sugared cranberry & brie crackers

my friend h from dubai is visiting this week! fabulous time ahead for sure. like, kicking it off with a classic swiss dinner at the kronenhalle, then on a saturday a hot chocolate in the city and later some christmas wreath making with 20 ladies, oh, and a bit of a decadent tea time at the fanciest hotel in all of zurich. nice, huh? only to be continued next week with raclette somewhere, and chimney cake (seriously, that stuff is addictive...!). oh, and shitloads to do at work, but hey, that won't spoil the fun, if anything, only make the pleasure more intense. work hard - play hard. 

oh, and ps: these sugared cranberry & brie crackers are the ideal thingy for your christmas cocktail party! or ugly christmas sweater party, whatever you call it. make it! also, i'm giving you multiple purposes to use these sugared (or candied, as i've called them before) cranberries. isn't this fabulous! i won't stop! 

enjoy the weekend! lots of love

sugared cranberry & brie crackers

ingredients:

1 brie, sliced

2 cups cranberries

1 orange, juice

1 cup sugar

1 cinnamon stick, sliced open

1 vanilla bean

3 cardamom pods, crushed

5 star anise

5 cloves

1 cup sugared cranberries (recipe here)

mint leaves for garnish

directions:

start by making the sugared cranberries and the cranberry sauce. for the cranberry sauce, put the sugar in a saucepan and let it caramelize, deglaze with the orange juice and add the cranberries. add the vanilla, cinnamon and other spices, putting the cloves, cardamom pods and star anise into a tea bag so that you can later remove it without any hassle. if need be, add a bit of water. let cool. 

to assemble, take a cracker, top with a slice of brie, place a spoonful of the cranberry sauce on top of the brie and garnish with 3 sugared cranberries and a tiny mint leaf. 

wintery kaki persimmon caprese salad

something so delicious and simple and comforting like this salad. it's the winter version of the classic tomato mozzarella caprese. persimmon are probably the fruit i love the most in winter. they're super healthy, too. and yes, i like them for breakfast, snack in between, lunch and dinner. persimmon around the clock.

speaking of clock, can you believe it's almost december...? though i am kind of in a christmassy mood already, i still can't believe the year is almost over. i am going over my mental check list: gifts, greeting cards, dinners, festivities, travel, guests, decoration, shopping. repeat! every now and then it's just nice to relax and unwind a little. i'll make sure to enjoy the weekend and the countdown to christmas as much as possible. 

wintery kaki persimmon caprese salad

ingredients:

1 kakis (for 1-2 people)

1 burrata

1/2 pomegranate, aerils removed

3 tbsp. pistacchios, finely chopped

1 tbsp. pomegranate molasses

1/2 lemon, juice

1 tsp. fleur de sel

directions:

very thinly slice the kaki persimmon horizontally and arrange it on a plate. make a dressing with the pomegranate molasses, lemon juice and fleur de del. arrange the burrata on top of the persimmon slices, garnish with a couple of pomegranate aerials and pistachios. drizzle over the dressing. 

magenbrot - chocolate glazed gingerbread chunks

this week has started off so well... on monday, me and a friend crammed in some shopping / browsing through the shops, eating (outdoors at one of the many, yummy christmas stalls that are now installed in the city) good food and going to the movies (catching fire). oh, and then there was tuesday. i don't know what happened, it's just a gfu* - my new favorite word, it means "general fuck up". whenever things are not right i'll apply it, okay? the more lady-like version than the swearing i feel like, haha. pfff, work on, don't question things, stop dreaming, start doing, concentrate on the good blaa.

like magenbrot*. something utterly swiss / german, that's only available during the fun fair season (in fall). you'd get these pink paper bags filled with spongy, marvellous magenbrot. they're addictive little devils... and the home made version is even better, really, a lot better. these are home made - from my recipe - but not by me. haha, bonus, i'd say, to get to shoot (and eat) stuff that tastes perfect without so much as having to lift a finger. i could get used to that. they might be ugly (sorry, ki, mine look almost the same, haha) - thus the word "chunks" - but it's always the insides, that count. always remember that. especially the next time when you get carried away and fancy someone after so much as a "hello, my name is xyz". pfff.

magenbrot - chocolate glazed gingerbread chunks

ingredients for the gingerbread:

500 g whole weat flour

1 tbsp. baking powder

1 tsp. cinnamon

2 tbsp. chocolate powder

1/2 tsp. cloves, ground

2 pinches salt

450 g sugar

3 dl water

ingredients for the glaze:

100 dark chocolate

20 g butter

1 dl water

2 tbsp. chocolate powder

300 g confectioners' sugar

directions:

preheat the oven to 180 degrees c / 360 f. combine all dry bread ingredients in a bowl. add water and knead to a dough. cover a baking sheet with parchment paper. pour the dough onto the baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. let cool and then cut into 2x4cm large cubes.

for the glaze, melt the chocolate and butter on very low heat in a saucepan. remove, whisk in chocolate powder and confectioners' sugar and whisk until smooth and shiny. put the magenbrot bites in a large bowl, then pour the chocolate glaze over. combine carefully until all pieces are equally coated. let dry on a rack. when dry, store in an airtight container (layered with parchment).

* btw for a more in-detail step-by-step picture (!) approach see my old post on magenbrot here.

friendsgiving & applejack cocktail

friends... the ones who eat from your bowl of noodles when in your home. the ones who lie on your bathroom floor - despite serious back pain - to have a look at your broken towel handle. the ones who spending one whole day in the kitchen with is pure relaxation and fun. friends are the ones who just get you. it doesn't really matter what you're doing, so long as you're with them. 

i was so lucky to celebrate thanksgiving with a couple of my closest friends and their family last saturday. apart from the obvious beauty in my friends' home (bonus that they live a stone-throw away from my home, or, in chef's language: so close that the potatoes still stay hot while you're getting them from the other flat's oven, just in time for dinner), you are also let in on a really tasty drinks recipe that they made for us: applejack cocktails! i'm sorry this is the second cocktail in under 2 weeks... oh, okay, no, i'm not, actually. 

applejack cocktail

per glass

ingredients:

6 ml / 2 oz applejack

2 ml / 1 oz lemon juice

splash of grenadine

apple cider (or sparkling apple juice), to top up the glass

3-5 ice cubes

1 cinnamon stick (to act as swizzler)

cute cocktail glass (for the girls) or whiskey tumbler (for the boys)

directions:

combine the applejack, lemon juice, grenadine and 2 ice cubes in a shaker, shake well. strain into glass, use some new ice cubes, top up with apple cider. decorate with a cinnamon stick. or ask negroni, he's our chief cocktail maker. yo! 

thank you for having me and making me part of the awesomeness! home is where your wifi connects automatically. in that sense: my home is your home. xx

fall harvest bowl with quinoa

it's a bit early, but since we're celebrating thanksgiving early this year with friends and their family, i dedicate this post to my thanks. many thanks, many tumbling words, many things i want to say. as you've accompanied me through the year, you know it's been a crazy one, a whirlwind of many downs (at the beginning), but also great moments, special highlights and celebrations of life and love. in a nutshell, it's the year of the deep and meaningful friendships. my friends, old and new, carried me through all of the ups and downs. so they're what i'm most thankful for. girls - you know who you are - it's such a blessing to have you. you're better than any guys accumulated, honestly (haha, this makes me smile). i'm thankful for the time we get to spend together, moments that lift me up and give me the courage to put up with darker times. you give me something to look forward to the future while infinitely embracing the moment, and you challenge me enough to get me to make peace with my past. love you, shmoos. 

also, i'm thankful for my home. at times it feels like a burden because, being single, it's just a massive amount of my salary that goes into it every month (wince). it does come with some compromises (like holidays and the occasional splurge) - though i'm not complaining. because it's my safe haven, it's where i unwind and source my inspiration, time and again. i love the solitude and comfort it provides. thank you, home sweet home, roof over my head, comfy bed, favorite little things. 

last but not least, i'm thankful for my family and that we're still going strong, sticking together. that we're able to go through a lot together and support each other, no matter what, even though we all have to deal with our own stuff at times. 

don't make me cry, blessings. food, we need some food to distract ourselves! now, this probably doesn't look like it, but it's a really rocking little dish.... sneaky, sneaky. i'm in love with simple vegetarian dishes like this buddha bowl that's a favorite. last weekend we whipped this up quickly, and, inspired by the fall harvest, our bowls featured a colorful, seasonal bounty of squashes and brussels sprouts and little pomegranate gems that add a refreshing tang and even avocado, just because its creamy, velvety texture adds yet another dimension to the package. yumness.

fall harvest bowl with quinoa

ingredients:

1 cup quinoa, cooked according to directions

1 kabocha squash, seeds discarded and sliced

2 cups brussels sprouts, halved

1 aubergine, diced

1/2 pomegranate, aerils removed

1 avocado, sliced

1 lemon, juice

1 tbsp. curry powder

1 tbsp. paprika

1 tbsp. cumin

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar

1 tsp. honey

olive oil

fleur de sel

directions:

cook the quinoa according to directions (in twice the amount of water and a little salt). preheat the oven to 220 c / 420 f and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. spread out the kabocha squash on one baking sheet. combine 2 tbsp. of olive oil with the curry powder, paprika, cumin and 1 tsp. of salt, and brush it onto the squash slices. on the other sheet, spread the aubergine on one side and the brussels sprouts on the other. combine 2 tbsp. of olive oil with the cumin, garlic and 1 tsp. of fleur de sel. put both sheets in the oven and roast until tender and crispy. in the meantime, prepare the other ingredients and the dressing: slice the avocado and pour some of the lemon juice over it. remove the aerils of half the pomegranate. for the dressing, combine 2 more tbsp. of olive oil, the rest of the lemon juice, the balsamic vinegar and honey and season with fleur de sel. note: the trick of this dish is that every single ingredient tastes good, so that the whole combination will taste amazing. simple secret, haha. when the suqash, brussels sprouts and aubergine are done, begin to assemble the harvest bowls: ladle quinoa into a bowl, top with some slices of kabocha, lemony avocado, brussels sprouts and aubergines, then garnish with some pomegranate aerils. serve warm. 

lemony roasted sunchokes

the christmas lights were switched on yesterday night in the city. and it was snowing, too. we ate raclette from a stall outside and drank too sweet glühwein (mulled wine), and listened to 'the singing christmas tree'. it was the first time i really felt like christmas, this fuzzy, cosy feeling that fills you up with warmth and love and let's your mind relax. while simultaneously planning all the feasts and dinner parties and cocktail hours and gifts to buy in one single minute. yeah, that too.

my latest earworm song only adds to the christmassy mood, i'm afraid happy to announce. i'm currently listening to over and over again. do you happen to know it (i'm only linking it because i'm too embarrassed to spell it out, ha!)? i'm so in love with this love song (here, i caved in...). all of me loves this song (funny one). okay yes, so it's a liiiiiittle bit schmaltzy? blame it on the christmas season. maybe i like my christmas mood to be infused and enhanced by cheesiness? to be upfront: i don't just mean i like to listen to this song (all the time). but (and this is getting embarrassing) i really dream about singing it, accompanied by a beautiful steinway piano, wearing a beautiful dress (not the piano, me, i mean...) (i'm thinking maybe a dark emerald green hue, a heavy fabric that falls all the way down to the floor), in front of a good, familiar crowd, but actually just singing it for someone special that's maybe not even there. never mind that i still have to find that special someone (coughing). but until then i would just sing it for my friends and family, and maybe some really good, really most in love, lovely couples that i know. duh. christmas does that to me. i turn into that mellow, kitschy thing that i do not recognise. okay, i recognise it well, because it's totally me, just in a little more 'group-hug-y' mode (not that i'm ever not in a group-hug-y' mode, shhhh....).

what will the weekend hold in store? oh, a turkey called gunther, crazy loads of fresh cranberries to turn into delicousness, maybe some more pompom making (as i've spotted a really cute christmas wreath made from pompoms) and definitely some more decorating. deck the halls!

what can i say about this meal here... first, i love sunchokes! and they're one of ottolenghi's favorite vegs, obviously. they're nutty and they are better than anything. so i like them simple, with just a little olive oil, roasted, and just a little lemon juice. and the best salt there is: maldon sea salt. they're good enough on their own. all of them, all for me.

lemony roasted sunchokes

ingredients: 

10 or so sunchokes (also called: jerusalem artichokes or in german 'topinambur')

2 tbsp. olive oil

1 lemon, juice

3 tbsp. parsley, finely chopped
1 tsp. maldon sea salt

directions: 
slice the sunchokes (in an odd way, if you do it like me, ahem...), brush them with the olive oil, season with maldon sea salt. roast them at 220 c / 420 f for about 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown and partly charred (ahem, again). pour over the lemon juice, sprinkle with parsley. eat warm or cold.

old fashion cocktail with candied cranberries

sometimes, a wintery cocktail is all you need. a little tangy, a tiny bit bitter, icy cold, refreshing, classy. like an old fashion: for me, the best cocktail there is. add some home made, candied cranberries for good measure and you'll never want to drink anything else (after 4pm, ahem). ps: the recipe for the candied cranberries (recipe from a year ago) can be found here. also, for a fab tutorial on the right hand movements, watch here. isn't this guy just so cool?

old fashion cocktail 

makes one glass

directions:

6 cl bourbon whiskey

1 sugar cube or 1 dash of sugar syrup

2 dashes of angostura bitter

1 amarena cherry

1 orange wheel

tonic water

for garnish:

3-5 ice cubes

1 organic orange, slice of peel

1 cocktail cherry 

candied cranberries on a skewer

directions: 

in a cold (put the glasses in the freezer for a while) cocktail glass, start by adding sugar syrup, bitters, amarena cherry and orange slice into the glass. muddle well (if using sugar cube, muddle well until cube has dissolved). add bourbon and stir (18 times, it's said). if you want, strain liquid into a new (again cold) cocktail glass where ice cubes are already waiting. fill up with tonic water. garnish with a twisted orange peel slice, a nice cocktail cherry with the stem on and the candied cranberry skewer. 

lebkuchen bites with toffee sauce

remember how i told you i'm a firm believer of love at first sight? well... it's true: i'm the worlds biggest, hopeless romantic. but what if i'm wrong? what if romance is dead? what if i'm waiting for something that doesn't exist...?

i occasionally obsessively read meme wisdom psychological articles on love and relationship matters. it's a disgusting thing to do, but it just gives me such a kick, all those foreign words and technical terms and dramatic scenarios. in some place, it said that 'nothing has produced more unhappiness than the concept of the soulmate'. apparently, the institution of marriage used to actually make sense - decades ago. we were together to help and support each other. you know, 'practical pairing of a cash-producing father and a home-building mother'. today, though, we despise the idea of being together with someone merely out of rational benefits. we are seeking true love, a soul mate, someone who loves us unconditionally and understands us and supports us. we're hoping we will find someone to make us whole, with whom life finally feels complete. we're looking for 'ideal'. only 'perfect' is good enough. we have our standards - and we are almost sure that we shouldn't lower them. we believe our expectations are justified, that we deserve 'perfect'. and maybe we do. but what if it's not granted to everyone to find that blissful, happy, perfect love?

then we can either curl up into a ball and hide under the blanket forever, wallowing in misery. or we can face the un-fairy-tale-like plot and adjust. as in: we start to fancy realism or we fall back to cynicism.

i still want to be a romantic. or maybe i simply cant help it, but would like to leave it behind me sometimes. maybe life would be easier as a rationalist. maybe my brain would stop feeling guilty for how picky my heart is, although my heart clearly doesn't give a shit about what my brain thinks.


luzerner lebkuchen

ingredients:
1 3/4 cup sugar
4 heaped tbsp. molasses or pear honey
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 cup water
1 cup milk
2 tsp. of baking powder
2 heaped tbsp. gingerbread spices
3-4 cups flour

directions:
combine all ingredients in a bowl except for the flour. sieve in the flour bit by bit, stirring continuously, until the dough is of a thick liquid but not too a too runny consistency. grease a large baking sheet and line with parchment paper. bake for 25-30 minutes at 180 c / 320 f. let cool then cut into tiny, bitesized squares.


toffee sauce

ingredients:
1 cup sugar
2 tbsp. butter
1 cup heavy cream

directions:
heat the sugar in a pan and resist stirring until the sugar is caramelized. add the butter and the heavy cream. the sugar will harden at first when adding the cold cream. cook until it's dissolved again, then cook some more to reduce to half of the sauce (thickening process). let cool to room temperature or use warm. add a spoonful of the sauce on each square of lebkuchen. decorating with a pompom optional.

braised cheeks of veal with parsley potato mash

if you're anything like me, you're probably craving comfort foods (fats, cheeses, stews, sweets...) in this weather, hm? or maybe it's the approaching holiday season? anyway, so there is something cooking... braised cheeks of veal. so tender, flavorsome, old school and classy. a really nice dish for the colder days. and i finally got to use my le creuset that i got last year in the right way (not entirely self explanatory, ahem, good thing my mom was around...). 

braised cheeks of veal

recipe adapted from douce steiner

ingredients: 

4 cheeks of veal (about 150-200g each)

salt, freshly ground pepper

2 tbsp. ghee (for frying

mirepoix from:

3 shallots, finely chopped

1 carrot, peeled, finely chopped

50 g celery root, finely chopped

1/2 leek, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves

1 thyme sprig

1 rosemary spring

1 bay leaf

5 pepper corns, freshly ground

1 tsp. tomato puree

1/2 l red wine (e.g. pinot noir)

1 l stock of veal (i used a home made one)

20 g butter

directions:

season the cheeks with salt and pepper and sear from all sides in very hot gee in a dutch oven. put the mirepoix and herbs in the same dutch oven and sweat for a while. add the tomato puree and fry with the mirepoix, herbs and spices a little, then deglaze with the red wine and the stock of veal. heat and let reduce a little. put the cheeks of veal back into the pan and braise in the oven at 160 c / 320 f for one hour. remove the meat, strain the sauce through a sieve (discarding the vegs and spices etc.). now put the sauce in a saucepan and let it reduce to half. season with salt if necessary. before serving, put the meat back in the sauce to heat it up. 

parsley potato mash

recipe adapted from douce steiner

ingredients:
400 g mealy potatoes, peeled, quartered

50 g butter

100 ml milk, hot

100 ml heavy cream

salt, freshly ground musk

for the parsley oil:

1 bunch parsley, finely chopped

3 tbsp. olive oil

directions:

boil the potatoes until tender in salted water, drain, put back in the pan and let strip from steam on the turned off plate. press the potatoes through the passe-vite, fold in the butter, then add the hot (!) milk and cream (seasoned with salt and musk). for the parsley oil, process the parsley and oil in a food processor until very smooth. add spoonful by spoonful to the potato mash until desired greenness is reached. 

to assemble, add a ladle of the parsley potato mash onto the the plate, top with a cheek of veal and garnish with a spoonful of the sauce. serve on warm plates.

mulled wine poached pears

is there a possibility that the weekends follow another timing? sunday evening again. it was a good mix between relaxation and fun. it started off a bit crazy on friday, wining at a friend's. saturday in the mountains again. we were hiding from the sun, though, working on a (wedding video!) project. it turned out amazing. was totally inspiring. 

almost forgot: the last supper's menu...! for you! duh. now we're catching up with that. 

supper no. 7 "falling for fall"

old fashion drink with candied cranberries

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sourdough toast with purè di fagioli, fried onions and sumac

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kaki persimmon caprese with burrata, pomegranate, pistacchios 

and sweet & sour pomegranate molasses dressing

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roasted acorn squash with herbed oil and toasted pecans

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red wine braised cheek of veal 

with parsley potato puree and glazed carrot

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mulled wine poached pears

with roquefort cheese

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individual chestnut layer cake

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lucerne style lebkuchen bites

with toffee sauce

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espresso affogato with pistachio cream

but now, about those mulled wine poached pears. you might remember these sauternes pears here. they were fabulous, yummy, funny. variation of them now with red wine. mulled wine, to be exact. really good. try!

mulled wine poached pears

ingredients:

4 ripe but not too soft pears, peeled

1/2 lemon, juice

1 bottle red wine

1 cup sugar

3 star anise

3 cinnamon sticks

1 vanilla bean, sliced open and vanilla extracted

6 cloves

4 fresh bay leaves

directions:

pour the wine in a saucepan and add the sugar and spices. in the meantime peel the pears and soak them in cold water with lemon juice (to prevent them from turning brown). place the pears in the red wine and add water (if necessary) until all the pears are covered. reduce to a simmer and poach for about 10 to 15 minutes (depending on the size of your pears). remove the pears, then let the red wine cook and reduce to a syrup (takes between 1-2 hours) on medium heat. remove the spices. put the pears back in the now thick red wine syrup and refrigerate until used. before serving, add a bay leaf at the top and add a slice of roquefort cheese.

ps: oh, i love whole sentences. you, too? classy as ever. sorry. tired. sundays, duh.