While some people seem to struggle to get their head around Japanese sweets, I fell head over heels in love with mochi, matcha and black sesame anything and everything when Alessandro and I went to Japan 5 years ago. Unlike matcha or black sesame, kinako was never the star of any of the sweet confections we tried yet it was still present, dusted over glutinous rice flour dumplings or ice cream, adding a deliciously nutty flavour. Kinako, better known as roasted soybean flour outside of Japan, means ‘yellow flour’ in Japanese and that is exactly what it looks like. It is made by pulverizing roasted and skinned yellow soya beans (although you can also buy kinako made from whole soya beans). Apparently you can also buy kinako made from green soya beans which has a greenish hue. Although you can make your own kinako, it is much easier to pick up a small bag at a Japanese supermarket (especially as
Recipes
Rose Petal and Raspberry Spelt Muffins
I did not intend to be away from this space for this long without stopping by to say hello but somehow the usual one week turned into two and those quickly turned into three. Suffice to say work has been busy, I have been away, first in Italy and then in Germany, I have been trying to get on top of my never-ending list of final moving and flat-related errands and some recipes have been taking longer to test than expected (white chocolate miso brownies, I am looking at you!). These muffins were inspired by a rosy tart I am working on and that will be shared on food& in a few weeks. While Monday mornings are as good a time as any to swap weekend indulgences like buttery croissants or pancakes doused in maple syrup for porridge, there is nothing like a homemade pastry and a good cup of coffee to take the edge off the start to another
Coconut and mixed berry financiers (vegan)
I finally bought a sofa. In case you are wondering, yes, I have been in Brussels for over a month now and have been without a sofa the entire time. That current state of affairs will likely continue until the end of June as that is approximately when my sofa will be delivered. But I don’t care. It took me forever to pick a sofa (I am the most indecisive person when it comes to decisions with a hefty price tag attached), but I am super happy with my choice. After weeks of looking at sofas in furniture stores, browsing pinterest for inspiration and googling sofa beds for hours after work I finally managed to pick one. I test sat it in store once more on Saturday and had another look at the colours on offer before finally buying it. I chose a beautiful three seater sofa in a salt & pepper coloured wool covering and that just happens to also
Miso Toffee Rolo
A couple of weeks ago I bought a 3kg bag of wholemeal spelt flour from the organic supermarket just around the corner of my flat here in Brussels and got started on a new sourdough starter culture. I loosely followed the recipe in the latest Tartine book although I ended up having to rely much more on visual clues and tips I picked up from friends and family with far more experience with all things sourdough (like my mum) as my starter refused to play game and become active within the timeframe set out in the Tartine book. I waited and waited and although I would not say my new kitchen is particularly drafty it took me close to 2 weeks to have a mature starter. Now that I finally have a mature starter, I have already baked a couple of loaves and the results are very promising. I need to work on my shaping and handling of the dough (it is
Miso Banana Custard Tart
I spent the Easter weekend in Italy. Apart from a day of torrential rain and having to catch up with some work, the weekend was all kinds of wonderful, mainly because I got to hang out with my favourite person who doesn’t even get mad anymore when all my talking about food and new recipes means we are so distracted we again miss the right exit on the motorway. There was an insane amount of food the entire weekend, including a rather large burger at a place we had been meaning to try for a while (a 500g beef patty combined with an equally large bun and even Alessandro was keen to share). We had lasagne, as is traditional for Easter around where Alessandro is from. There was both a vegetarian version (Alessandro’s mum is vegetarian) and one made by his dad that was filled with dozens of tiny meatballs the size of peas as well as cake made by
North African Long Pepper Steak and Preserved Lemon Sauce
Lest you all worry about me surviving solely off caffeine and cake (I know for a fact my mum certainly gets worried at times) today I have a savoury recipe for you (and if you follow me on instagram you might have already seen some of these shots). Although I mainly post sweet recipes here, I do actually really enjoy cooking and experimenting with savoury ingredients too. Like with baking I don’t tend to limit myself to a single regional cuisine although I do go through phases of cooking a lot of Indian, Thai, Italian or Mexican Food (in addition to spots of nostalgia-induced cooking of some of the German dishes I grew up with). The Peppermongers had asked me to come up with a few savoury recipes using their peppers and here is the first one – a North African twist on the classic steak au poivre (or pepper steak). Pepper steak is a tried and tested classic that
read more North African Long Pepper Steak and Preserved Lemon Sauce
Einkorn, Goat Yoghurt and Date Scones
I have been in Brussels just over a week now and, unsurprisingly, Brussels does not quite feel like home yet. But I am sure things will feel different once my boxes from Rome have arrived (which should happen some time next week), my cookbooks are crammed into my bookshelf and I actually have a sofa to sit on. Until then, I will bake scones. Scones are easy and if there is anything that can make you feel at home then it is eating a freshly baked scone slathered in butter and jam (even if you are eating your scone standing in your kitchen as your flat does not yet have any chairs or a sofa). The first thing I had planned on baking in my new kitchen wasn’t these scones or anything sweet at all. Instead, I wanted to bake bread, a variation of the kamut and polenta bread I posted a while ago. But when I wanted to weigh
Celeriac, Walnut, Coffee, Vanilla
If there is one thing I learned from my mum is that a chef should not be solely judged by how they prepare their lobster or a white truffle dish. Instead, we should look at what they are able to create with simple and accessible ingredients, cheap cuts of meat which require real technique to turn them into something delicious and the amount of flavour they are able to extract from humble ingredients like celeriac. Typically made into salads or slaws in Germany, celeriac only really started to grow on me when I happened upon a celeriac mashed potato recipe in one of Jamie Oliver’s earlier books. While not as starchy as potatoes, celeriac adds a distinct flavour to potato mash, sweet and peppery, which I really like both with grilled fish and braised beef dishes. Celeriac is not something Romans typically cook with (and I remember endlessly walking around my favourite market here in Rome last winter, a photo
Black Sesame Loaf with a Kinako Glaze
Alessandro and I came back from our trip to Laos and Thailand a few days ago. We have been back in Rome just long enough to take care of mountains of laundry but are still fighting our jet lag on a daily basis. The day after we arrived the packing materials for my move to Brussels arrived and thanks to surprisingly decent day-time TV (House MD, Gilmore Girls, Friends re-runs) one of the walls of our living room is now made up of stacks of boxes, some taped shut already, others waiting to be filled. I have moved a lot in the last few years and far too many of those moves have been of the international kind. I love having had the opportunity to live in so many different places and countries but let’s just say that international moves are even more fun (read: stressful) than moving already is. It inevitably starts with flathunting in a different country and
Double Rye Treacle Tarts
Alessandro and I have been travelling around Northern Laos and Northern Thailand for just over a week now. We have been getting up early to watch the hustle and bustle of the morning markets, wandered through the grounds of stunning temples, walked along the banks of the Mekong river, travelled on local buses so full people were sitting on rice bags in the middle of the aisles and swam in the turquoise water of one of the most beautiful waterfalls I have ever seen. While every trip comes with its own challenges, whether it be jet-lag, getting sick, over-hyped destinations, missed flights or buses – and this trip has certainly had its fair share of that as well – I am so glad we decided to go on this trip. Time seemed to have stopped while we are taking in our new (and temporary) surroundings with all their new-to-us sights, smells and flavours. Above all, it is so nice to spend
REAL SIMPLE FOOD 