eat me raw

Pretty erotic blog-title today, right? Hi there, people!

I got up pretty early today (which is very unusual on sundays) in order to go to a local, special organic food market. And, as you might already be guessing, I got home with shiploads of extraordinary tomatoes, tiny little cucumbers, colourful beet roots and peppers as well as tastily blushed apples! Have a look:

This huge amount of healthy raw food is especially calming because the "I-can't-take-no-sweets anymore"-phase I told you about lately has come to a very quick and painless end yesterday. My lovely sister has prepared even lovelier Pecan-Caramel-Chocolate-Drops, also known as my dignified surrender.

But, hey, at least I still work out hard! Which however always makes me so proud that I reward myself even harder, but never mind.  

As I also love healthy and fresh food apart from sweet stuff, I made a quick stoppover at "raw-food-station" today.

The recipe I brought along today includes a vegetable I, well, how do I say that nicely,....have always disliked very much: beet roots. I have tried them in a million (at least!) different ways but just could not make friends with their earthy taste. Anyways, I could not resist the beautiful species they sold at the market today: Chioggia-beet roots. So I decided to give them another chance and, in proud company of tiny, tiny, tiny little cucumbers, made this beautiful, superhealthy raw lunch for you today:

beetroot and cucumber-mozzarella salad with cumin-garlic-basil paste

ingredients:

1 Chioggia beet root

8 mexican mini-cucumbers

300 g of mozzarella

4 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 tablespoons balsamic

1 handful of basil

1 tablespoons of cumin

1 teaspoon coarse salt

2 garlic cloves, pressed

preparation:

1. Grind salt, cumin, basil, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil and pressed garlic cloves in a mortar, then mix with the rest of the oil and balsamic

2. peel beet root and slice finely

3. slice mozzarella and cucumbers 

4. put all ingredients on a plate and dress with cumin-garlic-basil paste

ENJOY this raw, healthy superlunch!

herbal essences

Good afternoon, people!

How are you? I am, to be honest a bit, (okay no, completely!) absent-minded at the moment. And I don't even know why. I just see the results in my kitchen. You would not have wanted to be my guest today. I will not tell you about all my failures, but this one just has to be told: After having mixed a (seemingly lovely) cherry-honey-milk smoothie this noon, I couldn't find the lid of the milk bottle. Later we did find it, torn into thousand pieces, IN the smoothie itself. I mean, gosh, I really mixed that thing INTO the smoothie! Why?!

Well, anyways, the recipe I have got for you today was created on Friday, so, it should be okay (hopefully more than okay, but pretty special, though). And, good news, there's no milk (lid) to be added.
I had decided to finally use all the wonderful herbs that are growing in our little garden, have a look:

Ricotta-Lavender-Cumin Spread with Pesto-Bread (cool rhyme, isn't it?)

ingredients:

500 g spelt flour

10 g salt

20 g fresh yeast

3.25 dl warm water

5.5 dl olive oil

2 handful salvia

3 handful basil

1 handful origano

1 garlic clove

50 g pine nuts

*****

250 g ricotta

1 hanful fresh lavender

1,5 teaspoons cumin seeds

1 tablespoon vinegar

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 garlic clove

preparation:

1. Mix flour and salt, dissolve yeast in water

2. add yeast-water and 0.5 dl olive oil to flour and work well, let rise for 90 minutes

3. Mix 0.5 dl olive oil with 1 pressed garlic clove, pine nuts. salvia, basil and origano in a cutter

4. roll out bread dough, spread pesto on it and form your bread as you prefer, bake for 30 minutes on 190°C

5. meanwhile, mix ricotta, lavender, olive oil, vinegar, pressed garlic clove, cumin and salt in a cutter, too

6. take bread out of the oven and enjoy warm with some ricotta-spread!

 SEE YOU GUYS!

when it comes to the crunch

Good afternoon, guys! Having a nice weekend?

Between writing a paper for university (not cool), doing some side jobs (well, yay, not broke anymore) and looking forward to my 21st brirthday (super yay!!!) I finally found the time to create something new for you. Some crunchy stuff, actually. 

At the moment I often sit in front of my computer for a pretty long time (exactly, for the aforesaid paper and other distracting stuff). When I am done with that, I am suprisingly successful at pushing myself to do some sports (which is a pretty big deal for me) and then, when I finally get home, it is the little things that make me the happiest person alive: putting off my shoes, making myself an iced coffe and a little snack, gathering my beloved ones around me and getting a last glimpse of the evening sun (as long as there is any, sigh).

So, to celebrate the fine little things life offers, I created a snack which conveys that mood perfectly. A snack which forces you to take some time, sit down and relax, enjoy, be happy.

Here it is:

Hazelnut-Rose-Coconut Cantuccini

ingredients:

220 g flour

50 g coconut flour

75 g maple juice

3 eggs

3 tblsp. rose water

150 g raw cane sugar

150 g Hazlenuts

1,5 teaspoons baking powder

preparation:

1. preheat the oven on 160°C 

2. mix all ingredients well, form a lengthy roll of about 4 cm height 

3. bake for 40 minutes

4. let cool down, then slice (about 0.5 cm thick) and bake for another 10 minutes

ENJOY with some fresh (iced) coffe!

See you, guys!

a little something: birthday meal companions

Hi there guys!

Two days ago, my mum celebrated her 51st Birthday and, as you might be guessing already, it was a very great pleasure for me and my sisters to prepare a special birthday meal. Today, however, I am not going to post that meal, for I think you all have your own favourite birthday meals, don't you?

Instead, I have brought along some ideas which might be a nice "add on" to your or your beloved ones' favourite birthday meals. I think that there are two things that are almost as much important as the meal itself: the drink and the (sweet) decorations.  

So as my Mum does not really like alcohol and as she loves sweets, my task, next to cooking a light summer meal, was clear: create a refreshing non-alcoholic drink AND don't forget the sweets (which ideally should be ice-cold and eaten immediately, considering the temperatures).

The two recipes I am posting today have got the advantage that they look like "oh so much effort" but actually do not take you a lot of time to prepare them.  

Have a look:

Cassis-Lemon-Rose Drink

ingredients (4 L)

150 g cassis berries

2 tablespoons dried rose blossoms

2 tablespoons rose water

150 g raw cane sugar

2 lemons, juice

0.5 dl water

ice

1. bring everything to a boil and let simmer for 25 minutes

2. sieve and mix with 4 litres of water and ice, refridgerate

*****

Rose-Almond-Chocolate Drops

ingredients (12 pieces of 4 cm) 

200 g milk chocolate (or any chocolate you like)

2 tablespoons rose water

1 1/2 tablespoons almond butter

2 tablespoons butter

12 almonds

some dried rose blossoms

1. melt chocolate, rose water, butter and almond butter slowly in a pan

2. put a baking sheet on a plate and put chocolate drops on it (about 1 tablespoon per drop, or as much as you like, depending on the size you want to have them)

3. immediately top with rose blossoms and 1 almond per drop

4. freeze for 45 minutes, enjoy immediately

See you guys and happy birthday to everyone who is celebrating today!

refreshing, colourful "threesome": creamy, summer-scented frozen yogurts

Good evening, guys! 

Summer is returning! I have already prepared myself for a rainy, wet, chilly summer, but, good news, I will not have to spend the rest of my semester holidays at home with a cheesy skin-colour. Instead, I, well, all of us, will have to get prepared for hot temperatures. And I am here to help you, guys. See what I brought along:

After having seen the weather forecast for next week, I did not only have the impulse to prepare some frozen yo'. No, I actually had the impulse to prepare loads of frozen yo'. With refreshing, colourful, summery ingredients. So I took a quick look at our supply (which was astonishingly manifold) and let the cookery-addict-part of my brain work to finally come up with:

* Blackberry-Rose-Frozen-Yogurt

* Lime-Peppermint-Lemon-Balm-Frozen Yogurt

* Honeydew-Melon-Lemon-Orange-Frozen-Yogurt

I have just tried them and my favorite flavour is definitely Rose-Blackberry. Not only due to the colour, of course. However, I'd say that Peppermint-Lime-Lemon-balm is the most refreshing one. You might like to prepare all frozen yogurts at once (If you have guests that might be a good idea, so that everyone can find their favourite flavour). Or you might like to test just one version. If so, you would have to divide the frozen-yo-basis by three. 

Ingredients and Preparation (for three tupperwares of 20x10 cm):

* Frozen-Yogurt-Basis

700 g greek yogurt

2,5 dl cream

300 g raw cane sugar

2 egg whites

1. Mix Yogurt and raw cane suagr

2. Whisk stiff egg whites and cream

3. Mix carefully and divide into three portions

__________

* Lime-Peppermint-Lemon-Balm-Mix

2 handful peppermint

2 handful lemon balm

4 tablespoons raw cane sugar

2 Limes: zest and juice

1. put all ingredients in a cutter and blend well

2. Mix with one third of frozen-yo-mix and freeze for 5 hours

__________

* Blackberry-Rose-Mix

150 g fresh blackberries

6 tablespoons raw cane sugar

5-6 tablespoons rose water

1. Blend all ingredients well in a mixer

2. Mix with one third of frozen-yo-mix and freeze for 5 hours

__________

* Honeydew-Melon-Citrus-Mix

1 orange: zest

1 lemon: zest and juice

 2/6 honeydew melon

1. finely slice melon

2. Blend all ingredients in a mixer

3. Mix with one third of frozen-yo-mix and freeze for 5 hours

If you should have too much of the flavor-mixes, just put the rest into the fridge. It tastes awesome with fresh yogurt or some muesli.
If you would like to prepare a skinny version of it:

1. leave away 50-100 g of sugar
2. leave away cream and take 200 g more yoghurt

ENJOY!

Blackberry-Rose

Honeydew-Melon-Citrus

Lime-Peppermint-Lemon-Balm

SEE YOU GUYS! 

xoxo, Florence

save the pasta for last

Buonasera a tutti!

Do you already smell tempting italianità by looking at this picture? I hope so!

Whenever I had a hard day, I kinda really feel like eating pasta. Always. And I can tell you: It's a pretty good compensation for whatever has happened during the day. First of all: it always works. secondly: it is easy to prepare (except for me, for I always boilover that damned stuff, but I got faith in your abilities...). Thirdly: You can do whatever you like with it (as long as you PLEASE do not add chocolate sauce or mix it with other carbohydrates or something weird! But I have also got faith in your common sense and your love for pasta).

So, given the fact that I had my last, but also hugest University-exam in geography today: guess what I had for dinner? Pasta, yeah! And as it was pretty hot today I had that version of it:

Tepid Penne-Salad with Chicken-Breasts, grilled Veggies and Tomato-Olive-Herb-Dressing

ingredients (6 people)

750 g Penne

250 g pelati

1 zucchini

1 eggplant

400 g chicken breast

200 g dried tomatoes

3 garlic cloves

175 g olive paste

1 handful fresh origano

1 handful fresh thyme

2 handful fresh basil

1,5 dl olive oil

0.5 dl balsamico

salt, pepper

preparation:

1. bring water in a large pan to a boil, add chicken breasts and cook well, then put aside, but in fine slices or cubes and add some pepper

2. preheat a pan with 0.5 dl olive oil, finely slice zucchini, dried tomatoes and eggplant and roast well, put aside

3. after having taken out the chicken breats, use the water for the Penne to cook

4. mean while, blend pelati, olive paste, rest of olive oil, pressed garlic cloves, balsamico, thyme, basil, origano, salt and pepper in a cutter

5. Mix everything and stir well

Buon appetito!

summery interlude: jasmine-lemon-vanilla-cookies

Good afternoon, cookery-addicts! How are you? Long time no see, I know.

Every six months I become kind of jittery, twitchy, in short: a bag of nerves. I am bustling around and giving off sentence-fragments like "too much", "can't do this" or "not going to pass"! It's exam-time at university! 

That's why you did not hear so much of me recently. However, by now I am so fed up with learning, that I decided to come back for a quick, sweet, consolatory interlude:

Here's what I have created between books and articles and essays and readers:

Jasmine-Lemon-Vanilla Cookies

The Cookies recipe is based on Martha Stuart, 

thanks to her cookbook I am able to survive right now ;-)

ingredients:

1/4 cup dried jasmine blossoms, finely ground or hashed

2 cups spelt-flour

1 cup butter, room temperature

2 eggs

1,5 cups cane sugar

3 teaspoons vanilla bean paste

2 lemons: zest

1 teaspoon baking soda

preparation:

1. Whisk butter, lemon zest, baking soda, sugar and vanilla bean paste

2. add flour, eggs and jasmine blossoms and form a dough

3. pur dough into the fridge for 30 minutes

4. prepare a plate with some cane sugar, form litlle bowls with the help of a tablespoon and roll in sugar, place on baking sheet

5. preheat oven on 180° and bake for 11 minutes

ENJOY summer and don't be stressed (for whatever reason)!

much-travelled food: a pinch of San Francisco

Good evening Spring-Lovers!

Today I could fully enjoy one of my privileges as a flight attendant's daughter! While I would never (okay, got me, let's say veeery rarely) buy a food which has left behind several thousand kilometres to get to Switzerland, I am nonetheless extremely happy when my Mom does travel that distance. For she never comes home from a foreign country empty-handed. This time she brought home a little San Francisco (thank you so much, universe, for providing us with different climate zones)! So, have a look at the beautiful spring-veggies that found their way to my little Swiss kitchen (with a little thanks to my Mom and the airplane):

Naturally, I just had to use them immediately!

So, at this point I should admit that what I created with all the ingredients is pretty time-consuming (for I could not decide on just one veggie to employ in my recipe). But you may also like to prepare only parts of it or look for some little helpers:

Soft Fish-Garlic-Burgers with Radish-Lemon-Dip and colourful Spring Veggies

ingredients (6 people)

3 bushels of young carrots

600 g of fresh peeled green peas (green peace, haha)

200 g young green aspargus

800 g baby potatoes

****

olive oil

1 whole garlic 

2 handful of rosemary

2 handful of lemon thyme

1 handful of origano

1 handful of basil

1 lemon

1 teaspoon cane sugar

****

1 kg of coalfish filets (or whatever you like)

1 egg

25 g of spelt flour

1 dl of olive oil

****

200 g of yoghurt

100 g of sour cream

3 radishes

salt, pepper

(Wow, quite a list, right?)

preparation:

1. put carrots and potatoes on two sepearate baking sheets, spread some olive oil on both

2. further, spread cane sugar, 1 handful rosemary, pepper and salt on carrots

3. mix yoghurt, sour cream, lemon zest, 1 handful of basil and finely hashed radish, refridgerate

4. finely slice one half of the lemon and add to the potatoes together with salt, pepper, 1 handful lemon thyme and 5 roughly sliced garlic cloves

5. finely mash fish filets in a cutter, use some olive oil to do so

6. Mix minced fish with 6 pressed garlic cloves, spelt flour, egg, juice of 1/2 lemon, salt and pepper

7. spread some flour on a chopping board, form fish-burgers and rotate them in the flour on the chopping board

8. preheat two pans with olive oil and the oven on 200°

9. put potatoes and carrots into the oven for 30-35 minutes

10. after about 20 minutes roast the green peas and the aspargus with pressed garlic cloves, origano, lemon thyme and rosemary while roasting the fish burgers in the other pan (about 3-4 minutes on each side)

Wow, Done!

 Be proud if you managed to finish everything at the same time and enjoy this wonderful spring-dinner!

Love, Florence