friederike's Reviews
11 recipe(s) reviewed. Showing 1 to 11Sort by: Title 
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marie claire - Snacks & Drinks.
By Michele Cranston
Komet Verlag GmbH - 2004
I quite liked these, but frying the aubergines was a bit of a pain, and of course we didn't get small, long aubergines but just the normal sized ones - definitely not bite-sized, but not a problem. I would have enjoyed some crunch, perhaps a few roasted nuts, but that's just a preference, not a necessity.
Served as part of a buffet for eight, together with Nectarines with Parma Ham and Ricotta, Papaya Salad, Trout and Cucumber Canapés, Beef Canapés and Roquefort in Belgian Endive Leaves.
useful (1)
Beef Canapées / Rindfleisch-Canapées : page 136
Nice, but: The canapé was larger than bite-size, and the roast beef was difficult to bite off, so that we all just had a huge mouthful of roast beef and then a piece of baguette to follow - try to score or cut the beef into smaller pieces to prevent this from happening (you could also just cut the baguette and roast beef into smaller pieces and then serve those). Also, I missed a little crunch - next time I would toast the sliced baguette in the oven with a bit of (herb or garlic) butter. DB didn't like the tomatoes on top. I didn't mind them, but I agree that they could have been more exiting. All in all, though, it was still quite a nice dish, definitely one of the better parts of the buffet.
Served as part of a buffet for eight, together with Smoked Trout and Cucumber Canapés, Nectarines with Ricotta and Parma Ham, Aubergines with Sweet Harissa, Papaya Salad and Roquefort in Belgian Endive Leaves.
useful (1)
Breakfast Trifle : page 18
A very cute idea! I actually served these in jam jars as I took it along on a picknick/train ride, and I kept the crunchy muesli aside in a plastic bag as I was afraid it would become soggy otherwise (I think in the end hardly anybody actually ate the muesli and just enjoyed the yoghurt with fruit).
When preparing this, try to have some extra yoghurt and fruit on hand as you might want/need more than expected. For 6 servings, we used approximately 750g Greek Yoghurt with 4-5 teaspoons honey, and 400g strawberrys plus 4 bananas (no idea how much that is in gram). Probably works best with some juicy kind of fruit such as mango or berries, not necessarily apples or bananas.
useful (2)
Ginger Hearts / Ingwer-Herzen : page 178
Very nice cookies! We added more ginger than instructed, and for my taste it could have been even more ginger. Don't make them too thick, they're nicer if they are no higher than about 2-3 mm. And remember to let them cool in the fridge before baking, I'm sure it helps.
Updated the following day:
Thinner ones keep reasonably well, thcker ones loose their crispness.
useful (1)
We didn't bake the walnut bread and served the goat's cheese and pears on crackers instead, so I'll only review part of the actual recipe - but that part in any case was really good! It was very delicious, looked very attractive, and was gone very quickly, so everyone else seems to agree.
We added pepper to the cream and also on top of the canapées, which gave it a certain oomph. Making them was really easy and really quick, making it an ideal candidate for big parties. I could see this work with several kinds of base: walnut bread as described in the recipe or any other nutty bread would undoubtedly work very well, but so would fresh toast or rye bread.
Served these with Parmesan Cookies, Marinated Feta with Olives, Engadin Walnut Tartlets, Mini Tiramisu and Meringue Towers with Rose Cream
useful (1)
Mini Tiramisu : page 173
Excellent in taste, but a lot of work with a lot of complicated steps, and the recipe definitely needed some tweaking on our side.
The coffee syrup was the most obvious part: if we had followed the recipe to the letter, we would have ended up with muffins drenched in an enormous amount of liquid. Instead we boiled down the coffee to a syrup, added about half of the Tia Maria and boiled that down again, and then added just a lacing of Tia Maria for taste - and yet, the bottoms of the muffins were slightly soggy, but not too bad. Perhaps it might be a good idea to pour the syrup on the inside of the muffin tops instead of the bases - that way they will sit on top of the cream, and will therefore soaked up by the muffin cap, without being able to make the bottom soggy. Maybe?
Also (minor issue), the baking time was 20 minutes, not 10-12.
I also made a mistake and had to begin all over again; I added what I thought was just a bit warmer than lukewarm coffee - the batter thought otherwise and decided to clot. Be warned.
Served these with Goat's Cheese Canapées with Pears, Parmesan Cookies, Marinated Feta with Olives, Engadin Walnut Tartlets and Meringue Towers with Rose Cream
Afterthought: I found this recipe for Tiramisu Cupcakes somebody has indexed - I might actually give it a try, if we happen to make something like that again.
useful (0)
Not that good, at least not the way it's described here - far too much Ricotta to be pleasing, as you'll have the idea that that's the main thing you are eating. If you leave out the ricotta, however, all of a sudden it becomes a lot more interesting: you'll taste the ham, the nectarines, the sweet, hot and sour marinade... it's also practical for a buffet, as you will have to marinade the nectarines at least five days in advance, and you won't have any work with it except for plating.
Served as part of a buffet for eight, together with Smoked Trout and Cucumber Canapés (also pictured), Papaya Salad, Aubergines with Sweet Harissa, Beef Canapés and Roquefort in Belgian Endive Leaves.
useful (2)
Papaya Salad : page 59
A very nice salad! DB missed that extra bit of oomph (more fish sauce? more chilli?), but I liked it the way it was and was afraid you wouldn't be able to taste the green papaya otherwise. Presentation worked well, though you probably won't have that many small lettuce leaves - just tear them into smaller pieces, or serve in small bowls/glasses if you prefer to.
Served as part of a buffet for eight, together with Smoked Trout and Cucumber Canapés, Nectarines with Ricotta and Parma Ham, Aubergines with Sweet Harissa, Beef Canapés and Roquefort in Belgian Endive Leaves.
useful (1)
Parmesan Cookies / Parmesan-Plätzchen : page 104
These were really easy to make, and were quite delicious. I say quite, because now and then they had a slightly floury taste. I noticed that it was considerably less in the smaller ones, and I could imagine that making them thinner would also help.
You're supposed to make a roll and then cut circles; we rolled the dough out instead to be able to use cookie cutters, and that worked perfectly as well (and looked much nicer).
Probably goes better with beer that with wine.
Served these with Goat's Cheese Canapées with Pears, Marinated Feta with Olives, Engadin Walnut Tartlets, Mini Tiramisu and Meringue Towers with Rose Cream
useful (0)
Spiced Nuts / Gewürzte Nüsse : page 104
Very delicious, and so easy! We made half of the recipe without salt and the other with it - the dish really needs the salt, otherwise all the spices won't come out properly.
To be served tomorrow together with carrots, Aubergine Dip and Spundekäs', Deviled Eggs, Chocolate Brownie and Mondriaan Cake.
useful (0)
I wondered whether I was doing anything wrong - instead of 24 cookies I managed to get approximately 16 large and 30 small/bite-sized cookies out of the dough. I noticed that the dough made with oat flour dried out quickly and this influenced how thick you were able to roll out the dough - but in the end this didn't matter at all. They were really easy to prepare, and with a little parmesan or at least sea salt you could probably also serve them as crackers in their own right. Especially heart-shaped ones :)
The smoked trout cream was very delicious, and the whole combination just came together really well. A really good choice, and well worth the extra work!
Served as part of a buffet for eight, together with Nectarines with Ricotta and Parma Ham, Papaya Salad, Aubergines with Sweet Harissa, Beef Canapés and Roquefort in Belgian Endive Leaves.
useful (1)