Sweet Potato Gnocchi - healthy, easy and homemade!

Recipe of the month!
Sweet Potato Gnocchi - healthy and easy to make!

Hey guys,

ever wondered what you can do also with sweet potatoes ? 

I just love the taste and the health effects which sweet potatoes bring with them. I thought so why not trying out a recipe to make gnocchis out of them. Its not a rocket science and it does not take you forever in the kitchen. 

All you need is some good ingredients and a bit of time in the kitchen! 

So here we go !

2 Persons 

Ingredients for the Gnocchi:

ca. 400 g sweet potato (cooked & smashed)

ca. 130 g flour (all purpose flour)

1 teaspoon of nut meg powder

2-3 table spoons of freshly grated parmesan 

Ingredients for the sauce:

150 g cocktail tomatoes (quartered)

Pepper & salt 

For serving: 

ca. 50 g splits of parmesan on top at the end 

Ruccola (cutted and mixed in the sauce at the end)

1-2 tabel spoons of roasted pine nuts, mix them at the end underneath the sauce (roast them over minmal heat in the pan, be careful burns quick,)

This is how we do it ! 

Cook (sliced and peeled) & smash afterwards the sweet potatoes in a bowl, mix in the nut meg and parmesan. Add slowly the flour and knead the ingridents all together till the dough is not sticky anymore. Be aware that you only knead till everything is one dough, dont add too much flour as it can make the gnocchi to hard. 

When ready place it for around 15 minutes covered in the fridge.

In this 15 minutes roast the pinutes in medium heat, place it aside. Quarter the cocktail tomatoes and stir them slowly (medium heat) in a bit of olive oil with a drizzle of salt and pepper till a nice sauce comes out. Afterwards put the sauce ot the side.

Get your dough out of the fridge. Add some flour over it and cut the dough into 3-4 slices. Roll the slices on a floured work surface till they get the look of a long sausage. Than cut the long sausage into 2 cm thick gnocchis. If you want you can also do the typical fork thing to the gnocchis, but I woud skip that part. 

Now get water in a pot to boil (reduce heat - not boiling anymore) and add the gnocchis till they come on the surface of the pot. The best you can use to get not too much water with this is a ladle. Collect them all on a plate.

Use your pan and put some little olive oil and heat it, add the gnocchis at medium heat and roast them a bit on each side (be careful not to smash them). Turn off the heat and add the sauce, cutted ruccola and pinuts and mix it all together. 

Serve it on a plate and add some parmesan splits above your Gnocchis ! Enjoy!

Follow me for more on instagram @melainesinsights,

Cheers,

melainesinsights 

On top of the mountain, Ras al Khaimah - Jebel Jais

Looking for some fun and natur experience ?
My Jebel Jais guide for you!

Location and Facts:

2 hours from Dubai drive-time. The drive itself is worth it as you get so many impressions. The road towards Jebel Jais is threw deep rocky canyon, really breath-taking and unique. 

The Jebel Jais is 1934m high, its located in the "Hadschar-Mountains". Its a bit cooler when you drive to the top so keep that in mind, around 10 Celcius cooler than on average sea level. 

If you are a motor bike or super car lover, this is the road you need to take on!

What can you do at Jebel Jais?

At Jebel Jais you can ride the "Jais Flight" the worlds longest zipline, you soar across jagged mountain peaks at hair-raising speeds of up to 160kmh. If this is too much adrenalin for you, you might check out the wonderful viewing decks and food trucks or restaurants at Jebel Jais.

They also have Jais Sledder there, which is still adrenalin but more family friendly. You can also check out VisitJebelJais for more experiences to check on.

If you like to do something special you can also reservere a table at the 1484 by Puro. The restaurant ist nestled on the top and you can only go there if you have a reservation. Please make sure to make this reservation about 2 weeks before you go there.

Cheers,

Melaines-Insights

www.instagram.com/melainesinsights for daily updates ! 

Adventure in the Mountains, come with me for a day trip to Hatta!

Hey guys, looking for a day trip from Dubai and you are a mountain and nature lover?
Hatta should be on your bucket list!

Here are my top recommendations when doing a day trip to Hatta from Dubai.

The drive time from Dubai takes about 90 minutes, ca. 130 km. If you dont have a car, also no problem, you can go by the recently launched RTA public bus to Hatta, called "Hatta Express Bus". Check for time schedule RTA Dubai homepages. 

Hatta is Dubais mountainous exclave and is located on the border with Oman and in the Hajar Mountains. 

We started driving to Hatta and first visited Hatta Dam. The drive itself is worth the trip, we saw a lot of camels with new borns (February) and its stunning when you drive threw the desert and the mountains show up in front of you. 

You can park your car and go for a little hike up the hill to the Hatta Dam, where you have a beautiful view on the turquoise water. This spot is especially popular in the cooler winter months and also has activities for families. You also can do a lot of water activities there, be aware that swimming is not allowed. 

They have a beautiful food spot with different food trucks, we decided after our short hike uphill to have some burgers and fries. The spot is really unique as its surrounded by the mountains. 

After enjoying our lunch we drove to  the famous Hatta Heritage Village. It has been preserved and reconstruced by the government. We explored the "Hatta Fort", built in 1896. It served as a residence and defence facility with a large internal courtyard and 11m-high tower. Its a perfect viewing point.

Enjoy and take care, for more daily updates please check my Instagram profil and make sure to follow: @melainesinsights 

Cheers,

Melainesinsights 

Take a walk with me to the mangrove park in Abu Dhabi, Jubail Island

Hey guys,

would you like to escape the city and see some nature around Abu Dhabi? This is your place to go! 

Come with me to the Mangrove Park at Jubail Island in Abu Dhabi. Jubail Island is located between Saadiyat Island and Yas Island.

The main attraction is the mangrove walk. Also they offer at the Mangrove Park many activties, for example kayak tours or yoga classes, to only name a view. 

Its also easy reachable from Dubai within a 45 minutes drive. You can easily park your car over there.

They have a coffee at the starting point, where you can find nice food and drinks before you enjoying the walk, which consists of three different routes. The longest takes you two kilometeres, the middle one 1,6 km and the short cut is 1 km. Depending which route you are choosing and your own pace, the longest one can take up to 90 minutes. 

Entrance fee for the mangrove walk is 15 AED per person. You can book ahead via the Jubail Mangrove Parks website.  Also check on the actual operating hours.

The animal species you can discover there are for example: western reef heron, breeding fishes and if your lucky also sea turtles. 

I also did my first video on YouTube check it out for more impressions and what to expect when coming to the Mangrove Park at Jubail Island, Abu Dhabi. 

Enjoy and take care, for more daily updates please check my Instagram profil and make sure to follow: @melainesinsights 

Cheers,

Melainesinsights 

Most HIDDEN spot in Dubai - experience the desert like never before !

Hello guys,

first of all happy new year to all of you!!! 

Today I would like to introduce a wonderful secret spot in the Dubai desert- the "Hidden Cafe".

To point it more out to you, the place is called "Hidden Cafe Dubai". As its called "hidden" it is really a hidden location, which is only open in the "winter time" at Dubais desert. It opens around 4.00 pm and make sure to bring a winter jacket with you as also the desert can be a little bit chilly in the winter month, when the sun has gone.

What to do there?

You can have a wonderful coffee and watch the sunset and check out all the lovely greats spots for photos and cozy vibes in this hidden gem. They made this place really special with nice lounging options and a lot of instagramable photo spots. We also took some nice pictures in the desert as the hidden cafe is located right in the desert surrounded by beautiful sand dunes. The sunset is so nice to experience in the desert so make sure to have this place on your list. 

Location for your navigation system and Opening Hours as follow: 

𝘚𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘺-𝘛𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘥𝘢𝘺: 4𝘗𝘔 - 1𝘈𝘔
𝘍𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘺 - 𝘚𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘢𝘺: 4𝘗𝘔 - 2𝘈𝘔
𝘓𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 📍👇

tinyurl.com/HiddenAE

They have also some sweets they offer right now, I talked to the stuff and they also plan to extand with some other food options during the next few weeks. They have also some fire places to lighten up the night. After sunset its a romantic place to watch the stars. 

Also close by the location is the love lake, which is also a must to see, while being around this part of the desert in Dubai. Its a real oasis with two lakes shaped as hearts and many birds to watch. 

Enjoy and take care, for more daily updates from Dubai please check my Instagram profil and make sure to follow: @melainesinsights 

Cheers,

Melainesinsights 

Pasta with truffles - an easy and quick recipe for you!

Recipe of the month

Pasta with truffles ! 

Hey guys,

as a child I spend many years with my family in the region of Piemonte, Italy. This region is well-known for truffles. Since then I'm addicted to Pasta with truffles.

Today I give you an easy and quick recipe how to make truffle pasta at home.

Its ready in 15 min. 

Truffles normally can be bought in delicatessen shops. Be careful and check before the truffle seasons, if someone is serving you truffle shavings in other months, these have most likely come from a freezer and wont give you that intense experience you've paid for.

Off-truffle season you can also make the pasta without the fresh truffles and use only the truffle salt for the taste. Truffle salt has tiny fragrant pieces of black or white truffle blended in. 

Make sure (if you have fresh truffle) you also buy a truffle slicer/shaver. 

Ingredients :

- 250g Tagliatelle, Fettucine or Linguine 

- 70g Parmesan cheese

- 50g Fresh black truffle  

- 2 - 3 Teaspoon of Italian white summer truffle salt 

- 1 Cup heavy cream 

Recipe Pasta with truffles:

1. Cook pasta according to package directions, until "al dente". Drain and set aside. 

2. Use a pan. Stir in heavy cream white summer truffle salt and black pepper. Add parmesan (depending on your taste) and stir everything togehter. Make sure to work with reduced heat and simmer until thickened, about 5-8 minutes normally. 

3. Before the pasta is ready make sure if you bought fresh truffles to shave the truffle. For this please only use a truffle shaver/slicer. 

3. Stir in cooked pasta. Garnish with fresh shaved truffles and grated parmesan cheese, if you like also add some more truffle salt. 

ENJOY, your creamy truffle pasta!

Cheers,

Melainesinsights

www.melaines-insights.com

Instagram Channel for more daily updates

 

Matcha Cake with white chocolate recipe - a easy and quick one !

Matcha Cake recipe - we love the Japanese, Baby!

Hey guys,

as our travel plans for 2020 were screwed due to Corona virus. I just decided to do Matcha cake, which at least gives me the feeling of being back in Japan again.

Im a real Matcha lover and Japan is the well-known home of Matcha.

By the way. To give you proven ways Matcha Tea improves your health:

- high in antioxidants

- may help protect the liver

- boots brain function

- may help prevent cancer

- helps you lose weight

- Matcha tea is very easy to prepare

- may promote heart health

Here we go, as promised a quick and easy cake for all the Matcha lovers out there!

Lets hope we travel Japan in 2021, so I might get many more ideas and recipes for you on my blog soon.

Ingredients (18cm box shape):

- 100g butter

- 2 eggs

- 50 ml milk

- 100g white chocolate

- 90g sugar

- a pinch of salt

- 150g spelled flour

- 10g food starch

- 4g baking powder

- 10g bio matcha pouder 

Recipe Matcha Cake with white chocolate: 

1. Take the butter, eggs and milk for matcha cake min. 30 min out of the fridge before you begin with the making of the recipe. 

2. Preheat oven to 175 Celcius.

3. Prepare the box shape with butter and flour.

4. Chop the chocolate in small pieces. For the dough beat the soft butter with sugar and salt for 5 minutes until frothy. Whisk the eggs and stir in, for at least 1/2 minute. 

5. Stir and sieve the flour, food starch, baking powder and matcha pouder in a bowl.

6. Use a whisk and stir in alternately the flourmix and the milk to the egg mix. 

7. Subdivide the white chocolate. 

8. Put the dough in the prepared box shape and bake for 30 min, temp. 175 Celcius. 

ENJOY, your matcha cake ! 

Cheers,

Melainesinsights

www.melaines-insights.com

Instagram Channel for more daily updates