Category Archives: Selected dishes

Luxurious Muesli – Start fresh into April!

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I now can reveal the recipe for my latest favorite muesli, as shown and created for MBC1 The Green Apple Show, aired recently. View the video sequence here.
By the way, there is more healthy treats to come soon on this channel. Keep watching it.
To easy make and enjoy this perfect morning treat at home, please follow below recipe.
I am sure you will like it as much as I do!

Luxurious Layered Morning Muesli
2 portions

What To Buy
10g Buckwheat
5g Puffed Amaranth (it is easy to puff Amaranth, as shown in the video, if you want to do it yourself as I do it)
10g Oat flakesmuesli
10g Almonds with skin
50g Mango
50g Papaya
30g Pomegranate seeds
50g Strawberry
10g Passion fruit pulp with seeds
200ml low fat Yoghurt
5g Acacia honey

How To Make It
Toast the buckwheat, the oat flakes and the sunflower seeds slightly in a non stick pan without any fat. Toast the almonds the same way and crush them roughly. Mix the seeds and nuts with the puffed amaranth.

Peel the papaya and the mango. Dice strawberry, mango and papaya and keep separate.
Spoon the prepared ingredients layered into glasses, so you can display the colorful layers: Some seeds and nuts mix, top with yoghurt, one type of fruit. Repeat the same layers with a different type of fruit.

Serve topped with a drizzle of acacia honey.

mbc2Chef Gabi’s Tip
This morning treat is packed with nutrients supporting beautiful skin, shiny hair, strong nails and bones. In the same time it provides you with lots of energy for a fresh start in the day.
p.s. left is one “making of” picture with the presenter Howayda and me,  preparing the muesli. In the back you see beautiful Madinat Jumeirah Resort with its waterways, where guests are transported by boats …enjoy something truly  inspirational about it here.

Heirloom Tomatoes and Sumac – a perfect match

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Switching from cooler autumn weather in Munich to Dubai’s still summery temperatures with every day sunshine and a perfect blue sea in the close vicinity, I rediscover my love for light, vitamin rich, raw food.
Arabian flavors are a new favorite of mine – recently I incorporated more and more of the traditional ingredients and tastes into my cooking, thanks to the Jumeirah Munich Culinary Week I was proudly part of.
Try this easy to make salad I am now indulging at home quite often, being a fan of pomegranate since ever, this is really delicious and light. We had a similar dish in Munich served to the guests of Designreisen Deli and journalists alike:

HEIRLOOM TOMATO SALAD with Sumac vinaigrette
2 portions

What to Buy
6 Heirloom tomatoes
2 spring onions (green part)
2 sprigs fresh zaatar
1/2 bunch basil leaves, picked
1/2 pomegranate
1/2 garlic clove
1/2 teaspoon agave syrup or acacia honey
2 tablespoons aged balsamic vinegar
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
salt
1 teaspoon sumac powder

How to Make It
Wash the tomatoes and cut them into wedges. Pick and wash the aromatic basil and zaathar leaves. Slice the spring onion green into very thin stripes and place them for 5 minutes in ice water. Strain them after they have curled up. Open the pomegranate and release the ruby red kernels. Peel the garlic clove and mash it with the salt using the flat side of a knife. Mix balsamic vinegar, agave syrup, sumac, olive oil and garlic mash to a vinaigrette. Arrange the tomatoes on plates, garnish with the aromatic leaves, spring onions, and pomegranate. Drizzle generously the dressing over the salad, sprinkle some extra sumac over it and enjoy! 

Chef Gabi’s Tip
Sumac is a red powder with a taste resembling of citrus fruits. It is made from the fruits of shrub called rhus and a very popular ingredient in Middle eastern cuisine. It is perfect in salads to add that special fruity fresh note.
Zaatar is a strong aromatic herb from the oregano family. I love to use it fresh in salads and in dishes with potoes and green beans! It supports digestion, has antiseptic properties and provides chlorophyll.

By the way …. In Munich we met Bavarian institution, Chef Alfons Schuhbeck in his famous place “Das Platzl”, where guests can indulge in an extensive speciality tea shop, well stocked spice shop, very special chocolates, home made ice cream (with fancy flavors like lichee pepper pistachio or Wies’n beer – which I gave a try of course – yum), a  relaxed coffee shop and his famous gourmet restaurant and cookery school. I am now even prouder to have had the chance to cook twice next to him at Germany’s well known Friday night cooking show “Lanz kocht” !

Bavarian Bliss – Zwetschgennudeln

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Home in Bavaria. For those who don’t know it: It is the most beautiful part of Germany in the very south. I come from a small but famous place surrounded by stunning mountains – a nature scenery I truly treasure close to my heart. Below picture I took on top of mount Untersberg at 1805 m above sea level, you are looking towards Austria (Salzburgerland) here…The green shrubs are mountain pine, they are growing plentiful there.

Apart from this there is a lot of culinary greatness too. Bavaria offers quite a number of vegetarian dishes despite the fact it can’t be named really famous for vegetarian food itself. But Bavarian cuisine is rich in very special sweets (Mehlspeisen). Most of them are to die for, trust me.
We are very particular on how this food has to be prepared. My mother is an expert for a healthy take on these dishes. See what we had today: ZWETSCHGENNUDELN!
Ok, I agree this is difficult to pronounce and equally challenging to understand. Please bear with me and let me explain:
“Zwetschgen” are dark blue plums (they are very different to red or yellow plums).
“Nudeln” is  used in Bavaria for many sweet dishes containing flour as main ingredient.
Here are the delicious details:
We use a very soft and rich dough made of whole spelt, milk, butter, egg and yeast. You have seen another dish (Dampfnudeln) made of it earlier this year on this blog. There we used a steam technique to achieve the best result. For this one here we bake it to create a crust on top and a very soft and fruity inside: The dough is formed to apricot size dumplings, stuffed with a plum and a walnut half and then nestled – this is now very important – on dark blue plums again (we call them Zwetschgen), seasoned with some cinnamon, honey and more butter. All this goes into the oven and is baked for around 20 minutes until a golden crust appears on the surface of the dumplings. By that time the plums have cooked down on the bottom of the baking dish to a compote like, but much less watery texture. It has to be slightly caramelized.
This dish is great in late summer, when the dark blue plums (Zwetschgen) are ripening on the trees. It tastes best when it is still at little bit warm from the oven. We serve it even with vanilla sauce on the side for a most decadent upgrade - Bavarian Bliss!

Enjoy the summer.

After Eight, deconstructed

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Chocolate and Mint – this is not new. It is a culinary classic. However, I just love that flavor combination of smooth darkness (chocolate) and bright freshness (mint) in this dessert. This is for mint lovers. And for chocolate fans. Or both.
We made it yesterday, at the end of a sunny summer day and it was just the perfect finish of a dinner. Simple, but surprisingly good! Instructions: You have to take a spoon ful of the mousse, followed by a sip of the mint shooter, and so on….
Get the lemonade recipe here.
The mousse is melted dark chocolate (sugar free, honey sweetened), stirred hot into a mix of whipped cream, sour cream, crème fraîche, honey and a little bit of organic orange zest. Grated chocolate sprinkled on the surface once the mousse is plated in portion glasses, and garnished with the true dark peppermint. The mousse can be prepared in advance, the lemonade is best à l a minute, as we call it.

Chocolate Mousse and Mint Lemonade

Have a lovely day and stay refreshed in summer.

Summer Greetings from Dubai

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Summer greetings from Dubai !

To maintain a herb garden is providing much culinary joy for a chef. I do have one in Dubai in Madinat Jumeirah (picture on the right with Burj Al Arab in the background) and one in my Bavarian home. These two herb gardens work quite different. While the garden in Dubai comes live and lush in the winter season, the other one disappears under a thick layer of white snow from December until February. And while my lovely Dubai herbs are suffering in the summer heat, I can harvest large bunches of various herbs in Germany. When I am there.
I usually don’t plant any new herbs in Dubai between June and October to avoid my disappointment when the young greens are slowly reducing until they have vanished. Without me cutting them.
But I leave what is already there and strong. And see, what is nicely growing as if weather is pleasant and not hot at all? My mint!
Just to compare: Mint in Dubai ……..

…..and Mint in Bavaria (a different type though, called apple mint)

I love mint. This refreshing taste. So cooling. Perfect for summery dishes. Look at below little salad I made today – steamed baby carrots, fava beans, baby zucchini with feta cheese, toasted pine nuts and a good hand of picked mint leaves. I added a few mint blossoms just because they are so pretty. A drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, a dash of fresh pressed lemon juice and voilà, a nourishing, cooling and summery dish is ready to serve.

For aromatic drink with mint you can also see a recipe here.
Enjoy the summer.

Healthy Iftar Treat – My Dates Cake

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I feel very lucky to have friends here in Dubai with a lush dates palm garden. I recently was invited at their place to join the family for Iftar.
And look what I walked away with - packed with dates from their garden. So nice!

There is also delicious home made dates jam and lovely arranged platters of different dates which I had to promise to bring to my mother when I fly to Bavaria soon!

 

The shiny yellow dates are my new favorites: Their flesh is similar soft as a very ripe Khaki fruit and their sweetness is incredible. Like pralines with date ganache filling.
D e l i c i o u s .

 

 

In the hot summer season I am always delighted by refreshing yet nourishing and wholesome dishes. Being blessed with a new batch of dates, I went through my recipes for another dates preparation to share with you. Below recipe is good to prepare in advance (think daytime fasting but prepare food to serve for Iftar after sunset). Especially for the smoothie I recommend to start 1 day ahead for the maceration. The composition has a great taste and the right balance of sweetness, rich soft and creamy textures, and a fresh citrus and rosemary flavor. 
I think this could make a perfect sweet treat for your Iftar. Ramadan Kareem.

Dates Cake and Rosemary Lime Smoothie
1 cake (makes approximately 8 larger or 12 smaller portions)

What to buy
For the smoothie:
500 ml cream
1 bunch fresh rosemary
3 organic limes (juice and zest)
150 g Acacia honey or agave syrup

For the cake:
300 g whole spelt flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
300 g carrots, grated
4 eggs
160 g butter
80 g acacia honey or agave syrup
1 pinch of salt
1 organic orange (zest only)
200 g dates, chopped

butter for the cake form and 3 tablespoons cocoa blossom sugar for the finishing touch

How to Make It
Bring the cream with rosemary stalks to a boil. Simmer the liquid on low heat for around 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and combine with the lime juice and zest, add honey to taste. Keep the liquid with the rosemary stalks for minimum 6 hours in the chiller to get optimum flavor. Then remove the rosemary and transfer the flavored cream either into an ice cream maker if you have one. Otherwise it works equally well to pour the cream into a container with a lid and keep it for couple of hours in the freezer. In this case you will blitz the frozen rosemary cream in a blender short before serving.
When you make the cake preheat the oven at 170 degrees Celsius. Divide the eggs. Whip the egg whites with a sprinkle of salt; add 50% of the agave syrup or honey and then the egg yolks with the orange zest. Continue to whip until thick foam is achieved. Fold under the flour, baking powder, carrots and 50 % of the chopped dates. Transfer the dough into a buttered cake form. Bake the dough for around 20 minutes. You can do the cake check: It is ready when a wooden skewer does not carry any dough when you stick it in. Remove the cake carefully from the form and chill it at room temperature. Mix the remaining dates with cocoa blossom sugar, sprinkle over the cake and caramlize the surface carefully with a blow torch. Cut the cake in portions and serve with the iced smoothie on the side.

Read more about dates here and have a also a look what else to use rosemary for. Enjoy!

Eat well and look gorgeous! Easy Everyday Beauty Food

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Recently I rediscovered my love for sweet potatoes. When researching for ingredients that bring a wealth of important anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory properties I found the sweet potato has it all! Extremely high in Vitamin A, also an excellent source for Vitamin C, D, B6 and B5, manganese, iron, triptophan, potassium, dietary fiber this root vegetable can truly help preventing oxidative damage to our cells, to balance energy levels and moods, to support skin, heart, nerves, bones and teeth. Despite its sweet taste the natural sugars are released s l o w l y into the blood stream. Wow.
Here is my new favorite preparation of the orange to purple fleshed root. Easy everyday beauty food that makes you look great:


Baked Sweet Potato with Guacamole, Chives and Sour Cream

This is a relaxed recipe with minimum fuss in the kitchen! Here is how to make it:
Look for smaller sweet potatoes, so you can use one whole sweet potato per portion.
Brush their skin to clean them.

Wrap them in Aluminium foil and bake them at 220 degrees Celsius for around 30-45 minutes, depending on their size and thickness. Test if they are done: Press your fingers against the aluminium foil. You can feel it if they are soft inside.

Then unwrap the sweet potato and open the skin. Mash the sweet potato flesh and season it with a little bit of salt and pepper. Finally spoon on a generous portion of freshly made guacamole (avocado, lemon juice, salt.  I love adding some chilli for a hint of heat to balance the sweetness, in this case I din’t use cilantro nor tomatoes) and sour cream. Top with chives and caramelized onions.

Eat well and look gorgeous!

Raw Food Gourmet Dinner

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Raw Food is gaining popularity. Not to mention that this is perfect for the hot summer season to stay fresh, hydrated and fit health food enthusiasts know about the benefits of eating raw. Many do so from time to time to detox or to stock up the extra dose of vitamins and freshness, some eat raw only for a lifestyle and some are curious to find out how it feels and ….tastes! Have you ever tried raw bread? A raw soup? Raw lasagna? If not and you wish to do so, you can either sign up for one of my raw food classes (for those who like to prepare it at home) or just sit back and book a set menu with me in any of our restaurants in Madinat Jumeirah.
For me as a chef with profound health food background and lifestyle it is always a pleasure to create and serve food that is thoroughly beneficial and delicious for my guests. There are not many restaurants in the world to serve raw food culinary experience I am proud we at Madinat Jumeirah do. And so I prepared with my team last Friday for a lovely group – all experienced raw food enthusiasts (wow) - a pure RAW FOOD DINNER in five courses, served at the romantic Khaymat Al Bahar:

I hope you enjoy the impressions!                           

              
Botanical Garden Harvest
with sprouted Sunflower Seeds

Chilled Green Pea Gazpacho
with Air Dried Back Olive Crackers

Buckwheat Tabouleh (see similar recipe, just with quinoa, here)

Raw Vegetable Lasagna (see recipe here)

….and the sweet finish: Dessert!

If you would like to learn how to prepare raw dishes, drop me a line and sign up to my next Raw Food Class on June 30, 11 am to 2 pm in Magnolia, Al Quasr. The original date was in May but had to be rescheduled  due to the fact I worked for a short time in our beautiful new Jumeirah Hotel in Rome. But now it is happening, promise. And it will be a perfect hot climate treat.
We will prepare interesting things like raw bread, raw nuts cheese, raw cake…..
Looking forward to seeing you there!

The Quay Café at Madinat Jumeirah has launched a new Healthy Menu

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The Quay Café at Madinat Jumeirah has launched its new, delicious healthy menu with special wellbeing dishes and drinks in line with our wellbeing campaign throughout the Resort.
The chefs and bar colleagues from Quay Café have worked closely with me to design comfort food and vitamin and enzyme rich drinks that support the goals of fitness work out in the best way.

Our regular food intake gives us the perfect chance to influence our personal health and fitness. Because the daily food is the fuel for our body. With every bite we can get closer to self-improvement:

Stronger health, more energy and better shape.

The new Food and Beverage Menu at Quay Cafe aims to support the Talise Fitness Program. It is made for those who work out and want to fuel their bodies with the right nutritional balanced food.
The special dishes and health drinks are designed for the categories

Weight loss, Shape, and Body & Mind.

A nutrients board is added to the menus in order to give more information.

I am very proud we offer a menu with focus on health and fitness for those who work out at the Quay Club. Enjoy and stay fit and healthy! 

New Wellbeing Food Offerings in Madinat Jumeirah Restaurants

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Healthy dining alternatives and nutritional cuisine that is both wholesome and nutritionally well-balanced, using well selected and to body and mind fitting ingredients is my specific field of operation. We at Madinat Jumeirah are constantly adding such specialities in our restaurants, in room dining menus and banqueting facilities. We aim to offer to our guests healthy lifestyle and in consequence great healthy food options in all our restaurants. The latest addition with a brand new vegetarian menu selection is MJ’s Steakhouse, located in Al Quasr Hotel. It is truly worth exploring!

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Try for Starters

Center Cut Iceberg
Roquefort, Pink Lady, Kohlrabi, Corn, Black Tomato

or

Sweet Corn Chowder with Red Pepper

and for Main Course the aromatic

Mediterranean Vegetable Roulade
Char Grilled Polenta, Red Pepper Rouille

or the surprising vegan “steak” (my favorite, see picture below)

Coffee Rubbed Sweet Potato
Green Pea Puree, Fava Beans, Watermelon Chili Relish

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