chestnut icecream with redwine plums

I created this recipe as a dessert for a cooking evening with friends. This follow-up recipe for roasted chestnuts was intented to contain typical flavours of fall. I wanted to make a dessert with both cold & creamy and hot & fruity components. I had never heard of an icecream with chestnut before, but I was excited to give it a try. We were all suprised of its delicious taste together with the hot plums and the creamy redwine. You need an icecream maker for the chestnut iceream. However, you can just serve it as a cold cream - the combination is delicious anyway.

Here's my shopping list for about 3-6 desserts depending on how hungry you are :)

Cream

• a handful of chestnuts
• 3 greek yogurts 
• juice of a half grapefruit or other citrus fruit
• some milk
• cinnamon
• cardamom
• 2 small bags of vanilla sugar

Fruits

• 500 g plums
• 300 ml redwine
• 1 small bag of vanilla sugar

And here are the steps for preparation:

Roast and peel the chestnuts, let cool down. Put them in a mixer and smash until creamy and some are still crunchy. Add the yogurt and season with spices. Stir some milk to make it more creamy. Citrus juice will help to round up the flavour by its acidity. Now you can either just put it in the fridge or process it with an icecream maker.

For the redwine plums: cut the plums in halves, remove their cores and put them in a baking tray. Season with vanilla sugar and pour redwine over. Bake them in the oven at 180°C for about 20 minutes. Switch off the oven and just leave it there until you serve it.

poached eggs

It took me several tries to figure out how to make the perfect poached egg. The effort was absolutely worth it: poaching eggs has become one of my most favorite recipe for eggs. They become incomparable soft, creamy and I love how they melt.

I absolutely recommend to buy fresh organic eggs. Crack the egg into a small cup. Meanwhile let the water boil, add some vinegar and salt. Turn off the heat and let the water simmer - not cook! If the liquid is too unsteady the egg will dissolve in pieces as well as when the water is too cold. Now comes the fun part: Let the egg gently and fast slip into the simmering liquid. I use a wooden spoon to bring it into shape. Cook about 3-4 minutes until the egg white becomes solid, but the yolk is still soft. You can test its consistency by gently pushing against it. When you feel like you've reached the perfect point, take the egg out of the water and serve immediately with some salt sparkled on.

roasted chestnuts

Roasted chestnuts are one of my favourite treats for the cold season, because they are slightly sweet and warm. The heat of the oven and the baking flavours fill up the kitchen until you finally get to peel them with your hands.

Buy a large handful of chestnuts for each person. Cut a cross on top of the chestnut using the point of a sharp knife. It will help to bake the chestnuts faster and peel it more easily later. Put them all on a baking tray in the middle of the oven. It takes about 15-20 minutes at 180°C until their skin "blossoms". Let cool down for a moment and peel with your hands.

ginger-flavoured pumpkin soup with cardamom espuma

Cardamom is one of these spices I'm really addicted to since the first time I tried it. The combination with salty ingredients sounds quite uncommom as cardamom is mostly known from christmas bakery. Its lemon-like fresh taste is really harmonic and amazing together with the pumpkin. In order to get the most amazing espuma, buy some organic whole cardamom capsules and process them with your mortar!

Step I: Start with the pumpkin soup

Heat up a little olive oil in a large pot. Remove the sprout from the garlic and cut in small cubes. Also cut the shallot and add it with the garlic to the pot.

Cut a hokkaido pumpkin in halves and remove its core with a spoon. Add coarse chunks of pumpkin to the pot and roast it with some soja sauce. 

Step II: Add flavours

Fill up the vegetables with water and season with salt. Add some heat resistant herbs such as rosmary, thyme, sage or oregano. Keep them in one piece so you can easily remove them later. Let the soup cook until the pumpkin is soft. Always keep the pot covered with a lid in order to remain all flavours inside.

Heat up milk in a small pot. Smash the cardamom capsules in a mortal. Usually I take one or two for a quarter liter. Add them to the warm milk, close with a lid and let slowly simmer. Let the cardamom infuse in hot milk. 

Step III: It all comes together

Remove the herbs from the soup. Peel about a thumb size of fresh ginger using a sharp knife. Cut the ginger in small cubes and mix with the soup until it's soft and creamy. Season with pepper and some more salt if needed.

For the espuma filter the cardamom milk through a sieve. Use a milk frother or a mixer to produce the espuma. Decorate the soup in soup plates with the espuma.

flavoured spicy mango

I got to know this surprisingly delicious combination of flavours as a street food in Mexico. Street vendors sell these fresh pieces of mango in cups and flavour them to make them taste even more intense.

Here's how to prepare the mango appetizer:

• cut mango cubes as shown in this post: how to cut mango
• sparkle mango cubes with salt
• cut tiny pieces of fresh chili (core removed) or use dried chili pepper 
• finally season with lime juice

When preparing this appetizer, keep in mind to apply the lime juice in the final step because it will help to distribute the flavours.

how to cut mango

Here's a short 4-step tutorial on how to cut perfect mango cubes.

1. Turn the mango to face the thin side and cut off the sides close along the stone
2. Cut a grid into the halves
3. Evert the grid to let the small cubes stand upwards
4. Cut off the cubes close to the skin

Enjoy this tasty sweet fruit in various delicious combinations such as salads, oatflakes or just on its own!

guacamole

This recipe is a souvenir from my recent trip to Mexico. Guacamole is my all time favorite veggie friendly mexican dish. Keep in mind that the quality of the avocado is essential for the final taste.



Here's a list of ingredients and instructions:

• avocado: cut and smash
• lime: squeeze for juice
• tomato & cucumber: remove watery core and cut in pieces
• cilantro & shallots: chop

Prepare ingredients as expained and mix them in a bowle. Season according to your taste with salt & pepper. Enjoy with taco chips.

scrambled eggs with parmesan

This recipe for scrambled eggs is the perfect healthy breakfast. I enjoy it served with fresh grapefruit and a slice of crispbread. It's easy and fast to make and truely addictive.

Squirl two eggs (for one person) with chopped parsley. Use a peeler or knife to cut off some thin slices of parmesan cheese. Add some salt and fresh pepper to the egg mixture. Slowly heat up a pan with a little butter or oil and add the egg mixture when still not too hot. Keep on stiring until the scrambled eggs are done - never let the pan become too hot or cook the eggs too long as the they might get dry.

A nice variation of this scrambled egg recipe is to replace the parmesan with some goat cheese. I like to add it as huge chunks to the egg mixture in the pan.

eating out in hamburg

I recently spent a weekend in Hamburg and I have to say I really loved it. For eating out I checked a guide of vegetarian restaurants beforehand. Unfortunately, we only had time to check out a few of them, here are my impressions:

Piccolo Paradiso:
For lunch we had a lentil patty with pumpkin and potatoe vegetables. They also had a huge variety of salads. The friendly waitress gave us a free milk rise pudding with cinnamon shortly before it closed.

WakuWaku:
In the evening I had a ginger carrot soup in this organic fast-food restaurant. They are not exclusively vegetarian, but have a large variety of vegan and vegetarian dishes.The interior was very stylish and the soup was exactly what I needed after a cold day.

Hin & Veg!
It is truely a fast-food restaurant: you can get everything as vegetarian or even vegan. We had a cheese burger there for lunch.

Herr Max
We found this place by chance: it's the cutest tiny café. They serve homemade ice-sandwiches which we definitely had to try. We had one with brownie and the other with raspberry.

I'm sure Hamburg has a lot more great veggie spots we missed. I would be thrilled to hear your recommendations!

basic recipe: chickpeas

The high protein and low-fat legume is a basic ingredient for various delicious dishes like salads, soups or falafel. The preperation of fresh chickpeas takes some time but doesn't need a lot of work. I prefer selfmade chickpeas insteads, because of their fresh taste and consistency.

Step I: Put chickpeas in a large bowl of water and let soak over night.

Step II: Drain the water - the chickpeas will now be much larger than before. 

Optionally you can leave the chickpeas in the filter and wash with water every few hours in order to let them sprout and produce more vitamins. After 2-3 days you will see a sprout. You will need to cook or steam them for just a few minutes. I prefer sprouted chickpeas especially for salads.

Step III: Put the chickpeas in a jar with fresh water. The secret ingredient is backing powder: it speeds up cooking time tremendously, because it helps to dissolve the chickpeas' skins. Before further processing drain them with fresh water one last time.

hot ginger milk

As it's getting colder these days I really enjoy a hot drink in the evening. I first read about this ginger milk recipe in an ayurveda book. It is slightly spicy, creamy from the milk and still refreshing, because it is mixed up with water. It is also one of these healthy sugar-free drinks you are likely to get in a café if you ask for ginger tea with extra milk.

The preparation is really simple: Fill up half a cup with milk (I prefer semi skimmed) and add water.
Cut some slices of fresh ginger and add them to the milk. Heat it up and froth it if you like. If you prefer it sweetend add some honey.

the philosophy of veggie origami

For me cooking is a creative process like the art of origami: like processing paper turns simple sheets into little pieces of art, you can create amazing sensations of taste by processing basic ingredients in a certain combination of colors, shapes and textures. 

Veggie origami is a place to get inspired. For me it doesn't make sense to give explicit measures. I'm rather interested in the idea behind the recipies. I love to cook with seasonal fresh organic ingredients and they differ anyway all the time. That's why I strongly recommend to experiment on your own and adapt the recipies to fit your taste and available ingredients.

Over all it's not only about the taste: the way we eat has great influence on how we feel. This blog will help you to turn your kitchen into a creative place and make your life better every day!