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.