Speculoos Cheesecake Muffins

 ☆~Cheesecake Mania - christmas special~☆

My nephew's birthday was the reason why my mom made me bake all weekend, and the delicious speculoos paste I'm having on my bread every morning incited me to go for some christmas flavoured baking session (even though it's still a little early). And these small speculoos cheesecake muffins are the result! Sweet and sour - such a good combination. I am sure there are many different recipes on the internet, but when it comes to cheesecake, I will ALWAYS and without exception, stick to my family recipe, simply because it is the BEST cheesecake I have ever eaten (and I've tried quite a few)! The secret is NOT to use cream cheese, but light curd and sour cream instead, to use a little lemon juice, and the RIGHT vanilla pudding powder (some have a bad off-taste), NO butter and little sugar. The speculoos crust only consists of ground speculoos cookies and melted butter, pressed into a baking mould. I recommend the speculoos cookies from LOTUS (see picture beneath) since they have the original taste (sometimes I stumble upon almond cookies called speculoos in the supermarket, but that's something completely different, so don't be fooled!)

Ah, I love cheesecake~
I still have to try out the pumpkin and matcha cheesecake! And gingerbread cheesecake sounds great too. Well then, they might be coming up soon.

~Vail~

Maple Walnut Rolls

Ok, I admit, telling my mom that I only want to get rid of the yeast that was still in our fridge seems like a lie when you look at these delightful treats, but I didn't have them in mind from the start. I found the recipe for these soft rolls HERE (sorry in German only, and I am lazy to translate the recipe)
The only alteration I made was to leave out the cinnamon, as I felt that it would ruin the whole maple-walnut taste, and dabbed the still hot rolls with a little more maple syrup to make them sweeter.

As soon as I opened the oven, the whole house started smelling like yeast-risen pastry....delicious!
These rolls are best when they're still warm inside, and this is the autumn version of the wintery cinnamon rolls.

Here some pictures of the process: (from left to right and from top to bottom)

1. Maple syrup covered chopped walnuts
2. How to arrange the filling
3. Roll this thing...
4. ...and cut it into pieces
5. Leave some space on the baking tray between each roll...
6. ...because they will grow while baking, as you can see
7. Cooling down a little
8. Close up.

Enjoy!

~Vail~

Gyouza

I had a friend coming over for lunch today, and I had planned to make japanese fried gyouza, starting from scratch. I found a recipe for the dough, so I didn't have to bother to actually get my lazy ass up and move it to the asia store ;)
This actually is quite time-consuming, so if you're in a hurry, you better buy the gyouza pastry. If you feel like spending a whole morning in the kitchen, this is the right recipe for you!

I found the recipe for the pastry here

I doubled the recipe as I planned to make a bigger amount and put the other half into the freezer.

You need: (about 60-65 pieces)

* 500g flour
* 200ml water
* 10 drops of Kansui (I didn't have Kansui at home, so I replaced it with 1 tsp baking soda dissolved in a little bit of water)
* 2 eggs
* 1tsp salt

With a whisk, beat the eggs with 100ml of water and Kansui. Add the salt. Pour it into a bowl with the flour and knead, while adding the rest of the water . Knead well until you get a nice dough. Cover it and let it rest for 1/2 hour.

Roll it out, take a drinking glass (∅8cm) and prick out the circles from the dough until nothing is left. (picture top left)

For the filling, you need:

* 200g white cabbage
* 2 carrots
* 1 tbsp japanese pickled ginger
* 400g pork mince
* soy sauce
* salt

Shred the cabbage and the carrots (works fine with a food processor). Heat some oil in a pan and fry the vegetables for a few minutes, reduce heat a little and cover it. Let it rest until soft, then add the ginger. Season with soy sauce.

Once it's ready, put it away and let it cool down. Salt the mince, then mix well with the vegetables. Now comes the hard work: take 1 tsp of the filling and put it in the middle of your small circle, brush some water along the edges and fold the sides up. Press together and make small foldings. Repeat this step with every circle until you're done.

In a pan, heat some oil and fry one side of the gyouza until brown, then add 50 ml of water. Cover the pan quickly and wait until the water has evaporated. In another step, add some more oil and fry the steamed gyouza on both sides so that they become brown and crispy. Serve hot with raw cabbage and soy sauce. Enjoy!

Vail's Note: This was my first time ever trying to make gyouza, and even though the recipe is not authentic, they tasted nice. I renounced garlic, or whatever it is they put inside *laughs* but you can basically fill these small turnovers with everything you like. Also, for the dip, I dissolved a bit of dashi in hot water and added soy sauce as well as 3 drops of sesame oil. The cabbage is optional too. I just prefer to always have some vegetable side dishes ;)

~Vail~

Whiting In Parmesan Coat And Pesto Sauce

Admittedly, I never liked spaghetti with pesto sauce, but when I tried pesto chicken, I just couldn't get enough of the creamy rich sauce, and wondered if it would suit fish as well. Here is the result: it tasted great!





What you need: (1 serving)

* 1 whiting fillet
* flour
* 1 egg
* breadcrumbs
* 2 handfuls of grated parmesan
* salt&pepper
* 2 tbsps olive oil
* 1 handful of fresh basil
* optional: pine nuts
* 1-2 tbsps light cream

In a plate, mix the breadcrumbs with 1 handful of grated parmesan, in another, beat the egg. Remove the fishbones from the fillet (if there are any), season with salt and pepper, coat it first with flour, then egg and finally the breadcrumb-cheese mixture.

For the pesto sauce, mix the washed basil leaves, the rest of the grated parmesan, the olive oil, the pine nuts (as much as you like) and the cream with a blender shaft,, then season with salt and pepper.

Heat some oil in a pan and fry the fillet on both sides until crispy. Take it out and keep it warm. Remove the oil from the pan and add the pesto. Stir well and reduce heat quickly. Serve hot and enjoy. :)

~Vail~

I Wanna Noyu?

I recently stumbled upon this brand in my local supermarket. Noyu. They have several different flavours, but the one that caught my eye the most was this unsweetened, pure green tea. Everytime I visited Japan, I would buy my favourite bottled o-cha, which, unfortunately, isn't sold anywhere here. (They do have it in Düsseldorf but it's a little far from here)

When it comes to green tea, I am quite very picky, and usually I only drink Japanese green tea but still I wanted to give this brand a chance. The tea leaves they use for this tea are grown in Taiwan, and of course I can taste the difference, but it's still quite nice and refreshing, especially if you drink it really cold.

Check their homepage for more information: http://www.noyuteas.com/

~Vail~

Mad Tea Party

Ever since someone told me about pumpkin tea, I became thrilled to make my own tea blend. The tea used for the original blend was black tea, but I opted for rooibos, cause it is less strong and can be enjoyed even before sleep.

I chopped pumpkin, dried the slices in the oven, added spices, made a cup of tea...and was disappointed how faint the taste was. So I added much more tea and spices...I do know why tea blends always smell stronger than they taste ;)

After having tried the pumpkin tea, I really felt like creating other personal blends as well, so I dried apples and peeled oranges, mixed tea with different spices.

Maybe I should apply for a patent. Vail's Original Tea Blends. No artificial flavours!

In this sense, have a nice, cosy evening with your favourite tea blend!

~Vail~

Miso Ramen Vail Style

How I have been craving a nice bowl of good ramen! But good ramen restaurants seem rare here and I couldn't find a good opportunity to go, so I decided to give it a try and cook it myself. I have read about how making good ramen is a real craft, but still I wouldn't let myself be discouraged by all I have read. Since I am not a big fan of チャーシュー (grilled pork meat), I decided to replace it with a nice piece of fried salmon, season the stock with miso and even toasted the nori. All in all, I can say that I really had a nice lunch, but I agree that making good ramen really is a craft that needs some skill. :)

~Vail~

Pumpkin Quiche

Autumn is on its way and with it comes the craving for pumpkin again! Apart from the traditional pumpkin soup, this quiche is one of the pumpkin dishes I really enjoy making and eating the most, so here comes the recipe:







What you need:

for the short pastry:

* 250g flour
* 130g butter or margarine
* 1 egg
* 3 tbsp milk
* salt

Prepare the short pastry (add salt, cold butter, egg and milk [in the same order] to the flour and knead well) and wrap it up in cling film. Put it into the fridge for at least 30 minutes, then roll it and prepare the baking pan.

for the topping:

* 700g pumpkin
* 200g tomatoes
* parsley
* salt, pepper, ground chili
* creamy goat cheese
* 200ml milk
* 3 eggs
* 100 ml cream

Preheat oven to 200°C. Chop the pumpkin into dices and heat a bit of olive oil in a frying pan. Fry the dices until soft, and season with salt, pepper and ground chili. Dice the tomatoes and removed the insides. Beat the eggs with a whisk and add the milk and the cream, as well as some salt and pepper. Arrange the pumpkin, the tomatoes, the chopped parsley and the goat cheese on the dough.
Pour the egg-milk-cream mixture over the tart and bake it for 30 minutes.

Enjoy!
~Vail~

Salmon Soup With Shrimp

During my stay in Helsinki, I was told to try salmon soup, and it was really delicious. Now, a few years later, I really wanted to give it a try myself. I found several recipes on the internet, but none seemed to be what I was looking for. I decided to simply do my own creation. So here it is: the recipe for Vail's salmon soup with shrimp.



What you need: (about 4 servings)

* 3 big potatoes (about 500g)
* 250g salmon
* 150g cocktail shrimp
* vegetable stock
* salt, pepper
* dill
* white wine
* light cream
* oil

Peel and dice the potatoes and put them in a pot. Add water and vegetable stock until the potatoes are covered, then let it boil for a little while. Reduce heat and let it simmer until the potatoes are soft. Dice the salmon and cut the shrimp in two, or, if they're small, leave them the way they are. Add half of the fish and the shrimp to the soup and let it simmer for another ten minutes. Heat some oil in a frying pan and fry the other half of the salmon and shrimp. Season with salt and pepper.
Use a blender to create a smooth texture, add water if necessary, a dash of white wine and cream, and season with salt, pepper and dill. Serve with the fried fish & shrimp.

Enjoy~

Vail

Making Seitan

I used to be a vegetarian for 5 years, and during that time I consumed quite a lot of tofu. The range of vegetarian products, however, was still a bit limited, and tofu was the only "meat substitute" that I knew. I put the word between quotation marks, because I do not really regard tofu as a substitute, rather as a wonderful product that does not merit the pejorative undertone of substitute. Anyway, nowadays there is a much wider range on the market, and you can get all kinds of preparations on the base of quorn, seitan, lupin or even milk! Most of them are healthy and low on fat, but high on proteins.

After having read that seitan can be easily made, I decided to give it a try myself and bought a whole package of wheat flour to get started. There are several tutorials on the internet, and I will give you mine as well. You have to put a little work and it needs time, but it's fairly easy and cheap!

You need:
- 1kg wheat flour
- water
- 1 carrot
- vegetable stock
- 1 tbsp miso (optional)
- soy sauce
- pepper

Pour the flour in a bowl and add as much water as you need to knead a firm dough. Add warm water and cover the bowl with a towel. Let it rest for 1/2 hour.

In the meanwhile, pour 1-2L of water into a cooking pot, add vegetable stock, miso, soy sauce, pepper and the carrot cut into thick slices. It should be quite salty. You can add other spices if you like.

After 1/2 hour, knead the dough shortly under the water, and pour off the white liquid. This time, add cold water, knead, pour it off. You have to repeat that step until the water is no longer white, but clear. Make sure to alternate between cold and warm water. The last step should be done with cold water. You will notice that, while you wash out the starch, the dough will change. When the texture is chewy, it is ready.

Turn on the heater and wait till the brew is boiling. I suggest you cut the dough into slices or cubes, or whatever shape you want to have, because they will absorb the stock better. Reduce heat just a little and cook the seitan for 45 minutes.

You can season or marinate the seitan with other spices or soy sauce, depending on the dish you want to create, before frying or baking it.

Good luck and enjoy!

~Vail~

Cheesecake From The Orient

I found a recipe for an oriental cheesecake that caught my attention because it sounded so irresistible that I had to give it a try.

You can find the link for the original recipe here:
http://www.kuechengoetter.de/rezepte/Kuchen/Orientalischer-Kaesekuchen-2573.html

As usual, I made some alterations and baked it without a base. This is also the light version but the taste is very exciting. Dried, yet soft apricots, figs and raisins inside a creamy yet firm sour cream and quark mixture, flavoured with rum and grand marnier, cinnamon, vanilla and cardamom. I love it and would do it again. :)

Earth Almond Pancakes With Cinnamon Apples

I took the recipe for these low carb pancakes from this site: http://soulfoodlowcarberia.blogspot.com/2011/12/pfannkuchen.html

Instead of regular almond flour, I took earth almond flour, which is the reason why they are slightly darker.

What you need (for 2 pancakes) :
- 50 ml milk
- 1 egg
- 10g butter or margarine
- 30g (earth) almond flour
- 1/3 tsp wheat flour

Prepare the batter. With a whisk, beat the egg and the milk. Melt the butter and add it to this mixture. Include the flour until dough has thickened. Let it rest.
Peel and slice the apples. Heat some butter in a frying pan and add the apples. Fry them, add cinnamon and reduce heat. Cover the pan and wait until they're soft. Keep them warm.
In another pan, heat a little butter or oil and bake the pancakes from both sides.

Serve hot with the apples and enjoy.

~Vail~

Low Carb Pizza

Last night I was craving Pizza but since I am still living on low carb products, I googled to find a recipe for a dough that I could make without using much flour. And here it is! Found here: http://blogblume.de/low-carb-pizza-ohne-mehl/

I was kinda surprised that it is possible to make a pizza dough with only tuna, egg and little flour but here it comes.



1. This is the "dough" before being baked. For 1 serving, you need:
- a small can of tuna (NOT in oil)
- 1 medium egg
- 1-2 tbsp. of soy flour
- salt
- pizza seasoning if you like
Get the tuna as dry as you can and stir it with a fork until you get a smooth texture. Add the egg, the salt and the pizza seasoning, and finally the soy flour. When you feel you are happy with the result, put the mixture on a baking tray (simply toss it onto some baking paper) and press it flat with the palm of your hand. There shouldn't be any holes and make sure the dough is not thicker than 3-4mm.

2. Put in the preheated oven (180°C) and bake about 20 minutes or until the dough is no longer wet.

3. Add the toppings but make sure not to use ingredients that contain too much water, or else your dough will be wet and not crispy. Bake for about 7-10 minutes.

4. Your pizza is ready when the cheese is melted and the dough crispy.

Enjoy!

PS: Surprisingly, the dough didn't taste like tuna anymore, once it was baked. Of course, it's not a real substitute for pizza, but it will satisfy your craving enough.

Low Carb Spaghetti Bolognese [Vegetarian]

I admit, the picture isn't the best but the taste of this vegetarian, low carb and low calorie version of spaghetti bolognese really persuaded me! Since I have started eating low carb food and am currently renouncing meat and fish, I have to be creative when it comes to cooking! It is quite a challenge, but at the same time, it is probably the biggest motivation that I have, to keep this up.

I replaced the pasta with zucchini, cut into the shape of linguine. With the right tools, this can be done in a couple of minutes [and probably avoids cuts and other small injuries]. Simply toss the zucchini noodles in a pan with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper. They only take a few minutes to be ready so be sure to prepare the sauce first.

I made a regular tomato sauce and added quorn mince (it is a vegan product!) or alternatively tofu mince. Cheese on top makes it almost taste like real spaghetti bolognese (;
If you're vegan, just leave out the cheese!

~Vail~

Matcha Birthday Cake

I am a huge fan of japanese Matcha tea and the hero of the Legend of Zelda: Link. That's why I decided to combine the two in a creamy cake - matching even in colour!

The cake basically consists of two layers of pound matcha cake and a matcha flavoured whipped cream. In order to decorate my creamy cake with Link, I printed the picture on paper and protected it with plastic foil wrap. Marzipan provides the basis for the picture and with the leftovers I decided to form small orbs.

It was delicious!

~Vail~

Beef Goulash Moroccan Style

I'm not a big goulash lover but I had this moroccan dish in mind and needed beef. Filet is pretty expensive though so I decided to buy goulash, since moroccan meat dishes are generally cooked for 1-several hours. I didn't use any recipe for this, it's rather a work of improvisation but it turned out quite nice.
It was also my first time ever making goulash!

Anyway, on to the recipe (2 people):

* 250-300g beef goulash
* 1 can of chickpeas
* 1-2 red or yellow peppers
* +/- 300ml water
* 500ml beef stock
* cumin, cinnamon, salt, baharat
* 3 tbsp tomato purée
* 1 tbsp low-fat or normal cream

Heat a bit of oil in a wok or pan (I don't own a tajine therefore I cooked it in a wok), wait until hot and stir-fry the meat shortly from each side, seasoning it with salt, cumin, a bit of cinnamon and baharat. Add the beef stock, 1 tsbp of tomato purée and cover the wok or pan. Reduce heat. The meat needs to simmer (not boil!) for about 2 hours, but make sure there's always enough liquid. Pour the rest of the water in, when there's not enough liquid. It has to cover the meat completely. After 1 1/2 hours, chop the pepper and add it to the meat. Check from time to time if it's soft. As soon as the meat is soft, add the rest of the tomato purée and season a little more, until you think it tastes spicy enough. Add the chickpeas, the cream and wait until it's hot enough to be served. If the sauce is too thin, you can add sauce thickener. Serve hot with couscous and enjoy!

~Vail~

Mince Strudel

The idea for this dish came from this site. I thought it'd taste wonderful and so I gave it a try. As usual, I made a few changes, except for the dough.The quality of the picture is quite lame, since I forgot my camera at home and only had my phone at hand.
So here is how it works.

 Dough:

* 250g flour
* 1/2 package of dry yeast
* 1 1/2 tbsp soft butter
* 1 egg
* salt
* 125gr low-fat yoghurt

Put the flour and the yeast in a bowl, add the soft (but not melted) butter and mix with a fork. Add the egg, the salt and the yoghurt and knead until you obtain a nice and firm dough. Cover the bowl and let it rest for about 1/2 hour.

Filling:

* 250gr beef mince
* 1 red pepper
* cumin
* salt, pepper
* baharat
* tomato purée
* red wine
* ground cheese

Heat a pan with a bit of oil and fry the meat. Season with salt, pepper, cumin and, if you like, baharat. Add 1-2 tbsp of tomato purée, a shot of red wine and the cooked red pepper in dices. Reduce heat and wait until the liquid has reduced.  Add the cheese and take away from heat.

Preheat oven to 180°C. Split the dough in half and roll it out. Put the filling onto the dough and roll it up. Do the same with the second half of the dough. Pierce the surface several times with a fork, then bake in the oven for about 20-30 minutes, until the dough is crispy.

Serve with hot tomato sauce and enjoy!

~Vail~

Moroccan Apricot Chicken With Couscous

The first recipe in the new year - I'm so lame. *laughs* Ever since I saw this recipe in a book, I knew I had to try it out. And believe me, this Moroccan dish was worth the impatient waiting.

As usual, I changed the recipe a little (seems like I really can't cook anything the way it's described in recipes).

You need:

* 2 chicken breasts
* about 10 dried apricots
* 2-3 oranges
* 1 tsp honey
* 2 tbsp ground almonds
* cinnamon, cumin, salt, pepper
* 1 cup of water
* 1/2 cup of couscous

Cut the apricots in half. Squeeze the oranges and let the apricots soak in the juice.
Dice the chicken breasts and stir-fry the meat in a pan with a bit of oil. Season with salt and pepper.
Add the juice, the apricots and 1/2 cup water, and season with cinnamon and cumin. Stir the honey and the ground almonds and reduce heat. Cover the pan until sauce has reduced and thickened.
In another pan (it should be coated), heat 1/2 cup of water with salt until boiling, then add the couscous. Reduce heat and wait until the couscous has absorbed the liquid. Loosen up the grains with a fork but don't scratch the pan ;) Add some butter and let it fry a little more.

When everything's ready, serve hot and enjoy. :)

PS: While eating, I thought that adding raisins would be very nice too! I also added a few fried sesame grains, as you can see in the picture, but I actually prefer the dish without them.