...because some recipes aren't worth to be tried out...

New creations do not always taste as good as you expected but wouldn't it be boring to leave out the failures? Anyway, this was a recipe that I found in some book or cooking magazine and was called "spicy mustard sauce". Reading that the ingredients varied from cream cheese to mustard, sherry and dill, I thought that it sounded exciting and was more than willing to try. However, the sauce wasn't spicy at all - even though I used Dijon mustard and it was too sour for my liking. It wasn't a complete failure as it was still edible nevertheless (though I should put down some memo next to the recipe to remind me that I don't need to try this again). The plate looks a little empty as well, but I suck at decorating plates so I thought it'd be better to leave out the vegetables.

I want salad again. ;O;

~Vail~

Chicken With Creamy Peach And Hazelnut-Cheese-Crust

Meat and fruits - a perfect combination in my opinion. I love experimenting with apples a lot, but today's recipe combines sweet peaches with chicken, cream and a nice crust.




What you need:

* 2 chicken breasts
* 250g unsweetened canned peaches
* 20g ground hazelnut
* 20g breadcrumbs
* 2 handfuls of grated cheese
* 1 tbsp crème frâiche
* 2 tbsp cream
* salt, pepper, curry powder

Heat some rapeseed oil in a frying pan and sear the chicken breasts on both sides. Season with salt, pepper and curry powder. Grease a baking pan and put in the chicken breasts. In a bowl, blend the crème frâiche and the cream and add a bit of curry powder. Cut the peaches into slices and lay them on top of the chicken. Pour the cream mixture over both. In another bowl, mix the ground hazelnuts, the breadcrumbs and the cheese and add it on top. Leave to bake in the oven for about 20-25 minutes on 200°C.
Enjoy!

~Vail~

Chicken Breast Salad

Salad again - I just couldn't resist. Lately I'm craving salad so much, even though I've never been a salad-lover. However, I'm a big fan of fresh and light food!

Today's salad consists of fresh green salad, fried red pepper, pear and fried chicken breasts with a yoghurt dressing.

Wash the salad, slice the pepper and fry the slices in a bit of olive oil. Season with black pepper, salt and origan.
Remove the insides of the pear and cut it into dices. Fry the chicken breast in rapeseed oil, season it and add it to the salad.

For the dressing, mix 150g of low-fat yoghurt with 1 tsp of mustard, salt, pepper, herbs and 1 tsp of olive oil.

Enjoy!

~Vail~

Salmon With Miso Sauce

Yay~ It's japanese food again! I discovered this dish in an Izakaya in Shinjuku and ever since I tried it I desperately wanted to know how it is made. An Izakaya is a kind of restaurant that's really popular in Japan. Usually you go there with a group of people and order several dishes from the menu card which are shared, so that everyone can try everything. The servings are rather small but, depending on the restaurant, they usually are rather inexpensive too. Personally, I love Izakayas because they are cosier than normal restaurants, they can be found almost everywhere, and you are not limited to one single dish.

Well, anyway, once I got back home from Japan, I googled for the recipe and found a few versions, but they all had one thing in common: the miso coat. So I tried to coat the salmon with the miso paste, then fried it carefully in a pan, but unfortunately the paste turned into something like charcoal and fell off. Disappointed by this experience, I wasn't eager to try again - until I made miso soup. And that's when I suddenly knew how to cook this delicious japanese meal.

What you need:

* 300g fresh salmon
* 3 tsp miso paste
* 2 tbsp soy sauce
* 2 tbsp mirin
* a bit of rapeseed oil

Heat the oil in a frying pan and put in the salmon.
In a small bowl, dissolve the miso paste with 3 tbsp of hot water. Add the soy sauce and the mirin.
After the salmon is ready, take it out of the pan and keep it warm. Remove the remains of the oil (if there are any) and pour in the miso sauce. Heat it shortly, then serve the fish with the sauce. Red or orange pepper (or for instance chinese cabbage) and japanese rice are best as side dishes.
This recipe provides about 2-3 servings.
Enjoy!

~Vail~

Vegetable Couscous With Goat Cheese

While I was with my friend at the health food store yesterday, I found a spice blend that caught my attention: Arabian spice. Needless to say that I didn't leave with empty pockets. It is a combination of nutmeg, black pepper, coriander, cumin, clove, cinnamon, cardamom, paprika and chili and they call it Baharat.
Today's recipe is a low-fat and easy dish if you feel like having something simple, yet tasty that doesn't take much time.

I used eggplant and zucchini which I diced, then fried in a bit of olive oil until they were soft. Added salt, pepper and baharat, then put a cover onto the pan and put it away. In another pan, I prepared the couscous, added a tiny bit of olive oil, salt, baharat and origan. Add the vegetables to the couscous and serve with creamy goat cheese.

Enjoy!

~Vail~

Cinnamon Apple Pear Crumble

Ho~ It's time for a (heart-)warming experience. This dessert is a wonderful treat when you get home after a rainy October day, change into comfortable clothes and light a candle.

The idea for this came to me while I was browsing through a baking site and found this.
But tonight I didn't feel like following a recipe (...or rather, do I ever really follow instructions while cooking? I guess the answer would clearly be NO) Therefore I simply grabbed a few things from my fridge and cupboard and got started.

So, what about the result? Well, read more...

What you need:

* 2 sour apples (Boskoop)
* 1 pear
* butter
* cinnamon
* 1 tsp honey
* 100ml cream (if you like, take the low-fat substitute, it works fine)
* 2-3 tsbp flour
* 2 tbsp sugar
* 2 tbsp oat flakes
* walnuts

Peel, core and slice the pear and the apples. Heat a bit of butter in a frying pan, then add the slices and season with cinnamon. Fry until they have soften a bit. (about 5 minutes)
Preheat oven to 180°C.
Transfer the fruits into a baking pan.
In the same frying pan, pour the cream and add the honey and more cinnamon. Wait until honey and cinnamon have dissolved, then pour the mixture over the apples and pear.
In a bowl, mix the flour, sugar and oat flakes with about 1 tbsp of soft (but not melted!) butter until its crumbly. Add the topping to the fruits. Chop a few walnuts, and put them on top.
Bake it in the oven for about 30 minutes and serve hot.
About 3-4 servings.

Enjoy!

~Vail~

Salad With Haddock And Apricot Mustard Dressing

Salad is boring. That's what, apparently, many people think, so they despise the green sumptuousness. Oh, but they are so wrong! Salad can be everything but boring; it's what you make out of it.

I've been craving fish and salad for a while now, so I thought "why not put both together?" And as you can see, it works perfectly fine. The biggest challenge was the dressing, though, my weakness, I admit. However, this dressing turned out to be the best I've ever tasted so far and that makes me proud, for sure. Now, on to the recipe.

What you need:

* 200g haddock
* 1 sour apple (Boskoop)
* 1 red pepper
* 200g saladmix
* 2 figs
* bread (optional)
* vegetable stock
* 3 tsp honey
* 2 tsp apricot jam
* 1 tbsp mustard
* 3 tbsp olive oil
* 2 tbsp balsamico vinegar
* salt, black pepper, paprika, oregan
* flour

Even though this is "only" a salad, the preparation needs some time, so I rather not consider it as a "quick meal". Allow some little extra time.

Start with the pepper. Cut it into slices, then heat a bit of olive oil in a frying pan and add the pepper slices. Season with salt, pepper and oregan. Leave them in the pan until they've soften a bit.
Make sure the fish isn't too wet, then season it with salt and pepper and coat with a little flour.
Peel and slice the apples. Heat a little bit of butter in a small pot, then put in the apples. Season with paprika. (This is optional; if you don't have paprika at home, don't bother to buy some) Make sure they don't get burned, then take the slices out and keep 'em warm.
Put in a little bit of water and vegetable stock and heat it. Add the honey, apricot jam, olive oil, balsamico vinegar and the mustard and stir with a whisk. Reduce heat. Season with pepper.
Fry the fish in a little oil until golden on each side.
In the meanwhile, place the washed salad onto a plate, add the pepper, apples and figs. Serve with the hot fish and the dressing and enjoy the not-so-boring salad.

EDIT: I forgot to add that this is enough for 2 people. If you're a hungry person and have it as a full meal like me, I suggest you eat it all x) Or if you serve it as a starter, take half of it for 1 person.

~Vail~