Last year, pretty much around the same time, we had a long meeting at my editor’s place. The sun was shining, all attendees were bursting of enthusiasm, and the location – a spacious shadowy balcony overlooking the neighborhood of Au-Haidhausen – was the ultimate place one could wish for on a hot summer day. It was the kick-off meeting for a new cookbook project.
We talked for hours and a coarse idea to begin with began to take more and more shape. The subject was clear from the start, the cookbook would revolve around gifts from the kitchen and I couldn’t have been more excited! I love to bring small gifts to every kind of occasion, therefor my pantry is always stocked with cute little glasses filled with different kinds of homemade jam, bottles with syrup or bags filled with sweets. Whenever I’m in doubt what to bring as a gift – food is always a great option!
(Of course I’m curious about what your favorite kinds of homemade food that you’d like to bring as a gift? What is it?)
Anyway, the book will be published next year and I will keep you posted on the progress. (if you want to go back in time and read about the process of getting my first cookbook published, you can read about it here)
Our meeting back then was not only memorable because of our agenda (my second cookbook… how I love to type these words…), but – as always – my editor Sabine did a fab job in catering the hungry brainstormers. One of her salads especially won me over, not only because it is so damn simple, but it convinced me to enjoy raw celery for the very first time. It has become a staple on hot and humid summer days in my own kitchen, it’s prepared in absolutely no time and replenishes your energy level with every crunchy bite. A very refreshing must-try with only six ingredients.
Start by washing the celery and apples (they will be used with their peel – I prefer Braeburn or Cox-Orange). Cut the celery stalks into slices. Quarter and core the apples, then half each quarter length-ways and cut each into thin slices (a good opportunity to work on your cutting technique btw…). Put the slices into a large bowl.
Chop the walnuts as coarsely or fine as you like them and add them to the bowl.
Finally dress your salad: squeeze out the juice of half a lemon (more if you like it extra tangy) and stir it in together with the creme fraiche and the black pepper. You are done – can you believe it?
Sabine's Summer Salad
Recipe Source: Sabine
Prep/cooking time: ~10 min
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Ingredients (serves 3-4):
2-3 stalks celery
2 apples
1 handful of walnuts
2-3 tbsp creme fraiche or sour cream
juice of 1/2 lemon
freshly ground black pepper
Jun 11th,
2010
That sounds really wonderful and delicious! I will definitely try it (or something similar) and substitute greek yogurt.