Into the Krauts – Golden and red Sauerkraut

November 19, 2017 by nadel&gabel

5 1/2 years of food blogging and quite some more of cooking … it took such a long time for me to attempt one of the most iconic German dishes, Sauerkraut. The ‘Krauts‘ – the view from outside doesn’t leave any doubts. Although Germans weren’t the first that developed the idea of lacto-fermented cabbage. I, for my share, have made already a few experiences with wild fermentation – homemade yoghurt, Kimchi ,water kefir -, learned about the health benefits, especially for digestion and […]

Categories: around the world, autumn, dairy-free, diets, German/Swabian, gluten-free, In the kitchen, pantry, salad, seasons, spread, sauce & spice, vegan, vegetable, vegetarian, winter • Tags: bacteria, beetroot, cabbage, carrot, cumin, fermentation, fermented, flavour, german, ginger, healthy, Kraut, lactic acid, pantry, probiotic, recipe, Sauerkraut, turmeric, vitamin, winter

Culinary heritage – Vegetarian Soljanka

September 23, 2017 by nadel&gabel

Soljanka – a hearty dish that was omnipresent on our trip through Saxony, Brandenburg and Thuringia. It probably is the best known Russian soup besides Borschtsch. It’s popular all around Eastern Europe and exists in uncountable variations. In Germany the popularity basically is limited to the eastern part of the country. 40 years of separation into two different states left its traces – by far not only, but as well in terms of culinary traditions. Due to ‘socialist brotherhood’ a […]

Categories: around the world, autumn, diets, German/Swabian, gluten-free, In the kitchen, seasons, soup & stew, vegetable, vegetarian, winter • Tags: cooking, cuisine, DDR, Eastern Europe, easy, Germany, gherkin, hearty, paprika, recipe, russian, smoked, soljanka, sour, stew, tart, tofu, weeknight

From the range – Molly’s sesame coffee cake with hawaij

November 13, 2016 by nadel&gabel

 One of my latest cook book purchases is “Molly on the range”. I still know exactly when I started to read Molly’s blog My name is Yeh: When she made caramels in the snow. I mean, how crazy funny is that?! The picture sticks to my mind and in many ways it characterizes her approach to cooking and baking: never too serious, always with fun and lots of sprinkles, not afraid of untraditional ways of preparing or combining ingredients. I guess, a lot […]

Categories: around the world, autumn, cake, cookie & dessert, diets, In the kitchen, seasons, spread, sauce & spice, vegetarian, winter • Tags: cake, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, coffee, coffee cake, fushion, ginger, hawaij, Hawayej, molly on the range, molly yeh, nontraditional, recipe, sesame, spice, streusel, tahini

Soulwarming – Pear fritters with chocolate sauce à la Hélène

October 22, 2016 by nadel&gabel

On those autumn days when the colour of the sky only knows the monochromatic shades of grey (no reference) that are slowly creeping into your mood, the best thing you can do is cuddling into your wool blanket with a hot cup of tea… … and enjoy some food, that caresses your soul, brings coziness deep inside, brings warmth to your heart. It helps when chocolate is involved 😉 In this case I paired chocolate with one of my sweet […]

Categories: autumn, cake, cookie & dessert, diets, German/Swabian, grains & legumes, In the kitchen, seasons, snacks & small dishes, vegetarian • Tags: autumn, bake, belle Hélène, Birne Helene, chocolate, dessert, easy, fritters, pear, recipe, soulfood, sweet, warm

The essential – Buckwheat galette with gorgonzola, pear and king oyster mushrooms

September 27, 2016 by nadel&gabel

After a time of broadening horizons, extending your comfort zones, having time to think about perspectives, the big plans, it’s probably a natural cycle to zoom in again, to turn the attention to the small steps, life at your doorstep. Both is important. While summer gently and gradually fades into autumn, I’m trying to keep the summer visions and translate them into everyday life. It’s all about focusing on the nitty-gritty, the essential, don’t let yourself get distracted or roped […]

Categories: around the world, autumn, bread, diets, gluten-free, grains & legumes, In the kitchen, seasons, vegetarian • Tags: autumn, blue cheese, Breton, buckwheat, cheese, crepe, easy, galette, gorgonzola, king oyster, mushroom, pancake, pear, recipe, savoury

Comforting and nourishing – German potato soup

January 10, 2016 by nadel&gabel

  Hello again! I hope everyone had a good start into 2016! Actually I’ve ment to report back here sooner, but the new year started with some left over work from the old one … 😦 Anyway, I don’t want to start the new complaining. I had great days with my family and friends, yummy food and I enjoyed to be mostly cooked for. We had time to think about the new year, plans, wishes, hopes, while the weather outside … […]

Categories: autumn, German/Swabian, In the kitchen, soup & stew, vegetable, vegetarian, winter • Tags: celeriac, comfort, easy, food, german, healthy, potato, recipe, roots, sausage, simple, soup, stew, vegetable, warming, winter

Wholesome – Onigiri with tuna filling

November 29, 2015 by nadel&gabel

“Muss ich immer alles müssen, was ich kann?” (Do I always have to do things cause I can do?) – No, I guess, we don’t have to. Too often we think, that there’s no other way, we feel obliged to people, traditions, to-do-lists. But when we pause, when we refuse all the must’s, ignore the pile of work for a while, postpone tidying up the apartment and decorating for christmas, when we do mostly nothing, or only the things we […]

Categories: around the world, autumn, grains & legumes, In the kitchen, snacks & small dishes, spring, summer, Uncategorized, winter • Tags: gari, ginger, japanese, kimchi, korean, nori, onigiri, recipe, spicy, sushi, triangular, tuna

Winter cravings – Deep dish corn pizza with kale, bacon and gorgonzola

November 15, 2015 by nadel&gabel

Kale. During the last years when kale recipes spread the food blogger universe I started to appreciate this kind of cabbage. Actually, before all this, I think I haven’t ever eaten kale at all. There is this traditional Northwestern German dish called “Grünkohl mit Pinkel” – but here in the South – you wouldn’t have found kale on a farmer’s market in November … until this hype began… I never enjoyed kale cooked into a mash in this traditional German way. But I […]

Categories: autumn, In the kitchen, pizza, quiche & tart, Uncategorized, winter • Tags: autumn, bacon gorgonzoal, blue cheese, cabbage, cheese, chips, cornbread, deep dish, easy, Grünkohl, hearty, kale, pizza, recipe, winter

Shake, shake, shake… – Crispy oven roasted potatoes

November 8, 2015 by nadel&gabel

“Oven roasted potatoes? Are you serious? You want to tell us how to bake potatoes? Let me guess: You… bake… potatoes?!” I know, I know,… but wait! For long – actually for most of my life – the carbs of my choice always were pasta. You’ll never ever find our kitchen without a bag of penne and a can of tomatoes. My survival kit! But lately they find a strong competitor in potatoes, especially prepared this way. In fact, since weeks […]

Categories: autumn, dairy-free, gluten-free, In the kitchen, seasons, snacks & small dishes, spring, summer, Uncategorized, vegan, vegetable, vegetarian, winter • Tags: baked, crispy, easy, everyday, has brown, oven, paprika, potato, potatoes, rösti, recipe, roasted, spice