Marbled Chinese Eggs

Tea and soy infused eggs

Although the snow outside makes it look more like Christmas, it is Easter again. To go with the non-traditional weather we are making some unconventional Easter eggs: Marbled Chinese Tea Eggs. They take little effort and look absolutely stunning.  You can use regular eggs or try quail eggs for an even cuter result.

These eggs are super tasty and not only for Easter. They make a great snack or little side dish for a dim sum style dinner; or add them to a salads and stir fries.

 

Ingredients
6 regular eggs (or 18 quail eggs)
6 tbsp light soya sauce
2 tbsp dark sweet soya sauce
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
3 pieces of whole star anise
8 black peppercorns, left whole
1 long cinnamon stick
1 tea bag or 2 tbsp loose black tea leaves

Recipe

1. Place the eggs in a large saucepan or pot, and cover with cold water.  Bring to a boil, and then remove from heat and let stand for 10 minutes. (Place quail eggs in boiling water for 4 minutes)
2. Use a slotted spoon to place the eggs in an ice bath for a few minutes. Leaving the hot water in the pot.
3. Once the eggs are cool enough to handle, tap and roll them to break the shells all over.
4. Add the soy sauces, salt, sugar, star anise, cinnamon, pepper corns to the hot water.
5. Hang the tea bag into the water (or sprinkle in the tea leaves.)
6. Return the cracked eggs to the pot.
7. Cover and bring to the boil. Cook at a low simmer for 2 hours. Ensure that the eggs are covered in liquid, adding water if necessary.
8. Turn off the heat and allow to cool completely. Refrigerate the eggs in the liquid over night.

Tips & Variations

Consider some of the following

• Chinese five spice powder
• mandarin rind or juice

Other Easter egg recipes

• Naturally dyed eggs
• Beet pickled (deviled) eggs

Lemon Yoghurt Cake

A cake as ligth as a cloud carrying the scent of lemon

Happy blog birthday to me! Not only that, this is actually also my 100th post!

It is incredible to realize that a whole year has passed since my first post.  It has been such a fabulous experience: it began with nothing more than my passion for food. I simply decided to start an on-line recipe collection; as I was constantly chewing everyone’s ear off about recipes and food anyway. I was actually taken by surprise when I read the first comments from strangers and I was completely blown away when I got my first followers. It really is a fantastic feeling to know that your passion has touched someone else.

Whilst hunting for new taste experiences to share, I became more and more interested in healthy food. Dishes that not only taste good but that truly nourish my body. It has been a great journey with some marvelous discoveries. I found out you can replace the fat in baked goods with apple sauce (Zucchini  Apple Muffin, Oat Blueberry Muffin). Also quite unexpectedly cauliflower became my new favourite vegetable (Mash, Hummus, Tabouleh, Couscous, Pasta).

So for my birthday I decided to bake myself a cake that tastes decadent but is low in fat and easy to make . It’s a good thing that this recipe is relatively healthy as I had way too much of it already; it is just so beautifully light and airy. Great with a cup of coffee in the afternoon, as desert or as a snack (and I have tested all of the above!)

Thank you for visiting my blog and leaving your messages and comments – I so enjoy reading your thoughts and feedback. I am looking forward to the year ahead and many more great discoveries and experiences!

Ingredients
(found on the blog ‘O Pistachio‘)
Two 15cm cake tins or one 22cm tin

butter for greasing cake tin
4 large eggs
110g (1/2 cup) superfine (caster) sugar
3 tbsp all-purpose (plain) flour
500g (1 2/3 cup) fat free Greek-style yoghurt (see tips for alternative)
zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1 lemon

Recipe

1. Preheat the oven to 175C (350F).
2. Cut out a round disk of parchment paper to cover the base of two 15cm (or one 22cm) round cake tins. Grease the tin well.
3. Separate the eggs. Whisk the eggs whites until they are stiff and form soft peaks.
4. In a separate bowl beat together egg yolks and sugar until pale and creamy.
5. Beat in the flour.
6. Then beat in the yoghurt, lemon zest and juice.
7. Carefully fold the egg whites under the yoghurt mix.
8. Pour into the baking tins.
9. Bake for about 50-60 minutes (for one large tin you might have to increase the baking time).
10. The cake should be moist but springy to the touch. (The cake will rise at first, but will then collapse again.)
11. Best served cold (although you might also like it warm).

Tips & Variations

Instead of Greek yoghurt you can also strain regular yoghurt in a cheese cloth for a while.

Crustless Tartlets

Quick, versatile and packed with flavour

This recipe is for my nieces. They liked these little silky, salty tartlets so much, they made me promise to share the recipe so they can make these themselves at home.

It is one of our fabulous family traditions to have large and late brunches when we are all together. The tables (yes, tables) are full of cold meats, smoked fish, jams, cheeses and different types of bread. It usually is not easy to find space to squeeze in some more food, but sometimes I try. This time I just craved some quiche. Seeing it was still early (only around 1 pm) I could just not get myself to make pastry. So crustless quiche is what I went for. Very tasty and so fabulously easy I only needed to lend a helping hand as my nieces did all the work.

With so many other delicacies to choose from we had some tarts left over to snack on throughout afternoon. Personally I think I had a slight preference for the cold quiche. However our seven year old struggled thorough a few moments of deliberation before she had to admit that she really could not say which one was better as both options were so good.

This below is more of a guideline than an recipe. The variations for the filling, but even the batter are endless. At the end of the recipe you will find a few alternative ideas.

 

Ingredients
(found on the blog ‘Cherrapeno‘)
12 muffin size quiches

2 eggs
120ml (1/2 cup) milk
60ml (1/4 cup) double cream
60g all-purpose flour
1/2 generous tsp baking powder
1 tbsp chives
1 tsp dill
210g (2/3 cup) strong cheese (cheddar or similar)
70g (1/3 cup) smoked salmon
black salt

Recipe

1. Heat the oven to 180C. Grease a 12-whole muffin tin. (This is not necessary for non-stick or silicon tins.)
2. Whisk eggs, milk and cream together.
3. Add the flour and baking powder. Whisk again.
4. Chop the chives and dill.
5. Grate the cheese.
6. Chop salmon roughly. Add all the ingredients to the batter.
7. Season with pepper. (There is no need for salt as the cheese and salmon are quite salty already.)
8. Fill the 12 wholes of the muffin tin.
9. Bake for about 15-20 minutes until golden Check that they are cooked through..

 

Tips & Variations

If you are looking for a lighter version consider turning the tartlets into mini frittatas. (Click here for recipe.)

For alternative fillings consider:

• sautéed onion and crisp bacon
• green chili and crisp bacon
• sautéed leek and ham
• spinach and shredded zucchini
• sautéed red capsicum and mushroom

Devilled Eggs – Plain or Pretty in Pink

Delicate Devilled Eggs….either plain….

….or pretty in pink…

I love making Devilled Eggs for finger-food parties. Granted they are a little old fashioned. Or maybe I should say they are a classic – at every party they disappear within no time.

This recipe is a gorgeous looking twist on the usual plain eggs. The eggs are pickled in beet juice and turn a stunning pink.

If I am totally honest personally I prefer the delicate flavour of plain deviled eggs, but these eggs look so stunning I am sure I will make them again.

 

Ingredients
(Pickling recipe from blog ‘Go Lightly Gourmet”
Devilled Egg recipe from “Komm Koch und Back mit mir” – my first cookbook ever)
6 eggs

Pickled eggs:

30ml (1/4 cup) of agave syrup (or 30g sugar)
125ml (½ cup) of apple cider vinegar
125ml (½ cup) of water
½ teaspoon of sea salt
½ teaspoon of whole cloves
½  teaspoon of whole allspice
1 cinnamon stick
3 medium beets
½ onion sliced into very thick slices
6 large farm fresh eggs, hard boiled, cooled and peeled

Devilled egg filling:

3 tbsp mayonnaise
1,5 tsp mustard
Salt, Pepper

Recipe

Pickled eggs:

1. To make the pickling mixture, add all the ingredients except for beets, onion, eggs to a saucepan.
2. Bring to a gentle boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat.
3. Wash the beets. Cut off the ends and cut into quarters. (Be carful not to touch the cut surfaces or use gloves.)
4. Place in a pot and cover with water. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes until beets are just tender.
5. Pour off water and allow beets to cool slightly.
6. Place hard-boiled eggs, onion, cooked beets in a large glass jar or a zip lock bag. Pour in the pickling mixture.
7. Place in the fridge and pickle for a minimum of 24 hours and up to 2 weeks. The longer the eggs pickle the deeper the pink will seep into the egg. (The eggs on the photograph were pickled whole for 48 hours. I then cut them open and removed the egg yolk to make the deviled egg filling. I returned the egg white halves to the pickling mixture for another 24 hours.)

Devilled egg filling:

1. Carefully cut the eggs open lengthwise. (I wipe my knife in between eggs as not to transfer egg yolk onto the white.)
2. Use a teaspoon to remove the egg yolk.
3. Use a tablespoon to push the egg yolks through a sieve.
4. Add mayonnaise, mustard, salt and pepper to the yolks and combine. Adjust amounts to suite your taste.
5. Spoon the mixture into a piping bag and decorate the eggs (alternatively you can use two teaspoons to place the filling into the eggs.)
6. The eggs can be prepared earlier in the day and stored in the fridge. I have even made them the day before despite the fact that I always read that eggs, once boiled and peeled, should be refrigerated in water.

 
Serve with

Other pink foods for a baby shower: (recipes will follow over the next few days)

• Quick Pink Salmon Mousse
• Quinoa Beet Verrine with Smoked Salmon
• Beet Bread – Shockingly Pink
• Raspberry Chicken
• Beet Hummus
• Mini Meatballs – Plain or Pink
• Raspberry Yoghurt
  

  It’s a girl! Baby shower food

Indian Egg Curry

Fragrant Egg Curry with Creamy Raita and Chrunchy Broccoli with a Hint of Spice

Or what to do with all those left-over Easter eggs…

This egg curry bursts with flavour and is comforting at the same time. Plus after a weekend of Easter brunches and dinners it makes a nice change to prepare a dish that is not too time consuming.

At the same time it really is too good to only have once a year – its great to make if your fridge is empty and you only have some eggs and tomatoes kicking about.  I have never tried, but I am sure this sauce also freezes well (without the eggs I would think).

Usually I prepare enough of this curry for two meals. The second day I then make an Indian vegetable dish like Spinach Paneer, some Naan and have a little “Indian Feast”. (Store the eggs for the second day separately from the sauce. Heat them by frying them a little before adding the sauce.)

Ingredients
Found on the blog Sunshine and Smile and only increased the amount of sauce

Serves 2
4-6 large eggs, hard boiled
4 medium onion
4 medium tomato
1-2 tbs cumin seed
1-2 tsp chilli powder
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1-2 tbs ginger, finely chopped or grated
1-2 tsp coriander powder
3 tbs chopped coriander (cilantro)
salt
pepper
oil

Recipe

1. Hard boil the eggs. Let them cool completely (if possible over night) and peel.. (Check my post on How to Boil the Prefect Eggs for Julia Child’s approach to eggs)
2. In a deep pan or a wok, heat some oil and sauté the boiled eggs until they are browned a little.
3. Remove eggs from the pan.
4. In the same pan, add some more oil (if required) and sauté ginger, garlic and cumin seeds for two minutes.
5. Finely chop onion. Season with salt and pepper and cook until onion is translucent.
6. Finely chop tomatoes and cook for another few minutes.
7. Transfer the whole content to a blender (or food processor) and blend it to a thick sauce (if it is difficult to blend you can add 250 ml of hot water).
8. Pour the sauce back into the pan and add coriander powder, chilli powder and cook for a few minutes.
9. Add the boiled eggs to the gravy and pour in 250ml of hot water (if you have not already added the water when you blended the sauce). Let the dish cook until the eggs are hot and the sauce has reached the desired consistency.
10. Season with salt, pepper and chilli if necessary.
11. Garnish with chopped cilantro.

 
Serve with

• Rice
   
• A quick Raita: chopped cucumber, creamy yoghurt (I use no-fat Total Greek Yoghurt), some chopped mint, salt and pepper (So simple, so delicious).
   
• Broccoli florets steamed for two minutes. To add some extra flavour wipe the pot dry after steaming, add some oil, briefly fry a some cumin seeds, black mustard seeds and chilli flakes. Then add the broccoli to the spices and fry briefly.