Gin's Raspberry Dream

For 8 servings

500g raspberries (fresh or frozen)

2 eggs

40g sugar

1 sachet of vanilla sugar

1dl milk

1.5dl single cream

Icing sugar for dusting

Dough:

250g flour

60g of sugar

125g butter, cold

1 egg

For the dough, mix the flour and sugar in a bowl. Cut the cold butter into flakes and add to the bowl. Start crumbling everything between your fingers. Mix egg and add. Mix it all quickly into a dough.

Wrap the dough into a plastic wrap and let it rest for amount 30 minutes. Roll the dough out on baking paper until you get the size of your baking tray. Lay carefully on your baking tray, pull the edges up slightly, poke the dough various times with a fork and then put it back in the fridge.

Preheat oven to 200C.

For the topping, mix the eggs, sugar, vanilla sugar, milk and cream well together. Distribute raspberries on the dough. Pour topping over. Bake the tart in the lower part of the oven for about 30 minutes.

Take out, let cool slightly and dust the edges with icing sugar. Et voila!

Bon appetit!

Ginny's spicy beef salad

 Recipe to follow shortly! Patience... :-)

Mum's famous potato gratin

For 4 servings

1kg of potatoes (for gratin)

2 garlic cloves

salt, pepper, nutmeg

4-5dl of cream

1 pack of grated cheese (Only use Gruyère or similar and not Emmental)

1  big gratin form

I only tried this recipe a couple of years ago... Since my mother always made the best gratin in the world I have always been a bit scared of trying it. But she gave me the secret recipe which I tried and I could have just lied into this gratin... it was so incredibly delicious. And trust me, if you try this recipe, get ready for quite a lot of compliments and silence at your dining table - you know what I mean! This gratin goes perfect with any meat. Whether it's a nice steak, some lamb racks, it just completes every meal. So get ready for it!

Pre-heat the oven at 200C. Please note that this takes about 1h - 1.5h. So if you don't have too much time, you can blanch the potatoes prior putting them in the oven.  So the quick version is: Peel the potatoes, cut them in thin (about 2-3mm) slices and cook them in some salted water until al dente.  For the "slow" version you just peal & cut the potatoes as described above but don't cook them. I always do it that way. It works perfectly fine, even if you don't have too much time.

Then put the cut potatoes into a big bowl (whether cooked or not), add all ingredients (salt, pepper, nutmeg, cream, 2 pressed garlic cloves and the grated cheese) and mix it all with your hands until all potato slices are covered with it all. Then take your gratin form and rub it in with quite a lot of butter. When done fill in the potatoes into your gratin form and shove it into the oven. Et voilà! Now you count about 1h-1.5h if you didn't blanch the potatoes before, and if you did about 30min less. Always check your oven to check how "tanned" your gratin is. In case the color gets too intense just turn down the temperature to about 150C. You might also want to prepare some bouillon in case you see that your potatoes are getting a bit dry. This can happen depending on the sort of potatoes. Never happened to me (touch wood...) since the cream & the right potatoes always made it right. Lucky me!

Ok, that's about all the magic you need to know to make THE perfect potato gratin. Check for some nice meat recipes along with this delicious side dish. Bon appétit!

Wine recommendation: Some nice, heavy red wine with a taste of dark berries. My all-time favorite red wine for meat is the "Primitivo 60' anni" or the Shiraz from Peter Lehmann.

Music recommendation: Marco di Marco (at Carnegie Hall), Nat King Cole, Dean Martin

Grand-ma's Fiery Nettle Soup

For 4-8 servings

- 500gr „young“ nettles (weighed when already prepared)
- 0.5l water
- 1TS salt
- 0.5l vegetable bouillon
- 2TS cornstarch
- 3TS cold milk
- 2TS cream
- salt, pepper, nutmeg
- butter

I know that probably most of you didn’t know that you can actually make a delicious soup out of nettles. But you can. And my grandmother Daisy proved it to me with this recipe. So just be brave and give it a try. Best is to go and hunt for the nettles in April/May and only pick the very top of the leaves which are “young” and small.

First of all I guess I don’t have to tell you to wear gloves when you go and pick the nettles. When you got all the nettles, wash them thorough under cold water. Then cook them in hot salt water until done (about 5-10min). Then let the nettles drain on a strainer and chop finely. Use 5dl of the cooking water and poor it back into the pan and add the 5dl vegetable bouillon and heat up until its boiling and remove from the stove. Dissolve the 2TS of cornstarch with the 3TS of cold milk and add to the fluid while stirring, put back on the stove and slightly let it boil up again.

Stir in the nettles and the cream and season (as per your taste) with salt and nutmeg. Prior serving add a couple of pieces of cold butter to the soup. It gives a really nice taste to it. Serve a nice piece of fresh baguette with it – et voilà!

Bon appétit!

Wine recommendation: With this dish I would serve a light white wine like a Soave or a nice Sauvignon Blanc

Music recommendation: Lisa Ekdahl

Treat yourself with a nice dinner

Here a nice red wine Risotto with some tender beef filet. With that one of my favorite red wines, a delicious Malbec from Argentina.

Sunday Baking Time

Ginny's Sugo

For 4 servings

1 big red onion
3dl good red wine (same as the one you will be drinking with this marvellous dish)
7 nice medium/big tomatoes
some fresh basil
some fresh or dried oregano
dried chili
pepper
salt
Pasta (Spaghetti, Penne or whatever you like)

 


Well this dish can actually be eaten at any occasion. Who doesn't like a wonderful nice plate of pasta with a delicious self-made sugo. I actually "created" this dish, since I just had some beautiful tomatoes left in my fridge and didn't want to eat 3 pounds of tomato/mozzarella salad. So, what else to do? Well there you go. Also, you can increase this recipe to how much you need, and keep the extra sauce in the fridge or freezer for later use. So let's get started...

First of all we have to get rid of the tomato skin. Yes, I know, why peel tomatoes? Well the answer is very simple: it's much better, gives a better texture, softer in the mouth. The skin is tough and adds nothing to the taste.

Boil a large pan of water, and prepare a large bowl of cold water. Remove the small green stalk from each tomato. Then with a good knife cut a cross in the top of each tomato. Then water is boiling, put two or three tomatos in the pan. Leave them in for 20 seconds. The skin will split, starting from the top incision. Remove them with a skimmer or a spoon, and plunge immediately into cold water. Continue with all tomatoes. Remove tomatoes from cold water, peel off the skin with a knife discard it. With a knife remove the green and hard core of the tomatos ("the bone"), and discard it.

Then start by chopping the onions finely. Put them in a pan with some olive oil and heat up until nice & glassy (for about 7min on medium heat). As soon as you can smell the wonderful smell and the sizzle, pour in the red wine and let it simmer for about another 5min.

After that start adding your prepared tomatos. Add the fresh or dried basil, oregano & chili and let it simmer on low heat for about 2 hours. Stir it from time to time to time, then taste it and add some salt & pepper as you wish. Also if you like it spicy add some more chili.

After the two hours are over, take a masher (yes same as for the potatos) and mash the tomatoes in the pan. You will just love the smell... trust me... Then just leave it on the stove.

Then start cooking your pasta, serve them nicely on a plate and add your magnificient sauce. Add a fresh leaf of basil on top for decoration & buon appetito!

Wine recommendation: Some nice, fruity red wine, i.e. a nice Primitivo

Music recommendation: Dean Martin, Carla Bruni, Marina Rei

Fig tart with goat cheese and lavender

For 4 servings

3 TS Honey
4dl Port wine
1 Pack of Puff Pastry (approx. 400gr)
5 ripe figs (cut in thin slices)
1 egg yolk
1dl cream
160gr goat cheese (4 small ones of 40gr)
5-6 lavender branches
1 round jagged cutter with about 12cm diameter

This dish is perfect as a starter if you plan a nice dinner with cheese, wine & bread. But also perfect as a simple dish to be served with a nice salad. The mixture of the tastes of the fresh figs, the goat cheese and the sweetness of the honey & port wine...  Delicious! Also this dish takes about 15min to prepare and about 15min to bake. So just perfect if you don't have enough time, but want to present a delicious & beautiful dish. So let's get started...

Pre-heat the oven to 190C. Melt the honey in a small pot on small/medium heat, the fill up with the port wine. Reduce the port wine on high heat to about 1/5 then take of the stove and let it cool down. With the cutter, cut out 4 circles and put them on baking paper on a baking tray. Mix the egg yolk and the cream and reap the 4 pastry circles with it. Now place the thin fig slices on each of the 4 pastry circles like roof tiles. Leave a small border of about 0.5cm on the pastry circles. No greatly brush the figs with the honey/port wine reduction on all 4 of the pastry circles. Finito! Now put it for about 15min in the oven. After 15min place one of the each small goat cheeses on the 4 pastry circle, and continue to bake for about 5min until the cheese slowly starts to melt.

Place each of the 4 tarts on a plate, again brush it generously with the honey/port wine reduction and decorate with a lavender branch. Bon appétit!

Wine recommendation: Some nice, fruity red wine, i.e. a nice Primitivo.

Music recommendation: Madeleine Peyroux, Carla Bruni, Mariza

Creamy Celery Soup

For 4 servings

- 15gr butter
- 250gr celery
- 1l water
- 1-2dl cream
- bit of flour
- salt, pepper, lemon juice






Had this soup the first time in a very nice restaurant close to where I live with a very special person. Don’t know whether it stayed in my mind because of those facts, or whether it just tasted so incredibly nice. In anyway, I have tried it various times myself, and decided that this is the best way to do it. But find out for yourself. It’s really easy to do, and tastes just wonderful. Also, I always serve this soup in a small jar (yes for jam) which costs about SFr. 2.- in the store, and you can close the lid before serving. So the nice smell will evaporate when you open the lid.


Ok, first melt the butter in a medium pan, add the chopped celery and sprinkle with some flour. Then pour the boiling water over it and let it simmer for about 15min. Then season with some salt, pepper & lemon juice. Then mass with a hand blender, and add a bit of cream to taste, mass, and season with cream.


Bon appétit!


Wine recommendation: Would definitely go with a soft & light white wine, like a nice Soave or Riesling

 
Music recommendation: Lady Antebellum

Divine Guinness Beef Stew

For 8 servings (or more)

- 1.2kg of beef for stew (cut into cubes)
- olive oil
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 2 medium onions
- 100gr of flour
- 4dl of beef bouillon
- 1 big can of Guinness Extra Stout
- 3 large carrots
- 2-3 bay leaves
- pepper
- 1 pack of dried & pitted prunes
- 1 bunch of parsley (for the garnish)

Definitely one of my all-time favorite dishes… It’s simply divine… Based on my experience it’s rather a dish for colder days, but since it’s so great you can do it all year around. I just love it!


First of all I can only recommend buying some really nice & tender beef. Definitely worth it! Either you can ask the butcher to cut it in 2.5cm-3cm cubes straight away, or you do it yourself. Really important to take tender beef, since this stew will only cook for about 1.5h-2h.


Peel the carrots and cut them into about 1.5cm-2cm pieces. Then cut the onions and press the garlic and in case you are cutting the beef yourself, please get this done now as well. Get a big pan (for example a Le Creuset) ready, heat the oil and fry the onions for about 3-4min. Then add the garlic and continue to fry for about 30sec. Then remove the onions & the garlic from the pot. It is very important to cook the meat in small batches. So don't "throw" the whole load of meat into the pot. Put the first batch of beef cubes into the pot until it's nicely brown. Then take it out and do the next batch. When you are done with all the meat, but the whole lot back in to the pot and sprinkle it with the flour. Reduce the heat to simmer. Stir in the flour so that all the meat is coated. Then add the beef bouillon, stir, and add the Guinness, and stir again. When all stirred up and nicely simmering, add the onions, garlic, carrots and the bay leaves (don't forget to take the bay leaves out before serving). When all ingredients are in the pot, gently stir again. The beer/broth should now cover all ingredients. If this isn't the case, you may need to add some more beef bouillon. Let the stew simmer gently and uncovered for about 1h. There should only be little bubbles with the occasional waft of steam coming from the stew. Only stir it from time to time.


While the stew is cooking, chop up the dried & pitted prunes. After the 1h is over, add the prunes to the stew, stir, and continue cooking for about 30min-45min. The prunes will simply melt inside the stew and add an incredible flavor to it and a nice and glossy finish. The perfect things to serve with this divine dish are mashed potatoes and pees. But of course you can choose whatever you like.


Bon appétit!


Wine recommendation: Either you can enjoy a nice beer with this dish or a big and aromatic red wine like an Amarone


Music recommendation: Sting

Penne with green asparagus & smoked ham

For 2 servings

300-400gr of Penne
6 slices of smoked country ham (also works with Parma ham, but prefer that one)
lemon pepper, salt, pepper
bit of olive oil
2dl white wine
2dl of cream
500gr green asparagus
some grated Parmesan (if you like)







I basically "created" this dish, when I cooked myself some green asparagus the night before and had about half of a kilo left (already cooked). So, either you might be in the same situation, or you just cook the green asparagus on the same day you do this dish. Also tried it with white asparagus, but a) doesn't really look that appealing with the penne, and somehow the taste didn't make me scream hurray. But hey, give it a try in case you want to try it for yourselves. Tastes as different all over this world, and that's what cooking is all about.


So, as said, in case you don't have the asparagus already cooked, then cut about 2cm off the bottom of the asparagus and cook them for about 10-15min in boiling water. Please make sure that the asparagus are still al dente since you have to cook them on afterwards. Start cooking the water for the penne so they're ready when your sauce will be ready to be served.


When done, cut the asparagus in about 2-3cm pieces (slightly cut diagonally since it looks nicer). Take the slices of smoked country ham and cut or tear it in about 2cm slices. Then add some olive oil in your pan, add your cooked & cut asparagus in the pan. Not too hot. You basically just have to steam them up to get all the nice tastes of the ingredients together. Cook it for about 4min then add the ham and cook on for about 4min. Add some of the lemon pepper, salt and normal pepper. Mixed it all up but make sure you don't "break" the asparagus. When all heated up, add the white wine, and let it simmer for about another 4min. Just before your Penne are ready, add some cream to your asparagus and mix it all up. Make sure you taste it. If too salty add some more cream. I also like to add some crushed chili - but that's up to you.


Then put the penne in the frying pan with the sauce and mix it all up, so that all the penne are covered in this delicious sauce. Et voilà, ready to serve! Bon appétit!


Wine recommendation: Some nice, fruity and dry white wine with a nice taste of citrus fruits. One of my favorites is the Roero Arneis from the Piemont region. But any nice & light white wine will do with this dish.


Music recommendation: Coldplay, Muse, Jamiroquai

Grand-ma's Radish Leaf Soup

For 4-8 servings

3 bunches of radishes (with leaves - since the most important part)

some butter

salt, pepper, nutmeg

1-2dl of cream

4 large potatoes (for soups)

1l of vegetable bouillon

2-3 pairs of Wiener sausages

I am not a big soup lover, but this soup has definitely changed my opinion about soups. My dear Grand-ma Daisy always used to cook it for us. This soup was basically invented for nice & cold winter days.

Cut the leaves from radishes and wash well. You leave the radishes aside for other use. Melt butter in heavy large soup pan over medium heat. Add onion and roast until tender (about 5 minutes). Add radish leaves and roast until soft (about 2 minutes). Add potatoes and about ¾ of the bouillon. Cover and simmer until vegetables are tender (about 20 minutes).

Puree soup with a hand blender. Or just fill it by batches into a blender. Return to saucepan. Mix in a bit of the cream. Stir over medium heat until hot. Season soup with salt and pepper. You can also add some chopped wiener sausages into the soup – really nice! :-)

Bon appétit!

Wine recommendation: Some nice, heavy red wine with a taste of dark berries. My all-time favorite red wine for meat is the "Primitivo 60' anni" or the Shiraz from Peter Lehmann.

Music recommendation: Marco di Marco (at Carnegie Hall), Nat King Cole, Dean Martin

Thank you

First of all I would like to thank you for even opening my blog. It proves to me yet again that there are many women and men out there who love the wonderful world of cooking. For whatever you need this very special cooking book, whether it's to impress someone, to impress guests, to impress yourself or just to prove to yourself that you can cook fantastic dishes without standing for 6 hours in the kitchen, you will be surprised.

For me cooking has always been my way of Yoga. Whether I got home from work at 9pm I always cooked myself a nice dinner. It has always been a wonderful way to turn off from work, and also to enjoy a nice dinner at the end of a busy day. Also I simply love to have friends over for dinner, and to sit down with them and enjoy a nice dinner with a nice bottle of wine.

This love for food & cooking comes from my mother who's probably one of the best cooks I know. Is there any better food than a homemade dish by Mum? I don't think so. Also living in a world of dishes where the only instructions are "3min at 600 and add some water", I think homemade dishes become - unfortunately - very rare. Think about it; how many people do you know who really love to cook and also do it on a regular basis? There you go.

Well I hope that I can change this a little with the following recipes, which I consider perfect if you don't have the entire day to go shopping, prepare, chop, decorate etc., but you still want to cook & savior a delicious dish. Also I added wine and music recommendations which I thought match perfectly with those recipes. Give it a try, you might agree. The only main ingredients for a nice dinner are basically love, passion and a bit of courage. Trust me, cooking is not Quantum Physics. If you don't follow a recipe one-to-one, the world will be turning tomorrow. Be courageous and just adapt the recipes with things you like, and leave away things you don't like. And, if it really turns out bad, well then you just start again. It's that easy.

I thank my Mum for all the things she taught me in the kitchen, the recipes she shared with me and the luxury of having a mother who actually cooked for us day by day, instead of having us grow up with microwave food. Thank you to my grandmother Daisy, who showed me the wonderful world of soups, berries and the specialties of the French part of Switzerland. Also thanks to my best friend, who supported me (well almost forced me...) in starting to write about cooking and sharing my love for it with all of you. But in return she will be forced to cook all of my recipes. So we are even. And another thank you goes out to all my friends who had to try some of my "special" dishes which sometimes turned out a bit different than expected... but as previously said, the world is still turning and they are still my friends.