PKPWPS3 The Ambient Cookbook
This is a cookbook for artists and other aliens who don't have the time to cook and to go shopping (even to eat sometimes). My typical situation is not to have the time to do a meal which takes a lot of time re preparation. But I really enjoy cooking as it is a creative process like doing music which has a lot to do with artistic freedom and how to organize yourself effectively. Cooking is also very good in terms of having a break once a day and doing something different...to think about the last thing you did before starting to cook and to think about how to proceed after the meal. The possibility of getting stuck in your work is much less a problem if you have a break inbetween. Ok, you might say ...go to a restaurant...I'm sorry but this takes more time than to stay at home and make one of the meals that I wrote down. Normally I go to a restaurant after I finished a CD or a big piece of work ... to reward myself. On the other hand it is a cost factor...if you don't have the money then it is better to cook yourself...and its easy as well as creative work.
There is one problem with the recipes. The measurements for the ingredients are not 100% correct. I do my cooking very instinctively and see it as part of the more creative process to really find out how much you need of Pepper, herbs, butter and all the rest. However, I hope that the recipes are a good starting point. The second reason for the roughly given information are the ingredients themselves...this product you have in your hands is being distributed worldwide. A tomato i.e. doesn't taste the same way in Italy than in Austria. The less the vegetables taste ... the more you might have to add taste through the spices.
This booklet with its recipes and advice is not a manual for perfect health and perfect avantgardistic food...I even warn you to use any of the recipes if your health is not in perfect condition. However I survived until now ... the only side effect is the strange music I do.
If you have any problems getting started with cooking or you think this is just a promotional joke ... try at least my most famous recipe "Pizza". I know that this will be No. 1 in the cooking charts worldwide.
The recipes are based on an electric oven. With a gasoven the cooking times and the temperature scales are entirely different. The cooking is more direct as you don't have to wait until the hotplate is hot enough. I would try (as I did at Charlie's place) to heat up briefly...like until the butter added in a recipe is melted and then turn the heat down to 2 (on a scale where 3 is the maximum). If you are not sure, simply never put the heat to maximum ... just start to do everything on 2 where maximum heat is required.
If you don't have one and you find it interesting to cook and you don't have enough time to cut everything by hand then try to get one. They are very often much cheaper than you think. Much less than any synthesizer. But take care buy something which is cheap AND effective. If you don't have the money to buy a food processor, then buy a hand grater with the functions needed in the recipes. It takes longer to work with this but it is more "analog" and (strange but true) the food often tastes better with manual treatment.
This is very important ! The water you use for food should be perfect...in taste and quality. If you are in an area where the water doesn't taste any good and is very "processed", then either buy a filtering device ... which is a pot for 1 or up to 2 liters with an integrated filter. On top you fill in the water from your tap and the water you need filters quickly into the pot. ....or you buy water without gas and use this. In Frankfurt I have to use a filtering device, fortunately I don't have to buy the water. In other areas of our planet the water is so bad that you will have to buy it in bottles. The difference in taste between "good" and "bad" water (as long as it not poisoned anyway) is easy to spot with tea.
Referring the herbs I didn't go too far into details. You might find this a bit irritating, but I can't expect that you hunt the next year or two for the herbs I might add in one recipe or the other. Feel free to try combinations...try other spices etc. Normally it is easy to find the very common herbs mixture called "Herbs of Provence". Its normally a combination of oregano, marjoram, basil, rosemary, thyme and a bit of fennel. So if you don't find the mixture you might have to find the herbs and combine them yourself. I had to do this when I was at Charlie's in San Francisco once. You can also easily find out yourself which herbs work with which food and don't use the entire combination...like basil goes well with tomatoes and sweet corn etc.
you should try not to use normal ground pepper. Use in any case and for every recipe where pepper is used in this book, a peppermill which is able to produce big chunks of pepper (relative to its original size). The smaller the pieces of pepper are that you use the less it will taste like pepper and the meal will only be "hot". What I mean when I say "add pepper" is: add the sound ... eeerh ... taste of pepper not necessarily the "hot" effect.
0.15 kg butter, 1 small onion, 1 medium onion, 0.3 kg carrots, flour, parsley, water, 2 cups of rice (the normal patna longcorn kind of), 4 cups of water, 28 raisins, 10 sliced almonds, 2 chicken breast filets, 1 clove garlic, 1/2 glass of white wine, 25 grams of normal plain choclate (your favourite brand), sugar, salt, pepper, herbs of Provence
Let's start this menu with the carrots. Put 0.075 kg butter in a medium sized sauce pan. Turn the heat of the hotplate to maximum. Peel the onions and cut them into small pieces. Add them to the butter...stir briefly. Wash the carrots and slice them crossways. Add them to the other stuff in the pan. Stir until everything is mixed ...while stirring add sugar...2 teaspoons, add a pinche of salt and a bit of pepper. Don't let the carotts burn, but let them feel the heat. If some get slightly baked ... that's perfect. Now add some flour, about 1 tablespoon...stir again until everything is mixed and then add water, about one or two cups ... the top of the carrots should not be covered. Then turn the heat down to 1 (on a scale where 3 is the maximum). Put the lid on the pan and we turn now to the rice: Put the rice and 2 tablespoons of curry into a small soucepan. Add a pinch of salt, the raisins and the almonds. Add the water and put the lid on the pan and the hotplate to maximum. As soon as it boils turn the heat to 2 (on a scale of 3). After you add the water to the rice look into the pan with the carrots...stir them and add the washed and cut parsley (small pieces) ... stir again and turn the heat to 1/2 (on a scale blah blah..). Now we start with the chicken:
Cut the chickenbreast crossways and put a pan with 0.050 kg butter on the hotplate ... turn the heat to maximum. Peel and cut the small onion into small pieces (first lengthways, then crossways). Add the onions to the butter. Stir briefly and let them turn kind of yellow... meawhile peel the garlic, open the bottle of wine and get ready...add the chickenbreast. Add salt, pepper (a tiny bit more than usual), the herbs. Stir ...until the surface of the chicken pieces turn white (from pink). Add the garlic with the garlic press and stir the singredients into the pan...stir often...harder...eeerh sorry...now add a teaspoon of flour...stir, and then pour the wine over the whole lot ...aaahh big relief...stir ...and then cut the choclate pieces into small chunks....add them...and....stir until the sauce has one colour. Turn the heat down to 1. Look and see if there is some water left in the rice. If so, take the lid offand turn the heat to maximum. You can find out if you tip the pan and water appears. Put the remainingbutter on the rice and wait until all water has gone ...stir and pour it onto the plate ... give the carots to the plate (if you have some parsley left put it on top of it) and add the chicken.
If you like wine ... drink the same that you used for the food.
I bet ... whenever Richie Hawtin thinks about collaborating with me ... he remembers this meal.
For the basic recipe: 2 medium sized onions, 0.125 kg butter, flour, 3 ltr. water, 1 tablespoon salt, 3 bayleaves, some Piment, Pepper, herbs of Provence, 3-6 potatoes, nutmeg.
It is highly recommended to add either one or in any combination the following vegetables and herbs: 3-4 carots, 1 medium celery, 1-2 sticks of leek, some runner beans.
Put a big soup pan on the hotplate and add the butter. Switch to maximum heat and peel the onions. Cut them into small pieces, but don't be too accurate as the butter is melting meanwhile and with butter it is always tricky to see that it doesn't burn. Add the onions as soon as possible. If you are not fast enough...peel and cut the onions first. When the onions start to turn from yellow to light brown add flour. If you want to have a thick soup add more ...so that after brief stirring it becomes a thicker mixture (stir fast ... the mixture should not to turn more than light brown. If a lighter soup is your thing ... then add less flour about 2-3 tablespoons. After this add the water and salt, the bayleave and the piment as well as some pepper and the herbs of Provence. Now you have time (not too much) to prepare the potatoes and the vegetables to be added. Start with the vegetable that takes the longest time to cook. First the potatoes, then the runner beans, then the leek, then the carrots, then the celery. Taste the soup and add spices and herbs until you like it . Turn the heat down to 1.5 (on a scale where 3 is the maximum) and do something else for approx 15-20 min. Pour the soup tino the bouls and add the nutmeg ...just a bit. Serve with bread. Feel free to put chunks of bread into the soup as well.
If there are 2 of you, you have now enough to eat for 3 days. Put the soup in a cold place with the lid on the pan. Check the soup before you heat it to see if it is still ok. Normally this kind of soup tastes even better on the day after. Be sure that the soup is entirely hot (boiling) when you heat it up a second time.
2 medium-sized tomatoes, 2 balls of fresh mozarella (the white one which swims in brine), 1 small onion, 1 clove of garlic, basil (fresh or dry), salt, pepper, vinegar (italian red or white or balsamico), virgin olive oil, italian white bread or french baguette, butter
Take a big plate out of your cupboard and slice the mozarella. Put it on the plate so that it covers the whole surface. Slice the tomatoes...put them on top of the mozarella. Peel the onion and cut it into small pieces. Pour this on top of the mozarella and tomatoes. Peel the garlic and cut it into tiny pieces and add it as well. If you have fresh basil wash it and cut it into small pieces (leaves only). If you have dry basil take some with the thumb and index finger of your favourite hand and rub it so that it covers the tomatoes evenly. Add some salt and pepper. Now add the vinegar and the oil. It depends on the oil and the vinegar how much you take ... of course the whole thing should not swim in oil and vinegar. Just check it out yourself...
Cut the bread into slices and put some of the mixture from the big plate on top of your bread. If you like butter like I do ... put some butter on the bread and then add some mozarella, tomatoes etc to it. I love this meal when it is very hot outside...
Water (three times more than pasta) , 1 tablespoon salt, 2 tablespoons olive oil, enough pasta for 2 people, 0.1kg butter, 1 medium sized onion, sweet corn from the 0.3kg can, 2 small guerkhins, 8 slices of beetroot, 1/2 glass white wine, salt, pepper, herbs of Provence, piment
Put the water into a big saucepan...add salt and olive oil ...turn the heat to
maximum level. As soon as the water boils add the pasta. Before the water boils
you have enough time to do the following: Put the butter in a saucepan. Place
the pan on the hotplate and turn up to maximum heat. Peel the onion and cut
into small pieces (fast). Add the onions to the butter and stir briefly. Open
the tin of sweet corn and first drain away the liquid inside. Then add the
sweet corn to the pan, add the herbs, salt, piment and pepper and add the wine.
Now cut the guerkhins and the beetroot into small pieces and add them to the
mixture. Turn down the heat to 1 (on a scale where 3 is the maximum). Meanwhile
the pasta should be ready. If you are not able to get the sour souce ready
before the pasta is ready ..then prepare the ingredients of the sauce
beforehand. Don't let the pasta cook too long otherwise it will be too soft.
Now, when you think they are ready..drain them. Put them on the plate and pour
the souce over the top.
If you like to drink white wine .... drink the same as you added to the sauce.
This is something to make children happy. I even don't know when my daughter started to ask me to do this meal for her. Well, here it comes:
Water (three times more than pasta) , 1 tablespoon salt, 2 tablespoons olive oil, enough pasta for 2 people, 0.1kg butter, dry white bread.
Put the water in a big saucepan...add salt and olive oil ...turn the heat to maximum level. As soon as the water boils add the pasta. Now grate the dry bread with the "grating-disk" in your favourite kitchen appliance. Then put the frying pan on the hotplate and add the butter. Turn the heat to maximum until the butter has melted. Add the breadcrumbs. Turn the heat down low (on a scale where 3 is the hottest ...on 1). Add enough breadcrumbs that the mixture is not too dry but also not too moist ...I can't give you the exact amount of breadcrumbs as I don't know how much butter they will soak up. Let them turn light brown ...consult your favourite colour chart...(hopefully you know what I mean). Taste the pasta to see if it is ready to be served ...as the time differs from brand to brand and you might like them "al dente" or more soft or whatsoever .....as long as I have some teeth I would like to have them not too soft....now, when you think they are ready ....drain them. Put them on the plate and pour the breadcrumbs (not too dark) over the top.
If you have enough time make a side-salad (see salad recipe).
1 finger, 1 telephone
Pick up the receiver and using your finger (the index finger works best...using the thumb needs a little practice) dial the number of your favourite pizzeria and order whatever pizza you want.
1 clove of garlic, 3/8 liter of white wine (if you want to drink some with the meal then one bottle), 0.3 kg Swiss Emmentaler, 0.3 kg Swiss Gruyere, Pepper, Cherry-Schnaps (40%), 2 teaspoons cornflour and a pinch of nutmeg. 1 white baguette (approx. 70cm long and diameter 10 cm...oooh baby...)
Use a medium sized saucepan, take the garlic, peel it and rub the sauce pan with it. Open the bottle of wine and use a measuring jug to measure 3/8 ltr. of the wine and pour it into the pan. Switch your hotplate to maximum heat. After this you immediately grate the cheese with your favourite kitchen appliance. For this use the disc with the small holes. As soon as the wine starts boiling put all the cheese into the pan and stir until the cheese is mixed with the wine. Add enough pepper now and use the garlic press to add the clove which you used before. If you are quick now is the time to cut the bread into chunks. The fastest way I found is to cut it into 3 equal parts lenghtways and then slice the chunks crossways. Now mix the Schnaps with the cornflour in a shaker and add this quickly to the almost finished cheese fondue, stirring constantly. Now you'll see that the wine and the cheese becomes a sauce which has a very nice and smooth consistency. The finishing touch is to add the nutmeg. Put this on a heat resistant mat on your table and start to eat ASAP as the cheese is getting cold ....I know you can use a fondue heater but I don't use it. Without the fondue heater you will have to warm the pan up again in the middle of your meal.
I don't have one as it is useless to have a tool only for one special meal and if you don't eat this special meal it is eating up space in your cupboard. If you like to drink wine with your meal use the same wine you used for the fondue.
1 lettuce (any kind) , oil, vinegar (from white or red wine), 1 squeeze of lemon, water, salt, sugar, 1/2 a clove of garlic, 1 small onion, sweet (mild) mustard optional: fresh herbs like parsley, dill, chives
Wash the lettuce (every leaf) and cut it as you like ... some like big
leaves...some don't. I wash the lettuce ... throw away the bad leaves.. then I
dry it with a salad dryer or put it into a sieve. Peel a small onion and cut it
into tiny pieces...(don't cry) Optional:wash the herbs and cut them into tiny
pieces.
Then work on the salad sauce...I have to admit that this takes some
experience until you can make this sauce.
My advice: put 2-3 tablespoons with
sunflower oil (don't buy cheap) in the salad bowl. Add 1-2 tablespoons of
vinegar. Add 2 teaspoons of sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of
mustard. If you used a salad dryer add 2-3 tablespoons of water, if not add 1
tablespoon of water. Add the garlic with the garlic press. Add the onion and
the squeeze of lemon...mix everything with a spoon or whatever. Add the lettuce
and mix everything very well.
1/2 ltr water, 2 heaped tablespoons Minas coffee (or any special finely heaped oriental coffee), cinnamon, 1 teaspoon - 2 tablespoons sugar
Put the coffee into a medium sized saucepan. Add a pinch of cinnamon and the sugar (as you like). It is important that you add the sugar you want now ! Add the water. Turn your hotplate to maximum heat. Don't go away !!! It doesn't take long until the coffee is ready...and if you do something else in the meantime...it is very possible that the coffee will overcook. As soon as the coffee starts to boil you should poure it into the cups and the rest into a coffee pot. Yes, in the coffee you drink now, there are still coffee granules. They sit on the bottom of the cup and you don't have to drink it. The good thing about this coffee is the more relaxed effect in comparison to the typical filtered "German" coffee. With the typical filtered coffee I have the impression that all the good ingredients are filtered out and all the unhealthy components are in the brown liquid you drink afterwards. By the way...the oriental tastes the same as the coffee smells. I didn't have this experience with "normal" coffee. Also, in the oriental coffee there are still the good things inherent which compensate for partly the caffeine and which calm down your stomach.
1 ltr. water, 2 teaspoons of black tea (your favourite)
Put the tea in the teapot. Add boiling water. After 3-5 minutes pour the tea through a sieve in a thermos flask.
This doesn't sound like a brilliant recipe but there is a lot of experience which has gone into this simple way of making tea. Normally you would use much more tea for 1 ltr. ...if you don't watch out and wait too long after you add the water...the tea will taste bitter. If you don't like bitter tea I highly recommend that you simply decrease the amount of teaspoons. There is an additional feature which comes with a lower amount of teaspoons...if you forget the tea is brewing in the teapot and you pour it into the thermos flask after 10 minutes it still is not bitter. Why poure the tea from the teapot into the thermos flask ? This is simple ... nobody likes cold tea too much on the other hand ... if you keep your tea warm on a heater it gets bitter after a while. In the thermos flask the tea keeps its taste and temperature over several hours. Believe me ...I tried all the other ways to make tea. But still...it's a matter of taste.
Paula Horn - my grandmother who showed me that "good" butter is the key for having a delicious meal and who forgot more than once that the tea was still brewing. Her way of making the tea was never equalled.
Elisabeth Turco - my mother who got me into cooking and showed me that perfect organization is the way to enjoy your life and not only your kitchen.
Elisabeth Michels - the greatest cook in the category: "possible marriage candidates" that I met until now ... thank you for your recipe: cheese fondue. We had to split otherwise I would have lost my shape completely.
Antonio Vruna - the greatest cook in the category: "Restaurants" - he inspired the Chicken "Namlook". You can pay him a visit in his: "Restaurant Zafferano" @ 60385 Frankfurt, Gronauer Str. 1 Phone:+49-69/451366
Fabia - who got me back to basic children food "Pasta Fabia". ....Papa Du bist ein guter Koch....Danke Fabia.
