Sous vide beef tenderloin with roasted veggies

Beef tenderloin with roasted veggies and a rich red wine sauce is as classic as a dish can get. And that not without reason: In all its simplicity, it’s utterly delicious. Meat: Sear an entire beef tenderloin in olive oil seasoned with rosemary and garlic. Transfer the meat and herbs into a bag, vacuum seal…

Bilberry curd cake

Merengue with double cream and wild berries – that’s as Swiss as pudding gets. The desert of my seven course tasting menu is a modification of this classical dish: Bilberry curd on a hazelnut sponge with a soft merengue topping served a on luscious double cream mirror. A mellow ending to a lip smacking evening….

Duck and scallops accompanied by beetroot and orange

Sous vide duck a l’orange with pan seared scallops – doesn’t that sound scrumptious? It’s a surf and turf marriage made in heaven. Sous vide duck: Score a diamond pattern through the fat of the duck breast with a sharp knife. Be careful not to score the meat. Starting with the fat side down, pan…

Jerusalem artichoke cappuccino with bacon shortbread cookies

A starter served in a coffee cup. With a milk foam topping and brown sprinkles. Accompanied by a cookie. And the illusion of a cup of cappuccino is perfect. Peel and chop Jerusalem artichokes and potatoes (half-half) as well as garlic and shallots. Fry the garlic and shallots in some olive oil. Season with salt….

Halloween cupcakes 👻

Halloween and whimsicality are synonymous, right? So whimsical cookery is quite natural at All Saints’ Eve. My girls and I went for quirky ghost cupcakes this year. Funny to make and a joy to devour. Beat 2 eggs, 200 g brown sugar and 1 tsp vanilla extract. Gradually add 100 g melted butter, 180 g…

Bœuf bourguignon

Brown bistro food or “certainly one of the most delicious beef dishes concocted by man” to quote the French cuisine guru Julia Child. That’s bœuf bourguignon. Even though visually not the most appealing dish there is, the strong flavors enhanced by slow cooking make this red wine braised beef stew perfect for Sunday feast. For…

Bilberry muffins

My girls L O V E bilberry muffins. And they L O V E helping me bake them. Years ago, I found a great recipe in Louise Pickford’s book al fresco. I’ve slightly modified it, but the idea remains the same: Mix the dry and wet ingredients separately, combine and add the berries. As simple…

Where the wild things are

On this plate – that’s where the wild things are. Ten of them to be more precise. And I’m quite sure, this is the supper Max enjoyed after returning home from his imaginative adventures. Deer fillet Deer escalope Wild boar entrecôte Wild boar salami chips Malaga morels Steamed Brussels sprouts Roasted pumpkin Mashed purple potatoes…

Floral butter

I was passing my Dinner for fourteen in review, when I realized that I’d forgotten to post the floral butter I made to accompany the bread. It’s not a recipe, really – more an idea of displaying the butter. But ist so cute that I don’t want to withhold it from you. Place the butter…

Chocolate • Caramel • Pear • Macadamia

Have you ever had a dessert so luscious that you couldn’t stop eating even when you were so full your stomach felt like exploding? If the answer is no, you’ll definitely have to try this one. And if the answer is yes, you still have to try it. ‘Cause that’s the kind of experience you…

Veal • Root vegetables • Bramata • Parsley

Ossobuco means comfort food for me (actually, it means “bone with a hole” in Italian, referring to the marrow hole in the cross-cut shank, but that’s totally beside the point). My mother used to cook it back home and I’ve continued that tradition. It’s a dish full of flavors and amazing meat just melting in…

Apple oatmeal crisp

Autumn is harvest season! And our lovely neighbors were kind enough to share their harvest with us. Wonderful, tart Gravenstein apples straight from the tree. With a little help from my girls, the apples transformed into a delicious oven dish in the twinkling of an eye. Peel and slice 1 kg Gravenstein (or other tart…

Carrot cake

“Carrot cake, carrot cake, have ye any nuts? The carrot cake contains… no nuts.” Oh, how I appreciate Little Britain. Almost as much as I appreciate the nut-free carrot cake served in my favorite café Farmors Café on Högsåra, Finland. It’s moist and spicy and soft and tart. All at the same time. My recipe…

Quiche with Herrgård cheese and roasted cherry tomatoes

Did you know that the word Quiche originates from the German word Kuchen meaning cake? And that this savory, open pie with an egg and cream custard filling is rather of German than of French origin? No? Me neither. Well, enough trivia for today. Instead, let’s focus on this quiche with a taste of sweet…

Trio of appetizers

Bite-sized appetizers – what a great way to start a party and encourage mingling. There’s a saying in German: “Klein, aber oho” meaning “Small, but beautiful”. And that’s what these hors d’oeuvres – each showcasing combinations of flavours that are so much greater than the sum of their parts – are. Here are three bites…

Mirabelle, plum and damson flaugnarde

Twelve years ago, I had this amazing French dessert for the first time. In a small restaurant in Paris. And the dish has followed me ever since. This oven pancake with stone fruits or drupes (other than black cherries, since that by definition would turn it into a clafoutis) is fluffy and soft at the…

Meadow soup 💚

Part two of our vacation started with all of us being ill, one after the other. Nothing serious. Just stomach flu. But enough to put us out of action for a couple of days. Today, we were able to eat fairly normally again. We had homemade broth with veggies. So nourishing and so luscious. I…

Cherry chutney on veal chop

Early summer means cherry season. Sun-ripe, juicy, sweet drupes waiting to be transformed into delicious dishes. This cholesterol reducing superfood is so versatile – it can be used in sweet and savory cooking alike. I turned the cherries into a tasty chutney, which I paired with wonderfully tender veal chops. What a feast! Cherry chutney:…

Strawberry cake

Strawberries, especially served as a cake, are an integral part of Midsummer. These portion cakes consist of crisp waffle cups, soft vanilla pudding and sun-warm strawberries. A taste of summer. Start with the vanilla pudding. Mix 4 dl milk, 50 g brown sugar, 4 tbsp corn starch, 3 egg yolks and the seeds of one…

Fillet • Shrimp • Tomato • Butter

How do you pimp up fillet steak? You serve it with tender shrimps and an opulent sauce. Surf and turf at its finest. Surf: Season shrimps with salt and olive oil and grill for 10 minutes in 230°C. Turf: Simultaneously fry the fillet steaks in a hot pan for a couple of minutes each side….

Soccer shortbreads

Yesterday, the local soccer team – BSC Young Boys (Yes, I know. Don’t laugh!) – managed to secure the Swiss championship. For the first since 1986. The entire town is ecstatic. In honor of the historic victory yesterday, the girls and I baked shortbreads in the team colors, yellow and black. Beat 250 g butter…

Calamaretti • Sweet potato • Red pepper • Salicornia

Six years ago, around this time, my hubby and I visited NYC. Newlywed. On honeymoon. We treated ourselves to Eleven Madison Park – the No. 1 in The World’s 50 Best Restaurants. I very much loved Daniel Humm’s idea (he’s Swiss by the way) of indicating the main ingredients of his courses, rather than revealing…

Kanelbullar

This week, I participated in the Swiss Blogger Challenge organized by Marlene’s sweet things. One of the tasks was to share ones favorite food. This was probably the hardest one for a food lover like me. I decided to go with kanelbullar – cinnamon rolls. Kanelbullar are definitely not low-carb, but that doesn’t matter, because…