Pork Roast

Pork Roast

To get a decent roast you need at least 4 pounds of a meat. This applies to any Roast be it Pork, Beef or Lamb.  

For this Roast I used the loin of Pork, which is easy to carve .

If you are partial to crackling then the leg of Pork would be better suited. The method is the same

Ingredients:

4 to 6 pounds of Pork roast serves 6-8 people depending on their appetite

3-4 medium onions

3-4 fresh tomatoes

½ l or more decent white wine ( full bodied!)

2-3 cloves of garlic ( optional)

2- Tbsp dried majoram ( optional)

Salt and pepper to taste 

Pork Roast prepared for roasting

Method

1. Peel the garlic, cut into slices, make some incisions into the meat and insert the garlic. Rub the meat with salt, pepper and majoram.

2.  Depending on the size of the roast  take a large pan and quickly brown the meat on top of the hob, or alternatively set you oven to at least 220C and roast the joint for 20 min.

3. After either browning or roasting at the high heat, place roast in roasting tin with the onions quartered and the quartered tomatoes.

4. Start roasting at 175 C. Baste the roast with the wine every 10-15 minutes. The wine will help to tenderize the meat and keep it moist. If you used up the wine you can use some water.

according to the weight you take 20 min. roasting per pound approx. a 4-6 pound roast will need usually min. 2 hrs. depending on your oven.

5. Take out the roast and let it rest

Scrape the juices with some water (if needed) and put the tomatoes and onions through a sieve; be sure to scrape off the pulp into the sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste, add some more  majoram.

6.  Reduce the liquid ( boil it in a pan) until you have the required amount for the sauce. If necessary add some more water.

7.To thicken the sauce, put a tablespoon of  flour into a jar add some water make a soft liquid pour into to the sauce, bring it to the boil again and simmer for a minute or two. This will take the flour taste out of it ( if the sauce turns out lumpy put it through a sieve again, it will reduce the lumps)

Pork Roast after Roasting!

Note:  The better quality of the meat the better the taste!

The above method can be applied to any roast,  just use Red wine for Beef and Lamb

Depending on the meat you can add different herbs, ie. Rosemaryn and Thyme for Lamb, Bay Leaf and Tarragon for Beef etc.  

                                            Be adventurous and experiment!

Vegetable Soup

Vegetable Soup  (simply the quickest and easiest to cook)

The following recipe uses vegetables which you will have in the house most of the time. Once you get used to making soups you can and will use whatever comes to hand and make a nice soup.

I was initiated into soup making by my father's mother (Oma Mia). My gang will know the story but I think it worthwhile to share it with you.

When we used to visit Oma Mia, Saturday then was the traditional “Suppen”(soup) day,  in most German families and each family had their own specialities.

It took me quite a while to figure out what the difference was between my mother’s vegetable/potato soup and my Grandmother’s. One day we were in the kitchen alone and Oma, asked me to stir the vegetables in the pot. I ask her why and she explained that was to lock the flavours into the vegetables and that it would taste better. She called it “schwitzen”, that means sweating. She would put a little oil into the pot and sometimes, when it was to be a fine, delicate soup, she would use butter, or a mixture of both.

She had a specific order as well, which to this day I dare not change, I still don’t know the reason for the particular “Reihenfolge”( order).

First always come the onions, then leeks, then celery or celeriac, then carrots and last but not least the potatoes. These are the ingredients of the most simple soup and it is simply delicious.

Ingredients:

1 Tbs. of good vegetable oil or butter or a mixture of both

1 medium sized onion

1 med/large leek

2 carrots

3 carrots

½ cup celery (if you like celery)

3 medium potatoes

¾ l chicken stock or vegetable stock

Pepper to taste

Parsley optional

Cream optional

Method:

1. Clean the vegetables and cut them into small pieces.

2. Put oil into a large saucepan and add the onions

3. Sauté the onions until the look glassy but are not browned.

4. Add the leeks, stir, let them “sweat” a bit and then add the carrots

5. Continue until all the vegetables have been added. Should take about 5 minutes.

6. Add the chicken/vegetable stock and simmer for 20 minutes.

7. If you want a cream soup,  puree the vegetables

8. Serve either with, cream, parsley, croutons (homemade!!)

Note:  The recipe for the croutons you find on the recipe for Winter's Tale soup

Mary's Salad

Mary’s Salad 

This salad has been a family favourite for a long long time now. It got its name after Mary, a close friend of the family. Why name the salad after her? Well, whenever we had big Parties in the house, the food and not really the drink! was the important bit. As already mentioned (Corn Patties) there are a few vegetarians among the friends and I felt that they deserved a little more than simply eating the non meat dishes. So Mary's salad was created. It is one of the salads which is requested any time there is a gathering in the house. It even made it to a christening in Germany! But for some inexplicable reason I never made a photo of it. The photos of the vegetables below were taken at a garden fête in Belfast last year.

Prep Time: 20 to 60 min depending how many portions are needed

Ingredients:

for approx 4-8 people depending on the size of the vegetables

1 small very fresh and firm cauliflower

2 carrots

1 gourgete

1 red/yellow pepper

1 leek

1 large eating apple/ pink lady or similar

1 Ts cut chives

½ tsp dried dill ( or 1 Tsp fresh dill)

2 portions of a normal vinaigrette dressing (1 Ts vinegar to 3 Ts rapeseed oil/sunflower, ½ tsp salt, pepper to taste)

Method:

1. Cut the cauliflower, carrots, gourgete into small pieces

2. Cut the leek into fine rings

3. Cut the apple into small pieces with the peel on

4. Mix the vegetables with the dressing and the dill

decorate with  chopped chives

Note: 

The salad can be prepared a few hours before using it. Just add the dressings shortly before serving. Depending on the size of the individual vegetable, adjust the dressing to suit.

 Only use absolutely fresh vegetables

Salads Dressings

Salad Dressings

A salad dressing should always enhance the flavour of the salad and should not drown the individual taste of the ingredients.

Oils

selection of green leaves and strawberries with French dressing

For most vegetable salads involving green leaves a light oil is preferable, Rapeseed/or Sunflower oil, is best suited.

For specific salads involving Asian herbs and spices, Peanut oil or Sesame oil can be used.

Using a mixture of leaves and other ingredients, a Virgin olive oil, or some of the Nut oils, like Walnut, Hazelnut, Oils with herbs and Spices etc. can be used.  For most salads a mixture of olive oil and  the special oil works best.

! A dressing is a good as your oil and vinegar. For everyday salads a good Rapeseed Oil or a good sunflower oil is the best to have in your cupboard.

Rape(seed)Oil (Canola)

has been established as being the best everyday oil to use in you cooking, may it be frying or in salad dressing. It can be heated to higher temperature than Olive oil and is thus safer for consumption. A lot of supermarkets carry now Rapeseed Oil. It is said to be healthier than Olive Oil.

Olive Oil 

has a very distinctive taste depending from which country it originates. The largest providers are Greece, Italy and Spain. There is a amazing amount of different ones and different prices, the dearest is not necessarily the best. Lately both Aldi and Lidl have offered better Virgin Olive Oil than the bigger supermarkets at much better prices.(according to tests done by a German TV documentary)

According to a new survey even virgin olive oil has been subjected to additives which give the oil a longer shelf life, but it might not be better for your health. The advise is to buy olive oil not from a big producer but from smaller companies. At the moment of writing this,  Aldi has a really good virgin cold pressed olive oil from a Greece monastery  for less than 5 Euro. The taste is one of the best I have tasted.

Personally I would be inclined to buy Italian or Greek rather than Spanish Olive Oil, a question of personal taste.

Vinegars

As much as oil can “kill”the taste of a salad, so can a bad vinegar. For most green leave salads and most other vegetable salads a neutral vinegar  works best as you want to taste the salad not the vinegar. Cider Vinegar or White Balsamic Vinegar are best. Some white vine vinegars have too much of an own taste, so try out which one would suit your taste best.

Modena Balsamic Vinegar has been on the market for the last decade or so and is mostly associated with Italian dishes and salads where tomatoes are the main ingredient. Like with the Oils there are many differences in the quality of the Vinegar. The price range is vast from less than 3 Euro to 15 Euro for less than 1/2l.

Some of the cheap ones are very vinegary, aka very sour and it will be hard to get a nice dressing. Often good balsamic vinegars come in small bottles. Again the discounters Aldi and Lidl have small bottles on offer which are surprisingly good.

As with the Oil try out a few different vinegars to find the one you like.

In your cupboard you should have a good Rapeseed Oil, a good Olive Oil, a good White Vinegar (Cider or Balsamic) and a good Modena Balsamic Vinegar. With these you can produce a really nice tasting dressing any time.

Recipes

Vinaigrette  ( simple oil/vinegar dressing)

carrot salad with mango on lettuce (vinaigrette with dill)

Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon cider/white balsamic vinegar

3 Tsp Rapeseed Oil/Sunflower Oil

½ tsp salt ( sea salt, if possible use a herb salt  less salt!!)

Black freshly ground pepper

1 crushed clove of  garlic (optional)

Method:

Mix all the above ingredients together!!

Variations:

French Dressing: 1 tsp of Dijon mustard , ½ tsp sugar (unbleached, organic if possible)

Cream Dressing: 1Tsp fresh cut herbs (Dill, parsley etc.) ½ cup fresh cream, 1 tsp. sugar.

Yoghurt/Crème Fraiche Dressing: 1 tsp Dijon mustard, ½ tsp sugar, ½ cup plain yoghurt, ½ crème fraiche, 1 Tsp mayonnaise, fresh herbs (optional)

Balsamic Dressing

Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon  Balsamic Vinegar ( see note above)

3 Tsp Olive Oil

1 tsp salt

Ground black pepper to taste

1 crushed clove of garlic

Method:

Mix all ingredients together until you have smooth syrupy consistency

Light salad dressing

Ingredients:

¼ l vegetable stock (cooled)

1Ts red/white wine vinegar ( or White Balsamic vinegar)

Pepper to taste

Method:

Mix all ingredients together 

This dressing is often used for mixed salads which include Potatoes or Rice or Pasta

Note:

There are a lot of novelty oils and vinegars available, try them out on small quantities!

For most salads the rule is: Keep it as simple as possible and let the salad ingredients “talk”

Tasty soup in minutes

Thai Noodle Soup (Annegret's version)

I find that this soup is the only food I can eat when I have a bad cold or do not have any appetite for whatever reason. It very easy and quick to make!

Ingredients

picture shows soup with chicken pieces

1 medium sized onion diced
1 handful fresh button mushrooms cut
or a small tin of mushrooms
1 clove of garlic
1 Tbsp diced fresh Ginger
3/4 l chicken stock
2-3 EL light or dark Sojasauce
Fresh Coriander  to taste( or 1 Tbsp dried coriander)
A little Rapeseed/Sunflower oil
Handful small Asian noodles

Method

1. Lightly fry onion, mushrooms, garlic and ginger
2. Add the chicken stock and soya sauce and simmer for approx. 15 min.
3. Add the coriander and some chili.
4. Add the noodles 5 min. before serving

Note: If you want a more substantial soup add some diced chicken breast before adding chicken stock and simmer for 25 min.

Corn patties

Corn Patties

What to do when friends of your children are vegetarians? You try to find interesting and different recipes. The following recipe I found in a Vegetarian Thai cooking book  many years ago and it is still one of my favourite vegetarian starters. It is not only very tasty but also quick and easy to make.

Cooking time 5 min/ prep.time 15min

Ingredients

1 can of Sweet Corn
2 med. onion chopped
1 tsp curry powder
2 cloves of garlic
1 tsp ground coriander
Some chopped parsley/ or chives
3 Tbsp flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
Salt to taste
1 large egg
4 Tbsp oil

Cooking Instructions

1. Lightly mash the corn in a bowl
2. Add all the ingredients except the oil and mix well
3. Drop spoonful of mixture in pan with heated oil, lightly flatten with back of spoon
4. Fry  each side  for approx. 4 min.

Eat while still warm and serve with sweet chili sauce

NOTE: don't turn patties too early. 

Quick Stir Fry

Quick Stir Fry

Preparation time: 10 min, cooking time: 2-3 min

Ingredients

Use any mixture of vegetables.
The amount depends on  whether this is to be a meal in itself or  a side dish.
This particular mixture was used as a side dish to fried fish.

2 carrot, 2 leeks, 1 onion, 1 red pepper, 125 g fresh spinach

Some rapeseed oil, 2 Tbsp light soya oil, some pepper

Cooking Instructions

1. Clean the vegetables and cut them into thin strips, the carrots can be shaved with a vegetable peeler.
2. Just before you want to serve the fish or meat, heat up the oil in the wok
3. Add all the vegetables and quickly fry the vegetables not longer than 2-3 min
4. Add the spinach just a minute before serving.
5. Add the light Soya Sauce and serve immediately.

This stir fry is especially nice with pan fried fish, lemon sole, plaice, Brill etc.

Note:  Spinach be exchanged with more peppers and/or mushrooms, cabbage etc. Just be carfeful not to overfill the wok.

Chili wheels

Chili Wheels

chili wheels before being baked

Cooking Time: 45 Minutes. Makes 2 Dozen

Ingredients

2 Tsp rapeseed / sunflower oil
400 g lean beef minced
1 red pepper cut very small
1-2 tsp Chili powder
4 Tsp tomato purée
Salt to taste
2 tsp cornflour diluted in 2 Tsp water
1 packet puff pastry
75 g grated cheddar cheese (optional)

Cooking Instructions

1 heat oil and fry meat until brown. Add seasoning and tomato purée
2 add the cornflour water mixture and cook for 2 to3 min.
3 Roll out the pastry into a square, spread filling on top
4 Moisten the edges with a little beaten egg. Roll the pastry
5 Cut into as many "wheels" as possible .
6 Bake with flat side on tray for 12 to 15 min. at 220°c until golden, serve hot or cold

Introduction

Welcome to Annegret's Kitchen

Introduction

It has taken me awhile to have the courage to put my recipes on a blog. I wanted the family recipes to stay in the family. But it is mainly with family and friends in mind that I am now writing this blog. I am conscious about the fact that writing recipes and then printing them, takes time. It took Julia Child and her co authors years before they finally published their "Mastering the Art of French Cooking". I do not want my family and friends to wait that long.

People who know me, know of my love for good food. Delicious food done from scratch, using only the best  and finest ingredients.

I am not promoting "haute cuisine", more often my recipes are very simple to execute and yet the result is  amazing. The ingredients I use, are easily bought in the local supermarket and local markets.

I do not cook in a particular fashion. I learned some of the dishes from both my Grandmothers (Beef Rouladen, Soups), mother (Roasts) and from people I met over the years on my travels. Some of the dishes which originated in Slowenia ( former Yugoslavia) have become our own family dish, "Yugoslavian Bean soup", is an example of that.
Then there are the recipes, which were created because of lack of a vital ingredient, aka water. 

We were in France on a camping holiday and I was making Turkey escalopes in a cream sauce, when I realised that I did not have any water in the caravan and nobody nearby to get some, so  I simply took the bottle of Muscadet, which was sitting in the fridge and the "escalopes de Dinde au vin blanc" were created. Simply delicious. Mind you it was harder back in Ireland to take a good bottle of Muscadet and  use it just for a sauce.

That was a lesson I learned very early, only use wine you like for cooking. There is no such thing as a cooking wine. If the wine is of poor quality, so will be you sauce or your dish.
But that can be said of all ingredients.
I hope you enjoy the recipes and the cooking and eating of them.

                                                             Bon Appétit

Soups

There a lot of tales told about making soups, my favourite one is the one about the mean old woman who would not share anything with anybody, until one day a beggar called to her door and asked for some food. When she said she did not have anything to give, he told her, he could make a magic soup for her. He simply needed a big pot and some fresh water and a clean stone. The old woman fetched what he had asked for. When the water was boiling, he said," if you had an onion the soup would be that little more magic". After awhile he asked, if she had a carrot, then, a leek, then a potao and so on. After about an hour he told her that the Magic Soup was ready.
Fairy tales usually do have a message and this tale has a few. The important one for me is: You can make a fine soup out of nearly any vegetable and any combination of them. 
The "Winter's Tale" uses the  often neglected Turnip as the main ingredient. 

A Winter’s Tale 

4-6 persons

Ingredients

I medium large swede turnip
1 medium to large onion
2 medium potatoes (optional depending on size of turnip)
2 medium  eating apples
2 TS rape seed oil
1 litre good chicken/vegetable stock
¼ tsp  ground cardamom
¼ tsp ground cumin
¼ tsp ground coriander
Black pepper to taste

Method:
1. Dice onion, cut turnip, potatoes, apples into small cubes/slices
2. Sauté onion in Rapeseed oil, add one after the other the vegetables
3. Add spices and stock
4. Bring to the boil and simmer for approx 30 min or until turnip is soft.
5. Puree the soup to a fine creamy consistency.
6. Adjust taste

To serve:
This soup comes into its own with the different accompagniments:

Crispy bacon pieces ( 2-3 pieces of streaky rasher)
Home made croutons
Cream or crème frâiche
Finely chopped parsley ( best flat leaf parsley

Home Made Croutons

Ingredients
2/3 slices of good white bread
2/3 Tbs. of good olive oil depending on the size of the bread
Salt and black pepper
1 crushed glove of garlic

Method
1. Cut the bread into small cubes
2. In a Bowl mix the oil, garlic and salt and pepper
3. Add the croutons and mix with the oil mixture
4. Place croutons on a baking tray and bake for 10 min at 175˚C

Sauces

                                   Mushroom Sauce

Cooking time: 15 min                                              

Ingredients

125 g fresh button mushroom cut into slices
1 small onion diced
1 Tbsp flour
Rapeseed/Sunflower oil and a little butter for frying
1 beef stock cube (preferably Knorr)
Some Worcester Sauce
approx 1/2 l water

Cooking Instructions

1. Fry the mushrooms and the onions in the oil/butter until they start browning
2. Add the flour and brown , stirring continuously.
3. Add the water slowly stirring all the time
4. Add the stock cube and Worcester sauce an simmer for 10 min.

NOTE: leave out the mushrooms and you have a general sauce for any meat

Quick and tasty cod bake

Baked Cod on vegetables

Cooking  Time: 30 min Prep.time 15 min

Ingredients

2 medium sides of fresh cod
1 leek, some fresh celery (optional)
1 large onion
250g fresh mushrooms
1 lemon
30 to 50 g butter
Some salt and pepper
Some blackened seasoning
Tin foil

Cooking Instructions

1. Take the skin of the fish and wash under running  cold water.
2. Squeeze some lemon juice over the fish and slightly salt it. Let drain.
3. Cut the mushrooms into slices and fry until nearly brown in a bit of butter. Set aside.
4. Wash and cut the leek and celery and peel and cut the onion. Dot the foil with knobs of butter.
5. Place the vegetables on butter. Put the mushrooms on top. Place the cod on top of the vegetables and grate the peel of a lemon over the fish.
6. Dust liberally with the blackened seasoning ( if you do not have same, just use some sweet paprika and or black pepper.fold the tinfoil over the fish and bake for 30 min at 170C

Note: 
Only use really fresh fish! Do not overcook the fish!

Sweet and spicy pork

Sweet and Spicy Pork

Cooking time 20 minutes for 4 people

Ingredients

1 pork steak
Some olive oil/Rapeseed oil
Jerk seasoning/black seasoning/ or a mixture of sweet paprika, black pepper and some chili pepper
Butter/rapeseed oil
1/4l chicken stock
1 shot glass brandy
3 slices of pineapple
4 fresh or  canned figs
1/2juice of a lemon

✱ You will notice that I use Rapeseed oil in preference to Olive oil in most of my recipes. The simple reason is that it is even healthier than Olive oil!

Cooking Instructions

1. Cut the pork steak into thinnish medallions
2. Season the medallions with the spices.
3. Dribble olive oil over the medallions and leave to marinate for min 30 min
4. Quick fry  medallions for 2 to 3 minutes each side
5. Take out, keep warm
6. Fry pineapple and figs add brandy
7. Add chicken stock, boil up , add meat, reheat, serve

Note: perfect accompaniment for the above is a freshly made Rataouille.

Admiral Chicken

Admiral Chicken

A Polish recipe

The first recipes on this blog are a collection of recipes which I have written over the past few months and they have been sitting in my computer since.

Choosing the Admiral Chicken as my first dish was pure coinicidence and it is one of the few I did not create myself, but adapted  to suit our taste

I found it in a Polish cookery book, which I got as a present on one of my many trips to Poland.

It was one of these days when no matter what came into your mind, you either did not want to cook it, or you needed a lot of ingredients, you did not have in the house.  So in search of something different I found  the Admiral Chicken. It was the titel that intrigued me and the fact that I happened to have all the ingredients in the house.

It is a very interesting combination of texture and spices. Have fun trying it out

                                            

 

Ingredients

4 free range chicken Breast

100 g fresh button mushrooms

100 g black forest smoked ham

2 large tomatoes, skinned & seeded

3/4l chicken stock

1 tsp curry powder

2 tsp seasoning (mixture of ground cumin, turmeric, paprika, coriander, chili powder - use equal amounts, mix well)

100 g sour cream

some rapeseed oil for frying

Salt and pepper to taste

2 to 3 tbsp plain flour

Method

1. Prepare chicken breast, preferably cut them in half to flatten them

2. Mix flour with 1tsp of seasoning, salt and pepper

3. coat chicken pieces in seasoned flour

4. Fry until golden brown

5. Put chicken pieces aside, fry ham and mushrooms for 3 to 4 min, add tomato pieces. Simmer for another minute

6. Add chicken pieces to pan and add chicken stock, the curry powder and seasoning

7. Simmer for approx. 20 min.

8. Before serving add the sour cream. Stir well. Adjust seasoning.

Serve with mashed potatoes and a green salad with slices of fresh mushrooms (optional), using a dill cream vinaigrette 

Note:

Instead of mushrooms, you can try diced onions or petit pois. 

Do not use more than the 100g of smoked ham, otherwise the dish might get too salty

If you cannot get sour cream, use normal single cream and the juice of half a lemon