New Pasta(ures)

All Pasta lovers have their favourite Pasta dish. Very often the result is very far from the original Pasta dishes in Italy. On the other hand every Italian family have their own recipes for their beloved Pasta, Spaghetti Bolognese is a case in point

In the homeland of Pasta, pasta dishes are a precursor to the main course, if there is one.

I often wondered why, especially seeing Pasta fills you up. But that is probably the reason. I do like Italian cooking, as it is uncomplicated and quick,  and relies solely on the quality of the produce. 

The base of  most Pasta dishes is a sauce.
Sugo, which is the basic tomato sauce, consists simply of  ripe tomatoes, some salt and pepper and fresh herbs, Basil and Oregano, simmer it for approx. 20 min. and hey presto you have a delicious Sugo.
Serve this with plenty of freshly grated Parmesan and you have a delicious, tasty, quick meal.
Often Pasta is simply tossed in good Extra Virgin Olive oil, freshly grated black pepper and again Parmesan.
In order to make it a good meal though, the Pasta needs to be of good quality.

Fresh Basil

Today I want to share two more Pasta dishes. The first one, I call Greek Pasta because I use mostly "Greek" ingredients. The second one is my favourite Pasta with homemade green Pesto.

Greek Pasta

I got the idea of this dish from a program I saw on one of the American food channels. I liked the idea of using essential Greek ingredients  with Italian Pasta. This dish  is delicious with meat and equally delicious without. So for all the vegetarians, simply leave out the meat and use a medium aubergine and a large medium gourgette instead

Ingredients ( 4 persons)

peppers, mushrooms and herbs

1 small aubergine

1 medium gourgette

1 red pepper

3 ripe tomatoes

150 g button mushrooms

2-3 fresh bay leaves ( or 1 dried bay leave)

fresh flat leaf parsley

fresh oregano or  fresh marjoram

or a mixture of both
300 g pork minced
salt and pepper to taste

aubergine, gourgette and tomato

olive or rapeseed oil for frying

Meat and vegetable mixture

Method

Cut all the vegetables into small pieces

Fry the minced pork meat in some oil until

lightly brown.

Add the vegetables and herbs and continue cooking for a further 5 minutes.

Adjust the seasoning. In the mean time cook the Pasta. Take 2 or 3 Tablespoons of Pasta water and add it to the meat vegetable mixture.

the finished Pasta

Serve with a dollop of Greek yoghurt.

Pasta with Green Pesto

My favourite  pasta dish:  Pasta and green Pesto.

Ingredients for green pesto

1 cup of Extra Virgin Olive oil/ or a virgin rapeseed oil

1 cup fresh basil

some fresh parsley (optional)

30 g pine nuts

15 g almonds flakes (optional)

2 cloves of garlic ( take one if you want it less garlicky or discard them altogether)

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan 

A little fresh lemon juice

Method

ready to mix

 Put  all the ingredients into a vessel and mix it with an immersion blender until you have a not too smooth consistency.

finished result

Buon appetito

Old Fashioned Jam

Gooseberry and Rhubarb Jam

Somehow over the years, maybe because I was too busy, I stopped making jam. It was only when I ended up with a glut of fine gooseberries, that jam making seemed a good option. Although the decision to make jam was helped by the fact, that it is my dear husband's favourite jam.

Jam making is quick and easy and a wonderful way of preserving fruit. I use a recipe from my grandmother, one part of fruit to one part of sugar ( I kilo fruit to one kilo sugar). This way you end up with 50% fruit in the jam. That is more fruit than you find in most super market  jams. 

the finished product

For the following jam I used 

1000g gooseberries

500g  rhubarb

1500g sugar

grated orange peel and juice of one large orange

gooseberries, rhubarb. orange and sugar

You need as well some jam jars. I use a ll kinds of jars I collect over time. 

To sterilize them, simply wash them, put them on a  tray, into the oven and leave them there for approx. 30 minutes at 100C.

Jam jars ready to go  into the oven for sterilization

You need a large saucepan as the fruit sugar mixture will bubble up quite high .

Put all the ingredients into the pot.
Use the highest setting on you cooker to bring the mixture to the boil. Keep the heat steady. 

Fruit and sugar mixture before the heat is turned on.

Fifteen minutes into the boiling process.

Thirty minutes into the cooking process. Stir regularly so that the mixture will not stick on the bottom of the pan. Keep the heat steady.

 Ready after 40 minutes 

 Use a porcelain/china plate to check if the jam is setting. Put a little drop of jam on to the plate, wait a little. If the jam lift up when you touch it with your finger, the jam is ready. The top two were the first try, the last two nearest to the bottom of the picture shows the jam is setting.

Filling the jam jars.
Take the jars from the oven. As the jars are hot you can put the jam mixture straight into the jars.
A dear aunt of mine advised me to use old china vessels for potting the jam, so for the first trial eating I use this pretty sugar pot.

To make sure the jam is protected I dip grease proof paper in a little alcohol, for this jam I used Calvados, important is that the alcohol is 40% proof. This way the jams keeps that much longer.

More Salads

More Salads (Summer Salad and Coleslaw with a difference)

Seeing the time of the year that is in it, I think it is time to write a little more about salads.

Having been brought up in Germany, first in the East and then in the West, Salads have been always been part of our daily eating.

I was reminded of that when I met an old German friend not so long ago, who bemoaned the fact that one could not get a decent mixed salad with a meal in Ireland.

What did he mean by that. Well, there are certain dishes in Germany that are served with a mixed salad. On a German Menu it would appear as , for example:

excerpt from a Bavarian Menu

Rumpsteak mit Pommes Frites und gemischtem Salat. 
You will find this dish on a lot of  Gastro Pubs Menus in Germany.

 The "gemischter Salat", meaning mixed salad, would have, lettuce in a vinaigrette sauce or a cream sauce; cucumber salad; Krautsalat (cabbage salad; not to be mistaken for coleslaw), green or yellow bean salad; often celeriac salad; carrot salad. More often there isn't a tomato in sight.

Germans make  salads out of just about any vegetable and fruit

depending on the season. In May you will always get some white asparagus tips as part of the mixed salad.

Mixed salad leaves

In the summer, you will find fruit, like strawberries, Raspberries etc.  Come  autumn, the root vegetables will come to the forefront and the different cabbages. In  winter instead of hothouse lettuce, lambs salad is used which tastes best after the first frost.
Most supermarkets now have a vast variety of different salad leaves, from the normal head of lettuce, via the Lollo Rosso as far as the bitter Radicci.


Now to some recipes.

The following salad can be done as a side or as a main


Summer Mixed Salad

Ingredients (adjust the amounts to the number of people you want to serve)

a summer salad

lettuce leaves

spring onions

tomato squares/slices

avocado slices

red/yellow peppers slices
beet root slices ( optional)
red onion rings ( optional)

hard boiled eggs, quartered

fresh herbs (chives. parsley, basil) 

the amount and mixture depending on your taste

some grated cheese (optional)

some cooked ham ( optional)

Method

Arrange the salad ingredients on a large plate. Serve the Salad Sauce separately so that the salad will be crispy fresh when eating. 

Salad sauce/Dill Sauce

1 helping of the normal vinaigrette

2 Tbsp crème fraîche ( or sour cream

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1 Tbsp mayonnaise

fresh dill or 1/2 Tsp dried dill

Mix all the ingredients until you have a smooth sauce

Fresh Dill Sauce

Coleslaw with a difference

Ingredients ( 4-6 persons)

1/2  head of white cabbage (shredded)
1/2 red pepper
1/2 yellow pepper
1 crispy apple ( gala etc)
1 shredded carrot
chives
parsley (optional)

Salad  Cream Sauce
Use the recipe for the dill sauce, just leave out the dill

Method

Mix all the shredded and cut vegetables and toss in them in the Cream Sauce

                                                 Guten Appetit

Pork Schnitzel (à la Wiener Schitzel)

Pork Schnitzel

Schnitzel is probably the most liked meat dish amongst our family and friends. I cannot count the times we sat around the table enjoying the Schnitzel with  cheesy potatoes, or scalopped potatoes and a green salad in a cream dill sauce  and/or cucumber salad as well. It is tasty quick to make and once you take care of a few important little details, it is a meal fit or a king or your family and friends.
With other  words: if it is done well it is absolutely delicious, if it is done badly, it is simply horrible. 

This is why I have decided to accompany the method steps with photos, so that you can compare it with what you are doing.
PS The real thing is of course Wiener Schnitzel, which is made exactly like the following recipe, except  the real Wiener Schnitzel has to be made with veal.

The ingredients are simple.

Ingredients

1 or 2 (depending on size and hunger) of pork centre loin chops

1 or 2 beaten eggs ( the qantity depends on the above)

approx 250 gr fresh breadcrumbs ( gives the best result, but you can use commercial breadcrumbs if fresh ones are not at hand)

salt and pepper to taste

enough Rapeseed or Sunflower oil to cover the frying pan very well, better a little more than less.

Method

1. Trim the pork chop and cut off any fatty pieces. Then with a meat tenderizer flatten the chop as much as possible

Left side: before beating                               right side after beating

2. Prepare the eggs and breadcrumbs in a large bowl or on a large plate. Beat the eggs, season  both with salt and pepper. I just use a pinch of salt and pepper for each.

breadcrumbs   and beaten eggs

3. Dip the escalope first in the egg mixture, make sure that both sides are coated well and then dip it into the breadcrumbs. Again, making sure that all the escalope is covered. Set aside and continue until you have all escalopes done. Should you run out of either breadcrumbs or egg mixture, just replenish. If you run out of egg and don't have another one, you can use a tablespoon or two of fresh cream and mix it around in the egg bowl. That will work.

ready for the frying pan

4. Put  enough oil in the frying pan so that the escalopes are sitting on a film of oil.

NOTE: Too little oil will make the breadcrumbs stick to the pan.

NOTE 2: Do not get tempted to deep fry the escalope, it just does not do the chop any justice and the breadcrumb cover will simply detach from the meat

sizzling at medium heat

5. Fry the chops at medium heat from both sides until they are golden brown.

Careful, if the oil is too hot, the breadcrumbs will burn too quickly and the meat will not be cooked.

just about right! 

You can serve the escalopes with just about any sides you like.
I mostly serve it with some kind of potatoe dish and some salads. The family facvourite one is green salad in a cream dill sauce and or cucumber salad.

Quick sauce for the green salad

Make the normal  vinaigrette ( 3 oil to 1 vinegar, salt and pepper to taste)

To this you add a couple of table spoons of fresh cream,
1 crushed garlic
1 tsp of sugar ( preferably unrefined)
1 tsp of dried dill or 1 Tbsp of fresh dill
you can add fresh chives and or parsley

Cucumber Salad

Thinly slice the cucumber ( some take the skin off, some leave it on, it depends on what you like), then use the vinaigrette recipe plus the the cream, sugar, dill and chives.
Leave out the garlic.
Cucumber Salad always tastes better when it has had time to absorb all the flavours, so making it at least half an hour before serving is advisable.

Re Sides

Should you not be a total potato lover, the Savoury Rice  ( recipe 9 April )would be a perfect side dish accompanied by a salad made out of cabbage and peppers (recipe will follow)