Spargelröllchen / Asparagus rolls

500 gm green asparagus, cleaned
OR
500 gm cooked asparagus from a tin

4 slices cooked ham
4 slices cheese (emmental or other, even processed cheese)
grated cheese, optional
Bechamel sauce, enough to partially cover the rolls


Boil green asparagus for a short time so that they remain green and firm OR drain the asparagus from the tin. Keep the water.

Make the bechamel sauce with butter, wheat flour, some of the water from the tin or from boiling the asparagus and half cup milk or cream.

Make 4 rolls by wrapping the asparagus first in the slices of cooked ham, then in the cheese slices.

Butter an oven-proof dish, pour a bit of the bechamel sauce into the dish, sprinkle some grated cheese on top of the sauce, then place the rolls evenly in the dish. Sprinkle the rest of the grated cheese on top of the rolls, pour the rest of the bechamel sauce over them. Bake at 170 deg. C. for 30 to 40 mins till the top is slightly browned.

Recipe good for two. Serve with plain rice.

Chicken drumsticks

Chicken drumsticks, slightly salted and rubbed with a teaspoon of tumeric
Oil for frying

Fry the drumsticks in hot oil till the juices are sealed in. Then either fry till they are done, or bake them in an oven at 200 deg. C for 20 to 30 mins till they are done.

Serve with rice, vegetable marsala and curry.
Also good for kiddy parties.

Sausage rolls

4 Wienerwuerstchen/Viennese sausages
1 sheet puff pastry (Blaetterteig) 30cm x 30cm, 3 to 5 mm thick

Cut pastry into 4 equally big squares. Wrap the sausages in them, bake in preheated oven at 200 deg. C. for about 20 to 30 mins till golden brown.

Picture shows rolls that have not been baked yet.

Easy peasy lemon squeezy!

Baked pandan chicken

Ingredients:
6 small chicken drumsticks, skins removed
6 small chicken thighs, skins removed
(about 1 kg altogether)

Grind the following in a bowl:
1 piece of ginger, about 5 cm, skinned
2 pips garlic, cleaned
8 shallots, skinned
1 chilli, deseeded

Then add the following to the ground mixture:
1/2 teaspoon tumeric
3 heaped tablespoons coconut milk powder or 200 ml very thick coconut milk
little salt

12 pandan leaves

Marinade the chicken with the ground mixture for half an hour.

Then wrap each piece of chicken in 1 pandan leaf. Oil an oven proof dish and place the pieces of pandan-wrapped chicken side-by-side in the dish. Pour the remaining marinade on top of the chicken pieces.

Alternatively, because it takes some skill to wrap the chicken in pandan leaves, just line the bottom and sides of the ovenproof dish with the pandan leaves. Place the chicken pieces on top of the leaves and place more pieces of leaves between the pieces of meat. Pour the remaining marinade over the chicken.

Bake at 175 deg.C for 1 hour, after which the chicken should be cooked and the marinade is a thick delicious gravy.

This goes well with white or brown rice.

Capsicum starter / Paprika Vorspeise

2 big red capsicums
12 fillets of anchovies (tinned)
1 400 gm tin whole tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, sliced
4 tablespoons olive oil

Clean capsicums and half them as in the picture, leaving the tip of the stalk. Remove the seeds. Arrange them in a bakeproof dish. Then fill each capsicum with a crushed tomato, 3 anchovy fillets, garlic slices and a tablespoon of olive oil.

Bake them for 45 mins to an hour at 175deg.C. OR zap them in the microwave for 10 mins, then bake them in the oven at 175 deg. C. for 10 to 20 mins.

Serve with a slice of bread

Nudelnsalat à la Metz / Pasta salad

Recipe for 4 hungry diners

300 gm dried pasta
8 Vienna sausages (Wienerwürstchen)
8 hard-boiled eggs, shelled
600 gm frozen green peas
1 tin whole kernel maize
8 to 12 sour gherkins (Sauregurken)
1 big onion, diced

2 tablespoons mayonnaise
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon vinegar
half cup marinade from the sour gherkins

Boil the pasta till done. Drain it well and place in a big mixing bowl.
Boil the sausages gently till hot, then cut into small round pieces of about 3 mm thick. Add to mixing bowl.
Dice the hard-boiled eggs. Add to mixing bowl.
Put the frozen peas into boiling water with a tablespoon salt added to it. Let the peas stay in the pot till the water boils again. Drain well, add to mixing bowl.
Drain the tin of maize. Add to mixing bowl.
Dice the sour gherkins, Add to mixing bowl.

The add the diced onion, oliver oil, mayonnaise, vinegar and marinade to all the other ingredients in the mixing bowl. Mix well. Add salt to taste.

The Nudelnsalat is a standalone meal. Makes a great picnic.

Chicken with dried chillies and cashew nuts

600 gm chicken meat, sliced into bite-sized chunks
6 dried chillies, deseeded
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
1 teaspoon cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons water
salt to taste
a handful of roasted cashew nuts

Heat the oil in a pan. Add the dried chillies (be careful! they brown and burn very fast), stir a bit and add the pieces of chicken. When the chicken is almost done, add the dark soy sauce. Stir till chicken is cooked. If the pan gets dry add 1/4 cup water. Add salt to taste. Thicken gravy with the cornstarch and water. Scoop into a serving dish and sprinkle the cashew nuts over the meat. Garnish with spring onions if available.

This dish goes well with plain rice.

Mashed potatoes / Kartoffelpuree

500 gm potatoes, peeled
1 tablespoon butter
a pinch of grated nutmeg
salt to taste

Boil the peeled potatoes in sufficient water till soft. Drain the water away leaving about half cup with the potato. Add the butter, salt and nutmeg. Mash the potato till there are no lumps.

Hollandaise sauce

1 egg
1/2 eggshell water
50 gm butter
1 tablespoon lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter in a pot. In another pot, whisk the eggs with the half eggshell water till very frothy. Then out the pot over a very low heat. While whisking continuously, slowly add the melted butter, lemon juice, salt and pepper. The sauce should thicken slightly, but not cook. When ready, it should still flow.

Fish hollandaise

500 gm fish filet, cut into 5 cm chunks
Mashed potatoes made from about 500 gm potatoes
Hollandaise sauce
2 onions, chopped and browned in oil

In a small pot, boil enough water with a teaspoon of salt and 2 bay leaves to cover the fish chunks. When the water boils add the fish and let cook till just done. Do NOT overcook the fish.

Line a bakeproof dish with the mashed potatoes. Put the fish in the centre. Pour the hollandaise sauce over the fish. Add a small flock of butter on top of the fish and sauce. Bake for 20 minutes at 250 deg.C. Serve with browned onion.

Kartoffelsalat / Potato salad à la Ingrid

Recipe for 2

600 gm potatoes
1 teaspoon powdered organic vegetarian soup stock, dissolved in 50 ml hot water
1 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1/2 onion, diced
spring onion, 3 stalks, chopped

Boil potatoes in their skins till done. They should be firm, not mushy. Let them cool, then peel them. Cut them into small cubes or wedges. Add the diced onion and oil. Mix gently. Then add the mayonnaise and soup stock. Mix again gently. Sprinkle the spring onion on top. Serve.

Bechamel sauce

30 to 50 gm butter
2 heaped tablespoons wholewheat flour (Vollkornmehl)
400 ml milk

Melt butter in saucepan (Kasserole) on medium heat. Add the flour and mix well with the melted butter. Turn up the heat, add the milk, stirring constantly with a whisk to avoid lumps, till the sauce thickens. If you find the sauce too thick, add more milk.

Fried bananas / Goreng pisang

Of course the easiest recipe is to get a a packet of adabi flour for goreng pisang. Lacking that, try the recipe below:

100gm wheat flour
50gm cornstarch / Stärke
2 tbsp rice flour (optional)
a pinch of salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence / Vanillinzucker
150ml water
About 8 peeled sweet bananas (Chiquita bananas do very well when the tips of their peel are still slightly green)
Enough oil for deep frying

If you do not have rice flour, remember to add 2 tablespoons wheat flour to the ingredients.

Work all the ingredients except the bananas into a smooth batter. Let stand for 5 minutes. Heat oil in a pan for deep frying. Dip the bananas in the batter, make sure they are well-coated, and fry them in the hot oil until golden brown.

Linsensuppe / Lentil soup

250 gm lentils, washed and soaked for about 4 to 8 hours in 1/2 litre water
1/2 cup bacon, diced (optional)
4 tablespoons oil
1/2 soup bones, pork ribs, etc.

Each of the following vegetables, when chopped should fill about 1 cup.
1 carrot, peeled, diced small
1 big onion, cleaned, diced
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 leek, cleaned and chopped
1 big potato, peeled and diced

In a pressure cooker, heat the oil and fry the bacon till crispy. Remove bacon from the pressure cooker. Brown the diced onion in the pot. Add 1 litre water,the soup bones, all the diced vegetables EXCEPT the carrot and potato. Cover and let cook under pressure for 20 minutes.

Then add the lentils with the water it was soaking in,the diced carrot and potato. Cook under pressure another 20 to 30 minutes. Salt to taste. I like to season the soup with organic vegetable broth (bio Gemüsebrühe) which is easily available in German and Italian supermarkets.

Goes well with Viennese sausage (Wienerwürstchen) and heavy German bread.

Chinese chive omelette

150 gm chinese chives, cleaned and cut into 2 cm lengths
3 large eggs
3 tablespoons light soya sauce
oil for frying omelettes

Beat eggs with soya sauce till well-mixed. Add the chives.

Heat about 4 tablespoons oil in a pan. When the oil is hot, start making the mini omelettes (about 8 cm in diameter) by placing tablespoonfuls of chive-egg mixture in the oil. Turn the omelettes after a while to brown the other side. This amount will make about 10 to 15 mini omelettes.

Chinese chive omelettes go well with rice and other Chinese dishes.

Chinese dry-tossed noodles

Golden brown chopped garlic

The difference between light and dark soya sauce: Light soya sauce is made from soya beans, salt and water while dark soya sauce should have caramel as one of its ingredients as well. Dark soya sauce is also more viscous.

250 gm Chinese egg noodles, boiled in sufficient water with 1 tablespoon salt till done
2 white onions, cut into paper thin half-rings
Sufficient vege oil to deep-fry the onion rings
2 tablespoons dark soya sauce

Deep-fry the onion rings till crispy OR fry the garlic till crispy. Drain onion rings/garlic from oil. Mix the noodles with the oil left over from the frying the garlic or six tablespoons of the oil left over from the onion rings, and dark soya sauce by tossing the noodles. Sprinkle the onion rings/garlic on top. Serve.

Alternative: Making crispy onion rings is a LOT of work. Instead, you can substitute the onion rings with crispy chopped garlic. Chop 6 cloves garlic. Fry till golden brown in 6 tablespoons oil. Mix the garlic and oil in place of the onion rings and onion oil.

This goes well with Pakchoy in garlic oyster sauce and slices/pieces of roast pork.

Aubergine casserole / Auberginenauflauf (neu, Jungs!)

500 gm aubergines, peeled and cut lengthwise into 1/2 cm thick slices
1 tin peeled whole tomatoes
200 gm emmental / mozarella cheese
4 tablespoons olive oil
salt to taste

Slightly brown the aubergine slices in a pan with half the oil.

Layer an ovenproof dish (about 25 cm x 15 cm x 4 cm) with the aubergines, tomatoes (broken into smaller pieces with your fingers) and grated cheese. Be generous with the tomato juice in the tin as the aubergines have to absorb the tomato flavours. You should be able to make two layers of aubergines. Sprinkle the rest of the olive oil on top.

Bake at 150 deg. C. for about 45 mins. I like to give it a quick broil (heat from above) in the last 5 minutes so that the cheese forms a light brown crust.

Linguine Alfredo

Recipe for 2 big eaters

180 gm linguine/fettucine, boiled in sufficient water with a tablespoon of salt till al dente
1 onion, diced
3 pips garlic, chopped or pressed
100 gm bacon strips, cut into small pieces (optional)
50 gm grated emmental cheese (use mozarella in the Philippines)
50 gm grated parmesan cheese
200 ml cream + 400 ml milk, hot
Chopped parsley to garnish

Fry the bacon in 5 tablespoons oil till crispy. Drain the bacon from the oil and put it aside. In the same pan with the oil, fry the onion for two minutes (it should remain slightly crunchy). Add the linguine and garlic to the pan. Stir and mix well with the diced onion and oil. Turn down heat. Add the grated emmental/mozarella and parmesan cheese. Pour in the hot cream and milk. Mix quickly, allow cheese to melt ( a matter of a minute). Put into serving dish. Sprinkle crispy bacon and parsley on top.

Aubergines with crispy garlic and soya sauce

4 aubergines
5 to 10 cloves garlic
10 tablespoons oil
1/2 cup mini anchovies (optional), fried in sufficient oil till crispy, then drained.

Wash the aubergines and trim the ends. Boil in sufficient water in a wide pan till done. Drain. Cut lengthwise into halves, then into bite-size pieces on a serving plate.

Heat oil in small pan. Brown the garlic in the oil. Pour over the aubergine. Add the soya sauce. Sprinkle the crispy mini anchovies on the vegetable. Serve hot.

Baby pakchoy with oyster garlic sauce

Romaine lettuce, iceberg lettuce, fresh leafy spinach are very good substitutes for pak choy in the following recipe.

500 gm baby pakchoy (a.k.a. taiwan pechay in the Philippines)
5 to 10 cloves garlic, chopped
5 tablespoons oyster sauce (available in most Asian grocery shops in Germany) + 1 tablespoon water
10 tablespoons vegetable oil

Heat the oil in a small pan, brown the garlic. Remove from heat. When the oil has cooled a bit, add the oyster sauce.

Clean the vegetable, leaving the plants whole. Bring to boil sufficient water and 1 tablespoon of oil in a wide and deep pan to quick-boil the vegetable. Drain the vegetable, display in a dish. Cut away the ends.

Reheat the oyster sauce and oil, pour over the vegetable.

Pizza buns / Pizzabrötchen

Ingredients A:
100 gm sliced cooked ham, cut into 1 cm squares
100 gm sliced hungarian salami, cut into 1 cm squares
100 gm grated emmental cheese
1 medium onion, diced small
200 ml cream
1/2 teaspoon sweet capsicum powder (paprika edelsüß)
1/2 teaspoon pizza herbs

Ingredients B:
about 8 to 10 buns, sliced into halves, and buttered

Mix all the ingredients in A. Spread onto the buttered side of the buns. Bake at 150 deg. C. in a preheated oven for about 5 to 10 minutes till the top is slightly brown.

Pastetchen / Vol-au-vent with chicken and mushrooms

Recipe for 2

4 medium-sized vol-au-vents (available from French Bakery, Alabang)
1 onion, diced
200 gm chicken breast, diced
1 small tin (400 gm) button mushrooms (champignons)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon wheat flour + 1 teaspoon cornstarch + enough water to make a thickener
2 teaspoons capers
1/2 cup white wine

Warm up the vol-au-vent in the oven while preparing the filling.

Saute onion with the oil till slightly brown. Add chicken meat and fry till done. Add capers and mushrooms with the water from the tin plus half cup water. Bring to boil. Simmer for two minutes, then thicken with the flour and starch mixture. Finally add the wine.

Cauliflower salad

1 cauliflower (about 600 gm), clean and cut into bite-size pieces
1/4 onion, diced fine
2 tablespoons salad oil
50 ml cream
1 tablespoon vinegar
salt to taste

Boil cauliflower in sufficient water with a tablespoon of salt till done (firm, not soft till falling apart). Drain well. Mix well with the rest of the ingredients.

Chinese fried rice

Recipe for 2 big eaters like Alexander

200 gm jasmin/basmati rice cooked with 230 ml water in rice cooker
2 to 3 eggs lightly whisked with 1 tablespoon light soya sauce
6 chinese sausages or 300 gm chicken breast, cut into small cubes (optional)
1 carrot (about 100 gm) diced
1 big onion, diced
300 gm green peas (frozen, never from a tin)

First cook the rice in the rice cooker.

Then, in a big pan, heat 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, make an omelette with the egg. Break the omelette in the pan with the stirer. Remove from pan.

Fry the chinese sausage/chicken with 1 teablespoon oil till done, remove from pan. Fry the onionin 4 tablespoon oil till slightly brown, add the carrot and fry till cooked. Then add the green peas, fry for a minute. Add the cooked rice, omelette, chinese sausage/chicken and 2 tablespoons light soya sauce to the pan, stir to mix well with the other ingredients. Fry another 2 minutes, make sure all the ingredients are mixed well. Serve with sambal oelek/ sambal belacan, or cut green chillies.

Kartoffelgratin à la Kristine

Recipe for 2

about 500 gm potatoes, peeled sliced thin
50 gm bacon, cut into small pieces (optional)
100 gm grated emmental (or other) cheese
200 ml cream + 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg + salt, well-mixed

Grease an ovenproof dish. Layer the potato slices, grated cheese and bacon, with a sprinkling of grated cheese on the top layer. Pour the cream mixture over the thing. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour at 150 to 175 deg. C.

Chicken-all-in-one

Recipe for two

4 pieces chicken
500gm potatoes, peeled, cut into chunks
carrots, peeled, cut into chunks
6 pips garlic
200 gm shallots or 2 big onions
(You can vary the vegetable as you like)

Marinade all the above in an ovenproof dish with 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, 1 heaped teaspoon sweet capsicum (Paprika edelsuß) powder, 1 tablespoon vinegar, little salt. Arrange the ingredients so that the chicken pieces lie on top of the vegetables. Leave for an hour, covered, in fridge. Then bake at 175 deg. C. for about an hour 30 minutes.

Zapped/Steamed fish with ginger

(goes well with plain rice and stir-fried vege)

1 whole fish (about 500 gm) or fish filet, cleaned
about 60 gm ginger, cut into thin strips
oil
spring onions, coriander (optional)

Place fish in ovenproof dish. Place ginger under fish and on top of fish. Sprinkle 4 tablespoons of sunflower (or other vegetable oil) over it. Steam fish for about 15 minutes till done. OR microwave fish at 600 Watts for about 6 to 8 minutes.

To test if fish is done, pierce the fish with a chopstick. If there is no resistance, fish is done.
Sprinkle a tablespoon of light soy sauce, spring onions and coriander over fish, serve hot.

Pasta in salmon cream sauce

(Recipe for 2 people. Can be done fairly quickly - half an hour. All ingredients are available in Germany and Philippines.)

200 gm pasta, boiled, drained and tossed in a tablespoon of olive oil
(250 gm if using fresh pasta)
500gm fresh/frozen salmon filet, cut into bite-size chunks
200 gm leeks, cleaned, cut into chunks

Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a pan. Add the leek to it, stir till it is half-done. Add salmon chunks, stir gently till the fish is half-done, too. Then add 250 ml cream, bring to boil, add salt and pepper to taste.