My Mum's Cheese Bites

In this post, I mentioned my Mum's home-baked cheese crackers (on the Thursday in that post). Some of you were asking for the recipe, and here it is.

Maybe "crackers" is not the right term for them. One of the characteristics of a cracker is that it cracks when you bite or break off a piece. These don't; they are softer than crackers. So maybe we should call them cheese cookies (sounds odd), cheese straws (not really) or cheese bites (suits them best, I believe).

Anyway, here is what you need:

For the dough:

120 g grated cheese (a good, well-aged cheese such as a Conté works best - remember, the saltier and spicier the cheese, the less spice you'll need for the dough)

240 g regular white flour (not self-raising)
120 g cold butter, diced
1 egg
60 g sour cream
1/2 tea spoon salt
1/2 tea spoon sweet pepper powder
some pepper (preferably freshly ground)

For the topping:
 
1 egg yolk
1 table spoon milk
seeds (sesame, poppy, caraway, whatever you like and have at hand)

Make a dough and let it rest in the fridge for at least an hour. Take it out about 1/2 hour before you proceed; if the dough is too cold, it will be brittle and hard to work with.

Heat the oven to 180C.

Roll out the dough, not too thin. Now you can either cut finger-length strips and twist them once or twice (depending on their length), or cut out shapes like hearts etc. with cookie cutters.

These were the "twisted" ones we had the other day.

But they work just as well for Christmas or a New Year's Eve celebration.

Cookie cutters come in all shapes and sizes.

They are nice all year round!

Mix the egg yolk with the milk and spread it on top of the strips or cut-out shapes. Sprinkle liberally with the seeds.

 

Bake in the oven for about 12 - 15 minutes. Don't let them get too dark; keep checking. Let cool on a rack before trying one for quality control :-) and of course before packing them in a tin or other container. They won't keep well all that long, not like some sorts of Christmas cookies you can still eat weeks or even months later. Therefore, you better eat them soon - they taste best with a glass of wine or cocktails, and with friends :-D

My Birthday Week

It was my birthday last week, and a full working week, too. Much of it was dedicated to a course I was on, but I did not forget to celebrate and have fun!

Monday, March 20, was a chilly day of mostly grey skies with the sun poking through occasionally. Between work, a brief chat with my upstairs neighbour  and the regular fortnightly meeting with my volunteer group, I did not have time for a walk.

It was much milder with more sun on Tuesday (21st of March). I know that our calendars show the 20th as the beginning of spring, but in my mind it has always been the 21st, the spring equinox.

It was also the beginning of a course to gain an additional qualification for work. For the rest of the week, I was going to spend every morning until around lunch time in online sessions to learn more about data protection for insurance companies.

Each day would follow that pattern; after a lunch break, I would work as usual: answering emails, talking to my boss or attending regular online meetings for work. On that first day, by mid-afternoon my mind needed a break, and I walked on the fields for two hours.

It was my 55th birthday on Wednesday (March 22), and the sunshine my sister had ordered specifically for me was promptly delivered :-) At 18C (64.4F), it was mild enough to make me look forward to meeting my Mum and sister after work at the palace grounds.

Just as I left the house and was walking down the street, a car pulled up next to me, the window went down and a voice said "Hallo schöne Frau" - it was O.K., having driven 150 km just to be with me on my birthday!! It was the loveliest surprise, and really made my day.

The four of us enjoyed a stroll in the palace grounds before going to a restaurant for our evening meal.  Afterwards, a taxi took us back to Mum's place, where my birthday presents were waiting for me - and a little later, at my home, O.K. had stacked even more gifts from his family.

Birthdays are fun!

Palace grounds

One of my Mum's gifts, now adorning my kitchen window

I almost had to use the panorama feature on my phone's camera to get everything in!

It was a wonderful day, even if tinged with some sadness as it was the first time in my life that my Dad could not wish me a happy birthday.

O.K. drove home on the Thursday (March 23) morning while I was on my course. After work, I took what has become sort of my default or standard walk to Benningen. There were a few drops of rain, but it was partly sunny during the day, and rather mild.

On Friday, the 24th of March, O.K. was back; he arrived early enough for us to enjoy a late afternoon/early evening walk with beautiful light and the sights and sounds of spring all around before sitting down to our evening meal of Shakshouka, crusty bread (courtesy of O.K.) and Merlot.

Close to sunset on Friday

Venus was very close to the moon that night, as seen from my Mum's balcony...

...and from her friend's garden in another part of town. With the magnolia in bloom and the cypress trees, it rather looks like somewhere in Tuscany, doesn't it!

A small birthday celebration was planned for Saturday (March 25) at an Italian restaurant close enough for my Mum to walk there. Two friends were also invited, and the six of us had a good evening with fine food and plenty of talk. 

During the day, O.K. and I had been to town in order to get one of my birthday gifts, a pair of New Balance trainers (my favourite kind of shoe for everyday walking). Between that and the meal at the restaurant, I did about an hour's revising for my exam on Monday.

Sunday, the 26th of March, was very windy and unsurprisingly brought a mix of sun, rain and back to sun several times. We wisely wore our rain coats for the walk across the fields in the afternoon. Stopping by at the cemetery, we found my Mum sitting on the bench near the bird markers of Dad and friend R, and continued with her for a bit before we took our separate ways home. 

I did another couple of hours of revising and then started on our evening meal.

From O.K.'s Mum, I still had a butternut squash, and at my local Aldi, a batch of organic carrots of various colours had been on offer that week. As soon as I saw the colourful bundle, I knew I was going to turn it into something (hopefully) good.

So on Sunday, I peeled and diced the butternut squash, carrots and two small onions, added olive oil, salt, freshly ground black pepper and ginger, and put it in the oven long enough for all of it to become soft enough to eat. For the last 10 minutes, I laid strips of bacon on top. The veg tray took care of itself while I was making a creamy dip and a small pot of couscous, laid the table and brought out a bottle of rosé.

Before adding the onions and butternut squash

I went to bed relatively early, as my exam was scheduled for 9:00 the next morning, and I wanted to take one last look at a certain topic and be at my computer early enough to sort out all the technical stuff (which, as I knew, was NOT going to go smoothly at the first attempt). 

That was my birthday week!

Autumn Food

Late summer / early autumn is high season for all things pumpkin where I live. Almost any restaurant or even beer garden you go, you see pumpkin soup, pumpkin salads, pumpkin risotto and many other dishes with pumpkin on the menue. 

Some weeks ago, I bought my first Hokkaido of this season; the Aldi supermarket where I do nearly all my food shopping (it is about 5 minutes on foot from my house) stocks an organically grown variety which I often buy this time of year.

The first time I have made Hokkaido pumpkin slices in the oven was in 2016; the recipe and pictures are here. Last night, I prepared it based on the original recipe but not exactly the same, more like a type of oven-baked casserole.

Instead of placing the slices on a tray, I diced the lot. The marinade was made as before, with lemon juice, honey and olive oil as well as a pinch of salt and quite a bit of freshly ground black pepper.

The pumpkin went into the oven for about 15 minutes on its own before I added the rest: diced feta, bacon and a handful or two of boiled chestnuts (maroni; they were bought ready-made).

After mixing well, I put it back in for another 10 or 15 minutes while laying the table and preparing the salad (baby spinach leaf and a vinaigrette with balsamico). 

A glass of white or rosé wine would have been perfect with it, but of course we did not drink any alcohol with our meal, since O.K. had to drive home that same evening. You never go wrong with a glass of fresh tap water, in my opinion. I put ciabatta bread on the table, too, but the pumpkin mix was rather filling on its own and the bread was not really necessary.

Now I have a butternut waiting in the kitchen, grown by O.K.'s Mum - I have never made anything with butternut, so will look through my cook books for inspiration for next time O.K. is here.

Guest Post By My Mum: Lasagne Recipe

As several of you were asking about my Mum's lasagne recipe, here it is, as written down by my Mum herself:

Vegetable Lasagne, my recipe:

 

Here we can buy pasta sheets. [Meike says: I am sure you can in your countries, too.] Cut or break them to fit the oven dish you will use.

Take fresh vegetables, what ever you have: beans, peas, carrots, spinach, onions etc. and boil them until not too soft.

Make a tomato sauce, best from fresh tomatoes, with garlic and onions and herbs. (If it's not tomato season, take a can of peeled tomatoes.)

Also make a white Bechamel sauce: For this I melt butter and olive oil, then stir in 2-3 table spoons of flour. Pour 350 ml milk, always stirring; add salt and pepper; 2 or 3 spoons of cream will make the sauce still better.

You need at least 200 g of a good grated cheese, whatever you like. I mostly take half parmesan and half gouda.

Take a big enough oven dish,  grease with olive oil or butter, and then put in the ingredients in layers:

 

1. tomato sauce

2. vegetables

3. bechamel sauce

4. cheese

5. pasta sheets

 

Repeat until nothing is left, last layer has to be pasta sheets, and cheese on top of that.

 

Heat the oven to 200 C, put the lasagne on the middle tray and bake for about 25-30 minutes. The cheese must be melted - you'll see and smell when it's ready.

 

Then enjoy your meal!

- - - End of guest post - - -

As I mentioned before, it is the best vegetable lasagne EVER, and I was able to enjoy some of it last week, when this picture was taken. Needless to say, it goes VERY well with a glass of chilled rosé or white wine; on a colder day, of course a glass of red (at room temperature) will be perfect.

And now comes something I believe not all of you will appreciate: A small personal rant of mine.

So, so many times I read on blogs and in comments written by American or British native speakers/writers the word "lasagna".

Well, the correct spelling for the dish is lasagne (to be precise: lasagne al forno), with an e at the end, not an a - lasagna being the singular for one single sheet of pasta used in a lasagne, but no native Italian speaker would use the term for the dish. (At least not to my knowledge, and since I used to be part of a Sicilian family for 10 years and am fluent in Italian, I think I would have come across it if it were the case.) 

Feel free to look it up on wikipedia for a more official opinion.

I know I am being picky and possibly over-critical, and I apologise for any offence this may cause, but I simply can not let the wrong spelling take over without trying to do my bit to make it right :-)

Rant over. Last but not least - whatever spelling you prefer, it is delicious, and I will enjoy it to the full every time my Mum makes it! :-)

Sprouts and Sunrises

We have had some extraordinarily beautiful sunrises lately, two of which I am sharing here with you. The first one I took on Monday morning at around 20 past 7.

The day itself was unspectacular.

On Tuesday, I had asked my sister over for dinner. Now that we do not have to be home by 8:00 pm any longer (the curfew was lifted last week Thursday, with the option of being re-introduced should infection numbers rise again), we can visit each other without having to check the clock all the time, which makes for a much more relaxed meal.

I had read a recipe in the supplement of my weekly paper and wanted to try it, but not on my own. We both enjoyed it, and I am sure I will make it again, rather sooner than later:

Brussel sprouts with red pesto and goat or sheep cheese

It is easily made and doesn't take all that long, especially if you go for the lazy option and use ready-made red pesto.

Pre-heat oven to 200C. Clean and half a bag of sprouts (here, they are sold at 500 g a bag). Mix with several spoons of pesto rosso; don't "drown" the sprouts but make sure all halves have at least a bit of pesto on them.

Spread on a baking tray (lightly oiled or lined with paper), put in the oven for about 20 minutes.

Prepare another tray with the cheese; I used sheep camembert, while the original recipe had thick slices of round goat cheese. I cut the camembert in quarters - I could have just as well left it uncut. Drizzle with liquid honey and put in the oven at the highest level, right underneath the grill.

Leave everything for another 5-10 minutes, until the honey is caramelised and before the sprouts turn black ;-) (they will look dark because of the red pesto).

Put sprouts on plates (warm the plates if you like, it makes for a nicer meal - I will do that next time!) and top with the half-melted cheese. Sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper and a bit of dried thyme.

Enjoy!

We had well-chilled craft beer with it, a recent local discovery of O.K. and myself, but I can imagine this going very well with a nice rosé wine or a white one, and of course water will be good, too.

And my sister brought another bunch of tulips - actually, two bunches; a yellow and a pink one this time. They look great but were still firmly closed buds on Tuesday, which is why they do not appear properly in the picture.

Another beautifun sunrise was yesterday morning, on the 18th; I took this picture at 10 past 7:

Now there is only today left to work (and another busy one it will be!), and then the weekend is here - phew! :-)

A Quick Food Post

Weeks (or months?) ago, I briefly mentioned that I was probably going to post about food again some time soon - maybe making a welcome change for my readers from the seemingly endless sunsets and sunrises and other sky pictures I have been posting this year.

Well, here it is. I do not have much time, as I want to start work early today, and there is really so much I could say or write about food. But for now, this will have to do, with a few pictures for garnish.

Since I have retreated to working almost exclusively from home again, most weeks I have managed to fit in one lunch break per week at my parents'. It is always good to see them, but we have to be cautious; my Dad especially is in the high risk group, and I have not hugged or kissed either of them since March. Usually, my parents have only coffee and a snack at lunch time, but for me, they often adapt their schedule so that we can have a full meal together. At other times, they keep me company (at a distance) while I am the only one to eat a cooked lunch, and they join in for the coffee afterwards, before I walk back to my place and resume work.

My own cooking habits have not changed - I still very, very rarely cook for myself. I often have a bowl of salad in the evenings, making it a full meal by adding all sorts of things such as diced feta or other cheese, a handful of almonds and cranberries, a chopped apple and so on - whatever takes my fancy and is at hand.

But when O.K. and I spend the weekend at my place, I enjoy thinking about what I could make for us, buying the ingredients and then cooking - I know the food will be shared with me and appreciated. When I have leftovers, either of the cooked meal or of the fresh groceries I bought, I use them up during the week; those are the only occasions when I cook for myself, and I so hate wasting food.

Here is a very small selection of meals I had lately. There were many, many more, of course, but I do not take pictures all the time, even though it may seem otherwise.

Sweet potatoes - so versatile!

I halved them and roasted them in the oven.

With a mix of sour cream and goats cheese with fresh herbs for topping, they made a nice meal for O.K. and myself one weekend earlier this year.

Caprese with yellow tomatoes, at my parents'.

Savoury pancakes with creamy mushrooms and salad, again at my parents'.

Fish & Chips at "my" Irish pub, with a refreshing glass of cider. It was a beautiful warm day at the end of August, perfect for sitting outside on the market square.

A small aubergine and two zucchini were left over after one weekend and needed using up. (I also made something with the Hokkaido pumpkin you can see in the background, see further down.)

I sliced the vegetables, sprinkled them with a bit of olive oil and salt and roasted them in the oven.

They made for very tasty roasted veggie burgers on crusty rolls from the bakery down the road, with leaves from the potted parsley on my window sill.

The Hokkaido pumpkin was chopped and boiled until soft, along with a few carrots. I mashed it all up and added coconut fat, salt, pepper and plenty of ground ginger.

Served with a dollop of cream, fresh parsley and a crusty roll, it made a nice lunch for O.K. and myself two Saturdays ago.

This weekend, O.K. will be here; I have a few ideas for our meals and hope my cooking will turn out how I want it (it doesn't always!).

Spinach and Eggs

In my next-to-last post, I mentioned how the weekend before last, because of O.K. and I not seeing each other at short notice, I had lots of food to prepare and either consume or store; throwing food away is very much against my ethics. Therefore, I found myself spending much more time in the kitchen than what would normally be the case when I am on my own.

One of the meals I had planned for us was based on a recipe I found in The Dalesman. Some of my readers may be familiar with this monthly magazine, subtitled "The best of Yorkshire". For those who are not, wikipedia has this to say: "Dalesman is a British monthly regional magazine, based in Skipton, and serving the English county of Yorkshire. Its first edition was published in March 1939, under the original title of The Yorkshire Dalesman: A Monthly Magazine of Dales' Life and Industry." And of course, it also has its own website.

Last Christmas, my sister gave me a subscription for this year. Every month (more or less - it has not worked smoothly, and my sister has had to write to them a few times about this), I find the latest issue in my mail box.

The March issue (not the one pictured here) contained a recipe I wanted to try the moment I read about it: Herb pudding.

Now, whenver there is spinach involved, you can be sure I'll want to try whatever dish it is! I just love spinach, and have always done so. Also, it sounded easy enough, and all measures are given in both imperial and contintental units.

Here is what you need, according to Mrs Simkins (whose "Country Kitchen" is a regular feature in The Dalesman):

• 430 ml (3/4 pint) milk [I needed a bit more in the end]
• 275 g (9 oz) breadcrumbs [I went for the lazy option, not having any stale bread anyway, and used the ready-made kind]
• 2 medium eggs [I used three, maybe they were smaller than what goes for "medium" in Yorkshire]
• pepper
• nutmeg
• 50 g (3 oz) diced salted butter, plus extra for dotting (or suet if you prefer) [again, I deviated, as I had neither salted butter nor suet]
• 3-4 generous handfuls of spinach leaves, washed, dried and chopped
• generous handful of chopped chives and parsley [I didn't have chives, but plenty of parsley, it grows on my windowsill]
• salt to taste, if necessary [it was necessary, since I used unsalted butter]

Preheat oven to 160C (fan), gas mark 4.
Butter a pie dish of around 23 cm (9 inch) diameter.

Pour the milk into a pan and stir in the breadcrumbs. Whisk the eggs well, season them (best is freshly ground black and white pepper and freshly ground nutmeg), stir in and leave to stand for a while. The recipe says 30 minutes but it did not take quite that long to set.

Stir in the butter and spinach and heat through gently.
Stir in the herbs (just parsley in my case), test for seasoning and pour into the prepared pie dish.

 Bake for 25-30 minutes or until risen and golden.

 Mrs Simkins suggests to use nettle tops in place of some or all of the spinach, which I can very well imagine - only I do not have easy access to nettle tops around my flat.
She also explains that herb pudding was once a Good Friday tradition around Whitby and that it is good on its own (I can confirm that) or with fried bacon (sounds delicious).

So, thanks to Mrs Simkins and The Dalesman - and of course thanks to my sister! - I had a proper, home-cooked meal on my own for a change. I ate two pieces immediately and two the next day (heated in the microwave, which worked well). The second half of the pie is in my freezer, waiting for the next time O.K. will be here with me - hopefully this coming weekend.

A New Recipe

Every now and then, I come across a recipe I want to try, either in the supplementary magazine that comes with my weekly paper, on one of the blogs I regularly read, or elsewhere.
This one I found in the magazine, and I made it on Sunday for my birthday dinner.

For two, you need

• four bulbs (is that the right term?) of fennel
• 3 - 5 table spoons olive oil
• 4 - 6 table spoons cream
• salt, pepper, chili powder or some other hot spice
• 40 - 50 g grated or shaved parmesan (or any other type of cheese fit for baking)

Preheat the oven to 190 C (370 F).

Remove outer layer from fennel, halve the bulbs and then cut them into slices about as thick as a finger.
Place them in an oven dish (like one you use for gratins or brownies).

Mix oil, cream and spices well. Use as much spice as you like; the chili powder works surprisingly well with the fennel, but may not be to everyone's liking. Remember that parmesan (which will be added at the end of the baking time) is rather salty, so don't add too much salt to the mix.

Spoon the liquid mixture over the fennel slices, then cover the dish firmly with aluminium foil.
Bake for 20 minutes.

Take the dish out, remove the foil, and grate or shave parmesan cheese on the fennel.
Put back into the oven (without the foil) for another 10 to 15 minutes; keep checking so that the parmesan does not burn black.

Serve as a side dish with meat, pasta or whatever strikes your fancy - or as the main dish with crusty bread.

I made these "egg nests" with it, which worked well, as the nests have very different textures, colours and taste from the fennel. Also, my oven allows for two dishes baking at the same time, and it was really nice being in the comfort of my warm kitchen with the scents of food around me. 

Fennel is a wonderfully versatile vegetable; you can eat it raw as a salad, fry it covered in breadcrumbs, boil it, bake it - the result is always delicious. And that's coming from me! Because here is the strange thing: I don't like the smell and taste of aniseed. In fact, I detest it, and I never drink Sambuca, Ouzo or Pastis, for exactly that reason. BUT... I really like fennel, although both its smell and taste remind one of aniseed. Weird, huh!