Tag: Cover

Spinach, Coconut & Courgette Soup
It is such a pleasant late summer day. We linger in the garden and enjoy the last warm sunny rays. A book, a blanket and a cup of coffee during the day and a garden fire at night, gazing at the endless starry sky. When is the last time you saw a falling star? Did you make a wish? In September it is such a joy to be one with the garden.

Today, I am making a healthy vegan spinach soup and serving it outside. I remember years ago my husband made a spinach soup for our four-year-old daughter who exclaimed “The soup is delicious, but I do not like the taste.”. Aren’t we all having a similar reaction when we hear about spinach? I assure you, this soup is so amazingly flavoured it will make you think of fine-dining and nothing else!

As a fine porcelain lover, I have collected so many services through the years. There is a beauty in every tender white-floral piece. My collection is constantly growing – English, French, German, Hungarian porcelain… I love them all. Yet, nothing compares to Villeroy & Boch. The “Blue Phenix” patterns seems to fit my cheerful garden party perfectly today. There is something magical in dressing the table and serving a soup in an ornamental French tureen. A simple meal becomes special, an ordinary day – full of joy!

The soup is truly amazing. One spoon is all it takes to forget the beautiful setting and focus solely on the taste. A green good-for-you creamy delight, garnished with Italian dry ham and micro-greens, served with generous slices of fresh baked bread. Can a summer day be more perfect!

Make this healthy spinach soup once and it will become a favourite recipe! A vibrant vegan soup full of goodness: spinach, zucchini, leeks, potato and coconut milk, fragrant with lemongrass, cumin and curry.

Make this healthy spinach soup once and it will become a favourite recipe! A vibrant vegan soup full of goodness: spinach, zucchini, leeks, potato and coconut milk, fragrant with lemongrass, cumin and curry.
Ingredients

1-2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tsp mild curry powder

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground turmeric

1 large leek topped and tailed, finely diced

1 medium potato, peeled and cubed

1 large courgette, cubed

1 lemongrass stick

250 ml water

1 vegetable stock cube

1 x 400g can coconut milk

100g fresh spinach

salt and pepper to season

½ tsp sugar

To garnish (optional)

Thin slices of Italian dry ham

Micro-greens

Slices of bread

Method

1. Heat the oil in large pot. Add the spices and stir for a minute.

2. Add the leek, potato and courgette and stir to coat in the spices. Season well with salt and pepper, cover the pot and sweat the vegetables over low heat for five minutes.

3. Add the hot water, dry vegetable cube, lemongrass and coconut milk and cook for another 10 minutes or until the potato is fork tender.

4. Take out the lemongrass. Add the spinach and stir. Cook for another 2-3 minutes.

5. Carefully transfer the soup to a blender, make sure the lid is secure and blend until completely smooth. You may need to do this in batches.

6. Transfer back to the pot and season with salt, black pepper and a little sugar.

7. Serve the soup with slices of bread and garnish with Italian dry ham and micro-greens.
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September 14, 2021
Strawberry Rose Ice Cream
Tender pink and a delicate flavour of vanilla, strawberries and roses. With the warm weather upon us nothing makes the heart rejoice like a sweet spoon of ice-cream.

I have been dreaming of making an ice cream at home for a while now. Not having an ice cream machine, certainly seemed like an obstacle, but not until I found this easy and delicious recipe. It requires only some fresh fruit, heavy cream and condensed milk (as opposed to eggs) and of course some flavours. It is so extremely easy to make!

Fresh strawberries (the riper the better) give this ice cream a vibrant, bright flavor — a taste as familiar as summer sunshine on your skin. If you like larger pieces of strawberry in your ice cream (as opposed to just the strawberry puree), feel free to chop up a few extras into small pieces and fold them in just before you pour your ice cream into the container to freeze.

The rose flavoring is subtle, and you only need a very small amount for this recipe. I’d definitely call the flavor sophisticated, and it makes every bit of difference to the otherwise familiar strawberry ice cream. It’s a dusky, floral infusion with a pleasant, exotic touch.

You might be able to find a bottle of rose-water at your local grocery store. Mine comes from Morocco and I am excited to try it in other recipes too, like French macarons and even Turkish delights.

Having once tried the ice cream, I am delighted to add this recipe in my repertoire and in the future adjust the ingredients with any flavour combination.
Ingredients

450g strawberries stems removed

2 tsp rose water

1 tsp vanilla extract

135ml sweetened condensed milk

2 tbsp sugar

250ml heavy cream

Handful of dry strawberries & raspberries

Dry rose petals, optional

Method

1. Wash and cut the strawberries in half. Put them in a blender and puree the strawberries for a few seconds (some small pieces are fine).

2. Add the condensed milk, rose water and vanilla extract and blend until combined.

3. In a separate bowl, beat the heavy cream and the sugar with an electric mixer on high-speed until stiff peaks form.

4. Pour the strawberry mixture into the heavy cream and fold until completely combined.

5. Line a plastic box with a clear wrap and pour in the ice-cream. Crush some dry strawberries and raspberries on top. Cover with a clear wrap and close the lid. Freeze overnight.

6. Allow the ice cream to soften at room temperature for at least 10 minutes before scooping and serving. Decorate with dry rose petals, if desired.
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June 2, 2021
Rustic Farm Chicken Legs
Nothing clears the mind like a fresh walk in the forest. Sun, rain, rain and sun again. We are bathed in warmth and chilly showers. But spring is here – cascading sweet flower scents over the hills, hiding flowers in the shadows and waking the birds to a new season of life. We welcome the sight and hurry over the hills, discovering new treasures – mushrooms, wild garlic, scented flowers.

Today’s forest walk brings us home happy and chilled to the bones. The fireplace is roaring and the stone cottage rustic charm slowly seeps into our souls. A candle light here, a bouquet of flowers there, a cozy pillow scattered sofa invites us to rest. We take a breath devouring the moment and not after long start thinking about lunch.

Soon the kitchen is filled with delicious roast chicken aromas. I am glazing the legs in dry herb marinade before placing them in the oven to roast until tender golden brown. When done, the meat is already falling from the bones, succulent and soft. Served with bio white rice and a simple green leave, tomato salad our chicken roast is charmingly rustic, unpretentious and delicious.
Ingredients

For the Rice

2 cups bio white rice

5 cups water

1 tbsp olive oil

Salt

Black pepper

For the Chicken Legs

2 chicken legs

3 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp chicken mix powder

½ tsp sea salt, parsley, garlic mix

1 tsp curry powder

½ tsp black pepper

Method

1. Boil the rice in a medium-size pot, by mixing two cups of white rice with 5 cups of water and a tablespoon of olive oil. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat. Stir occasionally, so the rice will not stick to the bottom. Once all the liquid has been absorbed season with salt and ground black pepper. Depending on the sort, the rice will cook between 30-40 minutes.

2. Preheat the oven to 200C. In the meantime, lay a backing tray with aluminum foil. Mix 3 tablespoons of olive oil with the dry herbs – chicken mix, curry, sea salt, garlic, parsley, black pepper. Glaze over both sides of the chicken legs and ley them in the tray with the skin side down. Bake in for 20 minutes, then turn the chicken legs with the skin up and glaze with the cooking juices. Cook for 20 minutes more.

3. Serve the chicken with rice, micro greens, and mix green leaves and tomato salad.
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May 9, 2021
Morocco

A roof terrace. Sunny embrace. Quiet morning. The world is hidden beneath a roof-top horizon. Our Moroccan hostess is stepping lightly, caring a tray of food and greeting us generously with a smile: “Bonjour, tout va bien?”. The day begins, not yet inclined to reveal its mysteries, delighted at our eager anticipation, but like a welcoming host as well, it is inviting us to follow with a vivid gesture. And we are ready to follow, wherever the day may lead. Through the colourful souks, through the dusty roads, through the crowds of warm hearted people, through the age old history of the old medina. But before we start, our senses are bathed with sumptuous delights: fresh orange juice, mint tea, Moroccan pancakes, flat bread, eucalyptus honey, orange marmalade, dates, home made yogurt. A heart-warming breakfast for a heart-warmth seeking traveller. Morocco always delights!

April 17, 2021
Italian Food Fuel

There is only one place in our city where we truly love to eat and this is the famous restaurant Baracca in Leuven. Hip and trendy, the atmosphere and the ambiance invites all folks of society into a cheerful Italian big mama hug. You cannot avoid it, you cannot replace it and you are suddenly surprised to find you actually miss it once you exit the door. Slightly dark and mysterious the interior simply draws you in with a promise of a story. What cocktail is on display today? What new dishes grace the menu? The waitress greets us with a smile and the story rushes to unfold.

Designed as food sharing concept, the restaurant draws inspiration from the recent past. When the Italian migrants worked in the coal mines during the day, they couldn’t wait for the evening to fall and share their delicious stories in wooden barracks while they ate and drank together. The restaurant owners wanted to recreate the same spirit of togetherness between the different city generations. In Baracca, there is always something for everyone – classic wood burn oven pizzas, oysters and truffle pasta! The food borders with sublime and the cocktails – daring and merry.

Yet, this is far from your average Italian in town. Baracca offers a rare combination of easy going casual charm and an exquisite touch of fine-dining sophistication. Waiters take the order with a speaker phone that does straight into the kitchen. Open kitchen floor gives you access to a step-by-step preparation glimpse into a vibrant team of chefs assembling your order. The menu changes with every season offering new tasty dishes one wishes to collect and forever cherish as a secret treasure trove. You fall in love with a dish, hoping to repeat a truly gastronomic taste once you enter yet again into the restaurant, only to be surprised and fall in love with something else. Could there ever be a happy end to a continuously unfolding happy fairy tale?

Baracca’s food taste and style remind me of Milan and the prestigious Michelin star graced chef Felice Lo Basso. Highly talented with a sophisticated style, his food is all about experience and passion. Anchored in Italian tradition, yet daring to experiment with textures, shapes and colours, mixing tastes and offering a pleasing final touch of perfection, his dishes never seize to amaze. Situated on the top floor of the famous Vittorio Emanuele II Gallery, overlooking Milan’s majestic Duomo, Felix Lo Basso Restaurant can take your breath away. Luckily, there is no need for a trip to La Scala and ending the night in a fine-dining dream. Baracca offers already plenty of Italian perfection and to me, it is a pure dream.

February 10, 2019
Schlosshotel Kronberg, Germany

There are some moments in life, when one just wishes to turn a back to the day-to-day reality and drive away to an enchanting castle. Opening a new chapter in our life and embracing a new carrier challenge which may soon require extensive travelling abroad, we decide to spend some time together in a beautiful hotel near Frankfurt am Main. Schlosshotel Kronberg is an unusual place. Build in 1893, it was originally intended as a private royal castle. Owned by the House of Hesse to this very day, stepping into the hotel one feels more like a guest to the royal family rather then a visitor to an average hotel. With a unguarded access to the specious library, the fire-lit, art-decorated medieval living room, the royal banquet hall breakfast and dinning room one can settle easily into the castle and set about to explore the place.

To our delight, there are not many other guests at the hotel. Our imagination is quickly carried away: could we dare to envisage this castle as our own royal get away, or perhaps imagine that we are authors seeking source of inspiration for a historic novel? The clues to any story we may wish to imagine are readily available at our doorstep, making our stay here even more auspicious once we notice Francois’s family initials boldly engraved on the building’s garden facing facade. Could this be possible… Being half German, does he really know his family ancestry? Did I unknowingly marry Prince Charming? For the Prince Charming part, I am pretty certain with or without the castle. Still, the sight of the magically beautiful scenery is giving our hearts a pause.

Schloss Friedrichshof is today one of the most impressive German castles and offers its guests living history to touch and feel. Exclusive furnishings and an impressive collection of antiques and paintings from the private estate of the mother of the last Kaiser convey the authentic ambience of a castle from imperial times.

A morning walk past the Italian rose garden into the golf therein greens. A trip to the charming near-by medieval town. An afternoon English tea savouring the rich red fruit aromas. In the evening, red wine by the cracking fire place debating art, politics and world history, laughing and teasing about everything and nothing. And at night, oasis of quiet and peace in a divine luxurious sleeping room with a bed designed for kings. The next morning, waking up in paradise.

Sharing the pleasures of a beautiful place, is even more rewarding when we could share the experience with friends. Having a chance to see childhood friends, that do not live near by is a chance we could not miss and what a more spectacular way to be together than inviting them to join us for dinner at the castle. There are certain people who seem meant to stay no matter how life may try to break apart. And it is a privilege, a joy and an honour to embrace them as my friends. Lost in smiles and conversation the night slips quickly away and before we have a chance to share all, it is time to kiss good buy and let them go, happy and delighted, until we meet again.

The food is delicious, too. Traditionally German, presented with sophistication and fitness. The taste of roasted dumplings in mushroom cream sauce has become for me an iconic image of the German cuisine. Delighted to discover more and eager to cook some of the classic recipes at home, we stop on our way back home to a local store and fill our car with food delights. Lost among the shelfs like two enchanted kids, we can’t seem to stop admiring the affordability of the prices and the variety of quality goods on display. Feeling like in Aladdin’s cave we carefully chose our treasures and happily take the road back home again.

Video Source: Schlosshotel Kronberg website

August 30, 2015