The Good Cook

Pita Bread.

Ingredients:

1 tsp dry yeast
1/2 tsp caster sugar
1/2 tsp salt
140 ml water, lukewarm

Directions:

1. Dissolve yeast and sugar in lukewarm water and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
2. Mix flour and salt in a large bowl.
3. Add yeast and water to flour and knead for about 8 minutes (KitchenAid, Dough hook, Level 2).
4. Cover bowl with dry cotton cloth and let rest for about 1 hour.
5. On a flour surface, knead dough for about 1 minute and divide into 8 pieces.
6. Form dough into balls, then flatten with a rolling pin into 0.5 cm thick discs. Try and keep an even thickness as this is what helps them puff.
7. Bring a pan to medium heat and add one dough disk at a time. Cover with lid and cook for 2 minutes from each side. The lid on the pan traps the steam and helps them puff up.Tip: Wipe out the pan after making each pita, as the flour tends to burn.

Pasteis de Nata.

Ingredients:

200 g puff pastry, frozen
250 ml milk
125 g caster sugar
15 g cornflour
1 pinch of salt
1 tsp butter
1 egg
2 egg yolk
1/2 vanilla pod
1 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

1. Defrost puff pastry and roll out to a 25 x 35 cm rectangle. Starting with the shorter side, roll up the pastry. Chill it in freezer until it becomes firm, but not frozen (about 20 minutes).
2. Cut dough roll in 12 equally thick slices. Form them into little cups with your hand and make them fit in a lightly greased muffin tray.
3. Preheat oven to 225°C.
4. In a small bowl combine sugar, salt and cornflour.
5. Split vanilla pod lenghtways and scrape out seeds.
6. Heat up milk, vanilla pod and seeds and butter in a pot. Remove vanilla pod when boiling, add sugar mixture and stir well. Bring to a boil again for a short moment until it thickens and set aside to cool for at least 10 minutes.
7. Add egg and egg yolks and whisk well.
8. Fill the mixture into the pastry shells – half-full is enough.
9. Bake for 10 – 12 minutes. The pastries should become quite dark on top with ‘black dots’, which is typical for Pasteis de Nata.
10. Dust pastries with cinnamon for serving.

There is this lovely restaurant in Hamburg, Ottensen – the neighbourhood we used to live in. It’s called Eisenstein and has the most amazing Pizza.

Ingredients:

Pizza dough for 2 pizzas
300 g crushed tomatoes
2 tbsps rosemary, fresh
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
10 cherry tomatoes
150 g prosciutto
150 g goat cheese
1 tsp honey

Directions:

1. Chop rosemary and mix with crushed tomatoes, salt and pepper. Spread on pizza.
2. Cut cherry tomatoes in halves, cut prosciutto in pieces and slice goat cheese. Spread over pizza.
3. Sprinkle with remaining rosemary and honey.
4. Bake at 250°C for 10 minutes.

Ingredients:

250 g chicken breast filet
1 tsp canola oil
250 ml coconut milk
2 tsps curry powder, mild
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 red onion
1 clove of garlic
75 ml water
250 g cauliflower
200 g green beans

Directions:

1. Dice chicken breast filet and red onion. Finely chop garlic. Cut cauliflower into tiny florets and cut green beans into 3 cm segments.
2. Heat canola oil in a large saucepan or wok and stir fry chicken breast for about 4 – 5 minutes. Set aside and wipe out the saucepan or wok.
3. In the same saucepan or wok bring half the coconut milk to simmer. Whisk in curry powder and salt, working out any lumps.
4. Stir in red onion and garlic and cook for 1 minute.
5. Stir in remaining coconut milk and water and add cauliflower and green beans.
6. Cover and simmer for about 2 minutes.
7. Add chicken breast filet and cook for another minute.
8. Serve with rice or pita bread.

Ingredients:

250 g pasta
300 g cherry tomatoes
1 clove of garlic
1/2 red onion
1 bunch of oregano, fresh
1 tbsp olive oil
30 g baby spinach
100 g ricotta
30 g parmesan
Sea salt
Black pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 180°C.
1. Thinly slice garlic, red onion and oregano.
2. In a medium bowl combine tomatoes, garlic, red onion, oregano and olive oil. Place on a baking tray and roast for 20 minutes or until wilted.
3. Cook your pasta in a large pot of well-salted water. Drain and toss with the tomato mixture, spinach and half the ricotta.
4. Divide among serving bowls and top with remaining ricotta, grated parmesan and some sea salt and black pepper.

Cinnamon Espresso Cake.

Ingredients:

280 g caster sugar + 2 tbsp caster sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon + 2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp espresso powder
220 g high-grade flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 pinch of salt
180 ml cream
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
125 g butter
90 g mini chocolate chips
30 g icing sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease and line a 23 cm cake tin with baking paper.
2. Melt butter on a low heat and allow to cool.
3. In a small bowl mix 2 tbsp caster sugar, 2 tsp cinnamon and 2 tsp espresso powder. Set aside.
4. Sift flour, remaining caster sugar and cinnamonm, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.
5. In a medium bowl whisk cream, eggs and vanilla extract.
6. Pour the wet mixture over the flour mixture and gently whisk until almost combined.
7. Add the melted butter and mix just until the butter is absorbed.
8. Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly.
9. Sprinkle the mini chocolate chips over the batter and then top with the cinnamon espresso sugar mixture.
10. Top with the remaining batter, spreading it evenly and slowly.
11. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 – 45 minutes. Stand in tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a rack to cool.
12. Dust with icing sugar.

Ginger Teriyaki Beef

After we arrived in New Zealand, we ate so much beef that I am sure at least 5 cows had to die. Each. Within 6 month. Just kidding… But seriously. We went from hardly ever eating red meat (except in Spaghetti Bolognese) to ‘What’s for dinner? Beef, of course.’ within a week.

It just tasted so different to what we were used to. And was incredibly delicious. There was nothing better than a good steak from the BBQ.

Well, red meat is not quite what is good for you. It is not bad either. But eating it every day was certainly not recommended in my little nutrition bible.

So we have reduced the amount of cows we eat dramatically. And unintentionally Sunday has become our Beef Day. Last week I made this delicious ginger teriyaki beef with rice – yum. I would like to share it with you. Try it. I am sure you will love it.

Goat Cheese and Lemon Pasta.

Ingredients:

250 g pasta
200 g snow peas
100 g cherry tomatoes
200 g goat cheese, soft
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp lemon zest
1 tsp tarragon, dried
Sea salt
Black pepper

Directions:

1. Wash the snow peas and tomatoes. Depending on their size cut them in half or quarters.
2. Cook your pasta in a large pot of well-salted water until it is almost tender. Add the snow peas and cook another two minutes. Drain both pasta and snow peas together.
3. In the meantime, mix olive oil, lemon juice, lemo zest, tarragon and goat cheese in a large bowl. Crumble the goat cheese as you put it in.
4. Add the hot pasta to the bowl and toss until smoothly combined. Add some water if necessary.
Season with salt and pepper.

Roasted Ricotta Tomatoes.

Ingredients:

6 medium tomatoes
12 tsp ricotta (one tsp for each tomato half)
1 bunch of basil, fresh
1 bunch of parsley, fresh
1 clove of garlic
Salt
Black pepper
2 tbsp breadcrumbs

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 120°C.
2. Cut the tomatoes in half lenghtways and scoop out the insides.
3. Sprinkle the tomatoes with some salt and place them face down and a clean towel. That will help pulling some of the moisture out of the tomatoes.
4. Chop basil, parsley and garlic finely.
5. In a medium bowl, mix ricotta, basil and parsley thoroughly and season with salt and pepper.
6. With a teaspoon fill the tomato halves with the ricotta mix.
7. Put the breadcrumbs on a plate and dip the ricotta filled tomatoes face down into the crumbs.
8. Place them on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes until golden brown. Serve with paprika potatoes and green lettuce.

Paprika Potatoes.

Ingredients:

8 medium potatoes
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp ground paprika
1 tsp parsley, dried
Salt
Black Pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
2. Peel and quarter the potatoes.
3. In a bowl mix olive oil, paprika poweder and dried parsley.
4. Add potatoes and mix well so they are evenly coated. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Place them on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Serve with roasted ricotta tomatoes and green lettuce.