Breakfast with bills II

What is the first thing that comes to your mind, when you think about breakfast?

I said the first thing, so don’t ponder to long over it. For me, always the sentence ‘Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.’ comes to my mind. Now I don’t want to argue over it, saying anything for or against it.

The second thing that comes to my mind is … eh … wait, I just asked about the first thing, so there is no point in talking about the second.

Whatsoever, there are many ways to have a great breakfast. Some, though, require going the extra mile. This for sure applies for the three things I want to show you today in my … eh … series ‘… with Bills’ which I started due to ...

Anyway, let’s have a closer look at number one: Coconut Bread:

As is mentioned in ‘Bills Sydney Food’ it is good to ‘Keep slices in the freezer for workdays when you’d rather be in the Caribbean.’ Well, to this I can only say: My freezer isn’t that big. However, I tried it as far as possible in my case.

Having breakfast alone, you’ll never need one loaf in one go. No, you even don’t need it when having breakfast with two persons. I was fine settling with two slices, leaving some to be put into the freezer for one of those days or for any day. Did I say both could be the same in my case? Nah, anyway …

You could enjoy this bread with salt-fish relish. Fine, I don’t have any and I don’t get any, but you can also enjoy it in other ways. Just some icing sugar on it is lovely. On the other hand, putting something else on it might give it that extra kick, but that I yet have to find out.

The bread contains eggs, milk, vanilla essence, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, sugar, shredded coconut and butter, just to give you an idea what to expect.

Well, I enjoyed it very much and by this I remind myself now to make one again soon for my freezer isn’t really that big. Oh, I don’t even have a real freezer, just a small freezer compartment in the fridge and since I just can’t … eh, but could … fill it all the way with coconut bread, I have to take another approach here.

So, have two slices of coconut bread and a cuppa with it. At least once I also had a Mango and Banana Sunrise Drink together with it. That’s lovely, too. It’s a mixture of orange juice, mango, banana and a bit of yoghurt. You can’t go wrong with that.

On to the next splendid breakfast. I can tell you, it’s not a light one. For that one you need peaches and … eh … although I know, I might earn myself a comment for this … eh … I will mention it nevertheless: you have to get those peaches naked …

Whatever the case, we want to do something with those peaches apart from slicing them up and putting them in a bowl with lemon juice and sugar for 30 minutes. Eh … you see, again you need some time, so you have to carefully think about it when you want to have it for breakfast.

Right, what do we want to do with those lucky peaches?

Basically, it’s French Toast Stuffed with Peaches. Well, there is additionally to some eggs, milk, cream vanilla, more sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg involved.

Bread?

Right, I especially went to the bakery next door to get some lovely white bread, although Bill said to use brioche bread. I didn’t see any at that time, but found some later … and bought it … and just ate it plain as it was. Putting things in mind together … that would have been really gorgeous using that brioche for the French Toast, although it was already great the way it was, topped with some vanilla yoghurt and maple syrup.

Definitely a wonderful start into the day, you just need to have sufficient time in the morning. After all you can’t just pull that pre-arranged French Toast thingy from your freezer – that is if you have one – as you could do with the coconut bread just mentioned above.

Along that line, just shift to something you could pull from your freezer – that is if … eh … forget it. The whole process starts somehow like this …

No, that is actually wrong, this isn’t really the start of it, it’s just the first photo I took in the course of preparing Iced Cinnamon Snail Rolls … and I already crave some. I have to come to the conclusion, this post is a tad dangerous for me. However, I also can’t stop right now. We have to go on.

At the point of the photo, we already have prepared a dough with yeast having aloud it an hour to double in size. You see, you definitely don’t want to make it fresh in the morning you want to enjoy some for breakfast.

We have brushed the dough with melted butter and sprinkled it with brown sugar and cinnamon.

After that it’s rolling up to make a log. Guess what, then it’s time to slice the log up into thick slices to place on a baking tray and leave once more to double in size. Yes, it really takes some time with all this rising business.

You can already see where this is getting to. At one point then you have to get the heat on in your oven and … yes, bake and wait even more while the baked goods are cooling down on a rack. All this is really a job of patience, but since you will be able to fr…. eh … it will be absolutely worth it. Trust me, just this once. I know what I’m doing … do I?

For the most part they already look great, maybe apart from the second from the left in the middle row. Fine, at least we have one, we can just much away on as soon as we feel the temperature of the rolls is suitable for not hurting any parts of your mouth.

Right, don’t forget the icing consisting of icing sugar, warm water and vanilla. I really tried my best to drizzle it on.

To draw a conclusion from this … those three recipes are something lovely I would not just take for breakfast. In fact, I would be happy with any of it right now. It’s only too bad I can’t right now.

The Spicy Side of Life - Chicken Rendang and Nasi Minyak

I don’t know whether I am back in business, but I try. Today I had that wonderful feeling again … of hot and spicy food slightly heating me up from the inside.

I had some Chicken Rendang and Nasi Minyak. 

As it was my first step into the direction of Malay cuisine, I had to do some research. Usually I go about by checking Wikipedia and then reading through the different dishes. I found a few other things I would love to try, like for example Murtabak, but that has to wait for a while.

I set my eyes on Nasi Minyak, rice flavoured with ghee and some dry spices and … you will see later. The description said, it is usually eaten with Rendang.

The most traditional way of doing that dish is with buffalo meat. As I don’t have it and I didn’t want to try getting it, I settled for chicken, which is also quite common these days.

So, don’t be afraid of the heat or the colour (you will see later, why it has roughly the same colour), we have means and ways to reduce the heat.

Now, let’s go for the Chicken Rendang first.

Chicken Rendang

Ingredients
1 tbsp. ghee
500 g chicken breast, cut into small chunks
1 tsp. turmeric powder
Salt
2 shallots, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
Thumb-sized piece of ginger, finely chopped
1 stalk of lemongrass, finely chopped
1 dried chilli, finely chopped (less seeds, less heat)
Some water
400 ml coconut milk
A hand full of fresh coriander

Method
Melt the ghee in a pan. Then fry the chicken pieces together with the turmeric and a bit of salt.

Bash the shallots, garlic, ginger, lemongrass and chilli together in a mortar, adding a bit of water to make a paste – kind of.

Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside. In the same pan, fry now the paste you just made.

Now add the coconut milk and the chopped up stalks of the coriander. Bring this to the boil and leave to simmer.

At some point add the chicken back and continue simmering until the sauce thickens.

Just prior to serving, add the coriander leaves and check the seasoning whether you need more salt.

Serve the Chicken Rendang together with the …

Nasi Minyak

Ingredients
A mug of basmati rice
Two mugs of water for steaming the rice
1 tbsp. ghee
A hand full of cashew nuts
1 cinnamon stick
1 star anise
4 cardamom pods, cracked open
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 red chilli, finely chopped (mind the seeds)
1 tsp. turmeric
Another mug of water
A hand full of peas (frozen, if you like)
A hand full of fresh coriander
Salt

Method
Add the mug of rice and the water into a pot and bring to the boil, while the lid is open. Then put on the lid, reduce the heat to a minimum and leave for 20 minutes.

Fork through the rice to loosen it up a bit, if you like and then set the rice aside.

Melt the ghee in another pan and roast the cashews. Then remove them from the pan.

Toss the cinnamon stick, star anise and the cardamom into the pan and fry them.

After that add the shallot, chilli and the turmeric. Let them all together enjoy some heat.

At this point it’s time for the rice to return. Add them to the pan together with some water.

While you are at heating things up, add the peas as well and finally the chopped up coriander leaves and the cashews.

Serve right away – as I already said – together with the Chicken Rendang. Well, they have both turmeric in it, so it’s not too much contrasting in terms of colour on the plate, but it tastes luvly.

Hähnchen Rendang und Nasi Minyak

Heut ist es mal an der Zeit für malaysische Küche. Das habe ich bis jetzt noch nicht ausprobiert. Also wird es mal Zeit. 

Insgesamt habe ich zwei Chillies verbaut. Es war trotzdem leicht scharf und aufwärmend. Das ist auf jeden Fall gut, wenn es wieder kälter wird – oh nein, der Winter kommt.

Falls man nicht so auf Schärfe steht, wäre es vielleicht angebracht, die Samen der Chillies zu entfernen. Was soll’s immer her mit der Schärfe.

Hähnchen Rendang

Zutaten
1 EL Ghee
500 g Hähnchenbrust, in kleine Stücke geschnitten
1 TL Kurkuma
Salz
2 Schalloten, feingehackt
2 Knoblauchzehen, feingehackt
Daumengroßes Stück Ingwer,feingehackt
1 Stengel Zitronengras, feingehackt
1 getrocknete Chilli, feingehackt
Etwas Wasser
400 ml Kokosmilch
Eine Hand voll frischer Koriander

Zubereitung
Das Ghee in der Pfanne schmelzen. Dann darin die Hähnchenstücke anbraten mit dem Kurkuma und etwas Salz zusammen bis das Fleisch etwas Farbe bekommt – und damit meine ich nicht die Farbe von dem Kurkuma.

Die Schalotten, Knoblauch, Ingwer, Zitronengras und Chilli in einen Mörser geben und dann ordentlich zusammenstampfen. Ein wenig Wasser dabei, so dass eine Paste entsteht – oder so ähnlich.

Das Hähnchenfleisch aus der Pfanne nehmen und statt dessen die Paste hineingeben. Das Fleisch erst mal zur Seite stellen. Die Paste anbraten.

Dann die Kokosmilch und feingehackte Korianderstengel hinzugeben. Das ganze zum Kochen bringen und köcheln lassen.

Irgendwann kommt dann auch das Fleisch zurück in die Pfanne und weiterköcheln lassen bis die Sauce etwas dicker wird.

Kurz vor dem servieren noch die Korianderblätter hinzugeben und kontrollieren, one noch etwas Salz nötig ist.

Das Hähnchen Rendang servieren zusammen mit …

Nasi Minyak

ZutatenEin Becher Basmatireis
Zwei Becher Wasser zum dünsten des Reises
1 EL Ghee
Eine Hand voll Cashewkerne
1 Zimtstange
1 Sternanis
4 Kardamomkapseln, das innere davon
1 Schalotte, feingehackt
1 rote Chilli, feingehackt
1 TL Kurkuma
Noch ein Becher Wasser
Eine Hand voll Erbsen
Eine Hand voll frischer Koriander
Salz

Zubereitung
Den Reis mit dem Wasser in einen Topf geben und zum Kochen bringen. Sobald der Reis schön blubbert, den Deckel drauf und die Hitze reduzieren. Für 20 Minuten vor sich hinköcheln lassen.

Wenn man mag, kann man dann nochmal das ganze kurz mit einer Gabel auflockern. Den Reis zur Seite stellen.

Das Ghee in einer anderen Pfanne schmelzen und die Cashewkerne darin rösten. Dann die Cashewkerne aus der Pfanne entfernen.

Da kommt jetzt die Zimtstange, Sternanis und Kardamon rein. Kurz anbraten.

Es folgt die Schalotte, Chilli und Kurkuma. Die Zutaten ein wenig die Hitze schmecken lassen.

Nun kommt der Reis wieder zurück in die Pfanne mit einem Becher Wasser, so dass uns da nicht anpappt.

Wo jetzt nun schon mal alles erhitzt wird, kann man auch gleich die Erbsen hinzugeben und wenn man dann schon fast fertig zum Essen ist, kommen noch die Cashewkerne und der Koriander mit drunter.

Zeit zum Essen. Wie ich schon erwähnte – ja, das habe ich schon gesagt – Nasi Minyak und Hähnchen Rendang zusammen servieren und Spass dabei haben. Lecker!

Beef and Fennel Tagine without a Tagine

I think I haven't got any more space left in my kitchen to put things. Well, maybe a few small things could fit in somewhere. However, if I wanted to have any possible special cooking gear, I would be in real trouble. After all my raclette grill and my wok are already in the cellar. Ah, my barbie is there as well, of course. Yes, a bamboo steamer basket would be lovely or something that could be used more regularly, a food processor, a slow cooker, a pressure cooker, or a pasta machine or a quiche tin. Wait, I definitely have to work on the last one tomorrow.
But something else, a tagine. That would look lovely and it would be another good experience to cook with. Nevertheless, I haven't got one. Still I wanted to cook a Beef and Fennel Tagine. Let's see whether we can cook a Beef and Fennel Tagine without a Tagine ...

Christine & Christian - Episode 5: Caramelised Bananas with Incredible Caramel Sauce

Things are still going on. I have been quite busy. After 9 days of cooking from Tasting India by Christine Manfield, I managed 16 recipes so far. Just this week, until now, I used up ... hm ... about 16 chillies: green ones, dried small ones, dried long ones, but so far no fresh red ones. Whatsoever, my supply is going down.
However, this week I also tried two recipes, where I didn't need any chillies at all. One of it were the carrot dosas I tried just this morning after leaving the batter at room temperature the whole night. The result was ... edible.
The other recipe is called in the book Sanjay's Caramel Bananas. Have a look ...

Well, um, eh ... it doesn't look so incredible now, but ... to me, in the end the TASTE counts.
The bananas are just rolled in sugar and then fries in butter.
What's important about the whole dessert is the caramel sauce. How to do caramel, you should know. Yes, you know ... sugar with a bit of water in a pan at high heat, no stirring, changing colour to brown and things like that. Whatever happens, don't be tempted to use a spoon to stir things up ... by no means.
As the colour changed to brown, add some cinnamon and also some chopped up ginger. Toss it in (don't stir), add cream and a few splashes of brown rum. Mix it, but don't stir.
Pour the sauce over the fried banana in the other pan and coat the banana with the incredible caramel sauce.
Whatever happens now ... just make sure you eat the bananas soon.
For sure I will make this again ... before I try all the other recipes from Tasting India. Even if I would stop cooking through Tasting India now (which I don't), that bananas with this caramel sauce was worth it. I have also been thinking about a version including chocolate. Hm, I will have to see about that.

What else did I cook. Here some further impressions:

That is curry-leaf chicken, which tastes great as well. The brownish bits are the fried curry-leaves. Sorry, I didn't have fresh curry leaves, but so far, I don't  have an idea were to get them. I would go for planting or sowing in my garden, if I get the chance. Ah, do you notice the long dried red chilli in the background as well?

A white dal, enjoyable, but not as good as the other dal I tried. There is a cinnamon stick to be seen here and ... have a guess ... there are three dried red chillies in it. For this dal it was necessary to prepare an onion paste. So far I have found out, that it is quite important to have these pastes, although I still need to find out, why exactly. I still have leftover dal and so I might end up using them to stuff some samosas, but I might eat it just as it is as well.

Here comes another lovely potato dish: sesame potatoes. Apart from the sesame and some ginger paste, there was the need for some ... yes, green chillies. It was also the first time ever, I used fenugreek seeds.
I guess, there are a lot more adventures to come. After all, next I have a whole weekend for that. Who knows!?!

If you want more pictures, just check out my Facebook page here.

Ouzo Cookies

I must be out of my mind. One minute I thought, now would be the time to retire for the night and get enough sleep, next minute I'm in the kitchen and prepare cookies with aniseed schnapps. Maybe this would be a good recipe for a cookbook: "The drunken baker". It should be next to the Scottish whisky cake. This reminds me of a sketch comedy I once was forced to perform at a wedding. It was about baking the Scottish whisky cake. In between testing the whisky was necessary, which resulted - of course - in deteriorating speech quality.

Anyway, here I am in the kitchen preparing this cookies using up all my leftover Ouzo from the bar. Actually, the following is a Mexican recipe. Nevertheless I have refrained from using chillies in any form (but maybe I shouldn't have).

Ingredients:

250 g butter

250 g icing sugar

500 g flour

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

90 ml of aniseed schnapps (Ouzo, I didn't want to use the Ricard)

Juice of one lime (you may try as well lemon or orange, using also the zest)

Vanilla sugar for icing

Method:

Whisk together the butter and the sugar until it gets creamy, sort of. Then add the bit by bit the flour, the schnapps, the juice, and the cinnamon. Don't put all ingredients in at once. Always mix together in between. Then form a nice ball of dough, which you can roll out on a floured surface to a thickness of about 1 cm. If you have time you can also let the dough rest for half an hour, wrapped in cling film, in the fridge. I didn't bother though.

Then I used a small cup to cut out the cookies. If you have a more professional way, just do it. You could use even different shapes. I kept it simple, though. Arrange the cookies nicely on a baking tray. The oven should be heated up to 220°C by now. Transfer the tray to the oven and bake for about 15 minutes. This is if you trust your oven. What you want to achieve are nice and golden cookies. Therefore the time might be longer or shorter.

Once the cookies have the appearance you want them to have, remove them from the oven and let them cool down. A good opportunity to go for a short walk with the dog.

When you are back (that is, if you have a dog). You can sprinkle the cookies with vanilla sugar.

And remember: Don't eat this cookies and drive! That is if you eat all the cookies on your own in one go. Whatsoever, I don't know anyone who would do this, do I?

Finally, if you try them, let me know whether you like them or if they should be any different!

This and that

It is definitely spring. This is what the calender says anyway. However, the full action is still delaying. The temperatures are not what I would like them to be. Here and there you see things sprouting, but it could be more.

Still, the sun is coming out from time to time. Then, of course, it's a good opportunity to have a quick lie down to catch some warming rays.
Go for it while it still lasts. You never know when it comes back.
Inspecting the garden there are some suspicious looking plants living, although they don't always appear to be.

The sage really doesn't look to promising, but when you take a real close look you may find those small leaves that are hiding somewhere.

For the oregano (left edge of the picture) things seem better. Next to it the mint looks totally dead. This, though, is no reason for the mint to come up somewhere else. It seems the supply for mint is secured.
Coming to the kitchen, what happened this weekend?

I changed a recipe I tried last week. Cardamom twists then and now cinnamon-peanut butter now. Simply replaced the cardamom with cinnamon and the filling with peanut butter. They were gone all so quickly!
Why with peanut butter? Well, I tried another recipe. Although I didn't use this peanut butter for the recipe above, it made me use peanut butter. The chocolate one I reserve for my breakfast.

Then I wanted to do some bread baking and had a go at French baguettes again.

The result was only average. Well, I wasn't too satisfied. They were edible, but lacking the special extra.
Finally the neighbours were doing some fish smoking and brought one smoked trout for tasting. Very kind! I didn't want to simply eat it as it was, so I went looking for a recipe again. I ended up with this: Baby Yorkshire Puds with creamy smoked trout.

The Yorkshire puddings are not quite baby and not quite normal looking as well. The taste was right. That's enough with testing for this week. The week is almost gone anyway. Do I get a drink somewhere?