Shrimp in Garlic White Wine Sauce

Well, yesterday I didn't really know what I wanted to make for dinner, so I had to come up with something on the fly. I had to go grocery shopping anyway, as I forgot to take any chicken or fish out of my freezer.

There I was, pulling together the pieces in the store, cereal, salad, juice, milk, bread all the necessities and as I was nearing the fish counter, I caught something in the corner of my eye..... SHRIMP, reduced 50 % last day...... oh yeah that was it, I could use those to make a quick and reasonably healthy dinner. How can you beat that.

I quickly finished off the rest of my shopping and headed home to marinate the shrimp. They were already deveined, so all we had to do is quickly peel them and then they headed for a bath in a marinade of:

Olive Oil, fresh minced garlic, mediterranean herbs, salt, pepper and a little bit of hot sauce. I let them sit in the marinade for about an hour. While the shrimp were enjoying their bath, I minced one more pice of garlic, finely chopped 1/4 of an onion and a handful of parsley and put the rice in the rice cooker.

I heated a large frying pan and melted some butter added the onion/garlic and sauteed them for about 3-5 minutes, then add the shrimp, including the marinade, to the pan and quickly sautee until pink. Add the parsley. Sautee for about another minute and then pour in about a glass of white wine (I used Chardonnay) to deglaze the pan, add a couple of pieces of butter, and if you like to thicken the sauce, mix some corn starch (Maizena) with a tiny bit of water and pour in the pan. Once you stir that in the sauce thickens immediately.

Now serve over a bed of rice and with a side of salad! Bon Apetit!

Yes I've got a new Toy

and I plan on using it today. I always wanted this kind of thing, cause every single hobby or professional chef needs it when they are into deserts....... SO as it was my birthday, my hubby gave me one of these as a present........



So the "Creme Brulee" is already made and cooling down in the fridge. In a couple of hours, I will test this baby! Yeah!

Update: Apparently this thing also works very well as a Cigar Lighter! ;-)

Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake

Well, I love cheesecake, but most of the time, they are really heavy and I wanted to make something a little lighter for summer. I had some strawberries in my fridge and needed to do something with them. So before I even thought of the cheesecake, I'd decided I wanted to make a strawberry sauce.

That strawberry sauce or coulis, I then used in the cheesecake, to create little pockets of fruity deliciousness in the cheesecake and, I must say, it made it look pretty too.

So, here's what you need to make this delicious and pretty easy dessert.

For the coulis:

2 cups of strawberries, cut in pieces
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups water

Place all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil, cook for about 10 minutes until the strawberries are really soft and almost fall apart. Remove from the heat and put in a blender or use an immersion blender to blend for a smooth consistency. Strain through a sieve to get the seeds out and then put back into the pan, keep simmering until its thick and syrupy in it's consistency, cool.


For the crust:

1 1/4 cups Graham Cracker Crumbs
1/2 cup Sugar
5 Tbs Butter or Margarine melted

Mix the above ingredients in a bowl so everything is well combined, press the mixture in a 9 inch spring form so it is well covered and push up about 1/4 inch on the side, then bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 5 minutes (this will make the crust a bit crunchier). After 5 minutes take out of the oven and cool.

For the filling:

16 oz Cream Cheese or light Cream Cheese
1/2 cup Sugar
1 cup boiling Water
2 Tbs Vanilla Extract (I also added the seeds of 1/2 vanilla bean)
1 Lemon, Zest only (finely grated)
1 envelope Gelatine

In a mixing bowl, mix the cream cheese, lemon zest and vanilla. Bring one cup of water to a boil and stir in the sugar and gelatine until it is fully dissolved, about 3- 5 minutes. Then slowly blend the gelatine mixture with the cream cheese.

Pour half of the cream cheese mixture on the cooled crust, then with a spoon drop little pools of strawberry coulis on top of it, so there is a bit all over the mixture, cover with the rest of the cream cheese. drop some more coulis on top and then take a knife and just move it through the coulis drops, so you create a nice marble effect on the cheesecake.

Once you are finished, cover your cheesecake and cool in the fridge for about 2-3 hours.

Then enjoy! Let me know what you think!

Making My Own Pasta

Last year for my birthday my sister sent me a ravioli mold to make home made pasta.

I think tonight's the night, where I will take the plunge and try my hand at it. I still have to decide on what kind of filling I would like. I've been thinking about "Salmon/Ricotta" and then serve that with a lemon butter sauce? Sounds good doesn't it? I'll let you know how it goes.


I'm also going to try and make edible salad cups out of parmesan cheese this week. Hopefully I'll get a good step by step guide together.

Check back soon.

Semi-Homemade Chocolate-Banana Cake

Let me start by saying that I always have good an healthy intentions when I buy bananas. I love to eat them, but I'm a bit picky and as soon as they start getting brown spots, I'm not into it anymore. I hate throwing stuff out so making a quick and easy cake came to mind.

I didn't have much time and had been working at the stable all day, so I went for a Betty Crocker cake mix. I usually make my cakes from scratch but if it has to be quick with not much effort, one should always have some cake mixes at home, as you can always dress them up by adding your own twist to it. So I did just that!



I added the following:

1/2 cup walnuts (chopped)
1/2 cup almonds (chopped)
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
2.5 mashed bananas



Prepare your cake mix just like it's written on the box, then mix in your additional ingredients so they are well incorporated in the batter.

Pour in a prepared cake pan and bake in accordance with the box, the cake might need an additional 5 minutes, because with the mashed bananas we're adding additional moisture. At the end of the baking time, test doneness with a wooden skewer, if it comes out nice an clean, without any batter sticking to it, the cake is done.

Remove cake from the oven, and turn upside down on cooling rack. Once cool, decorate any way you like.

There you go... easy and quick Chocolate Banana Cake, all you are missing is a nice cup of coffee!

Jamaican Jerk Burgers with fried Plantains

As I said before my mom brought me an oldfashioned meat grinder from Austria and I just had to try it out. I got a nice beef tenderloin from Costco and it had to be trimmed and cut in portions anyway, so I used some of it (some trimmings and the pieces to small to keep as steak)  to try out my new toy and ground it.

I like to play with different flavor combinations and thought why not use the traditional Jamaican Jerk flavor for a nice and juicy burger. So off I went on my search on which spices to use for the Jerk seasoning. I found a couple of variations online and took it from there, but every recipe had Allspice as the main ingredient for Jamaican Jerk seasoning.


You'll need the following spices for the Jamaican Jerk mix:

• 2 tablespoons cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ground
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg, ground
• 1 teaspoon allspice, ground
• 1 teaspoon dried onion powder
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon dried minced onion
• 1 tablespoon salt

This obviously makes more than you need for the burgers, so just keep the rest for later use.

So now here are the other ingredients you need for the burgers:

1 hand full chopped parsley

1/2 medium size onion finely chopped

2 tablespoons breadcrumbs (unseasoned)

1 large egg

1 tablespoon Worcstershire Sauce

In a large bowl mix the ground beef with all the ingredients and two tablespoons of the Jamaican Jerk mixture so the spices, onion, breadcrumbs and egg is nicely incorporated in the meat. Divide into four large burger patties.

Preheat your grill so it's nice and hot, grill the patties about 4 minutes on each side (depends on how you like your burgers). Don't press down on the patties, it makes them dry as the juices will come out. Then serve on a nice slice of toasted fresh bread, some fried plantains and a side salad.

Bon Appetit!

Oven baked Salmon, easy and delicious

Yesterday evening I wanted to keep our dinner light and easy. This recipe is just what the doctor ordered. It is so super easy, everyone even the most cooking challenged can do this.

You need the following (two portions):

1 lb salmon fillet
1 medium onion (cut in rings)
2 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
handfull of chopped parsley
salt & pepper
Olive oil
soy sauce

baking dish
aluminum foil

Start off, peeling and then slicing your onion
then finely chop garlic and gather all your other ingredients

There, the chopping and preparing is done already. Now just line your baking dish with aluminum foil (use enough foil so you can make a tent over your fish).

Lightly sprinkle the baking dish with some olive oil, then layer in about half of the onion and the garlic. Lay the salmon on top, season with salt and pepper, then top it with the remaining onions, garlic and the chopped parsley, sprinkle on some more olive oil and a couple splashes of soy sauce. Close the foil over the fish and bake in a preheated (400 F) oven for about 20 minutes, depending on how thick your fish is.

Serve with a fresh salad and some rice! There you go, a easy, healthy dinner everyone can make.

Bon Appetit!

Mutu's Italian Kitchen, Durango, Co

Mutu's Italian Kitchen is the 3rd restaurant we went to during our stay in Durango. My friend Ulani had recommended it to me and as I LOVE Italian Food, I convinced my mum and her husband to go there. Oh what a good choice that was.

The restaurant interior is greatly designed, airy and warm, which creates a super nice atmosphere. Live Jazz was being played in the bar area, but it wasn't too loud so you could carry a nice conversation in the dining room.

Mutu's has a great menu, but it's not too big so you have a good choice of items and you're not being overwhelmed by having to choose from a menu the size of the latest Steven King novel.

To my delight Mutu's had "Beef Carpaccio" on the appetizer menu and I just had to have it. It's been a while since I had that dish and I just haven't found great Carpaccio in LA. Let me tell you it was delicious, perfectly sliced and arranged on a beautiful plate, it came with nicely shaved Parmesan, Arugula and Capers, as well as some nicely toasted fresh Italian bread. YUMMY! I couldn't have asked for more.

As my main course I ordered the Lobster and Crab Ravioli with Lemon Butter Sauce..... DELISH! I should have taken pictures! The plate was super pretty to look at and it just tasted DIVINE!

I had a nice glass of "Gewuerztraminer" with it, just cause I love sweet and fruity wine and for dessert we ordered the home made Vanilla Ice Cream! Oh man, I didn't think you could make something usually boring like Vanilla Ice Cream that good.

If I ever go back to Durango, I'll definately pencil in a visit to Mutu's!

Annual Easter Get Away, this year Durango Colorado

Every year around Easter time, I get a little get away at the courtesy of my Mom Chris and her generous husband Stefan. They spend some time in Moab, UT each year for Jeep Week and I get to either join them for a few days there or, like this year, we're going somewhere else to explore different things.

The choice this year was Durango, CO after we had to abandon the idea of going to Yellowstone, as the park is pretty much closed from mid March to the end of April for repairs and to prepare it for the summer season. So we were looking at other places to go and someone told us to check out Durango, a beautiful old school Western Town up in the Rockies. What a good choice! The town is very pretty, hospitable, the people are friendly and the restaurants were EXCELLENT. For a town that small, the culinary offerings are spectacular.

I'm going to tell you about all the places we ate and what I liked most about each restaurant. There were so many to chose from. So many were highly recommended but we only had 4 nights for dinner so we had to chose a few.

Ken & Sue's, Mutu's, Francisco's and Serious Texas BBQ were our choices. All great, all different and all being reviewed a bit in the following posts.

Oh don't let me forget, my mom brought me an old school meat grinder, so I think I'm soon gonna try what I can do with that toy.

We did different things each day and as soon as I have all my pictures downloaded and caught up on my sleep, I don't do so good after only a few hours and a plain ride. I'll get back to this blog and let you all in on my Easter Trip to Durango.

Turkey Burgers with Harissa and Caramelized Onions

We eat a lot of turkey and therefore I need to make it taste differently, so we don't get bored with it. Last night I decided to give it a twist in a different direction. I used to live close to Strassbourg (France) and we'd eat "Merguez", a spicy traditional lamb saussage, in a bun with a bunch of Harissa on it.

Harissa is a traditional spicy hot chili paste, commonly eaten in Morroco, Tunisia and Algeria, whose main ingredients are piri piri chillies, tomatoes and paprika. It is widely used and a staple ingredient in Northern African cuisine. You can either order this paste online or find it in specialty stores like, "Bay Cities Italian Deli" in Santa Monica.

As we didn't want just regular turkey burgers, I came up with this spicier version, topped with caramelized onions and served with nice side salad. Below are the ingredients you will need:

1 lb ground turkey
1/2 small onion (finely chopped)
Handfull Parsley (finely chopped)
2 cloves of garlic (finely chopped or pressed)
1 egg
1 1/2 Tbs Harissa (depending on how hot you want it)
1 ts Paprika
Red Pepper flakes
Salt & Pepper

Mix the above ingredients well in a large bowl and form 4 to 5 turkey burgers, cover and set aside.

For the caramelized onions, just slice 1 medium onion into fine rings or strips and melt 1 tbs of butter in a large skillet, reduce the heat and add the sliced onion, saute in the pan until they are soft and golden brown, add additional butter as needed, keep warm.

When the onions are almost done, you can heat up your grill. Once hot, reduce heat to medium flame and grill your turkey burgers until cooked through. If you do not have a grill, they taste just as good if you fry them in the pan.

I don't like to eat too much bun with my burger, so I arranged them on a nice slice of Whole Grain/Hazelnut Toast and served them with a side salad and some oven roasted baby onions.

Bon Appetit! En Guete! Mahlzeit!

Inside Out Peppermint Patty CupCake

So, finally yesterday I got around to making the cupcakes I've been talking about. Somehow I got derailed every evening and just didn't get to it, may it have been Movie Night, Dinner or just working late.

I decided, to do something a little bit different and, because I like "After Eight" mints and "York Peppermint Patties", I felt I could incorporate those flavors in a cupcake. To work I went with just a basic batter recipe.

Here is what you need to make 12 delicious "Inside Out Peppermint Patty" Cupcakes,



For the batter:
125 g butter (unsalted), soft and cut in small cubes)
125 g flour (sifted)
125 g sugar
125 ml milk coffee (latte)
2 Eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 Tbs coffee (ground)
2 Tbs cocoa powder
1/2 cup mini dark chocolate chips
Splash of Amaretto or Rum




In a medium size bowl, whip the butter until it is soft and creamy, slowly add the sugar and the egg, while continuing to mix on high speed (you can use a hand mixer or a stand mixer). Then start mixing in flour and milk coffee, little by little, so the batter gets nice and smooth, once all that is added, add in the cocoa powder, the ground coffee and a couple splashes of Rum or Amaretto. Finally mix in the dark mini chocolate chips.


Fill the batter in the prepared cupcake pan. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 25 minutes. Cool on a rack. While the cupcakes cool down you can prepare your frosting. I used a ready made "Pillsbury" Vanilla Frosting for this, but you can make your own. I just didn't have time to do it this time.


For the Frosting:
1 tub Vanilla Frosting
1 Tbs Peppermint extract


Mix the vanilla frosting well with the peppermint extract, so you have a nice creamy texture. Fill it in a pastry bag. Take a skewer and poke a little whole in the bottom of each cupcake, then pipe some of the frosting inside each cupcake. Change out your nozzle to a star nozzle and pipe remaining frosting on the cupcakes.
Decorate cupcakes with a mint leave and half and "After Eight". You could also just use chocolate sprinkles or thinly shaved dark chocolate.


Enjoy! 

CupCake Day

Tonight I'll be making cupcakes... My mom  recently gave me a basic cake recipe, that I think can be adapted to all kinds of flavors.... so I have a few idea's I'm toying around with. You guys will just have to check back on what I decided to do....

I could go the more unusual route or then go the safer way.... I have the ingredients for both..... all I'm missing is the mini cupcake pan.... oh and I'm still waiting on my madeleine pan....

So check back tomorrow for the cupcakes>