Sunday 16 February 2014

Mini trip to München

 I'm between jobs at the moment and we are having a one week holiday before I start at the new work. We didn't want to go anywhere far but mainly just chill. That's why we decided to pay München a visit. The city is only a couple of hours drive from us so we didn't have to use too much time for the travel. By the way, we didn't know that they have got rid of the road-toll ticket machines in Austria and we ended up on the highway without paying the toll...a nice 120 euros fine for us :/

Hotel Laimer Hof in Nymphenberg

In München we stayed at the Hotel Laimer Hof in Nymphenburg. For us the hotel was well situated because it's outside the Umweltzone and you could reach it very fast and easy from the highway. On the other hand the hotel is only about a kilometer away from the Laim train station and from there one can get easy to the city centre. The partner ticket (= two of us it can be used by up to five people) for the city zone for one day costs 11.20 euros and one can jump in the train about every five minutes. The hotel itself was a nice and small family run place. It might need a bit of paint in the coming few years but the stuff was extremely helpful, everything was really clean and the room was well equipped. The Wifi was out of charge and worked well. We booked via www.booking.com and paid 165 euros for two nights.

Our room at the Hotel Laimer Hof

Our first dinner place: Schlosswirtschaft Schwaige

In the first evening we had dinner at the Schlosswirtschaft Schwaige which is only a couple of minutes away from the Hotel Laimer hof. The place is worth a visit. With drinks (aperitif, beer, water) we paid about 100 euros. This is what we ate:

Dreierlei aufstriche: Enten-Rillettes, Matjes „Hausfrauen art“
und Tomaten-Chutney € 7,90

Geräuchertes Forellenfilet mit roten Rüben,
Meerrettichmousse und Feldsalat € 12,80

Spanferkelfilets in Rotweinjus mit schwarzgeräuchertem auf
getrüffeltem Spitzkohl und handgerollten Kartoffelnocken € 19,80

Rösch gebratene Bauernente vom Lugeder mit Apfel-
Preiselbeer, Blaukrau und Kartoffelknödel
½ Portion € 19,90

Palatschinke mit marinierten Beeren
und Haselnuss-Eiscreme € 7,90

Tarte von der Zartbitterschokolade
mit Zitrusfrucht-terrine und Mandarinensorbet € 8,60


Three ways of spreads: Duck-Rillette, Herring and Tomato chutney

Smoked trout with beetroot, lamb's lettuce and horseradish mousse

Fillet of suckling pig on a truffled "pointed" cabbage and hand rolled gnocchi served with redwinejus

Crispy roasted duck with lingonberry-apple, potato dumpling and red cabbage

Palatschinke "Pancake" with marinated berries and hazelnut ice cream

Dark chocolate tarte with citrus fruit terrine and mandarin sorbet

It would have been possible to to have breakfast at the hotel for 10 euros per person but we decided to skip it and enjoy our breakfast elsewhere. I'm sure that they would have had a nice breakfast but we prefere to eat every time some where new. We ended up to the Hirschgarten which is about five minutes walk from the Hotel and had breakfast at the Restaurant-Biergarten Königliche Hirschgarten. Surprisingly we sat inside because it wasn't exactly warm enough to enjoy the biergarten :D I'm sure that in summer this is a super place to have breakfast (or bier or lunch...) and we also didn't have anything to complain at this time of the year. For two huge cappuccinos, two bavarian sausages, brezel, water and a breakfast plate with cheese, ham, butter, marmelade, bread and brezel we paid 26 euros.

Hirschgarten

Inside the Restaurant Hirschgarten

So early in the morning we decided to go for a water instead of beer ;D

Brezel and Bavarian veal sausage Weisswurst

Coffee break at the sunny Wiener Platz in the Ristorante Celebrita

Potato soup with trüffel in the Ristorante Celebrita

Apple tart and cappuccino in the Ristorante Celebrita

Feinkost Käfer

During the day we visited the Deutsches Museum which is huge. I admit, we didn't look all the things through. I think you need more than a one day vor that place. In the afternoon the sun came out and it was really nice and warm so we stopped for some soup and coffee at the Ristorante Celebrita on the Wiener Platz. Later we visited the Feinkost Käfer (Prinzregentenstraße 73, 81675 München) which isn't a bad place to visit if you into foodstuff...a bit like Globus delicatessa in Zürich. We also stopped at the Schuhbeck Gewürze but didn't buy anything...this guy seems to be taking over the whole München and I must admit he isn't one of our favourite chefs.

Schuhbeck Gewürze shop

Inside the spice shop

We spotted a kitchen window...



Before dinner we stopped for some beer at the Augustiner am Platzl. We tried the Hofbräuhaus like real tourists should but they didn't want to serve us (=waited for ages without getting service) there so we went to Augustiner instead. Our dinner we had at the Markwirt am Viktualienmarkt. With drinks (beer, obstbrand) we paid about 80 euros. This is what we ate:

 
Speck-Zwiebelflammkuchen mit Ziegenfrischkäse
und angemachte Ruccola  € 13

Gefüllte Pflanzerl vom Kräuterferkel aus
Kartoffel-Gurkensalat und Chilidip  € 13

Geschmorte Ochsenbackerl in eigener Sauce auf gratinierten
Schwarzwurzeln und Rotweinschalotten-Püree  € 16

Tagesempfehlung als Dessert: Schoggikuchen  € 6

Karamellisierte Apfelpfankuchen mit
hausgemachtem Mandeleis  € 6


Markwirt

Inside decor of the Markwirt

Stuffed meetballs of piglet with potato-cucumbersalad and chillidip

Stewed ox cheeks with gratinated salsify and redwine-shallot-puree

Caramelized apple-pancake with housemade almond ice cream


One of the places for "food people" in München is the Viktualienmarkt. There one can find all kinds of fruits, veggies, meat, cheese.....etc.

Butcher on the Viktualienmarkt

Cheese shop on the Viktualienmarkt

Fruits on the Viktualienmarkt

Spices on the Viktualienmarkt

Thursday 13 February 2014

Salmon soup


The other week, when I was off but my hubby had to work, I decided to prepare us some hearthy fish soup for late lunch to fight the gray and wet winter weather.
 
 Salmon soup:
salmon
potatos
carrots
parsnip
cellery
onion
fish bouillon
cream
fresh dill
bay leaf
allspice
white pepper
piment d'espelette

Peel and cut the veggies into good size pieces. Cook them in a fish bouillon, to which the spices are added, until soft. Add salmon cubes and let simmer about 5 minutes until the salmon is cooked. Add cream, season and top with a freshly chopped dill.



I served the soup with some fresh bread and basil-butter.