Grilled cheese reinvented

For Christmas, I got one of those grill machines to make grilled cheese with (and waffles, if you change the molds!) And who knows, one day I might just produce a grilled cheesus. In the meantime, since Kobe and I are vegetarians, we don't do the classic 'croque monsieur' with ham and cheese. Instead, I got creative and made:

• grilled cheese with a brie-type cheese with herbs
• grilled cheese with oud brugge and fried onions (slightly caramelized with a teaspoon of sugar... mmm!)
• grilled cheese with blue cheese and pear

All three heartily approved by a skeptical boyfriend (in advance, at least... after lunch it was a different story).

Next time I want to try to make grilled cheese with:

• brie and pepper jelly (bet some people saw this one coming)
• camembert and fig jam
• nutella and bananas (once you go experimental, might as well go all the way...)

And thén I figured I could try to make mini grilled cheeses as an appetizers next time I throw a party. Yes, I am on a culinary roll, haha! Stay tuned.

Pannacotta

This creamy Italian dessert is one of my mother's best, and my boyfriend's favorite when we have dinner at my parents'. It's creamy like a pudding, but also fresh and less rich - it won't leave you feeling bloated. The perfect dessert, in other words.

Ingredients (serves 8):

• 800ml cream
• 200g sugar
• 300ml milk
• 4 sheets of gelatin
• 2 vanilla pods
• something fruity and sweet to serve on top, like warm cherries, raspberry coulis, ...

Cut open the vanilla pods and scrape out the seeds. Boil the cream with the sugar, the vanilla seeds and the pods. Stir well. On a moderate fire, let boil for 15 minutes while stirring regularly. Take out the vanilla pods.

Soak the gelatin in cold water. Boil the milk, take it off the heat and dissolve the squeezed gelatin in it. Stir in the boiled cream.

Divide the mixture over individual bowls and let cool in the fridge for at least two hours. Serve with coulis, warm cherries, or whatever fruity topping takes your fancy. For a Brazilian twist, serve with Oxfam's guave and passion fruit jam.

Cod with zucchini-tomato sauce

I made this while on holiday at the coast - what better place to buy fresh fish?

Ingredients:
- 5 large tomatoes
- 1 zucchini
- 1 small onion
- oregano (or an Italian spcie mix), salt & pepper
- olive oil
- 300g cod filet
- grated parmezan cheese

Peel the tomatoes, remove the seeds and cut them into cubes. Chop the onion, then sautee for a couple of minutes in the olive oil. Add the tomatoes, reduce the heat and let simmer until the tomatoes disintegrate into a sauce. Cut the zucchini into tiny cubes (about 4-5mm) and add to the tomato sauce. Let simmer for about 10 minutes.

Preheat the oven at about 200°C. Put the cod in an oven-proof baking dish, then cover with the tomato-zuccini sauce. Sprinkle generously with parmezan cheese. Bake in the oven for about 20-30 minutes. Serve with potatoes, pasta, puree, rice... whatever takes your fancy. Cod appetit!

Inspiration on the webz

Delicious-sounding links that I do not want to lose track of:
- parsnip-carrot soup
- aubergine rolls
- oven-roasted broccoli

Must try out soon!

My favorite Starbucks treat

No Starbucks in my hometown yet, but now I have a recipe for my favorite Starbucks treat!

Brie and pepper jelly toasts

I serve this as an appetizer, although I have also used this exact same topping for a pizza as well.

Ingredients:

• 1 ciabatta, cut into slices
• 1 wedge of brie
• pepper jelly

Top each slice of ciabatta with a slice of brie cheese, then add a teaspoon of pepper jelly on top. Bake in the oven at 200°C for 5-10 minutes, until the brie has melted slightly and turns lightly golden brown. Enjoy!

raisin, pistachio and honey cheesecake

I used this recipe from Simon Rimmer's book 'The Seasoned Vegetarian'. I first served it when I had my family over for dinner, and they loved it.

Ingredients:

For the biscuit base:

• 250g water biscuits, crushed (I used the food processor)
• 125g butter, melted (I ended up using almost twice that amount, or the mixture wouldn't stick...)
• 75g demerara suger (I used brown sugar)

For the filling:

• 1kg ricotta cheese
• 200 cream cheese (I used Philadelphia)
• 6 eggs
• 100g caster sugar
• 100g honey
• 200 shelled unsalted pistachios
• 200g golden raisins

Sauce:

• 100g honey
• 100g shelled unsalted pistachios
• thick Greek yoghurt, to serve

Preheat the oven to 180°C (fan) or 160°C (gas). Combine the biscuits, butter and sugar, then press the mixture into the base of a buttered 25cm spingform cake tin.
For the topping, beat together the ricotta and cream cheese, eggs, sugar and honey, then fold in the nuts and golden raisins. Spoon the mixture on to the biscuit base.
Bake the cake for 1 hour until lightly golden brown and firm.
Turn off the oven, open the door slightly and allow the cheesecake to cool completely in the oven. When cool, run a knife around the sides to loosen it, release the clip and remove cake from tin.
For the sauce, warm the honey with the nuts in a pan.
Cut the cake into wedges, pour over the warm sauce and serve with thick Greek yoghurt.

Sweet potato with a sauce of cayenne pepper, ginger and peanuts

A steaming bowl of exotic comfort food for chilly fall days. Serves 4 to 6 people.

Ingredients:

• 4 tbsp sunflower oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 5cm ginger root, peeled and chopped
• 75g sweet potato, in cubes (75g is what the recipe says... I use one small sweet potato per person, because I love sweet potatoes)
• 450g white cabbage (I like to use cauliflower instead)
• 1 tbsp paprika powder
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 400g pomodorotomatoes (fresh or canned, I use canned), chopped
• 300ml pineapple juice
• 125g peanut butter
• salt and pepper

To garnish:

• 2 carrots, rasped
• 2 raw beetroots, rasped
• 2 bananas, sliced (optional... I'm not a big fan)
• juice of one lime
• some freshly chopped cilantro

Heat the sunflower oil in a large pan. Sautee the onion until soft, then add the garlic and the ginger and sautee for a few minutes. Add the sweet potatoe and the cabbage. Fry the vegetables until soft. Add the paprika and the cayenne pepper, then the tomatoes and the pineapple juice. Cover the pan and let the vegetables simmer. Spoon in the peanut butter. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

To garnish, mix the rasped carrots, beetroot (and optional banan) with the lime juice. Top the stew with this mixture and some chopped cilantro.

Serve with rice, or quinoa.

Grilled aubergine & zucchini ciabatta

Ingredients:

• 1 aubergine
• 1 zucchini
• olive oil
• oregano
• salt & pepper
• 1 container of ricotta cheese
• 1 small bag of rucola
• 1 ciabatta bread

Preheat the oven at 200°C. Slice the zucchini and the aubergine vertically into long, 1cm-thick slices. Rub the slices with olive oil and sprinkle with oregano, salt and pepper to taste. Place them on a grille and grill in the oven for about 25-30 minutes.

Cut open the ciabatta, spread on a generous layer of ricotta cheese, layer on a slice of grilled aubergine and zucchini, and add a handful of rucola. Enjoy!

Roasted garlic potatoes

Ingredients:

• 500g new potatoes, unpeeled


• 4 cloves of garlic, unpeeled


• 1 tbsp white wine vinegar


• 1 tsp Dijon mustard


• 1-2 tbsp parsley, chopped


• olive oil


• freshly ground pepper


• salt

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Rinse and dry the potatoes. Halve or quarter them depending on size. In a baking dish, arrange the potatoes and the unpeeled cloves of garlic, sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste and cover the potatoes with 1 or 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Bake in the oven for at least 40 minutes until the potatoes are done. Leave to cool for 10 minutes.

Peel the roasted garlic. In a bowl, mix the mustard, the roasted garlic, 1 tbsp of olive oil, the vinegar, the parsley and some salt and pepper. Stir in the potatoes. Can be served both hot and cold.

Recipe links

Because you can't invent everything by yourself:

sweet potato hummus

leek and lemon pesto

aaaand wait for it... raw brownies! These bad boys sound amazing. I wish I had a food processor so I could make them. Alas, I do not. *cries*

Also this cookbook is glorious. It has lots of simple but delicious recipes that are quick to prepare. Just the way I like it. I tried the taco soup... heaven!

Hot pot with salmon and cod

Delicious recipe prepared by my mother on a sunny February saturday.

Ingredients:

• 4 carrots
• 2 leeks
• 300g of cod filet, in cubes
• 250g of salmon filet, in cubes
• 100g shrimp
• 1 cube of fish stock
• 100ml of dry white wine
• 200ml cream
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh marjoram
• 1 tbsp chopped parsley
• 100g grated gruyère cheese
• butter
• salt and pepper

Preheat the oven at 180°C. Clean the veggies and herbs. Cut the carrots in slices and the leek in rings.

Sauté the carrots and leeks in the butter. Season with salt and pepper. Add the wine and stir in the cream. Crumble the fish stock cube on top. Leave to simmer until the carrots are soft.

Butter an oven dish and distribute the fish, shrimp and vegetables evenly. Sprinkle with the chopped marjoram and parsley, then add a layer of grated cheese. Take to the oven for 20-25 minutes. Serve with mashed potatoes.

Waffles

A delicious recipe for waffles, courtesy of my friend's baking dad.

As for quantities, I made a double recipe for a party with 8 friends who ate waffles until they couldn't see straight anymore, and then I still had so many waffles left I ate waffles for the rest of the week. I then proceeded to make half this recipe for my family of four, and I think it sufficed. It really depends on how hungry your company is.

Ingredients:

• 500g self-raising flour
• 1/2 litre of milk
• 6 eggs
• 200g sugar
• 150g butter
• 2 bags of vanilla sugar
• 1 tbsp of baking powder
• 150-250ml sparkling water (optional)

Mix the eggs, the sugar and the milk. Melt the butter and stir into the milk mixture, then add the flour, vanilla sugar and baking powder. If the dough is too thick, add some sparkling water. Bake in a greased waffle iron on medium-high heat.

Tips for topping:

• freshly whipped cream fresh strawberries and raspberries
• simmer chunks of pear in some water with a few drops of vanilla essence, serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and hot chocolate sauce
• nutella and chopped nuts or brésilienne nuts (my favourite!)
• banana and hot chocolate sauce (scratch the above, this is my favourite!)
• any combination of the above

Recipe links

A few great recipe links I encountered while surfing the web:

• one of the recipes recommended by The Minimalist, the NY Times food writer: pasta with fried eggs (includes also recipes for pasta with tomato sauce and pasta with anchovis and walnut sauce)
• vegatarian rice bowl recipe by A.Co.Est1984
• a fennel and celery salad idea, again by the NY Times Minimalist

Italian salad

I made this salad on a hard day's night, when I was in the mood for something fast and simple that didn't involve frying.

Ingredients:

• lamb's lettuce (isn't that a cute name for 'veldsla'?)
• a handful of cherry tomatoes, sliced in 2
• 150g mozarella cheese (I use the perline, it already comes in little balls, no work!)
• 1 tbsp of sesame seeds
• 1 tbsp of pine nuts, roasted
• 2 tbsp of grana padano, freshly grated
• 2 tbsp of mayonnaise
• 1 red onion, chopped

Well, you know, wash what needs to be washed, chop what needs to be chopped, throw it all in a bowl, and done!

Salmon and Celery Salad

I made this salad as an appetizer for a dinner with friends, but in a bigger version it can be a salad to accompany a summer lunch.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 celery plant
• 1 cucumber
• 150g smoked salmon
• fresh dill
• cottage cheese (what I refer to as 'bolletjeskaas'
• 2 spoons olive oil
• salt & pepper

Cut the celery and cucumber into little cubes and the smoked salmon into little strips. In a bowl, mix the celery, cucumber, salmon with a few spoons of olive oil, freshly chopped dill and salt & pepper. As a topping/dressing, mix the cottage cheese with more freshly chopped dill, salt & pepper. I served this salad in small tumbler glasses, with the cottage cheese on top.