Mahlzeit - Food without Borders

I love a good chili. Every time there is a new variation coming. Every thing marked optional contributes to the spiciness. Skip it, if you want to cut down on the hotness. Meat: 3 lbs of lean ground turkey Spices: 1 chipotle pepper from a glas chopped 3 roasted peppers from a glas chopped 1 tsp ground allspice 1 tsp ground tumeric 1 tsp curry powder 1 tsp cumin 3 tbsp chili powder 1 tsp paprika 1 tsp dried chipotle pepper powder (spicy, optional) 1 dried bohut pepper (really spicy, optional) 1 fresh bay leaf 2 dried bay leaf 3 dried Guajillo pepper (spicy, optional) 2 Chile Arbol (spicy, optional) 1 pinch of thyme 1 pinch of clove 1 pinch of cinamon Cans: 1 can drained corn 2 cans tomato sauce 1 can diced tomato 1 can roasted diced tomato 2 cans red kidney beans drained and rinsed 2 tsp tomato paste Other: 1 medium onion 2 medium garlic cloves chopped 4 cups of water 3 tsp of Knorr Tomato Bullion 1/2 cup half&half buttermilk Optional for serving  Sour cream buttermilk fresh cho...

Christmas deserves a good dinner. My favorite Asian store had ducks. They have usually a lot less fat than what one can buy in the domestic grocery stores. They also have the head and the feed still attached. I don't know what to do with that. I cut them off and throw them out. For the duck we start out with all of this: 2 apples salt and pepper 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar 1 tbsp honey (I love clover honey) Preheat the oven to 400F. Wash the apples and clean cut them into small pieces. They will fill the cavity of the duck. Wash and pad dry the duck, remove any extra fat if you like. Salt from all sides including the inside. Suff the duck with the apples and close the entry of the cavity.  Pepper a little bit from the outside.  In a bowl mix the balsamic and the honey. Make sure the honey is disolved.  In a roasting pan with a rack add water so it get to the rack. Add the duck  breast side up. Brush some of the balsamic honey mixture on it. Into the oven the duck goes. a...

There is nothing more German than Glühwein (spiced wine). There wouldn't be a Christmas market without it. My version is very tamed down because I don't like it when the spices overpower the taste of the wine. Here we go 2 cups of red wine (I use Black Box Merlot, for this one, I can even have a glas every now and then) 1 tsp sugar 1-2 cloves 1 cinamon stick 1" long fresh squeezed juice of 1 orange All of this goes into a pot. Let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes or there about. Then heat it up until it is hot. Please do not boil it. Strain into big coffee mug. -Prost-

It was time to make another chicken soup. In an attempt to clean out my freezer, I pulled the following out: 1 pack of chicken containing 2 chicken thighs with skin and bone and 2 drum sticks (they can still be frozen) 2 fresh bay leaves 2 small lime leaves From the fridge: 3 medium carrots cleaned and chopped 1 cup of celery chopped 1 medium to large onion coarsely chopped 3 sticks of leeks cleaned and chopped From the pantry: 10 whole Allspice 1/2 tsp of dried thyme 3 tsp of Knorr Tomato bullion powder 3 tbsp of veggie oil And last but not least: 4 cups of water and may be some more In a Dutch Oven add the olive oil, the  carrots, onions, celery, leaks. Over medium high heat, cook them for about 7 minutes, stir every now and then, just don't let anything burn. Add 4 cups of water, the remaining items from the pantry and the freezer. Over medium heat bring all to a boil, then take the heat down and let it simmer. Until the chicken pieces have separated I check every 10 minutes. Th...

 Something I didn't have a for a long time was traditional German gulasch. There are many different style. This is how I grew up eating it. Meat: 1.5lbs of beef meat 1.5lbs of pork shoulder 1 medium onion coarsely chopped I cube all of this myself because I can decide the size of the pieces. Sometimes I have to trim it a bit especially for the pork shoulder. Spices: Salt and pepper 10 juniper berries 10 pcs Allspice  (whole) 1/4 tsp thyme 3 bay leaves (fresh or dried) 3 cloves of garlic 3 tbsp of olive oil 3/4 cup of butter milk water a handful of dried mushrooms.  I still had chanterelles around, chopped dried shitake will do as well. In a Dutch Oven heat up the oil, add the onions and let it get translucent. Then add the meat, season with salt and pepper, turn up the heat to medium high and now pay attention. We want to get some color on the meat. So we want to sear it. Don't move it around to much, but make sure things do not burn. When you are happy with the color, ad...

 I think by know people know, I like rabbit. I still had one in the freezer and decided this weekend it is time to treat myself. My pantry still had some cans. One did read Massaman Curry. I had Massaman Curry with chicken many times. So there we go, Massaman meets rabbit. We need 1 rabbit cut into 5 pieces, seasoned with salt and pepper 1 small can with Massaman Curry paste 1 can of coconut milk 1/2 cup of fat free half/half 2 tsp of veggie oil water In a Dutch Oven heat up the veggie oil, place the rabbit pieces and sear them from both sides. When they are seared, add 4 cups of water and let them simmer for 30 minutes. Check every 10 minutes and add water if needed. After 30 minutes add another 3 cups, bring it to a boil. Add the contents of the Massaman Curry paste and desolve it. Add the can of coconut milk. Bring to a boil again, turn the heat down to simmer for another 30 minutes. Add the 1/2 cup of fat free half/half, bring to a boil.  Thicken the sauce.  As sides ...

After a long weekend with lots of food, there are usually some left overs in the fridge that need a purpose. I found a bag of green beans and a cauliflower as well as some Eckrich Turkey sausage. 2 tetra packs of organic chicken broth were still hanging out in the pantry. We got the base 1.5 packs of Eckrich Turkey Sausage 1 cup of celery 2 large onions coarsely chopped 1 bag of green beans (they are already cleaned, cut into 1 inch pieces) 1 Cauliflower (cut into chunks) 2 tetra packs of slow sodium organic chicken broth 6 large potatoes (peeled and cut into 1" cubes") 4 fresh shitake mushrooms, cut into slices 1/4 tsp thyme 1/2 tsp of ground allspice 3 tsp of Maggie Chicken Bullion 1 large fresh bay leaf 1 tbsp of veggie oil In a large Dutch Oven heat up the olive oil, add the onions, sausage slices and the celery. Let it all get some color, but don't burn it. Empty the 2 tetra packs of chicken broth. Bring to a boil, add the green beans and let it simmer for 5 minutes....

At my favorite Korean store I picked up a pheasant a few weeks ago. When I contemplated what I am going to make for Thanksgiving I decided to go off the beaten path and make that pheasant. I have never made a pheasant in my life before.  I found 2 recipes on the internet, that gave me inspiration. Here we go: Pheasant: 1 pheasant defrosted and cut in 2 halfes 2 cloves of garlic 1 fresh bayleaf 1 large onion chopped 1 tetra pack of chicken broth 1/2 tsp of ground allspice 1/4 tsp of thyme 6 juniper berries Sauce: 1 cup of white mushrooms chopped 1 cup of shitake mushrooms chopped 1 cup of Chardonnay (choose one that you would drink as well, dont be cheap here) 1/2 cup half/half (fat free) 1 cup water 1 tsp of chicken bullion from Knorr In a Dutch oven heat up the oil, add the onions and let them get translucent and then remove them. Then add the 2 pieces of pheasant skin side down and let it get some color. Add the onion and all the other things listed under Pheasant into the put, b...

This is really one I put together in about 20 min. I did grocery shopping for the long Turkey day dinner. I also picked up some shrimps and some salmon. The idea was, that I try to make rollmops out of the salmon, but then I found frozen sardines at the Korean place I shop at once a month. The salmon needed a new purpose.  Peel some potatoes and start cooking them. As a veggie I went for green sweet peas in a bag, that can go from frozen to cooked in the microwave in 5-6 minutes. Grab one of those or cook another veggie of your choice. It turned out that the salmon was not even properly descaled. So I did my best to do somebody else's job.  Heat up a little bit of oil in a cast iron skillet. It should be hot, but don't burn the oil. Add the salmon skin side down. Put a little bit of salt and pepper onto the salmon. Let it sear for a few minutes. How long it will take to finally finish depends on the thickness of the filet. I covered it pan with a glas lid, so the top side can ...

 Today I decided to get my freezer organized. I found some chicken thighs. Hm, that was my hint to make a variation of a chicken curry. We need: 4 chicken thighs (can be frozen) 1 medium onion coarsely chopped 3/4 cup of celery 2 smoked paprika from a jar, cut into small pieces 5 cups of water 4 tsb chicken bullion powder 4 tsb curry 1 tsb ground cumin 1 tsb allspice 1 pinch of cinnamon 1 pinch of ground cloves In a Dutch Oven, heat some oil, add the celery and the onion. Let the onions get translucent. Add all the remaining ingredients, cover and bring to a boil. Then let it simmer. I added the chicken frozen. After 20 min, I took the chicken out and did cut it in slices and back into the pot. Simmer for another hour. If your chicken is not frozen, slice it before adding it. I ended up thickening the sauce a little bit with a corn starch water mixture. Serve with rice -Mahlzeit-

I needed something fast. 2 days ago I made about 3 lbs of meat balls. Some when into a soup, some into the freezer, some went here 😀 We need 8 meat balls 1" in diameter (left over is just fine) 1 can of Progresso Hearty Tomato Soup 1/2 cup of couscous Some veggie oil Spices: 1/2 tsp of paprika 1/2 tsp of Turmeric 1/2 tsp of curry powder 1/2 tsp of Indian curry powder 1/2 tsp of ground cumin 2 tsp of Harissa spice blend (this one can be spicy) In a frying pan add the veggie oil, and heat it up over medium heat. Cut the meat balls in half while the oil is heating up. Add the cut meat balls to the frying pan and warm them up. After about 10 minutes, start to cook the couscous  following package instructions. I use 1 cup of water for 1/2 cup of couscous.  Open the Progresso soup and empty into the frying pan. Add all the spices. Over medium low heat warm everything up, nothing should be boiling like crazy, no volcanoes exploding 😏 please. When the couscous is done, in a flat bow...

The internet is great for getting inspirations. Somebody posted a great picture from a green bean stew. That brought back memories. Here we go: We need:  3 slices of salted fat back bacon cut into small pieces. 1 cup of chopped celery 1 cup of either cleaned and chopped carrots or small baby carrots 1/2 cup of coarsely chopped onions 1 pack of Eckrich Turkey Sausage sliced 4 medium potatoes cut to 1/2" cubes 6 cups of water 3 tsp of chicken bullion powder ( be careful, the fat back bacon has a lot of salt already) 1/8 tsp of thyme 1/2 tsp of allspice 1 tsp of summer savory 2 regular cans of green beans, drained and washed (there is enough salt by now) some veggie oil In a stock pot heat some veggie oil and add the onion, carrots, celery. cook for about 5 minutes. Then add the sausage and try to get some color on things, but do not burn anything. This will take another 7-10 minutes. Add everything else but the potatoes, bring to a boil, and then turn the heat down. Simmer for about...

Long long time ago, I used to buy Russisch Brot from Dresden by the case and then there was no stopping me. Today there is no Russisch Brot from Dresden anymore. It comes all from Bahlsen and is to sweet for my taste.  So I ended up searching the internet and found this: Russisch Brot . I am translating the recipe here. I used more Kakao then the original calls for. 4 egg whites 1 pinch of salt 150g of sugar 1 pack vanilla sugar 2 tbsp Kakao 150g all purpose flower. Line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper .  In a kitchen machine beat the egg whites so they are really stiff. In a bowl, mix the everything else and slowly add it to the egg white mixture beating at medium speed. Then fill a piping bag. A regular plastic bag with a corner cut off will do the job just fine. Pipe what ever comes to mind onto the sheets letters, numbers, faces. Let them sit for 15 min rest. While they rest preheat the oven to 335F. Bake for about 15 minutes. They are done, when they can be...

 On Facebook I saw a picture of a curry with green peas and lemon. Unfortunately there was no recipe posted. I made up my own. 2 pork loins chopped in bite size pieces 1 large onion coarsely chopped 4 cups of water 3 tsp of veggie bullion powder 2 tsp ground all spice 1 tsp ground turmeric 2 tsp ground curry 1 tsp of madras ground curry 1 tsp of ground cumin 1 tsp of ground coriander 1 bag of frozen green peas 3 slices of lemon Heat up the oil, add the onions and let the onions get translucent. Add the chopped pork and sear them. Be careful, the onions should not burn. Add the water and all the spices. Bring it to a boil and turn the heat down to simmer. Put a cover on. Occasionally stir. After 1 hour thicken the sauce with a binger of your choice. Add the bag of frozen green peas and stir. Garnish with 3 slices of lemon. Serve with a starch of your choice. -Mahlzeit-

 I wanted to have noodles tonight with a meat sauce. Now I didn't want to go for the traditional meat sauce. Here is what I came back with Sauce: 1 pack of mild Italian sausage meat without the casings 1 medium onion chopped 1 clove of garlich minced 1 can of tomato sauce 1 can of fire roasted tomatoes 1 can of diced tomatoes 2 fire roasted peppers from a jar chopped salt and pepper to taste sweet paprika for the end Heat up the pot and add the sausage meet, break it up with a wooden spoon, to get smaller pieces. Let some of the fat render out over medium heat. Then add the onions. Let it get a bit color, but don't let it burn. Cook until it is almost all through, then add the tomatoes, garlic and peppers. Get it to a boil, then turn the heat down and let simmer for about 30 minutes. Keep an eye on the fluid level, add some water if needed. In the meantime cook noodles. I went for elbow noodles. Cook them per instructions. As a garnish I also add them cheese. Noodles and cheese...

 I had cooked potatoes left over from the weekend. A very traditional thing is to make pan friend potatoes with onions. I didn't want to go that far with all of this, so I came up with this. There was a thin sliced T-Bone steak in my fridge. Hm, steak with Britta's roesti version and a side salad. This really does not take that much time. May be 15 min if that. Heat a griddle to high. In the meantime season your steak to  your liking, (Fish is fine as well). Cut the left over potatoes to max 5mm slices and season. Spray the griddle with non-spray cooking spray or add some fat, so things don't stick. Add the meat and the potatoes, make sure the potatoes are laying flat. No pile ups :). Cook the steak to your liking. When you flip the steak, flip the potatoes as well. Serve with a side salad. -Mahlzeit -

 This is a very fast and easy to make recipe, if you discount the waiting time. Quark (home made) 1 cup buttermilk 1 cup milk I prefer to use 2% milk Mix the milk and a butter milk in a bowl and cover. Let it stand at room temperature for 24h.  Cover a strainer with cheese cloth and strain the mixture over night in a fridge. This gives about 1 cup of quark. Add some milk back if it is to stringy. Quark is very versatile, it can be made sweet by adding fruits and jams or savory. I like the savory version better. So finely chop some onion to get a generous table spoon of chopped onions and add some chopped chives. A little bit of milk, salt and pepper, stir to the consistency one likes.. Set for another 4h in the fridge so the flavors can mingle. With the onions  and spices added it can stand in the fridge for 1 day. Without anything added several days. At lunch or dinner time, cook some potatoes. Serve  both together with a slice of butter and a side salad. -Mahlzeit-...

This is a very easy meal. Takes about 90 minutes. We need: 1 pork tender loin 1 medium onion coarsely slices 1/4 tsb thyme 1/2 tsb of salt 1/2 tsb of pepper 1 can fire roasted tomatoes 1 medium clove of garlic coarsely chopped. 1/2 tsp of cooking oil 1/2 cup of water Cut the tender loin to bite size pieces.  For all things that take more then 30 min I like to use a dutch oven. So this is going into my small dutch oven. Any other pot will do. Heat up the oil, add the chopped onions and let them get translucent. Add the pork and and turn up the heat to high. Let the pork sear and get some color. Stir, you don't want the onions to burn. So pay attention, when the sound is like burning wood... When you have the desired color, add the contents of the can of tomato, all the spices, garlic and 1/2 cup of water. Turn the heat down. From now on we want nothing but simmer. So check every 15 minutes. You may have to add some water. Just add some more seasoning as well. Simmer for about 1h....

 I can't believe I have not posted yet one of my GoTo Chili variation. Many of the things I post depend a bit on what my pantry has in store and what my mood is up to. Yes, it is August. It is not as hot as it normally is. I still crave a chili. I need 1 can of diced tomatoes and 1 can of fire roasted tomatoes or 2 cans of diced tomatoes 1 can of corn kernels 2 pack (2 lbs) of ground turkey 2 can of dark red kidney beans, washed and drained 1 cup of spicy tomato juice 2 cups of low sodium tomato juice 1 large onion, coarsely chopped olive oil 2 cloves of garlic sliced 4 cups of water 2 tsp of Knorr Tomato bullion In a bowl mix 2 tbsp of chili 1 tsp sweet paprika 1 tsp of Turmeric 1.5 tsp of curry 1 tsp of ground cumin 1 tsp of Allspice  1 tsp of hot paprika 1/8 tsp of clove 1/8 tsp of cinnamon 1 tsp of ground chipotle peppers 2 dried chipotle peppers 1 dried ghost pepper (if you are not into spicy, don't add this) This will feed a lot of people. In a large stock pot add the ol...

 The other day I went to the grocery store and saw golden trout. It was already cleaned and descaled. This was nothing I have ever seen before. I decided I get and then find out what I do with it.  After doing some research and asking a friend, this is what I came up with. 1 golden trout handful of herbs e.g. parsley and coriander finely chopped 1 lemon, washed and sliced 1/2 cup of water 2 tbsp butter salt and pepper Preheat the oven to 400F.  On a baking tray, put down a large sheet of aluminium foil. Wash the trout, pad dry with paper and put it down on the foil. Season with salt and pepper. Stuff the body cavity  with 3/4 of the herbs and 2 slices of the lemmon. Add the remaining herbs and lemon slices on top. add the water and butter. Pull up the aluminum foil on the long side and tuck them over multiple times. Do the same on the short edges. The goal is to have a steaming pouches and no steam escapes.   Put it in the oven for 35min on 400F. ...

 This one is pictures only. I have to work on the recipe to get it to a 3 layer cake.

ohh, the ribs are ready and are waiting to be put on the BBQ. And then I see I can't safely operate my BBQ.  I guess the stove has to make due. I got a small one, that I can operate on the kitchen counter and result is presentable: 1 x baby back pork ribs BBQ sauce of your choice Dry Rub: 2 tsp brown sugar 1 tsp ground allspice 1 tsp smoked paprika 1 tsp Hungarian paprika 1 tsp salt 1 tsp ground pepper Mix up all spices. I had to cut the slab of ribs in half. Apply a thick coat of the dry rub. Preheat of the oven to 300F. Put the ribs on a cooking sheet and put into the oven. After 30 mintes, apply some of your bbq sauce, Repeat each 15min.  My cooking time was 90 min, It could have been 120 min easy, but I was hungy. -Mahlzeit-

Somebody posted a picture of lentil soup on FB. Growing up I loved lentil soup. Time to make one. 3 carrots cleaned and cut 1 pack of Eckrich Sausage cut into slices 4 stripes 5 mm wide of salt cured bacon fat I pack of brown lentils, rinsed and cleaned 6 potatoes cut into 1/2" pieces 1 tetra pack of chicken stock low sodium 6 cups of water 4 tsp of Knorr Chicken Bullion 1 tbsp veggie oil 1 large onion coarsely chopped 2 bay leaves 8 allspice kernels (or 1/4 tsp ground all spice) 1/4 tsp of dried thyme I don't like that much salt on everything, so I removed almost all the salt from the bacon and cut it into small 5 mm x 5 mm pieces.  In a stock pot add the veggie oil, onions, bacon, sausage. Over medium high heat cook everything until the onions are translucent.  Add all of the remaining things, bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to simmer for about 30-40 min. Check the lentils and potatoes if they are done to your liking. I like to add a bit of vinegar to my bowl of lentil s...

4.July is the BBQ day in the states. I didn't want to make steak. So I decided on a duck. We start of with making a brine. Desolve 3/4 cup of kosher salt and 1 cup of brown sugar in 1 gallon of water. Take the duck out of the freezeer. Remove the plastick wrapper and put it into the brine. Make sure it is fully submerged. Let it defrost over night. The next day remove the duck. Cut it in half so it can lay flat on the BBQ. Prepare the hickory chips for the BBQ per the manufacturers instructions. Keep in mind the dripping duck fat can ignite into flames. That happened to me. So be prepared to deal with that. Put the duck skin side down onto the rost and let it BBQ in the smoke. Then turn off the heat. Remove the duck into a roasting pan skin side up and finish it up in the oven. Every 15 minutes baste it with your favorite BBQ sauce. I used  BBQ sauce and marinade produced locally in Charleston, SC. Depending on the size, my duck was done after 90 min in the oven. As sides serve red...

I had some pork loin left and I didn't feel I want to go all the way to make a Wuerzfleish. So this all got adapted. We need: pork loin 2 bay leaves, 1 tsp of Allspice 1/2 tsp of thyme salt and pepper to taste 1 small onion finely chopped Oil, water, 1 tsp Knorr chicken bullion powder per 1 cup of water. Cut the pork loin into small pieces 1/4" x 1/4". In a pot heat up some oil and render the onions. When the onion is translucent add the meat and brown it a bit. Then cover the meat with water. Make sure you have at least 1/2" of water above it. Add all the spices and the chicken bullion powder. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and simmer for about 25-30 minutes. Serve with potatoes and a side. grate some pepper jack cheese over the plate and add some dashes of Worcestershire Sauce. -Mahlzeit-

Last night I saw Iron Chef America. Goose was the challenge. I though, well I have ground turkey in my fridge. I could use some of my rendered duck fat I have from last weekend  or I can incorporate India. So I went for India. We need: 3 cloves of garlic 1 1/2 tsp of dried ginger powder or 1 inch of peeled and grated fresh ginger ( I went with the pweder version).  1 tbsp of fresh lemon juice 1 tbsp of Garam Masala 1/2 tsp of ground cumin per level of spice a bit of the hot and spicy Korean spice 3 generous tbsp of sour cream or plain yogurt 1 tsp of kosher salt, 1/4 cup of fresh cut coriander 2 eggs 1 large onion finely chopped 3 lbs of ground turkey  Preheat the oven to 400 F. Mix everything in a bowl. Coat a baking sheet with a good rim with oil. With an ice cream scoop form little balls and distribute them on the baking sheet about 1" apart. You may end up with 2 baking pans. Brush them with some oil and bake for 20-25 min.  There is more to come... like a curry ...

There is a bottle of buttermilk in my fridge. Rather then doing the obvious things, I decided I make a sour dough bread with it. It turned out to be a home run. And this is not a sweet bread, 270 g sour dough starter 250 g strong whole wheat flower 1 tsp of yeast 300 ml buttermilk 1/4 tsp salt 1/4 tsp sugar about 3/4 cup of all purpose flower 1 hand full of a grain In the mixing bowl of my stand mixer I added the starter. In a bowl, mix the whole wheat flower, yest, salt and sugar. Turn the mixer and low and slowly add some of the whole wheat mix, then some buttermilk until all of that is mixed. The  dough is still pretty liquid. then slowly add the all purpose flower.  At the end of  mixing the dough is still to soft to be hand handled. In total the stand mixer should work on the dough at least 20 minutes, start to finish. Then cover the bowl and let it stand for 5 hours in a warm place. Greece a bundt cake form with cooking spray, transfer the dough and let...

This is very loosely based on Harira. One of those days I will have all the ingredients on hand to make a real one. We need 2 tbsp oil 1 large onion coarsely chopped 1 small can of tomato paste 1 tetra pack of low sodium chicken broth 1 can diced tomatoes 1 can fire roasted tomatoes 1 can of chickpeas drained and washed 1/2 cup of red lentils washed 3 stalks of celery chopped 1 cup of water 1 pack of turkey sausage, sliced 1/2 tsp ground ginger 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon 1/2 tsp ground turmeric 1/4 tsp ground all spice 1/2 tsp ground cumin 2 cloves of garlic chopped I really wanted that to be a vegetarian version, but in the last moment I decided, I have to have at least some sausage in it... In a stock pot add the oil and onion and let the onions get translucent. Then add the tomato paste and let it roast a bit for like 2 minutes. Don't let it burn. Then all the remaining things get added. Cover bring it to a boil and let it simmer for 20-25 minutes. In the beg...

I had a piece of top round beef . Instead of the usual pork roast, I decided to go for a beef roast. Season the beef from all sides in a pan. When done, transfer the meat into the slow cooker. Deglaze the pan with a cup of red wine and add the liquid to the crock pot. Add 6 peeled potatoes and 3 stalks of cleaned and cut leeks to it, together with a pack of low sodium chicken broth. Cook for about 5 hours on high or until the meat starts to fall apart. -Mahlzeit-

For some reason I did bake the last 2 weekends. I decided to bake this week again. I wanted mom's lemon cake. The challenge is always to cut down the recipes, so I don't eat for the next week on something. Here we go: 100g unsalted butter (take a good one like Finnlandia) at room temperature the zest of  1 lemon 125g sugar 2 eggs 75g corn starch 75g all purpose flower 3/4 tsp baking power Frosting: juice of 1/2 lemon confectioners sugar Preheat the oven to 360F. Put both flowers into a bowl and mix them up.  All mixing with the stand mixer is done on low. In the mixing bowl of the stand mixer, add the butter and the lemon zest. and start mixing for 1 minute. Add 1 egg and half of the sugar and mix for about 90 seconds on low. Add 1 tbsp of the flower mixture and mix for 1 minute. Add the 2. egg and the remaining sugar. Mix for 2 minutes. Slowly add more flower and mix. When half of the flower is incorporated, add the baking power into the remaining flower an...

I like the sweet sour flavor in stews with tomato sauce. Instead of making a soup, I decided to go with a stew this time. 1 pack of thick slides Bologna, the one that had a red peel on the outside 1/2 cup of Tabasco flavored pickle spears chopped 1/2 cup of Famous Daves Spicy pickles chopped 1/2 cup of Famous Daves pickling liquid 1 large onion coarsely chopped 1 large can of chopped tomatoes 1 can of stewed tomatoes 2 Wieners chopped 2 cups of tomato juice Olive oil Spices: 1 tsp ground allspice 1/2 tsp ground Chipotle pepper 1/2 tsp ground smoked paprika Optional: any other hot spices to give it some kick e.g. I have some Korean real hot ground pepper. In a Dutch Oven heat up some olive oil. Add the onions and let it get translucent. Add the bologna and the wiener and let it get some color as well. Then add all the remaining items and the spices. Bring to a boil and then turn the heat down. Let it simmer for about 40 minutes. Stir occasionally. Add some more toma...

This contains alcohol. I watched a German TV show where celebrities need to answer questions about general life topics. It goes from traffic to kitchen via home improvements and tons of other things. They showed a video and the contestant had to stop the video and saying what is being made there. The posted recipe is double what I poste here. 3 egg yolks 1 pack vanilla sugar 75 g sugar 125 ml half and half 125ml 50% Smirnoff Vodka (100 proof) Put all together in a blender and mix for 2 minutes. Make sure your blender can actually blend for 2 minutes. I got one of those cheap blenders gifted and that made it only a little more then 1 minute before it decided to turn itself off. The good thing I have a Ninja blender, so all is good. Then add 125 ml 50% Smirnoff Vodka (100 proof) and mix again for 2 min. At this time, the liquid actually is a bit warm. The original recipe calls for Obstler. I can't get that here. Let it cool down and store in a clean bottle in the fridg...

In my family it is tradition to have rabbit for Easter. Here is another variation for rabbit. It turned out to be a home run. 1 rabbit cut down into 5 pieces, pad dried with paper towels 1 3/4 cup of white wine 3 slices of thick bacon, cut into 1cm x 0.5cm pieces 2 generous tbsp of yellow mustard 1 tetra pack of veggie stock salt, pepper Put salt and pepper onto the rabbit pieces. In a Dutch Oven add the bacon and render it over medium heat. Then turn the heat up to medium high, add the rabbit pieces and sear them on all sides. You want some color, but not burned. When you are happy with the color, slowly add the white wine. turn the heat down to medium, cover and let cook for 15 minutes. cook for another 5 minutes uncovered so the liquid can reduce a bit. Add the yellow mustard. and stir so it dissolves. Add the veggie stock. Cover, bring it back to temperature and let it simmer until you see the meat falling off the bone. Check every 20 min that you still have enough liqu...

There was that pork loin looking at me for 2 days. And then there was the idea. We need for the roast: 2 lbs of pork loin, seasoned with your favorite spice combo from all side 1 large onion coarsely chopped 6 or 7 dried chanterelles olive oil 8 juniper berries 1 tetra pack of bone broth 2 cloves of garlic chopped salt pepper  to taste To finish 1/2 cup low fat half and half 3/4 cup of butter milk. In a dutch oven, add the olive oil and  heat it up. On high heat add the pork loin  and sear all sides. They need to get color. Stay with it, don't leave. When the color is to your satisfaction, turn down the heat to medium high, add the onions and let them get a little translucent. Add all the remaining items from the roast list, let it get to a boil and then turn the heat down to simmer until the roast falls apart. Thicken up the sauce. I like Mondamin, but corn starch and water mixed very well will do. Add half/half and butter milk for the tang. May be add ...