snack time // polenta pemmican

About a decade ago, I bought the cookbook Native Food by Beverly Cox and Martin Jacobs. But before I came around to try the first recipe, my cats decided to use it for their own … let’s say entertainment. After that, there was not much left of a cookbook I wanted to work with. And then I figured out, this book is not available anymore.

Until … a few weeks ago when I found a used (but in pretty good shape) one.

Long story short: This polenta pemmican is the first recipe I tried. The book says to use corn powder or flour, but I only had polenta that gave the whole snack a crispy kind of feeling. I googled corn pemmican or wagmíza wasná as the Lakota people call it, and all the pictures I found showed a completely different food. I never had corn pemmican before, so I don’t know if I am close to it or even allowed at all to call my creation pemmican… But whatever I prepared, it was delicious in its very own way. And therefore, you’ve got the recipe. ;-)

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POLENTA PEMMICAN

You will need for 16 pieces:

250 g polenta or corn flour (if you want to make it the traditional way)

125 g raisins or any other dried berries

225 ml water

65 g raw sugar

225 ml melted butter

And here is how to make it in 10 minutes:

Preheat your oven to 175 degrees.

Put the polenta or corn flour into a flat pot and roast it for about 30 minutes in the oven until it is light brown. You should mix it every now and then to make sure it doesn’t get burnt.

Put your dried berries into some water, leave it there for a couple of minutes. Pour off the water and mix the berries with the polenta or corn flour and sugar.

Add the melted butter, mix everything well.

Then put your polenta pemmican into a square baking pan. Press it into shape and put it into your fridge until it is cooled and almost frozen. Then you can cut it into little portions.

Enjoy and have a fun weekend! :-)

slow food // homemade spring rolls and sweet & sour sauce

Hellohellohello! Today I am starting a new series on this blog. It’s called slow food. Nothing new, I know. But it’s kinda new to me, since with a busy schedule and always a billion projects on my hand I enjoy and prefer cooking dishes that don’t need more than 20 minutes of preparation. So despite the fact that I try to use organic ingredients on a regular basis, I came to the conclusion that cooking can be more conscious than just that. In fact, it can become quite meditative and calming if you e.g. separate the lentils by yourself and don’t let the pigeons do the hard work. ;-)

So spring rolls. I love them, and I always wanted to make them by myself. And so I did. You may consider spring rolls as a fast food since you can get those pretty fast in almost every Asian bistro. You may also consider them a fast food because they usually contain lots of sugar and fat.

Not mine. ;-) They take a long time and are filled with the freshest veggies from my weekly organic cradle. Plus, they can be dipped into a homemade sweet and sour sauce. For the wrapping, I used wonton paper, which is made out of wheat flour, but you can also use rice paper (like it’s done the original way and perfect for those of you with a gluten intolerance). Just make sure that the paper isn’t frozen anymore.

And here is my how-to…

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HOMEMADE SPRING ROLLS AND SWEET & SOUR SAUCE

You will need – for 30 rolls:

30 pieces of wonton paper

1 medium size zucchini

1 medium size carrot

1 small red pepper

some lettuce leaves of your choice

some cilantro leaves

250 ml sesame oil

You will need – for the sweet & sour sauce:

50 ml sushi vinegar

50 ml sesame oil

1 teaspoon tomato paste

2 teaspoons brown/raw sugar

some salt, pepper and chili powder to taste

And here is how to make it  – in 60 minutes:

Wash the veggies. Peel the carrot if necessary. Cut the zucchini, carrot, and red pepper in short and thin strips. I used a Julienne peeler to make sure I get even pieces, but, of course, it’s the more slow food cooking if you cut it all by hand. ;-) Then cut the lettuce leaves also in small strips.

Use 1 wonton paper piece for each roll. The size of rice paper may be different. Then it’s up to you how big or small you want your rolls.

Put some strips of carrots, zucchini, and lettuce in the middle of your paper. Add cilantro if you and your guests like it. Just leave some space on the edges so you can fix your roll there. Sprinkle some water with a little pastry brush or spoon on those edges, it will help fixing your roll.

And then roll, roll, roll…

This is the most relaxing part of making spring rolls, so take your time and be careful, you want every piece of those vegetables inside of each roll. Otherwise, it would burn really fast or the roll could even fall apart. Since every roll is made the same way you don’t need to think about how to make it the whole time. Instead, listen to some music while creating all those little rolls or share this work with your guests and have a chat meanwhile.

Then put the sesame oil into a tall pot and heat it. Use a wooden spoon to figure out the right time and temperature for frying the rolls. Put the end of the wooden spoon into the hot oil. When it creates bubbles, carefully add a few spring rolls while using a skimmer. It depends on the size of your pot how many will fit in there. But make sure, the spring rolls don’t overlap and have enough space to fry from each side. For the first round, I suggest to obey the frying so you can flip them if necessary and see when they are done. You would want them not too bright and not too dark. ;-) When they have the for your taste perfect color, take them out and put them on some kitchen paper. Then add the next round. You might want to adjust the temperature of your oven to make sure they don’t burn.

While the spring rolls chill on paper, mix the sauce. Therefore, just put all the ingredients into a mixing cup. Or blender. Mix it well and taste it.

Don’t forget your other frying rolls in the meantime! ;-)

Once the spring rolls are all fried, arrange them on a plate and garnish them with anything you like.

Enjoy!

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With their combination of raw veggies, a warm crispy wrapping, and a sweet, sour, and spicy sauce, spring rolls are also a perfect Ayurvedic snack. They serve as a great finger food for the garden party season, and I am sure your little ones will love them too!

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PS: Btw… Happy International Children’s Day!

snack time // mango and pomegranate lassi

Okay, so this is my last rich and sweet recipe to share in February. Since March and spring are right around the corner, I am going to share more healthy and fit making recipes from next week on.

But for today I little snack. Mango Lassi is a very delicious drink originally from India that even serves as a snack, ’cause it really fills you up. With the yogurt and milk it’s good for digestion, and when you prepare it by yourself using organic ingredients and fruits, it tastes even better and is more nourishing because of all the vitamins C, E and B1 mango contains.

Since I wanted to spice it up a bit I was thinking to use this pomegranate that was waiting for consumption in my fruit basket for a while. Actually I like the taste of it a lot, but honestly, preparing it is kinda not so much fun. But on the other hand it’s rich in vitamin C, so eating/drinking it in winter helps getting prepared for any flu attack.

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MANGO AND POMEGRANATE LASSI

You will need – for 4 portions:

250 g yogurt

130 ml milk

1 mango

4 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 pomegranate

And here is how to make the Mango and Pomegranate Lassi – in 7 minutes:

Peel the mango and cut it into small slices. Put it and all the other ingredients in your blender and mix it well until it is a bit frothy. Add more milk or more sugar if you prefer. Then fill it into a glass. Squeeze the pomegranate in your lemon squeezer and sprinkle the juice on top of your drink.

Enjoy!

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PS: If you are living in LEipzig or close by, I got all of these ingredients delivered in my weekly crate of organic fruits, veggies, and dairy products if you like to try it out.

chocolate cake in a jar // baking for valentine’s day

As I wrote last week, I keep on eating a bit more sweet stuff during February, ’cause it’s cold and mostly gray here and I like to be comforted by cake and cookies and pies. And chocolate.

The first time I had this tiny chocolate cake with a liquid core was at Café Cantona and it became my favorite dessert really quick. I like the combination of hot liquid chocolate and a crispy crust. Not to forget that it tastes best with pure vanilla ice cream.

And then, recently, in one of my favorite cooking shows on TV (yeah, I am doing that…) they prepared this little cake in a jar, which already had become a classic. But I never made it before and so I watched carefully and prepared it right away. And then I was thinking, why not sharing it for all of you who need a last minute gift for Valentines Day, ’cause since it’s made in a jar you can store it easily in the fridge a couple of days or even freeze it and bake and serve it when you like.

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CHOCOLATE CAKE IN A JAR

You will need – for 2 portions:

30 g flour

30 g sugar

2 eggs

2 egg yolks

90 g dark chocolate

90 g butter

1 lemon

2 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons of brown sugar for greasing the jars

And here is how to make the Chocolate Cake In A Jar – in 20 minutes:

Grease the jars (or cupcake baking cups) with butter and sprinkle them with brown sugar. Add the chocolate and butter in a small bowl and put them on the stove over a water bath to melt.
Stir the eggs and the yolks in another bowl well with a whisk, add sugar and flour and mix briefly with a blender. Add the melted chocolate to the egg mixture and add a pinch of lemon zest.

Then fill the batter into the prepared jars (they fill only about two-thirds since the dough comes up during baking) and bake in preheated oven at 180 degrees for about ten minutes. You can see when the cake is ready, ’cause it will form an even surface coming from the edge while still having a little pit of liquid chocolate in the middle. Then serve immediately (and don’t forget to sprinkle some hearts on top).

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So with the saying The way to someone’s heart is trough his stomach I can assure you’re on the right path with this cake. ;-)

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PS: Because I didn’t have enough jars, I made my little cakes in cupcake baking cups (that’s why the crust has these little grooves).

PPS: For a vegan version I would replace the eggs and egg yolks with maybe 50 ml oil and the butter with vegan butter, but I am not sure if that will work, since I didn’t test it yet.

PPS: So this cake is an adaptation from here.