Persistent cravings – Anise almond biscotti

December 10, 2017 by nadel&gabel

Anise. For weeks I’ve been craving anise. Don’t ask why, I don’t really know myself. Yes, we’re getting closer to Christmas, but spontaneously I have cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, vanilla, allspice in my mind when thinking about Christmas, not anise first of all. Actually, for most of my life I hated the whole flavour spectrum of anise, liquorice, fennel! Anyhow, this craving persisted! Every now and then I browsed Pinterest for things to bake or cook. Nothing really got me, was […]

Categories: around the world, cake, cookie & dessert, In the kitchen, seasons, Uncategorized, winter • Tags: almond, anise, aniseed, baking, biscotti, christmas, cookie, easy, flavor, italian, recipe

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

Bittersweet symphony – Orange marmalade

January 22, 2017 by nadel&gabel

Bitterness these days seems to be a (global) social diagnosis. Hostility and anxiety are spreading and seem to poison peaceful living together. Sometimes you just want to resign, withdraw from all the … This point has to be overcome. And it will be. Not at once, not by a single person,… … but bitterness can be transformed into courage, it can awaken good forces, strengthen people and bring them together in opposition, articulating loudly their vision of a tolerant, understanding, […]

Categories: dairy-free, diets, gluten-free, In the kitchen, pantry, seasons, spread, sauce & spice, vegan, vegetarian, winter • Tags: bitter, breakfast, change, citrus, jam, juice, marmalade, marmelade, orange, preserving, recipe, spread, sweet, transformation, winter, womens march, zest

The flavour of Christmas – Yeasted waffles Panettone style

December 22, 2016 by nadel&gabel

Before this blog goes into a little Christmas break and I fully immerse into real life with family, presents, a lot of game dishes, cookies, sweet liqueur,… I have a last recipe for this year left for you – obviously Christmas inspired. It’s warm crisp waffles and (kind of) Panettone or Christstollen, all in one! Hooray for Christmas! I boroughed the waffle base from Molly‘s challah waffles recipe, itself an adaption on the classic Belgian Gaufre de Liège. They’re pillowy soft, buttery […]

Categories: around the world, bread, cake, cookie & dessert, dairy-free, diets, German/Swabian, In the kitchen, seasons, snacks & small dishes, vegetarian, winter • Tags: bake, candied, challah, christmas, Christstollen, festive, lemon, liege, orange, Orangeat, panettone, pearl sugar, peel, recipe, sweet, waffle, winter, yeast

Alien – Spiced cake bars

November 27, 2016 by nadel&gabel

   There are times, when I’m surrounded by a bubble that follows me wherever I go. It’s a shield that protects me at least to a certain extent from this crazy, disturbing place our world has become. It’s desperately needed to distance from all the hate an alienation that we’re faced with these days. It’s a wall, too: Invisible, but preventing full immersion, full connection with others. Always one step aside, an alien amongst groups of insiders. Do we have to resign, accept all […]

Categories: cake, cookie & dessert, diets, In the kitchen, seasons, vegetarian, winter • Tags: anis, bar, cake, cardamom, christmas, cinnamon, easy, gingerbread, glaze, hygge, recipe, spice, warming, winter

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

Underneath the surface – Celeriac apple slaw

February 7, 2016 by nadel&gabel

It wasn’t love at first sight. How could you fall in a love with a grey/brown bumpy ball? Aesthetics is not quite the strength of the celeriac (aka celery root). I would go as far as to say it’s the most unattractive root I’ve seen. And probably there are a lot of people that are put off by this strange looking something that easily gets overlooked beneath beauties like the sophisticated cauliflower or the colourful paprika… There is a lot […]

Categories: gluten-free, In the kitchen, salad, seasons, Uncategorized, vegetable, vegetarian, winter • Tags: apple, celeriac, celery, fresh, root, roots, salad, slaw, umami, Waldorf, winter

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