"Zum dritten Mann" - Brunch Experience Austrian Style

Brunch on Sundays are very famous here in Berlin. So, today we also looked for a nice brunch place here at the Prenzlauer Berg area. We walked around a bit and honestly, I did not know how to decide for a good place where we wouldn't need to wait too long... But then my friends noticed a place that advertised a Julius Meinl coffee, a vienna coffee type that they knew and liked from their vacation in vienna and haven't had for a while. I have never been to Vienna but always wanted to go. We tried it out and perfect decision. Table was a little small, but no wait time and great food. This cute little vienna coffeeshop/restaurant at the "Kollwitzplatz" is called "Zum dritten Mann".

The name "Zum dritten Mann" is based on the 1949 British film noir "The Third Man" with Orson Wells and produced by Carol Reed which is set in postwar Vienna.

This restaurant offers austrian style cuisine. For our brunch we ordered the "Wien für 2 Personen" (Vienna for 2) that came with several austrian kinds of salami, ham and cheese and a bread basket and "Linz" which was more a sweet choice with crepes. This was a good mix and plenty of food.

In a Galaxy far far away...

Amazing gift from my friends! Who wouldn't love this? I think the pictures speak for themselves... Can't wait to try it out :)

Kiymet's Red Lentil Soup

This is another recipe from my work colleague (check also out her Börek and Poğaça recipe). It's a very quick and easy recipe and we used a few spare minutes at work to prepare it for lunch. It tasted delicious and made for a good team lunch.

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 1/2 cups red lentils
• 1 onion - diced
• 1 potato - diced
• 1 carrot - diced
• 1 tablespoon paprika paste
• 1 1/2 l vegetable broth
• salt, pepper
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon curry
• 1 teaspoon coriander
• 1 teaspoon dried herbs (e.g. mint, rosemary, parsely, thyme)
• 1 lemon
• crusty bread

Preparation:

1. Heat the oil. Add the red lentils, onion, potato, carrot and paprika paste and fry for about 5 minutes. Keep stirring frequently. Add salt and pepper.
2. Fill with the vegetable broth (or water and 1 tabelspoon ground vegetable broth seasoning). Boil with closed lid for about 15 minutes.
3. Add the remaining spices. Squeeze the lemon over the soup and serve with the bread.

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Apple-Walnut-Cranberry Salad

It was time for another salad. I tried to recreate the apple-walnut-cranberry salad from our Thanksgiving dinner. The vinaigrette is slightly different as I made use of what I had at hand :)

Ingredients:

• 5-8 cups mixed salad greens (baby spinach, romaine, red leaf, arugula etc.)
• half of a green apple - thinnly sliced
• 1/3 cup dried cranberries
• 1/3 cup feta cheese - crumbled
• 1/2 cup walnuts - halved/chopped

Vinaigrette:

• 2 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 tablespoon orange juice (from an orange or a tangerine)
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1-2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard
• salt, pepper

Preparation:

1. Combine the salad greens, apple, cranberry, feta and walnuts. Toss it through. 
2. Whisk all ingredients for the vinaigrette together. Mix well. 
3. Pour dressing over salad. Enjoy :)

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Three Kinds of Macaroons - German style

A year ago, I ate some delicious coconut and walnut macaroons that my friends Nick and Bianka prepared. They called them "Schäumle" (which is Swabian for meringue macaroons). I am used to coconut macaroons, but I rarely eat walnut and hazelnut macaroons, so they were a very tasty surprise.

I took this as an opportunity to bake some Christmas macaroons/ meringue cookies with my Mom this year. We made three different kinds: Walnut-Rum, Hazelnut-Almond and Coconut-Lemon Macaroons. We used Nick's recipes (which is actually partially based on their grandmother Irene) and adapted them slightly.

"Schäumle" - a special kind of meringue macaroons

Most times, for macarons, the egg white will be whipped separately till stiff. Then you fold in the sugar and the coconut/ nuts. However, for the meringue macaroons - the "Schäumle" -  you mix the egg whites with the sugar together and whipped it for a long time till stiff (similar to a biscuit dough). The "Schäumle" are a little lighter, full of air, like meringue :)

Nutty Meringue Macaroons

 

Important Note: 
Use the batter immediately, do not let it sit or cool it down in the fridge. After beating, the batter has a nice consistency. If you wait to long, it becomes more liquid again and will spread....

 

Ingredients: 

Walnut-Rum Macaroons (20-25 pieces):

• 3 egg whites
• 150 gram confectioner's sugar - sifted
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla aroma
• 1/2 teaspoon rum aroma
• 1 pinch salt
• 200 walnuts - chopped 
• thin wafers (in German they are called "Oblaten")
• ca. 25 walnut halves (for decoration)

Hazelnut-Almond Macaroons (15-20 pieces):

• 3-4 egg whites (depends on size of egg)
• 200 gram confectioner's sugar - sifted
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla aroma
• 1 pinch salt
• 100 gram hazelnuts - ground
• 100 gram almonds - ground
• thin wafers (in German they are called "Oblaten")
• ca. 20 hazelnuts (for decoration)

 

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 130 degree Celcius (ca. 270 degree Fahrenheit).
Prepare two separate batters for the walnut and hazelnut macaroons.

1. In a bowl, add the egg whites and the sugar. Beat with an electrical mixer or blender for about 8-10 minutes till it is relatively firm from consitency and does not run down the blender hooks anymore. You call that having "stiff peeks".
2. Add the aroma and salt. Fold in the chopped walnuts or ground hazelnuts/almonds.
3. Use the batter immediately as it will lose its consistency otherwise. Wafers are optional. Place them on a parchment lined baking tray. They should not touch, as the macaroons could spread. Now, either use two teaspoons or a pastry bag (cut of a corner of a zip lock bag) and pipe the mixture in a half-dome shape on the wafers. Decorate each macaroon with a walnut half or a hole hazelnut.
4. Bake for 10-20 minutes. Time depends on oven and ingredients. Keep checking the macaroons, they only need to dry. In this recipe, the walnut macaroons needed the longest.

Coconut-Lemon Macaroons

Ingredients (ca. 10 pieces):

• 2 egg whites
• 75 gram confectioner's sugar - sifted
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon aroma
• 100 gram coconut - shredded
• thin wafers (in German they are called "Oblaten")

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 130 degree Celcius (ca. 270 degree Fahrenheit).

1. Beat egg whites till completely stiff. 
2. Fold the sifted confectioner's sugar gently into the egg whites. Add the aroma to the egg whites. Fold in the shredded coconuts.
3. Place the thin wafers on a parchment lined baking tray. Be careful that they do not touch, as the macaroons could spread. Now, either use two teaspoons or a pastry bag (cut of a corner of a zip lock bag) and pipe the mixture in a half-dome shape on the wafers.
4. Bake for 10-20 minutes. Time depends on oven and ingredients. Keep checking the macaroons, they only need to dry. Coconut macaroons are done when they turn slightly golden-brown. 

If batter is too liquid:

• Add another beaten egg white.

Aroma: 

• I used little bottles of vanilla, rum and lemon aroma. You can of course switch it up, but lemon and coconut and walnut and rum definitely go good together. Instead of little bottles of liquid, you might find other aroma sugars/extracts that you can use, but be careful not to use too much.

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Merry Christmas

Oatmeal Cake with berries and a coconut-pecan frosting

I made this oatmeal cake for our Christmas breakfast at work. I thought it fitting for breakfast as it contains oatmeal :) I never made one before, but it turned out pretty good. It is a heavy cake with the barley flour, flax seeds and oats, but I used a nice coconut-pecan frosting which gave it a good creamy balance.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 butter, softened
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup barley flour
• 2 tablespoons flax seeds (or chia seeds) 
• 1 cup oats
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (or 1/2 teaspoon each cinnamon and nutmeg)
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or 1 package vanilla sugar)
• 1-1/2 cups mixed berries, frozen

For a homemade coconut-pecan frosting (I used a store bought frosting):

• 1-1/3 cup shredded sweetened coconut
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 1/4 cup cream
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup pecans, chopped

Alternatively: a Streusel Topping:

• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 cup oats
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans

Preparation:

Cake: 

Preheat oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit.

1. Add the white and brown sugar in a small bowl. Add the butter, cut into small pieces. Mix with an electrical hand mixer for 2 minutes. Now, add the eggs and buttermilk and mix till creamy.
2. In a big bowl, whisk together the rest of the dry ingredients - white and barley flour, flax seeds, oats, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, salt, vanilla sugar and oats. Make a well in the middle and pour the liquid mix in. Stir till it becomes a thick batter.
3. Use frozen berries. Do not thaw or rinse them, leave them in the reezer until right before stirring them into the batter. The more liquid they give up while thawing, the grayer will the batter turn. Sprinkle a tablespoon of flour over the berries and mix. Now, carefully fold the berries under the batter. 
4. Pour the batter into a baking pan and bake for 35-40 minutes, untill a fork poked into the center comes out dry. Take out the cake and let cool dwon for a while. Spread the store bought frosting evenly over the cake.

Homemade Frosting:

I used a store bought coconut-pecan frosting, if you want to prepare your own coconut-pecan topping, combine all ingredients for the topping and spread over the warm cake. Return to the oven and broil for 2-4 minutes until bubbly and lightly browned. Take the cake out of the oven and let cool down before serving.

If you do not want to have such a sweet topping, you can alternatively use a Streusel topping. Therefore, mix the flour, oats, sugar, cinnamon in a small bowl. Cut in the butter with your fingers or forks and mix until combined and crumbly. Mix in the pecans. Sprinkle the Streusel topping evenly over the unbaked cake batter and bake it with the cake in the oven.

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