Ilse's Kitchen - culinary adventures of a girl who loves to eat

I was in the mood for some good old fashioned vegetable soup with meatballs - the kind my grandma might have made. It’s one of those soups you’ll find throughout Europe from north to south, all with slightly different details but very close to this. This version is an Italian variant using half beef half pork meatballs, oregano and acini di pepe and popularly known as as ‘Wedding Soup’.  Ingredients (serves 3): meatballs 250g minced meat, 50% beef 50% pork 2 tablespoons fresh oregano, chopped 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped salt and freshly ground black pepper  1/4 cup breadcrumbs 1/4 cup grated parmesan 1/2 egg soup 1 stalk celery, finely chopped 50g spinach, roughly chopped 1 cup baby carrots, cut into 1/2 cm thick slices 1 medium-sized onion, chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced 1.25L chicken broth 1/3 cup acini di pepe  2 tablespoons olive oil  Instructions: 1. Put the minced meat in a large bowl and add the oregano, parsley, breadcrumbs, parmesan, egg and salt an...

Sometimes you see a recipe that makes your mouth water just thinking about it. I had that with this dish, which of course meant I had to try to make some to see if it was as good as it sounded. I played with the quantities and ingredients a little bit - the original recipe was a little too sour for my liking, but this was just right. Recipe (serves 2): 2 salmon filets 250mL full-fat coconut milk juice of 1 lime, plus a few slices to garnish 1 tablespoon lime zest 1 medium shallot, chopped 2-3 cloves garlic, minced 1 inch lemon grass, skin removed and inner core grated 1 tsp dried oregano 1 tbsp olive oil 1 tsp corn starch (if you prefer a runnier coconut milk-texture rather than a thicker sauce, leave this out) 1 tsp sugar salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste fresh cilantro and oregano leaves, chopped. *Serve with brown or white rice. Instructions: 1. Pad the salmon filets dry with paper towel, and season both sides with salt and pepper. 2. Heat a ski...

The first time I had gorgonzola and spinach together was when Paulijn, a former housemate, made me gorgonzola spinach pasta - about a hundred years ago. At the time I wasn’t very experimental when it came to food, and I was not a fan of gorgonzola. Too blue, too strong, too smelly. I was decidedly sceptical, but tried to be well mannered and keep my mouth shut about it. And glad I did, for what she made wasn’t strong or smelly at all. What I learned that day was not too judged too quickly - ingredients change when you combine them with others, and things you never thought you’d like may surprise you in all kinds of wonderful ways. I also learned that spinach and gorgonzola make a lovely pairing. Here’s a lovely gorgonzola spinach gnocchi recipe, adapted from Brandy at Nutmeg Nanny.  Ingredients (serves 2): 250g gnocchi 1 shallot, thinly sliced 120ml cup heavy cream 120g crumbled gorgonzola cheese, plus some for topping 85g fresh spinach 1/2 teaspoon fresh oregano, minc...