Vegan Lentil Salad with Green Asparagus, Cucumber and Chives 🌱

Do you shop your groceries in a store or do you prefer to order online? Most of the time, I order online, even though I usually miss the local produce. With MagicTomato that has changed. And as a bonus, the local produce is available in ecological quality and is delivered within the day. What more…

Jerusalem artichoke hash browns (Topinaburröschti) with onion muesli (Zibelemüesli) and caviar 🇨🇭

Some time ago, my in-laws bravely decided to give up their beautiful house and to move into a considerably smaller apartment. As a consequence, a part of their movables didn’t fit into their new home. Books, amongst others. Luckily enough, all cook books found refugee in our home. One of the cook books featured the…

Bilberry chutney

One of the perks of having guests over is having tons of leftovers afterwards. Super delicious dishes that can be enjoyed later with almost zero effort. Like fine dining convenience food. For one of our holiday dinners, a guest of ours brought us a scrumptious duck liver pâté that we served as an appetizer with…

Red Emmalie potato mash with sautéed Japanese artichokes and marinated Chioggia beets 🌱

Heirloom veggies – They get me all excited. The colors. The shapes. The textures. The tastes. On the farmers’ market the other day, I found beautifully pink potatoes with a distinct flavor. And Japanese artichoke – a white and tender tuber, optically very much resembling a maggot. And wonderfully marbled beetroot. In the course of…

Green pea • Goat cheese • Apple • Cucumber 💚

Several years ago, my mother-in-law invited me to a cooking class. Featuring vanilla. It was so informativ, so inspiring and – above all – so much fun. When a saw the topic for the collaboration “Big Bundt – Sexy Sauce” hosted by lovely Ashley from Plate and Pen and amazing Angela and Mark from Cooking…

Avocado • Balsamico • Tomato • Cilantro 💚

Do you know the feeling when you imagine a new combination of tastes and your flavor memory makes your mouth water? That happened to me the other day, as I was browsing the lifestyle section of Nau.ch and bumped into a thrilling culinary encounter: avocado crostini with a balsamico mousse. I couldn’t resist replicating the…

Herb soup 🌱

Summer is long gone and autumn is taking over. The chilly temperatures turn nature orange; green will soon be a past memory. Before that happens to my kitchen garden, I collected the very last herbs and turned them into a hearty, plant-based soup. Peel and chop parsnip, parsley root, yellow carrot and shallot. Sauté the…

Wild game

Did I tell you that I bought a deer from a befriended hunter? As in an entire animal. 9 kg meat. This is one of the dishes I created featuring wild game: Saddle of venison with king oyster mushroom topped with boar salami, deep-fried pumpkin brunoise and poached Brussels sprouts next to caramelized chestnut purée…

Fennel • Carrot • Onion • Tamarind 💚

When experimenting in the kitchen, I like combining components with different textures. Soft. Crunchy. Creamy. Chewy. You’ll find all these textures in this dish: Grilled fennel with a fresh carrot green salad, tart pickled red onions and a sweet tamarind dressing. Start with the pickled onions. Bring the pickling liquid consisting of one part water…

Deconstructed golden beetroot 💚

More experimental cooking. This time, I created a dish featuring mellow golden beetroot served in three different ways – pickled, mashed and seared. Pickles: Pickle thin slices of golden beetroot in a liquid consisting of one part water and one part white aceto balsamico seasoned with salt, sugar and white pepper. Bring the liquid to…

Poached cherry tomatoes, pan-seared watermelon and marinated strawberries on grilled halloumi 💚

Today, I was playing around in the kitchen. Experimenting with shapes and textures. I ended up with a trio of spheres, all in red but all cooked using different techniques. What do you think about the outcome? Score a shallow cross in the skin on the bottom of the cherry tomatoes. Cover the tomatoes with…

Melon salad 🌱

Last week, I treated myself to a set of new bowls. Not because I needed them, but because I couldn’t resist their beauty. I have a weakness for black tableware, as you’ve probably already noticed. Those of you familiar with my last post will recognize them. They are so versatile – and that’s what I…

Chilled beetroot soup with dill pesto

My mother makes the most wonderful borscht. I love the marriage between sweet beetroot and sour vinegar. The smetana topping echos the acidity and caters for a pleasantly contrasting softness. This chilled summer version is my take on the Ukrainian classic. For the soup, boil 500 g washed beetroots until tender. Peel them and blend…

Mother’s Day Pavlova

Mother’s Day is around the corner. Show your appreciation with a luscious pavlova topped with soft vanilla custard, sweet lemon balm pesto, sun-kissed strawberries and raspberries as well as spectacular spring blossom. I should work in copywriting, shouldn’t I? Pavlova: Whisk 2 egg whites and 30 g caster sugar until white. Add 70 g caster…

Smoked and grilled trout on bean salad

A fresh and crunchy bean salad filled with protein, high in fiber and rich in essential nutrition is not only super healthy. It’s super tasty, as well. A great dish to get in shape for the bikini season. Yes, I’m that vain. Chop green beans and blanch them for a couple of minutes. Simultaneously, prepare…

Green asparagus salad with burrata

Springtime is asparagus time. The green ones are sweet and crisp and combine perfectly with soft and rich burrata. Add some pine nuts and fresh basil and you’ll have yourself a super easy, super quick and super delicious salad. Start with the green asparagus. Wash the spears, snap off the woody ends and halve the…

Pickled eggs 💚

I’ve revealed my predilection for eggs a couple of times on this blog, as eggs have played the leading role in my dishes more than once: I’ve made Japanese onsen eggs and French omelet. I’ve cured eggs and now, I’ve pickled them. Boil eggs softly (4 minutes – I prefer my yolks gooey). Peel them…

Smoked sturgeon with carrot slaw

Do you remember my blog post referring to our wedding dinner based on regional produce? Last week, I came across some beautiful smoked sturgeon from the same farm delivering fish for our wedding reception – Tropenhaus Frutigen. Sturgeon is a fairly fatty fish that screams for a tart side dish. A crunchy carrot slaw balanced…

Pork • Parsley root • Parsley • Pimenta

Remember my Cinque Pi? This is my Quattro Pi (with some additional ingredients). Turn pork shanks (also know as ham hocks or pork knuckles) in wheat flour and roast them in olive oil. Taste with salt and black pepper. Add quartered onions as well as pimenta (allspice) and rosemary. Braise in white wine until the…

Heirloom beetroot carpaccio 💚

In 1950, Giuseppe Cipriani, the founder of the Venetian restaurant Harry’s Bar, invented a red and white dish honoring the colors characteristic to Vittore Carpaccio’s paintings. While the original dish excels with thinly sliced raw beef served with Parmesan cheese as well as lemon and olive oil, my version is vegetarian and based on radiant…

Cured eggs with smoke salmon and young salad leaves

Have you ever heard of shaving hard cured egg yolks over carbonara? Have you ever tried it? How did you find it? I find it ridiculous, to be honest, as I prefer my eggs soft. Curing is a technique quite familiar to me, though, so I couldn’t quite let go of the idea of curing…

Monkfish with mountain lentils and beetroots

Fish with lentils is an inseparable team. I don’t even remember when I had it for the first time. And I think I have tried every possible combination. This recipe is a self creation resulting from ingredients available in the fridge. Boil 100 g mountain lentils according to the instructions on the package. Separately, boil…

Sugar beet • Quince • Dark chocolate • Cream

Refined white sugar is one of the most common ingredients there are. Sugar beet, in its natural form, is a less common component on our plates, though. For me, it was definitely one of those unique culinary experience. It’s rather sweet, obviously, but in a quite authentic way. And the consistency is very interesting: soft…

Chicken • Celery • Parsnip • Grape

I’m a strong proponent of the nose-to-tail eating. Whenever I find less common cuts in my supermarket, I happily accept the challenge. Today, I found chicken hearts. This piece of offal has a strong individual flavor and a dense texture. Soft parsnip mash, tart grape jelly and candied celery turn crunchy, pan-seared hearts into a…