Homemade Nutella

Everyone who knows me, also knows that my chocolate-obsession
is rooted in a life long addiction to nutella.
Living in the GDR as a child, my Dad would sometimes buy forbidden products
from the capitalistic West as a special treat.
I learned at a very young age that Nutella has to be seen as a reward and special gift
for living in a communist prison.
And so my chocolate/nougat-obsession began...

I'm pretty picky about Nutella substitutes and plagiarism and never found an alternative chocolate spread that gets even close to the original.
That's why I was pretty sceptical about making Nutella style chocolate spread myself.

But the fact of doing it myself was pretty exciting,
even though it didn't turn out to be exactly like Nutella in the end.
This doesn't mean it was bad.
Just different...
I will definitely try making it again some time and vary a bit with the ingredients.

As it was my first time I pretty much followed the instructions and did it like this:

Roast  

200g of hazelnuts 

until golden brown (don't burn them!)

Mix them in a blender until they turn to hazelnut butter. Be patient this will take a while!

It will look like nothing is happening but if you keep going  all of a sudden the mass will turn creamy and buttery!

In the meantime melt 

250g dark chocolate 

in a hot water bath, by putting the chocolate in a small saucepan/bowl that is sitting/swimming in a bigger bowl with hot simmering (not boiling!) water.

When the chocolate is melted add one  

can of sweetened condensed milk. 

Stir until even. I scraped out 

1 vanilla bean 

and added that to the chocolate mix, as well. Pour in the hazelnut butter and combine everything. You may wanna  

add some  hot milk (about 125ml, but you'll see how much you need),

as well, in order to liquify the spread and make it smoother and creamier.

Pour everything in a

preserving jar 

and let cool down to room temperature.

Serve!

PS: I found the original recipe here.
Next time I will use a some milk cocolate, as well, and more hazelnuts.
I also will roast the hazelnuts longer.
I was just scared to burn them...But they could have spent a little longer in the pan.
Maybe some roasted almonds, as well.
Oh, and I will probably add some vanilla extract.
It's more intense than the vanilla bean which I can hardly taste...

The perfect hangover food!

Soo hungover this morning! 

Thank God I got to celebrate it with a savoury American hangover  breakfast!

Grilled cheese sandwich with processed chester cheese (I don't even know what this bright orange shiny stuff has to do with cheese, anymore) and a little extra protein: two eggs, nicely placed in a cut out hole in the middle of each slice of bread, called "eggs in a hole" (logic) or "birds in a nest" (for the smarter kids out there) or many other names ("cyclops" would be my recommendation) .

Some might say this is not healthy, but it sure helped killing my hangover.

Thank you, America.

PS: bacon could be found in it, as well.

PPS: tomorrow = diet.

PPPS: no more booze for at least two days!

Best muesli in the world!

Why not start the week with a good healthy and filling muesli for breakfast tomorrow?

This here is definitely the best muesli I ever had. It's fresh, it fills you up for at least four hours and it is so good for you.

Instead of flakes you buy whole grains and get them ground up.

If you are lucky to own a flour mill, even better!

But some organic stores will do it for you, or you sometimes can even buy the ready-ground up grains.

It's important that they won't end up too fine. We don't want it to be flour but shredded grains.

I think grade 7 was what they did at Kiepert&Kutzner, where I got mine. But I don't know if this is a universal grade for grinding stuff...

However, here's what you need for one meal:

3-4 Tbsp ground grains 
the more different kinds the better!  
I used a mix with 6 different kinds.
But there is also bags with 4 or 5.
Or you just mix the ones you want
to use yourself.


1 Tbsp flax seed 
(whole or ground)


3-4 Tbsp cream


fruits  (about a handful)   
banana, apple, pear, straw- or
rasberries, melon, peach...
whatever you like and whatever
is in season.


5-10 nuts chopped        
hazelnuts are pretty good,
but again: use whatever nuts or seeds you like!


1 Tbsp rolled oats
honey
cinnamon

In a bowl, soak the grains and flax seeds in water over night (2Tbsp of water for 1 Tbsp of grains). 

The next morning stir in the cream. 

Sweeten with honey if you like an add a dash of cinnamon for the taste. 

Cut up the fruits and put them on top (I usually use about half a banana and a quarter apple and/or pear, depending on the size).

In a pan roast the chopped nuts and rolled oats until golden brown. 

Remove from stove. 

Add a dash of cinnamon and about 1 Tbsp of honey and mix everything well until all the nuts and oats are coated with honey. 

Pour the honey-nut mix over the fruits and the muesli.

Serve!

Perfect Sunday Breakfast...

...with eggs, bacon,  potato fritters, fruits, nutella and sweet buns and cookies from Hacker!

Hacker is this old-timey bakery on Stargarder Str. 69 in 10437 Berlin.
It has been around since 1970 and survived the fall of the berlin wall and the change from kommunism to capitalism.  Everything is really cheap. Normal buns "Schrippen" are 20Cents a piece. the sweet yeast buns called "Splitterbrötchen" are 35Cents a piece and delicious! I recommend to come early in the morning when they are still soft and warm....hmmm.

You either love or hate it:

Nattō!

"Nattō (なっとう or 納豆) is a traditional Japanese Food made from soybeans fermented with Bacillus subtilis. It is popular especially as a breakfast food. As a rich source of protein and good bacteria, nattō and the soybean paste miso formed a vital source of nutrition in feudal Japan. Nattō can be an acquired taste because of its powerful smell, strong flavor, and slippery texture"  
  
 - Wikipedia