Annatto, I love you! 😋

My husband had just come back home on Friday from a work trip to Budapest that needed a detour via Riga to get there because of the Lufthansa industrial action. On the way back things were more straightforward with a stop in Zurich that wasn’t on the original itinerary. On Saturday I made him cook a dish that he had suggested a couple of weeks ago, Achiote Chicken with Potatoes. This one was with homemade achiote, and while cooking the Annatto seeds (that are essential to Achiote) they once again exuded their earthy yet somehow flowery aroma that I love so much.

Yesterday we added broccoli with oyster sauce as a side and our offspring all of a sudden was waxing lyrically about how well the sauce went with this type of broccoli, for him even better than the broccolini that I usually use for this dish. I agree it’s a match made in heaven but I’m definitely not as good as our child in describing a taste despite being so much into cooking. We suggested becoming a food critic would be a good career choice 🧐

In the afternoon trying to fix some minor problem in the kitchen sink cupboard I discovered that one of the pipes under the sink looked odd, very dirty, and seemed to be somewhat leaky. On inspection I found that the top ring that fixes it to another part had come loose and water was able to come out. Luckily nothing too major had happened yet; tightening the ring back in position and cleaning everything did the job.

This morning my husband had to leave again for his next work trip and the child and I had the leftovers for lunch. As today’s side I made a tomato feta cheese salad that fit quite well with the chicken dish too.

Recipes used:
https://www.notquitenigella.com/2018/06/14/achiote-annatto-recipe-chicken/
https://thewoksoflife.com/chinese-broccoli-with-oyster-sauce/

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Pasta with mushrooms and wild garlic pesto

Every spring ever since I discovered wild garlic some years back I’m looking forward to eating this particular dish. (Yes, you can make it with other greens and ordinary garlic but that’s somehow not the same as proper fresh wild garlic 😅)

You can easily forgo the extra time needed to make your own pesto if you have a good store bought green pesto and only mix in fresh wild garlic with the mushrooms. I also like to keep some for garnish. It will still taste great and is ready in 30 minutes.

I used oyster mushrooms, king and normal, out of the two I think I prefer the normal ones in this dish.

https://www.copymethat.com/r/758EwYNFp/pasta-with-mushrooms-and-wild-garlic-pes/

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“Bavarian rice” with roasted beets and carrots

Last weekend we had this interesting dish from the Fork Ranger website. It was lovely, featuring beet root, carrot, mushrooms, brown lentils, walnuts and yogurt. The one thing I found a bit weird at first was the fresh mint in the yogurt but after a while I got used to it. I’ve eaten minty yogurt many times before but usually with dried mint, that’s apparently somehow different to my palate 🤨

We used pearled spelt instead of bulgur but the rest was pretty much as per the recipe. Pearled spelt is something I came across in my life in the UK and I was trying for quite a while to find something like that here. Eventually I did, and to my surprise it’s marketed as Bavarian rice. Yes, it’s spelt - but polished -, and it really is quite a bit like rice. You can even cook it just like rice.

https://recipe.forkranger.com/roasted-beets-and-carrots

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Dan Toomb‘s Pakistani Dry Meat Curry

About a month ago I read Julia’s tale about a Pakistani dish that looked weird to the point of unappealing while being prepared, only to turn out really well. Of course we had to try it!

My main issue was that I could not find mustard oil anywhere. We attempted to make our own but the kitchen blender couldn’t cope with the seeds. In the end it was olive oil with mostly intact mustard seeds that went into the marinade… The better method would have been to use our spice grinder to create mustard powder and to mix that with the oil. Or maybe simply some good grainy mustard. Ah well, we were both tired last night.

Today my husband cooked and the dish looked indeed a bit pale for most of the time, only to really come together at the stage after the Garam Masala was added. The place smelled heavenly and the meal did not disappoint. The lamb meat was extremely tender and the spices just right. So, so good! This went straight into the favourites list 😁

Julia’s post:
https://pixelfed.social/p/juliawithagoodappetite/937700511124390070

The recipe used:
https://robbydogcooks.com/2021/08/21/dan-toombs-pakistani-dry-meat-curry/

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Unagi Kabayaki don style

Several weeks ago I bought frozen Unagi Kabayaki sushi slices. I decided to have them don style: everything in a big bowl with rice, rather than proper sushi. I decided to make some extra Unagi sauce, and also added chopped spring onion and toasted sesame seeds. I gently heated the eel slices up in the oven, they were absolutely delicious!

All of this was served with some quick pickled daikon slices and an easy Napa cabbage salad. So good! 😊

https://www.justonecookbook.com/homemade-unagi-sauce/
https://www.copymethat.com/r/celxlydq0v/quick-pickled-daikon-slices/
https://www.copymethat.com/r/NojicTP3s/lillians-cabbage-salad/

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Rice with tinned fish and three kinds of vegetable dishes

Today’s Japanese/East Asian style meal was so easy to prepare that I was really surprised at how quickly it was ready to eat. I’ve also tried something I never had before.

On social media I had seen a Japanese person (living in Germany) try “Dorschleber” from a tin and recommend it - but I had never tried it unlike many other kinds of tinned fish. I’m not sure I would have bought it if I had known it’s cod liver in English as that makes me think of the much loathed cod liver oil which in German is known as Lebertran.

When I just looked up the translation I realised that Dorsch must be the same fish as Kabeljau which is what the word cod so far meant to me. Both translations are right: in principle Dorsch is a cod that lives in the Baltic Sea and Kabeljau is a cod from the Northern Atlantic Ocean. However, sometimes young Kabeljau is also called Dorsch, which obviously can be confusing. And I never knew that the hated Lebertran comes from this fish. We learn something new every day!

In any case, the cod liver was very mild, soft and somehow buttery. I liked it!

We had:
🥢 Mackarel in XO sauce from a tin (for the guys)
🥢 Cod liver from a tin (for me)
🥢 Okra with ginger soy sauce
🥢 Chinese broccoli with mushrooms and oyster sauce
🥢 Kimchi (from a tin)
🥢 Japanese rice

Recipes used:
https://www.justonecookbook.com/okra-with-ginger-soy-sauce/
https://thewoksoflife.com/chinese-broccoli-with-oyster-sauce/

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Vegetable Chickpea Potato Soup

We don’t eat this mild creamy vegetable soup from Vegan Richa’s website too often but when we do, we really like it: for once nobody reaches for any spicy condiments. The only extra was the fresh wild garlic that I picked a few days ago and some rolls.

I’ve used this recipe but I made the soup in a normal saucepan:
https://www.veganricha.com/2018/03/veggie-chickpea-potato-soup-in-instant-pot.html

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Linguine and King Prawns in a Lemon Cream Sauce with Fried Courgette

I dug out this old recipe as I need to use up some of my emergency storage supplies, in this particular case soy cream. I’m using soy cream as I can’t handle too much lactose at once (and cow milk cream seems to be a big offender). On top of that it has the advantage of not needing to be put into the fridge as long as it’s unopened, therefore being perfect for storage. I also find it perfectly inoffensive tastewise.

Whenever I made this dish in the past I would get complaints from my family members about king prawns being part of it (which I love), so it’s rare that I make it. Today I thought I’ll simply not give them as many king prawns and take most of them for myself - since I’m the only one who really appreciates them. Guess what, they complained! I can’t win 😅

Anyway, this is fast and easy and therefore a perfect meal for busy days:
https://www.copymethat.com/r/al1Fq72MN/linguine-and-king-prawns-in-a-lemon-crea/

I also pan fried some green asparagus and it complimented the pasta really well.

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Spicy cauliflower stir-fry

What I love about Chinese food is that it mostly seems to have just right kind of spiciness and in your face aromas that all three of us seem to be drawn to. I really should cook more Chinese dishes.

I’ve made this particular one before but more as a side dish. Today I doubled the quantities, used frozen cauliflower and leaves, added tofu slices and a small amount of Thai basil (because it needed to go) and we had a fantastic main dish, dominated by the aromas of Doubanjiang, garlic and ginger.

https://omnivorescookbook.com/recipes/spicy-cauliflower-stir-fry

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Achiote chicken

It’s been a whole year since we tried this dish for the first and second time and I’ve been thinking about it ever since but somehow never prepared it again. Why on earth did it take us so long?!

My husband made it this time and it really is so, so good with the Annatto aroma and copious amounts of lime juice 🤤 It looks spicy because of the vibrant red colour but that is misleading, any heat comes from black pepper (or any other hot spice you would add to your taste).

We used a ready made Achiote paste (contains Annatto seeds) but it’s probably worth it to go the extra mile of making your own Achiote paste as suggested on the recipe website.

If you can’t find Annatto seeds or ready made achiote paste in your local shops, try an international supermarket or look online for Mexican food items to order.

Recipes for reference:
https://thenovicechefblog.com/achiote-chicken-recipe-mexican-marinade/
https://thenovicechefblog.com/achiote-paste/

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