Mahlzeit - Food without Borders

This time I start off with the plate and then break it down:   Tomato Cucumber Feta Salad 1 shallot chopped 1 cup of arugula chopped 1/2 cup of flat leaf parsley 2 tomatoes cubed 1 medium cucumber peeled and sliced salt and pepper to taste 1 tbsp store bought lemon vinaigrette  Mix all of this in a bowl and set aside, so the flavors can mingle Chayote Hash Peel the chayotes, 2 of them is more then enough. Remove the pit in the middle. Cut into 1/4" pieces. In a frying pan add some veggie oil. Add 1 chopped shallot and let it get translucent. Add the chopped chayotes and a sliced clove of garlic. Add 1/4 tsp of cumin 1/4 tsp of tumeric 1/4 tsp of curry pepper Do not add any salt yet. Cover and over low heat saute for about 20-25 minutes. Stir occasionally. Mashed Potatoes Peel potatoes and cook them till tender. Drain the water and put them back on the heat, so the water can evaporate. Shake the pot every 15 seconds so the potatoes do not burn. When the water is gone, turn off the

My New Years soup is a variation of Soljanka.  We need 2 tbsp of margarine 1 medium onion chopped 1 pack of Eckrich turkey sausage sliced (can be substituted with extra firm tofu) 1 can of diced tomatoes 1 can of fire roasted tomatoes 4 cups of tomato juice 1 cup sweet and sour pickles, I use either pickles from Deutsche Kueche from Aldi or Famous Dave's Spicy pickles 1/2 cup of the pickling liquid 1/2 tsp ground Allspice 1/2 tsp of ground smoked paprika 1/2 tsp of ground sweet paprika 2 cups of water 1tsp of Knorr Tomato Bullion In a stock pot melt the margarine, add the onions and let them get translucent. Add the sausage slices and let them get a bit of color. Then add all the remaining ingredient, bring it to a boil, turn the heat down and simmer for 40 minutes. Optional add 1/2 cup of buttermilk and 1/2 cup of Half and Half. Bring to a boil and simmer for another 5 minutes. Then turn off the heat. Serve with garlic bread, a slice of lemon and a spoon of sour creme. -Mahlzeit-

I think I am reversing my opinion about not smoking a duck again. I came up with the following strategy and that turned out great. Recap: When I removed the duck from the smoker, I put it on a plate and covered it with heavy duty aluminum  to rest. A lot of the juices ended up on the plate. When it was time to eat, I quartered the duck.  All the rest ended up in the fridge. I have a small roasting pan. I think that thing is now about 30 years old. It is German size = a lot smaller then a roasting pan for turkey.  I preheated the oven to 375F. 2 cups of water into the roasting pan, the remaining duck quaters skin side up into the pan as well as all the solidified fat and liquids. Into the oven it went for 1h. Every 20 minutes I poured some of the liquid over the duck parts. I had to add another 1/2 cup of water after 40 min, so the fat does not burn. After 1h I removed all of it. The liquid was made into gravy with a little salt, sauce thickener and half and half. The skin is all crisp

I thought it was a good idea to try to smoke a duck. I read up on the internet and here is what I came up with. The defrosted duck gets the skin pierced so the rendered fat can drip off. Then I salted it generously from all sides and in an open container it went into the fridge over night. Before I went to bed I turned the bird around and drained the water.  The next morning I rinsed the bird so that all the salt gets removed. I filled the cavity with an apple and a peeled orange. The outside gets coated with olive oil and a Moroccan  BBQ spice powder.  The smoker was preheated to 225F. The challenge was a bit to find a spot to get the probe inserted. After 3.5h the internal temperature was at 160F. The skin was still a little on the light side. So I bumped up the temp to 350F for 15 min. Then I pulled the bird, put it on a plate , wrapped in heavy duty aluminum foil and let it rest for 30 min. In the meantime I finished the sides, potato dumplings and red cabbage.  Serve with a nice g

With that big roast I made on the 22. , of course I had left overs. I cut the slices really thick, more then 1" thick. The idea behind was, I can put that on the BBQ or use a cast iron skillet on the stove. Both variations would get high heat, and then sear the slice 4-5 minutes each side. That gets nice grill marks and still keeps the medium center. One plate is with fresh cooked potatoes and the other plate is with fried potatoes. I make fried potatoes from left over potatoes, left over night in the fridge.  A little veggie oil into the pan and then fry over medium heat until there is color. I was a little impatient this time and also left out the onions I usually add.  -Mahlzeit-

After 2 days of rain, we have sun today. Time to put the smoker to work.  And now my smoker plays windows and tells me: OK, then I have to wait. I hope the reboot goes ok...lol... For spices I decided to go very simple, Kosher Salt and black pepper only. The smoker get preheated to 250F. Then the roast goes in with a thermometer. I don't remember what the time said for smoking. I decided to go by temperature. At 112F I pulled the roast out, packed it into extra strong aluminum foil and let it rest for 20 minutes. The smoker gets set to 440F and the roast goes on without the foil for 10 minutes. Now the roast gets removed and wrapped again and left resting for another 30 minutes. Nice medium rare. -Mahlzeit-  

I decided to make a seafood soup. I only have calamaris. 1 bag defrosted calamari 1 turnip, peeled and cut into cubes 1 cup of chopped carrots 1 cup of chopped celery root 1 red paprika chopped 1 onion chopped 1 can diced tomatoes 1 can of fire roasted tomatoes 1 tsp ground all spice 1/2 tsp dried thyme 1/2 tsp ground roasted paprika 1/2 tsp ground sweet paprika 2 tbsp of veggie or olive oil 3 cups of water 2 tsp of Knorr Tomato Bullion In a Dutch Oven add the oil, onions, carrots, celery root and paprika. cook over a little more then low heat for 15 minutes. Stir every 2-3 minutes a bit, so it does not burn.  Add the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil over medium low heat, turn the heat down and simmer for 30 minutes. Serve with a a bit of fresh lemon juice. -Mahlzeit-

Growing up, at school we had heart ragout sweet and  sour like every 6 weeks or so. I loved this. The days I have it far less often. The problem is, that I can't get heart in a regular grocery store. The variety of cuts of meets is very limited anyways even if one goes to Whole Foods or Market Fresh which are the higher end fresh produce and meat product stores. It was time to go to my second favorite Asian store again. Wow, the selection of things is not as good anymore either and the prices on some products are up 100-200%. The store usually has a good selection of fish for sashimi. The prices are through the roof for that. That was not in the cards this time. However I got some heart. In my 30 year old hand written book, I found the original recipe. It is time, I put them on a computer. A lot of the pages are already flying around. Here we go. In section herzragout, there are no amounts given. This goes all by experience and memory. Heart Ragout: 1-1.5lbs heart meat, cleaned and

I didn't have much for lunch. It had to go really fast. 5 min Grits and shrimps. I got some shrimps last night.   Grits (this is for 1 person) 1/4 cup of 5 minutes grits 1/2 cup of water 1/2 cup of half and half 1/2 tsp of Knorr Tomato bullion I cleaned my shrimps, they still had the shell on, but were already devained. In a small sauce pan add all the ingredient for the grits. Bring to a boil over a little more then low heat. Pay attention and stir frequently. When it starts to cook, keep a really close watch unless it should burn. 2 minutes before it is done, add the some cheese if you like. When the grits starts to boil, add some margarine to a frying pan and cook your shrimps 2.5 min or less each side. Cooking time depends on the size of the shrimps. Add seasoning of your choice. I like Old Bay for this. Plate the grits, arrange the shrimp in a circle and add the remaining cooking fat over the grits. 15 minutes and lunch is served. -Mahlzeit-  

Some times it really pays to have the right tools. For Black Friday I got myself a pasta maker. Today it was time to try it out.   For the pastsa: 1 cup of all purpose flower 2 large eggs 1/2 tsp of Old Bay Seasoning 1/2 tsp of Tumeric  Add the flower and the spices into a bowl and mix them up. Create a little well in the middle and crack them into the middle. With a fork mix the eggs, adding a bit flower at a time. When all the flower is incorporated, flower a surface a bit and then knead for about 10 minutes.I used a rolling pin, stretched it, then fold and repeat for about 10 minutes. Wrap the dough into plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.   Then run it through the pasta maker and create the type of noodles you want. Hang up to dry for a bit. I had to get a bit creative here and used the coffee machine and other things.  In a big pot bring water with 1 tsp of salt to a boil and cook the pasta to your liking. This will have to be done in at least 2 batches.

This was actually my dinner tonight. The salad has   1 Pomegranade 1 medium cumber, peeled and cut into bite size pieces Water melon cut into bite size pieces 1 shallot  finely chopped   Feta cheese crumbles 6 cherry tomatoes cut into quarters juice of 1/2 lime some fresh mint leaves salt and pepper  Mix all of this in a bowl and voila, dinner or lunch is ready -Mahlzeit-  

Now that I have that new toy, I might as well use it. Salmon with zucchini and broccoli it is for dinner. This is easy and fast. I washed and cut the veggies, coated them olive oil, and put them onto a tray and onto the BBQ at 400F. After 5 minuted I turned the veggies over and made some room, so I can add the salmon. The salmon was just pad dry with a paper towel, then salted and a bit of frozen dill was added. Onto the BBQ it goes skin side down. My Salmon took a little less then 20 minutes to finish. The skin was nice and crispy and the salmon still moist. I decided to just serve it with a multi grain roll. Rice goes well with that as well. -Mahlzeit-        

During lunch time Ace Hardware delivered my BBQ. Dinner is secured.  The steak is defrosted. Sitting on the countertop to come up to room temperature. The BBQ is getting burned in. In the mean time 2 potatoes are getting cleaned, so I have some baked potatoes. After 20 min of burn-in time, they get onto the BBQ and 20 min later, the steak gets seasoned just with salt and pepper. And onto the BBQ it goes. Choose your cooking time based on your liking. I wanted to get mine medium. Hard seared from both sides, then temperature gets lowered for cooking.   -Mahlzeit-

It has been a long time, that I made Goulash.  I didn't want to go for the German version this time. Here we go 3 lbs of beef stew meat 1 onion chopped 3 cloves of garlic sliced 1/2 tsp dried thyme 2 bay leaves 10 juniper berries 12 Allspice perls 1/2 tsp sweet paprika 1/2 tsp smoked paprika 2 Ancho chilies 1/2 tsp of mushroom umami  2 tsp margarine salt and pepper to taste 4 cups of water 1 cup of white wine (use something you would also drink)  In a dutch oven melt the margarine, add the onion and cook them until they are getting translucent. Add the  meet and brown it from all sides. De-glace the with the white wine, let it simmer for 5 minutes. Make sure the meat does not stick to the pot. Add the water and all the spices. Bring to a boil then turn the heat down to simmer. Cover and cook until the meat is tender. I check every 15-20 min and add more water, when it gets to low. When the meat is tender, bind the sauce. Serve with potatoes and red cabbage. Noodles work well as wel

The pineapple on the countertop is now yellow. I think it is in the sweet spot.  I didn't want to make a Hawaiian toast or pizza.  There is a yummy prime rib waiting... as a great side salad a pineapple can work. After reading through several recipes, here is what I came up with 1/2 of a ripe pineapple cleaned and chopped into bite size pieces 1 avocado chopped into bite little bites 1 cucumber, pealed and chopped into pieces 1/2 white onion finely chopped 1 handful of cilantro chopped 1/2 of a hot pepper or jalapeno, with or without seeds (depending how spicy you like it), finely chopped  Dressing Juice of 1/2 of large line 1 tbsp of a good olive oil 2 tsp of a good honey (I love rapeseed honey, but any honey will do) 1 tsp of white vinegar Chop all the ingredients for the salad and mix them in a big bowl. Mix everything for the dressing in a small ball and pour over the salad. Add salt and pepper to taste. Toss everything. Then put it into the fridge for at least 1h so the flavor

Last weekend I picked up a piece of prime rib 2 bones thick.  To get a feel for how to make it, I decided today is the day to try. The rub: Olive oil 1 sprig of rosemary (the length of what you can span your thumb and point finger), needles chopped 1 tsp of fresh thyme (I used frozen fresh thyme) 3 cloves of garlic smashed Himalayan salt (sea or kosher salt works as well) fresh ground pepper I took the meat out of the fridge this morning to come up to room temperature. I just left it in the butcher paper on the stove. Before lunch time preheat the oven to 500F (mine only does 450F, so I added convection).  I salted the meat from all sides generously as well peppered it with fresh ground pepper. All the other thing mix them up in a small bowl and brush them on both sides of the ribs. I covered a baking sheet in heavy duty aluminum foil, added a rack and placed the ribs on it. I then inserted a meat thermometer, that can be left in during cooking. The pin must be parallel to the bone and

Every Wednesday I have to attend a 1-1.5h hour meeting just before lunch, where I just have to be present for 98% of the time. If I were in the office, I would  sit in a meeting room. I would be so polite not to play with my phone and check email or read Facebook. I have a high end wireless head set, so I can be away 30+ ft from my computer on a different level in my house and do things like cooking. This meeting time is now deemed cook a lunch to get away from the left overs or canned soups and salad options once a week. When I hear the dings from the chat, I will go upstairs and check.   For the beefsteak 1 lbs of ground beef 1/2 medium onion, finely chopped 2 tsp of Worcestershire Sauce  Salt, Pepper,  1 egg 1/2 cup bread crumbs (I make them myself, just dry any unused old bread and then blended) 1.5 tsp of smoked spice mix In a bowl mix all of this together and form burger patties. In a frying pan, render some fat from bacon or melt some margarine. Fry the beefsteaks to your liking

The Thai place up the road is for weeks now out of duck noodle soup. Following a principle I grew up with "Create yourself what you can't get", it is time to make my own version. I read through many recipes on the internet to come up with something, I think, will work. There will be 3 steps Roast the duck make some broth make some more duck broth from the duck bones I want my duck really bown. I found some Pomegranate Molasses in the store and just bough one bottle. It is sweet and has some nice tang to it. The oyster sauce from the picture I ended up not using for the roasting process.   Preheat the oven to 375F. I cleaned the duck, removed the neck and parts of the wings and access skin and fat from the duck. Pad dray with a paper towel. Sprinkle salt and pepper into the cavity, cut the apple into smaller slices and stuff them into the duck, Salt and pepper from the outside. Brush some Pomegranate Molasses all over the outside.  Use a turkey pan that has a tray in the b

This is a recipe from my favorite food blogger Ree Drummond. I really followed the instructions as outlined in the order outlined. And???   It looked so promising during the baking process.  After 50 min, the cake actually did raise past the spring form.  After I took it out of the oven, it started to disintegrate. The consistency was like  mush. So back in the oven for 20 minutes on 350F. The height did recover some. The consistency has not improved. Ok, same thing again another 20 min into the oven at 350F.... Again, some height was recovered. The mush did not improve. I called  it quits after that. This recipe needs some help. I don't think, that only 3 tbsp of flower can stand up to that much cheese, eggs, and heavy creme. I have to look at a German cheese cake recipe and see what is used there to  get a less mushy consistency. Taste wise, there is nothing that needs improvements. Together with the  blueberries, lemon juice and some sugar it was great. As all good things are 3,

I only wanted to get some things to bake a cake. And then I saw brisket at the store. Change of plans. the smoker got to work. The spice rub: 4 tsp kosher salt 3 tsp ground pepper 2 tsp garlic powder 1 tsp onion powder 1 tsp smoked paprika powder There was a lot of trimming that needed to be done. This are about 1.5lbs of fat that got trimmed.   The smoker is heating up to 250F. The meat is getting seasoned.     Waiting until we get to 165F. We are there now. Remove the brisket into a tin foil container, add 1.5 cups of beef broth, insert the thermometer back. Cover the tray with heavy duty tin foil and back into the smoker it goes until the inner temperature is 210-215F.    Lets make the serving really American. Bush's baked beans, some sour cream and a BBQ sauce. -Mahlzeit-      

Growing up we always had cold dinners. I smoked salmon 2 days ago. 2 pieces are still left over. Time for a salad. last 2 pieces of my smoked salmon coarsely shredded 2 tbsp of capers 1 tbsp of lemon juice 1 tbsp of fresh dill shopped (frozen is fine as well) 1.5 tbsp mayo In a bowl mix all of this in a bowl. Serve on a ciabatta roll with butter or a toast and a side salad e.g. the pomegranate apple salad . Time to prepare 10 minutes. -Mahlzeit-

The grocery store had pomegranates on sale. I have no idea if it is season or not. I only bought one once before. A quick internet search and an apple and a box of mixed spring greens went into the cart. For the salad: 2 handful of mixes spring greens seeds of one pomegranate  1 apple sliced into bite size pieces (any variety is fine, I bought one that was on sale) 2 slices of water melon cut into bite size pieces 1/4 cup of feta crumbles (or more) For the dressing: 6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 2 tbsp balsamic 1 heaping tsp agave sweetener or liquid honey 1 tsp of poppy seeds 1/4 tsp of ground black pepper In a bowl mix all the salad parts. In a small bowl mix all the dressing ingredients well. Then pure them over the salad and mix again. Left overs can go into the fridge and are still good for 2 days after preparation. -Mahlzeit-

Salmon is for some time on my list to smoke. A friend did send me this video .  Yesterday morning the journey began.  3 got myself 3 filet of salmon, removed the thin ends.  I mixed  1 cup of kosher salt  1 cup of light brown sugar 1 tsp of Prague Powder #1 I had to descale the salmon a bit more. I don't know why this can't be done before it gets sold. In a glass container I put down a  layer of the salt/sugar mixture. Then I added the 3 filets. I left a little bit of room between them, so I can press the salt/sugar mixture down between them. Add all the remaining sugar/salt mix and make sure it is all covered.  The video talks about adding weight. I did not do that. I simply covered the glass container and into the fridge for 36h it went. After 36h I removed the salmon. Then I rinsed it with cold water. In a clean glass container, submerge the fillets for 20 min to remove the access salt from the fish. Now it needs to be dried up. On a rack it now goes back  into the fridge f