This time I forgot about the kneading and rolling orgy and just did both just once. Surprise! Perfectly adequate! Cut round shapes from the thinly rolled dough, put a spoonful of stuffing on a round and cover with another. With a fork you seal the two rounds, let them dry a while and then boil for some 10 minutes in salt water. I served the pasta with tomatoes slow-roasted in the oven with chilis and garlic, drenched in olive oil. Inspired by MsMarmitelover.
Tuesday, 31 August 2010
Ravioli rides again
This time I forgot about the kneading and rolling orgy and just did both just once. Surprise! Perfectly adequate! Cut round shapes from the thinly rolled dough, put a spoonful of stuffing on a round and cover with another. With a fork you seal the two rounds, let them dry a while and then boil for some 10 minutes in salt water. I served the pasta with tomatoes slow-roasted in the oven with chilis and garlic, drenched in olive oil. Inspired by MsMarmitelover.
Monday, 30 August 2010
Am Bodensee
Wir hatten es uns vorgenommen, und wir machten es. Trotz fragwürdigem Wetter radelte ich am Wochenende mit zwei Freundinnen um den Bodensee. Nicht um den ganzen, wir kürzten auch mal mit Schiff ab. Ich fiel nur einmal vom Rad, aus reiner Blödheit, aber ein kühles Bad im See und Arnika verhinderten Beulenbildung.
Thursday, 26 August 2010
Abgekupfert
now we only cook with olive oil from Portugal
I spotted a recipe for a potato gratin with fennel on one of my home blogs yesterday and reproduced it for my Mum, as we all know, is a fussy eater. She loved it, even ate the green stuff on top. It couldn't be simpler to prepare it: layers of washed, unpeeled sliced new potatoes in an oiled fireproof dish, bit of salt, bit of marjoram and diced garlic, a layer of grated cheese of your choice, a layer of sliced fennel, more cheese, more potatoes, more cheese, then pour a mixture of milk, nutmeg and cream to cover the whole dish. Bake til potatoes are soft and the cheese is browned.
Tuesday, 24 August 2010
Fast, fasta - Pasta!
Tomaten kurz im heißen Nudelwasser erhitzen, dann sind sie leicht zu schälen (ich hab sie aber auch schon mit Schale gekocht), dann würfeln.
Im Mörser zwei peperoncini zerbröseln (ich leere erst die Kerne aus der Schote, Geschmackssache), in Olivenöl mit ein paar Knoblauchzehen anbraten.
Die kleingeschnittenen Tomaten drauf und dahinköcheln lassen, damit die Flüssigkeit eindickt.
Eine handvoll Basilikum in Streifen schneiden (Jamie Oliver würde sie natürlich zerreißen). Parmesan drüber, essen.
Fry two little chilis (I take the seeds out first) and a couple of garlic cloves, put the tomatoes in, simmer for a while until the liquid reduces. Add a handful of basil, cut in strips or ripped apart( Jamie Oliver style). Add parmesan, eat.
Monday, 23 August 2010
Frugalista
No Momofuku, no Jamie, no Tartine Gourmande for me right now, all I can allow myself is a quick low-effort lunch. Why doesn't someone pay me to learn to cook properly, instead of having to deal with columns of statistics a well-trained gorilla could work out. Instead, I am burning with desire to test recipes like Maxivida's plum dumplings, or anything from Ms Marmitelover, never mind cook my way through the insane buffet laid on by Toni&Suse, a pair of blogging German engineers (girls, I may mention). No - instead I poach an egg, cut up some bunnyfood and get on with the stats. And tonight - pasta, what else.
Sunday, 22 August 2010
Italienische Nacht
Saturday night we enjoyed an Italian-English-German family gathering, the last of its kind in Luisa's and Favourite Niece's flat: truly the end of an era. The Italian branch of the family had taken care of food - spaghetti and tiramisú for the crowds - and the music. Nostalgic versions of old rabble rousers and some of the more poetic Italian songs were sung. It is well known that Munich is the most northerly Italian city, so everyone sings in fluent Italian. Except for the Englishman, of course, his Italian picked up in the course of the evening. The wine was French, and all the better for it.Saturday, 21 August 2010
Nähre mich redlich
Friday, 20 August 2010
Juicy fruit
Last night, the soft yellow moon, the starry sky, looked like a portent of the return of summer. My cold can now finally get lost in the warm sun. A pleasure to draw the curtains in the morning. I had my fruit salad on the balcony with pears, bananas, lemon juice and ripe peaches brought back from Italy, sitting by my sad little crop of herbs. Only the purple sweet peas seem to thrive this year. Wednesday, 18 August 2010
Zeit zu kochen, Zeit zu backen
Mein Mittagessen gelang auch:
Luckily, my lunch turned out better. I made a tofu surprise with spring onions, ginger, garlic, a carrot and soy sauce, with the eco-friendly rice cooked in bed*.*footprint-free rice: use a small cup of rice and two cups of water per person. Boil it up once and then stick the lidded pot on newspapers in the nearest bed, cover with a duvet and many cushions. Saves energy in every sense and works, always.
Monday, 16 August 2010
Jetzt aber!
alle vor dem Schloss Englar - a Cheese moment near our local castle, Englar
Seerosen im Badeteich des Stroblhofs - the magic seat
Yoga im Kabuff - yoga in the cubby-hole In zwei Tagen von null auf 100: die Jodelgruppe
During the afternoon, the other women arrived and despite the weather, we just had to jump into the pool. The birth of a cold, but what the hell. Our dining room was shared with six migrant Italian workers from the Deep South, and an ex-opera-singer from the Scala (white socks and bath sandals – so much for Italian style) with his lady love. Curiouser and curiouser. But nothing curious about Helmut Flor’s cooking not a spaghetto that wasn’t al dente, and the pesto from herbs from his garden, with wonderful white wines from the surrounding hills.At dinner, the poor Italians had to wait patiently until we were fed, which they did without a murmur.
The garden is poetry, completely wild but cared for, roses, fig trees, herbs, surrounded by apple plantations and vinyards. Our idea was we were woken by the sun for a yoga session on the wooden decking of the terrace before breakfast. Apart from the sun bit, that’s what we did. Gradually, the days got sunny and allowed some beautiful walks beyond the magical Englars castle with its gardens, to the “ice holes” where you walk from one climate zone into another.
Melanie erklärt das Berufskraut - Melanie explains the spell-plant (Michaelmas Daisy) und hier der Hauptgrund, nach Südtirol zu fahren: Knödel-Tris
Even though only one of the women had ever yodelled before, we managed over the three days to get some songs together that were amazing – standing in very special places overlooking the Adige valley. If I tell you that some passing hikers stopped to clap us, it gives you an idea of our accomplishment…We did a tarot session, which confirmed that I am doing everything right. When it rained again in the evening, what the hell, we found a little cubbyhole for yoga. Next morning – sun, swimming pool, more singing, more spaghetti, good-byes and swearing that we would come back – same day, same time, same programme. Next year. In summer. Man konnte schon baden, echt - it WAS possible to swim, honest.
Ja dann, well then....omm und holadaitijo!


