Beetroot-Pear Caprese with Goat Cheese

I had a great last week, with a lots of hours to draw and to cook.
My kitchen was lost in chaos, because I experimented so much. Timo was in south of Germany to work there, and so my day began at 8 o`clock in the morning, baking or cooking. That happened, because I saw some recipes and got some inspirations from different sources and I couldn`t feel asleep very well - all those ideas and thoughts, my brain was already raw!

So I jumped out of the bed as soon as my alarm clock woke me up.
I experimented with cookies including seasalted chips, I tried a recipe for French Fries with Polenta, made my first Creme Brulée (see below), and immediately the second one, because the first failed, created awesome salads and vegetable rissoles....and for sure: photography!

But the most beautiful experiment I made after I have been to the "Slowfood Convivium" on Thursday.
It`s a regular´s table from people in Hamburg who are interested in Slowfood, in good food.
(Slowfood is all around the world, it started in Italy. If you do not know it, you should!!! >> SLOWFOOD.COM)
Well, we had a nice evening with great food. I had awesome mushrooms with herbs and saffron risotto. It was yummy.
I got to know a lot of people who share the love to good food, that was a wonderful experience.
We talked also about beetroot, and exchanged ideas.
Veronika, one of the people I met and a nice lady, told me, that she arranges her beetroot like a burger. She cuts it twice (cooked) and puts goatcheese in between. And I thought she said something like "apple", too.
Well, I had one beetroot at home, and I really really wanted to test a recipe based on her inspiration.
I thought of the nice arrangement you do, when you make an Insalata Caprese, a Mozzarella-Tomato-Salad. You fan the slices out onto the circle of a plate, by turns.

So I cut my raw beetroot in 1 cm thick slices and cooked it.... but just read the recipe:

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Beetroot-Pear Caprese with Goat Cheese
serves 1

Ingredients:
> 1 beetroot
> 1 normal sized pear, ripe and juicy
> 70 grams soft goatcheese
> 0,5 tsp liquid honey
> a few walnuts
> a few pinenuts
> good olive oil
> salt
> thyme
(> if you want to: some corn salad)


>> Preheat oven to 180°C/ 350°F
>> Cut the beetroot into 1 cm thick circles
>> Cook them until soft, but still al dente
>> Cut the pear from the bottom to the top into 5 mm thick circles, remove core where necessary.
>> Arrange beetroot and pear by turns - beetroot, pear, beetroot, pear, overlapping.
>> Tease goat cheese and scatter it over the mixture
>> sprinkle with honey and a bit of olive oil
>> Add salt and thyme
>> Decorate with some pinenuts and walnuts
>> Put into oven at the top, activate the grill from top
>> When the goat cheese is a little golden ( it took me round about 6 to 7 minutes, but check it by yourself), take out. Take care, it`s hot!

>> If you want, put corn salad in the middle.

Enjoy!

...with salad in the middle.

This is my Crème Brulée. It`s not yet perfect, concering the recipe,
so give me some more time to experiment!

Sweet Couscous with Cinnamon Fruits

I made this for breakfast this morning after reading something about Marokko.
If I can`t do a Foodie-Trip to other countries, I have to bring the countries on MY table.
Couscous is a wonderful food and I guess, I often underestimate the million possibilities you can create something with it....for example, something sweet, like here.

Some people do not want to spend more time than 2 minutes for preparing breakfast.
Well, I am not one of those. Breakfast is so important! I also do not want to spent hours, but 15 minutes ...for a good taste, it`s worth the time.
That breakfast doesn`t take long, so give it a try!
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Sweet Couscous with Cinnamon Fruits
serves 1

For the Couscous
> 1/3 cup Couscous
> 1 TBSP Sultanas
> 2 dried abricots, chopped in little dices
> 2 good shots of liquid cream
> a good pinch of cinnamon
> a small piece of butter

For the topping
> 1 small apple, cut in dices (or a pear, if you prefer)
> a small piece of butter
> 1 Tsp honey
> a good pinch of cinnamon

> 1 TBSP pistachios or almonds
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>> heat water
>> combine the Couscous with Sultanas, chopped abricots and cinnamon, mix it.
>> add 1/3 cup of boiled water and the shot cream
>> cover and let it soak for 10 minutes

>> meanwhile, roast the almonds or pistachios without oil in a small pan until they smell wonderful. Put aside.

>> heat a little bit of water in a pan, add the honey, butter and the cinnamon. When all melted together, add the appledices and let it simmer until the apples are a little soft (not pulpy)

>> add the piece of butter to the Couscous, mix and loosen the grains with a fork.
>> Put Couscous on a plate and cover with cinnamon apples. Sprinkle with almonds/pistachios, add the second shot of cream and sprinkle with cinnamon

If you want a sweeter breakfast, add a little honey to the dry Couscous before adding the boiled water.