Tag Archives: cream

Cauliflower, Brussels Sprouts and Bacon Gratin

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For the next 6 weeks fate has decided to give me a new challenge: learn to cook with one hand. How come? After a wonderful girlie weekend filled with fresh mountain air, snow, saunas, steambaths, delicious food, excellent company and a terrifying but harmless mass collision on skis, we decided to end the fun with a bang: sledding. Sounded like a great idea. Proved to be a great idea, however, only until two of us lost control, flung ourselves off the sled in an attempt to brake, as one has learnt to as a child. We successfully came to a grinding halt. Sadly, three of our bones were none too pleased with the speed of our stop. Where did the two junior doctors, who clearly don’t know how to sled, end up? Their favorite place: the ER. Diagnosis? Fractures, to be precise 3 of them, fairly divided between the two of us (mine being the fractured wrist). The best part: we got matching green casts! Needless to say, we sure did end our holiday with a bang and a great story. Also, note to self: never go sledding again.
Now, as for one-handed cooking – it’s really not that easy. I miss my left hand! But, never give up and accept the challenge. Here my first successful one-handed dish. Simple (even with one hand), heart warming and delicious.

Cauliflower, Brussels Sprout and Bacon Gratin

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Comfort Food Monday

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Monday seems to be the least appreciated day of the week, especially in late Autumn. On Monday morning it’s especially hard to motivate oneself to leave the toasty duvet cocoon one has been working on all night. Understandable, all that nightly effort gone to waste! The cold wet weather currently passing by is definitely nothing to be enjoyed outside – a front row seat from under the covers more than suffices.
UNLESS, like today, your alarm wakes you to a Winter Wonderland! YAYS, Winter has arrived! Getting up was so much easier and filled with excitement, mainly because my blind self had to stand right in front of the window to confirm that the white haze I saw upon awakening was actually snow and not some post-cocoon-hallucination. Snowman time! Fireplace time! Ice skating time! Turkey time! Also, warming comfort food time! Comfort food of the day – roasted sweet potato and carrot soup – a delicious alternative to the usual pumpkin. Let me know what you think.

Roasted Sweet Potato and Carrot Soup

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inspired by bbcgoodfood

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Raspberry Jelly with Lemon Mascarpone

Posted in Dessert by

What is your favorite childhood dessert? I’m sure you all have at least one fond sweet memory of either your mother’s or grandmother’s kitchen. There are many classic Swiss/German “children’s” desserts I (think) was deprived of in my childhood. Ok, that was phrased wrongly, as you know I was a fussy eater. My elders knew better than to serve me a bowl of something that would come right back their way.

Milchreis (rice pudding) was one of them, rote Grütze  (something like a red fruit jelly) the other. After a recent birthday party filled with childhood memories, I decided to see what I missed out on all these years and attempted the latter. Conclusion: Aside from the adult-tailored lemony addition (which is amazing, but not child-friendly), I’m pretty sure I would have liked it back then.

Raspberry “Jelly” with Lemon Mascarpone

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adapted from Wildeisen

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Strike 4 (For Nutella Lovers)

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It’s been far too long since I created something with the best (and yes, extremely unhealthy) ingredient: Nutella. My not so secret love affair. There are quite a few palm oil free “substitutes” around, but let’s be honest, none are as good as the original. When it comes to sweets, Italians know what they are doing.
With a trip to Italy in close vicinity, inspired by my Nutella recipe book, I thought I would attempt a twist on an Italian classic – Panna cotta. Funnily enough, I have never made Panna cotta before. One could tell. I knew it would be tricky. The consistency was more like pudding. Oops…… Nevertheless, it still passed as Nutella infused heaven and was an acceptable dessert for a girls’ games night. Regarding the games, it sadly didn’t give me a winning hand.

Nutella Pudding

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Bacon and Thyme Infused Filet of Pork – An Extragavant Meal to Start the Year

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How was everyone’s 2016? Glad for it to be over? Mine wasn’t too bad actually – I spent most of it travelling, finally had some successful dates (noone thought that would ever happen) and managed not to get fired during my probation period – how on earth will 2017 top that?? Positive thinking: as long as the new year starts with a delicious meal, some bacon, all the wine and good company, nothing can go wrong :-).

Luckily I’m not on call for new years eve and don’t have to spend it wearing a surgical mask to protect me from my Influenza patient cohort. That’s right, my ward has been transformed into an isolation ward with polymorbid patients who have sadly caught the flu. My, did I underestimate the seriousness of the flu until being exposed to it daily – these people are sick. Roche must be loving my hospital – we are probably the prime customer when it comes to their “Anti-Flu-Agent” Tamiflu. Not like it actually works as promised. But hey, at least we support the best industry of the first world…… should have bought some shares, damnit. Anyways – lesson learnt: as much as you hate getting jabs – the flu jab is worth it!

And if you are still fighting over what to cook tonight – try this. Quick, simple, impressive and tasty. Also, who are we kidding, bacon is always a winner.

Bacon and Thyme Infused Filet of Pork Dipped in a Creamy Tomato Sauce

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Happy Thanksgiving Y’all

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I hope most of you are lucky enough to dig into a turkey, some stuffing, some sprouts, some mash, a spiced cranberry sauce and most importantly, a slice of pumpkin pie. This will be my 2nd Thanksgiving stateside, actually my 2nd in Manhattan. Last years orphan event in Soho starring a 22 lbs turkey, prepared by Australians no less, will be hard to top, but I’m just as excited.
When I was little we used to always celebrate Thanksgiving in Switzerland thanks to an American family member. Sadly I can only vaguely remember the (extraordinary) extent of the buffet, but I’m told it was out of this world. And me being the difficult child I was didn’t eat any of it. WHAAAAT??? All the goodness I missed out on. Hard to believe with my current appetite and food obsession.

That being said, its high time to catch up on the culinary delights of this holiday, starting with the best part: pumpkin pie. Happy Thanksgiving!

Delicious Pumpkin Pie

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Smoked Salmon and Spinach Quiche

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Only 6 months until my favorite time of the year! Meanwhile, most boys favorite time of 2106 started yesterday with the European Football Championship in France. Did you watch the opening game? Are you as excited about it as I am? I even have a Swiss jersey ^^.

Ok, who am I kidding, I don’t think I will watch more than 2 games (despite being a retired middle school footballer). But, lucky for us girls, the season of men free evenings has officially started! Time to hang out, catch up on all the face mask – nailart – yoga – wine&dine – gossip evenings you’ve missed out on over the past two years. Now we are talking. Here is a simple, yet delicious, recipe for exactly one of those evenings. Let it bake while your paint your nails, drink some wine and relax.

Smoked Salmon and Spinach Quiche

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So, agreed, probably not the most beautiful quiche you have ever seen, but it was made with all the love

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