2026 - Cooking with Dieter!

Now it's time to get a little more personal.

I'm in contact with my good friend Heinz Rebellius practically every day. And not just about guitar stuff, we also often chat about culinary delights.

As you can read at the beginning of my website chapter, I have loved cooking since I was 13, because my mother very rarely put anything decent on the table.

Appreciating my expertise and tips from our chats, Heinz advised me to post a section called “Cooking with Dieter” on my website.

I'm going to give it a try. Maybe it will be helpful to some of you. But it's not that easy for me. I don't want to share recipe ideas that you could download from Google at any time. I want to approach this in a completely different way.

Egg whites – recycling

First example: Almost every morning, I mash half an avocado in a bamboo pot with my finely pronged fork, which is ideal for this purpose and comes from my grandparents' collection, and whose ebony handle has survived unscathed for around 100 years. I add an egg yolk, a generous dash of sweet, thick Modena vinegar, a few drops of thin Modena white wine vinegar, Maldon salt crystals, a little olive oil, and some particularly mild chili stuff that my friend Marco Ballestri (the author of the Wandré book) sends me from Italy. Small jars containing a mixture of red, very mild peppers and tiny fish larvae. Southern Italians call it “Calabrian caviar”! You can hardly order it online because it's illegal. The fish larvae are supposed to become fish! The label says “Rosamarina,” and it's the most easily dosed, mildly spicy condiment I know.
But now: the egg white always remains from the egg yolk. I collect it in a small, tall Tupperware container until there are about ten egg whites in it, right up to the top. And what is the best thing to do with egg whites? Whip them into stiff peaks and use them to make a sponge cheesecake.

For this, I take 250 grams of flour, 200 ml of water, 80 grams of butter, which I melt in the water on the stove, 250 grams of mascarpone or even 500 grams, vanilla powder, a teaspoon of salt, 200 grams of brown sugar, and finely chopped figs and raisins. And, if available, some candied lemon peel. The more mascarpone, the cheesier the end product.
Mix all of this with an electric hand mixer (two attachable “beaters”) to form a dough and gently fold it into the stiffly beaten egg whites. Put everything into a baking tin and scrape or lick the remains from the bowl and beaters. Just like mom used to do! Then bake in the oven at approx. 180° for approx. 45 minutes using top and bottom heat!

It is advisable to use a thermometer to measure the internal temperature. It should not exceed 90°.

Puff pastry

Buy a pack of Buitoni puff pastry. You can put anything in it that you would put on a pizza. Cover one half with all the toppings, then fold it over, crimp the edges and press down firmly, and bake in a preheated oven at 200° for about 25 minutes! If it's not browned enough on top, bake for another five minutes or so!

Vitello Tonnato with Kühne Remoulade

Vitello is basically roast beef, or more precisely, veal or beef cooked in broth. I have an IKEA oven with various programs and a thermometer probe. The only program I use is “grilled fish.” You insert this probe into the fish and the oven switches off at 58°C. The fish is then cooked to perfection, still slightly transparent but cooked through. I use this exact program to cook the veal fillet. It is then slightly crispy on the outside and pink-red on the inside. It should be noted that here in Spain, the difference between veal and beef is not taken very seriously. What you buy here as “ternera” is more beef than veal, as it is redder than veal, which is actually lighter in color. Conclusion: tender beef fillet is definitely good too! Cut it into slices just under 2 mm thick using a bread slicer – as thin as possible without it crumbling!
The “tonnato” cream, which is spread over or under the slices of meat, usually consists of a kind of mayonnaise, a can of tuna in oil, and chopped capers. But this is where opinions differ! This cream can taste very delicate, but also intrusive and cheap. This is because all kinds of things are used as a base: mayonnaise, yogurt, soy paste, cream, you name it. I have made mayonnaise in many different ways: always with mild olive oil, one egg yolk, a spoonful of vinegar, pepper, and salt. But the best “mayonnaise” is still this “remoulade” from Kühne. And despite all the additives imaginable...

I take: Kühne, capers, gherkins, one egg yolk (put the egg white back in the Tupperware box for the cheesecake!), finely grated lemon zest, a dash of white balsamic vinegar, a teaspoon of sugar, pepper, and salt. The more Kühne, the creamier the mixture. Blend everything in a cup with an electric hand blender until smooth. I then spread more than half of it onto a serving plate with a silicone spatula, place the meat slices on top and spread the rest of the cream over the top. Flavor and decoration: whole capers and even arugula and a few halved cherry tomatoes.

Quantities & weights?

You have to estimate the quantities and try them out! That's the beauty of cooking: the end result is never fixed, but gets better and better over time.

Strawberry risotto

What a sensation of flavor and color!

Lightly fry a cup of risotto rice in olive oil at the bottom of the pot. Then add two cups of cava, sparkling wine, or champagne, a little salt (possibly pepper or green pepper). Chop up some sweet, fresh strawberries and cook two-thirds of them with the rice as soon as it has softened a little.

Place the other third of the strawberry pieces in the middle of the plate and arrange the risotto around them!

Pasta Silvia

500 grams of cherry tomatoes, 250 grams of thin tagliatelle, 1 burrata (this mozzarella that is almost liquid inside), fresh basil, dried oregano (marjoram) and basil, the best olive oil

Place the tomatoes and dried spices with olive oil in a baking dish and bake in the oven for twelve minutes. Best at 250°C on the convection setting!

At the same time, cook the tagliatelle (almost always a little longer than it says on the packet!). Then place in a deep pan or wok. Mix the burrata into the pasta, add the tomatoes and some fresh, chopped basil!

Edith's vanilla prawns:

The vanilla and sugar make this a real taste sensation!

20 fresh, raw, peeled shrimp tails (scampi)

2 large onions (halved and cut into strips)

2 chilies (cut into small rings) or another spicy ingredient (see my Rosmarina)

2 vanilla pods

1 basket of cherry tomatoes

Olive oil, salt, pepper, brown sugar

Grissini or other dry biscuits to nibble on

Heat 3-4 tbsp olive oil, add 1 tsp brown sugar and sauté the onions until translucent.

Remove the seeds from the vanilla pods and add them to the pan, add salt and pepper, stir well, reduce the heat and steam everything for 5-10 minutes.

Increase the heat again and mix in the whole, raw shrimp. Steam until they turn orange-white.

Finally, add the cherry tomatoes and steam for 2-3 minutes.

Quails

Hardly anyone dares to try them. These little creatures look so cute! Although they are usually sold without their heads, you should put your scruples and fears aside. Quails are simply delicious and always a good buy!
And they have a secret: when pan-fried, the legs always take more than twice as long as the tender breasts!

Preparing everything so that it's ready to cook takes a bit of work. The more routine you have, the faster it goes. So here goes:

Fortunately, I not only own a variety of excellent Vietnamese knives, but also have a Zwilling knife sharpener that can sharpen these Asian knives, which rust easily due to their carbon content, to the highest degree of sharpness. And if you dry them well afterwards, they don't rust, but cut perfectly. Inexpensive, top-quality tools!

So: first separate the two with a good pair of kitchen shears! Cut between the body and the thigh and then close to the backbone, where you have to cut through some bone. Remove and set aside!

Using the thinnest knife in my Vietnamese collection, I then cut down one side of the breastbone as close as possible, as far as I can. Then I use the scissors again for the rest! Then I do the same on the other side.

I cut through the remaining “carcasses” so that they don't take up too much space in my pot. Add oil to the pot and fry everything! Then add a little red wine and broth (can be from bouillon cubes) and simmer for an hour. Pass everything through a sieve into a shallow pan in which you have previously prepared a roux (look up “roux” in Google!). Then add the boiled liquid little by little with a whisk until you have a thick sauce. Set aside!

Now preheat the pan, add a little oil, and add the legs! After about 6 minutes, they should be well browned. Now turn the legs over and add the tender breasts. After no more than 3 minutes, turn the breasts over, and after just under 3 minutes, everything is ready! The legs are crispy and the breasts are tender and pink on the inside, melting in your mouth. Put everything on the plates and pour the warmed sauce over it!

I always buy 3 pieces for myself and my Paloma. The salesperson asks every time: “Cut up?” My answer: “Don't destroy my little animals!”

Don't be stingy!

You have all this wonderful stuff in a bucket and want to use every last molecule! That's how we were raised. But I tell you: it only causes unnecessary work and wasted time! Throw the last bits in the sink and move on to the next step!

Artichockes

Due to a lack of understanding or, in particular, stinginess, some savers refrain from preparing this excellent seasonal vegetable. After all, once you've peeled and trimmed away all the useless parts, you're left with at most half the weight measured on your stingy kitchen scale. But even that is worth every gram, because artichokes have an incomparable taste and are extremely healthy for our kidneys, etc.! And be careful when buying them! If they can be pressed in softly with your fingers, forget it! These things have to be really hard and firm – “like my husband's”!

So give it to him: Cut off part of the “branch” – or what should we call it? – then break off the leaves one by one until only yellow ones are visible. It's best to use an asparagus peeler to scrape away the hard ‘bark’ of the “branch” and cut off about half of the leaf tips. You can sharpen the ends of the remaining outer leaves a little. Again, use a sharp knife!

Next, depending on how you plan to use them, boil them in salted water with a dash of vinegar for about 15 minutes. Now take them out, put them in a kitchen sieve over the sink and run cold water over them so you can quickly handle them again without burning your fingers! Now you can cut them in half or even quarter them, then bake them in the oven with some provolone cheese on top. Or you can spread them out with your fingers like a sunflower (pushing everything outwards, of course) and then place them leaf-side down in a well-oiled pan for about 10 minutes. They'll turn a nice brown color. Add a little Maldon salt! Sauces or vinaigrettes can also enhance the flavor.

SILL – Nothing against IKEA!

Good grief! We've had everything we need for a long time, so there's no need to get lost in that endless maze again, unable to find the quickest way out, never again “Billy,” “Smörfisk,” “Sansdberg,” “Skogsta,” etc.! You can get napkins, candles, and batteries anywhere else in the world!

But one thing remains: when I pick someone up from Jerez Airport (30 km from Cádiz), I almost always make a detour to IKEA, which is located right off the highway, and as a German expat, I buy lots of herring in jars, “sour with onions” and “matjes,” from the food department downstairs in front of the cash registers. IKEA seems to be the only store in Spain that stocks such items (herring = arenque). Herring is wonderful, and even Mr. Bismarck once said, “If it weren't available in such quantities, it would be considered a delicacy!” And IKEA salmon isn't bad either. Just forget about the huge selection of sweets and their dubious Swedish cheese assortment!

Trump-Burger

What might that be like? Some illegally stolen dog poop from the street between moldy slices of toast, rotten Canadian autumn leaves, and some CIF and/or dish soap as sauce... Topped with a large, dead fly skewered with a toothpick!

Rice with seafood

But seriously now: good rice is delicious! The most widely used brand in Spain is called “Bomba.” “Normal rice,” no basmati here, please! And the most important thing for perfect flavor is the caldo, the fish stock. The best caldo is made with a monkfish head and other scraps of this bizarre fish.

First, make the sofrito, i.e., the vegetable base. Put oil in a large pot and add all kinds of finely chopped vegetables: onions or leeks, a large clove of garlic, a large grated carrot, celery (preferably celery root), 1 bay leaf (“What for?” I ask myself every time), pepper, and a little salt or bouillon cube.

Sauté everything nicely, then add the chopped fish scraps, ½ liter of inexpensive white wine, and ½ liter of water.  This can simmer for a good 2 hours.
Pour through a sieve into another pot. If the caldo is to be used for the rice right away, it is extremely important that it continues to simmer. This is the only way the rice will be able to absorb this delicious liquid perfectly.

The ingredients from the sea can be prepared while the caldo is simmering: small cuttlefish, cleaned and cut into small pieces, mussels that are as small as possible and have had their beards removed, a few prawns, which may be frozen, and clams, those round shells that are slightly larger than vongole.

Meanwhile, prepare the same vegetable base as above for the rice in a large, deep pan. Once everything, including the cuttlefish pieces, is nicely sautéed, sprinkle the rice over it (1 cup for 2 people), then add the first and immediately the second cup of simmering caldo. Stir, add a pinch of chili if desired, and set the timer for about 15 minutes.

Test the rice with a spoon. When it is almost soft, add the prawns and clams.

Marisco

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