Author: Kathrin

My weekly blog, originally started with my friend Jessica, entices readers to get into the kitchen and cook meals, every day. I provide inspiration, recipes, and reasons to overcome the struggles that keep people from cooking at home: confidence, time, desire, money or priorities. No excuses! Come and cook with us!

Summer (Camping) Fun with Chicken Mushroom Quesadillas

IMG_7324School is out, kids are running wild and we are going camping! As always, sprinkled in between the easy-to-make, nutritious and yummy food we write about on a regular basis, I love to share what we cook when we go camping. Culinarily speaking, this time our outdoors adventure was lead by my 16-year-old nephew who is visiting from Germany. It’s great to see youngsters taking an active role in their food preparation and I’m sure the enthusiasm was partly fueled by the appeal of an open fire pit. Either way, we festively dined on very non-German chicken and mushroom quesadillas on the grill along with fresh corn, a delicious salad and, to pass on an American tradition to the next generation, a healthy serving of s’mores for everyone. Come and cook with us!

I have to admit, packing in a camping trip on the same day as school ends was a little ambitious. My best practices for prepping food ahead went out the window and we improvised at the store on the way to the site. My nephew led the charge and a few shopping bags later we were on our way. It was a windy, albeit sunny affair and once the fire was well established, the boys got busy. My cast-iron pan was heavily featured – no pun intended –  in the preparation of the meal along with my grilling basket and a sheet pan that always comes in handy.

For the quesadillas themselves, we sautéed sliced mushrooms with a little olive oil and grilled and shred sliced chicken breasts. Assembly was left to each diner so that each quesadilla was personalized reflecting the tastes and prepping attitudes of each guest. We grilled the corn in the husks, after removing the silk, and they turned out golden, tender and juicy. The salad lent a lighter crisp distraction to the hot food.

The best part of this trip wasn’t what we ate, it was seeing my sons and their cousin connect, have fun, build memories. This summer, reach out to your family and spend time together to connect and share in the joy of a relatively peaceful and predictable political landscape, at least until the fall elections. Just kidding! We’ll be spending time with my family and many friends, so my blog posts will be a little more sporadic than usual until we return again to a more manageable routine in August. Until then, don’t forget to follow me on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook to stay in touch. I’d love to hear from you and learn what you are up to this summer. Share your photos, your food and your fun! Come and cook with us!

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Loving Lentils, Too

IMG_7176There are certain go-to staples that will always have a place in my heart. Pasta, rice and beans are regularly featured on my menu, however, I tend to look over another great pantry item that has many of the nutritional benefits of beans, is even more versatile and can be made in a much shorter time as it doesn’t require soaking. I’m sure you already know what I’m referring to: let’s give a round of applause to lentils which have been eaten by many civilizations reaching from Asia, to the Medtierranean all the way to our kitchens today! Come and cook with us!

Compared to Jessica’s love for lentils, I didn’t grow up eating dried legumes which is why I seldomly think of them when forming dinner plans which is unfortunate for my husband loves them. Lentils contain many naturally-occurring vitamin Bs and protein for those who wish to consume less animal products. Furthermore, lentils have low glycemic load, act as time-released energy, normalize blood sugar and blood lipids, and are a rich source of fiber, vitamins and minerals. To round out lentils’ virtues, they are loaded with lignans, which help balance hormones naturally. So if this doesn’t convince you, keep in mind that lentils are super easy to cook, versatile in their application and great when added to salads, soups and stews as well as meatloafs and dals.

Inspired by a recent trip to the brilliant Huckleberry Cafe in Santa Monica, we had a delicious lentil stew that was topped with fresh sausages. It all come together so beautifully and deliciously that I wanted to share this dish with all of you. Among the many varieties on the market, I choose black lentils which along with the green (or Le Puy lentils), keep their shape much better than the yellow or orange kinds. We added a steaming heap of polenta to the spread and it was all gone before I even got a chance to offer seconds. Make sure you use good quality sausages as they certainly belong to the food group of “few, but good”.

I hope you give this lentil stew a try! Come and cook with us!

Black Lentil Stew with Sausage

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Learn from the French How to Make Onion Soup

IMG_7110Our society has redefined the way we procure our food. Even if we cook from scratch, few of us have the time, space and skill-set necessary to grow our own produce. I see it as an unfortunate side effect of globalization with my friends and family back home in South Tyrol all still have a garden to rely on. For now, at least. Even my 101-year-old grandmother grows some lettuce, peas, onions and chamomile flowers in a tiny but very productive little patch of garden right in the middle of town. Same for my parents who don’t set foot in a fruit and vegetable store all summer or at least until their supply lasts. Luckily for those of us less active in the gardening department, there is plenty of inspiration to be found to help people find their way back into old-fashioned and proven gardening methods. One such effort stems from our friends across the pond resulting in a beautifully written and illustrated book by renowned chef Raymond Blanc who partnered with London’s spectacular Kew Gardens to publish Kew on a Plate. Let’s see what this book is all about! Come and cook with us!

If it wasn’t for David, my friend, neighbor and fellow European (at least until Brexit is decided), I wouldn’t have discovered this book which is currently out of stock in the US. For those not familiar with Raymond Blanc, he is a renowned French chef whose restaurant holds 2 Michelin Stars. He is also a successful author and has presented several BBC series. To give you a hint on why both David and I appreciate Raymond’s approach to cooking, the best dish on his menu, according to himself, is the ‘one that’s in season’. You can see why having access to Kew Gardens turned him into a kid in a candy store. Furthermore, he worked with the garden staff to grow exactly those varieties of produce that yield the highest flavor. And he knows a thing or two about that topic!

In his book, the restaurateur selects a variety of specific fruits and vegetables from carrots to potatoes, rhubarb and gooseberries, apples and peas, and offers tips and expertise in growing the produce, adding flavor notes as well as sharing about 40 mouth-watering recipes including a tasty chicory gratin and a gorgeous spring pea risotto that makes my mouth water.

Many of the featured dishes are not just super delicious, they look particularly delectable. I’ve chosen this classic mid-week French Onion Soup to showcast how simple ingredients come together beautifully when prepared the right way. And who is better to offer advice on that than Raymond Blanc! Give it a try and let me know what you think. Come and cook with is!

Classic French Onion Soup

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Make Indian-Spiced Lamb Chops NOW!

IMG_7049Most of my go-to dishes are heavy on the vegetable front, but to balance my family’s diet I regularly cook meat, too. It varies from beef, pork and and lately, I’ve been asked to prepare lamb chops more often. They are easy to make, fun to eat and go well with this flavorful ginger and garam masala marinade. Trust me, well worth a try. Come and cook with us!

It’s actually quite ironic that I grew up not liking Indian spices at all. I’ve certainly come around. Whether chai tea or curry, Indian spices are now featured more heavily in my cuisine. The marinade for these lamb chops, for example, uses garam masala which is a ubiquitous Indian spice mix that is translated to “warm spice blend”. In fact, like many other spices in the Indian cuisine, garam masala makes the body warm and includes the usual suspects such as cumin, coriander, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg, just to name a few… Add garlic, ginger and lemon to it and you’re in for a tasty treat.

The chops can easily be roasted in the oven (approx. 15-20 min in 400 degrees F), but I tend to make them in my cast-iron skillet which I use so often that it practically lives on my range. Pancakes in the morning, sautéed vegetables for lunch and pan-fried chops for dinner. My version of one-pot-meals!

Depending on your guests and table manners – my kids love to chew the meat off the bones – you can use the bones to make a lamb bone broth. It goes well with hearty vegetable soups including my favorite and delicious vadouvan spiced carrot soup that I will write about soon. For now, let’s stick to the chops! Come and cook with us!

Indian-Spiced Lamb Chops

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If not This, then That! And a Turmeric Smoothie.

IMG_6850When it comes to food, it’s all about opportunity cost. The way I see it is that whether something we choose to eat or drink is good for us should not be viewed on an absolute basis but in relation to what we would have picked instead. So for example, eating non-organic berries is better than not eating berries at all. Also, drinking a freshly-pressed orange juice is not as good as eating an orange but better than drinking a fanta. One great example of this are smoothies which can be a great complement to breakfasts. Smoothies are generally a good idea but often packed with sugars and come in multiples of their serving sizes. On the other hand, many smoothies contain great ingredients like fresh fruits, organic diary, nut butters and spices. Take this week’s Turmeric Banana Smoothie. It looks great, it tastes great and is, once again, whipped up in no time. Let me know what you think.

We have written about turmeric and its benefits before. It is known to be a natural anti-inflammatory, a natural antibiotic and antiseptic, a blood purifier, a natural skin tonic, lowers cholesterol and helps stomach ulcers. To be precise, a lot of these benefits have only been shown in small-scale studies on humans or mice, but they are looking promising on many levels. And because our Western diet isn’t rich in many spices used in Eastern food, I’m a strong believer that adding foods containing turmeric (as well as cumin, saffron, curry, cardamom etc.) are beneficial to our bodies as they contain nutrients we usually don’t have access to. One thing I learned is that turmeric has a higher bioavailability when it is digested along with some freshly ground pepper, so always include a sprinkle of it when you use turmeric.

My Turmeric Banana Smoothie is a great way to add a pinch of health to your breakfast. Is it the perfect drink of all times? Probably not but it beats other options like a drinkable yogurt packed with sugars. And it tastes super delicious. Give it a try and let us know what you think! Come and cook with us!

Turmeric Banana Smoothie

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