so vegan, but Scandinavian Cozy)  Claudette from Doitbutdoitnow and my BFF Sophia from INSEARCHOF
I made the menus, covered the bread with jute and rope, Used jars instead of water glasses. In the middle of the table we had mistletoe pine needles and other forest greens. Candles were there as well. And the water bottles were from old Bordeaux wines. And we started the evening with Lateyron Crémant de Bordeaux as aperitif.
The guests started tasting this bubbly, while learning about the Bordeaux Region. In the table was beaten margarine with truffles and sea salt. Starting with a delicious umami taste together with the bread. You can see here Christine from Lilies Diary enjoying one Rose Vegan Wine, While IHeartBerlin's Frank enjoyed the Chai de Bordes Bordeaux. YESS, Bordeaux has not only amazing red wines, but they come in every color.  It was time for the first course. I love deconstructing traditional dishes and this wasn't an exception. I transformed the traditional pumpkin soup into a Pumpkin, Apple & Ginger Soup served with a gingerbread Panna Cotta. Say Whaaaaat? Normally the cream is incorporated in the soup. But I made the Pannacotta using the "cream" I think it was a cute detail. All the guests got the mini panna cotta and I passed by with a jar full of pumpkin soup serving it around the cream. They made sooo many insta stories of it, so I guess people enjoyed it. *winkwink* I added gingerbread spices as after all it was a Xmas dinner.   Firsr Course: Pumpkin, Apple & Ginger Soup served with a gingerbread Panna Cotta.  The Beautiful Alice from I Heart Alice It was time for the next course, so I took the mini pies from the oven. The second course was a Chard and Walnuss Cheesy Pie. I love chard! and the red colored chard even more. the greens and reds are so Christmasy. This was my favorite dish, so creamy and tasty. The pairing for this dish was the Rose Chateau Penin Rosé from Bordeaux of course.   Second Course: Chard Walnut Creamy Pie on a Bed of Salad  The brussel sprouts with agave were ready and the loaf as well. It took me 5 times experimenting on how to make the roll taste like meat. Oh umami, dear umami flavor. It was perfect. a "Turkey and Beef" roll with Christmas Stuffing. I love stuffing. I....LOVE....IT Next to it was a Sweet Potato Mash and the sprouts. The wine chosen for this dish was: Chateau Magondeau Beau Site - Fronsac Red Wine. Perfect Match.   Third Course: Christmas Roll with Stuffing, served with Sweet potato Puree and Brussel Sprouts with Agave   I am pretty sure we were all stuffed at that point. I gave it an hour rest before I started the dessert. We enjoyed the wine, the pup, and great conversation. I ran to the kitchen... or rolled. The next course was a Cinnamon & Cloves Norwegian Waffle with Baked Apple with Almonds and Coconut Vegan Ice Cream with the dry white Château d'Arricaud 'Réserve du Comte'.  What an amazing evening. My food was on spot (as I heard) and for having some Omnivores sitting at the table, everyone was happy. The wines were very well paired with the menu. Not by me but the great guys from Bordeaux Wines. The food was so good, that I am actually thinking on posting my recipes before Christmas, in case you are vegan yourself or you invited some vegans to your table this Christmas. Let me know which recipe you would like to, and I will gladly make a blog post asap. Merry Vegan Christmas and a Happy Bordeaux Night. Over and out. The Blogpost of this evening by Bordeaux Wines (in german) can be found HERE This Blogpost was not Sponsored
 I try to reduce my dairy intake as much as i can, I love ice cream and that can be a problem. I thought vegan ice couldn't be as good as regular one until I went with Ailine to the new vegan ice cream place in Kollwitzkiez called Tribeca, and they convinced me. I had a lucuma quinoa ice cream and I loved it. I thought maybe I can recreate that at home and it wasnt so easy. After 4 batches, I finally got the perfect ingredients and amounts. I have no churn at home, so that was the tricky part. Be creamy without having that machine. (And don't taste like coconut) So at the end, I decided on Cashews for the base of it.  Ingredients 150 gr raw cashews 500 ml Soy milk 3 tbsp Vegetable Shortening or fat 4 tbsp Lucuma powder 1/2 cup agave nectar 1 tsp vanilla extract pinch sea salt A hanfull of quinoa pops  First of all, soak the cashews for a night or a day. Drain them and then you can start. Simmer the milk until it has reduced to the half and let it cool. Add cashews, milk, melted fat, agave syrup, vanilla, lucuma powder and sea salt to a high speed blender and blend until creamy and smooth, you want it to be completely creamy and blended.  Lucuma is a peruvian super food. It is my favorite one. sadly I dont think you can eat it raw, so mostly it is use for desserts, smoothies, ice creams... you name it. It contains beta carotene, iron, zinc, vitamin B3, calcium, and protein. Its maple-like taste makes it a sweet addition without increasing your blood sugar levels, unlike many sweeteners that offer empty calories. Besides all that, it keeps you young, Ladies! Lucuma has an anti-inflammatory, anti-aging and skin-repair effects on human skin! So just order a bag at amazon and lets start the lucuma eating bonanza.  Returning to the recipe, put the creamy mixture into a bowl and cover it with plastic foil. Freeze it for one or 2 hours. Take it out of the freezer and mix it in a kitchen machine for 15 minutes on high speed. It will be hard but creamy. What we are trying to do here is to break the ice pieces so it stays creamy instead of hard and ice-y.  Add a piece of parchment in a freezer friendly form. And like a lasagna, alternate ice cream mix and quinoa pops. If you can find them, here is how you can make them. Freeze for a couple of hours or until it is hard.  As any ice cream, before eating, take it out of the freezer some minutes before eating. But with this ice cream, make it for longer time. about 15 to 20 minutes. That is the only "con" of my recipe. Using an ice crem scoop, or a tablespoon, serve it in a waffle cone, waffle, brownie... you name it! and enjoy!   Suddenly for a couple days, the summer is gone. And when I feel winter coming, I can only think of melted cheese. I remembered about zucchini boats while talking with my pal Philipp (that doesnt like zucchini, say whaaaat?) and I told him about the baked boats my mom used to make on winter days and how they feel like a love child between lasagna and mini pizzas. This recipe shouldn't take more than 45 minutes to make and there is a vegan variation at the end of the recipe. So lets get all cheesy now, melted cheesy!  Ingredients: 3 whole zucchini 6 Prawns 1 slice of bread (I used gluten free bread) 1/2 cup of milk (I used almond milk) 1 small white onion 3 garlic cloves (1 if you aren't much into garlic) 1/2 cup of grated cheese Fresh parsley Olive oil Salt & Pepper  First, warm up your oven to 180C. Dunk that bread in milk and let it soak. Meanwhile, boil the zucchini for about 15 minutes in water with salt. If your zucchini are a bit bigger, you can always test if they are tender with a fork. They should be firm but you should be able to stick that fork in! Once they are done, cut them in halves and let them rest. They will leak some zucchini water, so leave them over paper towels or regular kitchen cloths.  In a food processor, add the raw onion, garlic, cheese (leave 2 spoons to sprinkle the boats later), parsley, the soaked bread (be sure you squeeze it a bit before) and the zucchini "meat" and chop chop until it is all homogeneous. If you are wondering how to get the zucchini "meat", just use a spoon to dig the inside of the zucchini out, leaving them looking like boats. Add salt until it tastes good for you.  Sauteé the prawns for 1 minute in a hot pan. Spoon the cheese mix inside the zucchini boats, place a prawn and sprinkle the cheese that was left. Drizzle some olive oil, add pepper and slide these babies in the oven.  Bake them for 15 or until they are golden. Sprinkle some fresh parsley and enjoy! In Peru with eat this with a side of rice, but alone it as tastes awesome as well. For the vegan option, just change the prawn for half mushroom and change the grated cheese for vegan grated cheese.   No, I am not turning Vegan. But Netflix is mean/good to my diet. I started watching all these documentaries about meat and milk lately and following the example of my Vegan besties Ailine and Sophia, I decided to become "4-days-a-week-vegan" to lower my meat intake. I stopped having cow milk, cheese and yoghurt in my fridge as well. Bolognese Pasta, is a recipe I repeat every month. But how to make it without beef or minced mixed meat? I talked to Ailine, searched the net, read some magazines and decided for a mix of Walnuts, Pecans & Mushrooms as meat substitute. After testing my recipe a couple of times, I found out the best way to make this sauce and you wont notice there is no meat in it!  Ingredients: 3/4 cup Walnuts 1/4 cup Pecans 4 Mushrooms, diced 1 big Onion , diced 3 Garlic cloves, diced 1/4 cup Olive Oil 1 cup Carrots, peeled and grated 1 tbsp Tomato Paste 1 can (4oo gr) crushed Tomatoes 1/2 liter Vegetable Stock 1 tbsp Sugar 4 dried Bay Leaves Fresh Oregano Salt & Pepper 12 Cherry Tomatoes Dried Juniper Berries DELYSOY 100% Soya Bean Fettuccine Parmesan cheese (vegan or regular)  First of all, turn your oven on. 200 degrees Celsius. Once you diced & grated, throw those nuts in the food processor until they are as small as minced meat. Heat the oil in a pot and fry the onions & garlic until they are transparent. Stir the mushrooms & nuts in and let them fry for 5 minutes or until the mushrooms are soft. Add the carrots, tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, stock, sugar (to neutralize the acid of the tomato), bay leaves and oregano and stir well. When it boils, close the lid and set the heat to low and let it simmer for 2 hours. Set an alarm for every 30 minutes to check and stir. Dont forget to add salt and pepper at the end.  I cook this sauce a day in advance. I love, LOVE, how bolognese or lasagna tastes the day after. But you can eat it right away. In an oven-proof sheet, bake the cherry tomatoes in halves, sprinkled with olive oil, salt and juniper berries, for 8 minutes and let them rest. Add half of them in the sauce and use the rest for decoration. I used DELYSOY 100% soya bean fettuccine as I shouldnt eat gluten. I was surprised by how good these soya bean pasta tasted.. nice nice nice. I would definately will try the rest of their sortiment. Serve the pasta, cover with sauce, add some baked tomatoes on top and sprinkle with your favorite vegan parmesan or regular parmesan to add an extra oomph!   Ceviche as the world know it, is fish or seafood cooked with lime acid instead of heat/fire. It is a peruvian dish that has taken the world in a storm the last years. When I was a kid, I remember we had different kinds of ceviche without anything that lived in the ocean. Like chicken ceviche and mushrooms ceviche. Ceviche is not just about the taste, but the consistency of the "meat". Button mushrooms have a very fish-y consistency once they are cooked and the umami flavour creates a very believable plant-based ceviche. I am not vegan, but I am trying to cut down on eating meat.  Ingredients (2 pax) 4 big button mushrooms (shiitake, portobello or crimini will work) 4 limes (check that they are juicy and big) 1 red onion, Use a yellow one if you preffer a milder taste 2 garlic cloves 1/2 Avocado 1 tbsp chili paste (I use this peruvian chili) Salt, Pepper and Cumin Scallions or Koriander 1 big sweet potato Salad leafs 1 corn A handful of peruvian popcorn - optional Vegetable oil  First, start popping those babies! in a pan with oil, add the peruvian popcorn and put a lid over it. Stir a bit until all are popped. Sprinkle some salt and let them cool. Boil or steam the sweet potato and once is tender, let it cool as well.  Cut the mushrooms in slices or dices. I always go for slices as they feel more like eating fish. Put them in a bowl, Add the onion in julienne, garlic in dices or crushed, chili paste, chili, salt, pepper and cumin. Now squeeze those limes! take ALL the juice! Dont forget to wash them first. because you want to avoid the bitterness of the skin. Pour the juice over the mushrooms and mix well. Add some scallions or coriander over the mix and let it macerate for at least 40 minutes. Test one mushroom and it should be tender and not crunchy. Add more salt or chili paste if needed.  While the ceviche is "cooking" make a puree out of the sweet potatoes, cook the corn and cut the avocado in slices. Stir the ceviche mix occasionally so all the ingredients cook evenly.  Now its time to plate. Start with a bed of salad. Add the ceviche over it as well as the corn, popcorn, sweet potato and avocado. Pour over some of the lime juice and drizzle some scallions or coriander at the top. Now ENJOY this plant-based umami heaven!  If you want to try the fish variation of it Check this recipe!
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June 2021
AuthorsI am Andrea, or as my friends call me, Jinx. I am a foodie living in Berlin, eating my way through life. Here are my recipes, cooking events, dining experiences and more... |
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