Dinner with my in-laws

Dinner at my in-laws’ last Wednesday. I always enjoy going there, not only because it’s always very entertaining and pleasant, but also because my mother-in-law is a fantastic cook. And she has outdone herself once again.

As a starter we had Beetroot Soup with Pumpkin and Horseradish Cream. It was supposed to have been beetroot soup, but in the last minute she discovered that it wasn’t going to be enough for the four of us and added some pumpkin – a daring step, I think, but it gave a very interesting taste. The main dish was Steak with Aubergine and Coriander, followed by Apple Bread Pudding. I only have recipes of the latter two, so I will only post those.

 

Steak with Aubergine and Coriander

3 aubergines
1 tsp. coriander seeds
1 lime
1 cm fresh ginger
2 shallots
2 red peppers, deseeded and sliced
coriander

1 steak pp.

Cut the aubergine into long thin slices. Sprinkle them with salt, place them in a sieve and place a heavy object on them so that as much water as possible will be squeezed out.

Place the coriander seeds in a dry pan and roast them until they begin to smell. Wash the lime, grate its zest and squeeze the lime. Grind the coriander seeds, lime zest and juice, ginger, shallots and red peppers until they form a smooth paste.

Pat the aubergines dry. Fry them for 6-8 minutes in some oil, then add the paste and 100 ml water, cover and cook for another 15 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Brush the steaks with oil. Heat a grill pan and grill the steaks for 1-2 minutes on each side until they are done but remain pink on the inside. Serve with the vegetables and sprinkle with coriander leaves.

Serves 4; a recipe from the local supermarket.

 

Apple Bread Pudding

bread
cinnamon
butter
apples

Butter some stale bread (e.g. baguette), sprinkle with cinnamon and roast in the oven until it is dry and crispy (but not too crispy, you will want to be able to bake it a second time), then cut into small cubes. Cut some apples into slices and cook until they fall apart. Keeping some of the bread cubes apart, mix the apple mixture with the bread cubes in a oven-save dish. Place the rest of the cubes on top, and roast for another 10-15 minutes.

Serves how many you wish; a family recipe.

Be my Valentine: Cheese Fondue and Flambéed Apples

Again a lot to catch up with this week.  Let me start with the weekend:

Buzz had a very sweet savoury surprise for me when I came home this weekend. I was greeted by two red roses when I opened the door, and I was finally told what he had planned for Saturday evening: He would make Cheese Fondue for me. Now you must know that Cheese has always been a favourite of mine. When I was a kid, we used to eat Raclette every now and then, and even though I was still small, I was one of the most eager to begin, and one of the last to stop eating, making my grandmother feel full by merely watching me.

 

Cheese Fondue

pp. 100 g Emmenthaler or Gruyere
pp. 100 g of a softer cheese, such as Raclette
white wine
a lacing of kirsch
cornstarch

Heat the white wine in the fondue pan. Grind the cheese and let it melt bit by bit in the wine, stirring continuously. Add the kirsch, and add some cornstarch to bind the cheese mixture.

Serve with bread, pickled cucumbers, pickled onions and corn salad.

When Buzz bought the cheese, the lady in the shop recommended to calculate 200 g cheese per person. He bought 500 g for the two of us, and hadn’t it been for the dessert, I would have gone to bed hungry… but that might just have been me…

Serves 2; a family recipe.

 

Flambéed Apples

1 apple per person (e.g. Granny Smith)
Caster sugar
1 shot Rum
1 shot Calvados
Ice Cream/ Crème Bavaroise

Peel the apples, remove the core and slice them into appr. 1 cm thick slices. Melt some butter in a pan, add the apples and cook for a while. When you think they are ready, sprinkle caster sugar on them, add the rum-calvados-mix and ignite.

Some tips for flambeing: Some alcohols, such as certain brands rum, contain just about enough alcohol to make flambeing possible. To help the process, make sure the food you want to flambé is hot, and preheat the alcohol in a ladle above a candle before igniting.

Serve with ice cream or Crème Bavaroise (we had Speculaas-Ice cream, ice cream with bits of spicy cookies – excellent!).

Serves 2; adapted from Hedwig M. Stuber’s Ich helf dir kochen.