Category Archives: Snacks

Sep23

Zucchini Corn Muffins With Cheese

Posted on September 23, 2014 by Kathrin

Hello everyone!

Today I have something for you, that I have never made or even tried before then:

CORN MUFFINS!

I saw corn muffins or bread on different blogs and it always looked so yummy with it’s light brown top and golden color! I know that they are/it is often eaten with chillis or other warm comfort dishes, so I needed to try!

With what do YOU like to eat your corn muffins or corn bread?

These ones of course have a special little twist. They have shredded zucchini in them, which makes them a little healthier!

Since my mum forgot to pick a zucchini in our little backyard it grew quite big – like REALLY big. I haven’t seen one this big before!! It was like a baseball bat, but about three times as thick!!

I didn’t have my camera on hand (big mistake 😉 ) so I don’t have a picture, but please just believe me when I tell you – this thing was enormous!!

I googled and searched all my sources to find recipes to use up my zucchini monster. And this is one of the recipes that has made it to the final list! (which means, there will be more! *wink* 😉 )

I adapted this recipe from Two Peas and their Pod and I am quite pleased how they turned out!

I hope you give them a chance! Have fun baking!!

Zucchini Corn Muffins With Cheese

Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

40 mins

A yummy side for any chilli! Or simply perfect as a snack.

Author: Kathrin @ ginger, lemon & spice

Cuisine: American

Serves: 12

Ingredients

1 cup buttermilk
45g (3 tbsp) butter, melted and cooled
3 tbsp canola oil
2 large eggs
150g (1 cup) flour
120g (1 cup) corn flour
4 tbsp sugar
2½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
½ cup shredded zucchini, liquid squeezed out
½ cup corn kernels (frozen or canned)
1 cup shredded Cheese (I used Gouda)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 300°C (400°F). Line the 12 molds of a muffin pan with paper cups.
In a bowl mix eggs, buttermilk, melted butter, and rapeseed oil until well blended. Add flour, corn flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and mix well but start slow.
Fold in zucchini, corn and cheese and divide the batter evenly between the 12 molds.
Bake for 15-20 minutes in the oven until the tops are golden and a skewer inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean. Let the muffins cool for 5 minutes then remove them from the pan and serve.

See you soon,

xoxo ~Kathrin

Mar11

Around The World: Ireland – Eggsalad Sandwich & Crisps

Posted on March 11, 2014 by Kathrin

Around The World: Ireland – Eggsalad Sandwich & Crisps

Welcome to the second day of the Around the World series featuring Ireland!

In Ireland most of the agriculture is based on livestock farming, especially dairy farming. Irish dairy products such as Kerrygold Butter or cheese are greatly advertised and known internationally! As the most parts of the rural areas are grasslands, especially keeping milkcows is a good business and the milk and products of those fresh herb and grass fed animals are known for their great taste.

Another product the Irish diet is based upon are potatoes, which came to the island in the second half of the 16th century. A story says, that the people in Ireland were poor and did not have much to eat during that time but they didn’t trust the new plant and wouldn’t eat from it or eat the leaves, which are poisonous. So what the governers did was plant fields of potatoes but protect them with many guards from thiefs. Now the residents thought the plant was incredible precious and stole the plants anyway and planted their own fields. This helped the potato to become a very important ingredient of the Irish diet in a short time! But unfortunately it lead also to the big famine of the years past 1845 because of crop failures of the potato and many people died.

I guess because in history the people of Ireland where poor people which always had to be creative to get enough to eat on the table, the most popular dishes often are rich breads, hearty stews and soups and seafood meals. This means that there is no particular culture of serving appetizers, salads and extravagant desserts! But the food scenery in Ireland got very internationally inspired during the last years. Especially the italian cuisine is very popular!

But one thing you can find in almost any cuisine and this is some kind of snack or fast food, because sometimes there is just the need for a quick and easy meal.

The most popular Irish snack or fast food are sandwiches. You can get them everywhere – in supermarkets, at airports, bus and train stations or in pubs. It is one of the most traditional things served in pubs! And in pubs is where I recommend you to try them when you are visiting the island! There is nothing compared to a fresh sandwich, prepared in front of your eyes with whatever filling you wish and served with a generous handful of crisps at the side!

I used to only know the sandwiches that are kept in plastic package and can be bought at supermarkets for example and they are usually really dry and boring. So it took me some time until an Irish friend took me to a pub and invited me to a sandwich, and now I don’t want to miss it on any of my trips! Also if you look for it you will find several Deli stands, even in supermarkets, that also prepare the sandwiches right there when you order them. It’s such a huge difference!!

The recipe I have for you today is the one for a sandwich with my favorite filling: Egg Salad. Even better, if it’s accompanied by some salad leaves, cheese and fresh slices of tomato! Yummmm!!

Just give it a try, you won’t regret it!

Eggsalad Sandwich & Crisps

Prep time

15 mins

Total time

15 mins

This is a delicious sandwich that's perfect for an everyday snack or light lunch! It's quick to prepare and the crisps on the side add a nice crunch to this dish!

Author: Kathrin @ ginger, lemon & spice

Recipe type: Snack, Sandwich

Cuisine: Irish

Serves: 2

Ingredients

for the eggsalad:

4 hard boiled eggs
1 Tbsp. of Yoghurt
1 Tbsp. of Mayonnaise
1 Tbsp. fresh finely chopped parsley
juice of ½ a lime
salt, pepper

other ingredients:

4 big slices of sandwich bread
a handful of young salad leaves
3 Tbsp. grated cheddar (preferably Irish)
1 tomato in thin slices
2 big handfuls of crisps (preferably Irish salt or salt & vinegar crisps)

Instructions

First prepare the egg salad by peeling and chopping the eggs in chunks that are not too small. Add yoghurt, mayonnaise, parsley, limejuice, pepper and salt to the mix and stir. Taste if the mix needs more of anything! Eggs can use quite a bit of salt, so keep that in mind.
Lay two slices of the bread in front of you and spread the eggsalad on them. Add the cheese, salad and tomato slices on top and cover with another slice of bread. Cut diagonally into 4 pieces and arrange them on nice plates.
Put the crisps next or around the sandwiches and dig in!!

Here are the other recipes I shared during this series:

Breakfast – Irish Scones with Raisins

Drink – Jameson Whiskey with Ginger Ale

Soup – Seafood Chowder

Main Dish – Irish Stew with Guinness

Dessert – Fruit Crumble

Pastry – Barmbrack Sweet Bread

~ Kathrin

Mar10

Around The World, Week By Week: IRELAND & Irish Scones

Posted on March 10, 2014 by Kathrin

Around The World, Week By Week: IRELAND & Irish Scones

Hello everybody!

It has been some time, since I last posted and a lot of things have happend, but I hope you’re still out there somewhere and ready for a new week of AROUND THE WORLD, WEEK BY WEEK!!

As I told you already in this post and another one including a recipe for delicious Brown Soda Bread, IRELAND feels kind of like my second home. When the plane sinks through the clouds and I get a first look of the green fields surrounded by the dark stone walls covered with blackberry bushes I feel very calm and excited all at once.

I have been to the green isle already so many times, I just lost count – I guess it might be around 15 times or so, but thats definitly not the final number.

It is no surprise then, that I chose this country to be the second one featured in the Around the World series!

The Republic of Ireland is an island located in the north west of Europe and surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean. Wikipedia tells me, that the population of the isle is about 6.4 million whilst 4.6 million people live in the Republic of Ireland and 1.8 million people in Northern Ireland, which belongs to the United Kingdom of Great Britain. Especially in the south the effects of the gulf stream can be seen in a very mild climate which allows even palm trees to grow in some places! The island is known for its very green appearance due to the big amount of rain that comes down, compared with other countries.

I think thats enough talk for right now, I have the whole week to talk about the country and don’t want to tell you all at once 😉

Since in Ireland there isn’t a special tradition of serving appetizers or other food before the main course (which should usually be the category of the first recipe in the series) I thought I might share with you some info about what the Irish eat for breakfast!

So here it comes 🙂

Actually there is a dish that is called a ‘Full Irish Breakfast’, but I am not able to shoot any pictures of my own of it because it is nearly impossible for me to get those ingredients in Germany! It contains baked irish small sausages, bacon, tomatoes, irish black pudding (a kind of blood sausage), mushrooms, fried eggs and baked beans! Of course buttered toast can’t be missed with this! If you want to have a look how its done look at Donal Skehan’s page and see how a real irish fella makes his ‘Full Irish’!

Of course this dish is more of a special breakfast on weekends as it takes some time to prepare and is a bit heavy on the calories for an everyday breakfast too.

On a usual school day people prefere to eat porridge (a warm pudding of oats and milk or water with sugar and maybe fruit) or some kind of scones with butter, cream and jam. And this is what I have for you!

Scroll down for my recipe for Irish Breakfast Scones with Raisins!

Irish Breakfast Scones with Raisins

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

15 mins

Total time

25 mins

A perfect and quick to make scone recipe which pleases everyone! Yummy scones for breakfast, teatime or any time of the day with an incredible easy recipe!

Author: Kathrin @ ginger, lemon & spice

Recipe type: Breakfast, Teatime

Cuisine: Irish

Serves: 12

Ingredients

450 g flour
1 sachet baking powder (1 Tbsp)
50 g sugar
50 g softened margarine
a pinch of salt
300 ml milk
100 g of raisins

Instructions

Preheat oven to 220° C.
Mix all the ingredients together, except the raisins, they should be added last. I just use a fork to work the dough. It should still be wet but dry enough to handle!
Just use two tablespoons to form big balls and put them on a baking sheet covered with baking paper.
Bake the scones for 12-15 minutes. They are ready if the top and bottom is golden - don't bake them too long! Enjoy 🙂

Notes

You can leave the raisins out if you don't like them or substitute with nuts or other dried fruits! Serve the scones with butter, whipped cream & jam! In the pictures I served them with lemon curd.

You can find my recipe for Creamy Lemon Curd here!

Here are the other recipes I shared during this series:

Fast Food – Egg Salad Sandwich & Crisps

Drink – Jameson Whiskey with Ginger Ale

Soup – Seafood Chowder

Main Dish – Irish Stew with Guinness

Dessert – Fruit Crumble

Pastry – Barmbrack Sweet Bread

~ Kathrin

Jul22

Around the World: Turkey – Sigara Böreği

Posted on July 22, 2013 by Kathrin

Around the World: Turkey – Sigara Böreği

Hey there!!

So today is the first day of the Turkish Week on my blog taking part in the Around the World, Week by Week – Series!

Why did I chose Turkey as the first country to be featured?

Well, I got the chance to visit this country for two months in the summer of last year. I went there through a partnership of my university in Germany with the Ege-University of Izmir for an internship in the milk technology departement. I didn’t expect much as the turkish people living in Germany often keep very much to themselves and their culture kind of stayed a mystery to me. But boy was I wrong!

The people were so open and friendly – it was amazing!! Even if it was hard to communicate with some because they didn’t really speek English or German and my Turkish was well, let’s say, just not existing 😉 We got along so well using our hands to gesticulate and some google-translate for more difficult things!! The people were very hospitable and obliging and the boys real gentleman! I felt at home right away and made many great friends!!

Also I found a family there which adopted me, at least figuratively speeking 🙂 It is the family of my neighbour who died unfortunatly and very sudden two years ago. His wife went back to Turkey to stay with their son and daughter and their grandchildren who are already in their late teens. I last saw them all when I was little, they didn’t come to Germany often to visit because most of the time my neighbour and wife went to Turkey and spend some weeks each year there. So when he died everything was really quick. They gave up the house and moved back to Turkey in just like two weeks or something – a time in which I couldn’t come to my parents house to say goodbye. I had to stay and go to university. So when I found out they actually lived near Izmir and I could probably see them during my stay I got really excited!!

And then I finally met them and it was like coming home to your family. Everybody was kissing and hugging and I was instantly adopted as a family member! They called me their daughter, cousin and sister and it was how I felt too!! This sounds all very emotional – but it is how I felt!!

I stayed at their house, was invited to their cram-ful tables for breakfast and dinner, I was cooking with them Turkish food and I even cooked a German dish for them at the last evening as a thank you. I guess I got some first-hand experience there 😉

It was awesome!! I miss them all very much!!

But now let’s go on to the food part! There has to be something to tell for the next days too 😉

Today is Monday, so we will have a little talk about appetizers in Turkish Cuisine. Small plates with different dishes to snack on have a long tradition in Turkey. They even have a special name for it: Meze! It is kind of like the Tapas of Turkey 🙂 You can get them in nearly every restaurant, and in the better ones you even get some for free. It can be things like a salad, bread, a joghurt dip or different spreads – it’s all possible.

What I have here for you is Sigara Böreği, a savoury snack in the form of thin rolls. They taste a little bit salty and very crispy – once you start eating you can never stop 😉 They are really delicious and probably gone faster than anything else on a buffet!!

Here is a little picture to help you visualize what the dough sheets look like and what to do with them 🙂

Have you been to Turkey yourself? Have you tried or even cooked Turkish food? What were your experiences?

I would love for you to share in the comments! 🙂

Sigara Böreği

Prep time

30 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

50 mins

Author: Kathrin @ ginger, lemon & spice

Recipe type: Appetizer

Cuisine: Turkish

Serves: 6

Ingredients

1 package triangular shaped yufka-sheets (about 25 sheets -turkish store)
300 g beyaz peynir or feta cheese
1 handful of parsley, finely chopped
water
rapeseed or sunflower oil

Instructions

Prepare the filling first by squishing the feta cheese or beyaz peynir as finely as you can. Mix with parsley and set aside.
Arrange your workspace: Put a clean and slightly wet towel on your surface. You need a bowl with water, your filling, the yufka sheets and a clean plate in arms length!
Now you can start rolling your Sigara Böreği: Place one sheet of yufka on your towel, the wide side facing towards you. Sprinkle with water, especially the sides that will be folded in!
Take some of your filling (about 1 tablespoon) and distribute in a line near the end of the round side of the triangular. Fold the sides in and roll your Sigara Böreği up! Tip the pointy end of your yufka into your bowl with water and close the roll. Set aside on your plate and continue until all the yufka sheets are used up!
Heat the oil in a wide pan. You need about 1 cm of oil in your pan. Use a wooden spoon to test if the oil is already hot enough. There will be bubbles forming on the spoon when you put a corner of it into the oil. When the oil is hot enough put some Sigara Böreği in. They have to be in one layer and you need a little bit of space to turn them. Turn them once after the bottom side is golden and lay them on a paper towel to drain excess oil when you take them out.
Enjoy preferably with some salad or çaçik!

Notes

I have tried to make them with less oil already but the results were always a disaster! The dough was still raw inside and the outside was burned and it never got crispy and flakey.

Around the World, Week by Week: Turkey: Appetizer: Sigara Böreği by gingerlemonandspice

Afiyet olsun!!

– That means enjoy your meal in Turkish 🙂

Here are the other recipes I shared during this series:

An Introduction to the new series

Main Dish – Köfte, Cacık & Pirinç Pilavı

Dessert – Künefe

Drink – Ayran

Salad – Kısır

Pastry – Kurabiye

Snack/Fast Food – Lahmacun

Guest Post – Acılı Ezme

~ Kathrin

May29

Zucchini, Corn And Feta Muffins

Posted on May 29, 2013 by Kathrin

Zucchini, Corn And Feta Muffins

Hello everybody!!

Sorry it took me so long to get back writing on my blog. There was so much on my plate the last 3 weeks or so… But more about that in my brandnew post later today.

Right now I want to tell you about my very first guest post!! Carrie from Chicago Foodie Sisters asked on her Facebook page if someone would be willing to share a recipe and a bit about themselves on her website. And I said yes!

Actually it then took some time until it all happened, but now I am very proud to say: It is finally up!! Hop on over and read on Chicago Foodie Sisters about my savory Zucchini and Feta Muffins with Walnuts and Corn!!

I liked them so very much – they were the perfect snack through any time of the day, be it breakfast, afternoon or the middle of the night! As I knew they wouldn’t be eaten all at once I froze most of them and they were even better after thawing!! I just left them at room temperature until they weren’t frozen anymore and enjoyed them 🙂

Also I tried myself on a little bit of ‘food decorating’ for this shoot – how do you like the pictures?

Zucchini, Corn And Feta Muffins

A perfect and delicious little snack, which keeps well and is ideal to put in lunchboxes or take on picnics!

Author: Kathrin @ ginger, lemon & spice

Recipe type: Savory

Serves: 12

Ingredients

2 eggs
80ml (1/3 cup) oil (rapeseed or sunflower)
300ml (1¼ cup) buttermilk
300g (2½ cups) flour (I used half white/whole wheat)
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
100g corn* (canned or frozen)
100g zucchini*, finely grated
100g chopped walnuts*
150g feta* in small cubes

Instructions

Grease a muffin tin and put in muffin paper cups if you want. Preheat oven to 180°C (350 °F).
In a bowl mix eggs, oil and buttermilk well. Add flour, salt and baking powder on top and distribute the dry ingredients a little with a spoon. Then mix wet and dry ingredients slowly until just incorporated.
Add corn, zucchini and walnuts. Then fold in feta carefully with a tablespoon.
You can use the spoon now to transfer the batter into the muffin cups! You can make the cups pretty full, at least in my case the muffins just rose but did not spill and sank back when cooling!
Bake the muffins for 25-30 minutes. Check with a wooden skewer!
Enjoy!! 🙂

Notes

* I am sorry I can't tell how much of those ingredients you need in cups. Corn, walnuts and feta it is approximately 1 big handful of each and zucchini about ¾ of a smaller one.

Lots of love,

~ Kathrin

Jan2

Apple and onion swirls – Apfel-Zwiebel Schnecken

Posted on January 2, 2013 by gingerlemonandspice

Apple and onion swirls – Apfel-Zwiebel Schnecken

Hey everybody!!

The new year hast just started and the New Year’s resolutions are still very much in my mind, so I thought i use the flow and give you some quick words and a new recipe.

How has the new year been so far for you? I slept in very long yesterday, and then spent the whole evening with my family at my grandparents’ to give them all their good wishes!

In Germany it is tradition that all the kids get very big soft prezels (not the Oktoberfest-kind, but sweet ones) from their godparents and money from their relatives. Also, if you want to make sure, that you won’t be out of money anytime in the new year, you will eat Sauerkraut on the new years day. That’s what my parents and I did yesterday!!

Do you have any New-Years’ traditions?

So let’s come to the recipe. Another great snack to bring to any kind of party or friends house!! It uses apples and onions which are a great combination especially in autumn and this time of year. We still have apples from our own trees in our garage waiting to be used!

Apple and onion swirls (Apfel-Zwiebel Schnecken)

I took this recipe from here.

dough:

500g flour

250ml lukewarm Water

1 package (42g) of fresh yeast

5 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

filling:

4 onions

2 big apples

100g speck (or gammon)

2 tablespoons olive oil

salt, pepper and majoran

100g grated cheese (Emmentaler)

coating:

1 egg yolk

1. Dissolve the yeast in the water. Then put all the ingredients for the dough together and knead until it is a nice dough.

2. For the filling peel onions and apples. Cut speck, onions and apples into small cubes and roast gently in a pan. Season to taste with salt, pepper and majoran. Take care with the salt, as the speck usually is quite salty on its own!

3. Halve the dough and coast one into a rectangle shape (about 20×30 cm wide). Sprinkle half the onion-apple mix and half the cheese on top. Roll the dough up starting from on of the smaller sides and cut pieces from 1-2 cm from it. But it on baking paper on a sheet and repeat with the other half of the dough.

4. Whisk the egg yolk with a bit of water and coat the swirls with it.

5. Put the sheets into the oven. Back at 200°C for 25-30 minutes.

Enjoy!!

~ Kathrin

Jan1

Lemon & Rosemary Palmiers

Posted on January 1, 2013 by gingerlemonandspice

Lemon & Rosemary Palmiers

Hello and good evening people of the world wide web!!

So this is me – taking the courage to throw me and myself out there for you to discover and take part in my life, my adventures and my love for food, sewing and traveling!

As you might recognize, English is not my mothertounge. Actually I am from Germany! But I do really love the language and I try my best not to make to many mistakes. Should you find something not understandable or a meaning totally different please don’t hesitate to tell me 😉

I hope you, my dear reader, will have fun here, live through emotions with me and find a lot of inspiration!!

I wish you all the best for the new year – 2013 – i feel that this will be a fantastic year!!

I am soo looking forward to get to know all of you!!

As a small preview of what you will find here on the blog soon, I’ll share a first recipe with you!

It is the recipe of ‘pigs ears’ (as we say in Germany – I don’t know the real name in English). Pigs ears are very popular especially in Italy and Spain! I made i small twist with the addition of rosemary and lemon and I like them very much! They are a very quick to make snack to bring to a party or nice evening with friends! They also stay fresh for a while in an airtight container.

I hope you like them like I do!

Have a beautiful evening and a fantastic start into the new year!!

Kathrin

Rosemary and lemon pigs ears

Recipe:

1 big sheet puff pastry

4 Tablespoons sugar

fresh rosemary leaves

lemon zest of one lemon

Roll flat the puff pastry in front of you, preferably on a sheet of baking parchment. Sprinkle 2 Tablespoons Sugar on top of it. Cut rosemary leaves and lemon zest as small as you can and sprinkle it eavenly onto the puff pastry. Use a rolling pin to press the sprinkled goods gently into the dough and flip it over. Treat this side of the dough like the other one. When you are ready, start roling the puff pastry from two opposite sides (the smaller ones if you want bigger pigs ears, the longer ones if you want smaller ones) to the centre. Put the roll into your baking paper and into the fridge for half an hour.

Afterwards cut slices of the roll like 3-5 mm thick and put them on a fresh baking parchment on a baking sheet and into the oven. Temperature needed is 180 °C for approximitly 15-20 minutes. The pigs ears are ready, if they are puffed up nicely and not yet browned. Let them cool for a few minutes on the sheet and then indulge!