Greetings from Bella Italia
The temperatures keep up with Bella Italia, the bright colours of this Italian Minestrone soup make you happy. When snipping all the fine vegetables you can almost see him in your mind’s eye: Luigi, who rattles with his red Vespa on the Tuscan country roads. Close your eyes and dream a little bit about Italy… A light meal for those hot days, a feast for all the senses.
read moreAsparagus & Strawberries – a dream team
May and June, fresh green, herbs in abundance, asparagus, strawberries, rhubarb – culinary the best time of the year. While asparagus was always associated with smoked ham and hollandaise sauce, asparagus is popular with us today as a salad or crunchy roasted. And the combination of salmon, asparagus, strawberries, pine nuts and fine oil is just gorgeous.
read moreChicken in Vermouth – finally again a Captain’s Dinner
We have Chicken in Vermouth when our family calendar is marked with two letters and a laughing smiley. There are also days marked with a crying one. The letters are the initials of my dearest, obvious what the emojis stand for: Signing off and on, that’s how it is called in shipping terms. It means to come home and to go aboard a ship. Today the emoji is beaming in our calendar! Time for Chicken in Vermouth!
read moreEye candy & culinary delight
What happens when the king of vegetables meets the queen of shells? Well, it can only be magically delicious, right? When wild herbs, sugar snap peas, young peas and pomegranate seeds join asparagus and scallops, the taste sensation is perfect. And the best thing is: this delicious dish is on the table in half an hour!
read moreDelicate and juicy – beef
Tafelspitz [boiled fillet] – Austrian cuisine’s classic. Needs a bit of time, but requires little work. And best of all, the beef stays super-juicy as it is cooked in broth. Together with asparagus or the Frankfurt Green Sauce a real Sunday roast.
read moreFrankfurt Green Sauce: The secret of 7 herbs
One can disagree about many things or even argue – but not about the seven herbs of the original Frankfurt Grüne Sauce [green sauce]. Even my great-grandmother in the Forest of Odes kept her recipe and looked after and nurtured the seven herbs in her garden. The recipe is passed on from generation to generation, re-written, varied. And which herbs are they?
read morePasta makes you happy
Spaghetti Bolognese – that’s where it starts. Only in Germany this spicy tomato-vegetable sauce with minced meat is called like this. The Italian calls it “Ragú” and there are thousands and a recipe variant. In search of meatless recipes, we simply replaced the minced meat with lentils. And lo and behold? No Bolognese, no Ragú – but delicious!
read moreWild garlic Carbonara
Carbonara wild style: Instead of bacon, Parma ham enhances the spaghetti – and wild garlic gives a special touch in terms of colour and flavour.
read moreFinally asparagus again!
It’s about time. Two weeks later than usual, the asparagus harvest finally starts in Northern Germany. Basically I do not buy asparagus and strawberries out of season, and then only from the region. Due to the cold winter and the moist, no, wet autumn, our anticipation of the first asparagus meal of the year could thus increase by another 14 days. Here we go!
read moreWhite halibut & wild garlic – that fits
The best thing when buying fish is always to be guided by the display at the fishmonger or on the fish market. We are happy to follow the special recommendations of our fishmonger, and then we are sure to have the best and freshest fish in the pan. But what do you do with the newly purchased fish? At this time of year, a wild garlic and white wine sauce is just the thing!
read more