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 chopped

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. after 15 min, ba

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, add 1 cu

 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 I heated up a