Every now & then I stumble across a recipe about a spaghetti tart or bake or … What I mean is a dish – served warm as well as cold – where cooked spaghetti are mixed with meat or vegetables or cheese or whatever & become covered by a mix of cream & eggs ready for a session in the oven. The result is some sort of quiche/tart/frittata … which may be cut into slices…
What to do w/ leftovers? For a dinner event during weekend I prepared lots of oven-baked vegetables. It was delicious accompanied by some chicken filled w/ lemons & rosemary, a generous mix of fresh basil leaves & pressed garlic under the skin for especially flavoring the chicken breasts. (Maybe you think that the vegetables accompanied the chicken …) We all enjoyed the dinner …, however, some of the oven-baked vegetables remained on their plate afterwards…
Today there is another approach for a really refreshing mozzarella dip perfect for fresh baguette accompanied by crisp white wine. I found this recipe years ago at Jamie Oliver; during one of his TV shows he simply chopped & mixed everything. You know his casual style of cooking … which I really like! The result doesn’t look so spectacular, but it tastes like freshness, lightness, melting in your mouth!
The Italians invented aperitivo. When staying in Milan as well as in Rome some years ago we were happy about aperitivo. It starts in late afternoon & let you have some wine or Spritz or cocktails together w/ a selection of savory bits & bites usually presented as a buffet. Until early evening you may indulge in drinks & food … You get prosciutto, salame, green & black olives, marinated vegetables, small tramezzini, pizza bits, salads ……
Is there any surprise in a potato salad? Yes: you may add Mediterranean herbs for a delicious summer & holiday flavour … Some years ago I made this potato salad rather spontaneously because suddenly all the rainy weather in Germany cleared up & sun came back w/ fine temperatures fit for some last BBQ events in the garden. … & a real bit potato salad is always one of the best companions around (together w/…
We are still in the South – now in Northern Spain near Barcelona. It’s summer & it’s hot. So all we need for dinner is a pasta dish … Did I ever mention that we are true pasta lovers? All’ ammiraglio … Let this melt on your tongue! We are dealing w/ a very simple & very easy spaghetti dish – quick & dirty! … it looks so innocent! Be careful: it’s really hot &…
We are still in the south aka Mediterranean area … now in Northern Spain. So I made an approach to a vegetable casserole filled w/ Mediterranean vegetables – a simple dish you may prepare anytime & everywhere – as I did some years ago for the 1st time. So let’s start … Suppose you need a batch of vegetables for a roast or a BBQ or whatever. How to prepare it w/o too much trouble…
Pasta & summer: it’s an excellent combination because pasta is an easy dish convenient for all these warm summer nights when sitting outside w/ a glass of wine longing for some easy, but substantial food – which wouldn’t keep you in the kitchen for too long. It’s also one of my favourite pasta dishes in the south if Southern France or Northern Spain (where we are now!). The main challenge sometimes seems to be to…
In the south – we are now in Northern Spain … & when roaming on my blog I found this recipe which I adapted somewhat for a dinner. (I worked w/ tortellini, Spanish bacon, white onions … & it was fine!) However, let’s start w/ a streamlined version of the original recipe! My very 1st encounter w/ one-pot-pasta: my better half & I got a food & wine basket as a present from friends containing…
Potato salad is down-to-earth … so down-to-earth … Time to get it dressed to kill by adding an avocado dressing! Potatoes are year-round vegetables & avocados are on their way. What do you think of replacing mayonnaise and/or double cream and/or sour cream by a real heap of mashed avocado? This was my vision when creating this very special potato salad some years ago. We are still in the South aka Mediterranean area … having…
My standard information nowadays … We are still in Southern France resp. Northern Spain … It is hot, really hot … & for dinner it’s most of the days a cold affair: fresh bread, ham, cheese … & some dip (or more than a single dip!). So I remembered my aubergine dip … In the past: Aubergines (aka eggplant) & I – we did never become close friends. I’m fond of beautiful aubergines, but coming…
My last post was a resumé about our stay in Athens – for about 5 weeks – in 2017. It was then when found the ultimate recipe for tzatziki. Tzatziki was always one of my favored dips, but then for a start based on my experiences during our stay when I was able to do a deep dive into different versions of tzatziki and as well recreate it at our home in Athens. So now…
We are still in Southern France – and sometimes I reinvent a recipe from my blog. This time … Do you imagine that in Southern France there are lots of types of frying sausages? Honestly, I was surprised at the variety. There are thin sausages, thick sausages, short & longer than a meter … also gentle seasoned as well as really hot – and all spicy variations in between. So we often bought some sausages…
Imagining it’s happy hour: chilled white wine (or rosé wine) & smooth red wine are awaiting their destiny, gin tonics & vodka tonics are mixed or whatever else – in the very middle of all the drinks sits a plate w/ crispy crumbly cheesy spicy shortbread cookies … We are still in Southern France enjoying happy hour at times … so I started to make some savoury shortbread to enjoy w/ the wine – instead…
As I start usually these days … we are still in Southern France. However, we moved from Carcassonne to Sérignan meaning from Languedoc into Hérault approaching also the Mediterranean coast. For statistics: Carcassone is a town of about 47.000 inhabitants while Sérignan has got about 8.000 people i. e. a village. So now we are living in a small townhouse near the centre of the village – and enjoy the daily noisette resp. glass of…