The Joy of Homemade Jam

Posted on May 21, 2013 by chefgabi

I just wanted to share with you a simple recipe for a bit of healthier jam. Guilt free, almost!Honey sweetened and freshly made, it may make a great option for breakfast, cakes, cookies or desserts.

When ever I have some fruits or berries that are a bit on the softer and riper side, I combine them in a small sauce pan, add a slice of organic lemon with the skin, a small piece of vanilla pot and as much acacia honey as required to sweeten the fruits. This depends pretty much on the fruits and on your taste.

Then I simmer them on low temperature for around 10 – 15 minutes. This is enough to deconstruct the fruits and still leave them in a vivid color a flavor. After that I add a spoonful of either arrowroot, agar agar or tapioca flour, or and stir that in for a last bubble up on the heat. Again here it depends on the pectine content of the fruits if I need a little bit more of the thickening agent or not. Rule of thumb: 1 teaspoon for around 350 – 400 ml of jam.

Now the jam is ready to be filled in a glass or bowl and it goes in the fridge, awaiting its final use! It keeps well for around 3-5 days when refrigerated. So I never produce too much of it. Making such a small amount of deliciously smelling jam in your kitchen is no work at all and so much pleasure. You should give it a try! I love to eat this jam with some fresh yoghurt for example when I am craving something sweet….

Vegetarian Food for Events – a busy March!

Posted on March 31, 2013 by chefgabi

Spreading my health inspired food everywhere …

Our guests with a healthy lifestyle could enjoy some special treats at ART DUBAI in Madinat Jumeirah and at the DUBAI WORLD CUP at Meydan. Enjoy the impressions!

Above the outdoor food stall at Art Dubai in Madinat Jumeirah, the team getting ready to serve……

And here is the Dubai World Cup 2013 at Meydan:

Talise Nutrition on MBC 1

Posted on March 14, 2013 by chefgabi

Our latest filming will be aired tomorrow, Friday, at 9 pm, at the Green Apple Show on MBC1…..very excited, and hope you all watch!

I have been very busy at work the last few weeks. Oh what am I saying, the last few months! No chance for even a short trip abroad to visit my beloved Bavaria, where I come from, to see the winter. Everyone at home is jealous though that I have everyday sunshine and warm weather while they have been freezing and shoveling snow. At least until recently, now finally some signs of spring are in the air.

To cure my longing for Bavaria I cooked some

flavors from home – away from home.

My home grown sweet marjoram (oregano family, but sweeter and milder) is beautiful and just perfect with its fragrant little leaves. Apart from its antioxidative benefits (think eternal youth!) it is a staple seasoning ingredient in Bavarian cuisine. I added it to my very simple but delicious

Potato Vegetable Soup with fresh Marjoram
2 portions

What to Buy
1 carrot, diced
1 parsnip or parsley root (however parsley root is difficult to source here in the Middle East), diced
2 small potatoes, peeled, diced
1 small leek, sliced
1 bay leaf
1 small piece mace
2 tablespoons olive oil
500 ml vegetable stock
salt, pepper
5 sprigs fresh marjoram, leaves picked

How to Make It
Braise in olive oil until golden the potatoes, parsnip and carrot with bay leaf and mace. Then add the vegetable stock and simmer for around 15 minutes on low heat. Add the leek, season with salt and pepper and serve with fresh marjoram leaves sprinkled all over.

Chef Gabi’s Tip:
I add sometimes dried cepes to the soup – they give this simple soup a significant upgrade! Must try.
This is what I cook at home when I feel not like cooking. A really easy to make recipe.

More Healthy Cooking on TV

Posted on February 18, 2013 by chefgabi

Healthy cooking is my passion since I became a chef. Because I believe that the food we eat is playing a major part in how strong, healthy and fit we are. So sharing recipes and ideas on how to live healthy and enjoy delicious food in the same time has become part of my daily work. An exciting part, I have to admit.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting a truly amazing film team from MBC, and it was much fun to work and cook with Howayda in our lovely outside kitchen set up at the Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai with view to the waterways!

I will share with you soon the dates when it will be aired!
Here some impressions from the filming….

Cooking with Love

Posted on February 12, 2013 by chefgabi

Everyone talks about Valentines day! It is, indeed, ante portas…
I was invited again to Studio One with Ash and Tom for the culinary support of their Valentines….week.

Thinking what to present I came across one of my long time favorites, an hors d’oeuvre, perfect to start a romantic dinner. Simple, quickly done, with impressive aroma. Because who wants to spend the time in the kitchen on Valentines day?

All you need is a slowly reduced tomato relish, a little bit of tapenade (olives and capers paste), and one hard boiled egg chopped and mixed with yoghurt and mustard. For the grissini look here. Watch the sequence here.

Enjoy!

Sunchokes and Tomatoes

Posted on January 17, 2013 by chefgabi

Here is the dish and recipe I have cooked on Dubai One. It was fun to be with Ash and Tom on the show as always!

Sun Choke Puree & Crisps
2 Portions

What to Buy
300 gm sun chokes
80 g potato
1 tomato
10 gm parsley
1 organic lemon (grated skin and juice)
20 gm butter
3 ml olive oil
Salt , Pepper

How to Make It
Wash the sun chokes and slice 2 of them very thin. Place the slices on a pergament paper on a baking tray and dry for around 15 minutes at 150 degrees Celsius in the oven. Peel the remaining sun chokes and the potato, steam them until very soft. Crush them and season the puree with salt and pepper. Dice the tomatoes (preferably with the skin due to the fact that the flavonoids are fully available). Chop the Parsley. Mix tomatoes with parsley, lemon juice and grated skin, season with some olive oil, salt and pepper. Arrange the soft puree in deep plates or small bowls. Top with the tomato parsley salad and crispy sun choke chips. Serve warm, not hot.

Chef Gabi’s Tip
The sun choke is one of the finest source dietary fibers, especially high in oligofructose inulin, which is a soluble dietary fiber. Inulin should not be confused for insulin, which is hormone. The root flesh provides 1.6 mg or 4% of fiber. Inulin is a zero calorie, sweet inert carbohydrate and does not metabolize in the human body, which make the root an ideal sweet snack for diabetics and dieters. They are very good source of minerals and electrolytes especially potassium, iron, and copper. 100 g of fresh root contains 429 mg or 9% of daily-required levels of potassium. Potassium is a heart friendly electrolyte; helps reduce blood pressure and heart rates by countering effects of sodium. 100 g of fresh sun choke contains 3.4 mg or 42.5% of iron, probably the highest quantity among edible roots and tubers.

New Year – New You

Posted on January 9, 2013 by chefgabi

Who has not made some New Years resolutions that are related to a fitter, healthier body?

Detox is key after the festive season just concluded and some extra pounds gained! You can easily get back to a healthy and new you with some carefully selected food that helps to flush out the toxins and in the same time is nourishing your cells with the right amount of nutrients. Especially when working out we need to have some healthy proteins, good complex carbohydrates and plenty of vitamins with our food. In the same time it should be not so heavy on calories and fat. See here one of my favorite salads, that can make a complete lunch or dinner, and is even suitable to be taken to the office in a lunch box. Try this deliciouysly nourishing salad with cleansing beetroot, liver function supporting artichokes and vegetable protein providing lentils. In the same time this dish is vegan and free of gluten. Not to mention it is easy to make and tastes great….

Beetroot Lentil Salad

What to Buy
2 large or 4 smaller portions

50 g Du Puy Lentils
500 ml Vegetable stock
2 Cloves and 1 Bay leave
1 White Onion, peeled
500 gm Beetroot, cooked
1 Artichoke bottom, cleaned
8 ml Balsamic Vinegar
5 ml Lemon Juice
10 gm Parsley and Mint, leaves picked and washed
10 ml Olive oil
80 gm Mixed Lettuce, picked and washed
Salt and Black Pepper to taste

How to Make It
Stick the bay leave with the cloves on the onion surface. Cook the lentils with onion, cloves, bay leaf and vegetable stock. This may take up to 25 minutes to get them soft. In the meantime dice the beetroot, slice the artichoke bottom and mix olive oil, lemon juice and baslamic vinegar to a dessing.
Remove the onion with the bay leaf. Toss the warm lentils with beetroot, artichokes and the vinaigrette. Season to taste and arrange with lettuce and the herbs on plates.

To round up your resolutions and make them work much more effective, visit beautiful Talise Spa at Madinat Jumeirah. Be guided to a new glowing you by a consultation with Dr Erzebeth Makk and Kay Vosloo. Besides that we serve at the Spa carefully selected healthy dishes that restore energies and help to create that “feel good in the inside” supporting whatever treatment you choose.

Nevertheless as a chef I am running around all day, but specific training and guided movements are much more effective to tone muscles and build shape. I have started some workout recently and can only recommend it. Besides it is fun it makes you feel much better after only a few sessions already.
Have a look at what the new Talise Fitness at Madinat Jumeirah has on offer. I am sure there is something for everyone. And their new menu at Quay Cafe is tuned up with healthy options that suit and support deliciously your work out aspirations. Enjoy!

Wishing everyone a healthy, happy and successful New Year!

POTATOES – INCREASE ENERGY

Posted on December 2, 2012 by chefgabi

The humble starchy vegetables are in season in autumn. When weather is cooler we tend to especially appreciate energy rich and warming food. Potatoes are underground tubers storing all the vitamins and minerals needed for growing new potato plants. Hence they are full of nutrients – the immune-boosting vitamin C, and also a rich source of vitamin B 6 (for cellular renewal, healthy nervous system and balanced mood), folate and potassium, magnesium and iron.
Potatoes are in particular worthy when eaten with their skin like in the following recipe. Enjoy!

Anna Potatoes

2 Portions

What to buy

300 g potatoes
1 onion
200 ml vegetable stock
10 ml olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

How to Make It
Brush the potatoes under running water until their skin is clean. Then slice the potatoes with the skin thinly using a mandolin slicer. Dice the onions and braise them in some olive oil until they are translucent. Brush 10 oven proof cups with some olive oil. Arrange the potato slices and the onions in layers, seasoning each layer with salt and pepper. Pour as much vegetable stock over the potatoes as needed so that the stock appears when you press the potatoes down.
Place the cups in a deep oven tray half filled with hot water and cover closely with aluminum foil. Bake the potatoes at 180 degrees Celsius for around 60 minutes.

Remove the Anna potatoes carefully from the cups and place them on plates.
Serve them for example with reduced beetroot juice, shaved fresh horseradish and bouillon turnips.

Chef Gabi’s Tip: Anna potatoes are low in fat, a perfect dish to consider when you try to loose a little bit of weight but still need energy to work out. And this dish can be easily prepared in advance when you cook for friends.

Heirloom Tomatoes and Sumac – a perfect match

Posted on October 30, 2012 by chefgabi

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” !

All Things Wild part 3 – what else is edible out there?

Posted on September 20, 2012 by chefgabi

A morning walk through the forest, breathing fresh air and enjoying the quiet, stunning nature is one good thing. But bringing home something delicious from the wilderness that can be of culinary use, I admit, is definitely something my chef’s heart desires. So what I do if I search through the forest soil without success of finding some mushrooms (they sometimes seem to disappear from this planet from time to time)? I go and check my secret places, where a natural spring releases fresh, clear and very often extremely cold water. There I can pick the freshest watercress leaves. Young, delicate, tender and with their typical sharpness of wild cress.

Their taste cannot be compared to cultivated watercress, wild ones are much more intense in flavor. And they are so beneficial for our health, full of chlorophyll, rich in Vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B6, B17, C, D, E and K, folic acid, phosphorus, potassium, iron, manganese, copper, sulfur, and silica. Watercress is used to purify the blood, to stimulate the metabolism and digestive tract, acts as a powerful antiviral and antioxidant. However, take small doses of it to not over stimulate.

See one of my mother’s favorite recipes for wild watercress here. It is super delicious and easy to make:

Watercress Flan with Tomato Vinaigrette
4 Portions
What To Buy
250 ml cream
2 eggs
10 small watercress stems, leaves picked
salt and pepper
butter for the forms (ramekins or dariol)
1 ripe tomato, peeled, diced
1 shallot, peeled, diced
2 tablespoons white balsamic
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

How to Make It
Preheat the oven at 170 degrees Celsius. Brush the dariol forms with butter and place in a deep oven tray. Blend the eggs with cream, salt, pepper and watercress in a mixer. Strain through a fine sieve. Pour the liquid into the dariol forms. Pour hot water into the deep oven tray the dariol forms are in and bake the flan at 170 degrees Celsius for around 30 minutes. In the meantime prepare the vinaigrette: Stir tomato and shallot dices with balsamic and olive oil and season it with salt and pepper.
Once the flan is ready (you can check with finger pressure carefully on the surface if slightly firm) take it out of the oven and allow the flan to rest and relax at room temperature for around 5 minutes. Then carefully take it out of the dariol forms and place it on starter plates. Spoon over the tomato vinaigrette and serve warm with oven fresh spelt baguette.

Chef Gabi’s Tip:
Don’t rush the flan to get ready in the oven. Depending on the size of your forms it could take even a bit longer. Make enough time to let it rest after baking. This is important for the flan to stabilize a little bit before you present it on a plate.
I personally love this combination of cressy flavor with eggs. It has a mildness and a sharpness which makes this dish just perfect. But of course you can make a similar flan with other aromatic herbs too, like parsley, dill, basil!

Talise Nutrition

Madinat Jumeirah's wellbeing Chef shares her passion about healthy cuisine!

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