Kässpätzle - Germany

Kässpätzle means cheese spätzle, spätzle being a type of egg noodle. This dish is known throughout all of Germany and beyond, however, it is said to be a Swabian dish originating in Baden-Württemberg for which Stuttgart stands as capital.

Although nothing alike, these noodles are so much easier to make than Italian pasta and you can't go wrong really... Some people say this is the German version of macaroni cheese, which doesn't do it justice. This dish is a delicious winter warmer. You could serve this with a glass of spicy Glühwein to warm you up on a cold winter's night. I have also made Kässpätzle and added in some fresh chopped spinach or sliverbeet before baking it in the oven.

Of course you can buy the spätzle ready made, but making the noodles is so easy and you can really taste the difference. This is an original Swabian family recipe a friend gave to me. We recently visited him in Baden-Wüttemberg and made it together. It was yum! :)

Serves 6 - 8 
4-5 brown onions sliced
Oil or butter for frying 
500g plain flour
3 eggs
approximately 1/4 -3/8 L water
1-2 teaspoons salt
250grams of grated Gouda, Edam or Emmantaler cheese or a mixture

Heat a pan with some oil or butter and then add the sliced onions. Fry the onions over medium heat until golden and caramelised and set aside.

Place flour in a bowl. Add eggs and salt and some of the water and stir. You can use a whisk if you have a strong one (as the dough becomes quite sticky and thick) or use a wooden spoon, stirring an d mixing until the flour lumps dissolve. Add water until you have a fluid but thick and stick consistency. Keep stirring until you see large bubbles appear as you mix it. NB these are not like the bubbles you see when you make pancakes at the top of the mixture. These are large bubbles that form whilst stirring.

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Bring a large pot of water to the boil with a tablespoon of salt.When the water is boiling place some of the spätzle dough onto a bread board and smooth it out into a a layer a few millimeters thick. While holding the bread board over the boiling water, use a large knife to scrape strips of of the sticky spätzle dough off the bread board directly into the boiling water and repeat until all dough has been made into spätzle noodles.

Once the spätzle is cooked it will float to the top of the pot. Scoop it out as you go and place it in a a large baking dish layering it with spätzle , caramelised onions and cheese.

Repeat until you have used all the onions and spätzle . Top with cheese and place in a preheated oven for about 20-30 minutes or until golden on top.

Seasonal Salad

 

This salad is SO simple and yummy, you don't even need a salad dressing.
Made up of the variety of seasonal produce I randomly receive in my weekly organic veggie box its as good and fresh as a salad can get!

Try making a seasonal salad at home as taste for yourself how good salad can be .... when every ingredient is in its peak season each piece packs all the flavour it possibly can!
Give this salad a go, or another combo...you are likely to find that in-season ingredients complement each other well!

Season Salad.... comprising of
roast fennel and purple carrots
lemon and thyme roasted muchies
navel orange segments
radish
sunflower sprouts
rocket
dill & fennel tips

i am not listing quantities as this is a salad...add as much or little of each as you like. You really can't go wrong with a salad!

Method

Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees
Scrub carrots & wash fennel.Cut carrots into sticks and the fennel into wedges. put the fennel into a bowl and coat very lightly with olive oil s & p. place on baking tray. Put the carrots into the bowl, coat lightly with olive oil, s & p. place onto tray. chop some fresh dill and sprinkle over carrots and fennel...put tray into oven to roast.

Chop mushies into quarters (if they are large) and put into bowl, coast lightly with olive oil, add some garlic (chopped is fine but i like to shave mine into paper thin slices), some thyme, lemon rind, chilli flakes & s & p. mix and put onto a tray and roast in oven.

very thinly slice the radish (you can use a peeler or mandolin if you like),
Segment the orange.
chop some dill and some leaf tips.

Once the veg is roasted nicely let it cool down a bit (as as not to wilt the rocket.

Scatter the washed rocket into a salad bowl or platter, top with the roast veg, top with the radish and the sunflower sprouts, top with the orange segments.

Squeeze a wedge or 2 or orange over the salad too if you like...  However this is optional as the roast veg and the orange segments are enough on their own, creating a nice balance of fresh and crunchy with rich and sweet.

Enjoy! :)

Ba

Gâteaux de Comminges - France

Usually when I visit my uncle Jean Odon and aunt Claire in France I get many stories of the history of our family as well as this cake! :)

This recipe is a family heirloom that goes back five generations. Jean Odon tells me that this recipe was passed on from his great aunt to his great grandmother (or my great, great grandmother!), La Maréchale Lyautey.  From then on it was made for special occasions and birthdays for the de Comminges family and the name Gâteaux de Comminges was born.

It is very easy and quick to make but the moistness depends on cooking time and is best when it is slightly undercooked. I have doubled the recipe in the past and it has come out cooked but all gooey and moist in the middle which was so good! If you have a hotter oven than usual watch it carefully. If you do happen to overcook it a little it should still be moist and fluffy. I hope you enjoy it as much we do! :)

Cake Ingredients

125g good qualitydark chocolate (70%)

125g Butter 

3 eggs separated

125g almond meal

80g plain flour

125g caster sugar

Chocolate Glaze –Ingredients

80g good quality darkchocolate (70%)

1 tablespoon of cremefraiche (you could also use thickened cream).

Cake - Method

1) Preheat the oven to 180°C.

2) Grease a 24cm cake tin with a bit of butter andcoat it with a light dusting of flour and remove the excess (instead you could line the tin with baking paper). I find spring form cake tins to be the easiest option but anywill do.

3) Melt the chocolate and butter in asaucepan over low heat. Allow to cool slightly.

4) While the chocolate is melting beat the 3 egg yolks until combined

5)  In a separate bowl mix the almond meal,flour and sugar.

6) In another bowl beat the 3 egg whites untilstiff peaks form.

7) Gently Mix the 3 egg yolks into the chocolate mixturealong with the dry ingredients.

8) Very gently fold in the beaten egg whites untiljust combined.

9) Pour mixture into cake tin and bake in theoven at 180°C for approximately 20-25 minutes.

10) Removefrom the oven allow to cool slightly before turning out onto a rack or a plate.

11) To makethe chocolate glaze melt the chocolate as in step 3 and stir through the cremefraiche. spread over the cake immediately

12) You canserve the cake warm or cold with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream and some strawberries sprinkled with some sugar would also compliment it nicely :)

 

Kumara Orange Beetroot and Labne Galette

I have to give myself a pat on the back for this recipe. I ate almost the whole thing to myself over a day and a half... it was just too yum to resist.

I am also patting myself on the back as i am always anxious when it comes to making pastry or dough. i have mentioned before and ill say it again. i have about a 50% chance of success when it comes to pastry and bread. I over- knead, or well... i don't know...but its always anyone's guess whether it will come out right.... and i have to say....this came out JUST RIGHT! 

When i cook I'm a bit Jamie Oliver style,  a pinch of this or a glug of that and handful of that. However when it comes to baking... especially pastry, breads and doughs, i have learnt that being disciplined and REALLY following the recipe step by step is the key. 

I found this galette recipe online and have used the recipe for the pastry, i have adapted it slightly, using buttermilk instead of sour cream...which worked just fine. The filling is my own combination, i do believe that a lovely goats feta or goat cream cheese would work wonderfully in this recipe instead of labne if you prefer.

This is a great dish for dinner, could also be made into single size servings for a stylish entree. I also think it is delish eaten cold and plan on bringing it to many a picnic in the future.

Serve with a dill pesto if you like.

I hope you enjoy!

Ingredients

Pastry
* 1 1/4c plain flour
* 1/4 tsp salt
* 8 tbs cold butter (cut into pieces and then chilled again)
* 1/4c buttermilk (or sour cream)
* 2 tsp lemon juice
* 1/4c ice water

Filling
* 3 beetroot scrubbed, sliced 5mm thick
* 3 kumara peeled and chopped into large chunks
* juice of 1/2 orange
* 2 tsp cinnamon
* 2 tsp dukkah
* s & p
* 1/2c labne
* handful dill

Glaze
*1 egg yolk
*1 tsp water

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 180degrees
Whisk flour and salt in a large bowl
Sprinkle the butter over dough and using a spatula or a butter knife cut the butter through the flour until it resembles course breadcrumbs
In a small bowl whisk the buttermilk, lemon juice and ice water, add to the flour
Mix with a spoon until large lumps form. Pat the lumps into a ball, don't knead it too much. You don't want to overwork it.
Pat into a disk, wrap with cling wrap & refrigerate for an hour.

While the dough is resting in the fridge;
Wrap the kumara in foil and put into the oven to cook
Place the beetroot onto a baking tray, coated lightly with olive oil and sprinkled with s & p, bake in oven turning once, until cooked.
Once the kumara is cooked through and soft put into a small bowl, add orange juice, dukkah, cinnamon & season with s&p,  mash to a thick mash. Its OK if its a bit lumpy.

Take the dough from the fridge and roll out on a floured workbench to roughly a 30cm disk.
Place onto a baking tray covered with a sheet of baking paper.
Spread the labne on the base thickly, leaving a 3cm boarder.
Top with the kumara mash.
Arrange the beetroot on top of the mash overlapping slightly.
Fold the boarder of dough in to enclose the filling
Whisk the egg and water in a small bowl and brush over the pastry
Bake for 30 - 40minutes or until the pastry is browned and nice and flaky crisp.
Let cool for 5-10minutes before serving.
Serve scattered with dill

Great served with some dill pesto