Starter: Green asparagus in a crisp spring salad
Ingredients for 4 servings:
- 1 bunch of green asparagus
- 5 tbsp olive oil
- 70 g whole hazelnuts
- 5 radishes
- 2 medium-sized zucchini
- 1 head of endive lettuce
- 1 bunch of arugula
- 120 g feta
- 1 handful of shaved Parmesan cheese
- 1 lemon
- Salt
- pepper
Preparation:
- First, wash the asparagus and trim any dry ends. Then, fry it in a pan with 1 tablespoon of olive oil until al dente. Let the asparagus cool, then slice it lengthwise. Be careful not to slice too thinly, and set the asparagus aside. Toast the hazelnuts in the same pan and let them cool.
- Thoroughly wash the radishes and zucchini and slice them thinly. Use a vegetable peeler to slice the zucchini. Trim or wash the endive and arugula and tear them into bite-sized pieces. Arrange everything, except for the asparagus and hazelnuts, on a large salad platter or on the plates.
- Spread the feta evenly over the prepared salad, then arrange the asparagus on top. Sprinkle with shaved Parmesan and the toasted hazelnuts.
- For the dressing, mix 4 tablespoons of olive oil with 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, season with salt and pepper and pour over the salad.
Main course: Succulent rack of lamb with pistachio crust and glazed vanilla carrots
Ingredients for 4 servings:
- 60 g pistachios
- 1 shallot
- 90 g butter
- 1 egg at room temperature
- 50 g breadcrumbs
- Salt
- 1 kg rack of lamb
- 1 bunch of carrots with green
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 100 ml orange juice
- 1 vanilla pod
- pepper
Preparation:
- Roast pistachios in a pan without fat and chop them in a blender.
- Peel the shallot and dice it into small pieces. Melt 70g of butter in a saucepan and thinly slice the shallots until translucent. Separate the egg whites and yolks. Knead the shallots, butter, chopped pistachios, breadcrumbs, egg yolks, and salt into a firm paste.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C fan/convection oven. Trim the fat and sinew from the rack of lamb with a sharp knife. Season both sides with salt. Heat the fat in a pan and cook the rack of lamb on the fat side for about 5 minutes. Turn over and cook for another 5 minutes. Turn over again and remove from the heat.
- Carefully spread the pistachio crust over the rack and press it down. Continue cooking the rack of lamb in the pan in the preheated oven for 8-12 minutes.
- Peel the carrots and trim the green parts to a length of 2 cm. Melt the sugar in the pan and deglaze with orange juice. Scrape out the vanilla seeds and add them to the pan along with the halved vanilla pod. Stir in the remaining butter. Add the carrots to the pan and season with salt and pepper. Thin them over low heat for about 10 minutes until al dente.
- The rack of lamb is carefully sliced and served with the carrots and orange juice.
Note: All types of potatoes go well with this, preferably rosemary potatoes.
Dessert: "Sweet Temptation" Cheesecake cream with caramel, hazelnut topping
Ingredients for 4 servings:
- 200 g cream cheese
- 250 g quark
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 packet of vanilla sugar
- 100 ml cream
- 100 g salted caramel cream
- 150 g raspberries
- 50 g hazelnuts, shelled
Preparation:
- First, whisk together the cream cheese, quark, sugar, and vanilla sugar. Whip the cream until stiff peaks form, then fold in the cream cheese mixture.
- Pour the cheesecake cream into four dessert glasses. Now warm the salted caramel cream and pour it over the cheesecake cream to create a caramel layer.
- Roughly chop the hazelnuts. Add them to the cream along with the raspberries as a topping.
