Ilse's Kitchen - culinary adventures of a girl who loves to eat

Today is day 100 - day 100 of 100 days on which I’ve posted a recipe on this blog every single day. 100 - it sounds like so much. Honestly, I’m proud. I did it to bring some of my hobbies back to life, I did it to learn, I did it because I love taking food photos and because I love to eat.  I especially love, love looooooove dumplings. Potstickers, momos, gyoza, dumplings - I’ll have them any which way. Up to now, I’d been stuck with home delivery or eating out whenever I had cravings - but as of now, no more.  I’m now proudly dumpling-self reliant, and I’m posting this potsticker recipe as the closing recipe of this challenge because at the beginning of this year, I wouldn’t in my wildest dreams have pictured myself making these. But here I am - and here we are. Crazy things are possible if you only try - and it’s not half as hard as I’d thought. Fear was, once again, an irrational obstacle.  I’m grateful for this beautiful recipe from Healthy Nibbles & Bits, which w...

Here we go again - the fourth cucumber, avocado and smoked salmon recipe in the sequence and definitely a great one to add to the list. Creamy, delicious and simple, the result you get is worth much more than the 7 or so minutes of time it takes to prepare this recipe.  Ingredients (serves 1): 3/4 cucumber 35g smoked salmon  2 tablespoons cream cheese 1/4 red onion, sliced 1 avocado 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard 1 small clove garlic, minced 1 tablespoon olive oil  salt and pepper to taste 1 tablespoon capers optional as garnish: black sesame seeds  Instructions: 1. First, cut the cucumber into spaghetti noodles. You can do this using a spiralizer or a julienne grater. Set aside in a large bowl. 2. Using a hand blender, blend together the avocado, mustard, olive oil, and garlic until smooth and creamy. Season with salt and pepper to taste.  3. Mix the blended avocado with the cucumber noodles. Place in a dinner bowl and top with the smoked salmon, cream cheese, c...

I was in the mood for some good old fashioned vegetable soup with meatballs - the kind my grandma might have made. It’s one of those soups you’ll find throughout Europe from north to south, all with slightly different details but very close to this. This version is an Italian variant using half beef half pork meatballs, oregano and acini di pepe and popularly known as as ‘Wedding Soup’.  Ingredients (serves 3): meatballs 250g minced meat, 50% beef 50% pork 2 tablespoons fresh oregano, chopped 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped salt and freshly ground black pepper  1/4 cup breadcrumbs 1/4 cup grated parmesan 1/2 egg soup 1 stalk celery, finely chopped 50g spinach, roughly chopped 1 cup baby carrots, cut into 1/2 cm thick slices 1 medium-sized onion, chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced 1.25L chicken broth 1/3 cup acini di pepe  2 tablespoons olive oil  Instructions: 1. Put the minced meat in a large bowl and add the oregano, parsley, breadcrumbs, parmesan, egg and salt an...

With an insane amounts of work reading these last weeks, I’ve been looking for quick recipes that don’t require a lot of attention. Oven dishes are generally a good bet - you prep, put it in, take it out and are ready to eat.  Ingredients (serves 2 as a starter or 1 as a main): 2 sweet potatoes, cut into 1 inch pieces 1/3 cup pomegranate seeds 1/4 cup pumpkin or mixed seeds 50g goat cheese, crumbled olive oil pomegranate dressing: 1 tablespoon pomegranate juice 1 tablespoon olive oil 2 teaspoons honey 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar salt and black pepper to taste Instructions: Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. 1. Place the sweet potato pieces in an oven dish and drizzle with olive oil. Toss to make sure all the sweet potato is covered.  Place in the middle of the oven and bake for about 20 minutes, until softened. 2. Whisk together all the dressing ingredients in a small bowl. 3. To serve, place the sweet potato pieces on a plate or in a serving bowl and add the pomegrana...

After a long spiel of Italian and Western dishes, I’ve been drawn to Asian lately - from stir fries to curries. Two of the ingredients I’d bought to play around with were bok choy and pork. After testing them recently in a Chinese-inspired stir fry, today I decided to go Thai and try them in a curry recipe that originally called for mini corn. The result was simple but intensely flavourful - and although I’ve been eating something different almost every day, this is definitely going down on my repeat-list.  Ingredients (serves 1): 120g pork, sliced along the grain 65g mushrooms, sliced 1 large leaf bok choy, roughly chopped 2 scalllops, diagonally sliced 1 tablespoon Thai red curry paste 2 teaspoons smooth peanut butter 100ml coconut milk 100ml water 1/2 tablespoon Thai fish sauce 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 1 teaspoon soft brown sugar stalks and leaves of 1/4 bush cilantro, stalks finely chopped and leaves picked Juice of 1/2 lime Serve with white rice or T...

I was in the mood for carrot soup, so I bought some carrots. While trying to decide on a recipe a regular European version crossed my mind, I considered Cajun carrot soup, and then finally settled on Thai. The combination with peanuts appealed to me so I settled on this recipe, tasted, adjusted it a little and voila. Ingredients (serves 4): 500g carrots, chopped 1 sweet potato, chopped 1 red onion, chopped 4 cloves garlic, minced 1 inch ginger, grated 1 teaspoon galangal paste 2 tablespoons Thai red curry paste 1 tablespoon peanut butter 400ml coconut milk 400ml water Juice of 1 1/2 lime 1 stalk lemon grass 1 tablespoon olive or coconut oil salt to taste To garnish: fresh cilantro handful chopped peanuts chopped chili pepper or chili flakes Instructions: 1. In a big pan, fry the red onion in the oil for a few minutes until softened, then add the garlic, ginger, and galangal paste.  2. Fry for a few minutes more, then add the carrot and the sweet potato and...

I bought some black rice the other day and really wanted to try it, so I thought I’d go for a stir fry. Stir fries are always nice with rice. :) And it worked just fine, although the rice was nuttier than its white cousin, and a more neutral flavour would have done well too.  Ingredients (serves 1): 150g pork, sliced along the grain to thin strips 1/4 large bok choy, chopped diagonally into 5-6 cm pieces 1 large scallion, diagonally chopped 1 1/2 tablespoon low-salt soy sauce 1/2 tablespoon rice vinegar 1/2 tablespoon rice wine 2 tablespoon vegetable oil 1/2 teaspoon corn starch pinch of red chili pepper flakes season with salt as needed to garnish: toasted cashew nuts, toasted red chili pepper flakes Serve with rice Instructions: 1. In a medium bowl, toss together the pork strips, corn starch, 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce, and red pepper flakes.  2. In another bowl, stir together the rice vinegar, rice wine and 1 tablespoon soy sauce.  3. Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in...

Some days, like today, bread for lunch just won’t do. My body’s been working overtime and was craving some comfort food. Comfort like pizza, but no time to make it, and no wish to order and go into food coma when I still had mountains of work ahead. Instead of loading up on carbs, I took an aubergine and turned it into mini pizzas. Yum. :) Ingredients (serves 1 as substitute for a regular pizza, or 2 as a snack or starter: 1 aubergine (eggplant) 1/2 cup tomato sauce 1 clove garlic, minced 6-7 leaves basil, plus some small leaves to top. 1 cup shredded cheese (mozzarella or another mild cheese) 3 mushrooms, sliced Instructions: 1. Take the aubergine and slice it into 6-8 slices, about 1.5 cm thick. Sprinkle both sides with salt and place on a plate covered with paper towels to allow the water to leak out of the aubergine. Leave for about 15 minutes, then refresh the paper towel and turn the slices over. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. 2. In a small saucepan, heat the oil and ad...

I’ve been doing a lot of smoked salmon dishes lately. They’re all slightly different, but one thing many of them have in common is the avocado-salmon pairing, which is just lovely. Here’s yet another take on it, in a simple fuss-free salad with this lovely recipe by Melanie of the Fuss Free Cooking blog. Ingredients (serves 2): 60g arugula (rocket) lettuce 100g smoked salmon, torn into pieces 1 avocado, sliced 1/2 large cucumber, sliced into half moons 2 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted 1 lime, juiced 4 tablespoons olive oil optional: drop of sesame seed oil Instructions: 1. In a small bowl, mix the lime juice, olive oil, sesame oil and 1/2 of the sesame seeds. 2. Toss the arugula, avocado and cucumber in a bowl and top with the smoked salmon. Drizzle over the dressing. 3. Top with the remaining half of the sesame seeds and serve.

Every now and then you have to indulge. This is an indulgence pasta dish. There’s nothing light about it, but sometimes that just doesn’t matter one bit: the heart - and belly - want what they want. I like to give in, especially on rainy days. My belly was grateful. Ingredients (serves 2): 120g fettuccini (or other pasta of your choice) 300g shrimp, peeled and deveined. 200g cherry tomatoes 1 tablespoon Cajun spices 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1 tablespoon butter Alfredo sauce 120g cream cheese 250ml whole milk 50g butter 1 cup finely grated parmesan 1/2 teaspoon Italian herbs 1 tablespoon freshly minced garlic freshly ground black pepper to taste fresh parsley to garnish Instructions: 1. Cook the fettuccini according to the instructions on the packet. When it’s ready, set aside to use in step 4. 2. Rub the shrimp in Cajun spices, salt and pepper. Melt the tablespoon of butter in a skillet and add the shrimp. Cook for 3-4 min...

I love, love love chocolate chip cookies. In Mexico, where I lived, they sold boxes full of chewy Mrs. Fields cookies where I lived - big, chewy and beautiful. They don’t have those here, but by now there are plenty of stores around that sell their own version of these massive American chocolate chip cookies - at well over EUR 1.50 a pop. Given the cost price of the ingredients and how good they are when they’re just freshly baked, it’s worth making your own. The last time I made a batch was on New Years’ eve, when I used a recipe by Tasty. They did so well that by popular request, I’m posting this blog post with the recipe in honour of completing my 90 days, 90 blog post adventure :). Ingredients (makes 12 - 14 cookies - that’s quite a few cookies, I know, but you can freeze leftover cookie dough for up to three months so it’s worth making the whole batch): 100g granulated white sugar 165 packed brown sugar (you can use light brown or dark brown sugar, or a mix of both. I...

Radishes are a vegetable I’d always filed directly in the ‘resistance corner’ of my brain. I think, maybe, because I associated it with bitterness. When I read that cooking - sautéing, roasting or stir frying - softens the taste, I thought it worth a try. And what do you know, it’s true - stir fried radish tastes nothing like fresh radish and is actually quite refreshing. This dish makes a lovely side dish - not just surprising, but also and easy. Serves 2-4: 2 bunches radish both ends cut off, then halved 2 shallots, finely chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 tablespoon ginger, grated 1 tablespoon sesame oil 1 tablespoon soy sauce 1 teaspoon honey handful fresh cilantro, chopped Instructions: 1. Pour the sesame oil in a wok pan and add the radish, shallots, ginger and garlic. Stir fry over high heat for 3 minutes. 2. Add the soy sauce and honey and stir fry for another minute. 3. Serve warm topped with fresh cilantro.

It sounds strange, but Mexico has great sushi. Some of the best I’ve ever had, I think. Lots of fresh fish and best of all, they use cream cheese as an ingredient. Pretty fantastic. Salmon and cream cheese make a great pairing. Also, it turns out, when you exclude the ingredients that makes them ‘sushi’ - the rice and the nori (seaweed). Like this version, that fits right into the low-carb, high fat Keto diet. Ingredients (makes one good-size roll): 150g smoked salmon 120g cream cheese 1/2 avocado, sliced 1/4 red onion, halved and sliced 1-2 teaspoons white sesame seeds 1-2 teaspoons black sesame seeds few sprigs of fresh chives * This works really well with a combination of cucumber and carrot too. Or mango. Just make sure they’re cut into long thin strips and line them up along the centre with the avocado. Need: A sheet of plastic foil and a sushi rolling mat Instructions: 1. Spread a piece of plastic foil over a sushi rolling mat. Take the salmon and spread it, ...

Ready made gnocchi is just about the fastest dish you can make. That’s what’s so amazing about it - it’s fast, and almost always good. I have a couple of white sauce gnocchi recipes up on this site - like my pastas I have a penchant for cream-based over tomato-based sauces, but today I decided it was time for a red sauce. So I made this gorgeous, super easy chorizo mozzarella gnocchi. Ingredients (serves 2): one 125g ball mozzarella, torn into shreds 60g chorizo, diced 1/2 onion, finely chopped 1 clove garlic, minced 300g gnocchi 400g tomato sauce 1 teaspoon basil 1/2 teaspoon oregano 1/2 teaspoon sugar freshly ground black pepper 1 tablespoon fresh mozzarella and oregano, chopped, plus a bit extra to garnish Instructions: Preheat the top grill function of your oven. 1. Toss the onion and garlic in a saucepan together with the olive oil and heat for about 5 minutes until softened. Add the chorizo and cook for another 5 minutes. 2. Add the tomato sauce, sugar and...

I had a craving for fruits, for lightness and freshness today. This dessert met those needs perfectly - four kinds of fruit and just the right amount of bite. Oh yeah, and it’s no work and still looks pretty cool. Ingredients (serves 2): 1 big round slice watermelon, about 1.5 cm thick 2/3 cup Greek yoghurt 1.5 tsp maple syrup 1 cup mixed berries 1/2 passion fruit a bit of honey Instructions: 1. Slice the watermelon into wedges diagonally. 2. Mix the yoghurt and the maple syrup. Spread on top of the watermelon, leaving a bit of the outer rim yoghurt-free. 3. Top with the berries and passion fruit. Drizzle the honey over and serve immediately.

Pytt i Panna is a Swedish one-pan dish made of meat, onions and potatoes - traditionally served with beetroot and a fried egg. It’s a classic leftover dish, and a great use for your leftover boiled potatoes. I used to have it a lot - a friend once served it to me on one of my visits to Sweden and I came to appreciate the hearty flavour combination - and the fact that this makes a great hangover meal. My local IKEA used to sell it in big bags in its frozen food section, which made it even more effortless than it already is. When one day my IKEA stopped selling it, I started making it from scratch myself. Ingredients: 240g potato, peeled and boiled and diced 2 medium-sized yellow onion, chopped medium-fine 200g smoked bacon, diced 2 small pre-boiled beetroot, sliced 2 eggs knob of butter or dash of olive oil Instructions: 1. If you’re particularly lazy like I was this evening, you’ll not only use pre-boiled beets, but pre-boiled potatoes. It saves you some time, but it’s n...