Recipe – Beary Strong

Fish Pie

For comfort food aFISHionados.

Austria is beautiful: I love my new home country and I never regret moving here long time ago. The quality of life is gorgeous and the quality of food too: a high variety of regional veggies, game meat, poultry, fantastic dairy products… But there is one thing that Austria lacks: fish. Well, you can get it, but you have to pay quite a lot for decent quality. No wonder that every time Stefan and I are travelling somewhere, we crave for fish like mad: seafood, sushi, salmon, smoked fish, it doesn’t matter, we eat it all. Having a fishmonger near to our Airbnb during our last summer escape in Edinburgh was a blessing though. I always wanted to do a fish pie and finally got the chance to create this simple yet comforting dish.

Waldorf Salad

The light and protein packed version.

I know, Waldorf salad sounds boring, somehow very 80’s and not so exciting as perhaps a duck roast or shortbread. But to be honest I really like it: it’s refreshing, creamy and it has a sentimental component for me. My mum bought it from the butcher and we ate it with all kinds of meat. In Italy the meat is usually cooked in a quite boring way (no sauces, scarse seasoning) and the Waldorf salad was a real highlight. The original recipe requires mayonnaise which does not fit in our current macros. Nevertheless, we managed to create a lighter but no less tastier version of it.

Cauliflower Roast

A celebration of a humble vegetable.

As much as I like cauliflower rice, making it is a chore. Shredding the cauliflower into rice results in tiny white pieces jumping around in my kitchen. I simply hate it. Therefore I am really glad that I found this recipe. It celebrates the cauliflower. We don’t turn it into faux-something. We honor it by treating it just like a sunday roast. And we get a lot in return: tender white flesh and a spicy bark. Try this one and thank me later, it will change your relationship to cauliflower forever.

Fermented Carrots with Star Anise

Easy, fizzy, healthy goodness.

Fermented food and microbiome are nowadays a hot topic not only in the science community: it has become quite popular in the media too. While some supplement selling companies are making money with it, promising to get you shredded by eating the proper microbiota they sell, scientist are aware that the picture is far more complex. The microbiome definitely plays a role in a lot of physiologic and pathologic processes and you have positive effects from eating probiotica and prebiotica like resistent starches but we still do not know exactly all of the players responsible for the effects. Nevertheless, eating fermented food seems beneficial to almost everbody, so here is an easy recipe to get you started!

Honey Curd Ice Cream

One ice cream to hit your macros and please your inner bear.

If you are an ice cream aficionado like we are, autumn and winter can be a tough time for you. Yes, there are cookies and Stollen, but for some reason it’s almost impossible to find good ice cream in Vienna. All the shops are closed! I don’t get it, why wouldn’t you love some ice cream even on a cold winter day? Well, if no one does it for you, you have to make some yourself.

Warming Beef Stew

Easy, comforting and delicious soulfood.

As the weather transitions from mild autumn to cold and rainy winter, I feel the need for something heart warming to eat. A bowl to hug. Where it is difficult to wait for it and you inevitably burn your tongue on the first spoonful. Thankfully this recipe is so simple and flexible, you can easily remember it, change it to your liking and make it your own.

Pumpkin Pie Two Ways

I love pumpkin pie because my mum used to bake it in the early 90s for Halloween even if no one was celebrating it in Milan those times. It was an original American recipe which she brought back from Philadelphia where she lived in the 70s together with my dad and older brother. Of course she shared the recipe with me as I moved to Vienna but I had gut issues and was not tolerating grains, eggs and dairy products well. Therefore Stefan and I developed our own version: it is not cut-friendly if you are very low on calories (check the macros) but it is gluten-free and suitable for the vegan folk too. But if you would like to try the real stuff, I’ve included my mum’s recipe too.

Homemade Pate And Flatbread

Real superfood made easy.

Sometimes you just try something out in the kitchen and it turns out to be much, much better than you expected. That’s what I love about cooking and that’s what happend when I tried this recipe the first time! In this article you will get a delicious way to get in one of the most underrated foods on the planet and make good use of your sourdough starter that is (hopefully) bubbling away at your kitchen counter.

Breakfast Pulled Beef

Easy peasy meal prep for even the most stressed cooks.

As temperatures get a little lower (which I am extremely happy about), and autumn peeking around the corner, I am in the mood for something different for breakfast. Something warming, comforting and hearty, keeping me satieted many hours. I like my easy cheesecake, but now I’m not cutting anymore and can afford to eat something different. However, even if you are cutting at the moment, this recipe could be for you: you just have to be smart about the cut of meat to use.

Bear-pleasing Quick Choc Pot

Your easy chocolate fix.

Originally the choc-pot was the filling of a Jamie Oliver no-bake chocolate tart: a very rich but quite calorie-friendly dessert which we’ll share with you soon. What if you do not want to/need to/can make a whole tart but you want to indulge in a chocolatey dessert? This recipe is the answer!