See you there!

A classic Austrian dish (introduced long ago via Bohemia), Powidltascherln are the culinary equivalent of puffy little clouds in an endlessly blue summer sky. Yes, they are that good!

Pate choux is rolled, cut, and filled with Powidl, a concentrated, thick plum jam with a deep flavor. The filled “Tascherln” (Austrian for little pockets) are then simmered in water, and eventually coated in bread crumbs (made from traditional Semmeln), which are slightly roasted with butter and flavored with vanilla, sugar, and cinnamon. All topped off with a light dusting of sugar and a small side of Zwetschkenroester, Austrian style plum compote.

The end result is divine – the rich Powidl is encased by the softest dough, which contrasts nicely with the buttery crunchy breadcrumbs and their exquisite hint of vanilla and cinnamon. Comfort food at its best.

This morning, I went to Brunnenmarkt in Vienna’s 16th district for a little baklava shopping. The market is one of Europe’s longest street markets, and is a fantastic place for both shopping and people watching.

The area around the market is home to a large number of Turkish people as well as Croatians and Serbs who come to shop and socialize in the many little cafes lining the streets. It’s even livelier on Saturdays when everyone comes out to mingle and haggle, giving the whole market the feel of a bazaar. There’s everything from produce, cheese, dried fruit and nuts, to meat, fish, cheap clothes, shoes, and household goods.

It’s a truly multicultural experience as old Turkish men with big mustaches disappear into tiny cafes, Pakistani vendors sell cheap jeans and Croatian soccer jerseys, women in headscarves emerge from bakeries with big loaves of freshly baked flatbread, and produce vendors compete with each other for the next customer.

Cheese made from goat and sheep's milk

Alpine cheese from Western Austria

Daily essentials for sale - coffee and little shopping carts

Dried figs from Turkey

Beautiful dried apricots

Walnuts

Cheese

More cheese

Baklava #1

Baklava #2

And Baklava #3 - glorious!

Brunnenmarkt
Brunnengasse
1160 Vienna, Austria
Monday through Friday 6AM-7:30PM
Saturday 6AM-5PM

The weather has been great lately with the first hint of spring in the air. I’m tired of winter dishes and have been itching to cook lighter food with fresh herbs and vegetables. This tart is a nice taste of things to come in the warmer months ahead – the fresh aroma of mint and lemon combined with creamy feta, crispy puff pastry, and delicious zucchini. The original recipe is from an old issue of Donna Hay Magazine.

Zucchini Tart With Mint And Feta (serves 4)

1 sheet puff pastry (thawed if frozen)
zucchini, thinly sliced (amount depends on the size of the puff pastry sheet)
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
finely grated rind of 1 organic lemon
sea salt and black pepper
1 egg, lightly beaten
about 5 oz (150g) feta, crumbled or cubed
mint leaves
extra olive oil for drizzling

1. Preheat oven to 390F (200C)
2. Place pastry on baking sheet lined with baking paper.
3. Place the zucchini slices, olive oil, lemon rind, salt, and pepper in a bowl and toss to coat.
4. Layer the zucchini in rows on the pastry with slices overlapping, leaving a 1/2″ border all around.
5. Brush pastry border with egg.
6. Bake for about 25 minutes or until pastry is puffed and golden.
7. Let cool slightly and top with feta and mint leaves. Sprinkle with extra pepper and drizzle with extra olive oil.

Enjoy!

I was inspired to bake some cookies today! No point in fighting chocolate cravings, right? These are my husband’s favorite chocolate chip cookies, and he always tries to sneak some as soon as they have come out of the oven.

The original recipe is from an old issue of Everyday Food magazine, but I like to use less sugar and real ground coffee instead of the instant stuff. Vietnamese coffee beans which have been roasted in butter work particularly well in this recipe. A tall glass of cold milk is a must with these cookies!

Double Chocolate Cookies With Coffee

1 cup flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon ground coffee
8 oz. dark chocolate (70%), 4 oz. melted, 4 oz. coarsely chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Mix flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
3. Beat sugar and eggs with an electric mixer until soft and fluffy.
4. Add eggs, one at a time. Incorporate well.
5. Add coffee and melted chocolate and mix well.
6. Gradually add the flour mix and incorporate.
7. Stir chocolate chunks through.
8. Drop generous tablespoons of dough on baking sheet, leaving 2 inches in between.
9. Bake for about 14 minutes.
10. Let cool (if you can wait that long!)

Enjoy!

This bread is fantastic all by itself or with some butter and orange marmalade. It’s irresistible when it’s still warm, and even better with a cup of tea or coffee. The recipe is from the February issue of Martha Stewart Living Magazine. Make sure to plan ahead as the dough requires quite some time to rise, but the actual preparation is very easy and speedy with the help of a food processor.

Cinnamon-Raisin Bread (2 loaves)

2 x 1/4 oz. package active dry yeast
2 1/4 cups warm water
3 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons honey
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for brushing
7 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup sugar + 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, mixed

1. Sprinkle yeast over 1/2 cup water, add 2 teaspoons honey and whisk until yeast dissolves. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.
2. Transfer to a food processor. Add butter and remaining 1 3/4 cups water and 3 tablespoons honey.
3. Add 3 cups of flour and salt.
4. Process until smooth.
5. Add remaining 4 cups of flour, one cup at a time. Add raisins.
6. Process until dough pulls away from sides of bowl and forms a slightly sticky ball.
7. Butter a large bowl.
8. Knead dough on a floured surface a few times, shape into a ball and transfer to bowl. Cover loosely with plastic wrap.
9. Let dough stand in warm place until it doubles in volume. This should take about 1 hour.
10. Remove dough from bowl, punch down, and divide in half.
11. Roll each dough half into an 8 1/2″ long rectangle.
12. Brush rectangles with water and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture, leaving a 1/2″ border around edges.
13. Starting with short side, roll dough into a log. Seal edges with fingers and tuck ends under.
14. Transfer logs to loaf pans with seam side down.
15. Brush tops with melted butter, cover with plastic wrap and let rise in warm place for another 45 to 60 minutes.
16. Bake in preheated oven at 400F (200C) for about 45 minutes. Tent with aluminum foil if top darkens too quickly.

Enjoy!

This is a lovely dish for cold winter days. It’s creamy and warming, yet healthy and very low in fat. This risotto is delicious by itself, or you could serve it with some Italian bread or a small side salad.

Risotto With Carrots and Parsley (Serves 4)

1/4 bunch parsley, finely chopped
350ml vegetable broth
300g orange and yellow carrots, peeled and shredded
1 small red onion, finely chopped
olive oil
200g arborio rice
500ml carrot juice
80ml dry white wine
1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, plus more for sprinkling
salt and pepper

1. Heat olive oil in a big pot and add chopped onion. Cook until translucent.
2. Add shredded carrots and sautee for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Add rice and sautee until translucent.
4. Deglaze with wine and cook until wine has evaporated, stirring frequently.
5. Add broth and carrot juice in batches and cook until most of the liquid has been absorbed and rice is al dente. Stir frequently. The risotto should be creamy and moist.
6. Stir in cheese, and season with salt and pepper.
7. Add parsley.
8. Serve in bowls and sprinkle with extra cheese.

Enjoy!

I recently returned from a trip to Lisbon, where I had some of the best pastry. There was literally a pastelaria (pastry shop) on every corner, and no matter what I tried, it was all delicious.

However, my absolute favorites were pasteis de nata. These are crisp puff pastry shells filled with a heavenly soft custard that is faintly reminiscent of vanilla. The little pastries are eaten straight at the counter, as is tradition there. Along with their order, customers are handed powdered sugar and cinnamon, which are sprinkled over the tarts.

The most famous place to eat pasteis de nata in Lisbon is at Antiga Confeitaria de Belem, which is a sprawling cafe just outside the city in Belem. The place churns out thousands of pasteis de nata every day, and their recipe is top secret. Don’t expect to walk in and get right down to business though – the place is hugely popular with tourists, and there is always a line.

I was anxious to try them, but I actually didn’t like them. The shell was too thin, and the filling too soft and eggy for me. My favorite pasteis de nata came from Casa Brasileira in Baixa, an old neighborhood in downtown Lisbon. Everything was just right about them, and the perfect contrast between the crisp shell and the creamy filling made me come back to this pastelaria way too many times during my trip. I ate copious amounts of their pasteis de nata, and I would fly to Lisbon just for an order of them! In the meantime, I’m going to do the next best thing, and try baking them myself.

Pastelaria Casa Brasileira
Rua Augusta, 267-269
Lisbon, Portugal

Antiga Confeitaria de Belem
Rua de Belem, 84-92
Belem, Portugal
www.pasteisdebelem.pt

This is a great dish when you’re pressed for time. There’s not much chopping, and once all the ingredients are prepped, the dish is finished in less than five minutes.

Chicken Stir-Fry With Baby Corn (Serves 4)

500g boneless chicken breast, cut into thin strips
200g baby corn
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 red chili, seeded and finely chopped
3cm piece ginger, finely chopped
1 red bell pepper, cut into bite sized pieces
2 scallions, sliced
80g sugar snap peas
3 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons oyster sauce, or to taste
2 tablespoons fish sauce, or to taste
1 teaspoon palm sugar

1. Blanch baby corn in slightly salted boiling water. Drain and set aside.
2. Heat oil in wok over high heat.
3. Add garlic, chili, and ginger and stir fry for about 1 minute.
4. Add chicken and stir fry until brown.
5. Add vegetables, one at a time, and stir fry after each addition. Don’t over cook vegetables. They should still have a nice “bite”.
6. Stir in oyster sauce, fish sauce, and palm sugar.
7. Serve with jasmine rice.

Enjoy!

“Monsanto is an agricultural company. We apply innovation and technology to help farmers around the world produce more while conserving more. We help farmers grow yield sustainably so they can be successful, produce healthier foods, better animal feeds and more fiber, while also reducing agriculture’s impact on our environment.”

In the 1970′s US company Monsanto developed and introduced a new herbicide to the market, Roundup. Its main active ingredient is glyphosate, which is highly toxic and has been shown to have a number of serious effects on humans and animals, ranging from endocrine disruption to genetic damage. Oral ingestion of even small quantities has proven lethal in humans. Despite scientific evidence of Roundup’s toxicity, Monsanto has made various false claims regarding the product’s safety for humans and the environment, and the company has even paid scientists and labs to manufacture false “studies” and test results. Roundup has been the number one selling herbicide in the world for the past 30 years.

Since the mid-90′s Monsanto has been producing genetically modified (GM) seed crops that are resistant to Roundup, called Roundup Ready. Roundup Ready crops now include soybeans, corn, canola, and sugar beet. Wheat and alfalfa are still under development. About 95% of all soybeans and 80% of all corn grown in the US is based on GM seed patented by Monsanto.

In an effort to expand its already far reaching dominance of the genetically modified and hybrid seed market, Monsanto has resorted to bullying its clients (= farmers) into signing highly questionable licensing contracts. The Associated Press (AP) obtained these confidential agreements, which are now under investigation by the US Justice Department for possible antitrust violations. Among other things, these contracts prohibit farmers from mixing Monsanto GM seed with GM seed from other manufacturers.

While it seems to be of little relevance to the end consumer whether his cornflakes come from GM seeds produced by Monsanto or DuPont, a de facto elimination of any competition leaves Monsanto in charge of controlling the price for those cornflakes. In 2008, Monsanto raised prices of some of its corn seeds by 25%, with another 7% increase planned for this year. The company raised prices for its soybean seeds in 2008 by 28%, and may raise them again this year by another 6%.

Never tired of defending its spotless reputation, Monsanto posted a response to the AP’s investigation on the company blog, explaining the principles of the free market and why it is impossible for Monsanto to do anything but good. Which makes non-organic cornflakes taste that much staler, unless you eat them with a generous amount of Posilac pumped up milk, but that’s another story…