Green Herb Sauce with Asparagus and Eggs

This sauce is served cold with hot green asparagus and steamed potatoes. Frankfurter Grüne Soße is a seasonal dish served in Frankfurt (Bankfurt). The season all vegetarians are looking foreword to in a meat-centric culture. The traditional Hesse sauce consists of seven fresh herbs: borage, sorrel, garden cress, chervil, chives, parsley, and salad burnet and a variation of hard-boiled eggs, oil, vinegar, mustard and sour cream/yogurt/buttermilk. The bundles of herbs are available from all market stalls in May.

GET
a generous amounts of fresh herbs:
(250g herbs) chopped finely
Garden Cress - Lepidium sativum
Chives - Allium schoenoprasum
Parsley - Petroselinum crispum
Salad Burnet - Sanguisorba minor
Chervil - Anthriscus cerefolium
Sorrel - Rumex acetosa
Borage - Borago officinalis
Possible substitutes: shallots, lovage, lemon balm, and even spinach

Small potatoes
2 hard-boiled eggs
1 bunch of green/white asparagus

Sauce:
Olive oil,
150g sour cream
150g yogurt
1Tsp. mustard
1 teaspoon lemon juice or vinegar
- all organic

DO
The green sauce should stay in the fridge for at least one hour. So coordinate the steaming of the potatoes and asparagus accordingly.

Chop herbs coarsely by hand. Mix the sauce ingredients and add the herbs. Traditionally the egg whites are chopped small and the yolk is mashed before adding it to the sauce. In a hot climate, we serve the eggs separately.
Serve with the asparagus and the steamed potatoes and boiled eggs cut in halves and sprinkle with chopped parsley.

Mushrooms with pesto

Get
250g large open field mushrooms
100g spelt flour
5 tbsp olive oil
Lemon thyme

1 bunch of basil
200g macadamia nuts
2 large cloves of garlic
1 cup olive oil

Do
Clean and remove the stems from the basil. Chop finely.
Medium grate the macadamia nuts and add to the basil in a bowl. Mix.
Crush the garlic and add.
Add oil bit by bit while stirring until a thick paste forms.
Press into the bowl. Dribble a little oil on top and cover.

Clean the mushrooms, dry them, cut a little off the stem and discard. Cut into thick slices.
Put the flour on a large plate and roll the mushrooms in it. Do this in 2 lots if there are too many mushrooms. Leave for ½ hour so the mushrooms collect lots of flour. Turn from time to time.
Heat olive oil in a stainless steel frying pan and add enough mushrooms when the oil is hot so that they do not touch. Turn when golden.
Push the mushrooms to the side of the pan when they are golden on both sides and fry the remaining mushrooms.
Sprinkle with lemon thyme.

Can be served with potatoes and a salad or with noodles and tomato sauce.

Ginger fruit and herb tea

GET

Ginger, thumb size piece
5 strawberries
4 slices of citrus
A sprig of sage/ mint/ or lemon balm
2-3 fruit of roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa) or rose hip
Honey (optional)

DO

Take the young ginger rhizome, wash, peel it thinly and slice.
Wash the strawberries and slice.
Slice 4 slices of an orange, remove the pith and pips
Wash hibiscus/ rose hip fruit
Wash herbs, remove stalks
Add all into jug
Pour 1 liter of boiled water over ingredients and let them steep for 6 minutes.


The drink can be composed freely depending on the availability of ingredients. It can be served hot or cold. You might want to strain the tea and add a few slices of strawberry only. Serve with or without honey.

Chanterelle with Eggs and Herbs

GET organic
500 g Chanterelle
4 eggs
60 g butter/or some olive oil
2 TBS parsley or chives, chopped
Optional: 2 TBS cream/chopped onions

DO
Wash golden chanterelle (Cantharellus cibarius), (images) dry well on towel. Chop mushrooms in half. Heat butter in pan. Beat eggs. (Can add optional cream to egg mixture. If onions are to be used, fry them.) The butter not too hot, add mushrooms. When golden, pour egg mixture on top, turn heat down. Sprinkle with some of the herbs. When cooked, serve with the rest of the herbs.

An alternative way is to do the mushrooms in a separate pan and the eggs, scrambled or as omelette in another. This dish is a good breakfast, but also a hearty dinner, served with steamed potatoes and a green salad.

Omelet with mushrooms and thyme

get
6 medium mushrooms, e.g. champignons, chanterelles, porcini
a few tips of fresh thyme, or best lemon thyme
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
50g goats milk fetta cubed
4 organic, free-range eggs
2 tbsp water

do
Slice mushrooms in 4. Fry in a large pan in the olive oil on both sides until golden and dry on a low flame. Add thyme tips. Push to one side of the pan.
Add the butter.
Beat the eggs and water well with a fork until smooth. Pour into the pan next to the mushrooms. Let it fry until almost set on top and golden underneath. Cut across the middle and look under the omelet to see if it is stable. Flip the halves from the round side so they keep their shape.
Place half of the fetta cubes on each omelet half. Fold lengthwise to cover the cheese so it has the shape of a quarter circle filled with fetta. Let it melt briefly. Then serve with toast. Some mushrooms will be incorporated into the omelet, others next to it.
Image: Boletus & free range organic eggs