Lovely beef stew for the last cold winter days

It's been freezing outside and it's pretty clear that winter is here to stay for a bit longer. I can't wait for spring to arrive, but I figure I might as well make the most of the prolonged cold and cook some last wintery dishes. Stews of any kind are clearly part of this, so here is my favorite beef stew. It's a slightly simplified version of the French "Boeuf Bourguignon"and is served with dumplings and, if so desired, a small side salad.

Ingredients (serves 6):

1,4kg stewing beef (cut into 1 1/2 cm cubes)
250gr small shallots or onions
300gr carrots
300gr small brown mushrooms
150gr bacon, cut into small cubes
2 tablespoons of tomato concentrate
2 tablespoons flour
1l beef stock
500ml red wine 
2 bay leaves
2 cloves of garlic
fresh thyme (4-6 sprigs)
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 tablespoon of paprika powder

Preparation:

1. Peel the shallots and the carrots. Cut the shallots into halves and the carrots into medium size cubes.  Brush any dirt off the mushrooms and cut them into half.  

2.  In a large casserole, fry the beef and the bacon in 3-4 batches, allowing the meat to brown just slightly. Dust each batch with a bit of flour (2 tablespoons in total) before removing from the saucepan. When the meat is done, remove and set aside. Now put the carrots, shallots, and mushrooms in the casserole and fry for a few minutes until the onions start to soften slightly. 

3. Add the beef and stir in the tomato concentrate, sugar, paprika and some salt and pepper. Mix well before adding the garlic, bay leave and the thyme. Pour in the wine and the stock. Bring to a simmer and allow to cook on medium heat for 2 1/2 to 3 hours until the meat is nice and tender. I recommend leaving the lid on for the first 1 1/2 hours and removing it for the remainder of the time. 

4. When the meat is done, remove the bay leaves and the thyme, season with salt and pepper and, if necessary, add some pieces of cold butter to bind the sauce (in all likelihood this won't be necessary).  

Spaghetti with bacon and peas

It can be a challenge to find the time to cook proper meals during the week and more often than not we are forced to rely on dishes that are above all quick to prepare. Sadly many people go the easy way and resort to fast food or ready meals. Instead, try a quick recipe like this one. It takes no more than 10 mins to prepare, doesn't require many ingredients and your kids will love it. I promise!

Ingredients (für 2):

200gr spaghetti
150ml single cream
150gr bacon, cut into cubes

1 cup of frozen peas
1 handfull of cherry tomatoes
70ml of white wine or Vermouth (alternatively you can use some chicken or vegetable stock)

Preparation:

1. Cook the pasta according to instructions, making sure to reserve a small cup of the water before draining.


2. While the pasta is cooking, fry the bacon in a pan until starts to go crisp. Add the white wine or Vermouth and allow to reduce by about half. Then add the frozen peas and the tomatoes (halved), some salt (careful though, the bacon already contains quite a lot of salt) and pepper. When the peas start to soften, pour in the cream and allow to thicken slightly (this takes just a few minutes at a gentle boil).

3. Mix the pasta and the sauce and season to taste before serving. In case the sauce is too thick, you can add a bit of the water.

Chocolate-Vanilla Cake with Cherries

In German this cake is called "Donauwellen", for which there just isn't a good translation. But despite the admittedly not very inspired title, I strongly recommend you try this. It takes a bit of patience to make, but if someone as notoriously impatient as me can do this, so can you. It consists of two layers of cake, filled with cherries and covered with buttercream and some dark chocolate coating. Yum!

Ingredients: 

1 large glass of cherries
530gr soft butter (my arteries are clogging up just writing this, but it's sooooo good!)
200gr sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
5 eggs
350gr flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
500ml milk
2 tablespoons of cocoa powder
300gr chocolate coating (dark)
1 pack of vanilla custard powder (for 500ml milk)


Preparation: 

1. Bring 450ml of milk to the boil in a small saucepan. Remove from the heat and stir in the custard powder, mixing well. Cover the top of the custard with some clingfilm and set aside to cool.

2. In a large bowl, mix 250gr of butter with 200gr sugar and the vanilla extract until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time. Mix the flour and the baking powder in a bowl and add slowly to the butter-egg-sugar mixture. Whisk in the remainder of the milk and spread half of the dough on a baking tray (at least 2cm deep) covered with some baking paper. Mix the rest of the dough with the cocoa power and spread on top of the first layer. Drain the cherries and spread them evenly across the cake before placing the whole thing in the oven (175°C) for 30 mins. Remove and allow to cool.

3. For the buttercream, whisk 250gr of soft butter until smooth, then add the custard one spoonful at a time. Spread over the cake and place in the oven for at least one hour. 

4. Carefully melt the chocolate with 30gr of butter. Wait 10 mins or so until the mixture has cooled off slightly, then spread over the cake. Return to the fridge for another hour until the chocolate has set. 

I usually keep this cake in the fridge but recommend that you take it out half an hour before you want to eat it, to give it some time to warm up.


Recipe adapted from: www.lecker.de

Salmon in puff pastry

Puff pastry is immensely useful, not to mention tasty! While I usually use it to wrap filet of beef or pork, I recently decided to try the same method using some salmon. Fabulous! The great thing about pastry-wrapped meat or fish is that the pastry essentially replaces sides like potatoes or rice, and it also serves to keep whatever is inside nice and succulent.

Ingredients (serves 2):

400gr filet of salmon

1 pack of puff pastry

1 egg, separated

3 tablespoons of soft goat cheese

2 tablespoons of sour cream

200gr frozen spinach

2 shallots

Lemon Juice

Salt & Pepper

Preparation:

1. Wash the salmon and dry off with some kitchen paper. Season with salt and pepper. Defrost the spinach, and gently fry in a pan with the chipped shallots and a bit of olive oil. Season the spinach with salt, pepper and, if you want, a bit of nutmeg. Allow the spinach to cool down. In a bowl mix the sour cream, goats cheese, some salt and a bit of lemon juice. 

2. Lay out your puff pastry to form a rectangle and spread the sour cream in the center. Top with the spinach and place the salmon on top. Brush the edge of the pastry with some egg white and fold. Place on a baking tray (ideally covered with some baking paper), putting the folded side down. Brush the whole thing with the egg yolk and place in the often at 180°C for 30 Minutes. 

You can serve this with a nice green salad or some vegetables (I used sugar snaps). 

Pineapple Mascarpone with Ginger-Cream

I came up with this recipe recently when I had to buy a pineapple for my roast duck with pineapple-chili-caramel and ended up having way too much pineapple. Plus, I recently read somewhere that desserts served in a glass are the new black!

The really great thing about this dessert is that it can prepared in advance. All you have to do when your guests are there, is to take it out of the fridge (which is especially handy given that dessert is usually served at a stage in the evening when the last thing you want to do is to disappear into the kitchen for lengthy intervals).

Ingredients (serves 4): 

250 gr Mascarpone
150 gr yoghurt (I use a creamy variety)
300 ml cream, whipped with a bit of sugar
Half a pineapple, cut into 5mm thick pieces
2 tablespoons Amaretto
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 tablespoon grated ginger
3 handful Amarettini
Butter

Preparation: 

1. Place the mascarpone in a bowl. Add the yogurt and mix well until you achieve a smooth consistency. Add the Amaretto and the (white) sugar before carefully folding in roughly half of the whipped cream. Set aside. 

2. Mix the rest of the whipped cream with the ginger. 

3. Heat some butter in a pan and add the pineapple. Allow to fry gently until the fruit begins to brown. Sprinkle with the brown sugar and allow to caramelize. If you want to, you can add a bit of rum or calvados at this point. Once that has bubbled away, set the pineapple aside to cool off. 

4.  Place the Amarettini on a kitchen towel and fold. Repeatedly bash the towel using a rolling pin or a pan until the Amarettini are crumbly.

5. Once the pineapple has cooled off, you can start assembling your dessert. Using a piping bag, fill a layer of mascarpone cream into each glass and top with some Amarettini-crumble and pineapple. Repeat this process one more time before adding a final layer of mascarpone. Finally add a generous dollop of the ginger-cream to top it all off. Place in the fridge until you are ready to serve. 

Braised Chicory

Raw chicory is usually served in salads, often in combination with fruit (pears are a favorite). Supposedly the sweetness of the fruit serves to counterbalance the bitter taste of the chicory. Personally, I find raw chicory is just bitter, no matter how much fruit is added to it. Cooked, however, chicory has a fantastic flavor, especially when combined (as shown here) with some cream, bacon and a generous splash of Vermouth. 

(Allow me a brief comment on the use of butter and cream when cooking. Of course we all know that butter and cream taste great and no-one is ever going to convince me that a potato mash made with that horrible low-fat milk tastes anywhere near as good as proper mash made with proper milk (or cream) and butter. So I strongly advocate to use cream and butter when appropriate. If you want to diet, eat smaller portions or cook something that doesn't require the use of either from the start (the Asian cuisine is perfect for this).) 

Ingredients (serves 4): 

2 packs of chicory (usually each pack contains 3)

200 ml single cream
200 gr bacon, cut in to smallish cubes
100 ml Noilly Prat
1 tablespoon of butter
2 teaspoons sugar


Preparation:

1. First you cut each chicory in half (lengthwise) and remove the bitter inner core (careful, if you cut too much you end up with a bunch of loose leaves).

2. Fry the bacon in a pan until crisp. Remove and set aside. Add the butter to the pan and gently fry the chicory, adding the sugar and some salt and pepper (the sugar will caramelize and take the edge off the bitterness of the chicory). Once the chicory starts to take color, remove and set aside. 

3. Put the bacon back into the pan and reheat. Once the bacon starts to sizzle again, add the Noilly Prat and wait until it's reduced to about half. Once that's done, all that's left to do is to add the cream and the chicory.


4. Allow to cook (lid closed) over medium heat for about 30-40 mins until the chicory has softened.