For a good start in our weekend I cooked some delicious burgers. And making burgers means always preparing everything fresh, from bun to the patty and the sauce. Add something special, I decided to make a honey mustard sauce.
The basis for it was a thick syrup made with vinegar and honey, flavoured with some celery. This was then mixed with egg and mustard and oil to make a good mayonnaise. The finishing touch was a pinch of green curry powder and some cress.
So simple and so delicious! Continue reading
When the quinces turn golden in my parents garden then we are in the middle of autumn. And our flat is filled with the rich perfume of the fruits as I tend to place them strategically in living room and kitchen to enjoy my favourite autumn flavour as much as possible.
I can not tell how I learn about the Reformationsbrötchen (reformation rolls). But the idea somehow stuck in mind and so I had to bake them just in time for the 31. October (Reformation day).
Beside apples walnuts are another autumn favourite of mine. And beautiful autumn days with blue sky, colourful trees and rustling leaves on the ground make me wish for a bread with nuts. The bread I baked is another sibling of the 
Our whole flat is filled with apple flavour. In front of the kitchen there is a whole bucket of “Jakob Lebel” Windfall Apples waiting to be processed and in the living room I placed a big bowl with dark red “Pomme de Coeur” (Sternrenette). This is another old heritage apple variety and a joy for the taste buds and nose: flavourful, aromatic, delicious. And it’s dark red colour makes it a joy for our eyes as well. With so many apples in the house baking some apple cakes is a must. And as I got this beautiful tiny tartelett rings as birthday present using them was a must as well. I decided to go for a recipe from Matthias Ludwigs “Törtchen und Torten”.
And this can happen in our house as well: the fridge is empty when I was sure that there should be some breakfast rolls left. And at nine in the evening not even I start to think about making a quick preferment for rolls. Instead I made a short stocktaking in the kitchen and found some left over boiled potatoes, cream and eggs in the fridge. With them I mixed a sweet dough for rolls. Like the dough for my favourite 
This is a leftover – recipe which I created while looking through my storage: I had a open bottle lingering in the kitchen after baking the 
I always try to avoid waste of food. And since I started to bake my own bread I care even more to save bread. But like in every other household, there is bread which get stale and there are left over rolls. But the old bread and rolls can be useful, too! The bread is dried and grinded in a food processor into bread crumbs, which are very useful in baking and cooking. The rolls are sliced very thinly and used for making “Semmelknödel” (Bread Dumplings). And since I started to use homemade bread, the dumplings work very well while in former days, when I used the same recipe with store bought rolls, I always struggled with dumplings falling apart while cooking. But with my own rolls the recipe works like a charm!
In August we spent a weekend in the beautiful Swabia. A part of my family has its roots there and I always enjoy being there. Eating some pretzels is then a “Must” of course. When we stop at a bakerie in Schwäbisch Hall, I spotted a roll made with some Emmer and Quark (Curd). But sadly the last one was already sold when it was my turn. So I bought pretzels and Briegels instead. But the idea was fixed in my head. And soon afterwards I recipe began to form in my head.
Since three years I use my Slowcooker to cook plum butter. This is very relaxed as I just have to remove the plum pits the night before and turn on the slow cooker. I put the lid on the cooker in a right angle, leaving a gap so the evaporated water can escape. After 12 hours cooking on “High” the juice has reduced a good deal and after pureeing it needs another three to four hours until it reaches the perfect thick consistence.